smash book: new stuff

Part of the goal of my smash book project is to use scrapbooking supplies I already own.  However, I caved and bought a few new things that I "needed".

1. I bought these Smash book bands to hold the book together when it starts getting too full.  I have to admit I only bought this for the striped band.  I have a hard time resisting anything striped lately.  Actually I am having a hard time resisting all the cute Smash Book branded accessories in the scrapbooking aisle at the craft store.

2. These are library card envelopes that I bought to use as pockets for little bits of paper I might want to save during the year.  I bought plain envelopes that I can decorate however I like.  Only $5 for 50 envelopes is a deal when it comes to scrapbooking supplies!

3. Believe it or not I did not own any washi tape.  I'm not sure how I missed that trend.  Making up for lost time I bought some cute polka dot, zig zag, and numbered tape.

smash book: big shop month pages

I completed a new smash book page commemorating a great January I had in the shop.  I was blessed with some great Etsy front page promotion that kept me hopping with an order almost everyday.  

I'm still struggling with scrapbooking on the printed pages provided.  On these pages I covered the printed elements in the book with black and white polka dot washi tape.

I printed some screen shots I captured of a couple Etsy front page appearances.

I snapped some photos of some of my current packaging.  My packaging has already evolved over the year my shop has been open.  I'm sure as it continues to evolve it will be interesting to see my process right now.

I'm getting a little bit of a backlog of things to "smash" into my book.  I need to dedicate a day soon to getting caught up!

smash book: new year's eve date night

I finished my first smash book post for the new year documenting dinner with my husband on new year's eve.  

I didn't really do much planning when I put together this page.  I just started plopping stuff on the page (and it kind of looks like it).  I don't feel like this is my best scrapbooking, but I've been away from it for awhile and may be a little rusty.  It always takes me awhile to get used to a new scrapbook page size and get in a groove...

On this side of the page I printed a picture of the new shoes I wore that night.  I love to get dressed up for date night with my husband but I don't like to wear heels.  I think these flats are so cute and dressy.

The circle stamp behind "new years is from this set .  The date night letter stickers are from an American Crafts set called roosevelt.  I wrote and drew on the page with red and black fine point Sharpie markers.

We went to one of our favorite restaurants and I had one of my favorite dishes, shrimp and grits.  Shrimp and grits seems like an odd meal at a fancy restaurant, but it is sooooooooo good.  I took a picture with my iphone, but without a flash it didn't turn out so good in the dim restaurant.  

My husband is obsessed with "checking in" where ever we go on Facebook, so I printed his post and added that to the page.  

My first page is done or smashed or whatever.  So far the process I set up for this project seems to be working well.  I'm still getting used to dealing with the pre-printed pages.  I'm thinking at this point that this book may not be in chronological order because I cannot move around the pages.  Also, you have to be mindful of using any embellishments (brads, eyelets, etc.) that pierce the paper because the back of the paper is the front of the next page.

I'm very enthusiastic about the project and I can't wait to fill this book up this year, especially since we already have so many fun trips planned!

smash book: the process

Last post I talked about my new scrapbooking project for 2013.  I am trying to make this project as easy and non stressful as possible.  In fact, if it becomes difficult or stressful I will probably just drop it as I have a lot more important things in my life to stress about.  ;)

In order to simplify the process I created a "smash book" basket and filled it with some scrapbooking supplies.  I don't intend to buy any supplies for this project, I want to use what I have.  

I also don't want to search through bins of brads, stickers, cardstock, or chipboard for the perfect embellishment.  If it is in the basket I can use it.  If not, I can't.  Perhaps every month or so I will rotate the supplies to give myself some variety. 

The basket should also help to contain any mess generated by this project.  Just throw everything in the basket and move it out of the way.  

Here is a sampling of some of the supplies I put into my basket...

1.  letter stickers:  I've always liked American Crafts letter stickers, especially the roosevelt and runway fonts.  I also included some white Thickers from American Crafts and some letter stickers by Jenni Bowlin (so cute!)

2. decorative stickers:  I included some Flair Stickers from American Crafts.  Also some journalling tabs from Heidi Swapp (I think she has a new line now?) and Road Map cards from October Afternoon (also a lot of cute stuff!)

3. stamps:  I threw in a couple stamp sets. This one seemed perfect.   I think the other set may be a Michael's store brand?

4. stamping ink:  Can't stamp without ink.  I threw in a few of my distress ink stamp pads.  

5.  instant camera:  I hope to use my instant camera a lot for this project...no printing or editing photos...so easy.

6. chipboard:  Some letter and shape chipboard from Heidi Swapp's old line.  Also some black chipboard from Cosmo Cricket.  I love this stuff!

7. embellishments:  I'm not sure how many embellishments I will be able to add and still be able to close the book, but I threw in these spinners from Tim Holtz.

8. rub ons:  I added a couple run ons sets from American Crafts.

Just looking at these supplies makes me so excited.  I think I might have a scrapbooking supplies specific hoarding obsession (well, maybe it applies to fabric too!)

I'm all prepared now, can't wait to get started!

introducing a smashing project for 2013

When got into crafting about ten years ago I started with scrapbooking.  Scrapbooking led to sewing and drawing and working with clay and embroidery and...

...who knows what else the future might hold?  I've realized that I'm sort of a "jack of all trades, master of none" kind of crafter.

But back to scrapbooking.  I don't know if it is because my life isn't as interesting as it used to be (surely not!), but I don't scrapbook much anymore.  I do however have an overabundance of scrapbooking supplies.  

One thing in my stash is a Smash Book that my sister gave me as a birthday gift a couple years ago.  I decided this year to put it to good use (or use anyway).

The idea of a Smash Book is that you can do scrapbooking really quickly and informally.  Just glue in some pictures, write some journaling, and get on with life.  No pressure, no rules.

Obviously you don't have to have a book with the brand name Smash Book to do this type of journalling, any empty notebook would work.

This Smash Book is filled with patterned paper.

Some of the paper is pretty neutral...

Some has a much stronger pattern...

Some pages are more like prompts...

I feel like normally I would be a "start with a blank notebook" kind of girl.  I like to have a lot of control over my choices creatively.  However, I'm kind of intrigued by the idea of scrapbooking when key choices have already been made for me.  Will it be harder?  Will it be easier?  We'll see.

In a future post I'll talk a bit about the process I am planning to use for this smash book.  If you have done any smash booking send me your links for inspiration!

return on creativity: scrapbook paper pillow

This post first appeared as a guest post at The Scrap Shoppe.  This project combines my love of scrapbooking with my love of sewing.

I love this piece of scrapbook paper.  The flowers are funky and seventies inspired.  I wanted to translate this print to a pillow. 

This paper comes from an SEI paper pack called Dill Blossom.

Cut a 13 inch square piece of muslin.  Grab a fine point Sharpie, a lightbox and start tracing the scrapbook paper design onto the fabric.  I taped the paper to the fabric with scotch tape so that it didn't shift.  If you don't have a lightbox, you can get the same effect with a sunny window.

Here's how my fabric looked after tracing.

and a close up...

Grab some ink pads and start adding color.  Stayz-On ink stays on through washing.  I haven't tested other inks.  I did use other inks in this project as shown above.  So if I ever have to wash the pillow we will see what happens...

I intentionally "colored outside the lines" by rubbing the stamp pads directly onto the fabric.  I decided to use a different color scheme than the original scrapbook paper. 

Sew into a 12 inch pillow with an envelope closure and insert a pillow form to finish.

return on creativity: art museum scrapbook page

This day I strolled an art gallery with my camera holstered; not worrying if my flash was turned off or if I was blocking another's view.

Then I visited the museum gift shop and bought post cards of the paintings I didn't want to forget.

This scrapbook page commemorates my visit to the National Gallery in London.  My sister said the circles look like psychedelic olives.  She might be right.

I created a pocket on the page to stash my postcards in.  I punched a hole in each card and tied on some decorative twine to make it easier to pull out each card for studying.

return on creativity: nyc mini album

Way back when I first launched this blog I was working on a mini album about our Christmas trip to New York City. Well, I finished it...a year after the trip...just before this past Christmas. I'm still getting the hang of photographing scrapbook pages for the blog. Here are some of my favorite pages...

Here's how the album cover started. Here's where it ended up...

My sister gave me the "New York" cut out as a gift after the trip and I wanted to use it on the cover. I used Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel over the "New York" to try and simulate the look of ice. I like how it turned out, but it took some fiddling to get everything stuck down and looking OK.
This album is a light on journaling, mostly because I didn't make any notes during the trip and by the time I sat down to scrapbook I had forgotten everything I wanted to say...lesson learned. It was a very romantic trip. Tony is not a big hand holder, but it was so cold that we had to hold hands out of necessity!

The journaling on this page is from my label maker. It was so easy I want to "label" all of my journaling now. My Times Square pictures were very busy (imagine that) so I tried to create some focus by scratching circles on to the picture with a sharpy pointy thing.

My sister addicted me to distressing photos with sandpaper. It's one of my favorite techniques. I added paint to these photos too.I stamped the "Let it snow" on to the photos below, sprinkled with embossing powder, and tried to heat set it. Photos don't like that. Photos start to melt and bubble when you apply heat. Who knew?

I used a lot of staples on this book.

For the back of the album I used adhesive felt I found at the craft store. It love it. It adds a soft tactile element to the book.

So there it is. One last thing, I bought Christmas scrapbook supplies, but I found I didn't use them much. I like the way this book turned out. I will probably place it on my coffee table each Christmas as part of my holiday decor.