Roxy's Creative Hot Spot

Piggy Tails!

2012-02-02T08:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a very playful layout I finished last night. I started making it with the Scrapbooker's Anonymous "F" challenge in mind, as I used almost all Fancy Pants products, but...missed the deadline, oops! I also used this sketch from Creative Scrappers (flipped sideways):

but again, missed the deadline, double oops! Here's a closie of the journaling, because the story is quite cute:

And even though these photos were taken several months ago, I still can't get a pony tail or any sort of style in Brenna's hair to save my life, she just rips any elastic out right away! Very different from her sister, who would sit still and let me do whatever I wanted with her hair. Ah well, every kid is different, aren't they?

Supplies: Fancy Pants patterned paper and journaling card, Prima (?) flowers, Kaiser rhinestones, KI Memories (Love, Elsie) rub-ons, Creative Memories pen

layout 6/52

Creative Scrappers #189 with Counterfit Kit

2012-01-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

I had a lot of fun with this layout! I'm really loving the mix of papers here, very different than what I would normally use. One of the challenges over at Counterfeit Kits is to use sketch #189 from Creative Scrappers to make a layout using our January kit. Here is the sketch:

and here's a bit of a close up of some of my embellishments and machine stitching:

I love this photo of me and Ailis, it really shows her playful nature! I wanted to write a heart felt note to let her know that she's the one that cheers me up whenever I'm feeling blue, but maybe I'll save that for another day, and another layout, haha! I left the journaling at this: "Every day with you is a party. Just want to say... It's as clear as day. You deserve a pat on the back." The first sentence can be treated as the title, and I cut individual words out of an old book and inked them with Distress Ink (not sure if you can see that bit). The other bits are cut from a piece of Echo Park paper. I tried my hand at a visual triangle with the Prima canvas key, clock, and dress form - did I succeed? Looking at it now, I think I may go back and put a pale blue half-circle under the key with the date - first I'll have to find the date, though! What do you think?

Anyway, happy Monday and thanks for looking! I'm feeling optimistic that this is going to be a good week, not sure why, but let's go with that feeling for a bit!

Supplies: MME, Basic Grey (misted), Theresa Collins, Echo Park and K&Co patterned papers, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Tim Holtz Distress Inks, Prima canvas embellies, Coredinations cardstock, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Close to My Heart stickers, book paper, doily

Smash Book Post #2

2012-01-27T22:22:00.000-08:00

Quick post today, just wanted to show you a couple of pages from my Smash book. This first one is one of the first I started. I was eager to try out some new things after Christmas, so I cut some wrapping paper with my new Lifestyle dies and used my IRock to blingify it a bit. (Apparently "blingify" is not a word, but I think it should be, how 'bout you?) Ailis has a heart of gold and was very upset that she couldn't buy Christmas presents for anyone, so she drew us each pictures and wrapped them up with some money she found laying around. That's the drawing she gave me on the right side, along with a recipe she wrote for reindeer food. Here's a closie:

Keep in mind she's only 6 and in French Immersion, so her spelling needs a bit of work! It says: Oats, love, sugar, dried berries. Gotta love it!

And here's a Roxy page:

A couple of semi-recent photos of me, a 12 year old gymnastics postcard that my parents picked up in Sydney, a couple of business cards, my top books from last year, and I thought that tag hanging down the center was pretty cool. It came with a pair of Converse sneakers that I love, and the date on it says 1975, my birth year (uh-oh, I just aged myself)! And I filled out a couple of journaling cards from my Smash pad, and it's done! From my last Smash post, I know there's lots of people out there with the books, so are you filling them up? If so, make sure you post your pages, I would love to see! Happy weekend, everyone!

Layout #4 - Do You Remember?

2012-01-26T19:45:00.000-08:00

After having so much fun making my last layout, this one seemed like a real chore, I gotta tell ya! It started off going great - I had the photos, the papers, a concept in mind, and this sketch from Get Picky:

I started scrapping away and then thought, "Oh no, my layout is totally bottom heavy!" I was really stumped, and that's when I added a couple more clouds and the bubble wrap/paint stamping, but ugh! I don't know, am I wrong?

The other problem is that the journaling is really faint, but here's what it says: "Grandma likes to tell us about how her mom would do these finger curls in her baby brothers' hair! It didn't ever work for Nolan or Ailis, but Brenna's hair did it! We all laughed and called her "Elvis Baby"!"

I must admit that I loooooove these photos, they really show Brenna's personality even at 11 months old! Along with Get Picky, I'm entering this layout in three other challenges:

Scrap Your Crap wants to see us scrap with 50% of our newest products along with 50% of our oldest stash. Well, those buttons, sequins, and Prima flowers are VERY old, as is the mulberry paper I used for the clouds, and the papers I used are among my newest purchases.

Scrapbooker's Anonymous A-Z Challenge is on letter F this month, and I used two Fancy Pants papers from the Baby Mine collection for this page.

Bird is the Word's prompt is "Remember". I knew I had a "Remember" stamp in my stash somewhere, and I found it and realized that even though it's one of my older sets, it's never been inked up!

Supplies: Fancy Pants and Webster's patterned papers, Kaiser jewels, Queen & Co sequins and brads, Close to My Heart ink and stamp, Sakura pen, DecoArt paint, Prima flowers, unknown buttons and mulberry paper

November Project 12

2012-01-22T12:36:00.000-08:00

Wow, I had a lot of fun making this page, but there sure is a lot going on here - do ya think you can handle it? Here's the sketch for November's P12:

And here's what I made with my Counterfit Kit:

It's pretty busy, but I think I like it! The sketch had so many photos in it, but when I was looking through my November file, I hardly had any decent shots, and not a single one of me or Nolan! Must've been a pretty blah month, as November tends to be. So, I used up my quilted paper to replicate the idea of lots of small prints, then I added my favorite shots (matted so that they would stand out on the busy paper) and some heavy duty embellishments for a fun look that's quite different for me. Here's a close-up of the left side:

I wanted to mist a canvas key, so I used it as a mask on the patterned paper and really like the result. (Plus, now I can enter this page over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous!) The background paper has some light misting, and I also misted some paper doilies and layered them with cut up Maya Road trim and cute buttons. Here's the right side:

There's the misted canvas key, and an inked canvas lock under the photo of my mom with Brenna.

Well, the weekend is pretty much over, and I'm happy to say that the weather has warmed up considerably and everyone's a lot happier, especially the poor doggies! Yesterday morning, though, I learned of a mill explosion in Burns Lake, our old town!!! I spent a lot of time on Facebook trying to gather details, but it sounds like the mill is completely destroyed, 19 seriously injured workers and 2 missing. I can't even imagine what the people of Burns Lake are feeling right now, and my thoughts have been very preoccupied with this tragedy. Not only will the injured and missing individuals and their families be affected, but it's an incredible blow to the economy of the town. This will be felt by many for a long, long time.

January Counterfit Kit

2012-01-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

As if my obsession with "smashing" wasn't enough, now I'm in love with Counterfit Kits! Have you heard of this site?! Every month they post several kits from one of the top scrapbook kit companies, and they encourage you to pull things from your stash to make a similar kit. They also post tutorials and links for making your own embellishments and papers! Well, this month is the first time I've played along, and I must say I'm loving how my kit turned out! Here's the inspiration kit from Cocoa Daisy that I've chosen to copy:

I was really drawn to the vintage feel of this kit. Plus, I have one of the papers already in my stash, and I just bought ruler print and banner print papers, so I figured it would be easy to match at least some things. It was a little trickier than I thought, because at first I wanted to match every single item. Once I got over that and decided to go with the vintage theme, then it was easier, and this is what I came up with:

Here are the 12x12 papers I had in my stash which seemed to match. The top row is old Close to My Heart stuff, and the bottom row is brand new - the three on the left are MME, then Theresa Collins and Graphic 45.

Then I saw this great idea from one of Counterfit Kits' Master Forgers, Helen, on how to duplicate the October Afternoon paper Attic Trunk:

I used 1.5" squares of some CTMH Notebook and Blue Ribbon scraps, as well as some other unknown scraps and inked book paper, and glued them to a 12x12 sheet of cardstock to make this bright patchwork quilt type paper. Pretty neat, thanks, Helen!

Then I pulled out some more scraps, a new pack of Prima mistable canvas, some Prima flowers, a Tim Holtz stamp, some postcards, doilies, shipping tags, trim, and 6x6 papers I won to add to the kit:

I also printed out some vintage images that Counterfit Kits linked up on their site. I'm planning to use them as journaling cards or tags.

And finally, this bunch of stuff:

The top row is left over stickers from CTMH's Notebook line, and the bottom row is an embellishment pack I won from Lovely Bug Bits 'n' Bobs - very cute buttons in this kit! Now I just have to use what's in this kit, and I've already started by working on November's P12 layout with it - I think it's going to look really cool!

Now here comes a bit of a rant, so fair warning - I won't be offended if you skip this bit, and I'll try to keep it short. P12 is changing its format, and I'm really disappointed! Previously, they put out a new Becky Fleck sketch for us to work with each month. They've done away with this, there will be no new sketches. Instead, we are to use old sketches from the past two years. We can use whichever sketch we want for whatever month we want to. We can also incorporate the color suite challenge into our layouts if we want. I don't know why I was so disappointed, this seems like a lot of freedom to do it however we want, which should be a good thing, right? Maybe I'm just PMSing, or maybe I look forward to the new sketches and reveals more than I thought, or maybe I just need more direction and structure, but I'm not excited about this new format (or lack of format!) and I don't think I'll be playing along. Instead, I decided this morning that I will make a counterfit kit each month and use that to do my own month-in-review layout. Feel free to join me!

Okay, that's the end of Roxy's Rant! It is very cold here, (-36 C or something) and the school buses aren't running, but I made my kids go to school anyway. Call me mean, but I think they'll have more fun at school than doing nothing here! Plus, when I'm stuck at home with Brenna, we like to lounge all morning in our PJ's, and the older kids being here would cramp our style! What do you like to do when it's too cold to go out?

Christmas Past!

2012-01-17T14:31:00.000-08:00

Did you hear the sad news? This is the last challenge for Sketchy Thursdays! I am completely devastated!!! I had a private dream that one day I would be a Sketchy Thursdays Fave, but alas that dream is no more! (Unless they pick me this week, and although I love how this page turned out and it means a lot to me to scrap this photo, I have my doubts that it's "fave" material.) Anyway, here is the sketch:

I stuck very closely to it, and used a new kit I won from Simple Stories - Love. It. I had a hard time figuring out what papers and stickers to use, because they're all sooooooo yummy! I think I'm going to put aside the rest for next year's December Daily. I'm also entering this page over at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge, where they've asked to see a photo of a Christmas in your past. This photo was the only one I could find of a Christmas with my Nana in it. She lived in Australia with my Papa, and although I've been over twice and they came over a handful of times, there was only this one Christmas with them. Now that she's passed away, the opportunity for more Christmases with her is gone. (I'm not sure where Papa is at the time of this photo - did he take it, or is he just out of the shot?)

Well, I hear Brenna screaming at me (why is she always screaming, she sounds like a stuck pig up there!) so I better end this now. Goodbye, Sketchy Thursdays, I'll miss you, sniff!

Supplies: all Simple Stories except CTMH cardstock, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, and Creative Memories pen

Creative Accents January Challenge!

2012-01-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

This month at Seriously Creative Challenges, the prompt is "Let it Snow"! You can make a card, a layout, or any other project, as long as it involves SNOW!!! It has been a very strange winter in our neck of the woods, with not much of the white stuff - in fact, I just heard that the annual dog sled race that happens here has been canceled! We are supposed to get a dump this weekend, so hopefully there will be enough for the Cariboo Marathon, which is a big cross-country ski race that happens here in February I believe.

Anyway, here is my project:

These photos have been in my "To Be Scrapped" pile (do you have one of those?) for a while, and they were taken close to four years ago now, but honestly, they are the most recent snowy photos I could find! I love them, because they show us on one of our many family walks in one of my favorite places in the world, Dawson City. I'm not sure why I loved it there so much, as it's one of the coldest, darkest places you can even imagine, but there's no accounting for taste! A close-up of the journaling:

Uh-oh, I just realized I made a booboo on the last line there, and I wasn't even drinking! And here's a close-up of some misting I did using a doily as a mask:

I did this on purpose so I could put this layout in over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous - they want to see some masking this month, with paint, ink, or what have you. I wish it turned out a bit darker, but, on second thought, that might have been a bit overwhelming. I used white paint on all my paper edges for a bit of a snowy effect, and I also painted my chipboard letter stickers - some are green, others are pink, but you'd never know it! To finish it all off, I made some bling swirls with my IRock tool and a Bazzill template by two of the snowflakes. I was going to add a third by the far left snowflake, but my batteries were dying and I needed to get this in on time. What do you think, should I add more bling, or leave it as is?

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend, and please mark this challenge on your list of "To Enter" challenges for January - if you do, I'll love you forever!

Supplies: Coredinations and Bazzill cardstock, Echo Park patterned paper, Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, Sakura pen, Imaginisce IRock tool and gems, Bazzill swirl template, Maya Road doily, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, unknown die cut snowflakes

Happy Birthday Sarah!

2012-01-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a card I've been working on for a few days for a fellow Seriously Creative DT member, Sarah. Now if you think you're having deja vu, you are because this card is very similar to the last one I made! I kept my Kraftin' Kimmie Roxy stamp and MME papers out, and built on the design of the last card. I was pretty content to work on this card for a while because I got to use my new Lifestyle Crafts dies and my iRock tool. Check out that bling! You could light the northern night skies with this puppy! I didn't have enough matching cardstock or patterned paper to make a card base with, so I inked and stamped up some plain cream stuff with the matching MME stamp set and some Broken China Distress Ink. And then on the inside:

Voila! Another Roxy Rolla! I thought that turned out pretty cool, but I don't know that I'll do it all the time, as it's a lot of work, but seeing that Sarah got shingles over the Christmas holidays, I figured she deserved a little something extra! Oh yeah, and it's her 30th, too, so that's a pretty big deal, right? (Just because I don't want to even think about my 30th, ahem, Jason, doesn't mean I can't appreciate the fact that it's a big milestone for other people!) Anyway, Happy Birthday for Saturday, Sarah, hope you get some wonderful scrappy goodies, and I'll get your card to you soon!

Well, I missed the sketch challenge at Sweet Sketch Wednesday, but I can still enter this card over at Kraftin' Kimmie. This week's prompt is to "shape up" and use 3 or more shapes on your card. I've used a rectangle for the card base, dies cut scallop squares, and flowers (I hope flowers count as a shape!) Thanks for looking!

My first SMASH book!!!

2012-01-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

Oh my, I think I've found a new obsession! And no, it's not the man you see in the pages above (he's my old obsession, haha!) It's SMASHing! I'd heard of these books and items from K&Company before, but when I saw them at Creative Accents during their HUGE Boxing Day sale, I knew they were right up my alley. I bought the orange book and a "Family" Smash pad, and got to work almost right away. This is good for me because I keep EVERYTHING as souvenirs, and now I can have a place to put it. At first I struggled with how I was going to organize my book, but now I'm into just placing things more randomly. This is the first page I've filled up completely, and I think it's pretty neat! It's got some old passport photos of Jason that didn't get used in a passport, a tag from when he took Nolan to Bowron Lakes, a couple of photos from his last birthday, another photo I printed off last year of the Irish cream he likes to make for Christmas and didn't include in my December Daily, some sticky tabs (including chest hair, ew!) from when he went to the hospital last year with chest pain (they didn't find anything, maybe it was a panic attack?), etc. You get the picture! Another thing I'm loving about this project is that I can use up old supplies and scraps, like the Heidi Swapp decorative tape I've had for years, and the Creative Memories letter stickers I bought as a consultant and still have three partial packs of! I can also bring this project with me to the kitchen whenever I want and work on it with minimal supplies, which is fabulous when Brenna's constantly into my scrap stuff in the basement and can't work down there! Anyway, this is an ongoing project, so if you like, I can post pages throughout the year as I finish them. Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Jenn!!!

2012-01-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

I had to take a break from December Daily to do some card making, especially when I heard it was my bloggy friend Jenn's birthday coming up! I "met" Jenn 2 years ago when we both joined a group through Close to My Heart. Everybody from the group set their own goal, declared it on their blog, and we supported each other by commenting on each other's posts and linking everyone up on our sidebar. Through these past two years, the group has changed a bit, some members have blogged more than others (and I think some have disappeared from blogland forever!), but Jenn's been a constant. She's been with me through the birth of a baby, my husband losing his job, and a move, and always with a positive and uplifting comment. So, even though we've never met in person (and I don't even have her address!) I think of her as a true friend! Happy Birthday, sweetie, and as soon as I get your address, I'll get this bad boy in the mail for ya!

So, onto the card. Jenn's a big Kraftin' Kimmie fan, so using a KK stamp was a no-brainer. I decided to pull out ol' Roxy for the second time, and coloured her up with Copics to match this My Mind's Eye patterned paper. I used this sketch from Seems a Little Sketchy (new site I found!):

Flipped it and changed it to a rectangle, but it's still basically the same. Then I had to break in the new i-rock to make a little flourish (can you tell it's a flourish?) I had big ideas of doing up the inside, but after making some HUUUUGE mistakes, this is how it ended up:

Now I just have to write in it (how am I gonna do that? Hee hee!) and mail it! I'm also going to enter this one over at The Pink Elephant, they're having an "anything goes" challenge this week.

Speaking of challenges, I am challenging myself to create 52 layouts, 12 fancy cards, and 24 simple Christmas cards this year. I'm also hoping to finish some mini albums I started and didn't ever complete, not to mention this darned December Daily! How about you? If you need a little kick in the pants (or just want me around to comment on your each and every post!) why not join in on our 2012 Challenge? We'd love to have you!

December Daily Day 16

2012-01-01T12:32:00.000-08:00

I didn't really have much to say about December 16th, so I made this spread about the cards and pictures that we made and sent.

Here's the left had side:

Isn't Ailis cute making her cards? Everybody was very appreciative when she gave them out, it was really sweet!

And here's the right side:

I used a piece of vellum for this one, and at first I was kind of bummed that the card front I attached doesn't really go with my colour scheme, but it's kind of grown on me, and I felt it needed to be included in the album, so...

And here's the back side:

It worked out that the three wallet size photos fit perfectly onto the same spot as the card! I know I'm a bit biased, but I love these photos, I think my kids look just beautiful! (And I know it's virtually impossible to get them to smile into the camera like that, so kudos to the photographer!)

Well, I had planned to do some sort of New Year's Day post, to kind of sum up the year and lay out my plans for 2012, but I'm just not in the mood! So, thanks for looking, I hope everyone had a lovely New Year's Eve, and I will get to that more personal post soon - my Christmas tree is begging to be taken down, and seems like it's not going to do it all on its own! Virtual hugs to all of you, and thanks so much for making 2011 an enjoyable blogging year for me!

December Daily Day 15 and Some Christmas Cards

2011-12-30T12:52:00.000-08:00

Do ya wanna hear my Christmas card sob story, do ya? Well, too bad, I'm gonna tell ya anyway! I made all these 5 1/2" by 4 1/4" cards (as above), then realized I didn't have envelopes to send them! And do ya think I could find any in this town? Heck no!!! So, I regrouped, found some envelopes, and made some cards to fit my envelopes instead of the other way around. This is actually a wise strategy, I don't know why I didn't think of it first! So, the cards above I hand delivered to friends and family in town, and the cards below were the ones that got mailed.

Supplies (snowman cards): Close to My Heart cardstock, Graphicat Designs stamp set, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Sizzix embossing folders, BoBunny patterned paper, Spellbinders dies

These smaller cards were made with a Sizzix embossing folder, lots of Tim Holtz distress ink, Perfect Pearls, Close to My Heart cardstock and stamp, Bo Bunny patterned paper, and Prima jewels to dress it up a bit (speaking of jewels, I got my i-rock in the mail yesterday, fun fun!).

All of this messing around with sizes, envelopes and designs meant I didn't get my cards out on time, or to all the folks I wanted to send to, so I was pretty disappointed with myself. So, next year I think I will start my cards waaaaay earlier, like, now maybe! And that way I won't get bummed out about it.

Carrying on with December Daily, here is my Day 15 page:

This was the day I got nothing done, and I was without wheels so I couldn't even get out of the house. Actually, I did try to take Brenna and Hunter for a walk, but she was screaming so hard about wearing a jacket instead of the snowsuit I stuck her in that her boots went flying off (you know the stiffened-body, head-thrown-back scream?) and I said, "Forget this!" I took these photos during the only quiet time she had that day, when she sat on the floor looking at a book. Deceptive indeed!

Supplies: Heidi Swapp journaling card and chipboard numbers, Close to My Heart stamps and ink, Maya Road chipboard word, DecoArt paint, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, unknown ribbon and patterned paper

December Daily Days 13 & 14

2011-12-29T08:45:00.000-08:00

A couple more DD pages for you to peruse! We are all affected by teacher job action in BC right now (since the summer!) and our school's teachers decided not to do a Christmas concert, sadly. But, Ailis's teacher did invite all the families to the classroom so we could hear the students sing carols and read a French story. When Mme. asked for a volunteer to translate the story for the parents, Ailis shot her hand up right away! She had to come up to the front, and she spoke loud and clear while translating their story - I was very proud! She has beauty and brains!!! Meanwhile, Brenna was everywhere, I had a heck of a time keeping her from falling out of desks, etc. so after the presentation, we left pretty quickly! The snowman sticker on this page is from the goodie bag Mme. Buhler gave to Ailis: it was her idea to include it in my DD!

Another Ailis page here. She has judo 2 nights a week, and is really loving it! She's talked about going for her black belt before, so I hope her enthusiasm lasts that long. I didn't know a thing about judo before going to a couple of classes with her in the summer, but it's a very cool sport! I think it does wonders for a child's self-esteem and leadership, not to mention their strength and coordination.

Well, some of you wished me a happy birthday for the 27th (thanks so much, everyone!), and I just wanted to let you know that I had a fabulous 2 days, including spending a $50 gift certificate from my mom and dad at my LSS, Creative Accents, and getting my hair cut short! I will post pics soon!

December Daily Days 11 and 12

2011-12-25T11:32:00.000-08:00

I'm back with my pages for December 11th and 12th. On the 11th, we finished up our hockey tournament in Merritt and traveled home through Kamloops for the quickest shop for jeans, boots, and books known to man! I really like how the embossing on the left page turned out, that's kind of an ongoing theme with this album - not really planned, but a happy surprise! The photos were taken from sooooo far away, and through glass, so they're not great quality, but I wanted to include them because they're some of the only hockey pictures I got.

This page for the 12th came together quickly. Again, more dry embossing, but this time I have a misted paper doily too. I'll definitely be using those again! The story here is kind of funny - while most kids are writing letters to Santa, Nolan's spending hours drawing the "Cold War", also known as "Elves vs. Snowmen". The drawing is quite complex, with several different types of aircraft, catapults, missile launchers, etc. Apparently the elves have better technology and won the war hands down! Not sure if this is a bit demented, but I was just happy that he wasn't super hyper or arguing with me, as per usual!

Christmas day is almost done, and I think it's safe to say that this year was a roaring success! I hope that all of you had a wonderful day with family, and possibly some scrappy treats under the tree!

December Daily Day 10

2011-12-23T09:03:00.000-08:00

Well, here is the spread I finished for Day 10, and I think I was quite clever! I managed to incorporate a pool pass/wrist band thingie onto the left hand page as a border, and remember when I mentioned before that I've been on a winning streak? Well, at the Merritt Centennials game we went to, I won a Tim Horton's gift card, so I added the holder onto the next page.

Here's a close up of the left side:

And one of the right side (hmmm, a bit blurry, I see!):

I traced the Timmies card onto some white cardstock and made an extra journaling card to pull out:

I have also finished Day 11, but whether I'll find time to blog is another story - Nolan and Ailis have been hogging the computer to play games, the little stinkers! Once Christmas is over, hopefully they'll be too busy with new things to bother with my stuff! We are heading to our parents' tomorrow for Christmas Eve dinner, so I'll take this opportunity to wish all my fellow bloggers a Merry Christmas, and I look forward to catching up with everyone in 2012, if not before. Big hugs, Roxy.

December Daily Day 9

2011-12-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

I'm having a very hard time keeping up with this project this year! The kids being home from school is really cramping my scrapping time. I'm going to have to start making notes on my calendar of what happened when (no, I haven't already been doing that, I thought I would remember everything, haha). Anyway, this page shows some pics from our road trip to Merritt a week and a half ago. I wanted more room for journaling, so I made a little flap that opens up with a ribbon tab.

This trip was definitely an experience. It was just Jason, Nolan, and myself, which hasn't happened in quite some time. I really enjoyed watching Nolan play hockey and meeting some of the families from his team, and I think Nana, Grandma and the girls and dogs had a pretty fun time too!

December Daily Days 7 & 8

2011-12-13T16:49:00.000-08:00

After stalling on Day 6, Days 7 and 8 came together in a snap! Day 7 talks about how my mom has been coming every week to help me out (I love my mom!) and this week she gave Brenna a much needed trim - her bangs were getting in her eyes! I almost added a little banner of twine and snowflakes up top, but I'm almost out of little snowflakes and wanted to save them for later.

I cheated a bit on Day 8 - this was a photo I took on December 1st, shhhhh! It's true, though, we've been getting these beautiful skies every morning. I probably live further north than anyone reading this blog, so it must sound like I'm up super early every day, but our sunrise is at 7:30 a.m. Then the sun's going down over the hill by the time the kids get off the bus at 3:30 p.m. It'll be nice when the days start getting longer again!

December Daily Day 6

2011-12-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

Well, just a bit behind in my December Daily, as in life! Do you ever feel like you're stuck in the mud, with the wheels spinning and going nowhere? That's me the past few months, sigh! Haven't even started Christmas shopping, but let's not go there! Look at this beautiful page I made for December 6th!!! It's actually 3 pages, because it was Jason's 39th birthday. Wow, I can't believed I'm married to someone middle aged! (I just threw that in there in case he reads this, eh, ol' man? I like to get the digs in wherever I can!) Here's a bit of detail on the first page:

I have to say the page looks better in real life, you really can't see the details of the blue patterned paper and pretty pink ribbon on the right hand side, so just use your imagination! That photo of Brenna is just awesome - I pointed the camera at her, didn't say anything, and she gave me this big cheesey grin, model in training! (How do you spell "cheesey"? It's coming up misspelled! Wow, "misspelled" looks weird, too, how come that doesn't get a red squiggly?) The grungeboard "6" is painted white and then sprayed with silver glimmer mist.

Here's page 2:

I've got a little December calendar in the upper right that you can't really see. I found this chipboard "family" word (Maya Road) in my stash, along with a bunch of others that will fit well in this album - I just painted it white, then sprayed with silver. When that didn't show up well on the background paper, I sprayed it pink - hey, you can never have enough glimmer mist! I really like the border (embossed and sanded with a Cuttlebug folder) and the little presents.

And page 3:

Another embossed and sanded border, and a couple more little pressies (as the Aussies say!), and a painted and sprayed grungeboard "6" tied on with the twine. That photo in the bottom right is Jason's mom goofing around with Ailis, she was giving her and Brenna airplane rides! I didn't know Jason was making a face in the pic I took of us, but I had to include it because it's the only one with me in it (typical)!

Yesterday I managed to get some Christmas cards done, but I still want to do more, so that's what I'll be plugging away at today. Also, Ailis's class is inviting their families to school for a singing thing - no Christmas concerts due to teacher job action, bah humbug! At least I'll have some pics for Day 13!

Layout #71 - Creative Accents December Challenge

2011-12-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Creative Accents Challenges has a new December challenge up, and it's one that everyone can play along with:

That's right, anything to do with Christmas, link it up and you could win a prize! And the prize is going to get bigger and better the more entries we get, so that's something to get excited about!!! Here is what I came up with for your inspiration:

I really love how this page turned out, but again, it's one I agonized over. I've had the photos forever, and they're in B&W, so that's easy. I found a great sketch over at 4x6 Photo Sketch Blog, so that was easy, too. The hard part was deciding which papers to use, and then journaling. Can you believe I've drawn a complete blank when it comes to the Christmas of 2009? All I remember is what I derived from the photos, it's terrible!!! I completely blame it on the pregnancy hormones!

Anyway, here's a close up of some of the stitching and snowflakes I used to embellish the page (why I chose snowflakes for indoor photos, I'll never know, but I love 'em just the same!):

And a close up of the journaling:

This is why I'm so glad to be doing the December Daily process. It's a little bit uncomfortable, but it's all worth it in the end to have those little tidbits documented.

Supplies: Bazzill and Coredinations cardstock, BoBunny patterned papers, Prima journaling card and jewels, Sizzix embossing folder, Creative Memories pen, Graphicat Designs snowflake stamp and snowflake embellishments, Ranger and Close to My Heart ink, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, American Crafts Thickers, Hampton Arts letter stamps

Scrapbooker's Paradise Guest Designer!!!

2011-12-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

You guys aren't going to believe this, but I won another challenge!!! It's crazy, I've never been so lucky, maybe I should buy a lottery ticket! You watch, now that I've said it out loud, that will be the end of my lucky streak.

So last week I won the challenge at Scrapbooker's Paradise. That means they've asked me to be a guest designer for this week's challenge:
The prompt for Challenge #45 is: use a tree as the main image on your project. Well, I am in desperate need of Christmas cards, so I came up with this:

Supplies: unknown cardstock and vellum (I think the vellum might be Webster's Pages?), Little Yellow Bicycle patterned paper (die cut with Spellbinders dies), Stampin' Up star stamp and yellow ink, Close to My heart sentiment and Olive ink, Prima jewel

And when my prize package from Scrapbooker's Paradise came in the mail (a beautiful Christmas kit from Simple Stories), I used some stickers from the kit to make this one:

Supplies: unknown cardstock, Hero Arts background stamp, Ranger Distress Inks (Walnut Stain and Tea Dye), Simple Stories patterned paper and cardstock stickers, Close to My Heart pearls

I should also mention that I used this sketch from Sketch Support for inspiration:

I hope you'll play along with us at Scrapbooker's Paradise this week! Who knows, my luck could rub off on you! Have a great weekend, I am off to Merritt for a hockey tourney. Yay, I love road trips!!!

Card #24 - Creative Accents Stamp of the Month

2011-12-07T15:00:00.000-08:00

Here's the other card I made for Creative Accents for their Stamp of the Month club. I was in such a rush to send it to Tara that I forgot to photograph it, so I had to swipe this pic from her blog! I really like the vintagey feel to this card, and after much deliberation and playing around, I've decided that my Christmas cards this year will be a play on this theme. It just makes sense, seeing it doesn't require much embellishment or patterned paper, so it should be very economical to make in bulk and to mail as well.

So here's what I did: I embossed a cream cardstock base with a lovely wintery Sizzix embossing folder, then inked the paper with two colours of Distress Ink: Walnut Stain and Tea Dye. (I stamped the sentiment with Versamark and heat embossed with clear embossing powder before inking the centre section.) I stamped the snowman in Walnut Stain Distress Ink, coloured him with two Copic markers (E33 and E35), then rubbed over him with Tea Dye Distress Ink. I trimmed him out and glued him to two wonky rectangles (cut with Spellbinders dies and distressed with a distressing tool) and there you have it. What do you think? I usually have my cards done by now, so I'm hoping I can get a bunch done today. Wish me luck! Between the puppy and Brenna, it's a challenge!

Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock and embossing powder, Versamark and Ranger inks, Graphicat Designs stamp set, BoBunny patterned paper, Copic markers, Sizzix embossing folder, Spellbinders dies

December Daily Day 5

2011-12-07T08:40:00.000-08:00

I could have included numerous stories for Day 5, but I decided to keep it very simple and just use these photos I took of our puppy, Hunter. He was whining and looking out the window as the kids left for the bus, and then just slumped down when they were out of sight. Poor guy, he just had me and Brenna to play with that day!

I used Basic Grey papers for this page, and I really like how the die cut piece looks layered with the Grungeboard number, ornaments, and snowflake. Enjoy!

December Daily Day 4

2011-12-06T21:12:00.000-08:00

Sundays are usually an "up in the air" type day at our place, where there's no real plans and everybody's kind of bored and restless. We're beginning to see that Nolan thrives on routine, and part of that is just keeping busy. So this weekend, in an effort to keep our active boy moderately happy, Jason got out on the little lake in front of our place and spent a couple hours shoveling a huuuuuuge rink! There were a couple times over the weekend where we thought fists were going to fly out there (some of the neighbour kids don't see eye to eye, and luckily Nolan was just a bystander...this time!) but as long as there's an adult out there, everyone behaves. I took these pictures on Sunday, when two neighbour kids were out there playing with Nolan and Ailis while Jason, Brenna, Hunter and I took a bit of a walk on the ice. It was nice to get out of the house and get some fresh air, even if it was a bit chilly!

December Daily Day 3

2011-12-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

Hopefully I don't need to knock on wood for saying this, but I'm so fortunate to have my health. My kids and Jason are all really healthy, too. Ailis has a best friend from school, Sayler, and her family is new to the area, too. Her mom, Rebecca, and I met at Strong Start in September, and we've been trying to set up a play date since then, but for some reason or other, it hasn't worked out. When I heard that Rebecca had to undergo unexpected surgery, I thought now might be the time to get the girls together and give Rebecca a break (she has three younger kids, too, yikes!) I took the girls sledding at the park in town, then to Tim Horton's for a doughnut and drink, then home to our place to play for a bit. The best part for me was playing with my camera and getting these awesome action shots! I just love the look on Ailis's face - she's the one in the purple toque!

December Daily Day 2

2011-12-04T19:19:00.000-08:00

So the bad news is, I lost my purple camera card! I have no idea where it could be, it's not in the usual places!!! The good news is, I already had my photos uploaded to the computer, so I guess it could be a whole lot worse. The other good news is, my dad brought me some printer ink, and being able to print photos at home in the sizes I want makes me breathe a whole lot easier. Thus, I was able to quickly finish Days 1, 2 and 3 today, and I think I'll be able to keep up with it through the month, phew! Here's my page for Day 2:

Once again, I've decided to dedicate myself to eating clean in order to fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes. I am at the same point now as I was a year ago, and I'm not liking it. Plus, I've decided it's a whole lot cheaper to just work my way into those 8 or so pairs of jeans that used to fit than to accept my body how it is and buy new stuff, and I'm all about saving a buck or two this Christmas! (Feeling the pinch in more ways than one, haha!) So on December 2nd, I spent the whole day at home, and a large portion of that time in the kitchen preparing food for the upcoming week. I find that if I have healthy options ready, it's much easier to resist temptation.

Supplies: Coredinations and Close to My Heart cardstock, Basic Grey patterned paper, Making Memories ribbon, Close to My Heart stamps and ink, Grungeboard number, DecoArt paint, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Twinery twine, Fiskars punch, Sakura pen

Card #23 for Creative Accents Stamp of the Month

2011-12-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

I created this card using the Stamp of the Month for Creative Accents a while back, and I really love how it turned out! The stamp set this month is by Graphicat Designs - he's the cutest little snowman, and he comes with some great sentiments! I love that he's so easy to colour with my minimal Copics, and he's also easy to trim out, which I did for the card front. Aren't these papers from BoBunny gorgeous? Love 'em! I used my new Spellbinders dies to cut the shapes, and some Distress Ink to grunge up the sentiment and card base. I even did the inside:

I love how the snowman looks all vintage-y! Actually, this look inspired my second card with this set, it's on the board at Creative Accents right now! I'll post that card another day, but for now, I have to run Ailis's play date home before dinner. Make sure you scroll down to see my Day 1 December Daily post!

December Daily #1

2011-12-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

No, I didn't forget about December Daily, I've just been feeling pretty swamped these last couple days. I don't think I'm alone in feeling that way, must be the colder weather! Anyway, you may remember that my Day 1 foundation page looked like this:

I really like the colour scheme on this page. I've got a Grungeboard number that I inked with Distress Ink, then brushed over with Perfect Pearls. I remember I tried to stamp the tiny "December" stamp the same way (Distress Ink, brush with Perfect Pearls) but you can just barely see it, even in person. So, I decided to add the little calendar down in the corner to reinforce the fact that yes, this is December 1st! I added some stamped and hand cut ornaments and a little snowflake I got from Cheri's Graphicat Designs store, and I'm ready to add photos and journaling:

Well, not quite. My printer's out of ink, and I've been without a car this week, so it's pretty inconvenient to get my photos at the moment. My dad's going to Kamloops today so I've asked him to pick me up some ink. I think that's the way to go for this album, I just can't see myself trying to print pics from a kiosk with a toddler running around. You'd know what I mean if you've tried it yourself! So, back to the album. I made this little flap with some cardstock, and two vertical photos will go on the outside and two on the inside. Here's the first:

Jason's office is in this huge log home with this beautiful fire place. It's just the coziest place! They had plates and bowls of treats, and Brenna was right in there with her grubby little hands, bringing me oranges and chips. Everyone really got a kick out of watching her.

Here's the second photo, of Ailis and her friend Amy:

Each forester had to go out and find a Christmas tree, the best tree possible. There were judges awarding points on everything from fullness to aroma (Jason's tree, the Sentinel, was the tallest - very typical!) The tree with the most points was awarded the place of honor in the office, and the kids decorated it, so that's what Ailis and Amy are doing here, unraveling the lights.

Here's Nolan, deer caught in the headlights:
And Jason, with his grubby-faced offspring:

Of course I was the one with the camera, conspicuously missing from the pictures. Must work on that for the duration of this album! We have a big day planned today, so I best get out of my pj's and get to it.

Layout #70 - Scrapbookit

2011-12-01T11:22:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post to show you this layout I finished the other day and share some happy news before I get too bogged down with December Daily. Remember my December Daily post? Well, I linked my project up to Scrapbooker's Anonymous for their A to Z challenge, and won myself an iRock!!! I know, I'm not kidding, I was totally freaking out, squealing and everything! This is the one tool I was planning to buy for myself eventually, but never did, so I'm very excited. Be prepared to see my 2012 layouts covered in bling!

On to this layout. I used this Page Maps sketch that Scrapbookit posted for their birthday challenges:

I loved this sketch and all the stitched hearts, so I stuck to it almost exactly. I used some of an old Close to My Heart paper pack called Unforgettable that I've barely used (now I'm a huge CTMH fan, I used to be a consultant, but I really don't know what they were thinking when they came out with this orange colour called Sorbet - it's pretty in theory, but I have a heck of a time matching it to ANYTHING! Hence the B&W photo, haha, goes with everything!) and some new goodies from my Lovelybug Bits 'n' Bobs embellishment kit. I'm quite loving how this one turned out, hope you do too.

Well, happy December! I'm going out to lunch with my mom and her friend, then pick the kids up from school for Jason's work party, then hockey practice. I think my dreams of crockpot chicken will have to be put on hold for something convenient like pizza!

Supplies: CTMH cardstock, patterned paper, brad, and ink, Creative Memories pen and rickrack trim, Lovelybug Bits 'n' Bobs ticket, tag, hemp and button

Card #23 - Graphicat November Sketch

2011-11-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

Quick post here today because I'm not sure what time Cheri's shutting down her linky at Graphicat Sketch Challenges. I managed to get some crafty time with a friend this morning (how lovely is that?) and put this cute little card together using this sketch (flipped on its side):

and one of Cheri's new stamp sets. I love all the sentiments that came with this set, can't wait to use more of them!

Supplies: Graphicat stamp set, Memento ink, Copic markers, Creative Memories orange marker, Adirondack marker (for the arms), BoBunny patterned paper, Close to My Heart cardstock, Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Ink, Maya Road doily, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

Layout #69 - From Screen 2 Scrap

2011-11-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm pretty bummed out about this! I've had this challenge in mind all month, and finally I sit down to do the page at the last minute, complete it, go to link it up, and...the computer's not cooperating! Grrrrr!!! So I missed the deadline. But, I did manage to use some embellies from the prize pack I won from them last month, (they arrived from Australia yesterday, yay, happy mail!) which was a lot of fun! The challenge at From Screen 2 Scrap this month was to use this poster for inspiration:

You're also supposed to incorporate the word "home" in the title, a family photo, and journaling in white. I used this Page Maps sketch to put my page together quickly:

I looooooved the Notebook paper pack from Close to My Heart, so much that I bought both the Level 1 and Level 2 packs and the stickers, but I haven't used much of it. Feels like I've rediscovered it. The die cut butterflies, doily, button, and flower are from the Storytime embellishment kit from Lovelybug Bits 'n' Bobs, soooooo cute, loved getting that in the mail! Ah well, too bad I missed the deadline, but I'm glad I have this page to show for it. This is the family photo I sent out with Christmas cards three years ago, and it's remained unscrapped all these years. Looking at it now, I realize we need one for this year's mail out! Do you send Christmas cards and photos each year? And if so, are you ready to send them, or far behind like me?

Supplies: Close to My Heart patterned paper and stickers, Spellbinders die, Creative Memories pen, Sakura white pen, accents from Lovelybug Bits 'n' Bobs

Layout #68 - Bird is the Word and Scrap-it-Lah

2011-11-29T08:37:00.000-08:00

Two challenges I've never played along with before! Fun, fun, I love a good challenge, and the one this month from Scrap-it-Lah had me really stumped for a bit, but once I got into it - well, I love the result so I'm glad I played along. The challenge was to use at least 6 layers, stamping or embossing, and journaling tags or cards on your layout. It was tough, but I do have 6 layers (what do you think of that book paper? Torn right out of a book printed in 1958!) I had some little journaling tags already stamped and left over from last year's December Daily. Then I had some journaling cards my mom gave me last year for Christmas, never used, but I used one for an accent ("daily delight), cut out the flowers and glued them elsewhere, and used another for the journaling, cut up into strips. I've also got half a misted doily and some oooooooold tags tucked into various places, some cool tortoiseshell buttons, and a ribbon bow I tied myself and stuck on there. I had a lot of fun playing with the embellishments on this layout, a little more haphazard than I would normally do!

I'm also entering this layout over at Bird is the Word. The word prompt for this challenge is "Adore", and seeing that word is prominent on this gorgeous MME paper, it totally fits. Scrapbooker's Paradise has a challenge this week to use something normally not in your stash - I've never used book paper before, so I think that fits as well!

Supplies: My Mind's Eye and Bo Bunny patterned paper, Colorbok journaling cards, Creative Memories pen, date stamp, Memento ink, Close to My Heart hemp, stamp, and ink, Twinery twine, Maya Road doily, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, found buttons, tags, ribbon and book paper, Lifestyle Crafts border die

P.S. Isn't Brenna adorable here? I just can't get over her pudgy arms!!!

Layout #67 - October Project 12

2011-11-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

Didn't I just finish my September P12 layout? Seems like it! Well, this month I'm managing to get it done right at the last minute, but on time, so that's better, right? Here's the sketch we were given this month:

I changed it a bit more than I normally would, by flipping the right and left pages, then swapping out the 5x7 photo for 2 4x6's. I also had larger sizes for my other photos because I am cheap and the photo place charges more for smaller prints than the standard 4x6. Can anyone explain why this is fair? A 4x6 collage is printed on a piece of 4x6 paper with the same amount of ink as a standard print (at least I'm assuming it's the same amount of ink, there's only so much ink you can put on a piece of paper, right?), so why should it be 8 times the cost? Anyway, that's my little rant, I'm done now, haha! I'm not loving this layout, but hey, at least it's finished. I do like the felt accents, and I managed to put a dent in my brad stash by studding them up like that. I also like the stitching and the photos, and I like the fact that I was able to use up almost all of my Boom-Di-Ada paper pack to make room for more pretty patterned paper, my lifelong addiction! Have a good week, everyone!

Supplies: Close to My Heart patterned paper, cardstock, stamp sets (Giggle Caps and Cottage Floral), ink, and felt, Creative Memories pen, 7 Gypsies brads, Versamark ink, Judikins embossing powder

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For!

2011-11-25T12:18:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's here, the first installment of my December Daily album! I've had a heck of a time putting this sucker together because Brenna's getting so tall! What does that have to do with anything, you ask? Well, her grabby little hands are all over my stuff, so every night I have to put everything away again, and it's seriously cutting into my mojo! Why can't she just play with her toys and leave mine alone?

Last year was my first ever December Daily, and I decided to make it 7"x5", and mostly red & green. Partway through the process of making it, I won some sweet blog candy from my good friend Roz, and it was HUGE!!! And all full of Christmas papers, ribbons, embellies, and embossing folders. It was too late to use a lot of them at the time, but I vowed to use them in 2011. So, I stuck with the same size (hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!) but changed the colour scheme to something more modern. Hope you like:

Lots of cool Basic Grey and glitter papers, Grungeboard and chipboard numbers, stamped embellies, misting galore (check out that doily on day 12 misted pink!), ribbon and twine, and some cute little snowflakes I bought from Graphicat Designs for $1 a pack. I won't go into full details right now (after all, it is date night, heehee!) but you'll be seeing more as I fill it in starting in December. And hopefully I'll finish the other foundation pages BEFORE December 1st, but it's looking doubtful - I'll try my best! For more info on this project (it's not too late to join in, I started late last year and hung in until the end!) visit Ali Edwards' blog here.

I'm going to enter these pages over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous for their A to Z challenge for November: "D" is for "December Daily". I'm also going to enter these at Scrap Your CRAP (gotta love that name!) - they want to see misting on your creations, and I've used three different hues of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist throughout this project.

Book Review Time!

2011-11-24T14:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I have been getting some work done in my crafty dungeon, but it's been on my December Daily and not enough to post yet, so I thought I would fill you in on some good books I've read (and a stinker to avoid). I always love to give and get books for Christmas, so if you've got any suggestions for me, please fill me in!

First up is "The Book Thief" by Markus Zuzak.

This was an incredible book, in my opinion. I borrowed it from the library in Burns Lake, read about half of it, and then we moved. I couldn't get it out of my head, so I bought my own copy when I had a chance. It's supposed to be for young adults, but don't let that stop you from picking it up - it's very dark, told from Death's point of view, for one thing. It is filled with wonderful characters, good and bad, and even though I knew what would happen at the end (no, I didn't read ahead, but there's some foreshadowing going on there!) I still bawled my eyes out!

I just finished this one:

This was a book club pick for my Burns Lake book club, and it's one of those books that probably everyone would like. The narrator is a dog (hmmm, sensing a pattern here with the odd narrators) whose owner is a young race car driver. The story takes us through the ups and downs of the master's life through the eyes of Enzo, his dog. I definitely would not have chosen to read this for myself, but I'm glad I did because it was a great story. And, while I was searching for a cover photo to post here, photos of Patrick Dempsey in racing gear kept popping up - yes, a movie will be coming out soon! I just hope they don't mess up the story too much.

I promised you a stinker, and here it is:

This book was excruciating! So hard to read, and boring, and sloooooooow!!! I don't know how it won any award, but somebody must have been paid off! It's too bad, because the cover is kind of catchy - Jason almost bought this one for me for our anniversary, and I'm so glad he didn't. Instead, he got this:

which I'm reading now. I know, 6 months after he bought it (he keeps asking, "Are you EVER going to read the book I got you?") but it's a bit more involved, so I don't mind taking my time with it. It's pretty good, though, so far. I'm also reading this one:

Okay, how can you resist a cover like that? Especially if you've always wanted a horse, like me? The reviews are great, so I have high hopes!

Well, that's it for now. I better get on that December Daily, I'm starting to stress out over it, and nobody likes a stressed out Roxy, haha!

A Card By Ailis

2011-11-21T13:00:00.000-08:00

I found a challenge site that encourages young crafters to enter: C.R.A.F.T. Challenges. This week's challenge is to use stars, so I gave Ailis my "Shining Star" stamp set from Close to My Heart and some ink, and she got busy stamping and cutting. Then we decided to add this beautiful unicorn, a Whimsy stamp I bought for both of us at a craft fair (Cheri from Graphicat Designs had her booth there!) Unfortunately, I made the mistake of letting her try to colour the image with my Copic markers while I went off to do something else. I heard sobbing a while later, went in, and she'd made a mess of the unicorn's face, and ruined one of my markers! Grrrrr!!! Once I cooled down a bit, I convinced her I loved her more than a pen and it wasn't the end of the world. I stamped her another unicorn and she coloured it with my older markers. I cut out the unicorn and tied the ribbon bow (she can't even tie shoe laces yet!) but she glued everything down. I'm very proud of her for not giving up, and it was a wonderful learning experience for us both! (Listen to me, channeling my inner therapist, haha!) Anyway, enjoy her card, and she is eagerly awaiting all your comments!

Layout #66 - Creative Accents November Challenge

2011-11-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

Hey, all, this is the mid month reminder to get your layouts or cards in to Creative Accents Challenges using this sketch:

And here is what I was able to do with it:

I love this sketch, but I had a bit of a hard time with it, not sure why. I think because I didn't pile on the embellishments, I was thinking it looked a little blah, but the paper (awesome pack from Studio Calico I won at the Creative Accents Masquerade Crop!) is so busy that I didn't think I could really fit more in. Anyway, now that this page has had time to grow on me, I'm liking it more than I originally did. Funny how that happens! This was Ailis's kindergarten class celebrating with their certificates. At this point in time, she'd only been with her class for 2 months or so, but she didn't have an ounce of trouble making friends and fitting in. It's a quality that should serve her well all her life!

Supplies: Studio Calico patterned paper, Close to My Heart cardstock, ink, and stamp set (Classmate Alpha), Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Walnut Stain), Twinery twine, and Sakura pen

Layout #65 - Scrapbookit's B-day Sketch #1

2011-11-14T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hey, everyone, just had a great weekend away from home - sort of! Took the girls to my parents' house for a couple of nights, kind of a "staycation". The weather was crummy, but I was able to go to a crop at Creative Accents, and Ailis was able to go swimming at the pool. Ailis was also able to invite her cousin (my brother's daughter, Harmony) to sleep over at Nana and Papa's, and they had a riot! It was really cute to see them hugging and playing (they're both 6), but man are they loud!

Anyway, I was able to get this layout completely finished at the crop. I used this Page Maps sketch that Scrapbookit is using for one of their birthday challenges:

and flipped it to use the mirror image. If you love Page Maps, you should check out Scrapbookit because they have four challenges going on right now using these sketches, and they run until the end of the month. I have plans to do at least one more!

This page shows one of the last minute things we did this summer. We heard that there were NASA scientists doing research about an hour's drive south of here, and that they were having an open house type dealie on their last day. Nolan used to be waaaaaay into NASA, so we thought this would be awesome for him. We didn't get to see the submarine, unfortunately, but we did get to see the research truck and some scientists and rocks - sorry, "microbialites"! The waiting was the worst, but it's not like this kind of opportunity pops up every day around here, so I'm glad we suffered through that part. This page is for Ailis, and I have another using the same sketch and papers in the works for Nolan.

Supplies: Crate Paper and Bo Bunny patterned paper, Twinery twine, buttons from Sarah (thanks, chickie!), Sakura pen, Quickutz die

Layout #64 - Scrapbooker's Anonymous

2011-11-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

I started this layout weeks ago, and it just kept getting pushed aside in favor of other projects. It changed forms a few times, too, but I'm pleased with the end result. I followed my own sketch, but it still looked a little blah. Then inspiration struck in the form of Scrapbooker's Anonymous November challenge, which is to use 7 or more ribbons. Well, I always have a ton of ribbon in my stash, so this was great for me. I even have a couple pieces on here that I used to wear in my hair as a kid!

Ailis was right beside me as I was finishing this page today, and she filled in some gaps of the story. She actually brought the can with the already dead beetle to school for show 'n' tell, then couldn't find the beetle when she got there. Her teacher even went with her to Nolan's class to see if he'd stolen it! He denied it of course, but the "Missing Beetle Mystery" remains unsolved to this day!

Then she says to me, "Mommy, I don't think you're going to win with this page, not because you did a bad job or anything, but... well, people will just think the story of me caring for a beetle is, well... boring and... kind of gross." Gasp!!! No, how could they? I don't know, I think it's kind of cool, and it shows her caring heart!

Supplies: My Mind's Eye patterned papers, Close to My Heart stamp set (Classmate Alpha), ink (Indian Corn Blue), and some ribbon, Making Memories and unknown other ribbon, Creative Memories pen, staples

Card #22 - SSS133

2011-11-09T08:24:00.000-08:00

I think I'm done with the cards for a while! I am totally not impressed with how this one turned out, but I had just won four digis from Tickled Pink in their blog hop a couple weeks ago, and I really wanted to colour some of my new images. This is one of the new Party Pinkettes, and I love her, but I made some booboos, like that atrocious shadow, and cutting off the top of her fork with my Spellbinders die. I decided to cover that last mistake by outlining the image in twine, but my Glossy Accents tip is ruined, and the glue just oozes out, made a pretty big mess. Ah, well, live and learn, right? I'm entering this over at The Sweet Stop, who had this cute sketch this week:

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: Bazzill and Neenah cardstock, Tickled Pink image, Memento ink, Close to My Heart stamp set (Say it in Style), Twinery twine, Creative Memories and Echo Park patterned paper, Copic markers

Card #21 - Saturated Canary, CPS, and Paper Sundaes

2011-11-07T13:59:00.000-08:00

Holy cow, have you SEEN these images from Krista Smith at Saturated Canary?! Aren't they the cutest??? I'd been drooling over them for a while, so when I opened my Dashboard one night and noticed a post for a sale on this image for a limited time (it's actually a Christmas image, comes with a present/nutcracker that I trimmed out) I snapped it up right away! And good thing I did, too, lots of people missed out! Anyway, I tried colouring with new paper for this one, I think it was the Copic X-press stuff. It's super smooth, but I think there's a learning curve to it because I definitely overdid it in a couple of places. Plus I went out of the lines a whole bunch, so I had to trim her out (seems I do that with all my images anyway!) and I had a heck of a time with her ringlets! Overall, though, I'm pleased with the results. The challenge this week at Saturated Canary is a recipe: use 1 image, 2 papers, and 3 embellishments (I used twine, flowers, and pearls). Don't you love this sketch from CPS?:

I flipped it to fit the image, of course. I'm also entering this card at Paper Sundaes, who are asking for "rectangles" this week.

Supplies: CTMH and Copic X-press cardstock, Cosmo Cricket and unknown patterned paper, Twinery twine, Prima flowers, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Copic markers, and CTMH pearls

Card #20 - Sweet Sketch Wednesday and Kraftin' Kimmie

2011-11-05T18:06:00.000-07:00

My last post showed my fastest card, this post shows my slowest, but you know what? I think this might be my best card EVER!!! Hopefully I don't jinx myself by saying that! It took me about a week to make, so it should be good! I started off by colouring my Kraftin' Kimmie fairy Isabelle with my new Copics (a blog hop prize from Scrap-tures!), then printing out the funny sentiment (from Graphicat Designs) and working with this sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday:

I also had the Kraftin' Kimmie challenge in mind, which was monochromatic, but alas, crafty time was at a minimum and I missed the deadline. Anyway, I continued on, using this week's Kraftin' Kimmie challenge: use a pin on your project. I incorporated a Maya Road pin into my design for the inside of the card, see?

This is the first time I've really decorated the inside of a card - this elaborately, anyway. I was inspired to try this by a blog I discovered in the World Card Making Day blog hop: Tara's blog called Inking on the Edge. She has great cards, and always decorated on the inside, check it out! I had a hard time finding patterned papers to match my Copic colours (BG49 and BG53) so I made my own with white cardstock and Broken China Distress Ink, just sponged it on over some background stamping and another Isabelle image. This is going to my friend Jill, whose birthday is on the 9th. Now I just have to remember to get it in the mail on Monday! And good thing I put that pin on the inside, wouldn't want any postal workers to get stabbed, heehee!

Supplies: Bazzill, Creative Memories, Copic X-press and Close to My Heart cardstock, Kraftin' Kimmie, Tim Holtz, and Close to My Heart stamps, Memento and Tim Holtz ink, Spellbinders dies, Prima flowers, My Mind's Eye brad, Maya Road pin, Twinery twine, Graphicat Designs sentiment, Ranger Glossy Accents, unknown button and trim

Copics: Skin - E00, E11 and R20, Hair - Y23, E33, and E35, Clothing & Wings - BG49 & BG53

Card #19 and a Toot

2011-11-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

All right, this card is probably the fastest card I've ever made and it comes with an explanation: I've been dragging my heels when it comes to Hallowe'en, every year, but this year especially! I was put in charge of costumes, and I did nothing to get them together other than think to myself, "Ugh, what am I gonna do about costumes this year?" then moved onto more pressing thoughts, like, "Oh, I better call the principal because Nolan's been in another 'altercation' (polite way of saying 'all out brawl with gangs and sticks'!) at the bus stop!" (Side note: all a misunderstanding that the kids worked out on their own, but still a sample of what I deal with almost every day with him, sigh.) We got our pumpkins on Saturday, but didn't carve them Sunday because we went to the in-laws all day. Excuses, I know, but on Sunday, Ailis said, "Are we ever going to be ready for Hallowe'en?" in this sad, pathetic voice. Oh, it broke my heart, and I thought, you poor thing, having such a party pooper for a mom. So yesterday, I thought, "Suck it up, Buttercup, and get your act together so your kids can have a good memory!" I found this card from last year in my stash:

and decided to give it to Ailis, but then I had nothing for Nolan. So, in between getting out decorations and cleaning pumpkins, I pieced together this:

Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock, stamp set (Thriller), and ink, unknown patterned paper

I used a card pattern from a Close to My Heart idea book called Originals, cut some paper, stamped an image, put it together and wrote in it! Then, I placed the cards by their pumpkins so they would see them right away, and what do I get?

Ailis: Nice card, Mummy!

Me: It's for you, sweetie! Read it!

Ailis: Aw, thanks! (kiss, kiss)

Me: Here, Nolan, I made you one too!

Nolan: Grunt.

Granted, he was mad at one of the bus stop girls for making fun of his non-existent costume, but still, I felt my effort was wasted on him! I'm going to keep it, though, and one day he'll appreciate it (fingers crossed).

Here's me getting into the spirit, by myself!

Good thing I took this self portrait, because there's no pics of the kids carving this year! And here's one of the kids right before trick-or-treating, getting into character:

Ailis is a vampire, and Nolan's a zombie, in case you couldn't tell! We had a great time walking around the neighborhood, then somehow we convinced Jason to bring them to town for the fireworks, which they missed half of, but all's well that ends well. I'm just glad all that crud washed off their faces!

And while I have you enthralled with my Hallowe'en tales of woe, I just wanted to toot my own horn for a sec, because I was chosen as a fave at Scrapbooker's Anonymous, and I won the Golden Globe at From Screen 2 Scrap! I'm riding high on cloud 9 right now, and not even the thought of the kids coming home in an hour is enough to bring me down!!!

Layout #63 - September Project 12

2011-10-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

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

Layout #62 - From Screen 2 Scrap

2011-10-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

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!!!

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

2011-10-25T08:39:00.000-07:00

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!

Layout #60 for Once Upon a Sketch

2011-10-21T22:31:00.000-07:00

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!

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

2011-10-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

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

Layout #58

2011-10-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

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

Layout #57 and Cards #17 & #18

2011-10-16T14:56:00.000-07:00

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?

Layout #56 - Another Sketchy Thursdays

2011-10-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

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!

Card #16 and Blog Candy Winner!

2011-10-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

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

Layout #55 - Sketchy Thursdays and Scrapbooker's Anonymous

2011-10-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

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

Layout #54 - CS 176 and Scrapbooker's Anonymous

2011-10-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

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

Card #15 - Kraftin' Kimmie and Sweet Sketch Wednesday

2011-10-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

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!!!

World Card Making Day Blog Hop

2011-10-01T00:00:00.000-07:00

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

Card #13 - Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge 97

2011-09-30T18:30:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to show you a new card I finished today using this sketch from the Kraftin' Kimmie blog:

I thought this sketch was just perfect for my new Lilybelle stamp along with this awesome sentiment from Graphicat Designs. Not sure who this one's going to, but I think it will brighten someone's day whether it's a birthday or just for no occasion at all.

Supplies: Close to My Heart and Bazzill cardstock, Cosmo Cricket and unknown patterned paper, Kraftin' Kimmie stamp, Graphicat Designs sentiment, Memento ink, Copic markers, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Prima flowers, Close to My Heart pearls, and unknown ribbon

Some Announcements

2011-09-30T08:17:00.000-07:00

Check out this scrumptious blog candy! My friend Alison is giving this away tomorrow to celebrate her birthday and the launch of her new Stampin' Up business, so you should definitely get over there now, you wouldn't want to miss your chance!

Tomorrow is World Card Making Day, and there will be a huge, MASSIVE, blog hop with an all-Canadian line-up, including yours truly! I hope you'll check out my card (it caused me so many headaches, but I think it's a winner!) and join the hop, as I know for a fact there will be some SWEET CANDY handed out!

Okay, smells like Brenna needs my attention! See you all tomorrow!!!

Layout #53 - August Project 12

2011-09-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

Here is the sketch for Project 12 for August:

and here is what I came up with:

I kept it fairly simple, and stuck very closely to the original sketch. The hard part was narrowing down all my August pics to only three, but I think I put the best ones on here. I just love this paper pack from Close to My Heart, but I didn't have any royal blue, so all of the blue paper you see was actually cream - I just brayered over it with blue ink. The scallop frame around Brenna's face is homemade, too. I just made a large circle frame with my Creative Memories circle cutters, and then cut a bunch of smaller circles in half to make the scallops. I added some green twine at the top, and a subtitle made with my trusty label maker, and that's about it - a fun summer page! I'm also going to link this up to Sketches in Thyme for their Open Challenge.

Supplies (all CTMH): Splendor Level 2 paper pack, Moonstruck ink, Chocolate (small) alphabet stamp set, Clover Meadow brads

Other: Twinery twine, Bazzill Just The Edge border, Dymo label maker and tape, unknown twine

P.S. Hunter's settling in pretty good, probably about 90% house trained. Nolan had a bit of a breakdown yesterday where he was feeling very overwhelmed and restricted, and also that he wasn't being a very good dog owner, so we had a heart-to-heart (I told him that's exactly how I felt when I had him 9 years ago!) and I think he's feeling better about the whole situation today. Here's another pic for you to enjoy!

Layout #52 - JUGs and Sketches in Thyme

2011-09-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

Loved this sketch from Sketches in Thyme:

and loved the colour combo this week from Just Us Girls: aqua, pumpkin, and kiwi. Actually, I didn't think I'd be able to participate in this challenge just because I didn't think I had any photos with those colours. Then, I saw Brenna playing outside wearing an aqua shirt and orange pants. Add a bit of green grass, and voila, the colour combo is met! Now my next challenge will be to get rid of some photos off my scan disk, it is right full and goes back to my birthday on December 27th. (Or I could get a new scan disk, but that would just be too easy for me, now wouldn't it?)

Supplies: MME and Making Memories patterned paper, Close to My Heart cardstock, stamps and brads, Ranger Distress Ink and Perfect Pearls Mist, Prima flowers, American Crafts Thickers, Hampton Arts stamps, Colorbox ink, Twinery twine

P.S. - I made my scrapbooking goal for the year, already!?!?

Layout #51 - April P12 and Puppy Pics!

2011-09-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, April Project 12, you're thinking?! This was the month we moved, so that's my excuse, haha! I finally got it done, and I really like how this one turned out. Almost everything here is from a kit I won from Scrap Attack Scrapbooking. Love this kit, everything is quite masculine, but with a lot of neutrals that seem to go well with everything.

Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock, stamp (Noted Backgrounds), ink, and embossing powder, Scrap Within Reach and Little Yellow Bicycle patterned paper, Prima flowers, Adornit by Carolee's Creations stickers, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Creative Memories pen, American Crafts Thickers, unknown ribbon

I had a lot of requests for puppy pics, so I live to serve:

This is Hunter, and he arrived Sunday night from Princeton. He is 8 weeks old, and is strictly Nolan's dog (although I'm going to find it very hard not to let him bond with me, as I'm the one he's with when Nolan's at school). Isn't he the cutest thing? When he was pooping and peeing on the carpet this morning, I didn't think he was so cute, but he's napping now so I can appreciate him more at the moment. I'm going to spill my guts here a bit, so if you're not interested in the personal nature of the Hunter story, feel free to skip on down to comments, I won't hold it against you!

Nolan's a special kid, and I know all kids are special in their own way, but he's always been different. He's always been extremely verbal and intelligent, beyond his age. But he's also always been extremely spirited, intense, and oppositional. He has trouble controlling his emotions, and he gets easily frustrated, which causes monumental tantrums. He has never been able to understand the concept of personal space, and he's constantly annoying others with getting too close or poking or grabbing... I could go on for hours. Before we moved in April, he had been to see a GP, then a year later a pediatrician, but to no avail. We just figured he was that type of kid and would probably grow out of his behaviors in time. After we moved, however, things got worse. I knew moving would be stressful for him, but I expected him to even out after a few weeks, or a month, but no. So I decided to seek help. After months of meeting with different professionals, we now know that Nolan is not going to "grow out of" these behaviors. It seems as though he may have Asperger's (a mild form of autism) and/or ADHD and/or ODD (that's a new one, eh? Oppositional Defiance Disorder) and/or anxiety disorder. He's on a wait list to get a full assessment, but it could still take a long time. Anyway, the point is, he really just wants a friend and has had a heck of a time getting to that point with other kids, and it's probably something he will always struggle with. So we thought, rather than get him a gaming system that will probably make him more antisocial (or he would take it apart!) or toys (they always get broken within a week!) or clothes (he could really care less about clothes!) for his 9th birthday, we decided to get him this puppy. I really hope that this is a wise decision on our part, because puppies are a lot of work! But Nolan's already been really good about cleaning up his messes and showering him with love, so maybe it's a match made in heaven - we shall see! Wish us luck!

Did you see the new blinkie in my sidebar? I am taking part in a blog hop for World Card Making Day on October 1st. This will be my first blog hop, so I hope you will join in. Guaranteed candy along the way, hint hint! I also hope you will join in at Creative Accents Challenges for the recipe challenge: 1 ribbon, 2 embellies, and 3 patterned papers on your project. Easy as 1,2,3! Prizes to be won, fun, fun!

Card #12 - Pile It On!

2011-09-16T18:36:00.000-07:00

Here's a simple card I made for my brother-in-law Mike's 41st birthday. I realize it looks more like a St. Patrick's Day card, but if you knew Mike, you'd understand. Mike is a self-proclaimed Irishman. This is something I don't really understand. Yes, we have an Irish last name, but I think this branch of the McCleary clan has been in North America for something like 200 years. And yet Mike embraces everything Irish from the history to the literature to the sports, and of course, the beer. (And he's single, so if you're in the lower mainland and know a single Irish girl who likes cops and rugby, let me know, please! Our kids need cousins!) I just printed out this clip art image of a beer mug and a totally appropriate sentiment from Graphicat Designs, then layered them both up on a 5x5 base. What do you think of the bottom layer? It's a mesh bag from avocados! (Thanks to Karen B for that idea!) I sprayed the whole thing with some Perfect Pearls Mist, but you can't see it in the photo, unfortunately.

Anyway, Jason found this T-shirt for Mike in Kamloops:

Dropkick Murphys, apparently a real band that Mike actually listens to! Hopefully he likes his present and card!

Challenges I'm entering this card in:

Pile It On: use lots of layers (that background layer is mesh from an avocado bag!)

Sweet Sketch Wednesday: use this sketch:

Graphicat Challenges: Use a sketch, any sketch (the sentiment is also from Graphicat)

Creative Stamp Friends: Card for a man

Supplies: CTMH cardstock and brads, Kaiser, K&Co, and American Crafts patterned paper, Graphicat Designs sentiment, Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist, avocado bag

Layout #50 - Monkey Face

2011-09-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the 2nd layout I was working on at the crop the other night. This time I used a Page Maps sketch from one of the Page Maps books the store has available for croppers. I'm really loving the Maya Road kraft doilies I bought there, I bet I'm gonna use them up real quick! I finished most of the layout at the crop, then added the doodles, journaling, title, and a bit of machine stitching on the ribbon at home. I just love these photos, I'm glad I got them on a page!

Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, Webster's Pages and Echo Park patterned paper, Maya Road doilies, Hampton Arts alpha stamps, Close to My Heart ink, Creative Memories pen, unknown ribbon

Layout #49 - Sketchy Thursdays

2011-09-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

Here is one of the layouts I started at Creative Accents Saturday night for Tara's b-day crop. I knew I wanted to use this sketch from Sketchy Thursdays:

as soon as I saw it because I had printed out a bunch of small prints the last time I was in the big smoke (Williams Lake, that is, and I know all the Lakers are laughing when I say Williams Lake is the "big smoke"!) I don't know how happy I am with how this turned out. I remember sitting there at 9 p.m. saying, "I've been here working on this for how long? And I've got 3 photos and some strips of paper on my page!" Anyway, once I got it home, I did a bit more work on it, adding the journaling and title and a bit of machine stitching (helps everything stay together!), but I can't help feeling like it needs a bit more pizzazz. On the up side, at least the photos and journaling are really dominant, right?

Supplies: Close to My Heart and Bazzill (?) embossed cardstock, Little Yellow Bicycle patterned paper and pins, Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist and Distress Ink, Maya Road doily, Making Memories alpha stickers, Twinery twine, Creative Memories pen

Card #11 - Happy Birthday Tara!

2011-09-11T14:21:00.000-07:00

It was Tara's birthday yesterday, and I went to Williams Lake for a special birthday crop in her honor. It was great to meet most of the members of the Seriously Creative Design Team, and I was able to see their creative mojo in progress. Let me tell you, "Seriously Creative" is really an understatement! They are FREAKIN' AMAZING!!! Especially with the Copic action! Anyhoo, it's a little humbling to give a card to an accomplished cardmaker like Tara, but I couldn't go empty handed, so this is what I came up with:

It features a Kraftin' Kimmie stamp called... "Roxy"!!! Can you believe it? And since she's a roller derby queen, she MUST be Roxy Rolla! I just had to have this stamp, even though she looks nothing like me, although I dig the hair and the leg warmers - I might be able to pull those two off, but the hot pants are a definite no-go at the mo'! Okay, enough ramblin' about me, more about the card. I used this sketch from Paper Sundaes, but missed the deadline due to our little croppin' party:

I also got to use the new Copics that Jenn sent me, some beautiful YG's! Plus I watched a couple of YouTube videos by Suzanne Dean to tweak my technique. This time I tried to get some highlights in the center of her body, and I think it's looking pretty good. I think this might be my best coloring job yet! I was also inspired by my friend Carole to get out my ol' sewing machine and add some stitching, just to make it a wee bit more special. This will also allow me to enter Some Odd Girl's challenge this week.

Well, weekend's pretty much over. Apparently our new puppy will be arriving next weekend (yikes!) and Jason's going to be in Kamloops most of the week, so let's see if mama can keep the stress level under control! Wish me luck!

Supplies: Close to My Heart and Bazzill cardstock, Cosmo Cricket and Echo Park patterned paper, Kraftin' Kimmie stamp, Memento ink, Copic markers, Close to My Heart pearl, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, unknown die cut flowers

Layout #48 - Ahoy Landlubber!

2011-09-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

I made this cute page for Nolan (about time for a boy page, eh?) using a Page Maps sketch from the summer edition of Scrapbook and Cards Today Magazine, some newer papers, and some older scraps from my stash. I had everything laid out when I got to thinking something was missing, and that's when I thought of adding these Grungeboard skull and crossbones. That idea generated the title! Don't ya love it when things just fall into place like that? And since I used up some more Grungeboard, I am going to link this page up to Scrapbooker's Anonymous - they want to see you use your chipboard stash, so what are you waiting for, you know you have some (or lots)!

Supplies: Imaginisce, American Crafts, Sassafrass, and Cosmo Cricket patterned paper, Bazzill, Prism, and Close to My Heart cardstock, Tim Holtz/Ranger Grungeboard, Distress Ink and Perfect Pearls, Twinery twine, Prima journaling card, Creative Memories pen, Hampton Arts alpha stamps, dollar store date stamp

Photo Fun Days 27-30 and a Shout-Out!

2011-09-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hey, remember when I was doing that June Photo Fun Challenge? Well, now that it's September, maybe I should post the rest of what I managed to get. I'm skipping Day 26, which is "Your Favorite Color". I can't even identify a fave color, but it might be lime green. Seems like I'm drawn to that color lately. Day 27 was "Your Weakness". Well, here's mine, chocolate!

I'm not really a chocolate binge eater, which is a good thing, I guess, but I just love to savor a piece of expensive chocolate. This box was a treat from Nolan via my mom, so it was extra special (Nolan's not usually the thoughtful, gift-giving type)!

Day 28 was "Transportation". I found this old truck down the road from our place and snapped this original photo:

It turned out really bright, so I cropped it and tried some effects in Picasa, and this is what I came up with:

Kind of cool, eh? Which one do you like better?

Day 29 was "Trees". I don't really think the trees around here are all that interesting (shhh, don't tell my husband I said that, he's a forester, and very preoccupied with trees!) so this was a tough one for me. One weekend, we made a day trip to Williams Lake and dropped the boys off for a bike ride. Ailis spotted these and said, "Cool, look at the beautiful lichen!" Thanks, Ailis!

And finally, Day 30 - "Family". Well, most of my photos are of family, but it's rare to get a pic of all of us, so I thought I'd include this one, especially since Jason's brother Mike is in there:

The camera was attached to the Gorillapod (cool little tripod, inexpensive and very portable!) and it's amazing that everyone is looking, well, normal! This one was a one-shot deal, and I can't believe it turned out so well!

And finally, a very heartfelt thank you to my bloggy friend, Jenn, who made my day last Thursday! It was kind of a blah day, yucky weather, 101 fights with Nolan, and motivation at about 0 out of 10. I checked my mailbox, and there was a little package from Jenn, with 2 beautiful stamps and 5 (seriously?!?!) Copic markers!!! Nope, I didn't win any blog candy, I'm not sure why she sent them, or what I did to deserve such generosity from someone I've never met, but it sure is appreciated! I was doing a crazy happy dance/squealing combo and Nolan said something like, "This is weird!" Yeah, well, so am I, I guess! Anyway, thanks again, Jenn, you are the best!

Layout #47 - September Creative Accents Challenge

2011-09-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for a brand new challenge over at Creative Accents Challenges? Here it is:

And here is what I came up with!

I worked super hard on this one, I really wanted it to stand out for my first project for my new Design Team position! I used one ribbon to make my photo frame (love that ruffled ribbon, now I'm almost out!) I chose brads and grungeboard as my embellishments - brads to anchor my photo frame and to decorate the patterned paper in the upper right corner, and a Grungeboard swirl (cut in two) and a "6" inked up with Distress Ink, brushed with Perfect Pearls, and then coated with Glossy Accents. I loved that piece of Webster's Pages patterned paper, I bought it at Creative Accents last time I was there with this photo in mind, but then I was stumped - I did NOT know where to go from there. Finally, I decided to trace and cut a matching piece of American Crafts paper to mirror it. I didn't have anything suitable for a background, though, so I made my own by stamping my Hero Arts background stamp in Versamark ink on white paper, heat embossing with clear embossing powder, and then painting over it with a Perfect Pearls/water mixture. It didn't turn out as bright blue as I expected, but after living with it for a day, it's kind of grown on me! A bunch of super sappy journaling, and my page is done! Here's a close-up of some details:

I'm also entering this page over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous, who want to see you use chipboard on your creation. Hopefully Grungeboard counts, because I'm really low on chipboard! Enjoy, and I hope to have you join me this month over at Creative Accents Challenges!

Supplies: Webster's Pages and American Crafts patterned paper, Bazzill and Close to My Heart cardstock, Hero Arts stamp, Versamark ink, Ranger/Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Distress Ink, Glossy Accents, and Perfect Pearls, 7 Gypsies brads, Close to My Heart embossing powder, unknown ribbon

Layout #46 - Sketchy Thursdays and Scrapbooker's Anonymous

2011-08-31T16:13:00.000-07:00

The frugal scrapper strikes again! This is the third layout I've made with that piece of Basic Grey pp, those journaling cards are at least 5 years old, and the chipboard alphas, flower and pearls I won as blog candy! Don't think you can make a layout for much cheaper than that! Now hopefully I make it in time for these challenges, I'm definitely a procrastinator and work better under pressure. There's just been so many cool sketches and challenges this month, it was impossible to do them all. This sketch from Sketchy Thursdays was just begging to be used, pronto:

And I love journaling cards, have a bunch in my stash, so the challenge at Scrapbooker's Anonymous this month was just made for me! Well, that'll end my August - bring on September!

Supplies: Basic Grey patterned paper, Heidi Swapp journaling cards and chipboard alphas, Close to My Heart cardstock and pearls, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Memento ink, unknown flower and die cuts

Layout #45 - From Screen 2 Scrap

2011-08-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

Are you getting sick of Brenna pages yet? She is just so fun to scrap, I can't help myself, and I don't want to get way behind on baby pages like I have for Ailis. Her album is full of half-finished pages with no journaling!

This is a very last-minute page I did up with one of the birthday challenges at From Screen 2 Scrap in mind. Using this movie poster as inspiration:

the challenge is to make a layout with polka dot patterned paper, numbers in the title, and lots of bling and girlishness (didn't think that was a word, but I'm not getting the red squiggly line underneath - who knew?) I had this new polka dot paper in mind for these photos, but then I dug in my stash for the rest of the supplies. That pink pp? It's gotta be at least 8 years old!!! For the journaling, I pulled out my trusty calendar where I've been jotting things down all year and printed out some facts about Brenna at 16 (months, that is, hopefully that's obvious to her in years to come). Hope ya like!

Two little things I'd like to toot about: first one is, I was chosen as a fave over at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge for this layout, woohoo! Second, I made the design team for Creative Accents, my fave LSS! Here's my badge:

Double woohoo! I am so excited for this, I can't even tell ya! Stay tuned for my first reveal for the September Challenge, and I hope you all will join me!

Supplies: Basic Grey and Provo Craft patterned paper, Close to My Heart cardstock, ink, and gems, Autumn Leaves stamps, Tim Holtz Grungeboard, Ranger stickles, Heidi Swapp chipboard alphas, Twinery twine, unknown ribbon and tag, staples

Layout #44 - Sketches in Thyme

2011-08-29T12:05:00.000-07:00

As soon as I took this photo of Brenna at the grocery store for the June Photo Challenge (I don't normally take photos in the grocery store, believe me!) I knew I wanted to do an "apple of my eye" page. See, a scrapbooker's mind, always thinking of that next page! So I brought my printed photo into Creative Accents, and found this gorgeous Imaginisce paper to match! (Do you ever bring your photos into your LSS, or do you just buy whatever tickles your fancy? I do both!) With this sketch from Sketches in Thyme:

it wasn't long before a page was born! Do you wanna know how I made that red polka dot paper, do ya? I saw this in a magazine, can't remember which one, but I'm pretty sure it was Vicki Boutin who did it. Take an embossing folder, rub it with distress ink, spritz with water, stick your plain ol' white paper in there, and run it through your Cuttlebug (or other tool). Voila, coloured, embossed paper like none other! Can't wait to try this technique with more than one colour! The lime green paper is homemade, too: Distress Ink/Water mixture, then stamped over with a background stamp in the same colour ink. Very subtle, but again, unique. I didn't agonize too much over embellishments this time because I already had these little apple stamps I'd coloured in at Cheri's beginner Copic class I did a while back. Yep, must say I'm lovin' this page, most of all because of Brenna's squishy cheeks and "muscled" arm looking at me from the grocery cart!

Supplies: Imaginisce patterned paper, Close to My Heart cardstock, ink, stamp sets (the Works Alphabet and Intrinsic Backgrounds), and brads, Ranger Distress Ink (Fired Brick, Shabby Shutters, and Walnut Stain), Hampton Arts small alpha stamp set, Twinery twine, Copic markers, Heidi Swapp journaling spot, Creative Memories pen, unknown ribbon, trim, paper clip, chipboard leaf and apple stamp

Layout #43 - Once Upon A ... Sketch

2011-08-26T10:45:00.000-07:00

As soon as I heard this song, I knew I wanted to scrap it for Brenna! I even wrote it down in my journal to save for later, and now, finally I have the photo and the challenge to match! Perfect! Not sure how many of you would have heard this song, it's by a Canadian artist and I'm not even sure what else he sings, but it's very upbeat and cute. Here is the sketch from Once Upon A ... Sketch:

And of course their criteria was to use at least two lines from a song for your journaling. I had to flip the sketch to make it work, but I think I'm finally happy with it. It took me a long time to figure out where to put my swirls, and I almost put something up in the top left corner, but ... decided not to. Hopefully it was the right decision. Do you ever agonize over things like this, or is it just me? The red accents almost didn't happen, either. I decided at 3 pm yesterday that I was going to try and get this in for the JUGS challenge, and that required some red in addition to the yellow, brown, and olive. Of course, I couldn't make the deadline, but the red title was glued down and I felt I had to add some more red with the swirls. Another good decision? You tell me!

Well, I am counting down the days until school starts (12)! My kids don't have school supplies or clothes, so I guess I better get a plan in place, because there is NO WAY I'm taking all three of them shopping at once! I can't think of a worse form of torture!!! Are you looking forward to September?

Supplies: Prism (?) and Close to My Heart cardstock, Webster's Pages, Pebbles, and Imaginisce patterned paper, Autumn Leaves and Close to My Heart stamps, Close to My Heart Ink, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Creative Memories pen, unknown ribbon

Layout #42 - Project 12

2011-08-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

FINALLY, finished with this one! It seemed to take forever, and there were so many times I wanted to put it aside and do something else, but I persevered, and YAY! So glad I'm doing Project 12 this year, it feels really great to be summarizing each month, and if I got nothing else done in the scrapbooking department, at least I'll have these 12 layouts for the family album.

So, what did I do here? Well, I started with the photos, tried to represent the major happenings and the major players (of course, I'm only in one photo, but that's the way it goes, right?) Then chose patterned paper - I had this cool glossy stripe pp from Imaginisce, with polka dots on the reverse, that seemed to go great with everything, but I wanted a blue background and didn't have any blue. What to do? I masked and brayered some Broken China Distress Ink on both pieces of cream cardstock. It's pretty hard to get even coverage, but I kind of like the uneven look anyway! I also sprayed some Electric Blue Glimmer Mist on there to blotch it up some more. After I laid out my photos and papers, I thought it still looked a bit plain, and that's when I had the idea to make little tags for each photo and tie them with twine. Done, but still a bit plain, so then I had the idea of making each patterned paper block into a little vignette: kites, and trees, and owls, oh my! And don't forget about Mr. Hedgehog, isn't he adorable? I find that sometimes my mind is very grounded in reality, and I balk at the idea of a green sky or a red mushroom, so these little scenes are a bit of a stretch for me! Then it was just the title and journaling, but all this stamping and inking and fussy cutting has me drained! I'm done like dinner, hope you enjoy this little look into my creative process!

Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock, brads, ink, and stamps, Ranger Distress Ink, Imaginisce and Basic Grey patterned paper, Bazzill orange cardstock, Prima journaling card, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Twinery twine, American Crafts Thickers, Creative Memories pen, My Minds Eye acetate border, Courier New font

Layout #41 - Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge

2011-08-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a layout I finished today using a sketch from Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge (don't ya just love that name?). I really went to town with the Distress Inks on this background - can you believe it used to be a piece of plain ol' cream cardstock? I just sprayed it with water, crumpled it up, then rubbed it around in a Distress Ink/water mixture. I didn't like all the cream still showing, so I had to go in with the sponge tool and ink the gaps. Note to self: do the crumpling after the inking! Anyway, here's the sketch I used:

We were also supposed to scrapbook something fun, or funny to go along with this fun sketch. I can't get a decent photo of Nolan and Ailis anymore. By decent, I mean looking at the camera and smiling a normal everyday smile. I really love this photo, though, they were just so happy it really shone through in their goofy faces!

As you can see, I didn't deviate a whole lot from the sketch. I loooooooved the kites, so I paper pieced my own, and I quite like how they turned out! Might have to do that again. And I got to use this cool "paper" I've been hoarding from a kit I won maybe 2 years ago (from Scrap Attack Scrapbooking, who are currently closing their doors and having a big sale, incidentally) - it reminds me of a basketball! Anyway, hope you like my wild and crazy layout, because I had a blast making it!

Supplies: CTMH cardstock, ribbon, stamp set (Delightful Alphabet) and ink (Cranberry), Cosmo Cricket and Little Yellow Bicycle patterned paper, Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Broken China, Walnut Stain, and Tea Dye), Twinery twine, Colorbok phot corners, unknown "basketball" paper

Card #10 - I Got New Copics!

2011-08-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

A couple of RV's, so now my girl stamps don't have to wear brown or yellow clothes all the time! And I really broke the bank and bought this sentiment from Graphicat Designs because when I read it, I just cracked up and had to have it! I suppose this isn't really appropriate for a kid's birthday card (although Ailis thinks it's hilarious, too, but she's desensitized from having an older brother with a potty mouth!) but I'm sure one of my old friends would love it! So I'm entering this card over at Kraftin' Kimmie (oh yeah, I was the random winner last week, so that was pretty awesome!): use 1 flower, 1 ribbon, and 1 piece of chipboard. While I was making this card, I realized that I hardly have any chipboard - what kind of scrapper am I? I used a scrap bit of chipboard to make the flower center, which you can't see that well in the photo, but it adds a bit of dimension, as does the box pleated cardstock at the bottom. This was the first time I tried to box pleat anything, and I like the result, so I'll be doing that again for sure! I also used this sketch from Graphicat Designs sketch challenges:

so that I can enter Cheri's August challenge.

Well, I hope you all have a lovely weekend! It's hot here, and supposed to stay so all weekend, so hopefully I'll get some sun on these ol' bones and rejuvenate a bit, because come Monday, I'm a single mom for a few days and I'm gonna need my energy!

Supplies: Close to My Heart, Prism, and Creative Memories cardstock, Cosmo Cricket and Echo Park patterned paper, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Kraftin' Kimmie stamp, Memento ink, Copic markers, Graphicat Designs sentiment, unknown ribbon

Layout #40 - 30 minute layout for Inspired Blueprints

2011-08-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

My bloggy friend Alison did a layout a while back in 30 minutes! I was so inspired, I thought I better give it a try, especially as Brenna was napping and I felt I should be doing laundry or some other chore instead. So, using this sketch from Inspired Blueprints:

and some gorgeous photos of my gorgeous beach babe, Ailis, I put together this layout.

To be honest, it did take more than 30 minutes, but I managed to get the papers and photos all cut and stuck down in a half hour. The stamping, journaling, and glitzifying I had to finish at night and when the kids were looking the other way. Darn those kids, they constantly make me feel guilty for having any fun!

I'm starting to think I need to get myself a border punch. That border strip is traced from a template I made myself out of cardboard, and cut out with scissors, and seeing this is the second time I've gone through this process in a week, it's getting a bit tedious. So my question to you, my sisters in scrappyhood, is this: do you use border punches, and if so, what is your favorite?

Supplies: Close to My Heart patterned paper, cardstock, stamps, ink, and prisma glitter, Sassafrass patterned paper, Creative Memories pen, Ranger Glossy Accents, date stamp

Layout #39 - ARTastic and Sketchy Thursdays

2011-08-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Here's another LO that ended up having a mind of its own. When I saw the inspiration painting and criteria at ARTastic (paint or create your background, one ribbon, and a picture of a child playing) I thought, hey, I can do that no problem! I found these photos of Nolan and Ailis hiking at Marble Canyon a couple of weeks ago (this is as close as they get to playing together these days) that were a perfect match for this beautiful sketch from Sketchy Thursdays:

But then I was stumped! I had dreams of Holtzifying some cardstock with distress inks, stamps, and perfect pearls, and then I left for Williams Lake. (You may recall that Ailis was invited to a Barbie birthday tea party! It was soooooo cute, and she had a great time. I had such a fun time with the girls, but Saturday was such a looooooong day. First we went to the water park, then to Creative Accents, then Walmart, then to the in-laws, then finally to my parents for bed. Brenna stayed awake ALL DAY, poor thing!) Anyway, when I went into Creative Accents, I showed these photos to Julie to see if she could match them to anything, and she found this cool lime green Basic Grey pp which just seemed to make the photos pop. That paper inspired me to pull out my ol' lime green and white paint and do some dry brushing up there in the corner, and the rest came together pretty quickly. I must say, though, my favorite part is the title, and unfortunately you can't see it very well at all in the photo. It says, "outdoor recreation" and I wrote it with a pin dipped in paint. So, yeah, very different from what I'd first envisioned, (seriously, brown, orange, green and blue? Pretty far out!) but I think I kinda like it! What do you think?

Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock and brads, Bazzill cardstock, Prima journaling cards, Basic Grey patterned paper, Creative Memories pens, DecoArt paint, unknown ribbon

Layout #38 - Once Upon A Sketch and Creative Accents

2011-08-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

I ain't gonna lie to ya, my life is Far (with a capital "F"!) from perfect (especially this summer!) but I really wanted to play along with Once Upon A Sketch, so I had to come up with a layout with the words, "A Perfect Day Is" in it somewhere and use this sketch:

Huh. The day I took this photo of Brenna was one of the best days in recent memory. I took the kids to the cross-country ski club to pick strawberries and I got at least a dozen beautiful pictures of them. Then I managed to find this gorgeous Jillibean Soup pp at Creative Accents to match Brenna's outfit (it even has strawberries in it, thanks, Sarah!), so I was pretty much set, but the journaling really had me stumped. At first I was going to write something like, "A perfect day is a day with you!" but that's just soooooooo not me. Well, after wracking my brain for ages, this is what I came up with:

I like the end result, and you know, if I wasn't entering this LO in a challenge, my journaling would have been more mundane, like who-what-when-where-type journaling.

I'm also entering this one in the August challenge for the Creative Accents Challenge Blog. They are asking for entrants to use some older products from their stash, and it can be anything, so you better join me on this one, because it doesn't get much easier than that! The pp base and daisy strip (love that, it's from a new piece of Sassafrass Lass paper!) are brand spankin' new, but everything else is at least a year old, and those chunks of cardstock are probably 5 years old!

Well, the boys are off camping in the alpine (hope they're okay, they didn't call to let me know what trail they're on or anything!) so it's been lovely and quiet here (except for Brenna stepping off a bed and falling flat on her face!) I've got a movie that I didn't think Jason would want to watch, and a glass of wine (if I can get the dang cork out, I'm pretty hopeless with those things) and date night is on! Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Supplies: Jillibean Soup, Cosmo Cricket, and Sassafrass Lass patterned paper, Bazzill cardstock, Close to My Heart stamp set, ink, cardstock, brads, and sticker, Prima and unknown flowers, Jolee's Boutique sticker, Sakura pen, Courier New font

Card #9 - Kraftin' Kimmie and Paper Sundaes

2011-08-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

Paper Sundaes had a sketch this week that I really liked, and I thought it would be perfect to use my new Kraftin' Kimmie stamp! Also, at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, they would like to see a creation with "distressing", so I was happy to distress my papers with my handy little CTMH edge distressor. As I've mentioned before, I don't have a whole lot of Copic markers, so I have to choose my paper carefully if I want my colouring to match. This scrap of Basic Grey left over from a LO a couple of posts ago matched pretty nicely, if I do say so myself. I made some booboos with my stamping and colouring, so I had to trim my fairy and hummingbird out. I made a mistake on her face (live and learn) which I see every time I look at it, but I really like how her wings turned out, so I guess I feel okay with the final result. Anyway, Ailis is invited to a Barbie tea party birthday party (try saying that 10 x fast!), so I said she could have this card to give to her little friend. I won't have to live with my mistakes long, haha! Looking forward to the weekend, hopefully the weather holds up! Now to catch up on all your posts! Big hugs, Roxy.

Supplies: CTMH cardstock, Prisma Glitter, and brads, Basic Grey pp, Kraftin' Kimmie stamp, Copic markers, Memento ink, Ranger Glossy Accents

Layout #37 - From Screen 2 Scrap

2011-08-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

Due to unforseen family circumstances, I am back from my "holiday" early, but not to worry, I did make it to Creative Accents (priorities, right?) and I only bought 6 pieces of patterned paper! Can you believe it, I really had to hold myself back, but I think I succeeded in only buying what I will need for the next 2 or 3 LO's. (I did indulge in a piece of Graphic 45 pixie paper, no idea what I'll do with it, but with 2 girls, I'm sure I'll find some use!) Anyway, one item on my mental list was a piece of music note paper to enter this month's challenge at From Screen 2 Scrap. The other criteria were to include some red and navy, and a two-tone title, so here's what I came up with:

Here's a close up of the title:

And of the journaling:

And here's the sketch I used from Page Maps, love it!

In my last post, I admitted to my patterned paper addiction, and many of you confessed that you suffer from the same affliction (surprise! Maybe there's a need for a support group, haha!) So I'm including this last photo so you can see what I do with my pp in order to retain some bits of a full sheet of precious beauty for scraps. What you see is the backside of my layout, with a rectangular chunk of Rose Moka taken out of the main sheet and some circles taken out of the Sassafrass Lass piece. I know, I'm pathetic, but I just can't help myself!

Supplies: Rose Moka, Sassafrass Lass, Cosmo Cricket, and Echo Park patterned paper, unknown cardstock, Close to My Heart ink (Outdoor Denim, White Daisy, Olive, Cranberry, and Crystal Blue) and stamp sets (Love This and Picture Perfect), Sakura white pen, unknown ribbon, staples, Cuttlebug machine and embossing folder

Layout #36 - Sketchy Thursdays

2011-08-01T11:27:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post for a quick page I whipped up last night and this morning. I'm heading to Williams Lake for the week for Nolan's hockey camp, so I won't be posting at all, but hopefully I'll be able to leave comments for you all still. Last year Jason took his holidays at this time, and we made a family trip out of it, and he did all the skate lacing, etc. But this year I'm on my own with the three kids. Well, I do have grandparent support, but still, it could be quite the challenge. I get to go to my fave LSS, Creative Accents, though! That's right, Tara, I'm coming to see you, so heads up! I'll be indulging my patterned paper fetish! Is there such a thing? If there is, I'm definitely afflicted! Case in point, I just HAD to have this piece of Basic Grey pp when I saw it, hmmm, three years ago (I even remember where I purchased it, see, I've got it bad!), and then I hoarded it and never used it! I resolve that from now on, I'm only going to buy a piece of pp for a project I have in mind or to match specific photos. Haha, let's see how long that lasts!

I really loved this sketch from Sketchy Thursdays when I first saw it, so I thought I'd better get in on the action.

It came together really quickly because I kept the embellishments very minimal. How do you like my homemade banner? I think that's my favorite part! I just used some background stamps, pink paper circles, and baker's twine. And I think I made a visual triangle of pink with the patterned paper, which wasn't exactly intentional, but whatever! I've had this page concept in mind for a while, because whenever we try to get a family photo, whatever the situation, it just never works out perfectly. It doesn't matter to me, though, I love the outtakes just as much as the good shots! Enjoy your week, everyone, and I'll see ya when I get back from my "holiday"!

Supplies: Basic Grey, Kaiser, and Beary Patch patterned paper, Creative Memories pink paper, Close to My Heart cardstock, ink, and stamps (Intrinsic Backgrounds, Noted Backgrounds, and Picture Perfect), baker's twine, staples

Layout #35 - Get Picky and Stampin' Royalty

2011-07-31T13:16:00.001-07:00

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

Layout #34 - From Screen 2 Scrap and Creative Scrappers

2011-07-28T14:50:00.000-07:00

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

Layout #33 - June Project 12

2011-07-26T12:13:00.000-07:00

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

Photo Fun Days 22 - 25

2011-07-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

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!

Layout #32 - Scrapbooker's Anonymous

2011-07-22T19:25:00.001-07:00

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

Layout #31 - ARTastic and Sketches in Thyme

2011-07-20T21:56:00.000-07:00

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

Layout #30

2011-07-20T15:06:00.000-07:00

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

Out of Action!

2011-07-05T11:38:00.001-07:00

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.

Layout #29 - ARTastic and Creative Scrappers

2011-06-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Whew, I think I'm going to make it just under the wire over at ARTastic with this one! The thing is, I've had this layout in mind for weeks now, but I didn't get the photos printed until yesterday, so I've been scrambling, but I really like how it turned out! For 6 extra diva points, I've got 2 people in the photo(s), striped paper, and a boat. I also used this sketch from Creative Scrappers

to help me pull it together, only I had to flip it and de-girlify it a bit! I really wanted to use some fly fishing supplies as embellies on this layout (can you just picture some wire curling around and some sparkly doo dads?) only I have no idea where the fly tying kit is! Does this surprise you? It shouldn't if you know me at all, haha! All right, off to link this up and enjoy a glass of nice vino before bed.

Supplies (all Close to My Heart): cardstock and patterned paper from Rough & Tumble paper pack, Outdoor Denim ink, Intrinsic Backgrounds stamp set

Other: Tim Holtz Grungeboard and Distress Ink, Ranger Perfect Pearls, MME overlay, Hampton Arts alpha stamps, Creative Memories pen, unknown sheer clock

Layout #28 - Get Picky, CSD, and Sketches in Thyme

2011-06-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to scrap these photos for 2 years, so it's kind of exhilarating to finally get them out of my "to be scrapped" box. Using this sketch from "Get Picky":

meant my page came together fairly quickly. I grunged up the background paper with Walnut Stain and Tea Dye Distress Ink, and I really like how boyish it turned out. I changed the upper corner detail to a cute little banner, thinking that usually parades have banners galore. Of course, this one didn't. In fact, it didn't have much of anything! If I didn't have my camera at the ready, or if I blinked, I would've missed the whole thing! It was pretty funny, looking back, that we got all ready, got good seats for the parade, and it was over in 60 seconds, but the kids just loved the candy. I know, I'm the worst mother in the world, I only let my kids have candy at Hallowe'en and parades, but they're the strongest, healthiest kids around (with no cavities or fillings), so go figure! They'll thank me one day!

The girls at Candy Shoppe Designs are back, and one of their challenges this month is to make a "summer" project. Make sure if you join in, tell them I sent you, because it's all about the RAK, right? (Does anyone know what RAK stands for, by the way, or should I say, BTW? I just figured out what LMAO and ROFL stand for, I'm like an old lady with all this lingo!) I'm also entering this page at Sketches in Thyme for their open challenge, which means you can use any sketch. Did you hear me? ANY SKETCH!!! That means, link your stuff up now, chickadees, you could win!

Supplies: Bazzill cardstock, MME patterned paper, Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Ranger Perfect Pearls, Sakura white pen, Creative Memories brown pen, unknown baker's twine