Made a Mistake? Don't Despair... Repair!

Sometime last fall, I completed a two-page layout that I wanted to blog about, but didn't since the layout was made as part of a gift album; I had to wait until the recipient received it. By then of course, my focus was directed elsewhere and writing the post had to be put to the side, but for some reason it was never forgotten.

The layout was for baby’s first year, and my intent was to leave mats for photos of the baby each month, with a large mat for the baby’s first birthday. (Knowing me, I probably started with a sketch; but it's been so long, I can't remember.) While doing the mats for months 8 through 11, I made a mistake and stamped those titles above the mats, instead of underneath. If memory serves me correctly, at the time I designed the layout, I intended to put part of the title in that large green space on the left and so stamping above those mats kind of screwed that up. I had already put a lot of work into the layout at that point what with cutting and inking the mats and pasting everything down. Not to mention having very little of the carefully chosen cardstock I'd used left. Besides, I'm really not one to start over when working on a layout. So....I just let the layout "sit" for awhile so that I could figure out how to fix it.

As inspiration began to unfold, I stamped underneath the mats... where the stamping was supposed to be in the first place. 

Then, I decided to add some embellishments in the large green space as well as between the mats to cover up my "boo boos." 

Of course that meant changing the placement of my title while trying to maintain a visual triangle and keep my title grounded. All in all... I was quite happy with the result. And the most important part was, I didn't have to start over!

So... if you've read this far in my post, then you're ready for this take-away:

1. When working on a layout or other project, don't despair if you make a mistake that you feel can't be corrected. And definitely don't feel like you have to start over!
2. Allow that project to "rest" for a little while... that could be minutes, hours or even days. Once you feel that the "resting" time is over, look at your project again as if seeing it for the very first time.
3. Let inspiration guide you and allow your creativity to unfold. While your project may take on an entirely different look or move in a different direction, what results may surprise you!

Digi-stamps and Old Embellies on Layouts - Real Cats Scrap!

Digi-stamps are often sent out early in the week to Friday Night Challenge participants over at Scraps of Color. I received one such digi-stamp of a kitty going after a goldfish. Normally, I take the digi-stamps, color them with Copics (I'm a Copic newbie) and try to use them on cards, but for this one I couldn't for the life of me decide what kind of card to put it on.

Then I thought about the fact that I have a cat, and some pretty cool pictures of that cat, and that just maybe I could use that digi-stamp on a layout about my cat. While I know that people often use sentiment and other kinds of image stamps on layouts, I don't know that I've seen too many Copic-colored image stamps on a layout. Not saying that they're not out there...I just haven't seen any. So I decided to treat that image as a third photo to go along with the two photos of Isis I had chosen.

Pulled out my trusty "Page Patterns - Just Plain Simplicity" book and found a simple sketch using three photos. Found some paper, ribbon, a chipboard tag, small journaling tag, and some old, old, old embellishments (now that they're all organized) and got to work. I purchased the stainless steel scrapbooking embellishments years and years ago at a LSS that was going out of business in L.A. (Yes, they are real stainless steel, and yes they are sharp! I know...because I cut myself with one of them!) I think I found the other embellies that they're sitting on at a Big Lots in L.A. years ago. I have no clue where the chipboard tag came from but once I covered it with the coordinating patterned paper and inked the edges, I was pleased with the results. The letters of the title came from the Don Juan Cricut cartridge. Once I got all of my supplies together, the layout came together fairly quickly.

Going Fishing is So Played Out! Real Cats Scrap!

So this is what I learned...

1. It's okay to color a stamp (digi or rubber) to use on a layout.
2. Having your scrap stuff organized (I feel another post coming!) really helps you to find the perfect embellishments to use on a project.
3. Be careful...stainless steel embellishments are sharp!
4. Get those old embellishments out and use them! You might be surprised at the results...

Thanks for checking me out!

Those Pesky Twisted Rhinestone Flourishes

So....I don't know about all of you, but whenever...and I mean WHENEVER....I try to adhere one of those rhinestone flourishes to a card or layout, they get all twisted on themselves and I usually end up accidentally tearing off pieces while trying to get them untangled (especially when I'm under the gun doing a 30 minute card challenge!). Do you know what I'm talking about? Witness some of those pesky flourishes below...

One night it occurred to me, if transfer tape (or painter's tape) can be used to transfer vinyl, why can't it be used to transfer these lovely embellishments that add "bling" to our projects?

So...I pulled out my wide roll of blue painter's tape, tore off a piece, stuck it on top of the flourish, smoothed it down to make sure it stuck well, and removed the plastic that the flourish was attached to. I placed the tape with the flourish on my project, rubbed it well, slowly removed the tape...and voila! The rhinestone flourish went onto my project without a twist or a turn! The only thing that would have made it easier would have been if I had used clear transfer tape...so I will be placing an order soon.

So...today's lesson is this: when trying to put a rhinestone flourish (or other similar types of embellishment) on a project, try blue painter's tape or clear transfer tape, then embellies attach in a jiffy!

Thanks for checking in!

Extreme Makeover: Scrapbook Style - Mr. President

Last week I took part in another Friday Night Challenge over at Scraps of Color. Most of the time we do cards, however this particular Friday night included a 45-minute layout challenge. You got it...45 minutes to do a layout! Me...the slowest scrapper in the land... the scrapper who takes hours and sometimes days to design and create a two-page layout. Not only were we to do the layout it 45 minutes, but we also had to follow certain parameters: Create a two-page 24x12 LO of President Obama.  Your color scheme is Red, Black, ONE PAPER MUST BE PATTERNED and a color of your choice as an accent. Your design must use a "star". It must have a minimum of 4 photos. One photo must include show "Black Love."  There must be bling. There must be the words "OBAMA" and "44." There must be a space for journaling. Let me repeat...this had to be done in 45 minutes. I really didn't think I could do it, but I was determined to try. Thankfully we had been told earlier in the week that we needed to have several Obama photos so in that regard I was prepared.

I grabbed one of my trusty sketches books, "Page Patterns...Just Plain Simplicity," found a simple sketch that contained four photos and got to work. Pulled out some cardstock and found some OLD 4th of July patterned paper that contained stars and the word FREEDOM at the bottom (I cut that off)! In the middle of working my ATG ran out of adhesive...grrrrrrrrrrrr....!!! So I had to make do with some Zots and other things in the meantime. I didn't quite make the 45 minutes; I think it took me between 50 and 55 minutes and I wasn't quite thrilled with the layout that resulted. But I posted it to the gallery anyway.

Two days later, I decided to change up some things. I found some old chipboard letters (with a design on them) and numbers and covered them with glitter using the technique you can find here. Since I used red glitter I changed the color of the background they were on from the red patterned paper to blue. I added some more rhinestone flourishes (stay tuned for my next post about a great way to adhere them without having them tangle) using them to cover some of the punching mistakes on the blue frame. I added a star made from the red patterned paper and a couple of blue stars with some added bling. Finally, I added some typed journaling.  I tried to write on the American Crafts transparent journaling box but none of the pens I had would write well on it, so I ended up printing it on cardstock and adhering it over the journaling box. What you see below is the result.

So, today's lessons are these:

1. If you aren't pleased with a layout that you did, let it sit and "marinate" for a bit, and then come back to it. Taking a break from it and coming back to it with fresh eyes, may help you see where you can add some improvements.
2. If nothing about the layout pleases you, don't be afraid to go back to the drawing board and start over.
3. This one bears repeating yet again...try sketches!
4. Find a way to fix or cover little "boo boos." You really don't have to start over or re-cut something just because it has a flaw in it.
5. Setting a time limit for creating a layout will force you to think quickly and you may be surprised by the results.

Hope you enjoyed my musings for today. Thanks for looking!