Layout #63 - September Project 12

A buck short and a day late, isn't that what they say? Project 12 was due yesterday, but ah well, I never win the monthly prize anyway. I'm only in it for myself - haha, do you say that when you set out to do something and you know you're not gonna win, just to make yourself feel better? I do all the time, and it works (a bit), but I can't help but feel disappointed just a smidge when I find out the winner isn't me. But with Project 12, it really isn't like that, I really am glad I'm doing it, and I'm totally doing it next year!

So here is the sketch for September:

I like this sketch a lot, but I really dragged my heels with this layout, not sure why. I'm glad I got to use up some more of this paper pack (Felicity from Close to My Heart), it's been in my stash for a while. The flowers were stamped and fussy cut, as was the title, with the matching stamp set that came with the paper kit. And, I added some die cut flourishes to dress it up a bit, but other than that, I stuck closely to the sketch. Easy, peasy!

I feel I should explain the miserable expression on Nolan's face in the far left photo. It was the first day of school, and it is my tradition to take a photo of the kids in their new school clothes. Probably every scrapbooker with kids does the same. Anyway, Nolan always gets anxious if he thinks we're running short on time, which is probably pretty normal for most people, but his REACTION to running late is FAR from normal! In this picture, he has just finished telling me to take the bleeping picture so we can get to the bleeping school, and his face shows just how mad he is about the whole bleeping tradition! I hope you're not too shocked by this, but we are just beginning to find out about his disability and how his brain works. I am able to laugh about this now because I know it's one of his quirks, and it probably goes along with his Asperger's, but it's definitely something he needs to work on. Yesterday, he got in his hockey gear 2 HOURS EARLY so that he wouldn't be late, and it didn't matter how many times I told him the time, or how many minutes we had until game time, he could not relax about it. He is definitely getting a watch for Christmas!

Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock, patterned paper, stamp set, ink and gems, Creative Memories die cut edges, Spellbinders dies, Ranger pen, dollar store date stamp

Read More

Layout #62 - From Screen 2 Scrap

Whew, making it in just under the wire for this one for the From Screen 2 Scrap October challenge. The inspiration movie poster is from "Psycho", and for extra points we are to use a silhouette of a person (witch - check!), a house (4 and a half houses - check!) and a split title (check!). I started this layout at the Creative Accents crop a couple weeks ago, but didn't finish the journaling, stamping, or embellishments. At first I thought it looked okay as it was, but then I decided it needed a bit more. So I went hunting. Have you ever considered using digital images or stamps on your layouts? I challenge you to do so, because you can always find exactly what you need if you know where to look. For example, I found the witch image at Graphics Fairy (incredible vintage images for just about every possible occasion!) and the wonky houses were listed at Free Digital Stamps under "houses" (there's new stuff there every day!) I printed these images on photo paper, but you can use cardstock too, and you can resize the images to suit your needs. Give it a try, I triple dog dare ya!

Well, if Nolan ever stops ripping around with the puppy and gets to bed, I can start date night! I borrowed season 1 of "The Tudors" from the library - woohoo, the excitement never ends at the McCleary household!

Supplies: Echo Park patterned paper, Close to My Heart stamp set (Thriller), ink, and cardstock, unknown die cut and spider web trim (love that stuff!), Graphics Fairy and Beyond the Fringe images, Creative Memories pen

P.S. - did you use orange on a project this month? You did? Well, link it up at Creative Accents Challenges Blog for a chance to win big!!!

Read More

Layout #61 - Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge and an Award!

Lots of krafty goodness on this layout! I don't think I've ever used so much kraft paper in my life, but I'm liking the tone-on-tone result. With those pops of colour, my girl's baby blues really shine! I'm sad to admit I don't know when these photos were taken, I think she was 4 years old by her hairdo, but she could have been 5. I should have written the date down as soon as I got the pictures printed, but I'll just have to look back in my calendar(s) and see if I can get a clue! I made some lollipop flowers for the first time ever, and I love 'em!!! Very cute and fun, I'll definitely be doing that again. And I made my own background paper by first Glimmer Misting the cardstock base, then stamping a background stamp in Walnut Stain Distress Ink, followed by a brushing of Perfect Pearls. You'll just have to take my word when I say this layout looks better in person!

Here's the sketch for Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge:

I rotated it around the y-axis (haha, going back to my calculus days, who knew I had so much useful knowledge stored upstairs!) to fit my GORGEOUS, STUNNING, ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL My Mind's Eye paper, and added some frou frou flowers and keys. The little pink rosettes were from Ailis's Rapunzel Barbie's hair - they fell off and of course being the hoarder I am I kept them. We were also supposed to use a dress-up theme, the colour purple, and something hidden if possible (I guess my keys are kind of hidden).

Supplies: unknown kraft and specialty paper, My Mind's Eye patterned paper, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Grungeboard, and Perfect Pearls, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Close to My Heart background stamp, Basic Grey fibers, Spellbinders die, Specialty Imports and Prima flowers, buttons and rosettes from my stash

And now onto my award!!! I was reminded at the Creative Accents crop the other weekend just how much my style has changed since entering the blogosphere. I was sitting with a couple of girls who scrapped very much in the style I used to scrap: get your pictures out and crop them, match them up with some paper, stick them down along with some matching stickers and title, then add some journaling. They were able to get 15+ pages done in a day, and that is great - for them. My style these days is very much influenced by what I see online, and I love the change! It may take me several hours (or days!) to do a layout, but I love the creative challenge of each and every layout, and I love to use new techniques or products just for fun! So when my friend Roz awarded me with this award (thanks, Roz!) I had a hard time choosing five people to pass it on to! There is just so much inspiration out there!!!

Liebster is a German word that means beloved or favourite. This award is for blogs with fewer than 200 followers.

Here are the rules to accept this award:

1. Thank the giver and link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Reveal your top 5 picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Copy and paste the award on your blog.
4. Have faith that your followers will spread the love to other bloggers.
5. And most of all - have fun!

So, after wracking my brain, I came up with 5:

1. Alison Day's Designs: we truly lead parallel lives, it's amazing we haven't crossed paths in person before!

2. Carole's Crafty Corner: a great gal I met through December Daily, I love all her British sayings and snippets of her life!

3. Scraps by Sarah: a fellow DT member who cracks me up with every post!

4. A Scrapper's Life: Theresa from Scrapbooker's Anonymous, great layouts and inspiration!

5. Finally Scrappin': Lea from Scrapbooker's Anonymous, also great layouts and inspiration!

If I didn't choose you, don't feel sad, it's because you've either already got the award, you've disappeared from the blogosphere (where are you, Hollie and Mel?), or you have more than 200 followers - or I know for a fact that somebody I gave it to will pass it on to you! So, that's it for now, Brenna and the puppy are sleeping, so maybe I should make myself presentable while I have the chance, I do actually have to go out in public today!

Read More

Layout #60 for Once Upon a Sketch

I hope you guys appreciate the agony I went through to bring you this layout! First I had this brainwave of an idea to use my new Spellbinders dies to make four mini photo frames. Sounds good in theory, but it involved cutting 16 pieces, then laying them out. Of course, they didn't want to lay flat, so I glued them down lightly (or so I thought) with school glue. After gluing down 12 or so, I realized they weren't going to come off without tearing the paper, so I ripped 'em all off and started over on the backside with no glue and just the hope that all these little bits would stay put long enough for me to Glimmer Mist the heck out of 'em! It worked well enough, I really like the result, but then Brenna decided to rip my background piece of beautiful Bo Bunny! Grrr!!! I didn't give her away, but I felt like it for a second there! Then there's the subject matter. Yes, that is my bare nekkid butt, posted here for all of Blogland to see. You see, when I was going through all my photos a while ago, I noticed not 1, not even 2 or 3, but 4 photos that Jason had snapped of me relieving myself in remote areas on our various travels. Why he thinks this is so hilarious is really beyond me! I mean, he's the one who drags me to these places without toilets in the first place, but whatever! It's pretty embarrassing and that is the prompt for Once Upon a Sketch, use this sketch:

and talk about an embarrassing moment (or 4!) Here's a close up of some accents and me in the snow:

When I showed Jason this layout, he said, "Wow, I didn't realize I'd taken so many pictures of you going to the bathroom!" (Yeah, wow!) And then he said it was a good page, one of his favorites. And it makes for a good lesson for the kids, so maybe the embarrassment is worth it?

Supplies: Bo Bunny, Cosmo Cricket, and Echo Park patterned paper, Close to My Heart and Coredinations cardstock, Spellbinders dies, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Creative Memories pen, and Close to My Heart ink

Anyhoo, it is late, but I promised I would post Ailis's new creation on my blog:

She used my Kraftin' Kimmie Andrea Acorn stamp and my Copics to make this fall scene. Oh, and the word bubble says, "Hi!" - it's just sideways so it's a bit hard to tell!

Read More

Layout #59 - Sketches in Thyme and Scrapbooker's Anonymous

Here's a page I made a good start on at the crop, as well. I used this sketch from Sketches in Thyme and adapted it to my pictures:

This grid was fun to make! I fussy cut the little owls (aren't they cute?) and a "9" from the scraps of these two great pieces of Jillibean Soup patterned paper to fill out the grid. I also hand cut my title piece there. This is a pretty busy page (too busy?) so I didn't journal on it, but I have more pictures from Nolan's 9th birthday, so maybe I will turn it into a double pager in the future. Along with the Sketches in Thyme challenge, I'm also entering this page over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous for their A to Z challenge: "C" is for CAKE, y'all! (Well, I also used two "C" products from my stash!)

Supplies: Coredinations and Bazzill cardstock, Jillibean Soup patterned paper, Twinery twine, Making Memories ribbon, Uniball Signo pen, Creative Memories stickers

Read More

Layout #58

A quick share for you today. This is another page I made at the Creative Accents crop on Saturday. This one was a lot of fun because I decided to borrow the store's Big Shot to make the vine and title. The little flowers came in our goodie bag, and I thought they resembled strawberry flowers, so I placed them along the vine at various intervals with yellow brads for centres. Here's a close up of the title:

I used a Quickutz alphabet called "Strawberry" - is that fate or what? I was going to add "Forever" to the title, turn it Beatle-esque, but I forgot, and now it is what it is. C'est la vie! Oh, I also used another sketch from 4x6 Photo Sketch Blog (this is a great blog for inspiration when you don't want to crop your photos). And since I used 4 different products beginning with the letter 'C', I think I will enter this layout over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous for their A to Z challenge. By golly, yes, that's a great idea, pat myself on the back!

Supplies: Close to My Heart and Coredinations cardstock, Imaginisce patterned paper, Quickutz dies, Close to My Heart brads, Creative Memories pen

Read More

Layout #57 and Cards #17 & #18

I went to a crop yesterday put on by my (somewhat) local scrapbooking store, Creative Accents, and it was a big one!!! I was able to get a ton done, see all the Design Team members again (great gals, all of 'em!) and eat too much. On the way home in my husband's 23 year old truck with no radio, I was able to reflect on the last time I went to a full-day crop, and I remember it was in the middle of a Yukon winter, probably 4 years ago, and I pulled my crop bag to the church in a sled, haha! If that isn't evidence of a scrapbooking obsession, I don't know what is!

Here's one of the layouts I created, and I love how it turned out! I used a sketch from 4x6 Photo Sketch blog, and some foam thickers and twine from our crop goodie bag. The stripe paper and label are from a full pack of Studio Calico papers I chose as a door prize (score!)

And here's a close up of some details:

Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, Scenic Route and Studio Calico patterned paper, American Crafts Thickers, Twinery twine, Prima flowers, 7 Gypsies brads, Creative Memories pen

I was also able to participate in some Make 'n' Takes to make these super cool cards for Christmas - I kind of want to keep them for myself! Maybe if I keep them out for a while, just to look at, I'll be able to part with them eventually! This one was designed by the folks at Whipper Snapper stamps (I believe):

That shadow on the birdie's head is from a piece of mica stuck on the window, oops! Then there's this one using some new Basic Grey paper and die cuts from Tim Holtz - a very easy design that anyone could easily mass-produce:

And that's all (for now) folks! Puppy and baby are sleeping, boys are hunting, and Ailis is watching Cinderella, so I'm going to see if I can take part in a couple of blog hops. Oh, and while I'm here, I want to remind you to GET YOUR ORANGE PROJECTS IN AT CREATIVE ACCENTS CHALLENGES!!! YOU COULD WIN A FABULOUS PRIZE!!! Haha, was that enough of a hint?

Read More

Layout #56 - Another Sketchy Thursdays

I think I must be loving Sketchy Thursdays at the moment! Unfortunately, even though the sketch is great,

I had a heck of a time figuring out this layout. I even cut up a piece of 12x12 Jillibean Soup I've been hoarding, then realized I didn't want to use it, GASP! Yep, I was a bit choked, but I think it all worked out in the end. This is the first time I've used Coredinations cardstock! I don't a Score Pal or anything, so I just used my trimmer and a stylus to make the vertical lines. Then, I didn't have the right colour for the photo mats, so I just inked some cream paper with Fired Brick Distress Ink. I used some more twine on this one, seems like I'm loving that, too - I used it to make the circle, the title banner, and on the buttons.

Educo is a world famous wilderness adventure summer camp that we're lucky enough to be within an hour's drive of. Jason went when he was a teen, and we thought it would be a good experience for Nolan this summer. Nolan doesn't always have very good self esteem, so hopefully one day he will look back at this layout and realize just how brave he was when he was (almost!) 9. I thought for sure they'd be calling me to come pick him up on the first night, but he made it through all 4 nights and climbed the wall in front of all the parents and guests at the closing ceremony. I'll probably be doing another page at some point, because this was the highlight of his summer!

Supplies: Coredinations and Close to My Heart cardstock, My Mind's Eye and Scrap Within Reach patterned paper, Twinery twine, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Creative Memories pen, unknown ribbon and buttons

P.S. - My dad's getting out of hospital today, looks like he'll be okay! Phew, what a relief!!! Thanks so much to everyone for your concern!

Read More

Card #16 and Blog Candy Winner!

I promised to draw for the $25 Graphicat gift certificate on Saturday, but I kind of forgot it was Thanksgiving, so alas, I am late, but here it is: Winner, winner, chicken (or turkey) dinner!

My lovely assistant Ailis picked BARBARA out of the hat. Congratulations, Barbara, I will contact you soon with details on how to claim your prize!

So this past week has been full of ups and downs. On the upside, this card was chosen for a top 3 award at Sweet Sketch Wednesdays! Then I found out I won not once, but twice in Graphicat Designs grand opening blog hop!! Then yesterday I found out I won over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous for this layout!!! YAY!

On the downside, Jason had to write a professional forestry exam on Friday, and he was stressing out over it all week (well, for months, really). Once it was done, I thought there would be a big sigh of relief, but no. Now he's stressed out about the results! Guys, eh? He is NOT fun to live with when he's stressed! Then midweek, Brenna got sick, puked all over her crib, then all over me. I think it's some sort of flu bug, and she's still not quite over it. Also not fun! But the worst was when my mom called on Thursday to tell me my dad was in the hospital!!! She took him in because his leg was swollen to twice its normal size, and after running some tests, the doctors found he had blood clots all through his body, most disturbingly in the lungs. So of course we were all very worried, many tears were shed, but he's been in the hospital all weekend and it seems like the blood thinners are doing their job - hopefully he'll be out soon.

Needless to say, it was pretty chaotic around here, but I did manage to make this card for my Mother-in-law's birthday yesterday:

Isn't it hilarious?! Cheered me up a bit! I had to make it very quickly, so although I coloured this Bugaboo image with my Copics, I didn't worry about shading or highlights or anything. I was able to use up some scraps, and I even recycled some Prima packaging for that scalloped printed bit, a tip I saw in a Canadian Scrapbooker magazine! I loved playing along with the Sweet Sketch Wednesday crew so much, that I used this week's sketch so I could play again:

I hope all my Canadian friends had a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend! A few years ago, I vowed to my husband that I would never make a turkey - sorry, just not my thing! Somehow, due to circumstances, I ended up in charge of the turkey and stuffing!!! My mom and I teamed up and exceeded everyone's expectations (it was like the blind leading the blind, she doesn't do turkey either!) with only one war wound to speak of (my poor mom dropped the turkey and the drippings splashed all over her bare foot! Burnt her pretty good!) Now onto turkey pot pie!

Supplies: Close to My Heart and Bazzill cardstock, Bugaboo image and sentiment, Prima flowers and packaging, Three Bugs in a Rug patterned paper, Close to My Heart ink and pearls, Copic markers

Read More

Layout #55 - Sketchy Thursdays and Scrapbooker's Anonymous

This has to be a very quick post because Brenna's screaming at me, but I really want to get it in before the Sketchy Thursdays deadline in, like, 30 minutes. So, hope you like it! It chronicles my first solo camping trip with Ailis, and I loooooove this photo of us with our headlamps on! That mess all over Ailis's face is our attempt at s'mores (note to self: dark chocolate does not melt enough to make a decent s'more!) I'll have to make another layout at some point with more of the story, because I played the best crank phone call to Jason on this trip, and I still get giddy when I think of just how good it was! I'm also entering this over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous for one of their mini birthday challenges, Bling! and at Scrapbooker's Paradise for their distressing challenge this week (all my edges are distressed).

Supplies: Fancy Pants papers and sticker, KI Memories sticker, MAMBI bling word, creative Memories pen, machine stitching

Read More

Layout #54 - CS 176 and Scrapbooker's Anonymous

Last Friday I opened my mailbox to another RAK, this time a pizza box jam packed with goodies from my friend Alison! What?! I know, I was in shock!!! I must be the luckiest girl in the world to have such nice bloggy friends! I wanted to get busy and play right away, so when I saw this sketch from Creative Scrappers:

I grabbed these little prints of Brenna and created this! I really love how it turned out! I used some old die cut stars from Close to My Heart and Glimmer Misted over them in pink and blue for the background, and then added some hand stitching around the edge. The title is created by yours truly with a trusty fine-tip black pen, very free-hand so I'm surprised it turned out okay! And because I used some die cuts, I can enter this over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous, yay! I just have to laugh at these pictures because the ponytail just looks so funny on Brenna here, and now that she's older and wiser, she will not keep a ponytail in at all, she just rips the elastic out every time! I guess she's just not destined to be a girly girl, but that's okay, Ailis more than makes up for her in that department, haha!

Supplies: Fancy Pants Designs patterned paper and stickers, Close to My Heart die cut star, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Creative Memories pen, embroidery floss, date stamp, Memento ink

Read More

Card #15 - Kraftin' Kimmie and Sweet Sketch Wednesday

So while I had all my orange scraps out for this challenge:

and all my card making stuff out for World Card Making Day, I decided to make another card. This one features Andrea Acorn from Kraftin' Kimmie, and I paper pieced her skirt for this week's Kraftin' Kimmie challenge. I also used this sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday:

I love the mix of My Mind's Eye papers and stamps on this card, but I had a really hard time with the Copics on her hair and cape. I'm thinking I need to get some more instruction in those areas, but all in all I'm pleased with how this one turned out.

Hopefully this will serve as a reminder to get your orange projects in this month at Creative Accents Challenges! And if you missed our all-Canadian blog hop for World Card Making Day, then here's a reminder to make a comment on this post (and become a follower) so you can have a chance for my BLOG CANDY!!! 25 smackeroos to spend as you please at this store:

It's a brand new online store created by a local gal (well, local to me, anyway) and she's got great stuff you can't get anywhere else. You've got until Saturday, so get on it!

Supplies: My Mind's Eye patterned paper, stamps, and brad, Close to My Heart cardstock, inks, gems, and watercolor pencil, Kraftin' Kimmie stamp, Memento ink, Copic markers, Bazzill cardstock, Ranger Glossy Accents

P.S. - Holy cow, this is my 300th post, I can't even believe it!!!

Read More

World Card Making Day Blog Hop

Welcome to my little ol' blog, and thanks for visiting on this momentous day, World Card Making Day! If you came here from Tina's blog, then you're good to go, but if you're lost or want to start from the beginning, head on back to Tara's blog, she has the whole line-up there.

I'm so excited to be a part of this blog hop, one reason being that it's my first EVER, and second because it's ALL-CANADIAN!!! So, I made up a new CANUCK ROCK play list for ya (warning: there IS some profanity, so don't let your kids listen in, unless they're like mine and know all the swears and use 'em like commas) PLUS I figured it's about time I gave out some CANDY, ding ding ding! Now, it's not a huge candy, but it's easy to win: simply become a follower if you aren't already (feel free to scroll down, look around, see if maybe you might want to hang here once in a while - I promise I'm [mostly] normal!) Then leave me a comment telling me about your biggest card-making faux pas. Come on, you know you wanna! Just to break the ice, here's mine:

Bwahahaha! Isn't that something that your primary school kid would make? I made this for my husband before I had any cool tools or mad skillz, (actually, still pretty limited in those areas) and I can't believe he KEPT it!? Must be love. So what's the CANDY, you ask? My cool new friend Cheri from Graphicat Designs is adding on to help me offer a $25 gift certificate to her BRAND NEW ONLINE STORE!!!

Thanks, Cheri, you rock! I'll do a draw from the comments next Saturday for the lucky winner.

Anywhoo, here's my real card:

Since I'm mainly a scrapbooker and I know there are some uber-talented card makers in this hop, I wanted to make something that stood out a bit, so I did the easel-card thing and added that retro red button from my mom's 70's jumpsuit. That bottom layer? It's a mesh bag from a trio of garlic. Awesome thing is, you don't even need to cut it, it just stretches and wraps right around the 4" panel! Hope you like!

I also made this card for my Design Team over at Creative Accents - incredible store and great team members!!! The challenge this month is:

I hope everyone will join in, 'cause you could win a sweet prize, and really, it doesn't get much easier than this.

Have fun with the rest of the hop, your next destination is: Freya's blog. And, if you're so inclined, there is a 2nd hop going on right now, too, starting over at: Nicole's blog! And I think there may be candy throughout that hop, too, wink wink!

Supplies: Close to My Heart, Bazzill, and Prism cardstock, My Mind's Eye patterned paper, C.C. Designs and Kraftin' Kimmie stamps, Memento and Ranger inks, Creative Memories and Copic markers (E00, E11, R20 for skin, E35, YR23, Y23, Y38 for hair, YG0000, YG25 for wings), Close to My Heart gems, unknown ribbon and fiber, vintage button, mesh bag

Read More