New Team

There is a new badge on my blog's sidebar today!  I have joined my first ever design team!

I freely admit that I seldom apply to design teams.  Usually I prefer to concentrate on entering challenges and submitting to publications, not to mention simply scrapbooking for my own pleasure.  However, when I saw the design team call for Scrap for Help, I knew I had to apply.  It was like the mothership was calling me home!  :)  Scrap for Help combines two of my favorite things: 1. a focus on environmentalism and 2. an international community.  Each month Scrap for Help issues a new challenge revolving around papercrafting with recycled and/or household materials.  As a design team member, I'll create sample projects to inspire Scrap for Help readers.  Here is the international team that I am joining:

-Cynthia Llorens (Brazil)--Scrap for Help Co-Founder
-Marilia Lopes (Brazil)--Scrap for Help Co-Founder
-Cindy Adkins (United States)
-Naiara Cicilia (Brazil)
-Barbara Caitete (Brazil)
-Paula Castells (Brazil/Germany)
-Andrea Castro de Albuquerque (Brazil)
-Anupama Choudary (India)
-Fanny Delobel (France)
-Lean de Ruiter (Netherlands)
-Dani de Sá (Brazil)
-Bente Fagerberg (Sweden)
-Juraci Falcucci (Brazil)
-Aline Fonseca (Brazil)
-Patti Hamil (USA)
-Chantelle Huizenga (Australia)
-Shona Keehn (Canada)
-Maiko Kosugi (Japan)
-Solange Marques (Brazil)
-Leonie Neal-Dawson (Australia)
-Elena Olinevich (Belarus)
-Denise Price (United States)
-Lydell Quin (Australia)
-Rita Ribeiro (Brazil)
-Marilyn Rivera (Puerto Rico)
-Sarah Routledge (Canada)
-Elisabeth Sarkis (Brazil)
-Meg Stoco (Brazil)
-Kylie Symons (Australia)
-Keren Tamir (Canada)
-Yuko Tanaka (Japan)
-Marcela Valadares (Brazil)
-Gerry Van Gent (Netherlands)
-Margreet Westerling (Netherlands)

You can read more about the team in this post on the Scrap for Help blog, and you can find the team members' biographies here. 

Last month an altered journal cover that I made was featured on the Scrap for Help blog.  In celebration of joining the team, I thought I would share with you today a few pages that I have created in the journal.

This is an art journal with an autumn theme.  Art journals tend to be places for serious introspection, but I've gone in a different direction and created a very light-hearted journal.

Supplies: patterned paper by Lily Bee Design; arrow stickers by Bo Bunny; flair badge and sunburst label by October Afternoon; pen by Zig.

The journaling on the above page reads: "The squirrels are very busy!"  It's so funny to watch squirrels in the fall--they are running about, collecting nuts, burying nuts, etc.  They are always on the move.

Supplies: damask paper and label sticker by October Afternoon; orange papers by My Mind's Eye; green paper & newsprint paper by Basic Grey; black-and-white patterned papers by Echo Park; foam sticker & backing by Darice; star sticker by Lily Bee; tulle by Wyla; thread by DMC; ink by Tsukineko; pen by Zig.

This page is called "My Halloween MRI," and the journaling reads: "My innards were imaged on October 31, 2012.  During the MRI I listened to the "oldies" radio station--the first song that played was 'Werewolves of London.'  :)"  Having an MRI--that sounds so serious!  Don't worry, though, I'm okay.  I have a genetic disorder that sometimes causes back problems.  My doctor ordered the MRI just to make sure that the disease was not impacting the soft tissues surrounding my spine.  And it turned out fine--no tissue damage at all.  That's probably why I can laugh and be silly about the whole thing.  I had fun hand-cutting the letters "MRI" from scraps of patterned paper, which saved on alphabet stickers.  I also had fun creating a whimsical paper version of an MRI machine.  I may be the first person ever to use the "loops of string" trend to represent the magnetic field of an MRI tube!  :)

Supplies: striped paper scrap by My Mind's Eye; all other patterned paper scraps by October Afternoon; solid paper scraps by Paper Loft; matte paint by Plaid; metallic paint by DecoArt; pearlescent paint by Ranger; advertising postcard from the Ramsey County Historical Society; gift bag and ribbon upcycled from old gift wrapping.

I created the page above to hold memorabilia from various fall events.  I started by adhering some scraps of solid-colored, distressed, paint-splattered paper to the page; these scraps were left over from when I decorated the cover of my album.  Next, I adhered a mini gift bag to the center of the page.  I covered the bag with the pumpkin postcard and slid two other pieces of memorabilia (the schedule from the Old-Time Halloween party and a printed copy of the Irish legend of Jack O'Lantern) into the bag.  As a final touch, I selected a few tiny, interesting scraps of patterned paper and added them to my design--I slid the longest scraps into the gift bag, along with the memorabilia, and I adhered the smaller scraps around the edges of the postcard.  I plan for this page to be a work-in-progress: I can continue to add new memorabilia to the bag as time passes.  And, whenever my scrapbooking projects generate tiny scraps that are too cute to toss in the recycling bin, I can add those scraps to the edges of the pumpkin postcard.

Many of the scraps that I adhered to my memorabilia page extend beyond the edges of the journal.  As you can see from the photo above, this gives the journal an ever-changing profile.  I love the interest that this asymmetrical profile lends the book.  It's my hope that people will think, "What is all this stuff that's sticking out of this notebook?" and thereby be tempted to pick up the journal and look inside.

Now, to get back to telling you more about the new Scrap for Help team--we are a very big team, so the Scrap for Help founders, Cynthia and Marilia, divided the team into two groups.  One group will provide sample projects for the blog during odd-numbered months, starting in January.  The other group will provide samples during even-numbered months, starting in February.  I'm in the even-numbered group, so you can expect to see my samples (on both the Scrap for Help blog and my personal blog) in February, April, June, August, October, and December.  During the other six months of 2013, I'll show you more pages from this art journal.  I think 2013 is going to be a great year!