Scrapbook Challenges-284

I've saved the best for last!

I'm back today to share my last Scrapbook Challenges sketch as the February Guest Design Team member.

Just look at it! I was excited to do something with it. But what, I wasn't even sure. I've had the sketch in my inbox for about a month now and so I let it percolate around in my brain, until I came up with an idea.

I thought the large round shape would make a perfect clock. But then I wasn't sure what my page with a clock would be about. So I let it percolate a bit longer.

At some point, as my trip was fast approaching and I was busy trying to work out the logistics of how to get from Houston to Lisbon via London and realizing how many hours it would take to get there and then all of the different means of transportation and even the different times zones, I had my idea.

Instead of just talking about how I flew than took the train, then the Underground, then a bus then another plane to get to Lisbon, I took pictures along the way. This is the first time I've ever taken photos to match a design.

It's a bit backwards really, but I'm so happy that I got to see this sketch and then make a page I might not have created otherwise. And also document something I do and have done a lot, taking different modes of transportation to get where it is I need to go.

So here's my glorious 2 page spread! I totally went for it with this layout. I decided to mix my neutrals & metallics, which I seem to be doing a lot lately.

I created the clock totally from scratch using a plate as a template for the circle. Then I just went to town with stamps, mists & embossing powder. I decided to try out the new Copper Glitter Zing! embossing powder. The color was just so gorgeous, I decided to get over my aversion (haha, makes me think of Phil Dumphy now :) to glitter.

Well, I still hate glitter and am cursing it for getting all over my desk, my apartment and even inexplicably onto the boyfriend's face, but the color is so puuurdy!

I made little tags for each photo, that feature the hour in both time zones as well as where I was and what I was doing. I didn't take pictures in ever place, so I substituted a few stamps for these. I think it helps break up the design a bit.

Well ladies, it's been so great getting to play with Scrapbook Challenges again. I love their sketches and will keep coming back to use them. If you haven't already, I suggest you high tail it over there and check out the site!

cheers & besos,

Portugal Pages

Oh my goodness, I'm exhausted.

Like spent!

Mentally checked out for the night.

I've been crafting up a storm today.

Throwing this together, then that; painting, journaling, cutting, stamping, embossing.

But I had so much fun! I love it when my mojo is good and flowing. I cranked out 5 pages in an afternoon! That's 9 this week!

And I'm still not done. But I just had to jump on to share some of my latest pages.

I put in my Portugal photo order via Persnickety Prints on Wednesday. To my complete surprise and utter delight, the order arrived today! Holy wow that was fast!

I also tore into the latest Studio Calico kit, Daydream Believer. I'm loving the colors in this one, and while they didn't work for all of the blue photos I came back with (seriously, the sky there is much bluer than here at home :) they did work for some.

See I water colored! My inspiration was this gem made by Lola. I saw it in the gallery the other day and knew I had to try my hand at water coloring. But the things is, I saw this layout last week and hadn't looked back at it since. So the details were hazy. It was fun to look back just now to see how similar & not similar they are :)

I've been wanting to incorporate enlarged photos into my scrapbooking for awhile, and these photos from Portugal were the perfect opportunity.

This my friends, is a page of a real life enchanted castle...it's even on top of a hill! Just like in the fairy tales. If you are planning to visit Lisbon ever, you HAVE to go to Sintra. Like have to, you have no other option. It's only a 40 minute train ride away and I even did it in 3/4 of a day and still managed to get back in time for my flight back to London.

So you're going right?! Good.

I think the photo pretty much speaks for itself, but those gorgeous butterflies from the Kit were the perfect addition.

I took a stab at heat embossing the Thickers but the little buggers kept being blown away by the heat gun and every time I tried to pick them up I'd lose some embossing powder. Good thing I was going for a more rustic look, I think it goes well with the castle facade.

And lastly, a page about the Cable Cars. Did you know Lisbon is full of hills? Just look at that incline. My gluts got the best work out by only walking around the city. Thankfully the cable cars are there to get you up and down some of them. The best part? They're yellow!!

I love the Sassafras frame paper. They were the perfect funky little accents to line along the bottom of this photo.

And ok, I ended up using some non-kit product but it's still Studio Calico and the perfect addition to this urban page. I love the map design on the triangle scraps!

I can't remember the last time I've felt this creative. But I'm savoring every minute of it.

cheers & besos,

Eight is Enough

Have you heard of this challenge? Ella Publishing & Studio Calico put out an E-book called Eight is Enough last year or maybe even the year before. The entire premise is to create layouts with only 8 products.

For whatever reason, yesterday as I was home sick, I had a wild hair to take part.

Well maybe not so wild, I have a plethora of new (and old) supplies that I just haven't touched.

Picking from my latest acquisitions and digging into my stash of "older" product I came up with the following supplies:

• Bracket Diecut Paper-Studio Calico Memoir
• Book Jacket Patterned Paper-Studio Calico Memoir
• Linen Patterned Paper-Studio Calico Memoir
• Classic Scraps-Studio Calico
• Wood Veneer Asterisks
• Martha Stewart Large Monarch Butterfly Punch
• Epiphany Button Maker
• Studio Calico Stepping Stones Letter Stamps

The challenge let's you use cutting tools, cardstock & pens as freebies.

I picked products as part of Natt Smith's latest challenge, it's a color one. And since I don't usually pair blue & green together, and definitely not those shades, I decided to give it a try.

I cranked out 4 layouts with just 8 products!! In one afternoon!

A page about how my sweet boyfriend is so good to me =)

A silly page about my random quirks.

A Urijah page.

And a page with some of my favorite girls.

Is it possible to make pages with minimal products? I think the evidence is clear! Give it a try, you just might be surprised at what you can make =)

cheers & besos,

London Shopping

Last week work sent me to London for some training. It was good training beneficial to my job, but not very glamorous at all. Between the training and the meetings I was busy and exhausted at times. But I managed to squeeze in some scrapbook related shopping as a treat to myself. It was totally on the fly and purely kismet that my hotel happened to be so close to this fantastic rubber stamp store that's literally around the corner from the British Museum.

Seriously, if you're in London there's no excuse for you to not stop by. I mean, you're going to want to see the British Museum of course. The Rosetta Stone is in there and all. And as an extra bonus, you can swing by this gem of a store.

Blade Rubber Stamps

Just look how warm and inviting it looks!

The shop windows were all done up for Valentine's day and everything.

I scored some great London stamps for my collection. You have no idea how happy it was for me to find these things. Everything travel related always centers around Paris for some inexplicable reason!

I also picked up the last 2 issues of Mollie Makes. I've heard and seen so much of this magazine, it's just gorgeous to look at!

Armed with my goodies, I headed back to the hotel and happened upon this so cute shop right in front of the British Museum. Once you get past all of the knick knack stores it's right there. Don't get distracted by the street construction going on in this corner. You're going to want to walk in there. Just look!

Sass & Belle

It's dripping with handmade-esque goodness! Owls, cushions, bunting (or banners), ribbons galore!

I seriously considered getting an owl but didn't know which one to even choose. Then my practicality kicked in and I knew I wouldn't be able to fit it into my suitcase, so I passed. But seeing as I found their online shop I might just have one shipped =)

I got a few odds and ends, the pretty Union Jack bunting, some pegs (clothespins) and ribbon.

Seeing as I'd already "broken the seal" so to speak, I figured I'd stop into Paperchase as I continued my journey back to the hotel. I had no idea what was in store for me there. Not only is the Paperchase on Tottenham Court Road (near Goodge Street tube station) wonderful, it's enormous!! 3 whole floors of goodies! I was completely overwhelmed for like half a second and then I dived right in.

If you're a fan of Paper Source, Paperchase is very similar but more like PS on crack. No seriously, Elise Blaha would keel over in here. Did I mention it was 3 stories!!

I had to get very real about what I could and couldn't feasibly carry back with me on the plane. But I did come back with some sweet notebooks & tape. Also that cute little book of London sticky notes. Totally using them as journaling blocks for my pages!

Also, I wanted to share this cute little purse I picked up in Camden Market on Sunday. That place has become absolutely ridiculous. It was raining and there were still people swarming the streets. Jokes on me for even venturing out there on a Sunday! But man, I had no idea it was going to be so packed.

Needless to say, I got my donuts =) and my bag and got the frock out of there.

And last but not least, wanted to share the goodies I picked up in Lisbon (& Sintra)! When I travel, I don't like to bring back a lot of knick knacks and whats a mudoodles. I opt for paper goods most of the time. Unless there's something truly special, like the bongo I brought back from Morocco or the croaking wooden frogs I brought home from Thailand.

This time I came home with postcards, a book from Pena and a rooster (Portuguese symbol for luck) magnet, which may or may not make it's way into my scrapbook.

My bags were full and my pockets were empty, but I'm glad I picked up these little trinkets to remind me of what a great time I had in Lisbon and also back in London.

If you know of any other London scrapbook related shops, please comment and let me know! My love affair with London is no where near over.

cheers & besos,

Housekeeping

I have a winner for you all today!

This winner gets their choice of a Kelly Purkey Sketchbook/Sketchpad pdf class as well as a small prize pack of goodies I brought back from London & Lisbon.

There's some great graphic postcards, little notebooks, a few clothespins (or pegs as the Brits call them) and a cute stamp that I picked up here at home.

Without further adieu, the winner of the RAK is....

Congrats Cheryl!! E-mailing you now =)

A couple of other things I wanted to share with yall:

Scrapbook Challenges has a Paper to Digi challenge going on this month. I discovered it when I got back from my trip the other day. The ladies are using my layouts as inspiration for their digital designs. I was so flattered to have been picked as inspiration and so excited to see their pages! Be sure to check it out and to play along if you're a digital scrapper :)

Also, stumbled across the freebies section at Persnickety Prints. They have some great digital templates, tons of free papers and even some elements. I'd check them out if you were looking for a template to put multiple instagram shots on a single canvas.

Through the 22nd, they have a sale on their 8x8 photos. Each is $.79 instead of their usual $.99 (check out their blog for more details). If you were to put 9 instagram shots on 1 8x8 page, the photos would work out to $.08 a print! You'd have to do a bit of cutting, but I'm all for that kind of deal. They also have 2 12x12 templates.

Just wanted to share my sweet find!

cheers & besos,

Scrapbook Challenges-283

Happy President's Day! If you're in the US, I hope they gave you the day off :)

I'm so so thankful for this extra day of rest. It's just the time I needed to fully overcome the jet lag. And I've been doing really well I think, falling asleep at a decent hour and not getting up too early.

But back to what I'm sharing today, the latest sketch from Scrapbook Challenges, No. 283.

I didn't have a big photo, so instead, I replaced it with 2 4x6-ish photos. And I used Studio Calico's Glee Club which had tons of great little details.

This page has a then & now theme, although the now is a few months old at this point.

The photos are of my old flat mates & a class mate from my time in London.

I miss these guys. To death really. I was very unhappy coming back to Texas without them. Very sad even for a few days. I wish these guys could still be a part of my everyday life.

Journaling Reads:

Mountbattened is a term Kori and I came up with at some point. If it was listed in the dictionary, at the end of the definition it would say, “See also bamboozled” i.e. we thought one thing and yet something completely different has occurred.

Back in the day it was a derogatory way of describing a situation. These days, I’ve begun to think otherwise.

I can concretely and with 100% certainty say, that I have been Mountbattened. For me that means, walking away from an experience in which long lasting friendships have been created.

Friendship has always been something that I’ve struggled with. A loner at heart, I prefer home and a book, to some loud awkward social gathering. But in that year and a half of living across the world, and being thrown together with the most random smattering of the human experience you could come up with, I found it. Again and again and again.

The people I met, and even had the privilege to live with, become some of the best friends I could have ever asked for. My heart was the happiest it had been this weekend in 2011 when I got to see some of their familiar faces.

Friendship is also having history together. Here we are, at the beginning of an experience of something, we weren’t even sure yet what it was, so young and excited. And then again, out on the other side, not quite so young, but still together.

Thanks yall for stopping by! And don't forget to comment on this post for the chance to win the KP Sketchbook/Sketchpad RAK and a little prize pack of goodies from London & Lisbon. You have until midnight tonight!

cheers & besos,

Scrapbook Challenges-282

Ok this is just something completely random about me. Well, two random things.

1) I like to watch DVDs while I scrapbook; movies, television series, you get the picture.

2) When I look back at my pages, I usually remember what I was watching while I made them. Weird huh?

I know, SUPER random but just something I thought I'd share :) Does anyone else have this kind of sensory memory?!

Anyway...happy Monday to you all! Ugh Monday! At least I can seek solace in knowing I woke up in London this morning :) I'm here for work for the rest of the week. So happy to be "home" but it's also very bittersweet. I miss all of my mates!

Man, another rabbit trail! I'm off on another tangent today (might be the allergy meds...)

Back to the reason I'm posting today, to share a brand new hot of the press Scrapbook Challenges sketch and my take on this one.

Bam! Sketch 282 for your viewing pleasure:

And here's my creation: tada!

It's a silly page of me and MT.

We were at lunch several months ago, sitting at the table, faces resting in our crossed arms looking back and forth at each other. Just being silly. You know, the usual :) So I took photos of the both of us, knowing I'd use them in a page.

Here's the one! It ended up being about our similar and dissimilar personalities.

I used a slightly vintage American Crafts Fall/Halloween line, since the colors worked so well with the photos. Some buttons and a few of the 3D embellishment stickers + scrolls were added for extra dimension. Also a Studio Calico wood veneer star with some baker's twine as a finishing touch!

I love this big guy. No matter how different we might be, we still (and probably because of it) make it work!

Be sure to check out Scrapbook Challenges if you haven't already! Also, don't forget to comment on this post for a chance to win the RAK. I picked up a few little things in Portugal for the lucky winner. Comment and stay tuned!

cheers & besos,

P.S. In case you were wondering, I was blowing through Season 4 of Gilmore Girls while making this page :) :D

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,