Happy Fall and The Best--Pinspired!

A few weeks ago I attended an AWESOME scrapbook retreat with some of my favorite scrappy friends!  I had such a great time scrapping, teaching classes, laughing, and NOT sleeping!  :)  I got quite a few projects done and I want to share some with you today!

These two layouts are based on the crop going on RIGHT NOW at My Scraps & More.  We are having a Pinspirational Crop, where all the challenges have come from Pins!  Check out all the details HERE.

My first challenge was based on this image:

I love groups of frames on walls, and how awesome is the CHALKBOARD file cabinet???  So cool!

When I saw this piece of paper from the Dear Lizzy Polka Dot Party collection, those frames just screamed "CUT ME OUT", so I did!  :)  I back each open frame with some of the patterned papers from this collection, and then one of the frames held my photo.  

I wanted to add some contrast to the page, so I used some Chalkboard elements from AC and Studio Calico.  Just a bit of stitching inside a few of the frames, and a few popped up elements and that's that!

My next page I created with one of my favorite fall collections: Basic Grey Persimmon!  I had some photos of the kids playing in the leaves, so I wanted to do something with leaves on my page.

Searching the "Science & Nature" category on Pinterest, I saw this image and it gave me an idea!

I loved the layered edges that were all different and I thought about my DECORATIVE SCISSORS!  So I dusted them off and went to town cutting out leaves with different edges.  Then I added some orange machine stitching randomly in the middle.

I stitched some large circles to help ground my photos and create a flowing design.  Some sequins and splatters add a bit of fun....

After I did this page, I had some photos of my little guy in the leaves, too, so I stuck with the same collection and even tied in a few of the same elements.  I designed these two pages separately, but together they work as a double page spread!   

To help the pages work better together, I also stitched a large circle and added the splatters and sequins, too!

Many times when I scrap I just from collection to collection, but maybe I should stick with one collection and do a few layouts at a time?  I scrapped much faster this way!

I plan on blogging a lot more this month than I have been because I have SO much to share!  (And by publicly stating this, now I have to!  :)   )

Stay scrappy my friends!

WHAT??? A Charlotteism with some new BG papers...

I am sure that I have more Basic Grey papers than any other manufacturer.  I have so many of their first releases, and lots of others over the years.  I probably have at least 20 different collections.  But I admit, many of them have been sitting, collecting dust.  That is until recently....I have really started to fall again for BG!  One of my all time favorites of theirs is the PB&J line they released this summer.  I have done probably 4-5 layouts with it (which is a lot for me for one collection).  And then I just got the Paper Cottage and the Clippings collection...and I am divin' right in!

I created this page with the Clippings collection and submitted it for the August blog challenge at BG which was to include creative use of typography on your page.

Charlotte has started new thing by asking "WHAT?" after everything we ask her.  And she does it with this face, all the time (she looks like a cross between Edward Munch's Scream and the bad scary guy from scary movie Scream):

I used Sure Cuts A Lot 2 and my Cricut to cut the word "what?" out over and over again on the paper.  I intended on using the negative of the words, but when I scrapped the mat of all the tiny letters into a pile, I loved how they looked, so I scattered them on the page, too!

I cut the title letters from patterned paper, traced them with black pen, and then filled them in with some glossy accents.  I love the little tabs and other bits in this collection!

Well September is going to be a BUSY month on this blog!  I already have 6 posts scheduled and 3 more to write!!  There is an online crop going on this weekend at My Scraps & More...my new home!  There are going to be TWENTY challenges, games, and some great prizes, including GC to the store!  Come and check it out!!!