I am sooooo excited to announce that my first wedding layout was selected as the winner of sketch #242 at Sketch Inspiration. My poor husband couldn't figure out what was going on. I had just finished breakfast and disappeared into the craft room as he started to watch Talladega and all of the sudden I was making all this ruckus. So, of course, I had to explain to him how exciting it is to be selected. He was really happy for me. I can't wait to see the cool prize pack from Scrappin' Sports and More.
Also how cute it is that he's been making a digital scrapbook of our cruise to Victoria with my parents and aunt and uncle a few years ago. He bought me the software a couple years ago but I've just never really been able to move to the digital side. I love playing with paper too much, but he's pretty good.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
My first wedding layout
So, this month, as you know, hubby and I celebrated our 7th anniversary and I'm hesitant to admit this, but (deep breath) I've never scrapbooked our wedding pictures. Sure I managed to get all the pictures in an album, but I haven't scrapbooked a single page yet even though my mother has finished an entire album about my wedding. Although I do have to point out that she's retired and I still work a full time job, but on the other hand, my parents have such an active social life I need a calendar just to keep up with them. But I've decided to let it all go. No more shameful hiding of my secret. It's out there. You know what? So what? I don't care. There, I said it. I have decided to let inspiration dictate what and when and if I scrapbook it.
Funny enough, just as I came to this conclusion, I became inspired to do my first by a memory that came back to me over the weekend. Saturday night, hubby and I were at the hockey game. We ended up sitting in this quiet section. I was looking down on the seats at the end of the ice and this memory popped into my head of the game years ago. I was sitting in that section I was looking at when I bought my white jersey back in high school. It made me smile thinking about how back then buying the jersey didn't seem like all that big of a deal (although it quickly became my favorite to wear), but in fact, it would eventually become my wedding "dress". I knew that night I would have to scrapbook that for my wedding album and the next night when I saw the sketch from Sketch Inspiration, I knew it was the one for that idea.
This time I chose to showcase a number of things that I don't usually do or take things one more step than I usually would. Lately, I've been pushing myself to move out of my comfort zone. First, this is the first time that I've printed my journaling directly onto the background paper. Yes, I know that I've had a fabulous 12 by 12 printer for nearly a year now, but I've spent so much time working on 8 by 8 pages, that I never got around to using the printer for what I wanted it for in the first time.
Also, I've hand-stitched on layouts before, but I haven't added beads to that stitching on a layout until now.
I've used stamps and Stickles, but rarely do I use Stickles over the top of stamps (here I was inspired to try it because my ink was just not quite the right color):
Although I've inked edges quite a bit and do a little distressing, I've never quite gone so far as to distress and ink an entire large flower before (actually I really like how it turned out).
So I encourage you to join me and let go of that mindset that says "I have to scrap something" as if scrapping should ever be considered a chore or something on a to-do list. It's incredibly freeing. Scrap what you want to scrap when you want to scrap it. Then drag out your supplies and give them a try in a way you haven't done before and stop by Sketch Inspiration (or become a member) for a little inspiration of your own.
Funny enough, just as I came to this conclusion, I became inspired to do my first by a memory that came back to me over the weekend. Saturday night, hubby and I were at the hockey game. We ended up sitting in this quiet section. I was looking down on the seats at the end of the ice and this memory popped into my head of the game years ago. I was sitting in that section I was looking at when I bought my white jersey back in high school. It made me smile thinking about how back then buying the jersey didn't seem like all that big of a deal (although it quickly became my favorite to wear), but in fact, it would eventually become my wedding "dress". I knew that night I would have to scrapbook that for my wedding album and the next night when I saw the sketch from Sketch Inspiration, I knew it was the one for that idea.
This time I chose to showcase a number of things that I don't usually do or take things one more step than I usually would. Lately, I've been pushing myself to move out of my comfort zone. First, this is the first time that I've printed my journaling directly onto the background paper. Yes, I know that I've had a fabulous 12 by 12 printer for nearly a year now, but I've spent so much time working on 8 by 8 pages, that I never got around to using the printer for what I wanted it for in the first time.
Also, I've hand-stitched on layouts before, but I haven't added beads to that stitching on a layout until now.
I've used stamps and Stickles, but rarely do I use Stickles over the top of stamps (here I was inspired to try it because my ink was just not quite the right color):
Although I've inked edges quite a bit and do a little distressing, I've never quite gone so far as to distress and ink an entire large flower before (actually I really like how it turned out).
So I encourage you to join me and let go of that mindset that says "I have to scrap something" as if scrapping should ever be considered a chore or something on a to-do list. It's incredibly freeing. Scrap what you want to scrap when you want to scrap it. Then drag out your supplies and give them a try in a way you haven't done before and stop by Sketch Inspiration (or become a member) for a little inspiration of your own.Sunday, October 16, 2011
A card for Sarah
This is Sarah's last week working with my husband. We're all happy that she's landed a receptionist position in the building, but sad that hubby has to replace her. People really like Sarah. She cute, bubbly and lovable. So I needed to make a card we could give her to let her know how happy we are for her. Fortunately, Freshly Made Sketches had a great sketch to draw inspiration from. A few scraps of DCWV paper from my scrap bin, a little embossing on the Sizzix, a bit of ribbon, a couple of Prima flowers and this great "eye candy" rhinestone and it was done. 
There's still a little time left. Just let this sketch spark your creativity and play along!
There's still a little time left. Just let this sketch spark your creativity and play along!Saturday, October 15, 2011
7 years
A couple of weeks ago, hubby and I celebrated our seventh anniversary and my parents celebrated their 48th just a few days earlier. So as an anniversary gift for both of us, the four of us went to a hockey game on the Saturday night between their anniversary and ours, back to the scene of the crime as one might say. Well, not really because this game was in the Rose Garden, not Veteran's Memorial Coliseum, but it was as close as we could get.
I surprised both my parents and my husband with having anniversary wishes posted on the big screen (a big thank you to the Hawks for comping me the posting cost since we were the ones who got married on the ice). Hubby was actually surprised. He said he had thought about doing it but didn't know who to contact. (I do!) It was a fun addition to an otherwise wonderful game.
So on our actual anniversary, I gave him his card and he asked me to make a scrapbook page for it and he asked that I include one of the roses he gave me. So last weekend I tried my hand at drying a rose. I was really surprised how well it turned out and how easy it was to do. Just cover the flower with the drying powder and wait.
I also found the perfect shadow box, but the page design was a little elusive. I have a very clean and graphic style and I just didn't want to do the same thing all over again. I wanted to try some new things. I had this idea about making my own background paper using some Co'ordinations Black Magic paper I bought a while ago. So last night, I played around in SCAL and created a whole page of the number 7 (the number of years we've been married) in Old English Text for the font. I printed a test page using a sharpie and my Chomas Sharpie holder for the Cricut. When I had what I wanted, I switched out for the embossing tip and held my breath. It turned out perfectly. A bit of sanding later and a little use of a stylus to make some of the sevens stand out more than others and I was thrilled with my personalized background paper. It was so not my usual style but I love, love, love it.
But then I couldn't make the rest of the layout come together. I fussed with it until nearly 1 in the morning last night, gave up and went upstairs to watch the last two stories on Five that I DVR'd off Lifetime earlier in the week, hoping that creativity would come to me in the night. Well, that didn't happen, so I flipped through some sketch books (Page Maps and Page Maps 2, plus the Best of Becky Higgins Sketches) this morning but finally drew some inspiration from a sketch from Page Maps from July 2009. (I have just got to add that the best thing I ever did to inspire myself was to buy a plain old notebook and some page protectors and print pages of sketches that I like and put them in the notebook. I have all this inspiration in one convenient place. Wonderful! Although I need to get a bigger notebook now).
What really inspired me was the off kilter nature of the pictures, which I switch to landscape instead of portrait. Plus I didn't want to cover too much of my background so I ditched a lot of the background of the layout to leave more open space. In retrospect, it really looks nothing like the sketch that inspired me, but that's the point. I don't need to recreate something someone else has done, but simply take inspiration from them. But once I had all the pictures in place, it was really still missing something. I put it in the shadowbox and I just wasn't happy. It needed bling. Hubby looked at it and was suggesting things he thought would work to make it all come together. But I really knew it just needed some bling. But the swirly bling I had on hand was black or pearl. Neither would work. But then I remember that I bought the templates for the I-Rock bling. Perfect! I was going to get to do something else I haven't done before as I bought these but had never used them. I was a little hesitant, but once I got started it was so easy to use and it turned out that was exactly what it needed. I'm sure everything is going to have I-rock bling now that I know how easy the templates are to use.
Unfortunately, the glass of the shadowbox reflects too much that I had to take the picture with the door open, but you get the idea.
I surprised both my parents and my husband with having anniversary wishes posted on the big screen (a big thank you to the Hawks for comping me the posting cost since we were the ones who got married on the ice). Hubby was actually surprised. He said he had thought about doing it but didn't know who to contact. (I do!) It was a fun addition to an otherwise wonderful game.
So on our actual anniversary, I gave him his card and he asked me to make a scrapbook page for it and he asked that I include one of the roses he gave me. So last weekend I tried my hand at drying a rose. I was really surprised how well it turned out and how easy it was to do. Just cover the flower with the drying powder and wait.
I also found the perfect shadow box, but the page design was a little elusive. I have a very clean and graphic style and I just didn't want to do the same thing all over again. I wanted to try some new things. I had this idea about making my own background paper using some Co'ordinations Black Magic paper I bought a while ago. So last night, I played around in SCAL and created a whole page of the number 7 (the number of years we've been married) in Old English Text for the font. I printed a test page using a sharpie and my Chomas Sharpie holder for the Cricut. When I had what I wanted, I switched out for the embossing tip and held my breath. It turned out perfectly. A bit of sanding later and a little use of a stylus to make some of the sevens stand out more than others and I was thrilled with my personalized background paper. It was so not my usual style but I love, love, love it.
But then I couldn't make the rest of the layout come together. I fussed with it until nearly 1 in the morning last night, gave up and went upstairs to watch the last two stories on Five that I DVR'd off Lifetime earlier in the week, hoping that creativity would come to me in the night. Well, that didn't happen, so I flipped through some sketch books (Page Maps and Page Maps 2, plus the Best of Becky Higgins Sketches) this morning but finally drew some inspiration from a sketch from Page Maps from July 2009. (I have just got to add that the best thing I ever did to inspire myself was to buy a plain old notebook and some page protectors and print pages of sketches that I like and put them in the notebook. I have all this inspiration in one convenient place. Wonderful! Although I need to get a bigger notebook now).
What really inspired me was the off kilter nature of the pictures, which I switch to landscape instead of portrait. Plus I didn't want to cover too much of my background so I ditched a lot of the background of the layout to leave more open space. In retrospect, it really looks nothing like the sketch that inspired me, but that's the point. I don't need to recreate something someone else has done, but simply take inspiration from them. But once I had all the pictures in place, it was really still missing something. I put it in the shadowbox and I just wasn't happy. It needed bling. Hubby looked at it and was suggesting things he thought would work to make it all come together. But I really knew it just needed some bling. But the swirly bling I had on hand was black or pearl. Neither would work. But then I remember that I bought the templates for the I-Rock bling. Perfect! I was going to get to do something else I haven't done before as I bought these but had never used them. I was a little hesitant, but once I got started it was so easy to use and it turned out that was exactly what it needed. I'm sure everything is going to have I-rock bling now that I know how easy the templates are to use.
Unfortunately, the glass of the shadowbox reflects too much that I had to take the picture with the door open, but you get the idea.
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