Summertime Crops

I love summer break, not only do I get about 10 weeks off from school, but its also the time I get to attend 4 day crops. Already this summer I have attended two cropping events, TAC and Treasured Memories. I really love attending this events. The inspiration that oozes from the room is awesome. I took tons and tons of pictures so that I will be able to scraplift my favorite layouts during the long dreary months of winter. Here are some layouts that I completed recently, along with some of my favorites from others.

Memories from Disney World. I love the way this layout turned out. The map looks old and burned around the edges, and the little treasured scattered here and there just remind me of pirate loot. I used Graphic 45 paper on this layout. I love, love, love Graphic 45, especially the back side or to me its the back, most people use the more graphic side, while I tend to use the patterned side, LOL.

Here is one of the little treasured I added to the layout. The coin came from a pirate set that I bought in the airport in Wilmington, NC when we flew out to welcome Matt home from Afghanistan. The set had the coin, a map and a eye patch. I just had to have that set, I knew I could incorporate some of the items into a layout. I also attached a cluster of beads and charms on a jump ring, then attached to whole thing to the trim. Love this look!!!


Here is a cluster of feathers, tied with a ribbon and some scattered buttons and charms. Stuck in the feathers is a custom made stick pin from Treasured Memories, a local scrapbook store. I just brought my layout to the counter and together the owner and I picked out the beads. I love stick pins, they just seen to add the right amount of POP to a layout.

The last cluster is more feathers, buttons and a little drawer pull along with my journaling card. I tend to like my journaling hidden, after all, I think of my layouts as parts of a diary, private, and therefore tend to hide the journaling.

I'll add the rest of the photos a bit later today, the garden is screaming for attention and there is a storm in the gulf that I must prepare for.

Laissez Le Bon Temp Rouler

I can not believe it but I won a layout contest!!! This layout pictures my Grandfather playing his accordion. The smaller picture was taken at Festival Acadiens when he was honored as a pioneer of French Cajun Music. He began playing the accordion and fiddle when he was a young boy. He told me his father taught him to play the fiddle and one of the local legends, Joe Falcon, taught him to play the accordion. His father was the fiddle player in Joe Falcon's band and they would let my grandfather play the music while the band took their break. Another legend, Mark Savoy, once told me that Paw played versions of these great old french songs that no one else did. Mr. Savoy also told me what a wonderful accordion player Paw was. After my grandmother passed away, while cleaning out their house, we found a notebook filled with the classic french music my grandfather played. All of the music was written by him in french. One of those old songs, Let the Good Times Roll, was the perfect addition to the layout. Anyway, last weekend the scrappers voted this layout as their favorite. What an honor!!!

Inspiration

Where does inspiration come from? For me, it comes from looking at common objects and daily activities of living. I can find inspiration for my scrapbook pages just by looking at bath salt bottles, chipped enamel coffee pots, vintage buttons, vintage lace, vintage jewelry, postcards and clothing. When working in the garden, I get the flashes of the perfect scrapbook page or title, the layouts just fall into place. The major problem I have when I get these moments of inspiration is that I don't stop what I'm doing and write the fleeting thoughts down. Then much later, when I'm seated at my desk, I try to think back on those moments only to find that they are lost. Lost in the shuffle of chaos that envelopes my daily life. So, my goal for this summer is to try and write down these spurts of inspiration as they flutter through my thoughts.

The project below was born of such a moment. I was in a flea market in North Carolina when I ran across a bag of odd earrings. There was not a matching set in the bunch. The pieces that were in that bag were fabulous, and several just screamed to be used on a page about my grandmother.

The flower center is an old clip-on earring that just reminded me of my grandmother. The hat pin is another reminder. After my Grandmother passed away and my grandfather went to live with my father, my father and his siblings had the daunting task of cleaning out their home. One of my sons, who was helping with the clean up, found my grandmother's hats. Attached to several of the hats were hat pins. After finding the hat pins, I started searching flea markets for these little jewels. The one I used on this layout is a reproduction that was given to me by a friend. Our local scrapbook Store, Treasured Memories, has a wide assortment of pins and will even make them to match your layouts.

The other two layouts also use vintage jewelry pieces.

The beautiful "buckle" on the ribbon is actually a pin that I picked up at a flea market for a dollar, the small metal disc at the top of the right hand page is actually another earring.

This layout has a clock face in the cluster of buttons and gears at the top of the right hand page, which was salvaged from a broken watch I purchased in another grab bag of old jewelry, and what a better way to reinforce the topic of "Les Le Bon Temp Rouler".

Inspiration, where does yours come from?