November 23, 2018

"Love your tribe" Layout | sketch


I loved creating my Halloween layout using Suzanna's sketch from The Scraproom, so I decided to play along in November as well. The sketch can be found in the November JumpStart Sketch Challenge on TSR blog. I created my own kit using papers and embellishments from my stash.


The sketch called for an embellishment cluster at the top of the page and I decided to repeat the labels as well as a word strip to repeat elements on the page. I find that repeating similar elements helps tremendously in making a page look cohesive and intentional.


By overlapping the foam words that create the title with different elements on the page -in this case the photo and the different patterned papers or placing the word sticker on the seam of two different patterned papers= I am able to connect the items and let them appear as a unit.


If you want to hear all about my thought process and why I chose certain papers and embellishments and see me struggle, please check out the process video on my process video on youtube.

Thanks for stopping in today!

November 12, 2018

"Bay Area Crop" Layout | Shimmerz Education Team


Hi Shimmerz friends, it's Simone again with another 12x12 layout. This month for the Shimmerz color challenge I picked Shimmerz "Pink-O de Mayo". I love the light pink tone of this shimmerz and also that it would work so great for cold, snowy winter layouts. However, here in the San Francisco Bay Area it cools down, but never enough for snow. So I decided to scrapbook something else instead. In September I went to my first scrapbooking crop and met some of my online friends for the very first time. I had such a great time and this layout tries to capture that feeling. I love how it turned out!


I prepped my background with white gesso and then used the Dazzlerz "Foiled Again" and a stencil by Tim Holtz to create a textured background behind the area of my photo. Look how amazing this looks. The "Foiled Again" is so sparkly, I just love it! On top of that I added the my colors and I have to admit, I just couldn't use only ONE color. I had to add some Coloringz "Pink Stiletto" as well as Shimmerz "Teal the end of time"- I just love when I can use two or more colors and create so many different shades. That's what makes using mixed media so much fun. I used a brush and the trusty packaging technique to add my color and then created the layout on top of that.


In some areas, I went back in with a brush and the paint to add even more color after I had created all the different layers in my layout. But somehow it still felt flat. I decided to just accept that when I stumbled across phrase stamps while I was grabbing my date stamp. Well, that was just the answer and when I saw the phrase "be adventurous", I grabbed my ink pad and added stamping to the background. Don't you think that it rounds off the layout perfectly?



Here is a link to my process video on youtube. If you place an order in the Shimmerz Store, don't forget to mention my name Simone in the comments at checkout to receive a free mini surprise product! Thanks for stopping by today!

SUPPLIES:
Shimmerz - PINK-O DE MAYO, Teal the end of time
Coloringz - Pink Stilettos
Dazzlerz - Foiled Again

November 10, 2018

Grab 5 "Something old, something new ... " | Scale it down


When Suzanna and I tried to come up with five items for the newest edition of Grab 5, we joked about the wedding tradition that we all know: "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" and wondered how that would translate to scrapbooking. So we decided to make this the challenge and just add "something else" as the fifth item for the challenge. The five items I chose were: the new 6x6 paper pack from Elle's Studio, old silver alpha stickers from Studio Calico, yellow thread, a blue alpha set from Studio Calico as well as die cuts. If you want to see how I used the items on the spread, head on over to youtube to watch the process video.


Thanks so much for stopping in today! I hope you were inspired to create some simple spreads documenting your favorite memories!

November 7, 2018

November Mini Daisy Dori | Traveler's Notebook


I had so much fun working in my October Journal that I decided to make another one for November. I went with a similar formula than I did for October - I usually go by the saying: "never change a running system".


If you care to see how I went about it, here is a link to the video on youtube: November Journal Setup. Thanks so much for stopping in today!

November 5, 2018

Week 28 | Project Life 2018


Another hodgepodge of cards from Cocoa Daisy, aliedwards and feed your craft - they work together beautifully and are brought together by the phrase stamps from Citrus Twist kits. Only minimal embellishments round out this spread.


I love the look of journaling added to filler cards and had the chance to do this twice in this spread, which gives it a whimsical look. If you want to hear all about my thought process and why I placed cards and embellishments the way I did, please check out the process video on my process video on youtube.

Thanks for stopping in today!

October 26, 2018

"Best Family Photo Ever" Layout | Sketch


My friend Suzanna is a member of The Scraproom Design Team and created a sketch for their October Jumpstart Sketch Challenge. So I decided to participate and I'm so glad I did. I had completely forgotten how much I enjoy working from sketches. The photos were taken last year at our elementary school's Fall Festival where they had a Halloween photo booth. I used papers from Pebbles Inc. as well as some new items from the Elle's Studio October release.


I layered some of the embellishments behind the photo and then staggered them in height, I love how it looks. The spider repeats on of the motifs from the banner, connecting both parts of the layout. The same idea goes for the wood veneer banner. By placing the little witch die cut all the way in the background -even partly behind the photo- I was able to make one of the cute die cuts work.


If you've seen my layouts, you know that I usually don't use wood veneer, but these Halloween themed wood veneer just jumped into my cart when I shopped at Elle's Studio. So I made it my mission to use them on this layout and it couldn't have worked better: this cat just fits right next to the photo and walking on one of the paper strips from the bottom of the page.


If you want to hear all about my thought process and why I placed cards and embellishments the way I did, please check out the process video on my process video on youtube.

Thanks for stopping in today!

October Mini Daisy Dori | Traveler's Notebook

Since I am not using my Mini Daisy Dori for planning anymore, I decided to use it as a combination of memory planning and creative/junk journaling for October and see if I would be able to fill it up. And not only that, see if I would be able to maintain it throughout the month without feeling stressed. So far it is working well, I'll continue through the remainder of the year and see how it goes.


I am trying to order my photos for Project Life and this journal on a weekly basis. This way I can plan what I want to record in each format and also work on the spreads as soon as I have the photo. Since the Mini Daisy Dori is such a small canvas a spread doesn't take a lot of time. I had some time last week and worked on several spreads. This one simply documents my current planner and journal situation.


Here I had found a quote online that I wanted to remember and instead of saving a screenshot on my phone, I copied it onto a page. I love that I now have a place to add meaningful quotes and affirmations instead of letting them die on my phone. I then picked a journaling card that went perfectly with the quote and stamped a title for it.


Another thing I love doing is documenting happy mail. It is often orders from sticker shops and such but some packages are packed so nicely and I love saving part of the packaging. I created the left side of the spread on the day I received my order from seeamydraw and then added the photo once it came in.


My idea for the Mini Daisy Dori is to have a journal that documents my life, but I know that some things will be documented both in the family album as well as in my journal. This is one of those cases - and I don't care one bit. I was able to add tickets and a sticker from the day to this spread, that I would most likely not be able to fit into the other album.

Lastly, here is an example of one of the memory planning spreads. I love this way of documenting or logging my life and am so happy that I finally found a way to incorporate it into my journaling as it wouldn't work for me as a way of planning. I usually do this on a daily basis and won't fall behind as the space is so small and it is so much fun.


Thanks so much for stopping in today! If you have some time to spare in your day, I would love for you to join me over on youtube for a little chatty journaling session!

October 23, 2018

Week 31 | Project Life 2018


For this week I dug out an old Elle's Studio kit, if I remember correctly it is the May 2016 kit. It has been sitting in my stash for a long time and when I pulled out my big box of pocket cards, I thought it would be a fun challenge to use it on a spread. If you have been following my process videos on youtube, you know that my weekly spreads have been quite minimal lately. I love that I am able to tackle a weekly spread in a short amount of time and having a limited amount of elements to work with makes it even quicker. Even though having cards and supplies in kits were complicating my creative process in the beginning of the year, I am again intrigued and fascinated by monthly kits.


Besides the kit, I pulled out a Tim Holtz alpha sticker book and a date stamp. And that is it ... I told you I was going minimalistic. If you want to hear all about my thought process and why I placed cards and embellishments the way I did, please check out the process video on my process video on youtube.

Thanks for stopping in today!