This week is a special one here on the ES blog! Not only do we have brand new kit inspiration to share with you all week, this week is Thankful Week, where our design team will be inspiring you to document not only the upcoming (or past, if you’re in Canada!) Thanksgiving holiday, but the things we are most grateful for in life!
Today, we are so excited to welcome our final guest for the year 2019, Meg Gundlach, also known as @travelscrapsleeprepeat, to the blog! Meg’s pockets are always FULL of adventure, color and bold designs, and we thought that our November kit and add-ons would suit her style perfectly! We think you will agree! Let’s take a look at her first project this month
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe that it is already November and time to start planning Thanksgiving again! When I think about this time of year, mint and pink are not really the colors that automatically spring to mind. However, when I looked at the photos in my 2018 album, it was clear that in a lot of ways I had already moved into the winter and Christmas season. The November release is so perfect for this transition period, as the colors and elements coordinate beautifully with both the October 2019 Kit and the Document December products. By mixing in the darker toned elements with the pastels, this page suits the feel of that week exactly!
I have kept a weekly(-ish) pocket page album for almost a decade and weeks that include a holiday are always a favorite. Some holidays have enough material for a full spread, some get incorporated into the week, and I don’t worry at all about how I have approached this in the past or will in the future. Thanksgiving 2018 fit neatly within the weekly spread and it was so satisfying to pull it out and get those memories recorded. The Let’s Eat Stamp is obviously my spirit stamp because if Thanksgiving wasn’t food oriented enough, I also had food pictures from earlier in the week. “Good food & company” is definitely my motto and the perfect way to start this spread.
The small repetitive icon stickers are always the first I pull from a puffy sheet. This is in no small part due to my obsessive repetition of the label/phrase/sticker formula, which I probably use every two to three pages. Already an absurdly easy technique, the Tiny Holiday Label Stickers made it even easier as they come pre-printed with appropriate sentiments.
Having worked almost exclusively on a 12″ x 24″ canvas for so long, my main priority is finding balance across the spread. Thus, almost everything you have seen on the left page of this spread also appears on the right. The label/phrase/sticker combo appears four times, plus a variation on the title and Thanksgiving cards. One super easy way to force balance on a layout is to use a sticker alphabet, like the Jane Alphabet Stickers that I used here, to add bold captions to journaling tags or photos. The key to repetition is that it should be similar, but doesn’t have to be exactly the same. By spreading the range of colors, elements, or even techniques (i.e. stamping on photos) across the layout, you can maintain a clean and polished look while also using a large number of the amazing products you love!
Confession time: The absolutely last thing I did to this page was stamp the tiny star from the Let’s Eat Stamp as the bullet points on the wine tasting list. And I hated everything about it. It was just way too much for that card! Rather than admit defeat and throw it out, I went through my stash of fabulous Elle’s puffy stickers until I found the white dots in the Christmas Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers to cover all the stars. Now the bullets points are super subtle, but add some interesting dimension. Everyone makes mistakes, but some of my favorite cards are born out of necessity. I will definitely be using this list design again!
Supplies | November 2019 Kit, Grateful Journaling Tags, Tiny Holiday Label Stickers, Jane Alphabet Stickers — Black, Holiday Puffy Stickers, Christmas Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers, Let’s Eat Stamp, Mini Dated Stamp
Hi! I’m Meg but you may know me better online as TravelScrapSleepRepeat. Born and raised in Wisconsin, I moved to the United Kingdom in 2006 for grad school and have been roaming ever since. Shortly after arriving in Wales I met my partner Ken and since we both work in archeology/cultural fields, we have the opportunity to travel a lot. In between these adventures I print my photos and play with pretty things. I will never be ‘caught up’ and I’m totally cool with that—always chasing the next experience!
Be sure to follow Meg for more pocket page inspiration at her blog and her Instagram feed, which we know you will love as much as we do, and stay tuned for more inspiration from Meg’s album using the November 2019 Kit and add-ons!