It's just what I do...

I've been a scrapbooking crazy-woman lately. The cruise scrapbook is well under way and I am so excited about it. The idea for this page from the 2008 cruise to Grand Cayman came to me as I was browsing the Crate & Barrel site and saw these plates! Inspiration comes from many places, yes! And then right after I started it, this weekly challenge was put out by one of the Garden Girls at Two Peas--and guess what? I won the challenge! Nifty.

I know, I know...that page kinda goes against everything I am as a scrapbooker/storyteller, because it has no story on the page, but sometimes the photo is enough. Not often. Just sometimes. And there's a ton of journaling and story-telling in the rest of the album.

Citronella by K&Co (one of my favorites right now) and a touch of Scenic Route go together like ice cream and cake, right!

The crop at Two Peas this weekend and the Weekly Sketch at Let's Scrap really got my attention...I was up way past my normal bedtime this morning but this came together sometime just before midnight...completing two challenges at Two Peas and the Let's Scrap Sketch for the week.

I am loving the cloud punch (Fiskars)! The Mix and Match Challenge at Two Peas was all about using products from 5 or more companies on one project. My companies were: Scenic Route, Fiskars, Sizzix, EK Success, American Crafts, 3M, and Doodlebug Designs. That doesn't even count the plate from Publix that I used as a template to cut the big orange circle. :)

Clouds are everywhere in my papercrafting world right now and I am so glad. Remember Bob Ross--the painting teacher who used to paint "happy little trees"? Well, I call these "happy little clouds"! This layout also fit into the requirements for the *Spot a Trend* challenge...I'm calling clouds a trend. :)

Some other cloud-y projects I've been admiring are listed below:

Kelli Crowe's Cloudy Awesomeness at Two Peas

Kraft Card by Joscie at Peas

Today You also at Peas for clouds of pink and other deliciousness...

A blog entry with cloudy goodness at Scrapbook Patty's

A sweet layout by Liz from Eclectica
Our visit to Chihuly almost didn't happen. We happen to live just a few miles from the awesome Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Belle Meade. This place is certainly one of the things I love most about this city. The Chihuly exhibit was amazing...it was an outdoor installation as well as an indoor exhibit. Unfortunately, a round with the flu kept me from getting there when it first opened and suddenly, it was the week before it was set to close and I still hadn't been. That just was't acceptable so one day I just decided to go pick G up from school early so we could all go. It was well worth the experience! It was very cloudy outside so the photos are a little dark...but the part we got to see before it got dark was brilliant. I want to see more...maybe a trip to Tacoma (for more Chihuly) is in order.

So now you know...Happy Sunday!

--Sarah

Kuddos to Royal Caribbean and MaMBI for Stepping it Up!

We just got home from a cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship (our 5th) and on each of the past cruises, there has been an offering of a scrapbooking class on the sea day. It's extremely basic and there's not actually any teaching...one of the activities staff people (not a scrapbooker) lays out some supplies (gluesticks, markers, colored papers, punches and decorative scissors) and says "go to town". Several years ago someone named Angela Glasser created an 8.5x11 binder of layouts for this ship, and they are still passing that book around. It's badly tattered but so it goes.

Anyway, I always try to go to the class, just to meet other scrapbookers and encourage the spreading of our hobby.

This time, I was thrilled to see that in addition to the supplies, attendees were actually given a small kit made by Me and My Big Ideas with a cruise theme (4 sheets of paper, some embellishments, and a few ideas on the package)! I was totally impressed. What a great idea for MaMBI--a leader in the scrapbooking inductry, and one of the first major scrapbooking companies, to partner with the cruise line to fill this niche need.

But wait, it gets better. The small kit was free for attending, but MaMBI also created a larger, more extensive kit that could be purchased for $10 containing more paper, cruise related items, and **items specific to the ship we were on**! How cool is that! (I bought two.) I think I giggled out loud when I saw that one of the embellishments is a mini-Seapass card...it's positively adorable. And there are two RCI crown-n-anchor logo embellishments that are glittered...awesome stuff. The paper is cardstock-weight and the colors are viberant.

In a day and age when many scrapbook companies are struggling to stay alive, I think it's *awesome* that Me and My Big Ideas filled this niche! There were about 15 people in attendance and about 5 of them were new to scrapbooking! The class was offered twice during the cruise (once each sea day) and I can only imagine how many people have been introduced to scrapbooking throughout the fleet, across the past few years.

Kudos to Me and My Big Ideas for reaching out to cruisers by teaming up with RC! Here are a few pictures of the kits...

Above is the kit that class participants received free...below are the contents...

Below is the kit that was available for purchase ($10), created by Me and My Big Ideas exclusively for Royal Caribbean and with products specific to each ship.

Above are the chipboard embellishments and stickers...I love that little mini-seapass. :)

The sheet shown above is glittered. :)

I thought it was really cool that it was so personalized for RC but taken individually, some of the sheets could be used for anything. The sheet in the foreground is actually die-cut, do-it-yourself postcards. How cool is that?!

Sea and Sunshine

I've been sitting on my hands to keep this quiet until it became official...and finally it is! Joal has earned a new diamond in his ring and secured our place on the 2009 NWYC cruise!

Way to go, babe!

Working on Cruise Stuff

This little place is on one of the inlets of Grand Cayman. It was FOR SALE when we were there in March. We saw it as we were leaving the island for our swim with the Stingreys and our Coral expedition. I took about 20 pictures of it...afterall, what more could a girl want in a piece of real estate? It certainly made my heart skip a beat. Palm Trees, shutters instead of windows, a three boat slip, a view of the ocean :) and of course, a guest house for a sister...LOL! Can you imagine the scrapbook retreat possiblities?



The Navigator of the Seas employs about 1200 people to staff each cruise. Two of those people are full-time food decor experts. Seriously. This kind of thing, along with ice sculpting is their sole responsiblity. But don't go thinking they aren't pulling their weight. These beautiful and ultra-creative food sculptures and carvings are all over the place in all the dining areas of the ship. Hundreds of these in all kinds of shapes and sizes are made for each cruise. Every day something different.

And oh my, are they fast. I took this photo following a demonstration of the food carvings and it took maybe 5 minutes to turn this out. It was amazing.

In scrapbooking news, check out the product review on this page at scrapbook.com. I think I have a new hobby...reviewing products. It was fun and it earned me ten dollars...which I promptly used on paper! Of course.

On an unrealted note, does anyone know where I can find a simple tutorial on how to apply a digital brush or frame overlay to photos without Photo Shop? I use Microsoft's Picture It for photo editing and I don't have time to learn Photo Shop right now. (Someday...) Any ideas? I just want to do some very simple frames around some of the beach photos...

Many thanks...and
Happy Saturday.