Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Back to scrapping!

I really should  be scrapping more.  I was sidetracked by my attempts to produce digital embellishments to share, although they are good enough to use as part of a hybrid scrapping project.  (Which is, essentially, mixed digital and paper/actual scrapping.) 

So today I thought I'd start working on the maps of Mystic that we had brought home which make for great background paper if not elements to a layout.  I always take at least 4 of them to use as whole spreads (2-page layouts) or just portions.  The maps which are produced by Lighthousemaps.com can be very helpful in finding things to do and places to visit when you're in a given area, and they are just super as elements in a scrapbook layout.  The tricky thing is that they are never 12 inches tall or wide, so I cannot completely dispense with using a paper background.  I've already picked the background for my first layouts using the map, and I will be adding digital and actual elements. 

For example, I have our room keys (I know I have at least one of the cards), a sheet or two of the notepad by the phone for journaling from the place where we stayed, the tickets from the Mystic Aquarium, the napkin ties and mint boxes from Mystic Pizza, and a few other odds and ends.  I have come to look at everything with a scrapbook layout in mind when I'm out on a trip.  I often end up grabbing too many brochures and mags from the Visitors Centers or Tourist Information centers we come across, but I've learned to weed out what I need and what I don't even before we leave the place.

I took my cutting mat to work today but forgot my glue tape dispenser, so I've postponed piecing together my background paper until tomorrow.

I am waaaay behind in scrapping and hope to catch up -- little by little. =)  I haven't even started Manila, although the embellishments I was creating was meant for that book in the first place.

We were at Home Depot earlier to pick up replacement flourescent bulbs for the kitchen, and I headed straight for the paint swatches to look for some nice reds and greens for a holiday project I'm also getting started on.  Those bits and pieces of cardboard can actually make good labels and elements in a layout if you put your imagination to work.

As you can see, I've found a new wave of inspiration again.  More updates coming!
Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 23:13:03 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Finally a sample!

All the elements in the layout below are individual pieces that I composed into an embellished frame.  All are personal  creations except the paper background which was one of the daily freebies I received from Scrapgirls which they give through their daily newsletter.

You can download a png file of the frame without the "AUDREY" and a blank tag instead for the name or caption of your choice.  You'll have to pardon the clean up needed as far as the shadows are concerned because I don't have a graphics software.  I tried to clean it as best I can.  I will have the individual elements available for sharing when I get to scan them.  The shadows shouldn't be a problem then as I will scan them flat.

Click here and a box prompting you to save the file will open.  Hope you like it!


Clicking on the thumbnail will open a larger version of this layout.

Download the frame by clicking here and saving the file on your hard drive. 

Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 09:41:41 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Doodling away

I've been collecting markers lately -- the more colorful and "watercolor-like" the better. I've bought from Target and the corner dollar store and have been doodling and coloring. Flowers, stars and swirls on brown chipboard--- I've been very busy. I've also started doing assorted word art to use as captions. Today I am experimenting with stitching onto the chipboard.

I'm actually very excited to show some samples, but the material I've been working on has been evolving. I started doodling on plain white bond paper, but sometime in the last two weeks, I was drawn to start drawing on the chipboard boxes they provide in the cafeteria as takeout food trays.

I've done one attempt at producing some alphas but that one is going to take a while. I might even begin a Christmas project or two using the same materials as I'm working with right now. (All my marker sets have red and green pens after all.). If the inspiration hits me and I find the time, I might even begin making my greeting cards like I would occasionally do in years past.

My hand often gets tired cutting through the chipboard but I often find myself going past midnight because I am just so engrossed with the whole thing. I find the act of filling in spaces with color therapeutic --- and I imagine putting together various elements to form frames and layouts as I create them.  Talk about hybrid scrapping... (Combination digital and real..)  And yes, the idea is to share the kit here eventually.

Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 19:15:14 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Thursday, June 26, 2008

My own creations: Scrapbook embellishments

I completed a scrapbook layout using a background paper from my archives of free downloads, but using embellishments and elements strictly from my doodle pad, literally.  I was ready to publish it here when I realized there was one element I forgot to "create" which was a suitable frame because my photo looked "naked" without a shadow (which I cannot execute because I'm not using a photo software), or a frame.

I was pretty happy about the layout except for that.  So tonight I'm going to allot half an hour to create a few frames which I can scan and color tomorrow.  I put a a sticky on a clean sheet of bond paper and drew a frame around it as close to the actual paper without letting my pen touch it.  The layout, sans the frame, actually looked okay but it felt "kulang" or lacking in something.  I plan to do the Manila Scrapbook using this method, combining background paper from digital kits and embellishing with my hand drawn (then scanned) embellishments.  I noticed that I always run low on elements when creating huge projects which require a diversity of embellishments from page to page.  The solution?  Create my own embellishments.

Since the trip home was full of fun and involved a lot of interaction between the kids (Angelo and my niece Audrey and my nephew Art), I want this add-on pack to be very playful.  I wanted the colors to be happy so I'm using my neon highlighters a lot.  I'm experimenting with crayons and craypass but the colors are not coming out as virbrantly as the markers are.  I'm actually playing it by ear and creating elements by type.  I expect I'll be creating certain elements as I go along, or recoloring what I had created to suit a theme.

That's why I do the line drawing (in black ink) and then photocopy the drawing before coloring, and using the markers on the photocopy to prevent the black ink bleeding into the color.  It also helps me keep the original for photocopying again if I commit a mistake or change my mind about the color or meidum I used.

Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 22:28:11 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Friday, June 20, 2008

My Christmas Projects


I'm starting a new subcategory within the category CRAFTS to make good on my long-ago plan to start preparing for Christmas during the middle of the year.  That way, I don't feel stressed out decorating right around Thanksgiving, and I can make sure the cards I write and address actually make it to the people they were made out for.

I have a few ideas and they have been running through my head the past couple of days, hence, the post.  All projects will be denominated with the tag above.  Give me a few days.
Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 15:47:50 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, June 15, 2008

The other "Fathers" in my life

There are two other men who figure prominently in my life as Dads, and in celebrating them this Father's Day, I have created pages to greet them and pay tribute to them as special men in my life. Of course there's my Dad, and my brother who has a daughter and a son who are like my own children, too. 

To you, Papa, and Abril, Happy Father's Day!

Please click on the graphic for a bigger version in another window

Layout created using "Love U Forever" Kit
(Unfortunately, this kit is no longer available as it is
a limited edition charity kit produced for
Alex's Lemonade Stand)
from SweetShoppeDesigns.com,
except the alpha used in "PAPA" which was taken from the
Robo-Buggy kit created by by Zoe Pearn & Shawna Clingerman,
also available at SweetShoppeDesigns.com


Entire layout created using Robo-Buggy kit
created by Zoe Pearn & Shawna Clingerman,
also available at SweetShoppeDesigns.com,
Caption (greeting) Wordart used the Adler font.
Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 20:23:38 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Scrapbooking: Father's Day

I have a ton of scrapbook projects on hold right now but this one couldn't wait.  With Father's Day taking place tomorrow, I decided that would  be my first theme for my attempts at coming up with layouts using only one kit.  I would usually "pull" materials from several kits to combine them into one.

I wanted to highlight the kits from digital scrapbooking stores I recently bought items for by producing layouts dedicated to the kit alone so that people can see a sample layout by me.

I try to do hybrid scrapbooking which is essentially a combination of digital and actual scrapping.  While the left one is going to be purely digital, the layout on the right is basically a "base" layout which I intend to embellish with actual handwritten journalling and captioning.  There are three slots for "titles" which I will probably do with hand stamping if not pasting of titles using words printed or created apart from the base layout. I also intend to create actual embellishments I will add to the layout eventually. (And of course I will put up a layout here to show the difference once I'm done with it.) 

Credit is given where credit is due.  This is one difficulty although a necessary courtesy of scrapbooking.  Unless you made everything yourself from scratch, it is part of scrapbooking etiquette to give credit to the artists who came up with the kit.  It is also expected when publishing a layout that you give information on the fonts used for reference by other scrappers.


Clicking on the thumbnails below will open a window with a bigger version of the layout.
All links will open in a new window.
  
This kit was created using Sunshine Playtime by Traci Reed
from Sweet Shoppe Designs
Click here to see a product preview
of what is included in the kit
Fonts used are BERILIUM for he "I love you" caption
and CRUD for the journaling

Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 08:06:36 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Scrapbook Feature: The Shabby Princess

The Shabby Princess is one of my favorite digital scrapbook and hybrid scrapping inspirations, and she has just released a new free download: the PROMISE collection which I used in the layout below.

There are a ton of other freebies to download so do visit! If you want to see what they have for sale, hop on over to The Shabby Shoppe.


Please click on picture to see a bigger version. Thank you.
The Pinay New Yorker will be featuring her favorite scrapbooking sites and shops for the benefit of fellow scrapbook enthusiasts out there, and by way of thank you to these artists.
Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 15:37:12 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |

Monday, March 03, 2008

Catching up with scrapbooking

Last week was so busy that I didn't get to do any scrapbooking at all. So I'm trying to make up for lost time, so to speak, and I'm doing one-off layouts using single sources as much as possible to shine the postlight on my favorite scrapbooking websites for resources.

Add to that the fact that the little tyke gave me some precious shots yesterday. Priceless.


Layout created using the Twinkle Toes Kit from
Peppermint Creative.

I like Peppermint Creative because their designs are always refreshing and very realistic. They also have a monthly freebie (which was how I got the above kit in the first place although it is now on sale fore $2.00.). Definitely one of my favorite digital scrapbook resources.

Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 15:06:51 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, January 06, 2008

And so another week begins...

I ordered photocards of the family picture we took at the Grand Place in Belgium, and I was so excited to get them after ordering them online as soon as we got settled back here in New York.  I thought I did it right until I saw that the caption I had painstakingly edited and re-edited somehow didn't go in with the final order, so I have a blank space for the spot where the caption should be.  I have a solution but it means more work.  Then again, what can I do? 

I'm trying to get ready for the week ahead while trying to pull together some alphas for my scrapbook.  I organized my mementos and clippings by area earlier this afternoon, grouping them by topic (Brussels in general, Brugge, the Da Vinci Expo, Chocolates, etc.)  Other scrappers would do it by day but I find the classifications/topics I used as easier to deal with in terms of layouting the materials I have.

I have already picked the alpha for the page titles and the font for the journaling.  As I tend to use different background papers for each topic, I try to pull the different layouts together by using some common elements in the fonts.


The alpha above was designed and created by Dani Mogstad and is part of her Vintage Quilt Digital Scrapbooking Kit I purchased at Sweet Shoppe Designs as part of their Quarterly Assortment Volume IV.  The letters are available as individual .png files which you can resize and alter as you wish for use in your digital scrapbooking layouts.

I don't use any fancy scrapbooking or graphics software -- I do my layouts in Microsoft Word and piece together 12x12 inch layouts together using a layout split into two legal sized sheets of paper.  I am also not strictly a digital scrapbooker but actually do hybrid scrapping (otherwise known as altered art according to the Shabby Shoppe here) which is a combination of digital and paper scrapping.

I'll try and show a sample or two of my own hybrid scrapping as I do my Belgium scrapbook.  Meanwhile, Cinderella needs to go bed as it's past midnight.  Happy Monday!



Posted by Pinay New Yorker at 23:03:28 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |
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