Wrapping up 2017 OLW

And now, for the final few months of embrace.  In case you missed the first seven months, here's a link.

| AUGUST |

| SEPTEMBER |

| OCTOBER |

| NOVEMBER |

| DECEMBER |

DYL 2.0, Week 3, Layout 2

Happy accidents grace this 8.5 x 11 layout.  I really did not start out wanting to use chevron, then I found this pattern and color combo and just really loved it.  Did not have the exact Copics I needed, so I blended C3 and G21 to get closer to the green-blue shade of the paper.  The paper is the flipside of some chalkboard patterned paper, so I used the chalkboard to mat the photos and for the banner. The theme was "Time Flies," but when I looked at my photos, I thought, truly, it has not flown.  Yes, my son has grown up, but I have loved being his mom.  This is the reward of motherhood: to see the cake reach doneness, yes?  I really enjoyed the font (Spellbound), which I paid for because it has all sorts of styles to use.  I wish my picture did the colors better justice.  I treated the two younger photos with a B/W filter (they had colors that were messing with the page for me), and then kept the most recent in color, framed it with patterned paper, and popped it up.  I also popped up the monogram to balance the two sides.

Catching up with OLW 2017

One of my Summer Bucket List items was to get caught up with my One Little Word album.  I am happy to say that I am, indeed, caught up.  So, I thought I would just give a 7-month recap.

I am using this 6 x 8 album from Ali Edwards.  I really love the size, as well as the color.  All of the pages you see have been inspired by her One Little Word class I have joined.

| JANUARY |

| FEBRUARY |

| MARCH |

| APRIL | 

| MAY |

| JUNE |

| JULY |

If you have not done this class, take the leap!  It's fantastic.

DYL 2.0 Week 3, Layout 1, Unity and Space

I knew, no matter what the layout, I needed one of this week's pages to be about this damn vertigo.  I went with a hybrid page, which is funny since this would lend itself so well to totally digital.  What I learned was I need to either bring the tabs in closer or cut the photo block VERY carefully, as there is a little bit of white between the word tabs and the pics.  Because it was a balanced white, I went with it. This page is 8.5 x 11, matted on Stampin' Up! kraft patterned cardstock.  It's actually Christmas cardstock, but I felt it had just enough visual "hum" to work with the topic at hand.  The main pic was a selfie I took and then treated with a PS effect to give the idea of what it felt like to deal with constant vertigo. I mounted the white mat on a piece of Bazzill kraft cardstock and lifted it with some dimensional adhesives.

Mt two tabs say, "you're drunk," and "go home."  I used an Ali Edwards word sticker that said, "over it."  I liked how it pulled in the red, and, well, I am over dealing with this (three weeks so far).

It's the Time of the Season for Weddings

First wedding card of the season! (I feel like Santa in The Polar Express, "First gift of Christmas!") I used Lawn Fawn's Bicycle Built for You stamps and die cuts.  Background is Bazill Orange Peel with some watercoloring. Pieces were colored with Copics and have just a touch of Wink of Stella.   Interesting card to piece together for sure!

DYL 2.0 Week 2, Layout 2 The Story of Summer

I took some photos at the pool today that lend themselves well to this hybrid layout for Week 2 of Design Your Life 2.0. I used some Cosmo Cricket patterned paper, some deep purple cardstock, and some black cardstock layered behind my photos.  I also used a couple of Ali Edwards stamps.  The arrow sticker border is, I think, from a Simple Stories set. All is placed on a piece of cardstock from Stampin' Up!

Sweet Caroline (Ba-ba-baaaa) DYL 2.0 Week 2, Sketch 1

This week's first sketch had an emphasis on the design elements of repetition. I decided this page lent itself well to a spread on our Neil Diamond concert experience. Some repetition used: The "So Good" circles were used three times, with the bottom one elevated; word phrase stickers (Ali Edwards) to the left of Neil's picture, to the right on our picture (Simple Stories) and in the upper right hand corner (Ali Edwards), affixed with a mini staple.  I felt that something was needed to bring the page together so I framed it with gold metallic.  I also used the gold metallic to "dot" the scalloped edge at the bottom of the page.  That patterned paper and the paper behind our raised photo are the same paper (Pink Paislee Sweet Freedom Collection used in the last sketch...using those scraps!). The blue jean pockets, "borrowed" from the Interwebs, give a nice touch and shout out to Neil's "Forever in Blue Jeans," a favorite song of mine.

Hello Tae Kwon Do - DYL 2.0 Continues

Here is the second sketch for Week 1 in Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life 2.0.  What I like about these sketches is that they are SIMPLE.  You can add what you wish, or delete what you wish.  Some scrapbook sketches are so cluttered for me that I can't think of where to go with them.

Many in the class were completing this digitally, and I must say, it's a sleek one to do that way.  My 8.5 x 11 in. page is hybrid. I printed the mat on Bazill Orange Peel (still a favorite of mine). The "Hello" and "tae kwon do" colors were sampled from the photos.  I wanted to use blue and red as those are the main colors used as part of TKD.  In the circle, I borrowed an image from the Interwebs and placed in on a gray 1 inch circle.  I then cut the mat with a 1-1/4 inch circle punch to give it a home.  Note: the little guy has a white belt.  I mounted the photos on Stampin' Up! cardstock (I think it's Real Red). The page base is a piece of patterned paper from the Pink Paislee Sweet Freedom collection. The other side is patriotic images and sayings.  I chose the blue ombre quite purposefully.  I think it shows transformation and increased strength, like when students work through their TKD belts.  Cathy stacked her "Hello" sentiment.  I felt like the red was emphasized enough, so there's just one layer there.

And now it is July!

I did not realize how long it had been since I posted things on this blog.  I have been making things, and I am more in process mode than ready to share mode.  Let's start with some cards:

I made this card for a friend who had to say goodbye to her beloved dog. I used some of my crafty friend's stash, so I am not sure of all manufacturers. I do know the sentiment is from Taylored Expressions and the embossing folder is from Darice.

This card is for a wedding shower.  It was hard to get the color in a photo.  It is a dark purple.  The embossing folder used is from The Paper Studio.  The sentiment is from Stampin' Up!, as is the ribbon, attached with Tim Holtz's tiny attacher. I used a Spellbinders die to mount the sentiment.

I mounted the card on craft cardstock and stamped a Simon Says Stamp sentiment on the inside.

Next up in crafty-land, a new class!  I enrolled in Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life 2.0.  I made some of my absolute favorite all-time pages during the first iteration of this class back in 2008.  This one is 4 weeks instead of 12, is still based on the principles of design, and contains Cathy's fabulousness.

The first layout focuses on symmetrical balance. We were charged with scrapbooking the passage of time. Here is my shot at it.

I used some of Ali's Tough and Old/New Story Kits as well as some SEI and Lawn Fawn papers. I know those acrylic hearts are from Ali, but I will be darned if I can find the kit they were in! 

Cathy provided us with the cut file and the general sketch. She actually had her journaling in the bottom left square and had patterned paper where I have my journaling. She was not using the large circles, but rather thinner banners, so the journaling would fit.

She has another sketch that is asymmetrical that I will be trying out this weekend also. I think it will document Max starting Tae Kwon Do.