Gina: It's Easter in July, Part 3/3, Easter Time

The last Easter in July project.  Again, kept it super simple.  Used some of that wallpaper as the background and some mulberry paper from Hobby Lobby for the photo mat.  The chipboard is from that Hobby Lobby The Paper Studio holiday chipboard set, the rubbery embellishment is one of those ornaments.  I used some fabric tape and some washi and this layout was complete.

There is a video that goes through the making of this layout, if you'd like to take a peek.

Thanks for visiting and reading.  Until next time, take care of yourself.

Gina: It's Easter in July, Part 2/3, Spring Flings and Easter Things

This is a second project I did during my Easter in July series.  Same thing as the other layout, I used a photo that had been in my to be scrapped pile for sometime.  The photo included the frame with the statement "enjoy every moment" - instant scrapbook embellishment.  The rabbits are again those ornaments for that "Easter Tree" thing that was going on and the chipboard is from the Hobby Lobby chipboard holiday set I bought.

Interesting thing about this layout is that the Easter eggs that I have layering in a row along the bottom of the layout are some of the first cuts I ever made on my silhouette.  They've just been sitting in my stash that long.  Glad I was able to use them, finally.

The flowers I got a scrapbooking de-stash sale.  The woman told me that they are actually cut out of a pair of pajamas she owned.  I thought that was awesome.  I added buttons to the center of those flowers - and this page is going in the scrapbook.  Another easy one and if you want to watch the short video on how it came together, you can head on over to our youtube channel to see.

Thanks for visiting and until next time, take care of yourself.

Gina: It's Easter in July, Part 1/3, My Little ChickaDee

So, I’m writing this in September. Just close your eyes and think back like it’s July and you’ll set the tone for this post which should have been posted then, but I’m kind of silly when it comes to writing and it takes me some time to sit at the keyboard and put some words down. It’s typically because when I sit down to write and I have too many thoughts swirling through my head, writing makes me deal with all that “stuff” and mostly, I like to put my head in the sand and ignore it, so that’s why blog posts often go up (if they ever go up) long after the video has been posted on the channel, but I’m in a writing mood now and I’m catching up….FINALLY

Now onto Easter in July

So I decided at the end of July that since everyone was working on their Christmas in July layouts, I'd work on my Easter in July layouts.  Now, a couple of things.  This was not at all planned.  These photos of my nieces were just next in my pile of printed pictures.  As you know, I'm trying not to print any more pictures until the ones that are in existence are put in the scrapbook – so that's what started this foray into Easter.  Another thing of import, I don't normally scrap any other holiday except Christmas and most of the times, not even that.  I'm so bad about this.  I like scrapping random photographs, one 4x6 to 12x12 layout, please.  When it comes to holidays and big trips I've taken, I don't know, I get overwhelmed.  But this time, I was determined to get these pictures printed.  They've only been sitting in my stash since GDH was willing to wear a dress and let me tell you, that was a long time ago.

So with the photos in my hand and sick of seeing these photos in my pile resolution, I set out to scrap them.  Now, I could have put all three of them on one layout and called it a day, but that's not really how I roll.  Besides, I had all of these cute Easter embellishments to use.

My Little ChickaDee

To complete this layout, I used some wallpaper remnants I was able to buy at a local yard sale. 

The yard sale was held at the church by my house and they called it a "Sophisticated Junk Sale".  Loved the name and had to stop.  Of course, I wasn't expecting to buy almost 20 wallpaper sample books, but sometimes, a jackpot is a jackpot.  20 of them for 20 dollars – and it's going to the church fund for youth groups – take my $30, Stew carry these heavy things to the car – they're all mine.  Finding a place to store them in my already overcrowded scraproom was a challenge, but I prevailed.  You didn't doubt that for a minute, did you?

Anyway, back to the layout.  For the background papers I used the wallpaper samples.  Even the photo mat is from those sample books.  I love them so much because they have all of the coordinating pieces together.  Makes this girl who has a hard time matching pattern paper scream with joy. 

The chipboard is from a large chipboard set I bought that featured all of the holidays.  I got it at Hobby Lobby and it's by The Paper Studio.  I bought it when I first started scrapbooking.  Before I realized that I don't really like the cartoonish look.  It was there.  I used it.  End of story.  As old as these pictures are, if I had scrapped them in real time, I probably would have used that chipboard, so it all worked out. 

The yellow and white striped dots I used on the flower and in other places around the layout are from Queen and Co. Those other rubbery embellishments are from either Michael's or Walmart.  At the time I bought them, they were being sold as ornaments for like Easter trees – yeah, I don't get it either, but I thought they'd make fun scrapbook embellishments and lookie here, they do.  The ribbon was from my stash.  I think it's from American Crafts.

This layout was super easy to make and in the end, it's cute – just like my niece.

If you want to see the process behind the layout, please head on over to our youtube channel.

Gina: A Piece of Advice from Wentworth

I'm sure all of you know who Wentworth Miller is and if you don't, let me share a reminder....

(Picture from a daily dose of wentworth tumblr (http://dailywentworth.tumblr.com/

Ahhh, Michael Scofield, I can't wait to see you again.

Or if you don't remember him from there, maybe this image is more familiar to you....

Also taken from the website: http://dailywentworth.tumblr.com/

Either way, I'm sure you are aware that he has shared his personal struggles with mental health publicly.  One way in which he acts as a support for others is on his Facebook page.  He routinely posts about Self Care and during the month of February it has been a daily Self Care moment.

On Monday or Tuesday of last week he posted about a technique he uses called "One Lane."  This technique is used while driving and basically it means what it says.  He stays in one lane while going from point A to point B regardless of how the traffic is moving in that lane.  He said that it was maddening at first, but then it allowed him to relax, be in the moment and to just enjoy the drive.

I was on my way to the airport last Tuesday and remembered his post.  I'm a horrible driver.  Let me rephrase, I drive perfectly well, but I'm an impatient driver which means that normally while driving my jaw is clenched, a litany of curse words are filtering through my brain and sometimes pouring out of my mouth.  So, in think of Wentworth's post, I decided that I would stay in the lane I was in and just let everything go.  

It worked.  After the first few minutes, I calmed down and just enjoyed the drive....then I realized I was so busy just being in the moment and enjoying the drive that I drove right past my exit.  Thanks, a lot, Wentworth.  

Luckily, there are two pretty direct ways to get to BWI from my house.  I realized that I missed the first exit in enough time that I was able to take the second exit.  The second way is normally slower, which is why I don't take it.  By some stroke of luck, on this day, the normal way I go was blocked due to a multi-car accident.  If I had taken that way, I would have missed my plane.  

Funny, huh?

Gina: Getting Ready for the New Year

That title may have a few of you shaking your heads and I can't say I blame you, but bear with me and I'll explain everything.

Last week, I made the decision that I would no longer start my new year on January 1.  You see, that date falls directly in the middle of the worst season of my year...winter.  I think when your psychiatrist says that you're a poster child for Seasonal Affective Disorder - you should probably listen to what that means.

Seasonal Affective Disorder knocks me on my ass during the winter months and to plop this all consuming need to make major New Year type changes to my life at that time, well, that's a recipe for disaster and the definition of failure.  So, last week, I decided no more.  I would turn my calendar to June 1 and I would begin my new year.

Now, I didn't plan to just sit around and not try to make some kind of positive changes in my life before that very arbitrary day in June, but it was a way for me to care for myself, to relieve the guilt of not meeting those resolutions and the feelings of failure. 

My mind was set.

Until I talked to Shellie yesterday.  You see, Shellie and I have, on more than one occasion, discussed that fact that we share a brain.  Now, we're different in many ways, of course; but, there are times when she will tell me over text message that she's beginning to work on something and I'll be in the middle of that very thing myself, or vice versa.  There are also times that I will be typing a reply to her and then have to stop because what I was going to say was exactly what she had just typed.  You get the idea - shared brain.

When I mentioned that I was going to start my new year in June, she replied that I should make it March 1st, the reason being that it is the start of Daylight Savings time; therefore, there will be more light and it will effectively cure this winter issue that ails me.  I thought about that for a minute and decided, like always, "Damn, she's right."  I can track my mood pretty much like clock work around how much light is in my life.  I always said that from November to March was like living through hell.  And this is the exact reason why.

Shellie also mentioned that if we start (because now it's a joint venture) on March 12 (when Daylight Savings time starts), then we would have several months to prepare for "only four months of darkness."  A new phrase was added to our vernacular.  Only Four - that time of the year from November through February that are the hardest months for us due to the lack of light.  Looking at it that way, we can get through "Only Four."

On March 12 - my new year will begin.  I'm working on how best to plan in the new year, writing out the goals I want to achieve in the new year, and generally getting ready for that new year to start.  I'm looking forward to the light and this time of resetting and rejuvenation.

Are you guys affected with the change in light?  How do you overcome it?  I'd love any suggestions you might have.

For now, I'm off to get some work done.  I need to put in my eight hours so I can move the two feet from my work office to my craft room.

Talk to you soon.

Peace and happiness for your day.  Gina

Gina: Smile, 12x12 Layout

The flowers that I used on this layout came out of a fabric scrap bag that I purchased at a yard sale.  Obviously, someone had cut them out of a pair of pajamas or another type of clothing.  I wasn't sure at first what I was going to do with them.  In fact, I wasn't sure I was even going to keep them, but then I had an idea - I could use them on a scrapbook page.  I didn't intend to use all of them, but once I started putting them down, they just screamed at me to keep adhering them.  And between you and me, I always listen to my scrapbook supplies.  HA!

This photo is of my niece's school photo for last year.  I just love those chubby little cheeks and that sweet grin.  As you can see, I totally ignored the fact that there was blue in the picture.  I wanted to use these flowers and they dictated that I use pink and yellow, so I went with it.  The blue is a complimentary color, so it works.  

I used a Martha Stewart punch around the edges, but it didn't turn out quite like I had planned.  I failed to realize before I punched it that the punch made strips and not borders.  Oops.  So, I changed my design a bit to make that work.  There's a chipboard from Blue Fern Studios that I embossed with yellow embossing powder.  The smile and yellow leaves chipboard are from an Amy Tangerine collection.  The letters and the gems used for the center of the flowers are from skybluepink.com

Hope you like this one as much as I do and if you'd like to see it come together, the video is below.

Thanks for visiting.  I'll see you next time.

Gina

Gina: Marrying You, 12x12 Layout

Stew and I have been married for 9 years...I, maybe, have scrapbooked 9 photos from our wedding.  I have a color scheme chosen, I have all of the necessary supplies, and then some, but it seems like I never make scrapping about this a priority.  Other pretty things catch my interest, but when I saw this picture of our wedding cake in a pile of photos I've printed previously, I felt like it was time to, at least, get this one in the book.

Stew and I married in Vegas - no elopement or anything like that, every one knew we were going and most of them watched on the internet, but it was just something we decided to do.  As part of the wedding package at the chapel where we were married, we were given a small wedding cake.  It's darling, isn't it?  I can't tell you how it tastes, though.  We never got around to eating it.  Through the whirlwind that was our time in Vegas, we were over tired and without having a way to bring it home, it remained in our hotel room as we left.  At least I got a picture of it.

The color scheme for my wedding album is black, red, silver and gray.  No red on this particular layout, but I definitely am loving the black and white tones of this one.  I used some super old Prima flowers and some even older Making Memories brads as my main embellishments.  I matted the pattern paper on a piece of gray cardstock.  My intention with the pearls was to mirror the pearls that are part of the floral chandeliers that are on the pattern paper.  That didn't quite work out the way I wanted, so I let go of that idea and just draped them from the top left corner leading to the photo.  

I cut the title with my silhouette on black cardstock.  I just entered the text I wanted, lined my letters up, grouped them and then cut it.  There's a bit of an issue with the grammar in the title, but I'm doing my best to let it go.  It didn't feel right to say "Marrying you was..." and "Being married to you is" felt more like present day, than referencing our wedding - so I went with this title even with the bit of grammar faux pas.  As you can see, I'm not having an easy time letting this go.

The letters in the title looked a little flat to me after pasting them on the page, so I went in with some silver paint and highlighted portions of the letters and also used this paint on the leaves of some of the flowers and no wedding layout can be complete without some sparkle, so I took some clear glimmer mist and painted it over some flowers to give them some shine.

This one is now in the album....one down, I don't want to think of the number of wedding pictures to go....

Hope you enjoyed and as always if you want to see this layout come together, the link to the video is down below.

Hope you're well.  Much peace and well wishes, Gina

Gina: I Can See Clearly Now, 12x12 Layout

Can I just share with you how happy I am when I open my email and see a message from Shellie that includes our latest cut file?  I mean, I know they're coming.  We do discuss and plan this stuff ahead of time, but to actually receive it, to watch it cut on the Silhouette, to know that this little business of ours is coming to fruition, well, it's all so damn exciting to me.

This file is no exception.  As soon as I cut it out, I knew exactly what photo I was going to use and exactly what my title was going to be.  In the not to distant past, I found myself in a bit of a depressive funk that I couldn't seem to shake.  There were things going on that contributed to this, but honestly, at the end of the day, depression is just something that I live with.  Sometimes I do well to control it; other times, it takes me down until I can't see a way up.  This last episode was one of the worst I've been through in years, but in the last few months through working with my psychiatrist and my therapist, the awesome support of Stew and Shellie and my family - everything is back under control.

One night, Stew came home from work and he told me that I had to go outside and see the sun.  It had rained all day so the fact that there was sun out at all surprised me.  When I looked outside, the storm clouds were receding and just these small slivers of sunlight were tapping on the top of the trees.  I swear to you I had a Bob Ross moment thinking about those happy little trees.  The leaves that were once curled in due to the rain now opening up to soak up the rays. 

It kind of made me feel like what I had been going through.  The sun was finally shining again.  I grabbed my camera and took more pictures of this than I would like to admit and I knew that I would use the photo on a layout to talk about this journey that I'm on.

I've actually made this layout twice.  The first one was ruined when I knocked over a bottle of water, but, all things happen for a reason.  I'm much happier with this one.

I took some simple kitchen aluminum foil and scrunched it up to give it some texture and then I had fun adding color to it using alcohol inks.  I'm sure there's a ton I need to learn about alcohol inks, but they've been sitting my stash for awhile and I wanted to use them.  I love how this background turned out and will definitely be doing this again.

After that, I adhered the umbrellas, but thought that the white diecut got lost, so I colored it yellow using a large Pitt pen.  I liked that better.  Then, it dawned on me that most umbrellas are not transparent, so the background poking through really didn't make a lot of sense.  I pulled out some acrylic paint and painted the panels of the umbrellas.  I really like how the paint picked up some of the tint from the alcohol ink underneath which gave it a pink hue instead of just the flat white.

The picture cluster is pretty small and the embellishments minimal because: 1. There is a lot going on in the background of this layout and 2. I wanted the title to be the focus of this page.

The journaling will go on a separate page because it's personal and long.

I very much enjoyed using this cut file and hope that you will head over to the store and pick it up for your own use.  If you use it, we'd love to see how you use it, so please share.

Until next time, peace and well wishes, Gina

Gina: A Quick Look at the Finally Clean Scraproom

It's been a long time, guys, since this room has been clean.  Just sharing a short video of what it looks like when it is.  I guess I'm just saving this for posterity - look it was clean, once!

Gina: 12x12 Layout: Momma and Me

There are so many things I hate about social media.  Now, I know, hate is a strong word, but, seriously, there's a lot I hate.  There are also things to love, like the ability to share in the special moments that family members share.  (I also love it because it gives me the opportunity to interact with so many completely rad people in the crafting word!!)

This particular picture my sister-in-law shared and I just love it.  It shows Meli exactly as I see her.  She's so stylish and, as her son would say, "chic."  She's European - haha - she can't help it.  And the sweet little smile on my niece's face.  I just adore this picture.

(At the moment, the title on the photo is wrong - I forgot to update that.  I'm traveling right now, but I will get that fixed as soon as I get home.  I just didn't want to wait to get this project posted.)

I used the January Scraps of Darkness kit for this layout.  The lace included was gorgeous and since both of these ladies are gorgeous, I wanted to use the lace in a very predominant way on the layout.  So I used it in three columns down the page and, of course, this layout needed flowers - lots and lots of flowers.  I'm glad the add on to my kit allows me to buy all of these flowers.  I'm loving using them lately, which is funny considering when everyone was buying the Prima flowers in every color under the sun and had huge bottles of the things on their storage shelves, I didn't want anything to do with anything floral.  My, how times change.  I used some older embellishments on this layout, as well.  Some resin flowers and those small acrylic hearts that came in a Scraptastic kit (I think) eons ago.

I titled the layout "Momma and Me" because that's what my niece calls her.  I think it's great and wanted to preserve that memory.

As always, detailed pictures below if you're interested in some close ups and the video is there, as well, if you want to see the layout come together.

Thanks for looking.  Peace and good thoughts to you.

Until next time, Gina