EMI Scrapbooking Grand Opening Saturday

I'm so happy to share with you the grand reopening of my favorite LSS is tomorrow.  If you are in the Atlanta area come to EMI Scrapbooking in Cumming GA for shopping, cropping & a day of fun.  Yesterday all the new releases from My Mind's Eye came in (all 8 heavy boxes) - they outdid themselves with the embellishments this time. (you've got to read about the UPS fiasco yesterday on the store blog here complete with photos lol... but we got the boxes and everything loaded on the shelves last night)

Echo Park Sweet Summertime & Life is Good are in stock.

Bella Blvd is shipped & on the way.

Teresa Collins, Cosmo Cricket & Fancy Pants will ship any day

So many other companies will be coming in within the next month or so .... Crate, Lily Bee, Pink Paislee, Girls Paperie, Jillibean Soup, Studio Calico, Prima, Tim Holtz, Bo Bunny, Webster's Pages, G45, and more. 

Summer CHA really had so many great product line releases & Susan is a pro at ordering everything to keep us happy.

There's a fantastic sandwich shop across the street from the store named Deckers that I will be eating at each time I'm up that way.  The new owner was super friendly & shared how they only use fresh ingredients.  The chicken & rice soup & chocolate chip cookie I had was just fantastic (just like home made) and excellent sweet tea.

July's Paperclipping Monthly Challenge Winner Spotlight

We are getting so many great entries for the Paperclipping Monthly Challenges.  Thanks everyone for supporting us & getting involved again.

For July we had over 30 entries & so many great ones (check them out here)... this page just made me say WOW and litterally stop and stare.  Congratulations to Jamie Leija who submitted this page we chose to highlight this month! She submitted a response to challenge topic #1: Altered Backgrounds

So many things to love abuot this page... color, misting, all that journaling scattered around... not to mention how creative the cut up photo design is.

Here is Jamie's creative thought process

Jamie’s Explanation:

I was very inspired by the colors of the photo, the yellow in my sweater, the blue in my mama’s shirt and that so bright green in the plant behind us. I have these favorite masks that I use over and over again, but the thing is, they aren’t actually masks. Prima makes these great felt stems, that are beautiful in their own right, but just screamed mask to me the moment I saw them. I arranged them on my background paper and hit them with green, yellow and blue Maya Mist and outlined a few of the edges to give them dimension. The title of this layout is actually from a song lyric of Taylor Swift’s. I’d already decided to use that photo of me and Mama when I realized that this song would be a great way to journal about us, this day and our propensity for giggling.



Journaling reads: “We were in Rome, touring the Papal Residence, soaking up the gorgeous Italian sun, and were just taking a break from all the walking we’d been doing. I have no idea why we were laughing. Who knows with the two of us! We’re always giggling about something or other, which is why this is my favorite photo of the two of us. What a wonderful day to remember and what equally wonderful memories of so many seemingly small moments with my Mama.”

“I love you for giving me your [Asian] eyes. For staying back and watching me shine. I didn’t know if you knew. So I’m taking this chance to say…that I had the best day, with you, today.“

What the judges had to say:

It was the colors that first grabbed our attention — bright and bold, more heavily sprayed toward the bottom of the page, emphasizing the colors Jamie loves in her picture. On a closer look, here is what we found…

•Repetition, Continuity, Contrast
The grid design is unexpected on such a playfully themed layout, but it works well and is balanced by the plants and mists used for the altered background. We like that there is continuity in the repeating grid pattern, from the two different pieces of patterned paper, to the grid of patterned papers plus the photo itself. While it seems scary to cut that picture like that, the faces fit nicely into their own squares and she actually highlighted them this way.

She chose a good mix of patterns to group together: organics, geometrics, solids (or almost solid), loose patterns and tight patterns.

•Sections, Lines, Titles
A great element on the page is the zig-zag strip of paper that not only anchors the grid but also creates a line at the third mark and a separate space for the title. And the title — the title work is fabulous with its mix of size and colors.

•Balance
Jamie has balance around the entire page: a visual triangle of black text (three spots) and a visual triangle of butterflies that add dimension. She also balanced an artsy organic look (splashes of color mist with plant-like masks) with a bit of linear design (the grids and title-work).

•VIsual Mood-Expression
Overall it creates a happy, carefree feel balanced with stability. We think that’s pretty great visual story-telling, considering the story she revealed through her journaling.

Find Jamie Leiha

You can find her in the Paperclipping community, The Crop Circle. She also has a blog.

Join us for the August Challenges here for your chance to be in the spotlight on the Paperclipping website, Lesley's blog & her on my blog.



August Monthly Challenge

Want to join in on a challenge? Every month we issue a challenge based on recent tutorials and discussions. Anyone can participate. We choose one layout from the submissions to highlight here! Give it a try!  Here is the August forum thread to join in.

Unity Friends with Flair

It's been a while since I participated in a FWF hop as a stop.  I love to hop because I am always so inspired by others but lately I've been a bit post challenged.

Here is a card I made with Samantha Walker's Encompassed Grace Unity Stamps.  These were on my wish list since I knew they would be perfect for the shabby chic cards I love to make for sale but I was on the fence about if I would really get the stamping milage of using them on layouts since I do have only guys in the family.  Since winning them on a Hip Hop Thursday they have been one of the most inked stamps (second only to Donna Downey by Unity - swoon).  So add this set to your must haves and tell your LSS to carry these because you can't purchase them direct from Unity.

Thanks for stopping by & I'm sure you want to do the hop from the beginning at the Unity Blog.  There you will find an entire list of participants & remember one of the blogs will have a special avatar & that blog will be giving away 50 Unity Stamps to a lucky commenter so get hopping.

I am having a big sale on all my in stock Ippity stamps see the tab above or click here.... as always I offer free USA/APO shipping & discount international to reflect the free amount.

A quote since Angela & the Unity gals are all about quotes (love the stamps that incorporate them)...

Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty.  ~Sicilian Proverb (a favorite of my grandma)

Have a great day & do something creative.