Little Summer JOY - Celebrating Little Things, part II

I am so loving following along with Alexandria's lesson at Little Paper Projects this week.

I've created another traveler's notebook layout to celebrate the little things.

I know it may be a bit strange because we're talking about JOY this summer, and clearly a death is not JOYful, but it's also a part of life. My Nana passed away earlier this year, and her 70th birthday would have been this summer. So I have documented this day. And although I miss her every day, it is joyful in a way, because she no longer suffering and is in a much better place!

You can see that it doesn't hurt my feelings to make two facing pages distinct from one another, as the red, white and blue was not the color choice I wanted to continue to page two of Celebrate the Little Things.

I chose lots of pretty gold - the foil is a bit hard to photograph.

I love how the sun was shining that afternoon - and the pretty yellow flowers are perfect for a summer birthday.

We were joyful that the headstone had actually arrived just that day - celebrating a little thing! After this I took my family to the park and we played and enjoyed each other, just as Nana would've wanted.

I hope you are enjoying documenting your summer with Little Summer JOY! I am loving it and my contribution to the class is coming up next week! Eeek! So excited & a little nervous. I hope you all will enjoy it.

Supplies:
Gold Heart paper & Pink tags - Studio Calico
Solid Gold Foil paper - DCWV

Thanks for looking!

A colorful vacation - a SBC mood board challenge

Hello everyone!

Today I'm bringing you my inspiration piece from the mood board challenge at Scrapbook Challenges.

This is a photo from Honolulu, Hawaii. The mood board had so many fun colors, I decided a rainbow look was in order.

Supplies Used:
Background paper, pink, orange, turquoise and green papers - Pink Paislee Citrus Bliss
Red Paper - Fancy Pants Designs
Blue Paper - Pink Paislee Atlas
Blue swirl chipboard and glitter flower - me and my big ideas
flamingo - Chips by Pebbles
vacation veneer and puffy stickers - Studio Calico
Flair by Scrapbook Circle

Thanks for looking & go play along with Scrapbook Challenges!

Little Summer JOY - Celebrate Lesson 1

Happy Independence Day, fellow Americans! (And Happy July 4th to you non-Americans!)

Today, I'm bringing you a little page I have created in my Little Summer JOY traveler's notebook for Lesson One at Little Paper Projects' - Celebrate the Little Things.

First, can I say that I'm just celebrating this little moment right here - I'm sitting on the front porch, drinking coffee, all the people in my home are still asleep (late firework/boat night last night), and catching up on photos and blogging and all the gorgeous crafty inspiration in my virtual world. It is glorious!

This moment could be short lived, so on I go, to share with you the first page I've created for Alexandria's lesson.

How appropriate for today's holiday - but I didn't even plan it like that! I just snapped these cuties on the way to school Friday, both in their red, white & blue, dnd the photo turned out SOOO cute I had to create with it.

It's hard to tell with photography, but the background card is red metallic. The washi is gold stripes and stars, and I just love the whole patriotic feel of it all.

I used a Studio Calico Christmas stamp set for the stars, and an Ali Edwards digital summer passport stamp for the celebrate word. I tell ya what, Ali's digital stamps were literally the best accompaniment to this Little Summer JOY summer project, and I do not believe there was even a collaboration there!?

I had fun creating this super simple page of my boys! This amazing project will continue through the summer so please, JOIN US!

Thanks for looking & hope you play with a little sparkle & fire today!

Little Summer JOY 2016 - the beginning

Happy July everyone!

Today is the day - the start of Little Summer JOY 2016 & I'm so excited!

This is my first time participating in this project, but I'm no stranger to scrapbooking, documenting, traveler's notebooks or mini albums. So, when I recently discovered Little Paper Projects, I knew this project was something with which I wanted to participate.

Not only am I participating, but I'm blessed enough to have an opportunity to be a contributor! I'm thrilled to be a part of this class & I really pray that what I have to offer will be inspiring and helpful for all participants.

**shameless plug**
It's not to late to sign up! Click here to do so & join us! Click through my last few blog posts to hear what the class is all about and the difference between the paid class, and the free version.
**plug end**

So for today, the first day of the #LittleSummerJOY project, I want to share my first few pages of my traveler's notebooks. (yes, plural)

First, I have the covers of LSJ Parts 1 & 2. I've shared them before, but I'm still not tired of them, so sorrynotsorry.

Be a flamingo, friends.

Next is my opening page. I love the idea of magical things. I want everything to be magical and sparkly, so I try to include some whenever I can.

I've left the next opening fairly blank except this joy stamp. You can find a rough index of a LSJ traveler's notebook set up here, so I guess you can consider this my inspiration/quote page? I won't need an index.

And lastly, for today, we have my Summer Manifesto. I LOVE the idea of a summer manifesto, essentially a summer to-do list. It makes me slow down and think about deliberately doing magical, summery things with myself, my husband and my children. I wanted the page to be a little more me, so I went my own route outside of the class offered printable. Although it is still very reminiscent of the printable. I just put tiny washi down for each to do title, then listed my tasks under the labels in a bright, summery pink. The stamped title was fun to make!

And there you have it, the very beginning of what is sure to be a super fun summer project and forever momento of this time in our lives. I hope you all will participate with me. You can make your book as simple or as intricate as possible. You can include oodles of writing and drawings and minimal photos. You can put all photos with one line captions. You can do WHATEVER you want! That's the beauty of this class. So many people will participate and receive the same lessons and prompts, but the interpretation of each and every one will be different and beautiful. OHHH I can't wait!

Thanks for looking!

My setup for Little Summer JOY 2016

We're just a couple days away from the official start of Little Summer JOY 2016 & I've been preparing my supplies in anticipation of all the wonderful lessons full of inspiration that Little Paper Projects is sure to bring!

I posted about my notebook cover the other day, as well as a link to the class. You can find that right here. It explains about the free class, as well as the optional paid portion of the class with additional features. You can also sign up by clicking the Join Me link to the left.

Today, I'm sharing my part II cover & some on-the-go traveler's notebook tips.

Traveler's Notebook Insert

So I bought the traveler's notebook inserts at Michael's from their new Boho collection meant for their "string journals." I typically keep my traveler's notebook inserts in somewhat of a vintage travel theme, but I decided to go all out bright and colorful for Little Summer JOY, so the crisp white inserts were great. However, upon review of the notebook organization suggestions, I realized that these little books did not have nearly enough pages to complete the project!

Never fear - this just means I got to make a part II notebook. I really enjoyed creating my first cover, so I pulled out the Pink Paislee citrus bliss stack & found another summery paper to brighten the book.

I really love the brightness of the cover as much as Part I!

To show you a little of what I did (it really is super simple), I just laid the insert flat upon the paper and lined up the straight edges. I left a couple inch strip to wrap around to the inside of the cover. I taped down the paper on the front cover, and used some washi tape to adhere the edge of the paper to the inside cover. Then I trimmed off the excess paper from the top. Here is a photo of the inside of the insert to demonstrate:

While you do not have to have a Traveler's Notebook cover to enjoy using a Traveler's Notebook insert, if you plan to travel or take your notebook anywhere outside the home, I suggest one for protection of your Little Summer JOY creation. They have them really inexpensively at Michael's, you can find plenty on Etsy, or you can DIY! There are loads of suggestions for this on the LPP blog.

What's in the bag?

The entire idea of the traveler's notebook, which began with Midori Traveler's Company in Japan, is to have a handheld notebook (hence, the perfect size) to carry with you at all times when you travel. It can hold multiple inserts, and the traditional, leather cover is designed to absorb some travel abuse and display it as character enhancing, worn in distress. I LOVE it.

I love the idea of carrying my TN with me outdoors & relaxing in nature & releasing my memories and thoughts into the journal. However, to create the types of layouts I desire in my TN inserts, I require some on-the-go supplies. Enter two little zipper bags.

I like to use two separate bags because of lessons learned from tops coming off stamp ink ...

I use a plastic pouch (this is my favorite one from Freckled Fawn) to hold pens, inks and stamps. It's also a good idea to carry a small pouch of some type of wet wipe (unless you have small children, because then we know you have them, how did you survive without them before?!) to clean your stamps.

The cloth pouch (from Joann's, I believe) holds paper ephemera, adhesive, washi tape, alphas, journaling cards, and anything else you may want to put in your TN. I would also put my instax photos in there until I was ready to stick them down.

They also sell zipper pouches made to fit inside a Traveler's Notebook cover, but I just do not believe they would hold enough supplies for my liking.

So when I travel or just go on a day trip where I plan to have time to journal, I will throw these pouches into my bag with my TN and go!

This summer I'm documenting my Little Summer JOY with my TN and my instax camera. Also, don't forget the film! :)

I really hope you'll consider participating in this fun summer project. It will be so inspirational & your final product is guaranteed to be phenomenal! Sign up here! You won't regret it!

Thanks for looking!

All Smiles with Grandaddy - A SBC sketch

Happy Monday! Hope you had a crafty weekend!

Today we have a layout from Scrapbook Challenges that I just LOVED working with!

I just LOVED these papers I got from Studio Calico, and they seemed to fit perfectly with my photo! I"m really happy with how the colors turned out.

The page was fairly simple and quick to create. Go play along!

Supplies:

Blue and Gray Cardstock - Bazzil
Patterned Paper - Studio Calico
Paper/transparent ephemera - Heidi Swapp
Alphas - American Crafts

Thanks for looking & go join the fun at Scrapbook Challenges!

Little Summer JOY 2016

Y'all I'm so excited I've become involved with a new project for the next couple of months & I would love for you all to join!

My friends over at Little Paper Projects are working hard on their second year of Little Summer JOY - a free class and inspiration portal to encourage making your summer magical & documenting your adventure in a realistic, manageable and beautiful way. I'm so thrilled I have found this inspirational outlet & I cannot wait for the classes to start!

I discovered the traveler's notebook earlier this year, and I have really enjoyed incorporating it into my creative regime for documenting life. I LOVE that Little Paper Products is really focusing on the TN in the #LSJ2016 project. The traveler's notebook is so manageable for any level of crafter. Even if one does not consider oneself "crafty" you can make a TN beautiful. Its simplistic nature is what makes it so wonderful.

And there will be plenty of participants using other forms than a traveler's notebook. Any small notebook or album will work & be gorgeous. It's all about finding the documentation style that is best for you - the style you enjoy creating - and committing to finishing your summer album!

I created my first notebook's cover the other day & I really love how it turned out. It captures the bright fun of summer I wanted to represent.

I'm planning to use my Instax camera to document my summer, but there are so many options to create your summer joy!

Please consider joining FOR FREE over at Little Paper Projects & document your Little Summer Joy. If you are incredibly interested in this project, and wish to take it further, you can sign up for a paid version of the course here! With the paid version, you will receive additional technique lessons, videos and freebies. Use the code save5 before June 30th to save $5!!!

This project is going to be so much fun & I look forward to the MOUNTAINS of inspiration awaiting us over the few weeks. Join the Little Summer JOY movement, and you won't regret it! Remember to use the hashtag #littlesummerjoy so that we can all share in our beautiful creations.

Bright Mini Album for the Counterfeit Kit Blog Hop!

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for hopping over to my blog. You should have arrived here from Elaine's blog.

Today I have a fun project I created with my Counterfeit Kit, Colorful Love. I made a bright, colorful mini album with instax I took at my cousin's wedding. We had a super great time, and the ground of the location were beautiful (although it was HOT!) and I snapped a few great shots with my instax. I thought a mini album is a perfect way to show off these tiny prints.

For this album I did not want to adhere any paper to the tag base of my album. I wanted to use all washi tape, stamps and ephemera.

This first spread is my son, who was the ring bear. He's holding a stick & said he's Harry Potter. Haha!

I have to say, the instax has never disappointed me on the selfie-taking!

I made these super fun washi feathers from a video I saw on pinterest. They were super easy to make. Won't be surprised if they crop up again in other work!

The wedding venue had a lovely garden & those Maggie Holmes flower ephemera were just perfect!

The dark tent and far away seat did not for a great instax shot make, but you can see the most important thing, the bride! Here they are having their first dance.

I did use a cricut cut from paper for the final page, just because I had the perfect ending, "Happily Ever After!"

Thanks for looking at my work, and make sure to join along at the counterfeit kit club challenge next month!

You should hop on over to Tina's blog next.

In case you get lost, here's the entire blog hop map:


Lisa
Elaine
Natalie <---YOU ARE HERE

Tina <---GO HERE NEXT

Roxanne
Jemma
Princy

Have a great day!

Halloween Loot! - A SBC sketch layout

Today I bring you a fun layout I did for the Scrapbook Challenges sketch for today. I really love how this black & white page turned out!

I got an amazing deal on these Halloween stamps at the Studio Calico warehouse sale a while back & I just love them.

I used the evidence stamp to put the bit of journaling I wanted on the page. I tried to switch up the bat stamp a bit for some background stamping. I also used some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.

I used some baker's twine to wrap around the white alphas, just to add some dimension and a little more interest to the tiny title.

Supplies:

White Cardstock and Halloween Stamps - Studio Calico
Black & White Pattern Paper - Me and My Big Ideas
Glimmer Mist - tattered angels
White Alphas & Baker's Twine - Target $1-$3 spot.

Go play along over at scrapbook challenges - there's a good chance of winning a prize this month!

What I love about Myself - June GDT at Lasting Memories

Today's prompt at Lasting Memories is "What I love about Myself".

My husband and son were looking through our 2014 scrapbook and noticed some unfinished pages - for shame! So I grabbed these photos of my husband and myself and got one step close to completion of that album (honestly thought it was done!).

What I love about myself (and my husband) is our sense of adventure. We are very compatible travel companions, as we typically enjoy the same level of adventure, relaxation & activity. Here we are at the top of Pike's Peak in Colorado for his 30th birthday.

Supplies
Cardstock and flower paper, washi, wood veneer, enamel dots and large white alphas - Studio Calico
Arrow Paper - Seven paper company
small white alphas - basic grey]
Staples - we r memory keepers

Thanks for looking & go play along at Lasting Memories!

Fartberries?!

Bahaha! Today's layout is one using my June Counterfeit Kit & a prompt from their blog to use a humorous quote as your title. I just knew when I saw the prompt that I had the perfect quote!

I also used a lovely sketch from Let's Get Sketchy.

My son was asked to be the ring bear (nope, not bearer, (himym)) for my cousin's wedding, and he was less than thrilled about it. The day of the rehearsal, it was naptime and later than his normal lunch time & he wasn't feeling it. I was trying anything to keep him in good spirits. We were in a beautiful garden, so I pointed to a plant and told him those were "fartberries" and to make sure he didn't eat them because they would make him... well... you know. He thought this was hilarious, of course. He did awful at the rehearsal (he came through at the wedding tho! Praise Jesus!), but made sure to tell everyone at the luncheon following all about the fartberries!

There's the little stinker. I couldn't get enough of that gorgeous patinaed brick wall....

Here's the sketch I used. I adapted it a bit since I didn't want to cut my photo. I just used the other half of the photo as the intended journaling card...

Some details and the hidden journaling tag - you know, because fartberries has some explanation necessary:

Supplies:
Papers - Crate Paper
Berry die and fartberries title - Cricut
Flowers - Crate Paper
Tag - Michael's sprayed with Tattered Angels glimmer mist and distressed with all my memories ink
alphas - Studio Calico

Thanks for looking!

Explore the Great Outdoors

Today I scrapped a #selfie from our first trip on the lake in our recently acquired kayaks.

The weekly challenge over at The Paper Girls Challenge is to create something about the Great Outdoors. The Echo Park Happy Camper collection is so perfect for this task!

I also created this layout for the Challenge YOUrself monthly challenge of using geometric shapes in your layout. I'd had the idea of a badge for a while, and I went with a simple circle as my shape. I also used a couple of papers with an arrow shape.

Here are a couple of detail shots:

I tinted the woodgrain title with some ink pads to make it show up a bit better. The badge isn't exactly as I had in mind, but I will keep practicing!

Supplies:

Background Paper, orange paper and multi-colored photo backing paper - Echo Park Happy Camper
Brown arrow paper - Basic Grey
Badge cut and alphas drawn by Cricut
Staples - WeRMemory Keepers
Wood title - Studio Calico

Thanks for looking!

Fall Fun - a Let's Get Sketchy Challenge

Today I've created another layout for a new to me challenge. I used a super cool sketch from Let's Get Sketchy, who I found through my love, Freckled Fawn because they are collaborating together this month. Their sketches seem to be super awesome, and a chance to win a Freckled Fawn prize? Come on, it's just too good.

I'm working with photos all over the place currently. Still building my 2015 album chronologically, but also already working 2016... Here we have fall 2015. Please excuse the extremely fat, prego face - this was only a couple weeks out from having a giant baby!

I rotated the original sketch a bit. Here it is:

I like how it was simple & fun. Still able to add in a bunch of patterns and colors.

Here are a couple detail shots:

Supplies:
Background Paper and binder clip - American Crafts
All other Paper from a garage sale stash - no names found
Glitter Leaves - JoAnn's
Alphas and cork arrow - Studio Calico

Thanks for looking!