2012 Gallery

In this post you'll find my personal favorites among the layouts, cards, and off-the-page projects that I created in 2012.  

8.5x11" layout (landscape orientation) "Big Boy"

12x12" layout "Winter Market"

pink friendship card

double-page 12x12" layout "Never Too Old for My Dollies"

8.5x11" (portrait orientation) layout "Fave Song"

"I Love Moscow" shadow box

12x12" layout "Cowboy Easter"

12x12" layout "Easter Treats"

Russian doll friendship card

12x12" layout "Rings"

12x12" layout "Farm Summer"

mixed media home decor

12x12" layout "Bloom"

12x12" layout "Two of a Kind"

Fourth of July card

12x12" layout "Trees of Summer"

12x12" layout "Chillaxin' at Home"

"Colors at the Zoo" tag mini album

12x12" layout "Ten Names"

12x12" layout "The Corn Maze"

autumn-themed art journal

12x12" layout "Making a Splash!"

12x12" layout "Family"

"Sweet" Christmas card

Thanks for looking!  If you want more information about one of these projects, click the link below it.

Rulers and Liebsters

Before I address today's topic--ruler motifs--I get to spread a little love!  See, I recently received the Liebster Blog Award from the fabulous Sam Wright.  This is what she had to say: "Denise is soo kind she always comments on my posts even when I talk a load of nonsense half the time :-) She always has such kind comments!"   Aw, I feel "liebed."  When reading blogs, I do always try to give specific comments.  I guess what I do is working.  :)

The cool thing about the Liebster Blog Award is that I get to pass it on to five other bloggers.  (That's what I meant about spreading a little love.)  The only requirement is that each blog I choose must have fewer than two hundred followers.  Here are my choices:

1.  Danni Read. Danni, a designer for October Afternoon, creates fun, colorful projects.  She took a break from blogging for awhile, but now she's back.  So, if you haven't checked out her new blog yet, now is a great time to do so!

2.  Nina of Nina's Cupcakes.  I do not limit my blog reading to craft blogs.  Since one of my other passions is baking, I enjoy reading Nina's blog.  She probably wonders who the crazy scrapbooker is who keeps leaving her comments.  :)  Well, I just want her to know that she totally inspires me, with recipes like cookie dough brownies, sugar cookie bars, cherry cupcakes...is your mouth watering yet?  :)  

3.  Anupama Choudary of Scrapbooks from India.   Anupama is one of the first people I met on the Color Room Ning.  She has always been very friendly, supportive, and encouraging.  Her gorgeous, richly detailed layouts are a must-see.

4.  Cathy Lane.  I first learned about Cathy's blog via the challenge site Scrap Africa.  Her work is so stunning, you have simply got to see it for yourself!

5.  Dani Cristina.  I met Dani through the challenge site Scrap for Help, where I love seeing her creative work.  She makes me think about my supplies in a whole new way.  Check out her blog--she's sure to inspire you!  

Congratulations Danni, Nina, Anupama, Cathy, and Dani!  If you wish, you may each pass the Liebster Blog Award on to five other bloggers.

Now, on to today's topic...rulers.  Images of rulers and tape measures have been trendy for awhile now, but lately it seems like every paper collection I buy has images of rulers.  To celebrate this reinvigorated trend, I'd like to share with you a card and a layout that I recently made.

First up is the card (below).  The ruler paper comes from the "Celebrate" line by Authentique Paper.

Supplies: blue paper (Lily Bee), ruler paper (Authentique), alphabet stickers (Bella Blvd), rub-ons (October Afternoon), pen (Zig), corner rounder (Creative Memories).

Here (below) is the inside of the card.  To provide writing space, I adhered an October Afternoon journaling card.

 

Next up is the layout (below), which is called "Country School."  The rulers on it are all cut from paper in the "Farmhouse" line by October Afternoon.  Check out how cute my husband was when he was in primary school!

Supplies: papers, die-cuts, rub-ons, and black button (all from October Afternoon); wooden button (Blumenthal Lansing); alphabet stickers (Crate); ink (Autumn Leaves/Stampology); pen (Zig); thread (DMC).

The journaling on the layout (above) reads: "Scott's school experience was so different from mine.  His rural school district had just one building for all ages, and he knew every kid in his class.  My suburban district, on the other hand, had twelve schools, and I graduated with four hundred kids!"

So, have you been using ruler images lately?  Link me up--I'd love to see your projects!

Dr. Seuss is on the Loose!

The challenge this week at the October Afternoon blog is to create a project that incorporates any Dr. Seuss quote.  What could be more fun than that!

Supplies: All papers, stickers, and journaling boxes are from October Afternoon.  Pens by Zig.  Decorative scissors by Fiskars.  Corner punch by Creative Memories. Design copyright Denise M. Price

I used some photos from a Dr. Seuss art exhibit, combined with a mix of fun patterned papers in "Dr. Seuss colors" (the colors from The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham).  This was a great way to use up some little tidbits from my pile of OA scraps.  

I had a blast mixing and matching different OA alphabets to spell out my quote, "There is no one alive who is you-er than you."  This quote, from Dr. Seuss's book Happy Birthday to You, is a favorite among scrapbookers.  I'm not the first scrapper to use it, and I won't be the last.  :) 

Thanks for stopping by to look at my layout!  It was a really fun one to create, and I hope it brought a smile to your face.

ETA: This layout way published in the July 2012 issue of ScrapStreet magazine!

Once Upon a Sketch

Supplies: cardstock (Cosmo Cricket); brown patterned paper (Bo Bunny); journaling cards, die cuts, bird stickers, blue button, alphabet stickers, cloud sticker, flag accent, pennant sticker, sunburst sticker (October Afternoon); pen (Sakura Gelly Roll); border sticker, heart sticker, "faces" patterned paper, doily stickers, butterfly stickers (Cosmo Cricket); corner punch (EK Success); roses (Marianne Design); red button (Blumenthal Lansing); white thread (Singer); red thread (DMC); rosebud (Camille Beckman); chalk (Stampin' Up).

The journaling prompt this time around at Once Upon a ... Sketch is: "The focus of your journalling and the theme of your layout has to be based on YOU and something/s that you are really good at. Don't be shy! We are all good at something as small or as big as it might be." 

Since modesty is culturally ingrained in Minnesotans like me, I found this prompt quite challenging.  What I finally decided to do was to write about skills that I share with my grandmothers.  That way, the focus was not on me alone.  I thereby satisfied both my modesty and the OUAS requirements.  :)  I built my layout around an old photo of myself with my two grandmothers, and I wrote: "Like Grandma Dorothy (on the left), I'm organized and creative.  Like Grandma Myla (on the right), I have a good memory and can bake."

As my writing on the pennant sticker indicates, the photo is an old one, from 1998.  Although my grandmothers are no longer with us, I'm pleased that some of their traits live on in the their children and grandchildren, including me.

The Cosmo Cricket girls represent younger versions of my grandmothers and myself.

I loved the creamy, saturated colors of these stickers and die-cuts, so I layered a bunch of them together.

Apparently, roses grow from clouds in my whimsical world.  :)  I had so much fun using chalk last week, I used it again this week.  I used it to give depth and extra color to the paper roses and the Bo Bunny paper.

The pink rosebud is a recycled element.  It comes from the lid of an old lotion container.  I tried to fill my page with feminine images, like roses, butterflies, doilies, and songbirds.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my layout.  Have a great week!

Cheerful Layout / Весёлая страничка (bilingual post)

 ETA: I was a winner!  Thanks so much to everyone who voted for my layout.

Supplies / Материали: green paper / зелёная бумага (Three Bugs in a Rug); buttons, stickers, die-cuts & all other papers / пуговицы, наклейки, бумажные формы и все другие бумаги (October Afternoon); pen / ручка (Zig); corner punch / дырокол угла (Creative Memories); chalk / мел (Stampin' Up); rosette from old hair clip / цветок из старой заколки.

This page is called "Fave Song" (Favorite Song).  I created it using a sketch from the Russian/English blog Keeping the Best.  This sketch is by Kelly Foster, my fellow Minnesotan!  (I don't know her, though.  She lives in the northwoods, whereas I live in the Twin Cities, so we are in different parts of the state.)

Эта страничка называется "Любимая песенка".   Я её сделала по скетчу на русском блоге Сохраняя лучшее.  Автор скетча--Кэлли Фастер.  Она, как и я, гражданка штаты Миннесоты.  (Но я её не знаю.  Она живёт на севере, в лесу, а я живу на юге, в городе.)

When my son was little I loved to sing children's songs to him.  Usually I sang in English (since it's my native language).  But sometimes I sang in Russian or Spanish (languages I studied in school and college).  My son's very favorite song was a Russian one called "Two Cheerful Geese."  I printed the lyrics to the song on my layout.


Когда мой сын был маленьким, я любила петь ему детские песенки.  Обычно я пела по-английски (ведь, это мой родной язык).  Но я иногда пела по-русски и по-испански.  (Эти языки я изучала в школе и в университете.)  Больше всего, мой сын любил русскую песенку "Два весёлых гуся".  Слова этой песенки я печатала на страничку.

This rosette is from a hair clip that I used to wear when I was a child!

Цветок из заколки, которую я надевала в детстве.

The refrain of the song is: "One grey goose, one white goose, two cheerful geese."

Эти слова повторяются в песенке--Один серый, другой белый, два весёлых гуся.

Thanks for looking!

Спасибо за визит!

Harvest Time (Scrap Africa)

ETA: I was a winner!  Thanks so much to everyone who voted for my layout.

 
Hello!  Happy International Women's Day!  This holiday is not really known in the United States, but it's a big day in Russia, where it's also a holiday to celebrate spring.  It snowed here this morning, alas, so unfortunately I don't feel like it's spring yet.

The layout I'm sharing today is for the current sketch challenge at Scrap Africa.  This was a fun sketch involving both horizontal and vertical elements, as well as some botanical motifs, and I enjoyed working with it.  I made a layout for the childhood album that I'm making for my husband.  He grew up on a farm, and this page, called "Harvest Time," sports a photo of his dad using a combine harvester.

Supplies: patterned paper, rub-ons, and buttons by October Afternoon; brown ink by Versa Mark (Tsukineko); black ink by Autumn Leaves (Stampology); tea stain "ink" drops; faux brads by Candi (Craftwork Cards); vintage twine; lace by Jeanette Crews Designs; pen by Zig.

Here are a few close-ups: 

For this cluster, I layered together a flag (trimmed from the brand identification strip at the bottom of a sheet of patterned paper), a twine bow, a button, and a faux brad.  I love these prong-free cardstock brads called "Candi!"  They are so much easier to use than regular brads.

I made the title with rub-ons, then "underlined" it with a paper strip, twine, and another faux brad.  I added some splatters--here and also in other places on the page--for an "antique" look.

I tucked a loop of lace under the topmost of my three journaling/decorative cards.  There is another loop of lace under the bottom card.

I had so much fun filling each of the three cards with little goodies.  The bottom card houses my journaling, which reads: "Scott's parents grew wheat, oats, barley, and rye.  They also raised hogs and beef cattle.  Harvest time = lots of work!"

Thanks for stopping by to look at my page.  I hope you will get a chance to check out the other challenge participants' layouts as well.

"Yummy" Card / "Вкусная" открытка (bilingual post)

Today I'm combining two challenges: the one-hundredth Color Room palette (Сongratulations to them on this milestone!) and a food-themed challenge at the Russian site Scrap Memory.  I made a Christmas card.

Объединяю сегодня два челленджа: палитру сайта The Color Room (Это у них 100ая палитра--их поздравляю!) и задание "вкусное" на блоге ScrapMemory.   Рождественскую открытку сделала.

Supplies / Материалы: card base / картон (Yours Truly by Archivers), snowflake paper / бумага со снежинками (Bo Bunny), faux button card paper / бумага со словом "BUTTONS" (October Afternoon), all other paper / остальные бумаги (Crate), tiny tag / микро-тег (My Mind's Eye), stickers / наклейки (Authentique),  buttons / пуговицы (Blumenthal Lansing), thread / ниточки (DMC), ink / чернила (Versa Color), gauze / марля (Johnson & Johnson).

I'll end this post with a couple of detail photos.  Thanks for looking!

Заканчиваю с фотографиями деталей.  Спасибо за визит!

peppermint candy / мятная конфетка

gingerbread man / пряничный человечек