Victoria Marie - Challenge time

Hi everyone,

Here is my latest video up on You Tube.  I was up last weekend on the Victoria Marie FB group (I am part of her design team) with the lovely Hannah Lemieux and we came up with this super fun challenge to scrap a page about what TV family or character you are most like. I did a quiz and I got Gilmore Girls... I thought, that's crazy.  I am married, have 2 boys and those boys are barely teens yet (my eldest just turned 13).  How in the world am I like Gilmore Girls.  But when I read the description... I decided to go with it.  So while I don't have serial long term relationships with men and then back out at the last moment cause I realize I don't actually want to change my life to be with them... (oh yes, I have binge watched Gilmore Girls) I do actually think I am a lot like Lorelai Gilmore.

Here's my video and see below for Hannah's too.


And here is Hannahs:

Thanks for stopping by!!

Jen

Catch up!

Hello everyone,

A quick post today just to update you on what I have been working on... which hasn't been a lot unfortunately!!  Fall is a busy time and so I haven't been doing many videos for my YouTube channel.  Which sucks.  But here is what I have worked on in the past month or so...

The Crafty Maven Getaway

Happy Tuesday!! In my continued effort to keep updating this blog, here is my next video on You Tube!! Since July I have been a regular monthly contributor to The Crafty Maven Getaway You Tube channel and this month I have 2 videos up.

The one for today is for In Your Pocket Tuesdays - all about Project Life!

This week I used a challenge from the recent crop on the FB page which asked us to incorporate a greeting card. I cheated a wee bit and used a birthday party invitation.

Here is the layout:

And here is the video:

My other video this month was for Scraplift Saturday but also doubled as a bonus challenge Friday night before the crop started.  It was to "Scraplift Without Guilt." (but of course, also give credit where credit is due)

Thanks for stopping by!
Jen

LIFTED - A bimontly series on You Tube

Hello everyone! I have been very remise in updating my blog lately as sometimes it is hard between all the social media platforms.  BUT, as someone who also enjoying reading about people's process sometimes, I will make an effort to start getting posts up at least as often as I put up videos!

I have been doing a series for the past several months called "LIFTED."  This series started out as me alone doing a layout/video when I saw a layout that just spoke to me and immediately had me wanting to scrap.  I was approached by Christy Hariman, a fellow Canadian and BC scrapper about doing this together and I thought "WHAT FUN!".  So every 2nd and 4th Thursday we are doing this.  We take turned picking a layout that speaks to us and I think it is really fun to see how the same layout can be interrupted so differently or what about the original inspired us.

As I was prepping for this post, I went to You Tube to count how many of these we have done! I was shocked so I am NOT going to post them all here. But I will share with you the link to Christy's channel where you can find all her videos for this series.

Christy's Beautiful Life: You Tube Channel.

And below I will put my last several here, as well as a link to my channel where I do have a Lifted playlist so you can find them easily.

ScrapsbyJen - Lifted Series Playlist.

Thanks for stopping by! 

 Jen

Victoria Marie - Hump Day Challenge September 21, 2015

Hello ladies!  I'm here with a blog post to tell you all about my newest challenge for the Victoria Marie FB group.  Today I am up with the Hump Day challenge and it is all about patterned paper.

My challenge is about challenging yourself to use as many patterned papers as you can.  My rule of thumb when using lots of patterns is to start with a multi-colour paper that I use as the inspiration source for all the colours I pick. Then, the rest of my papers tend to be more tone-on-tone pulled from the colours in the original piece.  I find this helps keep it from getting TOO busy :)

Here is my layout (see video below) that I used NINE different patterned papers on!  Crazy, hey?!  But I think it works.  I am not 100% sure on those large Thickers for "Little" but really wanted to use then and... once they are glued.. they are glued!

And here is a second layout that I did recently that also has as many patterned on it. But for this one I used a cut file background so each of the papers is used in a very small amount.

CROP!! - The Crafty Maven Getaway

Hello everyone. Letting you know that there is an all day crop tomorrow, Saturday, September 19th that is open for submissions all week (some challenges have prizes and some are just for fun).

Head over to The Crafty Maven Getaway Destination Group to check it out:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/441893842648706/

Also!!!! I am doing a live scraproom tour today at 2:30 pm PST on Periscope.

Here is my twitter account and it will tweet out when I get started:
https://twitter.com/scrapsbyjen

LASTLY... (so exciting) I am starting off the crop with some Friday chatting on a Group Skype call at 6:30 pm.  FIND ME on Skype (Jen Stokes, Victoria, BC Canada - white shirt and blue scarf in photo) and add me as a contact. I can then add you to the group call.

IF Skype does not cooperate, we will move over the FB group and chat there!


I also have a video up on The Crafty Maven Getaway You Tube channel tomorrow morning for Scraplift Saturday... here's a little peek :)

Construction!

Hi guys, sorry I have been ignoring my blog due to the thoughts of wanting to update it's look.  Which is silly as I can still write on here despite wanting to make some changes.  So I promise, new posts are coming really soon talking about what I was up to creatively over the summer and a new look over all.

STAY TUNED :)

Jen

Happy Birthday layout - From a sketch

Happy July to everyone!! We celebrated Canada Day here (on July 1st) with style as it was my youngest son's birthday and he got to pick his day.  I set a limit on birthday parties at age 10 (as at that point I had then put on 20 kid parties and was both exhausted of them and broke!! haha) so he got to pick the menu for the day and 2 activities to do.  Here is what the hidden journalling reveals:

1. Pancakes for breakfast, with bacon!
2.  Open presents and then SURPRISE!! a new kayak down at the lake for you and a paddle around.
3.  Go carts!!  Two rides and the 2nd it was just you and Garret.
4.  Hot dogs for lunch, with chips!
5. Glow-in-the-dark mini golf.  That was so cool.
6. Pizza for dinner.
7.  Ice cream cake for dessert.
8.  Some friends over to play video games until 9:00 pm!!  (and don't forget the game that Garret downloaded for you as his gift.  You really liked it.)

I used this week's sketch from Citrus Twist and actually did this on the floor on quick work breaks so no video on this one.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Jen

Project Life - The catch up :)

Good afternoon,

I wanted to hop on here and share 3, yes THREE, PL layouts I did today.  None of them have videos as I did my "lay it out, work on it on breaks" method of getting them done.  All were done today in a likely time of 30 mins or less each layout.

The first I used up the last of the scraps of my Simple Stories "I Am" collection 6x6 paper pad and sticker sheets (still have some stickers and other embellishments as you get TONS).

These 2nd two are using up the scraps and embellishments from my May Citrus Twist kit.  I have my June kit and definitely had enough left to do more layouts but as I really wanted to get my PL done first... I used it up for this.  I have about 1/2 a 12x12 sheet left of one pp and the rest are little bits.

Hope you enjoy! I will be back soon with some news and a new schedule for my You Tube channel.

Jen

Quick update!!!

I just wanted to pop in and say I have a layout and video up on the Layout-A-Week blog today here:
http://layout-a-week.blogspot.ca/2015/06/for-love-of-beach-week-24.html

You Tube:

I just posted this Project Life video on Monday:

This third edition of my "Lifted" series that featured Irit Landgraf: (her YouTube)

And this Open the Box video of my June Citrus Twist kit:

AND... last but certainly not least... drum roll please....

I have a layout in the Summer issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine!! So excited. I am on page 65!!!!  (literally totally thrilled)

Coming soon...

I have 2 new videos (a new Lifted and a 12x12 from a Citrus Twist sketch) coming soon.  Here's some sneaky peeks:

Thanks for stopping by!!

I AM...

Boy, this is a popular phrase lately.  I saw this challenge over at Felicity Jane and I had to play along.   I loved their kit this month and went into my stash to play along with similar colours (I hope they don't mind).  And I have to say (if you don't mind me going deep for this post!!), I think this is fabulous.  I think scrapbookers tend to not get out in front of the camera and something like this gets us on the page.  It gets us thinking about who we are, not just who are our kids are or what event happened.  I sat down and wrote down a TON of answers to this and then narrowed it down to the ones that I thought described me most.

I wrote:

I am tidy... Chaos makes me crazy.  Organizing settles my brain.
I am imperfect... And that is ok.  Makes me more interesting.
I am quirky... But shy, so not everyone knows this about me.
I am creative... Scrapbooking is my passion.  It is my outlet.
I am aspiring... To better myself.  To follow through.  To be the vision I see and want...

There is also some private journalling on a 3x4 card behind my photo.

I also DELIBERATELY chose a photo that was no make up, sweaty, can see my worry wrinkle, my hair is messy.  This is me.  You can tell I'm not 20 anymore.  And I am okay with that.  I earned those smile lines.  Those crinkles beside my eyes are from laughing.  That, ahem, extra chin is from having 2 babies and stress eating ... cause I worry about every damn thing!  But I am working on all of it. But I'm keeping the smile lines :)  And I am working to smile more and laugh more and worry less.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jen

Weekend Fun Challenge - Victoria Marie Facebook Group

HI everyone!! I am a new member of the very first Victoria Marie Challenge Team and here is my very first challenge for the Weekend Fun challenge.  These challenges are posted twice a week (Hump Day challenge and Weekend Fun challenge).  Come on by and check them out!!!

Here's the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/743193599063270/

And here is my challenge...

"I challenge you to find inspiration from your everyday travels. I found 3 things to share with you just from my wanderings (Starbucks, the actual road on a walk and a towel from a home store window). I have included a layout and a process video on how I used the Starbucks sign. You are welcome to find your own or use one of these!"

(pssttt... Canadian ladies... do you spy what the reflection is in the window?  I was going to crop this but left that in just for you!!)

And here is my layout and a process video:

I really hope you play along and show me what you make!!
Jen

Planning makes me a happy happy girl...

Hi guys, this is a fast post that I decided to do on a whim so please excuse the poor photos and lighting!!

This morning, while I was watching a YouTube video (which also spurred me to invent a new YT "series" I am going to start doing), I saw this neat Page Planner that Jen Schow uses.  She had linked to it and a light bulb went off for me.  I already use a Design A page planner (sorry looks like it is no longer available but did find THIS  and THIS for you) to do my PL but what I was struggling with was planning out my layouts too and how I wanted to put them in my albums.

BUT... yesterday I cranked the music and did a bit more of a purge and reorg in this nasty mess I call an office my scrappy space and found this super cute gold polka dot notebook.  And, as most of my brilliant (to me) ideas happen, I saw exactly what I needed to do.

Now, this was a problem because I literally felt like this idea slapped me on one side of the face while the idea for my YT series was slapping the other.  So the actual "go and scrap something" idea won out but as soon as I was able this morning, I bought, printed off and implemented this.

So here is the book: (just added some Thickers and tiny tile alphas)

Isn't that cute??  I am pretty sure I bought it at Chapters and it is Kate Spade (which means I paid too much for it but it was super cute).

And here is what I did inside the book!!  I took my Design A 8x5 x 11 planner (for me this is a month's worth of PL pages as I only do 1 12x12 page protector per week) and folded it in half and stuck onto one side and then trimmed the page planner done and stuck that to the other. VOILA, I can pretty much plan out a months worth of PL and layouts and see it all together.  If I need more than 4 layouts for a month I plan to just use washi to attach another sheet along the left side so I can flip them.

Here is a close up of how I use the design A planner. It is SUPER rough but it gives me enough of an idea when I am cropping the photos in PhotoShop and when I got to actually do that week I have the layout ready to go. This REALLY has sped up my PL planning, prep and execution.

Here is the page planner in action.  AGAIN, super super rough.  I just want an idea for photo cropping and to refer back to when I am ready to actually do the layout. I needed to order photos today and did a week of PL and 2 layouts in 10 minutes.  It was awesome.  And after a session on Monday of photo ordering I am now planned out for 5 weeks of PL and 6 layouts. 

I gotta say, you might be going, this is a no-brainer Jen and I do NOT know why you are so excited but for me??!!!  This just made a problem that has been bugging me for 2 years just disappear.  Happy happy girl!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jen

500 Subscribers GiveAWAY - LAST DAY TO ENTER!!

Last day to enter (today, June 1st, 2015) for the $50 GC giveaway to Mei Li Paperie. I chose Mei Li as they do an amazing job with international packages and as an "international" in Canada, I know how very hard it can be to find good products at a good price (hello insane exchange rate) AND at shipping that doesn't break the bank!!!!

Here are the entries thus far: (I will add to this if more go up today)

Iluvmysix

Rachel Dutko

Alejandra Flores

Leonor Carrilho

Moira O’Reilly

Karen Lai

Crafty Meggy

PaperTchil

Heather Wedan

Good luck to you all and thanks so much to all my 654 subscribers (NOW!) for your support. More videos coming soon. I have 3 PL ones coming this week and filmed 2 more DT ones this weekend for Layout-A-Week and my new gig Victoria Marie Challenge Team!!!

Jen

Hump Day Challenge - May 27, 2015

Happy Thursday scrappy people!  I am stopping by very quickly to post my Hump Day challenge layout from the Victoria Marie FB Group. I am very excited to be on her very first Challenge Team starting in June!! (more about that soon!).

This Wednesday's challenge was a sketch (and there is a BONUS sketch for PL which I hope to also use after I get my butt in gear and order the last 6 weeks of photos!!)

Here is my layout and a couple close ups AND a process video (done very quickly with no editing):

(FYI, I ended up making 1 change to this layout after I posted the video. All I did was move the middle layout OVER the pp with the muffins on it. You can still see a couple rows of muffins but not so much. I like it a LOT better now).

Thanks for stopping by!!

Jen

A layout with no photo!

Hey everyone, today I have a layout (and video!) of a layout I did this week that had no photo. This is not something I do (like ever!) but, as you will see if you watch the video, there is a reason I didn't have a photo.  But I still wanted a way to capture this.

This layout ended up being my submission for 3 different challenges.  The first was a tool challenge which was a weekend fun challenge over on the Victoria Marie FB page (here is her blog).  THEN, I saw the "3 to inspire" on Citrus Twist (HERE) which was to use circles, enamel dots and stickers.  And then after I had already punched out what felt like a million circles... the Victoria Marie weekend challenge for this past weekend was circles.  SCORE!!

I thought using my punches to cut circles would be a great way to use up the scraps of patterned paper I had left from my March and April kits and it pretty much used them all up.  I had just tiny bits left that either went into the recycling or into my pp scrap files.

I saw a layout by Nicole Nowosad done for SCT magazine for NSD and went from there.  So a shout out to her for the idea (HERE)

So, enough of me talking...  here is the layout, close ups and video.

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Jen

Project Life - March 23-29, 2015

Happy Thursday and I am here to share my most recent Project Life spread.  I am slowly doing a catch up but... seriously I need to hurry up and catch up as I think I am not farther behind. I might need to start doing 1 recent and 1 behind layout at a time and meet in the middle :)

Here is the layout itself:

And I don't usually do close up of each card but here are a few. I used the Sketch Class that Citrus Twist did and for each sketch you use and add to the gallery you are entered for a monthly draw. I have NEVER used a sketch for my PL before but numerous times in the class the contributors did so I thought, hey, I should give it a go and ended up using 5!!!

Sorry, no video this time!  My phone was almost out of battery last night and my cord won't reach when it is on my recording clamp.  Next time!

Jen

National Scrapbook Weekend

Well, this past weekend was AWESOME and I found I wanted to play everywhere and just couldn't. So I mostly used the challenges over at Hip Kit FB forum and with some inspiration from Pinkfresh Studio's challenges (which I had hoped to do more of, maybe still might make it as I have til Saturday).  I also was playing along with the super fun ladies at Victoria Marie FB group in the challenge to get 10 layouts done over the weekend.  I managed to get 8 layouts done in all:

This layout was inspired by a challenge to use dimension in your layout but also a Pinkfresh challenge of using gold, aqua and pink.  That background paper was my starting point.

This challenge was an idea I got when I saw a challenge on the PinkFresh/Winnie & Walter NSD to make your own background. I used watercolours to mimic the water in this AMAZING photo.

This layout is pretty simple and was a symmetrical challenge, how do you translate symmetry? For me it was using the colours in the photos in the background and ensuring when a colour was not present that I added it (ie yellow and blue to the green pp).

This was a black and white challenge. To use a B&W photo and ONLY neutral embellishments and then a hit of colour.  I love it. I did the background with a stencil and some citron Color Shine.

This was my OLW for Apr and a balanced challenge.

This was a pastel colour challenge.

This challenge was to use just one colour to add contract to a B&W layout.

Thanks for stopping by!!