Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

Scrapbook Page - I just showed up

Have you ever listened to a song and had the words speak so clearly to your sou? Not the music, but the actual words? Almost as if you could have written the words yourself?

As I scrapbook about myself, I find that sometimes the words of a song speak perfectly the words that I would have written if I hadn't heard the song in the first place. The words are the perfect journaling for me. This song said just what I would have said, so why not use it for the journaling on my page?

Scrapbooking about ourselves can be very difficult but I promise that it can also be very therapeutic and eye opening. The more you do it, the more comfortable you become with sharing yourself both artistically and personally. And just think of the pages you'll some day leave behind.....a legacy of who you really are. Speaking of which.....scrapbooking about yourself is what the whole Soulology Project Weekend Scrapbooking Course is all about. It will get you started on searching deeper and not being afraid to put the real YOU on your pages. There is still space left at this amazing weekend course and I'd LOVE to have you join us! Make sure to check out the details ---> HERE.

Butterflies have always been something I love. (I even have a Stampin' UP butterfly from the retired Wonderful Wings set tattooed on my back.) To start from a caterpillar and to transform into a beautiful and mysterious creature so completely different from what it started out as has always transfixed me. I wanted to add them to this page because they're symbolic for me.  Over the years, I've had my own metamorphosis of sorts. Changing so completely from who I used to be. It wasn't until after I made this page and looked at it on the computer after editing it that I realized the butterflies fit so perfectly with the last few lines of the song that I used for my journaling.

It's been a while since I've used stickers on my scrapbook pages other than alphabet stickers. I found these butterfly stickers, believe it or not, at the dollar store. I knew they'd come in handy for one of my pages. I bought 5 packs and they had all different kinds of stickers in each pack. They are a little bit translucent so you can see some of the patterned paper showing through underneath them, which is really cool.

My base page is Kraft cardstock. I used a piece of patterned paper from the Urban Couture line from Basic Grey and tore two of the corners off. I adhered them to the Kraft cardstock and then painted around the edges of the cardstock and paper with white acrylic paint and a rough bristle brush. I sanded the edges of the torn paper and some of the color transferred to the Kraft cardstock. It gave a really cool shadowed look.

I also sanded the edges and corners of my photo and the patterened paper that I matted the photo on (from the Basic Grey Motifica line). It's amazing what a small piece of fine-grade sandpaper can do to enhance a page.

The journaling was done by stamping the lyrics on strips Mellow Moss and River Rock cardstock. I used a Hero Arts mini alphabet set that I've had for years and used Close to Cocoa ink. The longest process of this page was the stamping and once I had my stamps lined out on my desk, it really didn't take that long at all. This was a rather quick page to put together, even though it looks like it took a long time to make.

The journaling is from a Sara Groves song called, "Just Showed up for My Own Life." I didn't use the whole song, just the part that really spoke to me (okay, the whole song spoke to me, but especially these words).

The journaling reads:

I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's
honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's
finally clear and it changes our lives

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

Have a lovely evening and a creative rest of your week!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Scrapbook Page - Girly

I always find it funny when people ask what Girly's real name is. I've actually had a few people that thought we we really DID name our daughter, "Girly." I forget how it comes across when I introduce my kids to new people as, "Zach and Girly." I get this weird look from them and then they just smile and nod...like they're humoring me for naming my child, "Girly."

She really DOES have a real name. Her real name is Elise (pronounced Ee-LEE-za, which is the German pronunciation and also my grandmother's name). We haven't called her Elise or Leezy since she was about 6 months old. She's been Girly to us for so long. In fact, she didn't even realize she had a real name until she was about 4 years old.

When people meet her and hear what we call her, they just assume that she's the most girly of girls. She may look dainty and tiny and like a china doll, but she's so much more than that. I created this page to show her two very different sides.

I used a piece of light blue textured cardstock and swiped my Close to Cocoa ink pad around the outside edge.

The flowers were cut out from a piece of patterned paper from the Pocketful of Posies paper stack from DCWV. The flowers have little bits of glitter accents on them. I swiped those with the Close to Cocoa ink, as well, so that they were dirtied-up like the cardstock. For a little bit of bling, I secured the flowers to the cardstock with silver mini brads.

I stamped around the edges of the cardstock with the flourish image from the Doodle This set (from Stampin' Up) in Rose Red ink. (I adore that set!)

Because of the two pictures that I chose for this page, I wanted to add some bling and some dirt to my page. Girly loves girly things but she also loves to get dirty. I wanted a mixture of grunge and bling so for the title, I chose to alter some naked chipboard letters. I started out by painting them with some green acrylic paint and let them dry. Then I applied some glue from my 2-Way Glue Pen to completely cover each of the letters. I sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds glitter on each of the letters and let them dry. This is why I LOVE to use the 2-Way Glue pen.....it dries flat and QUICK! After the letters dried, I laid a piece of scrap paper over them and then pressed the glitter down to finish setting it. I attached my letters using mini glue dots. These are super sticky and work awesome for attaching chipboard pieces.

I popped a few large red brads next to the title as some filler and more dimension.

I did my journaling by hand with a Rose Red Stampin' Write Marker. I punched little stars out from the same patterned paper that I used for the flowers and used them as bullet points for the journaling at the bottom.

It reads:

She's been called Girly since she was a baby. Her real name seems so foreign to me. But sometimes she's a contradiction.

* She paints her nails but covers herself in mud.

* She loves her CareBears but Lighting McQueen is her idol.

* She loves new shoes but hates to have her hair brushed.

* She's a girl with the heart of a tom-boy.

* She can be sweet but can turn on a dime.

Maybe she's a girl after all.

Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Scrapbook Page - You make me love you

I think most of you know by now that I'm not one to sugar-coat anything in my scrapbooks. I don't hide much at all. I show it like it is.
This page is no exception.

If you're realistic about relationships, you know that it has its highs and lows. You know that there are times when things are great and time when things are not. Being in a committed relationship takes work, whether its a best friend, a husband, a partner, etc.

We just celebrated 11 years of marriage. Earlier this year, I wanted to make a page that reflected the last 12 years (we met in January of 1996 and married the next year). It may not be the most flawless relationship, but it's definitely the most imperfectly perfect one for the two of us. This page shows the inner workings of our relationship (and I'm sure he could make a page that brings out my flaws, as well - haha). Flaws and all.....I wouldn't have it any other way.

I adore this picture of my Davycakes. It's one of my favorites. It was taken last spring, but not much has changed. He's still just as handsome and always will be. It's kind of ironic that this is one of my favorites, considering that when this picture was taken, he had just cut off the shoulder length hair that I loved so much. I was so sad when he made the decision to get it cut but LOVED the result. I felt that the picture needed a page of its own. And the reason behind the picture has a hidden meaning in the journaling, as well.

You can click on any of the pictures in this post for a much larger and detailed view.

I can't help myself but I'm in love with the Old World stack of papers from DCWV. The colors are so rich, but muted at the same time. Every time I look at one of the papers, I think that it would make the most glorious wallpaper. Perhaps what I need to do is just wallpaper my house with my scrapbook pages instead.

I mounted my 5 x 7 inch photo with brushed silver finish photo corners on top of a piece of patterned paper that I tore along the edge. I found the baroque style ribbon in the dollar bin at a craft store and ran it through a resin charm that I found (in a pack of 6) at my dollar store. It's amazing what you can find in your dollar store or the sale/dollar/clearance bills that can work on your scrapbook pages. This just goes to show that you can create beautiful pages for reasonable amounts of money. Who said scrapbooking has to put you in the poor house?

I used a lot of different fonts and embellishments to spell out my journaling. The word, "You," started out as naked chipboard. I covered it with a scrap of patterned paper that I had from the Old World stack. You can check out a tutorial that I did on this technique.....it's really easy to cover chipboard ---> Covering Chipboard Tutorial (this tutorial shows you two different options....solid pieces of chipboard and pieces that needed to be trimmed). The words, "make me," were done with mosaic tiles. The six descriptive words on the left side of the photo were done with the "Simple Type" alphabet set (Stampin' Up - now retired) and stamped on Barely Banana cardstock. I mounted those on top of some scrap patterned paper. I added pewter finished brads next to each word (from Creative Impressions).

I hand wrote the words, "but most of all...," with a black Slick Writer. The words, "you," in the last part of the journaling, were done with the Simple Type alphabet and embossed with gold powder. The word, "make," was done with tiny bottle caps (Li'l Davis Designs) and the "me" was done with mosaic tiles.

The word, "love," was done with patterned chipboard pieces that I got from K & Company. The little heart is a glass heart that I found in the mosaic section of a craft store years ago. I've finally used up all of these cute little hearts and haven't been able to find any since. I love them and wish I had more but I'm glad that I stopped hoarding them and started showcasing them on my albums.

If you look closely, you can see some white swirly details in the upper right and lower left corners of this layout. These were done with some of Stampin' Up's awesome rub-ons. These are so easy to apply and they look like they're a part of the paper.

So, my challenge to you? If you're a scrapbooker, I challenge you to create a layout that focuses on one of your relationships. And if you don't scrapbook, why not have this be your first scrapbook page that you create? I can pretty much guarantee that you'll be hooked!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Scrapbook Page - Dear World

I felt a need to scrapbook today. I've had a thought growing in my mind for a little over a week and needed to get it out.

As most of you know, my son,Zach, is autistic. I stay in the loop of what's going on in the world when it comes to autism. I believe in not only advocating for my own son, but also for others just like him. One of my passions is to make the world aware.

After reading stories in the past week of what families like mine are going through, along with living in our own world of autism, it made me want to write an open letter to the world. That's what this whole page is about.

Before I share the journaling, though, I thought I'd walk you through my creative process. (You can click on any of the pictures for a larger view)

Lately, I've been playing with my paints. They got put aside for a few months, but I've brought them back out since they work so well with my recent obsession with chipboard. Now that I've been playing in my paint box, I want to take out some of those HUGE canvases I have hiding in my closet that are begging for paint.

I used a piece of Bazzill textured cardstock for my base page. I found a piece of green patterned cardstock (from the Old World Stack by Die Cuts with a View) that brought out some of the colors in my photo and used a large bowl to trace a partial circle on it. I cut that out and mounted it on my cardstock. But....before I did that, I used some white Gesso paint and a stiff brush to paint around the edges of the blue cardstock and the green cardstock. I wanted to bring out some of the brown from the river bed, so I used a scrap of Basic Grey paper I had (from the Motifica collection) to partially mat my photo (which was also painted around the edges with Gesso paint). Who says you have to fully mat a photo?

The words, "Dear" and "AND," at the top and bottom corners of the page were done by sponging brown acrylic paint onto some large alphabet stamps (Well Worn Alphabet set from Stampin' Up!) and stamping them onto the page.

Those weren't the only stamps I used on this page. I also customized my chipboard embellishments with stamps!

I started out by painting my chipboard with acrylic paint (white paint for the word, "world," and red paint for the large heart). I then stamped on top of the chipboard (after it dried, of course) with the smaller flourish image from the Doodle This stamp set (from Stampin' UP).  I stamped with Close to Cocoa ink on my letter chipboard pieces and I used Whisper White craft ink on top of the red heart. I also sponged around the heart edges with Chocolate Chip ink.

My journaling was done on the computer and I printed it on Kraft cardstock and Ruby Red cardstock (for the larger and more descriptive words). I cut my journaling apart in blocks and then swiped around the edges with my Whisper White craft pad. The two large black commas on my page were done by hand with a Slick Writer.

I used a large pewter finish star brad (from Creative Impressions) on each of my Ruby Red words. Before I put the brads in the cardstock, though, I lightly touched them to my Whisper White craft pad and then dried the ink with my embossing gun.

After I completed my page, I realized what a happy surprise I had staring back at me. My journaling is a letter to the world and the large partial green patterned cardstock circle that I had created at the beginning of my page looked like a view of the earth from against the blue sky. I totally had NOT planned that. I had picked the cardstock out because the colors drew from the colors in my photo. I chose the circular pattern so that it would soften things up, knowing that I was going to use a lot of straight angles with my journaling. I hadn't planned it, but it was obviously meant to be.

My journaling is from the heart. I don't sugar coat anything.  It reads:

Dear World,

There's some things about autism that I want you to know.

In spite of what you think, our kids aren't contagious. They're
not something you need to be afraid of. They're not the boogie man. Different doesn't automatically equal bad.

You say you want us to explain, but it's complicated and you seem to be disinterested after a while.

You say you want to embrace diversity but when you don't understand something, you fear it and push it away.

You say you want to hear what we have to say, but you seem to plug your ears when you get too uncomfortable.

You say you want to see what we go through but when you don't like what you see, you turn away or put blinders on.

When we share our world with you, we're not looking to make excuses. We're just looking for a little bit of the Patience, Understanding and Compassion that you’re always talking about.

Love,
a mom and her autistic son

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Scrapbook Page - Glimpses of Norway

I've had these pictures printed off for a while now and have been wanting to put them on a page together since we took our trip to Norway back in October of 2006. This page has actually sat on my desk for about a week ALMOST finished and then I ran out of label-maker tape. Man, that stuff is hard to get a hold of. Part of it is because my Dymo label-maker is considered "old school." I happen to like the "old school" look of those old fashioned label-makers. I really don't like the new ones....the tape looks too polished and there's no texture to them. I love that embossed look that the "old school" label makers give.

Someone recently asked me what size my pages are. I usually ALWAYS scrapbook on 12 x 12 pages. There are times when I do smaller pages, but those are when I do mini albums and books. Most all of my pages are 12 x 12. I really like this size because I feel I have more room for to take full creative license.

I couldn't have asked for a better background paper to use than the piece that I picked out from the Motifica line from Basic Grey. The pattern on the paper looked just like some of the ornate carved wooden doors that we saw on the stave churches and some of the old buildings when we walked the property of the Norsk Folkemuseum.

I cut the patterned paper down just a bit so that I could layer it on top of a piece of Kraft 12 x 12 cardstock and a border would be seen around the edge. I also mounted the three 4 x 6 photos on a strip of Kraft cardstock and mounted that across the patterned paper. The Kraft cardstock felt like it grounded the patterned paper, otherwise it felt a little overwhelming.

I FINALLY got to use the pewter finish passport plaque that I've been saving forever (from Making Memories). I also added a canceled postage stamp from Norway for a little bit more of an authentic touch to the layout.

I think I might have already mentioned how much I adore letters and fonts and combining alphabets on my layouts. I did that with my title on this page. I brushed a little bit of Gesso paint in the upper left hand corner so that my smaller letters could be easily seen. I used some Creative Memories alphabet stickers that I took out my hubby's scrapbook stash (shhhhh.....don't tell him! and yes, he DOES scrapbook!) for the word, "glimpes." I used some Basic Grey alphabet stickers (that came in the Sublime pack of papers) for the word, "of." The word, "Norway," was done using some large rub-ons that I got from JoAnn's (JoAnn Essentials).

I had a bit of an annoying blank spot in between the last word of my journaling and the date the pictures were taken, so I filled that in with some aged copper mini brads (Making Memories). This gave a little bit more balance to the page and didn't make the blank space so distracting and obnoxious.

My journaling reads:

In one glimpse, I felt like I had stepped back in time. In another, I felt like I had been thrust into the present. It was fascinating to be in a place where the history is so sacred yet the present and future are equally embraced.    October 2006.

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Up

Scrapbook Page - No Regrets

I was working on submissions to send in for Creating Keepsakes Scrapbooker of the Year and ended up deciding that I just didn't have enough time to get everything done. I've not been feeling well over the weekend and there's been a lot going on. I probably could have pushed myself, but I knew that I would just end up creating pages simply for the sake of having something to send in. If I'm going to enter something like that, I want to put my whole heart into it. I don't want to send in pages that I've created without putting everything I have into them.

I've got my sights set on the Memory Makers Masters contest and that isn't due till July 31st, so I've got plenty of time to work on that.

In the meantime, I wanted to share one of the pages that I had intended to send in to the CK contest. It seems more fitting to share it with all of you than to hide it aside in the files over at CK.

This page was fairly easy and quick to put together, simply because the base page was pre-printed and fit SO well with the theme that I wanted to create my page about.

I mounted my picture with simply silver-brushed photo corners. Sometimes, those old-fashioned photo corners are all you need.

My title was done with some new chipboard letters I picked up recently. I used both the letters and the negatives left from punching the letters out. These letters are self-adhesive so I even saved the backings that I peeled off of them for later use.

I really adore the dimension that chipboard gives a card or a layout. And I especially adore letters and fonts. I love to mix them up.

When I thought about the journaling that I wanted to use for my layout, I originally thought about using a quote on my page. I searched and searched, but couldn't find something I really liked. Most of the quotes that I found on regrets talked about having them. That's not where I wanted to go with my journaling. That's not what I felt. I enjoy using quotes on my pages. When I find good ones, they help to further convey what I'm feeling and thinking inside. They're a continuation of my own thoughts. While quotes are great, there are just some pages where the journaling has to come from the heart and stand alone. That's what I decided to do with this page when I couldn't find something I was completely satisfied with.
I was going to type out the journaling, but I think it's pretty clear from this picture as to what I had to say. The page is actually on a tilt, so I turned it straight to make it easier to read.

I used Really Rust cardstock to type my journaling on, but it was a bit too bright so I grunged it up a bit by swiping it with Creamy Caramel ink and then cut the journaling into strips.

I cut an arrow out of a piece of black felt to attach to my page. The little date on the side was done with a stamp that only went up to 2007. I stamped it to read Jan -- 2000 and then used my black fine tip marker to turn the last zero into an 8.

Have a wonderful night and may you wake up to a brand new day with no regrets!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

EDITED TO ADD: I've had a few people asking about the subtle title was created. I'm sorry that I confused people to think that the "Live with Intention, Play with Abandon" was part of the title that I created. I had mentioned that the base paper was pre-printed....I guess I should have explained that the "Live with Intention, Play with Abandon" is PART of the pre-printed paper. It came like that. The only things I did to the paper was add the stuff in the middle of those (the picture, my chipboard title, the arrow and my journaling). The paper came from the Basic Grey Sublime Collection.

Scrapbook page - My Greatest Works of Art

A couple months ago, I was reflecting on the things that I've accomplished in my life.

I don't have a college degree. I never actually went to college. I don't have a high profile career. After almost 11 years of marriage, I'm still living in a house that we don't own. I'm not independently wealthy.
Some people might look at that list and find it extremely disappointing.

For myself, though, those are things that I don't measure my life's accomplishments by.

Believe it or not, right up until I met my husband, I was bound and determined to be a spinster. I was not interested in finding a man to love. I was not interested in getting married. I was certainly not interested in ever having children. Funny how meeting the "right one" can change so many things that I was dead-set against. My husband calls that an "act of God." haha!

When I think about my accomplishments, I think about the things that define my life and make it what it is.

I'm a wife and a mom. I met my husband when I was 19. I was married at the age of 20. I was pregnant with my first child at the age of 21 and gave birth at the age of 22. I was pregnant again, 4 1/2 months later, while still at the age of 22 and gave birth to my second child at the age of 23. So much of what I am and what I feel have been some of my greatest accomplishments happened in those 4 short years. I have no regrets and wouldn't change a thing.

I look at my children and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that no matter what I may accomplish in life, these two beauties will always stand as my two greatest works of art. They are my finest accomplishments. They are what I am most proud of.

And to think.....at one time, I didn't even want to have kids. Silly me. I didn't realize then that I had two pieces of artwork, just waiting, patiently, to come to life.

My children look through the scrapbooks I've created, but I don't think they quite understand what they mean to me. As time goes on, though, I know it will eventually take hold and they'll see, through pages like these, how much I really love them. How much I absolutely adore them. How proud I am of them. That they make up part of who I am - part of my being-, just as much as they, themselves, are intricately wrapped up in their own being.

For me, scrapbooking is more than just pictures, artwork and words. It's a living legacy. It's something that reflects what's in my soul. I bear my feelings on my pages. I share my heart. I say the things I'm really thinking. I've long since given up trying to hide the real me on my pages. If I hide myself, I'm leaving just the surface for those that come after me. The top layer. My legacy is all of me. Every layer. The top, the bottom and everything in between. I want it all to be seen. I want it all to be understood.

Most of the time on my blog, you see cards and gift items. While I love making cards and gifty sorts of things, my passion lies in creating a photographic, creative and soulful legacy behind for those I love the most. Scrapbooking is not a hobby for me. The word, "hobby," doesn't even begin to touch what scrapbooking is for me. It's a passion, a privilege and, even more, I feel that it is a responsibility for me. I enjoy it, though. It's not a responsibility that I feel burdened by. It encompasses my 3 favorite creative outlets: writing, papercrafting and photography. How can a girl like me not be passionate about something like scrapbooking?

The photos on this page were taken by one of my best friends, Jen (from The Family Room Studio). She took them last May here at our home. They are some of my favorites from that shoot. I love the classic and timeless look of black and white photos. I have the portrait of the two of them together on a big 16 x 20 canvas, hanging in my living room. Sometimes I find myself standing in front of it, just staring at it.

I printed out my journaling, double spacing the lines, and then cut it into strips and adhered it to my page.

My journaling reads:

Sometimes I find myself staring at my kids. I just can't help myself. There's an old Chinese proverbs that says, "There's only one beautiful child in the world and every mother has it." In my case, though, there's actually only two beautiful children in the world and I happen to have both of them. When I think about the accomplishments in my life, my thoughts rest on my kids. They truly are my two greatest works of art.

I used a piece of Basic Grey paper for my base page (from the Motifica line.....LOVE that line!). The cardstock letter tiles are from Scenic Route. I criss-crossed some staples on the word, "art." I also used staples on either side of the word, "my," at the top of the page. I anchored the ribbon with silver mini brads. I smudged some deep red ink onto the Real Red grosgrain ribbon to distress it and match the red letter tiles. I also swiped some deep red ink onto some Real Red cardstock, then stamped two hearts (from the Love you to Pieces set - which benefits autism awareness) onto the cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I cut out the hearts and mounted them in the corner of the page, mounting one of them with pop-dots for some added dimension.

The black photo turns that hold down the words, "works of," are from Joanne's. I stamped those words with the Simple Type alphabet set (from SU, now retired). I inked around the edge of the cardstock with Basic Black ink.

I used a Hero Arts small alphabet set for my kids' names. I stamped them on strips of white cardstock and then punched them out with the Word Window punch from Stampin' Up. I slid the punched out words back into the punch so that I could get a smaller "pill sized" piece of paper. And for the record, my daughter's name (yes, she DOES have a name other than "Girly") is pronounced "Ee-LEE-za," which is the German pronunciation and also happens to be my grandmother's name.

The glass hearts were from Michael's and I got them years ago. I've slowly been using up the stash that I've been hoarding for so long. Honestly, they look MUCH better decorating my scrapbook pages than sitting in my bins, collecting dust. The red brads were a dollar store find.

Have a lovely evening!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Sharp Contrast - a very personal scrapbook page

I thought that for today, I would share a scrapbook page that was born out of my soul. This page is very personal to me and shows a part of me that not many people know existed at one time.

The past is hard to escape for some of us. For some, it's easier to remember than it is for others. But no matter what our past holds, it is an intricate part of us and whether or not we choose to remember or embrace it, we can't deny that it makes us who we are today.

As much as part of my past is painful for me to look back on, I have chosen to embrace the parts that make me the person I have become today. When I look at who I am now, I know that none of it would be possible without having to walk through the fires of the past. It's not that I necessarily embrace the past, so to speak, but I embrace the results of the journey.

I have found that scrapbooking my past and the things that I've guarded close to my soul (my thoughts, my feelings, my wounds, my victories.....) have helped to heal me. It's been a therapeutic process. Very eye-opening and strengthening. While I know that much of this seems vague without knowing the path of my past, I'm hoping that seeing this page will help some of you to dig a little deeper into knowing who you are and why you ARE who you are. It's amazing what photos, paper, adhesive and embellishments can do for the soul.

I'll definitely share more of my pages like this because I've come to the point in my life where I want to share who I really am.....to let people see past the surface, past who I am now and to see what has shaped me and molded me to the person you see today. I'm in no way trying to make myself sound extraordinary. In fact, I find myself extraordinarily ordinary. I just feel the need to share and hope that others might find my story worth reading. I went back and forth on whether or not to share this in such a public place, but the time is right.

This page may look like there's a lot to it, but in reality, it was very easy to put together. I cut out letters from magazines for the title and adhered them to my base page, after swiping my White craft ink pad across the page. The flower embellishment is made from three prima flowers stacked together and secured with a mega rhinestone (from GinaK). I used some alphabet tiles for my "now" and "then" across the bottom of each photo. A length of silver ribbon separates the top and bottom photos and journaling.

I printed off my journaling and then cut it into strips. I adhered them to my page (my base paper is a piece of 12 x 12 paper from Basic Grey's Motifica line), separated with silver mini brads to keep each point separate. If you read the journaling on top and then on bottom, you'll soon see that each point up top corresponds with a point in the bottom journaling.

I wanted this page to be carried by the photos and the journaling. These were the things that were most important to me.....just like all of the pages that I create. The embellishments, to me, should support the theme, not necessarily carry it.

The top photo is a picture that I took of myself.....kind of as a mistake. I was actually going to delete the picture and then started to play with it in Photoshop and really liked the outcome. It was taken in February of this year and I found that it really shows who I am today.

The picture below was taken when I was 17. It was taken at a homeschool conference that my family went to in MA.

(You can click on any of the pictures for a larger view.)

The journaling reads:

Sharp Contrast

NOW
* When I smile, I feel it inside.
* I'm strong inside and out.
* I'm free to be me.
* I've found joy in my locks and letting them show, I'm comfortable in my own skin and my spirit has found its wings.
* I know who I really am. I broke free from the shackles and in finding strength, I feel like I've been birthed anew.

THEN
* When I smiled, I felt like I was dying inside.
* I was searching for strength.
* I was repressed and made to be someone else.
* I was forced to cover my head, my body, my spirit.
* I felt like I was a prisoner in my own body, like I had been stripped of who I was really meant to be.

"What you need to know about the past it is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now." - Author Unkown

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

A Scrapbook Page.....Make the World Aware

Did you know that April is Autism Awareness Month? And did you also know that April 2nd is also World Autism Awareness Day. This was news to me. I knew the month of April was Autism Awareness Day, but I didn't know there was a day set aside for world awareness.

How fitting, then, that I created this page today and found out only AFTER I had created it what today really was.

When I realize what today was, I decided to share this page with you all. I just couldn't keep it to myself, considering what this day stood for. Or even this month, for that matter.

If you've been reading my blog for a good amount of time, you know that my son, Zach, is autistic. You've probably also figured out that one of my passions is Autism Awareness. Every time I look at the numbers, it blows my mind how short the world falls when it comes to truly understanding, or even being aware, of what autism really is. The number that REALLY gets me to scratching my head is the low, LOW amount of funding that goes into research! ONLY .3% of all the funds allocated to research for disorders and diseases goes towards autism. Not even one whole percent! Yet, 70 children in the US are being diagnosed daily!

It was just a year ago yesterday that GinaK Designs released the Love you to Pieces stamp set in honor of my son and to benefit autism research.

This set is near and dear to my heart. It was the set I reached for when I pulled out these pictures of Zach and I. I knew I had to use it on this page.

I started off with a Not Quite Navy cardstock base and stamped one of the puzzle pieces around the cardstock with Versamark ink and then embossed the images with clear embossing powder. I also used the same puzzle piece and stamped the image on a piece of Wild Wasabi patterned paper and embossed it with clear powder. I cut it out and mounted it on my page with pop-dots. You can't see it in the picture above, but I also embossed clear smaller puzzle pieces (from the background stamp in the Love you to Pieces set) along the strip of patterned paper at the bottom of the page. When you look at the page "in person," you can see shiny puzzle pieces along the paper.

I love all kind of fonts and combining different letter embellishments for a fun look, so that's what I did with my title on this page. I covered a chipboard letter (I punched out the inside to use on a different project), I used tile pieces, large letter brads, some mini bottle caps and some pre-decorated chipboard letters. I had used the "W" from this pack of chipboard, so I had to get a little creative to be able to spell the word, "aware." I turned the "M" upside to create a "W." I made my large letter brads match my big green chipboard "M" by punching out some patterned paper circles and securing the brads onto them and mounting them with pop-dots.

A few months ago, I found some really adorable little boy charms at the dollar store. I picked up a couple packs because I wanted to use some on another scrapbook project, but also because I knew that I would definitely find a use for them on other pages and projects.

I used a bunch of mini blue brads around the page to create a cohesive embellishment theme.
The journaling from this page incorporates some staggering autism statistics.

* I in every 150

* 4 out of 5 are boys

* 70 children are diagnosed daily

* Only .3% of funding goes towards research

*These children ARE brilliant

* They DO have a voice

* It's time to listen!

And then I added a special bit of journaling on one of Zach's pictures: HE is brilliant!

So many people don't realize that these kids ARE brilliant. They have bright and sharp minds with so much to share with us if we'd only take the time to understand, listen and try to bridge the gap between their worlds and ours. I can't promise that it's an easy task. Trust me. It's not. I may be the perfect parent for Zach, but I'm not a perfect parent. But believe me when I tell you that it's so worth it to try t mesh those two worlds together.

You never know what you're going to learn.....but you'll learn something. I promise you that.

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Easy Scrappin' - 6-Supply Challenge

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I would be starting a new weekly feature showcasing beautiful but easy scrapbook pages. I'm FINALLY getting started with this and I apologize for taking so long to get it going.

This weekly feature is called "Easy Scrappin'." (Because why have a HUGE long name for something so easy, eh?) 

Many of you mentioned that you'd love to scrapbook but there are things that tend to hold you back. There are a few certain key reasons that I hear over and over again that you hold back.

1. You don't have enough time.
2. You don't feel like you have enough "stuff" to make pages worth looking at.
3. You can never think of ideas on your own and feel like you can't get started on your own.
4. You feel intimidated looking at all the gorgeous pages you see online and in magazines.

Well, I'm here to tell you that this feature will help you overcome ALL of those reasons.

First off, I aim to show you how to create pages in roughly 30-40 minutes. Secondly, I want to show you just how easy it is to create beautiful pages with minimal supplies and I'll show you the creative process I used to create those pages. Thirdly, I'm here to give you ideas, sketches and challenges that will help to jump start your creativity. Fourthly, with the three things above that I'm helping you with, they should take care of overcoming that intimidation you feel.

To make this even more fun, I'm going to put forth a challenge each week to go along with the page I've shown you. You'll have a few days to create your own page and send me a picture to upload on my blog. I'll create a separate blog page with the pages you submit for the challenge and then everyone can vote on a winning page (names will be withheld during the voting). The winner will receive a prize from me at the end of the voting period! The biggest prize, though, will be that you're scrapping your precious photos and memories and that's PRICELESS!

So, with saying all of that, let's get started with this week's page and challenge.

For this week, I decided to start out with a supply challenge to myself and to all of you.

6-Supply Challenge

For this challenge, I limited myself to a list of 6 things that I could use on my page. I'm putting this challenge forth to you as well.

<--- Here's a picture and a list of the 6 supplies I used:

* 1 sheet of patterned cardstock
* 1 sheet of colored cardstock
* 1 sheet of neutral cardstock
* Vellum (used for printing or handwriting your title and journaling on)
* Mini brads
* Glass heart embellishments

I chose to create my scrapbook page on the patterned cardstock as my base. I chose a sheet of cardstock from the Motifica collection from Basic Grey. I wanted something patterned so that it could carry most of the design, since I was limiting myself to only 6 supplies. I went with something understated so that it wouldn't take away from the picture or the journaling. Just for clarification, I'm almost exclusively a 12 x 12 inch scrapbooker, though this challenge and layout could certainly be translated to any size of page that you're working with.

I chose Very Vanilla for my neutral cardstock and this was what I matted my photo on first. I then matted this on top of my colored sheet of cardstock. I chose a light brown cardstock for this.

My patterned paper was chosen because it was understated and pulled some of the earthy colors inthe photo I chose to use on this page. I chose my neutral color according to the swirls in the patterned cardstock. I chose the colored cardstock according to some of the brown hues in the patterned cardstock.

I used to be a "chronological scrapbooker" but found that I got myself in a rut that way. There were so many pictures that I wanted to work with but felt like I couldn't because they didn't fall in order with what I was currently working on. About 7 years ago, I went through almost a year without scrapbooking at all because I was so tired of feeling hemmed in to scrapbooking in a chronological way. I wanted to work on whatever I wanted to and felt like I couldn't do that. I remember reading an article in a scrapbooking magazine that encouraged us to think outside the chronological box and work on whatever we wanted to. To enjoy the flexibility of this art form and to fully express ourselves by not creating rules for ourselves. That's when I found my love of scrapbooking all over again. Now, I scrapbook what I want, when I want. I feel so much more freedom in my scrapping when I scrap like this.

One thing that I've taken to using a lot of on my pages is 5 x 7 inch photos. It really helps to bring out a focal point on my page. When using multiple pictures, it helps to bring one focal photo to attention. Sometimes, though, I want to create a page centering around one picture. I love the look of the larger 5 x 7 inch photo (as opposed to a 4 x 6 photo). It helps to fill up a larger portion of the page and really focuses on your photo as the "main star" of the page. I chose a 5 x 7 inch photo of my daughter playing in the creek just down the road from our house.

(You can click on any of the pictures in this post at any time to pop up a window with a larger view.)

I mounted my picture in the top left corner of my patterned cardstock. Because I wanted to hide some journaling behind the photo, I only applied adhesive to the bottom and two sides of the photo mat. The top edge of the picture acts as a sleeve to fit my journaling into.

Because I only used part of the brown and vanilla cardstock for matting my photo on, I had plenty left to cut a small journaling block to hide behind my photo.

I cut the Very Vanilla at 2 1/4 x 3 1/4 inches and then mounted it on top of a piece of brown cardstock cut at 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. For both the journaling block and my photo, I allowed an extra 1/4 inch for my bottom cardstock layers to create a 1/8 inch border.

I cut a small piece of vanilla cardstock and attached it to the top of my journaling block with a mini gold brad and then wrote "Pull" at the top. This created a "pull tab" at the top of my journaling block. I then journaled on this and slid it behind the photo. The brad stops at the edge of the photo and keeps the journaling block from sliding behind the photo.

My handwritten journaling reads:

"When I heard this song for the first time, it made me think of my girl child. We snuggle, we argue. We giggle, we butt heads. She has the ability to stress me out & fascinate me all at the same time." picture summer 2007

I wanted to include the lyrics of a song that has quickly become a favorite of mine. Because there were a lot of words to include, I chose to print them off with the computer. I didn't want to hide the beautiful designs of the patterned cardstock, so I opted to use vellum.

I printed out the words from the song, "Daughter," by Loudon Wainright III using Papyrus font for the title and Times New Roman font for the lyrics. I enlarged the font and bolded the parts that really stuck out to me in the song. Since it would take up quite a bit of room for the lyrics, you can check them out here: ---> "Daughter" lyrics  You can probably also read them on the page if you click on the full picture of this page at the top of this post. I had just gotten this photo printed off and as soon as I heard this song, I knew it would be perfect to go with these lyrics.

I used my paper cutter to trim the title, lyrics and last line of the lyrics separately. I've yet to find a completely invisible vellum adhesive, so I like to attach my vellum to my projects using things like eyelets and brads. Because my smallest hole punch will only stretch so far, I like to use my paper piercing tool and mat from my Crafters' Tool Kit to make my holes. They're the perfect size for mini brads. So, I used a brad for the pull tab on my journaling block, but I also used them to anchor my pieces of vellum down to my cardstock.

The brads serve dual purposes. They serve a practical purpose by holding down my vellum without having unsightly adhesive blotches showing through. They also serve the purpose of adding embellishment to my page in a non-overwhelming way. There's a lot going on with a big photo, the swirling pattern of the cardstock, all of the heavy journaling/lyrics so I didn't want to use something that was going to compete with all of those things. The mini brads were a great touch.

Because vellum can tend to "sag" a little bit if it's not anchored down in the middle (and only held on by the corners), I wanted to give it a little more stability. I turned the pieces of vellum over and applied small bits of adhesive to the backs of some of the journaling and the title. I chose places that were heavy with ink, like the bolded parts in the song lyrics and behind the lines of the large title. Using a tape runner (like the SNAIL Adhesive) allows you to apply VERY small bits of adhesive, so they're completely hidden and won't leave dark spots that you'll see once it's stuck down to the cardstock.

I chose one more embellishment for my list of 6 supplies. These are little glass hearts that I found years ago in the mosaic section of Michael's. They add a little dimension (and a slight amount of bulk) to the page, but they add just a touch of color and show, in a visual sense, that even though life is unpredictable with my daughter, I love that girl child to pieces!

This page only took me 30 minutes to create and only uses 6 supplies but yet it's a beautiful page (if I do say so myself- *wink*). See? You CAN do this!

My challenge to you..........

Use the following 6 supplies (just like I did) to create a page. It can be any size you like.
* 1 sheet of patterned cardstock
* 1 sheet of colored cardstock
* 1 sheet of neutral cardstock
* Vellum (used for printing or handwriting your title and journaling on)
* Mini brads
* 3 duplicate embellishments (like the hearts that I chose)

When you've completed your page, take a well lit picture (you don't have to be a professional photographer to do this....here's some tips on how I take mine: FAQs about my photos) and email it to me at erikaerin2001@yahoo.com by Thursday (March 27th) at 7 pm Eastern time. Voting will start that night and run till 9 pm Sunday night (3/30). I'll announce the winner and the prize Sunday night before midnight.

If there's something you'd like to see as a scrapbooking challenge, definitely let me know and I'll see what I can do to incorporate it into this feature. I'll also be offering sketch chellenges, as well, in future posts.

Happy Scrapping!

-Stampin' Mama