Last post for a bit!

We're going on holidays today! Jason's taking Nolan canoeing on the Bowron Lakes, and I'm taking the girls to see the grandparents and some friends. We'll be gone for almost 2 weeks, so I won't be posting for a while, but I just wanted to share a project I made for my son's teacher. It's a little box that opens up and holds 6 cards and envies! Cute, eh? I got the idea from Tresa Black, and it's at her Fabulously Artsy blog. (I have to find out how to do links!) I random stamped some Vanilla Cream cardstock for the box, then made the cards with the Unforgettable paper pack, all from Close to My Heart. I haven't used this paper pack much, but bringing it out for this project, I kind of rediscovered it. It's awesome, and so versatile! Anyway, my son's teacher has been very helpful and understanding of his challenges, so I wanted to make her something nice. (Also, there's not much for shopping in this town!) So, I hope she likes it!

Supplies (all CTMH): Tickled Pink, For Every Occasion, and A Little Everything My Acrylix stamp sets, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Sorbet, Juniper, Blush, Cocoa, and Desert Sand, patterned paper and cardstock from Unforgettable Level 2 paper pack, Colonial White card bases and envies, Bigger Brads in Pewter, and Natural Hemp

Read More

Layout #41

I really wanted to break into my Splendour paper pack- it's the only one I ordered from the new Close to My Heart catalogue, and I love it! The colours are really great with outdoorsy pics, so I chose these ones from 2 years ago, when we first moved here. I also got a little crazy with some blue tissue paper and machine stitching up at the top border. I meant for it to look like sky, but it looks a lot like water too. In retrospect, I should have used the cloud patterned paper for the sky- oops! I used my Petite Perks stamp set to do up some flowers and butterflies, which I coloured with watercolour pencils and a blending pen, then cut out - took foreeeeeever! Then I used my Campin' Fever stamp set for some of the other accents- love that stamp set! Finally, these photos are scrapped!

Supplies (all CTMH): patterned paper and cardstock from Splendour Level 2 paper pack, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Moonstruck and Desert Sand, Petite Perks, Moments in Time, and Campin' Fever My Acrylix stamp sets, watercolor pencils, brads, and ribbon slide

Other: Prima journaling spot, Dymo labeller, unknown blue ribbon, Making Memories green ribbon, Basic Grey fiber, Creative Memories pen, and tissue paper

Read More

SPCC #52

I forgot to mention that I made the Top 5 over at Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combos (SPCC- check out the link in my sidebar!) for a card I made a couple of weeks ago. When I saw my card in the Winner's Circle at the SPCC blog, I started yelling and calling everyone over to see. My kids were all like, "Way to go, Mommy!" and "That's awesome, Mommy!" I say to my husband, "Hey, Jay, I made top 5!" And what does my husband say? "What, in the world?" Yeah, whatever, I know you're proud of me!

So this is my next submission for an SPCC challenge. The colours this week are Stampin' Up's Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, and Bravo Burgundy, so I substituted Blush, Garden Green and Garnet from Close to My Heart. I also had some Basic Grey patterned paper that matched up perfectly, even though there's a bit of yellow in there. The actual layout is scraplifted from one in the Feb/March '07 issue of Scrapbooks etc. I had it drawn out in my journal, so I must have liked it a lot because usually I just dog ear the page and never see it again. My husband took these photos using the sepia setting on our camera, and they turned out pinkish, so I think they look great with these colours - what do you think? And, seriously, IS there anything better than holding a sleeping baby?

Supplies (all CTMH): Blush, Garden Green, and Garnet cardstock, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Garnet, Chocolate Alphabet (small), Heartthrob, and Moments in Time My Acrylix stamp sets, chipboard heart from Dazzling Die Cuts

Other: Creative Memories pen, Basic Grey patterned paper

P.S. this is layout #40 for the year!

Read More

Underwhelmed!

The Elements challenge at Design Dollies (click on their blinkie in my side bar, they have awesome challenges!) this week was to complete a graduation themed project, so this page takes us back exactly 17 years to my high school graduation. Unfortunately, this is THE best picture of the ceremonies (no zoom lens!) so I put the gem frame around my face to sort of focus the attention there. Did it work? The colours this week are Yellow, Brown, White, and Royal Blue, and I'm proud to say that every piece of paper on this page started out white! I did some random stamping, clear embossing and brayering, and even pulled out the ol' water colour pencils and blending pen to pretty up the flourishes. I also followed this week's sketch pretty closely, so yay, another Trifecta completed!

If you're wondering about the title, well, it comes from a song by a Canadian band, Sloan. Come to think of it, I think the song came out around the same time as my graduation. Anyway, it sums up my feelings on that day pretty well. I know most people are really excited about graduating, but me, on that day, I felt kind of bummed. Did anyone else out there feel like that on their graduation day?

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Moonstruck, Creme Brulee, Cocoa, and Desert Sand, Clear Detail embossing powder, Tickled Pink, Intrinsic Backgrounds, and Key to My Heart My Acrylix stamp sets, watercolour pencils, and gem frame

Other: Dymo Label Buddy

P.S. this is layout #39 of 120 for the year

Read More

TONS of Sewing! (Layout #38)

My kids are super lucky to have a cool young cousin, someone who loves to spend time with them and show them things when we come to visit. Here's a double-page spread chronicling the time Ailis spent with Michalla during a spring trip. I used a pattern from Imagine (a Close to My Heart pattern book, looooooove it!) called "Double Take", and I sewed with my machine anywhere I could! I really like the fresh colours of the Boom-di-Ada paper pack, and I used the coordinating stamp set to make the flower accents, popping up portions with some foam tape.

Supplies (all CTMH): patterned paper and cardstock from Boom-di-Ada Level 2 paper pack, Giggle Caps, The Works Alphabet, and Cottage Floral My Acrylix stamp sets, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Olive and Hollyhock

Other: Creative Memories pen, date stamp

Read More

Layout #37

I really like how this one turned out! I had a lot of fun with my sewing machine, and it's the first time I've ever tried this: once you've stuck your paper down, you kind of peel it back with your finger to show underneath and distress it a bit, then you sew over it. Makes it look kinda shabby! I also had fun with the Campin' Fever stamp set. I used the rock 'n' roll technique to get the two-toned effect, and I used a sketch from 4x6 photo sketch blog.

Supplies (all CTMH): Backcountry Level 2 paper pack, Campin' Fever My Acrylix stamp set, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Desert Sand

Other: Creative Memories bold-tip pen, Sakura Gelly Roll white pen

Read More

Layout #36 and Some Cool Flowers

So, my pictures weren't coming up on the last post, I don't know why, but here is the layout described in the post below. Sorry for the confusion! ACK!

Read More

Layout #36 and Some Cool Flowers

I picked up a Creating Keepsakes magazine and it had a feature on making flowers. Aren't these so cool? They're pretty easy to make, but I had a bit of difficulty sticking them on my page. I ended up gluing them onto a cardstock circle before putting them on my page. My husband's comment when I showed this page to him: "You're only going to have 2 pages per album!" Yeah, but at least they'll be great pages! I also used a sketch for this page, from 4x6 photo sketch blogspot.

Supplies (all CTMH): patterned paper and cardstock from Blue Ribbon Level 2 paper pack, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Outdoor Denim, Felicity My Acrylix stamp set

Other: Creative Memories pen, buttons, date stamp

Read More

Design Dollies Trifecta

Each week at Design Dollies they throw down 3 challenges. If you can do all 3 in one project, then you've completed the trifecta. Well, this is the first time I've been able to do it! Let's see, the colours this week are red, yellow, and brown, the elements challenge is to incorporate a sporty theme, and the sketch looks something like what I used for this layout. What do you think of my homemade patterned paper? It was pretty fun to make, and use up some of those letter stickers.

Supplies (all CTMH): patterned paper from Key to My Heart and Caprice paper packs, Tulip and Chocolate cardstock, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in White Daisy, Tulip, Chocolate, and Desert Sand, Caprice My Stickease, Classmate Alphabet, Felicity, Giggle Caps, and The Works Alphabet My Acrylix stamp sets

Other: Hot Off the Press letter tiles, Creative Memories, Magenta, and Finishing Touches letter stickers, Colorbok glitter letter, Sakura pen

P.S. - this is layout 35 for the year!

Read More

Scrapmaster's Paradise Sketch #2

I just loooooooved this sketch at Scrapmaster's Paradise, so I looked for two photos I could use with it, and this layout just blossomed from there! I was so excited with how it turned out, I ran over and showed my husband as soon as I was finished. I had a couple problems with completing it to my satisfaction, so I really had to use some creative muscle. I wanted silver photo mats, so I used a silver pen on white cardstock, but I guess it was kinda old, so I practically destroyed the tip trying to get all the silver out. I chucked the pen, then realized I wanted a silver mat for the journaling spot. Luckily I had an old silver ink pad, and it wasn't even dried up! So I swiped that on the edges of a white cardstock circle. The silver pen I used for my journaling was not cooperating, either, so I had to go over my printing a billion times to get it to show up. GGGRRRRR! But I'm extremely happy with how the glitter mist and stamping turned out. I even used a stamp that's supposed to be a leaf or petal and made it into water droplets. Pretty smart, eh?

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, Felicity My Acrylix stamp set, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Hollyhock

Other: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Silver Sugar and Viva Pink, Heidi Swapp journaling spot, Creative Memories silver fine tip pen, Avery broad tip silver marker, Encore silver ink pad

P.S. - This is layout #34 of 120 for the year

Read More

My First Tri-Fold Card!

I watched a YouTube video by Splitcoast Stampers on how to make this cool card for my friend's birthday. The one in the video had more embellishments, but I think this one turned out pretty good for my first try. The hardest part was getting the papers the right size. Don't you just love the Twitterpated papers and the chipboard buttons?

Supplies (all CTMH): paper from Twitterpated Level 2 paper pack, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Chocolate, A Little Bit of Everything My Acrylix stamp set, Natural Hemp, and Organic Dimensional Elements

Read More

Sketchy Thursdays and Layout #33

I needed to get these photos from last summer scrapped, and the sketch from Sketchy Thursdays seemed perfect. I changed it up a bit, subbing in some journaling for one of the photos, and then I made these "flowers" out of crumpled tissue paper sprayed with silver mist, and I got to use my Label Buddy for some of the journaling, too. It's hard to see because of the glare, but it says, "Oh wait...That part was not so great!" referring to when Nolan got stung by a bee. I don't know about the flowers. I looked at them after I'd already stuck them down (and I agonized over placement!) and said to my family, "Do these look like flowers, or a snotty crumpled tissue?" My husband had a hard time keeping his laughter under wraps, and my son said, "It's beautiful, you're very creative, Mummy!" So, a mixed reaction there. What do you think?

Supplies (all CTMH): patterned paper and cardstock from Blue Ribbon Level 2 paper pack, Bigger Brads and Photo Turn in Colonial White, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Indian Corn Blue and Outdoor Denim

Other: Little Yellow Bicycle journaling spot, Hot Off the Press letter tiles, tissue paper, Dymo labeler, Creative Memories pen, Tattered Angels glimmer mist, tissue paper, date stamp, ribbon

Read More