#Challenge52Kits Handmade - November 2011

Handmade, handmade, handmade. Here we go, November 2011.

ABOUT HANDMADE | This month definitely had a different vibe to it than the previous two kits, and included some of October Afternoon's Farm House collection as well as some Lost & Found Two collection from My Mind's Eye, AND that beautiful woodgrain paper in the main kit from the Peppermint collection by Crate Paper!

REALITY | Reality is, that full 12x12 diecut sheet really threw me for a loop I think - at least in my memory, when I think of this kit, I can only picture that diecut and the whole kit has kinda gone out the window for me. As noted last week, I felt like I would have trouble with this one, but in reality, now that I have the add-on kits all put back together, what a lovely kit this is! It wasn't even on my radar to start looking for Christmas themes, but when I noticed some beautiful greens mixed with a couple of reds, it got my wheels spinning… so my bonus project was to make a Christmas card with this kit!

Handmade leftover	Tatting leftover
Pin Cushion leftover	More Color

STORAGE TIP | Whenever I have a pile of wood veneer letters that I know I won't want to sort through later, I try to just sort once and make a "cheat sheet" to tell me how many of each letter are left. Then, when I use the letters in the future, I try to remember to cross them off as they get used (see the Tatting leftover image)!

A LAYOUT | I started the layout after I found this layout by SC user Izzie as inpsiration - I just loved the starburst look with these papers and that woodgrain paper as the background! Except I wanted to make mine come from the corner.

STARBURST | To make the starburst I cut a rectangle to the size I wanted it out of plain card stock. Then I drew random lines from one corner out across the paper with a ruler. I numbered the front with a pencil just in case I lost track of one of them, then cut with my paper cutter along the lines. After that I took each numbered piece one by one and lined it up on a piece of patterned paper and traced it. To reduce a bit of cutting, I lined up one long edge of each piece along the edge of the paper, then only had to trace and cut along the other two sides. Then I pieced them together to see how it would look. When I was ready to adhere them, I flipped them over and re-pieced it together and taped up the back with scotch tape. That made it easy to adhere the whole thing down exactly where I wanted it.

BONUS PROJECT | After seeing some of the colors of the papers laying together, I thought, I can definitely get a Christmas card from this! I went to think of a design, but then thought it would be cool to use my own layout as inspiration for the card, so that's exactly what I did! Super quick and easy to repeat the process and this time, I traced 2 of the pieces at a time from the same paper and then cut them out - which made it slightly faster and less tedious-seeming. I really enjoyed this kit and this process, and would love to try to do more cards this way!

NEXT UP | Next up is Brooklyn Flea, which I am REALLY looking forward to since I don't remember really digging into this one hardly at all! I love how it was a December kit that wasn't too Christmas-themed!

#Challenge52Kits Field Guide - October 2011

Let's go back to October 2011...

ABOUT FIELD GUIDE | I loved a lot of the soft colors of this kit, but mixed in with some of the darker elements from the Nightfall collection by American Crafts made it lovely, like a light fall evening.

REALITY | Like I said in my last post, I tried to make a mini album with it because the papers were so gorgeous but ended up having to toss it because it came apart and I never finished it anyway. However, I did use the Almanac add-on to actually complete a full vacation mini album with that awesome Amy Tangerine mini book (scroll down to see the inside)!!

Field Guide leftover	Perennial leftover
Greenhouse leftover	Almanac leftover

A LAYOUT | OK, so I was just reviewing some older layouts from my Inspiration book and found this layout by Lisa Dickinson and thought that would be a fun one plus I had some pics of our lunch (and dinner) from Freddy's on our last day of vacation in Florida that would go perfectly! I used the same font, Pacifico, in my Silhouette to cut out my title. The only thing I would've liked to do differently maybe would be to pick a different background color for the strips of paper - that yellow is a bit strong, but oh well.

VACATION ALBUM | Check out the below images - I used a lot of Amy Tangerine products, as well as some from the October Afternoon Boarding Pass collection. I finished all but the last couple of pages, but didn't have a whole lot to put in them anyway, so it really doesn't bother me.

NEXT UP | So join me next week as I tackle a bit of a tougher one for me, Handmade from November 2011! I'm thinking some pics of my daughter and my Grandma together might pair well with this kit!

#Challenge52Kits Glee Club - September 2011

This was my 2nd kit that I subscribed too, I remember it well - Glee Club!

ABOUT GLEE CLUB | I was excited that this kit still included some bits from Amy Tangerine's original line, some more BasicGrey Out of Print, as well as some of American Crafts' Nightfall collections. So excited I bought a ton extras from all 3 of those collections also from TwoPeasInABucket.com...

Glee Club scrapbook kit leftover + more pp and SC paper

REALITY | When I was gathering this kit back together from the four corners of the earth, I mean, my scrapbook room, I only noticed 1 piece of paper that was used a little, and then I found the project I used it for - the background paper for this card! Ugh, I think, other than some of the alphas, and the stamps... that's really it, wow. The sad part is, I had bought ALL 4 add-on kits too, ok there's no time like the present right!

Pep Squad leftover	Debate Team leftover
Home Ec leftover	Thespian leftover

REALITY CON'T | I really wanted to delve more into this kit, but this week I had some other projects going on, so didn't get to use as much up of this kit as I would have liked! I definitely want to make some cards with it, as the paper is just gorgeous, but also I would really like to use up those special hand stitched tags from the Home Ec add-on! That will definitely go into my personal challenge bucketlist haha!

A LAYOUT | So here is the layout I made with this kit! I knew I wanted to go with the travel theme of some of the supplies in the kit, and also use that circular paper. Which reminded me of circles, which reminded me of this sketch template from Simple Scrapper that I had used once before. I decided not to worry that I have already used it and just used it again, and this time it's a whole different look with the Glee Club kit! This layout was just one of those that came together quickly and easily once I decided on a sketch template and cut out the circles with my Silhouette! I'm glad I finally used a paper clip and two brads, plus a border strip - each taken from a completely untouched package of supplies!!

NEXT UP | Oooh, Field Guide - one of my most favorite October kits!! I had previously tried to create a small mini album with a bunch of these papers, but never finished and I didn't sew it very well so the book actually started coming apart, so I think I trashed it :( BUT I know I have lots of goodies leftover and hope I can find some great pictures to go with this kit!

#Challenge52Kits Boardwalk - August 2011

Boardwalk, boardwalk, boardwalk… It's been 4 years since I received this kit and hardly touched any of it!

ABOUT BOARDWALK | When I first saw Boardwalk, and all the beautiful teals and greens and blues… I swooned, actually it's what put me over the edge and made me finally sign up for a Studio Calico subscription after a few months of stalking SC. I happily purchased 3 add-on kits: Sea Glass, Boogie Board, and Tide Pool, as well as add-on patterned paper, and SC paper (an add-on that came with 2 extra sheets of each SC paper)!

REALITY | I hardly touched ANY of it, except for a few cards and a couple of layouts. And I didn't cut into a single piece of paper that I didn't have a back-up of. That was the time though - I was just coming off my Creative Memories mindset, where I would have so much product and extras of everything that I got used to a security blanket of having doubles of it all so I didn't have to worry about "using up" any single thing!

Boardwalk leftover	Seaglass leftover
Boogie Board leftover	Tide Pool leftover with Hambly Screen Prints transparency!

GATHERING SUPPLIES | So it took a bit of time, but I was able to find all the original supplies and papers from the kit and add-on kits... because I didn't use up and throw away a SINGLE thing! I would even bet I have at least a scrap of every paper too, but anyway, for this particular kit, with all this untouched stuff, I plan to keep most of this kit together as a way to motivate me to use some of the items I wouldn't use one-off. Except for the stamps and probably the brads and letter stickers, the rest I will probably keep together now.

1st card, extending the grid theme from a previous project

quick card using some scraps

PROJECTS | As soon as I had gathered up all the supplies for the kits, I just HAD to make something with it again! It was almost like getting a new kit in the mail, seeing all the supplies together again, was like a family reunion, or better yet... a 10yr high school reunion! (Long story short, that's how my husband and I started dating...)

GETTING STARTED | When I began my first layout, I really wanted to challenge myself and try to use mostly the Tide Pool add-on instead of the obvious Boogie Board add-on... but I just couldn't get it to work, so I started over and thought I needed to bite the bullet and cut a circle from the map paper instead...

OBSTACLE | So after I had picked out a Sketch Template from this month's Simple Scrapper membership materials, I had to change it up slightly so I wouldn't cover up the pretty map paper circle I so bravely cut up! Then I added an extra circle to help balance the layout. I forced myself to try inking up those Pink Paislee Mistables collection letter stickers - which I did with the Hero Arts Ombre ink in peach. They came out a bit darker and muddier than I wanted, but I'm proud of myself for trying it out instead of leaving them white! I added a border strip sticker from the beloved Sassafras line and had to use some brads and twine to really make this a period piece haha!!

MOMMY | First I printed out my photo 5x7 because it was so cute and bright! Then I started by doing a scraplift of this layout by Studio Calico member Ashley888 that I had seen 4 years ago now! When I went to do the title, it didn't really fit in the same area, I moved it and decided to paint in some journaling lines there instead with some goache paint! After that, I just felt like it didn't need the extra stuff at the bottom so I left it mostly blank and added a label with the date and embellishment.

NEXT UP | So next week my plan is to pull out all the supplies for the kit from September 2011, Glee Club! And it should be even more fun since I had purchased ALL 4 Scrapbook add-on kits!! Stay tuned...

Oh and if you made any layouts this past weekend, feel free to link up in the comments here no matter what kit you used!!

#Challenge52Kits

So I'm ready to shake things up a bit here on my blog and on my Instagram and start a yearlong challenge for myself, but it can be shorter for YOU, however long you can join in, or even just for a few weeks!

Confession: I have been a Studio Calico subscriber non-stop since August 2011 (even though I started purchasing in May 2011). By this November I will have purchased 52 complete main scrapbook kits, of which I haven't exactly "killed" a single one!

So yesterday morning it dawned on me, I should try to make one more layout with every kit I have! And then I figured I should do this, once a week and post it and make it a challenge that anyone can join in on with any kit club or any project! So here is my plan.

My plan is to work on a layout on Saturdays, posting my progress to Instagram, then posting on Monday morning to my blog. On my blog I will show the kit I worked with, plus whatever add-ons I purchased (a LOT back in the day, hello 3 of the 4 Scrapbook add-ons for the first month!) and also what supplies I had left over! This should get interesting come February 2013 Front Row… I seriously have lost all the paper to that kit hahaha! If I get the time, I can also try to dig up the links to the projects I already created with that kit as well.

Here's one I created with the first kit I am going to use, back when I used to create double page layouts:

I want you all to hop in at any time and comment on the current week's blog post what you all worked on over the weekend, even if it's a different kit than what I'm working on!

Simple Scrapper CT Layouts: June!

Before I share my layouts I made for the Simple Scrapper Creative Team this month, I want to share a promotion going on RIGHT NOW to save 20% on a 6-month membership before June 1st! I've recently told Jennifer, the owner of Simple Scrapper, that I think the content she provides month after month is invaluable and now's an even greater time to sign up!

So first up is a layout I made for our Disney album, using a Sketch Template from Simple Scrapper's Premium membership of course! I changed this one up a bit and loved how I was able to get so many great pictures onto one layout! I basically used this layout instead of a pocket page :) I ended up just using small squares from last year's Sandlot kit by Studio Calico because I had leftover papers from the 4x6 pad, so bonus: I used up some older supplies!

Next I made this layout of us at the annual Lilac Festival they have here in good old Rochester, NY. I just loved bringing my daughter there, especially because I have such fond memories of it as a child... I go half for the nostalgia and half for the food hehe!

I used a Story Starter also from the Simple Scrapper's Premium Membership as well as a sketch template and stamped my own partial background in different colored rings to keep the photos connected even though they are apart on the page. I also used Studio Calico's Carolina Moon for this one.

The last thing I want to mention is that I've decided to take a step back from the Simple Scrapper Creative Team, though I will continue on as a member! There's no drama or much to say, other than I've decided it's time to turn to attention to other things, mostly my walk with Jesus and making that my focus. I still plan to scrap here and there and share on my creative Instagram, but changing up my priorities for a bit :)

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.

Simple Scrapper CT May Layouts

Happy Monday after National Scrapbook Day, hope you had a nice "holiday" and weekend! In case you want to continue the crafty fun, this month's membership materials are up and ready over at Simple Scrapper and they really got my brain a nice creative workout this month! For this first layout I used one of the new sketch templates posted this month (every month there are 5 new ones), and one thing about this month's that stood out were there was lots of room to journal. I realized I would definitely need a place to record this story about how Natalie had a temper tantrum in the middle of Belle's performance at Magic Kingdom and we had to make a quick exit... and it was pouring rain when we got outside etc etc... let's just say it was CRAZY and probably the craziest public spectacle I've been a part of since I was a kid myself... I think!

Anyway, for this next layout, I started with a Story Starter, for which the theme this month was "leisure time". I love the different types of layouts I get when I start with a story in mind versus my pictures. After I decided on my story or basic idea of one, I found some pictures, all of them were me doing various work at my scrap table in the basement haha! I ended up telling a different story after collecting the pictures and realizing that I tend to have company when I do my work - in the form of Jesus, Chris, or Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men haha! I used an older sketch template to complete the layout, which made it super fast to come up with the design and layout.

Next up, let's talk about the latest (and FREE) event over at Simple Scrapper!

The membership at Simple Scrapper offers tools and support to help you enjoy scrapbooking more – to use the supplies you have, tell your stories, and have some fun among like-minded friends. The best way to experience our community for yourself is at the upcoming Photo Crush event. During this 7-day challenge, Jennifer Wilson will help you streamline your photo library so that memory keeping is even easier.

Click here to sign up for FREE.

Let me repeat myself, it was what they were ORDERED to do! OK I've been watching too much A Few Good Men on repeat lately. I meant, that last part - Jennifer Wilson will help you streamline your photo library so that memory keeping is even easier! I definitely will be participating in this event right alongside you guys, so I am excited to take hold of my photo library, which is just out of control right now, oh and it's free, which is super generous of her! The event runs next week, May 11-17th, so hope to see you there!

P.S. If you're on Instagram, don't forget to check out my Instagram feed and also feel free to tag #SimpleScrapper and for the Photo Crush event, use #SSPhotoCrush :)

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.