Love is in the Details

Lately, I've been moving away from simple, sleek pages towards pages with a lot more detail. I won't lie: they take A LOT longer to make, but for those extra-special pages--the ones where you want to commemorate something of deep significance--it's well worth the effort.

The layout above celebrates my son's First Communion, a spiritual milestone and something I hope he remembers all his life.

When I looked at my stash for just the right papers, I was a little vexed. Lately, CTMH has been offering a beautiful array of shabby chic and quirky papers--not quite right for these photos. The solution? Cardstock! It's easy to alter the tone of patterned papers with cardstock.

I decided on a monochromatic blue colour scheme (because of the dark blue vest and lighter blue shirt, of course) and used CTMH cardstock and ink colours Outdoor Denim, Indian Corn Blue and Lagoon. The pops of colour come from Ruby ink and Skylark Yellow (from the Skylark Paper Packet). There are only two patterned papers on this layout: Skylark (the one with the bird) and Wanderful (blue dots). This is a great example of how well CTMH papers from different paper packets co-ordinate.

Once the page was assembled, I opened the flood gates on my embellishment stash. Even though this is a "boy page", I turned to shiny gems to bring sparkle to the page. (Yes, "This Little Light of Mine" was stuck in my head as I made this page.) From the current Annual Inspirations Idea Book, I used Bling Gems Gold Assortment, Sparkles Clear Assortment and Bitty Sparkles. All the other gems are no longer available, but if you've got them in your stash, use them!!

To add a bit of a masculine touch, I stamped some of the banners in  the Houndstooth pattern from the Distress Backgrounds stamp set. I also used pewter badge buttons and embellishments--metals go a long way to relieving the softness of the patterned papers.

I added in a die cut title and some bling flourishes to finish off the page. I'm really happy how this page turned out. The little details, like the letter for his name, the die cuts and twine give the page a lot of texture and interest. This is one of my all-time favourite pages!

You and Me, Me and You

Even though there's a fresh, new Idea Book (check it out on my website), I have been on a mission to use my stash. I love Workshop on the Go kits because they contain coordinated products that make putting pages together, and using your stash, a snap. Once I've made the two layouts in the kit, I store all the supplies together until they're used up. That way I don't have to go searching for the little bits that match.

For this layout, I used the extra supplies from my Sarita Workshops on the Go kit. Note: Sarita is also one of the paper lines that has been carried over to the new Idea Book. You can get Sarita Paper Packet, Sarita Assortment, (both seen on my layout) and Sarita My Stickease Assortment right now!

I created a large title with my Silhouette--also using my stash as this was a cut file that had been in my collection for a whle--and added some Dimensional Elements Hearts as accents.

Turning to my stamp stash, I added a chicken wire background with the Distressed Backgrounds stamp set and the subtitle with the Framework Alphabet stamp set. (If you get one alphabet stamp this month, get this one! It includes an upper case and lower case alphabet with numbers all in one 6"x6" package. It will quickly become your go-to alphabet stamp.)

You know how much I love sketches, and so often when I'm planning a page, I spend time surfing Pagemaps or Pinterest looking for interesting sketches. But for this layout, I turned to my stash again and found this perfect sketch in Imagine. The sketch for Three-Part Harmony is found on page 44. It's a versatile sketch that accomodates lots of photos in different sizes. To make it my own, I used an extra large focal photo and flipped the right side of the sketch on its side. I also used fewer papers than was called for, letting the Goldrush cardstock set off the busy paper.

Here's a tip: When you have a layout that calls for a 1/2" x 12" piece, use a Zip Strip (that extra strip of pattern you trim off the patterned papers) or washi tape. A quick and easy way to use up scraps!

I love this layout and now I've got some room in my stash for new product!

A New Challenge!

To get my scrapping mojo in gear, I decided to try this month's scrapping challenge from Purple Pumpkin.

This page is an example of how you can scrap a special moment even if the photos aren't that great...or if they're really terrible, like these ones.

Remember to focus on the story: The title and journaling are important to tell the story when the photos don't.

Look for the other story: When I was taking these pictures, I just wanted a "cheek-to-cheek" photo with my son, but what I ended up capturing was the trouble it actually is to get a good photo of a 4-year-old. That funny story is actually more interesting than what I was originally after.

Photoshop: Be creative with your photo editing software to turn "bad" photos into precious ones. The large focal photo was actually very dark and blurry in the original, but putting it through a few filters and sharpening led to a photo could be used on a page and has really become one of my favourites.

If you're looking for a sketch challenge, be sure to check out Purple Pumpkin. This challenge runs until the end of the month and there's a prize of fun products--like the flower button on the doily.

CTMH supplies used: Dream Pop patterned paper, Colonial White and Slate cardstock, Slate and Goldrush inks, Illuminate (November 2013 Stamp of the Month), Just Blooms paper flowers, Bitty Sparkles, Sparkles Black Flourishes.
Other supplies: Purple Pumpkin wooden flower, Silhouette die cut heart, Scotch adhesive, unknown doily.