One Pic Wonders

Recently I was going through some scrapbook layout pictures for a design team call (fingers crossed! LOL) and I noticed a trend...I tend to only scrap 1 picture on a layout.

I tried to figure out why I do this and here's the 2 answers I came up with: 

1) I like products...so, if I have too many pictures, it just doesn't leave a lot of play room.

2) I tend to only print out pictures that I absolutely LOVE, so I don't usually have multiples from one event on hand when I start a project (and who wants to stop working to run and pick up pics from a 1 hour place!?)

Here are 2 of my most recent "One Pic Wonders!"

"Cheryl"

The Beautiful Lady in this picture with me is the fabulous Cheryl Boglioli. I met her a few CHA's ago and there was an instant connection. She is my birthday twin (March 13th!), my soul sister and my mentor. She has been amazing to answer all my questions as I jumped into trying to "be creative" for a living. She has supported me in taking steps that were scary and is just all around fabulous.

I used Glitz's Design's "Color Me Happy" line because the name and colors were just so appropriate! 

I wanted to layout to feel like it was a bunch of pictures kind of just thrown on a desk, so I cut my paper all in similar sizes and shapes to my picture.

Getting the whole story of us on a page was going to be a little difficult, but I didn't want to do "hidden journaling" since the whole purpose of this layout was to tell about us. So I decided to journal in sections around the center focus and then connect them with a "follow" arrow, to make it easier to read the journaling in order.

Adding a little washi tape (by Queen and Co and The Paper Studio) added some fun elements and a splash of color to finish it off.

"You're Never Blue When You have Cousins"

I made this layout for a color challenge for Scrapbook News and Review Magazine, but I wanted to go beyond the obvious of making it blue in color, but since BLUE can also mean sad, I had to think kinda hard to come up with some way to use it that wasn't depressing! LOL.

I came across this picture of my two oldest kiddos and my nephew and I love it because they are SSSOO HAPPY together...hhmm...I thought...happy is the opposite of sad...sad means blue...that was my angle!

I started with a sheet of Pink Paislee's Mistables Paper in a hexagon shape and used a couple colors of Tattered Angels mists to make my background. Using lighter and darker blues gave my background depth instead of one flat color. I also left some places white to give it a little bit of a distressed look.

For this layout, I dug in my stash and found some yummy embellies that I had owned for a while, but had never used:

* Acrylic Photo Cover from My Mind's Eye-It added my border and my flowers to my picture!

* Canvas tag by Basic Grey (on left side)-Added some great texture

* Metal "Happy" (Pink Paislee) and "Three" Tag (Jillibean Soup)-these act as almost a "second" title

* Metal Flowers Brads and Acrylic Letters-The Paper Studio

* Grunge Key (Tim Holtz) and Wooden Letters (Pink Paislee)

I finished it off with some sprinkled and splattered blue Tattered Angels glaze (because kids are messy right?) and these fantastic little silver dots from a company called Candi Dots (this is a company out of the UK...check 'em out!)

What about you? Are you a one pic wonder or a fill-the-page kind of scrapper?

I would love to see your style! 

Leave me a comment!

Until next time friends...stay ONE-derful and stay creative.

XOXO,

KERI

So Glad for a sense of structure!

School started! Yay...and this has nothing to do with wanting to be away from my children (even though there are moments! LOL!) I am just so happy to be back to a time of structure in our schedule. This summer was just crazy!

I have not been in my studio as much as I would like this summer, but I have been able to make a few things...wanna see?!

My amazing friend, Becky Shaffer, (who I have talked about before) had a birthday a few weeks ago and since she has HUGE love and crush on Melody Ross and the whole Brave Girls Club, I thought I would make her a little something to remind her that she, too, is a brave girl.

It's an 8x10 mixed media canvas using Fancy Pants Design's Park Bench line. I, of course, used my Tattered Angels sprays along with some acrylics and my FAVORITE wood grain roller stamp by glitz design. 

Here are a few close ups! My favorite part is the wings. :)

Also this summer....

I didn't get to take a lot of pictures and I will do a FULL CHA post later, BUT I had the awesome privilege  of making a few projects for Marion Smith Design's  new line "Mad Tea Party" for the trade show. 

I LOVED the Alice in Wonderland influences so much that for the Printer's Tray (by 7 Gypsies) I actually used a vintage Golden Book copy of Disney's Alice in Wonderland and each section tells a different piece of the story.

Here are a couple of closeups!

The framed piece was actually my use of scraps. I found a cheap black plastic frame used my bits and piece of leftover paper to make my background and then hand-rolled some (umm...a lot!) of roses. The quote is one of my favorites from the classic Alice in Wonderland.

A good resource for quotes is a website called Goodreads. It has everything from literature to famous quotes and all sorts of other goodies.

Sorry this is so short...I've got some great things in the works that I know you will all be as excited as I am about!

Until then my friends...stay you...and stay creative!

New Obsession!!

Lately...I have been OBSESSED with playing with mixed media on canvases!! It is so much fun just being free and trying random techniques until you get what you're looking for.

Some of you might remember my first piece I need last month, featuring Authentique's Curiosity Line.

After this piece, I came across another Authentique Line that I had forgotten I had...Celebrate!! I am in LOVE with the little couples that Authentique features on a lot of their papers.

Next up on my new found obsession is Glitz Design's Color Me Happy. Who doesn't LOVE their bright, fun colors and playful patterns and elements?

And lastly, another...more unusual collection from Glitz Design...Birthday Wishes designed by Glitz for Echo Park's Photo Freedom line. The colors are fantastic, with a mixture of vintage browns and charcoals with BRIGHT pinks, yellow and aquas.

This is the first time I've added some 3-D elements like Prima Flowers and a lace stamp by Teresa Collins that I stamped on a coffee filter, cut out and draped it so it looked like real lace.

I especially love the words on this on....ENJOY YOURSELF AND PAY THEM NO MIND. How true this should be for all of us! Do what you love...and ignore the those who don't support your dreams.

Until next time...keep dreaming and keep creating.

PS....Be watching in just 10 shorts days as I spend 4 fabulous days in the Summer Home of Creativity...Summer CHA 2013 from Las Vegas!!!

Oh Scrap! New Layouts!!

I've been hoarding a bunch of scrapbook layouts, so I think it's time to share!!

FAMILY RULES

This layout was made with 2 of my FAVORITE new patterns from Canvas Corp: Ivory & Orange Chevron and Ivory & Orange Tile. It also featured their Family Sampler that makes it super easy, fast and cheap to embellish your pages! (and as I look at this...I realize how crooked my picture is..UGH!!)

It's a Small World

These are some of my favorite peeps in like...the whole world! One is from South Africa, 2 are from Canada and 1 is from Utah (that can be another world, right!? LOL) I love the bright "wow" factor of Heidi Swapp's Color Pop Collection so much that I didn't even mist the paper to change up the yellow/white colors...it is fabulous in it's own! I love my glitter heart made using a chipboard shape, double sided tape and fine glitter and my yellow Amy Tangerine letter's for American Crafts are a perfect finishing touch!

You Can Never Have too Much Hair

I change my hair all the time and sadly enough... this is not the first layout I've done about my hair. I was challenged to incorporate chevrons into a layout and what better way than to just GO BIG with Canvas Corp Chevron papers! All I did was cute sections from the red, green and aqua turquoise papers and layer them on my black & white chevron, lining up the patterns. I added 3 of my favorite instagram selfies, the "you can never have too much" title I fussy cut from a Glitz Design paper and some American Crafts Thickers to complete my title.

Notre Dame Basilica

I did this layout a few years ago and it is still one of my favorites! It was my first time playing with Tattered Angels on a scrapbooking page. And as you can see...there's a surprise element! When combined with the Canvas Corp White on Kraft papers, the soy-based ink of the pattern actually acts as a resist and POPs through the Tattered Angels colors. It totally looks like I stamped the background with white ink! The pictures themselves are breathtaking, so I kept my embellishments to a minimum so the pics could get the attention.

Our Story is Perfect

This is my HOTTIE HUBBY and I being silly in the car one day. I bought this Echo Park collection (appropriately titled: Be Mine) super cheap from this little site called Part-Time Sally. It is a great store that is always having sales and is a good place to find older collections at a steal! The colors of the paper matched perfect with my black shirt and pink feather in my hair. I liked the idea of the flags so much after I did this one page layout that I scrap-lifted myself and stretched it into a 2-page layout I did for a class for Easter.

I hope my little layouts have inspired you to get scrappin'!

Until next time my friends...stay Creative!

Love,

KERI

NEW Memories...NEW Project...NEW Series!!

It's time for another round of NEW-ness here at The Creative Life!!

NEW MEMORIES!

This past Saturday I did something NEW...I ran my first 10k!

 I started running back in August with the app Count-to-5K for 2 reasons: (1) I wanted to be an example of a healthy lifestyle to my kids and (2) I had my SILs and some great friends who had started running and I was totally inspired by the confidence it had been giving them.

So I just...started running. The Couch-to-5k (and eventually the 5k-to-10k app) really helped hold my hand through the process. Being someone who's never been "sporty" I had no clue where to start.

I had a lot of cheerleaders like my SILs Kelly and Leslie, my sister Leslie, and my friends Kristen and Kelly, but my biggest was this girl right here!

My friend Deana has already run a half-marathon and a full-marathon and was my go-to person for all my questions, my "OMG...what am I doing?" moments and my confidence builder when I was injured a few weeks ago and wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to run at all.

We ran the 10K together and even though she finished about 10 minutes ahead of me, she made her way back on the course after she had crossed the finish line to run the last 1/4 mile with me. 

Here is my first metal:

And here is where my family and I went for my "victory" breakfast afterwards!!!

So what next? Well...this race was my "practice" race for a half-marathon I am scheduled to run in just 2 weeks. Since my injury put me behind on my training schedule (I had to take 2 weeks off), I am a little more nervous now than I was when I ran 10 miles 4 weeks ago, but I'm not going to give up!

NEW PROJECT...NEW SERIES!!!

Heidi Swapp's Color Pop is one of my FAVORITE new things out there in the paper-crafting world. I've always loved the "resist" products, but where as all other products resist white, Heidi has taken it up a notch and made her resists BRIGHT Colors and Fun, Bold Patterns.

In her Color Pop Collection, she has her trademark Memory Files in all sorts of yumminess like Teal Chevron, Pink Polk-Dot and Black Diagonal Stripes, shown here in front, which is what I used to make MY first ever Memory File!

I decided I wanted to do a fun Yellow and Black color scheme, so I used Tattered Angels' Jingle Bells Glimmer Mist on my folder.

I wanted my Memory File to be all about my hottie hubby and me, so I had this really cute picture my SIL had given me of us from a few years ago. From there it was just all about adding fun. I popped a lot of it up to give it a lot of depth and allow me to "tuck" embellishments here and there. (See below for a complete supply list!)

So fun, right? 

You can join me over the next few months in my NEW SERIES as I add to my File and join me in building more memories!

Until then my friends...enjoy YOUR Creative Life...where ever it may lead you.

Complete Supply list of today: Memory File: Heidi Swapp; Patterned Paper: Echo Park, Glitz Design and My Mind's Eye; Chipboard Arrows: Pink Paislee; Washi Tape: Sandy Lion and Recollections; Enamel Dots: Teresa Collins; Lace: May Arts; Title Card: Glitz Design; Stamps: Fiskars; Glitter Dots: Mark Richardson; Button: Teresa Collins; Gem: Paper Studio;  Paint: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Jingle Bell; Misc: Harlequin Felt (had it so long....no idea who made it! LOL!)