Octobers....

Ha!  Another fall layout!!  I know, right now all the galleries are trending holiday layouts and here I am, still stuck in October!  LOL.

This next layout was so much fun to make.  I started out being inspired by a quote from the Anne of Green Gable series and went from there.......

 

The quote, which became my title, is absolutely spot on--Octobers are my fave.  There is something about the weather, the colors, the laid back feel of the month.  No rushing around and making mad dashes to check off to-do lists.  Simple pleasures, that is what October means to me.

 

Michelle

 

P.S.  Yes, I have a hole in my jeans in the photo. A very, not-so-trendy-I-think-it's-time-to-let-go-of-these-fave-jeans kind-of a hole. Ha.  I was slightly mortified that it made its way into the picture (Thanks Bodie!), but I decided to look past the fact and scrap it!  The jeans in question have since been disposed of :-).

Happy Fall

Fall scrapping took a back seat this year.  Which is sad.  When fall came around I was still enjoying working on my photos from the end of summer and then when I finally jumped to fall photos, Christmas was upon us.  I just cannot keep up.  LOL.  Am planning on revisiting fall though after the new year so everything will be made right AND the giant stack of fall products will be used :-). Hopefully  because, when I say giant I mean giant.  Definitely missed the memo on not buying too much fall product this year....

This fall layout was inspired by a lesson in Shimelle's Scrapbook Remix class.  In this particular lesson, she talks about using four quadrants of patterned paper as a background as well as how to use vertical or horizontal lines to balance a design.  This is what I came up with....

 

 

I was not too terribly eager to block an entire background with 4 squares of patterned paper, so I made it my own by using 4 smaller squares and layering my photos and embellishments over them.  I placed 3 strips of patterned paper and my title vertically, opposite the horizontal photo.  Then, to balance the heaviness of that cluster of elements, I layered a tag, washi, and embellies on the opposite side.

 

I had a lot of fun putting this layout together.  I had been feeling like my work had become so routine and I took Shimelle's class in an effort to shake that feeling.  And it worked. 

 

Michelle

Laugh. Smile. Repeat.

My son played fall baaseball this year and the league we were playing in meant a 40 minute drive every other Sunday.  Not a big deal.  However, it seemed we had more than our share of early morning games, the last being at 7:30 am.  I sort of wonder if there was a conspiracy going on--you know, they are the out-of-towners-lets-torture-them sort-of a plan.  Ha ha.

This layout was born out of the last game.  Early morning game, meant early morning light to take pictures.  So here is my littlest having a great time, playing in the lovely dirt that surrounded our bleachers. (I usually parked my daughters and I in the grass, but this particular morning the dew was too much and the girls would have ended up soaked.)

 

I used a mix of products here from the latest lines from Dear Lizzy, Amy Tangerine, and Maggie Holmes.  Love how these three lines mix so well. And I am so hoping they mix well with the next lines set to appear January because I have a lot left still. **Note to self:  Don't buy so freakin' much next time Michelle. 

 

Happy Sunday!

 

Michelle 

 

 

Celebrate Everyday

When I saw that Heidi Swapp was set to release a white Color Shine during last CHA, I was stoked.  I love the sparkle in her mists and I had become very disenchanted with my once beloved white Mr. Huey due to the chalky residue it has been leaving on my page protectors. 

Finally, 2 months ago (yes, it has been awhile since I blogged), I pulled it out for the first time along with a new stencil from Heidi and this is what I came up with....

 

The color did not saturate as much as I had hoped, but I also have to take into account I was misting on a dark grey background.  The color has a nice, shimmery sheen to it, which I quite liked.

 

Here's a closeup of some details...



 

Now as much as I had wanted the new Color Shine, I have not used it since!  LOL.  Lately I have been obsessed with basing almost all of my layouts on white cardstock, so the white spray is a no go. The Gold Lame is a whole other story though, love LOVE gold mist and use it ALL the time---it's my new neutral!

Happy scrapping!

Michelle

 

Challenge Thursday.....Her Favorite

Good morning!  Today I want to share a challenge I found on the scrappy web and share my take on it.

Jot Magazine is a new free online scrapbooking magazine.  I discovered Jot very recently, right as they were getting ready to publish their second issue and let me tell you, I was blown away when I finally sat down to look through the magazine.  Amazing.  I tell you what, every project was beautiful and on trend.  LOVED it.  

I found Jot when I stumbled upon their blog through someone else's link and I was very impressed.  One of their blog features is a monthly mood board challenge and I jumped right in to participate.

 

This is the first time I have participated in a mood board challenge. I usually find these sorts of challenges overwhelming because there are so many details that have to be factored in.  Or more accurately, I find them intimidating because I always feel as if I could never come up with a layout as fantastic as the examples given.  I know, bad attitude....but I obviously got over myself this time and gave it a go and LOVING how it turned out.  And that it what challenges are all about anyway, pushing yourself outside your comfort zone.

 

Here are some closeups....

 

 

 

 

All products used on this layout, except for the ribbon, were from the Citrus Twist September kit :-).

 

Happy scrapping!

 

Michelle

 

Inspired By.....Janna Werner

They are many talented ladies that inspire my scrapbooking and one of those ladies is Janna Werner. When I look at a project by Janna, I am always drawn to the lightness and the soft color palettes that she tends to work with.  I also quite fancy her layering--little bits tucked here and there.  Love it all.  Major scrappy crush.  Ha ha.

Recently I fell in love with this particular layout and it inspired my own scrappylift....

 

In this excercise I allowed myself the freedom of following what Janna did beccause sometimes the best way to learn a new style or technique is to mimic what someone else has done.  I began first by searching my stash for neutral grays to layer and a few colors to add as accents.I also looked for two different alphas, some stickers, and a few other embellies I could sprinkle around.

 

The tiny grey alphas are from Lily Bee's Buttercup collection and I hoard them! I think they are just the absolute best font ever in the world of tiny alphas.

 

 

I colored the astericks with grey chalk ink and I am hoping the color does not rub off on the page protector.  I let them dry quite awhile, but not quite sure yet how they will do.

By doing what Janna did, I pushed myself into placing my elements in ways I would normally not do so.  Scraplifting for me is a learning exercise and hopefully by considering her techiniques I will be able to tweek my own style. 

If you would like to check out some more of Janna's work you can visit her blog or head on over to her 2Peas gallery.


Michelle

Sweet Happy Moments

Recently I read a blog post by Corrie Jones where she talks about having a "go-to" layout design and I thought about a particular design that I too have re-incarnated several times. 

 

Often times when I am sort of stumped creatively, I will just start pushing around papers and they almost always end up layered to the side. Why is that??  But you know what, I always end up liking the layouts when I finish them, so I just go with it.   

 

 

And a close up....

A no stress layout.  Love it.

Michelle