More December Daily - Dec. 11th - 14th

Happy New Year from Canada!  I hope you all have more exciting plans than I do - I will probably spend the evening either working on this December Daily, trying to finish it before mid-January, or reading a good book (I've got several on the go at the moment!) or maybe watching something on Netflix.  As you'll see from these December Daily pics, I've had enough excitement (re. STRESS!) this month to last a while, and I'm getting surgery on my thumb on the 3rd, so I'm quite content to relax tonight!

So here is the spread I made for the 11th and 12th: 

 I love the chevron misting I've done on this page.  I cut a chevron background out of some scrap paper with my silhouette, then sprayed Kraft paper with Dylusions spray.  I didn't have much to take pictures of on the 11th, so I asked my family members what their favorite Christmas song is, and wrote about that.  The funny thing is, I can't stand Mariah Carey normally, but I looooooove her song, "All I Want for Christmas is You" - I sing along and dance every time I hear it!  The "Christmas favorites" 4x6 journaling card from Simple Stories fit well with this, because there's 5 of us, each with our own line.  Flip it over and you see this:

 Again, I didn't have much to photograph or write about on the 12th, so I took a photo of some of our Christmas goodies and another of Brenna getting into the box of oranges.  She is so cute!  She reaches her little hands waaaaaay up to the counter, pulls the box down, then puts it on the floor so she can pick an orange.  Then she says, "Hmmm, this one looks good!" and brings it to the table.  She likes to peel them herself, too!

Here is the second worst day of December for me!:

The 13th was the day it snowed and snowed, and I got my car stuck in the driveway on the way to pick up the kids from school.  I was very upset that we couldn't get the car out on our own, thinking we would have to pay for a tow truck, and who wants to spend money on something like that, but especially with Christmas around the corner?  Jason luckily remembered something about a roadside assistance package, so we were able to get a free tow, so it seemed like I was in the clear.

Then we get to the 14th:

The tow truck pulled my car out all right, but left it blocking the driveway slightly.  Even though I could not see a thing out of my iced up windows, I felt that I had to try and back around the tow truck so the driver could get on with his day.  With 20/20 hindsight, I realize I should have waited for the car to thaw, or something, but I didn't.  I backed the car into the tow truck (don't worry, the tow truck was fine!) and proceeded to curse myself up and down for being the biggest moron ever to drive a car.  I spent most of the day in tears, but the kids were a bit concerned to see me bawling like a baby, so I tried my best to carry on with our plans to decorate the tree.  It was actually really great to see the kids working together, and unwrapping ornaments they haven't seen in a year.  They both said (without prompting, mind you) that decorating the tree is their favorite part of Christmas, other than the presents, of course!

Well, that's it from me for now!  Do you have any scrappy goals for 2013?  I would love to hear them!  For the immediate future, I want to get this DD done, and finish the card I'm making for Jason's 40th birthday (it was on the 6th - it will be a tad late, I know!)  After that, I think I want to finish my 2012 Project 12 album and play a bit with art journaling.  And then there's smashing, of course, and the painter's tray I wanted to do for my parents' 40th anniversary, and LOTS of birthday cards, and... well, you get the picture!  A crafter's job is never done!

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December Challenge at Seriously Creative Challenges!

This month's Seriously Creative Challenge is:

All right, this one should be an easy one!  If you've made anything even remotely merry this month, link it up to our blog, I dare ya!  Here's what I've made:

I used my Silhouette, a cut file from the Silhouette online store, and some ooooooold papers to make these sweet 4x4 cards.  Also added some little rhinestones from Close to My Heart to dress things up a bit.

Then there's these, using a different cut file and papers:

You might recognize this little snowman from last year:

He's just so darn cute, a set from Graphicat Designs.  I had to use him again with the BoBunny 6x6 pad from last year, too.  Here's a close-up:

Coloured with some copics, and a couple of spellbinders die cuts to finish the design.  Simple, but I love how they turned out!

And then probably my favourites:

The inspiration for this one came from this video at 2peas.  I designed a cut file in my Silhouette software, and used some of my favourite papers and embellishments.  It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the final product is very dimensional!

Well, now that I've actually got some of these in the mail, maybe I can focus again on my December Daily album - lots of action this past week, and not all good, but it's going in there just the same!  Oh, and thanks to everyone wishing me luck on my job interview.  For those who asked, it was for a part-time rehabilitation assistant, perfect fit for me I think.  I haven't heard yet either way, but I will keep you posted.  

Oh boy, I see some of the fluffy white stuff coming down, hopefully we don't have to get the drive plowed again!

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December Daily - 1 & 2

I find I've fallen a bit behind on this December Daily process.  Here it is the 5th of December and I've just finished the 1st and 2nd.  Ah well, it is what it is and I'm not going to stress or dwell on my printing and Silhouette problems.  So, without further ado, here are my first pages:

 I thought I could only print 4x6 prints at my local kiosk (found out after I can do minis!), so after positioning the pics on my page, I didn't have much room for journaling.  Luckily, the Simple Stories paper collection I'm using has these 4x6 journaling cards, so I just added one of these to the center of my spread and was able to journal on both sides.  I really like how this turned out, so I will probably add more of these throughout the album!

Thanks for looking, and I hope everyone's having a great first week of December!  Tomorrow is Jason's 40th birthday, so I better get going on a card and cake for him, eh?

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December Daily Foundation Pages - Part 1

Hey, everyone, just a quick post to show you the foundation pages of my December Daily.  I've been hard at work all month, and still not quite finished, but I'm very pleased with how it's coming together so far.  I've kept my supplies consistent throughout, and it's made the whole process simpler.  My Silhouette Cameo's had a good workout, cutting all the numbers, tags and stars.  The patterned paper is all from Simple Stories' 25 Days of Christmas collection (I won it last year from a challenge!), buttons and brads are all Stampin' Up (donated by my lovely friend Alison - thanks, sweetie!), Studio Calico wood veneer trees, Maya Road doilies, Dylusions ink in Postbox Red and Fresh Lime, twine, and washi tape from K&Co and WeRMemory Keepers.  

Some of the trees are sprayed with Dylusions Fresh Lime (works great on the wood veneer).

The 6th is Jason's 40th birthday - not sure what we'll do, but that's why I added the "celebration" word (cut with the Cameo).  I used a Dylusions mask to make the green star background here, too.

Here I cut a background piece with the Cameo and used it as a mask on the Kraft cardstock.  I lost my number 7 somewhere, so if I don't find it, I'll just cut another.

I used the cameo to cut another background to use as a mask, just a different type of stars.

And same thing to make a chevron mask for the backside.

The mask I used on day 7 I glued over some green sprayed Kraft cardstock to make day 17 - I'm not sure, but this page might be my favorite so far.

And there you have it so far.  I'm not sure how I'll bind this all when I'm finished.  I think I'll just hole punch it and put binder rings through.  It would be nice to have an album, but...maybe next year!  I do have a bit of catch up to play with pictures and journaling, but having the base pages done will make that so much easier.  Okay, off to put the girls to bed, I'll have another post tomorrow to show what we've been up to these past two days!

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December '11 P12

So you may recall that last year (this year, too, but I've gotten waaaaay behind!) I was doing a Project 12 album.  I did really well, all the way up to December, then didn't complete a December layout.  What?!  I think part of the reason was the sketch:

It's a gorgeous sketch, but come on - three photos????  I'd been taking pictures every day of the month for my December Daily album, so it was impossible to narrow it down like that.  Eventually, I printed off 12 mini prints, and then let them sit for several months longer.  Finally, in order to get myself in the Christmas/December Daily spirit, I created this layout, and I love it!

Here's what I used - Kraft and black cardstock, Simple Stories patterned paper (25 Days of Christmas collection), SMASH tape, Ranger/Dylusions spray (Postbox Red) and stencil, and stars cut with my Silhouette Cameo.  Man, I love that Dylusions spray with a passion!!!  Can't wait to get more colours!  

So, yes, now I'm feeling pretty Christmas-y, and when you see my December Daily foundation pages for this year's album, you'll notice some similarities between it and this layout - lots of stars and mist and the same paper collection.  Fun, fun!  Thanks for looking, and hope to see you making your own December Daily album!

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Seriously Creative November Challenge

Hey, everyone, hope you had a great weekend!  Me, I'm glad to finally get this page finished - seems like I've been working on it for weeks!!!  I needed to make a project for November's Seriously Creative Challenge:

I've been seeing wood veneer accents everywhere these days, but I didn't have any of my own.  Then I saw this video, and inspiration hit!  I was able to cut these word bubbles out of some Studio Calico Take Note wood grain paper on my Cameo using a free file found here.  

Then I made this paper doll using another free file found here:

The Cameo got a good workout on this page - I cut the title, glasses, and notebook border using cut files from the Silhouette store.  Oh, and the star panel was pre-cut earlier, if you recall from my post here.

And here's the sketch I used from Let's Get Sketchy:

I just love this picture of Ailis!  I took it the day she got her new glasses.  I was hoping that all the kids would inherit Jason's superior eyesight, but I guess with three kids, chances are at least one of them will get my lousy eyes!  That's the thing with genetics, it's a bit of a gamble!  Anyway, with her new haircut and specs, she could probably pass for 15, which is a little scary!!!  We'll just have to keep her locked up at home, eh? Shotguns at the ready, haha!  

Well, must get Brenna Bean out of her high chair.  We have places to go and things to see, but thanks for looking, and I'll have December Daily progress to report soon.  Oh, and if you've made anything using wood, or even trees (i.e. Christmas trees will work!), be sure to link it up to our Seriously Creative Challenge!

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I'm Back!

After a fantastic weekend of splurging, indulging, visiting, and rocking in Vancouver with some fabulous people, I'm back with a shorter post than I had intended because I erased some photos from my camera that I shouldn't have.  I guess my brain was elsewhere, which has been happening to me a lot lately!  Anyway, this is a card I made for someone in town here who dug through her stuff and found a pair of winter boots for Brenna.  Isn't that sweet?  I had mentioned at Strong Start one day that Brenna had been playing in the snow in gum boots because we hadn't been able to find winter boots for her yet, and she sent a pair home with Ailis the next day!  

The design of this card is inspired by one I saw in a Paper Crafts magazine, very simple to put together.  I used PB&J paper from Basic Grey, and some CTMH pearls.  The ribbon is from my stash, and I cut the sentiment with my Cameo (Pacifico is the name of the font, free at dafont.com) and sprayed it yellow with Dylusions spray - I love that stuff!!!  Here's a peek at the inside:  

I also had a birthday card I made for my girlfriend, but it's already in the mail.  Then there was a baby boy card I made for my friend in Surrey, but same thing, the photo evidence is gone!  Ah well, these things are bound to happen.

Here's something cool to tell ya:  when I was in the lower mainland, I was able to meet Alison, a friend I've met through blogging!  We've never met in person before, but I've always thought we led parallel lives - I can't tell you how many times I post something only to see that Alison's completed the same challenge, or I'm having a rough day with one of my kids and then I read Alison's post and see that the same thing has happened to her!  Anyway, it was pretty neat to actually meet up with her in person, and I have the photo as evidence:

She also gave me a whole schwack of goodies from her stash, some really awesome stuff!  Can't wait to play!!!

Which brings me to my next question:  Are you doing a December Daily album?  I am part of a facebook group started by my friend Carole - we actually "met" two years ago doing this very project!  We also have a pinterest board with some fantastic winter inspiration pinned, so if you are interested in joining us, let me know and I can set you up with our group.  And that is what I have planned today, some cutting with my cameo to get my base pages ready.  My goal is to have the album all set by the time December 1st comes around, not like last year...

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The Amazing Challenge

Here's a layout I completed using my October Counterfeit Kit, and it looks as if I'm going to be on time for a few challenges this time!  First up is this sketch from Creative Scrappers:

I'm also entering at Frosted Designs (this week's challenge is to use mist and/or paint - I misted the rosettes and "Amazing" title piece with Dylusions Lemon Zest and painted the page border with a toothpick dipped in white acrylic paint) and  Ella's Pink Scrapbook Challenge #31 at The Pink Elephant: 3 photos, buttons, and flowers (rosettes count as flowers, don't they?)

Here's a close-up of the journaling and some homemade washi tape:

 and another of the title block:

Oops, just realized I didn't put the date on this page, I believe it was June 2, 2012.  We had such a blast, driving all over the area and completing crazy challenges like memorizing poems, a wilderness walk, stacking wood and bowling bingo.  I plan to do a SMASH page spread with some of the clues and memorabilia I have put away, but just wanted to get these three photos featuring my friend Andrea scrapped before too late - I miss that girl sooooooo much, and I only knew her for a year, sniff!  Thank goodness for Facebook and phones!!!

Oh, before I sign off, have to tell you about the crazy weather her this past weekend.  First of all, it snowed like crazy, and I bet we have a foot of the white stuff out there right now.  Second, the mercury dipped to -21 degrees celsius this morning, and stayed there most of the day - BBRRRRR!  And third, and this was the craziest of all, I was sitting on the couch Saturday night, talking to Jason, when I felt the couch moving - I thought I was getting a mad case of vertigo, which I have had before, when Jason said, "You're wigging out right now, aren't you?"  I didn't say anything for a moment, then said, "I don't know, it felt like the couch was moving!"  I probably would have dismissed it altogether, when Jason said, "I felt it too!"  Then we looked up and saw the ceiling fan moving and heard the dog barking like mad, and realized it must have been an earthquake.  Sure enough, found out via Facebook that there was an earthquake off the coast.  So strange, I have never felt anything like that before!  Anyway, it was a very big earthquake, but no tsunami resulted, and I don't think there was any damage or injuries, phew!

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Self-Soothing

It's amazing how much crafting you can get done when you don't have phone or internet service to distract you!  No kidding, the wind blew our phone line right off the pole, and it took 5 days to finally get it fixed.  Good thing we had no 911 emergencies!

So, this is the first page I made with my October Counterfeit Kit, and I really love it!  I used this sketch from Let's Get Sketchy:

and some of the Basic Grey PB&J papers from my kit.  I cut the navy border, doilies, and title with my (brand new) Cameo (eeeeeee!!!!)  I also added some of those cool labels from my kit - these print out great, and you can find them here and here.  Here's a few close-ups of those clusters and the journaling:

The doilies were cut from plain cream cardstock, then I inked them with Picked Raspberry Distress Ink (hey, did you hear that all those limited edition inks from Ranger are now part of the Distress Ink palette?  This Picked Raspberry is so bright and vibrant, it kind of makes my mouth water, yum!)

Yep, my Brenna Bean is a real thumb sucker, and she twirls her hair while she's doing it - a couple of times her fingers have gotten stuck in her hair!  I had her out and about once, and a lady saw her doing this and said it's a sign of intelligence - maybe that she can do two things at once?  I don't know, I just think it so adorable!

Thanks for looking, and I should have more to post soon - I'm on a bit of a roll at the mo'!

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October Counterfeit Kit

We're past the midway mark of October, and I finally got my Counterfeit Kit together!  Here's the inspiration kit from Gossamer Blue:

When I'm making my kit, I always look to see if I have any of the exact papers from the original.  In this case, I had two - the Echo Park Everyday Eclectic woodgrain chevron (with a small strip missing!) and an almost full sheet of the journaling cards.  From there, I look at colours and/or patterns and see if I can come close.  And this is what I ended up with:

I've got some cardstock in the back row, then the two EP papers, followed by all Basic Grey, the first from Paper Cottage and the rest from PB & J.  I've also got some Spellbinders dies to make labels, and some labels I had previously printed to use in my SMASH books.  I only had one resin flower, so I added some shaped buttons that might be handy for embellishment clusters, and some half-used packs of alphas (Thickers, Stickopotamous, and Making Memories).  And finally, some chevron washi (Queen & Co.), a chevron stamp, some coordinating ribbon, and a package of sheer label shapes that I won as a prize and haven't used - hope I can figure out a way to utilize them this month.

Oh, and the best part of all is I am now the proud owner of a Silhouette Cameo!!!  I've been playing already and I'm so excited to see how I can use this tool to get some layouts and cards done this month!  Stay tuned!!!

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A Card for a Bestie!

Here's the challenge at Seriously Creative Challenges:

Ooooh, colours, lookit all the pretty colours!  That's what inspired me to create this card for one of my best friends:

As always, the photo doesn't really do it justice, but I'm quite pleased with it.  I used this sketch from Try Stampin' on Tuesday (really love the simplicity of this sketch):

And I also decided to enter a new (to me) challenge called Shopping Our Stash - challenge #72 is a Tic Tac Toe challenge, and I decided to do brad/kraft/embossing.  It was so fun to use my new embossing folder from Sizzix - it's double-sided with bricks on the other side!  Stamps are all from Close To My Heart, and patterned paper from Studio Calico.  I stamped the leaves with Distress Stain, which gives kind of a neat effect, kind of messy.  I guess it doesn't really show, but I wanted my leaves to be glossy, and since I can't find any Glossy Accents, I inked up each leaf with Ranger Perfect Medium and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Worked pretty good!  What do you think of my asymmetrical idea of having the leaves on one side?  Not sure I'm happy with it, but hoping that my friend doesn't notice or care, haha!  That's the great thing about making cards for people who aren't card-makers, they tend not to notice if you've made a mistake (or 10!)

Well, thanks for looking, and I do hope you join us this month at Seriously Creative Challenges!

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Summer Layout to Share

Quick post today as I still have my MIL and BIL here visiting, and I don't want to neglect them too much.  I've been working on this layout for a while, just playing with the finishing touches and finally finished it last night.  I'm quite pleased with it!  I used some colours that I normally wouldn't choose for this photo, but I just felt like experimenting.  I started off with a new Dylusions mask and some Fresh Lime Dylusions spray to do the border, then just layered various papers until I got the effect I wanted.  The papers are from Studio Calico, Echo Park, MME and Simple Stories.  There's a floral border there from Sassafrass Lass, and another B&W polka dot one from Amy Tangerine that I cut into little flags.  The flowers are made with the ever trusty Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die, and I was surprised to see how easily this die cuts felt!  Fun, never tried that before!

There's some Kaiser rhinestones there, and an Echo Park sticker, some cool buttons from my stash, and look here:

See that butterfly pin?  That's one I won from Channa, and it's just beautiful!!!  I have four more, and I'm torn between wanting to use them all up or just hoarding them forever!  Here's the sketch I used from Creative Scrappers:

I'm really loving their sketches these days, but once again, I missed the deadline.  Huh.  I'm seeing a pattern here...

Oh, I should write out the journaling, because I doubt if you can see it.  It says:  "You two look so peaceful here, sitting by the Nechako River in the sun.  The relaxed mood was broken abruptly about two minutes later, when Brenna decided to pitch herself face first into the water!"  Yep, you can just imagine her surprise and tears, it was hilarious!!!

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