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!!

Wanna Peek?

I'm working on some layouts from the Seasonal Kit from My local Scrapbooking store, and I have some little final touches to add before I will reveal them here.  But here is a sneak peek until then.

Layout# 1

Love clear embossing and my Stampin' Up wheel! Wait for it ... do you see it ... more stitching LOL!!

Layout #2

Ohh ... it's that such a fantastic photo? I'm so excited to show this one off to you and tell you what I used for the background!!

I have two more that I am working on too ... yup, Tina, I did it again, four layouts and still LOTS of left overs!!

I Adore You - layout

I was at my local Scrapbooking Store when I saw the new line from Ksiser Craft - English Rose Collection ... WOW the colours are so fantastic just begging for a shabby chic spin on them! Dusty rose, faded burgundy, mossy green and ivory ... simply beautiful.  So I purchased a 9 window frame with it and one of each of the pages from their collection.  I started on the frame and will post that project in a later blog post.

I thought I would work with a sketch from Let's Scrap and see what I could do with the Kaiser Craft papers.  Here is the sketch ...

I also wanted to try out my new sewing machine and there was a great deal of stitching on this sketch.  Sew... I stitched and stitched some more.  I'll have you know though, if you glue something down and then try to sew it (i.e. the lace on my layout) it really gums up your needle and jams up the thread ... so just a word of warning, if you intend on sewing, don't put too much glue down first, keep it minimal. 

I made a couple of rough hearts and stitched around the outside of them, and used my new Stampin' Up wheel with Music Notes stamp (loving that right now) I thought I would try my hand at hidden journaling.  I had some little velum envelopes from EK Sucess (had them for about 5 years actually) the hidden journaling reads:

"Vanessa; you are growing up into a little lady right in front of my eyes; you look so grown up sometimes!!"

I used the Home Decor Cricut cartridge for the word "adore".  I used a prima Tea Rose - in Santa Rosa (this is one of the ones that I won a few months back) it worked perfectly (it is the little one on the bottom; I handmade the larger one on the left at the top).  I also glimmer misted a paper doily using Olive Vine and Viva Pink and misted some of the hearts and ribbons with the same.  I used my I-Rock for the first time on this ... not sure if I'm liking it or not (I know, Mandy, you love yours) but I am having a hard time getting the jems into the positions that I want, and keeping them there until I weld them down.  Any tips??


Let me know what you think of the layout, does it look anything like the sketch?

Sew ... I bought a new one!

Anyone who is on my Facebook surely knows I've been grumbling for a few weeks about my sewing machine having busted ... it was one of these cheap ones that is made by a company who make vacuum cleaners... all the internal parts were plastic and with sewing on paper it didn't last me two years ... need I say more? 

I had been hoping that I would get one for Christmas, and while my Mom did give me a sewing machine for Christmas it was all plastic parts too, and wasn't really designed for the abuse I'm going to put it through ... I am grateful Mom, don't get me wrong, your heart is in the right spot... thanks a bunch.

I went to a wonderful sewing shop in Ottawa today at 581 Bank Street - Yarn Forward & Sew On ... fantastic shop, I recommend it to anyone, the service is 2nd to none, and I was impressed with the knowledge and expertise there. 

I bought myself a Husqvarna Viking E20 ... man it runs smoothly ... you're going to see alot more stitching on my layouts and cards as of today I tell ya!

Isn't she beautiful?  OK, OK, I know, it's a sewing machine ;o)

Here is a sneak peek of a layout I'm doing - notice anything ... like say ...oh lots of stitching LOL!

Enjoy and remember to follow my blog!