Breathe Layout

I really loved this temple we visited in Hawaii. So much so I added a second page with photos. It was such a quiet place with the rain falling interspersed with the gong that rang for luck every now and again.

The first layout was on my blog earlier this week. I even shot video of the koi fish and the black swan so you'll have to go check it out.

Really enjoyed working with this pretty paper. That orange strip of paper even looks like locus flowers!!!

I added a little paper flower and some matching thread. I've got all these little spools from a sewing kit and slowly but surely I'm using up all the thread! Makes matching pretty easy though!

Well, Happy Weekend! We're off tomorrow enjoying a long weekend! I've got a hot date to cook some lamb, which I've never done before!

Today Together Double Page Layout

I lucked out the other day and went to a scrapbooking party where we assembled some easy peasy & very pretty layouts. This helps when you are trying to scrapbook a ton of vacation photos. Take a look at this two page spread!

It's pretty CAS for me, but then I added some bling and spritz which helped! I then made a quick little collage so I could lay out three photos in a row on each side. This first page was to document a cool hike up Diamond Head.





































This mirror image page had a few less flowers. We went to a Buddhist Temple called BYODO  (take a peek at their video, it has drone!!) and it happened to be raining. It was still really cool. It was at Valley of the Temples, which pretty much meant it was a huge cemetery!

My favorite part were all the koi fish who were being watched by a kitty. I took a video to show Lexi. We do love KOI!

Anyhow I've rambled on enough! Happy Tuesday!

A Painful Pineapple

I got heavily questions when I arrived home with this green monstrosity. I heard a large sigh of relief from at least three other family members when they learned I was just rewring for a friend after a quick coat of spray paint. 

The first plan of attack when fixing a painful pineapple is to assemble your spray paint & a rewire kit. Most second hand lamps are in desperate need of rewiring. It's so much safer to just start with a new plug & socket. I snipped off the plug & took the whole thing apart. I'm in the process of waiting for spray paint to dry and then I'll probably work on reassembly & rewire. 

Of course nobody questioned me when I came home with some fun little pieces of dichroic glass and a clear Easter egg. They knew I'd have something crazy planned. At the moment the candle stick base is drying from a coat of white spray paint. 

I'm prepping for Easter! Easter break that is! I'll be off for Good Friday and I've got a hot date with making a pretty bracelet! 

Rock Star Shaped Card for THE CUTTING CAFE

Hello! Hope you are having a ROCK STAR kinda day! I'm here to show you my latest creation! Over at THE CUTTING CAFE we're working with shaped cards. Regina asked all of us to send her a word that we'd like made into a card. Yeah....about that....I kinda forgot.

So, I made my own! She has this handy dandy little file that has ALL THE LETTERS IN IT. Seriously. It's called the A-Z Letter Set and I cut out two of each letter. I wanted two so I could layer them up.

Can you tell? I used pop dots under them to get them to stand out! Love the layering! I'll be sending this "card" off to the Father in Law soon. It's his birthday and I'll put some lotto tickets in a little pocket in the back.

In other news, I didn't freeze my buns off getting a photo of this card! It's very early spring here and the sun is starting to feel warm! Before I know it we'll have real flowers blooming, not just paper ones!

Happy Tuesday!

First Page in a New Album: using a Background Photo

Oh goodness, how exciting. I'm starting a new album. The last one started in January, so I'm on the right track of one album per year. I produce a lot of pages, so I'm trying to maximize the books! I also didn't go buy a bunch of beachy paper. I have some in my stash somewhere, but for now, I'm making use of background photos. Check this one out....

I was really excited when I saw that really cool van on the beach with those surf boards. The first photo I shot had a lady leaning up against the tree. The second was better, except those garbage cans....what garbage cans you say?

Yup, I covered them up. I did consider when taking the photo that I could move them...but I thought I'd look like a silly tourist!

I added some goodies from my erosion bundle and a few flowers. A pretty simple page in reality, with a nice background photo that is the star!

Happy Monday!

Paradise Layout for the Kraft + Challenge

Introducing....straight from the big top....My first Hawaii layout! I'll admit it. Kraft + had a fussy cutting challenge and this paper was perfect! Love the kraft background as it shows the pretty splatters so nicely...and it gave me a little jump start to get back into making layouts after vacation!



























Can you see the edges of the curtains that I fussy cut? I also fussy cut some pretty tassels on the left side of the page. I even used the blue that was left over because it was fun! A couple of levi tags also made their way onto this layout. They were kraft as well and plus, fun to upcycle!

I also wrapped up a second page. I mainly just added a photo and some more fussy cut paper. I had premade the back ground and that tag before I left.


The colors & the flower matched, so the whole thing made me happy. Two pages down, done and dusted! Five trillion more to go!

Happy Tuesday!

Dear Me....a lot of living in a little time

Goodness gracious! A few weeks ago THE MAN texted me and said....I have tickets to Hawaii in my cart. We only turn 20ty once. Yes or no? It was very romantic and kinda crazy and of course I said yes. I mean, hello, it's Hawaii!!!

Good thing for Amazon. It's not shorts weather here. Not by a long shot. Lots of orders later (the mail man was pretty sick of driving up our driveway as we both needed clothes) and we were stocked up to hit better weather. It was scary though as we couldn't fly out the week of Spring Break as the oldest had her wisdom teeth out, so we had to leave later. Both kids were holding down the fort & still going to school.  Thank goodness for the one that could drive! Our biggest concern was a big snow storm that necessitated cleaning the driveway. Our driveway is like it's own little road and despite training, I still didn't want them on the tractor.

Of course the day we fly out, there is a big storm. Everyone around Corning has lots of snow. School is cancelled. We have three inches that melts the next day. Phew! Crisis adverted! After a couple of days, I forgot what snow looked like.  They were complaining over text messages back home about all the cold weather. Yeah, cold weather? I had flowers to look at! An ocean to play in....

And then, if all that fun in the sun wasn't enough? We did this.....and yes, they are watching Dog TV in the form of bird feeders.

Myla-bone is a rescue from a local shelter. She spent the week we were in Hawaii hanging out in isolation while they accessed what kind of pup she was. Duncan knew right away that she was the girl for him. They are good pups together.

I'm back tomorrow with a layout or two of our time away....had to ease into it slowly! Good thing I had a background made and a tag!

100 % Girl Layout for THE CUTTING CAFE

I've been hoarding these happy summer photos for ages! I knew I'd eventually make a layout and it came about because of this awesome printing file Regina has over at THE CUTTING CAFE has called All About Girls. I used a smidgen of the set as there are a ton of printables to choose from. I opted to go with this awesome circle that I seriously upsized to fit on my page.

It's printed at around 250% and I didn't have any issues with quality! I just printed directly from the pdf onto some white cardstock. Then I fussy cut the middle and used a circle cutter on the outside. I had my super sized printable in about 10 minutes!

I love this pretty camping paper from Close to My Heart. It works nicely with the pink and turquoise flowers I picked out. These girls in the photo loved the s'mores they were making and are quite the campers. I can't wait to spend more time with them this summer!

I'm passing this layout along to my friend who is the proud Mom to these little sweet marshmallow faced kiddos. It's always nice to make something pretty for your friend's book!

Happy Tuesday!

All My Bags are Packed....

THE MAN and I are heading off soon for a little tropical vacation to celebrate the 20th. In true Mitra fashion, I'm making layouts without any photos! I had a little bag full of pretty paper including these flamingos and thought I should have a start to making pages!

After that I had a play with the same paper and some tags that came off the new shorts I had to buy. It's kinda still winter here and the stores aren't selling shorts as of yet, so I had to get busy buying on Amazon. Hence, a ton of tags!

I made that rumply yellow flower ages from items that came from my erosion bundle. That doily is from the same place. I posted that project last week if you missed it! I'm really enjoying the bits and pieces from it!

So much so that I heard where we're going that it rains quite a lot but not for long, so I'm bringing a bundle with me.

Someone gave me some coffee filters are work so I bought them home to craft with. These papers are layered in with the filters & some inks.

Looking forward to a restful week away and then to come home all recharged!

Happy Monday! I'll be back tomorrow with my project for THE CUTTING CAFE!