The Story Continues

Hi, everyone! It’s Aliza again, and I am glad to be back. On Saturday, I shared a somewhat sensitive layout about my son, and some of our daily trials. Thank God, they are completely ordinary, typical, teenage trials. And, while they are part of our real life, those are not the only moments that we share. There are plenty of sweet and tender moments in there too. But sometimes, they are so ordinary, that you could miss them if you are not paying attention.

This little sentiment is captured perfectly in one of this month’s patterned papers.

I began this layout with my story and my photos, and then thanks to this 3×4 cut-out, my title was ready made. I love that!

Here’s a closer look at some of the journaling.

 

It makes me happy that this layout will be right next to the other layout in an album. I think they balance each other well, and together they tell the whole story. It also makes me immeasurably happy, that this hobby of ours allow us to capture some of these nameless moments in all their mundane glory.

Story Inspiration

Hi, everyone! It’s Aliza here, and I am excited to share a layout with the fabulous February Kit. I loved the exclusive journal cards this month, and they have helped me tell some of my stories. I love when the words and the design of the card, complement the story I want to tell.

I wanted to capture my son’s love of all things skateboarding, but at first, I wasn’t quite sure how to make it happen. When I saw the above card that says, “Chase Your Dreams,” it all came together. I paired it with this photo,

And the rest came together pretty quickly. Ridiculously quickly, in fact. I just loved the stickers, and the ephemera, and the colors of the papers, and the alphas, and so it all just worked right away. I love when that happens.

Thanks for stopping by, and I can’t wait to share more!

Real Life

Hi, it’s Aliza here, and I will just start by saying that I love the February kit! I love the colors, the cards, and the embellishments. When I first sat down to work with it, I pumped out two layouts in a day. I am NOT a fast scrapper, so this was big for me.

So first, here’s a little Hot Mess eye candy.

While I whipped up the following layout really fast, this blog post is another story. See, I was all set to share about documenting “real life,” even the less than perfect moments between ourselves and our children. I worked hard on keeping the tone of my layout positive and full of love. I was really proud of my words and the way it all looked.

My son, however, was not a huge fan of this layout. And so I struggled with how much to share. In the end, he gave me permission to blog about this layout if I blurred the text. Which just goes to show, that even though we have some rougher moments nowadays, he is a good guy who helps out his mother. Which is ultimately more important than jumping out of bed first thing in the morning.

So I will tuck this layout away, and maybe one day in the future, when he might be mystified by his own children’s behavior, I hope it can offer him some perspective. Only time will tell.For now, I will keep telling out stories as best I can. (And using my Clique Kits.)

 

 

It’s the Little Things

Hi, all! It’s Aliza here today on this fine December day. While the holidays are in full swing, I recently made a layout about our summer vacation. Clearly, I am not a chronological scrapper. I just go with inspiration when it strikes. I’ve have had this layout in mind since the summer, but I just wasn’t feeling it until now.

We scrapbookers like to stress the importance of capturing and documenting the little things in life. In this case, I captured a very tiny thing- a baby squirrel. I love the way the acetate tag frames the little guy.

Now, aside from being cute, what I loved about this moment is that we were right outside Universal Studios in Orlando. It was a giant, elaborate vacation place filled with many marvels created to impress and entertain. But this little creature was enough to draw the attention of many tourists. Which just goes to show you that sometimes the best things in life are free. Or, that good things come in small packages. You can choose the cliche that speaks to you. Either way, it’s a little moment, and a little lesson I wanted to write down for the ages.

As always, remember to document the little things, and the even littler things in life!

 

Finding Your Balance

Hi, everyone! It’s Aliza here, wishing all who are celebrating a Happy Thanksgiving!

I always feel a huge sigh of relief at Thanksgiving time. It comes after a long stretch without any breaks in our work schedule, and it means that the long winter vacation is coming up soon. The ability to slow down the pace of life for a few days does wonder for my spirit.

Speaking of slowing down, today I am sharing a layout about my need to slow things down in my life, and pare some of my responsibilities. In  the constant challenge of balancing  many roles, sometimes we lose our balance, and we need to get it back. (For the record, I have no desire to cut down on scrapbooking.)

This is basically a layout all about me, and where I am at right now. What I like about it is that it includes some details about how I spend my days, and what I am trying to accomplish. Now that little bit of me is recorded for posterity.

May this, and all your holidays, leave you feeling fresh and replenished.

Hanukah Decor

Hi, everyone! It’s Aliza here. This is my first blog post since the summer, so it’s nice to be back here.

Here’s a little tidbit about Jewish holidays: They follow the lunar calendar, so they fall on different dates of the Gregorian calendar each year. Which just means that every once in a while, you are sitting around thinking, “Oh, it’s only November, nothing big is happening too soon.” And then you look at your calendar and realize, “Oh, Hanukkah is just three weeks away!”

When I had that realization recently, I was working my way through my November Clique Kit, and I was struck by the thought that all the beautiful blues in this kit would make for some lovely Hanukkah decor.

My first step was to paint an old mirror frame that I had lying around. (The reason this mirror has been lying around, by the way, is that my children managed to break all the glass squares. )

Because of the yellow tone of the paint, I brushed some blue mist on the frame. It looked terrible. So I painted another coat of white over the blue, and dabbed some of the paint away.

As you can see above, I used a dreidel cut file with the We R Memory Keepers patterned papers to create the artwork for the frame.

I decided to go really simple, in the end, with just a touch of embellishment. Because, really these papers are just so beautiful.

I think I still have just enough of my kit left to make another Hanukkah decor project or two. (Perhaps a miracle will happen, and I will have enough paper for eight days of projects!)

 

 

Let’s Just See What Happens

Hi, everyone. It’s Aliza here with two projects to share. Right now, I am on a road trip creating memories for future scrapbook pages. (Because that’s what it’s all about, right?) Before we left two weeks ago, things were pretty busy as I finished up work and prepared for our vacation. But I managed to squeeze in a little craftiness with what little remains if my August kit. At the time, I didn’t have any project ideas in my head, so I sat at my desk looking through my kit to see where it would take me. It’s great when you have creative ideas swimming in your head that can’t wait to get out. But there is something nice about taking it slow and seeing where it leads.

First, I pulled out on if the Clique Kits exclusive pear card. It was so pretty by itself, I thought, “could I just frame it as it is?” I could, but I felt like I should add a little something to make it my own. So, I rummages through all the fruity items in the kit, and layered them together. Then I matted it all and added a little flag.

Now, it is just right for slipping into a frame and hanging in the kitchen.
At the same time I played with that card, I also wanted to create another layout. I was a little stuck, because I felt like I did not have any stories that I was burning to tell. So I approached his layout a little differently than I normally do. I remembered that every time I see one of Nicole’s 8.5 x 11 layout, I think I should try one of those. So I found one of her layouts to scrap lift. When I began, I did not even know which photo I was going to use. I began by layering papers, and decided on the photo after the fact.

It is easier said than done, but I always think it’s important to keep in the habit of creating, even when mojo is low. Of course, having Clique Kits around, always makes it a little easier.

For the Love of Printables

Hi,all! It’s Aliza here with a mini album to share. In fact, it’s the Pink Paislee 4×4 album that is currently available in the Clique Kits Shop. I love the small size for collecting many photos in one place. Some pages just have photos, and others have some simple embellishments. In addition to the August kit, I also used some papers from the Fancy Pants Making Waves 6×6 Paper Pad. The bright colors in these papers are a great complement to the softer hues in the Pink Paislee collection. I also used some of this month’s adorable Popsicle stick printables. One of the great things about these printables, is that they are available both with pre-written text and blank, so  you can customize them to suit your needs. I have an example of each in this project.

I added my own text on the cover of my album, to create the title and to include the dates. As you can see, this album includes pictures from the last few years, all of which were taken on an annual trip to a friend’s house in upstate New York. This get together happens each June, and to me it signals the beginning of the summer.

To write my title, I  went to the August kit’s PNG files:

I opened the image I wanted in Photoshop Elements, and used the Horizontal Text tool to write the title.

Once my text was written, I moved the image to an 8.5×11 document for printing:

Inside my album, I used another PNG with file, this time with the pre-printed text, and I layered it right onto my photo. It printed right along with my photo.

So, let’s take a look inside, shall we?

In between the pages of fun, food, and friends, there are several pages with just photos. As a scrapbooker, I had to consciously give myself permission to simply add photos into photo sleeves without adding anything to them. You know what I mean?

Who Knows When Inspiration Will Strike?

Hi, everyone! It’s Aliza again, with another layout using the Ambrosia kit. This one, I have to say, might be my favorite. It was also the easiest to make. I had a beach photo to scrap, and this kit seems to have been made to complement the colors of the sky and the sand.

The inspiration for this layout came straight from this kit reveal photo:

I loved the way the two patterned papers looked right next to each other in the above photo. So, while I usually begin my layouts with a solid background, from this photo I knew I wanted to fill my page with patterns. So that is what I did.

I plopped my photo right in the center, and was amazed how great it looked right there. It was almost too easy!

Since there are lots of pink embellishments in this kit, I decided to pull that color in , and to add some layers.

Then I went to town throwing in some of the embellishments here and there,

and everywhere, until it was done. Once I added one yellow embellishment, I made sure to include a few more to keep the design all tied together. This layout moves from the top left corner to the bottom right corner, so I made sure to include the pinks and the yellows all the way down.

What about you? Where do you usually draw your inspiration from?

Finding Pictures for your Story

Hi, everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your summer. Mine seems to be flying by! Here we are sharing projects with the August kit. August! My word.

Despite the speed with which the summer is moving, I think you will love this month’s kit for capturing those summer memories. For me, this is the first time my children are not attending any summer camp. Instead, they both have jobs. My boys are New York City kids through and through, and they can get around town on their own, usually with public transportation. Without the time constraints of school, my younger son has taken to wandering around the city after work. Several times now, he has even walked all the way home. (It takes him a few hours.) I wanted to document his new found freedom and exploration of the city, as well as some of the specifics of what he’s been seeing and doing.

Alas, the flip side of this wonderful independence, is that I am not there to capture it all on camera. What is a scrapbooking mama to do?

First, I asked my son to take some pictures. But that was a no go. So, I printed these two photos. It was the best I could do to get the story told:

I was all set to blog about finding photos to tell your story, even if they are not quite pictures of the event you are trying to capture. I had these photos printed, ready to be adhered to my layout, when I hit the jackpot. On one of my son’s NYC adventures, he joined a free dance lesson that was taking place in the park. On a whim, I went to the dance studio’s Facebook page, and found this gem:

It took me a moment to realize  that that was my son on the left. Well, I quickly did some edits in Pic Tap Go, printed the new photo, and then I popped this photo in place of the others to complete this layout:

So whether you have the exact pictures you need or not, let’s tell our summer stories.