OMG! Almost 6 months since my last posting.

Where did the time go? Obviously I have been very bad at keeping up to date here.
I have had several months worth of classes that I have not posted and many other creative endeavors.
Yikes, you would think I got majorly distracted by something. Don't know what it was/is but I am going to get back on track. I promise.

Last week was Scrapfest in Kitchener and I had a blast with the gals who were at the crop. They came over to my station and did my make-n-take on the Friday and the Saturday. These ladies get me so super charged up, no wonder I keep coming back. I did promise to post pics of my samples and the Basic Grey Journal that was the inspiration for our project. That is on my to-do list for this weekend. The key here is for me to stay focused and not get distracted by the sweater I am knitting. It keeps calling to me and I think I will knit just a couple of rows and before you know it hours have passed.

So I must stay focused. This is about papercrafts not knitting. That will have to be another post when I get all my layouts posted etc.

I need to do a bit of organizing and scan the projects etc and then get them posted. As I mentioned before, I am technically challenged and this exercise takes me longer than most but I will eventually get it done. For now I want to give a shout out to Basic Grey and Sizzix who sponsored my make-n-take. Both companies were very generous in providing me with papers and embellishments and dies. I think I can say on behalf of myself and those doing the make-n-takes and who won prizes last weekend...

Basic Grey and Sizzix totally rocks!

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.