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

Sketchy Sunday......

I am a super huge fan of sketches. There are certain sites I actually stalk on a weekly basis checking for their sketches. And I thought, with out any originallity in the concept, I would offer up a layout ono my blog every Sunday based upon a sketch I found on the world wide web--hence I am calling my post Sketchy Sunday, original I know.  My hopes are that this offers you a bit of inspiration and possibly an introduction to a new source for scrappy sketches.  So onward and upward, to the sketch!  (Wow that sounded really dorky.  LOL.)

First up is a sketch from Elles Studio.  Elle's Studio offers a new sketch on their blog every Thursday and they almost always appeal to me.  There designs are sweet and simple with lots of white space. This quality is really quite ideal for me because it adds up to a ginormous amount of room for interpretation. 

This first sketch, which you can find here, was posted on their blog on August 15th.

And here is my take...

 

My son's first time taking out the long board by himself.  Real proud of him, but also slightly nerve wracking.  So many things that could go wrong.....

 

Most of the time, I interpret a sketch pretty loosely. I had found that in the past if I really constrained myself to the sketch I would sometimes end up with a layout I did not really love and I hated that feeling. I realized that I need to consider a sketch as merely guidelines and allow myself the freedom to do what I want with it.  And with this in mind, I kept really close to the sketch.  Ha ha. 



If you would like to see more sketches that I have found, please check by scrappy sketch board here on Pinterest and pin away!   

Now, to go off in a totally random direction and because I am witnessing the madness as I type this.....when did my 3 year old turn into such a little prissy monster???  Now granted, she's always been a bit on the prissy side (Mom, that is not an understatement!), but lately, she refuses to share with her little sister and has taken to screaming when ever Allora "ruins" her stuff.  Aack. 

Happy Sunday.

Michelle

A Book Post.....Rick Riordan's The Sea of Monsters

Last year I had intially bought The Lightening Thief, the first in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, for my son Hayden to read.  Of course, being the book nerd that I am, I read it first.  In like a day :-).  So, when I saw previews to the new movie that came out this summer, I decided it was time to read the second book, The Sea of Monsters.

 

Without giving too many details away (because I do not like spoilers and am assuming you don't either), Percy returns to Camp Half Blood after a deadly game of dodgeball and finds that this safe haven for demi-gods (children of Gods) is losing the protection of it's magical borders due to a bit of sabotage.  Of course, Percy and his friends embark on a quest to save the camp and have a whole lot of fun (fun for me, not so much for them) on the way. 

The book, like its predacessor, is a fast and easy read.  The action is fast paced, includes lots of humor, and leaves you wanting to read more.  However, what I love about this series and the reason that I have kept interest in the series, is the mythological aspect of the stories.  Granted Riordan takes liberties with the Greek characters, but they are based on solid "facts"and have renewed an interest in Greek mythology and literature.  Seriously, any book that makes me want to put it down and pick up Homer's The Odessey is pretty awesome!  LOL.

I also quite enjoy the modern slant that Riordan has taken with the Greek mythology--explaining why Mt. Olympus is now situated above the Empire State Building, giving a modern take on the gods and goddesses (really, Hermes the messenger God as a jogger and the head of a postal service is exactly how I would have imagined him), enlightening us as to what really goes on in the Bermuda Triangle....pure imagination and lots of fun.   

Happy reading.

Michelle


 

Challenge Central: Hello Happy Girl

Happy Thursday!  I would like to introduce a new, reoccuring Thursday post:  Challenge Central.  Every Thursday (hopefully, I am not being too ambitious here!) I plan on introducing a "challenge" that I find on the scrappy web and present my take on it.  I scour the web on a daily basis and am always on the lookout for a mojo buster, something to get me out of my regular routine and I want to share my finds with you.  Now these may be simple or they may border on the more complicated/totally out of my comfort zone area!  The whole purpose is to take me from "wow, I like that idea" to "Been there, done that!" and hopefully spread some scrappy inspiration around!

For this first challenge, I turned to Glitter Girl's Episode #86 that you can find here at 2peas.  In this episode, Glitter Girl's challenge is to pay attention to design and make sure all the elements on a layout are cohesive.

This is what I came up with....

When I think of a design being cohesive I think of these things:  color, motif, and repetition. 

Color is my favorite element.  The possibilities are endless.  When it comes to color I do my best to match my products to the picture. Here I went off of the blue dress my daughter was wearing and matched it to Dear Lizzy's Lucky Charm--a line I have yet to tire of.  Also, when choosing my colors, I try to take into account the overall mood of the photo or story I am trying to convey. In this photo Allora is very happy that she is climbing up the "big girl playset," so I chose to incorporate yellow because it is a happy, energetic color. My next choice, red, was a no brainer because it is a natural compliment to both blue and yellow.

When considering motif, I am looking at the overall "main idea" of the page.  As I said previously, I really wanted to convey my daughter's happiness and joy and this is what I thought about as I looked though my stash. I ended up with some happy, butterfly stickers, a frame with the word "smile" on it, a "happy" diecut, a yellow flair button with the words "Hello Sunshine," and gold glitter Thickers.  All these elements work together to make, in my opinion, a "happy" layout.

Finally, repetition.  This to me, is the most technical of the bunch.  Basically, take your elements and repeat them.  Ha ha.  Here I chose to repeat the chevron pattern three times.  The color yellow is repeated in three differnent spots (think visual triangle), I have two butterflies, and my main colors are repeated throughout the layout.

So there you go, I completed a challenge that required me to really "think" through my own process and strive to make a cohesive design.  Fun stuff :-). 

Michelle

  

Wordless Wednesday......

 

Happy Wednesday.

Michelle

Currently.....

Drinking...Trader Joe's Pumpkin Spice Coffee.

Eating...Almond butter and pear sandwiches for lunch.  A much needed change from the usual peanut butter.

Taking...A megadose of Vitamin D prescribed by the doctor.  Could NOT believe I was super low on D--totally explains my unusual and extreme tiredness.

Sleeping...Like a rock.  Seriously, I do not move and remember nothing.

Excited...for a fun weekend with my family.

Wondering...why puppies chew so much. Seriously, it is a compulsion.

Thinking...that I am ready for all things pumpkin.

Watching...Football and The Big Bang Theory. 

Reading...Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Wishing...for the cleaning fairy to come to my house.

Happy....that it is fall!  I have been in denial for awhile since summer is my favorite, but the smells of cinnamon and leaves have melted my little cold heart and I now remember that I DO indeed love fall.



Michelle

Becoming More Beautiful.......

I instantly fell in love with this paper from Echo Park's A Beautiful Day collection when I first saw it.  It was with GREAT restraint that I did not pop it into my shopping cart.  You see, everything that I buy, usually ends up in a kit.  I did that after CHA Winter with the Dear Lizzy and Amy Tan lines.  I allowed myself pieces of those two collections as my splurge and they showed up over and over again in kits.  I learned my lesson with that and have been buying extra goodies in limited quantities.  So you could imagine my relief when that beautiful sheet of butterfly paper showed up.  I was sweating it!  (Seriously, I sometimes need to remind myself that this is just paper! LOL.)

Here's the first layout I used my pretty paper on.......

 

Check out the close-up of this awesome cork arrow.......

 

 

The new cork arrows from Fancy Pants are, as my daughter Maleia would put it, fabulous!  They come in two arrow shapes and they are fun and funky.  Really the perfect arrows.  My only slightly anal complaint is that that are bit too thick.  I like to keep my embellies pretty flat because my pages stay better in my albums, so I get a little ansty if I think my pages are bulky.  The arrows are borderline, I think they will be okay, but I would love if they were a bit thinner. 

 

Wishing you a great weekend!

 

Michelle



Chocolate Dipped Ice Cream Cones....

Ice cream from the Jolly Cone is a Wedertz Family Tradition.  Every summer when we spend a week in Bridgeport we hit the Jolly Cone.  Several times.  Sometimes twice a day.  Ha ha ha.

The Jolly Cone has GREAT food.  Just flat out tasty.  However, the star of the show is the ice cream and of course, I have to scrap it.......

 

Instagram photos are so easy to scrap.  The filters (this one is Earlybird) tend to mute the colors a bit which really open up the possibilities when it comes to choosing colors to scrap with.  

 

 

I decided, in my quest to use up my twine, to loop the twine across the bottom of the pics.  I actually did this after I adhered the photos which was no problem because I always leave the edges of my photos and papers adhesive free to let me tuck in pieces as I go. 

 

Wishing you a super sweet day!

 

Michelle

 

Distracted....

Have found myself a little distracted by this.....

Meet Rincon, our brand new Belgian Malinois puppy.  He's totally adorable and ruling our household for the moment.  Be back soon with more scrappy goodness......

Michelle

More Like You.....

Good morning!  Wanted to get a post up this morning before I wake my son up for his first day of 7th grade and go for a run, so here goes....

I recently purchased a new class at 2Peas.  It is called "Scrapbooking from the Soul" and it is taught by Jill Sprott.  Now usually, I will ponder taking a class for awhile, but this time I purchased it quickly.  You see, my journaling which has usually been a strong point, has sort of dwindled down to just getting the details in, nothing below the surface.  Which is wrong for me because I consider my memory keeping as more of letter writing/journal keeping.  When I am on top of my game, my journaling goes beyond the basic, hopefully capturing the back stories, the small details, my feeling, ect.  But lately, I have been suffering from writer's block or more bluntly, I have been lazy.  LOL. 

Well, I was super stoked to see this class become available and here is my first project, More Like You. 

My journaling reads:

When I see you swimming with confidence in the pool, I am full of admiration.  Your fearlessness is a trait I have very little of and to watch you navigate in the water with ease and without any inhibition absolutely inspires me.  To be a little bit more like you would be a great thing.

I started this layout with planning my journaling first. The obvious road to take would be to talk about how much fun she had, but ignoring that I started to think about how she just jumped in the water like it was nothing and took off, not afraid or nervous.  And that is what I wanted to reflect on in my journaling.  To say my daughter is very outgoing would be an understatement. She is bright, happy, bold, courageous,and she shares it will all. I, on the other hand, am very introverted which is sort of a handicap sometimes. This is what I chose to journal and I am so happy that I did.  Am looking so forward to diving deeper into the class to see what else I can come up with! 

Michelle

Reveal Day at Citrus Twist Kit Club.......

Today is reveal day at Citrus Twist Kits!  As a mid-month release kit club, reveal happens monthly on the 12th and kits begin shipping on the 15th.  This month Citrus Twist has a new subscriber special:  sign up for a Main or Pocket Life (PL) subscription and get an embellie grab bag ($20 retail value) thrown in.  For those newcomers to Citrus Twist, when you subscribe for 12 consecutive months, you get your 13th kit free, just pay shipping.

Here is the reveal of the August Main Scrapbooking "On the Go."  This kit is very versatile.  While there is a definite travel theme to some of the patterned papers, if you flip them over to their B sides, you will be treated to some non-travel awesomeness.

 

Also, new for the month of August are the new wood veneers that are being exclusively designed for Citrus Twist.  This month they are found in both the Main and PL kits. 

So, without further adoo, here are the two kits that I worked with this month: the Main Kit "On the Go" and the Embellishment Kit "Orange Crush."

 

 

 

To see the rest of the kits as well as a video filmed by Melissa Stinson featuring them go here.

Michelle

Guest Designer at Citrus Twist Kit Club........

Happy Sunday everyone! I'm just popping in quickly this morning to let you know that my first guest design project for Citrus Twist Kit club is up this morning, I have a new layout using both their August kit and the Sunday Sketch on their blog!

I was super excited to be using their August Main and Embellishment kits this month and below I have just a tiny peek of what you'll find over on the Citrus Twist Kit club blog.

 

 

Michelle 

 

Big Virginia and Catch of the Day......

In late July I became a little obsessed with a few scrappy things......white thread, white thread tied in bow, minimal patterned paper, gold accents, and doilies.  That's right, I brought the doilies back to my pages! 

Here's my first layout......

 

This layout was inspired by Magda Mizera--you can see some of her work here--and her simplicity in her layout designs.  She uses small amounts of paper with lots of white space.  Her layouts also often go light on color giving them a "washed out" look to the page.  This is a quality I also find in lots of work by Janna Werner, but its something I find difficult to recreate because I am always drawn to lots of color when it comes to laying out my designs.  I cannot go minimal and light no matter how hard I try! 

 

 

Loved the combination of the wood grain thickers with the Pebbles tree paper from Lakeside.  Seriously perfect for all my pics we took during our vacation in the Sierras.

 

 

And here's a second layout...

 

 

Same sort of thought process in mind when I created this one.  Simple.  Bits and pieces. 

 

When it comes to creating, sometimes it's nice to try out someone elses scrapping perspective. And the best part, is that the end product is always totally me. 

 

Michelle 

 

 

 

Poolside....

My littlest did not like swimming in the pool this year.  She gets in.  She wants out.  And will NOT go back in.  Makes me laugh, because her brother and sister are the exact opposites, I can't get them out!  Luckily when we were visiting my parents, my mom was more than willing to sit poolside with her, so that I too could get in.

 

I had recently decided lately that I have been neglecting my twine stash and added a bit to the top of the page which made me think that I really have not been seeing a lot twine around the galleries lately.  Maybe I am missing it, but I am wondering if the time for twine has come and gone??  Or maybe it has just taken a break?   Either way I am determined to use my stash up and will be doing my best to add some twine here and there.

 

Michelle