Winter Issue of SCT Magazine

Hi blog readers!  Today is a great day.  Why, you wonder?  No, it's not just because today is Friday and the weekend is here (although that's a pretty valid reason to celebrate!).  And no, it's not even for the fact that we're having our first big snow of the season.  It is because, however, today is the official launch day of Scrapbook and Cards Today Magazine's winter issue!!!  You can view the issue in it's entirety for FREE right HERE on the SCT site.

I just got my copy of the magazine in the mail yesterday, and I simply can't put it down -- so much great inspiration and eye candy!  It's always a quality magazine and such a pleasure to work with.

I was so very honored to be asked to contribute a design for the cover of this issue.  You can see my take on page 4 of the magazine. But before you click on over there, here's a little peek....

I also have a page in the Reader's Gallery this month.  It's a favorite!  I'll let you take a look at it to see why...

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a great weekend and I'll be back with more to share very soon!

December Daily: Dec 1st, 2nd, 3rd

For the past several years I have attempted a December Daily album.  A couple of them have gotten no further than the album construction or cover design.  Except for last year's attempt which progressed the furthest of any other -- at nearly halfway done.  (*For the record, I still plan to eventually go back to that 2012 album and complete it!  If you're curious, I shared some of the foundation pages in this post.). 

So, why in the world am I attempting this project again, when I've been so unsuccessful in the past?!  Well, looking back at just the handful of pages I created for 2012 reminded me what a cherished keepsake this is.  There is so much happening during the month of December that I want a way to capture and remember the little bits and pieces, that often get lost over the years.

Today I'm sharing the first of my completed pages - the cover through December 3rd.  I'm using a Studio Calico Handbook album, which to this point I've left raw.  I'm still undecided if I will paint the chipboard cover and thus have waited to add any additional design to it.  While I'll be using lots of items in my crafty stash, the majority of the elements are from Jillibean Soup's Christmas Cheer Chowder collection.

For the cover page I tried to incorporate many of the elements that I would repeat throughout the album - sequins, diecuts, woodgrain, stamping.



Supplies used: album - Studio Calico, patterned papers, diecuts, stickers - Jillibean Soup; woodgrain paper - Pebbles; snowflake punches - Martha Stewart; sequins - Lawn Fawn; gold epoxy dots - SEI; stamps - Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday; ink - Stampin' Up

As you can see the title page features lots of layered snowflakes and sprinkles of glitter and shine.  It all translates as very Christmas-y, don't you think?

 

Since I had the backside of the title page to work with for the first of December, I used the 6X8" canvas in it's entirety to focus on my title for the spread.  On this day, my boys and I tagged along with my sister and her family to cut down their Christmas tree.  I had lots of pictures to included, but didn't want to divide up the spread with a full page, in between.  So, I cut one of the 3X4 pocket pages in half vertically to allow for additional photos but cohesiveness throughout the spread.

 

Here is a look at the page again, when the 3X8" photo section is flipped to the left.

 

For December 2nd, I was again working with a 6X8 page protector, so I chose to create a mini scrapbook layout.

I love the little diecuts that coordinate with the Christmas Cheer Chowder collection.  I knew I just had to use this sweet little elf on a page accompanying pictures of our Elf on the Shelf.

 

Originally I had stamped and punched a series of numbers for each of the 25 days in December.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get them to work with my overall design.  So, I reevaluated and decided to cut and use the Jillibean paper that includes squares of all the numbers I will need plus more.  I pretty much love how they look throughout the album so far!

 

 

I'm off to put the finishing touches on Dec 4th, and print out my pictures for today.  Feels good to be almost caught up with this project.  I'm having so much fun doing it and really enjoying the season more by focusing on these little memories and blessings.  See you back here soon with more!

 

Christmas is coming!

I know, I know ... it's merely the week of Thanksgiving and I'm already talking about Christmas?!  It's not that I like to overshadow this special holiday in the least, but I do love the extra time to celebrate, decorate and SHOP for Christmas! 

 

I admit, I've been so much in the Christmas mood this year, that we've already put up our tree and I've been busy scrapping pictures from Christmases past.  There are so many cute Christmas collections out this year that it's hard to resist.

 

Each year, my family attempts a family photo on Christmas day.  It is something I cherish and love to look back on, but the coordination and cooperation of gathering all of those individuals is always chaos!  Somehow we still manage to make it work, though! For last year's Christmas photo, I used Bella's new Christmas Countdown collection.

 

Supplies used: Patterned paper, diecut pieces, stickers - Bella Blvd; Cardstock - American Crafts; Buttons - Making Memories; Gems - Doodlebug Designs; Fonts - Veteran Typewriter (journaling) and Marmelatta (title); Other: machine stitching, crochet thread.

I've been having fun incorporating script style fonts into my titles lately.  Unfortunately, I don't yet have a silhouette so I've been cutting them by (gasp!) hand!  Hopefully Santa gets the memo and brings me a little surprise under the tree this year! ;)

I love, love, love the little diecut pieces that coordinate with all of the new Bella collections.  I got the idea to combine them with several sizes of punched patterned paper circles to create my own Christmas tree.  You know how you sometimes have an idea in your head in your page and it doesn't quite translate how you imagined on paper?  Well, fortunately for me, this idea turned out even better than it looked in my head!

 

After constructing my tree, I went about adding foam adhesive, gems and buttons to give it added interest and sparkle.

 

I pretty much love everything that Simple Stories comes out with.  Even though their brand new Christmas collections were calling my name, I knew I needed to scrap with the elements I had accumulated from last year's release before I bought any more (my hubby might agree with that!).

 

I selected and printed some favorite photos from Christmas Eve last year and went to work with the vintage style Handmade Holiday collection.

Supplies used: Cardstock - Bazzill; Patterned Paper, Label Stickers, Letter Sticker - Simple Stories; Punch - Martha Stewart (snowflake) and Stampin' Up (notebook border); 3D Sticker - Martha Stewart; Buttons and twine - American Crafts; Stamps - Ali Edwards for Technique Tuesday; Ink - Stampin' Up; Diecut - Spellbinders (tag); Other - ribbon, computer font.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of this Martha Stewart snowflake punch - I tend to use it often on my holiday pages.  I just love how it looks punched out of a grid style paper and accented with these festive American Crafts wooden buttons, as I've done here.

More of those darling buttons - they add just the right touch and correspond to the vintage, 'homey' feel of the page.

The stamps I used throughout the page are all Ali Edwards designs from Technique Tuesday.  I love her script handwritten fonts and how her words and phrases are the perfect little finishing detail to just about any page or project.

Thanks for joining me today friends!  I've been working on the foundation pages for my December Daily album using lots of Jillibean Soup's Christmas Cheer Chowder collection.  I'm excited to get them photographed and share them with you!  See you soon!

A few more Bella pages

Hi blog friends!  I didn't mean to take such a long blog hiatus, but life is busy with three little ones and a household to maintain!  In the evenings, when I typically sit down to scrap, I usually have only enough energy to blog OR create.  Lately creating has been winning out!  That also means, though, that I have LOTS to share with you -- now I just need to carve out the time to do so! :)

My design team term with Bella Blvd ended back in September, but I still never got around to sharing a few final pages that I designed for them.  The first of these pages, is a favorite.  I incorporated LOTS of pattern and color by using triangles of several patterns from several collections, and all sorts of bits and pieces and embellishments.



Bella Supplies used: Snapshots: Family Chaos, Free Time, Daily Details, Captions, Paper Pieces; Daily Chevies & Everyday Bits: Chevy Gulf, Chevy Pickle Juice, Arrows Black & White; Engaged At Last: Bachelorette Extras, Alpha+Bits Bachelor-ette, Bachelor/ette Chipboard Icons; Love and Marriage: May Eighteenth; Sand & Surf: Paradise, Borders, Surf's Up; Kiss Me: Flutter, Mustache Love; Thankful: Alpha+Bits;  Button Market: Masculine Mix, Neutral Mix, Pink Flowers; Feathers: Carnation; High Five Alphabets: Black-White. Other: Pacifico font (title), Studio Calico Sequins, machine stitching, crochet thread.

To add a little sparkle to my title, I covered the the cut-out word in adhesive and sprinkled on some fine, black glitter.  It adds some subtle sparkle and interest to draw attention to it amidst all the color and pattern.

 

 

Initially, I started snipping triangles from some of my very favorite papers in both the Snapshots and Everyday Chevies collections.

 

 

From there, I couldn't resist reaching into my scraps from some of the prior releases to round out the theme and color palette. 

 

 

I love that this page feels a bit like a party, because spending time with my favorite girlfriends is definitely something worth celebrating!

This next page again uses many different patterns and colors, but this time I pulled mainly from the All American collection.  The addition of teal and grey into this line allow it to translate onto pages of any subject or theme without screaming "Fourth of July".  In fact, I've used it here with a sweet quote and favorite everyday photo of my daughter.  Mixing in the feathers and crochet hearts onto this page was a breeze, and adds so much fun texture and interest!

 

Bella Supplies used: All American: American Pride, Seeing Stars, Borders & Cute Cuts, Alpha+Bits Stickers; Freestyle Sophisticates: Scallop; Crochet Hearts: McIntosh, Scallop; Feathers: Oyster; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Gulf; Button Market: Red Flowers; Other: Stamps - Teresa Collins, Ink - Tsukineko, Gems - Hero Arts.

To secure the feathers onto the page (which can be rather tricky to adhere), I tried to tuck the feathers in where they could be stitched or secured between a couple layers.  This seems to be a good alternative for keeping them secure and hiding the adhesive.

 

That's all I've got for today!  Hope you are enjoying a great Friday and I'll see you soon with lots more to share!

 

The winner of the PageMapsU Giveaway

Hello!  I'm stopping in real quick tonight to reveal the winner of the PageMapsU Giveaway.  Random Number Generator selected lucky number.....

That's you - ROXANNE RAWLS!!!  Congratulations!  Please email me at jaclynrench@yahoo.com so we can get you set up for your free PageMapsU class!

And thanks to all who stopped by and commented for a chance to win.  I hope to see you here again!

Project Life Inspired: A Bella Blvd Layout

****Note: if you missed my post from yesterday, please be sure to click over and leave a comment for a chance to win a spot in PageMapsU first online session.  That post can be found here and the giveaway will only remain open until the 29th so don't wait!

There is no denying that "Project Life" has taken the scrapbooking world by storm.  If you haven't heard of it you might be hiding under a rock, am I right?!  However, whether or not you do an actual Project Life album or not, there are plenty of ways to be inspired by and incorporate the concept into your regular scrapbooking.

 

This month as part of one of my Bella assignments I was asked to create a page that was "Inspired By Project Life". I took no hesitation in reaching for Bella's Daily Details patterned paper sheets to complete my that assignment.

 

I cut out some of my favorite 3x4 cards from the Trick or Treat Daily Details paper, and mixed in a few other patterns from the same collection, to fill in as needed.  By trimming the additional patterned papers and my photos to match the 3x4 card size from the Daily Details sheet, I was easily able to pull together a simple grid design for my page.

Bella Supplies used: Trick or Treat: Pick A Punkin', No Brainer, Daily Details, Captions, Tabs, Paper Pieces; Daily Chevies and Everyday Bits: Pickle Juice, Black & White Arrows; Designer Tape: Chevron Combo; Button Market: Text, Neutral Mix. Other: American Crafts cardstock and sequins, machine stitching, crochet thread.

This October 'card' might be my very favorite piece from the Daily Details sheet.  Something about the gray woodgrain and centered sentiment that I just love.  I couldn't resist adding a couple of matching sequins, as those tend to be showing up in nearly every project I make these days!

 

I also put a dent in my paper pieces stash, while working on this page.  I love all of the little diecuts that are already trimmed and coordinated!  I simply accented them with a little stitching and/or foam adhesive.  Cute and easy!

 

The ending result isn't short on photos, patterns or even embellishments.  In fact, by modeling my traditional scrapbook page after the format of a project life spread I was able to streamline the design and still include plenty of memories, pictures and lots of bright, fun Bella goodies! 

Stop on over to the Bella blog to see how the other designers were inspired to incorporate Project Life alongside oodles of Bella Blvd goodies!

 

Thanks for stopping by today, blog friends!  I'll be back soon with some of my final Bella pages to share with you!

 

PageMapsU GIVEAWAY!!!!

 ****This giveaway is closed.  Thanks so much to all who commented!

 

Have you checked out the freebie mini class at PageMaps yet? This little nugget is just a small taste of the sketch classes being offered at PageMaps U and I am proud to be one of the teachers in this first four-week session! Here's a little peek at some of what's included in that class:

 

 

I can assure you that the full reveal of all of the pages and projects will be equally as inspiring.  I mean, just check out the list of teachers and you know you are in for a real treat!  That list includes some of my personal favorite and most inspiring scrapbookers in the industry!

 

Registration begins October 1st for Class 1 but before it starts, you have a chance to win a free spot being given away here on my blog! Just post a comment about why you use PageMaps sketches and we'll give away the spot on September 30th. Super easy! And even if you don't win this freebie spot, this is a class you won't want to miss!

The Bella Buzz

As promised, I'm back today to share the link to the September edition of The Bella Buzz newsletter. 

If you haven't had a chance to check it out don't wait another minute.  You can find it right here.  This issue features designer Lisa Dickinson, one of my favorite scrappers.  She's sharing some fun facts about herself and two beautiful and inspiring pages.

I, along with Jen Chapin, participated in the newsletter challenge.  This month's 'Challenge on the Blvd' was to use a mix of the new Daily Chevies and Play Date collections, alongside three colors of crochet hearts.  Combining lots of bright, fun Bella goodies - that's a challenge I'm willing to take any day!  Here is my take...

Bella supplies used: Daily Chevies & Everyday Bits: Chevy Bell Pepper, Chevy Gulf, Everyday Bookplates, Pickle Juice Arrows, Gulf Arrows; Play Date: Daily Details, Alpha+Bits, Captions; Snapshots: Captions; Crochet Hearts: Pickle Juice, Gulf, Bell Pepper; Designer Tape: 12mm Combo, Chevron Combo, Gray Dot, Gray Chevron; Button Market: Masculine Mix.; High Five Alphabet Stickers: Brown-Cream; Other: Studio Calico sequins, American Crafts cardstock and date stamp, crochet thread, machine stitiching, Veteran Typewriter font (journaling), Pacifico font (title).

It was a seamless exercise to mix and match items from Daily Chevies alongside the fun and playful patterns in the Play Date collection.  I simply pulled my color palette from my photo and went to work identifying pieces in the two collections to coordinate with that.  And with crochet hearts available in so many gorgeous colors, adding three to my page felt like no challenge at all!

Thanks for stopping by!

A peek at some upcoming projects

Happy Sunday!  Hope you are enjoying a warm and pleasant day, like we are here in Ohio.  I'm about to step out to take my youngest son to his second flag football game of the season.  But before I do, I wanted to pop in and share some peeks at a couple of things I have been working on behind the scenes.  It's always hard to keep from sharing fun scrappy news, but now I can give you a little taste of two exciting projects I've had a little hand in recently.  

If you're a fan of sketches (like I am!) then you're certain to know the name Becky Fleck and Pagemaps - those three names are practically synonymous! A recent visit to the Pagemaps site might have clued you in that something big is happening over there.  Becky and Pagemaps have revealed a new online educational program titled PagemapsU.

Registration for the first class begins on October 1st, but starting today you can preview a sample of the class for FREE on the Pagemaps website here. How exciting is that?  I am very honored to be one of the designers asked to create projects for this fun, new educational program.  I hope you'll hop over and check out the first free session.  It features step by step directions for creating a darling card by Becky and a super cute layout from Kelly Goree.  Not only that, but you can download some free exclusive cut files for you diecut machine!

I also wanted to share a peek of something fun that will be available from Bella Blvd, tomorrow!

It's the September issue of the Bella Buzz newsletter, and I just *might* have a little something included in it!  I'll be back tomorrow to share a link to the full newsletter and a look at the page I created for it.

Until then have a great Sunday and thanks for stopping by today, friends!

Back to Preschool

It's hard to believe that this little buddy of mine will be heading off to four day preschool on Monday! 

 

That's a big jump from the two day class he attended last year.  But, he is my laid back, go-with-the-flow kinda kid, so I know the transition won't phase him too much.  And the fact that he's been watching his big brother head off to school each morning for weeks now, has him definitely excited to do the same!  Mommy, on the other hand, will just be forced to deal with it and keep busy with the other mischievous little sweetie running around here.  I'm sure she won't make that too hard!

 

With Justin's new school year on the horizon, I thought I'd better get to sharing the page I put together documenting his first day of school from the 2012-2013 school year.  I put this page together back in the springtime, after I snagged some of Doodlebug's colorful and office-themed line 'Take Note'.

 

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Supplies used: Doodlebug Designs - patterned paper, Doodlepop sticker, buttons (star shaped), cardstock (yellow); Crate Paper - brad (blue fabric); KI Memories - stamps (smiley, 'through the lens', numbers), chipboard star; Stampin' Up - stamps ('first day of school', alphabet), ink (yellow); American Crafts - cardstock (kraft background), date stamp; Pebbles - ribbon; My Mind's Eye - enamel dots; Queen & Co - washi tape; Simple Stories - label stickers; Heidi Swapp - journaling spot; Veteran Typewriter font; Memories - black ink;  Other: binder clip, crochet thread.

What's a page about school without some actual school-type supplies?!  I've had this little blue binder clip in my stash for years and knew it would be the perfect accent for this page.  Speaking of 'older supplies', do you recognize anything else in this picture that may have been sitting in my stash for a bit of time?  I, in fact, spy two things - the chipboard star is from an old KI Memories school collection, and the little 'today' paper is a journaling pad from a Heidi Swapp collection I picked up many moons ago!  Anybody remember either of those?  Sometimes it's fun to mix the new with the old!

I have been adding these Simple Stories SNAP labels to just about everything that crosses my scrap desk lately.  They are just the perfect size and colors to fit in just about anywhere.  And as you can see here, I'm having fun stamping on them, as well!

 

My very favorite piece of patterned paper from the Doodlebug Take Note collection was definitely the 'Ditto Dots' double sided paper, as seen here:

 

I immediately feel in love with those sweet little clipboards and knew that they would make a great spot for journaling and possibly even help to add an interactive element to my page.

 

I was right!  I simply selected and trimmed out one of the clipboards to use as my base, then trimmed around only the clasp and paper of a second clipboard to layer over top of the first.  Once attached, just at the top, it allows the 'paper' on the clipboard to flip up, just as it would on a real clipboard, and reveal additional journaling.  Kind of fun, huh?!

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  If I can get through Monday with another of my littles off to school, I'll be back with some more crafty things to share!  Wish me luck (and not too many tears!).

 

Catching up

Good morning fellow scrapbookers!  I have been away from this blog for way too long.  As you can imagine, my kiddos have kept me busy and running most of the summer.  The oldest is off to school and now we are settling into a bit more of a routine, which will hopefully help me to make more regular posts here.  I have lots to share with you all!

Marking things off of our summer bucket list has not only kept us busy, but provided for lots of great memories and many, many photos! Bella's Saturday Sketches feature came to the rescue to help me document my family's trip to the local strawberry patch. 

Bella Blvd Supplies used: Play Date: Park Play, Catching Bugs, Daily Details, Alpha+Bits, Tabs; Daily Chevies and Everyday Bits: Arrows Pink; Trick or Treat: Tabs; Love and Marriage: Alpha+Bits; Freestyle Sophisticates: Scallop; Birthday Boy: About a Boy, Eat Cake; Crochet Hearts: McIntosh; Designer Tape: 12mm Combo; Button Market: Outdoors, Masculine Mix; High Five Alphas: Brown-Cream, Gulf; Other: machine stitching, Veteran Typewriter font, crochet thread

Here is the sketch I used to base my page upon:

 

 

I loved the vertical lines provided by the sketch and the fact that it allowed for multiple photos.  In fact, by sizing down my pictures I was able to sneak in two additional snapshots, for a total of six!  The 3x4" card from the Play Date Daily Details paper was the starting point for my page.  The cute little saying and strawberries were just meant to accompany these pictures.  It also provided my color palette and pattern choices for the remainder of the page. 

 

Two small strawberries would not suffice for a page about our berry picking adventures, so I decided to create my own strawberry embellishments.  I simply topped a couple sizes of crochet hearts with hand cut, patterned paper stems and leaves - easy and cute!

 

Check out the Bella blog post here for more information on my page and two other interpretations of the sketch from some very talented Bella DT members!

 

I have another page up on the Bella blog today! It features a rare picture of my husband and I (on an even rarer date night!), and the widely popular new Snapshots collection.

 

As was the case with the last page, this page also revolved around those cute 3x4 cards from the Daily Details paper!  Can you tell they are a new favorite of mine?!  For this page, I had fun 'dressing up' the cards with journaling, buttons, tape and stickers.

 

Bella supplies used: Snapshots: Point of View, Daily Details, Borders, Alpha+Bits, Tabs, Captions, Paper Pieces; Daily Chevies and Everyday Bits: Chevy Carrot; Designer Tape: Jail Bird, Piggy Pink Stripe, Hot Pink Dot, Ice Stripe, Gray Chevron; Button Market: Pink Flowers, Text, Neutral Mix; High Five Alphas: Black-White; Other: Studio Calico sequins, Tim Holtz mini paperclip, machine stitching, Veteran Typewriter font, crochet thread

This time around, I had fun 'dressing up' the cards with journaling, buttons, tape, stickers and sequins.

 

 

Another new favorite product from Bella's latest releases are the package of Paper Pieces.  I used the polaroid frame from the Snapshots Paper Pieces pack to draw attention to and frame out my journaling.  A couple of sequins completes the look.

 

 

Happy Wednesday blog friends!  I will be back sooner than later (promise!) to share some of the projects I've been working on the last month or so!