LBD: Hometown Girl

Happy Friday! I have a winner for you guys. (And sorry about the delay on this!!) Random.org picked comment #2. That's you Rhonda! If you could e-mail your address to paperheart[dot]project[at]gmail[dot]com I'll have the RAK out to you ASAP!

Sorry it's been crickets around here guys, I've been so busy with work. But I wanted to share another Little Black Dress Kit layout with ya. It's a quick and simple page I put together about my hometown.

Did you know I'm from San Antonio originally? I never really appreciated that city until I left it. There is so much rich culture there. And some good history. Which for the US, I think is quite special.

I went old school & did some tearing on this layout! It was fun but also nerve wracking. That pink Dear Lizzy paper is one of my all time favorites. It feels like I used it on nearly all of my layouts this month.

The bones of this layout are quite simple. Torn paper strips on one side, photos in a line, hand journaling, a die cut and some distress ink, finished off with some letter stickers and I was done.

I was happy to have discovered that Mission die cut in the Silhouette store. Even though I'll probably never use it again, it was too perfect to pass up.

These photos were taken at Mission San Jose, on MT's first visit to Texas. I was proud to show him my home town and its heritage. Just like I'm always happy to admit I'm from San Antone. Which is where I'll be this weekend! Celebrating Urijah's 4th birthday and dropping in on Fiesta while I can.

Non-kit supplies used: Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo, Silhouette Cameo, Martha Stewart Alpha punch, Kraft cardstock

cheers & besos,

No. 1152-Desk

We moved! It was at the absolute worst time and not at all something we were planning to do. But alas, it happened. And now we're here! And all moved in and unpacked. 

My scrapbook area was the very last to be unpacked, with everything else going on during that time. And with the sheer size of my stash (but more to come on that later this week). 

I'm still scrapping in my bedroom. Even though we've moved to a two bedroom apartment, the guest bedroom is too small to fit my scrap area + a bed. But I'm ok with it. I've made it look nice at least!

I snapped some pictures to share:

Here's my desk, imagine me working on my creations here!

Here's the view from across the bedroom (my apologies for the poor lighting in all of these photos btw).

My paper, scraps, collections and photos are to the left of my desk. I also picked up a Raskog to hold my essential stuff, like date stamps, adhesives, inks, acrylic blocks and other bric a brac.

To the right is two Alex Drawer sets full of stamps, ephemera, embellishments, sewing supplies etc. And on the wall I mounted my cubby organizer for my embossing powders, glitter, paint, mist and tape.

Here's another look at the some of my storage.

I managed to get everything in on this one wall and just one storage container under the bed.

There's nothing like starting the new year with a new scrap area. I can't wait to create here in 2013!

cheers & besos,

No. 143-NoLa Spot

First off, just wanted to say thank you so much for all of the love!

I was overwhelmed with the response from the blog hop!

Happy to see some of you all will be back :)

Also, I'm working on a giveaway so check back soon for that :D

It's been awhile since I've done a No. 143 post so I thought it was time. Slowly but surely my little apartment is coming together! And more posts of this kind will be sure to follow.

Just a recap, No. 143 is my apartment and sometimes I share photos of how I incorporate my love of scrapbooking and photos into home decor.

Like for example, [Exhibit A]

This is my New Orleans wall. It's right across from my bed and I wake up and look at it every morning :)

MT purchased this painting while we were in New Orleans in May. We liked it because of the red background (his favorite color) and because he played the trumpet in high school and I played the saxophone in middle school. Plus, it's a travel memento and who doesn't like those!

The "Jamie" twist are the shadow boxes (which are now discontinued from IKEA so if you want some GO GET THEM!!)

I documented the whole trip via iPhone with my Instagram app. Which doesn't make for excellent images, but does make for a fun photo effects. Printing them at the 6x6 size was not recommended and the images themselves are a bit blurry and grainy,

but,

I do not care!

From this far away, they look just fine to me :)

I added some ephemera from the trip, beads we scooped up on Bourbon Street and the plastic grenades we got when we purchased a Hand Grenade (lethal alcoholic beverage).

And know I have a perfect 3-dimensional scrapbook on my wall!

xxbesos

No. 143-Asia Wall

Hi, hello!! I'm back on this glorious Saturday, to share with you another bit of my apartment. This little project of mine is slowly coming together.

I love how this photo captures 2 walls of my apartment (and the BF for your viewing pleasure ;) both of which feature the decor theme, travel.

This particular wall is China themed and the first thing I see when I walk into my apartment.

I lived in Asia for 4 months, at the end of 2008, and I was fortunate enough to travel to many different countries during that time. China was by far and away the country that had the most impact on me. I've never felt more embraced by a country or it's people. One of these days, I'll get around to sharing more of my lovely stories. But for now, I'll just stick with the eye candy.

The wall features a few treasures I picked up during my travels.

1. Books: the whole reason for my visit to China, was for research into my thesis (financing the Chinese healthcare system). So naturally, I had to do some initial research on the PRC. I picked up a few books, both fiction and non, to help me get a better feel for the country. I think they're gorgeous in and of themselves. The floating shelf I used was just wide enough to accommodate a few, as well as my tiny collection of clear glass vases and bottles.
2. Scarf: while I was in China, I visited the Forbidden Palace. It was an enthralling experience, let me tell you. Naturally, I wanted to bring home something special to remember it by, so I purchased 2 scarves (1 for me, 1 for Mama). They've been sitting in plastic for 2 years, until I finally was able to pull one out to showcase it here. Thank you IKEA for having such an oddly shaped frame! It's so hard to find square frames in sizes larger than 12x12. I also picked up a little aloe (we think) plant from there. I love the touch of green it adds...and the fact that I only have to water it once a week!
3. Paper Doilies: We were in Shanghai for a few days and I came across these lovely paper doilies. I loved the bright red color and the delicate designs. And when I say delicate, I mean delicate!! I backed them with tan cardstock and framed them in 12x12 scrapbook frames.
4. Framed Photo: The Great Wall. Oh man, is that thing great. We got up close and personal with 6 k of it the day we decided to hike it. It seriously kicked my butt but I wouldn't have traded the experience for anything. And look what my little point and shoot turned out. I'm very proud of you point and shoot, almost didn't think you had it in you.

Thus concludes this week's tour of No. 143. Thanks for stopping by!

xxbesos

Two Pages

Blue Aprons

Two page layouts. Who would have thought that they could be so intimidating and turn so many scrapbookers off! When I first started scrapping, I mainly did two page layouts. It's a great way to use tons of photos, especially 4x6 ones. I rarely use photos so large (ha, who'd have though) in my scrapbooking since switching to the smaller 8x8 albums. My journaling also tends to be longer on a two page layout. There's just so much space to play with!

This layout was giving me so much grief yesterday. I actually had to stop and sleep on it, which is something I never do. I think the two conflicting shades of blue the twins were wearing was throwing me off! I hope I finally got it right with some October Afternoon patterned papers, Basic Grey woolies, and a bit of ribbon.

We had so much fun that day! As my journaling reads, "for the twins 4th birthday I wanted to give them an experience instead of just a gift. So they came over for an afternoon of cookie making. They were so cute in their aprons and about not wanting to get their hands dirty! Eventually, they got really into it and were excited to feed Uncle John as many cookies as he could stomach. A total of six!"

Bangkok Bowling Birthday

What can I say? I've had some pretty epic birthday parties these last few years! For my 24th, we went cosmic bowling at the mall in Bangkok. I have so many pictures from that day, because we had such a blast, that a 2 page layout was a total necessity. The crazy carpeting was the color inspiration for this layout and I didn't want it to get too boughed down, thus most of the photos were switched to black and white. For some whimsical embellishing, I punched circles out of black cardstock and used the back end of a paintbrush to add holes on mini "bowling balls". Then, I hand cut bowling pins out of white cardstock and finished with red lines. The finishing touches were the flowers and buttons along the circular edge of the border.

I have to say, I had way more fun than this mediocre layout let on. So much fun, our team was an entire game behind the others! I mean, we had an all MBA group dance to the YMCA and the Macarena for goodness sake! Something that probably endlessly entertained our Asian counterparts. It made me so happy that all of my fellow Moutbattens came out to celebrate with me!

What my room says about jaMiE

When I was planning this layout, I really wanted to emphasize all of the elements that make up my room and basically, what makes up me. "These are a few of my favorite things" kept replaying in my head as I was working on this. I love my room! It's so quintessentially me!

I took my inspiration from a few Orla Keily organizational bins that I've been using in my room. The entire layout was pretty much done with scraps and there's a lot of hidden journaling behind the photos, on this one.

What can you find in my room?

Art: Georgia O'Keeffe is my favorite artist. A girl after my own heart, I love her use of coor and the tremendous depth found in it. I remember laying on my bed in college, just starting at her poppies for hours!

Lemons: Since Matt's and my trip to Paris, lemons have been a little joke between us. I sent him a "Be Mine" lemon last year for Valentine's Day and started a mini collection. I smile every time I see them.

Travel Mementoes: I don't really "collect" one specific thing while I travel. Rather, I love bringing home unusual things or objects unique to a country. A bongo from Marrakech, Morocco. A slanting bottle of lemencello from Pisa, Italy. A wishing frog from Bangkok, Thailand. But perhaps my most cherished of mementos is the ticket I saved from my visit to the World Trade Center in 2001.

If you're a scrapbooker, I challenge you to attempt a two page layout sometime soon!

xxbesos

j.leija