San Antonio Aquarium 2018

 

Mike and I had the opportunity to visit San Antonio, TX (him for work...me just tagging along) in September 2018. My best friend's daughter, Haley, lives there. We got together and went to the aquarium there. From the outside, the building doesn't look like much. It's stuck in between businesses on a busy street. BUT... its like a mini zoo inside... with sea animals, reptiles and birds.

I'd like to point out how I achieved the title, as I wanted to make it look like the sign for the aquarium. All it is, is text (Baskerville Old Face). I inserted spaces to accommodate the starfish embellishment... and there it is! 

Thanks for taking a closer look!

Supplies Used:

My Memories Suite digital software

Background - white

Shapes - Square (filled w/SailAway DSP- MMS)

Embellishments - Under the Sea (bubbles - ABDB), Something Fishy (plant - Ostrea), Taffeta Ribbon (red - SU), Beach (seahorses - HSA), Down By the Seashore (stingray- MMS), Cute Exotic Fish (fish - KJDdsgn), Deep Blue Sea (fish-QueenBr)

Stamp Brush Set - Anchors Away (starfish - SU)

Font - Arial and Baskerville Old Face (blues)

My Dad and Beverly

 

Continuing on with our 2016 scrapbook, with my Dad's marriage to Beverly. They got married September 2016. After the marriage vows were said, we all went to a luncheon at Stancato's to celebrate.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Anchors Away (kapi)

Embellishments - Wedding Day (MM7) - yellow overlay; A Little Harvest (MS2) - orange flower; Like Sunshine (mhtdesigns) - yellow flower

Font - Chancellor (yellow)

Crawfish

Here is the page I created for the August Progressive Digi-Scrap Challenge on the Splitcoaststampers website.  You may view the 4 week challenge here:

Week #1 http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/august-2015-progressive-challenge-task-1-08-04-15-a-t601876.html

Week #2 http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/august-2015-progressive-challenge-task-2-08-11-15-a-t602101.html

Week #3 http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/august-2015-progressive-challenge-task-3-08-18-15-a-t602251.html

Week #4 http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/august-2015-progressive-challenge-task-4-08-25-15-a-t602452.html

I'm sure I will use this page as one of my calendar pages for 2016. yay! Another page complete!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Background - Crumb Cake
Stamp Brush Set - Natural Composition Overlays (beige); Anchors Away (border - Cherry Cobbler and White)
Embellishments - Life's a Beach (crab); Hodgepodge Hardware (brad); Country Sunflowers (tags)
Punch - Circle White); Square (filled w/Nautical Expedition DSP); Triangle (filled w/Nautical Expedition DSP)
Font - Aharoni (Dark Brown)

Oregon Aquarium

 

I found this cute layout on Pinterest, and wanted to use it on my 2-page spread here.  Unfortunately, I cannot give credit to the designer who created her 2page spread, as the website is no longer active. BUT... you can see it here:

Thank you for your inspiration!

These pages may look familiar to some, as I did create a calendar 12x12 page of a few of these photos.  I did change some papers and embellishments (and, of course, the layout), but I really liked the effect with the huge helm in the background of the paper.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Sail Away At Sea DSP

Punch - Square (filled w/ Nautical Expedition DSP); Grad Banner (White and Blue)

Stamp Brush Sets - Anchors Away (shark - blue; helm - blue at 20% opacity)

Embellishments - Seaside (starfish); Summer Vacation (starfish blue); Basic Pearls (colored blue)

Font - Steamer (Blue); Bow (White and Blue)

Coast - DGPROG15JUN

The Splitcoaststampers website hosts a Progressive Scrapbook Challenge each month.  Each week several tasks are added, so that at the end of the month... you have a completed page.

Here are the links to each task on the Splitcoaststampers website:

Week 1: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/june-progressive-2015-task-1-06-02-15-a-t600018.html

Week 2: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/june-progressive-2015-task-2-06-09-15-a-t600254.html

Week 3: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/june-progressive-2015-task-2-06-16-15-a-t600460.html

Week 4: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/june-progressive-2015-finished-06-23-15-a-t600725.html

I completed my page in my new My Memories Suite digital software to test it out.  The My Digital Studio (from Stampin' Up!) is no longer being supported, so I need to try other programs.  My Memories Suite is very similar to MDS... with a few differences, so it provides an almost seamless transition for those that love My Digital Studio.

I have noticed that you cannot crop stamps (or imprints, as they are called in MMS) as you could do in MDS.  I will need to contact My Memories Suite developers to see if this can be added to their software.

For this progressive challenge, I used photos from March 2015 when we took my brother to the coast to see the Pacific Ocean.  It was a bit chilly, but fun to walk and take photos on the beach.  There were many, many steps to go down (and then back up), but we did it! =)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Brush Set - Anchors Away (wave - light blue - Stampin' Up!); Vintage Overlays (Brown - Stampin' Up!); Splatter (Brown - Stampin' Up!)
Punch - Square (Summer Vacation DSP - Lindsay Jane and brown); Tasteful Trim (Brown and Yellow)
Font - Beach (yellow); CK Teen (Brown)

Oregon Aquarium - MDSM108

Tami has a wonderful sketch for us over at MDS Monday.  You may view the challenge along with all the pages created by the talented and lovely ladies of the design team here:  http://mdsmonday.blogspot.com/2015/04/mdsm-108-focus-on-journaling.html

I knew immediately which photos to scrap for this page.... our trip to the Oregon Coast and to the aquarium....as we took so many photos. We had a good time with my brother who came out to visit our new home and to spend a few days with us.

A few things to note: when creating the color for the Title word 'Aquarium', I used the 'picker tool' within MDS to select the color inside the Island Indigo Patterns DSP.  I used a text box filled with a period to create the dots on the starfish. I outlined the starfish by adding a slightly bigger starfish behind it in Basic Black.

I was so happy when I found the shark and the helm stamp, as I wasn't sure what kind of elements to use on my page. The page looked so plain without that subtle helm stamp in the background... and who doesn't use a shark stamp on an aquarium page. LOL! Glad I searched my stash!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Island Indigo

Stamp Brush Sets - Anchors Away (helm - Basic Black at 20% opacity; shark - Basic Black; starfish - Basic Black and lighter shade of Island Indigo)

Punch - Square (filled w/Island Indigo DSP, Basic Black DSP and Basic Black)

Font - Aurora BT (Basic Black); Bow (lighter shade of Island Indigo); Beach (Basic Black)

Beachcomber Hotel

 

Sorry to say it's been a long time since I made scrapbook pages...and it seems I'm getting behind again. Ack!  I'd like to get to a point where I can scrapbook things within a month of the event -- I'm hoping that CAN happen soon! Ha!

I'm working on our 2014 photobook with our trip to northern California with Mike's parents.  This happened in April 2014.  We had such a pleasant trip traveling up the coast and staying at the Beachcomber Hotel before going up the coast to see the Redwood trees (that will be my next several pages of our photobook, so stay tuned!).

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:
Background - Nautical Expedition DSP #10
Embellishments - Sunshine & Sprinkles (sun);
Stamp Brush Sets - Natural Composition Overlays #9 (Very Vanilla); Anchors Away (anchor - Early Espresso)
Punch - Square (filled w/Nautical Expedition DSP #4 and Crumb Cake)
Font - Chalkdust, Latina and Freehand 951 (Early Espresso)

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Autumn Love

 

I get inspiration from many things: color combinations, sketch challenges, many other talented demo's cards and also through perusing the card aisle at the store.  This is one such card from looking through cards at the store..... although, I did change a few words to suit my needs.  The design is my own....yet the colors, too, were from the card I saw.

I designed the card using my software from Stampin' Up!, My Digital Studio.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Old Olive

Stamp Brush Sets - Autumn Harvest (branches - Old Olive); Anchors Away (border strip - Very Vanilla); So Happy For You (hearts - Very Vanilla)

Punch - Square (filled w/ Very Vanilla or textured Very Vanilla)

Font - AltastGreeting (Very Vanilla)

Hawaii - MDSM76

 

I wanted to play with a few challenges today.... this one is from the MDS Monday Blog (MDSM76). You may view the challenge here: http://mdsmonday.blogspot.com/2014/08/mdsm76-dt-call.html

This layout was inspiring to me, as it provided a way to showcase some of our Hawaii landscape photos.  Thanks MDS Monday!  I will definitely use this page as one of the pages in our 2015 calendar for next year! So Beautiful!

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Background - Textured Cardstock - Daffodil Delight

Embellishments - Simple Snapshots (border, leaves and flowers -- a few flowers recolored)

Stamp Brush Set - Anchors Away (title words - Whisper White)

Punch - Square (filled w/Whisper White)

Sand - DGSCPR0025Task4

Working on a scrapbook page from our recent trip to the coast (of California).  I played along with the June Progressive Digi-Scrap Challenge on the Splitcoaststampers website.  The challenge gives you a few tasks to do each week (within the month) so, at the end of that month, you have a completed page.

If you'd like to view the challenge for June, start here: June Progressive Challenge - Task 1 . From that one you can find tasks 2-4.

Thanks for looking!
 Supplies Used: My Digital Studio

Background - Nautical Expedition DSP #10

Punch - Square (filled w/Nautical Expedition DSP #4 , #12 and Crumb Cake); Circle (underneath life preserver - Whisper White)

Stamp Brush Sets - Natural Composition Overlays (Very Vanilla); Anchors Away (anchor - Early Espresso)

Embellishments - Ruffle Trim (Baked Brown Sugar); Anchors Away (life preserver); Baker's Twine (cropped - Whisper White); Sunshine and Sprinkles (sunburst)

Font - Freehand951, Chalkdust and Lativa(Early Espresso)

Responsibility - MDSM70

 

I incorporated two challenges within this scrapbook page.  One, the sketch, is from the MDS Monday Blog - MDSM70.  You may view their challenge here: http://mdsmonday.blogspot.com/2014/06/mdsm70-joans-going-in-circles.html

The second is from the Splitcoaststampers website - DGSC118 Responsibility.  You may view that challenge here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/dgsc-118-responsibility-t588590.html

Now, I struggled with attempting to create a page with the quote for the Digi-Scrap Challenge on Splitcoaststampers.  I'm not a person to talk about myself, so I like scrapping 'events' and not feelings or attitudes.  My photos are of a time of fun in the sun walking on the beach and rocks.  As you can see from the bottom photo..... I walked too close to the waves, as they got my socks, shoes and pants soaked! EEkk!  Those were the only shoes I had with me.  It so reminded me of the time (when I was 12) that I road my bike through a huge puddle and got stuck in the middle, and got my shoes, socks and pants wet there too.  Boy, did I get in trouble that long ago day with my parents..... had to write a 1000 word essay on 'obedience'.  Now, when I got wet this time.... those same feelings of failure came back out.  My husband (I love him!)... just laughed and said they'll dry eventually.  He even finished the drying process with a hairdryer when we got back to the hotel room.  He's amazing!

Well, I do dread responsibility sometimes.... but I know you need that in order to provide for your family. We are blessed that we can have fun as well as provide for our living at the same time!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Daffodil Delight

Stamp Brush Sets - Anchors Away (words - Midnight Muse; starfish and seahorse - Sahara Sand)

Embellishments - Anchors Away (sea banner, sun banner, words - relax, circle - good life); Brad (Daffodil Delight); Dahlias (Daffodil Delight)

Punch - Square (filled w/Anchors Away DSP #4 and #5); Circle (filled w/Sahara Sand, Daffodil Delight and Textured Cardstock - Midnight Muse)

Font - CK Cutie (Midnight Muse)

LeMay Museum

 

These two pages came together very quickly..... so happy that our 2012 Photobook is coming together!!!  We took a drive down to the LeMay Automobile Museum. WOW! What a fantastic display of cars -- old and new! This was in August 2012.

In creating this page I wanted to try and capture their logo on my page:

I used the Anchors Away Designer Series Paper and recolored it Black.  Since the rays were off-center....I added two photo boxes, so that the rays looked like it came out from the top-center of the page.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Background - Basic Black

Stamp Brush Set - Countryside (truck - Smoky Slate)

Punch (Photo Box) - filled w/Anchors Away DSP #4 recolored Basic Black; Modern Label - filled w/Smoky Slate; Decorative Label - filled w/Basic Black

Embellishments - Glimmer Kit (Silver Trim #1 and #2); Brad (Silver)

Font - Bodoni (Smoky Slate)

AZ Sealife Aquarium - DGSC116

 

Continuing my work on our 2012 photobook, with our trip with Mike's parents to the Arizona Sealife Aquarium.  We had a lovely time.... and it was great to see our favorites -- the jellyfish and seahorses!

In creating these pages, I wanted to incorporate the Digi-Scrap Challenge (DGSC116) found on the Splitcoaststampers website.  It can be found here:  http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/dgsc116-%96-spring-into-change-april-1-a-t586126.html

The challenge asked us to use a template and change it up, adding layers and masks.  I chose a sketch template from Scrapbooks Etc (SE292).  This is the sketch:

It was a little rough in creating these pages.... as I wanted the sun, clam, whale and starfish to 'look' like they were punched out of each colored paper. I achieved it by utilizing the drop shadow feature on the opposite sides of where I wanted to 'punch out' the stamp. I added a Basic Gray stamp underneath the Coastal Cabana stamp to add depth to the 'punched out' stamps too.  

I cropped each stamp, so that it would fit perfectly in the corner or sides of each colored block.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used: My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!

Background paper - Coastal Cabana

Embellishments - Baker's Twine (Whisper White cropped)

Stamp Brush Sets - A Split Second (splatter - Soft Sky cropped in some areas); Anchors Away (starfish and clam shell- Basic Gray and Coastal Cabana); Oh Whale (whale - Coastal Cabana; wave - Whisper White and Bermuda Bay); All Time Fave (sun - Basic Gray and Coastal Cabana)

Punch - Square (filled w/ Kiwi Kiss, Calypso Coral, Soft Sky, Summer Sun and Whisper White)

Font - CK Teen Scene (Whisper White and Bermuda Bay)

Cleveland Aquarium

 

Sorry I have been absent lately in posting things.  I have been trying to care for my Mom along with hospice (My Mom has pancreatic cancer - diagnosed May 2012).

I had a few hours to work on my 2012 scrapbook.  Yeah.... I know I'm far behind, but I'll get caught up eventually.  Here is a trip to Cleveland, where I went to the new Cleveland Aquarium with my brother, Dan, and Tracy.  It was a really neat place to visit.

I used a sketch I found on Pinterest from Susan Williams' blog. Thanks Susan!

Supplies Used: My Digital Studio

Background - Pink Flamingo DSP #8

Embellishments - Simple Snapshots (zigzag border recolored Calypso Coral); Grosgrain Ribbon (Night of Navy)

Stamp Brush Sets - Bunch of Backgrounds (chicken wire - Basic Black); Anchors Away (starfish - Calypso Coral)

Punch - Square (filled w/Spring to Life DSP #12)

Font - Dolphin (Whisper White and Night of Navy)

Dana Point - DGSCPR0018

I designed another page to our 2014 Calendar.  I used the November Digi-Scrap Progressive Challenge to complete this page (found on the Splitcoaststampers website).  You may view the challenge (the first task) here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-bi-weekly-f253/nov-progressive-challenge-18-task1-11-5-2013-a-t580504.html

Every week (in the month of November), you are assigned a few tasks.  By the end of the month.... your page will be complete -- as mine is now!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:

Background - Crumb Cake Stamp Brush Sets - Natural Composition Overlays (Baked Brown Sugar), Anchors Away (Wave - Whisper White; Starfish - Baked Brown Sugar; sentences - Early Espresso); So Happy For You (butterfly - Early Espresso) Embellishments - Basic Pearls Punch - Scallop Square (Whisper White); Square (filled w/Good Morning Sunshine DSP #4, Autumn Spice DSP #4, Textured Cardstock - Early Espresso, Early Espresso); Circle - Daffodil Delight Font - Beach (Whisper White), Kiev (Whisper White), Arial (Early Espresso)

Confederacy White House Museum

Finished another page for our 2014 Calendar.... only a few more to do! I saw this sketch on Pinterest, and it fit my needs perfectly for this calendar page.  You may view the sketch and all the pages created with the sketch here: http://www.inspiredblueprints.com/2013/11/inspired-blueprints-sketch-109.html   Thanks Inspired Blueprints!

This calendar page is from part of our trip to Richmond, VA.  We saw the Museum of the White House Confederacy.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

My Digital Studio software

Background - Not Quite Navy

Stamp Brush Sets - Anchors Away (border - Cherry Cobbler); Vintage Overlays (Night of Navy)

Punch - Square (filled w/ Anchors Away DSP #6 -recolored Cherry Cobbler and #10 - recolored Soft Suede); Star (Whisper White), Square (Cherry Cobbler)

Font - Chaucer (Whisper White)

Dolphin Quest

 

Competed another two-page spread to our 2011 photobook.  We try to go to Hawaii every year around our anniversary (in October)....each year to a different island/hotel.  We love it there!  We did a lot on our trip, so there will be many more pages to come with the Hawaii theme.  =)

These two pages were from our Dolphin Encounter at our resort.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Background paper - Spring Break II DSP #4

Punch - Square (filled W/ Spring Break II DSP #5, #9), Circle (filled w/Early Espresso underneath fishes for eyes)

Embellishments - Ruffled Ribbon (Pool Party), Sycamore Street (buttons)

Stamp Brush Sets - Anchors Away (starfish - Early Espresso), Cute Cats (fish - Pool Party and Whisper White)

Font - Dolphin (Early Espresso)

Seaside Aquarium

 

Getting closer to finishing this 2011 photobook!!! I'm into August 2011 now...whoo-hoo!  Mike had work in Beaverton, OR around this time, so we decided to drive to the coast (Seaside, OR) to do some sight-seeing, as well as to walk on the coast!  Here is our trip to the Aquarium there.... right on the coast.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:

Background Paper - Soft Sky

Embellishment- Brads (Pewter), Basic Pearl, Knots and Ties Trim (Pacific Point)

Stamp Brush Sets - Anchors Away (helm - Summer Starfruit, seahorse - Pacific Point, clam shell - Pacific Point and the color to match the dots in the DSP, waves - Pacific Point and Whisper White), A Split Second (Splatter - Whisper White)

Punch - (filled w/ Summer Starfruit DSP and a photo)

Font - Tubular (Pacific Point)