Mirror Lake Supper May 2021

Continuing documenting our summer vacation to Lake Placid last year. I used Amy Tangerine Picnic in the Park and Vicki Boutin Let’s Wander collections, as well as a sheet of Creative Memories Meadow paper.

MLSS Sketch Inspiration: We had so many lovely photos to choose from of our evening supper overlooking misty Mirror Lake, I knew I needed a double page layout.

Lasting Memories color inspiration: I love this mood board and colors. The blurry flowers reminded me of a lot of the photos we took that night.

Additional supplies not mentioned above:

Hero Arts stamp Daisy Border F2270.

Eyelet outlet brads Stitched Flowers.

Little Birdie Juicy Jugs.

CM 12” Straight Trimmer.

Distress Embossing Pen and Powder: Peeled Paint.

Staples Date Stamp.

Dina Wakley Leafy Stencil.

Quick Quotes Powderpuff Royal Blue chaulking ink.

Nuvo glitter marker Imperial Blue.

Ribbon, hole punch: unknown.

Crepe Paper Hey Santa Holly Jolly Thickers alphas.

DCWV textured cardstock Brights.

Scotch ATG and tacky glue.

Honey Bee precision scissors.

I ❤️ NY May 2021

 First page of a mini vacation winter weekend series. I usually don’t purchase themed paper collections often, but I thought the Echo Park Warm and Cozy and Winter Magic collections was so cute and perfect to document this short getaway trip to Gore Mountain, NY. We have been going to VT every year for over three decades, but Covid travel restrictions required us to reconsider our plans. We took some inspiration from our summer trip to Lake Placid and returned to the Adirondacks, and were so happy we did! We also made this ski trip earlier than years past, taking advantage that the kids had remote school and fewer December crowds. This much needed vacation was a perfect way to kick off the holidays for our family.

Scrap our Stash layout and travel theme inspiration:

MLSS Subject matter inspiration: I’m not me without him. It’s that simple. ❤️

Challenge YOUrself photo choice inspiration: I waited out in the cold for my husband to return from a rest stop to snap this cute photo with him... and had what seemed like lots of cold time to find a good pic of myself before he arrived!

Additional supplies:

CM trains and automobiles collections, On the road boarder maker cartridge.

Grommet, twine, corner and hole punch: unknown.

Simply white crystal and Belgium bluestone stone Nuvo drops.

Distress oxide rustic wilderness.

Date stamp: Staples.

Kiwi lane brackets 1 template.

Scotch ATG and tacky glue.

12” CM straight trimmer.

Clickit grommet tool.

Artist’s Loft Illustration Pen: 0.3 brown.

Prismacolor fine tip marker PM-6 Carmine red.

Honey Bee precision scissors.

Shades of Spring May 2021

I had so much fun learning a new technique (for me) on this page. I own very, very, few stamps, so incorporating stamps into a page is a challenge for me. I finally broke open a Heidi Swapp Honey & Spice stamp set last week that I bought specifically for a journaling box stamp. I have only used one other stamp in the collection. Since I needed to incorporate flowers into the Scrap our Stash challenge below, I decided to try the flower stamp, and ended up using several others on this page.

In addition, I’ve only used my heat embosser a handful of times, so I decided to try it again. I started with an Altenew flower medallion stencil on Vicki Boutin Enjoy Today mixed media paper. It was only then I read the fine print on the back of the embossing powder that I realized I could emboss stamps using oxide inks. Once I started embossing stamps, I didn’t want to stop. I even went back and added more embossed stamping the next morning after I thought I was done.

I’m not a fan of this paper pad, and decided to start using it more aggressively to use it up. Indeed I covered up most of the design, and then cut up another page with colors I liked to use as photo mats.

Then, I looked for yellow paper to use similar to the marigolds, and found an old Stampin up! mini kit I was gifted as an crop door prize I’ve been hoarding for years. I also found a coordinating sheet of Honey & Spice paper that reminded me of the camouflage pattern on my son’s shirt, and started layering other patterned paper from the mini kit to match the sketch below.

Sketch and flowers inspiration:

MLSS stamp inspiration:

I loved the vibe my son is giving off in this pic, wearing his “shades” and saying he’s getting older and too cool for mom to snap his pic, hence the title inspiration. We had a lovely Saturday afternoon together eating lunch while watching planes land and take off from our little local airfield, and then I picked some flowers from our yard to freshen up our bedroom.

Other supplies used:

Simple stories large alphas.

Cloud builder stencil.

Tag, grommet, small alphas, wood and paper flower ephemera: unknown

Simply white Nuvo drops.

Pink & Main enamel dots. Happy mail.

Distress oxide speckled egg and stormy sky.

Powder puff chaulking ink: Feather grey.

Embossing powders: Distress salvaged patina and peeling paint, Wow Manuela’s honey, Nuvo happy daze.

Date stamp: Staples.

Scotch ATG.

12” CM straight trimmer.

Artist’s Loft Illustration Pen: 0.3 brown.

Kingart fine tip pen: Grey.

 

Winter Time May 2021

 

Beautiful sunny winter day to walk around downtown Clinton, NJ enjoying the lovely architecture. After an unusually bad winter, this was the first day in a long time that we could feel and see the world starting to thaw, and although we still had another month of winter, the pretty day provided just enough hope that spring would soon be upon us. We need to start getting used to, and treasure days like these with our younger son, as our older son will be leaving for college soon. Bitter sweet.

I created my own two color background with splatters of Distress Oxides on 80# photoplay white cardstock, then layered strips of paper on the bottom half.

Featured collection: Echo Park Winter Magic.

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Tuccamirgan Park May 2021

Our extra snowy winter this year provided several opportunities for the boys and their friend to enjoy our little town sledding hill at Tuccamirgan Park. So happy that even though they are growing up so fast, they still can enjoy fun ‘kid’ things together. They used the new toboggan they got for Christmas.

I did a pocket journal card for this layout. I learned about this technique last year, and have tried it a few times since, but I think this is my most successful attempt so far.

I thought I was done with this layout earlier, and even took a photo thinking I was done. Then, after a night’s rest, I looked at the layout in the morning decided to add more mixed media... sometimes I have trouble knowing when enough is enough as looking back I think I like the version without the mixed media better... oh well!

Featured Collection:  Echo Park Winter Magic.

Simple Stories alphas.

Picket Fence mixed media.

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Brews & Dudes May 2021

This is the 8th page of our family vacation album from a trip to Lake Placid last summer. I introduced paper from a new (to me) collection into this album’s color story on this page, Amy Tangerine’s Picnic in the Park. In order to provide color and pattern consistency in the album, I also used neutrals, blues and yellows from Simple Stories Take a Hike and Great Escape collections.

Color and pattern inspiration: I especially loved the tiny flowers on this Lasting Memories mood board and reflected that in my paper choices. I also loved adding little bits of blue, yellow, pink and green to an otherwise masculine layout.

Sketch and pattern inspiration: The wood, hearts and straightforward layout from this Paper Issues NSD challenge provided me a great jumping off point. I like this sketch because sometimes I don’t know when to stop embellishing and this guide reminded me stop before my page got too busy. 

Supplies:

Featured paper collection: Amy Tangerine Picnic in the Park pretty peace and you’re peachy patterned paper and glitter heart paper, clear vinyl alphas, paper bow.

Simple Stories Take a Hike: Happy Camper patterned paper, Ephemera Bits & Pieces.

 Simple Stories Great Escape: cardstock bits and pieces and chipboard stickers.

Washi: Kawaii Pen Shop. Vilit design. Green dye.

Enamel dots: Pink & Main. Happy Mail.

Little Birdie Juicy Jars vellum sticker.

Mixed Media:

Quick Quotes Powder Puff chaulking inks: royal blue, lemon chiffon.

Nuvo drops: Navy Blue Crystal Drops.

Nuvo Glitter Marker. Imperial Blue 184.

Foamies sticky back foam sheets.

Date stamp: Staples.

Scotch ATG.

Red top fine line glue.

12” CM straight trimmer.

My Heros May 2021

Taking a break from a vacation album I’m working on and filling in holes from my everyday 2020 album. Reflecting back on the dramatic and uncertain times a full year after the start of COVID-19 has helped me focus what I want to remember and document.

I love the colors in these photos of my boys on our front porch and thought featuring over a black and white background would make them pop. It reminded me how lucky we were that the boys spent so much more time together this year than they probably would have, and hopefully they will look back and appreciate that as they reflect back at this special time together fondly as brothers.

I love the unique challenges the blog Lasting Memories  offers monthly:

And I challenged myself by only incorporating one color for the following My Little Scrapbook Store challenge in honor of National Scrapbook Day:

I love that I busted a kit left over from this coordinating page I did last year. This kit has paper from a decade old, now defunct manufacturer, Boxer Scrapbooking. Such a satisfying feeling to have only scraps left over:

 

Supplies:

Featured paper: Treehouse Memories Main Street: Motor mouth.

Patterned papers: Boxer Scrapbooking: Large Black Dot, Black and White Stripe.

Stampin’up! Black and White patterned.

Fussy cuts, Ephemera die cut and patterned paper: Photo Play. Living the Quarantine Life. Stay Safe.

Vellum: Quick quotes.

Savannah College of Art and Design retro Mylar stickers.

Big Moods vinyl sticker.

Acetate prints: Magic Scraps clearly creative transparent artistic sheets.

Nuvo drops: Ebony black and Simply white crystal drops.

Red fiber woven translucent natural paper: unknown.

Quick quotes chaulking ink: Feather Grey

Little Yellow Bicycle: canvas shapes: Flags, flowers and Leaves.

Pretty Little Studio: Stitches. Clear stickers.

Alphas: Jillibean soup. Alphabean stickers. Rosy dot.

Reflections: Themed stickers.

Honey Bee Stamps: Love Letters gem stickers.

Date stamp: Staples.

Artist’s Loft Illustration Pen: 0.3 black.

Scotch ATG.

Red top fine line glue.