Monster-rific Birthday

Hootenanny Kit, Boy Crazy Kit - Design by Dani; 7 Days in May Template - ITM Design; GrungeaRound Vol.1 Masks & Brushes - Liv.E Designs

We had such a blast at our "Monsters Inc." themed birthday party! The boys had all their friends from school there to enjoy bouncing on inflatables and eating pizza and cupcakes. I totally lucked out and discovered a brand new kit ("Boy Crazy") that actually had two monster images in it! Perfect for this page!

Restoring a Vintage Photo

I found some scans of old photos that I had on my computer and decided to try my hand at restoring one of them. I had attempted some of this type of thing before, but not really to this extent. I walked through several lessons of Jessica Sprague's awesome online class This Old Photo which helped me immensely. For those of you who have a shoebox full of old photos that need to be preserved (you know who you are), I highly recommend this class. There are four lessons, along with a couple of bonus ones, and they are fairly short and easy to work through. Jessica does a really awesome job of explaining all the steps without getting overly technical.

I found a special family photo, taken probably when I was 7 or 8 years old. (We won't say how long ago that was.) I'm wearing a clown costume that belonged to my grandfather when he was a boy, and has been passed through my mom's side of the family for years. Quite a number of the children and grandchildren on that side of the family have worn it at one time or another!

Here is my "before" photo:

You can see that it has faded quite a bit and there are a lot of white splotches where either the photo got wet or perhaps got stuck to another photo.

Here is my "after" photo:

Quite a difference, isn't it? I won't go so far as to call myself an expert at photo restoration, but it's definitely an improvement. This should also illustrate the point that it is so important to digitize your old photos before they are beyond repair. It's the best kind of "memory keeping" - even if you aren't a scrapbooker!

Still Life

Supplies Used: Still Life Kit, All Scratched Up Page Borders - One Little Bird Design; Stamped Blocks No. 10, Neutral Date Bits No. 1, Stamped Alphabet - Katie Pertiet; Photo processing action - My Four Hens Photography

I love this kid.

Emperor Zurg Invades Halloween

Supplies Used: SuperVillains elements; SuperVillains patterned-paper pack; Super-comic panel 12x12 layouts; Splendid Tutorial #6- Super Comic Photos; Super halftone edges; Super halftone-splatters; Super elements v1 - All products by Splendid Fiins (available at JessicaSprague.com)

Last Halloween David decided that he wanted to be Emperor Zurg from "Toy Story", Buzz Lightyear's mortal enemy. (He's got a thing for villains, apparently.) I'm typically not one to go out and purchase a costume, plus this character was rather obscure, so I probably wouldn't have been able to find it anyway. So I made it myself from a purple T-shirt, some felt, foam, and a black plastic tablecloth. The "gun" was made with plastic cups glued to a plastic plate and spray painted. He was thrilled, of course, and even to this day he will occasionally pull out the costume and want to put it on.

When it came time to scrap the Halloween pictures, my creative juices ran out. I just could not get the page to look right - I wasn't happy with the paper or the colors or the elements...nothing looked quite right. So the page sat unfinished for a long time until I ran across this "Superhero" themed stuff from Splendid Fiins. Not only does she have some brilliant templates, papers, and elements but she also had a really easy tutorial for how to give pictures a comic-like effect. Finally, a page I was happy with! Sometimes all you need is a creative kick-start.

Butterfly Garden

Supplies Used: Design 365 Color Kit 2 - Carina Gardner; Design 365 Color Kit 1 - Carina Gardner; Essentials Collection Masks v2 - Carina Gardner; Country Lane Kit - Pink Paislee; Blossom Hill Road Kit - Laurie Ann Anderson; Olive Tree Kit - Sara Gleason

Another page here from our recent trip to Disney World! There was so much beautiful scenery to take pictures of at EPCOT since the Flower and Garden Show was in full swing. One of the special exhibits for the show was a butterfly garden tent. The kids really enjoyed finding the butterflies and getting such an up close look at so many beautiful varieties. I found a lot of great butterfly-themed digital supplies to compliment this page - I think it turned out great!

Viva Vegas!

Supplies Used: Printed Tickets Expressions - Jenni Bowlin Studio; Mixed 1 Backgrounds, Mixed 2 Backgrounds - Nancie Rowe Janitz; LE PETITE PAPERIE Arrows - Carina Gardner; Knock Out - "circle explosion" mask, very krafty-the neutrals - Splendid Fiins; Artsy Layered Template No.23 - Anna Aspnes; DIY Acrylic Alphabet No.4 - Pattie Knox; Ripped and Stitched DIY No.02 - Lynn Grieveson; Glitter Paper (Soho Sweetheart Collab Kit) - Viva Artistry

Every once in a while it's fun to do a page that is a major departure from my usual style. My usual style tends more toward the simple and minimalist, but you can't do a simple page about Vegas! It just wouldn't give the right Vegas-y feeling. So bring on the glitz! I took all these photos with my iPhone, many via Instagram. I just love those photo filters. I got a lot of great pictures to remember my awesome trip. Enjoy!

Dance

Supplies Used: Tangerine Dream Collection, Butterfly Rub On Kit, Date Labels - Jenni Bowlin Studios; Fabric Covered Buttons - Kitschy Digitals; Flight Plan No. 16 - One Little Bird Design; Photo processing actions - My Four Hens Photography

Summertime is finally here! I am so ready for warm days, long sunlit hours outside, and veggies from the garden. On Monday Jenni Bowlin Studio is releasing this sun-kissed kit, "Tangerine Dreams." The colors are lovely, but I was particularly inspired by the paper with the sheet music print. Then I found this quote...and the rest of the page just kind of came together. I love this picture of Carter. Shouldn't all our days be filled with that kind of joy?

What are you most looking forward to about summer?

Teacher Appreciation

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, so I created a little piece of subway art to give to the teachers at my kids' daycare. I think the quote is great because it has many layers of meaning, both for teachers and non-teachers alike. I am so grateful that my kids spend their days learning with people who genuinely care about them and help them become happy, social, individuals.

Do you have a special teacher or person in your life who might appreciate this sentiment? Share it! I'm making it available to download a print-quality copy here on my blog. It is sized to print on an 8x10 sheet.

Be sure to show your appreciation to teachers this week - they have a really tough and often overlooked job. Show them how much they mean to you and your family.

Epcot Flower and Garden Show

Supplies Used: Knockout Misting Mask Woodgrain - Splendid Fiins; Home and Garden Kit - Katie Pertiet; Stamped Blocks No. 10 - Katie Pertiet; Garden Gate Alpha - Misty Cato; Digital Dates No. 21 - Katie Pertiet; Essentials Collection (frame) - Carina Gardner

I have many Disney pages left to scrap from our recent trip, so this won't be the last time you see Mickey! This layout gave me another opportunity to play with the Knockout Misting Masks I mentioned yesterday. They are so easy to use and yield really neat results. Three misting masks are available in the JessicaSprague.com store starting May 7; a few more (including the woodgrain pattern I used here) will be available May 14.  Check them out!

Hello Love

Supplies Used: "Knockout" Misting Mask Circle Explosion - Splendid Fiins; Flight Plan No. 15 Template, Time Capsule Papers, Koa Tags, Dialogue Kit, Modern Dates - One Little Bird Design, Brad Bonanza - Pattie Knox

I am totally excited about a new product I got to use on this page. Splendid Fiins, one of the designers at JessicaSprague.com is launching her first set of "misting masks" on Monday. She's calling them "Knockout"...and they definitely are! I never really got into the misting craze that started in traditional paper scrapbooking a couple of years ago. The "mist" is ink put into a more liquid form that can be sprayed onto paper. It's used to add a "splattered" appearance, but you can also give a masked effect by putting a shape onto the paper, misting over the surface, and then removing the shape to reveal the outline. With these new digital misting masks you get all the effect with none of the mess!!  I will definitely be using these products quite a lot.

Be on the lookout for them in the store - the first set launches Monday followed by a few more the following week.