The Mother LOAD

I signed up for The Mother LOAD class taught by the great Lain Ehmann after a lot of hemming and hawing about whether it was the right thing to do with my current state of crafting energies at the time.  I also had been longing to move myself into a mixed media/painty place - but hadn't.  So - it was a big decision that was helped along by a gift certificate and an amazing discount on Mrs. Jennifer McGuire's website.  I have mixed feelings about the class even now - but the weekly assignments have gotten me off my keister and helped me make two layouts that I really love and I'm starting to finally feel like I'm in the right place.

If you're not familiar with BPC Classes - you usually get a PDF weekly and possibly some extras like videos, audio messages, extra information, etc.  Prior to the Layout A Day portion of the class, we are given assignments to prepare us for the final push - 26 layouts in 26 days.  It's been four weeks and I've done two layout assignments and all four photo assignments.  One layout assignment was not possible because it was about organization and frankly I had already organized the hell out of my space.  We were supposed to find forgotten supplies and make any kind of layout.  I skipped this challenge.  Our first assignment was to scrapbook the reason we are driven to tell our stories - to be part of this hobby.

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Studio Calico; Stickers: October Afternoon; Bingo Card: Red Lead Paperworks; Wooden embellishments: Studio Calico; Spray Mists: Studio Calico

So again - it's not a great picture - but I rocked out something a little different.  It has a major glare because I used a flash - it's the clearest of about eight pictures so there you go.  It took a long time to decide how I wanted to do this page.  I thought about doing a grid style inspired by the current Creating Keepsakes issue but decided against it.  I absolutely love all the products I used on this page.  I went a little crazy with the misting so I covered it with butterflies.  They're on pop dots so the faux pas isn't completely gone.  All in all - I liked this layout.  But not as much as this one...

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Simple Stories, Basic Grey, October Afternoon, Authentique; Die-cuts: Crate Paper; Chipboard Embellishments: American Crafts; Letters: Basic Grey & Webster's Pages; Stickers: October Afternoon; Wooden embellishments: Studio Calico

If you think it looks like I threw up embellishments on this page - I sort of did and that's completely what I love about it.  I love the domino in the upper right corner.  I love the 8 ball in the doily next to the dress.  I love that I printed out an old picture of myself from the seventies onto a piece of patterned paper from the Nook & Pantry collection from Basic Grey.  I love that the journaling is hidden behind the photo.  I LOVE this layout and at first I felt like the papers weren't me - But it is me through and through.  The challenge for this layout was documenting your process.  We were supposed to take tons of notes and just get familiarized with the way we did things.  I decided to document my process on Evernote using the voice recording, pictures, and texts.  It worked out pretty well.  I talk more about the process at a later date.  I'm gearing up for the homework and layout assignments for this week and will have more to share on Wednesday.  I'm going to get started on going through all my process information and get a post going on that too.  Look for that later in the week.  I'm nursing a summer cold - my absolute favorite thing in the world - during a friggin' heat wave.  Anyhoo...I hope everyone stays healthy and happy on this Sunday.  Until then...

BTW: Sorry if things seem scattered - my brain isn't at full capacity.  And...let's be honest - even when it is - that's  not much. :)

Edited on 7/25/2011: The title of my second page comes directly from a song by ADELE.  The song is called "Chasing Pavements" and it's on her first album - 19.  It's my anthem right now and I love it.  It also really went well with a not so happy story.