A HAPPY ANNOUNCEMENT, ETC., ETC.

Well, I have waited until today, National Scrapbook Day, to announce my appointment as a Design Team (DT) Member at Let's Scrap, an international scrapbooking site with over 2700 members! I am so very proud, emotionally thankful, and greatly humbled with this appointment. If I had a "bucket list" (which I plan to make!), serving on a Design Team would be in the top 5, for sure.

As a DT member, one of the things I did today was post a challenge on the Let's Scrap website, challenging our members to step outside of their comfort zone and create a layout using one of the website sketches, but, and here's the challenge, they need to cut their photographs on the diagonal! I will show you the example I created for this challenge:

Here's the link to my challenge on Let's Scrap:

http://letsscrap.ning.com/forum/topics/nsd20118-1 .

I would love it if you visited the website and checked out not only my challenge, but those of other members, including the new DT members!

I hope you all have a wonderful week

Go forth and create!

A SPECIAL HONOR

It's great to wake up on a Monday morning when the sun is shining and you have nothing pressing on your immediate agenda! It's an even greater day when an e-mail brings good news! I received the following message from Kathy Perry, a Let's Scrap Design Team member: "Hi, Kay! Take a look at this week's IOTW [Inspiration of the Week], please!!!" Now, for those of you who have not yet visited the Let's Scrap website (and I hope you will), it's an online international website for those who love paper crafting--scrapbooking, cardmaking, and any other creative endeavor you can think of involving paper, scissors, glue and (most often) photos! Let's Scrap provides weekly sketches to get members' crafting mojo going! IOTW is a way the site recognizes a layout or card for its inspirational elements. Here's the sketch posted on Wednesday, April 13:

Members have a choice at this point. They can use the sketch exactly as it is shown...or just use it for inspiration. A "jumping off point," if you will. Another option is to use only one side or the other of the two-page sketch layout. The choice is always left to the creater. The members then, if they wish, post their creations on the website for others to see, comment, and/or be further inspired! It is a win-win scenario every time you participate. I really love sharing my pages with others and seeing what others have done. I find my inspiration as we exchange ideas!

A friend of mine often shares photos of her grandchildren with me. For my layout this week, and the one for which I have been honored, I chose to use some of those photos. Here is my interpretation of the above sketch. I strayed only slightly from the original sketch, reversing the placement of the center two photographs and varying the shape of the wavy lines at the bottom.

Thanks for visiting. Go check out Let's Scrap and be INSPIRED!

Justed wanted to pop in for a second to share a fun layout I just did for one of my co-workers. He showed me a photograph of his daughter, and I just knew I had to scrap it! She looked like a mini rock star all dressed in black! I would never have thought that I could use black as a predominant color in a child's layout, but, in this case, the photo led the way!

Thanks for looking!

So happy to share with you that I have been nominated for the STYLISH BLOGGER AWARD by a friend on the Let's Scrap website! First, let me thank Beth for being so kind! Next, here are my 8 responsibilities:

After receiving the award I am to:

• Thank the person from whom I received the award and give a link back to her blog (above).


• Share 8 things about myself.


• Pass the award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered.


• Leave those individuals a comment so that they can pass along the recognition.

Okay, here are the 8 things about myself:

1. I am 67 years old and have been married to Russ for only 5 years!


2. I am a brain tumor survivor.


3. I have my own scrapbooking .com business.


4. I am an active member of Let's Scrap and this is where I met Beth.


5. I have two adult children, both married, and two grandsons.


6. I have a 15-year-old stepdaughter who was born in China.


7. I am semi-retired, but have worked in the healthcare industry for almost 20 years.


8. I have been scrapbooking for almost 10 years now, and was introduced to this addicting art by my daughter Michelle.

And here are links to 8 blogs I would like to nominate for the STYLISH BLOGGER AWARD. Be sure to check them out:

Rene'

Roni

Marjolein

Molly

Deanne

Linda

Abbie

Carol

Until next time, go forth and create!

INSPIRATION & MOTIVATION

Want to be a really, REALLY good scrapbook artist? Check out a novel approach in this PICKLES cartoon (you may click on it to enlarge it):

If you really, REALLY want to be a good scrapbooker, and the PICKLES APPROACH (above) does not work for you, then you have to scrap the idea that you will never be a really good scrapbooker! Yep! It’s that simple! Here’s an excerpt from one of my earliest blog posts:

I didn't love it [scrapbooking] at first. I actually thought it quite intimidating. I found myself copying others' styles and then comparing my work to theirs--with disastrous results.

Rule #1 in scrapbooking should be to NEVER compare your layouts to those of other scrapbook artists! I have admitted to cruising online scrapbooking galleries for inspiration, especially when I feel stuck on a layout. Many of the online websites that have these galleries also have design teams. Their design team members’ layouts, cards and altered art projects are usually created using the products sold on that website. But not always! I have found new inspiration for my work on a website recommended by a friend. Let's Scrap doesn’t want to sell you anything. They exist solely to inspire and motivate--and, yes, there is a difference.

Let’s start with inspire. Inspiration is something intangible, even supernatural, if you will! Something that must be absorbed. In an artistic sense, this would be to absorb something into your creative mind; to allow something to communicate with your artistic spirit. This “something” is going to be different for each of us at any given time. For instance, an ad in a magazine could trigger inspiration for me. It could be the framework of the layout of that ad, or maybe the color combination used in the ad, or even the product being showcased. Another artist could look at the same ad and get nothing from it! Yet, when another artist looks at a bottle of wine and finds its burgundy color generates a sense of warmth, they might find themselves inspired to take pictures of a summer sunrise and create a layout. Inspiration is all around us; we just need to look for it.

Ah, here comes that difference! A scrapbook artist can certainly be inspired, yet not motivated (or motivated, yet not inspired). Being motivated for a scrapbooker is being sufficiently excited (inspired) to generate action. I can look at that inspirational magazine ad all day, but if the inspiration has not been great enough to make me “do” something, I have accomplished nothing. On their forum, Let’s Scrap has a feature called the “Question of the Week.” Recently, Michela, one of the Design Team members, posed this question:

Sometimes, I arrive at home after work full of desire to scrap...but when I sit at my desk and I take the materials and photos for my page, the inspiration doesn't come!!!!! What are you doing in this situation?

It made me stop and think about what I actually do when I am not feeling the creativity. Here’s my answer:

Since scrapbooking is not only my avocation, but my vocation, it is very serious when my mojo doesn't show up for work! When nothing comes to me after pushing the same three photos around and around on various papers, I walk away. I may even walk around outside for 15 minutes. I find that stepping away from my scrapping table, even for just a short time, can clear out the cobwebs in my artistic brain!

I assume, now, we all can agree we need both inspiration and motivation to actually sit down and create a scrapbook layout. But there is a third component—time—which may be the most elusive for many of us. Sadly, I cannot advise on how to find that time, I can only encourage you to do it!

I hope you will visit Let’s Scrap for a bit of inspiration. You will find a myriad of sketches there for both scrapbooking layouts and cards, weekly challenges, and an active forum where you can chat up a storm or simply “lurk and learn,” which is my personal favorite!

That said, I want to take just a moment to address the practice of “scraplifting.” Scraplifting is not artistic plagiarism, unless you copy the original artist’s work exactly. Scraplifting is more like the paraphrasing of that work, and that’s considered a compliment! Still, when I scraplift, I most often will state that my work is done “in the style of (artist).”

I cannot leave you without offering up some humorous inspiration for you. You can click on my layout to enlarge it to read the journaling!

OK, go forth and create!

Let's have some PRACTICAL fun!

Getting ready to give the perfect gift

When the recipients of your holiday, birthday or "just because" gifts are really young, it's pretty easy to shop for them. Just hit the toy store and pick out an "age appropriate" gift! It's just that simple. However, when the kids and grandkids start getting a bit older--and more particular, this once-fun job often becomes a bit of a chore. So, for many of us, we resort to giving a gift card.

I have found several creative ways of incorporating a gift card into a hand-made greeting card, but none as fun as this approach. The directions are simple, and you will use only your basic tools. However, there is one rule than cannot be broken: you may only use scraps. You may NOT, under ANY circumstances, cut up full-size sheets of paper!

Here we go:


The Envelope

I have found the perfect size envelope for this job to be a 5-3/4" wide envelope, which, when folded vertically in half creates a pocket that is just the right size for the gift card. The ones I use are from DCWV.

The first steps are all done with the back of the envelope facing you.

• Using your centering ruler, and with the envelope flap in the closed position, find the center of the envelope and mark it with a pencil at the top.


• Now, using the scoring blade on your paper trimmer, score the envelope down the center several times, applying a pretty heavy pressure.
  
• Open the envelope flap and cut it in half vertically to the fold line (A).


• Fold the left flap down and seal (B).


• Trim 1" off the flap on the right (C).

Shaping the card

• Trim the left side of the remaining flap to duplicate the angle on the right; round both corners (D).


• Close flap (do not seal) and fold envelope in half vertically along the scored line. Adhere a 15" length of 1/4" ribbon along the midsection, gluing it in place on both the front and back sides of the envelope (E). I have found a glue runner to be just a bit too wide, so I apply glue from a Zig Memory System 2 Way Glue Chisel Tip directly onto the ribbon. To accomplish this, I wrap the ribbon around the envelope and use a pencil to mark a "glue line" on the inside of the ribbon. When your project is complete and you have placed your gift card in the pocket, tie up the loose ends of the ribbon into a bow.


• Choose four scraps of coordinated paper and cut each 2-3/4" x 4-1/4" (F).
  

The creative stuff

• Using a round punch, take a bite out of the piece of paper you will use for the front of your card insert (G). If you don't have a punch, just cut a V shape with your scissors.


• Stamp all sentiments (handwriting works, too) before you adhere your paper to the envelope (H).


• Adhere front, back and center pieces of paper to the envelope (I), leaving the top of the pocket open. I generally use a pretty plain paper for the back so that I can use my "handmade with love" stamp on it. Also, at this point, if I have enough scraps of paper, I will cover the front or both the front and back of the newly-created flap over the card pocket. The easiest way to do this is to trace the flap on your scrap and cut it out. Once you have adhered the scraps to the flap, you can trim away any irregularities.


• Cut another scrap of paper for the front of the card (2-1/4" x 3-3/4") and decorate it for the occasion (J). I like to use pop-dots under this smaller piece to give some depth to the front of the card. Another advantage of using pop-dots here is that it will allow you to use a brad without the prongs causing an unwanted bump.
  

Here are a few more holders I have made for a swap with other scrapbookers:

Thanks for dropping by. If you are visiting for the first time, please take time to join as a follower. Let me know if you have any questions.


OK, go forth and create!

THE "LESS IS MORE" THEORY

A Brief Apology: At times, life gets in the way of writing, especially when life brings wonderful things your way.

THE "LESS IS MORE" THEORY AS IT APPLIES TO SCRAPBOOKING:


Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features (Wikipedia). My question to you is, then, what is the most important—fundamental—feature of your layout? I think we would all agree it is the photograph or photographs we are planning to showcase in our layout. Were it not for the photographs, rather than a scrapbook layout, would we not be creating works of art, much as a painter paints, or a seamstress seams, or even as a plumber “plumbs” (if you are not yet used to my sense of humor and play with words, you will soon be)? We definitely want to use color, patterned paper, embellishments, titles and journaling, but, when any one or all of these in combination overpowers our photograph, we have lost the point.

I love to use other scrapbook artists' work to make a point, but think that it might not be appreciated here, so, it is my plan to take a single photograph and create two layouts…the first will focus on the photo alone, the second will be based on what I believe is too much of everything!

Here is the first layout. I took a black and white photograph provided by the bride's photographer, and enhanced it for this layout by using a special effects software program to change it to a bronze tone. Rather than create a distracting title, I used the font the bride used in her wedding stationery to place her name directly onto the photograph. The result is definitely simple; yet elegant, to be sure. This layout is ALL about the beautiful bride. She is overshadowed by nothing at all. Even the subtle background paper does nothing more than to support the innocence of this photograph.


The second layout was a bit of a challenge for me to design because it is not normal for me to create "busy" layouts. If it is your style, then, press on! It would be very dull if all our layouts were mirror images of others' works! I will admit, however, to searching online galleries for some inspiration for this second layout.

I began with a blank canvas of light yellow card stock. My goal was to use a variety of papers, embellishments and techniques, while attempting to maintain the innocence of the photograph, if possible. In a process of "layering," I added a floral paper in muted tones for a touch of femininity. Ribbon came next, brown with threads of yellow and turquoise. At the same time, at the top, I added a paper with black simply for the disruptive value! I tore this paper to give it an unkempt appearance. Next layer at the bottom was actually a piece of backing from some rub-ons I had in my stash. I "rubbed on" to it one of the rub-ons to create my title (bliss). Next layer, and to the right, I used another piece of black paper, this one with text and a doily edge. I wanted to step away from traditional matting for this layout, so I used a piece of cream card stock considerably larger than my 5x7 photo and added a border punch on only two sides. Behind that, I placed a piece of turquoise card stock so that it showed through the punched border. I also enhanced the look of the matting by taking a Bravo Burgundy stampin' pad (from stampin' up) to create a random pattern. Three turquoise brads and two die cuts later, I found myself with an empty lower left-hand corner! I grabbed a handless clock stamp, stamped its image there, then quickly embossed it and added a yellow brad at its center.

I am actually not displeased with the layout, but still much prefer the "purer" version. Take a look.


I showed this layout to a few other designers to get their take on the comparison. Their opinions were pretty much in agreement that, indeed, the second layout is "interesting." Hmmmmmm, interesting, huh? One designer in particular, Becky Poland, a scrapbooking teacher and workshop leader in Maryland, was very candid in her remarks. While she agreed that the second layout could be classified as busy, she felt it was "discombobulated" (my word, not hers!). Becky challenged me to make a busy layout in my own style, searching only my own talent for inspiration.

I am very happy with the third layout (thanks, Becky!). I used the same photo, but left it in its original black and white. I did, however, orient the photo to a vertical position, and cropped it much more closely than in the other two layouts. In keeping with the black and white theme, I searched my stash and found two identical floral patterned papers, one white on black, the other black on white. I used the lighter of the two for the background, and the darker to create the striping along the left-hand side. I continued the non-traditional matting into this third layout, but in monochromatic tones. The use of ribbon, a die-cut heart, and a Prima feathered flower added depth without overpowering the photo. This flower was used because the center pearl highlighted the bride's pearl stud earring, and the feathers mimicked the ribbon extending from her floral headpiece. A more dramatic title (done on the Cricut using the "George & Basic Shapes" and "Opposites Attract" cartridges) finished off the layout.

If there is a conclusion to be reached here (and I am not sure there needs to be), it is this: Periodically, step outside the box--outside your scrapbooking comfort zone--and create something that isn't you. It may not be a masterpiece, but it will help you to expand your creativity...and may lead to something that is a masterpiece!

I am certainly glad to be back here, and glad you stopped by, too! Take a moment to leave a comment and to join as a "follower."