Do what you love.....love what you do!!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

The Road of Good Intentions!

Let's just say my December Daily Album may turn into my December Weekly Album!!!  

I will share this with you: 

 
This is my annual photo collage that I will be putting in my Christmas Cards this year.  My store bought Christmas Cards!  Yikes!!  

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

More December Daily to share!

I have finally managed to print out some pictures and do the journalling to get my December Daily almost up to date!!!  I am on Day 4, so not TOO far behind!!!  Here are my pages so far:

Day One:
Day Two: 
Day Three, two pages:

Day Four, is a full page picture with the lettering added using Photoshop Elements:
And there we are so far!!  I hope to get up to date tonight, as long as I don't get lost on the road to good intentions!!  Day 5 & 6, here I come!!!

Want to win some blog candy??

All you have to do is pop over to Scrappin' Great Deals blog this week and leave a comment on every post!!  The more comments you leave the greater your chance of winning!!  You can read Sarah's post from yesterday that gives all the details - click here!!  Good Luck!!

And stay tuned for more pictures from my December Daily Album!!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Day One & Two!

Those good intentions get me every time!!  December the 2nd and already I am behind on my album!  How does this happen!  Life, that is what, but I am okay with that!  I spent last night getting in the Christmas spirit by decorating out at Scrappin' Great Deals, in preparation for their big Anniversay Event that happens tomorrow!

Anyway, I will now show you the interior of the first two pages of my album, minus the photos and journalling!  At least I am part of the way there!!!



A little close up of the holly along the side of the journal card:


I discovered Platinum stickles!  How did I not know that this colour existed!  Totally in love with it! So that is it for today!  Stay tuned for more!

By the way, if you are interested in learning more about the concept of a December Daily album, this incredible artist - Ali Edwards, is I believe, the originator of the idea. She has some amazing ideas to share!!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

'Tis the Start of the Season!!

Welcome December!  The most wonderful time of the year!!  Today is the release of Scrappin' Great Deals December Kits, and I have the Scrapbooking Kit to share with you today!  It's theme: An Enchanted Christmas!!



I blogged earlier about using the kit to create my very first December Daily Album. Today I have a little snippet to show you of the first page of it:


Love this cute little guy popping out of a box!!! He is another fabulous Mo Manning Image by Stamping Bella! I coloured him with my pencil crayons and mineral spirits.  The number one is chipboard coloured with a fabulous new colour of Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze - Chianti!!  Add a little Tsukineko champagne metallic ink to the edges and it is perfection!! The holly is cut from a Tim Holtz mover & shaker die - Tree & Holly, and has also been treated to a little champagne!!  

I will show you the whole page after I add the pictures I took this morning of my two boys opening their Lego Star Wars Advent Calendar.  (I might be missing the Christmas connection there?? When did Star Wars = Christmas???) Ah well, they were both happy!  And that is part of the Christmas spirit at least! 

Enjoy your day!

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

December Daily Albums

Good morning everyone!! It is non stop rain here in Southwestern Ontario! I can't believe how much it has rained since last night! It is a great day to cuddle in and do some blog hopping! I did some of that last week and what I found reminded me of a project that I had planned to start ages ago. (Ages being years!) Have you heard of a December Daily Album?? I was on the Fancy Pants blog last week and the design team were showcasing their takes on it. (You can read it here.)

Basically a December Daily Album is a journal, notebook, or album that you prepare prior to December 1, leaving spaces for pictures, journalling, letters to Santa, etc., that you add during the month of December giving you a complete documentation of the holiday season! The theory being you are less busy in October/November so you do the bulk of the work before the craziness of the holidays begin!

This is my year to start this tradition that if all goes according to plan, I will continue for many years to come!! I decided to take Scrappin' Great Deals' December's Scrapbooking Kit and make my first December Daily Album!! Here is a glimpse at the kit that will be released later this week:


On Saturday at Scrappin' Great Deals' all day crop I was able to get my album pages cut out, the front and back cover are chipboard covered in patterned paper, and then I used the Cinch to cut the holes in preparation for it to be bound. I then started working on the front cover:


Needless to say I am still working on the rest!! I have two more days until December 1st!! It will be a busy couple of nights I have to admit. I hope you come back in December when I will start showing the interior!!

Have a fantastic day!!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Christmas Colouring Page

Remember those colouring contests you used to enter as a child, at Easter, Valentines Day, Christmas?  Well I got to make a Christmas colouring page for the company my husband works for!  (I did one back at Easter as well, you can have a look at it here!)  It's a cute little page with the company mascot - Smart Dough Joe - all dressed up for the holidays! 

Happy Holidays!!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

He Dreams of Australia!


This is the latest layout that I have had the privilege of having published in Canadian Scrapbooker!  It is in the Winter 2011 issue that was just delivered to my door yesterday and will be in stores December 1!!  I made this layout as a guest designer at Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, using one of her "Travelling Girls" titled "Donna", (coincidently she is on sale right now!! 40% off!!)

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

JOY

Good morning everyone!! I hope you are having a great start to the week!  I just wanted to thank all the lovely ladies who took my Scrapbooking Techniques class last Friday! It was wonderful working with you all and I hoped you enjoyed the class! The technique this time was "Fussy Cutting". We practiced using both scissors and cutting blades. Both have their pros and cons, but in the end both are necessary to make the most of the technique. After we practiced, I handed out some Christmas paper and we worked on putting together a little 6 x 6 collage using our fussy cut pieces.

Here is what I came up with:


My next class in the series will be in January. Keep an eye on the Scrappin' Great Deals website - crops and classes for further details!!

Have a fantastic day!!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Fussy Cutting


This coming Friday, November the 18th, I am teaching my second workshop of Scrapbook Techniques at Scrappin' Great Deals.  The first workshop, we went over methods to alter cardstock to create custom backgrounds. We stamped, embossing, misted and had a lot of fun! Some of my stamps have never seen such use!! This next workshop we will play with a technique called "fussy cutting". That is the term for finely cutting out details from patterned paper such as this, the butterflies were fussy cut from a piece of Bo-bunny patterned paper:


Fussy cut elements add dimension to your layouts, another layer of interest. It is not a difficult skill to learn; you just need practice, practice, practice, but it is quite time consuming. At the workshop, that is what we will do - practice practice practice!! We will go over what scissors to use, when to use an exacto blade, and perhaps most importantly, how to look at a piece of patterned paper and see it's full potential!!

If you would like to join us, there are a couple spots left! Just give the store a call at 519-473-5751 to register by Nov. 16.

Details: Friday, November 18, 2011 7-9pm
Price: $20.00 - BONUS - Stay to crop until midnight for free!!

Hope you can join us!!!

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The Pumpkin Patch


This is my latest layout created using the November Scrapbooking Kit from Scrappin' Great Deals!  Our Trip to the Pumpkin Patch!!  My son Malcolm, my nephew Alex & I had a fantastic day at that farm petting animals, playing games and searching for the perfect pumpkin.  These pictures were way back from 2007, the boys look so young! 


A couple of close ups, (double layouts are so hard for me to photograph!)



I sure got a work out pulling two sleds full of pumpkins & three year olds!! It sure was a great day.  Really happy that I scrapped the pictures finally and remembered all the fun we had!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Natural Beauty

I simply can't stop looking at this layout!!  Actually at one of the pictures I used in the layout, how stunning is she? A forest princess, pixie, fairy child - you name it, she is it!


I don't think I could have gone wrong with this picture as the focus of my page.  In fact I probably could have just put it on a plain piece of cardstock and said "Done."  But of course I didn't and created this:


Love the blues and oranges together, that brown lace from May Arts- WOW, petaloo flowers, prima resin birdhouse, specks of glimmer glaze popped around, die cut leaves to mimic her crown, love love love! :)


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Me & You Together

Welcome to November!!  I hope you had a fantastic Halloween and that it didn't rain too much on your trick or treaters!!

Scrappin' Great Deals is releasing their November Scrapbooking Kits today and here is the kit, with its theme Autumn Journeys:


Love all the bold colours and the mix of warm and cool tones.  Lots of paper in this kit, as always!!  And a ton of embellishments too!

Here is one of my layouts, titled "Me & You Together":


It uses some of the SEI paper that is in the kit along with Bazzill cardstock.  I used one of my new Spellbinders, Orchard Harvest, to create the maple leaves in the upper corner.  Included in the kit is a solid brass maple leaf made by Vintaj, a brand new product in the store. It is called a "blank" because it is meant to be embossed!!  That is right!!  I embossed it to create the lovely little veins that you see!!!  How awesome is that!  A little close up of it:


I used the cricut cartridge "Graphically Speaking" to cut out the title using cardstock.  I then used my Cowboy Glimmer Glaze (by Tattered Angels) on the brown cardstock to give it some texture & depth; love how it now looks metallic!

I will show you another double page layout that I also made with the kit in the next day or so (as soon as I finish it up!!  In the mean time you can pop over to the store's blog to see my layout titled "Natural Beauty", I gave you a sneak peak of it yesterday!! 

Thanks for stopping by!!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Autumn Journeys

That is the theme of Scrappin' Great Deals November Scrapbooking Kit!  I love Autumn, it is my favourite season and I LOVE this months kit!  Can't wait to share it with you.  Here is a little sneak peak of the kit:


And a little peak at what I created with it:


Sheila was back this month creating with me, and WOW her layouts are spectacular!!  Come back tomorrow for the big reveal!!! 

Happy Halloween!!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

SGD's Famous 12 Hour Special is now on!!!


Enjoy savings of up to 50% on over 125 wonderful products!   You can click here to view what's on sale this week!    Plus, save 35% on Designer Paper!   Our Paper Gallery is overflowing with the most beautiful selection ... we have something for everyone!   Paper special applies to individual sheets of 12x12 Designer paper found in our Paper Gallery.   These special offers are available only while supplies last, until Friday, October 28 @ midnight!   Sale items will not be backordered; no rain-checks or substitutions - Shop early for best selection!   You are welcome to shop from the comfort of your own home or come & visit us at our little piece of Scrapbooking & Stamping heaven!! 

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Halloween Logo!


Aimee is truly an outstanding artist!!!  Love the seasonal logos she does for Scrappin' Great Deals!!! 

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Goodfellas!!

Here are a scary pair!  My oldest two nephews dressed up at a booth at the CNE a few years ago.  I love the pictures but good thing I knew it was just an act!  They played their parts very well, perhaps a little TOO well!


This is my last layout using the October Scrapbooking Kit from Scrappin' Great Deals.   I used the Graphic 45 papers and the 7 Gypsies for the background and then cut out a bunch of paper embellishments from some Echo Park and Pink Paislee paper.  I really do love combining different manufacturers on one page. Such a challenge to make sure the colours match!!

You can pop over to the store blog - here - for more details on this page!!!  Thanks for popping in and have a great day!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Boo!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Here is Layout Number Two, made from Scrappin' Great Deals October Scrapbooking Kit, Titled Boo:

 
I created my own little pumpkin patch using my Cricut and last years special edition Halloween cartridge.  I LOVE those pumpkins!!  I brushed on some black soot distress ink around the edges, then I covered them with Rock Candy Crackle Paint to give them some interesting texture.  I did the same with the title BOO, which is included in the kit and cut out of a new Tim Holtz Sizzix die.  

I love my little tiger and dinosaur!!  This year it is going to be a monster and Captain Jack Sparrow!! 

Well, I have one more layout to show, and will have it for you on Tuesday!!!  Thanks for popping by and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Not Spooky Enough?

Good day everyone!!  Tuesday, October 11th is the release day for Scrappin' Great Deals October Scrapbooking Kit!!  Sorry to keep you waiting this month, but hopefully you will agree it has been worth it!!

Here is the "Oh so spooky" kit, it's theme "Halloween, of course!":


It is stuffed full of designer paper from Echo Park, Pink Paislee, Graphic 45, 7 Gypsies and Bo-bunny; co-ordinating Bazzill cardstock; a ton of embellishments, alphas & stickers from Pink Paislee, Tim Holtz, Prima, Autumn Leaves, Authentique, Want 2 Scrap, and Canvas Corp.!!!  Love those bright greens and oranges mixed with the black!!

Sheila took a break this month, but I have 3 layouts to share with you over the next few days!!!  I LOVE Halloween!!

Layout One: Not Spooky Enough?



 I loved the collaged look of one of the papers included in the kit but found it a bit too bold for my layout so I used my new Picket Fence Distress Stain to cover it entirely.  This stain is semi-transparent so it allows the patterns to be seen while it tones down the colour.  Here is a picture of the paper prior to staining it:


I was very impressed with how it looked after covering it up, it suited my layout much better!!!  After the stain dried (very quickly I must add), I splashed on some drops of glimmer mist - Black Magic and Autumn Harvest; distressed edges and tore paper; these little clothes pins are cute little embellishments - a close up:


The pins were white and too bright so I covered them in Spiced Marmalade & Black Soot Distress Ink; I punched out some pumpkins using my EK Success border punch; the clear buttons were coloured green using an alcohol based marker (not Copics, gasp!); Firefly Stickles covered some punched cardstock circles; basically a lot of layers, distressing!! 

Here are a couple of  peaks of my other two layouts that I will show over the weekend:



Just to keep you coming back of course!! More details on the techniques I used will be posted on the store blog  over the next couple of weeks, so make sure you check in there every once in a while!!  You can also pop over to the store's website for a complete description of the kit and the kit club membership - click here!!  Thanks for looking and have a great day in this sunshine!!!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Sizzix, Hero Arts and Twinkling H2Os!!


Scrappin' Great Deals has some incredible new stamp sets in stock!  A pairing between Hero Arts and Sizzix!!  They are offering stamp sets with coordinating embossing folders or dies!!  How fabulous is that?!?!  My card today features a stamp and embossing folder set.  Head over to the SGD blog for more details!!

Monday, October 3, 2011

How about a little sneak peak??

Well with all the excitement of National Card Making Day, and the launch of Scrappin' Great Deals new and improved website - the release of the October Kits is going to be a little delayed!!  However, I do have a little sneaky peak of the Scrapbooking kit:


And just to get you in the mood for Halloween, here is a layout that I made from LAST years October kit, that I was fortunate to have published in the Fall 2011 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker - titled SPOOKY:


Have a great day!!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Get over to Scrappin' Great Deals tomorrow!!!


National Card Making Day!!

Join us Saturday, October 1st: 10am – 3pm
Sit with our Designers & make an adorable card
(limit one card per person – while supplies last)

In lieu of any fees for this event we are asking that you bring in some canned goods to help support our local Food Bank. Together we will help those who need it most before the cold winter hits!!

Let’s see how much food we can collect!!

Door prizes every ½ hour from 10am – 3pm 

Grand Prize: Vagabond Machine by Tim Holtz!!

In-Store Specials …. Hope to see you there!!
(You must be 18 years or older to enter our draws today)

Please come to this FREE event and join in the celebration!!!



Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Happy Anniversary!!

It has become a family tradition on my husband's side to get married on September 27.  Both his grandparents and his parents both wed on that day.  When we were choosing our date we both wanted a fall wedding, and September 27 fell on a Saturday that year.  It was fate!  How could we not pick that day?  So we were the 3rd generation to have our anniversary on this day, which is today!  So Happy Anniversary to us and to my inlaws.  They are celebrating their 42th today. 

Here is their card, a simple little one I made last night:


Check out SGD's blog for the card I gave to my hubby this morning.  You will notice the similarity!!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Scallywags!!!

The last birthday of the month...FINALLY!!  Happy Birthday to my Malcolm!  We had a Pirate Party to celebrate with his good buds.  Pirate costumes were optional but a bunch of them got in the spirit and came dressed as their fav pirate!  Captain Jack was well represented!

Malcolm discovering the cannon hole:


AAAARH!!

Everyone had to walk the plank!:


Skeletons adorned all the loot bags:


13 kids - one table - lots of pizza!:


Cake!!!

Oh Happy Day!!!

It was a great party!!!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Big Sale at Scrappin' Great Deals!!!


Save 25% on Spellbinders & Cuttlebug!!
(pre-orders & clearance excluded)
plus …

Save up to 50% on over 75 products throughout store
(while supplies last – no backorders)
plus …

With every $25 (pre-tax) purchase receive FREE Stickles!!

Above offers valid only until Friday, Sept. 23 @ midnight!

(These special offers cannot be combined with any other offer/coupons)

CLICK HERE TO SHOP YOUR HEART OUT!!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

LaBlanche Stamps and Mixed Media Ink!

WOW is September a busy month!  One more birthday to go and my anniversary and then the crazy days are behind us!!!   It has been tough fitting any crafting in but I managed to last night.

I have a post up at the Scrappin' Great Deals blog that showcases one stamp and two looks.  Here is one of the cards, my favourite of the two:


Pop over to the blog for details!!  Have a fantastic day!! I am off to plan a pirate themed party for the weekend!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Happy Birthday Benny!!!


My not so little 3 year old!  How cute is he?!?!  Too cute, and doesn't he know it!!  Happy Birthday Benny Boy!!!