pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

A little pretty something from last weekend.

I’m working on something to share with you tomorrow, but just wanted to include a few notes from well, people who are not me! And you are not me, so you’ll do quite nicely.

The question is…
How do you make time for things you love when they are not the things you really need to get done?

Looking for a few concrete examples, especially if you manage to juggle a family, a job, studies or any number of other responsibilities and yet still make time to do the things you love, whether that be scrapbooking, writing letters, hiking mountains or baking cupcakes.

Feel free to leave your answer in the comments below or to email me if you prefer.

Hope your Monday is lovely!

xlovesx

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_{Supplies: Trip to Nature papers plus Organic mask by Jen Allyson, Photo mat and Photo frame both by Rhonna Farrer.}

I fell in love with giant photographic backgrounds for digital pages when working on an article for SI—with these three layouts. Definitely an idea I am planning to continue you with the digital collection. So today – three different looks with my first set of papers!

Up above, a paper for the full background, but combined with a photo mask stretched to the size of the full page, then lowered in opacity over the top. Adds a different look than a boxy frame.

_{Supplies: Trip to Nature papers and Penned Words: Nature plus papers by Betsy Tuma and Jen Allyson, Organic stamp brushes by Jen Allyson, Peg alphabet by Carina Gardner and Scrap Canvas page template by The Queen of Quirk.}

Always fast: dropping papers into a template. Love how easy it is to change a template—this layout started out as a template with monkeys!

_{Supplies: Trip to Nature papers plus template by Erica Hernadez, grungy papers by Chelsea Parsons, Round brushes by Rhonna Farrer.}

And this time, mixing two papers—the bottom half is the roadway paper while the top is the sky paper. The middle band of the layout covers the join, so nothing fussy to lining up the backgrounds.

Must dash—have a lovely day!

xlovesx

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So very excited to share this project with you.

Excited because it’s this week’s Tuesday Tutorial on Ali’s blog.

Excited because we are going back to Iceland very soon.

Excited because it’s the first project I made with my new digital products.

That makes for a very exciting day, I do believe!

The full tutorial is here and I hope you like it! I’ll be featuring the ‘after’ of this project at the end of September, once we have completed the journey.

If you’re visiting here from Ali’s blog, welcome! Make yourself at home. I hope you’ll take a look around and maybe
subscribe so we can become fast friends. Thanks so much for stopping by!

xlovesx

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September is a special kind of second new year: the time of year when we head back to school, set new goals, live up to our shiny new intentions and embrace the idea of doing a little something to make ourselves a little better somehow.

Around here, we do that with an online class called Learn Something New Every Day.

Now it its fourth year, this online class encourages you to observe the world around you and learn from your daily experiences and surroundings. We work with a small format album to make thirty daily entries, and we adopt a few short cuts and techniques to make those daily entries possible in even the busiest of weeks. And once you’ve joined, you’re welcome to participate for as many years as you like at no extra cost.

The class includes:
…preparation notes delivered next week
…thirty daily full-colour pdf prompts delivered to your inbox
…access to a private class forum at shimelle.com to chat and share your work
…permanent file archive so you can come back to the materials at any time

PLUS New for 2009:
Although the principles of the course stay the same each year, the prompts are revamped to show you a new book with a new look. This year’s additional materials include:
…for paper scrappers, this year’s featured album is made with repurposed supplies that will encourage you to stretch your supplies by recycling some items from daily life, and the option of a kit for scrapbookers in the UK.
…for hybrid scrappers, four pages of printable accents to include in your album (available to download on the first day of class).
…for digital scrappers, five page templates (layered .psd files) and a mini kit of papers and embellishments designed just for the class, plus the option of additional digital supplies available when class begins.

So you’ll get all that too, whether it’s your first year to sign up or you’re joining us again in 2009.

Ready to sign up? You can choose your currency and pay in UK pounds or US dollars by clicking the cupcake of your choice:

You can pay by credit/debit card (click on the left of the payment screen) or Paypal account (log in on the right of the payment screen). Please be sure to enter a valid email address as part of your payment so your prompts can be delivered to your inbox.

Participated last year? You don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive a message in the next day or so with all the relevant links for you. If your email address has changed in the past year, however, you will need to update it on your forum account to ensure you receive your emails.

Any questions? Leave them in the comments or shoot me an email and I’ll get an answer to you straight away.

I can’t wait to meet the Class of 2009!

xlovesx

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Well, if ‘getting the hang of it’ means one cool photo in about a dozen attempts. I think bad vision and this lens make for a complicated relationship.

But hopefully more Lensbaby adventures soon. Like maybe more than one photo and three sentences.

{Have a fabulous weekend.}

xlovesx

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~Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, American Crafts Thickers, Doodlebug letter stickers, Making Memories stamps and ribbon, Fiskars border punch.~

It was my turn to put forth a sketch for this month’s Sketch Collection column in Scrapbook Inspirations. My favourite thing about this column is just a little bit awkward: I always love the contributors’ layouts far more than my own! But the boss never lets me change my layout at the last minute, so I’m always stuck with that first page I made from the sketch. There are five additional pages in the magazine, but you can see pages by Lisette and Jen on their blogs to get an idea of their yummy pages.

If you read the fine print rather than just looking at the pictures, you’ll already know that we added the sketch in a digital layout format as a free download — you can find it here, even if you didn’t read the fine print in the magazine! That template is what I used for the hybrid page above — the middle section of the layout was created digitally and printed out on an A4 sheet of photo paper, then the paper embellishments were added from there. Even better, you can also download a second version of this template just from me by clicking here. The second template is a bit more suited to a full digital page I think, but you can use either for your digital or hybrid projects. Both templates are .psd files, ready to go in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. Enjoy!

So this month’s sketch looked something like this:

The space in the middle was the part I was most interested in when the pages started to come in. It can be filled with journaling, patterned paper, a border, a larger photograph…lots of options.

And since the article was done and dusted, I’ve been able to use it a few more times. Like this page that was featured on the Banana Frog Blog.

~Supplies: Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock, BasicGrey patterned paper, American Crafts Thickers (and these), Doodlebug border stickers, 7gypsies word stickers and Banana Frog stamps.~

And this fully digital page made with the layered template…

_{Supplies: Study Hall kit by Jen Allyson, Swirls by Rhonna Farrer}

So of course, I think there’s a need for a bit of a challenge, right? We’re always looking for layouts that our readers create when they’ve been inspired by something in the magazine, like the sketch. If you tell us about them, you might even find your page on the SI blog or on the pages of the magazine.

Your turn now: let’s see what you do with this sketch. If you upload your page online, make sure to leave a link in the comments. If you don’t upload your pages but still want to share, email me pretty please!

Happy scrapping!

xlovesx

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Um, make that “all LAST weekend”, okay?

Can I have a drum roll please?

Challenge one…create a page using free digital kits on paper:
Joyce and this layout

Challenge two…answer trivia questions about the party guests:
Of all the names that went in, Terri Horsman is the lucky winner!

Challenge three…use the free circle template:
Lou and this layout

Challenge four…take inspiration from the party and make something:
AbiB and this layout

Thank you so much to all our party guests and everyone who stopped by, left comments, made things or just gleaned some inspiration from the weekend. Winners, watch your inbox for a gift certificate flying your way for a little shopping fun!

All the inspiration will stay around online and you can see all the party posts here.

We’ll have to do this again sometime!
Just maybe not this weekend.

xlovesx

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_{©twopeasinabucket.com Supplies: cardboard, patterned papers by My Mind’s Eye, Bella Blvd, BasicGrey and Cosmo Cricket, dotty tape by Prima, grey, white and red Thickers by American Crafts, die-cut journaling paper by Making Memories, fabric tags by Little Yellow Bicycle, border punch by Fiskars and to cut that butterfly I keep using on every single layout, the Silhouette SD.}

While we were partying this weekend, the garden bloomed with a new gallery of pages. This month’s theme is patterned paper—definitely my must-have scrapbooking product. There was a time when I scrapped with all cardstock, all the time.

It’s a time to which I have no desire to return! Bring on the patterned paper.

In addition to the garden, check out Kelli’s project that is the first in a four week drive to get you using alllll of your patterned paper.

The patterned papers I am loving right this second:

_{Click on any paper to go shopping.}

Starting on the left, that’s the new Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend range—there is something very school film-strip about it all. It reminds me of the watching The Wonder Years, in the very best possible way.

Then Rosie McGrain from American Crafts. Easily one of my favourites from the past year. It goes with everything and it’s just a little bit quirky.

The most gorgeous subtle tree print from Lily Bee design. Love.

Narratives patterned papers by Karen Russell. Seriously tempted to buy all I can find because I can not bear to think of a world without Narratives papers. And no news as to whether Karen will go back to designing this or not. And I cannot believe I am going to tell you this, but it is on sale.

And then two papers that are infinitely cooler in person than they could ever be on a computer screen. And they are both on sale too: Hambly frames in the black on black print. Ooooh, the glossy wonder! You will make a layout and then constantly shift it back and forth in the light to see all the frames. You will oooh and ahhh as if it is a firework display.

And last but not least—the flocked papers from Doodlebug. These are so cool for jazzing up what would otherwise be a solid colour. They have texture and dimension and people always stop at those pages in my album and ask ‘how do you do that?’ and I feel quite disappointing when I say ‘oh, you buy it like that. It’s a patterned paper.’ But it is! There are spots and also a more ornate design that is super cool (and they do them in glitter if you prefer sparkles to flock).

What are your favourite patterns right this second? Let’s compare notes!

xlovesx

PS: Prize winners from the party will be posted this evening.

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