Recent Scrapbook Layouts

I have just a couple of new layouts to share with you. I've been preoccupied with household duties lately, and haven't scrapped much. But I'm looking forward to the first Saturday in November .... are you?

These were just some silly pictures taken one day. But I noticed the book on the table, The Witches by Roald Dahl, which was quite a joy to read, so I scrapped about that. I think Miller likes The Witches and Matilda more, but I love The BFG the most. Have you heard of the term scrumdiddlyumptious? I think it was a word invented by The BFG.

Just Believe Elements and Papers by creashens; Big Photo Templates 3 by Scrapping with Liz

And this one I just finished tonight. These were pictures from open house last school year. I have several school field trips and events from last year that I would like to get scrapped. I would feel really caught up if I did. The poor little guy had such a horrible runny nose that day, and that is what I remember most.

Pajama Party Templates by Scrapping with Liz; sCOOL Days and other kits by Julia Makotinsky

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Some Recent Scrapbook Layouts

I've got a bit of a creative block right now. I have a scrapbooking project I'm trying to put together for a Christmas gift, but it hasn't been coming together. I'm having trouble putting it aside to focus on other pages. But here are a few that I've done.

This page has pictures the scientist took at a garden in China during one of his work trips.

Every Family has a Story Templates by Sabrina's Creations and Soco

This page is about a game we got last Christmas, and it has become a family favorite. Qwirkle is deceptively simple looking. An eight year old can play against an adult easily, and it is fun for all. The kit and template I used here were neither game-themed, but I thought the funky shapes played off the tiles from the game.

Triangles, Triangles, Triangles Templates by Scrapping with Liz; Daddio by Allison Pennington

These were pictures from a local favorite nature area ... how to scrap the same ol' place yet another time? I ended up going with a change of season theme.

Watercolor Whimsy Collection by Dawn Inskip; 2 in 1 Triangle Templates by Scrapping with Liz

Some fun summer pictures.

Recyclables 40 by Scrapping with Liz; Cardstock Essentials 3 by Karla Dudley; Summer's End Titles by Just
Jaimee; One for the Album by One Little Bird; Sprinkles 26 by Valorie Wibbens
various Straight Line White stitches by Anna Aspnes

Back to school day pictures with some thoughts about the new year.

Tell Me About it Template 1 by Scrapping with Liz; Bright by Allison Pennington
Heimili by Pink Reptile Designs; Documentary by Sahlin Designs

Pictures from a trip to the zoo. I was inspired by several photographs with animal backdrops. I wanted to do something very graphic with them, and ended up with the large extracted photo. There was one more with a tarantula backdrop, but the expression on his face and the harsh shadows weren't very flattering, so I left it out.

25 Days of Templates by Tiffany Tillman; Cardstock Essentials 3 by Karla Dudley

Snow

I have not seen snow for a few years, but my family members got a little bit last year. I grabbed some pictures from my sister-in-law off Facebook. Technically, this should have gone into my 2013 book, but I overlooked these pictures when I had that book printed. So they will go into the January section of my 2014 book. I know it's not ideal, but I can live with it because I love getting those big ol' Blurb books in my hands.

All About the Frame Templates by Scrapping with Liz; Winter Sparkleland by Scrap Orchard designers
StraightLine Stitched White No. 3 by Anna Aspnes

I'd like to give a little shout-out to Anna Aspnes and Vicki Stegall at Oscraps. I bought some stitches in Anna's advent sale the other day, and just as I was downloading I realized I bought stitches I already had. And the really ridiculous part was that I had my Anna Aspnes folder open when I went shopping, so I would make sure NOT to buy stitches I already had. Oops! I sent off an email to Anna, and within an hour Vicki Stegall had written back to me with a coupon for a replacement product. They even made sure I bought my new product with a coupon, instead of a direct link, so that I would have a valid record of the purchase, in case an issue comes up in the future. Thanks, Anna and Vicki!

Other Good Things

I'm sharing a scrapbook page that depicts fun at my brother's house in the country. The horses aren't his; they are my dad's and step mom's. But my brother does have goats, and chickens, and lots of land with a creek and wilderness and a tree fort. The kind of life I always pictured for myself, but life didn't turn out that way. I ended up with other good things.

I struggled with this layout for a while, but in the end I love how it turned out, and it's my new favorite page.

Cloudy with a Chance of Happiness by Amanda Yi and Cornelia Designs;  Life Quotes N. 5 by Sabrina's
Creations; A Story Captured Vol. 3 Templates by Anita Designs; Gold Foil Text Styles by Mommyish

Thanks for stopping by.

My Rainbows are Mushrooms

We have had a nice bit of rain out here in northern California, and more is on the horizon. Aw, how I love the rain. The sound, the smell, the mushrooms. The only thing I don't really like about rain is having to drive in it. We went on a little nature walk, and I found LOTS of mushrooms.

Squirrels & Nuts by creashens; A Story Captured Vol. 9 by Anita Designs
flower from Autumn Days by Amanda Yi

Note: The scientist is only pretending to eat that mushroom. He is a smart scientist in that regard.

I think it is really fun to have a "thing" that you like to photograph. For me, right now, that thing is mushrooms. A couple years back, when my mushroom photography project was just starting, we went camping with family. My sister-in-law was spotting banana slugs left and right, and she took a few pictures of them. When we saw our family at Thanksgiving, they told us about another recent camping trip they took, and they took pictures of banana slugs again. She had said, "I'm like Tiff with the mushrooms!" It was definitely a fun thing for them - finding slugs and snapping pictures. Do you have a thing you like to photograph?

Thanks for stopping by!

News and New Layouts

My scrapbooking news is that I have a creative team spot at the new The Digital Press. My spot is more of a trial/guest CT position. We'll see how it goes and if I can keep up. I also, coincidentally, stepped down from a team. The Etc. by Danyale team is a wonderful little family, and it was sad to go. I cried just like my last day teaching before I left on maternity leave. I hate endings.

Here are some layouts I've made this week. First up, the Christmas tree. We have had real trees the last few years, but with the scientist traveling a lot for work, I decided to pick up a fake tree to make things simpler. I got this tall skinny "pencil" tree and I love it. It's the perfect size for a small home. I even decorated it with ornaments! (The last couple of years I only did lights and beads). I love to look at it all day, every day.

Colorful Christmas - The Digital Press collaboration; So Selfie Photostrip Freebie by Scrapping with Liz

We have had a couple of rainy and cloudy weeks here in northern California. Mushrooms are alive and fruiting. Bliss! Several weeks ago, a patch popped up right outside our front door! I'm on the look out everywhere I go.

Hello Love by Creashens

And here was some Thanksgiving fun with family.

Selfie by Sabrina's Creations; A Story Captured Vol. 9 Templates by Anita Designs

Thanks for stopping by!

Goodbye, Liz (the lizard)

I'm sure you've figured out by now that I was not the Cropped champion. Nope, it was not to be. After a little recuperation, I'm back to scrapping, though.

The current obsession is lizards. Several poor little lizards have been caught by Miller and the scientist. And one named Liz was held in captivity for a couple of weeks. He was a cute little western fence lizard. I'm sure he is happy to be back in the wild fending for himself and blazing trails. Or rather, beefing up and finding a place to hibernate.

Climbing Trees and Falling Leaves by Etc. by Danyale; Autumn Watercolor Nature Papers by Dawn Inskip
Kriss Kross Stitched Overlays No. 2 by Anna Aspnes; Sahlin Studio Sept. '14 Template

Thanks for stopping by!

Cropped Round 5

Yes! I made it to the fifth and final round. There are10 finalists, and only one will be crowned the champion. Yikes. In the last three rounds, statistically, any contestant was more likely to move on than to be cropped, but not this time!!

Here is the prompt: "Round Five is Dessert, and we think it's the perfect way to finish off a great meal, and our contest. This week's challenge is to go all out... Make your "dessert" layout luxe, rich, decadent, sugary sweet, and over the top. Whether that's through your subject, your journaling, your embellishments, your techniques, or all of the above, now is the time to go all-out. Don't forget to include the 4 Mystery Basket Ingredients."

And here is my entry:

Cropped Round 5 Mystery Basket, Cardstock Essentials 3 and Life Story April Glitter + Gloss by Karla Dudley;
Punchfetti No. 1 and No. 5, Twinkles No. 1, Brushies No. 2, Oscar Alpha, iLove Alpha, Hei Hei kit, Head Over
Heels Kit, and Torn Bits 4 by creashens; Gold Foil Text Styles by Mommyish

This one was quite a challenge for me, because of the whole blank canvas/wanting to use a template thing. Once I came up with my idea, I searched and searched for a template at P&Co, but just couldn't find one that seemed perfect for my idea.

I started with a split-page design with one photo on the left and one photo on the right, but I just couldn't get the text to fill in the middle in a way that worked. So I grouped those clusters up and just started moving them around, and I finally decided that placing them toward the middle worked best.

I think I've got the dessert idea covered from a few different angles. I love the story here and how it spans across the years. My journaling refers to a piece of paper that I've saved for about 15 years - a true scrap! I like how that harks back to the more historic roots of scrapbooking, before it was a commercial industry. Part of the message is a little bitter-sweet, with the mother's dilemma, but my son's response ("Mommy, I'll always come back.") keeps it on the sweet side.

And I think I've created a decadent page. All that glitter and sparkle reminds me of sugar, and I think the use of the confetti is a bit "over the top" by using so many of them. Plus, the punchfetti is laid over the top of the photo for a more literal translation. And the bright white background makes me thing of white butter cream frosting.

Some of the mystery basket items I've used in a more straightforward manner, and some I used a little more creatively, by working them into the glitter and gold.

To be honest, even though making a page a week for five weeks straight is "a lot" for me, I'm kind of sad for the contest to end. The winner will be announced soon. Wish me luck?

Cropped Round 4

I made it to Round 4! So I've made it further than last year, yay! Here is the 4th challenge:

"Round Four is Entrée, and many would say this is the most important part of your meal... It's where you get your sustenance, and most of the time, the rest of the courses are planned out just to complement it. So, in the world of Cropped!, that can only mean one thing: JOURNALING! Whatever your subject, we want you to tell us all about it, in all it's glory."

And, of course, to use the mystery basket.

I went with something lighthearted, and my journaling is fantasy based, just for fun. I "discovered" Star Trek in the last couple of years with the new movies. Netflix has the first three seasons from the '60s in their streaming service, and we've been watching that as a family. I had the idea for this page stored away in my "Things to Scrap" folder. I even had a photo collage already picked out.

This is my favorite of the four pages I've made so far. One of the things I like about it its minimal use of scrapping supplies. Besides the four mystery basket ingredients, there is only a single additional paper used for the background. Technically, there is one additional thing - the gold foil effect, but that only changed the look of things, it didn't add any pieces.

I applied a radial blur filter to the starry background paper to give that sense of fast motion, similar to the effect on the TV show. I also applied some kind of warping or pinching (I don't remember exactly what I did) on the brocade overlay. I think it nicely reinforces the "warp" idea, also taken from the show. I applied an angle gradient to its layer mask, which I thought had a retro modern feel.

Normally, when I use full justification on text, I use the "Justify last left" setting. With that setting,  the last line of the paragraph is left alone. On a whim, I tried the "Justify all" setting which caused the words to be spaced out to fill the line. I thought it actually looked good and again contributed to that feeling of movement.

There are great pages in the Cropped gallery. I really hope I make it through to the next round. I feel better about this one than I did last week, but you just never know. It is kind of "out there." Here's hoping.

Thanks for stopping by.

Cropped Round 3

I hung in there another round. If I remember correctly, Round 3 was where I got cropped last year, so .... well, we'll see.

Here is the prompt:  "Round Three is Seafood, and similar to last year, this one is open to a little bit of interpretation. For this round, get creative in showing us what you "see". Whether it's a layout about something you see every day, or where you see yourself in ten years, we can't wait to see it, and we want you to be creative in the way you show us! This is also the one round where photography will be heavily judged." And of course, to include the mystery basket items:

I gotta say, this mystery basket was really intimidating. But I basically made the page I wanted, and then figured out how to add the pieces into the page. In the end, it wasn't that bad, and I think that if we all managed to handle this basket, we can handle whatever else they throw at us (if we make it to the next round).  Here is my page:

Zephyr Templates and Solid Papers by Karla Dudley; Autumn Days by Amanda Yi;
Be Kit by creashens; Round 3 Mystery Basket

Going into this, I had two different ideas for a page. My other idea involved a funny octopus video that Miller found online. I thought there were lots of ways that fit in with the prompt, and I even wanted to put in a QR code for the video. It's a page I've been wanting to make for a while, but I had always envisioned using a beautiful creative commons photo of an octopus. Although the Cropped rules did not say you couldn't use a stock photo, I felt it was a little poor form for this particular challenge.

I did, though, try to build my octopus page anyway, but I was getting nowhere with it. So I switched over to the hummingbird idea. I do see hummingbirds every day, and I try to photograph them, as you know if you read my blog. So I still think this is a great page for the challenge, even if the octopus one would have been better.

Anyway, I've got my fingers crossed!

Overlay Tutorial

I made this layout last week with one of the pictures of Miller's Halloween costume in progress. I wrote a tutorial about it called Mini Multi Overlay Tutorial over at the Scrapping with Liz Blog. Head on over there if you want to know all about it.

Punkin Papers and Elements by creashens; Multi Mini Templates by Scrapping with Liz

Thanks for stopping by.

Cropped Round 2

Well, I passed Round 1, and was happy to move on to Round 2. The challenge was based on Appetizers and how "their entire purpose is to whet our appetite, and visual appeal is key. For this round, focus on the use of typography/word art to convey the message of your layout, as well as add to the visual design." And also to use the four mystery basket ingredients.

When I read "typography/word art" I immediately thought Karla Dudley and dug into my stash. Here is what I created.

Cropped Round 2 Mystery Basket; Wired Number Essentials and Cardstock Essentials 3 by Karla Dudley;
Love Actually by P&Co Designers

I've used those wire numbers in several layouts over the past year or so, and they are definitely one of my most favorite digital possessions. Here I have used the accompanying clipping masks as well. The numbers sort of count out the "little moments" referenced in the title. I was also going for a "2-4-6-8. Who do we appreciate?" kind of rhyme. My journaling about needing to head in to make dinner reinforces the idea that these pictures, and the act of taking them, are just one of the many moments that make up the day.

I thought I remembered that the prompt said appetizers are meant to leave us wanting more. But now that I look back, I actually can't find that wording anywhere in the prompt. I guess I made it up in my mind. But it does make sense that an appetizer should get you looking forward to more food. I think a layout with a stark white background and very minimal embellishment would definitely leave the typical scrapbooker "wanting more."  Ha ha ha. I always err on the too little side. Let's see if I move on to Round 3. (I hope I do.)

Cropped Round 1

I entered the Cropped competition again at Pixels and Company. There are some changes this year that seem really exciting. Only 5 rounds instead of 6. That's nice. And it looks like the final (5th) round will have ten participants (only 2 last year), so more people get to go further into the competition. And if you want to play along for fun, or after you have been eliminated, you can win random prizes. Oh, and everyone who registered received an amazing collab kit (which was awesome, considering the requirements of the first challenge).

Here is my Round 1 entry. The challenge was to use the 4 mystery basket items, and also to "mix things up, and include items from at least ten (10) different P&Co designers."

I have to say that I really struggled with this one. I LOVE Scrapping with Liz templates and use them for most of my pages. But I can't use her templates in this contest. Boy did I flounder around. I really prefer using templates! Of course I could use templates from Pixels and Company, but it's usually only Liz's templates that I really want.

Cropped Round 1 Mystery Ingredients; Heart Art: Whitewashed by Sugarplum Paperie; Neutral Basics by
Robyn Meierotto; Bermuda Triangle by P&Co Designers; Something Wonderful by Wishing Well Creations and Mari Koegelenberg; Collaborate by P&Co Designers; Everyday Storytellers No. 3 by Karla Dudley; Pocket Journal Card
Templates - Framed and Shapely by Simply Tiffany Studios; Krafternoon Delight Add-On by creashens; Wildwood
by Celeste Knight; In Good Company by P&Co Designers

I decided to "mix things up" by using different concepts to hold my photos. Specifically, I mixed up the plastic pocket with a more traditional paper-type pocket. I also mixed color photos with black and white. And I "mixed up" my journaling by using the present tense voice, which is something I rarely do.

I feel like round one is very intense because there were no specific "design" type instructions. Using 10 items is a very loose basis for judging each layout against the next. It feels like each person's natural style is being judged. I'll know if I made it to Round 2 in a couple of days.

School Portraits

I'm a big fan of school portraits. They are so fun. I love the anticipation of seeing what you get. I love giving out little wallet sized pictures to everyone I know.

Miller's old school used Life Touch School Portraits, which I think is a big business that does portraits at lots of schools. Like a school portrait machine. His new school used a local photographer. Miller said this guy was fun and actually told jokes to get the kids to smile. I could tell the difference in the pictures - his smile looked like a real smile.

The photographer gave the option of purchasing the digital image on a CD with copyright release instead of a print package. The cost was just a little less than most of the print packages that he offered. I decided to go with that option to see how I liked it.

Did I like it? I have mixed feelings. The image he gave was unprocessed, so I was a little disappointed in that. I have to say there is something in having all the work done for you. But I do like that with the copyright release I can make whatever prints I want. I've already ordered some from my favorite print shop. With the added shipping cost, I probably paid a little more overall than if I had just selected a print package from the photographer. But the image is mine to do whatever I want.

I went ahead and scrapped a page with it.

 

There is something about opening that envelope to reveal that handful of prints, and you know that is all you get - whatever they look like - dorky smile, no smile, poor choice of clothing - what you see is what you get. And the prints that you bought - that is all you get too. All of that is the charm of the school photo. I have to say I kinda missed that. I'm not sure what I will choose next time - the prints or the digital image (I'm too frugal to do both). Luckily I have a whole year to think it over.

Same Template Used Twice In One Day!

When a template is awesome, you can use it multiple times in one day and still feel like each page is a unique and inspired creation. Let me prove that to you.

A family outing to the coast. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium again to see the cephalopod exhibit. A cephalopod is an animal with its "head region" and its "foot region" directly attached to each other.

Project Care by Valorie Wibbens; Autumn Frost and This Carefree Day by Sahlin Studio
Bold Double Templates 2 by Scrapping with Liz; Glitter Paper by Two Shutter Sisters

And we explored the tide pools, climbed big rocks, stacked small rocks, ate fish and watched the sun go down.

Hoppy by Valorie Wibbens; Sweet Storytelling and Life's a Beach AddOn by Sahlin Studio
Bold Double Templates 2 by Scrapping with Liz; Wired Alpha by creashens

QED.

Under Water

Earlier in the summer I made a spontaneous new camera purchase. I have been wanting a waterproof camera for the last couple years. When I saw Costco had one with a discount I went right out and got it. Actually, my local Costco was sold out (so bummed was I!), but it was still available online (Yay!). I got the Fujifilm FinePix XP70 in orange. Miller picked the color.

It is so fun! It was probably the most fun I had with a camera right out of the box. It has some fun photo effects filters, like fish eye and miniature (tilt-shift effect), but I've only played with those a little. Miller and I have had a blast taking under water pictures and pictures of splashing into the water. I even figured out how to upload the photos to my iPad over the camera's Wi-fi signal. Major technology leap for me there.

Here are some scrapbook pages I made with photos taken with this camera.

Long Blocks Templates by Scrapping with Liz; Summerific Papers and Elements,
Hei Hei Elements, Button It, Punchfetti No. 5, and Juan Carlos and Fifi by creashens

And a series of pages from one of our days at the lake.

Sweet Summer Basics by Laurie Ann; Sun Kissed by Stolen Moments; Sizzling Summer by Little Butterfly
Wings; Free to Be by Valorie Wibbens; Glitter Papers by Two Shutter Sisters; Season Templates
and Daily Life Templates 7 by Scrapping with Liz

Sweet Summer Basics by Laurie Ann; Sun Kissed by Stolen Moments; Belvedere by Pink Reptile Designs
July Template by Amy Martin; Glitter Papers by Two Shutter Sisters; Bare Necessities Frames 1 by creashens
Fun Fold Overlays by Scrapping with Liz

Sun Kissed by Stolen Moments; Free to Be by Valorie Wibbens; Seeing Clearly Alpha (brackets) by Etc. by
Danyale; Daily Life Templates 7 by Scrapping with Liz

Sun Kissed by Stolen Moments; Free to Be by Valorie Wibbens; Seeing Clearly Alpha (brackets) by Etc. by
Danyale; Daily Life Templates 7 by Scrapping with Liz

Sweet Summer Basics by Laurie Ann; Belvedere by Pink Reptile Designs; Free to Be by Valorie Wibbens;
One of a Kind by Little Butterfly Wings; Glitter Papers by Two Shutter Sisters; Daily Life Templates 3
by Scrapping with Liz

I love my little water proof camera! Thanks for stopping by.

We Love Nature

We love nature around here.  Besides the hummingbirds, lizards are the current obsession (not mine, just Miller's).  He loves to catch them. Fence lizards (aka blue belly lizards) are his favorite.

My Kind of Day by Little Butterfly Wings; My Mistake Alpha by Just Jaimee; About Us by Paislee Press
Well, Hello by Valorie Wibbens; Froggy's Cardstock by Gina Miller; Maching Stitching by Jullie Bullock
May Facebook Template by Scrapping with Liz; Reptilian by mle Card

What other nature do we love? Hummingbirds, of course. This one is a bit blurry, but I like how just a couple of the feathers are showing up red. The scientist said that it was because the lighting angles for those particular feathers were just right, but I also wonder if the feathers actually change form as the bird matures. Maybe this bird is in the process of getting his adult feathers.

Yesterday I got a few more pictures showing off a bit of that feather iridescence. The feathers around the throat almost look more like scales than feathers.

This last one isn't so great, but you get a flash of red over the whole throat.

I haven't taken many pictures of bugs lately, but I did get these of a bee on my cone flowers (my new favorite plant, by the way).

As I continue to take pictures, I have found that sometimes, amazingly, I choose my old Canon PowerShot SX20 camera. There was a time when I thought that camera was a total piece of junk. But now I find that there are certain situations when it works better for me than my nice Sony. And I can take better pictures now with my Canon than I used to, even though I mostly use my Sony. I guess I must be learning how to be a better photographer.

If you like insect photography, I recommend http://www.alexanderwild.com/ I somehow stumbled across his photography a while back. Here are some of his bee pictures (some with cone flowers too).

http://www.alexanderwild.com/

http://www.alexanderwild.com/

http://www.alexanderwild.com/

http://www.alexanderwild.com/

Maybe someday I'll take pictures as good as these. Thanks for stopping by!