Love Our Life

There have been many times when I've printed off an Instagram photos and used it on a page. For a fun twist on that idea, I decided to take a screenshot of a photo my husband had shared on an Instagram private message and use that on a layout.

I love how the screenshot not only captures a fun moment with our kids riding bikes in Newport Beach, but it also shows photo comments and little photos of who the picture was shared with. This helps tell more of the story without me actually having to write or say anything. I'm sure over time the interface for Instagram will change is this preserves a little piece of our history.

I kept this layout pretty simple with the focus on the photo, a few embellishments and a bit of journaling. Sometimes I just need a quick and simple page to help me tell the story I want to record. No frills on this one and that works just fine for me.

Layout Supplies /// Today is Beautiful Kit

Watch the Sunset

One our our favorite things to do at the beach is watch the sunset. It seems like right at the last minute clouds like to roll in, but when we were at the beach at the beginning of this year, we scored and saw a beautiful sunset. The photos didn't really do it justice, but I'm okay with that. We still got a family photo with everyone looking at the camera - that's a win for sure.

These fill in tags are one of my favorite things in the February Scrapbook Circle Kit. I love how they give a great starting point for a page concept and at the very least are a jump start for journaling.

On this page, I freehand cut all of the papers except for the polka background. I love freehand cutting paper because it takes away the structured and blocked feel that can sometimes happen when all of the lines are perfectly straight.

With a couple touches of sewing, this layout was finished!

Layout Supplies /// Today is Beautiful Kit /// Dream Big Add-on

Cousins @ Atlantic Beach

Last week I decided to take pictures during the process of putting a layout together. I had no idea or plan for page, but thought it would be fun to take pictures along the way. I used the Beatuful Mess PartyParty app to put this together. Here's a look at the process:

I started out thinking that I'd cut hearts out of the 6 X 6 papers and then thought it would be cool to use the outline of each too. It was something different and I'm happy with how it turned out.

This page is about a trip we took to North Carolina to visit my sister and her family for spring break almost three years ago. It seems like a usually scrapbook more recent pictures and it was fun to do some older photos and see how the kids have all changed so much.

When I put this together, I treated each little 6 X 6 section as it's own little page and added just a few embellishments and the photos. I figured the page was already busy with all of the patterned paper combinations, so I didn't want to overdo things.

Now I'm thinking that I want to take this idea of cutting a shape from paper and using the frame with some other shapes. Thinking about the possibilities!

Layout Supplies /// Today is Beautiful Kit /// Dream Big Add-on

Love Life Love You

I've been having so much fun the last couple of weeks carving out time to scrapbook. It s something that I'm making a priority because it really is important to me.

The February Scrapbook Circle Kit, Today is Beautiful, went live today and so I wanted to share my favorite layout I've made with the kit so far. I still have this stack of goods from the kit to use, so I'm hoping there will be a few more layouts to come.

This layout came together with a bit of inspiration from my friend Jennie. She was working on a wedding video for her sister in law and said how many selfies they had taken over the past couple of years. I decided to look through my photos and see how many I could find from 2014 of Ward and I. We had about 20 decent photos of us together. Is this a lot? A little? I have no idea, but it was the perfect amount to put on this layout.

This paint chip paper from Crate Paper just called out to have lots of the little spaces filled with photos and embellishments. I loved printing out lots of small photos and then pairing them with bits and pieces from the February Kit.

I've noticed that Ward and I tend to mainly take photos together when we are on trips or at special occasions, so I'm going to work on taking more photos together during more regular daily moments this year.

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you have a terrific Tuesday!

Hello 2015 @ Newport Beach

Our family plus my sister Kristen's family kicked off the new year with two days at Disneyland followed by some time at Newport Beach. It was the perfect way to start 2015. My sister's kids had never been to Disneyland, so it was fun to watch it through first timers' eyes. I just hope we didn't scar them forever by taking them on Tower of Terror. They seemed to enjoy everything else, so I think it was a big success.

Happily, I've been able to carve out a little bit of time yesterday and today to work on a page with some favorite photos from our time at the beach.

We had just planned to stop of maybe an hour at the beach, but one hour turned into three or more. The kids had a great time and didn't seem to mind the freezing water!

We had the best ever apple fritters from Seaside Bakery while sitting on the beach from a doughnut shop that was right along the beach. We used Yelp to find a lunch spot and and discovered Sancho's Tacos a short walk away. Their fish tacos and homemade tortilla chips were so good. This is definitely on my list next time we get to go to Newport Beach.

I hope your new year is off to a great start! Since this trip to Newport Beach, I've already made a return trip to California for CHA. I plan on posting about that fun adventure tomorrow.

Layout supplies /// SBC All You Need is Love Kit /// SBC Hello Love Add-on /// SBC Shine Bright Add-on

Sit Back and Relax

It seems that time and activities are coming at us at a record pace lately, so it was amazing last month to get away on a cruise and take some time to sit back and relax. One of the best things about a cruise is that you can really unplug and just enjoy time alone and with family and friends. No texting, very limited internet and a lounge chair by the pool forced me to slow down and I loved it.

One of my favorite pictures that I took was while I was in a hammock on the Disney private island, Castaway Cay, on the quiet adult only beach. My friend, Jennie, and I had gone to the beach to take a yoga class, but when we arrived, the class wasn't happening. We decided to each sit back in a hammock to wait and see if the yoga class was going to ever start. The class never started, but it turned out just fine. It was a perfect opportunity to just sit back and relax.

This layout was really fun to put together. I started out knowing that I wanted to use the picture plus the "grateful for" card on this page. Then I started trying out different 6 X6 papers to see what looked best. I just stacked them on each other to try out the patterns and then bumped the paper and the papers all fanned out a bit and had lots of pieces of patterns showing. I loved the look of all of the different patterns on the page, so I stuck them all down and had a finished page.

Layout Supplies /// November Scrapbook Circle Little Moments Kit /// Sweetness Add-on /// Home Sweet Home Add-on

Hello Oceanside

When our family went to Oceanside a couple of months ago, I took a lot of pictures. I've already created a layout with a few favorites, but I wanted to use more photos from our trip on another page.

My favorite thing on the page? It's got to be those cork "who" and "when" fill in the blank pieces. I sketched out the idea for those a few months ago and now it's excited to have then through the design and manufacturing process and actually on a scrapbook layout.

I love that I fit six photos on this page. Photos really helped tell the story. Isn't that what scrapbooking is all about - telling our stories?

Layout Supplies /// Island Adventure Kit /// Bungalow Add-on /// Tiki Torch Add-on

We Love Oceanside

The beach. Our family loves the beach. We wish we lived closer, but at least it's only a half day drive away. We have Wyndham timeshare points and decided it was time to used them to book a room for a few nights in Oceanside, CA.

Side note: we've had Wyndham time share points for 8 or 9 years and we love having them. We bought them on ebay for a tiny fraction of retail price. We do pay annual maintenance fees, but it is much less that the cost of the hotel would be out of pocket. Plus Wyndham rooms have a family room, kitchen and bedroom(s) which gives us room to spread out and saves us money because we make breakfast and lunch in the hotel and only go out for dinner.  Okay enough about that, just thought I'd share something that has worked well for vacations for our family. :)

We spent a weekend in Oceanside in June and loved every minute of it. We traveled with another family which worked out great because everyone was always occupied with a friend. We spent time digging and building in the sand, boogie boarding (the kids, not me because I don't like cold water!), eating fish tacos, a morning run along the beach (just me!) plus lots of relaxing. Perfect!

Now I want to start planning a return trip.

Layout supplies /// Our Adventure Kit /// Away We Go Add-on /// Happy Day Add-on

Aventure Awaits

There's just something I love about being at the beach. While Audrey and I were in Santa Barbara a couple of months ago, I snapped a couple favorite beach photos. While scrolling through my photos, I decided to pair a couple of them on a layout based on the Scrapbook Circle sketch for April designed by Diana Fisher.

Diana created a cool cut circle cut file to go a long with the sketch this month and I used it to cut out the circles on the background of my page.

It was fun to fill in the circles with bits and pieces from the Bucket List kit.

Ahh...the beach. I'm looking forward to returning for a weekend in June with our family. Until then, I'll just keep soaking up our Arizona sunshine.

Be sure to stop by the Scrapbook Circle blog for more details about playing along with this sketch.

Project Life >>> June 30

This Project Life spread that I want to share today is one of my favorites. It's probably because it records one of our most fun weeks of the summer. Plus I just love all of the bright and happy colors!

Week of June 30, 2013. We spent the majority of this week in Orlando visiting the Universal parks. At least half of our time there was spent in Harry Potter World. I really cannot say enough about how fantastic this place is. The Howarts ride was unlike anything I've been on before (it's kind of a cross between Soaring Over California and a moving roller coaster) and the town of Hogsmeade and the shops were amazing.

The night before we left for Florida, we got to celebrate my dad's birthday at Joe's Farm Grill. Love my dad and that restaurant!

Grandpa's Birthday /// Universal Orlando /// Hogsmeade /// Hogwarts

Since we took so many photos that week, I needed an insert for this spread. I used one of these 9 Pocket Page Protectors for the insert. I love that it gives me space to add 18 additional photos/elements without making the page feel overwhelming. 

On the back of the insert I cut up one of the park maps that we had used during our trip. I love to save things like this and it's so great that I now have a good place to save it.

We spent 3 days at the amusement park and then ventured an hour away to the beach for a day. We loved the beautiful day at the beach. It was a nice change of pace from the crowds.

Cocoa Beach /// Movie Tickets for Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University

I love having a place to document our travel adventures. Of course, I will will create a few traditional scrapbook pages with some favorite photos from the trip, but this format allows me to share even more of our story.

PL Supplies /// Scrapbook Circle Let's Go On an Adventure Kit

We Love the Beach

It was with a bit of sadness that we sent the kids back to school last week. The structure will be great with the school schedule and activities starting up again, but I've got to say that I just really loved the more relaxed routine of summer. One of my favorite things we did this summer was go to the beach for a day while we were in Florida.

Spending the day relaxing in the sunshine and then cooling off in the water is near perfect to me. Our kids are a bit older now and can all splash around independently without me having to worry about them falling face first into the water every second. We rented boogie boards and a surf board and everyone had a grand time.

We drove from Orlando to Cocoa Beach and it was pouring rain on our drive. It was so bad at one point that we couldn't even see out of the windshield. We weren't so sure that we had chosen the best day to do to the beach.  But as you can see from the picture, it was bright and sunny  at the beach. Not one drop of rain and not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful day!

Layout Supplies /// Let's Go On an Adventure Kit /// We Are Here Add-on

Summer Fun!

One of my favorite things to do in the summer to go to the beach. We live closest to California beaches, so that is where we have spent most of our beach time. A couple of weeks ago we got to go to the beach for a day while we were in Florida. Wow, the water was actually warm and I didn't mind getting in the water! I must say the East Coast beaches win by having a much more tolerable swimming temperature!

We spent the day playing on boogie boards, some tried out surfing and we relaxed in the sand.

Such a beautiful day at the beach! Now we are back in the 115 degree heat in AZ and we have the AC running almost non-stop. I'll just have to look at these photos and remember a time when I wasn't melting while being outside.

This week over on the Glitz blog, the design team is sharing lots of Summer Fun layouts. Stop by for some fun summer inspiration.

Shaved Ice & The Beach (Glitz Design)

This week on the Glitz blog we've been challenged to use Glitz stamps on our pages. They have both roller stamps (love these!) and fun rubber stamps too.

On my first layout, I used stamps from these two stamp sets plus the anchor roller stamp.

I have to admit that stamps are not usually the first thing I reach for when I create a layout, but I really loved using these stamps on my pages!

The date stamp from the Uncharted Waters set is one of my favorites. The dates go up to 2019, so I'm set for years of use!

I scattered a few of the anchor stamps on my page along with some mist. The roller stamps are not just for rolling multiple images onto a project, you can use the single image too.

Next up is a layout I made about our first visit to a really delicious shaved ice place we've recently discovered.

This layout features two different roller stamps plus a set of rubber stamps too.

I love all of the numbers plus the "day", "month" and "year" stamps in the Love You Madly stamp set.  Those could be used on almost every layout!

The chevron stamp was a lot of fun to use on this page. I didn't quite trust my stamping skills to roll all of that ink right onto my page, so I rolled it onto another piece of paper, cut it out and then sewed the stamped images to my page.

It was a lot of fun getting out my ink and using these fun stamps!


Happy Layout Supplies
Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" Patterned Paper: Stripe
Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" 6 X 6 Paper Pad
Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" Journaling Stickers
Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" Paper Garland
Glitz Design Cashmere Dame Stampe Set
Glitz Design Uncharted Waters Stamp Set
Glitz Design Anchor Roller Stamp


Shaved Ice Supplies
Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" Patterned Paper: Hearts
Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" 8 X 8 Paper Pad
Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" Rainbow Alpha
Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" Rainbow Chevron Tape
Glitz Design "Color Me Happy" Title Stickers
Glitz Design Camera Roller Stamp
Glitz Design Chevron Roller Stamp
Glitz Designs "Love You Madly" Stamp Set

Beach Braids

If you are looking for the Glitz blog hop, you can go here.

Happy Saturday! We are enjoying a beautiful Easter weekend here in AZ. I'm hoping to get a bunch of eggs cooked so that my kids can color them today. I'm also working on a talk that I'm giving in church tomorrow. What could be better that the topic of Easter for a church talk?

Today I want to share a layout I put together about a trip to Mexico a couple of years ago. We were there with friends and our girls decided to have their hair braided.

It was a bit of a funny event. We arrived at the beach and settled in on some lounge chairs and the kids immediately started splashing in the water. My husband, Ward, left to walk to the beach hoping to find a taco stand. When Ward came back about 10 minutes later, we were all involved with one of the many beach vendors that are well known on Mexican beaches.

The girls were getting their hair braided, Jennie and I were looking at dresses and our friend Dave was getting a massage in his lounge chair. I guess you could say that we were their target market!

Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you and your family a happy Easter!

Castaway Cay

Spending a day at the beach on a warm, sunny day is pretty much a perfect day for me. While we were on our cruise, we spent at day on the Disney Island and it really was wonderful!

I took my photo, Instax and regular camera to the beach that day and tried to take a lot of pictures. Of course, once I'm home it doesn't seem like enough pictures. Oh well, maybe we can go back someday and I'll be sure to take even more pictures!

I used my Scrapbook Circle March Kit, Charmed Life, plus the Lucky Girl add-on for this page. 

I'm not sure when we will make it back to the beach again, but I'm already looking forward to spending another day at the beach!