New Year....New design team at TSF

I almost felt like spring was in bloom when I was creating with this month's design team kit from Three Bugs in a Rug. The colours and prints felt like a breath of fresh (not freezing!) air. There was so much to work with in this month's kit I could have kept on creating, as it was I made 3 cards and 3 layouts with loads of product to spare.

For the first card I added some BoBunny pink dot cardstock (one of my faves that I always have on hand in many colours), wide grosgrain ribbon and a little scrap of green cardstock.

This card was all from the kit except the ribbon and blue cardstock

Again the pattern paper and sticker were from the kit, I added some cardstock and ribbon. I borrowed the scallop punches from TSF's crop space and I am thinking I need to add them to my ever-growing wish list of tools!

For this 'Sisters' layout I added the BoBunny dot in blue ( I told you it was a fave!), the base cardstock, chipboard swirls, ribbon, fabric flowers and bling. It was my first time working with Glamour dust and I was really happy with the effect. I first painted Craft n' Craftin chipboard swirls with white paint then while the paint was still wet I sprinkled on the dust. I added a thin coat of Glossy Accents on top and voila, sparkly swirls! The frame was cut out on the Cricut.

I used the same technique for the centers on the hand cut and fabric flowers.
(thanks to Jessica for the picture of her beautiful daughters Emma & Kate)



One of my favourite things to do with the boys is go for hikes on the many nature trails in the area. It's always a great opportunity for photos like this one of Holden this past summer. I chose to use a black and white to make it work better with these colours. I do this often when I have a colour scheme in mind and the photo clashes with it.

I used some faux stitching rubons which is such an easy way to get the sewn look for us 'non-sewers' out there! I cut out the 'Happy Trails' circle on the Cricut and used a 'my Mind's eye' diecut circle phrase to emphasize the hiking theme. That little bling bug has been in my stash since they first arrived at TSF and I have been waiting for the right project to use it. The colours worked perfectly so it finally got to 'crawl' onto a layout! Pop dots under the hand cut flowers and 'where to?' diecut add dimension.

When I saw this picture of my friend Darcy's little girl, Oceane, I knew it was perfect for these papers. I stuck with a tight colour scheme to really focus the layout on the flower face painting. The orange floral paper was cut on the Expression. I love that you can cut out really large shapes that mimic diecut papers.

I inked Kaisercraft chipboard letters in vintage photo ink then covered in Glossy Accents for the title. I added the diecut flowers and buttons, everything else was from the kit.

So much fun working with all of these Spring looking colours this month.

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to the new members of the design team.

Be sure to check out their beautiful creations over on the TSF gallery.

Thanks for taking a look and Happy New Year!!!

twas the night before Christmas...

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

and away they all flew like the down from a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim 'ere he drove out of sight

"Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas and all the best in 2010

Christmas craftiness

"More glue Mom!" I kept hearing that yesterday as we made some sparkly Christmas trees. My boys are following in my footsteps when it comes to scissors, glue and all things glittery. They love to make crafts and display them proudly around the house. I used to cringe at the mess but now I throw down some old sheets and let them go for it.

There was some serious concentration on where to put the pom poms and other shiny bits.

I imagine there will be more craft creating as we fill our school vacation days.

mmmm what's that smell?

Every now and then I come across a product that I really love and I found one yesterday and had to share it. When my husband and I go shopping we each take a kid and a cart and cover as much territory as we can in the least amount of time. At the end of a trip to Walmart yesterday I came up behind him and found him spraying something all over the place. I figured it must be a new cleaning product as he does have a strange affection for all things bleach/amonia etc. Then I got a whiff of what he was spraying and WOW. We've had air freshners before but I've always found they smell very 'chemically' and they all gave me headaches. Well now we have one that I have been spraying like a maniac all over the house. It's made by AirWick and it's called 'warm apple cinnamon medley' and it smells like heaven all for the bargain price of $2!!
I know it's crazy to be so excited over an air freshner but the scent conjures up all sorts of warm fuzzies for me.

I wish my blog had a scratch & sniff option because then you might understand what all the fuss is about!

veggie pizza

I made a cold veggie pizza for the crop today and it is my 'go to' recipe for potluck type meals. It's easy and yummy and might be the perfect appetizer to make over the holidays.

Here's the recipe:
2 pkgs crescent rolls
Spread out on to cookie sheet, pressing seams together and forming a crust around the edges
bake as directed til golden brown
remove from oven and let cool

Cream together
1/2 cup Miracle Whip
1 tub of cream cheese (you can use light, doesn't affect the taste at all)
1 pkg of Hidden Valley Ranch powdered dressing mix. This can be hard to find but Zehr's usually has it. I tend to use only 3/4 of the pkg as it gets a bit strong

Spread over cooled dough and top with veggies of your choice such as pepper, brocoli, shredded carrots etc
Top with grated cheese and/or bacon
Cut into squares
Serve chilled
Enjoy!

Cookie crop

Today I went to a 'cookie swap' crop with a great group of scrapping ladies. I cannot think of a better way to spend a cold, rainy afternoon. We all brought something for a potluck lunch and each brought a dozen cookies to swap.
Here's a little sampling of what we walked away with..YUMMY!

Surprisingly enough I even managed to get something accomplished between munching on meatballs, fruit, veggie pizza, cheese, banana bread etc

I made these two layouts as the beginning part of a gift for a great friend of mine who just recently gave birth to her third daughter. She is a scrapbooker and one of her worries was not being able to devote the same time to her third as she did to her other two. I decided that being that she's the third girl there wasn't much she needed as far as clothes or toys so I am going to start her book as a gift.

It is great fun to do baby layouts again and of course to work with some pink!

I can't wait to see them once she's added pics of her beautiful little girl!

I hope you like them...you know who you are!

Weekend scrappin'

Friday night I attended the Jingle Bell crop at TSF. It was a lot of fun. I managed to not only finish a layout I started at the retreat in November but complete another one too.

This layout of my nephew, Cole, was based on a sketch by Karan Gerber who just happened to be sitting beside me. NO PRESSURE AT ALL! lol

It really is a tribute to some of the things I love about Karan's work from the layers, bling, twine and crinkled strip of paper to my cardboard Christmas trees sprayed with Glimmer Mist. One tip, when trying to make teeny, tiny paper bows have lots of chocolate around!

I started this layout at the Fall retreat. For those of you sitting near me you may recall my vowing to 'Never do this again'. THIS meaning: cutting out so many letters in so many different fonts on the Cricut. However now that it is done I am glad I did because they really are the feature of this layout about what Holden adores at 3.

Early sat morning I was still in the groove and finished these two cards for a friend who had requested "manly" thank you cards. Do you think they fit the bill??

I'm still feeling the mojo today so maybe, just maybe, after all the shopping and cleaning is done I might get to sneak back into my scraproom to play again!

thank you

Thank you to Karan for the festive decorating of my blog. Without her guidance I may never have had a blog to begin with. I am grateful for her computer knowledge and sharing it with me!

little projects...

Sometimes it's nice to work on something other than a layout. A friend requested some cards so I've been working away on those. This one is using up some scraps from Glitz papers:

I also created this little Christmas can for a Secret Santa crop. Joanne, from TSF, showed how to make these on the TSF blog a while back and I had a little Prima can hanging in my room just waiting for this project. I filled the can with flowers and added some candy cane Hershey's kisses to the lid. It's a great way to reduce, reuse, recycle your packaging.

When the layout mojo might not be flowing it's great to keep creative with little projects like these.

Guess what time it is?

That's right it's reveal time again for TSF. I loved this month's kit from My Mind's Eye. It was Christmas of course and I enjoyed the distressed feel of the papers and muted colours. I do not have a huge amount of holiday pictures so I had to search to find some. I also decided to deviate from cards this month (I'm all Christmas carded out!) and made a hanger instead. All the papers were from the kit except for some kraft cardstock on the hanger and the background sheet on the Joy layout. All the MME papers were double sided which provides endless possibilities. I used a lot of stickles, ink and glossy accents. I also raided my stash for brads, buttons, twine and a few more odds and ends.

To create the words on the sign I used a background stamp from Glitz

Lots of folded, crunched up paper on this one!

I tore the edges in a few spots and added the dot paper behind.

Reminded me of presents being torn open on Christmas morning.

To create this hanger I covered chipboard circles in kraft cardstock and scalloped tags cut out on the Cricut. I then embellished each tag (my favourite is the micro bead wreath!) and punched the holes with a Cropodile to ensure they were evenly placed. I made the "Merry" piece in the same way and attached all the pieces with jute twine knotted behind each hole to keep them in place.

Wishing everyone a Safe and Happy holiday season!

a class at TSF

* I can't believe it but after only 2 days this class/kit is sold out!! Yippeeee!

I am thrilled to have one of my designs turned into a class at Two Scrapbook Friends. These Websters Pages papers were so fun to work with. The tree and cute little cottage are pop dotted to add extra dimension to the page

I used loads of stickles, bling and glossy accents to highlight all the details of the house, tree and deer.

If you are interested in taking this class or to pick up a kit here is the information you need:

The warmth of home at Christmas can be felt in the beautiful colors and images, and with all the special touches, including Stickles and Glossy Accents, this is sure to be one of your favorite pages! Sign up early - kits are available.
Monday, December 14
7:00 pm
$18.00
Please bring Basic Supplies, including brown ink, sharp scissors, pop dots, edge distressing tool, Glossy Accents and Stickles (in red, green, white).

519.746.6672 (Two Scrapbook Friends)

TSF has a great line up of Holiday classes including cards and layouts. Be sure to check them all our at http://www.twoscrapbookfriends.com/

Friday night's online crop

TSF held an online crop to get everyone in the scrapping mood. Challenges were posted on the forum and I had a chance to complete a few projects.

Deanna posted a sketch and this was my interpretation of it:

Laura's challenge was to "Go Rustic" and use felt and twine. I cut apart a felt flower to make the border on the 'joy' card. Corrina's challenge was to create something with Christmas in mind so either card I created would work. The store's challenge was to use your punches. I do not own very many punches but do have a square one which I used to make presents. I folded flowers to make the bows and voila, a simple Christmas card.


Online crops are a great way to get your mojo flowing. Check out the blog or forum at TSF to get in on the next one. Oh and did I mention PRIZES can be won!

Friday night online crop at TSF

Friday Night Crop right here in our forum..Friday Novemeber 20Jump Start Time 8:00 p.m. you will need to sign up to register, just as we do for our instore crops, The TSF Team ( Joanne and Carolyn) and our Design Team will be bringing you challenges, sketches and games to jump start your fall scrapbooking...there will be fun, chatter, prizes and all this from the comfort of your very own space...Projects must be uploaded to the Gallery no later then sunday at 4:00 p.m. to be considered for the prizes...interested in joining us, just let us know by replying here and we can add your name to the list...

Would be a great time to get working on some Holiday projects. Join us on the forum this Friday night. Did you see...PRIZES...yeah!

8 years....

Eight years ago today my mom passed away after a two year battle with cancer. It's hard for me to believe it's been that long. It's been a busy 8 years: house, married, two kids. All big events she never got to witness. For anyone who has lost a parent or someone very close you know it never seems to get easier, you just miss them more. It's possible I think about my mom more now than when she was alive and that makes me sad. It's true we often don't appreciate what we have until it's gone and it's never more truthful than when someone you love is taken from you. My mom would have been 62 now and I see so many people that age and wonder 'why her, why then?'. I suppose it's a selfish question because lots of people pass away younger than she was.

Give your mom a hug and just for a moment, no matter how much she can drive you crazy, be grateful for her in your life.

little red wagon challenge

The challenge was to use some type of packaging on a project and I got a chance to put this together at the TSF fall retreat this past weekend. I used the green Prima backing from felt stems. The colour worked really well with the Jillibean papers. From now on I think I will be hoarding packaging...

Thanks for the great challenge, can't wait for the next one!

November reveal...

It's that time again! I loved working with this month's design team kit from Two Scrapbook Friends. There were so many beautiful papers and embellishments to create with. I am thankful to all my friends who shared their daughter's fall photos with me! I used lots of stickles and glossy accents on these layouts but it doesn't really translate well on here.


For this layout of Mia at the pumpkin patch I hand cut a leaf patterned paper then layered it with stickers and other embellishments. I used stickles to accent the veining in the large orange leaf and the vine along the right side.
Just wanted to add that this layout has been selected for the Basic Grey gallery http://www.basicgrey.com/catalog/idea_gallery/35172.jpg

I came across this pic of my friend's daughter, Juliet, apple picking and knew I wanted to use it with this line. I traced patterned paper onto the tree then inked the trunk. I used the pom pom ribbon to look like grass. When I thought I was finished I took another look and added the little grouping on the top right.

For this layout of Laney I went for a linear look with a few little girly details. I used some Tim Holtz snaps as flower centers and a Prima felt vine. The chipboard letters were inked, then I used pink, red and cinnamon coloured stickles. Once they were dry I coated them in glossy accents. I love how they come out looking epoxy like.

Thanks again to Jenny, Melinda and Shanah for lending me your girls. It's so fun to scrap feminine. These papers would work for boys too but when I saw these photos I knew they would be perfect for this month's kit.

I remember when I was little....

It's almost Halloween and the kiddies are busting with excitement. I've got my fingers crossed that it doesn't rain despite what the weather network is telling me. Wyatt got to dress up for school today (he goes every other Friday so will miss out on the school dress up). I've been working away this week on putting together his costume and was so happy to see it all come together. Now I know some people may think I'm crafty but I can barely sew a button on so this was a big undertaking for me. All in all it turned out ok and I only sustained one minor injury in the process. When I was little we always had homemade costumes; cheerleader, hobo, baby, bride, witch etc. Looking back on those photos makes me smile and I hope that when the boys are older they'll look back and smile too.

Consider this my PSA for how not to use a hot glue gun.

Happy Halloween!

many moods

We just got home from our last weekend away at the cottage for this year. As I was loading my pics onto the computer I was having a good chuckle at all the different facial expressions Holden has. He has definitely mastered the pout! His moods change in the blink of an eye or in this case the flash of my camera. This little collage is only a small sampling of his repertoire. At least there are a few smiles in there.

my baby turns 3...

Yesterday was Holden's third birthday and we celebrated it at the Grandparents house during Thanksgiving. Like all parents I wonder where the time goes. It seems like I was just bringing him home from the hospital, worried about how his big brother would feel about a baby invading his space. Now he's such a big boy. He is my cuddle bug, my singer, my ouchie-kisser. He is a sweet, sensitive little guy. Don't get me wrong he can beat on his big brother and throw a tantrum with the best of them but he can wrap me around his finger with his perfect pout.


Happy Birthday baby.

Friday night crop....

I decided last minute to attend the pizza crop at TSF last night. I'm so glad I did! After it rained, all day, it was the perfect way to lift my spirits. I had lots of laughs and had a great time cropping with the girls. Andrea, I'm glad you decided to come back!! I even managed to get two layouts done.

It was a late night for me but so worth it. Hopefully I'll get to do some more scrappin' this weekend!

je t'aime Montreal...

I went away this past weekend with my friend Jenny for a quick trip to visit our friend Jennifer in Montreal. I haven't been on a train since I was 5 and haven't been to Montreal since I was 16. I really enjoyed travelling by train and would highly recommend it. I was impressed with the leg room, wide aisles and the fact that every set of seats had an outlet for computers and free Wifi.

Jennifer and her husband Michael (he generously played chaffeur for us, but not in the Rolls!)

It was great to visit my friend Jennifer who moved to Montreal in the Spring. I've really missed her and it was so nice for the three of us to have lots of girly talk and to get some shopping done too. Three days went by far too quickly but thankfully Jennifer and family are coming to Kitchener for Thanksgiving so I'll get to see her again this weekend!