Using Your Kraft- Practical Scrappers

Today we are showcasing 10 different things you can do with Kraft paper on the Practical Scrappers blog. I know I love to use Kraft as my neutral in a lot of my layouts and cards. I like it as a background for the most part though I have been finding other ways to use it as well and love the other projects the design team came up with.

For my project I stuck with the background idea but spiced it up by using my embossing machine to create a subtle heart design on the kraft. I also tried to bring more interest by using the negative cut of a heart shape I had cut with my Cricut. I then backed the heart with different strips of bright colored washi tape. I love how the bright colors seem to pop against the kraft background. I finished off by punching a heart out of the leftover kraft and pop dotting it off the background providing some dimension while keeping the focus on the bright colored heart.

For some reason I had a very hard time getting the kraft to show up the way I wanted it to in the pictures. It seems very dull here. Time to take some editing classes. :)

Have a super day and don't forget to check out the link to the card contest on the Practical Scrappers website. Tomorrow is the entry deadline for the first round. Any card with the Valentine or love theme is welcome. Prizes involved, just sayin!

Lisa

Practical Scrappers Card Contest

Hey everyone!
Just want to share an awesome opportunity for you to win some fabulous, fun scrappy goodness for your creating pleasure. Did that totally capture your attention?! Well here it is!

Practical Scrappers is holding a card contest that will run through February. It is a simple process of elimination type of contest where the top 25 cards entered into the first round of the contest will compete in a second round and so on until a final winner is revealed. You can find the card contest rules on the blog and you have until this coming Wednesday to link up your entry. There are awesome prizes from a whole list of sponsors. You won't be disappointed. Please stop by the blog and find all the details and participate. The first card is a Valentine's or love theme card. Easy peasy, right??

Lisa

More Fun News!

It's another exciting day for me as I get to not only introduce you to a new challenge blog that will stretch your scrapping and crafting abilities, but I also get to announce that I am part of the wonderful and talented design team! S.W.A.T or Scrap Warriors Advanced Training will be holding their first official challenge on Saturday, February 2nd. There will be two challenges a month, called drills, as well as specialized tutorials and technique ideas to get your creative juices flowing throughout the month. Challenges will range from sketches to color challenges, using your supplies and everything in between. And the best part?? There are prizes! That's always worth checking into, right?

Please head over to the S.W.A.T blog and check out the new site. You won't want to miss this. Design team introductions are happening now and today is my feature day so I would love for you to stop by and leave some love, sign up to follow and be sure to join us for our first challenge on the 2nd. It's a fabulous one.

Happy Thursday!
Lisa

One Heart, Two Homes

Happy Tuesday to you!
The sun is out, the kids are back in school and for the moment everyone is healthy and I am praying we stay that way. Chris was home from school every day last week and he was nice enough to share his little virus with his mom.  So far the other two have managed to escape the nastiness which is good because we have a busy week ahead.

Today is a Ten Things Tuesday at Practical Scrappers and our theme is patterned paper. I happen to love patterned paper. One look in my scrap room will give away the fact that I tend to buy and hoard it. There is something so delicious about the mix of colors and patterns that makes it impossible for me to walk away from certain pages and lines without buying. The problem is I fall in love with the paper and then don't want to use it, or I save it because I just know the perfect picture is going to come along.  Sound familiar? Anyone or I am I the only crazy paper lover?! Today we are challenging you to get that paper out and scrap with it.

The layout I created is a two page non-photo layout where the patterned paper takes center stage. This is only the second non photo layout I've ever done. It's not normal for me,  but the subject I wanted to scrap just seemed like one where I wanted the words to be the focus. I shared my One Word layout on the last post and plan to create a full album as I focus and work on this area in my life. This layout follows that word Connect. One of the areas I need to connect with is my own feelings that I've pushed down and pretended don't exist. We have moved 3 times in the last three years and with that I've had a hard time really dealing with the emotions that moving brings. Here I talk about the conflict I feel with being where I am verses where I've been. I'm finding that this is my form of scrap therapy! Cheaper than a counselor?? We'll see!

As you can see the patterned paper stands out on this page, especially against the gray background. The paper is from a My Mind's Eye collection that I had left over from quite awhile ago. I love the colors on it. I first cut the heart out of cardstock with my Cricut. I then started to piece the different patterns together on my heart to create the mosaic design. I love how it turned out. I wanted the words one and two to stand up off the page a bit so I cut the letters out several times with my Cricut using the Type Candy cartridge and then layered them on top of each other adding a bit of dimension to my title. You can see a little bit of what I'm talking about here. The letters don't lay completely flat.

Finally, I covered some Maya Road chipboard pieces with matching patterned paper and placed them on some cute ric rac I had in my stash.

The journaling reads: When we left Colorado for Nebraska 10 years ago, I thought my heart would break in two pieces. Denver was my home. It was family, memories, tradition, comfort. Now we are back and I am realizing that Lincoln has my heart, our new and amazing family and friends, the boys childhood memories and new traditions. It too is home. I'm happy, sad, conflicted and confused. One heart, two homes.

Deep, I know! I'm interested to see where this particular project of mine will go. For now, I think I am going to go scrap something fun and light.

Have a super day and please stop by the Practical Scrappers blog, give us a like and find some more ways to use that patterned paper!

Lisa

One Word

The first month of 2013 is over halfway completed and I am just finally getting my thoughts together.   Better now than never, I say.  I started January like many other people, thinking about what I wanted out of the new year for my family and also personally. I saw many people talking about resolutions and I also saw several posts about something called One Word. One Word is basically setting the list of resolutions aside and finding one word that you want to focus on that year.

Ali Edwards has a class she teaches with this concept. This is how she describes One Word:

"Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2013?
It can be something tangible or intangible. It can be a thought, a feeling, or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother's word or your spouse's word or your child's word—this is YOUR word.
One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities."

I wasn't really headed in the direction of resolutions this year. I often will think about the last year and think forward a little, but I've never been one to do a huge list of resolutions or make a big deal about it. For some reason though this concept stuck with me and I just couldn't get past it. I didn't have a word come immediately to mind so for a couple of days I just kind of tossed thoughts through my mind of what my one word would be. Then one morning I was reading through a devotional that I follow, and the author had posted on this concept again. Here it was in front of my face again. It just seemed to be everywhere. So I began to think and pray about whether there was one thing that I need to focus on this year. One area I needed to grow in, learn about myself or work towards. I was actually in the grocery store when my word hit. Connect. I knew immediately that this is what I'm missing. Not sure how it just came up in the grocery store, but when it did I knew this is what I'm supposed to focus on. 3 moves in 3 years, pain issues and several other things too long to go into have caused me to retreat in ways that make me not a person I recognize. I can look at that and see that the pulling back is not healthy for me, my family, my relationship with God or my relationship with others I love.  I am missing connection and this year I am going to work on changing that. 

I plan to scrap my journey and see just how I do that this year. This will be different for me as I don't tend to scrap about myself or my emotions very much, but this will be good. I've even started with my first layout and it wasn't so bad!

There it is, my one word.  I added the two hearts overlapping to symbolize the need to connect.  I chose to make a little pocket for my journaling since it has some more personal thoughts and reflections in it. I also list the areas I feel I need the most connection in and how I plan to do that.

I ended up having way more to say than I thought I would so there are several cards of journaling that I have tucked away in my little folder. I used two brads and wrapped some twine around them so that the folder can be easily opened and closed to access the journaling.

Here is a closer shot of the two hearts. I wanted to add some dimension to the page so I layered the first heart and lifted the flaps up a little. I pop-dotted the center of the second heart. It gave the page a little more added visual interest. I love the Echo Park Everyday Eclectic line I used here for the bright colors.  To me connect also means adding some spark to my life and what way to better represent that than the bright colors against the darker Lily Bee chevron pattern and the Gray Color Coredinations cardstock used as the base.  

So here is to 2013. January may be more than halfway over, but there is a lot of year left and I intend to make the best of it!

Are any of you participating in One Word this year? I would love for you to share your one word in the comments below. If you've made a layout feel free to link it up. I'd love to see what you created!

Have a super Saturday.
Lisa

Tag- You're It!

Wow! It's already the middle of January. Is it just me or is 2013 already off to a fast start? Today is my first 10 things post at Practical Scrappers. Tags have become pretty popular lately and they aren't just used as a to and from on a gift anymore. Tags can be used for just about anything from mini albums to embellishments. I used my tag to journal the story of my son's nickname so that he can remember some day why we always call him Noodle.

You can see my tag sticking out of the embellished bag (another fun trend!) behind the picture.  I decided to hide my journaling on this page as a fun way of getting people to interact with the page. I chose a small bag that I had in my stash. Since it was see through I decided to line the inside with patterned paper giving it a little visual interest and then added some cute wooden chevron embellishments from Studio calico. LOVE! As a matter of fact this whole layout is made with two pieces of Studio Calico paper from their Darling Dear collection. Perfect boy paper. I thought the speech bubble pattern went so well with the story of how my son's nickname came from the fact that he was always thinking and asking and analyzing and coming up with things we never would have thought of! The journal pattern paper on the tag was made from scraps as was the title cut from my Cricut and the blue lines. I like the added circle embellishment that I made using my Epiphany Crafts punch.

Here is a closer look at the hidden journaling on my tag.

Super happy with the way this layout turned out. I would love for you to take a look at today's post at Practical Scrappers. You will find 10 other ideas as well as this one for using tags. (Yes, I said 10! There is a bonus idea today. Score!) I'd love to hear ways that you have used tags on your layouts, cards or projects. Comment on!

Have a super fab day.

Lisa

Anniversary Card

Good morning!

The kids are back in school after a long break and I feel like I may finally have some time to catch up. We had an awesome winter break. The best part was having Nathan's friend Brad here for a few days. The boys all had fun and it felt so normal having Brad in my kitchen pantry all the time! We've missed that boy.

Today I am sharing a quick card that I made for my in-laws 51st wedding anniversary. Fifty one years and they are truly happy together. I think it is so fun to watch the way they interact with each other and I love the example of love and commitment they have passed on to us and our children. I know it hasn't always been an easy road, but they show that sticking it out, loving the one you are with and finding ways to enjoy each other is truly the best way to keep a marriage together. David and I are approaching our 20th anniversary and I can only hope we will do the next 30 as well as his parents have. 

I used my Cricut for this card. The new cartridge Suburbia has a terrific font which is one of the reasons I bought it. The other is that it was a Black Friday deal and I couldn't resist...lol. One of the things I like about this cartridge is the images that are somewhat retro looking. Each has a blackout feature which is what I used for this card. I like the silhouette shape I was able to create. I chose the cute fifties looking couple to represent what they were when they were first married.

Very simple card made out of all scraps. Love clearing out my scrap pile!  Thanks for taking a look.

Lisa

1st Stop Layout- Practical Scrappers

Good morning. So excited to be with you this morning and share the full reveal of my first layout for as a design team member for Practical Scrappers. Today we were challenged with a sketch created by another DT member, Liz Chidester. Here is the sketch we used:

Gorgeous isn't it?? Here is my take on Liz's great sketch:

I had this fun picture of me with my sister in law and mother in law as we started a girl's shopping trip for Christmas presents. I don't have many pictures of the three of us together so I thought it would be a perfect one to scrap. I used papers from the Citrus Twist December Kit for this project along with other products I already had that matched the Pink Paislee in the kit. I love, love their City Sidewalks holiday line so it was fun to use some of the matching banner pieces and patterned sheets that I had been waiting to use. (This post will remind you of how I got this gorgeous line.)  I liked the contrast of the pale blue against the red. Since I only had one picture, I thought it would be fun to use one of the sleeves from our coffee cups in place of the other pictures on the sketch since we started our day out at Starbucks.  I loved working with Liz's sketch.
I would love for you to head over to the Practical Scrapper's blog and check out my layout there along with the layouts of the rest of the design team. It's fun to see how one sketch can be interpreted so many different ways.  The link to the blog is at the top of the page. While you are there be sure to say hi and let them know you came from my blog. And if you are here from the Practical Scrappers site for the first time, Welcome! I would love to hear what you think and have you sign up to follow my blog. Love connecting with my readers.

Have a wonderful weekend! New things coming next week :)
Lisa

Welcome to 2013!

Today is an exciting day. I always love ushering out an old year and beginning a new one. It brings a feeling of newness, a feeling that things can start fresh again. It's also an exciting day because today I see a goal that I set for myself accomplished, and a beginning of a new journey for me as I join my first Design Team at Practical Scrappers. Scrapbooking is more than just something I do to pass time. It is something that I have grown to love. It is a way to preserve the moments and memories that make up my family and our lives. It is a way to express the creativity I find coming to the surface when I sit down at my desk. The longer that I have scrapbooked, I find that it has become less of a hobby and more of an art.  Over the past year I have felt the urge to expand my crafting and to share what I create with others. I have joined challenges, won contests, become a part of an online group that has become a very good group of friends, I have guest designed for a kit company and now I have become a member of an incredible design team filled with amazing artists that I can't wait to work alongside and learn from. I am truly excited and humbled to join with this group to bring some crafty inspiration to you each month.

The team I am joining is the Ten Things team. Every Tuesday we will be taking a product or technique and show you ten different ways you can use that particular thing in your crafting. I will also be joining in on Sketch Challenges and special posts throughout the year. Other days will showcase other teams bringing you new trends, off the page projects and other challenges as well. The entire design team is being introduced today on the  Practical Scrappers blog. Come check it out.

I'll leave you today with a sneak peek of my first project for the team that is coming up on Friday.

Looks yummy!

Lisa