Family Portraits

This was the last and final page I made during the [InkieQuill] [ScrapStream] this past weekend. It was totally fun and super simple to make!

I was inspired by the shirt Joyce aka Matt's mama (as if you couldn't tell!) was wearing. It was stripped navy and had these great white flowers across it. So I pulled out some navy scraps from my scrap drawer and a few red washi tapes and stuck them down to my background paper.

I cut out some white leaves and placed them behind the photos, curling towards the edges of my page. My title was cut with the Silhouette using the print and cut feature. Although it didn't cut out quite right (i.e. what I was seeing on my screen didn't match the end result) I still went with it.

I added a few blue and red buttons and brads and some silver mist just along the sides and was done! I love it when a pages comes together quickly and easily.

As if you couldn't already tell, I had so much fun playing alongside Adele during the ScrapStream. I can't wait for the next one, which is scheduled for iNSD! This year I'll actually be able to join in on some NSD fun!

cheers & besos,

Simple Scrapper-June

Happy Friday! I have my latest Simple Scrapper layouts to share with y'all.

The first features one of the sketches from the June issue of Spark Magazine. I used my Hello Sunshine SBC kit which had this awesome green leaf patterned paper, plus the little elephant paper clip. Too perfect!

This layout feels just super old school to me for some reason. And not old school in a bad way. But more like a return to my roots. I can't put my finger on what about it makes me feel that way, just that I do. Maybe it's the patterned paper background + kraft block + distress ink on the edges + handwritten journaling? Who knows? I just know this page makes me happy!

I used an older Story Starter to as the prompt for this page, which was to scrapbook about an outdoor adventure. This weekend in Chiang Mai was the most action packed outdoor adventure I've ever been on. It was nice to be out in nature but I still prefer my city escapes. I'm just happy I did it at the time.

This next layout features a Story Starter from June 2015 and a Sketch from January 2013. The Story Starter was to scrapbook about a historic place I have visited. This page was all about visiting the World Trade Center in July of 2001. 

I saved my ticket. I'm a scrapbooker, it's part of my nature, it's what I do. Even at 16, when I had been scrapbooking for just a few years, I saved all kinds of ephemera. This one was particularly special, for obvious reasons.

I used a scan of my ticket for this page. The real thing is in a little display case, alongside these two photos, in my living room.

Stars & Stripes were the subtle theme. Even though half of the stripes are running diagonal across the page. The "remember" is an Ali Edward's Story Stamp that I stamped with versamark ink onto vellum and covered in white embossing powder. I really like adding texture that way.

I'm really happy with both of these pages. As always Simple Scrapper pushes me to document stories that I might not have otherwise, or at least in a way I hadn't thought of before. I had never scrapbooked about visiting the World Trade Center. And that's a really huge story, especially considering the timing!

Just wanted to flag up that Jennifer is running a sale on a 6 month membership. It's a one time payment with a 20% discount that gets you access through the end of the year. The offer expires in just a few days (5/31/15) so if you're interested I'd jump on it. We just recently got a new member site that Jennifer documents on the blog. Head to: https://www.simplescrapper.com/join for more info.

cheers & besos,

Thirty at 30

Finally getting around to making this yearly page. My round up of xx facts on my xx birthday. This was for my 30th! Which was only….8 months ago. Hey, at least it's done! Here's my 28 at 28 and 29 at 29 pages if you want to go back and look.

Tessa interviewed me about this page over on the Scrapbook Circle blog. Be sure to head over and read more about my page, my process and my love of these dope Scrapbook Circle kits.

cheers & besos,

Simple Scrapper-May

Hiya! How is it already May?? I just can't believe how quickly this year has gone. We're nearly halfway through! May also marks 6 months of working on the Simple Scrapper creative team. I'm loving every minute!

Here are my latest two pages, as featured in May's edition of Spark Magazine. I love how incredibly different they are! My layout is super linear and fairly minimal. While this pocket page is so graphic and a tad crazy. I didn't really intend for that 2nd page to be turned sideways, but I just couldn't make the 8 1/2 x 11 inch version of this page work, so I hacked it apart and put it in pockets. Problem solved!

Even before I was part of the creative team, I was a Simple Scrapper member. I love this community and the events that Jennifer puts on. The next one coming up is called Photo Crush. It's a totally free event aimed at organizing your digital photo library. Tackling this has been on my to do list for ages. And May 11-17 is just after my crazy hectic work week. The timing couldn't be better. If you also suffer from a messy hoard of photos, this might be just what you're looking for. Also, if you're interested in learning more about Simple Scrapper risk-free, then jump in on the fun!cheers & besos,

Not a Cat Person

Oh man, I have so many pages to share! I almost couldn't decide which to share next. But this one has been in the drafts folder for awhile so I figured I'd go with it.

My boyfriend doesn't like cats. He's not a fan. But boy does he love "his" cat. We joke about breaking up one day and fighting over her. He has this whole bit about how she knows the escape plan.

So I made this page about Matt not being a cat person, but a Mac person. I pulled a random assortment of photos of the two of them hanging out together. They're so cute I almost want to hurl.

I scrap lifted this page I found in the Studio Calico gallery. I loved the two page design. Even though the one page would have totally sufficed, I liked having the second page to balance and add more decor--and most importantly, more journaling!

I used gold and blues, which I kind of remember being something I saw on a challenge blog (that I clearly didn't enter, seeing as its 3 months later…)

The cat themed digi cuts are from The Cut Shoppe. I made the large title in Silhouette studio.

I hadn't looked back at this page until I decided to blog it just now. It puts a smile on my face to see the reluctant cat owner won over by his cat!

cheers & besos,

Travel

Hiya! Oh man these last few weeks have been so hectic and crazy. DC then Palm Springs and now I'm getting ready to leave for the UK for a week. I love traveling! I do. But damn it if it doesn't become tiring. And I ate some bad scallops in Palm Springs so I have that fun twist on this upcoming 9 hour flight! I'll survive, not to worry. 

But it has also meant that I've been really bad about updating here! I so sorry. Here's a page I made using last month's Scrapbook Circle kit. I wrote a post about it over on the blog. I shared a quick and simple technique that will add subtle texture and dimension to your pages.

I'm scheduling a few posts for when I'm gone, so this place won't be filled with tumbleweeds. Thanks y'all for stopping by!

cheers & besos,

Simple Scrapper Sketches

Every year for Lauren's birthday, I give her scrapbook pages for her album. This year I didn't have much time to put them together, only the morning before the party! So I pulled some photos, grabbed my Simple Scrapper Spark Mag and its sketches and went to work.

If this first page looks familiar, it's because Jennifer used one of my pages as the basis for the sketch! I used a lot of Crate Paper's Open Road for this one.

I had fun manipulating this photo in Photoshop Elements. I converted it to black and white and colored the family back in. I like doing this for photos with busy backgrounds. It's so easy too! This is my go to tutorial, because I forget all of the steps every time!

I used odds and ends from the Scrapbook Circle August kit for this. Including the printables!

And this was my big hand cutting title page that I shared a few weeks back. The Simple Scrapper sketch called for a big title. Well I made one!

In one morning and part of an afternoon I was able to crank out 4 pages (+1 other) using Simple Scrapper sketches. It's what I love so much about being a member. I don't have to run around finding inspiration. It's just there for me in one neat little monthly package. The perfect starting point for many a project :)

cheers & besos,

Crossroads

I'm back into the swing of scrapbooking! But not back into the art of blogging it seems. I have so many projects to share with you all too. For now, I'll share this layout. It's up on the Scrapbook Circle blog today. I got to play with the Circle Round up challenge this month and of course the lovely Island Paradise kit and Tiki Torch Add on. You can read more about this page over on the blog!

Here's wishing you a fabulous beginning to the week!

cheers & besos,

Dorm Life

It would seem I'm into double page layouts using 4x6 photos lately! This is the third one I've made in the last few weeks =) 

This particular page is for the Art + Science right brained ideation challenge. I had to go through patterned paper to see what reminded me of a place or a space.

For me, that yellow polka dot reminded me of the bulletin board I painted for my dorm room. And then I found that teal floral and it pulled a lot of the colors together. I love the mix of patterns I got to use!

I designed these four little 2x3 cards in Silhouette using just fonts and icons. They're to represent the canvases I painted for this room and hung above my bed. Can you see them in the first horizontal photo above?

I also added tape around the edges. That's to remind you of the bulletin board I painted and the jumping off point for the page.

I made sure to capitalize on the negatives from the journaling spots and included them around the page.

I'm so excited to have these photos scrapbooked. They brought back some good memories from college. I made a page of my freshman dorm back when I was in college. I will have to take it out and snap some photos so you can see the difference!

Until then, Happy Monday! For me, it's a 2 day week =)

cheers & besos,

Milestone Cards

Remember that rabbit with the pocket watch and the scant time? Yeah I have even less than he does it seems. 

Nearly 10:00pm and I only recently finished up my work day. It's that time of year! It's only like this for these 2 weeks every year, and even though I know its coming, there's still nothing that can prepare me for the outright exhaustion.

Which is why updates may be few and far between for these next few weeks. I have a few projects to share with you all. I have a bit of stockpile on blog posts. I'll get to them all eventually.

But for now, feast your eyes on these:

I channeled my inner Wilna to create these two milestone cards. The one above is for my parents 32nd Wedding Anniversary and the bottom is congratulations for MT's little sister who just got engaged.

I'm in love with this painted look and feel, something we learned all about in Wilna's Art Class Vol. 1 & Vol. 2! I used her Flourish and Love Words Cut files for these.

Ok, glad I made time to share. And now, I sleep.

cheers & besos,

Lovely

Gooooood morning! Or afternoon depending on where you are....or when you're reading this :) I'm up bright and early today. For no particular reason other than its Saturday and I don't want to waste a minute of it! That's kind of weird huh? Instead of taking the opportunity to sleep in, my body actually wakes itself up. But that means I'm more productive...or something.

Here's me being productive at 6am on Saturday. I didn't of course, just make this. But this page has been sitting in my draft folder for weeks and I'm finally taking time to share.

It's (obvs) another Mixed Media class creation. And all yellow!! For the layout, I followed along with another Simple Scrapper sketch from this month's Spark mag.

I even did some hand stitching. I wanted to make sure that you could tell this was a heart so I cut the shape out in vellum and stitched it to the page. I think it defines the shape a bit more.

And that's all she wrote first thing this Saturday morning. Now I get to figure out what to do with the rest of my day! Stay home and rest (I feel like I'm getting sick) or head out to the Highland Games taking place here in town? Decisions. Decisions!

cheers & besos,