Wildflower Blog Share

Today I'm excited be a part of the Clique Kits Wildflower Blog Share hop.  It all started with Gia who sent us a pile of fun Carta Bella Wildflower papers along with a bag full of embellishment goodies.  A few days later Lacey sent us an envelope of custom designed die cuts and flair to go with the Wildflower papers we received.

Here is the quote the challenge is based on: "May your life be like a wild flower...Growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day"- Native American Proverb Challenge: Use something "wild" on your page. Literal interpreatation: a wild animal or plant.  Figurative interpretation: something unique/different for YOU!

You should have arrived here from Lacey's blog.  If you didn't, be sure and go back and check out her projects.

I received so much product I couldn't stop myself.  I'll start with a couple of layouts:

What's so wild about this layout?  The moose head and moose sticker I used to embellish this layout of some of my favorite summer blooms.  The literal interpretation.  I also hand-sewed a circle to further frame my layout.

I love the ombre color of this paper.  My wild element here is using the mesh ribbon from the kit as first, a stencil and then second, as an embellishment.  I used the Perfect Pearls powder with Watermark ink for the stenciling.  To the kit I added crimped, gray cardstock, burlap, and a gray flower with some machine-sewing to complete this page.

 

 

I made a couple of cards as well.  I used bits and pieces of papers, embellishments, flair and even feathers to make these two cards.  Feathers and the little fox are the wild elements on these.

 I also made a couple of ATCs as well.  I used the mesh ribbon with some texture paste to make the plain cardstock more interesting.  I made a color mist with the Perfect Pearls mixed into some water in a spritzer bottle.  I used some of the layered flowers I made for the project below to finish these off.

 And finally what I'm calling a chunky tag.  Fun, huh?

Here's how it started.  I took a piece of wood, three inches wide, six inches long and not quite an inch thick.

I made paint mixing the Perfect Pearls powder with some water.  I painted it on with a brush, allowing it to dry between coats.

I die cut a bunch of flowers with my Tim Holtz tattered florals mini die.

I layered up the flowers after inking and added Glitz rhinestones to the centers.

The little "art doll" is my wild element.  I've never made one of these before.  I picked up the die a few weeks ago in the clearance bin at ACMoore.  

 
I layered on the mesh ribbon, the photo frame die, leaf die, flowers, and a butterfly from my stash.  The flower angel wings are Tim Holtz grunge board covered with Distress Crackle paint and dabber.

 I added a button on top and bottle cap feet.  This garden angel chunky tag makes me think of spring.  Anything that makes me think of spring when we just got a foot of snow and have temps in the single digits is very good.  :)

So, if you're still with me here, thanks for checking out my projects!  Next up, Cathie's blog.  Be sure to leave me a comment and follow me for more chances to win this fabulous prize.

Gone Typo Theme Set (Collection by Hazel & Ruby) with coordinating embellishments and mini album.

 Every blog you leave a comment on enters you to win the prize. Share on Facebook for an extra entry. 

 Be happy, get scrappy!

Jenn

i did it!!

I actually completed my December Daily.  I printed all the photos, I put them in, added the journaling.  Yes, I really did. 

I'm usually not so great with these open-ended projects.  I often start with great intentions and motivation and get distracted by more fun projects along the way.  I think the keys to my success were:  Creating my Daily in advance--it wasn't all done before the beginning of December but it was all complete before the end of the month.  Making a list of the photos as I went along--my memory isn't what it used to be so jotting down each day's activity really helped.  Having to blog about it for MemoryWorks--always a good motivator.  Thanks to these things I finished my Daily and am very proud of myself. 

I blogged previously some of my pages.  Here are a few more.

 My completed Daily.  It ended up being quite chunky.  Chunky is always good.  :)

Like many of the other designers I included a calendar for the month.  Of course if I had thought I might use this in my Daily I most likely would not have written in BIG, brown Sharpie the reminder for bagged leaf pick-up.  It was moot anyway, there was snow on the ground and we couldn't rake let-alone have the township pick up our bagged leaves.

 Simple pages, good reminders.

 We didn't actually open gifts with our kids till the 28th, so I did most of my shopping after Christmas and didn't fill up under the tree until then.

 I left several pages for Dec 28th since I knew we'd be opening gifts with the kids then hosting my husband's family get-together.

 Ugh, the glare from the pockets.  I don't know how to avoid that in my photos.

 Here I placed an acrylic sheet from some winter gel cling packaging over my page.  It fit perfectly and has this nifty snowflake border.

I finished on a good note with a New Year's Eve selfie. 

As I said, I'm really happy I completed my Daily.  It sits proudly in my scrap space, all ready to look through and remember the month.

Next week I'm privileged to be teaming up with some of the former TeamWorks designers and their new company Clique Kits for a blog share and hop.  We're playing with some great products including custom designed flair and die cuts.  I hope you'll join us!

Be happy, get scrappy!

Jenn

Today's December Daily post

Here is a full copy of my December Daily Memory Works post:

Hey there bloggers, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to you all from southeast PA where it's a blustery cold winter day.  All is as it should be.

Jenn here to share with you my Daily pages for Christmas day.  Yes, I said pages.

Before I get into my pages I'd like to express my delight in seeing the various December Daily styles represented by my fellow design team members.  They are all amazing!  From the altered children's book to the countdown clipboard, to the hand bound books, each designer has showcased products beautifully, shared new and interesting techniques and let us into their world by sharing their days this month.  I love the range of styles and products.  You can't help but be inspired to try something new in your scrapbooks whether you're a traditional scrapper, Project Life-er, love to use mixed media, artsy-fartsy techniques--or all of the above.  :)

Back to my pages.  As I mentioned in previous posts, I pre-designed my Daily.  I was concerned that if I didn't I'd start a Daily and by day 5 it would be tossed to the way-side for more fun, important scrappy/crafty tasks.  In the interests of full disclosure, I didn't finish my pre-design before the month started, and I still have photos to print and put in.  I have scheduled that into my calendar however, so it will be finished within the first couple days of the new year.  During my pre-design process I decided to devote several pages Christmas day.  I couldn't think of one single photo that depicts the day, rather numerous photos to show the progression of the day.

 I started by creating a "chapter page," no photos, just a 3x4" card, old-school heat embossed and a die-cut page with a polka-dot background.

 Embellishment and paper layers.  I took a die-cut 4x6" card and cut it down--yes, you can do that!--so that I show that these photos continue to be from the 25th.  Additionally, I adhered that card to the outside of the protector.  You can do that too.

 Layers, rub-ons, stamps, and punches create these two pages.  Again, I used elements that include the date for a reference point.

 Punches, bits of an old border strip and sequins, lots of sequins.  I didn't plan to put a sequin in every die-cut opening but a few spilled out of the bag onto the layered card and I thought, "Perfect!". 

 Sorry for the glare here, it's hard when you have those divided pocket protectors to get the lighting just right.  The last of the pages.  I took tons of photos however and I'm thinking they'll go into the general scrapbook in divided pages.  There's just so many unforgettable pix I have to include them all.

 A future page--I need to add the date, but in my pre-design phase I included extra pages for days I knew there would be too much to include in one photo.  This page is for the weekend, for the Edwardson-Roberts Shindig when we celebrate Christmas with my husband's family. 

 I acutally stitched right through the protector and one layer of paper.  I used my We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy tool to pierce the protector (the foam mat slipped in so I'd only go through one side) and lightly poked the holes into the paper with my piercer.  Then I hand-sewed the border.  Cool, huh?

I added a backer so you wouldn't see the sewing and made good use of my tools--punches!--to add interest. Again, I layered these on top of the protector so I could go out of bounds.  I find the Beacon 3-in-1 glue adheres to the plastic nicely.















If you've made it this far, thanks!  I had a lot I wanted to say and show.

So, this is it.  My last Memory Works blog post.  I am feeling bittersweet.  I have loved every minute of being on the design team these last two years. I am sad to see it all end.  I look forward to the blog shares and hops that other, former design team members are planning and participating in.  I hope you will follow my personal blog, which you can access from the sidebar here to stay on top of my scrappy adventures.  I hope Kevin and Amber and Simple Stories grow far beyond their dreams.  I thank all the great folks in the office who supported us throughout the years.  And to all my fellow Memory Works consultants, cheers to you!  Best wishes for a blessed New Year.  Thanks Memory Works, it's been wonderful.

Be happy, Get scrappy,

Jenn

December Daily Weekend Edition #2

December Daily post from the MemoryWorks blog... Once again craziness reigned supreme in my life.  Between shopping, cooking, decorating, celebrating, kid's Christmas programs and parties and a couple of inches of snow and ice I took a couple of photos to chronicle the madness-of-it-all.
Friday the 13th...bwahaha...

 I included a pocket here for cards.  I wanted a place to pop all those wonderful photo cards we receive from family and friends and even though they won't all have come on the 13th, it was an opportune spot for this pocket.

When I made my album I was aware of many of the activities we had planned for the month.  I knew for instance, that this weekend would be bookended by church events and I allowed extra space to include photos of those two events.


 

 As you'll quickly notice, I created my album assuming I'd have portrait style photos to pop on those conveniently placed 3x4" cards, but alas, that didn't happen.  No matter.  I just stacked the photos and popped on a stocking and rhinestone word embellishment.

I used a die cut page layered on a pattern paper page for fun and a wood veneer flourish with a holly sprig that I colored and added sequins to.



Shout out to my STARs, who performed their very first puppet show ever, on five weeks of lessons and        practice.  They did a wonderful job.

Saturday...snow and ice.  I decorated my tree, made a big pot of turkey soup and my husband and I went to a party with a white elephant gift exchange.  The box of hardware will be emptied and I'll use the compartments for scrappy organization but that snowman tray is going to find a new home...;)

I put embellishments on both the inside of the pockets as well as the outside.  These snowflakes were stamped, die cut and embellished with more sequins and adhered to the outside of the protector.

 Sunday--Week three of Advent, focused on joy.  The devotional materials are in one pocket.  The photos depict our annual church Christmas Celebration.  The room was packed out as usual, you could barely walk through.  The kids performed their program again and the STARs did their puppet presentation again. 

I love to repeat embellishments, especially in a theme mini, so you'll see lots of these snowflakes dropping down. 

Bonus!  I wanted to share this page topper I made.  Inspiration can be found everywhere.  From the first minute I saw the swag/banner decorations in Target I knew I was going to recreate the effect on a scrapbook page.  If you've shopped your local Target and looked up, you will have noted that there was mostly flat circles with a few 3-D circles mixed in.  I created that look, punching circles, folding them in half and gluing them together to create the 3-D circles.  I embossed some of the circles to add texture and interest. 


Be happy, get scrappy,

Jenn

December Daily--Weekend Catch-up Edition

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend filled with holiday fun!  I sure did.  I'll start by backtracking to my December Daily set-up.
 

I started with a red-spined Sn@p binder, the pages and protectors inside and added to that the December Documented Sn@p pages.  I didn't end up using all the the pages from both sets, so I cut some up and am making good use of all my materials.  I added in the December Sn@p 3x4 cards, the December Documented Designer Cardstock pack, and December Documented Pockets pack along with the 6x6 pad and other bits and pieces from my stash.  I titled my Daily "Waiting for Christmas" to go along with the Advent devotional I'm doing this season.  I layered up papers from the 6x6 pad, cards and pockets with a doily from my stash and ribbon left over from MME Lush collection (which I used for my daughter's wedding album).  I inked everything of course, that's just my style.  I set up my pages thinking about my month, leaving extra space in weekend pages for the extra activities we enjoy then.

There a lot of bits and pieces sticking out, that's also my style.  :)

Onto the weekend.  As you'll see it was all about food and snow. 

I stamped all the day numbers with an old foam stamp set and punched them out with tag punches.  I used my Instax camera to take the pix so they could go right into the album.  

As you can see I've included my Advent devotion right into the pockets of my Daily.  It is important to me to remember the reason we celebrate Christmas and this devotional is helping me stay focused on that in the midst of the constant barrage of materialism this season brings.  It just so happened that this week's message in church mirrored the message in my devotion so I tucked the notes right into the pocket behind my devotion notes. 

 

I created this element by cutting a piece of cardstock 8 1/8" long, 3" wide and scored it at 4" and slid it right into the protector pocket, creating this little flap that allowed for an extra photo and journaling card.  I adhered a Sn@p pocket on the outside to tuck in the devotional notes. 

So that was my weekend.  What about yours?  Did you cook,  bake, decorate, shop, enjoy time with family and friends, or just enjoy some quiet time before the rush?  I pretty much hit all of the above, and love this crazy time of the year. 

Be happy, get scrappy!

Jenn

Heidi Swapp Mixed Company Blog Share

Heidi Swapp Mixed Company Blog Share

"The world is round so that friendship may encircle it"

Confession time.  I don't always read all the instructions.  When I do they go in one brain cell and out the other.  If I don't write it down I'm not responsible to remember.  I just had a birthday so I'm getting old.  All of these combined created my current conundrum.  

I was so excited to be included in this blog share.  I briefly read the instructions.  I got my box of goodies and it sat on my scrap table for days until I had time to open it up.  I was floored by all the product and goodies inside.  It was like Christmas.  Or my birthday.  ;) 

I immediately thought I'd use the paper with the circles as individual elements, and that the friendship quote would be perfect for the photos I took at retreat.  But I didn't write it down.                                                                                               

When I pulled out the pack of goodies during my crop circle time I got caught up in the folder and thought it would make a great mini-album, perfect for the photos from my husband's aunt's recent visit.  Imagine an 85 year old Norwegian woman traveling to the US to visit her 83 year old brother (my father-in-law).  She speaks very little English yet she traveled on her own to spend some time with him this past summer.  I want to be just like her when I grow up.  Adventurous.  I will blog that mini album one day.  

Meanwhile I finally got around to really reading the challenge and instructions for this blog share.  Simple enough:  Use something round!  Hmmm...nothing really round in that mini-album.  Now what?  I know!  I have some great photos from the retreat this summer and those circles would make great embellishments.  So without further ado:

I wish retreat could have lasted forever.  Well, for another week anyway.  Meeting some of the design team members I've worked with online was an experience I'll always remember.  They're even more fabulous in person.  I remember Gia saying my name and I barely recognized her!  Seeing Sheri in the hall and totally recognizing her.  Meeting Janey and Rosann and Meg, as well as many of the consultants whose names I only recognized from the studio.  I now count these women in my circle of friends and what better quote, papers and pix to go together.

 

In addition to the Heidi Swapp Mixed Company product--which includes the fun chevron background paper, the mistable Remember background paper, the mistable banner tag and the aforementioned "Good Times" sheet of circles I used a piece of Bazzil Shimmer cardstock, Heidi Swapp Color Shine mists in Mint Green and Gold, Peacock Feathers Distress Ink, a Le Pen in teal and pieces from the blue blog candy bag that was in the box.  

I guess the circle motif comes out pretty well, huh?  lol  I went all out circles.  I even included the quote on the rim of my large blue circle.

So here's what you need to do.  Leave me a comment.  Make it a nice one.  ;)  Check out Jody Spiegelhoff,  Erica Thompson, and Gia Lau's blogs.  They've all created amazing projects with the Heidi Swapp Mixed Company product.  Leave them nice comments too.  Follow our blogs if you don't already.  Share the posts on Facebook.  Tweet them.  For every comment and follow and share you'll be entered into a drawing.  Gia has put together a really nice Holiday Tag kit for one lucky winner.  Looks something like this.

                                                   

                                                    

Jody has some blog candy she's going to send out as well.  I hear it's sequins.  Who doesn't love sequins? 

So, in the words of my dearest, darling daughter, shake a tail-feather and check out the rest of the blogs.

Be happy, get scrappy,

Jenn