Rhine River Album Cover Page

I am absolutely in love with the Hope & Kindness collection and how well it is working for my Rhine River trip album. At yesterday's Scrapbook with me event I created this layout as the cover page for the album and love how it came out.

The inspiration for this layout came from this sketch by Sketch Savvy. You can see this sketch along with others here.

I used the Hope & Kindness Coordinating Cardstock for the base of the layout and then used the Stitched Hexagons Thin Cuts to die cut the hexagons. I added some faux-stitching with a .01 black pen. I die cut the title using the Slim Alphabet Thin Cuts set. I used a die cut from the Hope & Kindness die cut set for the travel dates.

If you are interested in joining me for one of my Scrapbook with me events make sure to Like and Follow my Facebook Page to get notifications on upcoming events.

I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies list:

CC5222 - Hope & Kindness Paper Pack

CC5223 - Hope & Kindness Coordinating Cardstock

CC5227 - Hope & Kindness Die Cuts

Z4334 - Slim Alphabet Thin Cuts

Where To Go Layout

Sharing the first layout I created for my Viking Cruise scrapbook album. I did this layout at Monday's Scrapbook with me event. I used papers from the Hope & Kindness Collection that I will be using for the whole album. It was fun to start scrapbooking a trip right after returning from it.

The layout was inspired by this sketch from Even More Scrapping I found on Scrapbook.com. You can see this sketch along with others here.

I combined the Hope & Kindness paper with some Kraft cardstock for the base pages and used Sundance cardstock for the die cut title and heart. The title was die cut using the Simple Serif Uppercase Thin Cuts set. I added a some Hope & Kindness die cut shapes along with some enamel dots from my stash to finish the layout.

If you are interested in joining me for one of my Scrapbook with me events make sure to Like and Follow my Facebook Page to get notifications on upcoming events.

I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies list:

CC5222 - Hope & Kindness Paper Pack

CC5227 - Hope & Kindness Die Cuts

Z1375 - Kraft cardstock

Z6051 - Sundance cardstock

Z3760 - Simple Serif Uppercase Thin Cuts

Scrapbooking Your Travels

I just returned from a wonderful 12 day vacation in Europe that included a Viking River Cruise along the Rhine and as I start to work on scrapbooking this trip, I figured I would share with you my process for scrapbooking a vacation.

My first steps involve my photos. I upload all of the photos taken to my computer and then back them up on our network as well as the cloud. Since this trip was for both my husband and I, I also uploaded his photos as well. We use DropBox to upload our photos and share them with each other.

Once the photos are on my computer I use Lightroom to organize them into "Smart Collections" based on tags I assign when I import them. I use tags for the day of the trip, the location, special events as well as themes. You can see the collections I created on the left hand column and some of the tags I used on the right.

The collections and tags are useful to me as they help me start to organize the photos into what will turn out to be layouts in the album.

After importing, tagging and organizing my photos, I work on organizing any memorabilia from the trip. I tend to keep everything from a trip - maps, ticket stubs, newsletters, boarding passes, etc.. I also bring with me a daily journal for writing down the happenings of the day as well as funny quotes, food eaten, etc.. This journal is helpful in that I do not always scrapbook a vacation right after coming back so it will help me remember some of the smaller details from the trip. 

When I start to work on the album, which I do not always do in a chronological format. I make use of the "Quick Collections" feature in Lightroom. This allows me to scroll through the Smart Collection I am currently working from and select specific photos to edit and export for printing.

With vacation albums I usually choose a collection to use for the entire album. I like how sticking with one collection will unite the layouts in the album with a consistent color scheme. For this vacation I chose the Hope & Kindness Collection from Close To My Heart. I love how the colors in this collection coordinate with the, many, photos I took on the trip.

I will be working on the layouts for this album at my upcoming Scrapbook with me events and sharing them here on my blog. Each Scrapbook with me starts with a sketch I choose so this gives me the starting point to choose the photos in the Quick Collection to edit and export. Once the photos are exported I will either import them to Photoshop Elements or AirDrop them to my iPhone to print the sizes that I need to start the layout.

Hope you like the tips in this post. Thanks for stopping by!

Make sure to check back for the layouts from the vacation I will be posting in the coming weeks!

May 2022 Recap Layout

Sharing here my most recent Scrapbook with me layout. I created this layout during today's event to recap the month of May 2022 and follow along with my monthly recap series. The layout features papers from the May/June Mix In paper pack. Love working with these paper packs in combination with the other collections from the current catalog or as a stand alone paper pack.

The inspiration for the layout comes from this sketch. You can see this sketch along with others here. I converted this 12" x 12" sketch into an 8 1/2" x 11" sketch to fit into my 2022 Album and also changed it to be a 2-page layout from a 1-page sketch.

The title was cut on my Cricut using the May Digital Art file from Close To My Heart. The circle elements were cut using various size circle and scallop punches I have in my stash. I used 3-D Foam tape under some of the punched pieces for added dimension. I also added some machine stitching along the top as well as some Clear Sparkles to embellish the layout.

If you are interested in joining me for one of my Scrapbook with me events make sure to Like and Follow my Facebook Page to get notifications for upcoming events.

I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies list:

X9040 - Mix-In Paper Pack

X9041 - Mix-In Coordinating Cardstock

1385 - White Daisy Cardstock

Z3274 - Clear Sparkles

Z4352 - May Digital Art

Stamptacular Savings

If you love the Close To My Heart Stamp Sets as much as I do you will be excited for this special during the month of June. With this special you can save up to your 35% on Stamp Sets and up to 50% on Stamp Set + Thin Cuts bundles.

Close To My Heart has even introduced 5 New Stamp Sets designed exclusively as part of this special.

I would love to share with you all of the Stamp Sets and Stamp Set + Thin Cuts bundles that are part of this special but that would make this post pages and pages long. I will, however, share with you my Top 5 Stamp Sets and Stamp Set + Thin Cuts bundles (in no particular order).

B1770 - Embroidered Circles

B1771 - Embroidered Borders

D1966 - Simple Serif Uppercase Alphabet

D2051 - Perfectly Imperfect Patterns

Z3754 - Textured Leaves Stamp Set + Thin Cuts

You can see and shop all the Stamp Sets and Stamp Set + Thin Cuts bundles that are part of this special here

Never Too Old Layout

I had fun creating this layout during a recent Scrapbook with me event. I have found that since I have switched to 8 1/2" x 11" format for my 2022 Family Album I am creating more single photo layouts and documenting these fun events that they are from.

The inspiration for this layout came from this sketch from Sketch Savvy that I found on Pinterest. You can see this sketch along with others here. This was another 12" x 12" to 8 1/2" x 11" sketch conversion.

I dug into my stash and used up some retired Blossom paper for this layout. I loved working with the geometric patterns from this collection for this. The title was die cut using the Block Alphabet Thin Cuts set with some letter stickers from my stash added in. I created the faux-stitching using a black .01 pen and then also traced a circle template twice with an offset using the black .01 pen. I added a few stickers from the Blossom collection along with some phrase pieces from a Zip Strip to embellish the layout.

If you are interested in joining me for one of my Scrapbook with me events make sure to Like and Follow my Facebook Page to get notifications for upcoming events. 

I hope you like the layout. Thanks for stopping by!

Tutti Frutti

Well, we are now in June and I for one cannot believe we are 6 months into 2022. With the start of June I want to share some information on the second collection from the May/June catalog - Tutti Frutti. This is such a perfect collection for this time of year with the soft colors and fun summer-themed patterns. I love the combination of Capri. Grape, Lemonade and Flamingo in this collection.

I love the options with this collection! There are 2 choices for the paper pack - each pack has 6 sheets, 2 each of 3 double-sided designs, you can choose the pack by itself or with a coordinating sticker sheet. In addition to the paper pack there is also a Coordinating Cardstock pack, Mini Shapes, Picture My Life Cards and a Digital Art Collection. If you are also into stamping this collection also offers a scrapbooking stamp set and a cardmaking stamp set.

In addition to the paper packs, stamp sets and embellishments, there are also 2 workshop kits available with this collection. Each workshop kit features exclusive elements that are only available through the kit. Exclusive patterned papers and die cuts in the scrapbooking workshop kit and an exclusive stamp set with coordinating Thin Cuts in the cardmaking kit.

I hope you are in love with this collection as much as I am! I am planning on spending some fun time this coming weekend in my scrap room crafting with this collection and will share the results with you!

You can see and shop this collection on my website today - here!