Layout #35 - Get Picky and Stampin' Royalty

I did manage to finish this layout before the deadline for Creative Scrappers, but my lovely family has taken off to Marble Canyon for a day trip adventure (minus me and Brenna!) with all of the cameras! I'm sure by the time they get back, Mr. Linky will be closed, boo hoo! Hopefully they manage to take some decent pics. Now that I've crowned myself the official Mamarazzi of the family, I have a hard time handing over control of the camera! Anyway, here's the sketch I used:

and I will manage to get this one in for Get Picky, using this pic for inspiration:

And then I'm entering over at Stampin' Royalty, whose theme this week is "summer". These photos of Brenna show her on our first official family outing of the summer, and even though it was pretty crummy weather, technically it was still summer and I think the colours of the papers and the butterflies make it a very summery layout.

I decided to use up some of my smaller scraps to make a fringe around this beautiful Echo Park patterned paper block. I think I saw this idea in a magazine once upon a time. It looks a bit like a beach blanket, especially in real life because it's all puckered up, grrrrr! Every time I try to stitch something to my page, it buckles and won't lay flat!!! No wonder I haven't taken up quilting yet, who knows how that would turn out?

And as a quick side note, I just looked up and caught Brenna dancing in her high chair to "Theory of a Deadman"! So cute, but if you know this band's music, it's not always kid appropriate! I'm such a bad mom!

Supplies: Close to My Heart, Creative Memories and Bazzill cardstock, SEI, Basic Grey, Echo Park, and Scenic Route patterned paper, Creative Memories pen, Colorbok die cut letters, Hampton Arts stamp, Colorbox ink, Cuttlebug embossing folder and machine, Close to My Heart pearls

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Layout #34 - From Screen 2 Scrap and Creative Scrappers

The evolution of this layout was very different for me - the page ended up completely different from how I thought it would! (Does that ever happen to you?) I started with the criteria for this month's challenge at From Screen 2 Scrap in mind: create a layout inspired by the movie poster for "What About Eve" and include 4 brightly colored arrows, hearts, and a photo with half or quarter of a face. Well, I had this photo of Ailis from my June photo challenge, so I went from there, gathering all my brightly colored papers and arrows, and this sketch from Creative Scrappers:

If you look at the poster from "What About Eve", it's all primary colors, black and white, and curved arrows, and I fully intended to stick to that, but the more I fiddled, the more I realized this wasn't going to work with my subject. Don't ask why, I'm still not sure of the reason! All I know is that with all the doodles on this page, it is WAY OUT THERE, even for me! I don't hate it, but I'm not sure if I love it either, although it is growing on me the more I look at it. Weird!

Here's a bit of a close up of the pin I used. I've had these pins (they came with a kit I won) for a while, and I've had trouble figuring out what to do with them. Finally, I came up with an idea: gather up some ribbon and put some beads in between! That is one part I definitely like!

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think of this page. Your feedback is always much appreciated!

Supplies: CTMH and Bazzill cardstock, Little Yellow Bicycle patterned paper, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, CTMH gems, chipboard and stamps, Autumn Leaves stamp set, Creative Memories pen and stickers, Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Cosmo Cricket blackboard, Maya Road pin, beads, ribbon, and staples from my stash

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Layout #33 - June Project 12

Hey, remember when I posted my May Project 12 and I was all upset because Jason said it looked Christmassy? Well, Davinie Fiero gave me a shout out on the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog, and she left me a message on my blog, saying that my page was definitely NOT a Christmas page! I was so stoked, I think I might've screamed when I saw my name on the SBCT blog!!! Davinie is the most famous scrapbooker that's ever left me a message, I was totally starstruck!

Anyway, onto June's Project 12 page. I loved this sketch as soon as I saw it because it has 5 equal photos, perfect for my family of 5! See?:

So, choosing photos was simple, I just picked my favorite head shots of the month. Then when I went into Creative Accents, my LSS, this Echo Park paper just jumped out at me, and I knew I had to have it! It's one of the best things about this LO, don't you think?

I also really like the Purple Pumpkin button, and how I did part of the title in twine. Here's a couple close ups.

Hope you enjoy, folks! Oh, by the way, I know my blog photos haven't been the best quality lately. My old computer had Picasa, but this one doesn't. I was going to upload Picasa today, but there's that message that comes up saying "this file can harm your computer". Has anyone had problems with that, or do you think Picasa is safe? Thanks for any advice on this!

Supplies: Bazzill, CTMH and Creative Memories cardstock, Echo Park and Basic Grey patterned paper, Hampton Arts alpha stamps, Prima flowers, Queen and Co. flower sequins and brads, CTMH ink and gems, Colorbok die cut letters, Purple Pumpkin and unknown buttons, twine

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Photo Fun Days 22 - 25

I'm hoping I can get caught up on my photo challenge, I think I'm only missing one day now. Day 22 was "Landscape", which was agonizing for me! I could not find anything nearby to photograph that seemed suitable, so when I took Nolan and Ailis to Kamloops on Thursday, I took some photos near Cache Creek. I've always wanted to get shots of this unique hillside, so this challenge prompted me to finally stop the car and do it. Too bad it was raining!

Day 23 was "Black & White", which I thought would be easy because I love B&W photos. Took a long time to get anything decent, though. Here's the best of the bunch:

Crank it, Brenna! She thinks this is very funny!

Little miss pouty face!

I really like the lighting in this shot of Ailis.

Day 24's prompt was "Love". Since Jason and I had our 12th Anniversary in May, I thought these photos we took at the site of our wedding would be nice to use:

And finally, Day 25 - Citrus. This one was tricky, too. My mojo was not happening until one day when Ailis said, "Hey, look at what I did with my orange!" She had the cutest little pyramid, so I played around with different angles and settings until I got these:

Well, that's all for now. We just got back from a little day trip to Clinton, a small town about an hour's drive away. There's a team of NASA scientists there studying microbialites in one of the lakes, so we got to go into the command centre and see the video streaming from the submersible. Pretty cool, and of course I got pictures, so stay tuned for a LO at some point in the future!

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Layout #32 - Scrapbooker's Anonymous

Last parade page, I promise! This one's for Ailis's album, which I'm sure you couldn't tell by all the pink, haha! This month at Scrapbooker's Anonymous, they asked us to use the supplies in the one colour that is building up in our stash to make a monochromatic layout. Well, I have a ton of pink, a lot from when I was making Ailis' baby album in pink & green (I'm still not finished that album, but that's another story for another day!) 6 years ago. Wow, that's some OLD stuff! This sketch from the Scrappiest:

seemed perfect for scraps, so I grabbed all the pink I could find and got to it. As I was making this layout, I had in mind what I wanted to say for journaling when Ailis came up to me and said, "Sigh, I wish I could be on that float!" I just said, "I know, that's exactly what I was going to write!!!" I just love the wistful look on her little face in that photo, it really captures her feeling.

Supplies: Close to My Heart White Daisy cardstock and pink gems, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Creative Memories paper and pen, Bazzill cardstock, Cosmo Cricket, Basic Grey and unknown patterned paper, unknown vellum, Basic Grey rub-ons, Little Yellow Bicycle stickers, embroidery floss

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Layout #31 - ARTastic and Sketches in Thyme

Just thought I'd try and squeeze one more post in before I head to bed. Don't hate me because I love this page! (Remember those commercials? I don't know if they were for Cover Girl or a hair product or what, I just remember the model throwing her hair back and saying, "Don't hate me 'cause I'm beautiful!") Nolan took this pic of me a couple of weeks ago, and I thought it was pretty cute, plus I've wanted to do a "Mamarazzi" page for a while now, so it was the perfect shot. I looooooved this sketch from Sketches in Thyme:

so I followed it pretty closely and incorporated this month's ARTastic challenge: a picture of yourself, use shade of red/maroon, and include a hat. Well, a crown is worn on the head, so it is technically a hat, right? I used many crowns on this layout, even misted crowns that you can't really see that well, and a crown button. Those red buttons are truly vintage. Yep, I remember the jumpsuit my mom wore that came with those buttons. (You heard me, jumpsuit! Form your own opinion on that one!) I also used my new fave technique (see previous post) to blingify the edges of my cardstock. Anyway, I won't go into all the details of what I've done on this page (snore!) because there's a lot going on, but I think the monochromatic thing keeps it from being too far out there. (Am I even making any sense? My contacts are sticking to my eyeballs, must be time for bed.) Hope you like it!

Supplies: unknown cardstock, silk flowers, and buttons, CTMH cardstock, Picture Perfect stamp set, patterned paper (Sweet Home Level 2), gems, black and garnet ink, and clear detail embossing powder, Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Distress Ink, and Perfect Pearls, Hero Arts stamps set, Autumn Leaves stamp set, Colorbox, Versamark and Staz-on ink, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Screens, 7 Gypsies brads, Prima flowers, Creative Memories and Top Line Creations letter stickers, Sakura pen

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Layout #30

I made this layout a couple of weeks ago for a Design Dollies Trifecta challenge, but then I got my internet cut off! (Kind of a long story, but finally I'm back, yay!) Turns out Design Dollies are on hiatus for the summer, boohoo! Love playing along with their challenges, they're always so, well, CHALLENGING, ha! Loads of stamping and Perfect Pearls on this layout, and I really like how it turned out, so bright and sparkly! I took these photos at the Canada Day parade in Burns Lake a couple of years ago, and they perfectly capture Ailis' personality. She brought all these things to the parade, it lasted about 5 minutes, and then she nearly left it all behind because she was so involved with collecting and eating candy!

Are you wondering how I got the edges all shimmery like that? Well, when I use Perfect Pearls, I brush the excess off into a non-stick baking pan (yeah, I don't have the nifty Tim Holtz craft sheet, but I make due!) When I'm all finished with the Perfect Pearls, I spray this excess with water (mixed with a bit more Perfect Pearls) to make a puddle. Then, I simply slide the edges of my page around in the puddle, and this is the end result! I think this is my new fave technique!

Well, Ailis and I are off to a Judo lesson tonight (WHAT?!?! Another semi-long story, I'll fill ya in later), and then I'm taking Nolan and Ailis on a little roadtrip to Kamloops tomorrow (to see the Wildlife Park, woohoo!) so I'll try to get to everyone's blogs in the next few days. Big hugs, Roxy!

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, crochet flower and brad, Picture Perfect and Noted Backgrounds stamp sets, Sunset ink, watercolor pencil, blender pen

Other: Bazzill cardstock, Scenic Route patterned paper, American Crafts Thickers, Creative Memories pen, Copic markers, Imaginisce, Hero Arts and Hampton Arts stamps, Ranger Perfect Medium and Perfect Pearls

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Out of Action!

Hey all, just a quick note (written at my local public library) to let ya know I am without internet service at the moment. Kind of a bummer, as I have a couple great pages to post, and some neat photos for the June photo challenge. I also won't be able to leave comments for a while, but I'll still be around, don't worry! Big hugs, Roxy.

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