Ever So Slightly Scatterbrained

January Kits from Up The Street

2012-01-23T09:42:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! One of the things I was going to try to do in the new year was blog more often. You can see it's going really well. Hmph.
However.
What a crazy winter we've had. The boys had put up a skating rink in the backyard this year and Friday was the first day they were actually able to use it.
When I left for work on Saturday, they were all out enjoying the day ... sunny ... not too cold ... perfect for outdoor activities ...

They used it a bit yesterday ... and now it has rained all night.
I honestly don't miss the snow and extreme cold. I think they should put up this rink every year if it means we'll have a mild winter :)
But on to scrappier things ...
January Kits from Up The Street ...
"Live in the Moment" ...

and "Little House" ...

Here's the funny thing about the kits ...
You'll see that "Little House" is absolutely crammed full of October Afternoon goodness. I find that on a local level, for whatever reason, October Afternoon just doesn't sell. I still order every line ... just small amounts of it. But plunk it in a kit and it catches everyone's eye. Maybe it's just this particular line that appeals to my local customers, but it's moving more quickly than the other side this month.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason this kit has been selling so well is the gallery. Lesley and Sarah always create such beautiful projects, and this month was no exception. Definately one of my favorite galleries of all time. In fact, I've already had to remove one of Sarah's layouts from this month's gallery because it's been picked up by Scrapbooks Etc.! I feel like a proud Mama :)
As for my scrapping mojo, I haven't had much time to play (big surprise), but I think I've also found myself in a bit of a rut. I don't know if I just need a fresh batch of photos to inspire me or what.
I've been receiving daily e-mails from Creative Jumpstart 2012 organized by Nathalie Kalbach and have been trying my hand at some mixed media and art journaling. I'm hoping this will help me get back to the scrapbooking.
I'll try to remember to take photos of my new projects today, but until then, here are a few layouts completed with the January Up The Street Kits ...

For the faux folder behind the photo, I just traced around the tab on a regular office folder and cut down my patterned paper to the size I wanted.

Once I had the bird stickers on the layout, they looked too yellow against the rest of the layout. I just coloured over the yellow portions with an orange Copic marker in layers until I was happy with the colour match.

This looks like a lot of layers of paper, but in fact, I've "gutted" the backs (cut big portions away that are covered) to use on other projects.

I have so loved the wood Pink Paislee alphas from the last release. I have now used all three fonts in different kits. Hoping to see some new fonts with the new CHA releases!

Hope you all have a wonderful week :)

December Kit from Up The Street

2011-12-04T20:27:00.000-05:00

This past week has been just crazy ... a new kit and a Christmas Open House at Up the Street, an incident with the dogs and a bit of Christmas shopping to round it all out.
I'm also bound and bent that I will complete a December Daily this year. Although ... "daily" might not be the correct word. Does "December Every So Often" sound OK? I'm trying to keep up with some of Shimelle's prompts and hope to be able to put together some sort of December journal. Fortunately, I've included loads of product in the December kit that will help me with my project.

I'm looking forward to working on this tomorrow ... even if I can get a day or two caught up, I'll be a happy scrapper :)

Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas

2011-11-07T13:09:00.000-05:00

We were just talking about this course the other night and I wanted to make sure I signed up before I became distracted. I love all of Shimelle's courses and have always wanted to tackle a Christmas project like this. And I've got my album ready to go ... the Bazzill Likety Slip Album with lots of cool page inserts. I can't wait to dig into my Christmas stash that goes back several years but it just as gorgeous as it was when I first bought it all. Go here to check it out. Once you've signed up, you have access to previous years and will get any future years as well. Fantastic deal :)

A few more from September ...

2011-11-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

... and then I'll get on to the latest (November) kit.

I took this photo back in the summer as I was driving to work. I've gotten just terrible at remembering to take photos while the "subjects" are around. A perfect example would be that I didn't take one single picture of the kids in their Hallowe'en costumes this year. I may have to make them dress up just so I can pretend that I was on the ball on All Hallows Eve.
But I'm glad I stopped the car, rolled down the window and clicked a few times at this wheat field. It's not our own field ... but who's to know ;)
I typically don't go this linear with my designs, but I really wanted the photo to shine. I had also applied a TTV frame to it in PSE before I printed it.

The tag is die-cut from a Sizzix die and then fancied up along the short edge with the Spellbinders Classic Triple Scallop Edgeablilities die.

Supplies: Up The Street September Kit ("Bliss"), black craft string, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Basic Grey Hello Lucious Micro Mono stickers, Ranger Black Soot Distress Ink.

Just a super quick layout of the boys heading to the car when we were going away for a sleepover at Grandma's.

Love the glassine envelopes and the butterfly rub-ons.

And just a little bit of that Best Creations glitter paper punched here and there for a bit of interest.

Supplies: Up The Street September Kit ("Escape"), Prima Tiny Alphabet Stickers (North Country), MME Lost & Found 2 Precious Brads, WRMK Sew Easy Fancy Floss Baker's Twine (neutral), Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher.

This is one of my favorite layouts from the past while. Very simple in execution and a story behind the photo. Bill is my mom's first cousin and because she was an only child, we've been very close with Bill's family. His daughter Jodi is, and has always been, one of my closest friends and when we go camping in the summer, it's with Jodi's family and now her brother Paul's family. This day, Jodi's sister Jenny and their parents came back to the Pinery for the day and we all went to the beach in the afternoon. Just a beautiful day, a nice breeze coming off the lake, all the kids playing together ... a really nice memory. I was sitting under the umbrellas talking with Bill, only to look over to see him sleeping. It brought back such a rush of memory as my dad would check out like that right in the middle of our conversations once in awhile. I never took it personally ... it was just how relaxed our relationship was. Dad's been gone for eight years now and it's been awhile since someone (other than a little guy) has fallen asleep on me. I kinda liked it :)
The Bo Bunny papers in this kit ended up being my favorite. They were already so distressed that I felt as if I didn't have to do too much more to them. All I really did here was spray a little mist behind the area I planned to add my cluster.

I printed out my journaling on kraft cardstock and trimmed the top to mimic the curve of the glassine envelope. A little brad finishes my tag. And while I like that you can see through the envelope to the tag below, I thought it was more fun to cover parts of it up so that only bits of the journaling showed. It was actually the perfect spot for the title and another of those fabulous 7 Gypsies butterfly rub-ons.

Supplies: Up The Street September Kit ("Escape"), Prima Tiny Alphabet Stickers (North Country), MME Lost & Found 2 Precious Brads, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, Studio Calico mist, Ranger Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Unity Stamps July KOM, date stamp.

One more quick one ... well ... it wasn't really a quick one :) I've been waiting for the Unity Stamps Blossom Stackers stamps and matching Spellbinders Blossom Tags & Accents dies for months now and as soon as I had them both in my little paws, this is what I made.

Glossy Accents to highlight some of the details in the patterned paper and around the edge of the largest stamped/die cut image.

And a little computer printed sentiment on the inside.

Supplies: Up The Street September Kit ("Bliss"), Unity Stamps Blossom Stackers Stamps, Spellbinders Blossom Tags & Accents dies, Ranger Glossy Accents, Studio Calico mist, Ranger Perfect Pearls mist, black pigment ink, clear embossing powder.

That's it for today. The sun is shining here. Hope everyone is having a wonderful and creative Monday :)

Up The Street September Kit Projects

2011-10-16T16:16:00.001-04:00

Hello All! I'm having a bit of a lazy Sunday today. So much I should be doing, but blog hopping and reading (One Day by David Nicholls) seems to be filling up my time.

I went with some friends to see the new Footloose last night. I haven't heard any reviews yet, but I thought it was really well done. They were able to mix the iconic bits from the original in with a few new little twists. The soundtrack is definately one that I'll be buying. Having been a wee teeny bopper when the original came out, I've almost completely worn out the original (cassette tape!). Now I want to see the original again. The first time I saw it was with my friend, Heather, and her dad back in the day at the drive-in. Great memory :)

Although I've just started playing with the next UTS kit, it doesn't reveal until November 1st. In the mean time, I thought I'd share some of my projects from the September kits.

The first side is filled with greens and blues and, of course, some sparkly bits. The MME Lost & Found 2 lines are just beautiful.

I don't often do 2 page spreads because they seem to take me forever to complete, but this one came together fairly quickly. I used one of the new Crafters Workshop templates to create my background. So simple ... I used the 12x12 Wood grain template with Tattered Angels Sprout Chalkboard Glimmer Mist (one of my favorite green mists) over kraft coloured cardstock.

I was shy an "o", so came up with an alternative by using a Spellbinders Pinking Circles die, a punched circle and a MME glazed brad.

I've included some Smash Pad sheets in the kit but felt the whole sheet was too large and distracting to use with the smaller photos. I used the Sizzix Tiny Tabs & Tags die to create this little date accent.

And to add the small journaling tags on the photos, I pulled out my vintage typewriter.

Back in August, I took my three boys, as well as two others to my mom's trailer for a sleepover. It sounds like a lot of work, but I think it was actually easier than when I just have my own. I just kept the food and drink flowing and they were content :)

I love the Bo Bunny papers from this kit. They're perfect for backgrounds when you want to whip out a quick layout.

Rather than sticking with a plain old rectangular photo matte, I used the Spellbinders Creative Book Pages die to create a scalloped base. I've also lifted the whole matte off the background by using some medium weight cardboard cut slightly smaller than the matte. I find that if I just use foam adhesive, the photo ends up warping over time.

The large Studio Calico Wood Veneer star is backed with MME paper in order to create more of a contrast from the light coloured background.

And a few more of the wood veneer stars at the bottom with a series of the 7 Gypsies stickers.

I had so much fun creating this layout. I love the new Pink Paislee Mistables papers. They're a little bit heavier than the last release and seem to work better with mists. I started by using Tattered Angels Teal High Heel Chalkboard Glimmer Mist to spray my background. After it had dried, I used gesso, spread on with cardboard, as a modified photo matte.

I pulled out a few of my favorite Unity stamps to create a little bicycle accent (July KOM) stamped with Charcoal Chalk Ink and again misted with the Teal High Heel. The sprig at the top of the journaling tag is from the August KOM and is stamped with clear embossing ink and powder.

Another custom "o" in the title. I've also added some of the beautiful MME burlap trim and some North Country Prima letter stickers.

The 7 Gypsies Butterfly Rubbings are probably my favorite embellishment in this kit. This one was applied to cardstock, cut out, covered with a coat of Glossy Accents and then sprinkled with some superfine glitter. Much prettier in person :)

Moving on to the second side of the kit, I've used this photo of my Will and his friend Will from our stay at the trailer. I'm outside, looking in, when this photo was taken. A little blurry, but you can see the reflecting of the campfire in the window if you look closely.

These MME papers are so gorgeous. The yellow glitter is lovely.

The scrolled title accent has been cut from the background paper (I covered the hole with my photo matte and strip of dotted paper) and then popped up for more dimension. The "&" between the Wills is from the stunning Unity Carnivale Alpha set.

I've done three more layouts and a card with these kits ... just have to get photos of them :)

Another fantastic Shimelle experience ...

2011-09-01T11:27:00.000-04:00

I recently undertook Shimelle's "Explore" class, and although I haven't quite finished up, couldn't wait for her new "Learn Something New Every Day" to start.

It covers the whole month of September and I'm hoping I can keep up.

My problem as of right now is that I've closed the store for the week so that we could take a little mini vacation and get ready for school. So I have no scrapbook supplies at home! I may have to take a quick trip into town today to put together a little kit for myself. Even if I don't, I think from the looks of it that I can just try to keep up with the journaling and put together my book when I go back in next Tuesday. I recently purchased the Cinch for the crop area at the store and am thinking that a 6x12 coil-bound album might be a fun way to go.

Let me know if you're participating too :)

shimelle.com Hot Pink Hoopla

2011-08-22T00:21:00.000-04:00

This is the last of Shimelle's challenges that I had time for this week. I used a few major elements from Shimelle's inspiration page.

I replicated the layout's composition pretty closely but substituted two portrait photos for one landscape.

Also, as Cosmo Cricket is sponsoring this challenge, I decided to dig out some of the older lines. I am always amazed at how well their lines mix together. I've got papers from Nutmeg, Boyfriend, Campy Trails (I think) and stickers from Nutmeg and Social Club.

The woodgrain papers from the Nutmeg collection are some of my favorite and after rooting around in my old stash, have realized that I have a whole set that have never been touched! Like buried treasure ;)

Thanks for a PILE of wonderful challenges Shimelle. It was a great push to get a few extra layouts done and a fantastic opportunity to use up some of the goodies I've been hoarding :)

shimelle.com Half Page Challenge

2011-08-22T00:10:00.000-04:00

I loved this challenge to create a layout using only half of your page. I was also challenging myself this week to dig through old stash to mix with new. I found this gorgeous Lily Bee paper to use for my background and a Webster's Pages alpha that I'd tucked away and forgot I had. Just perfect.

The colours are a little off in the photos here. The background is a little more creamy.

shimelle.com 3 is a Magic Number Challenge

2011-08-22T00:03:00.000-04:00

For this challenge, I managed to sneak in a few different groupings of 3's in this layout.

3 photos ...

An image stamped 3 times across the top of the photos

(each stamped image contains a repeating pattern of 3 accents) ...

The title consists of 3 tags die cut from Creative Imaginations Real Wood, topped with 3 punched pinked circles with each boy's stamped initial.

One of my favorite things about this layout is that I was able to pull out a lot of old supplies and use some new stamps in the process :)

shimelle.com Starting Point Challenge

2011-08-21T23:50:00.000-04:00

Next up ... I tackled the Starting Point Challenge using this as my starting point ...

I went with a much more muted colour palette than Shimelle had started with and going with smaller photos running up the left-hand side rather than one photo in the obvious spot for a photo.

I haven't hand stamped my journaling in a while ... must do that more often :)

shimelle.com Sketch of the Week

2011-08-21T23:40:00.000-04:00

Shimelle had the most wonderful online crop last weekend and I've spent the week working on layouts for a number of her challenges.

So excuse the posts, but there will be a bunch coming with one layout per post :)

The first challenge I worked on was just the weekly sketch challenge based on this sketch ...

It isn't done. I don't know what else it needs. Definately journaling.

But I was stuck so I'll go back to it another time.

I used the August "Bookworm" kit from Up The Street ...

My Mind's Eye Blog Challenge

2011-08-21T21:38:00.000-04:00

I haven't done online challenges in a little while now, but it seems like that's all I've done this past week. The challenge over at the My Mind's Eye Blog this month was to use the following sketch with any My Mind's Eye product ... with any theme. No problem ;)

I flipped the sketch and used two landscape photos rather than one portrait.

The title is die cut on the Silhouette (Digs My Heart font) and then covered with Glossy Accents.

The smaller Prima letters have been sprayed with Teal High Heel Chalkboard Glimmer Mist.

And just a quick little accent made using a Spellbinders die and several punches

(EK Success, Martha Stewart and Marvy Uchida).

Unity Stamps Friends with Flair Friday

2011-07-22T17:01:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday All! If you're visiting from the Unity blog ... thanks for stopping by :)

I've only recently started playing with Copic markers and am thoroughly enjoying them.

My card this week uses the "My Sunshine" Itty Bitty. You're also getting a peek at the August kit for Up The Street Scrapbooking ;)

As a novic Copic user, my shading needs a little more work, but I'm pleased at how it has been coming along. My favorite bit of this card is how the "sunshine" shading came out using yellow and orange copic markers.

I also added a bit of Glossy Accents to the title letters, the hearts, the sun rays and the border.

Supplies used:

Stamps ... My Sunshine Itty Bitty

Patterned Paper ... We R Memory Keepers Travel Light All Aboard

Cardstock ... Bazzill Kraft & Copic Illustration Paper

Ink ... Memento Tuxedo Black

Copic Markers ... BG10, BG70, BG72, R24, YR68, Y15

Die ... Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Labels 1

Other ... twine, Creative Imaginations Real Wood Thin Birch, Ranger Glossy Accents

The other item I wanted to share today was the method I use for organizing my Unity stamps.

I recently moved them all to 3 ring binders using Stamp 'n Store panels. While I was pleased with the storage, it was difficult to know what was where.

So I made a wee book :)

I little cover page using one of my recently aquired stamps ...

For the sets that came in the Unity cardboard packaging, I simply cut the packaging down to roughly 5 1/2 inches by 4 3/4 inches.

The rest of the album is done in 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 sheets of kraft cardstock.

Itty Bitties ...

Random singles ...

Monthly kits ...

This system has made it so much easier to see what I have. The sheets are simply done in the same order as the storage sheets in the binder.

Supplies used:
Stamps ... Marah Johnson Art & Soul
Patterned Paper ... Basic Grey Lauderdale Bikini Time
Chipboard ... Bazzill Polka Dot Glazed
Cardstock ... Bazzill Kraft
Embellishment ... Maya Road Kraft Scroll Journaling Tag
Ink ... Staz On Jet Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Charcoal
Mists ... Studio Calico Apple Jack, Ranger Perfect Pearls Kiwi
Die ... Tim Holtz Mini Baroque
Other ... book ring

Visit the Unity blog to see what everyone else has come up with this week for FWF!

Unity Stamps Friends with Flair Friday

2011-06-24T10:59:00.000-04:00

It's Friends with Flair Friday over at the Unity Stamps blog! Welcome to anyone who is popping in from Unity :)

I didn't get to a layout using the stamps this week like I'd planned, but managed a few quick cards yesterday.

The first is a sympathy card that used the "I Swear" kit from Up The Street. I love this stamp from May's Unity KOM and I've actually already done another card like this in different colours (but forgot to photograph it before it was sent out). I stamped using Versafine in Smokey Gray and then went over it with Perfect Pearls in Blue Patina and Green Patina. I was trying to replicate the same colour as the metallic cardstock in the background and was quite pleased with the end results.

It doesn't really show up in the photo, but the colours are almost identical.

And a suuuper quick card using Tim Holtz paper and some fun trim I've been hoarding. I love that you can mix and match the greetings from the Itty Bitties.

When I use white (or black) embossing powders for an image, I also like to do a rough "frame" around the outside of the paper to pull it all together.

Supplies used:

Stamps ... May 2011 KOM, Basket Full of Wishes Itty Bitty, Just a Note Itty Bitty

Patterned Papers ... Crate Portait Bouquet & Accent Cuts, Tim Holtz Paper Stash Lost & Found

Specialty Paper ... Bazzill Emerald Metallic

Inks & Embossing Powder ... Ranger Embossing & Antique Linen Distress Ink, Versafine Smokey Gray, unknown white embossing powder, Ranger Pewter Blue & Pewter Green Perfect Pearls

Trim ... unknown

Be sure to visit the Unity website. They've just released a new series of stamps co-branding with Simple Stories and have a wonderful sale going on for the next few days. Great deals to be had!

Up The Street June Kits

2011-06-23T11:15:00.000-04:00

The June Kits are now available at Up The Street and have been selling quickly. To locals at least. This postal strike is just a little inconvenient. Oh well, it's not the end of the world ... yet ;)

Usually, the two sides of the kits mesh really well together, but this month, they're a little more "stand alone".

"I Swear" has some lovely wedding bits, but you're definately not limited to wedding layouts. In fact, I don't think any of the design team has actually done a wedding layout with the kit. I managed a card so far and will likely try to sneak in a wedding page yet.

The "Lazy Days" kit is so much fun. I'm so impressed with the Simple Stories papers and cannot wait to order in more of their lines. And they've now teamed up with Unity Stamps to offer matching stamp sets! Whee!

The June Gallery is, once again, out of this world. I can't believe I've managed to trick these talented ladies into creating with my kits. So much inspiration there :)

Unity Stamps Friends with Flair Friday

2011-06-17T15:08:00.003-04:00

If you've ever visited the Up The Street blog, you'll be familiar with Lesley Langdon's work.

Lesley has been working with my kits from basically the beginning and never fails to stun me with her talent. Lesley is also on a number of fabulous manufacturer's design teams ... one of which is Unity Stamps. While I am really not much of a stamper, after watching what Lesley manages to do with these stamps, I couldn't resist. I am so glad that I did.

This is one of the videos that convinced me to try Unity. The Bella Doilies. Loveliness.

The Prima Paper that I used for this layout already had the lovely watercolour background, so I just used Versamark ink and clear embossing powder for my images. By rubbing on a bit of Distress ink in Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters, the images just pop.

I also used my poor, neglected Silhouette for the "summer" die cut and covered both the letter stickers and die cut in Glossy Accents.

The butterflies are from the March 2011 Kit of the Month. I stamped one using the same technique as the doilies and the other with Distress Ink, accented with Copics and Distress Stickles.

Supplies used:

Stamps ... Unity Bella Doilies & March 2011 KOM

Patterned Papers ... Prima Fairy Flora Collection "Fairy Flora" & Madeline Collection "Spring Tide"

Title ... Webster's Pages Country Estate Alpha Stickers,

Silhouette die cut "summer" (cut from Basic Grey Hello Lucious "Sparkling")

Embellishments ... Maya Road Sheer Doilies; Prima Flowered Tendrils;

Zva Crystals; Cosmo Cricket Social Club Bling Bling

Ink ... Versamark; Ranger Peeled Paint & Shabby Shutter Distress

Distress Stickles ... Peeled Paint & Worn Lipstick

Copic Sketch Markers ... RV34 & BG10

Clear Embossing Powder

Ranger Glossy Accents

Be sure to pop over to the Unity blog for links to the rest of the participants

of Unity's Friends with Flair Friday.

New Challenge at Up The Street

2011-04-10T17:40:00.003-04:00

What a lovely day. I just walked back from my friend Julie's house after having a wee afternoon cocktail. I suppose I should be thinking about making supper, but I'm in far too mellow of a mood to get off the couch now. I can hear chips being consumed in the other room, so I guess they won't starve any time soon. There's a new challenge at Up The Street using self portraits as the theme. Head over to the blog for more of the back story, or to the website for the other March/April challenges. I used the Country Air kit for my layout. I can't remember when I've put a layout together so quickly. I didn't even cut the paper ... those were bits left from other layouts. I bit of stamping ...

... and we're done.

Time Flies ...

2011-04-01T08:23:00.002-04:00

This poor wee blog. It is so out of date. I really have to spend some time spring cleaning around here. Since opening the store, so many things are being neglected ... my house cleaning is probably at the top of the list. At least everyone gets fed and has clean clothes to wear. And I'm further behind with my scrapbooking than I ever have been. I'd love to have a day to just sit and bang out some layouts. I find that the ones I have been doing are much more simple. I just feel the need to get them done. These photos are from the second day of school back in September. Paul didn't start Junior Kindergarten until the second day, so I'm counting as the first day back ;) I resorted to my good ol' standby layout format ... 3 photos in a row. The paper is from October Afternoon's Seaside line and the stickers are Bo Bunny Learning Curve. I love the sticker sheets that Bo Bunny has been including with their newer lines ... an alphabet with the other half of the sheet containing elements. A great buy and makes things go quickly.

I couldn't even be bothered with journaling ... just their grade numbers, the year and the title. Whatever works :)

August THAW layouts ... week #1

2010-08-06T19:29:00.004-04:00

I've been a member over at Willow Traders for several years now, but this is my first time participating in this type of challenge activity. You're challenged to do three layouts per week and each week is sponsored by a different kit company. As Up The Street took the first week, I came up with a sketch and two challenges. You would think that I would have been a little more organized and had my layouts done ahead of time. If only.
Anywho ... this is the sketch (also being used for the August Contest at Up The Street) ...
And this is my layout from the sketch ...

I used my leftover from the April kit and add-ons, as well as the Black Soot Crackle Paint from the July kit.

The second challenge was to use a base of neutrals with just a dash of one other colour. I've had the My Minds Eye Life Stories kit for several months and have been waiting for an excuse to use it ...

The vintage Scrabble Tiles are from August's project kit. The Prima leaves and Basic Grey stitched brad are from June's main kit. And the nifty vintage ruler was picked up at a yard sale this spring :)

My final layout was completed for the third challenge ... to use a movie as inspiration. In this case, I used "Where The Wild Things Are" for my title.

After having Michelle Clement guest design with the July kit, I was inspired to use some of her techniques on my layout.

Journaling with stickers ...

Lots of little bits clustered and stapled ....

And although I don't have walnut ink, I splattered around a bit of alcohol ink ...

The ribbon is the yellow that came in the kit, but I sprayed it with Before Dawn Shimmerz (from March's add-on "Pretty Bits") to get this beautiful smokey gray colour.

Now I'm ready for this Sunday's challenges. Hope I can keep this up for the rest of the month :)

Up The Street August Project Kit

2010-08-05T10:28:00.004-04:00

I've been wanting to do a little mini album kit for awhile, so when I saw the sweet little camping flashcards from Elle's Studio, I thought this would be the perfect time to do it.
There is a real mix of manufacturers in "Travel Journal" ... Basic Grey, Jillibean Soup, October Afternoon, Pebbles, Teresa Collins, Studio Calico, 7 Gypsies, Elle's Studio, Cosmo Cricket, Sassafras, Maya Road, Ranger and Prima. Aaaannnnddd, a few vintage bits thrown in for fun. Phew. That's a lot of stuff.

Fronts of papers ...

And backs ...

Vintage clothespin, bottlecaps and scrabble tiles ...

My plan is to make a few layouts first, and then use the leftovers to make my mini.

This is a layout that I literally did while we were camping this summer. Real simple ... just showcasing a photo of my dad and I when I was small. I used the Jillibean cardstock from the main kit as my background.

I can't share my second layout just yet. The Scrap Your CRAP! gals were asked to contribute to Scrap Street's October issue and I used the Travel Journal kit to create my layout.

But I will show a few little peeks.

The trim is leftover from the June's "Summer Daydream" (still a few left), but the teal colour in it was so perfect with the October Afternoon paper ...

The chipboard letters and pearls are from the main kit, but again, the colours were perfect for this layout. I cut the base for the title from the Teresa Collins paper and then went over the edge design with the Ranger Rock Candy Distress Stickles.

Hope everyone is staying cool! It's crazy hot here. Thank goodness for pools :)

Scrap Your CRAP! ... Challenge #56: Measure Me Up

2010-08-01T09:17:00.005-04:00

A new month means a new challenge over at Scrap Your CRAP!
This month's challenge was to use tape ... decorative (if you have it) or whatever tape you have around the house ... masking, duct, electrical ... just whatever.
I've done layouts using masking tape in the past, but have had the Tim Holtz Nostalgic Tissue Tape in my stash for awhile and hadn't tried it out yet.
I applied strips of it to the lower section of a Maya Road envelope. It's translucent, so the base colour only lightens slightly.
I also folded about a third of it over length-wise (so that there would still be a strip of the adhesive showing) and then pleated it around a punched circle of cardstock to use as a foral center.
Not tape related ... I also punched a butterfly using a Martha Stewart punch from Creative Imaginations Real Wood. It makes for a nice, subtle accent.

I used the June main kit and add-on kit from Up The Street for this layout. The colours were perfect for this sweet beach scene :)

Up the Street August

2010-07-31T17:46:00.005-04:00

The August kits are now up at Up The Street.
The main kit "Snowcones" contains beautiful products which will compliment your summer photos perfectly.

New challenge up at Scrap Your CRAP! tomorrow. Come back then!

July Kits at Up The Street

2010-07-10T10:37:00.001-04:00

Holy Moly. That month went fast. The end of the school year seems to be super busy for everyone.
We just got back Thursday from camping for a week at the Pinery Provincial Park. It was such great weather for camping. Super hot ... so the beach was a must each day. And no rain. It started raining almost immediately when we arrived home and rained off and on through 'till morning.
I had posted Up The Street's July kit before I left, but hadn't shown it here. Homespun Appeal had a real vintage flavour with lots of October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin and 7 Gypsies ...
I've been working away at some more layouts, but here are a few to give you an idea of what can be done with the main kit ...

The text paper from October Afternoon's Thrift Shop line is probably one of my favorites ...

I used Tim Holtz's Bitty Grunge Unmounted Set to stamp the black ink dots and then spritzed over with watered down Making Memories acrylic paint in Honeydew. Although I love Shimmerz and Glimmer Mist, I also like the matte finish that watered down acrylic paint gives.

I just had to document Paul's favorite stuffed friend, Doggy Pig ...

Tim Holtz's Nature's Discovery Unmounted Set is used on this layout with Clearsnap Pigment Ink in Black with clear embossing powder on kraft cardstock, trimmed out and "painted" with watery Distress Inks in Peeled Paint and Fired Brick ...

The images are then mounted using 3-D Foam Squares.

I'll be back with more in a few days. Have a great weekend :)

June Up The Street Layouts

2010-06-08T20:24:00.003-04:00

I just realized that I hadn't shared any of my June layouts with y'all. Ooops!
I'm so digging this kit. It begs to be distressed. And I loooove to distress ;) I've scrapped this photo once ... almost 4 years ago. But it ended up in my mother-in-law's album and I wanted one for mine.

I wanted to try something with a lot of white space ... literal white space. It's difficult to tell from the photo, but the layout actually has a fair bit of dimension. The white background has the embossed leaf pattern ...

I used a wide strip of the Hambly transparency to matte my photos and attached a length of trim along the bottom of the layout. It's the same colour as the cardstock, but it just adds a little something.

I sprayed the Pink Paislee frame with Jeni B Blu Shimmerz and wiped off the excess.

A very simple layout for me, but I love it so much. You may be seeing more like this from me :)

Head over to the gallery for some more eye candy and to the store if you're interested in purchasing the June kit. There are only a few left.

Scrap Your CRAP ... Challenge #54: Color Me Happy

2010-06-01T08:32:00.002-04:00

A new month and a new challenge is up at Scrap Your CRAP. This month's challenge was to use color on you layout ... watercolors, crayons, watercolour crayons, color pencils, acrylic paint, gesso or any other mediums. Use at least 3 colors.
I chose to use gesso as my background. Splattered on and spread around with a piece of cardboard ... leaving ridges and splodges for texture. I need to get a palette knife. That's my next crafty purchase ;) I stamped using Tim Holtz's Fabulous Flourish stamp while the gesso was still wet. Starting in the upper left corner. It pulls the gesso right off. Then, without wiping off the stamp, I continued to stamp on and around the backround. The bottom right corner shows how the gesso acts as a stamping medium on the bare cardstock.
I spritzed randomly with Jenni B Blu Shimmerz Spritz and held it vertically to let some of the Spritz run down the page in drips. It really accents the stamped areas in the gesso. The flower accent above the upper envelope was stamped using the Hero Arts Large Flower cling stamp with Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink, cut out and sprayed with the Jenni B Blu Spritz. Both envelope flaps were sprayed with Creme du Chocolat Glimmer Mist and the upper envelope stamped with the Hero Arts Old Letter Writing stamp in Chestnut Roan.This layout uses the June add-on kit from Up The Street. I had so much fun playing with the gesso. I'm definately going to be using it again :)
All of the stamps I used on this layout are available in the store.

Up The Street Peeks

2010-05-27T16:38:00.006-04:00

I just wanted to share some peekies of the June kit (available for purchase June 1st).

Hope you love it as much as I do :)

Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine

2010-05-26T10:54:00.002-04:00

Look what arrived yesterday ... With my contribution ...

So fun to see one of my favorite layouts in print.

Also, since I'm already tooting away, one of my layouts using the March Up The Street kit was featured on the Studio Calico blog yesterday.

I was having some rough moments with the kids yesterday, so it was nice to have these unexpected bright moments to balance out the day.

Have a great week :)

Happy Monday

2010-05-10T08:29:00.005-04:00

The sun is shining and the kids (well ... two of them) are off to school. It's turned kinda cool, and it's supposed to rain most of the week, but at least it's bright :)
Along with my Mom's Mother's Day gift, I did up a few new layouts for her album. On my way to her house, I remembered that her album is now full, so I probably should have gotten her a new album too. Speaking of which, I need a few too. Gotta get some albums I guess.
I'm waiting on the product for my June kit to arrive, so I pulled out some kits that I bought last year to play with. I like getting new stuff, but it feels great to use up older product too. Waste not, want not :)
And I especially love this Crate Paper line. This kit was from Scrapbook Memories in London and has a few different lines of Crate with some K&Co. and Bella Boulevard.
I also threw in some Prima crysal swirls. I buy them ... but for whatever reason ... I never use them.

Rock Candy Distress Stickles on the chipboard accents ...

And then I got stuck. No inspiration. Scrapper's block.

So I turned to Jana's Sketch Blog for a jump start.
I used this sketch for this layout ...

Both this layout and the next use a Scarlet Lime kit and added in some of the Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type.

The Primas have a layer of watered down white acrylic paint and I used some extra dots from the "i"s as the centres.

And this sketch worked great for these photos ...

I haven't used sketches in a while but they were perfect to get going again. I did all three layouts in an evening. Usually, I get just one done because I spend so much time humming and hahing. And I love how they turned out.

Thanks Jana!

Scrap Your CRAP ... Challenge #53: A to Z

2010-05-01T08:26:00.005-04:00

Happy National Scrapbooking Day! I've got a bunch of errands to run today, so I'm not certain I'll get to any scrapping. Maybe tonight.
The new challenge at Scrap Your CRAP goes up today as well.
This month's challenge was to use up old letter sticker/Thickers. I wanted to pull out, and use up, some of my oldest Thickers. This Rootbeer font was one of my favorites and I had two packages of them in white and one in black. I used ALL of what was left in the three packages as the background of my layout. White on white and black on black. I gave the whole background a spritz of Before Dawn Shimmerz Vibez and then a bit of a blast of Jenni B Blu on the white in spots.
Because it's not a thick layer of Shimmerz, there is a bit of a shadow effect where the raised letters prevented the spritz from hitting the cardstock.

I was also able to use up a brad, some velvet ric rac and little piece of ribbon I'd saved from a 2-year-old Scraphoria kit. Oops! Just realized I haven't filled in the date yet but these photos are from Paul starting Playschool this past fall.

New Jillibean Soup letter stickers. This is a great font and I can see myself collecting all of the colours.

And some of the newer October Afternoon Report Card papers. I've had these for awhile and figure I better crack into them now that the new releases are out.

Head on over to Scrap Your CRAP to participate in this month's challenge :)

Also, today is the last day to take advantage of the NSD sale at Up The Street.

I put up a few challenges yesterday at the Up The Street blog. Up for grabs is your choice of one of the new Sassafras Collection kits!

TGIF?

2010-04-30T08:21:00.004-04:00

It's Friday. I'm never certain whether I look forward to the weekends or not.

Pro ... no rush on Saturday morning to get kids ready for school.
Con ... I have to get up and ship pigs on Sunday morning and the truck driver is usually here before 7:30 am.
Pro ... the kids are home.
Con ... the kids are home and usually arguing.

To be honest, weekends have never been a big deal to me. Before we had the boys, I worked at a resort and generally worked weekends. Now we farm, have three boys, and there are no days off at all. We don't go out all that much or have weekend getaways like people who have the Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 jobs.

I guess that Dave recognizes the weekends more than I do. He still has to go the barn every day and will be in the field if the weather is good and crops need tending. But if he's caught up, he'll do something non-farm related on a Saturday afternoon and take it easy on a Sunday afternoon.

For example, this is what he's been doing with his spare time this spring ... a cabin, on a hill, looking down toward the river at the other farm. Most of the structural materials were "scavenged" so the project hasn't cost very much at all. Someone we knew had put an addition on an older home a few years back and ended up building a new home last year so offered the addition to Dave. The wall that connected to the main house was missing, so Dave framed in old windows and plans to add a deck on that side, as it looks down on the river.
I'm calling it the Man Shack because there is no bathroom. But Dave thinks he could rent it out for scrapbook retreats. I don't think he really understands the concept. Ladies like to be able to sit on a toilet. At least I do ;)

The next challenge at Scrap Your CRAP goes up tomorrow so here's a wee peek. Any guesses as to the theme?

Just a reminder that the 30% off NSD sale is running until tomorrow at Up The Street :)

National Scrapbooking Day Sale

2010-04-26T10:59:00.003-04:00

There's something about the bright colours in Sassafras products that just make me happy :)
These are photos from Will's birthday.
Just simple chipboard pieces for a title of sorts.

I love these new border stickers. There is a set included in the Salad Bar add-on kit and I've been using them on all kinds of projects lately. Sometimes stickers feel a little flat to me, so to give the strip running vertically down the page a bit of dimension, I simply outlined the edges in a grey marker.

I've got a huge sale running at Up The Street this week in honour of National Scrapbooking Day. Take 30% off EVERYTHING in the store until May 1st. E-mail your order directly to upthestreet@isp.ca to take advantage of this incredible deal!

Too Short

2010-04-22T08:37:00.004-04:00

I've had this photo since the end of last summer. My roommate from University and her girls were up for a visit. I met Anna one of the first days I was in residence and her room was directly across from mine. The following year, we moved into a house her dad owned and were roommates for the next three years. That was 20 years ago. There's nothing like doing a bit of math to make a gal feel old! We see each other every few years, but our visits go by so quickly.
Sigh.
I really love the colours that are in the new Jillibean Soup lines. I especially love that the papers are double-sided. This layout makes the most of my supplies.
I cut two strips of the green patterned paper and attached them to either side of an old sheet of patterned paper that I know I'm never going to use.
To create the centre portion, I used a scrap piece of cardstock that was slightly wider than the space that was left.
On the other side of the green, is this lovely text paper. I cut two small strips and attached them to the top and bottom of the scrap cardstock.
This whole centre section is now attached to the background.
I punched strips from the napkin (included in the Cabbage Soup add-on) and glued them in layers onto the cardstock strip, leaving the ends overhanging. Once all of the strips were on and dry, I wrapped the ends around to the back and taped them to leave a nice clean edge.
the photo is mounted on Cosmo Cricket patterned paper and then mounted again on a piece of fabric (included in the main kit).

The photo is added to the background using foam adhesive and embellished.

A branch was die-cut from another piece of the text paper using the Silhouette.

This layout uses the Cabbage Soup add-on, a few bits from Sunday Brunch and a few other bits from the Up The Street store.

New Wheels

2010-04-16T09:18:00.004-04:00

I'm still catching up on last year's summer photos.
This is Will on his brand new bike ... the second after the first one blew a tire and he wiped out. It sounded like a gunshot going off and I was worried that he wouldn't want to bike anymore. But a shiny red bike is pretty hard to resist ;)
I used the Sunday Brunch kit for this. I love being able to cut different elements from the Sassafras paper. I wanted to use the image of the little bike ... but it was purple and looked really out of place. Stickles to the rescue! Now the wee bike is red and shiny!

I've posted the details for the May Up The Street Layout Contest over at the Up The Street blog. Hope you'll play along :)

April Kit at Up the Street!

2010-04-15T09:06:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone! I just wanted to let you know that the new kits are available at Up The Street.
The Main Kit is Sunday Brunch and is packed full of colour and fun ....
The first add-on, Cabbage Soup, offers some of the new Jillibean Soup, with Maya Road envelopes and Elle's Studio flashcards ...

The second add-on, Salad Bar, has some more Jillibean Soup, Cosmo Cricket and Maya Road chipboard letters. My favorite part of this kit is the sheet of border stickers from Sassafras. There are so many on this sheet and can be used in so many ways. Love, love, love.

Head on over to the store to purchase.

Thanks for stopping by :)

Scrap Your CRAP ... Challenge #52: Floss it up

2010-04-01T14:00:00.005-04:00

This month's challenge at Scrap Your CRAP was to use embroidery floss on a layout.

I wanted to really make my floss "pop" so I used an ecru colour against a dark green background with very few other elements.

The title comes from the Little Rascals character. Whenever I see a photo of my dad as a little guy, I want to call him Spanky.

Aren't those chubby little cheeks and short pants adorable?

I used the February kit from Up The Street as well as some Prima crystals from an add-on.

The title and outside boarder is cut from one of the patterned papers. I love when I can get coordinating elements from a single sheet of paper.And because I was in the "floss zone", I whipped up this fun one using a paper bad as the background and the March kit from Up The Street.

I have a shipping special running at Up The Street right now ... half price until April 14th.

Go check it out!

More March Up The Street

2010-03-24T08:57:00.004-04:00

Some more stuff from the March Up The Street kit.
Love this chenile fabric. I've never used fabric for an entire background on a layout before but figured it was time to experiment.
A vintage doily layered with Studio Calico yummies. A bit of Ranger Rock Candy Distress Stickles to highlight the journaling card.

A pretty Prima pebble and a few vintage buttons.

Book paper misted with Sea Monkey and Before Dawn Shimmerz Vibez.

Love this colour combination. So springy.

A simple chenile cuff with a Prima from the store.

A hook and eye seemed like the most simple way to fasten it. Much easier than fiddling with button holes and such.

A whole bunch of Cosmo Cricket Joyride on this one.

My brother and I peddling our way down a creek.

Chenile yo-yo. Fun and fuzzy :)

Trying my hand at window-front cards. Really simple but an interesting detail.

And a little heat embossing. I really should do it more.

Slip over to the Up The Street blog today to be entered into a drawing for a free kit!

2010-03-16T08:11:00.002-04:00

Good Morning! How is everyone's March Break going so far?
I've got one kid at Grandma's and one that was throwing up in the night. I hope the one at Grandma's wasn't throwing up too.

The March kits at Up The Street are now available. I haven't finished playing just yet, but these are the layouts I've done so far.
Molly loves to go for car rides. What dog doesn't? She likes to sit in the front, lean against the back of the seat and fall asleep. She's a little strange.

I ended up using bits from both add-ons for this layout. I misted my background patterned paper with the Before Dawn Vibez and it makes the white cardstock look so crisp.
The Cosmo Cricket dog-riding-in-the-car chipboard was perfect. But my favorite part is the "C" in "content". It has a little dog on it. How perfect is that?
I've scrapped these photos before, but the layout I did is now hanging in my mom's kitchen so I needed to do them again for me. I love the Cosmo Cricket woodgrain patterned papers. This teal is one of my favorite colours ever.
I folded over a strip of the fabric included in the kit and just quickly did a running stitch along the raw edge. I gathered it until it was the length I wanted and used double-sided tape to adhere it to my page. I also threw a staple at either end to make sure it wouldn't go anywhere. After I added the Rip Strip (from add-on #1), I roughly hand stitched with embroidery floss along the length of it. I also ran a file across the tops of the chipboard letters to distress them. The most time consuming part of this layout was the stitching around the edges of the yellow patterned paper. I don't use this technique very often (because it takes so much time) but I always love the end result.
For this layout, I used the Before Dawn Vibez on the Prima flower, which I'd seperated so that I'd have two different sizes of the same colour.
I also used a paint brush to paint the Sea Monkey Vibez on the title letters for a little colour and shine.
The Studio Calico stickers from the first add-on are so versatile and fun to layer with other stickers.
The little card bases included in the first add-on kit make for super quick little cards. I used one of the rub-ons along the bottom of the front and then trimmed around the design.A band of patterned paper, a thin strip of Rip Strip and a chipboard flower are all it really needs. I may add a stamped sentiment when I go to use it, but probably not ;)
Now I just have to finish up the other projects I have scattered all over my scrap table :)

Birthday, March Break and Packing Kits

2010-03-14T15:11:00.006-04:00

Bob's birthday was last Friday. He turned 9 and decided he was too old for birthday parties. That, and he got himself into a lot of trouble at the end of last year's party. So we took two of his friends tubing at River Valley. I wish I gotten better pictures, but they don't open until 6pm on Fridays so it was pretty much dark once they got going down the hills.
We should have known that Paul was too little for such an adventure, but we tend to do things the hard way. Two times down and he was done. I think the biggest problem is that once the sun goes down, the hill get fast. Real fast. Scary fast for an almost-three boy.
But the big boys had a tonne of fun.
Here's the birthday boy all flushed and rumpled after two solid hours of going up and down.
Paul's birthday is tomorrow and he turns four. He's pretty excited. Doing the count down for a week now. I was Duty Parent at Playschool this past Tuesday so I took in cupcakes for his birthday. The kids all sang Happy Birthday to him. I wish I'd taken the camera. The look on his face was so proud. I think this is the first year that he's really "getting" the whole birthday deal.
And yes ... he's wearing a muscle shirt. He is the only kid that is very specific about what he will wear. Jeans ... blue only. He had to wear black ones the other day because I'm a touch behind on my laundry and we had a scene. Absolutely no sweat pants. And he loooooves his muscle shirts and t-shirts. He is now on Day 5 of wearing one of Bob's t-shirts (stolen on the sly) and refuses to wear anything else. He also enjoys his hats. Sometimes he sleeps in them.

March Break has started. We don't really go anywhere. Will has a birthday party on Friday night and wants to go to Grandma's for a day or two sometime this week. That's about it. We might try to work in a few playdates at some point.

The other thing I've been busy at is getting the March kit ready to go for the reveal tomorrow at Up The Street.

I have Jennifer Roach as my guest designer this month and am so happy that I asked her. She's worked super fast and her layouts are really lovely.

Here are a few peeks until the reveal tomorrow ...

I guess that's it for now. Time to start thinking about supper. It's only 4:30pm, which means it was only 3:30pm yesterday (crazy Daylight Savings Time), but my tummy is growlin'. We eat our breakfast/lunch when we come in from the barn on Sundays, so supper never seems to come early enough and we have lots of little snacks through the day. Not great, but that's the way it is :)

Scrap Your CRAP ... Challenge #51: 20/10

2010-03-01T08:43:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday all! After having the kids home for a snow day on Friday, I was reeeallly happy to see that bus pull up this morning ;)
Today Challenge #51: 20/10 goes live at Scrap Your CRAP. This was my take on the 20 letters, 10 embellishments requirement. I challenged myself to use exactly 20 letters in my title and exactly 10 of a specific embellishment (the Prima Pearls & Crystals scattered around). Pretty Pink Paislee chipboard letters ....

An uuuuggly frog.

Journaling reads:

"The Snake Lady is always a favorite of the kids when she brings her "friends" to an event. Not just snakes ... all sorts of reptiles. I never thought I'd ever see a frog eat a mouse. But I did. An African Bullfrog. He means business."

If you look closely, you can see the mouse in his mouth. Ick.

Layouts are due on the 20th and Up The Street will be giving a February Kit to the Queen of the Crap.

Make sure you check it out!

Why, why, why ...

2010-02-27T05:57:00.003-05:00

... when I have to get up early, am I not able to sleep. I seriously haven't slept all night.
This happens every time I go to a crop. It's a good job I don't go very often or the bags under my eyes would look like an extra set of cheeks.
And I'm not just going to crop tomorrow, I'm going to vend. And it's my first time so I'm trying to think of everything I need to take with me. I loaded the vehicle with the bulk of my things last night but there are a few other things I want to grab this morning.
Also last night, just before I waddled up to bed to lay awake for 6 hours, I received an e-mail from Canadian Scrapbooker requesting my Monkey Mug layout. Wheeee!
I haven't submitted anything anywhere in ages, so it's a nice little boost to the ego.
I guess I may as well sort some laundry or unload the dishwasher or something. I don't really need coffee, but I can't start my day without a few cups of that vanilla hazelnut goodness so that'll be the first thing I do.
Have a good one!

MROOOOW & SYC peek

2010-02-25T08:56:00.004-05:00

Our kitty has come into heat. I haven't had a housecat since I was in university, and she was fixed. Otherwise, I grew up on a farm where cats stayed in the barn. So this is my first experience with all day MROOOOWing. And all night. She goes into the basement to holler and it echoes through the house. Good times.
Getting some big things checked of my To Do List this week. The accountant was here on Tuesday to go through year end for the farm. Lord. He was supposed to be here at 2pm ... called at 2:30 to say he thought our appointment was 3pm ... showed up slightly after 3 and was here until almost 8pm. And I was super organized this year. He's getting much more thorough because there have been so many farm audits over the last two years. But it's done.
Poor Paul has a cold right now. I had to get groceries yesterday and felt awful about dragging him with me so I took him to Burger King for a treat. He took one bite of a nugget and was done. That's how sick he is. Normally, he'll eat everything he has and finish other people's food too. But he slept for 4 hours yesterday afternoon and slept all night. He won't take cough medicine so I always put Vicks on his feet. Ever try it? Totally works. Slather Vicks Vaporub on the bottoms of your feet (put on some socks) and go to bed. You'll hardly cough. I'll warn ya though ... you'll never completely get the Vicks out of those socks.
I also finished up my first layout for Scrap Your Crap. The challenge will go live on March 1st and Up The Street will be sponsoring the prize for March. Make sure to check it out!
Here's a little peek. Can you figure out what the challenge is?

Trillium Trail

2010-02-20T10:36:00.002-05:00

I played yesterday! It felt great to sit down and experiment with some new techniques.
Fabric on cards ...
Grungepaper flower ...

Shimmerz Spritz ...

Visit the Up The Street blog for descriptions of the techniques I used.

Good Morning Friends!

2010-02-18T08:08:00.002-05:00

That's what Miss Theresa says when Paul goes to playschool and it's kind of stuck in my brain this morning.
I just wanted to let you all know that my first layout contest is up and running over at Up The Street. The prize is a March kit and you have almost a month to get it done. So I hope there are lots of entries :)
The week is almost over and I've accomplished very little of what I had on my list. Our accountant comes next week so I've been working on getting everything ready for him. He was here in December, so in theory, I shouldn't have very much to do. But I always think I'm going to be missing something. That, and the fact that I can't get my printer to print from Quicken since I upgraded this summer, is stressin' me.
The other major thing I wanted to tackle this week is my donation list for our playschool's silent auction. I just hate asking for donations. I feel like I'm begging. Blech.
On positive note, I managed to get some pricing done for the crop I'm vending at on the 27th. I'm hoping that the rest of my stuff is here by then, but I'm not holding my breath. I've received shipping notices from three different places for packages that show delivery dates for midweek. The bulk of the stuff is for the March kit (which I am really excited about) but I ordered extra product to have for the crop. I've heard that Cosmo Cricket is backordering their Tiny Type alphabets (is that a hint?) and the amount that they've processed on my card is significantly less than it should have been. I'm going to predict that I'm short my alphabets when my package arrives.
OK. Enough blathering. I need to get my files in order here. And then get some groceries. The boys' lunches were pretty pathetic this morning. And I've got overripe bananas that need to be baked into something yummy. And laundry, of course. What else? Better start another list.
Have a good one!

Very excited ....

2010-02-15T23:33:00.001-05:00

.... to have made the design team at Scrap Your Crap!
Can't wait to play!!!

Happy Family Day!

2010-02-15T08:12:00.003-05:00

I'm still not sure what this holiday is about. I think it's just in Ontario and the kids are home from school. But I'm off the the barn in a few minutes, so no holiday on the farm :)
Did everyone have a nice Valentine's Day? We went into the RV show in London yesterday with some friends and looked at all kinds of trailers and RVs which we'll never be able to afford. Those Airstreams are absolutely gorgeous inside. Sigh. Maybe someday.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I've posted my first monthly kit for Up The Street. More detailed photos are on the blog. I'll also be running monthly contests and hope to have the details up this afternoon.
Off I go to slop hogs. Have a great week everyone!

It's too bright out

2010-02-07T15:47:00.002-05:00

Am I the only one who gets a headache when the sun shines? I sometimes wonder if I really am a vampire.

Took the boys across the road to sled for a bit around noon. Holy bright out. And I had sunglasses on. My head might have exploded if I hadn't grabbed them. But I think we need some more sledding gear. Couldn't find one of the toboggans and there wasn't one big enough for two people. I want one of those wicked big inner tube deals. They look fun. When I was growing up, a friend of mine had this huge tractor tire inner tube that we'd tie to the back of her 4-wheeler and just go. Soooo much fun. Until she let me drive and I ran her into an iced over snow fort. Boom. Which is why you never let your friends use your stuff. They'll injure you. I can still, to this day, see her trying to put the fort back together. I felt just awful.

Any scrappies going on today? I know that there's some big football game on today ... what's it called? Just kidding Greta. Who Dat! Can someone please explain the "Who Dat!" business. I feel like a loser who's being left out of an inside joke. A joke that half the planet is in on.

Pop on over to Up The Street if you have a quick second. I'm doing a giveaway of some yummy stuff. You may just want to lick it.

In closing ... Go Saints!

Happy Birthday Little Willy!

2010-01-24T10:55:00.009-05:00

My Will is 7 today. I apologize for the Christmas photo but I just haven't been taking many pictures lately. He was sick on Friday. The sickest he's been in years. But he doesn't complain or make a fuss and has bounced back to his old self. He doesn't like cake so I think I'll make some Birthday Brownies and do pizza for supper. Pretty easy to please.
Although, I had an awful time trying to find a gift for him. He doesn't ask for much and a lot of the time will give away his gifts to Bob if he doesn't love them. I ended up getting a few Pokemon things ... which he loved. I don't understand the silly things at all, but he seems to.
I can't believe how big he is. I miss those chubby cheeks :)

Over at the Noel Mignon message board, we do a little thang called Layout Tag. It's a bit like that game Post Office where you whisper a phrase to the person next to you and she whispers what she thought she heard you say to the next person and so on. In our version, we start with an inspiration layout which is e-mailed to the first person on the list of people participating. That person does a layout based off the inspiration and then her's is e-mailed to the next person. Once everyone has done their layout, all of the layouts are posted in the order they were done.
It is so neat to see it morphing it's way down the line. Definately one of the best scrapbooking "games" I participate in.
This was my layout for the game. I've been saving this photo from the summer and the gorgeous flocked Prima paper for many months. I think the feeling of the day definately comes across in the bright, happy colours.
Can't wait for the next round!

Sunny Saturday

2010-01-23T08:55:00.002-05:00

It's really nice out this morning. The sun is shining and it's hovering around freezing. Not bad for January. If I was an outdoorsy person, I'd be finding something to do in the snow. But I'm not. Haha.
Today was supposed to be Will's birthday party. He's turning 7 tomorrow and we had a pizza/build-your-own-sundae party planned for today. Small problem ... he threw up all day yesterday. So we've postponed until next Saturday. He's feeling a bit better today but I think he'll still be holding down the couch for the better part of the day.
I'm off to grocery shop. Hopefully without children ;)
Have a good one!

A new venture ...

2010-01-19T16:55:00.003-05:00

Well kids ... I guess I'm ready to share.
I've decided to start selling scrapbook kits. I have no set date yet but product has been ordered. I'm going to spend the coming months getting comfortable with the online processes and have plans to open a store front late August/early September. I have a beautiful store chosen and, fingers crossed, it will be mine.
If you are so inclined, please bookmark Up The Street and check back in a few weeks for sneaks and kit information.

Late to the party

2010-01-12T18:45:00.005-05:00

Hey! How is everyone? Where have I been? No where. Just laying low and trying to keep up with everything going on.
I see everyone posting their ten favorite layouts from 2009, so of course I felt that I should jump on the bandwagon.

I don't know that I necessarily see any specific method to my madness, but it's quite obvious that I'm addicted to distressing. And throwing crap on my pages that don't really belong on scrapbook pages. And playing. And generally, just having fun.
That's what it's all about ... right?

Why there are no decorations on the lower quarter of my Christmas tree ...

2009-12-23T09:08:00.003-05:00

She's cute though ... right? She knocks stuff off and then the dog chews them up. Fantastic.

You'd think they'd be better friends. Not so.

Things can get real nasty with these two.

On to another subject. I've been just awful at taking pictures this fall. My poor camera is feeling so neglected. So after seeing a cool blog post on bokeh, I decided to play a bit. We have some star shaped lights hanging in front of the house. Don't they make fun bokeh shapes?

And just to prove that I have been attending the odd Christmas function, this was taken at Paul's playschool party last week. I don't know how impressed he was with Santa though. I think his favorite part was the food. All through lunch he kept saying, "I love my birthday party". He couldn't quite get it through his head that it was a Christmas party. To him, all parties are birthday parties.

I finished up my shopping yesterday. Now just to get to some wrapping. Hard to do with kids around. In fact, the stuff is still in the van.

We have Christmas at my mom's today, so I better get something done soon.

At least I'm not stressed any more. At this stage, what's done is done. The rest will fall in place.

Have a great day everyone!

Lazy, lazy

2009-12-19T10:23:00.002-05:00

I'm having kind of a lazy morning. Not that I really have the time. But I haven't been sleeping well and I needed a bit of a layaround today.
We go to Dave's sister's tomorrow for our family Christmas and I need to get some things done. We've all but abandoned the gift exchange. She and I were just exchanging gift cards so we decided to cut that from our already full list of things to do. Her kids are all older now so I've given up trying to find the perfect gift for them. They like cash. They'll also accept a cheque ;) So really, the only gift I need to take along is for our new great nephew. Easy peasy.
We've also dispensed with having a large meal in favour of lots of nibblies and yummies through the day. So instead of bringing my much requested Swedish Potatoes, I need to decide on which of my favorite finger foods to take. I may just pop out to M&Ms today and grab some of their stuff. Better check the freezer first to see if I've already bought something and forgotten about it. I swear my brain never fully recovered after being pregnant.
I've got nothing crafty to share. I feel like such a slacker in that department these days. Too busy and preoccupied to feel like creating. Instead, check out this site. Soooo funny. Definately my type of humour. I'm sure everyone will be running here, there and everywhere this weekend. Enjoy!

Seriously ....

2009-12-18T08:20:00.003-05:00

How cute is this?!!!! Not Martha has instructions on how to make these adorable little gingerbread houses. I wish I had a few days to just play with intricate little cookies and candies. I can't see it happening any time soon. But I can admire. And share. And hope that someone else out there has the pleasure of making these little darlings.
The playschool potluck went very well yesterday. Lots of food. Lots of happy kiddos. Lots of laughs. My favorite moment has to be when one of the little guys told Santa that he says bad words. The look on poor old Santa's face was priceless. And his poor mother turned a shade of red I'd never seen before. Good times.
So in the words of my little friend Jacob .... "Holy Doodle, Santa!"

Yikes!

2009-12-16T23:37:00.003-05:00

Christmas is coming! And fast!
I'm finally making some headway with my preparations. The accountant came last Thursday, so once all my year end business was out of the way, I could concentrate on Christmas.
Did a bit of shopping on Friday afternoon.
Decorated a parade float Friday night.
Took the kids and rode on the float with them Saturday morning. Froze my tuckus off during the durn parade. I had long johns, sweat pants and snow pants on but still was chilled to the bone. The kids kept saying they were hot. I just don't get it.
I'd bribed them to be good by saying we'd go to Burger King for lunch after the parade like any exhausted mom. They played in the Playland while I read my library book. Good deal.
I decided to experiment a bit with candy on Sunday ... red licorice covered in white chocolate and candy sprinkles ... pretzels covered with milk chocolate and peppermint bits ... marshmallows on sticks dipped in chocolate and peppermint bits for swirling in hot chocolate. I wish I could say that there's some left but I'd be telling a big fat lie.
Dave took the boys to pick out a tree and then I wrestled with it for a few hours before dinner. I don't think I've ever had such problems getting a tree to stand straight. It's still crooked. And mocking me. Can Christmas trees be possessed? Anyway, it's up now and, aside from a little tippy, is lovely.
Did a little more shopping yesterday. A little more decorating. A little baking tonight.
We've got the playschool Christmas potluck tomorrow morning, which I'm a little excited for.
And I finally managed to get a photo of the boys to send out with my cards. This is the best of the bunch. Paul either has his eyes shut or looks evil so we had to settle for the crazy smile. And yes ... I made them wear matching sweaters. I only do it every few years so they should consider themselves lucky. I even sent some cards out today! Shocking. Mine usually go out after Christmas so I'm pretty pleased with myself. Hope to get some more done tomorrow night.
Oh! In other news, we now have a kitty in the house (as you may have noticed from the above photo). Her name is Zoe and is pretty and sweet but likes to jump in the tree. Which my be contributing to the slant. And she has a touch of gas. I was singing Smelly Cat tonight.
OK. Enough blathering. Just wanted to check in so that people don't think I've crashed under the stress of the holidays. That won't happen until next week. Which reminds me ... I must pick up some wine tomorrow :)

It's raining, it's pouring ...

2009-12-02T19:17:00.003-05:00

We've been pretty spoiled this November as far as our weather. Not overly cold. Reasonable amount of rain. Just a smattering of snow. Now it's raining. I suppose it had to turn some time. At least the crops are off and some other little outdoor jobs have been done while the days were nice.
I guess it's time to get ready for Christmas. I've done very little shopping. Haven't even made my list. That's this week's job. Make a list and make a dent in it. The coming weeks are going to be busy with playschool commitments (cleaning, parade, potluck), school concert next week and I need to get my bookwork in decent shape for the accountant to come for our year end meeting.
I'm having an extremely difficult time concentrating on anything though. I'm trying to make a decision that will drastically shake up my life. If I can make it work, I'll be over the moon. If I can't, I'm going to be a Bitter Betty for awhile. Oh well. Such is life.

Have you checked out Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas? His little tags are fantastic and each are packed with gobs of inspiration.

Hope everyone's Christmas preparations are coming along nicely!

November Blahs

2009-11-23T12:43:00.003-05:00

How is everyone this fine Monday? It's starting to really cool down. I just bundled up the little guy in his insulated coveralls and toque to go out to mess around in the workshop with Opa. Starting tomorrow, we're supposed to be going into rain for the rest of the week. It won't be long until the snow is flying. I'd better check on the winter boot situation before we get there. I've been known to send my kids to school in the snow wearing shoes because they'd outgrown last year's boots and I hadn't gotten around to buying this year's boots. Bad momma.
I really go into a funk in the fall. I'm not sure why. Partly the weather maybe. My birthday is in November and I hate my birthday. My dad got sick in November and never recovered. Just a bunch of things together I guess. Last week I was in a real mood. Didn't want to do anything or see anyone. Bob had to have a tooth pulled on Thursday and I was a little nervous about that. They put him right out because it was a molar that had never come up right and wasn't going to be too much fun to get out. While I was with him in the little recovery room ... I passed out. Poor kid. I'm sitting there talking to the dentist and end up on the floor. I think that was the worst part of the day for him. Real embarassing for me. And then they wouldn't let me drive home because I just couldn't get rid of the dizzies. My mom and father-in-law had to come because it was a 45 minute drive and my vehicle had to get home too. Grrr. I still am not too sure what was up with me. Didn't feel too great for the next few days either. I'm trying to give up caffeine and sugar. Well ... cut back considerably. I was really watching what I ate all last week, not drinking pop, no coffee, no candy ... and I didn't drop a single pound. How defeating. Fell off the wagon last night with pizza and Coke but I've got to get back on track this week. It's got to kick in at some point.
I'm trying to get some bookwork done today. I'm about 4 months behind on getting my accounts into the computer and I just hate working on stuff from so long ago. It's hard to concentrate. So I blog. Not good. Better get going.
Thought I'd share a layout I did last week with some of the new Cosmo Cricket (lurve woodgrain) and Sassafras from the summer. You just gotta cut out those balloons and the little fella ... right?

Later!

2009-11-12T08:38:00.005-05:00

Morning! What a funny morning it's been. It was so foggy when we got up that I was sure the school buses would be delayed. But no (thankfully), they went on time. Now the sun is shining and it looks like it should be a beautiful fall day.
Just going to do some housework this morning and then off to take the oldest to the orthodontist. Today he'll get his appliance. His biggest concern is ... will he be able to eat candy? I suppose I'd be the same. Even now :)
We went to a birthday party on Sunday and this was my quicky card to go with the gift. I took inspiration from this card. I just recently printed out a bunch of little thumbnail pictures of Kristina's cards on a sheet to keep in my scrapbook room and when I'm in a rush, I can zip something off fairly quickly without really putting any thought into it. And I seem to always want to finish the insides with a little something lately.
Another layout using a kit from Scrapbook Memories. I used KI lace cardstock as a mask and sprayed Riptide Glimmer Mist. I also sprayed a little bit of watered down Honeydew Making Memories acrylic paint (in a Ranger Mini Mister). You can see it peeking out from behind the photo.Speaking of Scrapbook Memories, they're having their customer garage sale this Saturday. I haven't decided if I'm going to go or not yet. I've gone a few times and come home with smokin' deals. I usually go for stamps and tools. But it's always elbow to elbow, crazy. I certainly don't NEED anything and I went to one at another LSS about a month ago. We'll see.

Well ... better go find another cup of coffee and get moving. Hope everyone is having a great, flu free week :)

Lest We Forget

2009-11-11T10:18:00.002-05:00

As usual, I can't figure something out and I'm too lazy to do this right. Just wanted to share a video that my boys showed me last night in preparation for Rememberance Day today.
I was bawling through the whole thing.
I know that most of us absolutely abhor the whole concept of war, but it's so important to recognize that our whole way of life has been protected by the wonderful men and women who serve our country.
Take a few minutes today to reflect on the sacrifices made for you and I by the bravery of people we don't even know.

A Pittance of Time by Terry Kelly

Pizza for Lunch

2009-11-06T16:25:00.001-05:00

A fairly productive morning. My mom ordered her new frames, we had pizza for lunch and we picked up a birthday gift for a party Bob is going to on Sunday. Now I'm feelin' lay-hazy. I need to get a few loads of laundry caught up and some food to take to the fellas in the field. The weather for the weekend looks really good so hopefully there won't be any problems with machinery. That's usually how it goes ... good weather, something breaks.

I feel like I never include enough "white space" on my layouts so I made it a point to do so in this layout. I love the Swiss Dots texture on Bazzill. I think it will help me in my quest to slap less stuff onto my pages because I hate naked cardstock.
Nothing spectacular ... just catching up on photos from last winter :)

I want pie

2009-11-05T16:06:00.000-05:00

I just spent my morning surrounded by pies. And cheesecakes. And I want some.
The playschool that Paul goes to is a co-oerative playschool. Which means we all take turns being Duty Parent, doing fundraising and occasionally working catering events to raise money. Today was the first one that's come up this year and I had the first "shift" which was making the desserts.
Oh. My. Goodness.
Chocolate cream pies, lemon merangue pies, cherry pies, apple pies, coconut cream pies. There really is nothing like the smell of pies baking. Nothing.
And then the cheesecakes. Cherry, blueberry and chocolate. I can admit that I licked a few spatulas before washing them off.
So I'm craving pie now. But if I make a pie, I'll eat the whole thing so I'm going to try to forget about pie.
It's bad enough that my fridge is full of california rolls. I haven't had any for so long and I stumbled across a recipe. They're not that hard to make. But I didn't realize how many the recipe would make. I should have probably halved the recipe because I'm likely the only one who is going to eat the. But they're pretty nummy. I had them for breakfast. Before I went to make pies. Crap. I was trying to forget about the pies.
Oh well. Hmmm. Should I make cherry or lemon merangue?

One of my favorite lines from this past year is the Collage Press Knave of Hearts line. There was a bit in two of Noel Mignon's kits from the spring and I think I used up almost every little bit.
The following layout is using a Studio Calico kit. I love the Making Memories bamboo letters and have been hoarding them. Yum.

The kids have the day off school tomorrow for a PD day. They're looking forward to spending the day at home and are going to be ticked at me when they find out I said we'd go with my mom to pick out new glasses for her. Ooops! They'll get over it. Hopefully ;)

Ouchie

2009-11-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

Hurt my foot. I'm such a stunkle klutz. Last night, I was standing on Paul's bed to give Will a hug and a kiss (he's in the upper bunk). When I stepped down, I stepped on my shoes and my foot did something funny. I think I somehow folded my toes underneath my foot and twisted. Who knows. But it hurts like a begger. A little swollen and a touch bruised. I'm glad I don't have to go out today because I think putting on a shoe might not work too well. Hope it's better tomorrow because I'm the Duty Parent at playschool. I'm sure I'll survive. Y'all can save your Get Well cards for someone who has an actual injury :)
I'm still posting layouts I did a few weeks ago. I started this one for a Noel Mignon challenge but just couldn't get it working. I find I'm having more and more of these just lately. Start something and then get stuck. I actually pulled about a half of this one apart after getting it done and re-doing it. There's still something about it that's bugging me, but I've spent enough time on it.

The little alphabet stamps are actually ones I found at the dollar store for $1. I love the font but keep forgetting that I have them so this is the first time I've actually used them. I've left them out on my desk now so that I don't forget about them again.

I used Ranger Rock Candy Crackle Paint on the little teapot clock and then covered it with Distress Ink in Fired Brick to accent the cracks.

Just saw this over at Kristina Werner's blog this morning. She's doing a Holiday Card series, posting a new video every day (Monday to Friday) for 5 weeks. Quite an undertaking. I think I'm going to try to do them every day as she posts them. I figure if I do one a day and don't have to think about how to do them, I'll have a pile of cards ready for when I want to send them out. I'm absolutely awful for getting out Christmas cards. I usually refer to them as Holiday cards because they're usually not out before Christmas. I'm happy if they reach people before New Year's. And I get about 10 done before I resort to store-bought.

Anyway, that's my plan. Anyone want to play along?

The day after ...

2009-11-01T10:52:00.005-05:00

Hallowe'en is over and I didn't get a decent photo of the kids in their costumes. Phooey. I think I'll make them dress up this week some time so I can take pictures.
Bags and bags of candy are piled everywhere. Each of the 3 boys came home with 2 big bags of stuff and I have another big bag of treats left over from my goodie bags. We live in the country, so although they only go to about a dozen houses, they are well compensated for their efforts. Some of our neighbors get only our boys as their trick-or-treaters and wait all night for them to arrive. One couple, in particular, has them come in for punch with plastic spiders and a muffin or brownie every year.
I had a big year ... 12 kids came to our door. I should say 13. A kid that used to work for us now lives a fair distance away with his wife and little guy. I hadn't expected them to come all the way out here and am ticked at myself for not having something other than candy to give Brady who is only just over a year old. Next year I'll be better prepared and they probably won't come. Haha.
On to some layouts.
One of my favorite layout compositions is three 4x6 photos lined up down (or across the page). I've used it over and over in my albums. I like that it can be fairly stream-lined like in the layout below ...

Or dressed up with different layers of paper borders and clusters of embellishments.
This is my favorite little bit from this layout ... the Sassafras deer on a cloud sticker layered over a vintage button, layered over another Sassafras sticker. Because the button has a clear topping, it looks like the cloud is floating. So fun.

I've got a bunch of chores out of the way this morning and now I'm off to craft for a few hours. Hopefully with few to no interruption :)

Grunge Love

2009-10-27T08:29:00.002-04:00

Morning!
Today hasn't started off quite the way it was supposed to and now I'm wondering just how the rest of it will go.
Paul was supposed to go to playschool and I was going to go up to Will's class to read with the kids. But Paul is still sporting a fantastically juicy cough and I doubt that Miss Theresa would want him coughing all over the other kids. I feel bad because today was going to be his day to wear his costume to school. I guess it can't be helped though.
And as for me ... I can't seem to get rid of a headache that's been stuck to me for almost a week now. I get these wicked tension headaches that cover my whole head, go down my neck and into my shoulders. Usually a Tylenol 3 will get rid of them, but nothing seems to be touching this one. I'm hoping I can get into the chiropracter today as that seems to help. I avoid it if I can just due to the cost of those visits. It adds up in a hurry.
I wanted to share a project that I've been fiddling with for awhile. In a previous Noel Mignon kit, there was a 12x12 sheet of grungeboard that I just didn't know what to do with. I didn't want to just use it as a background for a layout. I wanted to really USE it. I had seen this project idea on Martha Stewart's website and thought it might work in the same way as the leather that was used for her project.
I used Distress Inks and a mask from Tim Holtz as well as some Glimmer Mist for the base. The background stamp is from Stampin' Up! I just wasn't happy with the cover and ended up changing it.

Lots of Grungeboard elements, a Maya Road chipboard frame (covered with Distress Ink and Distress Embossing Powder), some October Afternoon patterned paper, Distress Crackle Paint and Perfect Pearls. A little bit of Distress Stickles and a K&Co. brad finish it.

Lots of subtle shimmer.

Martha's version had flaps on the inside front and back covers to tuck loose papers but I only had enough of the grungeboard to do the front.

I also painted the inside cover with Distress Crackle Paint, going over it with several colours of Distress Ink.

I used thin sketch paper for the inside and simply stitched up the spine.

I'm going to use this book for jotting down interesting quotes for layouts or cards as well as layout titles I see that I like. Once it's filled, I can just undo the binding and fill with fresh paper. Martha's version used an actual binding system, but I was too lazy to go buy one ;)

Overall, I like how the project turned out. I think I need a little more practice with sewing on grungeboard as I couldn't seem to get a tension that was neat on both sides though.

It's so fun to just play and see what comes out :)

I'd love to see your grungeboard projects. Link me up!

Monday Blahs

2009-10-26T08:33:00.002-04:00

There's really nothing quite like waking up on a Monday morning with a headache and a burning desire to do absolutely nothing productive. Too bad I can't just loaf around in my jammies all day.
So I've got the kids off to school and am sitting here with my coffee, trying to wake up enough to get some stuff going around here.
I took Will to a few different stores to see if there was anything he would wear for Hallowe'en yesterday afternoon. And ... no. I went through old costumes and fabric I had here and think we may have come to a decision. His problem is that he wants to be an animal. But he's 6 now and there really aren't any animal costumes in his size. He got out some books with animals and decided that he wants to be a bird. More specifically, a robin. We're going to reuse the black base clothing from a ninja outfit and sew on a fuzzy reddish-orange belly. I have an old scarf that has fringe on the ends that we're going to sew on for wings. I somehow have to make some bird feet and figure out what to do for a beak. Any suggestions?
My kids are all so different. Bob is pretty easy for costumes. Overalls, a Jason mask and a machete. He loves the "gross out". But Will is so particular. I'm not too worried about Paul. He's just going to get what he gets. I'm hoping he'll go with the kangaroo costume I have.
On to scrappies.
This layout is done using the monthly kit from Scrapbook Memories in London. She doesn't have an online store and doesn't hold kits to pick up so you have to be on the ball and get in when they go on sale. It's Bella Blvd. and Crate. I picked up the coordinating Crate chipboard and brads to go with the kit.

I think the blue/green/brown combo is probably my favorite colour combination.

I used the Ranger Rock Candy Crackle Paint on the chipboard pieces because I just can't seem to do anything these days without adding a bit of Rock Candy in Crackle Paint or Distress Stickles form. They just add that "little something".

I hear my laundry calling my name. When will they invent clothing that doesn't need to be washed? Once again, I would love to live on the Star Trek Enterprise. I don't think I ever saw anyone doing laundry there. Or cleaning. Or cooking. And it has a Holo Deck. I wish I could have convinced Will to go with one of the Star Trek costumes for Hallowe'en but I haven't gotten him watching any Star Trek yet. One of these days ;)

Hi All!

2009-10-25T12:23:00.002-04:00

It's been ages since I've posted anything here. I've been around ... just too lazy to post.
Just lazy in general I guess. I'm having a hard time getting excited about anything. Looking for something that will inspire me to get moving again.
I've done some scrapping. In fact, I just photographed 8 layouts and a project. I won't slam them all at you right now though. Just one.
The challenge at The Everyday Scrapper this month was to do a layout with swirls and flourishes. I saw this sketch at Prima and thought it went welll with the theme.
The photo is of my mother-in-law and our new great-nephew. He's the first of that generation and is already getting spoiled beyond measure.

The larger flower was made with regular crepe paper streamer. I used decorative scissors along one edge (my edge punches wouldn't work at all), did a running stitch along the other edge and gathered it up. It workes exactly like fabric but isn't quite as bulky.

That's it for now. It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon but I need to get some things done. Groceries, for one. And get Will's Hallowe'en costume figured out. He's a picky fellow and doesn't seem to like anything we come up with. Wish me luck!

Happy World Cardmaking Day!

2009-10-03T13:49:00.002-04:00

I know I already posted today but I'd forgotten about it being World Cardmaking Day. I thought I better put up a wee card in honour of the day.
For whatever reason, I struggle with cards. They sometimes take me as long as a layout. Pathetic. Other times, I can whip them up in 10 minutes. The following card obviously did NOT take hours. It was a definate quickie. All Sassafras Monstrosity on a corrugated cardboard card I bought in a set at Michael's.

I just love the stickers that come with Sassafras collections. I like to jazz up the inside with a few.

And why not one on the envelope too?

This one was for Will's friend Will. Confusing? A bit ;)

His mom was just here to pick my Will up for the birthday party. They're taking 8 kids in to see Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. I hope they keep track of the number of trips to the bathroom. I'm guessing double digits.

Raining Again

2009-10-03T08:13:00.003-04:00

Another cool, rainy day. Woke up early (like 5am early) with a little guy with a sore throat who has been glommed onto me ever since.
Have to go help Dave in the barn shortly (unless he calls to tell me he managed himself), then rip into town to pick up a birthday gift for the birthday Will is going to at 1:30pm. I have a pile of stuff I could get done in town today but I doubt I'll have time for very much if we're going to be back in time.
My mom's birthday is on Monday and I have no clue what to get the woman. I go through this every year. She has re-gifted my gifts in the past, so you can understand my waffling. Something handmade usually wins out (because she can't really give that away) but again, can't decide on what to make. Boo.
Anyway.
On another note, this project was made with the Day By Day kit (sold out) from Noel Mignon. It was meant to be a sort of day planner/memory book for 2010 (I think), but I decided to use it for recording my scrappies. I usually start a new notebook each year that contains my supply lists for layouts and projects, some sketches, a running list of what I accomplished that year (I like to know how productive I was), etc.
I decided to keep the cover simple so that I can just remove the pages at the end of the year and use to cover again for another year. I used two colours of Distress Ink (Walnut Stain and Fired Brick) with my blending tools to create a leather-look effect. I love how it turned out. When I first started, I thought, "I just ruined this thing", but after layering and blending and layering and blending and layering and blending, the effect is even better than I had hoped.

I chose to use only a rub-on and my initials for the cover.

Inside, I used patterned paper for the covers. I cut the Hambly transparency into 4 pieces to use as dividers for Projects, Supplies, Sketches and ... can't remember what the 4th one is and the book is upstairs. You get the idea. For the sketch section, I've used the 4x6 page protectors. I'm going to have 4x6 scraps sitting next to the computer so that I can copy sketches and then just stick them in the slots. Yeah. I'm a genius. And I've got all the goodies from the kit leftover for layouts now.

This is just another quick layout I did last Saturday. Sometimes I see a cool die-cut paper and hate to cut it up or cover it.

Well, I'm off to break up a fight and figure out what poor stuffed animal is missing the stuffing that the dog has scattered all over the floor. It never ends, does it?

Sassafras Quickies

2009-10-02T08:54:00.004-04:00

I did something I rarely do this past Saturday. I scrapped more than one layout at a sitting. In fact, I made this hanging, finished up the Canada Day layout from this post, completed this layout, the following layouts, as well as one other (which I'll save for another day). Nothing too involved or stunning, but it feels great to just get some stuff done. Know what I mean. Also, the quick layouts take a little less space in my terribly thick albums.
I had just gotten an order from Naptime Scrapper containing both the Monstrosity and Amplify collections from Sassafras. I love how quickly you can pull together layouts with these collections.
I've had this photo of Bob since April. No real story to tell, but he photo just cracks me up. He has pretty fine hair, so when he's roaring around and his head starts sweating, his hair just sticks up all over the place. We were at Burger King for a birthday party and he'd just come down the slide with his sweaty head and flushed cheeks.

Love layering the stickers that come with the collection with the coordinating Paper Whimsies.

I had seven photos from Will's party that I had planned to include in this layout but decided it was just too busy and unnessary. Please excuse the ridiculous hat Will is wearing. They send it home from school and he insisted on wearing it. I hope they spray that baby out before they pass it from kid to kid (I say as a notice about head lice came home yesterday).

I can't get enough of these little monsters. My fave is the green guy in the cape :)

Noel Mignon Challenge

2009-10-01T08:23:00.004-04:00

Noel has a fantastic challenge running right now. The only requirement is that you need to use 5 kit items unique to her kits. It's funny ... I thought I was flush with NM kits, but I'm actually starting to run out! I guess it's because I reach for her kits first when I sit down. Must be time for a new kit. I skipped the last few because I had such a pile, but now I feel justified in ordering again ;)

The first layout I did for the challenge uses the sold out Day By Day kit. It's actually a project kit, meant for the binder included in the kit. I've gone another way with the binder, so I decided to use some of the kit contents on this layout.

The following items all came from the Day By Day kit:
Basic Grey June Bug patterned paper and buttons (I had to add a few matching buttons from my own stash)
Hambly Mini Mintage Rub-On
Jenni Bowlin Date Label Rub-On
Making Memories Circle Journaling Sticker
Creative Cafe Decorative Pocket
Vintage Fabric
Ribbon

From the Eyes of Blue kit:
Jenni Bowlin Red Trim Cardstock Alphabet Stickers

From the Five Foot Two kit:
American Crafts Ladybug Patchwork Thickers (these seems a little too "pink" so I sprayed them with red Maya Mist for a richer red colour)

From the Rise & Shine kit:
Jenni Bowlin Ticket

The only things added from my own stash were the kraft cardstock used for the background, the Scenic Route pp used for my journaling card, some Martha Stewart baker's twine and the American Crafts foam leaf. I covered the leaf with the Dew Drop Rocket Red ink that came in the Day By Day kit and once dry (tip ... do not use your heat gun on foam to speed up the drying process ... it smokes!) covered with a layer of Rock Candy Distress Stickles. The Jenni Bowlin star sticker also had a layer of Stickles.

My second layout uses supplies mostly from the Five Foot Two (sold out) and Eyes of Blue (still available) kits.

From the Five Foot Two kit:
Prima Signs of Spring and Cosmo Cricket Early Bird patterned papers
Collage Press Roman Holiday die cut paper
Prima Canvas Tag
Maya Road Chipboard Border (covered with Dew Drop Rocket Red ink from the Day By Day kit and Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint)
Prima Lollipop flower (one split up and made into three with the addition of paper scraps from this kit and Jenni Bowlin Back Porch mini papers from the Eyes of Blue Kit)
Lily Bee Three Birds Rub-Ons
Shabby Chic Crafts Tag
Sassafras Lass Dainty Dots brads
Creative Imaginations Narratives Journaling Sheet
October Afternoon Wild Card

From the Eyes of Blue kit:
Jenni Bowlin Red Trim Carstock Alphabet Stickers

I added in some Pink Paislee letter stickers from my own stash to finish the title.

The kraft coloured circle used in one of the flowers is punched from Prima packaging.

I've got another layout on the go. Hope to get it finished up tonight!

It Takes All Kinds

2009-09-30T16:05:00.004-04:00

Just a super quick layout I did for this month's challenge at It Takes All Kinds. The theme was "Learn", which was perfect for these photos I took at the boys' first belt test this past December.

I used Sassafras' new Amplify line. Love how quickly a layout can come together with Sassafras products.

Is that the sun?

2009-09-30T09:25:00.003-04:00

No. Not the sun. Thought it was. Oh wait ... I think it's peeking out! For about 20 seconds. We're finally getting the Fall weather that we've been avoiding the past few weeks. Cool, rainy, windy. Time to think about getting the furnace going.
The hardest part about this time of year is trying to get the kids to dress warmer. Bob thinks he should still be able to run around in short sleeves without any coat. Brrrr.
I've got about 6 layouts to share, but haven't taken any photos. Lazy, lazy.
I did manage to snap a quick photo of a door knob hanger I made on the weekend for a friend of Bob's. He said that she liked monkeys so I started to make her birthday card and decided to turn it into something she could hang up instead. I used a piece of 7 Gypsies chipboard for the base and lots of Sassafras Jungle Bungle.

The days go so quickly once the kids are back in school. I seem to end up running somewhere every day but today I refuse to leave the house. I need to get caught up around here. Clean out the refridgerators, catch up on laundry, make a decent meal and do some baking for lunches.
So that's what's up here today. I also may sneak in a card. Dave's aunt just got remarried on the weekend and I need to send out a card. Why do I have 2 dozen cards already made and none of them ever seem to fit the occasion I need a card for? Maddening. But a good excuse to play for a little bit today :)

Happy Friday!

2009-09-25T09:10:00.002-04:00

I'm not entirely sure where the week went, but here we are at the weekend again.
Well ... I know where part of the week went.
Our niece and her husband celebrated the birth of their first son on Wednesday night. I couldn't wait to get in to see him yesterday.
Such a little sweetie. Smells soooo good. I wish I could bottle that smell up and give it a sniff when I'm feeling low. So far, so good as far as sleeping and eating. I hope it continues.

If you're interested in the Poloroid treatment I used on my photos, head on over to Rollip. I'd love to have a real Poloroid and have seen them for cheap in the antique store I frequent, but until someone starts making the film again, they're not much use to me. This will do for now.
I only found them this morning via a post at Shutter Sisters (another great site if you're looking for inspiration).
Something else that I stumbled across just lately (at Kijiji if you can believe it) is Naptime Scrapper. Living in Canada, it seems that you have the option of buying your supplies locally and paying higher prices, or ordering from the U.S. and paying exchange and shipping. I just received my first order from Naptime Scrapper and am so pleased. Not only are her prices 2/3 of what my LSS charges, but she has a deal on shipping right now so it cost me only $5. And my package arrived in 3 days ... much faster than an order from across the border. She also included a little thank you gift that completely made my day :)
Don't get me wrong ... I still love my kit clubs and won't be giving them up entirely. Noel especially puts together beautiful and unique kits. But I'll definately be ordering from Naptime Scrapper again.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. The sun is shining here right now. I think we may get some rain over the next few days but today is looking great. Now just to decide what needs to get done here. A little laundry, a bit of cleaning and a lot of scrapping would be great ;) I've got all kinds of new Sassafras Monstrosity that I'm just itching to play with!

Nothing to report

2009-09-21T08:22:00.003-04:00

It's a rainy Monday morning and I'm off to my yearly physical. Can it get any better?
Not a whole lot happening around here this week.
Last week seemed to fly by with Paul's first day of Playschool and a trip into the big city to shop for cosmetics and crafty stuff and a few appointments and Meet the Teacher Night and a birthday party.
On the agenda today, in addition to my physical, is a consultation with a dental surgion for Bob this afternoon. He has a molar that just won't come up properly and now the other teeth have crowded it so that it won't ever come up on it's own. Add in that it's a baby molar and it becomes something that needs to be taken care of. I am not looking forward to this tooth being extracted as it won't be an easy pull. Bob's nickname isn't Bobby Drama for nothin'.
Tomorrow is Paul's Playschool day and I go to the public school to help with reading in Will's class while Paul's at his school.
Other than that, I'm just looking forward to all the shows that have been on summer hiatus starting up this week. Big Bang Theory, House and Castle tonight. My butt will be firmly planted on my couch.
I've got some new projects to share but I just haven't taken any photos yet.
Until then, I give you People of Walmart for your viewing pleasure. You're welcome.

Surf's Up!

2009-09-15T23:31:00.004-04:00

What's happening?
Thanks to everyone for their nice comments on my Monkey Mug layout. It's funny how sometimes you just spend forever playing and adding things, and sometimes just a few doodads do the trick.
The water in the photo matched the Basic Grey paper perfectly (after playing a bit in PSE) and I decided I wanted to keep everything pretty monochromatic.
I am currently addicted to these Thickers. Love the colour, love the font, love the sparkles.

And just because I had to get my fingers a bit dirty, I sprayed the grungeboard with Glimmer Mist (riptide), rubbed a bit of Distress Ink (peeled paint) and accented the raised dots with Distress Stickles (rock candy).

I am loving this teal blue right now. Everything I've bought recently is either a shade of it or coordinates with it. Maybe I'm missing the water at the beach from the summer. We should try to get back again before it gets cold. We've had such a beautiful September. But once the kids are back in school, you don't really think of going to the beach anymore. It's a cryin' shame.

Awesome Contest

2009-09-14T19:06:00.004-04:00

I know ... two posts in one day. But I just had to post this the minute I saw it.
Noel Mignon is running this contest until October 12, 2009.
If you have one (or more) of her kits in your scrappy space, I insist that you get working immediately. If you've never purchased from Noel, you are missing out. Her kits are packed to the brim with a fantastic variety of embellishments, Etsy finds and vintage items.
Wait a minute ... if you all enter, I won't win that prize.
Nevermind.
Please disregard this post ;)

Monkey Mug

2009-09-14T14:51:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I worked on the current challenge from The Studio ...
1. Focus your layout on something from your daily routine. This can be a whole day, or just one item you use or someone you see every day.
2. You can journal as much or as little as you like, but you should answer the following questions within it: “who or what?”; “when?”; “where?”; and “why?”.
3. You can use no “bought” patterned paper – you must make your own patterned paper! Paint it, stamp it, or do something else creative! I'm not gonna lie ... I was skeered. I use all kinds of patterned paper. Rarely use cardstock. What was a gal to do? Play! And play I did.
I started out with some thin, white, glossy cardboard that came as packaging in something or other. Using 3 different colours of alcohol ink (Ginger, Latte & Caramel) and blending solution, I covered the entire surface of the cardboard. I then dropped blending solution here and there to make what looked like water rings (which even showed through the layers of paint that came after).
I have a woodgraining tool (by Debbie Travis) that is meant for home decor, but used just plain black Making Memories acrylic paint and the tool to come up with this effect. By this point, I decided that I wanted the surface to look like an old table that someone had decided to paint black, then strip the paint off, see how much work it was to strip and shove it in the basement part-way through to use a craft table. I spritzed on some watered down acrylic paint and then when it was partially dry, wiped it off. The larger bubbles took off the black paint that was underneath ... which I thought was so cool. Finally, I sprayed the whole works with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl to give it a bit of an uneven finish.
To decorate the top of my Prima packaging card, I made a simple blossom from trim and a K&Co. brad (I love their covered brads!)
A few Creative Cafe gems finish this corner.
My journaling spot was a little drab so I punched a scalloped circle from photo paper covered with the tri-colour alcohol ink treatment and edged with charcoal chalk ink.

I also wanted to include the Hambly monkey rub-on but didn't want to do it on paper. I used a thick layer of black acrylic paint on a piece of Scenic Route chipboard and then used the heat gun on it before it was dry. It bubbled up to create this rough, textured finish. I had been wishing I had some black crackle paint, but I think I like this finish even more.

Finally, I have a few antique egg crates hanging around here and the label on one had falled off (or had been ripped off my small fingers) not long ago. I stuck it in with my scrappy supplies to save for I wasn't sure what. I love how it provides the base for the grouping.

All in all, I had such a great time experimenting. I came up with a few techniques that I'll use again (the heated paint is a definate fave). This is one of my favorite layouts in a long time.

Which is why I love challenge blogs so much. I may never have tried some of these techniques if I hadn't had to make my own patterned paper.
Sorry if that was a lot of information that you just weren't interested in, but I always love finding out how people came up with certain techniques and I don't think this one would have been too easy to figure out :)

So sad

2009-09-11T11:19:00.002-04:00

A sad end to a good week. Our neighbor popped over this morning to ask if I'd been listening to the radio. A 7-year-old boy had been killed in an ATV accident. We don't know the family but have mutual friends. So upsetting. When you grow up in a rural community, kids have access to these big toys all the time ... my own kids included. I hope this throws a scare into my oldest. At eight, he thinks he can handle anything and doesn't recognize the danger he sometimes puts himself in.
My heart breaks for the family. I know that their friends and family will be there for them, but their lives will never, ever be the same again.

And ... they're off!

2009-09-08T15:20:00.000-04:00

Getting a decent picture of these two before the bus came was definately an exercise in patience. They should be home shortly and I'm excited to hear how everything went.

Paul was less than thrilled that his brothers wouldn't be home for him to boss around for the day. This is him as the bus was pulling away.

It didn't help that we left to take the dog to the vet this morning too. We can't pick her up until tomorrow morning so he's been a little lonely today.

Here's a few layouts from the crop the other night.

Nothing fancy but I've got photos piling up that need to be scrapped.

Love these puffy Making Memories letters. I've had them for awhile but saving them for just the right layout.

Paul (below) cracking everyone up. He thinks he's a comedian.

I'm thinking that fresh peanut butter cookies might be called for. It IS the first day of school, afterall ;)

Last day ...

2009-09-07T11:30:00.000-04:00

... before school starts here. Time to get organized. Lots of little things to get done today.
I made some homemade bread and rolls last week and they disappeared pronto. So I want to make some rolls today for the kids to take on thier lunches. I've been bad for sending lots of things with wrappers in thier lunches and I really want to get away from that this year. I also don't want the food to come back at the end of the day so it better be stuff they like. I'm thinking of doing little jellos, Rice Crispie squares, maybe some egg salad for Bob. We'll see how the time goes today. I want to find a recipe for granola bars too.
We need to get names in shoes and backpacks packed. We have so much stuff around here that I didn't buy any new school supplies in the way of pencil crayons or that kind of thing. But they got new pencil cases which we need to fill up yet.
My niece is going to have her baby any day now! I'm giving my sister-in-law my stroller, car seat, playpen and anything else I can unload for her to have at her house for when her new grandson is visiting. So those need to get cleaned up today so I can drop them off tomorrow.
What else ... laundry, a package to get ready to send in the mail tomorrow, talk to my new neighbor about her girls getting on the bus with the boys in the morning. And Molly is going to the vet tomorrow morning to be spayed. We had considered breeding her, but I can't see it happening. I don't think I could give up the puppies! I'm so nervous for her. She has to stay overnight and she's never been away from us. You just know I'm going to be at the vet first thing Wednesday to get her.
Probably no time to scrap today, but I played a bit yesterday with grungeboard and distress inks. It's still a work in progress but it's turning out so cool. I can't wait to share when it's done.
I went to a crop Friday night and worked on three different layouts. Two of them needed some finishing touches yesterday but I was pleased with the amount I got done.
This is one of the layouts I completed when I was at Scrappin' Great Deals for the crop. I had been wanting to try the new Ranger Rock Candy Distress Stickles and they had just gotten it in. It's a photo from our friends' wedding that my husband was Best Man for this past summer. The dresses were such a lovely shade of seafoam and I wanted to bring that out.

I cut a large flower out of textured Bazzill (swiss dot) using a Sizzix die and then covered the whole thing with the Stickles. It is such a cool effect and I can see myself going through a few bottles of the stuff. Now I'm on the lookout for the Ranger Rock Candy Crackle Paint. To see the effect in more detail, click on the image.

Tim Holtz recently put up a video on the new Rock Candy products. I love watching him work. I wish he'd come to Canada :)

TTV Frames

2009-09-06T14:42:00.003-04:00

A little while back, April had a tutorial on her blog on how to apply TTV (through the viewfinder) frames to photos. Not long after, Elsie was also playing with them and provided a link to another tutorial by Joe Philipson. Elsie did a whole wall of enlarged prints using this technique. Sigh. I finally sat down to play and loooove the effect. So fun! I used April's link for the frame on Molly's photo (below) and Joe's link for the frame on Paul's photo. You definately have to try it!

Ahhhhh ....

2009-09-04T15:12:00.002-04:00

I'm feeling so lazy today. It may have something to do with the fact that I'm going to a crop tonight. I just can't get motivated to do anything else because I'm thinking of my upcoming scrappies.
Last weekend before school starts up. I had tossed around the idea of taking the kids to my mom's trailer for a few nights, but wasn't really feeling it. Decided to do my crop tonight and some other things instead. We're going out for dinner with friends tomorrow night. No kids! It's been ages since I've gone to a restaurant without kids. And when I say ages, it's to the point that I can't even really remember the last time. I think it's been almost a year. Sad, isn't it?
On Sunday night, we're going to have friends over for supper. It may end up being a pizza night if I'm not motivated to cook. And I'm definately OK with that.
So overall, a pretty laid back weekend just spending time with friends and doing things I like. I really need it.
I did this layout this week. Not for any challenge. Just for fun. I was inspired by the layout composition of Jaime Warren's layout I saw on the Prima blog.

Definately not as swirly and girlie as Jaime's, but I love how it turned out. I even used up my Riff Raff chipboard tree.

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Challenge Blogs

2009-09-01T08:41:00.003-04:00

I don't know what's wrong with me these days but I can't seem to come up with layout ideas on my own. Thankfully, there are so many wonderful sketch and challenge blogs I can turn to for inspiration. Just today, there are two new ones that have launched ...
Candy Shoppe Designs
and
Point Blank Period.
Funnily enough, both are being sponsored this month by Wendy Rago of Bad Girls Kits. Gorgeous kits with fantastic designers. I check out the gallery every month and am never disappointed.
This past month, I've been working off sketches almost exclusively. I just don't have the energy to put into coming up with a plan and it's just so simple to grab a sketch and go from there.
I try to do at least one sketch from Inspired Blueprints each month. I managed two of them in August. This is my most recent.

This font from American Crafts is my favorite at the moment but I don't always have the right colour. A neat trick I stumbled on was using Ranger Alcohol Inks on the white glitter chipboard alphas. You can adjust the intensity of the colour by the amount you apply and the glitter still shines. I'm running out of them though. I should buy a few more packs because I love the versatility.

52 Sketches ... 52 Weeks is another sketch challenge blog that I've recently stumbled upon. Noel Mignon was an August sponsor so I had to make sure I did a layout for the last sketch.

I used a chipboard tree from Riff Raff Designs as a mask for the Maya Mist. I've been hoarding that tree for at least a year. This way, I still have it to use on another project. Or to have sit on my desk for another year. It's one of those things that I just can't bear to use because if I do, I won't have it anymore. Quite sad.

Now I'm off to check out the new sketches and challenges that will be popping up today!
If you have any challenge blogs that you love, link me to them!

Let's Capture These Sketches

2009-08-30T15:37:00.006-04:00

A few layouts I did this month using the sketches provides at Let's Capture These Sketches. The sponsor for the month is Pink Paislee, so I thought it the perfect opportunity to dig into my huge Pink Paislee stash. I've loved their last few lines and it looks like the new ones are going to be crowd pleaser's too.
Sketch #4 ...

I was in the mood to experiment. My title block is a piece of Pink Paislee chipboard. The colour wasn't really what I wanted so I attached vintage book paper to the BACK of the chipboard. That way I was able to use the sticky backing for a nice flat surface without having to wait for glue to dry. I applied an uneven coating of Ranger Crackle Paint and then accented the cracks with Distress Ink when it had dried. And I didn't realize that I'd left out "in" until I was looking at this photo so there is now a small "in" in front of "shirtsleeves".
I also ripped off the front of the butterfly chipboard piece, sprayed it with Glimmer Mist and applied a thin layer of Distress Stickles. Lots of fiddlin' but fun.

Sketch #5 ... I saw someone recently use a similar title and it made me laugh. I wish I could remember who it was now. I'm getting awful for that. I'll have to start keeping an "I saw it here" list to go back to so that I can give people credit.

hello hello hello

2009-08-24T08:43:00.003-04:00

So I've been away. I took the boys camping last week from Sunday to Friday. It was great weather (aside from the crazy short storm on Thursday that tore the awning off the trailer) and we had a wonderful time with our friends. My back and chest are now peeling because those areas of my body rarely see sun and I kinda forgot about them when we went to the pool. I can remember to put sunscreen on my kids but never remember myself.
The campground we went to had a few pools, a petting zoo and this crazy bouncing pillow in the ground like a gargantuous trampoline. We were on our own for the first two nights and our friends came on Tuesday. It was nice to spend time on our own, but the kids were ready for some different company. For whatever reason, just throwing one other kid into the mix seems to make all the difference in the world when the boys are getting tired of each other.
Lots of sun, hot dogs and corn on the cob, cocktails (me ... not the kids), beach time, camp fires and smores, Jiffy Pop on the fire, ... good memories for everyone.
I just wish it had been longer.
Although by Friday night, the weather had turned cooler and we've had rain off and on ever since. I guess we came home at the right time.
What strikes me most about our time away is that I really don't miss the internet or television when I'm camping. I don't think about it at all. But the minute I step in the house, I'm checking email and blogs and message boards or watching shows I recorded while we were away. I think I need to start limiting my computer time to make more room for other things ... more important things.
Speaking of more important things, my roommate from University and her two girls came up on Saturday for the night. We don't see each other very often and it's always so great to catch up. It's a bit of a punch in the gut when I realize that I've known her almost 20 years now. Am I really that old? I guess the numbers don't lie.
I never got around to posting the projects I completed for the Noel Mignon Sizzlin' Summer Crop before I went away. I didn't get very many done, but was lucky enough to win one of the prizes. Yay!
This card was done for a challenge to use up scraps with punches. I tried to just use smallish pieces I have in a little box for exactly this purpose. The background is scrap of October Afternoon, the scalloped circle from Coredinations cardstock, Martha Stewart butterflies punched from Chatterbox and covered with Perfect Pearls (which also got into my eyes ... it stings ... I don't recommend it!), and a strip of Lilybee using a Martha Stewart border punch.

Jana's challenge was to use a quilt as inspiration. I chose a quilt pattern from Anna Maria Horner to use as my background. I've made exactly one quilt in my day, but took a quilting course when I was in high school. I'd love to do one with Anna's fabric. The colours are just so beautiful and inspiring. Maybe that can be a winter project. Haha! I think I need to clear up some of my half finished projects before I take on another.

This final layout was for a colour challenge. I had a really difficult time matching the colours. For whatever reason, I just didn't seem to have very much of what I needed. But it's one of my favorites. I managed to use up some ancient embellishments while using some of my newer ones. I love the mix.

Now to get caught up on laundry, a bit of bookwork, and maybe some scrappies later on. Hope everyone is enjoying the last bit of the summer. It's pretty overcast and cool today but I think the rest of the week is nice. We may try to squeeze in a few nights in the trailer and a day at the beach yet if the weather cooperates.

Have a good one!

{pyt}

2009-08-12T11:05:00.003-04:00

I love this photo of my friend's little girl. She has such beautiful features and looks so feminine. But she's the boss of the bunch. She the youngest of our 3 boys and her brother, takes what she wants, does what she wants and no one can tell her to do any different. If you look closely at the photo, she's got streaks of dirt on her face because she just can't stay clean. I just love her.

I used a piece of KI lace cardstock to mask my whole background and sprayed with Maya Mist.
I had recently seen someone using PYT as a title and I knew I needed to use it for this photo. I kept the title the same colours as the paper it's mounted on because I wanted the focus to stay on the photo.
For those of you who don't know what PYT stands for ... it's Pretty Young Thing. Don't tell me if you didn't know 'cause I'll just make fun of you ;)

Martha Stewart glitter on Maya Road chipboard. I do so enjoy the look of MS glitter. It's a good job that I do because I always manage to cover myself in it when I use it. After I finished this one, I was watching TV and kept thinking I saw little flashes of light out of the corner of my eye. I seriously thought that lightening bugs had gotten in the house. When I washed my face before bed, I noticed that I had glitter in my eyelashes. At least I don't have lightening bugs in the house.

Have a great day and if you're looking for something to do, make sure you stop by Noel Mignon for the Sizzlin' Summer Crop.
Later!

Gosh it's hot ...

2009-08-10T09:57:00.004-04:00

Funny. Usually July is our hot month, but I think July forgot it was July this year. Last night was the first night this summer that it was too hot to sleep upstairs. We usually have a few each year when we all find a cool spot on our main level. No, we don't have air conditioning. We live in a century home that is lovely, with lots of character. But no air conditioning. Like I said, there are only a few nights when you really miss it. Otherwise we get by.
Through the day is when I notice it. It's so muggy that you just feel "heavy". I'm not a hot weather gal. I don't like cold weather either. I'm a not to cold, not too hot gal. Call me Goldilocks.
On to scrappy things. The following is a layout based on the current Inspired Blueprints sketch. I used all My Mind's Eye papers on this one. So beachy. I won this pack at the last crop on the Noel Mignon message board. There's another coming up this week (tomorrow!) and Noel is so generous with prizes. If you've got time to participate, it's definately worth your while.

I added the twine, punched some circles from old sheet music and sprayed some watered down white acrylic paint on Prima flowers. Vintage buttons and Making Memories cork alphas (picked up on clearance ... score) finish this bad boy.
Paul does either "the double thumbs up" or "the single thumbs up" (accompanied by "the wink") almost every time he sees a camera so we've started calling it his signature move. The kid just has the ability to crack people up. And he knows it. Not good.

Well, I'm off to do some laundry and then find a cool spot to chillax. It's a good job I stocked up on popcicles and freezies last week ;)

Lazy Sunday

2009-08-09T13:54:00.002-04:00

This is the only layout I managed to get done when I took the boys to my mom's trailer a few weeks ago. I always bring oodles of stuff and always get next to nothing accomplished. I'm not sure why I even bother to bring my scrappies with me. Must be like a security blanket I need to carry around with me.
I used supplies from Noel Mignon kits. They've gotten kind of jumbled at this point so I'm not sure what is from which.

I saw this layered border punch on someone's blog but cannot remember where! If I can figure it out, I'll definately come back to edit this. I hate when I can't give someone credit for a cool technique. A very cool look that I'll be doing again soon.

I'm feeling so lazy today. We had a thunder storm last night and our big dog is a big baby when we get storms. She tries to crawl under the bed (she's way to big and gets stuck) and walks around whining. Up and down the steps. Around the bed and back. For two hours this went on. And as usual, the little guy was up with the sun. Me thinks me needs a wee nap. Hopefully the fellas around here will cooperate. They're getting on each other's nerves and fighting about everything. Maybe I can find a movie they'll both approve of so I can catch a few zzzzzzz's. And then I think I need to get them out of here for awhile to avoid complete cabin fever. Supper out sounds pretty appealing right now.

Fun in the Sun

2009-08-08T22:42:00.004-04:00

I'm really not a beach person. Never have been.
But now that I've got kids, I'm starting to come around.
They're happy for hours on end. As long as I take drinks and snacks and have towels at the ready, it's good stuff.
Dave's cousin bought a cottage on Lake Huron last year, so I loaded up the kids (and my in-laws) and we went for a visit one day this week. The weather was gorgeous and I love that her beach is so private. It's maybe not the nicest beach as far as lots of sand goes, but it was perfect for us. Enough sand for the kids to dig in, nice big rocks to play on, trees to make forts under, drift wood to drag around and only the odd person within sight.
Bob insisted that I take numerous photos of him lifting and dragging the big driftwood logs because he wanted to show Dad.

Will kept standing on the big rock just under the water and pretending that he was surfing.

Mr. Droopy Drawers would run to the water, get his face wet and come back to wipe it on his towel every time. I don't want to say that he did it more than a hundred times, but it wasn't far off.

Some very cool rocks to look at and wonder what type they were.

Pretty.

Ahhh. I could live here. Maybe not in the winter. It gets reeeeeal cold in the winter with the wind coming off of that lake.

And a few games of badminton and volleyball with Opa before we headed home.

Not a bad day at all.
We went to another beach yesterday but it didn't measure up to our afternoon the day before. Dirty, cold, cranky kids. I should have known better than to press my luck two days in a row.

This coming week is supposed to be hot and humid so I predict activities involving water.

Whoops!

2009-08-08T22:38:00.003-04:00

I am notorious for forgetting people's birthdays so I like to have a few "whoops" cards around for when I remember that I've forgotten. Pitiful.
This one was made using a sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. I love those Jillibean Soup letter stickers. Wish I could buy them locally :(

And another.

2009-07-29T12:07:00.003-04:00

Real quick. The July challenge at Scrap the Boys. Bob had his nails painted pink at the school's fundraiser in June. What is the funniest is that he wouldn't let me take it off for WEEKS!

Geez Louise!

2009-07-29T11:38:00.002-04:00

Have you ever tried doing a white monochromatic layout? It's kinda hard. But that's the current mixer at Mix it Up, so here's my go at it.
It took me forever because I was experimenting with different ways to add some texture without adding any colour. Some worked, some didn't.

Vintage lace around paper circle. Patterned paper covered with a wash of white acrylic paint and Pewter Liquid Pearls. I should have let the paper dry before continuing on with my layout, but I didn't and now it's curved. Hope it flattens out in the album.

KI butterfly lace cardstock layered under Bazzill Just the Edge (in white covered with Pink Paislee Coconut glitter). Butterfly stamped and embossed with Stampin' Up! silver ink and embossing powder.

I used a fair bit of silver. I counted that as close enough to white. Love this Thickers font. I think I have about 5 set in different colours and materials.

And I snuck in a wee bit of green bling. But I don't think it takes away from the overall monochromatic feel. I tried out using silver embossing powder and stamping an image while it was still warm. Very subtle but I'll definately be experimenting a bit more with this technique again 'cause I like it.

I love how this layout turned out and learned a few new things in the process. But I don't think I'll be tackling another white on white on white project any time in the near future!

A Quick Card ...

2009-07-28T20:48:00.002-04:00

... for the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge blog.

Bob had to go to a birthday party today and I needed to make something super quick. Love card sketches for fast cards.

I did a bit of window shopping (and a bit of actual shopping) while waiting for him. I could have stayed and helped out, but to be honest, I just didn't have it in me today. I think there were about ten of them ... 8 and 9 year old boys at a pool party. Wouldn't you rather be sipping a Mocha Frapacchino (I'm sure that's not spelled right) and wandering around Chapters? I thought so.

I finally ...

2009-07-22T00:11:00.002-04:00

... bit the bullet. My computer is almost 6 years old and the only thing I've really done to it is add a bit more ram 3 years ago. And invested in an external hard drive. And replaced the keyboard. Twice. You'd think I would learn not to drink at the computer. Not booze. Just coffee and orange juice. But apparently electronics don't discriminate between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages when they're spilled upon.
Anyway, the fax/copier has also been a pain (ie. won't print anything) and prompted my search for new toys. Which resulted in a new everything. They're getting everything set up for me and I pick it up tomorrow. Other times, I would do the installing and whatnot myself, but I just cannot be bothered with it. I just want to plug it in and make it go vroom.
This should also hopefully solve my problem of finding melted popcicles at my desk if I can set the old one up somewhere else for the popcicle kids to use.
But now I'm going to have to pull in my spending after dropping such a wad on this non-essential item. At least for a few months. Boo.
It's supposed to rain almost every day this week but with some warmer temperatures which are good for all of the wee plants. I want to take the kids to stay at my mom's trailer for a few days next week, so I hope the rain drops off a bit by then. Rain + warm weather + beautiful park = many many mosquitos. They don't bother Will and I too much but they eat Bob and Paul alive. They must get that from Dave. I think that's one of the reasons he's not big on camping. He always ends up with bites everywhere that welt right up. Not pretty.
Before I head of to bed for the night, I thought I'd share a few layouts that I actually have had laying around for a bit.
This one was done for a round of layout tag at Noel Mignon. So fun. Check it out here. We're doing another one in the fall, so join the message board to sign up.

And this was sort of my induction into spraying and masking. I used a vinyl Maya Road something or other (can't remember what it's called) and some alcohol ink mixed with water. It worked not to bad that day. In fact, I was quite smitten. But when I went to use the leftover in my little mini mister at a later date, it didn't spray quite so nicely. In future, I will only mix up small amounts and clean out my sprayer immediately to avoid the gunking. Still fun though.

Noel Mignon Day by Day kit

2009-07-20T15:32:00.004-04:00

These just went up for sale this morning and are almost sold out. Don't wait if you want one!

And these are the layouts I've done with the Five Foot Two kit and Eyes of Blue add-on kit from last month. I think there are still a few of the add-on kits left and it looks like they co-ordinate beautifully with the new kit.

That's it for me today! I'm trying out a recipe for salmon cakes that I saw on Barefoot Contessa. I'm missing a few of the ingredients but I should be able to make it work.

Have a great day!

Sunday Scrappies

2009-07-19T17:41:00.003-04:00

I actually had time to scrapbook this afternoon so I did the current mixer at Mix It Up. It was to use a photo that was at least 20 years old so I dug out one of the photos my mom used to take on the first day of school every year. Oh ... how I loved that jacket. I made my own little fringe detail by painting some paper with Ranger Crackle paint and then rubbing Distress Ink over it to show the cracks. And because Noel Mignon is July's sponsor, I used bits and pieces from about 3 of her kits. I love how you can mix and match items from month to month.

Well ... my kids are starting a war in the next room. I should probably intervene before anything I like gets wrecked.

Playing Catch Up

2009-07-17T08:35:00.004-04:00

So I've really been slacking off as far as blog posting, but summer has a way of making time "smaller". There are so many extra things to do, but not nearly enough time to do them.
We have a lot of bush lot on our property but don't seem to use it very often. One afternoon, we went for a little walk and took some snacks (of course). The lighting was so pretty that I thought it would be a perfect time to get some photos of the boys. This is about the best of the bunch. I like it because he's smiling instead of scowling. haha. I wish I were joking. We've spent a lot of our time butting heads lately and I'm trying so hard to just go along with the flow instead of working against it. It's a learning process.

When Bob turned six, he got a minibike. But Will isn't really all that coordinated so he got a new pedal bike. We FINALLY got him to agree to take off the training wheels and a few days later, the tire BLEW! It sounded like a gun shot. The poor kid was rattled. So being the cheapo that I am, I took, the thing back to Walmart. They exchanged it without any hassle so I got Will a new helmet (along with elbow and knee pads ... which I probably should have gotten before). He's loving it. I think the extra padding gave him a bit more confidence and with the new helmet, I don't even have to remind him to wear it because he loves it.

Speaking of bikes, they sure came in handy when we were camping. The weather did not cooperate at all. It was cool and damp and rained every day so they kids just biked around. Paul decided to wake up at 4:30am for the first few days. I was able to keep him in the trailer until 6am, but he just wanted to get out to ride his bike. My mom had picked this bike up a few years ago at a yard sale and is way too big for him, but he gets on and pumps those legs until he gets flying. Kindly notice the overlarge boots he's got on as well. He's a little dog that thinks he's a big dog. So he would fly up and down the little hill next to our site, hootin' and hollarin', while I drank my coffee, read and shivered outside until everyone else got up. The friends that we camped with have much more considerate children. They sleep until ... wait for it ... 9am! They were not open to considering a trade. I wonder why.

The week that we were camping was over the July 1st, so we went down to Grand Bend to watch the fireworks on the main beach. It was a lovely night. A lot of years, it's been so cold and windy right off the lake so we went prepared with lots of layers and blankets but they weren't really needed this year.

There was one day that was a little bit warmer than the rest. Not wonderful, but better. So we decided to get to the beach while the gettin' was good. Lake Huron is always cold, but this was freezing. I couldn't believe that the kids actually went in. Bob and Will went in but didn't stay in as long as they normally would.

Paul showed the good sense to restrict his activities to the beach. And he kept his shirt on. I had a sweatshirt on so I didn't fault him at all. It's the other kids that are a bit crazy.

One night last week, I was giving the kids a bath and noticed a big chunk out of Will's hair. Right in front. Evidently, it was in his eyes so his solution was to cut it right down. I generally don't scalp him, but it was so short that my options were pretty limited. Funnily enough, he loves it. I catch him rubbin his head all the time and smiling.

I'll save the layouts I have piling up for another day, but thought I'd share a card. This uses one of Noel Mignon's kits and a sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. I can't remember how I stumbled across this blog, but have used a few of the sketches.

I guess that's it for now. If you're still reading, thanks for hanging in there!

Summer is Officially Here

2009-07-16T19:59:00.002-04:00

I was wondering if it was going to skip right over to Fall, but I think we'll get a bit of warm weather before the leaves turn.

We left to go camping last Monday for the week and were supposed to come home Saturday.

It rained.

Every single day.

And was cold.

The kids couldn't have cared less. But by Friday, I was done.

A few days after coming home, I came down with an ear ache which turned into ear infections in both ears. I stuck it out until Friday and finally went to get some antibiotics. Now in addition to the ear infections, I've got it in my sinuses. yay. I've been sort of puttering around but went out today in the heat to do some yard work. I had hoped that I might sweat some of this crap out, but I don't feel any difference. I'm just dirtier.

Dave and Bob went fishing tonight, so Will, Paul and I had dinner out of doors. Real fancy. Hot dogs and potato chips. It was just gorgeous. And quiet. And relaxing. And appreciated.

I've got lots of photos and layouts to share, but I'm too lazy to do it right now. I need to hop in the shower to get ready for Big Brother and SYTYCD. I'm a big loser. So sue me.

I signed up for this though. I've been in such a rut that I'm hoping this gives me a little kick in the can. I'm so looking forward to it.

Just this ...

2009-06-23T13:41:00.001-04:00

I had some other things to post, but this deserves it's own post.

Tired

2009-06-21T07:45:00.003-04:00

Dude.
I'm so tired today. I got to bed last night and kept thinking of all the things I still need to do today. And instead of getting to my list, I'm sitting here talking to y'all. I've got a real problem with my priorities.
Today is the wedding shower for the wedding that Dave is best man for. It's a big one with lots of aunts and uncles and kids.
For my bit, yesterday I made ...
- Triple Chocolate Brownies (mix from Costco ... soooo good)
- Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing (also from a mix but I hate grating carrots and it's also soooo good)
- Mini Cherry Cheesecakes
- Hello Dolly Squares
- Butter Tarts (I cheated and bought the tart shells. I used to make my own but discovered my husband doesn't like my pastry and this is so much easier!)
- Vanilla Cupcakes with Sprinkles
I also made up a batch of Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins but that was just to use up some overripe bananas.
I decorated a box for people to put cards in and it totally didn't turn out the way I wanted. I don't even want to take a picture to show! Maybe it'll look better in the light of day, but I'm thinking it's going to look worse.
And I started on a little guest book.
Today's list ...
- finish guest book
- Father's Day card for Opa
- wrap shirt and put together a tray of sweets for Opa
- scrub and polish children
- serious self-grooming (this will likely take the longest)
- PEDICURE (This is not an option. I'm not leaving the house with these feet the way they are.)
- cut up and attractively display fruit & dips on platters
- deliver said shirt and sweets to Opa
- load all of my precious baked goods and fruit and lawn chairs and children in van

I'm just waiting for my coffee to kick in before I get moving.
Oh, hey ... did you notice I've been messing with my blog? Spent a few hours on it last night when I should have been sleeping. I've gotten the bug now. Next up ... new header.

It's been raining the past few days but it's supposed to be nice today. Hope so. This shower is going to be outside and I don't think she has an indoor alternative.
OK. Coffee seems to be working.
Think I'll tackle that Father's Day card for Opa first. It doesn't require too much energy :)
Have a great day everyone!

Clothes Shopping

2009-06-20T08:27:00.002-04:00

I've never really been a big fan of clothes shopping. Even at my thinnest (and that is definately not right now), I hate trying stuff on. I'm never happy with the fit. I don't like anything tight around my waist or having my upper arms show. So much for summer clothes.
The last year, I've put on some weight. Especially around my middle. I keep putting off buying anything new because I know I'll lose the weight as soon as I decide to. But I've got nothing to wear right now. So I bit the bullet this week and hit some stores. What a nightmare. I came home with a few things on Wednesday. Typical yoga pants and hoodie. Nothing new there. But I need something a little dressier for Sunday's shower and I wanted black capris to wear with a shirt I bought 3 years ago and is still in my closet with the price tag on. I don't think you have Mark's Work Wearhouse in the US, but here in Canada, they have a surprising amount of women's clothing. And it's all quite comfortable. And it was 20% off everything yesterday. Found some comfy stuff. Came home to try my new black pants on with my shirt .... and they're dark brown. I swear to God. I'm losing it. I've never done that before. So I guess my hunt for black pants will continue another day. Or said shirt will remain in the closet for another year.
My next horror show will be the search for something to wear to the wedding in July. Blech. I wish I could just rent a tux like the fellas.
Speaking of weddings, I have a bunch of wedding cards to do for this summer. I need about 3, my mom needs 2 and I still have to do a shower card for tomorrow. I started on them this past week but I seem to have a really difficult time doing cards.
Here's what I've come up with so far...
A really simple one ...

I used a Hambly rub-on for the frame and coloured it in with a Fantastix stick and two shades of Martha Stewart inks. I love the watercolour effect and I'm too cheap to start buying Copix markers. The sentiment is stamped.

I'm not sure if I like this one for a wedding card or not. I used the Noel Mignon Penny Arcade kit and love the card itself, but it seems like more of an all occasion or anniversary card.

I don't know. I'll probably end up using it for the shower this weekend.

I usually end up leaving the inside blank but I'd like to include some nice verses or quotes for a change. I'd love to know what everyone else uses inside. Link me up!