Category Archives: how to scrapbook

Aug15

Fishing for Inspiration

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Fishing for Inspiration

One of the coolest things about Pinterest is that it is so very, very random. If you wander through the main pin board, that shows you what everyone else is pinning, you’ll find so much variety.

There are gorgeous photos of beautiful places and faces. There are close ups of crafts and art and architecture. Clothing and makeup and the latest meme making the internet rounds. It’s all there.

And you can use Pinterest in so many different ways. An easy way to re-find projects you want to attempt. A mood board to base a room remodel or an outfit around. A source for amazing and funny words to remember and share. Its uses are practically endless.

Can you tell I really, truly love Pinterest?

Anyhoo…

How about a couple more pin-spired pieces for you?

quilt from we shall sew\

Love this quilt from We Shall Sew. The colors. The structure. And hexagons! Hello you gorgeous thing!

With such a lovely and graphic piece, it was easy to see how to turn it into a page. And then, a friend of mine brought her Creative Memories hexagon punch to a crop and let me play with it. And another friend dared me to use all the washi tape I had brought with me to the crop on one page. Challenge accepted! My favorite part? How easily the patterns on the washi tape lined up! The seams were almost invisible!

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This week the challenge was to turn this mosaic by Natalie Warne into something scrappy.

mosaic by Natalie Warne

Don’t you just love the colors, and all those little pieces? Looks like a stash busting piece to me. The thing is, I’m not good at using lots of little bits and bobs on a page. I don’t think that way regularly, so using something like this to kickstart the creative process is so helpful.

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Is it sad that I used up a lot of little bits and pieces, and didn’t make a dent in my stash? Sigh. Must use more — so I can make room for new stuff! 😉

Have you made anything inspired by what you’ve found on PInterest? Share it! I’d love to see it!

Aug7

Washi Classes

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Washi Classes

As I may have mentioned before, I love bringing in new ideas and techniques into my scrapbook toolbox. It keeps the hobby fresh and interesting, and motivates me to scrap and use up my stash.

One of the best ways I’ve found to discover new techniques is to attend one of Lain Ehmann’s free monthly scrapinars. Each month Lain hosts a live, online scrapbooking class that focuses on a specific topic. The classes are free when they are live, but are made available for replay at a small fee about a week later.

A couple of my favorites are all about washi tape, and are taught by the marvelous Monica Bradford of Scrap Inspired. (In case you were wondering, all affiliate links!) The first class Washi Wahoo! was a great place to start exploring creative ways to use washi. The second class Washi Wahoo Too! goes even further, and explores ways to make your own washi!

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If you have wondered what the big deal is about washi tape and don’t know why anyone would buy it, or if you’ve bought it because you loved how it looked but are completely flummoxed about how to use it, these classes are for you. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed by these classes. Plus Monica is super fun!

Just a quick warning. After watching these, you are going to want to buy lots and lots of washi! You can find lots of washi at Two Peas in a Bucket. Love their selection.

If you have used washi tape before, do you have a favorite? Do share!

Aug5

Gimme That Washi!

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Gimme That Washi!

I love Washi tape. Have you ever seen it or used it? It’s pretty fun.

Washi tape is a low tack, slightly translucent, patterned tape. It’s originally from Japan. It comes in a wide variety of colors, patterns and widths. A lot of scrapbookers have fallen in love with the stuff, but have no idea how to use it.

If you just think about Washi tape as a shape (a long thin line) ideas for how to use it will start occurring to you right off the bat.

Use it instead of ribbon or a thin piece of paper to add a line to your page:IMG_4432

Cut the ends at angles to make arrows and banners:

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Make a frame around the outside of your picture:

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Cover shapes with washi:

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That should get you started on thinking about ways to use washi tape. Later this week, I’ll link you up to a couple classes that you absolutely should buy, because they are jam packed with ideas to get washi tape out of your stash and onto your page.

 

 

 

Aug1

A Huge Crop Crop

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A Huge Crop Crop

You know how some days, the creative bug has hit you, and gorgeous, innovative pages just flow? Well, that wasn’t me during the crop. 😀

The crop was a workhorse kind of day for me, where I got a lot done, but it followed tried and true patterns I have used over and over in the past.

Wash Me

I concentrated on creating pages using the titles for my alphabet sticker challenge. I added in other letter stickers when it helped tell the story better. Plus, I like the look of different size alphas, how about you?

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Then there were the pages where I didn’t have the photos I thought I had, so improvised. My bread machine is an integral part of Pizza Night, but a picture of some of the pizzas we’ve made would sure be nice, too.

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Have you noticed yet what every page is missing? Journaling, right? I can’t journal when I’m surrounded by people. I have enough trouble finishing a sentence when I’m by myself. When I’ve got company, there are too many interesting things going on around me for me to concentrate.

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I’ve got plans for what I’m going to talk about, and where to add it for each page, but, for right now, these pages are not done. They need a bit of embellishing too. They look so plain right now!

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End result? Twelve pages started. Nothing finished, but I’m close, I can taste it! 😉

Do you go to crops? How much do you get done when you go?

 

Jul29

Scrapbook Crop, Here I Come!

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Scrapbook Crop, Here I Come!

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Right now, I am packing for a full day crop hosted by a local scrapbook store/community. Normally I pack pretty quickly and easily, because I use a project based approach to scrapbooking away from home.

What does that mean? Let’s break it down for you.

When you use a project based approach to your scrapbooking, you assemble your supplies so you have everything you need to finish a particular project, like a baby album or travel album, all in one place. There are a few supplies I store this way: papers and embellishments I use for my children’s school of life albums, Christmas supplies. Most everything else I store based on type of supply or general theme or technique. Punches live in one place, alphabet stickers in another, and stamps are sorted by theme. (Have I mentioned I have a LOT of stamps?) Papers are sorted by color, paint supplies and coloring mediums have their own places.

When I go to a crop however, I ramp up the project based approach. If I haven’t updated my kids’ round up albums, I bring the school themed box. If it’s Christmas time, I start assembling or completing a Christmas album. If I’ve got a project in the works, like a wedding album or travel album I bring those supplies.

But sometimes, I have no project in the works. That happens to be the case tonight. I haven’t gathered together highlight photos for my kids’ highlight albums. I have no travel albums in the works. I am working on a summer album, but that’s all digital this time around.

The only project I have in the works is trying to use up all the letter stickers for the alpha sticker challenge. While I do have papers set aside, the subject matter for each page is so different, I have no idea how I’m going to choose embellishments and extra tools to bring along. This should be interesting.

There are some basics I will be bringing. Paper trimmer. Adhesives. Scissors. Ruler. Paper. Pens and markers. But the extras? This will be challenging. I’ll let you know how it went later this week!