And The Waffler Waffles No More

I have a really bad habit of putting things down and not being able to leave them alone. I call it waffling, I waffle on a lot of things. I guess you could call me indecisive. I will move and embellishment back and forth on my page 30 times before finally deciding to stick it down. 

When I can't figure out where I want to start with a layout I sort my scraps and 9 times out of 10 a color scheme will present itself to me. So I decided I was going to use those scraps and create a layout and no matter what I was not allowed to pick anything up and move it to another spot once I thought it looked okay!! 

I pulled out my mat and my camera and told myself that I had to finish the layout before I was done cooking dinner. (Luckily I scrap in my Living Room which is right off of my kitchen) I am amazed at how quickly I was able to finish this page when I didn't "waffle"!

(Please excuse the photos, I over-processed them so you couldn't see how badly out of focus they were)

I put together this collage as a reminder to myself to just stick it down!! There will always be more paper, more stickers, more embellishments and more photos to scrap!! (If I ever get my camera back)

Close up of Step 6

So this layout was completed in 45 minutes and that is a miracle for me as it can take me up to 6 hrs. to do one layout!!

If you have trouble like me with over thinking every little thing leave me a comment and let me know what it is that you do to speed yourself along.

Until Next Time "Stay Crafty, My Friends"

~Ashley Crafty~

Splish Splash-Taking a Bath

I am back with another layout....My favorite layout. For the time being anyway. I have always loved this photo...It captures my brothers 7 yr. old attitude so well! Wasn't he just the cutest!!

I love this green grid pattern by October Afternoon and I knew I wanted to use kraft accents. That's where the Simple Stories came in! Soft greens, mellow yellows, kraft and black I love this color scheme.

Does anyone else remember "Splish-Splash, I was taking a bath" . There was an episode of Americas Funniest Home Videos when I was about 7 that had a little boy playing in the tub and singing that song. For some reason it has always stuck with me. Plus I like using song lyrics for titles!! :) 

I really love this layout and the colors are more vibrant in person. So that's it from me today...So until next time "Stay Crafty, My Friends" 

~Ashley Crafty~

The Bubble Boy of Summer

This layout is another summer one. Can you tell that I am so, so, so ready for the warn weather. Shorts, Flip-Flops and Lazy days by the Pool can not came soon enough. But enough about my Summer Envy. This Picture was taken by me in July of 2002, I came out of the room and my brother was standing there blowing bubbles...Have you ever seen something and just know that it is a moment you need to capture on film?? Still to this day it is one of my favorite Jacob Pictures (That and the one from Splish Splash which I will be photographing in the coming week...hopefully)

I am not big on the big Anchor trend...while I do think it is a versatile shape I can not for the life of me put it on a page that is not about the beach or boating, even swimming would do but I thought it worked well here. (of course this is a beach photo).

The Good Ol' Cabana Inn. That place was like a second home to us in the summer...Oh, how I miss the beach!!

The Squirrel and Cheese story will have to wait for another day I'm sorry to say. Again I did my journaling on Vellum because I am just terrified to destroy my pages with a spelling error. I think I need to work on that.

As for the Materials: The background paper is an older October Afternoon Paper, the Yellow Wood-grain is an Amy Tangerine and the Orange Paper and White Tile Letters are both from Echo Park Paper Co. This and That. The Thickers were given to me so I don't know exactly who they are from, and of course the Today and Anchor are both from the Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm Line.

That is all from me tonight but Chloe wishes you all a Great Week!!!

That is her Have a Great Week Face!!!

The Mess, Oh Me, Oh My The Mess I Make

I am what you would call a very messy scrapper. Organizational Challenged if you will. I truly admire these people who can sit down with a picture in their mind and say "Okay, I am going to use these pieces to make this page" and them they do just that. I can not. I have to have everything around me spread out and go through and try each item next to every piece of paper. It makes a very messy picture. To top it all off I don't have a  place in my house where I can scrap. My "Scrap Room" is my living room floor.

Here I'll show you:

Like This 

And This...

All of This for one Layout. Crazy Right? I Know. Sometimes I think that if I had a craft room I wouldn't be so messy, but I know that is not true.

This doesn't show the half of it, you can only imagine the mess that is behind me. 

I have heard it called a "Chaotic Scrapper". And that is exactly what it is--CHAOS. Now-That being said, The Layout that came from this giant mess is one of my favorites. I used products from 6 different companies (I think), since I have been trying to work through my stash. That shouldn't be too hard as I don't have very much compared to some. 

So, Do you want to see the final product that came from this GIANT MESS? I Do....

I think I am getting more confident with my spraying/misting. 

Pooh-Butt is my childhood nickname, I loved Whinnie the Pooh and so they
Called me Pooh Butt Marie

That Green Flower. I made it from Vellum and then Sprayed it with Mr. Huey's
It came out better than I expected. 

So, I used Amy Tangerine's Sketchbook Die Cuts and Dimensional Stickers, Basic Greys Fact or Fiction Snippets and the Orange and Blue Papers are from the Sweet Threads -OR- Kyoshi{?} Page Kit, October Afternoon Mini Market Alphas, Hobby Lobby Brand Flowers, Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic Chipboard, Studio Calico's Mister Huey's in Bookworm Green and A Vellum Flower that I made.

So, I think I am finally getting this using multiple lines per page thing down. Tell me what you think? Are you a "Chaotic Scrapper" too? Leave me a comment below.

~Ashley Crafty~

P.S.- Stay tuned I will be doing a tutorial on the vellum flower next week. 

Once upon an Embellishment...

An embellishment is defined as an ornament or decoration. That doesn't say much, however in 

crafts an Embellishment is anything used to add design interest to a piece. I like that definition - 

I find that some basic design principles apply when embellishing your "piece".

Here are a couple of those principles:

The first I want to talk about is "Grounding". This term is used primarily in sketching or drawing. In scrapbooking it refers to using embellishments (be it a strip of paper or paper flowers) along the bottom of your project. This will effectively draw your eye down allowing you to sweep the entire page.

The second is know as the "Visual Triangle". When applied to scrapbooking you want to draw a triangle across your page. (invisible triangle, don't go doodling triangle on all your pages) Where the points come together place small groupings. Place your photos or journaling inside these points. Surrounding your photos with groupings of embellishments will help draw the eye to the most important part of your page....The Memories. 


Some of my favorite paper companies have come out with some really awesome embellishments that are great for layering. Check them out.

These Tin Pins from the Woodland Park Collection by October Afternoon are great when used over stitching or in a cluster with buttons or flowers.

Next is of course Washi Tape. This beautiful washi tape from My Minds Eye. Tear it to different lengths place it along the edge of your page and add paper flowers to the end . Done across the bottom of a layout is a great way to ground your pages.

And last but not least Jillibean Soup's Wooden Flags. Great to use sticking out of a grouping or photo. Or string some twine through the eyelet for a Title.

So, What do you think? Have you used these principles or are you going to try them? What do you think about these new products? We would love to hear from you.
Ashley