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,

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,

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,

You & Naps

I really loved that idea from Monday, of a mini flip/photo book on my page. So I did another one, using my Hello Sunshine kit and Hello Love add on. I even went with the same theme! Documenting multiple trips with the same person. (Really I thought they'd be a cute mini book but who has time for those?!)

This is all about traveling with my bestie Kori. We make excellent travel companions because we both like to sleep! But seriously, how do you expect me to see all of this awesomeness and really appreciate it on only about 2 hours of sleep. Which was the norm when we were wanting to get the very cheap flights. Those all leave at 6am. Which means you have to be at the airport for 4:30am. Which in London means you need to be on your bus/train to get to the airport at 3:00am. Which means you need to wake up at 2:00am so you can grab your bag and walk/bus to get to the airport bus/train. And likely you were up late packing the night before. (I think there's a scrapbook page somewhere in there…)

Anyway, I made this cute black and white and pink all over page which I think is fitting for the girly girl that is Kori. (Also interesting, I find Sarah to be more earthy and bohemian and her page was all blues and greens. I'm highly influenced/inspired by color if you couldn't already tell!)

Like I mentioned before this is a flip photo book and includes photos of me and Kori in Amsterdam and  Berlin...

...Morocco and Belgium. It does not include photos from Barcelona. My purse along with my camera was stolen on that trip. No photos remain!

I'm never bothered when I repeat designs. So often the pages don't go in the same album. Even this time, when they likely will, I'm totally ok about it. They're similar designs but not identical! Unless you were really into design you'd likely not even notice.

If you love a page you made, I'd totally repeat it! Use a different color scheme or photo size. If you tap into a good thing, use it again. I've done this other times (see keyword: Repeat Design). Scrapbooking doesn't always need to be about reinventing the wheel. Sometimes if you just want to have fun, not think and make it quick, repeat something you know will work!

cheers & besos,

Scrapbook Circle Blog Hop

Hiya! Welcome to the Scrapbook Circle 9th Anniversary blog hop! I'm excited that you're here. If you're new to my blog, hello and welcome. If you're not new, nice to see ya! Thanks for coming back =) 

Since it's such a fun time for Scrapbook Circle, we're in celebration mode! Hence this hop around to all of the Design Team's blogs.

You'll want to start at the Scrapbook Circle blog and go from there. (You may have come from Jennifer Larsen's blog. If yes, you're on the right path!) Be sure to leave some love (or comments) along the way. Each comment will be one entry into a random drawing where we will be giving away FIVE Hello Sunshine kits.

So let me show you what I made with my Hello Sunshine kit and the Hello Love add on. 

I love pulling out specific color stories from each kit. For this page, I pulled a lot of the green, blues and teals, along with my favorite neutrals: black, white and gray.

I also had fun editing this photo of Sarah and I in Ireland (Cliffs of Moher if anyone has been). I converted each photo (more on that later) to black and white and colored myself and Sarah back in. Here's the tutorial I always have to look back at, I never seem to remember how to do it.

I had Taylor Swift's lyric stuck in my head the whole time. "You took a Polaroid of us. Then discovered. The rest of the world was black and white. But we were in screaming color." I think she's thinking more romantically, but it can be used for friendship too. My friends color my world! 

 

So what you see isn't only what you get. I made this an interactive page, complete with mini photo book. I pulled photos from all of the place we traveled to together. Cambodia...

Indonesia…(of course I snuck some pineapples in!)

…Japan and most recently Palm Springs!

We've been traveling to fun places together for 7 years now. I can't wait for our next adventure (hint: somebody is moving to Crete and I may just have to visit her!)

I loved putting this page together and taking this walk down memory lane. Although it made me miss this girl something awful! But that's the beauty of scrapbooking, no? We get to celebrate all of these fantastic times from the past!

Alright-y, all done here. Next on your hop is Diana Fisher! Don't forget to comment here, there and everywhere for a chance to win one of five Hello Sunshine kits. Comments close at midnight PST on May 21. The winners will be posted on the Scrapbook Circle blog on May 22.

cheers & besos,

Becky

Hiya! I don't know what was in the air this week, but I was seriously missing my friends. All of the out of state (and city too!) ones. And that's quite a few. Thankfully, I still get to see them. Although nowhere near as often as I'd like. 

But last month I flew out to Milwaukee for James' wedding and got to spend some time with these lovely girls. Michelle lives in Boston. Becky lives in NYC. I'm down in Texas. (The boys not pictured are in DC and Connecticut). Yep, we're all spread out. Which makes our time together even more cherished. 

So I had these pretty pictures of us and decided to do a page about my bestie Becky. The tall blonde on the right! The page design is based off of the May Scrapbook Circle sketch, although shrunk down to an 8 1/2 x 11. (Click through to see the sketch and find more inspiration for it!)

I used the May Hello Sunshine kit + Hello Love add on + watercolors + The Cut Shoppe Funky Florals cut file. My inspiration was the awesome print from my dress. So there's circles and bright colors and you'll notice leaves outlined in black and colored in brightly. Hence my decision to cut these great leaves out of black cardstock.

When it comes down to it, this is a fairly simple page. Dressed up a bit with watercolors and spray mist droplets. I love it! I love that the background is so neutral and that makes the photos pop.

I'm not sure when I'll get to see this group again. I never am. But I'm thankful that they're as committed to keeping up this friendship as I am. And that we still make a point to get together at least once a year. It's not much but I'll take it!

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,

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,