Hello, my crafty friends!  Happy Saturday and welcome back to the Stamp & Scrapbook Expo blog for another dose of creative planning fun!  I hope you are all having a wonderful spring.  Are you getting ready for those warmer days coming your way?  As the weather gets to be warmer it is nice to be inside in a cool, air-conditioned home; a perfect time to do some crafting!  Sit back, relax, and take it all in.  Hopefully, you will find some things you would like to work on during those hot summer months.

Escape By Tarrah McLean

Since travel notebooks are a big rage right now, I wanted to share a darling layout for your travels that can be used in your scrapbook album as well as in your travel notebook.  There are people who love to plan, and people who don’t.  For me, the initial stages of planning a trip – deciding where to go, learning about the history, and anticipating all the possibilities, is half of the fun.  This is where the travel notebook comes in.  It is a simple resource where everything is written in one place that you can easily flip back to for reference.  One of my favorite things to do is to create a few pages and pop them in the back of the notebook after the trip has come to an end.  This is a great way to see the trip from the planning stage, the event, and the completion of your adventure.

Tarrah created her darling layout using the Simple Stories “Travel Notes” collection.  There is nothing better than enjoying a fabulous trip and it is also very important to get all your memories into your scrapbooks so you can go back and reminisce about all the good times you enjoyed.  All of the embellishments are a perfect match to complement the layout.  You can just feel the wonderful time they had on this vacation.  Come with me over to Sassy Scrapper where you will be able to see how Tarrah created her layout, along with a complete list of supplies needed.  I hope you will be inspired to keep a travelers notebook, along with scrapbooking each of those wonderful trips.  Most important is to always have a great time with what you are doing!

Altered Notebook By Kylie Kingham

Today I want to share a simple Altered Notebook with you.  With school drawing to a close, this is such a cute idea for your kiddos to give their teachers to express appreciation for all they did throughout the school year.  We all look through the dollar bins at Michaels and Target and see these little notebooks all the time.  Grab one or two here and there and you will soon have a great supply on hand.  This is a fabulous one-of-a-kind gift with your special artistic touch.  With custom covers, they make wonderful birthday gifts, mother’s day gifts, teacher’s gifts, or for someone who needs a little lift.  This beautiful altered notebook will change how you look at things.  Who wouldn’t want to receive one of these?

I have a hard time resisting mini notebooks.  I just love them!  It is so fun to spice them up and add your own personality to each one.  It is so simple and fun, and the sky’s the limit to your imagination!  Whether you keep your design simple or very detailed, your creation will always stand out and be remembered.  Click here and I will escort you over to spend some time with Kylie Kingham who is a fabulous designer for KaiserCraft.  You are sure to love her beautiful projects and will certainly be inspired.

Shabby Vintage Spring Tags By Sara Emily Barker

My dear friends, today you are in for a real treat.  When I discovered these amazing tags on Sara’s Closet blog, I was so excited to share them with you.  If you love vintage, distressing, and Tim Holtz then you are going to want to dive in and create some of these for yourself.  There are a lot of beautiful details to these tags.  Tags can be used in a variety of ways and take a package from ordinary to something really beautiful and special.  You can also use them on a layout, a card, or even as an invitation to a party.

I really enjoy making tags because it gives me an opportunity to play around with some of my mediums and mixed media products before moving onto something larger. Tags are always fun and we get to dive into our stash of supplies and use pieces of this and that; a great way to use up some of your scraps.  Mix and match whatever makes you smile, there are no rules!  They always seem to add such a touch of beauty to items they are placed on.  Let’s pop on over to Sara’s Closet so you can see different variations of Sara’s tags.  Have fun creating your own custom tags!

Cookies & Cream Cake By Elizabeth LaBau

I love cookies and I love cake but who would have thought of putting them together?  This yummy cake has four layers of soft, dense devil’s food cake, three layers of buttercream mixed with chopped Oreo cookies, and an outer coating of frosting with real cookie crumbs mixed right in.  Then to finish it, top it with a shiny chocolate glaze, tall frosting rosettes, and the mini Oreos.  Bring this out to your family and friends and you will be an instant hero!

I bet your mouth is watering by now, so jump on over to Sugar Hero and watch Elizabeth’s video for a step-by-step tutorial on how to make her cookies and cream cake.  Follow her directions and you will have prepared the most beautiful, yummy cake ever.  How impressive will you be when you bring this out to serve!  Enjoy!

Well, my friends, I hope this has been a fun-filled Saturday for you and that you enjoy the rest of your weekend.  As always, thank you for stopping by the Stamp & Scrapbook Expo blog and sharing part of your day with me.  Have a wonderful week ahead and I will see you back again next Saturday!

Sending lots of love and inspiration your way,

LeAnn