Summer Toes and a Sketch

In my mind, I blog once a week.  In reality, it seems that I don't, and before I know it the month has disappeared and new sketch challenges have arrived.


I find I'm keeping my sketch layouts fairly simple, which is a refreshing change.  And a relaxed summer schedule helps to simplify my life at home.  I call it the 3 C's ....Cooking, Cleaning and Crafting.  Aside from the house stuff, I am outdoors a lot ...and on the computer a little.  Here up north, we have to take advantage of the short summer months!


For the Canadian Scrapbooker Sketchy Challenge, Jill Sarginson designed this wonderful sketch...

And I designed this summery fun page....

This is the first time I used Stampin Up papers, and I thought they were perfect for the bright colourful summer theme of my layout.  The background paper looks stamped with doilies, but nope, it's just one piece of patterned paper!


Along with the Stampin Up papers, I also used their pearls on the butterflies...

This is the alphabet stamp I used for the "Cute" letters in the title, called "Letter It"...

 The butterflies and journalling spot are created with Sizzix dies that are exclusive to Stampin Up...

I layered 2 of the butterflies....

And layered a white circle on top of the die cut for my journaling...

I stamped the title letters onto patterned paper, cut them out and popped them up on top of Stampin Up denim ribbon...

The "toe-tally" alphabet stickers and yellow lacy ribbon are from Harmonie.

If you haven't done so already, check out the BRAND NEW updated Sketchy Challenge gallery over at Canadian Scrapbooker.  Register as a member and you can interact in the forum, leaving comments and uploading your layouts.  Lots of inspiration!  Click HERE to check it out.


Now go paint your toes, slip on those cute summer sandals...and find a patio where you can relax with a cool drink :)  I LOVE SUMMER!!!!!!!!

Endings and Beginnings

The beginning of summer and the ending of another school year has put me into a reflective frame of mind.  Both DramaQueen and her sister BabyOfTheFamily are moving on to new schools next Fall, high school and junior high.  BoyGenius will be in his final year of high school, and our nephew has just graduated!


After attending DQ's Grade 9 Grad celebration, she said, "Make sure you put photos of me on your blog!"


Of course I will oblige....because preparing the perfect dress ensemble for that day was a tremendous feat!!


And here she is....in all of her splendour...

I'm proud to report that my colouring skills now extend to the canvas called "hair"....2 boxes of drugstore dye and DQ was thrilled with the result! whew.


Now hold onto your hats, people, because here I am in MY Grade 9 school portrait...(promise not to laugh)

Grade 8

Grade 7

Yep.  That's me.  At least I look like I'm in Junior High!! Unlike DQ who is 15 going on 21! yikes.

Although these photos are hideous, I have contemplated creating a layout based on these 3 pics and the glasses I'm wearing.  The title would be "Big, Bigger...BIGGEST."


But enough about me and my unfortunate adolescence.



I also want to share something very special that DQ created by herself as part of her Grade 9 Farewell celebration...

All the students were asked to do something similar, and of course, it warms my heart when I see a little bit of scrapbooking surface in my teenage daughter who is now too cool to be crafty :)


And here is my own layout, which is a reminder to me of how quickly they grow and how time is fleeting...

The background paper is Bo Bunny Vintage Double Dot called "Ocean."

I actually designed this page as a group class/project for the Scrapbook Your Heart retreat in June.  The theme of the retreat was "Garden of Life"....it was an amazing weekend spending time with a wonderful group of women.  The organizers Christy, Allison and Kandi hold this annual retreat as a fundraiser for a number of charitable causes.


The vintage seed packets are images I downloaded from the internet.  There are quite a few websites that have them, but you can click HERE to find a large variety on Creative Country Mom's blog.

These seed packets are actually pockets that hold journaling tags and are glued to inked craft sticks.

To create the dimensional garden soil along the bottom of the layout, tear 3 strips of black Tim Holtz Kraft Core card stock, crumple and then sand.  I also inked the torn edges a little with Black Soot Distress Ink.

The sun is my favourite design element, and was fairly simple to create.  Here's a little tutorial...

Supplies:  Tim Holtz black Kraft-Core, Tissue Wrap "Terminology", Distress Inks and blending tool, paint brush, Mod Podge

First I tore long strips of Tim Holtz Tissue paper until I had a bunch to play with....

Cut a 1/3 circle from the Kraft-Core.

Then I Mod Podged them to the kraft side of the TH Kraft Core card stock.

Since the Mod Podge dries quickly, I worked in small sections at a time.

When completely dry, I inked with a few different yellow and orange hued Distress Inks:  Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge.

The quote is a few lines from a poem written by one of my favourite poets, ee cummings.

I printed the GROWING title using my computer, then cut out and doodled borders with a black pen.

The letters are inked and mounted on pieces of black Kraft-Core, sanded sides and torn bottom edges.

I am thankful that the school year is over and look forward to enjoying some lazy summer days.

In fact, I plan to do some "growing" myself...in my scrapbook studio...and will be exploring some new techniques to share with you in the future :) 


Wishing you warm and sunny summer days filled with new beginnings and possibilities!

DOUBLE the Fun!

I'm very excited to announce my upcoming first feature article in Canadian Scrapbooker magazine!

In the Winter 2012 issue [ yeah, I know .... I shouldn't say the "W" word at this time of year] I will write an article called "Double the Fun" that showcases a 2-page layout sketch I designed.


Here is the sketch....

And here is the sample layout I created for the Canadian Scrapbooker online Submissions web page...

All papers are Glitz Design "Pretty in Pink" collection. Die cuts were cut with my Cricut.

BabyOfTheFamily is a happy crafty girl and is taking a series of cake decorating classes at Michaels.  Yay for her....Boo for my expanding waistline!  {By the way, fondant isn't as yummy as it looks.  Sigh}


Some close ups....

Cricut cupcake, swirls and title.  Fiskars Scallop Border punch.  Sprinkles (aka sequins and beads) from the Dollar Store.

I just love the empowering quotes that are on these Glitz stickers!

One of my new favourite Spellbinders die:  Donna Salazar "Bitty Blossoms."

If you haven't submitted any of your scrapbook pages before, let me tell you, it's super simple and easy.  Just click HERE and you'll find the Call for Submissions, along with my sketch and this same sample layout.  Just take a photo of your layout and follow the upload prompts on the Submissions web page.


It's always fun to see your own layouts in print, so give it a try and submit your double page layouts!


My sweet scrappy friend Michelle (from Newfoundland) designed a wonderful layout using my sketch....click HERE to see it on her blog!  Beautiful work, as always, Michelle!


The deadline is July 15....and remember:  2-page layouts are not Double the Trouble....they are Double the FUN :)

Webster's Pages Say Summer!

When Webster's Pages introduced their new Clean & Simple paper collections, I said YES!  Yes to the same beautiful quality paper and yes to the solid patterns and backsides!  (Having a solid backside myself, I was pretty excited about this design change:)

I thought the  wonderful "Sunday Picnic" line would be perfect for my June Sketchy Challenge for Canadian Scrapbooker.  

Another fantastic sketch by the talented Jill Sarginson!

 
And here is my layout, featuring BabyOfTheFamily....

Sweet Summertime

The journaling strips are on top of a Magenta chipboard sun, which I first painted yellow and then sprinkled clear iridescent Craft & Glitz glitter on top while the paint was still wet. 

For my title, I put the Webster's alphabet stickers on small die cut scalloped circles that I cut with my Cricut.  The large orange scalloped flower layer behind the photo is also cut with my Cricut.  The pink butterfly is a wonderful Martha Stewart Punch layered over a solid butterfly shape I cut in the shape of the punch.  Martha also helped with the the punched scalloped borders.


The orange paper surprised me....I rarely use orange in my designs, but I think it does make this page brighter and happier...just like summer :)


Pop by the newly updated Sketchy Challenge web page over at Canadian Scrapbooker.  

It's now a gallery where you can register, upload your layouts, view and comment on other designs quickly and easily.  And there is always the chance for your layout to be published in a future issue!
 
Even more good news....Sony has an exclusive offer for Canadian Scrapbook magazine readers!  Click HERE and learn more about the S-Frame photo printer that doubles as a digital photo frame.

SONY ROCKS!!!!!!!!!

It's That Time of the Month

Half the fun for me in writing my blog is coming up with titles for my posts.  Sometimes I'm boring and just type the obvious, like "Sketch Challenge".....but most often I want my title to be catchy or clever :)


I'm not sure if this post's title falls into the clever category, but it is time to blog about the sketch challenges I participate in at the beginning of every month.


Today I am featuring the layout I designed with the Urban Scrapbook monthly kit....and our sketch challenge was SIX photos.  Yes, SIX.  I think Lynette is looking forward to designing future sketches with fewer photos :)


I thought a multi-photo single layout would work well for a vacation or travel page, so I decided to use photos from our family trip to Europe back in 2007 (when I was still young and beautiful).


My husband convinced (begged) me to travel to Europe with our 3 young children.  Do I regret it?  Was it the trip of a lifetime?  The answer is "no" to both questions.


The trip had its challenges, for sure, like "No, mom, we don't want to see Picasso's famous painting" (while in Madrid).  Guess who sat outside with the kids while DAD went into the Sofia Museum??


Of the 4 weeks we spent in Europe, we were in Spain for 7 days....on the coast and then in Madrid.  The beauty of southern Spain and the coast is breathtaking.  We had a wonderful time.  Honest.


And here's the proof....six snapshots from our week in Spain....

7 Days in Spain

I think the red paper suits Spain, don't you?

In the kit are papers and sticker sheet from the new Echo Park collection "Note to Self", along with buttons, brown burlap ribbon (which I cut into circles and layered under my flower stickers), Tim Holtz metal numbers, Bazzill card stock and a Jillibean Soup chipboard alphabet.


Jan always plans the most wonderful kits and these monthly challenges do push me to scrapbook outside of my "design box."  To see the other amazing layouts the staff designed with this kit, click HERE and visit Urban's blog.


I cannot believe it's time for me to pick up July's new kit from Urban to design with...yikes.  But that means summer is around the corner, and in my house that also means no more making school lunches every morning!  Yahoooooo!

The Simple Stories of My Life

Last week I popped into one of my favourite blogs, Write, Snap, Scrap by Izzyb and found out about a challenge over at Simple Stories.  This got me excited because I had made a 2-page year in review back in January, and I taught it as a class at The Urban Scrapbook.  

 The "elements" papers and matching sticker sheet from this Year-O-Graphy collection was just perfect to document our entire year on one layout.

Here are a couple of close-ups of the left and right page elements...

Butterflies are made with a Martha Stewart punch and card stock

This quote is cut into strips from the Yearography patterned paper

Behind each bingo card month is a pocket that holds a tag for journalling....

I made a different stencil/mask for each tag, which is cut from kraft card stock. Then sprayed with a variety of coloured mists.

I added some SS tiny alpha stickers from the awesome Yearography sticker sheet to highlight certain words in my journaling.

  Here are snapshots of each month...

We celebrated DramaQueen's 15th Birthday

 

In February, BabyOfTheFamily turned 12

I met Tim Holtz [gasp] at a special scrapbook event and attended his amazing class

Birthday BoyGenius is 17!

May is all about volleyball tournaments

My dark hair turned grey in June when BoyGenius began driving lessons

A happy weekend away in Kelowna with friends in July

Our anniversary...happily married after 22 years

Our Calgary "daughters" come back to school at the University of Alberta

Newfoundland Michelle traveled across the country to see me, and we attended the Canadian Scrapbooker Carnival together

It's legal!  Our nephew celebrates 18 years!

This candy cane sticker is perfect to showcase December's picture of BabyOfTheFamily on Christmas morning

So that's it....our life in 2011...made simple by Simple Stories!