Gossamer Blue | February

Hello Everyone! Happy February! How did that happen? Forgive the oft repeated rhetorical question. I'm just always shocked by how fast life goes. I have lots of creative projects planned for this month...a return to regular art journaling, beginning my new monthly traveler's notebook, and finishing off my December Daily album...I know, I know. It's time to get it DONE.

But...before I get too ahead of myself, it's February 1st and that means a new Gossamer Blue kit is available. This month was a special one for me because not only did I design quite a few of the Life Pages cards, I also designed the stamps with the help of Michelle Wooderson's amazing input. EEP!

This month's kit is filled with color and beautiful Basic Grey. I don't normally gravitate toward Basic Grey but that's the beauty of kits. Sometimes it's just the nudge you need to try something new to you. In my case, that means trying new colors and patterns. As soon as I opened the kit, I started making layouts and couldn't stop. It's funny, but when that mojo appears, you don't ask questions, you just grab your glue stick and go! Here are some the layouts I made this month using a combination of The Main Scrapbook Kit, The Scrapbook Add-Ons and the Life Pages Kit.

If you're looking for some examples of how other have used their kit, don't forget to check out the gallery or @gossamerblue on Instagram. Like usual, the design team will be showcasing their layouts here and everyday on the Gossamer Blue blog.

xoxo

My 2016 Project Life Plans

I'm not entirely sure calling it "project life" is entirely accurate. You'll see what I mean in a minute...but let me back up a bit.

I've never really done a traditional full size 12x12 Becky Higgins style Project Life. Oh sure, I got the big ass album and the jumbo pack of letter A protectors...I just didn't use them. I gave them away actually. Instead I went small opting for a 6x8 Snap album and a monthly approach. The whole point of this thing is to find what works and that took me a little while.

I have 2013 and 2014 nicely represented. Yes, there are gaps, but I'm okay with them. I decided to sit 2015 out. Why, you ask (I know you really didn't ask)? Well, I had just moved in December 2014 and I wasn't entirely happy or motivated to document the tundra I now called home, All my stuff was still packed away when January arrived and was still pretty much packed away in...well, I'd rather not say. Plus...I got distracted by art journaling my guts out and making layouts...lots and lots of layouts. I didn't forget Project Life though. I still watched tons of process videos and followed amazing Lifers on Instagram...it felt like enough, until it wasn't.

At the end of the year...Just a few weeks ago to be exact, I was organizing my 2015 projects and sensed something was missing. I was happy with the layouts and minis and art journal pages, but it felt incomplete. Everyday was missing. The in between was missing. The details. Life happens in those details and I didn't have them documented. Not like previous years. It made me realize that simple daily documentation is important to me on a gut level. Taking the time to observe, ruminate and savor is important to me. I knew what I needed to do.

If 2015 taught me anything, it taught me that memorykeeping comes in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes just observing and absorbing can be valuable. I wanted to try something new this year. Something that embraced the Project Life concept minus the pockets. I wanted to write and write like Doris Sander did in her hobonichi. I wanted to use stickers and lettering like Florence Antoinette did in her planner. I wanted to mix it up like Stephanie Bryan and add simple touches like Hopscotch Lane. I wanted a mix of colors and patterns like Elizabeth's December Daily. I wanted it to sometimes be less and other times be more. I wanted it all. A delightful papery mash-up. An art journal, traveler's notebook, planner, project life, minibook mix of real, colorful life.

Here's a little flip through and chat...

Gossamer Blue January Blog Hop

It's a new year and I'm excited to begin making a whole bunch of new memories. I have a fewscrap goals (is that even a thing) for 2016. I want to restart Project Life after giving it up sometime around March...but I want to take an entirely new (to me) approach. I also just want to make more layouts and maybe even a few videos. Not too lofty...but something different and challenging. My goal for 2015 was just to share more and it resulted in a few awesome opportunities and so many new scrappy friends. I look forward to what 2016 will bring but today my page is all about the here and now.

This grid layout is certainly a default template for me, but hey...do what works, right? Since I stopped doing pocket pages, I have come up with all kinds of ways to use the adorable cards that come in the Life Pages kits. I love incorporating them into layouts by cutting them up and creating embellishments, using them as titles and journaling spots, using them as layers and to make different kinds of grids. The January kit came with some really cute cards and I challenged myself to use only the kit for this entire layout minus the white cardstock.

Check out what my fellow design team members created this month and hop on over to Heather's blog.

Alex Hunter• Anabelle O'Malley• Andrea Gray• Brenda Weaver• Chantal Philippe• Diane Payne• Emily Spahn• Eyoung Lee• Jill Keller• Joy Taylor• Kasia "Antilight" Petrus• Kathleen Graumüller• Kellie Winnell• Kelly Xenos• Michelle Wedertz• Olatz Garaiyurrebaso• Sandra Dietrich• Sian Fair

letting the light in

I love this quote by Leonard Cohen...

there are cracks in everything. that's how the light gets in.

As i get older I become better acquainted with my own cracks, and I agree with Leo.

2015 was pretty dark. The world was dark...and so was my own personal experience. Not always, of course, but I let the darkness in in a way that I haven't in a long while. I succumbed to it and allowed it to spread and stretch into and over everything. If you know me, you know that's not my way.

My one little word for 2016 is light. Not original or terribly impressive, but perfect as one evening a few days ago it chose me and in return I chose it. This word has many layers and many meanings for me. I associate it with kindness, humor, generosity and spirit. All the things I hope to practice in the coming year. I want to indulge in the things that bring light into my life...my home, my family, my hobbies and avoid the things that don't.

I find myself making no effort to engage in the things I find unworthy. The truth is...we all have stuff but if you bring light to my life and I bring a little to yours...well, what more is there?

Gossamer Blue December Blog Hop

Welcome to the final blog hop of 2015. I'm still slightly in denial that it's all wrapping up so fast. I have made more scrapbook layouts in 2015 than in any other year to date. I feel pretty awesome about that. If there's one thing I've learned, after trying countless trends and techniques, is that it's okay to embrace what you love and discard what you don't. I don't know if I have a style, I don't know if I'm even all that inspirational, but what I do know is that I am telling stories and getting pictures off my hard drive and that's everything right there.

This picture is a great metaphor for my life as a scrapbooker. I do the same stuff everyday...I don't travel to exotic places---very often, I don't even really leave my house often, but there's so much that happens in the in between. In the small spaces that go unnoticed. That's what I pay homage to on my layouts. I've taken a version of this picture a million times and I love them all. They go into my personal scrapbooks and perhaps one day I will look back and these stories will tell me that I never missed a chance to go walking amongst the golden leaves.

This has been my first foray into the world of scrapbook design teams and, for me...it has been a lovely experience. I was worried there would be pressure to work in a way that felt unnatural to me, but that hasn't been the case at all. I look forward to trying new things and making a ton of pages in 2016!

Don't forget to check out these lovely ladies...Heather is up next.

Alex Hunter • Anabelle O'Malley • Brenda Smith • Brenda Weaver • Caylee Grey • Emily Spahn • Eunyoung Lee • Felicitas Mayer • ME • Heather Leopard • Jill Keller • Kathleen Graumüller • Kellie Winnell • Kelly Xenos • Michelle Wedertz • Sandra Dietrich • Sian Fair • Stephanie Buice

Gossamer Blue November Blog Hop

Well, Hello there November! Can't believe how close we are to wrapping this year up. Even though I have the Holidays on the brain, I'm still trying to take time to do the things I love, the things that have become synonymous with the season. For me, one of those things is knitting. My skills are not very advanced, but I love making what I can make. I especially love taking off on a Saturday morning bound for my all time favorite knitting store, Tolt. It's a bit of an adventure through the woods outside the city, but one that is well worth it.

created using: main scrapbook kit, life pages main add-on, life pages add-on #3

I found the colors in this month's kit to be really versatile. Even though it included bright yellow, orange and aqua...the kraft cardstock really helped to maintain a rustic look. Kraft paper is such a good neutral and a fun alternative to the oft used white background. I used that fun 3x4 journal card as my title. The wording was perfect for one of my favorite Fall adventures. As a finishing touch, I added some white splatters and handwritten journaling. I think that would make a good challenge for myself...to use my own handwriting more and use up those 3x4 cards for titles!

Don't forget to check out the next blog. There's so much Inspiration this month.

Amy Challis• Andrea Gray• Diane Payne• Emily Spahn• Eunyoung Lee• Jill Keller• Kasia Przybyt• Kellie Winnell• Kelly Xenos• Michelle Wedertz• Olatz Garaiyurrebaso• Sandra Dietrich• Stephanie Buice

Hello November

It's officially the beginning of November and I've gained an hour's worth of sleep. That's a pretty swell start I think. Lots going on this month...my family will be descending upon me en masse for the Thanksgiving holiday and while I am overwhelmed by the amount of things I need to get done (unpack boxes) I'm so very excited to have them in our new home.

The layout above was made using the Gossamer Blue Main Scrapbook Kit for November. That gold wood grain paper is so lovely in person. In order to create that stitched halo around the picture...I just used a bit of the glassine from one of the packages:) That doily was from the main Life Pages kit which is filled with the most divine cards this month.

Gossamer Blue August Blog Hop

This month's kit is pretty amazing. I can tell just by the layouts I've created, but even when a kit is awesome you are bound to find a few things that challenge you. I decided that the theme of my monthly blog hop posts won't be about what's fabulous...I'll let you decide that, but rather the things I found a bit difficult. Might be a specific product or a color scheme...either way, confronting those creative challenges helps me to get everything I can out of my kits and I thought it would be neat to share.

Enter: the Summer Vibes chipboard frames by Simple Stories that came in the Main Add-On. I love these little suckers. I hoard them, but can't seem to ever use them or make them work. When I saw them in this month's kit I figured I'd put them to the side and move on, but I stopped short, opened the pack and decided that I would just figure it out. This is the result. Not too shabby, right? Sure, I'm not gonna win any awards for originality, but scrapbooking is all about documenting our memories in a way that feels right, and this felt right. 

I think that whenever you work on something that challenges you it helps to fall back on what you know, what feels comfortable. In this case I relied on my beloved grid and a few of my favorite colors. This helped me to move forward with a product that kind of intimidates me. I'm still not super enthusiastic about using chipboard frames, but at least I did it and am thinking of a few other things I want to make. I hope that the next time you come across something in a kit that isn't your favorite...you give it a second look. You may just surprise yourself:)

don't forget to hop around and check out all the wonderful inspiration. Happy Scrapping!

Alex Hunter Anabelle O'Malley Andrea Gray Brenda Smith Brenda Weaver Diane Payne Emily Spahn Erin Taylor Eyoung Lee Felicitas Mayer France Wisniewski Heather Leopard Jill Cornell Jill Keller Kasia Przybyt Kathleen Graumuller Kellie Winnell Kelly Xenos Laura Rahel Crosby Michelle Wedertz Michiko Kato Olatz Garaiyurrebaso Patricia Roebuck Rebecca Luminarias Sian Fair Stephanie Buice Yana Smakula

the weekender

I haven't done a "weekender" post in a long while. I think it's easy to Instagram away your life and forget that there's more to the story. And the story is the thing. At least for me. My passion is documenting how I see the world...I don't know that Social Media tells enough of the story. How do I subsist on bite sized morsels? Anyway, these are my personal musings. Here's a bit more:

on books: I am still reading non fiction true crime novels which are both terrifying and intriguing. I can not get into contemporary fiction no matter how hard I try. "Girl on the Train" was a bust. I didn't even finish so I will refrain from giving a review.

on social media:  I have abandoned Twitter...not technically, and perhaps not forever, but for now. I have joined a few Facebook groups that are wonderful but clog my feed a bit. I don't spend much time there but the communities seem to be thriving. While I appreciate Instagram for its quickness, I find myself wanting to know more, see more. Perhaps I'm beginning to reject this abbreviated life that Social Media seems to foster. One in which everything is squeezed and compressed into a single image and a quick caption. I miss blogs. My favorites aren't terribly active anymore.  As for Pinterest...I still need to figure that out and Periscope...not sold...yet.

on process videos: i am obsessed. full stop. I think I love watching someone narrate their creative process. It's fascinating and sometimes funny and I want to make a few myself. Throw my hat into a ring that's already filled with hats. Why not?

on moving: in exactly 13 days the three of us will get back into our car and drive over 2000 thousand miles back home...not to the home of my birth but to the home of my choosing. It will hopefully be our last city...unless Paris comes calling:) I have a bit more to share on this topic, but will do so in another post.

on making more: I have been more openly creative in the last year than at any other time in the last 20 years. I am doing more mixed media, scrapbooking, list making...you name it. It has brought me so many wonderful opportunities. I certainly don't share everything, but I do indeed like to share. The increased productivity has been really good.

on food and wellness: i think this needs its own blog post, but let's just say...i'm a work in progress. moving back to Seattle is step one:)

Have a lovely weekend friends. I want to try and share more stories here. I have enjoyed going back to 2007 and reading some of my older ones.

Gossamer Blue | August

This month's Gossamer Blue kits are pretty much fabulous. You're probably going to get sick of me repeating that. The truth is, when you get a kit, you hope you're gonna love it, but you'll settle for liking it. When I get a kit I hope I can make stuff with it...lots of stuff. Not only that...I hope it's going to work with my stash...with whatever I may have left over from the previous month. I hope it's going to inspire me to use things I never considered in a way I never imagined. I hope it's going to feel easy, because I don't have time for hard. Tall order, huh?

                                                              august main kit

Well, The August kits pretty checked all the boxes. It probably helped that it included product from some of my favorites summer collections...Crate Paper, October Afternoon, Simple Stories...to name a few. So yeah...it's one thing to say that a kit is awesome, but the proof is in the pudding right? Check out some of the layouts I've already made...and there's more to come. I'm planning on creating a little end of the month "last look" where I share what I was able to make.

Looking forward to checking out your projects in the gallery and on Instagram...just use the #gossamerblue hashtag. Also, don't forget to check out all the amazing inspiration using the August kits over on the Gossamer Blue Blog.

dear chicago,

I regret to inform you that come next month I will be departing your lovely city and heading West. While I adore your charms...such as that magnificent lake that does look quite a bit like an ocean, your warm summer nights, your seven storied Macy's and of course...the parks...ahh, the parks, I've never been quite comfortable stuck in the middle. Therefore, I am returning from whence I came. Perhaps you've heard this song and dance before, but it's not you, it's me. You see I was born near an ocean...a real one, and despite the opportunities, I find I can't seem to stray very far from that particular large body of water. So what, you ask, holds such a claim on my heart? The beautiful Pacific Northwest, of course. Nothing quite compares to that delightful mix of trees, water, mountains and gloom. Grey is my favorite color after all. So, with every intention of keeping this missive short and sweet, I wanted to thank you for your patience. I have been a moody resident and you have dealt with me splendidly. I have nothing but praise for the windy city, and I will always feel a wee bit smug that I managed to survive your icy winter. So keep well Chicago...I hope that we remain friends.

Warm Regards,

france

Postscript: I just wanted to send a shout out to the New Yorker for warning me about the "big one," I've been living on one fault line or another my whole life so, while it wouldn't be ideal, it would be a fitting way for me to go!

Gossamer Blue | July

This month's Gossamer Blue release was all about adventure. It's one of those themes that I find to be so versatile. Adventure isn't just about far flung destinations...they exist in our everyday life and this month's kit was a great way to celebrate that. One of the layouts I created was about Ronin...the pup we got three years ago. If you've ever had the joy of raising a puppy, you know it is quite the adventure.

Using some simple white cardstock and those awesome alpha stickers from the Main kit plus layers from the 6x6 paper pad, tags and a sticker that came in the Bits and Pieces kit I put together a simple multi photo page. I cut apart the "happy camper" stamp from the Life Pages kit and used it on a file tab to create my own little embellishment.

Visit the Gossamer Blue blog this month to find plenty of inspiration to document your own adventures great and small.

ok...so here's the thing

Before I start saying crazy stuff like..."I can't believe it, I'm so excited, this is amazing," and making some people wanna puke. I'll say this...

I really AM excited.

You see, I'm not much of a sharer. I am a sporadic blogger at best. I can go weeks without an Insta anything, there is often radio silence on my Pinterest page and more often than not I forget about Twitter. I totally get the value of those things but I can be reticent.  It's not that I'm shy or anything...I'm just a mind my own beeswax type. I'm an observer rather than a participator and while some think one is better than the other, I'm just fine with who I am.

When the kind folks at Gossamer Blue asked me to be a part of their design team...they essentially said...we dig you and what you do and we just want you to do more of it...with us, and duh, I said yes. I said yes because I want to make more stuff and sometimes I need an impetus to do so. I said yes because I've been a part of this community since the 90's...since we ladies said no to scrubs and yes to scrunchies, I said yes because I love the Gossamer Blue kits and because I thought it would be a welcome challenge. Mostly I said yes because I want to participate and share and inspire, I want to get pictures off my hard drive and write stories down on paper. I simply want to MAKE. So thanks Gossamer Blue for choosing me, thanks all you folks who still visit this blog, thanks to all those friends who never made fun of my scrapbooking, thanks to my mom who started this by teaching me the importance of storytelling and buying me more markers, spiral notebooks and Hello Kitty stickers than any one girl should need, thanks to my siblings for always acting like anything I made was the best ever and thanks to Keith...who always reminds me..."do you, boo. I got you."

freebie friday

In honor of (Inter)national Scrapbooking Day, I am giving away a downloadable version of some of my favorite journal cards. These were designed by moi and are variations of bits and pieces I've sold over the years. For all you non-scrapbook Listers and Planners...you can use these too! Simply print out the pdf file onto the cardstock of your choice and cut out.

This weekend I have a lot of big plans...Catch up on Project LIfe, Finish up my #listersgottalist April book...so I can start May, and Play with the new One Little Bird Serendipity kit. I have also neglected my poor little Get Messy journal...and I'm itching to get back to that as well. EEK! so many crafts so little time. All of that and the sun is shining in Chicago! How will I manage to stay at my desk? Hopefully candy and hip hop will help me get stuff done!

A note about the printables...like I said, these are free. You can print them and reprint them times infinity. Just don't sell them...cuz that would be mean, and just don't tell the world you made them. If you make something with them and post them online...a lil credit would be nice, but no big deal. I really just want you to make things...lots of things and don't sell them. for  real. don't:)

Happy Crafting!

get messy art journal blog hop

This inaugural get messy art journal season was the perfect way to get back into the groove after my long holiday break. It has been so awesome being part of such a supportive and inspirational community.

This week I broke from my normal pattern and decided to incorporate some digital elements. I know it seems strange, but digital art journaling is a thing. Sometimes I just don't have the time or the inclination to pull out the watercolors or stamps so going digital is a fun alternative. I don't look at it as replacing "real" watercoloring, rather I see it as building a whole different skill set where my supplies consist of a computer, software and a whole range of digi kits and brushes. I plan on doing some more in depth digital art journal pages, but for today I kept it pretty straightforward. I created a very muted background using some digital water color brushes in a bluish gray. I they created an overlay of text and knocked out the color to create a resist look. The words are lyrics to one of my favorite love songs..."Wild is the Wind"...the Nina Simone version.

One of my favorite lines from the song is "like a leaf clings to a tree, oh my darling cling to me." I liked the idea of recreating the leaf imagery...I wanted the leaves to appear as though they were blowing in the wind...but a bit more structured. I originally wanted to use real leaves that I had dried, but they crumbled in the process:( I then decided to choose some of my favorite digi paper patterns from One Little Bird and Paislee Press.

I printed them out on vellum and using a template I made, I cut my leaves out and adhered them to my art journal pages using some machine sewing. So yeah, that's it. This is one of my favorite art journal pages this season...not necessarily because it's the best, but because it reflected a lot of different loves for me...the song, Nina SImone, digital art, technology, words, and hand stitching.

In the spirit of this season of Love...please show some love to the other ladies participating in this blog hop and if you haven't registered for the Get Messy Art Journal Group...you can do so here.

1. Karyn
2. Lauren
3. Rebecca
4. Keshena
5. Kimberlee 
6. Nina
7. TC Larson

get messy | no. 05

Last week's prompts proved a little difficult for me. Some weeks I'm bursting with ideas and others...not so much. I love that the Get Messy philosophy is really about pushing through and making. While I know I can skip around and choose any prompt or just make something up...I really enjoy the challenge of creating with a framework. The prompts provide that frame.

I decided to do a page based on an author I love and a subject I love. Shakespeare and nature. Two of my favorites. Although this was loosely based on one of the prompts...I took some liberties as I always do. It's important for me to adapt the challenges and prompts to my liking rather than trying to adhere too strictly to what it says. This allows the ideas to flow a bit more freely. When it comes to art journaling I feel like I am always adapting and modifying my process. That's my favorite part...it changes as I change and becomes what I become.

This page consists of nothing more than watercolor. Last week really felt like Spring in the midwest. I didn't realize how hungry I was for the warmth. It has been bitterly cold and even a small bump in the temperature completely changed my mood. I wanted both the colors and the quote to reflect that. The orangey, coral and shock of blue reminds me of the outdoors and Springtime.

get messy | no. 04

This week I followed the prompts pretty literally. That's usually not the case. I tend to veer off in my own direction most of the time. Rather than focus on great acts of love in a historical sense, I decided to just focus on the concept of great acts. That led me to this wonderful quote by Victor Hugo.

The background was created using black, gray and white strips torn from a magazine. I wanted to focus on shades of a single color or non color rather and opted to cut the strips fairly thin. The background was really my interpretation of the quote. How great acts are usually the result of many small acts. I used the dark color palette to emphasize how these tremendous acts of love and kindness often occur in the shadows...in the darkness without witnesses and without praise.

living that 6x8 life

It's still pretty cold in Chicago right now...but I detect a change in the air. I can feel Spring in my bones and I really can't wait.  My work space in the new house...while way smaller than my previous office,  is functioning pretty well. It's a nook in my bedroom which is both good and bad. The toughest part is keeping Ronin out of my washi bin.

Not being completely settled made deciding to begin another pocket album a bit up in the air. I noticed everyone was changing sizes and albums...9x12 being the size du jour. I kind of wanted to as well. Why? No reason...sometimes I just shuffle ahead with the pack. I didn't really think too much about it because I wasn't even really sure any type of Project Life-esque memorykeeping was in the cards this year...that was until I unpacked my 2014 album in mid January.

Well...that little 6x8 binder was a revelation. So much stuff that I'd already forgotten. So many pictures that were no longer on my hard drive. It was my life laid out before me,  how could I not do it again? So I decided pretty readily that I would. No changes...still doing it monthly, still living that 6x8 life. I'm a girl that loves a well developed process. I like having a formula, an operating system. The 6x8 album is my system. It's pretty compact...it's not a major looker, but it keeps the focus on what's inside...and that's what counts.

In other news, I've switched to Squarespace. Blogger has been good to me but after 10 years of blogging...almost eight there and that Live Journal blog  that is thankfully no longer in existence, I was ready to move on. I'm not gonna worry about my archives...you can still find that here.  Done and done.

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more