July 2012 CARDS Magazine Project

So part of the reason the blog's been a little neglected lately is because I've been working on publishing projects and I can't share those until after the issues come out.

This month I have a card in  Cards magazine.

Sounds pretty swanky, right?

Well, I'm going to let you in on a dirty little secret. Just don't tell, okay? ;)

Cards July 2012

(page 52)

 Sometimes I really, really want to be creative. Like knock your socks off, brilliantly creative. But my real job doesn't always leave a lot of brain power to work with by the end of the week. So when I'm in an "I just want to create" mood, I like to pick up scraps and extras and just play. I like to try new techniques, experiment with ideas I haven't vetted yet and see what I come up with. I like to use my scraps because then I don't feel bad about "wasting" supplies if the experimentation goes awry... and trust me, that happens!

The night that I designed this card I was totally, 100% brain dead. It had been a tough week at work and some friends and I decided to get together on a Friday night to relax and scrapbook. So I grabbed a few leftover supplies from my design team kit from The Scrapbooking Studio, a stamp set I'd been wanting to play with, and some ink. My friends came over and I'm pretty sure there was waaaay more gabbing than gluing that night. In several hours I only made two or three cards because we were too busy talking to really get anything done. A couple of weeks later, there was a submission call from Cards that this piece fit into, so I submitted it on a whim and voila! it was selected... my simple little card that I just "tossed" together one night.

So my point to sharing this with you? That you don't have to design specifically for a call. Play with your supplies, see what you come up with and if there happens to be a submission call that it fits, submit it!

Crate Paper "Farmhouse" layout: sweetie pie

Hello! Sorry, I've been on a super long blog hiatus. I've been busy with a little bit of publishing work and planning a impromtu 50-person scrapbooking retreat for this summer while trying to exorcise (purge) my scrapbooking stash. Oh yeah, and trying to get acclimated to my new full time job. Whew... just a couple of things happen around here!

So I thought I'd catch up on some posting and found a few things from last fall that I apparently forgot to post. Oopsie!

Version 1 of the layout. The pink background was just NOT working for me. Not loving it. No way.

Version 2.0

Time to tear it apart and re-work it! Yes, that's right. If I don't like a layout, I really do just pull it all up and start again!

Much better, right? :)

Design for The Scrapbooking Studio

Supplies: Patterned papers, stickers, chipboards - Crate Paper; Flower - Prima; Tag and Twine, Doily Edge Punch - Martha Stewart; Stick pins - Maya Road; Green Ribbon - May Arts; Doily - craft supply; Marker - Copic, American Crafts; Chalk ink - Colorbox.