my twopeas childfree cj

I have pics of my own circle journal from the twopeas childfree group. Thanks to Candice (whom I mail to), who took the photos, since I forgot before mailing it out! :-o YAY!!! Now I can share...

My part of the album is pretty much complete. The only real change will be the binding - I used string temporarily as my cj makes its route around North America (one of the group lives in Canada!). I'm not sure what I will do yet when I get it back - I might use metal rings and attach various ribbons to the rings, or use ribbon somehow itself to bind the album.

Love the paper - K&Co's Marcella line. Cheery colors that make me smile!! I had lots of fun with the cover - grabbing things that matched the color and the theme and the "feeling" of the cj. I find making circle journals very liberating - I can use brighter colors, funkier papers, and more embellishments than I do in my "usual" annual albums.

The cover has the title "It's a Wonderful Life." The CI embellie at the top says "Priceless." The stick pin and sticker in the flower say "happy" "LIFE" respectively. And the guitar pick says "Love Live Laugh."

The intro page states "childfree peas: we have all chosen not to have children of our own. I'm assuming (and hoping) that this is because we all love our lives just the way they are. so tell me what is so great about your life? why is it 'A Wonderful Life'?"

The instruction page states:

the how to’s:

1) Make a tag with some basic info about yourself. It can be as simple or as elaborate as you want. You can also decorate the little envelope your tag goes into if desired. My requests: Please include a photo of yourself and your signature.

2) Create a two page layout. Tell me what you love about your life. It can be one thing or many things;. It can be people, animals, objects, activities, places, etc. Why is your life “A Wondeful Life”?

3) Drop the CJ in the mail by the scheduled date!

4) Last, and definitely most important - –HAVE FUN!

I altered the negative of a chipboard arrow using various inks and sanding and a white gel pen. ;D And I used patterned paper and sanding to alter the BG monograms.

I chose to use plain kraft cardstock for the sign-in pages (of which there are two more since we have 11 folks in the group) for a specific reason: I wanted the groupies to feel free to decorate their tag and envelope in any way / any colors they wanted, and not feel constrained by a color scheme already in place.

Oh, and by the way, my tag is made from glossy photo paper and Tim Holtz alcohol inks. Do you see a trend??!! LOL

I thought these quotes were quite appropriate. "Life let us cherish" (can't read the author's name!) and "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

The embellies at the bottom are quite cute too, a fun mix making a border (it got a bit cut off in this pic). From the left: the metal piece says "celebrate," the cardstock sticker says something about Life (but I can't remember what!), the acrylic piece says "laugh," the ticket says "Good Times" and the epoxy sticker says "follow your destiny."

The quote at the right here states "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined." (Thoreau) LOVE IT!!!

This is my own two page layout entitled "Loving Life." I have various pictures (mix of color and black/white) that make me happy: Greg, family, friends, various travel spots, kitties, 'Vette, volleyball, scrapping, motorcycle, my studio. I used various stickers and alphas and stuff to add to the theme. The quote at the top left: "If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun" is by Katherine Hepburn. Smart lady!! I tore the pictures and inked some in various colors, and crumpled some and crimped some, trying to add texture and aging and depth. I was going for a collagey look here - I like it, but it didn't turn out quite the way I thought. Oh, and btw, my title was created using TIM HOLTZ alcohol inks on clear acrylic alphas. ;D

This layout was the beginning of my recent step-out-of-my-box scrapping. I hadn't really done collage type work. Sometimes I have to push the envelope a little, do something not necessarily my usual style or within my comfort zone, to improve my skills and make me a better artist.