Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

DCWV Layout #7: Spring Break

I've been working my way through one Die Cuts With a View Stack called "The Snapshot Stack" and I've challenged myself to create 24 layouts.  Here is #7 completed:

I didn't journal on this one because it seemed kind of self explanatory.  The embellishments are from the muffin tin I created for the  Stacy Julian  Twelve Class I am taking at Big Picture Classes so I just pulled some orange and yellow random embellishments to create a visual triangle.  So Simple.

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The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series (Day 27): The Arena

 Welcome Scrapbookers to Day #27 of The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge.  We've gathered inspiration from the districts and the characters and even a few of the quotes from The Hunger Games, today we are getting inspiration from The Arena - where the Hunger Games are held.  The Movie did an awesome job with depicting the Arena, as well as the behind the scenes of the Arena with Seneca Crane and the game makers, actually that was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

The Hunger Games Spoiler Alert:  The Arena "is a large, enclosed, outdoor area where the Hunger Games are held each year. The arena is designed by the Gamemakers and changes every year. One year, it could be a dense forest, the next a freezing wasteland. The Gamemakers plant traps and cunning ideas into the arena, to entertain the Capitol audience. All arenas have a Cornucopia, where the tributes launch into the arena to begin the Games. The arenas were considered important historical landmarks, and were preserved after the conclusion of the Games. The arenas were also a popular tourist destination for many Capitol citizens, who would spend months vacation visiting the arena from their favorite games, where they would be able to rewatch the Games, visit the sites of the deaths and even take part in reenactments. After the end of the war, all the arenas were destroyed, and memorials to the hundreds of teenagers killed within their confines were constructed in their place." (source: The Hunger Games wiki)

Scrapbooking Inspiration from and Themes from The Arena in the Hunger Games can include:  1. Stadiums, Ball Parks, Sporting Locations; 2. Competition; and 3. Fake Plants and Animals Found Outside - such as those found at Disney and other Theme Parks.   Here are some examples:

1. Stadiums / Ball Parks / Sporting Locations:

 

2. Competition:

 

3. Fake Plants and Animals (Disney Parks):

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The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series #2: District 12 & Taking It the Wrong Way

Welcome to Day #2 of The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series!

Part 1 of The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Day 2:

 

(Psst - Hey Scrapbookers:  The videos overlap a bit so you can fast forward a bit through the second one.  Improv and scrapbooking and making videos about these concepts are not perfect - and that is OK!  I'm not letting technical difficulties keep me from having a bit of fun.)

Part 2 of the video:

 

 SCRAPBOOKING IMPROV TIP:  TAKING IT THE WRONG WAY:  Think of a word and use it in the wrong way.  For example, if some one is talking about dinner reservations you could misinterpret them to mean the kind of reservations or hesitation you might have about bungee jumping.  This improvisational comedy technique is known as "taking it the wrong way" and it is a fun exercise to try especially with your kids. 

The improv principle of "taking it the wrong way" was the inspiration for today's Hunger Games Challenge.  The improv principle of listening and reacting to what your scene partners are saying and the principle of staying in the present moment were also at play when I created this page, as was the improv principle that you don't keep your own ideas "too precious" you go with the flow of the group:

For example: I had a "precious" idea.  This morning, I thought I'd start each day with one of the Districts starting with #12 descending down to #1.  Each District in The Hunger Games had an industry and I thought I could take inspiration from those industries like fishing, textiles, war, lumber etc.  The main character, Katniss Everdeen's home district is #12 and the industry is coal since, in this dystopian post apocalyptic world, it is located in what was once Appalachia in North America.  I was sort of deciding about whether to start in at District #1 and work out to #12 or vice versa so I asked my family at breakfast "Should I scrapbook about Lumber or Coal? " just to see if they had any thoughts.  {Here's where I went "improv" and discarded my "precious idea" and listened to what my "scene partners" were saying and I reacted to that instead.} To my surprise, they did.  They each had different thoughts - my son thought I was talking about Lego's Ninjago named Cole and he brought out the minifig to show me; my daugther thought I was talking about our friend's daughter Nicole; and Charlie, playing along I think, suggested I might be talking about his cousin, Penni Cole.  Then I suggested that maybe I was talking about the kind of coal that Santa brings when children are naughty.  Here is the collage with text I made in Picasa demonstrating this morning's conversation:

STEP 1: Think of a word you can "take the wrong way" and use it in a layout.  You can use a word in its incorrect form.  Yesterday I talked about high school English Class with Mrs. Rideout and she did this exercise with us, we had vocabulary words each week and we'd have to write definition appropriate sentences for all of them except one; we'd each have to take a word and use it incorrectly in a sentence.  I remember a couple of the sentences quite specificially: 

"Hey! Stop that!  European all over my shoe."

"The figure skater finished her routine and looked at the judges and whispered to herself hopefully: Benign!  Benign!"

It is a fun and silly exercise that is easily applied to scrapbooking.    Seriously, try it. 

STEP 2: Find Photos that Support Your Wrong Way Word.  I think that you are most likely not going to have a photo displaying a word used in the wrong context - although if you do - then kudos to you - use that.  More likely, you'll have to get a bit creative with your photo interpretation of how you are using a word incorrectly.  This is the time to play, think out side of the box of what you originally took the photo about and use it in a different way.  So improv.  So fun.

 

I used all the different definitions of the word coal and found a head shot of each member of my family and created a grid photo collage and then wrote each family member's definition over the photo.  Otherwise, all these photos would never had ended up on the same page.  To add some consistency, I converted most of the photo collage to black and white but kept a pop of color on a photo of my family at Appalachian Ski Mountain - the original thought behind the word of the day: Coal.

STEP 3: Put your Page Together and Try to Use Embellishments that Support Your Theme.  I used a map from our trip to Appalachian Ski Mountain.  I also used a bit of patterned paper with a picture of a bird since that refers to the Mockingjays in The Hunger Games books.

STEP 4:   SHARE!  Post a comment with a link to your page, I would love to see it and hear about how you used a word incorrectly!  There is a flickr group called "The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenges" so you can post your layout there if you don't have a blog.  Can't wait to see what you make!

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Seven 7 Gypsies Inspired Layouts: #3 Cocoa Beach / Photo Tags

Here's another 7 Gypsies inspired scrapbook layout:

How this page is inspired by 7 Gypsies:

1. The blue and red postal diagonal stripes border.

2. The photos in the shape of tags.

3. The neutral, black and white colors with a touch of color.

I had fun in this series using zip codes of places we visited.  I ran out of the number "2" so I used the sticker sheet as the stencil and just left it on there -  I filled in the negative space of the "2" with a black sharpie.

Pay Attention! Scrapworthy Lives - The Happiness Project - November Blog Hop

Hello Scrapbooking Blogging Friends! 

This month the Scrapworthy Lives - The Happiness Project - focuses on the concept of "PAY ATTENTION!"

Author Gretchen Rubin's "Pay Attention" month in the "The Happiness Project" included meditation, examining true rules, stimulating the mind in new ways, and keeping a food diary.  For me, when I think about paying attention, I can't help but think about how scrapbooking helps me to pay attention to the good things in life. 

I also can't help but think about my son's issue with paying attention.  He has ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.   In our family, we have spent a lot of time and attention on his ADHD issues.  As a result, I think maybe we are sometimes guilty of paying less attention to my daughter.  I made these two scrapbook layouts about paying attention to my daughter:

Journaling:  "Mom! Look! Look how high I can swing!" Allison called out across the playground. "Come Here! Come Here! And bring your camera!" Said my 7 year old daughter who normally does not want me snapping her picture all the time. "Did you get it?" She commanded with a smile. "Lay down so I’m on top of the bar!" "Got it" I called back. "I know you think Mac is the only one who has the super-powers to swing high, but I can swing higher!" Allison declared with what seemed like a lot of forethought. Later, when we got home, I came across the scrapbook I had made for my son, Mac, called "Super Mac" which included pictures of him swinging high. I created that book for my son after reading a book called "The Gift of ADHD" which depicts a boy swinging high on a tire swing. Then I realized that maybe Allison was feeling a bit jealous of the attention we give to Mac and his special needs because of his ADHD. Charlie and I are constantly trying to figure out the best way to address the ever changing special needs associated with Mac’s ADHD; and so it must feel to Allison like all of our attention is on her big brother. Allison, the little sister, has generally been so well behaved and is quieter by comparison, so she tends to get a little less attention. This exchange and these pictures of my daughter remind me that she also needs lots of attention and that she too has special gifts and needs. Now I make extra special sure that I am giving my full attention to Allison every day for a part of the day and we have special "Girl Dates" which we have always had but now take on a deeper meaning. Allison: I love you my girl. Mommy (photos January 2011 / journaling October 2011).

Journaling:  Allison, My Sweet Girl, You are always saying: "Look at Me!" "Find Me!" "Play With Me!" "Chase Me!" "Watch Me!" "Listen to Me!" I was recently talking to your friend Aspen’s Mom and she declared "Oh! Your Daughter is an EXTROVERT!" after only talking to you for a few minutes - and I realized she was so right! You love being the CENTER OF ATTENTION and you love having company no matter what you are doing Yes, my girl, I’m not sure how this didn’t occur to me much sooner, You are a charming, friendly, and authoritative little extrovert! After realizing this, I did a Myers Briggs Test for kids and your personality type is EFJ - Extraverted-Feeling-Judging; the test results are on the back of this page. They say that you are well suited to becoming a CAREGIVER which is interesting since you have always said you’d like to be a doctor or dentist or animal doctor, those professions will suit your personality type perfectly. I LOVE YOU and your type and I love it when you ask me to take your picture like you did this day on the slide! Love, Mommy 10/2011

 On both layouts, I created circles {with nesting die cut circles on one layout and with brads and the naturally framed circle of the slide in the other layout} around my daughter so that she would be the center of attention:

Ok, now go pay attention to the other Scrapworthy Lives Happiness Project Blogs!

Here is the Blog Roll List:

1. http://blog.funmama.net

2. http://kissandtellscrapbooking.typepad.com

3. http://blog.mshanhun.com

4. http://xnomads.typepad.com

5. http://adriennefalzon.blogspot.com

6. http://nickylamarche.typepad.com

7. http://www.valerieserfozo.com

8. http://scrapsandsass.blogspot.com

9. http://www.scrapworthylives.com

10. http://scrapyourlife.net

11. http://mahsliceoflife.blogspot.com

12. www.MichelleRoycroft.blogspot.com

13. http://www.kimberlykalil.com

14. http://www.1200somemiles.com

15. www.scrappingmojo.blogspot.com

16. http://www.yourmemoryconnection.com

Enjoy the Blog Hop & Pay Attention!

Scrapbooking 2007 Flashback: Shamu, Happy Flowers, & Happy Mom

Scrapbook Flashback Time - Dateline 2007 and here's a look at three scrapbook layouts I made that year:

I made this scrapbook layout titled "Shamu" in 2007.  I know that trends come and go, but this is the type of layout that I think is basic enough that it doesn't look dated in 2011. 

Now contrast that to this next scrapbook page:

I also made this layout I'll call "Happy Flowers" in 2007 and I think that it does look dated; I'm OK with the fact that I no longer scrap in this particular way - the paper and the way that I was scrapbooking kind of bring me back to my memory of that point in time.  I don't think I would make this page the same way with my skill set and aesthetic today; but I still like this page and the cute smiling faces of my tiny children and I like all the happiness tips included on the page and that I signed and dated the page so I know when it was made.  I still do sign and date most of my pages.

Ok, one more scrapbook page from 2007:

I'll call this one "Happy Mom"; it is another scrapbook page I made in 2007 and I think that I could make something substantially similar today.

I keep my layouts in albums Library of Memory style so my recently made layouts often are next to ones that were made several years ago.  Sometimes the styles are radically different because of the trends of the times that the pages were made, but often times I'll look at a page I made a few years ago and think that it is not all that differently from the pages I'm making now.  And since I'm a bit of a patterened paper collector - its quite possible that paper I used on a scrapbook page I made today was a piece that I've had since 2007 or before.  I actually came across a few Hot Off the Presses Papers from 2003 today and they looked "use-able" to me. 

I don't spend a lot of time looking back at my layouts, I tend to focus on what I'm doing currently, but it is fun to look back now and then and compare and contrast the old layouts to the recent ones.

I have, by the way been doing a lot of scrapbooking in the last week, I'm working on a project that I'll share soon.  All three of the above layouts incorporate the concept that is driving my current project, so it was interesting for me to take a look back.

 

Ella Publishing Boot Camp: Any Given Sunday

Here's the layout I made with the photo I tried to photoshop:

 
It looks washed out right?  I printed out the photoshopped photo at home but my printer was low on ink so it came out a bit wonky so I used the smaller prints that I also printed out because the wonkiness of the color didn't show up as much.  BTW my printers are always low on ink because my kids love to print things from the Backyardigans.com and Barbie.com, I sort of have to hoard the print cartridges if I want to use them for photos which I can never remember to do, so most of my pictures I have printed at Walgreens or Shutterfly depending on how quick I need them.

 

Springtime Allison

It is April 1st and a completely beautiful spring day here, I decided to celebrate springtime by gathering a bunch of pictures of my daugther from several different years but all from the springtime.  I've been re-discovering the joy of the 2 page scrapbook layout.

 
I cut the flower embellishments from patterned paper; other supplies:  American Crafts, Moxxie, Scenic Route, Basic Grey, K&Company, DCWV, & Fancy Pants.

Nine

 
1. "I'm not nine until I eat cake." - Mac in response to his little sister singing and dancing a little birthday ditty that she made up especially for this occasion.

2. "This is the WORST day of my entire life."  - Mac after just waking up and realizing he had to go to school even though it was his birthday then later after he got to open a couple of presents:  "This is the BEST day of my entire life."  Total Drama Island.

3.  "Oh yeah baby, I've been wanting this my entire life."  - Mac after opening the dual action lights & sounds battery required Star Wars light saber double pack.

4. "My Birthday?  5 things for today, (holding up fingers on his hands and such) Ok Mom?  1. School, 2. Karate, 3. Toys R Us, 4. Presents, 5. Dinner and Cake.  That's the plan, Ok Mom?"  - Mac instructing me about how today is going to go.

5. "Ok look Mom, LOOK!  Look at this thing right here, Bam!  Isn't that awesome?!  Now look at this thing right here - LOOK!  LOOK!  See? right here... LOOK!" - Mac showing me the new Bakugan figures Grammy got him at Toys R Us a few days ago.

6. "I will not wear shoes with laces because you have to put them in bows and bows are for girls." - Mac explaining his requirements for footwear.  Apparently, velcro is for boys - and the older and stinkier the shoe, the better.

7.  "I need scissors, I don't want to rip the wrapping paper because it is SO special." - Mac opening the little jelly beans that looked like real rocks present - he liked that Ikea paper I've had for several years now - I used it to wrap last year's presents too!  Later when opening the light saber, he just ripped in, I guess saving a little was good, he did keep the saved bit on his desk all neat and folded up.

8. "Ok Mom - take the last official picture of me being 8." - Last night after karate in the rain, Mac instructed me about how he'd like one last picture before he turned 9, he set up the shot & gave me detailed instructions.

9. "I love you too, Mom.  Have a great day at work."  - Mac's response to my hug but NO kiss (he is not a fan of kisses), and my "Ok honey, hurry up its time for school and Dad is honking the horn, you better hurry, where's your backpack, come on lets go, have a great day, I love you, I'll pick you up after school today, I love you and I'm so glad you are out of my belly."

December in Review & Project Life

I'm putting together a Project Life Album using a 3 ring 12x12 binder from Walgreens ($9.99) that came with page dividers with six pockets for 4x6 photos.   Because its a three ring binder, I'm throwing in some 12x12 scrapbook pages like this one:  December 2010 in Review.  I'm not completely confident that I'll be able to keep up with the picture a day and the daily journaling but I'm going to try to catch up every weekend on the photos and I'm going to try to print on Fridays - I'm already behind on this new system because of the stomach flu that hit every member of my family starting New Year's Eve & still going strong (with Charlie), but we're almost over it and then the system hopefully will start to work.  I also ordered some Becky Higgins Journaling Cards on Amazon - they were only $3.99, and since the Project Life albums were sold out, the Walgreens binder plus the journaling cards are going to be just fine for my project; although the Project Life albums are exceptionally cute. 

 

On this layout I used Stamping for the title and the hearts (Heidi Grace); Patterned Paper is from the Die Cuts With a View "Be Mine" Stack which is for Valentines Day but worked for this project; border punch is Fiskars. 

I've also been digging all the challenges on Two Peas In A Bucket and this one fits their Month in Review & their Stamping Challenges.  If you haven't been to that site, its great for scrapbooking inspiration - go to the Community - Challenges pull downs for the challenges.

2010 in Review

A few tidbits from last year: 2010; I know that I'm going to have to get used to writing "2011" at work tomorrow.

 
I made the 2010 with my Quick Kutz die cutter.