Scrappy like a Fox

Monday, March 14, 2011

Let Loose

My typical scrapbooking process involves lots of cutting straight lines, carefully placing letter stickers, and aligning things in straight rows with even margins, but sometimes it's super inspiring to watch someone just play on a blank canvas. Check out this sped-up video of an art journaling session with mixed media artist Julie Fei-Fan Balzer:

Art Journaling Fast Forward from Julie Balzer on Vimeo.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Two Birthday Cards in One Week?

If you know me in person, you probably know that my personal style is decidedly unfeminine, and my scrapbook pages tend to follow suit. Once in a while, in moments of weakness, I'll break down and buy flower embellishments or pretty floral papers, but these things rarely end up in my albums. It may be because they would look really strange paired with my very non-feminine pictures, but in general, I'm much more comfortable sticking with classic black, solids, stripes, and graphic patterns.

Sometimes, though, I use cardmaking as an excuse to make something girly. The sappy sentimentality of flowers and lace and bows somehow seems more palatable to me when I'm working on a small space with no photos. And since I don't have a large stash of frilly products, card kits make it really easy for me to create something pretty without trying too hard. I snatched up this particular card kit from My Mind's Eye on Peachy Cheap a while back, and it had just what I needed to recreate a version of this beautiful card I spotted in the August 2010 issue of Cards magazine by Belinda Chang Langner.

I just loved the look of that inset circle and the ribbon going around the card front. Visually interesting, but so simple to do with just a circle punch and some foam adhesive.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Blowing the Dust Off

Not off my scrapbook supplies. They get plenty of use. Blowing the dust off this little blog, though. My biggest roadblock to blogging about papercrafting is my aversion to photographing my pages and cards and actually transferring the pictures to my computer. I hate to let this space keep going to waste, though, so hopefully, I can get better at sharing.

Here's the card I made for my nephew's second birthday next week:

Supplies used: paper (DCWV), border punch (EK Success), gems (Target dollar spot), die cut (QuicKutz), embellishment (ki memories), white pen (Uniball), chalk ink (ColorBox)
Has anyone else noticed that birthday-themed products are popping up everywhere lately? From Pink Paislee and House of 3's Soiree line to Basic Grey's Life of the Party and more. It seems funny that something that happens to everyone every single year can suddenly become trendy. This is definitely the time to stock up on card supplies for the whole year.