A Page a Day in May & Process Play

Over at Get It Scrapped, we're doing a chilled challenge called A Page a Day in May. The goal is to create 31 pages this month, but how you get there is up to you. While some of pages are assignments and can't be shared yet, I do have one to share.

I used the May BYOC to create the page.



I kept it simple, with the journaling being the locations of the photos. And yes, that's my hubby giving me the finger. He's such a rebel.

Yesterday, Process Play went live on Masterful Scrapbook Design. I'm just so excited and honored to be able to be a part of this month's issue (and so is my mother-in-law, who finally got to see the finished pages). I read a lot of the e-book last night. I was only meaning to skim it, but I got sucked in.

 the membership is 20%
off for a limited time.

Guest teaching this month are  paper and digital scrapbookers: Kim Watson, Lynn Grieveson, Sue Althouse, Leah Farquharson and me!

I learned a lot about my scrapping just creating the pages for the assignments. I set the goal to scrap with intention a few years ago. What I didn't realize I was missing was insight into how I scrap. As usual, the missing piece came from Debbie. Scrapping consciously, paying attention to my process took me to that next level. I think this issue of MSD would be great paired with Style is Leverage (now self paced).
 
Hope everyone loves it as much as I do! I hope to see you at the live events!!

We need that in digi...

Emily Pitts shared a page in her Masterful Scrapbook Design interview that we all went ga-ga over. It had this great shelf of gold sequins in a transparent bag that the paper scrappers in the group that were raring to lift. I said I was going to ask Jaimee if she could make something similar for digi.

I did ask Jaimee, who said she'd take a stab at it. Well, her stab turned out to be amazing. She created three different versions of sequins in a bag and I love them all. I quickly created a page with one:



I can't wait to use the others!! I need to grab more of the May BYOC so I can play.

I'm an ice cream snob

My dad raised me as sort of ice cream connoisseur.  I grew up across the street from the family that owned Hovermale's Taste Best, whose frozen custard is probably the best in the country and very close to the Danish version based on my extensive sampling.

Vanilla is my absolute favorite flavor. I can tell real vanilla from artificial vanilla, cream from milk, frozen dairy product from ice cream. My palette has skills that drive my husband, the ice cream purchaser in our house, absolutely bonkers. His only safe bet, other than ice cream from our local dairy, is Ben and Jerry's.

If it's not a decent ice cream, I pass, unless there is cake involved.

I made this page about my vanilla love. I almost titled it "Vanilla Isn't Vanilla", but that title didn't go well with this composition. The kit is Just Jaimee's contribution to this month's BYOC at The (dash) Lilypad. It consists of elements and two paper packs- regular and painted.


I've been trying to incorporate more pattern papers into my layouts, so I digitally cut hearts out of the painted papers so I could use them. The burst background makes it easy to decide where the compositions lives because all the lines lead to center.

The hearts gave me the option of breaking out of the center enough to be visually interesting while remaining connected to the burst pattern. They also helped the circular embellishments make more sense with all the hard lines. The polka do paper adds a bit of grown up-ness to the page,  creates a shelf for the the cluster and gave the journaling a place to live.

And here's a bonus page. I just did some free scrapping. It's not my favorite, but at least the memory is recorded. Good new! You don't have to love every page you do.



Can you tell I like that font? Pea Miley Mix it's called... not too far from my own handwriting, which I plan on making into a font, but haven't gotten around to it.

Oops! I lied! That font is Pea Stitchasaurus Rex, available free HERE.

I heart watercolors & lots more

Yes. It's true. I love them. In the physical world back when I painted, no medium frustrated me more than watercolor. I just couldn't get the stuff to do what I wanted it to do. Oil and acrylic yes. Watercolor no. (I did love watercolor paper because I loved the texture)

In the digital world I absolutely love watercolor and this week I worked with digital watercolor almost exclusively. It made me happy! Plus, Jaimee included a piece of actual watercolor paper with her brushes. Heaven.

When I created this page, it was snowing outside... a lot. In March. (and we STILL have snow on the ground) I think I wished too hard for a snowy winter. This is what it looked like outside.

I went the complete opposite direction with my layout, opting for sunshine and warmth.

I masked the photo, then used a water color brush set on white brush in the parts of the photo. The great thing about a mask is that you can just brush in black to fix mistakes. It doesn't hurt the original photo at all. You can also slip an already colored brush between your photo layers and the actual mask layer for some fun effects. I did that in the bottom portion of this page to add a touch of color to the foliage without having to increase the opacity of that portion of the mask.

To enhance the watercolor feel, I used the layer blend properties to pull the underlying layer (in this case the paper) into the photo.

I also did a page for My Scrapbook Art's Featured Designer, Jacque Larsen. Jacque does a lot of watercolor in her work meaning there was no technical savvy needed to create this page.



I love that this documents pre-iPad life. And it's hard to believe my kid was ever that small. Also, Spongebob PJs!! Super cute!!

In other news, I am completely losing at Calvinball. It's still lots of fun and my only regret is that real life keeps getting in the way of me enjoying it more. This is my life currently:

The great thing about being on Creative Teams is that I can justify scrapping when life gets incredibly busy. It's these times when I need the outlet the most. That's exactly why I'm thrilled to be losing at Calvinball: Because it means I'm playing.

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