Happy Birthday Bro - One Page Layout

 I thought I'd take a quick break from posting my Grand Tetons layouts. Here's one from several years back that I've never postged. Note: My youngest has since cut his hair and beard...lol...way better now! 

We met the boys for a quick birthday lunch at Taco Bell!!!! Too funny, but we knew we could all step away from our work day long enough to be together on their birthday! We celebrated it again on another day so the spouses and grandkids could join.

Yes, they are birthday brothers! Two years apart, but both share the same date of birth. I'd like to take the credit for that, because I think it is so fun that they share their special days. But you know, they decide when they'll make their entrance in the world, with absolutely nothing Mom can do about it. 

I used several different scraps on the page and layered them up as a backdrop to the picture. I took my cue from the wall mural in the photo and used those colors. I added three different types of washi (love the mustaches!) and a vintage looking happy birthday image from Design Space, along with strip journaling. The white Jelly Roll pen is a great way to add quick faux stitching. I used baker's twine for the bow in the upper right corner and my old revolving date stamp on a ticket to mark the year.

Here's a closeup so you can more easily see most of the details.

Thanks for stopping by!! Enjoy your week and be crafty!

Hot Shot - Two Page Travel Scrapbook layout

 Here's another fun layout from our trip to see Old Faithful. There was a ton of people there and the traffic and parking was crazy, but totally worth fighting the crowd to see this great icon of Yellowstone National Park. Definitely one of those bucket list destinations!

If you follow me, you probably know that I like to have fun with titles and typically create my own layered designs. I found the words separately and picked them out of other Design Space images by using the contour feature. Then layered them and played with the size/scale to see what it would look like on my page.

The paper is Photo Play "Old Faithful"...seems appropriate, right? I bought two or three sheets of this so I could use both sides. One side is the all over map of Yellowstone, and the other is the card embellishments. The Kraft flowers are Recollection brand. I even added a few to the left side to embellish the bunch of flowers that were printed on the map paper. The simple arrows are from Close to my Heart "Aurora". I was too chicken to stamp it right on my page, so I used a separate, matching sheet of cardstock. I don't love that look, but I didn't want to redo my page if I messed up. The extra wide map decorate tape is from Zaomo. I never heard of this brand, but I love it.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week!!

Adventure - Two page Travel Scrapbook Layout

Here's another layout from our Grant Tetons trip in Wyoming (2020). Every day was such a beautiful adventure for us!

 There is so much wildlife to see in their natural habitat! And the landscape itself is something to behold.

Simple clouds and sun were an easy add to the page. Actually, the sun all the way behind the clouds would have been more accurate for this particular day. 😕

The stamps are the Close to My Heart "Aurora" set. Instructions are given to cut the paper in the right size to frame the stamp. Love this!  I used the CTMH Sapphire ink pad, and also cut a slightly larger mat. The Sapphire ink pad must have been nice and juicy and it came our really bright. I used the square punch (Creative Memories) to cut around the antler stamp. I journaled with my Cricut in Design Space and placed a bracket shape around it, attached and cut/wrote all at the same time, and placed a larger mat to frame the journaling.

The paper is Heidi Swapp "Wolf Pack". The photo corner punch (StampinUp!)  is what actually makes the page for me. It's funny how one little element can be a game-changer.

I really love the plaid with the birch bark paper. The navy mountains were also cut in Design Space to sit on top of the plaid and create a place for my title.

I really like this layout, and LOVE the green and blue together, especially the plaid. I certainly could have layered additional embellishments around the pics, stamps and journaling, but I didn't want to cover up all the pretty paper. 😂

Have a great weekend! I hope to share some more layouts with you next week. 

Take the Scenic Route - Two Page Travel Scrapbook Layout

 Here's another layout from our rafting trip in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. This was the last full day of our trip, so we wanted to do something a little different. As I mentioned before, we didn't see much wildlife, but we had a good time and the views were beautiful from the Snake River. And did I mention, our guide did ALL the paddling. 

While the raft looks like it might be comfortable. Me and my knees were struggling with it, but it was still enjoyable.

The Cricut journaling is a bit time consuming with their current program, but it makes the story so much more legible.

The paper is Close to My Heart "Aurora", "Timber" and Scrapbook Customs "Camping Things". 

I'm not sure which brand the washi is (black wood grain), but I used that to border my patterned paper, and cut the other epehemera from Design Space. I used some miscellaneous scraps and zip strip for the banners in the corner.

I believe the mountain scene was a sticker from the Scrapbook customs paper set.

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your week.

Float Trip - Two Page Travel Scrapbook Layout

 Wow! It's been awhile! I've been super busy with my day time job and have neglected blogging. Life gets like that sometimes. Working full time is a blessing in so many ways for us; however, it can really get in the way of my crafting. 

I have so many more layouts from our Wyoming trip, three and a half years ago. I'm so far behind in posting these and taking photos of my more recent layouts. 

Here's some photos of a raft ride that we took. It's fun to see the sites from another angle. We didn't see a lot of wildlife, but it was fun, and relaxing.

We did see a Bald Eagle. So magestic! 

The first thing I think of looking back at this layout when I was taking pictures of it a year ago, is where is that shirt? I haven't seen that in awhile. Did I forget it at the hotel? I finally found it a month ago when I was purging some clothes in my closet. It was complete buried. Excited to have a "new" shirt to wear. :)

The paper is Kaisercraft and Heidi Swapp Wolf Pack. I designed the title myself. It was a pain to cut since it was so intricate. This was before we had the offset option. Boy, that would have come in handy here. I used Cricut for my journaling and cutting the binoculars and paddles. 

Thanks for stopping by!

View from the Top - Two Page Travel Scrapbook Layout

 How do you feel about heights? We rode the Aerial Tram in the Teton Village on my birthday. It wasn't that high, and we loved it. The smoky haze from the wild fires dampened the view just a bit, though.

We caught the tram right in the village, just steps away from our hotel. 

The paper is Basic Grey "Periphery" and Paper House with Zaomo washi and twine. I added some ephemera from Kaiser Craft "Let's Go" collection. I stamped the camera, tag and other doodads  with CTMH "Life in Pictures". I created the tag in Design Space and journaled on it. I also designed the title myself. 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a crafty week! 

Enjoy the Ride - Two Page Travel Scrapbook Layout

 Hello again. Here's another layout from our visit to the Grand Tetons area in Wyoming. 

For my birthday, we rented bikes for a day! So much fun. I wanted to try out an electric bike. Oh my word...GAME CHANGER! Our path was flat, so I didn't really need it, but it was the perfect time to try something new. 

We rode 6 miles to a cute french cafe. We ordered lunch, and sat and enjoyed our coffee in the sunshine. I forgot to even turn on the motor until the way back! Mark was a little sad as I left him in the dust behind me. I've been trying to find a way to justify an electric bike at home since this was so fun. They are pretty expensive, and my current manual pedal bike is new and I love it so much. Maybe some day I'll upgrade to electric. We do have some smaller hills and inclines near our home.

The paper, stickers and ephemera are from the lovely Echo Park's "Good Day Sunshine" collection. Pretty appropriate name, in my opinion. Especially for this particular layout! It was such a great day!!

I added Paper Studio washi tape above the Cricut journaling. The Enjoy the Ride title is also from Design Space. I popped up the center for definition. 

Thanks for stopping by! I have so many more travel layouts to share.

Horsin' Around - Two Page Scrapbook Layout

 Here's another layout to share from our trip to Wyoming's beautiful Grand Tetons. We stayed inside the Teton Village. These horses lived on the corner as your turn into the village. We rode bikes past there a few times, and had to stop and talk to them. 

Of course, I wanted to bring one home with us💗!!  Do they even have a clue of their beautiful surroundings? They're living the best horse life possible! They can wallow in the mud, munch on the grass, or hang at the fence and mingle with the curious tourists for lots of "pets".

For this layout I used Kaiser Kraft's "Let's Go Collection" and ephemera. I'm not sure if the brown leather look paper was part of that set or something from my scrap stash. I designed the title in Design Space and also cut the camera, horse silhouette, and horseshoe. I went with Cricut journaling cut into strips. Pretty simple layout! The focus stays on the beautiful creatures! Wish I had a picture of myself with them, because I was much more enthralled than my hubby.

Thanks for stopping by for some travel and equine inspiration! Enjoy the rest of your week!

 

String Lake - Two Page Travel Scrapbook Layout

 Hello friends! Loving the Spring weather we are starting to see here in NE Indiana. It could be "false Spring", but I'll take it!!

Today, I'm sharing another layout from our tip to the beautiful Teton area in Wyoming in 2020.

We still had a bit of smoky haze in the skies from all the wild fires. Still gorgeous, though! I'm always amazed at the beauty of God's creation. 

The paper and journaling card is Heidi Swapp's "Wolf Pack" and the coordinating flowers are KaiserCraft "Collectables Antiquities". I designed the title with Design Space fonts, merging some of the letters together. I lean a lot on Design Space journaling too. The writing font is Elementary. My own handwriting is quite "elementary" looking too, but it isn't very legible. 😆

Thanks for checking it out today! Hope your week is blessed in unexpected ways!

Published Layout - Spring 2024 Creative Scrapbooker Magazine

 

Hello friends! I'm super excited to share this bit of news with you. My layout "Happy Place" was selected to be published in the Spring 2024 issue of Creative Scrapbooker magazine!!! This issue is stunning and full of all kinds of inspiration. You can check me out on page 116!

This layout features photos of me in my scrapbook/office space! We built and moved into our home at the end of 2017 and was blessed with my very own dedicated crafting space for the first time in my life! It truly is my "happy place". I still work a full time job, but love the moments I can get in there and play around with all my crafty stuff. The layout also reminds me to practice self love. These photos of me turned out okay, but who knew they'd show up on a published layout. Yikes! 

If you've never checked out one of their magazines, you definitely are missing out! You can view a super quick online preview here and scroll down to the short video. Every page of this issue is full of colorful inspiration and will feed your longing for sunshine and all the Springy things.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Have a blessed and crafty week!

The Mountains are Calling - Two Page Travel Scrapbook Layout

 Hopping on again to share another travel scrapbook layout from the most beautiful, Jenny Lake, in Wyoming. The scenery is beautiful on it's own without us in the foreground, BUT it's a must to prove we were there, right? 😂

I used patterned paper and wolf card from Heidi Swapp "Wolf Pack" collection, Simple Stories "Happy Trails" woodgrain design, and Close to My Heart "Aurora across the page horizontally. The decorative tape (brand?) is such a simple way to elevate the design of the page. The title and mountain range embellishments are from Design Space along with the journaling. Each photo was matted in blue to help them pop off the patterned paper.

I hope you are inspired by this page in some way! Maybe you'll scrap some of your trips, or maybe you'll plan a future trip to the Tetons! I highly recommend it.

Jenny Lake - Two Page Travel Scrapbook Layout

 

Sorry that I've been MIA for several weeks. I'm fine! Just got out of the habit of posting for awhile. 

Here's a travel layout from September 2020 during our visit to the Cascade Canyon in the heart of the Teton Range in Wyoming. Jenny Lake was the most beautiful inland lake we have seen to date! With beautiful pines framing it all around and the majestic Teton mountains as it's back drop, it's absolutely breathtaking! You need to go see the entire area, if you haven't yet. I can't imagine how much more beautiful it would have been had we not had some of the residual smoke blowing in from the California wildfires. 

This is one of those destinations where the pictures will always fall short of the incredible beauty you experience in person.

I used a dark olive green shade of textured Recollections cardstock as a backdrop to a fun blue and green plaid from Close to My Heart's Timber Collection. Scotch brand green wood grain decorative tape makes a nice transition around the edges of the plaid. The Aurora travel stamp set, also from CTMH, came through for the perfect embellishment. This is one of my favorite stamp sets so far for travel layouts.

I designed the title myself from 3 different fonts in Design Space. I usually try to connect the words and letters where I can so that I don't have to line up a bunch of individual letters. I just prefer the way it looks to design my own and it's fun for me. The journaling is also written out with my Cricut and designed to fit in the space available. 

Hope you enjoy this layout! My favorite part is the plaid paper and the color combo. I like how it brings out the natural beauty of the photos.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! 

Grand Teton National Park - Two Page Travel Scrapbook Layout

And just like that, the Christmas season is over. We're still decorated here, but that is how we roll. My husband loves to keep things up until his birthday in the middle of the month. I try to humor him as much as possible, because he does that for me. 

I didn't get as many of my finished Christmas layouts posted as I would have liked, but I'm moving on to some of our travel photos.

We were blessed to take the most wonderful trip to Wyoming after one of my work trips in the fall of 2020, when almost nobody was venturing out.  The Tetons are truly amazing. I want to go back some day. The scenery is breathtaking. 

The title is from Cricut Design Space. So fun to find a title that is perfect and ready to go on your page. 
 

I kept the colors natural to match the beautiful photos. As the journaling mentions, the smoke from several wild fires as visible in all the pictures, but still so beautiful. I can't even imagine it being more beautiful with clear blue skies. 

We took nature drives every day. Even when there was no wildlife around, the views couldn't be beat. 

I used a natural colored tan scrap, along with some checked Kraft washi tape to ground the photos. Super easy!!

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Christmas Memories - Two Page Christmas Scrapbook Layout

 
Hello friends. I have another Christmas layout to share with you today!

Do you love plaid paper as much as me?? I also love the black matting behind the pictures. Especially for Christmas layouts! Here's a few pictures of our tree, and some of our Christmas decor from a few years back. 

This photo of my grandkids is my absolute favorite!! I love their smiles and relaxed, but excited, expressions. Aren't the adorable? 

Thanks for stopping by again!! Merry Christmas Eve!

Fantasy of Lights - Two Page Christmas Scrapbook Layout

 I'm on a roll here with posting my Christmas layouts from a few years back. It's been fun reliving the memories as I share my layouts with you. 

I love the paper with this layout. It reminds me of vertical light strings. I added the simple evergreens with white "snow", and cut a few strands of mini lights to drape across the top. Love when you can save the free pass and use it for the title!

I had the two glittery scraps (journaling background and horizontal piece) that match your layout perfectly. I love to use scraps!

I hope you are inspired by this layout. It's such a busy and exhausting time!! Here's to getting everything done and then being able to relax and enjoy the magic and peace that follows.

I'm planning to post a few more, if I can squeak in the time.