October Kits are almost here

I got to work in the store two mornings this week to help Kimberly out while her mom is visiting.  I helped put together the new October kits.  They are really cool and I can't wait to get my hands on mine so I can start creating.  I am really behind on scrapping the kids halloween pages and this kit is perfect to help me play catch up.

September Kit Club Layouts

This was a great kit and I was able to get quite a few layouts done with it.  Three two-page layouts and three single page layouts.  The combination of school themes and travel themes were perfect with this time of year since school just started and we just took a little trip to Astoria, OR with the rents.

1ST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

I can't believe my baby is now a kindergartner.  How fast time flies.  He was very excited and nervous about starting school and riding the bus. 

1ST SCHOOL BUS RIDE

 This layout was our Sketch of the Month Challenge.  The sketch was provided by Melanie Jarocki.

 ASTORIA MEGLER BRIDGE

 This bridge crosses the Columbia River at the mouth from Astoria, OR to the Washington state side of the river.  It is 4.1 miles long and a little nervewracking to drive across.  The kids and I went to Astoria for a three day mini vacay with the rents. 

LEAPING LIZARD!

Isn't this just the cutest little lizard ever!  And the little boy holding it isn't so bad either!

PAPA'S LITTLE GIRL

I just realized this layout is very similar to the one I did with Sami last month and I didn't even do it on purpose.   I just wanted to higlight the green houndstooth pattern on the backside of the paper so folded for photo corners.  I also wanted to highlight the pink in Sam's dress so used some pink alcohol ink to change the yellow buttons on the flowers pink.  I think they turned out cute.

SIMPLY SAMI

I got some new EK Sucess border punches.  I am in LOVE with the new giant ones.  I tried to mimick the patteren in Sam's dress with the punches.  This is a very simple layout but turned out SO CUTE!  I also inked the flowers to tone down the green a little bit. 



Another August Hip Kit Layout

BEAUTIFUL ANGEL

This kit has so many different papers that they go with so many different subjects.  The blues and greens were great for summer layouts.  The pinks were perfect for my little princess.  I broke out the sewing machine again and am now thinking that it is my new favorite embellishment.  It just adds so much more to the page.  I also used my photo editing software to put the nice thick black lines around the photos along with a white border.  I think it really helps make the photos pop off the page.

I used my Dark Brown Color Box Chalk ink on the letters to tone down the bright red.  This layout had a lot of browns in it so this helped the letters match more.

I just had to redo Hand in Hand

I was trying to not add to much to this layout so I wouldn't distract from the wonderful picuture I took of the kiddos on the beach.  I really wanted the picture to say everything.  But then I think I went to simple on the layout. 

Here is the before.......

It is nice, but is just missing something.  I was having a little bit of scrappers block, so I emailed Kimberly to see if she had any suggestions.  She is really good at being objective and looking at things with fresh eyes.  She thought I should add a border sticker from Sassafrass Lass and add some of the chipboard flowers to the bottom of the layout. 

Here is the AFTER:

I think by adding those slight little tweeks and lifting up the border sticker at the bottom of the flags, gave the page a lot more dimension without taking away from the picture.  I also got out my trusty sharpie and outlined the red letters helping to tone them down a bit. 

Moral of the story, don't be afraid to ask for help.  Sometimes an objective eye from a friend can help so much.

August Hit Kit Club Layouts

This was a fun kit to work with.  Kimberly always does a wonderful job of putting these kits together. 

THIS LOOK

How cute is this girl? She is my sweet little Sam. I can't get enough of her smiles and giggles. However, THIS LOOK, is a smile only reserved for her brother. She smiles at him differently than the rest of us. Cameron picked up my camera, without permission from mom BTW, and took a bunch of pics. Most of them didn't turn out but this one did. It captured that smile that Sam only gives to him.

I just think those little tickets are so adorable, so I had to get more than the kit included. The little polka dot flower was from the packaging that our buttons came in from American Crafts.

I also tried another technique on this layout, I borrowed some Glimmer Mist from Kimberly and I think it turned out cute. It made the papers curl a bit which I think gives it some additional depth.

HAND IN HAND

This is a Super duper simple layout.  I really wanted to highlight the picture.  As a Mom, it is about the cutest thing ever to see your kiddos holding hands and not fighting.  Cameron was having so much fun showing Sami the shells on the beach, they walked like this for a good 30 minutes.  I found this really sweet poem online about brothers and sisters and with my photo editing program and put the poem in and the bottom portion of the titile. 

One of my favorite websites to get title and poem ideas for pages is http://www.dennydavis.net/.  There are so many title ideas for when you get scrappers block.

SHELL SEEKERS

Layout designed from a Melanie Jaroki sketch

Three or four years ago for Christmas, I got a sewing machine from my mom and dad.  I had asked for it so that is what they got me.  I'm not really sure exactly when it was because until three days ago it was still in the box, I had never even taken it out.  My entire family has given me a hard time because I had never opened it.  I had to send my mom a email pic of it out in it's glory when I opened it this week.  My dad asked if I was sick. 

Well the moral to this story is that you should really appreciate the gifts your receive and that I FINALLY sewed something on a layout.  I was always a little afraid to sew on my layouts.  BUT NOW, I have a feeling that you will see a lot more layouts with stitching and not hand drawn or rub on stitching.  Not that there is anything wrong with those either!

I distresse the edges of all the papers and inked them my trusty Color Box Chalk Ink in Chestnut Brown.  I should really buy stock in that color!

TICKET TO SUMMER FUN

This was a fun layout to do, how can it not be fun with those two cutie patooties!  I also tried some new techniques.  I took the plastic packaging from the Jenni Bowlen butterflys and punched out flowers and butterflies.  I used some alcohol ink to color them to make the papers and then outlined them with a black sharpie.  I also used the packaging from the Sassafrass Lass Number for my journaling tag.  Lately the packaging has some super cool uses too.  The top border was one of the border stickers from Sassafrass Lass, I cut it in half in my trimmer before I took it off the backing sheet. 

TRUE LOVE

I really like this picture so much so I just wanted to highlight the love my kiddos were showing for this one second before they started picking on each other. There is a hidden journaling tag behind the photo. I used two of the same flower chipboard stickers and put them back to back for the tag pull. I ran out of E's from the alphabet for my other layouts so chose to use 3's upside down. I used the red flower dotted paper because it kind of matched my daughter's shirt.

Thanks for taking a look at my latest layouts.  I sure wish I had more time to be creative but am happy with the times that I do get to create.  Kimberly just got the cutest school paper at the store that I am dying to get my hands on to use with Cameron's first day of Kindergarten pics. 

August Hip Kit Club Preview

I stopped by the store today to see Kimberly.  I hadn't been in over a week.  She had just got in everything for the August Kit.  I can't wait to play with it.  I brought it home to check out and print my pictures to go with it.  As I have said before, I scrap different than most.  I chose pictures to match the papers etc.  I am working/scrapping tomorrow night at the store and will start on my new masterpeices with the new kit.  I hope to post them later this week. 

We went to kite hill today to watch the Boeing 777 Flyover that starts the Boeing Classic Golf Tournament.  It is always the best place to watch the flyover and take the best pics.  However, when I grabbed my camera, I forgot to grab the memory stick that I had put in my computer and the battery was almost dead.  So needless to say, I only got a few pics of the plane.

One week from today Cameron starts Kindergarten.  I am having a hard time picturing my baby in school everyday.  I will definitely have to have all batteries charged and memory sticks in their proper places for those precious first day pics.  I for one cannot wait to scrap them already.

July Hip Kit Layouts

I really loved this kit.   The reds, blues and yellow were perfect for summer layouts.  My sons T Ball Team were the Red Sox and the pics were perfect for these layouts.   

I probably scrapbook different than most people.  Most of my friends scrap in chronological order.  I scrap my pictures to match the paper.  When I get the new kits, I will go through my pictures to find some that will go with the paper.  One of my other favorite things to do is take pictures, so I have a great deal to choose from. 

Here is a picture of the July Kit......

The first three layouts are my baseball layouts.  I used the same patterened paper to create a cohesiveness between the layouts.  I loved the little banners, they are great to use for mini-titles.  I am a big fan of the Glaze pens and like to accent die-cuts to make them pop off the page.  For the baseball and bat, I used a circle punch for the ball and used the twine to sew the stiches.  For the bat, I used the My Minds Eye So Sophie paper. 

LITTLE SLUGGER....

OUR ALL STAR....

LOVING T-BALL

I cut the sun out and layered it with two other patterened papers.  I also used an edge distresser and crinkled the edges a bit.

OUR LITTLE LADY

I really liked the Basic Grey border tape in the Add-On Kit.  It was perfect for this layout as it matched my daughters sweater color.

PLAYGROUND PRINCESS

For this layout, I used the following sketch from Lucy Chesna Designs.  Each month on the design team we all get the same sketch layout to design from.  It is really neat to see how each of us interpret the sketch.