Winston Churchill Layout

I placed most of my pictures from the Churchill War Rooms in pocket pages since we took so many, but here are a few from the museum. The museum explores the life of Winston Churchill from birth to death. Isn't interesting how immediately identifiable Churchill is, whether he's being praised by a supporter or vilified by an opponent?

Recipe:
Typeset paper & canvas stickers
Black cardstock
Cocoa, Juniper & Vineyard Berry ink
Black brads
Black hemp twine
Mileposts Shapes
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: title
Pattern: Let's Scrap 9-1-18 sketch (left side only)

War Rooms Layout

If you ever visit London, be sure to go to the Churchill War Rooms and Museum. It's a fascinating look both at the life of Winston Churchill and at the underground bunker where much of the work of overseeing the Allied plans for WWII was carried out. We took a ton of photos, but since it was dimly lit and there were lots of plastic partitions separating us from the rooms themselves, the photos didn't come out the best. I picked a few to showcase, and the rest are going into photo storage pages. For the Splitcoast Stamper's September Variety Challenge, I decided to use some of the clothing tag inspiration that I've been collecting. The tag I chose came off my son's shirt, and it was pretty basic, so I just recreated it using an irregular hexagon, a brown marker, and a die-cut that said confidential. Clothing tags are a great source of inspiration, so I may have to pull out another one from my pile and do this challenge again!

Recipe:
Victory papers
Kraft, Outdoor Denim & Colonial White cardstock
Outdoor Denim, Chocolate & Bamboo ink
Pure Brown marker (Zig)
Star brads (Creative Impressions)
Cricut Artiste cartridge: title
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: classified, top secret, confidential
Cricut Artistry cartridge: irregular hexagon
Pattern: Sketches in Thyme #341
Challenges: Lasting Memories "Three's" - 3 patterned papers, 3 embellishments (star brads), 3 photos

Star Wars Han & Leia Card

My son asked me to make a card to accompany his gift for his "girlfriend" (he's too young to date, hence the quotes!), so since he's giving her Han Solo and Princess Leia plushies, I thought a Star Wars card would be appropriate. I found Han and Leia images in Cricut Design Space, and I ended up buying the whole "The Force is With Us" cartridge, because you never know when you might need a Star Wars image, right? The pattern is from Sketch-n-Scrap, but I turned it sideways to fit the Leia image, and made my star border extend over the Leia image.

Here's the outside:

And the inside:

Recipe:
Perfect Fit - Birthday stamp set
Cranberry, Black & White cardstock
Black ink
Gold Stickles (Ranger)
Cricut The Force is With Us cartridge: Princess Leia, Han Solo
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: star border

Home Away From Home Layout

When most people go to London, they probably wouldn't even notice this building (The Institution of Civil Engineers), but my civil engineer husband stopped right in front of it and insisted I take his picture! Gotta love the things that make my man happy, right? I started with Sketch 338 from Sketches in Thyme, cut a few engineering die-cuts like the bridge and the road to go with the theme, and then dug through my stash and found a scrap piece of paper that looks like blue prints, which I used to anchor the other elements. In case you can't read it, the label under the bridge is actually from the photo of the building sign, and I trimmed it to say civil engineers.

Recipe:
Unlimited Text paper (Bella Blvd's Molly collection)
Blue Prints Reversed paper (Karen Foster Designs)
Cranberry, Slate, Sky, Whisper, White Daisy & Black cardstock
Cranberry, Slate, Sky & Black ink
Black marker
My Crush Best Day Ever Assortment journaling card
Metal paperclip (from an old CTMH Connections Club Reward that I never though I'd use!)
Metal heart brads (from my stash)
Black & White Ribbon Rounds
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: title, banner, plane, bridge, road
Cricut Artistry cartridge: globe
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: pennant
Challenges: Lasting Memories Transportation - airplanes; Heart 2 Heart Heavy Metal challenge (I didn't use tons of metal, but those paperclips are pretty darn heavy - LOL!);  The Studio Challenges Happy layouts (because this moment made my hubby so happy)

Biking Yosemite Layout

I was debating what sketch to use for these last photos from Yosemite 2012 when I noticed that the circle in the background of the sketch from The Studio Challenges reminded me of a bicycle wheel. That clinched it, of course, and I was able to find a wheel die-cut on one of my Cricut cartidges, so there was the basis of my layout. The little bicycle die-cut from the Cricut You Are Here cartridge is super cute, but I added some Red Stickles on the handles and chain guard for a shiny look. Since I'm not an real outdoorsy person, I had to include the "enjoy the ride" stamp to remind me that sometimes, when you're in the right place with the right people, the ride can be enjoyable!

Recipe:
Neighborhood & It's Your Day stamp sets
Twitterpated papers
Dutch Blue, Whisper, Grey Wool, Chocolate, Colonial White, Cashmere, Tulip & Black cardstock
Dutch Blue, Chocolate, Greg Wool & Black ink
Silver mini-brad
Xmas Red Stickles (Ranger)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: hearts, banners
Cricut Artiste cartridge: wheel (trimmed some of the inner sections off the Ferris wheel cut)
Cricut Artbooking cartridge: hearts
Cricut You Are Here cartridge: bike, trail marker
Cricut Design Space: title using Cricut Alphabet
Challenges: Lasting Memories Transportation - bikes

River View Layout

My final Hampton Court Layout - sorta. I do have another partially completed layout that I didn't like the look of, so if I decide to rip everything off the layout and start over, you may see one more layout. But for now, say goodbye to Hampton Court! These pictures were taken as we walked to the station, and I love the serene look of the river, with Hampton Court on the other bank. I adapted Sketch #158 from Sketch-n-Scrap for my larger size photos, and added some Cricut cuts and a stamped title.

The sketch:

And my layout:

Recipe:
Bingo stamp set
Splendor papers
White Daisy & Slate cardstock
Goldrush & Black ink
Steel Grey marker (Zig)
PML Tabbed Journaling Cards
Round Durables - Pewter
Cricut Wall Decor & More cartridge: sailboats, compass
Challenges: Lasting Memories Boats challenge

Unicorn Birthday Card

My daughter was invited to a unicorn-themed birthday party this week, so I whipped up a quick card to put on the gift. I have purchased a few cute and girly paper packs over the years, but because I did not have a daughter for so long, I haven't used very many of them, so I pulled out magical looking papers from the Daydream pack. I didn't have a unicorn die-cut in any of my Cricut cartridges (something that will have to be remedied immediately!), so I used a horse and added a horn using Diamond Stickles. The horn didn't show up well on my photo of the whole card, so I added a close-up shot.

Recipe:
Chantilly Cardmaking Workshop stamp set
Daydream papers
Blush, Pansy & White Daisy cardstock
Blush, Lilac Mist & Black ink
Black marker
Diamond Stickles (Ranger)
Cricut Noah's ABC Animals cartridge: horse
Pattern: Atlantic Hearts Sketch 278

Challenges: Heart 2 Heart Cuteness Overload challenge (What could be cuter than unicorns and glitter, right? Okay, maybe children and cats, but it's a close call!)

The Mute Swan Layout

Visiting the Mute Swan Pub for dinner was a really nice finish to our time at Hampton Court, and the food was quite good, so I would recommend it if you're ever in the area. You might want to make a reservation, though; we didn't and were fortunate they could squeeze us in! I used Rochelle Spear's August sketch again for this layout since the last time I forgot to use graph paper. Since these photos were taken five years and a continent away from the other photos, I figured no one would notice as they looked through my scrapbooks. My photos were bigger than the ones on the sketch, so I had to overlap a little and remove some of the elements that would have made the page look too crowded.

The sketch:

My layout:

Recipe:
Heartstrings & Memo Fundamentals papers
Heartstrings Complements stickers
Black, Whisper & Cranberry cardstock
Cranberry& Whisper ink
Black marker
Cranberry baker's twine
Polka dot washi tape
Pearl Opaques
Fiskars scalloped border punch (Fiskars)
Small heart punch (EK Success)
Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge: banners, tag, large hearts
Cricut Design Space: title (Wall Decor & More for monogram letter and Art Philosophy for other letters)
Pattern: Rochelle Spears Paper/Sketch Challenge + use graph paper
Challenges: Bimini Moose scrapbook layouts

The Wilderness Layout

Done with Yosemite for now, so it's back to Hampton Court to finish up the last layout of the gardens. This layout is super simple because the wilderness garden was so beautiful, I didn't want to distract from its loveliness.

In the finished album between these two pages, I will insert a pocket page with more of the lovely plants from the wilderness garden. I added those photos below so everyone can enjoy the loveliness.

Recipe:
Floral Kit papers (KI Memories)
Petal cardstock
Petal ink
Petal marker
Mini ABC stickers (CM)
Potpourri Border stickers & journaling block (CM)

Mirror Lake Layout

Anyone else experiencing the lazy days of summer? This is the last week before my kids go back to school, and I haven't felt like doing much except some reading and lounging around. Unfortunately, I had to do all that lovely back to school shopping, which hopefully is complete (unless I forgot something, which could definitely happen). Anyway, for today I'm posting one of my last Yosemite 2012 pages. In honor of National Coloring Book Day on August 2, I stamped and colored all the little square images on each page. Thanks to Deanna over at Scrapbook.com for the fun idea!

Recipe:
Solos 1, 4, 8, 9, H, K, N, U, V & April Word Puzzle stamp sets

Rustic Trail papers

Dutch Blue, Sky & Colonial White cardstock

Dutch Blue, Oliver, Goldrush & Cocoa ink

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink (Tsukineko)

ShinHan Touch Twin markers

Olive marker
Green epoxy bubbles

Cricut You Are Here cartridge: title, wave

Pattern: EMS Sketch 29
Challenges: Use Your Stuff Summer Fun challenge (I used lots of old supplies to document a fun time on vacation in July 2012).