Paper Issues: Pinspire Me Monday

Today I have a layout up over on the Paper Issues blog. I found a really fun pin that I was inspired by and am inviting others to share what they create as well.

This is the awesome pin I found courtesy of Better Home and Gardens

There were so many things I liked about this image. I decided to focus more on the strips of pattern and overall color scheme.

I used items largely from the Maggie Holmes Open Book collection, 

as well as some Studio Calico paper from my stash. 

If you are looking for some awesome paper products and need a good store to shop at. Look no further, I know of a great store, and I even have a coupon code for you to use as well! Head on over to the Paper Issues Shop and if you use code "TONI" at checkout you will receive 20% off your entire order.

Layout Share: Flourish

I have wanted to make a page about my One Little Word this year. This concept is based on an idea by Ali Edwards. If you missed the post about how I picked my word for this year, you can find it HERE. I picked the word flourish for 2014, and have really been focusing on this word and allowing to just permeate various aspects of my life. When I found this awesome butterfly patterned paper from Studio Calico's new Lemon Lush release, I was so inspired to make a layout about my word. The paper, was a jumping off point for my color scheme, and everything else.

Color Palette: I tried to use the color inspiration below, but the navy just did not jive with so many other light colors I could not make it work, so I switched it out for yellow instead.

Seafoam, Coral, and Lavender, with pops of Gold and Yellow

This layout was so much fun to make. It took a few days to complete, but I had a great time working on it bit by bit while it was snowing outside.

Supplies Used:

• Sequins-Paper Bakery and stash
• Puffy stickers-Pinkfresh Studio and Studio Calico
• Patterned paper-Studio Calico Lemon Lush
• Cardstock-American Crafts
• Silhouette Cameo to cut out large circle from patterned paper, could also used a large bowl if you don't have a digital die cutter
• Wood Veneer-Studio Calico and stash
• Buttons: October Afternoon and stash
• Photoshop Elements to type up journaling and print it out
• Stamp and Brilliance Gold Ink
• Heidi Swapp Gold Lame Ink
• Glossy Accents (for sequins and veneer,) American Crafts dot roller adhesive, pop dots, fine tip scissors for fussy cutting out butterflies
• Embroidery needle and peach floss for hand stitching.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. I appreciate you being here. I will be back tomorrow with another installment of Crafty Organization Thursdays and this time we are discussing how we organize cards, specifically greeting cards. Until next time....

Happy Scrappin'

xoxox

Toni

Layout Share: "At Fifteen I Learned How to Ride a Motorcycle"

This layout was created for my "All About Me" scrapbook album. Something I have needed to do for quite a while, creating a scrapbook album all about my life (mostly before kids.) Studio Calico currently has a class going on entitled appropriately "All About Me" and it is taught by the wonderfully talented Lexi Bridges. I am really enjoying this class and every Studio Calico class is great. Studio Calico offers one class every month available for purchase. I have liked every single class the past 8 months that Studio Calico has offered. They are also reasonably priced (ranging from $12-$28, depending upon if you receive supplies or not.) I can not say enough good things about them.  *This is my personal opinion, I am not paid or endorsed in any manner to persuade you to buy Studio Calico. I just really enjoy their classes, products, kits, and community.*

On to the layout:

And some close-ups:

Supplies Used:

• Studio Calico Spencer Scrapbook Kit
• White Studio Calico grid paper 12 x12 inches
• Studio Calico notebook Thickers for American Crafts
• Simple Stories green alpha stickers
• Woodgrain flakey Thickers for American Crafts
• Small black alpha stickers from a previous Studio Calico kit
• Red Circle Thickers from the Hook Scrapbook add-on kit for March
• Blinks of Life stamp set
• Hero Arts navy mid-tone shadow ink
• Brilliance galaxy gold pigment ink
• Needle
• White thread
• Gold uniball pen
• Black American Crafts .01 precision pen

Thank you for stopping by. What have you been creating lately? Have you recently scrapbooked a layout just about you? I highly recommend it, you' re worth it! My kids thought it was hilarious to look at this layout and read about how I learned to ride a motorcycle. They did not believe that their mom was once cool. As my twelve-year old put it, "You use to be cool mom, what happened?" Don't we just love the things our kids say? Have your kids/ family/ friends said anything hilarious lately? I would love to hear your stories.

Happy Scrappin,

xoxox

Toni

Layout Share: Graduation and a New Start

Today I want to share with you a layout I made using Studio Calico's April Scrapbook Kit, Spencer's. This kit is still available as of 4/18/ 2013. So if you are interested you might still be able to snag one. I have really enjoyed working with this kit, it is full of lots of great primary and bold colors, with bits of graphic pops. For this layout, I took my layout design inspiration from designer Teagan Skwiat and the Paper Bakery sketch found here. 

How I used the sketch as a jumping off point:

This particular sketch challenge called for two photographs with a title in the bottom right. I chose instead, to use a third circular photograph and to wrap my title around it. This was largely because I had three photographs I wanted to use and I just made it work. After making one circular element (the photograph of me,) it seemed to need more, so I used my 1" Martha Stewart circle punch, punched out some circles, and also some My Mind's Eye enamel dots. I placed all of these circular elements around my page them until I found a nice balance and a feeling of natural movement, where your eye moves from picture to picture easily. Lastly, I added the banner under one of the photos (actually to hide some discoloration spots that I could not photoshop out. ) These photos are 17 years old, and sometimes that happens, so we just make the best of it right? Best of all, I think the banner looks intentional, and not like something covering a mistake. I consider this cover-up a success.

What are you scrapbooking lately? Have you had to cover-up some funky spots on your pictures? What tricks do you have? My tip for you today is, when in doubt always use a banner.

I hope y'all have a Happy Thursday and Happy Scrappin',

xoxox

Toni