Scary, Pretty, Free and Perhaps Futuristic

Hello Interwebz!

We had a nice Indian Summer, but that's over now. It's officially cold here; Perfect weather for Halloween. Halloween to me is about a lot more than dressing up and trick-or-treating. For me, it's about stories... the stories we overlook, the stories that are forgotten, stories of our past, of our ancestors. I think that's why I like scary movies so much- the stories often focus people and events lost to time or details forgotten.

I was super happy when Just Jaimee came out with this scary movie kit called Happy Haunt. I decided it was perfect to document my love of the stories in horror movies:




I really love a black background paper. It's one of my favorite neutrals. I didn't want a pretty page. I wanted discomfort and controlled chaos. I think the tight Z flow and the large gutters between the embellishments accomplish that.

I haven't abandoned pretty. The (dash) Lilypad has a freebie collab you can pick up through a Facebook hop called Capturing Fall. (Start HERE to pick it up while it lasts) I made this page to highlight this amazing bush we have dividing our yard from our neighbors. I learned it's called a Burning Bush (no lie) and it is from Asia. It's also incredibly invasive leading many states to ban them.



Invasive but absolutely stunning foliage this time of year.

The photo isn't the best, so I kept it small and used huge flower elements in saturated color to trick you into missing the photo's poor quality. What you do notice is the dramatic color of the leaf in the photo. And you say, "Wow. That's a cool leaf."

I also got to play with Just Jaimee's mobile ready fonts. I don't have a smart phone, so I was thrilled that I could grab just the PNG files. It was fun to play with them, but also quick and easy.




Is this the future of memory keeping? Perhaps it will draw new generation of scrapbookers.

♥ Carrie

October Storyteller Collection

It's here! The latest Storyteller from Just Jaimee is now available at The (dash) Lilypad. It is full of great colors for fall and there's a bit of Halloween goodness (as requested by the CT because we all love Halloween).





I am making a conscious effort to scrap my older photos occasionally, so being October, I went hunting for some old Halloween photos. I found these gems of my guy as a solider a few years ago.

I went with a structured but loose look for the page because he's small and cute, but super serious about it.  I always love the brushes in Jaimee's kit, but the word art blew me away. Words and pain. Awesome. Also, that alpha! I didn't align it perfectly to gave the page more a hand-made feel.

Grab this kit while you can. If you are a newsletter subscriber, you've got an awesome coupon code in your inbox where you can pick the whole collection up for an insanely low price.  

♥ Carrie

Masterful Scrapbook Design: Office Hours Rock!

The other morning I created a page, but something felt out of balance. I couldn't exactly figure out what my eyes were seeing that disrupted the visual harmony. There was a disconnect on the page somewhere that I couldn't put my finger on. Thank goodness I'd signed up for MSD Office Hours with Anna Aspnes.


I uploaded my page into the MSD gallery to get feedback from Debbie, Anna and my fellow scrappers who were in attendance. Here's the original page in question:

I loved the big, bold title, the bold circles and swashy black lines. I just have an affinity for copious amounts of black media on a page with pops of color. Still something was bugging the heck out me.

It turned out that the collective eyes and brains in the webinar were able to pick out what the issue I only felt was and how I could fix it. The flower didn't fit the theme and the circle that surrounded it was unnecessary. I realized that I had no particular reason to have that flower there anyway. (except that I thought I ought to try using a flower) If I take away those elements, then the turquoise swashes need to be changed and Anna suggested using a blue in the photo. That's exactly what I ended up doing:

Supplies: Just Jaimee: Doodled Line + Circle Brushes Bundle, Storyteller Collection- September 

(also available a la carte); Font: SimSun (on of my faves)

Now the page has a bit more of an Americana feel to it, which supports the story. It also feels more balanced and the parts feel connected. I am really glad I had the page workshopped (as we call it at MSD) because it made all the difference in the world. I really love the instant feedback!

If you want to check out MSD and see what the fuss is all about, you can now get a 10 day trail FREE! Use my affiliate link to sign up: Visit Masterful Scrapbook Design

And here's a little sneak peak of the live webinars (which are also posted as recordings you can access anytime and/or download):



♥ Carrie

P.S. Katie Scott did an amazing lift of my revised layout- check it out!

My Scrapbook Art

Hello Interwebz!

I have exciting news!! I am officially a contributor to My Scrapbook Art. I was so honored to be chosen after being a faithful reader for years, as well as a lover of their Feature Presentation Pass and Art Social. I'm so honored to be working with some of my favorite scrappers in digi-land.

Here are some fun things I love about MSA:

The Gallery: Post your pages and get some pin-worthy inspo
Monday Morning Standouts- MSA's gallery standouts
Hung Up On - Trends and obsessions
Forums- A clearinghouse of resources, challenges, fun and games
Journaling Challenge- Quotes, ideas and inspo to help get your stories told
Who's That Girl- Get to know designers and scrappers through these compelling interviews

and there is so much more!! 

Also, if you aren't following them on Pinterest, you should be: Follow HERE

Here is the first page I've created for Word Wednesday's Journaling Challenge on the blog:

♥ Carrie

Just Jaimee Moved!

Did you hear? Jaimee is now at The (dash) Lilypad! Yippee! I've been super busy playing with her products as a member of her awesome CT. Here are some of the goodies I've made since she moved her shop:

October BYOC:

SOSN 10/9:


(Halloween Ephemera Brushes)



(Fun Frame Templates)



And now she's working on the October Storyteller Collection. I am having such a blast creating in her world of color, I hope you get a chance to pick up some of her goodies soon. :)

♥ Carrie

September Photo a Day: The Final Half

Hello Interwebz!

I finally finished my Photo a Day, brought to you by Get It Scrapped. Enjoy! 

Backtracking to a prompt from the beginning of the month:

3. The Joy Luck Club

These are my guys in their natural state. They're probably agreeing to plot against me in this photo.

15. Divergenet
























I don't think I've served a hot dog in 3 years, which makes these chili cheese dogs a huge treat.

16. Outliers


















One of Thor's favorite activities is looking at the world outside. I'm pretty sure he'll be harness trained, but for now, he'll just have to chase the bugs and birds in his dreams.

17. Happy at Home


















The view from what I have affectionately dubbed 'The Jungle', which is actually my garden. It looks large in this photo. It's not. It's tiny, but it's one of my favorite things about our home. And because it's so loved, we have the largest crape myrtle and oriental grass on the block.

18. “May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks.” from The Hobbit























A photo taken by my hubby at 6 am. Here are some less talked about things about autism:
a) kids with autism don't sleep well
b) kids with autism often have ADD or ADHD or some other co-occurring issues
c) the medications to treat those co-occurring issues coupled with lack of sleep often cause midnight snacking

d) midnight snacking is, at times, extremely messy

19. Snugglepot and Cuddlepie


















I like to call this a 'kitten pile'. All the kitties love each other, so we see cuddling quite often.  

20. The Scarlet Letter























Not exactly a letter, but certainly scarlet. A magnetic shape. We keep them on our dishwasher so when the kitties are bored, they have an exciting activity. Really.   

21. Orange is the New Black























My son has two orange shirts and I'm pretty sure he's worn them almost exclusively for the past 6 months. A green or red shirt may be thrown into the mix occasionally, but not often.

22. The Perks of Being a Wallflower


















Butter's is a shy cat and not nearly as aggressive when he plays with the other kitties. He copes with this by playing in paper bags. James, his brother kitty, always rips some leg holes in the corners of the bags for Butters. It's very entertaining.


23. Fifty Shades of Grey























A car hit a telephone poll and split in the 3 pieces, which cut of power to our entire town for over 12 hours. Thankfully it was a cool day and I had some ice packs in the freezer that kept the fridge cool. Also, votive candles and lots of baby food jars (from transition the kitten from formula to solids). We played board games and read ghost stories and the kid camped out in the living room. He loves power outages as long as they aren't too often.

24. Great Expectations























I was trying to get the kitties to look at me so I could get their faces in the photo, except James thought I was calling him to give him some utterly wonderful cat reward. Boy, was he disappointed!

25. Rot & Ruin
















I call this #failcake and it seems to be my specialty. While I am a proficient cook, I suck at baking (except cookies- I can rock out some cookies) and this is why. I have a ton of photos of #failcakes. Since this one did not land on the floor, it's edible.

26. Twilight


















My dad always liked to be in bed when the sun went down. Apparently it's hereditary, but skipped a generation. Also, my son has 50 pillows, but only one seems to ever have a pillowcase on it no matter how many pillows I put them on. They are magic pillows.

27. Little House in the Big Woods


















This would be a gorgeous photo of the field next to our house, except for that dumpster. I really hate that dumpster.

28. Miss Perigrine’s Home for Peculiar Children






















I have strange cats and I am kinda obsessed with them. I'm sure you can't tell at all. We joke that our house looks like kitten preschool, so I probably don't need to explain the relevance of this prompt to the photo.


29. The Birds



















The little seed pods on the oriental grass have opened up. Soon they'll drop and the birds will come. Lots and lots and lots of birds.


30. Reading is a Gift























I created a book from the collection of all the pages I've made about our three cats that have passed.

All 30 prompts finished. Some of the photos from these two months of Photo a Day have already inspired pages given me ideas for even more stories to tell in the future. August and September were very busy, so there wasn't time to do much scrapping, but I have the PAD that captured micro bits of our lives for those months.

Doris has an October challenge up on the forums which I may take a stab at later. Also, I may do a challenge for December, but until then, I'm on a Photo a Day hiatus. Hope you've enjoyed.

 ♥ Carrie