Friday Photo Love & Thoughts on Hoarding

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I have been taking Amy Tan's class Stretch Your Kit, offered through Studio Calico. And I'm *loving* it...so much inspiration, so much creativity, so much fun. One of the best lessons of the class has been "use your favorites first."

Confession: I'm a scrap supply hoarder. 

When I find a product that I really love, I hang on to it. Stare at it. Store it. Think about it. Dream about it. Plan pages around it...but rarely use it. Which is a shame as these supplies are meant to be used.

Changing my mindset to using my favorite supplies first may take some adjustment. But on this recent layout I went for it! I used several products that I had been hoarding: the chipboard butterflies, the rub-on butterflies, the skinny black letters, the tiny aqua buttons, the "be" labels, the wood asterisks and the number brads.

I. Used. Them. All.

And I love it. I love seeing my favorite products on a page. I love the freedom of using beautiful supplies just 'cause I want to. I love the surge in inspiration and creativity that comes from not limiting myself. I love the "go for it" attitude. And I love the feeling of accomplishment, of completion.

I'm off to spend the day crafting...and I'm going to use whatever I want in the process! xoxo

February Take 12 - The Layout

I am having such fun with this project.

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I made a 2-pager, y'all! this is big news. I was inspired by a sketch that came in the Ella Publishing Co. Take 12 kit. The original sketch was very linear and featured a grid, which are elements that I liked & kept. But the photos in the sketch were placed in two horizontal rows, along the bottom and middle of both pages with the journaling fit in between. As you can see, I used the photos in three vertical columns and moved the journaling to the right side. The title was placed in the right upper corner in the sketch. I kept it that way but mirrored the elements in the lower left corner to balance out the page. I used simple embellishments - two kinds of washi tape, a word strip, painted chicken wire pattern for some texture & interest and an Elle's Studio calendar circle. I plan on using these calendar spots and kraft cardstock every month as a way to unify my pages.

Well, kids, I am off to catch up on a couple of the many shows I have backed up on my DVR. I need to photograph this year's Valentine mini so that I can share that project this weekend. Have a lovely night!

More Scrapbook Pages

I'll bet you thought I had forgotten my earlier promise to share the rest of my pages from Sketchbook, the online class that I took with Kelly Purkey. Well, I surely did not. In case you missed the earlier pages, you can find them here and here. This post will cover the pages that I created based on sketches 8 through 12. Enjoy!

Sketch 8

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Sketch 9 (personal information x'd out for privacy)

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Sketch 10

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Sketch 11

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Sketch 12 

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Here's to putting creativity in action! I hope all of you are experimenting with adding a little creativity in your loves, too.

Whole Lotta Eye Candy

Today, as promised, I have lots of crafty goodness to share. I have made some amazing new scrapbook pages over the past eleven days. They are all the result of daily inspiration from Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook class. In case you missed it, I already shared my first two pages in this post. Below, are the pages based on the next five sketches. Later this weekend, I'll wrap up with pages based on the remaining five sketches.

Sketch 3

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Sketch 4 - Shared in yesterday's post. : )

Sketch 5

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Sketch 6

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Sketch 7

 

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I am really pleased with the spurt of creativity brought on by Kelly's sketches. I haven't used sketches very much in the past with my crafting. I worried that I would feel confined by the sketch or limited in my own artistic expression. But after consistently using sketches as a starting point for the past 11 days, I actually found the opposite to be true. The sketch sparked ideas, some were product based and others were more story based. But once I began printing photos and pulling papers out from my stash, the sketch was forgotten and the page became wholly my own. It was amazing to see the variety of pages among members of the class. You would never guess that we all began with the same sketch.

 

So, I'm off to watch Project Runway...thanks for reading. Let me know if you have any questions about products or techniques on any of the pages. Just leave me a comment.

 

 

Greetings from Studio Jenn

I am so excited to debut my brand new blog! You might remember my previous blog Just a Couple of Chippies that I shared with my BFF Deana. Or maybe not...since together we suck at blogging regularly.

So I wanted to start a blog that was wholly my own. A place that I could note my thoughts, but also post my crafty creations and DIY projects. A collection of things that inspire me. A portfolio of my own artistic offerings. A home for my everyday musings. An interactive journal, if you will.

I've been putting a lot of energy into scrapping lately. I took Ali's Yesterday & Today class at Big Picture Scrapbooking this past fall. The focus of this class is telling your stories using words + photos, a concept that I love. I have already been attempting to do this when I create layouts but the lessons I learned from Ali have taken my ideas to the next level. I enjoy delving deeper to tell my story. I have discovered a passion for creating that has been untapped. And I am wanting to do more like this. I want to share my art and my stories. I want to do this work as my main work. I am still exploring a way to make this dream a reality but I think it has to start with getting my work 'out there' so to speak. Here's my favorite layout from Y&T: