"New Love" using Counterfeit Kit

Now here is a layout that might never have been created if it weren't for this month's challenge at Another Freaking Scrappy Challenge blog:

(Grrrr, sorry about the lousy photo, but I'm using a camera phone as someone, i.e. loving husband, took both cameras and the corresponding camera cards to work and left them there!)  The prompt is "weddings", and I actually have an organized section of photos just of weddings of friends and relatives.  As I was searching through my photos, I was shocked to realize how many couples are now divorced or split up!  Kind of sad, and now I don't know what to do with all these photos - how dare they wreck my scrapbooking plans like this!!!  Just kidding, but seriously, I'm really glad that this photo is now on a layout of its own because someday, if not right now, the kids will want to know a bit about their great grandparents.  This is my mom's dad, and he's such a funny guy.  I'll have to get my mom to write down some stories about him, as he's in his 90's and it's highly unlikely we'll get to Australia to see him (although my mom promised that if he makes it to 100, she'll fly us all over there for his birthday!).  My mom's mom passed away in 2005, and a year later, papa's getting married again!  I guess when you're that old, carpe diem and all that, right? I think they make a pretty cute couple, and their outfits go absolutely perfectly with this Pink Paislee paper I've been hoarding for, like, ever!  My other favorite part of this layout is the journaling block - I ruffled up washi tape around the edge for a different effect.  Most of the products are from my June Counterfeit Kit, although I just had to sub in those Thickers for the title, they were too good of a match to leave out!

Here's the sketch I used from Sketches in Thyme, altered just a tad:

So there you have it!  I hope everyone out there has a great weekend, and makes some time for... (drum roll please!) a Canadian Cardmakers Canada Day Blog Hop!!!  Yes, July 1st is Canada Day, and I am taking part in a blog hop to celebrate with plenty of red & white, maple leaves galore, and possibly some Canadian products in the mix, so I'll see ya here bright and early Sunday morning, eh?  (P.S. - we don't really say "eh?" all the time, just when we want to sound more Canadian than we really are - or do we?  Guess you'll have to come to Canada to found out!)

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June Counterfeit Kit

I am really excited about my kit this month because they're doing something different over at Counterfeit Kits for June, which made it easier for me to get my act together earlier!  Yay, me!  They posted a list of "ingredients" and you can go with any theme or colours you like, so if you've been wanting to play along, now's your chance to get in on the action!  I started with some newer patterned papers from my stash that seemed to go together:

From the top I've got MME, then Graphic 45 in the middle row, and 2 Pink Paislee pieces and a Simple Stories piece in the bottom row.  Then I pulled out some old Close to My Heart cardstock that coordinated, along with two alpha stamp sets that I love!:

And finally some coordinating inks, background stamps, and embellishments:

Now let's see what i can do with it!

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Card for a Special Friend

Well, I finished a three week running program, and even though it was very difficult for me, I think it gave me the boost I needed to get going on a regular exercise/clean eating regime!  The best part of this clinic was meeting new people and getting to spend time with a new friend - I told her about the clinic, and she decided to give it a go, even though she's never run before, AT ALL!!!  I was so impressed with her effort, she came to every run and gave it her all, and she totally kicked my butt!  Anyway, I thought she deserved a special card to show how much I appreciate everything she's done for me and encourage her to keep going with the running.  What do you think, do the "Dancing Girlfriends" from Art Impressions fit the bill?  The sentiment that I stamped on here is so cute, it says "Dance like no one's watching... who can have you committed."  I stamped that last bit on the inside!  I thought it was appropriate as we often talk about how we're going to meet up at the asylum one of these days!  Here's a close up of some of the ladies:

I made the flowers with my NEW Tim Holtz Alterations die (tattered florals) and spring Distress Inks - they are so wonderful, I looooooove the blue especially.  And yay, I finally got to use one of Cheri's wonderful sketches AND get it linked up in time!

Can you see it?  I had to flip it sideways, and sub out one of the circles for the flowers, but I think it's pretty close.

I'm also going to enter this card at:

Art Impressions Challenge #66 - fitness

Bearly-Mine #39 - Tic Tac Toe (I used the line that says "dies, flowers, sentiment")

Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

House of Gilli - vibrant summer colours

Stamp and Create - bold and bright

Thanks for looking!

Supplies:  Art Impressions stamp, Memento ink, Simple Stories patterned paper, Tim Holtz die and ink, Close to My Heart rhinestones, Twinery twine

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April Project 12

It's a beautiful day in the South Cariboo, but I'm taking a break from the outdoor activities to bring you this layout:

I made a commitment to myself to continue on with the Project 12 idea this year, using a new Page Maps sketch each month to highlight our goings on.  For April I chose this sketch:

Isn't it a beaut?  I had to change some things a bit to make my photos fit, but I like how it worked out in the end.  Here's a close-up of the left page:

And the right:

The background cardstock was originally plain cream stuff - I coloured it first with Tea Dye Distress Ink, then I used some border punched scraps to make the vertical pattern, misting first with Tattered Leather and then Black Glimmer Mist.  I was looking to make a fairly neutral background so the brights of the photos would pop.  The journaling cards you see were a freebie from Secret Stash, but they're unfortunately not available anymore.

Made a couple more rosette flowers, and layered them up with little pink flowers, buttons, and a great paper doily.

Well, hope you had a great weekend!  Us here, we finally finished the backyard fence!!!  Only took a year to get going on.  Talk about procrastination!!!  This means I have a place to put Hunter when I go out for a couple of hours where he can't chew up Brenna's toys or books, or my radio!  You can!'t believe the stress that lifts off of me, phew!  Thanks for looking, and I appreciate all your comments, they always make my day!

Supplies:  CTMH cardstock, alpha stamp (Giggle Caps) and ink (Olive), Tim Holtz Distress Ink, border die, and tissue tape, K&Co Smash tape, BoBunny Double Dot and Echo Park patterned paper, Secret Stash journaling cards, unknown ribbon, photo corners, doily, and buttons

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Card Inspired by Pinterest and a Ramble!

I started this post, happy as a clam (why is a clam happy?  I'd really like to know!), went out for an hour and a half, came back and found bits of my Sirius radio plug all over the floor, Hunter looking at me all shamefaced!  I am so mad and sad, but I've had my cry and now I'm hoping to distract myself by blogging, so here goes:

What do you think of this card I whipped up yesterday?  I really like how it turned out!  I needed something quick for a baby shower, so I turned to my pinterest "Cards" board and was inspired by this one here.  Then when I opened a little tin of embellishments I'd packed for the Fiesta crop weeks ago to look for twine, I found this ready made rosette!  Cool!!!  I totally forgot I'd made it!  Don't you love it when that happens? Here's a close up:

Turns out I didn't even need a card, somebody made one on the computer for everyone to sign, but hey, gives me an excuse to play and enter some new challenges:

Tuesday Throwdown #100 - Masculine
Cards for Men #11 - Congratulations
Craft Your Passion Challenge #112 - For Baby
Here Come the Boys Challenge #28 - Anything Goes

Supplies (mostly from my May Counterfeit Kit):  My Mind's Eye and Echo Park patterned paper, Twinery twine, Tim Holtz tissue tape, CTMH stamp set, Memento ink, button from my stash


It feels like I haven't blogged in ages (even though it's only been a week) so I feel I need to ramble on a bit here.  If you've come simply to visit my card, feel free to skip this bit, head straight to comments and leave me some love, 'cause I sure do need it today (I love my radio something fierce, don't know what I'm going to do without it, not to mention I just paid for another year's subscription!)

• Do you know my friend Roz?  She is just the sweetest person around, and she has some super sweet candy to give away to a lucky follower!  Get on over there before the end of the month for your chance to make a new friend and maybe win big!!!
• Are you a Beastie Boys fan?  I looooove the Beastie Boys, I had this T-shirt once that I wore so much that it pretty much disintegrated.  I was very sad to hear that Adam Yauch, aka MCA, died of cancer at the age of 47.  That is way too young!
• On a more positive musical note, Linkin Park, Metric, and The Offspring all have new songs out!  Not that I'll be listening to them on my radio any time soon...
• I've been pinned!!!  Actually, I've been pinned twice, but the first time I didn't know enough about pinterest to get really excited about it.  Anyway, you can find the pins here and here.  Thanks, Emma and Gayle, I'm truly honoured!
• Speaking of pinterest, what's with those Ryan Gosling pins that keep popping up, the ones that say, "Hey, girl..."?  I don't get it, was that a famous line from a movie or something?  
• And what about those "Keep Calm" pins, how did that start?  I wish I'd pinned the one I saw that said, "Get Mad and Break Stuff" - too funny!
• I was meeting a friend downtown last Friday to check out the Farmer's Market, so I bought a Tim Horton's coffee for $1.95.  I parked my car, reached over the console to grab my purse, and knocked the whole thing all over the passenger seat!  Grrrrrrr, I didn't have any paper towel to clean it up, just a roll of toilet paper (don't ask!) and Jason's work long johns.  But get this - as I was cleaning it up, I found a toonie on the ground outside my car.  Weird!  It's like fate paid me a nickel to dump my drink!
• The running program is going...well, it's going.  The good news is my time is improving every night.  The bad news is that my glutes are seriously weak (is that why I have saddlebags?) and I kind of hate it.  I love the group, I love the fact that I'm getting out three times a week to exercise, but running is just not my thing.  I'm going to finish up the clinic, tonight and Friday, and then I have to keep the momentum going and find something that I actually enjoy.  Yup, simple, right?
• During Monday night's run around the marsh, these geese waddled up onto the trail and hissed at me!  Scared me half to death!  As I got farther down the trail, I saw a bunch of mom's and dad's with their little fluffy goslings (not of the Ryan variety!) walking in a line - it was so adorable!!!  I went back today to try and snap some photos, but the geese weren't out - maybe they only come out at dusk?  I better bring my camera tonight, just in case!
• I made Top 3 at Frosted Designs for this card!  Woohoo!!! 
• Did you make a project this month using a handmade flower?  If so, you still have a couple of days to link it up at Seriously Creative Challenges, I'd love it if you did!!! 

Well, blogging didn't really help me get my mind off that stinker of a puppy, so I better get out and walk him.  I'd rather get some actual scrapping done (or reading, I'm into this incredible book right now, practically devouring it!), I've been working on the same layout for a week now, but then he'll just find something else to eat when I pick up Brenna, so... a walk, it is!

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Happy Anniversary and a Commission!

Finally got Jason's anniversary card done, only 2 days late, and I was quite pleased with his reaction!  I told him it takes time to create a work of art.  Here it is minus the sappy note I wrote inside:

Is this a gate fold card?  I couldn't get it to stay closed for the picture!  Here's the inside:

He really liked the colours, and said it was his favorite card yet!  I used the May Stamp of the Month from Creative Accents (by Hampton Art) to make the front panels, clear embossed with turquoise ink and brayered with black.  I used the same technique on the label cut with a new Page Maps Spellbinders die.  I traced the heart with an old yellow die cut I had, then inked up a canvas Prima key - get it, key to my heart?  On the inside I just used some more of the beautiful BoBunny paper.

And I thought I'd add a couple pictures of my first commission!  Jason's boss turned 50 yesterday, and they were planning a surprise party for him but didn't know what to do for a card.  The receptionist gave me this cute picture printed from somewhere, and the rest I made up as I went:

 I went with a beachy theme and made some "waves" with cardstock inked with Broken China Distress Ink and smeared with gold Perfect Pearls.

 I sprayed the top with mist from Lindy's Stamp Gang, and made the kites and cloud by hand.  I think it turned out pretty neat!

Well, I went for my first run on Wednesday night, and I'm really feeling it in my hamstrings today!  I'd be tempted to skip tonight's session, but I've paid my fee and feel obligated to get my money's worth!  See, this is how my mind works, and I knew there was a reason why I signed up for this running clinic.  It should be the kick in the pants I need to get me motivated long term.  Here's hoping!

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A Birthday Card for My Mom

 Raise your hand if you think this is the funniest image ever!  There's something about a bunch of more mature, curvaceous ladies dancing around in tutus that makes me laugh!!!  I've had this stamp set from Artistic Impressions for a bit, but I had to be in the mood to colour, and finally I just went for it.  I used this sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday:

(flipped around to fit my image) and Copic markers for colouring.  I used the Fabulous line from Simple Stories (have I mentioned how much I love these papers?  Only about a billion times!) as my colour palette, added some embossed cardstock (new Sizzix folder that came in our goodie bags from Fiesta!) a paper strip punched with my new Fiskar's border punch (yay, finally bought a new border punch!) and some flowers and buttons from my stash.  All that work and I still didn't post it in time for the challenge, boohoo!  But on the up side, my mom loved it!

This is going to be a short post because I have to take advantage of Brenna's nap time to make Jason an anniversary card.  It was our 13th yesterday, and I think with all the hubub around mom's birthday and mother's day, I just didn't get time to make him anything!  Here's what he sent me yesterday:

Pretty cute, huh?  Kind of wish I thought of it first!

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