friday . . .

I am still here - just playing the avoidance game a bit - not that I really want to avoid all of you wonderful readers out there - you all keep me blogging :) The truth is I made a very important decision recently & I have just been waiting until I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I think with any loss, comes great reflection. And I have been doing alot of reflecting. I rediscovered what is so fabulous about running these past few weeks - the time to just really think - no interruptions - just you and the silence. Within this silence my mind of course has been going a mile a minute just thinking about my priorities & if they have been in the right place. In the end, I made the decision to resign from Imaginisce, Scrap Within Reach, and GCD Studios. A VERY difficult decision, but in the end, I know it is the right one for me at this point in my life. I LOVE scrapbooking - it is my escape at the end of a long day & my way of documenting the wonderful moments I have experienced in my lifetime. However, the deadlines - well, when you have too many of them as I did, they tend to change all that - or at least they did for me. It became about getting it done & what pics work for this paper line & I need to take pics of this so that I have them for an upcoming assignment. It saddened me deeply - this hobby is about treasuring my memories & I think I was losing sight of that. Being a part of these teams was such an awesome journey & they are truly ALL fabulous companies to work for :) Each and every one of them was so understanding & kind after I shared my decision with them & I appreciate that tremendously because I feel so horrible about ending my terms early. I will still be continuing my position as sketch artist for Magpie Club, My Creative Scrapbook, and The Scrap Room as well as doing some guest designing here & there for the next few months :) AND - I will still be blogging - no worries :) I want to say a special thank you to all of you who took the time to leave such kind & thoughtful comments on my last post & to all of you who sent me such sweet emails (that I still have yet to finish responding to - sorry again). They ALL just touched me so much - I am so lucky to have such a fabulous & caring group of readers!!! Thank you ALL again from the bottom of my heart!!

Now, I couldn't leave you all without sharing some scrappiness - yes I am still scrapping. I had a number of assignments to finish up this month & being that I was away from the blogging scene for so long - I am going to overload you all with some pics :)

As mentioned in my last post, I had the wonderful opportunity to guest design for Paper Posies this month. For my third layout, Michele asked me to create a sketch along with it that she could share with her subscribers. Here is the sketch . . .

And here is the layout . . .

I really LOVE title work - the combination of more than one alpha set within a title always seems to make it "pop" more to me. There were 2 within this kit - the red and the ledger type blue & white - LOVED them both!!!

I always see people doing this half-circle punch out thing - really liked the effect of the missing space & the little butterfly in there :)

When I printed off this photo of my son a few weeks ago, I knew the color scheme was perfect for the GCD Studios Artsy Urban line. I just love how the mix of gold, maroon, and black in the patterned papers totally complimented the pic.

I definitely love to layer, and this layout was no different. I used a combination of the border strips, inspiration cards, mat pads, journal cards, chipboard stickers and patterned paper to incorporate a number of patterns & colors into layout.

I also wanted to add some dimension to the layout as well so I used some punched patterned paper & chipboard to create this cute flower.

The flower was super easy & quick so I thought I would take a moment to share how you too can create this to use on your layouts :)

Handmade Flower Tutorial:

#1 First off, you will need 2 sizes of flower punches, patterned paper, paint, mist, twine, a chipboard circle, a thin paintbrush, and sandpaper.

#2 Begin by punching 2 flowers of varying size. You want to make sure the patterned paper is double-sided because you will see both sides in the final flower.

#3 Use the end of a thin paintbrush to curl up each petal.

#4 Do this to every petal on both punched flowers.

#5 Attach the smaller curled flower on top of the larger curled flower. I used a thick pop-dot so that the smaller flower was slightly raised above the larger.

#6 Now you will need to create the center of the flower. Paint the front of a small chipboard circle & spray a light coating of mist on it. Once dry, sand the edges a bit to give it a distressed feel. Punch 2 small holes near the center to create the "button".

#7 Using a piece of twine, tie a small bow through the holes of the button. Adhere this to your flower & voila - a fun & easy handmade flower to add to your layouts!!!

And finally, some sneaks to share for pages I will be revealing over the coming week :)

Magpie Club Sneak :)

My Creative Scrapbook Sneak :)

And last but not least, a few sneaks from my upcoming Guest Designer spot over at Paper Poppy - if you haven't checked this kit club out you should. It is owned by a FABULOUS designer - Aphra Bolyer - who used to design for me when I was running 52 Sketches 52 Weeks. She has a knack for putting together some totally yummy kits & I had a ball designing with all the goodies she sent me :)

Thanks again so much to all of you out there!!! I have the best readers ever & I so appreciate all the kindness & support you have shown me :) We are heading out to the mountains for some much needed family time but I will be popping in this weekend to post my FULL reveal for Paper Poppy so make sure to check back!!!

ttyl - julie