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7 Gypsies

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AMR Crop: “Summer”

Last weekend, there was an online crop at ALL MOMENTS REMEMBERED, “the nicest message board on the internet.” I happened to be holding my own crop IRL all day Friday and Saturday, so I took my laptop, used the WiFi at the hotel, and followed along with the AMR crop. I even participated by completing and posting some layouts for the first time in a very long while. {To be honest, the talent over there intimidates me but I’m sure YOU would be fine, LOL}.

I did this layout for the “A NEW LAYOUT” challenge hosted by STACY aka CyCy. The only requirement was to post a layout you did during the crop.

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The journaling reads: Can you hear little Landry? He is saying, “Will you please let me out?” I think I also heard him say, “But I’m so very cute. How can you keep me all locked up like some kind of criminal?” You’re right, Mr. Landry. You did nothing wrong. ‘Cept maybe chase the bunnies, chew through the drip line, dig up the grass. Misdemeanors? Maybe. I used Cosmo Cricket papers from THIS Memory Works Express Kit (Sept. 08),…

Bazzill cardstock, and the Cricut font “Doodlebug.” The stamped journaling box is from a either THIS or THIS journaling spot swap. There was no writing on the back so I’m not sure who made it unfortunately.

I did this layout for the “THINK BEACH” challenge hosted by JEN aka ScrappyJen. The challenge was to scrap your favorite part of the beach.

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Most of the items are from this MEMORY WORKS EXPRESS KIT from NOVEMBER 2009:

Papers are Heidi Swapp and 7 Gypsies, and the title was cut with the Cricut alpha “Opposites Attract.” Usually, the cursive font on that cartridge is long and low but if you put it on “upright” mode, it comes out like this. Cool, huh? The little black alpha is 7 Gypsies and the journaling box is again from one of the swaps I did, artist unknown.

The journaling reads: My favorite part of going to the beach is he feeling of calm that comes over me the second I see the water. The ocean is my favorite place in the world, the place I feel most at home, the place I am most myself, the place I feel most serene. The sound of the waves creates an almost spiritual feeling in my heart. The ocean gives me Serenity.

I did this layout for the “OUTSIDE OF YOUR HOME” challenge hosted by NICOLE aka NicoleP. But I pulled a blond moment and it wasn’t actually eligible because I did not use a “summer” photo as instructed, LOL. These photos were taken in February, silly girl! Major duh. I mean, the entire theme of the crop was “Summer.” Oh well, it’s all good. I’ve been wanting to scrap these photos for a long time anyway.

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The journaling reads: When it rains, we often get to see these amazing full rainbows off of our back patio. If you’ve ever wondered where the rainbow ends, just come to our house . . . we’ll show you the spot.

I used Bazzill cardstock, DCWV glitter papers from the NANA’s KITCHEN stack, and some plum metallic paper my mom gave me for the letters in RAINBOW; then I used GLOSSY ACCENTS {for the first time} on those letters. In person, this layout looks shiny and pretty although I don’t think you can tell that in the photo. The letters were again done with the Opposites Attract font on my Cricut. I only have 4 Cricut cartridges, can you tell? LOL

One of the highlights of the crop was the Virtual Bingo game run by Michelle aka Shelle’s 2 girls. Ahead of time, you picked 25 words from a long list of summertime words to be on your virtual bingo card (aka a list in Word or whatever). Then at the designated time on Saturday night, she began posting sets of 5 words while we marked any that we had off of our sheet. When people were starting to match up to 18 or 19 words, she slowed it down to 3 words at a time until the winner called “Bingo!” Along the way, it got very competative. Players tried to send other players off to get lucky kisses from their DH’s or to go check on the proverbial crying baby, etc. {“the better for me to win while you’re away from your computer” tactic}. They even tried to tell me a Journey special was on TV so I would leave, LOL! It was HUH-larious. All the feedback was so good, I think there will be virtual bingo at all the future AMR crops.

If you’d like to join us next time ~ or just join the AMR message board for everyday chatting ~ come on over, we’d love to have you. Just drop me a line (see my About Me page) so I can tell board admin DENISE aka denisewalks to expect you (lotsa spammers unfortunately).

Hope you had a crafty and fun weekend, too!

The Kind of Hand-Me-Downs You Would Kill For…

I think I’ve mentioned several times before that my mom is also a scrapbooker (thank GOD!). It’s been a wonderful hobby for us to enjoy together. She comes to crops with me, scraps with me at the dining table when she visits, supports me as a scrapbooking consultant by subscribing to my monthly kit, and is the only one in the family who understands that, Yes, I DID need to take 80 photos on our recent trip to San Francisco. I mean, she totally gets it all, you know?

Now, here is where we differ when it comes to scrapbooking. My mom scrapbooks 8 1/2 x 11, while I do 12×12. She has a very particular style, definite likes and dislikes when it comes to pattern and color. For instance, she doesn’t really “do” primary colors, busy happy patterns, or get too fancy with the thick embellishments. She prefers subtle colors and patterns. The only thing she is really gonzo for is brads (I call her Brad Queen). She doesn’t do mini albums, and she doesn’t do 12×12 papers or transparencies that can’t be cut down to 8.5 x 11. Also different than me, my mom doesn’t title her pages, nor does she journal (she says she will type tons of journaling after she gets all her photos scrapped, and insert the journaling in page protectors in her 3-ring scrapbooks…I’m so afraid something will happen to her or her books before she gets it all done and I’ll have 40 scrapbooks of hers with no journaling…hey, who are these people and what were they doing?? LOL). Anyhow, my dear mom also has more disposable income than I do, and she belongs to I think 1 or 2 other kits in addition to the one she gets from me. With all the kits, sometimes she likes what they include, some things she doesn’t care for.

Now me on the other hand, I like pretty much all products scrapbook-related. I refuse to discriminate…it just wouldn’t be fair or kind of me. In fact, I’ve never met a product I don’t like, LOL. Okay, truth told…I’m not a button fan and Hot Off the Press is not a fave. But other than that, I love it all and will use it all. All of this is to explain why my mom brought me THIS…

…the last time I saw her. She had purged her scrapbooking supplies and she GAVE me a crate of stuff she no longer wanted. See the Jenni Bowlin bingo card?What does it say? Oh, yeah…LUCKY! There’s a Maya Road star acrylic album, 7 Gypsies journaling cards, a Pinecone Press 6×6 clipboard, several embellies by My Minds Eye and, what you can’t tell from the picture, but there was a pizza box full of pattern paper and cardstock! And not pictured is the Ziploc bag full of chipboard pieces she gave me. Actually, she brings me something almost every time she visits but this was the biggest bonanza yet. So, I think you can see that when I say, ‘I love my mom!’, I really, truly mean it…from the bottom of my ever-scrappin’ heart, I do.

And I really appreciate it, because she is also E-Bay Queen and could easily sell all of her extra stuff for a mint…but she gives it to me instead. Awwww….

{Now, don’t be jealous girls and NO, she is not accepting adoption applications! One daughter is all she can handle. But nice try…}

ATC Card Swap on AMR

Sorry I haven’t posted for over 3 days, I think that’s a record for the most time between posts for me, LOL. I started a new job and it’s so stressful that by the time I get home and do family/house stuff, all I want to do is go to bed! Which is also why I was lagging on getting my ATC cards done. BUT….I got them finished lastnight and I’m so happy and relieved. So, I guess I should explain about the swap…

Over on the AMR MESSAGE BOARD, about 20 of us are doing an ATC Swap hosted by JINGLE (who does not have a blog….what???…is that even legal in the scrapbook world these days??). We each make a batch of ATC cards, keep one for ourselves, and send the rest to Jingle by April 5, 2008. Then she will separate them out into piles, and mail a set of the ATC cards to each of us. Fun, huh?!?

I’ll admit, before deciding to sign up for this swap, I had heard of ATC cards but didn’t really know much about them. I thought they were the territory of those ‘artsy’ types (um, that would be, NOT ME!) because I thought you had to use all kinds of fancy painting, inking, embossing, altered art kinda stuff on them. But, I found that they have evolved into something more accessible to scrapbookers like me, who just like to play with our pretty paper and scallop punches, LOL.

As shared by ANNE MARIE on the AMR board, here is the Wikipedia definition of ATC Cards:

Artist trading cards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Artist Trading Cards are individual art miniatures which pass hand to hand. Some sources have credited M. Vänçi Stirnemann, who began trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1997, as popularizing ATCs in the modern era, although modern ATC’s can be traced back to portrait miniatures and to a kind of business card popular with Impressionistic era artists.[1]

Artists have produced miniatures for trade or self-promotion in many eras and places, and the current trend is thus part of this larger context. Historically there were few standard rules or guidelines to art trading cards, and many variances in sizes can be seen in older cards. The standardization in size of baseball cards is credited with creating the standardization in size for art cards. Today the only rule for these cards is their 2.5 by 3.5 inch size, same as baseball cards and collectible card games. There are, however, certain conventions usually observed by those who make and trade these cards, such as the expectation that they be traded, not sold, and that they be created as unique works or small limited editions of prints. Artists generally sign and date the back, and may also include a title and contact information. The face-to-face trading session is considered an integral part of the concept, although many people find each other via the internet and trade by mail.

Artist Trading Cards are typically made on a base of card stock. However, ATCs have been created on metal, stiffened fabric, plastic, clay, glass, balsa wood, leather, embroidery canvas, acetate, heavy watercolor paper, and many other materials. The art on the cards can be done in any media: textile arts, pencil, watercolor, acrylic, oil, collage, scratch board, mixed media, assemblage, digital art, calligraphy, beadwork, rubber stamps, carved soft block stamps, pen and ink, colored pencil, airbrush, pastels, and many others – anything artists use.”

So, yeah, you can get fancy with it, but the goal of our swap was to “create ATC’s that in some way represent YOU. Please be sure to sign each ATC so we know you created it!” And here was my favorite part of the instructions from Jingle: “Please show your best work and be sure to send in pieces that are made neatly and cleanly. (You know…avoid glue boogers and stuff! LOL!)” Yeah, of course we gave her a hard time about the glue boogers comment :) But you know what she’s saying…do a good job, not rushed, as people will be showing these off in some manner.

The challenge sounded all well and good but, when I sat down to actually make them, I was shocked at how SMALL 2.5″ x 3.5″ really is. I mean, I’m a 12×12 scrapper for googely sake! How am I supposed to create something that expresses who I am in such a small space? Well, after being in panic mode for awhile, I noticed that other ATC girls started posting their completed ATC’s on their blogs and/or the message board, and made them look totally do-able, like KELLIANNIE:

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and SCRAPPYSAM:

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A late addition from ~Q~ (no one knows her real name, a real lady of mystery…), posted just the backs of her ATC’s as a teaser:

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Also, I think it was Sam who posted a link to fabulous MARFA’s blog, where she’s been going a little ATC crazy, which works for me because she gave me such inspiration. Here is a POST with some of her beautiful ATC’s and I copied some of them below.

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When I receive everyone’s ATC’s from this swap, I think I’ll include them in my album in a similar holder page to Martha’s. Except I won’t sew it myself like she did (cuz I don’t know how to sew), but I’ll cheat and buy something similar to baseball card holder pages, or maybe there is a 12×12 version from Crop In Style?

But anyway, after seeing how you could just relax and have fun with these cute little cards, I sat down and designed a prototype card in about an hour. Tune in tomorrow for photos of what I came up with, and how I put them together….

Have you done ATC cards? Or a swap of any kind? How did things turn out and would you do it again?

Videos from CHA 2008

SCRAP ETC has done it again! I love that site. Go check out their cool videos from CHA 2008 and see lot of new scrapbook products. I can’t link directly to the post, but it’s called CHA 2008 REVIEW and here are separate links for each video of that’s easier for ya’:

7 GYPSIES

SASSAFRAS LASS

COSMO CRICKET

PRIMA

TIM HOLTZ

LOVE, ELSIE

HEIDI SWAPP</

KATIE’s TAKE ON HEIDI’s BOOTH

JENNI BOWLIN (She’s the one Stacey/AMR owner said was just so down-to-earth and considered a newbie in the industry, even though she’s a goddess to all of us cuz her products rock so dang hard!).

And a cool video of CHATTIN’ WITH ELIZABETH ~ that would be Elizabeth Kartchner, CK Scrapbooker of the Year. She’s adorable, and very talented!

Thanks to ScrappySam from AMR MESSAGE BOARD for the link! Tell me what you think of the videos, your favorite products, etc. :)

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