Dorm Life

It would seem I'm into double page layouts using 4x6 photos lately! This is the third one I've made in the last few weeks =) 

This particular page is for the Art + Science right brained ideation challenge. I had to go through patterned paper to see what reminded me of a place or a space.

For me, that yellow polka dot reminded me of the bulletin board I painted for my dorm room. And then I found that teal floral and it pulled a lot of the colors together. I love the mix of patterns I got to use!

I designed these four little 2x3 cards in Silhouette using just fonts and icons. They're to represent the canvases I painted for this room and hung above my bed. Can you see them in the first horizontal photo above?

I also added tape around the edges. That's to remind you of the bulletin board I painted and the jumping off point for the page.

I made sure to capitalize on the negatives from the journaling spots and included them around the page.

I'm so excited to have these photos scrapbooked. They brought back some good memories from college. I made a page of my freshman dorm back when I was in college. I will have to take it out and snap some photos so you can see the difference!

Until then, Happy Monday! For me, it's a 2 day week =)

cheers & besos,

Right Now

Morning! Happy "fall back" day to all of my USA friends. It's lovely to have this extra hour to knock off some items on the old to do list. Usually, I relish the extra hour of sleep. But I feel that the older I get, the harder it is for me to sleep in. It's cool, I like feeling productive anyway.

On to the layout sharing! 

I had so much fun with the Wildflower collection! I wanted to figure out a way to get as many of these awesome patterns as possible, together on one layout. So I took a page out of the Art + Science playbook and used a photo collage. The photo was for a blog post I did during the summer, about what I was planning to take with me to Chicago. I thought the colors in my clothes would work perfectly with the colors in the collection. 

I already had the collage put together, so I simply added a few Studio Calico brushes over top. And then I had my theme, me right now.

I printed my journaling on a gray shipping tag and slipped it behind my photo.

DOING

Recently: A two week back to back work trip. First to the UK (London, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Newcastle, London) then to Lafayette, LA

Currently: Planning for a trip to Nashville in a few weeks. Worrying about who’s going to watch Mac

WATCHING

Recently: New Girl, Mindy Project, BBC Classics’ Emma, Nashville

Currently: Project Runway All-Stars, The Walking Dead, Hostages, Harry Potter

FAVORITE

Recently: English tea (milk, one sugar), Neon Pink, Netflix

Currently: Gold, iPad, Green & Navy top, RadLab

HOPING

Recently: For a big huge break from work

Currently: A new job! A new scrapbooking design team or community to join

READING

Recently: The Signature of Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, A Fault in Their Stars by John Green

Currently: Naked by David Sedaris, The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown

Much like the page I did about Urijah's Four Birthday Parties, I cut the paper down into strips the same size as my photos. Added some of the collection stickers at each corner and punched out a few flowers from scraps, using a Martha Stewart punch.

It's in these details shots that you can see the awesome texture the paper has! I mentioned it in my other post.

The final touch was a vellum banner strip and gold thickers. I think gold is the perfect neutral for this collection!

This was never a photo I planned to scrap, never a story I thought to tell. And I'm so glad that I had this collection to play with, otherwise I wouldn't have done.

I'm conscience now that I didn't actually date the page. That would have been a good idea, huh?

Wrapping up now, but don't forget to comment with your favorite flower (wild or otherwise) and a way to get a hold of you, for a chance to win the collection!

cheers & besos,

4 in 4

Hiya! I wanted to share this double page layout I made. It was for a guest design team assignment that fell through, which made me a little bummed. But only for a minute. Because I realized, I still got a great scrapbook page out of it!

My challenge was to make a page about 1) boys and 2) birthdays. And since Urijah is my favorite lil boy, I decided to make a page about his birthday. But I've scrapped his whole 2nd, 3rd and 4th birthdays. I've been meaning to get to that 1st birthday mini book....but knowing how much time I had, I knew I couldn't attempt it.

I was chatting with my Mama the other day, and she asked if I thought we should have a pirate party for Urijah's next birthday. She was at Target and they had a fun pirate pinata on discount that she wanted to snag. I said, yes lets! Since both of us love skulls and cross bones and Urijah likes pirates. 

That convo totally inspired me to create a page about all of the different parties we've had for Urijah over the years. His first birthday was cowboys, his second featured Sid the Science kid, his 3rd was super hero themed and his fourth was fiesta! 

Using a prompt from Art + Science, I decided to make an enlarged photo collage of a black and white photo of him each year + a color photo of his cake.

I went for photos I hadn't scrapped or weren't as prominently featured on their respective pages. The smaller moments and less perfect shots. I thought they'd be perfect cropped down into 2x6in slivers.

And then I went super geometrical by cutting down 4 coordinating patterned papers in the same width as the photos. I think it makes the design look very tight and clean. Which I love! And is kind of perfect for the left brained challenge (from Art + Science) I'd been working with.

I loved the awesome bright colors in this fab Elle's Studio pattern and I finally got these silver and red Thickers I've been hoarding onto the page. They're perfect for this birthday page, that is one part superhero =)

Oh, and I used my date stamp to mark the years of his birthdays that this page covered. (Does that sentence make sense??)

The only remaining embellishing was the chipboard stars, number stickers and the vellum birthday die cut I cut with my Silhouette.

It's a very simple page with lots of clean lines. But I made sure to festive it up with bright patterns and colors. I absolutely love the result!

cheers & besos,

Peas & Carrots

I scrapbooked! And man did it feel good. I've been working on pocket pages for Project 12 and Week in the Life. But those take me soo much longer! I feel like they require much more planning & printing & photo editing. Basically, they aren't my strength, which is why it takes me twice as long.

So today, I decided to scrapbook. As in make a layout. 

   

I've been watching my Big Picture Classes videos & reading my handouts for Hello Story and Art + Science. They had me itching to jump into the Art + Science prompts and back into Hello Story. And of course, after taking Jill's Scrapbooking from the Soul class, my journaling has forever changed.

This page is a conglomeration of a few prompts. First, its for the right brained process challenge from Art + Science. Which was to think of a story I wanted to tell, find photos and discover the title & journaling. 

This was a bit of a challenge, which surprised me. The creative bit wasn't a challenge, but rethinking the order of things definitely was (i.e. the process...hence the challenge!). Originally I had a different title in mind. I kind of couldn't help myself! But the further into the process, my journaling & title evolved into something different.

Another part of this challenge was to include a pocket. I tucked some ephemera, a journaling card and typed notes into a vellum pocket I stitched directly to the cardstock.

Here's the view of everything pulled out from the pocket a bit.

I had a lot to say about these photos. So much, I included 3 different journaling spots!

I originally stapled a bit of scrap cardstock to the receipt, just to add stability. But it ended up being home for journaling about this past Saturday and how mama & I love to visit Hobby Lobby together. And how we bought a bunch of stuff to make a project.

Note how messy my handwriting is for this bit. I "wasn't on my best behavior" so to speak. I knew it wasn't going to mess up the design since it was in the pocket, so I just wrote. Didn't worry about the spelling, not so much the grammar either, just a stream of consciousness.

I loved this patterned paper with the page. I unearthed it from my scrap pile and thought the colors worked well with this fall-esque themed page. But knew it would be too busy to print my journaling on and I didn't really want to cover it with vellum. So instead, I added a label sticker indicating the journaling was on the back side.

I used a pointy finger stamp. Remember when those were so popular? I had them in a few different stamp sets and think this was the first time I ever used one. Since this is also slipped into the pocket, I don't want someone looking at this later down the road, to not notice the journaling on the back.

Here's where I incorporate the latest Hello Story prompt which is also about opposities. How my Mama & I are very different, but a little the same.

This last tiny journaling card is just a guide to the photos I used on the page. It was a mix of photos from a few different places and occasions. I also included the dates. I think it makes it look a little like a library card & I absolutely love that! Especially since one of the things Mama and I have in common is that we love to read.

Oh and about the background paper. That's also part of Ali's prompt, which was also about contrast. I repeated "for the love of fall...for the love of pumpkins...for the love of orange...for the love of skeletons and crossbones" over and over again using the best white gel pen in the world!!! It is a lift of a background paper she made and used on one of her page prompts.  I obviously loved it so much I wanted to lift it. But I love how my page is different enough from hers and that it also feels very me. 

I love love love the colors in this! Probably because I love fall. I love the gray mixed with the orange and the green and the warmer tones in the photo.

And that title, it definitely came last. I think I had originally wanted to title this page "For the love of Fall..." to talk about how much Mama and I enjoy this time of year. But after writing the journaling, I thought peas & carrots would make a better one. And, I couldn't help but get excited that the colors so perfectly matched my page!

Me and Mama, we're a lot different. But a little the same.

I'm loving taking classes lately, in case you can't tell. I'm learning so much and totally enjoy being a student. What about you? Have you taken any classes lately, that you love? Share in the comments!

cheers & besos,