And still more Christmas cards

Another 3. Lots of stamping and colouring with Spectrum Noir Alcohol markers.

This first card (two versions, one with the bottom punches with stars) is a nice background stamp.

Good ink and good paper is important to get good results. I love the Simply Smooth paper for this type of project and Ranger's Archival Ink.

This next card is a Hero Arts stamp coloured with the Spectrum Noir Markers, a little Stickles added to the berries and paired with Basic Grey Aspen Frost papers.

This third card is a combination of the two previous in that the Merry, Merry Merry is a Hero Arts large background stamp, another colour of Archival Ink and then one of my many snowmen stamps, this one by Whipper Snapper Designs coloured with the Spectrum Noir Alcohol Markers. Sorry the image is a little blurry, I should use a tripod when taking pics in low light or make a photo booth.

And there is still more to come. Stay tuned.

More Christmas Cards

Two more cards for today, actually 3 but I am counting the narrow cards as one since these are my "bookmark" cards. The cards are 3"x6" and instead of being scored at the fold, they are perforated so that the recipient may tear off the front and use it as a bookmark.

The other card is one I did with the gals from Scrapalicious who have been meeting up for the past several months to create Christmas cards and to stay in touch. This one is a little reworking of the original as I have used different papers and a slightly different colour scheme. Still, I like the Iced Spruce Distress Ink with the Plum Red Archival Ink with the neutral papers and the rich brown glitter reindeer.

Stay tuned for more cards as I have at least 4 more designs to post.

Christmas Cards

I am creating Christmas cards, lots of them. My group meets this upcoming Monday and I have several designs for them. Some super simple so that they can be made quickly and easily and some more elaborate.
The first one, actually two, are made from a 6x6 paper pack. 4 patterned papers plus 3 semi solid and some cardstock matting will make up 8 cards. These are all made from Basic Grey's Jovial collection. A little bakers twine, buttons and brads finish the cards. Note, the red flower I found distracting and will change to be like the others.

Scrapfest Oshawa 2012 - Basic Grey projects

I created 3 projects for Scrapfest this time around. Another example of just how crazy I am. Normally I do one project over the two days. On the Friday we did the Halloween mini album (see post below) and on the Saturday morning we did either the Basic Grey Aspen Frost layout or the Soleil cards. I will have to post the 2nd card after I redo it. The sample I have did not have the colouring complete and I think it best to show it complete.

For the 8-1/2"x11" layout, we used 6 of the 12 papers from the Aspen Frost collection. 11 sides of the paper are showing. The two snowflakes are from Sizzix as well as the tags. The stamps are all Hero Arts/ Basic Grey collaborations or Hero Arts/Sizzix. The two stamped images at the top of the layout are stamped and then die cut with Framelit dies that are part of a set.

Here is a picture of me and a few of the croppers attending Scrapfest and working on their make-n-take projects. I always take my camera with me but I always forget to take the pictures. This time I had my friend Marlene who assisted me this day, remember and take the pics. Notice the Spectrum Noir markers at the bottom of the picture? These we used on card 2 which I will post.

Here is the one card, made with papers from Basic Grey's Soleil collection and one of my favourite Sizzix flower dies, The button is from the Soleil collection as well.

Now, I can get back to my Christmas cards. I will be posting them as well. I just need a day or three. :-)

Scrapfest Oshawa October 2012 - Halloween Mini Album

I love Halloween! I know you know but I just had to say it. Even more, I love making Halloween projects so I assume all of you do too. With all the great Sizzix Halloween dies, these are all Tim Holtz Alteration dies, I just had to use them on a project for Scrapfest. Basic Grey was generous enough to grant my request for papers from their Eerie collection. These are a few years old but great papers all the same. One of my favourite Halloween collections too. This mini album we did on the Friday afternoon. It is 5"x7" and bound with twine. Most of the shapes are by Tim Holtz, most of them are movers and shapers except for the ones on the front cover which is Halloween Shadows, a Sizzlet strip die. I must have been just a little crazy when I decided to make this project for Scrapfest as I prepared 75 kits. Yup, I die cut everything used in the kit which took a few days, I also used my Sizzix eClips electronic die cutting machine to die cut the clouds and circles. My husband John helped me pack all the kits and even helped out on this day at the event. He is such an awesome husband and so incredibly supportive. He even is a big Halloween fan too.
Here are all the pages from the album.

The ladies used both the Sizzix BigShot and the Texture Boutique to emboss some of the papers provided in the kit and did a bit of stamping. I think everyone enjoyed the project and loved all the great Halloween die cut shapes.

Halloween Layouts 2012

I have 2 Halloween layouts to share. I could probably do a few more but I have some other Halloween projects I want to finish plus I have some extraordinary projects I hope to get to using my eClips.
For now, here are the two with lots of pics.

Some of the details. All die cut shapes are From Sizzix. The spider web border is made with a Martha Stewart border punch. Papers are from the Echo Park Apothecary Emporium collection. All inks are from Ranger. The little skull is from a dollar store bracelet that I took apart.

Again, using Sizzix dies and a few Martha Stewart border punches I have created something a little more kid friendly. Papers are from My Mind's Eye's Blackbird collection. I even used the little strips that are on the packaging that comes with the paper pack and created little banner pieces.

 

I love all my ghost dies. The first layout had scary ones but these guys are just so cute.

I love how this layout came together, especially the big Boo which were die cut using Sizzix Sassy Serif letters which are nice and BIG at over 4" tall.

Just Jack... and catching up, finally.

Here is our new boy Jack. He is 8 months old and is a very shy boy. He also has a very nasty cold. So far Jack spends most of his time hiding under beds, under the sofa or in our closet. Wasabi has not made him feel very welcome which may have something to do with it. Jack is a very cuddly baby when you can get him out from hiding and I have spent many hours snuggling with him and listening to his snotty breathing. He is on meds but he is slow to improve. Poor guy.

So... I have taken pictures of my last few projects and am in the process of uploading them here. BBS with lots of pics. 2 Halloween layouts, 1 Halloween mini album, 1 single page 8-1/2 x 11 Aspen Frost layout and 1 card.

October 14th and still trying to catch up.

I am way behind in my posts. I have two Halloween layouts that need posting but I can't find the one and I just haven't had time to do the other. I think I need to manage my time better and maybe this week is the time to start. Now that Scrapfest is over, I need to clean up from that marathon of prepping and get my scraproom into some kind of semblance of order.
For all of you who attended Scrafest and did one, two or three of my make-n-takes, hope you had a good time and enjoyed the projects. Thank you to Basic Grey and Sizzix for the donated product.
I promise I will get those projects posted her soon too.

My next round of activity will be all about Christmas cards. I just got in a big batch of new Sizzix dies that I am anxious to play with. I also have some projects in mind to make using my eClips. My intention is to get very crafty over the next week or so. Seeing all the great projects on Pinterest makes me want to get very busy.

On another note, we got a new addition to our family this week. John and I adopted and 8 month old orange Tabby we call Jack. Jack is an extremely shy kitty and likes to spend most of his time either under the bed, under the sofa or hiding in my workroom closet. He is getting braver though and I did manage to give him a cuddle last night when I got home form Scrapfest. Actually, he laid on my chest from around 7PM to about 2AM this morning and we had a big snooze on the couch. I hated to move him to go to bed but he was just so warm and snuggly I could not move. Unfortunately he is back under the bed today and won't come out. Silly baby. As soon as I can, I will take pictures and post them here.

Now... off to do another round of clearing up in my scraproom. The perfect activity for a cool and overcast day.

September LOTM, Memories of You

This layout contains pictures. :-)
This layout was suppose to be pet themed. Not sure if it qualifies as there really isn't much "pet themed" on it. Still, I think it works. I also think that it works for heritage, family etc. The BG Vagabond papers are a more masculine inspired collection and even though Zephyr was a girl, I don't think she would have minded.
There is a little bit of stamping, a little stitching, a but of crackle paint, a few buttons and a some die cuts.
The group meets at 11am Thursday Sept. 12th. Bring you Basic Tools as well as your ink blending tool. I used Black Soot Distress Ink but Walnut Stain or Vintage Photo would work as well.

August LOTM - Celebrate

Taking photographs of a white layout has its challenges but I think you get the idea.I used papers from a summer My Mind's Eye collection, the name I can't think of at the moment.
I think this layout will work for a number of summer festivities and it would be easy to place 3-6 photos with journalling on it. The party owl is coloured using Spectrum Noir markers and I have used  a variety of stamps and dies, even my old Coluzzle! I still love this tool.

September's layout is waiting on paint to dry. Hopefully I will get those pictures up later today if I don't have issues with lighting I know, I know, If I had the layout done sooner, I could have taken pictures in the daylight.

Zephyr

This is my Zephyr. We adopted her in the summer of 1999 as a kitten hoping that she would be a good companion to our other cat Wasabi. Wasabi had other ideas. Unfortunately they never became buddies but agreed to live mostly agreeably together with us. We had 13 love filled years together.

Several months ago Zephyr was diagnosed with a kidney condition. She had lost a fair amount of weight but treatment seemed to be working and she gained some of it back. What we did not know is that she actually had cancer. This week she became very ill and could keep no food down. A trip to the vets and some tests and x-rays revealed she had a large tumor. Needless to say John and I were devastated as further treatment would not likely have a positive result. John and I decided to bring her home to spend one last day with us. Yesterday we took her back to the vets and said goodbye.
Zephyr will be missed enormously. John and I loved her big time and I am pretty sure she loved us too.

Oh Canada, July LOTM

Sometimes my ideas just require cardstock. I had this very graphic concept for this months class that required crisp clean lines. The inspiration was taken from a t-shirt I purchased from Michael's for Canada Day (with coupon of course). I loved the impact of the red and white on black and ran with it. Of course, since it was for Canada Day, I had this crazy song from 1967 running through my head and it would not leave me alone so I used it too. That is why students will have lots to die cut this time around. LOL

Ladies bring your Xyron and your booger squares and your ruler, we have lots to cut out. I will bring both of my BigShots so that should help move things along.

As you can see, there is a wee bit of stamping and I used the Distress markers to colour my beaver a bit.

I will also have a mini album for everyone to work on if they are waiting their turn for the alphas and die cutter. Hopefully I will get pics of that up later today.

Bring your basic tools, adhesive including foam pop ups and a the above mentioned items.
Class is at 7PM Wednesday July 11th.at Margaret's house.
$25 for both projects.

One last thing, I have been meaning to post pics of my neat and tidy craft room but I just have not gotten to it yet. I have taken a picture of my cat Zephyr in what she thinks is her cart. At least now she can be close to me while I am crafting without her being on top of my work.

Mission Accomplished!

I stuck to my guns and got her done. It feels good to finally see the floor and the tables and to greatly reduce the clutter factor in my scraproom. I promise to take pictures and post them. Yes, I still have too much stuff but I am going to work may way through it. I may even find more stuff to purge. My intent is not to buy new stuff until I have used up a good portion of what I have. Having said that I have created my wish list for new Sizzix dies but they don't ship until September and I am going to have this amazing burst of creative energy and create a ton of stuff between now and then. I think with my new whole food plant based diet I am going to find a ton of energy because I will have slept more and will not be dragged down by all that crap food I have been eating.  So far I have cut out beef and pork, reduced my chicken by half, cut out most dairy and have eaten more vegetarian meals. John is on board too so that makes it easier. I think by the end of ths week I will have cut out the chicken and fish too. I will let you know how it goes.

OK, time to create.  See you back here tomorrow with that Canada Day layout.

What are you doing this Holiday weekend?

Do you have one of those chores that seems to never have an end in site? For me it has been my scraproom. I don't know why but the more I work on it the less I seem to have accomplished. The problem is I have too much stuff. There it is, I have said it. I have too much stuff. My husband John came to this conclusion long before I did but has been surprisingly quiet and patient about it. To be honest, my stash extends outside of my craft room. Yes Joyce I hear you, in reality it is in every room of the house. LOL I would take pictures but it is too embarrassing.
This week I finally made head way. I edited tons of stuff that I will be putting up for sale soon. I have found homes for what I want to keep and I have almost found my table tops and my floor. Today I hope that the final push will get me a clean and uncluttered room. I may need to do a wee bit more editing and I still need to find and hang a couple of these little shelf storage things (I know they are in the room somewhere, I must have another black hole as I have been searching for them all week). The goal is to be able to find everything I want to use quickly and easily and create something DAILY.  I need to do this to make a dent in the stash and to, let's face it, justify the time and energy I have put into accumulating it and storing it. Never mind the expenditure. My goal is to refrain from shopping as much as possible. I know that is not good for the economy in the short term but eventually with some of the money I save, I can do a little home repair or buy that new sofa. I just don't need more magazines, adult impulse items from that nasty old M's, more paper (unless it is Halloween as I only have enough for this lifetime), and I definitely don't need more buttons or flowers. Maybe when all the clutter is cleared I will challenge myself to use some of those buttons and flowers on a project and see just how many I can use. Feel like playing along? Pick a couple of overstocked items in your stash and find a project where you can use them up.

Now what am I doing this weekend? Sunday Joyce is coming over. Mostly to play but I think partly to inspect my work. She has been pushing me all week to get it done. I want to surprise her by actually having it done so we can easily get to creating, watching movies (I want her to watch the Forks Over Knives DVD) and eat some vegan concoction I have yet to decide on. My goal is to get my Canada Day layout finished and up on the blog by end of day Monday.

Wow, that was a big long rant. OK, time to stop procrastinating. I can hear the clanking of dishes which means John is working and I am sitting in front of the computer rattling on.
Hope everyone has a great Canada Day weekend.

June's Layout of the month...

Vacation Destination. Whether the beach for you is someplace tropical or a walk along Toronto's boardwalk, this layout will work for you. I designed it to host 3 - 4x6 photos and 1 4x4. I had little white "photos" on the layout but they bothered me so I took them off. Interfered with my page elements. :-)

The layout itself is very simple but all the elements may be a bit fussy but not complicated. It is mostly stamping, some of which gets cut out. Nothing is difficult and for those new to the group, don't freak out. We will get you through it.

One of the best things about this layout for me is that I got to use stamps that I have not used for many years along with some new ones and some faves.
Students are asked to bring their basic tool kit including adhesives and foam pop dots.
All other stamps, dies, inks etc will be provided.
Those interested are asked to confirm you spot with me if you have not done so already.
Class is Wednesday June 6th at 10AM at Margaret's house. Cost is $25