Life's Trivialities

Glitzing A Spring Layout (ThermOWeb / Echo Park)

Popping in quickly to share with you a spring layout I created for ThermOWeb using some goodies from Echo Park. Every layout needs some bling and what better way to do that than with some Glitz Glitter Gel from ThermOWeb? It really adds some sparkle and shine to this spring layout!

If you haven't checked out the new ThermOWeb products then you have to head over to the website and do so. Last week you will have seen me using the Pixie Spray, a repositionable spray adhesive that lightly tacks your stencils down to your work surface; it is AMAZING! No more shifting stencils and smudged hard work, you get perfect results every time! And that is very desirable when working with this Glitz Glimmer Gel!

The Glitz glimmer gel comes in eight bright and shiny colors and adds just that perfect amount of shimmer to a project. It IS pretty slick so you definitely want to make sure your stencil is tacked down pretty well. Here I have used the Turquoise Sea gel over a lighter shade of turquoise that I lightly brushed on (Shimmerz).You will want liquid adhesive such as Ultra Bond to adhere patterned papers and photos on top of the dry glitter gel.

In addition to the Glitz glitter gel, the other shining star of this layout is the Paige Evans digital cut file! I cut it three times; once to use as a stencil, once in yellow and the final time in green. I used Shimmerz paints through the stencil and painted directly onto the white cardstock. Then I laid the full green cut out on top of that, followed by the fussy cut yellow daffodils. I love the effect this has on the page!

Really there isn't need for much more. Just a few butterflies stamped here and there and a few stickers for some visual interest and to move your eye around the page! Should you be interested in seeing how I actually applied the Glitz glitter gel and how the rest of the layout came together, be sure to head over to my YouTube channel!

Let's Party / Echo Park Paper / Digital Cut File

Hey there scrappy peeps! Have I got a party for you today! Echo Park Paper recently released THE primo birthday collection! There are lots of greater tone on tone B sides, patterned papers that aren't too busy and overpower the photos and story! Fun, bright colors! I mean, what more could you want for a birthday collection!

Three photos and lots of goodies, all on one, bright page! That's birthday happiness right there!

There is even journaling on the page that I was able to sneak onto the body of the letter "R", see it ther? The pops of black stamping scattered through out the layout give some "grounding" to the layout and a solid place for your eye to rest. They provide that weight that balances out the darkness in the photos.

Constructing the layout is easier said than done as you get not only the body of the letters to cut out of your main piece of paper, the background, but I have also color coded the "bits" of the letters. You just drop them on your cutting mat, load the paper into the machine and hit cut. Then all you have to do is adhere them to the body to complete the letter! Easy, eh? I've done the hard work for you!

You can watch the whole process of backing the cut file, piecing the "bits" of the letters and stamping here;

If you are interested in the cut file I used to create this layout, you may download that for free (and personal use only) HERE. You will be taken to DropBox. If you create something with it, I'd love for you to share what you created. You can leave a photo on my scrappy FaceBook page, Suzanna Scraps.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Genuine / Elle's Studio Reveal Day

Today is reveal day over at Elle's Studio and I'm sharing my first project as a member of the design team! I LOVE the bright colors that are in each of the exclusive kits and add on's. If you are a memory keeper who likes it bright then you will definitely want to check these products out.

While the love theme is strong in this kit, it's not just love and the colors are more than the traditional red and pink. There are a wide variety of colors to choose from and you don't just have to document a love relationship. Next week I'll share a swimming layout that I created with this kit! In the red-blue color combo that you know I use ALL the time for these kiddos and their swimming (team colors).

It's not often that I type my journaling but with the typed numbers from the Noteworthy patterned paper as the background, it was only fitting. That pink heart and all the XO's were created using this month's digital cut files. I also love the variety of label sizes available in the print and cut files and you can ALWAYS use labels, they are a great shelf for titles so they don't float away, or layers behind photos. So many uses for labels!

Not going to lie, while these acrylic hearts (and stars in the package) are my FAVORITE part of the add on's, they were a bugger to figure out how to adhere. You can see the adhesive behind them in that photo above. The light wasn't great as I was filming so it was difficult to notice until I had natural light to take photos... The next time I use these, I do use my Ranger mini attacher and get much better results!

I have a process video for this layout on my YouTube channel which you can watch here; 

 

Thanks for stopping in today! Remember, if you have something about your layout that you don't like, walk away and come back at it with a fresh perspective. It's totally fixable!

 

Valentine's Layout / ThermOWeb

Happy New Year my scrappy friends, late as it may be! I hope the entry into 2019 has been a good one thus far. Have you done much scrapbooking? Did you start a December Daily? How far did you get? I began two different albums, both of which have one entry in them... Yea, done with that and all future attempts. It's just not something that is going to work for me, why keep bashing my head against the proverbial wall. After six or seven years of beginning and not finishing, I think it's high time I throw in the towel, don't you?!

Valentine's Day, AKA Saint Hallmark's Day around here... Having recently seen the statistics about money spent on roses, chocolates and candy, it's most definitely increasingly apparent how this is a holiday that businesses have taken and capitalized upon. Typically, we don't celebrate. HOWEVER, the bakery at Michael's office bakes some of the most delicious creations. And it's a great excuse to have to bring home a sweet treat! That's what this layout is about - Mia's LOVE-ly treats and a SnapChat filter. LOL!

I used my Silhouette and some super cool products from ThermOWeb to design this large title. There is a whole tutorial on my YouTube channel as well as a written tutorial over on the ThermOWeb blog. The effect of the gold foil for the letters and the red foil for the conversation heart is just stunning, don't you think? And SO incredibly easy to do!

She is going to kill me when she sees that I used that picture... We have entered into the era of "the hand"... It will be a while before you see recent pictures of this child.

If you are interested, there is an accompanying tutorial/process video. The first part of the video shows you have to foil the letters and emboss them while the later part of the video is how the layout comes together.

 

Thanks for stopping in today! If you are familiar with ThermOWeb products and have something in particular you would like to see, do leave me a comment and let me know what it is you would like to see!

Holly Ball 2017 / Echo Park /Tuesday Morning Stash Busting

This is a long overdue post of another double page spread! Created from a Tuesday Morning kit that I put together about two weeks ago which I shared in a video HERE. I gathered bits and pieces from various trips to Tuesday Morning and printed these photos to do with the goodies and set about creating. I have not created a sketch to accompany the layout however if there is enough interest, I am happy to create a sketch. Just let me know in the comments.

The way this layout turned out and what I had originally planned in my head are two different things, not surprisingly. There are green papers as part of the collection and originally I was going to incorporate more of the green. Even use it to cut out the tree. However the business of the patterns in the patterned paper would have detracted from the intricacy of the cut file and the ornaments wouldn't have popped as they do here. I love the way the green tree pops the green in the photos!

One of the great things about these haul kits is that you get to mix and match and create your own kit. I build my kits based on colors, trying to create an equal mix of patterned papers with bold and small prints as well as different mix of embellishments. I love creating my own kits.

The simplicity of these ornaments hanging in the corner adds a wonderful touch of the holidays and festivity to the layout, don't you think?

That, my friend, is it for today. A quick and simple layout with just enough complexity to capture your interest and use up some stuff and a few photos to share a very special evening shared between father and daughter! If you are of the process video watching variety, be sure to swing by my YouTube channel and you can see how the whole thing comes together! It's not too long either!

Thanks for stopping in today!

Ooh La La / The Scraproom / My Minds Eye / SpiegelMom Scraps

Just a quick share today so you can see close ups of a project I'm sharing as part of an Instagram hop for SpiegelMom Scraps and Clique Kits.

The floral digital die cut from Clique Kits provides the perfect counter balance to the all the business of the words in the patterned paper that I use for the background of the layout. The weight of that cut file really grounds the page and gives your eye a focal point to rest upon. To incorporate some of the pink into the rest of the layout and tone down the intensity of the black, I used one of the pink floral die cuts that is from the same Gal Meets Glam collection from My Mind's Eye. Which, came in one of my The Scraproom kits.

The mint with gold embossed hearts shown above is perfectly complimented with the occasional hold heart scattered through out the words in the background and the shimmer from the sequins that are found at both the top and the bottom of the layout. For an extra hint of black, I ran a straight line across the 

In addition to the My Mind's Eye goodies, I incorporated some labels from Vicki Boutin. There is a lovely mix of stark black, pink and a touch of the tealy, mint behind the photo as layers that tie all the color together and create a focal point on the layout.

A sequins chain using the Freezin for a Reason sequins mix punctuates the title of the layout and adds some shimmer. Glue Dots anchor the sequins so they don't float off the strands of thread.

Enjoy the process video!

 

Thanks for stopping in today!

 

OMG / Sketch Inspired / Tuesday Morning Stash Bash

Today I'm mixing up my love for sketches with my love for finding a great deal at Tuesday Morning. You know I love a good grid on my scrapbook pages so there was no way I could turn down this month's Paper Issues sketch!

AND you know I love color! Lots of color! The bolder and brighter the better! I mixed up Dear Lizzy's "Stay Colorful" and Shimelle's "Glitter Girl" collections from various Tuesday Morning hauls to document our cat Belle in her Halloween costume this year! Yup, the cat gets a Halloween costume. And, it would appear, that if I want to scrapbook Halloween in years to come, I'm going to have to scrap the cat as she's the only one who will (under duress) wear a costume!

I shifted the grid to the top left of the layout so that I could incorporate the digital cut file and instead of framing the cardstock the whole way around, it is book ended on the right and left. I originally had pink showing on the top and bottom but there weren't brush strokes there so it didn't look right. This way, the proportions of the grid rectangle more closely resemble those of the background paper and there is better symbiosis.

I haven't journaled yet, I do intend too. Sometimes, I just want to get the video up and published and there isn't enough daylight to mess around with the humming and hawing of journaling. That the speech bubble doesn't come from the direction of the cat doesn't bother me as the idea is there that these are her throughts. You can clearly see how utterly annoyed she is to be in this "thing". Worse yet to be subjected to a photo shoot with backdrop and prop! LOL!

More shash bash of Tuesday Morning goodies! The foam Thickers from Amy Tangerine! Purchased before the price increase. That pink is just a perfect compliment to the blue backdrop that Belle is on - an unironed sheet.... I really should have ironed it looking at the photos. Oh well....

That, my scrappy friends in another Tuesday Morning Stash Bash combined with a sketch to kick off this week! If you have anything you have picked up from Tuesday Morning in your stash that you don't know what to do with or something in my stash you would like to see me use, let me know! I'm always up for a challenge and love busting through the oldies but goodies!

Enjoy the process video should that be something you enjoy!

Thanks for stopping in today!

Birthday - Bella Blvd / The Scraproom

I asked about a month ago what the likelihood of you sitting and watching a longer video was if it were for a double page spread and I got overwhelming responses that yes! double page process videos were desirable! Thank you for all of you who responded and shared your opinions with me! To thank you, I have not only a double page process video but a sketch to go with it. Enjoy! And if you do use the sketch, PLEASE share your complete projects with me. You could comment on my Scrappy Facebook page with a photo, that would make my day!

If you want a larger file to download then be sure to follow THIS LINK over to Dropbox where you can download a larger file for free.

This bright, birthday layout was created using Wish Big from the October Doubleshot kit from The Scraproom. I still have enough left over from creating these two pages for another single page layout at the least, possibly two.

Are you a theme-y scrapper? By that, I mean, do you buy themed product to scrap that particular theme? Do you buy birthday product to scrap birthdays? There is no right or wrong answer, we all have our preferences. I tend to only scrap birthdays with birthday product because it was sent to me. But generally speaking, if left to my own druthers, I prefer to scrap without themed product. I don't need to announce birthday, I feel the photos speak for themselves.

There is a lot of white space in this layout. Theoretically, you could add more photos if you felt like it. My initial thought had been to put typed journaling strips under the "birthday" title heading. But I really like the white space. With the black of the fireplace in the photos, you really need that white space to add balance to the layout.

Should you be interested in watching how this layout came together, be sure to head over to my YouTube channel. Or watch below! LOL! My goal is to get 1-2 double page spreads up a month. I cannot guarantee double page sketches that often but I'll do what I can! I'm close to 3,000 subscribers so watch out for a give away coming soon!

 

Thanks for stopping in today! Enjoy the sketch!

 

Chillin on the James / Sketch / Simple Stories

Sorry for the delay in getting the blog post up even though the video went up a couple of hours ago. Juggling dinner, YouTube and figuring the week ahead out can be a daunting task at times. No one ever told me that as the kids get older it gets more complicated. I mean, yes, it's easier, in some regards. But the scheduling and coordinating gets more complex.

Today I shared my first double page process video and the sketch that I created of that layout. Strangely, the layout came first and the sketch came as a result of the sketch. And, in actuality, it's a scraplift of myself. Problem being, I don't have the original layout to share with you. I created the original layout about nine years ago for Nikolas' Kindergarten teacher as part of a year end gift. I scrapped the whole year and had each kid send me a picture and answer a few questions so that I could do a page on each student. It was quite the undertaking!

I create a fair number of double page layouts, I have never filmed the creative process before. There are a number of things I have yet to figure out, like the voice over. This video is 20 minutes long. I'm not one to talk so the thought alone was daunting, never mind the execution of it. There are a fair number of pauses and "um's", for which I apologize. I can only hope it improves as the learning curve diminishes. Hang in there with me!

The "summer" sun cut file is a free download over on Facebook. Paige Evans has her own group page that if you join, you gain access to free downloads of her amazing digital cut files! That sun fills the "white" space in the photo perfectly, don't you think?

I used some Shimmerz paints on the large, central space reserved for the title. I was pleased with the way that the ombre effect worked and looks like the river water. Which also happens to compliment the patterned paper from Simple Stories' "Hello Summer" collection perfectly as well!

And, if you are of the process video ilk, this is for you;

If you like double page process videos, please leave me a comment and tell me if this is an acceptable length? How long is too long for a double page process video? I tried to eliminate the unnecessary bits and speed up other bits. It's a balancing act I tell you!

Thanks for stopping in today!

Hello Friend / Cocoa Vanilla Studio

 

Hiya there friends! Today's layout is inspired by a free download sketch that you can find over at the Scrapbook Generations online store. If you have followed me for a long time, you will know that I designed for the SG magazine, Create, and contributed to one of the sketch books that Debbie and Allison put out. I have LONG been a fan of SG sketches and when this one popped up on my FB feed, well! Of course I had to play along!

The sketch calls for rounded corners, I just couldn't bring myself to do that. That's not my thing. I'm the one who cuts up PL cards so that I have right angles., I'm the one who struggles with photos that aren't lined up. Yup, that's me. So, you might understand why the rounded corners were a no go!

When I saw the squares in the sketch, I just knew that one of those squares was going to have to a sequins shaker. I wanted to do something a bit different and I wanted a way to "soften" the glare that acetate often results in in sequins shakers. I found the tulle was perfect! It actually allows the sequins to move much more thus really shaking instead of being pinned down to the paper. Win - win in my book! Check out that sequins mix too! It's called Tropical Breeze, from SpiegelMom Scraps! It's the perfect compliment to this collection, More Than Words, from Cocoa Vanilla Studio. If you shop at SpiegelMom Scraps and use the code SUZANNA15 you can get 15% off.

I did pull in a few other bits and pieces from my stash; those letters for "friend" and the really old arrow from Studio Calico. I wanted a bit more of the aqua color and didn't have them available in all the goodies that were sent to me from Scrapbook Your Joy. If you are on the look out for Cocoa Vanilla Studio goodies, then be sure to check out Scrapbook Your Joy.  Sandra carries other goodies too, like the new Indigo Hills 2 from PinkFresh Studio!!

If you are of the process video persuasion, be sure to check out my video. If you want to fast forward to the shaker bit, it's at 4:10.

 

Thanks for stopping in today! If you have anything you want to see me create with, a particular collection, a particular technique, anything, be sure to leave me a comment and let me know so I can see what I can do!