Almost a Theme

I tried.  I really did.  For this layout I was going to go all in and attempt a much more heavily themed page.  Out came some nautical October Afternoon stickers in order to ensure the beach theme.  This was going to be a stretch for me, but I was determined… or so I thought.

To be fair, when I began pulling papers for this page, I did not have the beach in mind.  In fact, I was really just putting away my last order that had been sitting for, um, months.  The Pink Paislee aqua and wood grain paper grabbed my attention immediately.  And then I ran across that white wood grain embossed paper in the same order.  They just had to go together.  So that was my starting point.  I decided to add a couple of 6×6 papers that matched beautifully.  Can you tell I was highly invested in the wood grain theme at this point?

Then I began flipping through my photos.  You would think I would maybe pull something from a camping trip. (Wood grain on wood grain on wood grain.)  Alas, no, it was this lovely little photo of a tide pool I took last summer.  Look at the colors!  Hello browns and aquas!  It was just meant to be.

The papers pretty much laid themselves out on this page.  I did cut out the back of that Pink Paislee paper so I could use it again.  The white cardstock covers the big square that I hoarded saved.  (I won’t usually save anything from my background paper.  I doubt I will ever use up all of the paper I own.  However, this one was way too pretty to waste.)  I did dig into my scraps and add the kraft strip that helped provide a little grounding at the bottom of the page.  I also cuts some scallops from scraps.

Here is where I wound up in a goal failure.  I had created a layout that was white, brown, and aqua.  Introducing any other colors just didn’t seem right.  So as I perused my marine themed embellishments, I was left with one option.  That adorable octopus fit the bill.  I did not want to introduce the red, yellow, or cobalt blue that were included in everything else.  So then I gravitated to the stars.  (Stars… starfish… close enough!)  I included a few more aqua pieces from here and there and then sprinkled in a few wood grain hearts because I totally needed more wood grain.

Let’s face it… I am just never going to be a theme girl.  At least this time I wound up with a much more beach themed color scheme.  Though all of the wood may not seem beach themed to most, it does remind me of the driftwood I see at our local beaches.  So I am going to say that is on theme as well.  Oh, and there are pearls!  Pearls are beach themed.  I am going to call this a goal partially met.  I guess it doesn’t really matter as long as I love the layout.  (I do!)

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Just a Cat and Some Scraps

I know this is quite a simple page, but I thought I would share it anyway.  This is the result of a scrap bin diving session.  My scraps are once again getting out of control.  Whenever that happens, I like to make a page or two out of scraps.  I wish I could tell you that the bin is no longer overflowing, but that would be a lie.  A really big lie.

This layout started with the floral scrap from Simple Stories.  Oh, how I love that paper.  It makes the perfect jumping off point because it has so many colors.  I dug through the rest of my scraps to find a harvest gold, a teal, and a brown.  Don’t you just love fall colors?  I added in a scrap of kraft cardstock before finding a dark red background.  I layered up the boxes of papers without even really having to trim anything.  That never happens!

 

I knew my embellishing was going to start with those brown corrugated pieces.  They have been in my collection forever.  I love their texture, but rarely do they fit with my color scheme.  Here, they were a great match.  The hearts came next because I love that kitty!  Look at his sweet little face.  The copper hearts and title come from Shimelle’s Go Now Go collection.  I finished it all off with a few Simple Stories stickers.

Though this layout isn’t fancy, I still love it.  There is nothing extraordinary about it.  In fact, the Thickers are the only thing on this page that hasn’t been sitting in my stash for years.  I almost think that makes me love it all the more.  Old supplies don’t have to look or feel old.  They deserve to be dusted off and used to make beautiful things.

Back to 12×12 Papers

You may have noticed by now that I don’t scrapbook events in order.  In fact, it may take me a year or two to scrapbook our vacation photos, or Christmas, or anything else.  I pull photos out randomly, depending on my mood.  If I tried to scrap an entire vacation from beginning to end, it would feel like an assignment.  The last thing I want is for my hobby to feel like work.

So here is a warning that you may see beach layouts periodically for the next couple of years.  I think I have 20-30 photos waiting to be scrapped.  When I only scrap 1-2 photos on a page, it will take a while.  Hrm… now there’s a good potential future challenge.  Maybe I will see if I can create a page with 4-6 photos on it.  I may need to see if I can find Shimelle’s 4×6 photo love series.  She had some great ideas for multi-photo layouts.

The page I created doesn’t feel beachy at all.  Sure I worked in a tiny bit of blue and aqua.  However, my focal colors are red and creme.  Please don’t ask me why I went in this direction. I actually just thumbed through my random papers until I found two I liked.  You will also notice there isn’t a shell, wave, or otherwise watery theme in sight.  Though I admire themed pages, I just can’t seem to manage them myself.

There are a couple of things I really like about this layout.  First of all, I loved how easy it was to use up some scraps.  I just pulled together a bunch of random scraps that sort of worked together and cut them into banners.  Voila!  Fewer scraps in the bin.  The photo mats were also made from a scrap.  My other favorite part is the use of pocket page cards.  I managed to get 3 of them onto this page.  They tend to sit in my collection forever!  Using them feels like a major scrapbooking win.  (It’s the small things that make me happy.)

Though the overall page is clean and simple, it is a current favorite.  The photos are clearly the star.  (As they should be!)  A few wood veneer pieces to play up the nature theme and  some hearts was all it needed.  That’s it!  It feels good to be scrapping with 12×12 papers again.

Sweet & Sassy

No, this page is not about me.  That would require a title more along the lines of Sweet & Stubborn.  This page is about my lovely little girl kitty.  (Please forgive me, as my kitties are my children.  Yes, I am that kind of crazy.)  She walks around with a perpetual scowl, making her less than photogenic.  She takes after her human mom.  🙂

On this particular day, a small miracle happened.  I took a picture of her where she does not look at the camera as if hoping it would die a horrible death.  Her beautiful green eyes were bright and fully open.  She is tilting her head denoting perhaps some curiosity.  All in all, she is one beautiful happy looking girl.  It is definitely a photo worth scrapping.

For this page, I decided to dig into my rarely used collections and pulled out Studio Calico’s Sundrifter.  As an online shopper, I sometimes purchase collections that are not my cup of tea.  Admittedly, Sundrifter just had not inspired me.  Instead it sat on a shelf for over a year.  For some reason, I found it to be the perfect fit today.  I think the trick of it was to use just a little of the bolder floral pattern and choose the rest of the papers to be understated.

As always, I ran into a brick wall when it came to embellishing.  I really wanted a lot of white empty space.  At first I included the three circles at the top and bottom, along with the tag and title.  Though I liked it, I found it to be much too bare.  I then added a bit of washi on the tag and just to the left of the “&” card.  Now I had too many straight lines.  Punching the brown feather paper did wonders for the layout.  It added some curves and a bit of weight to the page.

After all of that, I still wasn’t happy.  Quite a bit of digging later, I found some old Making Memories butterflies, some sequins, and a couple of stickers and die-cuts that worked.  The pieces I added provide some needed curves and interesting shapes.  Who doesn’t love hearts and butterflies?

I am pretty happy with the end result this time.  The layout has some fun details, but the photo is really the star.  I find myself staring into those hypnotic cat eyes every time I look at this page.