Backpack Mini Album by Paige Evans

Thursday, January 2, 2025

I made this Backpack Mini Album with my Adventurous collection for a workshop in Georgia last summer and I have the instructions available HERE so you can make one too!

No cutting machine is required, it's all made by hand and would be perfect for back-to-school photos, camping trips, travels, and so much more!

Each page is slightly larger than the next so it's stacked and multilayered.

A velcro dot keeps the front flap closed.

And a magnet keeps the envelope pocket closed. I love the feels and sounds of these closures, is that weird? :)

What's a backpack without straps and a loop for hanging it up?!

This album is only about 6" tall so a small format means embellishing is quick & easy - a fast & fun project that you can create in an afternoon!

I filled my Backpack Mini Album with photos from a canoe adventure last summer when I took Fox & Jane to visit my parents in Seattle and my sister and her youngest daughter also came from Vegas.

Here are pics of all the spreads:

And then it folds right back up into a little backpack! Too cute!!

I have a video flipping through the album which you can watch below:

After purchasing the class, Ecwid will email you the PDF that contains a list of supplies, templates, photo sizes, and written instructions so you can create a Backpack Mini Album! Let me know if you have any questions and have a happy scrappy rest of the week!

Happy B-Day Layout by Ashley Neu

Hi friends! It’s Ashley Neu here for the Paige Evans Cut File Design Team to share my next layout with you! Paige has put together an awesome bundle of 36 New Year Cut Files and I have used two of the cut files and her Blooming Wild collection to document my daughter's birthday!

From the bundle of cut files the two I used are the Confetti Background as well as the Party Hats. I cut both of these from white cardstock. I adhered the Confetti Background onto another piece of white cardstock for a fun muted look! Next, I backed the five party hats using papers from the 6x8 Paper Pad as well as some of the 12x12 patterned papers. I adhered these hats down in the center of the layout in a linear design. After adhering my five photos to the layout, I started working on the title. I found the “Happy” ephemera piece in the Ephemera Die Cuts and added the word “B-Day” using the Thickers and a tiny heart from the Puffy Phrase Stickers. To embellish, I went with the tone-on-tone technique using pieces from the Floral Die Cuts, Sticker Book, and Cardstock Stickers. This is a great embellishing technique to use that takes the guesswork out of knowing what to embellish and where to place the embellishments on your layout! Lastly, I did a running stitch with white embroidery thread around the edges of the layout to finish it off! Thank you so much for stopping by and have a great day!

SUPPLIES: Patterned papers, stickers, die cuts, embellishments: BLOOMING WILD; white cardstock; Cut files: Confetti Background and Party Hats from the 36 New Year Cut Files by Paige Evans

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2024 in Review

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

As I think back on 2024 I think it was the busiest year ever so I decided to go through my 12 monthly highlights posts and do a year in review just to remember all the things we did!

JANUARY 2024

Rang in the New Year at Jay & Haylie's.
We flew to Seattle and visited my parents and brother & his family.
Chris & I went to an Avs vs Knights game and we won 3-0. Go Avs!
Went to a Jim Gaffigan show at the Paramount.
Fox & Jane had their first combined YM/YW activity which was a scavenger hunt at the mall.
I drove up to Lyons near Estes Park to spend a night with some scrappy gal pals.

FEBRUARY 2024

We got in a car accident (teenager's fault for not knowing how to drive in the snow...).
The Chiefs won the Super Bowl for the 2nd year in a row.
Date night to see Bailey Zimmerman in concert at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver.
Fox got in an accident on his scooter and had to get stitches on his chin.
Got my ears triple pierced at Rowan.
Did my first Make With Me Monday.
Released and sold out of my PaigePals6 Kits & Classes.

MARCH 2024

It snowed so much Chris couldn't get to work and the kids got 2 bonus Spring Break days.
We didn't go anywhere for Spring Break but we did go to Einstein Bagels three times.
Started watching golf because of Full Swing. Amazing to see Scottie Scheffler in his prime.
Celebrated Easter.
Almost got a puppy.

APRIL 2024

Fox reached 500 subscribers on his YouTube channel! He was soooooo happy! Next milestone: 1000!
Watched the solar eclipse from home.
Flew to Houston, Texas and taught alongside Vicki Boutin at the Crafty Beach Bash.
My 17th collection with American Crafts called Adventurous released!

MAY 2024

We saw Shawn Johnson's comedy show in Aurora.
Jane performed at her school's Dancing through the Decades and she graduated from elementary school.
Chris & I flew to Vegas to see Rain City Drive & Dayseeker in concert at the Brooklyn Bowl.
Remodeled our closet.
I turned 39!
Flew to Orlando, Florida to teach at a pre-cruise crop with 45 scrappy friends.

JUNE 2024

We went on a Caribbean Cruise!!
Fox and Jane both went to Young Mens/Young Womens camp for the first time.
I got a hormone pellet inserted into my hip to help with my migraines.
Released and sold out of my 4th of July Kits & Class!
My 18th collection with American Crafts called Tricks & Treats released and sold out everywhere!

JULY 2024

Flew to Spokane then drove to Wallace to spend the 4th of July there with my entire side of the family.
House finches hatched 3 batches of babies from April-July, 3+5+3 babies = 11 new house finches!
Fox, Jane and I flew to Seattle to spend Jane's birthday with my family and we said goodbye to Redmond.
Jane turned 12!
Registration opened for my 4th of July Scrapbook Event In Wallace, Idaho - 3 spots left!
I was on the Paper Talk Podcast - give it a listen HERE.

AUGUST 2024

Chris turned 39!
Fox started 8th grade and Jane started 7th grade. Jane went to 2 weeks of school then we started homeschool.
We took Tom & Margi out to dinner to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at 801 Chophouse.
We watched Scottie Scheffler receive the Olympic gold medal and tear up during the national anthem.
Chris & I went to the BMW Championship at the Castle Pines Golf Course and saw ALL the players from Full Swing.
Flew to Atlanta, Georgia to teach at an event in Alpharetta.
Taught a virtual class for Scrap & Learn.

SEPTEMBER 2024

On Labor Day we went with Tom & Margi up to Buc-ee's. Our very first time stepping foot in a Buc-ee's.
We saw Incubus in concert at the Ball Arena.
Chris's work had a party at a Rockies game vs the Dodgers and we saw Ohtani hit a three-run home run.
Got my helix pierced at Rowan.
Released and sold out of my Gingham Garden Kit & Classes.

OCTOBER 2024

We flew to Orlando to spend Fall Break at Walt Disney World and stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.
Fox turned 14!
Chris & I flew to Vegas to attend the When We Were Young Festival and I caught a guitar pick from Cartel.
We saw Rain City Drive for the 2nd time this year at the Marquis Theater in Denver and discovered a new band from Copenhagen called Siamese.
Our bathroom remodel began - it's still not done.
I taught at the virtual Sweet & Spooky event for Scrapbook & Cards Today.

NOVEMBER 2024

We got our annual family photos taken in cute Disney sweaters.
We drove to Utah to celebrate my cousin Cat's wedding.
Jane got her 2nd round of braces.
Andrea and I taught our 5th in-person event here in Colorado called Tricks & Treats Weekend.
We went to a Broncos game vs the Falcons and we won! I'm a BO-liever!
We flew to Spokane for Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with my parents at their new house.
I released my Farmstead Harvest Kit & Class and still have some in my shop HERE.

DECEMBER 2024

Did lots of Christmas traditions to celebrate the holidays!
Bathroom renovation continued.
After Christmas Chris and I flew to Anaheim to see Rain City Drive & Dayseeker at the House of Blues - our 3rd time seeing RCD and 2nd time seeing Dayseeker in 2024! That's a good way to end the year :)

Lots of plans in the works for 2025 but I don't think 2024 travel can ever be topped! Unless we moved back to Germany ;)

December 2024 Highlights

Here's what we were up to in December 2024!

Not gonna lie, my Christmas spirit was zilch this year so Chris took on the part of decorator.

He set up and fluffed the tree and then he and Jane hung all the ornaments.

Halls are decked!

I was craving some good cookies so after dropping off a return at Whole Foods we went into the bakery and got some caramel cookies and Jane got these festive sugar cookies.

For the first time I can ever remember, our ward Christmas party wasn't in a gym! It was held in a sports complex which we'd never been to before and it was huge and amazing and so cool. We ran into two families that live on our street which was funny.

We even went ice skating!

Fox was still recovering from bonking his chin so he didn't participate in the ice skating portion.

Chris is a pro at ice skating so he held me upright while we made a couple laps.

Chris took Jane on a lap.

LOL.

I make a mean pasta bow hehe.

Got our Christmas cards in the mail.

Fox helped me stamp and address them to send out so we could go to Raising Canes or somewhere for dinner.

We celebrated Tom Evans' birthday at Zane's Italian Restaurant.

One afternoon I was chilling on the couch, Amy hopped on my lap, and I spied on us through the kitty cam :)

We visited the Hazard's Gingerbread House.

Always spectacular to behold.

We go to Kneaders for lunch as often as we can.

Chris's work party was at a cute art studio in downtown Littleton.

My favorite part was the live musician playing Christmas songs on his guitar all night.

Festive details.

For the 6th year in a row we visited the Gaylord Rockies Hotel to see the ICE! exhibit.

Always love the differently decorated trees.

Fun family selfie.

We need these hats.

The theme this year was the Polar Express which I've only seen once, I don't think the kids ever have seen it.

We should have watched it before going, oh well, it was still fun!

Can't believe it's all made from ice!

We rushed through because it's sooooo cold and warmed up with cinnamon rolls.

The main room is back open after renovations. Marvelous!

Then we came home and watched football. The Broncos lost to the Chargers and that made me really sad.

I wrapped Chris's presents and put fun clues on the "from" line. Like "from TikTok" was a watch, from "Bo" and "Nix" were Broncos-themed shirts, "MB" is a Mont Blanc pen, from "there came a big noise" (which is a quote from The Santa Clause) was a sound bar, etc. Fun tradition passed down from my dad!

One Saturday we went to Cherry Cricket for lunch. I started a diet the day before so I got a weird burger bowl. I should have just gotten a burger lol.

Then we went to the Giving Machines to make donations.

We walked through the Christmas Market.

Then we went shopping at the Cherry Creek Mall.

I started walking outside again to get some Vitamin D since tests show I'm deficient.

I counted like 10 different dog blow ups at this house, too cute.

On Christmas Adam we have a tradition - my dad gives each of his 3 kids moola to buy dinner and then we all eat together virtually then read from The Coming of Christ book. I love this tradition and am glad it worked out since we all have busy schedules.

On Christmas Eve I treated myself to a mani/pedi.

Then we sat down and watched the new Nate Bargatze special on Netflix. He is soooo gosh dern stinkin' funny and we can't wait to see him live next year here in Denver.

Then as per tradition we went to Tom & Margi's house for the Nativity in the Barn.

Yummy treats of which I did not partake because I'm trying to fit back into my pants by my 40th birthday in May.

Jane was the angel and Fox was the tax collector.

Nativity in the Barn.

Then we set up for the Bag Game.

We did a Pictionary version this year.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

I woke up around 5:30am to turn on all the lights, feed the bunny, and feed the cats. Then Chris and I opened our stockings. Fox was already awake but we had to wake up little miss sleepy head!

Fox's stocking stuffers.

Christmas morning! I spy Sandy who always wants to be in the mix.

Guess where we're going for Spring Break?! Hawaii!!!! It's been hard to keep this a secret from them for so long.

For Christmas I received these two beautiful floral canvases made by Amy Lockwood all the way in Australia and hung them up outside our closet. For sure I love the placement of the pink one, but the blue one I'm iffy about. They need to be placed together somewhere though, whether here or elsewhere. One thing is for sure though, I LOVE THEM. So gorgeous.

On December 28th Chris and I flew to Santa Ana to go to a concert! We've been to a lot of concerts together this year, it's been so awesome. I've never flown into the John Wayne airport before and it was crazy how close we got to the pretty mountains!

We have our priorities straight: our very first stop was to El Pollo Loco. I really hope we get one here in Highlands Ranch some day because it's so yummy.

We watched the Broncos vs the Bengals game. This is what I texted my parents "In overtime the Bengals doinked their field goal attempt so we got the ball and didn't do anything with it!! 3 and out!!! Bengals got it back and scored. It was stressful and upsetting." Our playoff chances are dwindling but I'm still a BO-liever!

Time for the concert! We Ubered over to the House of Blues in Anaheim.

This was our 2nd time seeing Dayseeker this year, 3rd time seeing Rain City Drive this year, and first time ever seeing Ghost Atlas.

We waited in line for about 45 minutes for the doors to open then got inside the lounge.

We have no interest in moshing and rubbing elbows with strangers lolol, so we got seats.

Sold out show.

Ghost Atlas rarely performs live and I'd never heard of them before but I'm a new fan! They were great! Which reminds me to go check out their stuff.

Then Rain City Drive performed. They were great, as per usual.

RCD and Dayseeker have a song together called Medicate Me and so Rory (the lead singer of Dayseeker) came out when it was his part of the song and it was fantastic to see them perform this song together again live. We're such groupies lol.

And then Dayseeker was up! Such an awesome show. Always is!

The evening ended with bursts of confetti.

Screenshot from Rory's insta.

I can actually see me and Chris up on the balcony on the top right - Chris has his hand out and I have my hand up.

It was quite cold so Chris bought me a Rain City Drive sweatshirt which warmed me right up.

We woke up early the next morning to fly home - a super quick and totally memorable trip. I spy Highlands Ranch! We're already planning to go next year if they do this concert again, only we'll stay 2 nights and go to Disneyland the second day!

Meanwhile back at home, Amy & Sandy decided Jane was a good replacement Paige :)

We watched a lot of movies and shows throughout December, some new, some old.

This made me chuckle. The dumb block-a-rooski was against the Broncos, that was such a heartbreaking loss, I'm still not over it.

The bathroom reno is coming along. The wainscotting got painted - the toilet room is a dark purple.

New glass shower got installed.

The wainscotting in the main bathroom got painted a dark teal.

I spy a mistake in how the shower pan tile was installed and really hope it can be fixed.

The wallpaperers got started and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Hopefully it'll be done by 2026 ;)

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KITTY CATS!

Here are snippets of Amy & Sandy together throughout the month. Sandy follows Amy around like a lemming. I took more photos of my cats than anything else this month I swear.

Sandy Sue being her cute self, paws always dangling off the edges.

She's sooooo floofy and sweet.

Amy up to no good climbing the pink tree lol.

She's my little lovey-love!

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Onto the scrappiness!

I shared 5 layouts, 2 double-page spreads, a coptic book, a 6x8 album, and a bunch of cards in December! YAY!!
Click the links to see them in more detail: