My First Video!

I've been debating for a while whether I was willing to look like an idiot while making a video, and you guessed it - I was!  I was excited to hear about a fix for a problem I'd been having with my Scotch ATG gun. I wasn't quite sure HOW to do the fix - the explanation I found online was a bit sparse at best. I figured I would monkey around and see if I could make it work.  I taped the process, hoping the whole thing wouldn't turn out to be an epic fail if my "fix" didn't work after all.  Fortunately, it did, and here's the video!

Cruise Pictures - Mexico

This is the last of the pages I have completed, so I'm going to have to get to work and do some more.

For this layout, I borrowed photos from the Internet again and used my Silhouette software to create a photo collage.  I learned this trick from one of my Silhouette gurus, Lisa G who has posted some great Silhouette video tutorials.  (Click on her name above to go to the video) The software allows me to size my photos however I want and print them all as a group or singly - whichever I choose.

My title was also die cut using the Silhouette.  I downloaded a free font from the Internet (Taco Modern) and used the node editing feature of the software to remove some of the tiny details that would have been too small to cut well.  I backed my title with black cardstock and added some brads as an accent.  I didn't have the color I wanted for my brads, so I used white ones, colored them with a Sharpie marker and then used clear embossing powder to seal the color.

I added a charm from The Girls' Paperie (got this in a kit from Tuesday Morning with TONS of other stuff), a flower from Sassafras and some stickers from October Afternoon.  The patterned paper is from Basic Grey, and the journaling sticker is from Colorbok.

Searching for that "perfect" storage solution...

But then, aren't we all?  This papercraft hobby seems to involve endless numbers of tiny things that need to be stored in a manner that:

1. keeps them neat and prevents them from being damaged or lost
2. keeps them organized so that we can find them when we need them, and can see what we have
3. fits in the space that we have available
4. preferably does not cost an arm and a leg

To this end, I have spent countless hours arranging and re-arranging my crafting supplies.  I'm doing that again today.  Most of my embellishments had been stored in a wide 3-drawer Iris-type cart.  Ribbons were (and still are) in the top drawer, and the bottom two drawers were divided into alpha and non-alpha embellishments.

That worked for a while, but things seemed to get lost in the drawers - they were just too big, and I had to dig through everything in order to find what I wanted - if I even remembered I had it to begin with.  I thought about buying a Clip-It-Up or the lower priced Hobby Lobby version, but I just have too many embellishments for that to work.  I'd have to have multiple units, and that's cost-prohibitive - not to mention all of the space it would take up.

I did have a rolling 12x12 file rack that was sitting unused, so I decided to see if I could make that work.  It's not costing me anything since I already own it, and it slides easily under my work table, so that's a plus. I grabbed a stack of my Dollar Tree 12x12 plastic envelopes and got to work.  I'll post some photos when I'm done and let you know how it's working.  

Cruise Pictures - Shopping in Roatan

I didn't take a single one of the pictures in this layout - I found all of them online, which, as I said in my previous post, is a great way to supplement skimpy vacation photos.

I didn't take pictures of Plaza Mar, but I did want to document it since we'd found most of our souvenirs there, and since I thought it was a fascinating place.

Once again, I die cut my title using my Silhouette.  Actually, I double die-cut it in different colors, and offset them to give some shadowing and added interest to the title.  I used more paper from the Mod Retro stack from DCWV, and stickers from October Afternoon, Sassafras Lass and Stampin' Up! I also used some ancient rub ons from Marcella (K & Co's bargain line) and Top Line Creations - I don't even know if they are still in business - that's how long I have had these.  Finally, I added a button from Stampin' Up!.  

**Note:  I have started separating my embellishments into "Current" and "Use it or Lose it" categories.  Items in the second category are to be donated in 30 days if I do not use them.  I try to look at those things first when searching for embellishments.  This method has helped me to use up some of my stash so that I can keep it fresh.  

Cruise Pictures - B is for Bill

This layout shows my brother Bill buying a hand rolled cigar from a man in Honduras.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of pictures here - I was too busy experiencing Roatan myself.  When I went to put the layout together, I found myself wishing I'd taken a picture of the cigar maker.  I had an idea, and Googled "cigar maker Roatan Honduras" and up popped a picture of the man himself!  You can even see the stone pillar beside him - the same one you see my brother standing next to in the other picture.  Google Images is a fabulous way to flesh out your vacation photos if they are a bit thin in areas.  You can generally find plenty of scenery pictures online to add to your layouts.

I stamped the top word border with the Hampton Art Border Background clear stamp set.  I had to cut it apart to get it to look the way I wanted it, but that's one of the great things about clear stamps - you can do that without losing the ability to use the stamp as a whole again later.  I also hand stamped the "Hand Rolled Cigars" title with Colorbox Chalk inks.  The "Description of Activity" border came from the MME Life Stories collection pad - I just cut it from one of the papers and used a Fiskars border punch along the bottom edge.  I printed and stamped my journalling on another tag and added some word stickers and a "Bb" flash card.  The striped borders were cut from paper from... hmm..  the Cosmo Cricket Earth Love collection, and the star border is a sticker from... somewhere.  I have no idea, and I can't seem to find the rest of the sheet at the moment.

Cruise Pictures - Zip Line

This layout features pictures from our zip-line adventure in Honduras.  On the first page, I used a transparency for my title, and one of our actual armbands from the trip underneath that as a page accent.  I printed my journaling on vellum - you can see the adhesive, but that doesn't really bother me.  I glittered a sun die cut (Silhouette) and used half of it on this page.  I added just a little stamping to complete the page.

On the second half of the layout, the pictures definitely take center stage.  I used minimal embellishments so as not to distract from the spectacular views.  Just a few word stickers to help tell the story, and a tab on the side and I'm done.  That amazing panoramic view along the top of the layout?  That was our view for the last "zip" of the day.  Amazing.  

Stuff I never do...

I never use purple and red on layouts. They're just not my colors.  I never use shiny laminated papers. I just don't like 'em. And I never use the Hodgepodge Hardware I bought from Stampin' Up!.  I mostly just look at it and wish I could figure out a way to use it. I lay it on things, look at it for a while and then take it off and put it away again.

On this page, I did all three of these things that I never do, and they all WORK together!  I started with the patterned paper from DCWV's Mod Retro stack (which I got at TJ Maxx for $3.99 - can you say bargain?).  I liked the violet and ivory together, and the laminated design didn't bother me, but when I looked closer I (gulp) noticed the red.  The colors are actually quite pretty together when you choose the right shades.  These are both soft and a little greyed down, and I found the combination to be quite elegant.  I picked up the ivory in my lettering (Basic Grey Capella), my mat,  my journaling block, AND the cute little frame around my date - from the SU! Hodgepodge Hardware kit.  Quite nice, if I do say so myself.  I wonder what else I never do that I should try?