The Perfect Target

Hiya! I'm back from a long weekend in NYC. It was awesome to spend time with one of my besties. But I have to confess, I took about 10 photos. I'm literally the worst! I didn't even get a photo of the two of us together (seriously?! what is wrong with me???!!!) I think it's because I really wasn't in vacation/tourist mode. I was in relaxed hanging out with friend mode. So I'll give myself a pass just this one time.

While I was away, Diana posted my latest page on the Scrapbook Circle blog. This month I was challenged to lift Wendi, an SBC subscriber. I created a sketch of her page and did a side by side comparison of our pages. Head over there to check it out!

I had fun with the journaling on this one. It was hilarious to see Urijah steal Grandpa's fries! We had a huge laugh about it. And I'm glad I captured the action shots. Really, I was just fortunate to have my camera in hand at the time. I was only trying to get shots of the two of them interacting and Cadie in her skeleton pajamas.

I pulled just bits and pieces from the July You're my Favorite kit: the stickers, the gold label, the gold heart. And you could do about a million and one things with that white ledger paper.  The main focal point was the red target die cut from The Cut Shoppe. The center ended up being right on the carton of fries in my dad's hand when Urijah was making his move to nab it. Unexpectedly perfect! Really I didn't plan or realize that until just this moment.

I had fun lifting the page and playing with this kit. Confession: I'm always surprised by what I come up with every month. Getting ready to tear into the August kit. Can't wait to see what's in store!

cheers & besos,

First Thought (Him)

Hiya! Remember that back log of projects I've been meaning to share? This is one of them. I made this waaaaaay back in the summer and am only just know sharing it here!

The idea for this page came about as I was listening to the Paperclipping Roundtable. They were chatting about Noell's Romantic Scrapbooking course and someone shared that they had scrapped about what they first thought of their husband. I thought I'd do the same with my boyfriend, Matt.

The design for the page is from a Simple Scrapper sketch that I turned into a cut file. I loved the triangles in it and knew I wanted to back them with paper.

I also decided to use fabric thanks to the More Bright Ideas class that Studio Calico ran earlier this year. (Did I mention I'm sharing this page really late??)

I made a corresponding page about What he First Thought of her. I'll share that in a few days!

cheers & besos,

U & Papa

Hiya! At this point, I'm nearly done with my crazy busy work trip. 7 nights in 5 cities, it's a lot of movement! I love it, it makes things interesting. It also means I have a decent amount of quiet time as I'm sitting on a plane or a train. And of course, it means I'm not sitting in the same meeting room for days on end. Hopefully I'm updating my instagram (I made sure all of my hotels had free wifi!) and you're seeing some fun pictures. 

So enough of my chatting at you from the past, let's talk about the present. I'm sharing one of my latest Scrapbook Circle kit pages. This was made with On this Day, a kit chalk full of goodness…and specifically some great oranges. Arguably, orange may be my 2nd favorite color after yellow. It's just so robust! 

The kit had a ton of it, so Tessa challenged me and Valerie to incorporate orange into our pages. Here's Valerie's take on it. I love those leaves!!! And below is my layout using orange.

I paired it with blue. Lots of different shades of blue, teals and baby blue and even some denim. The colors just worked so perfectly with these cute photos of my brother and my nephew. There wasn't any great or meaningful story behind these, just the two of them together. And that was enough for me!

I went with a banner look and adhered everything along an invisible line, 1/3 of the way down the page. It meant grabbing printed die cuts and paper scraps, stickers and chipboard. And of course I couldn't resist the cork piece! This is one of my favorite designs because it means I can incorporate lots of little odds and ends.

Tessa blogged more about this on the Scrapbook Circle blog. Hop on over there to read a bit more.

cheers & besos,

Hi 5!

Look at that cute little face. Yes, he's scowling but it isn't for the reason that you think! He was sooo sick. Like terribly sick. And we didn't realize that until he was already at the house. We hung out for a bit, ate some cupcakes and then took him home, I promise!

But let me chat a minute about this page. It's the last page I made using the Island Paradise kit. I made this for the layering challenge Tessa posted over on the Scrapbook Circle blog. This page features a TON of layering, as you can see.

I also used those cute foxes from the Tiki Torch Add-on. Can you see his fox folding chair in the background there? It's Urijah sized and adorable.

I built up my layers under the photo and on top of the photo and used a formula of layers in three different spots. I love how chunky it ended up being.

I hope you have a lovely weekend! I'm so excited for this three day weekend =)

cheers & besos,

Blue Valentines

As promised, here are those blue valentines, one each for my Papa, my Popo and Grandpa by the River.

If they look similar to the pink ones from yesterday, then they should. I used the same basic supplies, only added a bit more mist to the one with the big die cut heart. I also handily used the positive space from that one die cut to add the “you”.

I have to tell you, washi tape continues to be one of my most favorite supplies. Its just so versatile, and of course, PRETTY!

cheers & besos,

Travel Tips: Trips with Boys

'ello loves! Today I'm blogging my monthly travel tip/scrapbook page. 

Lately, I've been trying to think of common themes for my photos. And somewhere along the way, I started thinking about all of the trips I've taken with just the boys. All of China, 5 days in Prague & Budapest, a weekend in Norway, plus our J3 day trips. My experiences traveling are always colored by the people I'm with, and believe me these boys have some color.

But guys are super different to travel with than girls. I wrote in my journaling:

"I’ve been a lot of places with a lot of people & I have to say, my trips with the boys have been some of my favorites. In general, dudes are more “go with the flow” & low key, a LOT less drama. But they have their moments. A few things to remember about traveling with boys: they will prefer outdoorsy adventures, they sometimes walk around with their shirts off, hanging out in a pub is a perfectly acceptable way to spend a day in a foreign city & sometimes they get into random wrestling matches. It’s all in good fun & I recognize how lucky I am to have such a great group of guy friends. What can I say? I’m a bro at heart."

It also has to be said that I've never felt safer when I travel than when I'm with the guys. There was a hairy moment in Budapest, one of the few moments I've experienced of that kind, that had me so thankful to be with a group of boys.

I'll also never forget that one hard sleeper train we took in China. Where the only minutes of sleep I got were on James' shoulder.

I will forever cherish the crazy video Jon and Kevin made me, as they left the girls they were with to bring back the camera I thought I'd lost. I don't think they were very happy with me. But they left them all the same just to make sure I wasn't upset about my not-really-at-all-lost camera. Which they then ironically used to verbally berate me....

I guess this is less travel tips and more a gush fest on my part, for these wonderful boys that I love.

Oh, and last thing about traveling with boys. They're always hungry!!

cheers & besos,

Rough House

It's been nearly a week since I last updated. Eeek! Apologies! Still trying to get a handle on this whole blogging while working business. But here's my latest layout featuring some new things for me. Loving the look of the masking tape photo frame! Also, so proud that I was able to use some older product :) The colors of Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend line are fabulous for guys guy pages, which is also the theme of my page. Love it when things work out like that. No stamping on this one, but I did add some chalk ink to the edges. It's still using stamping products so I say it counts for my summer challenge. Thanks for looking!

xxbesos

j.leija

Man Cards

Man Cards

We all love the men in our life, and although they may not "get" what all of this scrapping and stamping and cardmaking is about, I've found that they still do appreciate it. March is a month of birthday's in our family. First my dad's, then my uncle's, then their father and lastly a cousin, all boys. I don't know about you, but I struggle with the fine line that is over the top/just enough when it comes to "masculine" cards. While I could have gone overboard with glitz and glamour, I opted for a few simple and straight forward designs.

I created these three cards using a single sheet of patterned paper, 3 plain kraft cards and a few scrap sheets of cardstock. My, oh so trusty Slice did most of the work for me. The Vintage Findings design card can be attributed to the "postage stamps", "pennants", "numbers", and "graphic designs". I guess they can also be considered "hybrid" due to my font work in Word.

The "girliest" part of these designs is that plaid blue and green patterned paper but these cards needed a bit of pizzaz to liven them up. I think it's toned down enough with the brown, blue and green cardstock.

I'd love to see your take on a masculine approach to cardmaking. Please share if you have the chance!

xxbesos

j.leija