Keep Growing at More Than Words

It's Mini Challenge time over at More Than Words! The challenge this month is to use the word 'Keep' on a card, tag or ATC.

Here's my little creation:

I was determined to use whatever scraps were on my desk for this one and I succeeded. I had a number of Webster's Pages papers on my desk from a previous project and there was heaps in there to chose from.

You only have until the end of the month to join in the challenge so be quick! You can find the details here.

Happy scrappin'!

Heather

Travel albums - what's the best way?

Hello there! Thanks for dropping in.

I've been working hard at getting travel photos into albums lately and I've come across a few problems that I'm hoping you might be able to help me solve.

My hubby and I travel quite a bit and I keep a travel blog to update friends and family. I find this to be a great tool - it saves me having to tell everyone the same story over and over and it serves as a diary of the trip. I write up what we did, add in the best photos and post these updates regularly.

I have thought long and hard about how best to document a long trip. I take a LOT of photos when we travel. In the end, I decided that the albums would contain three different typres of pages:
        1. I print off my blog posts for an instant record of where we went and what we saw.
        2. I pick extra photos that I want a memory of and add them in using Project Life pages.
        3. I scrap my favourite photos and add those in as well.

So my albums contain a mix of A4 and 12 x 12 pages like the following.

I make a title page like this:

My Project Life pages are very basic. I have too many photos to spend a lot of time on these. I just add the basic details and don't add embellishments. I add memorabilia into the pockets where I can.

I print my blog posts onto A4 paper and add them to the album in standard plastic sleeves.

I add scrapbook pages in where appropriate.

I hope you're with me so far!

My problems are:

1. The blog posts: I print these on thick copy paper so the heavy inking on the photos doesn't show through the page, however the photos don't look good printed on copy paper. I tried using A4 photo paper and this looks a lot better, however it's much thicker which makes the album bulkier, something I'm trying to avoid. It's also a lot more expensive.

2. The Project Life pages: All those pockets and heavy-duty plastic pages add to the bulk.

3. Printing:  I print the photos at home which is very expensive when I'm printing off hundreds of them. I tried my local photo shop but got so frustrated with how slow the process was to print 3 x 4" photos that I gave up. It's much quicker on my own computer!

4. The A4 plastic sleeves - I haven't found any that fit my 3-ringed albums so I have to cut slots to fit. This is time consuming and the slots catch on the album rings.

Does anyone have any suggestions for any of my problems above, or have any other ideas on how to efficiently create albums with lots of stories and photos? Do you do things differently to me? I'd love to hear your thoughts and tips.

Thank you so much :)


Happy scrappin'!

Heather

Good Times at More Than Words

Hello hello!

I seem to have a thing lately about scrapping all those really fun moments in life. And why not? I always have great memories when I scrap these photos.

The challenge this month at More Than Words is to be inspired by the word 'Memories' and to use a frame on your project. I wanted to scrap about a special memory so I scrapped about a really fun night I had with great friends.

I'm not sure who had the camera but they caught a friend of mine having a ball! It's a poor photo - it's out of focus, but who cares? The memory is what's important.

My title says it all. I opted for some serious bling on this to add extra pizazz.

My frame is from The Dusty Attic. I painted it black then smeared a bit of gesso around for a modern distressed look. The background is gesso and stamped stars and words.

I layered up my papers behind the photo and added extra paper frames. I also snuck some pieces in there from my scraps drawer. I'll get through that scraps drawer one day!

I hope you can join in the fun this month. You can find the challenge here.

Happy scrappin'!


Heather

The Amazing Yasmine Hamdan

Hello there! Welcome back to my blog.

The new challenge for Kraft + this month is to use a date on your project. The choices for what to make for this one are limitless! I decided to just scrap something I've been wanting to scrap for a while.

My hubby adores Yasmine Hamdan (I'm sure it's just because of her singing talent and nothing to do with her exotic good looks!) and when we were in Turkey last year we found out she was playing at Cappadox, a music festival. We changed our plans and got to see her. The show was incredible!

I knew before I even got out a sheet of paper that I wanted to make Yasmine's name in large letters in black and white. When I pulled out the alphas, I realised the papers in the set (Bella Blvd) were perfect and, for the first time in a very long time, I made a layout with only one brand of paper.

I stencilled two different patterns under the photo cluster and added hand-drawn stars.

I added one of our tickets from the concert behind the photos and my date is in large stamped numbers beside that.

Do you want to join in and 'Add a Date'? You can find the details of the challenge here.

Happy scrappin'!


Heather