Once Upon a Time...

...there was a little girl who brought laughter and sunshine into her family's life.  Her mother thought she would never grow up and would stay little forever.

BabyOfTheFamily Age 2

Am I still moaning about my Baby growing up? Yes.  ha ha!  So now I can gaze longingly at this layout and remember when....

I designed this page using the gorgeous Teresa Collins "Vintage Finds"papers and embellishments found in the new November kit that is on sale now at The Urban Scrapbook.  

I have discovered how much I LOVE working with neutral colour palettes like this.  The style is borderline Shabby Chic, which usually isn't how I create, but I kept things fairly simple and enjoyed the result.

Here are some close-ups...

The bling here and there on the page is from the BoBunny  "Apple Cider" collection.

I layered the Bingo cards to create a title. The fabric flowers are cut from the Sizzix Tattered Flowers die.

I die cut a Sizzix clock with the card stock in the kit and then coloured it with Brass Metallic Distress Stain.

The dimensional card stock stickers in this TC collection are wonderful!

It's a snowy day today...and the perfect time to pick up this kit from Urban and scrapbook!

Click HERE to see the other gorgeous layouts by the Urban Design Team.

November Sketchy Challenge

The beginning of the month means there is a new sketch by Sue Sykes over at the Canadian Scrapbooker Sketchy Gallery.  This time Sue designed a double page sketch...

Here is what I created using Pink Paislee's "Indigo Bleu" collection...

This year BoyGenius was agreeable about our annual Fall photo shoot, and I managed to get some decent pics of him.  I had been thinking about designing a layout about him to document the significant transformation he has undergone in the past year.
  
Gone is the selfish moody teenager.  His view of the world has dramatically changed, and he has embraced a new philosophy of peace and love, wanting to take action and make a difference somehow.

I am so excited about the possibilities ahead of him and finally feel confident that he is finding his way in this confusing world.

Here is the journaling spot...

These layered journaling spots on the two pages are actually speech bubbles in a package of die cuts, but I cut off those little pointy things to change the shapes.

I cut the title with a Sizzix Tim Holtz alphabet die from grey Bazzill card stock.  

The Itty Bitty alpha stickers are Pink Paislee. The twill measuring tape ribbon is Harmonie.

The Indigo Bleu tags come in a package of 6...and I used all of them for this sketch!

The little wood man is Studio Calico.

This quote by Jimi Hendrix is exactly how BG is thinking these days.

Sue Sykes surprised us with a 2-page sketch, and at first I was worried about the number of photos I needed, but now I do think this layout seems to capture a really happy time in the life of BoyGenius.

Click HERE to visit the Sketchy gallery at the Canadian Scrapbooker website and join in the challenge! 

Graphic 45 Happy Haunting Mini Album

I have waited awhile to post this Halloween Mini album on my blog after teaching it at the Canadian Scrapbooker Carnival in September and then another version of it at The Urban Scrapbook last weekend. A big thank you and shout out to Graphic 45 for sponsoring my class at the Carnival!  Everyone really enjoyed making the album.

Lots of photos coming up...so grab your pillowcase filled with candy, munch away...and enjoy :)

The full moon is embossed with a Tim Holtz Sizzix folder and then lightly inked with Vintage Photo Distress ink.

  The bats are cut from Clearly For Art black modeling film, using a Sizzix die.  When you heat the bats with a heat gun, you can curve their plastic wings.

The cheesecloth fabric clouds are coloured with Black Soot Distress Ink (you can also use Stain)

Now let's look inside... 

I cut the stars with a Sizzix die and also embossed them.  The Oct. 31 is a Graphic 45 stamp.

This pocket insert has a fussy cut moon tab.

 Each page is made from a 6" x 12" piece of black cardstock folded in half into a pocket.  The pages alternate pockets opening at the top and at the side in the album.  A big thanks to Michelle who advised me how to make these pages!  Click HERE to visit Michelle's blog, where you will find more fabulous mini albums! One of my favourites is her travel mini album designed with Graphic 45 Tropical Travelogue.

Pages 2 and 3

Page 2 has a slide out pocket as well.

A paper pieced pumpkin I designed using Bazzill cardstock in Raven and Marigold

Space for photo and journaling

Page 3 side pocket has this clock pull-out

Pages 4 and 5

The clock is also a Sizzix die and the corner webs were stamped with an Inkadinkado set called "All Hallow's Eve" (and embossed with Clearsnap)

The clock is on a paper hinge and flips up.

The page 5 pocket has a tag with stamping on it.

 The black manila tag is stamped with more Graphic 45 stamps, pumpkin and vine border.  Then I used Clearsnap Donna Salazar Mixed Media Inx in "Leather" to achieve this copper effect.

The reverse side also has Graphic 45 stamping.

Pages 6 and 7

The spider web is cut with my Cricut from the Teresa Collins Halloween cartridge "Chic & Scary"

The web flap lifts for more photos.

The doors open with paper hinges.

I used Black Soot Distressed card stock and embossed it with a Sizzix wood grain Tim Holtz folder.  Then I sanded it and lightly inked with brown.  

The door knobs are Graphic 45 brads glued onto grunge board pieces that are painted with metallic Gold Adirondack dabber by Ranger.  I clipped the corners of the grungeboard piece with a hole punch and inked a little with black.

Page 8 and the inside back cover

The fence is a pocket, and this page is a side pocket that holds 2 tags.

 The tags are tied with black ribbon and black tulle.

I cut some words from one of the patterned papers to add to both tags.

The crescent moon is cut freehand and then embossed in a Sizzix folder and lightly inked.

 This beautiful black cat is another Graphic 45 stamp.  Did you know that this Happy Haunting Halloween collection has THREE amazing stamps sets?  Beautiful images and all rubber cling mount!

I cannot wait to fill up this album with photos of Halloween....I was able to snap pics of all 3 teenagers before they left for school this morning in their costumes.  

BabyOfTheFamily is a 1950's Diner Waitress...

Serving up a bloody finger hot dog...

DramaQueen is Annie....well, a more "grown up" version of Annie

She spent ALOT of time curling her hair

And BoyGenius...uh oh.  Please don't judge me as a mother for his politically incorrect costume [or send me hate mail].  

Oh look. It's Bob Marley.  [eek]

Happy Halloween!

Christmas Classes

This time of year is a busy one for classes at The Urban Scrapbook.  I'll be posting my Graphic 45 Happy Haunting Halloween mini album later this week, but today I thought I'd share what I've designed for Christmas classes coming up soon.

First, here is a set of 5 cards I created using the gorgeous Graphic 45 Nutcracker Sweet collection.

After this class runs on November 22, I will share the techniques and details on these cards here on my blog.

The next class is a Holiday Recipe Mini Album, perfect for a gift or family keepsake.  My friend Sandra and I collaborated to design this mini album  using Simple Stories.

Once again, after the class date of December 15, I will post photos and techniques used in this album.

Click HERE to check out the classes at the Urban website and register!

And now....to prepare for Halloween!  Look out candy, here I come!

Fun with Fancy Pants

Today I thought I'd share a couple of layouts I designed for the Fall issue of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine, using the playful collection from Fancy Pants called "Childish Things."

This collection comes with wonderful embellishments, which I used on my two layouts:  ribbon, rub-ons, stickers, alphabet, and glitter cut-outs.

"Wish Upon a Star"

  I thought these fun bright papers were perfect for some photos of Disneyland.  Here is BabyOfTheFamily in Toon Town, a trip we made a few years ago...when she was still interested in playing with fake TNT.

This flower "glitter cut" serves as my pinwheel centre.

Another glitter cut for my journaling spot

I outlined the title with a black marker so it would stand out more.  Isn't this "Glitter Girl" adorable?

The next layout is actually about one of my passions in life:  community service.  But the photo is not me! ha ha ha!  It's the teacher of the preschool on the first day of class.

"Amazing"

  Since we moved into our neighbourhood 12 years ago, I've been involved in our community league and a number of projects. Organizing a preschool for our neighbourhood is something that was near and dear to my heart.  I am passionate about Education!

Some close-ups...

Love this quote!  It's a rub-on.

A sticker layered on top of Sizzix Accordian Flowers (Tim Holtz collection)

 It's funny, but I haven't created with Fancy Pants papers in quite awhile...but I used to use them ALL the time.  

I think you can relate:  Too many papers....too little time!

I even felt a bit like a preschooler myself, working with this bright colour palette, cutting and pasting. Ahhhh....to be a child again! 

Halloween Mini Albums

Here's a shocking announcement:  I designed 2 Halloween mini albums!

The first album I made was for the Canadian Scrapbooker Carnival in September, using the Happy Haunting Graphic 45 collection.  I will post this album on my blog at the end of the month after I teach a similar mini album class at The Urban Scrapbook on October 27.  I think you can still register for this class...

The second album just sort of happened... after I received my October staff challenge kit from The Urban Scrapbook.  Most of the kit consisted of the spooktacular Halloween collection from We R Memory Keepers called "Black Widow."

I don't have any Halloween photos in the album yet, but I thought I'd share the pages as is...

This October kit also includes black, silver and orange card stock, some gems, ribbon, tulle, a little WRMK "Cobwebs" stamp set, raw chipboard pumpkins and "Black Widow" chipboard stickers. 

The pumpkin is raw chipboard cut from a Sizzix Tim H. die.  I inked it with Distress inks.

One of the 3 stamps in the WRMK "Cobwebs" set, stamped with Versafine Onyx Black.

The little wrought iron fence is cut from black card stock with a Memory Box die.

The bats are stamped onto the photo mat.

The witch is the 3rd stamp in the set.

I adhered a half circle of black card stock to both the front and back inside covers of the album so they would be more durable.

Some of you already know that I'm a very sloooow scrapper.  But these papers lent themselves so well to this mini album that I created it in one evening....actually during the first night of the scrapbook retreat/crop in Newfoundland last month!  I think I was inspired by all the talented scrapbookers surrounding me :)

Click HERE to visit the Urban blog and see the other wonderful projects from the Design Team. 

There's still time to pick up this October kit at The Urban Scrapbook.  You'll love it!