Portrait of Asia

Wanderer

Ah, the self portrait, the most basic of all photos. It's wandering (no pun intended) and illusive. For me at least. I'm not one to turn the camera on myself when I'm by myself so they rarely come about. But here are a few chance photos, I've recently felt compelled to scrap.

The Story:

I was walking the streets of Hong Kong, up and down the mighty hills, drenched in sweat and ready for a break when I passed this random metal column. It was huge, oversize and most importantly, reflective. I loved all of the scuff marks on it, and how they've made my photo looked distressed. It's a glimpse of what was going on around me during that particular time on that particular day and that's what I love about it.

The Page:

For this layout, I used a sketch from the Studio Calico blog and some new Jenni Bowlin product. Then rounded it out with some gold Maya Mist, a lovely Kraft envelope and one of those too cute chipboard butterflies.

Self Portrait

The Story:

These photos, this trip, that country, all have such a special place in my heart. China was the first place I ever travelled to on my own and thankfully I felt totally embraced by the country and its people. Even getting stopped by locals who, I think, didn't realize I wasn't Chinese. And I was totally blown away by the city of Beijing. The Forbidden Palace was such an amazing place to visit. And so huge! I didn't spend too much time in any one area and it still took me almost 3 hours to make it from one end to the other. Time definitely well spent.

The Page:

For this layout, I used an older sketch from Sketchy Thursday and some older Basic Grey product. I LOVE the grey/orange color scheme. It's one of my faves but I don't get to use it very often. And I've had those fabulous wood grain alphas in my stash for awhile, they blended in so perfectly with the rest of the layout and are now my favorite part!

Beaten Path

The Story:

If you're ever planning to travel through Southeast Asia, you have to stop off in Cambodia. Not only does it house a marvelous archeological gem at Angkor Wat, it's also just an all around laid back country. I'll never forget the trip from Bangkok to Siem Riep. It was a whole day on a bus and then a cab. Sounds horrible, yeah? But we actually sort of enjoyed it. It was interesting to see how people's days ended when the sun went down, how there are still places without electricity and paved roads. That isn't all of Cambodia by any means, and we stayed in a very lovely hostel by the river, but it does make you appreciate life in the West so much more. Another interesting tidbit about the country, they operate on US Dollar. After 16 months living outside of the US, it was so surreal to walk up to an ATM in Cambodia and see $dollars spit out.

The Page:

This is an all out scraplift from a newly discovered Pea, walesk. I loved the minimalist look of her Early Spring layout and the bright colors she used. I really wanted to emphasize all of the colors in the photo and I think I achieved it with the mix of Dear Lizzy, Sassafras, and Studio Calico paper. Added the buttons for a bit of dimension on an otherwise flat layout. It's one of my latest faves!

xxbesos

j.leija