LOAD starts tomorrow!

I came close to signing up for LOAD (Layout a Day) in 2008, but I decided to focus on finishing implementing the Library of Memories system last winter. I'm happy with my LOM setup, so this year, it's on to LOAD 2009, hosted personally by the witty Lain Ehmann.

To get prepared, I spent this morning looking through my ready page kits. I've got about 10, with paper and photos. Most of them were set up for our old monthly crop, but that hasn't happened since last September. So time to work through some of those.

I've also got about 5-6 sets of photos pulled but un-kitted. And I've got 3 Project 365 January layouts to do to stay on target.

I already reorganized my embellishment stash and mixed all the unopened packages into my color system to get ready for Project 365.

So I think I'm ready to begin. 28 layouts in 28 days. Yikes. Wish me luck!

Finishing the unfinished #1

So to get on with my vow to finish the unfinished scrap projects, I present my completed Stories in Hand binder. Did I mention the class was in November? I faitfully downloaded all the lessons and instructions, and I think it turned out lovely. I used PE6 to customize the family member tabs. You'll note that Baby #2 has a placeholder named Two...



The butterfly paper on the front and back cover was too beautiful to cover, so I just HAD to use more of the purple pattern to create a title page :)







Credits:
Class: Jessica Sprague Stories in Hand
Binder: American Crafts 6x6 Chestnut Binder
Ribbon: American Crafts Flaunt Haute Ribbon collection
Paper, Die Cuts, Chipboard: Crate Paper Sweet Branch collection
Ink: Doodlebug Bon Bon stamp pad
and lots of use of the Crop a Dile for all the binder holes!

finally got my first 365 layout done!

Like a lot of people, I've decided to jump on the POTD/Project 365 bandwagon, with a few twists. This will probably be the majority of the "everyday" scrapping I get done in 2009, with a toddler and a baby on the way. So decided if I was going to do it, I had a few goals:

1. Refresh/grow my Photoshop Elements skills. I realized how rusty I had gotten when I did the Christmas card.
2. Challenge myself to use embellishment stash.
3. Don't get hung up on taking a photo every day, but focus on telling 365 everyday stories of our life in this sure-to-be-crazy year.

After spending WAY too much time obsessing over how I'm gonna do this as a hybrid project, and still keep it simple, here is my first layout:



Big thanks to Denise Beatty for the great template. I have downloaded tons of the P365 templates, but hers had the best layout for large journaling spots that were right near the photos.

Digi Credits:
Template: Denise Beatty Originals
Background: Simply Sweet Designs Simply Basic

Product Credits:
Zig Zag Frill: Doodlebug Designs Beetle Black frills
Flower Jewels: KI Memories Color Theory
Ghost Clock: Heidi Swapp

New QuicKutz alphas = font hunting for me

There were new QuicKutz alphas released at CHA-Winter today. So I got started on the hunting right away. Since I have a Cricut and Sure Cuts A Lot, I rarely buy QK alpha dies anymore. The font is usually cheaper, and the font has more characters than the die sets. The exception is Skinni Minis, or really think fonts. The Cricut can't always handle those, so I buy the dies if I really love the font.


Chandelier = Miss Scarlet Plain


Disco = Mivron Regular


Gazebo = Omaha Bazoo NF


Honey Bee = Chauncy Fatty This appears to be a lowercase to match Honey, one of the original QK 2x2 alphas.


Marigold = American Extra Bold - several foundries offer this typeface. This link is to the Linotype font.


Oatmeal - Not 100% sure, but I think it's British Inserat.


Sugar Sweet - Monte Carlo Script NF - although the QK version has rounder tails on the letters.


Supermarket = Marky Marker NF


Yogurt - Mandingo. This appears to be a freebie here, but I've seen it with a price elsewhere.

P.S.

Banana Split, released earlier this month = Pauline Regular or Bold

Friday Funk aka Farewell, Simple

The nausea is starting to ebb slightly, which means my appetite is back. Which means my scrapping mojo is back. (Big surprise that when I can't eat, I'm not creative, I'm just cranky).,

So I spent the weekend starting my pregnancy album, and since I was now "in the mood," I also read the last two issues of Simple Scrapbooks, and perused the new special issue, Quick & Easy Photo Albums. And I spent last night re-reading Cathy Zielske's Clean & Simple, and brought the sequel to work to read on lunch.

And then I open Google Reader and get hit with this:
http://www.simplescrapbooks.typepad.com/

Really, the loss of a scrapbooking magazine shouldn't matter this much. I certainly didn't end up in a funk when CKMedia killed Digital Scrapbooking magazine. But I was a Charter subscriber. And I really enjoyed every page of every issue. My only complaint was that it was bi-monthly.

And now I'm kicking myself for having cut up the back issues. Glad I still have all the special issues (wonder if they'll still do them?), and I hope CK makes good on their promise to integrate the content or that subscription will lapse again.

Sigh.

Still dabbling...

I've got 3 unfinished paper projects, but had to whip up a shower invite on the quick, so here it is in all its digital glory. Actual size is 3.5x6 - to fit some envelopes I had lying around.

Butterfly paper: Energy kit by Summer Driggs
Silhouette: Pregnancy Mask by Scrap by Color with Holley
Fonts: Amelie, Gill Sans