Create movement with collages

Hey Scrap Fans! Today's layout is a simple one where I used a collage to put together a group of pics of my daughter running around the yard. This layout actually came together really quickly for meonce I got started. I knew I wanted to scrap my daughter playing outside this weekend, but I had no idea what supplies I wanted to use. 

I often use journaling cards to hand write my journaling, so looked through my Project Life cards and found one that had enough space for what I wanted to write and I wrote out my journaling. I then went to my phone and found the pics I had taken this his weekend and did some editing to adjust the lighting then grouped them in a collage in Pic Stitch. Using a collage with a series of photos is a great way to convey a sense of movement on your layout. 

When I was done, I went to the pile of stuff on my desk and this pattern paper from the Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm collection caught my eye, but it was actually turned over and it was the other side I saw first. When I turned it over, I knew it would pair well with my journaling card and photos. A little more digging revealed this "play" cut apart card from a (I think Heidi Swapp) sheet I had cut up for an earlier layout but ended up not using. It was the perfect title for my story and gave me the color scheme for my layout. 

The peach in the card reminded me of the leftover peach and star Studio Calico paper I had and I cut two half inch strips for the top and bottom of the layout. I did go back and highlight the words "play" on the journaling card after I determined my title. I added a few wood veneers, enamel dots and arrow paper clips and some stamping and it was done! Hooray!

(After I took the photo, I realized I forgot to date it, so I added the date with my Pebbles roller stamp)  

I hope you'll try creating a collage or even grouping several photos in a row to convey movement on your layout. Thanks for stopping by. Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

Lesson Learned

Hey Scrap Fans! I used today's layout for a journaling challenge for a class I'm taking at Big Picture Classes. Libby came home today with a book bag full of stuff from cleaning out her desk for the year. I sat on the bed with her as she pulled out each item and explained to me what it was for or where it came from. She had tons of books from her book box, pens and little toys from kids' birthday celebrations, flash cards, her vocabulary note book and folders. As she sat there reading to me from the art journal full of drawings and stories she had worked on all thoroughout the year, it occurred to me just how much she does during her day that I don't know about and am not a part of. I see that she is reading and writing and we do homework together, but there is so much in the course of her day I miss. As she was reading to me, I snuck out my phone and snapped a pic for this layout. 

I cut down my kraft cardstock to 11x11 and mounted on this paper from Amy Tangerine Cut and Paste. I printed my photo on my Canon Selphy and layered it on top of this gold doily from Studio Calico on top of the glassine bag that it came in. I adhered it to the page with the gold polka dot washi from another Studio Calico kit and the kraft and gold tape from Maggie Holmes. The gold rub on dots and chevrons are from a Dear Lizzy and the stars are Studio Calico.  The title is American Crafts Thickers and October Afternoon letter stickers, black on kraft. 

I have to admit,  I'm not totally crazy about this layout. I think I went a little overboard with the rub on stars. I started out with just stars in two diagonal corners, which was fine, then I added them in the two opposite corners and they were distracting. I added the stars all the way around to try to make it more of a border. I'm not loving it, but I don't hate it as much as the stars in the four corners. Lesson learned.

 I'm kind of surprised with how much gold I used, it's not a color I typically like, but I felt like it was working. Maybe I wanted to use it all up lol. 

Even though I'm not completely happy with this layout, the important part is that I captured the story. 20 years from now, my daughter isn't going to care that there are too many stars on the page, she's going to see what she was doing the last week of first grade. And that's really all that matters. 

I hope you enjoyed this less-than-perfect layout and until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

Inspired by Color

As you may know, in an effort to make a dent in my seemingly endless supply of, well supplies, I've challenged myself to complete 100 layouts. I haven't really set a time frame, but I'm loosely working toward finishing before the end of the summer. By challenging myself, I've really been looking at Scrapbooking in a very different way, and I'm having a lot of fun with it. 

Today's layouts were inspired by color. I was looking around my desk and realized I had a lot of embellishments in various shades of teal and I was really drawn to it. I decided to look through my stash and gather a bunch of items together and see what I could come up with. 

My first layout was one that I had actually tried once before. It was a scrap lift of a layout that Two Peas in a Bucket Garden Girl Core Jones did last year for the 213 in 2013 series. 

I drew a heart using three different shades of gelatos and then layered my embellishments all the way around. I used a new Heidi Swapp stencil to trace the "love this" then painted it with some color shine. I used the frames to showcase two photos of Libby and me taking selfies at the mall. 

Even after using up all those embellishments, I still had a good bit left, so I pulled out a family pic from our church directory photo shoot four years ago that I've been wanting to get in an album. 

Here is the layout that resulted. My apologies for the lousy photos on this post, I have since rectified my poor lighting situation. I stuck with the monochromatic color scheme with this layout and placed my embellishments in a diagonal line. I sprinkled a little color shine to unify both groups of embellishments. I didn't have a whole lot of journaling so I hand wrote it under the photo. 

A great way to use up your supplies and spark creativity is to focus on color. Look through your stash, see what speaks to you, gather some items of like color and see where it takes you. I hope you afe as inspired as I was. Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

Try something new and just have fun with it

Hey Scrap Fans!! Today's layout was born from a desire to play with products. This is one of those instances where the photos and story came after I started, rather than scrapping to suite my photos and story. 

I had just purchased some Heidi Swapp masks and mists and felt like playing around, so I used the hexagon mask and randomly sprayed a sheet of white cardstock with pink and green. The 6x6 mask created a square, so I decided to go with it and sprayed the inside with a different shade of green. Rather than fight the obvious differentiation between the rest of the paper and where the mask was, I decided to go with it. I think I also changed the orientation of the paper as I liked it better after I turned it 90 degrees. I've been doing a lot of doodling lately in my art journal, but I've never really doodled on a scrapbook page, so I thought, why not? I used my white uni-ball pen and doodled scallops around the "frame" and then drew small sloppy flowers all around. 

I wanted a bit more pop so I dotted the inside of the flowers with my white Viva paper pen and after they dried, I decided to color them all in pink. At this point, I trimmed the excess white from around the cardstock I had sprayed, and since I had just fixed my sewing machine, I decided to stitch it to the background paper from Pink Paislee, which I thought really matched my sprayed paper.

At this point, I started looking for photos. I went to my phone first, as I often go to my most recent photos when I create the layout first, and I found a series of pics I had just taken of my daughter at gymnastics attempting her first back handspring. They're not the best quality, so I wanted to keep them small.  I created a collage in my Pic Stitch app and printed them 4x6 on my Canon Selphy. 

I left a white border and mounted them in the center of my "frame".

 I wanted to make sure the placement of my frame looked intentional, and I wanted to add a bit of color so I stamped another frame border with this arrow stamp using Heidi Swappy pink ink. I used a post it note to mask when I got to the corners. I added a title with Thickers and the date with my Pebbles roller date stamp. I kept my embellishments simple since there was a lot going on already. I created a small cluster with a cut out card from the Amy Tangerine Plus One 6x6 paper pad, some enamel dots and stamped images from the Plus One Stamp set. I stamped them with archival ink on white cardstock, cut them out and used the three mists I used on the background to paint them. I handwrote my journaling with the same pink marker I used on the flowers. 

When it was all said and done, I was pretty happy with the layout.  It really was a process of just adding things and trying things until I was happy with the results. I encourage you to try it. Grab some supplies you've been wanting to try, use a technique you've never done and just have fun. Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

Keep it Simple

Hey Scrap Fans!! Today's layout is a simple one that used up some scraps and embellishments from the DCWV Vintage collection I had leftover from a Mother's Day album I had recently completed. As soon as I saw this paper collection, it reminded me of photos of my grandmother from the 1940s. It inspired me to make a mini album for my mom for Mother's Day and I had a lot of leftovers on my table I wanted to put to good use. 

Eventually I would like to complete a 12x12 album of all the photos I have of my grandmother, with stories disbursed throughout. The photos themselves are so great, I want to showcase each one without the distraction of titles or journaling. Eventually they will all come together as I'm inspired to scrap different ones. I like having a project I can work on only when I'm inspired to do so. And since I have no real deadline to complete it, there's no pressure to get it done within a certain style or timeframe.  

Besides the cream and peach cardstock (which are from Studio Calico) and the chipboard jar and flower (which are Dear Lizzy) all of the paper and embellishments are from DCWV Vintage Collection. 

I hope you enjoyed this layout and until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

Showcase Your Journaling

Hey Scrap Fans!! Today's layout was the result of another challenge from the Art + Science of Scrapbooking class I'm taking at Big Picture Classes. What an amazing adventure this challenge turned into. At first I was a bit frustrated with the format, however, spending time looking through my photos brought up so many stories I could tell, in so many different ways.   

Once I chose the two photos I wanted to use and determined how much space I would need for my journaling, I pulled out an old kit from Citrus Twist and picked this hombre pattern paper from Chic Tags. I did a lot of playing around with the configuration of the photos before I finally decided to cut them down to 4x4 and mount the journaling in the center.  I trimmed down the Chic Tags paper and mounted it on the card stock to pull it together with the ampersand paper.  I wanted to pull in the pink from the journaling card so I used a strip of pink chevron washi tape, with a strip of grey on top to tone it down a little. I used the Remarks stickers from Amy Tangerine to balance out the pink. I opted for minimal embellishment as not to distract from the story.  A few dates with October Afternoon stickers and names with Pink Paislee stickers and my page was complete. 

Sometimes there are stories you want to tell that you may not have specific photos for. You'd be surprised at the connections you can make just by spending some time with your photos and looking at them in a different way. I hope you can find some inspiration to tell some of your stories. If you do, be sure to post it with #CropsyTurvy100Layouts. Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

If at first you don't succeed......

I made this layout of our recent trip to the zoo for a class I'm taking at Big Picture Classes. The challenge was to create and use a photo collage. Surprisingly, this challenge proved to be much more difficult than I anticipated. The photos weren't a problem, as I frequently use photo collages and almost always print from my iPhone to my selphy.  My problem was with the amount of journaling I wanted to include. I usually prefer to handwrite my journaling, but I'm finding lately I want to tell longer stories, so I have been printing the journaling. For some reason I had a hard time finding a good balance with the length of the journaling, my photo collages and the products I wanted to use. 

I started out using paper from Amy Tan's Yes, Please collection and was trying to find a way to include my journaling that looked balanced. I printed my journaling several different times before I finally decided on printing on a simple sheet of white Stampin' Up card stock and mounted the photos next to the journaling. I wanted a bolder background for contrast so the white card stock didn't look out of place. I used a sheet from Allison Kreft. I added my title with Amy Tan Plus One Thickers and October Afternoon letter stickers, chose a few simple chipboard embellishments from October Afternoon Woodland Park and called it done. 

Even though I ended up with a very different look than what I started with, I'm pretty happy over all with the way it turned out. I like that I got so many pictures and all my journaling on one page, and I'm comfortable with the amount of embellishments I used. If you have a smart phone, there are lots of inexpensive and free collage making apps available. I used Pic Frame, which was $.99 and I also have used and like Pic Stitch.  I hope you enjoyed this layout and until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

Skinny pic, room shot and an actual Polaroid!

Hey Scrap Fans! So my hubby and daughter bought me the Art + Science of Scrapbooking class at Big Picture Classes for Mother's Day. One of the assignments led to me organizing some of my hard copy photos and I pulled together all the photos I had from my school years. I've been slowly working on an album all about me, so scrapping some of my high school photos was a natural progression.

I identified this photo as one I wanted to scrap when I was visiting Andy in Ohio and I only brought a few Studio Calico kits. I decided I didn't have enough with me to do what I really wanted so I held on to it until I got home. I'm not sure why I wanted to used this paper, maybe because I think that sweater I was wearing in the pic may have had a gold stripe on the sleeve. In any case, it just seemed right. 

I knew I wanted to say a lot in the journaling, so I opted to type it on a 4x6 card from Becky Higgins' Project Life Kraft edition, and I picked the matching 3x4 card to pull in the brown and cream. I grounded it all with a stip of craft and gold washi tape from Maggie Holmes and added some gold accents here and there. I stamped some kraft card stock with Ali Edwards' stamps and sprinkled some gold mist around both areas of embellishment. I used gold Thickers from American Crafts and black on kraft letter stickers from October Afternoon for my title "Blasts from the Past", which introduces the three reasons I wanted to scrap that photo. 

I really liked the look of the gold with the kraft, so I decided to trim a half an inch all around from my pattern paper and mount it on some Kraft card stock from Bazzill. Viola! Another 12x12 page for my race to 100! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Scrappin'!!

100 Layout Challenge

I challenged myself at the beginning of the month to do a layout a day in May.  I’ve been him-hawing (is that a word/phrase?) around all month trying to write the perfect blog post to introduce my new blog format and now the month is almost over.  Ugh. Oh well.  On the bright side, I have kept up with my challenge and I’ve completed twenty-seven 12 x 12 layouts so far this month!! (yay!!)

All this productivity has really got my mojo flowing and I want to keep the momentum. Now I’m challenging myself to 100 layouts.  I’ll try to post as they are completed and intersperse the ones I’ve already done here and there.  I’d love for you to play along.  If you feel inspired, feel free to send your layouts to info@cropsyturvy.com or post them to Instagram with #CropsyTurvy100Layouts.

Today’s layout was a quick one.  I bought some watercolors a few weeks ago, and had yet to use them.  I pulled them out and decided to keep it simple by painting blocks in two different shades of pink, alternating my brush strokes.  I started with a white border around it, because I knew I wanted to mount it to a larger background, but then I ended up cutting it down to 8x8.  I sewed it with a zig zag stitch to the brick paper by Studio Calico.  I used the back side of the branding strip as a place for my photo to rest.  I originally planned on running the hearts up middle (all by Heidi Swapp) and mounting the photo on top, but I ended up liking them cascading down the side instead.  I processed my photo (a selfie of Libby with her new haircut) in A Beautiful Mess and added some hearts and text.  After a quick title with some Thickers and some handwritten journaling, I’m done!

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Scrappin’!!

National Scrapbooking Day

Happy National Scrapbooking Day Scrap Fans!!

Spring Into March Kit in Stock Now!

Hey Scrap Fans! Our March kit is now in stock and includes the following:

(1) Sheet Lucky Charm Happy Place Transparency Sheet
(2) Sheets Amy Tangerine Yes, Please Play
(2) Sheets Amy Tangerine Yes, Please Share
(2) Sheets Amy Tangerine Yes, Please Hopeful
(1) Sheet American Crafts Cardstock Smoke
(1) Sheet American Crafts Cardstock Charcoal
(1) Sheet American Crafts Cardstock Robin's Egg
(1) Sheet American Crafts Cardstock Blush
(1) Studio Calico Snippets Collection 12 x 12 Sticker Sheet
(1) Amy Tangerine Yes, Please Aspire Stamp Set
(1) Amy Tangerine Yes, Please Wish Thickers `
(1) Studio Calico Wood Veneer Die Cut Punctuation

These items retail separately for over $32, but we are offering it for $26.95!! (actual shipping charges may apply)
Quantities are very limited, so reserve one today!

Happy Scrappin'!!

~Patrice

Cropsy Turvy will be at St. Andrew's Scrap the Day Away This Weekend!

Hey Scrap fans! We will be set up this weekend at the St. Andrew's Scrap the Day Away Crop.

St. Andrew's School 

1621 Ferndale Avenue

Johnstown, PA 15905

Friday, March, 1, 2013

4:30PM -Midnight

Saturday, March 2, 2013

9:00AM - Midnight

So even if you can't make it out for the weekend crop, you can still stop by to shop!  Hope to see you there and Happy Scrappin'!!

~Patrice

Just for Fun~ Creating a Textured Canvas Base for a Mixed Media Project

Hey Scrap Fans!  It seems like I'm always so busy working on projects and gifts for everyone else that I seldom take the time to just have fun without an end result in mind.  So the other day, I decided I was going to just take some time to play and see where the products led me.  

I started out with an 8 x 10 canvas and I knew I had wanted to try molding paste with my stencils, so I chose one of my favorites from Crafter's Workshop:

I placed the stencil on the canvas where I wanted the flowers to show and I coated the entire thing with a thin coat of Golden Molding Paste.  (I have a tool for this, but of course, couldn't find it so I just used the spatula from my Cricut).

After I got a nice, even coat over the entire canvas, I quickly and carefully pulled off the stencil.  Since I don't usually clean my stencils, it had the remnants of spray ink, so it dyed the paste slightly.  This was quite alright, as I liked the effect and was mostly experimenting anyway.  I love the dimension and texture the molding paste creates.

After smoothing out the edges with the spatula and drying the paste with my heat tool, I was left with the perfect base to start experimenting.

At this point, I determined that trying to document the process was inhibiting my creativity.  After all, this was supposed to be my fun time, not a project.  So I put down the camera and continued to play.  I experimented with many different techniques, including spraying Glimmer Mists, Dylusions Ink Spray and using gelatos along with my stencils.  I stamped, embossed, colored, cut and glued and just had a blast losing myself in the products.  Eventually I will document and share those other techniques, but I will save that for another day and just share my finished product:

You'll see, even though I started out with the canvas landscape, after spraying with various mists, I decided I liked the pattern better when it was portrait. I used gelatos over my circle stencil and rubbed them in with my finger to created the dimensional "bubbles".  The resulting background reminded me of a magical forest of sorts, so I used my Dylusions stamp set by Dyan Reavely to create the fairy who is feeling a bit upside down. 

 I hope you've enjoyed this look at how to create a texture stenciled canvas as a base for a mixed media project and I hope you are inspired to try your own.  If you try this technique, be sure to let me know how you like it and link your project in the comments section.  

Until next time, Happy Scrappin'!!

~Patrice

Cropsy Turvy will be at Richland High School Feb 24

Hey Scrap Fans!  We will be set up at the Richland High School for a Vendor Fair Sunday, February 24, 2013 from 1-4 PM.  I will have new stamp sets from Technique Tuesday, new dies from LifeStyle Crafts and the February Hearts and Arrows Kits (and maybe even a sneak peak at the kit for March).  My mother will also be there with her delicious rolls from Marie's Nutcracker Sweet.  They freeze beautifully, so pick up yours for Easter now.  (It's right around the corner, March 31!) There will be vendors from Mary Kay, Tastefully Simple, Watkins, 31 Gifts, Pampered Chef, Sabika Jewelry, Hancock Photography, and Gobs as well.  Hope to see you there and Happy Scrappin'!!

~Patrice

Hearts & Arrows Project Kit Video

Click here to watch a video featuring the products in the Hearts & Arrows Project Kit.

Paper Pad Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations to ALEXANDRA LEGASPI!! You are the winner of the Gypsy Queen paper pad from Jinger Adams. Please send your mailing address to info@cropsyturvy.com and we'll send your prize. Thanks for commenting and subscribing and Happy Scrappin'!!

Winter CHA Pics

 To see a sampling of what we saw, just click on the link below!

Winter CHA Pictures

CHA 2013 is FINALLY HERE!!

Hey Scrap Fans! I'm gonna skip the whole sorry-I-haven't-blogged-in-so-long intro and just cut to the chase. Keathe and I are coming to you live from Sunny (but a tad cold) Anaheim California at the Winter 2013 Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show! We're waiting in line, as I type, for the opening of the trade show floor. So be sure to check back for photos and updates of all the latest products for 2013! Until then, Happy Scrapping!

Trying my hand at a process video

Hey Scrap fans!  Keathe and I recently put ourselves on a spending freeze for awhile so we could try to use of some of the millions of supplies we already have.  So I thought it would be fun to challenge each other to do a page a day and send each other a pic.  A challenge like this is a great way to "get in touch with your stash" and be reminded of all those products you have waiting in the wings. (Unfortunatly, it can also be a good way to realize all those things you don't have and you end up with a big list of new stuff to get)

We actually did pretty good for awhile. Keathe usually sent her pics early in the day, and I was usually sending her mine at 11:59PM.  Eventually Keathe abandoned the layout challenge to work on a mini album from her beach trip this summer (which is absolutely amazing and I can't wait for her to finish it and post it here) and I've tapered off to a layout about every three days.  But in any case, I think I learned a lot about my scrapbooking style and the process I go through.

So, I decided to try my hand at a process video.  I personally enjoy watching scrapbooking videos, as I tend to watch them in bed on my phone or iPad at the end of the day as a way to unwind.  Although I do appreciate blogs that have gorgeous, step-by-step photos of layouts, I tend to gravitate more toward the videos.  (Plus, in terms of production, I'm very lazy and I think its easier to shoot and edit a video than to take multiple pictures throughout my process, which may or may not actually be the case) I also recently fashioned myself a handy overhead camera holding device out of PVC pipe and a cheap iphone holder from Amazon, which has made filming everything that happens on my craft table super quick and easy. 

I hope you enjoy the video and please feel free to comment and critique.  I already had someone from YouTube say they would like a voice over during the high speed where I explain my thought process, which I think is a great idea, and plan to try next time.

Happy Scrapping!!
~Patrice

Hey Scrap Fans! Check out my latest video where I walk you through how to make a variation on the mini album hinge that I call the Tyvek Sandwiched Hinge. Hope you enjoy and Happy Scrapping!  

~Patrice