Scrapburbia

I don't feel like scrapbooking today...

I started a book while I was with my sister in the hospital.

The Billionaire's Vinegar 

I grabbed it in paperback at Barnes & Noble a few months ago. It begins with a little history about Thomas Jefferson's time in France in the late 1700's. He's "on business" for the United States and gaining an education on French Wines while he's at it. Fast forward 200 years and several old bottles of wine are found behind hidden walls in a French flat with the initials Th.J. engraved into them, along with other clues that lead several people to believe (or choose to believe) that they once belonged to Thomas Jefferson. I'm only a third off the way through, and while I know nothing about wine(well I know a little bit now)... I am interested and intrigued my the mystery. I am such a sucker for a true story.

I do this... I switch gears (from scrapbooking to reading and back again) without notice, and now I have a layout halfway finished on the table and a book to finish... what to do?

Well, I think I'll put on my Pj's crawl in bed, finish the book and resume the scrapbook page this weekend. 

Oh, and I do have a "Same, Only Different." for you... but I still need to photograph the second layout. Want a sneak peek?

I'm excited to share the second "same" layout, and posting this one will shame me into getting the camera out and snapping shots of the other layouts that I want to share!

Same, Only Different.

This layout reminds me not only of the trip we took to San Diego in 2008, but also the trip we aren't taking now. We sort of had a tradition of heading to the west coast for spring break as often as we can but because we are going out to Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts in June we decided we'd better skip the spring break trip this year.

That doesn't mean we aren't having a good time though... So far we've been to the Aquarium, Children's Science Museum and tomorrow we have a trip to Jump On It planned... I do believe this is our first official "Staycation!"

I found the inspiration layout somewhere other than my own album this week.This Sketch is at CreatingKeepsakes.com. Every month the Becky's Sketch is published on the website, and sometimes... maybe always, there are additional "Same,Only DIfferent." Sketches available.

The Sketch I used is on the bottom left. 

You can print out the PDF of the additional sketches from January 2010 here, not to mention several other pages of sketches and ideas that can be printed out and saved to refer to later!

Have a great day and happy scrapping!

   

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Same, Only Different.

I suppose the term "Same, Only Different." is being used quite loosely here. The idea was to use arrows.. which I did, but then I took it over the top. (The second layout is the original that I used as inspiration) I cut all of the shapes free-hand, well I drew some of them first, but they aren't die cuts. I tend to do that quite a bit... I could probably get by quite happily with just my basic tools, alphabet stickers, a black pen and pattern paper. In fact I might do without alphabet stickers in order to have solid cardstock instead.

If you had to reduce your stash to just 3 types of items, not including basic supplies like a trimmer, scissors and adhesive... what would they be?

The New Basic Grey Green at Heart Collection has arrived at Two Peas.

Same, only different...

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day! <---this color of green is even called clover!

I really don't have issues with St. Patrick's Day, in fact I didn't even realize it was St. Patrick's day until 10:00pm Tuesday night when Amelia wanted to run out to find some green pants...(Jim was SuperDad and took her out) I feel like I should have posted some fancy green layout or something... but a day late just wouldn't be the same. So, I'll just apologize and promise that I will try to be more thoughtful of holidays in the future:)

I don't think I would have called it "stuck in a rut" at the time, but looking back, I think I may have been. These poor flowers, as cute as they are, may have been used and abused just a bit to often. I could probably throw 5 more layouts up here using these flowers... and I'm sure I'll use them again in the future, but I am certainly glad to be trying some new things these days.

I always called them my "Elsie Flannigan flowers" when I taught them in class... they reminded me of her work back in the day. And they really are super easy. On the backside of the paper, I draw a circle slightly smaller than the flower will be, then draw smaller circles around it for the petals. That makes a basic flower, then I just experimented with different shapes and number of petals and cut centers.

Speaking of Elsie, have you visited her blog lately? She's always got eye candy for everyone...

  
...not to mention she is just as sweet as her yummy treat looks!

Shop the latest HOT PRODUCTS at Two Peas in a Bucket.

Same Only Different...

Hehe, I be you didn't know I am 251 years old! Actually I was 26 (and forever will be) but my cutest-ever kids used a 2,5 and a 1 candle... somehow the math adds up :) And I know you wish you got a HOME-MADE piñata for your birthday!

That layout is perfect for events with lots-o-pictures, like bad hair days, Christmas and piñatas! You can really pack the 3"x3" photos on there!

The second layout is the kind of layout I do when I'm flipping through photo albums (as opposed to scrapbooks) and feeling sad about how the time with my babies has gone so darn fast! No matter what period in my life I am in, it always seems like I'm so busy... but then 5 years later looking back I wish I could go back to when I had nothing but time. 

(I would be EXTREMELY ungrateful if I did not take the time to mention that right now, my life is bliss... I get to hug and kiss my monkeys all day, cook dinner, do dishes and scrapbook with no pressing deadlines and creative mountains to climb. I won't have to look back at this time and wish I'd done things differently so I could have been there for my kids... not that I won't want to go back and do it all over again, but I won't regret not being there.)

My kids are romping carefree in the yard. No school, errands, or laundry to do...okay there was laundry... but that isn't what comes to mind when I look at these pictures. I remember Josh's Fuzzy little head and Amelias dirty knees. I can smell the yard in the warm summer sun... and how frustrated I was that it was such a mess... but geez, at least my kids HAD a yard!

Isn't it funny/ironic/frustrating to know how good we've had it and didn't even know it... alright... I still wouldn't want the fixer upper house... but the yard I could totally live with! We had peach, cherry, apple and plum trees, not to mention grape arbors and bazillions of roses. 

If I knew then what I know now...

    

Sand in my pants!

I mentioned last week that I did 2 layouts with Crate Paper chipboard embellishments... but only showed you one... here's the other...

And... because it helps to see them together, here's the first...

If you'd like to see the sketch again you can check it out here. I also did this layout at the same time, can you see the similarities? 

Are those birds not the cutest! I feel like I stretched out of my "comes naturally comfort zone" and really liked the result. I love both of these layouts... the colors are warm and colorful and there are lots of little details (like the scalloped grass!)

After doing these I decided that when I am out shopping, I need to look more closely at embellishments NOT JUST PAPER! Which is tough! I am a full blown paper-addict... I admit it! These little chipboard goodies came in a kit... and thank goodness they did because I probably wouldn't have picked them up otherwise. Not because I don't love them...they are super cute... but embellishments can be a little intimidating. 

Wow, that was like therapy... I didn't realize I felt that way. I thought maybe it was because I'm just cheap, but NO ONE would ever call me that, and besides I have WAY TOO MUCH paper to get away with an excuse like that. 

SO... from now on when browsing a scrapbook store I am going to make sure I make myself choose more embellishments over paper. After all... I have enough paper to last three lifetimes!

(as a side note, I've noticed that my local LSS doesn't always carry matching embellishments... maybe they've quick bringing them in because I'm not the only that is too chicken to pick them up?)

 

Same... Only Different.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE-PEA!!

Today, my bestest girl Amelia is turning 11!

 

AND, in other (though less exciting) news... here are todays layouts!

 

I ran across the first layout as I was flipping through my albums... it's a little dated, at least it is to me, but I still really liked the layout so I "lifted" it from myself!

The little chipboard bits on the second layout are from Crate Paper... and I liked them so much I did another layout right away with them (of course you'll have to wait to see that one!)

You may have noticed my wonky scallops, and that my friends, is because I apparently can not be bothered with scalloped scissors (or, they just don't come in that size...take your pick.) But I like them that way. I for the most part am a free hand cutter, sometimes I'll draw first... but I don't have a die-cut machine...YET!

Same... Only Different.

Sometimes the pictures just really speak for themselves...

I finished the first layout a few years ago... I was so in love with those photos of Josh and didn't want to make the page about pretty scrapbook supplies, I didn't think they needed it. Even now when I look at them I wish i could go back and kiss his fuzzy little head... he's such a sweet boy. MmmmWaaaah!

The second layout I did a couple of months ago for the same reason. The pictures summed up our day at Coronado Beach and I didn't want to "over do it." The little bits of paper compliment th pictures without taking over the page.

I have been on a grey with aNytHInG kick lately and I did a few pages with this color palette... including, heaven forbid... a one-page layout!

As you can see I am certainly NOT above "recycling" a layout idea. Especially this one...

Have you ever "reused" an idea you've already tried?

Ooh, I hear another fuzzy headed boy making noise in his bed after a nap... I'm gonna go kiss him!

Have a great day!

Sarah

Same... Only Different.

 

This is a somewhat unusual color palette for me. I really loved the diamond pattern that I used in both of these and wanted to highlight it, but as it turned out I didn't have a lot that went with it... I ended up using some more OLD Basic Grey that I had from several years ago.

My buying habits have changed over the last few years. I went from buying anything and everything I liked, to not buying unless I LOVED IT and could think of an immediate use for it. Not that I had time to use it immediately, but I was surprised to find that there were a lot of things I really liked but didn't match the pictures I was taking. "I can always find things I like..." became my new mantra.

Now that I have more time for scrapbooking I have lots of things I like, still plenty I'll likely end up giving away eventually, but it's fun to go through my stash and find something fun to use that I'd forgotten about. NOW the problem is that I only bought the one piece of paper that I really liked and didn't grab coordinating papers like stripes and polka dots and you know how hard it is to find an old line when you need more of it...

How do you shop for supplies? Do you buy for specific projects and pictures, or do you buy what you like knowing you'll find a use for it eventually? 

Same...only different.

Hey! Happy Thursday!

You know when your explaining something and the only thing you can think of is something Kinda like it, only not quite the same, close but not exactly? Well around here we sum that up by saying "Same...only different." and somehow that makes perfect sense.

I now dub Thursdays as our 'Same...only different' day. I'm gonna post two layouts that have something in common... maybe the color palette, sketch or supplies used. Keeping the same supplies on my desk as I scrap a couple pages from the same event isn't unusual for me. I like not needing to come up with a new idea for every layout AND the they have a "go together groove" in the album (assuming I ever get them into albums...in chronological order)

 


See what I mean? Same...Only different.

Plus I only used one of each of the pattern papers to complete both layouts... same stickers, felt, stamp, flowers, etc...

Pattern Papers - Basic Grey, Flowers - Prima, Stickers - SEI, Felt - Creative Cafe, and Cardstock - Bazzill Basics