Frances Sylvia, June Guest Designer

Meet our talented June Guest Designer, Francis Sylvia!



When & Why did you start scrapbooking?
I started scrapbooking when I graduated from high school. My parents bought me one of those pre-made memory books that you buy when you buy your class ring. You know, the one where you are basically told where to place your pictures. Well, in my own true way, I thought it was all a bit cheesy. I hid the book from my parents and made my own.

What do you LOVE?
As far as scrapbooking, I love that my hobby brings my family so much happiness. Everytime I finish a scrapbook page, I have to show it off like a new pair of shoes. Not only to my husband and my kids, but my in laws love it just as much. In my day to day life, I love how much I laugh on a daily basis. My family is the funniest. I have a husband who works daily to make me smile and my 4 kiddos...well, do I need to say anything. They are all under 7 years old and let me tell you, there is never a dull moment. At any given time I may have one crying over a 1 centimeter scratch, two fighting over who gets the red crayon first, and another shoving a foreign object in a DVD player...I just have to laugh.

Two things you want very badly at this moment?
At this moment I want an IPOD...I know it is 2009 and who does not have an IPOD? Me and I don't really know why. I guess with 4 kids there is always something else I need. I also am dying to get my hands on the 2 new Basic Grey lines Lemonade and June Bug. WOW they're fabulous!

3 items that are in your purse right now...
My 5th baby...my Nikon Coolpix, Lola Lipgloss (you paint it on your lips...it's wonderful), and two pairs of sunglasses (black and brown...I must have the right color to match my outfit).

How would you describe your scrapbooking style?
Huh...Can someone please take a look at my stuff and just tell me what my style is? I really don't know. I usually begin a layout by being inspired by something in my pictures. Once, I have that, I rummage through the 5 cropper hoppers of paper that I hoard. Then I truly just create! I try not to make any of my scrapbook pages follow a certain style...really, I love it ALL!


When do you feel most creative?
I feel the most creative at about 10 pm when my children are in bed and my husband and I have spent a little time together. Once they are taken care of, I usually settle down in my comfy scrapbook chair with a cup of coffee and my best friend on speaker phone.

Do you snack while you scrapbook?
Nope. I just drink coffee and diet coke.

Do you have a scrapbook confession?
This is a recent occurrance. I am trying to learn all of the message board lingo, but the learning process has just been that...a process. I came across a few of the abbreviations at a couple of message boards that I follow, such as...dd, dh, TFL, TFS, etc. I really thought that I knew what they all meant...dd--dear daughter, dh--dear husband, TFL--Totally Fun Layout, TFS--Totally Fun Stuff! My friend saw that I was leaving TFL and TFS everywhere and clued me in on the fact that I was not making any sense because TFL means Thanks for Looking and TFS means Thanks for Sharing. Needless to say, I do not put abbreviations in my messages anymore.

What's your all-time favorite movie?
Steel Magnolias...it is funny all the way through and you get to let out a good cry in the end. Not to mention, I live in the town it was filmed...TFS! (hehe)

Name one thing that you can’t scrap without...
I can not scrap without my DYMO...it is perfect for journaling.

What kind of music do you like to listen to when you scrap?
Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue...truly, a little bit of everything. Old...Van Morrison, New...Black-eyed Peas, Borrowed...Jack Johnson (stole it from my sister), and Blue...Etta James. I love it all!

How to make a kit stretch!

Hi, it's Brook here with a little scrapbooking idea for you with the beautiful June kit. :)

I love being frugal, but I have a hard time cutting back on my scrapbooking goodies... so the one thing I try to do with my kits every month is make them stretch! I love to see how many pages I can get out of each one... it's a fun challenge. And now, with the economy the way it is and money being tighter than usual, I feel like I'm making a good choice by not being wasteful with my scrapbooking supplies.

Here are a few tips based on one of my layouts on how to make the June kit stretch for you.





Split up the Prima Bonnet Blooms:
I love how this package of 2 flowers can be turned into 6. And, you can even take off the pearly buttons and beads in the center for even more. Just trim the thread on the back of the flower and pull apart. Be careful if you want the beads to stay in place in the center, the threads attach them. To keep them in place, I just applied glue under the buttons & beads before trimming the thread. This layout is an example of how I pulled apart a flower to use the leather part and the circle tulle part. I trimmed the leather part with scissors to make it look more like a flower shape and I used the tulle circle behind one of the prima flowers and jenni bowlin buttons.

Cut shapes from patterned papers to use as embellishments.
Now, I know this isn't a NEW idea, but it really works with the June kit. I used one of the flowers from the Cosmo Cricket patterned paper as a 3D embellishment in the center of my leather flower. The trick is folding the paper where the petals meet and in the center of each petal. This makes the plain cut-out just pop off the page.

Use product packaging as a template.
The Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons (in the add-on) were in such a cool bracket/scroll shaped package. So, I used the cardboard package to trace out a custom diecut shape from my red cardstock. It was the perfect size for a title and journaling and it was FREE.

Use scraps of ribbon & stitching.
I save ribbons from everything... and the organic cotton one on this page was wrapped around a quilt I bought at target. I just pulled it from my stash and attached it to the page with a tiny glue dot on each end... then I permanently affixed it using homespun-esque stitches in red DMC floss. Thread is super cheap and nothing fills a page like some handstitching. And pulling found objects and ribbons from your own stash will help make your kit stretch!

How do YOU make your kit stretch? Have any ideas to share? Post them in the comments!

July Guest Designer Winner's

Oh my-it was so hard again this month to choose! All-I truly mean every single entry was amazing. It's too hard picking just one-so I am picking 2!
Congrats to Amy Coose and Sarah Nolan. I can't wait to see what you come up with for July!

Thanks again so much to everyone who entered!

June Challenge!

Last month for our anniversary Blog Party I hosted an Ad Inspiration Challenge. I had so much fun seeing all of the ads that everyone found and I just knew that there would be lots of inspiration to be found! Our winner was Tffny who found this cool vintage Delta ad. I loved the blocks of color and the rounded edges. I bet that you can come up with a great interpretation!

This is the layout that I created from the ad using the June Mosh Posh kit.

And then I just repeated the idea in a quick card. I really love these colors. I am thinking of using it as a palette for Maddux's room. :)

Are you up for the challenge? All you need to do is create a layout or card from the ad.

One lucky winner will win this prize! It includes: American Crafts:Fabric Thickers, Basic Grey: Bling it crystals, Sasafras Lass: Layered Blossoms, KI Memories: Juicy Summer Brads and Jenni Bowlin: Mini Birthday Bingo Cards (6 of them!). All new products. Yum!

So, create a layout or a card using the ad inspiration and you will be entered into the random drawing for the prize! You have until Monday, June 29th to link your creation to this post. You must use a Mosh Posh kit for your creation, but it doesn't have to be the June kit. It can be any MP kit. I can't wait to see what you create!!!!

July Guest Designer Contest!

We had so much fun with the June Guest Designer Contest! So, why not keep it going/ A new Guest DT spot is open for the month of July and we'd love to have YOU join us.

Here are the details of the contest:

1. Contestants need to submit 1 themed layout (the theme is "the men in our lives"... it can be about any man (son, father, husband, uncle... even a male friend) in your life) and 1 other project, card, or layout (of any size and any theme you choose) this is your wildcard entry and should showcase your style and creativity.

2. Contestants do NOT have to use Mosh Posh kits to enter.

3. They should submit the 2 pages/projects to the Mosh Posh Blog or message board no later than 10pm MST on June 18th.

4. Winner will be notified on June 20th.

5. Winner will receive our July kit and be our Guest Designer for July.

To submit your entries, please post a link to them in the comments section of this blog post OR (even better) post them to our message board in the "4th anniversary celebration" forum HERE. If you don't post to one of these two places your entry may not be seen... so make sure you do!

Have fun and Good luck!

PS: the graphic link on the left hand side of the blog will lead you to this post so in the next 2 weeks you can come back at any time to see the entries or to post your own.