The One with Teaching Near Bamberg, Germany!

On Saturday September 26th 2015 in the town of Ebern near Bamberg, Germany I'll be teaching how to make two signature style layouts! Here are sneaks and I'll share the full layouts after the class!

 On this layout I will bring pre-die cut floral backgrounds and we'll be backing the flowers with patterned papers from the Wanderlust collection by Heidi Swapp, watercoloring around the flowers, and then embellishing with badges, chipboard, flower die cuts, gold glitter washi tape, and more!

Here we'll cut Polaroid frames, sort product (mostly the Let's Eat collection by Elle's Studio!) into color, and then have fun layering and splattering with paint!

If you're interested, email Lena at blaueshasi@gmx.de to reserve a spot! Hope to see you there!

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The One with Pinkfresh Studio "Happy Things" Layouts

When I saw the big reveal of the Happy Things collections by Pinkfresh Studio, I pretty much begged Kinnari to send me some :) I was sooooo happy when a big ol' box of loveliness arrived in my mailbox!

 I couldn't wait to finish some assignments and then play play play! Here are three layouts I made with the Happy Things line:

HAPPY PLACE by Paige Evans

DESCRIPTION: I've been on a "pile all the things into a collage" kick lately! Here I layered everything down the center of this fabulous patterned paper.

JOURNALING SAYS: Colmar, France is such a dream - so many cute and colorful buildings everywhere! Straight out of Beauty and the Beast!

HOW TO: It's sort of like a puzzle to do this technique: pick out all of the elements you want to use, along with a photo and title, and then have fun collaging them down the center of a patterned paper background. Journal right on a fabric tag. Drop black India ink around three places for a visual triangle.

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, wood veneer, stickers, rubber embellishments, fabric tags: Pinkfresh Studio; India ink: ProArt; Adhesive, pen: American Crafts

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TULIPS OF AMSTERDAM by Paige Evans

DESCRIPTION: Those triangles tho!! I love patterned transparency triangles and ALL of the triangles printed on one of the patterned papers. I cut them out and challenged myself to use them on a layout.

JOURNALING SAYS: Collect memories not things.

HOW TO: Trim out all the triangles from one of the Happy Things patterned papers then glue them along with the patterned transparency triangles onto a white cardstock base. Layer a pair of photos over transparency cards onto the center of the layout and tuck embellishments underneath the edges. Make the title with letter stickers and write "of" with a black pen to finish.

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, patterned transparency triangles, transparency cards, stickers, wood veneer, rubber embellishments, fabric tag: Pinkfresh Studio; Cardstock, pen, adhesive: American Crafts

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COLORFUL SWEET STRASBOURG by Paige Evans

DESCRIPTION: This layout features (along with the Happy Things collection!) a cute confetti heart cut file by Ashley Calder (check out her etsy shop here: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/AshleyCalder?section_id=15012874&ref=shopsection_leftnav_2_)

JOURNALING SAYS: I'm pretty sure the Alsace region of France is the most picturesque place in the world! Every view is so quaint and adorable!

HOW TO: Use a Silhouette Cameo and die cut the Confetti Heart Background by Ashley Calder from kraft cardstock. Back the cardstock with a watercolor patterned paper using foam dots. Add a photo, transparency card, and a title on the top. Place wood veneer hearts inside some of the die cut hearts then drop India ink around the photo/title. Journal on the top right corner.

SUPPLIES: Patterned paper, stickers, wood veneer, transparency card: Pinkfresh Studio; Cardstock, adhesive, pen: American Crafts; India ink: ProArt; Confetti Heart Background: Ashley Calder; Die cut machine: Silhouette Cameo

I super duper pretty much LOVE this collection!

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The One with the Elle's Studio August 2015 Layout

My August Elle's Studio step-by-step layout is up! Here is the page in its entirety but be sure to visit the Elle's Studio blog for the complete how to:

HOME SWEET HOME by Paige Evans

DESCRIPTION: I love that the photo of our house is almost the same colors as the elements behind the mountains. I build my page first and add the photo last so this was meant to be!

JOURNALING SAYS: Coming home to our house after a long trip is one of my favorite parts about going on vacation! I love our nest :)

SUPPLIES: Cut file, printables, die cuts, acrylic shapes, stickers: Elle's Studio August 2015 kit; Cardstock, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Buttons: Studio Calico; Watercolors: Loew Cornell; Die cut machine: Silhouette Cameo; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

On this layout I used elements from the Elle's Studio August 2015 kit:

Visit the Elle's Studio blog to see how this layout came together in 5 easy steps!

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The One with Peterhof, Russia

On our second day in port at St. Petersburg we loaded up on our excursion bus to drive out to the Peterhof palace.  

It was about an hour drive from the cruise port to the palace and along the way we got to see more of St. Petersburg through our bus windows. 

How beautiful is this mint green building? That color is right up my alley. 

Orthodox churches are so cool and so different from what we usually see out in Western Europe.

Along with the lovely architecture are the inevitable communist era apartment blocks that you can see all over what was once the Eastern Bloc.



Bluest of blue roofs ever!

Endless railroad tracks.

We arrived and WOW! That's all I can say.

Peter the Great's lavish palace at Peterhof sits along the Gulf of Finland west of St. Petersburg. The history of Peterhof begins back in 1705 when traveling chambers were built for Peter the Great on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. Soon, not far from this place, work began on the creation of a new imperial residence, which, Peter determined, would one day outshine all the other royal palaces of Europe.

This is Russia's Versailles and is once of the areas most popular tourist attractions. The Gгаnd Palace lies at the very heart of Peterhof and is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside. In the nineteenth century the ornate Baroque interiors were embellished with Neoclassical details and light touches of Late Rococo. The palace boasts masterpieces of decorative art such as the Oak Cabinet of Peter the Great with carved panels by Nicolas Pineau; the grand staircase and golden enfilade of state apartments; the Ball Room and the Picture Gallery with 368 paintings by Pietro Antonio Rotari; the Cesme Room created for Catherine the Great in honor of Russian naval victories; the Chinese Rooms and the Throne Room with its Romanov portrait gallery... buuuuut no pictures were allowed and there was a mean museum person in every corner of every room yelling at us left and right for Fox and Jane just looking at things the wrong way. I'm only slightly exaggerating - the way they targeted us because we were the only ones with small children was annoying. But anyway. We're used to it. And sorry for no interior photos of all those things, like I said, no photos allowed, and I wasn't about to get caught trying to take some and get shipped off to Siberia! :)

It was crowded AS inside (that's gotta be some kind of fire hazard?!) so we were anxious to be done with the inside tour and head outside in the fresh air and not worry so much about Fox & Jane knocking things over.

Peter the Great planned Peterhof as the residence of a sea king. This was to be his incarnation of Russia as a great European power, with a foothold on the shores of the world's oceans, capable of competing with the finest Western courts - above all, with Versailles.

As a former residence of the Russian monarchs, Peterhof brings together the finest achievements in national and international culture. This unique complex was created by outstanding architects, decorators and sculptors, whose spectacular works of art slot perfectly into the natural beauty of the coastal landscape.

The tsar deliberately built his new residence by the sea as a triumphant symbol of the successful conclusion of Russia's long struggle for an outlet to the Baltic Sea. Peterhof was officially opened in the presence of the tsar and foreign diplomats in August 1723.
The Grand Cascade is modeled on one constructed for Louis XIV at his Château de Marly, which is likewise memorialized in one of the park's outbuildings. In the 1730s, the large Samson Fountain was placed in this pool. It depicts the moment when Samson tears open the jaws of a lion, representing Russia's victory over Sweden in the Great Northern War, and is doubly symbolic. The lion is an element of the Swedish coat of arms and one of the great victories of the war was won on St Samson's Day. From the lion's mouth shoots a vertical jet of water, the highest in all of Peterhof. This masterpiece by Mikhail Kozlovsky was looted by the invading Germans during the Second World War. A replica of the statue was installed in 1947.

The Evans Family in front of the Grand Cascade at Peterhof, Russia on Thursday July 30th 2015. Our kids are really cooperative, all the time, as you can plainly see.

The expanse of the Lower Gardens is designed in the formal style of French formal gardens of the 17th century.

Today, the museum complex stretches across five hundred hectares of territory. Dotted with sparkling fountains, the Lower Park and Upper Gardens flow effortlessly into the shady and romantic glades of Alexandria, forming a unique fusion of regular and landscape parks.

The Peterhof Museum Complex is rightfully regarded as the "capital of fountains." Included in the state register of most valuable cultural objects of the Russia, Peterhof now bears the proud title of one of the "Seven Wonders of Russia."

Garden and grounds details.

The present-day beauty of Peterhof is the result of decades of painstaking work by architects, painters, and masters of decorative and applied art. Restoration work continues even to this day.
Next stop: Tallinn, Estonia!

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The One with St. Petersburg, Russia

Our third cruise stop was a three-day stint in St. Petersburg, Russia! The entry requirements for Russia are a little restrictive. You can try and get a tourist visa which is an expensive and lengthy process or you can book an excursion with your cruise company. Other than that, you are staying on the boat. We obviously weren't going to miss this chance so we pre-booked a few excursions with the cruise line. It was a very easy process and early that first morning in port we passed through customs (got another stamp in the 'ol passport) and loaded up in our tour bus.

Some sort of Russian naval sailors we drove by.

Our first glimpses of St. Petersburg through the rainy bus window.

Once a swamp, then an imperial capital, and now a showpiece of vanished aristocratic opulence shot through with the dingy ruins of communism, St. Petersburg is Russia's most tourist-worthy city. Palaces, gardens, statues, and arched bridges over graceful waterways bring back the time of czars. Two of the world's greatest art museums and some sumptuous Orthodox churches top it off.  Our first excursion was to tour the incredible Hermitage.

Built by Peter the Great's daughter Elizabeth, the Hermitage was later filled with the art collection of Catherine the Great. The Hermitage's vast collections of just about everything - but especially its European masterworks - make it one of the world's top art museums, ranking with the Louvre and Prado. Housed in the Romanov's Winter Palace, the Hermitage is actually two-top notched sight-seeing experiences in one: an art gallery of European works and an imperial residence. You get to enjoy the Leonardos and Rembrandts while imagining the ostentatious lifestyles of the czars who collected them. Between the canvases you glide through some of the most opulent ballrooms and throne rooms ever built.

Here is the museum/palace from across the river.

Excursion selfie!

One of the museum's artistic highlights is Rembrandt's The Prodigal Son from 1669. Chris loved seeing it in person after having studied it in college (right photo below). On the left, the War Gallery of 1812 is a hall displaying over 300 portraits of the generals who helped to expel Napoleon from Russia in 1812.  In the hall, and throughout the museum, were art students from the academy of fine arts who are allowed in the museum early to study from the masterpieces. These students were incredibly talented! Student | Sumptuous ceiling.  St. George's Room, also known as the Great Throne room, is one of the largest rooms in the palace. It served as the principal throne room for most of the palace's history and many formal and important events took place here. It was a sight to behold.

Top left is the Memorial Hall of Peter the Great, a.k.a. the Small Throne Room.   I want this ceiling in a patterned paper, please and thank you. One of the highlights of the palace is the Pavilion Room with it's intricate Peacock Clock. The timepiece was built by British goldsmith James Cox and purchased by Catherine the Great.

You almost don't even notice the incredible clock when you first walk in the room, however, because the decoration is so incredible. Absolutely breathtaking.  A pretty gold lamp and a painting of the Habsburg jaw. The best thing about this excursion was that our tour group was basically the only people in the whole museum. There were about 35 of us, but those were the only people we saw in the museum. I guess tour groups are allowed in early which was so amazing. No crowds, no pushing with people to get close to the paintings, no sholder to sholder trying to admire the rooms (**cough**Versailles**cough**). I loved it. The great Dutch painter Rembrandt is beautifully represented in the Hermitage. This hall was devoted to pieces by him and his followers.

We admired Raphaels, Leonardos, Michelangelos, Titians, and more, all in this incredible setting.  Wow! I would have loved to have hours to explore and appreciate every nook and cranny, especially if it could have stayed as empty as it was for us.

Marble statues lining a grand staircase.

Looking out the window to Palace Square with the Alexander Column honoring Czar Alexander I in the center.

The colors of this room reminded me of Wedgwood china.

How cool are these royal sleighs? So incredible. The Evans Family in St. Petersburg, Russia in front of the Hermitage on Wednesday July 29th, 2015.

Before going back to the boat, the tour bus stopped at a tourist market to let people pick up trinkets. We found our usual magnet and got the kids some little Russian souvenirs. 

And this was the last photo my Nikon ever took, waaaaaaaaaaaah. I was pulling our bag out of the stroller and my camera fell out and smashed on the cement sidewalk. RIP Nikon. You were amazing.

I couldn't even get a nice replacement camera for two whole days since the shops on board weren't open while we're docked and we weren't allowed to walk around Russia since we didn't get a Visa. I was absolutely distraught, to say the least. I TAKE PICTURES! IT'S WHAT I DOOOOO! And we hadn't even seen what I was most excited to see in St. Petersburg yet! But, life goes on, so the following photos were all taken by my sub-par phone. Better than nothing! Barely :)

Almost every afternoon after we were done sight seeing we'd take fox to the Adventure Ocean kids club. It was great (and free!) and he absolutely loved it. Often we'd pick him up and his face would be painted, like Batman for example, below. His face is sad because he didn't want to leave the "play room," as he called it.

The next day we went to Peterhof, but that'll be another post. On our last day in Russia, we did a walking tour to see the Church of the Spilled Blood. Read on.   FRIDAY JULY 31ST 2015 Just like Wednesday we woke up early, passed through customs, and loaded up on our bus for our next adventure.

We passed buy this McDonald's, or Макдоналдс, if you will. It was cool seeing signs like this or Subway or Starbucks in Russian. The tour guides did a good job of giving us mini bus tours as we would drive to our destinations. This is the Peter and Paul Fortress founded by Peter the Great in 1703 during the Great Northern War with Sweden. The golden spire of the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral within was visible all around the city.
The Trinity Bridge - created by the same architect as the Eiffel Tower. They do look similar in design! Statue of Peter the Great.

Our walking tour began in the Field of Mars, a large park situated in the middle of St. Petersburg. On 6 November 1957 in the center of the Field was lit an Eternal Flame honoring "victims of the revolution".

Our tour guide holding her "lollipop." She couldn't have been more than about 20 years old.

Pretty bridge.

Mikhailovsky Castle, a formal royal residence, sits behind the Field of Mars. The castle looks different from each side as the architects used motifs of various architectural styles such as French Classicism, Italian Renaissance, and Gothic.
Cobblestone streets: hard on strollers but easy on the eyes.

Another side of the castle.

We took turns rubbing part of the statue for good weather. It was supposed to start raining, but luckily it held out until the end of our excursion. The rubbing totally worked.

This is the gym where they train Olympian gymnasts. Cool!

I really wish we had been able to more fully explore this wonderful city on our own and at our own pace. Maybe next time :)

At one point, our tour group stopped at a souvenir store so we took the chance to dash off on our own for a few minutes.

Look at the view we found! That's the Spilled Blood Church in the background, the last stop of our walking tour.  The Evans Family in St. Petersburg, Russia on Friday 31st July 2015.

Nevsky Prospekt is St. Petersburg's most famous thoroughfare and along its length are some of the city's most opulent palaces, top museums, most important churches, and finest urban architecture, including the Art Noveau so-called Singer House. It was once the Russian headquarters of the American sewing machine company, Singer, hence the bald eagle with its wings spread wide on top. 

Right across the boulevard is the Neoclassical Kazan Cathedral.  Re-opened as a church after years as a "Museum of Atheism" under the communists rule, this huge church has a sweeping portico modeled after St. Peter's in Rome.

A modern carriage?! No way!

After admiring the views along Nevsky Prospect and loving our few minutes of freedom, we hastily re-joined our group before we got snatched up by the Russian police :)

Finally, it was what we were waiting for: the Church on Spilled Blood. 

This exuberantly decorative church with its gilded carrot top of onion domes is a must-see. It's built on the place where a suicide bomber assassinated Czar Alexander I in 1881 - explaining both the evocative name and the structure's out of kilter relationship to the surrounding street plan. 

Begun just after Alexander's assassination but not finished until 1907, the church is built in a neo-Russian, Historicist stye. Its designers created a building that was a romantic, fairy-tale image of their own national history and traditions - similar to Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria and the Matthias Church in Budapest.  

Entering the church and looking up you are greeted by Christ gazing down at you from the top of the dome, bathed in light from the windows and ringed by the gold balcony railing.

The walls are covered with exquisite mosaics (nothing is painted) that show how Orthodoxy continues the artistic traditions of early Christianity. So (so so so so so) cool.

The iconostasis - the partition dividing the altar from the main part of the church - is made of marble with inlaid doors. Incredible.

More shots of the interior because I couldn't get enough.

These are not paintings - they're MOSAICS. Each and every little stone was meticulously placed to create these large images. Astounding.

In the back of the church, a canopy marks the spot where the Czar was mortally wounded. 

If you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it.

Not to end on a sour note, but after walking out of the church, it started raining and I got sick. Super sick. Like, STREP THROAT sick. Who gets strep throat on a cruise?! Me, that's who. And it sucked big time. I didn't want to go to the doctor and get antibiotics because I'm sure they would have quarantined me and that is the opposite point of a cruise. So I popped some pills every few hours, drank lots of water, and sucked it up for basically the rest of the trip because that's how long it lasted. The first few days were the worst, but eventually it was tolerable. Anyway, it happens. I didn't let it dampen my spirits TOO much. On we went! 

The second day in Russia we ventured out of St. Petersburg to Peterhof so that's the next recap post coming soon!

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