Organizing inspiration

I love gettng my scrapbook magazines every month, but I don't like the space they can eventually accumulate. Usually, when I am skimming through my magazines I'll fold over a corner so I know that I can come back to something I found inspiring. I have found that eventually when I put the magazines away, I also forget about what I wanted to try.
Recently I went through all of my magazines and cut out the things that I really like and taped them to paper. I also tore out all the inserts for sketches that Scrapbook Etc provide. I then used a 3 hole punch and stuck all the pages in a 3 ring binder. I have all my inspiration right at my fingertips. Now, I don't feel so overwhelmed with magazines and trying to find that layout to lift or technique that I wanted to try.

More Memory Lane

Well I am STILL having fun with this kit - and here are a couple more layouts for you to see.

I think this paper is gorgeous -- love the shimmer it has to it. It went perfectly with these pictures I had been wanting to scrap for like 2 years!
And all the little embellishments really make this layout. I love the chipboard leaves (couldn't bear to paint them) and the mini calendar, not to mention that lace - my FAVORITE!

And this layout isn't a part of the kit but it is part of the challenge that we have going on - if you haven't taken a look - you MUST! Take a peek and get to scrappin'

Happy Scrappin'

Michelle

Where will these little feet lead you?

(Supplies from the Picnic Basket kit, except for a piece of white cardstock that has been die cut.)

When Noel first told us about the Matt challenge, I was totally pumped.

I have watched this video LOADS of times now, and it took me a while to figure out which direction I wanted to go with my layout... I felt like there were so many ideas that you could take from this video.

I used a scene in the video where Matt is in Argentina, and there is this gorgeous building behind him that is painted all these different, vivid colors. I loved the patchwork feel to it, and I felt like it supported my theme of the variety of places that life can take us.

My theme for the layout obviously is a jumping off point from the video to all the places and roles in life we can end up in... it ended up being a really meaningful layout for me.

Thanks for the challenge, Noel! I loved it!

ribbon storage

I have an organized and not so organized systemt to storing my ribbon. As you can see, my not so organized way is to stuff ribbon strands into this clear, glass jar. I like that I can quickly see the colors and what is availabe. A lot of times this is where I stuff a few inches of ribbon instead of trying to wrap it around the plastic tabs.

This is my organized ribbon storage. I store my ribbon on these tabs inside this plastic organizer. I got this for about $2 at Hobby Lobby...it's suppose to be for storing DMC floss.

Once I wrap my ribbon around the plastic dividers I store it in this plasic box.

The only problem I have with storing my ribbon this way is that the ribbon can have kinks in it.

But I can easily get rid of the kinks by getting out my handy dandy hair straightener.

I heat up my straightener and slide the ribbon through it slowly. It only takes a couple seconds for my ribbon to come out nice and straight.

I do this also when I get the ribbon that is packaged on a cardboard sheet...the ribbon can have kinks from that, too.

From Christmas to Summer!

This LO is of my two children at Christmas this past year. (Check out Noel's Christmas in July slide show!) We have a huge family party and Santa visits every year. I used one of Noel's kits from last year....
This LO was created using the Picnic Basket Add-on kit. My daughter has many friends and they all have different disabilities. To them, it just doesn't matter....they love and accept each other unconditionally. It is great for us moms too because we have our own little support group! There were lots of pictures so I added some journaling,a few strips of patterned paper, and few embellishments.

Making the most of your Kit

I know you all can agree that Noel packs her kits to the brim with all kinds of scrappy goodness - so there is never a need or a want for more (until her next kit comes out - hehe). But there are times when I only have one sheet of cardstock in that particular color and I need more (either for a photo mat or for journaling)---hmmm...well this is what I do.

And then here is the finished layout:

And you woouldn't have know unless you held it OR told you! Just a little tip that I find myself using! Hope you can too!

Michelle Lanning

All Walks of Life and the Power of Puppies!

The new challenge is up! WOOHOOOO! And it's a super fun one! This one really got me thinking . . . I could have done several takes on it but here is what I came up with using the gorgeous Memory Lane Kit.

All Walks of Life by Jana Eubank
I chose this picture from my teen years of attending a yearly bluegrass festival with my family. It is the first place I really started to branch out from my little world and look at the people in the world around me. Here at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival(Telluride, Colorado = Gorgeous place!) every year where people from all walks of life came to relax, vacation and just enjoy their favorite music. I love that about music . . . that it can connect people in such a deep and spiritual way.

And here is a second layout for you using the Memory Lane Kit. For this one I used my Cuttlebug machine and die to cut out the butterflies from the Hambly transparency. I then used the Stickles to outline the shapes for a little sparkle.

Puppy Power by Jana Eubank

Follow your Dreams

This is for the new challenge that will be posted tomorrow. It is a great message and can be interpreted any way...wait until you see what the team did and how different they all were....gorgeous work coming at you ladies...
here is mine:


This layout was done using the Sugar Cookie Kit. Lots of Pop Culture in this kit and that paper i LOVED!!

The winner of the ATC swap holder is: DRUM ROLL PLEASE










MELITA!!!!
Congrats girl email me your snail mail addy to greta.adams@gmail.com and i will get this out to you.
For those of you that wanted a tutorial on this I will post it the first Monday in August so stay tuned and watch out for a new tips and technique every Monday here.
See you next week with more layouts and maybe a little altered something as well :)

Places and Dancing...

This first LO is done with almost all Making Memories products. All the papers are from the Passport collection...I just love this line! I also used their large Passport letters and tiny letters to create my title. The middle area is filled with Prima flowers, buttons and MM Passport brads.


I did this one using papers from the Picnic basket kit! I also added some Melissa Frances lace, a MME frame, in stitch buttons, some SW chipboard and those fun Cosmo letters. So the paper under my journaling block is a Jenni Bowlin shaped mini paper and I liked it, but I wanted it to pop, so I decided to paint it that orange and I'm really happy with the result.

More Memory Lane

My favorite thing about the Memory Lane kit is the way it makes me feel! I know. That sounds totally goofy . . . but honestly I love the way I feel all artsy and sophisticated while playing with it. ;) I mean! Just look at those colors and all the trinkets and treasures! I feel like I've spent the day perusing cool little boutiques and antique stores full of soulful discoveries. For this layout I stamped the dress form diecut with a polka dot background stamp. I really like the way it adds a bit of "fashion-forwardness" to this layout . . . especially because I am the furthest thing from being fashion-forward! LOL! You don't need lots of pink and red to make a Valentine's day layout! A few little framed hearts does the trick on this page! I cut the hearts from the photocorners in the Making Memories Felt Alpha set included in the kit.

It's very rare that I do a page about myself, so this one was a bit of a struggle for me. Why is that? I mean, don't we need to include ourselves in our books, too! ;)

I honestly think that my family sometimes feels like I am their Papparazzi . . . I just won't leave them alone!!! Well, too bad! It's what I love to do. Hehehe!

Picnic Layout with the Picnic Basket Kit!

Ok, I know it's completely cliche`, but I totally had to scrap these picnic pictures with the Picnic Basket kit- I mean, wouldn't you? ;)
(The Scripty Rubons come in the PB Add on; the cardstock is from my stash and I cut it with an Accucut machine; the corrugated cardboard came with some packaging in the mail)

A close up of the flowers- I coated the Prima flower with the diamond Stickles in the kit- the result is gorgeous!

I did this little card with the SEI card kit. I used a sketch found on Melissa Phillip's blog (if you need some card inspiration, she's got a lot of it there!), The papers & embellies are from the Picnic Basket kit, and the Making Memories stickers are found here. Go buy them if you don't have them- you won't regret it!
Thanks for looking! :)

More Oh Baby! And a PB add on LO!

Here is the last of the cards from the Oh Baby! kit from Basic Grey! This kit is so darn cute! These first two cards I did nothing extra at all. What you see, is what you get in the kit! Cute right?!

This Dinosaur Tracks card is directly from the kit too. The only thing I added was the button threaded with floss.


This Welcome card was darling all by itself, but I decided to add a few extras to jazz it up a bit. I added the pretty ribbon at the top, the pink button threaded with floss, and the stick pin.

For this darling butterfly card, everthing was included except the button. I am sort of a button fanatic.....can you tell?



This was a LO I did of my sweet, mischievious nephew, Alex. I used the Picnic Basket Add-on kit for this. (Except for the Thickers and the die cut paper). I pulled out my dusty 'ole flower punches and used tons of my scraps! Thanks to Greta over at Scrap Your Crap, I was challenged to use my decorative scissors that hadn't been used in ages!

Adding Texture to Your LO's!

The best thing about Scrappin is the chance to "play" and experiment with different mediums! Sometimes I like to stretch my creativity with products that were not originally intended for scrapbooking. I am going to show you how you can incorporate Gel Medium and Texture Paste in your LO's!

The first technique is with Texture paste. You will also need acrylic paints (Any color), a paint brush, stencil, tape, and a palette tray.

Glob some texture paint onto your palette tray.
Add acrylic paint. (The more you add the darker the color will look.)
Mix, but don't over mix, because you want it to remain lumpy!
Use tape to tack down your stencil.
Pounce the paint onto your stencil. Don't "paint" it on or it will seep under the stencil. Again, you want it to be lumpy!

At this point it looks kind of ugly doesn't it? Don't worry! It needs to dry for a couple of hours depending on the humidity in your house!
Peel stencil carefully off. (I was very impatient and didn't let mine dry thoroughly, so mine did peel up at the ends a bit!)
Cut out each petal and flower center. (I added a button to mine. ) They are ready to use on your LO! Here is mine!
Pretty cool 'eh?!

The next technique is using Gel Medium and reinkers. For my LO, I wanted the look of water. So I chose a blue reinker.

Again, you will glop some Gel Medium on your palette tray. Squeeze a few drops of reinker.

Here I didn't overmix because I wanted the variation of the blues to stay.


I cut my cardstock into waves and started painting on my Gel Medium.

As you can see, I had some areas of light blue as well as areas of dark blue!

When it dries it will dry very shiny and "wet" looking! It was a bit difficult to take a picture so you can really see it.

I think you can see it a bit better in the close up!


If you are in the mood to play.....get out those paints and experiment!!! I hope I've inspired you to try something new!