Project Life Update : Summer Love

Good morning! I've got a few pages from my Project Life album to share with you today. The photos take place toward the end of July and were taken all with my cell phone. I'm loving the process of Pocket Scrapbooking with every new spread. 

The left side of the spread is a collection of random moments throughout the week, whereas the right side focuses on one event. 

The base cards for the left side of the spread are from the Antiquary Project Life Kit by Studio Calico. The labels and arrows are part of the Capture collection by BasicGrey. They were the perfect combination. Lots of journaling was included in the spread as the photos didn't really tell the whole story. I included pictures from around the house, work moments, a current song obsession, and this month's bus pass. These passes are a fun thing to include for a date marker. 

The right side includes one of my favorite Design G Pocket Pages as well as journaling cards from the Jade Collection by Becky Higgins. 

For the title card, I added an Amy Tan tree sticker and sticker letters. I trimmed a lined journaling card and adhered it to the right side. After a bit of journaling, I finished it with a splatter of Mister Huey's and enamel dots. 

Lastly, the backside of the spread. I was so nervous writing on this photo of my nephew, but it ended up being my favorite piece of the spread. I used BIC Acid Free Markers to include journaling on the photos and label stickers. 

Thanks for checking out my 2013 album progress. I've been working VERY out of order and enjoying the process of documenting my memories. How is your memory keeping process?

Feeding Time Layout

Good morning! There's nothing I love more than visiting my local Wildlife Sanctuary and feeding the hungry, and crazy adorable, geese. The layout I'm sharing today features pictures of a pleasant afternoon doing just that. 

Most of this layout was completed with the BasicGrey Clippings collection, with pieces of We R Memory Keepers and Echo Park trickling in. I layered cut outs along the top of the photos and added stamped arrows throughout. 

I love these mixed letter stickers from the Clippings collection. They tied the various colors in the layout together. I ended the layout with a bit of faux stitching. 

Thanks for taking a look at today's layout. I hope you're having a great week and documenting every minute of it! 

SUPPLIES :: A Muse Studio I was Here Stamp Set, BasicGrey Clippings Collection, Echo Park Paper For The Record 2 Journaling Cards, We R Memory Keepers Floral Spray, Paper Cut Cardstock, American Crafts Cardstock

TOOLS :: Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, A Muse Studio Acrylic Block, BIC Mark-It Ultra Fine Point Black, Fiskars Scrapbooking Rotary Paper Trimmer, MyStik Permanent Adhesive

Fall Blog Hop :: Autumn Scrapbook Layout

Good Morning! I've had to use the heat blanket the last few days, which means Fall has finally hit Wisconsin. The trees are changing color, and I can smell that Thanksgiving dinner already! Therefore, I'm so excited to be a part of today's Fall Blog Hop! You should have found your way here from Leslie. Thanks for joining us... I created a layout full of Fall images.

All of the images were taken near my cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin toward the end of fall. Lots of leaves, frost, and beautiful colors. This embossed sticker from We R Memory Keepers newest collection was perfect for the layout. 

To secure the stickers and add some texture, I stitched a few lines across each one. I distressed the edges of the cardstock and added a vellum layer. The pictures were meant to be the main focal point and speak for themselves; therefore, the embellishments were kept to a minimum. 

We can't have a blog hop without a fun prize! The Echo Park Reflections Paper Pack is up for grabs. To win, make sure to visit each blog along the way and leave a comment! 

Next up is Jennifer at My Reilly Boys and Me. In case you get lost along the way, here's the full blog hop order: 

Jessica at Finding Sunshine

Erica at Designs by Erica

Kelli at Use It Scrapbooking

Leslie at The Memory Nest

Nicole at She Zig Zags (me!)

Jennifer at My Reilly Boys and Me

Crystal at Capture the Moment

Tracy at Scrappy Chick Designs

Tammy at Creatively Me

Jessica at My Scrappy Corner

Thanks for joining us today! Happy Fall!

SUPPLIES :: American Crafts Cardstock, Paper Cut Vellum, We R Memory Keepers Harvest 6x6 Paper Pad & Embossed Stickers

TOOLS :: Fiskars Scrapbooking Rotary Trimmer, CTMH Paper Distresser, Brother Sewing Machine, MyStik Permanent Adhesive

Forest Collage Card & Mini Tutorial

I've been addicted to this stamp set from Market Street Stamps, designed by Julie Day. Check out Julie's blog for endless inspiration! She creates snowmen out of the circles, trees from the triangles, and so much more! After seeing one of her tree designs, I was inspired to give it a try. 

Here's my take on her tree scenes:

Curious to know how I created the trees with this stamp set? Here's a mini tutorial:

Step One: Stamp the triangles onto your cardstock.

Step Two: Stamp the same triangle onto patterned papers or cardstock scraps.

For the circle collage behind the trees, I used VersaMark Watermark. Versamark creates just that: a watermark. The circles will show up just a bit darker than the cardstock you've chosen. 

Don't worry about stamping inside the triangles. You'll cover that up with your paper pieces.

Cut out the triangles stamped onto colored cardstock and adhere to your collage. Ink up the line stamps in the set and press down over the triangles to create the tree trunks.

This would be great to recreate on a camping or road trip themed scrapbook page! Looking for different styles of trees? Try a circle, or multiple triangles on one tree trunk! 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend in your neck of the woods!

CARD SUPPLIES

Patterned Paper: A Muse Studio, Reminisce

Cardstock: Paper Cut, American Crafts

Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Nuts about Nature)

Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black), VersaMark Watermark

Edge Punch: EK Success (Scallop)

Corner Punch: EK Success (Purple Round)

Live Simple - A CAS Card

A collaboration of Market Street Stamps and Persimmons Studio has produced seven gorgeous stamp sets. Rush over to the MSS website and see them now! The company I work for, Creations Galore, just recently received the sets in store, and I couldn't wait to start playing! Here's a clean and simple card I created from the Woodland set. 

The tree and deer are separate stamps; therefore, I needed to do just a wee bit of masking. I intended to color the stamped images. However, with a little encouragement from the sentiment, I kept with a simple design.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week, and live simple. :)

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: American Crafts, Paper Cut

Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Woodland)

Ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa)

Brad: Gary Berlin

My weekend in pictures... Memorial Day Family Time

Hello! How was your holiday weekend? I'm back to reality and wishing I was still relaxing at the cabin. But summer has just begun, and there will be plenty of more opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors. Here are a few pictures from my phone to show off from the nice time away...

(clockwise) 1. An afternoon of exploring... came across loons, an adorable porcupine, and some turkeys. 2. A fruit pizza, the first one I've ever made, and was it ever delicious! 3. Good morning! Taken at 5 AM while getting my fish on with pops and my brother. 4. Our nightly bonfires where we reminisced about the day's events and years past. 5. A little trail riding. This pic was taken before we ran into rain and lots of mud puddles... too much fun!

Weekend Update

Hello friends. I'm heading out of town for Memorial Day. The weekend will be full of fishing, family, grilling out, nature walks, and lots of ticks.. eek! But I can't wait. In fact, I'm taking a half day of work today, because we're all so excited to head up to our cabin. We have many military veterans in our family, and I'm positive stories will be shared this weekend as we take a brief moment to recognize the sacrifice of many. It's that sacrifice that has created the freedom and safety I have to enjoy weekends such as these. Here's a little flashback from Memorial Day Weekend a few years ago.

I may be out of town, but please stop by the blog tomorrow for the reveal of last week's Top 3 and the new sketch at Unscripted Sketches. I'll have some inspiration for you... take that extra day in your weekend and join in on the challenge!

Enjoy your holiday friends.

Summer Is Here

On hot summer nights I love to head to the Riverwalk just blocks from my home. It's the perfect way to relax at the end of a long day. Yesterday, however, had a wonderful breeze that cooled us under the warm sun. After grabbing a sub downtown, my dear friend, Anna, and I headed to the Riverwalk to take in the view. It was full of picnicing families, bikers, and fishermen. With Wisconsin's cold winters, you can't help but appreciate summer. I can smell the BBQ already...