Back from California

My DH and I went down to California for Thanksgiving to stay with family and I got to visit with some of my closest friends. We had a blast crafting. I am lucky that my friends enjoy being crafty, too, and we spent hours getting our craft on.

I made a layout of my friend's daughter at the park:

(Hinta-Palinta means swings in Hungarian.)

And here are some place cards we made for my friend's Thanksgiving table. (The pics are horrible, I know, but it was dark by the time I got around to taking them. Sorry about the quality.)

We dry embossed the background and wet embossed the frame and leaf in gold. Then we popped the leaf with foam tape. I think they turned out pretty cute.




And finally, Christmas cards I made with my friend Theresa and her DH, Anthony (thanks for the pics!):

Ship Trip

This album was made for my dad for Father's Day. Yes, that's right, Father's Day. Yes, I know Father's Day is not in November. I think being tardy in giving gifts is part of my cute "artistic nature." Well, that's the story I'm going to use anyway. And I'm sticking to it.

My dad went on an amazing trip with his wife this past summer to the East Coast. They started in Boston, boarded a tall ship, where they were members of the working crew for a week and a half (like a sailing fantasy camp), landed in Canada and then came back into the US to explore Maine and Massachusetts. Below I listed pics of the album I made in which to keep his photos of the trip. I also gave him this non-fiction book as part of the present:


Here's the album:


I actually recovered this album. It used to look like the baby album below, but I recovered it in a patterned paper featuring blue.

I found pictures of the ship, The Europa, online and matted them. I used them on the cover and throughout the book.


Here are the layouts:

Layout 1:



Layout 2:














Layout 3:

I included a close-up of the stamped golden ship image, which I embossed with gold embossing powder.















Layout 4:














Layout 5:

I included a close-up of the half penny which has a ship on it. The tags read "Sweet" and "Life" and are hung from brass jump rings.















Layout 6:














Layout 7:














Layout 8:














Layout 9:














Layout 10:














Last Page:



Also, I included some titles of places he mentioned they had gone. They didn't play as prominent a role as the places I made specific layouts for but I thought he may want to include a photo from those places, but then again, maybe not. Since I didn't know, I didn't want to secure them permanently to any pages but rather let him choose. Here they are:


Here's how I imagined them looking:

Christmas Cards

I've been busy making and addressing Christmas cards. I was determined to get it done early and I rocked it. All done!

Below is a good general sampling. Some I had addressed before I thought to take pics and I had already sealed them up tight in their envelopes.

My Plan for a Scrap Lift

So we are going down to Fairfield, CA for Thanksgiving and at first I was a little bummed because in previous years it has been so exhausting to do the 1o hour drive twice in the span of a few days, just to do it again a few weeks later for Christmas. I was kinda looking forward to Thanksgiving at our favorite restaurant, Gustav's. But, I have decided to change my attitude, which I am constantly having to be hyper-vigilant about anyway. (I am not known for being an optimist, but am trying to change my ways.)

I am now looking forward to driving down for a multitude of reasons. First, and least important, is that my husband and I have discovered the joys of books on CD and have been listening to them during commute time, which has been really fun. So the drive should not be as boring as it has in the past. Next, and most important, I get to see and spend time with some of the people I care most about, my in-laws and a couple of my best friends, Rachel and Theresa. Also, I get to spend time with Rachel's daughter, Hanna, whom I adore. Here is a pic of her cuteness:





Finally, Rach and I have planned a continuation of our scrapping adventures which began last month when she visited me here in Portland. I have been given the task of doing an Easter and a playground layout. For the Easter layout, I have been toying with the idea of doing a modified scraplift of the following layout which is featured on the Technique Tuesday website and of course, uses their products. I bought the products a long time ago but haven't yet used them. I have had this layout in my mind for a looooong time and have been dying to give it a go. I don't have the exact letters but I have stamps that are close enough that I think they'll work. Also, I was thinking of modifying the layout to add Easter elements (Easter eggs tucked into the flowers, perhaps), perhaps change the colors slightly and to make it a two page layout. I recently saw somewhere somebody had managed to use a big circle on one page and make the other page fit it by adding smaller circles and parts of circles running off the page. It looked good and so I may try it. I'm not sure though, just something I am thinking about. I have some other ideas. Whatever I end up doing, I will be sure to post it.



What do you think, Rach? Yes or No?

Taylor's Wedding Album (Accordion Style)

Again, first let me apologize for my crappy camera. It used to work fine. I don't know why these photos are turning out so blurry and off-colored.

This was made as a wedding gift for my sister, Taylor. I made this album (and the baby book in the post below this one) with the intention that it could be filled and given to her in-laws. The wedding album is an accordion-style album and I made a matching card. I listed the card first.




Here is the album:

When the book is closed, the "Our Wedding" layout is on top.





Layout 1: Love of My Life

The first page has a "hidden tag" under the red patterned paper:

I painted the flowers silver to tie in more of the silver accents I was planning on using.



Layout 2: To Have and to Hold



Layout 3: My Heart Belongs to You



Layout 4: Cherish the Moment



Layout 5: There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved.



Layout 6: (Blank - No designated Title)




Here is the reverse side of the album:

Layout 7: (Blank - No designated Title)


Layout 8: (Blank - No designated Title)



Layout 9: Always & Forever



Layout 10: Newlyweds



Layout 11: (Blank - although this one is pretty well designated what with the cake and all.)



Layout 12: Our Wedding - September 3, 2009 (This one is actually the cover when the book is folded up.)




Here are the "making of" photos:

1. First, I painted the edges and creases black. (I don't think I used any of those embellishments you see. The flowers looked too cutesy and the chipboard circle too primitive.)


2. Then I added the paper. I didn't have a lot of black, red and white paper. Actually, I only had one style of black and white and 2 styles of red and white, so I had to improvise. I got out my stamping supplies and made some patterned paper. I stamped one of the red patterned papers, the silver and black patterned paper and the cover paper. Also, I painted a doily black for one of the layouts and I LOVED how that turned out - I can see a lot more painted/dyed doilies in my future.



3. Then I added the mats, ribbon/lace and titles which is what you see in the layout photos at the top of this post. Normally, I would stop there. But I know that Taylor is pretty crafty and so I decided to add some things for her to play with. I added extra flowers, titles, journaling spots and matted silvery words. I forgot to take a picture of all of them together, though I had intended to. Oops. I did however, take pictures of the matted words while I was making them and you can see them in the photos below.

Here are the words:



The phrases are:

Happiness is You
Newlyweds
Beautiful Lovely Bouquet Dress Shoes Jewelry Veil Bride
Groom Style Classic Handsome
Husband & Wife
Together Forever
Bridal Shower
Reception Friends Family Guests Celebration Toast Cake
Something Old New Borrowed & Blue
Happily Ever After
Vows Kiss Rings I Do
Love Honor and Cherish
to have and to Hold



Here is how I imagined them being used, with the words overlapping the photos (which is why I didn't adhere them myself, along with the fact that I wanted the book to be flexible in its design):

I tried to leave lots of open areas in the layouts where they could be placed.

The Wedding

And finally, just for fun, here are some color photos of the wedding stolen from one of my other sister's blog. I have to give credit to Sofia and her blog as these aren't my pics.

I love Taylor's dress, especially the bodice and neckline. I think it's so pretty. She was married at the courthouse in San Francisco, but I'm not sure where the reception was held.