Blog Hop: 50 States ~ Alaska

Welcome to the 50 States Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the 50 States Blog Hop! Most of us would love to travel but are having staycations this year. What better way to travel but through a blog hop. This hop was inspired by our host Shawnee's journey across the United States as she traveled with her family to their new home. The United States is truly beautiful with many Arizona, then you are in the right place!! If you are just joining me from your dashboard or happened along from somewhere else, please be sure to CLICK HERE to start with the first state in the union, Delaware, because you won't want to miss out on any of the fun (or any of the blog candy!!)... There is an AMAZING Grand Prize Package for one LUCKY hopper (winner chosen by Rafflecopter)!!  To be entered to win, please do the following:

• Visit each state and leave a comment on each project (simply follow the links provided below)
• Like Blessed on the Bright Side and Handmade By Lisa FB Pages.

So what's the Grand Prize??? Cricut Cartridge - Destinations, beautiful handmade flowers from Shannon at Creative Chaos Flowers, and a $20 Gift Certificate to Scraptastical Kreations. Now on to my state and my project....

Alaska
My husband and I are about to celebrate ten years of marriage.  Our wedding followed 9/11 by 11 days. A lot of our memories of our wedding are heavily influenced by the shock of 9/11 and the state of the country at the time.  We are so lucky to have not lost someone we directly knew in the attacks as my brother-in-law was in the first building when it got hit but survived the ordeal. As it did to the whole country, our family was shaken to the core.  9/11 changed the trajectory of their lives towards our own as because of the attack, my brother-in-law and his wife moved to be away from NY and to be close to us in Chicago.  At the time, we felt like our planned honeymoon needed to be put on hold and our cruise to Alaska was postponed.  Long story short is we eventually headed on our Alaskan cruise 6 months later.

10 years ago, I was not scrapbooking.  I had the want to do it but I did not know how to accomplish it. Luckily for me, I had all of the pictures and memorabilia together in one place and a few months after our trip, I had started throwing some things together and this blog hop forced me to revisit it ten years later with hopes to finish it!

Armed with some stickers, decorative scissors and some tape, this is the front page of the album I started 10 years ago.

 We started the trip in Seattle as that is where we headed out of on our cruise ship up towards the Alaskan Glacier Bay.

 It was fun to take a look at all the memorabilia that I saved.  Here is where I picked up the scrapbooking.  It is amazing to see how far the I have come as a crafter and how far scrapbooking has come in the last decade!

 I used one of my new favorite stamp sets: Stampin' Up!s Delicate Doilies. I love this set, it is sort of like Circle Circus but fancier :)

When I do an album, I often stick to two sets and three or four colors. For this set, I used this I used this recipe.

Recipe
Colors: SU Night of Navy, SU Pear Pizzazz, SU Pacific Point
Stamps: SU Travel Log, SU Delicate Doilies

Here is what I have left to scrapbook. I was hoping to get it done for this blog hop but I guess it can take me another ten years to accomplish :)  Anyway, I am looking forward to celebrating ten years with my loving husband.  I marvel at where our lives are today compared to ten years ago. The business we started is flourishing, we made TWO amazing and beautiful people and I we still deeply love and respect each other. I hope the next ten years are even more amazing!

Now you can hop to the Hawaii!!  Remember to leave a comment on each state to be eligible for the GRAND PRIZE!! 






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