2013 Europe Backpacking Album - Part 4

Today may be the last of the layouts I completed immediately after taking Shimelle's "The Scrapbook Process" class, but there will be many more layout shares to come in the future. If you missed Parts 1 through 3, you can check them out here, here and here.

I'm sharing two layouts in the same post today, because while they are not a double page spread, I created them with each other in mind. I wanted to make sure they complimented each other as they will be facing pages in the album and of the same location.

For both layouts I used the My Mind's Eye "Hello World" collection and used a Bazzill cardstock for my background.

Layout #1 was based on this sketch.

I kept all my embellishing really simple. I'm loving that I have started using my roller stamps more in my layouts. I have a few that work really well with travel pages. As you can see I did some more floating embellishing and I felt adding the enamel dots to the stamping helped ground it towards my title. The floral chipboard is from the same collection as it the brad.

My journaling wouldn't show up on the floral background paper, so I added a journaling card. Even though it's a dark background, my writing is still legible. I added a couple of chipboard pieces on top of each other. Another brad, flair, geo tag and enamel dots bring it all together.

I turned to the 6x6 paper pad that I had for the collection and used both of the orange diagonal patterned paper pieces. After placing my photo on top of one piece, I randomly cut up the second piece and layered it all together until I liked it. Adding ink to all the edges helped make the layers stand out more.

After adding the orange paper layers to my photo, I felt it didn't stand out enough when I placed it on the background paper, so I added the mint patterned paper behind the photo/paper cluster and it helps your eye focus on the picture instead of it all blending in together.

Layout #2 is based on this sketch.

What can I say about this layout? I think I kinda love it. Even though I have quite a bit going on with my layering and embellishing, I think the photos still stand out.

I recently purchased the October Afternoon travel stamps and love, love, love how they look on the kraft cardstock. I think the stamping made perfect embellishments.

Even incorporated more of the roller stamping too!

Let's take a closer look at all the little details of this cluster.

I  can't get enough of the royal blue enamel pearls!

I used Kelly Purkey's grid rubber stamp on the same kraft cardstock as all my other stamping to give myself a place to journal. I didn't want to use a white pen on the background.

The Tim Holtz "Small Talk" phrase stickers didn't have a problem finding a home on this layout. 

So there you have it! I hope you have enjoyed taking a closer look with me at the 4 layouts I completed.

I can't wait to share additional layouts with you for this album. My hope is to have all of Barcelona completed by the end of August, if not sooner. I estimate I have about 12 more layouts to go in this section of the album.

As my husband said the other week, "For us only spending just over a day in Barcelona, there sure are a lot of layouts for it!" Why yes. Yes there are. And that's ok because stories are being told!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Happy 4th of July to all my American friends!

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!

Busy Crafty Bee

Ahhh I am back! After dealing with a nasty upper respiratory infection for the past four weeks, I am FINALLY feeling like my old self again. Thank goodness!

Since I have been daydreaming about another backpacking trip to Europe, I thought I would share with you some of the scrapbook pages I have completed for our 2013 Europe trip. I am not quite sure exactly how long it will take me to complete this album, as we were gone for 3 weeks, but I am going to love working on each page as it takes me right back to our adventure.

Layout #1: "Are We There Yet?"

Layout #2: "Amsterdam Halfway Point"

Layout #3: "Equity Point Hostel"

Layout #4: "Can I Just Eat?"

Layout #5: "The Statue Life"

For these layouts all items came from my stash. Back in January I had purchased the Vintage Travel Project Life cards which I am enjoying adding them where I can, even if I am cutting it up.

I also incorporated some travel themed collections into my stash that I purchased a few months ago which includes: Echo Park's Getaway, KaiserCraft's Wanderlust, My Mind's Eye Hello World and Heidi Swapp No Limits. In a couple of these layouts I used some of the Echo Park and My Mind's Eye collections.

I am printing my pictures out for this album in batches. I am finding it easier to handle all 5,000 pictures (the joy of digital camera) and not feel overwhelmed. I currently have another 5-6 layouts ready to be completed.

My plan is to work on these pages concurrently with the monthly scrapbooking kits I receive so it's not sitting for months and not being completed.

So, that's all for now. I can't wait to share with you all the layouts I completed using my February Hit Kit, some knitting related posts and a huge announcement!

Until then, talk to me. What craftiness you are up to right now? I can't wait to hear!