Final Goodbyes - Two Page Layout

Finally, this is it! My very last scrapbook layout from our 2017 Israel trip. This was our final meal together as a group at the Andromeda House. It was an amazing spread of tasty food. Why didn't I take a picture of the buffet? It was so good! I'm not a very adventurous eater, but found the food in Israel was a very pleasant surprise.

 We all had scheduled departure times with the airport shuttle. I was glad we had a later departure so we could stay with our group as long as possible and see them off as one of the host couples for our group.

We started our adventure in Tiberius along the Sea of Galilee, travelled to Jerusalem, and finally watched the sun set over the Mediterranean. I never thought we'd be able to see Israel, yet here we were!! What an incredible and unexpected blessing that we'll never forget!

Definitely the trip of our lifetime. We learned a lot, but also two years later, feel like we've forgotten a lot of historical details. We just may need to go back some time in the future.

Thanks for letting me share our amazing trip with you. I hope you've been inspired in some way. What next?? You'll have to stop back and see, but maybe some wedding layouts? 😊 I've got a whole box of recently finished layouts to photograph! Maybe you'll see those soon.

Two Page SCrapbook Layout - "Jaffa Walking Tour"

Today, I'm sharing another two page layout from our amazing time in Israel. Jaffa's claim to fame is the TRUE story of Jonah and the Whale. The Lord told Jonah  to go to Nineveh, but he went to Jaffa (aka Joppa) where he boarded a ship and went to Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

My husband took some great pictures as they walked through the town and learned more about the history of Jaffa. It was yet another blistering hot day, and everybody came to dinner sweating!! But, again, well worth the effort. We ate our last meal together as a group before we all boarded our airport shuttles. The coast is very scenic, especially with TelAviv's skyline as a backdrop. I love the colorful doors, brick walkways, and interesting architecture.

 This layout was super simple with the solid aqua cardstock, seven photos and map embellishments. A little bit of twine around the left side, camera die cut, map letter stickers, and postcard journaling to finish it off.

This is another example of how I pack in the photos. Here I used digital size photos to give enough room to stack the vertical photos on top of each other still leaving a bit of blank space all the way around.

Hope this layout inspires you in some way!! Thanks for stopping by. One more Israel layout to share soon!! 

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Time to Celebrate"

Just a few more Israel layouts to share! Whew!!! There were quite a few. This is what happens when you have so many great memories to capture. They all fit nicely in one album, though, so I think I did well!

 This is a second layout from our final gala event. The guy behind me looking my direction is the person I work closely with to help plan our agent trips. He's kind of like a big brother to me. I wish I could remember why we were all laughing, but I'm thinking the joke was on me here based on my expression. 😆

 It was such a great night seeing all of our planning play out in real life. What a blessing to even be there with my colleagues! I was a last minute add to the invitation list, so even more of a surprise blessing! My husband and I are just so grateful for the opportunity to experience Israel with so many amazing people that we know and love!!

I chose to play off the pink in my necklace and in the centerpiece flowers. Matting the pics in green amped up the color even more. I love the memories this layout evokes for my husband and I!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Two more trip layouts coming soon!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Time to Celebrate"

Here's another layout of our final gala event in Israel! The trip was an amazing, once in a lifetime experience for my husband and I. So many memories made with our wonderful work family. It was such an amazing event!

 After dinner there was dessert and a time for open mic, for anybody who wanted to share about their Israel experience. Once again, I was completely blown away by the amazing agents that we have the pleasure to work with every day. I'm so grateful for the way they represent our company to the churches that we serve across the country!

 We are beyond blessed to have been able to participate in this amazing trip! We were able to experience walking in the places where Jesus walked and learning more about his vast love and ultimate sacrifice for us all!! Words really can't describe it all.

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a blessed week!!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Olmaya Gala"

Our final event in Israel was a Gala where we celebrated our time together. What an amazing venue with a panoramic view of the Old City.

The location, décor, entertainment, food, and our amazing group made it a phenomenal memory for everybody who was there. I felt so blessed to be given the opportunity to help with the planning of this once in a lifetime trip, from start to finish, and then see it all play out in person with all of these amazing coworkers and agents.

 Everybody was taking photos in groups and as couples with the old city in the background while listening to the jazz band on the lawn and enjoying some hors d'oeuvres. Then we went in for an amazing dinner together.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I have a few more Israel layout to share so stay tuned!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Mount of Olives"

Today I have another Israel scrapbook page to share with you.

 Our bus drove by a camel being ridden on the road as we were driving to the Mount of Olives. The same camel is pictured here. They were selling camel rides. Some of our group decided to do this. it looked like fun! The view from this point was breathtaking. This is where we started our walk down the long brick street (Hosanna Walk). Which will be pictured more in my next layout.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Have a scrappy, crafty week!

Two Page Scrapbook layout - "Zacchaeus' Sycamore Tree"

Today, I have another Israel layout to share with you. I'm about half way through sharing my layouts. I'm very happy that all the photos are scrapped and memories are in tact for future generations and not just sitting on a Scan Disk where nobody can enjoy them.

 Jericho is in Palestinian territory, so we didn't stay long. We never felt like we were in danger, but we could tell when our tour guides got a little "antsy" that we needed to hurry along.

 In the middle of scrapping all our Israel pictures, I felt like I was running out of embellishment ideas. Here I used travel washi, some wood arrows that I colored with markers, and some photo corners on a few of the pictures, making a rectangle. I'd have to say this one is not my favorite Israel layout, but it's done and the memories have been captured.

Nobody is sure if this is the EXACT tree that Zacchaeus climbed, but we do know it is in the general area and that this sycamore tree is hundreds of years old.

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "The Ride"

Here's another travel layout from our trip to Israel in 2017!!

 This layout is the second half of the last layout I shared from our jeep tour up into the Golan Heights area. The ride down was amazing.. from our group picnic, to the company, to the gorgeous views of the Sea of Galilee in the distance.

Our picnic was at a clearing in a safe spot with a watering hole where the soldiers come to cool off. We sat on benches and rugs and had a very tasty gourmet buffet. I was worried how I'd like the food there, but I liked almost everything that was served to us through our trip!

 As we wound our way back down, we stopped at several spots for pictures. When we got back to meet up with our bus, our driver purchased some lychee fruit from a local who was selling it. I'd never tried it before. They taste like a cross between a large juicy grape and a small kiwi. Total YUM, especially when super hot and thirsty. There was some controversy from the locals over the best way to get inside to the fruit 😃, but we picked our method and enjoyed every bite.

I cut the mountains and pine trees with my Cricut to resemble the hills and trees in the area. I used travel washi and a leftover strip of travel paper with a map. I used travel washi to cover some wood embellishments (arrow, circle, pennant). I also broke out the roll of "filmstrip" that I haven't used in years. I think it added a lot to this page. I try to plan ahead when printing pictures and order as many pics as possible in wallet size in order to fit a lot more pics on the page.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Built on the Rock"

Time to share another layout from my completed Israel scrapbook!

On the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee in Tabgha, Israel sits this beautiful little stone church commemorating the location of Jesus' reinstatement of Peter. The nearby red brick church sits in the spot where he fed the five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish. 

 We stuck our toes in the sea, knowing this is close to where Jesus called his disciples to follow him and be fishers of men.

There were just so many pictures to choose from! I managed to fit 10 on here and still have a bit of room for design.

Hope this layout inspires you in some way!! Have you ever been to Israel? Such an amazing place!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Peter's House"

Today, I'm sharing another Israel layout - Peter's House in Capernaum. So many interesting sites to see and it was only Day 3 of our adventures.

 You could look down through the glass floor and see the remains of Peter's house!

You can read more about it in the journaling. It's definitely the trip of a life time, if you ever get to go! It's so amazing to walk where Jesus walked. Especially with the group of friends, coworkers and agents that participated with us. So many deepened friendships and memories made!

I hope these Israel layouts will inspire you with your travel pages or any type of layout, actually. It's as simple as changing out the paper and the embellishments. 

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Ancient Fishing Boat"

Here's my third layout from my completed Israel album.

 The remains of this ancient fishing boat were found along the shore of the Sea of Galilee in 1986. It was painstakingly uncovered, restored and put on display. There were many amazing pieces of history on display at the museum.

I tried to keep my embellishments to a minimum throughout this album. The point is for the photos of our wonderful trip to be the spotlight and tell the story.

 I hope these layouts will spark ideas for your future travel layouts or any kind of layout, actually. When I look at layouts others have created I'm usually trying to find the best way to arrange my photos on the page, where to put the title, journaling, embellishments, etc. I get a lot of ideas from Pinterest, but many times I just start laying out my photos to see what works. I tend to use a lot of photographs on each layout. Especially with this album, since I had so many great photos to choose form.

Thanks for following! Have a crafty week!! It's starting to look a bit like spring here in northeast Indiana. Thunderstorms are on their way later tonight.

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "Sea of Galilee"

Ever been to Israel? Is it a bucket list trip for you? We never thought we'd fulfill this dream, but in 2017 we were invited to go for a work trip! What a surprise and great blessing!

 First day of touring was a short sail on the beautiful Sea of Galilee! It was smooth as glass that day and it was hard to imagine that is where Jesus calmed the storms and waves and Peter walked on the water.

 What a great group of people to experience this with. We read Bible verses and sang praises as we crossed to our next destination.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "The Big Adventure"

Two years ago, we were blessed beyond belief to be invited to attend a work trip to Israel. One of the favorite parts of my job is helping to plan and organize agent incentive and training trips that we offer every two years. I typically am invited on the domestic trips only, but in 2017, I was giddy with the surprise invitation for my husband and I to join the group in Israel for our company's centennial year! Wow!!! 

I finished the album about 6 months ago, but haven't shared any of the layouts yet. It always takes me a while to photograph each page, then crop and edit them. So, now is the time! I will space them out a little with other family layouts, so that it doesn't get too boring. I was afraid all of the layouts might look the same, but I think they all have their own look and feel. So...here we go!! I'll share them in the same chronological order as our trip, because that is how my brain works.

What a long couple of flights! We broke it up a bit by laying over in Paris, so that I wouldn't get too sore from sitting. I have arthritis and sciatic issues, so getting out and moving was very helpful, even though it meant taking longer to get there.

From the moment we were picked up at the airport and ushered quickly through security, we were pampered and spoiled. The travel company took great care of us and we could relax and enjoy. It was such a joy to see the trip that we'd been planning for more than two years, playout in real life!

From the moment we started the commute from airport to hotel, it was obvious that we were not in the US. We knew this would be a great adventure and a trip of a lifetime for us!!

Even if you are not interested in Israel, these simple layouts can be used for any type of travel, or as a template for any two page layout, really. Just switch out the paper and embellishments and make it your own!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Two Page Scrapbook Layout - "My Life in Legos"

This is a fun layout that needs some explanation. One of the guys I work with is a Master with Legos. He wins competitions around the country with his awesome creations. This is a replica of the Second Temple of Israel. It was amazing!

More to the side story...The insurance company we work for planned an incentive trip for our agents to the Holy Lands to commemorate our company's 100th year in business. He and I both work hard to plan the trips, so he built this replica of the temple and brought it in big pieces to work. It was on display in our cafeteria for a few weeks. He added lego people to the top and around the perimeter of the temple wall to depict several of our co-workers, and of course, one of them was me! How fun!

That's me in the upper right picture holding the light and the clipboard! I love this so much!

 Everybody had a great time finding themselves on and around the wall! He picked out features, hobbies, and distinctive characteristics of our co-workers and it was pretty easy to figure out who was who.

 He painstakingly wrapped and tied robes around each of the lego people inside the temple to look like the people of Israel!

I love that this layout is where our hobbies collide. Since I scrapbooked his lego creation, I think it's time for him to create a lego piece depicting one of my scrapbook layouts! :)