Three California Dreamin' Scrapbook Layouts

Here's a few layouts from our 2015 trip to California. This was a work trip, but we managed to have some fun at the same time.

 This was our beautiful hotel. Very comfortable! Couldn't ask for anything else, except to take all the sunshine back home to Indiana.

 Don't you love this tropical floral paper? The colors are amazing.

Here's a layout showing off the outside grounds for our hotel.

 They had a walkway over the Pacific Coast Highway which took you right down tot he beach.

 I think it's time for another CA trip. You can't really beat the weather and the views.

Here's another layout of the hotel grounds. Loved our stay there. I spent much of the time a little stressed out due to being the meeting planner, but what a place to be stressed!

 The pool, fountains, and flowers were gorgeous!

 I wish I'd had a little more time to sit on the beach, but since I was there to work, I can't complain.

Thanks again for stopping by my blog. See you soon!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Hightway 1"

Today, I'm sharing some a layouts from our 30th anniversary trip to Key West (December 2015)! We had a great time together in a really beautiful location.

 We flew into Miami, rented a vehicle and drove down through the keys. These pictures are from the beautiful spots we saw along our adventure.

 The paper is Bazill cardstock and the Abroad Collection from Studio Calico. The title is from Cricut's Graphically Speaking, Hwy sign is from Going Places, and the number from Nate's ABC's. I layered it up with some banners made from scraps of the map paper and topped it with a SU dot.

 My 2" circle punches (StampinUp!) worked great with the circle maps on the paper.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! More layouts to come this week.

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Priceless"

Fun with the grandbabies! I used to do this with my sons, so it was fun to pull a chair up to the sink and let the grandkids enjoy splashing around.

 Any one-on-one time with these two cuties is a precious time of making memories. I wish I had more memories of times like this with my own grandparents back in the day.

 I'm not sure what the discussion was with PawPaw here, but I know it must have been precious. What a joy to watch my dear husband first become a wonderful Daddy, and now a precious PawPaw to these two!

I didn't make any notes on this layout about the materials I used, but I remember crumpling up the red side banners before attaching them just to give it a little more texture. I used my SU punch for the mini flowers and then layered them up with mini brads. The journaling tag was cut with Art Philosophy and the title (Priceless) is from Graphically Speaking.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "This is Life"

I'm sharing another layout from a few years back featuring candid photos of an extended family get together. We had such a great time!! It's especially fun to see the littles play together!

 The paper is Cloud 9 with washi from MakingMemories "Boy Crazy" and ribbon from American Crafts.

 I punched a bunch of different circles from scraps and used them as a super simple embellishment. I like the way they looked with the "This is Life" title from Cricut's Graphically Speaking. Can I just say it again...I LOVE this cartridge, and use it all the time for titles! The journaling card is from Doodlebug.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!! Have a happy scrappy weekend!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Location, Location, Location"

I'm still working my way through the layouts from our California trip last year. This one features pictures from our brief visit to Beverly Hills! Yes, it's beautiful there, but no, we didn't see anybody famous. :)

 I really like the way this layout turned out. The colors are vibrant and it has a vintage look! The title was cut twice from Cricut's "Graphically Speaking" cartridge. I attached them with foam dimensional squares between the two layers to give it extra definition and to create a shadow effect. Placing it on the white circle and setting the title on an angle really made it pop.

 I adore the Route 66 die cut from Cricut's "Nifty Fifties" cartridge! How cute is that!?! My husband and I would like to drive the entire route of Route 66 some day...bucket list trip. October Afternoon's circle alpha stickers add to the vintage look of the page and echo the polka dot patterned paper from Simple Stories "Snap". The arrow and yellow stars are also from "Nifty Fifties". I attached the stars with mini red brads.

Pretty easy page, really, with just enough embellishments to let the photos be the focal point. Using wallet size photos helps me to pack in the pics and still have room for design elements.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I'm going away with friends for scrapping Monday through Thursday of next week!!! I can't wait!!!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Journey"

The next day, we headed off across the state to the Sequoia National Park. The scenery changed very quickly as we headed away from the coast. We took some great pictures of the dry dessert like landscape on our way.

Even though this was a completely different color pallet than we'd seen the last few days, it was beautiful in it's own way....with beautiful browns, golds, and oranges set against the pretty blue sky.

 The locals were enjoying the cool Kaweah River below and we stopped for a few photos before finishing our drive up to the Sequoia National Park.

The paper is Little Yellow Bicycle's "Travel" along with the feathers I cut from Fancy Pants "Summers End". I layered them in the corner, popping up the smaller ones. The Chevrons were cut with my SU photo corner punch, and the title is from Cricut's Graphically Speaking

Thanks for stopping by today. More California layouts to come...

Two Page Layout - "Location..."

The views along the Big Sur are amazing and totally worth the curvy drive. I almost felt bad that my husband had to keep his eyes on the road, because I definitely got to see way more of the sites than he did.

 We took full advantage of the many opportunities to pull off the road and take photos. Each stop seemed even more gorgeous than the last.

 We stopped to see the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas, just before we got off the Big Sur and headed for Cambria. The seals were very noisy (and a little stinky), but fun to watch.

The paper is Sandlion's "Board Walk" and the title is from Graphically Speaking, along with the star next to the title. The larger stars were printed on the paper, so I added a brad to the center for additional definition.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Stay tuned for more California Dreamin' layouts.

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Priceless"

I'm taking a little break from the California Dreamin layouts to show off our adorable grandbabies. :) These two are too much fun! They keep us young! We love them so much.

 We are so grateful to be near both of our kids and our grandkids! What a blessing to be part of their every day lives. These photos were taken during one of the many times where we watched them for awhile to give their Mom and Dad a well deserved date night. Not sure how we got started with playing in the kitchen sink water, but that was great fun! I remember my youngest loving to do this too.

Sawyer was getting into the action too, splashing around like his sister.

 What great memories from that day. We tried out the tricycle and took a walk around the block with the wagon. It was only March, so it was still a little chilly.

I didn't write down the supplies, but I know the red chevron is washi tape and the cute little flowers are punched with SU triple flower punch. The red banner strip was folded by hand in a random fashion to give it some extra texture. The journaling tag is Art Philosophy and the title die cut is Graphically Speaking (priceless).

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. The next post will be our first stop on the Pacific Coat Hwy (Big Sur) at Carmel by the Sea. See you soon!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Everyday Life"

I tend to take a lot of pictures of life as it happens. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Thankfully we are blessed with a lot of good, and very little of the bad and the ugly. :)

 Every Sunday we plan to hang out together as a family, just being together, with on real agenda. Of course, we always eat together, but aside from that, we just play with the kids and get caught up on what's going on in each other's lives. It's not always convenient, but once we make the effort, it's always a great time, with lots of laughs.

 Really? What could be better than hanging out with these little cuties?? I remember my grandparents coming over for visits! At the time, it didn't really seem like anything that special, but now as I look back, I remember my Grandma's wonderful laugh, and my Dad telling stories about work, and my brother and I just sitting around doing our own thing as teenagers. I hope that we are making the same kind of memories with our grandkids. :) Wow, I suddenly feel really old.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Go hug your kids or grandkids! I know that you will. :)

Two Page Layout - "Together"

Here's another layout with pictures from our trip to St. Augustine. As the journaling states, the best part of this trip for me was having all of us under one roof, just doing life together by the beach, for a whole week!! We made a lot of memories that will last a lifetime.

I just have to point out one of my favorite pictures (bottom left), where my oldest son is hamming it up on the boardwalk when he realized his Dad had the camera out. He is such a hoot! My granddaughter steals the layout, though, with her precious expressions looking out the window.

Loving this Jillibean Soup paper, American Crafts and "Amy Tangerine". The water color looks very beachy and colorful. I used a utility knife to cut around the flower in the lower left corner allowing the flower to creep up over the edge of the picture. A little glue pen and blue glitter really made the black and white sketched flower sparkle. The black title "together" is from Cricut's Graphically Speaking.

The diecut black flower is Cricut's Art Philosophy. I used my label maker with clear tape for the journaling. The brads are My Minds Eye Collectable by Jen Allison.

I really love the artsy look of this page. It's a different style for me, but it was fun. My favorite part is the black diecut accents.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Have a sunny and lovely weekend.

Two Page Layout - "Delicious"

Have you ever scrapped about a special meal? If you've ever eaten at a Brazilian Steakhouse, it's definitely worth documenting for all time. The hotel we stayed at in Niagara gave us a BOGO coupon for this all you can eat steakhouse. It was a carnivorous event and worth every cent!!

 I made my own journaling tag to fit the center square. I used an embossing folder to create notebook paper with lines for neater journaling. I need all the help, I can get.The striped paper, stickers, banners, and embellishments are from a vintage pack that I had in my stash. I thought the number banners were appropriate since the servers keep bringing you meat to your table over and over, and over again, until you turn over you coaster to red as a signal you've had enough.

I am so terrible with dates. I had to fix the date above to 2011. My husband will catch it every time, but I just don't remember the years. Maybe I should stay more current with my scrapbooking...lol.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I hope that you have a delicious meal worth scrapping about in your future.

Two Summer Layouts - "South Haven" and "Enjoy"

Oh man, I could handle weather in the 70's for the next four months or so. It's breezy and beautiful! Where is the hammock?

I have a couple more Lake Michigan getaway layouts to share with you today. My youngest boy is back at college, and I'm missing him already. He's the good looking one in these layouts.

 Lovin the red white and blue distressed nautical look to this layout.

 I used my Fiskars postage stamp border punch around the edge. The banner is from Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. It punches the holes and everything. That makes it really easy to string it up with baker's twine. If you are looking for an excellent jam-packed cartridge that you will use all the time...Art Philosophy (from Close to My Heart) is it!! I use it every time I scrap.

The stamped tags are StampinUp! I love the distressed, nautical look when stamped in this pretty blue.

This paper was pretty fitting for the pictures we took on the boardwalk at Pentwater. I grouped my pictures in the center of the two page layout so the design on the paper remained visible. There were several cute little gears, tags and stamps on the paper for me to journal on. The August 12 tag is from Close to My Heart. I also added several red circular stamps on the layout to bring some red over from the the right side of the layout.

This paper already had the red distressing on it. I added some more random red stamps and sentiments around the pictures. When I'm at a loss for a title, I turn to Cricut's Graphically Speaking cartridge. There are so many great options to choose from.

 Here are the pages side-by-side. I love it when I can find papers from two different brands that work together. =)

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and have a blessed week!

"Enjoy Life" summer layout

Ah....the weekend, finally! Hello Friday!

Today, I want to share a fresh summer layout of our vacation last year. I added it to my son's album just last week before his party. I've scrapped some of these pictures for our family album, but Jacob wanted last summer represented in his album too. I love that he cares!

 I love the bright green cardstock and the way it makes the pictures pop. I also matted each photo on white for even more definition. The patterned paper is from the Teen Angst collection. It has a little shiny stripe in it. I've had this orange felt "laugh" sticker in my stash for probably close to a year! So fun to finally use it! The circular stamps were purchased on the clearance rack at Michaels. This was the first I'd used them, but so perfect for the layout. Also cool that my scrappy friend had a circle punch the perfect size to punch them out! I love it when that happens!

 I used the Notebook punch to put a little detail on the edge of the strip going across the middle. I cut the sun with my Cricut and layered it on another patterned paper cirlce behind the title (Graphically Speaking). Again, I used some smaller wallet pictures in order to pack them in (11 pics) and still have the space to get a little creative.

Here's a closeup of the journallng and layering. I mounted the "Be You" stamped cirlce onto a larger patterned paper cirlce and fringed the edge all the way around. It turned out kind of cool!

Thanks for looking! Have a wonderful weekend!