Returning to Basics - A Father's Day Mini Album

I sometimes feel like my evolution as a scrapbooker mimics my evolution as a home cook.  Before I was married and with kids, I insisted (with my wanna-be Martha Stewart assertiveness) that good meals had to be made from scratch.  To make the Thanksgiving stuffing, I use homemade bread, homemade chicken stock, and even insist on using home grown herbs.  Obviously, with a husband that always seems to be gone at sea and two little ones, I'm unable (and unwilling) to go to such extremes in the kitchen.  I reach for my Stovetop Stuffing with no hesitation these days.  That same reality check applies to the craft room.

Once upon a time, I would spend hours or days on a single layout, thinking that it had to mimic those gorgeous creations I saw on the manufacture blogs or in the magazines. While I still enjoy making those mini pieces of art every once in awhile, I have realized that the heart of this hobby for me is the memory keeping.  It's putting those layouts onto a page and into my albums for my family to enjoy.  It's taking those photos off of my hard drive and into albums.  It's about making stories from the past tangible in the present. 

While this mini album I made for father's day is nothing fancy, it represents what I love about this hobby.  I love taking beautiful photos of my family.  I love using digital tools like Rad Lab and digital brushes to make these photos look cool and special.  I love using up my scrapbooking stash.  I love projects that are super simple to put together and easy to enjoy. 

To make this album, I started off with this super cheap photo album from Target.  You probably have a ton of these lying around your house.  I bought mine for around $2.

I then removed the front and back cardboard covers and replaced them with these Project Life style cards by Splendid Fiins (Hello Daddio Collection) that I printed out on my home computer.  Note: when you buy the digital kit, you get a bunch of JPEG files that you can easily print to any size you want a home.  I personally used Photoshop to resize the card files to fit my album and then printed them on glossy photo paper.

For the journaling pages inside the album, I just used the journaling cards from my Simon Says Stamp June Card Kit.  They were sized perfectly to fit the 4x6 openings and included plenty of journaling space.  And when I did spend some time embellishing the cards, I just reached for the stamp set in the card kit (from Kelly Purkey) and some other father's day themed ones that I had on hand (including Lawn Fawn Dad's Day).

For the photos in the album, I quickly edited them using Photoshop and Rad Lab.  In many of them, I also added various "digital brushes" (i.e., the word art) directly onto the photo before printing.  The brushes I used were from Splendid Fiins (Spot On Collection) and Simple Scrapper (Stories of Summer Toolkit). 

The longest part of this process was selecting the photos and editing/ printing/ cutting them.  I think if I had spent more time on the journaling cards, it might have been a bit fancier.  But I ultimately knew that it was for my husband and I just wanted him to have something to keep on the ship when he was at sea.  So keeping it quick and simple was perfect.

Here are photos from the rest of the album.  There are a lot of photos so beware...  :)

I know that it's simple but I genuinely loved this mini album.

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!!!!

Simon Says Stamp June Card Kit - Masculine Cards

I am now a proud member of the Simon Says Stamp Monthly Card Kit!  For months (like for almost two years now), I have enviously watched friends subscribe to all these fancy shmancy scrapbooking kit clubs like Studio Calico or Gossamer Blu.  If you have seen my craft closet under the stairs, you will understand why I just couldn't justify getting more stuff.  Well, I finally figured out a way to talk myself into a subscription kit (yeah, it wasn't that hard) and I couldn't be happier!

If you caught my last blog post, you already saw two cards I made with the kit featuring some awesomeness from Xyron, Ephiphany Crafts, and Splendid Fiins.  I love how quickly my cards came together with just the pieces from the kit, some reliable Xyron adhesive, and other basic supplies.  I am a slow crafter and you cannot believe how shocked I was when I made these six cards in less than three hours!  And thankfully, they are perfect for this week's challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog (to create a masculine/ father's day card).  Make sure to check them out if you need some motivation to scrap or create!

1.  Fact Card.  The sentiment was totally inspired by this video I watched by Kristina Werner for Simon Says Stamp.

Other Supplies:  Xyron Mega Runner, DIY Foam Tape, Martha Stewart Border Punch, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Uni-ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen.

2.  Do Something Awesome Card.  There are always so much cute sentiments in the Basic Grey snippets that come in the kit.  They remind me of the Elle's Studio tags.
 

Other Supplies: Xyron Mega Runner, DIY Foam Tape, Banner Pennant Stamp (Stampin' Up), WRMK Corner Rounder, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Uni-ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen.

3.  Where in the World Card.  I love how a lot of the stamps in the Kelly Purkey Stamp Set can easily be combined to make a longer sentiment like this one here.  And those Kelly Purkey letter stamps are the PERFECT size for cards!
 

Other Supplies:   Xyron Mega Runner, DIY Foam Tape, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.

 4.  Hello Dude Card.  The solid stamps are perfect for stamping directly on the patterned paper.

Other Supplies: Xyron Mega Runner, DIY Foam Tape, Banner Pennant Stamp (Stampin' Up), WRMK Corner Rounder, Brads (Oriental Trading Company), WRMK Corner Rounder, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Uni-ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen.

5.  Hero Card.  I love a simple one layer card.  Add some mustache washi tape and you have perfection in my book!

6.  You Are Amazing Card.  This card was a lot cooler in my head.  The ties in the top corner were supposed to look like pennant strips.  Note so much.  But I do like how the "You Are" sentiment looked inside that banner stamp by Stampin' Up.

Other Supplies: Xyron Mega Runner, DIY Foam Tape, Banner Stamp (Stampin' Up), WRMK Corner Rounder.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Getting By

It has been over two weeks since Justin has left.  My nephew graduated from middle school.  I baked 150 cupcakes for his party.

 

Last week I started a new job the same day Charlotte started a new school.  Unopened mail started to pile up on my desk.  I fall asleep in Charlotte's bed every night.  I wake up at random hours of the night to craft.  I'm tired.  But I'm busy.  And busy helps me to get through the day.

My friend, Laura, (who is an amazing military mom/ wife with a husband on deployment and pregnant with her third) sent me a link this amazing article the other day.  It's written by a military dad about the families and loved ones that are left behind during deployment.  It hits the nail on the head on so many things - the loneliness, the worry, the stress, the pressure...

I was sitting in Starbucks with Charlotte this weekend and started crying.  Charlotte and I were sharing a pretzel and she set a piece aside on her napkin.  "This is for Daddy," she declared.  Every time we sit down to eat, she always saves a piece of something for Daddy.

These past few weeks have been filled with lots of reflection - about our family, our future, our relationship.  None of it is necessarily bad or regretful.  I'm just slowly coming to terms with our reality of being a military family.  Justin has been in the military for years - 15 years now.  So that isn't anything new for us.  It's Charlotte that makes it so hard.  She's a strong little person though.  I could learn a lot from her.  And together, we'll get through this.

1.  Our Hero {a digital scrapbook layout}.  I borrowed the journaling for this layout from a recent post about my military child.  I used some new patriotic inspired papers and bingo cards from Jenni Bowlin Studio available over at JessicaSprague.com.

Digital Supplies:  Jenni Bowlin Studios (Trendy Collection, Patriotic Bingo Cards); Design by Dani (Boy Crazy).

2.  Where is my Daddy {a lift-the-flap book/ card}.  Since Justin left, Charlotte insists that we read Daddy and Me by Karen Katz every night.  It's a lift-the-flap book about a father and daughter building a doghouse together.  "Charlotte's screwdriver," she states while pointing to the pink screwdriver.  "Daddy and Charlotte make it," she declares while pointing to the little doghouse. Inspired by this sweet book, I decided to make a little life the flap book/ card for Justin's father's day card.

I didn't include photos of each page, but it reads something like this...

Where is daddy's car?  In the garage.

Where are daddy's tools?

 

In the toolbox.

Where is Daddy?  Daddy, where are you? 

Daddy is on the ship to keep Charlotte and Mommy safe.

But remember, even when Daddy is gone for a long time, where is Daddy always?

 

 

In Charlotte's BIG pink heart!

 

Supplies:  Echo Park Digital Products (Family Man); Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker, Xyron Mega Runner; Xyron 2.5" Sticker Maker; Kraft Cardstock (Recollections).  

If you want more Father's Day craft ideas, make sure to check out the Xyron Design Team Facebook Album.  And for those who have been following me and the Ella Publishing Team on our Take 12 Challenge, I hope that you have your cameras ready.  It's June 12th!!!!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by (and listening...)

First Father's Day

Justin celebrated his very first father's day this past Sunday. Charlotte and I let him sleep in while we cooked a delicious breakfast of fresh baked croissants, crispy bacon, and roasted asparagus with scrambled eggs. We got him a nifty card complete with a coupon book for free breakfasts, massages, and car washes. Too bad the coupons expired on Monday. :)