Then and Now #2

I'm back with another "THEN and NOW". (I say in my best game show host voice)

THEN

 This one is from my first trip to a scrapbook store. I didn't even know there was such a thing.  Ahh, to be so naive! I stumbled in there and found such a magical world. Big rolls of stickers and bins full of tiny things that you could put in tiny glassine bags. So I bought these stickers and brads and went home and did the one thing that I still regret today....I took my decorative stickers to my pictures and I made a Layout. I think this may have been the second or third layout I ever made. And now in all it's Decorative edges Glory: 2 Peas in a Pod.

The yellow corduroy fabric brads were the first thing I knew I had to have. I really wish I could find some more of them now. I cut these pictures down so that I could fit three to a page. I really wish I hadn't done that now because these are the originals.  These pictures of me and my hubs were taken just weeks after we started dating. Oh, so happy!!

NOW

This layout was done last week while I was squirreled away in a hotel for work. I worked 100 hrs. in 8 days and I still brought my supplies with me. Dedicated Huh? Anyway this is a layout that I really, really, really like. Me & You-Tea for Two

The picture is from Walt Disney World in 1998. That is me waving with my brother tailing me. I saw these papers and this photo and normally I  am not big on the whole "your photos colors have to match the papers" thing but with this I just couldn't resist. The background paper is from Echo Parks-Sweet Day and the other paper are My Minds Eye-The Sweetest Thing. (That makes this layout SWEET!!) :)

The triangles were "Fussy Cut" from the Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic 6x6 paper pad, which took a lot longer than I thought it would. Then I put them on pop dots to make them stand out a little. Since the overall color scheme is very muted I thought they would just become part of the background if I left them flat.

The camera is from Amy Tangerine's Ready Set Go line and the banner is from Pink Paislee's Cottage Farms. (I won some from 2peas before its release date)

Dear Lizzy Foam Thickers in turquoise/green...I don't know what you would call that color. I love the pink teapot in the photo and how it really stands out with the pink in the papers. 

This is the top right corner. Most people (that I have noticed anyway) tend to put their clusters in the top left but it looks off if I try to do it that way. The grey washi tape is from Recollections (Micheal's Brand). I love this Washi tape. It goes with everything!!

The last thing I did was add the pink measuring tape down the side. I don't know why so don't ask it just felt right. :)

So that's it for another episode of Then & Now...Tune in next time for another layout from way back when vs. the one I just made (Again in my best Game Show Voice)

Do you know where I can find some corduroy fabric brads? Do you now the name of that color on the Thickers? Did you ever cut your photos up with Decorative Scissors, and if so Do you regret it now? Leave me a comment. I love hearing from you!!

Hello Summer--Scrap You Story Challenge #3

I am so excited that I was chosen as a guest designer for the Scrap Your Story Challenge Blog for week #3. If you haven't checked them out yet you really should. Each week you will receive a new challenge to jump start you creativity. Another truly awesome thing about Scrap Your Story is that with each challenge you complete and upload to their blog you have the chance of being picked to receive a prize pack!! I know...Right! I have always found that a challenge really gets my "mojo a flowin' ". So this is week 3 and the challenge is to create a layout using this sketch created by Christy Skinner the founder of Scrap Your Story.

I draw doodle sketches when I have an idea that I can't seem to translate to the page. But, When it comes to  working from another persons sketch I always have trouble getting started. When Christy sent me this sketch I knew immediately what pictures I wanted to put with it. I have been going through and scrapping my childhood pictures and this just looked "Summer" to me. I have had these two photos pulled and put together intent on using them on a page together for months. I wanted to use this paper from Crate Papers Acorn Avenue collection. It seemed to fit the photos well

The top picture is of my mom, brother and me riding the trolley @ Myrtle Beach, SC. 

The first thing that really spoke to me on the layout was the banners so I decided to start with that. I placed the photos in the same position as the sketch and layered the first banner. Once I had that in there I decided to run with the banners theme.  

Awesome!!

I carried the banner theme down to the bottom of the page. I had just received some of the Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm Tags and the Awesome was just to Awesome to not use it.

 The only big change I really made to the sketch was moving the title. I kept the band running through the center and found that it was a good place to let the title rest. I tore a long strip of silver washi tape in half and layered it on top of the border strip.

I have started journaling on vellum and then putting it on my layout. I really don't journal as much as I should because I am so scared I will make a mistake on the pattern paper and ruin all the hard work I have done.

This is a close up of the banners at the top. The banners felt like they needed to be softened up a bit so I layered some vellum on top of them. I have been using a lot of plain vellum on my layouts lately. 

For the top left corner I stamped a Dear Lizzy Stamp that has the definition of summer on a piece of....you guessed it...Vellum and layered that with some silver Washi tape that given to me a while back. The kraft banner at the top says "Life is what you make it". So True. 

The final thing I did was add a couple of loose rhinestones bling to the page at a few spots to draw a little more attention to those areas. S

So there you have it. Hello Summer for the Scrap Your Story Challenge Blog. Take the sketch and play along. Me and the girls over there would love to see what you come up with. 

~Ashley Crafty~

A Long, Hard Day

I have been working through pictures that I have of me and my brother as children. I was lucky to have a mother who happened to be a shutterbug. I remember that we went to CVS to pick up a set of prints at least  once every other week. Granted not all of these are scrappable (not a word) but I am going to try and scrap as many of them as I can...So as promised here is my second layout that I completed this week. 

This picture of my brother was taken at the USS Yorktown in Charleston, SC. We had so much fun climbing around that ship. In fact my dad took my brother, husband and me out to dinner Sunday night for my husbands birthday and we were talking about this trip. Jacob (my brother) said that the memory that stands out the most his mind is climbing the ladders through the hatches and that he remembers being exhausted by the time we got to the Captains Deck. Hence the picture of a sun-burnt 11 yr old resting in a Captains Chair. 

On to the layout. I used some of the new My Minds Eye Collectible Collection. The "Love" sticker you see in that corner is actually a tab to pull out for hidden journaling. The envelope that it is in as well as the washi tape on the side are both Recollections Brand from Micheal's.

The Relax chipboard scrabble tiles are from Basic Grey Fact or Fiction Line. We do not have a Jo'Anns anywhere close to me so when I was sent to Columbia for work I asked my husband to stop and let me run in so that I could grab anything from that line. I got the Chipboard Alphas and the Snippets. 

Wasn't he just the cutest kid!!

I love the pattern in that green base paper. I am going to have to order at least two more sheets.

And for the last picture. I really should mist before I put my base layers down as I seem to get it everywhere. This layout will be going to my mom for her birthday pages. I give her 4-5 pages every year for her birthday and Christmas.  

The journaling next to the picture says "I am so very happy to have you in my life. Never forget how special you are to me. You are Kind, Sweet and Silly." Perfect for my mom to my brother. 

Leave me a comment...I love reading them!!!

~Ashley Crafty~

Buddy @ the Beach

I am not an everyday scrapper by any means. I pull my stuff out everyday but I always end up getting lost in reorganizing the stuff or just completely lost as to where to start. On some days I have a clear idea as to what I want to do but I just can't seem to translate that to what I have in front of me.

Today I sat down with a photo that I had been wanting to scrap for weeks and all I knew about the page I was about to embark on was that I wanted to try and use something other than white or cream for the background. So, after a thorough search of my limited paper supply I said I GIVE UP!! I got up and went to start putting everything away when I saw something sitting on the dresser in my room. My SMASH Book. I hadn't touched that thing in weeks but it is full of pretty paper so I opened it up and let it fall to a random page and Lo and Behold......Inspiration Strikes!!!

Blue for a Boy-Beach Page

The page that it fell open to was a blue graph paper design with fake stitching and doodles in the corners. PERFECT. I decided to leave the tattered edge from where I tore it out of the smash book.The easiest way to get the look of the notebook paper border punch ever!!  The only things I had originally intended to put on this page was the blue diagonal stripe paper behind the photo and the Adventure Sticker from Amy Tangerines Sketchbook Line (I have a lot of these stickers and thickers b/c I found them on sale at Micheal's for 75% off)

Wasn't he just the cutest kid???

Now I have the background paper and the Photo-Matt and I am stuck again. I used the phone numbers from a pack of Basic Greys Fact or Fiction line Chipboard Alphas. But I needed something to offset all the blue. *besides the kraft sheet underneath* So I pulled out a pack of Amy Tangerines Light Woodgrain Thickers that I could never make look right on anything and it was like kismet.

He kept the boogie board on his leg all week.

The "How Lovely" and >>Wish You Were Here>> Stickers both came from the Amy Tan's Sketchbook as well. However the original stickers were way to bulky for this page so I pulled them apart. With steady even pressure, lift up on one corner and the layers will start to separate.  After that I just added a few splashes of Mister Huey's Bookworm Green and called it done. This Layout came together amazingly quick. (for me at least)

For the journaling I chose to use just what I could remember from that trip which wasn't much considering that this picture was taken when I was 12. But thanks to Glitter Girl I decided that that was enough. So the journaling down the side says:

Jacob @ 6 yrs. old--Always Smiling. Flashing the classic double Peace Sign. I am amazed that he came out of the water for the picture!!

So, there it is. My "Wow, That came together fast Layout." Have you had a Layout recently that came together amazingly quick?? Have you ever torn a page out of something for your Scrapbook?? Let me know I am not alone and leave me a comment below.