Paper Wings

Time for a new entry.  These are my most recent projects for
Paper Wings, using the Jack & Jill line, by Prima. I absolutely
love the softness of these papers...perfect for my sweet photos.

      I made the flowers, for the layout, with scallop punches and
a template.  I spritzed the flowers with water and crumpled them,
letting them dry.  Then, I added glitter and brads to finish them.

     The "family tree" is made out
of beading wire, then wrapped in embroidery floss, using a technique borrowed from shisha embroidery.  I decoupaged the flower pot and aged it with stain.  Frames are made with the same scallop punches and attached with jump rings.  I'll be doing a class for this project, at the store, so check in at www.paperwingsnj.com to view class schedules.  They should be posted soon.
     What I really like about

this project, is that it can be
adapted into a gratitude tree
for Thanksgiving, substituting
journaling blocks for the photos,
or it could easily be used with a
Christmas theme, adding some
ornaments or snowflakes.  For
Valentine's Day, it could hold
little love notes. 
     I'll be adding more soon,
so keep checking back for
more projects.  Hopefully,
after the holidays, I will also
be updating the look and
features of this blog.  I'll
keep you posted.
     Until then, enjoy the
beautiful fall weather!

Multi-Photo layouts

I rarely do layouts with single photos.  I take too many pictures for that!  The real estate in my albums is much too valuable to devote a lot of space to single photo pages.  (I save the single photo pages for the really precious photos.)  I like the challenge of coming up with a way to fit as many photos as possible onto a two-page layout.  Here is one solution.  I shrunk a lot of the action shots, from our camping trip, and kept the tranquil shots as the focal photos.  The border strip forms the target for my archers.  The title is the "Campers at Play" sign.  This was a great trip and now a wonderful memory!

Lucky Mom

I had so much fun with this!  I sandwiched vellum between two grids that I cut from cardstock, forming a shoji screen.  The teacup is heat embossed and I made a fortune cookie from felt.  The Chinese characters are also heat embossed and form the title, "Lucky Mom."  The journaling is in the form of a haiku.

Looking back

I was going through some layouts yesterday and ran across this one. This is a layout I did about my son's lack of hair when he was a toddler and how beautiful his hair is now!  The journaling is printed under a clear window which is attached to the "before" photo.  The window slides to the left, revealing the "after" photo underneath the toddler picture.  The pull tab is shaped like scissors cutting the "hair."

Fall Layouts

I love the fall.  I also love doing fall-themed layouts. I did the first layout last year to get me through the milestone of turning 50!  I printed the title on patterned paper, then cut around some of the details in the paper.  The second layout isn't fall themed, but is about our anniversary, which is in the fall.  It describes our relationship based on the Chinese Zodiac as well as our future based on a fortune cookie.  I used images from a restaurant placemat for our zodiac animals.  This is one of those layouts that I've been wanting to include in an album for awhile, but just didn't have the right pictures.  The opportunity finally came when we visited a favorite restaurant for our anniversary dinner last year.

Summertime

  I just finished my entry for the August My Mind's Eye Blog Challenge, "Summertime."  This was a fun sketch to work with...pretty basic but with a lot of possibilities.  I couldn't make up my mind, so I did two layouts based on the sketch.  Part of the challenge was to use a long title, as well.  The first layout, "Get down, boogie oogie oogie!" uses papers from the Kaleidescope, Bohemian and Breaking Free paper lines.  The second layout, "Oh so happy to have you in my life," uses papers from Dreamy 2, Breaking Free, Tres Jolie, Abbey Road, Penny Lane and Quite Contrary.  This sketch is so versatile that I may use it for the opposing pages, as well.  It will be fun to play around with it at different angles and see what happens!

 Now, I really need to get caught up around here and get ready for the new school year, though I hate to admit that summer is, all too quickly, drawing to a close.  I loved reminiscing about summers past while working on these layouts.  Soon, summer 2010 will be but another memory.

Wonderland

I have been having a wonderful (no pun intended) time playing with all of the gorgeous papers in the "Halloween in Wonderland" line by Graphic 45.  These are the latest layouts I've done for Paper Wings.  I still have a few more project ideas for these papers.  I'll post more as I finish them.

 

 When I look at these pictures, I realize how fast time is passing by.  My kids are growing up far too quickly for me.  I want to hold onto these moments for as long as I can.  I guess that's why scrapbooking appeals to me so much.  Not only is it an amazing creative outlet, but it's saving all of the little moments of our lives that we may not have remembered.

 

The only trouble is, there are never enough hours in the day to finish all of the projects that I set out to do.  I've been working on the same list for months!  I can never get much accomplished in the summer, though.  This is the time to make memories, and I love having the unscheduled time with my kids.  September will be here all too soon, and with it, back to school shopping, running around with sports and activities and early mornings.  I am definitely not ready yet!

 

So, I'm going to focus on enjoying the rest of the summer, while it lasts.  I'm not going to think of back-to-school shopping, bus schedules, soccer practices or helping the kids with their homework.  I'm going to feel the wind in my hair, the sun on my skin and listen to the sound of the surf with the seagulls overhead.  I'm going to look for pictures in the clouds and smell the fresh cut grass and listen for the ice cream truck as it makes its way around the neighborhood.  I'm going to barbecue and eat corn-on-the-cob and watermelon and drink lemonade.  I'm going to relax, unwind, and remember what it's like to be a kid in the summer, when the world is full of wonder and possibilities and new things just waiting to be discovered. 

Scrapbooking

When I entered my last post, I realized how long it has been since I updated this blog.  I'll have to remedy that.  This layout is the winning entry from a contest that I participated in on "A Peek Into Yesterday."  Sadly, this website went out of business as of July 20th.  I will miss the lovely ladies in the little community there.  I will continue to post new layouts here, so keep checking back!  Happy summer!

Challenges

Recently, I've been trying out a lot of scrapbook challenges online. Not only is it a wonderful way to win prizes, but it's also a great way to stretch your creative muscles. Here is a recent challenge that I did for the My Mind's Eye blog. They posted a sketch with the title HOPE. Here is my interpretation. Now, I can get started on my design team project for Paper Wings. I get to use a beautiful new collection from Graphic 45. Can't wait to get busy!

"Out, damn'd spot..."

I feel like I haven't stopped moving since Halloween! The holidays always fly by! I have recently gotten back in touch with a former professor of mine. She is designing a production of Macbeth and I have been stitching some costumes for her. It's really good to be doing theater work again!