Shanghai Zoo

Just for funsies, I thought I'd share another scrapbook layout featuring Missy and Bennet today, this time from our 2010 trip to China.  I've had the photos printed out for probably a couple years now, but I hadn't scrapped any of them.

Until now.

YAY CHINA PICTURES!!  Oh sorry, that was loud : )  But I'm excited to have started my China scrapbooks!  You can see my original blog post for these pictures here and I wish I'd printed out the photo of the tigers snuggling after their fight, but I didn't.  But on the left page alone, I referenced the Wizard of Oz, one of the funnest songs ever, and Baylor University (all four of us are Baylor grads, though Missy and Bennet are more gung-ho fans with more school spirit than me and hubs).  Click on the photo to see it larger.  I'm so happy with how these pages turned out!  Can't wait to finish up this comprehensive exam so I can get back to creating more pages...until then, I'll be posting some older projects I hadn't gotten round to yet.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps:  Rough Type Alphabet, Circle Circus
Ink:  Midnight Muse, Garden Green
Paper:  Marina Mist, Midnight Muse, Dusty Durango, Whisper White
Accessories:  Apothecary Accents Framelits, Pagerz lettering template

Round 1

I want to get the New Year started off with a scrapbook layout in the hopes that 2014 will be a very scrappy year : )

More Japan pics, this time from 2009 when we went to this place called Round 1 with our friends Missy and Bennet (we made them a calendar for Christmas with a bunch of pictures of our adventures together in Japan, China, and Spain, including one with them and my hubs on those little bitty bikes that was totally hilarious).  You can click on the photo above to see the layout bigger, or check out this post on Snapdragon to see the individual pictures.

For the title, I used the largest circle Framelit and the letters are my old trusty Sizzix alphabet.  I knew exactly how I wanted to do the title, so I just had to figure out how to do a giant 1--finally I printed off a numeral in 350-point font--Cooper Black, if you're interested.  I found out that of the dozens and dozens of fonts I have on my computer, Cooper Black is just about the only one with an interesting-looking numeral 1.  So I printed it, temporarily adhered it to a scrap of Brilliant Blue, and cut it out, which is the same method I used to cut out Okinawa on this page (twice, because I also did Part 2, which is definitely a symptom of my insanity because it took forever the first time and I still did it again).

Anyway, the color combo on this layout was inspired by one of my favorite tee shirts:

I have quite the collection of Eskimo Joe's shirts.  What tickles me about using this shirt as an inspiration is that in the pictures, I'm actually wearing this next shirt:

I thought the Brilliant Blue worked pretty well with the pictures.  So there's a lesson for you--clothing is totally inspirational for scrapbook pages.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps:  My Paper Pumpkin welcome kit (splotchy stamp on the green circle)
Ink:  Whisper White, Brilliant Blue
Paper:  Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Green Galore, Whisper White, Rainbow Sherbet DSP
Accessories:  Circles Framelits, old Sizzix alphabet, Curly Label punch

Perfectly Wonderful Nachos!

Happy New Year, peeps!  Can't believe it's already time for my last blog post of the year.  Well, we're ending on a high note with a wonderful color combination courtesy of Nacho Average Challenges!

Who doesn't love pink and green together, amirite?  So here's what I came up with:

 I kinda feel like I threw the kitchen sink at this card, but the sketch I chose was pretty involved.  Still, three sets of Framelits, two stamp sets and two different packs of patterned paper, ribbon and Candy Dots...there's lots going on here.  I don't have any Strawberry Slush ribbon, so I rooted through my stash and found some kind of pink grosgrain...not even sure if it's SU, but probably.  It's not an exact match for the Strawberry Slush cardstock but I thought it worked okay.

Anyway, when my family was out here in July, we went to Paris and I saw a sign taped in a shop window that had that same sentiment on it.  I loved it so much that I wrote it down so I'd remember it, and then when I saw Perfect Pennants I was so excited to have it in stampy form :)  So now you know why I paired it with an Eiffel Tower.  And how cute is that hearty Eiffel Tower?!

Check the Nachos blog for more beautiful projects, and then let's see what you've got!  Have fun and Happy New Year!

Supplies, probably all SU!
Stamps:  Follow My Heart, Perfect Pennants
Ink:  Basic Black, Strawberry Slush, Old Olive
Paper:  Basic Black, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Kaleidoscope DSP (coming up in the Occasions catty!), Season of Style DSP (get it fast, it retires on January 2!)
Accessories:  Ovals, Decorative Labels, & Perfect Pennants Framelits, retired pink grosgrain, Neutrals Candy Dots, Dimensionals

Favorites Showcase 2013, Part 2

2013 is almost over, so here we are with the second half of the 2013 favorites showcase.  Let's go!

Here's one of my picks for July, I love this card.  Always good to have some masculine cards on hand.

My second July pick; July is when I really started to get back into scrapbooking and had loads of fun with it.  I can't wait to dive back in once my exam is over on January 13th!

Here's another scrappy pick for August, from when hubs' truck got squished almost 10 years ago.  It wasn't fun at the time, but I get a kick out of looking at this layout now.  The title makes me giggle every time.

My choice for September was this awesome leafy card, I love those colors together!

Another scrappy layout for October with lots of blues for my mama!

Another great color combo for November's card, love the aquas and purple together.

And we'll finish it up with my favorite December card, this Wedgwood-inspired poinsettia creation.  Once again, I've linked up the original posts for each card or scrapbook layout if you want to see more.  Tomorrow is Nacho Average Challenges day and then we're in to 2014!  Seems like I just got used to writing 2013...

Favorites Showcase 2013, Part 1

Last year around this time, I noticed lots of stampy bloggers doing a retrospective of their favorite projects of the year, so I thought instead of doing a regular Friday Flashback on the last Friday of the year that I would post the first half of the 2013 retrospective.  So it's kind of a different type of flashback :)  So let's take a look at January through June!

This lovely peacock was my pick for January--I love that bold stamp and the blue/orange high-energy color combo, not to mention the fun layout.

February's pick is this seashell card.  I think Perfect Plum is underused, and of course I love everything with Baja Breeze.

How could I not pick this larger-than-life butterfly for March?  And I'm noticing a trend when it comes to sentiment stamps...

I love the color combo on my pick for April--Marina Mist, Wisteria Wonder and Wild Wasabi.

And here's a sunny happy card for May, I love that Daffodil Delight print on the sundress.

And we'll wrap it up for today with some June roses.  I've linked up all the original blog posts if you want to see more about a specific card.  I'll be back on Monday with the second half of the 2013 retrospective, so until then, have a great weekend!

Holly Jolly Let It Snowflakes

Happy Boxing Day!  If you've always wondered what that meant, no, it's not related to the annual Airing of Grievances as part of Festivus.  In Britain, families would have a big Christmas celebration and dinner, and then the day after Christmas they'd box up all the leftovers and take them to their servants and others who were less fortunate.  I think mostly anymore it's just a bank holiday, so bonus day off after Christmas.  So now you know : )

I made this for a combo SCS sketch/color challenge a while back, and while I wanted to use the Bracket Tag punch, at the time the only festive stamp I had to fit in there was this Holly Jolly Christmas one.  Call me weird, but I always thought that I should have used that one with some holly stamps, maybe my brain is too literal.  But then Best of Snow came out and I fixed it!

It's a bit gloomy here today so the colors in this pic aren't as good, and the rhinestone kind of photographed funny, but at least "Let it Snow" makes much more sense to my brain than "Holly Jolly Christmas" and the snowflakes.

Have a wonderful day!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Festive Flurry, Tags 4 You, Best of Snow
Ink:  Coastal Cabana, Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise
Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Pacific Point, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer
Accessories:  Bracket Tag punch, Dimensionals, Rhinestone

Cardinal Noel

Merry Christmas!  I hope you're having a wonderful holiday.

I made this recently for a sketch at Splitcoast, but it's one of those sketches that I think is just too complicated.  Hmm.

Regardless, this one went out in a package two weeks ago.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies, all SU!
Stamps:  Warmth & Wonder
Ink:  Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Baked Brown Sugar, Always Artichoke
Paper:  Always Artichoke, Baked Brown Sugar, Whisper White, Season of Style DSP
Accessories:  Oval punch, Windows Collection Framelits, border punch whose name escapes me, Dimensionals