up, up and away.....

when i was in grade 8, my parents sent me to boarding school.  in South Africa in those years (the 80's and probably for many years before and many years after that) you had a senior that you "belonged" to when you entered boarding school.  you were supposed to be brought "down to earth" after leaving primary school where you were at the top of the primary school hierarchy.  your senior could order you around for the first semester of high school, make you carry her book case, clean her room etc.  i had a wonderful senior.  i won't go into all the detail.  the thing that she told me that made the biggest impression on me, was that she told me she was going to be a Rotary Exchange Student to Germany for a whole year after finishing high school.  the day she told me, was the day i decided that i would also one day become a Rotary Exchange Student.

i won't bore you with all the details of the detours my high school life took, but i did end up being chosen as a Rotary Exchange Student.  the countries on top of my list was the USA and France.  they sent me to the USA.  it was undoubtedly the single most fabulous thing i had done in my youth.

i have wanted to scrapbook these pages of a trip my friend from Brazil and i took to NYC for MANY years.  when the Kaisercraft Antiquities Collection was launched, i knew that it would be the perfect papers to use some of the photos.

 

i chose to use a Scrap Collections Chipboard title - Up Up & Away.  i love this title.  i simply inked it with Delicata Black Shimmer Ink. nothing else was added to it.  i have also been dying to use an ivy Sizzix cutting die i have - it is a 12" border die that i don't think they make anymore.  i have had it for many years.  i cut it from white cardstock and then inked it with Memento Luxe Nautical Blue.  while the ink was still wet, i sprinkled it with Gold Embossing Powder and melted it with my heat tool.  because the ink had dried in random areas, the powder only adhered to selected areas and the blue is revealed under the Gold Embossed areas.  i love that.

 

i coloured some Eggshell Seam Binding using the same Memento Luxe Nautical Blue. i just applied some ink to my craft sheet, misted it with water and dipped the seam binding into the ink and hung it out to dry.  i then pleated it onto a separate strip of cardstock and adhered it to the layout.

the label is a gorgeous metal piece from Fabscraps.  i stamped the word "discover" in the blue Luxe ink onto some of the Antiquities paper and cut it out.  i raised it and added it to the metal label. 

the beautiful flowers are from Frank Garcia's St Tropez Collection - i have used these on layouts before and will cry if i run out - i love them so much. i cut one in half and used each half in both my clusters on the left and right pages.

 

one of my favourite heat embossing techniques is to cover an element with a couple of layers of melted embossing powder and then stamping and image into it.  it always looks great.  some stamps work better than others.  you need to make sure your embossed element is not completely cool before you press the stamp, inked in Versamark Ink first, then followed by StazOn, into the melted powder.  i leave it to cool for about 30 seconds before removing it.  just a fun element.  here is a link to a video showcasing some more heat embossing techniques.  remember to subscribe so you don't miss any future technique videos!

 

yes, i know NYC is NOT Paris, BUT i do believe Paris is like the universal symbol for travel with the Eiffel Tower an icon recognized by probably every person over 18 in the world.  and, since it was in France, the country 2nd on my list, i decided to use my new stamp as well as a fun technique i had not done for years.  i adhered a piece of dictionary paper to some cardstock using Soft Gel Medium.  when it was dry, i tore the backing off.  i stamped the design onto the dictionary paper using Black StazOn first and then overstamped using the Memento Luxe Nautical Blue.  you can see the effect far better in real life - it is VERY hard to showcase all the magic online. 

 

i found this button with the Statue of Liberty in my embellishment stash - i was THRILLED!!!!  it is just so perfect.  i punched a 1" circle, inked it with that same Memento Luxe Nautical Blue 

ink which i then glued onto this beautiful metal piece (also found in my embellishment stash!) the beautiful brads i have also had for many years - it was WONDERFUL to use my own things!!!

 

the final step was the journaling.  none of the papers were suitable from the collection pack for journaling.  so, i decided to create my own.  i simply added some brown dye ink re-inker to a water mister bottle with water and misted white cardstock.  (you can use ANY liquid ink - All Purpose Ink, a Spray Mist like KaiserMist, Prima Colour Bloom etc etc). i left this to dry overnight, naturally, as the heat tool will warp the paper. it is really important for me to document important memories.  i don't have children, but i am a little worried that i might forget at my old age and i would really enjoy it (i think) if, one day, when i can't remember anymore, i would be able to page through my albums and enjoy every wonderful moment the Lord gave me while i was on earth.