I spent the last weekend doing a good purge of my scrapbook supplies. I’m getting rid of over 150 sheets of patterned paper, 50+ yards of ribbon, and a ton of old dried out rubons. I’m even thinking of scaling down my 12×12 cardstock stash.  Things I love about a good purging session it reminds me of what I have, and gives me a chance to do a what was I thinking. (I had 3 sheets of BG Color Me Silly Frog paper, really?)  I cleaned out my scraps, putting back almost full sheets of paper, tossing pieces smaller then 2×2 and making it so I can actually see what scraps I have.  It gives me a chance to reorganize a few things that are in dire need of help.  I love lined paper for journaling. So I pulled all the “journaling paper” I’ve bought and it’s now all sorted together rather then with the rest of the manufacturer as well I’m sure a white grid from Bella Blvd. will go just fine with some American Crafts or Daisy D’s.

I’m going to be traveling with my husband and some of his friends in a couple of weeks and wanted a good book I could read. I used to own Ali Edward’s The Designer’s Eye books, and loved them. They were well loved with doggie ears, flags, and notes written here and there. Over the years with moves they’ve gotten lost. I decided I’d love to read them again. I found them on Amazon last night and I’m looking forwards to them arriving.  I’m going to start looking for Clean and Simple by Cathy Zielske as I remember her books really helped me define my style and I’d love to read them again, but again they were lost.  Then I’ll start looking for other crafting books to read to help me with my design and telling the story. Any suggestions?

I’ve been scrapbooking on and off for 8 years now and I’ve found there is one section I tend to stay away from Stamping. It has always intimidated me. Sure I own a small set of stamps and ink pads, but do I use them no. I use my Autumn Leaves journaling stamps, but that’s about it. I’d love to stamp more. Nichol Magouirk does wonderful things with stamps and it really makes me want to start stamping. She makes it look so easy and doesn’t make it look over complicated which is what I always seem to think of when I see stamping. I’m even considering signing up for the Ali Edwards monthly stamp club starting in June. I love the idea of adding stamped colored words into my journaling and highlighting the important parts of the story. Since I mainly handwrite my journaling a few choice words in a bold color would be a great pop to the page.

And of couse a post wouldn’t be complete without a  layout.  This layout just highlights the Generation Gap bridge at Pop Century and what the future holds for the other side.  (it’s been announced to be a new resort having nothing to do with decades)  Products used: Bazzill, American Crafts, Bella Blvd, and Silhouette

Thanks for reading and happy crafting! <3 Ann

It’s been a while since I shared a layout, tool, or really anything here. I really want to be a better blogger, and I feel I did well for about a month and then I failed. Right now I’m staring at a piece of cardstock, a banner I’ve made with some Echo Park Splash paper and yellow twine, and a photo that I don’t think really works.  Since my last post about the Silhouette (which by the way I still LOVE! and cannot recommend enough) I have purchased a subscription to their online store and have bought tons of great shapes. I’ve gotten my hands on tons of twine (why I waited until 2 weeks ago to buy some, the stuff is awesome), I made my mother-in-law a set of cards for Mother’s Day, and bought the new Echo Park Splash line, as well as Dots & Stripes. Both sets look great, and I can’t wait to  use them in the future.  For now a couple of layouts to showcase what I’ve been doing recently

.            Products used: All Cardstock Bazzill Image: PP: Pink Paislee, Twine: Jillibean, Stickers: American Crafts; Best Man: PP: 7Gypsies, Stickers: Jillibean, Title: Silhouette (font from internet)

Thanks for reading & Happy Crafting <3 Ann