My Creative Scrapbook Main Kit: My Mind's Eye Jubilee + A Scrappy Blog Tour

Hi friends! The September My Creative Scrapbook kits have been revealed- have you seen them?  Pam has put together a really incredible set of kits yet again.

I worked with the main kit this month, which features the Jubilee collection from My Mind's Eye.

Here is one of my layouts:

This is an extra special layout to me as it's a photo of my daughter with some of her cousins during a recent visit. We don't get to see family very much since none of us live close to one another, so visits like these are extra cherished.

I had some fun creating a background starting with solid white cardstock, then some misting, stencils, and stamps. I'm so inspired by Christin Grønslett's work that I always want to try the techniques that she uses. I could never in a million years create something as stunning as she does, but it sure is fun trying.

Here's the September Main kit:

(Go reserve your kits before they're sold out!)

And now for the scrappy blog tour!

Last week Mary Ann Jenkins tagged me to play along with a tour of scrapbooking blogs that has been making its way around. Have you seen Mary Ann's work? My goodness, she has such a delightful, clean style that always looks so crisp, fresh, and just plain HAPPY. I've also had the pleasure of having met her in person, and she is just as sweet as her designs are. So, for some super awesome inspiration, take a look at her blog at http://www.maryannjenkins.com. Thanks for tagging me, Mary Ann!

Okay as a part of this scrappy blog tour, I will do some questions and answers, and then tag another scrapper for you to visit.

What am I working on right now?
I'm actually just working on cleaning up my scrap space right now. I recently finished working with the beautiful September My Creative Scrapbook kit, and now I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of the next kit.

I recently got a new craft table, and I LOVE IT!  It is the Costco Project Table. This table is just perfect... it's 3 feet by 5 feet of very sturdy counter height work space and it has several cubbies for storage. For the price, it's IN-CRED-I-BLE!

(stock photo, credit: http://www.baysidefurnishings.com)

I took some pics of my dear husband and darling daughter assembling the table!

By the way, until my daughter got an actual Elsa dress, she ran around the house for days, weeks, and months with her blankie tied around her waist and trailing behind her to mimic Elsa's cape LOL.

Oh yes! Those are My Creative Scrapbook kits in the background! I can't scrap without them.

Carefully sorting screws with her kitty friend supervising.

How long does it take to create a project?
I have gotten so much better about this. I'm a very slow scrapper. It used to be unheard of to make more than 1 layout in a day. But now if I'm focused I'm usually taking 2-3 hours per layout depending on how much background work and drying time is involved.

What are my favorite things I love to create with at the moment?
Flowers! I have to have flowers on my layouts. But, lots of flowers means lots of bulk, and I can't fit too many layouts in an album. I don't have a separate room to hold all of the albums that would be needed to hold all of my bulky layouts. What to do? Sadly, all of the layouts that I've made over the past couple of years are just stacked up in several piles on the floor... any suggestions out there? But back to the topic, I am loving creating backgrounds with mists, stencils, inks, and stamps. And Paper! I need lots of paper layers.

How does my creative process work?
I have been scrapping almost exclusively with My Creative Scrapbook kits for quite a long time now.  So when I receive the kits, I print out pictures that will match the kit supplies and then divide the kit up into "mini kits" for each photo that I printed. Then I create one layout at a time, and when I'm done, I put the kit leftovers back into the bag so that I can make some cards or something later.

How do I become inspired and stay inspired?
This question and the next kind of go hand and hand. I become inspired by the beautiful work of my fellow scrappers as well as by the scrapbook supplies themselves. I just try to combine techniques that I love with supplies that I love and try to make something pretty.

What is my signature style?
I don't have one. I'm not really creative and I'm certainly not innovative. I feel like my style is always evolving. I have a lot of "I wish my work could look like hers" moments (see my "Inspiring Me" list in my blog sidebar). I just try to make pretty pages. I have gone from "there can be no white space" to "I'm lovin' this white space thing" and back and forth again. One thing that has remained constant though is layers. I love layers.

The blog tour continues next Friday September 12th with the super amazing Marilyn Rivera! I'm sure you've seen Marilyn's stunning work, and if you haven't, you've surely been missing out. She has a completely gorgeous style that is all her own, most recognizable by her incredible paper pleating technique. I have the pleasure of being on a design team with her, and let me tell you, Marilyn is by far one of the sweetest, most genuine ladies you will ever meet!

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you'll enjoy visiting Mary Ann's blog and Marilyn's blog :)