Tea Cup Cards

The last of my "Christmas" cards! They're for two very special ladies and I think maybe my favorites of the year! And yup, they're a few days late. But with the pre-holiday craze that ensued, I just didn't have time. Thankfully, these two particularly lovelies, couldn't care less about silly things like "on-time" Christmas cards. They love me for who I am...thank God!

I knew I wanted to make tea cup something, so when Papertrey Ink released their Warm Happiness Too line, I nearly swooned. As a former Londoner, I heart tea like nobody's business. I love all things tea!

I wanted these cards to convey warm and cozy like the sentiment, so I used plaid paper (think flannel blanket) and a pipe cleaner (or faux fur...??) to "log cabin" them up a bit. The Basic Grey Jovial line was the perfect line for this! Love the rustic/christmasy feel to it.

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And somewhere along the way I got it into my head to make a circle card. I used one of my DVDs as a guide and hand cut it out of cardstock. I wasn't so interested in getting it perfect, it just adds to the handmade feel.

[Photo 3]

I distress inked the edges and stamped a friendship sentiment. And now I'm totally done with cards!! Blessing friends :)

xxbesos

j.leija

P.S. Don't forget about my Christmas giveaway! See my 25.12 post for details :)

Scrapbook Inspirations

Guess what I received in the mail the other day..... The new Scrapbook Inspirations Ideas Book!!

Wanna know why it has me all excited? It's my first time being published! Eeep! I'm beyond excited :D So pick up a copy, turn to page 66 and see one of my creations.

I had to snap some pics of it but figured I'd show my face in these. I feel like I haven't taken any good photos of myself in awhile so I prettied myself up for an impromptu photo shoot. (Kudos to Matt for being my photographer.) Thanks for stopping by and sharing in my post-pub glow!

xxbesos

j.leija

23rd Birthday: Scraplift

Twenty-third Birthday

Some 2 1/2 years later, and I've finally got around to scrapping the most fabulous birthday of my life. Thank you Handmade Love and Shannon for prompting a scraplift and for providing some great inspiration.

The Story:

When I turned 23, I had only been in London a month, had just barely gotten settled, and was in need of a big to do. Talking amongst my girls, we discovered that Nayeli and I were birthday twinnies. She's exactly a year older than me so of course we decided to have a joint party. Someone along the way had the idea to do a booze cruise and spending a night cruising the Thames sounded like the perfect way to celebrate our birthday. We had a really great turn out, 40 some Mountbattens came. And surprisingly, with all of the boozing and cruising, everyone was super chill and no drama occurred. The perfect kind of night out for me! I was also pumped to get to wear the reject graduation dress I'd picked up on my last trip to New York. Loved it! It was the launching point for the design of these layouts.

Birthday Cruise

The Page:

Since my dress had some pops of yellow, I wanted to highlight it in these pages. The scalloped patterned paper from Studio Calico inspired the addition of the turquoise and it turned out that faux wood patterned paper became a theme. The first page features a favorite photo of me and Sarah. I think she was teasing me with a cigarette. I wasn't biting...or rather smoking. The background is an old Basic Grey sheet. It has a lot of pink tones which did not go with my color scheme at all so I took Shannon's inspiration layout and moved all of the page elements up, in order to hide it. Using a tutorial from Studio Calico, I handmade the brown swirly/circular paper flower. Finished with strips of the scallops I cut from the patterned paper, added a ribbon trim and some Thickers. Viola!

The second page was all about balance and that amazing bright yellow wood grain. I wanted to highlight yellow in this design and the sheet from Studio Calico's Home Front line was too inspiring not to use. Strategically placed the photos and the patterned paper and added my journaling. I feel like it really offset these dark night time photos, gave them a new energy. Which is what they needed because I wanted to emphasize what a blast I had that night. I also wanted to add as many photos as possible but even the 10 featured here aren't nearly enough to do the whole night justice, nor showcase half the friends who came. I really could waste another 1000 words on the fun to be had that night, but this isn't the platform nor the place ;) Let's just say it was a too fun party that I'll remember for the rest of my life!

Thanks for sharing in my ride down birthday way. I'd love to hear about your favorite birthday! Leave me a comment :)

xxbesos

j.leija

Oddball: All About Me

Oddball

It's up! It's up! My first layout contribution to a design team :) This makes me very happy! I've never done a "10 things/All About Me" page, so when the girls proposed it, I was so excited to participate. Since I would consider myself a lame duck, I figured I'd share some of my personal oddities and quirks. They really are the crazy things that make me, me!

1. I didn't dress up for Halloween as a kid. (This picture is from college and actually the first time I'd ever dressed up!)
2. I'm not too into music. (Gasp! I know...)
3. I eat to live rather than live to eat, and sometimes forget to even do that. (Just ask all of my roomates! They were constantly checking to see if I remembered to eat!)
4. I hate jeans. (Seriously, they're the bane of my existence)
5. I may not know what I want to eat, but I always know what I want to drink. (XXX Vitamin Water at the moment)
6. I've never believed in Santa Claus. (Yeah, my parents just never told us about him)
7. I've never been comfortable relaxing on couches. (I have no idea why!)
8. I don't drink coffee. (Bleck! I also don't consume anything coffee flavored, i.e. ice cream, tiramasu, etc.)
9. I've always been a little odd. (Hey! You try being one of the only Mexican girls at an all Caucasian school! Did I mention I grew up in a city with the largest population of Mexican Americans? Something just doesn't quite add up there...)
10. I like being different. (It's true!)

[Photo]

For this layout, I went for a monochromatic color scheme. I have no idea why I wanted to do this but I'm very happy with how it turned out! Whites, creams, khakis, and browns were the color scheme I went with. I even added a neutral paint sample behind my photos for some extra emphasis. I picked these two photos because they were a fun way to incorporate images from my list. Can I also point out another oddity? My favorite Jew getting kiss crushed into a Christmas sandwich! Miss you Tashy! You too Hale Storm!

I also went with mainly neutral embellishments, even attacking a Starbucks cup holder with my scallop punch! I may not like coffee but I love Starbucks and their fun product packaging. (Check back later for more on this :) I'm finding that my style is evolving to include a lot of found objects in my scrapbooking. Transforming every day products into embellishments and details in my pages. Loving how they're turning out!

[Photo]

So there you have my inaugural contribution to the Handmade Love Challenge Blog. Click on over to participate and join in on the fun!

xxbesos

j.leija