Journaling Junky

I rarely do a layout without journaling. As I look back on my pages, the journaling is what I spend the most time going through, so I feel like I need to write at least something on every layout I make. If you need a serious dose of journaling in your next page, the new Sketchy Thursdays sketch is a great place to start. Here's my take:

And here's the sketch:

I was tired but feeling creative when I sat down to make this page, so I decided to use only what was right in front of me rather than getting up to raid my supply closet. And what was right in front of me? My drawer of Scrap Rat bits and pieces. Some things are from past kits and some pieces are from the shop. Every piece is vintage, except for the little tag, background paper and blue alphas.

My take on the journaling was to use the word strips that Amanda (of Scrap Rat) made on her vintage typewriter. I lined up a handful that helped tell the story of that day.

You can find all the details for playing along at Sketchy Thursdays here. There's an awesome prize up for grabs, too :). And speaking of journaling, the "Get Wordy" challenge at Scrapbook Circle is still going strong. Here's my latest take on the challenge:

You can read more about the page at SBC today (here). For my journaling I focused on an important message.

You can join in the SBC challenge, subscriber or not, here. How cool would it be to combine both the Sketchy Thursdays sketch and the SBC challenge?! Two birds with one stone :). I'll be back tomorrow with the return of my favorite blog event and a new release from Precocious Paper. Have a great day, everyone! Tessa

Scrap Rat October Kit

I know I say this every month that I get to design with one of Amanda's kits, but Scrap Rat kits are amazing! The balance of new product with vintage pieces is just right, and Amanda always brings together the perfect elements for layout after layout after layout :). Today I'd like to share this page with you:

I love this bird paper by Glitz and just couldn't bring myself to cut into it. So, it became my background paper:). I clustered my two photos with two vintage playing cards. The cards' floral patterns were a perfect match!

A few doily flowers and vintage buttons, as well as my favorite piece of chipboard EVER (the bird from Random) helped me capture that goofy afternoon at the park perfectly :).

I typed my journaling (it's been a long time since I've done that!) and used the Random alphas and chipboard to create my title. This was the quickest of the pages to make, and I think it may be my favorite. I'll share more soon, but if you want to take a peek, the gallery is here. And you can get the amazing kit for yourself here. Thanks for stopping by today! Tessa

More Scrap Rat

Hello! I wanted to share another layout and a card that I created with the August Scrap Rat kit.

Jaxon is really good at peddling his tricycle now. It's the first thing he plays with when he goes outside. At least a few times a day, while I'm folding laundry or working in my scrapbook room, I'll hear his little voice say, "Hi Mom!" I'll turn around to find that he has peddled his way through the garage, kitchen, dining room and down the hallway to me. One time the camera was handy, so I had to snap some photos before he put it in reverse and headed back outside.

He also has a thing for the number three right now, which is what this layout is about. Besides his three-wheeler, he thinks the answer to any kind of number question is three, including how old he is. He's really two.

One of my favorite elements in the kit is the package of mini cameos from The Girls Paperie.  I used one here to top off my twine bow. I'm excited to share with you my last project from the August kit, but you'll have to wait until it's my turn for a tutorial on the Scrap Rat blog in a couple of weeks. If you haven't had a chance to check out Scrap Rat, you can find them here.

Have a great day! Tessa

The Studio - Books

There's a new layout challenge at The Studio, with a voucher to Scrap Rat up for grabs.  The challenge is to create a layout inspired by books - titles, covers, stories, anything related to books.  

When I first began designing for Scrap Rat about a year ago, I was sent a beautiful, distressed, vintage book cover. I thought about using it for a mini album cover, but I just never found the right project. Then this challenge came along and I just knew I had to incorporate my book cover.

I love the left edge where you can see it was torn from the spine of the book. I love the worn corners, scuffs and scratches. I thought it would make a great background piece. As I looked for a photo to use, this picture of my boys in their Converse and blue jeans grabbed my attention. The blue was perfect, and then the title and journaling seemed to just fall into place, right on theme.

If you'd like to play along, we would love to have you! You can find all the details on entering here. Have a wonderful day! Tessa

Scrap Rat August Kit

Hello!  We are riding roller coasters today, but I just had to share the Scrap Rat August kit with you! I'm on a major navy blue kick right now, and this kit just fueled my frenzy :). I created two layouts, a card and a mini album that I am really excited about, but for today I'll just share this layout:

I took this photo of Jaxon recently while we were visiting with some neighbors in our driveway.  He wanted to climb up on the car, which was parked up against a flowering bush. The backdrop was so pretty I just had to snap a photo, and of course, I got the "cheesy grin".

The flowers in the photo inspired me to use the crocheted flowers from the kit, as well as several accordion fold rosettes that I fashioned from patterned papers in the kit.  I just love this blue! The "2" from a sheet of Pink Paislee paper made for the perfect title.

I used barnwood and white Mr. Huey mists, as well as my new favorite Glimmer Mist - Bell Bottom Jeans - on the background.  To create my leaves, I die cut leaves from pages of the vintage book text in the kit.  I colored the leaves by dipping a paintbrush into my Olive Vine Glimmer Mist and painting it onto the leaves. I love seeing the text through the color :).

I didn't want to journal on the dark background paper, so I tucked a journaling card from the kit behind my photo. Easy peasy :). The kit is now live and you can find it here, along with the rest of the design team's work. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope your Monday is as exciting as mine is hopefully turning out to be :).  Tessa

Scrap Rat Sneaks!

I am very excited to get this kit in hand and to start playing!  The navy blues, the vintage goodies.... Why, oh why is the Atlantic Ocean so big?!

If you aren't a subscriber to the Scrap Rat kits, you are seriously missing out.  I love the eclectic mix of embellishments each one contains, as well as the selection of designer papers.  My creativity is instantly sparked whenever I open a Scrap Rat kit :).

Hopefully mine will arrive soon and I'll be able to share real, live layouts :).

I'll be back tomorrow to share my adventures with Fabi, my scrapbooking friend from Brazil who flew all the way to Sacramento, California to spend the day with me yesterday :).  Okay, she really came for business, but she came early to hang out in NorCal.  Have a wonderful day! Tessa

More from Scrap Rat

Happy Tuesday :).  As promised, I have more to share with you today from Scrap Rat's May kit.  Did you know that Scrap Rat sells acrylic stamps in their own original designs?  I finally got my hands on them and they are fabulous!  The quality is outstanding.  I had fun playing with some of the star stamps on this layout:

I used paint to get a fun, messy, opaque look.  This is my son and his acting teacher, Mr. Christopher.  He is a fantastic teacher.  I'm sad that the session is over now, but as soon as Mr. Christopher is back from his summer acting gigs and teaching again, I am signing Colten up.  He loved it!

I also used the bingo token stamps on this layout:

The stamp set comes with the circle image and numbers 0 through 9.  Perfect for customizing.  I only used the circle stamp, but I thought it was the perfect compliment to my circles of patterned paper.

No stamps on this one, but oodles of vintage goodies.  I love how well they mixed with the "For the Record" tags.  The pocket is one of the glassine packaging bags that held embellishments in the kit.

I think there are still a few kits left, and you must see the stamps. You can find Scrap Rat here.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely day! Tessa

Scrap Rat May Kit

There is something about the Scrap Rat kits that makes me want to keep creating layout after layout.  I love the little vintage extras, the unique mix of embellishments, the range of papers and the trims.  I sat down last Sunday with my May kit and created five layouts.  The assortment of For the Record and Portrait collections was inspiring :).

I've lost track of the tally, but I believe Elizabeth is now in the lead for having the most senior portrait layouts completed :).  I loved the aqua cardstock in the kit and had fun with paint :).

I colored my alphas with Glimmer Glaze - the hint of yellow, the shiny finish and the little bit of sparkle was perfect.  I used the Pink Paislee tissue paper to create my flowers.  I just die-cut circles in varying sizes, stapled them together in the center (love my tiny attacher!), and scrunched.

Carson recently turned seven and when I saw that the vintage flashcard that came in my kit read 6+1, I just had to do a layout about him. 

I used strips of patterned paper and border stickers to create my background and I emphasized the number seven by stamping a circle around the number (more white paint!).  A few dangles came in the kit, too, so I tied them up with some twine to accent my photo.

I'll share more here on the blog soon, but if you want to see my other layouts, you can visit the gallery.  And did you hear that Scrap Rat is having a design team call?  You can find all the details here.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a good one :). Tessa

Meet Emmy...

With my sister and brother-in-law in town, I've been loving on my new little neice every chance I get.  She always opens up her eyes and peeks at me when I talk to her - a sure sign that I'm the favorite auntie! Look out Caitlin and Elizabeth - that title is sure to be mine!  For this week's Sketchy Thursdays sketch I decided to scrap a photo that my sister sent me not too long after Emmy was born.  I love her little tutu!

I used the April Scrap Rat kit for this page.  Aren't those little birds adorable?  Almost as adorable as Emmy :).

Here's the fabulous sketch, full of possibilities:

I wish I could temporarily remove myself from team so that I could win this week's prize.  Find out what it is and get all the details to play along here.

I scrapped another photo of little Emmy for the new challenge at Scrapbook Circle.  I would love to have you join us!  You don't have to be a subscriber to play along, and this week's challenge is an easy one :). 

I've got a busy day ahead - photos for my oldest son, lunch with the girls, dinner with the family.... It's so fun to have family in town :). Enjoy your day! Tessa

Scrap Rat April Kit

I have the wonderful opportunity to design for Scrap Rat, a vintage/supply shop and monthly kit club.  I just received the April kit on Friday and had to scrap all Sunday morning with it - it's gorgeous!  And unfortunately, sold out.  But I wanted to show you how beautifully coordinated Amanda's kits are by sharing a few layouts.

First, another senior portrait layout of my sister, Elizabeth.  She loves vintage-y things and this kit was perfectly suited to her tastes:

I emphasized my title with images of things that fly - butterflies, birds, the hot air balloon....  She loved it :).

My other sister and brother-in-law are visiting, which means I was able to meet my new little neice in person just a few days ago!  This layout is of their Christmas photo:

I had fun with masking and white mist :).

And this layout features a couple of their maternity photos.  How cute is that pink bow?

I punched hearts from the vintage extras and the kraft bag that holds the embellishments to create my background.  I love the whimsical feel it gives the page.

I still have oodles of papers and embellishments left, so I have two more layouts in the works.  I'll share those as soon as I can.  If you're interested in Amanda's kits, especially if you're in the UK, be sure to visit her site.  The May kit is on its way to me and I can't wait to open that box!  Have a great day, everyone! Tessa