Blog Archives
Europe Vacation 2015: Zurich
On June 30th we went with Luca’s aunt Sabina to Zurich, Switzerland. Sabina lives in Switzerland and was kind enough to show us around this amazing city.
On this first spread I chose the red Switzerland background paper as the theme and then played the color red throughout the spread. On the left hand side I have a picture of the city (top) and a picture of the opera house (bottom). I also used a bag from a gift shop to hold a guide to Zurich, and affixed it to the outside of the plastic protector sheet so that it would be easy for the viewer to access and open it. I used my Cricut machine to cut out the date, and then bordered it with white to help it stand out on the page.
The right hand side has coins and paper currency from Switzerland in plastic protector sheets, both of which are hinged so that they can be lifted to look at the other side. These are inside the page protector sheet to help protect them a little bit from young hands. I usually collect a little bit more paper money when I am in a country but since the Swiss Franc at the time was so expensive compared to the dollar I decided not to do that. Look HERE to see what the 10 Franc note is currently worth.
For the second spread I chose a blue color scheme for this second spread since I had the Switzerland title piece that had come pre-made in blue. The pictures on this spread are of the city, a bakery that has been open for 400 years, and of a beautiful church which has the largest clock face in Europe. Apparently in older times the wealth of your city could be demonstrated by the amazing clock that you had on your church tower!
The letters on the right hand side of the page are chipboard letters left over from a previous project and they are mounted on a blue piece of ribbon that I salvaged from a blanket that I purchased that it was tied around! I used crafting glue to mount the letters on the ribbon, and then the ribbon is wrapped around and affixed to the back of the cardstock with scotch tape. I had to do this since the chipboard letters are fairly heavy and are likely to come off with regular sticky tabs.
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: Rheinfall
Once we returned from Stein Am Rhein, Luca was out of school and took us to see Rheinfall in Switzerland. Rheinfall is the largest waterfall in Europe and the power of it is incredible.
The picture on the bottom of the left hand page is a very small island in the middle of the falls that you can take a boat to. The picture in the top rleft of the right hand page is the same island from another view, and the picture just to the right is Levi up near the flag of that island. The picture on the bottom left of the right hand page is at the bottom of the falls, and the picture just to the right of it was taken from the island looking back on that spot. It was deafening to be so close to the rushing water at this point.
To get to the island was quite an adventure. We took a boat from one side of the river to the other, and then a second boat right up to the base of the falls on the island. We then had to climb a very congested staircase to get all the way to the top.
The ephemera on this page include our tickets for glass elevator to get to the bottom of the falls, a pressed coin, and a brochure of the falls, which is affixed to the outside of the plastic protector sheet so that they viewer can open it to see more.
Europe Vacation 2015: Stein Am Rhein 2 & Waldheim Restaurant, Busingen
This spread shares two different locations. The left hand side shares some more pictures from our time in Stein Am Rhein as well as the wrapper from a block of cheese that Levi bought in the town center at Chas Graf. Notice that I used the Swiss flag as the background and cut the pictures so that they could fit around the cross.
The right hand page celebrates the Waldheim Restaurant in Busingen. Busingen is both Swiss and German. The town has 1500 people and is completely surrounded by Switzerland, but is also German! Confused – so am I – so read more –> HERE. The border of German and Switzerland runs right through the outdoor restaurant, so we had fun being in two countries at once. It was also the first time I let Levi be in another country without me! For this page I cut two Country pages in half and then aligned the photographs so that the border line ran along the divide of the two backgrounds.
Europe Vacation 2015: Stein Am Rhein
On our second day in Germany we visited Stein Am Rhein, Switzerland, with Mrs Reichmann. (Swiss Stein Am Rhein Tourism website). This is an incredibly beautiful medieval town where the walls of the town are magnificent homes covered in centuries old frescos, so of which I tried to capture in the pictures on this spread. In the bottom right hand picture you can see a clock tower that also served as a main entrance into the town.
The crest of Stein Am Rhein has a background of red, so I subtly emulated that in the border paper for the photographs and City Map. The map is affixed to the outside of the plastic protector sheet so that the viewer can open it to discover more.
Europe Vacation: Lucerne, Switzerland
Europe Vacation: Lucerne, Switzerland
After coming down My Pilatus on a cog train, we made a wonderful stop in Lucerne, Switzerland. We enjoyed a crazy meal at Stadtkeller, a restaurant with amazing food and entertainment – yodeling, spinning coins in bowls, accordions, and boisterous singing. For this page I included the menu from the restaurant and a small flag that came stuck in a piece of meat. Since the Swiss flag is red I chose to border the menu and pictures in red. I did not really have enough pictures to make a two page spread so I took opportunity to display the Swiss Francs that I collected on the trip. I had originally planned on using a red background to match the left page color theme, but realized that the coins stood out much better against a black background. I again used plastic pockets to hold the coins so that I would not need to glue them to the page.
Related articles
- Reasons to Spend NYE in Lucerne (travelwyse.wordpress.com)
- Carnival craziness in Lucerne, Switzerland (mindheartjourneys.com)
- Trust on the train from Geneva to Lucerne: beautiful Switzerland (mindheartjourneys.com)
- Lion Monument, Lucerne. by Ravi S R (500px.com)
Europe Vacation: Mt Pilatus, Switzerland – Sunset and Sunrise
Europe Vacation: Mt Pilatus, Switzerland – Sunset, Sunrise
While I was on the top of Mt Pilatus I got some great sunset pictures and then decided to get up early in the morning to get some sunrise pictures as well. The sunset pictures are on the left and the sunrise on the right. I used a white border that I cut to look like clouds for the pictures. I used a cloud picture for the background on both pages but felt that I needed to tone it down on the right hand side to better fit with the yellow and orange tones in those pictures. I accomplished this by using a light pink vellum sheet and placing it over the top of the cloud paper. I also outlined the white cloud border in pink so that the borders did not come over too strong. The mountains at the bottom of the page are a store bought border that was placed on top of the background page. To add depth to the page I put the mountain border over the far left picture.
Related articles
- 10 Beautiful Places You Must Visit (travelingmisslazy.com)
- Part 10 EuroScandi Odyssey – Sightseeing in Lucerne, Switzerland (forestwoodfolkart.wordpress.com)
