Love, Elsie Blog Focus/Thursday Tips and Tricks Edition

One of my favorite ways to use up older papers? Alter it! I used this idea on Monday, and I am going to show you how I did it today, also. For today's post, I grabbed a couple of the simpler Love, Elsie papers, and some stamps:

Which leads me to Tip #1: If you are altering an older paper with stamps, look for stamps that fit with the style of the paper collection. I chose these sketchy, swirly style stamps because I felt that they fit the Love, Elsie style papers.

I will be honest, I almost didn't want to alter the notebook side of the yellow paper, because the other side is the most adorable camera print ever:

But, hoarding it is getting me nowhere, so, I went for it. I stamped, misted, and bejeweled it (Tip #2: adding mist and gems to a stamped background makes it flow much better and ties it all together):

I wasn't quite sure what type of page I wanted to make with it, but I saw an old polaroid lying out from my high school graduation, and felt that it fit the notebook paper background, so I started there. 

Tip #3: When you get stuck on a page, look to a challenge!  There are so many inspiring challenges out there that your mojo will be flowing in no time! I took a Stash Busters challenge on the 2Peas message board, and grabbed some papers, die cuts, handmade vellum feathers, and other bits from my scrap bin to finish this page up.

Here is my page, Sweet Sweet Moment:

See It On 2Peas

Thank you for visiting with me this week, don't forget to follow me and comment for a chance to win this prize:



I will be back tomorrow with a Love, Elsie wrap-up post, but you have until Sunday night to leave a comment on any of this week's posts, and I will draw a winner on Monday morning.





Love, Elsie Blog Focus: Day 3

Good morning, everyone! Today's Tip for using Love, Elsie papers? Look for a theme that relates to your photos. My example:

 See It On 2Peas

I had this awesome Love, Elsie ladybug paper, which I felt accented my photos pretty well, and carried out my theme. To keep the layout looking current and fresh, I pulled out a bold red chevron paper from Basic Grey's PB&J collection, and used washi in my layering of embellishments on the corners. I used lettering stickers in a very curly font, because I felt it contrasted nicely with the chevron paper, while mimicking the flight of a ladybug. I scattered a few glittery star stickers across the page as well.

The embellishments:

I was kind of proud of myself for using some ancient Stickopotamus stickers in my embellishment clusters, as well...

So try this technique out on some of your older papers, as well! Love, Elsie has many papers that will work like this; travel themed for exploring/traveling pages, music note paper that would work well for concerts and musicals, school/notebook/doodle-y type papers that would go well with back to school,  school project and award photos, and so on. If you try out any of my ideas with your old stash-post pictures and link up in the comments! I would love to see!

And, don't forget to leave a comment on each post this week for a chance to win my giveaway:

This Made My Day....

When I woke up and headed over to 2Peas this morning, I saw this...

Another first for me! Very excited! And thank you for bookmarking/liking my layout!

Love, Elsie Blog Focus: Day 2

My advice for using up those Love, Elsie, or other papers for today: Put them in a kit with newer supplies. This is one of my favorite ways to use up older papers (and one of the easiest techniques for my personal style of scrapping).

 

Here is a sample of a kit that I made up:

I put two sheets of green leaf print Love, Elsie paper in with a bunch of new goodies that I got from this past summer's CHA, Cosmo Cricket's Smore Love collection. I was so happy with how perfectly they went together! And, I have found that if you put them with new(ish) supplies, it is so much easier to actually use them!

A good way to use up your kits? Take a challenge! I took some of the CHA challenges at 2 Peas for the next few pages that I am going to share with you. I used all of the papers, with the exception of a few small scraps, to make these pages:

CHA Challenge #10, Use 10 Different Brands:

 See It On 2Peas

Brands used: Love Elsie, Basic Grey, American Crafts, Making Memories, Cosmo Cricket, Studio Calico, Momento, Up&Up washi tape, Heidi Grace, Tattered Angels

I made this page for CHA Challenge #4: Use a 4 Word Title:

See It On 2Peas 

As you can probably already see, I used the stamps and letter stickers from the kit for the title, and I added in an oooold Making Memories journal spot, and a couple of scraps from my stash.

This Page was made for CHA Challenge #9: Use 9 items from your desk to make a page (this was easy since I had the kit out):

See It On 2Peas 

And I still love how that Love, Elsie paper coordinates with the Cosmo Cricket!

And these last few pages were not really based on any challenges, but made with the desire to use this kit up rather than put it back in my stash!

See It On 2Peas

 

 See It On 2Peas

This one does not include any Love, Elsie (I used up both full sheets before I got to this page!), but, since I made it from the same kit, I thought I would include it today!

See It On 2Peas

I added in a scrap of colored vellum and a scrap from an older Cosmo Cricket line for the layering to feel "right".

 

For more inspiration for making kits from your own stash, check out these resources:

 

• The Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog
• Scrappypedia's Scrap Your Stash Kit Club
• My CKCB Pinterest Board
• Shimelle's NSD Video:Maxing Out A Set Of Supplies
 

I hope I have inspired you today! Don't forget to leave me comment for a chance to win this week's giveaway:

 

 

"Love, Elsie" Blog Focus: Day 1

Elsie Flannigan (now Elsie Larson) took the scrapbooking world by storm with her doodled scrapbook papers, and for a few years, she had one of the most popular and talked about scrapbook collections around. As a result, many long-time scrapbookers filled their stash with papers and embellishments from Elsie's collections...and, unfortunately, a lot of these fun and beautiful papers just stayed there...in our stashes! Well, not anymore! I have made up my mind that I have paid for it, and I like it, so I am not going to purge it just because it is an older collection of papers! I am going to use it! And, hopefully, I will inspire many of you to use it as well, instead of allowing it to collect dust and guilt in our stash!  So, every day this week, I plan to share with you my own ideas and pages made with Elsie's fun papers, and give tips for using up any older stash that you may have!

The first way I would like to suggest for using Elsie's papers is; "Loud and Proud"!  Don't try to hide it or cover it, just use it! Here is my example:

 See It On 2 Peas

 

I started with this paper; Love, Elsie Math Class:

This paper was such a fun doodle print that was perfect for the photo of my kiddos coloring! And I had a bit of fun myself coloring in the doodles (my kids noticed and asked my for a sheet of it to color, too!)...and I loved using lots of bright, happy colors on it. I added in scraps of some of my most colorful off-cuts for the layers, and embellished it with twine, washi tape, and a Love, Elsie chipboard button, and did the title with foam Thickers in the doodle-y style Custard font.

Here's a closer look at the button embellishment:

 

My advice for today: If you love it, use it! As scrapbookers that have new and beautiful papers and embellishments made available to us at least twice a year at CHA (and some companies do mid-season releases, as well), it is so easy to get caught up in needing the newest and greatest things. And there isn't any thing wrong with falling in love with a new and beautiful piece of paper or embellishment. But you don't have to feel like you have to have it to have beautiful pages! You can use that older stash, and make pages that are just as lovely and meaningful! Try it out, you just might find a new favorite out of your old stash!

Last but definitely not least... I love these goodies, and I know you will love them too! But you really can't buy them anymore, so I am giving some away for one of my lucky blog followers to play with! All you have to do is leave a comment on any of my Love, Elsie blog posts this week, follow my blog, and you will be entered in the drawing for this prize:

There are a fun selection of Love, Elsie papers for you to play with, a few sheets of cardstock in neutral colors, some chipboard houses from Jenni Bowlin, ribbon and washi, a little chipboard mini album, some die cut tags, die cut letters, and some flair badges!

If you would like to know what is up with Elsie now, check out her fun and very popular blog, A Beautiful Mess ...all about everyday life, fashion, crafts, DIY, photography and recipes

Thursday Tips and Tricks

Hi, everyone! Happy Thursday!
I have a scrapbooking tip for you today! I know that most of you have probably heard the trick of lining your letter stickers up at the top of a ruler, right? Well, I rarely scrap with a ruler-perfectionism takes some of the fun out of scrapping for me. So, I compromise! Any straight edge will do for lining up those letter stickers-even the top of the sheet that they come on!
Like this:

 I am thinking of making Tips and Tricks Thursday a regular feature on my blog...but I want to know what you all think! Drop me a line-let me know what you are interested in, and if you have any questions, I just might be able to answer them (in my less than perfect way, of course!)

Here is a look at the layout that these letter stickers went onto:

See It on 2Peas

A closer look at the layering:

 

About this layout:
This layout was very much inspired by Shimelle. I started by trying to follow last week's Glitter Girl prompt to choose colors for the layout without drawing on the photo's colors- choosing school/reading themed papers and scraps rather than trying to match my childrens' non-matching outfits. As I was putting my page together, I was watching this week's Glitter Girl episode about journaling, and was inspired to tell the rather funny story behind my childrens' cheeseball grins in both the journaling and title. I am also drawing on some inspiration for the page design and theme from Shimelle's Scrapbook Remix class.         
Supplies used: kraft cardstock background, papers and scraps from Crate Paper's Storyteller line (so glad I got that paper pad-I know I will be using it a lot!), scraps from Making Memories, Creative Imaginations,  Graphic 45, and Lily Bee, the orange butterfly is a digi element from Jenni Bowlin's line at Jessica Sprague, and I printed it on an inkjet transparency and fussy cut around the edges, letter stickers are American Crafts Thickers and Jenni Bowlin, and I was able to use some digital elements I printed for a previous Counterfeit kit from Echo Park's Everyday Eclectic line, washi tape from Target's Up&Up line, along with some o-o-old embellies- Bazzill button flowers and Making Memories metal signs (the word "learn") and the little green house sticker.

What do you think?  Don't forget to let me know if there is something you want me to feature on Thursday's Tips and Tricks segment!                                       

Other CHA goodies and inspiration...

Here are a few more goodies that may find their way into my stash:
Carta Bella So Noted:

These fabulous feathers from Jenni Bowlin:

and Whitewashed Woodgrain Washi:

 

 

Basic Grey Mint Julep:

October Afternoon's Daily Flash is pretty:

And I am tempted by Amy Tangerine's soft watercolors in Yes, Please:

:

Jillibean Soup made some butterfly Sugar Picks and stamps that I love:

And I love these cameras from Maya Road:

CHA Winter 2013 Favorites...

I know that I can't be the only person who was super inspired and excited by this year's CHA, right? I always love seeing the new trends, being inspired by the fantastic designers' projects, and playing along with challenges and chats over at 2 Peas in a Bucket! I got to chat with most of the extremely  talented garden girls(including my personal favorite and former member of the CKC DT, Melissa Stinson)-they really are all so sweet and down to earth, and I think would be friends if we met in real life. I was so inspired, and made lots of pages last week, trying to bust through some of my stash to make room for that new stash I am saving for...so I will have plenty of pages to share in the next few days! But, first, let me show you my favorites from this year's CHA:

Paper/Whole Collections:
(I think this was one of the most popular lines of the show):
Maggie Holmes signature line for Crate Paper:

More specifically, this sheet of paper just makes this camera lover happy:

 

The blues and pinks of this collection are so pretty, and I can see myself using every sheet in the paper pack, so this collection kit is at the top of my list! The coordinating embellies have me drooling, too...who can resist chunky glittery GOLD Thickers?

 

Their other new collections, DIY Shop and Party Day are fabulous, too...

 

Glitz stole my heart with Uncharted Waters:

 

I am seriously thinking about planning a cruise just to have a reason to use this paper! I love it that much! (Just got to convince the hubs ;-) ).

 

They also showed a few fabulous new roller stamps that I love:

 

and this awesome washi tape:

 

I didn't really ooh and aah over this one at first, but the more I see it, the more I love it and have to have it:

 

Lily Bee's Sweet Shoppe:

 

It is really a fantastic summer collection, with extremely versatile patterns, and who can resist paper that has names like Marshmallow, Licorice Whip, Jelly Bean, and Strawberries and Cream?

 

I will also be cherry-picking a few of my favorite papers from the following collections:

Webster's Pages collaboration with Allison Kreft:

Sweet Notes:

 

Color & Composition:

And the gorgeous vintage camera washi tape to go with it!!

 

Simple Stories Vintage Bliss:

 

It reminds me of 5th and Frolic from Dear Lizzy a little bit!

 

Cosmo Cricket Sweet Disposition:

 

Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm:

 

 

Elle's Studio You&Me (love the chalkboard paper!!):

And I really want the feather paper from Studio Calico's Sundrifter line:

 

along with the patterned vellum:

 

 

Ombre Thickers:

and confetti wood veneer:

 

and I am determined to buy this stamp set, if it's the only thing I get:

It is $29.95, though, so I will be watching for a sale for sure!

*edited to add:

 

I plan on asking for the Jinger Adams Craft Armoire for my birthday-I hear it's coming out in May! 

What do you think? I think I need to win the lottery ;-)