There's Hope for Unfinished Layouts - Standing Tall Together

This is the last layout I completed at the Crop Re-tweet. Believe it or not this layout has been sitting in my unfinished pile for well over three years. My best friend sent me these pictures and I just knew that I had to create a layout. So...I turned to my Pagemaps binder found a sketch for a two-page layout and got busy during a crop I attended when I was a CM consultant. From the start, I had trouble pulling it together, and over the years pulled it out over and over again, only to put it back in it's protective envelope. I couldn't figure out why it wasn't coming together, especially since I was starting out with a trusty sketch, which as we know can be turned and tweaked to make it fit your pictures and ideas.

Well while pondering this layout yet again last weekend, my friend and co-cropper said to me, maybe you should try a one-page layout instead, because it seems that you have too much space to make it a two-page layout. Light bulb moment and a big 'ole duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! Why didn't I think of that? It's just been in the last couple of years that I've actually done one-page layouts, having always done full albums or at least two-page spreads. So why NOT do a one-page layout instead? Permission was all that was needed for me to move in a different direction, permission that I could have granted to myself had I been thinking outside of the box.

The layout is very simple and in my opinion it doesn't need lots of "stuff" because the pictures tell a story all by themselves. I am so glad that pictures are finally seeing the light of day on scrapbook page. The lesson learned was of course "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!"

P.S. As I look at this layout onscreen, I am contemplating changing the journaling box from pink to same color used in the photo mat and then matting that with the pink. But...if I don't ever get around to doing it, that's okay too.

Don't forget YOU in your pages! - Back to School, Old School

Another layout I completed last weekend was based on the September Challenge over at Scraps of Color.  The challenge was to scrap BACK TO SCHOOL...OLD SCHOOL!   And...we don't mean your kids...we mean YOU!  The layout was to include: one or more of my school pictures from any grade, have at least one cardstock and two patterned papers, a journaling block, and shabby chic techniques (anything to age the layout...inking, tattered edges, old lace, etc.). The layout had to be new as of September 8th. This is the first time in ten years of scrapbooking that I did a layout containing old photos of me.

If you've been following my blog (and thank you to all of you who do!) you know that I am "patterned-paper challenged." So, I turned to my recently acquired DCWV Hittin' the Books stack. Using the stack made matching up pattern-paper easy peasy! For my shabby chic technique, no exciting stuff there...I just inked around the edges of my paper. I originally numbered my photos with glaze pens, using white on the dark corners, and black on the light corners. I didn't like the way it looked...kind of after-thought looking....so I found some stickers, punched some small circles and adhered them to my pictures.

Lessons learned this time around? DCWV paper stacks and other coordinating paper lines are a must have for those who are patterned-paper challenged! They are on sale at Joann's at 40% to 50% off more often than not. Boo boo's can always be fixed...just think outside the box! And finally, when scrapbooking, don't forget to capture your "early years" in your pages. Your family will love looking at them and seeing what you were like way back when. Thanks for looking!

Stuck Ideas - The Polar Express

The next thing I worked on at the retreat was a layout I began in June while taking SDU at Joann's. If memory serves me correctly, we chose the pictures first and were then instructed to do a split complementary color scheme layout. As they are Christmas photos I was glad not to be doing the traditional red-green color combination. I chose blue-green cardstock for my background, and the split complementary colors for that are red and orange. I seem to remember having trouble weaving in the orange and changing my color scheme. I went with a red/yellow-green/blue-green combo which are also split complementary colors.

This layout sat for awhile because I had envisioned something totally different with respect to the title and embellishments, but couldn't translate what was in my head to my Gypsy and Cricut. I originally intended to have one letter per train car for the title, but size-wise it wasn't working for me. So the letters ended up by themselves on the train track. I also envisioned an entire Santa's Village scene on the right side of the page, but that didn't come together either so I settled for the gingerbread house. I hadn't brought anything to color my embellishments with and so borrowed my friend's Smooch inks to color in the different elements on the house. They never dried. When I came home, I had the bright idea to use my Stickles and what a difference they made.

So this is what I learned...if an idea gets stuck in your head and won't come out, it's okay to make a shift and try something else. Also, Smooch inks don't dry on DCWV glitter cardstock. I probably could have set it with a heat gun, but I didn't have one with me at the time. Chances are, they won't dry on any other kind of slick cardstock either. And now on to the layout! Thanks for looking!

Preserving the Past - Grandma and Grandpa

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a weekend crop retreat in Tucson, my very first! I was invited by my friend Helen, whom I met through the Sistas Scrap Too MB over at cricut.com. To say that I had a wonderful time with the Scrapbook Chicks at their inaugural Crop Re-Tweet is an understatement. Had I not had a child and a job to return to, I might not have come home at all. Scrapbooking really is cheaper than therapy, but I digress.

I took everything with me, including the kitchen sink, and yet only got six or seven pages done. I have to do better. I'm on a quest to organize all of my embellies so that they're accessible at home, yet easy to grab for a crop. So yesterday, I purchased one of these at Michael's (with a 50% off Joann's coupon) in pink and purple. But again I digress because this is not the reason for my post.

I decided to pack layouts that had been in various stages of completion and work on those first. I began with two pictures of my grandparents and a sketch that was posted in April over at the SST Cricut MB. You can see the sketch here. So I got paper and embellies together and took them to a crop I went to in May I think it was. That kit never got touched, so I brought it with me to the retreat and am quite pleased with the results. This is the first time I have EVER done a layout about my grandparents and I have been scrapbooking for ten years.

I made an unintended slice through my grandmother's photo but was able to cover it with the embellishment and journaling tag. I was also drinking a bottle of water that had begun to sweat and a drop or two fell on my grandfather's photo. I decided that it didn't show and made the decision not to reprint the photo.

So before I end this post and share my pictures, let me tell you what I learned this time around. First, while it is important to scrap the everyday moments and events, it is equally important to preserve your history. Don't forget to tell those stories from the past. Second, if you make a mistake on a layout or damage a picture, it can often be repaired or disguised. Take this opportunity to see where your creativity will lead you. And finally, don't drink water over your layouts! Thanks for looking!