Scrapbooking in January: Week 3 Challenges

I had another productive week of Scrapping and I'm on target to hit my goal of 20 pages this month so I am feeling good. The first thing I did this week was work on a mini album but again I failed to take a picture so I'll move on to the sketch I did.

This sketch was found on the Citrus Twist blog. I loved the style and how it was different than what I normally do. 

Next I did a pretty random Disney layout but I just had to get the story of Prince Eric down! 

Then I pulled a challenge from the Challenge Jar. This time I needed to pick random sticker sheets and make kits using that sticker sheet as inspiration. Boy, was that fun!

The first sticker sheet was an old Sassafras 12x12 sheet with creams and oranges and yellows.

Here is the page kit I came up with.

Next I pulled a random 6x12 sticker sheet. It was an old Cosmo Cricket travel sticker sheet.

I liked the orange and blues and I happened to have a few sheets of this same line so I figured I may as well pull them out, right? 

Then I reached into my random sticker stash from a drawer. This is what I pulled - rainbow glittery skulls. What?! 

OK... Rainbow Pirates. That's what I went with. Luckily I have a picture ready to go.

Next I pulled this sticker sheet from Simple Stories. 

I liked the polka dots and colors so I pulled out these for a page kit. 

Next I wanted to kill-a-page-kit that I already had in my bin and I was able to make a fun 2 page spread. 

Finally, I watched Paige Evan's flip through from last year and saw this beautiful page strip heart layout she had done and so I scraplifted it and made a blue heart and a picture of my husband and our Godson. I was really excited to use so many scraps from my scrap bin! 

Scrapbooking in January: Week 2 Challenges

I had a productive week and kept up with my challenges! I was able to find a pocket of time here and there to work on layouts and I allowed myself the freedom of leaving a project undone and coming back to it later. It helped me get 5 minutes here and there. 

I put together a kit and photos for a mini album I want to work on. I guess it really isn't mini but it is a 9x9 album, so smaller than what I typically work with! Hopefully I'll have my first page done next week. 

Then I worked on the Magical Scrapbook class from Shimelle and came up with this layout for my Disney album. It's another Star Wars Jedi Training one.  

Next I wanted to scraplift a few layouts I found on Pinterest that used this design where they would have two smaller photos and 2 patterned papers int he background, one a 3x12 inch. 

Next I wanted to use a technique I don't do very often. This time was "smooshing" with mist inks. I love how this looks, but I always seem to get nervous with mixed media. Luckily, this one turned out really pretty and I would love to give it another try soon. It's actually pretty easy to do! 

The next challenge came from the Challenge Jar! This time I had to use triangles. I used my neglected triangle punches for this challenge. I find that I always go for circles and squares but I do like to mix it up every now and then. I liked this challenge. 

I went back to the Magical Scrapbook class to work on a few more Disney layouts. This was a design that could work several ways so here are my layouts for that. I'm really not afraid to use those themed papers and embellishments! I have them so I'm going to use them! 

And finally, in an attempt to Kill yet another Kit I have in my stash, I made this layout. I gutted those papers so I could use them again but I really liked the way it all felt like a messy stack. I have a feeling I will be trying this again! 

Scrapbooking in January - Week 1 Challenges

I discussed some of the goals I had already for this year and so far I am on track. I worked on a mini album and made 5 layouts this week, including 1 Disney layout. 

The first challenge was to work on my mini album, which I did, but didn't grab a picture of it just yet! 

The next challenge was to use one of the stash kits I had sitting in a bin. I made this kit a while back and it was perfect for a single page. I am a huge fan of doilies lately. And I was so happy to cut into that transparency paper. Sometimes I hold onto those for way too long!

The next challenge was a Jar Challenge. I had to use a color wheel. I went online and chose the following colors using the Triad option.

I went to work, first taking papers from my 100 papers bin. Then I took out one embellishment sheet that had all the colors I was looking for and found this picture of my son wearing pretty much the same colors for his school picture this year. It all worked out pretty quickly. 

Next I had to "Kill" a Kit on Friday. I made two layouts, but one has a class picture with school sign so I decided not to post that one. The other layout is below. I have been holding onto this book paper for a while now knowing that I wanted to use some pictures I've taken this year while reading. I am so happy I decided to focus on reading again so I wanted to make a layout about it. 

Finally, I used the Hip Kits Club Sketch  from this week to create the layout below for my Sketch Saturday. I am thrilled with how my Disney Album is turning out. I did take Shimelle's Disney class over the summer and hope to finish going through all the videos and sketches to make even more layouts for this project. 

 That is all for now! Happy Scrapping! 

Setting Goals in 2018

It is January again and for me that means I have already made a list of goals for the year and things I'd like to focus on. This year I want to make sure I am scrapbooking more. I want to make sure I am using things I already have. I want to try new techniques. I want to complete an album. 

I started to Bullet Journal again and this is helping me sort out my goals. 

The first goal is huge. I want to make at least 5 layouts a week. That will be a total of 260 pages by the end of the year. I kept track of how many layouts I did last year and I was somewhere around 118. If I hit 200, I will be happy. But I am saying 5 a week because it is a nice solid number to strive for. 

Second, I am planning to use my scrapbook instagram more. I find it keeps me excited and engaged to share what I am making. (@moscraps). 

Third, I am going to come back to updating my blog. I have some challenges I am working on and classes I am catching up on that will hopefully result in lots of layouts to share! 

I am also working on sorting through my pictures on Google Photos to decide which I want to print for scrapping. This has been a huge undertaking over the past year and I'm still working on it. I ended up completely reorganizing my albums chronologically and I love it. Now I can see where I am missing photos and stories by comparing to Google Photos. 

I also have a daily plan to help me when I'm stuck.

Scraplift Sundays - I will look on pintrest, blogs, instagram, facebook for a layout I like (5 minutes max) and then run to my desk to make a layout inspired by that one in some way. 

Mini Album Monday - I will work on mini albums more since I have so many that are begging to be used. 

Technique Tuesday - I will try out a technique I am unfamiliar with or rarely use

Stash Kit Wednesday - I will create a stash kit or use one

Jar Challenge Thursday - I will take out one of the challenges from my jar and complete it

Kill a Kit Friday - I will use my Hip Kit or Counterfeit Kit in an attempt to use it all up

Sketch Saturday - I will find or create a sketch to make a layout

I wish everyone luck in completing their goals this year! Hopefully I am able to stay on track with mine. I've already worked on a mini album and a layout this week so I am feeling the motivation build! 

Scrapbooking in May: Challenge 34

I turned to my Challenge Jar instead of the usual NSD challenges. 

Use smaller photos 

I pulled out some papers from my 100 patterned papers and went to town with random things I could find on my desk. The challenge on 100 patterned papers is to use some washi tape this month so I grabbed some and all sorts of wood things. The photos look dark here but it is my son dressed up as Harry Potter. He is running around a wooden playground that looks like a castle (Hogwarts) with his magic wand. 

Scrapbooking in May: Challenge 33

Vacation is over, my tests are all over. It is time to get back into the crafty side of life. I have so many goals for the Spring time (spring cleaning, reading challenge) but nothing makes me happier than scrapbooking! 

The next challenge from the Challenge Jar is to 

Use lots of banners/pennants 

I used my April Counterfeit Kit Something There for this challenge. 

I grabbed a few of my mom's punches. She has this great one that cuts two different kinds of triangles, perfect for making a banner. When I visited Epcot recently, I loved all the stringed lights and banners going back and forth in the little countries. I wanted to mimic it for this page, even though this picture was taken at Sesame Place! 

Scrapbooking in April: Page Kits

I finished up with the last couple of page kits I made last week and even pulled another patterned paper from the 100 paper stash to make one of the kits stretch over two pages. I like using die cuts but I feel a little lost as to what to do with them still. I'm glad I got to try out some things. 

Scrapbooking in April: Using a Page Kit

The next layout I made used one of the page kits I made this week with die cuts and papers from the stash of 100 patterned papers I pulled. The pictures are from our Honeymoon in Jamaica. I had never been so relaxed in all my life! 

Scrapbooking in April: Paper Issues Challenge

For this Paper Issues Challenge, the inspiration came from a quote "You make me happy when skies are grey" I used one of the page kits I made the other day for this challenge:

Scrapbooking in April: Challenge 31

I was looking at the Paper Issues April Challenges and found a sketch challenge I wanted to do along with a Jar Challenge. 

Use lots of wood veneer

To complete this challenge, I used my March Hip Kit and pulled out all of my wood veneer. I have so much stashed in these bead cases. 

I think I have maybe 1 or 2 more layouts I can make with this Hip Kit before I move on to my April Counterfeit kit and those page kits I made this week. Luckily I have no shortage of challenges to complete! 

  

Scrapbooking in April: Challenge Jar Kits

I had a little bit of time this week to pull a challenge out of the Challenge Jar.

Make 5 page kits using lots of die cut pieces

The last challenge I did from the jar was also page kits and I was able to make a page with each one already. I plan to do the same with these kits. I managed to make all the kits with my 100 patterned papers - this used up 14! 

Here are the page kits!

The first one was inspired by the pinata paper I pulled out and the pinata die cuts I had in my random stash. I decided I wanted to also make sure I used a 12x12 sticker sheet and letter tiles for each of these pages. 

I had lots of clouds and an umbrella and raindrops so This one is a bit rainy and gray. 

I pulled out the kraft hot air balloon because the challenge on the 100 patterned paper facebook page is to use up Kraft paper items this month. 

At this point I just reached into the random die cut bag and pulled out that pink jar and went off of that as inspiration for the full page kit. 

I liked the orange/red and yellow present and went with that as my color scheme for this kit. I'm so excited that I had several papers that would work in the stash I was pulling from!

Check back to see the pages I make with these page kits. 

Scrapbooking in March: Using Page Kits

I've been scrapping away and haven't posted anything this week yet! Last time, I posted the 5 page kits I made in response to a jar challenge. Today I will show off what I made with them:

Page Kit 1, with all those pinks:

Page Kit 2 looked like Spring:

Page Kit 3 had a lot of bling and a party girl vibe:

Page Kit 4 had me thinking of a picture of all the kids outside my parents' house:

Page Kit 5 had red, white, and blue colors and yummy ice cream:

I don't typically work with white backgrounds so much but it was a great way to make these stash kits from my scraps and use them easily. 

Scrapbooking in March: Challenge 30

This challenge took me a while to do! 

Make 5 page kits using scraps

I ended up completely organizing all my scraps. I don't typically keep them organized but I had the urge to just do it. 

To start making my kits, I pulled out 5 sheets of white cardstock so I would have a background.

The first kit I made was monochromatic. As I was sorting my scraps I saw a bunch of pink paper together that looked really cute so I went with it and pulled out some stickers and letter stickers to match.

Page kit #2 started with those border stickers. I have a big bin of stickers I'm trying to remember to use sitting on the floor next to my desk. I decided to just pull randomly out of the box and pull scraps to match. This one came out really spring-y!

I asked my son to do the sticker picking this time and he picked this really sparkly and girly sticker - Girl Talk. I was laughing because I had no idea what I would do with it. Luckily I found some really shiny hot pink and black papers and hot pink glitter paper in my scraps. I thought some silver thickers and stickers would look great with it.

Next I pulled these MME stickers that had some orange and teal and grey. I found some scraps and stickers and die cuts to go with it. I actually have a picture in mind for this kit, too! 

Last, Kit #5 started with some Jolee's Ice Cream stickers. I have a few pictures in mind that would work so I pulled some red, grey, white, and blue scraps and letter stickers along with some themed treat stickers. 

I am excited to use these page kits up over the next few days and link them back to this post.