October Afternoon Report Card

I love this school themed paper from October Afternoon and our scrapbooking store finally got some in! I've always been drawn to school and office supplies. School shopping at the end of summer is the best! So I especially love scrapping papers and embellies that look like that too. :)

I love how these papers can be used for non-school layouts and projects. Here's what I've been working on all week...

I've been wanting to make this layout for a long time but was waiting for the perfect product to come along. I hand stitched the red "emergency" lines in the center of the page with floss.

Papers: October Afternoon, Teresa Collins; Stickers: October Afternoon; Alphabet Stickers: Doodlebug, American Crafts; Dies: QuicKutz.

Click here for the journaling in case you want to know. :)

Here's my sweet niece who always seems to find trouble. She had been dressed for maybe 5 minutes before we found her looking like this:

Papers & Rub-ons: October Afternoon; Dies: QuicKutz; Border Punch: EK Success; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts; Angel Wings: Heidi Swapp; Journaling Stamp: Autumn Leaves.


This is a layout I designed for an upcoming class at Porter's. I love how it turned out!

Papers: October Afternoon; Dies: Quickutz; Punches: Fiskars, EK Success, Martha Stewart.

By the way...here's one of my new favorite border punches. It's called "Upper Crest:"




And I love this one called "Diamond Lace." It makes large scallops:

Catching Up

I actually got to spend some time scrapping the last couple of nights, so I thought I would finish up some projects I started a few weeks ago. Here's the last layout I made using the new Bo Bunny collections, Persuasion and Love Bandit.

This is my niece. She and her husband are expecting their first baby, which they affectionately call Curbug...so cute!

I love the packaged buttons that Bo Bunny has been releasing with their latest collections. No more searching for the perfect colors to match your paper! I paired them up with one of my favorite QuicKutz dies to create a fun accent.

Well, I've actually completed 3 more layouts that I will post later. So stay tuned for a little Life Stories from My Mind's Eye and some October Afternoon.

White Space

My goal for my scrapbook classes this year is to challenge myself (and hopefully my students) to try some styles and techniques that they don't normally try. One of the things I personally struggle with the most is leaving a lot of "white space." I like the look of it when I see it done, but I seem to think I need to fill up the entire page with something. So here is my attempt at leaving some wide open spaces...


My biggest problems with this page were:

a.) it has to be a 2-page layout for class and
b.) I had lots of journaling but only one photo.

I solved the journaling problem by printing snippets of my story onto tags and slipping them inside pockets created from swatches of patterned paper. Then I mounted the photo onto a large matte and placed it on pop dots so it would receive the attention it deserves.

I still had to add some little elements here and there...I mean HAD to! (I really don't know how to leave a layout alone.) I'm not sure I'm 100% in love with this page, but it's done and I'm moving onto the next.

"Life Stories" by My Mind's Eye is coming up...I can't wait!

New Bo Bunny Valentine's Collections

I LOVE this new paper from Bo Bunny! There are 2 collections...Persuasion and Love Bandit. You can see them in Bo Bunny's catalog here.

"Persuasion" is my favorite. I really like the fact that this paper doesn't scream lovey dovey. In fact, I made a layout about the latest shopping excursion with my mom, sister, and sis-in-law. The photos were taken in the dressing room at one of the bazillion stores we visited while we waited for Jaci to try on some clothes. This is my mom and my sister...

I even made a tiny shopping bag with an even tinier JC Penney receipt. (I just photocopied an actual receipt and shrunk it down A LOT).

Here's the journaling that pulls out from each of the little paper bags along the side:

"Mom is the energizer bunny...we have to make sure we have explored every inch of the store before we can leave (you can't miss any good deals, you know). And if you don't believe you can spend 8 hours in one store, just shop with her once...you will be convinced!

Heather takes pictures of all the cute shoes she likes but doesn't buy, just because there's not room for 20 new pairs in the car and she wants to remember them all.

Jaci gets her fix by loading lots of things in her shopping cart then putting them all back, leaving the store with nothing. (Although one day we did convince her to buy two shirts for herself AND open a charge account so she could save 30%. She paid it off 60 seconds later).

I live vicariously through Mom and Heather by showing them all the cool things they should buy...and of course they do. That way I get my retail therapy without having to spend any money."

I know...we are silly. But we had lots of fun!



Now, onto another layout. This is my niece and her husband. I took the photo from their blog because I thought it was so cute. Don't ask me what Curtis is doing. :)

Some people wonder what to do with such a busy background paper. I think you should just let the paper do all the work and fill in with minimal embellishments. This is one of the fastest layouts I think I've ever made:

I have another one started, but haven't finished it yet. Hopefully it will be done by this weekend.

Cool Typewriter Font

Here's a link to a cool (and free!) typewriter font called VT Portable Remington. Give it a try!