Snowglobe Cards

It's here! It's done! It's in the box. I finally mailed off my 2013 Christmas cards. These things were a labor of love let me tell you. There's sooooo many steps involved in making them.

But finally, after 3 years of having this idea in my head. They're out and in the world! 

I present, a snow globe ornament.

These would not be at all possible without the help of my Silhouette. It seriously did all of the heavy lifting. I ended up using this design purchased from the online store. But did some serious editing in the studio software.

I feel like I threw just about every technique I could at these cards: letterpress, die cutting, stamping, heat embossing, confetti pocket, machine stitching. But it was well worth it.

The confetti inside is my favorite. I used a variety of speciality confetti/sequins, plus some punched shapes, glitter and even tiny bells. They jingle when they're moved.

For the backs, I heat embossed an Ali Edwards stamp (I also just realized I used that same stamp set for last year's Christmas cards. I guess that makes it super versatile!) with green powder and then stamped a few gold snowflakes around the edges. Matt & I signed the bottom of these with white ink and I added peoples names around the top.

The finishing touches are what took me the longest. Not stapling the ribbon or adding the twine. Nope it was printing out the address labels!!! I'm not even kidding you, everything but this was finished by the 1st of the month. But I just had this huge mental block about sitting at my desk to type up the labels. Finally, I got that done.

I decided to use these amazing gold dot bags as "envelopes" To keep them closed I used a plain jane return address label as tape. 28 of these suckers got mailed out today. They're zooming across the country as we speak =)

Christmas cards are my absolute favorite. I invest a whole lot of time and energy into them every year. But that's because I love to make them. If you'd like to share, I'd love to see your 2013 Christmas cards. Handmade or otherwise!

cheers & besos,

Ohio Ornaments

It's true. I love my Pinterest boards! I'm so visual and Pinterest is so visually awesome. I love looking at my boards, pinning projects for a later date, looking for inspiration.

I went through my boards the other day and decided to re-pin all the projects and recipes and layouts I have used [see it here]. Of the 4,003 images I've pinned, I've only used 59 of them! Doing the math fairly quickly, but that's barely more than 1%!!!

And the thing is, I love the things I pin. I want to use them. So this month and next year, I'm planning to do just that. Starting with this project:

State Ornaments: [Pin] [Original Source]

Aren't these adorable? I loved the Pinspiration and thought these wee lil hoops would be the perfect little stocking stuffers for Matt's family. We'll be in Ohio for Christmas this year and I'll be able to hand them out (in person!) then.

I went with Ohio State colors on this one, topped off with a silver ribbon. Stocking stuffers can now be checked off the list!

cheers & besos,

Opera House

Officially done with scrapping Oslo photos! Here's the last page but it's not really about Oslo.

Ok ok, so the photos are from Oslo, in front of the Opera House, but the journaling is about missing these guys. "We took these photos in 2008. So as I scrapbook them in 2013, I love getting to see their sweet faces. I miss each of them so much. It was a fabulous part of my life, to be a part of their daily lives."

I thought this chevron was the perfect base for a page featuring that awesomely angled opera house. And the blues and grays were perfect for it as well. From pastels to primary, I guess I couldn't get enough of my straight color themes. But that's ok.

I sprinkled in some ribbons, washi tape, patterned papers, journaling cards and teeny bit of cardstock. And embellished with enamel dots, a chipboard star and some flair.

Since the background was so busy, I kept the design quite straight and even. Even thought I guessed at it, I pretty much split the page right down the middle.

And another country gets checked off my list. I'm thinking this summer, I'll start going back through some of the other countries I've "finished". Just for fun!

cheers & besos,

Playing with Pastels

Happy Monday yall! I hope you had a nice relaxing weekend. Myself? I packed up some stuff and went to scrap at Archiver's on Saturday. It was a so so experience. I was really hoping to socialize but the crop was so small and everyone else came in groups. So I tinkered away on my own.

I wasn't really motivated and lacked a bit of mojo. It's hard when you're use to scrapping on demand (i.e. my room is all set up to scrap whenever I feel like it and all of my tools are out and available at all times) to suddenly go, ok now you HAVE to scrap. But I powered through. Mainly because I was inspired by some of the new products I purchased on the day.

This was the last page I made at the crop. I went for it because I new the layout I wanted for the photos.

I love Melissa Stinson's tight & clean & photo and color driven style. If you look at her work, pretty much every layout is a sketch worthy page. For this layout specifically, I was inspired by her Snapshots from the Aquarium layout.

I placed my photos, journaling and patterned paper strips in the same way that Melissa did, but I roughed it up a bit by crinkling paper edges, dropping mist splatters and adding sketch lines.

Honestly, I don't know how the pastel color combo came to be, just that I picked up that sheet from the Atlantic collection and thought it went well with the yellow of the palace and blue of the sky. Then I shopped the aisles at Archivers and came back with some Amy Tangerine Yes, Please, an older Ready, Set, Go sheet, a Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm and a spool of ribbon.

I did just tiny bits of embellishing by adding some flair, a chipboard camera, a Thicker title, and when I got home, some white heat embossed words.

It's a little funny to have this guy trip forever immortalized with a pink page. But they'd be good sports about it I'm sure. And now, I'm just excited to have made a 12x12 double page! And to have all of Oslo scrapbooked now. I'll share the final page tomorrow. Until then...

cheers & besos,

TBT: Buckingham Palace

Happy Thursday yall! That means, a Throw Back Thursday post =)

I'm reaching into the not too distant past with these photos. Still, they were taken 5 years ago! I can hardly believe it sometimes.

The photo is the backside of Buckingham Palace. I got to take the tour in late August while the Queen was summering at Windsor Palace. It was one of the first excursions I did when I first moved to London, well worth the £13.50 it cost. And I only remember it cost that much because I unearthed the entry ticket from my folder of ephemera. 

I used my Central High kit for this page and honestly, really struggled with fitting everything together. Especially since I found that ticket after I had picked and cut into the paper. Cutting a slit and tucking it in was the best option I came up with. But I'm sad that you don't get to see the details like the date and price right off the bat.

I like the colors, we were have exceptionally lovely weather that weekend. Love seeing London against the backdrop of blue skies and sunshine!

I miss that place and my friends so much. But I'm excited that I get to go see a few of them this weekend!

Blogging might be scanty due to my travels. I'm off tomorrow and back on Tuesday. Hopefully I'll get to do some blogging in the midst.

cheers & besos,

Hello 28

I had the best 28th birthday this year. Thank you all so much for celebrating and hopping with me! I'll shortly be announcing the winner of the hop but wanted to quickly share a quick recap page I made about my weekend. 

I used the Central High kit along with the Road Show & Style Guide add-ons. I wanted to make a grid and to play off the idea of a polaroid, so I faked it with instagram photos and strips of the off white cardstock.

I edged all of the white "labels" with different colored ink and wrote a quick snippet about each photo.

Then I added stamped tabs and little bits and pieces from the kits. I LOVE using sequins, especially on this page about my birthday. It gives it a confetti feel.

And just like that, my birthday is over for another year. Until 2013 and the dreaded 2-9....

cheers & besos,

Central High Cards

Did you hear the news? Studio Calico started a Card kit! I decided to subscribe sight unseen to find out what it's all about. 

The kit arrived last week and my initial thoughts are that the kit doesn't have enough stuff! Especially for the price. I briefly subscribed to Simon Says Stamps card kit and those things were bursting with product AND at a lower price point. But I'll give this one a shot for a few more months.

The Central High kit had some great colors and I wanted to embrace as many as I could with this first card. I used the mistable thickers and the Lawn Fawn stamps that came with the kit. Then I wanted to use some of the great yellows and oranges, along with the stamps for the second. I loved how the stamps looked all lined up so I made a little pattern that I repeated in different colored inks. The final card was a patchwork of left overs from the other cards. 

I also have to mention the Martha Stewart "Happy Birthday" punch I used over and over again. It's that good. You should check it out! And it's even on sale at Joann's ;) :)

 cheers & besos,

35mm Cards

I made cards! And with the scraps from my projects no less. They're simple and straightforward, but I love how they turned out.

I wish I had more of that yellow ribbon. It looks gorgeous with the gray hearts!

I know two lovely ladies who will probably find cards in their mailboxes soon. It's been too long since I've sent a just because card.

cheers & besos,

Temple

Celine Navarro you are a design genius! There, I said it. I love this lady's style & the funky graphic edge she adds to every page. Plus she travels! A ton. And goes EVERYWHERE! Like seriously, I want her life. But enough of my gushing. Go check out her work, it more than speaks for its' self.

This was one of my inspired by pages that I talked about yesterday. I based my layout off of her India 2012: My top 5 layout. I figured that little flipbook would work perfectly for all of the photos I took at Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

I did my best to make the most of those tiny pages, but small canvases are just not my jam. Each "layout" had it's one challenges and I tried to make them cohesive but also random and varied at the same time. Here's where having the same color scheme and one that works well with your photos really helps!! 

cheers & besos,

Think?

I don't know if you know this about me. But when I was little, I was very very shy. I was terrible about asking questions, or at least the right questions in my mother's opinion. So she'd coach me through most interactions with my teachers, doctors, or any other authority figure.

I was on the phone with my Mama the other day and she made sure to tell me what I needed to say and to ask in whatever appointment I had going on. Same as she did was I was younger. It made me smile and I asked her, "how do you think I get through work?" She laughed and said she knew, old habits die hard and all of that.

We chatted a bit longer and then hung up but I kept thinking about it after. That's how the idea for this layout popped into my head.

What must she think of me? And all of the crazy life decisions I've made in the past few years? Is she proud of me? Does she think I can hold my own?

I journaled all about it, and tucked it behind this folded piece of new Neapolitan paper.

Archivers had a bunch of it when I visited the other day. Man is this stuff so pretty!! I just had to play with it. And since this idea was fairly none specific, I went to town with the ribbons (plus the new AC Glitter ribbon) buttons and stickers.

Also, drawing from a challenge over at Natt's blog, I created a sunburst with a hand cut mask and Mister Huey Overdue. I think the color worked really well with Lizzy's line.

I think one of the more interesting aspects to this design, is that instead of cutting off the 3 1/2 inches to get down to the 8 1/2 x 11 size, I decided to fold the paper instead. No need to miss out on the gorgeous green watercolor on the B side. Plus, it made it super convenient place to tuck my journaling behind.

And, I got to use one of my cute teal binder clips that have just been sitting on my desk for ages. Bonus!

What must my mother think of me?

I often wonder what my mother must think of me and my galavanting. Of being 27, not married and without kids. I wonder how she thinks of me at work. If in her head I'm still that shy quiet girls who was so scared to talk to strangers. Who shied away from social interactions and found more comfort in a book. I wonder what she thinks of my moving away and being independent. I wonder what she thinks of my life, one that is so very different from her own. Most of all I wonder if she's proud of me and all that I have accomplished. She is my sweet little Mama and my very bestest friend. I hope she is proud of me.

cheers & besos,

Scrapbook Challenges-281

Scrapbook Challenges! Remember those lovely ladies? I was part of their design team in 2010 and Brynn asked if I could Guest Design for them this February.

I jumped at the chance to play with the ladies and these sketches.

Brynn recently re-vamped the entire site and I must say, it looks gorgeous! It's well and professionally done and a great little nest for creativity. Please, check them out.

There's even a Membership Drive going on at the moment! Join or invite someone to join and you could win big =)

Here's how:

• Every person that joins the site & posts a mini of 5 times gets entered into a drawing for a $50 Scrapbook.com gift voucher!
• And if you're a current member and you refer someone (who then enters your name in the referral section of the registration process) you're entered to win a $25 Scrapbook.com gift voucher!

Easy peasy! Click on the link to find out more details.

Now on to the real reason I'm here. To share my take on Sketch 281! Isn't it fab?

My take was super literal, except that I made it 8 1/2 x 11. Hey, don't mess with a good thing right?

The photos are from Hawaii and are printed to be reminiscent of instax shots. Which is what I immediately thought of when I saw this sketch. So happy to have been able to get 5 photos on an 8 1/2 x 11 layout!

I must have felt a bit blue that day with all of these blue details. The majority of the products I used are American Crafts Margarita line with some Basic Grey Lauderdale thrown in.

I used 2 sets of Thickers and some October Afternoon & Basic Grey letter stickers for the long and ambling title. The tiny butterflies and sequins are the perfect finishing touches.

Like I said before, happy to be playing with Scrapbook Challenges again. Definitely check them out! And check back the rest of February for other sketches, maybe some posts from my trip (maybe ;) and a challenge or two.

Oh, and don't forget to post here to have a chance to win the Kelly Purkey Sketchbook/Sketchpad RAK!

cheers & besos,