"Bean There, Done That" Chicago Layout

The Trip

Last week, I was in Chicago for the first time and did a lot of the touristy things there, number one being taking pictures in front of the Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park. 

The Layout

After returning from a trip, I like to immediately make one layout. That way, if I never get to making a mini-album or multiple layouts about the whole trip, I'd at least have a representative page for the year. Here is my layout about visiting "The Bean". 

The Details

I had this sheet of patterned paper, called "Let's Go" from Simple Stories that I wanted to use. I cut the arrows into strips and laid them out on my background paper, but found it to be too busy. I didn't want to give up on the idea, so I inked the edges in black and left a small space in between the strips, then it was not so overwhelming. 

I used sketch #114 from Sketches in Thyme for my layout. 

Here is my title using small Authentique alpha blocks. I also added a small silver bean I cut from a scrap of metallic paper. 

For my journaling, I wrote on a tag and added a piece of jute. Next to it I used a Maya Road wood veneer Polaroid frame on a leftover photo, which is actually our reflection off the Bean. 

I had purchased a "Summer Fun" kit from Scrapbook & Cards Today's blog. As I was packing for a crop, I just grabbed the kit as it had the colors I wanted for this layout and made this layout at the crop. 

I'm entering this in:

613 Avenue Create - #26 Anything Goes

Amusing Challenges - Anything Goes

Challenges $ Everybody - #23 Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp! - Anything Goes

Sketches in Thyme - June Challenges

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Life.Paper.Scrapbook. Magazine

The Issue
Hello all! I've been following an Australian blog called Life.Paper.Scrapbook. that showcases crafters from around the world. They have really beautiful projects and fun challenges on their blog, plus they publish a free quarterly online magazine. As this is a relatively new site, their second issue just came out on Friday.

Life.Paper.Scrapbook. Issue 2 online magazine

I really admire the clean look of the featured projects so when I saw that they had a publication call for the second issue, I decided to submit a few of my own creations. I was quite surprised but delighted that they chose three of my submissions. To see the issue, just go here.

The Details
My layout, "Who Loves Their Auntie?" featuring Zemira as a little baby can be found on P. 56 of the Scrapbook Gallery. Here is a peek of the construction process. I'd just folded the squares to make my cathedral quilt and was lining up all the pieces.

My layout, "Welcome to L.A." about Lulu's arrival at LAX can be found on P. 78 of the Pet Gallery. Here is a peek of when I laying out the design of the page. 

This was the first time they had a Card Gallery, so I turned in this, "Somebunny Loves You" card which features a digi-stamp that I turned into a die cut on my Cameo. This is found on P. 98. 

Take a look at the magazine or the blog to see all the beautiful projects from designers around the world. You won't be disappointed. 

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

"Isaiah Goes Swimming" Mini Album Book

The Project

I made my nephew a mini-album/easy reader book. 

The Inspiration

When I was babysitting him, he had to practice his reading using a series of leveled reading books. These were "Hi-Lo" books, high interest-low readability, using a lot of site words and repeated patterns. But judging by the way he was squirming around and needing a lot of "redirection", I was thinking it was more like "Lo-Hi" books, low interest-high readability. 

I had just taken some photos of him using an underwater case on my camera and decided to make him a book in the same genre. 

The Details

I started by rummaging through my existing mini-albums and found this Maya Road 3 ring binder chipboard album. It was the perfect size at 4.5 x 7" and contained 6 sturdy pages inside. 

I used my desktop publishing program, QuarkXPress, and created a basic template for a page. It contained a photo box and text box which was the size of the chipboard page. Four pages fit on a sheet of 8.5 x 11" photo paper. In total, I created 12 pages using 3 sheets of photo paper. 

I cut out each page and adhered it to the chipboard pages. I decorated the cover using a minimum of 2-D elements for durability. It feels very sturdy, like the board books for babies. 

The Inside

Here is a look at the inside pages. 

Hope you enjoyed my scrapping meets education project.


Thanks for stoppin' by,

Love to Scrap! Easter in Bloom Layout

The Challenge
Welcome to the latest challenge for Love to Scrap! entitled "No Cards Allowed!" Any type of project can be entered, except for cards. I made a layout about going to Knott's Berry Farm with my nephew during Easter week. They had some special events during Knott's Berry Bloom.

The Sketch
I saw this Becky Fleck sketch on Pebbles Inc.'s blog last October and I stored it in the back of my mind, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it. It was a great fit with my photos and paper collection, so I was glad to finally be able to use such a cute sketch.

The Details

I chose American Crafts' Dear Lizzy's 5th & Frolic collection because of its beautiful spring colors. I cut out some Polaroid shapes from a piece of patterned paper in the collection and arranged those as the background grid to replicate the squares. The centers of the Polaroids were white so I filled some with different patterned papers or mini photos. I also left some as is. 

I mostly followed the sketch except I moved the main photos from the right to the left side of the page to better accommodate my journaling block. The little boy and girl graphics on my journaling block would have covered too much of the photo. 

Our sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Digi Stamps, who I just love. They gave all the DT members a different image to work with. I chose AKV sign it since it was so versatile and looked perfect for a journaling block. I actually imported the stamp into Silhouette Studio Designer and made a print and cut file. I printed it on my printer, then the Cameo cut it out for me so I wouldn't have to fussy cut around stick people with all those thin appendages. This technique is a great time saver, especially if you have to print and cut multiples of the same image. I then colored the image with Copics. 

Lastly I used some American Crafts foam alphabet stickers for my title. The foam alpha are pliable and much easier to maneuver than chipboard alphas. Also the adhesive is better so they don't fall off like the chipboard letters. I was at a crop and my friend Becky donated these letters to me since I only had black alphas with me. 

The challenge runs until June 23 and the winner will receive 7 digital stamps from Bugaboo Digi Stamps. Please join us and link up your creation or just drop by Love to Scrap! to see all the other projects from the design team.

I'm entering this in:

The Crafty Bloggers Network - Challenge #12: Bright and Breezy

Make it Monday - #145 Anything Goes

Eureka Stamps - #44 Anything Goes

Mema's Crafts - June Anything Goes

Thanks so much for flutterin' by,

Happy Father's Day!

The Challenge
I saw a fun and timely challenge on Imaginisce's blog and decided to participate. I was going to make a framed picture for my Dad for Father's Day anyway, so I decided used their challenge for the inspiration. The challenge rules are as follows:

Challenge Rules:

1.  Use the sketch as inspiration for your project (i.e. card, layout, mini book cover, etc)

2.  THEME: Father

3.  Use the color BROWN

4.  Use some kind of recycled product on your project.

Here is my take:

The Rules
1. Sketch - I used Imaginisce's sketch for my layout design. The center of my frame was only around 5 x 5." As there wasn't a lot of room to play around with, I basically stuck to the sketch. I did eliminate the circular journaling block to save some space, and replaced one smaller photo with a title block.

2. Theme - Last December, I went to a Colonial themed  Christmas celebration at Riley's Farm and I just love this photo of my Dad taken by lantern light. I imagine him to be reporting, "The British are coming!" I chose photos from this night for my Father's Day frame. 

3. Color - I used a former fall collection, "Happy Harvest" since the colors matched so well with my antiqued photos. It also contains a lot of brown which is rule #3. 

4. Recycle - I purchased a stack of clear, plastic plates on clearance at Target. I thought they would make a nice base for the photos and the frame looks like it is made out of glass. 

I didn't know if that would count as a recycled object as it wasn't a used plate so I added some hearts I punched from cork from a disposable coffee cup holder. 

It was relatively quick to make and is a nice alternative to the traditionally framed photo. I sent this off to my Dad in Taiwan so I hope it arrives unscathed. I wish you all a happy Father's Day.

I'm also entering this in:
Simon Says Stamp! - Masculine/Father challenge
Belli Blog - #171 Father's Day
Stamp 'n' Doodle - Father's Day/Male
Stampin' Royalty - #179 Man up

Thanks so much for stoppin' by,

Love to Scrap! Rubber Stamped Cards

The Challenge

Today is the start of Love to Scrap's Challenge #7: Rockin' Rubbah! The point is to use rubber stamps on any type of project. I made two cards using some Sweet Stamp Shop stamps. 

Card #1: Nerds in Love

I combined two set of stamps, a bookworm set with a chemistry set, since I thought they matched so well together. I stamped, colored and cut out two bookworms. The female one had little heart shapes at the end of her antenna. 

I replicated that shape on the card by using some May Arts wired cording. The cording will retain the shape created, so I twisted the ends into little hearts. 

I stamped some of the splatter images in different colors and circle punched them. For some dimension, I popped a few of them up with foam adhesive. I combined the stamps with Jillibean Soup's Atomic Soup collection, a must have for nerd lovers.

I'm entering this in:

ABC Challenge: O for Open

Lacy Sunshine: #9 Anything Goes

Card Makin Mamas: Rubber Stamps

Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes

Sister Act CArd Challenge: #9 Anything Goes

Card #2: Monochromatic 

I wanted to try my hand at the monochromatic look and this is my first attempt. My natural inclination is  to scrap something bright and colorful. I chose brown as my color and went looking around for things in this color family from my stash.

I stamped my sentiment onto a piece of cork which gave a very clear impression. The cork wasn't specifically a scrapbooking supply, but just a plain sheet of cork used on disposable coffee cups.  I picked up a free book from a yard sale for the purpose of scrapbooking. I tore out a page and stamped some apple wedges on the book page and paper pieced it with my apple. The teacher in me was cringing at destroying a book, but it would have otherwise been thrown out. I added some seeds with a copper Pearl Pen.

I'm entering this in:

Sparkles Monthly Challenges: #44 Monochromatic

Really Reasonable Ribbon's Ramblings!: #73 Masculine with Ribbon

This challenge runs until June 16 and the winner will receive a $25 gift certificate from Heartfelt Creations. Please join us and link up your rubber stamped creation or just drop by Love to Scrap! to see all the other projects from the design team.

Thanks so much for crawlin' by,