paperheARTproject

SC CHAllenges: White Pages

2012-01-29T11:15:00.000-06:00

It's CHA time! I can't wait for some of these new products to hit stores! I'm especially in love with Studio Calico's Abroad release. Can't wait to get it in my grubby little mits :)

Know what else I love about CHA? The buzz about the internet! The chats, the challenges, the coming together of scrapbookers to celebrate what it is that we all love to do!

I decided to jump in on some Studio Calico CHAllenges at the last minute yesterday, literally 3 hours before my parents were to arrive in Katy (we were moving my brother out of his apartment). I came up with 2 super simple but none the less graphically awesome (if I do say so myself) designs.

I was really into white backgrounds yesterday. I love the blank canvas, the knowing that I can create magic with some mist, stamps, and photos, no patterned paper necessary.

This first was for Lisa T's use a diecut mask challenge. I drew a pair of scissors onto scrap paper cut it out and misted with Pumpkin Spice Mister Huey.

The details on this page are my favorite. I adore my little paper airplane, the cork paper and the pen and pencil from Papertrey's Happy Trails set. It's where I got the idea to make a paper airplane in the first place.

This second layout idea has been bouncing around in my head for awhile. Just about every Friday, MT and I have a date night. Tina's 2 Stamp challenge had me inspired to use my new Jenni Bowlin Days of the Week stamps and an old "Potty People" stamp from Kelly Panacci, to capture the "anatomy" of our dates. I tried my best to make the stamps the focal point! After the photos themselves of course.
There's very little embellishing on this, just some journaling strips and washi tape. I love that these, which are some of my favorite, instragrams are so prominently on display.

I already have more CHAllenge projects to share, but I'll save a few for later. Off now to check out what 2 Peas in a Bucket has in store for their Winter Social.

Where else are yall headed to for CHA festivities?

cheers & besos,

P.S. Don't forget to enter for a chance to win the RAK!

300

2012-01-29T10:47:00.001-06:00

It's here! I made it! I've crossed the 300 blog post threshold and there's no stopping me now =)
It took some time, nearly 2 1/2 years, but I did it! I'm so happy to have stuck it out and kept up with this blog. It makes me happy to look back to see all of my pages, to consider how my design style has evolved and to know that I still really love this hobby.
In honor of my little blog achievement, and as a thanks to all of you who've stuck it out with me, I'm offering up a RAK. One commenter on this post will win a Sketchbook/Sketchpad pdf class of their choice. (Note: These are not live classes.)
I found it fitting since I've talked about them so much, and have shared so many pages using them. I even put together a handy little slideshow of them all, below.

To enter for the chance to win, I'd like to know how you combat scrappers block/lack of mojo. Do you scraplift? Turn to sketches? Walk away from your desk? Surf the web (aside from Pinterest!)?
I feel like we could all use some tips on this and I can't wait to hear what you have to say!
I'm leaving this RAK open until midnight CST 19 February as I'm off traveling for a good part of next month. And who knows, there might be some fun mailed prizes in store for the person who wins ;) I'll be London and Portugal after all!
Once again, thank you so much for you blog love and support! I appreciate you all =)
cheers & besos,

Started with a Chair

2012-01-28T12:00:00.000-06:00

Why hello sweet blogging friends!

Come in. Take a seat. Stay awhile :)

Funny I should mention "taking a seat" as today I'm sharing one very special chair.

Last March I had a Sunday to kill while I was in London. On a whim I booked a train ticket to Alton, to visit Chawton Cottage one of Jane Austen's homes. It's now a finally preserved museum, who's primary exhibits are the rooms themselves.

Tucked into one corner of what I would call the dining room is Jane's desk and chair. It's reputed that this is where she wrote little known titles such as Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Emma.

You know, those sweet little tales :)

With role models such as Lizzy Bennett and Emma Woodhouse, I didn't let some silly little "No photographs please" sign stop me from capturing Mecca for the Jane Austenite.

I quickly uncapped my camera, aimed and prayed the photo would turn out nice. I only had the one shot!

With some careful cropping and editing, I think I managed to do this quiet little corner of the world some justice.

It's been nearly a year since I've visited Alton and Chawton Cottage and thus the same amount of time to scrapbook this photos. I think I've been waiting all of this time for the right design to come along, something worthy of it's significance.

And finally it did.

In the form of a Jill Sprout layout no less.

Now, dear blogger, you see me write a lot about my adoration for Kelly Purkey's work, but not many of you may know that Jill Sprout is just and dear and very near to my heart.

Her work never ceases to inspire and amaze me. And while I don't often straight scraplift from her work, I none the less admire and adore just about every page she's ever created.

This Fly layout was no exception. Suddenly, I had my inspiration!

I used a plethora of October Afternoon Farmhouse goodies, some Studio Calico and Amy Tangerine Stamps, Maya Road doilies, a gorgeous sheet of Sassafras (may they rest in peace) patterned paper. But, most precious of all, my "Jane Austen This Book Belongs to..." stamp that I picked up from the Cottage gift shop.

{Sigh} Oh Jane. How I simply adore thee.

cheers & besos,

P.S. My next order from Papertrey Ink will absolutely include the Simply Jane stamp, die cut and patterned paper set. Check them out if you'd like to make Jane Austen inspired layouts too!

Blue Thank You Cards

2012-01-24T21:40:00.001-06:00

I made some cards! My first since that hefty Christmas undertaking.

Now before you go thinking I'm this card making genius or something, I have to admit this is a complete and total lift from the Hero Arts blog. But it was such a pretty card, I couldn't not lift it!

I used just 1 double sided sheet from a 6x6 paper pad to adhere to the base of the tag and for the punched heart (I made 3 cards btw). And the rest is just odds and ends from my scrapbook table.

I tried using a foam stamp with Versamark ink. It didn't work out so great, since you can see where I laid the ink pad on the stamp. But the design of it is nice.

I also heat embossed with Denim Zing! powder.

...and thank YOU for stopping by!

cheers & besos,

No. 143-Desk

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hello, hello!

Last week I promised to share how my desk is organized with you all.

I snapped a few quick photos to show the general layout of my area.

Thankfully, I didn't have to do much cleaning before hand. I'm trying to keep this area fairly mess free this year.

For the most part, it's working!

So this is my layout right now. Computer and magnetic pad are front and center.

In red bins below are my stamping supplies: ink, pads, distress tool, etc.

To my right is room to spread out if need be, and lets face it you always need that when you're working!

To my left is my trimmer and two organizational bins.

The littler one holds all of my go to supplies: pens, pencils, erasers, corner rounder, tape runner, charcoal chalk ink and Versamark ink pads.

The larger is where my scraps go before I sort them into their color folders. It's also a place where started projects hang out and marinate.

Above them are my pickle jars, which hold buttons and other little odds and ends. My Matryoshka measuring cups hold the tiniest scraps of the best paper, also circles that I punched and didn't use, butterflies of the same.

Above my desk, hangs some of my largest stamp sets. The rest are in binders to the right. My photo printer's right in front of me. As is my heat embosser, which is PLUGGED IN! I can't stress how important this is for me. If it wasn't, I'd never use any embossing powder.

Also a jar of pretties aka ribbons for me to consider when I'm scrapping. These were previously under my desk and never got used. At least now they're visible if I want/need to use them for anything.

Then up and to the left is my latest acquisition, a lovely Cubby Organizer from Pottery Barn. It rather haphazardly holds all of my acrylic paint (seriously, I need to go through and purge these!!), embossing powders, spray mists and washi tape. I love it! I think it's just gorgeous to look at as well.

And that's my space. If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to ask. Or if something's working really well for you flow, please do share!!

cheers & besos,

December Mini Pages

2012-01-22T12:15:00.000-06:00

How has it only been less than a month since Christmas?! And here we are, a full 22 days into 2012!

Whether you're having fun or not, time just flies!

Before it got too late into the new year, I wanted to scrap some of my Christmas photos.

This year, MT and I flew out to Ohio to spend the Holiday with his family.

It was my first Christmas with the Tomerlins and also our first flying trip anywhere.

We survived the flight together and once that was over with the rest of the holiday was a breeze.

We ate tons of great food, caught up with his friends and just relaxed in general. It was a great time marred only by the brief altercation between me and their Grinch dog, Teddy (seriously, he looks a little like the dog from the Grinch!).

Yeah, well...he decided to give up his spotless no bite record this Christmas. His chosen victim, me of course! It's nearly a month later and I still have the mark on my hand. But even that couldn't take away from the lovely time we had.

I didn't take many photos (shocking I know!) but I do love the images I managed to capture.

Like this one of Matt and his Grandma Rose next to the Christmas tree.

I'm loving her Christmas sweater and of course the lovely lady herself! She's the sweetest little woman and she adores her grandson.

And this one with the whole (as in only 5!!!) Tomerlin clan in front of the tree.

I love photos like this, when you can see how all of them resemble each other.

And how happy Matt looks because he's with his family.

And then just fun shots from Christmas morning, taken with instagram.

Of siblings being silly together...

and of the tree, laden with gifts.

Can't it be Christmas time again already?!

cheers & besos,

Persnickety Prints

2012-01-21T16:56:00.002-06:00

"Where am I going to get my photos printed now?!"

Scrapbookers have bounced this question around the internet this year, on messages boards, twitter, just pick your social networking site.

And the reason is this.

Their favorite, and my favorite photo printing site closed down.

I'm sad to see Scrapbook Pictures go under and wish all of their people the best of luck.

But that's the world we live in now. It's so sad but undeniably true.

And thus I've begun my quest for a new online printer.

Mind you, I only order enlarged prints and 4x4 in instagrams from these kinds of sites. Anything 4x6 and smaller I can easily just print at home.

Sunday I edited some photos and then sent them off to Persnickety Prints. I've ordered from them before, a few months ago when they were having a sale on their square prints. The quality was good and the turn around fairly quick, from what I could remember.

This was the timeline for my order:

Sunday-Uploaded

Tuesday-Shipping Notification

Friday-Arrived at No. 143

I was pleasantly surprised that my prints arrived on Friday. That's one day quicker than the turnaround at SP. It seems I have a pattern of ordering prints on Sunday in the hopes of them arriving in time for the weekend so I can scrap. These pretties actually did.

I ordered a 12x12 print, so they sent everything in a 12x12 in hard cardboard box.

Everything was taped down to avoid slipping and corner bending.

And then they were taped to each other.

Every size of print came wrapped in its own cellophane envelope.

The default paper is a lightweight Matte. But you can also order metallic prints at an additional cost.

They don't have as many sizes as Scrapbook Pictures did, but they still have plenty to choose from, and specifically small square.

I'm happy with how my order turned out, and how quickly they were able to turn it around.

The price was also pretty good. But that may have something to do with the larger prints being on sale.

Persnickety Prints, if you're reading this, keep the lowered price!

I will definitely order from them again. But would also like to do some shopping around. Does anyone know of another good printer?

And if you have any specific questions, I'm happy to answer them.

cheers & besos,

Flora & Fauna

2012-01-20T08:20:00.000-06:00

Morning yall! Just thought I jump on and share one of my latest Hawaii pages.

It's not my typical design, but I like it just the same.

I used paper from the American Crafts Margarita line and flower embellishments from Basic Grey's Lauderdale line.

It came out really festive!

These photos are for my Nana.

When I told her I was going to Hawaii, she made me promise to take pictures of the flowers. She said she knew she'd never go see them herself, so she had to see them through my photos. The scenery, the foliage, the flowers were some of the most beautiful I'd ever seen.

The photos just don't do them justice. But she'll love them just the same.

cheers & besos,

Kraft & KP

2012-01-16T12:36:00.001-06:00

Oh sweet work holidays :) so thankful today for a 3 day weekend.

It's just the extra day I needed to get back on track with some stuff.

Like specifically, my blogging!

I've been scrapbooking, (some of my projects I can share, and some of which I have to wait to share until next month :) super excited about that!) just not blogging.

Today, I wanted to show off a few of the recent Sketchpad layouts I completed. Slowly but surely I've been making my way through these sketches and have used 7 of the 12 so far.

KP is famous for her use of circles, and when I saw the sketch this layout is based on, I knew I wanted to use them for these photos from the Haggia Sophia.

Jesus and Mary both have haloes depicted around their heads, which I thought went well with the circular design of the layout.

These mosaics were utter masterpieces. Their luminescence was absolutely breathtaking!

And don't you just love colors? The golds and blues with the dark red thrown in, it all felt very regal.

I wish I'd tended toward a "less is more" approach to this page, but I like how it turned out none the less. It was a fun layout to make. I just wish the Kraft had photographed better!

Speaking of Kraft, it seems I've been using it a lot lately. Here's another Sketchpad layout with a Kraft background.

The misting was meant to be the shining focal point, but I used too thin paper as a mask and it kind of bled through. Not to worry, I like the effect. It makes it feel more rustic, "manly" if you will ;)

It's very simple and straight forward, and features some instagram shots. Man do I love my instagram app! (And if only it was easier to get these bad boys printed!! But that's another story...)

The embellishment clusters came together really easy with some of the scraps I had on my desk, and also a few things from my pickle jars. Speaking of, I should probably share some of my desk organization this blog. That'll be a post for later this week.

We're getting really close to the magic 300th blog post. If you're interested in these Sketch classes of KP's you might want to keep checking back for it ;) :)

xxbesos

Project 12: Lists & Recap

2012-01-15T10:50:00.001-06:00

Complete.

In the can.

All done!

That would be my Project 12 for 2011.

I made this wrap up page, to document some of my lists for the year.

[[And because my OCD would not let me have only 1 divided page protector layout in the book (February/March), I needed to have more for variety!]]

I listed my travels across the world this year, only 3 countries but plenty of cities (13).

Also, the far away friends (12) I managed to spend time with.

Photos of both my and Matt's families and a timeline of Urijah shots.

Then finally, the list of books I read this year (31 total). I'm happy I finally got use all of those great Studio Calico stamps!

I'm happy to have a complete scrapbook for 2011. As well as some smaller bits and pieces of life captured.

If anyone is considering doing Project 365, Project 52 or Project 12, I completely 100% would recommend you do it. Yes, it will get tedious. But the payoff is so worth any and all trouble.

And just like that (but perhaps not so nonchalantly) it's done!

cheers & besos,

Project 365

2012-01-08T12:00:00.000-06:00

I did it! I took the plunge. I'm now fully immersed in Project 365/Photo a Day.

I have to say I'm loving it so far.

I'm using instagram for the photos and uploading them to my Photo 365 app. I like this app because it lets you add photos to the calendar retroactively and also lets you post more than 1 photo per day.

Plus it looks cute!

I also joined the Photo a Day class at Studio Calico. I like poking around on the boards over there because it's not as busy and I can keep up.

Here are my first shots of the year:

Saturday, 31 December

Getting ready to spend NYE with friends.

Had to rock the lion mane to combat the humidity

Sunday, 1 January

Checking things off my to do list, being productive,

in my usual lazy morning computer spot.

I joined Weight Watchers. We'll see how this goes!

MT & I walked to the Container Store for some page refills I needed.

We only live a 1/2 mile away.

Then we walked to Paper Source for glue. Sadly they were closed.

But I got another great shadow shot.

Monday, 2 January

Took the car to get the oil changed,

and then had to take it to Midas to get the brakes looked at.

They said it's drivable, still makes me nervous though.

Tuesday, 3 January

First day back to work :(

Made my way through 150 some unread e-mails

Wednesday, 4 January

My new Pottery Barn shelf arrived! MT hung it up for me

It's all loaded with my paint, mist, embossing powders and tape.

My layout was the featured project on 2Ps!

Such an awesome surprise :)

Then, as I was scrolling through pinterest, randomly came across my pinned layout.

That was surreal!

Thursday, 5 January

My new J. Crew category arrived!

Friday, 6 January

Dress down Friday. Wore my birthday dress with a black sweater, tights & boots

Every morning I walk to McD's for a much needed caffeine run.

Diet Dr. Pepper is my power juice

The team and I ate lunch outside of City Hall.

Saturday, 7 January

As I sleepily stumbled to the restroom this morning,

I slammed into one of my bookshelves and

took a chunk out of my leg.

Morning sunshine! Perfect start for a lazy Saturday

My sweet boyfriend meal planning for the week.

<3 him!

xxbesos

Move More, Eat Less *Mini

2012-01-05T08:30:00.000-06:00

I interrupt the Project 12 updates to bring you my first mini of the year!

It was something I put together in an evening on a whim. And I have to say, I love that my projects are coming together like this lately, created for fun and just because I feel like creating.

But anyway, I put together this mini because I'm back on my fitness journey. It was time.

My weight has been an unfortunate factor in my life recently. It's something that I need to gain control of for my health and more importantly for my energy! I just don't feel like I have enough energy to do what I want to do.

And that my friends, sucks a big one. I'm an active (enough) person and I hate that tiredness stops me from doing more.

So I bit the bullet on this one and am jumping in with both feet. First things first right? I had to make a mini to document it! ;) It's also a way to motivate me to keep to my goals.

I created this mini from scratch with scraps of paper, some mists and paints.

The base is just some left over cardboard that I received from some shipment of paper or other. You know, the ones that they tape your photos or paper to so that they don't get bent? Yeah? I save all of those in a drawer and pull them out from time to time, usually when I'm working on a mini book.

For this one specifically, I used die cut stars as masks, and sprayed the cover with a few shades of Mister Huey. Then, I lifted up the stars and splashed green ink over the top.

I liked how it looked, but I think it detracted from the pretty papers I wanted to use so I painted over it lightly with gray acrylic paint. Then brushed some water over the top to make it even more translucent, and then ended up lifting some of the paint off with a paper towel.

But it worked out! And I like that you can see the stars peeking through, but they aren't a huge distraction from the paper. Also like that the green splashes came through.

I dug into my scrap folders for blue, green and orange scraps, pulling things that coordinated with my Move More Eat Less daily log pages.

And it was a happy accident that they all had some sort of star design (which prompted the misted covers).

The inside pages are from Cathy Zielske's Move More Eat Less templates. I use the word template lightly because although you do get .psd files in the digi kit, she also gives you pdfs to print straight out. No hassle with PSE or anything!

For the other covers, I masked and sprayed same as before, mixing various colors. I was going something bright and colorful and ENERGETIC!

xxbesos

Project 12: Title & Final Pages

2012-01-03T07:33:00.000-06:00

It's my first day back to work today. Boo!!

I've soo enjoyed my extra long vacation.

I've accomplished a lot of the little things that you just can't seem to find the time to do when you're so busy.

I scrapbooked!

I finished my Project 12 album.

I organized.

I spent time with family & friends.

I rested.

And now it's time to get back to the real world and real life and buses and work.

But before all of that, I wanted to share the title and ending pages for my Project 12 album.

This title page is one of my favorite layouts. It was made with one of my favorite Studio Calico kits, Glee Club. The color combo in this was just awesome!

I went to town with the pretty patterned papers and my various circle punches.

But let me tell you, achieving balance is such a hard thing in design! The right side is still a bit heavy to me, but not by much.

This date stamp is the one item not found in this kit. It's from a stamp set by Tattered Angels that I don't use often enough!

I also went for it with the Amy Tangerine fabric brads and Basic Grey Yo-yos, items I've been hoarding for awhile now.

Then on the last page, I thought I'd do 12 photos of myself from the year. I've been really bad about taking pictures of myself so I'm happy that I eked out 12!

This is also my first layout of 2012 and my first ever fully digital layout! It just seemed the easiest way to accomplish what I wanted to do.

I didn't purchase anything new for this, but instead used a Kitschy Digitals patterned paper I downloaded for free from a blog hop and an Ali Edwards template I received as part of her Yesterday&Today class. I thought all of the elements were fairly perfect, plus it had room for 12 photos!

So look at me, venturing out and exploring new things without even really setting out to do so. Maybe I'll think about doing more digital projects this year.

And just in case you thought my Project 12 album is complete, guess again! I have a few more pages to share later this week, more wrap up from the year.

Wish my luck as I get back to work going and bus riding!

xxbesos

Project 12: Nov & Dec

2012-01-02T08:30:00.002-06:00

How was everyone's New Years Day?!

Mine, was busy.

I'm the queen of list and to do projects. So of course yesterday I kept adding to the list instead of finishing what was already on it!

That's so me :)

But it was an organizational project!! Those are always productive...and fun!

I'll share more of it later, but first let me show off the last 2 Project 12 spreads for the year.

My November wasn't as busy at seems, although it doesn't feel like it. At work, I had 3 weeks to pull together a reception/guest list from scratch. Which probably explains why I wasn't very socially active those first few weeks. I was tired!

This I think is my favorite of my recent Project 12 layouts. I was in a taping mode after checking out the last Products you love Every which way class on 2Peas. And I do loooove me some tape!

And finally, December!! Another full month, this time with parties and festivities and some traveling.

With regards to design, it's hard combining multiple photos in varying sizes into one cohesive layout! But then I was reminded of this layout of Audrey's I'd seen while blog perusing the other day. I thought the photo placement was perfect for a December recap layout.

In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny "That's all folks!" I finished my Project 12 layouts!!

Actually, I'm still going to share the cover page, end page and wrap up pages here in a few days. But the big part, the harder part, is complete!

xxbesos

OLW 2012

2012-01-01T11:30:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2012.

2011 was a great year. A quiet year.

And just the kind of year I needed, since 2009-2010 were mainly not good years.

I feel at peace and largely content going into 2012.

I'm ready to start working on myself.

For 2012, I decided to pick a One Little Word. If you're not familiar with this concept, click on the link to have Ali Edwards explain, in the fabulous way that she does, the concept of OLW and it's meaning in her life.

This year, the word I chose is write.

I talked about my 2012 Habits a few days back, and one of those was to write everyday. That will I hope, help me to work toward my OLW.

Because this year, instead of finding out which words picks me, I'm actively going to seek this word out.

I like to write. And academically, I was very good at it.

Casually, not so much.

It's hard to find a voice that is yours, that isn't rigid or formal.

But this year I want to try.

I'm determined to make this blog better. To share more and express more.

As a naturally stoic person this has never been easy for me.

I'm not one to "join" or "share".

But this year I'd like to.

I also have a more ambitious goal of working on a non-fiction book idea that I've had for awhile now. Oh, maybe 2 years or so!

I just haven't made the time to sit down and write it.

This year I will.

Hand in hand with my word is the concept of story. In contemplating my life and this upcoming year, I want to work on cultivating my story.

And while doing so, writing it down.

What about you? Have you picked an OLW for the year? I'd love to hear your word if you did.

xxbesos

Lark

2011-12-31T09:23:00.001-06:00

I gave everyone photo gifts this year. It was cheap(ish), easy and personalized.

For my Grandparents, I made a book inspired by Elise Blaha's home photo book.

At Thanksgiving, I photographed their house. It's the central nervous system of my Leija side of the family. The place we gather for all of the holidays and where I spent every Sunday as a kid for dinner.

It's tiny, it's old but I like to think of it more as cozy and lived in.

My Grandparents, knowing how I am, asked no questions when I showed up at their door with my camera. They let me be as I walked around snapping away. I ended up shooting around 300 photos for this 36 page book.

Obviously, not all of them made it in. And today, I'm not sharing all of the pages. Just a sampling of the book and one of the houses that built me.

[Photo of Back Cover to come!]

Unfortunately, I wasn't around on the day my Grandma opened the gift. I didn't get the chance to see their faces and watch as they looked through the pages.

My Mama reported back that my Nana had opened the book and first saw the back cover. Her comment was "What a pretty little table." Not at all realizing yet that it was her table, in her own backyard.

I think they liked it. I hope they did!

Mostly, I'm just happy I have a copy for myself. So I'll always remember.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I used Blurb.

xxbesos

Project 12: Sept & Oct

2011-12-29T22:30:00.000-06:00

I'm back on the Project 12 bandwagon. It's been awhile since I've done one of these pages. I like them so much when they're done but have so much trouble getting them finished!

I think it's because I'm not that good with tiny spaces and little clusters.

I've had the calendars for these months filled out for awhile now, but my second stumbling block is collecting all of the photos. From my point and shoot, my iPhone, my DSLR whose images are saved on my computer and some on MT's computer.

It becomes a chore.

But like I said before, love 'em when they're actually completed and in my album!

September was a fun busy month, with a trip to Hawaii and my 27th birthday.

I'm loving these colors together, the inspiration for which was American Crafts Chap line. I'm also loving the misted wood veneers. Adore that you can still see the grain!

October was a blur with 2 work trips to Denver and Lafayette, LA. Plus 2 road trips to Corpus Christi and to Austin. And 2 weekends with my nephew.

I love my crazy busy life!

I love that I get to travel for work.

I love that I'm too tired to scrapbook everyday, but still get to find time to catch up on it later :)

For these pages I only focused on color, bright and bold.

They're playful, and I like that.

Oh, and button-tastic!

Only a few more pages and Project 12: 2011 is complete!

I love this album.

MT has told me it's his favorite album.

And I think I just might make it again next year.

It's crazy that I decided to do it on a whim, only after having seen these gorgeous KI Memories calendars. But I'm really glad I did.

My entire year scrapbooked in just 24 pages. Even if I don't make another page with any of these photos, I'll at least have this album complete.

xxbesos

2011 Resolutions/2012 Habits

2011-12-29T11:30:00.001-06:00

New Year = New Resolutions right?

Considering how well I did on last years, I'm not so sure.

Even having created this adorable mini, I still didn't stick to them.

Basically, the only three I actually did were:

(1) Budget, Save, Tithe...in moderation.

(2) Purge & Donate...not quite quarterly but at least a few times this year.

(3) Reconnect with friends...which was of course my favorite.

All are worthwhile accomplishments, I won't deny that. But I still feel like I could be doing more.

This year, I've resolved to not make resolutions but to focus instead on making habits. Habits that I can take with me throughout the year and even further on. Not pointless goals I set and then have no clue as to how to achieve.

These are the habits I'd like to work on cultivating for January:

Waking up early enough to get a few things done, then to catch the 8:23 bus (so I won't be in after 9 anymore!)
Exercising on the weekdays, running in the evenings
Write daily (journaling, blog posts, Q&A, etc.)

At the moment, I'm just working on the 3. I don't want to get overwhelmed with an entire list of activities. I'll never create a habit doing that.

And come February, I'm determined to have those seemingly small things down, and ready to add 3 more habits to my list.

A little at time is my mantra for the year.

A little to achieve a lot!

With all of that being said, I'd like to share a layout which shows on of my 2011 resolutions at work, reconnecting with old friends :)

I got to see Monica twice this year! A treat, you have no idea. In February, I stayed with her in London and in September we met up in Hawaii for her birthday.

I love this girl. She is such a blast and the one person who can get me to do some of the crazier things I would never have otherwise, like snowboarding (Austria) and white water rafting (Thailand). She's always up for a good time, my Moni. And even though we couldn't be less alike, we still get along really well.

I created this page using my trusty Cheat Sheet (Sketchpad) at that Croppin Bug crop. And it wouldn't have turned out the way it did if it weren't for that crop!

Let me explain.

I wanted a neutral background for these bright photos, so I could incorporate in some way all of these gorgeous patterned papers. In riffling through my stash of paper, I picked out these two Studio Calico patterns from their Classic Calico line. But I couldn't decide which to use!

I turned to Lindsay, one of the awesome ladies I scrap with from time to time, to ask her opinion. She pointed out that she liked the dark paper for the color photo and the light paper for the sepia-esque print.

And that's how I came up with this design! (Thanks Linds :) Since it is so simple, I angled the design to make it more interesting. Then, cut strips and turned them into banners. The banners became my journaling lines and the whole things was finished off with some bakers twine and letter stickers.

It's a plain page but it doesn't really look that way thanks to the gorgeous papers and bright photo.

I hope to next year continue to reconnect and spend time with some of my favorite people. Even if it means flying across the world to do so!

And also, of course, to cultivate those habits.

Are you making resolutions this year? If so please share!

xxbesos

[EDITED TO ADD: I guess I was channeling my Leo brain wave. Check out his blog post on habits posted today]

11 of 2011

2011-12-28T00:07:00.001-06:00

And thus the countdown to the New Year begins!

2012 is knocking at the door, it's just that hard to believe.

The older I get the more apt the phrase "time flies" becomes.

And as the new year looms, I can't help but reflect on the past year and all of it's accomplishments. But more on that later.

Most importantly, here is a recap of my favorite layouts from the year, in no particular order:

(1) Dora the Explorer

I think what I like best is the colors and the title and the fun circle elements. And that I didn't really like the kit I used to make this page, but after having created this page, I liked the kit! Go figure. Also super proud that I used those unattractive orange Thickers. Or was it just fate that I was wearing orange that day...

(2) 2008

This put into perspective for me, just how much traveling I actually did that year. 16 countries! I always love highlight pages and I especially love all of my photos from this year. I keep going back to them again and again.

(3) Hagia Sofia

I don't know if it's just the place that I love, but there's something about this scrapbook page and how all of the elements work together so harmoniously. How the images are reflected in the design. This is how I like my scrapbook pages!

(4) Topkapi Palace

And you would probably never guess that this page and the one above were both created from the same sketch, just tweaked a bit. Again, I love how the product so subtly reflects the images.

(5) Wrinkle in Time
There's a lot of symbolism in this page. The clocks, the crumpled (wrinkled ;) background cardstock, the crowns. I like whenever one thing references everything else. I also simply adore the subject manner. London has my heart.

(6) China
This was a fun layout to make! And I got to create with Amy Tangerine's line, a favorite of mine. I also liked the circle photos and getting to see on one page all of the Chinese cities I visited.

(7) Sitara Place

This was one of those happy unplanned accidents. I had no concept or idea of how I was going to do this page. I just reached for a stack of patterned paper, found one that fit (and rather perfectly at that) the photo and embellished accordingly. I also liked that I scrapbooked a photo that I would not normally have got around to scrapping.

(8) CKC, KP & SC
This page is 100% about ephemera. Oh and meeting some super sweet scrapbookers who also happen to be some of the most famous ones out there :)

(9) Me & My Bright Ideas
I like this page. I like the light-bulb details, the colors and most importantly that sheet of Crate Paper (purely gorg). But mainly I like the subject matter. It's all about my love for travel, even if it means traveling by myself. And how, 100% of the time there this one moment, it's usually only a few seconds, when I'm seriously asking myself, "what the heck were you thinking?!"

(10) U-er than U

Whenever I journal on Urijah's pages, I always write to him and I rarely right out "y-o-u". I usually replace it with just a "U" which is handy since it's his initial. So when I found some inspiration in the form of a Dr. Seuss quote that included this handy moniker, I couldn't not use it. That, combined with the American Crafts Chap line makes it my most favorite Urijah page of 2011!

(11) Just Bee-cause Card

Playing with mist and doilies was one of my favorite techniques this year. And combining it with my favorite color yellow made it that much more beautiful.

And that's that. Despite my extremely busy year, I still managed to create 100+ layouts and 80+ cards. 11 of which I shared today.

If you're a scrapbooker and are doing a similar blog post, please link it up in the comments. I <3 seeing everyone's favorite layouts. Here's to more scrapping in the coming year!

xxbesos

Urijah Love

2011-12-27T08:24:00.002-06:00

"Good morning, good mooorning!"

I have this jingle stuck in my head for some reason. I think it might have to do with the fact that the sun is shining outside of my window and I can hear birds chirping off in the distance. Birds, really? Pondering how long it's been since I've heard a bird outside my window....

Anyway, I think I'm most excited this morning because we're finally home! Back from Ohio and all tucked into my cozy little apartment, with 7 full days of freedom staring me in the face. That my friends equals pure bliss!

I have a slue of little projects I'll be working on over the week. Mostly organizational things, but also some scrappy stuff.

This morning I wanted to share a few of the pages I made at that Cropping Bug crop with my pals out in Texas City.

They're all about looove :) Namely love of a certain lil man.

While driving out to the crop, I listened and rocked out to an old school Natalie Imbruglia CD. One song had a lyric that mentioned "bubbles of love" in it. I think it's called Big Mistake (actually I know it's called that because I just googled it :)

As that was gurgitating, and I pulled this photo from the box, and had already chosen a sketch that featured circles, I came up with the title. I find it very appropriate to the atmosphere Urijah's presence creates. You just can't not love him!

Their shirts were the deciding design elements for this page, varying shades of greens and yellows. I got to play with my circle punches and buttons & brads, finally using that gorgeous wood button with the green details from Crate Paper.

I also love how infinitely classic & cool my Papa looks with his Ray Band sunglasses.

Then I made a page with Urijah and Gma. I loved the cosmic vibe of this Studio Calico paper, especially when cut down to the smaller size which accentuates it. It somewhat mimicked the odd angle of the photo of the two of them. Which really could have been shown either portrait or landscape.

The title came from Urijah's pjs. There is a monkey in space with the words "Out of this world" on the front.

I think "Love (or Loved) out of this World" really worked as a title for this page. Plus, I'm super happy that I have a page with Gma and Urijah! There aren't as many photos of the two of them together.

Urijah's scrapbook is always my favorite to work on. Mainly because I actually complete them! But also because I tend to capture those everyday life photos. The ones that so perfectly exemplify relationships and interactions, rather than we did this, we saw that. It's a newer evolution in my scrapbooking. And I like it.

xxbesos

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-06:00

Saturdays with Yaya

2011-12-22T15:16:00.000-06:00

How is Christmas already this weekend?! Amongst all of the mayhem of this fall, it's snuck up on me.

Alas, our bags are all packed and our shoes are tied tight. I'm ready for this Christmas with MT and his family in Ohio!

Wish us luck, it's the first flown trip we've ever taken with each other. I'm a professional traveler, so this could be really easy or really hard. I will let you know.

But for now, I wanted to share this page, created with my cheat sheet and as I channeled my inner Lisa T.

All of the photos are instagram shots that I had printed at Scrapbookpictures.com. I'd completely recommend them. I know a lot of people order from PostalPix, which is super convenient but annoyingly not great quality. The colors are always so ridiculously off! But I digress.

The photos are some random everyday shots of what we do when Urijah is around, a whole lot of hanging out.

I love how these photos also show Urijah's relationship with his "Uncle" Matt. He's clearly very comfortable with him, enough to use him as a chair at least. That photo of their shadows holding hands gets me every time :)

For this page, I used the Chap line by American Crafts. Instant love! I adore this line, especially for cute boy pages.

I'm quite proud of this page, it's the first I had made in at least a month and one for Urijah's Year 2 Album, the pages of which were very scant.

I love adding pages to albums. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Well Mr. OCD is pacing the floor at the moment. Even thought he said we were leaving at 3:30 it seems my time is up. I'll catch up with yall when I get back! I hope everyone has a safe and merry holiday!

xxbesos

Cheat Sheet

2011-12-20T22:27:00.001-06:00

Confession: I'm a cheater.

There! I've said it!

Well...not a "cheater" per say but a definite cheat sheet user.

I'm talking about these guys, the ones that already have all of the answers to test:

It's the secret to my success!

Well kind of...

(It more or less holds up in a cropping court of law)

You all might know by now that I love me a good sketch and I turn to my repertoire of KP Sketchbook and now Sketchpad pdfs, frequently when I make my cheat sheets.

They're my go to group because 1) they're good and 2) I paid for them. That's more or less enough said.

So let me take just a minute to explain what I do and how I do it.

I bought the Sketchpad class when Kelly released it. Opened it up, poured over the sketches and the inspiration, wiped away some droll and then walked away from it for awhile.

Later, when I was in a scrapping mood I opened it up again and went through it page by page, sketch by sketch alongside of my iPhoto, pulling pictures with the appropriate orientation (landscape vs portrait) and groupings that would work for each sketch.

I jotted a quick mini sketch of just the photo placement, wrote down the appropriate file names and determined right then and there the photo sizes. That is the biggest tip I can give you. I like scrapping with a variety of sizes, but it can be a bit difficult and often time consuming chore.

When I make my cheat sheets, I don't have to think!

It makes the scrapping and the yapping that much easier when you're not thinking so hard!

This is one of the layouts I made from my cheat sheet. They're photos of this amazing local restaurant just off of the Kamehameha Hwy on the North Shore of Oahu.

It was a tiny little hole in the wall, but aren't those the best kind of eateries?! A local guy chatted up the place while we were ordering. Heck, if it's good enough for him it's definitely good enough for me!

For this page, I just started layering patterned paper strips on top of each other on either side of the line of photos. Then I added some 3 dimensional flowers and Thickers for embellishment.

And of course I had to make a cardstock grass skirt! I couldn't not with a restaurant (and page) so aptly named.

I almost forgot!

I have to add that I made the cheat sheet weeks and weeks ago. Printed the photos and let them marinate on my desk for awhile. It was a month later when I pulled it out to actually use. By then (and still now) I can't remember a single layout from the class pdf, but I have the bones to work with and thus was/am able to put my own stamp on the sketches.

I didn't make copies of the layouts featured. I made the sketches my own.

One of these days I'll go back and look at the inspiration. It'll be interesting to see how close to the original sketch my layouts turn out.

Signing off for tonight, but I'll be back later with more completed cheat sheet layouts! If you have any questions about the process, don't hesitate to ask. Cheers!

xxbesos

Super Yaya

2011-12-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have a quick and cute page to share today. It's of my favorite little man.

One of his great Aunts found this Sid the Science kid shirt that comes with a detachable cape. It's almost too cute!

I snapped a few photos of him running around the apartment in it. He was very nonplussed and much more interested in watching the actual Sid on the TV.

But alas, the photos remain!

I had the photo printed at 11 in. with just a few inches bare on the side. But that was easily covered by some Basic Grey star paper and some embellishments.

He is entirely super sweet, super adorable, super awesome, super Yaya!

xxbesos

December Album

2011-12-13T20:30:00.001-06:00

What can I say, I'm in the holiday spirit! I had 1 of my work Christmas parties this afternoon. The whole gang took on the lanes at the local bowling alley. It was an awesome relaxing way to unwind and spend some time together outside of the office.

Thus my Holiday cheer abounds and so I thought I'd share my December album. I purchased Studio Calico's December Daily kit, but never really intended to make it a daily album. For one I just don't have the time and also, we don't do enough traditions or Christmas themed anything to merit a daily page.

Since I still love the Christmas album I put together for Christmas 2009, I figured I'd get the kit, make a pretty album and document last year's, this year's and as many other years of Christmas as I can fit inside. It is my favorite holiday after all.

I started by painting the entire outside cover white and then added a bit of the Amy Tangerine b&w chevron fabric sheet (that I've been hoarding) to the spine.

For decoration, I used the same products + a few more from my holiday card, and layered them on the cover.

I also paid special attention to the edges. I love a good edge. If something has black edging or piping, all the better! Since I knew it was going to be primarily a black and white design, I thought red would be appropriate edger. It just might be my favorite part of the design.

Then finally, the inside. I'll admit, I was struggling a bit about what to do on this raw chipboard. I didn't want to just paint it all white, I wanted to give it some punch.

And then I walked into Michael's...

And then I found the Martha Stewart Glitter Paint...

[Insert sigh here]
This stuff is lovely. It coats fairly well and does not flake off very easily. An absolute must for me when it comes to glitter. I will definitely be using it again.

And so it's done, my Christmas album is decorated and now ready to be filled with lovely 6x8 pages. Not a one of them scrapped yet, but they'll be coming. Especially when there will be a wee little 2 1/2 year old roaming the halls of my parents house this weekend. I can't wait!

xxbesos

Sparkling Holiday Cards

2011-12-12T05:00:00.002-06:00

Today I'm sharing my Christmas card. And also the "reject" designs from this year.

Meghan, you can stop hit refresh now :)

I made 50 cards this year. 50!! Am I crazy?! But since I've added Matt's family and friends to this year's distribution list, the number had to increase.

I started playing with designs in early November. These were my first three cards. I like them all but for some reason or another just didn't think they were "the" design for year. I felt like I was really close on the first one (the dark green with chevron paper) though.

After building some layers, collecting ephemera and playing with placement, I finally came up with this design. Tada!

There are several layers here:

Sheet torn from a Christmas Carol paperback
Doily
Stamped/Misted Christmas tree
Star diecut
Stamped Tag
Banner
Bingo marker
Washi tape
Brad

It ended up being a bit bulky, so for those that I had to mail (which is 98% of them) I had to eliminate the bingo marker (insert sad face here).

And this is only a stack of 30 of them! I have 20 written in, sealed and about to be posted.

I also couldn't forget the inside! This is an old Hero Art stamp that I love. I'm pretty sure I used it on the inside of some of my cards from last year. It's just so classic!

Christmas is my favorite holiday, so it's no wonder that I go crazy with my cards! I can't afford to send everyone I love a gift, but I can at least let everyone know that I'm thinking of them.

Happy Holidays yall! I'll be back to share the cover of my new Christmas album in a bit. (Hint: it's going to look fairly familiar after your having seen these cards ;)

xxbesos

Back Again

2011-12-11T18:15:00.006-06:00

Hello blog, hello blog readers,

I hope everyone is well. It's been an extremely busy few months. There were several cross country trips and one terrible stomach bug, but alas here I am again.

Thank you for not forgetting about me!

First things first, I'd like to [finally] announce the winner of Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party pdf series. The live portion of the class is now over, but the content remains!

Without further adieu and with my sincerest apologies for the delay,

the Winner is...

GLP I'll try to contact you, but if you happen by again please e-mail your e-mail address to paperheart[dot]project[at]gmail[dot]com!

Today, I messed around with my blog header and some colors. Thought it was time for a change, a fresh start if you will.

So indeed I am back, although I'll not make empty promises of weekly posts and all of the same mumbo jumbo that I've said before.

I'm a busy girl with an active life, there just aren't enough hours in the day sometime. But I do hope to make this blog a bigger priority next year.

And I've just got back into the swing of my scrapping!! I'm so excited to share my latest pages with you all. I was lucky enough to scrap with some super sweet ladies out at The Croppin' Bug in Texas City yesterday. I have 6 nearly complete pages to journal on. I hope to share them all with you soon.

Check back tomorrow to get the scoop on this year's Christmas cards! (Just for you Meghan :)

xxbesos

Yaya-Dear Lizzy Mini

2011-11-10T08:00:00.001-06:00

Remember how weeks ago I promised to share my completed Dear Lizzy mini? Well today I'm finally doing that.

It features Crate Paper gorgeousness and my favorite photos of one adorable little man!

Thank you for stopping by =)

xxbesos

EC1V-The Good Life Review

2011-11-09T07:00:00.003-06:00

Look at this sweet shirt I made! Using my newly discovered favorite technique, the reverse applique, as pioneered by Amy Tangerine.

Since I was sharing my new shirt today, I thought I'd take the chance to write a quick review of The Good Life class, where I learned how to make it.

What I learned/liked:

This awesome reverse applique technique
A new watercolor technique
The lovely Amy! She's a sweet lady, there's no denying that :)

What I did not like:

The price point $45!!
Aside from the 2 techniques listed above, I didn't get much out of it. The class was more idea driven and let me show you how I put this page together-esque. Which is great, but I can see all of that for free on Amy's blog

If this class comes around again, and you're considering it here's what I think in summation:

Before spending the $45, purchase Amy's Get those Creative Juices Flowing class from Big Picture Classes. It's the same kind of style/vibe. I felt like both classes didn't have a lot of meat (i.e. techniques) to them, so to speak. But have more "big picture" (no pun intended) type ideas and philosophies behind them.

I think what drews me in is Amy's amazingly graphic style. I love the look of her pages! But I don't want to pay to see how she makes them.

The format was also a bit disjointed. I wish that all of the Week 1, Week 2, etc. content was together in one place. Rather than all of the videos are on one tab, all of the handouts on another, the weekly message on yet another.

While I'm a superfan of all things Amy Tangerine, and absolutely adore her products, I most likely won't be taking another class.

E-mail me if you have any specific questions!

Oh, and if you're wondering what EC1V refers to, it's my old post code from when I lived in London =)

xxbesos

Fall Birthday Card

2011-11-07T07:45:00.002-06:00

Happy Monday everyone! I don't know about you, but I still don't feel like I've gained an hour. Maybe only a half hour at best ;)

But I spent Sunday morning craft this fall inspired birthday card for Matt's mom. Her birthday is coming up and he asked if I could make her one.

I asked him what her favorite color is, if there's anything that she collects or likes and he couldn't give me anything (typical boy!) so I just decided to make something pretty.

I used the Studio Calico Field Guide kit, the first opportunity I had to actually cut into it.

A Crate Paper journaling card is the base, since Matt's mama likes to cook. And the rest is just yellow, orange and green details.

I also did a bit of stamping on the envelope. Those too often get neglected!

xxbesos

Hello Friend *Mini

2011-11-06T07:00:00.003-06:00

Hello Friends! =)

Just had to share this mini/birthday card I made for my bestie Sarah. The wee little one turned 26 a few weeks ago and I wanted to send her something special.

Sarah and I were roommates when we lived in London. And by roommates, I mean we actually shared a room. A tiny room in 2 different flats. Thank goodness we liked each other!

I wouldn't say it was love at first sight. In fact, I was seriously doubting this whole living in London with no one you know for that first week and a half. But eventually we came around to each other.

Must have, the photo above was taken at my birthday party, only a month after we'd met. She's a bad influence. She was trying to get me to smoke a cigarette.

Even after we all up and moved to Thailand we were still just as close. So close we embarked on a month long Asian/European odyssey with each other.

I'll never forget spending Christmas on the beach in Indonesia, laying around reading the entire Twilight series. And then going to see the first movie in Malaysia, only to have the kissing scene cut out of the film!! And then spending New Year's Eve together with the boyfriends in London that year.

She took care of me when I was sick (cough hung-over cough...) and made sure I ate! Even if all I did eat was a tomato, then an avocado cut with up only salt. She taught me how to cook...? I think. And I'll never forget burning pasta ;)

We have a million and one crazy memories.

She is an amazing friend and I miss her every single day.

xxbesos

yoU

2011-11-03T19:44:00.006-05:00

**Giveaway Closed but comments still opened**

My nephew's name is Urijah. It's not your typical name, not many start with "U". You say it Ur-I-Yuh. The "J" is pronounced like a "Y". Try to say it with my last name, where the "J" sounds like an "H" and you're sure to be confused! Which is why my older generation relatives have trouble pronouncing it. One of my Grandpa's just calls him Baby Johnny. The other calls him "You".

When I originally started scrapbooking his life, I never quite knew how to word the journaling. Sometimes I wrote about him in the 3rd person, sometimes I wrote from my perspective. And then somewhere along the way, I just starting writing all of my journaling to him, an 80+ love love letter to my favorite little man.

I thought it was clever to just use a "U" every time the "y-o-u" word was needed, since his first initial is a "U". And it just stuck.

So the second I came across this layout on the Studio Calico board, I knew I had to lift it in some way.

Here's my take:

I LOVE this new collection from American Crafts! Next to the Amy Tangerine line, it's my favorite of the latest releases. The colors in it are fabulous. I love the muted tones and the green/blue/orange combo. Being a paper fiend, I had to have every piece!

Speaking of paper fiends, have you made a stop by Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party? If not I definitely think you should! I used Day 2's (there's so much content this is as far as I've got!) prompt to start this page off. Oh, and if you're interested in this class, I'd keep reading... ;) ;)

I loved the diagonal element in the inspiration page, and this pretty sheet, which featured all of the great colors, was the perfect launching point for my layout.

The photos I used were just everyday shots of my little man. There's no big story here, he was just playing, getting in and out of a box we had lying around the apartment. The possibilities for these photos of his sweet little face and round chubby cheeks were endless!

Digging into my letter sticker stash helped me to realize how many sizes, shapes, textures, thicknesses and variety I have in that department! Next to paper, letter stickers are my favorite product.

For this page, I tried to balance all of the different sizes, fonts and colors to include that cute Dr. sUess poem that so reminds me of this little guy.

And, since the letter stickers are fairly flat, I made sure the flags sticking out of from under the photos, were raised to give the page some dimension.

There's my page! It's been forever and a day since I've actually been crafty. This felt real good to make. Especially since I didn't have any idea about what I was going to do with these photos, just that I needed to make something! That's the beauty of having a Pinterest board. Endless inspiration!

So if you've stuck it out this far, I just wanted to extend an extra special thiank you to you. And a thank you to everyone who comes back and reads my poorly updated blog!

In honor of this being my 100th blog post of the year, and this being my 101 layout I've created this year, I'd like to do a special giveaway!

One of my lovely blog reads will win an invitation to Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party! Yes, the class has already started and you might not get the daily e-mail prompts. But all of the content will be there! And believe me, this content is worth it! There is a lot of it. You'll also have access to the message board. I personally didn't even sign up until last week and don't feel like I've missed out.

To enter to win, leave me a comment telling me something that makes U, you!

[And also a way to get the message to you if you don't mind. If you'd rather not share your e-mail address, please e-mail me at paperheart[dot]project[at]gmail[dot]com]

U have until Wednesday, November 9th 11:59 pm CT to leave a comment for the chance to win. I can't wait to hear about what makes each of you Unique!

xxbesos

Halloween Tees

2011-10-22T11:15:00.000-05:00

I signed up for Amy Tan's The Good Life class as a birthday present to myself. I might do a review of the class later but by far, the best lesson was Week 1 when she taught her Reverse Applique technique. I've already made three shirts!

I decided to start small, literally and made this little skeleton tee for Urijah John.

This was the template I used. I figured I'd never get it even on both sides, so I just drew half of it folded it in half and cut it out.

And it made a perfectly even mini skeleton as a template!

I used some woodgrain fabric (a fab find from Ikea!) and orange DMC floss to outline.
And then I decided to make a matching one for Grandma!

When we were down at the beach house this past weekend, I managed to get a quick photo of the two of them. It's blurry because he can't sit still! He's a constant blur of motion, my favorite little 2 year old.

I made a third shirt for myself, with a different design. It's something I'll be sharing here in a few posts :) Be sure to check back and thanks for stopping by!

xxbesos

Thank You Tags

2011-10-18T08:15:00.001-05:00

Morning! Just wanted to quickly share the thank you tags I made this year =)

I have some very lovely friends and family, who for my birthday gave me some awesome gifts. As a thank you, I created these tags to send out.

They were quick easy and simple. I loved this typewriter (stamp from House of Three Daily Junque set) and wanted to make it blue! After that, I added some tape, and sprinkled some Mister Huey on each. Viola!

xxbesos

My Friend James

2011-10-16T18:20:00.001-05:00

I've been digging into my China pics lately. Just scrapping a few here in there with no particular rhyme or reason.

These had me inspired the other day.

Mainly because in just a little over a month, I get to go visit this guy and several other of my old London roomies!!

I could not be more excited :)

So in honor of my upcoming trip, I thought I'd scrap these photos.

This is so quintessentially James. He's clever & quiet, well spoken, the smartest person I know. And above all else, fun!

And able to have a good time.

And make us all laugh.

And deliver perfectly a funny photo.

As to the page, I stamped a Studio Calico background stamp and embossed with white powder. Then just dug into my brad collection for brown, blue and orange brads. I thought the colors would go well with these photos, pulling the blues from his clothes and the orange from the background in the one (btw, check out the clearly confused Chinese guy in the background ^).

I also used a stamp set from Kelly Panacci (go buy it, seriously!) to embellish and a few bits of AC Amy Tangerine tape!

Again, I can't stress how excited I am to see him and my sweets Becky and Tom! It's D.C. or bust for me, come November 18 =)

xxbesos

Mister Huey!

2011-10-13T22:50:00.001-05:00

I got me some new Mister Huey's! Aren't they sooo purdy :)

xxbesos

If only you knew...

2011-10-11T21:35:00.004-05:00

Soooo I'm really bad at blogging.

But a big fan of sharing!

The blog will go on, even with all of my little hiatuses.

But I have been scrapbooking! And I'm happy to share a page today :)

It features some truly beautiful product, the Crate Paper Random line. I LOVE this line!

It's just so pretty. It's the colors that do it, they're so vibrant and rich.

I'm calling this a hybrid page. But not because I printed the journaling.

It's a travel page, using photos from my day touring the Forbidden Palace. And part of the journaling is about that day...

But I couldn't stop looking at this cheeky grin on my face, and thinking if only you knew what was coming for you, when this whole Mountbatten adventure was over.

If only you knew...

"Look at you, with your silly grin and wantonly carefree attitude.

If only you knew...

If only you knew you were about to embark on some heavy times. Some very low points and then extreme hard times.

If only you knew you were about to lose a very important person in your life, so slowly and so wretchedly to cancer.

If only you knew you'd slip so far down into sadness and darkness that it was hard to think of the world as anything but gray and black.

If only you knew you'd try endlessly and fruitlessly to find work, a job, a career, a purpose.

If only you knew you'd become an Aunt and the world would burst forth anew.

If only you knew the low times don't last forever, if you have the willpower to make things changes.

If only you knew you'd get a job that would start you on your dream career, the one that let's you travel.

If only you knew that with time and patience and a little help from God, that any situation, however low or bad can somehow become your ideal, your dream."

xxbesos

Little Wild Goose Pagoda

2011-10-02T18:00:00.001-05:00

I have a China page to share today.

It's one of those "sacrificial" layouts that I used to get some creativity going.

It's not my favorite, but it's another layout to add to my scrapbook and more photos actually scrapped so I'm very happy about that.

I loved the designs for Shimelle's June 2011 prompt for 4x6 photo love. But wasn't sure that I had 6 vertical photos of one "theme".

Then I printed me China photos...and was excited to see that I had just enough!

I had to do some tweaking, that photo of me in the middle was originally a landscape shot. But with the help of PSE, I cropped it down to a usable vertical image.

I added some stamped cardstock and patterned paper rectangles to the top and bottom of each photo, distressing the edges for some texture.

And added my journaling in strips.

"On a pretty fall day during the middle of our Chinese adventure, we walked out to see the Little Goose Pagoda inside of the Xi'an History Museum."

"Little? Hardly! It was flight after flight up and each one got narrower and shorter. Here is Patrick bent half way over as we found that his 6'3" frame wasn't exactly suited to China."

xxbesos

Stamp Storage

2011-09-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy to share with you today, my stamp storage system!

My stamp stash is always growing, and recently, it's been outgrowing my space.

So I had to figure out some way to get them all organized in one place.

I modeled my storage off of Reyanna and Jennifer McGuire's systems. [Videos for each can be found by clicking their names.]

They both store their stamps in binder using different sized page protectors.

Here's Binder 1 with my miscellaneous stamps:

And Binder 2 with all of my Studio Calico ones! (And yes, I have enough SC stamps to merit a whole binder of it's own :)

Here are some photos of the pages:

I opted for Reyanna's version of putting the stamps onto transparencies, and then removable adhesiving (yup, just made up that word) the printed images of the stamps.

And like Jennifer, I purchased some pocket pages originally intended for DVDs, to hold this fairly standard stamp set size.

I also had some divided 4x6 in protectors, where I was able to combine some of my smaller stamps.

I was even able to add CD cases inside the DVD pocket pages, to make sure my Papertrey Ink stamps weren't left out of the fray.

Lastly, have to show you just how many pages of stamps I have :) Lots and lots it seems! But I love my stamps and I use them on nearly all of my pages.

If you're looking for some way to store your stamps, this is a quick, easy and inexpensive way to do it!

xxbesos

Aloha

2011-09-26T16:57:00.001-05:00

Aloha! This is the card I was talking about yesterday.

I made it for my grandparents to send along with the photos and flower seeds I purchased for them.

I think the bright colors are my favorite thing about this card! Isn't that American Crafts Margarita print gorgeous?! I love the dark blue background.

Oh and the fact that I used a mini file folder as the base (from Paper Source).

I also mailed them a few photos. They're the kind of grandparents that have their fridge doors filled with this kind of thing. I added some font work to make them look more like postcards.

And also in my package, the seeds I purchased in the Honolulu airport. If anyone can grow flowers from seeds it's my grandparents. They have a full on green house in their backyard and everything!

xxbesos

Mist-ery Solved

2011-09-25T16:55:00.004-05:00

I got crafty today! For the first time in awhile. It wasn't easy actually. I just wasn't feeling it today and haven't been for awhile.

But I made a list of three scrappy things that I felt I needed to get done today.

And guess what? They got done!

1. Mist Swatchbook

2. Card for Nana & Popo (check back tomorrow)

3. Finish Dear Lizzy class minibook (check back later this week!)

I even got a 4th scrappy project done, I finished a double page spread that I started last week. It's just been sitting on my desk staring at me every time I walked past. But hey, now it's done and in my scrapbook! No more half finished guilt for me!

Like I said, I wasn't really feeling it today. But I needed something to jump start my creativity and this little swatchbook was just the thing to do it.

Just look at all of those colors! I hadn't realized I had so many shades and I'm actually happy to find out that really only 1 or 2 are similar.

And also, I got to see how each of these sprays. Some of them are clogged pretty bad and didn't even "mist" (see MR Red and SC Calico Cream) and others left a pretty even coat.

All of these are tags were cut with my Papertrey Ink die [Fillable Frames #9] which only measures 1 1/2 x 2 1/2. I think it makes for the perfect size swatch. To finish, I just hooked them together with a binder ring. Voila!

Getting my hands all inky and dirty was just the trick to get me in a crafty mood. Check back tomorrow for that card I made for my grandparents [hint it's Hawaii themed].

xxbesos

China...a la KP

2011-09-18T12:00:00.001-05:00

Heyo! I've got some more inspiration for you. This time courtesy of my scrap crush, Kelly Purkey.

She's amazing, I promise.

Just look at this Thailand page she did!

It's vibrant, it's creative, it's SO KP!

What drew me in:

Straight out the gate, it was the colors. I loved the varying blues and all of the bright patterns.
It's a map! And a creative one at that =)
Travel themed [check]
Circle punched photos, I do that too! [Here, here & here too...]
It's Thailand. I lived there. It has a special place in my heart
And let's face it, it's by KP. I'd scraplift any page of hers!

And so on to my page...

I went for it with my China photos and will be using this as title page for my album.

I don't have Adobe Illustrator, so I had to improvise a bit. I free-handed the outline of China as best I could and cut it and the coordinating mask out.

It looks close enough to me :)

I just had to use the new Amy Tangerine for this too!

Circle punched all of my photos and pop dotted them off the page. I could have pop dotted all of the pieces like KP did, but I'm just too lazy!

And since the pieces felt a bit flat, I decided to add "stitching" in between them all to make them feel more cohesive.

Journaling Reads:

"China was one of the most amazing trips of my life. It was the first time I'd ever traveled alone and I could not have been more embraced by the people and the culture. James and Patrick joined me in Beijing and from there we traveled to Xi'an, Shanghai and then Hong Kong. It was an adventure for the history books."

And that's my page! I've been itching to try this map idea out, ever since Kelly posted it.

I'm working on some more inspiration posts to share very soon. Thanks for dropping by!

xxbesos

So Lucky Inspiration

2011-09-06T18:39:00.007-05:00

Aloha! I'm just back from Hawaii and already missing the sun and the wind, the water and the calm quiet life we had up on the North Shore.

It was utterly sublime.

I'll miss the crazies I was staying with, most of all.

But I'm back to the sharp reality that is everyday life.

And back to blogging =)

Last week, (geez was it really only last week?!) I found this gorgeous layout in the Studio Calico gallery. It was created by the lovely Glenys whom I left a comment something to the effect of "I'm going to scrap lift this ASAP!"

Here's what drew me in:

It's travel themed, 'nuff said!
I loved the photo strips and how she successfully incorporated a lot of photos onto one page
It had a yellow background, my favorite color =)
The products: I have the October Afternoon map paper in my stash already, as well as some of the Amy Tangerine.
And finally, as cheesy as it sounds, it "spoke" to me. The idea of having all of my travels from 2008 in one place appealed to me. And since this layout was so successful at doing that, I figured I'd give it a shot.

And I did! Mine isn't identical to hers, I didn't have the exact same products. But I had close enough to achieve the same effect I think.

Where Glenys had an 8x8 size of the map paper, I had a 12x12. So it became my base.

I arranged my photos into strips same as her, but decided to back them on a cardstock base. I used a yellow dotted swiss, to mimic the yellow background in my inspiration page. I also titled the strips a bit to make it more fun.

And where Glenys had a circular element on the left side of her photos, I shifted mine and added it on top of my photos.

I loved Glenys banner so I mimicked it using some My Mind's Eye label stickers. Some of these had words and phrases on them already, so I cut a strip of white cardstock to cover this up, and added all of the countries I visited in 2008. [16!!]

I also wanted to give them some dimension so I added a pop dot underneath just one side of each so they'd permanently lift off the page.

The last of the details were the camera embellishment, an Amy Tangerine die cut pop dotted off the page and a sticker.

It's so true, "some journeys cannot be put into words".

I love this page and how it captures a year of my life at a truly fantastic point in my journey. I feel so blessed to have been able to see all of those places and experience a day or more in each of those countries.

And I'm so happy that I discovered Glenys' page and that she helped me to do it! See, scraplifting is a wonderful thing! You can learn a lot of "cutting with another crafter's scissors" so to speak.

From this page, I will take away:

Threading twine through buttons as an anchor for a banner
Photo strips, photo strips, photo strips!

Mahalo for stopping by! And a special thank you to Glenys for letting me share her page and giving me the inspiration to make mine in the first place =)

xxbesos

Mahiki

2011-09-06T00:00:00.001-05:00

This is my bestie Kori. I've scrapped a photo or 2 of her so I'm sure you've seen her on this blog.

This was taken in a Hawaiian bar in London, Mahiki.

That is Kori, rocking a gorgeous black and yellow dress...which was the design inspiration for this group of photos.

Ta da!!

I used a Dear Lizzy laser cut paper to mimic Kori's gorgeous dress. It was pink on the one side and white(ish) on the backside so I flipped it over and misted it with my Sunflower Maya Mist.

Then I backed random parts of it with green patterned paper to break it up a bit.

After that I added some cutesy details, like the Basic Grey Yo-yos (I think that's what they're called), so KI ribbon and House of Three baker's twine to finish it off.

This was a wholly random night out in London, but I loved these pictures of my two favorite girls so much that I couldn't not scrap them.

I also had to share because I'm off to Hawaii this week! Leaving on Thursday and I'm so excited to lay on the beach, relax and more specifically, spend time with Monica =) another of my lovely London girls.

Catch ya later, dudes!!

xxbesos

Project 12: July & August

2011-09-04T10:30:00.001-05:00

I'm loving my Project 12. Even Matt declared it to be his favorite of my scrapbooks.

Sharing July and August today.

Can you believe I'm up to date?!

I have to admit that these pages are very hard for me to do for some reason. I never know how to decorate the grids, I'm always struggling for creative ways to display 6-10+ photos on a single 12x12 page.

This month though, I think I knocked 'em out of the park.

July was a fun and busy month...and crap! Just realized I put some of July's photos on August's layout. Oh well! Such is life I suppose :)

But anyway, in July Matt was home in Ohio, my parents came for a visit, I got to meet Kelly Purkey! and we traveled to Austin for Tara's birthday.

We started out the month down at the beach house, eating tons and doing some fishing. Matt caught his first "keeper" fish!

He also lost a bet and had to get some skinny jeans :) Jokes on his friend, because he actually looked nice in his hot pants ;)

And I got to meet my scrap crush, Kelly Purkey! Who was so sweet and so fun and cute and tiny. I took all three of her/Studio Calico classes at CKC Houston.

My sweet little guy came to visit. Love it when Urijah John is in the house! And love even more getting photos of him with Gma and Gpa.

For these pages, I combined some of the new Studio Calico Memoir line (I won it from Nicole's blog!!) and what is rapidly becoming my go-to line, Amy Tangerine's. I think they meshed fairly well on this page, given the very different color schemes.

Which brings us to August! That was only 4 days ago =) Well chuffed at having it complete.

I took on Kelly's Color of the Rainbow SC Weekly challenge as the basis for these pages.

I loved that my photo strip fit perfectly into the grid of the calendar (and that I apparently had nothing going on on Thursday's this month :) I also love my IncrediBooth app. It made these photos super easy to capture. And given that we were outside in the semi-dark, it caught a lot of light!
For both of these layouts, I went riffling through my scrap stash and hand cut strips and boxes, to nestle in between these photos. Then I went through my Studio Calico kits looking for small embellishments to finish it off.

Which btw, I disassembled my 4 oldest kits (eeeeppp!!!) and stored them along with the rest of my stash. It's a first step. My space is becoming more and more organized as the days go on.

That's it for today, thanks for stopping by! And see you next month (hopefully) for another Project 12 Post.

xxbesos

Fancy Pants

2011-09-03T00:00:00.001-05:00

Hi, hello, how are ya?! 200+ posts later, I'm still trying to get the hang of this whole blogging thing. So thank you for stopping by =)

Sharing another of my Archivers crop pages! I used a lot of American Crafts for this one, most notably some Amy Tangerine.

And I have to clarify, these would be the American pants and not the British ones!!

Scraped a photo of me and my co-workers, at my (favorite!!) boss' leaving drinks. Have to love how well European men dress. And I love that I got to play with pinks and navy again, on this page full of boys (see also Co-Conspirators :)

I had such a fun team to work with, at my internship in London. And I like I said before, Lalji was my absolute favorite boss. I can't even begin to describe the personality that is Lalji. You'd have to meet him to know! It was a sad sad day when he left DB, but I'm so glad I got to work for him for as long as I did.

xxbesos

Khao San Road

2011-08-31T21:00:00.002-05:00

Another page from Bangkok! I'm well chuffed (quite proud) to have these 3 random Thailand pages scrapped! They weren't about trips or any specific event. They were just pages about what I was like when I lived there.

And that is how my scrapbooking has evolved lately.

"It's not easy being green." Know who said that? Kermit the frog is who. Love me my Kermie!

The Boardwalk kit had a lot of great green papers and I thought they contrasted nicely with the reds in my photo, so I just started playing with some left over strips.

Had to use my favorite neutral gray for the background and I think it made the green, cream and white pop even more!

I liked that the design is a bit busy and chaotic, but not so all over the place that it drives your eyes crazy. I wanted to mimic how packed in all of the signs and stalls were.

And ok, so maybe I added baker's twine, a Thicker or 2 that wasn't a part of the kit. But I think they were the final touches needed for this fairly flat page.

Which, btw is about the famous backpapers area of Thailand. If you ever make it that way, I'd recommend stopping by. Touristy yes, but none the less fun!

Happy Scrapping =)

xxbesos

Sitara Place/Monsoon

2011-08-29T06:00:00.005-05:00

Sunshine Broadcast makes my heart go pitter patter. It is one of the most exquisite lines, in my opinion.

When I was throwing photos into that "to print for crop" file that I was talking about yesterday, I didn't even realize what I had stumbled upon. I was just hurriedly nabbing photos that caught my fancy, and for some reasons these monsoon photos did the trick. (Perhaps Hurricane Irene was on the brain.)

Then I hurriedly grabbed some products to take with me to the crop and my latest Studio Calico kit, Boardwalk. Lo and behold, there was the paper, the most perfect paper for these photos of the monsoon and my the view of my balcony from my flat in Bangkok.

Not only are there clouds, but in the buildings in the photo are the peaches and the yellows and even the teals! It's the colors that did me in.

This was the view from the balcony attached to my apartment. I lived in a complex call Sitara Place in the Ratchadaphisek (shortened to Ratchada) part of Bangkok. Good old Sitara place...

As you can see the details in the paper and the coordinating embellishments included in the kit, made for a happy resting place for my photo.

The companion page was all about watching the monsoon roll in from the comfort of my balcony. It was a daily occurrence for that first month or so.

The page has lots of white space with little details, more from Sunshine Broadcast and a little from Basic Grey.

And the journaling was done a la Maggie Holmes =)

And there we have a memory captured. It's a small memory,but one that enhanced my experience in Bkk. I'm happy it's scrapped :)

Thank you so much for checking in. Happy Scrapping!

xxbesos

Converge

2011-08-28T15:17:00.006-05:00

Hello lovelies! I have to share what an absolute blast I had yesterday, cropping with 2 sweet girls from the Studio Calico message board.

Actually, I met Meghan at CKC Houston, while we were taking all of the SC classes with KP :) We'd chatted about meeting up for a crop via the SC message board and that's how we snagged Lindsay to jump on our 3 women crop bandwagon =)

So we met up at Archivers and had a nice time scrapping and yappin'.

I got 6 pages done!! Well, how I get them done (i.e. no journaling or nearly complete but waiting for something I know I have at home).

I wasn't as prepared for this crop as I was for my last. I didn't plan my pages or print photos to size or anything. In fact, I didn't even show up with the photos I had intended to crop!

I put a huge 150+ photo order in with Scrapbook Pictures, but didn't get it in time (it was waiting for me when I got home from the crop of course...) so yesterday morning, I was literally just throwing a random hodge podge of photos into a file so that I could get them printed at Wal-mart.

But guess what? I'm soooo soooo sooooooo happy I didn't get those pictures. Instead, I was able to help tackle some of the littler memories from London and Thailand, that I wasn't going to get to anytime soon.

And that, my friends, makes me very happy.

Those two places have so many memories, so many quiet times, so many big moments. And sometimes it just gets so overwhelming to tackle all of that. So as I'm chipping away, photo by photo, memory by memory, I'm happy to add more to my London album and my Thailand album, which in the tally are so far behind all of these smaller trips and place I've had the good fortune to visit.

I still have a long way to go but I'm getting there. And even though I have 1000s of photos yet to scrapbook, there's 10 less that I can now call complete!!!

Whoa, that was long winded =)

And now on to a page....

I am so stoked to have some Amy Tangerine products in my grubby little hands. It's an absolutely fabulous line! The colors are awesome, the details superb and the theme..come on, yall know it's right up my alley :)

This page is not at all about traveling in the US as the background paper suggests, and is all about the journey it took for all seven us, each from a different state, ended up 1000s of miles away from home, but all together in a little bar, on a night out in Phuket, Thailand.

For me, that's just plain cool.

It wasn't at all where I intended to go with this photo, but seeing the lovely papers and looking at all us people, I couldn't pass up the chance to make a page on how, at this particular stage in our life, we all converged on this programme called Mountbatten and ended up a big part of each other's lives for that bit of time.

I just love how perfect Amy's products were for this page. I even did some stitching a la Ms. Tangerine =)

Thank you to everyone who made it through that post! And now sneak peaks for more pages to be shared in the coming week =)

Happy Scrapping!!

xxbesos

Amsterdam Complete!

2011-08-18T19:00:00.001-05:00

It's done! One more country to cross off my list. I made 11 pages for Amsterdam!

That's a lot for a 3 day trip!

I have to say, I think this is my favorite layout I've done in awhile.

It's the colors. The colors!

I love the gray/yellow/pink/blue color combo. All of it (bar the blue cardstock and bike paperclip) is from the Boardwalk kit.

I heat embossed, using white embossing powder, with the awesome map Studio Calico/Hero Arts background stamp. I seriously bought the add-on only for that stamp. And it was perfect for this page about the streets of Amsterdam.

And how can you not love this awesome bike paperclip?! I got it from Paper Source. (BTW, it's really dangerous to live within 8 min walking distance of this place...and a Sprinkles cupcake!)

And this next page was so fun and super easy to do. The paper already had the lines and all I had to do was add some tape.

I mixed and matched my letter stickers and a Sassafras border sticker to create the title. I love how it turned out! It so makes me think of the crazy lasers and things that they have going on down at da club :)

Tow more pages for my Europe pages and two more for Shimelle's challenges! And now I get to go play with the bestie as she's coming for a visit.

See yall next week!

xxbesos

Shimelle Challenges

2011-08-17T19:05:00.004-05:00

Since I was hauling boxes and painting walls in San Antonio this weekend, I missed out on Shimelle's online crop!

Lucky for me, the challenges are still open for participation (until midnight Sunday GMT). They were just the pushed I needed to finish my Amsterdam photos.

The half page challenge is the inspiration for this page. I've had this lattice die cut paper for at least a year. It vaguely reminded me of the lights in this page.

I used it + my Studio Calico Boardwalk kit to create this and the next page . I loved the teal in this kit and it went perfectly with the sweater I was wearing and the scarf Kori was bundled up in. Did I mention it was cold?!

I just love this big graphic black shape against the Kraft background.

This next page just happened to work out for the red, teal and white challenge. Although I didn't originally plan on doing this one. It just worked out that those colors were in this month's kit!

I used this sketch found via Pinterest as the basis for the design.

I misted the fabric banner with Barnwood Mister Huey and the thickers that came with the kit, as a stencil for my title. The cream color was a bit off on the layout, so this was my solution.

And what I love about these photos is how random and varied they are. Looking at them just made me miss these 2 so much and hence the idea for the page theme!

xxbesos

Pink Doily Cards

2011-08-15T05:00:00.001-05:00

I'm telling you I'm addicted to this super simple technique! I used 3 different sized doilies and 3 different shades of mist (Piglet Mister Huey, Orange Maya Mist & Salmon Maya Mist).

This was the 12 x 12 sheet in all of its inky doily glory, before I cut into it.

I made three cards out of 12x6 in of this paper (the other half is being made into a cover for a mini album) using the same "formula" as the bee cards.

Kraft Card + Misted doily paper + Actual Doily (Misted) + Simple Sentiment + Focal point stamp/chipboard + Twine

This was for my Grandma on her birthday. She loves roses and so I stamped and heat embossed (with Rouge Zing!) that lovely flower from a Dear Lizzy stamp set.

This is a birthday card for one of my besties from London. We're going to Hawaii in a few weeks for her birthday and I thought I'd get a jump on her card. I used a Crate Paper chipboard sticker as an accent, it screamed Hawaii to me =) Which btw, I can.not.wait!!

And last but not least, a special card for one of my more "special" friends, hehe! She's living in Japan now, as her husband was just deployed. I just wanted to send her something funny, and this was funny...to us at least.

I made my sentiment, mimicking the Papertrey Ink ones, and printed it onto a transparency.

"Remember that time when we were in Kuala Lumpur and I wanted a lollipop?"

She'll get it =)

xxbesos

Just for You

2011-08-13T10:00:00.000-05:00

It seems as thought I'm just a card making machine these days! I started these oh so long ago, handmade all of the little bows and then only today, stamped the sentiment.

But hey, they got done! And that's another unfinished project to check off my to do list =)

The inspiration for these cards came from here. I loved the little bows! It took several hours to make them, but they were worth it.

I'm calling them my circus cards! And no, not everyone of the stamps came out perfect (I was trying to wedge the acrylic block between the two buttons) but today I am embracing imperfection.

xxbesos

Dover Pages Complete!

2011-08-12T06:00:00.002-05:00

The Dover section of my England Mini is now complete.

Light applause all around =)

No but seriously, I'm so happy to have this album at least started.

I haven't counted and really don't want to know, how many photos from my year in London, that have yet to be scrapbooked. (I'm guessing around 3-4,000...)

I'll get to them when I can get to them.

But believe me when I say, I sure am happy when I do!

This album is from Making Memories and I thought it was perfect for my random trampings about England. And below are all of the pages I made from just one of several day trips that we made. It's going to be a nice chunky album!

(Click to enlarge photos)

These last are a few of the newest pages.
I took this one and only photo of the reputed white cliffs of Dover. I have no idea where I read that page, but for some reason it stuck with me.

I wanted to play with texture on this page, so I used my border punches and several sheets and shades of white cardstock.

This last page, I played with fun citrus-y colors and some Studio Calico stickers. That green polka dot might be one of my most favorite papers, it's just such a great shade of green!

And just like that, it's done! Well, at least the portion from Dover is, and I'm very happy about that.

xxbesos

Urijah: 2 Album

2011-08-10T04:30:00.001-05:00

This little ball of energy was in the apartment this weekend. It's been dubbed Hurricane Urijah.

I love him to pieces

and could hug him & squeeze him

and hear him giggle & see him smile

and watch him run & jump

all day long!

Which must be why I can scrap photos of him for hours on end =)

I've started his 2 album. His 0-12 months album was 8x8, his 1 album was 12x12 (but featured a variety of sizes) and this year's album is 8 1/2 x 11. It's going to be a challenge for me I'm sure!

But I ended up getting some We R Memory Keepers pocket page protectors and I'm thinking this will help the cause.

Here are the first few pages of his album, featuring some Paper Moon goodness. Oh and btw, I bought the Paper Moon and the Space Cowboy add-on and fully intend to use all of it until it's gone, in this album of my nephew.

I loved all of the different primary colors in this kit, which is how the idea of this layout came about.

I cut a strip off the end of most of the sheets and used them as my journaling block.

I LOVE this photo of my Papa and Urijah. I was standing in the window on the ledge, to get this shot of the two of them, looking oh so serious, when really they are not. It's printed onto metallic paper (from scrapbookpictures.com) and is just gorgeous and so luminescent in person.

This layout is about Grandpa and the special song he made up a for his favorite little boy, which he sings it constantly whenever Urijah is around. (It's catchy and gets stuck in my head frequently!!)

I had to get this shot of them and their feet. My Papa wears a size 12 shoe. Urijah John already ready wears a size 6T. He's a little guy, but man are his feet and his hands so big!

He has to get them from Grandpa John!

Oh, and the green is a pattern I made with a houndstooth background stamp, some clear embossing ink and my trusty mists. I'm pretty sure I used Pickle Mister Huey and one of my green Maya Mists.

And last but not least a quick baseball card type one, with 1 sheet of Crate patterned paper, cut down to fit inside the page protector. I printed this photo using my photo printer, but instead of the photo paper, I sent a sheet of cardstock through. It makes for a more vintage feel.

I'm bound and determined to not fall behind on Urijah's scrapbooks.

And I'm making progress on 2!

xxbesos

Just Bee-cause Cards

2011-08-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

I needed some cards to send to the grandparents, and the SC bee stamp that came with my Into the Woods kit, was the inspiration for these just "bee"cause cards =)

I misted some cream cardstock with Lemonade Mister Huey and Gold and Sunflower Maya Mist, using doilies as masks.

It came out soo cool!

I'm so loving making my own background paper with various mists these days.

I ended up adding the doilies I used as masks, to anchor the heat embossed bee (Brown Zing!).

I finished it off with a sentiment from the most quintessential pack of sentiments every known to woman! (Seriously they are from Papertrey Ink and you should buy them)

And some button twine (also from Papertrey Ink, because they're awesome like that).

xxbesos

CKC, KP & SC

2011-08-07T17:40:00.000-05:00

I had a total blast at CKC Houston (ahem The Woodlands...) last month when Matt was off in Ohio visiting family. I met some super sweet ladies whom I will be cropping with later this month and a few scrapbooking celebs.

I'm sure these lovely ladies need no introduction.

I had so much fun in classes with Kelly Purkey and shopping and chatting with April Foster and Nicole Harper of Studio Calico.

You've seen some of the projects we made that day, here and here and here.

Today I'm sharing some of my workspace.

You see, we got really inky while we were playing with all of those fabulous Mister Huey's.

And SC being the very smart and responsible company that they are, made sure the tables was covered in kraft shipping paper to protect them from our inky messes.

Well, I loved how messy and graphic my workspace ended up, that I cut it up and brought it home with me =)

And here's the page I made with it.

I wanted it to be a bit rough around the edges (yes, pun intended!) so I free cut it in roughly a 11.5 x 11.5 square and stapled it to an anchoring sheet of cardstock.

Coming from the corporate world, I love a good acronym and played with that a bit in my title.

I added some ephemera from the day, my wristband and my class ticket, which I misted using the wood veneer packaging as a mask.

The people, more so than the classes are what really made the experience for me. I'm so glad I got to meet KP! And of course chat with Nicole and April. It was a lovely day =)

Oh, and I'm blogging up a storm today, so be sure to check back in the coming weeks for all of my latest projects!

xxbesos

Dover Favorites

2011-08-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

Aaaannnd...I'm back with some more for my England 8x8 Mini book. The album I purchased came with these sweet manila page dividers, so I used one as the basis for a page.

There will be no blank spots in this mini album!

It was a super simple quick and easy page, just a few strips of patterned paper, a red label stamped & heat embossed with Rouge Zing and some quick and easy journaling.

I love that the shape and sheen of the heat embossing on this label is vaguely reminiscent of the iconic telephone booth.

And onto a 2 page vintage spread that I love! It features some goodies from the Mind the Gap SC kit (brown patterned paper and greenish tinged buttons).

I had no idea that there were these secret tunnels built under Dover Castle in WW2. Since Dover is just across the way from Calais in France, it must have been a prime location for them back in the day.

They still had everything set up as if the war was still going on. It was pretty awesome to see and explore.

And I finally got use the "Keep Calm & Carry On" stamp...and in the correct context!!!

Only 2 more pages left for this section of the mini book. I'll update soon with all of Dover pages.

xxbesos

Week in the Life Prep

2011-07-31T05:00:00.000-05:00

From a month in the life, to a week in the life it seems :)

The other day I shared with you some monthly calendar pages. Today, I'm sharing with you my prep for the epic Week in the Life project!

Have you heard of it?

It something Ali Edwards does once a year and it has such a huge contingent of followers.

And now I get to say I'm one of them!

Well, I guess I've always been a follower of her project (or at least since I discovered it last year) but I've never actually participated before.

Last year I was going through such a hard time, not working, living at home, and I didn't really feel like commemorating forever, this not so great time of my life.

But this year things have changed so much! I'm working, I'm closer to Matt (i.e. we actually live in the same city!!) and I'm starting to get my feet on the ground and figure out this whole grown up thing.

What a perfect time to document a typical week in my life!

I decided to go hybrid on this project and purchased the 3 kits below for there awesome "everyday life" theme/quality.

Cathy Zielske's Page Frames No. 3

This is the Day Word Art No. 02

Week in the Life Journal Cards

And here are my pre-photo pages! I printed 1 each of Cathy Z's templates (there are 6) and will figure out the most appropriate to repeat for the 7th day.

And then printed Ali's Week in the Life Journaling cards in Gray.

I decided to do 1 page 8 1/2 x 11 and also a baseball card photo sleeve to catch some of the ephemera, extra photos, and journaling cards, for each day of the week.

It's going to be fairly neutral, and the colors and a few bits and pieces of patterned paper are what will give it some life.

I also decided to not make a separate album for these. It's going to right there in the middle of my 2011 calendar page scrapbook.

I have most of the pictures and now need to work on the journaling. But I'm on my way to have a complete Week in the Life project!

Be sure to check back for the finished pages!

And truly, thank you for stopping by :)

xxbesos

Project 12: April, May, June

2011-07-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

Hello dear bloggie friends! My apologies for the random hiatus. I've been scrapping lately, I just haven't had the chance to blog.

The words don't come as easily to me :) But I try!

So last weekend, I got caught up on my calendar pages. 3 whole months worth! I took a bit of a break from these for one reason.

My sweet Maddie got her angel wings in April.

And it left a big black hole in heart.

And I just couldn't bring myself to document it.

But it's been 3 months now and I'm just barely getting use to the idea of her being gone and just barely able to document. I still miss her so much!

For the April calendar, I used some Pink Paislee House of Three and bits of Studio Calico.

And the accompanying picture page, is full of color. I had to include that photo of the Royal Wedding and all of it's lovely fairy tale-ness & this awesome diecut from My Minds Eye that I've had in my stash for quite a awhile. It was too perfect to not use!

May was a much busier month, in the beginning. And then it was pretty low key and restful up until the end when we went all out with a trip to New Orleans!

I used my Lawn Fawn Polaroid stamp and some Studio Calico stamps to share some of the highlights. Also btw, lately I've been loving blue! It's not one of my usual faves (aside from the Tiffany's/robins egg/teal variety) but lately I've been using it quite a lot.

And then on to June, which led to a lot of activites, but not a lot of pictures!! What the heck was I thinking not taking a picture with my high school best friend, as we had dinner for the first time in 4 years?! What was I thinking when I had everyone over to my house for a pizza party to convince Susie to not be scared about her upcoming trip to Amsterdam?!

But alas, it's true. I do not have any photos of these oh so fun events.

I did however, have a few photos from date night, baby-sitting Urijah, and our weekend trip to San Antonio. Well, of some of the food we ate but none of me and my Grandpa! The entire reason why I'd driven out to San Antonio in the first place!

In the words of my mid western boyfriend, oh geez!

I guess I haven't learned!

xxbesos

J3 Team

2011-07-20T08:00:00.002-05:00

This is the money shot! Team J3 out in the wild =)

I did a lot of day tripping out of London, with these two characters: Josh on my left (as you look at this photo) and Jonathan or Tash on my right. Hence, the J3!

Joshie had a guidebook, it was something about Trips out of London, and we'd just flip through it until we found a place we wanted to visit. Dover was our first day trip.

It was so much fun traveling with these guys. We're all pretty low key and relaxed, just content to hop on a train, jump off and explore for a day.

I love this photo of the 3 of us near the seaside in Dover. I used a sheet of Sassafras Basics paper (one of my favorite go to lines) and just added a few extra elements.

Like the row of punched circles and the 3 metal studs.

And then I stamped the circle chain (which is messy because I forgot my acrylic block and just had to go for it!) added some punched circles and letter stickers.

I'd love to have a J3 reunion one of these. Boys let's make it happen!

xxbesos

Dora the Explorer

2011-07-18T14:00:00.001-05:00

Aaaand...I'm back sharing Scrap & Yap and England Mini album layouts!

This one was my favorite and made me fall in love with the Mind the Gap SC kit!

I picked these photos to play with, because I was (luckily) wearing an orange shirt. Which I think coordinates perfectly with the products in the kit.

This was my favorite page from the day. I just had fun punching and folding circles...

...and printing onto Fabrips!

Oh, and adding things straight onto my photo, including an Ali Edwards' timeline overlay. <3

And I couldn't waste the back of this gorgeous paper, so I created this quick and easy layout directly onto the back of the other. Old school!

I originally printed more journaling for the Dora page, but it just didn't look right on the layout. So I added it to the back and threw a photo and some goodies on for good measure.

Journaling Reads:

In this moment I am in my element, out in the world, traveling, exploring, wandering. I lave each and every minute.

It's worth all of the hassle, every backache and foot blister. Whether I'm with someone or by myself it doesn't even matter. I cannot quench my thirst for travel.

Cheers, bye!

xxbesos

5 *Mini

2011-07-17T21:00:00.001-05:00

Sorry for being MIA these last few days, I was over in Austin playing with this girl:

My bestie, Tara Fay! I love her to pieces :) We went to celebrate her 27th year of awesomeness, with a little karaoke and some bowling. Needless to say it was an awesome 24 hours of fun. But we're old and now everyone is tired.

And now I'm home to write about her gifts.

Tara has received a lot of my handmade creations, so it's always a challenge to think of something new and innovative. I tend to go overboard on these things and try to think of themes.

One year, when I was poor and unemployed, I baked her cupcakes and personalized the cupcake toppers. I also made her a cupcake mini album and a cupcake card.

Last year, I spruced up some moleskine journals for her (she's a writer) all with the theme of achieve.

This years theme was all about the number 5.

It all started with that book in the middle. I found it at Paper Source (along with some other scrappy goodies) and instantly had my theme for this year.

Now, to know a bit about Tara, you have to know that she's a planner, she's a list maker, she's future thinking and goal-oriented. That's my girl to a T (hehe!) So when I came across this book, on a second pass through Paper Source, I knew it would be perfect for her.

It's all about where you're going to be in 5 years. It's a workbook of sorts that focuses on your values and goals, etc. Spot on for my favorite life planner.

So I came home and made this silly card using a stencil purchased from Paper Source (which btw I could not love more!) and some Maya Mists. (I'm seriously lacking in red Mister Hueys...)

It's my attempt at humor :D And actually a really quick and easy card to make.

I sprayed it, used my Slice to cut the circle and the 5, printed out the type and heat embossed the 27 on the inside.

Simples!

Then I got to think about it. Tara and I have known each other for several years now, but we really didn't start hanging out on a regular basis until 2006...5 years ago!

So I had to make a mini! And since I've just added a new type of my album binding to my repertoire, I knew it could be quick and easy. KP, I hope I made you proud :)

I used a Hambly overlay for the cover, and cut another 5 with my Slice.

Then I busted out the stencil again and hit with Red and Coral Maya mists.

And then I got to playing. The theme was all numbers, so I pulled together some number paper, an SC number stamp etc.

And I added the date to all of my photos, picked one from each year of our friendship.

Played with some shipping tags, mist and stamps.

Added some blue which is quite an accomplishment for me since I don't really use blue very often, but I love how this turned out! These are my favorite 2 pages :)

Busted into my House of Three Daily Junque stamps. I used those a lot in this album.

And I'm loving my white embossing powder!

Ran out of room for some journaling, so I added in a shipping tag for some extra space.

Have to add that this is my absolute favorite photo of me and T. It's just so us it isn't even funny!

Misted the tag using Warm Calico Mister Huey.

And finished the album with a photo form New Years' Eve 2010!

I wouldn't have thought to add a back to the mini, if it wasn't for the Fabulous Fabrips class, but I love how it literally helps close the book on the mini. I'll never forgo this potentially wasted space again!

Oh, and I have to add that the majority of this kit was made using the leftovers from the CKC class! I only added a few elements and papers and of course used my own stamps and Mister Hueys. So keep that in mind if you're thinking of taking the class :)

I just have to end on this note. T Fay, I love you to pieces! Never change, always keeping striving for improvement in yourself, in me, in the world. You are one of the most amazing people I know! Love you girlie :)

xxbesos

Mind the Gap

2011-07-15T04:00:00.001-05:00

More Scrap & Yap layouts!! I adore how this mini is turning out. I totally just went for it at this crop, didn't plan a thing.

This was my first layout of the day. But it didn't always look like this. It didn't have the border punched strip or the gray on top. But it was missing something up there, so I cut a strip of the blue off of the bottom, flipped it over (it was double sided) and anchored it with the Kraft backed by this awesome geometric print from the Mind the Gap kit.

Oh, and I added an Ali Edwards digital element to the photo before I printed it out. Just to give it something extra, ya know?

This was the view of the city from the top of the castle. The sad fact is, I don't even remember it. But I'm so glad I have this photo now! I do remember how windy it was out there, and I remember talking with my friend Josh. Sigh...it was a good day. I miss having friends around!

But onwards and upwards,

So I really love circles, in case you haven't been able to tell. And by love I mean obsessed!! It seems like all of my pages feature some kind of circle design.

For this page, I punched a bunch of 2 in circles out of scrap paper and used them as masks, layered them on a sheet of paper that came with the album, and hit it with Mister Huey in Barnwood (which btw, you all know how much I love gray. I officially have my second favorite color, after white of course!) and then filled in the circles with photos and punched patterned paper, stamps and even did some heat embossing.

It was a fun page and an easy way to combine a bunch of random photos. And I have to add, I love this color scheme! In case you weren't able to tell ;)

Cheers, bye!

xxbesos

Mister Huey Winner

2011-07-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

And the winner of the Studio Calico goodies is....

Jamie McG! Congrats :)

Please e-mail me at paperheart[dot]project[at]gmail[dot]com and

I'll have your goodies out to you ASAP!

xxbesos

England *Mini

2011-07-13T06:00:00.003-05:00

I have some Mind the Gap goodness to share with you today!!

But first, I have to gush about the awesomeness of crops! There's just something about being away from all of my stuff, away from all distractions, at a table with limited supplies (and usually limited space) that just gets works for my brain!

On Sunday, my friend Susie invited me to her friend's for a Scrap & Yap Brunch. This group of ladies gets together every so often to scrap and chat and brunch. It was such a nice time. Even going into it not know anyone (which I seem to be doing a lot lately), didn't diminish my capacity for good quality scrapping fun!

While I was there, I got 7 pages fairly well done. A few needed some minimal products from home, some needed titles and they all needed journaling. But in just a few short hours, I had 7 more pages to add to a mini album I hadn't even started! What's not to love (and gush) about that?!

I'd purchased this mini album kit by Making Memories at least a year ago, with the intention of using it as an England album.

I think it works perfectly, and all I had to do to the window was add some Thickers.

I also created this as a title page, using my Mind the Gap kit.

I had to keep on theme!!

And this was my first picture page. I did something a little subtle here and tried to match the patterned papers, with the colors in the photo i.e. green patterned paper next to the grass, cream next to the stone wall, blue next to the sky, etc.

I also dug into my stash of Studio Calico letter stamped and used my favorite charcoal chalk ink for the title and the date.

More pages to come! 5 more to be exact :) Oh, and don't forget to check back to tomorrow for the winner of the Mister Huey's (which btw, I used the oh-so-fabulous white to splatter around on the patterned paper).

Cheers, bye!

xxbesos