Serious Play

Mexican Holiday

So, I spent the past week on a little vacation.

 

Most of our family went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Jessica had to stay back due to writing midterms...such is the university life. I missed her so much. It really felt like a piece of me was missing being away without her. Hopefully we won't have to do that without her (or Ashley) ever again!

 

 

I'm feeling nice and relaxed. Had lots of sleep. Had lots of good food. Had lots of sun.

It is amazing what a vacation can do for you...

 

Even got myself a little henna tattoo!

 

Will have more to share later.

Of course I am doing a vacation album...

 

 

 

Trip to Indiana

So, last week I was away on a trip to Indiana.

 

I went with a group of nine colleagues for a teaching conference in Bluffton, just outside of Fort Wayne. Turns out it is a quaint little town and we had ourselves an adventure. With six women and three men, there was a lot of laughter and fun!

As always I took a ton of photos, but the following is just a sampling of this past week. The photos sort of tell the story...

 

As you can see, I used Instagram to the fullest. Love that app!

Most likely, I will turn these pics into a mini album when I get a chance.

 

...and yes, we were even working in the airport!

 

 

 

 

Scrapbook on the Road | Supply Kit

So, here is my little kit of supplies that I will take to work on my Scrapbook on the Road.

 

I am taking...

1. Black journaling pen (Stampin' Up)
2. Mono rolling adhesive
3. Stamp pad (Stampin' Up)
4. Small scissors (Stampin' Up)
5. Tiny attacher (Tim Holtz)
6. Corner rounder punch (EK Success)
7. Mini alphabet stamp set (Michaels)
8. Instax Mini camera
9. A baggie filled with pre-stamped images and journaling spots, a few jumbo playing cards (dollar store), file folder stickers (dollar store), tickets (dollar store), mini clips (Stampin' Up)

I will probably think of something else to take along, but those are the basics. Of course I will have to store the scissors in my checked luggage as they would be confiscated in customs (Canadian), so I will have to be creative with tearing anything I scrap up until I retrieve my luggage.

If you'd like, I have already posted about the pre-made album, which you can see here...

Scrapbook on the Road Pt. 1

Scrapbook on the Road Pt. 2

Scrapbook on the Road Pt. 3

 

I am very excited to say the least! I leave for my trip on July 18th with 8 of my cousins. We are all flying from Calgary, Canada to Tulsa, Oklahoma to visit another cousin. We will be together in the US for 12 days, all us girls. I can just imagine the laughter and heart-to-heart talks already!

 

 

First Impressions

So, sometimes booking a hotel can be scary. You can never be too sure what you are getting into until you get there. That is how I felt as our shuttle dropped off person after person at these beautiful hotels and we were moving further and further away from the 'nice' looking ones! 

As we pulled up in front of our hotel and heard the driver announce "Outrigger Waikiki", I was feeling optimistic. It didn't look like a hotel, as the main floor was all shops and open to the outdoors, but as I moved further inside and then up one floor to the registration desk, a smile spread across my face. My apprehensions melted away and it felt good.

Love it when things work out in your favor, even when you had no control over anyway!

This page is printed on the back of page 2 from the two-page spread from yesterday's post. It is 8x12. I am really loving working with this size. I used 6x12 pages for my December Daily 2009 album that I created based on the concept from Ali Edwards, and found that sometimes the pages were a bit too skinny for what I wanted to put on them. I am loving the extra 2 inches that I have to work with on these pages.

 

Arrival

So, here is the first page of my Hawaii 2010 album! Actually, it is the first 2 pages! It is a full page spread. That is why you can see that my center bottom photo is off a little! When it is printed out and folded down the center, you won't even notice the slight difference.

Yesterday, I did not have a clear picture as to how to format the pages. Today, I played around a little and even though I still don't have it all worked out, I have made some decisions. Here's what I have figured out so far... 

• the pages are Kraft paper
• the pages are 12x8
• I am going to use the same font for my journaling and title on every page
• I am going to repeat the brown outline around the photos and journaling (Note: this is a digital replication of my actual hybrid page for the purpose of posting here. I printed out the words and brown lines on kraft paper, then my photo collages on white photo paper, so there is actually kraft showing through around the photos and inside the brown line)
• I am going to repeat the journal box, but will move the pieces around to accommodate different sized pictures

So, there you have it! Do you like it?

Hawaii Album

            
So, Winners comes through for me again! Just before we left for our trip I was thinking about how I would capture and tell the stories of this little adventure. I was busy doing so many different things before leaving that I had not spent much time deliberating the format. And then I saw this folder. At Winners!

It is made by a company called Semikolon. You can find their website here. It is an expandable folder. As you can see in the lower left photo above, the ribbon slides as the folder is pulled out, exposing the potential for the folder to fold at a preferred position depending on the width of the contents. I liked this idea, since I had no idea how many pics I would take on our trip (too many according to my husband)! On the inside, there are flaps to surround the contents in order to keep them safe. I like that too!

The challenge is that there are no binder rings or anything to hold my scrapped pages. I have been churning this one over in my mind. There are several possibilities that I am considering, but as I do not yet know the layout design for my pages (actually, I don't even know the size of page I am going to use yet!) I have not committed to anything. What would you do if you were me?

Over the next few days, I will be sorting through my pics of Hawaii and deciding on some sort of format. As I complete pages I will most definitely share them! Here is one that my daughter took of us the first night on the beach...

Digital photo frame: Karen Russell  

Home From Hawaii

So, we are back from a little family vacation! My family was there for a total of nine days. My parents and my sister & family are staying for another week. Sean and I both had to return to work, but are thankful for the time that we were able to get away. I feel truly blessed to have had this little trip in the midst of spring chasing the winter away. The weather wasn't even that terrible upon our return!

This trip was my mom's wish for her 60th birthday. 

 

In March 2009, we had surprised her by promising her a trip with the whole family. It came as a little note inside of a tiny box which she unwrapped. Of course, she was full of emotion. She even asked at one point, "Is this a joke?"

 But no, this was no joke. For almost a year, we searched, compared, saved, waited, planned and counted down the days. Finally, we all met in Honolulu, Hawaii for a week of suntanning, shopping, site-seeing and memory-making. This will be a trip to remember for sure!

Thanks to my family for being so wonderful!