The Little Details

Do you look back at your layouts that you have lovingly scrapped? I don't always look back but my family especially my kids love looking and reading the layouts. The two most asked questions I receive are..."Who is that in this picture?" and "When was this picture taken?" Do you get asked these questions too???

I always thought I would remember every detail of my girls' lives - their adventures, their foibles and their annoyances but....as I scrap my older images this summer it is very apparent I do not remember everything. So now when I scrap I make a point of including the names of everyone in the picture, not necessarily on the front of the layout as I will note the individuals on the back of the layout, when the photo was taken and the location of the image. Sure there are lots of times when I do not know where exactly the shot was taken but I will try to include the city at the very least. When I look back at the few layouts I have created, it gives me a wonderful anthology of our lives. Years from now, I hope it creates a succinct timeline for my ancestors and poignant memories for my daughters.

So besides the What? try to include the Who? and the When? and the Where? Some inspiration for you....as you can see I snuck the information into the layouts. If I didn't know the exact date, I included the year and the place. When we look at the layouts, my family and I have had lively discussions of our adventures. And if you look closely, you will also see my handwriting. While I am still not comfortable with my handwriting, it is a nice record of me on every layout...or so my family tells me! (I still computer journal but every so often, some handwriting is included too!)

Supplies:  Scrap Shotz monthly kit featuring Little Yellow Bicycle (pattern paper, layered die cut embellishments, transparencies, journal spots); Prima (gems and pearls); Basic Grey (chipboard alphas)

Supplies:  Scrap Shotz monthly kit featuring Little Yellow Bicycle (pattern paper, layered die cut embellishments, transparencies, journal spot); Prima (gems, pearls and wood veneers); Tsukineko (mist); Basic Grey (chipboard alphas); Kaisercraft (butterfly)

Thank you so much for dropping by! (I know I have not posted in a long long long time but I am hoping to change that - life has been extraordinarily busy these past few months...but I greatly appreciate any and all visitors!)

Got Sketch?

Ok it has been much too long since I last posted...*blush* No excuses it is just me being busy with life. However, it sure is great being back scrapping...and there is nothing better than scrapping to a Valerie Salmon sketch.

Here is my take on Sketch 152.

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Authentique (pattern paper, die cut stickers, alphas); WRMK (chomper); Tattered Angels (glimmer mist); Ranger Perfectly Pearls (mist); BasicGrey (raw chipboard);

Supplies: Bazzill (cardstock); Close to my Heart (cardstock); BoBunny (pattern paper, dimensional chipboard); EK Success (border punch); WRMK (chomper); Queen & Co (pearls)

Thanks for dropping by!

December Daily with Got Sketch? Days 6-10

In continuation with my December Daily, please let me share my pages for days 6 through to 10.

I must confess that assembling this album has been one of my most favorite projects and as I look at each page, I cherish it oh so much more.

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern paper, ATC card); Urban Lily (chipboard numbered circle); Making Memories (vintage foil leaf); WRMK (chomper); VersaMagic (liquid chalk)

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern paper, label); Urban Lily (chipboard numbered circle); American Crafts (Slick Writer); WRMK (chomper); VersaMagic (liquid chalk)

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern paper); Urban Lily (chipboard numbered circle); Jillibean Soup (journal spot); Evalicious (conversation bubble); WRMK (chomper); VersaMagic (liquid chalk)

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern paper); Hemptique (hemp twine); BoBunny (dimensional glitter butterfly); Prima (gems); Heidi Swapp (number 9); Making Memories (glittered alphas); EK Success (circle punch); Copics (spica pen for stitching on tag); VersaMagic (liquid chalk)

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern paper); Jillibean Soup (corrugated die cut shapes, journal spot); Making Memories (glitter numbers); Fiskars (border punch); WRMK (chomper); VersaMagic (liquid ink)

Thanks for letting me share - the sketches can be found on Valerie Salmon's Got Sketch? blog.

December Daily with Got Sketch?

From the time Ali Edwards introduced the concept of the December Daily, I have been intrigued and took on the challenge head on! 'Tis true that I have one unfinished yet but the December Dailies that are finished are some of my most cherished albums. My approach is not to document all things Christmas but to celebrate the month of December, busy as it is, with my family.

Here are a few pages from my album. The very talented Valerie Salmon of Got Sketch? has created 5 stunning and versatile sketches that are re-used for the month of December. Her sketches can be found here.

Below are my first 5 pages...

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern paper, die cut stickers); Queen & Co (acrylic die cut shapes); Hemptique (hemp twine); Prima (gem star); Scenic Route (chipboard star); Tattered Angels (glimmer mist); American Crafts (chipboard #1); WRMK (chomper); VersaMagic (liquid chalk)

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern paper, ATC card); Jillibean Soup (journal spot); American Crafts (glitter chipboard #2); VersaMagic (liquid chalk)

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern papers, die cut stickers); WRMK (chomper); Urban Lily (chipboard numbered circles); VersaMagic (liquid chalk)

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern paper); Hemptique (hemp twine); Maya Road (chipboard #4); Tattered Angels (glimmer mist); EK Success (circle punch); Websters (ribbon roses); WRMK (chomper); VersaMagic (liquid chalk)

Supplies:  Bazzill (cardstock); Simple Stories (pattern paper); Prima (flowers); WRMK (chomper); Maya Road (chipboard #5); Tattered Angels (glimmer mist); VersaMagic (liquid chalk)

Thank you for letting me share! And Thank You Val for letting me a part of this unbelievablely awesome Got Sketch? team.

Shadow Box Photo Card

Gosh, it really has been a long time since I posted something scrappy on my blog - yikes! I have been scrapping but just oh so busy with life!

Here is the make and take I made for Scrap Shotz at the recent Carnival (Creative Stitches).

The full instructions to make this card can be found here.

Natural Light: Week 4

Well this is a bittersweet moment...week 4...gulp... Before I post my last images I must say a big thanks to Sarah and Brooke. This has been a wonderful class and I have enjoyed every moment of it! Thank you!

For this assignment, I chose to shoot outdoors. The weather has been questionable, cloudy and grey skies...but I wanted to give it my best. Here are a couple of silhouettes which I have fun doing. Now I must qualify that these were shot around mid-day (4 pm-ish) so I didn't capture the setting or rising sun but there was a break in the thick cloud cover so I took my chances!

Here is the original shot with an auto white balance.

And here it is again with my white balance as tungsten (I believe?)

And yes I made my daughter jump a third time to shoot with a white balance of kelvin! (The things I do to capture the shot!)

I really hope I captured the essence of the assignment - thanks again Sarah and Brooke for 4 fabulous weeks of shooting and learning!

Natural Light: Week 3

Wow, the Natural Light course from Brooke Snow is almost over - it is hard for me to believe as I am really loving the exercises. Now I am not saying they are easy but each assignment has made me stop and pause before I press the button...so that is a good thing.

This week we were challenged to capture an image using contrasting light that draws attention to the subject. I was rather fascinated by the discussion on sun bursts and wanted to give that a try. Did I succeed? I don't know. The image below is close to what I wanted but not quite...and I had not a clue on how to edit it so left it as is other than resizing it for the web. Any tips you can give me to edit such image would be greatly appreciated!

So here is the image and I know it is a big no-no to post 2 images but here is my reasoning. Compositionally, I like this image better from a compositional point of view...and I like the drama of the sky but I like the spiky sun rays of the second image better!

While I love the spikey sun rays of this image better, I do not like the sun to be in the dead centre of my image and I could see the power pole in the back. Yes I was trying to be careful about composing my shot but if truth be told I felt myself going blind by shooting directly into the sun even though I was pushing some button that limits the light into my lens! And, I suppose I could have cropped the image but then I wondered if the image was too dark so I found myself in a bit of a conundrum! 

Anyways I am keen to hear your feedback this week as I wasn't very happy with my results this week...and Sarah, I am deeply sorry for your loss...you are in my thoughts and prayers.