So Proud

I'm so darn proud of & amazed by this guy...205 miles in 11 hours (I get leg cramps just thinking about it)! Another Seattle to Portland one-day ride under his belt. Way to go Jer! I love you & am totally inspired by you...there's no way I would look this good after that journey!

Felt Posies

I've been playing with my stash of recycled sweaters & some gorgeous wool felt that I bought in Sandpoint, Idaho a few weeks back. Aren't these colors yummy?! The little posies are so very sweet on a lapel or in your hair...

Another Scorcher...and Another Tropical Island

It's gonna be a scorcher here in the Pacific Northwest...and I LOVE IT! It's one of those bright & beautiful mornings. Hello Summer!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I've been working on a second mini album. Today we're visiting another tropical island...Fiji! In August of 2007 I went on an amazing trip to Fiji with my friend Mary Ann (it's about time I scrapbook these photos, eh?!). We stayed at the Musket Cove Island Resort on Malolo Lai Lai. It was quite an adventure getting there & once our luggage arrived (24 hours after we did), it was a week of tropical bliss...

For this album I used a 7Gypsies naked envelope album and added additional cardstock pages & postcards.

The envelopes are great for storing additional photos or more trip memorabilia...

I had way too many underwater photos (the snorkeling was AMAZING!),

so I simply sewed a stack of three photos to a page to create a little flip book without taking up more pages in the book.

The island where the Tom Hanks film 'Castaway' was filmed was tiny!! Castaway Island Resort is actually on a different island!

Every resort we went to had these advertising coasters. I saved a few & stitched them to the edges of pages that slid into the envelope pockets. They help tell the story & look cool sticking out of the album too...

Don't those photos make you want a tiny umbrella in whatever you're drinking right now? Hope you enjoyed this little peek at paradise! 

Aloha, sunshine!

The sun is shining...and the temperature is rising! Time to peel off the socks & paint the toenails! Here in the Pacific Northwest we've been (somewhat) patiently waiting for summer to arrive. While we've been longing for the sun to come out for more than 15 minutes at a time, I've pulled out some old vacation photos & been working on mini albums. Revisiting memories of warm sunshine, clear blue water, beautiful sandy beaches & tropical drinks. I can almost hear the waves & smell the suntan lotion!

The first mini album I've been working on is of our trip to Maui, in June 2009...

Have you made a paper bag album yet? That's what this one is. A mini album made out of paper lunch sacks. I've made a few of these paper bag albums...they're really fun! On a couple smaller ones I've made, I stitched a stack of bags together, but for this one, I choose to just use two rings. For this album, I used a mish mash of older papers & embellishments. Some from Making Memories' Great Escape line, some from October Afternoon's Early Bird and some from My Mind's Eye's Breaking Free lines, along with some reproduction vintage postcards. All such colorful, fun products! Perfect for some Hawaiian adventures...

Isn't that the truth? Lovely memories...with my fantastic hubby...in one of our favorite places. Now that's the life!

Hope wherever you are today that the sun is shining down on you! (Or that you've found some AC, if you'd rather not deal with the heat!) I'll be back soon with some pics of the second mini album I've been working on...

Citrus Tree Studio June Sketch Challenge

Happy July friends! I've been playing with products from October Afternoon's 'The Thrift Shop' line. What fun it is! I love, love, love this line of papers & embellishments...the colors, the patterns, the vintage feel...love it! I played along with the June Sketch Challenge over at Citrus Tree Studio and came up with this...

 

And guess what?!? I was one of the challenge winners!! WHOOHOO! What a great way to start the day, eh? I'm a happy girl. I have some more projects to share using this fun line of papers...just need to take some pics & get them posted!

My Mind's Eye Challenge #12: I Remember

My Mind's Eye is one of my favorite brands. I love their pretty papers, cute titles & journaling cards. I decided to play along with their Blog Challenge #12 - to create an 'I Remember' layout based on this sketch:

This is a really great sketch. You can flip it any which way, and it makes a super layout! Here's my take on it, using an old photo of my dear grandma & I...

I rotated the sketch clockwise so I could incorporate the Jenni Bowlin 'ADORE' Bingo card in as my title. I used papers from My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary 'Jack & Jill' and 'Sooo Cute' lines, stickers from the My Mind's Eye So Sophie Savvy line, vintage seam binding, Martha Stewart bakers twine & a few vintage buttons. Distressed some edges & did a little stitching. I do love these colors together!

The theme was 'I Remember', but the note I included on my layout just states

'remember * i will always adore you'

Worked on some other pages & cards this past (very rainy!) weekend, so will be back soon to share...

A Party Hat & Some Birthday Cards...

Friday was my mama's birthday, so I put together this bouquet of flowers (a combo of peonies from my garden & roses from Costco) and made her this party hat to wear at dinner.

I've also been on a mission to use up some of the paper scraps I have laying around. (Sometimes it's just so hard to toss those pretty little scraps!) I stuck with the birthday theme and created some fun and simple cards. Here are a few of them...

I made an extremely small dent in my scrap pile, but I loved how quickly these came together...and am inspired to create some more! Any themes you want to see? My card stash is low on Thank You & Just Because cards, so maybe I'll work on those next. Father's Day is coming up too!

Happy crafting...
Bethany