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,

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,

Photo of the Photo...

I'm determined to scrapbook as much of my 2008 travels as possible this year. I've even made it part of my scrapbook goals! This is a photo I took in Prague, a country I've barely scrapbooked about! Even though this trip was one of my most favorite trips ever in life.

I used the Scrapbook Circle February kit and was challenged by Tessa to use this great marble print. So many of the domes in that city were a similar color, so I thought it'd be fun to pair it with them.

Journaling Reads:
I took some really epic photos on this trip. But this one topped them all. It’s a photo of Mark taking a photo of Kevin taking a photo of Jon. I also love the couple embracing on the side. And the lady’s head is so perfectly framed in the dome. It’s one of my favorite photos that I’ve ever taken. It instantly takes me back to this trip with those boys. Absolutely one of the best trips of my life!

Tessa also is blogging about this over on the Scrapbook Circle blog. Head over there to read more!

cheers & besos,

7th Anniversary

Well that passed quickly. Can't believe Matt and I just celebrated our 7 year anniversary! We actually marked the occasion this year, so I had to scrapbook it. We usually forget because the day we call our anniversary is right between both of our birthdays, so there's a lot of other celebrating going on.

The page was made with the Scrapbook Circle Start Fresh kit and the Shine Bright (sold out) add-on. I loved those big numbers! And I totally took advantage of them being transparent. I love them laid out on top of each other. It helps reinforce the idea of all of the years running together and of them building on top of each other.

Because so much was going on with the numbers, I kept the rest of the page very simple. Title, journaling, a single embellishment cluster and a bit of patterned paper in the corner to balance it all out.

I blogged about this, which introduces a new challenge, over on the Scrapbook Circle blog. You'll have to head that way to hear more about it. I'm so excited about the concept!

cheers & besos,

Tell Your Story

I'm thinking this will be the title page for my 2016 album. It's a just for fun page that I made with the Fresh Start Scrapbook Circle kit. I love how it came together!

I recently organized my printed photos. I don't have a ton of them but now I'm able to find what I'm looking for, if I'm looking for something specific. It also meant that I had a good look at the photos from my childhood. I nabbed those boxes from Mama a few years ago.

One of the photos was of me on the front porch of our house. Can you see it there? I had on this blue dress with a matching blue bow. My mama says I was probably 4 in this photo. It was Easter time.

Simultaneously, I also had that very recent photo of me. I liked the juxtaposed and thought I had something there.

 

At some point, it crossed my mind that I had a 3rd photo I could use (the one in the middle). And it just happened to be sitting with this old Studio Calico rub-on that was basically a journaling prompt. It read: “I am….I can….I enjoy….I love….I think….I wonder….” So that’s what I used for my journaling.

I like this list. Some of those things have been true since I was 4 years old. Some were true at 18 and others are true at 31. And that, I think, makes this page very cool. At least to me!

I need to go back and add my age in each of the photos. I’m surprised I didn’t do that in first place! But looking back at it now, I’m realizing that’s what’s missing.

I really do love how this page turned out. And even though it’s kind of just a random page, I think I’m going to use it as my 2016 title page.

Tessa blogged about this over on the Scrapbook Circle blog if you'd like to read more.
cheers & besos,

Happy Place

I booked a trip yesterday. It's for work but it's also to my favorite place in the world, London! I'm so excited to be back. It's been over a year since I've been and I feel it calling to me. 

Because it's such an important part of my identity, I have no problem calling it my happy place. I have so my fantastic memories from this place.

I was very influenced by Fancy Pant's Happy Place line. It's how I came up with the idea to make this page in the first place. There's a ton in this month's Scrapbook Circle kit!

I think it's as equally important to document the places we love, as it is the people and the things. And I'm so excited to be heading back there in a few weeks. Until then, miss you London!

cheers & besos,

My Tribe

I hope everyone had a great holiday last week! Ours was very low key. But I'm still very happy to be home in Houston and off for the entire week! I have big plans to get some organizing done, do a bit of scrapbooking, some planning. It's gonna be good y'all.

I'll kick off by sharing a page from my Tell your Story Scrapbook Circle gallery. It's for the Lifting You challenge and you can read more about it over on the SBC blog.

I've had this "story" on my list for awhile now. There's was nothing in particular that sparked this memory for me, when I sat down to play with the kit. Really I think I just wanted to spend some time with these sweet faces for a bit of time. I miss everyone so much!

I lived with these people. I studied with them. I traveled with them. We spent so much time together in the year and half when we all lived in the same two cities. Sincerely, these were some of the best days of my life. And I just wanted to spend some time reliving those days.

Which really is the beauty of scrapbooking. It's not just taking the time to remember. It's almost like you're honoring the memory by documenting it. I love this hobby. It just makes me happy =)

cheers & besos,