Love Is In the Air {at HMITM}

I meant to post this last Monday, on Valentine's Day, but the week ran away from me. Our current challenge at How Much Is Too Much is called "Love Is in the Air," and it's a fun one! Here's the clever challenge Debbie Fitzgerald posed:

• Create a layout about someone (or something) you love.
• Use 2 photos and 14 hearts.
• The colors of the layouts should be predominantly red and brown. (think about those boxes of chocolate!)
• Use an arrow somewhere on your page (think Cupid!)
• Incorporate a flower or two on your page (like those expensive rose bouquets)
• Use ribbon or frills (Did you know that ribbons were given to knights by their beloveds before they went off to battle?)

You still have a full week to play. And in case you didn't know, for 2011, we've added a little twist to our challenge: We will choose a player each month to be our guest designer for a future month. So fun!

Here's the page I made. I dug out some old BasicGrey (Sugared and Infuse) to make my page. The most challenging part for me was the 14 hearts, but I finally figured out how to incorporate all of them into my design. And when I first read that we had to use red and brown as our main colors, I didn't think I'd like it, but I really love the way the colors look with the black and white photos. I added private journaling on the back of my layout. Farzad and I have been together for 30 Valentine's Days. We'll be celebrating our 30th anniversary this July!

A few close-ups. The pretty brad is by Making Memories, and the tan chipboard hearts are Maya Road.

I originally didn't have those striped strips of paper beside the photos, but I was stumped about how to include more hearts, so this did the trick. I trimmed a few from the paper, inked the edges and scattered them around my page to make up the required number of hearts. I snuck a little BasicGrey glazed brad that had hearts on the side to count for one of my 14 heart elements.

The sparkly chipboard heart is Making Memories, and that brad is really old--by SEI.

For my arrow, I used an old 7 Gypsies photo turn, topped with a pearl brad.

Come by HMITM and see what the rest of the team did with this challenge. So fun to see everyone's different interpretations of the same challenge! I hope you'll play along, too! Thank you for visiting my blog and reading about my page!

January Work in Progress Layouts

I'm way late in sharing my layouts I made with the January Work in Progress kit! Back to school week after winter break always wipes me out, and I had three late nights, with Weight Watchers, my book club, and the Color Combos Galore reveal.

I had planned to work mainly with the main kit, and I bought the Project kit because it had the new Crate Paper Snow Day, and I didn't have any of that. Once I started working with these fun papers, I couldn't stop working with those delicious candy-colored papers and whimsical accents!

Here's one of the pages. I added a little spray ink to the side. I love that little chipboard string of lights! Everything on this page came in the add-on kit except for the spray ink, glittery leaves (which I bought at Michael's after Christmas last year), and the micro-brads.

Here are a couple of detail photos. This one shows those sparkly leaves I was talking about. Don't you love that BasicGrey fabric brad with the jewel in the center? A whole pack came in the kit, so I have lots more to work with.

I needed some sparkle at the top, so I stuck three Glue Dots on my cardstock and pressed some Martha Stewart glitter onto them, which in real life matches the sparkly leaves.

Here's another page I made with the project kit. This is a page for the album I'm making about my weight-loss journey.

And here are some close-ups. I stitched around that circle multiple times and then added dots of Enamel Accents by Ranger.

I added some sparkle by applying Stickles to some of the chipboard pieces that came in the kit.

 Like I said, I got carried away with the bright colors of the Crate Paper in the project kit. I will share the other pages later.

So I only made one page with the main kit, but here is that page. I altered the picture in Picnik to give it an artsy look because it wasn't a great photo.

And a couple of details... I loved the trims Trish included in the kit. So pretty! I added green snowflakes cut out of one of the Fancy Pants papers that came in the project kit, along with some old Jolee's snowflakes. I love those things and I always pick up a pack whenever I see them. They're sometimes hard to find!

I pleated the satin ribbon that came in the kit and stitched it onto the page.

These were really fun kits to work with! Sorry they're sold out--you gotta snatch them when you see them because WIP kits tend to sell out quickly!

Thank you for stopping by and reading about my pages!

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!

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.

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!
 

Another Work in Progress Page

As I said in my last post, I think October is my favorite Work in Progress kit yet! I made three more layouts, and I would've done a lot more if I'd had time--there's so much cool stuff in this kit!

Hidden journaling reads:  Since our new TV doesn't have a clock on it, Farzad went in search of a clock for our family room. But when you're a gadget guy, an ordinary clock won't do. No, you need a fancy-schmancy, bells-and-whistles kind of clock.

Clock number one was the "Floating Message" clock from Brookestone. It has this arm that moves back and forth at lightning speed and displays not only the time, date, and temperature, but other messages you can program. The only problem: you have to sit and wait for the dumb thing to go through all those messages before you see the time. I just want a clock to tell me what time it is! So back it went to Brookestone.

Clock number two was the obedient clock. You were supposed to ask it what time it was and it was supposed to reply. The only problem: this clock wasn't obedient, unless you were right in front of it and didn't have a Persian accent. That one went back in the box.

Clock number three was the projector clock. This gadget shines the time on the celing. The only problem: you have to be right under the image to see it. Oh, and the room has to be dark. Yep, that one went back, too. So now, I am still clock-less. Can't we just get a plain-old clock that tells time? Nope, says my gadget guy. The quest continues.

My  layout started with the clock border in the kit. And then I noticed that the street map paper had all these 24s in circles on the, which seemed perfect (24 hours). I decided this would be the perfect kit to tell the funny story of the clock quest, and all the road-signs from the BasicGrey Wander collection were perfect, since Farzad's quest to find the perfect clock had him running all over town.

I knew I wanted to use that cute chipboard airplane, so I used it to hold part of my title. I mounted the Jenni Bowlin Stickers on a piece of the ribbon tape that came in the kit. It was bright yellow, so I inked it to make it match the gold-yellow in the paper and embellishments. I love those great big bold BasicGrey letters that came in the kit and I outlined them with black pen to make them even bolder.

 

I had to include a big clock somewhere on my, so I raided my stash and found this Maya Road sheer clock. The BasicGrey cog sticker with the arrows was perfect to go on top of it. Since he was sort of going round and round in circles looking for the perfect clock.I cut out the "Wander" title from the tear strip of the paper--it perfectly described what Farzad was doing!

There is an update to the story. Farzad found a clock that I can read from my scrap room. It looks like a plain digital alarm clock with big red letters. I thanked him profusely for getting a plain clock that I can read. It wasn't until that evening when we were watching TV that I looked up on the ceiling and there was the time projected! My sneaky gadget guy!

Creative Prompts for YOU!

...and it should've also been for me, but I goofed! There was an "all play" challenge at Creative Prompts for You, hosted by Team A, and I'm on Team B. I had a total bonehead moment when I thought the all play was for all of team A. Sigh. It's a really fun challenge and I missed it. Here's the challenge, crafted by Team A:

Nicole - use twine
Ro - use some masking tape.
Regiane - use tissue paper
Natalie - use paint to make a mess!

I did play last week, though, and that was a cool challenge too (they're ALWAYS cool challenges at CP4U). Here was that prompt:

And here's what I came up with. The theme of the fashion photos obviously inspired the topic of my layout. This is a layout for an album documenting my weight-loss journey. I've lost almost 60 pounds so far, and it's a major accomplishment that I'm wearing jeans!

This was a tricky challenge for me since the first thing that drew my eye was all the neutrals. I love to scrap with lots of color. I chose muted colors along with lots of neutrals for my layout. The trio of narrow, vertical photographs inspired the basic composition of my layout. I took some details from the clothing to embellish my page. From the first picture, I drew from the blue carpet (yes, I admit--I staged the photo and wore a blue shirt that I thought matched the blue in the inspiration piece). The boots in the second photo led me to add the row of brads on the right side of my page. The fuzzy collar on her coat reminded me of all those crazy fibers I just had to buy when they were all the rage but are now gathering dust, so I added some fuzzy fiber to the dress form. The belt in the third photo inspired me to dig out an old metal buckle that's been languishing in my stash for years.

Overall, I was trying to add elements that felt like fabric. The plaid patterned paper reminds me of fabric; the ribbon, lace, and silk flower are all made of fabric; and the chipboard dress form has a fabric finish. Finally, I added those word stickers saying "Fabulous" because that's what I always imagine fashion designers and fashion photographers saying as the models are strutting down the runway!

Go check out what the team did for this challenge and the current challenge. Be sure to give the current challenge a try--there's a chance at winning a gift certificate to My Little Bit of Whimsy.

Back to School with Color Combos Galore

Challenge 159 is live at Color Combos Galore. Our inspiration images for September all center around school. Here's our current Color Combo:

I just recently made a layout with some school portraits, so I wanted to use something different. This picture was taken on Halloween at school last year. I swear that "Goodbye Blue" looks black to me. I guess I goofed on this one!

I used the Joyland kit by Studio Calico for this page, plus some stuff from my stash. I added a stamped transparency to the frame to make it look like windows, as inspired by the school bus windows.

The BasicGrey chipboard bees were a natural accent for this page, since my teammate was dressed as a bumblebee.

I printed my journaling and that ribbon shape on my printer using the RGB codes on the palette, but I didn't like the way it looked, so I scuffed it up a bit with sandpaper. The chipboard letters were off-white, and I wanted them to be yellow, so I stamped with distress ink and added clear embossing powder.

The black circular element is a label that seals the Studio Calico bags. I always save them because they're so pretty. I was happy to finally use one. And I always save the fun advertising cards and the "packed by" cards that come in the kit. I used one on this page (the little vintage boy image).

I hope you'll play along and come see what the rest of the team did with this combo (they all realized it was blue, LOL).

Some More Work In Progress layouts

I loved the variety of stuff in the September Work in Progress kit! Trish has such a knack for combining extremely varied elements that complement each other. I didn't plan it this way, but after I was done with my September pages, I discovered almost all of them were about childhood memories.

Here's my first page. I've had this photograph printed out, waiting to be scrapped forever, but couldn't decide just how I wanted to scrap it--there are so many stories in that picture. As I was leafing through my pictures, I thought the colors in this photo would work well with the papers in the kit. I stared and stared at the photo, trying to think of a story to tell. And I kept coming back to Mom's face and posture. And the story came. I just love the Kaiser Craft chipboard accents and envelopes that came with the kit.

This next page is a makeover of an older page I made. Every once in a while, I like to re-do older pages. I know that sounds weird, but really, sometimes I just HATE my older pages.

I always love the unique little extras that Trish packs into her kits. I never would think of buying burlap, so I loved receiving that in the kit. That cute little felt bicycle just begged to be used, and I decided to perch a little bird cut out of the Cosmo Cricket paper. His bowtie is from the kitestring paper. The twine holding the sign is actually a bit of the burlap that frayed off. The buttons are from the Kaiser Craft chipboard elements in the kit.

I made my next page for Color Combos Galore. Here is the palette I was working with:

We were asked to work with this sketch, from Scrapbooks Etc.:

And here's what I came up with. I've also had this picture on my desk for a long time. The colors are so weird, but I think this palette was perfect for it.

Here's another page featuring a random childhood memory.

I had a long title and a lot of journaling and a lot of other elements on here, so I decided to use the tiny letter stickers, but they were sort of getting lost on my layout, so I decided to hang them on a banner.

That little bunny on the chipboard piece looked so sad and perfect for the story on my page, so I decided to use him for the "random memory No." that I always like to put on my pages. I printed out the Random Memory No. 173 on my inkjet printer, but the ink wasn't drying, so I went over the letters with a pen.

I love how Cosmo Cricket always has interesting things printed on their barcode strips, and the "Making Plans" title of the paper was perfect for my story.

This really is a wonderful kit, packed with cool papers and elements, and I think there are a still few left!