Scrapping With Scraps!!!!

Throughout the summer I have been challenging myself to use my Scrap Shotz kit remnants and collection scraps to their fullest extent. When I scrap, I am a paper heavy scrapper so to have remnants is a bit of rarity...but no matter how frugal I make my cuts, I will inevitably have a few strips here and there. So what do I do with them?

Well, here is an option...use them to create a unique photo mat and create a platform for larger accents.

Supplies:  Close to my Heart (cardstock); Pink Paislee/Collage Press (pattern paper, die cut accents); Prima (mistables, gems); Tattered Angels (mist); Tsukineko (mist); Heidi Swapp (chipboard flower); Basic Grey (chipboard accent, alphas); Evalicious (felt accent); Making Memories (mini alphas); American Crafts (chipboard accents); Fiskars (border punch)

To create added textures and interest on my layout which I would normally do with pattern paper, I used various accents from my stash...to take the place of the "O"s I did not have for the title and to balance the layout. For my layouts, there are bits and pieces of symbolism like the heart to show the love between sisters, the clock to symbolize the passage of time, to the butterflies flitting their wings as they grow and to the dressmakers mannequin they each have in their room to hang their jewellery.

I hope you are feeling inspired from this post!

Fabulous Fundamental :Making the Cut with Elizabeth Craft Shimmer Sheetz

Have you seen the Elizabeth Craft Shimmer Sheetz? They are absolutely gorgeous in every way - the colours, the unique texture, the versatility...but one thing I found frustrating was how to cut the Sheetz?

At the NSD crop, Rosie helped me shim and shim and muscle my way through cutting the Sheetz. I will be honest - I found it utterly frustrating. What in the world was I doing wrong with my sandwich on my Big Shot? I had searched the web, watched countless YouTube videos but nothing seemed to help.

Below you can see Rosie ran into the same problem as I did - how can we cleanly cut the Sheetz? Firstly rather than letting frustration get the better of her, Rosie created these beautiful cards with the "embossed" Sheetz. Aren't they gorgeous???

Supplies:  Elizabeth Craft Die "Bunch of Flowers 2"; Shimmer Sheetz; polka dot paper; sentiment

After Rosie created these cards, she and I had a pow-wow about the Sheetz. We were going to conquer this dilemna and Rosie did! She learned that if you back your Sheetz with a piece of cardstock and include this combination in your die cut machine, the Sheetz are cut cleanly and easily. The result? These beautiful cards below...

Turquoise and Fire Opal Shimmer Sheetz; Bunch of Flowers 2 Elizabeth Craft Designs Die; Elizabeth Craft Designs Peel Off Words; patterned paper, cardstock, gems Scrap Shotz monthly kit (November'12 kit)

Thank you Rosie for your gorgeous cards and contribution to the Fabulous Fundamental!

Fabulous Fundamental: The Who? The When? The Where?

Do you look back at your layouts that you have lovingly scrapped? I don't always look back but my family especially my kids love looking and reading the layouts. The two most asked questions I receive are..."Who is that in this picture?" and "When was this picture taken?" Do you get asked these questions too???

I always thought I would remember every detail of my girls' lives - their adventures, their foibles and their annoyances but....as I scrap my older images this summer it is very apparent I do not remember everything. So now when I scrap I make a point of including the names of everyone in the picture, not necessarily on the front of the layout as I will note the individuals on the back of the layout, when the photo was taken and the location of the image. Sure there are lots of times when I do not know where exactly the shot was taken but I will try to include the city at the very least. When I look back at the few layouts I have created, it gives me a wonderful anthology of our lives. Years from now, I hope it creates a succinct timeline for my ancestors and poignant memories for my daughters.

So besides the What? try to include the Who? and the When? and the Where? Some inspiration for you....as you can see I snuck the information into the layouts. If I didn't know the exact date, I included the year and the place. When we look at the layouts, my family and I have had lively discussions of our adventures. And if you look closely, you will also see my handwriting. While I am still not comfortable with my handwriting, it is a nice record of me on every layout...or so my family tells me! (I still computer journal but every so often, some handwriting is included too!)

Supplies:  Scrap Shotz monthly kit featuring Little Yellow Bicycle (pattern paper, layered die cut embellishments, transparencies, journal spots); Prima (gems and pearls); Basic Grey (chipboard alphas)

Supplies:  Scrap Shotz monthly kit featuring Little Yellow Bicycle (pattern paper, layered die cut embellishments, transparencies, journal spot); Prima (gems, pearls and wood veneers); Tsukineko (mist); Basic Grey (chipboard alphas); Kaisercraft (butterfly)

 So what are your thoughts on including these extra details??? I would love to hear from you!

Scrapping with your Scraps!!!

As you know I regularly like to inspire you all with how you can make the most of your supplies...and the Scrap Shotz monthly kit (which is always chockful of goodness!) I love the challenge of seeing how many layouts (or cards or projects) I can create with my kit.

Below is a layout with my kit scraps - I can truly say that this layout is created from scraps. What isn't clear in the image is that I pieced together my pattern paper blocks to look like 4x4 pattern paper squares. Where the seam is I have covered it with accents such as the accordion flower, journalling tag and the title. Even the "banner" at the bottom of the layout is created from tiny strips of paper left over from piecing together my pattern paper blocks.

Supplies:  Scrap Shotz monthly kit featuring Little Yellow Bicycle (Poppy); Bazzill (cardstock); Little Yellow Bicycle (pattern paper, accordion flower, die cut flowers, journal spot); Prima (alphas for title, gems); Zva (crystal lines); Basic Grey (felt dimensional flower); EK Success (border punch); Kiki Art (chipboard glittered heart)

I hope I have inspired you to create with your offcuts today! Drop me a comment and let me know how many projects you can create with your kit. 

Fast and Fabulous: A 2 Page Layout

Did you ever imagine completing a 2 page layout in 30 minutes or less? Yeah, I didn't think I could do it either but I thought it would be fun challenging myself :-) Arming myself with photos of my daughter's 7th birthday, some leftover BoBunny papers and some odds and sods, I went to work putting together this 2 page layout.

Supplies:  Bazzill cardstock, Hambly transparency, BoBunny (pattern papers); Kaisercraft (die cut butterflies); Pink Paislee/Collage Press (die cut accents, gem accent); Prima (gem bird, alphas); Queen & Co (pearls); Versamagic (chalk ink)

Generally I create significantly more 1-page layouts than I do 2 page layouts but some events lend themselves to 2 page layouts - birthdays are one of them. When I started creating this layout, I knew I wanted some texture and dimension, both of which I find easier to achieve on a 1-page layout. However, as you can see, the layout is very simply put together but I also added dimension and texture with the various layers of accents and leftover pieces of paper I had. Best of all? It was done in under 30 minutes...well barely, 28 minutes actually but who's counting?

I hope I have inspired you to create a 2-page layout in the near future!