Those Summer Days

Our backyard neighbors are parents of a kid both me and my husband went to middle school and high school with, and we always see them in the backyard and end up chatting away. Their granddaughter, our school acquaintance's niece, likes to come over now when she sees me feeding the birds and ducks in the backyard and get in on the action as well. So a couple weeks ago, her and her friend came over, filled the bird feeders, then we all took a walk around the neighborhood together.

Just those laid back summer days before school starts back up and you're trying to squeeze out those last drops of freedom... remember those times? The girls saw a rock next to the sidewalk and immediately stopped to go climb it together. I never really thought about that rock before, even though I've walked by it a lot, and def never stopped to climb it... note to self: remember to stop and smell the, I mean, climb the rock!

So I finally got to do a girly layout! Most of my pics and layouts depict my husband doing something interesting, so I don't get to scrap as girly as I'd sometimes like - I own like a hundred doilies and have never used one!! Finally!

This layout was totally inspired/lifted from this layout by Teka! I loved those soft colors, muted by the vellum paper, and after taking this picture, I knew I wanted it to be a soft layout and try to exude that lazy hazy summery-ness to it. It was pretty easy and came together quickly, up until I decided to add the stitching at the end, but that's what the time after my husband goes to bed is best for :)


HOW-TO:

• I used up most of my colored and gray washi tapes and just started stretching them diagonally across a piece of white card stock paper
• I cut off the ends instead of folding them around the back, I guess I don't like the very slightly added padding that folding it makes
• Not sure if you can tell but I don't yet own any 12x12 vellum paper, but I still had some old vellum paper from Creative Memories, in 10x12, so there is a small seam towards the left of the page where I had to line up an extra 2x12 inch strip
• The cloud paper and the butterfly papers are from the Woodland Park 6x6 pad by October Afternoon
• The doily, the little flowers and the pink ribbon came in the Summer of '69 kit by Studio Calico, as well as the letters for the word "Those" in the title, which are Mini Market stickers by October Afternoon
• The letters that spell "Summer Days" are from the Sketchbook Amy Tangerine line by American Crafts
• The speech bubble is from Hello Forever
• I measured 1/8th" away from the edge of all 4 sides of my paper, then drew lines, punched holes 1/4" apart and sewed with white string (usually I sew 1/8" apart but that would've taken forever by hand)

Paesans

A couple more pics from Arthur Ave in the Bronx, aka the real Little Italy, from this past June! Paesans, heyyy!

So this layout came together about 50x faster than that last one... what's the secret? I don't know! I definitely had some inspiration from this week's Weekly Challenge over at Studio Calico, but I didn't realize the challenge had to use wood frames, instead I just scraplifted it!

I definitely could've added a few more embellishments (always) or done some misting or found a place to add some sewing but geesh, I just needed to get this layout done in one "sitting" while the ideas were still in my head!

HOW-TO:

• I used this month's Summer of '69 kit by Studio Calico
• The main piece of paper I used was "Backgammon" from the Paper Cottage collection by BasicGrey - Before I started this page, I fell in love with the side you see at the top of the page, the dark with the colored circles but ended up using both sides, the brighter side where the pictures went so they'd show up better
• The banner was easy enough, since it came already sewn like that, from the Clippings collection by BasicGrey
• The chipboard letters were also from BasicGrey
• Everything else except the Star on the stick from the No Limits collection Heidi Swapp came as part of the Studio Calico kit

Balcony Views

Ever have a tough time finishing a layout!? For no particular reason, other than I just couldn't get this one together quickly, this layout has taken me FOREVER! Even though it doesn't look like it's finished (to me) I just need to throw it in a corner (till I buy a new album to put my latest pages in) and tell myself repeatedly, "Breathe, it's finished." Haha, jk, I'm not that neurotic! Well, sorta...

Anyway, perhaps it's because this is like my 6th page or so of more or less the same, beachy pics from our trip to Miami Beach this past April. I really thought, scrapping these pics would be like going to the beach, you can't ever get sick of it... but I guess I was wrong! Oh well, this labored page came from a sketch for the 28 Days of Sketches 2 class with Lisa Day that is now over - good grief, 28 days and only used 2 of the sketches so far!

So I didn't really keep track of the supplies I used here, because it was one of those ones where I just wasn't satisfied by one collection so I pulled from all sorts of collections - can you spot them all?

HOW-TO List of Collections:

• Shoreline by American Crafts
• Nantucket by Pink Paislee
• Heidi Swapp
• PB&J by BasicGrey
• Plus goodies from both the Elmwood Park kit and the Summer of '69 kits both by Studio Calico including Pebbles, October Afternoon, and Crate Paper!

Washi Layouts!

For the third time so far, my friend Kara came over today and we scrapped the "same" layout, both scraplifting from this layout by Karen for My Mind's Eye! We both have a growing stash of washi tape that we needed to find justification for, so we went with this washi tape layout to make!!

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So first up is this layout, "The Three Mustache-keteers" by Kara Nettnin!! Hahaha, funny pictures!! These pics were taken for a 5K race here in Rochester, NY she and her two other friends dressed up for with those matching tank tops and rocked the policeman mustaches!!

For the main part of the title, Kara stamped the black mustaches with Staz On ink but still had to go over it some with black marker because of the unevenness of the textured paper. She used foam thickers for the title and added some sewing which made me laugh because it looks like mustache lines down the paper! Perfect!!

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Next up is my layout "This Way to the Bronx" again from the trip to NYC in June that my husband Chris and I took!

I used some supplies (the lined stamp, the Bronx cardboard letter stickers, and tabbed die cut) from the Summer of '69 kit by Studio Calico, and sewed on the "this" swatch with the yellow arrow. Kara let me borrow her Smash labeler to make the labels for the "This Way to the" part of the title!

Another day, another layout completed!! Wow, once you scrap this way - scraplifting the same layout with a friend, you don't want to scrap any other way!!

We Party Layouts!!

My scrapper friend Kara came over a couple weeks ago, and for the 2nd time we worked on the "same" layout - implementing the same technique to create a layout we both looked at online! Here's the layout by Shannon Tidwell we tried to re-create as our own!

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First up, is my friend's layout "We Party Rock" by Kara Nettnin! The pic she used are her two adorable boys at the lake a couple weeks ago!

We both just punched circles from card stock (instead of using chipboard) and covered with washi tape! Here, Kara used smaller circles spread out with a mix of washi tape - LOVE how it turned out!!

She used some foam thickers for the "We" part of the title, which really stood out against that yellow washi and other thickers from American Crafts to complete the title! Love the little washi flag and Amy Tangerine bit in there too!

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Next up is my layout "Arthur Avenue Market" from our recent trip to NYC last month! We visited the "real Little Italy" in the Bronx at Arthur Avenue! It was so cool!

I decided to stick to just a few colors for the washi tape, but added some punched circles from some Studio Calico paper (last summer's Boardwalk kit) in there too for some more detail since I used larger circles.

I made my own little flag, using washi to cover a rectangle and grabbing a toothpick from the kitchen!

We just had the best time working on the same layout together! I like doing the same techniques at the same time so we can help each other out more and Kara likes how easy it was to pack her stuff to come over with a specific list of supplies. Our layouts came out so different too! Scrapping alone just isn't as fun anymore!

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