Nana's Birthday Card

Hiya! Thanks so much for stopping by today. It's a special day because a very special lady was born on this day several years ago. It's my Nana's birthday today! I haven't seen her in awhile and this makes me sad. So I wanted to make her an extra special card so she knows how much I love her.

I used my absolute favorite The Pier line by Crate Paper, some inspiration from Ann Schneider guest blogging at Shimelle.com, and the Camp Scrap Week 1 Make & Take to create my card.

 

May's Camp Scrap Make & Take really inspired me to add the extra ink to the edges and the gold polka dots over my patterned paper.

I made sure to really bling it up because my Grandma ain't ever said no to no bling bling. And I love that about her =)

And I'm excited to have used this birthday stamp set from Papertrey Ink. For shame that I had not yet used it!!! But hey, that's what happens when Product Free crafting is on. I use what I have!!

I also made sure to decorate the envelope as well. I think it makes people more excited to open up the card! Simply sprinkle some mist and add a date stamp. Viola!

Here's wishing you a wonderful beyond blessed day Nana! I love you so much.

cheers & besos,

Hello Today

Morning yall! Wow, I never expected this much of response for the giveaway! Thank you all for commenting. It's going on until Sunday, so if you haven't already comment while you have the chance.

This morning, I just wanted to do a quick share of a fun page I made over the weekend. It's not for any challenges, I didn't use any kits, I just grabbed some stuff from my "new goodies" drawer and played.

I'm loving the look of stacked photos these days. And thankfully, these photos had enough "dead" spaces for me to layer them on top of each other. And I got to cover up our messy brunch table.

I used more goodies from The Pier collection by Crate Paper. I love it so much!!

I loved how the photos looked on this neutral background color. It made them pop AND meant I could add color with my embellishments. I had fun clustering these around the page.

Just a sprinkling of gold Color Shine and I was done with my page.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Monday everyone =)

cheers & besos,

Transparency Card

Yesterday, after I finished my layout, I posted this pic on instagram. It's some of the leftovers from my Hello Summer layout. One of our Camp Scrap challenges (last day to sign up yall, if you want in on the fun!) was to create something from our scraps.

Here's what I came up with, and I'm so excited about it! I made the base out of the leftover transparency from my page!!! I love the color combo here and the cute die cut. Plus, that it's a square. For whatever reason they look more visually pleasing to me :)

And since all the patterned paper I was using is double sided, you get to see the "B" side when you open up the card.

I used a spray adhesive to stick the patterned paper base down and so you wouldn't see any through the clear transparency. Then I decorated with some of the left over washi and die cut printables.

I think it came out cute! And I'm so excited to keep creating with this beyond gorgeous collection. AND that I get to use these printables over and over again. If you're a semi-hoarder like me, that should make you very happy.

Check out Geralyn's In a Creative Bubble Shoppe for more of her awesome work. I love it!

cheers & besos,

Hello Summer

Whoop! It's here and I'm so excited! Summer that is. And it all begin with a mini road trip out to Galveston. I had a bunch of instagrams, one of my new favorite lines ever (Crate Paper's The Pier Collection) Studio Calico digital stamps, printables and cut files (from one of my all time fave designers, Ms Geralyn) and this May Flaum sketch.

I based the page off of the sketch but added a twist. I threw the stack of instagrams on top of each other on my desk and liked how it looked so much, I opted to create a "mini book" on my page. I mounted the two square photos on a sheet of plain transparency and taped one side down with the Crate Paper washi. Then decorated with die cuts, cut out printables & sequins, plus some stickers and just a teeny bit of stamping.

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I think it's safe to say, this is one of my favorite pages! I just love all of the color!!

cheers & besos,

Elephant Trek

Thanks Camp Scrap for getting pumped to scrapbook this summer! I went digging through my photo box to see what photos I wanted to use. 

These were two 4x6's that I knew I wanted to scrapbook. 

I loved this sheet from Crate Paper and thought it brought out the best colors in the photos and also added in some great accent colors as well. It's how I pulled in the different colored scraps that I stamped those ellies on.

I dug into a whole slue of new goodies that just arrived with my last (for the next few months!) Two Peas order. Like those great Crate Paper plastic alphas. I also think it's the first time I've ever used that Amy Tangerine stamp set. For shame! 

But seriously, this is one of the biggest reasons why I decide to stop buying new product. It really forces me to use what I have.

I also initially decided that I wanted to write my journaling directly on the photo. But it turned out horrible! Not to worry, re-printing took only a few minutes and my problems were solved. But as I was going back through my files to find this photo in particular, I realized there were so many more photos I wanted to include.

Hence this second page:

I pulled a whole smatter of photos and cropped them into 2x2 in squares, knowing I wanted to create a grid layout. I also pulled out my Acorn Avenue 6x6 paper pad and some scraps of that great kraft Elle's Studio polka dot.

To decorate some of the squares I used my new Travel Girl stamps (LOVE THESE!!!) and that line's die cut pack. I also busted into the Simple Stories brad pack and added one of those fun cork medallions. I opened up a lot of new packages for this page and I love that.

The cardstock background is this amazing-in-person gray orange peel texture. When I saw it in the store I immediately thought, it looks like elephant skin!! So I definitely wanted to use it here. It cools down the whole page & that's ok. I'm just really glad that patterned paper sheet I decided on in the first place included some gray as well.

Since I didn't like how the journaling on my photo looked, I decided I wanted to add an insert page but with a twist!

I've had this idea to print a photo onto a full 12x12 sheet of vellum for awhile now. I'm so glad I did it! It's how I decided to incorporate the journaling and was a fun "technique". The photo wasn't that great of quality and the printing not exactly perfect, but I love the look and feel of it so much!

So here's how my loose double pager looks next to each other. I pulled a lot of the same elements onto both pages and made sure to repeat the patterned paper and tape on both, as well as the little stamped ellies.

And here's the vellum page with the next page peeking under it. I think it looks awesome!!

Wow, that turned into a big share! And I think that's perfectly ok.

But seriously yall, this is why I'm so excited about Camp Scrap! For me, it's been about just working on projects & getting my stories told. I can use any supplies I have and any photos that I want. This doesn't look like anything May has shared and everything goes! I'm quickly realizing, that's my kind of class =) So check it out if you have the chance. Registration closes on the 12th.

cheers & besos,

Tomerlin Presies

Good morning! Man does it feel great to be scrapping and blogging again =) I'm still scrapping out of boxes, but I'm hopefully I'll spend a good chunk of next week getting my scrapbook area set up and organized. 

In the meantime, I made a few Christmas gifts that I wanted to share. It was frustrating to want to use some things I knew were packed, but I made these work in the end.

Here's a shadowbox (is that what we're calling these?) of Matt and his sweet Grandma Rose. 

I love this smaller size and the 3 little boxes to decorate. It makes it easy! Well, as easy I'll let it. These tiny spaces are hard for me to fill for some reason! These 3 took me hours to make because I kept shifting through options, trying to find what I wanted.

I drew a lot from the colors in each of the photos. Grandma Rose's shirt helped me pull in some blues and pinks, and the trees helped with the greens and yellows.

I used a hodge podge of products on all of these. Most notably on this one, I used some of the new 5th & Frolic from American Crafts and the Crate Paper Trendsetter I think it's called.

For this one of Matt and his family, I pulled out greens, blues and khakis, plus some black for good measure. Products are from Studio Calico, American Crafts, Basic Grey, Echo Park and the Girls Paperie.

But I think I had the most fun putting this one of Matt and his sister together. Jenn's shirt made for such a pretty jumping off point. There's some Dear Lizzy, Crate Paper, Amy Tangerine, Crate Paper, Echo Park thrown in here.

So yes, 3 presents done!! 5-6 more to go! Be sure to check back for more of these lil trays. Also, check back this week for the wrapping and decorating of the presents. Arguably, this might be my favorite part =)

cheers & besos,

NSD: 30 Years

My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary at the beginning of this month. I bought them a cake to celebrate. At least I got this one good photo out of them! They're the worst at letting me take their photo.

I used the aptly titled Crate Paper-Paper Heart line. I love the colors in this line, especially paired with that fabulous woodgrain.

This is for the SC Letter Stamps Challenge & 2Peas Beneath the Layer challenge.

Congrats Mama & Papi! 30 years is such an accomplishment in this day & age.

cheers & besos,

Sketchbook 4| No. 1

It's April! Do you know what that means? Sketchbook!! The class started this Monday & I have my first layout to share.

True to form, I'm using the class to finish up this year's Urijah photos before his birthday on the 20th.

I loved the red, white & blue in the photos and there were some great r,w & b products in last month's Studio Calico kit. I love how this layout turned out. I'm so happy to be back scrapping!

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And since I'm sharing KP class sketch based layouts, I had to post this next to last Sketchpad based page. It's sweet & simple. It didn't need much with that super cute photo of Yaya aka Urijah.

So happy to have my mojo back =) and super excited for all of the goodies on their way to me. I placed a 2Ps order full of new Studio Calico, Crate Paper & Amy Tangerine. Can't wait to get my grubby mitts on it.

Also excited to scrap with some sweet Houston ladies in a few weeks. I need a good scrap day out!

cheers & besos,

Vintage Photos

My nickname as a baby (and actually still to this day) was Chubby. I had rolls up my arms and legs, chipmunk cheeks and a double chin. But man was I a cute kid. You'll see, just scroll down.

I had fun going through my baby photos the other day, as I was looking to take part in a Glitter Girl Adventure. This week, she challenged us to use our vintage photos.

I specifically went hunting around for photos of myself and my dad. He's been on my brain a lot lately. You see, he's turn 50 this week! My big sweet Papa is officially leaving his 40's behind. And so, I wanted to make a page about us and our relationship, featuring some of our great vintage photos.

The journaling is about us and how similar we are to each other. How in the hospital on the day I was born, he noticed I had a small birthmark on my chin. And that, as he tells is, is how he knew I didn't get switched in the hospital. Despite this guarantee, there has never been any doubt that I'm his daughter. We're so insanely alike in character it isn't even funny. We're both quiet and reserved, we think before we speak, we love to travel and he's where I get my art gene. We also don't get along so great sometimes, because we're so much alike. We're both stubborn & hard headed. But despite that, he's the best Papa I could have ever asked for. He's so supportive and always full of love.

I dug into my stash and used the Tap Dance add on from my Studio Calico Singin' in the Rain kit. There was a lot of Crate Paper goodness in there and they are really great about using creams, as Shimelle Glitter Girl suggests for older photos.

The main kit came with those so great buttons and I wanted to use them, so taking a page out of Jill Sprout's scrapbook, I linked them all with twine.

It ended up being a very girl page. But I'm sure he won't mind. That's another great thing about my Papa, he never minded going to see stupid girly movies with me & my mom. He'd never say no to any of my suggestions, like when I wanted to go see Wicked (the Wizard in Oz themed musical) last time we were in NYC. He wasn't even a bad sport when I drug him all around Soho looking for the perfect graduation dress. He was just happy to be spending time with me =)

I think from the get go I had him wrapped around my little finger. I mean just look at this chubby cheeked baby. Could you ever say no to her?

See, I wasn't kidding about those chubby cheeks. Do you think I could give Lucy Claire Howell a run for her money? :) I used another older Studio Calico kit, Lawn Party & the Rope Swing add on, which also featured some fabulous Crate Paper products.

The page is about how I was born with hazel eyes and how they stayed hazel for several months before they eventually turned brown. My parents weren't that great about taking photos, so I'm so happy they captured at least this one photo of me and my hazel eyes.

I had fun going through my box of vintage photos and picking out some to share a bit of family history. I'll never be able to scrapbook all of them, but it's great to be able to share some of our stories. I know I focus so much on present day events and everyday life stuff, but I think it's important to share where it was that we came from as well.

Have you scrapped any vintage photos lately? I'd love to see what you did with them. Link them up in the comments & I'll stop by to take a look!

cheers & besos,

2011 Resolutions/2012 Habits

New Year = New Resolutions right?

Considering how well I did on last years, I'm not so sure.

Even having created this adorable mini, I still didn't stick to them.

Basically, the only three I actually did were:

(1) Budget, Save, Tithe...in moderation.

(2) Purge & Donate...not quite quarterly but at least a few times this year.

(3) Reconnect with friends...which was of course my favorite.

All are worthwhile accomplishments, I won't deny that. But I still feel like I could be doing more.

This year, I've resolved to not make resolutions but to focus instead on making habits. Habits that I can take with me throughout the year and even further on. Not pointless goals I set and then have no clue as to how to achieve.

These are the habits I'd like to work on cultivating for January:

• Waking up early enough to get a few things done, then to catch the 8:23 bus (so I won't be in after 9 anymore!)
• Exercising on the weekdays, running in the evenings
• Write daily (journaling, blog posts, Q&A, etc.)

At the moment, I'm just working on the 3. I don't want to get overwhelmed with an entire list of activities. I'll never create a habit doing that.

And come February, I'm determined to have those seemingly small things down, and ready to add 3 more habits to my list.

A little at time is my mantra for the year.

A little to achieve a lot!

With all of that being said, I'd like to share a layout which shows on of my 2011 resolutions at work, reconnecting with old friends :)

I got to see Monica twice this year! A treat, you have no idea. In February, I stayed with her in London and in September we met up in Hawaii for her birthday.

I love this girl. She is such a blast and the one person who can get me to do some of the crazier things I would never have otherwise, like snowboarding (Austria) and white water rafting (Thailand). She's always up for a good time, my Moni. And even though we couldn't be less alike, we still get along really well.

I created this page using my trusty Cheat Sheet (Sketchpad) at that Croppin Bug crop. And it wouldn't have turned out the way it did if it weren't for that crop!

Let me explain.

I wanted a neutral background for these bright photos, so I could incorporate in some way all of these gorgeous patterned papers. In riffling through my stash of paper, I picked out these two Studio Calico patterns from their Classic Calico line. But I couldn't decide which to use!

I turned to Lindsay, one of the awesome ladies I scrap with from time to time, to ask her opinion. She pointed out that she liked the dark paper for the color photo and the light paper for the sepia-esque print.

And that's how I came up with this design! (Thanks Linds :) Since it is so simple, I angled the design to make it more interesting. Then, cut strips and turned them into banners. The banners became my journaling lines and the whole things was finished off with some bakers twine and letter stickers.

It's a plain page but it doesn't really look that way thanks to the gorgeous papers and bright photo.

I hope to next year continue to reconnect and spend time with some of my favorite people. Even if it means flying across the world to do so!

And also, of course, to cultivate those habits.

Are you making resolutions this year? If so please share!

xxbesos

[EDITED TO ADD: I guess I was channeling my Leo brain wave. Check out his blog post on habits posted today]

Cheat Sheet

Confession: I'm a cheater.

There! I've said it!

Well...not a "cheater" per say but a definite cheat sheet user.

I'm talking about these guys, the ones that already have all of the answers to test:

It's the secret to my success!

Well kind of...

(It more or less holds up in a cropping court of law)

You all might know by now that I love me a good sketch and I turn to my repertoire of KP Sketchbook and now Sketchpad pdfs, frequently when I make my cheat sheets.

They're my go to group because 1) they're good and 2) I paid for them. That's more or less enough said.

So let me take just a minute to explain what I do and how I do it.

I bought the Sketchpad class when Kelly released it. Opened it up, poured over the sketches and the inspiration, wiped away some droll and then walked away from it for awhile.

Later, when I was in a scrapping mood I opened it up again and went through it page by page, sketch by sketch alongside of my iPhoto, pulling pictures with the appropriate orientation (landscape vs portrait) and groupings that would work for each sketch.

I jotted a quick mini sketch of just the photo placement, wrote down the appropriate file names and determined right then and there the photo sizes. That is the biggest tip I can give you. I like scrapping with a variety of sizes, but it can be a bit difficult and often time consuming chore.

When I make my cheat sheets, I don't have to think!

It makes the scrapping and the yapping that much easier when you're not thinking so hard!

This is one of the layouts I made from my cheat sheet. They're photos of this amazing local restaurant just off of the Kamehameha Hwy on the North Shore of Oahu.

It was a tiny little hole in the wall, but aren't those the best kind of eateries?! A local guy chatted up the place while we were ordering. Heck, if it's good enough for him it's definitely good enough for me!

For this page, I just started layering patterned paper strips on top of each other on either side of the line of photos. Then I added some 3 dimensional flowers and Thickers for embellishment.

And of course I had to make a cardstock grass skirt! I couldn't not with a restaurant (and page) so aptly named.

I almost forgot!

I have to add that I made the cheat sheet weeks and weeks ago. Printed the photos and let them marinate on my desk for awhile. It was a month later when I pulled it out to actually use. By then (and still now) I can't remember a single layout from the class pdf, but I have the bones to work with and thus was/am able to put my own stamp on the sketches.

I didn't make copies of the layouts featured. I made the sketches my own.

One of these days I'll go back and look at the inspiration. It'll be interesting to see how close to the original sketch my layouts turn out.

Signing off for tonight, but I'll be back later with more completed cheat sheet layouts! If you have any questions about the process, don't hesitate to ask. Cheers!

xxbesos

Yaya-Dear Lizzy Mini

Remember how weeks ago I promised to share my completed Dear Lizzy mini? Well today I'm finally doing that.

It features Crate Paper gorgeousness and my favorite photos of one adorable little man!

Thank you for stopping by =)

xxbesos