Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Scrapbooking a Hawaiian Honeymoon

I'm starting to gather supplies for my next project, scrapbooking our Hawaii honeymoon!


Title page is done! I took two random scenic photos that I couldn't remember where we even were and used them. They still look like Hawaii!


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I glued the photos to a sheet of paper with a sun background and then glued those on a brown paper.  They were both from the Paper Studio's Beach pad (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/12-x-12-a-day-at-the-beach-paper-pack-275719/). I added an old sticker I had in my sticker drawer of a sun, cut out a square of the matching sun paper and wrote Kona, Maui, and Oahu 2/2012 and glued it in the opposite corner. I used Lifestyle Craft's Lemon Drop alphabet (http://lifestylecrafts.com/lemon-drop.html) to cut out Hawaiian Honeymoon which I then used a zigzag stamp and brown ink to embellish. I cut out some words from another paper in the pad and added those to the bottom photo. The leaf die cuts are available in my shop (https://www.etsy.com/listing/124155636/tropical-leaves-die-cut).


This is the first page and features our first hotel, The Waikoloa Beach Marriott in Kona (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/koamc-waikoloa-beach-marriott-resort-and-spa/). I went with a palm tree page to highlight the greenery found on the grounds. I used leaf shapes made from Lifestyle craft's leaves die (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Quickutz-Lifestyle-Crafts-C-0054-S-Rev-Tropical-Leaves-W-Pkg-Lg-2x1-1-8-/370672857067?pt=US_Die_Cutting_Machines_Dies&hash=item564dd2efeb). The paper was from the previously mentioned Beach paper pad. 


My second page honors the MANY mai tai's we consumed while honeymooning. These three photos are just of mai tais from the Marriott. Again, I used all paper patterns from the Paper Studio's Beach theme pad. I glued the photos onto the hibiscus paper and glued that onto a plain tan sheet. I added two green circles, cut with my Lifestyle Crafts nesting circles die (http://lifestylecrafts.com/nesting-circles.html). I added two pink hibiscus stamps as well as two orange hibiscus stickers near the title, which are just orange alphabet stickers placed to spell out Mai Tais. 


This was our visit to Akatsuka Orchid Farm, near Volcano National Park. I just wanted to stop by as an orchid fan. They have a lot of stuff!!  I used the same Paper Studio's Beaches theme pad for the purple and pink paper as well as the background page. I added three dimensional orchid stickers from EK success found at Michaels, and titled with green bubble letters I already had. 


On the same day, we visited Volcano National Park. There's really a lot to see there, including an active volcano plume! There are old lava flows to walk on, too. We also went through a lava flow tube, which was pretty dang cool!  I chose a tiki/wooden page pattern from the Paper Studio's Beach pad as the background. From the same paper, I chose a green pattern for the photo accent sheets. I cut a small volcano from a piece of kraft paper and crumpled it to make the volcano embellishment. I added some grey smoke and painted red lava bursts but also accented the volcano with brown paint. The caption at the bottom and the green paper was cut out using a random edge scissors I acquired from somewhere. I thought the pattern looked kind of rocky. 




These photos were taken at our visit to Kona's Botanical Garden. Unfortunately, we had just missed the blooming season, but there was still a lot to see, including tiki's and waterfalls. I chose the green leaf pattern from the same Paper Studio's Beach pad and mounted trimmed pictures on light green cardstock. I used Lifestyle Craft's nesting eyelet rectangles (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-eyelet-rectangles.html) for the title blocks and added a floral alphabet I've had lying around for years. I accented the pages with three dimensional palm tree stickers I found at Michael's.


Here is my page for visiting Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. I used a textured black 12x12 cardstock sheet with an orange seashell paper trimmed to 11x11 in the middle. I attached the four photos in an offset but centered design. I added some clear seashell stickers at the bottom as well as two seashell die cuts at the top (http://lifestylecrafts.com/seashell-clam.html). I accented the die cut seashells with yellowy/brown/orange rhinestones for some added bling. 


These photos were taken at Kona Brewing Company, a delicious and highly recommended restaurant we visited (http://konabrewingco.com/). I ordered pineapple pizza and my husband got these amazing pork and pineapple tacos. We would go back just to eat here!  I used a purple hibiscus paper for the background and a paper with words such as beach, paradise, and vacation, as the accent paper. I cut the photos and the paper in concentric circles using Lifestyle Craft's nesting circles (http://lifestylecrafts.com/nesting-circles.html) and make the heading with the previously mentioned Lemon Drop alphabet. I added a pineapple and ALOHA sticker.


Of course we had to include some beach photos! Here we are soaking up some sun! I chose a brown paper as the background and a yellow paper with a repeating sun pattern I had previously used. I added sea shell stickers for a beach feel. For the title, I printed "At the Beach" on kraft paper and stamped over it with a woodgrain stamp and brown ink (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/woodgrain-background-rubber-stamp-255489/). 


This page was dedicated to our sunset cruise- featuring all you can drink mai tais- we took on Valentine's Day. The cruise was nice, and a great way to spend time together on the ocean. I chose a wavy paper pattern with plain blue accent paper. I trimmed the photos using Lifestyle Craft's nesting rounded corner squares (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-squares-rounded.html). I purchased the sail boats from etsy.com and added the title using blue alphabet stickers and following the wave flow of the paper. 



Maui time! We attended the Old Lahaina Luau, also featuring an open bar! It was a great time! I had purchased a paradise page kit I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby. It included this surf board paper which I used for the background. I chose a green triangle paper,  previously used, as an accent. I trimmed some of the sides straight and some following the diamond pattern. I added pink hibiscus and a yellow grass skirt stickers. My husband found me the Tiki Font, which I printed on the green paper using brown ink. 



I've always wanted to do a whale watching cruise. What better time than in Maui, right? We saw a lot of whales, but none of them breached. I ended up with a lot of pictures of just tails. But it was still worth it. I chose a water themed loose paper for sale at Hobby Lobby for the background. I mounted two of the clearest whale photos with random sized squares of dark blue and vellum paper. I added a rope font of Whale Watching on vellum for the title and embellished both with water splash stickers I already had. I used two whale die cuts from Lifestyle Craft's whale die cut (http://www.ebay.com/itm/LIFESTYLE-CRAFTS-QUICKUTZ-WHALE-DIE-DS0323-NEW-MARITIME-RELEASE-NIP-/121112900840?pt=US_Die_Cutting_Machines_Dies&hash=item1c32e434e8) and used the same water splash stickers to accent those. 


I had this paper background for years and finally got to use it! I took three of my favorite and most colorful pictures of the sunset on Maui and attached them right to the paper. I didn't want to take away from the background page. I added two colorful palm tree stickers for an accent. I used black sparkly chipboard letters for the Maui title and black cursive stickers for the sunset part of the title. 




I had a lot of photos from driving the Road to Hana; so I selected a few of my favorite from the scenery and made a two page layout. I featured an 8x10 of my husband and I in front of a gorgeous waterfall on one page and the rest of the photos I die cut into circles using Lifestyle Craft's nesting circles (http://lifestylecrafts.com/nesting-circles.html) which I adhered to green paper cut using Lifestyle Craft's nesting squares (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-squares-rounded.html). I added a few hibiscus and palm tree stickers and titled with a blue alphabet sticker. 


The next Maui activity we did was bike down a volcano! We took a tour in which a van drove us and some bikes up Haleakala and then we biked down at our own pace. I had a lot of photos from this activity as well, so I did another two page layout. There are some pictures of us riding down and some of us right at the top. I added bike die cuts I found on Etsy.com (https://www.etsy.com/transaction/127993288?ref=fb2_tnx_title) and a few stickers from my sticker stash. I titled this page in offset blue alphabet font and added two green tabs to some photos for little information tidbits from Lifestyle Craft's Tape It Kit (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/shape-n-tape/tape-it-kit.html). The one on the left summarizes the drive and how I crashed into a guardrail and messed up my leg. The tab on the right contains the fact that Haleakala is the third highest point in Hawaii!


And, the last leg of our stay was in Oahu. Here is our view from our room at Turtle Bay Resort with our complimentary champagne! I saved our keycard to add as an embellishment. I used a green and blue polka dot background and a blue seahorse paper for an accent. Both papers were from the Paper Studio's Beach pad (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/12-x-12-a-day-at-the-beach-paper-pack-275719/). I added white sticker lettering to spell Oahu and a palm tree, hibiscus, sea horse, and paradise arrow sticker as accents as well. 



This page features a few snorkeling shots from Turtle Bay. I used a brown background and accented the photos with a hibiscus print on a yellow rectangle. I added some seashell brads around the photos, but you can't really see them because of the print paper. I embellished the page with a few beach themed stickers and accented the main, "life's a beach" sticker with two purple hibiscus die cuts (https://www.etsy.com/listing/152338790/hibiscus-flower-die-cut?). I used a funky font from my stockpile to title the page, snorkeling. 


This photo features the delicious drinks we had with dinner for my husband's birthday. The restaurant at the hotel was pricey, but delicious! The photo is accented with a pink hibiscus print overlapping a black and multicolor hibiscus print. I added a light pink journaling square which was die cut using Lifestyle Craft's nesting eyelet rectangles (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-eyelet-rectangles.html) and mounted that to the matching multicolor hibiscus print paper. I added a few stickers from my stockpile, a martini glass and umbrella by the journaling, and a party hat and horn by the photo. I accented the plain pink background with some glitter palm tree and hibiscus stickers.  


A visit to Pearl Harbor wraps up this album. I tried to give it a tropical industrial feel, but that was kind of tough. I accented the photos with a stripe paper from the Paper Studio's Beach pad (http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/12-x-12-a-day-at-the-beach-paper-pack-275719/) and added the photos to a crinkly metallic background card stock. I purchased corrugated cardboard letter stickers and adhered them to a grey graph paper like background. I cut the individual squares using Lifestyle Craft's nesting rounded corner squares (http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/dies/nesting/nesting-squares-rounded.html) and accented those with small grey brads.  I added a tag which states some basic information about the history of the site and a memorial sticker I purchased. 



The last page just features me in front of a torpedo, a photo of one of the battleships on site, and a picture of where Japan surrendered aboard the U.S.S. Missouri. 








Sunday, January 20, 2013

Handmade Valentine's Day Cards

I switched up my manly tractor birthday card (https://www.etsy.com/listing/104686399/manly-or-for-men-birthday-card) to make it a manly Valentine's Day card.

I call it a Man-lentine!

The card is a sheet of real wood and has a green tractor affixed to it. The tractor is carrying a pile of hearts and the inside reads: "Piles of Love."



This Man-lentine is also available in my shop for $3!



This one isn't SO manly, but I think the cork background makes it less frilly/girly. 
It is a stamp that says you hold the key to my heart, there's a plastic key attached, and it has a cork background. 




The latest installment in my Man-lentine quest is this card which features a lawn mower. The inside reads, "I love you mower and mower." The card has a burlap background with green grass, a red mower, and a little blue cloud. 


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This card is not really geared for men. It is a rose embossed cover with a black bird cage die over a small red heart. The inside reads, "you have captured my heart."




Monday, January 14, 2013

Military Valentine

I had been struggling to think of a Valentine's Card this year. While driving home from work, I was thinking about the nurse get well card:

http://bmc2bmc2.blogspot.com/2012/10/handmade-get-well-soon-nurse-card.html

and I was thinking the girl would look cute in a camo dress. I could also give her knee high boots and a camo hat. Viola! My 2013 Valentine's Day card- with a military theme. 

It's a number ten card with a green vellum background. I gave the woman a blonde-ish ponytail, a camo hat, a camo dress, and knee high black boots. Brown would have been cute, too. I topped it off with a small camo heart in the corner. The designs were all made with Lifestyle Craft's paper doll cookie cutter die and the nesting hearts die. 


this item is available in my etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/listing/120448958/military-valentine