Encre, papier, ciseaux

Mix & A-Mingle

Inspiration: March 2021 Page Maps Sketch + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Frame It)

The office Christmas party tradition finally came back after two years of being put off. There was a photobooth available, so my colleagues and I went to have our pictures taken together. I had a printed copy that was given to me from the photobooth, but it was a little scratched and the colours were off. I had also received a digital copy by email, so I went back to it and played around in Photoshop to see if I could improve on the quality. I actually ended up changing it from portrait to landscape, cropping it to keep our faces and as I was playing with saturation to make it black and white, I realized that if I kept a very low saturation, I was getting a very nice retro-looking picture with soft colours that matched the green in my papers and solved our blotchy skin problem. It also allowed me to use one of the chipboard frames, which I love to do.

I really wanted to use the Mix & A-Mingle collection from Simple Stories to make sure it was represented in my scrapbook album. It was love at first sight when the company released previews of the collection online and even though I had made a few cards with it, I had yet to scrapbook with it. I had plenty to pick from, as I pretty much purchased the entire collection. I went to the foam stickers for my title and immediately realized Mix & A-Mingle was appropriate since that was exactly why we wanted to attend the Christmas party: to have the chance to mingle outside of work. (We're also a fully remote team, so I actually met some of my coworkers in person for the very first time at the party, even though we talk on the phone almost every day.)

I based my design on a Page Maps sketch. It's for a 8½ x 11 page, but I stretched it to a 12" x 12" page. As I mentioned, I love using the chipboard frames when I can because it really draws the eye to the picture and gives a strong starting point to the design. Because the title was going to be on two lines, I didn't even try to fit it above the frame, I went straight to the right side to fill the space left empty by stretching the sketch to a larger page.

I looked through the Journaling Bits for a journaling block and didn't have anything big enough for the scale I needed, but I realized that if I layered a few of the pieces I liked, I could create a bundle that had the right visual weight and gave me more room to tell the story.

I had already decided I wanted the star paper for the background and the striped ledger paper for the center. After cutting it to size, I saw the poinsettia background, which I also liked and when I auditioned the two pieces to pick the one I preferred, I  realized the best look was stacking them both and using the mint paper to mat the poinsettia one. I also realized I needed to turn the star paper 90 degrees so that the stars would be going up and down, first so that I wouldn't layer stripes on stripes going the same way, but also because it then looked like hanging decorations (curtain-style), which worked well with the theme.

Because my base was already pattern-heavy, I wasn't sure what to do with the overlapping banners from the sketch. I tried a few things and decided I liked the red banner the best. I also realized that I could turn to the Color Vibe cardstock to find a matching colour in a neutral pattern. I have been investing in this cardstock when I've found it on sale and it has now become a staple whenever I work with Simple Stories collections as I love the coordination. I made a note of the cardstock that matched the collection and decided to add the colour Green, as it was only shown in the little stars and nowhere else so far.

The top part of the banners was not showing a lot, so I picked a decorative brad to top it and it was enough to fill the space there. The bottom looked pretty empty, though. I had this label from the Page Pieces that looked nice, especially overlapped with the flower bunch from the same pack. I slid the red berry die-cut underneath to make it fuller and the pink star on the other side and then I stamped my date and wrote where the party was held on the label. I also topped the flowers with a champagne bottle chipboard piece to go with the party theme. The light string also came from the Page Pieces. I liked it but was worried the page was already getting full. I tried it a couple of places where it didn't work, before I strung it between the two journaling sections and decided I liked the look.

At that point, I started adding enamel dots, decorative brads and opals and I felt the page was close to being done. But one more flip through the sticker book had me wishing I had included the cute stamps somewhere, so I layered two at an angle in the corner of the frame, and then I spotted the Christmas Party circle sticker and couldn't help adding it to the opposite corner. Then I also wanted the pink door because its ornate look reminded me of the renovated church where the event was held. And when I saw the pink champagne bottle, it went very well with the pink glasses on the journaling block, so I slid that in there as well...  And then I wanted sentiment stickers and the ones from the sticker book were not holding up well because they're made of flimsy paper, so I used the cardstock stickers instead, and went for the rule of three. One my rule of three was taking care of for the embellishments, I decided to call the page done.

I'm happy with the result, I feel this page will represent this beloved collection well in my album!

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Pretty Peacock (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Page Pieces, Sticker Book, Cardstock Stickers, Enamel Dots, 
Chipboard Stickers, Chipboard Frames, Decorative Brads, Journal Bits, 
Foam Stickers: Mix & A-Mingle (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Green Color Vibe (Simple Stories)
Accessories: 2021-2023 In Color Opal Rounds, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Pretty Peacock and Old Olive Stampin' Write Marker (Stampin' Up!); 
Large Eyelets (We R Memory Keepers)

 

Ariri

Inspiration: May 2022 Page Map Sketch

It is hard to look at the Heart Eyes collection from Simple Stories and not have your spirits instantly lifted up. I love this brightly colored collection and I appreciate that even though it was released around the Valentine period, it can definitely be used for much more. I had been hanging onto this very sweet picture of me and my niece and I realized this collection would work well with the colours of her outfit.

I used Flamingo Color Vibe cardstock for the base, using the polka dot side. I also used Tomato Color Vibe cardstock to mat the floral paper, for better definition. I cut a strip of tickets from the patterned paper to make the vertical strip of the sketch. It was getting lost over the striped paper, so I added a strip of sparkly black washi tape and it really helped make the tickets stand out. I have the chipboard frames from the collection, but I was bummed to find out that the only frames that are large enough for a 4" x 6" picture were landscape and not portrait. I matted my picture with two different patterned paper to frame it instead.

I would like to eventually get the foam stickers, but since I didn't have them, I played around with stickers and die-cuts to see what I could make my title with. I really loved the Love banner placed over the note curt-apart, but it was not filling the space enough to fill like the page's title, so I reached out for my Thickers alphabets and I pulled out the one called Warm & Cozy. It's meant to be Christmas-y, but by avoiding the green letters and only using the red ones, I was able to match this collection. The two tones also worked well with the red and orange of the papers.

Earlier this year, I scored the square and heart additions for the We R Memory Keepers Button Press. I had played around with the Herat Eyes papers to test the heart buttons and I was really liking the look. (Word of advice, though: you need to really take your time when placing the mylar heart over your paper. If you don't, the sides will not get pinched properly when you create the button and they will come up, more so than on the other button shapes. And since the heart buttons are larger and therefore more expensive, you really don't want to mess up when you go to press it together.) I picked the button with the heart pattern and placed it at the end of the heart banner sticker. On the opposite side, I added a flower bouquet and the little heart tic tac toe ephemera.

I found some puffy heart stickers from Elle's Studio in matching colours, so I sprinkled some of the hearts and dots around the page, framing my title with them. I also added a few plusses around the page. Again, I followed a designing trick I've seen in many scrapbooking videos, where I repeated my elements in three on my pages: the sentiment strips, the little plusses, the puffy hearts, the puffy dots.

I handwrote my journaling and then I stamped the date in black ink multiple times without reinking it. This is another trick I saw someone do in a scrapbooking video and I really liked how it can help fill the space. I added Stickles to the hearts on the tic tac toe and to the candy, and Crystal Glaze to the sunglasses.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Ink: Archival Basic Black (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Bits & Pieces: Heart Eyes (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Flamingo and Tomato Color Vibe (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Heart Button Press (We R Memory Keepers);
Black Glimmer Washi Tape, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Warm & Cozy Alphabet Thickers (American Crafts); Star Dust Stickles (Ranger);
Puffy Heart & Star Stickers (Elle's Studio) 

 

Before Leaving...

Inspiration: December 2022 Page Maps Sketch

This page recalls the story of how I had purchased a sweater at a British chain the day before we were heading back home and the clerk forgot to take the security tag off! The morning of our departure, I called the store the second it opened and asked what could be done to fix the situation. They let me know they had one of their stores at the Heathrow airport and that if I brought the sweater there, the salesperson would take it off for me. It was a little stressful to add that errand on top of everything else but thankfully, the commute to the airport went smoothly, the walk through security was not too long and the store in question was on the way to our gate, so it all worked out.

I wanted to use the lovely Let's Go! collection from Simple Stories. Since my journaling was long, I printed it on patterned paper using a retro-looking font called Bio Monster. It unfortunately does not include French accents, so I will have to add those by hand with a pen. The title was created with Simple Stories Color Vibe Blush foam stickers and Elle's Studio Coral puffy stickers.

Pretty much everything you see on the page came from the collection. I added a bit of Pool Color Vibe cardstock to mat my picture and I made a matching button using We R Memory Makers' Button Press. I have been watching crafting videos lately and I've noticed that some scrapbookers mention the rule of three, in that they include three elements of the same color or three of the same embellishments or three of the same shape. I gave that a try on my last two pages and I have to say, there's some merit to that logic because it does seem to create something that's very balanced. For example here:

• 3 round shapes: the Let's Fly Away sticker, the button and the earth sticker
• 3 square elements: the airplane window sticker, the Departures sticker and the Airline Bagage sticker
• 3 enamel dots: on the nose of the airplane, on the bag and on the sentiment strip
• 3 sentiment strip
• 3 tabs: at the top, near the little earth and the date label
• 3 decorative brads: on the three square elements

I never stop learning and growing my designing skills!

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Ink: Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Enamel Dots, Decorative Brads, Puffy Stickers, Cardstock Stickers,
Sticker Book, Washi Tape, Foam Stickers: Let's Go! (Simple Stories)
Alphabet Stickers: Coral Puffy Stickers (Elle's Studio); Blush Color Vibe Foam Stickers (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Button Press (We R Makers); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)
Font: Bio Monster

 

2023 Mantra

I saw this grid on Instagram stating that the first three words that jumped out at you would be your 2023 mantra. Change, Trust and Care were the first three words that jumped out at me. They seem in line with what I'm hoping to see crystallize in 2023. Last year lacked in work-life balance since I was learning a new job and stretching out of my comfort zone, so this year, I am hoping to make changes to reach a better balance and to take better care of myself. As for trust, I need to have a lot of it right now to hope that things will work themselves out.

It happened that the grid was a salmon-pink color that perfectly matched with the Joyful collection from Cocoa Vanilla I've been using all week. It is a Christmas collection, but I thought if I focused on the more generic element from the line, I could make it work for this page. One of the papers had this large wreath that could only be used on a scrapbook page so I fussy cut it out and layered it over the pink plaid paper. I cut one of the journal card in half and placed a piece on each side of the wreath to add another pattern. I had played with Elizabeth Craft Designs dies and had this little pocket sitting on my desk, so I filled it with sequins, placed acetate on the front and added adhesive strip all around to create a little shaker. One of the patterned paper had 25 blocks with a countdown to Christmas, which I was pretty sure I wouldn't use, so I picked 20 and 23 and fussy cut the numbers out to create the date in my title. The other word was created with Banners Thickers.

I used PinkFresh's Happy Heart puffy alphabet stickers to write my three words around the grid. I just love that script font, especially in gold. The page was already pretty full, so I kept the embellishing to a minimum. I added a chipboard sentiment in the empty space, topped with a puffy sticker. I used a rolled rose that I had sitting on my desk next to the wreath flowers. I fussy cut the envelope from the 23 countdown block and glued it next to the shaker. I slipped a little pink die-cut frame under the shaker, added one of the puffy stars and a wooden button, plus a puffy sticker banner. And I added puffy stars and chipboard stars and called this page done.

I think I'm now ready to retire the Joyful collection for now and switch to something different. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Venetian Gold Mirror (Tonic); Mystical Opulent Cardstock (Sizzix); Acetate Sheets (Lawn Fawn)
Patterned Papers, Wooden Buttons, Puffy Stars, Puffy Stickers, Chipboard Stickers: Joyful (Cocoa Vanilla)
Thickers: Banners (American Crafts); Happy Heart (PinkFresh)
Dies: Photo Film Slides (Elizabeth Craft Designs); Rolled Roses (Lawn Fawn)
Accessories: My Sweet Say It In Crystals (Prima Marketing); Sequins (Cartwright's)

 

Hilarious

Inspiration: April 2022 Page Maps Sketch

I wanted to craft yesterday and I was struggling to find inspiration, so I decided to put together embellishments, using the Make It Merry collection Simple Stories (released in 2021). Today, I thought if I used the chipboard frames pack and my handmade embellishments, I'd have a nice base for a scrapbook page, so I printed a couple of Christmas pictures and found a sketch for inspiration.

I made my pictures black and white to go with the collection and trimmed them to size for the double-picture frame. I matted the back paper with White Smoke Cardstock (a nice warm white cardstock from My Mind's Eye). 

One of the handmade embellishments I put together was a ribbon cluster, using jewelry clamps and a hanging mother-of-pearl star. I had also done a nice little banner cluster using leftover papers and die-cut images. As well, I had used the Seasonal Sketch dies from Tim Holtz to make layered poinsettias, using the papers from the collection and silver foil paper for the overlay. Those were all arranged on the circle at the top left of the sketch. I thought of using the alphabet stickers from the sticker book for my title, but I was afraid the flat brown letters would get lost in the pattern. Using Thickers gave it a little more shine and weight, giving it enough contrast to stand out.

I typed my journaling in Word and formatted it to fit on one of the cut-apart tags from the papers. I added a sentiment sticker, cut in two, and a cute clip from the cardstock stickers, as well as the word Christmas in a frame at the top of the page. I pulled the two gifts from the puffy stickers and added them to the frame. I used the holly image from the puffy stickers at the right of the title.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: White Smoke (My Mind's Eye); 
Metallic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for Idea-ology)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Sticker Book, Puffy Stickers, Enamel Dots,
Decorative Brads, Chipboard Frames: Make It Merry (Simple Stories)
Dies: Seasonal Sketch (Tim Holtz for Sizzix)
Accessories: Baker's Twine (Recollections); Stampin' DImensionals, Ribbons (Stampin' Up!);
Star Charm, Silver Clamp (Bead Landing); Say It WIth Crystals (Prima Marketing);
Garden Party Thickers (American Crafts); White Ricrac (Fabric Store);
Letters to Santa Washi Tape (Carta Bella)

 

It's a Beautiful World

Inspiration: April 2022 Page Maps Sketch + Lasting Memory Layout Challenge #627 (use three of various products)

I went back to scrapbooking tonight and made a page for the picture of my niece in front of It's a Small World. I know that this ride is polarizing - people either love it or hate, but my family falls in the "love it" category. As kids, we often visited WDW during summer, when the heat was smoldering, so a lazy boat ride in air conditioning was very welcome and since the queue was often pretty short, we've even been known to ride it twice in a row so that we could enjoy and relax. I still get amazed by the amount of details found in the various scenes and I am always happy to revisit this old favorite. It's also classic Disney, which adds to the charm.

This gave me a chance to dive into the Say Cheese Fantasy at the Park collection from Simple Stories, one of my favorites from this release with its charming colours. Most of the design is based off of products from the line. I only die-cut one of the cut-apart images with a scalloped rectangle die, threaded twine to the chipboard tag and stamped my date on a ticket, but the rest all comes from the collection.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Ink: Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Foam Stickers, Sticker Book, Decorative Brads,
Enamel Dots: Say Cheese Fantasy at the Park (Simple Stories)
Dies: Scalloped Contours (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Golden Yellow Twine (May Arts); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Stupid O'Clock

Inspiration: November 2020 Page Maps sketch

Oh, how I love having to set the alarm at 4 a.m. to catch a flight at Stupid o'clock, as my cousin would put it! Those selfies were taken on the tub in London on our way to take our flight back home and my eyes are still pretty red from getting up way too early. I was happy to revisit the Going Places collection from Simple Stories and its lovely, bright colours. I followed an old Page Maps sketch to help place the base shapes and then I let the images and embellishments from the collection guide my design.

The luggage pile was fussy cut from a Snap card. I also used Snap cards for the Travel log journaling block and the Go-See-Do image above my pictures, on which I added the title using alphabet stickers. The London bus was fussy cut from patterned paper. There was a double-decker bus in the Bits & Pieces pack, but I like the smaller version with the London word on it. While looking for my Snap cards, I found some veneer shapes from an older traveling collection also from Simple Stories, so I used the travel word, the little camera and the plane to embellish the page. I covered the camera with yellow embossing powder and added a little square punched out of gold glitter paper. I backed the camera with orange and added an art pebble in the center. (I see that my art pebbles are starting to yellow - yellowing embellishments is one of my biggest pet peeves!) I added a few cardstock stickers and enamel dots as well.

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Enamel Dots, Snap Cards, Cardstock Stickers,
Chipboard Stickers, Bits & Pieces, Journaling Bits: Going Places (Simple Stories)
Glimmer Paper: Gold (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: VersaMark
Accessories: Crushed Curry Stampin' Emboss Powder, Stampin' Dimensionals, 1/4" Square Punch,
Metallic Pearls (Stampin' Up!); Teal Puffy Alphabet Stickers (Elle's Studio);
Art Pebbles (Finnabair / Prima Marketing); You Are Here Veneer Pieces (Simple Stories);
Bumblebee Sunshine Alphabet Stickers (Doodlebug Design)

 

If Leaves are Fallin', Autumn is Callin'

Inspiration: November 2020 Page Maps Sketch

I had been dying to use the Pumpkin Spice collection from Doodlebug ever since it first came out. Don't know why it took so long, but I'm glad to finally have a finished project done with it. I love the colours of this line and I think the page turned out so cute! 

I matted my picture with the turquoise plaid paper and Baked Brown Sugar cardstock. I cut three stripes of patterned paper and punched 1" circles out of various patterns. I added a scalloped border from the This & That sticker page and I picked the large scallop circle for my title. I stitched around the whole block using orange floss.

To finish embellishing, I added Icon stickers and Shape Sprinkles around the page. I also added little sentiment strips and the date using Thickers.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Baked Brown Sugar (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Icon Stickers, This & That Cardstock Stickers: Pumpkin Spice (Doodlebug Design)
Shape Sprinkles: Happy Fall (Doodlebug Design)
Accessories: Needlepoint Floss (DMC); 1" Circle Punch, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Out of This World

Inspiration: Page Maps July 2022 Sketch + Scrap Our Stash (2 forgotten tools: my Perfect Layers (to mat pictures) and the flip pockets with the fuse tool

I was eager to use the Say Cheese at the Park line with my Disney vacation pictures, and the Tomorrow collection was a great pick for our pictures taken at Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ride. That being said, I had three full-size pictures of us riding on it and I was struggling to find a way to get all of them on a page without it feeling crowded. I ended up putting the pictures aside and working on something else until I thought of the flip protectors I have and once I thought of those, I was ready to revisit the page again. I'm so glad I got this idea, because it allowed me to include the Zurg picture on the page as well.

Inspired by the Page Maps sketch, I stitched a double circle with sparkly red floss in the background. I layered images from the Page Pieces to create the title at the bottom, and I added the rocket with the words Blast off on the right side. I matted the Zurg picture with patterned paper. I cut two tags from the Say Cheese at the Park papers, layered them at an angle and handwrote my journaling on them. I added a little zapper sticker at the top from the Sticker Book, and I added twine bows on both tags.

Once the page itself was done, I slipped it into a page protector and then I layered the three pictures in flip pockets where I wanted them and used the fuse tool to add them to the page protector. I added black sparkly washi tape over the top to hide the seam. 

The Sticker Book included little tabs that were the perfect size, but they couldn't be used on their own on the flips, as the stickers from the book are made of flimsy paper and also would have remained sticky, so I added them to white cardstock, fussy cut them out and then glued them on the flips.

I realized as I was turning the flips over that the back of the pictures didn't look great, so I went back to the patterned papers and cut-apart sheets and I created little inserts to put behind the pictures (gluing them behind the picture so that it would remain aligned). That made me happy, as the page looks more finished that way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book, Page Pieces, Cardstock Stickers, Enamel Dots.
Puffy Stickers: Say Cheese at the Park, Say Cheese Tomorrow at the Park (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Yellow Twine (Doodlebug Design); Red Twine (Recollections); 
Red Sparkly Needlepoint Floss (DMC); Page Flips (Project Life)

 

Sweetheart

Inspiration: May 2020 Page Maps Sketch

I had a few selfies taken with my youngest niece that I put together in an app so that they could be printed in a smaller size. I also made sure to make the pictures black and white so that they could be scrapbooked using any paper collection.

I have a few love-themed collections that I'm always trying to use outside of Valentine's Day, so I pulled the Sweet Talk collection from Simple Stories here (2020) and put this simple page together. Most of what was used came from the collection, but I did add a Lagoon Vintage Bits Filmstrip from 49 & Market in there. I used black Roughly Sewn Rub-Ons at the top and the bottom of the heart-patterned paper. 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Pink (Unknown); Vanilla Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Enamel Dots, Decorative Brads, 
Bits & Pieces, Puffy Stickers: Sweet Talk (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Corner Chomper (We R Memory Makers); Real Red Cotton Ribbon, 
Stampin' Dimensionals, Black Sparkly Organza Ribbon, Washi Tape (Stampin' Up!);
Black Rough Sewn Rub-Ons, Lagoon Vintage Bits Filmstrips (49 & Market);
Sorbet Thickers (American Crafts); Cupcake Sunshine Alphabet Stickers (Doodlebug Design)

 

Pirates of the Caribbean

Inspiration: Festive Friday #115 (Dog + Spots + Cannon Balls)

I got really excited when preview of the Say Cheese at the Parks collections from Simple Stories appeared online. Those might be the cutest Disney-inspired scrapbook collections I've seen so far. I impatiently waited for them to come out and got my hand on most of the items as soon as they came out. This is my first time finally using them. I have to assume the collections are based on Disneyland's lands as the pirates images are found under the Frontier at the Park collection, but the pirates ride is clearly in Adventureland in Walt Disney World. (I pulled the map I have from our last trip to double-check, as I was doubting my memory.)

The design of the page is pretty simple. I basically just had fun moving the ephemera images and foam stickers around to make a cohesive design. I love the picture of my niece - she doesn't need much prompting to make sassy poses for pictures and that pirate face is all her! I discovered that the pirate's hat from the foam stickers was the perfect size to fit her head and I couldn't stop giggling once I put it on her.

We visited the Adventureland section of the park after dinner and we started debating whether to ride Pirates or Jungle Cruise. We got lucky, as the lines for both rides were pretty short, so we ended up being able to ride both before the firework show started. I'm glad we had the chance to revisit this classic with the kids.

This was perfect for the challenge, as I had dotted paper, cannon balls and the little dog holding the key. I love that Simple Stories incorporated that image in the collection - it was the scene from the ride that stuck the most for me as a kid.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Ink: Pool Party (Stampin' Up!); Vintage Photo Distress Oxide (Ranger)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers, Cardstock Stickers, Bits & Pieces, Enamel Dots,
Decorative Brads: Say Cheese Frontier at the Park (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Stitched Oval Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn);
Tree Rings Dies, Tree Rings Hybrid Embossing Folder, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

 

 

 

 

Let's Go!

Inspiration: Paper Issues July 11^th Sketch + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Let's Go on Vacation!)

When I saw the sketch with the blocked pieces, I immediately thought of the Simple Stories page templates. I pulled one out and it became the starting point for this page. I had been chomping at the bits to use the Let's Go! collection from Simple Stories, so I pulled the picture taken at a restaurant where we stopped for lunch on the way to Wasaga Beach a few years ago.

I was planning to make a watercolor wash background and I painted gesso on a piece of white cardstock, but after the gesso was dry and I started auditioning some of the papers over the background, I felt it looked a little too off-white compared to the paper and it was bothering me. I also realized hat we would not be seeing a whole lot of the background once I added the blocks, so I went back to a white cardstock for the background (and will keep the gesso'ed piece for something else at a later time). I replaced the watercolour wash with 49 & Market rub-ons instead, from the Travel Anywhere collection. Those pair with the SImple Stories line very nicely.  

As part of the collection, I purchased the Page Pieces. I looked in there to see what I could use and I pulled the super cute van plus the awesome marquee. I added dimensional adhesive behind both images and started looking at which patterned paper would look cool underneath. I picked the grey map for the marquee and I had picked the pink map for the van, but I realized once I saw the back of the paper that the plates pattern looked much better. I picked my favorite pattern from the line, the lovely plaid, for the other 6" x 4" piece.

I started looking through Thickers to see what I could use for my title. I was curious to see if the pink Color Vibe letters I had previously purchased could work with this line. Those letters are something I picked up online when my local store did a clearance sale and I thought soft pink letters would be useful since it's a colour that comes back in a lot of paper lines, but when I got my order, I realized that this is more of a soft peach/nude colour. I was glad that it matched the lighter pink from this line, but I was concerned the letters were getting lost in the plaid design, so I used a grey pen and added doodling around the stickers. For the first words, I knew I had a pink alphabet from Queen & Co, which worked perfectly.

In the sketch, the journaling block is towards the bottom, but I had more room to fill at the top of my block, so I used the tag die-cut from the Page PIeces pack and moved it to the top block, handwriting my journaling on it with a pink gel pen. I also found a chipboard tag in the decorative brads pack, and added it at the bottom of the first one, to frame the title.

I created the block at the bottom using half a tag from the cut-apart page, layering a rub-on and two stickers from the sticker book. I stamped my date on the tag and I added a few puffy stickers. I added a few stickers and die-cuts to the page to fill in a few spots. I put enamel dots on the van and the marquee, added art pebbles to the van's headlights, a enamel heart to the van sign, and I glued pink Doo Dadz all aorund the marquee where the white lights were. That really brought the marquee to life with the sparkle it added.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp Office (Supplies)
Cardstock: Textured White (American Crafts)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers, Sticker Book, Decorative Brads, Page Pieces,
Enamel Dots, Cardstock Stickers, Puffy Stickers: Let's Go! (Simple Stories)
Ink: Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Vintage Artistry Travel Anywhere Rub-On Transfers (49 & Market);
Blush Foam Alpha Stickers (Simple Stories); Princess Sparkle Doo Dadz (Buttons Galore & More);
Glossy Accents (Ranger); Mini Hearts - Cotton Candy Glossies (Pure & Simple);
Pink Little Letters (Queen & Co)

 

Frozen Ever After

Inspiration: Paper Issues July 6 Sketch 

I thought this sketch could work well to scrapbook our picture taken at the Frozen Ever After ride. We almost never received this picture, as it had not originally saved to our account and we had to contact Disney and provide them the exact day and time we were at the ride, with a description of what our party looked like. Thankfully, they located it in their archives and were able to send it to us. My nieces were big fans of that movie and this was one of the rides we definitely wanted to capture a memory of. 

As you can see, Disney adds this Frozen overlay to the picture, which is entirely turquoise and therefore dictates the colour scheme. I had already done a monochromatic turquoise page in another album when I recorded an Olaf costume my brother-in-law's cousin had done by hand. I didn't want to go down that road again so I started shopping my stash and I got excited when I spotted the Sparkle City collection from American Crafts (2018). The colours were a nice match and I thought I could make it work if I avoided the city-themed papers. 

I used purple textured cardstock for the page base and I layered orchid dotted paper on the right, teal geographic paper on the right and a strip of paper with light strings on it (some of the lights having holographic foil on them). This detail is particularly nice because in the queue for the ride, we go through the Arendelle village and there are strings of lights hanging above our head, so I feel like that makes for a nice callback.

The picture mat is actually the packaging of the sticker pack! I liked the colours and patterns so I cut the marketing strip off and placed it under the picture on my page. I found a border punched out of holographic paper that was leftover from a previous project, so I slipped it at the top of the picture.

I used the matching holographic Thickers to create the first word of the title and include the date at the bottom of the page. I've been doing that more recently instead of stamping a small date on the page and I'm liking the look that it gives, plus the fact that I get to use the number stickers, which otherwise would tend to sit.

The Sparkle City collection included a vellum page, that is entirely filled with marquee. It was not fitting my page really well, but as I was about to put it away, I noticed that one of the marquee had the phrase "Never Give Up" and I realized that if I cut the N at the beginning of the word, I would have "ever" ready to use for my title! The word "after" was added with the block letters from the sticker pack.

I had Frozen-themed stickers from American Crafts that I pulled out and added to my page. I had Olaf sit on top of my date, I added the sisters' shadow at the top of my journaling block, each sister in the bottom corners of my picture mat, and an Olaf silhouette on top of the title. I also sprinkled snowflakes (stickers and sequins) around the page. 

The camera was fussy cut from patterned paper and added at an angle to frame the journaling. I had a leftover half-ticket in a purplish blue colour that suited the layout, so I slipped that underneath the picture. I used a branding strip as a teal border, cutting the ends with pinking decorative scissors. At the last minute, I remembered to look at the matching chipboard and I found this neat arrow with holographic lights on it, and I added it underneath the title, pointing towards the picture. That little addition really made the page feel completed. 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Wisteria Wonder Textured (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Stickers: Sparkle City, Chipboard (Shimelle for American Crafts)
Embellishments: Harmony Thickers, Disney Frozen Stickers (American Crafts); 
Stampin' Dimensionals, Sequins, Rhinestone Stickers, Iridescent Trim,
Mini Stapler (Stampin' Up!)

Islands of Adventure

Inspiration: Lasting Memory Layout challenge #607 - Old and New

(This is my first time using the Color Study collection from Vicki Boutin, which is relatively new as it came out last year. The sparkly Thickers are really old and so are the Echo Park decorative brads and the washi tapes.)

This will be the first page of our day at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. I was going through my paper collections to find something that would work and I found Vicki Boutin's mixed media paper pad. I really liked the colorful background with the stars, so I went looking for patterned papers to match and I found the few sheets from the Color Study collection that I have. I matted the picture with the black paper and added a few torn edges with the pink and purple one. I ran my black ink pad along the edges to make them stand out.

For the title, I wondered if I had the word "adventure" anywhere in my Thickers or chipboard packs, and I realized I might in the Into the Wild collection. Sure enough, the foam stickers pack include the word adventure in a colorful rainbow that matched the papers well enough to go. The word Islands was created with the Fox Thickers from Dear Lizzy and the word "of" with Little Letters stickers from Queen & Co.

I have the cut-apart sheet, so I used one of the borders at the bottom of the page, one of the banners at the top (with washi tape layered underneath) and two of the tags underneath the picture. I kept the "This day was fabulous" tag intact and I cut the viewmaster wheel out of the other tag to use as a die-cut image.

I decided to add my date with the same gold Thickers to make it stand out and fill in the space. And then I went around the page embellishing with gems, enamel dots, brads and stickers. I'm trying to include the park map on my cover pages, but it wouldn't have worked with the layout I was aiming for here, so I created a pocket with the yellow star patterned paper on the back of the page and I slid our printed tickets and the map in there.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Color Study (Vicki Boutin for American Crafts)
Cardstock: Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper (Vicki Boutin for American Crafts)
Accessories: Into the Wild Foam Stickers (Simple Stories);
Fox Thickers (Dear Lizzy for American Crafts); Yellow Little Letters Stickers (Queen & Co);
Star Stickers (Maildor); Halloween Mix Matte Enamels (Bella Blvd.);
Enamel Dots (Your Next Stamps); All Occasion Enamel Dots (Pink & Main);
Cool Summer Decorative Brads (Carta Bella); Botanical Enamel Dots (Waffle Flower);
Love Filled Gems (Fun Stampers Journey)

 

The Cube

Inspiration: Paper Issues Sketch - July 4

When I went through Vicki Boutin's Ready-to-use mixed media paper pad, I tore this page and put it aside. In the pad, the stripes are horizontal, but I realized when I turned the page 90 degrees that it looked just like the July 4 sketch and I was immediately inspired to explore that idea.

I sort of did the monochromatic sections, except for the title, where I paired three colours from the page to make sure the words were showing up well. I did do tone-on-tone stitching on all of the sections. I placed my title over the yellow stitching and I glued the first word a little crooked so it wouldn't look so plain. I added puffy stickers in yellow at the top and bottom of the sentiment to keep with the monochromatic embellishing.

I typed my journaling in Word, using the Elegant Typewriter font. I printed it on a scrap of pink cardstock, cut it as strips and added it the page. I added sparkly enamel dots and a couple of puffy stickers in matching colours. I got lucky and had a drink image, which fits with the story. (The story behind this cube that my niece is holding is that I ordered a cocktail during one of our meals and the drink had a light-up cube in it to make the drink change colours. The kids were absolutely enthralled by it and a little bit of fighting ensued once we fished it out of the glass to see who could play with it. The youngest, who was about to turn two at the time, kept the thing in her hand for a big chunk of the Disney trip. That's kids for you - they'll be totally smitten with the dollar gadget!)

I placed the picture in the fourth section, and I like that the blue of my niece's dress fits with the blue section theme. I matted the picture with a blue paper from the Color Study collection from Vicki Boutin. I went through my blue embellishment drawer and I found blue tickets that I tucked in under the picture. I also found a blue chipboard banner that I added to the picture's corner. I also found blue rub-ons in 49 and Market's Sky & Navy rub-on transfers pack. I added blue and teal sequin rub-ons around the page, the word Reminisce on the picture, the word Simplicity on the chipboard banner and the words "greatest treasure" above the picture. (That was a lucky find!) 

The teal section is very narrow and didn't need a lot of embellishing, but I did get the idea of finding a scrap of matching paper and punching little Mickey heads to glue on the page. I have this punch that does six sizes at once, and the pattern I picked really blends into the background, so I like that it adds hidden Mickeys to the page. At the bottom of the stitching, I added an aqua tag, on which I stamped the date in Bermuda Bay ink and I added a little puffy sticker in matching color to the right.

It feels like a lot of the work was done for me since I used a pre-done mixed media page, but I really do enjoy the end result. I like that this will add variety to the final Disney album as well.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Ink: Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Pink (Unknown)
Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper Pad: Vicki Boutin (American Crafts)
Patterned Papers: Color Study (Vicki Boutin for American Crafts); Teal (Unknown)
Alphabet Stickers: Pink Little Letters (Queen & Co); Oh, What Fun! Puffy Alphabet (Pinkfresh);
Midnight Thickers (American Crafts)
Accessories: Disney Mickey Icons Punch (EK Success); Here and Now (Dear Lizzy for American Crafts);
Dive Into Summer Puffy Stickers (Echo Park); Aqua Label Stickers (Elle's Studio); 
Vintage Artistry Sky & Navy Rub-On Transfers (49 and Market); Gumdrops (Your Next Stamp);
Bell Pepper Trinkets Puffy Stickers (Bella Blvd.)
Font: Elegant Typewriter

 

Animal Kingdom

Inspiration: Scrapbook Generation Free Sketch #2 + Lasting Memory Layout challenge #606 (Big and Small Elements)

I kept going with the Into the Wild collection from Simple Stories and made my intro page for the day we spent at Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World. This time, I remembered to make a pocket on the layout so that I could keep the map from that day in it! I had done that in my album from 2005 and I find it fun to pull the old map back and see how the parks have evolved since then. I forgot to make a pocket for my Magical Kingdom page, so I will probably just slip the map on the back of that page, in the pocket protector. Here, I used foam strips on both sides of the picture and on the bottom edge so the picture is off the cardstock and open at the top, and I was able to slip the guidemap in. Its colors also fit very nicely with the collection, so that's a win as well.

I made sure to pick green cardstock for the page base, as it seemed an obvious pick. I based my design on a free sketch from Scrapbook Generation that had four 4" x 4" squares on it. I realized when I measured the map that it would not fit in such a small square, so I simple made the two left blocks 4" x 6" instead. That had the added bonus of preserving my Tree of Life picture, as it was already cropped pretty tightly in the picture. I did crop the other two shots of the tree - one at day and one at night - to 2¼" x 2¼" and added them to patterned paper, as per the original sketch. I moved the pictures a bit higher on my design so as not to hide the words on the bottom square. I found this neat wood 4" x 4" cut-apart with the words Wild One in aqua and decided to use this on the layout. I then realized I had the same words, slightly larger, in the foam stickers and decided to overlay the words to make it a dimensional element.

I then went on to pick embellishment. I got to reuse that Jungle Safari chipboard piece that had not made it on my Kilimanjaro Safari layout, and I slipped a flower underneath. I wrapped twine around the photo mats and added a sentiment strip on one and a foam sticker on the other. The lion head came from the Bits & Pieces and is just adorable. At the bottom, I used the little animal banners sticker, then popped the chipboard explorer hat on foam adhesive, as well as the chipboard compass and the ephemera boots. I found those cute little chipboard pawprints and put them in the corner of the alligator paper. Then, I picked the Explore tag and stamped Animal Kingdom on it with a small wood-mount alphabet I found in the bins near the cash register at Michaels years ago. I added a little iguana sticker at the top (he reminds me of Pascal from Tangled!) and a leaf at the bottom. I went back to the animal-print gems from the Diamond Say It in Crystal pack to accent the strips at the top of the page.

This collection is working out very nicely for my Animal Kingdom pictures.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Alphabet (Studio G); Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Cardstock: Lucky Limeade Textured (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers, Cardstock Stickers, Chipboard Stickers: Into the Wild (Simple Stories)
Ink: Mossy Meadow (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Twine (Recollections); Stampin' Dimensionals, Foam Adhesive Strips (Stampin' Up!);
Diamond Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing)

 

My Little Monkey

Inspiration: Paper Issues - July 2 sketch

I was happy to see that Paper Issues is hosting a 31 days of sketches in July. Sketches are always a great way to spark inspiration and stretch my design muscle. I was liking the overlapping papers sketch, as I saw it as a great way to use smaller scraps on a full 12" x 12" page. I went to my Disney pictures to see what could work as a stand-alone on a page and when I saw the picture of my niece hanging upside down while we were waiting in line for a ride, I knew I could do something with the Into the Wild collection using the monkey images.

When I started working with this new collection a couple of weeks ago, I pulled out some monochromatic Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up! in matching shades and kept those close so I could stretch the collection further. I decided to use those here rather than the papers from the collection since I knew we would only see corners peeking out from underneath the picture. Before I glued my papers down, I smooshed my Old Olive ink pad on a piece of acetate, spritzed it with water and I smooshed the acetate on my textured cardstock to create texture.

I found a little monkey in the chipboard pack and the title "My Little Monkey" in the foam stickers, which made my job easier to begin with. I also found a "just hangin'" die-cut in the Journaling Bits pack, which I superposed on another die-cut to give it more visual weight and add the leaf pattern. I snuck two branch die-cuts from the Bits & Bobs pack in the corners. I added flower stickers from the cardstock and foam packs, as wild as a little sentiment strip and paw print. I embellished with pearls, gems and enamel dots in matching colours. And I doodled borders around the papers.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Old Olive Textured (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Vellum: Vellum Layering Designs (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Series Paper: Brights Stack, Neutrals Stack (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Old Olive (Stampin' Up!)
Foam Stickers, Cardstock Stickers, Bits & Pieces, Journaling Bits: Into the Wild (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Brown Pen (PaperMate); Stampin' Dimensionals, Distressing Tool,
Treasured Tags Pick a Punch (Stampin' Up!); Café au Lait, Rose Pink and Apricot Glacé Pearls (Studio Katia); 
Bundle of Joy Enamel Dots (Echo Park); Diamond Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing)

 

Let's Get Beachy

Inspiration: Little Red Wagon #660 (Sea Creature - see the sea serpent my niece built out of sand with her father)

I was really hoping to use the Simple Vintage Vintage Seas collection in my scrapbook, and I found some beach pictures from our trip to Wasaga Beach that I had not scrapbooked yet.

I drew inspiration from a September 2020 Page Maps sketch, with a 4" x 6" picture at the top and two smaller pictures at the bottom. I didn't make my bottom pictures quite as small, though, as I was inspired to use one of the chipboard frames and I cut the pictures to fit the apertures. I love those beautiful chipboard frames - I feel like half of the designing job is already done when they are added to a page. The foam stickers, which are recent addition to the Simple Stories lineup of products, seem to have been well-received as it is now included in most collections, and those also speed up the designing job quite significantly. I will usually create my own title when I want to tell a very specific story about the event showcased, but when it's something generic, I don't mind going for the stickers, even if that means having an English title in my album.

Another thing the company is doing more regularly is a cut-apart page of various sizes, rather than just the standard pocket sizes. I also love those, which I find easier to use on traditional layouts. Here, I picked the beautiful library pocket, I rounded the top corners and I used my stamp to add numbers and info on the top portion. I used my handwriting to add journaling below, and I picked stickers from the sticker book to dress up the bottom. I added a tab from the sticker book at the top and two hearts from the foam stickers. 

On the left side of the patterned paper, I tied a piece of Sahara Sand/Night of Navy baker's twine. I've been using this specific twine on a lot of projects over the year. I like the fact that it's a little thicker and also it not being white makes it blend better on a lot of projects. I found a wheel in the ephemera pack and I slipped it over the twine bow for added detailing.

I picked the compass image and placed it where the circle was on the sketch, under my other elements rather than over so I wouldn't hide the text. I added the foam word "Beachy" and I was planning to cut apart the "Let's Get Beachy" stickers from the cardstock sticker sheet to add the first two words, but the foam stickers are not the same white as the cardstock stickers and having them both side by side made the difference very obvious and jarring, so I went back to the sticker book and round the words I was looking for on a smaller sentiment strip, which I snipped and added to my red banner.

To finish embellishing, I added a few decorative brads and enamel dots around the page, as well as the paddles sticker and the metal book plate from the foam stickers.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Eccentric (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous); Library Love (Inky Antics);
Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers, Sticker Book, Cardstock Stickers, Enamel Dots,
Decorative Brads, Nautical Bits, Chipboard Frames: Simple Vintage Vintage Seas (Simple Stories)
Ink: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Sahara Sand/Night of Navy Baker's Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Perfect Layers (Stampin' Up!); Craft Blade (Fiskars); Ink Joy Gel Pen 0.7 (Paper Mate);
Corner Chomper (We R Memory Makers)

 

All-Star Movies Resort

Inspiration: July 2016 Scrapbook Generation Free Sketch + Simon Says Stamp Monday (Inspired by a Movie = The Love Bug)

While I was working on my last layout and going through the very generous pack of Odds & Ends from the Fun in the Park collection by Doodlebug, I spotted some adorable old-time hotel keys. I had yet to scrapbook the pictures of the hotel we stayed at during our Disney trip, so I put those images aside and they became the starting point for my next layout.

I had quite a few pictures taken at the hotel and I decided to use another Scrapbook Generation free sketch I had downloaded recently from their website. The layout includes five full-size 4" x 6" pictures, a sixth one that's cut down to 4" x 4" and I included the room number in a 2½" punched circle. I popped some of the pictures on dimensional adhesive to make them stand out.

For the page base, I picked turquoise cardstock. I should mention that I purchased the matching textured cardstock pack from the Fun in the Park line and I'm glad I did because I can quickly grab the colour I need for my page base and know for certain that it will match.

This was another really easy layout: I put five strips of patterned paper along the length of the two cardstock pages and seven banners at the top of the right page. To make my life simpler, I used the stitched banner die from the Foundation 4 set by Queen & Co. It was way too long, so I cut it down to 2" afterwards, but not only was it quick but it added a little extra with the stitching as well. For the slim strip, I used red foil polka dot washi tape, which has a definite Minnie vibe to it (even though it's from a Christmas set). I first tried the strip down like on the original sketch but I was not liking the look, so I moved it up.

Along with the keys, I had also put aside the luggage images from the Odds & Ends pack. I really liked the three luggage pile, but it was too short to fill in the space on the yellow paper and it looked lost, so I popped the first image on top of the other suitcase, cutting the white border off at the bottom to make it look like one continuous image.

The title was created with three different Thickers set, overlapping the lobby picture a bit. I printed my journaling on a scrap of grey cardstock, using the Waltograph font. I cut the text in strips and added it to the page with liquid glue so I could move the strips around before the glue set to make sure everything was straight. I'm glad I went for grey cardstock instead of white, I think it pops better against the movie strip and it adds a bit of interest.

Embellishing if fairly simple. I added rhinestones on the left page, epoxy stars to the film strip, enamel dots to the banners, a little Mickey heart sticker and a few Travel Time Shape Sprinkles. I hope they don't yellow too badly over time. It's been my main gripe with the epoxy stickers from Doodlebug - they yellow pretty badly and pretty quickly, too. It's really too bad, because those things are incredibly adorable, but I feel it makes a project look dingy when the colour turn. We'll see how it goes, but I added a backpack and a suitcase to the top of the right picture, a third suitcase at the bottom of the page and I dangled the cute little room keys from the journaling strips. I also added a geotag to the first journaling strip.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Fun at the Park Solid Assortment (Doodlebug Design)
Patterned Papers, Icons, Odds & Ends: Fun at the Park (Doodlebug Design)
Dies: Foundation 4 (Queen & Co)
Accessories: Red Foil Polka Dot Washi Tape (Recollections); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); 
Festive Assortment Sprinkles, Festive Assortment Mini Jewels, Travel Time Shape
Sprinkles, Star Attraction Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design); 
Lindsay, Land of Wonder and Sorbet Thickers (American Crafts)
Font: Waltograph

 

Be Our Guest

Inspiration: Festive Friday #112 (Heart + Teacup + Magic) + January 2020 Page Maps Sketch

I really wanted to include the Dulce collection somewhere in my Disney album. With the soft pink hues along with the food and carrousel images, it seemed like a great fit. I kept going through the pictures from our day at Magic Kingdom and either all of the colours from the pictures were too bright or the attractions we had visited just didn't work. I finally realized my best bet might be pairing them with the pictures taken at the Be Our Guest restaurant, where the colours were more muted. This also worked well with the Festive Friday challenge, since the pictures are taken at Magic Kingdom and I had teacup and heart images in my chipboard pack.

I started with the Page Maps sketch and picked pictures that would suit the sizes. It worked surprisingly well, as most of the pictures I could cut to the size mentioned on the sketch and have the fit be exactly what I wanted. I adapted the size a bit on the pictures at the left of the title, changing the height to fit my pictures.

Things were going well picking papers and putting the layout together and then I hit a wall for a little while and was finding the resulting pages very boring. I kept trying out items and moving them around until I finally managed to get myself out of that creative corner and put something together that I was pleased with.

The middle panel was made out of Opalescent Green Ombre cardstock from Tonic. That paper is gorgeous! The colour and sparkle is beautiful, and I'm mostly impressed with how smooth that paper is. Glitter paper is usually a little sandpaper-y in texture, but not this one. You could never believe you are touching glittery paper if you had your eyes closed. Using a long vertical strip allowed me to showcase the ombre effect as well. I punched the corner with a Curvy Corner punch, and I layered a few cut-apart and chipboard pieces to dress it up. I created my title using three different alphabet stickers pack. I decided to stop being stingy with my alphabet stickers. Life is short and I might as well use them while I can. I have noticed that I tend to like my finished layouts more when I use stickers as well, as the different fonts and the dimension add to the final design. I got lucky here and was able to find the letters I needed for the second word in my Treasure Thickers pack, which is getting really empty. I made sure to add liquid glue behind the pink letters to make sure they would stay put on the glitter cardstock.

The sketch had the top border go all the way across the two pages. I tried it and was not liking the look, so I stopped at the edge of the pictures. I used an old vanilla flower trim, which suited the papers well. I added flowers from the matching flower pack.

For embellishing, I didn't have a lot from this line aside from the chipboard stickers and Say It in Cystals gems, so I went to town with those elements. Once I was finished with the layout, I realized I could probably include two more of my 4" x 6" pictures if I used a little floating pocket (those independent pockets with holes that are meant to be added between larger pages in an album). I went looking through what I had and could only find 5" x 7" protectors. I was about to put them back and I realized that if I matted my pictures with paper, that would solve my problem. I recently purchased the Christmas Sparkle vellum sheet when it was on sale at my local store and the colours were a nice match, so I cut a piece to size and glued my pictures back to back on it. I added chipboard pieces on both sides to decorate, glued over the page protector.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Pool Party (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers, Say It in Crystals, Flowers: Dulce (Prima Marketing)
Ombre Cardstock: Opalescent Green (Tonic)
Vellum Sheet: Christmas Sparkle (Prima Marketing)
Accessories: Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Vanilla 5/8" Flower Trim (Stampin' Up!);
Treasure Thickers (American Crafts); Pink Jane Tile Alphabet Stickers (Elle's Studio);
Office Hours Puffy Alpha Stickers (Pinkfresh); 5" x 7" Page Protector (Project Life)

 

Mickey Pretzel

Inspiration: June 2013 Scrapbook Generation Free Sketch + Tic Tac Toe #167 (Metallic [thread] + Gems + Patterned Papers)

Another element from the Fun at the Park Odds & Ends I had put aside was the pretzel. When we went to Disney, my brother-in-law and I talked about how we had a craving for a Mickey pretzel. Thing is, we had tried the meal plan with the sit-down dinners for the first time and we discovered that the meal plan includes a LOT of food! After a sit-down dinner, where you had appetizers or a big buffet plus dessert, you're not really hungry for a snack. At least, we weren't. On the second to last day, we had dinner at Disney Springs, shopped at the Disney Store and when we came out, I spotted a pretzel cart and decided, Our trip is almost over - tonight is the night, I'm getting that darn pretzel! My brother-in-law was not hungry, so he just tasted a piece of mine and what's funny is that two years later, he is still talking about how he regrets never getting a pretzel while we were there! It's just a funny story that I wanted to add to the scrapbook. I didn't have an actual picture of my own pretzel, but I grabbed a picture online so that I would have something to put on the page.

I looked at the Scrapbook Generation sketches and I liked the June 2013 one. It has three pictures, but Allison always encourages her readers to adapt the sketches to their needs and I liked the rest of the design - particularly since I figured I might be able to cut my pattern paper to a 8½ width and run it though my printer to print directly on it. This became the starting point of the page, and I love how it turned out. I cut the page down further after I was done printing, turned the pieces I had cut off over and used the backside pattern to make contrasting strips at the top and bottom.

I centered the picture over the text and I added my title to the right, using two different Thickers set. I added the little twirly border from the cardstock stickers underneath the last word and added a little snack Shape Sprinkle to the side.

Rather than waste paper, I just cut the edge of my paper strip to look like pennants and I slid short pieces underneath the main paper, then I added hand stitching on each strip. I used regular white thread on the red paper, and sparkly red thread on the black paper and sparkly black thread on the turquoise paper. (Those three patterns are from the Petite Prints pattern pack, which is helping me stretch my collection further when I design and tone the heavy patterns down as well.) 

I wanted to give the pretzel die-cut a little more visual weight, so I added a scalloped circle underneath, topped with a fireworks die-cut for layering. I included dimensional adhesive between both layers. The little stamp is cut with decorative edge scissors out of patterned paper, the little arrow is from the cardstock stickers and I added die-cut stars around the page, topped with rhinestone stickers and enamel dots.

This was a fun page to put together. I'm really making grounds on my Disney album lately. I've scrapbooked so much since the beginning of the year that I've pretty much put together the same amount of pages in six months as I've had all of last year! 

 

 

Supplies
Textured Cardstock: Fun at the Park Solid Assortment (Doodlebug Design)
Patterned Papers, Odds & Ends, Bits & Pieces, This & That Cardstock Stickers: Fun at the Park (Doodlebug Design)
Accessories: Star Attraction, I love This Place and Foodie Fun Shape Sprinkles, Festive Assortment Mini Jewels,
Festive Assortment Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design); Needlepoint Thread (DMC);
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); Land of Wonder and Garden Party Thickers (American Crafts)
Font: Typewriter Rustic RNH

 

Halloween Mini-Album

I am so elated with how this mini-album turned out. Earlier this Spring, Simple Stories did a Live YouTube presentation and Jana showed the pages of three mini-albums designed to be classes for the company. I thought they were so adorable and I particularly liked how they had done a lot of insert pages and flip-ups and totally changed how the pocket protectors are used. This left me totally inspired and as soon as I had a free weekend, I circled back to that video to have a closer look and try putting together a mini-album of my own.

A few years ago, we had an Halloween party at my place. We all dressed up and took family pictures and then my nieces went on a candy treasure hunt to find treats I had packaged and hidden around the house. Because I had quite a few pictures of this day, I figured a mini-album would be a better format than individual scrapbook pages. Two years ago, I had fallen in love with the Boo Crew Halloween collection from Simple Stories and preordered pretty much every item from the collection from my local store. I figured this collection would be a great pick for the mini-album since I had plenty of elements to choose from. I went all out on the embellishing to see how much of a dent I could make in the collection. I have to say, I'm amazed at how much paper and embellishments I still have left considering that I didn't hold back at all on decorating my pages.

The album has 18 pages overall (9 front and back), so here are a few highlighted details from it.

Page 1: One the elements that immediately made me fall in love with the album Jana was sharing was the flaps that fold over the plastic of the page protector. One of the reasons I started disliking pocket scrapbooking really quickly after giving it a try was how confining it felt (both with thickness and width) and how everything felt very grid-like when you leafed through an album. This way of doing pocket scrapbooking breaks out of that mold and makes the best out of those pockets. On this page, I am using a regular 6" x 8" protector, but by using 12" x 12" patterned paper, I'm able to cut a 6" x 11-3/4" piece, score at 8" and fold the piece over, showing the backside pattern. When picking a pattern for this, make sure you think of how you are cutting and scoring the paper if the pattern is directional. Inside the flap, I used a 3" x 4" cut-apart to make a pocket, in which I slid one of the tags from the cut-apart paper.

Page 2: The foam stickers are wonderful to add depth to a page, but they can definitely distort the plastic of the protector once you slip the page in. Those stick really well to the page protector, so you are better off sticking them outside of the protector rather than on the page. My page initially felt a little bare, so adding the foam words really filled up the space nicely.

Pages 3 and 4: This was the very last page I put together. In a different album shown in the video, Jana had done half-page inserts with patterned paper and I really love the idea. I decided I could use it as a way to fit two more portrait-size pictures in my album, glued back to back over the piece of paper. I rounded the corners, added the scalloped border sticker and punched holes using an empty protector as reference. Having those smaller inserts that are not full-sized really make the album more unexpected and dimensional, and that type of insert does not limit you to any picture size or orientation.

Page 8: I had a few pictures from the candy hunt that were not the best quality, because the girls kept moving around quickly and the lighting was not always the best depending on where they were standing. I still wanted to include some pictures to remember the fun we had, but I made them smaller so I used a four quadrant protector for this one. This is one of the format that fills very grid-like to me, and I found that I was able to work around that by adding my stickers on top of the plastic. For example, I had put the "broom hair, don't care" over my niece's picture on the right and I really wanted to add the broom sticker to go with it. I tried adding it to the "Trick or Treat" cut-apart piece, but it was hiding the text too much and made it unreadable. I finally realized that if I put the broom outside of the pocket, I was able to position it exactly where I wanted it and it instantly made the whole page more pleasing. The same is true for the banner sticker at the top. I was trying to get the candle lined up with the edge of the picture and having the black line fall in the middle of the picture was really throwing the balance off, so when I lined up the black piece with the edge of the picture, the candle was hanging off the side of the protector. I thought about cutting it off, but I liked this detail, so I decided to test it as is (adding powder to the back to take the sticky off). Because I'm using a ring binder, there is plenty of room to turn the page without damaging the candle, so again, this helps break the grid off.

Page 10: This is another element from the sample album that I loved. You use a 10½" x 8" piece of patterned paper and score it at 6" to create a narrower flap. I used a circle punch at the top like in the example, but I had noticed that the Bits & Pieces included a few circles so I made sure to add one in my half-circle punchout. This is another spot where I added the foam stickers (Trick or Treat?) since I had the room to accommodate the bulk. On the front flap, there's a bunch of text on the pattern, but one part caught my eye and made me laugh - Beware... be very, very ware! I wanted to make sure to draw attention to that part, so I used the candlelight from the bits and pieces nd added the hand with the finger pointing to those words. At the top, I added the adorable mummy die-cut and I added foam and enamel stars around it.

Page 12: This page also uses the flap concept, and I used the October 31 calendar page as a tab. I didn't like having the back all white when the panel is opened, so I worked a few stickers on it to decorate it. I recently purchased some border dies from Photoplay that are meant for slimline cards. I don't really make those long cards really often, but I figured the longer border dies would come in handy for scrapbooking and they sure do! It was my first use of this wonky edge and I absolutely love the look. I also pulled out this Halloween paper fringe from Tim Holtz and it looks totally awesome! The candy word is a foam sticker.

Page 13: Now this is a fun detail to point out. It appears (if I interpreted what I saw on the video properly) that a pocket was created over the page protector by gluing a cut-apart over it and sliding elements inside the pocket. This is again such a cool way to not be restricted to the pocket sizes of the protector you are using. Here, I had two different patterns from the back of the image slid in the "3 x4" pockets, and I used a 4" x 4" cut-apart, glued in place with sticky strip on three sides, with a cut-apart tag slid in. I added some vanilla flower trim that was purchased years ago.

Page 16: Instead of a flap, you can create a pocket on this one by folding the paper over the front and gluing it in place or in this case, I stapled both sides. I slid two pieces inside. The first one is a leftover die-cut from a frame done on a prior page, on which I punched a slit at the top to add ribbon. I fussy cut a big pumpkin image and added it to the tag with dimensional adhesive. The second piece is two tags from the cut-apart sheet, cut together and folded it in half to make a mini-booklet. I finally (after many years) managed to find a tutorial on how to put pictures together in Photoshop Elements to print smaller-sized pictures at home without using an app, so I used two 1½" x 3" pictures inside the booklet.

Page 18: One of the papers had 2" x 2" cut-aparts, so I used those with a page protector that had two rows of those small squares. Again, I used the concept of gluing things over the protector with dimensional adhesive to give the page dimension.

All of my pages have been put in a temporary 6" x 8" binder that I had on hand. The colour would fit, but the snowflakes, not so much, so they will be transferred to another album once I can find one in the right colour for Halloween. I will probably add a few embellishments to the album itself once I have it.

This mini-album took a full three days of work to get done, but it is arguable one of my favorite mini-albums I have ever put together, in parts because the Boo Crew is one of my fave Halloween lines I've worked with. I love the grey/orange/vanilla combo and the adorable characters and images.

 

  

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Basic Grey, Black Foil Sheets, Vellum (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Decorative Brads, Foam Stickers, Cardstock Stickers, Bits & Pieces, 
Washi Tape, Enamel Dots: The Boo Crew (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Mini Album, Mini Dimensionals, Twine, Black Sparkly Organza Ribbon, Curvy Corner Punch,
Black Rhinestones, Pinking Heart Border Punch, Tango Tangerine/White Trim,
Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Natural/White Ribbon (Stampin' Up!);
Buttons (Foof-a-La); Decorative Clips, Black Messy Stitches Rub-Ons (49 & Market);
Decorative Scissors (Fiskars); Reinforcement Pack Dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs);
Baker's Twine, Beetle Black Mini Doilies, Black Sugar Brads (Doodlebug Design);
Rhinestone Flourish Stickers, Wax Seal Stickers, Black Square Rhinestone Stickers (Recollections);
Enamel Stars (Bella Blvd.); Dies (Coco & Reno)

 

Reunion

Inspiration: January 2022 Page Maps Sketch

I love this picture of my niece with my parents, it turned out really well, but it also captures a very special moment - the first time we were able to reunite after the pandemic. I already had used the I Am collection from Simple Stories (2020) on my previous layout, and I thought the colours and patterns could work with this picture as well, so I kept going. I've always loved Simple Stories' offering but I find myself favoring their products more and more when I craft these days. Seems like I am always pleased with the results, so might as well use what I love first - life is short!

You'll notice there's a few buttons and pearls on there. Those come from 28 Lilac Lane cubes I got on clearance. They were on my wish list for years and I kept thinking, do I really need more buttons and sequins... The clearance price finally sealed the deal and I'm really happy with the embellishments I received. I just have to organize them so that buttons get organized by colours and sequins as well, as by colour is usually how I shop my stash. Buttons have had their ups and downs when it comes to craft trends, but it is an element that I have used consistently on my projects over the years, whether they are trendy or not.

Another element I managed to sneak in there is the large die cut behind the picture. I recently tried to use the leftover pieces from a 49 & Market album kit and I placed all of the leftover die-cuts in a little bin on my basket, thinking I could dig through it when I craft. I thought to do so as I was putting together this page and I realized it made a really neat mat to make my picture stand out. I also knew I wanted to use the Midnight alphabet Thickers to match the gold of the die-cuts so putting together the title was a quick job. I typed my journaling on the computer, changed the colour to match the papers and cut the cardstock into thin strips to add to the page.

Another element I thought to use is the Expressions in Ink ephemera pack from Stampin' Up!, again to match the gold touches of the chipboard pieces. I glued two of the super thin frames behind my 2 x 2 cut-apart images and added those to the central band of the page. I also added a little twig behind the "Focusing on the good!" circle die-cut, which I topped with a chipboard flower. I added a heart chipboard piece next to the title, a "Happy" banner on the picture, with a chipboard bird over it, pointing to the title. The date was handwritten on a little tab from the Bits & Pieces kit.

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Tranquil Tide (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers, Journal Bits & Pieces: I Am (Simple Stories)
Font: Juice ITC
Accessories: Buttons and Pearls (28 Lilac Lane - Buttons Galore and More);
Midnight Alphabet Thickers (American Crafts); Decorative Scissors (Fiskars);
Expressions in Ink Ephemera Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Black Roughly Sewn Rub-Ons, Vintage Artistry Butter Ephemera Stack (49 & Market)

 

You Are Beautiful, Fabulous, Loved

Inspiration: January 2022 Page Maps sketch

Oh, those glasses... They used to belong to me when I was a kid. My parents swear I was the one that picked them out, and I vaguely remember that I did, but what was I thinking? They got me endlessly teased in school and now I can see why! My niece got a kick out of trying them out and even though the glasses are awful, she still look pretty cute! 

The I Am collection from Simple Stories (2020) was a good fit with the colours of the pictures. This is one collection where I just got a few single sheets, the Bits and Pieces and the chipboard. I had enough choice to make an interesting pages pretty quickly. drawing inspiration from the sketch I had selected. 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamp: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Ink: Pretty Peacock (Stampin' Up!)
Specialty Designer Series Paper: Noble Peacock (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Journal Bits & Pieces, Chipboard Stickers: I Am (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
Layering Circle Dies (Tonic); Carpe Diem Bradz (Simple Stories)

 

Kilimanjaro Safari

Inspiration: November 2013 Scrapbook Generation Free Sketch + Just Us Girls challenge #639

Simple Stories has been releasing fantastic collections throughout the year and I was initially going to pass up on Into the Wild because I've found in the past that I've struggled to use collections that are animal or zoo-themed. I have been slowly but surely working on my Disney World album but I still had not put together any layout for our day spent at Animal Kingdom, as I wasn't sure what to use for those pictures. It dawned on me that Into the Wild could work pretty well, and this is the first layout I've finished putting together with the collection. I started with pictures from the Kilimanjaro Safari. It was pretty cool that the foam stickers have that exact word in it, and the Bits & Bobs have that adorable little green jeep as well.

My pictures from the safari are not stellar - most of the animals were far off in the distance, away or sleeping when we rode the attraction, but it was my very first visit at the Animal Kingdom park altogether, so I still wanted to document our visit there. Since the Scrapbook Generation layouts often include a ton of pictures, I had a look at various sketches and picked the November 2013 one. The fact that the animals were far off in the distance made it really easy to crop the pictures off to small 2" x 2" pictures and so on.

I bought a single collection pack so I didn't have any sheet duplicate, which means that in order to get the two blocks of paper going across the two-page layout, I had to get creative. I went looking through my monochromatic DSP from Stampin' Up! and pulled papers that matched the collection. I was really liking the yellow paper but only had a sheet and a half, so I reduced the size of the right-side block to accommodate the scrap I had. The photo mat and the two borders came from the Into the Wild papers.

For the square border, I would have die-cut squares out of patterned papers, but I wanted to be strategic about how I use the paper I have and I was also worried that would be one busy border, since the papers are not exactly discreet patterns. So I pulled cardstock colours matching the papers, die-cut each colour twice, then I used the Dotted and Stitched stamp set from Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous to add texture to each of them. I have to say, this might be one of my favorite detail of the layout! I also later on went through Candy Dots and Enamel Dots to add dots of matching colours on each of the squares.

I used one of the cut-apart blocks, turned 90 degree to match the sketch, for my journaling. I created my title with the foam sticker and gold puffy stickers from the Magical Forest collection. I recycled a piece of torn vellum that was on my desk to create a "shelf" for the word and add a bit of texture.

While looking through the ephemera pack, I noticed that the die-cuts included a lot of the same animals I had in my pictures, so I put those aside to see if I could match them to the pictures. I could not get each animal by its matching picture, because some of the animals were facing off the page, which did not look good and some were too big for the allowed space, so I moved the images around until I could find a pleasing arrangement. The animals I had the most trouble fitting in were the elephant, the zebra and the ostrich. I solved my problem by putting the elephant and the ostrich on top of other animals, to fill the space, and I found out that the cardstock sticker also included a zebra image that was actually smaller, so this condensed scale worked way better on the page.

I added some of the sentiment stickers around the page - my favorite is "Hakuna Matata" on the image of the warthog, my little Pumbaa lookalike. I had a jungle safari chipboard piece I was hoping to fit in, but I found the "Welcome to the jungle" cardstock sticker and again, the size was more convenient, so I popped it on foam and placed the puma over it. When I looked for embellishments, I found the Diamond Say It in Crystals gems, which actually have leopard dots and zebra stripes on them. They were perfect for this layout, so I added them to the title, and then I worked enamel dots around the pages.

I have a few remaining pictures, so I will probably make a couple of extra pages (maybe using pocket protectors) to add them to my album, and I'd like to use this collection to make the front page of our day at Animal Kingdom as well, so more to come later!

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Marks (Woodware Craft Collection); Dotted and Stitched (Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous);
Ticket Express (49 & Market)
Cardstock: Grey (Bazzill)
Ink: Regal Rose, Peach Passion, Mint Macaron, Dusty Durango, Lucky Limeade, Sahara Sand (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers, Bits & Pieces, Journaling Bits,
Cardstock Stickers: Into the Wild (Simple Stories)
Designer Series Paper Stack: Brights (Stampin' Up!)
Designer Vellum Stack: Botanical Gardens
Dies: Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Diamond Say It in Crystals (Prima Marketing); Magical Forest Alphabet Stickers (Crate Paper);
Bundle of Joy Enamel Dots (Echo Park); Deckle Trimmer (Tim Holtz for Tonic); Decorative Scissors (Fiskars);
Stampin' Dimensionals, Enamel Shapes, Candy Dots, Mini Stapler, Gold and Clear Faceted Gems (Stampin' Up!)

Christmas Portraits

Inspiration: July 2022 Page Maps sketch + Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes)

As I was making cards with the Holly Days collection, I decided I should make at least one layout with it, especially if I was to use the chipboard frames. I picked one of the Page Maps sketches, and started layering papers. I used the File Folder Edges dies to create the tab on the polka dot paper. The word "Noel" was already in the die-cut pack, so that helped me create a quick title on the page. I used number stickers from the sticker book to add the date, on a tag die-cut from the Bits & Pieces pack.

Pretty much all of the embellishing was done with various elements from the collection - decorative brads, sticker book, chipboard stickers, chipboard frames, puffy stickers... I didn't have any Christmas pictures already printed, so I went looking through past Christmas pictures to find something that would work in the frame. The sketch called for a 4" x 6" picture, but I ended up using the frame with two apertures and printing my pictures to a smaller size to fit. I will have to make another layout showing the outtakes from those pictures, because it took a lot of work to get a couple of half-decent pictures. We were working with low lighting and a lot of the pictures unfortunately came out hazy. My young niece also got bored really quickly and peaced out, so I'm glad I have at least two good pictures that she appears in.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Pink (Bazzill)
Patterned Papers, Cardstock Stickers, Puffy Stickers, Sticker Book, Chipboard Stickers,
Chipboard Frames, Decorative Brads, Enamel Dots: Holly Days (Simple Stories)
Dies: File Folder Edges Die-namics (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: LePen pens (Marvy); Stampin' Dimensionals, Eyelet (Stampin' Up!)

 

Magical Memories

Inspiration: March 2016 Free Sketch from Scrapbook Generation (Allison Davis)

Inspiration sometimes take a hard left... I had taken out the soft Dulce papers from Prima Marketing and was rummaging through pictures to find something from possibly our day at the Magic Kingdom to go with it. Then I found those pictures of us munching on popcorn while waiting for the bus to go back to the hotel after a long day at Epcot and I remembered that I had purchased the What's Poppin' Shaker-pops from Doodlebug's Fun at the Park collection, which would work nicely with those pictures. The collection colour also fit the pictures' colours quite nicely, so I put the other papers aside and switched gears.

The design was based on some Scrapbook Generation sketches I recently downloaded. The design is really simple - five strips of patterned paper in the center of your page - which left a lot of room for embellishments. Initially, I had selected the scalloped circle from the sticker sheet to replace the star from the sketch and it was just supposed to be to mat the popcorn shaker, but some of the text was poking out, which was bothering. I tried finding something to hide it, but I was not liking the layering, so I changed my mind. I kept the sticker as the title and I moved the shaker to the bottom of the page, paired with the direction post Odds & Ends piece. From this same kit, I also pulled the Ice Cream cart, just to stay with the food imagery, and the popcorn bucket and kernels, which were added around the date tag.

The pictures were matted with papers from the Petite Prints pack to make them stand out more. I used the popcorn cut-apart image from the patterned paper, handwrote my journaling on it and I topped it with a Minnie bow. I used some of the little stars around the pictures and I added rhinestones to the main title. An enamel dot was added to the right of the date tag.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Au jour le jour (Project Life by Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Petite Print Assortment, Odds & Ends, This & That Cardstock
Stickers: Fun at the Park (Doodlebug Design)
Accessories: Festive Assortment Mini Jewels, Foodie Fun Shape Sprinkles,
What's Poppin' Shaker-Pops Cardstock Sticker, Festive Assortment Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design);
Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

 

Blueberry Picking Day

Inspiration: Scrap our Stash June Challenge

S - Sequins

C - Chipboard

R - Ribbon

A - Alphabet Stickers

P - Patterned Papers

 

This page has been a long time in the making. I had purchased this blueberry Alexandra Renke paper specifically to scrap the pictures we had taken when we went blueberry picking with my mom, and I had put together a page kit, which I tried working on a couple of times and could never find the inspiration spark to get going on it. Third time was the charm and I finally managed to get a page done with that paper today.

My mom had promised my niece she would take her blueberry picking when we visited her, and my five-year-old niece was really looking forward to it. As is often the case with young kids, she really didn't think about the details that this would entail. It just sounded like a fun activity and she figured she'd fill a whole basket of blueberry and get to stuff her face with fresh blueberries soon after. Let's just see it wasn't long until she realized that the basket was not getting filled really fast and started commenting on how long this was taking. It didn't help when her foot got caught on a rock and she fell and dropped most of the blueberries she had picked on the ground. Tears ensued and it took us a little while to turn her mood around. I think all was forgotten that evening when she got to enjoy a bowl of fresh blueberries with cream.

The other papers I paired with the Alexandra Renke one are from the Abandoned paper pad from Tim Holtz. The colors and mottled look pair well with the blueberries pattern and the pictures. I punched the raspberry-colored one with a tag topper punch and added seam binding on it for texture. I created my title using blue puffy stickers from Pinkfresh and purple stickers from Queen & Co. I don't think I had ever managed to use the purple alphabet yet, so I was happy to finally use it on something. 

One of the pictures was taken from far apart, so I punched it with a circle punch, and added a mat underneath to make it stand out more. I placed it opposite the title and I slid two copper leaf ornaments underneath, since I already had the rose gold die-cut border on the page as well.

I've recently started organizing some leftover embellishments by colours in drawers, so I went to see what I had in matching colours there for inspiration. I slipped a little Patch die-cut leftover from my 49 & Market projects on there and a green label die-cut for the date. I dusted off my old Crop-a-Dile Big Bite to add eyelets to each side. I also found a chipboard banner with dark seal stripes, which I added in the corner of my picture and I topped it with a resin flower.

The journaling was printed on my computer and cut up in stripes. I sprinkled sequins and buttons in matching colours on the page.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Cardstock: Green (Bazzill); In the Navy (Gina K Designs)
Patterned Papers: Abandoned, Metallic Kraft-stock (Tim Holtz for idea-ology)
Ink: Rich Razzleberry (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Borders (Photoplay)
Accessories: 1-3/4" and 2" Circle Punches, Delightful Tag Topper Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Vintage Flowers, Leaves Trinkets, Sweet Dreams Designer Buttons,
Berry Burst Seam Binding, 1/8" Copper Ribbon (Stampin' Up!); Sequins (Buttons Galore & More);
Hole Reinforcer Punch (We R Memory Makers); Chipboard Accents (Echo Park); 
Purple Little Letters Stickers (Queen & Co); The Best Day Puffy Alphabet Stickers (Pinkfresh);
Halloween Assortment Sugar Coated Brads (Doodlebug Design)

 

Racing Academy

Inspiration: NSD 2016 Free Sketch from Scrapbook Generation

I explored the free sketches from Scrapbook Generation this weekend and looked through them for inspiration for my next layout. I liked the two-page sketch from 2016 NSD as it had multiple pictures on it. I picked the pictures taken when we visited the Lightning McQueen's Racing Academy attraction at Hollywood Studios. 

The colours of the pictures are really bright - bold blue and red, so I knew I would have to pick papers with equally strong colours to them. The Family Fun collection from Simple Stories caught my eye because it had those bold reds and blues to it, but I also remembered the collection does have racing cars in the images and a race checker pattern, so I quickly decided this is what I would be using. I picked patterns for the background blocks, making sure to use a plain paper on the right so the title would read easily, and the checkered pattern on the biggest block, since it was my favorite with this theme. I picked the ticket paper to create my top border and I found a numbered washi tape in a matching green shade, so that's what I added underneath. On the right page, I traded the three banners for a checkered bunting chipboard piece.

I used white cardstock for my background and to help make it a little less stark white, I put Hickory Smoke Distress ink on a piece of acetate, spritzed water and I smooshed the acetate in the opposite corners of my cardstock pieces. I like that it adds a subtle bit of colour, and it reminds me of smoke coming out of an exhaust pipe.

I got lucky with the pictures, as the five pictures I had picked fit the exact size of the pictures shown on the sketch (which rarely happens) so I was quickly able to follow the sketch dimensions and put everything in place. I didn't have a sixth picture, so the second small picture block became a tag for journaling instead.

For the title, I remembered the sticker book includes alphabets, so I used the teal letters for my second word and red Thickers for the first word. I've said in the past I am not a fan of Simple Stories' stickers being made out of thin paper, and this was greatly amplified when I tried to line up the letters, which kept bending, making it really hard to line them up properly. You also can't really pull the stickers up once they are down on your paper as they rip really easily, so once they are down, you have to commit.

I tried to come up with a cluster above the title as shown on the sketch, and this is the closest I could come up with. I added a few more embellishments around the page and called this one done. One more ready to add to the Disney album!

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Cardstock: Textured White (American Crafts)
Ink: Hickory Smoke Distress (Ranger); Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Stickers, Cardstock Stickers, Enamel Dots, Foam Stickers,
Sticker Book, Bits & Pieces, Journaling Bits: Family Fun (Simple Stories)
Accessories: 1/8" Blueberry Bushel Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Banner Punch (Stampin' Up!); Holly Jolly Thickers (American Crafts);
Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers); Washi Tape (Unknown) 

 

Hollywood Studios

Inspiration: Scrapbook Generation Free Sketch #26 + Lasting Memory Layout Challenge #600 (Something Blue)

I've been trying to get back to my Disney scrapbook but lately, every time I was trying to get something started, inspiration just wasn't collaborating. Today, when I saw the video of Alison Davies linking to her latest free sketch, I thought the design could be easy to implement and I decided to use it for the main page of the day we spent at Hollywood Studios. I went back to the Say Cheese Main Street collection from Simple Stories.

I wanted the hearts from the sketch to become stars on my page, which made sense with the Hollywood theme. I used the Starry Night stencil from Simple Stories paired with my Black Glitz glitter gel to add stars to opposite corners of the pink paper from the Basics kit. (A lot of the times, the stencils that come out with seasonal collections, like this one that came out with an Halloween collection, can be used all year round and for any theme.)

I initially planned on adding silver stars die-cut out of glitter paper, but when I reached for my Sizzix opulent cardstock packs, I spotted the glitter holographic and iridescent papers from the Mystical collection and thought they might work nicely. I die-cut a few stars and tried them on the page and absolutely loved the result, so that is what I went with. Inspired by Alison, who stitches on everything, I pulled out my needlework threads and picked a nice sparkly graphite thread. I remembered that I actually had stitching patterns that Stampin' Up! used to sell to go with their dies and punches and luckily, the stars were in there. It took a little while to get the five stars done, but the result is so lovely!

Another lovely thing is that Alison's PDF for the free sketch includes measurements! That part had me really excited and took the guesswork out of reproducing the sketch on my page. For the square, I decided to use a cut-apart and slide it under the borders and I also decided to add the scallop border from the sticker sheet in addition to the two patterned papers. On the cut-apart, I stamped the day of the week we were at this park and added the date underneath with a rotary date stamp.

I created my title with black sparkly stickers from Heidi Swapp and nice loopy pink stickers from PinkFresh Studio (Office Hours collection). I've been really enjoying those script fonts, as the title looks nice when two very distinctive fonts are used together - and the pink shade was working perfectly. 

I found this perfect sticker on the Cardstock Stickers sheet that says "Our magic adventure starts here", so I placed it at the bottom with the arrow pointing to the picture. I also found a banner sticker that mimicked the banner from the sketch nicely. I added a decorative brad to the left of the yellow strip and a foam start to the right holographic star. I included little hand drawn stars from the cardstock stickers around the page as well.

At the bottom, I added the ice cream cart from the chipboard elements and a little cloud from the puffy stickers. I added a word strip from the cardstock stickers, and enamel dots for added colour to the top of the cart. I used the pie chart puffy sticker on the center of the star, as it felt a little bare, and I added fireworks in the top left corner, to hide where the glitter gel was ending ungracefully. I also added a bit of matching washi tape to the right side as well.

I'm happy with the final look. My only regret is that I could have totally turned the left panel into a pocket in which I could have tucked the park map I have kept from our trip. Everything was already glued into place when I thought of it so that was a missed opportunity! I might use another piece of patterned paper and simply create a pocket on the back of my page to make up for it.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: À la petite semaine (Kesi'art); Date Stamp (Office Supplies)
Ink: Seaside Spray, Basic Grey (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers, Enamel Dots, Puffy Stickers, Chipboard Stickers, Cardstock Stickers,
Decorative Brads: Say Cheese Main Street (Simple Stories)
Cardstock: Mystical Collection Opulent Cardstock Pack (Sizzix)
Dies: Stars Framelits (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Starry Night (Simple Stories); Black Glitz Glitter Gel (Gina K Designs);
Black Stampin' Dimensionals, Stitching Template, Paper Piercer (Stampin' Up!);
Needlepoint Floss (DMC); Black Sparkly Alphabet Stickers (Heidi Swapp);
Office Hours Puffy Alpha Stickers (PinkFresh Studio); Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers)