If You're Happy & You Know It Fast2Fab Album

I love, love, love the beautiful  "If You're Happy & You Know It" Fast2Fab Album! I'm using it to preserve photos I took during the first half of 2013. My album will include pictures I took at 2 weddings, Easter, 2 wedding showers, and a few birthdays. I love the way the album colors compliment all the events I will be recording in my album. Today I'm going to share with you 3 layouts that I created with pictures I took at my nephews wedding. 

Enjoy the Celebration

I added that little green square you see on the left page to hide a mistake! I changed my mind about which photo I was going to use here and wasn't very careful when I removed the original. I ended up with a small rip on the page. So I just added a small square and walla ... can't see the rip!

Life is Good

To create this 2 page layout, I stacked two 4x4 photos over the original vertical photo box on the left page. I also cut the Life Is Good title from a vertical slide in card and matted it with red cardstock. I reversed the trimmings from the same slide in card to use as journal boxes below the 4x4 photos on the right page. I then used my square maker to cut a red square for the center of the right page. By the way, this layout and the layout above it took me no time at all to create. The photo boxes and the background design is already pre-printed ..... just add your photos and your stories and you're done! It's just that easy!

This Kid Is So Much Fun

This layout took me a little bit more than just a few minutes to create. I like it that I can take a little bit more time if I want ....or not! Anyway, the Fast2Fab page on the right had two photo boxes in the middle of the page ... usable as is but it just made the left page look too heavy. I wanted to make some changes without covering the motif in the upper left corner of the page. So I covered the photo boxes with paper from the Bright Paper Pack, added a photo box for 2 photos and repositioned my photos closer to the left page. The title was cut from another slide in card and matted with the same blue paper from the Bright Paper Pack that I used for my photo box. I used sticker letters to complete my title. Again, I added a square from my trimmings for added color.

Here is a list of supplies I used for the above layouts:
12x12 If You're Happy & You Know It Fast2Fab Album
If You're Happy & You Know It Slide In Pack
Bright Paper Pack
To purchase any of the above products, please visit my link at www.creativememories.com/user/dbrinsley 
and type the name of the product into the search bar.

I really do hope these layouts encourage you to create an album with your own pictures. And thanks so much for visiting my blog!

2002 Caribbean Cruise Album

Hello and Happy Thursday everyone! Today I'm going to share a couple of layouts from my 2002 Caribbean Cruise Album. I actually completed this album in 2013 ...... can't believe that it took me 11 years to get around to getting these photos in an album! In fact, those photos would probably still be in a Power Sort Box if one of my customers hadn't gotten on my case about not having them in an album!!

I used the original Sunshine Getaway Stack Pack for this album. Although the original Stack Pack is no longer available, the new CM has brought the line back as the new Sunshine Getaway paper pack and slide in pack. I love the Sunshine Getaway stuff!! So much so that I have the new Sunshine Getaway Fast2Fab album sitting in my workshop right now just waiting for pictures that are being printed at Costco. Can't wait to start that album.

Anyway ... these are two of my favorite layouts from my 2002 Caribbean Cruise Album:

I used my Creative Memories border maker and rotary trimmer for the borders on these pages. I really, really hope the new CM brings these tools back ... I need a new rotary trimmer!

If you like, you can check out our Sunshine Getaway 12x12 Fast2Fab Album, Sunshine Getaway paper pack, or the Sunshine Getaway slide in pack by visiting my link at  www.creativememories.com/user/dbrinsley. Be sure to type the name of the product you are interested in into the search bar.  I've included pictures of the paper and slide-in packs below. 

Sunshine Getaway Paper Pack

Sunshine Getaway Slide-In Pack

I hope this post inspires you to get your vacation photos in an album ..... and that you don't wait 11 years to do that! Thanks for visiting my blog!

Throwback Thursday - Sequoia National Park, 1999

I pulled an album out of my bookcase this morning just for fun and was suddenly taken back to 1999. My adult and teenage grandchildren were still just little kids and toddlers then. Still wonder how that time went by so fast! Seems like I just blinked and they were adults and teenagers. While looking at the pages that I'm going to share with you today I thought to myself this is why I scrapbook. 

While I do enjoy the process of adding paper and embellishments to my album pages, most of the albums on my shelves are simple, simple, simple! Seriously, there is nothing wrong with a plain white background (in fact I like a plain white background). And, yes, I sometimes add more than just a few decorative elements to my pages. But, quite frankly, it's not about the papers and the embellishments, is it? At least not for me. For me scrapbooking is about the photos and the stories that go with those photos. It's about preserving those memories and being able to relive them every time I open my books.

Anyway, here are a few pages from my 1999/2000 Family Album .... a little blast from the past.

There you have it. I hope these pages inspire you to create your own family album ..... and to keep it simple!!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Recent Work

Good afternoon everyone .... hope you're having a happy Wednesday. One of the projects that I was able to complete while on my blogging break was my 2005 Family Album. Yay! So glad to finally get the photos I took in 2005 into an album!! Today I'm going to share some layouts from that album.

I used the Tangerine, Plum & Then Some Fast2Fab Album and added plain white refills along with the coordinating but discontinued Creative Memories Vintage Power Pallet to create this album. Fortunately, some of the papers and embellishments from the Vintage Power Pallet were brought back as the Vintage Paper Pack and the Tangerine, Plum and Then Some Slide-in Pack and are available for purchase.

These are some of my favorite pages from the album I created with my 2005 pictures:

My oldest grandson took these pictures of his younger sisters and brother and I absolutely love them! I added matted vertical and horizontal photos to the predesigned F2F page on the left and another matted square photo to the page on the right. I also added an embellishment from the Vintage Power Palette for my title, stuck down two 5x7 photos to the right side of the layout (before adding the small square photo, of course) and that was it! It took me no time at all to complete this layout. Love, love, love our Fast2Fab albums.

These pages are also predesigned. The mats here are part of the design .... the only mat that was added to the page was the vertical mat used under my daughter's picture on the right page. The journal box and mat are from the Vintage Power Palette but you'll find similar mats in the Tangerine, Plum & Then Some Slide-in Pack.

Again, accept for the vertical mat and the journaling box on the left, I used the predesigned pages here as is. My youngest grandson looks so cute in these pictures! He's still cute but he's no longer little ... he's now taller than I am. When he was that cute little guy you see in these photos, I would often tell him that one day he would be as tall as his older brother. He is quickly catching up with his brother now. I really wish kids would stay little a bit longer than they do!

This layout is what we like to call a blended layout. The page on your right was used as is. The page on your left was wallpapered with coordinating paper from the Vintage Power Pallet (you'll find the same paper in the Vintage Paper Pack). I used brown cardstock and orange designer paper from the original Power Pallet to complete the page.  While the page on the left took a little work, all I did to complete the page on the right was slap two pictures into the spaces available. Walla!! Okay... I've got one more layout to show you then I'm done for the day!

I created this layout from scratch using paper from the Vintage Power Palette/Vintage Paper Pack and brown cardstock. Whether I'm creating a blended layout or a layout from scratch, I love having paper packs that coordinates with our Fast2Fab albums.

That's it for today. It's just about time for me to get off of my computer and fix dinner for the man I'm married to. To purchase any of the products featured today visit my link at www.creativememories.com/user/dbrinsley.  Be sure to type the name of the product you are interest in into the search bar. 


 I hope these layouts inspire you to create your own album with your photos. Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

April What's New!

Okay, I know I just published a blog post on Tuesday (this is a new record for me ... 2 posts in one week ... woohoo!), but I'm too excited to wait. I just love this month's new products! I'm also way stoked that CM has brought back the 11x14 Pocket Albums. I've got more to share about these pocket albums but first check out April's new products:

April 2015 What's New pg 1

April 2015 What's New pg 2

Like I said, I'm really excited that CM brought back the 11 x 14 Pocket Albums. These albums are, in my opinion, the best way to get your photos in an album quickly and easily. And the best part is that you don't have to be a scrapbooker to complete one of these albums. All you have to do is just slip your pictures in the pockets, maybe journal on a slide-in filler and that's it. You'll have an album done in no time! I used the Reflections Album when I was a Creative Memories Consultant for pictures I took during a cruise to Hawaii. I'm going to share a few pages of that album with you to give you an idea of what that will look like.

Reflections 11 x 14 Pocket Page Album

As you can see, the 11 x 14 Pocket Page Albums have a Flex-Hinge binding so you can add more pages if you want. And, of course, it's photo safe .... which means that it's acid-free, lignin-free and buffered. And, by-the-way, if you are using yours for a vacation album, the 4x6 pockets are also great for adding post cards from your vacation.

Originally, I used fillers from Creative Memories Milestones kits with my photos in this album. The middle photo on the right and my journal box on the left were matted with 5x6 fillers from those kits. To show what can be done with our new Slide-In Packs, I replaced two photos with fillers from the Sunshine Getaway Slide-In Pack.

Before I sign off for today, I have a little story to share with you that illustrates why we need to journal in our albums. While I was taking the picture of the above pages, I remembered something that I hadn't included in my journaling box. I'll have to revise this page and add another journal box. But, in the mean time, I'll tell you my little story.

I lived in San Pedro with my family when I was 5 or 6. Somewhere in the hills you can see in the bottom photo on your left. We could see the Port of LA from the road leading to and from our home. I would often look out on the cruise ships as we traveled that road and dream about being on one those ships. I would imagine the women dressed in formals and thought it would be so romantic to dance on a cruise ship. I remembered that little girl dreaming about cruising to far away places as we sailed out of port that day. Here I was, some 50 or so years later, sailing out of that same port bound for Hawaii. God is so good!! I still tear up when I remember that story.

Anyway, future generations will not know that story unless I include it in my album. I know that all of us have stories that need to be told ... don't forget to include them in your albums.

To purchase any of the products featured in this blog post, please visit my link at www.creativememories.com/user/dbrinsley. Be sure to type the name of the product you are interest in into the search bar

I hope this post inspires you to create an album of your own! And, thanks for visiting my blog!