Adventure Seeker Layouts

I spent last weekend at a weekend crop on the gorgeous Canandaigua Lake in the Finger Lakes. I spent the weekend scrapbooking photos from 2010 and 2011. We made a trip each fall to the Great Smoky Mountains when we lived in South Carolina. I found a pile of photos my husband took and they were never scrapbooked. Big sad face!

All of photos I scrapbooked were the outdoors and nature. The Great Smoky Mountains are absolutely gorgeous! Seriously, if you ever get the chance to visit them, GO! You won't regret it! There's numerous small towns filled with local shops and restaurants. Then there's the beautiful sights mother nature created. The Blue Ridge Parkway is manmade, but it gives you access to some of the greatest sights I've ever seen. It's a great way to take your time and enjoy your leisure time. If you're into historic homes like me, there's a little place called the Biltmore Estate you can tour and many of the towns have old houses. We just drove and walked around looking at them. There are some you can tour.

Chimney Rock State Park in Chimney Rock, North Carolina is a very interesting park! If you're into geology, stones, crazy trails, and looking at the world from the sky, Chimney Rock State Park needs to be on your must see list! We spent a good part of the day at the park checking it out. I've never stood on top of a rock thousands of feet in the air and looked down at the world below me. I'm not a huge fan of heights, but this is an experience!

I have two layouts to share with you from this trip. They were taken by my husband. He went on some of the trails I wasn't physically able to go on. Big sad face! I used Adventure Seeker Living Life from Inky Hot Mess for these layouts.

The kit comes with journaling cards and lots of embellishments. The "Back to Nature" card I used as is. I took a piece of yellow cardstock and jazzed it up with some of the embellishments from Adventure Seeker Living Life. I even did some journaling! See I told you I am working on that journaling thing. :) The pocket that is 6"x8" has a piece of scrapbook paper in it. It was once a 12"x12" sheet and I cut it down.

I only had 2 photos left and had to figure out a way to use them and make it look interesting with journaling cards. I still used Adventure Seeker Living Life. I had plenty of cards left! I also embellished a card. Most of them I used as they are. The one called "October" I journaled on. I used my iPhone at the crop to find some trivia about the Chimney Rock. To finish the card, I added a mini paper clip that was in the embellishment bag. I made one card using cardstock. I used a sticker and the sign post veneer. Simple yet it gives me some texture.

A few other things happened at the crop. I finished a roll of washi tape! No one believes me. So I'm glad I took a pic!

I finished a spool of twine. Never thought that would happen either. It was my favorite twine so I am bummed. I would love to find it again or another one similar to it. I also finished a card of twine. I have a pic of that one!

I kind of feel special that George Vanderbilt got the last of this twine. Between the Great Smoky Mountains and the Adirondack Park, the Vanderbilt family did some amazing things. They sure built beautiful, timeless homes!

Title Pages

Even though I pocket scrapbook now, everything hasn't changed. For a few years, I've been making Title Pages to separate my layouts in albums. This was something I decided to keep doing in my pocket scrapbooking albums. I think it will be great for our vacations and trips. My plan is to put all of my 2015 photos in chronological order instead of individual albums. I used to have an album or two for a day at the zoo, several for a weekend at a NASCAR race, an album or two or three for the nephews, several albums for our furkids, countless for vacations - each day could be up to 3 albums.

Sounds awesome, right? Sure. If you have a place to stick all of those albums! And who wants to lug 3 or 4 or 5 heavy, oversized, overstuffed albums off of a shelf drag them to the couch to show people? Excuse me while I get me shopping cart! Yeah, not exactly fun. And seriously, who wants to look at your 20 layouts of the same 3 monkeys eating lettuce? LOL No comment! I may or may not have 20+ pages of a group of monkeys monkeying around.

How do I make my Title Pages? Well, for one thing, they all are 12x12. I saved 12x12 page protectors just for this purpose. The base is a piece of paper.....they may or may not be matted onto cardstock. It all depends on how they fit into the page protector. Some of the Title Pages are a tad thick and some papers aren't true 12x12 - some are something like 11 3/4 x 11 3/4. The gaps make me nuts!

I use paper that goes with the theme of the event, place, animal, person, what have you.I use a lot of die cuts! I make some on my Cricut, my Silhouette, and I buy a number of them. I also use stickers, stamps, and mixed media.

Here are a few that I finished awhile ago. I have sort of scrapbooked the photos from these adventures. The layouts have been waiting for up to 5 years for embellishing. Pretty sure that's not going to happen. I'm going to reprint the photos and pocket scrapbook them. They won't take up 5+ albums this way either.

About 5 years ago we went on a huge Southern vacation. It was 2 1/2 weeks long and we visited 6 Southern states. These Title Pages are for that trip. I have others to make.

First up is my Charleston, SC one. Surprisingly, Charleston does have beaches! There's even a lighthouse that I still need to see. We spent a few days looking for the sites they used to make the movie The Notebook. This is my favorite movie ever made and my favorite book. Walking across the street to the theater on King Street where they laid in the street was absolutely amazing! I'm not sure if this Title Page is completely done or not. I won't know until it goes into my album. There will be another on the back that covers the days events and sites.

Next is the one for Wilmington, NC. I had no idea that Wilmington had lots of palm trees. I also didn't realize that it was on the Cape Fear River. I thought it was on the coast....as in the Atlantic Ocean...Apparently, I didn't study the map too well. It's a pretty cool little town. I can see why tons of movies and tv shows are made there. This Title Page has a seashell metal charm on it. Not sure if this one is complete either yet.

We made sure to hit the Outer Banks on this trip. Finally got to see the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse! You can see the base from where it used to be. Several years ago, they had to move it 1 mile inland. It's amazing how close to the edge of the ocean it was.

This Title Page has little teeny, tiny shells glued on with Glossy Accents. You may remember me talking about the greatest paper crafting store ever built formerly known as Colorful Creations. The store was on Cape Cod....oh darn another excuse to hit the Cape! Jayne sold these teeny, tiny little shells there and I may have a stockpile of them. Jayne still hosts Crop on the Cape in mid-March and I will be there!

We also spent time in Georgia. Had to go to the Georgia Aquarium. At the time, it was the largest aquarium in the world by volume. Walking through the tunnel with fish and sharks swimming around you is an amazing experience.

Notice the post it note? Yeah, I bring a stack of them along with a Sharpie to every crop. I always have something to finish up at home. This Title Page is not complete and the post it says so. There's a thick 12x12 clear transparency sheet that sits on top of this paper. The note says to mix ink with Glossy Accents and make bubbles. I want to try this on a transparency scrap before I do it on the real page in case it doesn't work well or looks like a hot mess.

Another stop was Savannah, GA. I absolutely love historic houses and Savannah has plenty of them. It's also the birthplace of the Girl Scouts and Forrest Gump was filmed here. There's a great park that's definitely worth checking out. Lots of fun, little shops, too. We did a river cruise and ate at Paula Deen's Lady & Sons restaurant. I absolutely love her BBQ sauce! First time I ever had a Johnnycake and it was quite tasty.

There's another post it! I need to cut out a magnolia for this Title Page. I know I want it big. I may see if I have any magnolia stickers also. This paper is from a tropically beach kit from Creative Imaginations. Remember them? They had the BEST beach/ocean papers every year.

Well, those are the ones I have waiting for a home. I'll be making more soon and I'll share them with you!

Digital Scrapbooking...So It Begins

Yup, I took the plunge. I know what you're thinking. Holy cow! She's leaving us. I'm not. Really, I'm not. I've been dabbling in digital scrapbooking for awhile, but was never really impressed with anything I tried. 

I tried Studio J from Close To My Heart when it first came out. I didn't like how everything was pre-formatted for you and you couldn't change papers. I've heard that it has changed since then, but I also didn't like that I had to be online to scrapbook and that I have to purchase the printed layouts or jpeg's from them. I travel a lot and internet access can be tricky at best in many locations. 

I also have tried MDS from Stampin' Up. It's nice. Better than Studio J. It has much more than scrapbook layouts in it. You can make cards and other projects. I am under the impression that you can only use SU products with it. I could be totally wrong. The consultant I asked about it when I purchased it knew absolutely nothing about it. I have purchased additional items from SU for MDS, but I never loaded them into MDS. I keep all the papers, embellishments, and stamps all in folders based on their collection name. I did this so I would have access to them to use them in Photoshop. 

Some of my trees in autumn

I've heard that Photoshop or Photoshop Elements was really the way to go with digital scrapbooking. Problem with that. How the heck do you use Photoshop? Seriously! I own the Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 and don't even know what 98% of the programs included are! I took a Photoshop and Illustrator class at a local college when I lived in South Carolina and felt like I didn't learn squat so I was not at all comfortable using either piece of software. In fact, I HATED Photoshop. I thought Adobe was full of morons. Nope. It wasn't Adobe who was full of morons. Turns out it was my instructor.

Well, last year I purchased a digital scrapbooking class from Jessica Sprague. I talked to a few people who I knew dabbled in digital. I did some research online and pretty much everyone said yes take Jessica's classes. You will learn lots and you will love digital. The class ended up on sale for whatever reason. I purchased it and thought why did I waste that money? Who am I kidding? I HATE Photoshop. 

Fast forward a year. I've got thousands more photos that need scrapbooking. I have been organizing my digital photos. I've got 2 years done! That took almost a month. Yes, I literally have over 100,000 digital photos. No exaggeration. One day at a zoo, I took 495 photos. That was one day! I was only there for about four to five hours. 

So now that I'm in the digital organization mode, I've been wondering how I'm ever going to get all of my photos into completed layouts before I'm 653 years old and still keep taking pictures and travel. Oh and I have other things to make besides layouts. 

I was staring at my MacBook in complete disbelief. Really thinking I'm going to give up sleep and tv and relaxing and working on my house (Who cares if the roof collapses on me. I've got pages to get done!) and bathing and eating....maybe then I'd get it all done. Yeah, most of that was never going to happen. The girl who can't go more than a day without showering or washing her hair at least once a day is never going to give up bathing!

Tigger the Lounge Kitty

I started poking around in Finder to see what other junk...I mean good stuff was collecting dust aka taking up space on my harddrive. What do I find? A whole mess of papers, embellishments, and stamps - all digital - from Jessica Sprague's website. I'm an Echo Park junkie and there's tons of their products. Hmmmm......

I go to her website to see what other cool things she has now since I hadn't been there in like a year. OMG! Color me happy! Bo Bunny. Basic Grey. Fancy Pants Designs. Carta Bella. Echo Park. Cosmo Cricket. Big names in the industry have collections for sale on her website! I log into my account and guess what's there....yup, that class I bought a year ago. Guess what I started working on this week. 

Ooh ooh ooh. Upon further examination. Many of the big industry companies sell lots of their collections digitally on their websites. I've contacted a few who I couldn't find anything from and some responded that they are working on it, a few told me where I could find the digitals, and a couple were like pffft we don't do that. So if you're interested in digital products at all, contact your favorite companies via Facebook or their website and ask them! The more people who ask, the more likely they will sell us what we want.

You're going to get a kick out of this. When I originally bought my digital papers from Jessica, it was to print the 12" x 12" papers at home so I wouldn't have to buy the same kits multiple times or when I ran out of those papers and it was no longer available. As of today, I've never printed any of them out and I have a 13" x 17" printer I purchased especially for that purpose! Good thing it was only clearance at Staples!

I'm almost done with lesson two. My assignment for that lesson is to share what I created in class. While people who've been at this for ages may have better layouts or suggestions on improvements, I'm very happy with my layouts. Could they be better? I don't know. I like them. I probably could sit here and spend 20 hours adding layers and crap to them, but less is more! I have that some problem in traditional scrapbooking. I want to keep adding stuff. Every cat sticker I own doesn't need to be on one layout. 

Maxx being crazy after bathtime

Today I'm sharing with you my completed layouts from class. Hope you like them. I do especially the one of Tigger. 

Oh and one more important thing. This is kinda huge. I don't hate Photoshop anymore. Shhhh....I'm actually kind of enjoying it. 

Crazy Sale!

HUGE SALE! 

Hurry! First come, first serve. Sale prices end on October 15th!

All autumn and Halloween items are on sale!

 Most dies are included.

All albums are under $8! They range 4"x4" to 12"x12".

Close To My Heart ink pads are only $4 each! 

Stamps, stamping accessories, and stamping kits are also on sale. 

Layouts and kits are included.

Card kits and books on sale.

Paper including 6"x6" stacks and Close To My Heart  paper packs are also on sale.

Paper Collections For Sale

In a few weeks, whatever hasn't sold will be moved to my Etsy store. If you'd like an item, please contact me! My contact info is on the upper left hand side and at the bottom of each For Sale post. Shipping is not included in the price. US sales only. PayPal only for payment as well. All items will be shipped via USPS.

ALL items are brand NEW unless otherwise stated. ALL items come from a smoke free studio!

ALL 12" x 12" individual papers will be shipped with cardboard or chipboard to help prevent bending and/or folding. 

Abbey Road Kit $3 - Fronts

Abbey Road Kit $3 - Backs

Abbey Road Kit from My Mind's Eye $3 includes 12" x 12" 1 cardstock paper, 2 12" x 12" die cut papers, and 1 sheet die cuts - Lucky Me "Hello World" Lucky Lime, Lucky me "Sisters" Orange Blossom Paper Die Cut, Lucky Me "Hello World" Shopping Spree Paper Die Cut, and Lucky Me "Hello World" Large Accessories Die Cut Card with 5 Die Cuts 

Wedding Frame Layout Kit $2

Wedding Frame Layout Kit from Top Line Creations $2 includes Directions, Template, Cardstock, Papers, Ribbon, and Eyelets

Floral 2 Page Layout Kit Left Page $3

Floral 2 Page Layout Kit Right Page $3 

Floral 2 Page Layout Kit $3 includes Left and Right Page - Already assembled - Simply add your photos 

Monkey Adventures Kit $2.25 - Fronts

Monkey Adventures Kit $2.25 - Backs

Monkey Adventures Kit from Reminisce $2.25 includes 12" x 12" 3 double sided papers - Zany Monkeys, Space Monkey, and Adventure Monkeys 

Family Pride Kit $3 - Fronts

Family Pride Kit $3 - Backs

Family Pride Kit from Reminisce $3 includes 12" x 12" 4 double sided papers - Growing Up Fast, Savannah Stripe, The Gang's All Here, and Family Pride

Gingerbread Lane Kit $2.25 - Fronts

Gingerbread Lane Kit $2.25 - Backs

Gingerbread Lane Kit from Reminisce $2.25 includes 12" x 12" 3 double sided papers - Yum Yum, Merry Mints, and Frosted Forest - 2 Available

Making the Grade Kit $3- Fronts

Making the Grade $3 - Backs

Making the Grade Kit from Reminisce $3 includes 12" x 12" 4 double sided papers - Study Hall, Peace Rocks, Teen Spirit, and Playground

In Bloom Kit $2.25 - Fronts

In Bloom Kits $2.25 - Backs

In Bloom Kit from Reminisce $2.25 includes 12" x 12" 3 double sided papers - The Colors of Spring, The Butterfly Effect, and In the Garden

Be Mine Kit $3 - Fronts

Be Mine Kit $3 - Backs

Be Mine Kit from Reminisce $3 includes 12" x 12" 4 double sided metallic pearl papers - Hearts a Fire, Be Mine Dots, Be Mine Hearts, and Be Mine Stripes

Cutopia Kit $2.25 - Fronts

Cutopia Kit $2.25 - Backs

 Cutopia Kit from Reminisce $2.25 includes 12" x 12" 3 double sided papers - Peace Out, Stripetopia, and One of a Kind - 2 available

Labels Classique Kit $2.25 - Fronts

Labels Classique Kit $2.25 - Backs

Labels Classique Kit from Reminisce $2.25 includes 12" x 12" 3 double sided papers - Citron, Talk o' the Town, and Corona Lily - 3 available

I'm also including a free gift with every purchase made until September 30, 2013! Want something? Have questions? Email me.

Where For Art Thou?

You've probably noticed it's been VERY quiet here in inky land. Summer finally arrived and with the awesome weather out came the project list. Some projects moved along nicely......others not so much. A simple oh hey let's paint the kitchen has turned into a mini makeover. One that won't end. Removing paint from 70 year old cabinets is not easy! Talk about time consuming! So this summer there hasn't been any pink, but there has been plenty of paint, wallpaper stripper, paint stripper, etc.....I snuck off to my studio this week a few times for the first time in months!

Remember how I said I would be hosting a sale? Well, today is the day for it to begin. All items will be priced and have a short description along with a photo or two. The items will be available exclusively on Inky Hot Mess for a week. After a week, whatever hasn't sold will be moved to my Etsy store. If you'd like an item, please contact me! Prices may be slightly higher on Etsy due to the fees they charge. Shipping is not included in the price. US sales only. Shipping is extremely expensive outside the US. PayPal only for payment as well. You can pay with a credit card through PayPal and you don't need a PayPal account for payment. All items will be shipped via USPS unless they are large items and FedEx Ground would be cheaper. Also, large orders may be shipped via FedEx Ground to save you $$$$$$.

Are you ready? Well......here we go!


ALL items are brand NEW unless otherwise stated. ALL items come from a smoke free studio!

6" x 6" Black & Ivory Damask Album $6

~ 6" x 6" Black and ivory damask album includes 10 page protectors from The Paper Studio $6

8" x 8" Black & Ivory Paisley Album $8

~ 8" x 8" Black and ivory paisley with black ribbon album includes 10 page protectors from The Paper Studio $8

8" x 8" Baby Blue Album $8

~ 8" x 8" Baby blue album includes 10 page protectors from SEI $8 (2 available)

8" x 8" Blue fabric album $8

~ 8" x 8" Blue fabric album with photo slot includes 10 page protectors from K & Company $8

D1303 Classmate Alphabet $17.95

~ D1303 Classmate Alphabet My Acrylix stamp set from Close To My Heart $17.95

D1424 Something Splendid $17.95

~ D1424 Something Splendid My Acrylix stamp set from Close To My Heart $17.95

D1112 Seasonal Celebration $17.95

~ D1112 Seasonal Celebration My Acrylix stamp set from Close To My Heart $17.95

Tickled Pink Kit $25.00

~ Tickled Pink Kit from Close To My Heart $25 includes White Daisy Mini Medley, D1368 Tickled Pink My Acrylix stamp set, and Tickled Pink instruction booklet

Want something? Have questions? Email me.

Think Tank Tuesday

You know how scrapbook albums have the odd single page as the beginning of the album? Well, that's always irked me for some odd reason. I like to have my pages two by two. Maybe I have scrapbookers OCD. That would explain a great deal about me actually...hmmmm.....

I came up with a crazy idea at a crop several years ago. I could make cover pages. I told you it was crazy. They have worked well for me and it gives me an excuse to get all fancy with my Gypsy. I also get to use fun embellishments and different techniques.

I'm going to share five different cover pages with you. I travel a great deal and am always looking for some place new to go. I really enjoy historic sites and natural sites like state parks. I also have a thing for architecture.

Outer Banks, North Carolina

The first cover page is the one I did for the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It's pretty simple. It's a single sheet of paper matted on cardstock. The paper is one I didn't want to cut up or cover up with photos. The words "Outer Banks" were cut from Bazzill cardstock on my Cricut Expression. I used my Gypsy to weld the letters together. There are several small shells glued on as well.

Savannah, Georgia

Next up is the cover page from my day in Savannah, Georgia. Georgia's state flower is the Cherokee Rose. It reminds me of Magnolias. I used to think Magnolia was the state flower until I was in Georgia at a crop and we had a whole discussion that involved Google about it.

This paper is another one I didn't really want to cut and it's matted on cardstock. The die cut words are also done on my Gypsy and Cricut. There's a sticky note that I need to cut out a Magnolia and pop it on here. See I use sticky notes for everything!

Wilmington, North Carolina

I also spent a day in Wilmington, North Carolina. Very cool town with tons of historic sites. Palm trees, too! That's the furthest north I've seen palm trees so I used a sheet of palm tree paper. The die cutting is from my Gypsy and Cricut. There's a metal seashell charm glued on as well.

Georgia Aquarium

The Georgia Aquarium is the largest aquarium in the world. It was when I visited at least. It's a very cool aquarium and Coca~Cola is right next door! The paper is from a company that makes watercolors and turns them in scrapbook papers. Pretty cool, right? Love the coral! This was perfect for an aquarium cover page. The die cutting is from my Gypsy and Cricut (you're stunned I know! ).

One thing you can't see is a 12x12 clear transparency on top of the cover page. The sticky note says I need to add Glossy Accents mixed with blue ink to make bubbles.

Charleston, South Carolina

And the last one is for a few days we spent in Charleston. If you like history at all, this is the place to go! The architecture is absolutely amazing and the city is one of the oldest in the US. A number of movies have been filmed there including my favorite, The Notebook. Yup, checked out many of the places it was filmed.

This cover page has a lot of bright yellow which I used because Charleston is a sunny, hot place. I used an Old English style font on my Gypsy and Cricut to reflect the age of the city.

So if you have an odd, empty page, cover pages provide an excellent way of filling the empty space. They're also a fabulous way of using papers you don't want to cut up and showcase.

Until the next time*

Be adventurous. Try a new technique!

Seven Minute Layout

Remember how I promised you my seven - yup 7 - minute layout? Well, I didn't forget. I got a little distracted rearranging and moving my studio this week and dealing with my heartbreak of losing {Colorful Creations}. Hopefully, next week I'll have pics when it's all neat and tidy.

Without further ado....here we are....

The papers are from the Bohemia collection from My Mind's Eye. I believe I won this paper stack at my very first Scrap Pink at Colorful Creations. If I didn't win this, then I bought it at AC Moore on Cape Cod that weekend. Any who, I've had it for almost three years and have never used it. How sad is that?

As you can see, there's nothing bohemian about my photos. They are from a very brief trip to Folly Beach in South Carolina in 2009. The trip was literally about 10 minutes long. Yet somehow I still managed to take about 80 photos. Digital cameras are dangerous!

Dimensions for the Left Page:
The brown striped paper is 2 1/2" x 12".
The pink patterned paper is 9" x 9 1/2".
The green paisley paper is 6" x 3 5/8".
The 2 mats are 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" and the photos are     4" x 6".
The base is a 12" x 12" sheet of green cardstock.


Dimensions for the Right Page:

The brown striped paper is 9 1/2" x 12".
The pink patterned paper is 2 7/8" x 12".
The green paisley paper is 7 1/2" x 8 1/4".
The 2 mats are 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" and the photos are 4" x 6".
The base is a 12" x 12" sheet of blue cardstock.


I came up with this layout on the fly. I had less than 15 minutes left at a crop and was desperate to get as many photos scrapped as possible.

I do have a few rulers for my style. I always build on on sheet of cardstock. It's almost always a color also. I try to pull three or four colors for cardstocks from the three sheets of patterned paper that I chose for the layouts. And yes, I always use three different sheets of patterned paper for my layouts. I love color and paper!

Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. The photos are from the beach. And no there's not a beach or water paper in sight! I have tons of photos from the coast from a few years ago and I am sick of scrapbooking all of my water photos on beach and water paper. So I went looking for some paper that I have had for awhile that needed to be used up. I had more than enough to do all 83 photos from Folly Beach. I still have a pile left. By using the Bohemian stack, I had tons of papers to choose from. They all coordinate with each other and there's embellishments that match as well.

As you've probably noticed, the layouts aren't embellished. Nope, they're not finished. This as far as I go at crops. I do all of my embellishing at home in my studio. There's just too much to bring with me at crops. So I focus on getting as many photos scrapped as possible. This is my secret to getting 70 plus pages done at a weekend crop.

Oh and if you click on the photo, it will open in another screen and be much larger.

Until next time *

Have you printed your digital photos lately?