~ it's summer time! ~

I hope you are all having as much fun as I am! :)

I am really enjoying my summer so far & I'm so excited about my upcoming trip.

{ gimili harbour }

As you know {via my june newsletter} I'm off for the summer. I felt REALLY guilty about not blogging, at first, but a friend of mine reminded me that taking the summer off means that I should feel no guilt or pressure, so I won't. I'll be back in full swing in September & hopefully with a new website. {Yes, that I'm working on...}

Anyways, I thought I would share a few exciting this that have happened in the last few weeks & give you a tip for Scrapbooking Summer Traveling; here you go:

1. Lulu turned 1!
I was / am a very proud momma. She walks and chatters away and now is growing in some very cute curls. There is not enough time in the day to scrapbook everything I want to about her! :)


2. I finished my brother's wedding invitations this week.
I'm so relieved, as I'm heading out to Alberta & BC this week-end. I'll post some photos of them and the rest of the stationary in September.


3. Lulu & I had our last playdate yesterday.
This has been such a great experience for both of us. I felt great about being able to get out of the house, I connected with other fabulous moms in Winnipeg, and I know that Lulu is growing beautifully becasue of her connections with the boys! :) {she was the only girl in the group - what a trooper!}

And last, for today, here's your tip for the summer:

Create your travel journal before you go on your trip. It saves you time & money. You buy & gaterh your materials now and you also have an almost completed book for when you get home {all you have left is to pop in your pictures} .

Here's mine for this summer...

I love trying new things so I went to Home Sense /Winners {they have such a greart selection of neat journals & sometimes scrapbooking items for great prices} & looked for a journal I could easily make into a scrapbook/journal. I found this one with an accordian pocket already in it & for only $5! I was tempted to buy more than 1, but then I really wouldn't be saving any money, would I.

I headed then to Michael's and found some Making Memories embellishments on sale & I grabbed those too!

The journal had an oriental themed cover, so I grabbed some outdoor / nature patterned paper & covered it to adapt it to my upcoming camping trip out west. I then added some new embellishments & a chipboard piece with a title & presto, my travel journal/scrapbook is done! My layered embellishment cover is inspired by vanessa {a gal with great scrapbooking sense}. I love how she does this & tried it myself. I love it... it looks so good! Thanks for the idea vanessa!

Now, as I'm heading out for several weeks, and I really can't go that long without scrapbooking, I'm taking a little kit with me. Here it is...

I know that Lulu will keep me busy, but I hope that along with writing about my travels, I'll be able to be creative with my journaling & all the little trinkets & memorabilia I'm sure to pick up along the way!

Well, I'm off! Have a great summer & see you in September!

Cindy