Thompson Family-Life

scrapbooking, you say?

I've been wanting to write this post for a very long time. :-)

I know a lot of you guys come here and think "so what's with the scrapbooking she talks about"... like, "where did that start?" Ok, maybe you don't think that. But I do realize a lot of you crafters, lovers of vintage, DIY queens and whoever else comes to visit my blog (for whatever reason) might not be that into scrapbooking. I think it's one of the few crafts that has yet to permeate the DIY community as something that's cool. Maybe I'm wrong and maybe I'm out of touch, but since I feel somewhat "in tune" with the craft/DIY community (as much as I can be at least) I do feel that scrapbooking, in it's "cool" permutation doesn't have the exposure as a craft like embroidery (for example) has. 

I think for a long time embroidery had that "granny" label that so many people couldn't shake, but then Jenny Hart came along and you know.. well, the rest is history. :-) Embroidery is cool again. So is cross-stitch. I mean, cross-stitch was one of the most granny, uncool hobbies ever. Seriously. I remember doing it myself when I was in elementary school and the designs were just... awful. At least to us now. Now look at the amazing patterns out there.

So I thought I'd share where the scrapbooking theme comes from on my blog and how I came to design digital scrapbooking kits. Some of you have been reading my blog from "way back when", so you remember my scrapbooking days.. and I have to say, BLESS YOU for staying with me this long! ;-)

This is an excerpt from an interview I did with The Daily Digi in May.

I first started scrapbooking in 2003 when Cooper was born so that I could document our memories with him. I was a paper scrapper and I totally fell in love with it. It was so fun to have a creative outlet again, my first really since college. 

I soon picked up my first scrapbooking magazine, and then I was truly hooked. I could not believe the art that people were creating just for their scrapbooks! It wasn't just stickers, photos and puff paint like you used in high school. People were creating well designed pages. It was right up my alley as a graphic designer. I could apply the same design "tricks" to my pages.

I got bit by the publishing bug (I thought "hey! I can do that too!" when I started reading those mags) and my scrapbooking took a more serious and professional turn when I started creating artwork for various publications and books. I continued to create artwork for publication for a good two years. My work definitely turned into more of a creative outlet, than the job of family historian. Which was okay with me because it was still fulfilling. I still used photos of my family, but didn't focus so much on the storytelling part. It was all about creating art for me.

I went through my artwork and picked out some of my favs. This artwork was probably created sometime in 2006... and several were published in such magazines as Creating Keepsakes & Memory Makers and Autumn Leaves books...

 

(Notice how little Cooper is? :-) We often joke that poor Campbell is going to think I didn't love him as much as Cooper because I have a half-zillion scrap pages documenting him, and ZERO of Campbell. I literally quit scrapbooking BECAUSE of Campbell. ha! Who would have time to scrapbook with a newborn, right? ;-)

By the time I became pregnant with Campbell in 2006, I was truly burned out and wasn't enjoying it so much anymore. I wasn't really documenting my family's life, and even the "creating" part wasn't fun anymore because I was having to force it for paid assignments. This is when I realized how MUCH I admire and respect artists that make a living creating their art. I wasn't doing it "for a living" so much as I was paid peanuts (if I'm honest) but it sure felt like a job. It was totally time consuming. On top of my part-time graphic design job that I had.

And I knew I couldn't keep up that schedule anymore with a baby on the way (um, it took me like 5 hours on average to complete one layout! Just not practical!) I would also say that the clutter, expense and waste of paper scrapping really turned me off after a while and I just totally and completely stopped doing it, and haven't created a paper scrapbook page since.

Getting into digital designing was really a fluke for me, and not that interesting of a story, but I have to say that I'm very, very grateful to be creating digital scrapbook kits. It is something I never imagined I would end up doing, but one thing led to another and here I am! And I love it.

"So, what's your point?" you might ask? That scrapbooking is cool. 

If you strip it of the word "scrapbooking" which I think still has a lot of negative connotations, it's essentially CREATING ART. And even better? You can create art but also document your family memories at the same time.

Whether you're a paper scrapper or digital scrapper, it's a super-cool hobby. And I just wanted you to know that... if you didn't already. :-)

I wanted to share some other scrapbook artists with you. Now, I have to warn you, to be in the digital scrapbooking business, I'm pretty out of the loop on the who's-who of fabulous scrapbook artists out there right now. So I'll share with you who I know and LOVE. :-)

A few of my favorite paper-scrapping artists with artwork examples:

Kara Haupt 

   See more work here

Mandi Johnson

 
 
 

see more of her work here

Debee Campos

   see more work here

Debee also creates her own line of paper-crafting supplies in her Etsy shop. Beautiful stuff.

Some favorite digital scrappers with artwork examples:

Tania Shaw

see more of her work here

Chelsea Parsons

see more of her work here

Chelsea also designs her own digital scrapbooking supplies that are insanely unique & creative...

I LOVE HER WORK. (fan? yeh.)

Liz Tamanaha

 

 

see more of her work here
Find her digital designs here
  

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So now I have my *own* little giveaway I want to do with this post!

I have 7 Autumn Leaves books that I've been wanting to get off my hands for a VERY long time. A few years to be exact. That said, even though they are a few years old, they are gorgeous, gorgeous books. And I'm not just saying that because I'm in several of them (haha, i joke). When I first started being published in scrapbooking magazines and books, my sort of "dream" of that time was to be an Autumn Leaves artist, and the day I got "the email" from their art director, was a very cool day for me. I really enjoyed working for this company and the books do not dissapoint. From a graphic designer's point of view, they were the most beautifully designed scrapbooking books back then. I'm not sure if they are still making new books (as I know that the economy took a big hit on publications and magazines) and I'm not even sure if these books are still being printed. You can find some used ones on Amazon for sure.

SO, that said...

You can win SEVEN Autumn Leaves books from me if you leave a comment with your email address included. Bonus points if you leave us a link to your favorite scrapooker's online gallery. Preferably some "new" artists! I need to be "in the know". haha. So if you do have a link to a fav or inspiring scrapbooker, leave that link in a SEPARATE comment. Then you'll double your chance of winning.

The titles are below: Designing with Details, Designing with Simplicity, The Look Book, Designing with Greetings, Designing with Type, Designing with Paper & Freestyle.
 

 

pretty finds, new kit, cousins & winner

I was thinking that I don't photograph my vintage finds often enough.. yep, still hoarding the pretties lately. Will be glad to have a place to put them soon! But since I can't photograph them properly in their "homes" around the house, I did a quick little photo shoot of some things. There's so much that I pick up here and there, so it's hard to photograph everything, but here are some favs as of late. Most of these will be going in our dining room once it's repainted in the next couple weeks...

I had been browsing Etsy for some melmac pieces for a while. I knew I wanted to display some in our dining room in some way. I'm a sucker for anything plastic (as I know I've mentioned) and I adore the fabulous colors that you can find in vintage melmac. But I got lucky. On my way home from Birmingham, AL several weeks ago, I stumbled onto a gigantic flea market and found these for super cheap. I bought several of the green mugs for less than a dollar each. 

 

I also love that these pieces are plastic because I can't tell you how many new and vintage pieces I've lost because of a certain boy that likes to throw balls around in the house *cough Cooper cough*. Just this weekend I lost my Virgin Mary and a few days before I lost half of my butterfly set. sigh. Serves me right I guess for putting breakables in the room to begin with!  Ah well, RIP dear ones. ; ) 

 

I've been slowly growing my Pyrex collection. Gosh, who doesn't love these? The colors and designs are just to die for. The super pretty and mod background is actually a large tray I found at Eclectica in Miami (of which I still need to share with you! i have SO much Miami goodness to still share with you!) 

 

I found these sweet mugs on Etsy.. the design was just too perfect and so were the sunny colors. The fabric is also equally yummy, also a vintage find!

 

This is a fondue pot I found just this weekend! I've been eyeing these for the longest time and it actually came as a complete set with the fondue utinsels, stand, etc. My family never used to make fondue, but Ethan's family used to make it all the time in the 70's/80's. I think we should actually use this one day! I usually buy things just for decorative purposes, but this must be used. It was $5 for the complete set which I thought was a great deal. I don't always find such great deals.. so don't think I'm that lucky all the time. ha 

 

Another kitschy find I couldn't pass up. I already have a lucky cat that a dear friend gave me, but who doesn't need more luck in their lives? Not I.

 
I have a new kit that came out today! Nicho Ornaments & Frames

I've always had a soft spot for Latin American folk art. I especially love Nichos which are traditionally mixed media shadow boxes typically decorated with images and objects from religious and popular culture. These ornaments reminded me of tiny little nichos. I've also created frame versions that you can add your own images to! (clipping masks included) 

Look Ma, I made a scrapbook page! 

I just love the sweet little touch this new kit adds to my page. I used a lot of elements from Paislee Press. I LOVE Liz's work! I used a quick page from this kit (I looooove quick page kits. So great for whipping up a page super-fast when you're short on free time) and I also used her gorgeous papers from this kit. The velvet ribbon is from my Blog Hop kit that I created.. remember? It's in my shop now if you missed it!

Here is a digital page from Georgia using the new kit...

 

She used many other kits of mine that you can find here and here. Love this page! :-)

And a few hybrid projects. The first is from Cathy. She made a cute little bookmark! It could also be used as an ornament...

 

And some beautiful hybrid projects by Marie. She printed out the kit elements to make a decorated matchbox, journal & gift... gorgeousness! She added her own imagery to the frames except for Lady of Guadalupe below...

 

  
And last, a seriously beautiful digital page by Tania. I always adore the way she mixes color and pattern and her compositions are always perfection. This particular page is particularly lovely because of her journaling. Tania is Latina and Catholic and she remembers a lot of these sorts of decorations around her grandmother's home, so this new kit was perfect for her page. Be sure to read her journaling.

 

And unrelated to the new kit, but related to my Granny's Attic kit, i don't think I ever posted this page that I created... I really hope to find more time to scrap, because it really is fun.

 

And last, this is what we were up to this weekend.. the boys' cousins were in town from Dallas. Cooper was in heaven hanging out with his older cousins who are so sweet and patient with him. We feel very blessed that the boys have cousins that they love to spend time with. We were always worried that Cooper would be too young to play with his older cousins, but it's been quite the opposite. Those boys are so sweet to him! And wow, they are getting big. We introduced Brooks and Ross to the gloriousness that is Wipeout this weekend. It was a big hit.

 

As you can see, Ethan's sister has trained her boys well. When they see a camera, they immediately smile without being bribed... as you can see Cooper hasn't quite caught on.

 

There that's better (after encouragement from Mom)...

 

The older two raided our hat collection as you can tell.

And this is what was happening on the other side of the room. We turned around and saw this sweet little scene...

Brooks and Ross's sister Cecilia who is less than a year younger than Campbell. Although as you can see, Cam looks quite gigantic next to her. ; )

 

It was a lovely weekend, although both boys have come down with strep. AGAIN. Would love to hear anyone's thoughts or experiences with this. Cooper has had strep around 5 times this year and every time passes it on to Campbell. Cooper is obviously an easy carrier for it. I keep hearing that getting the tonsils out can keep strep away, but I know that pediatricians are steering clear from doing that as much these days. As much as I don't like the thought of that, I also don't like that he's getting strep constantly. Strep can be a serious thing as well, especially if it never goes away. Anyway! Would love to hear your experiences.

Oh! And I have a winner to announce for the Danny Brito giveaway! I'm so thrilled at how you all enjoyed his work. I can't wait to share more artists with you! 

And the winner is....

Wow, I am so glad you featured his work. I have never seen it before, but now I'm hooked! I would love to win this giveaway! 
email is cowboy.bunny.shop@gmail.com

Posted by: Jenny | June 25, 2010 at 09:32 AM

I'll be in touch Jenny! :-)

Hope you all had a nice weekend!

*Fabric Bar & Emily Ann Designs Giveaway!* & Elle's Studio winner

I've got a joint giveaway today from two of our June sponsors! Yay! Here's what you can win from The Fabric Bar & Emily Ann Designs:

Amy at The Fabric Bar is giving away One Yard of Each of the SEVEN Polly Danger Bias Tapes! Aren't they gorgeous? How awesome would that be to not have to make your own.. and in such pretty patterns! Swoon!  

And Emily Ann is giving away One 12-Set of Custom Designed & Printed Notecards or Invitations! Yay! Also, be sure to check out her blog for a free-summer-lovin'-download. :-)

TO ENTER this giveaway this is what you need to do:

Please leave a comment that includes your email address (please type it in with your comment.) Also, to double your chances of winning, tweet about this giveaway (link to it) or link to The Fabric Bar & Emily Ann Designs on your Twitter. Post a separate comment here with a link to your Twitter as proof that you tweeted. ;-)

I will announce a winner next Friday.

****************************************************************************************

And I have a winner for the Elle's Studio giveaway!

Love Elle's stuff! She has great service also :) chapinjennifer@yahoo.com

Posted by: Jennifer | June 22, 2010 at 05:56 PM

I'll be in touch Jennifer and THANK YOU Elle's Studio for the awesome giveaway!

Have a great weekend everyone, I might have another post for today, but if not, enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by this week! :-)

Artist Spotlight: Danny Brito & Giveaway!

I've been dying to share this artist with you, Danny Brito, for what seems like ages. As you can tell, I had a very, very hard time narrowing down which of his pieces I wanted to share with you.. so I've shared a lot. :-)

I found Danny while perusing Flickr (of course!) and instantly fell in love with his quirky, vintage-inspired, colorful, detailed and humorous style. What I loved most I think though was his use of colored pencils in a majority of his work! So many artists use paint as their main medium, so I love that most of Danny's work involves drawing with colored pencils. That was my favorite medium to work with growing up and in college. I don't know why, but I just love the look.

I also loved that his work transported me back to being a girl growing up, you know, but only the good parts. The part where I crushed on boys and wrote notes in class to my girlfriends.

I asked Danny some questions to get to know him better, I hope you enjoy this little interview as much as I did. 

Where to you live? I live in Miami, Florida and have my entire life. Very much a beach type of person, I'd love to one day trade my life for a city life though. 

What is your profession? I'm a freelance Illustrator, that's my main source of income at the moment. The last real job I had was in 2008 I believe, I worked at Michaels Arts & Crafts in the framing department. It's a terrible company to work for, but I did learn a lot about framing, which pays off now when I'm framing my own art. I also customize Blythe dolls to help when things are kind of thin in the Illustration wise. I do it under the name "Friends With Blythe" as to not get both worlds mixed up. 

What are your interests/hobbies? I love thrifitng, If I could go once a week I would. I like to go every other week to my favorite group of thrift stores in Hialeah, Florida. It's a little scummy at times but i've found the best pieces there. It's where I get most of my frames. I like sewing, I'm not amazing but I can work a sewing machine and have made a few plushes. I like being able to make a something 3 dimensional with fabric. I've got some plans to make a plush of one of my girls, but I haven't found the time to experiment with it yet.

What are your main inspirations? It kind of bounces back and forth between music and movies. The music I listen to is either really upbeat or twee like Slow Club, Matt and Kim, Jenny Lewis, Emmy the great.. or something really heartfelt and slow, like Emily Haines, Elliot Smith, Chris Garneau. Lately I'm more prone to watch movies while I draw, mostly animated films and fantasy films. Anything by Hayao Miyazaki, Pixar, or any of the Harry Potter films. 

You can find Danny's work on his website, his Etsy shop & his Flickr. Danny also hangs out on Twitter (in which i love that he never minces his words, I love that quality in people) and you can also buy some of his originals still available at his show At the Sock Hop at the Pink Ghost Gallery in Hollywood, FL.

I also wanted to share a really cool project that Danny started that allows people to buy original custom artwork from him at a very reasonable price, which I think is super-cool. We all can't afford to buy large pieces all the time, so I think this project, The Polaroid Project, is quite cool.

 

 

     

I've commissioned him to make some of my family.. I can't wait! 

And last, Danny is offering a very cool giveaway just to my readers! YAY. :-) You can win this pocket mirror and super-cute pin pack...

 

 

 

TO ENTER this giveaway this is what you need to do:

Please leave a comment that includes your email address (please type it in with your comment.) Also, to double your chances of winning, tweet about this giveaway (link to it) or link to his shop on your Twitter. Post a separate comment here with a link to your Twitter as proof that you tweeted. ;-)

I will pick ONE winner at random and will announce that winner on Monday!

 

*One Buck Wednesday SALE!*

Another one so soon you ask? Yes. It's true. 

My Watercolor Doilies Paper Collection is on sale for *one dollar* today only! Sale ends at midnight EST. :-) Print these papers out and use them for your paper crafts, gift-packaging, you name it. Or use in your digital art! Such pretty summer-y colors - perfect for your summertime crafts. And who doesn't love vintage doilies? This collection was inspired by them...

Here's a detailed image of the papers:

 
Here are a couple of projects from my Design Team that I posted when I released this kit. To see more, go here.

Here Penelope reduced the papers in size in Photoshop and then printed them out to create a patchwork background. So pretty.

 

And a digital page by Tania. The cutest.

Other digital kits used from my Jessica Sprague and Two Peas shops.