Scrapbooking the Dearly Beloved

We all have those special musical icons in our life whose music becomes the soundtrack our memories playback on. A song for every time and place, decade or direction we've taken; there are lyrics galore that we can identify with. Being a child of the eighties with the graduation year of 1999, it's no wonder I was instilled with a deep purple passion from the very start~ my first crush and favorite artist has always been the legendary Prince.

When the news broke last week of his death, I mourned the loss of a man who contributed countless hits to generations of listeners. Whether he was rocking a pop song or soulfully infusing a ballad with his sensuality, he clearly exhibited a genius approach to capturing the feelings of anyone, be they in love, following a loved one, or getting into the mood for some lovemaking. Or just dressing up in diamonds and pearls for a night of dancing! Prince also produced some of the most popular songs of my generation, including hits by Sinead O'Connor, Chaka Khan, and "Appolonia" of course! 
It wasn't just the music that kept Prince at the top of my World's Best... list. He seems like such a delicate little man, and his high heeled boots were killer (and probably my size). Prince is the only man I knew of to boast a G-string... thanks to my mom's best friend who had a life sized poster of him in little else hanging in her bathroom hahaha. Men were not advised to use her private pooper!  And he inspired many a pixie cut to be sure. But I think what is really inspiring in this day and age is that he seemed to just be a genuinely niceish person. Is it any wonder how much I love the color purple?

It was only a few years ago that my mom was able to fulfill her countlessly uttered promise to take me to see this beautiful man live on stage... it was completely surreal! Did I scream running to the stage when he sang Purple Rain to dance in the confetti falling from the ceiling? You know I did! AND I'm pretty sure he looked at me! Probably because I was crying and laughing with my hands stretched out towards him while hysterically crooning (I swear, I wasn't the only one doing this) lol.
 Did I love the white caftan hat he wore the entire concert? No, but I did adore the idea of his 'do beneath being nice and straight- turns out he was playing a later "cooler" concert in Seattle that night after his purple and gold confetti exit from the Tacoma Dome. And did I want that magical evening of bass, pop, an rockin' out to end? No, because, that guitar was absolutely incredible to hear wailing away a mere 100 yards away. However, I was VERY glad when the lights turned on and we were able to locate my missing phone within the hour :-) translation: no pictures
I am ecstatic to have those memories to share with my mom now that he is gone... and, with my heart too sad to do more than post pics of me posing with my 4th birthday's custom Prince cake on facebook and plan a night of Prince karaoke, I have only been admiring the creative endeavors of other mourners. I only wish I could say I had made one of these gorgeous layouts...

You know, I think it was only fitting that the announcement of the release of the next postal stamps being issued, made this same sorrow filled day, will include another beloved fixture in my life, Mount Rainier. And when I saw that the proposed image just happens to include a heavenly purple hue and majestic swirls of what I'll think of and call diamonds, I knew that a few of these stamps will need to be included when I finally do commit my loss to paper.
Scrapbooking our loved one's can be such a loving way to remember them, as well as one of the most difficult undertakings in the world of scrap. One of the reasons I've found not to complete (or agonize over such incompleteness) my scrapbook albums has been that, when the album is done, the event/year/trip is really over. And so, I will not rush into this memorial page honoring an influential individual, and instead I will "play in the sunshine," have some "starfish and coffee", and yes, "party like it's 1999."

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

Let It Rain!

Do you have a theme song? I mean, is there a song that has been playing throughout your life that seems to come on the radio at just the right time, the lyrics of which echo parts of your life experiences? You know, the one that no matter what, you will be singing out loud the words too... ya, you know you're thinking of it right now!

Sometime within the last year I was on Shimelle.com and either read a post or watched a video of her talking about visiting the David Bowie exhibit at her local museum. Apparently he had saved so much of his early scribbling and assorted paraphernalia over his (50 year?) career that it needs exhibition status. Shimelle challenged us to scrapbook based on a song, or an artist that we really felt a connection with.

First song to come to mind? Prince and the Revolution's, Purple Rain.

 Yup, I'm a tried and true fan of THE Prince. Raised to want to fling my panties on stage even before I knew why anyone would be interested in doing something like that! Side note- I often wondered which day of the week pair I'd have thrown...

So, did I want to scrapbook about "maybe I'm just like my mother?" or "maybe I'm just like my father?" "Why do doves cry?" NO! I wanted to fit this song to the fun pictures I'd taken of my family picking plums over at my moms house last summer.

Purple rain, get it? lol, 'cause if you've ever had plum trees, or just fruit trees for that matter, you know that the ground is apt to get messy once the blossoms turn into those natural fruit gems.

I gathered many different shades of purple, my favorite color naturally, and then I envisioned lots of frilly looking cream colored paper reminiscent of those popular flouncy blouses men wore in the eighties. Honestly, what was up with the pirate look?! And even more honestly, were any of the men in your life wearing blouses? lol I only had eyes for Prince. I mean, when he showed up at the concert I saw two years ago wearing a caftan (of all the headwear he could have chosen!) with what I'm guessing was a cape- now that is a real man, folks!

The page on the left hand side was actually a pre-made deal, complete with torn paper layers, paper pieced multi-colored border, and sewing. I wanted to mimic that look on the right hand side and it turned out I had just enough shades of paper to work with. I love the way they look side by side, and although I added it after these photos were taken, I also added some stitching with my sewing machine to the bottom of the right hand side page as well. Ended up moving my sewing machine into an even more prominent location in my craft area, so we'll see if that helps me to use it as much as I desire too.

My best friend had met me for some scrapbooking and catching up at Michael's Saturday, and brought me like, the entire October Afternoon Witch Hazel line, including two sticker sheets! What a pal, huh? I wanted to try and incorporate something from that mass of goodness, and found the music notes border sticker to fit my theme perfectly. Not sure what the song actually is, but who cares right? I also made a witch into a garden fairy by adding a crown sticker over her pointy hat :-) I used some of the tab stickers for a four-photo flip up so I could include even more photos, and added a lot of my friend's washi tape in layers around the layout too.

When I think of Prince, I also think of Diamonds and Pearls- as embellishments! but, while neither of those items was seeming to be the right accessory, I did include the quote, "More Precious Than Pearls"- perfect for describing the bounty that God provides us each harvest, as well as the joy of feel watching my beautiful daughters, spending time with my family and enjoying the same activities I grew up doing. Certainly a precious enough idea to capture.

One last thought on scrapbooking: what about scrapping those terribly unflattering photos... my thought is, include them anyway lol! These pictures of Ray certainly don't capture him at his most handsome-est, but they are funny and I love how much Sunday looks like him in the photos we took. I used that little witch sticker to write out, "Is this Organic?" and then wrote in, "Was that from Safeway?!" The plum he's eating is freshly picked from the tree, but the quotes are a little inside joke that goes back to my step dad trying to pass non-organic food off on us by saying, it came from Safeway!

So what's your theme song, friend? Leave a comment below, and come back this Friday, August 15th, for a birthday blog hop sponsored by DieCutCrazy! Eric from the Paper Wizard will be giving away an uber-fun layout kit to one lucky hopper! 

Way to washi no.722

Take a lot of coordinating colors of washi and use them to create a really cute card!
First I covered half of a blank card base with the light blue stars washi tape. Then I covered another piece of scrap cardstock, cut it into separate strips, punched each strip with the scallop border punch, and then layered them together over the ends of the first washi application. Finished with a lovely K & Company die cut and Jillibean soup label sticker. I felt it needed still something else, a query that is almost always solved by the addition of either bling or twine. Or both!
Thanks for stopping by! You can see this card in person by visiting the downtown Gig Harbor Copy It...Mail It! and I'm terrifically excited to announce that as of this afternoon, a few of my cards are available online through Etsy! I'll have more details about this coming out in the next few days. For now you can click on this link: www.etsy.com/shop/craftwithanna  and see what I've got up. Hooray for card sales!

Add a Fourth of Fun

Today I'm sprinkling a dash of creativity, adding a Fourth of Fun, and mixing up a big scrap bucket of card fronts!
Occasionally, there are nights I successfully bring myself back downstairs after tucking the kids into bed. Earlier this summer I discovered a way to make a table I can work off while sitting on the couch and it's opened up a few more hours of crafting for me! As hunny and I watch our fill of the Orange is the New Black, I sort through my scraps and find interesting color combinations to play with. Sometime I'm really happy with the results, and sometimes I just love the idea of what I've made, but not really the card itself.

That's the case with this card to the left; I actually like it a lot more photographed and here on the blog than I do in real life. It was fun to create though, and that's what matters most to me. The cute little paper flower was made by folding strips of paper and then topping it with a fussy cut flower and a pearl. A peek-a-boo sticker from the kids and an assortment of additional blings bring the focus onto the flower. Thank goodness I have every color bling under the sun to compliment all the shades shown here, thanks to Queen & Co and their value priced booth at CKC each year!

Speaking of bling, I need to go make some Fourth of July cards for the peeps I'll see. I've got some blue and red star blings that are just dying to get on something.
Have a safe and fun, festive Fourth- and make it crafty!

February Simple Stories DIY Calendar

Every month for 2014, Rainier and I are working together on this DIY Simple Stories based scrapbook calendar for her dad. I think it is so important for him to have a "pretty" place to document his observations and memories of our girls... his notes are like little written treasures!

Well, the idea of providing him with a tool like this came about four years ago at my 2nd Creating Keepsakes Convention.  My Dear Friend and I both purchased Basic Grey's 12 month, put-it-together-yourself kit. She chose to put photos that had already been taken into her calendar, while I chose to wait for a cute photo, taken within the first few days of the month, to accompany the gorgeous mini layouts (each page was 8x8). A tiny bit stressful, yes. The funny thing about giving a gift like this, is that you can't make someone write down their memories...okay, you can, but sometimes suggesting can sound an awful lot like nagging!

I chose another Basic Grey calendar kit the next year, struggled with the same print-in-a-timely-fashion conundrum,  and then decided to skip this creation the following (last) year. The contents were just a little too little, and I was having a hard time with feeling like this wasn't exactly a creation of MINE. Sure, I put it all together, but essentially, each month would look just like my friend's! Not a bad thing, but I was desiring a change. This last CKC, I chose a slightly more expensive, but to me, much more expressive DIY scrapbook calendar to feature monthly snapshots, keep track of birthdays, and yes, provide a place for those all important memories!

Before, I would desperately rush to put together the calendar days before Christmas (why do we do things like that?!). So the best part of creating it usually felt like the act of finishing it on time! This version is being created monthly, and the best part of the process is that Rainier and I are doing it together. She puts most of the stickers on, cuts the paper, chooses papers, and on this month, it was her brilliant idea to tuck that row of photos she chose behind the polka dot paper strip. Like any Fancy Nancy loving three year old, she also thought it was necessary to apply a lot of bling to that printed banner!

Sometimes bossy mommy threatens to ruin the creative process we are enjoying, but this session went spectacularly, and ended with her saying, "I want to do another calendar next!"

I'm looking forward to it too, sweetie :-)

Advertisement Repurposed

I love a chance to use a bit of advertising in my projects, and once I realized the Lumber Liquidators flyer had all these choice samples of woodgrain in them (drool), I quickly started adding large cuts to my stash box.

My coworker will receive this on her birthday, along with another repurposed item I worked up for the February 2014 Valentine's themed issue of Die Cut Crazy. Be sure to check that out, I'm really proud of how it turned out!

You can see that I've made a little garden out of die cut Close To My Heart flowers, with enamel bling centers, and a cute butterfly flying about, trailing a few pearls. For some extra dimension I added my theme product of the month, baker's twine. Then I stamped the Celebrate phrase onto some scraps cut into banners. Pretty much anything outdoorsy, I put banners on!

 Anyway, these office cards get passed around for everyone to sign, and my card has a lot of delicate layers of embellishment on it. Imagine my horror at thinking of all the blings and flowers flinging off as the card slides in and out of an oh-so-secretive envelope. So, instead of walking it around personally to ensure no damage ensues, I sealed the top of the card with a bit of packaging cellophane.

Around the outside edge of the card I ran four pieces of double-sided Scrappy Tape. It has a peel off backing, so once I had that off, I could lay the packaging plastic right on top, and then trim off the excess. This worked beautifully and it felt awesome to hand it off for circulation care-free.

Tomorrow I'll be uploading a new movie (yeah!) and then on Saturday morning you can blog hop with the DieCutCrazy contributors as we share fun Valentine's tutorials.

My projects will feature some different ways to incorporate punched shapes in your backgrounds, so find a couple of your favorite dies or punches or cut files or whatever, and lets craft together!

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!

 

 

 

 

 

Contributions Galore

I've been having a blast assembling my contributions for November's edition of DieCutCrazy, the digital magazine I design for. I enjoy creating on an everyday basis, and there is something especially exciting about seeing those efforts amongst the talented team of designers who are also featured each month.

Cards, scrap book layouts, and home decorations accented by cleverly used die cuts can all be found in each edition of DieCutCrazy, available through your iPad and iPhone. The price per month is very reasonable, and inspiration comes at no additional cost!

I'll be sharing some of my past articles here on the blog so stop back by soon!

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!

Just Be Yourself

Isn't part of the fun of having children, that you can identify yourself in their features and actions!? I love seeing my little mini-me strike a pose, whether she looks like me ( right hand picture) or Ray (squinty eye on the left side). However she looks, she's a doll in my opinion!

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!