Memories Made #22 Scrapbooking Process Video: Hello

I feel much more refreshed after taking off a few weeks from my weekly "Memories Made" scrapbooking process videos. Sometimes you need to take some time to make memories before you can record memories. It was a great time spent with family and catching up on other work items. Hopefully you got the chance to browse through some of the other videos in this series that you might have missed while you were waiting. Be sure to subscribe to my Youtube channel HERE for all my latest videos so you don't miss out!

This Week's Memory: My Journey to Get Healthy

This year my husband and I have been working on getting healthy. We've been eating better and he's been running a LOT (including one rain-soaked marathon). I wanted to document my pride in my own accomplishments, even though I struggle doing layouts about myself. It might be hard to get in front of the camera, but take a few "selfies" now and then to document where you are in your life. This photo was taken with my heavy Nikon camera (talk about some arm strength). But a phone camera would be easier.

Here is the layout I created:

This Week's Technique: Pleating Ribbon

While we as scrapbookers have loads and loads of paper available, I also like the feel and look of ribbon on a layout. For this layout I incorporated some black striped ribbon and some coral ribbon from May Arts. I pleated the coral ribbon using a stapler. You can see the pleated ribbon in the photos below.

You can watch the start-to-finish video for this project HERE on my Youtube channel or below:



Below I've suggested the products I used in this layout, as well as, some additional products you can use to reproduce the same look and feel of the layout. Search by "RIBBON" or "TRIM" in the 2Peas store for some additional ideas for dressing up your layouts.

Suggested Products (click photos or text for product information):

Three Ways You Might Be a Craft Snob and How to Fix It

If you cook, sew, paint, scrapbook, take photos, make things, renew old things, tinker, etc., then you are a crafter. There's a crafter inside of all of us. Since our early days of Kindergarten paper and glue, we've been crafting works of art. And we've been hard at work making the world a more beautiful place. And while we're a fairly supportive group of people, we sometimes become what I would call "Craft Snobs."

What is a craft snob? How do you tell if you've fallen victim to craft snobbery? Read below for the symptoms of a craft snob and how to best fix this crafting ailment:

You might be a craft snob, if you've ever said "I will NEVER try that [insert craft type here]."

This philosophy comes, I believe, from fear. I remember the first time I learned to tole paint. I had bought bottles upon bottles of acrylic paint, all the brushes I could ever possibly need, a book to instruct me on how to complete the project, and the wooden project I wanted to paint. I figured if my girlfriends could do it, then so could I. Oh how wrong I was. I tried and tried to conquer the craft, but I just couldn't get it. That left me with the fear that I would always be incapable of certain types of crafts, and frankly some of them I've always been too afraid to try.

But talents lay hidden beneath the surface just waiting to be discovered. I never knew that I could play the piano until I took lessons, practiced and practiced and then realized that although I struggle to memorize pieces, I can sight read almost anything. Who knew?

You don't know what you're capable of until you try. Refrain from using the phrase, "I will NEVER . . ." and replace it with "I just might . . ." leaving the door open for the opportunity to try new crafts. Give yourself permission to try (and fail) at something new, allowing yourself the chance to find a talent and interest you never knew you had.

You might be a craft snob, if you've ever laughed out loud at what someone else has created.

Hopefully you've never truly laughed at someone else's crafting attempts. With all the hours an artist puts into a project, they certainly deserve at the very least our respect for their dedication to their art. But perhaps you've found yourself asking, "What is THAT?" or "Why would anyone create something like that?"

If this describes you, then you might be missing out on something special. People that create items or projects that you might define as "crazy" have something you might not: an eye for trends and a heart for risk taking. For over a year now, I've been fighting the gold accent trend in home decor. Growing up with brassy gold knobs and fixtures throughout my house, the color seemed "old" and "dated" to me. But gold is everywhere, and as I started to bring some gold accents back into my house I realized the warmth that is inherit within golden items. How could I have missed that?

Think about trends that are hot right now that you might not have embraced even a year ago: chevrons, pallet repurposing, or even hipster style. Can you think of modern and current design without these items?

Instead of laughing at or dismissing a style, or craft, or project, think how you can appreciate or embrace the item. While not everything will appeal to you, you might discover something you come to love.

You might be a craft snob, if you only embrace one craft.

You are the discerning crafter. You don't have time for extras in your life. You learned one craft and you've been loyal ever since. You don't mess around. You get down to business and get things done.

But what are you missing? Are you in danger of becoming a one-hit wonder? Are you branching out enough to feed your own creativity?

Don't neglect your creative soul in the pursuit of perfecting your one true craft. You may find yourself outdated and bored with your own art. Challenge yourself to try new crafts. Take classes. Meet other crafters. GROW! Sometimes even just dabbling in other crafts helps your personal passion grow in new ways. Be open to these opportunities.

Craft snobs are not born, they are made. Which means they can be unmade. Encourage others' pursuits and styles. Learn to have both a critical and discerning eye but an open mind. Let go of your "high brow" approach and embrace all that the crafting world has to offer. You'll soon find your snobbery falling away and your creative soul healed.

Product Focus #28: Chipboard Scrapbooking Products

Welcome to this week's Product Focus. In these weekly blog posts, I'll share scrapbooking supplies or a product trend I'm particularly drawn to, and then I'll share some ways you can use the products in several project samples. I'll discuss tips and tricks for using the products, share some of my favorite products from that product line, and then I'll open it up for any questions you might have. I'd also love to hear your reviews or uses for the product type I focus on each week. This is a chance for you to pull out products you already own and play with them or for you to discover new products you might not yet have tried. 

This week I wanted to share some ways you can use chipboard elements on your layouts. Chipboard elements come in raw form, meaning you can paint, ink or alter them how you'd like. But they also come as stickers or pieces already decorated that you can easily stick on your layouts. They are thin in nature and don't add a lot of bulk to your projects, but they are also dimensional and add depth to your projects as well.

Here are some items I would consider when looking through your stash for chipboard products.  If you don't already have items like these, consider adding some of them to your cart the next time you shop at 2Peas. You can search by "CHIPBOARD" in the 2Peas store to find additional ideas.

Below you will find a gallery of projects that include chipboard products.

Idea #1: Create a border or scene with the elements.

Source: 2Peas

This projects was part of my 2Peas "Memory Keeping Monday" series. You can watch the start-to-finish video HERE or below.

Idea #2: Layer Items Together.

Source: Two Peas

Idea #3: Create a grid with chipboard frames.

Source: Two Peas

Additional methods to consider include altering raw chipboard with stamps, or framing photos with chipboard frames. Chipboard is so readily available that you can choose whatever you'd like for this product type. Do you have a favorite way to incorporate these items into your layouts? I'd love to hear how in the comments section below. 

Tales of a Tract Home: Cottage Luxe Master Bedroom Makeover

I warned my husband. I told him it would happened. I knew that it would. And it did! As soon as I got my Living Room all finished up, I knew that I would want to move onto another room. I thought it would be our family, dining, kitchen combination; but it's such a big project and I just couldn't wait until we had some time to discuss how to update that area of the house. So somewhere in the back of my mind, my inner designer started dreaming.

I think it got stronger this week with all the post-CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) stress settling in. I knew I needed an outing to preserve my sanity so I took a few hours and visited some of my favorite haunts. I do NOT suggest doing this when you're in need of a change. Ignore that little itch in the back of your head telling to you to head to Target if you're not quite ready to embrace change. Because once you step inside those sliding glass doors, it's all over!

And it was.

I've been wanting to change up my tan bedroom for a while now, but it really hadn't crossed my mind to do it now. (And didn't we already have this "I need a tan intervention" conversation with my Living Room? Clearly it's reached epidemic proportions.) But I didn't want to start from scratch, and I believe in using items I already have here at home in order to save both money and time.  And I have tan bedding. So I knew that I wanted to somehow incorporate that into the new room as bedding can be an expensive change to make, and I tire quickly of bold and colorful bedspreads. So a tan foundation was my basic starting place, but that obviously needed some livening up.

I had originally wanted to do a Navy Living Room like the one below, but it was just too "in my face" for my liking. I needed something more subtle, more soothing. So back every navy (and yellow) item I had purchased went to the store. You can see my final transformation HERE in my previous Living Room update post to see the direction I eventually took.

 Source: Olio

So rather than go crazy with the blue and yellow, I brought home just one navy curtain panel which is the same panel style I selected for my living room but in a different color:

Source: Target




Once I got the panel up, I wasn't in love. Surprise, surprise. This seems to be how all my redecorating adventures begin: think I'll like something, then change my mind. Even my husband has learned to recognize the signs. We're learning not to panic when that happens, and I always start shopping at places where I can return items if I change my mind.

I let it sit for a day, and then today I took another trip back to my favorite haunts. As I browsed, I realized a vision for my room refresh was coming together. So after a few hours of pinning some of my favorite items, this is the vision board I created:

One of the things I'm going to do is spray paint the bottom of this very inexpensive Walmart nightstand with Rustoleum Metallic Gold Spray Paint like the table pictured below it. I've been wanting to bring in a little gold, and I think the master bedroom is a perfect place to "luxe it up"  in your home without going overboard.

Source: Walmart

Source: Dizana.com

I'll share more of my journey as the room comes together. I'm already feeling much more happy in the room, which is typically a good sign that I'm heading in the right direction. If you follow me on Pinterest HERE, you can see some of the items I've been pinning to my "Cottage Luxe Bedroom" board HERE. Watch for additional updates over the next month or so as we finish up this new room.