The Scraplift

Okay, so I have been scrapbooking,

of sorts,

for several years.

But only kinda,

until last year,

when

BOOM BABY!!!!!

It came ALIVE to me as an art form.

I found May Flaum,

and was so intrigued by her artsy style.

She was messy with a flair.

And I liked it.

I REALLY liked it,

but I didn't want to copy cat,

I wanted to develop.

So when I first heard she was doing a class called

The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide,

I was intrigued.

I e-mailed her.

Got some specifics,

and contemplated.....

Then jumped in!!!

And WOW!!

I'm so very glad I did.

It opened me up to all kinds of artsy possibilities.

Until that time,

my scrapbooking was pretty much

a sticker here,

a sticker there,

a haphazard border over yonder,

and LOTS of themed pages!!!

EEK!!

So, I have been thinking a lot about this art that I love so much lately,

as National Scrapbook Day is tomorrow.

I was thinking about just how much has changed for me over the 

course of the last year,

as it pertains to scrapbooking,

and decided I would Scraplift myself.

Now before you think I've gone all ego maniac on ya,

let me explain =)

I LOVE my 2012 scrapbook.

I love looking at it,

because I see my style emerging.

I look at those pages,

and see the stories.

They are not random or haphazard in the least.

And I love that.

And several of them were done using sketches.

Very loosely.

I rarely stay close to sketches or scrap lifts (as you are about to see =)

but they are a great jumping off point for me.

So.....

here is a LO I did last year using a sketch.

I see so many things I love about this LO.

The colors.....

The mists.....

The flower.....

The lacey border punch....

The Scripture in the bottom corner.....

The girl.....

=)

But.....

there are some things I would just have simply done a little different too.

Like rounding the tops of the banner pieces.

Ummm.....yeah.

Not my fav.

But that's okay.

I look at this and know how much I learned from this page alone.

And I love that.

This remains one of my fav's.

Simple.

Elegant.

Love.

So.....

I decided to Scrap Lift it.

Let's see what I do this time around.....

Your probably looking at this and wondering

What in the Wide World?

It looks nothing like the above!!

But that's the beautiful,

Wonderful point to it all.

It was my inspiration.

And I LOVE the results!!

This is from my May CKC kit,

and I absolutely LOVE these colors,

and this paper,

and oh my golly

THESE BOYS!!!

I wanted this story to be told,

and told well.

This pic was taken the night before our gbabe started Preschool,

just a couple of weeks ago.

He told me to take this pic with his PaPa

before he grew up!

Ha.....Because starting Preschool the next day meant 

he was grown up.

I.love.this.boy.

Close up of some layering,

stitching,

and these boys!

=)

This is an Elle's Studio banner,

but the bottom had a bright red strip across it,

and it just stood out a little too much,

so I took the branding strip from this paper,

cut it out and added it to cover up that red border.

Love the result.

I dug around in my stash.

Which BTW is really getting organized.

I took some time over the month of April

and really tried to figure out what would work for me organizationally.

And since I now have my journaling spots all in one place,

I found these "Route Guide" cards.

They go SO well with this page.

Added some notes.....

stacked 'em up.....

added journaling to the side.....

a "Documented" arrow to draw the eye to the journaling and the picture.....

and some bling.

Of course =)

Folded down the corner and tucked some teal Bazzill behind it....

and Bling.

Of course =)

Remember those .50 Alpha's in my CKC kit?

Well here they be.

All stuck down and penned up.

I mixed and matched because I could :)

and viola!

Love.

This page came together in about 30 mins.

Seriously.

I added some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Teal and Gold,

and stamped the date several times in the corner with "Love, Love, Love"

courtesy of Amy Tan,

And added Jeremiah 29:11 to the very bottom of the page.

And called 'er good.

This page was fun, Fun, FUN!!

Have a Blessed and Beautiful,

Crafty, Kind of Day ~~