Quite the Trip!

    I will start off with a confession. I have an addiction to travel themed papers. This means that I have several travel theme paper collections, in their entirety, waiting to be used in my stash. I think I have more travel paper than I have trips to take. So either I need to take more trips or I need to find a way to use this paper up.( The same can be said for Halloween themed papers and pet papers, but that's a whole other post or two) So, now that I have that out of the way, I am happy to say that I have two travel themed pages to show you today. Two is a start in using stash up, right?
  I am very lucky, in that, when my husband travels he takes us along with us whenever he can. Earlier this year, he had a business conference in Aspen, Colorado. My son and I were very excited at the opportunity to see snow. Living in a warm climate means that snow is a wonderful, rare thing and not the hassle those who live with it know it to be. So I booked the tickets, knowing full well that travelling from where we lived to Colorado would take four connecting flights and an entire day of travel.

map by Little Yellow Bicycle
Arrows and patterened paper by Best Creation
7 gypsies brads
DMC floss
black alphas- Americna Crafts thickers
Making memories rub ons and rub on alphas
Prima e-line pearls
We R Memory keepers chipboard tag

I have had this wonderful map paper by little yellow bicycle for awhile now. I had the great idea of using brads and hand stitching to document our flights. This is one of those pages I just made. By that, I mean that there was not a big plan. I had a sort of idea and then just began putting stuff onto the page. It may not be perfect, but it's a page done. The process of doing a page like this is also very freeing. I find that when I am stuck and can not get myself inspired to scrap, making a page in this manner sort of opens the creative flood gates.
  Now that the creative flood gates were open, page two was completed in a snap. I saw this Sassy lil Sketch and the elements I wanted to use came together quickly and easily from my July Counterfeit Kit.

Sassy lil Sketch 7-14-11
Scrapfit workout #49-put a banner on it
We R Memory keepers papers and stickers
Making memories rub on planes

I wanted to document how light we chose to travel. So the suitcase paper worked well. I cut the subtitle from the name of the paper. I always check out the paper edges for small sections of pattern paper or words that can be used on pages.  This was one of those rare pages in which the only card stock used was to matte one of the photos. As a time saver, I cut the two wallet photos directly from the printed sheet leaving white edges from the photo paper for the matte.
  Traveling light had been an essential part of this trip. With four connecting flights between two airlines, our suitcases would have never made it safely to our destination. Our return trip was not much easier. We had three connecting flights with a ten hour layover in one airport and an overnight red eye. It was important for me to document how good a travel companion my son can be despite hard circumstances like that. He actually was a lot less cranky than I was. I had initially wanted to take photos of him at each airport. However, in some instances we were so busy scrambling to grab a meal or get to the next flight that this was not feasible. So I simply made sure to journal about our experience. Photos are not always necessary to tell the story.
  The next time you are feeling stuck or overwhelmed by the prospect of scrapping, relax and just begin putting stuff down on the page. You may end up loving what you create. You may learn a little more about the process you use when you scrap.Most of all, you will find your creative streak again.

Halloween Bonanza

  If you don't know by now, I love Halloween. I love the costumes, the trick or treating, carving pumpkins...well everything! Sadly, I am WAY behind in documenting the photos that go along with this holiday. So, with many recent challenges focusing on this spooky holiday, I took the opportunity to use some of my new BG Eerie paper to get those photos onto paper.

Let's Scrap sketch 10-13-10

Pumpkin carving is a favorite family pastime, so I wanted a fun, pumpkin theme page. Add to that the fun of incorporating your senses into the page...for carving pumpkins is a very touch based experience. Orange Cardstock set the mood and I loved the textured feel of the embossed felt pumpkin trim from Recollections Autumn collection. To add to the sense of touch, I used Chatterbox corduroy brads to hold twine and handmade felt banners. I found the poem on-line,printed and stamped a tree onto the background, then used colorbox inks in chestnut roan, olive and creamy brown to mimic the tones in the BG paper. I did the same with the title. Hand stitching added a warm cozy feel while i-rock jewels and orange peel stickles added a little glitz to the pumpkin stamp.

To scrap the trick or treat fun, I used Eerie papers over a DCWV purple Cardstock base. This is a hybrid page. I used a printed title from CLUB CK which I fussy cut and distressed with colorbox inks. I also distressed a prima flower with black ink, then added an Eerie brad for the center. This was the first page I had made with my new I-rock. I love how easy it is to put on jewels. The trim is from my local fabric store. I have been finding some great deals on trims and lace there.

completed for Sketches for All Sketch-a-thon

I love how the many challenges out there get me in the mood to scrap. There's a ton of Halloween challenges right now from the Halloween party at Sketches for All, Workout #30 at Scrap fit, to the Halloween/Fall challenge at Frosted.  Also, don't forget to submit to Scrap and Stamp Saturday if you use a stamp on your page. So go on out there...find challenges, make pages!

Go Green Challenge

Recycling is always a good thing. With acid free mist, there is a whole new world of possible embellishments or items that can be incorporated into a scrapbook page. When my son recently had a birthday, I had decided to make him some cinnamon rolls as a special breakfast. I decided to save the packaging and use it in the layout.

As I mentioned before, You will need an archival or acid free mist spray. You can follow the directions on the can to preserve the label or item for your page. I highly recommend NOT using anything that has been touched by food. As you can well imagine, it just might not be good for your photos. Labels though, can be a great way, not only to preserve the moment, but to also give a little look back at the way things were. Think back to how many times advertising and labels change with the trend. It just might take you back on a little trip down memory lane.

The other cool thing about this page is that I used scraps left over from creating the left side of the page. The polka dot paper is My Mind's EYE while everything else is Cosmo Cricket's Early bird line. Even the coffee mug sticker border was a scrap. I had cut it apart to use on the previous page.

The flowers used on both pages are Prima. For other ideas regarding  recycled items for projects, check out Scrap Fit's Workout#28.

make your own ruffle trim

   Ruffled trims have become a big trend in the scrapbooking world. I have always thought they were a pretty touch. Notice I said pretty. Well, that's because many of them have a feminine look. So I never chose to add any to my stash. So, when I saw a tutorial over at Ella to make your own trim, I was very excited. What a wonderful way to make the trim fit my boy themed pages.

  My page centers around my son eating a lollipop. During Bahamas Independence day, it's a wonderful tradition to head over to Mortimer's candy shop for some of their home made confections. My son looks forward to it every year. The lollipop is made in the colors of the Bahamas' flag. I had found this wonderful ribbon which also had these colors. So I chose that in place of felt for my ribbon border. The border was very easy and quick to make. I am in no way a great seamstress, but found that it didn't matter with this. Your stitches don't show and it's haphazard feel adds a fun tone to your page.

The sketch comes from Scrapfit's workout #27. I chose to try a reverse mask with paint and to extend the circle design onto the 2nd page. I always have the desire to use paint on a page. However, I often am stumped by it's look when I am finished. It never quite has the effect I am going for. In this case, I liked the look of the circles, but did not like the flat, matte finish.I hand stitched the circles. I looked at adding trims. I tried several other things, but finally decided upon using glossy accents over the paint. I embedded buttons in the circle as well, using them tone on tone for a dimensional effect. The results reminded me of hard candy, which seemed perfect given that the LO centered around a lollipop.

For some added interest, I added some scraps of cheesecloth which I stapled to the page, then smeared with paint. I used some scrapworks alphadots and Echo park stickers for the title.

BTW, if you have an interesting international dish or food to share, there is a scrap challenge to submit it to over at Sketches for you during the month of September. Don't forget, the sketch-a-thon has started there as well. It's not too late to get into the fun. The submissions are not due until 9-30-10. So head on over there for a chance at some great prizes.