{Oh So Lovely} - Easter with Echo Park

Happy Friday!  We have one more week until Good Friday, so I thought I'd share an Easter layout with you.  I recently purchased some of the Echo Park Splendid Sunshine Collection from My Scraps & More.  And when I went looking through my older scrapbooks, I realized I never scrapped about Easter from 2006, and I knew these photos would go very well with the collection!  Here's my belated layout for Easter 2006 when my sweet girl was only four years old:

There are times where a layout seems to literally flow from brain to hand without much thought, and this was one of those times.  It may have been because I was in the zone scrapping with two of my best scrappy gals, Heather and Krissy.  Do you have moments like that?  I love it when that happens!

I started with a base of CTMH Outdoor Denim - I felt the colors in Splendid Sunshine would really pop from a dark background.  I knew I wanted to use the blue paper with the white flowers, but I decided I'd save that for the photo areas.  I cut some of the bird/butterfly/banner paper for the main header area and inked the edges in pink.  I fussy cut some of the little butterflies to sew over their matching base butterfly so I could raise the wings to create a whimsical look.

I cut thin strips of the green polka dot paper and the diagonal stripe paper and used them as a base for the "HAPPY" banner stickers.  I topped the banners with various matching epoxy gems.

Next I matted all my photos using the light pink chevron paper, also inked along the edges in pink.  For the main photo with my daughter and her cousin, I made the mat larger for a journal area, and to help highlight it better, I framed it with a square of the green polka dot paper and overlayed it with a thin strip of inked diagonal striped paper, which I then sewed on.

I decided to distress the mats of the blue paper with white flowers for added dimension, and for even more dimension, I created two pinwheels to include on the layout.  The "Oh so Lovely" sticker became my title:

I hadn't ever made a pinwheel from scratch before but I imagined it in my head and this is what I did:

1. Cut a square of your desired paper.  I think I did one 3" and one 2" square for my two pinwheels.
2. Imagine a smaller square in the middle of your square and cut from the outside corner of your square diagonally toward the middle.  Only cut to the outside edge of your imaginary smaller square.  Repeat with remaining three corners
3. Turn one corner up toward the center and adhere it with Glossy Accents, Liquid Glass, or another fast-drying glue.  Repeat with the remaining opposite corners, letting each dry between applications.
4. Cover the glued center area with stickers, brads, dots, or buttons.

I hope you are inspired to create your own pinwheels and create a spring-themed layout. It's my favorite time of the year!!  Now if I could just get rid of my seasonal allergies....

Until next time, my friends, have a wonderful scrappy weekend with a sprinkle of chocolate!

Majken

That Moment We Take Your Picture...

Hi everyone!  Happy Monday!  Spring has finally sprung in the Houston area, although it's a little cooler than we're used to.  While my sinuses may not be happy, I still am!

Today I wanted to share a layout I made about my son, Paxton.  Have I mentioned he's a MESS?  Lol...in a good way, of course.  Well, my husband was hanging out with Paxton downstairs while Paxton was playing with a balloon, and my husband wanted to take Pax's picture.  This is what happened....and I decided it would make the perfect layout - blurry photos and all!  And I recently got my new Portobello Scrapbook Circle kit, so the two met!

Even though the kit is very boy-friendly, I was struggling with the papers.  Then I realized it was probably because I wanted to pair two sides of a single sheet of paper.  Do you ever have that problem??  To get around it, I cut out the grid part from the B side of this sheet of Basic Grey's Capture "Who What When":

And flipped it over so that the grid was now outlined by the red hexagon paper.  I matted the grid paper with a thin mat of CTMH Pacifica Blue cardstock to ensure the cut wouldn't show through, plus to make it pop a bit more.  I liked the triangle paper, so I used a full strip of that to mat my photos. 

Once the right side of my layout was decided, I wanted to do something additional with the grid paper.  I found the hexagon mask that came with a previous Scrapbook Circle kit and used it to ink some hexagons in Pacifica ink.  I layered the green number paper, the gray star paper, a strip of Pacifica cardstock stamped with a triangle pattern (from yet another Scrapbook Circle kit), and one of the journaling cards.  I sewed along the strip using red thread.

I also wanted to incorporate the larger triangle paper, so I cut out three large triangles using my Cricut and CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge. I cut shallow triangles out from the longest edge to make the "Star Trek"-looking symbols.  I layered them and sewed down the middle.  I also used one of the triangle cut-outs in the top right of the layout.  :)

The title was next.  I cut the "moment" and "photo" using my Cameo and Pacifica cardstock and used the alpha stickers that came with the kit.

Some final embellishments using stickers and a journaling card (pocketed behind the photos) completed the layout.

Do you have any blurry photos you would consider using in a layout?  If so, I'd love to see. I enjoyed creating this one, even with the silly imperfections.  

Have a great week, and stay tuned tomorrow for the giveaway winner from the March Practical Scrappers blog hop!  

Scrappy, chocolate wishes,
Majken

Giveaway! {Paradise} - A Practical Scrappers Scrap Your Stash Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the Practical Scrappers "scrap your stash" blog hop!!  You should have arrived here from Patty Selah's site (her cards were lovely!).  How about a $20 GIVEAWAY to keep the fun going?  Check out my tropical project and learn more about it at the end of this post.

Today I'm sharing my "Paradise" layout highlighting some photos from a family trip a few years ago.  I used some Bo Bunny "Barefoot & Bliss" stash I saved because the colors just POP - they're gorgeous!  They also go perfectly with tropical and water photos.  I think they also do not need a lot of embellishing, so I kept my layout simple...what do you think?

I started off with my CTMH Outdoor Denim cardstock base, and I used the Bo Bunny hibiscus patterned paper as the main background.  To add dimension, I created a "header" above it.

I started the header with a 1.5" x 9.5" strip of CTMH Lagoon cardstock, and I cut along the full strip with my Martha Stewart fringe scissors.  Above that, I layered a thin strip of the hibiscus paper and a scalloped strip of misted white cardstock.  I stamped the "paradise" definition on the left and adhered it all together.  I faux stitched in white above the header, and I stamped and fussy cut some flowers to layer on the right-hand side.

I layered my two photos over the hexagon patterned paper, distressing the edges, and then layering over CTMH Outdoor Denim cardstock.

I balanced the layout with a footer on the right hand side using a scalloped strip of white cardstock misted with Juniper reinker, which I adhered and did the faux stitching in white below.  I journaled on grid paper stamped 2nd generation with a hibiscus flower stamp, inked the edges, and adhered onto the hexagon paper and Lagoon cardstock.  

I finished the layout adding a button and some raffia palm tied with ribbon to the footer, and adding some gems above the header.  I hope you felt tropical on today's blog hop!

***Giveaway!***

  

I'm giving away one $20 e-gift certificate to the Two Peas in a Bucket online store!

All you have to do is:

1. Become a member of my blog with Google Friend Connect or Bloglovin AND
2. Leave a comment on this blog post - would love if you share your favorite spring memory or tradition :)

Easy, peasy!  You have until Monday, March 24, 2014 at 9am CT to enter for your chance to win. International entries are welcome. I will randomly choose one lucky winner and announce it here on my blog on Tuesday, March 25, 2014. Good luck, and thanks for visiting!

Now head over to the very talented Jennifer Haggerty's blog for your next stop.  Isn't her layout FUN?? Those glasses are a hoot!

Full Practical Scrappers Blog Hop List

Practical Scrappers
Wendi Robinson

Marcia Dehn Nix
Christine Meyer
Claude Campeau
Heather Sweet

Patty Selah

Majken Pullin {You are HERE}

Jennifer Haggerty

Erin Morehouse

Lee-Anne Thornton

Bobbi Smith

Kelly Jean
Lisa Peeples

Nicole Laha

Alison Day

Inspired Scrapbooking - "Seasons" - Scrapbooking Season

Hello everyone!  I can't believe January is almost over!  Time flies when you are in the midst of "scrapbooking season".  I'm sure you are wondering what that is, so let me tell you.  But first I'll back up a bit.

Toward the end of last year, I decided to take a class with Stacy Julian at Big Picture Classes called Inspired Scrapbooking.  I felt it would be just the pace to encourage me to be crafty since it's one layout a month, and I'm purposely going out of my 2-page layout comfort zone -- I'm going to stick with one-page layouts for the class.  Well, this first month's topic is "Seasons" and we can interpret that any way we wanted to.  Which brings me back to scrapbooking season. My husband has been a deer-hunter since he was a boy, and he's had a lease for many years.  Which leaves me with the kids for almost every weekend between Nov. and the first weekend in January alone with the kids.  I do enjoy my time with them, but I always joke that January and February are scrapbook season because I itch to get back to craftiness!

I was so inspired by the Scrapbook Circle sketch for January, that I did a layout last week about my Cutie Pie, and I opted to use it again on this layout.

I used the January kit from Scrapbook Circle "This Life".  Isn't this fun?  I have always loved hearts, so this worked well for the love of my hobby. I didn't have many photos of me scrapbooking, so I asked a friend to take a few snapshots during our 2-day Scrap Mania a couple of weeks ago.  I started by choosing my papers and how I wanted to lay them out on a piece of CTMH Colonial White cardstock.  I distressed the brown heart paper rectangle and inked the edges of the green and pink papers as well as my photos.  

I cut the title and large heart out using my Cameo, and I did a little sewing along the edges and over part of the title.  I finished the page off by fussy-cutting the "I love to make" tag, and I  adhered wood die cut hearts, Basic Grey pink and red candy buttons, and fussy-cut hearts from paper in the kit to the top left and bottom right.  I punched a few pieces of paper confetti to mix in, and I topped the right photo with the Maya Road heart paper clip.

I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you have a scrapbook season, too...with chocolate, of course!

TTFN,
Majken

B-day Date Night

Hello everyone!  Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Today I'm excited to share with you a single-page layout, and there are two reasons I'm excited.  1) I'm primarily a 2-page scrapbooker and 2) the layout came together so quickly because the collection is so versatile!

Isn't this Bo Bunny Zip-A-Dee-Doodle collection super fun?  Let me share with you how quickly it came together, too. 

I started with a base of CTMH Black Cardstock, and I trimmed the Zip-A-Dee-Doodle Crackle page about a quarter inch of each side.  The Crackle base already had misting and doodles on it, so I trimmed the backside of the Zig Zag pattern to get the square with the circle in it.  I trimmed the circle out and set it aside.  The other 6x6 piece of Zig Zag became another layer, and I edged it with CTMH Black ink.  The next layer was another piece from the back side of Zig Zag, and I turned it sideways and covered part of the banner with my photo.

Once I layered it how I wanted it, I noted where I wanted to sew black zig zag with my sewing machine.  After sewing it, I put my layered pieces on and adhered them.

The finishing touches were adding a few of the dimensional stickers from the Zip-A-Dee-Doodle collection, some stamps (CTMH black and retired Moonstruck ink), a title using stickers from the Zip-A-Dee-Doodle Combo Sticker page, and some journaling.

I plan on creating a journaling page to go opposite this photo page.  It won't be a 2-page layout, but I'll coordinate the journaling page with the Zip-A-Dee-Doodle collection as well.

I hope you enjoyed this layout.  I'd love to see your creations with this collection as well, so feel free to share in the comments.

Happy, chocolaty scrapping,
Majken


Materials

Zip-A-Dee-Doodle Collection:

Crackle
Zig Zag
Dimensional stickers
Combo sticker page

Various stamps from:

"Today Was" - Mama Elephant
"Oh Snap" - Hero Arts/Studio Calico
"Beautiful" - Hero Arts/Studio Calico Project Life

Other materials:

CTMH Black Cardstock
CTMH Black ink
CTMH Moonstruck ink (retired)
CTMH Black epoxy stickers (retired)