And Now For Someting Completely Different

#stampinup   #faithfulinkspirations   I got into stamping many, many years ago. I got invited to some Stampin' Up workshops and bought a few things and made a few cards. I also attended a few scrapbooking workshops. I realized that although the scrapbooks I saw were gorgeous, I just didn't have the time and patience for it. (Plus, I had twins and they would walk around the house with their photos balled up in their sweaty, messy little hands.) Card making was something I could do quickly and the end result was a pretty, little piece of art. That's so satisfactory...and that's why I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator. I wanted to make these little pieces of art and I wanted a discount on my supplies!

Stampin' Up has always offered products for scrapbook makers and loads of people use Stampin' Up products for their memory keeping. A few years back Stampin' Up started offering Memories & More cards and embellishments that coordinate with their stamp sets and suites. And, the thing that attracted me most, they offered a 6" by 8" album. That size is less daunting than the traditional 12" by 12" page--I could never figure out what to do with all that space!

I've had a lot of time to be creative during our quarantine. So I ordered up the Tropical Oasis Memories & More Card Pack (retiring) and got to work on a memory book for my son. He was fortunate to spend a semester studying abroad with the Harding University Australasia (HUA) program. He visited Australia, New Zealand, India, Cambodia, Thailand, and Japan and had the time of his life! I thought the Tropical Oasis suite would be perfect to commemorate his trip.

 

For the front page, I adhered a 6" by 3" strip of  Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper (retiring) to the top and bottom of a 6" by 8" piece of Mango Melody Card Stock. I cut letters from a retired set of alphabet framelits from another piece of Tropical Oasis DSP, stacked them on a few letters that I cut from card stock, and adhered them to the center of the title page. I added a few of the stickers from the Tropical Oasis Memories & More Card Pack (retiring).

I've made some cute spreads across two pages, but I'm only showing a few single pages because I don't have permission to share images of my son's classmates. I'm really pleased with how the album turned out and how well the Tropical Oasis Memories & More Cards (retiring) fit the theme of his travels. 

Here's my son on Bondi Beach in Australia.

Next, here's a few pictures from the Taj Mahal in India. (He was wearing a face mask before they were "cool"--because of the smells...)

The HUA group worked with an orphanage in India during their time there. My son loves kids--and they love him right back! He's studying to be a special education teacher. He's got such a kind and tender heart for people with special needs.

I've left the blank cards throughout the album for my son to do some journaling in his book.

I hope you enjoyed my first real foray into memory keeping. It really was simple with the Memories & More Cards. My daughter and I are going to put one together for her semester abroad in England and France!

The Tropical Oasis DSP and Memories & More cards are retiring, so if you've had a trip somewhere tropical (particularly to Hawaii), these would be great to use to commemorate your trip! But don't delay--they're only available until June 2, or while supplies last!

Stay safe! Stay healthy! Stay home!

tams# 44152

Product List

Tropical Oasis Memories & More Card Pack [151255] $11.00	Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper [151252] $11.50	Basic Black 6" X 8" Album [144203] $10.00	Variety Pack 6" X 8" Photo Pocket Pages [144205] $6.00
Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack [144598] $9.00