So simple…

Here are a couple of projects using ScrapMode’s So Simple line…and they live up to the name. For August, the ScrapMode design team was challenged to use a monogram on a layout. This was the perfect opportunity to break out the artsy “A” stamp that I had bought a while ago. (I knew I’d use it someday.)

Supplies: Cardstock—Bazzill; patterned papers—ScrapMode; rubber stamp—Limited Edition Rubberstamps; diecut (curly bracket)—Cricut.

The journaling reads,

A is for adventure as Alexander sets sail for Long Island and a whirlwind tour of New York City skyscrapers—a perfect birthday adventure for a buddy architect, courtesy of Auntie Mary and Uncle Erik.

And here’s a quick-and-easy birthday card:

Supplies: Cardstock—Bazzill; patterned papers—ScrapMode; rub-ons—It Takes Two; epoxy stickers—Horizon.

Opin-ion-ated

Here’s my layout for week 6 of the Ultimate Summer Challenge at the Scrapbooks Etc. website. For the fourth week in a row, I was selected as a semifinalist, which is very flattering indeed. You can check out the work of the other semifinalists and vote for your favorite layout here.

The challenge this week was to interview a family member and use that interview on a scrapbook page. I asked my son A.J.’s opinion on a variety of topics and typed up his responses, framing each one with the metal rim from an oversized tag. To reflect his, um, rather garrulous nature, I crammed his words together and allowed the frames to cut them off.

Supplies: Patterned papers—American Crafts; letter stickers—American Crafts; rub-ons—Making Memories; foam letters—Target; foam dino—rescued from son’s trash; chipboard flowers—Crate Paper.

Ribbon-o-rama

There’s been a lot of interest lately in systems for organizing ribbons, so I thought I’d post a project I made earlier this year that uses ribbon…lots of ribbon. In fact, I think I used about seven spools of American Crafts ribbon for this project.

I love projects like this that begin with something that I was tempted to throw away. In this case, I used a Valentine candy box to create a frame for a favorite picture of my guys.

Supplies:Ribbon—American Crafts; cardstock—Bazzill Bling; jewels—Tulip; acrylic plaque—KI Memories; diecutting system—Cricut.

Read on for the directions.

The color of London

I’m in the top ten at the Ultimate Summer Challenge at the Scrapbooks Etc. website again this week. The challenge was to use this photo collage template in a layout. Here’s my page:

Here’s the journaling:

Supplies: Patterned papers, chipboard letters, and chipboard alphas—Scenic Route; cardstock—Bazzill.

You can see the work of the other semifinalists and vote for your favorite here.

That’s gotta be some sort of record…

I gave the Ultimate Summer Challenge at the Scrapbooks Etc. website another go this week, and again my layout was selected for the top ten. (You can vote for my layout here, if you are so inclined. Thanks!)

The challenge this week was to use at least eight photos on a layout. I’m thinking now that I might have gone a bit overboard. Here’s my layout:

Supplies: Patterned paper—Scenic Route; chipboard letters—Crate Paper; bracket—Everlasting Keepsakes; circle—Gin-X. The star charms were salvaged from some costume jewelry I found at a flea market.

There are ninety-eight photos on this page. Yes, ninety-eight. (Twelve rows of eight photos each, plus two extra on the right side of the collage.) It’s an all-time record for me, and I think this record is going to stand for quite a while.

Creating the photo collage (and printing it on letter-size photo paper) wasn’t difficult, but it was time-consuming. Here’s how I did it, using Photoshop Elements 3.0 (Macintosh). I suspect that the software has batch-processing tools that would have made this process less monotonous, but I did it the long way.

Oh, my stars! He’s nine?

Woohoo for me! I’m a semifinalist in this week’s Ultimate Summer Challenge at the Scrapbooks Etc. website! This was my first week participating, and I entered kind of on a whim, so I’m surprised to have been chosen. The challenge was to alter an embellishment and use it on a layout. I combined this challenge with ScrapMode’s July design team challenge, which was to create a border from patterned paper.

Here’s my layout:

Supplies: Cardstock—Paper Company; patterned papers—ScrapMode; chipboard stars—Everlasting Keepsakes; diecut system—Cricut.

To give the unfinished chipboard star frames an aged look, I painted them with cream acrylic paint, applied two coats of crackle finish, and painted them again with burgundy paint. I backed the frames with the same kraft cardstock that I used for the background.

For the title bar along the bottom of the page, I diecut “nine” repeatedly in a strip of blue paper. I backed one of the words with orange paper for the title and the rest with kraft cardstock.

The journaling reads,

With each passing year, we see less of the boy you used to be and more of the man you are becoming.

If you’d like to take a peek at the other semifinalists’ work and vote for your favorite, you can do so here.

But before you go, here’s a card that I made with leftovers from the layout. I love the way ScrapMode’s So Simple papers go with kraft cardstock. And those Alpha Crystals letter stickers are proving to be very versatile.

Supplies: Cardstock—Paper Company; patterned papers, journaling block, and letter stickers—ScrapMode.

ScrapMode projects (April–June)

What’s that woman doing with my husband…on television!?

No need to panic. It’s just Wendy Smedley of Simple Scrapbooks showing a layout I created of my husband on a PBS television show called Scrapbook Memories. The series is scheduled to begin airing next month.

Here’s my guy, in case you miss his television debut. The layout appears in the May/June issue of Simple Scrapbooks.

Supplies: The patterned cardstock is from Crate Paper; the stickers are from Li’l Davis (clock face) and EK Success (everything else).

In praise of the library

I think this is my favorite of my spring projects. The owl and the other papers are from ScrapMode’s Star-a-Gogo line. I hand-cut the cardstock scroll and used Aleene’s Paper Glaze on the owl.

Supplies: Papers from ScrapMode; chipboard letters (covered with ScrapMode paper) from We R Memory Keepers.

The quote by Marc Brown reads,

Having fun isn’t hard when you’ve got a library card.

Robo boy

Take a look at this layout. Can you guess where those shiny black circles came from?

I didn’t think you could.

Well, curiosity got the best of me one day as I was cleaning out my desk, and I pried open a floppy disk (remember those?) to see what was inside. I salvaged a shiny circle and a few interesting bits of metal from each of the disks that I threw out that day. I just knew they’d come in handy at some point.

Supplies: The neato robot stamp is from ScrapMode, as is the green paper. The chipboard letters are from Scenic Route, and the acrylic accent is from Go West Studios.