G45 and Clearsnaps blog hop - my vacation mini

Ohhhh this is a long post, but I've much to share today!  This is a mini where our furbabies share their travel stories with you!  For years we have owned a camper of some sort or other so that when we vacation, our pups could go with us.  We love having them with us and its certainly made for some interesting travel stories!

The G45 design team partnered with Clearsnaps for this project.  I am totally loving Clearsnap's ColorBox Graphic 45 Decades ink that I used on this mini.  Not only did I use it in this mini, but I've been using it with all my G45 projects because the colors match so perfectly.  I've never had a good blue to go with my G45 papers, oh but now I have  ColorBox Bon Voyage  Blue and it is perfect, as are the other 5 colors in the Decades collection.

I started with a Clear Scraps acrylic and chipboard album and added a couple pocket pages to it along with G45 Ephemera cards.   Ephemera cards are perfect for journaling and you make them into pages for your mini  by simply punching them on one side.  No need to mount them on cardstock, by using them this way you've got plenty of room for journaling on one side and a beautiful image on the other.

Watch my video tour of the mini here.

Chena always loved sitting in the driver's seat.  Here she shares her thoughts with us on an ephemera card.  The backs are perfect for journaling and were easy to print using the 4 x 6 photo print slot on my printer.

I think you can read the story above but just in case, here it is:

I wanna drive!

Oh boy, oh boy, we're going on a road trip in the funny house on wheels.  I'm not quite sure why we have a house on wheels but I sure like it!  The house sort of hums when it's moving and it just makes me so sleepy.  Me and my sister pup get to sleep on the couch which is a real treat.  I don't know why we can't sleep on the couch in our regular home.

Now and then I have to wake up and go up front and get in Mom's lap so she can pet me.  I don't want her to get lonely up there.

I don't know why he won't let me drive, I can drive, see me in the driver's chair, I bet I can do it.  I practice all the time when Dad's not sitting there.  It's my favorite place to sit in the motorhome.   I can look out the window and scare all the people who come too close to my house.

Below Tisha and Nika are resting on the couch in the motorhome and below Chena is working around our attempt to keep her off the couch.  As I recall she was all wet that day.

I covered the pages with design paper through out and added chipboard and stickers for accents.

We had Tiffany and Brandy when we lived in Alaska.  Here's Tiffany's story.

When  I was 8 we took a very long road trip in Mom's Jeep.  We drove and drove for 7 days. The Jeep was stuffed full, there was hardly room for my bed but thank goodness, Mom found a little perch for my bed on top of all the stuff where I could see out the windshield.

Finally we stopped driving and instead of my nice yard back in Virginia, gosh now I just had a tiny yard AND I had to run up a flight of stairs to be in my house.  Mom said we were in Alaska now, wherever that is.  I was born in Florida and it sure is cold here even though it's May!

Wasn't long before we moved out of town into a nice house with a big yard.  And what do you know, I got a new sister but she's a lot bigger than me and she's only 12 weeks old!  Well, I'm a Yorkie and she's a big mutt, half shepherd and half lab. Her name is Brandy and we like to eat out of the same dish.

The next year Mom and Dad got this funny house that sat on the back of the pickup truck.  So whenever Brandy and I would see our parents gathering up a bunch of camping stuff, we'd go sit in front of the door and as soon as it opened, we'd bolt and jump in the pickup.  As soon as Dad started  up the truck, Brandy and I would settle in  for a long snooze.

 That Brandy, by now she weighed 90 lbs and took up the whole back seat of the truck.  Sometimes I'd have to bark at her and then Mom would yell at us and put her camera case between us.  LOL, we're just like human kids, fighting in the car.

Camping was great fun 'cause we got to be with Mom and Dad all day long and go for nice walks around the campgrounds.  We met lots of nice people and their dogs.  People called us Mutt and Jeff and laughed 'cause I was so little and Brandy was so big.

One place we were camping Mom wouldn't let go of me.  She kept me snugged up right next to her.  I don't know what her problem was; she didn't make Brandy sit next to her.  She kept looking up at this great big bird sitting in a tree that was looking at me.  It had a white head and brown body and it was really pretty.  She told me it was a bald eagle and that it could swoop down and carry me away.

Since Tiffany's story was long, I glued two ephemera cards together so that I could complete the story.  I used a couple of stamps from the Raining Cats and Dogs collection to "gussy" up the printed page.

Chili was our 2nd poodle and a real beauty.  She shares her story here.

I'm a Nebraska poodle and Mom and Dad adopted me in 2002.  Just like the other pups, I loved going camping.  My favorite thing to do was prance around the campground and show everyone how pretty I was.  I had such pretty white hair and Mom always groomed us before we left on a trip.

One time we were camping out west and the ground was red clay and my hair turned kinda pink from the clay dust. 

Chena was my best friend, really I was her dog.  I didn't care that much about people.  I didn't like Brandy either cause Chena sometimes played with her and that made me jealous.

My story is sad, I only got to go camping for 7 short years and then I went across the Rainbow Bridge.  I was tired and my beautiful body was ravaged by auto-immune diseases and it was time for me to go.

I know that Chena missed me because the first time she went camping without me she got all scared and had to sit in Mom's lap for the 3 hour drive.  Chena never ever sat in Mom's lap before but I think she thought she was being taken away like I was.  I'm sorry Chena, I wish I could have told you good-bye.

The left page is the front of the ephemera card and on the right page I made a pocket to slip some tags in.

Another photo of Chili with a chipboard frame and a fun chipboard umbrella from Creative Embellishments.

Our 2010 trip to Alaska was probably our favorite vacation.  Chena was our only dog at the time and she loved that trip!

Chena's trip to Alaska - 2010

After Chili went over the bridge we were all very sad so Mom and Dad said, what the heck, let's go to Alaska for the summer. Oh boy oh boy oh boy! I get to spend a whole summer in the motorhome with Mom and Dad! Nothing could be finer!

We stopped in Denver on our way and I got to see my Uncle Willie who is my very favorite person besides Mom and Dad. Uncle Willie gives me treats and gets on the floor and plays with me.

It took us two weeks to get to Alaska but I didn't mind. Mom took me to her office where she used to work and what fun was that. She told me stories of how she would bring Brandy to work with her on the weekends. So I felt very special to walk where Brandy had been.

Next thing I know we had parked our motorhome in Denali National Park and I had lots of park rangers petting me. I became the unofficial mascot of Teklanika Campground. Every morning and afternoon I got to take nice long walks around "my" campground and greet all the campers. Alot of them were really missing their dogs so they really loved petting me. Of course I sat really pretty and gave them kisses too. While I was getting petted, Mom and Dad would tell the campers about the wolves and lynx that had been in the campgound. Then they'd tell them about the bears on the river. That would usually scare 'em good! That was the best summer I've ever had. We spent 6 weeks camping at Denali.

After Chena went over the bridge, Tisha came into our life and she is a mess, LOL!  She, too, loves to drive, just like Chena.  That's her in the driver's seat below.  Then there's Nika and Tisha with their "Aunties".

Our fancy new doghouse.

Brandy's story should have been near the front and I will confess I mess up and scraped the wrong page so it had to be at the end.  You know in scrapbooking, sometimes you just have to go with the flow right?

Brandy's first camping trip

It's cold and it's wet and I don't want to go outside.  It's only 40º and everything smells funny out there.  I want to go home to my dog yard where everything is familiar.  I'm not going outside so you are just wasting your time walking me. 

That was our first night out, it was our very first camping trip.  Mom and Dad had just bought this used truck camper and planned a two week vacation.   Well it sounded like fun but once we got where we were going, I was scared.  Nothing smelled right and I just couldn't find a spot to go.  Finally Mom gave up.

The next morning she walked me all over Eagle, Alaska, begging me to "go" but I just couldn't find the right spot.  It had been 24 hours and I'll admit, I really needed to go but a dog can't just go anywhere.  Finally, after about 2 hours, I found a spot where I could go.  But then we moved on to a different location and here we go again, it doesn't smell right.  Poor Mom she spent a lot of time walking me on that vacation!

And then there was the time...

We went on a long ferry ride to get to Cordova, Alaska but it was a really neat place.  We spent a couple days by Child's Glacier watching it calve into the river and then we drove back to Cordova and spent some time looking around in the area.  Dad took me for a walk in the woods about an hour before we needed to catch the ferry.  Well gosh we went by the best smells and what's a dog to do but throw herself into the scent and roll.  Uh oh, Dad didn't think it smelled too great and he was very mad at me.  Well I had rolled in a sweet smelling pile of poo.  Our camper was very rudimentary, more like a hard shelled tent and we only had cold running water.  So here I am smelling like a petunia and we've got to go for a 6 hour ferry ride in a closed up camper in 1 hour.  Mom heats a big pot of water on the stove and grabs a roll of paper towels.  Dad takes me down to the river where they pour water on me and try to get the caked on stuff out of my fur.  Oooh they really thought I was rank and it was not a pleasant ride home, at least for them anyway.  I thought I smelled quite like a dog should smell.

My little "trademark" when I make animal minis is to include this silly poodle graphic that reminds me of a gambler and Rita Rudner's quote that really makes me belly laugh!

Here are the things I used to create this mini.  I  really really love the ColorBox inks designed to go with Graphic 45 papers!

Supplies:

Graphic 45 Raining Cats and Dogs collection:

8 x 8 Pad

6 x 6 Patterns and Solids

Journaling and Ephemera Cards

Journaling Chipboard

Decorative Chipboard

Banners

Flowers

Alphabet Stickers

Cardstock Stickers

Cling Stamp Set 1, 2, and 3

Clearsnap:

ColorBox Graphic 45 Decades ink - Photogenic, Triumphant Red, Bon Voyage Blue

Other:

Black cardstock

Clear Scraps Fancy Acrylic and Chipboard Mixable Album

Ribbon

Petaloo Botanica minis-teal

Petaloo Darjeeling Dahlias- Seaside

I Am Roses daisies, cherry blossoms

Creative Embellishments Heart Frame

Creative Embellishments Umbrella Set 2

Sizzix Scallop Tag die

Sizzix Banners and Pennants die

Spellbinders Nestabilities Opulant Ovals

Spellbinders Gold Label Four

Spellbinders Scalloped Borders 2

EK Success Fleur de Lis border punch

Martha Stewart Medium Branch punch

Black Stazon ink

Check out thes Halloween chippies from Creative Embellishments

Halloween will be here before you know it!  I thought it was time to make some new decorations for Halloween.  Creative Embellishments (CE) has the best Halloween chippies, well, I just had to use them!  I think my favorite is this skeleton chippy that I've affectionately named Mr. Bones.  I've used Graphic 45's new Rare Oddities papers  to cover this 7 Gypsies Printer's Tray along with several of our chipboard pieces.  I love how this turned out.

To make my tray, I first selected some papers to cover the individual compartments in the tray and fussy cut the owl, birdcage and books.  I used foam tape to pop up some of my images and chipboard pieces.  For projects like this, you can use your scraps, love that!

Then I selected several Halloween chipboard pieces.  They are are linked at the bottom of this post.  I used several wood veneer bats from the CE store and painted them with black paint and then covered with glossy accents.  Sorry they are reflecting light a bit in this photo but they are really cool, love them!

The CE pocket watch on the right is embossed with Stampendous Chunky Metallic Seasonings embossing enamel.

Here's my pal "Mr. Bones"!  Don't you just love him?  I've embossed him with Ranger Antiquities weathered white embossing powder.  You know what happened?  My heat gun died while I was embossing him, hmmmm spooky!

The tombstone is embossed with Ranger Antiquities, in cement, embossing p

powder.

I love the witches brew kettle!  I simply sprayed that with Lindy's Toto's Tornado Black Flat Fabio spray.  Then I add the skull and crossbones metal piece from Tim Holtz

Skelton

Halloween Scene 2 - I used the kettle and tombstone

Going Batty

Mini Webs

Mini pocket watches

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope your day is fantastic!

Creative Embellishments and Scrap Around the World

Creative Embellishment designers are guests at Scrap Around the World and this is the layout I created using their August mood board from where I drew my inspiration from the colors, words and suitcases.  The suitcases made me think of being overseas and ultimately led me to scrap this photo of my Mom standing in the doorway of the house we lived in Verdun, France 1952-1954 when I was a baby.

The mood board from Scrap Around the World.

My Mom is an amazing person and has led such an adventurous life:   I'd like to share my journaling with you.

"Can you imagine moving to Verdun, France with a baby and small child to live in a house with no plumbing in 1952? That's what my Mom did to join my father who was stationed there with the US Army. The front door had bullet holes put there by German soldiers looking for the man of the house. She was a country gal, what must it have been like to be in a strange country? She embraced it and learned to speak French from our landlady. They would sit with the French-English dictionary and "talk". She would go on to live many more adventures as the wife of a military man in Japan and Germany!"

I built a scene using several different pieces of our chipboard. First I masked some bricks onto my paper and added some torn paper strips as well as some stamping with our Distressed Text Stamp.

Then I added the arched window chippy that works so perfectly with the arched door. I used some very inexpensive water colors to paint the frame.

The flourishes and grasses are stained with Lindy's Frosty Forest Green and then embellished with Prima flowers.

The title is stained with Lindy's Mission Bells Brown.

I used these great Creative Embellishment products on my layout:

Distressed Text Stamp

Arched Windows

Flourish 17

Seagrass

Frond Set 1

Adventure Word Set

Thanks for stopping by our blog today!  Don't forget to check in the store and see what's on sale.  Nicolle runs some fabulous specials every day!

Maggi

I baked a Graphic 45 Gilded Lily cake!

When I first saw the gorgeous Gilded Lily collection and read the "Let them eat cake" quotes, I immediately thought, ooh, I must make a cake with this collection!  The cake is built on a Graphic 45 Staples 8 x 8 Matchbook Box and I made a mini to fit inside the drawer.  The mini has only 4 pages but has lots of places to tuck in tags and photos as well as a small flip book inside.

When I make minis and off the page projects, I like to use a protective medium so that they are more durable.  In the case of the cake, I coated the matchbox with matte medium and it's a good thing I did, because the base got a lot of movement on my craft desk while I was assembling the cake.  I was able to use a damp cloth to wipe off little bits of ink and paper that stuck to the bottom of the box.  I also painted the front and back covers with matte medium so that they would be less likely to tear and to help keep them clean.

Since I started with raw chipboard for the mini,  I painted the edges of the chipboard with ivory paint so that if a sheet of paper didn't quite cover the chipboard edges, it wouldn't be so noticeable.  I like to use a color of paint that works well with my overall color scheme.

Rear view of the cake.

I mixed fussy cut flowers in with small paper flowers from I am Roses.  I also used some fabric flower lace from Hobby Lobby to wrap the bottom cake tier.  It serves to hide the imperfections of joining the top to the sides of the cake.  The pearls around the bottom and 2nd tier serve the same purpose.

 Mini album cover

Here's a video tour of the mini that is inside the drawer base of the cake.

Interior pages.  Take a look at my video tour above to see all the inside pages.

Back Cover

This was such a fun cake to bake.  You could do something like this and it would be perfect for a dessert party or a  wedding shower.

Thanks for stopping by, now visit the Graphic 45 blog for a chance to win this collection and see Robin Shakoor's Gilded Lily project.

Sneak peek!

I've been working on a really fun project with Graphic 45's Gilded Lily and I can't wait to share it with you next week.  For now, I can only share this sneak peek.  Stay tuned!

Graphic 45's BotanicaBella is back!

I was so excited to see Botanicabella being re-released!  To me, it's that one Graphic 45 collection that is just a little bit different from all the others.   I love the earthy tones in this collection that are so perfect for capturing my love of Mother Earth.  

Our vacation time is often spent camping and visiting our nation's national parks and of course I take lots of pictures.  . The nature colors that characterize this collection were perfect for my photo taken in the rain forest at Olympic National Park.

For this layout, I border punched several different papers and layered them underneath my photo and then fussy cut leaves, butterflies and a bird to dress up my nature scene.

Supplies List

Graphic 45 Botanicabella Deluxe Collector's Edition:

Botanicabella

Love Letters

Summer Sonata

Botanical News

Birds in Paradise

Antiquity

Secret Garden

Other Supplies:

American Crafts Junebug burlap letter stickers

Petaloo Textured Blossoms Amber

Petaloo Darjeeling sage green

Distress black ink

Color Box Graphic 45 Decades ink: Antique Moss, Venetian Lace

Here are a couple of other layouts I did with this collection.   This is my beautiful silver poodle, Nika.

This is a great one if you're looking for a multi-pic layout.  Photos are of me and my sweet girls, Chena and Nika.  Thanks Jen (jrabs) for these great photos!

Thanks for stopping by!