Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Scraplifted... Snow King

WoW... I thought that I had posted this layout a month ago... one problem, I hadn't added the pic of the layout, so now that it's been added.... Enjoy!! :-)

I had a stack of scrapbook magazines that I hadn't looked at yet... 4 actually. So Remembrance Day weekend, I finally took the time to look through 2 of them! Even found a couple of ideas I hope to try out real soon!

Anyways, you have probably noticed, I usually do 2 page layouts, but most of the layouts... ok about half of the layouts in the magazines are single pages. So I though why not give it a try . I came across a real simple 1 page layout on page 91 of the December 2011 Scrapbooks etc. Magazine that someone had already scraplifted. Here's my version of the layout...


The paper I used is Frost Signature Christmas collection from My Mind's Eye.

I accidentally cut one of the pics a tad bit smaller than I should have, so I just matted that one which makes it stand out just a bit more than the others.

I'm working on another layout, so till next time...

Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Oh 1 last thing... I'm still into inking everything as you can see from this layout, even the cardstock base has been inked!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Happy 40th Rich!

A month ago today my "younger" brother turned the big 4-0!! :-)


He gave me a hard time a couple years ago when I turned 40, so I felt that it was only right that I reciprocate the favour & give him a hard time in return... Even the card I made him was a reminder of just how OLD he now was!! :-) It might look nice & innocent on the outside but the message inside... well see for yourself...


Sure it could have been a lot worse but really, I felt this said it all!!

Happy 40th Rich!!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

It's Christmas... Countdown Calendar

A number of years ago, I picked up a "Karen Foster's" countdown calendar but had never done anything with it... that is until today...

Last weekend I was looking through the November/December 2011 edition of Creating Keepsakes Magazine & came across an add featuring this product. It inspired me to pull the unopened package out of my closet & start looking for paper to use in order to complete this project. I couldn't find any paper in my stash, so I went to Michael's... that's when I came across K&Company's  "Elizabeth Brownd Visions of Christmas 12x12 Designer Paper Pad" & knew that this is what I was looking for...


If you clicked on the link above, you can see that there are half circles on the front of each of these 25 little boxes in order to make it easier to pull out the tiny box & see what is inside. As I didn't want to take away from the picture, I decided not to cut out these notches but had to come up with some other way to remove the boxes so I decided instead to add knobs that would be strong enough to pull on but wouldn't tear the paper... That's when I decided to use brads as little knobs!!

I didn't have enough of 1 colour, so I had to come up with some sort of pattern in order to use 2 different colours... I started by placing 2 gold brads on the boxes followed by 1 brown one & continued this pattern.

For those of you that really know me... you know that I'm a bit of a perfectionist... I like things to be just right... so I just had to come up with an "eye pleasing" arrangement for the placing of these brads, so I did what I often do... I opened up Excel & start playing!! :-)

As mentioned above, my first attempt was "C" below, but as you can see, it just doesn't look right... "B" is the opposite of "C" but "A" is just right & that is the pattern I went with!! :-)


So once I had my design, I just had to figure out how I was going to attach them.

I first attached the paper to the box & then punctured a hole in each of them, putting the brad through the paper & the cardboard. If I closed the brad tight against the box, it was hard to get a handle on the knob in order to pull the box out of it's drawer, so I had to leave enough room to get my nail under it & pull it out!

Now I can put a "little" something into each of these boxes & know that we will be able to open them up on the appropriate date!!

Oh that reminds me... as you can see I didn't put a number on the box... label them 1 through 25... again I decided against this because I didn't want to take away from the picture...

Thanks for reading this looonngg post!! Hope it inspired you to try something new...

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Coos Bay

I decided to take a basic layout, using the same colours scheme but change it around a bit so that you can see how much of a difference it can make!

I actually did these layouts a couple of years ago... This first layout I started on October 5th, 2007 but I didn't add the pictures until July 26, 2008...


This second layout was was started July 27th, 2008 & finished August 9th, 2008!


You are probably asking yourself - How can I be so sure of these dates? Well years ago, I decided to write this information of the back of every layout I ever do.

There are a number of reasons as to why I started it... I guess the main reason is because I can see how my scrapbooking skills have changed over the years.

I often start a layout, or at least get the general style of the layout done, I just don't have pictures to put on the page right away. :-)

FYI - if you look closely at the second layout, you will notice that the arrow located on the left hand page is one I made. I only had the one - which I used on the 1st page, so I had to make a second one. I traced out the shape using the original arrow & just added some white rub-on designs to it!! I thought it worked out pretty well don't you!!

Hope you enjoyed all the ideas I provided in this post. Who knows, maybe you will give them try as well!!

Until next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Our idea of roughin' it...

We love to go camping... but our idea of camping isn't the same as a lot of other people's!!!  :-) We've actually been told that we don't camp, as we aren't roughing it! We go RVing!! :-)

As we don't sleep on the ground & we don't have to worry about getting all wet when it rains... we quite enjoy our idea of roughing it...


This paper used in this layout is old products/collections from both "Cosmo Cricket" & "BoBunny". The chip board is also from Bo Bunny's "roughin' it" line!

Whether you like to camp or rough it like us...  thanks for stopping by!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Cozumel

Have you ever had one of those pieces of paper that is sculpted around the edge but you just aren't sure how to use it... Your worried that once you cut it, you won't be happy with the way it looks so it just sits there in our stash of paper...!

Well as you can see from the following layout, I finally took this one out of my stash & created this layout... & I think that this worked out quite well! :-)


One of the things I liked about this paper is the lines on the sheet. I've never been big on journalling, as I don't really like my hand writing but I've been trying to get better at doing it on my layouts! As you can see with this layout I was able to journal directly onto the bottom half of the page.

Gotta run... so till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Monday, October 10, 2011

Summer Heat Wave


A number of months ago, I won 2 tickets to go Whale Watching! We had to go before the end of October and with school just around the corner & honestly, who wants to go whale watching late September/October when it's cold & rainy... Not US!!  As Monday, August 29th was my flex day, Bruce & I finally went! Even though it was a nice sunny day, the water was rough & we were only able to find 1 whale... & lots of Sea Lions.

The paper I used in this layout is called "Beach Bum" by "Fancy Pants".

I realize that the car with all the surf boards on the right hand side don't really go with the "theme" of the page however, they do kinda go with the thin stripe piece of paper on the left side of the page! So it just ties everything together! Plus it fills in the space where nothing else did!! :-)

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Shell Seekers


I did something totally different when I created this layout... instead of starting with someone elses' sketch, or even with paper...
  1. I took the pictures I wanted to use & decided which ones I could cut down to a smaller size.
  2. Organized the pics on cardstock, to creating a double page layout.
  3. Found some embellishments that went with the theme. I chose the "Beach Babe" paper embellishments from "Fancy Pants"
  4. Now to find paper that would work with my layout. The matching Beach Babe paper that I had, just didn't seem to work... that was until I took the "High Tide" paper & turned it sideways... So now I have a bit of a design in the bottom right hand corner of my large matt & the rest is all this pale yellow... kinda reminds me of sand!
  5. I trimmed the pics a little more so that they would all fit nicely.
  6.  Finally I clued everything into place, adding pop dots to some of the embellishments in order to add some dimension!

Next time you create a layout, why not give this a try & let me know how it works out for you!

Till next time... Happy Scramping!! :-)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Our Little Lady

Here's the final 2 page layout I completed this past weekend! If truth be told though... I finished this layout first - yet I'm posting it last... & the one I posted first, was the last one I finished! Oh well... if I wouldn't have said anything, you would have had no idea!!! :-)

Out of all the layouts I did this weekend, this one is my favourite! :-) Again you can see that I still need to journal, but that will come!


There are a couple of things on this layout that I don't normally do... I don't usually group a lot of embellishments together in one general area as I find that it has a tendency to look crowded and takes away from the pictures. I like simple layouts!  And truthfully, I think that this is a simple layout as I don't think that I over did it with the grouping of the embellishments. Probably because I didn't use large embellishments!

I actually used 2 lines of paper for this layout... the "Neighborhood Collection" from "Crate Paper Inc" as well as "Countryside Collection" from "Studio Calico".

One of my favourite embellishments on this page are the Wood Veneer Hearts (& Buttons) also from Studio Calico! I also really like the gem accents that I added to the page! I might have to start using those more often!

I hope to get more layouts completed next week as I have the week off!! :-)

Till next time - Happy Thanksgiving!!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Playin' Around... Gotcha

Hey All,

As promised here is another layout I did this weekend!


I love the way it turned out.... even though it's not quite finished. As you can see I haven't been able to write anything on the card yet & there are a couple other things I will probably add over time.

This was a tough layout to work on... not because of the layout itself but because of who this layout is about... These pictures were taken roughly 2 months before we lost Mia torenal dysplasia (which is a type of Kidney disease). She was only 7 months old.

The line of paper I used was the "Neighborhood Collection" from "Crate Paper Inc". I inked the edges of the large square & then roughed up the edges. I then inked the edges again but this time with a darker shade of the colour. I also used this technique on the mat. I find that by doing this, it just give the page a bit of texture.

The layout I plan on showing tomorrow is a variation on this layout.

Well till then, Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Lazy Days

Hey there! What a summer... lots has happened, created some happy memories as well as some very sad ones... :-(

With Summer coming to an end, all the regular fall business seems to have taken over. That means that I'm back in school... so between work, school, housework & all the other things that come with being a "Mom", I was finally able to sit down this weekend and get my creative juices flowing again!! :-)

I was able to get three 2 page layouts done this weekend but I won't have time to post them all today. Hopefully in the next day or two...

This first layout is actually a very easy one & as you can see, you can use a number of your photos!!


I like to take lots of consecutive pictures (I like to call them "Action Shots")... so this layout worked really well!

The inspiration for this layout came from "Sketch Support". As you will see when comparing my layout with their sketch, I used only 9 photos instead of 10.

The paper I used is the "Sweet Summertime" line from Echo Park Paper Co.

Well I should get back to studying... so till next time… Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Monday, August 8, 2011

Happy 18th Birthday!

My "Baby" turned 18 today... I know, I shouldn't really call him a "baby" anymore as he has grown into a very handsome young man! But he is my youngest, and as I've discovered, no matter how old we get, as parents we still see our children as our little children...

OK - so before I start getting all sentimental here & start misting up, (Yes - I have something in my eyes...) let me show you the card I made for him...


The paper I used was called "Bits A Bella" from the "Man of the House" collection by Bella Blvd. I first inked the paper using ColourBox Harbor ink before matting it to a Bazzill Cardstock  - Bahama (turquoise paper). I matted it a second time using Bazzill Cardstock  - Kraft before mounting it to the Bazzill Cardstock  - Pinecone base. I also used 3 brads to add some dimension.

As you can see, I used the same 2 cardstock colours on the inside, that I used on the outside, but this time I reversed the order, placing the Kraft cardstock on top of the Bahama cardstock in order to see the inside note more clearly.


Don't you just love the "lacy" corners! Not to long ago, I came across this old EK Success punch I picked up when we were in Oregon a couple of years ago, but for some reason just never seemed to use... until recently!! This has become my new favour punch, especially when making cards! So don't be surprised if you see it again soon!!!

Well I've rambled on enough for one day, so till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Happy Birthday!

In one of my 1st posts, I said that cards are something that I have just started doing. Well, I've found a very easy card design that I just love and here's a Birthday Card I made this afternoon...


This card is called a "Center Step Card" and the instructions/tutorial can be found at "Splitcoaststampers". Trust me, it might look like a difficult card to make but it's not!! ;-) Your imagination is the only thing holding you back when you make this card!!


Normally I would have put the paper through my printer in order to print the message on the front of the card, but I've been having trouble locating ink for my new printer... so I thought that I would use some of the sticker letters from my stash!!

When I first spelt out "Happy Birthday!" it was too long for the card, so I staggered them in order to get them all in & I think it turned out pretty well!! :-)


I hope that you have a great rest of your weekend!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Prom Night - June 11th, 2011

Sorry I didn't finish this post last night but as I was writing it, I realized that I wanted to add one more pic & when I took the extra pic, it was just too dark outside & I didn't like the way the pic turned out... even with using the flash & all the lights in the room on!! ;-) So with the morning light, I was able to get the pic... hope you enjoy it!...

What another exciting day this was! Everyone was all dressed up... looking their very best! It was amazing to see all the fancy dresses the Girls wore... And of course all the Guys looked sharp in their suits!!

Normally pics are taken in the gardens located at Royal Roads University, but as there was a private function going on there this year,  B & his friends (as well as many other Grads!) all met up at a Art Gallery down by the Lagoon! So glad the weather was nice for them, especially being that close to the ocean!!


If this L/O looks a little familiar, I'm not surprised as it is the same basic L/O as the last post entitled "A Very Proud Moment" ... except the pages are reversed!! ;-) I also have 3 pics on the right hand page where as on the other L/O, I only had 1 5x7 larger pic in that same area! Oh & I have that large "banner" over the group of 4 pics on the left hand page of this L/O.

Isn't it cool how a few changed can give your L/O a completely different look & feel!! :-)


I also went out of my comfort zone again with this L/O by adding those 5 stickers located on the left page. As I recently mentioned, I am trying to use up as much of those sticker pages as possible. I buy those pages (or they come in a kit) but only 1 or 2 stickers gets used... well the 2 pages of stickers that came with this kit are slowly getting used!!! Yet I am still surprised at how many more I still have to use!!

Anyway, instead of journalling, I filled up this area with these sayings, making sure to use an odd number of them! I think it filled up the area nicely! :-)

So once again this paper is from the monthly kit from "Memory Workshop" for the month of June & is called "Life Documented" by Simple Stories.... & the L/O was inspired from one of the sketches that was in the newsletter that came with the June Kit.

I know... As much as I love this company, you are probably getting tired of seeing it, so I will try & use something different for my next L/O!! (But expect to see them again real soon!! ;-) )

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Saturday, July 9, 2011

A Very Proud Moment


WoW... Doesn't he look all grown up?!? It's hard to believe that my "Baby" has Graduated!!

Once again this paper is from the monthly kit from "Memory Workshop" for the month of June & is called "Life Documented" by Simple Stories. The L/O was inspired from one of the sketches that was in the newsletter that came with the June Kit.

Can you see the mistake I made on this L/O... I know - there are no such things as a mistake when scrapbooking... but to me it was an opps, something that I didn't like!!

I originally had the title as "{proud moment}" but once it was done, I didn't like it & decided to change it but instead of removing all the letters, I just removed the "{" and moved it to the left page & had the title read "{a proud moment}"... but again that just didn't look right... looked a little funny only having the "{a" on the one page.

That's when I decided to add the "very"... I like this way better... it evens out the title across the 2 pages. So unless you are looking really closely in that general area, you won't notice the little nicks in the paper from me moving the stickers around!! :-)

Oh & you will notice that I was able to keep with just those 3 colours in the title... that's my "Blue" coming through again!! ;-)

Well I have one more post to write up tonight... so till then... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Friday, July 8, 2011

The Big Day - June 5th, 2011


This was one of the monthly kit from "Memory Workshop" for the month of June. The paper is called "Life Documented" by Simple Stories, & I fell in love with this company!

Have I told you that each month, when I receive my kit, Memory Workshop provides a newsletter that contains a couple sample layouts? Well this L/O was inspired by one of those sketches! It made me scrap a bit out of my comfort zone... especially the small block letter in the title... as well as the "Banner" above the title.

In the kit there was this page of stickers that contained lots of these small letters. Usually I don't use these, but I decided to give it a try with this layout. As for the "Banner"... this seems to be the in thing to do on your L/Os but I don't really care for them... so why did I add one on this page... I needed something to fill in that corner & again they were stickers that I normally just wouldn't use... :-)

Oh & for those of you who know how I scrapbook, you will be surprised to hear that I didn't use my ruler to line everything up just right... I eyeballed a lot of it!!! Including the title!! ;-)

All in all, I think it turned out pretty good!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Friday, July 1, 2011

Oregon Coast

Every month I get a Scrapbooking kit sent to me from "Memory Workshop". This paper was in one of these kits. I just love it... it's the "Traveler" line from Little Yellow Bicycle... the only thing I didn't like about the line was that the paper doesn't make me think of traveling but all the embellishments that go along with this line of paper are definitely "Travel" related... such as "Are we there yet?", "Destination", "Traveler", "This Way" or "Road Trip"! You get the idea!

So my challenge was to create a page where I could use up a number of these "Travel" embellishments without having to use up a lot of this nice paper.  The website I mentioned the other day - "Sketch Support by Scrapbook Generation Publication" inspired this layout. (It would also work great for using up some of those scraps we all seem to have!)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Fast Friends

I've been cleaning up some of my scraps and came across this patterned paper which was all left overs from the Basic Grey POTM. The layout was inspired from a website I recently came across called "Sketch Support by Scrapbook Generation Publication".


A number of months ago we decided that Cassie needed a playmate as the boys are just too old and don't want to play anymore... So we decided to get another Golden!

These pictures were all taken the evening we brought Mia home - March 1st, 2011! As you can see Cassie & Mia became "Fast Friends" (hence the name of the layout!). Cassie even let Mia play with one of her toys - something the boys sure wouldn't get away with doing!! We sure are glad that they get along so well!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Golden Gate Bridge

One thing you will notice about the way I scrapbook, is that I don't do it in any sort of order... I don't do it by date or even by event... I pick out my paper & see what pictures go with it! This means it takes me longer to complete an album but that's ok with me... Besides, this way I can go back, sometimes years after an even and re-live that day again... such as this one...

Just over 2 years ago, for my 40th birthday, we went on our 3rd cruise. It was a repositioning cruise up the west coast, starting in LA & ending in Vancouver... although we got off in Victoria as there really isn't any point in going over to Vancouver, just to turn around & take a ferry back here!!


One of the ports we stopped at was San Francisco, California! This was one day we made sure to set our alarm as we didn't want to miss seeing the Golden Gate Bridge! This meant getting up around 6:30am but it was worth it! By 7am we were passing under the bridge! What a great start to our very busy day!

FYI - the colour of the bridge is called International Orange & was choosen "because it complements the natural surroundings and enhances the bridge's visibility in fog". Sure Glad there wasn't any fog the day we arrived!

Well till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Time with You

Some of you may recognize this layout as the Basic Grey POTM kit from January 2011 & you'd be correct! I finally got around to working on it last weekend & I like the way it turned out. It's the first time that I have printed of pictures as Sepia, instead of coloured or black & white. I think it worked well with this layout!


The pics are of my daughter Alyssa and I. We were able to spend a couple of hours together, celebrating both Mother's Day as well as my 42nd birthday!

We started off the afternoon by going for Sushi. This might not seem like a big thing to most people but for us it reminds us of the first time Alyssa had sushi... let's just say that she never wanted to have it again! And now we seem to have it almost every time we get together!

We had both commented earlier in the week that we didn't have a recent picture of the two of us, so I made sure to bring my camera & ti-pod along. So after a lovely lunch we headed down to the park & took these pics.

As always our time together seems so short but now we have current pics that we can look at and remember this special day together! Luv You Alyssa!

Till next time… Happy Scrapping!! :-)

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

I created this blog back in 2008 but just never did anything with it... Between school & moving twice, I guess life just got in the way of me ever really doing anything on here!! Well hopefully that will change! I won't be posting every day... maybe not even every week, but I hope to get some of my creations posted on here.

Up until recently all I've ever done is scrapbook pages, but now I've started making cards. Maybe it's because I find it easier to complete a card, than complete a double page layout! As it is, I have so many pages that are just waiting for pictures to eventually get added... but it never seems to happen. :-(

Well last month I made 2 cards but forgot to take pictures of them before mailing them out! Oh well, here is the one I made yesterday afternoon for my Mom.


I don't have many stamps... like I said, I have just started making cards, so instead of stamping a sentiment on the front of the card, as well as inside, I just use my printer. As you can see with a coloured printer I was able to get pretty close to the colour of the cardstock used!


It's nothing fancy but it lets Mom know how much I love her!

Till next time... Happy Scrapping!! :-)