Memories Made #18 Scrapbooking Process Video: LOVE

Welcome to my weekly scrapbooking process tutorial series. If you've missed any of the videos, be sure to search my blog for "Memories Made" to find the other amazing projects and start-to-finish videos. Or you can subscribe to my Youtube channel HERE for all my videos. You don't want to miss out! 

This week's memory: My Daughter Turning 16

At 16 we don't have a lot of traditional birthday photos with balloons, and cake, and friends helping you open your presents. Instead we get a quick snapshot or two of the birthday teen. So I took one of my favorite photos from that day and journaled about how much I love her personality right now and that I wish her a bright future. If you don't have photos that are "theme-oriented," then feel free to document the event however you'd like. There isn't a single birthday product on this page, and that's ok. Isn't that freeing to know you can use whatever you want on layouts like this?

Here is the layout I created: 

This week's techniques: Creating a Tone-on-Tone Punched Paper Background

If you want to create a background with impact, then try the following technique. First select a paper for your main background. Then select a second paper for the background in a slightly lighter color. Subtle patterns work best for this technique. Use a die cut machine or a paper punch to create shapes for the background (you could also hand cut shapes). I used an EK Success triangle punch.

At this point, you have the option of adding some additional texture to the shapes with either machine stitching around some of them or you could rub the edges of some of them with stamping ink. Reassemble the pieces to create a puzzle-like background. It's not necessarily noticeable at first, but it makes for a really cool background.

Here are the close-up photos of the project. You can see some of the stitched triangles in the background:

You can watch the helpful, start-to-finish video tutorial HERE on my Youtube channel or below to learn how I used this technique for this layout: 



Below I've suggested the products you might consider when creating a similar layout (including the products used on this layout). Start by shopping your own stash for papers and embellishments that inspire you. Then look for a punch or die cut shape you could use for the background. If an item that I used to create this layout is out of stock, be sure to search for similar items by using words like "punch" or "yellow" to help you find exactly what you're looking for.

Suggested Products (click the photos/text for product information or visit my blog to shop these products):

Things I'm Loving Right Now

I spend at least part of every single day looking at what other creative people are making or doing. It inspires me. It encourages me to push my own creativity. It makes me want to spend the day making craft things with them.

Today I wanted to share some things I'm loving right now from my crafty friends.

I love this "Scrap Your Stash" video from my Garden Girl buddy, Jen Kinkade on how you can use a collection to create a layout. We all have collections we've purchased, and she shares some lovely, creative ways for incorporating these items on your layouts:



I'm also loving antique shopping right now. This is my latest score from our local antique mall. When I go to England (and hopefully Paris) this fall for a teaching event, I'm hoping to hit a few antique dealers. I've always wanted something from someplace older with more history:

I love a designer that can journal. And Jill Sprott is the queen of clever and real journaling. This layout just speaks to my heart. What a beautiful way to document someone's life:

Some of you that have friended me on Facebook know of my agonizing journey to pick a paint color for our newly refreshed living room. I settled on Abalone from Benjamin Moore paints after a rather bumpy paint-picking road. That was largely due in part to Jen Allyson Nugent's amazing house transformation on her The Project Girl blog. I mean look at this place. Wowsers, right?

And finally, I love classes that speak to the "now" and what's going on in real life right now. If I had a "smarter" phone, I would so be taking this class from Studio Calico called "The Phone Photography Project" which helps you take better photos with your Android and iphone cameras. One of my buddies, Lisa Dickinson, is a contributor to this class:

What are you loving right now? What's making you smile? Share a link with me so I can see what's making your world brighter right now.

Product Focus #23: Mist Scrapbooking Supplies

Welcome to this week's Product Focus." In these weekly blog posts, I'll share scrapbooking supplies or a product trend I'm particularly drawn to, and then I'll share some ways you can use the products in a several project samples. I'll discuss tips and tricks for using the product, share some of my favorite products from that product line, and then I'll open it up for any questions you might have. I'd also love to hear your reviews or uses for the product type I focus on each week. This is a chance for you to pull out products you already own and play with them or for you to discover new products you might not yet have tried.

If there is one product that is super popular right now, that I am still learning about it's mist. Mist droplets and sprays are appearing on everyone's layouts these days, and yet I still feel like I'm learning how to use them. In today's post, I asked my designer friends to help me share some ways you can use mist on your projects. These gals are experts and have a great way of incorporating mist on their layouts. I'm excited to share their ideas with you!

Here are a few of my current favorite mist options from 2Peas. Be sure to search by the word "mist" or "mask" at 2Peas to find products perfect for any project.
 

Hero Arts Water Mist Bottle

Mr Huey's Droppers 

Heidi Swapp Color Shine Spritz

 Blizzard White Mr. Huey's

Woodland Park Sprinklers Set

Here and There V Pattern Spray Mask

She Art 6x6 Vintage Lace Mask

Below you will find a gallery of projects that include mist. I asked my friends to share special VIDEOS that can help you (and I) learn more about misting. Hopefully these projects and videos will give you some new ideas for how to incorporate mist on your next project.

Idea #1: Use a Mask or Stencil to Mist.

Source: Lisa Dickinson

Tutorial Video:




Watch video on Youtube HERE. 

Idea #2: Create an Ombre Effect with Mist.

Source: Shimelle Laine

Tutorial Video:




Watch video on Youtube HERE.

Idea #3: Recolor Embellishments with Mist.

 

Source: Northridge Media Blog 

What else can you do with mist? Here are some additional links to misted projects by my friends you might check out:

* Misting and stamping premade embellishments
* Additional uses for spray mists
* Misting a background for your layout
* Create a unique shape with paint and mist for your background

Do you have a favorite way to use mist? I'd love to hear it. Simply add your suggestions in the comment section below to share. I can't wait to be inspired!

Tales of a Tract Home: The House Hunt

I thought you might enjoy from time to time seeing the progress we're making on our little tract home. I know I enjoy peeks into other owners' home refreshing adventures so I thought I'd share some photos and the story behind our little home. We'll call these blog posts "Tales of a Tract Home," and they will appear here as we make progress on different areas of our home.

Let's start at the beginning . . . .

We bought out home six years ago a few weeks before our son Joseph passed away from cancer. We had been living with my Mom after moving back to our state after four years in Georgia, which was both difficult and a blessing. Hard because I'm a very independent sort and wanted to be out on my own. And a blessing because without her help both financially, emotionally, and physically we would not have been able to spend the hours at the hospital with our son during his cancer treatments. Desperately looking for a way to give Joseph a permanent place to call home, we took a few hours here and there during the spring months of 2007 to try and find a place.

It seems silly now that we wanted so much to find him a place when we were losing him to cancer, but as a parent you try so hard to give your kids everything they need. And I think we were clinging to the idea that if we gave him a home, we were giving him some rest. Little did we know then, that this home would become a healing place after his journey was over rather than a resting place for Joey.

We found this home one Saturday afternoon. It was a tract home in a cookie cutter neighborhood of builder-grade homes, but it stood out to me because of the light green siding and wide front porch. When we toured the home, we noticed it had great bones and laminate flooring in the major traffic areas which was a big sell for us. The interior was neutral, which meant all of our belongings would easily match and we could move in quickly. The home seller gave us a few minutes alone in the house, and Brett and I actually knelt right there in the entry way and prayed to know if this would be a good home for our little family. We felt a joyous peace and were happy to sign our financial lives away for the opportunity to create a safe haven for our family.

We closed in less than a month in an effort to move in more quickly.

After we closed on the house, Joey actually saw the home twice as I carried him up the stairs to his "would-be" bedroom so that I could let the Air Conditioning guys into the house. I realize now that I should never have transported him back and forth, but it's strange how you cling to normalcy in the face of such unimaginable horror. He could have cared less, but tried so hard to be happy for us. I wanted so much to give him is own special room, but he was just too sick to care.

The night Joey passed away we packed up enough items from my Mom's house to "camp" in our newly purchased home, and we spent the night privately mourning the loss of our son. It was just one evidence of the importance of having our own place so that we could adjust and accept our new living circumstances. We were so grateful to those who helped us move in while I spent time with my son at the hospital, which was to be some of his last weeks with us on earth.

They carefully placed our belongings in our home in such a way that we could simply slip away into the night and gather close as we said our good-byes in our heart to our beloved son. I can never thank our family and friends enough for helping us start our new circumstances in such a beautiful way. They were instrumental in giving us a much needed reprieve. Here is how they set up my home, much like I would have done had I been there to help:

During those first few weeks at our home without Joey, we tried to lose ourselves in the work of setting it up. But once we got to a "functioning" level, we simply didn't have anything left emotionally to devote to the house so it sat like this for quite a while. Joey's room, which was to be a quiet, cool place for him to rest instead became a haven where we would go to think about him and miss him. It was a sacred place to remember our beautiful boy. And we kept his room set up for him just as we had envisioned it for a very long time.

There were so many proofs that while our decision to purchase a home while our son was ill seemed crazy that it really was so right for us. We think about this constantly and know the Lord brought us to a place where we could feel safe, loved, and have some time to learn to accept that our little boy wasn't going to be with us any more. It's been a difficult journey but having this home has helped us through the grieving process.

We've continued working to create a home rather than a house for Katelyn and James who miss their brother terribly and who needed a constant in their lives after losing their brother. Beyond sharing the "before" and "after" photos, I'll try to share the reasons why we chose to surround ourselves with the things that we have as I feel that creating a home always comes from the heart.

This little tract home has many sweet tales to tell, and I hope you'll join us on our journey to make it OUR home.