Month: August 2011

Behind the Scenes: Creating Word Strips

Published by Sula H.

Most digiscrap kits come with little word strips and pieces of word art. I don’t know about you, but I rarely find myself using those word bits, because either they don’t say what I’d like to say, or they just don’t match with the topic of the page. For me, being somewhat international ( 😉 ), living in a somewhat tri-lingual world of English, Chinese, and German, I run into another problem with these ready-made word strips – they usually all come in English, and if I’m creating a page in German (which happens a lot for photo book projects etc.) then it’s just not right to use English word strips. Having said that, I have to admit, I like to use bits and pieces of word art on my pages. And the solution to the language/topic dilemma is: Creating my own word bits. Of course, the best thing is, if the designers are considerate enough to add blank versions of their word strip pieces to the kit (I end up using those a lot). …

Monday Highlight: Christmas in August

Published by Sula H.

Who says I can’t scrap Christmas pages in August? At least my mom started laughing at me when she heard that I was planning to scrap those Christmas pages that had long been overdue. And I’m sure there’s other people out there thinking: What is she doing, scrapping Christmas pages in the middle of summer? But since in the photobook project I’m working on there were mostly Christmas pages left to scrap, I thought to myself: Why not go ahead and scrap those pages, even when it is August? It makes me long for my favorite season of the year! Anyways, hours of scrapping and about seven double pages of Christmas layouts later, I’m finally done, and I thought, I’d share some of those pages here with you. Who knows, maybe it’ll inspire you not to wait till the next Christmas season begins, (while you’re already making new memories), to start scrapping those old memories from last year !

They’re Building

Published by Sula H.

Well, to tell the truth, I haven’t been much around the foreign teacher’s apartments after I got back from Hong Kong, until the meals started back in the new and upgraded dining hall this past weekend. All the more surprised was I to see that a roof they had built between the two foreign teacher’s buildings some time in May (if I remember correctly), and that still was there when I last went over there in the middle of July, now is gone again. So much for putting that construction up there in the first place. For me, the good news is, I don’t have to move yet, and I’m thankful for every delay in the construction progress!

Treasure Sunday: If You’re Gone

Published by Sula H.

I found another treasure this Sunday for my treasure chest collection. “If You’re Gone” by shawnarenee31 First of all, I love the composition, the elements are beautiful, and the colors are perfectly subdued. And of course the title jumps right at you. And aren’t the photos matching this layout quite perfectly? Anyways, I hope you like this page as much as I do.

CT Spotlight (08/13)

Published by Sula H.

The designers are busy as usual, and so I have a load of new products to introduce to you … Libby teamed up with Melissa Bennett to bring you this beauty: And Cindy never runs out of ideas, and has this set of templates this week: Combining their products, I came up with this layout: And Darcy has a whole bundle of new goodies for us (all of which are also available individually): The card I made with this, I already posted in Thursday’s hybrid hub.

Saturday Feature: A Reason for the Season

Published by Sula H.

So, it seems like I’m desperately longing for Christmas again, because I’ve been whistling and singing Christmas songs lately. But the true reason for that is that I’m working on a photobook, and right now the turn to scrap all those Christmas pages has come. So, I’ve been looking at my Christmas photos from last year, putting them together on some scrapbook layouts, and singing Christmas songs all the while. And that in August. But hey! I’m in good company. Being in China, I can always find some Christmas decoration out in a restaurant, or supermarket, or elsewhere, and that all year round. For example, I just have to stroll into my favorite ice-cream parlor downtown, and lo and behold – the gingerbread house (which I posted about a while ago) is still out in all its glory. Therefore, being in China, there’s always a reason for the season.

Fun with Chinglish: Enjoy You Summer

Published by Sula H.

I could hardly believe it, but with all its “britishness” I did find some Chinglish when I was in Hong Kong, lately. Here’s my first sample, that I found on the sign of a store. Note: When posting anything in the Fun with Chinglish section, I don’t mean to show disrespect towards anything or anyone in any way. I’m simply sharing the fun we get to have with all those great signs & documents!  

Freebie Friday: June

Published by Sula H.

Got you another template today. It’s the doodley sort of kind, which means it includes all of my own doodles. Though it is based on a calendar for June 2011, I tried to design it in such a way that it is easily adaptable. All date numbers and the journaling spots on the grid are grouped, but you can easily ungroup them and rearrange things on your own page. The same applies to clipping masks for photos. I’m sure, you got different days to fill with photos, so I only included one photo clipping mask, and you can duplicate it and place it wherever on the grid you need it. Sounds like a deal? Well then, here’s the template: Hope you’ll enjoy this one,  and happy Friday, y’all! Note: Please do not re-distribute this template in any way (you may share the link to this post), and when you use this template, please make sure to credit it to Misty Hilltops Designs.  

greeting card

Hybrid Hub: Card No. 11

Published by Sula H.

Here is my next sample of a thank-you-card, that I just finished. Darcy is bringing out a great new set of card templates this Saturday, and this card was created with one of those templates, which – by the way – are based on the cards of one of my favorite hybrid artists around, Andrea at the Sweetshoppe. I also used Julie Billingsley’s “Sisterhood,” a beautiful kit which she released recently, and for the flower I took the paper piecing patterns from scrapbooketc.com.