Italy Installment #4: Pisa (a layout)

I celebrated National Scrapbooking Day by - *GASP* - not scrapbooking at all! The break was nice. I scrapbook in some form or other pretty much every day, so sometimes I need to just stop and do something else. Too much of a good thing can be...well, too much, sometimes. :)

My mom recently went on a trip to the Netherlands with her sister, so I spent the weekend putting together a little photo book for her through Blurb. I was convinced that I could create it in a couple of hours, and I probably could have if I had auto-loaded the photos and simple typed up her captions. But I really can't just leave a good thing alone, so I played with her photos in Lightroom, and I researched every single place on her itinerary. Which ended up sidetracking me into some fabulous Flickr galleries. Which reminded me that I'm supposed to be working on improving my photography. Which reminded me that I'd really like a new camera. Which inspired me to research the new Nikons...but the story stops there. Sigh. Wish I could have typed, "Which convinced me to buy the D700."  They say the best equipment doesn't make the photo. But I'm sure it doesn't hurt.

Besides longing for a new camera (and adding some lenses to my wishlist), I finished this great little photobook, and I wish I could share it with you! It's the first one I've created with just photos and no scrappy-style, but it was really refreshing, and I think I'll do a few more for my own trips. Too bad I didn't come up with that idea before I started the Italy album.

Another Italy page (are you getting bored with this yet?):

We weren't in Pisa very long. Long enough to eat pizza (Pizza in Pisa! HA!) and use one very sketchy bathroom with no toilet paper, unreliable electricity, a toilet that didn't flush, and a door handle that had some propensity for locking to the wrong side. I can handle a lot of things but being locked in a dark bathroom with an overflowing toilet is not one of them. Understandably so, don't you think?

Having said that, I still thought Pisa was pretty spectacular and I was disappointed that we didn't have time to climb to the top of the Tower. There is a webcam on The Unofficial Leaning Tower of Pisa website, but I couldn't get it to work. But there are lots of nice photos, and some explanation about the construction, which is interesting if you've ever been involved with structural engineering. Or even if you haven't. I like to know about things. :)

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Die Cuts With a View, Stamps: Hero Arts, gel-a-tins; Chipboard, rub-ons: Creative Imaginations; Other: silk ribbon

Comments

[Lovely Cee.]

the toilet? sound like a nightmare to me.

i was at the store during NSD from 1:00 to midnight. worked then cropped- well, i didnt crop per se- i was the sisters' mascot: the clown- the runner- the assistant and the etc. i never get to scrap when there's people- can't think but i talk most of the time.

thanks for sharing another one of your simple yet fabulous installments. you rawk! LOve!

[sasha farina]

your pages are never boring! never... i wanna visit Italy too.. urmm.. minus the overflowing toilet LOL...

[Sara Rossi]

OK you're not serious right? I want to see your WHOLE Italy album--keep 'em coming! I would love to see Pisa! I've never been there & minus the toliet incident it sounds great! Love the pic of holding up the tower!

[laura vegas]

this could be your own little story book ... "if mary went to make a photo book" ... and the story of how it led her to 27 other things along the way. you could even make this a book through blurb ... if you could focus long enough to do it. lol! i'm exactly the same way ... so i can appreciate your antics!

love the layout. another amazing addition to your italy album!

[Heather M.]

Eeks, that bathroom story is just scary and gross! We encountered some rather sketchy bathrooms in Europe too.
Love your Italy layouts and am definitely not sick of it. I love seeing your work!

That photo book sounds really cool! Was it pricey?

[Karin]

Love your page. When I was in Pisa in 2007, the tower wasn't leaning so much, so in all my photos, it just looks like a tower, LOL. I hated some of the bathrooms in Italy, nothing more than a hole in the ground!

[Sharli]

You ask, "are you getting tired of this yet?" and the answer is emphatically "NO" I LOVE this! What wonderful travel scrapbook pages!!!!! Your blog is delightful - I've marked it so I can return!