Heart Eyes

The page is titled "heart eyes" and I have heart eyes whenever I look at it! It's one of my favorites from this year! 

The page itself is based off of a sketch from the July 2016 issue of [Simple Scrapper]'s Spark Magazine--No. 313 for fellow members.

I knew I wanted to scrapbook these photos. And I decided to pull out the [Heart Story Stamp] from Ali Edwards. But it was only when I really looked at that set that I noticed the "heart eyes" phrase.

Because I knew I was going to use that stamp, I decided to pull out all of the fun [emoji products] I've been collecting. They made for such a fun and playful page!

cheers & besos,

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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Happiness is...

I have a tip for you, if you need to put something together quickly and easily, reach for your 3x4 journaling cards. I just bought the [Wander core kit] because I'm a big [Christine Herrin] fan, so I was excited to use them!

I used a [Simple Scrapper] sketch and story starter as the basis of the page. The sketch (No. 254) called for patterned paper blocks in the background. Instead, I substituted the journaling cards. So quick, so simple, so fun!

Seven of these bad boys, two 3x4 photos, some stitching and mist droplets + three heart embellishments and I was done in no time flat!

cheers & besos,

Seven

I'm not a parent. Well, not to any humans. But I do have a nephew! His name is [Urijah] and if you've been following me for any bit of time, you've seen him on this blog. I love him to death! He's the only little person I've had the privilege of seeing grow up. On April 20th of this year he turned 7. SEVEN!!! Egads, where has the time gone?! I'm sure every parent...and even aunts and uncles have wondered the same.

I made a very special page to celebrate his birthday, using a sketch from the latest crop of [Simple Scrapper] goodies. And it was really simple and really easy to make! All it took was collecting some ink and a date stamp (used 3 on this page but whatevs) and going to town on some cardstock. 

I pulled colors from the shirt he was wearing in the photo. It had all of these bright little creatures on it. And then using a different ink pad for each year, I date stamped in bands across the page.

I also couldn't not use my [mega date stamp] on this page so I stamped directly onto the photo using white ink. I purchased those fantastic Bella Blvd heart enamels in every color (not joking, spent a tiny fortune on them!) so I dotted them around the page.

Below are close ups of the date stamping, which again, was so simple and fun to do!

cheers & besos,

Lisa Frank Love

Oh Lisa Frank...how I loved your products! I had a collection of stickers, stationary, notepads, folders. The first two were completely hoarded, the later two I used at school. 

Lisa Frank was super popular doing the 80's and 90's, and this month's 80's theme at [Simple Scrapper] had me remembering all of that colorful goodness!

I went online and pulled images for this page. Each one was something I stared at nearly every day, because it was on a folder or a notebook or a binder. I vividly remember each of these! I also did some hunting around that day, for anything about Lisa Frank! But her website was and still is in development. Although, since then, I was so excited to see that she's now on instagram! [Lisa Frank Instagram]

For this layout, I wanted to include a nod to the 80's by using neon. I have these really old Studio Calico neon mini misters. So I sprayed some scrap white cardstock with each of the colors and layered them with the rest of my patterned paper strips.

I used more of the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook collection. Look at the circle flowers I cut out of one of the patterned papers! How did I now notice how awesome they were before??

I knew when I was making this page that it would face the previous [Skidamarink] layout, so I used a few of the same elements on both, to tie them together. Mainly that blue grid background and the teal with small x's. It's obviously not a double page layout, since the design isn't continuous. But in my mind they're really cohesive.

cheers & besos,

Skidamarink

Do you know this song? "[Skidamarink a-dink, a-dink, Skidamarink a-doo], I love you. I love you in the morning and in the afternoon. I love you in the evening and underneath the moon!" 

There may be nothing that transports me back to my childhood as quickly as this song. It was the theme for [The Elephant Show]. Something my brother and I watched religiously when we were little kids. I couldn't tell you anything about the show or what it had to do with elephants, but man is that song ingrained in my brain!

This month's [Simple Scrapper] theme is all about the 80's and one of the Story Starters sparked the idea for this page. I only have vague snippets of what my life was like in the 80's...in December 1989 I was only 5. So I made a page about the things I did remember: being baby sat by Great Aunt Lucy...taking trips to the "little store" for candy and treats...watching The Elephant Show on the big pillow...and loving craft and stationary supplies!

I really wanted to make the song the focal point, so I die cut it out of white cardstock and backed with this lovely watercolored patterned paper. It's big and bold and I like it!

I put together a small photo collage of images for each of the four things I had talked about in my journaling. And I used bright/bold colors in honor of the very colorful 80's! I think most everything is from Amy Tangerine's Sketchbook collection.

cheers & besos,

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,

Kit Challenge NSD 2016

Hi friends! I wanted to share that I will be hosting a challenge this upcoming interNational Scrapbook Day, May 7-8, 2016, over on the Simple Scrapper Facebook Group. You can RSVP for it [here]!

I wanted this to be a fun, low key challenge to help you use some stash, make time to scrapbook and hang out with your fellow scrapbookers! The challenge itself is easy: using the "recipe" listed on the  [event page] pull together a kit of items from your stash. Then, over NSD weekend, make some pages, head to [Facebook] and share what you've made! I'm planning to issue a few challenges to help you get on your way. And I'm hoping it's a fun time and an opportunity to meet some new people :)

I already have my kit pulled together and I'm so excited to play with it! Especially after I made this video.

Head to the [event page] for the recipe to put your own homemade kit together. If you're around on Saturday & Sunday, be sure to pop in! We'd love to have you!

cheers & besos,

Weekends at No. 1152

I’m so excited to share this page! It’s one of my favorites from the year. I love the design and the color scheme (so not my usual). The moments that were captured (me helping Matt cook!). And all of the fun Elle’s Studio products I used (puffy stickers!!).

Can I just say that I love the dash of purple Elle included in the Little Moments collection. Dear manufacturers, more purple please! I think adding it in small doses helped make this mage so much more fun!

I started out by making the 12x12 layout, using a Simple Scrapper sketch (due out in May!). It was originally a double page layout. But I decided to shrink all of the elements down and overlap them a bit to make a single page.

One of my favorite parts is the bisected background. I love that angle! It isn’t very harsh, but definitely adds some visual interest. I die cut the title from the white cardstock and backed it with an ombre pattern from the Little Moments paper stack. 

This page is actually an update to one I did last year. It was called Saturdays at No. 1152. Back then we had a cat and no dog. Now we have a dog and no cat. I think it’s so important to document these kinds of things, because you never know how much can change in a years time!

Having the other layout in mind, I decided to print my photos to look like the instax photos I had used before. I stamped labels below each photo and then “Perfect Weekend” (a stamp from this month’s Elle’s Studio release) below each. Then I added a simple note describing each of our perfect weekends.

The embellishing was simple, a tag from the monthly kit, Sat and Sun acrylic pieces and three wee puffy stickers (swoon!). I dropped just a tiny bit of teal and purple mist to finish the page.

And I thought I was done. I thought what I’d made was enough. But then I started flipping through the stack of journaling cards in the monthly kit and I saw that “Notes from the Weekend” one and knew I needed to use it!

I decided to add a 6x12 divided page protector alongside my main layout. I started with the notes from the weekend card, this time I journaled about this specific weekend which happened to be Easter.

We didn’t do much in the way of celebrating. The only way we marked the occasion was by making and eating Matt’s Grandma’s wedding soup. The top photo is of the two of us rolling tiny meatballs for the soup.

I journaled on the “File this Under:” card and made my own 3x4 card using paper from the Little Moment’s paper stack and a few puffy stickers.

cheers & besos,

Thai Temple

Refresh is launched for the season! For Day One's assignment I decided to tackle a page from my unfinished box. There aren't too many pages in there. More than 10 less than 20 or so. 

Awhile ago, I printed out these photos from a temple I visited in Thailand. I had originally intended to scrapbook them with a kit but then decided, adding too much product would overwhelm these already detailed photos. So I put them in the box with two sheets of Kraft cardstock, to complete another day.

Today was the day! Here's the finished page:

Day One's assignment had a specific time limit. Well, I took more than the time allotted. Ok, like a lot more time than was allotted! But I'm ok with that. I don't want to rush this process. For me the fun part is hemming and hawing over the details until I get it just right. And today I had time to do that, so why not, right?

I used Elle's Studio Travelogue Journaling Tags, Labels and Stamp Set + the Jonah Alphabet Stamp. Love that guy! I used black and two shades of gray ink for the stamping, which ended up being the only embellishing for the left side of the page.

It was fun to just create for the sake of creating! I love that every Refresh (and really just about every event Jennifer hosts) gets kicked off with a bit of creative time. It's why we're all participating, right?

cheers & besos,