Challenging myself

Since Jaimee continued her guest designing stint at The (dash) Lilypad for another month, I decided to use it as opportunity to challenge myself. More accurately, I decided to see if I could, in fact, muster the courage to complete all seven of the challenges at The (dash) Lilypad. Turns out I did, could and would.

It also turns out that challenges are a great way to scrap your stash, old and new and use things you love along with things you normally pass over.

I started with the BYOC challenge. You had to use at least three separate BYOC kits, so it was fairly easy to do. I allowed myself the freedom to scrap photos that would generally never make it to the page otherwise, use some elements that were a bit outside of my comfort zone and to just have fun with it:

The second challenge I did was the One Word challenge. The word was 'fun' and for this one, I knew exactly what photo I wanted to use and what kit I wanted. I'm kinda in love with the kit currently-- Allison Pennington's I Am What I Am. The page came together quickly and rather effortlessly.

The third challenge was the Product Challenge and definitely outside my comfort zone. You had to take a template, change it up and create a page. I am not a template scrapper. They always make me feel constrained, so that I find it harder and slower to create with them. I did it anyway, not only using the template, but using the color purple, which for some reason I normally avoid. (Also, I made a typo, which I need to fix.)

***For those of you that are marveling at that cool stick pin piercing the paper so realistically, I can't take credit. The pin came like that in the kit. I did find a great tutorial for the technique HERE.***

Next was the Scrap Lift (all one word, idk?) challenge. The Polly in charge of the challenge gave us a particular gallery to lift from, so THIS is the page I lifted. I used a ton of old BYOC products and kits that have been collecting dust on my EXHD for year along with some new things-- anchor-- that I didn't think I'd ever know how to incorporate onto a page.

Still with me? Good. Now you may have a sense of how I felt after I made the page above: Is it over yet? No? Darn. I mean awesome-- more to scrap. Let's play a video game now. Like play all night because it's Friday. I need want to clean the kitchen now.  I needed a mini break to recharge. Yet, I knew that if I took too long a break, I'd never reach my goal. I told myself that I would finish the last challenges over the weekend or not at all. I know me.

What you aren't seeing are the pages I made for my CT duties. In just under a week, I ended up making about seven pages. Yes, my family is still alive, well fed and my house is still kinda clean-- the cat decided mommy didn't pay enough attention to him, so he shredded some boxes and papers.

Saturday morning I started on the Template Challenge (mini mini break), which was challenge number five. Again, templates are just not my thing. I work better with a blank canvas. Still, I wanted to get it out of the way. Thank goodness the template was rich with white space I didn't have to fill.

I decided to pair the Amy Martin page design with Micheline Martin's Esspresso Yourself. I've wanted to do a page about coffee love in general for awhile. Yet, I had to add a little of me to this template, so I used some paper to edge the bottom (so the design didn't slide off the page-- cause worry that my page parts may run away without some sort of edge).

Home stretch. The Journaling challenge. I decided to use an old photo of my Mor mor with my mom and an my aunt. It's one of the only photos I have of my Mor Mor. This page had me really in my comfort zone because it was story driven. Like any good story, there always seems to be a story about telling the story. This page is no different. I think my Mor Mor picked the journaling font because that's the only font I could get to show up no matter how hard I tried. And when the page got to this point, I couldn't do anything else. Seriously. I couldn't add any more elements or fuss with anything because the program would just stop working. Only this file had an issue, so I like to think I had some help with it (even if the file was buggy).

Now the finale! Yay! Almost done!! It was the Random Challenge for the win. You were given three wonderful pages to pull one thing that inspires you from each of the three pages then use that inspiration to create your own page. I decided to use the big photo from one page, stitching from the next, and finally the use of numbers from the third. This page is all about our beach tradition that is slowly dying out because my soon is growing up.

I did it. I reached my insane goal. I really like how the challenges pushed my limits and made me think about creating pages in a way I hadn't before. I don't do them too often, but I think they are a wonderful tool in the scrapping community, especially if you have no mojo or are afraid to try new things. I think I'll schedule in some regular challenges from now on to keep me feeling scrappy fresh!

To see the full supply list for these pages, visit my gallery HERE. 

The June Storyteller Collection is here!

It's Storyteller time again!! I'm a little late in posting this, but thankfully you can still snag the entire collection on sale HERE. If you only want certain parts of the kit, you can buy the pieces individually at The (dash) Lilypad or Just Jaimee's personal store in the future.

I'm still working on my May page since  having my mom here slowed my scrapping down. I'm excited to create a June page now! Yet, these kits are so versatile, you can use them for scrapping just about anything. I created the following page to capture one of our adventures with my mom.

Getting my kid to go anywhere can be hard, so I was super excited that we actually took him to a place he ended up loving and naturally I had to document it.

The photos are from the Nanticoke Indian Museum in Millsboro, DE. It has to be the best local museum I've seen thus far. We had a guided tour from a Nanticoke docent, there were artifacts to touch, and it took over an hour to go through the two room building. In no way did we see everything. It's an incredible place. The best part was my son, who is normally starts saying "I wanna go home now" ten minutes into any trip, really enjoyed it. In September, my son has decreed we will be going to the Nanticoke Pow Wow. I'm just tickled!

The kit was perfect to capture the memory. There are a ton of great ticket brushes that are great for June adventures and I used one to edge the bottom of this page. The paper has an awesome texture perfect for pairing with summertime activities that happen outdoors. Even though this wasn't technically outdoors, the blended photo is a great wildlife exhibit. (Yes, Delaware once had wolves...and otters and bears) I also used a geotag for the first time ever on a page. Finally, Jaimee created an awesome stamped date set, so I don't have to make my own anymore!

That's all I have for you today, now back to kitten wrangling!!

♥ Carrie

Scrapping through grief

The (dash) LilyPad has an excellent blog post about something near and dear to my heart: To Remember Them. It's about scrapping about the loved ones we've lost.

It's so easy to put on the 'life is grand always' face when making pages and sharing them online. It's part of our Pinterest Pretty culture where everyone and everything is perfect. You see that reflection in all the wonderful, happy, kits that are all about the 'yay moments' in our lives. But that isn't real life. Real life is hard and messy and sad as much as it is happy, pretty and yay.

When we lost our sweet little kitten, Revan (which was pretty much because I wasn't thinking and gave him an open door out of our house), I was devastated. He was a really special cat. I can only compare it to losing a child. After an exhaustive search-- me going around daily in our town, flyers, social media, phone calls to the shelters and vets from here to Timbuktu, and even the police department--   Revan was found by my husband  dead in the middle of a road. I was not prepared for the grief that ensued.

I had to work really hard to keep my head above water for 7 months. My poor hubby had to pick up a lot of my slack because I was not myself. I had to push myself to do anything, even scrap. I just had no zest left in me.

Then I read a post at The Daily Digi about Art Journaling as therapy. I gave it a try. I had no idea it would be the break in the emotional clouds for me that I so desperately needed. I just let it all out in a way that made complete sense to me and I felt better after creating this page:

tracy martin; gltter velum; the lily pad collab:
winter wishes; CD Mukosky: Ink Pot; Font: Mom's typewriter

Little by little, I started creating more. I realized that I wasn't just grieving Revan, I was grieving all the changes of the past couple of years: My hubby's life altering diagnosis and surgery, the loss afterwards of our entire lifestyle, my kid growing up, and losing two beloved pets.

The Lily Pad Collab: Winter Wishes; Font The Storm

Micheline Martin: Someone to Love, Confetti Dot Alphas, Artsy Bits:
Allison Pennington: Playground Love, Decorated Polaroids;
Font DJB Digi Tara;  Kozuka Mincho Pro

I hadn't realized just how bad and how much I was grieving  until I started creating these pages. Healing came at the end of each page. The expression helped me not only process these big issues, but reconcile with them, too. Scrapping was a tool I could use to identify the grief, play with it until it looked like something meaningful then create a tangible, concrete expression of it.

As a happy by product, I was happy scrapping authentic pages instead of shallow, life is great even though I'm in so deep pain, pages. It was so cathartic to be real and be open through this art. Many of my favorite pages were created from my pain.

The big page came later, at the end of April, really. It was my page reconciling the loss of Revan. It was a heart wrenching page to create and tears were shed as I played with papers, brushes and blending modes, but when I finished the page, a 20 ton monkey was off my back. Completing the page gave me the most profound sense of peace. Revan was happy, I was free and our love is forever honored:

Just Jaimee: Painted Newspaper, Mixed Media Mix and Match Brushes,
Basic Photo Masks, Whoop-de-doo Alpha;
Fonts DJB MOUSEKATEER KIM; Rough Typewriter

There is nothing wrong with scrapping happy pages or using happy kits. We need those. Yet, there is a time and place for everything. To my fellow autism parents I always say "celebrate the small victories", which very easily can be applied to scrapping life. Yet, we also need to work through the hard stuff and not deny ourselves when we are grieving and/or depressed for whatever reason. I say scrap it all; It will provide an opportunity to assess and lick your wounds and help you heal. And it gives future generations a real feel for the life we live.

Scrapping really gave me my life back. It gave my kid his mom back, my husband regained a partner. I don't know what I would have done had I not created that first page. I owe this hobby and those who enable it an awful lot.

(If you are struggle with loss and/or depression, please know you aren't alone. There are resources available everywhere. You can start with this helpful info: HERE.) 

♥ Carrie

Five tips for photographing your four legged family members

I'm going to start this post by saying that I am in no way a professional photographer. I have a point and shoot camera and still have a lot to learn about taking photos. That is my disclaimer, however, I've spent the past year photographing my kitties with success.

unedited kitten photo

Firstly, we have to define what I mean success. To me it's about capturing the essence of a pet's personality-- the photos that tell their story. Also, good photos don't need a lot of editing. For the photo above, I spent a couple minutes tweaking it:

I used crop, auto adjust, clarify and depth of field

The point is the original is really good enough by itself. I only edit photos that will end up of scrapbook page. And that's the point really. You want to take photos you don't have to go crazy editing. That can feel impossible with pets because they don't react to cameras like people. How do you deal with photographing pets then?

Tip #1: Turn off your camera's sound.

You want your pet to act like your pet, not like your pet reacting to the noises your camera is making. 

Tip #2: Turn off the flash.

Animals eyes are more sensitive to light than humans. We all know how blinding flash can, so imagine what it must feel like for Fido or Fluffy. I would even dare to say it could possibly be damaging to such light sensitive eyes, especially for young pets. 

What do you do instead of using a flash? Two things: have good natural light and/or use your camera's manual mode. I use manual a lot on my camera, normally at +1 or +2 exposure and use the auto ISO setting. You can read more about manual mode HERE. 

Tip #3: Get down on their level.

When I'm taking photos of my kitties, I'm normally on the floor. I often set the camera on the floor to stabilize it. I think it gives you a feel of the world through their eyes. If they aren't on the floor or ground, then adjust, but don't take a photo from above unless you have a very good reason. Sticking to their eye level or below gives you better, more interesting images. 

from above

at his level and unedited

In the first photo of James Q, I took the shot standing over him. It isn't terrible, but it's just another photo of a cat looking like he's having a camera held over him. The second photo is a really authentic representation of who James Q is and what he's like. He isn't looking at the camera. There is also context. You can see his toy, which he also has in the first photo. You can see where he plays-- he loves to play under the table. That context will jog memories 20 years from now. 

feathers are fun!

Tip #4: Make it a positive experience. Here's what you are going for: Camera = Quality Time with Human. 

The advantage of being on your pet's level is getting to interact with your pet. Your pet will love it and not mind your shutter-bugging. You may even want to give your pet a treat or two after each photo session. Play with them and their favorite toy with one hand, snap photos with the other. You'll get photos of your pet in a way that is authentic while and your pet's reward is some form of play or love. After awhile of including the camera during these times, you may find your pets love your camera! 

ready to play

toys are important for pets 

Tip #5: Take a lot photos.

Don't wait for the right moment to snap a picture. Animals move quickly, often without warning, so taking a lot pictures and not worrying about the 'right' moment will give better results. There are so many times when I took a couple photos of my kittens that I thought were going to be awesome, but were blurry because I took them one second too late. Now I just click away on the camera and when I'm done I normally have one or two really awesome photos to work with out of fifty. 

Here's a series of photos I took of Thor, our baby. I thought photo two would be 'the one', but turns out the third photo was better: 

 

 

photo 1-- okay but not quite right

photo 2-- wanted it to be awesome, but it is a little blurry

photo 3-- this is sharp, clear, and won't require much tweaking

There you have it. My secrets are now shared. You may find that it's more fun to photograph pets than humans from this point forward. :) 

Seeing Scrappy Elements Off the Page

Yesterday my mom and I took a stroll through downtown Lewes, Delaware. It really is a hidden gem on the coast where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. The thing I love about any quaint little town is the window shopping. Lewes has lots of great window shopping.

There was one particular shop window that really made my heart sing. It's was like looking a scrapbook page off the actual page. My favorite part was that it used the Scrabble tile as an alpha!

How fun is that?!! To be honest, I'm never quite sure how to use the Scrabble letters, but this has changed my entire outlook on them. I never thought of using them in a vintage style either, maybe because Scrabble doesn't feel vintage to me at all since we still play Scrabble on occasion.  

I also love the white frame, the purple elements and that white, fuzzy bird is precious. What a clever way to create a display! It's eye catching and enticing. Well played, The Cottage, well played. 

At another shop, I fell in love with these fish. I love the colors and the big, ol' fish lips-- they are kissing fish-- and they just make me smile. They also match some of the watercolors hanging on my walls. They aren't too gender specific which keeps my boys happy. 

Meanwhile, I haven't been able to scrap anything lately because of this:

My neighbor found this 4 week old kitten on Thursday and since I'm the 'cat lover' (aka crazy cat lady), he handed it over to me. I didn't think the hubby would want to keep it, but I was dead wrong. So we've been bottle feeding him round the clock since then. No name yet, but my vote is for either Gandolph or Short Round. We are open to suggestions to on the name so if you have one, feel free to leave it in the comments.

♥ Carrie

June BYOC and Andrea and Mom

I hope everyone enjoyed the GIS Blog Hop!! I know I had a great time seeing all the fabulous pages of my CT-mates. Thanks everyone for making it a success.

We picked my mother up from the Wilmington train station yesterday afternoon and she will staying with us for the week. We have lots of plans, but unfortunately Friday and Saturday plans may not happen thanks to Tropical Storm Andrea. One of these days, I'm gonna invest in a boat so we aren't trapped in our town when it rains. Tropical Storms guarantee flooding here. (sorry, Mom!)

It's BYOC time again! Hop over to The (dash) Lilypad to pick up the amazing pieces. Just Jaimee has contributed a fabulous kit to scrap just about anything. Here's the page I made with her kit Organic.
Dontcha love the cork alpha?:

I decided to do a block design because I was using more than one busy photo. Block designs help keep busy things organized in a way that makes sense. Having some blocks in varying sizes and having elements overlap the blocks keeps this sorta design from being flat and boring. The design also helps tell the story of how nightly Pokemon games go in our house.

Why are you still here? Go shopping!

♥ Carrie

A new camera

Hello there! Let's talk about cameras. I love 'em, not surprisingly. My first camera was a Kodak 110 hand-me-down from my sister when I was about 10. I graduated to a 35mm, but that was about the time digital cameras were being more widely used. My sister had one, so I borrowed it a lot after my son was born.

Six years ago, I got my first Canon Powershot. I still have it, it still works, but my kid did and his friends a number to it get skateboarding photos. The lens is scratched, so I replaced it with a Canon PS ELPH, which I LOVE.  I also got my son his own (albeit older) Powershot, so I could keep my camera to myself.

Well, my mom told me my dad bought a new camera since their old digital camera was about 12 years old. When I saw it, I laughed. Here are all three cameras (photo taken with the hubby's phone):

That camera in the back? My parents. It's 1.3 MP Olympus D 460 and, in technology terms, practically an antique. The memory car holds 8 MEGABYTES. Seriously. Also, it doesn't fit in any of the card reader slots on any of our computers.

My poor mom was so disappointed because she wanted a slim, easy camera like mine. I sent my dad an email educating him a tiny bit on modern cameras. Then I told him my mom would probably just buy her own since I've found some really good deals on the sorta camera she wants.

Oh  boy, my poor dad. Normally he is good about technology. Oh well.

Get It Scrapped CT Blog Hop

Howdy!! Welcome to the Get It Scrapped Creative Team Blog Hop!

Get It Scrapped is officially announcing their 2013-2014 Creative Team members. I'm super excited to be joining this fabulous team of amazing and talented scrapbookers for an entire year, but also sad that there will be some incredible scrapbookers leaving the team as well. They surely will be missed... and are leaving big shoes to fill.

To celebrate the new team, we're doing this blog hop thing. (sah-weet!) Each team member is going to share with you our favorite Get It Scrapped inspired layout.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to pick just one? Get It Scrapped has so many amazing articles on trends, using inspo, techniques, and design tips that it's practically a scrapper's bible!

(If I could keep a little Debbie Hodge in my laptop and little Tim Gunn in my closet, life would be a million times more fabulous...)

Okay, so it really wasn't so hard to choose my GIS inspo'd layout because I love color... and trendy colors have always fascinated me (doesn't everyone have Pantone bookmarked?). Sometimes, when I see a new trend, it can be hard to figure out how to incorporate it into scrapbooking, but Get It Scrapped gives awesome ideas to get over this obstacle. Mint was definitely a hard trend for me to embrace, but thanks to Ideas for Using the Color Mint on Scrapbook Pages, I felt confident about using the color.



There is no doubt the color mint makes me happy. It makes me think of my mint green dress and matching Maypole ribbon from a May Day fair when I was in grade school. I remember all the girls vying to get the pink and purple ribbons, while I secretly hoped for mint. (I was an odd duck even then!) It's nostalgic for me, but also invigorating, fun and modern-- and I realize why it was always incorporated on our Maypole since that tradition is all about honoring the past while welcoming the future. After reading the article, my minty feelings came alive in this page:

Supplies: Allison Pennington: I Am Who I Am, For the Love of Tape vol. 1; Sahlin Studio: Down the Lane Paper Pack (May BYOC); Sarah Gleason: Garland Banners. Fonts: Mossy, Advert, MS Mincho

This is an old photo that I'd uploaded to Photobucket years ago, then downloaded not realizing there was going to huge image quality and size loss. Seriously, when I put this photo on my canvas, it's was 1" x 2" or something crazy. I decided that the photo was important enough to use. The story is really about my husband's family photo protocol: Smiling so your teeth are shown. Here the mint works wonderfully to support that motif (because teeth should be minty fresh!), while adding a little nostalgic excitement meets modern reflection. The garland is a whimsical play on a toothy grin.

The deeper story is about our first family photo at the beginning of our life together and how we've melded into my hubby's family. The elements were chosen to support that meaning...past, present and change (garland for teeth, butterfly and ticket stubs for the journey and growth and conveintly the numbered paper strip at the bottom stops at 8, the number of years since we've lived as a family).

Now, onto a goodie for you...


Save 60% off of the Masterful Scrapbook Design Issue – Old Photos  This has to be one of my all time favorite issues of MSD. :)

Guest teachers Betsy Sammarco, Jana Morton, Doris Sander, Pattie Knox (whose interview is enthralling) share with you tips and tricks to match product and composition to “the times” and find the connections that add meaning to those older photos you’ve waiting to get onto the page. 

Includes:

• 200+ page e-book
• 50+ annotated layouts
• 4 teacher video interviews (audio included  for download to listen on the go!) 
• tons of tips and tricks for taking your old photos and creating memorable pages.

Use coupon code "giscttsca60p" to grab this issue for 60% off

***Just place the issue of MasterfulScrapbook Design in your cart and apply the coupon code above.***

Can you believe that? 60% off of all that goodness? An amazing deal!! 

Hurry, because the code expires June 3, 2013!!

Blog Hop Map
To continue on the rest of the hop or in case you are lost, here is the map. Be sure to grab more amazing savings on Masterful Scrapbook Design goodness:

Get It Scrapped <-- START
Amy Kingsford
Sue Althouse
Michelle Houghton and Deborah Wagner
Marie-Pierre Capistran
Christy Strickler
Heather Awsumb
Michelle Hernandez
Lise Mariann Alsli
Alexis Aragona
Kristy T
Stefanie Semple
Audrey Tan
Sian Fair
Brenda Becknell <-- You probably came from here
Carrie Arick    <-- You are HERE
Kiki Kougioumtzi <-- NEXT Stop
Tara McKernin
Susanne Brauer
Marcia Fortunato
Katie Scott
Andrea
Rosann Santos-Elliott
Doris Sander
Celeste Smith

Feel free to link me up your favorite trend that took you awhile to embrace or your mint-y fresh pages.

♥ Carrie