First Page of 2016

Well, I did it! I managed to make a scrapbook page this month! Since I haven't done any scrapbooking for at least two years I am ridiculously excited about this. I mentioned my goal of making at least one page a month in my last post, where I also shared a kit I put together using some inspiration from the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog. I am really excited that I managed to make a page using this kit. Without further ado, let me share some pictures.

The page features a silly selfie I took with my cat. This is something I like to do from time to time with my cat, probably because I'm a crazy cat lady. =D He doesn't like it so much....in fact he hates having his picture taken. Which is why for this particular photo he tried to smack my phone with his paw at the last second. But instead of ruining the photo, he managed to make it look like he's taking the picture. =) 

Anyway, I think I managed to use a little bit of everything from my kit for this layout. I used a whole sheet of paper for the background, so that's one sheet used! The turquoise mat is cut from another kit sheet, and I also used a bit of the vellum (the gold hearts under the photo). I did have to pull out another 6x6 pad from outside the kit for the orange mat (note to self: include more contrasting colors in next kit). The turqoise dots running under the photo are from the rub-on sheet. I don't use rub-ons very much but I LOVE how they look here. The letter stickers for the title also had to pulled in from my stash....because I didn't include any in my kit!! It completely slipped my mind and I'd already photographed the whole kit before I realized my error (note to self: alphabets are essential =P).

I used some stickers from the sticker sheets, some of the sequins and pearls, and that random little ticket strip for this embellishment cluster. Also a teeny tiny punch from the reverse side of that orange paper.

Some more sequins and tiny label punches helped me embellish this bit that was printed in the upper corner of the paper. Also a teensy scrap of vellum (this is why I can't throw away even the tiniest bit of paper! =P) 

I almost forgot! The layout of this page was completely inspired by the wonderful Glitter Girl videos done by Shimelle. This video in particular really helped me put this page together. When I sat down to do some scrapping, I found that I was completely nervous and intimidated because it had been so long. I don't know what I would have done without the inspiration from that video. Thanks, Glitter Girl! =) 

Well, thanks for looking! I think this page really helped me find a scrapping groove again and I'm looking forward to doing more! 

*~M~*

New Year, New Goals

Hello all!

Well, here I am, back after a fairly crazy holiday season. I ended up not having much time to craft or blog! But now it's the new year, and I'm taking this opportunity to get back on track. I've started using a planner again and it's already keeping me more organized and productive. =) One of my goals for this year was to start scrapbooking again, even if it's only one page a month. I don't think I have done ANY pages since....two years ago?? It might be three now, the way time flies. Whichever it is, it's been far too long. I've mostly focused on cardmaking or other non-papery crafts, but I miss scrapbooking and I need it back in my life. To that end, I've been on the lookout for some scrapping inspiration. One blog that I've been following for a long time, even though I haven't ever participated, is the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog. When I saw their post for this month's kits, I decided that making a kit might be a good way to ease back into scrapping. For one thing, I don't even know what supplies I own anymore! So shopping my supplies seemed like a good idea, and it ended up being really fun. Without further ado, let's see some pictures!

First, the inspiration kit:

original source

The thing I found most inspiring about this particular kit were the hexagon elements. Last time I was scrapbooking, hexagons were very trendy and I was a little obsessed with them, so I knew I had some fun hexagon elements in my stash. In fact, the first thing I pulled out were some mistable hexagon shapes Studio Calico made a loooooong time ago. I also knew I had some paper with hexagons on it in my stash of My Mind's Eye paper, and I went to pull that out next. But when I opened up my box of MME stuff (I sort my supplies by manufacturer) I discovered a whole bunch of paper I didn't even know I had! What I ended up with has some of the floral elements of the inspiration kit, but the turquoise, pinks, and oranges are in a much more muted color scheme. Which is fine, because I'm not really into super bright colors anyway. =) 

Here's the paper I ended up choosing: 

(Sorry for the wonky photos. It's winter here and we have about 2 hours of daylight to work with. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. Four. We have four hours of daylight.)

Those are all from My Mind's Eye. I added this cool sheet from October Afternoon because I thought I could cut it up and make embellishments with it: 

In this photo you can see the mistable hexagons I wanted to use, plus other embellishments: some die cuts, stickers, rub ons, some tab-shaped wooden pieces (going back to the planner theme of the original kit), a stencil (more hexagons) and some gold-foiled vellum, just because I liked it. =) I also picked out a teeny tiny bow die so I can make my own bow embellishments like in the original kit.

The original kit had washi and flair badges, so I picked some out of my stash that matched my papers. I also randomly found these flowers pieces and that little leftover piece of ticket strip. I figured I could use these up with this kit. And pearls and gems for when I need a tiny bit of shine. =)

Speaking of shine, I also found this random mix of sequins. I think I got these in a monthly kit years ago. The colors matched my papers so I threw these in too.


Well, all in all, there's not much of the original kit to be seen in my final kit. =P  But I'm really happy with what I found and I'm really looking forward to scrapping with it. I should have at least one page to share by the end of the month! =)

Thanks for looking!

*~M~*