2013 Europe Backpacking Album - Part 3

Another day, another layout share! Today I'll be sharing the second layout I completed after finishing Shimelle's class "The Scrapbook Process". You can read Part 1 and Part 2 if you missed my previous posts.

The original inspiration for today's layout can be found here. Once again it's a scraplift, but this time I've embellished more than the original.

For this layout I used KaiserCraft's "Wanderlust" collection.

I used my Paper Smooches Pinked Circle Die cut set again. I just love how easily it adds texture to a layout, but also is a great base for building your embellishments.

I pulled out a couple of my Ali Edwards stamps sets.They are both from past Story Kits and I was thrilled to have finally used them. I made sure to stamp in each of the clusters.

The printed dictionary vellum I used is from DYI and even though the words have nothing to do with travel, I don't think it distracts you from the layout. In addition to the large matting piece, I made sure to include a little punched piece on top of each of the pinked circles.

I really love how the main cluster/journaling area turned out.

I incorporated wood veneer from My Mind's Eye "Hello World" collection. The "wood" geotags are from Studio Calico. The green washi tape from Kelly Purkey was the perfect color match.

I felt it was important to have arrows pointing back into the page since my journaling card had arrows pointing off the page. I managed to get my hands on the October Afternoon Daily Flash arrow chipboard the other week and I noticed how well the colors work with my travel layouts.

I'm not one who usually includes floating clustering, but since I did it in my last layout, it was quite easy to do on this one.

That's it. Another story has been told.

Please come back tomorrow where I will be sharing the last two layouts in this series of posts.

2013 Europe Backpacking Album - Part 2

Yesterday, I shared how Shimelle's latest class, "The Scrapbook Process" helped me toward completing more layouts for my 2013 Europe Backpacking album. If you missed it, Part 1 can be read here.

Today, I am happy to share the first of the four layouts I have completed so far.

The original inspiration for my first layout can be found here (Pinterest Link). It's from the Glitter Girl Adventure 75: Extra Large Lessons episode.

For the most part, this is a straight scraplift. While I think the original is more embellished than mine, I followed the same design and placement of my embellishments.

All paper used to create my layout is from the Carta Bella "Travel Stories" collection.

The top embellishment cluster is quite simple. I pulled out my Paper Smooches Pinked Circle Dies to punch three circles in varying sizes to spread throughout the layout.  The smallest one I used here. I topped this cluster off with stickers from Shimelle's "Starshine" collection. The geotag sticker came from the Carta Bella sticker sheet that came with the collection.

I noticed on the original layout that I happened to have the exact same wood veneer used so I thought "Why not?" and on the layout it went.

A tiny floating cluster on top of some washi.

The main cluster at the bottom of the page includes a journaling card from Amy Tangerine "Ready Set Go". The colors on the card didn't match my layout exactly, so I used the remainder of a small border sticker from the top cluster that I ended up cutting to cover up the bits of the card that totally didn't coordinate.

I laid my title out on top of the largest pinked circle. I used the gorgeous teal Fitzgerald Thickers and small alphas from Basic Grey to spell my title. I rummaged through Pink Paislee's "Atlas" ephemera pack and thought the acetate globe and was too cute not to use and it matched perfectly. Another geotag sticker landed in the middle of the globe. The camera and and banners also came from this collection and I placed them all on top of the last pinked circle I punched.

The final touch on the layout was stamping the date on an October Afternoon label.

If you have any questions about this layout, please let me know.

Tomorrow I'll be back to share the next layout!

2013 Europe Backpacking Album - Part 1

A couple of weekends ago I spent some quality time in my crafty space (aka scrapbooking to my hearts content).

My focus was on completing additional pages for my 2013 Europe Backpacking album. 

But let's rewind just a tad. 

I recently completed Shimelle's new class "The Scrapbook Process", which was excellent and I highly recommend! (Click here for class details and to sign up!) She focused on three of her personal albums, each with their own "issue" and provided tips on how to complete pages for them. 

I really zeroed in on the tip of putting page kits together for an album that has been in progress for a long time (say years), but hasn't been touched in quite some time. These kits will include paper/embellishments, the pictures to be scrapbooked AND sketches for inspiration. 

I've used sketches, or scraplifted completed layouts created by other scrapbookers, in the past, but for some reason I felt like I was cheating because the layout design wasn't 100% my own.

After taking this class, I felt like somehow the guilt of using a sketch, or scraplifting, was released from within me because really, they are an awesome tool to help us in our own creative process. It's up to you just how much you stick to the sketch or original design.

I know this is deep and a little crazy for scrapbooking. So, let's jump ahead. 

I wanted to put my focus back on my Europe album and hopefully make a dent in it. Sketches and page kits came to my rescue. I went through all my photos for Barcelona that had yet to make it into my album, printed them, found sketches for them and finally created page kits. 

I managed to create 5 kits, each within their own page protector and placed them within the album of where they would live once completed. For the pictures that I didn't create a kit, I slid them in their own protector and also placed them in the album so I would have an idea of what was left to complete. 

The initial group of supplies I put together when I started this album has started to dwindle. So I need to complete some pages so I can assess what I have left to complete the remaining Barcelona pages.  My hope is that I can stretch these supplies to complete Barcelona and then use a new stack of supplies for our next country visit. 

I have to tell you that by just completing this bit of organization for my album, I felt super accomplished. It really took some of the stress I had been feeling about how I was ever going to move forward with this album. 

Since doing this, I have completed the 5 kits (one of them being a double page spread) and I have a sixth layout in progress right now. 

Tomorrow, I am going to start sharing the first 4 pages I completed during my scrappy weekend. 

Here's a little peak:

And yes, all these layouts used a sketch or existing layout as inspiration from one individual, Shimelle. 

Until tomorrow my crafty friends!

Weekend Roundup

Happy Monday ya'll! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

As always, it seems the weekend just flies on by. A couple of weekends ago, Manny and I decided to clean the house on a Friday night, simply because I couldn't take all the dust, pollen, cat hair, etc. on the hardwood floor from having the windows open all week. What I noticed by doing this one chore one day early, was that it actually felt like we had a weekend. Meaning it actually felt like TWO whole days of doing fun things, instead of one day, or even half a day, of fun.

So, this past weekend we decided to do the same thing. Clean the house on Friday evening and party hardy on Saturday and Sunday. BTW, partying hardy for me is actually being able to knit or scrapbook for a whole day if I wanted to without feeling guilt over the lack of completing the chores.

Today I thought I would share my weekend in pictures.

It really consisted of three things: Knitting, scrapbooking and lots of kitty.

Saturday

Kitty assisting with my knitting:

Trying to "help" me knit is just so exhausting:

After photographing some completed layouts for a future blog post, I sat down at my desk to work on some more:

While I scrapbooked, kitty napped in the sunshine:

Dinner is served. She is fascinated by watching me put together my shake:

Sunday

A little morning cardio in the freaking heat:

Finished the two page layout from Saturday:

Kitty in a box (she decided this was an excellent place to take a full on bath):

And what day would be complete without an afternoon nap:

My husband was indeed around this weekend. For him it consisted of spending both days in the garage fixing our vehicle. He asked both me and kitty if we wanted to help. We both politely declined.

After hubby was finished on Sunday, he and I took a lovely afternoon walk around the neighborhood. We usually end up at one of our favorite cafe's, get a couple of iced teas to go and then go sit in the shade in the park a couple blocks from our house. I'm thinking this will be a weekly tradition, provided the humidity doesn't put a quash on it that day.

I spent early Sunday evening organizing my craft space again. Well one little corner by the window which led to working on the closet a little too. I ordered some paper organizers and wanted to get everything squared away so I wouldn't have it looming over my mind all week.

I have wonderful news in regards to my knitting. On Saturday, while kitty napped next to me, I finished knitting sock #1! I just have to graft the toe together. I didn't start sock #2 yet, but plan on it this week.

How was your weekend? Do anything fun, exciting, different or just the same ol' same ol'?

Return to Knitting

I haven't touched my knitting needles since December and my plans to return to knitting during the Memorial Day weekend didn't happen. I'm not going to focus on the reasons why I haven't knitted in over 6 months. I'm going to focus on that I am finally spending some quality time with my yarn again.

On Sunday, I decided to spend a little time knitting. Mid-morning I claimed our favorite armchair in the corner of our living room right by the window and got reacquainted with a pair of socks I needed to get finished.

This is what it looked like when little Miss Shana discovered the yarn bowl in the middle of the floor:

I had to laugh because whenever something in the house changes, she freaks out a little and stalks whatever it is that has changed.

The last time she did this was when I changed out her food bowl to a new one. You don't realize just how much a little thing like that can affect a cat.

After the yarn bowl was thoroughly investigated and then relocated to my lap, I spent a few hours turning the heel flap and began progress on the foot.

By mid-afternoon I took a little break to focus on some scrapbooking and after dinner resumed knitting on the couch. This is what Shana thought of that...

After attacking my yarn a few times, Manny was so kind in trying to distract her for me.

Eventually she gave up when she realized she wasn't going to win this battle.

On Monday, I decided I was going to bring my knitting to work with me again and knit during my lunch break. By the end of my break, I think I had made some decent progress.

As of today, I'm an 1.5" away from starting the toe. My plan is to complete it by the end of this weekend and immediately start on it's mate.

Going forward I am going to focus on balance. I have too many hobbies and not enough time. I need to find a balance where I feel I am able to spend time doing each of the things I love.

Right now I think I have figured out my new balance.

Hobby #1 - Reading: I am an avid reader and love to spend copious amounts of time getting lost in my books. Right now I am reading during my subway commute to and from work and then 10-15 minutes at bedtime. While I am not devouring my books like I used to, I am happy I am still getting time to read.

Hobby #2 - Scrapbooking: You guys know that this is where I have been focusing all of my creative juices. After not being able to scrapbook for over two years, once I got my new crafty space setup I tried to make up for lost time with a hobby I hadn't been able to do for so long. I've got myself more organized during the past few months and therefore I feel can be more productive with the time I am spending scrapbooking. I am currently scrapbooking a little each day on the weekends and occasionally during the week after work when I am not too tired.

Hobby #3 - Knitting: My hopes going forward is that I will spend one morning on the weekends getting in some action with my knitting and as long as my project remains portable, I will continue to bring it to work with me to knit during my lunch break.

I have one more hobby, sewing, to eventually work into the rotation. Don't know when I will make that happen and right now I am choosing to focus on the new balance I've just started.

So tell me, am I alone in this? Do you guys have more than one hobby and struggle with finding the perfect balance between them all?

My First Mini Album

I wanted to share with you today a special project that I put together in two short days, not even full days, just half ones. My first ever mini album!

Manny and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary the other week and when it came to giving him a gift, I wanted it to be something from the heart and treasured.

The traditional gift on your first wedding anniversary is paper, so I thought I would put together a quick little album celebrating the first seven years of our lives together. The idea came to me just a couple of days before our anniversary, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to pull it off. Amazingly, I did!

So I took this from my stash (which has been in there for forever):

There are a total of 16 pages if you count the front and back. As I had quite a few photos to include, I decided to use it all. Which in the end, resulted in the album not fitting back in the tin and I am ok with that. I just tied a ribbon around it to hold it all together.

Printed some of my favorite photos (after turning them black and white) that represented our first seven years together on my Instax printer (used all but 2):

Then pulled a bunch of supplies from my stash:

Which included:

• Two 6x6 paper pads that would coordinate well together color wise (Basic Grey "J'Adore" and Shimelle's from her first collection)
• A few sets of alpha stickers (October Afternoon, Elle's Studio, Ali Edwards, Kelly Purkey, Tim Holtz)
• Coordinating sticker sheets and chipboard embellishments from Basic Grey "J'Adore" collection
• Martha Stewart mini doilies, washi tape (black with white dots), enamel dots from Doodlebug, Shimelle's Roller Date Stamp
• Phrase roller stamps from October Afternoon and Amy Tangerine
• Dies from Spellbinders, Die-namics and Momenta

Since I didn't give myself much time to complete this, I wanted to limit the supplies I had to use and to repeat at least one element throughout the mini album to bring cohesion to it. I chose the washi tape and the date stamp to be my repeated elements.

When I sat down to put the album together, I was quite nervous. I wasn't sure if I could finish, wasn't sure if it would look nice, wasn't sure of the size, just wasn't sure about a lot of things.

However, when all was said and done, I was in love with it. I couldn't stop flipping through the pages and just being amazed I did it!

Here is what it looked like:

The icing on the cake was when I gave it to him, he smiled and made little comments about the memories for each of the photos.

After completing my first mini album, I've decided that I must make more! It was so much fun to create once I got over my nervousness.

The best tip I have about making a mini album is this...Keep It Simple!

By minimizing my supplies, printing all my photos in black and white and repeating one or two elements across each page, really helped in putting this album together quickly!

Mr. & Mrs.

With our 1 Year Wedding Anniversary being today, I thought it would be nice to share with you a layout of one of my favorite wedding photos.

In all honesty I started this layout about 3 weeks ago, but really struggled with putting it all together. When I sat down on Saturday to give it a go at finishing, I realized what my issue had been.

I wanted the first layout I did with our pictures to be just as magical and perfect as I felt it was that day.

When I decided to let the pressure go, everything seemed to fall into place.

I utilized two paper collections to create this layout. It includes 2 patterned papers from Pink Paislee's "C'est La Vie" collection and one from Felicity Jane's "Chloe" April kit. I used a piece of chocolate brown Bazill cardstock to frame the layout and also as a layer in the middle of the layout.

I went with a diagonal design to bring your eye down the page and opted to put my title along the left hand side to bring your eyes back across the page.

I love how this top little cluster came together. I used some leftover Pink Paislee paper to punch out hearts in two different sizes. I thought they looked nice clustered with the gold glitter heart die cut piece and XO tag from Maggie Holmes' "Bloom" ephemera pack. I received the tiny pink puffy hearts from my sister and the gold gems I bought in Michael's the other week.

I'm very happy how my main cluster turned out as I really struggled with how I wanted everything to be placed. Everything had moved from one side of the page to the other several times, before I settled on this design.

I used a Project Life card from Heidi Swapp for my journaling spot. However, instead of handwriting my journaling, I decided to use those wonderful Maggie Holmes tiny word stickers that came out in her "Confetti" collection. I also managed to finally use one of the gold Maggie Holmes doilies. You can see a small portion of it in the above photo. I also cut it in half so I could use it elsewhere on the page.

Shortly after we got married I had purchased a package of wedding themed wood veneers. I absolutely loved the road sign piece. I decided it needed to be painted white in order to go with the page better, especially since I wasn't adding any additional wood veneer pieces to the layout.

I layered it on top of a Becky Higgins Project Life 4x6 photo overlay from the "Desktop" collection. I like how the "You + Me" is nestled right under the sign. I included another die cut piece and paper flowers from Martha Stewart (so sad Michael's doesn't carry her line anymore). I punched a few more hearts, added more puffy hearts and gold gems to complete the grouping.

To finish the page, I added my title along the left side of my photo going vertically. Here you can see the other piece of the gold doily under my title. I finished this off by adding one more paper flower and three more small gems. I used "Imprint" gold foiled Thickers for my title.

Finally, as for my paper layers for the photo, I simply cut a small border in white paper, then another in a pink Bazill cardstock to add a small frame around my photo. I then took a 12x12 piece of vellum and tore it in rectangles using my Tim Holtz ruler and folded and layered them under the photo. I love how it helps you focus on the photo in the layout.

I simply can't believe how fast our first year of marriage has flown by. We've been together for a total of seven years today, and it feels just as amazing as it did when we had our first date. Here's to my hubby who constantly keeps me on my toes, brings me to uncontrollable laughing fits, loves unconditionally, is my rock and is a wonderful daddy to our new fur baby. I love him more than I ever thought was possible.

I hope you enjoyed my layout celebrating our marriage. Now that this first one is complete, I am hoping to get more of our amazing pictures in our album.

Thanks for looking and I hope you all have a wonderful day!