Three is the magic number

This picture is an excellent example of just how different two pages made from the same layout can be.

Amber kept hers simple and clean, with minimal pattern, perfect to express her feelings about her growing family.

I adapted the layout to fit an 8x8 page, as I have an 8x8 album that is strictly about my niece. Mine is simple as well, but the added pattern in the edge papers adds to the girly girl theme. :)

Everyday's a holiday...

As you can see, Amber and I again took a totally different tack on this page. Her page, featuring her son, is bright and sunshiny just like his cheery personality. The page is about his love of the "Jolly Holiday" song from Mary Poppins, which I started singing to him one day to try to keep him calm. Who knew it would be a hit?!! :) It is a simple layout to be sure, but the bright colors and trademark glitter usage make it sparkle and shine.

After finding a set of cds my cousins had made for the family for Christmas a few years ago, I decided to see if some of the files were available as jpegs so I could use them to scrapbook. I was surprised to find a wealth of photos at my fingertips, and after a lot of happy tears through reminiscing, I decided to make a page featuring my grandfather, who died ten years ago this past January. I think about him quite a lot, and I had been wanting to create a page to honor his memory for some time. I just never knew that I had so many pictures available to do so! The quote I used for the title is "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." More often than not, when I think of him these days it is with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart, grateful for the time I had him in my life.

Sometimes life gets in the way...

and you are unable to post for a while.

The McCall family lost their patriarch last week; he was a great man and he will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

It Doesn't Take Long to Fall in Love.

Continuing on our scrapbooking journey, Amber and I chose this page for our next scraplifting project. Because there are occasional layouts for which we aren't prepared or don't have the right kind of pictures for, we have been skipping around a bit, though we fully intend to return to those pages we have skipped. :)

I especially liked this layout because it offered the chance to use so many different patterns, which meant an easy way to use up the mountains of scraps left over from other projects (because throwing paper away is a travesty!).

The title of this blog post is in reference to our pages in that both of us loved these two individuals from the moment we met them, and truly, they are both so adorable how could we not?? :) Amber's page features her son in his third month, his changes and developments, and a list of his current nicknames. She used a lot of really playful patterns for her page, very fitting for the subject. My page is about my friend Tyler, who was the first friend I made at Western. I used different patterns featuring the same colors, his favorite colors of blue and green, because I can't help but think of him when I see them.

Enjoy!

The Second Page

A quick and early update today as I have a lot of homework to do today for tomorrow, and no time during the day tomorrow in which to do it!

Another super simple page layout, and one which features a single photograph, a style that I've really come to love and use a lot. After all, you can say as much with a single picture as you can with five.

As you can see, Amber's is more traditional than mine (though there's hardly any green on it!), which really fits the subject matter well. Her page is about her son's developments at two months, and some of her feelings about being a mom, and the homey patterns offsetting the bright orange color really emphasize the warmth and closeness felt for her subject.

My page is more graphic and urban because not only does it suit the photo very well, but it fits Gary's personality. He is a graphic designer, so I wanted to go for a very graphic arty look with a lot of color to represent his artistic side. The different patterns blend well and add emphasis to the blurred background of the photo, which is just as important as his diva expression. :)

Hope this gives you inspiration to try your own scraplifting project! Cheers!

The Journey Begins

I apologize for the long time between posts! I've been a little busy with school, and honestly, a little negligent, if you can imagine. However, Amber and I have started our single magazine scraplift project, and from here on out (until I say otherwise, hee), they are all from Scrapbooks Etc.'s Scrapbook Page Planner. :) Off we go!

Like I said when we started this project, it's amazing how we can get two such different pages from the same layout inspiration. The best part, aside from letting us express the differences in our creativity/processes is that by modeling our projects after someone else's page, we save so much time. Before we began doing this, we would (or at least *I* would) spend up to four hours trying to figure out a layout for a single page! We don't really have that kind of time anymore, so scraplifting gives us the opportunity to continue to scrap and still have time to do all the other things we have to do.

This layout is rather simple, but I think it really works well for the subject matter. Amber's layout is about her son's developments and personality at one month. You'll notice two things about Amber's work that I always tease her about: one, she uses a lot of that color green, and two, she almost always has to use glitter! :) But that's just her personality, so it always adds to the page. My layout tells the story of how my niece finally learned how to pronounce my name, which made me very sad. I loved my sweet little nickname, and somehow it was lost while I was away. She's growing up so fast! Every time I see her there is always something new!

I'm going to try to update every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from here on out, because those are the lightest days in my schedule. So please be sure to come back on those days and check out the new pages!

Story Time/ The Noodle Dream

I chose this layout from Memory Makers magazine because I liked the offset sections of the design as well as the way the eye is tricked by its simplicity--maximum effect for minimum value. Amber's page, on the left, is about how her niece passed along some of her favorite books (Skippyjon Jones) to Amber's son. My page tells about the summer I visited Macomb and Amber and I were addicted to creamy chicken ramen noodles! We had the noodle dream every night! :)

First-Time Dad/Fairy Girl

Amber chose this layout from Scrapbooks, Etc. because she liked the use of a single large photo, scalloped edge accent, and journaling strips. Her page, which is on the left, features her husband's thoughts on becoming a first-time father, while my page tells about my niece's third birthday photos, and the special fairy dress her mom had made for her.

All Apologies

We apologize for the delay in posts, but I have just started school and Amber is busy with Shannon most of the day, so they may become a little more infrequent. However, here is one the last of the random bunch of scraplifts before we launch into the single magazine project.

I would also like to note that while we would like to put the original inspirations here on the website, we are prohibited from doing so due to copyright issues. However, if you would like to see some of the originals, email us and I can send you a scan (as long as you don't post it anywhere! :) ).

I chose this layout from Scrapbooks Etc., because I liked the repetitive lines from the paper strips and the half-circle journaling area. Amber's page is on the left, featuring me holding her son for the first time, while mine on the right is about our nearly fifteen-year friendship.

Stay tuned for more pages coming soon!

Two for one.

The layout inspiration for this page also came from an issue of Scrapbooks Etc. (again, I will have to post comparison later, I have to get a copy of the original :) ) Amber's, on the left, features her son with his great-grandmother, and is about his status as her first great-grandchild. Mine, on the right, is about my beautiful niece. She most definitely is my sunshine. :)

Amber chose this layout for its use of a bold graphic and lots of negative space, which enhanced the appearance of a single photo. She also liked that there was room on the page itself for journaling (though I hid mine in a flip folder). The only difficulty with this page was procuring the large graphic, which required much time and patience on my part with an XActo knife.

Amber also chose this layout from the August/September issue of Scrapbooks, Etc. Her page is on the right in this photo, featuring her son with his aunt, and mine is about all the things I've done this summer. She chose this layout for its use of several photos and its clean lines.

I think the best thing about this whole project is that even though we are using the same jumping off point to provide inspiration, where we end up is so very different, revealing our own individual creativity and personality through that.

All in a name.

How did this blog happen?


Amber and I have been scrapbooking for several years now, and following the birth of her first child and my first year back at college, which had put us in something of a slump, we decided to challenge ourselves by producing one page a night (when possible), with the help of scraplifting.


Scraplifting is taking someone else's design and reworking it to make it your own, hence the title of the blog. It has also been the answer to getting our scrapping creativity flowing again following one extremely painful session where we mainly sat looking at our works in progress with blank stares and strings of drool escaping our mouths (well, she was the drooler, not me).


Also inspired by Julie Powell's quest to recreate Julia Child's recipes in "Julie and Julia," we decided to take a single magazine and recreate each layout within, giving them each our own spin. This project is still in the works, but for now, feast your eyes on some of our recent successes. Maybe you'll borrow a little inspiration of your own!

These pages were inspired by a layout featured in Scrapbooks Etc.'s August/Sept 2009 issue (I will upload the original later for comparison, as I seem to have taken my copy over to Amber's :) ) Her page features a story about the legacy of her son's middle name, which he inherited from his great grandfather, while mine features an inside joke between my younger brother and myself--which one of us is the favorite!

I chose this layout because I liked how clean it was, and I also liked the repeated circle graphic and how it provided maximum effect with minimum effort and supplies. I like how different the two pages look, with Amber's taking on a hip modern look and mine feeling very "office supplies," in a fun way.