April challenge reveal and announcement

Today is reveal day over at Better Living Through Scrapbooking!

The first challenge of April is a color challenge: PASTELS! I don't scrap with pastel colors very much, but I loved using soft pinks on this altered art piece I made.

I made this from a paper mache "L" that I found at Hobby Lobby. I covered it with scraps of paper from my stash using Mod Podge. I am really big on saving my scraps of paper and this project shows why. I didn't have to cut up a brand-new sheet of paper; I had plenty of scraps that were just the right size, and the collage feel of the different papers lent itself to the vintage vibe of the whole thing.

Materials used:
Paper -- Heidi Swapp, 7Gypsies, Marah Johnson for Creative Imaginations
Embellishments -- The Girls' Paperie, Prima, Making Memories, Heidi Grace, Heidi Swapp
Ink -- ColorSnap Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in "Chestnut Roan"
Adhesive -- Glue Arts, Mod Podge

Now for the big announcement...
I am taking over ownership of Better Living Through Scrapbooking! Beth, who has been the wonderful owner/administrator/DT member/DT coordinator, is a crazy busy girl. She has a busy job and is on several other design teams besides Better Scrap, so she is handing it over to yours truly! I am very excited about this opportunity and I can't wait to grow the site even more. The most exciting part going forward will be a new design team call in the very near future! I will be advertising the DT call here, on Facebook, and on some DT call sites so be on the lookout for that.

Please come play with us this month over at BLTS! Take part in our challenges and you could be in the drawing for our quarterly prize. We'd love to see you there!

Design team reveal: Lucky girl!

Today's the day for the second challenge of March over on Better Living Through Scrapbooking!

This challenge is all about a person that you are lucky to have in your life. I have so many people in my life that I am lucky to have, including my husband, my parents, and my friends, but I am super-lucky to have met my wonderful friend Kerry. She and I get along famously and I love her. She is "wicked awesome"... and yes, she's from the Boston area, so she says "wicked"!

This layout was such a fun one to make. I got to use some of the super-duper, brand new, not even in stores yet paper from the "Wave Searcher" collection by Fancy Pants! It's the fun, summery plaid background paper (thanks to the wonderful people at Fancy Pants for letting me get my mitts on some of this paper!). I also got to use lots of little scraps of paper and ribbon. There's a reason why I don't throw those away; they are just begging to be used on a layout like this one!

Hop on over to Better Living Through Scrapbooking to see the design team's take on the challenge, then make your own and post it on the Facebook page! You could win the monthly prize!

Challenge reveal day!

 

Today is challenge reveal day over at Better Living Through Scrapbooking!  

Our first challenge this month is a color challenge -- GREEN AND WHITE!

My 2-page layout is about our trip last year to Savannah, GA. Savannah is home to the country's 2nd largest St. Patrick's Day celebration and it shows: shamrocks painted on the streets, green water in the fountains, and brisk business at the Irish pubs! We were lucky to be there the weekend before St. Pat's, so we got to see the cool stuff, like step dancers and bagpipers, but without the crazy crowds.

We would love to see your green and white creations this month. Just make a layout, card, or home decor project featuring the green and white and post it to the Better Living Through Scrapbooking Facebook page by March 21. The creation with the most "likes" will be entered into our quarterly drawing for a prize!

(For my materials list, please see my post at Better Living Through Scrapbooking!)

You're gonna shine!

This is my latest DT project for Better Living Through Scrapbooking. Since a new school year has begun, our challenge is to create a layout using a school picture.

This layout is almost like a letter to my eight-year-old self. I want to tell her that she'll get past the hurts, the disappointments, and the sadness that comes with growing up. She'll grown into those teeth (eventually!). She's going to find love, happiness, and passion for life. Don't worry, kid, you're gonna shine!

June Challenge #1 @ BLTS

The first of the June challenges is up over at Better Living Through Scrapbooking. I loved this challenge because I got to do a layout about one of my favorite activities: sleeping!

The prize for this month is fantastic! The winner of this month's challenge contest gets $25 to spend at the Basically Bare store.... What? You don't know Basically Bare? You're going to love them! 

Basically Bare is a new company that specializes in making "alterable items for paper artisans" (that's their tagline... cute huh?). These alterable items are wonderful embellishments and albums that are designed for you to make them your very own. The products come "plain" and are made of corrugated cardboard, felt, acrylic, chipboard, or canvas. Then you can paint them, dye them, ink them, sand them, or do whatever you want to them! The bird in my layout is a Basically Bare felt bird that I inked with regular chalk ink. Below is an example of the felt birds as they come. 

 

(In full disclosure mode, I did receive free samples from Basically Bare to use in my DT projects. However, I was under no obligation to write about them here on my blog. I just am because I really like the products! I also like the fact that all of Basically Bare's products are made in the USA.)

So head on over to Better Living Through Scrapbooking and see what you can do with the challenge. We would love to see your work!

Exciting "official" news!

Back in April, I told you that I was going to be the guest designer for the month over at Scrapping Shoebox. For my tutorial, I showed you how to make a cute little mini-album using just one sheet of 12"X12" paper (which I still think is one of the coolest things ever!).

Well, I am happy to announce that the owner of the site liked it so much that I was asked to join the design team full-time! I've known for a while but wanted to wait until it was "official". I am so honored to be part of this site and to be representing the US (the site is based in Australia).

If you haven't visited Scrapping Shoebox, what are you waiting for? Every week, there will be Tuesday Tips and a new project from each DT member. It's a great little site that I am sure you will love.

Another exciting piece of news is that I have been asked to stay on as a DT member at Better Living Through Scrapbooking. This is great for me because I love the site and I love my fellow DT members. Beth and Jamie are so talented and make such wonderful projects. So stop by BLTS and participate in our monthly challenges. There are great prizes each month; this month's prize is a $25 gift certificate to Basically Bare (they make really cool alterable items from cardboard, felt, etc.). 

Finally I send out a big "thank you" to each and every one of you reading this. You have all been so great in supporting me as I pursue my dream of working in the crafting industry. Your comments and cheers have meant so much to me. Sometimes it is hard to "toot my own horn",so to speak, when it comes to accomplishments; however, I have learned that it really is OK to be proud of yourself when you do something well. Thank you for allowing me to do that here on this blog (and in your Twitter feeds, and in your Facebook feeds, and your emails....)!

The story behind the layout

Too often in scrapbooking, we document only the good events. But how many of us have only good days? So today over on Better Living Through Scrapbooking, the design team girls (including yours truly) reveal some layouts about the things that didn't go as we had planned.

*One note about this layout. I know that most people see this picture and think, "What could be so terrible about going on a great vacation in the Caribbean? Are you that spoiled?" NO! As you see in my journaling, it was the fact that my plans were changed that led to this layout.

One of the elements that we were challenged to use this time was hidden journaling. The journaling on my layout is behind the picture so you have to lift the picture to see it. Since you can't do that on the site, you can read it here:

I admit it. I am a travel planning junkie. I plan every single little detail on every trip that we take. Where to stay, what to do, even where to eat are all things that figure out months in advance, and our cruise was no different. I had our entire day in Cozumel all taken care of. We had never been there before so I was kind of excited about it. I was even going to try helmet diving (a big deal for someone who is afraid of water)!

Then came the swine flu.

It hit Mexico first just a couple of weeks before our cruise. This was an illness of epic proportions and Cozumel was soon a hot-bed of disease. Of course, all of the cruise lines stopped going to Mexico and we were told (just days before the cruise) that we would be going to Nassau, Bahamas instead. All that planning down the toilet. All that work planning our trip was just wasted and I was completely thrown for a loop. Messing up my travel plans is guaranteed to totally ruin my day. I didn't want to go to the Bahamas. I had heard from many people that it wasn't that great. Boy, were they right. We were not impressed and I was still bitter about having my plans foiled. Oh well, at least we can say "Been there, done that". Maybe on our next cruise, it won't be during a flu epidemic!

So if you haven't seen the layouts from the other design team girls, go check them out. Maybe it will inspire you to scrap a not-so-perfect event!

New "Better Living Through Scrapbooking" post is up!

My latest design team layout is up today on Better Living Through Scrapbooking!

Our challenge this time was to create a layout without words... no title, no journaling, nothing! I was totally apprehensive about how it would turn out since I always include at least a title on my layouts, but once I began working on it, it wasn't too bad. It really allowed the picture to be the focus, and it made me want to kick up the photo a notch so I experimented with making the pic black and white with just one little part left in color.

So head on over to the site and look at all of the design team's layouts. All of the my fellow team members are so talented and have such different styles so I am sure you will find something that will inspire you. And remember that if you enter your layouts in the February challenges, you will be entered to win a gift certificate from Queen Kat Stamps!

February challenge is up!

The new February challenge is up at Better Living Through Scrapbooking! Our fearless leader, Elizabeth, will be posting each of the design team's responses to the challenge throughout the day so you can see our takes on winter.

I want to encourage everyone to come join us for this month's first challenge. If you post a layout, you have a chance to win a $20 gift certificate from Queen Kat Designs Stamp Co.

If you have never looked at the QKD site, you are missing out. There are some adorable stamps over there!

Adorable stamps from QKD! Very SQUEE-licious!

So head on over to Better Living Through Scrapbooking and get inspired!

First design team layout is up!

My very first layout for Better Living through Scrapbooking is up! It's a "mid-week inspiration" for the first January challenge about New Year's resolutions. I loved this challenge because it made me break out of my comfort zone -- I used paint (on something besides chipboard!) and I even did a little hand-sewing! I really like the results and I hope you do too.

And if you ever have any questions about a product or technique I have used, please feel free to leave a comment on the site or ask me here in my comments!

I did it!

It is "official" so I can now announce:

I have been chosen as a design team member for  
Better Living through Scrapbooking!

I am so excited to be a part of this site! Better Living is still a fairly new site so I feel like I am getting in on the ground floor of something big. I can't wait to challenge myself to try new things and share them with the readers!

So what led me to this wonderful experience? (Warning: long story to follow!)

I decided at the end of 2010 that my one little word for 2011 was "brave". Too often, I have let opportunities pass me by because I was afraid of something -- afraid of success, afraid of failure, afraid of even trying. That little voice in the back of my head saying, "What if you aren't good enough?" was often a bit too loud and it kept me from pursuing my dreams.

I have had several scrapbooking goals for several years now, namely to be on a design team and to have my work published in a magazine. However, though my friends and family have always complimented my work, I never thought it was "good enough" to be put out in public. I gathered up all of my courage and applied to one design team last year and was not chosen. I was devastated. My worst fears were confirmed. I wasn't "good enough."

In the last couple of months of 2010, I was getting quite depressed. I had no job (despite sending out numerous resumes and applications) and I was stuck in a rut. Then a wonderful thing happened: I took an online class called "Inspiration Everywhere" from the wonderfully talented Jessica Sprague. In this class, we made an art journal. Now that may not sound like a big deal, but for me it was. I sometimes have a hard time thinking "outside the box". I am a rule follower and don't want to rock the boat. I never considered myself an artist, so why would I need an art journal? Hesitantly, I bought my supplies and went to work.

Almost as soon as I began to work on it, I began to feel free. There were no rules. There was no plan to follow. I could use whatever materials I wanted. I could draw or write anything. No one was going to judge my efforts; it was all for me. So what if I "messed up"? I could rip it out and start over! It was there and then that I decided I liked this feeling of freedom. It was then that I felt brave.

The best part of the art journal was one of the first things that I put in it. On the dedication page, I dedicated my book to my inner artist. Up until that point, I never even knew I had an inner artist. I then found a sticker (from the lovely folks at 7Gypsies) with a quote from someone named Brian Andreas that said, "For a long time, she flew only when she thought no one else was watching." Wow. Just wow. My life in a nutshell.

After playing with my art journal and jumping headfirst out of my comfort zone, I decided that my goal for 2011 was to be brave. I would make no resolutions about losing weight or cleaning house more or any of the many other resolutions I had made in the past. I resolved to be brave. If I could stand up and be brave, everything else would fall into place. After all, it was my fear that kept me from succeeding at my resolutions before.

So I did it. I applied for a job that I knew would be difficult to get. The little voice said, "You aren't qualified for that," but I did it anyway. Guess what? I got the job (more on that later!).

I then gathered my best scrapbook layouts to submit to a design team call. The little voice said, "These are not as good as everyone else's layouts. Why would they choose you?" Guess what? I sent in my application and I was chosen.

I then made a few things for a call for magazine publication. The little voice said, "Do you really think these are good enough to put in a magazine?" Guess what? I sent them in anyway. I don't know if I'll be chosen or not, but at least I tried. That was more than I have done before.

Most of us, especially women, have feelings if inadequacy. We never think that we are "enough" and we let fear of rejection or ridicule control us. If you are one of the scared girls, the not-good-enough girls, the sidelines girls, stand up and be counted. Stand up and be brave. You can do it. You never know how it may change your life.