You & Naps

I really loved that idea from Monday, of a mini flip/photo book on my page. So I did another one, using my Hello Sunshine kit and Hello Love add on. I even went with the same theme! Documenting multiple trips with the same person. (Really I thought they'd be a cute mini book but who has time for those?!)

This is all about traveling with my bestie Kori. We make excellent travel companions because we both like to sleep! But seriously, how do you expect me to see all of this awesomeness and really appreciate it on only about 2 hours of sleep. Which was the norm when we were wanting to get the very cheap flights. Those all leave at 6am. Which means you have to be at the airport for 4:30am. Which in London means you need to be on your bus/train to get to the airport at 3:00am. Which means you need to wake up at 2:00am so you can grab your bag and walk/bus to get to the airport bus/train. And likely you were up late packing the night before. (I think there's a scrapbook page somewhere in there…)

Anyway, I made this cute black and white and pink all over page which I think is fitting for the girly girl that is Kori. (Also interesting, I find Sarah to be more earthy and bohemian and her page was all blues and greens. I'm highly influenced/inspired by color if you couldn't already tell!)

Like I mentioned before this is a flip photo book and includes photos of me and Kori in Amsterdam and  Berlin...

...Morocco and Belgium. It does not include photos from Barcelona. My purse along with my camera was stolen on that trip. No photos remain!

I'm never bothered when I repeat designs. So often the pages don't go in the same album. Even this time, when they likely will, I'm totally ok about it. They're similar designs but not identical! Unless you were really into design you'd likely not even notice.

If you love a page you made, I'd totally repeat it! Use a different color scheme or photo size. If you tap into a good thing, use it again. I've done this other times (see keyword: Repeat Design). Scrapbooking doesn't always need to be about reinventing the wheel. Sometimes if you just want to have fun, not think and make it quick, repeat something you know will work!

cheers & besos,

Monochromatic Birthday

My birthday was last Friday! Oh my birthday...that whole day went by in a blur. I planned a fun party for my friends and asked if everyone could wear wigs! I thought it'd be fun to celebrate the last birthday of my 20's with something fun and crazy.

We took some great group photos of us in our crazy fun colored wigs. Obviously, I really wanted them to stand out. So I took on Jennifer's left-brained Color Challenge from Art + Science and only worked with neutrals. 

It was soooo hard! All I wanted to do was add in neon pink! But I refrained. And I think, the page came out the better for it. Instead, I used a lot of black and white elements plus gold and a touch of gray.

Us in those wigs definitely became the focal point!

Lately, I'm absolutely loving digital elements. And Two Peas is giving us some completely fabulous options! And of course, since black and white has become such a big part of my scrapbooking, I'm loving all of the October releases!

For this page, I incorporated some fabi printables and a freebie die cut from a few months back. (Snag it now!! They're available again for just a short while)

My Cameo cut the freebie die cut perfectly and I used it as a mask with some Heidi Swapp Gold Lame Color Shine (my favorite!). It didn't mask very well in certain parts, so I drew around the shapes using my black pen--on the white parts--and my white pen for the darker parts at the bottom.

I also finally got to use my new Pebbles Alphabet Stamp.

Oh, and about the background paper, I created this background of black and white photo strips in PSE and printed it out on white orange peel cardstock. All the photos were edited using Rad Lab. Heck all of my photos are edited using Rad Lab!

I had fun making this page. I had fun this night! Be prepared to see this photo and others like it over and over again. It was just so fun =)

cheers & besos,

Sketchbook 4| No.12

And just like that I've finished Sketchbook 4. I'll post my usual wrap-up but first, I have to share my final page :) 

I used the my May Studio Calico kit and went to town, filling in the squares and rectangles the sketch called for with patterned papers and photos. I did some shifting around, but the essence of the sketch is still there.

Once again color was the driving force behind my choosing these photos. I took the teal from the domes and the statues and used strips of patterned paper that highlighted the color. I made sure to throw in some green  to accent the bits of greenery.

For this page, I journaled in a list.

1. Travel Buddies: Kori was(is?) one of my favorite travel buddies. We went to Belgium, Morocco, Spain & of course Germany together.

2 & 3. Museum Island & Fernsenturm: This area was gorgeous and so picturesque. We didn't go into the museum but instead soaked it all in from afar.

4. Brandenburg Gate: We had to see this famous landmark. There was no way around it. The square was busy and full of history.

5. Berlin Wall: The famous wall was no less impressive. I think I was most captivated by graffiti all over the walls. And there's something about this area of the city. Although not very far from the bustling Brandenburg area & Check Point Charlie, it was much more subdued.

I played with both color and texture on this page, roughed up and distress inked the edges of each of these patterned paper blocks. And even attempted to do some sewing. I will never get the settings on my machine right!!!

Sketchbook 4 completed: check!
12 pages done: yay!

cheers & besos,

Mahiki

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

Shimelle Challenges

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

XXX

Did you know that XXX is not a symbol for promiscuity and debauchery, but actually an old world trade symbol for the city of Amsterdam?

Or so I'm told...

Back in the day, freight bound for Amsterdam was for some reason or other, tagged with an XXX. And because of Amsterdam's red light "reputation" it then became the symbol for all that aforementioned promiscuity...

Just a random tidbit (that I haven't actually googled to verify) to initiate this post on Amsterdam pages :)

Here's my favorite photo from Amsterdam.

It's of my two besties, Christian & Kori. It was a cold and rainy November, when we visited A-dam. So when we weren't trying to see the city, we'd duck into a bar to wait out the rain. Which was actually awesome, considering we'd only met the month before and were still getting to know each other.

I love that the bartender got the stained glass in the background.

And that it has Amsterdam on the bottom!

As far as the page, the details are what does it for me. I discovered that I had a windmill stamp stamp (hehe!) in a variety pack from Tattered Angels.

And I had been saving this cool bottle cap from a few months back, that went perfectly with the green in this page.

Oh, and I forgot to add that this is a Sketchbook 3 sketch! Day 7 or is it 12? I think...I'll need to look it up. But that's definitely 14 layouts from the class now :)

And now to the infamous red light district...

Dum, dum dum....

This is the only photo I took. And to be honest, we didn't spend too much time there.

There's not much going down on the street. You'd have to walk into the places and being in a big group of girls, we weren't really down to do that.

It's still a beautiful spot.

All of Amsterdam is really!

So the layout was based almost to the T, on an older Sunday Sketch from Studio Calico. I thought it was perfect for my red light theme!

Also to emphasize the circles, I used my bubble stamp to add some texture to an otherwise plain sheet of paper. I cut out two larger circles and backed them with some of my favorite red paper scraps. And added a random assortment of brads and buttons for texture and depth.

I think the reflection of the lights on the water are what makes this photo. It would definitely be missing something without it.

So there you have my not so sordid adventures in Amsterdam. Still a few photos form this trip left to scrap. Check back soon for more!

xxbesos