Archive for September, 2009

September Mini-books

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

In the comments of my last blog post or maybe the one before it, a reader ask if anyone had any ideas on how to use this month’s album. Well, funny you should ask. I have some cool examples to share with you, courtesy of our ultra-talented design team.


From JJ:


The cover of JJ's mini-book

The cover of JJ's mini-book


“The September kit  included an awesome 8×8 mini-album. (Is 8×8 still considered mini?). There was a nice variety of pages in the album – it has the typical types of pages, but also has envelope pages and transparent pages – fun to work with! I covered the front of the album with one of the gorgeous 7 gypsies papers from the kit. I decided it would be fun to use the album to document our trip out east to visit my family this summer. A quick way to get some of the pictures and memories down on paper, in case I don’t get around to making full pages on all of the topics. A technique that I used repeatedly in this album was spritzing the cream coloured pages with glimmer mist in “Tattered Leather”. I sprayed in uneven coats to make it look a little more weathered. This particular colour isn’t really shimmery like some, so it worked out well with the papers from the kit. Um, yeah – the size comparisons of a moose vs. a car on those warning signs?Not an exaggeration. We saw a lot of these warning signs. Don’t mess with a moose – the moose always wins.”



From Jackie …

The cover of Jackie's September album

The cover of Jackie's September album


“I love the mini book in this months kit! It is the perfect size and the window on the cover was the perfect chance to think outside the box and try something different! I took a little velum quote I had in my stash and used thread to staple it to the window leaving a little slack made the quote hang … which I think gives it a really cool look. This is a book about our camping trip a couple of weeks ago! The yummy rub ons in this months kit really complimented the rich papers! This mini book really is a great size- the perfect size! I was even able to make a double page spread! This double page spread is of my daughter and her friend with my Mother playing at the park in the camp ground! ”



From Grace, “Their Story mini-book” …

Grace's mini-book creation for September 2009

Grace's mini-book creation for September 2009


“My purpose for this book was to get some of my parents stories documented. I divided the book (which the tabs helped me greatly) into four sections- Dad’s Childhood, Mom’s childhood, Their love story and reflections. I got the questions from an idea book filled with journaling prompts. I printed them off on white cardstock and had my parents hand write their answers. I used the envelopes and pockets to house these cards. I tried to use all of my kit products for this page. Even the ones that I was going to just throw away like papers that I’ve punched circles from or itty bitty strips. I also used my chipboard paislees in a different way by using them as masks. I loved the look of them. Some paislees where used to make a heart. I thought that was another cute way of using them. Now that this book is all done, all I need are my parents pictures so my family can better appreciate the project.”


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Close-ups from Celine

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

As promised … I worked out my technical issues and have some more photos from the layouts Celine Navarro created using our September Main Kit.





Ooh la la,Celine

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

By now you have your September kit in hand and are crafting away. Here’s what the amazing Celine Navarro did with her kit. Be inspired! I know I was/am by her work .

I love the color.

I love the paint.

I love the boldness.

I love what she did with the teardrop shaped chipboard pieces. How clever is that?

I just love Celine (I mean come on, how can you not lover her work? And her wonderful French name? I love that too. )


A layout by Celine Navarro using the September 2009 Main Kit from Crazy Daisy

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A layout by Celine Navarro using the September 2009 Main Kit from Crazy Daisy

A layout by Celine Navarro using the September 2009 Main Kit from Crazy Daisy


P.S. I have some more photos to share from Celine. Detailed shots of all her layouts. I’m having some technical issues (which also might just be me being tired, sick and ready for bed!). Once I resolves those I promise to share.

Neglected

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

I feel like all of my favorite things have been neglected lately. Scrapping. Reading. Blogging.

Life is more than a bit chaotic for me these days. I travel. A lot. I am usually able to multi-task and juggle a million things at once, but the last few weeks have really been tough. I’m feeling rundown and life is catching up with me.

What can  I do  to make it better? Focus on what I can change, ignore the rest and squeeze in a little time for my favorite things.

The first thing I’m going to do is make a list of my favorite things … sort of as a reminder of what’s great in the world.

Here are a few of my favorite things:

* My kiddos.

* Kisses and hugs from the previously mentioned kiddos. I love kissing my baby boy under  his chubby little chin. He giggle as I smooch on his neck.

* My husband. He’s the hardest worker I know, as well as the biggest thinker. He dreams big and makes it happen.

* My business parter and best childhood girlfriend, Jennifer. It’s so comforting to have someone who knows your whole history and loves you unconditionally. Some people never know friendship like this and I have had a lifetime of it with countless years to come.

* My family, especially my sister. I know that no matter where I am and what I’m doing I can always count on my sister.

* Blogging. When I am alone in a hotel room I find that blogging makes me feel connected to those I love the most. I look at pictures and share the stories of my family … and it’s like the distance melts away.

* Books. I love to escape into a great book. I always have and whenever life is a little heavy, I open a book and go somewhere else.

* Scrapbooking. I get to tell me story, my way, to save forever.

I feel better and more grounded already.This would make a great scrapbooking page or even a mini-book that I could slip in my purse, which can be looked at whenever I’m sad, frustrated or burnt out. What are your favorite things? What do you do when you feel blue?


Edited:I was pretty cranky when I wrote this post. So cranky I was having trouble thinking of things I’m thankful for. I am not so cranky today. And in the meantime, I thought of a whole bunch of other things I love and am thankful for … like The Deep, a silly pinball game I play on my iPhone; my iPhone; for vacations and travel magazines, which I use to dream about all the great vacations I will take some day soon; pedicures; chile con carne from Casa Molina … and the list just keeps going. I wake up each day and I hope that I can remember how blessed I am. Because I am blessed indeed.

The funny things kids say

Tuesday, September 15th, 2009

My daughter Shelby is a hoot. Nearly everything that comes out of her mouth is hilarious. I love chatting with her and as she gets older, it just gets better.

Now that she’s started kindergarten she really has some cute and highly memorable things to say. Last week when I was dropping her off at school, she insisted on walking in on her own. I kept trying to help her as she was carrying a large box of goldfish snacks to share with her class. After insisting I help her, she gave in, but with a frown her face said, “Okay Mom, you can come in with me, but you have to walk that way,” pointing to a path far away from the one she was on. She’s five and already doesn’t want to be seen with me!

I was thinking yesterday it would be tough to scrapbook all the funny things she says, especially since a lot of the times I have no pictures to go with her funny comments. I have decided to create an art journal of sorts. Something that is pretty to look at and can be filled with all the Shelbyisms. I don’t want to forget all the cute things she shares with me and think it will be great to look back over her words and ideas as the years pass. I want to make one for each school year and can add her school photo to the book as well. I can’t wait to see how it comes out.

What sort of crafty thing are you doing today?

What a kit!

Friday, September 11th, 2009

The September kits have shipped (yesterday) and let me tell you … they are super great and super packed. You’ll be able to get tons of layouts out of this kit, along with one cool mini-book.

Dont believe me? Here’s a look at the eight different layouts Trace created with the September Main Kit. Eight. That’s right EIGHT! And she still had enough supplies to transform her Making Memories album into a work of art.

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The title of this layout is “early pancake breakfast traditions.” I wasn’t exactly sure where to fit in my journaling, so I added it to one of the tags from the kit, and slide it behind the picture. To read the journaling, you can just slide it out, and slide it back in to hide the journaling. I wrote the rest of the title “pancake breakfast traditions” on one of the 7 Gypsy’s stickers. I also added stickles to the white design around the paper.

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The title of this layout is simply “feb.” I love that your kits include more patterned paper then cardstock, because 85% of the time I prefer to use patterned paper as the base of my layout. I used stickles to decorate the flourishes on the journaling tag. I used my treading water border punch for my lower strip of patterned paper

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The title of the layout is “09.” I chose this for my title because the layout is about my new years eve together with my son. I cut the owl out from the little card (included in the kit) added a staple to each wing (strictly for decorative purposes) and then adhered to the layout using a pop dot for dimension. I used the treading water punch for the side edge of the cardstock, and then used 7 gypsies circle stickers to decorate the holes in the design.

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The title of this layout is “lunch time….” I don’t often place my pictures and other elements at a slant on my cardstock, but wanted to try something different with this one. I used an edge punch for the top patterned paper strip. I used the mini-card envelope to store my journaling in, so that I could tuck it in beside the pictures.

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The title of this layout is “genius batman.” This was the last layout I made using the kit, so my goal with this layout was to use up a lot of the patterned paper I had leftover. I layered 6 different pieces of paper (patterned, cardstock, and bingo card). With the large rub on, I trimmed it in half so that I could use the one rub on to create 2 identical flowers on my page.

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The title of this layout is “kiss me.” I used a scrap piece of cardstock(leftover from the kit) to create a long tag along the right hand side of the layout…to create a layered look with it, I adhered a tag from the kit, and stapled it all together. I added 3 of the chipboard pieces to the patterned paper and covered it with stickles.

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The title of this layout is “oh……” I wanted to keep the picture the focus of the layout, so I kept it rather bare and simple. I added a few rub ons to fit into the design of the patterned paper, and worked the chipboard pieces into the design as well.

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Used stickles to highlight around the letter “m.” I dug out my sons watercolor paints and colored in the design on the patterned paper (the paper held up surprisingly well to the paint and water).



Using your September Kit

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

I know I say this every month, but I think this month’s kit in my favorite. I really love the color combinations and all the 7 Gypsies goodies. While you’re waiting for your kit to arrive in your mailbox, here are some layouts from one of our designers, Grace Tolman, for some inspiration and ideas. Get scrappin’!  



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This layout features my stepdaughter’s graduation picture. Because it was a professional photo, I wanted to maintain the focus on it so I kept everything else to a minimum.

I found a great quote that matched the event of the pic and used that as my journaling.

I used the stickles and flowers to create a feminine accent to the page. I wanted to match the brad with my glitter stems so I picked a dark blue brad and added stickles on top of it (letting it dry completely before adding it to my flowers) for that extra shine.

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Natural Match

Because the kit consists of everything in the distressed and rugged style, I incorporated that by distressing the background paper. I first sewn around the paper, 1/2″ inside the page then run my scissor blade through the entire paper. I think sewing the page first helps you to not go way too much in with the distressing. It also allows some type of grounding for your page.

Since the main focus for me is always the picture, I decided to “scatter” hearts punched out from the pattern papers in the kit so I don’t overpower the picture collage. By the way, I made the collage in Picasa, which is so easy to use. It gave me the easiness of using more than one photo on a page without worrying too much where each one will go.

I sprayed glimmer mist of the two tags (that came in the kit) and tied it. It housed my computer generated journaling.

I loved the look of overlapping letters. It created texture and added dimension to the page.

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She did it (all by herself)

This two page spread was made easy with 4×6 uncropped photos and strips of pattern paper. I created a visual triangle with the horizontal and vertical paper strips plus the tags that housed my journaling and title.

I added stitching and border (from punches) onto the paper strips for added interest

To seperate the title and journaling, I added circle stickers from the 7 Gypsies sticker sheet.

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School boy

Here’s another example of how versatile the papers are. Although they have the vintage feel, you can still use it for your more modern pictures.

I was inspired to pull these pics of my son (one is the beginning of the year and one on the last day of school) from the abc ribbon. I loved the look of comparison (from first day to last) It shows the growth of my little boy.

My tip of layering pattern papers, small designs are best to use in majority while big, bold designs should be used sparingly or at the least degree. That way the bold designs don’t overpower the rest of your elements on the page.

The lined paper helped me keep my title and journaling straight. I also made my son write his full name. I love the concept of preserving handwritings as well.

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Temple date

I have to say that I’m not use to such dark tones to work with. You can usually find bright colors on my page so it was hard to pick pictures to use for this kit, but one thing that made a match was these pictures of my date with hubby last year. We try to do some spiritual dates once in a while. It balances out all our movie nights. :)

Here I part of the shaped pattern paper to lead the eye to the photos.

Because the ribbon is a school themed item, I used the back side of it and fancied it up with the basic grey rub ons included in the kit.

I also used the gaffer tape to make my ribbon. It’s very easy to twist it around to make a circle because of the adhesive already on the ribbon/tape.

Because my “e” on the title had the same color as my red paper, I added some hearts behind it to make it pop more. The two hearts also made a good symbolism for a love page like this.


Roaring into September

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

I can’t believe it’s already September. This year is really flying by. So much has happened already (we launched Crazy Daisy, I had my second baby, my daughter started school, Jen bought a home closer to me, which I’m hoping will be her primary residence sooner rather than later … ) and there is still so much left to come, like all the fun holidays, my brother’s wedding and Cooper growing bigger each day.

I have been so busy lately I’ve been having trouble taking the time to enjoy my life. I have the sweetest little kids and I need to stop rushing around so much and just enjoy them. My husband is the smartest, greatest guy in the world, but have I told him that lately? Nope, but I did nag him about getting this or that done. I need to nag less and love more.

I feel like lately I’ve forgotten to look for the goodness in life. It’s time to stop missing out on the good moments and embracing them whenever they come. I know that if I do this I’ll be happier. Want to join me in embracing the goodness?

On that note, I have a great layout to share with you. JJ Sobey, one of our design team members, sent in this layout featuring her daughter and the joy of a little one who knows nothing but to embrace the goodness in life. Shouldn’t we try to be more like the children in our lives? Think less and enjoy more?


"What's My Fortune" a layout from JJ using the September Kit

"What's My Fortune" a layout from JJ using the September Kit


“Played with my new border punch for this detail in the corner. Kinda fun to create your own paper ‘frills’ with whatever paper suits your layout. Yeah, this little monkey had just turned a year old, and look what she was up to!”


A detailed look at JJ's layout

A detailed look at JJ's layout


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whatsmyfortune-detail

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Don’t miss all the good moments like has to offer by running around doing things that won’t matter in 10 years. Love your children. Tell your story. Enjoy your friends. Embrace the goodness.


September kits are up!

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
This month's album is from Making Memories

This month's album is from Making Memories

I am so loving the September kits. I will admit that I’m a little biased, but I can still love them, right? One of the coolest things are this kits is how really hip all the contents are. Jennifer and I had the wonderful opportunity to attend Creative Escape this last weekend. We took classes from some of the top names in scrapbooking (Heidi Swapp, Marah Johnson, Tim Holtz … just to name a few), and tons of the September kit items were used in the classes we took. The 7 Gypsies paper is by far my favorite in this kit and I learned to do something cool with flocked paper while at Creative Escape (I’ll tell you more about that later).

So here’s a quick look at the September Kits. Make sure you order yours quickly, since we’re already almost sold out. These puppies won’t last!


Paper from the September 2009 Scrapbooking Kit.

Paper from the September 2009 Scrapbooking Kit.


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To see more photos from this month’s main kit, as well as the add-on kit for this month, visit our Gallery.