Top 11 Projects of 2011

Happy New Year!  I love this time of year... the food, the socializing, the excitement, the more relaxed schedule....all of it.  As much as I hate to see another year slip by so quickly, reflecting on the previous year I am invariably reminded of so many things that have shaped who I am today.  I am reminded of how much was accomplished and learned each year and that makes me excited and sometimes proud.  Looking through photos I am astonished at how much the girls have grown in such a seemingly short time.  There are also those not so pleasant moments where I wasn't at my best or even close, but there were things learned from those moments as well so I give them their due also.   If you'll indulge me tonight, I am going to take this opportunity to reflect on the past 12 months of my favourite hobby by posting my Top 11 Projects of 2011.  Here they are, in no particular order.

1.  A cover spot on the Winter, 2012 issue of Scrapbooking & Beyond magazine:  This came as a complete and total surprise a few weeks ago. 

2.  This is my favourite of all the mini albums I created last year.

3.  I worked on the design team for Imaginise all year and this is my favourite layout of the year.

4.  My favourite altered item of the year, another Imaginisce project.

5.  This year, I checked off another bucket list goal - to have some work accepted for publication in Creating Keepsakes magazine.  This mini album had a two page feature in the Summer Travel issue.

6.  This is another of my favourite mini albums of the year.  That fox is just too cute!

 7.  I took an interest in hairbands and clips this year.  These are some of my favourites.

8.  My youngest daughter celebrated her 1st birthday last February.  I'm not sure what it is, but there is something about this page that I love.

9.  This page made the list for a couple of reasons.  My girls started skiing for the first time last winter and absolutely LOVE it.  This 2 page layout speaks about their new found hobby. This was also the first page I created using a Cricut machine.  Northridge Media liked this one as well and published it in the November issue of Cricut magazine.

10.  I did a product spotlight for GCD Studios last spring and this is one of the pages I created.  I love the whimsy of all the characters on the page.

 

11.  Last but not least, I added this page because I love that the page was made almost in its entirety from scratch.  From the red frame to all the layers of lace and sequins to the scallop border made from a series of cut circles - it was all pieced together to create the whole. 

So there it is...a quick glimpse into a year of crafting.  I have no idea what 2012 has in store for me, but I hope it is more of the same doing what I love.

Cheers and I'll see you next year!

Merry Moments

Would you believe that I have an appropriately themed page to share today??  It's a rarity, I know.  I usually create and post most of my Christmas work in the summer. LOL  At any rate, I wanted to post a Christmas page and holiday wish today.

Supplies:  Paper (SEI, Little Yellow Bicycle), Letters (Websters Pages), Button (Purple Pumpkin Crafts), Journaling Sprouts & Pins (Jillibean Soup), Rhinestone Word (Studio 18), Glitter Border (White Blossom)

Photos by Karyn Fillmore

Isn't that Santa just the cutest?  It's another lovely by Purple Pumpkin Crafts.

Before I sign off today, please accept my heartfelt wish for a joyous holiday season with lots of love and laughter. 

Merry Christmas!

Hippity Hoppity

If you've been following the Imaginisce blog this week, you will have already seen peeks of their brand new paper line, Hippity Hop.  In sourcing out photos for this line, I stumbled upon a package of Spring, 2011 photos of my girls playing in the rain.  I had forgotten all about them but what really amazed me was just how much they had grown in just a few short months.  WOW!  Check out these pages.

With those, I'll leave you with thoughts of spring and a wish for a wonderful day.  Thanks, as always, for stopping by.

Holiday Hairbands

Hairbands are not new on this blog so I won't get into alot of details on how they are made.  You can find other examples in the Hair Accessories label.  The hairbands I have to share today are suitable for the holidays.

Supplies:  Hairbands, i-Top, Medium Snap Daddies (Imaginisce), Ribbon (Michaels), Flowers (Imaginisce, Petaloo, Prima), Fabric & Pearls (Fabric Supply Store)

I really love that Imaginisce has created so many great tools and accessories that I am able to customize hair accessories for any occasion.

Hello Sunshine!

OK.  So it might not be real sunny today but that isn't going to deter me from posting a fun in the sun page.  As promised, here is my second sprinkler page.

"Hello Sunshine"

Supplies:  Paper (Simple Stories), Tickets, Doily & Button (Purple Pumpkin), Chipboard (Pebbles Inc.), Cardstock: Bazzil, Border Punch (Fiskars)

Grouping tickets together like this can make a nice anchor for an embellishment cluster of Purple Pumpkin goodies.  By stitching the tickets in place, the ends can curl up ever so slightly since they are not glued down.  I love adding these little bits of texture to my pages.

Make sure you come back on Thursday for some holiday themed hairbands.

Thanks so much for visiting.

Sprinkler 101

In keeping with the summer theme as of late, I have a few more fun summer pages to share over the next little while.  Today's page is all about learning how a sprinkler works. 

"Sprinkler 101"

Supplies:  Paper (Simple Stories), Chipboard (Pebbles Inc. & Maya Road), Fabric Button (Purple Pumpkin), Acrylic Word (Fancy Pants), Journaling Sprout (Jillibean Soup), Letters (Basic Grey), Twine (The Twinery)

I just love these photos and Simple Stories is a company I've been keeping my eye on lately and am pleased to have finally gotten some of their lines.

I'll leave you with that for today.  Look for another sprinkler page next week.  Until then, have a wonderful weekend!

Princess for a Day

Happy December!  It's 10 degrees Celcius here today and so mild it feels like spring.  Though the kids might be disappointed, I certainly am not. I love this warm weather we have had all fall.  That being said, I am still working through summer photos and don't feel a bit out of place doing it. 

Today is the official launch of the December sketch challenge over on the Purple Pumpkin blog and here is my take on the sketch.

Supplies:  Paper (SEI), Fabric Buttons (Purple Pumpkin), Trims (Webster's Pages, Making Memories), Crystals (Zva Creative), Flowers (Prima, Jolee's & Maya Road), Journaling Spot (Jillibean Soup), Chipboard (Scrap FX & Magistical Memories)

I don't know if I will ever tire of these beautiful fabric buttons by Purple Pumpkin.  I love how nicely they work as flower centers on this page.  If you would like to have some of your own, check out their blog and popular monthly sales.  Don't forget to get your entry in the monthly sketch challenge.  There are some really great prizes to be won!

Thanks so much for visiting.

60 Minute Madness

As part of our assignments this month with Imaginisce, we were asked to create a project in 60 minutes or less.  If you have spent any time scrapbooking with me, you know that I usually take much longer than that to create something.  That being said, I love a good challenge so here it goes.  I created a fall themed gift bag.

Supplies:  Paper, Die Cuts (Imaginisce), Bag (Autumn Leaves), Envelope & Journaling Spot (Maya Roads), Emobssing Folder (Tim Holtz), Ribbon (Offray)

Of all the lines I've created with this year on the Imaginisce team, I think this one is my all time favourite of 2011.  It's called "Happy Harvest" and has the cutest little critters.

IMAGE REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

If you look closely, you will see some embossed details on the lower half of the Maya Roads kraft envelope.  I really love the contrast of having the flap of the envelope smooth on top of the embossed lower half.  I included a little journaling spot so it's all set to address.  If you were really on a mission, I bet one could an assembly line of sorts and create several of these in the one hour time frame.

Make sure you check out all the other 60 minute projects posted today on the Imaginisce blog.  I hope we have inspired you to get your scrap on.

EDITED TO ADD:

Look for this project in the Fall, 2012 issue of Paper Creations Magazine.

Happy Thanks(give)ing

This week Imaginisce and Glue Arts have teamed up for a fantastic product pairing and both of their blogs are brimming with creativity and will be all week long.  As the title of today's post would suggest, I created a fall themed page using the adorable "Happy Harvest" line.

Supplies:  Paper, Die Cuts, i-Top (Imaginisce), Glue Glide Pro, U-Cut Foam (Glue Arts), Cardstock (Bazzill)

I used the i-Top 2.0 to create the mini brads you see in this photo.  I absolutely love the new version of the i-Top.  It is much smoother to operate and the new carriage designs makes it much easier to keep all the components in place while setting the brads.

If you look carefully behind the brads, you will see a piece of patterned paper that I raised using Glue Arts' U-Cut-It Foam.  This is the stongest and most sturdy foam I have ever worked with.  It comes in sheets and you simply cut it to size.  This simple square of patterned paper now has the strength of chipboard.  The rest of the page was adhered using the Glue Glider Pro. I have two of these on my desk at all times - one with the Perma Tac cartridge and the other with the Extreme Tac.

Be sure to visit both the Glue Arts and Imaginisce blogs every day this week for more from this great product pairing.  Did I mention there are prizes involved??

Have a wonderful day!

My Talking Flower

The kids say and do the cutest things sometimes and what I really love about scrapbooking is that these little moments are recorded so we never forget.  The page I have to share today is one of those moments.  After an afternoon of picking lupin bouquets, my daughter says, "Look Mommy, I'm a talking flower."  I turned around to see her with her bouquet up around her face.  I sure was glad I had my camera with me for that one.

Supplies:  Paper (Little Yellow Bicycle), Die Cuts (Lilly Bee, My Mind's Eye, Pink Paislee), Buttons & Doily (Purple Pumpkin), Twine (The Twinery), Trim (Bo Bunny), Letters (Pink Paislee, Basic Grey, American Crafts)

When I get my Purple Pumpkin kit, the twine comes delivered all tied up in this cute little bow.  I used it just as it was on this page as a bow detail to the base of the bouquet of lupins.

Stay tuned later this week for some fall pages using Imagine's Happy Harvest line.  Until then, have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by.

EDITED TO ADD: 
Look for this page in the Summer, 2012 issue of Scrapbooking & Beyond Magazine.

Stitching with Baker's Twine

I dug into my summer photo stash last week and created the page I am about to show you.  Everything about this page makes me happy, from the playfulness of the transparency to the colour scheme and photo that totally captures my daugher's personality, I love it all. 

"Key to Your Dreams"

Supplies:  Paper (Little Yellow Bicycle), Transparency (Fancy Pants), Star Embellishments (Purple Pumpkin), Flower (Pebbles Inc.), Journalin Spot (Jillibean Soup), Playing Cards (My Mind's Eye), Letters (Basic Grey, Pink Paislee), Baker's Twine (The Twinery)

Notice also how I used the twine to create journaling lines.  The stitching actually is dual-purpose here.  It provides an interesting design element in the journaling lines, but it also serves to hold the transparency in place.  You just can't lose when you stitch on a page.  So next time you decide to dig out your needle, try using your baker's twine in lieu of thread or floss and see where your imagination takes you. 

Thanks so much for visiting.  I received word this evening that I will have a project on the Scrapbook & Cards Today blog so be sure to stop by there tomorrow.

Walk With Me

I've been on a blogging roll this week.  I finally feel as though I have established a decent balance with my home life, my love of scrapbooking and my passion for my new business.  So here it goes, another page I made this week:

"Walk With Me"

Supplies:  Paper, Pins & Die Cuts (Little Yellow Bicycle), Trim (Websters Pages) Doilies, Buttons & Tickets (Purple Pumpkin Designs), Journaling Spots (Jillibean Soup), Letters (Basic Grey & Websters Pages), Pearls (Zva Creative)



I used some mini Purple Pumpkin crochet doilies to jazz up the Websters' rosette trim.  I really like to add textural interest to my pages all the while working with the same colour.  The blues in the doily and trim could not have been a better match.

If you would like to add to your Purple Pumpkin stash, be sure to check out their blog for a HUGE PURPLE PUMPKIN GIVEAWAY!!  Seriously.  You are not going to want to miss this. 

As a side note, in case you noticed the outfits the girls are wearing.  They were made by Gigi Creations.  I have found the best handmade things through my social media connections.  If you have yet to discover Stephanie's work, be sure to take a look and find her on Facebook as well for sneak peeks, specials and the like. 

With that and a wish for a wonderful weekend, I'll sign off for today.

Thanks, as always, for visiting!

EDITED to ADD:  Look for this page in the Summer, 2012 issue of Scrapbooking & Beyond Magazine.

Princess Julia - a new take on a Halloween page

My girls dressed up as princesses this year for Halloween and they had the pleasure of attending a couple of pre-Halloween parties before the big day.  The photo on this page is one of them.  That might help explain the bunny face with a princess dress.  Julia was adament that she wanted a bunny face and she didn't waiver once for the whole 45 minutes we stood in line for her turn.  So here she is, Princess Julia, with her cute little bunny face.

Supplies:  Paper (Bo Bunny & Simple Stories), Flower & i-Top (Imaginisce), Pearls (Teresa Collins), Halloween Border Sticker (Recollections), Chipboard Frame (Magistical Memories), Ribbon (Offray), Leaves (Prima)

This isn't your typical Halloween page by any stretch of the imagination.  In fact, sometimes when I look at it, it feels as though there's been some sort of identity crisis.  There is a girl dressed in a beautiful gown with a face painted like a bunny rabbit.  The layout is comprised primarily of pretty things like pearls, flowers and ribbons and then you find a big 'ol spider and web frame around the photo.  The colour scheme says anything but Halloween.  Oh well.  If nothing else, it makes you take a closer look.

I have decided that this is my absolute favourite way to use the i-top - with BURLAP.  Many thanks to Melinda Spinks for that genius idea.

This photo and layout make me smile.  I hope it does the same for you.

Cheers,

My Memories Suite WINNER

As promised, I have a winner for the My Memories Suite software giveaway.   

HUGE congrats goes out to:

ENJOY your prize, Sue. I can't wait to see what you create with it!!



Learning to Read

Today, being the start of a new month, is the beginning of a new sketch challenge over on the Purple Pumpkin Blog.  I'll give you a peek at the sketch here and my sample but be sure to head on over to their blog for a full compliment of pages from the Design Team.

"Learning to Read"

Supplies:  Paper & Journaling Sprouts (Jillibean Soup), Letters (Basic Grey & Making Memories), Doily & Buttons (Purple Pumpkin)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I really love creating layered embellishment clusters with my Purple Pumpkin goodies and this is one of two that you will find on this page.



Today is also the last day to get your name entered into the My Memories Suite software giveaway.  Make sure you comment on THIS POST to be entered.

Thanks so much for visiting!



My Memories Suite GIVEAWAY

I have something very different to post today;  something you have never before seen on this blog.

Are you ready for it??

Some digital work. 

Yes, I did say DIGITAL.

Now before you all go and think I've completely had an identity crisis, not to worry.  My first love will always be PAPERcrafting, but I must admit the digital stuff does have its place and today I have fianlly found where that place is for me.

Introduce My Memories.  When I was approached by Liz to do a product review and giveaway on my blog I didn't hesitate once I took a cruise through their site and had a peek at their You Tube Channel.  This is the kind of product that is perfect for the novice digital scrapbooker like me.  I have a very basic understanding of how to use Photoshop and all the layers but at the end of the day I just don't have the knowledge I need, or the time to devote to learning how, to do it well. 

The My Memories Suite software has a variety of pre-made album templates like the one you will see below OR you can build your own from scratch.  But what I like best about the software is the ability to not only create a reproducible digital scrapbook, but I can also add video to the album.  You have to check out this You Tube video to get a full understanding of what I am talking about here.  For me, this takes digital scrapbooking to a whole new place.

So take a look at the pages I created using one of their winter album templates:

This seriously only took me a few minutes to create.  All I had to do was drag and drop photos and add text.  If I had video of the girls on their scooters, I would have added it in a heartbeat.  Imagine the possibilites.   This would be such a great way to welcome a new baby with photos and video all in one digital album. 

As I mentioned in the title, I do have a GIVEAWAY to share with my blog readers.  One lucky commenter will win their very own version of this software. 

All you have to do to win is visit the My Memories website and tell me what product catches your eye the most.  Post your answers on this post and you will be automatically entered.

BONUS COUPON

Since not everyone can win, My Memories has offered a bonus coupon especially for my blog readers.  This coupon code that will save you $10 off on your purchase of the My Memories Suite software and give you another $10 for use in the My Memories store.  That's $20 in savings.  All you need to do is type this coupon code when you check out:

STMMMS68822

I would also recommend that you go visit them on Facebook for exclusive offers and discounts.


To get entered into the draw, don't forget to visit the My Memories site and come back here and tell me what products you'd love to have.

For a second ballot in the draw - tell all your friends (blog, facebook, twitter...you get the idea).  Just create a separate comment with information on where you posted.

Good Luck!!

Deadline to enter:  November 1st.

Layering - Purple Pumpkin Style

I am thrilled to announce that I have been selected as one of the new Purple Pumpkin Designers.  If you have yet to discover their products, I encourage you to run on over to their blog and take a look at the wonderful embellishment kits that they make each and every month.  Be sure to "like" them on facebook as well so you will know exactly when the sale starts each month because they always sell out in a matter of hours.

I created this page last night.  Green and pink are one of my most favourite colour cominations to scrapbook with so you can bet that Bo Bunny's Vicki B collection fell into my shopping cart one day.  Does that ever happen to anyone else??  {{Grin}}

"Growing Girl"

Supplies:  Paper (Bo Bunny), Felt Flower & Doily (Purple Pumpkin Designs), Crystal Flourishes (Zva Creative), Flowers, Chipboard Letters (Prima), Letter Stickers (Websters Pages), Brads (Bazzill)

If you take a peek at my post over on their blog, you will find a little discussion on layering embellishments so I won't repeat that here.  What I would like to make note of is that you can create texture and layers from ordinary patterned paper.  Take a look along the left side of my photo.

I didn't have any trim that matched my page, so I made some with a strip of patterned paper.  I simply pleated it and then stitched it in place.  Stitching is my preferred way to adhere paper pleats.  It only takes a few seconds and it is never going to move once it's stitched in place.  I layered my photo on top to finish the  look.  Quick, easy and INEXPENSIVE. 

I'll leave you with that for today.  Look for many more designs with Purple Pumpkin goodies in the coming weeks and months.

EDITED TO ADD:  Look for this page in the Spring, 2012 issue of Scrapbooking & Beyond Magazine.