Green Horned Unicorn

California 2012: Part 3

California 2012: Part 3 is the third and final post sharing the pages of my California 2012 mini album. You can see Part 1 & 2 here and here.

Can you believe how many photos and pages I crammed into one not-so-little album? The final day of our California journey began in Laguna Beach and ended in Scottsdale, with a day-long adventure at Joshua Tree National Forest sandwiched in the middle. Here's what it looked like:

Journaling: July 1, 2012 - We awoke relatively early and gathered our belongings to depart for Joshua Tree National Forest. Once the car was packed, we crossed the street and ordered breakfast at the Orange Inn. We at our breakfast at the same spot on Cleo Street Beach where we had enjoyed lunch our first day. After soaking up our last few minutes of time in Laguna Beach, we hit the road bound for Joshua Tree.

Journaling: Kylee and Caden thought it would be fun if we all wore pink in our hair o the last day of the trip. Using Kylee’s pink hair chalk, we each added streaks to our hair. Missy and I each added a streak on the side, while Caden wore a small patch in the front. Kylee, decided to go all out and wore pink in most of her hair. 

Journaling: We arrived at Joshua Tree shortly after noon. We knew relatively little about the park, so we made a quick stop at the information center to find out more. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the park not only had Joshua trees, but also many beautiful rock formations and great scenery. 

Journaling: We made many stops along the way, including Cap Rock, Jumbo Rocks, Skull Rock and the Cholla Forest. The kids enjoyed all of the little stops along the way and had fun getting to climb up and around on the rocks. When Kylee grew weary, Foxy Fox came out of the trunk to explore the park with us and made his appearance in many photos along the way. 

Journaling: We finally made the long journey out of the park in the early evening. In doing so, we discovered why the northern part of the park is most popular. The scenery is much more beautiful and that’s where the Joshua trees thrive. In the end, we were tired, but very happy we decided to make the journey to Joshua Tree National park.

And that my friends, is my California 2012 mini album! I still have to do a bit of journaling on the last page, but otherwise, this one is in the books. Literally. This road trip was such a fun little adventure. I wish we could go back tomorrow!

I'm so happy with the final design of this album. The photo collages went together fairly quickly (as quickly as you can edit and sort through 700 photos) and following the same basic design throughout helped speed things up as well. I'm tempted to use a similar format and the washi taped edges to create an album for Nate and my 10 day tour of the Midwest we took back in August.

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at my album! Thanks for stopping by :)

California 2012: Part 2

FINALLY! As I promised a few weeks ago, here is Part 2 of my Cali 2012 mini album (Part 1 can be found here). The pages and journaling below represent days two and three of our trip.

Journaling: While the kids slept in, Missy and I packed bags and got ready for another day at the beach. When the kids awoke, we loaded up the car and drove down to the Main beach, which was much larger and, less rocky, than the Cleo Street beach from the previous day. Missy dropped us off, took the car back to the hotel and walked down to meet us. While she was doing so, the kids and I found a fabulous spot in the sand to set up camp for the day.

Journaling: Caden set out to dig a massive hole in the sand. One so big, he could stand in it! Missy and the kids played lots of beach ball, while I tried to avoid the sun because I was burning and welting very easily. We stayed at the beach for nearly the entire day, only leaving to grab some lunch. Missy and Kylee returned from lunch and surprised me with an umbrella and Caden with a boogie board! It turned out to be another fun and relaxing day by the ocean.

Journaling: After the beach, we returned to the hotel to clean up. Then, we headed to Heisler Park to see the famous Laguna Beach gazebo. We soaked up the beautiful scenery and strolled around the grounds.

Journaling: We followed some trails, one of which led us from the rocky cliffs to a small, secluded beach below. Missy and Kylee were brave and decided to stand on a rock for a photo. As I was taking the picture a big wave crashed against the rock, soaking Missy, who had to walk around dripping wet the rest of the night. It was a good laugh for Caden and me, especially since he had told Missy and Ky it was a bad idea!

Journaling: We stopped for a light dinner of chips, salsa and guacamole at Las Brisas, which was recommended to us by Aunt Eileen. Missy and I had margaritas, while the kids tried kid-friendly strawberry daiquiris. Kylee was not a fan, so Caden lucked out and got to drink two. 

Journaling: After dinner, Missy and the kids treated me to a belated birthday cupcake at Casey’s Cupcakes (a winner of Cupcake Wars). All of our cupcakes were delicious! We followed cupcakes with walking and shopping. Missy and the kids spoiled me, by buying me a necklace and a dress at a cute little shop we found. We finally ended up at the hotel where we went to bed to rest up for another day at the beach.

Journaling: We returned to the same spot on Main beach as the previous day. We spent our time doing many of the same activities as previous days, such as digging holes, building sandcastles and splashing in the ocean. Caden and Missy boogie boarded, while I stayed hidden under the umbrella because of my sun sensitivity. It was another wonderful day and a great way to spend our last day in Laguna Beach.

Journaling: After the beach, we cleaned up for dinner. The kids thought it would be fun to put pink chalk in their hair, so they both walked around town with hot pink streaks, getting lots of compliments along the way! We ate dinner at the Pizza Lounge and sat in one of their outside window booths while we ate. After pizza, we found a gelato parlor where we each got a scoop, which we enjoyed on the beach. The kids dug a few more holes in the sand as we watched our last Laguna Beach sunset.

Next up, Part 3, the final piece of the album highlighting our journey through Joshua Tree National Park. Thanks for sticking with me thorugh all of these photo heavy posts!

California 2012: Day 1

At the end of June, my sister, niece, nephew and I took a road trip from Scottsdale to Laguna Beach for a long, relaxing weekend. Much of our time was spent on the beach (obviously) and exploring the quaint town of Laguna Beach. On the return home we made a stop at Joshua Tree National Forest (another item on Missy's and my "must see" list). In all, our four day adventure left us with around 700 photos.

To say I was overwhelmed by all the photos would be a gross understatement. I honestly didn't even know where to start. So, I set out to make a plan for the album, not only for consistency and cohesiveness, but also to make the process easier for me. I decided to create a 5x7 album, using Amy Tangerine Sketchbook papers and embellishments.

In order to fit as many photos as possible into my album, I created various 5x7 photo collages in Photoshop. I primarily placed a patterned paper on the left and photo on the right, although I did back some photos to one another in a few places to save space. I also printed some of my favorite landscape photos as 8x10, which I trimmed to a 7x10, then cut in half to create full page spreads. To reduce bulkiness, I kept the embellishments to a minimum.

My favorite part of the album, aside from the photos and memories, is the washi tape wrapped edges. I love how fun and colorful they are! The washi tape was actually a last minute addition I used to hide some very sticky edges, which were causing the pages to stick together (my first attempt at using a Scotch ATG, which I clearly need much more practice with). I really love the look the washi tape adds to the edges and will certainly use the technique again.

Even with the photo collages, the album is still huge. Instead of inundating you with it all at once, I decided to share it over a few posts. Here's a look at Day 1, the most photo-heavy day of our adventure.

Journaling: June 28, 2012 - We left Scottsdale around 5am, bound for Laguna Beach, California. Our rented Chrysler 200 was filled to the brim with luggage, towels, toys and kids. Caden and Kylee managed to sleep away most of the morning, while Missy and I took turns driving. The desert scenery on the drive leaves a lot to be desired. One of the high points was seeing the thousands of wind turbines just outside of Palm Springs.

Journaling: After a few pit stops, we arrived at the Holiday Inn Laguna Beach around 11:30am. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we grabbed some lunch at Taco Bell and headed to the Cleo Street beach for an ocean-side picnic. We were all thrilled to finally put our toes in the sand and to get our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.

Journaling: After lunch, we checked into our room, changed into our suits, grabbed all of our gear and headed down the streets of Laguna Beach, in search of the perfect spot on the beach. Along the way, we found a cute little park with a lookout point, where we stood for a while, in awe of the stunning scenery.

Journaling: We finally found a spot on the beach where we spent the afternoon playing in the sand and splashing in the chilly, Pacific water. We played with the beach ball, dug in the sand, built sandcastles, read magazines and books, took tons of photos, napped and soaked up the sun. It was the perfect afternoon.

Journaling: Late in the afternoon, we went back to the hotel where the kids swam in the pool, while Missy and I took turns getting ready for dinner. We found a beautiful patio view at the Oceanside Bar & Grill, where we had a light dinner and cocktails, while watching the sunset over the Pacific. After dinner, we walked around the shopping district discovering a candy shop and an ice cream shop where we made purchases, much to the kid’s delight! Then, it was back to the hotel to relax in the gazebo and then head to bed after a very long day of travel and fun.


That's it for day one! Just looking back at the gorgeous scenery makes me want to visit again...like today! I'll be back to share the rest of the album soon. Thanks for stopping by.

Duluth Mini Album | Published

While I was cropping with my girlfriends a few weeks back, I noticed a copy of Create: Mini Albums Idea Book on the shelf. As I began to flip through the pages, I realized this was the issue my Duluth mini album was published in! For some reason, I was thinking the issue was out in August, so I was completely surprised to see my mini on those glossy pages.

You can find my album on pages 14-17, along with a how-to on how to make the sewn, ring-bound cover. Here's a peek of the spread:

As you can see, I used a ton of the original Amy Tangerine line from American Crafts. I'm excited because the newest Amy Tangerine summer CHA line should be out just in time for me to create my album for our upcoming trip to Duluth!

If you'd like to pick up a copy of Create: Mini Albums Idea Book and can't find one locally, you can purchase it here from Northridge. I've added a link in my sidebar along with a link to current issue of Creating Keepsakes where you can find one of my digital pages published. 

I've never had two projects published at the same time...it's kind of exciting :) Thanks for stopping by!

Craft: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

I came across the Craft: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 a few weeks ago on the Craft blog and was intrigued by the questions. They were thought provoking and interesting. So I set out to answer them, learning a little about myself in the process! Here are the answers I came up with.

 One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of | My Recycled Magazine Frame

I created the project as a challenge to myself to use my stacks and stacks of magazines for something good. Not only did the frame turn out well, it was the first project of mine to ever be published in a magazine (Simply Handmade April/May 2011). How fitting that a project made from magazines be published in a magazine!

Two Mistakes You've Made in the Past | While I’ve certainly made many mistakes, these are the two I’ve learned the most from and, at the same time, need to work on improving more so than any.

1. Over-committing & setting unrealistic deadlines for myself. There are simply too many ideas running amuck in my head. Too many things I want to explore, try out and accomplish. I set my sights high, usually unrealistically high, and often find myself overwhelmed and even stressed because of the expectations I set for myself. In recent months, I’ve forced myself to cut back and slow down in a lot of areas, including my creative endeavors. While this is a difficult thing to do, I’m much more at peace which, surprisingly in the end, allows me to be even more creative. Who knew?
2. Being a perfectionist. That darn perfectionist in me just won’t stop rearing its ugly head. It’s one of those traits that can be both my best and worst, often at the same time. Because of it, I strive do always do my best in everything, which is usually a good thing. Unfortunately, even when I’ve done my best, I have a hard time accepting that. When I complete a project I always find myself looking back and finding flaws - little details that could be better. I have to work very hard to accept things for what they are, and see the beauty in the imperfection.

Three Things That Make Your Work Unique | We all like to think we’re unique and many of us are lucky enough to be told our work is unique. Even with that, it’s difficult to narrow down the traits and characteristics that truly make your work “your own”. After questioning a few people and looking through my blog, this is what I came up with.

  

1. Use of bright, bold colors. No matter what type of craft I’m creating, I tend to lean toward bright, bold colors. Many of the compliments I receive regarding my projects are directed toward my choice and use of color.
2. Avoiding “trends”. While trends certainly make their way into my work, or at least influence it, I strive to stick with my personal style and create pieces that are more “timeless” as opposed to “trendy”.
3. Keep it simple. For the most part, my style is somewhat simple. When you look at my work, it may not appear to be that way at first glance, because the simple designs are brought to life with color and small details.

Four Tools You Love to Use | While I’m not certain all of these qualify as “tools”, these are my favorite “go to” items in my craft studio.

1. My Macbook. While it’s nearly four years old, and my digital files long ago filled it’s poor memory to the brim (and overflowed to an external hard drive), this has been the best computer I’ve ever owned - hands down. I use it daily to make digital creations, edit photos and search for inspiration. I couldn’t live without it.
2. Adobe CS5 Design Suite. I couldn’t do what I do without Photoshop and Illustrator. Love, love, love.
3. Hot Glue Gun. Seriously, what can’t hot glue hold together?  
4. Scissors, rotary cutters and paper trimmers. I probably own at least 10 pairs of scissors, each with its own unique use. I have two handheld rotary cutters (one always has a straight blade the other a scallop) and six different paper cutters. I’m almost embarrassed to admit I own that many cutting tools!

Five Inspirations | It’s very hard to narrow my choices down to just five, because in reality, inspiration is everywhere and the sources for it are endless.

1. Pinterest. What a wondrous site it is! I know I have been guilty of getting lost there for hours upon end.
2. Blogs. I subscribe to hundreds of blogs through Google Reader. I start each day with a cup of tea and a screen full of inspiration.
3. Color & pattern. Just a glance at a wonderful pallet or pretty pattern can ignite my creative fire. I love to peruse fabric stores, scrapbook stores, clothing stores and home design stores for inspiration.
4. Magazines. From crafts to food to design, I find inspiration by simply flipping the pages of a magazine. You never know when a project, article, or even an ad will trigger your creativity.
5. The world around me. There is inspiration in everything, you just have to know where to look. 

And that is the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 of my crafting life! Hopefully you learned a little bit about me too! Thanks for stopping by :)

Holiday Memories 2011 - Part 1

My Holiday Memories 2011 album is slowly, but surely, coming along. While I haven't photographed or recorded as much as I would have hoped at this point, at least the album is in progress - which was really the point. As long as I'm not throwing my entire album together in a rush at the end of the season, I'm dubbing this project a success!

The first event I recorded was our annual tree decorating tradition, which we typically do during the extended Thanksgiving weekend.

 

 
Product Credits: Holiday Faves Mini Album Kit by Nettio Designs + Star on Top by One Little Bird & Amy Martin Designs

JOURNALING | November 26, 2011 - We kicked off the holiday season with our annual tradition of trimming the tree, listening to Christmas music, eating fondue and watching a holiday movie. This year, after we finished decorating the tree, we enjoyed beer cheese fondue with various breads and apples, while watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Although we ran out of energy before we were able to put up all of the decorations, we did accomplished our main goal of getting the big Christmas tree trimmed - meaning the holiday season had officially begun in the Krajicek-Hennessy household!

There are many memories and events I'm hoping to still capture and add to the album. My list so far includes:

• Christmas celebration with my family
• Christmas Eve with Nate's family
• Our Christmas Day celebration
• Our visit to Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Gardens
• Holiday Decorations (including both trees)
• Holiday Playlist
• Holiday Movie list

If you have any suggestions for additional holiday moments or memories to capture, please let me know in the comments!

Published! Somerset Memories Fall 2011

Back in May I was contacted by Somerset Memories to advise me my Cali mini-album had been accepted for publication. Needless to say, I was thrilled! I had submitted my album in response to a Tweet I came across, which was in search of submission for "green-friendly" scrapbooking projects. Upon seeing the Tweet, I immediately knew my Cali album would be a perfect fit. It is comprised entirely of recycled, repurposed and scrap items I collected and/or pulled from my stash. Happily for me the editors at Somerset Memories felt it was the perfect fit too!

As I read the acceptance email, I was even more thrilled when I was asked to write an 800-word article to accompany the album! A project AND an article published? Yes, please!

Although a large part of my day job involves writing, I was very intimated with the idea of penning 800 words that would be printed in a publication for all the world to see. Fortunately, the words flowed quickly and I was up to my total word count in no time.

I received my issue in the mail on Friday and was overjoyed to see how cute it looked in print! Somerset's graphic designers to a great job with the layout in their publications.

I was originally advised my project and article would be 4-pages in length. Imagine my surprise and excitement, when I found out I actually got 6-pages! :)

I feel very honored to be included in Somerset Memories. The publication takes a different approach to memory keeping than most scrapbooking publications. Their perspective is more artistic and stretches the idea of what a stereotypical scrapbooking project might be. They do a wonderful job of curating their publications and find many beautiful and intriguing projects you might not see elsewhere.

Aside from just seeing my project and article (isn't that enough in it's own?!), the magazine is packed full of projects from some amazing ladies - including Dina Wakely and Ali Edwards. You should definitely pick up a copy for yourself. If you're not able to find a copy locally, you can order a copy of the magazine here. 

Curated - A Digital Family Album

As most of you know, I LOVE the yummy goodness Danielle Thompson creates for her Kitschy Digitals line. A few months ago, Danielle teamed up with Liz Tamanha of Paislee Press to create a collaboration album kit called Curated. It's kitschiness meets minimalism. And, wow, is it fun! Just this week, the kit is available at JessicaSprague.com, although I purchased my copy here when it was first released.

After I purchased the kit, I was itching to do something with it, but didn't have anything in particular in mind. I did however, have on hand a batch of beautiful photos of my sister's family, shot and edited by my cousin of Jill Riese Photography. They were perfect to use with the Curated kit! Take a peek at the first few pages of the book:

I love the overload of kitsch balanced out by the minimalism. It's such a fun combination. To take a look at the entire album, click play. To view a larger version, click the link below.

Click here to view this photo book larger

The pages on the left came as is, and i didn't really change or add to them. The pages on the right, I created using filler templates, and even altering some of the primary template pages.

Another product new in store today at JS.com is this lovely template by Linda of In the Making Design. I created a New Years tribute to Nate using one of my favorite photos of us. Click on the image for credits.

That's it for today! Happy Monday :)

 

Christmas is in the Air

The title may lead some of you to believe that I’m ahead of the game, starting on my Christmas To Do List early. Well my friends, don't be fooled. In fact, my procrastination skills are shining as brightly as ever because I am just completing my Christmas Mini for 2009. Can we all say ‘slacker’ in unison?!

In the beginning, I had grand plans to make an elaborate album to document Nate and my first Christmases together. In the end, I think the number of celebrations (four) and amount of photos simply overwhelmed me and I never even got around to starting it. Since it’s nearly time to start a 2010 Christmas Mini I decided I had better get my act together and get these photos scrapped ASAP or I’d never get them scrapped at all. My quick and dirty solution? Why a digital mini, of course!

I started with a freebie template from Paislee Press and made some alterations. Then, I designed a title page to place on the left hand side of the two page spread I was planning. Next, I placed all of my pictures in the template and added patterned papers and cardstock. I finished it off with titles and journaling (as always, the hardest part for me!). 

Since I had so many photos and four separate Christmas events, I limited each event to only two two-page spreads. I have a cover page and a closing page that appear in the album as well.

 Trimming the Tree

Christmas in Nebraska

Christmas Eve in Arizona
 
Christmas at Home

Christmas Eve Mini (6x6 Digital): Template (Paislee Press Press Plate No. 27) + Patterned Papers (Creativity by Crystal - Sugar Cookie) + Solid Cardstock (Katie Perteit) + Stickers (Creativity by Crystal Holiday Stickers) + Font (Helvetica) 

I had the pages printed at ScrapbookPictures.com and placed them in a 6X6 album I already had on hand. While this isn’t as artistic and detailed as I had originally planned, I was able to finish it in one weekend, which is a huge feat. And most importantly? It’s DONE! Looking back in a few years, I won’t care that it’s simple. I’ll care that it documents all of our precious photos and the memories we shared. And really, that’s what it’s all about, right?

 

Dululth 2010 Mini

By the lack of creative posts here in the last few weeks, I'm sure many of you think I haven't been up to much, but I assure you, I have been! I've finished FOUR minis (yes, you read that right...four!), one of which I will share with you today.

I actually whipped up this little guy over the weekend. I just felt like creating so I printed some photos from our trip to Duluth in August and went on my merry way. The format of this mini was largely inspired by Celine Navarro's project here. Love that girls mad creating skills! 

This mini actually came together quite quickly for me, which is a feat. Usually something like this would take a week, working on and off. This, however was done in a weekend! As you will see, I used a TON of Studio Calico Documentary. The papers were perfect for documenting this trip! 

Duluth 2010• 6 x 4.5 Mini-Album:  Patterned Paper (Studio Calico – Documentary) + Kraft Cardstock (The Paper Company) + Transparencies (Hambly) + Letter Stickers (Doodlebug, Jenni Bowlin, Making Memories, Chatterbox, American Craft, Heidi Swapp) + Journaling Stickers (Jenni Bowlin, October Afternoon)+ Adhesives (Tombo) + Chalk Ink (ColorBox) + Spray Ink (Adirondack Color Wash, Tattered Angels) + Paint (Making Memories) + Pens (Bic Mark-it) 

Overall, I kept the concept fairly simple, patterned paper on one side, kraft paper on the other. Add a little mist, paint, transparencies, stickers, paint, outline it with a pen and wahlah! you have yourself a cute (and quick) little mini!

As I mentioned, I have a few more mini's that I will be sharing over the next few weeks, one of which is digi! Have a terrific Tuesday! :)