Mixing it Up with Pocket pages and 12 x 12 with Melinda

Howdy and happy Hump Day!

Hope your week has been kind to you so far, I know the beginnings of my weeks are always super busy.

However, here in WA we had a public holiday and I spent the day at Adventure World with my family, so today only feels like Tuesday!

I have a bit of a different share for you today but first, here are the photos of my 2 pages

that I created using the adorable PhotoPlay Boys Rule collection pack.

Yep, that is a 12x12 page and a pocket style page. Here is a little of the back story!

I like to have something in the boys' albums for each month to sum up what life was like for them that month.

I've found the best way for me to achieve that is to include a few small stories in a pocket page that make up their every day (like in this spread of Hunter setting the dinner table).

Then I do 12x12 pages with the bigger kind of stories (like this month his first day at 3-year-old Kindy). Depending on the month I have 1 or 12 lol

I'm not a huge "this is a really cute photo, I've gotta scrap it" kind of person,

I'm more of a "this is a great story and I have this awesome photo that goes with it" kind of scrapper

which works really well for me.

How do you like to get your stories in your albums?

Are you more of a "this is just an adorable photo" kind of scrapper?

I love learning what inspires others!!

So, I made a process video for this which you can see here.

My very first step was choosing which 12x12 paper I wanted to use for my background

and making sure that I included that as the title card for the pocket page spread.

I tossed up between the "Seeing Stars" and the "Mr Mischief" papers from the collection pack

and ultimately decided the photos popped more on the "Mr Mischief".

I now had a starting point!

I started on my pocket page and picked patterned papers that I thought would work really well then cut them to size (using some of the cut-aparts but also just chopping down some of the 12x12 papers).

I love the continuity over the pocket page and the 12x12 page.

I've used the Heidi Swapp Black Glitter Chipboard Letter Stickers for my title on both pages.

I've used quite a few of the stickers from the Boys Rule collection pack sticker sheet on both pages as well, I love all those little stars that I could sprinkle across both pages!

I worked on 3 areas of embellishment on my 12x12 page layering, a few bits of papers and quite a few stickers. I've also popped up a couple of the stickers to give more dimension and interest to the page.

My very final steps were adding a few stickers from Heidi Swapp's Puffy Stickers sheet,

my journalling in 2 places, and some Bling splatters using my Colour Shimmer Pot by Colour Blast!

I'm super happy with how this spread came together, and even happier that I now have these photos

out of the photo storage box and into Hunter's album!

Thank you, as always, for stopping by,

until next time, happy scrapping!!

Melinda

Catching Up on 2017 Project Life ~ Week 12 with Melinda

Welcome to the ScrappingClearly blog!!
Today I am sharing a 2017 Project Life spread for which I have done a bit of a "ScrappingClearly Stash Dive" to find supplies.

The Project Life style of memory keeping, with pocket pages, is quick and allows lots of space for story-telling if that appeals to you.
I love the variety of page sizes and pocket orientation available too
it just makes it so easy, which is great if you have a busy life!

I've started with the following goodies and I will link to the store both here and where they appear throughout my blog post. I also have a process video up HERE on the ScrappingClearly YT channel which I would love for you to check out!!

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - "Bold" 12 x 12 paper

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - "High Five" 12 x 12 paper
Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - "Wowzers" 12 x 12 paper

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - "You Rule" 12 x 12 paper

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - Mini Alpha Stickers

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - Cardstock Sticker Phrases

Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - Ephemera
Pink Fresh Studio - Boys Fort - Printed Veneer Stickers
Teresa Collins - Something Wonderful - Washi Tape

Teresa Collins - Something Wonderful - Ephemera Tags

Teresa Collins - Something Wonderful - Photo Overlays

Heidi Swapp - Wood Veneer

Studio Calico - Brighton Pier - Wood Veneer
White Gesso
Distress Oxide Ink - Faded Jeans

And here are my pages, first up is the left hand side

On this side I have used the "Wowzers", "High Five" and "You Rule" papers from Pink Fresh Studio as my cards. I've also used some of the Mini Alpha Stickers, ephemera pieces and also the Sticker Phrases from the same collection. A little washi and some veneer pieces from this pack by Heidi Swapp and this pack by Studio Calico. Some journalling and date stamps and the left hand side is done.

Here are a few close ups of this side

And here is the right hand side

On this side I have used 3 of the ephemera tags by Teresa Collins for the cards and cut a piece of the "Bold" patterned paper to 3x4 for my title card. I didn't feel like I needed heaps of extras on this side but I have used the photo overlay on the bottom left hand photo, a couple of ephemera pieces and one of the printed veneer stickers. The bottom right photo is a flip pocket and on the inside I have a piece of the "Wowzers" patterned paper for my card and also one of the Studio Calico wood veneer pieces.

On my title card I have used another of the Heidi Swapp veneer pieces, covered it with 3 coats of white gesso and used a stamp from my stash with Faded Jeans Distress Oxide Ink. Some washi, mini alpha stickers and a couple of the ephemera pieces and this page is all done too!

Here are a couple of close ups including one of the flip pocket opened

It feels so good going back and getting these pages done!
Slow and steady and in the album is way more important than "perfect" to me
and I am happy in that place right now!

I had lots of fun mixing and matching all of these different pieces together and really like the way it all came together in the end. I hope I inspire you to get some more stories documented and until next time, happy scrapping.

Melinda

December Daily 2016 - Catch Up with Melinda

Hello there ScrappingClearly fans!!
Melinda here with you today sharing some more of our 2016 December Daily album. 

As I have been working on this years album I have pulled out all of my Christmas supplies
including the gorgeous Pink Fresh Oh Joy Collection that I received last year from Kylie!!
Follow the link and you can find all of the bits still available!

I have 5 pages to share with you today, all of which are pretty simple but, all tell a December story.
I am loving how this album is coming together so far!

First up, I'll share the pages exactly as they sit in my album,
then I'll give you a close look at each page with a bit of "this is what I did/used" with each!
I hope you enjoy!

Up first was our day 16, on the left, and day 17 on the right.
I do still need to finish off the back of day 17, but it has a friend's child
and I didn't want to share without permission. 

The next pages I have to show you are for day 19.
Yep, you did read correctly, I jumped from 17 to 19.
All good however, I know where I have gaps but, I have all my photo's printed
so it's easy for me to go back and complete!!
If you are struggling with your own DD (current or past!) this year,
I have found having the photos at least printed and in pockets helps immensely!

And the last page I have to share is the back of our day 19 - Santa photos.

So, here are the close ups and some more info!

Day 16

First day of our school holidays last year and Pixie our Scout Elf decided it was a good idea to have a movie day!
I'm not loving how that photo ended up getting cut where it did but it's in the album
and I can always re-crop and change it out if it bothers me that much!

For this page I have used some of the gold foiled phrase stickers, some of the Oh Joy Puffy Stickers a 3x4 card I cut from the 6x6 Paper Pad and also a 3x4 card cut from the B side of the Oh Joy 12x12 Winter Wonderland Paper.

I wanted that house with the 16 to pop a little so I grabbed a small white doily and my Bling Colour Shimmer Pot and painted away. With the leftover paint I added splatters on the grey card and also on the 6x8 facing page.

Day 17
This one started with a piece cut from the Oh Joy 12x12 Winter Wonderland Paper cut to about 5 3/4" x 7 3/4" and mounted on white cardstock. I've used 2 of the Oh Joy Acetate Die Cuts and for my number have used some red alphas from my stash.

Day 19 (page 1)

I simply printed my 2 photos at 3x4 and slipped them straight into the pocket. The bottom 6x4 card was cut from a sheet in the Oh Joy 6x6 Paper Pad.

 I've used some number stamps and a punch from my stash on one of my offcuts from the paper pad to stamp out the day and used a pop dot to adhere on the O in season. Journalling, a phrase sticker and a stamp with gold ink and done!

Day 19 (page 2) 

I always like to include individual photos of my boys with Santa as well as one of the 3 of them.
This is one of my most fave traditions and I've loved seeing the way they react to Santa and how their belief changes and grows each year! This was pretty simple as well - I printed this at 5x7, grabbed a page protector, used some washi and re-punched some holes. A couple of really quick embellishments including another of those punched stars.

And last but not least, me and Santa! I do at some point include a photo of me with Santa.
I love the magic and wonder that go hand in hand with believing and how that believing turns into magic for others. Again, a couple of super quick embellishments including an Oh Joy Puffy Sticker, and calling it done!

I am loving how this album is coming together and can't wait to get a "proper" start on this year's albums as well. Like I said, I've printed my photos up to Thursday and know what stories I will be telling. I will stumble a little when I get to Saturday, I had my Aunty's wedding which was great but also my niece babysat my boys and I got a few great photos from her!! Decisions, decisions!! Haha!

I hope you are having a fabulous December regardless of whether you document each day or just your faves. Remember to pop over to the store, you can do a really quick search for "Christmas" and all the Christmas goodies will pop up! In fact, I've already done it for you, just click on the "Christmas" above and it will take you straight to the search results!!

I will be back again on Boxing Day so have a fabulous Christmas, enjoy your day however you may spend it and stay scrappy!!

Melinda

We Visited The Shop! And the Mini Album is Coming Along.

Good Morning Arty Peeps!

Hope you are finding some creative time in your days.

I am surprised at how much extra time I have just from not making lunches

and doing drop off and pick up, so, while the kids are on school holidays,

I have been working on my Vicki Boutin mini-album inspired by this gorgeous book of Lisa's. 

If you remember, I pre-made some pages,

and today I am sharing with you the first few I have put together.

I'm not sure yet whether I can manage to make it chronological,

or if that will even matter to me.

For now, they are not in any particular order.

 I started with this pre-made page decorated with Dylusions.

And, discovering that I would not have the space to put

all the photos I wanted to use, I added a pocket page in the middle.

I had to punch some new holes so it would fit in the album.

These pics are of my most recent retreat, to The Dandenongs.

Biggest road trip yet for scrappy purposes. So much fun!

It was one of those retreats where I met (in real life) so many

people I have known online for years. Amazing!

We even got to stop in at the Scrapping Clearly store, TWICE!

It is the best stocked scrapping/art store I have ever seen,

seriously chockas full of variety and quality goods.

And as if that weren't enough, Kylie is just so delightful,

full of country charm and hospitality.

I hand wrote some large journalling on the bottom of the pocket page

with our Scrapping Clearly pic because I realised I had to hide a couple of naughty photos

(they are inside, so as not to offend), and didn't have any more pics.

A fair bit of risque behaviour happens when you get a big room

filled with excited, and excitable, women!

Stay tuned for another update on this little album,

I'm having a great time reminiscing on all the scrappy getaways I've had

over the last ten years or so. Feeling blessed.

Til next time,

stay arty,

Peg's Mood Board

Hey there Arty Peeps!
Happy Star Wars day, so my nerdy friends tell me.

I'm here today to share my May mood board page with y'all. I was inspired by the colours in this one and simply had to scrap the story of my youngest boy's new bedroom colour.

Still creating lots of 12 x 12 backgrounds with my Distress Oxides, I decided to cut one up in squares and lay them like tiles on the back side of this patterned paper I had misted and inked. My page title is this adorable paper clip, currently on special in the shop.

I used these gorgeous stamps with Archival ink to make the hashtag banners, and  made it look like I attached them using my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher. I finished off my Cocoa Vanilla flairs and vellum stars to embellish. I love finishing packs of things! That foil card under my banners I cut in half and used it under my embellishments at the bottom right as well.

Here's my finished page. here you can also see the ghost frame I cut in two and matted my pics on, another pack of something finished, yay!

And, since I had more pics I wanted to use I made a 6 x 8 pocket page insert, this is the front and back. It will go next to the big page in my regular 12 x 12 album.

Here is the mood board.

Have fun with it!

Thanks for coming by,

til next time, stay scrappy,

Sketch Plus

 Hello Scrappers and Arty peeps

Peg here to share my take on the sketch for this month.

I was lucky enough to spend my birthday in Sydney this year, having a weekend catch up with some girls I had not seen for a very long time.

While there I visited the Ah-maz-ing exibits at the Art Gallery of NSW, always such an inspiring place to see. My page is about that trip but since there were so many pics I did a pocket page to go with the full size 12" x 12".

Here's the sketch... If you click on it you'll go straight to the FB folder where you can see the entries and upload your own.

Here's my page...

Materials - Bazzill Marshmallow (heavy weight) cardstock, Dylusions Mica sprays, Dear Lizzy Happy Place patterned papers, Heidi Swapp Color Shine (teal), black Archival inkpad, some tape and distress stain, and theTim Holtz tiny attacher.

Here is a close up of the mica spray coming through the distress ink, so cool!

And here is what the two pages look like side by side.

I used the same patterned papers and added a rosette and wood veneer word as embellies.

I hope you come and play with us this month. Remember, if you played along last month you are getting close to an entry in the Big Prize for joining us 3 months in a row!

Til next time, happy creating,

Scrapping Loss

Hi Scrapping Clearly friends and fans, hope all's well with you today.

I'm here today to share two projects I did using the Simple Stories 'Heart' Simple Set. This range had me digging out old photos that hadn't been scrapped due to emotional feelings of loss. Absolutely great for that push to get some really important memory pages done.

My first was a pocket page. I had so many photos and didn't really want to leave any out, since they are all slightly different and Gran is no longer with us. This format is perfect to fit in heaps without making the page look overwhelming.

I used a BellaRouge transparent alpha for my title, everything else came out of the Simple Stories kit.

My next project was a standard 12 x 12 layout. 

I did a mixed media background using Colour Blast 'Bling' paste through The Crafters Workshop mini Art Is stencil, then misted Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Navy lightly over the middle. Not fussed with this look, I took a wet wipe and spread out the Color Shine which softened it considerably and also created a nice white outline around my script paste. I then added some splats with the colour shine, this stuff has divine shimmer! So does the Colour Blast paste!

I coloured up some muslin with Tattered Angels 'Walnut Gold' Glimmer Mist and used it as a mat for my photo. I used a small Heidi Swapp Ghost frame to highlight a smaller picture, I love these because they are quite subtle due to their transparency. 

I cut the glittery ends off Heidi Swapp Decorative Glitter Tags and tucked them under each side of my pic and used a patterned paper off cut from Simple Stories pack at the bottom. PaperMate correction tape (WideLine) gave me journalling lines which I outlined to make stand out better.

I am so glad I had this Simple Stories pack to work with. I never would have chosen it myself but it gave me the opportunity to scrap some really important pages for my album. You know, I never even knew anyone had a range like this!

Thanks Kylie xx