Scrapbook title page updated – fast & easy!

Remember the title page that I showed the other day?  well, that was the first version – took only 10 minutes while housekeeping was tidying the hotel room at the lodge.  But I thought it looked a little flat so I played with it a bit!   What do you think of this version?  I changed the background paper and added a border around the page to tie in with the mat on the star.  And tweaked the colors a bit.  While it is basically the same, I think the added contrast gives it more “oomph” and makes it pop some more.

Updated title page

Here is the updated title page - it was easy to change colors & paper in My Digital Studio!

I am now in Salt Lake City at the hotel, waiting for my buddies to get here from New Jersey… convention starts tomorrow!  It’s pretty funny to sit here in the lobby as I post this… there are 500 women staying at this hotel alone!

I made some cards to swap with folks – will show in a future post!

Scrapbook on your own terms!

Have you ever wanted to scrapbook something that just happened, but you feel you can’t because you haven’t finished your first child’s baby pages yet?  and your child is 19 (like mine)?  Don’t feel concerned that you need to scrapbook chronologically.  You can work on current pages whenever the mood strikes you! and you will have the advantage of remembering how you felt when the pictures were taken.

I have so many pictures already in the queue to scrapbook at home… but I already started making some pages while on vacation because I am loving the pictures I am taking! (hint: I am using My Digital Studio, and the software license allows you to put it on two computers… so, I have it on my laptop that I brought with me!).

Today, I was resting in my room during the heat of the day.  When the maid service came by to tidy up the room (LOVING this!) I grabbed the laptop and went to hang out in the cowboy style lounge here at the lodge… and made a scrapbook page!  It’s the cover to the album of this trip.  I may completely change it, but hey, it took 10 minutes!

Utah 2011 album

My scrapbook cover page

Cajun Craze perfect for scrapbooking Balanced Rock?

I’ve been touring through the Arches National Park in Utah, as a vacation jaunt before attending the Stampin’ Up! national convention.  So as usual, I have been looking at everything through the eyes of a scrapbooker.

Much of the beautiful rock formations in Arches are made of red rock… and I can’t help but think of the colors that will look good with these pictures on the scrapbook page!  What do you think? Cajun Craze is calling out to me, of course, to tie in with the rocks… but one of the new In Colors for 2011 called Calypso Coral might be great, and even Peach Parfait (2010 In Color) might look good.  

There are so many earthy colors in the plant foliage that I am thinking Wild Wasabi, Pear Pizazz (2010 In Color), or even Pool Party (new 2011 In Color) to match some of the light colored plants that are all around!

Balancing Rock

Balanced Rock formation in Arches National Park

Electronic connections in the middle of the Colorado River canyon

While it is hot outside, I spend my afternoons in the hotel – 14 miles down a Scenic Byway that follows the path of the Colorado River, surrounded by red rock walls on both sides… beautiful, but REALLY out of the way! 

Red Cliffs Lodge mountains

Red cliffs line both sides of the Colorado River and surround the lodge

 

Those gorgeous canyon walls and the remote location have some other implications as well.

No cell phone service!

The only radio station plays country!

And the wi fi service from the hotel is… weak.  So some of my blogging is a tad limited – I look forward to adding some more pictures when I get back to “civilization”!   But I have to say… this country music grows on you!

Mountains all around!

As I posted yesterday, I have just arrived in Utah.  When I drove out of the rental car parking garage, I nearly drove off the road.  There are MOUNTAINS!  Big ones! All around!

I managed to make it to my hotel without running over anything or anyone, which was surprising as I could not take my eyes off the mountains.  So being the avid scrapbooker that I am, as soon as I checked in I went out to… you guessed it… take a picture of the mountains!

And get this – it’s 90 degrees and there is SNOW on top!

Salt Lake City mountains

Beautiful mountains ring Salt Lake City

Travel on my Utah Adventure!

Wow, I am so excited to report that I am sitting in Utah, at the Red Cliffs Lodge on the Colorado River!  I should have pictures to post tomorrow, and I will have some terrific scrapbook pages coming!  Keep checking back to see more.

As many of you know, I am an Independent Demonstrator for the Stampin’ Up! line of scrapbooking and stamping papers, ink, and rubber stamps and we are having our yearly convention next week.  Well, I live in New Jersey and it is a not insignificant thing to fly from NJ to Salt Lake City, Utah… so I decided to take some extra days and see the area! 

But not to worry – the cats have the menfolk at home to take care of them.  Neither my husband Bob nor my college age son Carson could get time off from work to join me, and my daughter Britta opted to go to music camp.  Well… maybe we SHOULD worry about the cats if the guys are feeding them!  I’ll keep you posted.

SO, as I said, the trip was not one with easy connections… I flew from Newark to Detroit, Detroit to Denver, and then one of those teeny planes from Denver to Salt Lake City.  Ten hours!!  But the weirdest thing was sitting in the airport in Denver… it is supposed to be up high, in the mountains, right?  But looking out the windows showed a big, flat empty area with no mountains in sight!  I think it was a trick of the atmosphere as it was hazy in the distance.  It really looked like the airport where they filmed the Stephen King story The Langoliers, where the world started to get eaten up as the day was over.  It was so bizarre that I took a bunch of pictures – should make an interesting start to the scrapbook.

Check back tomorrow and I will try to post some pictures of the trip!

Crop Weekend coming in August!

I hope you will join me at the next NJ Crop Weekend, coming up in Basking Ridge NJ on Saturday and Sunday, August 6-7, 2011!!  Just a reminder that tomorrow, 6/30/11 is the deadline for the Early Bird pricing – but let me tell you more!

Bring your supplies and whatever project you might want to work on – scrapbooking, card making, anything!  Each participant gets dedicated table space, with roomy aisles and plenty of space for your stuff.  You have 24 hour access to the crop room, plus delicious meals in the restaurant and access to free coffee, tea, cold beverages and delicious snacks all day and evening.  Stay overnight, or just come for one or both days.

See NJ Crop Weekends or contact me at carol@carolgpapercrafts.com for more information!

Catalog year-end is here!

As many of you are aware, Stampin’ Up! has a really big catalog that is chock-full of goodies that you can use for card-making, scrapbooking and other paper crafting projects.  The big catalog runs from July 1 thru June 30.

They are always looking to add new and exciting products, and when they come out with the new catalog every July 1, some of the old products are retired to make room.  It’s a period of great excitement for me to see all the new stuff Sealed mixed with a tinge of sadness, as some of my favorite products go away each year Cry… but, all is not lost!  They are replaced with great, new products!  And, you can still get the retiring items while supplies last!