hello, can you see me? back to blogging...

It's been a month. And a few days. Funny how an international vacation, followed closely by a local vacation kind of throws things off! I'm back and will try to get back to my at least weekly posting!

Greece was incredible. The boys were amazing travelers. The weather was near perfect our entire stay. The sea was crystal clear. The food was, well, come on, it was Greece ;) And on that note. A little glimpse into what we ate...Instagram collage style:

In order from top left: giant apples, giant donuts, amazing pizza, hand cut oregano fries. spaghetti, cucumber and tomato salad, beach frappes, frappes at home, bouyatsa, grilled octopus, fresh pastries, greek groceries and tiropita.

And, a layout using two of my very favorite photos of the boys from our trip. I stretched myself and shot in manual most of the time. I was thrilled with the results! What a difference a few settings make. This layout is using my July Citrus Twist Pocket Life kit, featuring my second exclusive stamp designs. The title was designed and cut with my Silhouette and attached with twine.

Be back very soon with two weeks of Project Life from our trip!

scrappy share: june citrus twist kits + cameo

This month I found the perfect scrapbooking marriage...Citrus Twist June kits and the Cameo! These Instagram photos are some of my favorites from the past month, taken during one of our evening walks along the river. I needed to find a way to add the colors and patterns of the 6x6 paper pack in this month's Project Life kit without overwhelming the softly edited photos. After seeing so many inspiration scrapbook layouts using Cameo cut backgrounds, it was on my list to try. Browsing through my cut library I saw a hexagon and though it would be a simple, classic design to pair with my square photos.

I set to work creating the repetitive design in opposite corners of the page and, after careful measuring, set to cut. Then it was time to choose the patterns. I loved the pink floral because it played off of the blooms in two of the photos, the yellow triangles added sunshine, wood grain for a natural element and the painted boards for the path/walkway. Adding in a few other favorites from the pack selection and I was ready to cut and piece them all together.

I cut each hexagon, adding it to a piece of scrap cardstock to be adhered behind the page. When they were all in the correct spaces and secured, I added just a few embellishments - chipboard arrows, puffy stickers and that fun metal clip!

This layout was more time intensive than my usual, with all of the piecing, but so worth the end result! Thanks for looking :)

instagram fun...

A few weeks ago a fun new app was released for iPhone. Being a long time fan of Elsie, I downloaded A Beautiful Mess that first day. It is charming, funky and a tad addicting! Here are just a few of the photos that have gotten an ABM treatment...

For 99 cents? It's a inexpensive, fun way to play around with your photos. There are plenty of for purchase add-ons but, I have found the basic app offers more than enough!

{*I am in no way affiliated with A Beautiful Mess and have received no compensation for this post.}