Good Intentions Realized, part 2

Oh hello sun. I see you are on your way back from your winter holiday. I appreciate being able to drive to and from work, without having to turn on the headlights. Welcome back, my dear old friend.

Good Intentions continues to inspire me to produce layouts. While at the same time I keep thinking about the February Kit and how much I want to build it and work with it. So much inspiration. So little time.

Hello World is a "just woke up" picture of Becky Boo and her favourite toy, "Piggy" Her Momma is working on an album, entirely devoted to the adventures of Becky and Piggy.  This layout used a sheet of frosty vellum over a bold Basic Grey patterned paper to bring the pp down to a supporting role.

Cricut cut frames and letters. Resist inked chip hearts. And almost all the scraps of paper the kit has produced, are used in Together is the Best Place to Be. The photo seems to give emphasis to the words "the" "to" and "be" but irl it is more balanced.

In Us Happy Together, the cardstock was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Brown. The Together banner is the from the cricut cuts. Gold dotted washi is my go-to roll atm. And I just found (and stocked up on) Maya Road paper clips in assorted shapes. Watch for them to pop up on layouts over the next few months. There has been a shift in my methodology. I used to buy and stash, thinking that I might want to use this wonderful product someday. Now, I find I am interested in what's on trend and I don't want to store things. I want to USE them. If not now, then immediately! And while I am at it, might as well use it all up. Then I don't have to store it. Except in albums of finished layouts.

I'll need some tissues close by to tell you about this layout.  Last month at our church crop weekend I found this lovely poem on velum on the swap table. I knew right away that I wanted to get a picture of Grampa Ivan walking with C or B or maybe, both. I thought I could do this around Easter. But God had other plans for our Grampa.and two weeks later, unexpectedly took him home. My first comment on learning of his leaving us was, "I should have taken more pictures!" Alas, it fell on me to find a photo for his memorial card. Hard assignment as Grampa was not the subject of my photography. The grandchildren were. After all, it might have been a bit weird if I was chasing my daughter's father-in-law around with a camera. In almost every snap, the focus is the children and he is a supporting character. Usually looking at the children and smiling. Or looking off to the side. He was a bit camera shy. We did find a few good shots and good, bad, or indifferent, I compiled all the pics I had of him and gave Gramma J a digital frame with the card and two small 4x6 albums with the hard copies. I am surprised at how much I miss him. Thank you Ivan for being such a loving father-in-law to Nadine and amazing grandfather to Cohen and Rebecca.

My Girl is about  making cookies and enjoying them for breakfast. Still need a title and journaling. But hey, there is another Maya Road paper clip!

Turning 2. Lifted sketch idea from a Scrapbook Generation post. Used as much of the kit as I could squeeze on. Result is a layout with flow like a butterfly's journey. Your eye begins at the top left, hovers on the "2" then follows the edge of the circle, down and back up through the photos, over to the right where then you eye progresses through moving along the shape of a cursive, capital L, making a little loop at the end to finish at the bottom right, on a butterfly. How appropriate. 

And so it comes time to say fond farewells to my January Kit. Several of my kind readers have encouraged me to try the "morphing" idea to build the next kit.  Stay tuned. A fresh endeavor is coming soon.

Thanks for dropping by. Double thanks for comments.

Good Intentions Realized

The results from the first CKC kit of the year, Good Intentions has been mixed. Not as prolific as kits in the past, but better than none at all. Considering my hiatus from scrapping and CKC, I suppose it is a good first month back. A weekend retreat and one Saturday were dedicated to getting me back in the groove. Going back to work, last summer has really taken a bite out of my productivity in the scrap studio.


First a review of the techniques attempted with this kit. I find I have to plan a list of techniques when building the kit, or I just don't remember to use my tools, stamps, inks etc. Slowly I am learning to welcome the opportunity to get messy.

The gold paint pen I thought I could do loopy writing with was all dried up.

And I did not (yet) use the piercer and yarn to make stitched letters.

It was fun to paint on the backs of the clear letters. Using a scrabble cheater site, I found I have letters left to spell "holiday" and "faux". You know that will have to show up on one of our day trip/getaways to the city.

I tried to use Versamark as a resist on the white chip die cuts. It didn't turn out how I thought it would, but I am happy with the results.

And inspired by Lisa and her Silhouette, I pull out my Cricut and CTMH Artbooking cartridge. Some of the off cuts were as much fun to use as the cut images which was one of the CKC challenges in January, to use a negative image.

Stamping on a layout was also featured on my to-use list. So let's get to the show and tell part.

 Tom and Jo would sit on the banister by the kitchen window and do their best to provoke me into pity for their plight. The comic strip had been tucked away with the picture. Do you put small mementos in your photo albums to remember to use them when (if?) you scrap the photos?

Posies with brads and rub-ons reflect the floral spray on Becky's bib. Gold dot washi is torn to add just a smidgen of regal reference.

Cohen was featured in our local newspaper. Of course I had to save and scrap it. Layout feature photocopies of the original publication.

Race Day features some of the Cricut die cuts I made. And story style, journaling. A huge departure for me, from the usual point form recording of who, what, where and when.

We are so proud of you for your determination. You really were not interested in being in the cross country race. We had to pry you away from the playground equipment. When your shoe fell off, shortly after the starting gun, we thought you might give up. But you didn't! You pulled your shoe on, got up and kept on going. Your music teacher helped run you in, to the finish line. No doubt, there will be many more "falls" in your life. If you always remember the little boy that picked up and kept on running you will have the courage to carry on. Success is not in winning but in doing the best that YOU can.

What makes me smile features the "lasagna" paper, cut into strips (again), clipped and inked. Then overlapped to look like strips of ribbon. This is where the Sweet Branch, rub-ons were used along with CTMH canvas die cuts. And another paragraph of journaling? What is going on around here?

Mommy always dreeses you both up for family dinners at Gramma and Grampa Griffin's house. I look forward to seeing your outfits and hair dos each time.

Spice of Life. The title was stamped. I thought I was going to pierce and sew the letters but ended up trying out my new gold pencil crayon. This is where the clear letters were painted on their backs. And those sequin bits were what fell out of a card from Lisa.

My real friends understand. Being able to reach for the perfect seasoning is just like having the right tool for the job.

 Time to start on the next kit. Usually I am at the very end of my active kit at this point, but this one still has a lot of life to it. Going to keep it intact for the next month and see how it goes. Some of the bits will be good to pull forward to the next kit. hmmmm....maybe I am on to something. It might end up that my kit will morph itself each month, into the new kit. This is going to take some thought, first.

Meanwhile, I am grateful for the chance to get back to tapping into that creative gene. And extra thankful for a husband who said, just the other day,

I'm not just saying this but I am so glad that you are scrapping again. You are happier when you are scrapping. 

Yup! That I am.

Thanks for stopping by. Double thanks for comments.