Echo Park - Little Boy collection - layout "Siblings"

Another layout for Auntie Em's Scrapbooking and Beading. 

Again using the Echo Park - Little Boy collection.  I combined some Bo Bunny Double Dot as well.  The background is Basic Grey - The Basics - I love that paper for backgrounds!  I simply did a basket weave of several pieces of the patterned papers.  I Glimmer Misted the corner of the page.  I tried something new, cork!  I'd never worked with cork before, but when I had been rummaging around in my Mother's basement last time I was home, I came across a stash of several sheets of cork in varying thicknesses that my Father had acquired probably 30 years ago!  My title took me the longest to do on this, I first cut the letters out of both paper and chipboard.  I stamped a floral image onto the paper letters in a Stampin' Up ink - Cherry Cobbler.  Then I ran the paper letters through my Big Shot with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Then I distressed the letters in Antique Photo ink by T!m Holtz which brought the swiss dots to life!

The journaling is a poem that I came across; untitled and anonymous, so I can't take credit for this piece of creativity; it reads:

"Two little eyes, discovering what's new, two little hands, touching everything in view, a sweet little voice, asking you why, a mischievous smile, a whimpering cry, two little feet, jumping on the floor, a toddler's mission is to explore."

I hope you enjoyed this layout!  Of course this one too can be viewed in person at Auntie Em's Scrapbooking in Cornwall.

February Challenge - featuring Bo Bunny's Peacock Lane

Well hello there! 


Over at Auntie Em's we will be doing a monthly challenge with the  Sketch Calendar from Scrapbook & Card Today and  Page Maps.  This month Emma challenged us with Bo Bunny's Peacock Lane.  And as many of you will know I'm a huge fan of that paper line, love the colours, the whimsy of it, and everything about it!  I was very excited to work with this line ... until that is that I took a look at the sketch .... FOUR PHOTOS???!!!! So not my expertise!  So, I sent my daughter off on a fashion shoot - in the hallway - being sure to pick an outfit that would match the paper line perfectly (thank you Osh Kosh!)

Be sure to check out both designer's takes on this Page Map here at Auntie Em's brand new blog!  Leave a comment, become a follower!


I started with Kiwi Double Dot as my background and stitched around the edges, and layed several colour blocks with the patterned papers.  I cut out one of the images from the Cutout sheet for my journaling.  I'm not really liking the quality of the rub-on, but it might be because it got too hot or too cold in the last few months.  I used my I-rock gem setter and changed the colour of the gems with a Sharpie!!  I used some Doodlebug Designs Sugar Coating sparkles on some random chipboard letters I had for my title.  A little piece of a Webster's Pages Bloomer and some Prima flowers (the ones that I won on their web cast a few months back) I think it turned out alright!

The journaling reads:

"Vanessa you are ... Adorable, Beautiful, Care free, Devilsih sometimes, Eager, Funny"

I can't wait to see Mellisa's creation, and yours too!!  Be sure to email them to Emma at Auntie Em's Scrapbooking & Beading.

Winter Seasonal kit from Tina's Scrapbooking

Well here is my fourth and final layout with the Seasonal kit from Tina's Scrapbooking.

I had some fun with this one, as I had mostly the Bo Bunny paper left over, and I really liked the tickets from the Echo Park.  I threw in three journaling cards and made my own holly and berries.

Let me know what you think?

New Design Team Member for Auntie Em's Scrapbooking ...

I was over the moon when Emma asked me to be a part of her new Design Team for Auntie Em's Scrapbooking in Cornwall.  Honored and anxious all in one big ball of excitedness!  The Design Team had our first meeting today, and I got the opportunity to meet Mellisa Ross, the other DT member. 

I've already done a few layouts for Emma and I will reveal them here, as well as they will be hung in the store for viewing.

Emma gave me Echo Park's Little Boy line to work with.  And if you are a follower of my blog (or just a rouge lurker who reads my posts) you will know that EP is not one of my favorite lines to work with.  I find it too bright and cheery for my style.  So, it was a challenge right off the start for me.  So, here is what I came up with.

I call my first layout;  Mama's Little Boy

I loved the grid pattern for this background, that was almost a given for me.  I wanted to pull in the yellow in my son's shirt, but this line didn't have any yellow in it (in a solid colour, there was lots of it in polka dots and buttons etc.) So I used a piece from the Fly A Kite collection from EP as well.  I did a cut a heart on my Cricut with the George font and shadowed it in that horrible red stripe, man that was hard to look at, mesmerizing!  I tied some Baker's Twine around it and a button. A half dozen brads from Basic Grey and some T!m Holtz distress ink, a couple of stamps here and there, and there you go ... it was quite a quick layout.  But then again, Echo Park usually is for me, I can't seem to get too detailed with that company's papers.

My second Layout I'm calling - All Boy

I really like the look of those little banners that seem to be all the rage right now, and my friend Candace did a layout with ribbons tied between the banners and it looked so great I thought I would scraplift that idea.  I got the basis for this layout from the Lets Scrap website and just did the left side of that particular layout. I cut the letters and the tag with the Plantain Schoolbook cartridge on my Cricut.  The wire flowers are simply wire that I looped several times to make the floral shape.  I used the over-embossing technique to give them a shine. The journaling reads

"You sure are a happy boy Nigel. And so tough! Summer 2010"

I hope you enjoy these layouts... there will be many more to come.  Stay tuned for challenges between the two designers - we have plans to utilize the Page Maps calendar from Becky Fleck.  You can participate too - drop into Auntie Em's Scrapbooking for details.

Thanks for looking!

Seasonal Kit from Tina's Scrapbooking Creations - Winter layouts (3)

Well, Tina stumped me again with her various patterned papers in her Seasonal Kit, a grand mix of Echo Park, Little Yellow Bicycle, Bo Bunny, Creative Imaginations and some little trinkets.

Well, here is what I have come up with so far, three layouts, and started my fourth.

The first I will call Yuletide Carols;
Using the Little Yellow Bicycle paper as a title for this one, I used my clear embossing technique with a roller stamp that I have from Stampin' Up for the music notes on the background.  I stitched around the outside edge (told you would see more stitching from me!) I covered a chipboard tag from the kit and used the ribbon from the kit to complete it.  The journaling reads

"With their eyes all a glow... You guys enjoyed that electronic piano that Daddy got you for Christmas SO MUCH! Hours of fun tickling the ivory! Nigel & Vanessa Dec. 27th 2010"

The second I am calling Waiting...
OK, Tina is going to kill me over this one, but I absolutely hated the Little Yellow Bicycle paper that she put in there, it is full of Christmas sayings, some of it in metallic red foil print ... so what did I do with that paper?  Aside from the odd little word here or there that I cut out and used for titles etc.  I flipped it over and used the white backside and glimmer misted it!  I cut out some of the ornaments from the Creative Imaginations paper and the trees from the same line, and used pop-dots to give it some dimension.  This is my absolute favorite photo this Christmas, and it wasn't even taken by myself, it was taken by my sister.  We must have taken 100 photos that day, and this was the best we got!  I used Glossy Accents on the title to make it pop.  No stitching on this one, but I did dashed lines to look like stitching.  The journaling reads

"Patiently waiting for Santa Vanessa 2010"

The third I am calling Frosty The SnowDUDE; it is based on a sketch by one of Tina's designers Jill Sarginson.  You know me and circles, I love them!!  I kept this layout pretty tone on tone with the blues and browns from the kit. More stitching around the border.  I tried to give this layout some dimension by making the snowflakes in layers.  I glimmer misted the backside of the LYB paper again for the inside of the snowflakes.  I put my Big Shot to use with a snowflake embossing folder in the smaller blue circle.  I used Glossy Accents again on my title to make it stand out.  The journaling reads

"Daddy helped Vanessa  build a SNOW DUDE! Complete with a MOHAWK!! December 2010"

My Digital Studio - the early days...

Well, today is the first day that I played around with My Digital Studio - a computer software program for Digital Scrapbooking.  I had a very informative lesson with a Stampin' Up Demonstrator today, and while I think this program has alot of potential, I also think it will take alot of getting use to.  This is my first attempt at Digital Scrapbooking, so let me know what you think!

A chance to win some Core'dinations!!

Hello all my scrappy friends ... do you love the product Core'dinations?  Cardstock with a colour core so that you can sand, distress, or tear it for a fantastic look?

Well they are giving away some new; unreleased packs ... here is a link to their site!    Core'ordinations entry

Good luck every one!  Believe me, I've entered too!!