Aaaaaaannddddd.... We're Back!

Having been out of my office and away from all my lovely crafting goodies, it's been more of a challenge than I'd've thought to get back into the groove.  What to do??

How about catching up on some extremely overdue design team challenges??  I was hopeful that having parameters to stay within would jump start my mojo.  With that idea in mine, I actually created 2 layouts last night and am really happy with them.


Here's the first sketch I worked with:  

I chose to turn it upside down and came up with this:

Sorry for the washed out look.  I took it outside to photograph.  It's brighter in real life.  :)

One thing that I really liked about taking on this challenge is that I actually created layouts!!  It's been such a long time since I've done that.  And I made my first Kaytey layout.  How can you not love that face??  

Notes: 

- With so many colors in the smaller photos, I elected to highlight the colors in the large, focal photo and not worry about the others.  

- I zig zag stitched each layer of patterned paper and cardstock together for texture and small pops of each color.

- I like how the ribbon on the heart and the photo help tie (punny, huh?) the two together and helped move your eye thru the layout.

Supplies: Cardstock - Core'dinations, Bazzil, Patterned Paper - KI Memories (Sweet Life collection), Ribbon - Offray, Chipboard Heart - Jenni Bowlin Studios, Small letters - Prima, Large Letters - QK Blossom cut from PTI coaster baord, Tiny Tags - American Tag Co, Paint - Delta, Safety Pin - UNK

Here's the second sketch: 

and the results:

My first derby layout!!  These photos are from the day I broke my ankle, obviously BEFORE I broke it.  :)  I love this shot of Mel, Bret & I.  I've already said this could be our Christmas card photo this year and it was only February!  The other pictures show me (upper left) blocking the jammer, (upper right) delivering a good hit and knocking the jammer down and (lower left) hanging in with one of the guys on the track.

A few things to note about my version of the sketch:

- I opted to change the sizes of my photos a little to better fit the pictures I had

- Create your own embellishments.  Yep, we've heard this for ages but sometimes we forget about it.  And creating your own embellishments doesn't have to be involved or complicated.  For example - the two "tapes" I created for this layout.  The "Support Local Roller Derby" tissue tape was made with an image downloaded from the internet, adding a black border around it and then lining it up end to end.  I used white tissue and double sided tape and printed the image onto it.  You can find the tutorial that inspired me here.  There are so many possibilities for this.  

- The other "tape" I created is the AZRD logo tape in the upper right corner.  I lined it up the same way and simply printed it on cardstock.  Neat touches that were simple, fast but had cool, personal impact.

- I die cut lots of little stars to create another custom tape look.  To make it more interesting I popped them up on foam squares.  Just a neat way to give some dimension to my "tape".

Supplies: Cardstock - Core'dinations, Bazzil, WorldWin, Title - Grapevine Designs, Patterned Paper - Fancy Pants, Die Cut Stars - Spellbinders, Quickutz, Rhinestones - Kaiserkraft, Labels - Dymo

You'll be able to see both of these in person at Paper Vineyard after the 24th.  Join me for Copic Coloring that focuses on Pallet Blending that day.  :)  

Here's hoping this jump start is successful!  I'm grabbing lunch and then I'm pulling out my markers!  

Have a fabulous day!!