End of Summer with Shoreline

Hello World!

How was your summer? Any days at the beach? Any fun travel? Any good family time? Any time to play? And now the important question...Any time to scrap? The last time I was in the store, Christy gave me some of American Crafts' Shoreline papers to play with, and WOW, they are perfect for bright, happy summer events (or anything else bright and happy you may want to use them for). The colors are uber-saturated reds, blues, and yellows with some dark hot pinks and pool blues to accent. I have had the most fun scrapping with these papers, hoarding every little bit and piece to tuck here and there as color bursts on other projects.

I was blessed this summer with the opportunity to go with my father on a medical mission trip to Peru. At the end of the trip, we spent a day touring Machu Picchu. The Shoreline bright yellow sunburst pattern screamed 'Incas' to me, so I used it as the background for this layout about how much we climbed that day. I used some old kokopelli stamps I had in my stash to stamp on some canvas in teal, then stamped the words in black over the person kokopelli. I added some Mini Market letters from October Afternoon and some brads to finish off the page.

This next layout is about a shopping excursion I took with my daughter last month. We were separately scavenging a clothing store for clothes to try on. When we met up in the dressing room, we had both picked the same dress! Obviously, as a scrapbooking mom, this had to be documented on my cell phone so a layout could be made. If you look at the layout, and think about my typical style, you'll notice that I am a B-side scrapper. I prefer the backsides to most patterned papers. They tend to be more subtle, less busy patterns that recede into the background more than their typical trendier, bolder A-sides. This shopping layout uses almost all B-sides.

And then we come to my last layout for today. I made the background of this layout by spraying various colors of yellow and green spray mist onto shiny white cardstock then blending them with a paper towel. The sunshine embellishments were cut out from a separate sheet of Shoreline paper, as was the strip at the bottom and the 'sunshine' label.

I hope you've been inspired to pull out your summer pictures and spend some time creating. If you want any of the Shoreline papers, go see ScrapHappy and stock up! I think I might be needing some more for my own stash...Maybe I'll see you there?

Supplies:
- American Crafts - patterned paper, Thickers
- letter stickers - October Afternoon, Lily Bee Studios
- spray mists - Studio Calico, October Afternoon, Tattered Angels
- disco starts - Heidi Swapp
- wood veneer stars and camera - Studio Calico
- chipboard stars, brads, teal stamping ink, canvas fabric

Our Summer Bucket List

      Hello all! My name is Meghan, and I am thrilled to be a new member of the design team for Scraphappy! I enjoy scrapbooking, crafting, and long walks on the beach...ahem. I am married with three beautiful children who are often the subject of my scrappy projects.

     This has been a crazy month for my family, as we have just finished moving into a new home. I knew that it would be all to easy for me to slip into an OCD state of psychosis that includes all manners of organizing, cleaning, decorating, reorganizing, cleaning, redecorating....you get the drift. So, I decided that in order for us to have a fun summer, I would need to force myself to be intentional about it. Here enters our summer bucket list.

     Once I got the idea to create a summer bucket list (thank you, Pinterest!), it was a fairly simple project. The kids and I came up with a list of about 50 things we wanted to do this summer. The general rule was that the activity would have to be cheap(preferably free) and local. The kids had some great ideas, and I threw in a couple more for good measure. They range from building a fort, watching a sunset, and playing backyard wiffle ball to making glow in the dark bubbles and baking cookies. Some are new experiences; some are old favorites. Many are things that I did as a child that I want my kids to experience.

     After we compiled our list, I got right to work. I started with an 18x24 frame and used some of my stash to create a fun background. For the list, I used a combination of journaling squares and the brand new Heidi Swapp washi tape that I bought from Scraphappy.  I just peeled off a strip, and wrote the bucket list activity directly onto the washi tape with a fine tip sharpie. Add a banner, a star, and some fun summer pics of the kids, and our bucket list was complete.

    I learned something recently that I found to be very useful. You can write on glass with a dry erase marker, and it wipes right off. Shut the front door! I feel like I have been on the outskirts of some best kept secret!!! This is outstanding! We have put this knowledge to use with our bucket list (and a few other projects as well. Stay tuned for more details on those!). When we complete a task, we simply check it off on the outside of the frame with a dry erase marker. We will be able to wipe it all off so that the fun can start all over next summer.

    There are still nearly two months of summer left. Get out there and soak up every second of it! Be intentional about having fun and making memories!