Weekend Getaway Mini

In August, I was lucky enough to get away for a few days with my husband for a quick road trip north. We drove up to Berkeley to see my favorite band of all-time perform in the hometown.

I'm a Counting Crows freak to say the least.  I've been a fan since 1994 and love seeing them live.

When the chance came to see them in Berkeley I grabbed it, along with some VIP passes to meet the band.  They also included sound check.  Pretty awesome.

So my husband and I made a whole weekend of it.  I was lucky enough to know that the perfect supplies waited for me when I got home.  The August Scraptastic Kit featured guitars and music notes and a few previous Scraptastic kits were perfect for the rest of the book.  I collected some other supplies from Cocoa Daisy, Studio Calico and of course, a (flair) for buttons Etsy shop.

Everything is done except for the cover.  I still need to work on that.

 I used up a lot of my older Chic Tags Road Trip tags as well as some of their newer supplies like the wood veneer.  The convertible stamp is from Cocoa Daisy.  I stamped that in orange ink and then embossed in orange to make it really stand out.

 I think this is my favorite page in the album.  I used an October Afternoon 6x8 mini and it came with the 2x2 page protectors.  At first I struggled with how to use them and then this idea popped into my head.  I had made a playlist for the drive so I pulled some of our favorite songs (or songs that bring back good memories) and typed them up in word.  The Lets Rock stamp is from a Cocoa Daisy Kit.

Please don't laugh at my weird taste in music.

Do Blog Maids exist?

Because I need one.  This place is almost as avoided as my house is.  Poor house.  Poor blog.

My craft room hasn't been touched since October.  I've seriously contemplated giving the hobby up but I'm giving it one last chance.  Don't be surprised if you see a big 'For Sale' sign here in a few months as I clear out the supplies little  by little.  I almost think its inevitable.  I've come full circle in this hobby and my heart just isn't in it anymore.  There used to be a time when I would think about crafting all day and then rush home to spend 5 minutes in here.

There used to be a day I rushed to the computer to order my kits as soon as they were released and then I would wait by the front door for them to arrive.  I'm down to one kit now (from 4) and haven't ordered a thing online in months.

Part of me is hoping that it was the end of the year rush that I felt taking over a new office and having to 'fix' a lot.  Working 12 hour days but still making time for family and never having time for myself.  Then Christmas snuck up on me.  This is the first year I didn't shop.  I literally hit the grocery store up on the 23rd and purchased gift cards for everyone just so they had something from me.

I made these layouts at the last retreat I went to in October.  The pictures have been sitting in my camera for 3 months.  I came across them when I dusted that thing off to take Christmas photos.

The one thing I didn't let die this year was the Elf on the Shelf.  My son loves him and even cried when he left.  I almost felt bad and pulled him out of his hiding spot.....  The Elf may need to make a few appearances throughout the year just to make the kid smile.

I tok a much needed week of vacation the week after Christmas so I have 9 days to figure something out.  I may make something.  My son has 47 Lego sets to put together and nothing is stopping him which means I may have some free time on my hands this week in between a trip to Sea World, skating and other fun activities I may have planned.

All flair buttons are from the A Flair For Buttons Etsy shop.  Run over and grab a set!

First layout uses Simple Stories Fall line from 2013.  I had some scraps sitting around and some pictures so I threw this together.  Wood veneer apples and numbers are older Studio Calico.  (I'm on a mission to use up my older stuff.......)

 Second layout uses October Afternoon.  You know this is old because they haven't released a line in over a year.  This was the Public Library line.  Had to have it, not sure why other than it was cute.  My son has *NEVER* been a reader...ever.  So when he all of a sudden came home with an actual BOOK from the school library, I just about keeled over.  But he loves this series (Magic Treehouse) and reads them all the time.  I can't keep his nose out of them.  He's now an avid reader and realizes that his mother was *gasp* right and that books are fun and have great stories in them.  Shocker.

 A double pager.  I admire all those 2 pagers I see out there but I don't scrap in that fashion.  Every once in a while I can pop one out but it looks weird to me.  And because they aren't 'together' in the album makes them seem like 2 separate pages anyway.   More Simple Stories fall line mixed with some AC Thickers and Chic Tags tags.

 Last one for today.  No Vest.  N's first cruise.  He refused to wear the life vest during the drill and the guy was going to make him wear it. Guess who won?  The crowd was so mad that the drill person was forcing it on this kid.  We tried everything to get that vest on him and at one point, he had it on, but his dad had him by the arms and I had his legs while my mom wrapped it around him.

The Perfect Hello

Another old picture I grabbed from the stack.  This layout uses one of my Scraptastic Kits.

All of my favorite elements are on this one.....

 Flair.....

 Hand Stitching and enamel dots.....

 Glossy Accents on my stickers....

August & Everything After

If you're a fan of the Counting Crows, you'll understand the reference.  If not, go download some of their music.  Now.

I've been a fan of this band since a friend gave me a demo tape in High School.  They weren't even the Counting Crows yet, they were The Himalayans.

I first heard Mr. Jones in 1993 and fell in love.  Its not the Mr. Jones radio edit that *everyone* knows, its a slower, acoustic version.

To say I'm a *fan* is putting it lightly.  This band is the only band I've ever purchased every album for. No other band or singer has been so consistent for me.  Every song, every line, every story Adam Duritz tells means something to me.  They got me through tough times in college, breakups, a loss of a really good friend etc.

I've lost count for how many times I've seen them live.... but its a lot.  I now drag my husband to their concerts and slowly, they've grown on him.  They have enough guitar and rock in them to spark an interest for him.  Thank goodness.  :)

So when they announced their first studio album in over 4 years *and* a summer tour, you know I'd get my hands on tickets.  And I did.  I sat, ready to hit buy the second those suckers went on sale.  I even splurged and got the VIP Experience - which was an early birthday present for myself.  Sadly, I bought the tickets in March and had to wait until AUGUST to go.

A long wait but worth every second.  I got to experience sound check AND meet the band.  I just about peed my pants when I stood next to Adam for the picture.  I was truly Starstruck.

 I used a recent Scraptastic kit that was very music themed.  It was revealed right before I left for the concert and it was perfect!

 I had Shelley create some custom {flair} for me.

 The Jillibean Soup diecuts and Heidi Swapp stickers made this page.  I added Glossy Accents to random bits here and there on the page to make them stand out more.

Scraptastic may have more of these kits, so run over there to get one.  And I know Shelley loaded the concert {flair} in the shop.  Grab a set of those!  I'll be adding more of that set to a mini album I'm making for the entire getaway!

Dot Containment

There should be a 12 step craft hoarders recovery class for people like me.  I see something I like and I have to have it in every color.  Just because.  I might use it one day.  You never know when you'll need  this.  You name it, I've used it to justify.

I'm not sure where my first package of dots came from (MME maybe?) but I've been collecting them since I held a package in my hands and fell in love with those awesome little enamel circles.

So in love with them, they I scouted places that sold them, joined group buys, grabbed 2 daily deals off a daily deals site, cleared the peg in my local scrapbook store......

I've amassed quite a collection.  I have them in their packets, not organized.  I would need to flip through the entire stack to find the right color and size each time I wanted to use them.  The fact that the colors were mixed on the cars.... *gasp*

I needed organization.

Of course, you turn to Pinterest.  Nothing.  Come on.  There has to be another dot hoarder out there like me and she *has* to have them organized better.

And then this rolled through my Pinterest account.....

Oh yes!  Exactly what I need.  I found a plastic drawer at Target that was perfect.  I sat one afternoon and *cut* each set into color groups.  I hand made cardstock dividers with tabs and started loading them into this perfect solution.

Epic fail.  I didn't even take a picture because they just slid everywhere and the colors were mixed...again.

Back to the drawing board.  I had this great drawer thing and I was determined to find a way to use it.  My idea was to find a mini file folder cut file on the Silhouette.  If I had a way to 'brace' them in the drawer it would work better.  For sure.

Instead I found this cut.

How perfect is this??  I grabbed one sheet of cardstock in every color of the rainbow and cut a little folder for each color.

Yes, I have two blue folders.  I apparently like blue.  My purple and black seemed lacking so I purchased a few more sheets of black and purple dots from Studio Calico.  I may need a second one of these drawers things to hold some variety packs or other random dots (like the anchors!)

I like having the option to grab the color folder I need and finding the right shape and size.

Here's the funny part.  I finally had time to myself in my craft room and I work on this.  Not actually using my product but organizing it.

Someone posted this to the Scraptastic Kit Club Facebook page the other day and I realized its *so* me.

Add a large chunk for organizing!

This and That

I'm cleaning out my room (again).  I started adding some new items that had come in the mail to my already ridiculous stash.  Since moving last year, I promised I wouldn't outgrow my space.  Well, I'm getting to the point where thats happening.  I don't scrapbook enough but I sure like to shop.  Hello, have you *seen* the Halloween lines??  I'm a sucker for some cute Halloween lines.  Frankie and Friends from Simple Stories and Jillibean Soup arrived this week.

So its time to move some of the older lines out and make room for the new.  Clean out those boxes of tags and half used product packages.  Sometimes you just have to cut loose what you know you wont use.  The packs of tags and diecuts you keep reaching for but the items never quite make it to your page...

Or there's the treasure you find that you forgot you had.  In this case, it was a stash of items from Chic Tags.  Some of the original tags from Veronica that were perfect for this layout.

There is a nice mix of products on this page.  I literally pulled items together from drawers, leftovers etc.

Blue/Green Ombre Washi is from a past Studio Calico Kit

Anchor is from Glitz Designs nautical line

Tags are Chic Tags

Not sure where I got the flag at the top.....

Enamel dots are from my collection of dots (I'll have a post up next week about my dot issue)

and of course, a piece of flair from A {Flair} for Buttons Etsy shop.

I used my Silhouette to cut the title from a piece of leftover paper from a Studio Calico kit.  

#hashtag Flair + Coupon

Is everyone enjoying their 3 day weekend?  I am!  Much needed rest and time away from everything.  We are enjoying the last few minutes of summer and getting ready to go back to school this week.

I've had some free time these past few weekends and I've been working on a bunch of little projects.  I threw a few layouts together using older Cocoa Daisy and Studio Calico kits.  I played with Gelatos and flair too.

 An older Studio Calico kit that had a lot of the Simple Stories Daily Grind in it.  I had to have this kit because I loved the bright colors and its sat untouched for however long....  I threw this together quickly to use up a chunk of the kit.  The rest got cut up to make cards for Operation Write Home and 3x4 cards for PL.

 I have a bad habit of printing photos out.  I would go through 3-4 times a year and send 200 or more photos to be printed at Scrapbookpictures.com when they were still open (insert sad face here) so I have stacks of 4x6 prints (sometimes duplicates) of photos I *wanted* to scrap.  I realize now its impossible to scrap every photo and that I've developed into a single photo scrapper.  Unless there are multiple awesome photos from an event or shoot, then I stick to the one photo that speaks to me.  I've slowly weeded out the photos I know I'm not going to scrap and have a very tall stack of photos left.  This was one of them.  I am on a mission to kill as many past kits as possible and as many of these photos as possible before the end of the year.

 This Cocoa Daisy kit was a little scarce in the way of products so I grabbed anything that matched the brown and teal look I was going for and came up with the layout.  Its a good thing I'm slowly moving towards rainbow storage in the craft room because it makes finding things by color easier.

 One more quickie layout.  I tested out my new Gelatos on this one.  I had a Heidi Swapp star thats made from watercolor paper so it absorbs watercolors.  I tested out a technique I saw online and love how it came out.  I need more practice with these awesome crayons but I see them being a new favorite technique to try.

In case you're looking for some {flair}, there is a sale this weekend in the Shop.

You can find the set I used here.  #Hashtag Boy