I (heart) accents!

I love them, love them, love them! Can't get enough of them. Seriously...check out my basket sometime at any of my favorite scrapbook stores - gotta have everything chipboard, acetate, and sparkly! What I really do like about accents, though, is that a whole package can go a long way. A flower here, a flower there and you still have a bunch left. One of my favorite scrapbookers who has the amazing ability to use tons of accents without a page looking too busy is Jamie Waters. She's been featured in Scrapbooks Etc, Creating Keepsakes, and at 2Peas. Seriously...check out her layout gallery - it's so cute and bright and fun. Just makes you want to sit down and scrapbook!

Here I took some inspiration from her pages in one of my all-time favorite CK articles, "10 Fast and Fabulous Designs" (March 2007 issue). Layered and mixed and matched until things just "felt right" Think it turned out absolutely adorable. Guess it can't hurt there's a cute and snuggly kitten on it! Anyway, love the look and wanted to share. (P.S. This is a great way to go through your stash and use up bits and pieces of things.)

Product Listing:

Paper - (kraft) Papercut; (pink hearts) Making Memories; (pink swirl) KI Memories

Accents - (white paper ribbon) Doodlebug; (paisley rub-ons) Paper Studio; (heart/circle stickers) Heidi Grace; (paper flower, rhinestone brad, translucent photo corner, "adore"/"sweet" word sticker) Making Memories; ("S" ghost letter, ghost heart) Heidi Swapp; (button) My Minds Eye; (heart brad) Queen & Company; (foam title) American Crafts

Tools - (pen) Zig Photo Signature

Spring Fever

I love mini golfing. I might even go so far as to say it is my favorite summer pasttime. What could be better than spending a warm, sunny day out on the greens, navigating obstacles, trying to teach your significant other than you are a force to be reckoned with. It really is the best. I created this page in order to remember all the good times Adam and I had mini golfing during our days of dating. The Dells, Green Bay, Edina, Chicago, even right here in Eau Claire (Action City, of course!)...we've golfed them all!

One of the things I love most about this page is how easy it came together. I actually put this page together at a local scrapbook retreat, White's Wildwood Retreat. I had decided on colors, accents and the layout at home, packed everything up, and was able to complete the page in a short amount of time. Trust me, if you plan on going to a retreat, this is the way to do it! Hands down. Anyway, I love the layout style - bits and pieces of color and pattern. I used a fairly monochromatic scheme which helps keep the focus on the pictures. I love the title...including the brads on the dots of i's - doesn't it remind you of the colored golf balls? Another thing that I just love is the subtitle ("Seriously the best game ever"). I think subtitles like these really bring together the story of the page. When people are flipping through your scrapbooks, they may see the photos but not the stories. I like to add lead-in's like this one - I think it encourages people to read on and really feel the story. Love that about scrapbooking...telling the story. Anyway, just wanted to share this burst of summer fun on a spring-like Sunday. Have a fabulous day!

Product Listing:
Paper - (green background, green floral, green plaid) KI Memories; (yellow) Basic Grey; (Purple cardstock) Bazzill; (white cardstock) Georgia Pacific
Accents - (rub-on words) Basic Grey; (sticker photo corners and border) KI Memories; ("mini golf" title) Reminsce; ("madness" title and purple brads) Doodlebug; (green swirl brads) Queen & Co.; (white letter stickers - subtitle) Making Memories
Tools - (corner rounder) EK Success; (marker) Slick Writer by American Crafts
(Inspired by design in CK magazine - June 2007)

About Me...About Time!

I totally believe in the idea of scrapbooking about yourself. How often are YOU actually in the pictures? I've noticed that as the scrapbooker in the family, I sometimes get missed in the photographs. Granted, I've been scrapbooking since I was about 12 years old and thank goodness my Mom learned that I loved getting my picture taken - so she's been a big help in having pictures of myself in my scrapbooks. Another fun part? I thought what better way to showcase my personality than by using accents I truly love. So, after finding the perfect patterned paper, I started grabbing for my favorite accents...felt flowers, "ghost" shapes, and chipboard. And used my favorite colors of course too (pink and lime green!). So much fun.

And, on another note, sometimes it's just fun to dig out random pictures. I have taken up the Stacy Julian approach to photo storage (at least I'm in the preliminary stages of adopting this approach). Seriously...if you have not read her book, I would recommend it. Her methods are tremendous. Check it out - it may just change your perspective on photos.
















I took a closer up view of the page here so you can see all the dimension. I seriously LOVE dimension. Oh, and forgot to mention this is another page inspired by Ali. Check out her post from today...mix and match accents. Love it!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE the new My Minds Eye papers. Saw them on the website at Picture This and went to buy some immediately. There's two great lines - both of which are showcased on my blog. The colors are bright and fun. I'm positive you can find photos to go with any of them. Very cool. So now. So spring. So had to buy them all!

Product Listing:
Paper - (white) Georgia Pacific; (multi-color circle) My Minds Eye; (light yellow dot) Scenic Route
Accents - (pink gel flower, pink plastic letters, green brackets, "ghost" heart; white chipboard flower) Heidi Swapp; (pink felt flower sm) KI Memories; (sm circle bubble stkr) Heidi Grace; ("Happy" chipboard) Scenic Route; (layer felt flower, flower button) K & Company; (mini button) American Crafts
Tools - (pen) Zig Photo Signature; (border punch) Martha Stewart

Copycat!

Just another copycat. That's me. Sure, I have an original design every now and then. But I find the simplest way to get my creative juices flowing (and to have a page actually get DONE) is to find a page and copy it. Most of the time it's not an exact replicate, but copies some or all of the page elements (like the layout, the colors, the embellishments, etc).



On this one, I just LOVED the layered butterflies. While I didn't have the felt ones like Ali (hard to believe...gonna have to pick some up next time I'm at Archivers), I made what I had work.







Supply List:
Paper - (red stripe) Crate; (tan dots) Scenic Route; (teal w/ red dots) My Minds Eye; (black damask) KI Memories
Accents - (journal/accent blocks, red felt flower, puffy letter stickers) Making Memories; (acetate butterflies, teal felt flower, white paper flower) Heidi Swapp; (patterned brads) Bo Bunny; (chipboard polka-dot buttons and silver chipboard flourish) Colorbok; (chipboard butterflies & mini heart, printed quote) K & Company; (gem) Kaiser Craft; ("everyday" stamp) Technique Tuesday; (ink) Stazon; (marker) Zig Photo Signature
Tools - (scallop border punch - no holes) Stampin' Up!; (scallop border punch w/holes) Martha Stewart; (corner rounder) EK Success

My inspiration...from the March 2009 Studio A column of Creating Keepsakes. Note the layered butterflies on one page and the shaped paper accent on the other. Copied a little here, a little there to make it completely my own. Thanks for the inspiration, Ali!

Another take...

Knew I could find one. This is another example of the same layout style...same sketch, new result. Again, I used multiple patterns...my signature ;)

One thing you may notice about my pages is that I don't usually use "cute" embellishments. Sure, I may buy them...and collect them...but rarely use them. Here I bought them on purpose. We had just gotten a new Wii (a wedding gift to ourselves) and brought it along for the family Thanksgiving celebration. It would be perfect - a page to celebrate the joy of Wii bowling! These adorale and perfectly themed diecuts from Pebbles were just the ticket! I also took a trick from Stacy Julian's "Big Picture Scrapbooking" idea book. Loved her page using magic mesh...yes, magic mesh. (Remember when you just had to have the stuff?!) Anyway, just wanted to prove the point that one layout can be used multiple times without feeling old or repeated. Pretty cool concept, don't you think?

Product Listing:

Paper - (green lined & green plain textured) KI Memories; (dark green pattern) Scenic Route; (white) Bazzill

Accents - ("wii" chipboard letters") Chip Chatter; (green mesh) Magic Mesh; (plastic star "play" and paper arrows) Heidi Swapp; (diecut acccents) Pebbles; (rub-on letters) KI Memories; (star brads) Close to My Heart; (star eyelet) Making Memories; (arrow journal stamp) Autumn Leaves; (ink) Archival by Ranger; (pen) Slick Writer

An oldie, but a goodie.

When I find a style or layout design that I particularily like, I tend to repeat it. I originally started off my layout with more pictures, planning to do a collage (similar to the "Art Fair" page by Ali in the April CK). When I discovered that I didn't really have enough pictures...or the right kind of pictures (landscape vs portrait), I had to switch it up. This layout design is one of my favorites. And for good reason. It's simple. It's stylish. You can jazz it up or leave it simple. It's just classic. 3 pictures, 3 grids - it's a simple as that. You can rotate it too if your pictures run the other way!

I wanted to make a page that showcased the photos - I really think this worked out. And, yes, another page where I use multiple patterned papers (my favorite!). And I used one of my favorite techniques - layering. I like to collect every clear acetate/transparancy accent I can get my hands on. Frames are no exception. I have quite the stash and was able to pull out three that matched not only my pictures, but also the patterns I had chosen. It's a subtle accent that I think really jazzes things up. Also, on this page I was ALL ABOUT the pre-made accents...nothing fancy. Also love the look of mix n match titles. Not only does it look cool, but you can save on your alphabets and have more for later!

Product Listing:

Paper - (teal starburst, green/white dot) Crate; (tan dot) Scenic Route; (green/brown dot) My Minds Eye

Accents - (transparancy frames and diecut scroll) My Minds Eye; (journal box, silver brads, and tags) Making Memories; (chipboard buttons, felt flower) KI Memories; (chipboard title letters) Basic Grey; (letter stickers and button) K&Co; (white flower) Prima

Tools - (dot embossing folder) Cuttlebug; (pen) Martha Stewart

Note: I'll try to find another example of this same page layout for my post tomorrow. I'm sure I'll find a repeat somewhere! Also, check out my new feature - Ask Laura! on the right-hand gadget bar of my blog. I look forward to hearing from you.

How to...

When I worked at Picture This the question/comment I received the most related to patterned paper. What do I do with it? How do I use it? Is it too busy? I keep buying it but never use it!

Yep, I here you. I am a patterned paper fiend. You ask anyone...of all my supplies, the quantity of patterned paper I own is ridiculous! So why do I keep buying it?!?

Many reasons...
1) It's the cheapest supply out there. Most accent and embellishment packs cost upwards of 4 bucks. Stickers? Atleast $2. But paper, now that's usually less than a dollar!
2) I love to use it. Just test me. Check out my scrapbook pages on the blog. What's the item I use on every page? Patterned paper, of course!
3) It's the most versatile product out there.

And that last point is where some would disagree. But, hey, that's just because you haven't considered the possibilities. Patterned paper is more than just the background for a page. It can be the accent...a block here, a circle there, or even a punched flower. It can be the title...stencil and cut, diecut with a Cricut or Cuttlebug. It can be a photo mat...cut a little bigger than the photo or diecut into a frame. My favorite use? Accent piece. A bit here, a bit there. Mixing and matching patterns. Cut into a border. It's what I live for!

Just take a look at the page here. Took this idea straight from Becky's column in the April CK. I almost always use white, black or brown as my background. It leaves me free to use color almost anyway I want for my accents and embellishments. Here, I chose a brown which loosely coordinated with the pattern I chose. No particular reason for this pattern. I pulled out a few sheets of paper I liked and thought this one worked the best. I liked the colors and the pattern was just the right size. (The size of the pattern can make using pieces rather than the full sheet tricky. You need it big enough to be noticed, but small enough so that when you cut it up you can still tell what the pattern is.) Here, the paper is a modified photo mat.

With black and white photos the possibilities are endless since anything matches. So here, I pulled some of the colors from the paper for my accent colors...you'll have to look close to find the red, but it's in there. Besides, I always think yellow and red look good together!

Supply List:
Paper - (browns) unknown; (white) Georgia Pacific; (red) Stampin' Up!; (paisley pattern) American Crafts
Accents - (chipboard heart) Heidi Swapp; (green paper flower and white paper ribbon) Doodlebug; (chipboard title) American Crafts; (lg white flower) Making Memories; (deco eyelet) WER Memory Keepers; (brads) Imaginisce; (rickrack) craft supply; (marker) Martha Stewart
Tools - (paisley embossing folder) Cuttlebug; (label diecut) Spellbinders; (border punch) Martha Stewart; (corner rounder) EK Success

Simplifying...

In most cases I have found the old saying "less is more" to be absolutely true. And it sure does seem to apply to scrapbooking as well. My favorite scrapbook artist when I first started was Becky Higgins who is known for the art of simplicity. Take a look at her books, "Sketches" (several volumes available), or her monthly article in Creating Keepsakes. Now, though, I do appreciate the complexity of some other artists like Ali Edwards and Elizabeth Kartchner.

So...when it came time for me to FINALLY get a page done, (it's been forever since I've really sat down and scrapbooked) I relied on the art of simplicity to get me through. I really feel that starting off with the right foundation can get you going. Which is why I used a classic base...used frequently by Ali and Becky. Just 4 blocks - using pictures and paper. The perfect start. I chose the busiest paper first (the floral and paisley print by My Minds Eye). Then I dug in my patterned scraps for matching accent patterns. Next, I worked outward, taking each block separately. I pulled out some accents that worked with the paper I chose. That's definitely one thing you'll notice about me. I'm a sucker for the generic products. Letter stickers (of all shapes and colors), plastic or chipboard flowers and shapes, brads, and diecut labels/journaling boxes. Show it to me and I'll buy it! I like to scatter accents around my worktable, trying this and that until it feels just right.

I like to make my accents work together which is why I chose flowers and plastic - notice I used these same items on two of the blocks. For the block with the busiest paper, I left mostly accent-free...just journaling. Don't get me wrong, I love to use the computer for journaling. But sometimes I'm just too lazy. Plus a little handwriting here and there makes it so much more personal. And that's just about it. I popped up two of the blocks, added a little ink to the edges, and done.

Product Listing:
Paper - (white) The Papercut; (orange) Scenie Route; (yellow) unknown; (paisley/floral) My Minds Eye
Accents - (chipboard flower, "BFF" clear letters; clear flower) Heidi Swapp; (sunflower button) American Crafts; (sun bubble sticker) KI Memories; (brads) Doodlebug; (diecut journal labels) My Minds Eye; (title letter stickers) Making Memories; (marker) Slick Writer - AC; (ink) Archival by Ranger