Sweet Baby | Scrap the Boys

For June, our challenge at Scrap the Boys is called "Sweet Baby Boy," and I used this beautiful photo of my friend's baby to create my layout.

I was having a major case of missing mojo and decided I'd scraplift myself, which is something I often do when I'm stuck staring at a blank page for way too long. Here's the page I lifted, one I made last year for Scrap the Boys. Different colors and papers and a few tweaks made it into a completely different layout.

Here are some details. I used Crate Paper's Little You collection from a bunch of years ago, mainly a 6x6 paper pad and the chipboard pieces, as that's mostly what I had from this collection. I started by cutting strips of various patterns and laid them out. I didn't feel like they had enough definition since the colors are so pale, so I distressed the edges, and when that still didn't do the trick, I matted the strips on dark gray cardstock. 

I decided to use kraft cardstock because almost all my layouts are on white and I just thought these pale colors would look nice against the kraft. Before adhering the strips, I stenciled some hearts on the background using a Bramble Fox stencil. The acrylic hearts you see on my layout are also from Bramble Fox. 

I arranged various chipboard pieces around the layout, adding phrase stickers, more chipboard, and Bramble Fox Perspextives for added interest. I still have a bazillion of these little Studio Calico wood veneer tweets because I kept buying packages whenever I saw them on sale. They're so versatile and so adorable.

I thought "Baby" was such a dull title but I wanted to use that pretty chipboard banner piece, so I added the word Sweet, made from a metal die in my stash.

For a finishing touch, I added Nuvo drops around my layout.

And because I never call my layout done right away, the next day, before photographing my layout, I decided to add some cross-stitches for another detail and another texture because I think lots of different textures make a layout so interesting to look at and touch (I store my layouts in boxes instead of albums and gift them in decorative boxes too).  And that camera is a Studio Calico wood veneer to form a visual triangle with the two wood birds.

If you haven't played with the Scrap the Boys challenges, they're always very fun and open ended, and the design team always has wonderful inspiration in lots of different styles! I hope you'll come play along!

Laugh | CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration + Scrap the Boys Collaboration

CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration teamed up with Scrap the Boys this month for our first April challenge, which is dedicated to April Fool's Day. Here's what I created:

Here are the Case File and Clues:

I used lots of clues--the color scheme, the topic clue, and loads of Evidence clues--so fun digging through my stash. I included stripes, solids, dots, chevron, glasses, mustache, washi tape, stars, banner, labels, doodles, clouds, speech bubble, googly eyes, cursive font, something fuzzy, circular embellishments, sunburst, and paint in the background.

This page was so fun to make. I used mostly old stash on here, which always makes me happy! I started out by making a sunburst in the background using a Fox Cut stencil from Bramble Fox. I added splatters with different colors of watercolor and then outlined them with a fine-tip pen. I stitched down strips of paper from my paper scraps drawers and then started embellishing. The brads are fuzzy, from the something fuzzy clue. Flair was a clue, and the flair badges I used are from A Flair for Buttons. So were speech bubbles, and I cut this one out of an old Echo Park paper. The beautiful translucent acrylic hearts are from Bramble Fox. I always add hearts to the pages I give away.

I always love the opportunity to use googly eyes, and they fit right inside the acrylic eyeglasses I found in my stash, which was a clue. The mustache was another clue and made a fun addition to my title. Washi tape as another clue and I added some wonky torn pieces here and there on my layout.

Clouds were a clue and I found a paper with yellow clouds in my stash and fussy cut them. Labels are a clue and I cut an old Martha Stewart label in half so I could use it in two spots.

Here's a shot from the bottom left, which shows some more circular elements, which was a clue. I don't know why so many of my flair badges are getting rust spots. Disappointing!

I hope you'll come check out the inspiration from both the CSI and Scrap the Boys design teams and play with us!

Awesome Kid | Scrap the Boys Challenge

This month at Scrap the Boys, we had a sketch challenge. Here's what I made:

Here's the sketch. Since I scrap 8 x 8, I had to adapt it a little.

I used Cocoa Vanilla's No Limits collection on my layout. Here are some detail shots.

I mounted some of the elements on black paper to make them stand out since I have so much going on on this page.

The orange letters are old BasicGrey stickers. I love those things.The style is timeless and goes with just about any other letters.

I used some of the frame diecuts from the No Limits collection to highlight some of the pictures.

Some of the stars are diecuts (and puffy stickers) and some were fussy cut from one of the papers in the collection. I know some people dislike fussy-cutting, but I really enjoy it and it's a very economical way of adding to my embellishments.

I hope I inspired you to try out this sketch and/or to scrap the boys/men in your life!

Epic Road Trip Read | Scrap the Boys Challenge

Our challenge for June at Scrap the Boys is to use circles. Here's what I came up with:

Here are some details.

I used a free cut file called Bubble Blast from Paper Issues and backed it with various patterned papers from Simple Stories' Bro & Co collection.

I fussy cut stars to add more detail, layer and interest. A thumbs-up sticker and a brad added some more dimension. Of course that stupid brad had to turn sideways for the photo and I didn't ever get a chance to take another pic.

I wanted to use those Heidi Swapp Sun Chaser Thickers for the title, but they weren't quite showing up as much as I wanted to so I layered them on top of a torn strip of teal paper and then outlined them, and that made them really stand out. The word "Epic" and some old BasicGrey small letter stickers finished out the title. A torn strip of striped paper that had all the colors of the collection really grounded my layout and made it so that my circles weren't just floating on the page.

Some more text, combining a cursive diecut, a fussy-cut word, and a word sticker, added a visual triangle to keep the eye moving around the page.

I added a brad to the steering wheel diecut to form an additional visual triangle. The white word sticker served as another visual triangle. Visual triangles were one of the first design tips I learned from reading Creating Keepsakes way back when I started scrapbooking, and it has served me well over the years to achieve balance and movement on my page.

At the end, that checkered circle kept drawing my eye away from everything else, and I decided to use that paper to mount my layout, and that did the trick, I think.

Be sure to go check out how all the rest of the team interpreted this challenge. So many creative designs!

I'm an Alien | Scrap the Boys July DT Debut

I wonder if anybody still looks at my blog? It really has been forever--since January that I've been able to post here. Virtual teaching was so incredibly time consuming that it left time for little else. I've been scrapping all this time and sharing on Instagram and some online galleries.

So, today is my debut for the Scrap the Boys team. Here's what I created:

Our challenge this month is all about cut files (if you don't have a cutting machine you can use a cutting die or punches) plus a fab mood board. We've teamed up with Confessions of a Paper Addict (COAPA Cut Files) for this challenge, and I chose the super fun Outer Space cut file to work with.

And here's the moodboard:

Here are some details. I had the cutest 3-dimensional alien stickers, and I chose the colors for my layout based on them. The moodboard reminded me of mixed media, so I started off by coating some cardstock with clear gesso and using the packaging technique to add watercolor with a bunch of the colors from the stickers.  I used a stencil with texture paste and white paint to add stars. I outlined a few of them with a fine-tipped pen to make them stand out more.

I had the perfect photo of my friend's little boy pretending to be an alien.

How awesome is this cut file? I cut it out in white and backed it with paper scraps from my stash. Once I laid it on the mixed media background, it didn't stand out as much as I was hoping, so I used the offset tool in Silhouette to cut another copy in navy blue. I originally had envisioned placing the cut file on that starry paper bordering the white paper, but then I remembered I wanted to do the mixed media, and I knew I couldn't make it work on that dark paper, so I decided I'd mat the white paper on the starry paper.

I added a little puffy heart to the window of the rocket because I always add at least one heart to the pages I give away.

Here's another one of those fun robot/aliens. I hope I can find these again. I think I bought them at Michael's a few years ago. They're so fun and colorful, and they have glitter. They're clear, so I mounted them on white paper and fussy cut them so they'd stand out.

Here's the bottom half of the cut file. I decided to put the title on the planet. I used adhesive foam to adhere the cut file to give the page added dimension.

I hope you'll come play along in this fun challenge! Someone will be chosen to be a guest designer for a future challenge!