Cat in the Window

Happy Saturday darling readers! I'm so excited to have nothing to do this weekend. Therefore, I get to do whatever I want! Muahahahaha!!! The power has gone to my head. I intend to scrapbook and clean and organize, maybe get a foot massage. The possibilities are endless.

I'm going to relish these next few weeks because come September, I'll be back on my travel wagon. It's 2-3 different cities/countries a month for me. I both love and loath that kind of schedule. Either way I see a very tired Jamie at the end of it.

But enough about me, just wanted to share that I blogged over on the Scrapbook Circle blog today. Head that ways for more about this page.

cheers & besos,

Two Pet Household

We just got back from a weekend with my parents in San Anotnio. It was Dixie's first road trip and I think it was a success. I have a super sleepy puppy passed out on the floor as a result. That's saying something. She got to run around in a huge backyard, jump in and out of a kiddy pool, play with another little dog. Yeah, I'd say it was a success.

Meanwhile, Mac was home alone for the night. I'm sure she relished the quiet and the peace, if only for a little while. It's weird to now be at this place, thinking about two creatures instead of just one. Making sure both are healthy and happy, considering each's specific needs. It's exhausting! At least for now. I'm certain it will get better as Dixie ages. And as she and Mac continue to figure each other out.

Since scrapbooking is my therapy, I made this page talking a little bit about what life is like in a two pet household.

I used a Simple Scrapper sketch and some of the Seven Paper Baxter collection. I love the fun bright colors paired with black and white.

The border ended up being a happy accident. I "finished" the page and then place it on top of a pile of patterned paper. Not perfectly, so you could still see the pile underneath. On top was this cream and black diagonal stripe from Crate Paper (I ordered 4 sheets of it bc I thought it was so awesome). Seeing just the ends of it peaking out like that made the page look more complete somehow. So I glued it on top and cut off the excess.

I loved all of the positive messages from the Hey Girl stamp set by Mama Elephant. I thought they would work so well on this page, since we're needing a big dose of positivity up in here. These two girls are exhausting! But totally worth it.

cheers & besos,

Stash Bash Vol. 2

Hiya! I'm coming to you live from my latest toy: a brand new Macbook Pro! It's been 9 years since I last purchased a computer. It was totally time. So I splurged (quite a bit) and finally purchased the laptop I've been dreaming about. LOVE IT! I use to spend so much time waiting on my computer to catch up with me. Now it's waiting for me to catch up with it. What to do with all of this extra creative time....?! 

Well this weekend, I sat down to scrapbook. I wanted to be sure to jump in on a Stash Bash challenge or two!! This is for Challenge No. 7-The Leftover Meatloaf. I used my Ms. Pacman kit because it had all of the supplies I needed to complete this challenge. 

It's a just for fun page without any journaling. I don't do this very often but the title says it all. These are the 4 creatures that live in my house. I'm now thinking I should have incorporated a little house a la Ashlii Oliver! But oh, well. I like this page.

The background paper was solid white cardstock until I used a background stamp and some gray ink to create this design. I need to do this more often!

I really did have so much fun playing with this kit. Here are the three pages I made with it:

cheers & besos,

Not to fear

…wherever there is a layout to be photographed, a Macclesfield is near.

One of her favorite spots these days, is the window sill in my bedroom. My scrapbook table is right up against it.

I should mention that a bird built it's nest in the bushes just outside this window. It squeaks and squawks all day long at the predator sitting a few feet away from its nest.

I didn't notice you bird, until MT pointed you out. Now I hate you….

cheers & besos,

Let's Do This Layouts

I just realized I never shared these Let's Do This kit layouts. They were over on the Scrapbook Circle blog last month (this post and this one) but I wanted to be sure to share them here. 

I love love loved that kit! And just so you know, Scrapbook Circle is running a promotion right now (through the end of May ONLY!). Start a new subscription with the May kit and get a past kit for free! My two latest faves (which are shockingly still available!) are All You Need is Love and Let's Do This.

To utilize the promo, here's what you need to do:

1. Add the Hello Sunshine Kit to your cart.
2. Add any in stock past kit to your cart. This is the kit you will receive for FREE.
3. Use promo code FREEKIT at checkout.

cheers & besos,

365 Epic Days

A new month means a new Scrapbook Circle kit! And since it's Scrapbook Circle's 9th anniversary, there's lots of fun and games coming up. Starting with an Instagram Round Robin. Lisa is giving away 5 kits and picking the winner from the comments on Instagram. Click here (from your phone) to visit Scrapbook Circle's instagram, where we start the game.

Here's the layout I shared on Instagram (follow me @jamieleija if you haven't already). It of course, features the adorable Mac. I used the Hello Sunshine Main kit and the Hello Love add on. The cut file is from The Cut Shoppe. I wish I had converted all of the photos to black and white, but oh well. It's done and I like it!

cheers & besos,

Mac the Kitten

Happy Friday y'all! I'm so excited to share this post with you today. Mainly because, I was so excited to be a guest on the Paperclipping Roundtable again. I've been a fan for years and I feel so lucky to have been on the show. 

The last episode I did was on travel scrapbooking. This episode was all about scrapping your pets: PRT Episode No. 244| Scrapbooking about your Pets. I had a lot to say on this topic! More than we had time to get to, so I thought I'd do a post on the subject.

Here are the projects I spoke specifically about on the show. They just happen to be about my cat, but I've scrapbooked about our family dogs too.

As you can see below, I've scrapped about my pets a lot! So I thought I'd do a round up of topics you could consider, if pet scrapping interests you!

Ideas for pet pages:

• The story of how your pet came to live with you [Jamie + Business Meeting = Kitten?] [Birthday Present]
• The story of the day you went to get your pet(s) [Here we go]
• The story of how your pet got its' name or nicknames [Macclesfield] [Crackers]
• Your relationship with your pet(s) [I've never been a Mom before] [Love Again] [Maddie Tribute]
• Other family member's relationship with your pet(s) [Not a Cat Person] [Boy's Best Friend] [Let me Tell you about my Best Friend]
• Your pet(s)' personality [Solemnly Swear] [Worst Production Assistant] [To Know you is to Love you]
• Phases they're going through [Lately Mac]
• What it's like to come home to them every day [Lovely]
• Facts and figures about your pet [Measure of a Mutt]
• Be sure to include them in your Project Life or whenever you're scrapbooking your everyday life [Saturdays at No. 1152] [Project Life: December 2013] [Project Life: January 2014] [Project Life: August 2013] [Warm & Cozy] [Safety First/First Mutt]

If you're just interested in looking at pet projects, use this tag [Pets] to see all of the pages and projects I've shared over the years.

We didn't get to talk about it on today's show, but you'll notice that these pages don't feature anything thematic, aside from the one cat die cut I used. I'm not much of a theme scrapper really. I focus more on color and texture.

I thought I'd share other links you should check out, if you're interested in scrapbooking your pet:

• Original Paperclipping Forum post on scrapbooking your pets
• Shelter that put dogs in a photo booth for adoption pictures
• Jennifer Larsen's Hello & Meow layout
• Jennifer Larsen's Tail vs. Tree layout
• Jennifer Wilson's Project Life Mini Dog Tribute album
• Jill Sprott's Blog She scraps her pets frequently! This link is to one page that I loved but she has many many more
• #macthekitten on Instagram
• Video I made of Mac getting all up in my scrapbooking!
• My girlfriend wanted a cat meme

Be sure to download and listen to PRT Episode No. 244| Scrapbooking about your Pets. Thanks to Noell and Izzy for asking me back.

cheers & besos,

Saturdays at No. 1152

I had such an awesome weekend doing absolutely nothing. I needed it after this crazy busy work schedule (that's not letting up until mid-May). I'll suffer through it, as long as I get some downtime over the weekend. Just a teeny bit of time to sit at home, not go anywhere unless I want to, scrapbook, binge watch Netflix, and of course, share all of my projects with you all.

Here's a page I made using a sketch from the March 2015 Simple Scrapper batch.

I loved this month's Spark Mag color scheme so much, I used not only the sketch but the color combo as well. It's one I've never used before and it's making me so excited about this page.

Black and white + gray + purple + yellow made these ordinary every day photos really pop.

For Christmas, my Mama bought me an Instax printer. Now I rarely use my actual Instax camera. Printing is just so easy to do! And I love that I can tweak and edit photos before sending them to this super handy and portable printer.

These alpha stamps are from Studio Calico. I love that you can make the vowels a bit fancier by stamping again with the polka dot.

I also used a set from a Kelly Purkey kit that's a few months old. You can buy the digital versions of it from Christine Herrin (the designer) here.

I'm off to start my work week. It's Day 3 of being someone's boss. I'm nervous but excited! I'm figuring it out as I go!

cheers & besos,

Here's the Story Layouts

Hiya! I'm share my latest Scrapbook Circle kit layouts. The papers in this month's Here's the Story kit were so good y'all. Soo good! I'm in love with Pinkfresh Studio designs and the kit was my first introduction to them.

I ended up creating with all black and white photos. I didn't really set out to do that, it just kind of happened. But I think unconsciously this is my way of getting to play with great bright bold colors and not worry about them clashing with my photos. It also makes them feel more graphic and I like that.

I did a few photo strip layouts and punched my pics into circles. I also made sure to use a 4x6 photo, just to go a more traditional route.

This month's printable and cut file exclusives were fun to play with. I loved the cross…is that what it is? Not sure but I'll go with it. The exclusive plastic "hello" was also the focal point of one of my pages. I'm adoring the awesome dimension and texture it adds!

I've been saving these photo booth strips from last year's trip to Portland. I was waiting for an awesome statement paper to come along that would inspire me to scrap them. This sheet totally fit the bill! I didn't have to do much to dress it up. I used two of the printable tags and a scrap of patterned paper, plus an enamel word from Pinkfresh Studio to finish it off. I'm so excited to add this to my Pacific Northwest album!

Look for the Perfectly Imperfect and Hello Old Buddy Old Pal on the Scrapbook Circle blog this month. Also check out the kit if you haven't already. It's chalk full of goodness!

cheers & besos,

Solemnly Swear

I made a process video! It's been about 6 months since the last one. It was definitely time. 

Here's the finished page along with an enlargement of the photos.

cheers & besos,

All You Need is Love Layouts

Hiya! I hope everyone is having the loveliest start to 2015. Personally, it's been a slow weird start for me. I feel like I lost a week there. I'm not quite sure what happened! It took me awhile to wrap my head around getting back into the swing of work (you know, the thing I'm paid to do!!!). And its taking me awhile to get back into the swing of scrapbooking and blogging. I've yet to make a page in 2015 but I think today just might be the day =)

Today is also the day when I share some of my latest Scrapbook Circle kit pages. I love love loved the All You Need is Love kit. It was black and white and awesome. I bought EVERYTHING. More patterned paper. Both add-ons (already sold out, so sorry!). And then made a big ol paper mess putting my pages together.

This page was up on the Scrapbook Circle blog this week. I share a tutorial about turning your hand drawn sketches into digital cuts for your Silhouette machine. You can read that post here.

I was also assigned the One Item Wonder challenge on the blog. Tessa asked me to work with the Pink Paislee Washi Shapes that were part of the main kit. That little book was full of awesomeness! I created the Tic-Tac-Toe boards with them and other scraps of paper. And then filled in the X's and O's using the hearts and dots in the little book as well as other hearts and shapes from the kit.

This is without a doubt one of my latest favorite pages. For me it's just so fun! Tessa shared it on the blog last week. You can read the post here.

I also made a new Mac page. I swear, I scrapbook about her every month. No problem with that, she's kind of my baby. I just never thought I'd have so many stories to share! She's one tiny cat with a big personality.

Later this month I have a process video about this page going up on the Scrapbook Circle blog. If those are you thing, be sure to check it out on the 25th!

But that's not all folks! I have 2 other layouts I made with this oh-so-fabulous kit. But I'll be posting about them here individually, since they won't be up on the Scrapbook Circle blog. Check back for that, won't ya?

cheers & besos,