Challenging!

At Auntie Em's Scrapbooking we are all about the challenge.  So when Emma asked me to put together as many projects as I could out of 8 sheets of patterned paper I was all for the challenge.  What's even more challenging is the fact that she gave Sara (fellow Design Team member) 8 sheets of patterned paper too! *rubbing hands together* I love it!

I received the Prima line En Francais - filled with cool grey/blue, rusty brown and taupe ... very boy, but very French as well, and well ... I don't have anything French about me, unless you count the mean French toast that I make periodically on a Sunday for my family LOL!

I also have entered this into the Prima Marketing - Build-A-Page contest, each month they supply a sketch and you build a layout using Prima product based on, or inspired by the sketch.  Email it off to Prima and wait to see if you are featured on their blog or better yet, win a prize package!  I did this last month as well, and was featured on their blog!!

So ... here we go!  The sketch was this:Prima's BAP January 2013

 

And here is my entry!!

 

 

So, tell me what do you think?

 

New Year - new PageMaps Calendar

We hope everyone had a safe and joyous Christmas and New Year.  We have a brand new PageMaps calendar available in the store.  We can't speak highly enough about this calendar. There is so much inspiration and the sketches are so easy to follow and interpret whatever way you desire.

We worked with the 'Snowed In' collection from Carta Bella. Here is how the Design Team has interpreted this sketch:

Lorena's Take:

I create a Reverse Negative with my title. What that means is: using a die cutter, I cut my title and used the base sheet or negative as your title and put scraps of paper underneath to give dimension and interest.





















Sarah's Take:
I used the new Tim Holtz snowflake die that I picked up at Aunt Em's just before Christmas (Merry Christmas to ME!). It's super easy to use and add a great embellishment to any winter themed page!

Come check out the 2013 PageMaps calendar and these layouts and many more in person at Auntie Em's!

Then

Now that the month of December has started, it's only fitting that your Auntie Em's design team use Christmas-themed paper and embellishments for this month's challenge.

The collection used this month is Holly Jolly Christmas by Echo Park. It's from a few seasons ago but that just goes to show how you can find a use for past collections, even if you've past it many times in the store. Plus, it's Echo Park and how could that be bad? (It's no secret - I love Echo Park!)

Following the 2012 PageMaps calendar sketch for December, I decided to use one larger picture for this layout.

This picture brings back so many fantastic memories for me - and isn't that what scrapbooking is all about?! It was taken Christmas morning 2008 of my husband Matt holding our exactly 2-month old son Samuel. I just happened to be snapping a few pictures of papa and Sam when I saw it...Sam's first smile! Seriously. I managed to get a picture of Sam's first smile! How lucky was that??! It was such a special day to begin with but this made it even more special - my kid smiled for the first time. As any parent will tell you, this is an amazing moment that you'll never forget. Such a big moment obviously deserves it's own scrapbooking page!

I layered several patterned papers and matted the picture with the chevron pattern. I first used the Big Shot to emboss the paper with a snowflake pattern. To add some sparkle, I used Glimmer Glam in Chandelier. I also added a piece of brown trim to the bottom. Lastly, I distressed the edges of my picture and wrapped it with twine. My bow wasn't as perfect as I would have liked so I added a white brad.

The collection was accompanied by chipboard stickers and I used to the pendant in the top left of the page.

Journalling is always an important part of the scrapbooking process for me. I used the Big Shot to create my own journalling box.

Now that my husband and I are expecting our second child, I realize how fast time with Sam has gone by. It seems like yesterday that I was celebrating my first Christmas as a parent. Preserving memories through scrapbooking allows me to look back and remember these good times that fly by so quickly.

Happy scrappin'! I hope everyone has a safe and happy Christmas/holidays filled with family, friends, love and good food.

~Sarah



A little Snowman Love!

Our kids love snow - they love winter - they are a little nuts that way!  They love building snowmen when the snow is just right.  This particular snow man was made with the first real snowfall of 2012 after that warm thaw we had. But, when Frosty was finally completed he had so many fall leaves stuck to him he looked like some sort of camouflaged, deer hunting snowman!  But we made it work anyway.

This month Emma gave the DT Echo Park's Holly Jolly collection to create with.  I knew the other girls would be pulling out the blues and pinks from this collection so I tried to keep it with the traditional reds and greens for my layout.  The challenge on the sketch this month was to incorporate ribbons and bows.  I used some cute little pom-pom trim under the photo, and a few pieced of ribbon and a hand-tied bow.  I then fussy cut a few of the characters from this paper line, used some stock snowflakes to give this layout a polished look.  I know from the photos this background paper looks like wood grain, but it's just a sheet of Bazzil textured cardstock, but the late evening lighting has picked up every little crevice in this paper - notice how much shadow the title cast too?  Lesson learned - don't wait until too late in the day to take your photos Lorena!!!

 

 

 

 

I do hope you have enjoyed this sketch challenge this year.  I know the DT has loved playing with the sketches.  You too can play along by bringing in your layout that you created based on the sketch using products purchased at Auntie Em's.  Be sure to incorporate ribbons or bows into your layout.

December Design Team reveal

This is your final installment of your Auntie Em's Design Team layouts for the year 2012!

This month we all got to play with the Holly Jolly collection from Echo Park, full of bright blues, pinks combined with traditional reds and greens.  Plenty of selection for every type of scrapbooker!  The theme this months is Ribbons and Bows - use them on your layout but make sure to leave some for the gifts under your tree!

Here is what the girls came up with:


Lorena's Take:  "Snowman Love"

 

Nancy's Take:

 

Stephanie's Take: Ho Ho (Ho)

Sarah's Take:



You too can play along with this sketch challenge.  Use the Scrapbook & Cards Today sketch calendar and products you have purchased at Auntie Em's to come up with a layout featuring ribbons or bows and bring it into Auntie Em's for a chance to win a fantastic prize!

Stay tuned for next month when we will be announcing some new changes to the Auntie Em's design team.

Family Time

The Echo Park collection Life Is Good is filled with fantastic colour combination of pinks and blues and browns.  I knew the other girls would be pulling the pinks out of this collection, and I wanted to use some winter photos so I pulled out the blue and brown from this collection.

Hexagons are very popular right now, and this sketch lended itself very well to using that instead of squares as was on the sketch.

 

The Theme this month was to use distressing on your layout, I did that in several formats, I distressed the edges of my paper with the Prima Comfort tool by roughing up the edges.  I also used the same tool's wire brush to distress the largest photo.  I used distress ink for the hexagon images in the background.  I used some Core'dinations paper and a sanding block in the center of the layout (blue). And finally I inked the edges of all the little hexagons and some WheatFields glimmer mist on the date.

I used several photos from the same day on this layout.  I apologize for the quality of these photos, as I had an unfortunately life changing event, my mother passed away on October 25th, luckily I was done my layout, however I left my husband in charge of taking some photos.  If you would like to see this layout in person it is on display at Auntie Em's.

I do hope you enjoyed this month's DT creations, it was fantastic to see how each of the girls took this sketch to a different level.  You too can play along for a fantastic prize simply by bringing your layout based on this sketch into Auntie Em's.  Remember that your materials for this project entry must have been bought at Auntie Em's to qualify.

That 70s Show

I really like Echo Park!  This month we use the Life is Good collection.  This pattern fit really well with the 70s feel of the picture that I've been wanting to scrap for some time.  I actually followed this month's PageMaps pretty closely.  I did however forget to leave room for my title...

This month's challenge was distressing, a technique I rarely use, but worked well for this month's layout.  I used Versa Color in brown around the circles and around my photo mat (but I forgot to put in on my vertical pattern band and should have put some on the light coloured flowers).

I added the large flowers, simply because I could!  I have a hard time using flowers on layouts that feature my son.  I know I can, people do it all the time and I like it, but it never looks right when I do it.  Perhaps that should be a future personal challenge for me... (not likely!!)

Life is Good - Your Design Team's November Sketch Challenge

The cool weather is now upon us, so it's a great time to get some crafting done! This month, your Auntie Em's design team used the Life is Good collection by Echo Park and our layouts feature distressing techniques.

Lorena's take:

Nancy's take:

I

For the distressing I pulled out a few pages from a notebook that had a nice little bicycle image in the corner. I crinkled it and sprayed some glimmer mist on it and worked it in to give the paper an antique feel I did this twice wetting the paper as well to make it really wrinkled and blow dried it. Layered 2 of those and voila my page was complete.

Sarah's take:

I used clear Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint on all the pattern papers. I distressed the brown vertical band by using the chipboard flowers and sand paper and by distressing the edges. I also distressed the edges of my photos by using a file.

Stephanie's take:

I used brown VersaMark ink on my pattern circles and photo mat, and used a photo from Instagram that had a distressed grainy look to it.  


You too can submit your PageMaps calendar November layout for a chance to win a prize from Auntie Em's Scrapbooking. All you need to do is create a layout based on the sketch using distressing techniques with product purchased from Auntie Em's.  So, bring your layout into the store!

It's Not Halloween

I would never pretend like I'm 'on time' in my scrapbooking. But really, I'm not that far behind (that being said, I estimate that I probably have like 60 layouts to do to 'catch up' - totally doable!)

However, I did complete a summer scrapbooking challenge in June, July and August in which I finished 61 pages. 4 of those pages are my little guy Sam's 2011 Halloween. So when I saw the paper the design team was getting for the October layout, the Whoo-ligans collections by Bo Bunny,  

my heart sank just a little bit. What on earth was I going to use for pictures?!

Lucky for me, I came across pictures of Sam with his Green Lantern glasses that he got as part of a McDonald's Happy Meal a few months ago and a crown from one of his board games. For some reason, Sam LOVES those glasses.



I based my layout on the October sketch of the PageMaps 2012 calendar. I quite like this sketch because it allowed me to use a border punch, one of my favourite scrapbooking tools. I also created dimension by using foam squares and orange ribbon on a border piece.



I created my pocket by using a scrap piece of red paper and added faux-stitching. I cut a slightly small piece of white cardstock and used Black Soot Distress Ink around the edges. I used this piece as my journalling box.



Finally, I added a frame sticker from the collection but I used foam squares to add dimension.

This layout turned out a lot better than I thought it would. I'm pretty happy with this one! Come check it out in person at Auntie Em's and complete your own layout based on the October sketch to potentially win a prize!


Happy scrappin'!

Two not so scary Halloween layouts

The challenge for the October sketch was to create pockets on your layout.  Well WOOPS I forgot to do that, so I did a 2nd layout, and then went back and added a pocket to my first because I felt guilty.  We used the Bo Bunny "whoo-ligans" collection for this challenge.

... And Ducks?!

 

 

 

Pumpkin Sitting

 

 

 

You too can join in on the challenge, simply use the page map for October in the Scrapbook & Cards Today calendar as your starting point, and using supplies that you purchased at Auntie Em's create a layout with a POCKET!  Bring your layout to the store for a chance to win!

 

 

Your October Page Maps sketch challenge

Look what your Auntie Em's design team has put together with the Bo Bunny Whoo-ligans collection!  Based on the October sketch from the Pagemaps calendar.  Your challenge is to create a POCKET!

Lets see how each DT member has integrated a pocket into their layout.

Lorena's Take(s):

Stephanie's Take:
I struggled with my layout this month.  I wasn't thinking outside the box, I had a hard time figuring out how to use the stickers, how to create a pocket and I had no Halloween pictures. 

Sarah's Take:

I had already scrapbooked all my Halloween pictures from last year so I decided to use pictures of my little guy dressing up as Green Latern. I made a pocket with faux-stitching and used it to hide my journalling.

Nancy's Take:

I guess the October layout challenge inspired me more then usual and I was able to create a double page spread. Our challenge was to make a pocket. I actually started out by printing the burger pic of gaby and cutting it out. I was playing with the cutout and making her peek a boo out of the pocket and that's where the title came from.


You can play along for a chance to win a FANTASTIC prize from Auntie Em's Scrapbooking, all you need to do is create a layout based on the sketch utilizing a pocket with product purchased from Auntie Em's.  Simply bring your layout into the store for viewing.

You will NOT be disappointed with the prize that is available to be won!

Hello Fall - We love the fall - Little Yellow Bicycle

One of the two favorite seasons in my home is fall (the other is spring) we love the warm "second summer" that you get in late September or early October, and love the pumpkins and the beautiful leaves turning colour.  This month Emma challenged the Design Team to make their own titles, and while I typically will use my Cricut for something like that, I decided to use a cut out and hand write the remainder of my title.  I don't do enough journaling on my pages.  The sketch was very circular, and since this paper from Little Yellow Bicycle had the perfect pumpkin orange in it, I decided to make a pumpkin out of one of my circles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to squeeze out a second layout out of the leftover papers - this one was not based on the sketch.  I entered it in the Newington fair and received a blue ribbon (that's 2nd place for us Canadians!)  I was very pleased how this layout turned out.

 

 



 

If you would like to see either of these layouts or any of the others that you see on the blog in person they are all displaying proudly at Auntie Em's Scrapbooking in Cornwall.

 

You too can play along with this challenge, create a layout using product purchased at Auntie Em's based on the sketch from Scrapbook & Cards Today calendar (September) and your challenge is to make your own title!  I can tell you that the prize from last month was amazing - over a $45 value!!!  Who knows what Emma is going to give away this month, you still have two weeks to bring in your layout - you can't win if you don't play!