Traveler's Notebook - Take the Scenic Route

National and State Parks rock and they are chockfull of information

on the history of the area.

Fort Clatsop is in the Lewis & Clark Nat'l Park and had

a "mockup" of the actual fort and outbuildings giving

a view into how life was back then.

Rugged.

The accommodations, while sparse to us, were like

 a palace to them, especially after concluding their journey

across the United States.
The details of L&C notes are minute - down to drawings
of the peoples, animals, and tools used in their lives.

Memento & Jillibean Soup wooden embellies.
Studio Calico

Traveler's notebook - Yosemite

I decided I didn't want a total white background

so I gesso'd the pages, and slapped some

watercolors and a bit of stamping to

add some umph.

Some Tim Holtz because I really couldn't

think of anything to write.

It's Tom and I in front of El Capitan.

So I felt Tim Holtz words could do it better.

The feathers are stamped on the page

and then fussy cut out.

And embellishments.

I am really struggling here.

It feels that I saved all the wrong stuff.

I had TONS of stuff that I had to downsize for the RV.

WELL.

I have found that nothing is really suiting anything.

It is a struggle to figure it out.

It shouldn't be this hard.

I do figure it out eventually but it has been 

taking the fun out of it.

Also, when I shop, I don't see anything that'll

suit.

SIGH.

Any and all advice would be great.

Project LIfe style - Stockyards

We had a great time at the Stockyards poking into

shops, strolling the streets and BBQ.

So of course it had to be documented in a PL

format instead of popping it into my traveler's notebook.

Do these wooden embellies make you swoon.

Yea me too.

They are itty bitty.

Of course I'll share -

Jillybean Soup

Love how this turned out. 

I traced the tag from one I had it my stash but

wasn't the right colors.

The 2 tags were from my stash and the one my

handwriting is on - just whacked it out of some scraps.

Simple.

Project Life page - That Day

Love the USA state stickers 

from the Paper Studio and this Texas state

was perfect for this layout.

Going to Dealey Plaza was interesting and fascinating

at the same time.

It's sad it had to be commemorated at all

but it's a wonderful memorial.

Also used Studio Calico, & AC alphas that I wished

I bought another package of.

Shopping trip.

We don't need any directions

How perfect is that!

It's from Pink Fresh - boy stuff.

As you know, if you read the previous post,

the other one, and I hope you did read it, we are

camping in the Army Corp of Engineers campground.

 All of the Army Corp camps are on the water, because

they are the champions of water.

Our site is right on the reservoir and so pretty.

Except for the sun playing peek-a-boo its been

quiet and cool. 

Hookups are water and electric, for those of you who care,

and a dump station so we'll be monitoring our tanks.

We'll be here for 5 days because we have 

business, and my brother and friends were gonna hang with.

We need to replace one of the awnings over our slide and

Camping World has ordered the part and we are

in a holding pattern until it is installed.

In the meantime, we are enjoying ourselves.
It has been quite windy here, and grey but we are
cozy in our nest.
It's been a fireplace kind of days.

Redoing an ugly page

So prior to leaving on our 3 month vacation I did this page.

Not only did I do it ONCE,

I did it TWICE.

The same way, the same colors.

Who does that? LOL... Twice - shows I

totally needed a vacation,

And its beyond ugly.

 So, I shuffled it aside and knew that I'd redo it.

I really would've liked the same paper so we could

go for a third try but I wasn't quick enough

to snatch it up at Studio Calico.

So..

One of the first things I did after hurricane prep was

redo this page.

I liked the other stuff on the page so I basically

cut off the yellow checked paper

and glued the entire piece on this pink paper

that is actually more fitting because I think at one

time my gram actually had wallpaper like that.

Studio Calico, Tim Holtz, Buttons galore

Scappy time on the road

Again, let me apologize for the photo, cropping.

Totally awkward.

Anyway its fun and since I rearranged stuff

I wasn't as annoyed tonight.

LOL.

Using Pink Fresh and various embellishments.

Got some photoshopping to do and

hoping for more downtown tomorrow.

Got a slow start on NSD with the mojo

I didn't plan on NSD, it just happened.

I finished a gift album between laundry, vacuuming and

general cleaning and found I had some time

on my hands.

As I was looking through my download folder I

realized there were some pix that were NOT scrapped.

Oh the horror.

 I started out slow because I found that I didn't

have a whole lot of Easter paper leftover....so adjustments

needed to be made. 

And the paper was kind of little-kid-looking and

these guys are a bit older so...

more adjustments needed to be made.

I therefore sparingly used the kiddy papers and added

some old Jillybean Easter stuff I had stashed

and some die cuts and wa-la

A page.

Connor rounded up the eggs.

I got a tad carried away...

That surprises you I know.

This paper is so much fun - I did another page with it

and then ordered another sheet.

Click here to check it out  as they are both completely 

different - same family though LOL!

I did totally create this page (embellishments and all) without a photo

and wait till you see how well it worked out.

This process seems to be working out way better for me

right now so I'm gonna keep rolling with it.

 The adorable embellishments are Jillybean Soup

and I love the whimsey.
I even stitched down the flappy side. Of course,
the sewing machine got contrary but it worked.

That's Miss Amelia (she's gonna be 6 in April)

sooooo....in perusing through my photos

for something to go with this page after it was done 

her outfit worked perfect.

I purchased the title just yesterday from Michael's

$1.50 bin. 

That was perfect too.

Who knew.

2x2 Black & White photo on a page

Love this paper - not sure what its called

I know its not hombre but the design has a name.

Help?

Anyway, I kept the embellishments relatively simple 

because of the stripes and colors.

 Love this packet of embellies from Jillybean Soup.

I think - they all came apart in the baggie I keep them in.

 Is that flamingo not adorable - or it could be My Mind's Eye.

Sigh. Hate when that happens.

So I love all the layers behind the photo and its an adorable photo.

Annie with hair gone wild.

So cute.

Splashed some mist about and called it a day.

Studio Calico paper.

Vegetable netting as a mat

My pal Holli got me this prize of Jillybean Soup embellishments

and they work perfectly with this page.

I am loving this cluster.

 I had all kinds of things going on as a mat when I

noticed this veggie bag netting laying around on my desk.

Normally I use the netting as a "stencil" but

when I put it behind the photo it just looked very cool as a mat layer.

Added some watercolors for background color

and just love how it turned out.

Lou checking out the grass.

Studio calico, Jillybean Soup, watercolors, netting.

Altered jumbo clothespins

Saw these bad boys in M's and decided why not.

It was great to use up scraps and

bits and bobs.

Even though they're plastic they are pretty sturdy

I used a folded 8.5x10 recipe on one

as a test and it held up really well it didn't tip over

or wiggle or flop about.

See the red one with the heart and "scribbles" behind it? That's my new die cuts I purchased at HL with my 40% off coupon. They are very intricate and after using it in my revolution, I changed things up by adding wax paper between the die and paper and also used it in the sissix (doh) and the wax paper actually helped in getting them out with a minimum of damage - you still had to poke out the remnants but since I don't have a fancy cutting machine, these are cool because I get the same result.

Jillybean Soup, Basic Grey, Recollections flower and fussy cut PL cards.

Changing course when you're not feeling the love

I love this sassy photo of Ms. Annie-girl and of course it was for

Memorial Day that just happened to be a pretty day in the

northern tundra.

I chose those papers and just wasn't feeling it.

Red, white and blue - don't get me wrong - I love the colors, I love

our flag and I'm as patriotic as the next.

But it was just too much.

And remember these papers were chosen for another project here that 

was kitted for a crop I attended and it didn't feel right then either.

I'm really really sure they'll get used someday. However,

that paper is gonna get its feelings hurt soon. LOL.

Rejected once again.

I decided to take matters in my own hands and

 make my own background paper starting with

some white bazzil cardstock.

I misted with red Heidi Swapp and then decided that it needed a bit more dimension

 which required a trip to Hobby Lobby because I did not

have a star stencil.

Starstencil Starstencil Starstencil (say that 3x's fast)

And of course they didn't have THE star stencil I wanted, however,

I found this Jenni Bowlin stencil that assured me it was a star BURST.

I could work with that.

And I needed navy blue ink of course.

Then I found the most adorable film strip stamp for under $2.

(that wasn't used here-but coming soon).

 I also ordered from Paper Issues - those adorable stars and arrows -

a cupid collection - that works soooooo well.

 And my homemade enamel dots - I know you'll be surprised

that I'm running out of some colors.
I'm debating as to whether I want to bake up more or just buy some.

Another Lawn Fawn badge purchase made it to the page and

I used up some old Authentique stickers by placing them around
in key places saying awesome things.

Of course I did dither around with the title
and you know how well I do titles.

I didn't want it to be real obvious and then decided

why not??

Bella Blvd stash was perfect along with some navy Jillybean

Soup alphas I purchased forever ago and never used.

Bought those adorable striped envelopes in different colors from HL

and it seriously worked very well with the doily.

Alot of new and old stash getting used.

Gotta love that.

I'm really quite happy that I changed directions because using that

other paper when I wasn't "feeling" it would've made

me crazy.

Short trip I know - but this is supposed

to be fun and how much more fun can it be doing it from scratch

getting all inky and misty

and then getting a Hobby Lobby run out of it to boot :D

A couple of cards for Easter

Made these little cards for the grands and sent them little packages with

stickers and paints.
You can never have too many stickers.

I'm sure the parents will be thrilled - at least
it wasn't noise making stuff.
I need to note that for the future though.

This is really old Jillybean Soup papers and I fussy cut the peeps out
and matched the assorted number of peeps to kidlets.

I made the cards alike because I'm creative that way
and its really the only Easter papers I have.

I seriously need to work on my card making skills
why they baffle me - I don't know.

Stamping around

I received one of those brayer stamping rollers in my

Studio Calico kit and decided I really like it.

So, of course, I needed more.

I have a few now with assorted shapes on them,

and the one below is a chevron.

And I ran it all over the page using vintage photo distress ink.

And then I dug around in my stash for more stamps.

The adventure stamp, another Studio Calico Kit goodie and

popped that around. It also had the compass going on in the kit

and didn't that lend itself nicely for a travel page.

 I did 3 stamping sites.

The 3rd is covered up under the journaling that has all the layering love

going on.

Sigh.

And the Paper Issues swag bag - well if you aren't getting them,

you need to check it out = $9.99 + shipping

and you get a ton of lovely goodies to use on your pages.

The journaling cards, the anchor and lovely gold accents and star maps.

Then there's Jillybean soup. 

Yum.

So this is the second page in the "broken foot tour."

I know you didn't forget my broken foot that I whined about forever.

Well DH decided that to rest it - we should take a trip

to see the grandkids. Actually there are quite a few pages
from the broken foot tour - and they're all going together
in the album.
GASP.

And Niagra Falls.

And the Great Smokey Mtns.

It was a fun trip and a piece of the trip where we took the ferry across the

Delaware Bay to Cape May.

Upon exiting the RV, I had a heart stopping moment when

my camera/baby/expensive toy flew out of my hand

and landed on the cement deck.

I was beside myself.

Fortunately in checking out the damage only the filter on the lens

broke - the rest was fine - so I changed lenses,

wrapped that puppy around my neck a few times, 

just in case it decided to fling itself about again,

and enjoyed the ride.

Doesn't that lighthouse make you swoon?

Feathers and feathers

Love this paper by Studio Calico- feathers.

Honestly I didn't know what to do with it at first.

And this set of photos came together.

Found some cutouts and punches and FEATHERS.

Love the feathers on the page and then the wooden veneers feathers.

And don't they all play nice together.

There's some Jillybean soup patterned paper going on.

Evidently, in addition to duck face - there's mean mugs.

I can do mean mugs.

That paper you're afraid to cut into

This blue and yellow paper called to me when I first opened

up my Studio Calico kit.

I loved it.

I cherished it.

I was afraid to use it.

I finally decided to man up.

But there were still decisions.

HOW?

Use the blue as a bit of background?

NO NO the YELLOW.

A mat, a half, a third.

Sigh.

Well I went with thirds.

With the red branding strip.

Whew.

I canNOT tell you how tough that was.

And then the photo.

Modern, heritage, kidlets. YadaYA.

Heritage is the way it came out - especially with the doily.

I love the travel paper, and Jillybean soup.

Simple Stories.

It actually all works.

Shocked me too.

I decided I needed a banner and didn't want the same ole same ole.

Hearts seemed like a good choice for this.

My brother and I having a tender moment.

It's sweet and perfect for this paper I was afraid to cut into.

Watercolors, modeling paste & circle stencil

Hobbling along on boots and crutches is extremely annoying.

Therefore I didn't do a lot of moving to create this page.

I used scissors instead of my paper trimmer.

Modeling paste and the circle stencil as well as the watercolors

were at my finger times, AND

my waterfilled brush.

Of course the rest is really close at hand which is why no matter

how big my desk is I only have a 12x12 space to work in.

Kinda like a cacoon.

So the title - my gram used to say that.

And when I saw that photo - bam!

How could I not use it.

In fact, I need to be writing more of them down as they

are triggered. She was a hoot with them.

Hmmm I did get a bit carried away with the watercolors. 

Eh.

Spring - for Off the Rails challenge

This is my page for the challenge at OTR for April.

It was a color palette and sketch challenge.

I have troubles with color palette challenges because I

never have the exact colors. Or all of the colors.

Which is why its a challenge.

Love these older papers by Jillybean soup. 

And if they don't have the exact colors - they have a facsimile thereof.

And you can't have spring without butterflies.

Nor is there not sprint without an adorable kidlet celebrating

that winter, long, cold, hard winter is history.

More or less - because this has been quite the fickle year.

Check out the rest of the design teams creations!

 

I love rick rack

Well honestly, who doesn't. I found a piece of white from back in the Creative Cafe days and had enough for the 8" circle and for anchoring the two hearts at each corner of the page. I also surprised myself and didn't use ink around the edges. I wanted a fresh, crisp look. Baby Sam looks fresh and crisp.

What an adorable face - you just wanna smoosh his cheeks.

I also need to get my grubby lil mitts on more rick racks.

All Studio Calico except for patterned paper circle Kaiser Crafts, rick rack-Creative Cafe, 

and the alphas - Jillybean Soup.