A Soft and Subtle Palette (With a Kick of Color) at Color Combos Galore

Challenge #173 went live last night at Color Combos Galore, and it was by far the most challenging challenge I think. Our motto is to "step outside your box," and that's how I wanted to round out the year! Here's our inspiration board:

And here's the page I made. It's for my book called "Reasons," which documents all the little random reasons I love Farzad. I thought the Hollywood Vogue collection by Webster's Pages was perfect for this palette.

And here are some closeups. I totally forgot about the mesh part of the challenge and had to go back and add that. I was so mad because my original photograph of my layout was PERFECTLY straight, which is a nearly impossible feat for me.

I added some pearls to the chandelier. I contemplated adding some glitter to those globes, but I was afraid to mess them up. I may still go back and add some.

The new glittery green Thickers I just bought were perfect for that evergreen color. I don't have much forest green in my stash.

 

Thank you for looking at my layout. Go check out what the rest of the team did with this palette. I'm always in awe at what everyone creates and how we all interpret the same challenge in so many different ways. I hope you'll play along. This is the last challenge for December--and the last crack at winning the awesome December kit from Work in Progress Kits!



Creative Prompts for You

I'm not very prompt sharing my last two layouts created for Creative Prompts for You, but we're taking a little holiday break, so here they are.

The first one is based on this interesting ad that Wendy selected:

I used my December Work in Progress kit to make this page. I took inspiration from the prompt by using a black background and a black and white photograph of my grandmother when she was young. I also used yellow and (off) white as my main colors. The yellow flower in the bottom corner reminded me of the chipboard flowers I used, but I placed them in the opposite corner. The composition of the inspiration piece inspired my design, with the photo on the left, the journaling on the right, and the title above them. I used the bracket and the chipboard lady to mimic the doorway framing the photo.



And Challenge #46 was a multiple prompt, where we had to use a one word title, use only patterned papers, use hand sewing, and use at least 1 stamp. Here's what I made:

Go check out all the awesome creations by the CP4U team, and I hope you'll play along. You have until the January 6th to submit your creation based on this challenge. Our next prompt will be posted on January 6th.

This month's winner will be randomly selected of all the participant entries for the entire month. This month's prize is a $10 gift certificate donated by Your Next Stamp and also a chance to guest design with our team for February 2011.

A Cheerful and Merry Palette at Color Combos Galore

Challenge No. 172 went live on Thursday night at Color Combos Galore, and it's a cheerful, yummy challenge:

I love the addition of yellow to this traditional Christmas palette!

We've been having windy and snowy and frigid weather lately, so I've been having to photograph my layouts indoors, which doesn't give the best image of my pages, but here's what I made. The photos were from last Christmas. The flowers aren't quite as vibrant in real life--they're closer to the yellow in the CCG palette.

Come check out what the rest of the team created with this palette, and I hope you'll play--Work in Progress kits is our December sponsor, so you might win the wonderful December kit, which features Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934.

An Elegant, Wintry Palette at Color Combos Galore!

Challenge 171 is live at Color Combos Galore, and we have a beautiful, frosty palette this week:

It's been the coldest December I can remember in a long time, and we've got snow on the ground today, but nothing beats last winter, when we had two monster storms that kept schools closed for two whole weeks. The CCG palette was perfect for finally documenting last winter. I had to photograph it inside because of the awful weather we've been having, so it's not the best picture of my layout:

Here are a few close-ups:

Those letter stickers are actually dark blue. I thought the Crate Paper print looked like frosty snowballs. The snowflake over the o in the title is from a package of cute sparkly Jolee's snowflakes I recently picked up.

The swirl is a K&Co sticker. It has a sparkly, frosty texture that was perfect for my page.

I got a chance to dig out those old beaded snowflakes by Jolee's that I've had in my stash forever.

And here's a picture of the ribbon I used for the Designer's Challenge.

 Thank you for looking at my page. Head over to Color Combos Galore to see the amazing work from the rest of the design team, and I hope you'll play along. These challenges are so much fun, and as an added bonus, you could win the awesome December kit from Work in Progress!

A Classic Holiday Palette at Color Combos Galore--With a Twist

Challenge #170 is live at Color Combos Galore! We continue our December holiday theme with the classic holiday colors of green and red, only we've added cream and chestnut brown:

I was pressed for time last weekend, so I combined my CCG challenge with the How Much Is Too Much challenge, which I called "It's About Time" and plays off of the numbers related to time. We had to use:

• 60 minutes/seconds - total number of elements on your page
• 24 hours - 24 words in your journaling
• 365 days - 3 word title; 6 stickers; 5 rub-ons
• 12 numbers on a clock - 12 brads, buttons, and/or eyelets
• 7 days a week - 7 patterned papers
• plus: include a clock/watch accent

I had to photograph my layout inside because the weather wasn't cooperating, so the colors look a little off, but here it is anyway:

 
Come play with us at CCG and HMITM. There's fun prizes to be won! Our sponsor at CCG this month is Work in Progress kits, so if you've been eyeing the kit I used to make the layouts in my earlier posts this month, that's what you have a chance to win!
 

I Love Lucy!

Well, actually, I love my husband and that he loves cheesy photo ops! So that gave me the idea to start an album featuring all these goofy snapshots. I made this page with the awesome December Work in Progress kit, which I believe hasn't yet sold out. I am totally in love with Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 collection, and it's featured in this kit. Here's another page I made with it (all the supplies except the brads and stamp came in the kit):

Aren't those chipboard banners cool? I mounted mine on black cardstock to make them stand out more against the patterned paper. I layered a border that came from the sticker sheet over them to give them a connection to my photo.

The title letters were punched from one of the patterned papers that came in the kit.

A stamp from my favorite stamp company, Catslife Press. (I asked if they'd make a stamp saying "Reason No. because I'm making this book of Reasons--all the little reasons I love my husband, and they made this stamp, as well as a circular one with journaling lines at my request.)

I just adore this collection, and I'm so happy Trish packed this kit so full because even after six layouts with lots of stuff piled on, I still have tons left! Thanks for visiting my blog and reading about my page!

Another WIP Layout to Share

I'd like to share another page I made with the fabulous December Work in Progress Kit. It's definitely my favorite kit yet!

I'm an 8 x 8 scrapper. And I like to tell stories on my pages. And I like to add lots of pretty stuff on my pages. And Work in Progress gives me LOTS of pretty stuff to put on my pages. So that often presents me with a dilemma--how to fit it all on that small canvas.

Enter Cosmo Cricket tear-off strips. I try to include my stories on the front of my page, but when I just can't cram it on, I resort to hidden journaling. I'm sure you've noticed those nifty little sayings that Cosmo Cricket prints on their bar-code strips that tell you there's another pattern on the reverse side. I often use those on my pages to indicate there's more to read on the back.

I did this on my Woe is Me page, with the little strip that says "for the rest of the story...." I added some other clues that hint at the hidden journaling: I added the word "over" using the cool Jenni Bowlin letters on the Elle's Studio journaling spot, both of which are in the kit this month. I also cut out one of the designs from the patterned paper leaving one of the curvy elements on it, that to me looked sort of like an arrow. And I added the "Laugh Out Loud" (you'll understand why in a moment) cut out from the Circa 1934 Borders along with a chipboard pen nib, which also served as a sort of arrow.

In case you're wondering, here's my journaling: A sprained ankle with purple toes. Seriously bad hair day. Mammoth zit on my face the day before parent-teacher conferences (great timing--I never get zits anymore!). I was in no mood for theater going, but Farzad had bought tickets for us to see Hair, so off we went. I couldn't walk because I had just taken a fall two days before, and the thought of hobbling around on crutches was the last thing I wanted to do. All I wanted to do was sit on the sofa with ice on my foot, but I couldn't disappoint Farzad. He was such a good sport and wheeled me around the Kennedy Center. He's gifted at reading my mind and knew just the thing to bring me out of my foul mood by racing me up and down the halls of the Kennedy Center in that wheelchair, pretending he was going to run over people. I'm giggling right now as I write this! {photo taken on October 31, 2010; journaling written on November 27, 2010}

Here are a couple of close-ups of my layout:

I just love all the chipboard pieces in the kit. I used a ton on my projects, and I still have a bunch left!

Thank you for reading about my page! I'll share some others I made with this kit later in the week.

A Shiny, Happy Palette at Color Combos Galore!

Challenge #169 is Live at Color Combos Galore! We have a brand-new theme for this month, and we have an awesome sponsor--Work in Progress Kits! Here's the shiny, happy palette I came up with for this week:

And here's my page. I actually combined it with the challenge at How Much Is Too Much this week because I was pressed for time. For that challenge, we had to make a holiday-themed page and include 4 tags, 1 heart, and 12 buttons. Our CCG Designer's Challenge was to add sparkle and shine to our page--I think I went a little overboard, LOL.  That's me in the middle, between my little sister and my cousin.

Here are a few closeups. The 4 tags part of the HMITM challenge stumped me because I always have a hard time with tags, for some reason. I decided to include our ages on tiny jewlery tags.

I cut along the diamond shapes in the Pink Paislee paper to create a fat Christmas tree and added lots and lots of jewels and pearls. I had just recently found the yellow K & Co. snowflakes on Clearance at Michael's, and they were the perfect color for this combo--plus they are glittery!

I got to use lots of old paper on this page, including the textured yellow paper, which was the perfect shade of yellow--I've had that paper in my stash for at least 10 years! For the 12 button part of the challenge, I added 12 tiny buttons and topped them with pink pearls. I also found these cool K & Co. borders on clearance. Some of the colors were a little strange, so I just used the back, which is white.

Thank you for looking at my page! Be sure to head over to HMITM and CCG to see the design teams' beautiful creations, and I hope you'll play in both challenges for the great prizes that are up for grabs (HMITM monthly RAK is a 2Peas gift certificate; CCG prize for December is the awesome Work in Progress December kit!)

Work in Progress December Layouts Revealed!

The Work in Progress December gallery went live today, so I can start sharing my layouts! This month's kit is probably my favorite so far! And I don't think it's sold out yet, so if you want to grab it, you can get it here.

Here's my favorite layout I made with this kit. The Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 was, of course, perfect for heritage pictures. The little girl is my mom, and that's my Gram, her husband, and her parents in the picture. I haven't had time to journal yet, but I'm going to write my thoughts on the back of the page.

Here are a few detail photos of this page: That sheet of chipboard stickers has so many pieces! I really layered them onto all six of the pages I made, and still have quite a few pieces left!

I made this next page for Creative Prompts for You. It was my turn to choose the inspiration piece, and this is what I chose:

And here is the page I made, using  the December Work in Progress Kit. The little houses are from a previous WIP kit.

The inspiration piece inspired the overall design, colors, the details, and the theme of my page. The blue wall with the white molding is imitated by my polka dot strip. The mesh in the windows inspired my use of the grid paper. My transparency strip was inspired by the windows. I added the leaves when I noticed the potted plant sitting on the windowsill. I drew several of my details from the photo--the little row of houses, the frames, the clock. My journaling on the back talks about how I've reread my favorite book, Alias Grace, several times.

Here are a few closer looks at this page:
 

Thank you for stopping by and looking at my work! I will share some more about my other layouts in the next couple of days.

 
Oh, and if you'd love a chance to WIN this awesome kit, come play with us at Color Combos Galore this month--Work in Progress is our generous sponsor this month!