Run off

Hmm, this paint pouring thing might be overly addictive... even the drips that fell onto my scratch paper surface look interesting enough to want to keep! I see an animal dipping his head to drink from a stream of water, how about you?

Sent from Del Mar, CA on my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

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!

A tale of two Shelbies

 For the past few days I've been working in Tacoma as a volunteer with the Creating Keepsakes Convention. This event is one I look forward to all year long. About six years ago my DF took me to my first show in their old Maydenbauer Center location, and I've never looked back! Lucky for me, Ray picked me up after that first show and was immediately aware of the craft hysteria that both precludes and concludes each of these weekends. He has graciously given me the gift of time away and sometimes even sends me off with some Make and Take money :-)

 Thursday afternoon I TA'd for one of my favorite teachers, Shelby Bywater! I love her sassy crafty instructions and there were cool techniques flying left and right. I will never look at a transparency the same lol.


She created a custom flair necklace!

Later in the day more ideas for creativity were introduced at the Technique Workshop. I thought it was so clever that one of the students was making cards from her scrapbook kit. So you know what I did- made layouts in my cardmaking class the next day!!! What a rebel. A copycat rebel but still.
When my volunteer shift started Friday afternoon I was reunited with my new class crashing comrade, Betty- what a sweetie! Since I'd got her coffee the night before, she returned the favor and got my night Rollin right. Craft without coffee? I don't think so!
By the time I got back home, my mind was reeling from all the exposure to (caffeine ) like minded crafters. Cause, you know we speak our own language, right. "Crop," "distress," "inking;" all verbiage that's part of our toolbox.


Janice has the warmest smile

Tammy, my late night bird of a feather

Shelbi & I getting Lei'd at a crop- a first for us both (I think)

I slept not a wink and decided to make that video I put up yesterday.  So I started the day with another favorite teacher, Shelby Dredge. At the crop THAT night, I caught a pic getting lei'd with Shelbi B., so I started and ended my day right I'd say.
With more fun for the day in store, I've got a lot more pics to put up and the details for my convention-closing contest, featuring a prize or three from one of my favorite companies, Queen & Co.! If you aren't already a subscriber to this blog or YouTube channel, now is the time. It's just one of the ways you can enter this year's Queen of Bling contest. Consolation prizes will be from email updates of the latest blog posts from this CraftWithAnna channel, so, it's pretty much win win... 

Waiting in line to hit the vendor fair

PartyLite Tealight Box Mini Album Share

I must be on a mini album streak; I've made one each week! Okay, it's only been two weeks, and I have no plans for another on the near horizon, but STILL.

And on top of that, I seem to be on a little YouTubing spree here as well! So yes, for the third time in the last three weeks, I have another video for you too!

Remember, all your comments, subscribing hits, and blog followings will get you a contest entry, so if you're loving your friend, tell her about it before Saturday's end of day as well. Your friend could say something like, "I'm commenting for my friend ____" and then you could both win!

Another great comment would be to suggest a product for me to focus on using this month. Each month I've been working on my stash by using a certain product on each project I'm creating. Not every thing has got every challenge product but it has been a lot of fun at attempting to push my creative boundaries.

So how do you push yourself out of your normal 12x12 box of usual additions? I'd love to hear about it (and you'll be getting those additional contest entries).

Good luck and thanks for reading!

Ten Minute Layout Inspiration

A lot of times I will turn to a scrapbooking magazine for inspiration. Sometimes it is the color combination, or use of tools I have like the scalloped border punch featured in this Creating Keepsakes issue. Their last-page, 10-minute Layout article is always good for a quick and easy spark of creativity.

Of course sometimes even the best intentions fly out of my brain when I select my products or photo, and tonight was no exception! I had put those three project life cards with the photo and the pink die cuts, along with an old package of brightly colored of rub-ons, a few random blings and pearls and a tiny pink felt flower. 

All of those items were contained in a medium sized product package I had laying around. I am in the habit of collecting these clear plastic bags, which can be a bit bothersome at times, but they are great to have on hand.  So it wasn't just lying around, it was with a bunch of other clear bags in a nice stack under some other nice neat stacks of scrapbook-cardmaking type things :-)

Creating kits like these out of like-colored bits and pieces out on my desk make it easy to whip up a simple layout. Ironically, my last post was titled Ships Ahoy, and that evening I ended up scrapbooking a page whose title will likely be Ships Ahoy~ or maybe it should read, Sisters Ahoy? Rainier and Sunday are sitting in the stearn of a little dingy at Gig Harbor's Historical Museum. They were so into acting like they were steering a ship and all of us were enthralled watching them tug at the long lines and swing the sails around.

 There is already a small title on the bottom left, so I may just leave it as. I rarely use a white paper background but adore the look. The simple borders along the top and bottom ground the scattered cards and random flowers, and it all looks delicate and pretty.

It was really easy to find the borders I wanted to use in the colors and designs etc, as a result of another item which I have trouble letting go of, which is the manufactures' strip at the bottom of papers. I have a nice BAG to store them in though, it is a large 12x12 clear, and I have it folded in half. One side has the barcode strips and I can see them all alongside almost all of my borders stickers. There are a lot of Queen and Co. edgers and felt borders too mixed in there too.
 There is another place where I store border stickers that are still on their 12x12 sticker sheet though, so it's not the best system ever. It does work well for me and my personal creative process, I mustn't let my creative flow get interrupted. When I want to MAKE, I need to be able to grab my supplies quickly, adhere and cut, embellish, etc in anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. The faster I can see what there is to use, the better!
So what is one of the best organizer things you've installed in your life? There is a new video coming out next week in my Card Magic series... Part Three will also feature a sneak peak at my Super Subbie YouTube contest!!! I have almost got 50 subscribers as well as some of my favorite designers following me on Instagram so I think a contest is in order.
Oh and not to brag or anything but I get additional 40% off at Michaels extra employee discount, whaaat? Look for some repurposing Halloween stuff posts coming up this winter, as well as more pocket page / project life style scrapbooking tips. Thanks for reading,
~Anna

Ships Ahoy

Is there anytime that passes slower than that of awaiting vacation?


And then, suddenly, it rushes towards you, and there is the flurry of what to brings and worry of will I needs and then


as the vacation swiftly disappears you try to grasp all that you can of that gloriously alive feeling to bring home in your soul


to sustain you


until

Hahaha so now you have a little spontaneous poetry from your crafty friend Anna. Used to be a little teen angsty and found some solace in putting down dark lyrical prose that only I would read. Used to have a wall built up within me that seemed to prevent journaling in a heartfelt manner or sharing my musings with any reader, but I seem to have gotten right over that now, lol.


Well, as the poem above mentions, I'm all set for a whirlwind of waiting to die down into my two most longly anticipated events, the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Bellevue, Wa November 7-8th, and then, FINALLY my dream vacation scrapbooking cruise yahoo! Both with my bestie what could be better?!


Turns out, the closer those events get, the more I've thought about how much fun it would be to take some other loved ones along on those events, but logistically it just won't happen. It would be great to find Additional vacations with my mom, grandma, and Ray and that may be a good basis for the word mantra I'll use for next year. (This year's was USE).


In the meantime, I'll daydream about walking through crowds of scrapbookers all "getting" the crazy impulse to aquire more embellishments! papers! stickers! dies! (I don't even have a manual die cutting machine and yet have had to literally make my hand drop. the. die.) Oh and did I mention WASHI TAPE! whew, and that's just in the first booth!


There have been a few changes to the convention over the years and it is always interesting to walk away at the end pondering the many little lessons and creative observations available in a weekend of learning. I'm taking my favorite teacher, Shelby Dredge's class on Friday afternoon. She's teaching on the cruise in February so it'll be fun to see her before then.


Ah, the cruise. Many cold afternoons with rain pouring down have I imagined myself lazily stirring my 2nd cocktail on the catamaran off the coast of I don't know which country while the sun beats down and my DF snaps a pic for me to instantly scrap upon our return to ship #instamaticEnvy #selphieEnvy


Okay, back to reality. I have a contest coming up in conjunction with the convention, so stay tuned for the last video in my Card Magic series. If you're not subscribing on You Tube, you can. And if you read all the way down this post by some alternate, non-blog-following path, I invite you to hit that button NOW.


The card above was created with die cuts by Storyteller's Collection. Many conventions ago I was a member of their club and the supply accumulated during the course of my subscription has lasted through many many many many projects.

Little Odds and Ends

Didn't get to make too much last week as I have been downsizing my collection of papers and momentos and have a ton of "junk" spread all over my workspace. Got so tired of that mess I shoved it all in a bag last night and was able to make two really cute cards you can see on my instagram feed today. (click the purple camera circle to the right to be taken there)

This card was made for a friend of a friend recently and was made with very little dimension, using stamps and lots of fun summery colors. I need a bit of something though, so I went over the heart with some Liquid Glass which turned it into a custom enamel shape. After this photo was taken I also added the glass effect to the Smile word too. Baker's twine and my favorite Queen & Co. bling twinkling dressed the card up further and then I drew on some stitching at the top left with my new alcohol pen freebie from the Scrapbook Expo last month.

So where does one house an incredible selection of acquired bling (brads are not included in this mix)? Why, in my Queen & Co. miniature suitcase, or trunk, of course! It's the perfect size for the tiny packages and I also recently organized it so I can show you how well all my rhinestones and pearls live together. There are also enamel dots in there. I have another trunk that I keep washi tape inside. A great reason to sign up for one of their classes at an event!

Speaking of, it's almost November! Well for most readers that will be insignificant and not worth mentioning, but for me it's the peak of my year as that month is when Seattle hosts the Creating Keepsakes Convention. You will see a lot more about this as it approaches so I won't spend too much time on it here, but it is on my mind of late and if you've never gone you ought to look into it. And start saving your money for the vendor fair lol (the paper is calling me DF)!

Anyway, having all my blings together in one place allows me to flip through them easily and also to reach for all my options with one lift of the arm. You can take a tour of my craft room here.
I'm considering a new shoot of my set up; some items have changed places since I uploaded that video, but for the most part my room is the same. More paperwork stuffed in out-of-sight places since last night, but otherwise... plenty of stash to shop from at home!

Thanks for stopping by today. I've got a new scrapbooking process video coming out this week, click on the purple YouTube link up at the top right and subscribe to my CraftWithAnna channel, do so and you won't miss any of my latest movies as they get online. Have a great week and make it crafty!

After Christmas Specials

The mad rushing of Christmas prepping is now over and yesterday I spent some time clearing off the leftovers. Not from the refrigerator- eating at grandmas eliminated any chances of goodies in our house! As the days flew past last week my desire to scrapbook was growing and growing (like my waistband) and it was mixed feelings of relief and sadness that I experienced about this page spread I made in November.

Relief because all I need now is to print a few photos and this awesome two page layout will be complete! I used my Embellish It! kit for the paper choices, dug into my stash of old metal rimmed tags and giant brads, washi tape, sequins and paper clips for the rest of my embellishments. The layout design itself was lifted from a CK feature.

I felt a bit sad though because I had intended to produce a process video to accompany the photo and release it on the day after Christmas. hahaha, the footage is all there but it may be NEXT Christmas when it all comes together?!

 I love making the process movies but sometimes I feel like I'm putting too much effort into them. Usually I feel this way towards the end of getting all the cropping, voice overs, and captioning put together and I finally head to the library with the finished file stowed on my Hello Kitty flash drive. All that time on the computer really gets in the way of my paper crafting!

Well, the feelings of relief at having my Christmas layout (with what ended up being the perfect title) all ready for pictures won out, my desk got cleaned off enough for me to feel comfortable starting something new, and I ended up creating one of my favorite pages of the entire year. You'll have to wait until the February edition of DieCutCrazy comes out to see it though!

 

Now, back to crafting something for Me! er, I mean for my family to enjoy for generations to come ...

Hoping the holiday buzz stays with you for a while longer, and has you creating something magical to store those good-time memories :-)

My Cute Cowgirl

 The girls and I had so much fun exploring the fairgrounds this year at the Western Washington State Fair.

 Formerly known as the Puyallup Fair, there seemed to be a childhood memory waiting to be re-lived for me around every corner! I was ecstatic sharing all the goodness with Rainier and Sunday. After all, they don't know what corn dogs and BBQ corn on the cob, and earthquake burgers, elephant ears, curly fries, and caramel apples and SCONES taste like, so they weren't disappointed not to be offered any. And there was no way I could share or withhold such goodness, so I was able to resist somehow as well :-) It's a good thing I never saw a pickle barrel, though, that might have snagged me.

We got to see a lot of our favorite animals, including, a Camel! By the time I was ready to leave, we were all pretty pooped (how could we have only been there for three hours?!), but I managed to get one more photo shoot in, and my cute little cowgirl hopped up on the hay bale before she realized what the reason was for. She never has been into smiling on command! Or photographic eye contact either. Hence, I got none of her looking adorable-y at me, but did get an adorable shot nonetheless :-)

The map print background is by Studio Calico, and I got it in a kit from a Creating Keepsakes class about Mixed Media. The kit included a piece of dressmakers pattern paper, which could have been adhered with decoupage techniques. I chose to just use my regular favorite Red Duck adhesive down the sides and then grabbed a couple border strips for the top and bottom.

Once I had figured out how I wanted all my layers to go, I got stuck. This layout sat for about a month on my desk, I couldn't figure out just what it needed. With the additions of the border strips and my journaling last night, I finally feel like it can be put in the album.

Whew! I don't like it when an unfinished something keeps getting in my way of creating something new, but it's almost a feeling of relief once I have it completed! And who would have guessed that pattern paper can work with our beloved patterned papers! Not me...

now where are all those old patterns I'm not using... 

Here's another shot with the flash on, so you can see a little bit different view.

 

CK Short Circuit!

Oh wow, it seems like its already been a year since last weekend's Creating Keepsakes Convention in Bellevue, but I guess time flies when you're not creating?!

So where to start, the amazingly great time I had catching and creating up with my Dear Friend, the wealth of knowledge I absorbed volunteering in classes taught by craft industry faves, or the inhibiting factors which didn't allow me to make another thing until yesterday afternoon?

I guess the first stop ought to be announcing the winner from my November 1-10th Blog-Hopping 10-Subbie Celebration Comment Challenge:

That sure was a fun way to say goodbye to CK for another year! I managed to make enough acquaintances in two days to hand out the 20+ Artist Trading Cards I made in preparation. So many talented and extremely nice people that I shared supplies, ideas, and most important, laughs alongside.

Megan You Are Ah-may-zing!

 Special thanks go out to my Director of Photography/Grip hahaha. And to Mike at Queen & Co for another year of allowing me to Vanna new products for him, as well as Megan Hoeppner and Shelby Bywater, two of CK's superstars! Also thank you to Melissa Frances, whose PSA and open conversation about her personal breast cancer discovery and recovery changed my view on monthly self-breast exams (DO THEM! MEN TOO!)

#MyTwoYearOldsAFearlessArtist

Well, usually I'm pretty reluctant to let anything get in the way of my usual chores-childcare-craft routine I've got established, but I really did miss my girls while I was away this weekend. As loud as the siren call of all my new kits, pretty papers, stickers, and unfinished layouts was, I ignored it in favor of trying to focus my attentions on my babes. Instead of crafting next to Rainier and offering half-hearted assistance, I stayed on her side of the art den and kept my hands off my stuff. Yuck and Yea at the same time! (Anyone else noticing the same craft hysteria face that Rainier and I are sharing in these photos?)

the lovely Ship Harbor Inn view

My go-to-guy also had oral surgery up in Anacortes on Thursday and he took the kids and I up early Wednesday night, so I had that to pack and plan for. We had a lovely time and his surgery went well, and before we took him to the dentist I even squeezed in a half page layout from a kit DF got me at the last minute. Was able to finish that and another layout with two more in the works while the house was napping yesterday afternoon...

MerryGoRound Love

I promise I will be sharing what I can remember learning over the next couple of weeks and months. Had a lot of brainstorming going on in our hotel room and it will be exciting putting some of those ideas into world-wide viewing portals :-)

Congratulations to my Big Comment Winner, who should be receiving a package in today's post, and for all who followed the contest and participated. You comments all made me feel like a true winner in the craft community!

Prepping for CK: Artist Trading Cards

One of my favorite memories from the first year I went to CK, is that of an elderly artist handing out Artist Trading Cards to the vendors at the Make and Take tables. The fact that it was a MAN and that he was there for himself, not his wife or other female companion just made it stick in mind that much more! Every year at the Creating Keepsakes Convention since has found me wishing I had some of those cards to pass out to the wonderfully creative people I encounter.
Well this year, I will!

It was so much fun making this batch of cards, Rainier and I are going to whip up another group some time today. First, we dripped watercolor on shiny paper. Its got an interesting effect with paint, if I knew what type of paper it is I'd tell! But alas I do not. The cool thing is that it lets the paint dry without it soaking in, so the paint remains really vivid. On some parts of the papers we did some ombre style painting, other areas we just went hog wild with drips and splatters. We recently watched a video by Wilma F. at Two Peas and could see that influence lol. After the paint dried, I got out my special Artist Trading Card Stamp and used that on some cards for my information. Other cards just got the same details freehanded in. Then we dripped on more color in the form of spray ink. Stamps by Ali Edwards that read Live In the Moment, Life, and Love were dispersed.

I wish I'd had these cards with me yesterday at the Library to share with all the storytime moms!

One of these days I'll have to do a tutorial about how to make this teabag gift holder. Turns out, it works great for holding this set of cards. Even if it is Halloween themed!

On a side note- did you happen to see how messy my desk is in the background shot from above?! I usually try to get it cleaned off in between projects, but I feel like I'm in creative limbo this week, storing up my mojo for this weekends outpouring :-)

Making some updated versions of this nifty holder might be a good side project for this afternoon... People often ask me, how do I find time to do all the art projects my heart desires? well, I'm pretty sure exposure to papercrafting from birth for both my girls is the key to my success, as well as the support and, time, and space to craft I get from their dad. Having the girls near me can be frustrating at times, like when they grab papers or fingerprint on stuff or peel off all the stickers from a brand new sheet to decorate the floor... but it's all worth it when I think about the fact that while sometimes a project doesn't turn out "perfect" it is perfectly full of the love of art we all share :-)

 I love the way my ATCs turned out,  and it will be so much fun making new friends and passing these little labors of love out. Maybe some will even end up in someones's Project Life or SmashBook Albums!

Die Cut Crazy Magazine Holiday Blog Hop!

 

Welcome to the Die Cut Crazy Magazine Holiday Blog Hop. The designers have made some wonderful holiday projects to inspire your own holiday crafting with your die cuts. If you just joined our hop, be sure and go back to the Die Cut Crazy Magazine Blog to learn how you can enter to win a prize from Die Cut Crazy Magazine when following the hop from designer to designer.  

 

The holiday project I am sharing today will inspire you to create a multitude of "say goodbye to fall" projects within a small budget. Can you say $10 or less!?

Often times craft stores will offer huge discounts on the previous season's supplies. I shopped my local Michael's with a 40% off coupon and was able to pick up 48 coordinating fall die-cuts in a large bracket shape, conveniently  bound up in a book that I can thumb through, looking for just the right pattern. As soon as I saw this leaf printed page, I tore it out and threw it onto a large card base. The die cut happened to land half off the page and I thought, hmmm... I like that! A few splashes of Mr. Huey's ink in Gold added interest to the otherwise plain background. Then I stamped the acorn onto a sticker which I fussy-cut, added a couple bling brads, and voila!

I'm not into waste, so I had to find  home for the strip of leaves I had cut off. I wanted another die cut that was more neutral toned, and found it in this barely brown, burgundy rimmed piece. Too lazy to cut the end off my card, my eyes searched my cluttered desk, looking for a way to fill in that gap. Ribbon? no. More ink? no.
Cute little doggy die cut that reminds me of the one my best friend's son once owned? Yes! A scene quickly built itself on the card with the addition of a die cut felt border, some whimsical flower and animal stickers,  and the finishing touch of a water colored background.

My little doggy looks as if he's speaking! Roughly translated, "Bone, fire hydrant, bow," means, "Let's Play!" 

If you've watched my latest videos, you'll understand, I've got CK on the brain! Every year my bestie and I attend a scrapbooking convention in Bellevue, WA, and as of today it is officially only ONE WEEK AWAY! This card will be a perfect lead-in to our weekend of creativity together. I love knowing that thinking of how much her son loved that dog will bring a smile to her face; a boy and his dog can be the best of friends, and she is certainly mine!

 Well when I was looking around at my cluttered desk, I noticed these coasters collected from restaurant on a recent road trip. Remember these coasters from when you were little? My grandmother was a waitress for over 20 years, and growing up, nearly every Saturday morning my grandfather would take me to breakfast where she worked. I always thought it was so neat to be able to color and personalize my own coaster while he told me tales of his youth. The gold spray was still out, so I experimented with a little of that while I reminisced.
Once I realized the gold border matched my die cuts, another card was quickly crafted! And yes, I did continue to shop from my scrap laying about  :-)  My young male co-worker was recently promoted and will be leaving our office. Despite the explosion of multi-colored blings and enamel dots, this card is still masculine enough to bid him good luck in his new position.

For these cards, I used the book of die-cuts pictured above and an acorn block stamp which I purchased at Michael's, Mr. Huey's Spray Ink in Gold, My Mind's Eye Enamel Dots, my Red Duck transparent adhesive roller, my daughter's Crayola watercolor set, bling and pearls by Queen and Co., as well as some very old stickers, die cuts, and cardstock from my stash. On this last card, the This Happened banner, corrugated arrow, and Congratulations stamp are all from Close To My Heart.

With my coupon, all of my supplies actually came to a whopping 5.49 at checkout, and I still have about 45 more die cuts to go towards my "say goodbye to fall" projects. You may even see a few of them in this month's edition of Die Cut Crazy Magazine!

 

Thanks for stopping by my post in the Die Cut Crazy Magazine Holiday Blog Hop! I hope my projects inspire you to create your own inexpensive holiday projects, and maybe even clean a little creative clutter off your desk.
 

In conjunction with this Hop, I am also celebrating the awesomeness of having TEN+ subscribers to my YouTube Channel! So, if you comment on any of my videos or blog posts from within the month of October 2013, including todays video and post as well,  I will put your name in a drawing for the first card I featured here today :-) You can enter by commenting as many times as you wish, and I'll draw the winning commenter at the conclusion of the Creating Keepsakes Convention, Saturday, November 9th at 6:00 Pacific Standard Time. Good Luck!

 

Next up in the hop is  Allie .  Go see the amazing project she has prepared for you to enjoy!

 

If you just joined the hop, here is a list of designers so you don't miss any

  

You Are Here --->Anna http://craftwithanna.blogspot.com

 

Allie http://mycardparty.com

Martina http://cardtreasures.wordpress.com

 

Debbie  http://www.scrapmequickdesigns.com/

 

Sandee  http://inthehillsofnorthcarolina.blogspot.com 

 

You can find all sorts of incredible inspiration at the Die Cut Crazy Magazine  site!

 

 

 

 

 

Special Edition: Packing For A Scrapbooking Crop!

I'm so excited to show you my system for creating To-Go Scrapbooking kits from my stash to take along to crop events!


First thing I do is gather a few photos that I really enjoy. Scrapbooking photos I love allows me to put all that fun energy I have from being at a crop event into my pages. Then I look through some magazines and books or cruise the 'net for some inspiration. I like to draw my own sketches from the pictures I look at, but there are many resources for pre-made sketches as well. Truthfully, I really enjoy drawing, and doing this gets my creative juices flowing towards collecting all my "stuff" quickly, AND enthusiastically!

Once I have a few sketches, I select the first photo spread that calls me, and begin gathering supplies based on the colors in the photos. Another way I make my choices is by considering, how do these photos make me feel... and then I select my papers and embellishments based on that mood I want to convey.

Beginning to bring in papers is such fun; if, when looking at my photos, a particular piece of patterned or solid paper seems to keep popping in my head, thats' what I grab. It could be that it ends up "going" perfectly, or if it doesn't, then I may use it for inspiration. Or, it could be that it ends up amongst the next kit created. Chances are that will happen because I don't like to put all my stuff away until I'm done or in between building kits- I do have two small children to look after! I also try to incorporate as much scrap material as possible. I'm toying with the idea of dumping my large scrap bucket upon leaving for this years Creating Keepsakes Convention. hmmmm

The same goes for stickers, or other embellishments. If a certain sheet or bling or button configuration is playing in my mind while looking at photos or while thumbing through bits of scraps, that's what I try to find. You can see how I store my sticker embellishments here:
 Makes it really easy for me to find the color scheme matches.

If I don't have photos, or I know of photos I want to scrap but don't have them printed yet, I will usually build off of an embellishment of some sort. If it the kit contents don't match what I print, I can either use the contents for another layout, or by simply adding a mat to the photos sometimes that will tie it all together.

I don't worry about alphabets, or paper size, or the perfect bling, because I tend to tote my alphabet box of stickers, paper trimmer, and bling box along with me, as well as a file of 12x12 sticker sheets. If I can't find what works amongst those tools brought along, I move on! (No, actually I usually buy about twice as much as I bring along- but not this year lol)

I think the most important strategy for creating these to-go kits is that I don't waste time second-guessing myself. If I see it and I like it, it goes in the kit. I'm not looking for the "perfect" match, I really try to trust my gut about whats happening. The great thing about having a multitude of somewhat hastily thrown together kits to take along is that, I don't have to use the kit if I'm not feeling it when I get there. AND most crops do have retail outlets available for purchasing if I feel desperate to scrap that particular set of photos.

I guess I was wrong about the most important strategy. THE most important part of this process is that I want to have it be FUN. If I start feeling overwhelmed, I stop the process. Because, really, it is all about having as much fun as possible, before, during, and while showing off what you've made upon return to real life :-)

I hope you enjoyed my process! Come back again next Friday, November 1st,  when I'll be announcing an opportunity for you to win some fabulously easily created cards in honor of a special occasion! Occasion will be announced on that date as well :-)

Meanwhile, what gets in the way of your cropping? Are you even sure you know what a crop is? My husband didn't :-) He now does, I did invite him to have one with me in my craft room but for some reason he didn't seem all that interested. Wonder why...

Happy Kit-ting!

Creating Your Next Tool

I spent yesterday morning creating a video all about how to pack for a crop. Well, a very specific crop in my case; there are only a few weeks left until the Creating Keepsakes convention in Bellevue, WA. I'm collecting already printed photos, gathering supplies, and trying to remind myself that I don't need to bring my entire craft collection along!
Check back here later this week and we'll have some fun getting ready together.

Something Entirely Intimidating

I'm so excited but also nervous about having just submitted my photos for the SEI design team call. This was the second time I've gone through my layouts to look for representations of my work, but this is the first time I was doing so with my favorite paper crafting company in mind!
These snapshots of Rainier deep in concentration ended up in my submission for Scrapbooking Club Kit Contributer. I'm not sure if I could have applied for more than one Contributer spot, I would have liked to have submitted photos for Cardmaking. Using products all manufactured by the same company makes it so easy to create elegant cards. Of course, the Papercrafting spot would suit me the best since I don't limit my work to just scrapbooking or cardmaking, but also home décor and mini-albums too.

Seriously, I love all things SEI and would love to be offered the opportunity to work with their new products and, maybe, in the future, the possibility of teaching for them could come about?!
Wow, that would be ah-may-zing to say the least. And then I wouldn't have to try to break into their trailer with my crop-a-dile like I've been known to do :-) Hey, when they park it in the lot of the hotel I'm staying at while the Creating Keepsakes Convention is going on, they're just asking for it- if you ask me!
 Wish me luck, and Here's to a Labor free, Super-Charged Crafty Monday!

Four Generations of Fun Guys

I'm so happy to have grabbed this photo out of a text my dad Ed sent me earlier this year- it is such a rare occasion to have my two brothers, Ed, and his dad all together in the same place at one time. It may have been that I was missing being there so much that inspired me to create this page filled with sentiment and phrase stickers!


You see, while I'm fortunate that my younger brother Jeremy lives relatively nearby, my older brother Eddy and his family live in HONG KONG! Yes, that is a ways away from the Evergreen state hehee. So is New Jersey, where my dad and PopPop live just blocks from each other.
Earlier this year my brothers both traveled to NJ with their wives and my nephew Dylan and someone there was thoughtful enough to snap this amazing photo of the four generations gathered together. I'm not sure how many takes it took to get this shot, but I smile every time I see it- they all look so happy and have big smiles on, my favorite kind of pose! Plus I think it's great that it was taken in my PopPop's wood paneled living room- that wood paneling brings back a lot of memories from visits I've taken over there to visit.
I couldn't help but think that my Nana, who passed early last year, would have been overjoyed to see these guys all together- but I just know she was there silently offering up YooHoos for everyone :-)

Hope you enjoyed this video!