A Birthday Card for Ailis!

My Ailis-girl was born on Valentine's Day, 8 years ago!  I made her this card (not even that late!) with a brand spankin' new, never used Saturated Canary stamp I bought from Creative Accents: 

Speaking of Creative Accents, have you seen our February Seriously Creative Challenge?  I'm seriously late this month, but here it is:

I was inspired by the colours here, although my palette turned out a bit different.  Now that I'm looking at the two images, I see that the stripes are similar, too.  Anyway, use this photo to inspire your project, link it up at the Seriously Creative Challenges blog before the end of the month, and you could win a prize!

I used this sketch from Graphicat Sketches, and I think I'm getting my card in at the last minute:

The other challenges I'm entering are:

Basic Grey Challenges- use your favourite thing(s) - I think this stamp is my new fave!

Drunken Stampers - theme - princess!  

Thanks for looking, and I'll be back soon with some more projects, promise!

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Counterfeit Kits?!

So, I don't know exactly what I was thinking, but for February, I made 2 Counterfeit Kits!  Crazy, eh?  Especially considering with the new job and 2 birthdays this month, I probably won't have time to make much with them.  That's okay, I'll probably just continue using them into March.  Here is what the original kit looks like:

I loved the blues and greens, but it's pretty much the same colour scheme as my kit last month, so I drew my inspiration from the hexagons, instead.  This is the more girly kit I put together:

Everything here was brought in to match the piece of Echo Park hexagon paper.  The back row is all Basic Grey paper, and the front is all Echo Park Everyday Eclectic except for the one on the right, which is Stampin' Up.  I cut the word bubbles with my Cameo, and I love how they turned out!  Here's a close up of the inks and embellishments:

Then, here is kit number 2, a more masculine version, you could say:

First, the papers.  Mostly Echo Park Note to Self, and then some older CTMH papers and stickers from a kit I loved, Notebook.  There are also some scraps from MME and a piece of kraft cardstock I had cut into the honeycomb shape you see up front.

Then I just rounded the kit out with some scraps I cut with Spellbinders dies, some ink, brads, washi, twine, burlap, and buttons.

Ooooo-eeeeeee!  I can't wait to play!!!

Things are going well, here.  I think I've got the childcare dilemma worked out, and I'm really enjoying my job.  Life is still chaotic, but I think I'll survive.  Now, are you ready for some super-big news?  I didn't want to say anything too soon and jinx the deal, but it looks like we're buying a house!!!!!  Not only that, but it's pretty much my dream house!!!!!  I can't wait to post pictures, but we won't be in there until the end of April, so you'll just have to hang onto your britches - that's a hint as to what kind of house it is!  

I'll leave you now with this photo I snapped the other morning:

These white-tailed deer are all over the place!  I shot this pic from my deck.  Unfortunately, as soon as I opened the door, they bolted across the lake, so the photo was taken with maximum zoom.  I'll have to be more stealthy next time!

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Rumour Has It

I'm still pluggin' away at making a dent in my January Counterfeit Kit.  Shortly after I made my kit, I just went through my little recipe box of photos to see which ones would match my kit, and these two little pics of Jason's mom with Brenna 2 years ago were begging to be scrapped!

This is the sketch from Let's Get Sketchy that I used:

And here are a couple of close-ups of the banner:

and the chipboard cluster:

I've been wanting to take part in Scrap it with a Song's Challenges for a while, but it hasn't worked out until this very moment.  This month's "Rock" challenge is to get inspired by Adele's song, "Rumour Has It", so that's where I got my title, but it also helped lead my journaling.  This page was emotionally difficult for me to do because we've recently found out that Jason's mom has Alzheimer's.  She's changed a lot since these photos were taken, and although she remembers our names and who we are right now, I know there will come a time when she won't know any of us any more.  I can't help but feel sad for Brenna - the other kids will have happy memories of time spent with their grandma, but Brenna probably won't.  I'm hoping pages like this will be valuable to her when she's grown, just to let her know that even if she doesn't remember, her grandma loves her so much!

Wow, almost makes me cry again!  I've been a bit of a basket case these past few days what with trying to find day care and other stress.  Yesterday morning, I thought I had it all figured out, only to realize in the afternoon that I was mistaken.  The lady I thought would be able to watch Brenna twice a week has decided that she does not want to watch Brenna at all - apparently Brenna is not self-sufficient enough for her.  Huh.  Soooo, that sends me back to the drawing board.  Argh!  Why can't there just be an abundance of well-qualified, loving individuals that want to take care of little kids when I want them to? 

Also linking up to:  Southern Girls Challenge #61 - Get Krafty

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Dempster Dreaming

I have a couple exciting things to tell ya, but first here is a layout I completed for our challenge at Seriously Creative Challenges:  

 Our prompt this month is "Winter Wonders":

I hope you'll join us this month, just create a project that embraces the spirit of winter and link up!

I had a lot of fun making this project, getting inky and crazy with my January Counterfeit Kit.  I was inspired by this sketch at Creative Scrappers:

At first I was going to make a circle out of patterned paper, but then I read Alison's blog and was inspired to try "painting" with toothpicks!  I just dipped a few toothpicks into my bottle of Lindy's Stamp Gang mist, and  scratched out a circle and outlined the stars.

Here's a couple of close-ups of my layout:

The titles and black stars were cut with the Cameo, then I backed them with patterned paper and washi tape respectively (that's my big word for the day!)  The doilies were cut from another piece of patterned paper (Echo Park) and the hearts are Pink Paislee mistables (those things are awesome!!!)  Oh yeah, I also made a frame out of washi tape for my photo.  

I really miss the Yukon!  Have I said that before?  (Probably only a hundred times!)  Anyway, if/when I ever go back there, I want to travel the Dempster highway again and see the Tombstone mountains.  Now that I've documented this wish in a scrapbook layout, it is officially on my bucket list, which is the prompt for the Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs!  

Okay, now for my big news!  (No, I'm not pregnant, thank goodness!!!)  I got the job!!!  I'm pretty stoked, I will be working 20 hours per week as a rehabilitation assistant, which is the first real job where I'll be able to use my overpriced education - finally!  Now I just have to figure out the daycare situation, which is easier said than done.  

Well, that's it for now!  Hope all my bloggy pals get some crafty time in this week!

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First Layout of the Year!

True story:  in September, Jason took a picture of this little mouse eating an apple on the walkway.  He thought it must be a little bit intoxicated, as he didn't scurry away or move at all, so focused was he on his meal.  Two minutes later, Hunter roared out of nowhere and swallowed the mouse and apple in one gulp!

Kind of loving how this layout turned out!  Everything is from my January Counterfeit Kit, and I was able to incorporate Challenge #1 from the CKC blog:  use only three patterned papers, three embellishments (wood veneer branch, layered chipboard stickers, and stick pins from Crafts & Pieces), and a three word title ("the daily NEWS").  I used this sketch from Stuck?! Sketches:

And here's a couple of close-ups of journaling and embellishments:

Well, that's it for me!  My thumb is doing a whole lot better, seems to be healing nicely (looks a bit like Frankenstein's monster with the black stitches, though).  Won't be long before I'm fussy cutting and colouring like a mad woman again!!!  Thanks for looking!

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January Counterfeit Kit

I had surgery yesterday on my right thumb (ganglionectomy), so I'm doing this post one-handed, which really sucks!  But, I was pretty excited to put together this kit with some brand new supplies (thanks, Auntie Judy, for the birthday money!) and I just had to take a break from DD duties to make it!

 Above is my selection of patterned papers.  MME & BoBunny up top, EP in the middle, and Amy Tan and Simple Stories on the bottom.

 Here's my cs and extras - inks, mists, alpha stamps, washi, labels, twine, Pink Paislee mistable hearts, etc.

And a little bit of a close-up.  The flowers are CTMH, as are the stamps.  Man, sorry if this post is a bit random, but I think I may now need some more of those T3s!  Later!

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More December Daily - Dec. 11th - 14th

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then we get to the 14th:

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

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

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