The title could not be helped

It was just one of those aha moments because

I was really stuck on.....

wait for it.

 Guitar man.

Trite but true.

I found that adorable record in a Basic

Grey sticker sheet and it works perfectly.

I also had that itty bitty note punch forEVER

and trite but true decided to toss that in.

 Ta-da!

After staring at the page for the umpteenth time.

The title came.

Bwahahaha love it because

the adorable guitar man is Sam.

Taking after dad.

With two musical parents you can't go wrong.

Studio Calico paper & stamp,  Basic Grey stickers, Thickers,

QK die cut and punches.

Those gold hearts and stars you've seen bounced

around the pages are homemade.

I bought a 12x12 gold glitter paper from HL

and whack away with punches.

Love having a stash of them.

Using every beach die cut I have technique-sort of

Since it works for stamps I figured I'd give

it awhirl for die cuts.

I got carried away cutting them out but in the end I

did use some restraint in putting them on the page.

 I also got carried away with the spare parts flowers.

Originally, flowers were not even remotely a thought to go on the page.

BUT, I needed restraint on the die cuts because

it started to look cartoony.

 So therefore, there is one of each die or maybe a couple of the same.

 The title is Studio Calico and it was a gold-like

color or maybe khaki and it blended in way too much with 

the netting so I dabbed white paint and 

shabby chic'd it up so it can be seen.

I'm also liking the 3 of the same photo going on.

I'm not sure I've ever done this.

Anyone remember? LOL.

And how about working it in on a "background" paper.

Points for that.

An apple a day

Love this paper the moment I saw it but honestly, I

didn't know what to do with it.

I also whacked a strip off  the top to use on another page

that didn't quite make the cut.

Yunk Yunk.

Therefore, I whacked it down to 8.5x11 in order to use it as a page 

and it worked out perfectly.

 I also love the transparent mason jar.

I finally purchased some staz on - so no more smears.

And that apple I had FOREVER - in a chipboard ring

with other fruit that was just too cute to either use or break up.

Well....I wanted an apple.

 The apple had to sort of match the tags/tabs so

Using some really old enamel craftsmart paint I mixed
some red/orange and a bit o'white.

Love the tags too.

They make me swoon.

Okay so tell me does that apple paper rock with the photo or what.

Love - Studio Calico, inkadoo and technique tuesday stamps, 

unknown chipboard apple (and there'll be more fruit).

I'm on a roll with titles on the photo.

Does that happen to you?

You roll with a thing when you do "batch" layouts.

A rainbow of colors

That is just too fun.

Love the stripes - it reminds me of fruit strip gum.

Is that still around???

I don't chew gum anymore. (sigh)

Anyhoo, used a bit of bazzill with punches, lots

of star punches as you will see.

 That tree die cut has been in my die cut/punch stash forever,

so glad I got to use it.

In full disclosure I did dither about with the title.

I just couldn't decide.

I did die cut a couple of titles that hopefully I'll use later.

One was one of those little alphas that you can do all the letters

in one couple of turns by Sissix.

They were too fat and chunky - but adorable all the same.

In fact the 2 is that alpha set.

The other is lemonade by QK.

Majority is Studio Calico stuff paper and PL cards and that 

yellow transparency.

Aren't those two adorable. 

As you can guess

I keyed the colors from their colorful jackets.

Going for a bit of whimsey

My first idea was to make my own cutfile type "stencil"

for lack of a better word by using those spellbinder diecuts

gluing them together and then back them

using the Sassafrass Lass paper.

I wasn't crazy about the outcome when I backed a couple.

It just looked too heavy for the page.

However they are cute to use somewhere else.

However, I did like the bird and those wheel thingies or slices and hearts

so I began fussy cutting, punching, and tossing them about on the page

using the die cuts separately and not backed.

 There are clusters and then some tight clusters going on.

 Sadly that is the end of the Sassafrass Lass paper. I really love it-because its fun.

I'm not sure why I added pink and orange either except I liked it.

I think it plays off the whimsey I was going for

and then I tossed some Heidi shine and Mr Huey mists about.

And that is a sequence of photos of Amelia playing.

I didn't catch that at first when I first saw the photo....that I've had for awhile.

The rest is Studio Calico of course, and that adorable bow punch.

Little mini done!

Remember this post on what to do with overwhelming scraps

well this is book #3. Book #1 went to my pal Holli

and she's still working on it.

However, this is done, finis, complete and love how it turned out.

This is for Jill and I hope she likes it.

I also apologize for the photos as the book is chockfull of stuff

and it wants to pop open at random times....

so therefore, my finger is holding it down and focus

is a bit iffy.

 I used an enormous amount of PL cards and

do-dads and those gi-normous letters

as their initials.

Lots of stash and packaging done and in the garbage

and used! 

Love how it turned out.

Jill sends lots of photos and lately I had been greedy

doing a bunch for me, so I decided

that an album would be fun rather than random pages.

I didn't realize until after I started how many pages were in the book.

Towards the end, I started stapling some together

because honestly, not that I didn't have enough photos BUT

it really would've been TOO much.

As it is, its already fat and won't lay flat and I'm still 

trying to figure out how to "close" it per se.

I'm not sure I have anything strong enough to hold

and also not look real dumb.

Any thoughts?

Travel Album - just add photos

Once again, yes, we are going to head out on another

road trip the end of July and coming home

the end of September. Therefore, a pre-made journal

was in order. I love scrapping on the road and having the album

almost completed when I get home mostly because

I remember everything fresh LOL.

So in this post I talked about cleaning out the ole

scrap box and I did make 3 mini albums and this one is for the trip.

 I rolled with the rings because I wanted to be able to add 

extra pages if I need to and not have to watch if I get carried away.

 I tossed in some envelopes and pockets that I had laying

around forever - got rid of a lot of stash.

 This also reduces the amount of "stuff" I need to take.

This past trip I had way too much (if that's possible) and it

was overwhelming. I had stuff I never used, stuff I wish I'd have

brought and not enough of some stuff.

I also couldn't find stuff when I needed stuff which was really

annoying, so therefore, stuff will be limited this time.

 I use the Canon Selphy to print as I go. It makes really

lovely photos from 4x6 and smaller.

Love that it has choices.

 Some of the papers had white backs so I just

rolled and embellished them as well.

I also used a lot of leftover embellishments as well.

Its really great to put them to use as they were laying around forever.

 The other cool part is that I can rearrange the pages too.

 There are a lot of pages in there and love the different sizes

and the challenge they bring.

 Here's a bag I started of embellies along with some extra pages.

Of course I'll be adding punches, stamps, and other assorted stuff.

Also I'm sure there's a SB shop or two along the way.

If not, M's or HL's are everywhere.

Jumping on the circles bandwagon

and doing it with a lift from Adele from Inky Quill.

My mojo needed a jump start and the best way I find to do that

is to do a lift that is usually not my style.

So I took a bunch of random papers and punched all kinds of different sized circles

out of and used every single one on a 8.5x11 page.

Which I have to admit was fun.

 Using the package technique with some mists I gooped it everywhere

along with some mist splatters.

 And those little flowers I had FORever and used every single

one of those too.

The titles were fussy cut from PL cards (except for the circle)

and I also had a diamond cut out that just didn't work out.

I have no idea about the triangle banner but I love it.

I really like how it turned out - its pretty and fun

at the same time.

A mix of Studio Calico, Basic Grey, WRMK, Heidi Swapp mists more or less.

It's Friday!!!

Still nursing the arm.....

I did print out a bunch of photos - and am ready to rock.

I have this doohicky for my arm that seems to 

work - went back to working out and

that's working out therefore,

now its just a matter of the mojo flowing.

It's hard to roll because the weather has been beautiful,

the pool water is sooooo amazing,

that most of the time we are enjoying both

even to the wee hours of the night.

I need a driveby page.

Have a great weekend.

Rocking the birthdays this year

ONLY because I have them on my calendar and

set a week ahead and its also set to nag me until I get the card

done and then turn the nagger off. 

Whatever it takes LOL.

Now I need to start the same for holidays.

They are sooooo sneaky.

Anyhoo, this card was inspired again by Soaphouse Mama.

She should be filing papers soon for stalking.

However in my defense I did take her #embellishmentdiyclass

so whats a jack or two.

 It was a lot of fun to make and using scraps.

Win-win.

I get soooo caught up in not having the "right" things

when all it takes is someone else's ingenuity, LOL.

At least that's how I roll.

Every now and then I get a notion and you'll be the

first to know.

 The Studio Calico has these fun stamps in the June kit

and doesn't that work out well.

I did some glitter on the stars, fussy cut and watercolored the candles

and made a banner.

Turned out quite cute and fun.

Only downside I wasn't quite sure how to get the prize

ribbon off the card if the recipient wants to

wear it.

I did use one of those zots to attach it so maybe it'll come off.

What to do with overwhelming scraps

I wish I could say I thought of this but alas tis another

"steal" from soaphouse mama.

As you can see below my scrap box is overwhelmingly full

and quite annoying.

I decided that something needed to be done.

I took assorted scraps and tossed them into this adorable little album.

No rhyme no reason - just folded papers

I thought would work and then stitched them down the middle.

As I was sewing this one - I must've stuffed it too full

because in the middle my poor sewing machine lit up like a

Christmas tree and stopped.

I made some adjustments and managed to get it stitched but the 

back was soooo messy I added that binding to

make it look pretty.

Here is the inside and sorry for the blurries

I can't redo because I gave it to my friend Holli

who is in the process of scrappin it.

 As soon as she posts it - I'll link you up.

 Since there was still a lot of papers in that box

I threw together another one (for me) and didn't go quite as

crazy out of respect for my poor sewing machine.

Using scissors is not my friend right now and 

I gots the pooch mouth because my arm is out of commission 

more or less (tendonitis)

I am so not in the mood to do anything right now.

However, 

I was still not satisfied with the amount remaining in the scrap box

I decided to toss together a 6x6 album for the

little trip we'll be taking next month.

I was debating on using the album above, but I would

only have a finite amount of pages and then I would

need to be careful so I didn't run out.

I'll be seeing grandkidlets so who wants to ration pages.

 I used some chipboard for the cover that I need

to snaz up and then tossed

different bits and sizes of papers and PL cards in it.

 It really looks cool and some papers

have a white back that I'm totally fine with

as I'll have a place to journal.

And in this case I can just keep adding paper or PL cards

if I need as we travel along.

And ta-da.....

Here's what's remaining and it does look a bit

more manageable now.

Whew.

However, that adorable old basic grey baby paper

there maybe enough left of those papers 

to eke out another small album.