New Zealand Album #1 - Video Flip Through

Happy Scrappy Sunday everyone!  Just stopping in to say that I have a new video up on my YouTube channel showcasing my completed first half of my New Zealand album.  Most of the pages were created using Club Scrap materials and Assembly Line Scrapbooking, but I have some Studio Calico kits and other collections thrown in there for good measure.

I've blogged about some of these layouts before, so if you would like to see still images, check out these posts here:

Casito Miro and Day 1 Title Page

Autumn in Arrowtown, Exploring Queenstown, Day One in Queenstown, and Flying over Queenstown

Gibbston Valley Winery, Down on the Farm, Valley View, Land of the Long White Cloud, Jason's Adventure

A Room with a View

The Boiler Room and Ice Ice Baby

Welcome to Fergburger

Bridge Photoshoot, Glenorchy Daytrip, and Day 3 Title Page

It's All in the Details

Waiheke Beach, Good Morning, Abel Tasman Hike, It's Easy Being Green, Above Abel Tasman, Akstern Bay, A Flippin' Good Time, Back to the Beginning, At the End of the Day

Hope you might get some inspiration to use up your ALSB layouts you have waiting for the perfect pictures!

April Goals

So at work, I am totally all about making lists and crossing things off those lists in order to keep myself organized. (You should see my grocery list - it's grouped by sections in the order I hit them in the store.  And my packing lists for trips?  Organized by outfits, toiletries, electronics - yeah, I know I'm crazy.)  I'm really trying to get a handle on what I need to do creatively as well, so I figure a list would help here too!

Luckily, the lovely ladies at the Club Scrap message board help to keep you on track by talking about their monthly goals on the forum.  I figure if I post my goals for April here and over there, maybe I will finish some of them up!

So for April, I'm hoping to:

1. Meet the goal for the layout challenge at Club Scrap (8 1-page layouts, or 4 2-page layouts, or a combination of both)
2. Get my project ready for the Hydrangeas blog hop at the end of the month.
3. Get my cards completed and in the mail for the birthday card swap.
4. Edit my backlog of photos and figure out which ones need printing.
5. Brainstorm for May's blog hop (I have an idea brewing already...)
6. Organize my craft room - I'm starting out with one hour of organization a week, 'cause really?  Not much more than that is actually going to take place.  Keepin' it real, here.
7. Catch up on the kits I have to ALSB.
8. Organize all of my fonts, printables, cut files, etc. on my computer.

So I have a start on the first goal, at least.  This past weekend I got a few layouts done - one 2-page layout and one 1-page layout with some Club Scrap kits, and one layout with a Studio Calico kit.  I'm still catching up on my New Zealand photos, but I'm getting towards the end!  Mostly.  Kind of.  We'll see.

Bridge Photoshoot - both pages together

Bridge Photoshoot (Left) - Papers: Club Scrap Hopes, Aspen; Stencil: Club Scrap Solstice; Stamp: Amy Tangerine roller date stamp; Ink: Club Scrap Lagoon; Embellishments: Club Scrap Hopes kit stickers

Bridge Photoshoot (Right) - Club Scrap Hopes, Aspen; Stencil: Club Scrap Solstice; Ink: Club Scrap Lagoon; Embellishments: Club Scrap Hopes kit stickers, Amy Tangerine Remarks Yes Please stickers

Glenorchy Daytrip - Papers: Club Scrap Full Circle Jr; Embellishments: Club Scrap  Full Circle Jr stickers

Day 3 - All materials (other than kraft background) from Studio Calico Blue Note kit.  Oh, except this roller date stamp and the wood veneer stars.

So hopefully I will be back later this month to say I accomplished all of my goals!  Fingers crossed...

Assembly Line Boot Camp - Week 7: Sparkles

Welcome back! I'm joining in for Week Seven of Club Scrap's Assembly Line Boot Camp challenge.  If you're not sure what this this, go check out the information page if you are interested, but basically this is a weekly challenge, based on a prompt, that encourages you to get going on your layouts, cards, and projects.  Plus, not only are you eligible for prizes, but each submission earns Operation Write Home a donation, so it's for a good cause, too.

This week's theme is Sparkles, and I only got a couple of pages done.  I did a ton last week, and it was a little hard to keep that momentum going when work and errands got in the way.  But there is always next week!

Assembly Line Boot Camp - Week 3: Die Cuts

Welcome back! I'm joining in for Week Three of Club Scrap's Assembly Line Boot Camp challenge.  If you're not sure what this this, go check out the information page if you are interested, but basically this is a weekly challenge, based on a prompt, that encourages you to get going on your layouts, cards, and projects.  Plus, not only are you eligible for prizes, but each submission earns Operation Write Home a donation, so it's for a good cause, too.

This week's theme is Die Cuts, and it was very easy to find die cut elements on a lot of my pre-made pages.  I also tried to challenge myself to make sure I used my electronic die cutter this week. This post will house all of my submissions this week, so be sure to click the "Come and see more!" link to see the full post and see how you can add die cuts to your projects.

Gibbston Valley Winery - Used ALSB from Concrete Jungle / Papers: orange from stash / Stamps: Concrete Jungle Jr, Amy Tangerine Today roller date stamp / Challenge Elements: Cutaparts from Concrete Jungle, "delish" frame cut from Pazzles

Down on the Farm - Used ALSB from Bugs / Papers: metallic tan from stash / Stamps: Amy Tangerine Today roller date stamp / Embellishments: Aspen Lite Woodgrain embossing folder, Amy Tangerine Remarks stickers in Baxter - brown / Challenge Elements: Cutaparts from Bugs

Valley View - both pages together

Club Scrap Blog Hop - Fire & Ice

Hi there!  Welcome to the November edition of the Club Scrap blog hop!  This month we're creating with the oh-so-hot and super-cool Fire & Ice collection.  I'm going to show you how I added some dimension to my scrapbooking pages using the stencil from the kit and some items I had in my stash.

If you traveled here from Lisa's blog, then you are following the hop!  If you've lost your way or just want to see all the links in one place, head over to the Club Scrap Creates blog to see a list of all the talented bloggers participating today.

I'm a big fan of themeless kits - I love being able to let the colors and patterns in the paper compliment my photos and let the pictures tell the story.  The great thing about Club Scrap kits is, even if there is a "theme" per se, I can always make the photos I have on hand work.  I consider this one of their themeless kits - Fire & Ice is a little abstract and the colors and patterns speak for themselves.

But this time I the perfect photos to go with the themeless theme!  Seriously.  Perfect.

Fire

 And Ice!

Yeah.  Like I said - perfect!

While we were in Queenstown, we went to an ice bar there - the bar, the chairs, the tables, even the glasses were made of ice!  We got to bundle up and hang out in negative degrees with our drinks.  Cleverly, once you were done with the ice bar, they gave you drink coupons to the bar next door - The Boiler Room!  There were cozy fireplaces all over and we warmed our hands by the open flame with drinks in hand.

I knew I wanted to try a lot of different techniques with my stencil, and one of the ideas that came to mind was using the stencil as a guide for stitching.  I poked holes at each corner of the design and then used a backstitch to sew onto the paper using craft thread I had in my stash.

Despite all of the stitching, this was a pretty relaxing process and I really like the results!  I kept the stencil in place on the paper using washi tape while I stitched - this allowed me to keep track of the pattern much easier!

I loved using this icy paper for the background paper - it really helped to convey how cold it was in there!  To add some texture to this side of the layout, I used the stencil and some home made gesso on the panels to the left.  The gesso is pretty dimensional, so it gave some interest to this side of the page.

On the right side of the layout, I carried over the stencil but used a dry embossing technique on the last panel.  Using a light board, I placed the paper over the stencil an used a stylus to gently deboss the pattern into the paper.  Flip it over, and you have handmade embossed paper!  I highlighted the embossing by swiping over the raised surfaces with a Club Scrap ink pad in Lagoon.  You can see the embossed pattern a bit better below:

This stencil was so fun to play with and I can't wait to try these techniques out with the other fabulous stencils Club Scrap has.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  Head on over to Annette Dragon's to see what project she has up her sleeve.  Don't forget to come back in December when we showcase Club Scrap's Aspen collection!

Supplies // Paper: Club Scrap Fire & Ice: Turquoise, Red, Navy, Yellow, Navy, Orange Print, 8.5x11 Orange Print, From Stash: Club Scrap White paper / Inks: Club Scrap Earth, Lagoon, Sapphire, White Pigment / Tools: Club Scrap ink applicators, Fire & Ice stencil, We R Memory Keepers Paper Piercing Tool, Embossing Stylus / Embellishments: Club Scrap: Destinations Stickers, From stash: Basic Grey Eva chipboard stickers, Thickers - Journal, Homemade Gesso, Craft Thread

Blast from the past

I'm almost done with the album for my mom's Mother's Day present.  I usually plan out albums from start to finish, but this one I just did pages based on what pictures I liked.  So I don't think it is as cohesive or chronological as my other albums are, but it's kind of nice to get out of my comfort zone.  I get to do some creative things there.

This was another layout based on a Club Scrap PSL sketch.  I think the white photo mats are meant for vertical pictures, but I didn't have any and they worked perfectly for horizontal photos cut into square photos - hello faux polaroids!

I stamped "I like to smile.  Smiling's my favorite." on the top photo with white StazOn.  It was my first time using the white StazOn and I don't think I put enough ink on the pad...but I like the idea.  Unfortunately my photo skills suck and the window's reflection is on the photo and you can really see this, but I'm too lazy to get another picture.

Paper:: Club Scrap: Aurora Borealis, Comics, Expressions/Stamp:: Club Scrap: Full Circle, Smash Date Stamp/Thickers:: Dear Lizzy/Embellies:: Club Scrap: Comfort Zone, Tim Holtz Memo Pins, Smash Clips, BoBunny bling