Summer Plans

It has felt like summer for awhile now here, but the calendar officially ticked over to summer (for northern hemisphere folks) on Sunday.  I am really enjoying being outside in the sunshine.  One fun thing that I recently did was have tea at an outdoor cafe with a friend.  She had black tea and a shortbread cookie.  I had white tea and a lemon cake.  Lately I love all things lemon.  And all things lemony yellow, too.  And speaking of summer and yellow makes me think of this scrapbook page that I made awhile ago but never shared on my blog (until now).

Supplies: paper & stickers from October Afternoon; button from Blumenthal Lansing; twine from Canvas Corp.; pens from Zig.

The story behind this layout starts last summer.  I got the program brochure from my local library and asked my son to look through it and tell me if he found any interesting programs we could attend.  However, the page that caught his interest was not a program description, but the map at the back of the brochure.  The map shows all the different library branch locations throughout the county.  "I want to go to all of them!" my son said.  We didn't make it to all forty-one locations, but, over the course of the summer, we actually made it to twenty.  It was quite an adventure.  Here are a few detail shots...

I cut that cute hot air balloon out of an 8x8" paper pad.  The pad also provided fun papers for photo mats.

My son and I kept track of the libraries we visited by highlighting the locations on the map.  I took a photo of the map (with the highlighter resting on top of it), printed the photo on my color printer, and used the printout as a journaling spot on the page.

Like I said, we visited twenty out of the forty-one libraries last summer.  Can you guess what my son wants to do this summer?  If you guessed that he wants to visit the remaining twenty-one libraries, you are correct.  We're on our way to that goal, having visited several more already.  

Now you know what I'm up to these days.  What are you doing this summer (or winter, if you're in the southern hemisphere)?  Let me know in the comments.  And if your adventures involve tea or any other beverage, why not link up with Elizabeth and Bleubeard's virtual tea party?  Enjoy!

#TBT Last Year at this Time...

This is my first time posting for Throwback Thursday (#TBT) on my blog.  I was just thinking about what a rainy June we had last year.  There was so much rain that water seeped into our basement and pooled on the floor.  Luckily, we have an unfinished basement with a concrete floor, so the damage was minimal.  But obviously we couldn't have water just sitting on the floor.  So, we got a sump pump.  And I love it.  Not for its looks, but for what it can do to prevent our basement from ever flooding again.
 

Supplies: cardstock from Bazzill; patterned paper, stickers, & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; notebook paper from Cachet; doilies from Celebrate It; pen from Foray; ink from Tsukineko; household mechanical pencil & mini calendar page.

 
I love the sump pump so much that I scrapbooked a photo of it on the June month-in-review page of my 2014 album.  And I even used the shabby-chic style, just to show my love...the scrapbook page is kind of like a frilly Valentine card to my sump pump.  In fact, the big doily in the background is actually made of eight little heart-shaped doilies.  I realize that my love for the sump pump is a bit silly, yet I just can't help it.  And that makes me smile.  I hope this scrapbook page makes you smile, too.  May your June weather be pleasant and your basement (if you have one) stay dry.  :)

Summer of Color Week 2: Easy-Breezy Card

I am continuing to create with the weekly color palettes from Summer of Color.  I made a card again this week, but my approach was different this time.  For Week One, I splashed around with watercolor paints.  This week, however, I embraced a simpler, much more orderly look. 
 

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; patterned paper from Jillibean Soup; cut-apart paper from October Afternoon; ribbon from Scrapbook Fantasies; glitter from Ranger; pen from Zig.

The color prompt for this week is 1 pink + 1 pink + 1 orange.  I have a sister-in-law who adores the color pink, so this card is for her.

For the most part, the lines of this card are straight and orderly.  But, to add just a touch of contrast, I swiped on a little bit of pink glitter.  You can see it better in this detail photo than in the main photo.  Hope you like the card!  Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Summer of Color Week 1: Birthday Tag/Bookmark

It's summer, hooray!  And that means it's time for the Summer of Color.  For week one, the color prompt is 1 blue + 1 blue + green.  To get started, I opened a watercolor set and chose three colors: sky blue, indigo blue, and apple green.  I've approximated these three colors in the borders that I've added to my photos.
 

Supplies: patterned paper from DCWV; watercolor paints from Angora; pen from Zig; washi tape (used for masking) from 3M/Scotch; ribbon from Scrapbook Fantasies; puffy sticker & sequin from my stash.

To create the stripes, I simply masked areas with washi tape.  (The grid lines in the background paper made it easy to keep the tape straight.)  As I painted, I let the colors run together.  This always creates such a pretty effect with watercolors.  I love the contrast between the crisply masked lines and the blurred, flowing paint.

This is quite a large tag.  After I took these photos, I wrote a birthday greeting on the white (masked) lines, and then I taped it to my friend's birthday gift.  This particular friend loves to read, so I figure she can use the tag as a bookmark in the future.

As a finishing touch, I added a bit of shine--a sky blue sequin and an indigo puffy heart.  I also doodled around the borders and tied a ribbon through the hole of the tag.  And now...I'm off to see what everyone else has been creating for the Summer of Color.  I'm sure it will be interesting, as it is every year.

Northwoods Summer

Hello!  I was recently looking back at my college photos (from the 1990's), and I decided to scrapbook some of them.  Here is a page dedicated to a northwoods vacation that I took with my family during the summer between my first and second year of college.
 

Supplies: background paper from Sugar Tree; lattice patterned paper & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; kraft notebook paper from Cachet; cardstock from Bazzill; die cut from Elle's Studio; alphabet stickers from Bo Bunny; pen from Foray; household mini stapler & staples.

I'm playing along with T is for Tuesday, so let's have a cup of tea while I walk you through the page.

My tea cup this week has a northwoods vibe, to go along with the layout.  The cup was handmade by a talented artist in Wisconsin.  Even though it looks like a birch trunk, it's ceramic.

Awhile back, I noticed that a trait of some of my favorite scrapbook pages is a mixture of hard and soft textures.  Ever since I came to this realization, I have made an effort to incorporate a variety of textures into my work.  On this particular page, crumpled and distressed layers of paper provide the softness.

Metal staples, placed in a row, provide contrasting texture.

The photos on this page are from before I ever had (or had even heard of) a digital camera, but they are still some of my favorite photos.  This one shows my brother, my mom, and me on a footbridge in Itasca State Park (the source of the Mississippi River).  My dad took the photo, and I love how he captured the reflection in the water.  

Well, that's all for today.  I hope you've enjoyed going "up north" and "down memory lane" with me in this post!  :)

Cute Tape Idea

Hi, all!  This is just a quick post.  It's the end of the school year, so I was writing out teacher thank you notes yesterday.  To decorate the plain white envelopes, I used five kinds of decorative tape.  On some of the envelopes I placed the bits of tape in a straight line.  On other envelopes I offset the tape bits. 

All decorative tape by Scotch/3M.

I'm sure I'm not the first person in the world who has had this idea, but I still thought it turned out cute, and I wanted to share it, because cuteness is worth sharing.  Can you envision a scrapbook layout with page borders made of bits of tape arranged like this?  I think that would look good.  Well, I know what my next project will be.  :)

T is for Tags (+ Life Update)

Hi, tea fans!  It has been a long time since my last post.  I can assure you, though, that I have been drinking lots of tea since last we visited.  In fact, I even attended a tea appreciation event hosted by Minnesota-based retailer Tea Source.  I found out that Tea Source offers flights on Tuesdays, and I couldn't resist trying one (pictured below).  All the tea was yummy, but my goodness, that is a lot of tea for one person to drink.  Next time I plan to bring a friend to help me drink all that tea.

I had all sorts of goals and plans for how I would use my free time once my university course ended.  Life interfered, in the form of illness (a sore throat for me, ear infections for the rest of the family).  So, I have not been up to much lately.  However, I did accomplish one of my goals: I completed my 2014 family scrapbook!  It's always exciting to finish a big project.  I looked through the album to see if there were any pages I could share for tea day, and I came upon this Valentine's Day page.
 

Supplies: cardstock from Neenah Paper; flair badge & bokeh paper from Lawn Fawn; title sticker from Bo Bunny: hippo paper from Imaginisce; border sticker, labels, tabs, & enamel shapes from October Afternoon; pen from Zig; ribbon & calendar sheet from my stash; household stapler.

I have been obsessed with tags lately, and I used a tea tag as an embellishment on this page.  I also cut the side panel from the Valentine chocolate box that my husband gave me and upcycled that into a tag as well.

So that's what I have been up to lately.  Now I am off to see what is new with everyone else.  See you soon!

Keeping in Touch :)

Hi, everyone!  My continuing ed university class is over.  I got an "A"--yay!  And now I'm ready to return to the real world.  Blogging is the real world, right?  :)
 

Supplies: patterned paper from Basic Grey; die cuts from October Afternoon; heart stickers from Creative Memories; label from Avery; ink & snail stamp from Hero Arts; pencil from Faber-Castell; pens from Zig; origami paper from Sanrio; washi tape from Scotch 3M; assorted stationery scraps from my stash.

While I was busy with my class, my free time was somewhat limited, but I did do little projects here and there.  One mini project that I got into was the sending of "pocket letters."  I am an avid letter writer anyway, and when I heard about pocket letters, my mind was blown.  This was a way to combine two of my favorite hobbies--scrapbooking and letter writing!

Supplies: woodgrain patterned paper from Paper House; urban patterned paper from Basic Grey; decorative tape from Scotch 3M; pen from Foray; assorted clippings & scraps--be sure to check out Minnesota poet Ed Bok Lee's web site.

I have written three pocket letters so far, and I created a theme for each one.  The one that you see above went to a friend who loves poetry and quotes.  The one below is for a sci fi-loving friend.

Supplies: spacey patterned paper from Bo Bunny; fussy cut star cirlces from Authentique Paper; fussy cut word bubble from Lily Bee; word & label stickers from October Afternoon; pen from Zig; decorative tape from Love My Tapes; mini envelope & Angry Birds stickers from my stash; Dr. Who printables from <http://www.atypicalenglishhome.com>.

You see the pockets, but where is the letter?  Some pocket letter writers enclose the actual letter in a tiny envelope, which fits inside one of the pockets.  However, I just wrote my letters on the backs of the cards.  That way each recipient can read her letter without the bother of having to remove anything from the page protector.  (I used baseball card holders for my page protectors.  They trifold to fit into a standard #10 envelope, which makes them perfect for pocket letters.)

The tiny envelope in the sci fi letter contains a DIY paper Tardis model.  Any Doctor Who fans in the audience can download their own here.

Some pocket letter writers think up clever gifts--such as sticker strips, tiny bobbins of ribbon, and shaped paper clips--to enclose in each pocket.  So far, I have not been that great about coming up with enclosures, but I am certainly having fun using my scraps to decorate each pocket.  Hope you enjoyed seeing my pocket letters; I am certainly enjoying making them.