Catch-up!

I have a stack of layouts that I have not shared here. So hang on- here we go on a little game of catch up!!!

This layout was created with the February 2013 sketch for Canadian Scrapbooker's "Let's Get Sketchy" feature.

Patterned Paper: Teresa Collins Cardstock: Bazzill Buttons: Bo Bunny Letters: Basic Grey Water Colour Crayons: Faber Castell "Logic will take you from A to Z. Imagination will take you everywhere!" Albert Einstein

You can find a tutorial on how to make these textured chevrons on the Canadian Scrapbooker Blog here.

Patterned Paper, stickers and chipboard: BoBunny

Ink, Glitter: Clearsnap

Dies: Sizzix, Spellbinders

Flowers: Prima

Chipboard: Quick Quotes

This layout was posted on the Canadian Scrapbooker "Let's Get Sketchy" gallery for the December 2012 sketch 

Patterned Paper: Karen Foster Cardstock: Bazzill Stickers: Karen Foster Brads: Teresa Collins, American Crafts Trim: MME

From the Summer 2013 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine- from my 1 Stamp, 5 Stampers article.

Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up!

Ink: Clearsnap

Stamps/Dies: Obsession Obsession

Chipboard: 7 Gypsies, K & Co

Photo Booth fun! This was created for the Summer 2013 issue as well, but was not used. 

Patterned Paper: Glitz

Dies: Distinctively Dee's, Spellbinders, Memory Box

Wood Letters: KaiserCraft

Stamps: Glitz

Ink/Glitter: Clearsnap

Another Summer 2013 layout- for the "Inspired by Forrest Gump" article.

Patterned Paper/Stickers/Alphabet: Glitz Designs

Metal Embellishments: FabScraps

Ink: Clearsnap

Layout playing with texture paste and stencils...

Patterned Paper: DCWV

Stencil: Magenta

Ink: Clearsnap

Trim: May Arts

Letters: Basic Grey

Ephemera: Papier Valise, Prima

365- January 28

Played with Canadian Scrapbooker's Sketchy Challenge Sketch for January 2013. It ended up being quite simple- even though I tried to add more. In the end, this is all it needed, I guess. Anything I tried never improved it!

Supplies Used: Patterned Paper: Prima

Cardstock: Bazzill

Letters: American Crafts, Prima

Chipboard: Prima

Ribbon: May Arts

Don't you love how I hung my charm on backwards? Totally just noticed that now!

Birds of a Feather...

Supply List:

Patterned Paper: Crate Paper, Bazzill Dies: Spellbinders Inks: Close to My Heart Glitter: Pink Paislee, LaDiDa, Stampin' Up! Chipboard: Stampin' Up! Letters: American Crafts Trim: Doodlebug Designs Brads: Making Memories, Crate Paper, Harmonie (CDN)

I took some time to create this long weekend, using the new September Sketch from Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine.  This is my daughter with one of her best friends. These two rollick and laugh and talk full throttle in alphabets ("Hey BFF! I'll BRB. BTW, here's a cool...") the whole time they are together. Their energy is contagious and I love how their stream of consciousness interaction draws me into the moment, and out of my list head.  I hope to see what you create using the sketch too (Michelle, Sandy, Mei, Carla, Wendy, Mickey, Margaret, etc- you know who you are and I AM talking to you in particular!!!)

I had fun with my spellbinders dies creating these flowers. I used Bazzill patterned paper- the kind with an almost tissue like texture. I folded the sheet into thirds and could then cut three sets of flowers at a time.  The little petals curl up so nicely with just the edge of the scissors (kind of like curling ribbon). I originally was going to keep the flowers neutral, but these girls have too colorful personalities for that!  So I had to do some last minute coloring.  I didn't have spray inks in the colors I wanted, so I just took some of my Close to My Heart Dye inks and wiped the pads on a piece of wax paper. I then spritzed the ink puddle with Vanilla smooch and dabbed the color onto the flowers with an ink applicator. Ta Dah! Shimmery flowers in the colors I needed!

It was easy to match the little birdies- I just used the same inks:0)

And now for a little story behind the page.  This is my current scrap area.  It is in our living room, because we are doing some renovations downstairs where I usually scrap. A door was moved, so drywall dust is everywhere...

This is my scrap space right now.  We are getting ready to paint, so everything is moved to the center of the room, away from the walls. Although Avery keeps her toys down here, no one but me really hangs out in this space.

Look! A stash of scrappy things like an oasis in the middle of chaos.

This is the closet where my scrap stuff usually lives.  The corners are cut in with the new color. I have a shoe holder on the door for little odds and ends.

This is the counter where all my tools live, ready to use.  Where is everything, you might ask?

In the garage of course!!!!   This is the shelf that lives in the about-to-be-painted closet.

This is the sad pile of scrappy stuff, waiting for it's refreshed home!

So. Scrapping is an extra adventure these days!  It was entertaining to search for things I had in the garage or the pile of chaos downstairs.  But I am excited, for it will all be worth it when we have a great family room set up, complete with scrap space. I have found that I don't like to be isolated from the rest of my family to scrapbook and this set up is greatly anticipated! Until then, I think I get bonus points for extreme scrapbooking!

Oh My... It is Sketch Time!

Happy May everyone! I spent the weekend on a scrapbook retreat with the amazing team from Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine.  What a wonderful, supportive, lighthearted bunch of people to hang around with.  We scrapped, laughed, laughed, and laughed some more. End result- i got a few assignments done, but not nearly as much as I hoped to. I would have to talk less, but what would the fun be of that? Might as well stay home then!  One thing I did do was my take on the May "Let's Get Sketchy" challenge.  Here is the sketch:

And here is my layout:

Supplies used:

Cardstock: Bazzil lPatterned paper: Harmonie Die: Sizzix Pearls: BoBunny Clearsnap Smooch Glitz Pins: Maya Road Paper Ribbon: I am guessing K & Co. Pen: Zig


Go! Take the challenge:0)

Welcome April!

April is here and ironically we've had more snow in April than I think we've gotten all winter! Great big snow storms followed by sunny days that take it all away... spring:0)

It is Easter weekend here, and I am grateful for a few extra days off for the weekend. It gave me a little time to play with my scrap supplies, and the first thing I tackled was the April "It's a Sketchy Challenge" from Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine.

Hope you like what I came up with! I had a lot of fun making this one.  Of course, what is not fun about a layout featuring a banana split bigger than my kid's head?

 Supplies used: Patterned Paper- Glimpses by Signify Pink; Diecuts, stickers and gems and ephemera- Glimpses by Signify Pink; Cardstock- Bazzill; Chipboard- Pink Paislee; Ink and Glitter- Clearsnap; Gems and Pearls- BoBunny; Charm- Stanislaw Imports. 

I had total fun making the hemp swirls, as per Canadian Scrapbooker Webisode #26, adding an extra swirl of glue on top that I glittered up using the Fairy Dust Glitter by Donna Salazar for Clearsnap. Sprinkle a few bits and pieces around, and viola! "Dig In" was done!

April is shaping up to be a busy month! Dance festival season has begun, and Avery's first festival was this past weekend. She danced with her hip-hop group with all their pink badness to "California Girls". This is her first year in hip-hop and she loves it! And I loved seeing her dance her heart out up on stage.  As a first year group, the audience always AWWWW's at the cuteness that arrives on stage, but as an eight year old, this is serious business!  Here are some first festival pictures. She has a few more this month- another chance to perform her hip-hop routine and two for her tap routine.  

All dressed and made up! Complete with fake eyelashes, lol!

No group in their category got gold, and Avery was completely thrilled with her silver medal. Her group was awarded the "Most Promising Group" designation and one of her classmates was singled out for having that little extra spark. Avery was so excited for her friend!

And to top off a busy month, I've been asked to do a guest design spot at Scrapbooking Fanatics.  I'll be working on a week's worth of blog posts and projects for April 23-27.  My dt kit has arrived and I am so excited to dig in and play!

Canadian Scrapbooker February Sketch

I turned this:

Into this:

Supplies Used: Patterned Paper- Basic Grey. My Little Shoebox; Punch- Stampin' Up!; Stickers- Basic Grey; Stamp- Donna Downey for Unity; Book text from 'Alice le Fee'.

I thought it would be neat to try tone on tone for the title.  I was right.  It is neat- it just doesn't photograph well with my little instant camera. (Our regular camera was dropped by the beautiful photo subject here. Sigh.)  I used one of Avery's old books to make the ruffle frame around the photo, something I learned at Cropazanza in Red Deer from Donna Downey.  It killed me a little to rip up the book.  Avery is happy though.  She is planning on using the pages to make paper beads, so I guess all is well!  The little Basic Grey envelope holds some notes from Avery on what she wants to be when she grows up (vet, fashion designer), who her friends are and what she likes best about school, etc.

You can see what amazing layouts others made with this sketch, and find out how you can play along too right here.

CHA Peek Time!

One of the best things to chase away the January doldrums it the fact that CHA happens at the end of the month!  I love the excitement of seeing new releases from my favourite companies.  The following is by no means a final list of all that I am anticipating, but a mere beginning!

First off, from Magenta, whose paper is of such a lovely quality, it always almost makes me cry to cut it up.  Their 'Color Me Softly' line is so pretty, it is making me swoon just to see it! What am I gonna do when faced with this paper and actual scissors???  I can't wait to find out!

And if you can resist these cute little chipboard gnomes, then I suspect you may not have a soul.  (Totally kidding, but only just, lol!) I always like Magenta's chipboard and cork releases, but these little guys give my fancy an extra tickle.

Next, let's go on to Bo Bunny.  They always have such large releases, they make it tough on me because I usually like them all.  Now, I didn't snag pictures of all their releases, but you can visit their blog to look at more.  You will probably end up liking more.  You're welcome!

AMBROSIA

 SERENITY

WEEKEND MARKET

I'm done for....

And I still have not made it to the end of my (today's) list!!!!!

How about a little Webster's Pages?  I thought that is what you might say!!!!  Who does beautiful any better than WP?  I don't know either.

Two collections I am coveting, the first is called 'Everyday Poetry' and here is a little sample of the good things to be found there:

And the next is called 'Palm Beach'.  The Perfect Accents are just... well, perfect! 

Maya Road still has more to roll out, and I will be watching!  I LOVE the way they not only show you what is coming soon, they show it in action!!!  Their peeks are so inspiring.  The MR blog did not identify the creators of the following goodness, so with apologies on not giving proper credit, I am going to share some of my favourites!

Do you see the wooden shapes, linen embellishments, fun stamps and creative excitement???  Oh yeah!

Tip of the iceberg, my friends!  Tip of the iceberg. Try to be grumpy about the snow and cold now, will you?

Tell me, what scrappy goodness are you anticipating?

Canadian Scrapbooker January Sketch

The travel portion of holidays are over, and I promised myself a little scrapbooking time each day before work started again. The first thing I tackled was the January sketch for Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine (again by the lovely Jill). You can follow along with the sketch too, and if you use a Canadian company somewhere your interpretation is eligible for publication (but all entries are shared for inspiration- so send it in!!!). There is all the info you need if you follow the magazine link above:

This layout will go to my Mom and Dad for their scrapbook frame; I send them a new layout now and again. I didn't have a winter family photo, and wanted to have all of us for their wall this time. So I didn't follow the theme, but I did follow the shape of the layout!

Stuff used: CTMH cardstock and metal tab; Simple Stories paper; Basic Grey, Kaisercraft stickers; My Mind's Eye rubons; Stampin' Up! eyelets; Harmonie acrylic and chipboard; Making Memories Chipboard; 7 Gypsies paperclip; Prima flower, trim and gems; Tim Holtz tape; Clearsnap Spritz (log cabin); Fiskars punch.

Canadian Scrapbooker December Sketch

I actually did this one after the January, but switched dates on my blog:0)  Here is the December sketch:

 And here is what I did with it!  I had a bit of fun with my Tim Holtz for Sizzix dies, using one to cut the snowflake border and another to build the dimensional tree.  For the tree I cut 4 and then glued them together like a fan, so the tree totally pops off the page.  I hardly ever scrap birthday and Christmas photos, so it was great to get an older picture fancied up, thanks to the sketch!

Now show me yours!!!!!!!  If you leave a link in the comments, I would love to come and look.

Supplies used: Coredinations cardstock; Basic Grey papers, stickers and embellishments; Tim Holtz for Sizzix dies; Riff Raff chipboard; Ranger stickles.

The Search for the Perfect Trimmer

I have been a scrapbooker for roughly 7 years now.  In that time, I have been through many, many trimmers.  Here are their stories.

1. Like many people, my first trimmer was a Fiskars.  Compact, inexpensive and readily accessible, it served me well for many years.  Sure, it didn't cut straight, but my scrappy style does not rely on precise, straight lines.  We co-existed comfortably: without passionate feelings but with a certain understanding of each other and acceptance of one another's flaws.

2. One fine day, I was introduced to the possibility that I wasn't just a crooked-ass paper cutter.  That the askew lines may not have been all my fault, because even when I really really tried to cut straight, things happened.  Like crookedness.  And askewness.  I learned that it just might be my trimmer and not me at all.  After a few years of crooked, this was quite a revelation!!!! And so I invested in a Tonic trimmer.  It had a rotary blade, a pricier price tag and lots of promises of straight lines.

It was still portable, and could easily pop into my bag and accompany me to crops.  It had a cool factor because not the many people had a Tonic trimmer.  I was in love again!  Cue fresh beginnings, endorphin rushes, and slow dances in flower filled fields.  Life was good.... for a while.  Until the rose came off my glasses and I realized that this thing was actually kind of hard to use.  The extension arm didn't lay completely square.  It was unwieldy to get the paper under the paper holder.  The markings were hard to see.  AND! The tab that held the blade loosened up, causing my blade to go flinging off if I wasn't careful in stopping it before it bumped the edge.  I returned to my Fiskars which still cut crooked but was ultimately more cooperative.

3. AND THEN! I heard about the Purple Cow.  Everyone raved about the purple cow.  Two blades on one cutter! There were fancy shaped blades for the rotary end! It could cut up to 10 sheets of paper at one time! It was named the purple cow!  By this time, I was teaching classes and decided that despite it's large size I needed it for quicker class prep. Hel-lo? Cuts 10 sheets of paper at once!!!! And so I invested. I spent more money than ever before on a trimmer.

And quickly learned that 10 sheets at a time actually meant 2.  If you were careful.  If you cut real slow. It made fine, clean cuts.  Straight cuts even.  But functionally only on one sheet of paper at a time. And it was large.  So, it fell out of use and I returned to my aging, crooked but familiar Fiskars.

My craft area looked like a hillbilly junkyard filled with surly and decrepit trimmers.  I was defeated, resolved to invest in no more trimmers.  Until now....

4. Enter Westcott.  And compact trimmers in fun colours.  That work.  Like, as in, cut straight lines. Even for me! I am tickled that I was not too jaded to try another trimmer.  I am so pleased with it that I have even tossed out my good old backup Fiskars.  And my Tonic trimmer.  Like as in, kicked them to the curb!!!! I now have a lilac trimmer, with scissors to match and an attitude of gratitude for the good folks at Westcott who make such great tools.  Compact, affordable and they work!

TaDah! The glorious Westcott TrimAir Trimmer.  Behold it's purpleness:0)

I am so glad they came out to Canadian Scrapbooker's Great Canadian Scrapbook Carnival and gave us a chance to try them out. I am a happy girl!