Thursday, March 7, 2013

Whole Lotta Sharing

Hello peeps! Its our weekend, FINALLY!! Its been an incredibly long week for us- Kyle's been on the road between 4 and 6 every morning, and has come home after 8 pm every single night since Monday. Tonight, he was home shortly after 6. He deserves a break!

The kids are heading to their grandma's (with Taco) for a couple of days, and we're planning to get a few minor things done around the house, and take it easy. We differentiate between grandma's because there's three sets of grandparents- two of which have pets in the house. We're all pretty excited about it.

Having said that, I'm taking Saturday to scrap. For as long as I want. Would anyone be interested in joining me for a simple, laid back online crop? Ha. The virtual type. I'd love to have some company, since I don't know of anybody near me that likes the same hobby I do!

So, I want to share those two layouts I forgot about last night, and two more that I made today. I want to share the cards I made too, but the computer isn't cooperating right now. They won't upload. So, I'll aim for sharing them with you tomorrow or Saturday. Whenever I get back to the computer :)

The first layout is about a bookshelf that's been passed down to Kyle. His paternal grandfather made it, and it means a lot to him. He has fond memories of his paternal grandfather; it sounds like he was quite the character. The bookshelf is starting to show its age- its cracked nearly half way up one side, and there's dings and dents all over. I like the bookshelf too, but I wanted to spiff it up a little bit.

So, one day in September, while the weather was still warm (and while the kids were out visiting their grandma with Taco), I got to work. I sanded the entire thing down, mixed half and half paint with water, then got to work. I wanted to give it a vintage look, so used steel wool after it had dried to give it a worn look. I love how it turned out. We did the same thing with our bed. It looks phenomenal! I almost want to give all our furniture the same treatment!!

I used February's sketch from the sketchy challenge over at Canadian Scrapbooker for my layout entitled Heirloom. Even though the month is over, I'm not sure if I can add it to the gallery over there. I would like to. At the very least, I submitted it for publication. I'd love it if it were published! But, we shall see.

The sketch includes a half circle, which I incorporated into my layout too, but I went one step further and added another half circle ring. I cut a doily in half and used both portions of the doily to create two rings. To make the top ring stand out a bit more, I slipped a brightly colored piece of scrap patterned paper between the doilies. I love the way it looks! In fact, except for the doilies, this entire layout is made from scraps. Oh, minus the kraft card stock base.

I tried a new technique on my second layout, Home work. The sketch came from SBE. All the patterned papers on this layout are Carta Bella (True Friends collection); the card stock is plain grey, that I punched to add some visual weight and interest. LOVE this color combination!!! I need to remember this one!

I took my wooden alphas that I found at Walmart, and gave them an Island Blue base coat using acrylic paint. Once it dried, I found a patterned stamp (which, in this case, was foliage themed, which I thought worked well, considering my layout is about yard work and maintenance), and stamped each letter in antique white ink. It isn't the clearest and crispest (...), but I still love the way it looks. I'm definitely going to try this technique again. I didn't have the letter 'O' in wooden alphas, but I did in glittery white, so I used that instead. I also took a Jillibean Soup label and added (in Bean alphas- Country Pumpkin Chowder collection) the word 'work'.

Voila, there's my title work!

In the bottom right corner, I added the date, and journalling is in the upper right corner of the layout. You'll find the layout that inspired me here.

My next sketch was found on Pinterest. Again. It inspired my Curiosity Killed the Cat layout.

We are still babysitting Neruda, my sisters' cat, and unfortunately, by the end of the month, she'll be back at home with her mommy. I'm going to miss her immensely. That cat is one of a kind. She makes me laugh on a daily basis. She's my little pal. She hangs out with me all the time- our place is my scrap haven. We trade spots continually while I'm playing.

Late one night, Kyle and I were talking in the kitchen, and he quietly redirects my attention from our conversation to the hallway, which is directly across from the kitchen. Here we see Neruda trying to figure out the humidifier. It was the funniest thing I had seen in a long time, and I HAD to get pictures of her trying to make sense of it.

The title? Totally describes Neruda. She's incredibly curious and inquisitive. Its kind of fascinating watching her, actually. She finds so many things fascinating. Especially the outdoors, but I'll save that story for another post.

The brightly colored papers in the background are perfect to her nature, too. She's one lively, talkative, neurotic animal. That's what I like about her so much. Even her own shadow makes her growl and hiss.

Lastly, the journalling spots were meant for another project, but it just didn't feel right. I had cut them in half, but I didn't like them on that particular project. They work perfectly here. I also added Neruda's name in Jillibean alphas (Country Pumpkin Chowder) to draw a little more attention to the journalling.

My last layout tonight is a total prize. To me. I love it. Probably because I love the subjects in the picture so much. Maybe because I love the collection I used so much. Maybe because of a mixture of things. Ha. I used all Jillibean in this layout. I wanted to keep it masculine, because it is all about my husband. The only papers that aren't Jillibean, are the blue and brown card stocks. Also, part of the title work is Carta Bella.

A layout I found at Scrapbook.com inspired this one. Hmm...I think I may have to frame it. I'm in absolute love.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone! I'll catch up with you again as soon as possible.

~a


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