Big Bear daybook

Posted on December 11, 2011 by Jess Amazing

If you’re anything like me, you’re glued to the computer screen for the first hour of your weekdays because you’re catching up on all of your favorite blogs. One of mine happens to be the American Crafts Studio Blog which featured a challenge last week along with a sneak peek at the newest Amy Tangerine products to be released in the future.

Update: here’s the link to the entries. Happy voting!

Since I was heading to Big Bear for the second time, I knew it would be a great opportunity for a nice mini. I didn’t have time to get a daybook, though, so I opted to make my own. Here are some of the pages and the cover– I think Amy would approve (I hope?)

Check out the entries at The AC facebook page and vote for your favorite!

Awe-inspiring

Posted on November 12, 2011 by Jess Amazing

I fell down the rabbit hole by clicking on a page to a page to a page and then a link from that page to another- and wound up finding this AMAZING video.

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

I have no words. Let’s leave it at that.

Cheers!

Craft Weekend Fun

Posted on October 15, 2011 by Jess Amazing

So far this weekend I’ve been in the “crafting zone” and as such, I’ve been making some schtuffs for you to check out. Here are a few of the layouts from this morning:

: A little misting + masking and a bit of yellow watercolor. Add some tape + stickers and walah. Gotta love the instax minis.

: Just a quickie to get the rest of my instax photos down. I’m clearly in a red and October Afternoon kind of mood today.

: A tribute to my momma- we went to the ball game on her 60th birthday to celebrate. We took up nearly an entire section. It was great!

: When I saw these papers lying together in my pile I knew I had to use them. I still need to put some journaling on here but I can’t decide where I want it to go.

I hope you enjoy these quick updates and maybe even get a little inspiration out of them. Have a great weekend; I’ll be back on Monday with some watercolor tips. Cheers!

Eire the Grand

Gallery

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Jess Amazing

Earlier in the year, I had the greatest joy in visiting Ireland and ever since we made it back to America, I can’t get that experience out of my head. If you’ve never been, you’re missing out. Rolling green hills, … Continue reading →

LHR-DUB part 4

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Jess Amazing

Welcome to the final installment of my peek into the not-so-mini album I made on our trip to London & Ireland. I hope you enjoyed seeing it as much as I enjoyed making it!

: When I saw these different graphics in my stash, I couldn’t help but make a little mini scene. I also love to outline the outside of letter stickers- I think it really makes them pop!

: I used a bakery sleeve for this page and tucked some extras into the pocket. Fun stuff!

: I just wanted to use an overlay in the album, so I made this page. Easy but cute. Dunzo.

: I truly love all the papers in this line by Sassafras so of course I had to use one in my album! Even though it says RBF + LTJ, that’s really only Reel Big Fish in the photos. *note to self to change that title*

: So now I’ve skipped ahead about 10 pages to the Ireland section. This was a vellum envelope that I purchased at the Paperchase flagship store in London and it just went perfectly in the album. I sealed it on the side and then slit the top open. There’s a page of journaling on the front, and this on the back. There are a ton of pamphlets and extra photos inside the pocket.

: This is one of my favorite pages in the whole album! Another envelope purchased from Paperchase, sealed and cut on the side/top. I cut out the shapes of the clouds and had them in my stash just waiting to be used. Once I decided to put these photos on here, it seemed fitting to put the clouds on it, too. I like cutting photos in interesting ways sometimes, esp with the sky that pale and clear. Inside the pocket are more photos and pamphlets.

: I just like the color combination on this one. And if you look closely at the biggest image you can see the trinity statues in the instax. They’re white against the black stone cliff in the night.

: This is one of my favorite pages – I took yet another envelope from my Paperchase shopping excursion in London and folded in the flap. I punched a little notch with my starburst punch and then adhered it to the page – now it holds a bunch more photos from the Ring of Kerry. Love it!

: My last page was simply constructed with my favorite color pink, two amazing postcards and my favorite stickers from Sassafras. It’s the perfect way to end the album- what an amazing journey!

As always, if you’d like to see any of the pages closer up, or you want to see the pages that were omitted, you can see them in my online gallery. Cheers.

LHR-DUB 2011 part 3

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Jess Amazing

Welcome to the third installment of my not-so-mini album show and tell!

: Just some images thrown together with a postcard from the V&A museum. Quick, easy, awesome.

: I used some scraps with a similar “soft” color palette to create the basis of this page,, then added the tag and other details. Love it!

: Gotta love those instax minis for instant photo awesomeness!

: Another fun paper collage project for the base and then added the rest when we got there! If you ever get to London you should definitely go in the Eye!

: A quick photo collage with the help of the adorable October Afternoon space stickers!

: One last page of awesomeness with the help of October Afternoon!

All righty, that’s it for now! As always, check out the gallery for more images and inspiration. Next time I’ll have some close ups of the Slam Dunk music festival pages for your perusal. I’m just now getting to the Ireland portion of the album so brace yourselves because that’s the best part!

LHR-DUB 2011 part 2

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Jess Amazing

Welcome to part 2 of my show-and-tell of my travel album! …and off we go!

: This was just a fun collage that I put together with no idea of adding photos or anything. It’s definitely a fun graphic.

: Another page made for a lot of journaling. Good times!

: A little bit of space for journaling. I used the bottom part of the circles border on the bottom of the next big page.

: Finally! A chance to use the crown overlay – perfect subject. I loved this little glassine envelope so I included it to hold the rest of the photos that I had taken. Excellent!

This one I kept simple because I really loved the scribble paper and wanted to be able to see it. I used a simple 7 Gypsies sticker at the top with Cosmo Cricket's Tiny Type letters, a strip of washi tape at the bottom along with the circles left from cropping my other page and a palace guard layered sticker. Walah! We really did have a great view!

I chose another blah paper for this page and spiced it up with my mists and strips. The Sassafras Lass "Le Bouton" sticker tag was perfect for the title, and I used some of my other tags to enhance the page. If you want to see a glimpse of the page with the tag open, check it out in the online gallery.

And there you have it! As always, if you want to see the images without an explanation (and peek ahead) you can check out my online gallery from the link above. Cheers!

LHR-DUB 2011 part 1

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Jess Amazing

Many months ago, our friends Reel Big Fish announced that they would once again be playing Slam Dunk Festival in England. Having seen them all across North America many times these past 14 years, I couldn’t help but think it might be fun to see them across the pond, as well. Thankfully my good buddy DJ Wanda thought the same thing- and plans were made for a most epic vacation.

In preparing for our trip, I tried to plan out what scrapping materials I should bring. After all, one of the highlights of traveling is to make your travel album while on the road. For weeks I went through my stash, agonizing over what I could leave behind and what would survive the journey. I didn’t want to be completely weighed down by my stuff, but I wanted to have enough materials and variety to make something amazing.

The next step was to determine what size to make my book. I knew I wanted something big enough to hold more than one photo on a page, but something portable. I soon settled on a size and began trimming papers to scale.

However, as the days went on and I saw the stash just waiting to be made, I couldn’t help but start my album. Now, I would normally advise against this method, since you never quite know what you’ll experience… but this time it just made sense. Making the book helped me keep my excitement in check, and it was an interesting challenge to always keep in mind the fact that I had no idea if this would suit my needs- it left room for many blank pages and opportunities for journaling/additional embellishment.

The book wound up being a very welcome travel companion as it made me more conscious of gathering keepsakes and journaling as we went along. It was so much fun to put together!

So without further adieu, I bring you some of the first pages. Please keep in mind that this is a very, VERY thick book- I just kept adding to it and I couldn’t be happier about its bulk- but it has set peoples’ eyes a-widenin’ a time or two. There are also a lot of hidden journaling areas/pockets. Enjoy!

: Album cover – lots of scraps used on this one.

: I took a paper that I wasn’t really sure about and sprinkled it with white & yellow mist. Once I added the yellow houndstooth & tape details, it wasn’t so bad. I struggled with the journaling, though- I wish I had thought a bit more about the words before I started writing. Gotta love the Instax mini, though! And I love the look of the Hambly overlay behind the American Crafts cloud- definitely a good combo for future projects!

: When we landed at London Heathrow, we were given these landing cards to hand to the border agent. I thought it would make a lovely insert, so I grabbed an extra. Yes, I spray-painted my suitcase. I wanted to make sure that it didn’t look appealing to steal, as well as ensure that if someone did try to take it they would stand out like no other!

: I loved the color/design of the barf bag, so I swiped it. I added the scraps of a doily and another scalloped paper as well as a little washi tape and we were all set. There are some other keepsakes inside the bag – things I wanted to keep but didn’t feel the need to include in the design.

: This is the other side of the barf bag. I don’t like it as much as some of the other pages, but it was a quick way to add photos of our room and the ephemera that we got when we checked in.

: I wanted to make sure I left room for journaling the first day, so I included this lined kraft paper and left a lot of space in the middle for my account of the day. Washi tape provided some really great decorative details without being too overbearing. I had drawn a little box at the top right to remember to leave room for a photo, and added it after we got back to the states.

Come back soon for the next 5-6 pages, or you can sneak a peek in my photo gallery for the images without any explanations. Cheers!

Where has the time gone?

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Jess Amazing

Sometimes I spend my weekends in total shock that the week has already passed me by. This week is no exception; I can’t believe it’s already Friday!

I’m back in the sunshine state, where I’ve been in training since an hour after I returned. (At least the weather has been amazing!)

Here’s a quick recap of my midwest adventures:
Thursday- Spent the morning with my favorite 2 year old and puppy. Exciting and exhausting! Kudos to moms all over the world-how do you do it?

My reward for surviving the morning was a delicious lunch from my favorite place on earth, Imo’s Pizza. It’s The Square Beyond Compare! and a staple in the meals of St. Louisans across the globe.

The evening was spent with a friendly Scrabble tournament against my mother, who apparently has been practicing.

Friday- Lunch with my beautiful momma, who was celebrating her 60th birthday. Then a little shopping adventure at the scrapbooking superstore Archiver’s where there was more I wanted to purchase than I could manage, followed by a reunion dinner at Jimmy Johns (come to SoCal please!) and more hangout time at The Franke Fortress, otherwise known as the home of my BFF and her family. I enjoyed a nice, cold Guinness while cuddling by the fire with my puppy.

Saturday was a little more relaxed, as I stayed at the house and did some scrapbooking. I’m working on a journal that I made for someone, and since I’ve received such positive feedback about it I will be creating more of them to list on my etsy- exciting times ahead! The rest of the night was spent with family to celebrate my mom’s 60th. Good times!

Sunday was the big day! My amazing mother loves to cook a family breakfast on Sundays (it was a tradition throughout her childhood and then mine) so she made us her delicious pancakes that reign supreme over any others, and we kicked it a bit before it was time to leave. I bought my parents lunch from, what else, Imo’s Pizza and I made sure to save some for my travels back west. As the day turned to evening, we embarked on our adventure to Busch Stadium for the baseball game.

It was the perfect night for baseball and the Cards fans were out in droves. It was great. My aunt had ordered hats for the family that read, “Bev is 60″ and one for my mom that said, “I’m Bev.” She was mortified but a really good sport. We met up with the rest of the family, taking up 3 rows in true Morr fashion, and settled in for a good game.

Most of the action occurred within the first inning, including a smash hit homerun by fan favorite Pujols. Then the game really slowed, but it was a good time to catch up with the fam and the Frankes. And thanks to social networking, I was able to catch up with some old childhood friends that were also at the game. Excellent. In the end, we won, so Go Cards! It was good times all around!

We got back to the house around 11:30pm and I had a solid 4 hours of sleep before my angelic mother took me to the airport for my early morning flight. Thankfully I was in first class so I was able to stretch out, catch some zzzs and enjoy the flight. I got back to California around 11am and started training at work around 1pm- and I haven’t had a chance to look back until now. Whew.

I’m off!

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Jess Amazing

I’m about to head to the airport to make my way to St. Louis. Have a great day, friends! Here are a few videos to keep you warm while I’m gone.

You can blame Sprinkles for putting this in my head:

But it wouldn’t be awesome without some Family Guy in there, too:

And you can’t leave Stewie out of it:

There you have it and there you are. Have a great day!

Amazing by Design

Tag Archives: travel