Journaling Lists

I am a freak about making lists! I make a list for everything! Last summer I was making a list for our vacation of what to pack. Know what #1 was on my list?? "Make a list of groceries." My husband thinks I'm a complete dork! I just love the order and thought process involved in making lists. Once I've made a list I feel more organized and ready.

Why not bring that list into journaling on a layout?! Instead of writing out a story or complete sentences, make a list of things that were involved within the layout. Some examples include: child's birthday wishes, vacation necessities, or a "to do" list. I could even do a layout ABOUT my list making obsession!

My favourite item to use on layouts lately is fabric strips. I had this bag of misc. fabric strips left over from a make-n-take that I didn't know what I was going to use them for. A few weeks later while working on a page I need some dark red and wanted some texture, glancing around my workspace I spied the bag fabric ribbons hanging off a shelf.

I love the tattered ends and shaggy bits hanging off the fabric ribbon. Now when I'm wandering the craft stores I take a walk through the fabric dept. looking for fat quarters to add to my stash.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

If you, your spouse, son, daughter, parent, etc., serves for our country, THANK YOU! It's because of those who serve that we live the free life we do.

Now, for your Blog inspiration today....take a photo of something you are doing today and scrap it. Whether you're working in the yard, grilling out, gathering with family and friends, going to a parade....whatever it might be, scrap this Memorial Day 2008!

6x12 or 12x6

There's a new layout size making a buzz in the scrapworld...and it's 6x12 or 12x6's! These layouts are fun to do and give a whole different look to our normal 8x8, 8.5x11 or 12x12's. And it's easy....just cut that 12x12 in half! Some people think, "oh I have to have a 6x12 album to scrap one of those pages". Well, I don't have a 6x12 album and I've been creating a lot of these layouts. If you want to put them in an album you can, just hand stitch a closure at the 6" mark of a 12x12 page protector. One layout will slip right in the top and then make a slit on the bottom right side of the "closed" part of the page protector and slip one in from the side! But give this size a try, I think you'll love it!

Scrapping Journal

Do you find yourself thinking about scrapping at strange times? I find myself finding inspiration while watching tv all the time. I also find myself falling asleep with ideas and visions floating in my head. The problem is that I always forget my grand ideas when I try to think of them later. So, I finally started a scrapping journal. Anything and everything goes into this journal. Journaling ideas, quotes, challenges, sketches....anything! It's such a great reference to have when I decide to start a layout. I find myself sitting outside while watching the kids, just flipping through my journal and taking notes--what pictures would work, combining different ideas, paper ideas, etc, etc. Once I get to my scrap table I'm all set to go! If you are on the go and constantly on a time crunch when it comes to scrapping--try creating a journal! You can take your "layout planning" with you!

For my journal I picked up a cheap $2 small notebook at the drug store. I covered it and decorated it.

Scraplift yourself

When it seems I've "lost my scrappin' mojo", I pull out one of my scrapbooks and look through the pages. Then I pull out one of the layouts and turn it 90 degrees and create a sketch for a new page.


I had to go & search for the sketch, sorry its not the best but it shows my "style". I picked up the title, paper & photo placement and added the circle to the bottom right.



This is the page I made with the sketch.

Notice the circle on the bottom right & picture placement.

And here is a card made with the sketch, again I picked up on the circle.

Have some fun with cardboard.....

We get them every month with our kits...those big 'ol usps boxes! Most of us probably just throw them in the recycle bin, but STOP! Don't throw it out this time....take it apart and use it on your pages....On the first layout, I actually cut out pieces and recreated my house, then placed a photo of my house on the "front porch". On the second one I ripped a piece of the box, inked/painted it and then placed my photo, embellies, etc. On the last layout, I actually used a piece of the box as the base page for my layout. I ripped off the top paper layer so you could see the corrugated board, then inked/painted over it and finished the layout on top of it. You can use it as a mat for your photo, you can use it as the base page for your layout....have some fun and think of it as doing good for the community because you're recycling!

Teacher Appreciation day

Today is Teacher Appreciation Day, I forgot to take a picture of the frames I did this year (I take one when I pick ds up from school) so here are the clipboards I did last year. The teachers still use them everyday and they have held up great.

I covered the chipboards pattern paper & rub-ons using Liquitex Gloss medium as the glue. It tries tack free which is very important in humidity central. The last step was adding colour matching ribbons that I looped instead of tying a knot.

I'll update this afternoon with the cute picture frames.

Bighugelabs.com

Here's a site that I was made aware of this past weekend by a scrappy friend. BigHugeLabs It's a great site for putting your pictures into frames, mosaics, puzzles, film strips and much more. I love the way film strips look in layouts, so I took some photos of my son and his friend getting ready to go fishing, uploaded them to Big Huge Labs, turned them into film strips and printed them out. There's a ton of neat stuff....so take some time and check it out!