Talkin' Croppin' with the Paperclipping Roundtable

Leave it to Paperclipping to get me to blow the dust off this neglected blog of mine! I've been an avid listener of the Paperclipping Roundtable since they started, but this week I got to see things from the other side when Noell invited me to be a guest on the show to discuss one of my favorite pastimes, going to crops.

I had a blast talking with Noell, Izzy, and the other guests, Nancy and Ruth. We ended up discussing why we like to go to crops, how we pack for crops, how productive we are at home versus at crops, how to start your own crop, plus a lot more!

I mentioned that most of the crops I go to are at the Papercraft Clubhouse in Westbrook, Connecticut. That place really is my home away from home! If you are ever in the area be sure to check them out! I don't have a vested interest in the store other than I want it to stay open for a long, long time! Sadly, local scrapbook stores are a dying breed.

Cropping at the Clubhouse, March 2014. Photo courtesy of Rosie Vazquez

If you want to listen to the show, head on over to Paperclipping. If you've never listened to the Roundtable before, you are in for a treat (and you really should go back and listen to their earlier episodes too!). If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them here or on the Paperclipping Roundtable page.

Thanks for stopping by!

LOAD Day 1

LOAD1, a photo by beccaf1970 on Flickr.

Thought I would shake the dust off this neglected ol' blog and actually post a layout. How nice that Flickr lets me share a picture to it so easily!

I made this page for Day 1 of Lain Ehman's Layout a Day (LOAD) Challenge. We were challenged to scrap a "less than perfect" photo, so I chose this oldie but goodie featuring me and my brother with our babysitter's son back in '78. I'm really happy with how it turned out! It came together fairly quickly, as I was basing it off a layout from Debbie Hodge's Scrapbook Coach Class (2x2) over at Get it Scrapped.

Counterfeit Kit Club Blog Hop

Hi everyone! Thanks for stopping by! If you are visiting as part of the Counterfeit Kit Club Blog Hop, welcome! You should have found your way over here via Leslie's blog. If you are one of my regular followers, be sure to check out the other counterfeiter's creations...the full blog hop list is posted on  theCounterfeit Kit Club Blog.

This month, we were challenged to use our kit and be inspired by a farmer's market...by the displays, colors, textures, produce and over all feel of the place. I took the challenge quite literally and created a page featuring photos of my Community Sponsored Agriculture (CSA) share. This was my first year participating in the CSA, and even though we're only two weeks in, I'm loving it!

I can't tell you how much I love that pink woodgrain paper! I think I need to buy some more. Those little wooden hearts also make me happy!

When I was creating this page, I realized I didn't include any green patterned paper in my kit, so I stuck with the pink, blue, and yellow I did have, and added in some green accents (the word stickers and buttons) to tie  in with the green of the produce.

The overall design of the page was based on Shimelle's recent Sketch to Scrapbook Page. The major difference is that I used four 4x4 photos instead of one 4x6. You can see her version over at her blog.  

How about a close up of the journaling?

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you'll visit again...I have another CKCB page I plan on sharing later in the week.

Your next stop on the hop is Angela's blog. Can't wait to see what she created!

Rinda's Summertime Photo Scavenger Hunt

It's that time of year again, time for Rinda's Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt. You can read all about it over at her blog, Gallo Organico. The challenge goes all summer long, so you can jump in whenever you want.

I start every morning with a cardio class at our town's rec center. Today I was also delivering Meals on Wheels, so while I was downtown between activities, I decided to head to the Town Green, where I knew I could find several items from Rinda's list. 

First up, item #3 (City Hall, Capitol or other similar civic building). Guilford's Town Hall is right on the Green, next to the library. Pretty, isn't it?

Next, a walk on the green led me to item #10,  A bench that is outside:

On the other side of the Green, I paid a visit to Cilantro's, one of our local coffee shops, fulfilling item #18.  Your local pub/bar, coffee house or tea shop.

While enjoying my iced coffee, I noticed that #15.  A fire truck or police car, was parked outside. 

Now fully caffeinated, I headed down to the marina in search of item #19.  A fisherman. Mostly lots of beautiful boats...

But then, success! Hopefully you can spot the fisherman (woman actually!) in the orange waders. Technically, I think they are actually off to catch lobsters, but they are close enough to fish, right?

While at the marina, I spotted more outdoor benches, put in after Hurricane Irene, and then Sandy, messed things up in this area.

Working my way back towards the green, I knew exactly what I could include for item #9.   A photo with someone or something that is clearly out of place or doesn't belong.

I've always found this building, which I lovingly refer to as the spaceship condo, completely out of place. It is sandwiched between classic New England beach homes, and just looks odd! 

Thinking my hunt was finished, I started to head to my next appointment, when I spotted something that would work for item #7.   A sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny. I had to drive around the block to reach it and snap a photo, and  along the way I encountered the other half of  #15.  A fire truck or police car, blocking traffic.

After turning around, I made it back to the sign, and snapped a quick photo from my car (I was pulled over, not driving!). I'm not sure if others will find it as amusing I do, but it made me chuckle. I guess I just don't think of the Puritans as a particularly playful bunch! Great ad for the museum though...I may have to head back downtown this weekend and check out the exhibit! 

All of these photos were taken and edited with my iPhone 4. I still need to work on capturing good shots with it...I find the quality is very hit or miss. Good thing I plan on taking Big Picture Classes Phone Photography class this summer!

I hope you enjoyed this little photographic tour of my town! 7 items down, 14 to go!

June Counterfeit Kit

It's been a while since I've played along with the ladies at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog. I love the concept, and enjoyed the kits I have made in the past, so after coming off a successful Layout a Day challenge in May, I thought I would try to keep the scrappy momentum going!

This month, the challenge was to create a kit inspired by one of these from Scraptastic.

http://www.scraptasticclub.com/collections/previous-kits/products/may-2013-after-the-storm-kit

-or-

http://www.scraptasticclub.com/collections/previous-kits/products/may-2013-destination-unknown-kit

I loved the blue, green, and yellow color combo of the first kit, but I don't have many of those colors in my stash, so I opted to counterfeit the second kit.

I didn't have any of the exact papers in my stash, other than a 6x6 pad of Amy Tangerine "Yes Please", but I had just picked up some new Echo Park "A Perfect Summer" which had a similar color scheme and overall feel. So for my papers, I went with three sheets from that collection, and mixed in some older papers by Jillibean Soup, Echo Park, and American Crafts.

A Sides

B sides

I don't use much cardstock these days, so I included just two sheets of white, one yellow, and one blue. I also threw in a bunch of scraps of patterned paper strips in shades of green, yellow, orange, and pink, as well as the entire 6x6 Yes Please pad. This should come in handy for making embellishments.

I tried not to go too crazy with embellishments, as I just don't use that many on my pages. I picked some Amy Tangerine tags, Hero Arts gems and pearls, Studio Calico wood veneer hearts and arrows, a cute glassine bag I received with an ATC swap, a roll of pink washi, and assorted summery die cuts.

I wanted some variety for my titles, so I selected an old sheet of Basic Grey (Urban Prairie) letter stickers, some old Echo Park (Country Drive), new corkboard Thickers, and some old Basic Grey chipboard letters. 

Here is the finished kit, all bagged up and ready to go! Time to make a page!

Thanks for stopping by!

LOAD 513

Last time I posted it was February, and I was in the middle of Lain Ehmann's Layout a Day (LOAD) challenge. Now it's May, and I'm once again in the midst of LOAD! 

In between posts, I have survived a nasty February blizzard, traveled to Salt Lake City for a conference,  visited family in Florida and Massachusetts, collected data for my sabbatical research project, and completed various home improvement projects (in another post I'll have to share pictures of my newly carpeted, painted, and reorganized craft space!). A productive sabbatical indeed! 

For this round of LOAD, I haven't kept up with a layout every single day, but with a scrapbooking retreat over (Inter)national scrapbooking day, and a crop this past weekend, I have already reached 31 layouts this month. I focused on scrapping pictures from my senior year of college. Enjoy the lovely early 1990's fashion choices! 

Geez, looking at all these pages, you might think all we did was party, but I promise we did study! This group of friends now includes a doctor, lawyer, and several PhDs. 

I'm Still working on how to capture good images of my layouts with my iPhone. I seem to get the best results when I place the layout on the floor and stand directly over it. The grainy pictures were probably from days when I completed the layout late at night, but needed to post it by 3 am in order for it to count toward the current day! This is the first time I've edited my photos on my iPad (using PhotoShop Express) and posted from the blogger app. I like this!

Most of the layouts here were inspired by (or directly lifted from) Shimelle's Scrapbook Remix class. Between that class and her Pretty Paper Party, I've got tons of scrappy inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by!

10 Things on the 10th: LOAD edition!

It's been a while since I've participated in Shimelle's 10 things on the 10th. But I have been a scrapping machine the past few weeks, participating in Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party class as well as Lain Ehman's LOAD 213 Challenge, and I have a lot of layouts to share!

LOAD Day 1: Wordless layout

LOAD Day 2: Scrap a perfect day

LOAD Day 3: Focus on an important but overlooked item

LOAD Day 4: Scrap a goal.  I went with a layout from Cathy Zielske's Move More, Eat Well class (that I bought last year  but never completed, or really even started!)

LOAD Day 5: Scrap your honey

LOAD Day 6: Create a page you've been putting off
Based on a sketch from Scrapbook Generation

LOAD Day 7: Create a page about nature
Based on a sketch from Shimelle's PPP class

LOAD Day 8: Prompt was to scrap a smell, but I went for sight instead...the beginning of Blizzard 2013!

LOAD Day 9: Scrap a childhood photo
Based on a sketch from Shimelle's PPP class
P.S. Has anyone ever seen this toy before? I would love to know what it was called!

LOAD Day 10 is still in progress, so here's one from last month for Shimelle's PPP class

Thanks for stopping by! To see more 10 on the 10th posts, go to Shimelle's blog.

Clean & Simple Cards 2 - Day 1

Clean & Simple Cards 2 - Day 1, a photo by beccaf1970 on Flickr.

My attempt at masking and misting. Inspired by a card by Kristina Werner from Clean and Simple Cards 2 at onlinecardclasses.com.