Summer Fun Mini Album

Today is my day to design at CricutDIVA!!!

I found these 45 records at the thrift shop and thought they would make fun mini album covers!!  

I re-created the record on my Gypsy using two circles sized 7 inches and 3 inches.

I used vinyl for SUMMER FUN using the font Cherry Limeade sized to .75 inches.

I sized my letters by leaving the layer with the "record" on it open.  That way I knew my title would fit.

I cut out 3D flowers from Atriste sized from 3 - 5 inches out of sheet music and cardstock.

I inked the sheet music to match the cardstock.  I used my tweezers to roll up the flowers and liquid glue to adhere them.  I attached them to the cover with glue dots.

I traced and cut out chipboard circle pages and covered them with sheet music.  I painted the edges of the pages with a bright blue acrylic paint.

I made some photo mats and cut out some flip flops and beach tags to attach to the corners.

I cut out a wave and some fish and tied the tops with twine.

I like to make a pocket for my mini albums and include tags or coordinating paper scraps.

I cut out layered flowers from Mother's Day Bouquet sized from .88 - 2.53 inches.  I cut them out of sheet music.  Cutting did not go well as the paper is on the thin side, but I got enough to make my flowers.

I cut out some images from Life is A Beach.  The flip flops are 1.82 inches.  The tags are 1.75 inches.  The gecko is 3 inches.  I cut the images out in cardstock.

I tied a little twine on the  tags.

I attached the gecko to the back cover.

I hope you like my unique mini album.  I had a lot of fun making it!!

Beach Bum - Bold Color Challenge

Today at Frosted Designs, our challenge is to Be Bold!  You can be bold in your colors, title or subject matter.

I took these pictures from our Mexico trip and scrapped them in bright bold colors.  We had so much fun in Mexico and I hope to return before my passport expires!!!  This page is for Tyler's album so the title is singular even though all three boys are in one of the shots.

I grabbed my Gypsy and found this image from Paper Trimmings.  I sized it to 11 inches to use as a backdrop for my photos.

I cut out this layer in orange cardstock.

I cut out the shadow of the image (also at 11 inches) and cut it out in bright polka dotted paper from Hobby Lobby.

For the title, I wanted Beach Bum but not the board shorts.  I grabbed this image from Life is a Beach and sized it to 2.65 inches.  I cut it out of blue cardstock (the same cardstock I used to mat my photos).

I trimmed off the board shorts.

I needed a bright embellishment and used my Epiphany Crafts square punch and punched a tag from Quick Quotes.

I ended up using the square of the larger flower.  I adhered it to the square charm settings (also Epiphany Crafts) and put a bubble cap on top.

I tied a bit of blue twine to the top.

I added some blue stickles to the title.

I stuck a little tissue tape below the yellow ribbon for a little bit of fun!

Here are my beach bums - the older two are burying the youngest one in the sand.  Bliss indeed!

What is your favorite vacation spot?

Happy Place Layout

This week at Frosted Designs, our challenge is "Happiness Is....." and I have to admit this stumped me!!  I finally settled with my original idea of a layout of our recent trip to Mexico to celebrate 20 years of marriage.

Don't get me wrong, I have a lot of things to be happy about, but I feel like I am in a bit of a creative rut!

I made this coordinating page because I HAVE to scrap in 2 page sets!!!

 My inspiration for the first page came from a layout on Pinterest:

Instead of stitching, I layered my Creative Memories paper on top of a brown piece of cardstock.   Instead of strips of paper or washi tape, I used some flourishes to mimic the design on the paper.  I added a second photo and cut out my letters with my cricut.

I used Lovely Floral for "Happy" and sized the letters to 1.27 inches.  The "{}" are also from Lovely Floral sized to 2.41 inches.  I hid the inside cuts.  I cut them out of mossy green cardstock.

I used Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art for "place" and sized the letters to .76 inches.  I cut them out of dark brown cardstock.

The flourishes came from Picturesque and Home Accents.

I cut apart the swirls to create a background behind the photos. 

It is hard to see my journaling in this photo - I used a brown marker to match the paper.

I pop-dotted the photos on my layout.

Every time I look at the photo of the beach I sigh and just want to go back!!!

For the second page, I started out with a new Layer in my Gypsy. 

I put some bamboo trees on my Gypsy mat from Life is a Beach and sized them to 4.06, 5.00 and 5.47 inches.  I cut them out in a dark mossy green cardstock.

I inked the bamboo, letters and flourishes with Vintage Paper and a Fantastyx before I removed them from my cricut mat.

We had a blast snorkeling at Xel-Ha.  This is a salt water river that feeds into the ocean.  We got to snorkel, cliff dive, zip line and swim.  It was a fun day trip!

Our trip was amazing!!!  I hope I don't have to wait another 20 years to go back!!

Sketch Challenge ~ Mexico

This week at Frosted Designs we are having a Sketch Challenge!!!

Here is the sketch!

I started out with a 5x7 photo of Mike and I from our recent trip to Mexico.  I loved the bright orange and blue papers and even found a fishy paper at Michaels that matched!!

I cut out the center of the blue cardstock so I could mat my photo with the same color.  This creates less waste, not to mention I only had one piece of that shade of blue left!!  I trimmed 1/4 inch off of two sides (top and side) of the orange and white patterned paper to layer on top of the blue.

Now that I had my photo and papers set, I turned on my Gypsy and got to work!

I used these shell shapes from Life is a Beach.  The sand dollar is sized to 3.94 inches and the shell trio is sized to 3.59 inches.

I cut them out of white shimmer cardstock

I inked them with blush ink before I took the paper off my cricut mat.

The border you see was made by welding four shell borders from Life is a Beach.

To size borders on my Gypsy, I know I can cut as wide as 11.6 inches.  I put four borders on my mat and  welded them together.  Instead of adjusting the height of the welded banner, I adjusted the width to 11.6 inches.  The height ended up being .96 inches.  If it were too big, I would weld one more border piece.  If it were too small, I would delete one border piece.

I needed a little tag and a title.

I found this tag on Elegant Edges.  I hid the cut out and sized it to 3 inches.

I used DoodleType for my font and sized the letters to .88 inches and the numbers to .63 inches.

I cut them both out of orange cardstock.

I used a circle punch and some twine to create my banner out of the scraps.  I folded the circles in half and used a glue dot to hold them in place.

We recently went to Mexico to celebrate 20 years of marriage.  It was so beautiful there ~ I hope to go back again someday soon!!!

Lake Fun (Sweet Sassy Diva)

If you are looking for Keira's Double Digit Birthday Hop, please go HERE.

This week at Sweet Sassy Diva's Blog our theme is Vacation Anyone?  I took these pictures at my brother's cabin in May.  The kids were fishing and riding in the paddle boat and having a great time!!

I started out with my Gypsy:

I saw a layout on Pinterest that had some paper waves and wanted to make some.  I found this border from Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art and sized it to 4.8w x 1.58h and welded two together.  I hid the inside cuts with Hide Contour.

I cut out LAKE FUN from Martha Stewart Birthday Cake Art sized to .88 inches.  

I cut out three waves and trimmed 1/4" off of one and 1/2" of a second wave in order to stack them.

I used this bright paper from Quick Quotes to layer my photos with!

I inked the waves with Opaque ink.

Next, I added some fish and fishing poles from the accessories on Everyday Paper Dolls.  I sized the fish to 2.41 inches and 2.18 inches.  I sized the fishing poles to 2.06 inches.

I added the sun and chair from Life is a Beach.  The sun is sized to 1.82 inches.  I copied another sun and hid all of the cuts except for the circle pieces to create a circle layer.  The chair is sized to 1.82.

I cut out the pieces from my cardstock scrap stash.

I inked the fish with a little pink and put them in between the waves.  I tied a knot in orange and blue twine and tucked it behind the waves.

I added the title on the water and put the chair in the corner.  The fishing pole is just above the fish.  I adhered one to the layout and pop-dotted the second one on top.

I changed the background paper to something more subdued and added a touch of orange twine.

I hope you enjoyed my layout from our mini vacation.  We usually all go to the Ozarks together every August, but this year (after 13 years) we are not able to all go.  It makes me a little sad, but I look forward to future family vacations!!!

Thanks Bobbi Jo for having me over today!!!