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.

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.

Grow - Two Page Scrapbook Layout

Are you enjoying your summer? It seems to be flying by a little quickly for me. 

One of my non-crafting hobbies is house plants. I do like to dabble with planting outside flowers. Mainly in pots on the front porch. Nothing like a full garden of flowers. That's too much of a time and attention commitment for me. Unfortunately, this year, we haven't even gotten around to filling our outside planters. It's kind of embarrassing! I just haven't carved out time for it. We hope to get to it once we get back from our upcoming work trip. Hopefully there will still be a decent selection of flowers left at the greenhouses, but I'm not holding my breath.

In years past, we've planted fairy gardens with our grands!! We didn't even get that done yet! I'm hoping it can still happen this season. I don't know if they've missed it, but we have!

 These are pics of our fairy and pirate gardens from 2020. Didn't the kids do a great job?? They look pretty proud of their creations. Every year, I cave in and buy her another fairy. I mean, can you really have too many fairies in one garden? 😍 Some of her fairies have migrated into our house and enjoying my house plants. They seem to be content, for now.

Our grandson used pirate toys and two different colors of pebbles to cover the potting soil. So fun! 

The paper is BoBunny's "Zip A Dee Doodle" and American Crafts "Lucky Charm". I am crushing on green and blue lately. 

I used a tiny bit of my Mom's old yellow measuring tape for a pop of yellow.💗 If you zoom in on it, you will see that is made of fabric and has stitching on it. They don't make it like that any more. I still miss her so much!! She was a master seamstress and sewing was one of her happy places! For more yellow, I added some SU washi tape at the top of a pic and a yellow button on the watering can. 

Hope you are feeling inspired today. Have a scrappy week!

Happy 7 - Two Page birthday girl scrapbook layout

 Why haven't I posted this one yet? We're getting ready to celebrate our granddaughter's 11th!! Oh well, apparently I'm a few years behind. Shocker!

She is spunky, a little sassy, and a lot of sweetness! We couldn't love her more.

I love seeing the expressions on her face and watching her open her gifts. She looks so young here!!

I added some little details like photo corners, file tabs, washi tape, and mixed some patterned paper, along with layering up some of journal cards and embellishments. The aqua twine seems to tie it all together. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Hope you enjoy your weekend.

Breakfast - Two Page Scrapbook Layout

 Do you scrapbook your food? Food photos are a big thing for some, but not really for me. Unless it is a fun and memorable experience that I want to document!

On our way home from "Up North" we stopped at this wonderful restaurant for breakfast. I loved the yummy traditional breakfast food (including crispy bacon), yummy lattes, and the fun vintage decor.

To fit with the vintage vibe, I used some Ombre geometric paper for the background. So fun! I can't think of a better use for this last bit of paper from Glitz "Finley".  The button is cut like a prism and I'm sure it's going to stick out in my album, but worth it! The little mini alpha stamps are an easy way to add the name of the restaurant as a subtitle - Anna's House, Holland, MI

I love all the little knick knacks on the shelves. No, I wouldn't want them in my own house, but the decor made this place special and memorable. It was a wonderful blend of new and old. Look at "Flo" on the ladies room door. She's perfect!

The Scotch washi tape seems to tie it all together well. I especially like the title and coffee cup cut with images from Design Space. I used my Cricut to journal since I had a rather small space and wanted it to be legible. 😀

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Hope your week is off to a good start!

Rough Water- Two Page Vacation Layout

 Pointe Betsie Lighthouse on Lake Michigan used to be one of my old hangouts with the guy I dated previously to my husband. His family had a lake cottage near here and the whole family would come and watch the sunset.  My husband and I stopped there a few years ago when we were passing through the area. The water was crazy!! I love watching it crash in on the breakers! It was surprising how much of the beach had eroded in the last 35 years or so. 

I used three different strips of coordinating patterned paper across the page. Oh...I see my little strip of ruler paper on the right has slipped. Ooops! Why don't I see those things when I'm taking my pics. I wanted the little Frankfort MI tag to be at an angle but not the ruler piece. You'll have to use your imagination.

I matted all the pics in light blue to pop them off the green. I created the title and welded it all together on my Cricut. I cut a lighthouse similar to the one at Pointe Betsie and wrapped some black and white Baker's twine around it. I added some washi and some patterned Kraft flowers from my stash and used  my Cricut to journal the story.

I hope you are inspired to do something crafty!! I've had ZERO motivation over here lately. I'm going to be scrapping for 5 whole days with my friends next week so I need to find my creative juices soon!! Hope you all have a great weekend.

This is How I Roll - Police Academy Two Page Scrapbook Layout

 We celebrated my son with a party at his home. We had a great group of people show up to show their support for his new role and sacrifice for the community. I'm so grateful for these photos and the great memories that still linger in my heart from this day. 

Scarlet got into the photo booth and her expressions crack me up! She's so serious!

I used  a lot of different red white and blue patterned paper, and some miscellaneous police stickers. I matted all of the pictures on white to help them pop off the patterned paper. My Cricut did the journaling for me so all can read my thoughts and emotions for this major life event.

Super fun and simple layout. Hope you are inspired in some way. 

Academy Graduation - Two Page Scrapbook Layout

 Wow...It's been awhile since I posted anything here. Life has been hard, and somewhat out of control. But, here I am with another scrapbook layout form my son's graduation from the police academy. I decided to add the program for the ceremony.

Look at that almost bald head! It's a little longer now, but academy is all about the close cut, super shined shoes, etc. It was such a proud day for all of us!!

I used some masculine navy hounds tooth washi tape, cut a few badges, and used my Cricut to journal. It's so much more legible than my own writing. 

Have a happy Mother's Day and enjoy your family. 

Masculine Birthday Cards

 Brrrr.....Baby it's cold outside. I wish I could sit home all day, and make stuff. No, really. I'm ready to retire, but my age bracket doesn't quite hit than benchmark yet...Nor does my IRA. Looks like I need to keep my day job. Do you look forward to retirement? The older I get, the more I can't wait!! 

Today, I thought I'd share a few masculine birthday cards with you. I honestly, struggle with cards in general as compared to scrapbooking. Typically I browse my Pinterest boards and find something for a jumping off point. 

I love this city scene. I think it is super cool. This one was created for one of my nephews. I liked the simple black and white color scheme. The stamp of the city is cut out and popped up with foam squares, but it would also work as super quick one layer card.

I can't get enough of tree stamps. Fall is my favorite, so trees, leaves, pumpkins and the like run rampant in my collection. This was a quick card, but it looks classy. You could add additional layers of colored solid cardstock under the patterned paper, or not...you choose.

This is probably my favorite on this post. Striped washi tape, grungy background stamps, a bit of ribbon, a popped up bright red star, and a graphic birthday stamped pennant. The colors give it a masculine look, but it would be fun experimenting for a similar grungy girly look.

This one is my second favorite and so stinkin' simple. If you are like me, you have a ton of patterned scraps. Grab some with coordinating masculine colors/patterns and cut a mustache either by hand, or on your Cricut. Add some grungy dots and you're done. The men in my life all love their facial hair, so it was perfect.

It's Christmas - Two Page Christmas layout

 It's time to share another Christmas layout from 2019 with you. Sooooo many Christmas layouts to share, and I just forget to jump on here and get it done. So here's a cutie for you.

Who doesn't love a jolly little elf? This little guy is almost as cute as my grandkids.

These two grands of mine have changed and grown up so much over the last two years! It's crazy to look at these pictures. They are our little joy bringers.

I love the bottom pic in comparison to the unwrapping chaos!! So much fun in the middle of the chaos, though. I used two different Christmas themed patterned papers for this layout, and another darker green strip across the bottom. I found some Christmas washi to tie in the green strip. The multi-strands of bakers twine made a nice bow to highlight the journaling.

Thanks for stopping by my page today! Have a blessed new year with much happy crafting!

Apple of My Eye - Two Page Fall Scrapbook Layout

 Fall is my favorite!!! Apples, gourds, pumpkins and everything else. Today I'd like to share a layout from a few years back featuring pictures with our grands from one of our favorite orchards.

Do you put titles on your page? I almost always do. It's another way for me to be creative with my page and make it all my own.

I used some numbered washi to line the edges, and multiple scraps of matching fall themed patterned paper. I do love to mix and match. I only had one sheet of the apple paper, or I may have used that all the way across. Leaving a space between the strips was a new thing for me, but I think I like the effect and also leaving a border all the way around and between, if that makes sense.

I matted the photos in black so they wouldn't get lost on the page. This really helped them to stand out, and also tied in the black printed washi tape. Same idea for the black and white baker's twine around one of the photos.

An apple-picking page just wouldn't be complete without layering up some apples!! Using my StampinUp! scalloped punch, I punched around one of the apples on the patterned paper, then matted it again with the 2" circle punch, then popped it all up on the page using dimensionals. 

The orchard and pumpkin picking is one of our fall traditions with the grands. Love them so much! I can't believe this layout is already two years old!! They are growing up so fast! 😢

Hope you enjoy this layout. I have a few more layouts to share for fall as well as a few Halloween layouts. I better get cracking and start posting more often. Have a great week!!