My Valentine (Practical Scrappers)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!  Today at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS we are sharing our Pinterest inspired Valentine Projects.  I have been saving so many cool layouts that inspire me on Pinterest that this was the perfect opportunity to do something I haven't had the fun of doing in a long time - a lift!  And not just any lift but a lift by an artist that I L-O-V-E, MAGGIE HOLMES!  I lifted this fantastic layout (did I mention I love, love, love it?):

Like the original artist, I used STUDIO CALICO papers - although I am not a member of their kit club and bought mine from a scrapbook store.

 

My layout is about my honey-bunny, who is my very favorite valentine.  I thought the travel papers were perfect for my Maya Angelou quote, and I loved creating a layout that did not use the traditional Valentine pinks and reds.  Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against the traditional colors, but my unique guy deserved something a little less...ordinary, for lack of a better word.

 

Here are some close-ups (oohing and aahing not required but always appreciated!):

My hearts were cut out using my Silhouette (of course), and I outlined them all with a black fine-tip marker.

I only glued the middle section of some of my hearts so the edges could be lifted up to add more dimension.

 

Got to have a cluster around the picture - got ta'!

 

Annnddd, I stitched all around my "earth" and added tiny brads and the stars from my punched background.

That's it for me, but head on over to PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS to see how the rest of the girls were inspired on this Day of Love!

Live Inspired - A Practical Scrappers Sketch Reveal

Today over at PRACTICAL SCRAPPERS, we have the February sketch reveal and it is another fantastic one by our Practical Scrapper, Liz Chidester!  I love her sketch, but I decided it worked better with my papers and picture if I flipped the sketch upside down and mirrored it.  Whatever direction her sketch is turned, it is fantastic!

I used a picture that I love of "my boys" taken in December along with some artsy, wonderful STUDIO CALICO papers from a couple of different collections.  I love their bold, graphic style and thought it really suited this photo of these guys doing their "inspirational album cover pose" - especially since the clouds on the background paper seemed like an extension of the sky in my photo.

 

The top right corner of the paper had several blue lines that, to me, looked like the rays of the sun (yes, even though they were blue).  So, I layered and extended those with leftover strips of paper that I machine stitched in contrasting orange.  I printed out this great Silhouette quote four times in teeny-tiny letters and further accented each "ray of sun" with bright shiny gold stars, also from Studio Calico.

 





I added a couple of punched clouds that I randomly machine stitched across to help connect the clouds on the background paper to my picture. 

My journaling extended across the bottom half of my page, from here:



to here:

 

Liz's sketch certainly inspired me this week!  Why don't you print it out and give it a try?  And if you do, feel free to leave me a comment with a link to YOUR layout (and link it on Practical Scrappers, too!) - I would love to admire what you have created!

 

Until this time tomorrow (when I show you a Valentine's layout in non-Valentine colors), happy scrapping!

Practical Scrappers January Sketch Reveal!

 

I am so excited that Practical Scrappers is bringing back sketches! With my limited time, I find myself frequently using sketches these days, even if it's just as a starting point. Something about them kicks my creative inspiration into top gear and off I go! I love the sketch posted this month by our very own, Liz Chidester. To see it and the layouts by our other wonderful Practical Scrappers, click HERE.

 

As for my layout - I saw the sketch and immediately thought of my wooden Studio Calico snowflakes that I have had for over a year.  Why?  Because even though I love them (and just about all wood veneer shapes by Studio Calico) I don't do too many winter-themed layouts living in a part of the country where we have a 50/50 chance of wearing shorts and having the AC running at Christmas time!  But Liz's sketch and these fantastic LILY BEE CHRISTMAS CHEER PAPERS practically shouted out - winter layout, winter layout!  So I decided I could have a cold-weather layout, even if we weren't actually having cold weather at the time the picture was taken.

 

 I love that the Christmas Cheer Collection included stickers that could be used to make a banner - yeah!  *doing the I-Love-Banners happy dance* I doodled on my banner, added a little bit of machine stitching, and a few splatters of mist because - well, I really, really like doodling, misting, and maching stitching. 
 

Finally, I needed to add my title and a little journaling - a new fave of mine is combining the two into a long title, especially when I get to use a combination of different of letters - like this...

That's it for me today. Hope you have as much fun playing with this sketch as I did! And if you DO create a layout, feel free to comment and leave me a link to your blog or web gallery post featuring your take on the sketch - I would love to admire YOUR creation!

It's 330 in the Morning...What Better Time to Blog?

I was going to write some wonderfully eloquent post this weekend about getting back into the swing of things with scrapbooking after being on an almost two month hiatus, but I can't sleep.  So what better to do at 330 in the morning when the rest of the world is sleeping (except for my little doggy who I swear just rolled her eyes at me before laying her head down and going back to sleep) than...blog.

This past weekend, I finally stopped cleaning and organizing and catching up on work and running around everywhere.  I sat down at my scrap table and pulled out a few packages of Studio Calico papers and goodies I bought, it seems, a lifetime ago.  I used an Amy Tan sketch from Studio Calico's 9.02.12 Sketch Challenge.

Next, I went through my camera and found these pictures of Lula giving Randy the stinkface - I don't even remember why now, but the pictures had me laughing and I knew I had to use them. 

It felt so good to sit down and spend a few hours getting lost in creativity.  I've already got several ideas (and plans) floating around in the old gray matter for a project (or two) this weekend. 

Going to try to get a little more sleep before my alarm goes off in a couple of hours.  But before I go, here are a few close-ups from my layout.

I decided to sew across the smaller sticker letters in my title.  Why?  Because I love my sewing machine and have really missed using it.  Yep.  That's all the reason I've got.  *smile*

 

Here is a Pebbles or Amercian Crafts flower that I changed a little to better fit the color scheme of my layout.  I seem to enjoy embellishing my embellishments!

 

 

LOVE these little envelopes and all of Studio Calico's wood veneer shapes.  I think I have used those shapes in almost every single layout recently.

 

 

And that's it for me.  Until next time...