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