Ephemera

I remember the first time I heard the word “ephemera.”  I had to look it up.  It was on a scrapbooking website where a reader was asking for tips and ideas for all of the things you tend to collect on a vacation.  I’m still trying to figure this out! 

But one thing I have learned is to not bring home too many 3-D things.  I try to focus on flat things – business cards, takeout menus, matchbooks (not too many of those any more, but I still check), and paper placements.  I love incorporating these into my layouts.

For this month’s layout, I had some wonderful photos from a food tour in Napa Valley.  I couldn’t remember everything, but because I kept the handout from our guide and had grabbed takeout menus from several of the restaurants, I was in great shape.

Gourmet Walk by Moanica Caston.  Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Bella Blvd; Journaling card: My Mind’s Eye; Letter alphas: American Crafts Thickers.

The journaling card is a list of all the restaurants we visited and I cut out the description of the taco we sampled and put that right across the photo.  I’m so glad I kept those items and they came in pretty handy to help with my journaling.   

So, after you’ve enjoyed a meal or visited a pretty shop, look for a business card or some other way to help capture the memory.  Safe travels and…

Happy crafting,

Moanica

Lining My Pockets

A new year, a new approach!  If you’re like me, you’re always looking to try new things.  Especially products that will help me get more photos in my albums.  Now, I’m not looking to “catch up” or rush through my scrapbooking.  I enjoy the process of cutting paper and placing embellishments too much for that.  And would fun would it be to not have any photos to scrap?

But, at a scrapbooking retreat late last year, a fellow scrapbooker (our very own Tena!) was doing something I hadn’t seen before.  She was combining her normal 12x12 or 8x11 pages with the super-popular pocket pages.  I can scrap my normal pages, but have a ready way to get lots of full-size 4x6 photos included as well.  I love that!  

So, I’ve ordered some refill pages for a vacation album I’m working on.  Between my husband and myself, we took over 4,000 photos!  Now, I don’t plan to use them all, but you can see why I’m willing to give this approach a try – LOL!

In anticipation of my order of refill pages getting here, I’ve started to create some of the “fillers” I’ll use in the pockets.  I’ll have 3x4 and 2x4 pockets.  I created one for some photos of an Afternoon Tea we had on our cruise.  I even created one for some of the days when we had overcast weather.  

I can journal on the larger ones or simply use them as decorative parts of the pages.  How cool is that?  I love learning from my fellow scrapbookers!  Leave a comment and share something you’ve learned lately.

Happy Scrapping,

Moanica

Island Style Pocket Journaling Cards

Are you enjoying summer? I hope so.  Lately, I've had a one track mind.  All I can think about is the beach - I have vacation on the brain.  So much so, that I created these island inspired pocket journaling cards.  Of course, I had to share them with my SOC family.  

If you are heading out to the beach this summer (or not) feel free to download and use these fun cards.  Click the image for a PDF. (As always they are for personal use only.) 

Enjoy!

Stick to it!

I hope everyone has enjoyed a little taste of some warm weather. It seems like it's been cold forever.  So, I continue to work on vacation photos to remind me that Summer will come – one day!

I’ve discussed the way I like to organize page kits for my vacation photos. There are usually so many photos that I want to get that organization part of the process out of the way.  One of the other tricks I use is to pick a collection or two of papers and embellishments and stick to it.  I may add location specific titles or some other ephemera from the trip.  But I don’t get distracted by other paper once I’ve started.  The idea is two-fold:  1) I need to actually use up some of this paper I collect buy and, 2) I like to challenge myself to see what I can do with the papers.

The two layouts I’ve picked out are from one trip – a few days in Miami right before and then later on during the Classygirl cruise last year.  A little off topic, but she is planning another cruise for 2015 and I’m not saying you have to be on it, but you HAVE to be on it!  It is too much fun! 

These two layouts were made from a collection from October Afternoon that I picked because I liked the bright colors.  I thought it would work well with the colorful photos from Miami and from the cruise.  Note that with the addition of a few tropical elements, these papers originally designed for carnival/state fair pages really work for me.  I used the alphas that came with the collection.  And I used the papers as backgrounds, as mats for photos, as decorative strips and even a circle accent! 

Supplies:  Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned Paper; brad and chipboard: October Afternoon; 3-D embellishments: Paper House and Jolee's; Alphas: American Crafts

This technique is also a time-saver because I’m not looking through my supplies for each page.  I can simply rely on the pre-selected items and let my creativity take center stage.

So, don’t be afraid that you won’t be able to make a collection “work.”  By sticking to a set group of papers and embellishments, you just might surprise yourself with how "out of the box" you can get.

Moanica

Create a Vacation Mini Album

WOW! I can’t believe it’s June already. It’s so hard to believe that we are midway through 2013. Time sure does fly.

June means graduations, weddings and what we all long for – the beginning of summer.  Barbeques, days at the pool, family reunions and summer vacations, all of which means lots of fun and pictures, lots of pictures.

I must admit that I don’t really go on vacation during the summer, but just about all of my friends do and no matter where they go, they all take lots and lots of pictures. And, like many of us that go on vacation, they are all so eager to come home and show everyone their pictures…one painstaking picture and story at a time.

So, why not make a mini album to put vacation pictures in?  Whether it’s for your own vacation pictures or as a gift for someone you know that’s going on vacation, a mini album will make viewing the photos a much more pleasurable experience.

Here’s a mini album that I made to teach as a class.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like when one of my friends fills it with vacation pictures.

Supplies: Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue Collection; Basically Bare Funky Findings Album; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Mask; Embellishments: Glossy Accents, Burlap, Ribbon, Pearls.

I even had enough scraps left over to make this little album that can be used for additional photos or as a journal.

Amazing what you can do with scraps! 

Wouldn't you rather view your friends vacation photos, or show off your own, in a fun mini album, rather than in a stack -- on picture at a time?