Simplicity

I find that when I scrapping I like to add as many elements as possible. I saw two challenges over at Digital Scrap Cafe that made me make my layouts more simple. One of them was a template challenge and the other was a scraplift challenge. Scraplift means to take inspiration from someone's already completed layout and make a similar one. The template challenge used a template by Scooty's Designs. This is what I came up with.




My babies did NOT like leaves! But the colors were so beautiful so I tried to capture a photo. Gotta have some fussing pictures, don't you? I used papers and ribbon from Afternoon Delight a Stuff to Scrap Blog Train. I also used leaves, stitching, frame, alphabet and papers from October Road by The Scrappy Kat, Flower Scraps and Growing Pains Scrapped. The font is Pea Muggy's Girl. I love how it turned out and it's much cleaner than my other layouts.

I'll be back later to share my other simple layout. We're going to the in-laws for calzones!

Another speed scrap

I participated in my 3rd Speed Scrap last night at Stuff to Scrap. I misread the time and just happened to be checking the forum about half an hour after it started. So I joined in 30 minutes late. Now, if you read my other two posts about speed scraps, you'll know that joining late made me think that I would NEVER finish! I knew what picture and kit I wanted to use so at least I could follow the first couple steps no problem, except for the fact that it called for 2 pictures not just 1 like I had been planning! But in reality the speed scrap was very easy! I was able to make my layout in about 45 minutes. The hardest part for me was to come up with a 1 word title. I had been thinking about using word art that came with the kit I used (Momitude by Miss Mint) but that wasn't just 1 word. I didn't feel rushed or pressured in this speed scrap. I was actually a little disappointed that I was able to finish so early because then it left me with time on my hands when my husband wasn't home! Here's my completed layout.

Like I said previously this kit is called Momitude and it's by Miss Mint. I used an alpha from the Stuff to Scrap Morning Solitude Blog Train. The alpha is by Little Red Scraps. I have used this alpha in a lot of different pages. I love that it's cursive. Most fonts and alphas aren't cursive so I'm really excited when I get one! The font is Pea Amy from Font for Peas. I didn't follow the directions precisely (the title was supposed to be ON the right photo and the elements under the right photo weren't supposed to stick out of 2 sides ) but I love how it turned out!

Best Friends Kit

Aprilisa Designs posted a one kit call at Digi Shop Talk (DST as everyone calls it) and once I saw her kit, I knew I had to send her an email right away! I loved the rich colors she chose. The papers looked like so much fun and there were so many beautiful elements. She sent me the kit to download and once my kids were in bed, I started to play around with it. This is the first layout I've done (on my own with no template) that I haven't done of my babies! I saw one of the word arts that she included in her kit that says "When I think of you, I smile inside." I knew I had to scrap a page of my husband! Here's my page.

Here's a preview of what her kit looks like, which you can grab at her store at Digital Scrap Cafe. Isn't it beautiful? I'm so glad that I responded to her call because I had a great time playing with this kit. You'll want to keep a watch on my blog because I will probably be making another layout using this kit very soon! Stay tuned!

Speed Scrap

I've decided to try as many challenges as possible in the last week or so! You would think I don't have anything else to do but digital scrapbook! Last night Stuff to Scrap had a speed scrap. It didn't start until 9 pm my time which is late for me (with almost year old twins) and I considered not joining in on the fun! However my husband decided he wanted to play a game so we played Russian Rails and I did the speed scrap at the same time. Want to talk about crazy???? I would suggest to just pay attention to one thing at a time with both of those.

I did my first speed scrap last week and it was nerve wracking! I was a mess the whole time frantically searching for pictures and the right kit to go with the pictures. I think I changed my mind 5 times at least! I was so anxious and didn't think I would finish. I decided to try it again but go into it knowing what pictures and kit I wanted to use. That helped a ton! I did fine through the first 3 steps but then the game started to pick up and I couldn't find the elements I wanted to use. Before I knew it the game was over (my husband skunked me!) and I only had 15 minutes to finish my layout. I hadn't added any shadows or journaled. I finally threw shadows on and skipped the journaling and uploaded my layout. After all the craziness, I read the post that said we had until noon today to post. Oh well. This morning I reworked some parts of my layout and now I think it looks a lot better! I fixed shadows, added a few more elements and then journaled. This is my completed layout.

The kit that I got the papers from, the brown ribbon and the cute dinosaurs is called Dino Mite from Charm City Scraps as part of the Stuff to Scrap Designer Darling Competition round 3. I fell in love with the quilted paper and the dinosaurs! My son's name is Noah and his nickname is Noasaurus so this kit was perfect for him! I also used elements from It's the Little Things by Digi Designz by Christi. The alpha came from Sweet Digi Scraps by Liz. One of the steps was to add a glitter splat or spill. I had no idea what to do for this. Luckily Photoshop Elements comes with brushes that are paint splats and I had added some glitter layer styles. The glitter layer style is from Beautiful You by Digi Designs by Nicole. I had so much fun adding the dionsaurs in this layout and putting them around the title. I don't scrap pictures of my son as much because I don't have too many boy kits. This kit was just perfect for him!

Picking colors and recoloring

There's a challenge at Go Digital Scrapbooking called Pick Your Palette. I don't recall how I heard about it but once I got over there I decided to give it a go. What you do is select an image and pick 5 colors from it to create a color palette. Then once you do that and post it, Laitha sends you a link to the mini kit to download. Everything in the mini kit is in grayscale so you can color it to fit your color palette. Then your job is to create a layout using your mini kit. It was so much fun that I'm definitely going to do this one again! :)

One of my favorite outfits that my daughter had was a one piece sundress/onesie in orange. I'm not a huge fan of orange normally but I loved this outfit. Too bad it's winter so it's too cold for it and also she has outgrown it! Don't you just hate that about clothes? Anyway, the outfit had a fish on it in pink and green. The onesie was polka dotted with a darker color orange. Here is the picture that I got my color palette from (I wish I had a better photo showing the outfit but I don't):

Here is my color palette. Isn't it fun and summery? What a change from this cold winter we are having! Now I'm also addicted to making color palettes. I don't have anything to do with them but I love the make them up!

For the challenge you don't have to use the same picture that you got your palette from but I decided that I loved the picture so much that I would use the picture! Here is my layout.

I did add a couple things that didn't come with the kit. The torn paper edge is from The Scrappin' Cop,the fill in alpha is Fill Me In by Designs by Sarah Bryan, and the font is Curly Gurl.

A page for Noah and a page for Natalie

Having twins certainly makes scrapping different! I find that I scrap more pages of Natalie because I like girly kits and papers! I find that I have to force myself to scrap pages of Noah. So when I saw the template challenge at Stuff to Scrap I decided I was going to use the template for Noah. I don't have a lot of boy kits in soft colors and I thought that the pictures I had needed soft colors. Earlier I had done a Quick Page challenge using I {Heart} Primary by The Latest Scoop, Too and I made it boy colors. So I decided to use the same kit (but also including SAHM Scrapper's kit) to do the layout for Noah. The template is by Scrapping Rainbow Designs. Isn't he just so adorable???

After I did this page, I decided that I might as well make a very similar page for Natalie using the same 2 kits and the same template. I added a lot more elements because I find that the elements I like to use are mainly girly ones like flowers! Isn't she cute too?

A new blog

I have recently fallen in love with digital scrapbooking. I started by finding digital scrapbooking freebies and now I'm obsessed with it! I've made an album for my mom's cousin Grace who is the closest family we have in town and who has celebrated everything with us throughout the years. I made desktop calendars for my mom, sister, husband, mother-in-law and father-in-law. I've started making a small flip book of a scavenger hunt that my husband and I did not too long ago. I got to wondering why it took me so long to get into scrapbooking (I didn't do a ton of paper scrapbooking either) but now I know that I just didn't have the right subjects to scrap about! There is nothing more fun than creating scrapbook pages of my two babies: Natalie and Noah! They make pages perfect!

My big project is to make Natalie and Noah each an album of firsts. Their first birthday is coming up soon so my plan is to scrap firsts in their first year of life and make them into a book. If you read by card making blog, you may know that I need challenges to spark my creativity. I have found several digital scrapbooking forums that host a boat load of challenges. I decided to become a member of Stuff to Scrap and complete their challenges. (I've also done another challenge at Go Digital Scrapbooking but I've only done one there!) One of the reasons I joined Stuff to Scrap is that they allow you to post layouts done with kits from outside their own community. I like to use all different items in my scrapbook pages so that was a plus! Both sites (and many others too) have such great challenges. It has really motivated me to get started on the albums for my twins.

One of the challenges I participated in was the Color Challenge. I made this page here:

The papers and the brown bow came from a mini kit from Digi Designs by Nicole; button, ribbon and frame came from a kit by Scraps by Andrea; other buttons came from a kit by This Little Missy; the glitter scatter is from JIC Creations; the curve template is from Delicious Scraps; and the font is from Font for Peas and it is called Pea Missie with a Marker. I just had to scrap these pictures of Natalie! Her faces while eating avocado were just priceless. Neither she nor Noah like avocado still to this day.

I'll be back later to post more layouts that I made based on challenges. I should find some lunch while my babies are napping!