среда, 30 июля 2014 г.

Scrapbooking on a Budget - secrets 16 - 18!

Hello friends! It's been forever since my last Scrapbooking on a Budget post. Today I want to share a few of my favorite secrets! They are all related to the same topic, but are important enough to be highlighted separately.


Secret # 16: Use your scraps.

We all like new products and new papers, but once in a while it's good to create a page or a few cards using just what you can find in your scraps. At some point all of those papers were new and loved. Another interesting fact is that since all of the papers in your scraps are cut into various pieces, they may actually guide you in a slightly new direction while designing your page.

A few weeks ago, I challenged myself to make a page using only scraps and here's what I got.


I picked a color combination and started pulling out pieces of paper that matched it. Even my background yellow paper is a combination of two pieces - it has a space in between, but I knew my photos will cover the space.

Some of these papers are older - like the one with white dots on green from the Scenic Route paper company that doesn't even exist anymore; and some were bought on my last trip to LSS - like that gray diagonal stripe by October Afternoon, but was already used for another project earlier.


Here is a close up for those who likes to read the story and check out the details. ( I just realized I haven't stitched anything on the page... that's really rare for me :)


Another example of using scraps is a set of five cards I shared last week - yes, all of them were made using scrap pieces of paper. That's actually one of my favorite way to use up some of the leftovers because cards don't need big pieces of paper.

Secret #17: Make your scraps easy accessible!

That's a big one. It made a huge difference for me when I changed the storage solution for my scraps. I used to keep them in colored plastic envelopes -


but honestly, as soon as I placed anything there I lost interest and value of that item pretty much immediately and I never, seriously never wanted to pick up an envelope and start searching for a paper unless I specifically new what I was looking for. Even though in the beginning it seemed like a perfect solution, I hated taking everything from an envelope to look for something I might use.

After getting a new scrap table, I changed the storage solution and that changed the way I look and treat my scraps today!


I have a long and skinny drawer right in front of me. I placed three lids from old decorative boxed that measure about 6x10 each, and sorted my scraps in three categories:

1. papers in blue and green colors
2. pink and grey, and some purple (I don't have a lot of those)
3. yellow, orange, red and brown.

I have a separate little drawer full of white scraps of paper, because I use a lot of whites.

Now, it's easier to pull out my drawer and check if I have something there before going to my new stash. But there's one more thing to it - what do you consider a scrap? Since my boxes are only 6 inches wide, anything larger than 6 inch, I keep with regular or new paper on my paper rack.

Secret #18: Any paper larger than half the original size keep with new supplies. 

This way your paper rack will always look fuller and will not make you go and spend even more money on new supplies! I never consider a piece of paper scrap if I only cut three inches off of it. If it doesn't fit into my drawer - it is kept with the new papers (unless I don't really like it anymore, then my daughter gets it).

I hope you could find some of these tips helpful. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy scrapping!

See you soon!

среда, 23 июля 2014 г.

A set of cards...

Good morning! I'm back, a little later than expected, because we decided to repaint yet another room in our home, which takes time and energy out pretty fast! Hopefully it will be worth the efforts after everything is done.

I've made a few cards last week that I wanted to share with you today. I had a lot of fun playing with colors, patterns, flowers and gems...

First one has a green theme. I just love these flowers! They make a great statement on a card. Used a decorative brad in the center of the flower.


Number two is in blue tones. This one is a little more contemporary. It has an envelope that can hold a note or some cash if you wish...


Number three is in pink with flowers, ribbon, rhinestones and hand cut banners - which made me want to make it a Birthday card.


And number four is a scraplift from a card I found on Pinterest. I really liked this simple yet elegant design, so I just copied it in different colors and added a ribbon and enamel dots.




So, that was one of the productive days last week. I really hope that soon we'll get everything back in place and organized, so I can start creating again... but right now it a big mess in all three rooms upstairs, since we had to move out all the furniture from one room, cluttering the other two.

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your last week of July! And I hope to see you back here soon!

Have a great day!

понедельник, 21 июля 2014 г.

Still enjoying SUMMER...

Hi! Last week my kids spend five days in camp and I happened to be all five days in the kitchen at the camp. It was fun and exhausting at the same time. At least the weather happened to be very nice - not to hot with a few short showers.

Well, a week away from home resulted in another not very productive week in scrapbooking. I did find time to make a few cards... and still have a LO sitting on my desk.. and I'm about ready to share a small project we did in one of our bathrooms. So, hopefully, being home this week I can share all of that!

Just wanted to pop in for a moment, but promise to be back with something real to share :)

See you soon!

среда, 9 июля 2014 г.

We are here...

Мы здесь :) У нас лето... Мы никуда не собираемся пропадать, всё также любим скрап но просто в даный момент лето любим больше и поэтому наслаждаемся каждой минуткой этой прекрасной поры года! А для тех кто интересуется, пару слов из нашего настоящего...

Вот например на прошлой неделе собирали наши любимые ягоды...


А потом из них пекли пироги...



Делала по рецепту которым когда то давно поделилась свекровь.


Наблюдаем как растёт наш огород. Если его огородом назвать можно. Он у нас буквально размером метр на два, но зато уже собрали свой первый урожай!


Много путешествуем. Вот например фото с прошлой недели из соседнего города. Мы всегда получаем огромное удовольствие посещая это место! Здесь совершенно не редкость вот такой вид транспорта...


Поедаем то что нам совершенно противопоказано... Вот как нас сестричка вкусно угощала! Спасибо тебе Алёна!


Она сама делает вот такую вкуснятину из своего собственного мёда!




Наслаждаемся свободным временем...


Ловим рыбу... Хотя не совсем так. Родственники наловили и нам повезло что они не захотели её чистить, поэтому они подарили нам. Она правда была совсем крошечная, но очень вкусная!


Один из самых любимых моментов лета это когда старшие девочки что то мастерят на кухне! Для меня это всегда праздник. Вот часть из того что Алёнка приготовила сегодня...


А также... делаем ремонт в туалете (надеюсь показать фото до и после), работаем, готовим деток в лагерь, отдыхаем, загораем, читаем книжки, отсыпаемся и иногда скрапим (сделала новую страничку, но это тоже отдельный пост).

Спасибо всем кто посещает! Обещаю скоро вернуться а пока всем хорошего дня и прекрасного настроения!

До встречи!

вторник, 1 июля 2014 г.

What a coincidence!

Good morning! There was another part I wanted to share from our trip to FL. This one is scrapbooking related though! Well, two days before we left, I was listening to PRT episode and one of the guests on the show shared how much she loves her local scrapbook store. Surprisingly, this lady was talking about St.Pete, FL! You can imagine my excitement, knowing that we will be in St.Pete in just two days!


One of the days, while my little one was taking a nap, my DH let me go enjoy the time at a place that makes me happy! This store was on the opposite side of the city where we stayed, and in about twenty minutes I was in downtown St.Pete.



If I haven't heard about that store online, passing by the store I probably would've not realized all the treasured hidden here! Whim So Doodle - that's the name of this awesome place. Yes, I was like a kid in the candy isle... I took my time to go through every little corner, checking every piece of paper there was in the store!



I was surprised how much new stuff they carried! I found SO many items that I actually had in my cart in one of the online stores! Seeing these things in person makes all the difference. Some of the items I really wanted I ended up not getting, and others that didn't grab my attention online, I totally fell in love with!



Two hours went by like five minutes... I promised myself not to buy the whole store, but leaving empty-handed was impossible. I ended up with just a little bit of new and exciting things to add to my stash of favorite things.


All of these papers are double sided, but I forgot to snap a picture of the other side - there are some awesome designs as well. Some of these papers and embellishments already got their way to a layout or a card...


I used to keep my favorite items for a "special" project, but time has taught me that it doesn't work! Favorite becomes not-so-favorite if I keep it for too long. Now I work with what I love right away and that makes me happy!

Thank you so much for stopping by and if you are planning to visit St.Pete in the near future, make sure you find time to visit Whim So Doodle - you will not regret it! Have a great day!

See you soon!