Wednesday 19 June 2013

The countdown is on....

Well my kids are eagerly counting down the days until summer break starts! 
Even though it will be a bitter sweet moment for my daughter, as she will be heading off to high school next fall, she is still anxious to be done for the summer!
I'm just looking forward to spending some daytime with the kids, not having to worry about getting up for school in the morning and not having to make school lunches! :D

Well to pass the time until that last school bell rings, I have been doing a little scrapbooking with some of the new papers we have been getting in at the store. And thanks to the newest team member at the store, Sandra, I also now have a little more time as well! :D


This first layout it using the "On This Day" collection by Kaiser Crafts. It is a gorgeous line and this is the 4th layout I have done with the papers. Actually, this layout was done with nothing but the leftover scraps from the first 3 layouts I did. 
I wanted to take pictures of those layouts and put them on the blog as well but they are at the store. So as soon as I can steal them back for a day, I will put them on here.
 

 I am currently working on 4 different wedding albums and this paper was just perfect for this picture of my girls dad and his new wife. They had a beautiful wedding in Germany and my girls were so lucky to have been able to go and help them celebrate!


These next few layouts were created using the "Sunshine In My Soul" line by 
I am a huge fan of the colors in this line! I found they worked really well with these pictures of both my son and daughter!


I am not normally a sticker person, but this time I decided to buy the 12x12 sticker sheet that went with this line. I have to say, it was the right decision. I used up almost the entire sheet!!!
 

I also purchased a roll of My Minds Eye Decorative Tape in a striped grey color and it was the perfect accent for these pages!
 


 For this page of my daughter, I used one of the papers as a background that had a little bird on it. I cut out the bird a little so that I could tuck my photo behind and not take away from the pattern. I then used a small strip of the polka dot pattern and the rest are stickers from the sticker sheet! Easy, breezy! :D



 This last layout was also very simple to put together thanks to those stickers! I just used a square of the polka dot paper under the photo, cut strips to make banners and added a small strip of pattern paper from Echo Park to bring out the blue in my daughters tank top. I dug into my border punch stash and made the strip more decorative and used pop-dots to add dimension.



These photos were taken by Amanda Lepage with Photos Etcetera and they are by far some of my most favorite photos! So if you are in the market for a photographer, be sure to check out her site HERE!
Also be sure to stop by the store for a closer look at these layouts and to see the other 3 layouts I created with the Kaiser Crafts paper.

Enjoy the rest of your week!
~Cayla~

Friday 7 June 2013

Hello... It's me!!

Good morning! I know you have all but forgotten about me, it's been way to long since I last blogged! The weather has been absolutely beautiful and I have been out trying to enjoy it!

I have also been pretty busy at work training a lovely new lady (Sandra) and getting ready for the fundraising crop for the Saskatchewan Burn Fund. The store will host the 2nd Burn Fund Crop this July and it is going to be just as good as it was last year!! Click HERE for more details on that!

To help raise money for this worthy charity, I have been making cards and selling them. Some of you know that I have set up a page on my blog to help promote my efforts and I have added (and deleted) some new cards! :D So please take a look and let me know if you are interested in purchasing some of my cards. ALL the proceeds go towards the Saskatchewan Burn Fund. To find the page, just go to the top of the blog and click on "Cards".

Now before I leave you today, I would like to share a layout I did a couple weeks ago. I created this layout using the new Echo Park line, Perfect Summer. It is such a cute line and worked perfectly for these pictures of my daughter and my husband swimming in the lake.


I took these pics and the two of them were jumping off the floating dock. I used number stickers to show the order of the pics.
 



Another project I worked on was this beautiful card I created for my lovely friend Ivana to celebrate her birthday on Tuesday!





I used a really old line from We R Memory Keepers (so old I don't even remember the name of the line). But the colors were perfect for my friend and she loved the card! 



Well I am off to have a nap (I have a horrible headache today) and then go help my sister plant her garden!

Have a great day!
~Cayla~

Monday 13 May 2013

In my spare time...

Well good evening everyone! I just wanted to share a couple of layouts that I was able to find time to do! Hooray for a family that believes I should get my way on Mother's Day!!! :D

We recently got in three new lines from Bo Bunny at the store and they are awesome! I couldn't wait to get my hands on them and get creative! Although I wanted all the papers, I decided to focus more on the "Anthem" line. The reason I decided to do this, is because I am determined to show you all that it is more than a United States line.


I absolutely love the woodgrain patterns that a lot of companies have been incorporating into their lines. It is great for doing masculine stuff and we all know how hard it can be sometimes to find good boy stuff!
I kept this layout pretty simple because my son is a pretty simple kid. Like most boys, he is not all caught up in the fluff and glamour like us girls can be! :D He was just sitting there, all tired and sun-burnt, and I was able to get this great picture without any whining what-so-ever!



I also got to try the new "Rubs" by Tim Holtz and they are fabulous! They are effortless to use and I can't wait to go get some more! :D
I plan to do more with this line, you know, in my spare time and all! Lol! And I will definitely post more projects when I get them done!

This next layout I did was using a line from Authentique called "Seasons: Spring". As soon as I saw it, I knew it was perfect for this old newspaper clipping I had of my daughters. Awwww... they are so cute!! I love looking back on old photos of my kids when they were just wee little things! Every once in a while I wish I could shrink them back to that cuteness! :D


This paper line was adorable! I also added a leftover piece of American Crafts Vellum (Silver Linings) to add a touch of the outdoors.


Thanks for stopping by!
~ Cayla ~

Thursday 25 April 2013

Spring, is that you?...

So the sun is shining this morning and it looks like we are finally going to get some spring like weather. I was looking back at last years temperatures for this time of year and it is absolutely depressing! We have had over 6 months of snow on the ground and we deserve a break I think! 

So I have been pretty busy the past couple of weeks, working on projects for the big scrappy garage sale that the SCRAPBOOK STUDIO is having this weekend and also for the big crop that is coming up at the beginning of May to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day! But I did manage to find some time to get my page done for the Scrapbook & Cards April Calendar sketch.

Here is what their sketch looks like...



And here is my layout...


I loved these pictures. My husband and I had gone to the mall for some reason or another. While we were there we noticed that the Dawg's store was having a huge sale, something like 75% off everything I think. So we went in to check it out and ended up buying Dawgs for my kids, ourselves and my nephews! 
Well my nephew Eliot absolutely loved his pair. We got them in the same color as my son's and Eliot thought that that was just the coolest thing!  I remember for weeks afterwards, he would come over and bring his shoes and make Sam put on his so they could be the same. It was adorable!


I picked the bright green background (BoBunny) because of the shoes and I threw in some grey polka dot pattern (Echo Park) to compliment the pictures. I chose the white rick rack (Doodle Bug) and the red ribbon (Bazzill) because of my nephew's shirt. 

The fancy green border strips (Bazzill) in the layout were given to me in a lootbag at a retailers event years ago. Now I am the kind of person that loves to get rid of stuff. I hate clutter and my motto is; If you haven't touched it in over a year, then your probably not ever going to use it. But these particular borders I just couldn't part with. I kept telling myself, "They are bright green! When are you seriously ever going to use them!" Well it's a good thing I kept them because they suit this page perfectly! :D


This layout is seriously just a bunch of bits and pieces from my scraps, with the exception of the background piece. The large, black letters are leftovers from a Cosmo Cricket chipboard alphabet set and the small black letters are Basic grey stickers. Then I just added some buttons from my stash to finish it off!

This next layout I did just the other day in hopes that it would give me hope that summer was just around the corner! :D


I like to think of myself as a simple page kind of scrapper. I like to get all I can out of pattern papers by cutting out bits and pieces and using 3-D foam adhesive to add more dimension. I don't normally put alot of "Fluff" (as I call it) on my page because I really want the photos to stand out. But I just really wanted to make this page a summer-y, girly kinda page! 

This picture of my daughter Danielle was once again taken by my friend Amanda Lepage last summer! Danielle had just started taking guitar lessons earlier that year and is a complete natural at it. So she really wanted to get some pics done with her guitar! I love them!!!!!


 The paper I used for the background is from the Prairie Chic line by BoBunny. I love the wood paneling! I tore a bit off the corner, placed a piece of ivory cardstock there and added my flowers and buttons.


Along the left side of the background was a printed lace trim but I wanted to add more texture to the layout, so I add a real crocheted trim along the edge. Again I added more flowers and made a cute banner flag using a sewing needle and some Tim Holtz Tissue Tape. After I had folded a piece of the tissue tape in half over the needle, I cut the end and colored it with Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink.

Well I am off to go make some cookies for my kidlets to sell at the garage sale this weekend and to see if I can go through some more of my stash and purge a little more of it! :D Stop by the store tomorrow between 10am-3pm and check out what myself and others are parting with! One person's junk is another's treasure, so you never know, you may get in on a great deal!

~ Cayla ~

Tuesday 23 April 2013

Mamma-Razzi...

Good evening! 
I just wanted to share a couple of layouts quick before I head off to work. I had to give my head a shake today because I thought I had already done this post! But lo and behold when I went to go show someone the layouts I had created, they were not here! Geez! Sometimes I just don't have my head on right!

I created all three of these layouts using the Bo Bunny "Mamma-razzi2" line. The first time this line was released was a few years ago and I absolutely loved it! I am slightly disappointed with the second release, but only slightly! I wish they had kept the beautiful dark blues but I do love the teal!
 

I created the embellishments on the pages by cutting bits out of the pattern papers and used 3-D foam adhesive.


To make the circles on the background stand out more, I drew on some faux stitching using my fine-tip brown sharpie.



These layouts are really quite simple but I felt I didn't have to do much because the photos were amazing. My lovely friend Amanda Lepage took these pictures last summer and I loved them. I really wanted to do them justice! If you are ever looking for a great photographer, look this gal up! She did an amazing job! Click HERE and you will be directed to her website.






Well I have to head off to work now but I am going to do another post real soon to show you my layout for April's calendar sketch!
Have a great evening!
~ Cayla ~

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Chevron...

Well I am super excited today! Tomorrow Lori & I are headed to Calgary for "Education Eh!", a retailer's event put on by our Calgary supplier. It is a day packed full of classes and we get to hang with some scrappy people from some of the top companies such as Bo Bunny, Sizzix, Graphic 45 and more!! I went to this event for the first time last year and I LOVED it!! The classes were fantastic, the company reps were lovely and the food at the Carriage House Inn (were we are staying and playing!) is AMAZING!! (They have their own in-house bakery which means lots of yummy treats!)

But I wanted to blog a quick post because I came across this great technique and I had to share it with you! I get emails regularly from Splitcoaststampers.com
 This is a fantastic site that has the best tutorials page for learning every type of technique imaginable! Click HERE to check it out!

The technique they emailed me this morning was how to make a chevron border. I have tried a couple of things but nothing was as quick and easy as this tutorial! I fell in love with it and if you click HERE, you can see for yourself!

Well of course I also had to try it myself! :D And so below is a picture of a card I created using this technique. 


This card literally took me only 15 minutes to make and everything but the base is just scraps! I can't wait to get some more time to do up a page and try this using different widths!
 But go give it a try for yourself and let me know what you think! 
I would love to see what you come up with so post a pic on my Facebook page!!

I'll be back next week with some goodies I bring back from Calgary!
~Cayla~

Thursday 28 March 2013

Supporting a great charity...

I know, you are all sitting in stunned silence wondering what the heck is going on! Another post? Three days in a row? Lol That's got to be a record for me! :D

But this post is very important! 
I had mentioned the other day that I would be putting some of my cards on my blog to sell for a charity event I am having in July. Well I have all the cards listed and you can view them by clicking on the "CARDS" heading at the top. 
Now, I will mention that some of the cards are in a very limited quantity and I will be filling requests on a first come first server basis. So be sure to check it out and email me as soon as you know what you would like! 
I will also be adding more cards as I make them, so be sure to check back every so often. I will try to post when I add so it will make it easier to know when new cards are available!
Also, if you have any special requests, please feel free to let me know. I will try to create anything you need!
Please note that I am selling these cards strictly for charity and I will not gain any profit from the card sales. ALL SALES WILL GO DIRECTLY TO THE CHARITY EVENT!

By purchasing these cards, you are supporting a very worthy charity and I thank you in advance for your generosity!

(Pictured sourced from The Animal Blog)


Happy Easter!
~Cayla~

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Back again!

I know what your thinking, "back so soon?" Lol! 
But I have been slaving away at my crafting station (aka the kitchen table) and putting together my layout for the March layout from the Scrapbook & Cards Today sketch calendar!


And here is mine...


Once again I have used the French Country line from Graphic 45.


I am pretty sure I am addicted to using the foam adhesive from 3L! I usually go through atleast half a package of it every time I sit down to scrap a page and I am a very frugal adhesive user! Lol But I love dimension and their foam adhesive is my fave for adding layers!
In this layout, I have popped up alot of the elements including the pictures. Actually, I doubled up on the adhesive behind the pictures to get even more depth and to bring more attention to them. I am finding that more and more I am not matting my photos but using different means to draw attention to them such as popping them up, sanding the edges or putting hand-drawn stitches around them. 
In this layout I have done both hand-drawn stitches and popping them up!


I have carried the hand-drawn stitching on throughout my layout, along edges and going into elements. I used my trusty black ulta-fine point Sharpie to get the job done. I get asked how I get my stitches looking straight and I don't really have a specific technique except to just pick up my hand and move it along. All my stitching is done by eye-balling it and I don't use a ruler or any other straight edge.


Have a great day!
~Cayla~

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Good Morning....

Good Morning!

Yes, it has been a while! Did you miss me? :D
I have been quite busy lately and not in a scrappy way! Boooo! But I did do up a layout the other day and I will share that with you! I also wanted to mention that I will be working on my March calendar layout shortly and it is going to be coming very last minute! Sorry about that!

One crafty thing I have been working on, is making a TON of cards! As some of you know, last summer I helped put on a crop for the Saskatchewan Burn Fund and it was a huge success! We were able to raise just over $2000 (YYYAYYAYAY!) and we had a fantastic time doing it! Well this year I am going to be doing it again and I want to make it an even better event and raise more money! One idea I had was to make up some cards and sell them! So by the end of this month I am hoping to have all my cards ready to go and I will be sure to let you all know how you can purchase them and help support a worthy charity! 
If you or anyone you know (could be a business or just individuals) that would like to help support this cause by donating raffle prizes, I would sooooo appreciate it! Because every little bit counts! :D

Now for my layout!

Last fall for my daughters 13th birthday, we took a group of her friends out to the corn mazes and spent a fabulous day enjoying the great outdoors!


I used the French Country line from Graphic 45 and it really seemed perfect for this photo! I know that there are people out there that don't really enjoy using Graphic 45 lines. They really do have a unique product, but they are one of my favorite companies just for that reason!



So I must go now and get some more non-scrappy stuff done... BOOOO! But I am going to work really hard and get another post up before the end of April! 

Thanks for stopping by!
~Cayla~

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Better late then never...

Hi all! So last month I did a post about the 2013 Scrapbook & Cards Calendar and my intention was to complete a layout each month based on the sketch/layout they featured for each month. 
Well with February almost gone, I figured I should get on that! :D

So this is what the example and sketch looked like in the calendar...


 And here is what I came up with...



Now I have to admit, I really was having troubles liking this layout at first. I just couldn't get my layout to look like I hadn't just thrown stuff on and said done.


But with one of my cute nephews on it, it is slowly growing on me! :D

I also said I would show you what I was upto for my sister's shower that I hosted a couple weekends ago. (I know, I'm a little slow getting posts on my blog this month and I said I would have them up sooner. Sorry for the delay!)


I love the idea of diaper cakes! I think it is a great way to present the new mother with items they will NEED and make it look so cute! I loved they way this cake turned out and it was relatively quite easy to do. Just make sure you have tons of good elastics!

 


I had alot of fun doing up these wood letters in cute, girly colors!


I also made up this card for my sister but these photos just don't do it justice! No matter what I tried, I couldn't get the pics to show all the dimension on the card. So you will just have to trust me when I say it really wasn't so flat looking!




And here is a cutey pic of my little niece wearing the cute dress I bought her for her debut at the shower! When I saw the dress in the store, I knew I had to buy it. It is hard to tell in the pics but it is covered in those fabulous fabric rosettes that are so popular in scrapbooking and it just spoke to my scrappy nature.


Awww... Time for some Aunty cuddles!



 Well I better get my butt in gear and get some house work done!
Thanks for stoppin in!
~Cayla~

The Great Outdoors...

Hi Friends! Just trying out this blogging thing again! :D I wanted to share some layouts I did this past weekend while attending a fu...