Concrete Jungle-a-thon

Yes, I used it all. There are no embellishments... no 12x12 sheets... hardly any fibers... and only about 1/3 of the stickers, tags, and cutouts left. That is my goal... empty that box. You will see that I'm an embellisher... so I went to LSS to supplement my box. I bought a couple of sheets of pattern paper from basic grey and bo bunny... some sickles and black bling... some black felt flowers... a sheet of basic grey rub-ons... and a cheap $1 stamp set. You will probably see those things throughout this posting.

My first project was to create the little book described in the scrap wrap. It was a very cute little project. I modified it a bit to give it a spine. I used some scrappers twine to tie the pages in so they don't accordion out. Also to add some beaded bling.

Here's the interior view of the book. I added tags also, which does make the book stick out of the little box container a bit. But, I kind of like that. And I know I like tags!

I had run out of photos by the end of my adventure, so I made one blank layout. I modified one of the ABLS layouts in the scrap rap for this one.

Here's my cute nephews. That paper is basic grey and MME. I did a version of that ribbon technique from the scrap rap here. Stamps are Autumn Leaves, stamped with white, and outlined with a glaze pen.

This is one of my favorite layouts. I made the title block with a piece of chipboard covered with that shiny paper and stamped with staz-on... those are a club scrap alpha and an old stampin up stamp. The little heart pendant came from mys stash (must use the stash!)

This is NOT the most attractive picture of my daughter. She licks her face compulsively sometimes and this causes an ugly rash. It was in full flower at the time. But it was an important picture because of how our sweet kitty Aimee had attached herself to my daughter. Unfortunately, Aimee was subsequently killed on the road. It makes this layout bittersweet. But we all loved Aimee deeply so it was important to do. That cog paper is bo bunny and it was just so appropriate for the urban jungle theme. I used it up too. Aimee was kind of a princess of a cat so I tried to convey that with the layout.

This is a very favorite picture of my kiddos. It was taken last December, if you can believe it... for my son's birthday party. It was unseasonably warm that day. I spent a while on this layout working on the beading and embellishments. I stamped that little tag we got in the embellishments pack and embossed it. The crown with some bling on the tag... I love the way the pattern papers frame the photo.

Love this picture of my dad reading and my daughter. I don't remember the manufacturer of this pattern paper. I love that stamp made by angel company that I used on the tag. I have used it a lot over the last year. I colored it with a glaze pen.

Jack turned 5 this year. These are his official 5-year-old photos scrapped. I stamped those circles then decided they needed a little glitter glue to pop. That punch is a Martha Stewart border one.

Pretty much all concrete jungle, except for the rub-on. More of those autumn leaves alpha stamps. I like them, but clear stamps just don't stick well. I wonder how long they will last.

My son has some cute ways of talking. For the longest time he said "strom pooper" for storm trooper. He is obsessed with star wars. That stamp is from Scrapgoods...

I didn't stamp on this one, but I embossed chipboard with a "malachite" colored powder.

Here's Jack's 5th birthday. The "birthday" is a rub-on. I put some glitter glue in the openings of the chipboard.

Well, as you can see, concrete jungle is almost history. I wasn't super excited about the papers when I got them... a little too industrial for my tastes. I really don't care for the girl and boy signs. But I loved the colors. That was cool. And I have to remind myself that in reality, most of the patterns get covered with pictures anyway... What I did love is that club scrap included a broad variety of textures of papers. That was something I had always wanted before when I was a member. This was an infinitely usable kit and I will enjoy the layouts I have made for a long time.

Honestly, I have found that you can enjoy the papers far more if you actually use them. In the stash, they just get forgotten. And then purged at some later mystery time. Don't purge your favorites. Use them and enjoy them. There are ALWAYS new papers come on the horizon that are as cool or cooler.

Stampin Smiles....