Another Summer Layout!

It's still Summer!  And here, in Puerto Rico, is almost the end of it because back to school is earlier than in the US.  And even though I don't have children to go to school, I also "feel" the effects...  More traffic, no more Summer hours at work, less outdoor activities...  

I made this other layout while I was in my getaway in Villa Montaña... remember?  I told you about it HERE.

This was very quick and simple since I basically cut strips from different patterned papers scraps with bright colors and place them as background in a solid paper as base.

I used thickers letters and stickers for the title, and when I got home I just added the photos and some acents.

The photos I chose?  You know I'm kind of a "crazy" scrapbooker, don't you?  Well... feet featured in this layout.  I took pictures of different scenes of my feet to communicate the relaxing mood... and to my surprise, my husband did the same with his feet and sent me a photo... so I included it too... LOL!

Wearing sandals, in a chair, and with the beach view... These feet really had a great time too.

Hope you liked my feet layout....

Another CAS Sunday!

Today's Sunday!

My Sundays are usually relaxing.  Either we take the day to rest, or we need to do things at home, or we spend with family... but most of the time my Sundays are relaxing.  I like Sundays because they kind of divide the weekdays from the weekend and I get time to think of what I've done during prior week and what will do next week...  In the spiritual way, even though everyday is special and we are grateful for all the blessings and of course we keep in contact with God... I think Sundays have these "near to God" special and different feeling I can't describe.

Anyway, Sundays is for cooling down, being simple, just don't complicate... and scrapbooking is part of this relaxing "department" in my life.   I usually like to change the materials' texture, or want to twist this and that, or because a special touch sometimes require to complicate a little, I end up doing crazy things in most of my projects... but I also love challenges that make me work different styles...  I can say I am not "married" to any style at all (I enjoy them all!), that's why I love CAS Sundays at Outlawz Challenges group (CAS meaning "clean and simple").

I was ready to use the materials just as they were made and  make a card really fast to post it today in the challenge, using berries.  There are so many patterned papers with great designs that I sometimes cut and change... so I remembered I had this one and decided to use it as is. 

So I took this wonderful patterned paper from DCWV's Sweet Stack...

...grabbed a doily, used a punch to have a cardstock shape, stamped a sentiment and put some bling below it... 

... And got a sticker from the "Quotes" Stack...

Put it all together in an already cut card base, and ended up the card in 15 minutes! (maybe a little less).

I enjoyed doing it in a CAS way... like my Sundays are.

How are your Sundays?  Tell me about it.

At the Beach!

Remember about my getaway the other day?  Oh, we found this paradise at home (Puerto Rico).   You might think that because I live in Puerto Rico, every corner can be a paradise for someone who doesn't have beaches around... but this is a beach resort with lots of beautiful spots and excuses to relax... but most of all, they are pet friendly!!!!  Not many places around admit pets in your stay... 

So this was such a special mini vacation with the whole family!!!  LOL!

I made this layout while I was there... yes, I even had some little time to make some layouts.  I started about four of them with the intention to finish with photos and embellishments later at home... and this is the first one I completed.

I used inspiration from the July Sketch from SEM, which you can see HERE.   I am entering this into that challenge...  The twist was to use a computer generated element, so when I got home I typed the journaling in the computer and printed.  Then I cut the text in strips, inked the edges and placed in the designated spot as shown.

The translation of the journaling goes something like this:  "In the quest of some relaxing days in the middle of so much stress, we found a paradise called Villa Montaña, in Isabela, PR.  The best of all, they admit pets.  Malbec was with us enjoying great moments.  July 21-25, 2012."

This is how the whole page look:

It was such a blessing to be able to enjoy a few days OFF and with the entire family, meaning my husband, my dog and myself!  :)  Thanks God.

I hope you liked my bright color, Summer layout!  I used Basic Grey patterned paper scraps I had from past projects, and combined with solid papers.  Also used some chipboard elements from Scrapbooking Supplies brand, and a sticker from The Girls Paperie.  Also some washi tapes to add some accents.  I even hand wrote lines around the edges of the teared paper just to give a special touch... you know I love imperfection!

I also linked this to the Outlawz' Twisted Thursday's Day at the Beach challenge.

Thanks for your comments....  You know I love them, don't you?

Flower Dreams

I'm back!!!!  I had a wonderful time during my getaway and will share some of it in some future posts...

I want to share with you this card I made for the Ippity Challenge.  It features the use of flowers.

I stamped the flower pattern stamp several times, colored with chalks of different shades of pink and peach and cut the shapes.

I assembled around a stamped and embossed heart, making sure to have different dimensions using 3D squares, and added bling in the center of the larger flowers.

I then framed with card-stock, patterned paper and more card-stock using washi tape for an outer frame. 

I stamped the sentiment which is really a 4-line message, but cut around each word to be able to place in one straight line at the bottom of the card.

I love the imperfect result.  Do you?  Leave me your comment and remember you'll have the chance to win fabulous Unity's stamps because today is Friday and this means the day to share some art using Unity's stamps (FWF).

Friday full of Feelings!

Oh yeah!  It's Friday again!  How much can we love a day?  It's not about the day, but what it means...

Today is a great day because is Friday, but also because is the end of a very busy week and I'm looking forward to a long weekend to enjoy in a a relaxing place.  We've been planning to have a couple of days off and we found a nice place by the beach to go this weekend.  And they are pet friendly so it's a special getaway with our doggy-son.  I'll tell you about it when I come back.  So if you miss me this week, you know I should be fine.

On the other hand, I have to admit today also means the end of an awful week.  And don't get me wrong... I love every moment of my life, but this week has been hard and sad.  With all the work load and so many things happening, I also lost an uncle.  A very special uncle.  I usually try to be the strong one, but I admit I've cried a lot (actually I'm crying now).  But the thing is that life goes on... and I just want to say that every occasion I remember with my uncle, I enjoyed his company.  I'm also sad because of my mom.  It's a special brother she just lost.  But again, the show must go on and this is such an imperfect beautiful life after all.

For today's Unity FWF Friday, I thought I could use these stamps for the first time and somehow reflect my feelings from this week...  These empty chairs and the sentiment remind me of my uncle.  Plus, the handwriting embossing as background is like an unwritten letter or a symbol of a message to communicate.

I wanted to make a clean look card and I chose white and blue colors for it.

I embossed a light blue piece of card-stock for the background and inked the embossed section; and used darker blue to mat the stamped image.

I stamped the sentiment in a strip of white card-stock and shaped the extreme edges, inked, and added two brads with some baker's twine.  I attached it  placing a 3D square in the middle so it got a curvy imperfect look and the effect of movement (don't you see it moving?  well, it's just me then...LOL!).

On a positive note, my blog just turned 2 years old.  Thank you for all your support, your lovely comments, your inspiration, and your friendship.  It's been fun to be a "scrap-booker blogger".

Finally, remember that since I'm linking this post to FWF today (I'm not sure if we will have one since Unity friends are at the CHA, but let's see...), when you leave a comment, you are participating in the Unity's FWF Friday, and you have the opportunity to win great quality beautiful stamps from Unity Stamp Co.  Thanks Unity!

So, I'll be waiting to read your comments.

Have a great weekend!

  

Playing with Chalk

I played with chalk again.  I usually don't paint with chalk but I'm trying to use all the tools I have and chalk is one of those I don't use that much.  So, I'm taking advantage of the Chalk N' Stock challenges to make me practice. 

The challenge this month is with the "get well" theme.  People associate sunflowers with this theme so I went with the flow and worked with this stamp from Unity, that I hadn't used before.

I colored the image with chalk, and then cover with a mask and color the surroundings with chalk too.  

So I ended up with the image and a nice soft chalky background.

I used the image to make a card and followed this sketch from Crazy 4 Challenges.  I've never participated with C4C before (not that I remember)... but always receive the updates and get inspiration from others' work.  So this time I decided to submit my card.

And this is the card.

After I made it I felt it had too much "air" or empty space in the blue background, so I used some sand paper to rough it out and painted with more chalk and stamped dots in the areas for a final touch.

The butterflies stamp is from TAC, and the sentiment stamp from Inkadinkado.

I really hope you liked my card.

Thanks for your comments.

Happy Sunday.

Unity Friday, SEM, and Page Maps... all combined!

 Today is Friday... and I'm so excited about having some rest.  I've had so much tension at work lately and the upcoming weeks do not promise to be better... so I'm conscious about it and don't want to let it affect me... so let's enjoy Friday!  And this means Friday Friends with Flair too!

I wanted to participate in the SEM challenge this month.  They are asking for a layout or project to describe "created beauty" referring to nature, things or abstract feelings/concepts you appreciate...  When I first read about this challenge I thought of making a layout about my marriage, or my relationship with my dog and how he has become so special... but then I said to myself:  "You are a beautiful creation yourself!"  It's not that I am selfish or think I am better than anyone... no...  It's that feeling of being thankful about being alive!  It is also true that sometimes I don't like myself... not that I don't accept me, but you know... from time to time I wish not being getting old, or would like prettier feet... LOL!  I am human after all!  But the truth is that I appreciate myself, give thanks to God everyday for being pretty healthy, and for having the opportunity to have lived so many beautiful things in my life.  I know, I know, there are a lot of things I don't have, or will never have... and I've suffered, and I am sure this is part of life, but I focus on the ones God has given me, and the ones he hasn't that make me fight for more... because he knows what he's doing... right?

So once I decided I was going to do the layout about myself (a very difficult task), I saw this sketch from Page Maps and decided to use it.  So it's a double challenge inspired in the "created beauty" theme from SEM, and this sketch from Page Maps:

I had a sticker from Glitz Designs that I soooo wanted to use and had not found the right project.  It says "I feel pretty oh so pretty".

Note that the patterned paper has faux stitching, and I also added some handmade stitching in several sections of the page... I used a ruler and a pen to draw/write it... :)

I also used lots of washi tapes...  Here on top o the page I used one with dots and another one with stripes.. and I used some other in blue lace and another with blue plaid, under the oval tab with handwritten journaling.

The title is "Me myself and I", and is just one of multiple Unity stamps I used in the layout.

 The sentiment "I am thankful" is another stamp, and the arrows, as well as the banner with the yellow word stickers...  all stamps.  Can you tell I love Unity stamps?

I used lots of embelishments from The Girls Paperie, and Glitz, and pieces of patterned papers (Cosmo Cricket and DCWV).

I also sprayed pink mist in some spots of the page.

The journaling says:  "I love the fact that I am alive and was created imperfect, so I can learn, love and enjoy life everyday."

I hope you liked my page and somehow it inspires you to appreciate you as the great creation you are.

Thanks for your comments.

Summer is...

What does Summer mean to me?

When you live in a tropical Island you don't really feel that much difference between seasons, except a little less or more heat.

For some people Summer means less to do with children's homework, vacations, beach, being home from college break, or have a temporary work... Maybe Summer is special for a father who will finally see a son or daughter who lives away from him...  Or maybe Summer is a memory of love for some people.  The thing is that Summer is always perceived as fun!  It usually is.

I like to relax during Summer days...  Have some refreshment, enjoy nature, just be there with the loved ones.  I confess I do not enjoy hot weather as much as others, but I try... :)

My husband had this idea about a month ago or so, to go to a lake we have in our neighborhood and sit there with our fur-son and have fun... and we did.

I titled the page "picnic" using some chipboard letters, and used some little word stickers to support.

For other emphasized words I used several Unity stamps to communicate the feeling...

These are stamps from different Unity kits but I mixed them up.

Here's the whole page featuring my lovely dog, Malbec, in the main photo.

I hope you liked my Summer page.

Whatever it is Summer means... it's a blessing to have the opportunity to live a Summer.

What does Summer mean to you?

Free Wallpaper

Are you one of those who love to change your phone or computer wallpaper/background from time to time?

I am.  I get bored of the same images behind my icons.

There's a couple of applications to get nice wallpaper and some images from default are always available... but I want mine to be unique.

So every time I see an image or texture I like, I take a photo for further use as wallpaper.   First, you can assure no one else will have it, and second, it's free.

Besides, these textures and colors give me a lot of inspiration for other projects too.

Here are some examples.

This is a close up of the tiles in the wall of my dining room.

This is the floor in my terrace.

What about the exterior walls of my house?

And this one is among my favorites... it's the wall of my half bathroom in the patio.

This is a tree I saw in a beach resort.  Isn't nature wonderful?  Look closely for the ants' rail and look at all these colors... Magnificent!

A pile of woods.

Another tree close up.  This was taken in a botanic garden near my home.

Leaves in the floor.

Palm tree.

Thru the trees and leaves.

These are items in a centerpiece in my living room.

Popcorn?

My kitchen top.

And the rug of a hotel.

Can you think of more inspiration of textures and colors around you?  I definitely can...  the sky, clouds, skin, a door or window... and so on.

Hope you liked the idea for the wallpapers in your phone or computer... or at least got inspiration for your projects, scrapbooker or not... sure you picked up something out of these.

Have a nice Sunday.  Tks for your comments.