Why I like scrapbooking

Many people don't get why some of us scrapbook. While there be many reasons why some fellow scrappers spend their time doing layouts and everything related, for me at the end there is just one reason: to express myself using the best way I can, and that is using paper and glue and everything in between. I am not good with words, as you may know by now, but paper is a medium that allows me to say things (dance too, but lasts only a few minutes). By doing a layout, selecting a picture, some coloured papers and a design I am expressing what I feel, who I love and what it matters.
And this layout is a proof of that, of how proud I am of Omar, my husband.

Mini Albums

This is one of my all time favorites magazine projects. It was for Quick and Crafty. I used SEI papers, love the retro colours and feel of them. Also they are doublesided and heavyweight (for being patterned paper), so it's perfect for a tag book.
I like to keep my mini scrapbooks in boxes so they are protected. I make them to measure using an M&F board so it matches perfectly with its contents.
I used a Zip'e Slim Tag die to cut lots of tags out of different patterned papers. I decided to print all my journalling on acetate and then cut it and stick down to the plain card. It worked!

The pages inside alternate between patterned tags, journaling ones and the photos (in this order). I finished them off with some ribbon, paper blossoms and stickers from SEI. 

A recent Picture

I realized just now that there isn't a photo of me in the blog. Not that I am too proud of my face or anything like that, it is just that I am a visual person, I like to see the faces of the people I am talking to or reading about. So here it goes.
(It was taken by my hubby in Prague in September.)

The photos

Here there are, as I said before, the photos of my Around the World album.
I bought the album in Papier+, a lovely shop in Paris.

On the front there is a rubon from 7Gypsies and a piece of plain Basic Grey. On the spine I stuck a woven label that reads Bon Vogaye which is made by Me and My Big Ideas.

On the inside is plain pages, no protectors, in a off white textured paper as a base.

I have to say that the great influence behind this album is Ali Edwards.
This two pages are from a weekend break in Lisbon last year. One of the easiest ways to scrap for me is using the colour blocking technique, which is provably in every page through out the album.
All the stamps are from Autumn Leaves, the new clear sets, both the journalling spots and the swirls.
The fisrt pages I made were the ones for Istanbul, which was the more recent trip (ironies of us scrappers). I wanted the feel of a journal so I printed some lines with the computer. Then I cut different plain Basic Grey papers to fit inside and attached them. Then, it's the tricky but fun part of embellishing and stamping. 

Some projects

There are some days that are very productive and some others that aren't. Well my life is filled with the latter ones. I try hard, although it may be not hard enough,
to be more industrious and I seem to fail daily. But, and this is a happy but, the recent days have been a good change. I have finish tidying my studio, which for those of you who haven't been in is tiny, and I feel great about it. I know where the stuff is, the non essential is hard to reach and the where-is-it and need-it-all-the-time stuff is easily reached.
Also, I have almost finished an small (not mini though) album in which i just put photos of our trips. You see, Omar and I travel quite a lot and because of that I end up with thousands of photos, most of which are quite nice. To scrap them all in albums would take me a lifetime, so I have opted for an easier way of displaying them. If I can I will post later on some of the photos of this project.
In other news, next weekend I am going to Spain for over a week. I am excited but also nervous all my family will be there and they are fantastic but intense!

Almost a month, yet again

I really want to write more. I have no excuse but work, us crafters are so busy before Christmas, I mean really all those cards and projects to make.
But I found this site and it is so cool, it needs to be check out. Specially the face recognition!