Monthly Archives: May 2016
Europe Vacation 2015: Bergenz, Austria
The second stop on our trip around Bodensee was Bergenz, Austria. We spent most of our time here exploring the lakefront and had an authentic lunch at a restaurant right on the water – pictures of our food can be seen on the left hand page.
The right hand page has pictures of the outdoor theater where the Bergenz Festival is held. Each year they produce a different play and the stage is built right in the water. We were lucky enough to be able to go in and watch a rehearsal. A day later this same location and event was featured in the local newspaper and I was able to add that on to the page in a pocket that I made for it. I did this by cutting a slit in the background paper, and then using another strip of paper to strengthen the cut. If you don’t do this, then the cut can tear further and damage the background paper.
Europe Vacation 2015: Vaduz, Liechtenstein
The first stop on our adventure around Bodensee was a stop in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. “Vaduz is the capital of Liechtenstein and also the seat of the national parliament. The town, which is located along the Rhine River, has about 5,100 residents as of 2009.” – Wikipedia. Liechtenstein is one of the smallest countries in the world.
The color theme for this page is based on the Liechtenstein flag which is red and blue. I chose a blue background paper and then used red for highlights and to border the pictures. In addition to the flag that is on the left hand page I have two photos that I took as well as a postcard of the palace which I was not able to get a great picture of. The right hand page has a car decal (FL, does not mean Florida, it means Fürstentum Liechtenstein, which means Principality of Liechtenstein), a patch, and an envelope of informational brochures that I picked up at the tourism office in town.
This second page showcases one of the things that Liechtenstein is famous for – stamps! I am a philatelist, and so I was excited to what stamps I would be able to pick up. You can see two of the first day covers that I purchased in the tourist shop on the right hand page. The top one is actually a cork envelope which I thought was really cool.
The left hand page has pictures of us with our friends, the Reichmanns, at a couple of places in Vaduz. I used my Cricut machine to cut the white stamp edge borders for the photographs to continue the stamp theme, and of course, I had to use stamp background paper.
Europe Vacation 2015: Trip around Bodensee
On the 27th of June the Reichmann family took us on a long trip around Bodensee, which in English is known as the Lake of Constance. This spread actually shares the entire trip in, even though the next pages share more about each place we visited in detail. On this one trip on this one day we visited 4 cities in 3 different countries and drove through a fourth country!
Starting on the left side of the spread is a map which is hanging from the brown paper strip running across the page. I used sticky tabs to mount the brown paper strip, but then also used brads to give it extra strength. The arrow points to the picture of Klaus and I marking out the route of the trip once we got back that night so that I could remember all that we did. If the read takes the map out of the plastic protector sheet they can see the exact route that we drove that day highlighted on the map.
The other picture are of scenic pictures that I took from inside the car as we were driving along the route. On the right hand side you see some journalling, which is unusual for me, but I wanted to layout the trip that we took, so that viewers could understand the context of the next few pages. I chose road trip and adventure themed background paper for this spread, and I enjoy how it makes the page look like a 19th century scrapbook.
Europe Vacation 2015: End Page – Euro Currency
This is the last page of the third album of our trip to Europe. Since it is the last page it is a single page spread. This page is very similar to the last page of album 1 – Swedish Currency.
Usually when we travel to another country I try to collect both bills and coins to add to the scrapbook. In this case I saved €39 which is about $44 US. You can find out the current exchange rate HERE. This means that these pages can sometimes be fairly expensive, but I think that they are really cool mementos of the trip.
The coins and bills are both placed in plastic protector sheets. The bills plastic protector sheets are hinged on their black background so that they can be flipped over if the page is taken out of the full page plastic protector.
I chose the German flag colors for the page. The ribbon was placed on the coin protector sheet to help keep the coins from sliding out if the album is turned upside down.
Europe Vacation 2015: Jungfraujoch 2
This is the final page of five of the amazing journey to and at the Top of Europe! In addition to the outdoor adventures (see top left picture in which Levi is zip-lining at about 11,000 feet!), there are many indoor things to see and do at the Top of Europe. The left hand page has several pictures of us inside the ice caves where we found Scrat with his nut encased in the ice! It also has the wrist band from the outdoor activities that Levi was able to participate in at the top of the mountain, and a coin that we pressed while way up there.
The right hand page has a picture of the Lindt museum and a giant snow globe that are also at the Top of Europe. While there we had to buy some Lindt chocolates (which didn’t make it back down the mountain – only the wrappers!) and the plastic shopping bag and some chocolate wrappers are preserved on this page. The right hand border was cut from the plastic bag that we received at the souvenir shop at the top of the mountain.
To highlight the ice caves, and the snow globe on this page I chose a light snowflake background page, and used a darker snowflake design to border the pictures on this spread.
Europe Vacation 2015: Jungfraujoch 1
This is the fourth spread of five of our trip to the Top of Europe. This spread showcases all of the pictures of our outdoor adventures once we reached the top of the mountain. I should remind you that this experience was in late June and was a very warm day at the bottom of the mountain! The top of the mountain was below freezing, but the sunny day made it very pleasant.
For the background of this page I created a mountain background from an image that I found on Cricut Design Studio and the cut it out on my 12×24 mat so that it could cover both spreads. (Tip: I did not have these color papers in 12×24 size – so I placed two 12x12s next to each other on the larger mat and made sure I pressed it down strongly so that it would cut without catching. It turned out well as I then already had the center cut for the spread completed.)
I chose not to put a border behind the pictures as I wanted the mountain background to show as much as possible. Notice how I put one of the pictures behind the peak of the mountain, which helps the mountain to stand out and have a 3D effect.
Europe Vacation 2015: Kleine Scheidegg
This is the third page of five of our trip to Jungfraujoch. This page showcases the train switch that occurs at Kleine Scheidegg, a small Swiss village that hosts a couple of hotels and the train switch station. We actually spent a lot more time at this little town than we planned as the second train running to the top of the mountain was having problems and was delayed.
The left hand page has a picture of the second train that we rode to the top of the mountain as well as the “passport” book that we were given as part of the Top of Europe experience. This book is affixed to the outside of the plastic protector page so that the viewer can open it to find out more about this exciting location. The larger picture of the train at the bottom of the left hand side is actually cut out from the plastic bag that I was given at the gift shop at the top of the mountain and very carefully mounted on the page.
The right hand side has pictures from train station with the hotels and mountains in the background. I used some embroidery ribbon that I purchased at a gift shop in Kleine Scheidegg to border the rigth hand side of the spread. I used a sewers glue (the type that you use to keep fabric from fraying) to glue the ribbon to the page. I also glued a patch from the area onto the page.
Similar to the preceding page, I chose to use a cloud background paper, and light blue border to emphasize the beautiful blue skies that we experienced on this adventure.
Extra Fun: Want to see what this area looks like right now? Check out the Jungfrau webcams.
Europe Vacation 2015: Jungfrau 2
This is the second page of 5 of our adventure to Jungfraujoch – the Top of Europe. The trip to the top of Jungfraujoch takes two train rides. The first from Gindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg and the second from Kleine Scheidegg to the top. This page has pictures from the first train ride up to Kleine Scheidegg, and a few from the second train before it enters the very long tunnel inside the mountain portion.
I took so many beautiful pictures that I wanted to dedicate a whole spread just to the picturesque landscapes. Unfortunately I had to pick my best 8 and leave the rest out :(. My favorite is of the cow – it was really standing that close to the train as we passed by!
It was a beautiful day with amazing blue skies, so I chose a cloud background paper to float the pictures in with a border of light blue. The title at the bottom of the left hand page is actually cut out from a plastic bag that I picked up at the top of the mountain in the gift shop.
Europe Vacation 2015: Jungfrau 1
This page is the first of five that I made of our trip to Jungfrau – the Top of Europe. This adventure was at the top of my bucket list ever since we saw Jungfraujoch on the Amazing Race (Season 22: Episode 8)!
We started the day early in the morning in Germany and made our way into Switzerland and towards Grindelwald where we caught our first train headed up the mountain. The roads through the mountains were very winding, so much so that our GPS went a little crazy. You can see this in the small picture at the top left hand side of the spread. The other pictures on the left hand side are of the beautiful mountains that we saw on the way to the train station.
The right hand side of the page has a paper bag from the gift shop that holds all of the tickets and train timetables from the adventure, as well as a little journalling to remind us of the day.
I chose a tree background paper and green borders to compliment all of the green in the pictures.
Europe Vacation 2015: Rhygucker and Rhein Boat Trip
At the end of the factory tour the Fleishmann’s invited us to join them at the family restaurant down by the Rhein, so the men in the family decided to walk through the fields and down to the restaurant. It was so peaceful and calming – I still think that I might need to move here one day! It was so surreal to be walking through a field and down a hill, seeing the Rhein with Switzerland on the other side, and seeing cows and goats grazing.
The name of the tiny restaurant was Rhygucker, which basically translates as the “Rhein Watcher” which is exactly what it is – a garden restaurant next to the Rhein, and we had a good time with the families. I remembered just enough Afrikaans from growing up in South Africa that I could kind of understand most of the conversation. After we ate the Fleishmann’s let us borrow their boat for a quick run up and down the Rhein.
For this spread I found two background pages that had similar patterns, but were of different colors. The left hand page emulates the green of the fields, and the right hand page the blue of the water, and my sons shirt. For the borders for the pictures I used the same green antique map paper to help tie the two pages together.
