Scrapbooking in a Pinch

Happy Monday!  I can't believe that this is the last Monday in September...these last few months have absolutely flown by!  It feels like my family has been away from home as much as we've been home this summer, and sometimes it's a struggle to find time to get even the basic chores done - not to mention scrapbooking.  Today I want to share a video post with how I scrapbook in a pinch; time is not always my friend, and I have to find ways to scrapbook in minutes instead of hours (but a girl can dream...).

With just a few products and about half an hour, I created this 8.5 x 11 layout of my youngest:

As you're watching the video,please excuse the background noise from my boys in the background...that's actually quiet in our house.  :)  

How do you scrapbook when time is at a premium?  I'd love to hear your tips and tricks!

Crafting on the Go

Happy Monday Nesters!  

I just got back from a family vacation at the beach (which was a special blessing because my Mom was so sick earlier this summer).  In our family, vacations are a time for relaxing, and one of my favorite ways to unwind is to scrapbook.  So, I brought along my "travel bag" of scrapbook supplies.  A few mornings I got up early, and while most of the family was still sleeping, I took over the dining room table at our condo and scrapped.

The layout I shared last week I actually created the first morning of our vacation.  Today's page I worked on over a couple mornings in the middle of the week:

When I'm traveling, I take a limited amount of product.  Sometimes this means that I have to be creative with my supplies (since my husband doesn't feel that 100 packs of Thickers are an appropriate use of space in our minivan!).  

For this layout, I mainly used the Echo Park This & That Charming Collection.  However, the included alphabet stickers just weren't working for the title of the layout.  I had three packs of Thickers with me...a gray set, a newsprint set, and the Studio Calico Heyday mistable set.  I actually had one bottle of mist, but it was a blue that did not match the colors on my page.  So I turned to my other color option - a Stampin' Up! marker.  I used the brush tip of the marker to color in the Thickers and my title was born.  :)

Going back to my limited product, I want to share what was in my bag:

• a couple old Scarlet Lime kits
• three Echo Park Collection kits
• an October Afternoon Collection kit
• two ink pads and a blending tool
• three journaling pens
• white + kraft cardstock
• a handful of photos
• foam squares and glue dots
• my ATG (it's huge, but I love this thing!)
• a bottle of spray mist
• tweezers
• ruler
• paper trimmer
• a couple random small embellishments that fit into a mini zip-lock bag (buttons, chipboard pieces, wood pieces)

And that's it!  I got a thirty-one Cindy Tote last year for Christmas, and I've adopted that as my "crafty" travel bag.  If it doesn't fit into the tote, it stays at home!

How about you?  Do you craft away from home?  If so, how do you carry your supplies when you travel?

Ah, the memories...

Most of us scrapbook - at least in part - because we want to preserve our family's memories. If you're like me, there are some photos and memories that get pushed to the side for one reason or another.  Personally, I have a tendency to scrapbook newer pictures as they get printed and the older ones sometimes get forgotten.  

This week I'm going to share a layout based on a photo that I took over 4 years ago.  My husband took a voluntary transfer/promotion when his company built a new facility in Georgia.  This is a picture I took on our first trip to visit our new city.  It's been printed out since 2008, just sitting in a basket of photos in my craft room.  This week, I finally decided to scrapbook it:

Here's a close-up of some of the journaling:

I'm actually busy making new memories with my family this week (I'll share details soon!). 

Happy crafting, Nesters!

We Heart Fall

When you live in south Georgia, fall is a very welcome season.  Autumn has always been my favorite time of year, but especially now, when the end of the hot + humid days is in sight.  In fact, we pulled out our fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations this weekend.  I refrained from putting out jack-o-lanterns and "happy halloween" banners, but our house is now full of pumpkins and acorns and maple-flavored candles (yum!).  In keeping with the theme, I'm going to share a quick and easy project that I completed with my boys.

I homeschool my three boys, and I'm always on the look-out for projects that are kid-friendly.  Even if you don't homeschool, this is a craft that can be completed in well under half an hour, so it would be great as an after-school or weekend project!

All you need are a couple sheets of paper, a heart punch, a pumpkin (or apple or acorn) sticker, an alphabet (I pulled out both stickers and rub-ons and ended up going with the rub-ons), and a frame (I got mine on clearance last year after halloween).

First, cut the background sheet of paper to fit your frame (mine was a 5 x 7):

Next, punch your heart (we punched a few different sizes to compare with the alphabets):

The boys and I tested both the stickers and rub-ons, and ultimately the rub-ons won.  The stickers were just a little too tall for my taste; the boys didn't like that the stickers were multiple colors.  Before rubbing down the letters, I did a quick spacing check:

We originally went with the skinnier heart, but after adhering the rub-ons, it looked too skimpy, so we went with the larger-sized heart.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but the heart is up on a couple pop-dots.  The pumpkin is from a 3-D sticker sheet I also bought on clearance last year:

Note: Make sure your test your frame if you're planning on using dimensional elements.  They fit fine under the glass of the frame I purchased, but I know that's not always the case.  (If a project doesn't fit under the glass, I've been known to frame it on top of the glass, so there are ways around this one.)

And here's the finished product once again:

Have a great Labor Day Monday!