Stash Bash @ Simple Scrapper

I finally did it!  I signed up for a class with Simple Scrapper (and just cause it was "free" I also added the membership for three months to try it out).  It just so happened that for the first time ever both my kiddos would be away for two whole nights exactly when the class was going to run.  I just took it as a sign that the scrapbook gods were trying to tell me something and I went for it.

Man, was it fun!  

The community at Simple Scrapper is lovely, and supportive and positive and really interested in getting somethings done. There is a private Facebook page for the class so the space feel really safe and in that safe space there was a lot of sharing - and it was good!  I saw rooms transformed, shelves painted, stashes cut in half and pages made.  Super cool.  Did we whine a little? Yes.  Did we wine a little - um, yeah.  And as a result, my space looks amazing and I am so ready to scrap.  I even started an album project I have been dreading!!

I would highly recommend this class (she does it twice a year I think) to anyone who's space is - not inspiring them, a complete mess, overloaded with supplies.  It is also good if you need a swift but gentle kick in the pants to get your space under control.  

My space was pretty clean, so I was surprised that the challenges still helped me a lot.  Anyway, here is what I did as a result.


Clean space!

Even Wyatt thought it looked nice!

And now for the pages.  I am going to respect the proprietary element of the course by not telling what the challenges are, but did want to share my progress.

I stumbled into starting an album that is long overdue!!!  Here is a potential title page for my Cadette Girl Scout Troop trip in 1989.  So so so happy to get started.  It always feels so daunting till you just make one page.

And a two page spread of the first day!  Paper and embellishments are from my most recent Cocoa Daisy Kits.  Love that Crate Paper floral - but I tend to like all Crate Paper florals - I digress. . .




And a memorabilia challenge - yes, Elsie is currently 8.



These pocket pages go in between the two page spread.  A whole birthday done!







You know when you make a page with scraps and don't cut a thing - yeah - this just happened.



This had been languishing around and now it is all done.  Yeah!



Some page kits all sorted out and ready to roll.  This will help when I scrap next!



And no good stash class would be complete without using really old supplies.  Oh for the love of Sassafrass and Love, Elsie.  Sigh . . .




And an ode to my college drill team days.  The only photos I have.



This was the first page I did for the challenge.  Do you know how long I have been looking at that paper?  Yeah!

Overall, I wished that there had been a few more actual creating challenges, but I get it that the point was to clean, de-clutter and get a handle on things vs. plowing through pages and the challenges were simple enough to just keep doing them over and over since they are less specific and more a thought process, I am over that.  I am very happy I took the class and am looking forward to joining in on the member side to see what that's all about.  Did I mention that Jennifer Wilson is awesome?  She also grew up in Texas and went to Trinity University and was a Girl Scout - what a small world.  

Four Kit Fun - layouts complete

I added up all of the layouts completed with the Four Kit Fun experiment - there are 25 so far.  Here are the most recent ones. These were made by combining my February - May Cocoa Daisy kits plus some items from my stash, of course! The pictures are a mix of old (90's), 2000's and current.  

For this one - I used a lot of scraps from other layouts. The more I use the cloud washi - the more I like it.  

I stamped!  And I used buttons and ribbon. Challenge - met.

John Deere tractors just force you to use up all of the green and yellow you can find!  (please note the ribbon!)

These two photos have been in my "to scrap soon" box for ages.  Finally the make their way to a layout.  Stamping, ribbon, I think I am starting to make it a habit.  Whoohoo!

The Trouble with Greens . . .

The February Cocoa Daisy Kit "Journal Entry" started off like this:

And when I finished:

Clearly this kit and I were friends. The limes - ugh - I am tired of lime and green in general - there were so many colors of green.  You will see this theme again latter in this post. But aside from that, I did really well on using this kit.

The March Cocoa Daisy kit "Hello Again" started off like this:

I also got the "Guten Tag" paper add on this month:

And when I finished:



Pretty happy with this, especially considering that I got the paper add on and have no full sheets of patterned paper left. I think the colors of this kit just really worked well for me. Thinking the leftovers will get used up on PL.

And the April Cocoa Daisy Kit "5 O'Clock" started like this:

And when I finished:

I struggled quite a bit with this kit.  There were too many triangles, the lime, soft greens and Kelly green clashed to me and the yellows just didn't add up either. I worked really hard on this one to make it work. Don't get me wrong, I am really really happy with the layouts I made with it, but I had to push myself to find things to go with this kit to tone it down for me or make it work with my eye. Though clearly, the pink thickers were NOT a problem! I did use the stamp set several times.  (editorial - the tags on the far right and the lime letter stickers don't actually belong in this kit!)

On to the May Cocoa Daisy Kit "Sage and Mint" which looked like this:

And when I finished:

I used the b-sides of almost all of these papers on my layouts. Watercolor is not my style and please no more green!!!

Below you will see how I worked with these four kits all at the same time. For a while I had them in separate piles and then, as I used more of them up, I just layered them all together. I still have a few layouts ready to start with a few of these papers, but so far the count on layouts from these four kits is a whooping 25 pages!!!  So yes, I still love my kit subscription, but like everything - you love some, you like some and some you struggle to use - but it keeps me scrapping, keeps me and keeps me challenged.

The June kit is sealed up to take with me in September on scrap retreat for the Greece and Turkey album so I have a bit of a hiatus till the July kit arrives next week.  Ah, who am I kidding, there is always stash busting to be done!  Off to finish the five layouts that are in various stages of completion.