Disney Junk Journal / Travel Journal (Post 1)

Journaling Our 2019 Family Trip to Disney World

Our biggest trip last year was a Disney World vacation with Jess and her family.  I think my favorite projects right now are travel junk journals. You can see my Hawaii junk journal and family beach trip junk journal by clicking on the links.

I usually start these journals way in advance of my trip while I'm excited about going. Then we we go, I pack along some colored pens and my HP Sprocket mini printer. I try to add quotes, memories, and pictures while we're on vacation, usually on the plane or in the hotel at night before bed or early in the morning before everyone else is up and ready for the day.  That way, I have a lot of memories I might have forgotten (especially funny stuff the kids say) and finishing the book when I get home isn't so daunting.  

I used the Dylusions small journal (the blank original one) and painted the cover with Dylusions paints (Postbox Red, Black Marble, & White Linen), using some Dylusions small stencils. T added some little highlights on the black circles with a white pen--and outlined three to make a Mickey.  Then I wrote a title and date with black ink. 

                             

I ran a thick red & white striped piece of baker's twine around the spine and tied it in a knot. Then I added some black tulle and three charms--a star, airplane, and teacup--with black ribbon.

I always like my junk journals chunky and messy, with lots of bits and pieces sticking out from the edges, as you can see from the pictures to the left and above.

I left the inside of the cover plain. All the Dylusions journals have a nice pocket on the inside cover so you can store souvenirs to glue down later or odds and ends that didn't make it in the journal. I really like the half Mickey with all the words as a first page, so I left that as is.

The first pages are dedicated to the flights there. Finn  and Shae had never flown before, so it was exciting for them and a first for us flying with a then four year old and a two year old.

Most of it is stickers I've had in my stash with a bit of journaling and one of our ticket stubs.

The next pages were our arrival at Disney World. I included some luggage tags and a few pics from the Magical Express ride and the Art of Animation resort. On the right side, I added a pocket that holds six thin journaling slips. 

I wrote individual memories from the trip there on the slips. 

Each slip has a white punched Mickey on it. The white-on-white makes it almost look embossed.

The last page for this post shows a pretty boring page, but it's one we like to refer to. On the left side was our basic plan for each day. We didn't make a lot of Fast Pass or dining reservations, but we had a few. And there was one character we wanted to see on a certain day. We knew our plans would change when we got there. On the right side are notes about what parks and activities we actually did on each day. It's fun to look back at, and it helps figure out what day particular pictures were taken too.

I drew all the Mickeys with a marker, and I wish I would have taken more time. A lot of them look like bunnies!

Thanks for looking! More posts on this journal are on the way.

Happy New Year 2020!

New Year, New Goals 2020:

Remember all those artsy goals I had last year? Me either, so I looked them up:

1. Layouts (2/month or 24/year). (pretty sure this was a fail)

2. Christmas Tags (5/month or 60/year).  (Completed! I had more than enough for Christmas!)

3. Art Journal Pages (1/month or 12/year). (I'm going to call this completed. I finished a whole travel journal.)

4. Cards (5/month or 60/year). (I'm guessing this was completed too. I kept track of 22, and I know I did more for Christmas and miscellaneous occasions throughout the year.)

5. Etsy products (1/month or 12/year). (Partial Fail: I think I listed about 10.) 

6. Blogging (4/month or 36/year). (BIG FAIL. I counted 15 posts.)

I did have a great year! I made a lot of miscellaneous things. We went to New Orleans, beaches, Chicago, and Disney World. Travel plans for 2020 will probably be scaled way back. I gave up pop mostly, which for me is big. This is the year of saving and organizing (I hope). Not that I won't travel at all. I have a couple trips in mind.

So, this year's crafty goals:
1. Disney Layouts--Finish them. I'm not scrapbooking the whole trip, because I did a junk/travel journal of the trip, and it is done, so I'm just going to do 12x12 pages of my very favorite photos and/or memories.
2. Beach Layouts--I still have a lot to do from last year's (2018 I mean) trip. I want to do more of those.
3. Catch-Up Layouts--Lots and lots of possibilities here. I read once that you should never try to scrapbook everything chronologically because it's too overwhelming. Instead scrap what you feel like. This year (hopefully) I feel like doing some miscellaneous memory pages.
4. Cards. I want to do more from the supplies I have on hand, specifically my vintage photos, valentines, and postcards. These sell well, and they go together pretty quickly. I'm going to set my expectations low though. 40 cards.
5. Blogging. I made it into March last year. [eye roll] I've heard that many crafters are going back to blogging because of new YouTube restrictions. Maybe it'll come back into favor. Either way, I'm going to try to blog at least once per month.
6. Peace Pole. I've been wanting to make a garden peace pole forever, and I swear this is the year.

Tags and Etsy are both off the list. At this point, I have no strong feels about these. Wish me luck! And here's a cute picture of my family from Disney World, so this post isn't impossibly boring to everyone but me.

You Can Never Have Too Much Beach Time

Another Carta Bella Beach Layout

I love this layout of my grandkids in the Gulf of Mexico. Neither one was very fond of getting much more than their feet wet after they felt the tug of the waves, but they sure enjoyed the beach time.

This layout uses the Carta Bella "Summer Splash" collection, and I added the Recollections flowers, Nuvo Drops, and a starfish from Jolee's Boutique. The background paper is from Bazzill.

I can't say enough about how much I love the Summer Splash Line. My last four layouts were made with it.  Click back to my last three posts to view the other layouts.

Family Beach Layout

My daughter's family at the beach

This layout is of my daughter Jess's family at the Gulf Coast last fall. This was Finn & Shae's first trip to a beach, and it was a success, despite Hurricane Gordon coming on land while we were there.

As I did on my other recent layouts, I used Carta Bella's "Summer Splash" collection for the papers and a lot of the embellishments. The background cardstock is from Bazzill, which makes great, sturdy papers for scrapping or cardmaking.

I added the little flowers from Recollections, the tag, sequins from CTMH, and the Nuvo Drops.

Thanks for looking!

Fin[n]s Up!

Finn's Beach Layout

Finn enjoyed the beach as much or, because he's older, maybe even more than Shae. He was all smiles for his time at the Gulf.

There's a little glare on the photo of the left, but in person this layout looks great. I copied the basic pattern from the book Time to Scrap by Kathy Fesmire. It encourages the creator to use shape to create motion

The yellow background cardstock is from Bazzill. All the other papers and embellishments are from Carta Bella's "Summer Splash" collection, except the strings and the tag base. I also used Nuvo drops along the top edge of the photos for extra detail and texture. Both the tag and the upper beach ball are raised with dimensional adhesive.

(The title of this page "Fin[n]'s Up" is a play on the parrothead  phrase "Fins Up" referring to Jimmy Buffett's song Fins.  Parrothead jokes--only a few would understand, but I couldn't help it.)

 

Shae by the Sea

12 x 12 Scrapbook Layout

Sweet Shae loved her first beach trip, even if the waves were a little overwhelming. This layout of Shae at the Gulf Coast is simple, but I wanted to focus mostly on the pictures and her expressions. All the papers are from the line "Summer Splash" by Carta Bella, as well as several of the embellishments including the "Beachy" sign. I absolutely love Summer Splash, and have created several beach layouts using it.

To add a little more interest, I added the white to the background paper to look like waves breaking, using Tim Holtz's Distress Crayon "picket fence."

The starfish is from Jolee's Boutique from my large stash of everything beachy.

I added lines of Nuvo Drop dots above and below the main strip and randomly within the starfish paper print.

I LOVE this picture:

Thanks for stopping by! More beach layouts are on the way......

More Tags and 2019 Goal Update

So far, so good...

February wasn't quite as productive as January but hey, it's a shorter month, and the January motivation has passed. I still completed all my goals except for 1 card and 1 layout. Satisfactory, I think.

March is halfway gone, and I've completed several things. First, my monthly Christmas tags:

My goal is five, and I made six. I think it's probably easiest to make an even number, because you can make to of almost the same tag at once.

All of the stamps are from Simon Says Stamp's "Christmas Cheer" set. I used Dylusions paint pens and water color pencils for the coloring.

On the trees I used Nuvo drops for the center of the stars (I just moved it around with a pointed tool) and the garlands. I hand wrote the "to" and "from" on all the cards.

For the Santas, I used Nuvo drops for his mittens, and the trim of his hat.

It's hard to see in pictures, but the beards are covered in Sparkly Fluff by Our Craft Lounge. I don't know if this is even available anymore. I bought it several years ago. The color is "sugar," and it adds sparkle and a soft texture--kind of felt-like.

The North Pole signs have Nuvo drops on the top finial. I added Ranger's Glossy Accents on all the signs.

Look at all the tags I have done for Christmas next year, and it's only March 16!

Winter One-Derland Layout

Shae's First Birthday Party

Shae is two now, but I'm trying to catch up on her baby book. Her Winter 1-derland or One-derland (or O-NEEDerland if you like the movie That Thing You Do) was so special. Her birthday is just after Christmas, so her mom and I found a lot of white decorations on sale, and tried to stay with a white, cream, grey, and blue scheme.  

She looked like a winter princess in a ridiculous tulle-skirted dress with a fur jacket. I took all these pictures at night, so the shades of white and cream aren't contrasting too well in the photos.  I really like the ripped edges on the white paper with the cream color peeking through. The small amount of patterned paper is one sheet from a stack by DCVW called Collage Art. 

Both layouts have a lot of miscellaneous embellishments and silver and gold Nuvo drops. All the decorations were easy--we grabbed all the white dishes and decorations we had sitting around. The treats included a hot chocolate bar with some added liquor for the adults. I LOVE a themed party, and my grandkids are giving me a lot of opportunities to help with craft projects. They've started enjoying making crafts with me, and I hope they continue to enjoy being creative.

Christmas Gift Tags

Progress on My 2019 Goals

One of my 2019 goals is to create at least 5 Christmas tags per month so I'll have a nice stash of them in December 2019 when I'm busy with other Christmas crafts and activities. I'm happy to say that in January and February I've already created more than 30 tags. I'm way ahead! Snow days have probably helped a lot. Here are the tags I made last weekend:

It's very easy to make a batch of similar tags. I cut all these from craft paper and a few white and cream cardstock pieces. I used four CTMH stamps, three punches, some twines, markers, Nuvo drops, and a few holiday brads.

Here are my favorites from each theme:

Not the fanciest, but I think this tag is my favorite.  I like its modern shape and colors.

This has a tag on a tag. The smaller tag is a punch. I colored the image with Copics and added white "snow" using white Nuvo drops.

I like both of these. The tag on the left is made from the negative space from punching out the tag on the right. The tree is a brad.

Not a great photo... I added white ink to a plain stamp, and it really made it pretty.

This is another set where I used the negative (on the right) from the snowflake I punched out for the tag on the left. The silver snowflake is a brad.

Thanks for looking at a Christmas project in February!

Altered Mary Poppins Little Golden Book

Walt Disney's Mary Poppins: A Jolly Holiday

This altered Little Golden Book just went up on my Etsy shop.

I took apart the binding and added three ring binders down the left side (later adorned with ribbon, etc.) Then I added twelve new pages between the original papers. All the original pages of Mary Poppins' A Jolly Holiday are there and 100% readable. Here's a peek inside:

I used papers and embellishments from my stash--two numerous (and too old) to give credit. I know the flash cards are from Tim Holtz Ideaology, and the BINGO card is a real game piece.

Lots of the pages have removable tags and photo or journaling spots tucked into pockets.

A few of the pages are simple--ready for a 4x6 photo to be attached.

Many of the pages have other interactive hidden spots for journaling or more pics. The last page includes a kite (a nod to Let's Go Fly a Kite from the movie).

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at this newest project, and if you're interested, head over to Etsy and check out my shop here: GoodGollyMsMolly

Art Impressions Beach Card

"I Smell Old People."

I am very happy with how this beachy card turned out. I've been practicing my beach (sky, water, & sand) backgrounds with Ranger Distress Oxide Inks. I added some Glossy Accents to the water to look like waves and the water's edge (both look white in this picture). The very front of the sand is made with Flower Soft. It may be the first time I've used Flower Soft in the years and years I've had it. I don't know if it's even on the market anymore, but I thought it looked like dry sand.

The stamps are from Art Impressions. I'm not sure of the actual stamp names because I've thrown away the packaging, which isn't like me. I'm guessing they are older because I keep the packaging now. I colored the stamps with Copics and added little touches with Nuvo drops here and there.

 "I smell old people. Oh wait, that's you." is from the Tim Holtz Ideology Snarky Small Talk set.

The mat around the scene is a paper from the BoBunny 6x6 Beach Therapy Collection papers.

As long as the recipient has a sense of humor, I think this card would be appropriate for a birthday, retirement, or anniversary.

Valentines for the Grandkids

I try to send mail to my grandkids on every holiday and their birthdays and postcards when we're out of town. I remember how fun it was to receive mail as a kid, and with technology, it's even more rare now.

I think they turned out super cute, and they came together pretty quickly.

First, Finn's card:

The cactus, glasses, and sentiment are all from Simon Says Stamp. I colored them with Copic markers. The cactus and glasses are adhered with black dimensional tape. The white dots and the "thorns" on the cactus are Nuvo drops. The hearts are punched from and OLD EK Success punch.

Here's Shae's card:

Again, the sentiment, sun, and sunglasses are from Simon Says Stamp and colored with Copics. Nuvo drops make up the white dots and the gold dots on the edge of the sun. The sun and glasses are raised with black dimensional tape.

All of the stamps are from the same Simon Says Stamp set, One Cool Pineapple:

This set is really cute and works for lots of occasions. The pictures are really fun to color too. It doesn't look like a set I would normally buy, but I've joined Simon Says Stamp monthly card making kit subscription. I'm really enjoying it. Every month you get a preview of the kit, and you aren't required to buy it, but I'm trying to diversify my stamps and products. The kits come with some or a combination of stamps, inks, embellishments, papers, stickers, envelopes, cards, embossing powders, etc. I highly recommend the kit.

Thanks for looking at my post. Surprise someone with a handmade Valentine this year!

No-Spend February

Can I/Will I?

I have designated February as a no-spend month at our house. That means no shopping, no ordering online, and no eating out for lunch or dinner.

Will there be exceptions? Of course. Nick's birthday is this month, we'll have work-related activities we can't skip, and the 22nd is National Margarita Day (can't miss this--it's a tradition to go out with my Parrothead friends).

Hopefully though, most of our expenditures will be the grocery store. No crafts, no clothes, no household items. Nothing that isn't absolutely needed. I'll report back at the end of the month. Will I be rolling in $$$? Doubt it, but if it gets us in the habit to take our lunches more, that's a plus already.