Scrapbook Page for My Travel Journal

Remember this travel journal from a few weeks ago?  I used it on my trip over the 4th of July so it has lots of notes from our activities.

I wanted to give it a home and what better one than my scrapbook.  So I did this page with a pocket from transparency film to hold the journal.

The photo of my friend Karen and me has many of our creations for the weekend in front of us.  Our clothing doesn't quite match the colors in the journal.  It is also a fairly busy photo along with the busy cover of the journal so I decided to give both their own space on the layout with different background papers.  The title and the mist help bring the two sides together.

Some of the embellishments are repeated also.  Several of the papers are October Afternoon's Travel Girl collection just as the travel journal.

I added a little extra space in the pocket to accommodate the bulk of the journal and its embellishments. All that is shown in the video below.

Watch at YouTube:


Here is the sketch:

Have you had your summer vacation?  We are thinking of one more trip together this year.  I'm learning to keep my plans open as issues seem to come up easier as we and my parents get a little older.  The last time I planned a flying vacation, I had to cancel at the last minute due to my own health so I think this fall's trip will be driving for sure.  Oh, and it will be a chance to make a whole new travel journal!

Thanks for stopping by today!

ETA:  One of my YouTube watchers just pointed out that I left out the 't' in Crafty!  Ooops!  Well, obviously I hadn't noticed so I'll have to figure out how to get that in my title after having glued down the letters.  Hmm.  That will be fun.  Anyway, I'm glad to know so I can get it fixed.

I Craft

Over the 4th, I took advantage of Karen's Big Shot and the scallop steel rule die to cut out a kit of chipboard and designer paper shapes.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to use them for, perhaps a mini album.

A couple of weekends ago, I started playing with the shapes and decided they were a bit small for an album.  I thought they would work as a banner.  I had seven chipboard shapes so I searched my mind for a seven letter word (Scrabble, anyone?) that would fit the creative process.  "Imagine" was my best one.  Finally, I thought out of the box a bit and used two words "I Craft."  In between, I put in a butterfly die cut also made with the Big Shot.  They are tied together with twine and are easy to flip over so I can flip some or all of them around to see the other side - sort of mix and match. Here is a version with some of the fronts and some of the backs.

On one side of the circles I have just the letter and some embellishment.  I have this box of large odd chipboard letters and this was a perfect project to use some of them up.

On the other side of each scallop circle is the letter cut from the Cricut and a word that uses that letter:

I - Inspire
C- Create
R - Remember
A - Art
F - Finish
T - Teach

The definitions for the first three are from Stampin' Up!'s Define Your Life stamp set.  The back side of the butterfly is a heart I'd already made when experimenting with Perfect Pearls.  It is a mixture of Perfect Pearls red and heavy gel.  It was just hanging around my worktable looking for somewhere to go :-)

When I first started the project I was obsessed with figuring out the perfect word and using the shapes in the best way.  Finally I relaxed and particularly enjoyed doing the back side of it.  Now the banner hangs over the attic door next to my worktable.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Birthday Tradition

Kermit may think "it isn't easy being green" and maybe it isn't.  But it's very easy to use green especially when you use a lot of it. I love green so it was the perfect color for this photo of my birthday dinner.  All of the paper is from Crate Paper's Acorn Avenue.

The page is for Two Peas CHA challenge to use 8 straight lines.  Some of my paper seams form lines as well as some Pink Paislee mistable borders.

Have you signed up for Lain Ehmann's 9 to 5 Scrapinar on Wednesday?  She will be sharing ideas for using office supplies on layouts.  Click here to sign up for this free event.  If you can't attend on Wednesday you will still get access to the video to watch later on:

Click here to view more details

Thanks for stopping by!

Ombre and Layering (Process Video)

Two Peas 6th challenge for CHA is to use 6 layers with a photo or photos.  Layering is not my typical style so I thought this would be a fun one and it was.  The biggest challenge was limiting to six!  I didn't count the journaling as a layer.  After all, you have to have journaling.

Also, I haven't used the popular ombre technique on a scrapbook page so I wanted to try that, too.  To do the background, I brayered several different shades of blue and aqua Stampin' Up! inks on white cardstock.

For the layers, I used Crate Paper's the Pier 6x6 pad which has such beautiful colors and prints - with very little theme to them.  These papers can work with anything.  I dug through some very old stash for a transparency and a few stickers.

Without any of the letter 'o' I couldn't spell 'good' so I subbed stars for the letters.  The stars signify what a great job my stepdaughter, Jaime, has done keeping in shape.  She's my husband's good example these days.  I added some rock candy Stickles to give them a little zing.

Jaime's philosophy is lots of exercise so she can have some indulgences, thus the 'let them eat cake' sticker from Basic Grey's Paper Cottage collection.

Here's the video at YouTube:


Thanks for stopping by. Check out the challenges at Two Peas blog.

For more 6x6 layouts, my 6x6 Paper Pads to 12x12 Pages Scrapinar is still available for $7:
Click here to view more details

Odd Size Card and a love of office supplies

"For the Birds" from Stampin' Up! tops one of our cards from this month's card class.  We created a base for this 3" x 7" card with pattern paper pieces from a 6x6 pad from My Mind's Eye and some Washi strips.

Since this is an odd size card, we used the W R Memorykeepers envelope maker to create an envelope for the card.  One of the advantages about making your own envelope is being able to stamp a clean image before assembling the envelope.

Do you have crafty plans this weekend?

I know I want to finish going through the CHA videos at Two Peas and doing some of their challenges.

Another free video opportunity is coming up.  Do you like office supplies?  I used to think I was a bit weird for loving office supplies but have sense learned that lots of scrapbookers like them.  So I'm not alone.

Lain Ehmann is presenting a Scrapinar on using office supplies in your scrapbooking on July 31!  To attend on the 31st or watch the video later, sign up here:

Click here to view more details

I'm signed up.  Hope to see you there!

Old Techniques and New Products (CHA Links)

No matter how much we love to shop for our papercrafting products, we can always find some fun in older products and techniques.  This card uses the brayer which has been around forever but is new to me.  Karen and I each made one of these using this excellent video from Tami White as a guide.  We followed the instructions closely so this is definitely a CASE card.

Here is a link to Karen's card. She does a great job explaining the steps we used to create it.  My first effort with the brayer at home had been less than successful so I was delighted with how pretty this turned out and it wasn't very messy at all.  Messy was part of the 'less than successful' first effort I'd made.  Many of the inks are older Stampin' Up! colors - really just ink and cardstock so nothing fancy for materials.

On the other hand, I love to play with new products.  Plenty are being released for this summer's CHA - Craft and Hobby Association - show in Las Vegas.  Manufacturers have been posting some previews on their blogs for the last few days.  Two Peas has a big event going on you can find here.  They have challenges and videos of new products.  The videos are excellent as they are clear and feature full collections in many cases.

I've been putting a few things into two Pinterest boards.  I first started this one for CHA as I happened across things on blogs over the last few days.  Now I've also added this one as part of a Two Peas challenge to match up current product with new releases.  It's a clever idea so you can be thinking of what you have already as you are planning what you want to buy.

The thing I'm most noticing about CHA this time are the number of bright colorful all purpose collections.  Summer CHA is often about the holiday collections and they are certainly there.  I'm delighted though that there is something beyond Christmas and Halloween to look at.  On the other hand, I bought so much paper in the spring.  Oh, well as long as I'm just pinning and not paying...

Hope you have a great day!

Watercolors and Gelatos - Process Video

It's really all about the trees.

That is what I think about when I'm explaining to someone why we like to go to Hilton Head Island.  Everyone here has 'their beach.'  When I was in my 20's that was Myrtle Beach.  The first year Lenny and I started dating, we went to Hilton Head and fell in love - with the island, we were already in love with each other :-)

To me, what makes it special is that the minute you step off the beach almost anywhere on the island, you are in the shade.  There are trees everywhere.  It must be a nightmare to build something on the island for all the trees you have to preserve.  Those trees and all the landscaping around the island make it so beautiful, cooler and less commercial looking.  There are plenty of commercial parts but they do their best to make them attractive.  There are lots of rules about signage and I think it takes a permit to cut down a tree even if it is on your own property.   They have a Red Roof Inn that doesn't actually have a red roof but a rust color one because it was thought the bright red wouldn't look as natural.

So that is one of the things we love.  The photo on the bottom of the layout was taken just after we walked off the beach where we stay. The one above was out biking very near the ocean.

For the layout, I'm using a new stamp from Stampabilities that is so large it won't fit on my largest acrylic block!  I've embossed it and then used watercolors and gelatos to add the background.  I love watercolors as they are very forgiving as seen in the video.  You can just keep adding layers or wipe off some color if you don't like what you have done.

The leaves challenged a bit as I tried some larger ones first.  In the end, I came back to a very old and very well used oak leaf punch.

Here's the video at YouTube:



I don't have a sketch for this one.

The 6x6 class is still available for replay:

Click here to view more details

Thanks for stopping by!  Have you seen anything on CHA you want yet?  I'll be posting some favorites so far tomorrow.

Favorite Card and Easel Card

Hi!  Hope you had a wonderful weekend.  We enjoyed a slight cool down here.

This is my favorite card from our scrapbooking/cardmaking weekend during the 4th.  I love this die cut border.  It is cut from Pear Pizzazz cardstock and then I used markers and white gel pen to add some color to the flowers and leaves.

I also cut extras of the clouds from Karen's cloud die because I often use them on cards and scrapbook pages.

I've tried easel cards before but this time I followed the real instructions that Karen had printed out.  The stamp set is "For the Birds" from Stampin' Up! I've used some Pinwheel paper from Lily Bee.

Thanks for visiting today!