Using themed papers where the theme is iffy

Of course there's a rather long involved story when I created these 2 pages. 🤣The picture of Ash alone was supposed to go on the the first page. Well. I used the Playful Pets 6x6 pad that I mistakenly purchased because I liked the colors and didn't look closely - as I have no pets. However, I've been sneaking it in w/o pets lately. Which brings me to the 2 different pages. 

I was going to put Ash alone on the PET paper but I felt that people would think I was inferring he was a dog. My pal Holli Dagg-Hicks helped me out indicating it probably wasn't a good idea, sooooo I replaced the photos with a dog in the picture and used UP some really old Authentic and oddly its a beah theme. Surprised me too but I love how they turned out.

 

Traveler's Notebook - Venice Jetty

Took a trip to the Venice Jetty. It was a beautiful

day and chock full of 

 fishermen, posers, boats,

dolphins, etc. everything you'd want in a jetty.

It's always a happening place.

Would you look at this poser.

Quite the model.

Used really old Authentique withe some Quickutz dies, Martha

Stewart alpha punch

and it worked out really well.

Some old Authentique

for the win on Jersey shore photos.

Of course what's the shore without googly eyes

on a QK die cut crab. The leaves the crab is

resting on is a Martha Stewart punch. I love punches.

 I used papers from my 6x6 pad I had forever, and

laid them out on 12x12 white cardstock in a quad format.
Quite old school.
Old school can be good.

 Finally used that flair button and didn't that work well

with the colors.

Loving doing sequence photos lately and because I have a bunch

they turned out to be fun and adorable.

Used some dylusions mists - and wa-la.

I like it.

Changing course when you're not feeling the love

I love this sassy photo of Ms. Annie-girl and of course it was for

Memorial Day that just happened to be a pretty day in the

northern tundra.

I chose those papers and just wasn't feeling it.

Red, white and blue - don't get me wrong - I love the colors, I love

our flag and I'm as patriotic as the next.

But it was just too much.

And remember these papers were chosen for another project here that 

was kitted for a crop I attended and it didn't feel right then either.

I'm really really sure they'll get used someday. However,

that paper is gonna get its feelings hurt soon. LOL.

Rejected once again.

I decided to take matters in my own hands and

 make my own background paper starting with

some white bazzil cardstock.

I misted with red Heidi Swapp and then decided that it needed a bit more dimension

 which required a trip to Hobby Lobby because I did not

have a star stencil.

Starstencil Starstencil Starstencil (say that 3x's fast)

And of course they didn't have THE star stencil I wanted, however,

I found this Jenni Bowlin stencil that assured me it was a star BURST.

I could work with that.

And I needed navy blue ink of course.

Then I found the most adorable film strip stamp for under $2.

(that wasn't used here-but coming soon).

 I also ordered from Paper Issues - those adorable stars and arrows -

a cupid collection - that works soooooo well.

 And my homemade enamel dots - I know you'll be surprised

that I'm running out of some colors.
I'm debating as to whether I want to bake up more or just buy some.

Another Lawn Fawn badge purchase made it to the page and

I used up some old Authentique stickers by placing them around
in key places saying awesome things.

Of course I did dither around with the title
and you know how well I do titles.

I didn't want it to be real obvious and then decided

why not??

Bella Blvd stash was perfect along with some navy Jillybean

Soup alphas I purchased forever ago and never used.

Bought those adorable striped envelopes in different colors from HL

and it seriously worked very well with the doily.

Alot of new and old stash getting used.

Gotta love that.

I'm really quite happy that I changed directions because using that

other paper when I wasn't "feeling" it would've made

me crazy.

Short trip I know - but this is supposed

to be fun and how much more fun can it be doing it from scratch

getting all inky and misty

and then getting a Hobby Lobby run out of it to boot :D

Little bit of background play with an onion bag, ink and stamps

I've been playing around a lot lately and its been a lot of fun

in spurring the creativity.

As you can see I broke out the ole onion bag

and commenced to pounce ink around.

Love the different look it brings to the polka dot paper.

Broke out a flash from the past - a Creative Cafe stamp

and commenced to stamping around the page.

 I apologize for the blurry-ness as it looked okay on

the camera screen.

 Its hard to double check photos when you're in the zone, however, you get the drift
of fun inkiness spread around the page.

While I was in a stamping mode I continued on with some rectangles and circles.

I also splattered mist about because seriously there really wasn't 

enough going on. :)

 And then began the layer process around the photo.

And I swear in real life that color green on the pinwheel is more BLUEgreen

than green in real life.

 Still have trouble stamping with the Shimelle stamp

and honestly I worked in the school library - I really should know how it goes.

 I adore this cluster with its ridiculous cuteness of layering.

 And the finished product.

I still swear it's not as green. Really.

And you just have to wonder what's going on in the mind of a 3 year old.
Actually its probably better not knowing. LOL.

 Authentique, Simple Stories, Echo park, Creative Cafe, Studio Calico stuff,

Shimelle, and Paper Issues Swag Bag.

My take on making your own flairs tutorial

After checking out some online tutorials about homemade

 flair badges I decided to check it out for myself and relate my results.

I know you're excited.

I was.

Would you believe I had to buy a one-inch punch?

Isn't that crazy.

 I used my brand new one-inch punch and punched out 9 circles from some chipboard.
It was pretty thick chipboard - as I use them for my baby albums and
I like them sturdy.

 Glued 3 together to make the recommended thickness.

And then painted them gray.

As I made more due to some man-made disasters

I switched out to this less thick chipboard as the first one 

was threatening to break my punch.
I also decided to not paint them this time and honestly,
I'm okay with the "rustic" chipboard look.

 The less thicker chipboard with 3 glued still had the same thickness.

 I purchased some one-inch epoxy stickers at Hobby Lobby

 and I also had some glossy accents to test as well.

 I stamped some designs on regular pattern paper and used some

watercolors to make them pretty.

 Waited not so patiently for them to dry and added the expoxy sticker

and as you can see - it has the depth of a flair badge.

Below are my versions - I added die cuts, punched out labels too.

The one that says "its a girl" is glossy accent and really

you can't tell the difference.

The only fatal flaw is that you have to wait for it to dry.

Using a heat gun is disasterous and leaving it lay around can lead

to other types of catastrophes, such as laying stuff on top,

using a heat gun, and leaving your finger print as you poke it

to make sure its dry.

Just to name a few.

 The glossy accent was my 3rd try.

Just sayin.......

Above are my homemade flairs.

I will give this another whirl as I have some

other ideas in mind.

And below in a not so pretty photo - showing my badges

against the real deal.

They turned out pretty good and its nice to have the ability

to customize them.

As you will see below on a page.

The themed ones from Avacado Arts called my name -
actually screamed heritage.

As you know I adore heritage.
The black, grey, gold are lovely colors together
and they became the inspiration for this page.

 They are not as crisp as "real" flairs though the rustic-ness works well for this page.

Broke out my diecuts
And doesn't that photo make you swoon.
My great grandmother.

 And the doily.
Love the daintiness it brings.

I love how the badges worked out on this page, they really added flair.
yunk yunk.
If you give this awhirl, please share the results
I'd love to see them.

My great grandmother -as a young woman.
I have no idea how young - so I'm guessing maybe 20.
Its hard to tell back then.

When the mojo is still on the lam

Scrap lift, hi jack or just try someone's style....

In my case I stalk er, hang about Soaphouse Mama aka Ashli Oliver's blog

and videos and I love her style.

And while I adore her style, its a challenge for me to do.

She uses a lot of pastels and white.

Dainty stuff. 

(side note: I'm so not dainty) LOL.

In addition, she also flings things on a page and makes them look awesome.

This page is not exactly a lift-lift - just more like her style.

As you will go see.

 So above is my version of flinging - and for the most part

I'm really really happy with it.

Although there is some part of me screaming they neeeeed to be anchored.

Its just my way.

However, I'm slowly getting over it....

 Ashli also uses dainty papers- and this one had pretty colored

really tiny hash tags on it.

I couldn't help myself, I had to fling some mist on there.

After the page was completed-mist and all,

 it still looked too white to me --so......

I broke out some Technique Tuesday stamps (I think) for faux sewing

and buttons. I don't stamp well - but that doesn't stop me.

And you shouldn't let it stop you.

Just sayin...

 And soft buttons, tags and die cuts.

And lots and lots of layers.

Looking at it now I could've used more layers behind the

photo, however, I'm down with what I have.

Notice I used a hashtag in the title that goes with the paper.

I love this page!!!

Random flinging and all.

It really was a lot of fun, and with my sense of alignment

 thrown to the wind, I just may do it again.

Studio Calico, Authentique, Shimelle, Echo Park, Recollections.

Using one manufacturer with a couple exceptions

A few years ago I was on an Authentique kick.

Actually it was the only new product at the remaining LSS.

And then I got over Authentique.

However, I have lots of papers and stickers that need to be used

or given away.

I decided to use them.

 I follow a couple of people on videos and one of the tricks

to add dimension and use stash is to back

papers - and I used that "trick" here.

And it did add a cool layer and it does add a pretty dimension.

I also cut out a piece from the backing to use on the front as a mat

which adds another layer and is kind of economical.

 I also broke out the sticker page and started layering them in.

This line is "renew" and its about growing plants, rainy weather and kidlets, leaning toward 

the girly side. So I tucked and whacked the pieces that

were girly, rainy and plants where they couldn't be seen but did add

color and dimension. 

 I felt it needed something - so I broke out the watercolors mostly

because I didn't have mists in the colors I needed.

Watercolors are a good value that way and provide basically

the same artsy feel as mists.

Because I smoshed them around with the brush and also splattered

the colors about the same manner you would use mists.

 And wa-la, lots of layers and clusters going on.

The other non Authentique elements are - you guessed it.

Homemade enamel dots, washi and twine.

Love how it turned out with me and my boy.

That was sooooo long ago - 

it goes by so fast.

He's 23 now.

Little bit of fussy cutting

Love the banner paper and

and as you can see its have the paper it used to be.

I decided it would be fun to fussy cut the

little banners.

And it was.

I also used a circle punch to cut out the adorable

critters to use an embellishment.

I whacked out 3 only 2 made it on the page.

The camera is a fussy cut as well from Shimelle's collection.

Some strips of paper and an adorable bow

that was glued to the page prior to picking out a photo

of fun on the playground.

My bad.

Used some pop dots on the banners and camera to give them a lift.

This was a fun page to do and I love how it turned out.

It was a great time with grandkids on the monkey bars

on the playground, at the campground

from the broken foot tour.

Lawn Fawn, Shimelle, Authentique.

I'll be out of pocket for a few days.

Miss me :)

Having fun with old, long unused die cuts

I loved the photo on this page, however, for some reason, Mr. Mojo packed his bags and headed out. I became frustrated and decided to call it day. Sometimes its good to just walk away.

As I was pondering lack of things, as my frustration came mostly from what I could do to embellish this page.

And shazam! I have all these diecuts that somewhere along the line I became to lazy to use. So I dug those bad boys out and tried to figure out what I could use to layer.

And for the most part I love the layering and the dies that I used the same configuration basically on all the embellishments.

I broke out my Quickutz squeeze and perused the fat book loaded with 2x2 dies and picked out a nested heart, jacks, xo, a do-dad and chili pepper.

And found several bits of papers and whacked away. The base of the embellies I used round punch.

AND wa-la!

 It was fun and all the dies while look odd at first add to it.

 Of course the hearts

and XO mean love - for the kidlets and Phillies.

The jack is cool and can be used

as jacks or cross stitches, and the do-dads are the white taps on top of the circles.

Sadly the chili pepper didn't make the cut. So to speak.

My pal Holli came up with the title.

And doesn't it annoy me that I didn't think of it.

LOL.