Friday Fun - Finding Inspiration

It happens to all of us - sometimes we get into a rut and need a little external prodding to get that scrappy mojo flowing again. And for today's Friday Fun, I'm going to share with you a few of my favorite sources of inspiration! :)

Are you inspired by ads? I love to peruse the site Ads of the World where you can view creative print ads from all over the world...in fact, this ad below...:

...served as the jumping point for this layout I created with the June LRS kit: :)

Some of the things that inspired me about the ad was the grouping of elements in the middle of the page, the use of white space, and the bit of text or journaling off to one corner. :)

Design Seeds is an amazing site for color inspiration! They showcase beautiful palettes, and you can even search out different color schemes by color or theme (i.e. season.) This is just one example of the *gorgeous* colors to be found on this site:

Music (or other types of media such as books) can also be another wonderful source of inspiration - and it doesn't necessarily have to be a specific song...maybe just inspired by one. ;) In this older layout of my Sophie, you can see that the photo, combined with the journaling, focuses simply on the one song that shall remain forever lost in her memory bank... :)

And who says you have to scrap only your *best* photos? Even the most imperfect of photos has a story just waiting to be told...in this case, kids who are disgruntled about being too small to ride the "big kid rides" at the fair (is Sophie's expression priceless or what?!?! :-P), or toddlers who absolutely refuse to wear their shoes outside. :)

So now that I've shared with you some of my favorite sources of inspiration, I would love to hear (and see!) some of yours! :) Please share with me what things pull you out of a mojo rut by commenting here on this post or over on the LRS message boards.

Happy Friday all! :)

Babies and Bubbles. Thursday Theme.

Hi Everyone, Lisa here, back with the Theme kit....

I hope you have all had a chance to see the May/June Theme kit, but if you missed it, PLEASE check HERE... it is one jam-packed kit for only $14.50!!

I have been having a lot of fun this month scrapping and creating with this kit and pictures of our newest little boy and this page was really my favorite one I made....


someday

I loved taking the pretty papers in the kit and using my Epiphany punches made pretty little "bubbles" to sprinkle all over my page...


in rows...

in splatters...

do you notice the title there? I ran out of "B"s and just took an "I" and a 3 and made an instant "B"???? ...a fun and easy way to get more of those quickly used letters when working with baby pages.


and stitched in a cellophane bag...

and another peek at that theme kit....

do not miss out on it :)

Wow'd Us Wednesday!

It's Wednesday and you know what that means...it's time for another fabulous "Wow'd Us Wednesday" featured layout submitted by one of our board members! 

This week I've chosen to highlight this wonderful layout by Kelly (Kelzpop):

I love the butterflies, the hand stitching, and the crisp, clean use of white space! 

Congratulations Kelly on your "Wow'd Us Wednesday" toot!

Weekly challenge-June 25th..

Happy Monday everyone!  Seeing that Monday is always a stressful day for me, I thought I would give us all something fun to play along with today to keep us all in our bright, happy places!  

This weeks challenge has two rules:

1)  You need to scrap a vacation photo

2)  You need to use something from your trip as your embellishment.

I used a photo of a sandcastle dissapearing during sunset at First Encounter beach at Cape Cod. I used the sand from the beach on my chipboard "friday" in the title.

Here is mine:



I used a photo of a sandcastle dissapearing during sunset at First Encounter beach at Cape Cod and for my embellishment I used the sand from the beach on my chipboard "friday" in the title.

Now, lets see what you all come up with!  Please stop on back by at the forum and show us what you have created. 

Thanks for playing along!

Meg   

  

Friday Fun!

Welcome to Friday Fun! Today I'm going to show you how to alter a picture frame mat to make an adorable accent for any photo or a great gift for someone special!  This project takes approximately an hour to complete and is super easy. 

Supplies:
One picture frame- any size
Patterned paper cut into assorted sizes
Decoupage or Mod Podge
Exacto knife
Sticky tape
Various stamps (optional)
Archival ink (optional)
Coordinating paint (optional)

Step 1:

Open the frame and remove the mat.  Set the frame and glass aside.

Step 2:

Cut coordinating patterned papers into various sized pieces. The fabulous June Little Red Scrapbook kit worked great for this project!  I cut 1 inch, 2 inch, and 3 inch strips but you can use larger or smaller sizes depending on the look you desire for your project.

Step 3:

Paint one small section of the mat at a time with Decoupage or Mod Podge and layer the patterned paper on it.  Try not to overlap your papers or it will make your mat lumpy.  Continue this process until the entire mat is covered.  You will have uneven edges but those will be trimmed later with an Exacto knife.

Step 4:

Flip the mat over and trim the excess patterned paper down to 1/2 inch. You will need to make diagonal cuts inward from each corner as shown in the photo.  This will make it easier to fold the paper to adhere it to the back of the mat with sticky tape.





Step 5:

Flip the mat back over and viola, it is complete unless you want to dress it up a little bit.  I usually dry brush my mat with a coordinating acrylic paint or stain.  I also like to add rub-ons and stamp randomly on it using archival ink (archival ink won't smear when you cover it with Decoupage).

The final step for me is to paint a coat of Decoupage over the entire mat to seal it and make the colors pop.  Once it's dry you can add a photo and put it all back together.  Here is a photo of my finished frame.  I added the flower embellishments...also from the June LRS kit!

That's it for this addition of Friday Fun!  I hope you get crafty this weekend!

Tammy

WOW Us Wednesday!

YAY, It's that time again, time for another "Wow us Wednesday". There are so many "Gems" added to the Little Red Scrapbook gallery weekly, that when it comes to picking an amazing layout that just catches your eye for "Wow us Wednesday" it is so hard! This layout by ScrappyJo just stood right out to me! Not only are those photos just gorgeous, but I love the design of this layout, it all just comes together bringing your eyes right into the photos. I love the way she added just the right amount of embellishments and she used one of my all time fave scrapbooking companies, "Basic Grey" :) Goregous layout ScrappyJo! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Make sure you all check out our LRS gallery and all that talent, and don't forget to leave a comment :)

Nikki

Weekly Challenge 6/18

I don't know about you, but I don't always have willing photographic subjects.  Sometimes they are cranky, and other times they are downright silly.  Especially when I get all three of my girls together.  (I think maybe they plot against me!)  Oh well, I have always told them that I will scrap what I get...and this photo shoot was no exception!  I had the hardest time getting a nice picture of the three of them, but this photo was too cute to not scrap!! 

My challenge this week is to scrap one of your "out-takes"...  One of the "bad" photos!

I used the great June kit for this...created a cute flower with a pinwheel and word chipboard (just inked for some color) and stacked my title...lol.  Can't wait to see what you create..have fun with it!

June Design Team Gallery Highlights

Well, once again, the DT has blown me away with their work this month!  I am always truly stunned how each DT member has such a personal style and creates layouts that are so quintescentially "them" and each uses the kit in unique and individual ways...

First up, AnnaMarie...okay, it doesn't hurt that her son is the cutest little lion EVER, but I just love how she used punches and just a bit of the stencil from the add on kit!

Next up is Karrie, look at that cute pinwheel!  She even used the blings to convey a feeling of movement in it...so cute! And the hand stitching?  Adorable!!

One from me next...this came together really easily for me...I LOVE this stencil..I think I need to find another one because I had so many fun ideas for it and I used it all in one layout!

Meg's up next...I love how she used the instagram squares to hold the pinwheels, the negative space of the photo for her title...sooo nice!!

Nikki is the queen of layering...I love this sweet series of photos of her daughter when she was a baby and how she used the hexagon paper...SO cute!

And last but certainly not least, Tammy!  I love how she added some subtle dry brushing of paint and some touches of hand doodling to highlight this gorgeous photo..

So there you have my picks for gallery highlights..but of course there is SO much more eye candy to behold in the gallery...so go check it out for yourself... June DT Gallery!! I hope we've given you lots of inspiration for ways to use the kit, be sure to put your designs in the gallery, too- you never know, your layout or card could be picked for our Wow'd Us Wednesday feature!

Wow Us Wednesday!

It's Wow Us Wednesday time again!  There are some fabulous goodies in the gallery, but this layout by Victoria caught my eye.  First of all, I'm a sucker for anything My Mind's Eye but I really love the classic colors and the green die cut pattern.  Is that from a die or electronic cutter, Victoria?

Congrats Victoria!

Weekly LRS Challenge

Happy Monday all!! :) It's AnnaMarie here with a new Weekly Challenge! :)

As I was tidying up my scrap area (*always* a work in progress, isn't it??!! ;)), I began putting my various punches away - and realized that punches are obviously my "go-to" tool because I have a LOT of them. As in - about *4* baskets worth. :-o But...in my defense, I *do* use them on just about every layout or project. :)

This week's challenge is an easy one - I want to see you use your punches! :) AND use three or more. :) You can combine border and regular punches, small or large - I just want to see three or more on your layout or card!

And here is my example - of course, using the BEAUTIFUL Main Kit and Embellishment add-on. :)

This close-up shows how I used three different border punches for the strips of patterned paper on the left side of my page.

And on the opposite side, I used both a butterfly and cloud punch to add some simple accents to my page. :)

SO let's get started with the challenge! :) You can upload your layout to the Little Red Scrapbook Challenge Gallery HERE and link back in a comment on this post as well. I hope you find this challenge a fun one, and that you especially get a chance to play along this week! :)

Happy Scrapping!

Friday Fun!

Summer Vacation is here for most of you and only a week or so away for the rest of us!  Although I would love to have the Summer off, I unfortunately do not.  But, whether or not we have the whole Summer or just a couple weeks here and there, I am sure you all have some kind of Summer escape planned for yourself or your family.  With that said, I was thinking of all my favorite Summer places I like to make sure I visit every year and make sure I scrapbook them.
I would like to share a couple pictures of them with you and would love for you to share some of yours with us over at the Message board right here: LYB. 
Here are a couple of my favs: 

 

 Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod

The Lake House 

 Watch Hill, Rhode Island

These are my Absolute mosts for every Summer, at least once if not a couple times.  Now let's see which places you love to visit!  Don't forget to stop on by the message board to show us!

Happy Friday!

Meg

Nikki's June Card Challenge

I just received my June Little Red Scrapbook kit and just love everything about it, the papers are gorgeous, the embellishments go so well with the paper collection. One thing that really caught my eye was the Jenni Bowlin stencil paper. What a neat thing! I love that there are so many things you can do with it. You can paint, mist, ink, glitter, etc. The ideas are endless!

This brings me to my June card challenge. Lets use some "unique" lettering on our cards this month. It does not have to be the Jenni Bowlin Stencil lettering paper that came in this months June embellishment addon,

but if you did purchase it, I would love to see what you will do with it and this challenge. I will be posting a sample card using the stencil paper soon. So make sure you check back here in the next day or so.

Have fun with this challenge and make sure you link back here in the comments to your creation.

Nikki

June Little Red Scrapbook Kit!

The June Kit has been released and it is just PERFECT for your summertime memories!!

LRS June 2012 Main Kit - Echo Park Paper Company - "Sweet Day"

"Sweet Day" Pattern Paper: 2 Sheets Delightful, 2 Sheets Playful Banner, 2 Sheets Oh My Stripe, 1 Sheet Fancy Floral, 1 Sheet Up Up and Away, 1 Sheet Blissful Floral, 1 Sheet Playful Polaroid, 1 Sheet Sweet Bird, 1 Sheet Peppy Pinwheel
Bazzill Cardstock: 1 Sheet White, 1 Sheet Chiffon, 2 Sheets Parakeet
Embellishments: 1 Sweet Day Journaling Cards Sheet, 1 Sweet Day Elements Sticker Sheet, 1 October Afternoon 9 to 5 Label Sticker Sheet, 2 Yards October Afternoon Washi Tape -"Days of the Week", 3 Assorted Prima Fairy Belle Wooden Tickets, 1 Pack Prima Sugar Bloom Flowers, 1 Maya Road "Days of the Week" Chipboard Keychain, 1 Pack Basic Grey Opaline Designer Half Pearls, 1 Yard 7/8" Grosgrain Cranberry with Ivory Dot Ribbon, 1 Pack American Crafts Foam Nightfall Elm Thickers - Rust

And there are many yummy extras to go with this kit...check out the Embellishment Add On...

Isn't it YUMMY???

June 2012 Embellishment Add-On

1 12"X12" Jenni Bowlin Studio Stencil Lettering Guide Kraft Sheet, 1 Pack American Crafts/Dear Lizzy Pinwheels, 5 Assorted Prima Lucerne Fairy Belle Flowers, 1 Prima Butterfly, 3 Maya Road Kraft Envelopes with White Polka Dots, 2 Maya Road Cherry Vintage Trinkets, 5 Maya Road Brown Trinket Pins

And we now sell extras of coordinating embellishments in the store...
You can find them HERE...

Be sure to check back with the blog on Wednesday for our Monthly Card Challenge-it's being hosted by Nikki this month!

June's Sketch Challenge

Happy Friday!  Can you believe it is June already?

I have a fabulous sketch for you today from the May Page Maps. I love the sketch design and the pinwheel.  I'll be uploading my finished project shortly and also provide a tutorial on the pinwheel so be sure to check back to the LRS Message Board.  I can't wait to see what you do with it!