Page Maps Freehand Scraps Contest

This layout is another Page Maps Blog Contest Entry. http://pagemaps.blogspot.com/2011/07/freehand-scraps-sketch-contest.html

It used the following sketch.

Again, I'm using some of Christa Holland's incredible photos to continue Kat's album. (There's just so many awesome ones to use!) I love the glimpses of the old tin ceiling at the top of the stairs and the hexagonal tile at the bottom in these. With Kat's outfit it becomes and old meets new. So I kept to clean lines in the layout and added some distressing and antique buttons to match that feel.  The background is textured cardstock by Best Occasions. The patterned paper is by Life Stories and the strip is a scrap from K&Company's Life's Journey collection. The felt ribbon and gold ribbons were from my stash. The chipboard ribbon slide came from Bazzil and the paper I covered it with is a scrap. I inked everything with Tim Holtz's Brushed Corduroy distress ink (Kat insisted!) and added antique buttons from my stash. The quotation is, "To be able to look back upon one's past life with satisfaction is to live twice." Marcus Valerius Martial

Page Maps Punky Sprouts Entry

This layout is for the Page Maps Blog's Punky Sprouts Contest. http://pagemaps.blogspot.com/2011/07/punky-sprouts-sketch-contest.html

Once again I'm going back to working on Kat's senior album. I have to get it finished so that I can start Arch's before school starts for HIS senior year. So what if she's been in college a year already? Good things come to those who wait, right? Okay, first the layout.

These pictures are once again from the wonderful Christa Holland's senior photo shoot. I love the black and white one!

I used off-white cardstock from Paper Studios for the background and the the patterned paper is from Life Stories Celebration Tracker Family History stack. I used remnants for the ribbons. I've been hanging onto that crocheted one for a very long time, looking for just the right place for it. The others are from Basic Grey. The wooden accents are from K&Company. I colored the peacock with Galaxy markers. The quotation is from a family history stack. It says, "Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments." Rose Kennedy. Since this album celebrates moments of a milestone year, it seemed to fit.  Here's a detail shot of the peacock. I thought I'd ruined it, since it smeared and I tried to even it out with alcohol. Kat loves it so it's a happy accident!

An Ending and a Beginning

I have just finished 2 layouts for circle journals. The first is the last album in the Truth or Dare circle journal I was involved in last year. My friend Cheri "dared" me to do a layout with a monochromatic theme. The "truth" that she had for me was "if you could have one do-over in life what would it be?" So I decided to do one based on my lack of musical skills.

The papers are K&Company, Paper Studios and some wonderful Metallic paper my awesome friend Nancyroo sent me. I used Tim Holtz Distress Ink, paper flowers, and brads. Oh and the photo is of my daughter's hands playing a piano piece she wrote several years ago. Her left hand is a blur because she was really moving! So I changed it to sepia tone and set it as a soft focus and it works.

The second layout is my own personal layout from my new Ode to Joy circle journal. I chose to focus on my kids (of course).

I did several of the technique challenges, including using textured words. These are some wooden words I was given as gift several years ago. I ran them through my Cuttlebug and was able to texturize them. I then used Tim Holtz Distress Ink to bring out the texture. The papers are various scraps I've had a while, along with some ribbon, flowers, buttons.

Next Up

Working with those beautiful pictures Christa took of Kat is so fun! All the layouts in this post feature some of those pictures.

This first layout is a lift from a layout frame I saw in Creating Keepsakes magazine. It had a shadowbox effect and this incredible flourish border around it. I loved that and just had to recreate it. The wooden word and fleur d' lis are colored with a copper marker to get a little sheen.

This layout is a combination of two of August 2010 Page Maps sketches. I've had these charms for several years. They were leftover from some VBS project, so I knew someday I'd want to use them. The doors in these pictures and the beautiful lighting just seemed perfect for that. The papers are all K&Company. The fiber is Basic Grey.

Christa did such an amazing job catching Kat's eyes in her photos. I just loved they way that the top photo here focused on the eyes. It's truly one of my favorites. For this layout, I used Bazzil cardstock, K&Company and DCWV patterned paper. The ribbon is paper ribbon from Walmart.

Speaking of eyes, Kat rolled hers when I read her this quotation sticker, but I've had it for years and always wanted to use it. In the end she approved this layout. Patterned paper is K&Company and cardstock is Bazzil. The buttons are from that antique jar I bought. The photo turns are from DCWV. Oh and the quotation? "All the things I prayed you'd be all the things you are. You were once my little girl and now my shining star." Yeah, okay, it's a little sappy, but sweet and I just like it. I did ink the edges to keep it from being too little girly.