Beachside Delivery

What's better than getting your Carrabba's lunch delivered to you right on the beach!? Not much! We were given menus and ordered lunch that was delivered to us out on the beach, filled up, napped a little, read some, swam some, and had the best day ever... then repeated that for the next 5 days!

This layout is the first for an online class I'm taking called 28 Days of Sketches 2, with Lisa Day over at Big Picture Classes! The first sketch was great, and made this layout come together so easily!

I finally used a bit more from last year's Boardwalk kit by Studio Calico! I loved that kit but never really dug in too much.

HOW-TO:

• The main piece of paper is "Enlighten" from the Sunshine Broadcast line by Sassafras
• The squares were cut to 1.5" from the back of "London" paper from the Boarding Pass collection by October Afternoon, then I hand sewed around each one - that was def the longest part
• The wood veneer and die cuts are from the Nantucket line by Pink Paislee
• The trim is a Mistable Scallop Ribbon also from Pink Paislee, that I chose not to mist because it looked so good as it was, subtle! Then I tied some twine around it since plain twine seems to go really well with beachy themes!
• The word "beachside" was done with Wonder thickers and for the word "delivery" I used Lovely Straw Foam Rubber Thickers from the Amy Tangerine collection, both by American Crafts
• Finally, it's very subtle, but I added some washi tape on the top of the photos

Breathe that sea air

One thing I always seem to forget in the periods of time between beach visits is how awesome the beach smells! As soon as you get to the beach again and smell that sweet sea air, you can't help but smile and relax! Hopefully I conveyed that a bit with this more subdued layout than the last :)

Onto the layout itself, I didn't realize how much I lifted this layout by Brenda till after I went back and started browsing some layouts... oops! I knew I liked the idea of her layout but didn't chose the same papers for the circles intentionally - but I guess I attribute that to my photographic memory! Oh well, what a great layout she had and deserved to be lifted!

I decided to stamp the title in a very subtle color to keep it "calm" looking. I also tried to create small waves and avoid the frustration of having to line up the letter stamps perfectly!

HOW-TO:

• I mostly used the Elmwood Park kit by Studio Calico for this one
• Most people have a silhouette to cut those circle patterns... I hate to admit that I spent the time to cut my pattern by hand! I had bought a circle stencil (by Plaid) at AC Moore the other day, and traced it in reverse on the back of that White Woodgrain paper, then spent awhile cutting it with my Fiskars fingertip knife
• Then I punched circles from an Exclusive Paper by BasicGrey for Studio Calico (yellow), Natural by Authentique (dark blue), and Toasted by BasicGrey and backed them behind the cut out stencil of circles
• I added all sorts of buttons/badges including - 3 badges from the Abroad line by Studio Calico, Citron "What a Day" buttons from Indie Chic collection by My Mind's Eye, Sunshine "Memories" buttons from the Lost & Found collection by My Mind's Eye, Breeze "Boyish" buttons from the Lost & Found collection by My Mind's Eye, and 1 lone button from the Farmhouse collection by October Afternoon
• I misted in White Mister Huey's spray mist by Studio Calico before adhering the circles
• I added Seagull stickers from the Dear Lizzy collection sticker book by American Crafts
• I stamped the letters from the Roxie stamp set from the Shoreline collection by American Crafts in Soft Pool shadow ink by Hero Arts

This Is Why We Came

I made this layout for this week's Sunday Sketch Challenge from Studio Calico, my first time doing one of these challenges! I def had the pics to go with the sketch for this one, so went to work!

This was the first morning we were in Miami Beach, Fl and went down to the beach first thing! Hardly anyone was out yet, but it was gorgeous! We signed a sheet behind our hotel to order up 2 lounge chairs and an umbrella for the day and charge it to the room... and almost everyday after that for the rest of the week, it was perfect!!

I used papers from the Elmwood Park kit by Studio Calico, but after creating the background for the sketch, I realized the colors were starting to look a little dull altogether like that, so I added some "punch" with the Sand Dollar bits diecuts from American Crafts and of course the glitter foam thickers really added some much needed contrast!

The title is so true - we were trying to think where to plan a trip and since we just took a longer trip in October, we wanted something simple to plan (like no car rental needed) and I just wanted a beach, no matter if it's in the States or not! So Miami it was, and it worked perfectly since we didn't need a car rental, we stayed right on the beach and we just cabbed it when we needed to, and ate some really amazing meals!

Normally I'd add journaling to this page, but with the word paper background, it didn't look unfinished without it, so I'll probably add more to the next layout!


HOW-TO:

• I used the Elmwood Park kit by Studio Calico
• The back most paper, that you see at the top is "Buttercup puddles" by Lily Bee Design, I left about 2" showing
• The thin strip of dotted paper is a Tim and Beck exclusive for Studio Calico
• For the bottom part, to get the rays cut out without a machine, I outlined a circle in the lower left, found the center and just started drawing lines in pencil from that same point in the center of the circle outward (onto that yellow paper by BasicGrey for Studio Calico, which was pre-cut at 8.5" by 12"
• Then I cut along the lines with good old-fashioned scissors from the outside till the circle and cut around the circle, the pieces that I wanted to get rid of
• I cut the paper with words, called "Lovely Chevron" from the Sweet Day collection by Echo Park Paper Co for Studio Calico, to 8.5" by 12" and layered my hand cut sun with rays on top of it
• After many failed attempts at being satisfied with some circular stamps to put as the center circle, I went back and cut a circle from that back paper and layered that on top of the yellow circle
• The die cuts along the top and over the "sun" are Sand Dollar die cuts from the Shoreline collection by American Crafts
• The stickers for the "This is" part of the title are Pelican Remarks letter stickers, and the rest of the title is made from Boardwalk glitter foam stickers, both for the Shoreline collection by Studio Calico

Happy 4th!

This could seriously be the quickest layout from the date the pics were taken to the date they are scrapped! 3 days! My friend Kara and her husband Jon came over and brought along their boys to watch us set off the last of our fireworks and make and eat ice cream sundaes! We had glow necklaces for them and we all just had a great time!

Kara had captured these 2 pics on her phone - one with me and the boys (Chris loves this pic too cause she got the flag in it, as well as our new car in our newly painted garage that he painted the day before) and the other pic is of our husbands, Chris and Jon setting off a roman candle!

I knew I wanted to incorporate those wood veneer stars, but didn't realize how much "trouble" they'd be... after lots of misting and sticking (worked up the courage to try the Elmer's Craft Bond again after messing up last time) I finally got them sort of how I wanted, after finishing them by going over them with my white Signo pen!

HOW-TO:

• I used the new Elmwood Park kit by Studio Calico, and this is quickly becoming another favorite kit so far!
• From top to bottom, the papers I used are "Giftwrap" from the Cakewalk collection by October Afternoon cut at 3", "Red and white stripes" a Tim and Beck exclusive for Studio Calico cut at 5", and "Natural" paper from the Genuine collection by Authentique
• I misted the background with Mister Huey's in Passport (dark blue), Calico White and Calico Shine
• I used wood veneer stars by Studio Calico that I just "sprinkled" in the general area I wanted over Elmer's Craft Bond, before laying them flat and moving some around
• The little arrow is from the Buzz Words from the No Limits collection by Heidi Swapp
• I used the entire pack of red buttons from Queen & Co to make the 4 and embossed the "th" Studio Calico stamps with Rouge Zing embossing powder by American Crafts
• To make the "Happy" circles, at first I stamped the dotted circles (stamp by Studio Calico) on paper and tried to punch them out (circle punch by Creative Memories), but quickly realized it was a lot easier to punch first then stamp to get it centered properly
• The letter stamps are from American Crafts, as are the letter stickers for the word July and the brackets
• 
  
• Is that all?? :)

Game time

I just got July's Studio Calico kit, "Elmwood Park" delivered yesterday while Chris and I were out taking a ride on the Sam Patch boat tour of the Erie Canal! It was so much fun, as was the Syracuse basketball game we went to this February vs. Georgetown Hoyas!

Basically I had 2 goals in mind when creating this layout:
1. Do NOT use all orange and blue (SU colors) colored papers since the pictures are so busy by themselves.
2. Just get the layout done - don't think too much!

So I picked some papers and just sort of started arranging them, and decided I'd worry about embellishments once I got the paper in place. Whenever I make an attempt at "random" it always comes out basically the same - straight lines, full use of paper (I like how others are able to leave big blank spaces or clump everything to one side but I just can't seem to do this), and one main area for embellishments. I guess this is my inherent scrapping style ha!

I used a new stamping technique for the border stamp next to the title, that I learned from the Summer Stamp School by Studio Calico - I stamped once after inking, then again next to it without re-inking, it worked really well to fill in the spaces without having to use 2 different colors!

HOW-TO:

• I mostly used the Elmwood Park kit from Studio Calico
• The left most orange with vanilla polka dots strip of paper is "Girl Friday" from the 9-to-5 collection by October Afternoon; also from the same collection is the star and floral die cuts, as well as the notebook edge sticker
• The gray grid paper is the back of the ticket paper to the left, called "Fair Paper" from the Dilly Dally "Adventures" collection by My Mind's Eye
• I loved how the wood planks on the back of the "Vintage Fans" paper from the This & That collection by Echo Park Paper Co looked like it could be a basketball court floor (minus the signature from Jim Boeheim of course)
• The "Game" part of the title are Exclusive Denim Thickers by American Crafts
• The "time" part of the title are Orange & Creme Mini Market stickers by October Afternoon
• I stamped "VIP" using the Roxie letters stamp set from the Shoreline collection by American Crafts onto a printed tag by Jenni Bowlin and layered over a Vintage ticket
• For the Chevron border stamp next to the title, I used an older Studio Calico stamp in Fall Leaf colored Prima Chalk ink
• The Today badge is a Studio Calico Exclusive

High Falls

I finally went back and finished a quick layout last night of these pics from our day off in February before the Syracuse basketball game - that's 2 layouts in 2 nights, I'm on a roll! We had stopped at the high falls area, but specifically Chris says these are the upper falls.

This layout came about pretty quickly, which I guess is the result of sticking to one kit (35mm), not trying to plan ahead of time, and letting it just come together. I picked that Heidi Swapp background paper after seeing how well it matched the pic I had of the water power info plaque they had and went from there.

I just started cutting out some of the hexagons from another piece of paper and placing them around the page till I liked how it came out.

HOW-TO:

• I used May's "35mm" kit by Studio Calico
• The main background paper is called Schematic from the No Limits collection by Heidi Swapp
• I used my Fiskars craft knife to cut the big green hexagons from the Hive paper by Studio Calico
• I misted 2 Mistable Hexagons from Studio Calico in Bluegrass and Applejack Mister Huey's, and filled the others with hexagon die cuts also by Studio Calico
• I cut a piece of Butter card stock by American Crafts and misted with Bonny Blue Mister Huey's using the Circle Graph mask from Studio Calico before writing on top of it
• I added the wood button from Prima with some twine by Jillibean Soup
• Finally, did the letters using Olive & Cream Sticky Keys by October Afternoon

Take a walk on the Boardwalk!

Last night was so much fun! I had my scrapper friend Kara over and we decided to do the "same" layout - well, the same techniques for a layout, but different paper and pics, so they came out looking totally different!

The pics I chose were from our first evening in South Beach, Miami in April. Our hotel was right on the boardwalk and we walked down a bit before catching a quick cab to Lincoln Rd. where a bunch of fun restaurants and shops are! We seriously hit the perfect weather while we were there - low 80's and sunny during the day, upper 70's in the evenings - the following weekend after we got home it rained then became gruelingly hot and humid!

Anyway, so yesterday I stumbled upon this post by Marcy Penner for October Afternoon and decided I would try those chevrons, and figured I could show Kara and we could do them together!

It was the EASIEST way I've seen to make chevrons yet! So first we built the chevrons, then after I had a failed attempt at a circular stamp on Vellum paper, Kara had the idea to use this Hello There stamp directly on the page and emboss it! Then we decided some mist was in order and both misted - she misted her page in white and I misted in gold! That was the extent of our similarities, and we finished our pages in one quick scrappy evening! Wow!

HOW-TO:

• For quick and easy chevron-building, see Marcy's post here
• I chose papers from my So Cal kit by Studio Calico
• The main piece of paper is the back of a busier piece of paper called "Magnetic" from the "A Boy's Life" collection by Echo Park Paper Co
• The Chevrons used the following papers, from top to bottom: Numbers by Echo Park Paper Co, the back of Tim & Beck exclusive paper, and the back of Chevron by Studio Calico
• The Hello There stamp is from Studio Calico embossed in Gold from Martha Stewart Crafts
• Misted in Gold Mister Huey's by Studio Calico
• I finally broke into the pack of Elf Woodgrain Chipboard Thickers by American Crafts that came in last September's Studio Calico kit, Glee Club - but don't they go perfectly with the word and colors?
• The little blue letters are from the Pelican remarks stickers from the Shoreline collection by American Crafts - this pack of stickers has little orange letter stickers on the front and those little blue ones on the back!
• I used the leftover triangles from cutting the Chevrons to fill a little at the bottom and voila: quick, easy, and fun layout!

Joy Ride!

This has been a very random weekend so far! On Friday, we went to look at a Mazda Miata MX-5 (read:convertible) for sale from Craigslist... I can't describe all my feelings about it, but we bought it from this fun couple who had it as their 3rd car and wanted the cash to redo the bathroom! Our luck, she had just posted the car online 2 days before!

So Chris had to get the car insured, which took 2 seconds online (luckily he has a clean record... unlike some people... namely me, but that's an old story for another time) and also had to get new plates and registration at the DMV. We didn't think we'd get there till tomorrow or Tuesday but he forgot the DMV is open the last Saturday of the month - skip forward to yesterday around 10:30am and Chris called saying his dad was coming to pick us up to go get the car at noon!

So basically this is the fastest card I have ever made! I didn't realize that would translate to the messiest scrapbook table I have ever made too! I used a pic I had taken the day before of the new car in their driveway and cropped it to a square and printed on my Canon Selphy CP800. I cut it to a Polaroid frame (I just hate saying that as a daughter of Kodak) but anyway, I quickly picked some fun beachy paper, some cute embellishments and finished it off with a stamp and some twine!

HOW-TO:

• This is the oldest paper I have used in awhile and it's only from last year's Good Day Sunshine collection by My Mind's Eye called "Beach Huts" (aka sad that I have barely had time to use only new stuff)
• The Joy Ride embellishment is from the Amy Tangerine bits for American Crafts
• The cars are transportation wood veneer by Studio Calico
• The stamp was part of a set in an add-on kit last month also from Studio Calico
• I "colored" in the sentiment in the speech bubble with my white Uniball Signo pen
• The twine is from my scrapper friend Heather :)