Simple Detashing Idea for January: Mosaic Patterns with Scraps

ETA: I'm also linking up this week with Shopping Our Stash,  where the challenge is to make a love-themed project, and Snippets Plaground #161, the place where scrap (snippet) lovers play.

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; patterned paper from My Mind's Eye; stamp from Unity; stamping ink from Clearsnap; edging ink from Autumn Leaves/Stampology.

Hi, everyone!  It's time for my first de-stashing post of the year.  In keeping with my plans to simplify things in 2015, I'm bringing you an idea that is simple yet versatile: using scraps to create a mosaic effect.  I used this mosaic technique to make the Valentine card that you see above.

The idea for the Valentine came from this card, which is one of my favorite creations from 2014.  I used boldly patterned scraps for the 2014 card, but I got a totally different look by choosing romantic/shabby chic scraps for the Valentine card.

I left the 2014 card unembellished, but I added a tidbit of decoration to the 2015 card, with this doily cut-out and stamped heart.  Really, you can get so many different looks from this one mosaic technique, just by varying the size and pattern of the paper scraps and adding (or not adding) a little embellishment.  Plus, this technique is a quick and fun way to use up scraps.  Let me know if you give the technique a try.

Top 14 of 2014

Hello, everyone!  We're only a couple weeks into 2015, but I hope that the new year is treating you well so far.  I've taken some time to reflect on my body of work from 2014, and I've come up with a list of my favorite projects.  Here it is, my "Top 14 of 2014."

Blogged here.

1.) My son left me a sticky note on this scrapbook page after he saw it.  The note says, "Dear Mom, Awesome!  I mean it!"  How could this not be my favorite project of the year???

 

Blogged here.

2.) This page celebrates the other special guy in my life, my husband.  Plus, I feel like I captured the romantic feeling of our anniversary really well in this page.

 

Blogged here.

3.) I also used the romantic style for this tag mini book, a project that turned out to be both beautiful and useful.

Blogged here.

 4.) In contrast to the romantic style of the last two projects, my favorite card of the year has a strong graphic style.  It was a great way to showcase that patterned paper that we all love.

 

Blogged here.

5.) I'm also proud of the strong graphic design of this page.  Plus, I always enjoy documenting my family's obsession with passion for kung fu.

Blogged here.

 6.) I'm happy that I was able to include so much journaling on this page.

Blogged here.

 7.) There is quite a bit of journaling on this one as well, plus I liked being able to include so many photos.

 

Blogged here.

8.) This computer banner made a great surprise for my husband on Valentine's Day.

Blogged here.

 9.) This gift card holder was also a great surprise, this time for a friend's birthday.  (The friend is a physics/astronomy teacher, so the star chart paper was a big hit.)

Blogged here.

 10.) The bold mix of colors and patterns on this page makes it a favorite of mine.

Blogged here.

11.) I also like the colors and pattern play on this one.

Blogged here.

12.  And, in contrast to the previous two projects, I liked using lighter colors and an airier design on this card.

Blogged here.

13.) In 2014 I often made cards in coordinating sets, something I hope to continue doing in 2015.  This set is my favorite from last year.

Blogged here.

14.) Finally, this page was just plain fun--fun to make and fun to look at.  And fun is what it's all about, right?  Right!

Toward a Simpler 2015

Christmas is over, but here is a scrapbook page that gives you a peek at how I decorated for Christmas 2014.

Supplies: border stickers, alphabet stickers, journaling card, die cuts, & flair badge from October Afternoon; doily from Royal; photo mat paper from Provo Craft; striped background paper from Little Yellow Bicycle; check list sticker from Bella Blvd; pens from Zig; upcycled tabletop confetti snowflakes.

Have you put your holiday decorations away?  Some people like to put them away quickly, while others like to leave them out for quite awhile.  I fall somewhere in the middle, usually putting my Christmas decorations away the first weekend after New Year's.  This year, I didn't have much to put away...

As the journaling on this layout indicates, our family didn't put up our big tree for Christmas 2014.  We all had bad colds at the beginning of December, and decorating just seemed like too much of a hassle.  So we put out Santa Bear and a tiny tabletop tree instead.

I kind of feel like this sticker was made for this page.  :)

You know what?  I actually liked the simplicity of not decorating much for Christmas.  I'm not saying that I'll do it this way every Christmas, but it is nice to go easy on yourself every now and then.

Blog-wise, I am also simplifying.  My life is about to get a lot busier, as I'll be taking a graduate course during spring semester.  Some of my normal blogging time is going to turn into study time.  Basically, there will be three changes to my blog: 

1. I'll still be blogging, just not as often.  
2.  I won't be seeking any design team positions at this time.
3. I'll still write monthly destashing posts, but they will no longer be scheduled for the tenth of each month.

Simple can be good, and I'm looking forward to this new year.  I hope you'll stick with me as my blog changes and evolves.  No matter what happens, my love for papercrafts will never change.  :) 

"Vintage" Recipe Page

Hello, everyone!  I'm joining Elizabeth & Bleubeard's T is for Tuesday link party again this week.  Last week I was inspired by T-Tuesday participant Mo, who shared pages from an old Betty Crocker cookbook.  I realized that I have a similar cook book, and I want to share a bit of it today.

This is Betty Crocker's New Dinner for Two cookbook.  Well, it was new in 1964.  :)  I like it and still use it from time to time.  Most of the recipes are quick and simple.  That's my favorite kind of recipe! 

I checked to see whether there were any tea-related recipes in my cookbook.  Though I didn't find and mention of tea, there is a whole page of advice on how to prepare and serve coffee.  And the illustration is adorable, don't you think so?

Supplies: album page from Hallmark; red alphabet stickers, woodgrain alphabet stickers, patterned paper, buttons, & die cuts from October Afternoon; all other stickers from Cosmo Cricket; stamp from PSX; mini envelope from Colorbok; ink from Hero Arts; punch from Creative Memories; thread from Singer; pens from Zig.

Seeing the recipes in my old cookbook reminded me of this scrapbook page that I've had in my draft file for ages.  I'm glad that I'm getting around to sharing it at last.  I created this page at a free class put on jointly by my local library and the Minnesota Historical Society.  It was a class about documenting cherished family recipes on scrapbook pages.  The class was great, with a friendly, knowledgeable teacher.  Lots of materials were available for use in class, including that darling cow cut-out, which is reproduced from a vintage Minnesota cookbook.  If the library ever offers a similar class, I'll definitely sign up again.

I hope that you've enjoyed this vintage-vibe post today.  It's freezing cold here in Minnesota today, so I'll definitely be curling up with a hot cup of tea soon.  Happy T Day!

Thank you, CPC!

Looking for my T-Day post?  Click here.

I mentioned recently that, sadly, Child's Play Challenges will close down at the end of 2014.  Being a member of this team has been a wonderful experience for me.  The toy-related inspiration prompts suit my fun-loving personality and my playful scrap style perfectly.

An additional benefit of being a design team member has been the exposure my work has gotten via the CPC Facebook page.  I'm honored to have had my layouts featured FIVE times over the last year on the Facebook page, and I thought it would be fun to share screen caps on my blog.  The one above is from my absolute favorite CPC challenge--Colorforms.

Here is a page that I created for the Lego prompt.

You can see how the colors of The Cat in the Hat inspired this page.

The CPC Hot Wheels prompt inspired this brightly-colored page.

Last but not least, here's a page inspired by the Scooby Doo prompt.

I just want to say a public thank you to Child's Play Challenges for having me on their team this year and for choosing to spotlight my work on their Facebook page.

I also want to remind all of you that our final two challenges are still open on the Child's Play blog.  You have until the end of the month to create a scrapbook layout inspired by our Polar Express challenge and/or our Lite-Brite challenge.  If you're looking for some fun inspiration, be sure to check out these challenges.  Happy scrapping!

A Scrappy Dinosaur

Hello to the "T is for Tuesday" crew, as well as to anyone else who is reading this.  Today is our day for sharing beverage-related posts.  Here I have a photo from an outing that took place just a few days before Christmas.  I gathered with friends for coffee, treats, and crafting time.  As I visited with my friends, I sewed together a "Feltosaurus."

Here is the finished product!  (The colors are truer in this photo than in the previous one, which has a yellowish cast from the lights at the shop.)  I used a pattern from Mollie Makes issue 37 for this cute dinosaur.

This project is a bit different for me, and I enjoyed the change of pace.  And since I used buttons from old clothes and fabric scraps left over from previous projects, it is still a scrappy project, even if it's not scrapbooking.  :)

My son received Feltosaurus as a stocking stuffer gift, and he loves it!  I hope you enjoyed meeting Feltosaurus, too.  I'll leave you with this photo of his kooky grin.  :)

I Love Christmas Cards, Part Two

ETA: this card set won the final Color Room challenge!

December is a fun time for receiving cards in the mail, and it's a great time for making them, too.

Supplies: red thread & all patterned paper from Canvas Corp.; blue thread from DMC; ink from Hero Arts; stamp from Savvy Stamps; flair badge from Lawn Fawn; Candi dots from Craftwork; tape from Love My Tapes; paint from DecoArt; red stickers from October Afternoon; all other stickers from Echo Park; corner punch from Creative Memories; upcycled bubble wrap & blue wrapping paper.

I loved this month's bright color combo at The Color Room, and I was especially inspired by how TCR design team member Sanna Lippert made three coordinating cards.  As you saw above, I felt compelled to make three cards as well.

Card #1 is a Christmas card.  I got some design ideas from this snack packaging, as far as the overlapping strips go.  :)

Card #2 is a birthday card.  I used one of my current favorite stamps, that cute little penguin.

Card #3 is a Christmas/New Year's card.  People say that penguins can't really fly, but this little penguin flew all the way to Russia...

...to the home of my friend, fellow paper crafter Irina Rakovets.  You can check out her blog to see her post about the handmade card exchange that she and I did this year.  (Thanks again, Irina!!!)

To close out this post, I want to say a special thank you to The Color Room.  This is their final challenge, one of many that has inspired me over the years.  In fact, TCR challenges were the very first ones I ever took part in--even before I had my own blog.  I have loved playing along with TCR, even more so this past year when they added a requirement to use upcycled/household materials for each challenge.  (By the way, did you spot the upcycled scraps of blue wrapping paper on each of my cards?)  TCR girls, thanks for all the wonderful memories and inspiration.  As I said in my OUAS post ("I Love Christmas Cards, Part One") this isn't good bye.  I'm sure I'll still see you ladies around the Internet.  :)

I Love Christmas Cards (OUAS)

Every Christmas I get cool cards from friends all over the world.  Over the years, I've used many different methods for saving the cards in my scrapbooks.  I've tried scrapping all the cards, but that takes more than one page.  I've tried putting all the cards in a clear pocket, but that makes for a bulky page.  Last year, I cut out my friends' signatures from the cards, and that worked really well, making for a fun, interesting, sleek page.  I decided to do something similar this year, cutting out and scrapping bits and pieces from my friends' cards, as well as one complete red envelope.

Supplies: mitten paper & dotted paper from Lawn Fawn; snowflake paper, border sticker, & journaling spot from October Afternoon; alphabet stickers from Imaginisce; rhinestones from Dee's Place; pen from Zig.

To design the page, I used this sketch from Once Upon A Sketch, where the theme for the month is "It's December..."  I substituted the red envelope for the photo (since they're about the same size), and I journaled on the envelope. 

I filled in the rest of the journaling/embellishment area with the bits and pieces trimmed from the cards.  Here you can see Christmas greetings in English, French, Dutch, German, Polish, Russian, and Hungarian.

The pièce de résistance is this paper star, which one of my friends created from folded tea bag wrappers and a pretty button.  She did such a fabulous job on it, I just had to feature it prominently on my page.

Creating an international-themed project seemed especially appropriate this month, to honor OUAS's international team on the occasion of their final challenge.  Thanks for all the great memories, OUAS.  This is not good bye; I'm sure we'll be seeing each other around the Internet.  :)