I Am Strong (I am gold project continuation)

I think I've already mentioned how much I love the I Am Gold Special Edition from Clique Kits! It really came at just the right time in my personal life to inspire me an lift me up.  I really like all the papers that came in the I am collection kit and all the goodies that came with the kit. I'm keeping it all kitted together so when I'm ready to work in that book, it's all together. I've pulled a few items from my personal stash and added to this kit, some cork shapes, washi, sequins, additional white tags and doilies. These were here and I decided with my first work with the kit that I'll be reaching for them over and over so I might as well add them to with that stash.

This page is just some fun, messy gridwork with two tags FULL of journalling. I have another pocket page in my album started with a note tucked in a pocket about the photo that I want to go in there, it hasn't been printed yet. I'm almost exclusively using Persnickity Prints right now for my photos. I just really love the quality and speed that they arrive. Also I don't have to worry because I know they are going to look good when they arrive, and I won't have to tweak them or printer settings to make that happen. I am especially loving this ongoing project for the summer, it's something to pick up an work in whenever I want to do a little something creative but am not sure what to do. Also I can just tuck in a story and print my photo later if I want. It's nice and really low-key. Do you have any sort of ongoing project like this? Clique Kits has another limited edition kit right now... it's for a big online crop event they'll be having later this summer. It looks AMAZING! And I've already ordered mine! 

July beginnings of my Clique into Summer Album!

So I've had some time away from the blog to make some summer memories lately and I finally got a chance to batch print my July pics and get started on my July pages for my summer album. I'm LOVING this album and this class by Clique Kits, I have done most of the lessons, I don't have a typewriter for one of them, but I'm working on a "work around."

Here is my pocket page with a take on lesson 7 which is using cork.

This little page kind of sums up how I've been using this whole album, first of all it uses items directly from my Clique into Summer kit, that label sticker has been in my stash for MONTHS and I'm so happy to find a place to use it. The die-cut is leftover from cuts I made using the April cut-files from Clique Kits. Those photos are from my phone, like most of the photos in this album. They aren't the best photos, but they are awesome for helping me remember my July 4th from this year. I am about to start putting photos into another 6x8 album, this one will be all about my new business with Pure Romance and I can't wait to get started (by the time you read this, that album will be underway!

2014 Summer Documented (tomatoes) or ONGOING Pocket Pages

This is a page that I'm slowly getting together. I'm growing tomatoes for the first time on my balcony.(I've just never grown tomatoes before, not just on a balcony, but anywhere.) I didn't think about taking progress shots over specified amounts of time when I planted them, but I'm taking snapshots now as I recognize a "noticable" difference. I'm sure my fb friends think I have lost my mind over being so excited about tomatoes. I am Those tabs are stamped from an Elle's Studio Stamp and then I add the date the photos were snapped (good thing about phone photos, the phone tells me what day I took the photo). The page sitting opposite of this one(right now) is a 6x8 page for a bigger layout but I'll use the rest of the pockets for small progress photos. 

Reserved Star

These pages are all about the night a group of Star's friends went to Bobby McKeys! We had a blast, most of these folks I had only met once before but we all had a fantastic time! Bobby McKeys is a piano bar with "dueling pianos" they played a ton of things that were not by Billy Joel (and some Billy Joel). They even did a cover of the Game of Thrones theme and Fat Bottom Girls by Queen (those were requests from our table).

A few times they let confetti drop from the ceiling onto everyone there so I grabbed some up to save and stuck it all over the one page... I used the set of Stamps by Shimelle Laine that were exclusive to Two Peas (that I just got) on the side of that layout, that Play flair was exclusive to Clique Kits and came with the April Kit I believe. That polka dot made of sequins came in a Sprinkles box by Webster's Pages, That viewmaster embellie was fussy cut from that very sheet of paper then popped up on foam dots to add a little dimension. I LOVE that photo of Star and myself. Those embellishments are all on top of the pocket page because I had stitched it shut after putting those sequins in the other side and I had forgotten that I might want to put something in the back side. Those word bubble tags are by Elle's Studio and I got those from the Clique Kits store to go with my stuff! OK, whew, lots of wordy blogging for such a small amount of journalling on this page.

Summer Yum

This is the back of Tuesday's post. It is about the first fried green tomato of the year. Some might think this is silly, but food was a focus when I was growing up... food was equal to love, my grandmother would cook my favorite meal when I would go spend the night with her as a child and if I felt bad, my mom would provide whatever my favorite food was to make me feel better. No judgements people, I don't think anyone was saying this was a bad thing back in the day :)

I have both diecuts and 2x2 cards from Simple Stories in these pockets, and a good amount of journalling if I do say so myself. I used sticker, and there is a piece of a stamped image peeking out from behind a photo. It's a stamped image of a lemon slice that I tried to make look like a tomato... a green tomato. Um, there are some stickers, those white letter stickers are from Simple Stories and they came in a previous Clique Kits kit. The flair is exclusive to Clique Kits and I LOVE IT! They may still have some in the store so here is the link. 

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by and check out what I've been up to. Let me know what you are working on right now and where to find you.

Happiness is Guest Blogging

Wow! I am LOVING this Simple Stories album that I am working on as part of my Clique into Summer class over at Clique Kits! I guess I have really kind of tricked myself into doing project life and I LOVE it in this small scale... who knew! 

Just before the June Kits came out, Clique Kits invited me to do some guest blogging. This THRILLED me because I have been LOVING their kits, it was very exciting to become a member of a kit club at their Debut kit... and I just can't say enough good stuff about how awesome their customer service is and how fantastic their kits are... I'm loving the exclusives that they offer and they have a private facebook group for subscribers and it's quite a fun group of crafters from all over! 

All that said... I HAD to  scrap my guest blogging spots... the screenshots aren't terribly exciting, but my name is there and I stamped the date using Smitty's ABC's from Lawn Fawn. I used part of the exclamation point as a dash, most of the supplies here are from Simple Stories Good Day Sunshine which came as part of the kit for Summer School (the kits sold out but the classes are fantastic!). There are also some leftover pieces from my stash thrown in. I had most of this page ready and waiting for the final guest post that I did... and when it was done I printed it out, stamped it and slapped it into the pocket then stitched it closed. I did just leave two of those 2x2 cards exactly the way they came, I can always slide them out and add something or not. 

Later this week I will show you an ongoing page that I have started in the book, I LOVE these little pockets... have I said that yet? LOL. That Clique Kits sticker came on something in one of my kits and I held on to it. The star is from Freckled Fawn and came in a previous kit. Those stamps came from the Store at Clique Kits, I think they are in the June Store, they are from Elle's Studio and I'm using them all over this little book, they are SUPER usable on layouts! Fantastic!!

Awesome Awesome Awesome

I really like the pocket page thing, I love it as a compliment to my "regular" layouts no matter what size they happen to be. I do find using those 4x6 and 3x4 cards a bit awkward to use in the mix if I want to showcase the whole pretty card, so in this awesome summer album I'm working on thanks to the class at Clique Kits, I'm learning to step out of my comfortzone with those kinds of card. This page is REALLY SIMPLE, not much to it, but it also uses a single diecut sheet of paper which is also a bit of a challenge for me ;). (Yeah, really stepping outside my box here)

Let me know what you think.

The back of this page is a page that goes with some others, so I'll leave that until Tuesday. Have you worked with one of these Snap Albums or an album of similar size? Do you use pocket pages mixed in with your regular size pages? When is the last time you challenged yourself? 

Wow, I'm full of questions right now. Thanks for looking.

Birthday Summer Snap Pocket Pages

With Pocket Pages, I don't tend to give them a title like I do most layouts. These are the pages that sit to the right of the VA Ren Faire page in my little SNAP mini for the summer. I'm not entirely sure I'm finished embellishing... but I like these for now. That clear card I really like mostly clear, but if I find something I think it needs, I can add it later.

I LOVE the washi that came in my kit, and I LOVE the bits of Washi holding some of the envelopes closed, I am even using those bits along in my book. I used the Elle's Studio Fun in the Sun Stamp set that I picked up in the Clique Kits' store (did you know you can use the code SUMMERFLASH to save 35% on all store items right now. I selectively inked up the scallcop on the "everthing about this is AWESOME stamp for the little scallopped border. The pic of the Happy Bday sign is one that the kennel staff made for me at work this year... love those guys! That straw is from 7-11 and cracks me up!!

I worked yesterday on printing out some different sized photos, I didn't really pre plan where they were going in this album, I just wanted a pile of pics ready to go. I have several more pages ready to photograph barring me deciding to embellish any further. I am LOVING this little album and so very happy I decided to take this class AND buy the suggested album. They have this album in black chevron stripe in the store also and I'm so tempted.... I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this size, but it's fantastic! Ok, I'm rambling... any suggestions on how to get better pics of my pocket pages... I know they'd be better taken in the daytime. 

Every Summer Has a Story

Happy Summer Everyone! Today is the actual first day of summer, but traditionally I have considered Memorial Day Weekend as the start to my summer, when I was in school it was always out by then and warm, AND I have a birthday around that time so it just all seems to fit nicely. So as I have gotten started on my Clique into Summer class with Clique Kits, it seemed only right to start there. Here is my coverpage for the album:

and here is the layout that I made on the back of this page:

This little album has a ton of pocket pages and I've already got more photos printed and more in a folder ready to resize and print to make more pages... it's a work Saturday for me and I have different off days this week so I am hoping to get some scrapping done around that... can't wait to show you what else I've been doing this summer!