Mosaic Borders

One of the biggest natural attractions in Michigan is the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Along 40 miles of Lake Superior’s shore are these incredible rock formations.

On this trip, the weather didn’t cooperate, so we were unable to take the 3-hour boat tour to see all of the rocks, but we did get to view the few that are easily accessible from the shore. This one is called Miner’s Castle. Since I only had a few pictures, I wanted to do something that would really make the pictures stand out and show how unique they are.

I used my favorite die, the 1×1 Mosaic Die Borders, to extend the photo beyond the photo mat. Then I used some paper that reminded me of the colors of the Pictured Rocks in between.

Want to learn how to combine dies to get this look? I made a video! Click here to watch the video and take your photos beyond the border.

NOTE: I do receive compensation for making videos for Mosaic Moments.

Mosaic Windows

As you probably know, my studio is in the corner of my living room beneath huge picture windows. When I sit at my desk, I look out over several vacant lots and woods owned by my husband’s parents. “The park,” as we call it, is filled with my mother-in-law’s flowers and a huge garden. I have a bird feeder in front of the window and I love my view … even though I live on a small lake lot, I feel like I live in the country when I look out my window. I’m used to seeing a variety of songbirds, crows, turkey vultures, squirrels, chipmunks, and the occasional bald eagle, or neighbor’s cat or dog.

But this day, when I looked up, I was surprised to see two deer in the yard!

For a few seconds, those deer and I locked eyes. I was afraid to move, but I really wanted to capture the moment. Telepathically, I suppose, I sort of asked the deer if he would stay put. Figuring I was no threat, he stood in place while I snapped a few pictures with my phone and called my in-laws to tell them to look out the window (they weren’t home, which made getting pictures even more important).

The pictures on my phone were way too far away, but my camera was, of course, nowhere near my desk. Again, I silently “asked” the deer to wait for me and took off to my bedroom. I ran back to my studio, removing the lens cap and turning on the camera as I went, but expecting them to be gone when I got back.

Amazingly, the deer were still there, slowly exploring my mother-in-law’s flowers.

Getting over “deer fever,” I was able to get quite a few photos of the two. The female wanted to head back to the woods, but the male was insistent that she stay and he kept encouraging her to come back to the park to play — until something spooked them and they both ran back into the woods.

It may have only lasted a few minutes, but it was the first time I had the opportunity to really observe deer being deer — outside of captivity. It was an incredible moment and although some of my photos didn’t come out (I was shaking beyond my camera’s stability control), I did get some great shots through my dirty window!

I wanted it to be obvious that these photos were taken while I was inside. One of the dies from Mosaic Moments reminded me of a window and I knew it would be the perfect way to visually show that the photos were taken through the window.

I made a video to show you how I made this page. Click here to watch it …

Have you had an opportunity to photograph animals in nature?

(NOTE: I get paid to make videos for Mosaic Moments).

Mosaic Waterfall

While I work on Mosaic Moments Grid Paper most of the time when scrapbooking, I rarely create solid mosaic pages. Normally, I like to leave a lot of my photos large and uncut. But, with these photos, I decided to cut every photo into 1-inch squares.

My photos of this particular waterfall were not all that great. The falls were hard to photograph because we were on top of them and they cut back under us. I took lots of photos in the woods on our trek to and from the falls, but nothing was eye catching. By cutting my photos up, I actually made each one look better (its magical how this happens) and created an overall visual that was much better than any single photo. And, I managed to fit parts of 11 photos onto a single layout!

Yes, this can take hours if you are cutting with a knife, but if you have the MM Die from Mosaic Moments, it takes just a few minutes. The MM die cuts a 4″x6″ photo into 1-inch squares with a single pass through the Big Shot or other cutting machine. And, it holds the pieces together so you are not left trying to put nearly impossible puzzle pieces back together!

There are times when you will want to use this die to create a giant mosaic and times when you do not.

GREAT USES

Enhance less than spectacular photos

Fit a lot of photos onto a page

Uses parts of photos if the whole photo isn’t desired

Perfect for flowers, landscapes, scenery, crowds, sunsets, beaches

 

NOT-SO-GREAT USES

Close-up photos of people or animals (if their face doesn’t fit in a 1″ square, they will look like aliens when cut)

Spectacular photos (the mosaic grid will detract from the beauty)

Photos with important details (the details will blend in)

Signs with lots of writing (more than a word or two is hard to read)

 

Give this technique a try — either by cutting by hand or using the MM Die — and let me know what you think. I’d love to see your pages!

Pointing the Way

This past June, my husband and I spent a week in the Upper Peninsula. We were supposed to spend the time camping, hiking and photographing nature. Our campsite was right on the beach of Lake Superior and I imagined several evenings sitting in front of the fire, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing on shore, while watching the sun set.

We knew it would be a little cool … we took hoodies and fleece-lined sweats to keep ourselves warm overnight. And, we packed plenty of blankets, as well.

We knew if might rain, so we bought waterproof coats and shoes.

What we didn’t count on was three days of wind and rain, on and off, all day and all night. By the third night, everything in the tent was damp feeling — even though it was dry. The wind picked up to about 40 mph, the rain was coming down in buckets, and the temperature dropped to 48 degrees. We went to bed early (there was nothing else to do) even though we weren’t really tired. Every few minutes, a gust of wind would lift open the rain flaps on the tent and suck out all of the warm air. Every time the wind blew, I got a little colder. I had my hoodie up and layers of clothing on, but I was still cold. And, I must admit, I was a little scared that the tent was going to collapse in the wind. I asked if we could get a hotel room. Matt told me just to snuggle a little closer and he would keep me warm. So, I snapped a few pictures of the raindrops on the tent, snuggled a little closer and prayed morning would come soon.

I had just about fallen asleep when I heard Matt asking if they had a room available for the night.

Ten minutes later, we were comfortably settled down the street at a motel. We cranked up the heat, put our shoes in front of it to dry (we had been playing in Lake Superior earlier in the day and the exteriors of our shoes were still wet) and took long, hot showers before going to bed. It was wonderful to be completely dry and warm that night.

We called it an early Christmas present, since we stayed at the Christmas Motel in Christmas, Michigan.

Amazingly, our tent survived the night … Everything was just as we left it, although it was still so windy the next morning, it nearly blew away as we were trying to get it down. A neighboring camper had to help us! We weren’t able to pack it up, but we did manage to get everything into the car.

Of course, I had to scrapbook this crazy night.

While waiting for Matt to register us at the motel, I had taken pictures of the temperature and the rain on the windshield. The next morning, I took photos of the sign and outside of the motel. I used those, along with the pictures I had taken of the rain on the tent, to help tell the story on my page.

I also used the Mosaic Moments Arrow Die … it’s a versatile die because you can use either the inside or the outside or both together! I made a video to show you how it’s done … click here to watch.

Have you ever scrapbooked the weather?

NOTE: I was compensated for creating this video.

 

Petal Popping

See the cute little flowers that pop on this page? These are called Petal Poppers and they are dies made just for Mosaic Moments Grid Paper. They are so cute and they pop right off the page — literally.

I thought they were the perfect accent to showcase the squirrels in my yard who insist on eating bird seed.

I created a video for Mosaic Moments showing how this is done. You can click here to watch it.

NOTE: I was paid for making the video.

Mosaic Monday: Travel

It’s Mosaic Monday! Each Monday I bring you inspiration using the Mosaic Moments system to create fabulous scrapbook pages.

This is one of the pages I created following our recent trip to the Upper Peninsula. Had this not been part of it’s very own book with tons of layouts, I would have journaled on the blue rectangles. However, since this is my fourth layout about this lighthouse, I left it blank and let the photos speak for themselves.

I used a postcard I purchased as one of the photos, matting it just like I did the other large photos. I used scraps to fill in the small squares.

This was probably my favorite evening on our trip — we took shelter from the wind and rain (we were camping in a tent) in a bookstore/coffee house/restaurant. It was quaint and fun and I realized how “old” I have gotten. The 20-year-old me would have thought this stupid and rolled my eyes, but I enjoyed listening to some older folks sing and play instruments and another group play board games. Oh, and the coffee was amazing! We may have been the only two people who didn’t work there who do not qualify for the senior citizen discount, but I felt right at home.

On this page, I turned 1-inch squares to a diamond position to journal on — just something a little different.

When traveling, be sure to take photos of things like rocks, the shoreline, the horizon, leaves or even coffee cups … these become perfect accents for your page when cut into 1-inch squares.

A Little Wood Here and There

One of the hot trends in scrapbooking is wood … I recently wrote an article for Michigan Scrapbooker Magazine and wanted to share some of the pages and additional techniques that I did.

To read about the wood techniques, and get the supply lists, click here and then visit page 7 of the magazine.

To read about a few other ideas for scrapbooking, read on!

I LOVE how this page turned out … I photographed the menu and used it as the title. I created a table setting for my journaling block.

This was just an iPhone snap shot of my cousin, but I loved the emotion in her face, so I had to scrap it. I used a few strips of coordinating paper and a strip of ribbon to accent the photo and title.

This one is completed on Mosaic Moments Grid Paper. I love how the grid keeps everything straight and organized, even though I did not cut any photos into 1″ pieces.

Be sure to visit Michigan Scrapbooker Magazine’s fall issue for more inspiration!

 

Just for You

If you have been to a crop with me, you have likely seen this free make and take that I offer to introduce you into the world of Mosaic Moments.

I love it .. it is quick and easy and uses up some of those leftover nature and scenery photos.

I decided to make a video to show you how much easy it is to make … check it out:

Layering with Mosaic Moments

I created this page using the nesting dies from Mosaic Moments.

And, I made a video to show you how easy it is.

Check it out, here.

I was compensated to create this video.

Take A Closer Look

Today is the Elizabeth Craft Designs’ Designer Challenge … we had to use some of the new Peel-Off designs. Here’s what I did …

I love photographing flowers, trees, animals and other things in nature. Lately, I’ve been getting up close and getting photos that show off details not typically seen by just looking at the flowers from a distance.

Of course, once I take the flowers, I need to find something to do with them … on this page I wanted to showcase some of the up close photos I recently took, but I also wanted the entire page to give the feeling that you need to look behind and up close to see these natural beauties.

I used the Leafy Branch die from Elizabeth Craft Designs to give the feeling that the foxes were hiding in the grass or bushes. The way the die is made, it is easy to find places to cut the die cut to fit any size.

The foxes are outline Peel-Offs from ECD as well. I put them on X-Press It cardstock and colored them with Copic markers, then cut them out and adhered them with dimensional foam adhesive.

For the title, I used the Alphabet Caps die from ECD. I cut out the letters twice — once in black and once in the patterned paper (from Bo Bunny) I used for the journaling block and photo mat. Then I layered them together to give a shadow look.

Need more inspiration? Click here and see what the other designers created.