Uber Puppy

The other day, I was inspired to tell the story of how we came home with Dixie. She just happens to be an Uber puppy. Uber was running a puppy promo: request a puppy driver and they'll show up with puppies! Leah (my boss) thought it would be fun so she spent most of the 3 hour window trying to get them to come. There was a lot of demand and finally she confirmed one of the last visits!

Our office is notoriously pet friendly and everyone was so excited for them to show up. We got 3 tiny visitors who were so cute and a little tired. I sent Matt a photo of one of the dogs and was so surprised to hear he thought one was cute and would consider adopting her. I left the decision with him. In the end, we came home with the sister of the puppy I met. But man do they look similar!

For whatever reason I decided to scrap this 9x12 size in a pocket page. I think I went in this direction because of the number of photos I wanted to include. (I'm thinking I should assess this 9x12 album. Right now it has 3 really random stories in it from 2 different years...)

I had a ton of journaling for this. It's her gotcha story after all! I filled 3-3x4 journaling cards front and back so decided to tape them together into a flip book. The top one is sticking out over the plastic page protector.

And the decorated card is made up of stuff from my scrap drawer and way deep in my stash. This rainbow paper was in a Studio Calico kit from 2010 I think. The heart is old Freckled Fawn and the "Heart You" is from an Ali Edwards Story Stamp.

I used my favorite white ink to stamp directly of my favorite photo of Dixie. Just look at her sweet smiling face!

cheers & besos,

Love List

I decided it was time to scrapbook my love list. What's a love list? A list of people I love the most! So basically, my immediate family. I did something similar in 2014 and am happy to repeat this again in 2016, especially since my family has changed a bit since then (lost a cat, gained a dog).

I loved this sheet of hearts from Crate Paper's Hello Love collection. I loved the high contrast and the imperfect hearts. I knew it'd be perfect for this list of my loves.

I made the page whimsical by cutting out my photos using a circle punch. And to keep with the high contrast, I printed them in black and white.

The rest of the embellishing was very minimal. The paper really did most of the work for me. And I have to add that these American Crafts gold dipped Thickers are some of my most favorite ever!

cheers & besos,

Inspiration Inventoried: Dear Dixie

So I had an idea for a new video series. I'm calling it Inspiration Inventoried. It's not a process video. It's me chatting about a finished page, going through the story, the design, the products. Basically a blog post but in video form. You get to see my mug as I wanted the chance to introduce myself. 

I'm not the most eloquent speaker but I think I'll get the hang of it. I didn't realize until recently that I really just love to talk about scrapbooking! I'm hoping to do these once or twice a month so let me know what you think.

cheers & besos,

Me + You

My grandma is one of my most favorite people in the world. She's the sweetest, kindest little lady. Exactly how you'd picture or want a grandma to be: loving, patient, fun! 

One of my favorite memories with Nana is the time she took me, my brother and my cousin to the waterpark. They have these really high water slides that can be scary for an 8 year old. My brother and my cousin teased me mercilessly about how scary it would be, so I chickened out and left them to ride. 

I walked back to Nana and told her about it. And she assured me that they weren't that scary and said we would ride on it together. So there was tiny young me and my grandma, climbing up the several flights of stairs and riding the ride together. 

She didn't want me to miss out because I was scared. And by doing it with me, she helped me get over that fear. I spent the rest of that summer flying down the "scariest" of water slides and having so much fun!

I didn't really realize until know, that that lesson has helped me my whole life. Conquer your fear Jamie, because what's waiting on the other side of that fear might be a lot of fun.

I used the February Scrapbook Circle kit and the Circle Round up challenge to make this page. The products reminded me so much of my Nonie. She loves flowers and rarely passes on anything leopard print. So the second I saw the pink leopard print I knew I wanted to scrapbook about her. And lucky me, we took a few cute photos together at Thanksgiving last year.

The page was created for the Circle Round up challenge which is basically a recipe challenge, take a bit of this a little of that, add some sprinkles and you’re done.

But I think what I was most inspired by was the challenge image, it's a few circles layered on top of each other. I'm such a big fan of all things circles that I used it as the starting point for the page, hand cutting three large patterned paper circles to serve as the foundation for the design.

Journaling reads: 

"People say I'm like her. If that's even a little bit sure, I'll take it. She's the sweetest person I know; so very loving, generous and kind. You can't help but love Nonie!"

I photographed this page using the newly launched Shotbox. I'm still trying to figure out if I like it or not. Anyone else have one? I'd love to hear what you think and am planning to write a review in the coming weeks!

cheers & besos,

U R the Best Cards

I made a crop of new cards with the February Elle's Studio kit and stamp + some paper scraps and my circle punch. "The Best" sentiment inspired me to create some "blue ribbons". It's a bit more dimensional than my usual card, I used a circle punch to create a window and stamped through it and onto the inside of the card. You can read more about them on the Elle's Studio blog!

cheers & besos,

Ladies who Lunch

I was so blown away by this month's Elle's Studio kit. The colors in it..."the colors duke, the colors!" were so fun! I've been realizing lately that I don't use much green in my projects. Teal yes, green not so much. So it was fun to play with green on this page! Even if only in small ways.

Inspired by last month, I went for another 9x12 double page spread--one full layout and the other a pocket page. Which I'm rapidly realizing is really fun! The page is about a small shower we threw for my friend Kim who is due in a couple week's time. 

I knew what I wanted to do with the 9x12 layout really early on. I laid out the foundation and then stepped back. It just didn't look complete somehow. So to add more punch, I decided to create a tone on tone pattern with the Everyday stamp set and white embossing powder. It's hard to photograph, but the effect IRL is pretty awesome and it was exactly what this page needed.

To embellish, I created a visual triangle with the stamp set, enamel dots, mist and one of the great exclusive veneers! They might just be some of my favorite ever. I added one to a card for the pocket page and liked that balance. Even though the two layouts are kind of separate, I wanted them to be a cohesive unit.

For journaling, I wrote about the day and the event. And I also journaled about my two besties, Kim & Tara. Like last month, I've given myself permission to write about whatever it is I feel like expressing, regardless if it "goes" with the page or not. It's making me happier about these pages and my process. And that, friends, is what it should be about!

All of these new goodies are available in the Elle's Studio shop now! Buy the monthly kit today for $9.99 and then $11.99 after that. When they're gone they're gone. So if you're interested, jump on them quickly.

Today's also the day for the new Design Team Gallery. I'm so excited to click through and see what my fellow team members have created.

I also made a half dozen cards with the stamp set. You'll be able to see them in the gallery now but I'll blog more about them later this week.

cheers & besos,

Photo of the Photo...

I'm determined to scrapbook as much of my 2008 travels as possible this year. I've even made it part of my scrapbook goals! This is a photo I took in Prague, a country I've barely scrapbooked about! Even though this trip was one of my most favorite trips ever in life.

I used the Scrapbook Circle February kit and was challenged by Tessa to use this great marble print. So many of the domes in that city were a similar color, so I thought it'd be fun to pair it with them.

Journaling Reads:
I took some really epic photos on this trip. But this one topped them all. It’s a photo of Mark taking a photo of Kevin taking a photo of Jon. I also love the couple embracing on the side. And the lady’s head is so perfectly framed in the dome. It’s one of my favorite photos that I’ve ever taken. It instantly takes me back to this trip with those boys. Absolutely one of the best trips of my life!

Tessa also is blogging about this over on the Scrapbook Circle blog. Head over there to read more!

cheers & besos,

We Three

I feel hopeful. 2015 ended up being such a bad year for us for many different reasons. So I can only hope that 2016 is better! So far so good and I'm hopeful that will continue. 

I wrote about this feeling on my latest Simple Scrapper page. It's part of February's issue of Spark Magazine and is based off one of the sketches from this month's release. (No. 288 for all of my fellow Simple Scrappers).

I haven't used kraft as a base in a minute, so this was a fun change of pace. I loved adding in all of these layers and bits and pieces pulled from my stash. It's been so long since I've scrapbooked just from my stash! So I decided to make that one of my goals this year. At least a quarter of my pages need to be put together from anything but a kits. Don't get me wrong, I love my kits! But they mean I neglect the other 90% of the stuff that I have. And I love all of that stuff so much too!

I think that's why I love the details on this page so much. This tiny house, that wood veneer heart, the cheers stamp, they're all to do with the photo and the journaling and the day. Sometimes those things line up with whatever kit I'm working with. But often they don't. Making a commitment to my stash means that I get to create these awesome customized pages. I don't need to do it for every layout. But it should definitely be a bigger part of my process than it currently is.

Also, I can't underscore how awesome the Simple Scrapper sketches are! They just keep getting better and better. And they're making it harder to decide between every month. I already can't wait to show you the page I make with next month's sketch. It's gonna be good!

cheers & besos,