The Big Picture

I went through several ideas, when I was thinking about my post for today.  There are so many great trends out there right now - banners, misting, graphic shapes, wooden accents...the list goes on and on.  And then, I thought of something I haven't done on a layout in years...at least over 2 years ago...using a large photo!  Most of the photos I tend to use, are 4x6 and smaller.  This always works great for me, because I like creating multi-photo layouts, but keeping them as single pages, instead of extending to a double page layout.  But, you still have the option of using multi-photos, with a large photo on your layout, too.


For this page, I printed an 8x10 photo of our little guy playing in the mud.  This was such a perfect photo, because he just happened to look my way the moment I snapped it.  I really wanted to highlight this photo and using the larger photo was just the right way to do that.  And because I had some empty space/white space on my larger photo, I was able to add two smaller (wallet size) photos on top of my large photo.

I decided to keep my embellishments on this page to a minimum, because the photo was the focal point of my layout and the orange, chevron patterned paper added a lot of visual interest to the page.  Just a couple of buttons, some washi tape, and some black accenting...and voila, you're done!!  That's another great advantage to using large photos...makes putting your page together quick and easy.


So, I challenge you to take on a large photo, with a bold visual pattern on your next layout.  The chevron paper on this page is from the Plumeria line by BasicGrey and Christy carries the full collection kit in the store.  This collection is great, because you can pull papers to work with feminine or masculine pages, which is a cost effective way to use your supplies.


Products Used:


Patterned Paper & Stickers:  BasicGrey
Cardstock:  Bazzill
Washi Tape:  SEI & Heidi Swapp
Buttons:  Blumenthal Lansing
Punch:  EK Success
Font:  Eurostyle

Recycling on Your Layouts

I don't know about you, but I'm always looking for ways to save money. One of the ways I do this is by reusing items in my home as often as I can, especially in my scrapbooking and memory keeping projects. And I don't know if you knew this, but this coming Saturday is National Scrapbooking Day - a whole day dedicated to this hobby we love. To combine the two interests (recycling and scrapbooking), Christy gave some old books of upholstery fabric swatches to Ashley Horton and me and asked us to make flowers out of them. If you are coming to the store's crop on Saturday, you might find a few of these flowers lying around (hint hint hint)...and if you're not coming, then you'll just have to settle for looking at my pictures here on the blog.

First up: My Supplies...fabric swatches, my BigShot (Any manual die-cutter will work. You just need to adjust the thickness of your cutting pads to account for the fabric and whatever dies you are using), flower or scalloped-circle dies (I used Spellbinders Nestabilities), and brads, stitching, Glubers, or whatever else you want to hold your flowers together (I used brads. Ashley finished others with stitching and other decoration, but you'll have to come to the store Saturday to see hers!)

When you cut your flowers, try to put your dies as close together as possible so you can get several flowers out of a single swatch.

Once you've cut your flowers, take them to your desk and find some supplies and a photo to match (Sorry the photo is sideways. My computer is refusing to rotate my pictures today).

One item I found on my desk is some leftover embellishment packaging. Seriously, how awesome are those acrylic casings that embellishments come in? I save nearly all of them. What can you do with them, you ask? So many, many options. You can stamp on them with staz-on ink (so you can move a stamped image around on your page and not worry about 'messing up' the page). You can die-cut them and make clear embellishments (Anybody remember Heidi Swapp's old Ghost shapes? Now you know how to make your own!). Or you can adhere other embellishments to them to use as a shiny, clear background (like I've done here with some My Mind's Eye embellishments).

And here's how I put it all together. In addition to the fabric flowers and clear packaging (sorry about the glare), I also used the B-side of a product code strip from a piece of patterned paper on this layout. So many recycled bits and pieces on here. Makes me happy.

I hope I've given you some ideas on how to recycle and save some money on your projects. Please feel free to put a link in the comments to any projects you may make using these ideas. And don't forget to enjoy National Scrapbook Day!

Supplies: fabric, Big Shot die-cutter, Spellbinders nestabilities, brown ink

- patterned paper - Dear Lizzy, Studio Calio, Echo Park, Lilly Bee

- letter stickers - Studio Calico

- brads - Bo Bunny

- washi tape - Hambly

- 'jeweled' frame - My Mind's Eye

- butterfly stickers - Studio Calico

- staple - Tim Holtz

- yellow acrylic heart - Heidi Swapp

Want to be a Scraphappy Design Team Member?!

Alright ladies, we're seeking new Design Team Members!
We're looking for scrappers, card makers, mixed media artists, experienced and/or beginners!
Deadline to apply is May 5, 2012.

Design Team Responsibilities
Design Team members will be responsible for submitting at least ONE layout/card/project (Tag, Mini Album, etc.) once per month or as we get in new paper lines and/or products.

During major crops or special events, Design Team members will be there to help us do make-n-takes, play games, teach classes (if desired), etc.

Design Team Compensation
All Design Team members will receive a DT Discount from Scraphappy. :)

How To Apply:
E-mail the following information to Christy at scraphappypensacola@yahoo.com by Saturday, May 5, 2012.
Name:
Address:
Phone:
Scrapbook Page Layouts: Attach .jpg files of your three favorite scrapbook page layouts or projects.
Answer this question: Why should we pick you to join our Scraphappy Design Team?

The contact information, 3 layouts (or projects), and question answer listed should be submitted together via email to Christy using the subject line "Scraphappy Design Team Application."

Thanks!!! :)

Out of Context

Often times, with new product releases, we look at a line and think, "That's cute, but it's kind of theme-y, so how could I use that?"  Here's an idea I like to do:  take it out of context.  For example, when Basic Grey debuted their new Konnichiwa line, I thought to myself, now that is one cute collection.  Only problem...there was an Asian theme to the collection and I had no photos that I could coordinate with it...or did I?  When I finally saw it in person at Scraphappy, I decided that I HAD to have it!!  And have it I did!  Once I started looking through the papers, I loved the colors and patterns even more.  So I decided, that with two girls, I could definitely make these papers work for their layouts.  Here is what I did with some of the collection on one of their birthday party layouts:

 
Obviously, this page has nothing to do with an Asian theme, but the fun colors and beautiful flower patterned papers worked great with all of the colors in my photos.  And one thing I really love about this collection, is the awesome patterned papers, that are perfect for fussy cutting (which is basically cutting an element from the pattern paper, to use as an embellishment on your layout).  I cut several of the flowers out and added brads and some hand cut leaves, for quick, easy, and cheap embellishments.  I also love the alpha sheet that is included with this line.  I had fun mixing the smaller and larger letters together, with the circle alphas!

So next time you are browsing through the store and see something that you think is really cute, but probably wouldn't work for your needs...think again!  Take those themed collections "outside of the box" and it may just surprise you to see what you come up with!

Products Used:

Sketch:  Sketch Support (Scrapbook Generation)
Patterned Paper & Stickers:  Basic Grey
Thickers:  American Crafts
Brads:  The Paper Studio
Buttons:  Michael's
Baker's Twine:  The Twinery
Embroidery Floss:  Janlynn
Punch:  Marvy
Edgers:  Provo Craft
 

Playing with New My Mind's Eye

Hello, World!

It's the first Thursday of the month, which means it's time for my regularly-scheduled blog post! I know you've all been waiting with baited breath, right? Lol.Anyhow, I hope everyone has had a chance to check out the new store location. Personally, I love it. It's closer to my house, it's well-stocked, and it's closer to my house (have I mentioned this already?) - which means more opportunities to shop and buy all the new products that are coming in. Remember all those lovely pictures I showed from CHA in January? Well, I have good news for you: the Winter CHA releases are starting to hit store shelves! And ScrapHappy has a lot of it! Yeah for enabling! When I was there last week, I was able to pick up some of the new Basic Grey and Echo Park lines, in addition to some of Rhonna Farrer's lines for My Mind's Eye.

First up, a few layouts for you to look at: Baa Baa Baby Jesus is a layout about my youngest and her friends before they sang in our church's Children's Christmas Program and the sheep song they sang. I wish I could convey the hilarity of their performance. But at least I have this layout to remember it by.

This next layout uses a quote from Dr Seuss. October Afternoon offered the quote as a free Silhouette svg file for easy cutting. I stamped the butterflies with a Jenni Bowlin stamp then layered the quote over it. The people shapes are Studio Calico wood veneers, and the kitty button is from October Afternoon.

 And finally, a new magnet board that can be used for everyday messages and note-taking. I cut the days of the week on my Silhouette and inked them with grey ink before Mod-Podging them to the board. The magnets themselves are recycled from my Love Notes magnet board that I showed you at Valentine's Day. All the supplies are available at ScrapHappy.

I hope you've enjoyed the projects today. Let us know if you have any requests or questions.

- Cori

Know When to Hold 'Em, Know When to Fold 'Em!!

I bet you weren't expecting Kenny Rogers this morning!!  Hopefully, you won't have this song stuck in your head now, like I have for the past two weeks, since I thought of using it for my post title for today!!  :)  If you are wondering what in the world this has to do with scrapbooking...well, let me get to it!  Do you ever buy those gorgeous double sided papers and think...ugh, how can I use one side and have the other side go to waste and never be seen??!!  Well, I have a quick and easy little idea, that can help you show off both sides of those gorgeous patterned papers...FOLDING!  First, I'll share two pages with you, that I created using some of the yummy, yummy Miss Caroline goodies from My Mind's Eye, that Christy has in the store.

For the folding technique on these layouts, I cut several circles using my Cricut Expression.  You could also use a circle cutter or circle punch.  On the "Happy Leap Day" layout, I just folded a quarter of the circle over and then alternated the pattern to create a fun banner for my title.  On the second layout, "Enjoy Today", I folded over four sides of the circle to create a square shape.  I chose to use my shapes side by side, but you could also turn then corner to corner and create a fun diamond pattern on your page.  

I really hope you enjoyed stopping by today and that you will try this technique, that is very popular right now in the crafty world.  Not only do you get to show off both sides of those gorgeous papers, but you can also add a little texture to your pages without adding a lot of bulk!!  And don't forget the exciting news, that Scraphappy has a new location!!!  Come by and check out the new place and grab some of these amazing My Mind's Eye products and be on the look out for new upcoming products that were released during Winter CHA!!  

Moving! and Some Layouts to Share

Hello World!

In case you haven't heard, Scraphappy is moving! Yesterday was the last day at their location on Airport. The store will reopen next week on March 5 at its new location. The new address is:

7841 Pine Forest Road
Pensacola, Florida

Christy had a massive pre-moving sale, so be prepared to come to the new store and find lots of new items coming in. All those gorgeous new releases from CHA? Well, most of them start shipping within the next few weeks, and Christy has put in a nice, big order. So exciting! Fortunately for all of us Scrapbook Addicts, New Stuff started arriving last week before the move, so you only have to wait until the store reopens to get your Supply Fix. And to entice you further, I'm going to show you a few layouts I made using some of the new Miss Caroline line from My Mind's Eye.

Before you look at these layouts, you should know that my youngest is a Mardi Gras Baby. She is fully convinced that Mardi Gras parades are in her honor. When asked what she wanted to do for her birthday, she proudly announced that she wanted to go a parade and "get more stuff." And she wanted to go with her friends...hence the title and journalling on this first page, as well as the subject matter of my layouts.

(Supplies: patterned papers, rub-ons, and cardstock stickers - My Mind's Eye; letter stickers - October Afternoon; Stickles; brads)

(Supplies:patterned papers and rub-ons - My Mind's Eye; butterfly die - Tim Holtz Sizzix; brown ink, alphabet stamps, and staples)

(Supplies: cardstock - American Crafts; patterned paper, die cut, cardstock stickers, and rub-ons - My Mind's Eye; notebook punch; brads, grey ink)

Hope to see you in the new store!
- Cori