Its been ages since I have been scrappy so I decided to just get busy. To inspire myself I grabbed this book, page maps 2.
I got it for Christmas last year and I decided to actually pull out the removable cards and give it a whirl. I opened the book at random and picked out a card.
Turns out I am not so good at following sketches, LOL. You see, as soon I got going, my own brain started making design decisions so I kinda forgot about the little card sitting in front of me. It wasn’t until Craig came knocking on the craft room door that i finally broke out of autopilot and i realised (1) it was late and i really needed to go to bed and (2) this layout really couldn’t be farther from the sketch i was supposedly following.
No worries though. I don’t really get hung up on things like that to be honest. The main thing is that i have a scrapbook page completed. Another page, another memory for my album.
This page is modestly titled ‘ni’ and is about my first trip back to Northern Ireland with Piper. I always abbreviate my homeland to those two little letters so it seemed fitting to use them as the title.
I didn’t have our laptop so i just pulled some iPhone photos from the bundle that i had printed during the summer. I am so glad i just decided to print a bunch that day. I really should print some more. Even if they are just lying around, maybe one day they will end up on a layout just like these little photos.
Here’s the layout..
and some more close ups
There’s a list of products at the bottom but in case you are wondering the title is made using Heidi Swapp sheer letters. They are really old so i don’t think they make them any more but thought i would mention it. <3
You probably know that I am a scrap-fiend. I love finding ways to use up my scraps for projects, big or small. I am excited to share a short video which shows you how i sometimes use my scraps to make a fun embellishment that you can add to cards or layouts – the infamous photocorner!
To demonstrate the power of the fiercefully fun photocorner (what a mouthful!) i have a new layout to share, one that i secretly love to bits. I don’t normally say things like that because (1) I don’t want you all to think that i have a big head the size of China, and (2) I usually like the finished layout but not LOVE it. I guess they sometimes fall into the ‘it’ll do’ category and i am thankful that i got a chance to scrap it.
I reckon the reason i get butterflies when i look at the layout is because of the topic at hand. In case you can’t make out from the photo, it is about my daughter who would always reach out her hand when nursing, and gently touch my face. I would look down at her eyes and see them glance up at me and twinkle. Every single time it would make my heart melt.
Enjoy the video and perhaps you’ll find some inspiration from the layout too.
Here’s what the journaling says:
“One of the things i miss most about nursing you is those precious moments when you would reach your hand out to me & gently press your fingertips to my lips. You would always raise your eyes for a brief moment and smile at me. Those few precious moments said more than a thousand words.”
Did i mention how much i love these Echo Park papers? {yum}
x
This is the scrapbook layout that I made on holiday using my Emergency Craft Kit. Sorry it’s taken so long to get it photographed and up on the website.
My supplies were limited because I was crafting on the go, and because of this some ideas which I had never really panned out, but it was good because it forced me to stop, think, and move in another direction.
I used one of Jen Gallacher’s ‘Stretch your sketch‘ videos as a starting point for this layout – so you may notice some similarities in regards to the way the panels hang from the string, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. I had watched the video before i went on holiday, so this was the one bit that stuck out vividly in my mind.
I had taken a few printed iPhone photos with me, most of which were of Piper but I found a few that had me and her together. Back when I made this layout, it was only a few weeks before I returned to work, so although the page doesn’t have a visible title, the journaling is a conversation with my daughter, promising to make the most of our last few weeks at home together. Looking back, i can see that I was completely over dramatising my return to work. Okay, i’ll say it- i was DREADING it! And calling this layout ‘last few weeks’ kinda sounds like I was about to drop of the face of the planet or something! I’m so glad i didn’t put a title on it with letter stickers. lol.
Despite the limitations I had due to crafting-on-the-go, I’m pleased with the finished result. I guess I am just glad that I had the opportunity to get creative when I was away from home.
I picked up a typerwriter a little while back at a car book sale, and i {heart} using it to add journaling to my layouts..
…BUT…
…it didn’t always turn out the way I wanted it to. Typewriters were made to type onto thin weight paper, and when I put cardstock or scrapbook paper through the machine, it didn’t catch properly on the rollers. I thought it would be great that I could type out journaling quickly rather than spending the time on my computer writing it up and connecting it to my printer etc, but I found myself making more errors on the typewriter – so it wasn’t faster after all.
Well, that was until I put my thinking cap on!
In this video i show you a way to get around this issue so that you can achieve perfect typewritten journaling every time!
Here’s the layout, followed by some close up piccys
