San Francisco – JAMSquared

Warrior Princess

Posted on April 6, 2019 by Jennifer

is a magical collection inspired by the Chinese legend of Mulan. In gorgeous shades of red, pink, purple, turquoise and gold, this collection captures the Oriental charm featuring beautiful elements such as lanterns and dragons, parasols and hand fans, a Chinese temple and gate, Mulan and her sword, chopsticks and straw hats, among many other fabulous goodies and patterns.

This is the perfect collection to add some Oriental flavor to your pages, whether you are documenting a Princess meet and greet, your visit to the Chinese pavilion at Epcot, a trip to China, your heritage, and so much more!

You can find the full collection at 58% off -or the individual kit and add-ons at 40% off– through April 14th at !

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Initially, I was going to scrap some Epcot pictures, but then I realized we skipped the China pavilion. Instead, I scrapped some photos from the trip James and I took to San Francisco in 2011 and the outfit we bought for Jessica while there.

Digikit: Magical Scraps Galore – Warrior Princess
Template: Connie Prince – Only One Vol 2

Digikit: Magical Scraps Galore – Warrior Princess
Template: Neia Scraps – Enjoy the Moments Vol 10
Fonts: Pacifico (title); KG Feeling 22 (journal)

Some wonderful inspiration from the Creative Team:

To celebrate MouseScrappers’ 10th Anniversary, Magical Scraps Galore’s GingerScraps shop is on sale through April 14th!:

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We also have a fun cluster to share, made by CT member Lisa! Visit Marina’s blog HERE to download and enjoy!

Coastal Breeze

Posted on June 21, 2018 by Jennifer

Feel the sand between your toes and enjoy the ocean breeze on your face. With its beautiful beach tones and a shabby feel, the COASTAL BREEZE collection by Magical Scraps Galore evokes the magic of the seashore and includes gorgeous papers and embellishments such as seashells and starfish, a beach hut and fishnets, ropes and buoys, a beach bag and flip flops, among many other fabulous goodies and patterns. Perfect to scrap your favorite seaside photos and coastal memories.

Find the full collection at 58% off -or the individual kit and add-ons at 30% off– through Tuesday midnight at and .

I really like the journal cards in this collection and wanted to make sure and use at least one. This first page is from a trip James and I took to San Francisco in 2011. This page documents one of the yummy restaurants we visited.

Digikit: Magical Scraps Galore – Coastal Breeze
Template: Fiddle-dee-dee Designs – My Darling Dressed Up
Fonts: Sunshine (title); KG When Oceans Rise (date/journal)

This double-page spread is from a weekend getaway we took to Galveston after we attended James’ friend Ray’s wedding. We ended the getaway by visiting the beach.

Digikit: Magical Scraps Galore – Coastal Breeze
Template: Dear Friends Designs – Wanderlust
Fonts: KG When Oceans Rise

Some wonderful inspiration from the Creative Team:

Stay tuned for Marina’s new collection coming to stores in July:

San Francisco Treat

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Jennifer

Whether you’re reliving memories of riding the cable cars or dreaming of a trip to Golden Gate Park, it’s clear you’re in for a San Francisco Treat! This colorful scrapbook kit captures the essence of this wonderful city, injecting pops of red into inviting teal, navy, and grassy green. San Francisco Treat pays tribute to the numerous destinations San Fran has to offer, from Fisherman’s Wharf to Chinatown to the Bay Bridge itself. This kit is jam-packed with thematic elements, funky patterned papers, and word strips for the most famous destinations. Transport yourself to a West Coast adventure with San Francisco Treat. You can grab this kit for 1/2 price during this first week of release.

PREVIEWS ARE LINKED

I have three layouts to share. First up is a double page spread of our 2011 visit to San Francisco. Journaling reads: After wondering Pier 39, we headed to the Aquarium of the Bay. Admission was part of our CityPASS and if it hadn’t been included, I’m not sure we would have visited it. All told, we spent about 30 minutes exploring the aquarium. We spent the most of our time in the Under the Bay exhibit. There were two types of jelly fish (Pacific Sea Nettle pictured to the left). The schools of anchovies in the first of the two tunnel tanks were impressive. I especially loved the sea stars, also found in the touch tank. The second tunnel tank contained sharks, rays, and sturgeon found in the deeper waters of San Francisco Bay. Shark species included all five local shark species: sevengills, leopard sharks, soupfin sharks, and spiny dogfish. The Touch the Bay exhibit included some terrestrial critters.

Digikit: Scraps N Pieces – San Francisco Treat
Template: AK Designs – Two Pager Pack 6
Font: Korinth Serial (title); KG When Oceans Rise (journal/date/caption)

Next is a fun little layout I made in a speed scrap from that same trip. Journaling reads: After taking a break in our hotel room, we set out to ride a cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf. The California cable car line ends just one block from our hotel; however, repair on the line started in January, so we walked a few blocks to a stop for the Powell-Hyde line and rode it to the end of the line.

Digikit: Scraps N Pieces – San Francisco Treat
Font: KG When Oceans Rise

Here are the fun layouts that the rest of the CT created with this kit.

Beth made this super cute freebie to grab and also make sure you are signed up for the newsletter so that you can get the other one.

Preview linked to Beth’s.

Newsletter Freebie.

English Garden

Posted on June 1, 2015 by Jennifer

It’s the first of the month and that means Bits N Pieces time over at Scraps N Pieces. Be sure to grab all of pieces from the designers Scraps N Pieces this month: elements, papers, alpha, and template pack 5.

English Garden captures the timeless fairy tale appeal of a lush, springtime garden. This kit’s cool, jewel-tone color scheme feels magical and lends an air of both fun and formality to your scrapbook pages. English Garden is versatile enough to pair nicely with other kits in your stash for scrapping every occasion.

Previews are linked.

I have four layouts to share, two using the kit and three using the template pack. These first two layouts using the kit are from our wedding. The purples and grays in the kit worked perfectly with the colors of our wedding.

Digikit: Scraps N Pieces – English Garden
Template: Scraos N Pieces – Template Pack 5
Font: PegsannaHMK (Title); KG When Oceans Rise (sub-title)

Digikit: Scraps N Pieces – English Garden
Template: Connie Prince – How to Bee Happy
Font: PegsannaHMK (Title); KG When Oceans Rise (sub-title)

Then I have a layout about our February 2011 trip to San Francisco. These are the sea lions we saw at Pier 39.

Digikit: Scraps N Pieces – Down by the Bay
Template: Scraos N Pieces – Template Pack 5

And this last one contains the sights of Key West from our January 2013 Disney Cruise. I forgot to do a title and will have to go back and add one.

Digikit: Scraps N Pieces – Along the Seashore
Template: Scraos N Pieces – Template Pack 5

Here is what our CT created with the kit pieces.

Here are some different layout created with the Template pack 5.

I hope you have a fabulous June.

Bay Area Trip – Day 2 – Friday, February 11th

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Jennifer

Warning: I’m sharing 49 of the 309 photos I snapped for the day. Make sure you click on a picture if you want to view it bigger.

California Academy of Sciences

We took the bus from our hotel to Golden Gate Park, home to among other things the California Academy of Sciences. As a large urban park, it is similar to NYC’s Central Park although at 1,017 acres, it is 20% larger than Central Park. The area between the California Academy of Sciences and the de Young Musuem is called the Music Concourse. One of the first things that caught our eyes were these weird looking trees. I’ve since found out these are normal trees pruned in a method called pollarding, which promotes a dense head of foliage and branches. This practice is performed to maintain trees at a predetermined height. It would be interesting to see the trees in the summer with foliage. They probably don’t look so alien then.

James and Pollarded Tree

California Academy of Sciences

Spreckels Temple of Music, aka the Bandshell

de Young

The first exhibit we experienced was “Rainforests of the World.” This is the exhibit we probably spent the most time perusing. It was really neat.

Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs

The base of the rain forest dome was “flooded.” Some of the fish were quite large, perhaps as big as a human adult. After ascending the walkway that circled the dome, you took the elevator to the lower level of the museum. After exiting the elevator, you could watch the fish swim over your head. Note the people seen in the left of the next photo. They weren’t swimming with the fish.

Rain Forest Floor Fish Tank

Parrot

I really enjoyed taking photos of the butterflies, so you will see a number of the different types found in the dome. I’m not sure if there were more Isabella Longwings or if they were just camera hogs, but they were the subjects of probably half of my butterfly photos.

Isabella Longwing

Golden Mantella

Giant Owl

Sapho Longwing

Isabella Longwing

Female Purple Honeycreeper and Paradise Tanager

The aquarium filled the entire lower level of the museum.

Upside-down Jellyfish

Philippine Coral Reef

James and I remember frequently seeing relatives of this little guy on our trip to Tahiti. Although our favorite on that trip was the Picasso Triggerfish.

Palette Surgeonfish, aka Dory fish

We ate lunch in the museum cafeteria. The selection and quality was very good. Afterward, we went to the “Islands of Evolution” exhibit.

Madagascar Plated Lizard

Then we wandered up to the observation deck of the living roof. They shaped the roof like San Francisco, with seven hills. I think a living roof is such a fabulous concept. Just think, if you have ancestors who lived in dugouts, they were early pioneers of living roofs.

Living Roof

Powdery Dudleya

Living Roof

Back inside, you can look up through the glass ceiling of the Piazza to see the living roof.

Piazza Ceiling

The museum also has a planetarium (passes are distributed on a first come first served basis), but we picked the one day it happened to be closed for maintenance. So we headed back downstairs to the aquarium for a chat with a diver in the Philippine Coral Reef.

Diver Show

After leaving the California Academy of Sciences, we strolled through a small portion of Golden Gate Park enjoying the scenery.

Roses

Cherry Blossoms

Can you tell you're in the most densely populated city in California?

Golden Gate Bridge

From Fulton St., we hopped on a bus to drive up Park Presidio Blvd. to the Golden Gate Bridge.

James with Cable Section

Golden Gate Bridge

James and Jennifer

Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco Skyline

On Bridge Deck

James and the Golden Gate Bridge

Jennifer and the Golden Gate Bridge

Poppies

Flower with Bridge in Background

Palace of Fine Arts

From the bridge, we took a short bus ride to the Palace of Fine Arts. This was even more amazing during the daytime.

Dome of Palace of Fine Arts

Arches

Decorative Detail

Palace Lagoon

You can really see how massive a structure it is, by this next picture of James relaxing on a bench in front of the domed part of the structure.

James

Gallivanting Goose

James and the Palace of Fine Arts

Jennifer and the Palace of Fine Arts

Houses as Far as the Eye Can See

Evening

From the Palace of Fine Arts, we took another bus to Ghirardelli Square. We checked out the beach of Aquatic Park, a small lagoon located just north of Ghirardelli Square nearly encircled by two piers with a small opening out to the bay. Apparently, people swim here year-round since it is free from sea craft, but we didn’t see any swimmers while we were there and I don’t think I would want to swim there in February.

Aquatic Park

Sunset Over the Bay

We then walked over to Scoma’s on Pier 47 for a delectable dinner. We didn’t order an appetizer, but the sourdough bread served prior to receiving our entrees was extremely tasty. James ate Seafood Canneloni and thought of it like Italian enchiladas. I ate Grilled Pacific Red Snapper with garlic lemon butter that James even said was good (and he’s not the biggest fish person). Afterward, we wandered the shops for a bit to work up an appetite for dessert. We headed back to Ghirardelli Square to share an ice cream sundae at the lower of the two Ghirardelli shops in the square. Did you know that Ghirardelli first opened shop in 1852?

Ghirardelli Square

If you missed Day 1 of our trip, go here and here for an Alcatraz cell door video. Stay tuned for days 3 and 4.