Sparkle and Shine Technique Blog Hop

Are you ready to sparkle and shine?  We have a great collection of sparkly projects to share with you along this hop.  (If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from Michelle's blog.  From here, you'll visit Danielle next.)

We were very fortunate to travel to Europe this summer, starting in Germany where our older daughter was studying abroad, and ending up in Paris.  Because we were there for a week, I plan on dedicating an entire album to Paris.  Here is my title page.  We actually saw the Eiffel Tower at night on our very last night there!

To make this layout really sparkle, I used gold glitter paper, black shimmer trim, and my gold shimmer brush. I started out "painting" gold shimmer behind my title (cut from the CTMH/Cricut Artbooking collection), but then decided to add more in basically all the white areas.  Unfortunately, that shimmer doesn't photograph well.

I used the Seasonal Mix-In paper pack and Saffron cardstock to match my photo.  The triangles were also cut from the Artbooking collection.  Can you tell where I got my layout idea?  Look through the current Seasonal Expressions...

Look on page 43...

I used the Into the Wild Deluxe Scrapbooking Workshop instructions to create my layout!  Don't be afraid to CASE (copy and steal exactly) something you like (while giving credit to the original) or add your own twist.  I think this black, white, and gold layout is very sophisticated yet the original was quite rustic.  The bones, however, are pretty much identical.

Thank you for visiting and sharing a few more of my travels with me.  (There will be lots more to come!)  I'd love a comment before you hop on over to Danielle's blog next!

August Stamp of the Month: From Me to You

The August Close To My Heart stamp of the month is an amazing set of sayings that you will reach for again and again!  Unfortunately, I missed out on the August stamp of the month blog hop, but you can still check it out at the bottom of my post if you're interested. 

I made a fun shaker card using four of the different sentiments and the Craft On collection with our shaker windows and thin cuts.  If you wanted to make a simpler card, you could.  (My class on Aug. 18 will be making this shaker card.)  Here's the simpler version:

Here is the card with only a circle and the sentiments.  If I were going to make this card, I would probably have the circle and the banner be the same color.

Adding the Lemon frame to the pink circle brings the card together, but of course I think it looks even more fun as a shaker card!

Don't you love all the fun sentiments?  Remember, From Me to You is only available in August!  If you'd like to get lots of great ideas with this set, be sure to hop along the blog hop at the link below.

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}

Mix It Up Technique Blog Hop

It's time to mix it up with fabulous Close To My Heart collections! (If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from Michelle's blog.  From here, you'll visit Carrie's blog next.)

I used the Mix-In paper pack plus Peach cardstock and Peach patterned paper from the Sweet Girl collection to create this intro to the Venice section of our European adventure album.  I embellished my layout with black dots (from the Black & White Dots embellishment set) and black shimmer trim.

Please leave a comment before heading to Miss Carrie's Creations as your next stop!

H2H Challenges: Making Waves (AKA Corfu 2)

Since I am diligently working on scrapbooking our photos from our epic European adventure in 2016, I just had to find a way to incorporate my pictures into this week's Heart2Heart Challenges "Making Waves" challenge.

 While the seas were calm, I thought that these photos might fit the challenge.  I used the May "The World Is Yours" special collection.

Don't be afraid to hand write your journaling, even if you don't love your handwriting.  (Your family will love seeing it, trust me!)  If you mess up, just cut another piece of paper and start over!

Be sure to check out all of the H2H Design Team's "Making Waves" creations.  You have until the end of the month to enter any of our July challenges!  Join us!

Europe 2016, Day 19: Corfu, Greece

Probably due to my love of photography and what a visual person that I am, I apparently take way too many pictures!  (Obviously I am better photo journalist than actual journalist.)  I split up our Corfu photos into the old town and then the old fortress and the beauty of the ocean.

After searching for sketches for 4x6 photos, I decided to use the sketch that I found HERE.

Instead of a title block, I used one of my photos and then stamped the location above it.

I used the May "The World Is Yours" collection for the layout.  I think the soft colors work really well with my photos.

I had to use the pigeon sticker because if you look closely, Ansley is chasing pigeons- paying homage to her chasing pigeons in Paris when she was almost 2!  I should probably add that to my journaling on this layout somewhere...

Bring Back My Pack: Seaside

Seaside was such a gorgeous collection, and I am so excited that CTMH is bringing it back (updated just a bit)!  I thought I would share some of my Seaside projects with you.  Enjoy these blasts from the past!  (Click on each one to learn more.)

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Europe 2016, Day 17: Santorini

Scrapbooking in chronological order doesn't really work for me- for lots of reasons- BUT I want our albums of our epic European adventure to be in order.  To solve this dilemma of working out of order, I have a "work in progress" D-ring album that I add my layouts to until I'm ready to bind them into a post-bound album.  I also have a CTMH shipping box for layouts that aren't ready to go in the work in progress album because they are really out of sequence.

Santorini was so beautiful that I went a little camera crazy!  I didn't even include all my pictures in our album!  I used a mix of Craft On stripes and (retired) I Heart Us Carolina "waves" paper.

I had fun accenting these layouts with Craft On sequins and Into the Wild wood shapes (adhered with Liquid Glass).

I used my CTMH/Cricut You Are Here to cut the anchor and sentiment (both in Carolina, taking advantage of our two-toned cardstock and the flip feature).  I added Almond cardstock to my palette.

The right page is one of our pocket pages (Memory Protectors Design 2)

Here is the back of the pocket page and then a second pocket page (Memory Protectors Design 1).

I told you I took a lot of pictures!

When I was planning out my layouts, I forgot that the church photos couldn't be a two-page spread, so I cut the original left page in half vertically and slid it into a 6"x12" flip flap to then stick on the right page. 

My "assistant" (our new found/rescued kitty) didn't let me get a good shot of the flip flap closed, but below you can see the back side of it (opened) and the right page.

The final layout as we left Fira and sailed away from Santorini...

If you made it this far, thanks for traveling down memory lane with me!  Let me know if you have any questions!

July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Bear Hugs

How about a big bear hug of a welcome to the July stamp of the month blog hop?!?  This stamp set is adorable, and you're going to get some fabulous ideas along this hop.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from the talented Becca's blog.  From here, you'll visit creative Krista next.)

With both of our girls in college this fall, I decided to make some cards that I can mail to them.  Nothing like a little happy mail, right?  Both use the Into the Wild collection.  For my first card, I used the masking technique to stamp the flowers around the bears.  Here's a quick review of this technique:

Remember that you have to stamp the foreground first.  Stamp the bears on the card panel and then onto a sticky note (Post-It).  (I used Charcoal ink.)

Cut out the sticky note mask, trimming along the edge of the stamped image.  (I made sure the sticky side was at the bottom of the image.)

Place the mask on the original stamped image.

Cluster the flowers and then stamp along the bottom edge of the card panel.  (I used Fern ink.)

To color my flowers, I used my Shin Han Twin Touch Golden Yellow for the centers and a combination of Lavender and Marina Blue to better match the Sapphire sentiment and thread.

 My second card uses Into the Wild and the July stamp of the month plus the frame from the Sweet Girl- Cardmaking set (stamped in Fern).  I fussy cut the bear pair and made a little pennant for the sentiment (both in Charcoal ink).

I added a little texture paste to the bear tail.  Unfortunately it pulled color up from the stamped image, but a few swipes of my Shin Han Twin Touch Warm Gray marker made the tail look much better.

Thanks for letting me share my cards with you!  I'd love a comment before you click on over to Krista's blog for the next creation!

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}

Grillin & Chillin Layout

Today is the last day to take advantage of the "Best Moments Are Free" AND Stamptacular special offers (learn more HERE)!  My monthly scrapbook group made the "Grillin and Chillin" layout for July.  You don't have to have the stamps to recreate the layouts in these specials!

I plan to add our 4th of July photos to these pages, so I'll update when they're done.  Have a great weekend!

Then & Now Layout

When my mother-in-law shared this picture with me recently, I knew that it would be perfect for the current Then & Now special (stamp set and layout kit- all for the cost of the stamp set only!).  I found a few other pictures of my MIL & FIL of the same general era to combine together.

The prom picture on the left was the inspiration.  My MIL taught English at our local high school, so they chaperoned the 1967 Junior-Senior prom. 

I am going to have my MIL write their names on the right side next to the stamped cluster.  The second photo is of them in October, 1961, visiting BJ's best friend (who introduced the two!) in Tuscaloosa, AL.

On the right page, the photo is from their wedding rehearsal, and that's BFF Nell on the left (mostly cropped out).  I ended up typing the journaling and numbering them.  Notice how I stamped a number by each picture.

If you'd like to make this same layout with your photos, be sure to grab the "Then & Now" special before it's gone at the end of June!

Europe 2016, Day 18: Athens

The World Is Yours special is over, but I stocked up on this collection for our European adventure.

Day 18 was a day trip to Athens, Greece.

Notice the flipflap to include my journaling.

Thanks for letting me share!

Easter 2019 Layout

Easter is always a special holiday for our family, and I was thrilled that the girls still wanted to participate in egg dying, Easter baskets, and Easter service!

For my layout, I was able to use one of the two Sweet Girl layouts from the Craft With Heart Cut Above subscription box.  Here is the suggested layout from the subscription:

I used the basic piece like the model, but shifted my photos up into the border because I had so many.  I cut my title with my CTMH/Cricut Flower Market collection.

Of course I had to use that adorable bunny sticker on this Easter layout!

Don't feel locked in to scrapbooking your memories in chronological order!  Work at your own pace on the projects that inspire you.  In this instance, the Craft With Heart layout inspired me to print and scrap our Easter photos.  Otherwise, I am still working on our vacation from (yikes!) 2016.  No shame or guilt here in working at your own pace on what inspires you!  Just keep crafting!