Friendly Card

Hey, all! Happy, happy wekend to 'ya!!

I have a quick card that I want to share with you:

I made it using some more of my American Crafts "Craft Fair" collection...I just love all the fun colors in the line. Plus, I fell in love with these cute little owls and have been dying to use them on something.

I have a feeling that my weekend is not going to be very productive. I feel sorta lazy today and just want to be a bit of a bum. Oh well. I guess those weekends are sometimes necessary. I see a lot of TV on DVD in my future...haha.

Thanks for stopping by...have a happy day!

Old Supply, New Supply

Hey, all! I have a new layout to share with you. I made it using the newest PageMaps sketch:


This layout was so much fun to make because I got to use my super colorful paper (some American Crafts "Craft Fair" that I have been hoarding forever!) and some messy machine stitching. It actually only took me like 15 minutes to make...and that is certainly not something to complain about.

I also did this for The Studio Challenges. We had to use a mixture of old supplies (my AC "Craft Fair" and Prima flowers) and new supplies (My Little Yellow Bicycle Ric-Rac and Prima pearls).
Have a nice day!!!

His & Hers Re-do

Hey, all! I hope everyone is enjoying the weekend so far. They always go by so fast, don't they? Grrr....

I played along with Creative Scrappers again this morning (surprise, surprise...what can I say? Their sketches are awesome and their designers are amazing). Here is what I came up with first:
I say first, because I really wasn't satitsfied with it...it was missing that something. So, I added my frequently-used paint splatters and some messy stitching...and this was the final product:I like the second one a lot better. Sometimes, a little re-do is just what a layout needs. What do you do when you finish a layout that just isn't quite right?

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Hello!! I hope that everyone enjoyed Eric's lovely post and his great layout! Don't worry...he's not in trouble for the blog-jacking. He cracks me up too much to make me at all angry. :o)

I do have a new layout to share with you...it's one of my Dad and I. I figured this was perfect since my Dad's birthday is today. So...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!! This layout is also made with the newest Creative Scrappers sketch.

I've been splattering paint a little too much recently...it's a technique that I am addicted to. I think it's so much fun and it adds that extra something. Maybe I'll stop....and maybe I won't!

Have a nice week!!! Thanks for dropping by!

Frog, this is hard!

Hello Ladies. My name is Eric and I have blog-jacked Krafty Kat for today. Why, you might ask, has the 200 lb man-child that lives with Kat taken over her scrapbooking blog? I propose a three part answer. First, she left her account unattended and men, like children and household pets will always find a way get into that one place that is exactly where you don’t want them to be. It’s a natural and inherent talent that I use to earn food all the time; promising me a snack is the easiest way to get me off the good couch in the sitting room. Second, Kat has run into a motivational block. Scrapper’s block if you will. Third, I happen to play a larger than normal part in this week’s Krafty Kat update.

I’ve been a part of the digital scrap booking community for several years now. I’ve made appearances on this blog exclusively as a subject for Kat’s scrapping. If you look through her work, you might notice an overly large dork, shaved almost bald, who has the inability to take anything seriously or make a ‘normal’ face in pictures. That Neanderthal is me.

However, this week Kat had some Scrapper’s block. Her creative side was just not in tune. I of course immediately noticed this because when she’s not scrapping, things are off. I wasn’t getting my usual walks, I was taking harder than normal shots up side my head for my foul mouth, and her tolerance for my adolescent shenanigans was down. When Mama ain’t scrapping, Mama ain’t happy; and when Mama ain’t happy, nobody is happy. So, for my own well being, this needed to change.

I am an ardent supporter of Kat’s scrap habit. Scrap gear makes an appearance at every gift giving holiday; I love that I always have it as a go to gift. I also try and support by holding still for pictures in just about every time and place. I also always make the appropriate ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhhh’ noises over her pages, though in all honesty I wouldn’t know artistic if it rode over me on an elephant. Things in the house had reached critical ‘not happiness’ though this weekend because that girl needed to scrap. So, I did what any man in my position would do. I put on my frog hat, pulled on my frog slippers, took her by the hand, led her into the scrapbooking room, and we scrapped. Yes, I said that correctly. WE scrapped.

A quick look back through her work will also likely give you an idea of what I do for a living. Creativity is about as far from natural for me as it possibly gets. I don’t do anything well, but when it comes to arts and crafts, I never moved beyond gluing Popsicle sticks together and eating crayons. But, you do what you have to do. So, I sat her down in the scrapbooking room and told her to teach me to scrapbook.

Turns out, scrapbooking is fairly simple. Also turns out, there is a world of difference between simple and easy. In fact, the chasm between simple and easy is so wide I couldn’t even see the other side. She sat me down and showed me a few basics. I learned basic page layout, embellishments, and lettering. I learned that there are more tools of the trade for scrapbooking then there are for auto maintenance, and I thought that had an obscene amount of specialty tools. As I said, the concept was simple. Pick a picture, a theme, and a concept and put together a page. In practice, it was the hardest simple thing I had EVER done. Ladies, before I understood, I thought what you did was awesome. Now I’m awestruck looking at what you do. Thank you for making the world a brighter place, because people like me could never do what you do.

So after giving me the basics, Kat gave me an old layout of hers. I specifically asked for an old one, because her current work is more advanced then I could even conceivably copy. So, using her template, I set out to create a page. First, I picked a picture. That was almost easy. She has a whole library of pictures, and I knew that I wanted her to be the subject and I wanted it to be funny. She’s posted enough embarrassing pictures of me over the years that a little payback was in order. Now we’ll see if I still think picking that picture was a good idea when I wake up on the couch tomorrow morning, but I digress. I also wanted a picture of her, because I’ve noticed something as I’ve looked through a few of your blogs. The amazing people who create these works of art are almost never the subject of their pages. Kat is the same way. The only time she is in any of her pages, is when she is in one with someone else. There are almost none of her alone. So, as you can see, I picked a picture of her.

The rest came fairly easily. The irreverent title and slapstick theme were derived from the picture. I used her page as a template, then added a little of my own free styling. While I worked, I noticed that my evil plan was also working. Kat was next to me scrapping away. She would check in on me from time to time, pausing in her own work only to cringe at my color choices. I can’t match colors to save my life, as you can see. I thought it was perfectly acceptable to wear brown socks with black shoes until I met Kat. I still can’t see how they ‘clash,’ but at least now I know that trying to leave the house in that combination will only earn me a trip back to the dresser.

Through perseverance, I made it through my very first page and she got back into her creative zone. I have to say I learned a lot. I learned that even my lucky frog hat can’t help me when I’m that far out of my depth. I learned that placing things in strait lines is darn near impossible. I learned that you always find the one thing that’s perfect seconds after gluing on something that at the time was ‘good enough.’ I learned an even greater appreciation for what you all do and how amazing and difficult it truly is.

And now, with a very confusing mixture of embarrassment, pride, shame, and excitement I give you Eric’s very first Scrapbook Page…be nice.





Don’t worry, Kat will be returning for the next post. And if her next page is a picture of me locked outside the house, you’ll know she didn’t think me posting on her blog was as funny as I did.

CS #112

Hey, all! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. I've been sort of a bum today. I'm actually watching old episodes of "Dawson's Creek." That show makes me laugh so much when I look at the clothes they are wearing and the way their hair is styled. It also made me realize that I will probably be highly embarassed when I look back at pictures of me 10 years from now...

Anyways, while I wasn't watching "Dawson's Creek," I did do a layout, based of the new Creative Scrappers sketch. Here it is:

Enjoy the rest of your day!!

Cards

Hello!! I hope that everyone is enjoying their weekend so far.

I have 2 cards to share with you (sorry for the bad pics...nighttime photos never turn out well!):

These were super easy to make since I used the awesome 3 x 3 cards from Pebbles, Inc. The little cards are so much fun and are just perfect to add a nice little sentiment. I also made my felt birdies to put on the cards. To get the birdie template, click here.

Thanks for stopping by...have a nice, relaxing Sunday!

Paint splatters

Hey, all!

I have a quick layout to share with you:

The paint splatters were super easy to do. I watered down some acrylic paint and just splattered it around. It dried super quick and I love the fun look of it. I also cut out the bar code from the back of a pack of scrapbooking products. I thought it went along with the theme of the rest of the layout well.

Have a nice weekend!!!

Fun in the Sun!

I have one more layout to share with you tonight! I made it for the current challenge that's going on over at The Studio Challenges. The challenge is to use predominantly yellow and orange in your layout. I used a PageMaps sketch to create this...and also incorporated the turquoise for their fun ongoing color and sketch challenge. Here is the sketch I used:
Isn't it so much fun??

And here is my take on it:
Enjoy your week!!!

SOTB - Christmas in July!

Hey, all!

The next challenge is now posted at Scrap Outside the Box. This month the challenge is to use wrapping paper in honor of "Christmas in July." I broke out my hot pink snowflake paper that I bought at Target a few years back...and I scrapped a picture that is a few years old, too.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you join us over at SOTB and play along!

2010 goals re-visited

Happy Fourth of July everyone! Since it is the beginning of July, I figured I should revisit some of my 2010 goals and see how I’m doing so far:

1. Make 100 layouts that I am satisfied with…to date I’ve made 59 ½ . I say “ ½ “ because I’m still trying to decide on one…haha

2. Try new scrapping techniques…I’ve done pretty good with that…we’ll see if it keeps up in this 2nd half of the year

3. Start making cards…I’ve made a few more, but it could go better….I’m still not very good at them, so I probably get a little more frustrated than I should…

4. Use some of those scrappy supplies that I have had lying around forever…umm…yeah…I’m still a paper and embellishment hoarder…boo.

Also, I decided to re-post my 5 favorite layouts of the year so far…this is a constantly changing thing, though. If you ask me to pick my top 5 again tomorrow, it could be completely different. Here they are in no particular order:

Original Post here.

Original post here.

Original post here.

Original post here.

Original post here.

I would love to see everyone else’s top 5 so far…lemme know if you do a similar-type post :o) I would love to stop by your blog and see them all!

Giveaway Winner!

Congrats to Laurie, who won the copy of Elsie Flannigan's 52 Scrapbooking Challenges! Please send your mailing address to kraftykat9@gmail.com and I will get your book in the mail soon!