Green Horned Unicorn

Use It or Lose It: Layouts

Last week, I shared 11 cards I created as part of my Use It or Lose It campaign, which is aimed at helping me keep my studio more orderly. Today, I have two layouts I designed from the same Crate Paper Storyteller scraps.

When I set out to create the layouts, I didn't have a photo or theme in mind. I simply stitched and glued down bits of paper and minimal embellishments until I liked the foundation. Later, I found photos to include and added title work, journaling and more embellishments to come up with the finished layouts below.

RIGHT NOW | This layout has some journaling about a few things going on right now in my life (mostly good). Things are changing. While it seems like the changes are happening quickly, at times it doesn't seem quick enough, so I documented some thoughts on this layout. I'll share more details here soon. 

The photo of me was taken at Joshua Tree National Park, during a recent visit with my sister and her kids. I have a whole album on that trip in progress! 

HOME | You may recall seeing this image in my June Project Life. I love the photo so much that I decided to do a layout about it. The little arrow is pointing to a grouping of trees, which is my childhood home and still my parents home. I was able to snap this photo on my phone after departing from Omaha Eppley, as I returned from my visit (back in May/June). My journaling reflects a few sentiments about their farm.

I'm really happy with both of the final layouts and love that I used scraps and leftover papers to create them. I'm looking forward to creating more cards and pages with the Sassafras scraps from my July Project Life (images coming soon)!

Project Life - June Part 2

I'm back with the last installment of Project Life for the month of June (part 1 can be found here). I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that I can share at least some of July before the month ends! Until then, let's rewind a few weeks and take a peek at June and see just how wonderful of a month it really was!

As shown clockwise, starting in the upper left-hand corner:

• Mom & me relaxing in the pool
• Yummy bowls of food from Genghis Grill
• Volunteering at St. Mary's Food Bank
• My "Isn't it Grand?" digital layout published in the July/August Creating Keepsakes
• Bugsy and Baxter guarding the printer
• A blurb about making the Top 25 in the Digital Design Contest

As shown clockwise, starting in the upper left-hand corner:

• The weekly forecast taken on June 21, the first offical day of summer
• Bugsy chilling on the patio
• A few images taken on a work trip to San Diego
• A pretty photo taken during approach into SAN
• My "Duluth 2012" mini album published in Create: Mini Albums Summer 2012 edition
• A blurb about making the Top 10 in the Digital Design Contest

As shown clockwise, starting in the upper left-hand corner:

• Tracking Missy, Caden and Kylee's flight from OMA to PHX
• Fireworks at Chase Field on my birthday
• A story about my birthday celebration which included lunch at RA Sushi, happy hour at Coach & Willies and watching the Cubs vs. Dbacks (my two favorite teams)
• Snapshots of Nate & I at the game
• A shot of Chase Field during the game
• A photo sent to me of Caden and Kylee playing in our pool (while I was at work)

As shown clockwise, starting in the upper left-hand corner:

• Some journaling about my vacation to Laguna Beach and Joshua Tree National Forest with Missy, Caden and Kylee
• Our route map for our road trip to Laguna Beach
• A group photo, taken from a lovely lookout point near the main beach
• Random snapshots of our second day in Laguna Beach
• A gorgeous, California sunset
• Having fun in the Pacific on Day one

In summary, June was one AMAZING month! I saw my family in Nebraska, enjoyed a visit from my mom, took a trip to San Diego, was published twice, placed in the top 10 of the designer discovery contest, celebrated my birthday, enjoyed a visit from my sister, niece and nephew and took a road trip with them to California. Plus, all the other wonderful little memories in between. Whew! I love it when life is this good :)

See more of my Project Life album here or read more about my approach to the project here.

Use It or Lose It: Cards

Each month as I complete Project Life, I find myself left with lots of pretty paper scraps and embellishments, all of which I have a hard time parting with. After a recent purging session in my studio, I vowed to never collect these leftovers again, but instead actually USE them to make something pretty (similar to what I did with my October Afternoon scraps a while back). Hence, the use it or lose it title.

I used the Crate Storyteller line for my yet to be shared June Project Life. I purchased the 6x6 paper pad, some 12x12 papers, border stickers, and other decorative stickers. In the end, I had quite a bit more leftovers than I had anticipated. 

I set out to create, with no rhyme or reason, other than using up my scraps. In the end, I ended up with 11 cards and two layouts (which I'll share later). As you scroll, you'll notice a trend on each card - a long strip on the left, a smaller paper strip (or two) on the bottom and a tag. I repeated the same basic pattern on each card, making the process simple, sweet and fairly quick!

Here are four birthday themed cards:

Here are two basic greeting cards + one unthemed card:

And lastly, four additional unthemed cards (without wording), that I can add title work to when I need something more specific, such as a "congratulations" or "miss you" card:

The woodgrain cards were cut from double-sided 12x12 papers to an A4 size, then decorated. All of the other cards were all made from 6x6 papers, which I wrapped around white cardstock that I had cut to A4 size.

I love how they all turned out, and will certainly be using the same design for future cards. I'm also quite happy with the fact that these were all made using papers that would have otherwise gone to the recycle bin. It was certainly a fun way to use it, before I had to lose it!

Project Life - June Part 1

As July is slips away, I find myself sitting here looking at the wonderful craziness that was my month of June. I cannot believe how far away it all feels. There were so many good times and memories that, even with all the detail I included in Project Life, doesn't come close to capturing it all.

For June, I selected Crate Paper's Storyteller line. I love the colors and so many of the patterned papers. Plus, with a name like Storyteller, how can you NOT use it for Project Life? :)

Here's a glimpse of the beginning of June. 

Here is some closer detail.


Highlights include more photos from my trip to Nebraska (that weren't included in May since my trip overlapped into June):

• A birthday shopping trip I took my niece, Kylee, on for her 6th birthday. Let me tell you, that little girl tore up Charming Charlies and walked away with loads of goodies!
• A photo of my mom and nephew, taken at my Grandma Nanny's farm (you can see the photo here on a layout).
• My First Class seat on the way home..holla!
• My sister's and me on the river, during an airboat ride.
• An aerial view of my parents house, taken after departure out of Omaha Eppley. I was fun to fly out and look down on where I grew up!

Highlights on this page include:

• A photo of all three of our "critters" who piled up on me while I was napping. A nice surprise to wake up to!
• Cupcakes my mom and I got from Ollie Cakes (Cupcake War winner). I had carrot cake. It was amazing.
• A photo of my Grandma, Nanny, and me taken at her farm.
• Kylee and my Mom having a dual birthday celebration at my parent's house.
• My mom and I ate the Phoenix Art Museum, during her visit in the beginning of June.
• Lunch for my mom and me, from Short Leash Hot Dogs during a stop a Food Truck Fridays, after the art musuem.

I'll be back soon to share the remainder of June and, hopefully, begin sharing July before the month is over. Hopefully soon, I can get back to the Project Life approach that worked so well for me in the beginning and make it work for me, once again. This should make sharing Project Life with you a bit more relevant and timely. Thanks for stopping by!

See more of my Project Life album here or read more about my approach to the project here.

Circle Wall Art

For some reason, I just haven't been in the mood to scrapbook - digitally or traditionally. I partially blame Project Life, because as I continue to capture life there, I don't feel the need to make as many 12x12 spreads. But, I'm really ok with that, because even though I'm creating fewer layouts, I'm capturing life in more detail than I ever have.

When it came time to create my assignments for JessicaSprague.com, I still wasn't feeling the scrapbooking vibe (even though I have 1000+ photos from a recent vacation to Laguna Beach and Joshua Tree National Forest). So I turned where every other creative soul turns for inspiration (and to kill time), Pinterest. Through a series of clicks, I ended up at a blog called Reduce, Reuse, Redecorate. It's a blog after my own heart, focusing on creative projects following the three "Rs" (reduce, reuse, recycle). 

While browsing through the content, I was drawn to this circular paint chip wall art. The original was created using paint swatches, but I instantly saw a fun way to use a digital kit. I opened up Photoshop and started creating circles until it ended up with this: 

I wanted my image to be as bright and colorful as the inspiration piece, so I turned to KI Memories Pop Culture kit (an oldie but goodie from it's original paper days). With a lot of placing, clipping, fills and the addition of a texture layer, I came up with this:

Click here for product credits and links

Surprisingly, this project took me less than an hour to create. I'm an extremely slow scrapper (both digitally and with paper), so I was quite pleased to be done with a project so quickly. I am also quite pleased with the bright, fun final product!

I'm going to have my image printed as an 8x10 and frame it up to hang in my guest bedroom. I can't wait to add that extra pop of color to the walls!

Duluth Mini Album | Published

While I was cropping with my girlfriends a few weeks back, I noticed a copy of Create: Mini Albums Idea Book on the shelf. As I began to flip through the pages, I realized this was the issue my Duluth mini album was published in! For some reason, I was thinking the issue was out in August, so I was completely surprised to see my mini on those glossy pages.

You can find my album on pages 14-17, along with a how-to on how to make the sewn, ring-bound cover. Here's a peek of the spread:

As you can see, I used a ton of the original Amy Tangerine line from American Crafts. I'm excited because the newest Amy Tangerine summer CHA line should be out just in time for me to create my album for our upcoming trip to Duluth!

If you'd like to pick up a copy of Create: Mini Albums Idea Book and can't find one locally, you can purchase it here from Northridge. I've added a link in my sidebar along with a link to current issue of Creating Keepsakes where you can find one of my digital pages published. 

I've never had two projects published at the same time...it's kind of exciting :) Thanks for stopping by!

June JessicaSprague.com Creative Team Projects

The month of June came and went in the blink of an eye! I find it amazing just how quickly the summer months pass by. I have barely even began assembling my Project Life spreads for June, but am looking forward to sharing photos from my mom's visit, my birthday, my trip to San Diego, a visit from my sister, niece and nephew and our trip to Laguna Beach and Joshua Tree National Park. Yes, June was a FUN month!

Until then, I have my June JessicaSprague.com Creative Team projects to share with you. Most of the products used are brand new to the shop. As always, you can click the link under each layout to see a full product list (with links to purchase the product).

Products: Jodie Lee French Flowers 2 & Home Sewn Papers and Embellishments. Click here for a full list of credits. 

FAMILY | I love this photo of Caden & Mom posing for a quick snapshot during a nice impromptu gathering at Nanny's farm, during my visit. It was a day filled with family and lots of fun. Post processing edits were done in Photoshop + Totally Rad Labs.

Products: Jodie Lee Vintage Collage Papers. Click here for a full list of credits. 

WINDOW SEAT | One perk of living in AZ is the abundance of sun and beautiful weather, which allows for open windows throughout the year. While open window season has passed until probably about October, I still get a kick looking at the random photos I found on my phone documenting the furkids sitting by the window of our studio, keeping an eye on the neighborhood. It makes me long for open windows and hanging out in the studio.

Products: Echo Park Sweet Day Collection. Click here for a full list of credits. 

EVERYDAY HAPPINESS | One cool photo of one cool cat. That's our Baxter - the most photogenic cat on earth. And, seriously, those eyes.

Products: Pink Paislee Happy Now Collection. Click here for a full list of credits. 

CATTING AROUND | Baxter seems to be the star of the month. This time he's prowling around the yard, probably looking for a lizard or bird to chase or for that perfect spot to relax. I love how his eyes seem to match the sagauro (cactus).

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by!