Scrappy New Year!

As you might have noticed from the last couple of posts, I spent new year's online at a couple of scrapbook forums (fori?) and got a lot of cute things done. So now, you're going to read all about 'em. Thanks to the gals at Creative Soup for a great weekend.
FYI - a "challenge" is just a prompt to help you get an idea for scrapping. There were no swords involved. :D

First, some pages from an album I've been working on that is all Zak. This is a spiral bound album that measures about 9x9. The first page explains where all the photos came from and was submitted for the "no photo" challenge. It really is important to scrap the details, even when you don't have photos. The two holes in the cover show a photo and the letter Z from the first page when the album is closed. I printed on a transparency (for the first time, and it came out great!) but the writing didn't show up so well, so I painted on the backside for contrast (just yellow acrylic paint). I love this patterned paper and have no idea where it came from or the manufacturer, so comment if you know!


Here's a layout of one of those photos; I think this one even has a thumbtack hole in it. I have no idea where this patterned paper came from either, but it matched itself nicely and worked for the "quilting" challenge. I (ok, Aly) cut the title with my Cricut Makin the Grade cartridge (shadow setting to make the letters a little thicker) and I used CM metallic markers to highlight them. I added American Crafts ribbon and random buttons and flowers (ribbon and flowers on a "boy" layout? YES!) along with an index card with CM marker and distress ink for journaling. I think the part that took the longest was finding a quote/title. I love Dr. Seuss, and I didn't want to be campy with something like "big shoes to fill" or "like father, like son". I love how this turned out.

Next up, we had a conversation to get to know each other a little better by answering a few silly questions. The challenge was to use one of those questions as the basis for a layout. The title is Cricut Printing 101 ("if I") and Makin the Grade ("could be"). Shaped buttons are Jesse James, I think (check the sewing section of Hobby Lobby and Michael's). Patterned paper is new from KI Memories classic prints paper pack. Rubons ("a cat") are Ms Elizabeths from Dollar Tree. I used a CM marker, and props to Aly (again) for helping put this one together. We worked fast to meet the challenge deadline so I turned to Becky Fleck for a sketch. I love the Fleckster so much, I bought her book, which is spiral bound (love that) and came with a deck of cards printed with all of the sketches (handy for carrying to crops!). Actually, I pulled this sketch from the 4x6 photo sketch blog here on Blogger.com. I love that you can click on the number of photos or the size of your layout to see the options. You can see this sketch was only 8.5" x 11" and had the photo going the other way. The great thing about sketches is really making them your own!

This next one was from another sketch. Again, I love it because it uses standard 4x6 photos. This is my darling niece on Halloween. I'm pretty proud of the photos, since I took them. The glitter paper is from DCWV Citrus stack. I cut those flowers out of the patterned paper by hand. ouch. By the way, we had some trouble sticking things to this glitter paper, so comments appreciated with your ideas there. The line running through the middle is random ribbon (yellow and sheer white with black dots). Letter stickers are Stickopotamus. Title was again from Cricut Makin the Grade, and I used a CM pen. All the girls loved the doodled bee trails on this layout -- and that was all Aly. Oh, and the title is a play on my sister's home business selling legwarmers and tutus, Beez Kneez Boutique. Check her out on Facebook too!

My last layout was in response to the "out with the old, in with the new" challenge to use some old supplies along with some new ones. No problem there; I have a ton of old stuff and somehow still seem to buy new stuff like crazy. My OLD stuff included the MAMBI stickers and paper from the original Slab (those giant paper packs from Michaels). My NEW supplies included Basic Grey buttons, black bling on the journal box, and orange ribbon. Oh, and this is a page in the Zak album. I tried to keep it really simple. I am pretty sure I have multiple copies of these photos, and I'll be scrapping them again in a Halloween album.

Now scrapping isn't all about pages you put in a book. This is my take on the perpetual calendar from my friend Monica's find at Design Sponge. There is a separate card for each date, and you can journal for several years on each card. Instead of a fruit basket, I used a Longaberger tea basket and tied on a wooden charm from P. Graham Dunn in Gatlinburg (my favorite verse, Phil 4:13). Aly stamped the dates for me on 4x6 index cards (cut in half), and I cut the month dividers from scraps of cardstock. Each divider will have a photo to represent that month (those are on order from Snapfish). I think this is something I'll actually keep up with. I am going to keep this on my bedside table and jot a note each day before I go to sleep. Journaled cards move to the back, so the new day is up front. I haven't figured out how this will work when I'm traveling. I may email myself the blurb, or record it in my blackberry, or maybe I'll just take the cards with me.

And, my final project, probably the one I'm the most excited about. This was in response to a "get organized" challenge that recommended altering (decorating) a clipboard to help with your daily to-do list (or your scrappy project list). Another scrapper used the word "priorities" and it reminded me of a quote I took from the Manager Tools podcast series.

Time is finite and unchanging. It cannot be 'managed.' Stop trying to manage your time and focus on managing your priorities.

This might be the biggest to-do list ever. That is a 12" green scallop ruler in the bottom right corner for scale (so this measures about 2ft by 3.5ft). It is an old porcelain countertop I got at a flea market for $7. I've had it for a while, and I had no idea what I was going to do with it, but I knew something crafty would come out of it. I was excited to find out it was magnetic, and I took a little time last week using rust remover on the surface. With about an hour left to upload our projects to the website, I started on the project. I painted around the edges with pink acrylic paint, making sure to smear a bit on the surface of the board. I added flower and letter (wall) decals from Dollar Tree and some magnets from Mary Kay (the square ones that say "body," "soul," "mind," and "health"). I made magnets out of the pink and green polka dot flowers with some magnet buttons (sticky on one side, magnet on the other). I added a magnet to a button of Zak playing soccer too. Those are Princess Bride magnets near the bottom and a blank weekly calendar from Big Lots finishes the board. I'm excited to get this on the wall and start using it. I tested dry erase markers, and they work great on it too!

So that is what I did with my weekend. I hope all of you had a great new year as well!