And The Winner Is...

Is it May 31st already!? Wow, time sure does fly doesn't it?? Or, maybe not when you're waiting for the winner of my Huge May Blog Giveaway to be announced!!

Well, I won't leave you in suspense any longer! The winner of my May Blog Giveaway is......... JANE SCOSSIE!!

Scossie Jane said: "Too generous Tara. What an awesome giveaway. I have been a follower forever... Hugs xx
May 2, 2011 4:28PM

Huge congrats to you Jane.  If you could send me off an email with your postal address, I'll get that lovely RAK off to you ASAP!! (torrjorr[at]shaw[dot]ca)

I wanted to thank each and every one of you once again for all your support and encouragement.  I read everyone's comments and it simply brightens my day to have so many wonderful followers of my work!! I am truly grateful. 

Stay tuned tomorrow for the winners of ZVA Creative's blog hop.  I'll have another layout to share with you as well.

I can't wait until my June giveaway!! So many yummy things for you all ;>

Zva Creative May DT Blog Hop!

Zva Creative and the Design Team welcomes you to join us this month for a blog hop that we feel is always extra special!

As you know, Zva offers so many beautiful color groupings for pearls, flowers and crystals.  We want to make sure that they shine bright for you, so each designer was asked to share a creation using a specific color or color combination on their blog hop project. 

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She will have the complete list of all blogs that are participating in case there is a glitch along the way. If you would like to play along, just follow along the blog path.  I am linking to one of the Zva designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. Be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on FIVE of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package ...YAY! Winners will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can along the way.

The Blog Hop starts today, May 30th and runs through midnight US Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, May 31st and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, June 1st on each of the five winning blogs. The full list will be found on Kim Hughes‘s blog as well (linked above). We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday...plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

I chose to showcase a mixture of white and blue for my project this month.  I decided to scrap a page of my sweet mommy on our recent trip to Hawaii this past April.  Just love this photo of her being silly and having fun - we both really needed a carefree trip like this and it was just fantastic to have spent some quality, one on one time with her. 

I love the cool tones of the blue when paired with the white and black touches.  The papers are from Lily Bee's This & That Collection and the notebook paper is from an old/vintage children's book which I picked up at a local thrift store.

I love to layer my papers and embellishments to create extra dimension.  Don't be afraid to layer your bling - it really helps make those pearls and crystals stand out so much more.
The blog hop begins here: Kim Hughes

Your next stop is here: Julianne McKenna-De Lumen

Thank you SO MUCH for joining us!ZVA Supplies:
Self Adhesive Pearls: PE02CB131
Self Adhesive Crystal: CRW02CA103
Self Adhesive Pearls: PE02CB116
Self Adhesive Pearls: PE02CB137
Flowers: FL04CA101
Bulk 3D Flowers in White - various sizes

Circus Stamp Card & Zinc Cream

Happy Friday to you all!! Phew - what a night last night!! My daughter tends to take a little longer to fall asleep than her brothers and as such, will talk to herself, role play with her stuffies, get up to go to the bathroom, etc. Most of the time, I'll check on her once I hear the 'thump, thump, thump' of her running down the hallway but for whatever reason, I decided not to last night - BIG mistake.

When I finally peeked in at her just before I turned in for the night, I opened her door to find her PJ bottom on the floor - and the top...never a good sign. She had the blankets pulled up right to her chin and when I went to kiss her it felt a little 'sticky'. Hmmm I thought. Pulled back the covers and yep - VERY STICKY.

ON came the lights and to my dismay, there is zinc cream ALL OVER my baby girl - and I mean EVERYWHERE as there were no PJs in the way! Arms, legs, face, tummy and HAIR - oh, my - the HAIR!!

The sheets, blankets, walls (no clue, don't ask), stuffies, favourite blankie, etc - COVERED! Good lord. First words out of her mouth "but you're not mad at me though right mommy?" Um, well, yes, mommy is a little bit mad - why did you do this Eden? Bursts out into tears (Eden, not me - although I was very close - LOL) I'M SORRY MAMA!!! Poor little thing. What a peanut - crazy, michievious, peanut! So I brought her down to daddy who had the job of getting as much of the stuff off of her as possible while I cleaned up her room.

After 2 washes in the machine, I realized that this stuff does not come off easily. I actually had to manually SCRUB, for 20min, in scalding hot water, her penguin and blankie before the cream started to come off.

5 hairwashes later (this morning in the bath) and that stuff is STILL in there - stuck like glue. Does ANYONE have any idea how to remove zinc oxide from 'hair'???? Ahhhhh the joys of being a parent.

Anyhooooo.... in other scrappy news, I have a cute stamp card that I wanted to share with you all using the awesome Le Cirque Collection from Graphic 45. I've actually paired this line with their Transatlantique collection and the colours compliment eachother wonderfully.

I also added some of Graphic 45's metal hinges to my card and some of their Staples' photo corners as well.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope your weekend is a beautiful one.  Off to Google 'how to remove butt cream from hair'.

A Special Day...

Yesterday was an extra special day in our household.  My sweet daughter turned 3 AND my parents celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary.  Cannot believe how quickly the time has passed....

Here is a photo of my mom and dad on their wedding day. LOVE this photo and was actually so inspired that I decided to create a special keepsake for them on their special day. Stay tuned for more details on this....

We had a wonderful day with our little family (we had already celebrated this past weekend with our extended family). I baked some yummy birthday cupcakes and the boys were so proud to present their sister with the presents that they had chosen for her...

BUT

Have to say that the winning gift was.... a drum set.... given to her by none other than... mommy & daddy.

Yep.... seemed like a good idea at the time....

Lily Bee Cards

Hi All!! I am on a bit of a card streak as of late - very strange as it normally takes me twice as long to create a card than it does to create a layout.

I have a few cards to share with you that I created with the new This & That Collection from Lily Bee.  Super gorgeous colours in this line with bold and bright patterns.

Thanks so much for the visit!  Back in a few with - yup, you guessed it - another card. (sheesh... I think I'm LOONNGG overdue to create a mega feminine, mega frilly, mega pink layout wouldn't ya think?)

Oh Happy Day!

I have a quick card to share with you today using the gorgeous Gabrielle Collection from Bo Bunny.

Its card Sketch Tuesday over at the Bo Bunny Blog and my card is based on the wonderful sketch created by fellow DT member Jolanda Meurs.  I love creating layers upon layers and this card is no exception.  Lots of overlapping papers, chipboard and stickers gives lots of details to this otherwise 'flat' card.  By flat I mean flowerless - LOL!

Loving all the dimension the 3D chipboard gives this card.  I also did quite a bit of faux stitching - totaly addicting!Thanks so much for the visit today.
I'm on a bit of a card streak (which is really rare for me) so I'll be back again tomorrow to share some more creations!  See you then!

Supplies:
Gabrielle Wraps
Gabrielle Jewels
Gabrielle Dimensional Stickers
Gabrielle Cardstock Stickers, True Friend
Gabrielle Chipboard
Gabrielle Noteworthy
Gabrielle Combo Stickers
Gabrielle Fairest
Gabrielle Stripe
Gabrielle Flight

Shaker Tag

Good morning everyone! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I wanted to share a neat little shaker tag I created with Bo Bunny's Timepiece Collection.

I came across the technique in one of Canadian Scrapbooker's past publications and have been meaning to try forever!  To create this card, I simply cut out a circle shape and added a little transparency paper where the opening was.  I then cut the same size tag shape and outlined the rim with 3D foam.  Before joining the two tag pieces together I poured some glass beads inside to create a neat little shaker!

Very quick and easy - and you can put anything inside - candy sprinkles, confetti, etc.

Will be back again tomorrow with another card project to share from Bo Bunny!
Hope you have a happy Monday!

A New Look!!

Notice anything different about my blog??  Yes indeed!! I've had an amazing bloglift and I couldn't be more excited!! I was getting a little tired/bored of my old background and header and needed something clean and elegant that would showcase my projects in a professional way. 

I was MAJORLY inspired by the gorgeous blog of a great scrappy friend of mine - Robin Shakoor. If you look at her blog you can see I've pretty much duplicated it huh!?  I just totally fell in love with the clean lines and how professional it looked.  I loved how the projects were showcased larger than life and simply needed to redesign my blog straight away!!  Thank you Robin for all your help with this!!

I also need to thank Casey sooo much over at Hot Bliggity Blog for creating this beautiful design!  Amazing job and a wonderful gal to work with!

I still have a little tweaking to do here and there but I sincerely hope that you love this new look as much as I do!!  Be back soon with some scrappy projects to share!  Thanks for the visit!

Bo Bunny Blog Hop - Part 2!!

Welcome to the SECOND part of the Bo Bunny blog hop! I'm so excited that you all have joined us! The hop begins at the Bo Bunny blog so if you would like to participate, you may want to head there first.

For today's blog hop, I would like to share with you a layout I created with the wonderfully versatile Timepiece Collection.

Oh how I love the deep, bold colours of this line!

Lots of fussy cut paper elements on this project but I found that they didn't stand out well enough with the background paper. I later hilighted the cut outs with dimensional paint which really helped to pop each design.

I used some butterflies from Bo Bunny's Gabrielle collection which coordinates just wonderfully with the Timepiece line! To help your title stand out better you can do something as simple as outline with a white journal pen. I use this inexpensive scrappy item on quite a few of my projects for faux stitching as well!

Hope you all enjoyed this project and felt inspired!

Remember to leave a comment on each designer's blog. Bo Bunny will choose one designer's blog to pick a comment from at random and award a prize. There will also be a second prize! To be eligible for the second prize leave a comment on the Bo Bunny blog after hopping through all the blogs and one lucky winner will be chosen at random for another prize.

Thanks for dropping by my blog today. Hope to see you all again soon!

Layout and a Sketch

What's that? A Sketch you say?

The Bo Bunny blog has a sketch challenge for you all today and guess who created the sketch this time round?! Yep, yours truely! I am totally new to this and don't actually have the proper software to create all those gorgeous sketches you see in galleries and amazing sketch sites, so I just improvised.... (notice the scallop border? Look a little closer - remind you of volleyballs at all - LOL!!)

Here is the layout I created with my sketch. I had envisioned a much more feminine project with all the butterflies and vintage flowers but ended up with a more intense project with bolder colours and accents. I still think it works non?

The self adhesive crystals and beautiful flowers are all from ZVA Creative. Just love the wide range of bling they have - coordinates with any and every paper collection you could imagine!

Thank you so much for the visit today. Be back soon to share some more scrappy projects with you all. Bo Bunny will be having the second round of its Blog Hop shortly so stay tuned for that!

ZVA Supplies:
Self Adhesive Crystal: CRS02CB105
Self Adhesive Crystal: CR02CA108
Self Adhesive Pearl: PE02CB116
Flowers: FL04CA128
Bulk 3D Flowers: Cream, White, Beige

Bo Bunny Supplies:
Patterned Paper: Timepiece Collection in Timepiece, Gears, Dot, Cut-Outs
Timepiece Cardstock Stickers, Dad Knows Best
Cardstock Noteworthy
Patterned Paper: Gabrielle Collection in Elegance
Gabrielle Chipboard
Double Dot Cardstock in Coffee Dot

Graphic 45 Layout Tutorial

Happy Monday to all my wonderful readers! Today on the Graphic 45 blog, they are featuring my "Joy" layout which includes a step by step tutorial on how to recreate this page should you wish! Let's get started shall we?

Graphic 45 Supplies:
Staples: Envelope Tags
Staples: Flowers
Staples: Buttons
Staples: Stickers
Staples: Alpha Stickers
Botanicabella Collection: Botanicabella
Le Cirque Collection: Flying High, Greatest Show on Earth, Magnifique, Circus Parade
Other Supplies:
Stampin' Up! Build a Brad
Stampin' Up! Mini Circle Punch
Glossy Accents, Distress Ink and Blending Tool by Ranger
Edge Scraper by Making Memories
Permanent Tape Runner by Tombo
Tacky Glue by Aleene
Vintage Newsprint
Twine
Precision Scissors
Paper Trimmer

My supplies are organized and I am ready to begin my layout. I often save different shaped die cut pages for future projects. For example, I've saved this beautiful die cut page from Little Yellow Bicycle and have used numerous times to created my own shaped layouts.

Flip your desired page over and trace your die cut onto your page.

Once traced, proceed to cut the entire shape out.

Your background page should now look something like this.

Position your next page so that there is approx 1 inch of your die cut page showing all around. Mark where you will be cutting with a pen/pencil.

After trimming with your paper trimmer, your layout should look something like this. Continue to layer your papers, using the previous step above, so that there is a favourable amount showing under each subsequent layer.

Your layout should now look something like this. Keep in mind that once you add your photos and other desired elements, you may choose to add or eliminate layers of papers.

Using the leftover strips of paper from the pages you've trimmed to fit your layout, add additional horizontal layers to the bottom half of your project.

My favourite part: distressing! Using your edge scraper, distress all edges of all pages. The rougher you are, the more distressed your pages will appear. Don't worry if you rip a page, it simply adds to the overall appeal.

More layers!! I found this vintage children's book at a local thrift store and have used on several of my layouts to add character. They are perfect for layering under photos and pages of patterned papers. See what treasures you can find!

If you would like to further distress your project, you can do so by inking all around the edges of your pages with distress ink and an ink blending tool as I have done on my layout.

You are now ready to start adhering your project together. I've used a permanent Tape Runner by Tombo for my photo and papers. I prefer to use tacky glue for more dimensional elements such as flowers and butterflies.

The embellishments I've chosen for this project include Graphic 45's Staple flowers, buttons, envelope tags and other fussy cut paper elements. I've chosen to ink a few of my flowers for added contrast.

I've also fussy cut some coordinating butterflies from the Botanicabella Collection as well as used some of the reverse side of this paper for the centre of my vertical strip on my layout.

Add and arrange embellishments as desired. You can further compliment your page by adding finishing touches such as glossy accents, twine and lace.

Here is my finished layout. Lots of layers, lots of embellishments - a very lush layout indeed!



Thank you so much for the visit today! If you've been inspired by this tutorial and would like to re-create this layout, I'd love to see your projects! Post a link to your creations and I'll feature some on my blog in the next few weeks! Happy Scrapping!

Mother's Day Tea

Oh my goodness! I had the most amazing day today with my sweet son! All the mommys were invited to enjoy a very special Mother's Day tea party at his preschool.

We enjoyed some yummy strawberry shortcake, 'ice' tea and even cookies!

Check out these adorable clips I shot of my prince singing his "Happy Mother's Day" songs.... MELT!



I had to hold back tears on more than one occasion - it was just SO sweet!



Hope all you moms out there enjoy your special day with your family!

Le Cirque Projects!

Have you seen the Graphic 45 blog today?? My first ever projects, as a Design Team Member, are up on their site today and feature the newly released Le Cirque Collection.

I totally fell in love with the bold, bright colours and whimsical designs in these gorgeous papers. Graphic 45 is always so good at mixing vintage images with modern flair.



I'm not much of an altered item gal (although that may change in the upcoming months) but it was fun to transform this stagecoach with the Le Cirque papers. As soon as I saw it I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it!! I'm actually working on another altered project and cannot wait to show you all - hint: it involves some more Graphic 45 goodies!

My layout has lots of fussy cut elements as well as some popped up elements which I thought added to the overall feel. I didn't want to add any 'flowers' or many other embellishments to the page as the patterns and colours were already quite busy.

I also added some gorgeous butterflies from the Steampunk Collection - of course they match wonderfully!

The metal tags are also by Graphic 45 - so fantastic! I LOVED the touches of blue painted on them (they come this way).

Be sure to hop on over to the Graphic 45 blog for more project and cards featuring this gorgeous new collection!!

Thanks for stopping by today! A demain!