Life's Trivialities

CREATE Magazine July 2015

Good morning scrappy friends! Earlier this week Scrapbook Generations released the latest (and greatest) issue of CREATE magazine; a free, digital papercrafting magazine. With the shortage of scrapbooking and papercrafting magazines these days, it's nice to have this FREE options. And more of Allison's great sketches. FREE!

You can view whole magazine in it's glory HERE.

I had fun playing with the single page sketch this month. I used some of the new Simple Stories So Rad collection for this;

After MANY years, we finally replaced Nikolas' swim bag. The mildew and smell were... Well, let's just say it was time. He certainly got some mileage out of that bag! The traditional team bag in the old size was no longer available so we had to order the Carolina blue online and have our friend Mary Anne from the swim shop embroider the team logo and his name on it for him. Out with the old and in with the new!

Another Nikolas/swimming layout! Most of my pictures lately have been swimming pictures - kind of the story of our summer so far. It's his "thing" and summer is about summer neighborhood swim and the (short) long course season for our year round team.

The above layout is based on the color challenge in the magazine. Red, white, ecru and blue are the colors. Those of you who follow my work know that I use a lot of those colors anyway so this was a no brainer for me. Our swim team colors are red and blue.

This is my favorite of the three layouts! In addition to a single and double page layouts, Debbie and Allison create some fantastic card and tag sketches. The gals from the team demo these in the traditional manner and then a few more of us show you how you can stretch the sketch and use them in other ways. Here, I used the tag sketch and converted it into a layout! I just love the mix of polka dots and stripes and the stark black and white contrasted with the vibrant colors. FUN!

I have had fun playing in my stash lately! I am really trying to make a concerted effort to be more of a stash buster... Trying would be the key word there. Speaking of, be sure to tune in in a week for the latest "Scrappin' Our Stash" blog hop. We are hopping early this month.

So, be sure to check out the CREATE magazine!

 

Your Time to Shine / Simple Stories

I have been working hard to stay on top of current events. Current moments in our little nucleus, that is. I have found that if I want journaling of relevance, ie pertinent to my current memories of the event, I really need to scrap them now. So I have been working hard to edit at least a couple of pictures of recent live moments and get them scrapped.

Nikolas is 12 and with regard to swimming, that means he is at the top of an age group, the 11-12 year olds. It's a good place to be with regards to placing and possibly beating records. Every child has their time in the lime light, one hopes, and this is his time. Who knows how long that light will shine? Enjoy it while it lasts and remain humble.

I love this new collection from Simple Stories called So Rad! It's tough to find boy collections that work for the tween/teen age group. Well look no further! And, that yellow background from the complimentary girl collections, So Fancy, matches perfectly. Complimentary indeed!

While the letters that accompany the collection are fantastic, I wanted something a little more. I cut the letters out using my Silhouette and a free font (Blackoak std) using watercolor paper and then had fun with my Faber Castell Gelatos! I used the blues from the new "Brights" set!

Have you had a chance to play with the new So Rad collection by Simple Stories? What do you think?

National Parade / Simple Stories

Everybody loves a parade and there is no better parade than the National Parade! Last year we spend Independence Day (and evening) up in DC and joined the masses on Constitution Ave. What better way to document such an event than with a BIG picture and some Simple Stories?!

Aptly named the "Stars and Stripes" kit, these papers and stickers are, obviously, designed just for the Fourth of July and all things red, white and blue. I usually really struggle with that file folder 6x12 piece but it was THE perfect topper for this layout.

Not a very original title but I had to distinguish this particular parade from any other. After all, it is the NATIONAL parade held at the Nation's capital! Kind of a big deal! We are fortunate to live close enough to make that a possibility.

Stars, stars and some stripes! I kept things pretty traditional with this layout!

I think it might be good for a swimming layout, this collection. The red, white and blue would suit our team colors... I definitely have enough left from the Simple kit that I could probably create two more layouts. I'm pondering... Stay tuned, you just might find a swimming layout. Definitely another Independence Day layout, perhaps this years festivities.

More CREATE Layouts / Simple Stories

Today I have two more layouts to share with you from the May 2015 CREATE magazine, created by Scrapbook Generations. You can access the full magazine HERE. Yesterday I shared with you the featured manufacturer's, today I will share with you article layouts.

There are two themes in the magazine this month; travel and birthday. I went for birthday. Obviously! I didn't want the traditional birthday papers but used the "I Am" collection from Simple Stories instead. Just perfect for this collage of pictures of Mia as she admires and blows out the candles on her birthday cake. Two more weeks and she will be doing that again but with one additional candle!

In the journaling section of the magazine, this months suggestion is to use a list for your journaling. We were recently down at Clearwater, Florida for a swim meet and I had Nikolas list his top 10 favorite short course events. The meet was the last year round swimming short course meet for him. As he's only 12, I imagine that this list might change over time (assuming he continues swimming over time). I have tried to get the kids to participate in the telling of their story more and a great way of doing that is having them create top 10 lists. Some of them I ask that they write on the journal card or reserved spot for me. They are growing more comfortable with that idea and freaking out less. Michael, I'm still working on...

Be sure to check out the magazine in it's entirety! There is something for everyone as the styles vary from shabby sheek too clean and simple. Mixed media, clean lines, you name it, there is something that will appeal to the various style favorites out there.

 

Summer Paddle / Simple Stories 2 page

Double bonus today; a large photo AND two pages. Or possibly a triple bonus as the layout is created using primarily Simple Stories!

There is something about those little bright colored fishies that just sold me on this collection! HAD to have it. Every single piece of it! And it's just perfect for this summer moment on Lake Michigan.

I kept the edges of the layout very clean so that the bright yellow of the background cardstock would bring your eye back to the center and Nikolas' yellow life jacket.

Paddle boarding was something new to us this past summer, summer of 2014. Nikolas went to a paddle boarding camp and had a blast. While in Michigan for our week long summer get away we rented a board for a few hours so he could show off his new skills. I'm not sure it was all that he wanted it to be. Something about the vastness of the lake might have been a little intimidating to him... Versus the proximity of the river?

A little summer sun amidst all the spring green that is around us here in the USA. Crazy how summer is just around the corner really. One and a half more months of school...

Gummy Layout

I am going to make up for my blogging delinquency by blogging every single day this week!

This picture just cracks me up!! Mia and her first ever piece of chewing gum. In her excitement to share this monumental moment with me, the gum plummeted to ground... Fortunately, there was plenty more and she was only too happy to have that fresh flavor!

LOVE these new SNAP pocket scrapping cards and coordinating die cuts from Simple Stories!!  The gold is sublime! I envision graduation layouts, heritage photos and all sorts of other fun life events that need scrapping. Like a "first gum" experience, you know, important events! LOL!

The background paper came as part of my very first Paper Issues order! I had originally thought it would be used for a lovey layout; either the cat or a picture of Michael and I. Funny how things turn out, instead a girl and her wad of gun! I love how the handstitching really brought the subtle heart a little more to the foreground. And that die from Memory Box! You can never go wrong with a Memory Box die! Ever!

A fun little collection of goodies at the bottom of the layout. I really wanted to leave the "white space" open and not fill it so the outer edges of the background paper became my little canvases to capture your attention.

Thanks for stopping in today!

EggSperts Layout / Simple Stories

I have one more day to squeak in an Easter project before Easter comes and goes and we move on to the next holiday. Today I would like to share an Easter layout that was created using Simple Stories' Enchanted collection. No princesses or Disney but still appropriate for the holiday!

I created a photo collage of the kids coloring Easter eggs before setting off on this layout, that was the first step. I knew I wanted to incorporate a number of photos on a single page layout. Using a photo collage works best for that for me. It lets me stick to the linear, clean look that I like for my layouts and let's me stay in my comfort zone.

I'm getting much better at photographing these shimmery, metallics! Practice is not quite making perfect but I'm getting much closer than when I started!

Some Twinery twine in amongst all that Simple Stories goodness! Fun little butterfly trail that unites the flowers and butterfly.

Have you dyed Easter eggs this year? As of the writing of the draft of this post, we still haven't done ours. Nor am I really sure when that might happen... We always have Spring Break right around Easter and it's always interesting how to time everything.

Coasting into Spring with Simple Stories

I have always been a big fan of using something for another purpose, or multi-purposed. If you visit here regularly, you will be very aware of that fact by now. Today I have another layout created using Simple Stories "Hugs & Kisses" collection which is very much intended for Valentine's and love themed crafting which I used for a different purpose.

I taught a class earlier this month using this collection and had a fair bit left over that I wanted to do something with. This is the end result. Inspired by the hot pink bike and my daughter's coat, I used the colors of the collection to compliment the colors in the picture. And, of course, the bike that is used in the collection fit in perfectly too!

The wood grain textured cardstock was a perfect background for this spring picture! Our first bike ride of the year! It was a gorgeous day and Mia was just busting to get outside. It took some work getting to our bikes but it was worth it!

There is a sprinkling of other Simple Stories collections amongst the "Hugs & Kisses" just to round things out a bit but by and large, the bulk of the goodies used here are "Hugs & Kisses".

Have you been out for a spring outing yet? Have you dusted the cobwebs off your bikes and taken them for a spin? I can't wait to get back out there again!

Projects from March 2015 CREATE Magazine

Hey there! A week ago, the March 2015 issue of CREATE magazine, a FREE crafting magazine published by Scrapbook Generations was released! I had several projects in the magazine that I would love to share with you if you haven't already seen them. You can see the magazine in it's entirety HERE.

First up, a St Patty's day layout based on the most recent single page sketch. You can download the sketches for free! Allison and Debbie's sketches, as you might know, are amazing! So incredibly inspirational! You will see that I flipped the sketch horizontally in order to have the picture work to my advantage.

For the product section, we worked with chipboard and each of us used techniques of our choosing. I painted gesso onto the chipboard "M" on the right hand page of this pocket layout then pressed the impression of a stamp into the wet gesso. Once it was dry, I rubbed Distress Ink over the paint in area so you could see the impressioned image.

Here's a closer look at the end result;

I also got to work with the tag and card sketches this go around!

One of the Pebbles' collections from my design team term put to good use. I don't know what I'll do with a tag "as is" so I thought, as I created this, it would look great in a pocket scrapping page to fill one of the pockets for this Easter!

And finally, a birthday card created using the amazing "I AM..." collection from Simple Stories! I just LOVE this collection. Between the sketch and ease of matching things with this collection, this card came together SO quickly. Being as I'm not a regular card creator, that's big!

Be sure to check out all the other greatness to be found in this edition of the magazine! There is so much variety, it's amazing! And don't forget the Doodlebug team and their contributions!

 

CAS Cards with Cut'N Boss and Simple Stories

Back to back blog posts! A rarity for me these days! I have had so many fun projects up on other blogs that I just haven't had time to blog myself... I really have no good excuse other than the shear insanity of my working-part-time-driving-all-over-tarnation-swim-mum existence! Life is good, I'm not complaining, there just seems to be less and less time for the fun, me stuff right now.

Today I'm sharing with you two cards that I created for Craftwell which were up on the blog a few days ago. You can see that post HERE if you're interested. Shock! Horror! I know, cards two days in a row as well as blog posts two days in a row! Pick your jaw back up off the ground now! LOL!

I used two of the some to be released Teresa Collins/Craftwell collaboration A2 embossing folders with some Simple Stories to whip up these clean and simple cards. There really isn't much to them as far as labor goes but they sure are pretty to look at.

I love the look of white embossed cardstock! I used that for both cards. Beyond that, it's just patterned paper and embellishments. I didn't want to use Gelato or paint or mist to distract from that clean, white textured background.

Even simpler! Yet still very effective. In my opinion.

Thanks for stopping into day! I hope you have (or have had) a marvelous day! Perhaps a clean and simple day!