Dabbling in Hybrid-land

Okay, so many of you who know me or follow my blog may remember that last fall I packed up nearly all of my traditional scrapbooking supplies. I was going to sell them on Craigslist because I never used them anymore. Well, I was disappointed no one was interested in my ginormous stash of goodies. And so, they remained packed in boxes in the basement.

At Christmastime I was asked to make a Blessing Jar for the daughter of my Sunday school teachers, Mya. That was probably one of the first times I did anything hybrid.
What IS hybrid, you ask? here is a simple definition I found online:

hybrid scrapbooking--combining traditional and digital elements on a scrapbooking page.

For this blessing jar (didn't take a photo, sorry) I dug into my DIGITAL stash and created a 6"x10" page using some colorful digital paper & various elements such as a rainbow, sun, flowers & word art. I printed out the finished digital page and wrapped it around & glued it to the jar. However, to make it truly hybrid, before I wrapped & glued, I used my handy-dandy Crop-A-Dile to punch about 6 holes at the ends of the 6"x10" paper. Since the ends of the paper did not meet up once wrapped I threaded different colors & types of ribbon thru the holes and tied them. I then add ribbon to the lid of the jar, too. It turned out amazingly cute!! Perfect for Mya....Miss Girly-girl.

I put my supplies back up fully not intending to use them again. Until recently that is. One of the new CT's I am on is for Amanda Heimann Designs at Scrap Orchard. Someone on the team did a tutorial for a simple hybrid project: A Layered Flower. I thought I would help her out by making one so she had an example to show others when she posted it on the blog. It was super easy and I love how mine turned out. As you can see, I added it to a card I made. The card was for my SIL's birthday.

Okay, so yes, I liked making the easy little flower but man, did I make a MESS in my scrapping room just to make that one little bitty flower!!! Ugh....don't miss the mess! However, I did think it was very neat to not only use my digital kits in more ways than just digital but also continue to use up my enormous stash of traditional supplies.

Fast forward 1 week to today. Day before Easter. Scrap Orchard is having a 2nd birthday bash sale where the entire store is 35% off. So, I went looking through the market and Scrapping With Liz, as always, had some new templates I just HAD to have! And then I saw it....a Hybrid Easter Basket Template. I clicked on it and looked at an example posted with the kit and it was so cute. I knew I must buy it and try my hand at another project....a more intense project this time.

Geesh, was it ever more intense. I won't say "hard" intense....time consuming is more the word. I started out by designing the little boxes using the template. I knew I was doing something wrong....missing a step or two but could not figure it out. I then went down to my printer and proceeded to print out the completed templates. Next came the cutting, trimming, scoring, gluing and assembling. I thought I had a mess with the little flower project. I had a MESS going on with this one!! I fumbled around but eventually got them both put together & looking cute. Again, I wondered what I had misunderstood to make mine not look quite "finished". So, I headed to the forums at Scrap Orchard where I posted photos of my finished boxes along with my need to have a good, visual tutorial on doing hybrid. Within moments some of the ladies were commenting on my project and giving me some guidance. Soon I realized my mistake. Like anything, it is a learning process.

Will I become what they call a Hybrid Artist?? I don't know. I have learned to never say never about much of anything anymore. I never thought I would ever be hooked on digital scrapbooking. Then, I never thought I would ever use my traditional stuff again. I never thought I would be single at age 39.....oh sorry, that is a whole other post in itself :) To say I will never get hooked on hybrid would be silly due to my track record of saying never. I will just say that I do enjoy it.....I just wish I could do it without the MESS!
And no post is complete without some photos of my projects....enjoy :)

This is the card I made using the layered flower hybrid project....

Credits: Spring Fling by Amanda Heimann Designs @ Scrap Orchard

The finished Easter baskets for the boys.....now to get them filled with goodies!

Credits:
Hybrid Easter Basket Squared Template by Pixel Geek Designs @ Scrap Orchard
Papers/Elements from the kit "Hoppity-Dee" by Jady Day Studio @ Scrap Orchard