Using Coordinated Collections - A Challenge

Happy May, Ladies!

How many of y'all made it to the Gulf Coast Crop and Shop weekend in April? I was able to go for a few hours on Saturday and was impressed with how creative you ladies are. Well done! While I was there, I picked up some fun new Basic Grey papers and stickers to play with. There are times when I want to mix and match patterns and manufacturers. There are times I want to be artsy and make my own backgrounds and embellishments. And then there are times that I want quick and easy. I don't want to think about whether this paper matches that paper. I just want to grab supplies and pictures and create. The easiest thing to do at these times is to use products from a single manufacturer. Scrapbooking companies spend many hours designing and producing lines that coordinate. They WANT to make this easy on us. They WANT us to be able to use their papers and letters and stickers and stamps all together. That is their goal! And sometimes, that is exactly what I want, too.

The line that I brought home to play with was Basic Grey's new Bowties line from their winter CHA release. They had several bright and happy lines this release, including Hipster, Bowties, and Kneehighs, but this is what I chose to play with. All the supplies coordinate. All the supplies are colorful. All the supplies begged me to play with them. All I added to my layouts was some cardstock, ink, and miscellaneous bits and pieces. Everything else came from the Bowties collection.

My challenge to you this month: Choose a line of products that you like. Pull out 3-4 papers from that line, plus some coordinating embellishments, and create a layout (or card or whatever project that you are inspired to make). You may add whatever supplies you want to your project. Post a link to your project here or to the ScrapHappy Facebook page before June 3, and Christy will randomly choose someone to win a $5 credit to the store to spend however she wants!

This first layout, I added washi tape and a printed label from Studio Calico. The journalling block was actually packaging from the Basic Grey enamel dots, and the letters were cut from one of the papers in the collection.

 I only added cardstock to this second layout.

 On this last layout, I added cardstock, washi tape, thickers, more label stickers, and some stitching (a friend loaned me her new Amy Tangerine stitching template, so I was experimenting and playing...highly recommend this product...so...much...fun...).

So...are you ready? Then run grab your collection of papers, get set, and GO!!! I look forward to seeing what you create!

Supplies:
- patterned paper, stickers, brads, enamel dots, transparent frames - Basic Grey
- washi tape - Doodlebug, Hambly
- label stickers, thickers - Studio Calico
- stitching template - Amy Tangerine
- cardstock, stamping ink, bubble wrap/dots stamp

A Winner, A Challenge, and A Question

Hello, Ya'll!

I have a quick apology to make to everyone. This month has been crazy, insanely busy, so my blog post is running a bit late, which means that I still need to announce the March challenge winner. Please forgive my tardiness.

And now, without further ado...the March winner is...SHARON HUNT! Congratulations! You have won a $5 credit to Scraphappy to spend any way your heart desires! ENJOY!!!

This month's challenge: Use divided page protectors (also known as Project Life, Photo Pocket Pages, etc) to make a layout on any topic you want. You can use any configuration you want and use any papers and embellishments that you want. Scraphappy has a great selection of various configurations available for you to play with, so if you need some, go get them!
Ready? On your mark...Get set...GO!!!

Next, a question for you Lovely Ladies (and any Handsome Gentlemen) who are reading this blog today: I am teaching a beginning Silhouette class at next weekend's Gulf Coast Crop. Do you have any specific topics or questions that you want me to address? What do you want to learn about? Please, let me know. I am still working on my handout, so I can add anything that you want to know.

Scrapper's Block

How many of you have experienced 'Scrapper's Block?' It's frustrating; it's annoying; and it takes up valuable time that could otherwise be spent creating. I've been experiencing a serious block recently. I stare at my stash and my photos. I think about my stash and my photos. I sit down with my stash and my photos. And yet, I cannot come up with an idea or plan for what I want to do.

So what to do when you hit a creative wall? Look for inspiration. Inspiration is all around us: on-line, magazines, nature, God's creation, the smiles and laughter of our children, our own scrapbooks and history. Typically, when I am having trouble creating, I can take a walk with my camera, capture some of our beautiful world, and come back home inspired. Sadly, that did not work for me this time. So what did I do? I went shopping.

I found this adorable, trendy stamp set from Lawn Fawn at ScrapHappy, and I thought that it would be perfect for helping me get through this block. It is fun and is a chevron pattern that I frequently use when I choose patterned papers. Slowly but surely, I am working through my block. I have made a few layouts with this stamp set this week, and although they aren't my favorites, they are still documented memories that I can add to my albums, and I know that I will be able to enjoy this toy for many years to come. So without further ado, this month's layouts:

This month's challenge is to pull out your stamps and use them to scraplift yourself. Look through your scrapbooks. Enjoy your memories. Use them to generate new projects. To be eligible for this month's prize ($5 store credit!), upload your project to facebook and tag Scraphappy on your project. A winner will be randomly drawn and announced in my April post.

And finally, last month's Challenge Winner: Jessica Gabe! Thank you to all who entered and played along.  Jessica, next time you are in ScrapHappy, you have $5 credit to spend however you desire in the store!

Supplies:
- patterned paper - Echo Park, Studio Calico, Lily Bee
- thickers
- enamel dots - My Mind's Eye
- chipboard stars - Pink Paislee
- stamps - Lawn Fawn, Kelly Purkey, and Studio Calico
- wood veneers - Studio Calico
- puffy stickers - Amy Tangerine
- stamping ink and embossing powder
- washi tape

Using Up Your Leftovers

When you scrapbook, what do you do with your leftovers? Do you put them away? Do you slide them to the side of your desk to think about later? Do you add them to a pile? Or even better, do you actually use those little bits and pieces? If you were to see my desk, you would know that I am an infrequent scrap cleaner. I tend to push my leftovers into a pile and stack them up until I can't stand it anymore and decide to do something with them. Often, this means that I will compile these pieces into layouts and combinations I never would have planned for if I had thought ahead. So what do I do? I go to Scraphappy, pick up 2 or 3 pieces of patterned paper, some letter stickers (especially Thickers...I am on a serious Thickers kick lately), and combine that with what's on my desk to make some layouts. And the Bonus? My desk gets cleaned off without any effort!

For my first layout, I used Studio Calico and Lilly Bee papers that I already had, combined with the teal thickers and butterflies that I got at Scraphappy. The leftovers? The Amy Tangerine stickers and teal woodgrain washi tape.

This next layout uses some new Shoreline papers as a background, combined with leftover Amy Tangerine stickers, an Amy Tangerine pocket, Shoreline sunburst scraps, and Heidi Swapp banner pieces cut off from a previous project. The hexagons are from a Studio Calico stamp set and are attached with some brads I found in my drawer.

The only new item on this final layout is the background paper and the teal letter 'P.' Everything else on this page was leftover. The light blue strip of Shoreline with the hot pink splatters? Leftover from the Baby Turtles layout. The My Mind's Eye transparency? Scavenged from my Valentine's Day memo board. The Heidi Swapp disco heart? The last of a package from this past spring.

So what have we learned today? Use your stash! Use those bits and pieces of scraps. Use pieces from different manufacturers and product lines to make your own combos. Need some patterned papers, letters, or cardstock to pull it all together? Head on in to Scraphappy and buy what you need! It's all there!

How Do I Use Holiday Supplies When It's Not That Holiday?

Hello World!

Another month, another blog post from me! Or 2 or 3, as the case may be this month, since I found myself with an abundance of layouts I have made this summer for Christy that I have not yet shared with you ;) Today we are going to talk about using those cute themey supplies for uses that have NOTHING to do with the theme. Sacriledge, right? I know. I know. We buy the cute themed supplies BECAUSE they fit the theme we want to work with. But what do we do with the leftovers after we have scrapped the theme??? We use them anyway!

How many of you have actually scrapped your July 4 pictures from this year? And how many of you have leftover 'July 4'-specific supplies left? Or you just love the red, white, and blue combo and want to use it over and over again? Today's layouts feature some Pebbles July 4 papers that I found at ScrapHappy but decided to use for several non-holiday pages. Honestly, I haven't even printed my July 4 pictures yet, but I knew I wanted to use the papers NOW, so I used photos I already had printed.

The first layout actually doesn't even have pictures at all. Many of you know my family went on a Great American Road Trip last summer. One entire month of seeing our beautiful country. Since then, I've been scrapbooking our trip. I have already filled an entire album (I file all my pages chronologically. I scrap whatever inspires me on any given day, but then I put them in albums by date), so I decided I needed an official Title Page to separate this section of layouts from the rest of my pages. I've been pondering a Title Page for months, and when I saw this United States map paper, I knew I had found the perfect background. Since this is a 'busy' paper, with lots of graphics that I wanted to use, I opted to focus on the map and not use photos at all. Instead, I put brads and star stickers on the locations we focused our trip around and connected them with string. Next to each brad, I wrote the location and sight seen there (ex. Mt. Rushmore in Rapid City, South Dakota).  I inked and glued the bar code strips from the collection as my accent papers, and used Studio Calico wood veneers to indicate our family and method of travel.

This next layout features the entire Pledge of Allegiance. I didn't want to obscure the words, but I still wanted to use the paper for a traditional layout. I used a small Instax photo I took of my Niecelets together in Tennessee and added small embellishments on the diagonal. I wanted to emphasize certain words in the Pledge, so I highlighted them with Stickles. I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the results, but I wanted you to know why part of the layout sparkles and why part of it doesn't. Lol.



My final layout for today uses some of my favorite Disney pictures from this past Spring Break. We were fortunate to be there when the 'new' Dumbo in the Fantasyland expansion had just opened. My Girls rode late at night (no lines then) while I took pictures. When I saw the photos on my desk next to these Pebbles papers, I knew they were made for each other.

I hope I've given you some ideas on how to use your holiday papers for non-holiday layouts. From photoless pages, to tiny pictures, to Disney, I hope these inspire you to pull out some of your leftover supplies (or go buy more supplies!)  and make pages to be proud of.

- Cori

Supplies:
- patterned paper - Pebbles
- cardstock - Bazzill
- letter stickers - October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin Studios
- wood veneers - Studio Calico
- transparency - Hambly
- Disco Stars and Instaframe - Heidi Swapp
- shaped paper clips - Amy Tangerine
- Distress Ink
- number stencil, brads, thread, white Uniball journalling pen

Lots of Lawn Fawn and American Crafts Love!

 American Crafts & Lawn Fawn Card - "C U at the Shore!"
I am just in love with the AC Shoreline! Its got the perfect mix of  colors and design.  I took the house from Lawn Fawn's 2011 Halloween stamp set and made it into a "shore house"!  Top it off with some twine and you are good to go...

Lawn Fawn "Flying By to Say Hi" Card

Paper airplanes stamped on AC Amy Tangerine

Here's another American Crafts/Lawn Fawn card that I recently made.   I just love the Paper Airplanes stamps from LF.  I stamped the little airplanes on several different Amy Tangerine papers and then fussy cut them out.

My last card is made with the Studio Calico Chevron mask we have in the store for sale.  I just LOVE this mask!  I used two different Tim Holtz inks to distress sponge the background, then used the mask again to do a dry emboss technique for the middle strip.  Add a little bit of distress ink and twine...walah!  I just love these bright distress inks Tim's been coming out with!  Have you seen the latest summer set Christy just got in stock? Ta' die fau!!

Lastly, here's a layout I made with American Crafts Amy Tangerine.  This is my sweet niece Alayna Grace.  I adore the color scheme in this line!  (Sorry for the bad photo!)

Thanks for looking Scrappy Friends!  Yall come see us at the store to pick up any of the products used in these projects!
Colleen

Amy Tangerine Day Books

Greetings!
Today I want to show you a great product Christy recently got in the store: Day Books. These are pre-made mini-books (by Amy Tan(gerine) for American Crafts) that are perfect for highlighting a single event or topic. Since I just learned how to print Instagram photos straight from my phone, I decided to use my Day Book to focus on all these pictures I've been printing lately.

First up, the cover: All Day Book covers come with an overlying transparency layer, perfect for decorating and adding a title. I used some letter stickers, Amy Tangerine Sketchbook tabs and stickers, and a wood veneer from Studio Calico (items which I repeated throughout the book to add to my book's cohesiveness).

Inside, the page sizes and shapes are varied for a fun, random look. If you have OCD tendencies (like me), then this can be hard to accept and work with, but consider it a challenge. Repeat your fonts, embellishments, and photo sizes, and that should give you the 'order' you crave (I used washi tape, Amy Tangerine labels, stickers, and envelopes, a package of Thickers, and more Studio Calico wood veneers). The pages are largely taken from her Sketchbook line, but there are other die-cut cardstock pages, envelopes, and ephemera added, as well. Below, you can see some of the pages in my book, which will be in the store for you to flip through and enjoy.

I hope you've enjoyed this month's project. As always, let me know if you have any questions, comments, or requests!