Guesting on Shimelle.com with Washi Tape Tricks

I've always been drawn to washi tape. Ever since it's debut, I've enjoyed it's versatility, layering it beneath and over patterned and plain papers, using it to adhere or cover embellishments, adding a bit of grounding to a cluster or a pop of color to a corner with a tiny tear of fabulousness. You know how sometimes a bout of inspiration hits you so hard, you almost get a vision of how your layout might turn out? After a recent washi-swap, I came home with a clear but now colorful acetate sheet of shared strips, and it occurred to me; those punches and branding strips I hoard but rarely use could be used in a new fangled washi way to create some cool, custom embellishments and layers on this page documenting a recent road trip with my family. Lucky for me, all these little doo-dads came together just as I had envisioned it :-) 

Thanks a lot to Shimelle.com for asking me to guest artist on her blog today!  

P-p-p-punch it, punch it real good!

 I started by spritzing Mr. Huey's in Opaque White onto textured orange cardstock, and while that was drying, I cut a double photo mat for my photo from the A and B sides of Shimelle's Earhart and a square block that would be hidden by that photo grouping from the background. I'm a #papersaver; it'd be used later to customize an already cute chipboard shape with stamping and a layered die cut globe image by Tim Holz. I love to make my sheets go the distance, what can I say!? 

Cluster of Embellies at top right of page

Now for some more fun; alternating those branding strips from Simple Stories' I Am collection with WeR Memory Keepers aptly named Road Trip, and more left overs from Shimelle's first delightful line of papers. From among my new washi tape treasures, I tried punching some sentimentally appropriate hearts from a wide gold polka dot pattern of tape and the new We Are Family washi tape strips, also from Simple Stories. I ended up using a popular EK Success border punch with a thinner black and white polka. It's awesome when we can use those tried and true tools and still get excited, no?

 

So many details in such a small space

 In some places you can see the paper background peeking through- Love that look! However, when placing the photo block over all of those horizontal lines, I felt there wasn't the kind of balance going on that leaves me feeling satisfied, so I added weight to the photo by cutting into a photo strip printed overlay, also from Shimelle, and layered that into my photo mat block. To fulfill my visual triangle needs, there is a cluster at the bottom left and top right which echoes many of the sentiments expressed elsewhere in this page's embellishments. By the time I handwrote part of the title and laid down those gorgeous American Crafts Imprint Thickers, I knew this would be a treasured layout, even without a lot of details provided through journaling.  

In Tegan Skwiat's example, she used plain paper to back her tape before punching, and I'll be honest, the clear acetate sheet did not give me a clean look- and I'm okay with that. Just like using ephemera and products with brand names that relate to my story, having a bit of the imperfect represented on this layout reminds me more of my "why" for celebrating this fun day alongside my mom and brother with a place in my scrapbook. It was our first road trip together, just the three of us, in ages, and I enjoyed it so much. The creative energy we ended up sharing, the laughter, seeing my brother trying not to enjoy making greeting cards and shopping for scrapbooking supplies, the unwanted advice-giving, ... yep, these are the perfectly imperfect moments that I want to remember in my family's (many, many) albums. 

Sing it with me now, "We Are Fam-i-ly...:
Photo Credit: Kelsey Brown

 

 Pop over to Shimelle's site and take a look at my finished page. And, craft happy, friends!

 

 

 

Color Wheel Challenge, Kit Reveal, & CK Portland Review

 

 If you were to click on the word "challenge" from the search list on the right hand side of this blog, you'd be able to tell by the number of posts that came up, how much I love a good challenge. A few years ago, I even challenged myself to scrapbooking 30 layouts in the month of June- and succeeded!

The latest challenge over at Shimelle.com is to scrapbook with the color wheel in an unusual way; using split complimentary colors. "Split complementary means choosing one colour to start, then going straight across the wheel to the opposing colour and instead of that central colour, choosing the one either side."- Shimelle.

I also love to be resourceful when it comes to my patterned paper. Truth be told, it's a compulsion to savor each pretty printed sheet in it's entirety. I've been working on using the beauty I have in supply instead of continuing to hoard the ones I've pay money for. The physical cost, the joy of purchasing remembered when I see favorites, the textures of some, like the Indi Chic print from My Mind's Eye, at left.

When I went down to Portland for the Creative Keepsakes Convention with my mom and brother a few weeks ago,  it was with the intent to bring home some intel on what's to come over the next couple months in the scrapbooking industry. That, and to sit in on some classes as a volunteer. Oh, and to celebrate my younger brother's upcoming 30th birthday. Let me tell you how thrilled he was to be helping out when all 10 of the drying tools wouldn't work in our mixed media assist! And you know the ladies enjoyed seeing his smile- we shared the same orthodontist.

You'll see the artsy layout I made to commemorate that trip tomorrow, when I (gasp!) guest blog for my scrapbooking savior (Glitter Girl) Shimelle Lain. Today, I played with the contents of my Bible Journal Society kits. The die cuts are vivid and have a doodled or handrawn look that is so on trend, I can't help but adore them! Bo Bunny in bright, watercolored hues of turquoise and green are offset by orange and brown.

The focal photo is of my Grandmother's side of the family reunion, and the large arrow in the middle points to her and my Great Uncle, Grant. Preserving the handwritten year and family name were essential.

 Stretching my supplies is also a must for me, and there are layers of cut-apart frames behind the large quote at the right. All of these colors from Basic Grey in the background compliment the vibrantly hued curtain behind this group photo.
Complimenting the story of this family's migration to North America from Norway are a big bold globe, with arrows pointing to the respective countries. Word sentiments included in the set are so versatile, I don't even have to include journaling :-) But one thing I will do is put this pic up on facebook and ask my  relatives to identify their kin. Technologically enhanced scrapbooking, will this be my next big focus? hmmm.


Once I'd finished this layout, I couldn't just put my leftover pieces of paper away, of course I had to create one more layout! It has been a beautiful summer day, I was scrappin' outside in all of God's glory (read:bikini) and here I had the die cuts to exclaim my appreciation. Couple these bits with a devotional read through written by one of my favorite kit designers, and it was easy to whip up another page with a single candid photo of my girls about a year and a half ago.

That look on Sunday's face... What a little toughie.

Growing up isn't easy. There are all sorts of fears that young children face. There are simple times of joy when I want to sing it from the back pasture, Girls, don't ever feel alone!, and the watercolor quote on the left with the printed sentiment is then perfectly echoed by that pretty block on the right.   It would be fun to get some colored pencils, markers, or paints out to play against that bold black doodled designs Shelby came up with.

The amount of love that is included in each of these kits has actually been a little moving. From the sentiments, book marks, rub-ons, washi-tape, die-cuts etc, to the words and references in the included devotionals, my thoughts naturally gravitated towards appreciation for my family - and the time they afford me to pursue my pursuit for Craft Diva Superstardom!
I've had a surprising amount of mini albums surface from the depths of my craft space, and put a little kraft covered, twine closing cutie from Close To My Heart to good use with little 3x3 pics.

 

Hey, thanks for reading down this far! And...

 

Here's Your Video!

@EmbellishKits #BibleJournalSociety #EmbellishKits
@AnnaBradshaw #CraftWithAnna #makersgottamake

Reaching the Summit

Let's go Rainiers, let's go!

My mom took us to the ballpark last night to celebrate school's end, it was the ultimate in awesome, as she scored us seats in the Cheney Stadium Summit Club. Can you say all you can drink beers, & wine?! I kept it to a low limit but what fun to order. We found amazing seats, played a bunch on the playground outside the field, and just enjoyed the heck out of our start to summer.

School's In Session!

Oh, be still my heart, school's out for summer!

 

We wrapped up the year with a picnic in the park. I made a fabulous salad and ate three deserts. Dirt cake, how could I say no?! 

Now, what will we do with that bit of extra time Monday through Thursday...
Did somebody say, "more time for crafting?"

Friendsies

My friends are pretty cool.

They endure my hysterical exclamations over my latest scrapbook and cardmaking endeavors, coo adoringly over my kids, and lend me their ears and tissues over noshes and vino.

Who could ask for anything more?

 

While gazing with a smile at the above photo I've printed out, it struck me: The brightness of the photo corresponds with how old the featured friendship is. Wow, I didn't intend that when I created the collage in PicGrid, which means I literally don't even have to try to create awesome, artistic compilations. Well, I won't go giving myself all that credit just yet, but it did strike me as pretty cool.

Thanks for being my online friend, dear reader!

#bestfriendsday 

String Your Heart Out

This class will definitely be making it's way to the Red Barn this summer!

New Video-& A Scrapbook Kit Reveal Teaser

It's been a while since I've made a video, but I just had to before heading to my first ever Portland version of the Creative Keepsakes Convention I love attending. I'm looking forward to spending time with my favorite designers as well as visiting my favorite booths to stock up on my favorite paper collections! Can you tell I'm excited?

Lately, I've been thinking about some of the changes that have occurred in our home over the last year... not going into detail here, but more reflective thoughts that I nonetheless would like to scrapbook in some form or another. Next week I'll have a video to reveal my solution, as well as a review of the trends I spot this weekend on the convention floor.

If you're not already subscribing to my CraftWithAnna YouTube channel, do so today~ that way I don't have to worry about you missing my next video release :-) Take care, friends, and keep it scrappy!