COVID Delivery July 2020 #79

I’ve been hesitant to document any more of our pandemic experiences, because I’m well aware that our world will be dealing with this virus for a very long time to come, and I wasn’t sure how I would reflect on this time a year or so from now. Would our lives be better? Worse? Would some of the silly experiences seem trivial? Would we loose another beloved family member by then? I had already done two pages documenting the serious side of this virus, paying respect to a beloved cousin who died in April.

I’ve been thinking a lot of my grandmother as a little girl lately, living through the Spanish flu in the early 20th century, and wishing she spoke of that experience more when she was alive. I remember her describing her sister dying, and her being laid out in the living room of their rural farm house where visitors came to pay their respects.... during a pandemic!

She would have been the same age as my younger son, and I realized that I needed to dive in so he had a perspective of living during the pandemic, not some fuzzy memory years later. Our scrapbooks (and blogs!) are our journals, capturing either our feelings in the moment, or memories of long ago. Either way, I dove in yesterday.

So, I pulled out the one small collection of “pandemic paper” I had purchased, and started. I wanted to capture how scared and nervous we were to shop for food and still show the fun we had visiting our family to deliver their groceries. As the months have gone on and on, I realize now that this chore unfortunately became routine, but the day I documented my 1 hr drive north to our parents houses to deliver groceries seemed novel at the time, and happy, because it reminded us how great it was to see each other’s faces.

First I dropped off some educational toys and supplies on my sisters porch, as she was worried how difficult remote schooling had been on my young niece, only two weeks into our state’s mandatory lockdown orders.

Next, I stopped at my moms house, who was already really lonely and scared after two weeks of isolation. This time highlighted that it was especially hard for her because my dad had died almost three years prior. She was so happy to see and interact with someone in person. Luckily it was a nice March afternoon and we were able to take a walk around the neighborhood. It was strange to purposely walk so far apart, which is what the photo of us documents.

Finally, I drove across town and dropped off more hard to find supplies at my in-laws house. It was a quick but cheerful porch front visit, as I could see they were nervous too.

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Collection: Loving the quarantine life by Photo Play.

Paper and Ephemera.

Collection: Let’s Wander by Vicki Boutin.

Mixed media card stock, stencil and tag journal pieces.

Solid paper: Close to My Heart. Urban. Representative: Kristine Teanse Easton, PA. Solid: Paprika.

Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store (www.mylittlescrapbookstore.com) West Orange, NJ (I also entered this into a MLSS CampOutCrop 2020 challenges.)

Tim Holtz Distrssed Oxide Ink. Speckled Egg.
Nuvo Emerald Isle Vintage Drops

Alphas: jillibean soup alphabean stickers. Rosy dot.

Adhesive: Pop Dots and Tonic Studios double ended Glue Pen.

Supplier: Michaels
Solid paper: Recollections. Blues.

Patterned paper: Studio Calico.

Artist's Loft 0.3 black illustration pen.

Ribbon: Straight ‘N’ Narrow. Ribbon Offray.

Silver Grommets: Unknown.

Twine by Stampin’ Up! Wysteria.

Colored grommets: Eyelet outlet.

Date Stamp: Staples.

powder puff Charcoal chalking ink by Quick Quotes

Fibers and Border stickers: Manufacturer: unknown. Supplier: HSN.

ATG: unknown.

Buttons and Brads: unknown.

Templates: Kiwi lane.

Pop-Up Dot Stickers.  Crafter's Square. Supplier: Dollar Tree.

Update: I decided to add a complimentary page to this the next day, because I really enjoyed this collection more than I thought I would:

Remember July 2020 Pick your word

Since the experience of the pandemic this year, I'm sure I’m not the only one more determined than ever to finish documenting and organizing our family memories. I never scrapped chronologically, but instead went back and forth between current and historical events. However, this year's experiences has inspired me be more aggressive and complete my older albums. This event goes all the way back to one of my very early albums that start having holes chronologically, so this challenge gave me a sense of accomplishment!

This fun visit with friends in Pennsylvania included a classic fireman’s fair just before the July holiday, so everyone was feeling patriotic.

It’s so fun to look back and remember how little our babies were then!

I submitted this in a Scrap Our Stash July 2020 challenge, as well as in the My Little Scrapbook Store July sketch challenge.

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REMEMBER

R: Ribbon (HSN and Stampin’ Up!)

E: Enamel Dot Stickers (Dollar Tree)

M: Marker (Prismacolor Crimson red)

E: Ephemera (repurposed flag greeting card)

M: Metallic Stickers (Dollar Tree - Nicole)

B: Blue Ink (Rubber Stampede)

E: Eyelet Outlet grommet

R: Rubber Stamps (AlPhaBeT)

Purple seaweed July 2020 single

Still working on our New England summer vacation album from last year. The rainy, misty Sand Beach stop along Acadia National Park's loop road is one of the most popular sites in the park. The bright white sand and beautiful purple seaweed was so pretty.

 I based this layout on Stick It Down's July 2020 single page sketch layout. I layered 4 colors with a stencil to represent the large triangles in the sketch. I saved some mirrored confetti from some packaging that came with a gift in the mail a few years ago and used to represent the small arrows. I love recycling found items to use as embellishments.

I also submitted this into My Little Scrapbook Store's July 2020 White challenge. The warm, golden lights in the above mood board reminded me of the mirrored confetti I had been saving to use in my stash.

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UPDATE: This submission was chosen by the Stick it Down design team as the July 2020 single page winner.

Collection:

Simple Stories Happy Trails.

Stencil.

Patterned Paper.

Chipboard Stickers.

Packaging.

Ephemera. 

  

Mixed Media:

Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

Vicki Boutin. Let's Wander. Stencil.

Nuvo Glitter Drops. Sugar Plum.

Tim Holtz. Distressed Oxide Ink. Speckled Egg. 

Nuvo Glitter Marker. Wild Blackberry. 

Catherine Pooler CPMinis Icing on the Cake Ink.  

powder puff Coconut Chalking Ink by Quick Quotes.

Acrylic Paint: Unknown. Purple, Magenta, White.

Artist's Loft 0.3 illustration pen. Supplier: Michaels.

Paper:

Craft Consortium. Dark Grunge. Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

Close to My Heart. Urban. Representative: Kristine Teanse Easton, PA. Solid: LInen.

Recollections. Supplier: Michaels. Solid: Ultra Violet.

Solid Neutral: Unknown.

Polka-dot Vellum: Stampin' Up!

Title:

Boxer Scrapbook Productions. Palooza Transparency.

Fussy Cut:

Pink Paislee. Horizon.

Embellishments:

Scrapbook Customs. National Park Stickers. Acadia National Park.

DCWV Page Tabs. White. Supplier: HSN. Stickers.

Mirrored dots: Packaging. Unknown.

Sticky Back Jewels. Supplier: Eyelet Outlet.

pink & Main. Preppy Brights Enamel Shapes. Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

Binder clip: Stampin' Up!

Washi Tape:

Stampin Up!

Stamp:

Date Stamp. Supplier: Staples.

Fibers:

Ribbon. Unknown.

Adhesive:

Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

Tonic Studios double ended Glue Pen. 

Pop up dots. 

ATG: Unknown.

Acadia kayak July 2020 double

Continuing to work on my album documenting our New England vacation last summer. We rented an ideal house on Long Pond Lake, and couldn't wait to try out the kayaks and canoe. We knew rain was forecast for the remaining days of our visit, so in one day we biked biked a carriage road loop, lunched in Bar Harbor, took a nap on luxurious teak lounges, kayaked, and then my husband and son explored another carriage road loop with a run. Talk about a lot of exercise in one day!

I based this layout on the Stick it Down Double page sketch from July 2020 above. I found a great scrap booking and quilting store in Bar Harbor, ME called Fa*bri*cate which prints their own, unique and beautiful custom photograph paper specific to Maine scenery. I bought a bunch while planning this album, but regretted not buying more of the kayak paper included on this page. (They sell their paper double sided and I used the other side which was a nautical rope photo for our day trip to Portland, ME in the same album prior to doing this page!)

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Collection:

Simple Stories Happy Trails.

Stencil.

Patterned Paper.

Chipboard Stickers.

Packaging.

Ephemera. 

  

Mixed Media:

Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

Vicki Boutin. Let's Wander. Prism Glaze.

Nuvo Pineapple Delight Glacier Paste.

gina k Glitz glitter gel. Gold. 

Tonic Palette Knife. 

Catherine Pooler CPMinis Icing on the Cake Ink. 

powder puff Jade Chalking Ink by Quick Quotes.

Artist's Loft 0.3 illustration pen. Supplier: Michaels.

Paper:

Photographic Image Paper. Fa*bri*cate Bar Harbor, ME

Collection:

Scrapbook Customs. Acadia National Park.

Stickers.

Patterned Paper. Acadia National Park Watercolor. 

Collection:

Close to My Heart. Urban. Representative: Kristine Teanse Easton, PA.

Solid Paper. Linen, Peacock, Sapphire.

Wood Arrows

Embellishments:

Creative Memories. Collection: Beneath the Pines. Die Cuts.

Stickers: DCWV Page Tabs. Supplier: HSN.

Stamp:

Date Stamp. Supplier: Staples.

Fibers:

Ribbon. Stampin' Up!

Adhesive:

Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

Tonic Studios double ended Glue Pen. 

Pop up dots. 

ATG: Unknown.

Pigtail Party July 2020

Going back in time and documenting gaps in our chronological scrapbooks is always a fun and satisfying break from whatever larger album or project we are working on.

This two photo sketch from Sketch N Scrap was a quick way for me to design a page and remember a simple and cute day together when I got the rare opportunity to babysit my niece. She was almost two years old, and had the reputation of not permitting her mother to style her hair at all. Her hair was baby soft, long and wavy like her beautiful mother, and always hanging down in her face. Since I only have boys I was excited to have the opportunity to 'play' with her hair like I used to do to my little sister when we were kids. So, I styled her hair in both pony and pigtails as the day went on, and my son loved having a playmate an friend to enjoy lunch with, as you can see from his cheesy smile!

This is one of my favorite photographs of my niece and I especially liked the purple tones of her shirt, so I thought it would also be appropriate to also submit for the July 2020 Red Challenge from My Little Scrapbook Store. I thought the purple in her shirt would compliment the collection of red paper and elements featured on the page. The challenge was to be inspired by the following mood board:

I thought the grid of the board complimented the 'grid' of images on the patterned retro paper, and I also focused on the ladybug image and rotated it because it also reflected the sketch i was using for inspiration. I used the Vicki Boutin stencil because it reminded me of the ladybug spots and the splatters on the sketch.

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Mixed Media:

Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

gina k Glitz glitter gel. Red Velvet.

Vicki Boutin Let's Wander Stencil. 

Tonic Palette Knife.

powder puff Coal Miner Chalking Ink by Quick Quotes.

Artist's Loft 0.3 illustration pen. Supplier: Michaels.

Prismacolor Marker. Broad tip. Crimson Red. PM-4

Paper:

Supplier: Michaels.

Solid: Recollections.

Patterned: Studio Calico.

Stamps:

AlPhaBeT. Wood stamps.

Alphas:

Thickers. Celebrate. Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ.

Alpha Brads: Unknown.

Embellishments:

Pop-Up Dot Stickers. Crafter's Square. Supplier: Dollar Tree. 

Washi Tape. Unknown.

Grommet. Supplier: Eyelet Outlet.

Shape Templates:

KiwiLane. Elements1. Brackets1.

Adhesive:

Tonic Studios double ended Glue Pen. Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

Liquid Glue: Unknown. Supplier: Michaels.

ATG: Unknown.

Sketch N Scrap June 2020 Challenge #203 Allagash Brewing Co

Continuing to work on our family vacation album from last summer to New England.... ever get 3/4 of the way done through a project and feel like you are loosing steam? ... just want to be done already! Thankful for these little challenges to make the task more fun along the way. I'll journal once I finish the entire album.

On the way out of Portland we made the obligatory short stop at the famous Allagash Brewary for a tasting. We try to embrace the local specialties on all our travels. Our son made fast friends with a huge, old dog named Blitzen, whose owner was having alot of trouble trying to convince Blitzen it was time to leave the beer garden and move onto their next stop. Blitzen was enormous, and doesn't go anywhere fast!

I struggled for a long time with this background. I wanted to focus on soft yellows and oranges to compliment the golden colors of beer, but realized I didn't have a large selection of paper to choose from in my stash with those color tones. I also wanted to incorporate both wood and the soft silver colors of brushed metal to reflect the materials in the beer garden. I even created a completely different background before settling on this one, and took a straw pole here at home before deciding. In the end,  my unofficial opinion sampling group of my husband and two boys agreed the colors of this background complimented the beer colors better, which was my goal to begin with.

I also wanted to try a tone on tone technique after I was inspired by Stacy's layout with the white grid background and white stenciling. So, I tried to stencil over the patterned paper background with Nuvo Glacier Paste, and then again on a solid cardstock with the powder puff chalking ink to create some subtle stenciling. Both are hard to see.

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Mixed Media:

Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

Nuvo Pineapple Delight Glacier Paste.

Vicki Boutin Let's Wander Stencil. 

Catherine Pooler CPMinis Icing on the Cake Ink.

Tonic Palette Knife.

pink & Main Blender Brush. 

powder puff Orange Slice Chalking Ink by Quick Quotes.

Stampin' Up! Dazzling Details Silver Sparkle Drops.

Artist's Loft 0.3 illustration pen. Supplier: Michaels.

Adhesive:

Tonic Studios double ended Glue Pen. Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ

ATG: Unknown.

Paper:

Supplier: Michaels.

Solid: Recollections Neutrals.

Patterned: Studio Calico. Chevron and Polkadots.

Journal Cut Aparts: Recollections Let's Get Lost.

Patterned:

Corrigated Metal. Close to My Heart Urban. Representative: Kristine Teanse Easton, PA.

Wood. National Park Collection Acadia National Park by Scrapbook Customs. Scrapbook Supply Companies.

 

Stamps:

Alphas. craft smart wood stamps. Supplier: Michaels.

Date stamp: Supplier: Staples.

Embellishments:
Supplier: Stampin' Up!

Ribbon.

Bakers Twine. Wisteria Wonder.

Little Birdie. Juicy Jars. My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ .

Wood Arrow: Close to My Heart Urban. Representative: Kristine Teanse Easton, PA.

Stickers: DCWV Page Tabs. Supplier: HSN.

Ephemera:

Drink Coaster. Allagash Brewing Co.

Flowers: natural life boho bandeau packaging.

Sketch N Scrap June 2020 Challenge #202 My Main*e* Man

Continuing to work on an album documenting our New England trip last summer. I chose this sketch to try from Sketch N Scrap because it worked perfectly with the two vertical photos I planned for this page.

After a long morning of walking (mostly uphill!) and shopping around Portland, we stopped for a fresh pasta lunch at an Italian fusion inspired restaurant, the Corner Room. Portland is known as a foodie town. We also enjoyed another well known industry of Maine: Shipyard beer.

I decided to try the technique I'm seeing many using lately, the 'kissing' or 'packaging' technique on the background with acrylic paint and prism glaze. I wasn't that happy with the results, but I think it was because I didn't have the exact shades of paint combinations I was hoping to use.

I love this photo of my husband, because he is enjoying a rare moment relaxing away from his busy office and focused on our family.

After I finished the sketch challenge, I decided to expand the layout with a complimentary second page, keeping this background solid and plain to balance out the randomness of the sketch page background. I really love the orange Pink Paislee Horizon flowered paper, so I decided to continue the color across the second page with the orange ribbon.

I documented this wonderfully relaxing and unscheduled afternoon together along the slope of the Portland promenade overlooking what seemed like hundreds of little white sails in the harbor. Our teenager loved exploring the area from the air, taking photographs of the beautiful landscape with his drone camera. Our little guy with boundless energy loved running up and down the steep soft grassy slope over and over again. My husband an I simply enjoyed laying on a blanket in the grass, reminding ourselves that vacations are not only for traveling, but for stopping to breathe.

We love exploring new places, and Portland didn't disappoint. I'd love to go back again some day.

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Mixed Media:

Vicki Boutin Let's Wander Prism Glaze. Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store West Orange, NJ (I also entered this into the MLSS Summer 2020 crop challenge #15.)
Nuvo Vintage Drops Emerald Isle. Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store.

Powder puff Jade chalking ink by Quick Quotes.

Acrylic Paint: Unknown.

Artist's Loft 0.3 black illustration pen. Supplier: Michaels.

Marker: Prismacolor PM-6 Carmine Red fine tip.

Adhesive:

Tonic Studios double ended Glue Pen. Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store.

ATG: Unknown.

Paper:
Patterned: Pink Paislee Horizon. Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store.

Solid: Close to My Heart Urban. Representative: Kristine Teanse Easton, PA.

Recollections Let's Get Lost. Journal Cut Aparts. Supplier: Michaels.

Alphas: Supplier: My Little Scrapbook Store.

Thickers Hipster.

Thickers Happy Life.

Embellishments:
Date stamp: Supplier: Staples.

Little Yellow Bicycle Burlap Shapes Flowers.

Wood Arrows: Close to My Heart Urban. Representative: Kristine Teanse.

Metal Paperclip: Unknown.

Ribbon: Unknown.

Humble thanks to the design team who choose this entry as their featured design in June 2020.