What I Did Last Summer

Hello!  It has been a while since my last post.  I'm still having trouble with wrist pain that comes and goes.  It has not forced me to stop crafting, but it has forced me to craft "smarter."  One thing that I continue to experiment with is a smaller, easy-to-handle album size for my scrapbooking.

Album by Mara Mi; page sleeves by Target.

This past summer my family took a vacation in the state of North Dakota, and I made a mini album to showcase our favorite photos from the trip.  I used a mini 3-ring binder with page sleeves that measure 5.5x8.5" (half the size of a standard 8.5x11" sheet of paper).  I photographed the album next to a tea spoon so that you could get an idea of the size.  It's a lightweight album that is easy to hold in the hand.

Most of my time in North Dakota was spent visiting relatives, but I did some sightseeing as well.  Here is a page commemorating my visit to "The World's Larget Bison" statue.
 

Cardstock by Bazzill; navy blue paper & mottled orange paper by Michael's; patterned paper by Doodlebug; floral stickers by Simple Stories; alphabet stickers by Lily Bee.

Most of the landscape I saw on vacation was very flat, since North Dakota is a Great Plains state.  That flat land makes the sky look so much bigger!
 

Cardstock by Bazzill; map paper by Echo Park; cloud paper & polaroid paper by Doodlebug; alphabet stickers by Lily Bee; pen by  Zig;

The rare occasions when a hill or a valley broke up that flat landscape definitely warranted a photo.
 

Background paper by Michael's; green patterned paper, tree sticker, & alphabet stickers from Simple Stories; plaid papers from Lawn Fawn; fussy-cut rainbow paper from Doodlebug; curve cutting template from Creative Memories; pen from Zig.

I loved working with this smaller page size, and I definitely plan to do it again sometime.  An added benefit was that the 3-ring format allowed me to add exactly the number of pages I needed.  I ended up using 11 page sleeves to house a total of 41 photos.  I hope you enjoyed this little peek at my North Dakota album!  The three pages that I've shown you here are some of my favorites.

A Mini Album Made from Scraps

For today's destashing post, I want to share with you a mini album made entirely of scraps and random household items.  I've shared bits and pieces of this album in previous posts, but I've never shared the whole album before...until today!

front cover

pages 1 & 2

page 3

page 4

pages 5 & 6

page 7

page 8

back cover

I have not included a supply list for this project, because such a list would be so long.  However, I do want to mention that the album pages themselves are made of cardboard from food packaging, and I'm sure you can spot bubble wrap stamping, napkin decoupage, scrap collage, and glitter.  Here are a couple extra detail shots that better show how the glitter on the pages catches the light.

My son loves to grab this album and page through it.  I think that one reason he likes it is that it's just the right size for little hands.  I hope that you like it, too!

Top 14 of 2014

Hello, everyone!  We're only a couple weeks into 2015, but I hope that the new year is treating you well so far.  I've taken some time to reflect on my body of work from 2014, and I've come up with a list of my favorite projects.  Here it is, my "Top 14 of 2014."

Blogged here.

1.) My son left me a sticky note on this scrapbook page after he saw it.  The note says, "Dear Mom, Awesome!  I mean it!"  How could this not be my favorite project of the year???

 

Blogged here.

2.) This page celebrates the other special guy in my life, my husband.  Plus, I feel like I captured the romantic feeling of our anniversary really well in this page.

 

Blogged here.

3.) I also used the romantic style for this tag mini book, a project that turned out to be both beautiful and useful.

Blogged here.

 4.) In contrast to the romantic style of the last two projects, my favorite card of the year has a strong graphic style.  It was a great way to showcase that patterned paper that we all love.

 

Blogged here.

5.) I'm also proud of the strong graphic design of this page.  Plus, I always enjoy documenting my family's obsession with passion for kung fu.

Blogged here.

 6.) I'm happy that I was able to include so much journaling on this page.

Blogged here.

 7.) There is quite a bit of journaling on this one as well, plus I liked being able to include so many photos.

 

Blogged here.

8.) This computer banner made a great surprise for my husband on Valentine's Day.

Blogged here.

 9.) This gift card holder was also a great surprise, this time for a friend's birthday.  (The friend is a physics/astronomy teacher, so the star chart paper was a big hit.)

Blogged here.

 10.) The bold mix of colors and patterns on this page makes it a favorite of mine.

Blogged here.

11.) I also like the colors and pattern play on this one.

Blogged here.

12.  And, in contrast to the previous two projects, I liked using lighter colors and an airier design on this card.

Blogged here.

13.) In 2014 I often made cards in coordinating sets, something I hope to continue doing in 2015.  This set is my favorite from last year.

Blogged here.

14.) Finally, this page was just plain fun--fun to make and fun to look at.  And fun is what it's all about, right?  Right!