Clouds

I had so much fun making this layout! I usually watch some YouTube process videos or click through Pinterest when I’m playing around in my scraproom, but ended up making this one while listening to music. There was something a bit scary but also a carefree feeling about putting together a layout without having inspiration right in front of me. I told myself that I’d stick some stuff down and just toss the whole thing if I didn’t like it. The experience took me right back to cut and paste as a child, and the almost meditative state I’d be in when I was creating something for enjoyment and not show.

Scrapbooking has a lot of hidden pressures. You’re doing it to record important memories for generations to come, so it has to be perfect. You spend time and money on it, so the results better be worth it. And then the people who don’t get it, and think it’s a childish hobby to have.

This layout was a reminder for me that childish cut and paste is meditation for me. As a child, I would loose track of time if I was near paint and paper. My parents used creative arts as a way to distract me, calm me, reward me. I’m decades older, but paper, scissors, and glue still center me.

The background paper is Heidi Swapp specialty catdstock that I coloured with Tim Holtz Spun Sugar, Abandoned Coral, and Punice Stone distress inks. I also used his Broken China stain dauber for a couple spots of blue.

The clouds are from October Afternoon’s Summertime stamp set, and I used Hero Arts Ombré in Pool to Navy, and Memento Tuxedo Black. I stamped them on scrap paper and fussy cut them.

The letter stickers are an old Recollections font, and the brads and enamel dots are from My Mind’s Eye.

Presque Isle State Park

Back in 2005, we went on a road trip through parts of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Near the end of the trip we decided to stop and stretch our legs, and the map (no GPS – we did this old school…lol) showed there was a park nearby. We pulled into Presque Isle State Park. What a find! It’s on the south shore of Lake Erie, about halfway between Cleveland and Buffalo, and almost directly south of Long Point Provincial Park, in Ontario.

For anyone who’s been to and loves Long Point, you will love Presque Isle State Park. It’s got the same great expanse of beaches, the warm waters of Lake Erie, great opportunities to birdwatch and fish, and lots of places to put in a canoe or kayak and explore around the shores. It’s got one thing that Long Point doesn’t have enough of though – public beaches. Long point has a couple of public beaches – Presque Isle has a dozen, and they all have lifeguards during daytime hours. The park is really open and allows everyone to access and explore everything that exists there.

Just another quick note – there is amazing history associated with the area. So if you like military history, American history, naval history, or have a love of lighthouses, it’s a great place to look around.

Presque Isle State Park

I’ve been trying to make a dent in the box of scraps that I can’t bring myself to get rid of, and this layout was made almost entirely of scraps. The navy cardstock and the photo overlay (under the photo), were the only pieces that didn’t come from the scrap bin – everything else was repurposed. I do almost exclusively 8×8 layouts, so I have a lot of decent sized scraps and I love how punches and dies let me get so much more out of papers.

This is another layout where I used Copics to change the colour of letter stickers too. I love that trick. It means I can buy stickers that are on sale (score!), or that are a font I love but in a colour I’d never use, and know that I will be able to make them work. The script letter stickers were an orange colour and the others were white, and I changed them both using just two Copic markers. Using Copics lets me blend colours and add gradation if I want, but I’m sure other types of markers would work as well. I plan on trying some Distress Inks – those vibrant colours would be gorgeous, and I’ll be sure to post how they turn out.

Products:

American Crafts, navy cardstock
Crate Paper, Close Knit, photo overlays
Crate Paper, Maggie Holmes, Open Book dies
We R Memory Keepers, Evolution Advanced die cutting machine
Fiskars, Hexagon Punch, medium
Sookwang, Scor-Tape
Martha Stewart, gold glitter
October Afternoon, Daily Flash Alpha, Bonfire “Story Book”
Basic Grey, bas-3984, letter stickers
Copic Markers, R27 Cadmium Red, E08 Brown
Recollections, Fall, brads
My Mind’s Eye, Mistletoe Magic, enamel dots
Sharpie Pen, black

Blue Skies

I had a meeting downtown Toronto, and took a few minutes after my meeting to take a couple shots of the buildings against the day’s brilliant blue sky. Toronto’s City Hall was designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell, and it is his most famous building. I’ve always loved the building and I was able to visit other buildings he designed while I was in Finland. It’s been used in a number of big and small screen productions. If it seems familiar to you, it might be from films like Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Red, and The Sentinel, or tv shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, Pokemon, and Flashpoint.

Blue Skies

This layout was fun to make, but I’m a bit torn about whether I like it or not LOL. I don’t like how the splatter turned out. I didn’t have a mist the colour I wanted, so I tried doing a splatter effect with some paint. The dots are larger and not as random and scattered looking as they end up when I use mist. I’m not sure if it’s a case of just me seeing the ‘mistake’, or if it’s distracting to everyone who looks at it.

I love the grey, navy, turquoise, and pink combination. That came from Adrienne Looman’s Ocean Melody collection and from Pink Paislee’s Switch Board collection. I also loved using a flair badge. I don’t usually use them – although they’re some of my most favourite embellishments to buy/collect LOL. I thought the dimension of the flair was a nice way to echo the curved dome in the center of the building. I’m also happy with how the title turned out – I love using Copics to custom colour white letter stickers.

Products:

Recollections grey cardstock
American Crafts white cardstock
Webster’s Pages, Adrienne Looman’s Ocean Melody, Cool Water
Studio Calico, Darling Deer, Gardner
Crate Paper, Flea Market, Heirloom
Pink Paislee, Switch Board, Ephemera Pack
Pink Paislee, Switch Board, Stickers
Chic Tags, Cloud 9, Mini Icons
October Afternoon, Daily Flash, Flash Alpha Meringue “Story Book” letter stickers
Copic, Sketch, BG23 Coral Sea
Tim Holtz, Distress Paint, Chipped Saphire
Tim Holtz, Distress Ink, Pewter
Ranger, Foam Blending Tool
misc: flair, washi, ATG, Fiskars trimmer, EK Success scissors

The Best Selfie

My sweet cat loves to be involved in whatever I’m doing. She’s become used to my phone, but when I’m trying to take a ‘serious’ portrait of her – well, it’s like she can tell I’m concentrating and she wants to know why. Those photos usually end up being blurry shots of undistinguishable fur. I was so excited when these two had enough of her face, and enough focus, to be sweet and cute in their own way.

The Best Selfie

This was a really quick layout to do. It took me just about an hour, and I’m a slow one LOL. The papers all had great details on them, so only a few embellishments were needed. I love October Afternoon’s Daily Flash paper with that great shade of turquoise and photography related quotes typed on it. And the other side has a great white on grey subway art style text pattern – all using photography related words. Using both sides of a paper on the same layout always makes me happy.

Products: