2016 Books [No. 01/02]

I love documenting the books that I read. I did this [last year and loved it] so much I did it again with my [June Elle's Studio kit]! It features two book related journaling tags.

9x12 has become my new favorite pocket page size. Visually, the dimensions are just so pleasing to my eyeballs. I like this grid. It just feels right!

I googled and found as high resolution images of the book covers, as possible. It's hard to find large enough files! But it's good that I only printed these at 3x4 size.

For this spread, I used two [journaling tags], the [Shine Bright stamp set], a [patriotic acrylic star] and a [puffy heart].

My favorite detail has to be this tiny book. I used the test print of my journaling to cut out little pages that I stapled together. I think the [stamp] is meant to be sunglasses, but hey they work as reading glasses too!! This whole card is glued to the outside of the pocket. I couldn't bear to cut down that heart!

The bright pops of blue just liven the page up. I'm lucky that that [blue journaling card] so closely matches the cover of The Happiness Project!

I have the back side of this layout to share with you next. It'll be up on the blog in a few days. But if you're interested in the [kit] specifically, jump on it ASAP. Elle's mentioned that there are only a handful left!

cheers & besos,

NSD 2014

I'm excited I got to do some scrapping today, on this, oh so hallowed of days. This is the one weekend a year when I'm usually working. In fact, I should have gone into the office today. But I decided I would just do it tomorrow. I'm exhausted so apologies for the brevity of this post, but I wanted to share my pages somewhere!

All of these pages feature Simple Scrapper sketches. The first two are from the exact same sketch. I love doing that when I know I have something good. It doesn't bother me, especially since these pages will be going into different albums. I also machine stitched on all of them. I set up the machine this afternoon and just left it out. I wish I could leave it out permanently but that's not the case.

And with that, I fall in bed and go to sleep! Hope everyone had a fabulous NSD!

cheers & besos,

Playing the Trends

Heyo! I hope everyone had as great a weekend as I did. My bestie drove in from Austin and we had a much needed girls weekend. We did just enough activities, worked in some relaxation and chatted a ton. I slept in until 11am this morning. I can't remember the last time I did that. Plus, the weather was gorgeous and on our side. And bonus, I scrapped! I'm telling you, this weekend was absolute perfection!

Sneaking one last challenge page in at the eleventh hour. Here's my final 2Peas CHA Challenge layout! I had fun playing around with some of the latest trends.

Trend No. 01-Glitter
Trend No. 02-Feathers

I glittered up a wood veneer feather. I also made my own feather out of vellum. I think it turned out really cute!

Trend No. 03-Washi tape
Trend No. 04-Gold metallic

If you don't own washi and are wondering where to start, I totally recommend getting some metallics. I love my gold and silver tapes.

Trend No. 05-Silhouette cuts
Trend No. 06-Confetti/glitter pockets

Finally! My Cameo cut something correctly. The insides of the B's were perfect for a little confetti pocket.

And that's all she wrote. I've loved playing along with these challenges. They always help me stretch my creativity and usually seem to be my most favorite pages.

What about you? Do you like to create from challenges? I'd love to see some of your challenge creations!

cheers & besos,

Prayers

This may likely be my most favorite page I've ever created. It's a might but a strong might. It's the colors!! And all of the fun embellishments!

Usually with photos like these, ones that have so many strong colors, I tend to tone down the embellishments so the photos stand out. But with these, I just went for it! If not now, when? Right?

I made a few tiny paper chains which were not as easy to make as I thought! I also made some rosettes and embellished with buttons, brads, and circle punched patterned paper. This is what made the Summer of 69 kit so rad. With all of these colors, I really got to play!

Journaling Reads:

The Japanese method of "prayer" was unique.
Step 1: Toss Coin Step 2: Clap Step 3: Bowed head

One of my favorite parts of culture crashing, is seeing local places of worship. These open temples in Japan, with their brightly colored paper chains and garland cranes was one of the most visually stunning "alters" I've ever seen.

cheers & besos,

Just for You

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

*Dimple

I lied! This is officially the last page I did for Urijah's One Year Old Scrapbook. I just put it together so quickly, I nearly forgot!

I wanted it to be more silver/gray as opposed to brown/gold since the majority of the other Christmas page turned out as the latter.

So I added some tape and a button.

Stamped an edge and hand stitched a tag.

Which btw, I'm working on something called the 100 Tag Project!

I recently purchased a package of shipping tags. I'm hoping to finish 100 tags by next year, to be used on my pages, cards, gifts, etc. I'll be sharing them as I go along, so be sure to check back for these as well as the entirety of Urijah's album.

Thanks for stopping by!

xxbesos

Sketch 233-Box in a Box

It's Monday again, you know what that means! Another Scrapbook Challenges sketch!

And yes, apparently December is all Christmas on the blog. I don't mind, I love this holiday so much. I've had this pile of photos in my "to scrap" folder for...well, 12 months now. I'm glad they're finally scrapped!

It was Matt's and my first Christmas together, so I went a taaad bit overboard on all of his gifts. That doesn't mean I spent a lot of money, I just got creative with the packaging and the surprises. Like with this one, I wrapped one box inside of another box inside of a bigger box! Each box had a theme and its own card. [Check them out here] I think he liked it. That smile makes it seem like he did :)

I took a few liberties with the sketch but it's my favorite from this month by far. I distress inked the edges of three squares of kraft cardstock and layered them on top of each other, tied some baker's twine around them and made my own "bow" out of folded circles.

I love the graphic look of text and I also love mixing letter stickers with my own handwriting. I think they make my page!

xxbesos

j.leija

Hybrid: Text as Graphics

[[Warning: Whinge about to occur!! Ugh, so since moving to my new place, I haven't found a good spot in which to take photos of my pages. The photos are coming out light in some places, dark in others, the colors are always off and I just can't seem to figure it out! Honestly, and I hate to admit this, its half the reason why I'm not updating the blog. I know I'm too much of a perfectionist but it's seriously driving me nuts!!]]

Ok, now that I've got that off of my chest, I have a new page to share and a new challenge to issue. It's my monthly Hybrid Diva Ch{all}enge Masters prompt.

This month's challenge is to use text as graphics for your page. I managed to do this in a variety of different ways.

With the help of Word and some text boxes, I created this "fancy" title. I liked mixing the fonts and the text sizes for a more graphic effect.

I added this tab to the top of my page. It's a theme I'm going to stick with for awhile. I think since I didn't get to participate fully in Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday class, I've subconsciously been tagging things as "learned" in my head for awhile. I thought this was a fun way to incorporate "life lessons" into my journaling and my pages. I'd love to have a whole album with the theme of life lessons.

And then I made some baseballs. And I'm LOVING these little guys. They were the launching off point for this month's prompt. They're cute, simple and super easy to make!

All you'll need is a block of text, a circle punch and I choose to use distressing ink, but obviously that's optional. Print your text, punch it out, distress or embellish as desired. Viola!

I hope you'll play along. And be sure to check out more Week 2 challenges this Sunday! (I'm a bit early) Thanks yall!

xxbesos

j.leija

Hybrid: Journaling Strips

Hello Dearies! It's me again. Shocker, I know. No one has missed scrapbooking and this blog more than me, that's for sure. But I finally feel like I'm getting a handle on that tricky work/life mix that has eluded me these past few months. I'm all moved into my new apartment, still in the process of unpacking and decorating, but I'll get there. And yesterday, I organized (as best I could) all of my scrappy goodness!! Thus, I was finally able to take some time to sit down and scrap.

Even without work and all of the things I've been doing, I still haven't felt as inspired to scrap. And I know it's because I'm bored with the troves of old photos I have, just waiting to be put on a page. They aren't inspiring me at the moment. So when Urijah came to visit last weekend and we got the chance to take him to the pumpkin patch, my scrapbooking was reinvigorated.

So here's my happy little pumpkin page! I had to compartmentalize my life a bit, and created this page for two challenges I'm issuing this month. One for Scrapbook Challenges, the other for Ch{all}enge Masters.

This month, I get to issue the By the Numbers challenge over at Scrapbook Challenges. Typically, I'm suppose to provide a "formula" or "recipe" of elements to include on your page, but, I want to do things a bit differently this month. Since signing up to do this challenge, that old song "1..2..3..4..5! Senses working over time" has been on repeat in my head. I looked it up, it's originally done by XTC but I know the covered version by Mandy Moore. I thought now would be a great time to challenge you all to create a page using the theme of senses. You don't have to use all of the senses, just pick one.

Urijah was only interested in patting the pumpkins, on our trip to the patch. He'd touch them and thump them and that was about as high as his level of interest would go. But now I have all of these great photos capturing him using his sense of touch. I choose a few choice tactile embellishments to highlight my touch theme. Like that great braided ribbon done by Making Memories. It's all nubby and a bit rough. I also used some textured cardstock and those glitter accents have a grainy feel to them.

So that's your challenge fellow Scrapbook Challengers! Create a page highlighting one of the five senses: touch, see, hear, smell, taste.

And now on to the Ch{all}enge Master portion of this duo challenge!! Since I'm the hybrid diva, I had to add some hybrid elements to the page. This month's challenge is a tried and true method of many a scrapbooker, the use of journaling strips. I had fun with these, varying the fonts, bolding things here and there, and then placing them in a non-linear way to emphasize the light-heartedness of the story.

I love how fonts can be a great visual element for emphasizing the story you're trying to tell. I wouldn't be doing my hybrid diva duties justice, if I didn't include a challenge using the variety and versatility of fonts!! So go to town! Mix them, bold some, italic others. Add Wingdings. And when you've cut them up and are placing them on your page have fun with spacing. Wrap them around a photo. Link them with eyelets. Get crafty!

Just to make it clear, this month's Hybrid Challenge for my fellow Ch{all}enge Masters is to incorporate journaling strips onto your page.

So that's the bit about the challenges, now on to the bit about the photos. As the journaling above tells you, we took Urijah to the pumpkin patch, only vaguely caught his interest and then lost it completely when he saw a dog being walked on the street. He loves dogs!! He set off trucking on his tiny little legs after it, as soon as he noticed it on the sidewalk. After that, he couldn't be less interested in those crazy orange things. But my mama was happy that we at least got a photo or two with him and some pumpkins.

Aaannd...I feel like I've done enough talking in this scattered and random post! So I'll just about stop now. I only want to add that if someone creates a page that's good for both challenges, link it up in the comments and you'll enter in for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to the online retailer of your choice! Just as my little treat for the brave soul that chooses to tackle both :) And when you think about it, they aren't to difficult to combine. Just saying...

Happy Scrapping yall!!

xxbesos

j.leija

Dear Lizzy

Ok, be jealous! I was so very fortunate as to attend a class taught by Dear Lizzy, of Creating Keepsakes and American Crafts, herself!! I've been anxiously awaiting and anticipating this class for months now. It got pushed back 2 times but nothing was going to stop me from going!

And how lucky for me, that I moved to the metropolis where she was teaching, only a little over 2 weeks ago! I made the 1 hour trek from downtown Houston (thanks to my faulty Google maps feed and the miles long access roads) out to the Woodlands for some fun and paper crafting.

I was a bit late but I honestly feel that totally worked out for me in the end, as I got to sit next to Jeri, one of the sweetest and loveliest of ladies. We played catch up the whole time but really just had fun chatting about our travels and my new job. And of course chatting with Lizzy about her sweet girls and the little one on the way.

This was 1 of 2 projects that we made in the class, both featuring some of my favorite Dear Lizzy products. Like that fabric paper! {gasp!!} Amazing!! I'm now hooked and feel the need to invent new and creative ways for incorporating it into my pages and albums.

I have to confess that it wasn't always my intention to create this page for a photo of me and Lizzy. But a nice lady clown (she wasn't in costume) in the class had the idea and I have to confess, I stole it.

I love my page! This was a true "Lizzy" creation through and through and I even got Lizzy herself to sign the page!! And what I mean by "Lizzy" is fun and colorful, girly and sweet. Much like the lady herself who was an absolute doll.

Journaling Reads: "I was so excited to take a class with the lovely Lizzy Kartchner! We played with gorgeous paper and fabulous products, all designed by Lizzy herself. She was so sweet and truly inspiring and a way too cute preggo lady!"

xxbesos

j.leija

Seeing Red

Running of the Bulls

I suppose I was in a red kind of mood this NSD weekend, because all of these layouts have touches of red! Also, all of them were created for various Studio Calico challenges. The DT prompted a TON of inspiration. These three layouts were inspired by 9 different challenges. I'll break it down for you now.

This page was created for the mist, lift yourself, and scrap an old photo challenges. I lifted my Hair layout but switched things around a bit. The mist is the same but the awesome Prima star element ended up horizontal instead. Also, used those amazing yellow Basic Grey letter stickers. Seriously, there's like a million letters on there bc I'm nowhere near to running out! And I've used them, a lot! I bought the red Max and Whiskers version because of this.

About the photo, it's an oldie. Back from 2006 when I was studying abroad in Spain. As luck would have it, the last weekend of our program was the last weekend of the running of the bulls. Also as luck would have it, the city I lived in was only a 2 hour bus ride away from Pamplona! How could we not go? Being the mother hen that Professor Cassidy is, she arranged the whole thing for us. All we all had to do was stumble on the bus at around 4 am and stumble through the dirty streets of Pamplona to our balcony around 6. Seriously, the most memorable experience!

Mama

Awww, mama. I love her :) She's my bestie! This layout was created with inspiration from the ad challenge, mist challenge, scrap yo mama challenge and I used another older photo. I feel like I look so young! It was taken at Nana's house early 2006. I think we were just over that day and I think I just felt like taking a picture of us. Who knows why I took this, but I'm happy I did because I'm so surprised that she actually smiled! She never smiles! And who knew that four eyes could make the two of us look alike. I resemble my mama, but not very much.

The Sweetest Pair

The last of my NSD weekend creations! And arguably the worst :( I'm just not really feeling it. It feels too flat. But that's what I get for using this gorgeous Sassafras paper. It did all of the work. I attempted to add dimension with the banners and the flower, but they feel a little off. I do like the idea for it though.

This ones good for the sketch, layered flower and scrap your opposite challenges. I made the flower from memory. I read a tutorial somewhere around the blogosphere. If you know where it was please let me know! But it's three layers; the folded green outer edge, the white scalloped punch and the clear green button. Loving these flowers!

I definitely say this is my opposite style. I rarely scrap 4x6 photos, and not very often a single one on a 12x12 page. It has a patterned paper background and not a lot of cardstock. Maybe the reason I don't like it, is because it's so much my opposite. At least this photo's done!

Happy National Scrapbook Day!!

xxbesos

j.leija

23rd Birthday: Scraplift

Twenty-third Birthday

Some 2 1/2 years later, and I've finally got around to scrapping the most fabulous birthday of my life. Thank you Handmade Love and Shannon for prompting a scraplift and for providing some great inspiration.

The Story:

When I turned 23, I had only been in London a month, had just barely gotten settled, and was in need of a big to do. Talking amongst my girls, we discovered that Nayeli and I were birthday twinnies. She's exactly a year older than me so of course we decided to have a joint party. Someone along the way had the idea to do a booze cruise and spending a night cruising the Thames sounded like the perfect way to celebrate our birthday. We had a really great turn out, 40 some Mountbattens came. And surprisingly, with all of the boozing and cruising, everyone was super chill and no drama occurred. The perfect kind of night out for me! I was also pumped to get to wear the reject graduation dress I'd picked up on my last trip to New York. Loved it! It was the launching point for the design of these layouts.

Birthday Cruise

The Page:

Since my dress had some pops of yellow, I wanted to highlight it in these pages. The scalloped patterned paper from Studio Calico inspired the addition of the turquoise and it turned out that faux wood patterned paper became a theme. The first page features a favorite photo of me and Sarah. I think she was teasing me with a cigarette. I wasn't biting...or rather smoking. The background is an old Basic Grey sheet. It has a lot of pink tones which did not go with my color scheme at all so I took Shannon's inspiration layout and moved all of the page elements up, in order to hide it. Using a tutorial from Studio Calico, I handmade the brown swirly/circular paper flower. Finished with strips of the scallops I cut from the patterned paper, added a ribbon trim and some Thickers. Viola!

The second page was all about balance and that amazing bright yellow wood grain. I wanted to highlight yellow in this design and the sheet from Studio Calico's Home Front line was too inspiring not to use. Strategically placed the photos and the patterned paper and added my journaling. I feel like it really offset these dark night time photos, gave them a new energy. Which is what they needed because I wanted to emphasize what a blast I had that night. I also wanted to add as many photos as possible but even the 10 featured here aren't nearly enough to do the whole night justice, nor showcase half the friends who came. I really could waste another 1000 words on the fun to be had that night, but this isn't the platform nor the place ;) Let's just say it was a too fun party that I'll remember for the rest of my life!

Thanks for sharing in my ride down birthday way. I'd love to hear about your favorite birthday! Leave me a comment :)

xxbesos

j.leija

Anne Frank Huis: Color

Anne Frank Huis

Have you ever had a group of photos that you felt were so important you were actually intimidated to scrap them? Or had an absolutely brilliant idea for a group of photos that you were almost scared that it wouldn't turn out how you imagined in your head. These photos, from my trip to the Anne Frank Huis in Amsterdam, fall into both of those categories.

It's almost impossible to describe my visit to the Anne Frank Huis, to have walked where she walked and to see where she lived. It's one of my most memorable places to have visited and I'm so thankful that I had the opportunity to see it. And ok, so maybe I cheated a bit with this layout. I'll admit that most of these "photos" aren't mine, but rather postcards I picked up from the bookstore. They do the space much better justice than Kori's point and shoot ever could. (Did I mention that my camera had just been stolen while in transit to A-dam?!)

Crazily, we didn't take photos outside of the house (nor inside) but Christian and I felt it was too important to not have a record. So we hiked it back the few miles down the canal while Kori went shopping. I got two shots outside the building, one from across the canal and one right in front of the building. The little silver plaque says Anne Frank Huis but it was too shiny to photograph well. And being the perpetual ticket hoarder that I am, I couldn't not keep this one, written in Dutch no less!

So I had an idea about masking and patterned paper, and I wasn't quite sure how it was going to turn out. As scrapbookers, we all have these ideas of what we want our layouts to look like. Sometimes we're disappointed and frustrated with the outcome. But surprisingly, this layout ended up looking almost exactly as I'd imagined it in my head.

I also had so much to say about these photos, that I wanted my journaling to be a big part of this layout and one of the major focal points. I decided to hand write it to get a more "diary-esque" feel. I even scratched out a few words and added a few in, when re-reading the whole thing. I'm not upset that it's perfect, I think it just adds to the charm.

Prima has these awesome felt stems that are meant for embellishing. But the second I saw them, they screamed "use me as a mask!" I balanced them on the edges of this layout and hit them with Gold Metallic and then Brown Maya Mist. Using a craft knife, I carefully cut out the relief and then traced around the edge with a black pen, to give it more definition. Then, using strips of patterned paper I had in my scrap pile, I adhered them to the back of the layout, to add some color and dimension. I'm so happy with how they look! It was an idea I had in my head that actually played out how I wanted it to. When does that ever happen?!

I finished the layout with some Dymo labels, these amazing new Thickers, and a few handmade flower embellishments. [I wrote up a tutorial on these a few posts back: Paper Posies]. Not only am I happy to have scrapped these photos, but I'm also relieved to feel that I did them justice. Thanks Handmade Love for posting a truly inspiring Color Challenge. I don't think this layout would have turned out half as nicely, otherwise!

xxbesos

j.leija