Life is Sweet album - Death Valley

 

Keeping it simple and leaving the page basically kraft except

for the few gesso splotches which does adds something, right?

Maybe. 

LOL.

Anyhoo, Death Valley is gorgeous believe-it-or-not

and needs to be on your bucket list also.

I chose these photos because the mountains are

beautiful, and then in the mix of salt flats there is a

beautiful flower amongst the rubble.Using some

very old Studio Calico papers from 6x6 paper pads

pulling out the purple from the photos love

the ripped texture and perfect embellies from Tim Holtz

and my favorite butterfly punch.

And my favorite Martha Stewart alpha punch - love

the size and shape of the letters and it's just

so easy to punch the perfect colors for the titles and

you never run out of letters.

So you'll  be seeing them a lot - among other

things that you'll see a lot.

Studio Calico - Tim Holtz

Life is Sweet booklet - Yosemeti

I decided to go back over some of the places

we visited and pick my favorite

photos and make a collage of sorts.
Actually not so much a collage as getting all 6
photos on one 4x6 photo paper to save paper
which came out to 1.9x2.
Photos is quite annoying and not as simple
as Aperture. Sigh. I miss that program.

Did a bit of mixed media
and stamping for this page.

Put Yosemeti on your bucket list peeps.

Studio Calico, Tim Holtz, Martha Stewart alpha punch.

Smile - Best day ever

Love how this turned out. 

Using a different book  - I have 3 going on at the moment.

Each for different stuff.

 This book "Life is Sweet" was given to me 

by my pal Holli and I put

whatever  I want in this book and its working

out lovely.

 

 I have done mixed media in this book but

I'm finding I fancy the kraft look.

 

 Using a bunch of really old Studio Calico

6x6 papers and fussy cutting the flowers and the birds

and basically going crazy with all the items.

I love how it shows off my beautiful granddaughter,

her new 'do and the granddog August.

This is the book and the pages lay flat when it's open.

Bonus!

It was truly amazing

That this page got made. 

Seriously.

It started life with a strange PL page protector

that has 2 4x6 pouches

surrounded by 2x6 and then 8x1 around the

edges and it just looks weird.

Because between the two 4x6 photos the

page protector does not allow for anything really.

 I kept twitching that stupid thing before I gave up

and went with 8.5x11 page protector.

 Game changer.

And then the blue. I loved that PL card that 

had the blue and I loved the title

so of course, that is staying and then I did

a collage 4x6 photo which worked in the first

scenario. But annoyed me totally.

LOL.

I used some Tim Holtz rubons on the background.

With the goofy PL page protector I had that blue cardstock

everywhere.

When I switched to 8.5x11 I really liked the kraft cardstock.

But it needed the blue.

Splattered some Heidi Swapp around and

then the do-dads.

Also behind the photo I used some Tim Holtz packaging

to kinda accent and then separate the journaling

from the photo.

American crafts, Tim Holtz, Recollections, and

a bread wrapper thingy.

And that tiny butterfuly. Does that not rock or what.

Yes. I'm on an ittybitty butterfly kick.

It's how I roll.

PL- Sort of a double page spread

They are back-to-back.

And that works. 

Gettysburg - it was soooo hard to pick photos

and get in the stuff I want.

Good thing about PL - you can drop and add later.

 Love these patches and I've been picking

them up wherever I can.

I kept the original packaging because I

seriously couldn't do any better with the backing

needed for the size of the pocket.

Kept it rustic with kraft paper and I've also

started picking up post cards because they sometimes

say it better than I could.

I'm not sure if I need any more photos because the

story should be about the battlefield memorial and not

my photos.

Kraft, Pink Fresh, Tim Holtz.

4th of July cards & a Birthday card

Sent all the grands a 4th of July card

made from kraft cardstock

and then being quite bold and daring

I freestyle painted the stripes using regular

craftsmart paint.

The stars are from a punch and popped up.

Assorted stamps for the sentiments. 

Then firecracker girl Annie has a birthday 2 days later

so I broke out my flamingo QK die cut

and added a fun party hat and a googly eyeball.

Love the splatters.

Got a couple more cards to go before

we hit the road for the summer grandkid tour

and the family fun for Labor Day at the shore.

Predominately Kraft & Fav Youngest Son

One of my favorite photos of Shane worked perfect 

for this page.

I designed it the page at first without a photo in mind loving all the kraft and

I love how the orange paper works with it.

 When me and my pal Holli hung out she had this hummingbird stamp

and she let me stamp a bunch and this page was 

basically designed with the birds in mind.

 Love how they look scattered over the page.

 No judging on the shape of the photo.

My mom - she was a great lover of shapes but when

I plunked it down I couldn't help but notice

it fit absolutely perfect.

Shane was just 3 months old and we were strolling 

through Walmarts when we came upon a photographer

with a really good deal. $9.99 for a package.

(you can snort and laugh here because whoever just paid 

the going package rate ever).

Anyway, his shirt was removed for his fake bath and he

was laughing so hard and so loud it echoed 

throughout WM and everyone stopped to laugh

with him and many came to see what was so funny and laughed with him.

He just lit up the entire store.

Oh and when I went to put his shirt back on - it was too small 😐.

LOL.

Studio Calico.

Foam stamps and enamel paint

I have a ton of them because at one point

foam stamps were totally 

en vogue for scrappers everywhere.

So, I broke out an old, old set that came as a 

kit of the month, named as "Not your ordinary stamp set."

It has everything in it, from month stamps, flowers and 

stuff in all shapes and sizes.

 I then took out my studio calico color theory paints

and wa-la (except for white) that I wasn't using much and

look at those vibrant colors.

I need to work on my painting skills but I do love the result. 

Nuvo drops in gold are the flower centers.

So wild, bold, and colorful on kraft paper.

I love kraft paper.

I made a mat cluster with that amazing gold doily

(doily and tag people LOL)

to highlight the small photo

of my gram with my favorite eldest son - so

that would be his great grandmother -Mammy - he

had trouble with G's. 

Mom, Nick and I were bringing Mammy back to Florida

for a visit and Nick just needed out of his

car seat for a moment - and of course she sat in the

back with him.

It was fun to have her with us.

The title doesn't stand out here but works in real life.

Tim Holtz words that say it all.

Another page created without a photo

And since I plan on doing this for awhile

I shall not bore you with that title anymore.

Anyhoo, in stalking the u-tube - one of my favorites

is Ashli (Soaphousemama) so 

this is a sortof loose lift.

 Watercolors went on first - shocking I know.

Then whacked up some scraps again.

(I think I'll be giving Tori a run for her money over

at Scrap your Scraps LOL)

So I tossed on some do-dads and then went

on a hunt for a photo and found

one of these two cuties - Sam & Lou.
I used punches to make circles, cliche I know,
but it totally fits.

Love how it turned out.
And it turns out to be fun!

Again, Studio Calico, and some other unknown do-dads.

4th of July cards

Yea Yea I know it's early but since we may be on the

road during this holiday and I love making

and sending cards to the grands,

I decided to have them ready and just dropping them in

the mail wherever we may be.

We are heading out sometime in June maybe - so I'm also

putting together my scrappy supplies for the road.

It's quite interesting.

Kraft, my sunburst punch for fireworks and Studio Calico star & heart stamps.

Last page for NSD scrapping frenzy

And this page works with frenzy so well.

In the still not overthinking it and starting to adhere and plunk

I took a time out to work in a 'stampede' with Creative Cafe

and Studio Calico stamps

because kraft paper can be so....well boring.

 However it works really well with Tim Holtz stuff, a Shimelle globe and

the story. Of which you will see I needed added

room for the story going on with this.

Here is my dad setting up another train platform.

He goes all out - the tracks will be laid, 

towns will be built and communities established.

And its fun to be the engineer.

Layers and Ledger paper

I started THIS page with 2 photos.

It's been awhile since I used multiple photos and didn't

I have fits with this.

I went through at least 9419471347193471098 different

papers, including transparencies AND mats.

 The photos are heritage - and originals and not 

really good photos.

I probably in hindsight could've made them B&W

but where would the fun be in that.

 So I ended up using kraft and beige because 

seriously nothing went.

(I have no clue on the ledger paper - its THAT old)

Including black - black works on everything

except these 2 pictures.

LOL.

 I made 2 big tags after tossing envelopes around

that looked stupid.

And more Tim Holtz that I just kept tossing on.

well because I couldn't stop really.

And I actually used Heidi Swapp Tea mist because seriously

what more can go wrong.

And the TITLE. 

Good grief - that was serious overthinking going on.

I had a pack of kraft alphas with white letters

and it would've been perfect had it all the letters- but nooooo

not enough E's.

I know you're surprised.

So I got a small square punch - punched out and then

used my hero arts alpha and started

doing the letters in white which looked dumb

because the white wasn't white enough.

So I changed it up to black - and well its funky enough

to go with the page.

A flipping Heritage page - that I'm ON.

That's just wrong on many levels, but here we are.

So mom and I had similar outfits

and while I was cruising through the way-back

box there they were side-by-side.

I'm 20 years old there (I think) and mom would be 40.

We totally rocked the outfits.

The way-back box is magical.

Everyone should have one.

Using a brown paper bag as a background mat

It was one of those moments as I pulled the papers

out of the brown paper bag that 

Studio Calico uses to send extra papers

when I pulled them out and laid them on top of the bag

and it was all like oooohhhhh.....

Anyhoo, it frames the paper really nicely and gives a rustic

autumn kind of look.

 I also found a kraft envelop that worked nicely too

to pop the "paperbag look" on the page 

and continued that rustic look.

The folded over top was actually what sold me

because it was perfect to add a small

photo with a background.

The mat under the photo is a kraft doily

with that purply-blue color peeking out.

White circles join all the embellishments together and

does look better in real life.

The wooden alphas and butterflies also add to the rustic-ness.

Annie girl in the grass.

Love her 'do.

Waving.

Studio Calico, Sissix, Quikutz, sequins,

Heidi Swap tea mists.

It's actually the perfect size the page protectors too.

I HATE MISTS.....

So back in the day prior to McDonalds other than

diners there were few eating places for

quick food and one of them was Jimmy's Hot Dog Stand

where as a kid we would be treated to his hot dogs.

Jimmy served his hot dogs with mustard, onions and a dill

pickle - with no chance of having it your way.

I HATED ONIONS AS A KID but I scarfed down

that hot dog. LOL. And that is really the memory I wanted to record.

 I happen to have joined a group called Lehigh Valley History

and there is a group of photographers that

have taken and/or found old photos from back in the day

and this is one of them of Jim's Hot Dog stand (it was Jimmy back

in the day). And I just had to include it in my

heritage album.

 So I grabbed some recollections kraft paper 8.5x11

and a really old Basic Grey scrap that is perfect for the page

and then layered that photo up and added

 some quickutz stars and Pink Fresh stamps

and dodads along with some Studio Calico enamel dots.

HOWEVER,

whilst adding some black splatters on the page there

was a slight mishap. 

I managed to knock over that open bottle of mist and

3/4 of the bottle is all over the desk on my page 😱

Sooooo... because I set it up basically everything on that strip I was able

to whack around it and move it to a new kraft page

where I thought it was a good idea to try splatters in black and

then in blue again. Which as you can see........

When I made the change on where the journaling was

located - originally it was around the paper strip

but I had way more to say so I decided

it would go to the left on the page and

was soooooo excited did I wait until the mists dried??😕

Noooooo 

and I decided that it was just going to stay that way.

Background stamping

On Kraft - I love Kraft it can be whatever you want

and today I'm going for rugged.

Love my Creative Cafe stamps and I really use them a lot.

Especially for backgrounds.

You can't have too many stamps.

 I also had some lime green tissue paper laying around.

I mean how often can you use that color.

Shockingly I had embellishments in that color.

 And of course my "fireworks" "sunburst" punch.

Topped off with some arrows and a tag

with some thickers - Studio Calico.

My favorite eldest son competing in a crossfit competition 

a few  years ago

- I need elbows like that.

One of these days.

Artful pages

Thankfully art is alive and well in schools and

my grandkids are quite talented artists.

So it was really fun to document 

and today I have created two layouts

for your blogreading delight.

So how about that adorable pup.

He's a very old Technique Tuesday stamp.

 Again I used most of my Studio Calico

and Creative Cafe stamps around this page 

 and

because that wasn't busy enough

I threw in the Tim Holtz stencil, using yellow paint

with modeling paste.

 Added a few do-dads namely my homemade enamel dots, arrows and a heart sticker and called it a day.

 Kraft paper is the base cut down to 8x8

And honestly all 3 artists made some mighty fine art

AND I WANT THEIR ART FOR SCRAPBOOK PAGES.

How cool would that be....

 I didn't want to be a copy cat on the second page

so I lifted once again a prize ribbon from Soaphouse Mama

- she does them all the time and what better

embellie could there be but that.

And I cut the circles myself - mostly because I didn't have 

punches that nested that closely and I'm normally not that brave LOL.

 The little bird is from some no-name embellishments

I picked up at Michael's and

those stars are from Studio Calico kit and finally

used them babies all up.

Yay!!!

Because it was a wild background that I keyed off

of from the artwork I gessoed where the photo and do-dads are

and found I liked it just fine and left it there.

The heart arrow is wooden - and stuck out like a sore thumb

in its pure form so I smooshed some watercolors

around to match the stars and wa-la.

Worked out well.

Cards....

It's the month for cards however,

I don't do cards well but I don't think the grands care.

I used up all my St. Patty's day & Easter stuff

from past years so I went on the

hunt at Michael's and Hobby Lobby and quite

frankly I was disappointed in both

but mostly with M's. 

M's had nothing - no paper, no stamps, nothing on sale

as they always do for either holiday.

HL had papers and that was it - which kind of surprised

me I was hoping for a bit more on Easter.

And it wasn't because I waited until late either.

However, there was other stuff for St. Patty's Day that

I put to use with HL paper.

And the coins were a bonus - and not chocolate - it'll be

up to the parents to inform the kidlets

it ain't real gold LOL.

Snazzing up Kraft and scraps

I love Kraft paper and I don't use it enough.

I also decided to use all the scrap papers on my desk

from the recent Studio Calico kit too.

(I have one paper left) woohoo!

I started out by adding some texture to the Kraft with

an onion bag and some black and yellow ink.

Would you believe the stamping came last?

It did because everything else needed to be placed.

Loving the layerings at the top.

 More layers at the bottom and just for random fun

a duck with an umbrella.

 Love those tickets - still have some leftover

and tucked that 4 in for Amelia's age.

 I wasn't sure how I was going to like all the random papers

but it worked out really well and I guess that's why

its called a "kit". LOL. 

Love how the 5x7 photo dominates the page because

its soooo cool and one of the reasons

why I chose the Kraft because of the rustic look

and then girlied it up. Sigh.

Studio Calico.