Friday, May 22, 2015

Prepping for a holiday weekend.....

It will be a quiet one too.  Looking forward to some quiet reflection and maybe some time to do things I've been wanting to do.

I have a few more layouts to share so lets get to it!

Talinn, Estonia

Clean and simple.  I want the detail on the church to stand out.  Papers are from Carta Bella and the flair is from the A Flair for Buttons Etsy shop.  Sets are listed and linked at the bottom of this post.


I used an older Studio Calico kit for this next one.  Been hoarding that paper for a while.  I matched the photo up with the kit while I was packing.  I had no idea what I was going to do but it all came together when I pulled it out of the bag.




 Another clean and simple one.  My son was obsessed with the phone when he was a baby.  I think it was because I was always on it.  My mom and I lived about an hour away from each other and we talked every day, sometimes multiple times a day.  So I was always on the phone.  Like every baby, he tried to put this in his mouth - but he would make little sounds as he did it, like he was trying to talk.


Which leads to this layout.   As he got older, we found a plastic flip phone toy that rang and beeped whenever you pushed the buttons.  Everyone was over for dinner one night and he picked up his little flip phone, dialed someone and then climbed into his kid sized easy chair to have a conversation.  He kept saying 'ya, ya, ya' and when we asked him who he was talking to, he rolled his eyes, got up, shook his head at us and walked upstairs with the phone.  I guess we were interrupting him!


One last one.  (Can you tell those tags were one of my favorite embellishments that weekend!  I kept the pack out and fund a use for at least half of them.

My dad is very handy.  He learned it all from his dad.  My husband, well, he's not so handy.  But his dad was gone a lot and they did things like Boy Scouts instead.  My dad knows how to fix cars and use tools.  He helped his dad build two houses on Long Island.  My son loves to work with Grandpa on special projects like fixing the pull out drawers in the kitchen when they break.  (And it was an excuse to use the "HE" tag.  :))



Flair from the following kits were used on the above layouts. You can purchase them in the AFFB Etsy shop.

ETA:  The shop is closed for a few days while the owner is on vacation.  Here is the link to the shop.  I will post links when the shop re-opens.

A Flair For Buttons Etsy

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Just got home....

from a whirlwind 3 day retreat.  My friend runs a small retreat here in So Cal and 4-5 times a year, we all escape.  It really is the one true time I scrapbook anymore.

If you are local -or- want to join us, the next weekend away is in August.  Check out justcropretreats.com for more info and to register.

I didn't take much really, just some older Studio Calico, Cocoa Daisy and Scraptastic kits.  I didn't get through all of them but I did make a dent.  I used about half.  I resolved to make what I could with the kits and not try to use every. last. bit.  I start to really burn out on kits if I push myself.  On the other hand, I want to feel like I got what I paid out of them too.  But I end up with half used kits sitting on my shelf and they never get used.  I end up donating or selling off a flat rate box full of old kit contents.

My resolution this time was to use what I could from the kits and move on.  Hand the bits and pieces off to someone else.  I managed to get 3 really good layouts out of the 3 kits I did use so I'm very proud of that.  I feel like I used what I could and I'm in love with the final layouts.

Time to share!


This was an older Studio Calico kit.  I really love the star paper.  I wanted to watercolor some of them in but I like the stark contrast to the black and orange so I left it.  I have some scraps left of this so you may see some watercoloring in the future.

The wood veneer 'RAD' - yeah, I've been holding on to that for a while now.  Just use it right?  It can't be RAD if its hidden in a bag.

And the title.  I stamped that using an exclusive stamp set from Studio Calico.  Their alpha sets are by far my favorite.  These were no exception and I rushed during pre-sale to get these and the number set.  LOVE them.  I stamped them twice.  Once in a color and once in black, just offsetting them so you can see the detail.  

And the flair button.  You can find the biker set in the A Flair For Buttons Etsy store.  Again, something I've been hoarding for a while.  






I'm a huge Echo Park fan.  I buy 80% of their lines so when they released their new boy line - Jack and Jill - I had to have it.  These are my favorite boy colors and go with 90% of my sons closet.  As I rifled through the mile high stack of photos I want to scrap and saw these, they were perfect.

The 'Rad' tag (yes, there was a lot of RAD going on that weekend)is from Amy Tangerine.  The pack of pre-punched tags came in a kit.  I used them on several layouts because they were so versatile.  I will be punching my own tags in the future.  


 More flair from the a Flair for Buttons Etsy shop.  I'm addicted to the flair!



One last one today.  (I have a lot to share!)  Another Studio Calico kit.  I'm horrible about keeping track of the products I use but I believe this is the original kit those tags came in.  I added some items from my stash in like:

Chic Tags: tags, rubbing and stickers.
Amy Tangerine - sticker letters
A Flair For Buttons - Let's Eat flair
Jillibean Soup sticker words 








I'm so glad I got as much done as I did.  I made a dent in some of my supplies and that makes me a happy girl.  I also got to spend some time with friends and relax.  It was my Mother's Day present - a weekend away.  Today we celebrate the real Mother's Day and I'll be running around visiting family.