Patterned Paper Backgrounds

Lately, I'm loving a good patterned paper background. From big prints, to small prints, all over designs and subtle ones, I'm totally loving the look they're giving my pages.

I love looking at these all gathered together here. There's just so much variety! From Heidi Swapp, to Ki Memories, Crate Paper, Basic Grey, Glitz Design & American Crafts, you can tell I don't favor one manufacturer over another. I love them all!

Mostly I think you can see that I try to reinforce the theme of the page, not only with embellishments but also with my background paper choices.

A soft romantic feel was what I was going for with my Fairytale page, and that paper was absolutely perfect for the layout. In fact, it's even why I decided to scrap that story in the first place.

The love of pink and all things girly was the theme for Ms. Lauren's Baptism page. But also, there's just love there. She is such a sweet little cherub!

And how could I not use a photo themed pattern for a photo booth strip of photos. I adore that paper. It's one of my all time favorites! And I think it makes this page so fun =)

Patterned paper might just make up the biggest portion of my stash. I just love it so much! And clearly, I use it!

cheers & besos,

LBD: Swell Guys

Back tracking a bit, but I wanted to make sure I shared this page that I made with the April Little Black Dress kit, Don't Worry be Happy.

SarahBeth tells me its one of her favorites, which made me feel special!

So you might be wondering what the story is here. And if you haven't gone through and read every word (and believe me there's a lot!!!), the abridged version goes something like this: 

Kevin took a picture with my camera and then put it in his pocket. I didn't think anything of it and then about an hour later thought I had lost my camera! In a panic I went back looking for it but it wasn't there. Again, in Kevin's pocket. We had split up at that point and I went home sad and dejected. But he wandered in, my camera in tow. The photos were a present for me, since they had to leave a group of hot girls behind, in order to return it. So yeah, swell guys =)

For this layout, I wanted it to look like a gossip magazine. So I converted the photos to black and white and added in the censored lines. (Silly rabbits!) I printed my journaling in two columns, again like a mag and then just went crazy with my mists. I used at least 10 colors on here.

The who/what/when/where went well with my theme so I filled those in with pen. After that, I was just a few Freckled Fawn veneers and some stamped cameras away from being done.

Seriously guys, if you're considering getting a LBD kit, I'd highly recommend picking up the Don't Worry be Happy. It's been my favorite to work with. Just look at all the pages I made with it!

cheers & besos,

Prague Double Page

Hey there! I'm still sharing crop pages. But I have to preface that by saying, I start a whole bunch of layouts while I'm cropping away from home, but rarely finish them there. There's always just a little something I need to add.

For this one, it was just about everything after the washi. Because I FORGOT MY ACRYLIC STAMP BLOCK!!! Ahhh, end of the world. But not really. I always forget that thing when I leave my work space and they aren't things I really want to re-buy. You only need so many of them, ya know?

I had fun using a bunch of stamp collections to "collage". I painted with some mist and over that with a bit of acrylic paint. Then I added strips of washi and mist splatters.

While I was at the crop, I totally lost my mojo! So what do when you've paid to scrap and aren't sure where to start. Well, just scraplift yourself! As I've done here and the original here.

I'm still not tired of this layout. I love the central design with all of the variety you get to add to a page. I nearly finished this page at the store, but came home to add the metal clocks and bits of yellow paper that match the "GO" flair I had added.

Although this wasn't really a two page design, I definitely wanted them to coordinate, since I planned for them to sit next to each other in my album.

I had a few more photos I wanted to add so I included a 6x12 in insert page that has 3 pockets and just slipped in a bunch of photos and a fun 4x6 card I decorated to coordinate with both pages.

I absolutely love how this spread turned out.

cheers & besos,

K&E Card

I can't believe I'm only just now getting around to sharing this. It's only been, what 3 months!!!

Here's the wedding card I made for Kim & Eric. It came a few days after the wedding, but I think it's all the better since I got to use a photo from the big day.

I created an "E" card (ha, pun!) in Silhouette and die cut it from Kraft cardstock. Then I printed a photo onto vellum and glued it to the backside of the "E". I made sure to choose an "E" that was thin so that you could still see the photo well enough.

The insides of the cards are always the hardest part for me! But I think I managed this one. Love that when the card is closed you can see the words peeking through the vellum.

And then I slipped it into a purple envelope (one of her bridal colors). They loved it! Eric thought I had made it for me. Kim explained, "No amor, it's for Espinoza..."

It may be 3 months later, but I'm still so happy for my friends. Congrats again you guys!

cheers & besos,

LBD: 8 1/2 x 11 Layouts

More Little Black Dress kit pages, for your viewing pleasure today. Here are two 8 1/2 x 11 pages I put together. Don't adjust your screens, that second page is meant to be tilted. Loved getting to work with the bright fun colors in the Miss Maggie kit.

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,

LBD: May Layouts 12x12

I've got some May Little Black Dress kit pages for yall! This month's kit is so fab I can't even talk about it. Let's just say if you enjoy Maggie Holmes' products, you'll love the Miss Maggie kit!

Here are the 12x12 layouts I made with it!

I did a quick recap of my 2012 travels. Was so blessed to visit so many great places, add a few more countries to my list AND to see my bestie Sarah!

The colors in the kit really evoked the idea of sunset and sun rays. Basically, the kit felt "sunny" to me! So both of these pages are sun inspired. It was most definitely because of that lovely ombre ribbon. Get me some more of that stuff stat!!

This last page is a memorial layout of my sunshine, Miss Maddie. It's a tribute page to her, as we lost our little angel two years ago. Still miss her a ton!

I loved this kit to bits but sadly just didn't have enough time to devote to it. But believe you me, I'm not done with it yet!

cheers & besos,

First Video

My first video! I did it! And it was fun =) Not easy but still fun. Bear with me guys, this was my first ever video. I was having to learn iMovie this morning as I went along. But luckily it's pretty straight forward. And as I say in the video, apologies for the shaky cam! I'll work on it for next time.

Here's the Shimelle sketch I based my page off of:

...and some close-ups of the finished layout! 

Let me know what you think!

cheers & besos,

NSD: Small Photos

Last NSD layout to share! This was for: Shimelle's Smaller Photos, Shimelle's Add some Sparkle, and 2Peas Focus on Photos.

I've been carrying around this tiny photo strip in my wallet since the wedding. So glad I finally got to put it on a page! And that Ki Memories paper was so perfect for it.

I had fun mixing bright colors into each cluster and onto the page. 

I added sparkle with those glitter thickers and the hexagon sequins I love. They're purple in real life but the light caught them as blue for some reason.

The final touches were the chipboard cameras with the star accents.

And done! So tired and ready for bed. But thoroughly happy to have scrapped my day away. It's good to be back!

cheers & besos,

NSD: Digital Elements

I can't believe my big little guy turned 4! It was a quiet birthday, just the 5 of us (and the puppy), a birthday cake and some balloons.

NSD Challenges: Shimelle's Spray Inks and Mists, Shimelle's Line up your Embellishments, Shimelle's Scrapbook with Square Photos, Studio Calico's By the Numbers, Studio Calico's Break out the Buttons, Studio Calico's Digital Elements.

Of course I forgot my camera! But thankfully my iPhone was there to capture our tiny celebration. I used a ton of different apps to achieve this look: PicTapGo--converted to black and white, Snapster--added the rainbow effect & PicFX--threw some bokeh on top. I could have used Over to add the words but just ended up adding them using PSE.

My mists did some heavy lifting, as I was trying to make the page as festive as can be!

I also used the Studio Calico free printable for decoration. Loved the circles & thought the sentiments were perfect for a birthday page! I also sprinkled in some "4" Thickers and buttons.

And finally, I used the Studio Calico date stamp to add a horizontal element to the bottom of the page.  Completely loving how it turned out!

cheers & besos,

NSD: Scraplift Yourself

....and I'm back! Apologies, apologies, that wee hiatus ended up last so much longer than expected! But I'm game to share some pages if you're game to keep coming back =)

I finally got to jump in on a few NSD challenges! It bums me out to no end that I miss this fab "holiday" every year. But I'm happy I broke my scrappy rut and got to create some pages.

This is for a whole slue of NSD Challenges: Shimelle's 4x6 photo, 2Peas Scraplift yourself, Shimelle's Scraplift yourself, Shimelle's Fabric, Studio Calico's 5 Different patterns, Studio Calico's Button.

I scraplifted myself on this page, taking inspiration from my Hello Berlin page. I loved that Heidi Swapp (background) paper. It was just decorative enough to add interest to the bits of the background that could actually be seen!

I mixed so many lines & collections on this page. Heidi Swapp for the background (obvs), Amy Tangerine vellum stickers...

...Whisper Graphics bags, a Studio Calico tag, tape & patterned paper...

....Basic Grey banner/flags, Fancy Pants buttons & paper. And chevron tulle!

I don't care one bit that these two pages are in the same album. I love them both! And especially the color combo in this one.

cheers & besos,