I got to scrap today!!!!

Asher has been on my mind lately- pretty much all the time, so Asher is who got scrapped today! I want to work on a series of layouts about life NOW with each child, if possible, and document who they are at a variety of ages. so i started with ash a few months ago. its hard to remember even 2 mos back so i need to do this more often!!!  I used this sketch from http://letscapturethesesketches.blogspot.com/2012/06/sketch-138-reveal.html  super cute!

and almost 2 years later....

Yes, its been a LONG time since i've posted!  My life is insane.  The stresses of caring for 7 children, including 2 with learning disabilities and 3 on the autistic spectrum, me time has been pretty much eliminated.  I'm working hard to change that.  I've found that its critical for my functioning as a person AND as a mom that i get creative time.  I used to scrap daily, and i'm working toward once or twice a week- Its a compromise that i hope I can make work, because it really is a NEED for me, but as i've discovered, just because something is a need doesn't mean it gets to be met necessarily.  Some needs must be fought for.  Anyway, thought i'd share some layouts i've been working on lately!  I hope to be adding more to this post soon!!!!

Above is Asher :) this page is for his book and has gotten kind of bendy, hence the funny looking shape of the base- i thought he was so cute in his towel, diaper, and RAIN BOOTS on our first "warm enough to take out the sprinkler" day.  (a virtual holiday in our family!)  I used the sketch at http://sketchabilities.blogspot.com/ in this layout. 

Next is a layout about our trip to the art museum in Seattle, for Chloe's album, which I made today, thinking about how she in particular enjoyed the museum. I used a whole bunch of 7gypsies tags to create the circular form and distressed the paper base.  I used the sketch here http://www.creativescrappers.blogspot.com/

Love me my sketch challenges!! it makes the process so much more about creating and so much less about THINKING- not my forte these days!!!!  well, Adios all! hoping to add more soon!

Changes....

You might have noticed, (or probably not!) that I am now a free agent, with no full-time Design Team responsiblities. Which is ok. I have more time to get other stuff done I guess. That means that I have room in my schedule for ONE and ONLY ONE full time design team position, so if you'd like me to design for your company, shoot me an email! I have a guest DT spot lined up for January, and one potentially for February, but I am still fine with a full time position. I LOVE to scrap and would love to show off your wares :-)

Paper Variety challenge

Just popping in to share a new layout for a challenge that I did posted at The Paper Variety I used my fabulous October Scrapbook Sussies kit

Did you use your mesh??

In your Scraptastic Halloween kit?? I know when I recieved my kit, i thought... "Hmmm...." and then i got several ideas... I'm posting them here, in addition to a super fast step by step layout including the mesh, using the Nightmare on my street kit.

Using mesh

1. cut into strips and use like ribbon, or weave, braid or knot them.
2. use like a mask over a piece of paper and spray glimmer mist on it.
3. cut into circles kind of catty wompus like and compbine with already made flowers to make a cool homemade layered flower!
4. cover a piece of cardstock with it and paint over it to make a cool textured background.

Can you think of any others? Here's a hint- don't try to use it as a cool lens filter on your camera. I tried that, at different distances from the lens- CAN'T get it to work, even though it SOUNDS like it would be super cool!!!

Ok, so here is my step by step project. When you finish, you will have a layout that looks something like this



So first you start with a stapler, I used my fabulous long armed stapler, a sheet of paper or cardstock, appx 12x12 of mesh, and a piece of ribbon long enough to wrap around the mesh, whatever size you choose. mine is about 9x9 after I cut it, though I just eyeballed it.



Once you've gathered all you need to make the base of the layout, place the mesh on top of the paper, decide where to start your ribbon, and staple one end of the ribbon down. Using the side of the paper as a guide, estimate how far to go with the ribbon, and staple it down. I did so on the end, and the middle, and when i reached the corner, i stapled down the ribbon, and wrapped the ribbon around the staple which nicely concealed the staple, though the ribbon that was included in the kit was nice and frilly so it hid the staples anyway, just letting them peek out a little :)


Trim around the ribbon, leaving some extra to hang out.



Next, i added the picture and some embellies. I sewed on the buttons, because i thought it would be cuter, and hold better with the mesh.



Finally, i doodled under the mesh to add more dimension



Voila!

This is what happens....

when i'm pretty badly scrappily deprived. I've not scrapped since... like 5 or 6 days ago. Yep, an eternity. So here i am, with my creative outburst. What do you think? Oh and just a note. this is the day 5 sketch from http://www.inspiredtoscrap.net sketch class. I can't share the sketch because its a paid class that i was fortunate enough to win! yay!!! anyway, its a super simple sketch. And my scrap room just seemed to blow up all over it, but i like it!

So cool!

My layout "raw red potatoes" was featured on Allison Davis' blog today! Every once in a while she posts layouts that were made with their amazing sketches! i can't even WAIT to be able to buy these sketch books!