And Sew On

Happy Anniversary WCS!

It's a great day for an anniversary celebration. Ever since write.click.scrapbook began I desperately wanted to be a part of it. I always hoped they'd have a "guest member" contest, so I could tryout. I've always found inspiration in the daily posts and monthly galleries. As a member of the collective, I have found a group of people who just love this art form, and spend their time sharing and creating-- for no other reason than the love of scrapbooking. It's a pretty cool thing to be a part of.

This month we were asked to take inspiration from a fellow member. Sarah Pendergrast, who also happens to be my friend and neighbour, did this beautiful layout:

 

Here's a sneak of what I came up with:

Head over the Gallery to see the full layout, plus many others!

Your letter..... B! It's a B!

Now head over to Lisa's blog for your next clue!

A little Scrapping Fun

I am doing a major purge of my scrap room. I'm getting rid of anything that I don't absolutely love-- because I just get bogged down when it's time to create! Some of it I have put aside for the girls. (Audrey informs me on a daily basis that she is an ARTIST, and she NEEDS to do ART!) However, some I'm going to give away to two of you!

I have two pizza boxes of supplies to give away-- you just need to promise to send me a money transfer for the shipping. (No idea how much it will be until I know where you are!) They are packed with paper, embells, alphas. Some are gently used, some brand new. All major brands. Here's a quick peak:

The first two people to leave me a comment (with their e-mail) that you want it-- done!

Two layouts to share, as well!

Lily-Belle has new glasses! It was quite a shock to discover she needed them, but she is adjusting well. With any luck she won't have to wear them for more than a year or two!

 

And then another one of Lily and I--- my little Mini Me:

Lastly, head over to the Scrapbook and Cards Today Facebook page for a great giveaway!

A Scrapping Getaway

Last weekend I went on a 36 hour scrap getaway to a friend's family cottage in Muskoka. For those of you not familiar with Muskoka, it is a stunningly beautiful lake region about 2 hours north of Toronto. We set up a big table in front of the living room windows and had this view as our scrapping inspiration:

Pretty amazing, eh?

I completed 6 layouts while I was up there-- one of which I shared the other day, and another is in this month's write.click.scrapbook gallery. Here are the rest, using a bunch of Amy Tangerine, other American Crafts, Studio Calico and Pink Paislee.It's worth noting that a few of these layouts I absolutely LOVE, and others I just kinda like-- but what matters is the photos are scrapped and the stories are told, because there are always new photos coming in! Every layout doesn't have to be a masterpiece. Really. :)

"Audrey and Dalia" 

Audrey and her bestie, Dalia. A fun, quickie layout that uses some Amy Tan packaging as the journaling block:

"Dreamy"

Probably my fave of the bunch. I just picked four papers I loved and added them to the Amy Tan stitched paper. The photo was taken on Thanksgiving, standing over the girls as they lay on the grass.

"The Joy of Turning Five"

Special event layouts are never my faves. Too much pressure, I think. These photos just express how excited Audrey was to turn five. I used the flash here because there just wasn't enough light in the room. The moral of the story is use your flash if necessary because although it might not be the most beautiful photo, the moment is still captured. That is one happy five year old!

"Two French Braids"

Again, I just gathered together supplies I liked and made them work. I played. It was fun. I had no boundaries-- no assignment to complete, no product I had to incorporate. I do so much assignment work that this was very freeing for me! Never save products for the "right" photo, or the "right" layout. Use the things that make you happy-- soon enough there will be new collections you will be dying to use, right?

Cut it up. Stick it down. :)

There you have it! I hope this becomes a regular thing. It was so much fun. :)

A Confetti Thank You Card

I made a Thank You card the other day, using some yummy American Crafts products that arrived on my doorstep a little while ago. It would never have occurred to me to use black paper-- but now I'm in love with the impact it gives, and the way colours just pop against it.

Originally, this was just the circle accent against the black and white patterned paper, but something about it felt unfinished to me. I needed to tie the colour palette together with some little bits of confetti inserted into the dotted white line.

Done. Love.

Next!

Cocoa Daisy "Farmer's Market"

Imagine my delight a few weeks ago when I received an e-mail from Ronda Palazzari, the DT co-ordinator at Cocoa Daisy, asking me to be the guest designer for their October kit, "Farmer's Market". Given my love of autumn, this really was the perfect kit for me. Here's what I came up with for the folks over at Cocoa Daisy!

"Reservations for Six at 6"  

Instagram photos of my girlfriend's birthday dinner blended perfectly with a moody black and grey palette, with hits of red/orange/green. The journaling is about how much fun we had, but how pathetic it was that our dinner reservations are now made for 6 pm!

I played with my circle punch and pop dots for the layout, nestling embellies in little half-circles of paper. The Amy Tangerine chevron is totally my fave!

"Cloche"

I wanted to document my perfect fall hat-- one that I had been searching for forever! I also wanted to play with a chevron pattern, but not in the traditional way.

 

"Autumn Beauties"

The exclusive stamp with the main kit was a honeycomb. Now, I'm not a stamper, so this forced me to try it out and be creative. I loved how it turned out!

I first stamped a honeycomb pattern onto plain cardstock, then stamped on the back of a few pieces of patterned paper and cut out the little hexagons-- popping some up on foam dots.

Finally, my card. I blew an entire package of Amy Tangerine paper leaves on this card, but I think it was worth it!

I'm putting this aside for the next time I need a really special thank you for someone.

Thank you, Cocoa Daisy, for the opportunity to design for such a great community, with such a rockin' kit!

A Week in the Life

I love Ali Edwards "Week in the Life" project-- documenting an average week, taking photos of the everyday moments, and writing down the nitty gritty details. I did one two years ago, and I just loved it. (Update: Just looked at it again and it was THREE years ago!) I was looking back on that album recently and thought that I really should do another one. So, this past week I took my camera with me wherever I went. Sometimes I did posed shots, and sometimes just random details. I'll put this together in a album sometime soon, but I thought I'd share my initial impressions here:

Sunday

Baby Clark's baptism. The girls were looking forward all week to "seeing baby Clark at church", and Clark was such a little angel, sleeping through the whole experience. I love the photo of my sister and my Nanny with Clark. She just loves her great-grands!

Monday 

A morning out in The Beach: walking down the boardwalk with the stroller, both girls with their babydolls. Going to the park, then the bakery for an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, and then the cheese shop for some parmesan and Canadian brie.

Tuesday

Practicing their bike-riding skills on the street, Audrey reading at the island while eating her cereal (this gave me a major flash forward of what the coming years will be like), Lily pushing her little shopping cart in her pjs at 3 in the afternoon. (She likes to get into pjs very early. As a matter of fact, I think this was the second pair. She got yogourt on the first set!)

Wednesday

Peaches still in the grocery stores in September, and it's a good thing because the girls absolutely love them. Company came for dinner and I made two chicken pot pies.

Thursday

Millie is 9 now, and she is starting to act like a senior dog. She wants her place on the couch, no matter what, and gets pretty annoyed when someone else is sitting there! Folding laundry on the counter while the kids played with play-doh, and afternoon cuddles with Lily while Audrey was at school.

Friday

Another walk in the morning: the library, pumpkins at the grocery store, and browsing for books while I bought a gift for a friend. We made Audrey's birthday party invitations, too. The afternoon was rainy and I took some shots of Lily as we walked home from pre-school. Dinner at Campagnolo with my girlfriends.

Saturday 

Breakfast at the island, Audrey still wearing her ponytail from the day before. Matching pj's. Quick walk in the neighbourhood, as I had  (and continue to have) a sore neck. A $15 bouquet from our favourite little florist, freshly made apple fritters with cinnamon sugar, and Audrey's portrait of me in my new autumn hat.

That's it! It felt good to have my camera out more. I was relying too much on my iphone this summer. Don't get me wrong-- I love Instagram!-- but nothing beats a real photo.

Scrapbook and Cards Today - Fall 2011

The new issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today premieres today-- and it's a beauty! You can pick it up at your LSS, or download the whole thing for free right here.

 I thought I would share some of my favourites from the issue. First off, the cover, by Kelly Goree:

I love the that the design is so seasonal, and yet there are unusual colours for fall-- namely pink and leaf green. It is autumnal, without screaming autumn. Love that.

SCT also announced their 2012 PageMaps Calendar. Yes, I am Miss April again. :) Woo hoo! You can pre-order the catologue beginning Oct. 14th!

I loved Lisa Dickinson's "Easy, Detailed, Expert" article. Her "Expert" layout being my absolute fave:

I was really drawn to Davinie Fiero's layout in "From the Heart", about journaling your authentic life. I love it when I say, "Hey, that's a great layout!", not, hey, "That's a great two page layout!":

  

Kimber McGray always astounds me with her seemingly unending supply of great techniques. The woman is a machine. How cute is this penny slider card?

 

There are full instructions and step-out photos in the magazine.

Finally, here is my little contribution to the Three Designer Challenge:

A collage of photos from Audrey's first day of school, and some fun with the special bobby pins you can use with the I-Top:

So there you have it! A little taste of the fall issue-- it's awesome, it's new, and it's available right here! ;)

 

Autumn is Awesome!

It's my week on the Write.Click.Scrapbook collective! My week is all about autumn-- my favourite season. I'll admit, I was so busy getting ready to post over there, that I didn't post here yesterday to let you know about day one! Day one was beautiful autumn photos-- and today is beautiful autumn layouts!

Have a look here!

 

Being-a-Good-Sport Karma

Yesterday, I was writing about a design team call that I didn't get, and how important it is to put yourself out there for things. Rejection sucks, but limiting your possibilities sucks more!

Well, just a few hours later I got not ONE but TWO pieces of scrap good news! Firstly, I have been chosen to join the design team at My Scrapbook Nook!

I knew I was a finalist-- but there were 40 amazing finalists, and only 10 spots to join some of the current Nook girls.  That's not great odds, and I really didn't think I was going to get it. Then around 2pm they posted the list! I was thrilled to see my name there-- my very first kit team. Join me in congratulating these amazing ladies on also making the team:

Anna Sigga- Iceland
Carol Monson- USA
Danni Reid-USA
Deanna Misner- USA
Gina Rodgers-Australia
Hilde L Aaslund- Norway
Jaz Lee- Singapore
Jessy Christopher-Malaysia
Katarina Damm-Blomberg- Finland
Kim Moreno-USA
Leah Killian-USA
LG Belarmino- Phillipeans
Lilith Eeckles- Belgium
Marinette LEFEVRE- France
Nicole Nowosad- Canada
Pamella Brown-USA
Shelleye McDaniel-USA
Stacey Michaud- USA

That's a pretty rocking group!

Okay, part two of my news is that last night I received a request to guest design for a company I love-- which adds to another guest dt request I received last week! The cool thing about these two opportunities? They are both for teams that I had applied to be on and was rejected. In both cases, I e-mailed the companies after the fact, thanked them for the opportunity, and said that I would love to guest design if the opportunity arose. I'm not sure if that's why they ended up calling me, but I like to think it was good karma. Or rather, being-a-good-sport karma.

So, what fun I have to look forward to in the coming months! I really can't wait to get started.

To celebrate my Being-a-Good-Sport Karma, I'm doing TWO giveaways this weekend! I will have two bundles of scrap goodies to send out-- one for scrappers and one for stampers!

Leave me a comment here by Sunday night (or, at least when I get up Monday morning!), and I will draw two winners. Tell me something you are excited to work on this fall-- a project for scrapping? Something at work? A design project at home? Give me the deets! (oh, and tell me which prize you would prefer!)

Have a great day everyone!

Them's the Breaks

I try to be judicious when it comes to trying out for design teams. You don't want to over-commit yourself, and you have to really love the product you are working with. It's not really a lucrative thing-- except in product-- so I only go out for teams that I really love. Recently, I submitted to the Bella Blvd. call for just that reason, and created four new layouts for the opportunity. It didn't work out-- I didn't get it-- but them's the breaks! I now have four layouts that I love for my albums and the satisfaction of knowing that I took a chance and put myself out there. Rejections sucks, but only for a minute or two. After all, it's only paper and glue. The vast amount of time it is a whole lot of fun. :)

I thought I'd share those four layouts, though. Wanna see? (Click to make the larger.)

"At Three and Four"

I've been meaning to scrap this forever-- I love it when their ages are just a year apart. It cracks me up to see people's faces when I say, "They're three and four." ;) A little misleading, as they are almost two years apart-- but accurate nonetheless!

"This is Baby Clahrk" - My family loves that Lily calls little Clark, "Claaah-rk". I used some Hipstamatic shots for this one. He is seriously the cutest baby boy on the planet.

"Sushi on Queen"

This one I actually did last year as an alternative for SCT, but  it was never published or put on-line, which meant I could use it for the submission.

"It Was our Very First Trip to Centreville"

Centreville is the kids' amusement park on Centre Island. (There are few little islands in Lake Ontario just a 10 minute ferry ride from the bottom of the city.) I haven't been since I was a kid, but the girls just LOVED it! I think we'll get a season's pass next year. I'm proud of myself for handing off the camera and getting myself in the picture once or twice.

 

So, there you go! Four layouts that really mean something to me...that did not get me a job. :) I always remind myself, though, that the kids won't care much about DTs and Pubs when they are big, but they will really care about all the stories I documented from their childhood. Isn't our hobby the best???