Pinterest Inspiration

Studio Calico does a Pinterest inspiration challenge every few weeks and I finally got a chance to take part. I'm a giant lover of typography and digital art, especially those made for local concerts and four color prints for screen printing. When I saw this image, it went immediately onto my "scrapbook inspiration board", even without prior knowledge of the challenge.

Pin is located here: http://pinterest.com/pin/52543252/, along with source info.

A few things really jumped out at me on this piece. For one, the color scheme is great- teal is really calling to me lately. Next, the typography. There are a ton of different fonts here but they work together very well, adding interest in all the right places. Next, the distressing around the edges- I love the worn look! And last, the shape is something I really wanted to incorporate in a page- it's different, visually interesting, and I'm not sure I've ever seen it on a page before!
So here's my take:

You can see I went very literal with my interpretation- sticking with the colors, the shape, the varied typography, I even added paint and ink around the page to wear it a bit. All I had to do for the basic shape was enlarge a bracket - ( } ) in photoshop, flip it, print it and trace it! It's very simple but I really love this one. And here's a little insider note- this is my first time using that Martha butterfly punch. I know, WHAAAAT??? Yeah, I live in a house of boys, what can I say.
Anyway, I have a lot of other pins waiting to be scraplifted- if I can ever pull myself away from Pinterest long enough to play.
Have a great day!

Short attention span

I sewed a few rows of the quilt in my previous post and then realized I had no idea what I was going to back or bind it with. Made me not as anxious to work on it- I hate not being able to completely finish something. So, it will sit until I can make some decisions- any input would be greatly appreciated!!
I did have a chance to participate in a Studio Calico challenge. Designer Laura Kurz asked us to try using photo enlargements on our pages. I knew immediately what photo I was going to use but figuring out placement took me a while.

It looks like this would qualify for a 30 minute or less page, but in reality, I put a few things here and there, stepped away for a few hours, came back and changed my mind- for three days. I wanted to make sure I did the photo justice as it means so much to me.
Actually, I'm not really much of a sentimental person. Yeah, some movies make me cry, and I'm a sucker for a really good Extreme Home Makeover, but other than that- I'm pretty down to earth. This photo though, makes me teary eyed EVERY time I look at it. There are so many things that this photo represents- my son, getting older every day, moving away from being my little baby to being almost 2, him looking back, almost for reassurance, my strong husband who keeps our family together and is an amazing father... it just goes on and on. This is definitely my most treasured photo.
In other news, two more weeks of boring classes and then my ART SCHOOL classes start! Yessss! My love for paper started early- new notebooks for school, freshly sharpened pencils, pink erasers, and other office supplies waiting to be used- but that is nothing compared to new art supplies. I got a drawing board, a t-square, a new exacto knife, some sketching pencils- it's amazing. My husband thinks I'm crazy but I can't wait to start putting it to good use!
Well loves, thanks for stopping by!

Putting down the glossy accents....

to concentrate on some fabric love. My husband says I have too many hobbies. Bah!

This will either be too loud or super chic- I'll withhold judgement until I start laying the blocks down. Feels good to get this cutting done, though!

Pink for boys?!

I broke out Candy Shoppe (which I haven't even touched yet) and started cutting without a plan. I basically had the whole thing laid out before I even knew what photos to use- but I think these bright colors really work against such a dark photo. And get this- when my husband saw the page, he didn't mention the fact that it was pink. Phew.

 Please excuse the big dark spot on the right- I scanned it rather than fuss with my camera. =)

And, in case you're wondering- you can use a border punch on sticky-back canvas. But, expect your punch to stick each.and.every.time. And be prepared to use any tools you might have laying about (a ball point pen, scissors, tweezers, a paint brush) to attempt getting it unstuck. Totally worth it.
I used SC Piglet to give it some color and wouldn't you know, its *almost* like Pink Paislee's mistable trim.

I keep getting little ideas for pages right before I fall asleep at night. I saw on the SC message boards a thread about this; some people jump out of bed to jot down these ideas. I wish I did, but man, once I'm in bed, I'M IN BED. I wouldn't get out if the house was on fire. Okay, maybe I would. My alternative is to think about it endlessly until I finally fall asleep and then hope I remember what it was the next day.
I had one such idea last night and immediately started working on it (so I wouldn't forget)- when a second idea hit me. So I left my first project on my table and started with the second on the floor. Then, I ended up on my second desk, and among the mess on the floor I got a NEW idea for a card. I know, I must have gotten a visit from the scrap fairy. In the midst of all this creative madness, I had run some errands- so imagine my surprise when I came back into my room to find this:

Yeah, I guess it's easy to get carried away in here! Better get to cleaning this in the morning!

Busy Busy!

I've been spending all week getting paperwork together for school... only a few more weeks until it starts and I can't wait. That being said, I'm still taking classes at my original school, taking finals, doing homework, attending class, etc. and it's just taking up more time than I'd like. I finally got a chance to hang out in my scrap room today and made this quick page:

I LOVE those two papers together. I wanted to add in a third paper but nothing was really jiving with it. I'm glad I didn't- I love this color harmony. And I think this is one of my favorite pictures of Luke- he's just so stinkin' happy!

Other than school, we've been in a rut. It's been rainy all the time and I can't seem to get used to it. So, instead of planning fun things to do, we sit here and pretend it's going to be sunny one day. It probably won't, so we should brave the rain and go outside. Until then, we find other ways to pass the time, like ride Luke's toys:

Walk around in diapers:

And eat lots of food:

In all, it's not too bad a way to spend our time!
Well, I better get off the computer before I get sucked in and don't get any more scrapping done!!

Lots of Cards, and a Challenge Winner!

I've been crafting my little fingers to the bone recently (and have been working hard to get my homework done early so I have the time) and I've managed to break a personal record- 5 cards in two days. Yesss. I think I'm mostly working on cards right now because I don't have any pictures that are begging to be scrapbooked just yet- we've been stuck in a rut around here and haven't gone out much or done anything exciting. 
All these cards are quick and easy so you can reproduce them without worrying too much about techniques or supplies. So first up, I inked up these circle stamps from Papertrey Ink for the first time. I opted for a custom background on this one:

 And then I tried just a strip. Both of these are SUPER simple, and great for boy cards. I think it would look great in a more pastel color scheme as well.

And, here's a secret: I don't know any boys turning 12. I was just in a groove so I went with it. =)

More Peachy Keen?! I know, I know. I'm telling you- it's an addiction. My love for Peachy Keen will never leave me. I started with the bicycle stamped background and flipped through the Remarks stickers until I found a few stickers I thought went well together. Added the strips, the flower and some ribbon and voila! Super easy.

I like that bicycle so much I stamped another background. I knew I wanted to use that bicycle sticker too, but wasn't sure just where to put it. I actually was "auditioning" it when it stuck down before I was ready- so I had to build the rest of the card around it where it was. I peeled up the wheels to add the strip, then added the 'hi'. The clouds and twine came later- it was too out of balance without it.

I have been browsing various websites to see if any of my recent pages fit any pub calls and I came across the Papercrafts blog where they have color combo challenges. I had some time, so I decided to play along with this one:

 

 And here's what I came up with:

As soon as I saw those colors I instantly thought sherbet!  I hand cut the dish and the ice cream scoops after roughly sketching them out first. Makes you wish summer wasn't coming to an end soon, right?

Last, I made this page in order to get out of my comfort zone a little and try a shabby/vintage/distressed page. I'm not smitten with it but I liked the process so I may try it again. And, actually I just realized that my biggest bowtie flower is missing from the page... hmmm... must have fallen off en-route to be photographed. Bummer.

Oh yeah, and I have some lucky winners to announce, don't I? Thanks to the trusty random number generator, Jenny A. and Jen (plasticlight) you are my winners! I'll PM you via SC with your $10 promo codes. Thanks for playing!

CHA Challenge #1

Hi everyone! In preparation for all the amazing CHA goodies we've seen so far, I've decided to come up with a good way to clear some room for it all.
Introducting:

 The rules of this challenge are pretty simple- choose a collection or individual pieces from your stash that came out LAST summer CHA. Don't remember which ones came out? Here's a helpful link: CHA 2010 List.  Don't have anything left from last year? Good for you! In that case, just pick some of the oldest product you have.
ETA: In going through my stash to create my layout to share, I'm realizing that this might be a bit hard as there weren't as many great lines last year. Soooo, I'm not limiting this to specifically CHA last year- just choose anything you've had sitting on your shelf for a while that needs used! I'm also extending the deadline until Wednesday, just in case you have a full weekend!
Then, link up your projects here for a chance to win something reeeal good! What is you ask?? I'm selecting TWO participants who will each receive a $10 Studio Calico gift certificate. Awesome, right?
You have until Sunday Wednesday at midnight eastern time.
Don't forget to subscribe to my blog on the left side there so you don't miss when I announce the winners.
Here's what I came up with for the challenge:

I got the chance to hot air balloon in Cappadocia, Turkey this year and never got around to scrapbooking the pictures- probably because the balloons were such an off-color combo for me. I used up a lot of things that have been sitting around unused in my stash for a while- some MME papers, Pink Paislee 365 degrees (which I NEVER touched), that Jenni Bowlin button (I have two packages somehow and never used a single one) and, among other things, a roll of washi tape that just doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. And, while I'm a little sad to say this, that Studio Calico hot air balloon stamped got inked up for the first time today- he's been gathering dust for a long while!
This was a good opportunity for me to go through and see all the things I'm not using- I may keep going and see what else I can use up today!

Geralyn Sy agreed to help me out on the challenge, too- she created an awesome layout that you can find on her blog here: In a Creative Bubble. Her skill with patterned paper never ceases to amaze me.

Hoping some more people join us for the challenge!