Final Sketch Mania Challenge

Last week was the third and final week of the Sketch Mania competition over at Scraps of Us.  I had such fun with these challenges and I'm certainly going to miss them.  If nothing else, it gave me an excuse to site down and scrap (well, digi-scrap) even during the busy holiday season.

The challenge for week 3 was to create a double page sketch to house 6-8 photos plus journaling.  Loved this! I am always looking for ways to get more photos on a single page.

Here's what I came up with.

Once the sketch was submitted, the next part of the challenge was to scrap it - with a catch:  The layout must have only 2 colours plus black or white (choose one), AND we must use buttons and ribbon.

When I saw this I was stunned since buttons for me are a big problem!  I don't tend to use them much because quite frankly, I am just never happy with the way they look.  So I was a bit concerned.

Nonetheless, here is my layout - and despite the difficulties I had with the buttons, I am pretty happy with the final result.

Unfortunately I can't give the appropriate credit right now on all of the page elements, since they are from a whole bunch of different kits (I hate it when that happens!)  I need to remember to keep track of these things as I'm creating!  Usually when I digi-scrap I choose one, maybe two kits at most and work with them exclusively on a layout, however here, because I needed some buttons and ribbons that coordinated, I couldn't find everything in one place.  If you have a specific question about an element, just holler, because I'm sure I could figure it out if I needed too.

Also, remember if you create a layout based on one of my sketches, I'd love to see it!  Just upload it somewhere, pop me an email or send me a link!  I just love to see how sketches come together as art!

Not Quite What I Planned

but something that needed to be done nonetheless. As I mentioned yesterday, I had hoped to play with some paper and glue last night, but that didn't happen. Instead I Photoshop'd my son's birthday party invitations! This is something I haven't done before, but it was actually kind of fun. He saw them this morning, and chuckled - so I think he was pleased. I was happy to at least have the opportunity to be a bit creative.

Happy 2009!

Wow! Another year has passed....what more is there to say? Like most of you, the holiday season is always busy busy busy. From shopping, to baking, to cooking, entertaining, visiting with family and friends --- honestly, it tends to wear me out but I Love every minute of it! Today though, I'm not doing anything but relaxing (and I think I'll probably find some time to pull out some paper and glue and put together a project or two. Imagine that!) Just to spark up my blog a bit (it's looking a little text heavy), I thought it good time to share my completed digital scrapbook from 2008. I had 4 copies of the book printed and gave it out at Christmas. It was definately a big hit! As I've said before, while I had a lot of fun putting this together, for me, digital scraping will never replace the traditional approach. While you can do some really cool things digitally - I guess it's just not tactile enough for me. Nonetheless, have a peak inside my book and see how it all came together.

Click here to view this photo book.

I hope you all had a safe and happy New Year's Celebration, and I wish you all a prosperous 2009!

I took a bit of time to play today

As I sat with my morning coffee this a.m., I did some blog surfing. I haven't done this in a while, so I had a lot to catch up on and one of the stops I made was over to Artistic Paperie to see what April was up to ---- and there it was a really great sketch and companion Photoshop template. So of course, I just had to download it and give it a go. I have so much work to do that I really shouldn't have taken the time out to do this, but over time I've learned that when the urge to create strikes I need to answer. Otherwise I'm just distracted for the rest of the day and get little (if any) real work done. Anyhow here's April's sketch:

And this is what I came up with:

I'm really happy with the way this turned out. The sketch worked with my pictures perfectly since I didn't really have any really great shots. Most of them were taken from really far away so as prints they really didn't look that great. Being able to focus on specific parts of the photos within the small sections in April's sketch worked perfectly. I did switch it up a little bit as you can see, placing two larger pictures within the grid instead of including 12 smaller ones - but this just shows how sketches are like a launch pad. They are a great start, and while sometimes you can use them just as they are, it's okay to switch them up a bit too and modify the design to suit your needs.

Is it November already?

and almost mid-month at that.

I have been a really bad blogger lately - I admit it - but life happens. To those of you that continue to visit while I'm AWAL, thanks! I even received an email from one of my readers asking if everything was okay - that was sweet.

So what's been happening? Well, where do I start. Perhaps the coolest thing going on right now is that Jessica Sprague's Stories in Hand class has started, and I've printed all my materials to assemble my binder. Today's job is to print and assemble the 'Jotter' notebook as she calls it. I'm a bit behind with the projects since I had some trouble sourcing a 6x6 D-Ring Binder, but it's all good now, I ordered it last night, and it should arrive eventually. I can't wait to get started actually using Jessica's system - I am quite excited to see how all of these pieces come together.

Secondly, I've been taking another online class over at Simplify 101 called Quick & Simple Clutter Control. I'm totally behind on this one, but plan to spend some time getting caught up over the next day or two. I figure now is the perfect time to leanr how to control clutter since we're moving into a very very busy holiday season.

Speaking of the holidays.....I've started my shopping (yay!) and I'm trying my best to get organized for the various family events. I have a breakfast, a dinner and a brunch to plan for as I am hosting all of these gatherings in a 3 day span beginning Christmas day. With this tight a schedule I need to plan plan plan.

I've been working on my digitial scrapbook album - you know the one that I've been working on for a while? One of my recent pages is up top and another double layout is below. I've been using a lot of page templates so that the whole process goes more quickly. So far so good, I've got about 15 pages done so far and the book is really starting to take shape. My original goal was to have this done and sent to print by the 15th of this month, but I don't think I'll quite make that deadline. I plan to work hard on it over the next week though - and get it sent out by the 21st. Wish me luck!

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey! Both my kids are playing again this year and the season is well underway. With a game a practice for each of them each week, I am spending A LOT of time at the arena! Last Saturday in fact I was there for more than 4 hours straight, as each of the kids played and had team photos taken. What a long day that was!

I've got a highschool reunion coming up next weekend that I'm 'mostly' looking forward to (whatever will I wear?). It'll be nice to see everyone again, but I have to admit there's a little anxiety attached to the whole thing. I'm sure that I'm not alone in feeling this way - but I'll work through it and be there with bells on as they say. I wouldn't miss it actually. I think it's going to be a lot of fun. The reunion itself doubles as a fundraiser for one of my schoolmates Haydain Neale who was injured in an accident in August 2007. Some of you may know Haydain as the lead singer of Jacksoul. His injuries were quite severe and Haydain continues to endure rehabilitative therapies. Monies raised at the reunion will be donated to assist him and his family.

On Craft Critique yesterday I reviewed the Circle Circle Dot Dot template by The Crafter's Workshop and I've got one more review scheduled to run before the end of the year. I am really enjoying this opportunity. It gives me an excuse to play with paper (like I need one!) and as anyone who knows me will attest, I love to share my opinion.

Last but not least, work is busier than ever. It's that time of year again and once I get through the crunch of the last couple of months - things will be golden. (Note I say 'if' I get through it)

That's about it for now I think. Again -- Thanks to all of you who continue to visit my blog in my absence. I truly appreciate it.

Playing with Photoshop

Happy Fall everyone! Can you believe it?

Haven't had too much time to play with paper lately, but did manage to get some digi-scrappin done. Here's a peak at a couple of things I've been working on. The first couple will go into the digital photo book I'm putting together, and the last one, well, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. I was just messin around really. I just loved the quote!

Credits: Photoshop template that I picked up here byMisty Cato, Say it Clearly Alphabet by Kristin Aagard, All other Papers and elements from For the Boys digital kit that I grabbed a while back from Elemental Scraps.

Credits: Template #62 by Yin Designs that I picked up, all Papers and elements from the same For the Boys digital kit that I used for the last one.

Credits: Quote element from NSD Collaborative kit that I grabbed at Plain Digital Wrapper, Papers by B Tuma from So Thankful, and of course the Fresh Foliage Photoshop brushes that I picked up here (these are just too cool for words!)

A Couple More Pages for the Album

Playing with some Freebie kits and templates, I managed to make 2 more layouts for the year-in-review album I'm working on. I'm super excited to report also that one of them even has my son on it!! I have to admit that I'm having some trouble working with his pictures. Most of the freebie digi-kits I've found have some really great embellishments for girls (lots of flowers, ribbons, bows etc.), but I haven't seen a whole lot yet for boys. So, If you have any suggestions for me --- shout 'em out. This one is using paper and elements from the giant (and I mean GIANT) collaborative "Mango Tango kit by the designers at Sunshine Studio. If you want to grab this awesome kit, pop on over to the Sunshine Blog and follow the links - there are 24 of them! I have yet to get all the pieces, but since I've had a chance to play with some of them, I will be definately getting the rest, and soon! The layout is credited to Bree Clarkson. It's another freebie, and you can grab it here. Here's the other one. The layout template was a freebie included in the Mango Tango collaborative. The patterned papers are all from 'Give Freely' by Jan Crowley that I picked up as a freebie last week. Unfortunately, it's no longer a free file, but you can snap it up at oscraps for just $2. I know this one is simple, but like I said, I'm just glad to finally have done a 'boy' page!

Canada Day Fireworks - Digi Layout

Decided to digi-scrap some of my fireworks photos from Canada Day. This will go in the year-in-review book that I'm putting together. The top of the layout is a number of photos placed together to form the group.

For those of you with experience printing 2-page spreads....how do I get it ready to send to print (in 2 files). I am using Photoshop Elements 6.0. Will I lose any image quality if it gets cropped? Or should I use the resize canvas funtion. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Credits: Patterned Paper and Title Element from "Canada Day" Digital Kit by Ruth Davis & Karen Aicken (www.e-scapeandscrap.net)

Another Digital Layout

I'm trying to make some time to accomplish some of the items on my list, so I sat down at tried my hand at another digital layout. I started by visiting www.jessicasprague.com and had a look through some of her freebie tutorials, and settled on 'Designing with Rings'. I learned A LOT from this quick lesson -- much that I'm sure I'll put into practice regularly, not just when it comes to rings, but also when it comes to creating other custom shapes. Here's the final product - the actual layout design is a lift of Jessica's sample, but it was fun choosing my own patterned paper and incorporating into her overall design. I used 2 digital kits that I purchased from Plain Digital Wrapper (they have a big sale on right now!). The pink and oragne element are from the Sisters Garden Collaboration Kit, and the blue elements are from the Boy, What a Garden Collaboration.

Happy Mother's Day and a Quick Share

Since Mother's Day is over (almost) and the gifts have been given, I thought I would share the gift I made for my mom. I've not posted art in some time now, but that has been in part because much of my free time was spent creating this -- a Tribute book about my grandparents.

When my grandmother passed away, I scooped up a box of old photos with the intention of putting them into a scrapbook. More than 10 years has passed now, and I've finally done it, although not quite the way I intended. Simply seeing the Tribute template on Shutterfly however was enough to spur my into action. I had 2 copies of the book printed, one for my mom and the other for my aunt. They were both thrilled and extremely surprised. The added bonus of this project is that the photos are now digitized, with no fear of further degradation.

The book was really easy to put together using a template on Shutterfly, and the quality of the printed material is just awesome! If you haven't tried this service I highly recommend it -- the service is wonderful, and delivery fast. I ordered the book on the 30th of April and it arrived here on May 8 -- excellent turnaround for an international order. Have a peak and let me know what you think!

Click here to view this photo book.

{Note: If you actually take the time to read any of the text, you'll see a bunch of xx's where dates and places should be. I've done this intentionally on my shareable version for privacy reasons.}