Saturday, October 2, 2010

World CardMaking Day

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I have not posted in quite some time as I have been very sick  with pneumonia. (Over a month now) I am starting to feel a little better so I decided to take part in the World CardMaking Day festivities hosted by Cardmaker.  Event schedule can be found here  As I was not feeling the greatest this morning when I woke I decided to just play along with the Blog hog. Something simple I could do, curled up in a blanket on the couch. I gained a ton of information, ideas and technique  However this evening I was feeling a little better and decided to take part in the mini crop The 1st challenge I took on was Go Gigi 
Challenge: Use one of the free digital images found on the blog hop to create a card. 


Material Used: 

  • Green card stock ( Sorry don't know the brand or the name it was scrap paper )
  • Boarders from a Christmas kit bought from Walmart last night
  • Digi stamp from the wonderful Dustin Pike 
  • I "colored" the digi stamp using a program I downloaded and fell in love with today GIMP 2 the best part it's free!
  • Wine card stock (again don't know the brand or name as it was also scrap.)
  • $1 store sentiments and 3D stickers.  



Challenge 2
Chase Challenge
I did one of these cards before and I just loved it it is from the Cardmaker Magazine  March/ 10 pg. 38. Not as great as my 1st one but not bad all the same.


Challenge 3
Interactive Challenge 

Cute children's card I made a while back for a card class I was teaching. The inside piece can be found here


































Well I think that is it for me for today. I have until 12 tomorrow night so I might do some more tomorrow during my birthday. 







Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Guest Book

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The following pictures are taken of a guest book I just completed for a friend's baby's Christening. 
This was the book I started with, I liked it because it was like a children's journal with a spot for writing and a spot for pictures. Only instead I modified it just a little. It is the only one I could find like this so if anyone knows where I can find another please let me know. 

I picked out all the papers and embellishments that I wanted to use and laid them all out nice and neatly on my table. What a joke! I think it only stayed like this long enough for me to take this picture. As soon as I started working on it, the whole table and room was a state. You can ask  my mother-in-law she saw the "in progress" state. :o) 
 
It was well worth the mess though because I am just thrilled with how it came out. This is the cover. I used the white knob from the Tim Holtz Curio Knobs , which I simply love! I also used the Color Me Crazy white paper flowers which I inked with pink ink washed off inked again and washed off again just to get the perfect off white/ pinky colour I was looking for. These flowers are great for scrapbooking and cardmaking because you can ink, paint, or color them anyway you want and in any colour you want to match your project.   And seeing as there is so few scrapbooking stores in this area, these flowers are a great investment. The package I have also have sparkly white flowers which add a very nice touch to you work. So the one I inked pinked is on bottom and the sparkley one is one top. I fastened the flowers together with a Lush pink brad, these brads just scream "girlie" to me and yet I think they are incredibly elegant. Most of these products were new to me and I have to say I am very pleased  with how easy they were to work with and how great they were for the cover of this book. 
These are the 2-3 pages of the book. Isn't she just adorable?



Page 2: For the background I used a embossed white sheet that was done in stripes. It kind-of looked like wallpaper to me and so it was the perfect choice for the sleeping page. The "sweet dreams" and pinkish/ purplish papers where from a kit. Sorry but I don't remember the name. The brads are from a large pastel brad set that I bought. I think they complement the 3d "Baby" sticker (Walmart) nicely adding the wonderful 3d dimensions to the page that I love. I cut the corners on the photo attempting to soften it even more. I think I succeeded.  






Page 3: This is the 1st page that the guests will be able to write on. I stayed with the same theme of her sleeping and the soft color purple. Again the paper was from a kit (a different one) but I don't know the name, I am sorry. The cloud was cut from a pearl like metallic paper to match the clouds on the background paper. I started using a fiiskars template  but found it a little to large so I modified it just a little to get the size I needed.  I made a tag that matched the theme and showed how adorable she was while sleeping. The tag is double sided and able to be pulled out by two small ribbons glued under the photos on either side, so that people can write on a flat surface.
 
The tag for page 7.

Page 4 and 7 (Yes, I know how to count but read on to see the explanation.) Both of these pages are done very simply to optimize the space for guest to write on. Page 4 has just one photo matted with two 3d stickers. What can I say I love working with 3d.  Page 7 has just one sticker "Thank heavens for little girls" and a tag that you pull up to see two more beautiful photos of the little girl. I love that when the tag sits in the pocket you just see a little bear sticking out and when you pull the tag you see her shocked face in the bottom photo, it is simply priceless. On the side of each page you will notice another Lush brad one from each of the pink and brown collections. Under each brad is a small piece of ribbon, I believe these two strips are from an older collection from American Crafts (The link is for their newer products) I really enjoy working with these ribbons as they are very sturdy. I poked holes into them and they didn't unravel like many of the ribbons out there on the market. They are double sided and come in many different coordinating colors, which make them very user friendly. Anyway... when you pull these two ribbons you will discovery 4 more pages two on either side. 
One side for Dad and one side for Mom. 

I did the same layout on both sides only I used a slightly different color paper for the background on each one. "Daddy's Baby Girl" and "Mommy's Little Princess."  A very simple layout. Photos matted on light paper and a few stickers to keep the focus on the photos and hopefully indicating their importance.
 

To keep the identity of the child in this book non public I have edit out parts of pages 8 and 9. Page 8 was done with the same embossed paper as page 2 with ribbon going across the page and using the flat ribbon technique taught to me by a awesome co -worker. (Thanks Megan) The brads used are from Making Memories  and I just had to use them when I saw them "Making Memories Boho Chic Brad Accents - Lauren" cute huh? When you use the ribbon tabs to open the page you have a gate fold where you can see the family's 1st photo. 

 Page 9 matches page 8 only instead of a gate fold it folds down and has a cute little sticker with the baby's name,  and birth info. ( Again cut out to keep the baby's identity) 

I really wanted a larger corner rounder but I could only find a small corner rounder and it really isn't bad. It is subtle and actually much better than I thought it would be. 

Pages 10 &11 focus on photos the baby had done during a photo shoot. Page 10's photo had her sitting in a basket surrounded with feathers so I placed a feather string around two corners. For page 11 I used flower stickers and ivy to complement the flowers sitting around her in the photo. 

 

Pages 12 & 13 switch focus and look at the families. I used the  Bo Bunny "Jazmyne Flower Box"  for the background. It has a wood grain print and I thought of "family tree" when I saw it. The picture is not great so you can't pick the white embossed paper that has words all about family. Nice touch for this page I think. The frames around the two middle photos where cut free hand, sorry no link for a template. The stickers I used were just away to tied the two pages into each other a little more. Bringing the green from the father's photos over towards the mothers page and the pink from the mother's photos over towards the father's page. The phrases were rather cute as well " families are forever" and "We R Family". 


You can't have a baby book without a bath page now can you? I cut the pocket out of this page to make room for the whole layout. I used various design papers (Sorry I had these for years and years and have know idea who made them) with bubbles and duckies. in the bottom right hand corner I used an xacto knife to cut around the duck in order to slide the picture in under it. Like I said I really like adding dimension to my work.  Opposite the page I inserted the front of the pocket back into the book to allow for more writing (on the other side see 2nd photo) I didn't like the look of the blank back page so I incorperated it into the bath layout using the same papers only this time I cut out a couple of ducks and layered the blue paper with 3d tape to give the illusion of swimming duckies. 

 Page 15 is all about playing. There is a matted photo looking down at her lying under her toy mobile. I used blue and orange card stock to tied unto the bath page. Seeing as she is surround by many animals I thought it would be cute to add a duck in connect the two pages even more.  There is a die cut of a tree limb glued to the  right side of the photo and a textured thread as a means to pull out the tag. I braided the thread to make it look like a vine coming from the tree.
This is the tag pulled out and laid on top of the page. The green grass is just scrap card stock cut out to look like grass and the monkey was cut using the Cricut Expression  (No I don't have one but I hope to someday) 



The final two pages of the book. 

All her many faces. I took apart the pocket for this layout like I did for the bath layout. I wanted the room for all her pictures and all the little frames. The frames came in a kit my parents gave me years ago so again I am sorry for not posting where to get them. The background paper also came from a kit that I do not know the name of. Sorry :o(  But I am sure if you look around you will be able to find something similar if you wish to scrap lift this page. 

The last page! The photo was cut out using the fiskars templates  I mentioned earlier, my exacto knife and a pair of persuasion scissors. The paper was from the same kit as the paper used on the "face" page. The square pieces and buttons also came from the same kit as the frames. The nice verse was put out by DCWV (Again my product is old but this is a link to the new version) and is printed on vellum. A lot of people have trouble with attaching vellum to their pages but I just used a little spray adhesive and placed in under a sticker frame ( Again old stock and don`t know where to tell you to get it now) to keep the sides down. It seemed to work but only time will tell I guess. 

And last but not least the back cover page. Not exactly like the front but I used the same papers to get the same feel. 

Thanks for reading / glancing and viewing my latest work. This just goes to show that old product can still be used and incorporated with the latest products to create new beautiful pieces of art!  

Coming soon: my latest cards. 

Sunday, July 25, 2010

My Room

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So I just went to post about the project I just finished and I realized that I have not posted in quite a while. So long in fact that I did not even post about my craft room being completed. So 1st I will post my pics of my new craft room. Then I will posted about my 1st major project finished in the room.
This white shelf was bought over 5 years ago when a craft store was closing out in St. John's. I always knew I wanted a craft room and it was only $20 so we bought it and stored it in my parents house until we had our own place to put it. It is very heavy and had to be taken apart to be brought across the island. We lugged every piece up over our stairs spend a night putting it together only to find that it was practical but it didn't look quite right. 

So we clear it out, took it apart and lugged it back downstairs. God I love my husband!

The store I was working at closed up and so I got these shelves to replace that old white one. Doesn't this look a lot better?

Behind the curtains is all my filing cabinets and things for school. It is simply perfect for me!

I finally have a cabinet large enough to fit my 12x 12 papers into. I just love that it can hold my albums, tools, papers and projects I am working on. Everything is just so tidy.

Some final touches to make the room even more mine. DH  put up the light for me isn't it just perfect?

I now have the most wonderful room to work away in, I also have a fantastic little supervisor watching over my work. Now if he would only stay on the clear part of the desk and not lie on my papers, not chase my wire when I am making jewelry, and would stop throw his hair everywhere when I am working with my clay, everything would be awesome. But we can't have it all now can we? 
Tee hee I don't think I would change anything anyway, I just love him!

Monday, May 24, 2010

May 24

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Normally during May 24 we pack up and head to a friend's cabin, this year we opt. to do something a little different. We had friends come stay with us for one night. ( It was wonderful to see you again Jon and Rachelle)
I made my mother- law birthday card. I have to say I was really proud of it.  It's another tri- fold card. This time I did a bordered background with 3d flowers on top. And yes I also made the envelope standing next to it. Cool huh?








We also had Aidan's parents come and visit for the weekend. Which was wonderful. And on Sat. we had friends over for supper. That was supper special as Aidan use to camp with all of them when he was a little boy. Now many years later they are visiting him in his 1st home with his wife and pets. It was a great visit.

We also got a lot of work done around the house. ( Thanks again Weldon!, and to Karen for lending us Weldon on their holidays)

We finally decided on colors it only took almost a year. We went with  pale leek which is like a soft yellow for three walls and Silver Thyme, a really really soft green, think almost yellow on the other wall. It's hard to see in the pictures but it is super bright and I think it looks really nice together.

The picture to the right show the two colors. The window wall is the Silver Thyme and the other is Pale Leek.

 This shows the two colors again. The closet also went Pale Leek. Not a lot of contrast but just even to give the room a little depth. We are working on the molding and what not tonight. Maybe more pictures a little later. 

Speaking of the molding I should show you how they were brought home and into the house. Lucky for me Weldon was here cause I really don't think I could have held onto those all the way home. 

As well I don't think I could have fit into the car the way that Weldon did. :o) 

They only got a couple of looks driving home. Tee hee. And see folks how they are in my car. The truck would not have fit the boards. Thats right another point for the car. 

The boards where just a little long. 



They even stuck out through the door of the room.

And after a long weekend of entertaining and working on the house my men all crashed. Aidan and Salem on one couch and Louie in the chair.


What a wonderful weekend!


Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Getting fit

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I have not being creating lately busy working, doing up my scraproom, and cleaning my house for company coming this week. I also joined a program at the YMCA to develop a healthier lifestyle. This has been the largest I have ever weighed in my whole life, and the most unfit I have even been as well. I really need to change this before it gets any worst.
Tonight's was my 1st session of couch - 5K program. And oh my god if this was an indication of where I should be as a couch potato then I am in a coma. I so could not keep up with the group. I really thought it was going to take me through the steps for someone who has never ran before and ease me into becoming a runner. Yeah no we walked ( no warm -up) and then someone yell "run" after a little while she yelled "walked" and well  you get the picture. This would have been fine only the others that were running differently ran before and they were away ahead. I could not catch up and fell so far behind to the point I didn't even know which direction to walk/ run. I didn't know where they even went. It sucked! But at least I got out and started walking/ a little bit of running. It is a start, and that is the main thing right?