HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Happy Sunny Wednesday!

As promised I am back with another project I completed last weekend! 

But first I wanted to thank those who came out to my class last night! I had a fantastic time! I am always happy to be able to get people excited about different techniques and products! What can I say... Papercrafting is my passion! :D

Now onto my layout!

This first layout is one I did of my sweet little nephew! It is a pretty simple layout and didn't take long to do (my type of layout!! LOL). 

I used an older BASIC GREY line called CAPPELLA. It is one of my fave lines from BASIC GREY. I love the neutral colors of the line and you can either play it up to be fancy, elegant and girly or it can be toned down and made more masculine like I did in this layout!

I had a perfect little border stamp from FANCY PANTS that matched my nephew's cute little argyle sweater perfectly! (Sorry, this was an older stamp and so I could not find a link that showed it directly!) I stamped the border using a cream colored paint.

 I had some miscellaneous tree chipboard pieces that I distressed using WALNUT STAIN DISTRESS INK and a BLENDING TOOL.  I also used some great word stickers from AUTHENTIQUE and a cute little bingo card from JENNI BOWLIN.

I am not sure why, but banners seem to be the latest trend in scrapbooking these days and they can make a page look fun and playful! 

I created the banner on my page by cutting strips from pattern paper, trimming the one end and then adhering them to my page. I then attached a piece of jute string using my TIM HOLTZ TINY ATTACHER! It is my new awesome tool that staples the cutest little staple onto your project!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is as beautiful and sunny as it is here!

 

Getting Time For ME!!

Good day to all! I am so sorry that it's been so long since my last post!! Busy, busy, busy is all I can say!! Which I am sure many of you can understand!! :D

So this weekend I finally got a WHOLE day to myself and to work on some projects that I wanted to work that weren't related to work or for someone else. I attended a fundraising crop here in the city and got to hang out with some of my scrappy peeps! It was soooo fun and a much needed day! No kids and no husband!! (Yes, I do love my family but once in a while you just need a break!! LOL)

I was actually very impressed with my productivity that day! Usually I don't get much done due all the chatting and checking out what everyone else was creating! (That's the best part of crops!! Right??) But this crop I was determined to get something done so that I could feel good about this day all to myself.

First thing I did was spend the couple of days before the crop gathering photos and coordinating papers! This eliminated some of the bulk of what I usually drag to crops and this is always the most time consuming for me! I now had given myself more time at the actual crop to get the layouts done! I had a huge stack (a plastic Cropper Hopper envelope full to almost busting!!) of photos with matching papers ready to go and I truly believe that helped me get so much done at the crop!

Below are a couple of the projects that I was able to get done!

This layout of my sister's wedding was created using the PRETTY IN PINK line from GLITZ, BASIC GREY PEARLS, a paper from MME's LOST & FOUND line and some miscellaneous lace I had purchased from a vender at the crop!

One of my most favorite tools to use are my border punches! I don't mind spending a little more on products or tools that I know will get a ton of use! And my border punches definitely get used!!
In this layout I used two EK SUCCESS border punches.

I also took some white organza rose ribbon from MAYA ROAD and inked it with my DISTRESS INK to coordinate with the layout.

This next layout is of my daughters and was created using a new line from BOBUNNY called WEEKEND MARKET.  I loved the rich, dark colors of this line and how perfectly it went with the pictures!

I adhered some random buttons that I had tied with some jute to give the layout some more textured!
And once again I have added some strips of papers that I had punched with a border punch I had gotten from my local MICHEAL'S craft store.

BOBUNNY collections are great for having all the matching embellishments and stickers to go with their papers like the stickers I used on this layout!

I promise to post more of the projects I completed in the next couple days!
Thanks for stopping by!

YYYYAAAYYY! FOR MULTIPLE USES!!

Good Day!

I don't know about you but I love it when I find different ways to use the tools that I have! It just makes me feel so much more justified in having bought them! LOL!

So when I came across this fantastic tutorial while I was surfing the web this morning I just had to share!!

I hope you find it just as useful as I did! Just click HERE to check it out!

I also wanted to let you know that there is still room in the upcoming CROP at the STUDIO on Saturday, March 31st.  It is for a great cause and is sure to be a blast!! Click HERE for more details!

I hope to see you there!!

HERE'S TO A PRODUCTIVE WEEKEND!

Happy Monday Everyone! 

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! I for one had a fabulous weekend! Not very often do I get a whole weekend off that wasn't requested so that I could be somewhere.

It was so nice to just stay home, relax and get some much needed craft time for ME in, all weekend long!! I am not sure my husband approved of my very lazy days but I cooked all the meals so he can't complain! LOL!

Like I said, I got alot of craft time in this weekend and I completed quite a few projects!

Not very often to I do a double-page layout but sometimes it is called for! Such as these pictures of me doing my matron-of-honor duties and giving a toast at my sisters wedding.  My sisters wedding was a couple years ago and I have been holding off on creating with these pictures because of the weird colors!! You know, the typical orangy wood paneled walls and floor of small town halls mixed in with my bright blue dress! Not the ideal colors to work with!!

So I decided to put the pictures aside until I found paper that would be perfect!! And at last it happened! A couple weeks ago the store received a Graphic 45 order and "Olde Curiosity Shoppe" was the perfect paper to get this layout done!!

I trimmed out some of the butterflies from the paper and other bits and used those as embellishments. I used a cream colored paint dabber to distress the edges of my photos give a more aged distressed look.
The combination of the orange and the blue in this line was perfect for this layout!

Below is the finished canvas that I spoke of in my last post using the Teresa Collins Everyday Moments paper!! I absolutely LOVED this collection and was so inspired to create with it!!

Using a Prima corner mask and some blue Glimmer Mist (sorry, I don't know the name of the mist because it was in a little mister from awhile ago and wasn't labelled!! Oops!) I was able to create the background of the canvas. Next I stamped a distressed border using a blue paint dabber on partial edges of the canvas.

The butterfly was a hair clip (I tore off the clip part) that I purchased at the local Micheals Store and the silk flowers (which I am sure are not real silk! LOL) I picked up at the local dollar store. The paper flowers I made using my Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die!

I also added more dimension to the canvas by adhering some of the elements coming out of the back of the canvas!
For anyone attending the crop in Osler in May, you will see this canvas as one of the prizes!!

I hope to post more projects that I completed later this week! So come back soon!

CELEBRATING LIFE!

Wow!! So winter has finally hit Saskatoon! My whole body is aching from the amount of snow I have shoveled! But it is not minus 30 or colder, so for that I am thankful!! I also got to stay home in my comfy clothes all day yesterday and have a craft day!! YYYAAAYYY!!

I wanted to write this post to tell you all about my exciting Saturday night! I got to spend the evening watching an amazing (and a bit crazy :D) group of ladies come together to help celebrate a birthday and to celebrate life!!

I have an amazing friend Barb, who for her birthday (don't worry, I won't mention any ages!! Lol) decided that instead of a birthday to celebrate her age, she wanted to rally her friends together to support a project for the Saskatoon NICU and to celebrate life. While browsing ads on Kijiji one day (which she explained on Saturday is something she rarely does and just felt compelled to do this one time) Barb came across an ad asking for homemade cards to be made for the NICU, that would then be used to place on the baby's bassinets to display their names and milestones!

Barb thought this was an excellent cause and so then set forth gathering as many people as she could to help honor her birthday by coming together to create as many cards as they could and to help celebrate life at it's earliest stages! 

Also being the extremely generous women that she is, Barb also provided an amazing amount of food and snacks, as well as entertaining games (with prizes) and all her scrapbooking tools and products to help her friends out (some of which had not even scrapbooked/crafted before). 

I have to say that I was so grateful to have been able to witness this group of women and to share in the laughter! Barb is such an amazing spirit that just makes you feel so appreciated and valued!! 

Although I was sitting behind the till working while all the fun was happening, 

I still was able to contribute by answering questions and offering crafty advice to any who needed it! This group of over 20 women were able to create over 300 cards for the NICU!! It was such a very successful night!!

Which now brings me to another moment that happened that evening and a tip I would like to share with you! Another wonderful gal that was at the store that evening (lovely Kate!) had made a comment during the evening about wanting to purchase a stamp that was just lines, you know, for journaling! I happened to overhear her and remembered a trick I had learned from somewhere along my crafting journeys (I am sorry, I don't remember exactly where I saw it. Maybe a magazine I had read? Or on the internet?) I suggested the trick to Kate and she was astounded!! She told me I just had to blog it!! I guess I just assumed that the stuff I had stored up in my head was all old news!! LOL But Kate insisted that it was a great idea and that there was probably someone else out there that might be grateful for this tip! So this is for you Kate!! Thanks for giving me a nudge!! :D

CREATING YOUR OWN JOURNALING STAMP

You will need the following items

1. acrylic stamp blocks (or a wood block would work also)
2. rubber bands (experiment with different types to get desired effect)
3. desired ink (I have used just about every type of ink in this technique and the best ink is any that are quite "juicy)

 The first thing you want to do is to wrap the rubber bands around your block and place at the desired width apart. You also want to make sure the bands are laying flat and are not all twisted up.

 Next you would then just ink up the rubber bands like you normally would a stamp and stamp onto your project. You may want to practice on some scraps to get a feel for how this is going to look!

And voila!! Your own customizable journaling stamp. Try using different size blocks and spacing your rubber bands more or less apart to get different looks!

This is a canvas I am working on and I promise to show it off once I am done it!!

Thanks for stopping by!!