Oh Deer and it all goes wrong... 

Yeah, what do you do when you step back from a page and you know it's all wrong, ugly and terrible? Do you toss it in the bin, set it a light or do you start over? 

Well have I have to say that I usually see when it's staring to go wrong and can fix it. But there are times when I'm so fixed on an idea that I don't see clearly. I think this has allot to do with your process. I hardly ever start with an "finished" ide, but let it grow, so when I'm so set on that end result, well it messes with me! 

But the next morning, I pulled it apart and started over:

So what says it's worth trying again? Well on this page I really wanted to tell the story with this photo. So for round 2 I picked paper and embellishments that had cohesive colors that went with the photo.  I kept the focus of the page concentrated above the middle line and added journaling strips instead of a block. The strips doesn't take that much wight but are still easy to read on the background. This means I still have my horizontal design but journaling under. 

 A few black elements to add contrast, wood leafs and gold adds some warmth. Sens this page is about W and that she is always on the lookout for deers I really wanted to use all of them from Maggie Holmes "Bloom" but I settled for the gold one and made a bigger piece of it. Also the title is rather big but sens the photo isn't zoomed in there is allot of empty space for ex an big title. 

Products used:

WrMK "Wild Flower" Paper and stickers

Maggie Holmes "Bloom" clear stickers & "Shine"paper

Love Julia

My mom always says that she can't understand where I get my creativity from, sens she doesn't see herself as very creative. Well maybe she doesn't paint or sew or "make" things but I really do think of her as a very creative person. So I wanted to make a page about that and that she is a really great photographer. And just what she like to have in her lins...

My mom has a close relationship with her camera and often brings it out on our walks. With her lins she captures the nature around us, the birds in the sky, our funny dogs but most of all, the

 close up of anything. 

You can find her in the ditch to capture a spring flower or crawling around to find pretty stones. 

On her toes to reach to the branches filled with water-drops or trying to make Majken sitt, still... 

Favorit object has to be tulips and I'm so happy that I thought about taking these photos of her, on her birthday. (she got allot of tulips...)

 Come Close, Come Closer.

I wanted to make a girly, pretty page with the elements that she likes. Pink, tulips and butterflies. 

 The background is stamped with the "Bloom" stamp set and the roller phrase stamp from "Shine". Then splattered with Heidi Shine in "Pink" and "Gold"

 watercolored tulips on stamped background with some ink splatter... Well that is pretty much me, but sens this page is about where I get my creativity from, I had to have some "me" things here...

 So it's a page where we come together and it tells a story of both me and my mom.

"But i believe that I had to gotten my creativity from someone how sees the beauty in the tiny things, like  water-drops..."

Love Julia

I love to read, always have. I find it amazing that you can open a book and find our self in another country, in another time or in another world. The magic of books.

I think reading, is very personal and also what your read. For my it sometimes is a struggle and I have to make myself pick up the book to read, if only a page. Sometime, like today, I have to make myself put it away so I can get stuff done. The book in of itself also plays a big part, is it interesting, well written/ translated and does it capture you. 

I have read many books and keep finding more to add to my reading list. Now it's the annual book sale in Sweden and I just can't control myself! 

I have a few favorit topics that I love to read, like history, both fact and books taking place in another time. I also like to read novells. like Preservation and Pride & Prejudice.  I like to read in both Swedish and English and I think it's about 50/50.

 I've hade the idea of this page for a long time and the other day, when I was playing, it just started to appear on the page. I painted the color blocks on the bottom and then started to stamp and write. The "books" has titles, authors and just subjects that I like to read right now. As you can see I really like Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Kerry Greenwood's Miss Fisher

 I wanted to keep the page fairly simple, just embellish around the photo. Letting the photo "explode", trying to visually show how it feels when getting into a book.

 Fun colors, gold and glitter. My beloved books are now documented in my album.

Love Julia

When looking through you albums from last year what do you see? What is missing? I do project life but I wished that I had scrapbooked more event. I find it so hard, maybe it´s the pressure of relating the moment... I´m not sure but I do want to scrapbook more events so here is one from this summer:

So in this small town, not long from where I live, they have a food fest each year. All of the local restaurants, bakers and farmers came together and you can taste what they make. It is truly a fest on the streets and such a lovely energy. I can´t wait till next year!

paper: Branding strips from Crate Paper- Maggie Holmes- "Shine" 

stickers: Crate Paper-Maggie Holmes - "Shine" 

title: Crate Paper -Maggie Holmes -"Shine" puffy alpha stickers

stamps: Shimell roller date stamp & Studio Calico- Seven Papers "Darcy" roller phrase stamp 

splatter: Heidi Swapp color shine "gold"

Love Julia

I have said before that Maggie Holmes new collection, "Shine", wasn´t my favorite... Well it still isn´t but one thing I do really like about it is that she has navy in her colors. So on this layout I wanted to focus on that color, Navy and then the blues and the black & white patterns. 

I knew I wanted allot of patterens so I started whit cutting them into about 12x2" strips. These I layered on the right side, leaving allot of white space on the left side. Depending on the papers this design could be a bit heavy, but using light colors and the b&w patters keeps that light feel. 

 I matted my photo on navy paper, a doily and than on a big tag. This tag just happened to still be on my desk after I had tried out the Heidi-shine in "Navy", and I thought it was perfect! I also used this mist for the blue splatters.

 Blue, white and black can be cold so for my title I used the "campfire" thickers too add some wood, also a wood heart and a little die-cut whit gold words.

 The stripes are sewn down, adding some extra texture and the roller phrase stamp is stamped around the page. On the whole I really like how the page came out, how well it works whit my photo and still have meaningful story, about being on our way...

Love Julia

November is slowly, oh so slowly, coming to an end. That means it´s time for a new Like For Ever Kit, how ever I have decided to skip this month. I hardly ever scrapbook Christmas except December Daily and that I have put together. 

So... I will keep using the "Hello Beautiful" kit and here is another layout:

The background is  a result of some mixed media play and I love the light colors whit the photo.

 I´m so happy with how the ink drops turned out. They add that fun unexpected element and adds contrast! 

 Hello Beautiful! 

 So Charming...  

 The Maggie Holmes phrase stamp is so fun! here I just stamped the phrases on a tag.

Love Julia

Following a sketch is, for me. so hard! The story behind this layout is that I started whit it late one night, stopped to be able to record the process to day after. So I took a photo of the layout to glue it all down later... Oh good grief,  my head was like, "but put it here", "try it here" "why not some paint?!" I had to keep remind myself that the work is DONE! just glue it down...

The day after, in daylight, I started whit some blue mist for the background, and the mat it on craft. Here it´so clear how hard my brain had whit this, did I trim the background? No! I always to this, but I just couldn´t think straight...

 But my brain did think; " I LOVE a pink tassel!

 ...and copper-glitter leafs. I love those!"

 After having added the journaling my thought process started to come back and I finished it whit some gold "Heidi Shine"

In the end I´m so happy whit how it turned out and I´m so glad I didn´t change it.

Love Julia

So here we have the Like For Ever kit for November, 

the main is Maggie Holmes new line; "Shine". That is, the papers (12 sheets), the stickers, alpha stickers and a roller phrase stamp. In the kit is also a big wood word from Heidi Swapp vellum pockets from Amy Tangerin and 2 rolls of grey washi from Pebbles.

 

Now, honestly I have made a few layouts whit this kit but I found it very challenging. There is no embellishments here more the the sticker sheet and the word. Now I  don´t think its a bad idea to "dip into" your stash but when buying a kit I sort of want that kit to be enough...  I had wished that there had been something more dimensional rather then plasticy washi... I don´t know maybe I´m just really cranky but I´m going to work whit this kit, just going to use more from my stash then last month!

 Is now the time to say that "Shine" is not my new favorite line? to soon? 

For the first layout I cut it down to an A4 from this sort of starry +-sign pattern. I do love that they had a navy paper ( I would have loved a pretty floral) So I matted the photo on the navy,the back side, the striped, a doily and the backside of the + pattern. 

 I love navy, I also love lilac so I decided to add both here, tassels, a Magnolia butterfly and some mist-splatter

 I have a rather big stack of tassels, don´t judge. I make them super easy from embroidery yarn and some gold string. The journaling here I felt would be lost on this black&white paper so I wrote it in a shipping tag, added some "black tie" twine from Lawn Fawn

 The phrase stamp (best part  of the kit) I added in the background, making the phrases part of the design. I also added some of the washi behind the photo, as layers. I have a hard time to use washi and this glossy, plasticy is not my favorite. But I will use them!

Love Julia