September Design Team Scraplift

This month the design team chose to scraplift new A Million Memories member, Carrie Ferrier, known as "Carrie F." on the boards. Here is Carrie's layout, "She Had Style". Here's what Carrie had to say about her gorgeous layout below.

I have a large file folder of “favorite photos I love” waiting to be scrapped. I am constantly referring back to my favorite photos folder when I buy product. My inspiration to any layout is always the photo. I work all design elements of a layout around the photo. When I got these vintage Graphic 45 papers I instantly thought of this favorite photo of my grandma. She loved red. And I remember her having a tablecloth that strongly resembled the floral paper. As I started playing around with the papers and the photo, I knew I also wanted to incorporate another love that my grandma had…..embroidery floss. So I added the hand stitched rectangle around the photo and papers. The hand cut heart around grandma’s photo seemed like the perfect final touch for a favorite photo I love, using elements that reminded me of different things that grandma loved.


"Four Months" by Karen Grunberg
First up is Karen Grunberg's lift called "Four Months". Here is what Karen had to say about the inspiration she took from Carrie's layout. "I loved how her stitching looked like it was coming out from behind the page so I wanted to do something similar but with my journaling. I also loved the really small photo and decided to use two of mine. And finally, I loved the small circular embellishments so I created a few of my own."

Journaling:
Dear little boy. In three days you will be four months old. The last few months have been wonderful, exhilarating, and tiring. In the last few weeks you’ve been more demanding than usual and you are really unhappy if we’re not holding you all the time. You’ve also gotten used to falling asleep when nursing and refuse to sleep any other way. This has started to take its toll on me and I am feeling more and more worn out. When I found out that I would start working in four weeks, I decided it was time for us to work on our sleep behavior. For the last two days, I’ve been spending every waking moment with you. I’ve been watching the clock and the signs to see when you start fussing so that I can put you down immediately. I have been leaning into the crib to give you kisses, hugs, and love. I have been rocking you. Whispering to you. I have been talking, praying, crying. I love you so much, Nathaniel. I know that you can do this and I know that this is the right next step for both of us. For all of us. David’s been patiently watching both of us as we struggle through this and he’s been playing on his own, being quiet when asked to, and hugging you every moment you’re awake. It’s wonderful to be so loved especially as we strive to find our peace. Even though you’re not alone for a moment, this process is really rough on me. It hurts me physically with my aching back and splitting headaches. It hurts me psychologically to have to separate this bond between us a little bit. And it hurts me emotionally to see you shed even the tiniest of tears. But I know that this is the right next step for us. We both need sleep. When we’re rested, we both feel happier and we can bond much more deeply. I have faith in us, my boy, I know we can do this. I love you with all my heart. - August 2009

"Relax" by Lucy Edson
Next up is Lucy Edson's lift of Carrie's layout. Here is what Lucy had to say about what inspired her in Carrie's layout. "I love Carrie's clean, gorgeous style and was thrilled to use her layout as my inspiration for this lift. What really stood out to me was the horizontal arrangement and the way she framed the photo with the off center heart. My arrangement is more off center but I tried to leave it mostly in a line and created the framing around the photo with the layered Hambly. And while my embellishing style is more elaborate I kept a clean feel by limiting the color palette. Thanks, Carrie for the inspiration!!"


"Two Wild" by Susan Dupre
Next is this layout by Susan Dupre. Here is what Susan had to say about her inspiration. "Carrie's layout was so pretty and feminine. For my layout, I wanted to make it a little more playful. I was inspired by her horizontal, blocking and stitching. As you can see in my layout, I kept that same horizontal style and blocking. Instead of stitching, I opted for a more playful use of ric rac. I hope I did her proud."


"Just Being Me" by Hlide Janbroers Here is what Hilde had to say about the inspiration she took from the original. "I was inspired by the clean look with the only focus on the photo and the cluster of embellishments. I also used the same manuf. of paper, Graphic 45, so the colors would match."


"XOXO" By Wendela Lam Here is what Wendela had to say about her lift of Carrie's layout. "I love the heart on this page. That gives me the inspiration to lift this layout. I made a heart from iron wire. The stitched rectangle I made one from fabric and crunched vellum."

And last but not least, Mia's version.

"Batter Up" by Mia Caniza Here is what Mia had to say about her inspiration for this layout. "I love this layout by Carrie for the simple and gorgeous design. When I saw the layout my eye was absolutely drawn to the stitching and how it created focus on the page. I wanted to lift that and use it on my layout to create some interest. I also loved the odd sized photo and the cluster of embellishments near the lower right of the photo so I incorporate that into my page. I loved how there was a large heart shape around the photo and used something similar to give added importance and interest to the photo on my layout."

I am amazed by the design team's interpretation of this layout. They are all completely different in style but I can see a bit of the original in each of them.

If you would like to have the design team lift one of your layouts, be sure to upload your projects to the gallery often.