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,

Summer Camp Challenge

I kind of can't remember the last time I was this excited to share a page! I spent a quiet Friday evening putting this together. 

Jennifer posted a fun challenge called Summer Camp in the Simple Scrapper Facebook Group. It was a re-run of a fun challenge/event the community did in 2013, before I joined. So this whole exercise was new to me. I had so much fun playing along!

Without giving anything about the challenge away, here's the direction I was given for my page:

Story Direction-Event or Trip
Page Background-White or cream cardstock
Paper Selection-No patterned paper
Journaling Style-Long column
Design Foundation-Asymmetrical clusters
Embellishing Rule-Mixed title work

I wasn't at all worried about not being able to use any patterned paper. And it definitely helped that my background was white cardstock. Because then I was able to create my own background with the help of mists and stencils and stamps!

It also meant that my photos and the colors I worked with really popped of the page!

Event or Trip was my assigned subject. I did one better and combined the two. The page is about an international music and dance festival we just happened to wander into when I visited Prague.

What better to scrapbook this adventure with, than my Ali Edwards "Go" Story Stamp & Kit. I loved all of the orange in it so I played that up as much as I could. I pulled out two journaling cards, just one of the chipboard pieces, the acetate geotag, plastic "go" and of course, the Story Stamps.

I used just about every last one of the stamp phrases and paired it with my Hero Arts Ombre Butter to Orange ink pad. It's subtle but I kept the ombre going when I stamped down in a long column on the left of my page. I sprinkled my journaling in with all of the stamping.

The embellishing included a lot of geotags and the stamped "awesome memory". I also mixed two sets of alphas and my own handwriting to create the title. The "go" could be considered part of the title, but really I see it more as embellishing.

I love playing along with challenges. The more restricted, the more I end up loving the pages. At least that's how it seems. This page is definitely evidence of that for me. I love love love how it turned out!

To my fellow Simple Scrappers, Jennifer posted the Summer Camp Challenge in the Facebook group on June 29 if you're looking for it.

If you're not a Simple Scrapper member, there's more info on it here.

cheers & besos,

Simple Scrapper-June

Happy Friday! I have my latest Simple Scrapper layouts to share with y'all.

The first features one of the sketches from the June issue of Spark Magazine. I used my Hello Sunshine SBC kit which had this awesome green leaf patterned paper, plus the little elephant paper clip. Too perfect!

This layout feels just super old school to me for some reason. And not old school in a bad way. But more like a return to my roots. I can't put my finger on what about it makes me feel that way, just that I do. Maybe it's the patterned paper background + kraft block + distress ink on the edges + handwritten journaling? Who knows? I just know this page makes me happy!

I used an older Story Starter to as the prompt for this page, which was to scrapbook about an outdoor adventure. This weekend in Chiang Mai was the most action packed outdoor adventure I've ever been on. It was nice to be out in nature but I still prefer my city escapes. I'm just happy I did it at the time.

This next layout features a Story Starter from June 2015 and a Sketch from January 2013. The Story Starter was to scrapbook about a historic place I have visited. This page was all about visiting the World Trade Center in July of 2001. 

I saved my ticket. I'm a scrapbooker, it's part of my nature, it's what I do. Even at 16, when I had been scrapbooking for just a few years, I saved all kinds of ephemera. This one was particularly special, for obvious reasons.

I used a scan of my ticket for this page. The real thing is in a little display case, alongside these two photos, in my living room.

Stars & Stripes were the subtle theme. Even though half of the stripes are running diagonal across the page. The "remember" is an Ali Edward's Story Stamp that I stamped with versamark ink onto vellum and covered in white embossing powder. I really like adding texture that way.

I'm really happy with both of these pages. As always Simple Scrapper pushes me to document stories that I might not have otherwise, or at least in a way I hadn't thought of before. I had never scrapbooked about visiting the World Trade Center. And that's a really huge story, especially considering the timing!

Just wanted to flag up that Jennifer is running a sale on a 6 month membership. It's a one time payment with a 20% discount that gets you access through the end of the year. The offer expires in just a few days (5/31/15) so if you're interested I'd jump on it. We just recently got a new member site that Jennifer documents on the blog. Head to: https://www.simplescrapper.com/join for more info.

cheers & besos,

2009

Hey y'all! I'm back home!! So excited to be here after a whirlwind week of travel. I'm also so excited to share this page with you. It's one of my favorites that I've made in awhile.

I have a lot to say about this page and not much time to say it in. So here goes:

I made this page as part of the Super Simple Scrapbook Challenges class over at Big Picture Classes. I'm loving this class! But I haven't had much time to actually play along. This is for Challenge #1--build a block and fill it in.

I went to my box of new supplies and pulled out patterned papers in red, blue, yellow and gray (from a Studio Calico kit) and cut them into strips to anchor alongside each photo.

Most of the embellishments are stamps from the October Ali Edward's Story Stamp. That month was all about telling real stories, maybe the not so shiny ones. I didn't really intend to tell this particular story until I pulled out the stamp set. I thought I'd write about Matt's and my 6 year relationship and all of the highs and lows of it. Instead, I chose to tell the story of 2009. The hardest year of my life and when these photos were taken.

Journaling Reads: 
2009 was the dark year. It was the unhappiest year of my life. I was depressed. I was lonely. I was missing my amazing life and my fantastic friends. I was missing my boyfriend. I was angry with my parents and unhappy about being back in San Antonio.

I had just finished living my dream. I had been living abroad, having crazy new adventures every week and visiting exotic places every month. I had a ready group of playmates that were equally filled with wanderlust.

But in just a few short weeks I went from having the life I always wanted, to coming back to a place that had nothing for me. No jobs, no friends, no adventures.

And it took a very long time for me to dig myself out of that. I was anxious and unhappy. There were times when I didn’t want to leave the house for days.

I was in the craziest headspace when I decided to visit Matt in Thailand. I went for a week and felt miserable the whole time. We barely left the apartment because I was so agoraphobic about being out in the city. Doesn’t look like it does it? While pictures may be worth a thousand words, it doesn’t mean they tell the whole story.

Things turned around in 2010. I slowly emerged from my haze and made my way back into the land of the living. I found a job (two at once even!) and moved to Houston. I got to live in the same city as Matt for the first time in over a year and a half.

Although I wouldn’t ever want to live through it again, I am thankful for 2009. It was the year that Urijah was born, when I became an aunt. And if I had been working and hadn’t been home I never would have got to spend the time that I did with Uncle Joe. We lost him that September.

2009, you were undoubtedly my worst year of life. But I do thank you for what you did give to me: a beautiful nephew and much needed time with my family.

I typed it all out and tucked it into a mini paper bag that I added behind my central block. You can see it just peaking out on the left side there.

I think what I love so much about this page is the awesome colors and the real story that I shared. One that I really never would have it I hadn't picked these photos for the Super Simple Scrapbook Challenges class or if I hadn't pulled out the Ali Edward's Story Stamp.

See! This is why products and classes are awesome. They help you get to points you might not have otherwise. 

This page right here, it's all about why I scrapbook.

cheers & besos,