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!
 

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!
 

A Sophisticated and Elegant Palette!

Color Combos Galore Challenge 167 is now live! Here's the palette I prepared for this week. I was afraid nobody would play because everyone on the CCG Design Team jokes that they hate purple. But the purple is really more of a plum, so play they did! Lots of gorgeous contributions for the reveal!

And here's the page I made for this challenge.

I had lengthy journaling, so I put part of it on the front and continued on the back. Here's the journaling in its entirety:

This picture is dated 1937, which means you were 17 or 18 here. You look so young and pretty, a little carefree and coquettish, sitting on a wall downtown. I wonder why you were all dressed up, and who was taking your picture? You spent your teenage years during the Great Depression. I cannot imagine what that was like. How did you keep your spirit alive during those dreary times? Did you have time for frivolous fun? Did you giggle and gossip with girlfriends, like I did when I was in high school? What was on your mind during those days? Did you dream about a bright, hopeful future, as I so often did when I was a teen? Were you head over heels in love, as I was when I was your age? Looking at this young picture of you, Gram, knowing how vivacious and full of life you've always been, makes me feel so grateful that those dismal Depression years didn't break your spirit.

Here are a few closeups. The Bayberry Cottage papers by Pink Paislee were perfect for this palette, and the paper had so many interesting designs that I decided to highlight them by cutting them apart. The Designer's Challenge was to use pleating. I pleated the tulle and stitched it onto my page. At the last minute, I added the green lace under the border, so only a little of the tulle is showing, but I think it adds a lot of fun texture.

Here's a closeup that shows another Pink Paislee paper I cut up. Those black dots are Enamel Accents by Ranger that I added around the picture to frame it and add some more texture.

The shape that the title sits on is an old Foofala rub-on that I've had in my stash for eons. The foam letters are by EK Success.

I had a little space left on my journaling spot, so I added a strip of paper I cut from an old Foofala print: 

Come check out what the rest of the team did with this beautiful combo, and I hope you'll play this week! Thank you for reading about my page!

Another WIP Layout

Today I'd like to share another layout I made using the November Work in Progress kit. I think Trish had autumn in mind when she put this kit together, but to me, it's so much more versatile than that. The Making Memories Paper Reverie seemed perfect for this heritage photo of my great uncle, who I never got to meet because he was killed in World War II. My Gram always talks about him with fondness, and my mom was named after him. It makes me sad that even my mom never got to meet him. (If you click on my page, you can read my journaling better.)

I love the design on that ledger paper. The black doily designs were printed on the opposite side of the paper, but since I scrap 8 x 8, I couldn't get both the bordered design and the larger doilies on my page, so I cut one out and tucked it behind the photo and journaling block. The orange sparkly border was cut oof of the edge of one of the die-cut papers that came in the kit.

I thought the title needed a little something extra, so I cut a swirly design from of that same sparkly die-cut paper and added it to the title. The ledger letters are from the Making Memories Paper Reverie collection and come in the kit.

Once I had adhered everything, I felt lik the page was top-heavy and I had left too much space at the bottom. That's when I decided to add the punched border at the bottom. I love "happy accidents" like that. Had I adhered everything lower on the page, I would never have added that border, and I think it adds so much. At the last minute, I added the pearls.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and looking at my work! I'll share some more WIP layouts later in the week.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

I logged on to Two Peas this morning, always my first stop when I hop onto the computer, and to my surprise, there was my layout right on the homepage, in the banner at the top! So fun!

Here's a view of the whole page, which I made for Color Combos Galore. That's my Gram, back in 1937. On Easter, she told me all about how she worked at a chocolate factory. I'm going to write all the details of her story on the back of the layout.


Here's the color swatch I was working with: