Shutterfly photo book

During my recent visit to Puerto Rico I had an opportunity to stay with several family members for a few weeks.  As a way of showing them our appreciation for their wonderful hospitality I am making each family a special thank you gift.  For my brother and SIL I created a photo book using Shutterfly. 

After I ordered the album I was delighted to learn that Shutterfly now allow you to share the photo book on FB or on your blog.  So I decided to share it here with you.  It is a simple book with no journaling.  Writing in Spanish is still a bit of a challenge for me so I did not even try.  I hope you enjoy!  TFL!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly baby photo books are the perfect way to preserve your baby's precious moments.

As always, thanks for stopping by . . .Yoli
 

Remembering 9-11

 

In 2007 I took a girl's trip with my SILs to NYC.  A stop to the World Trade Center (WTC) to pay our respects was a must during this trip. 

 

At the time of our visit the foundation of the new WTC building was under construction.  We were visiting hollowed ground so I wanted my LOs to reflect the somber mood of the visit.  I created three 2 page LOs of the visit.  The first two LOs were dedicated to remembering the tragedy.  The last page is dedicated to our efforts to move forward.

 

For the first page I used photos from a book I purchased,  "A Place of Remembrance: Official Book of the National September 11 Memorial".  The title on the page reflects how I felt that day. 

 

 

For the second page I used a timeline that recorded the events on 9-11.  The idea once again came from the book, "A Place of Remembrance".  The paper collage I believe was purchased from Scrap-My-Trip.

 

The last LO is more reflective.  The page on the left side is an artistic rendition of what the New York skyline will look like after the World Trade Center is completed.  For the page on the right I used a title I found at the WTC memorial.  At first I was taken back by its brutal honestly but in time I've embraced its message.  Well . . . sort of . . . I still haven't been able to journal how I was impacted by the events of 9-11. 

 

So today I pray.

 

I pray for the souls of the victims who died on 9-11.

May they rest in peace.

 

I pray for the survivors of 9-11.

May they have peace in their heart.

 

I pray for the families whose loved ones died tragically on 9-11.

As Vice-President Biden said, "may the memory of their families bring a smile to their lips before it brings a tear to their eyes".

 

I pray for the brave soldiers who serve our country.

May God reward their bravery by granting them peace in their hearts.

 

I pray for us too . . . for we were ALL affected by this tragedy. May we never forget!

Yoli

The Village

Last I left you I was touring Manhattan on the double decker bus.   :-)  We have left Fashion Ave behind and we are now heading towards The Village. 

Whenever possible I try to visit a LSS when I travel. NYC was no different but the only craft store I can find was a rubber stamp store in the Village. So off to the Village we went. 

 This is a two page LO marking the start of our adventure in the Village.  To photograph the 2 page LO together I had to slant the photo album.  The LO on the left has an overlay in one of the corners that does not photograph well.  :-( 

The photo above is an up close photo of the left side of the page.  The photo in the LO is yet another one of those fabulous pictures my SIL took on this trip. It was during this trip that I learned to take pictures of the most beautifully mundane items. I also learned from her to stop looking for the typical vacation shot and to see the beauty in the everyday items that make up the essence of the city. Thanks sis!

The LO on the left was inspired by Wlsdrew's LO of the French Quarter.    I luv the grid and the graphic elements of the LO.  I luv that she is able to use multiple photos and embellishments in the same LO without overwhelming the page.  I loved that she stitched her grid but I was lazy and just used a marker to get a similar effect.  This, so far, is my favorite layout from this trip. 

Until next time . . . Yoli

It's been such a long time . . .

since I've had a chance to post.  I've truly missed scrapin' and blogging over these past few months.  I was able to complete a few LOs but never got around to posting them on my blog.  Then I ran out of time and mojo . . . thus the lack of a new post since February of this year.  :-(  The good news is my mojo is back and I'm doing what I can to steal a few precious moments here and there so I can scrap. 

Last I left you I was sharing a few LOs I made of a trip I took to NYC with my SILs.  In the LO below we are touring the city on a double decker bus.  These photos were taken on Fashion Ave. 

The photo on the left was taken by my SIL.  It is one of my favorite photos that she took on this trip.   The sign post is busy, over crowded and has much to say . . . just like NYC . . . which is part of its charm.  My SIL did a fabulous job with this photo . . . especially when you consider the pic was taken from a moving bus.  :-)

The LO on the right gives a little history of the New Parson School of Design.  Because its a fashion design school I chose to dressed up a paper mannequin and use it as an embellishment on the page.  For the dress I used a flower embellished ribbon I purchased at CKC last year (see blurry pic below -- sorry). 

Well this is all for now.  I have a few more LOs to share with you.  I hope to post those shortly.  Until then . . . hope you are enjoying your summer.

Thanks for stopping by . . . Yoli

NYC Sistah's trip -- double decker tour

I know I've already posted this LO but I wanted to show you how the 8.5"x11" LO is works with a 12x12 album.

At first the 8.5x11 Lo appears to be part of the 12x12 page. That was by design. I did not want photos from the 12x12 layout to create visual clutter and distract the eyes from the Midtown LO.

Once you flip the Midtown LO you discover a two page LO with mixed paper sizes. The 8.5x11 page on the right is adhered to the blue 12x12 paper. 

Photo below is a close-up of the 8.5x11 page on the right side.  My SIL took that beautiful picture of the subway.  It is one of my favorites of the trip.  IRL the picture is rich and saturated with color.  My pic of a pic did not turn out so well. 

Up close photo of the right side of the LO. 

As always, thanks for stopping by . . . Yoli

NYC Sistah's trip -- double decker bus tour

This LO is part of a long series of photos I am scrappin' of a trip I took with my SILs back in 2007.  The pictures in the LO below were taken while enjoying a tour of Manhattan on a double decker bus .

Until now I had always scrapped 12x12 pages.  But to add a little interest in my scrapbook album I've started adding pages of different sizes.  This LO is 8.5" x 11". 

I absolutely luv, luv, luv the embellishment on this page.  The slide viewer embellishment was inspired by the work of the talented crew over at the Button Farm. 

To take the original idea from Button Farm up a notch I added photos of NYC to my view finder embellishment.  My printer allows me to print a contact sheet whose photos work perfectly in the slide viewer slots.  As the pièce de résistance a metal embellishment of a NYC manhole cover in the middle of the view finder.  Luv it, luv it, luv it!!!

As always, thanks for stopping by . . . 

Yoli

NYC Sistah's trip -- Day 2

This LO is part of a series commemorating a sistah's trip to NYC.  This LO marks the beginning of day 2 of our trip.  We started our day by having breakfast at Lindy's where we saw Sinbad the comedian.  Unfortunately we did not have the courage to interrupt his breakfast meeting just to say hi and take a picture with him.  So off we went to tour the city.  What better way to tour Manhattan than on a double decker bus.    

Gray Line bus photo courtesy of Gray Line

I wanted you to see a close up of the city skyline I created for this LO.  The paper with the skyline I believe is from Basic Grey.  I used my x-acto knife to cut out a few buildings and placed pop dots behind the buildings to create dimension.

For the title I actually used my embossing pen! It's been so many years since I last used that embossing pen that I was honestly surprised to find it had not dried out. LOL.

And here is my journaling tag.  I'm finally getting a little inky.  Luv it!

As always, thanks for stopping by . . .


Yoli

Sistah's NYC trip -- Day 1 (Times Square)

Times Square

In 2007 I took a girl's trip to NYC with my two SIL. Our hotel was close to Times Square so naturally that was our first stop. The LOs, like Times Square, are busy but I suppose it reflects the vibe of the city.

Upclose of the embellishment for the LO above. 

This LO is quite busy but it reflects the vibe, the bustle of Times Square.

I had previously posted one of the LOs below.  As you can see, I still need to finish journaling.

So after taking in the beautiful lights of Times Square we stopped at Maxie's.  We enjoyed a nice deli sandwich and a most delicious chocolate martini.  :-)  On our way back to the hotel we did a little shopping visiting one of the many vendors whose tables line the streets of Manhattan. 

Behind one of the pictures of the LO below I've created a little journaling book.   

Our tour of Times Square would not be complete without highlighting at least one billboard ad.  For me, it was the M&M billboard that stood at the most.  It was fun watching the M&M characters visit some of the famous NYC sites. 

I hope you've enjoyed seeing photos of our first day in the city.  I am currently working on various LOs of day 2.  I hope you stop by again.

Yoli

Sistah's NYC trip -- Day 1

In 2007 I went on a four day girl's trip to NYC with my both of my SIL.  Job responsibilities, growing families and a host of other things have prevented us from doing another sistah's trip like this since then.  But we are confident that we will soon have another chance to enjoy another trip like this one. 

Day 1 -- we arrive in Manhattan 

I wanted to separate this trip from the regular LOs in my album.  To do so I used a swinging shutter page protector from Memory Book as my cover page. The design for the front page was inspired by Lauren Bergold's New York travel book.  To soften the background paper of the city I used a sheet of vellum. 

Up close photo of the embellishment.  It's hard to tell on the photo but I used pop dots to give the buildings a 3D like effect. 

Upon opening the shutter page you will find two more layouts inside. 

The middle LO was inspired by the movie poster from New Year's Eve.  I liked the collage design and thought it would be a good way to showcase various landmarks we visited during our trip. 

Left side.  This page documents the beginning of our journey at the local airport.  It is difficult to see in this photo but I used pop dots to give the suitcases a little depth. 

 The right side.  This beautiful picture, taken by my SIL, is one of my favorite photos taken on this trip.  The photo captures the vibe of the city with its streets crowded by one of its most famous icons, the yellow cab.  Scary sometimes to be a passenger in one of these cabs but beautiful to see them on film.  :-)

Next stop . . . Times Square.  I promise to post those LOs soon. 

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by . . .

Yoli

A LO AND a project!

A new LO

This is the first, in a series, of pictures of a sista's trip to NYC back in 2007.  There were two shutter bugs on that trip.  I am going to have to pare down the number of photos to a manageable selection for my album.  Wish me luck!

This is a simple LO of our first day in NYC.  Immediately upon checking into the hotel we walked down to Times Square where my poor SIL discovered that Times Square isn't really a square.  :-( 

For the LO I made a postcard using my Vintage Postcard stamp set from CTMH.  I needed some white space on the LO to balance the busyness of the Times Square photos.  At the bottom of the postcard I added a cityscape from Basic Grey's Wander Collection.  To give the cityscape some dimension I cut out some of the buildings and added pop dots underneath.  Now all I need to do is finish my journaling.   

My new project

I've had some trouble decorating my fireplace.  I luv the rich, red but the color often masked any decorations on the mantle.  So I finally settled on white decor for the mantle. 

I found a few pieces that went well on the mantle but still felt like there was something missing.  Than I remember how much I liked how my mantle turned out last Christmas with a wreath placed over the mirror.  So I decided to make a coffee filter wreath to get the same effect.  You can find various tutorials on how to make the wreaths right here. 

I started by gluing the coffee filters to the wreath but got tired of burning my fingers.  So I switched to straight pins which was slightly less painful.  :-(  Once I bought a thimble though all was right with the world.  :-)  As a seasonal decor I added a feather and pumpkin which can easily be removed once the season has passed.  The little green flower was my son's contribution to this project.  :-)  In total I spent less than $10 on this project. 

As always, thanks for stopping by . . . Yoli



Remember

Still working on my GD's 8th grade graduation photos.  For this particular LO I set two goals.  The first was to remember our special time together while still commemorating her achievement.  Secondly, given the number or graduation pages I've already completed, I wanted to use non-traditional graduation embellishments for this page.  So I came up with this design. 

To achieve my first goal I used some old photos of Alexa and myself going back to when she was born.  For the second goal (non-traditional graduation embellishments) I used a paper from Pink Paislee's Daily Junque collection.  I also used a brick wall background stamp from Marah Johnson to frame the picture.  But my favorite embellishments for this page has to be the dress form.  

I can't remember where I saw this idea but I absolutely luv it.  The process takes a little patience but it's really easy to make.  I simply wrapped twine, in this case it came from the Daily Junque collection, around the bodice of a dress form (cut using a TH die).  I applied A LOT of adhesive to both the front and back of the bodice.  I then started wrapping the twine around the bodice.  Once I was done I also applied some Mod Podge for good measure.  Lastly I added a little bling as a finishing touch. 


As always, thanks for stopping by . . .


Yoli

Giveaway winner and a new LO

Giveaway winner
And the winner is . . .

Cindy Gay said... I love the zipper photo. Just keep creating, don't go back......go on to something else and you get better and better the more memories you scrap!

I am trying to adhere to your words of wisdom.  I recently read a post by another blogger who also said, "better done than perfect".  So I shall continue to create and stop trying to make perfect pages. 

Congrats Cindy.  Please email me your address.

New LO:  Class of 2007
I completed this LO for a really neat challenge.  In this challenge we are grouped into teams.  The leader of the group gets a sketch and creates a LO based on that sketch.  The leader then passes her LO (not the original sketch) to the next person in her team.  The 2nd individual then creates a LO based on the sketch given to her.  She then passes it on to the next member of her team.  When everyone has created their LO we then share it and compare the LOs created to the original sketch.  Since we all have different perspective it is going to be interesting to see what the final sketch looks like. 

So here is the  beautiful LO I received from Monica.

So here is my take on Monica's LO.  For my LO I chose to use only two photos instead of four.  I used the additional two spaces for embellishments instead. I also put the border in the middle of the page rather than at the bottom. My border was a little shorter than I wanted it to be leaving an left an empty space on the left side of the page. So I added the girl in the clock. The clock is a die from Tim Holtz. The lady in the clock is from the Debutante papers which are part of Graphic 45's Fashionista collection.

A closer look at the embellishments. Funny, there are more embellishments in this LO than there are photos. That's what I get for talking about folks who do that in their own LOs. LOL.

As always, thanks for stopping by . . .

Yoli