Scrapbook Update

I was completely floored when Stephanie Vetne from Scrapbook Update contacted me and asked if she could feature 2 of my American Crafts projects on her Gallery Highlights article last week! Check out the other inspirational projects from some really fabulous designers who were also featured. WOW!

This is a great site and I am completely honored to have been featured.

Thanks again Stephanie! :)

Hello

Something I struggle with EVERY SINGLE MONTH is the card part of my Hip assignment. Seriously, I can put together 4 completed LOs in less time than these things take me. I am not sure why and I know that sketches can be a great help but even then, I find I am always fiddling around with them until I finally give up and photograph them. These were finished 2 weeks ago, then sat on my mantle and I looked at them daily, knowing they

were still not quite 'right' but not sure what

else they needed.

Do you do that with your projects?

Finally, I decided that some small yellow elements might

be the clincher, so I set to work with my Martha punches

& yellow cardstock. Not sure if I am 'there'

yet but these are more finished than they

were and I just need to let it go.

All cards made with April Hip 2-b Square kit + Add-ons.

I would love to know if you have any tips for making cardmaking any easier.

Maybe I am just over-thinking it.

Thanks for popping in!

Have a great day & happy surfing!

Inspired by Pinterest...

Sometimes while surfing Pinterest, I get so inspired that I have to get crafty straight away. The below quote is one of those things that got me playing with paper, alpha stickers and glue.

(Pinterest Credit HERE)

Supplies: White (71081) - Cardstock, Lavendar Grill Paper (35535) - Garden Cafe, Fancy Geiser (53113) - Thickers, Doll Waterfall (53169) - Thickers

I saw this idea shared on Facebook (source can be found HERE) and broke out my new Shoreline kit from American Crafts. This idea is a sure hit if your child is visual (mine is). He loves clipping his close pins over after he polishes off a task and successfully received allowance last week for completing his chores daily.

Supplies: 6x6 Paper Pad (35743) - Shoreline, Remarks Pelican Mini Alpha stickers (42248) - Shoreline, Remarks Flamingo Journalling & Phrase Stickers (42249) -  Shoreline, Delights Surfboard Paper Flowers (85584) -  Shoreline, Rockabye Leaf (42956) - Thickers

***Additional supplies (Border stickers & mini clothespins) from Crate Paper

Thanks for stopping by :)

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

Bucket List

Supplies: White (71081) - Cardstock, Hazy Horizon Paper (35639) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Fresh Blooms Paper (35630) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Silver Lining Vellum Paper (35635) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Breezy Garden Paper (35613) - Gardenia,  6x6 Paper Pad (35658) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Fabric & Epoxy Brads (78074) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Printed Variety Tags (78069) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, White Woodgrain Muse (53344) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Thickers, Die Cut Cardboard Shapes (77290) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, 24 Pack Premium Ribbon (58817) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, Plastic Buttons (85561) - Nightfall  

Supplies: 6x6 Paper Pad (35658) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan,Silver Lining Vellum Paper (35635) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Sweet Sundress Paper (35634) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Printed Variety Tags (78069) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Remarks Books Stickers (42232) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, Remarks Parakeet Letter Stickers (42234) - Dear Lizzy Neapolitan, 24 Pack Premium Ribbon (58817) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook

Winter Carnival 2012

This LO is about the 2012 Winter Carnival at Little Man's school this past year.

I knew I wanted this LO to be super colorful and that when I saw the new Amy Tan Sketchbook line that it would work perfectly for this LO although it is not a winter design.

Most of the banners/pennant shapes are made using sheets from the 6x6 book.

These are my new addiction in scrapbooking - they have the same design as the 12x12 versions but smaller, making these perfect for card making or adding that little bit extra to a LO. The 6x6 pads are also a steal of a deal since they cost a fraction of the price of the 12x12's (which is really great if you are a paper hoarder like me - you still get all the designs you can't pass up, they are less expensive, take up less room when storing them and is much easier to utilize. PLUS I feel alot less guilty cutting into these sheets  (as opposed to the 12x12's) if I just want to use a small part of the paper.

It's really a win/win all around! 

Supplies: Honeycomb (71633) - Cardstock, 6x6 Paper Pad (35714) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, Bailey's Brush Paper (35675) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, Gwyneth's Graph (35694) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook,  Remarks Dimensional Stickers Draw (42244) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, Remarks Fabric Stickers Pigment (42241) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook, Scene Cascade (53341) -  Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Thickers, Muse White Woodgrain (53344) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Thickers, Bits Printed Cardstock Shapes (77290) - Amy Tangerine Sketchbook 

Thanks for stopping by :)

Have a Happy Victoria Day/Monday!

TIP: Did You Know...?

Did you know that American Crafts sells cardstock?

About a year before I made the American Crafts Design Team, I made a WONDERFUL discovery about their brand of cardstock. It is very comparable in quality & thickness (seriously, I didn't even notice the difference) to the other industry brands that you may be familiar with, comes in just as many colors BUT BUT BUT!! it is sold in packs of 60 for about $20 retail!!  That averages to about .33 cents a sheet!!
If you use alot of cardstock (I use white AND black on almost EVERY LO) this is definately something you should think about, especially if you like to plan ahead and stock up. You can find these packs at Winners (I found it for about $15 CA), your LSS (mine special ordered it for me) and sometimes Michaels. I also spotted  a great deal at Scrapbook.com this morning HERE. Check it out!
 
HUGS & Happy Surfing!
 

3 Minis

Last week was a busy craft week, with my sweet little neighbors birthday & then Mother's day, so I decided to streamline my projects and put together a few little mini albums. I got the idea from a team member's blog from the Papertrey Ink team but have never been able to find the post again. If anyone know's who I should be crediting, please PM me or drop me a line.

There are only a few componants to these Minis and the Mom & Nanny minis were both constructed out of one sheet of cardstock (including the protective cover) and scraps. The photos really take center stage here, so I left the embellishments as minimal as possible.

The dimensions of the albums are 4x4" and then the outer cover is about 4x10".
I started by scoring a 12" sheet at every 4" and then turned the sheet 90 degrees left and cut at every 4".
I then folded 2 of these retangle shapes accordian style and then adhered 1 full 4x4" block to another 4x4" block on the second rectangle. This gives you your album base.

You can then add to the album and leave it accordian style which will give you about 10 pages, but I adhered every second page to make mine into a book format (leaving  me with 4 inside pages and a front & back cover)

Here is a pic of the 3 albums with the protective covers.

I added buttons & brads to secure the string and then just loosely wrapped it to keep it closed.

I also added a protective strip to the outside of my album to act as a binding (see far left).

(and please pardon my finger in the corner of the pic, I couldn't get the cover to lay flat otherwise.)

This is the album I made for my sister in law (again, using mostly scraps and follwing the same format).

My SIL has a big personality, so I went a bit more wild with color on hers and added pops of yellow.

And lastly, this is Miss Michaela's mini.

She has 4 birds, a cat and a dog which she loves dearly, so I borrowed some pics, scanned them & and cropped them for her so she could carry a reminder of her 'babies' when she is at school.

(I cut the dog from a piece of Basic Grey paper that I have been hoarding for several years but I just knew I would have a chance to use it some day! ;)

Hopefully this inspires you to dig into your stash and make some inexpensive, yet wonderful little gifts.

Please link me in the comments section if you do!

Thanks for popping by!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

Journey

Hello Scrappy People!

How was your Mother's Day?

I had a wonderful day, I got toast & jam in bed (complete with a tall glass of cold Diet Coke)

along with a potted bunch of mums & chocolates.

Life was pretty good yesterday although it went MUCH too quickly. :(

And today is back to the grind.

I have a quick post today, sharing one of my new favorite trends of the moment: Woodgrain paper.

I left a hefty amount showing on this LO - it was much too pretty to cover up and added some wood veneer frames to create a border along the side.

I have to say this has been one of my favorite Hip kits to date!

(you can find the April Hip kit details HERE)

So, I am very interested to know, what's your favorite new trend?

Or do you follow the trends?

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS and happy surfing!

Addictions & Guilty Pleasures

While at Crop  & Create a few weeks ago, I actually participated in challenges for once and did this one about guilty pleasures. The organizers were kind enough to post the challenges on line before hand, so you could make sure to have the appropriate photos with you.

This is what I came up with.

(Photos: 1.Bright purses 2. Pinterest 3.Facebook 4. My I-pad 5. The Sopranos

6. Family Feud (on-line game) 7. Kraft Dinner (not mac & cheese but actual KD ;) )

8. Diet Coke)

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

10 of Us

And this is the last of my March projects from Hip 2-B Square.

This LO I did about a trip we took with some wonderful friends a few years ago.

The first night we were on the ship, most of the passengers were enjoying a show welcoming us all to the cruiseship but the bunch of us grabbed our swimwear, an I-pod with mini Speakers and some drinks and sat in the hot-tub singing The Gambler in the fog at the top of our lungs.

Of course when the show let out, the entrance led the audience right past the pool and hottubs. I am sure we all looked crazy but it was by far, my favorite night on board.

Even though I didn't have pictures of any of us from this night (because what happens on the high seas STAYS on the high seas ;) ) I felt it important to document since it was my favorite memory, so I used pics I had taken of where the event occured rather than the event itself.

And this LO I just LOVE.

The kelly green in the paper matched the green in Yogi's clothes and the pic was a bit of a fluke. It was super sunny outside, the sun backlit my photo and turned out quite well IMO.

I liked that the bright colours add to the Summer feel of the LO. 

Supplies March Kit + Addons.

Thanks for popping by!

Happy Wednesday!

Oodles of Doodles

I still have a few projects to share from the March Hip 2-b Square kit.

I did the below LO of Little Man's Magnadoodle Drawings.

In hind-sight, I am really glad I did. He drew so much that he wore out THREE of these toys but now that I think of it, I haven't seen him use it in about a year now.

It's funny how it sometimes takes awhile to notice little changes like this.

Supplies: March LO kit + Add ons

This card was pretty simple (like most of my cards) but is a bit fancier with the scalloped tissue border from Studio Calico. I like that it looks a bit like fabric but has none of the weight or bulk and works wonderfully for a card.

That's all I have for today!

As always, Thanks for popping by!

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

Happiness is...

Happy Monday!

I want to share a LO with you that I did with the April Hip 2-b Square Kit + add ons.

You may recognize the picture from C&C a few weeks ago, I knew I would scrap this pic with this kit as soon as I saw the 'lady holding a suitcase' chipboard embellie from Crate Paper - it fit perfectly!

The colors in the kit also matched the crepe paper backdrop in the photo - teal & rose is such a pretty color combo and is still pretty trendy right now.

I cut out the center circle from the Studio Calico sheet that came with my kit nd used it to anchor my picture and found this was a sweet spot for my subtitle as well.

LO made from April Hip kit (kit details can be seen here)

This LO was a page kit that I put together for Let's Capture Our Memories and was sold at the Crop & Create Event. I used some Simple Stories & Lily Bee in this kit.

(The LO is of my cutie & his cousin last Summer)

Thanks for checking in!

HUGS & Happy Surfing!

Just Us

Here's another LO that I did at the Crop & Create Crop. It was based on a color scheme that you can find on this post. The pic was taken of Mark and I at mt friend Ann's wedding last October.

Supplies: My MInd's Eye 6x6 Miss Caroline collection, American Crafts Ribbon, Mini Flower & Butterfly punches, Thickers by American Crafts, Buttons from stash. Mister Huey's black, circle journal spots by K&Co., Bling by Kaiser, Paper Doily, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, G Studio Stamp

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS and Happy Surfing!