As for me and my house ...

Yesterday's word challenge was poem or scripture. We've had this scripture in our hall in many forms over the years - carved, printed, cross stitch etc Now I'm about to print and frame this one (12 x 12 frames are usually available at The Range for my UK friends). The kit is The House That Built Me by Raspberry Road Designs. Grab it now, she has 50% off .... I used a stacked paper background and extra embellies. The word art is from Rina Kroes' Scripture Scraps 3.


This one was made for my UK Census scrapbooking in 2011. It was the first time we could answer the optional religious question and a lot of people did answer it, some because they want to keep church schools in the future. Elements are from Just So Scrappy's Denim and Daisies. Word art is by Ronnie MacCray.

I don't know what rabbits ever did to deserve the abuse they get at Easter. No animal should ever be bought as a present at Easter or Christmas. Last year 67000 rabbits ended up in rescue in the UK. Many more are abandoned and starve to death. I know rabbits very well and I know when they're scared or distressed and that's what I see in these cutesy kids-with-bunnies layouts scrapbookers are fond of. They think it's OK to cause animals distress for their amusement and they're teaching their children to do the same. It's disgusting. I was told I caused offence to US scrappers by saying so because it's a "tradition". That brings up two questions:

1) What kind of nation thinks tradition is more important than kindness and respect for animals? Oh, right, the one with the gun tradition...

2) What on earth makes people think they can push me around in a Facebook group that I RUN ??? Unbelievable ...

Incidentally this was made in Memory Mixer. Don't even try to create subway art in My Memories, it will freeze by the time you get your third text box on the page. Tutorial to follow shortly.

Organize, Colorize, Scrap!

On our Facebook pages we're frequently asked how we organize our scrap book stash.  Digi-scrapping does not generate the same mess as paper scrapping but it can quickly clutter up your hard drive!  I'm sure there are many ways to regain control of you digital disaster and what works for me may need a little tweaking to work for you.

Sharon has written an excellent article that will definitely help you tidy up a bit.  You can read it here.  It may seem overwhelming to think about but break it down into smaller tasks and before you know it you'll be able to find what ever you're looking for.  I'm sure you've heard the saying, How do you eat and elephant? Answer - One bite at a time.

You may have some things in your stash that don't really fit into a specific subject theme.  I like to group these kits and alphas by color scheme.  If you use the tips in Sharon's article you will use Windows Explorer to view your stash.  Did you know you can recolor your Windows folders?  This may make is even easier to identify items filed by color.  You can read my article about colorizing Windows folders here.

I hope these tips are helpful and you'll have more time for what's important, scrapping!

Let's Split Things Up!

Sometimes I want to use more than one background paper but want something different than a basic stacked paper look.  One method I like to use is a split stacked paper technique. Sometimes the kit has so many pretty papers I want to use them all! Not only is it visually appealing it gives me more places to tuck in elements.  If you've seen many of my layouts you know I love clustering elements. I feel like I can add more clusters without over doing it. I love it so much I've used this type layout a lot.  Here are a couple of favorite layouts I've made using split backgrounds.
  

 

Kit: Sherwood Studio's Winter Caprice

 

Kit: The Digichick Designer Collaboration Glitter & Memories

Pictorial Backgrounds

One thing I really miss about paper scrapbooking is the wonderful pictorial backgrounds some companies produce. I kept quite a few beach ones and printed 8 x 8 digital pages to add to them. You can create all kinds of effects using a photo for your background but it's a joy when you find a pictorial background in a kit.

This one is from the huge Animal Magic bundle by CatDesignz which has several artistic  backgrounds. It really does capture the feeling of Mum and Uncle Frank's safari trip. All I needed to do was add the photos and the leaf garland. Less is more with fancy backgrounds!

Totally Tropical

A "think outside the box and go backwards" two part tutorial! I've talked a lot about using reduced opacity backgrounds in my layouts and that's easy to do but some designers actually do the work for you and provide a "faded" background in the kit. CatDesignz has one in the Totally Tropical kit. I leapt on this for a page of hibiscus photos but then I wondered what would happen if I tried to "Un-fade it" and use it for an album cover. This was the result:



I changed the background in Picmonkey (the free version you don't need to upgrade) and that tutorials is HERE.

Then I made the page in MyMemories and used the adjusted background to make a shadow box frame. you can see that tutorial HERE. It also tells you how to change the shadows on the elements and make your butterfly fly above the page.