ABCs of Scrapbooking~Blog Hop

Welcome to the ABC's of Scrapbooking Blog Hop . . . what a wonderful way to show our love of scrapbooking! Today we are expressing our love to showing off our memories!!!!  Well hop along with us and see all the wonderful layouts these talented women are displaying.
 
 


We have great blog candy to one lucky winner- $20 in free files over at http://scrappingwithlisadesigns.com.  All you have to do is follow my blog, the design team blog at http://scrappingwithlisadesignsdt.blogspot.com/ and leave a comment on all blogs. This shouldn't take long to do as we only have five incredibly talented ladies participating.
 
 
If you have just stopped for a visit today -- welcome and glad you came but I wouldn't want you to miss a single layout along the way and would want you to start at the beginning with Lisa at Scrapping With Lisa (http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/). If you arrived from Anita~ http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com then you are following the ABC's of Scrapbooking.
 
The Lineup:
 


1. Lisa - http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/


2. Anita~ http://www.anitaandbugs.blogspot.com  


3. Lisa W.~ http://mycraftyspaces.blogspot.com


4. Michele ~ http://michelescraftroom.blogspot.com/


5. Linda ~ http://www.lindascreativity.blogspot.com
 

My project today is a one page layout with 3 photo frames and journaling tags.  I must admit, I don’t scrapbook much.  Infact, I’m intimated by scrapbooking. All elements/embellishments/pictures coming together to form a large cohesive work of art…..well my canvas of comfort typically lies with cards and tags….but ALAS, this isn’t a “ABCs of Cardmaking Challenge” is it?  So, rather than go to my well used stacks~ Of which most of you are familiar, lol, I decided to go to my “What the hell was I thinking when I bought this” stack.  We all have one….great finds at the time, but then you realize that it’s a scrapbooking kit…and while all the elements can be used on cards, altered items, etc….they all just fit with scrapbooking.  Well, my challenge to myself, within the Blog Hop Challenge, was to actually create a layout using ONLY the materials provided in the kit I chose.  These kits that I have found are awesome….They are from “The Girlie Paperie” and all have a vintage flair, most with very feminine undertones ~that style describes me perfectly.  By using a kit, I wanted to show beginning scrapbookers that you REALLY CAN make a layout from preassembled kits (not to be mistaken for preassembled pages).  The kits contain several sheets of double sided paper, all coordinating, ribbon, buttons, brads, tags, die cuts, journaling tags, flowers…..etc.  The page you will see literally only required me to use my own adhesive.  My experience with scrapbooking has been the intimidating time factor, the many many elements, etc.  Scrapbooks can be very elaborate….but for an intimidated beginner…a kit like this may be a good place to start.  As you begin recognizing space and pattern fits, along with themes and cohesiveness, you can slowly add in other elements, such as embossing, stamping, inking, distressing, supplementing with your own embellishments, etc.  I think this is a great way to be less intimidated by something out of the gate, and then flourish once you create a beautiful page with none of the painstaking work it takes.  What first discouraged me about scrapbooking was how elementary my first layout looked….I didn’t know what die cuts were, I didn’t know techniques like sanding/distressing/inking….I still had anxiety attacks at trimming pictures down!  It didn’t help that I was cropping with EXPERIENCED scrapbookers who had their paper separated into drawers by “themes” and had every embellishment you could think of.  No kidding….that crop session was my first and last for awhile.  I just wasn’t as good as these gals, and there  a huge learning curve.  So, for those of you who want to scrapbook and are unsure of what to do, don’t have the time to cut, trim, stamp, emboss, etc.  I made this page from The Girlie Paperie Vintage Floral Kit.  This kit retails for $20 and you receive 6 double-sided stock weight pages and ribbon, chipboard letters, flowers, stamp/postcard/tag diecuts/buttons/brads/flowers/etc.   Everything you need to complete at least 6 single page layouts, adding only your own chosen adhesive and …voila!  You have a beautifully, classy page that you can literally assemble in a short time.  Knowing products like this are out there, you can begin slowly, while still having a great, non-preschool looking page (unlike my first!) and then slowly increase your comfort level to creating your own die cuts, including other finishing and embellishing options, etc. ….here is my simple, yet non-stress inducing layout complete from a “kit.

!BLOG CANDY ALERT!

Before I send you on your way....I have a little blog candy for you! To be eligible, you must follow my blog, leave a comment under this post, and tell me the name of my most used/favorite paper stack.  The winner will win one of these awesome kits from The Girlie Paperie.  I will take all comments with the correct answer and enter them into a random selector.  I'll announce the winner on the blog, no later than 12:00 Noon EST, Wednesday, May 23rd, but please also leave your email address so I can inform you privately.  I thank you for stopping and checking out my project and must send you on your way to http://michelescraftroom.blogspot.com/.  Please come back soon for more great projects.



Until Next Time~ Craft Happy!

Lisa Woodward