gossamer blue february blog hop

This one is going to be short and sweet guys. I just wanted to focus on a layout I really loved this month. I feel like it's so easy to get caught up with the stuff of scrapbooking...okay, who am I kidding? I LOVE the stuff of scrapbooking, I'm just super happy when I feel like I've struck the balance between stuff and substance. I realize that we all draw that line in different places and I also realize that creativity requires some flexibility, but when things come together...well that's kinda magical, right?

This is a photograph of my Mom, me and my niece. We live in three different states so it's not always easy to make a picture like this happen. It's not a professional shot at all...it's actually a selfie, but I'm the last one to knock selfies. Thanks to the selfie, I have so many pictures of myself and my loved ones together. I'm not just standing behind the camera anymore. I'm taking pictures that, sure, are occasionally strangely angled...but nice. Here's a detailed shot:

So this month I'm celebrating a lot of different things including my 10 year wedding anniversary...so how about you join me in raising a glass to family, love, leap years and selfies...I think that's a delightfully random mix:)

Don't forget to hop on over and check out what these lovely ladies have to offer...

Andrea Gray • Chantal Philippe • Eunyoung Lee • Diane Payne • Heather Leopard • Jill Keller • Kellie Winnell • Kelly Xenos • Michelle Wedertz • Patricia Roebuck • Rebecca Luminarias • Sandra Dietrich • Sian Fair

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.