Florida 2012 (#1)

In 2012, we surprised the kids (and ourselves) with a trip to Florida.  I planned this trip 3 weeks before we left for a week.  Who does that?  I do that...I do that more often than you would think is possible. :)  *just a note...we live in California--so a last minute trip across the country is a tad bit crazy.

Prior to leaving, I packed a bag with a SMASH book, pens, scraps of paper, my Polaroid PoGo, and adhesive.  I totally thought I was going to scrapbook while vacationing...I was so wrong ha ha ha...it only added to the weight of my carry-on. :/

I actually "finished" the book in March 2013, but I never journaled inside...so that is the part I am currently working on.

Here is the cover...I tried to capture the things we did...caught a Marlin's game (against our beloved Giants), went to DisneyWorld and Universal Orlando...We also went to the beach and the boys went to a Tampa Bay Ray's game. (I just realized I forgot to add those last two elements to my cover!  I may go back now...we will see.)

This was my first SMASH book and the concept is great, but I didn't really care for it...it doesn't really allow too much extras to be placed inside.  (I suppose it is more for thoughts and doodlings than to use instead of a Scrapbook like I used it for.)

Luckily, most of the pages just worked out right for each of my layouts...but when it didn't, I would just add paper over it...adding to the bulkiness of the book.

Here is the inside of the front cover...I like keeping and adding our plane tickets...I don't know why.

The first layout is our itinerary for the week.  I actually completed this before we left...I'll pat myself on the back--hahaha. 

The printable cards are from Cathy Zielske.  Unfortunately, I cannot find the post that she shared these with the world.

A funny (but not so funny) story...our plane from San Jose to Los Angeles was on the tiniest plane I have ever been on...and since I booked the flight so late, we were in the back of the plane and not seated next to each other.  There were 2 seats on one side of the plane and 1 seat on the other side of the plane...so tiny!!  Anyway, we were right above the landing gear.  As we were descending, the landing gear (of course) was opening up, but the noise scared me...I almost jumped out of my seat!  I thought we were going down!!!  I might have let out a little "Ah!"--hahaha...I'm sure my seat mate wasn't thrilled to be seated next to me. :D

Our first stop in Florida was in Miami...we got in early enough to drive to our hotel downtown, check out the pool, and walk to grab a bite to eat.

It was the first time we had all eaten Columbian food--it was ok, but it was no Mexican food.  

I usually opt for the cheapest (but clean) hotels.  The Hampton Inn did not disappoint.  My daughter was the only one to get into the pool, but she wasn't thrilled...it was so hot outside and in the pool that it just felt like a hot tub...she said it wasn't refreshing at all.  

Well that was day 1 of our trip.  Thank you for looking!

Made It Monday (first and last in a series--haha)

I was trying to think up new ideas for my blog which would prompt me to blog more often and I thought about "Made It Mondays".

Then I thought about it some more and I was like 'everything I post on my blog I have made'...so it didn't really make much sense after all--Unless I only want to blog on Mondays :D  

But since today is Monday and I actually made something today...I will call this post Made It Monday :D

So what did I make?  A Stamp!!!!

Back in December, I took a trip to a craft faire with Liz and Jossie and we met the nicest stamp maker.  I bought her book and at the time I didn't know I would actually want to try my hands at making stamps.  

Over the past 8 months, I have been collecting stamp making material.  

First I bought some material from Hobby Lobby (the blue Speedball--it comes in different colors depending on the "ease" of the material) along with a linoleum cutter.  (You can buy a starter set on Amazon or from Stampin' Up, but I didn't want to wait or pay for shipping.)  Then I was given some Eraser Stamp material by Liz from Daiso.  And because I didn't have enough material to learn on, I bought the grey 3 pack of material from Stampin' Up.

One of my problems was figuring out what to make.  Today I finally bit the bullet and decided to make an "Aloha" stamp since I don't have any Hawaiian stamps (at least I don't think I do--ha ha ha!).

It tells you to use tracing paper, but I didn't have any, so I just used a post-it and wrote Aloha.  Then I went over it a couple of times to make it a bit thicker and darker.

After, I placed the Post-it (backwards) over the blue part and rubbed my pencil over the back to transfer the pencil onto the blue.

Then using the #5 blade (or craft knife), I cut the part I wasn't going to use.

Using the different size blades, I cut around the image.  

I like the Daiso one because it is easy to see if you have cut enough.  It does take a little bit to realize you don't have to press too hard.  It also takes a lot of patience and lighting.

"Not aloha, 'hello', aloha, 'goodbye'." 
~50 First Dates (one of my favorite movies ever...I love this quote!)

You do have to embrace that it won't be "perfect", but that is what makes it unique!

Thank you for looking!

Disneyland 2001 Redo Album Series (#8 & Final!)

Yay!!!!  I am finally finished redoing our 2001 Disneyland trip!

It felt great taking this Post-it off my "To-Do" board.

 Here was the before layout of the kids getting autographs from the characters.

And the after...again a little plain, but I think I was at the point were I just wanted to be done.

All the papers are from the Simple Stories Say Cheese line.

I do have to say that waiting in line getting character's autographs is one of the biggest wastes of time at Disneyland.  But the kids enjoy it and we did do it again the following time we were there in 2003.  At 6 and 4 1/2 they were a bit young to get on all the rides anyway, so I don't think we missed out on much.

I also wanted to share the binding of the album.  In order to know which album it is, I put this cute Mickey charm with the year on it.

Thank you for looking!

Workspace Wednesdays (#4)--Roller Stamps

Back in December 2012, I wrote about my roller date stamps collection.  At that time, I had 9 stamps (and added 2 more shortly after) and stored them in these glass square vases.

But like most of my supplies, this had doubled to 22 (currently) and they no longer fit in the vases.

I found a basket at Michaels in turquoise (my favorite) and they are still easy to reach for on my workspace.

But with 22 stamps, it is hard to remember or search for phrases, so last year, I started to stamp each phrase on an index card and labeling which color handle (and brand) it belongs to.  I also try to remember to write which year the stamps starts.

About a month or so ago, Studio Calico (via Nicole Reaves) posted a picture on Instagram that was similar...I was like hey, I have been doing that too!  Great minds think alike--hahaha.

Even though my current storage works, I would really like an antique stamp holder.

Like this one that Layle Koncar posted.  

If I don't find one, I know that Ranger Inks sells a similar one, but it won't be antique! ha ha ha

Thank you for looking!!

Disneyland 2001 Album Redo Series (#7)

At the Expo Crop, I was on a mission to finish our 2001 Disneyland album.

For the first 4 hours, I worked on this layout...yes, I am a slow scrapbooker, plus it takes time to catch up with friends :)  The pattern papers are from the Simple Stories Say Cheese line.  The two Project Life cards are from the Midnight Edition.

Here is the before page

After shopping and eating lunch, I worked on the following layout for a couple of hours.  When we were at Disneyland in 2001, I was not yet scrapbooking, but I did find that I saved the tickets!  I used paper from an older CTMH line and some way old Creative Imaginations paper.

And before

(don't you love my cutting around the photo?)

Then before I left for the day, I wanted to get one last layout done.  This one was super simple.  The background paper is from an old CTMH set.

Before

I might go back and add to the last layout, but for now they are done...I have only 1 more page to complete--whoo hoo!!

Thank you for looking :)

Scrapbook Expo~August 2014

This past Friday, I attended the Santa Clara Scrapbook Expo.  I was so excited to take the day off and scrapbook all day.  

My table included Jossie and Renee and we knew the table next to us where Joann and 3 of her friends sat.  

This is the 4th Expo Crop I've gone to and I normally don't get much done, but this time I had a goal of getting my 2001 Disneyland trip complete and I knew I only had 4 2-page layouts to go...so that was my goal.  I got 3 of 4 of the layouts complete!!!  I was so happy :)  (I'll share the layouts in a separate post.)

I got there about 8 am when the crop section opened.  I was able to get a layout complete before I went shopping.

I was actually good and didn't buy way too much like I normally do.  (It helped that there weren't very many vendors there.)

 Queen & Co. had $1 washi tape and I can't resist washi...especially at a dollar!

I was really looking for cheap Thicker because I am obsessed now.  Scrap-Mart had 4 for $10...my first go through of the bin I had about 12 in my hand...so I whittled it down to 8...then I realized that was $20!  So I only bought 4.  I was needing a frame for the layout I was working on, so it was perfect that I found these Crate Paper ones.

A few of the vendors had bins and bins of cheap paper...(and tons of people crowding around them searching)

But before I got there, I swore to myself I was not going to buy any paper... and I almost left without buying any, but before the floor closed, we went back in and I left with 1 sheet of the Simple Stories Say Cheese sheet.  

I was totally happy that I only spent $25...not too bad.  I actually spent more on food for the entire day! (well unless you add in the price of admission ($8) and the crop ($35)--hahaha.)

With the cost of the crop, we were able to pick a kit worth $20...I got the Teresa Collins Hello My Name Is kit.

And all the Expos give out a bag (not pictured), a pen, gluestick, and a pack of Canon paper.  The stickers were handed out later that night.

This was the first time I stayed until the grand prize was given out at the expo.  I and all the girls I was with thought they were calling out the number to claim either a Cricut Explore, Canon printer, a Cuttlebug, or Spellbinders.  They called my number!!!  I was shocked and yelled "that's my number!", but then when I got up there it was just the first number called to pick some of the other prizes--it was not the grand prize they were announcing about all night.  I picked this Tab punch.

I already had a tab punch (a bit different from this one) and since Jossie was talking about needing one, I gave it to her.  I would probably wouldn't ever even use it.

I ended up leaving after my 3rd layout was complete about 10:20pm!!!  I couldn't believe how fast the time went and how long I stayed.

I had a total blast with the girls.  The theme of the crop was Carnival, so Jossie and I took a picture with clown noses and bows in our hair.  Fun times!  Can't wait for the next one!

Workspace Wednesday (#3) Washi

Back in 2010, my friend Liz and I went to a Renegade Craft Fair and she was looking for washi tape...I was like I don't know what that is and I don't need another obession...fast forward to now...I have a growing stash :/

Here is my first storage (September 2012)

Shortly after, I started to store them in this (November 2012)

Then as my stash was growing, I bought this at Michaels...but that was so short-lived that I didn't even snap a picture with my rolls of washi on it :)

I was soon back at Michaels when these washi holders were on sale...I bought two extra for room to grow (July 2013).

But I hated this type of storage...it was really hard to tear a piece off.  And if I was taking a few to a crop, it was a pain to take them off the dowels.

Then a few months ago, I was looking for a basket or something...in turquoise and found this lovely platter at Michaels in the summer section.

I love how I can see them all at the same time!  And I still have a little room for some more, but for now this is my collection.

Thanks for looking!