world traveller

Intrepid Explorer

~ dddesignz ~ 3 Comments

My oldest grandson, Owen, has a keen interest in history. During the Christmas holidays, his family traveled to Stockholm, Sweden, and visited the exhibits at the Armémuseum (Swedish Army Museum). Owen enjoys getting immersed in the events he’s learning about. I love this picture of him wearing an old army coat from the exhibit. This picture inspired me to create a layout to celebrate his love of history and discovery.

I enjoyed creating this layout and drew on ten brands for the final product. Unfortunately, some of the products used have been in my scrapbook stash for years and are no longer available for purchase. The Intrepid Explorer cut file for this layout came from Peartree Cutfiles. I cut it from black Bazzill cardstock and partnered it with rusty patterned paper from 49 and Market’s Rust and Revs collection. The beautiful rusty patterned paper helped highlight the rust in the base paper. This background paper belongs to Mintay Paper’s Traveller collection. When I buy a collection, I often purchase the smaller add-on paper packs, which are handy for backing cut files or cutting additional items without wasting the large 12″ x 12″ designs. In this case, the rusty, dotted patterned paper had a slightly smaller and more variegated pattern. I loved the effect it brought to the layout. I also used a nested star die set from Sizzix to cut several star shapes from this patterned paper. The stars had slightly beveled edges, which I highlighted with a thin black Sharpie marker.

I stamped several different star images from the My Favorite Things, Stars Above stamp set to give the layout more depth and texture. This stamp set is an older release and is no longer available. The script stamp came from a 7 Gypsies stamp set called Avignon and is also no longer available. The wood veneer stars are also vintage and came from Studio Calico. I sprayed them with Tim Holtz’s Rusty Hinge Distress SPRITZ to highlight the background paper’s rusty tones. As seen behind the globe, the ticket came from 49 and Market’s Ticket Essentials pack (Color Swatch Toast).

The phrases on the layout, “Never Stop Exploring” and “Oh, The Places You Will Go,” are rub-ons from the 49 and Market Wherever Ride Rub-on Transfer set. The detailed travel theme ephemera belongs to the coordinating Traveller paper die-cut package by Mintay Papers. I placed fun foam and pop dots behind some of the ephemera pieces to give the layout additional dimension. I added the location and date below the title to complete the design using Doodlebug Designs Alphabet Soup Puffy Stickers in beetle black.

I am happy with the final layout and its overall look and feel. I hope my grandson’s interest in history grows and he continues to learn and discover more about those who paved the way for us today. Thanks for stopping in today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Travel

~ dddesignz ~ 1 Comment

Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer. I couldn’t agree more with this statement!

Hello Friends! I’ve been absent from my blog for quite some time for good reason. Last August, my daughter and her family of 5 moved to Austria on a 3-year contract. Incredible changes for all of us, but BIG OPPORTUNITIES as well! Over the fall and winter, my husband and I have travelled twice to Austria to visit with our family and explore Europe. We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to do so, and the next trip is well underway in the planning stages.

It feels good to be back in my scrapbook room creating again, and this layout seemed the logical place to start sharing with you. It was inspired by my Aunt who asked “Do you know how many steps you’re taking on these journeys?” That question got me thinking, and when I was back home I sat down with an excel spreadsheet and my fitness tracker to figure it out. We were constantly on the go, taking advantage of every day and opportunity while we were overseas. However, I had no idea we had logged over 1,000 kilometres and almost 1 & 1/2 million steps! Of course, I had to scrapbook this accomplishment and include the beautiful places we visited during our travels.

I turned to the Designs by Reminisce collection called Take Flight to create this layout. The specific paper is called “In the Clouds“. I love how the plane’s wings stretch across the whole page, and I knew I could fill in the white space below with lots of trip details. I turned to Microsoft Word and my Canon PRO-100 to print these details directly onto the 12″ x 12″ patterned paper. Before taking this step, I printed a draft copy onto a 12″ x 12” piece of vellum, and overlay it on the patterned paper to ensure everything fit within the space available. This process allowed me to make any adjustments required without wasting the beautiful patterned paper.

Once the picture was in place, small wooden airplanes were added to emphasize that we made multiple trips during our stay. These wooden airplanes were a Dollar Store purchase. The tails on the planes were traced with a thin Sharpie Marker by utilizing the Mini Swirls & Dots stencil from The Crafters Workshop. I have owned this stencil for well over 10 years, and I don’t believe it is still available.

The globe was stamped using my 12″ by 12″ Memory MISTI. This stamp comes from a travel collection called Road Trip by Recollections and was purchased at Michaels. The sunglasses are a small wooden embellishment also purchased at the Dollar Store. They were sprayed black and then covered with Ranger’s Glossy Accents to help them stand out and look more authentic. The title phrase was added using my type cardstock stickers from Doodlebug Designs Inc., and Malaga (found below the picture) was added using black Alphabet Soup Puffy Stickers, also from Doodlebug.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my first travel post. I look forward to sharing more of our travels and our family’s adventures overseas soon. Until next time, stay safe, stay well and Happy Scrapping!