Discovering Inks and Stamping

I only just started using inks and stamping. What got me started was the fact that I got some supplies in a goody bag at the all-day event I went to in May for National Scrapbook Day (my husband's birthday gift to me). I figured it was time to start seeing what I could do with the clear stamps I had. The wording on this page was done using clear alphabet stamps from my goody bag as well as some ink that was supplied as well. This page was for my daughter's May 2009 pictures. Because I wanted to use teal as a complimentary color to the pink of the page, I also inked the edges of the page so that it pulled everything together. I'd say that this was a pretty good attempt for my first time (if not very adventurous).

My next use of the inks I had was to use them to add some "zing" to foam letters that I had that were in a very neutral brown-grey hue. The funny thing is that I thought I could ink the letters after they had already been put on the page. WRONG! I ended up with little bits of ink on the paper. I decided to make my mistake work for me and ended up taking a tissue and applying the inks to it and smudging the color around the lettering on the page to tie it all in and make the first smudges look intentional. Amazing what happens when a mistake inspires you :)

Some of my Recent Pages...

Here are a few of the pages I have done in my little girl's scrapbook. Each month of her first year starts with an 8x10 picture taken at Wal-Mart and then the pages that follow are personal photos taken. Because she is our first child there are a LOT of pics. The last page of each month has a summary and the last few pics (I have posted one of them to show how I punched out parts of a bunch of pictures to finish off the month). I am not afraid to cut the heck out of my pictures, so many times the summary has shots of little things like her nose, a hand, a foot, etc...Having so many pictures would cause us to have a ton of books for her first year alone. This way, I manage to use everything while not having a million pages (let's face it, not all pictures need to be highlighted).

Why this Blog?

Okay, so I have been scrapbooking for a few years now and figured I would start blogging about what I do. Maybe this will get me to set aside time each week to do a few pages and maybe it will help me come up with new ideas from others' suggestions. It's always nice to see the evolution of one's craft.

I will start posting some of my layouts very soon!