Hiking

I am finally catching up on some scrapbooking and made this layout from a day trip last year. I tend to do double page layouts when I scrap since I like to be uniform, matching, etc.  I guess that is just how my brain works. Anyway, we go camping a lot and like to explore nature and the beautiful scenery that Mother Nature has created for us.  We took the boys hiking along the Kancamangus Highway in NH and stopped at a trail head. The boys had so much fun exploring the waterfalls and river, and we took lots of photos.

I did a color blocking technique and used one of my favorite companies K & Co. The stack I used is called "Happy Trails".  Someone once told me that the best way to mix patterned papers was to use papers from the same stack. And its true. The colors match perfectly for using multiple papers. And I FINALLY got to use my camping cricut solutions cartridge. I've had it since it came out and this is the first time I actually used it, ha ha.

I used multiple layers to create the trees and pop dots to make them stick out more. I also created multiple layers for the sign and pop dotted that as well. And I tend to use at least 6 or 7 pictures for each double sided layout, as I take so many pictures I pick out my favorite from each and then end up on the page.

Well there you have it. A fun and easy layout to make to showcase family memories. The hardest part for me is picking the papers. I mean lets be honest, my heart beats when I cut some pretty paper, I won't lie. But once you put it all together it makes it all worthwhile. And I only used 2 pieces of paper from that stack, since it is double sided. So come one, use that pretty paper.

PS - the plain cardstock was left over papers from other projects. So really I used 2 pieces of white cardstock, 2 pieces of patterned cardstock and the rest was using pieces from leftovers. Not bad right?

Snowman frame

I was part of a gift exchange with a group of very talented crafters this past holiday season. Part of the gift exchange was to make a homemade item for your partner. I was really nervous about making something for someone else, as this group of girls have more talent than I do (I mean seriously, my preschooler is more creative than I am).  I thought it would be nice to make something that she could hang if she wanted and was festive for the holiday season.  My partner loves the color red and her favorite season is winter, so I chose to make a snowman frame for her.

I found the frame at Hobby Lobby (boy I didn't know how hard it would be to find the perfect frame once you have a project in mind), but this one was square, 8x8 with a frosted glass front. Then I used some of my favorite Christmas stack, from recollections, and used that as the backdrop. I used pearls on the paper to add a little something.  I cut the snowman out of Christmas Cards Cricut cartridge and used red pearls as the buttons. I got a chance to use my Peachy Keen stamps for the face and used a little chalk to make the cheeks rosy.  The snowman was then put on the frame and pop dotted to make it stand out more. Finally I added some snowflakes for a little fun. 

On the frame itself I used a wide red ribbon and made it into a ruffle and added some flowers that were quilled using my cuddlebug and quilling tools.

Here it is.

I hope my secret partner likes it!  It was a lot of fun to make! Take care everyone

Around the track

Hello everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting my next project. We lost power for multiple days and it was hard to get online, then I went away for the weekend on a scrap retreat, working lots of hours... (Insert lots of random boring excuses here, haha)

Anyway, I worked on a page before the power went out.  It is kinda boring but I wanted to share with everyone. My little brother Jason is into racing cars. He belongs to a sports car club racing league and is a really good driver. (Seriously, you think scrapbooking is expensive, try racing cars! OUCH!!!).  My dad was always his chief crew member and my older brother was part of the crew. When my dad passed away, my older brother Matt became the chief crew member. Matt painted the car in a orange and white check pattern in memory of my dad (my dad had painted Jasons first race car those colors and he always loved them). For the first race of the season I went up to the track to watch them both in action. I was starting a new scrapbook and needed a single layout. So I started by picking the pictures that I wanted to use and paper. And what a great way to start a new album but a fun family memory at the track.

Here is a sampling of the supplies that I used. SEI paper pack called "En Route", the black paper is from AC Cardstock and the sand colored paper is from Core'dinations "Sandy Tan".  I also used some brads from My Minds Eye (Abbey Road Travel Kit), my gypsy and cricut.

I cut some arrows out from Graphically Speaking cricut cartridge on the sandy tan paper and the font from Nates ABCs in black paper.  Just slapped the photos on and tada!! Quick and simple.

To finish it off I just added 3 brads and drew arrows using a silver pen around the large tan arrows.

As a mom with 2 little boys at home, I struggle some times with the big boys layouts. I think this one, although simple, will do just fine in my album.

Rebecca