HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

Today is my Dad's birthday. :)


Dad, back in the day.


Happy birthday, Dad!

The Great Scrapbooking WIP Check-Off: The Australia Edition (Part 6 and Final)

Before I started on any new scrapbooking layouts, I felt the need to address the growing stack of works-in-progress (WIP) that were nearly done, but not ready to be archived for good or shared on the blog. So I made myself a check-list and have been working my way through them. Here's a recently completed work from the list.

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The Australia Book
Back in 2000, I spent about nine months living in Australia. I did my last semester of undergrad there, and then ... just didn't go home. :) I extended my visa as long as I legally could. While I was there, I travelled the entire eastern coast and half of the southern coast. I spent time in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, and Brisbane (the 3 largest cities in the country and the capital), as well as time at the Great Barrier Reef, lots of time on beaches, played a lot of volleyball ... oh yeah, and I went to classes, too.

So, I have a lot of photos from there. I very crudely pasted these pictures into makeshift scrapbooks while I was there and captioned them, which now I am so happy that I did. I have two such books of photos, memorabilia (such as tickets, cut-outs from pamphlets, etc.), and journaling.

So I finally decided a couple months ago to dig in and start creating my for-real Australia scrapbook. However, I wasn't able to immediately locate book #1 (it's around here somewhere), but I did find book #2. But since book #2 begins in the middle of one of my mini-trips within Australia, I had to find something within that book that I could use as a starting point. And I found it.

While I was down under, Eilis came over to visit for two weeks. For a week of that time, she went off on her own to an island off the coast of Queensland at the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef to do some snorkeling and whatnot. After that, we met up in Brisbane and took a week-long road trip down the eastern coast back toward Wollongong, where I lived. (Much adventure ensued along the way.)

So I decided to begin my Australia scrapbook, by starting in the middle, with Eilis' visit. Some of these pages I made and completed immediately, but some were part of my Great WIP Check-Off. I wanted to get them all up to speed before I shared them. These are the first five spreads in what will likely be a hefty chunk of the Australia scrapbook.

Eilis Arrives; We Visit Sydney

This was the first time I'd ever used the ink pad swiping technique that my sister taught me. I used it on the circles matting the letters that spell out SYDNEY. I cut out circles out of a beige cardstock, then swiped them randomly across the top of a tan ink pad. It gives nice dimension and texture in a subtle way.



Sydney: A Day in Hyde Park

I used Cherish layout "Visual Texture" (pages 34-35)—if you click that link it's actually the layout featured on that page. This was my first time using vellum. Fun! And my first time tearing paper. Fun! I also used that swiping technique to swipe just the edges of the blue and brown cardstock on a white ink pad. This really makes a difference in making the pages look more "finished" I think.



Brisbane: Part 1

I made these two spreads using Garden Green Reflections Base Pages from Close To My Heart. They weren't as easy to use as I thought they'd be, given the fact that all my photos were pre-printed, so I couldn't size the photos to fit the layouts. But, I made 'em work anyway.

In this spread, I used a leaf stamp on the lighter green parts of the page with matching Garden Green ink pad. I also made quasi photo corners out of brad washers that I made with my Sizzix.



Brisbane: Part 2

I cut out BRISBANE using the Stencil alphabet on my Sizzix, and the big flower is from Dimensional Elements. (You can see the petals from the same flower on the previous page.) I glued down the matching purple flowered paper and then cut out the petals using an Exacto knife.



The Road Trip Begins

I made this spread at my birthday scrapbooking gathering at my parents' house. I used Cherish layout "Add an Element" (pages 42-43). Again, I used the print, tape, and reprint technique to get the pretty journaling printed onto that little square of vellum. (Seriously, my spreads would look like crap if I didn't have all my sister's secret techniques!)

The Great Scrapbooking WIP Check-Off: Parts 4 & 5

Before I started on any new scrapbooking layouts, I felt the need to address the growing stack of works-in-progress (WIP) that were nearly done, but not ready to be archived for good or shared on the blog. So I made myself a check-list and have been working my way through them. Here's a recently completed work from the list.

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My Nephew's 2nd Birthday
These two spreads are part of my nephew's scrapbook.

My Nephew's 2nd Birthday: Cake!

These have both been partially finished for quite a while. In this "Cake" spread, I left the top naked for a long time, until I finally added the "Birthday Boy" title. Then I realized I kind of had two "titles" on this page, but I'm ok with it. I also left the journaling area blank for ages, until I added it to the WIP list and forced myself to get it done. And here it is!

My sister gave me a technique tip that she learned from a friend of hers. I printed this journaling out on my printer, but I had already pre-cut the paper to fit the spot it goes in. So what I did was print the journaling on a regular 8 1/2" x 11" piece of printer paper, then gently tape the journaling cardstock onto the printer paper right over where it had printed out. Run it through the printer again, and voilá! Beautifully printed journaling! Yay!



My Nephew's 2nd Birthday: Presents!

In this "Presents" spread, I had some photos come off the printer half-cruddy, but I put them in place anyway until I could print out better versions. I also did some captions that looked completely amatuer. (Amatuer, meaning a 5-year-old could've done a better job.)

Finally, I printed the captions and the photo both on photo paper at Office Max. I think the captions look awesome on photo paper, by the way. And they were super easy to bang out in Photoshop. Then just glue 'em in, and the thing looks a million times better than it did—trust me!

The Great Scrapbooking WIP Check-Off: Part 3

Before I started on any new scrapbooking layouts, I felt the need to address the growing stack of works-in-progress (WIP) that were nearly done, but not ready to be archived for good or shared on the blog. So I made myself a check-list and have been working my way through them. Here's a recently completed work from the list.

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Halloween 2003

Oh, yes, I'm working waaaaaaaaay back through the archives! This is from our first Halloween in our own apartment together. Obviously back when we were young and crazy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EILIS!

Today is my best friend Eilis's 29th birthday. Woo-hoo!!

In honor of the occasion, here is some photo goodness for you to savor on this special day. Happy birthday, Eebee (Weebee) Beebee!

Circa 1996 - Where it all began, Yesterday's Royal
"Ice Cream Avengers... AWAY!"


Circa 2000 - Yeah, this was the photo shoot for our debut album. We're kind of a big deal. Pfft.


Circa 2002 - At one of our infamous Murder Mystery parties


Circa April 2005 - This picture was taken the weekend she moved to North Carolina *sniffle*


Circa August 2007 - At her bridal shower
(Of course! Don't we look like grown up women participating in a grown up women's event.)


Circa April 2008 - We haven't grown up at all, have we?
And I love every minute of it!


"We always said we'd never grown up
We always said 'forever young'
Well, we're growing up but you're still my sun
Sunflower growing wild."

The Great Scrapbooking WIP Check-Off: Part 2

Before I started on any new scrapbooking layouts, I felt the need to address the growing stack of works-in-progress (WIP) that were nearly done, but not ready to be archived for good or shared on the blog. So I made myself a check-list and have been working my way through them. Here's a recently completed work from the list.

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New Year's Eve 2008


These are photos of Arik and me on New Year's Eve 2008. Well, actually Arik, me, and Timbit.

Making this spread sort of felt like cheating, because I used a Close To My Heart My Reflections Collection "Love Always" kit. It doesn't look like they really make those kits anymore, because I only see them on clearance or on eBay. They include everything you need to make one 2-page spread: paper, stickers, embellishments, and a "recipe card" (a blueprint for how to put it all together into a spread).

So, basically all the work is practically done for you, you just have to cut it up and glue it down. However, I did come up with the idea to put in the dimensional "New Years" and "2008" using my own stamps, so at least I felt a little creative when I made this.

The Great Scrapbooking WIP Check-Off: Part 1

Before I started on any new scrapbooking layouts, I felt the need to address the growing stack of works-in-progress (WIP) that were nearly done, but not ready to be archived for good or shared on the blog. So I made myself a check-list and have been working my way through them. Here's a recently completed work from the list.

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Family Christmas 2003


I've been going through my digital photo archives on the computer and slowly sorting through all the events I want to scrapbook retroactively. This is a spread of our extended-family Christmas party in 2003.

I used Cherish layout "Clear Dimension" (pages 102-3) as the basis for this layout.

One of my favorite parts of this layout are the little poinsettias I made. I bought a set of four red flowers in the scrapbooking dollar-rack at Joann, then cut out leaves with my Sizzix to make the flowers look like poinsettias. Fun.

Totally in love with "Close To My Heart"

I mentioned a while ago that I have drank the kool-aid of my sister's scrapbooking cult. The cult club is Close To My Heart.

My absolute favorite thing about this brand of scrapbooking stuff is their idea books. They lay out the pages like blueprints, with perfectly clear step-by-step instructions—which is exactly what I need, because I used to just get my scrapbook stuff out and then sit there and stare at it for an hour and maybe eventually make a crappy-looking page. So, the layouts in the books give you the building blocks, but then there is still plenty of room to be as creative as you want.

I bought the Cherish book last fall, and this is the first spread I made based on a layout in the book. (I used Cherish layout "A New Perspective" found on pages 58-59.)



This layout is one from my scrapbook of my nephew. This particular spread is of his first photos with his four older sisters when he was just a few days old.

Handmade Thank You Notes

After my birthday this year, I made handmade thank you notes to send to my friends and family who had helped make my birthday special. :-)

Just like with my Valentines, the goal was to use paper and supplies I had on hand. So, I ended up with two versions, a purple and a blue.



I used purple and blue cardstock as the base for these. Then I added the pretty floral paper. To do the Y-O-U, I first cut out small squares of yellow cardstock, which I then wiped randomly across a light yellow inkpad (to add a little dimension).Then I cut the letters out of the squares using my Sizzix Sidekick and the "Stencil" alphabet set.

I did the same thing for the little tags that say "Thank"—wiped beige cardstock across a tan inkpad, then cut the tags out using a tag-shaped die in my Sidekick. I then stamped the word "Thank" on using Close To My Heart's Amore alphabet stamps.



I attached the little tags using pastel brads.

I cut out circles using my Creative Memories circle cutters and then used Close To My Heart stamps to stamp on the little flowers.



I even used the same flower stamp set to stamp the outsides of the envelopes, just for fun. (Names and addresses have been Photoshop smudged to protect the innocent.)