Water Dog

I finally finished the 2nd page I made using my [2016 NSD Kit]! I know, it's been nearly two whole months. But I'm not going be too hard on myself. It's done and I like it :)

The colors are my favorite part! I'm loving this combo: teal, orange, yellow, gray, brown, white! I lined all of the paper along the side to create a color block.

The title is a [cut file] from [The Cut Shoppe]. I love how versatile it is! I backed it with cardstock in the color scheme.

We were at the pool just last weekend and Dixie had a blast retrieving the ball all over again. Except this time she was twice as big!

cheers & besos,

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Beach Going Life

Happy interNational Scrapbook Day my friends! I'm hosting an event on the Simple Scrapper Facebook page. We're chatting, I'm issuing challenges and also playing along! Here's what I did for Challenge No. 1! [Read more here]

I was so inspired by these, I knew I wanted to use them for a page. This is what I came up with! I filmed it, so expect a process video here soon!

cheers & besos,

Friends?

Our puppy is a social butterfly. This is a conundrum for me and for Matt because we aren't the most social people. She forces us into all kinds of random interactions. But I guess there's nothing wrong with that. Although the introvert in my screams "dangit puppy!" every time...

She loves people and she especially loves other dogs. She whines and cries if we don't let her play (read: jump) on other dogs we encounter on our walks. Cadie, my parents dog, doesn’t take too kindly to other dogs she can’t control. And Dixie is too young and naive to realize that Cadie doesn’t like her very much. Dixie’s pretty sure they’re best friends!

I knew I wanted to scrapbook this story and feature a lot of butterflies! I purchased this design from the Silhouette Online store and cut out three patterned paper butterflies. I liked the cut for its simple lines and the fact that the negatives would have been easy to back with different patterned papers. Although I didn’t go that route on this page.

Green was my challenge. I don’t scrapbook with green often enough! Don’t get me wrong, I like green. But given the option, it’s the easiest to drop from my repertoire. I chose a shade darker than my photos (with less yellow in it) to make these photos pop off of it. I also added a white cardstock mat to make sure the photos differentiated themselves. It helped balance Cadie’s white fur and is also why I decided to back the butterflies with white cardstock.

I love contrast. I try to use it as much as possible on every page. So the black thicker title, black label, black journaling, black heart stamping and black ink splatters helped add contrast to the white matted photos, Cadie’s white fur, the white backed butterflies, white threads and white outlined swirls.

The finishing touches were all about adding texture. I had some white thread cut offs in my sewing box that I added behind a few of the butterflies. I’ve seen this trend on a few other pages and think it’s such a simple way to add really great texture.

cheers & besos,

5 Favorites

I was in Nashville for work last week so I fell behind with my blogging. So sorry about that! But here's a page I made last month for Scrapbook Circle.

I don't often make no photo pages but I thought it'd be fun to make a list of my 5 favorites right now.

The Basic Grey banners were the jumping off point for the page. They reminded me of something you'd hang on your gallery wall. So I made my own little gallery wall on a piece of white cardstock.

cheers & besos,

Cheers

I love meeting scrapbookers I know online, in real life! Last year I got to meet the Jennifer S. Wilson and at a different time, I met up with Alexa Gill. 

Alexa was visiting from the UK, so we met up for Mexican food at this awesome tequila place here in Houston (El Big Bad for anyone interested). We snapped a photo together so of course I had to scrap it! [See the page I made about meeting Jennifer here]

This patterned paper from Amy Tangerine's Better Together line was so perfect for a friend page and a meet up page. I let it do most of the work and added in just a few embellishments and my title and journaling.

Anyone else interested in a meet up? Because I love to talk scrapbooking! I hadn't realized it until then, but I don't have anyone else to talk to about the industry. At least anyone who would know what I'm talking about. E-mail me if you're from around here or if you're planning to visit!

cheers & besos,

Photo of the Year

How many of you, my fellow scrapbookers, have felt thankful for this hobby? Have felt so blessed for taking the time to capture everyday moments? The mundane parts of life. The simple parts of life. 

I could not be more thankful for this photo, a seemingly boring photo. It's the only photo I have of my family of four--me, my partner, our cat and dog. We lost my cat just a few weeks later. So there's no chance of ever capturing our life like that again.

It isn't the greatest of images, but I don't really care. It's the idea behind it that matters the most. And that is why I consider it the best photo of the year.

For the page, I used the March Scrapbook Circle kit and this cut file from The Cut Shoppe. I manipulated it a bit in the Silhouette software and chose to only cut out the outer two "negative" rings. The patterns are from 4 sheets of patterned paper but I used the A and B sides of 3 of them, so lots of variety!

I kept my journaling and the embellishing really simple. Just a few typed lines and a smattering of foam hearts + the title and die cut. I wanted to include that Pinkfresh Studio house die cut because this is what life was like for us at home.

I'm so happy I set the timer and actually took this photo. I'm glad that I bothered to do it! Because there was ample opportunity and I just never got around to it. I'm making a resolution here and now. Get one everyday shot with the three of us in it, every month. Adding it to the bujo right now!

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,

Doublemint Twins

I hereby give any scrapbooker permission to copy any page they've ever made, and this pertains to either the design OR subject matter. That's what I did last month when I was working with the Good Cheer Scrapbook Circle kit.

Last Christmas I took a photo with my twin cousins, Nina and Mia. Looking at the photo made me remember the page I created in 2009 (left) of the 3 of us on Christmas. So I decided to make a new page (right) and call it the same thing.

This was for the Take 2 Challenge on the Scrapbook Circle blog. I lifted a page from Gina's Make it Happen gallery.

I love seeing these two pages side by side. It just helps me appreciate the passage of time. Which, I'm sure, anyone with children already knows all about.

Since I'm in San Antonio this year, I'll definitely have to snap a photo of the 3 of us tonight. It's now a little tradition!

cheers & besos,

Golden Hour

This was such a fun page to make! The technique was super simple and thanks to this particular cut, it had a huge impact! I blogged this "technique" over on the Scrapbook Circle blog. Head over there for more on it and this page.

cheers & besos,

Made of Stories

I was listening to an episode of the Paperclipping Roundtable yesterday and was so excited to hear this topic being discussed. The episode was all about the latest story based layouts the panelists had made. I love the topic and was so inspired by the journaling Stacy Julian read.

I made this layout before the episode was recorded, but I thought I'd share a bit more about the layout and the story....which was in fact all about stories! And more specifically, all about how unique my story is, or at least my perspective. 

Journaling Reads:

I’m so happy to be a scrapbooker and alongside that, a story teller. I’m the only one who gets to tell my stories. And stories I have in abundance! I’ve had some amazing adventures and feel so lucky to have this hobby in my life. I firmly believe everyone has a unique story to tell. And what makes my stories unique, is that they are all told from my perspective. I am (and am proud to be) a highly educated hispanic female born and raised in the United States. There aren’t very many of us, highly educated hispanic females that is (only 4.5% of the number of people who receive Master's degrees). Even fewer still, hispanic females aged 31 who aren’t also moms. And to narrow it down even more, highly educated hispanic females who aren’t moms and who actually scrapbook! I’m not saying I’m a unicorn, but I definitely know I have a specific perspective all my own. Whether it’s documenting my adventures, recording crazy pet antics, or simply sharing my every day life, I'm so thankful to have a hobby to share all of my stories in a beautiful and creative way!

The launching off point for the page was the gorgeous stamp set designed by Neat & Tangled. It's in this latest Scrapbook Circle kit (Mix Tape).

Tessa has been blogging our projects using the stamp set over on the Scrapbook Circle blog this week. Head there for even more inspiration with this awesome stamp!

I wanted this page to be simple, and to feature random photos that I knew I would probably not use on other pages. Well...and also a photo of me, the story teller. That one might get used again bc I actually did my hair and wore some make up.

I ended up stamping the sentiment over and over again, embossing it with white embossing powder and then spraying over top of it with two shades of pink mist. Gasp! I actually used mist like it was intended to be used. It's been awhile since that has happened. I went for a subtle ombre and love how it turned out.

I totally love this simple page and this little story about stories. I'm digging the meta-ness of it. I kind of want to do another one and make it all mathematical, getting down to the nitty gritty on statistics even! But that is a story (and a page) for another day.

cheers & besos,