Hi, and welcome to Travel Scrapbooking week here on ye olde blog! I'm so excited to dive into this topic. As someone who loves to travel, I often find that I have tons (and I cannot properly emphasize the sheer volume of this stuff that we accumulate on travel) of photos, journaling, and ephemera that needs to be placed into albums. Actually, the word "albums" is a bit deceiving since over the course of the week I'll be covering not only traditional scrapbooks, but also nontraditional and digital ideas along with a totally "off the page" project.

I've also asked crafty diva extraordinaire May Flaum to join me on this week's adventures, and she'll be sharing her own take on travel scrapbooking starting a little later this evening. Be sure to stop by her blog throughout the week to see what she has in store for you!

Today I want to start off with what for me is the most fascinating topic in travel scrapbooking- scrapbooking on the go, or the process of making a travel scrapbook while actually on a trip. I'll be taking a more in-depth look at my actual process (and the results) for making albums while on travel tomorrow, but today I wanted to share three of my favorite sources of inspiration for travel mini albums. Though these are all examples of scrapbooks made on the go, the principles and ideas presented in each of the linked posts could absolutely be extended to traditional travel scrapbooks and layouts.

Ali Edwards

 

Ali Edwards' Scrapbook on the Road downloadable course is one of my favorite travel scrapbooking resources, period. Her $14 instant download class is an incredible value, containing full-color PDFs and more than two hours of video showing the step-by-step process of how she creates a scrapbook on go. She covers her methods in-depth, showing the complete before and after of a mini album she created while on a trip to Mikonos, Greece, and she gives some great tips and advice for travel scrapbooking in general along the way.

Ali's blog is also a great place to find out more about her amazing travel documentation projects. This post covering a family trip to Italy is a great example of how she combines words and photos to tell the stories of her trip.

Amy Tan

 

I've loved Amy Tan's travel mini albums ever since I took her very first online class (hosted on a private blog) last year. That same class is now available as an instant download at Big Picture Classes, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves mini albums and wants to learn how she makes those adorable mixed-paper mini albums (the same ones now being marketed by American Crafts). And, while readers may be most familiar with her albums in this format, she has a huge array of mini albums on her blog (including an amazing Hawaii vacation mini).

Elise Blaha

 

I have to credit Elise Blaha for showing me how accessible mini albums can be. Her simple philosophy (I mean, what can be easier than binder rings and a few sheets of coordinating paper?) makes it incredibly easy to put together a mini album with relatively few supplies at the beginning, and then lots of "found" items added along the way. Her Kauai mini album is the perfect example of this, and her minimalist travel tool set inspired my own travel scrapbooking kit (that I'll be sharing tomorrow). You can find more of Elise's mini albums here (some are travel and some are not, but all have something that can be taken away as a travel scrapbooking less), and if you're interested in taking a class from her, you can download a PDF of her Big Mini Workshop (yes, I did take it and I loved it!) here.

I hope you're ready for a super fun week of exploring many aspects of travel scrapbooking and memory keeping! I'll be back tomorrow with a pair of posts, including a brand new mini album!

geek girl | october 30, 2011

Happy Day-Before-Halloween, geeky peeps! We've been busy buying and carving our pumpkins today, and while we're not quite finished, both are looking to be especially fun this year! We waited until this close to Halloween to buy them because a) I didn't want them sitting around the house (and in my way) for a couple of weeks before we carved them, and b) because the Farmer's Market we pass on the way home from church always puts pumpkins on clearance this close to the holiday. Last year we scored our gourds on Halloween itself for a mere $2 each, and today we picked them up for only $1 apiece! I picked up a few extra to leave (uncarved) on the front porch as Thanksgiving decorations, as well, so we're set on pumpkins for a while!

Last week I shared lots of spooky geekry with you, and this week I've got a few more Halloween items scattered into the mix, so let's dive in!

 

From the top left:

• I soooo don't have the patience to make something as amazing as this sculpted Yoda pumpkin.
• If you're in need of carving templates for your own pumpkins this year, look no further than the official Star Wars blog for a variety of stencils. I so should have chosen Yoda...it would be soooo much easier than the Dalek pattern I picked!
• The official blog has been celebrating some of Star Wars' more retro Halloween items this week, including these 1977 vintage greeting cards.
• Hostess with the Mostess has a great Deathly Hallows themed Halloween party setup, complete with loads of gorgeous photos.
• Going trick-or-treating as a Wookie this year? It might help to learn to speak the language- there's a new book out that can help!
• If I thought my Dalek pumpkin was hard, I can't imagine how much time went into this TARDIS and Dalek cake set!
• I really should try to talk my brother into building this TARDIS cat box for me. Of course, then I'd have to figure out where to put it, and my little house is definitely not bigger on the inside!
• These fun Photoshops feature Yoda (and several other Star Wars and sci-fi characters) in famous 1920s military photos.
• And now, something completely different- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cupcakes!

Finally, I'll leave you with a musical Yoda video. It's not as bad as it sounds. :)



Until next time, Geek out, peeps!

friday favorites | october 28, 2011

Happy Friday, peeps! I know I'm posting later than usual tonight, but I've been having a super good evening of scrapbooking (3 layouts so far!!) and didn't want to break my streak. I'm hoping to carry it through the whole weekend and get all of my November assignments knocked out in one super-long session so I can sit back and relax for the month. :)

And, for those of you who are also on crafty streaks this weekend, I've got some great projects rounded up to share, including a couple of yummy-looking fall recipes (though I admit that I haven't tried them myself yet). So, let's dive right in!

From the top left:

• This adorable mummy onsie posted at Eighteen25 would be a perfect last-minute costume for your wee little ghostie or ghoulie.
• It's definitely caramel apple season, and Oh Happy Day has a great post on making mini DIY caramel apple kits to share that awesome flavor with someone special.
• Learn to make these super cute book pumpkins at Bit Rebels.
• The banner on this card posted on Northridge Media's Create blog? It was made from the front packaging of Echo Park's Apothecary Emporium kit- too cool!
• Our first recipe of the evening hails from Vale Design, where you'll find a recipe for making pumpkin frozen yogurt. This looks too good not to try!
• The second recipe share is also from...wait for it...Vale Design! They were on a roll with the yummies this week, including these amazing looking candy corn sugar cookies.
• Hostess with the Mostess has a free set of Halloween party printables in case you need to do some party prep over the weekend.
• Hostess with the Mostess also blogged an amazingly beautiful rustic-style Halloween party, complete with these adorable pumpkin pies in jars!
• I can't believe it, but we're actually getting some fall color here (that almost never happens), so I might just have to put this leaf preservation post from Elle's Studio into practice this weekend!

Have a scrappy weekend!

bella blvd layout | second degree

I have one more layout to share from my Bella Blvd design team entry! For this page I pulled out their new sports themed line, Making the Team, and paired it up with one of my favorite photos from my second degree black belt test last year.

Making the team has lots of themed sheets for sports like soccer, football, and volleyball, but it also has some great B side and non-sport-specific prints that can be used for nearly any activity.

There are also some elements, like this Kick! sticker, that can be used for so many sports. I'm pretty sure that Stephanie didn't have taekwondo in mind specifically when she designed it, but it certainly fits!

scrapbook update | letterpress - papertrey ink impression plates

It's time for more letterpress goodness over at Scrapbook Update! This time I'm taking a look at a tool that wasn't originally designed for letterpress, but it definitely has it as a hidden talent. I'm talking about the Impression Plates line from Papertrey Ink- something that you might already own! Hop on over to the site to take a look at how this tool can multitask to create beautiful letterpress backgrounds, and of course to get a peek at a few more pages from my Fall mini album.

Hope to see you there!

simple scrapper | fair food

Good morning, everyone! I'm back again to share another layout from the Simple Scrapper October Template Collection. Like the layout I shared last week, I pulled almost all of the supplies from my Scrapbook Update/Scrapbook.com kit, Autumn Sunlight (the cardstock, shipping tag, and baker's twine all came from my stash).

The particular template I scrapped from had one big photo block defined, so of course I did what I always do and broke it up into a bunch of smaller photos. I love, love, love taking photos of lights at the Tennessee State Fair, and all of these colorful food stands were just too pretty not to scrap!

This little piece of border sticker (from Crate Paper's Farmhouse collection) was the perfect festive touch, and I think that the brightly colored papers in the kit set off the photos of the lights quite nicely.

I've had so much fun scrapping with Autumn Sunlight this month, and I'm super excited to have my next kit in the works, as well! Look for it close to Christmas...hint, hint! :)

bella blvd layout | high five

The new Bella Blvd. collections are officially shipping this week, and the entire design team has been working hard behind the scenes to put together tons of layouts and projects to share with everyone this week. As soon as I got my hands on the Spring Flings and Easter Things line, I knew it would be perfect for photos of my niece Sophie!

These photos were taken at my sister-in-law Beth's birthday party earlier this year, when Sophie had just learned how to high-five. Obviously she hadn't quite grasped the whole concept yet, which made for some cute photos!

To read more about my design choices for this page, hop on over to the Bella Blvd. blog to see it along with the other talented designers' projects!

virtual shopping | summer/fall 2011

It's finally here! My massive box o' goodies that I've been preordering from Stop and Scrap since CHA Summer 2011 ended has arrived, and of course I had to photograph it to share here!

I'll start off with one of my favorite collections from the show- Lily Bee's Memorandum line. I was good and only ordered one sheet of each design (along with the coordinating letter stickers, of course), but I did pick up the 6x6 pad from the same collection. I'm really digging scrapping with 6x6 pads lately!

bella blvd mid-season release collections now shipping!

Woohoo! The new Bella Blvd. mid-season releases are now shipping, meaning you'll be seeing Winter Wonder and Spring Fling and Easter Things popping up in scrapbook store near you (and if they don't get them in, you should ask for them!).

The Bella Blvd. blog will be full of great projects featuring these all week long (I've got a layout going up tomorrow), so be sure to head on over and check it out!

geek girl | october 23, 2011

Happy weekend, peeps! I hope you've all had a good one. I'm one tired little geek girl tonight as I just arrived home from spending three days in Washington DC with family. It was a fun time, but I have to admit that I don't have the energy for very much right now except to maybe fall into bed, so I'm just going to leave you with these (mostly) Star Wars goodies and call it a night!

From the top left:

• It's a bit of a long read, but this inter-Death Star memo regarding the dos and don'ts of small-talking with Darth Vader is absolutely hilarious.
• This amazing Harry Potter/wizard themed party has the honor of being the only non-Star Wars pick this week. Hmmm...maybe next week I should try to do a round-up with no Star Wars at all?
• I wish I had the pumpkin carving skills to pull off one of these incredibly detailed Star Wars designs!
• How's this for a self-rescuing princess? Check out an awesome Jedi Disney Princesses cake!
• Speaking of cakes, these R2-D2 cupcake toppers are adorable!
• And if two cakes are good, three are better, right? I couldn't help but include this amazing Millennium Falcon cake in this week's picks.
• This adorable drawing of of Yoda and Kermit on Dagobah celebrates the Muppet-Star Wars link.
• This amazing Stormtrooper helmet is made entirely of Adidas sneakers!
• And, finally, famous movie posters reimagined with Star Wars characters. I think Chewbacca as Captain Jack is my absolute fave!

Until next time, geek out, peeps!

sweet peach layout | thanksgiving at cracker barrel

Are you guys ready for another awesome sketch from the Sweet Peach Crop Shop? Keri has designed another great layout for us with space for a large photo, or (if you're allergic to large photos like I am) a block of smaller photos.

 

I put my layout together using mostly the October Sweet Kit, though I did pull those buttons from the Juicy kit (and a couple of other items came from the Embellishment Add-On). At first I had no idea how I was going to use the burlap from My Mind's Eye, but it turned out to be a perfect fit for the large design at the top of the sketch. I even stuck my title down right over it and stitched through the whole thing.

So, what's the story behind this one, you ask? It's kind of a silly little thing, really, but something I wanted to scrap. My family actually came to our house for  the Friday after Thanksgiving last year (since my brother and Beth were with her family on Thursday). That meant that Darren and I were on our own for Thanksgiving Day, and so we decided to treat ourselves to dinner out at Cracker Barrel. It was delicious, and since we were already prepping like crazy people to cook for the next day, we welcomed the chance to not have to cook our own dinner on Thursday, as well.

And, yes, I totally did carry my massive Nikon D3 to dinner and took photos of our food before we ate. I do that a lot...just a little warning in case you're ever out to eat with me. :)

friday favorites | halloween

Soooooo, about that abandoned/lost kitty that I found outside my gym last Tuesday and brought home just to try to find its owner or a new family to adopt it.

I found a home for him...

...ours. This little guys is so sweet and snuggly and so well behaved, and we've both fallen in love with him, so he'll be staying with us from now on. At the moment we're trying to decide on names. I want to call him Oliver (after Dickens' Oliver Twist), and Darren has suggested many options- TK-421, Chewie, Darth Clawius, and Not Chicken (in honor of the Chinese restaurant down the street from our house). Dad and Mom have suggested Claude, and my brother has been oddly silent on the subject...probably because he's hiding from me right now after I asked if they'd be willing to adopt him. :-P I'm hoping to have all of his tests and first shots done at the vet next week so I can introduce him to our other cats soon- right now he's taken over the one and only bathroom in our house!

And now that I've rambled about kitty-dom, let's get on to this week's picks! I've got something special for you today- a double-dose of some of my favorite Halloween projects from around the web. Yes, that's right, instead of the standard 9 picks, I've got 18 for you this week, just in time for a bit of Halloween crafting.

From the top left:

•  Betsy Veldman puts an unexpected pink spin on her Halloween cards. I'm not normally a pink person, but she totally works it!
• Eighteen25 has been full of spooktacular ideas lately! These sweet paper pumpkins are the first of several projects from them that I'll be sharing today.
• In fact, how about another Eighteen25 project right now? A tutorial for making this fun bat-covered paper lantern can be found on their blog.
• You can see more details of this Bewitching Halloween Bash at Hostess with the Mostess.
• Need more party ideas? Check out Amy Atlas' blog for another fun Halloween party setup.
• Jennifer Johner shares how she created these lovely painted (fake) pumpkins on her new blog, Dearest Someday.
• Cruise back over to Eighteen25 to learn how to make these fun (and spooky!) stone spiders.
• Keisha Campbell made some very gorgeous (and very large!!) paper medallions as part of her Halloween decor. Definitely worth checking out!
• Download a free printable Halloween label to decorate your treat bags at Anders Ruff Design.

From the top left:

• Pink Paislee shows off the clear stamps from their Phantom line with these beautiful paper medallions.
• This layered Halloween candy dish spotted at Somewhere Splendid is just too adorable!
• Chevron pumpkins? Yes, please!! See more details at Wit and Whistle.
• This adorable duct-tape bunting hails from Allison Waken's blog.
• Design House Digital shares a tutorial for making these cute paper pumpkins.
• These cupcakes in a jar are almost too pretty to eat! Get the how-to at Glorious Treats.
• Our last tutorial of the day from Eighteen25 shows how to assemble a sweet cupcake party kit. This is a great idea for any holiday- not just Halloween!
• You'll find a step-by-step guide to making these mummy cupcakes at Celebrate Creativity.
• Need a cute Halloween party favor idea? Look no further than these adorable crepe paper bat treats at Love and Sugar Kisses.

Have a scrappy (and pre-spooky) weekend!

scrapbook circle november 2011 sneak peeks

Happy Friday, peeps! If you're looking for today's Friday Favorites, I'll be back a little later with an extra special double-dose of Halloween goodness, but right now I wanted to share some sneak peeks of the upcoming November 2011 kit from Scrapbook Circle. I've been playing with it for the last couple of weeks, and it's absolutely the perfect kit for fall and Thanksgiving photos!

And what do we have here? Could it be sneaks of one of my layouts from the November kit? :)

Okay, guys, I'll be back in a little while with more goodies!

taking time to smell the pumpkins

I'm not one of those people who's naturally inclined to enjoy Fall. Or Winter. Or any season involving temperatures below 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Honestly, I really should just move to Aruba and solve that problem altogether, but since that's not really in the cards (or my bank account) right now, I've been finding little ways of making the cooler fall temperatures a bit easier to bear (I know, poor me, right?).

My current coping obsession? The vast variety of pumpkin scented items from Bath and Body Works.

Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin has actually been a perennial favorite of mine since I discovered it by chance at a clearance sale many years ago. This fall's packaging for the fragrance is spectacular, and I'm almost as obsessed with it as I was with Bath and Body Works' packaging for last year's winter scents. I've stocked up on enough Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin shower gel to last me for quite some time!

 

I had no idea until I visited the Bath and Body Works web site that they also make a Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin lip gloss!! I'm definitely going to have to pick some of this up and give it a try!

 

Cooler temperatures mean I'm spending more time indoors, so I'm aiming to keep some fantastic scents going in the house, too. Creamy Pumpkin Wallflowers have an amazing scent, and I'm absolutely hooked on Bath and Body Works' Pumpkin Caramel Latte candle- I can't get enough of it!

 

I'm so in love with Pumpkin Caramel Latte that I bought a few hand soaps, as well.

 

So that's one small way that I'm keeping myself from going insane during this transition to cooler temperatures. How about you guys? Any issues with the cold, or are you a Fall-lover?

scrapbook update | letterpress - sizzix ink-its

Are you ready for more letterpress? Because the next installment of my letterpress series is live over at Scrapbook Update! This particular post focuses on the Ink-Its letterpress plates from Sizzix- they're super easy to use and will work with virtually any manual die cut machine that you may already own. Come on over and check it out, plus get a look at a card I made along with a new batch of pages in my Fall mini album!

simple scrapper | next!

I've held off on sharing my Simple Scrapper layouts from the October Template Collection until now for a really good reason- I made them with my Scrapbook Update/Scrapbook.com kit, Autumn Sunlight, and I've been (not so) patiently waiting for its public debut before introducing these layouts to the world!

Even though the kit is filled with late summer/early fall colors, that doesn't mean it's not versatile enough to use for loads of different subjects! I thought that the papers (especially that pink ledger background from Crate Paper's Farmhouse line) were also a great fit for photos of my niece's first birthday party.

Sophie was absolutely hilarious opening this box filled with presents from my parents. She'd pull out one thing, literally throw it backwards over her head, and then dive in for the next item. My brother could hardly keep up!

I filled the kit with some of my favorite embellishments- butterflies, doilies, buttons, and brads- and sprinkled them around the page to add some interest.

Before I go, I've got a couple of kit-related questions I'd like to run past my readers. What do you prefer in kits? Lots of paper, or lighter on paper and heavier on embellishments? Do you like getting cardstock in your kits? I included five sheets in Autumn Sunlight, but I'm not sure if that's something that consumers actually want (and if I leave it out, I have wiggle room to include another embellishment). I know that I usually don't use the cardstock included in a kit unless it's a neutral color, but I'm not sure if that's just me.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments- my next kit is set to release in December, and I'd love to have your feedback as I put it together!