Hello Scrappers! Here’s my latest design team layout for the Scraptastic Club Design Team. For this layout I used the June 2016 Sweet Jane Kit. This week I teamed up with Jill Sprott, a fellow Scraptastic Design Team Member, for the weekly Pinterest Inspiration challenge. Here’s our inspiration piece:

And here’s my take:

These photos were taken on the 4th of July and feature my brother Love and my kiddo Corinne. We had my mom and brother over for a BBQ dinner and Corinne had a lot of fun playing with her Uncle Love Bug. Yes, his name is Love and yes, we call him Love Bug or Love Buggy (some childhood nicknames never go away)!

I enjoy watching my brother and daughter play together. Love and I are 15 years apart – the way he plays with Corinne is the same way he played with me! Ever the joker, tossing me around (I’m sure he probably dropped me at some point 🙂 ), calling me names…typical big brother shenanigans. My brother is so good with kids! He’s a great father…both of his children are grown so having Corinne around brings him a ton of joy!

Using a circle stencil by American Crafts and distress ink by Tim Holtz, I created this awesome background as the base for my layout. Next, I wanted to use the exclusive Scraptastic “love” stencil that came with the kit as part of the title. I used a paper piercer to poke the holes – tracing the word “love”, then I did a simple back stitch using blue sewing floss. This process took me over 30 minute to complete (mainly because I suck at sewing). Overall, I’m impressed with the look!

I used a variety of embellishment from the kit – die cut flowers and arrows, acrylic hearts, phrase stickers, and an exclusive flare. This entire kit contains exclusive Scraptastic Club items, with the exception of the enamel dots by Fancy Paints Designs, sewing floss by Amy Tangerine, distress ink by Tim Holtz, and mist by Heidi Swapp.

Click here to view the process video for this layout! Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy!

 

 

This past December, I spent some time cleaning out my old Christmas scrapbooking stuff and decided to give a substantial amount of my stash to my little Corinne. She loves spending time with me while I am scrapbooking and looks forward to our crafty sessions.

When I finished cleaning, I presented her with a bunch of scrapbooking goodies.

“Oh mom, thank you, thank you! I love it all!” she said with such excitement! She immediately sat on the floor in my craft room and poured through her new crafty loot.

As I watched my baby meticulously sort and organize her new scrappy supplies in a purple Iris case, I couldn’t help but be in awe of her wonder…so pure and innocent. She touched every item ever so gingerly before placing it in her craft box.

Since that day she asked if she could play with her scrapbooking supplies. So yesterday, she sat at her daddy’s desk, with me sitting across the room at my desk, and we scrapped together.

I put on some Taylor Swift, her favorite singer, and we chilled. I kept looking over at her, listening to her “narrate” as she has seen me do when I am recording YouTube videos. She selected the papers and embellishments for her layout and set them aside and placed everything else back in her case. She squealed with delight when I gave her two rolls of washi tape!

“Oh wow mom!! This is so cool! Just what I needed!”

She asked for a couple of photos for her layout so I reached into my picture stash and came up with three pictures from her first day of Kindergarten.

“Perfect!” she said with delight.

She sat and played with paper and washi tape for what seemed like an hour. She selected every little detail with much care and attention. She didn’t second guess herself. She went with the flow, placing bows in the corners of her layout and surrounding her photos with washi tape. She sang along to her favorite Taylor Swift song while cutting pieces of pattern paper with mommy’s big girl scissors.

Big girl scissors!

And when she was done, she was more than pleased with her work!

“Mommy look!”

“Oh that is awesome baby girl! Let’s take a picture!”

“Okay, but just one more detail.” Apparently she added another sticker…

“Perfect!” she said with a huge smile!

What if we all scrapbooked like a 6-year old? What if we selected just a few of our most favorite items, sat down at our craft desks and just played?

What if we didn’t care about overall page design or stopped spending hours looking for the perfect embellishment?

What would happen if at the end of our scrappy session…we looked at our layouts and said, “Hey, this is great!” even if it really isn’t great…but just done and good enough?

What if we poured through our scrappy supplies as if it were the first time we ever seen scrappy supplies?

What if we just enjoyed this hobby without limitations, self-criticism, self-doubt, or the need to be the “perfect” scrapper?

What if we just…had fun?

Imagine what our scrappy lives would be like!

Scrap like a 6-year old…you won’t regret it. 🙂

 

Hello scrappy peeps! I wanted to take a moment to address some questions I have received about my first online course, Layering Like a Boss!

I am blown away by all of the support I have received and certainly appreciate each of you who have purchased the course!

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS – LAYERING LIKE A BOSS

Q – Do you accept PayPal?

A – Yes, PayPal is now available on the Victoria Marie Online Classroom site!

Q – I signed up for the class but I did not receive an email confirmation. What can I do?

A – If you haven’t received a confirmation email after signing up for the class, make sure that you entered your correct email address. I’ve had several scrappers who have entered their email addresses incorrectly, therefore they did not receive an email confirmation of their registration. If you need to update your email information, contact calvin.victoria@gmail.com.

Q – How long will the class be priced at $20.00?

A – You will have until July 15th to purchase the course at $20.00. After July 15th, the course will go to regular price at $25.00.

Q – Is this a self-paced class? Can I start the class and come back to it at a later time?

A – Yes, this is a self-paced course. You are welcome to return to the course at anytime by logging in to the Victoria Marie classroom and clicking “resume course”.

Q – I’ve sent a request to be added to the Layering Like a Boss Facebook Group. When will my request be approved?

A – Once it has been confirmed that you have purchased the course, your request to join the Layering like a Boss Facebook Group will be approved within 24-48 hours.

Q – How can I contact the instructor?

A – The instructor can be reached at calvin.victoria@gmail.com.

Q – Is there a survey for this course?

A – Yes, the course survey is located in the “Wrapping Up” section of the online course.

If you are interested in taking this class, what are you waiting for? Click here for details and to purchase the course!

 

Hello scrappers!!! Just a quick update…I recently added PayPal as a payment option on the Victoria Marie Online Classroom!

I realized that some of you would prefer to use your PayPal account for online purchases. I completely understand. You can now choose to pay with your credit card or with your PayPal account.

Thanks again for your support!

For more details and to purchase my first class, Layering Like a Boss, click HERE.

Hooray! Today is launch day! I know many of you have been waiting in anticipation for this course! Well, it’s here!!!

I am proud to announce that Layering Like a Boss is ready for your learning pleasure!!!!

Click on the image below to purchase this course or go to the “Classes” page in this blog!

Thank you so much for your support!! This would not be possible without my subscribers!!! Enjoy!!!

Note: This course includes 10 Exclusive Sketches. Due to a technical error (we all love those), the sketches will be posted on Monday, June 27th. Thanks so much for your patience!!! 

 

Are you ready?

I’m so excited!!!!

The premiere of Layering Like a Boss will launch tomorrow!! The class link will be available starting at 10:00 am (CST). You can click here to access the course!

Enjoy and thanks for your support!

I am so excited to announce the launch of my first class, Layering Like a Boss!

This is a self-paced online class that is designed for those who are looking to learn more about creating beautiful layers on scrapbook layouts. I will cover a variety of topics to include:

• Layering Essentials
• Design Principles
• Layering with Paper
• Layering with Die Cuts, Stickers, and Ephemera
• And Layering with Mixed Media and Stamping

This course includes:

• 10 Exclusive Sketches to get your creative juices flowing!
• 5 Lessons with PDF Study Guides and instructional videos
• 10 Exclusive Process Videos
• Access to a private Facebook Group for this class so you can share your layouts with other class members.
• And email access to the course instructor.

The class will open on June 26th at the introductory price of $20.o0! You can take advantage of this price until July 15th. After July 15th, the class will go to regular price at $25.00.

Be sure to subscribe to the Victoria Marie Blog! Subscribing to the blog will ensure that you receive the most up-to-date information about the classes offered by Victoria Marie and notifications when the classes launch!

Mark your calendars for June 26th! I look forward to seeing you in the “classroom”!

Thanks so much for your support!

So far, I have been working for myself since June 1st.  And I LOVE IT!

To be honest, I had no clue what to do with myself the first week of self-employment. When I worked 40 plus hours outside of the home, I could think of a list of stuff I wanted to do during my off time. But now, I have a ton of time to work, play, and chill and sometimes I just don’t know what to do with myself!

I was able to get 9 days all to myself while my spouse and daughter were out of town. I did a lot of work, enjoyed some well needed alone time, treated myself to dinner, and did some more work!

This week, my family is home and now I am adjusting to balancing my work and family life.  We start homeschooling in July so that is going to be another adjustment. I think we can handle it.

I have spent majority of my time working on my first online scrapbooking class. (More details to come!). I’ve found it difficult to figure out what I needed to do first – my creative tasks or business tasks. There are so many things to get done and at times it can be a bit overwhelming. I have to stop myself sometimes and say, “Hey girl! You work for yourself! Your are bound by no one! Do whatever you want when you want!” I have the inclination to get up at 6:00 am and get to work. Instead, I’ve enjoyed leisurely mornings and restful evenings.

 

I like that I am able to schedule my work in “pockets of time” – I do most of my administrative business stuff first thing when I walk into my studio. (I like to start with the stuff that I least enjoy.) Once that is done, I focus on my creative tasks – the really fun stuff that keeps me inspired and motivated! I light candles, put on my favorite tunes, and get to “work”!

I also enjoy the fact that my little buddy joins from time to time. My studio/office will also serve as our homeschool room.

Here’s what I have learned so far:

• My time is mine! I answer to no one and I love it!
• I need to slow down and enjoy this opportunity. I do not have to rush. Yay!
• I found that I was working on a variety of tasks each day – it felt disjointed. I recently heard about “batching work” – in other words, spending a day or a few hours on one task (i.e. full day of filming, next day editing, and so forth). This has helped me to be more productive and efficient with my work.

Overall, so far so good! I will admit, there are times when I freak out a bit…worry about my projects, projected income, and such. But I remind myself that I CAN do this! I AM doing this! And it’s fun!

I’ll write more about my transition to solo entrepreneurship in a couple of months. More lessons to learn, lots of stuff to do!

Who doesn’t love the Gilmore Girls? And coffee? The perfect pair, right? For my family, we could watch Gilmore Girls everyday without getting tired of it. Yesterday, I mentioned that I wanted to brew of a cup of coffee before sitting down to watch yet another episode when my little one exclaimed,

“Mom, I want some coffee too! I had it at grandma’s house and I like it!”

Well, why not! Let the coffee indoctrination begin! So off to the kitchen we went to fire up the Keurig. Corinne was excited to pour some cream and sugar into her little cup. We sat on the couch and enjoy our joe.

I love these little moments.

This reminds me of when I was little and spent time with my grandma – I spent several weekends at her house, playing dress up in her clothes and makeup, spraying on her perfume, and adorning myself with all of her cool costume jewelry. On Saturday mornings she would fix me eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee. To my coffee I would add milk and three sugar cubes.

Funny the things we remember. 🙂

For this layout I used a bunch of supplies from my stash. I had no design plan – none at all. I just wanted to sit down and create.

I started by using a wood grain background paper paired with a circle pattern paper from the Dear Lizzy Documentary paper pad. To that I added an assortment of die cuts and ephemera by Dear Lizzy, Elle’s Studio, and Flea Market Fancy. Layering and clustering is my “go-to” technique when I don’t have a specific design idea in mind. I just add elements until I am satisfied with the look of my layout!

Here’s what I used:

• Paper – Dear Lizzy Documentary Paper Pack
• Font – Pink Block Letters by Studio 112
• Font – Glitter Foam Stickers “Fitzgerald” by Thickers
• Font – Gold Foam Stickers “Woodland” by Dear Lizzy (Thickers)
• Phrase Stickers – Elle’s Studio “Hello 2015”
• Heart Chipboard Stickers – Studio Calico
• Sequin Heart – “Poolside” Collection by Crate Paper
• Hello Sunshine Chipboard Stickers by Pink Paislee
• Enamel Dots – Dear Lizzy
• Trinkets – Flea Market Fancy by The Paper Studio
• Layered Tags – Maggie Holmes by Crate Paper
• Gold Camera Clip – Flea Market Fancy by The Paper Studio
• Chipboard Stickers – “Darling Details” Dear Lizzy
• Die Cut Shapes – American Crafts Bits

Click HERE to watch the process video for this layout!!! Enjoy!!! And thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 

Hello scrappy peeps! I am back with another layout for the Scraptastic Design Team. This week I worked with Monique Liedtke for the Pinterest Inspiration challenge on the Scraptastic Blog. Here’s our inspiration piece:

And here’s my take:

I love the white space that is featured in the inspiration piece and wanted to recreate the design for my layout. I printed a 5×7 photo of myself and cut the picture into a “V” shape. Next, I used a variety of die cuts and acrylic embellishments to add whimsy and movement to the layout. The acrylic embellishments were accented with stitching.

This photo was taken on the day that I launched my business! More about that here. I felt so proud and excited to get started. I’ve waited so long to be an entrepreneur!

Here’s what I used:

• Textured White Card Stock – The Paper Studio
• Acrylic Title “Oh Snap – Pink Fresh Studio
• Die Cuts and Ephemera – Fancy Free by Pink Paislee
• Foam glitter stars – Scraptastic Exclusive
• Flare – Scraptastic Exclusive
• Enamel Dots – Doodle Bug Designs (stash)
• Pink Arrow Sticker – Scraptastic Exclusive
• Roller Date Stamp – Heidi Swapp

Check out the process video for this layout on the Victoria Marie YouTube Channel! Thanks for stopping by! Also, don’t forget to check out the Scraptastic Blog! Happy scrappin’!