I have a secret to share...I am a perfectionist. It's just been the way of things for as long as I can remember. Always had to have straight A's in school. Everything had to be in it's place and couldn't even be moved a smidge out of that spot. Dishes have to go in the dishwasher a certain way. I've even been known to realign chairs in public places that are not lined up correctly or rearrange packs of meat in the frozen counter at the grocery store, if they have shifted out of place!! Crazy, I know. So naturally, when I started Scrapbooking, my perfectionism tendencies followed me to my layouts. When I first started, the ruler was my best friend. Everything on my page had to be measured within an inch of it's life and photos had to be exact sizes 3.5x5, 4x6, 3x3...you get the idea. But now, after 7+ years of Scrapbooking, I can finally say I am letting go of perfectionism on my layouts. The ruler stays in my craft bag 90% of the time and I've even cut a few shapes lately (free-hand), without using my Cameo. Now the imperfections I am embracing on my layouts may not be visible to your eye, but I can definitely see them and I am okay with that.
Let me share some examples with you, to show you where I'm going with this:
First up, a layout for the 5/26/13 Challenge Sunday at Chic Tags, using Washi Tape.
I was able to sit down Tuesday and whip this page out in about an hour. Not too many years ago, a page like this probably would have taken me close to 3 hours to complete. My perfection self would have wanted to measure all of the strips of Washi to have alternating sizes and make sure the spacing on either side of the photos was even. And I even started off with no idea what the design of this page would be. I just stuck my photo on there and kind of went from there. I had a few little spots where my Sharpie got a little off track when I was tracing the Triangles from my mask, but I just took a deep breath and went with it!!
Supplies: Patterned Paper: Pebbles Inc. & Fancy Pants; Washi Tape: Love My Tapes, Pebbles Inc., Freckled Fawn & Recollections; Tags & Printable: Chic Tags; Wood Veneers, Badge & Stickers; Studio Calico; Embossing Powder: American Crafts; Font: Abadi MT Condensed Extra Bold; Mask: The Paper Bakery
This second layout is one I created for my Introduction Post that was up on the Paper Issues Blog yesterday, using one of my favorite new collections from October Afternoon, Travel Girl.
My perfectionism horror on this page, is that it's going a little downhill. There's just that touch of crooked to the design. When I edited this layout in PhotoShop, I had the urge to Crop it and try to straighten it back up just a little, but I resisted and let imperfection win out. I loved the way this page turned out and just wanted to keep it as is...imperfection and all.I have discovered the more perfect we try to make our pages, the more stress it causes. Creating layouts or projects should be fun...and let's face it, we are creating...not doing rocket science or precise blueprints for the perfect Scrapbook layout. Scrapbooking should kind of be like coloring outside of the lines or getting your fingers dirty with finger paints. So next time you drop a big splat of unexpected mist on your almost finished page (which I have done, by the way) find a way to work it into your layout. You will most likely be pleasantly surprised with a touch of imperfection in the end!!Supplies: Patterned Paper, Stickers, Tin Pin, Tid Bits & Buttons: October Afternoon; Wood Veneers: Freckled Fawn & Studio Calico; Washi Tape: Freckled Fawn; Thickers: American Crafts; Punch: EK Success; Mask: The Paper Bakery; Other: Shipping Tag & Acrylic Paint 
***For Information on the upcoming Let's Get Trendy Now!3 Workshop, please visit THIS POST.*** Yes, I do! And you can find out what those are, by stopping by to check out my DT Introduction on the Paper Issues Blog, today! I am so excited to be a part of the PI Team with so many talented Ladies! We have a lot of fun chatting with one another, creating and sharing our DT projects, and of course shopping in the PI Shop!!Along with my intro., you can see one of my newest layouts using the Travel Girl collection from October Afternoon...and all of my OA goodies were purchased from the Paper Issues shop. Here's a sneak of my layout and you can see the full reveal on the PI Blog:One of my PI perks, is passing along the fun to you and when you are shopping in the Paper Issues shop, you can use the Code ASHLEY75 to save 20% off of your order!
I am so very excited to let you know, that I have been invited to be one of the Guest Designers for Let's Get Trendy Now!3, with Yvonne Yam, Amy Tsurtua, and Julie Tucker-Wolek, taking place on June 3-7! These Ladies have put on this extremely fun week-long workshop for the past 2 years and decided to make things a little bigger this year, by adding a talented group of Guest Designers!This year, the Let's Get Trendy Now!3 Workshop will be sharing 5 Trends - Neon, Sequins, Hand-made Embellishments, Stitching, and Textured Layers. Not only will you be inspired by 32 never before seen projects, you will also get a chance to win some awesome prizes by playing along with the challenges! Once you register, you will automatically be entered to win the following RAK!You can add your name to the Linky Tool to be registered and then make sure you join us on June 3-7. You can also visit the Let's Get Trendy Now!3 site for more information, and make sure you head over and LIKE the Let's Get Trendy Now!3 Facebook Page.
I have a layout to share today, for the 5/23/13 Sketch Thursday challenge at Elle's Studio. I decided to take a different style approach on this layout, that goes outside of my norm. Most of my pages are usually filled with a lot of different patterned papers and some type of misting. For this layout, I decided to take a more clean approach and keep my papers and embellishments clustered and following the basic design of the Sketch. I really loved this fun Sketch and the use of the Triangles. It's based on an adorable layout by Martha Bonneua, who is one of the Elle's Studio DT members. I definitely wanted to keep the Triangles from the Sketch and normally would be very anal about having perfect shapes, which would mean using my Cameo to cut them. But I decided to free hand it and just cut my own Triangle shapes from patterned paper and I also used some of the backing in the Elle's packaging.This type of style/design is definitely different for me and I looked at this page several times after it was finished and thought to myself, "should I add this or that??!!" But in the end, I decided to keep it just the way it was. It can be fun to take a step outside of your normal comfort zone and do something that's not your typical style. One of the best ways to try this, is by finding a designer you love, that doesn't do the same type of layouts you do and find inspiration from their page to create your own. And it can be a great way to refresh your creativity, if you're feeling like your mojo has gone on vacation!! :)Supplies: Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper & Tags: Elle's Studio; Wood Veneers: Freckled Fawn & Studio Calico; Thickers: American Crafts: Washi Tape; SMASH; Chevron Cut File: Two Peas in a Bucket
Yesterday, I was up on The Paper Bakery Blog, sharing a Card created with the May Kit, Glitz Roadshow. I used one of the Exclusive Cut Files, that comes along with your monthly membership to The Paper Bakery Kit Club. I used the striped Vellum paper included in the Kit for the background of my Card. And the great thing about the little Houses, is that they can be separated and each piece cut on a different patterned paper. I added a Kraft heart, twine, and enamel dots to finish off the house and then used the Studio Calico Mini Alpha Stickers for my sentiment and one of The Paper Bakery Custom Flair Buttons to add a touch of whimsy with the Bicycle image.If you're looking for the perfect Kit Club, The Paper Bakery might just be the place for you!! Each month's Kit contains Custom Flair Buttons, Exclusive Cut Files or Printables rotated on a monthly basis, great patterned paper and embellishments! Also, if you sign up for a Subscription you receive a discount on the price of your membership!
I am sure you have noticed the trend of Gold, that has been appearing in the crafty world lately. You can find Gold Thickers, embellisments, mists, and papers almost everywhere you look. If you are looking to find out more about this trend, come over to the Get It Scrapped! Blog and see how the Creative Team members took on this assignment.
Have you been over to the Get It Scrapped! Blog today? The Creative Team is sharing layouts based on the Trendy Motif: Mosaics. Make sure you go over to take a look at what they did and here is a look at what I did for the assignment:
Thursdays have become my stalking day for the Elle's Studio Blog, since they post a new Sketch for the Sketch Thursday challenge. I am having so much fun playing along with the Sketches each week. I really loved the new Sketch posted on 5/16/13, and had the chance to create a layout for it over the weekend. The Serendipity collection worked perfectly with my photos...and I am sad to say, that I am already down to only two sheets of paper from this line. I see re-ordering in my future!! I changed up the Sketch a little bit, by adding two photos, instead of the one. But the overall design is still the same. I added mist drops using Heidi Swapp's Mustard Color Shine and October Afternoon's Pink Balloon Sprinklers. I wanted to use the mist drops to mimic the look of bubbles on my layout. And I also thought it would be fun to add the stitched Asterik shapes, because it reminded me of popping bubbles!And just a little info on the Vellum flower: I cut 3 varied size circles, the largest being 2.5 inches, on my Cameo. Then I used my Martha Stewart fringe scissors around the edges of all 3 circles. After the 3 circles were layered together, I used the end piece off of one of the Little Yellow Bicycle Stick Pins, for the center of my flower. Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you have a great Monday!Supplies: Patterned Paper, Pennants, Tabs, & Tags: Elle's Studio; Wood Veneers: Studio Calico; Stick Pin: Little Yellow Bicycle; Spray Mist: Heidi Swapp & October Afternoon; Acrylic Stamps: Heidi Swapp; Ink: Stampin' Up; Vellum: Fynmark; Letter Stickers: Jillibean Soup; Other: Sequins & Embroidery Floss
There's a new Issue today at Paper Issues, and you can come link up for the chance to win 1 of 7 prizes from our new Sponsor, Lifestyle Crafts!Make sure you stop by the Paper Issues Blog and Hop along with the PI Girls to see the amazing projects they created! Then you can link up any projects using dies or showing your Life! It's that easy!And you can even Like Paper Issues and Lifestyle Crafts on Facebook. Leave a little love on the Lifestyle Crafts FB page and tell them Paper Issues sent you!Remember when you are shopping in the Paper Issues Etsy Shop to use the Code ASHLEY75 at check out to save 20% off of your entire order!!
