Getting Sketchy with Christmas in July!

Happy Saturday, Flockinistas! Melissa, here with a simple and fun sketch for you to get some of those massive piles of Christmas photos scrapped! If you're anything like me, you put these Christmas pages off until there are no other photos to scrap (and when are there ever no other photos, am I right?) and, in the meanwhile, they collect dust.

Well, collect dust no more, Christmas photos! This fun sketch will help you use them up, because we all know that the big deal about Christmas photos is that there are usually SO MANY of them. That exact reason is why my sketch, this time around, calls for many photos -- 6 of them -- to be exact!

The nice thing about this sketch is that you can adjust the photo quantity to meet your needs, taking away some of the square photos if you have less to showcase, splitting the 4x6 photo if you have more. You could even take some of the circles in the sketch and turn those into photos as well!

Now, I'm sure you're excited to see what's been done with this sketch, so here is my take!

So, I've already used the Christmas in July Brights kit to make a mini for December Daily with 31 pages along with several cards. Add this page to the mix, as well. These kits have TONS of mileage to them for the price. And, to give the sketch mileage to go along with the kits, here are some other takes from the a few girls on the design team:

Guest designer Genie Smith used the Christmas in July Traditional kit to expand this sketch into a 2-pager!

Our DT coordinator, Kathleen Natale, also used the Christmas In July Kit - Traditional . Although her photos aren't there yet, she has everything ready to go and will be using 2-1/5" x 2-1/5 photos on the 3'x3' mats.

Guest design team member Cheryl Arbo flipped and prepared this page for use with upcoming photos!

So, there you have it! Lots of inspiration for you to use up some of those Christmas photos from your pile! 

Keep scrappin'!

Melissa

More sketchy goodness from Flamingo Scraps!

Good morning Flamingo Flock!

With the end of May approaching, I'm finding myself spending less time in my scrapbook space and more time outside, which I love and hate at the same time. I like to make my pages quick and easy once summer hits, and we all know that sketches are one of my favorite ways to speed up the scrapping process. I made one up, especially for Flamingo Scraps, this month, utilizing a combination of 4x6 and square photos (something like an Instagram photo, if you'd like)! 

So, for my take, I used the actual image I took, in black and white, plus the photo I uploaded to Instagram, as well. I'm really loving how this turned out, what with the Teresa Collins Now & Then Collection to give my page its color combo, the background paper masked and misted with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Tropicana Teal and Sweet Cherry, then masked again with molding paste.  I used some Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Broken China for the larger splatters. My embellishments were a Websters Pages tree charm, a Studio Calico Wood Veneer Banner, a few pieces of Studio Calico Wood Veneers that I got in Sampler Pack 1, and some Maya Road Cording (available in cloud in the store, it can be colored whatever color you'd like to match). I painted the veneers with Tim Holtz Distress Paint (available via special order) in Broken China and Fired Brick, and used some little paper clips to hold my little paper embellishments from the Now & Then Collection in place. 

I just love the bright grunginess of the background. Here's a closer look: 

And I kept the title small, as compared to my sketch, just because I liked the idea of putting it on the banner:

I shared the sketch with the rest of the design team, in case they wanted to join me, and Kathleen came up with this:

Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Water Faucet Handle andSmall Fashion Glasses.  Heart from Maya Road Love Mini Chipboard collection. Heidi Swapp Vintage Chic Just Dots,12x12 paper

Not only that, but Tonya is going to use this sketch on her uStream on June 3rd, so make sure you tune in if you want to see sketch creation in action! 

Stamping, Stickers and Stripes

I've been having so much fun with Pink Paislee's Declaration collection!  Here's a layout from the two days our family spent at the Solano County Fair in August.  Other than the title, everything is from Declaration.

 

From Flamingo Scraps: Pink Paislee papers, stickers, and border

Other: BasicGrey letter and number stickers, Rubber Stampede stamps, Clearsnap ink

There are a few features on the layout I'd like to point out.  First, notice that I stamped the title words "County Fair" DIRECTLY on the layout.  I almost never do that, since the possibility of messing up is fairly high when it comes to me and stamps!  Not only that, but it was the absolute last thing I did, meaning that if I messed it up, there was no scooting things over or transferring the whole thing to another piece of background paper.  Fortunately, the stamping came out just fine.

Second, notice the tickets on the left hand side.  They are stickers that came with the collection and say things like "Music Fest" and "Drive-in Theater."  Neither of those fit my fair theme, so I carefully tucked the stickers under the focal photo so that the words were hidden.  

Finally, take a look at my journaling strips.  I didn't have an extra sheet of the background paper and couldn't cut a big enough piece from behind a photo to make journaling strips like I usually would.  None of the paper in my stash coordinated acceptably, so I found the only other paper in the collection that had the same off-white... the B side of this paper, with the diagonal stripe.

I carefully cut the paper on the diagonal to free the off-white portion of the stripe pattern and used that.  Worked like a charm!

2 Years

It's hard to believe, but I have been designing for Flamingo Scraps for two years now!  Time flies when you're having fun!  

In September 2010, I was selected as one of eight members of the Flamingo Scraps Guest Design Team. (Tonya was one of the others).  For my first post, I used this layout to share tips on how to master multiple photo layouts.    

In March 2011, Tonya and I both became permanent members of the Flamingo Scraps Design Team.  My first post was about Crate Paper's new Portrait collection.  I shared how to make a feminine, wedding-themed collection work as a boy page.

One of the things I love the most about Flamingo Scraps is that the Design Team and Guest Design Team members have represented a wide variety of styles and aesthetics.  There's something here for everyone.  I appreciate the freedom I've had to share my work in my own clean and simple style. 

Over the past few weeks, I've been going through my stash of older Flamingo Scraps stuff.  I've found plenty of scraps and bits that date all the way back to my first days with Flamingo Scraps!  It's definitely time to use those and make room for new things.  Today, I'll share a card and a layout made with Flamingo Scraps goodies, circa 2010. 

I love cards for using up scraps.  I found a piece of lightly-patterned green Prima paper that was the perfect size for a card background.  A little more digging and I had a scrap of Prima grid paper that would hold the sentiment.   

From Flamingo Scraps: Prima patterned papers, Stickles
Other: Bazzill cardstock, Fiskars stamps and border punch, Versamark & Clearsnap ink

Here's a layout made with 2010 Flamingo Scraps items.  The background paper is from Fancy Pants, as are the orange, solid green, and green-striped patterned papers.  The leaf patterned paper is from Prima.    

From Flamingo Scraps: Fancy Pants patterned papers, Prima patterned paper
Other: Scenic Route stickers, My Sentiments Exactly stamps, Clearsnap ink

I'll share more of my creations using my Flamingo Scraps stash next time!

Scrapping it 'Old School'

I really love 'then and now' type layouts.  Even though I already scrapped Trevor completing his first-ever homework assignment, I used the same photo again with a picture of him 34 weeks later, completing the final kindergarten homework assignment.

I dug deep into my pile of Flamingo Scraps goodies for Pink Paislee's "Old School" line.

 

From Flamingo Scraps: Pink Paislee patterned paper

Other: Fiskars circle punches, JoAnn stamps

This isn't quite a Young-Me-Now-Me, but it is still fun to see the different a year makes!

Mixing the Old with the New

There's nothing I love more than getting a big box of Happy Mail from Flamingo Scraps! (Can I get an amen?)

I've been having such a great time with everything from my last box, especially the Heidi Swapp 'No Limits' collection! I love that the line is themed enough to be great for travel stuff (like my vacation planning folder), but versatile enough to work for other things too (like my '1st Field Trip' layout).

When I was looking at the papers I still had left, I noticed that one featured navigational tools. I dug through my older Flamingo Scraps stuff and came up with some wood grain letters from Crate Paper. Two photos, a few ancient stickers, and some journaling... and then I had this.

From Flamingo Scraps: Heidi Swapp patterned paper, Crate Paper letters

Other: It Takes Two stickers, Clearsnap ink, Recollections brads

Of course, getting out my older Flamingo Scraps goodies inspired me to push aside the newer stuff and use some of that stash.  Here is a layout featuring Fancy Pants stickers and die cuts from several years ago, plus some even older rub-ons.  I used some newer Thickers for the title.

 

From Flamingo Scraps: Fancy Pants patterned paper and die cuts, BasicGrey rub-ons (heart, dots)
Other: American Crafts Thickers, K&Co. rub-on (amazing)

How fun to mix the old with the new!

Heidi Swapp 'No Limits'

Remember the vacation planning folder I made using the Heidi Swapp 'No Limits' collection? Here's the latest project I made with that line:

From Flamingo Scraps: Heidi Swapp patterned paper
Other: BasicGrey letters, Fiskars punch, Clearsnap ink

It was perfect for a layout about Trevor's first field trip.  Actually, it was my first field trip too, in a way.  I led around 50 field trips as a teacher, but this was my first field trip as a parent.  Much easier!

Heidi Swapp's 'No Limits' is in stock- you can get it here.  Stay tuned for more projects from this awesome collection!

Layout - Bike Ride

Christmas morning is always so magical with the kids playing with their new toys. My nephew Cooper had to bring his new toy to my house and show off his riding skills. I just love it when he comes up to me and says "Aunt Tonya - do you want to come outside and watch me ride my new bicycle?" OF COURSE I DO - I could watch this kid play for HOURS! They really have no idea how much your heart sings when they ask for you to partake in their world. Well yesterday I found the pics on my camera and decided to make a simple layout.

From Flamingo Scraps: Cosmo Cricket paper; Tim Holz adage tickets, Maya Road Buttons.
Other: Metal pieces, small playing card, twine, frayed burlap, cardstock, and kraft notebook paper,

Thanks for stopping in today,

Make it Work!

Earlier this year, I shared a layout with pictures I took at 1:11:11 on 1-11-11.  Of course, I couldn't resist taking pictures at 11:11:11 on 11-11-11!  Because it was Veteran's Day, Trevor was home from school.  We were leaving for Disneyland the next morning, so I was busy packing while Trevor was getting started on the work from his Independent Study.  I made sure the camera was nearby and set a timer so that I wouldn't miss 11:11.  I love this quick little glance at our life when the date and time were nothing but ones.

From Flamingo Scraps: Fancy Pants patterned paper (brown), Crate Paper patterned paper (red), Prima patterned paper (cream), Pink Paislee canvas border

Other: My Sentiments Exactly stamp, Rubber Stampede stamp, Staz-On ink, ColorBox ink, Stampin' Up pen, Sketch by Rebecca Peck

I wanted a casual, effortless look for this layout.  I decided to stamp the title, starting with a 1 and leaving spaces for the dashes and colons.  Only problem- I went through every single stamp I own and not a single dash or colon.  Definitely a 'make it work' moment.  The dash was easy- I found a smaller alphabet and turned an "i" on its side.  I didn't have a single stamp that would function as a colon.  I finally thought of something- I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch two tiny holes next to each other, then stenciled the colons. 

 

 I had another 'make it work' moment when it came to the banner.  Here's how it looked originally:

The "Old School Notebook" message seems really weird to me and not at all what I wanted on my page.  But there wasn't a good way to cut off just the alphabet that I wanted.  So I ended up using a pen to color the entire top brown, then laid a thin strip of the brown patterned paper over the center to cover the words.  The scan doesn't show it well, but I stamped some detail stitching on the brown. 

11:11:11 at 11-11-11 captured!

Greatful for Family

This weekend we are celebrating Thanksgiving in the United States, and I know our friends abroad have a similar day in their countries. For me, Thanksgiving is a time to slow down, reflect on my life and give thanks for the blessings that God has given me.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a strong family unit. My kids and husband are the BEST! We are all so close. Do we argue and fuss? Absolutely, we are "Real, but we also laugh and play together. My husband Kenny and I have been together since high school. We married 21 years ago, and have two AMAZING children, Brittany 17 and Brighton 15.

I wanted to create a layout that shows my gratitude to them and reflect how blessed I feel. Webster's Pages' Sweet Cherry Pie Fly A Kite Paper was the perfect setting for this layout.

From Flamingo Scraps: Webster's Pages: Sweet Cherry Pie - Fly A Kite paper, Lace; Ranger: Picket Fence Crackle Medium; Maya Road: Love Mini Chipbaord Pieces, Rosette Trim; Prima: Fairy Tale Roses, Mini Roses, and Brown Trim 2

Other: I Am Roses: Sunflowers, and Wild Roses; Doily, Antique Book pages, Flower pearls; Sizzix: Tim Holtz Caged Bird Die; Felt birds.

Scattered around the paper are quotes that depict family. Like "The Secret Ingredient to good living is Family", "Fine Feathers Make Fine Birds" and "Embrace Time with the People That You Love"

I accented the photo with layers of lace and trims from some of my favorite companys, Prima and Maya Road. I scattered lots of mulberry flowers in Sunflowers, Roses and some fabric roses too. I aslo included some Prima packaging for a photo matt, Doilees, Antique book pages, Tim Holtz caged bird die from Sizzix, felt birds, and Maya Road Chipboard pieces.

I hope you have an amazing weekend and you find time to be with the people you love!

Thanks for stopping in today,

Themed Patterned Paper

I have a problem with themed patterned paper.  No matter how cute it is, I rarely end up using it.  Either my pictures end up clashing with it, or it is too theme-y for the layout, or it just doesn't work for some other reason.  And it ends up sitting in my pile of unused paper.  But there's hope for that unused themed paper!

This layout uses paper from Pink Paislee's 'Old School' line.  I wouldn't normally go for school-themed paper for a layout about a boy and his pet bunny, but the B-side worked perfectly.

From Flamingo Scraps: Pink Paislee patterned paper

Other: Bazzill cardstock, Scenic Route stickers, ColorBox ink

Check out the B-side of some of your unused patterned paper- you might find a way to use it that is much different than the intended theme!

Lucky 7

At any given time, I usually have 4 or 5 layouts in progress.  I go through phases where I am very inspired by certain aspects of scrapbooking and not others.  This doesn't bother me- I just set the partially completed layouts aside and come back to them when inspiration strikes.  A few days ago, I counted the growing pile of incomplete layouts- there were 18.  Yikes!  It was definitely time to finish some of them.

Here's my latest layout.  Steve and I celebrated our 7th anniversary with a stay in Benicia, CA at the wonderful Inn at Benicia Bay. 

From Flamingo Scraps: Prima & Fancy Pants patterned paper, grungeboard 7

Other: Bazzill cardstock, Cloud 9 letter stickers, Folk Art paint, ColorBox ink

I'm pleased that I managed to get 12 photos on there without it looking crowded, though I do have to admit that it bothered me a tiny bit to cover up part of three photos with the focal photo!  I don't think I've ever done that before.  I like the way it turned out though.

Little Details

Back in June, I blogged about the zoo-themed birthday parties Trevor had when he turned five.  Here is the layout from the celebration with his friends at the Oakland Zoo.  I had so much fun putting this together- I love the bright colors of the pictures and wanted the layout to be equally fun and happy to match the spirit of the party. 

From Flamingo Scraps: Fancy Pants patterned paper, Crate Paper patterned paper, Tim Holtz grungeboard, Stickles

Other: Folk Art paint, Paper Pizazz vellum, Queen & Co. brad and button, Marvy circle punch, unknown ribbon

What I like most about this layout are the little details.  With twelve pictures and bright lime/orange papers all demanding the viewers' attention, I needed to keep the embellishments simple, but not so plain they'd be lost.  I started with the grungeboard 5.  I painted it orange, rubbed it with orange Stickles, and then tied on the ribbon.  I used the same Stickles to cover the brad and to fill in the center of the star-shaped button.  I edged the vellum circles in Stickles. 

I love the way the dotted vellum sets off the 5 and the date.  I'd originally used the same dotted vellum for the journaling, but it was hard to read.  I switched to a plain vellum and it looks much better.

Such a fun layout and such great memories from a fantastic day!

Keeping Things Fresh

I never get tired of scrapping egg dyeing, pumpkin carving, gingerbread making, or other holiday traditions.  Even though these happen annually and the pictures can look pretty much the same from year to year, I still look forward to scrapping them.  I don't worry about the layouts looking similar over the years.  Even if they are, they aren't next to each other in the albums, so it doesn't bother me.

It's a bit different with some of our vacation photos.  My inlaws own a cabin in Bear Valley, California.  2011 was the first time since I've been in the family that they didn't rent it out during the winter.  We took advantage of the free lodging, going to the cabin in January (a winter wonderland), April (just following a record snowfall that nearly covered the 3-story cabin), and Father's Day weekend (still quite snowy). 

In my mind, the trips were extremely different from one another.  We brought along family friends in January, invited Trevor's godmother in April, and just the three of us went for Father's Day.  The weather was different and we did different things each time.  However, the photos from all three trips look fairly similar- a whole lot of pictures of us sledding and enjoying the snow.  And the trips were close enough together that the pages would be in the same scrapbook.  My goal was to make the three pages distinct enough that it wouldn't seem like I'd scrapped exactly the same thing three times.

Here's the page I did following the January trip, which I talked about in this post:

From Flamingo Scraps: Fancy Pants patterned paper

Other: Making Memories stickers; My Sentiments Exactly stamps; Jewelry Essentials rhinestones; ColorBox ink

Here's our April visit:

From Flamingo Scraps: Stickles

Other: SEI and Provo Craft patterned papers, Fiskars border punch, unknown snowflake punch

And here is Father's Day:

From Flamingo Scraps: Stickles

Other: Provo Craft patterned paper, EK Success sticker, unknown snowflake punch

Even though I used blue for each of the three layouts, I used various shades of blue.  I chose pictures that emphasized the differences between the trips, and laid them out differently.  The fonts, journaling style, and embellishments are different on each.  I didn't repeat any title words.  I think the three layouts are as distinct as the three trips were.

How do you keep things fresh when you scrap similar-looking photos from different events? 

Making Do

Imagine if you will... I was working on a layout about our July 4th.  I had the perfect patterned papers, pictures, and chipboard stickers.  It was all laid out- the finishing touch would be three stars, arranged in a visual triangle.  I knew just what stars I would use (some funky self-adhesive ones from BasicGrey).  When I went to get them.... uh oh.  Only two left.

Darn it!  Time to make do.   I found a random piece of chipboard and cut out a star shape, mimicking the style of the ones I wanted to match.  The color was different, so I painted all three pieces "Country Twill"- a color that looks like raw chipboard.  I inked the edges and added the stars.

My star isn't exactly the same as the BasicGrey two, but it's close enough.  Can you guess which one I made?

From Flamingo Scraps: Moxxie patterned paper, BasicGrey chipboard stars

Other: We R Memory Keepers patterned paper, Bazzill cardstock, EK Success punch, Folk Art paint, Reminisce stickers

Inspired by: Shannon Zickel, scrapbooks etc. August 2011

Mine is the large one.  I'm happy with it.  Pretty good for making do.

My Many Manufacturer Challenge

I'm not a very product-heavy designer.  My layouts tend to be very simple, with just cardstock, some patterned paper, a little ink, maybe a punch, some letters, and a simple embellishment or two.  In that regard, this layout is no different:

From Flamingo Scraps: Fancy Pants patterned paper, Tim Holtz grungeboard

Other: BasicGrey patterned paper, Recollections cardstock, Fiskars border punch, Marvy circle punch, ColorBox ink, Making Memories stamp, Rubber Stampede stamp, Stampin' Up pen, Sketch by Shannon White

But this layout is actually very different from what I usually make.  Every component of this layout is from a different manufacturer.  In fact, 10 manufacturers (and one sketch artist) are represented on this simple page. 

I didn't originally set out to do this.  I knew I wanted to work with BasicGrey patterned paper.  I happened to have some of the gorgeous Fancy Pants scraps from a previous project still out and I loved how they looked together.  I punched some circles from the Fancy Pants using a Marvy punch, then used a Fiskars border punch on Recollections cardstock.  As I was picking up my ColorBox ink, I realized that I'd already used six manufacturers without even trying.  How many others could I use?  I added the Tim Holtz grungeboard and stamped the words "So" (Rubber Stampede) and "Together" (Making Memories).  I did my journaling with a Stampin' Up pen.  That makes ten!

The layout is based on a sketch from the always-fabulous Shannon White.  I rotated it 90 degrees.

I really enjoyed my own little private Many Manufacturer Challenge.  I may just have to challenge myself to beat my own record.