Scrappy Girl Around the World

I'm back on the blog today to give you a look at my latest NYC layout.  My whole NYC album uses 6"x8" pocket pages (plus some smaller inserts), and this particular layout is a one-pager.  It features two photos from the taking the subway, specifically the uptown E train.  I used a cool card I received in an older kit from Studio Calico (the one with the colorful numbers).  I thought it worked well with how the numbers and letters of train are listed on the overhead boards on the subway platforms. For the upper left pocket, I used a basic journaling card I had with a grid pattern.  I chose it because it was red at the top and had a space for the date.  I also chose to add a phrase/word label I had that had the word "train" on it; it seemed like a perfect fit.  The only other embellishments I added were a small enamel dot and a circular die-cut with the word "Adventure" on it in a fun font. If you'd like to see how it all came together, you c...

My most recent layout features photos from Paper Presentation in NYC.  If you're a scrapper or card-marker that is going to NYC, this is the store for you!  I went on a Sunday morning right when they opened; I was actually a bit early, but that allowed me some time to take pictures outside of the store and on the surrounding blocks before the store opened for the day. Once I was inside the building, it was a bit overwhelming.  I had no idea just how big it was on the inside.  It essentially has doors on both side of a city block, taking up all the space in between.  There are sections for stationery, invitations, card-making, journals, scrapbooking, gift wrap, adult coloring ... really, any kind of project that involves paper would have supplies here.  They have also some souvenirs available, as you can see from one of the photos here. I spent most of my time in the loose paper section (placed nearer to the card and invitation supplies) and then the...

My most recent layout is one that I made in a traveler's notebook insert.  I took a history and photo walk last summer, and I've been slowly working my way through those photos.  I'm still having a fab time scrapping my NYC photos, but I wanted to take a little break and challenge myself to work in a different size for a bit.  This layout features a photo from Mickey's Diner, which is a famous spot in downtown St. Paul.  If you've seen "The Mighty Ducks" movies or "Jingle All the Way", you've seen it before.  I only got one good shot, as the second one was blurry, so I wanted to make sure that I did that one good photo justice.  Since this is only a one-page layout, I really wanted the photo to stand out from the background. I used a patterned paper background that was fairly subtle, I added some washi to bring in the red elements, I continued the use of a cork number to designate the spot on the tour, and I chose to make my own journ...

A few posts ago, I wrote about trying to decide on whether or not to go to a conference while on my Europe trip this summer.  After a lot of research and soul-searching, I've decided to skip the conference.  Yes, I will lose the $100 I put down to hold my place as an attendee, but I just don't feel that it is the right time for me to be there.  While I love the idea of being more involved in the travel industry, I also have to be realistic about what my life is right now and what that means.  I have large student debt that I have to pay; I need to focus on that for at least the next year, rather than jumping into a time-intensive (likely) side venture that could also end up costing me additional money to start/maintain. At this point, I intend to just keep doing what I've been doing: posting here about scrapping and travel, as well as putting up videos on my scrappy YouTube channel.  Those things do take some work, but they are free (other than the cost of...

I am still working through all of my many, many photos from my NYC trip in December.  My latest process video features photos from my adventure to the Neue Galerie .  This art gallery/museum is located on the east side of Central Park in NYC, just off the 86th Street Transverse (splitting up part of the park), on 5th Avenue.  If you've been to the Met in NYC, the Neue Galerie is actually just up the street; you can see the Met from the sidewalk outside of the Neue Galerie. This layout is a double-page spread, with the left side being a full 6x8 page/pocket.  I had a photo from the subway station I used at 86th St., and I wanted to make sure that I was able to use it somehow.  The blue in the tile was not an ideal match with the blues on the second page, but I was determined to make it work.  On that left-hand page, I used several phrase labels, a blank label with some stamping, and a stamped image from a set I have from Close To My Heart . ...

Work has been kind of crazy in the past week or so, so I fell behind on my blogging here.  In that time, I've published several process videos on my YouTube channel, so I figured I'd recap them here.  As I stated in my last post, I finished my Iceland album, woo hoo!  I did two flip-thru videos of it, since I give some travel anecdotes in addition to all of the scrappy-related details.  I've linking Part 2 here, since I posted that on January 6th, right after my last entry here. Once the Iceland photos were done, I moved on to start my NYC album.  This is kind quick for me, as I just took that trip in early December!  I'm excited to be working on it so soon after being there; my enthusiasm at this point is very high.  In this first process video, you'll see that I've used some fun pocket cards, letter stickers, a good plane photo, and a cool NYC-related stamp.

I finally have a day off today, so I'm using part of it to gather more things (!) for my NYC album.  I found some more digital kits/files that had fun and interesting elements, so I spent a little money to add them to my collection.  I purchased this and this and this (this last one was actually a freebie).  I don't know that I'll end up using them all with my current photos, but I do plan to go back to NYC in early 2019, so I may be able to use them then. Something I've been noticing while searching for items is that it is much harder to find 4x6 cards that I like.  The 3x4 cards are much easier to find and seem far more popular.  I do use a lot of pages in 6x8 size that feature 3x4 pockets, but I also use quite a few that have 4x6 pockets; I'd love to see more modern designs for the larger size.

I'm keepin' on keepin' on with the 100 Days Project.  Here's my recap from days 67 - 72. 67)  I posted a video on my YouTube channel that features a layout in a traveler's notebook insert.  I'm really enjoying playing with this size of layout since it's so different from the other sizes and styles I do. 68)  I hadn't touched my photos from Colorado since landing back in MN.  I took time this day to edit all of the photos and get them ordered.  I figured that since it would be a small batch, I could get them quickly into my 6x8 pocket page album for CO 2015-2017. 69)  I posted a video of my unboxing and review of my first kit from Wild Hare Kits.  I had mixed feelings about the kit I received.  If you haven't heard of this company and want a peek at what they do and what I got in my recent kit, you can watch the video below.  (As a side note, this is my most-watched video so far.) 70)  I was short on time this day, bu...

Yep, I'm still chugging along with the 100 Days Project!  I haven't missed a day yet, and I fully plan to keep that going until the end.  We're currently on Day 72, but as I run behind with posting here, I'm actually talking about days 61-66. 61)  I went on a walking tour that was all about the houses where Prince grew up in Minneapolis.  On this day, I downloaded and edited all of the photos that I took while walking through his neighborhood. 62)  I put up a process video on my YouTube channel that featured a 6"x8" pocket page layout.  That layout featured, again, photos from Edinburgh.  It's taking me longer than I anticipated to work through those photos, so there will definitely be more layouts on the docket. 63)  I didn't make anything today, as I chose to spend my creative time getting inspired.  I watched quite a few YouTube videos on traveler's notebook insert layouts.  It really made me want to work on the TN inserts I ...

So, I decided to try a new scrapbooking kit company.  This is a different kit company because it is curated for each individual.  So, what I get will not be what my neighbor gets.  This is intriguing to me because they use a style profile that you can change every time you order.  I specifically said that I like wood veneer, acrylic, phrase/word stickers, and washi tape.  I said absolutely NO ampersands (these seems to be big in the scrappy world) and no fuzzy pom-pom thingies.  Just no.  They also ask if you are working on any specific projects; I answered that I had several travel-themed albums in the works, so I definitely wanted and expected my kit to be heavily aimed at travel. So, what was the outcome?  Well, I wanted to be in love with the whole kit...but I wasn't.  I'd say I ended up being really happy with about 60% of what was included, and 40% was "meh".  I don't think it had enough of a travel feel, especially because I kno...

Since I am away from home right now for a work function, I can't write too much about current crafty stuff.  However, I've been taking photos so that I can document this trip, even though it's for work.  My choice of work is actually a big part of who I am, so I think it does deserve to be documented in some way.  Since that's all I've really had time for, I figured I'd do another update on my progress with the 100 Days Project. 55)  I took a trip to a big craft store about an hour away from my house, but I left my purchases on a table for a few days.  When I had some down time this day, I was able to actually sort through what I bought and put it all away in the proper places. 56)  For the past several years, I've done a "Friend Adventures" album to document fun times with my friends.  I've always done a traditional 12"x12" album, but I recently decided that I was going to do that 2017 album in a 6"x8" pocket page forma...

Here's another update on my 100 Days Project progress.  We're a bit over halfway now! 49)  Once again, I found myself short on time.  So, what was something I could do fairly quickly?  Sort another photo order from Snapfish, of course!  However, it didn't go as fast as I thought it would, given that I had a bunch of 4x6 collages (2 3x4 photos on each) that required cutting. 50)  I realized on this day that my pile of embellishments on my desk were getting quite out of control.  I had puffy stickers, wood veneer pieces, flair badges, etc., and I had to organize them before I could even think about touching a layout. 51)  I posted a process video of a layout of Scotland photos.  This one features a 6x8 pocket page, with an insert, and photos from the architecture all around Edinburgh.  I'm very happy with how the layout turned out in the end. 52)  I worked on a birthday gift for my sister-in-law featuring some Harry Po...

I've been working on more layouts for the 2016 Ireland album (my husband's trip).  I wanted to show a visual record for this one, as I changed my mind off and on about certain elements during the process of putting it all together.  The photo below shows what I started with for this page.  It was pretty much just the background cardstock, a branding strip I had from a piece of patterned paper, and a map my husband saved that specifically showed the Ring of Kerry. As you can see in the next photo, I switched the map to the left side.  I'm not sure why, but the curve at the bottom just didn't look right on the other side.  Once I had it placed along the left side, I wanted to add some washi to both sides, to bring in some other colors.  I thought some contrast was needed, given the intense green in the map.  I also added the compass bit at the top, which came from the same map.  I put some red rhinestones in a visual triangle, to bring out the...

Today on my blog and YouTube channel, I'm reviewing the "I Ate This" traveler's notebook kit from Kelly Purkey.  She released it on July 28, and it has already arrived to me!  (I also bought her TN kit from last month and reviewed it on my channel.)  I've been getting more and more into traveler's notebooks.  I think it is because it offers a challenge for me to try a new size/style of scrapping, and it also has the benefit of taking up far less space than a traditional 12x12 album!  This is appealing to me, as I am quickly running out of space to store my projects. In terms of this particular kit, there are several things included that have been the same in both June and July:  small stamp set, one set of alphabet stickers, one set of misc glossy stickers, and 12-15 pieces of pre-cut cardstock that is double-sided.  There is no TN insert included in this kit.  If I could change one thing, that would be it!  The June kit also included 3 lit...

General travel supplies #1 I sat down at my craft table with the intention to actually create a layout, but that wasn't what happened.  Everything was in such disarray around me (and directly on my table) that I had to do some sorting and organizing first.  Since I recently decided that I'll do my Scotland and Iceland photos in a 6"x8" pocket page album, I made it my organizational focus to sort through the items that might work for that trip.  I've included some photos that show how I grouped my items.  I'm hoping that having them separated like this will help me find what I need when I'm actually scrapping. General supplies #2 General supplies #3 Pocket cards #1 Pocket cards #2 So far, I've only done one complete layout with my Scotland photos.  I finished it last week when I did a stash challenge; I wanted to see how much I could use of a specific set of items when I worked with a set of photos from Glasgow.  If you're inte...

I just received my most recent order from Pretty Little Studio , and I cannot wait to start using this stuff!  They even threw in a few little freebies that were mostly travel-themed, so I felt like I really did get a bonus with my order.  You can see from the photo below that there are geotag stickers, two sets of pocket page cards, travel phrase stickers, cut-out phrases, and even some awesome geotag (with a heart!) paper.  Can I just skip work and scrap a few days straight with all of these goodies?! I currently have photos, for multiple trips, ready to be scrapped; I'm not sure exactly how and where I'll use all of these items, but I will find a way to include them.  Travel scrapping is my absolute fave thing to work on, so it won't be a hardship for me to dive into these goodies.  I definitely think that some of the pocket page cards will work with photos from my most recent trip to Europe.  I'm itching to do more layouts soon! All from Pretty Li...