TRANSLATIONS: DARLENE

Today is the final piece in our TRANSLATIONS layouts that we share with you this month. If you would like to enter yours please email groovydeb@yahoo.com :)

We hope you have enjoyed our takes on scrapping in a foreign language and now on to Darlene!
Deb♥



I made a super easy layout of a fun photobooth photo from November 2010, of my best friend, Nicole, and me, back when I was visiting her in California. This was our last day together and we went to Hollywood to explore for a bit. :) My title "Amigas Locas" means "crazy friends", and that sums our friendship and these photos up pretty well! :)

I never really knew how to scrap this photo until I came upon a beautiful designed layout by Tessa Buys (http://precociouspaper.blogspot.com/2010/07/tough-one.html) and just knew I had to lift the sketch! Isn't the negative space and various elements so interesting?

For my take on this sketch, I cut a rectangle mat for the center, and then I used 2 sheets of double sided patterned papers and cut 2 12x1/2 inch wide strips of each paper, using alternating patterns of the paper, for use on my center pleated frame. Once I was settled on which paper would be next to what, I pleated and sewed the pleats down to secure them permanently, and I left the loose sewing threads untrimmed (I rather like that look. :))

For my background paper, I used a plain orange sheet of 12x12 paper and I punched about 12 or so 2-inch circles with a circle paper punch out of scrap paper. I placed the circle punches scattered on the background paper, just allowing them to stay hoovered above the background with no adhesive (you may use removable adhesive if you prefer for this). I then used orange misting to spray the circles from up top, as to keep the shapes of the circle masks. I made some areas darker with mist than others and tried to get that blotched look throughout some spots as well. When I was satisfied with the misting work, I removed the circles and I was left with a super neat polka dot pattern on my background. Then I finally applied my center mat and frame and layered my photo and title on top. Lastly, I straight sewed the edges of my orange paper as well as sewed the edges of my photo down to the layout.

You can knock a layout like this out in less than an hour, and it is so fun!

TRANSLATIONS: JEANNIE

What a fun challenge the TRANSLATIONS challenge was. I am Native American, my tribe is Navajo. My mom is full Navajo but chose to put me up for adoption in hopes of having a better life than what she thought she could give me. In 1993, I was blessed enough to find my birth mom. I have been in contact with her ever since. Here is what the journaling says on my page.

"Tséníjíkiní
House of the Dark Cliffs People

I feel very honored to be Native American. In 2004, my husband, all my children and I went to Ganado, Arizona, where my grandmother lives. It was my first trip to the reservation and it was a humbling experience.

Do I feel sad that I was not raised on the reservation?

Maybe, but it doesn’t matter because I wouldn’t change the outcome of my life for anything.

I am blessed to have 2 families, the family that raised me and that family that is my blood, my clan.

I am Jeannie DeGruccio and I am Tséníjíkiní."

I put a lot of work into this page. I do not usually use my sewing machine on my pages, but this page seemed to be the perfect kind of page for machine stitching. I took my color palette from a Navajo rug. I tried to keep the colors and patterns true to what I might use, if I knew how to weave. I really had a lot of fun with this page.

TRANSLATIONS: KELLY

Nothing fancy, because this time it is all about the precious picture of my daughter and our dog, Basso. Just using up some scraps of dog-themed paper and stickers on this irridescent pink patterned paper, some paper crimping, a title, and I'm done. I am a font fiend, and I love searching sites for free font downloads. I also have to give kudos to this website that I used to convert my title, www.freetranslation.com. I do not speak any foreign languages, but I can conjugate Latin verbs and decipher vocabulary (how useful is that?). My highschool Latin teacher would be so proud...semper ubi sub ubi (always wear underwear).

TRANSLATIONS: NATALIE

Tha gaol agam ort! I love you!
I love the Gaelic languages and even tried to learn Scottish at one time...not something you do when you have a newborn, so I had to put it on hold!

I come from a very mixed background, Scottish, Welsh, Irish, English, Dutch, German, French, and maybe some Native American and who knows what else!

I do tend to gravitate toward the Gaelic and Germanic part of myself the most. I plan on teaching my children about their rich heritage and how many nations and languages came together to form America and a very unique American spin-off of the English language!

TRANSLATIONS: JEN T

When Deb gave us this challenge, right away I knew I was going to do something in Italian. Since I am half Italian (my grandparents were born in Italy on my moms side) I thought it would be cool to brush up on it. And I wanted to use up these old-school border strips that I got super cheap .(I love cheap!) ... so I combined the two things together to make a fun and colorful Italian scrapbook page of my girls....I even tinted the pic to add to the fun colors of the page.

TRANSLATIONS: MANDI

This is how I did my "translation layout".

This is a layout featuring my 4 year old daughter, Jessa.
Jessa has her moments with fits how ever, there is not a day
that goes by that she doesn't brighten my day. 99 percent of
the time Jessa is full of smiles, giggles and laughs.. she is really
such a character and definitely brightens my days and colors my
world! So for my translation, because of of my Italian heritage
I decided to use an Italian title and "translated it on the side.

Title : Tu Colori il mio mondo
Translation: You Color my world


Paper : All white card stock
Techniques paper tearing & Inking

Cricut- Alphalicious font, and accent essentials cartridges were used. The letters and circle were cut on white paper, and everything was hand colored.

TRANSLATIONS: HEATHER

So the challenge this month was to scrap a layout in a different language then our primary language. Therefore, I did a layout of my best friend "Mi Mejor Amiga". Her name is Clara and she is very special to me! Clara speaks Spanish as her first language but you would never know it by how well she speaks English! I love to listen to her talk - in Spanish or English!!! She lives in Texas and I live in Indiana! No matter how different or the same we are, the love of scrapbooking brought us together. We get together in person annually and it is the BEST time! We talk daily either by phone or IM chat!!! (This pic was taken when I was in TX visiting her on NSBD 2010!)

As you can see from this layout, I did not use any pattern papers. The brown gingham paper was actually cream colored cardstock. To make it look like mesh - without spending the money for Magic Mesh - I used drywall tape. I put the dry wall tape on the paper. I then sprayed it with glimmer mist. I waited a few minutes for it to dry and then removed the drywall tape!! TA-DA!!!!

The green papers were using a Tim Holtz (Love Timmy!) mini mask and then again spraying with olive vine Glimmer Mist! The group of flowers are also glimmer misted!!!! I am loving that stuff!!! Of course, I had to add some Prima bling in and around the flowers! And that little yellow butterfly by Flora Doodles was just the perfect little touch I needed to pull the yellow from the hat she was wearing.

Hope you enjoy! Heather

TRANSLATIONS:GROOVY DEB♥

This month as we translate other languages onto our scrapbooking layouts I chose this title Mosca a Dios Poco Un which means Fly to God Small One~We had a sad experience here in my yard as you will be able to tell from the journaling :( Do you feed the birdies outside in your yard? I do! I love looking out of my kitchen window and seeing them flying around and eating dinner together. Heartbreaking is how it felt when this happened because I anxiously look for the baby birds to arrive each Spring and join their moms and dads flying around in my yard. I hear them chirping now as I type this :)

I hope you will read the journaling and then go outside and feed your little birdies in the yard if you can :)

Deb♥