Sneek Peek!!!!

I'm honoured to have been asked to be on the August guest DT by Marivic over at berry71bleu. She creates beautiful tags ..just the perfect finishing touch for your LOs. She has a lovely vintage, shabby chic style. Check her stuff out at her etsy shop www.etsy.com/shop/berry71bleu . This pic is from one of Chelsea's graduation Los. You can see the edge of one of Marivic's beautiful tags to the side of the purple dress. Pretty eh? That's it for tonight ...thanks for popping by. BTW....I seem to have misplaced my mojo...anyone seen it???Please send it back to Corner Brook....I still have a zillion grad photos to scrap! Yikes!

Great day at the crop!

OMG! Life is just waaaaay too busy, ya know what I mean. Last Sunday { yes! a WHOLE week ago!} I hosted my first ever crop!!! Now here I am a week later FINALLY getting to post something about it!   It might have something to do with the fact that I'm up to my eyeballs getting ready for Chelsea's graduation this coming Wed and Thursday. Between painting a mural { for part of the grad decorating} and trying to get my weed infested garden up to "picture worthy standards" for Chelsea and her peeps...well let's just say that I'm a tad over stretched { and falling off the ladder and busting my knee while up painting the mural has done NOTHING to help me get all this 'stuff' accomplished!} But, again, I am way off track. Back to the crop... there was eleven of us there ( a few less than I had hoped for but not bad for my first crop }. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the make-n-take mini album that I taught them. We made that first, stopped for a quick lunch and then got down to some serious scrapping . And let me tell you, some of those ladies are quick , organized croppers who produced ALOT of beautiful LOs!

Gorgeous work ladies!

The girls had lots of fun, learned a few new things, LOVED all their prizes and new goodies, and are already asking me to organize the next one ! So I guess I can consider it a success! PHEW! I can admit now that I was very nervous ...mostly afraid of not living up to everyone's expectations...but lots of positive feedback makes me feel I did OK.

There were lots of little giveaways during the day . The three door prizes were won by Shirley B{ Texture Boutique and one embossing folder}, Susan B { Graphic 45 Once upon a Springtime kit from Scrapthat! Check out their gorgeous kits here }, and Inez C. won two free tickets for a beautiful cruise around the Bay of Islands that was generously donated by my BFF Tracey of Crystal Waters.

Here's some  pics of the gang!

back l-r Tracy C,Tracey R, Shirley B, SusanB, Lisa H ,JuneE, Ann J,Shirley B

front l-r Yours truly, Inez C

 { missing from photo Catherine R who was a good girl and left to finish studying for her exams!}

I spent a very busy day teaching the mini, helping people with the Cricut and the Cuttlebug ,etc so I didn't get a heck of alot of scrapping done myself but I did manage to finish ONE LO 10 minutes before the crop ended [ literally 10 mins!].

Cute eh?

This is a pic from the early '50s of my Aunt Levinia { she's the littlest one}. I fell in love with these 'Merry January ' pps when I  first spied them. I know they are supposed to be a "winter' paper but as you can see they work just fine for other topics too. I made the flowers in the corner. I KNOW it looks like a jar to the rt side of the pic { as several people have commented on my Scrapbook.com site} but really it's not LOL.

The 'family' square was cut from the accompanying embellie sheet from that paper line and then I cut a journal spot to fit behind it. For some reason I decided to round the corners of both pieces and thus it turned out looking like a jar! LOL. Doesn't help that the ribbon pull tab on the journaling spot is missing from these photos ...oh well!

Thanks so much to Tracey R for pushing  me to do this, providing the venue and donating tickets for a door prize, to Katherine F, my Stampin' Up rep{check her out here} who popped by for moral support,offered lots of advice { plus chopped all those apples for the afternoon snack LOL} and to Kelly {{check out here blog here!} who has pushed me since last winter to get my arse in gear and just do this thing! {plus offered tonnes of advice! } Thanks ladies!

Well ,it's pouring down rain ,yet I have a TON of garden work to do so I guess I'd better get on my rubber boots and rain slicker and get to it! Thanks for dropping by!

Get Your Own Piggy!!!!!

Happy June!!! I haven't been scrapping much lately but I did get the chance to whip up this cute Lo of DH and our niece, Laura last week. Rob is a terrible tease and would always chase Laura trying to snitch her stuffed piggy toy. Invariably it would end with Laura yelling " Get your own Piggy Uncle Rob! ". She outwitted him by buying him his very own piggy for his 44 th Bday a couple of years ago! Now he has no excuse ...but I'm sure he'll find other ways to tease her! I luuuuuuv all the new canvas products on the market but of course being just a tad isolated here on our little "Rock" , I can't always get my hands on something the minute I want it...sigh. I did however have tonnes of blank canvas left over from my painting days so I thought I'd play with that and see what I could accomplish. I cut out the individual canvas banner pieces by hand and then I machine stitched around the edges of each piece to halt the fraying. I'm sure you could also paint the edges with a "Fray Check" type of product ...which unfortunately I didn't have on hand at the time. Still and all , I was pleased with the results... Laura's mom { SIL KIM} phoned last night after I sent her a pic and informed me that she loved it and it made her cry! She's a real mushbag just like myself! LOL The cute little pigs were stamped using an older Hero arts stamp I had...seemed appropriate! To see a really amazing tutorial using sticky canvas to make a tree , check out my friend Kelly's blog here at www.kellycreates.blogspot.com You won't be disappointed . It's gorgeous! That's it for today . I'm busy trying to get everything ready for my crop on Sunday ! Only five more sleeps Woohoo!!!!oh ya... and happy sweet sixteenth birthday to my "Baby' Scott ....not such a baby anymore is he? please excuse my dirty kitchen window...I was too busy scrapping ! LOL Toodles!

Hope

Well it seems it is the season of Cancer Relay for Life events in a lot of places this month. I was talking to Mom yesterday and she reminded me that her Relay was coming up soon and wouldn't I like to make a donation to her team? Hint hint wink wink...real subtle Mom LOL.Of course I made a donation but it also got me to thinking about a Relay back in 2005 when Mom was asked to be co- patron with Mr. Stoodley for that year's Relay. She was so nervous as she stood to the podium in front of all those people and told "her story". I sat there with tears in my eyes the whole time. So darn proud of her and so grateful that she was a SURVIVOR and could stand up there almost 20 yrs later and inspire others. And my mother is not just a cancer SURVIVOR but a cancer ACTIVIST! Mom has always been a big supporter of many charities but she goes above and beyond for the Cancer Society. She can be found selling daffodils at the stores for the daffodil fundraiser every year; she has particpated as a team member in many Relays for Life: and one of her greatest joys is singing with the CanSurmount choir...a choir made up entirely of cancer survivors. They perform at various charity events, fundraisers and church services throughout the year.And then I realized ...I had NEVER scrapped those photos! GASP!!! Well the time has come. Of course I really wanted to include daffodils on my LO . I couldn't find any pre-made ones so I had to come up with something on my own. I did a quick tutorial to share with you ladies so here goes:

I free hand drew the three petal shape on a post-it note and traced it out two times each for each individual flower.HINT: I just kept flipping the post-it note over each time I taced it with the pencil making my own "carbon/tracingpaper". Cut out these three petal pieces and using a stylus press "lines" into the petals.For the side view flower{ the top flower drapping over the photo} I also hand drew a cup shape cutting it a little wavey across the top . You will also need 5 daisy shapes{ EK Success daisy punch} punched for the front view daffodil and 1 or 2 for the side view daffodil. I then inked the edges of everything with both Barely Banana and then small dabs of Dusty Durango ink both by Stampin" UP.

For the forward facing flower , layer two three petal flower pieces ,turning so that all petals are visable . Glue in place. I used a bamboo skewer at this point to make the petals slightly rounded. I then layered the 5 punched daisy shapes in the center of the daffodil alternating those tiny petals . After the glue sets up { I used a hotglue gun BTW} I used the tip of my craft knife to "fluff" up all the little petals . I also painted the tips of the center with a small amt of Stickles "Star Dust".
With the side view daffodil , you will need to cut out one of the petals from a three petal piece. Using a craft knife cut a rounded slit in the center of the whole three petal piece and slide the cup shape into it. Add the two petal piece behind, turning so that all five petals are showing.Now take the left over petal that you previously cut off and make a small bend along the bottom of it. Refer to above photo. This tab needs to now be tucked into the slit you made for the cup , keeping it on top of the cup piece. Glue all in place . Cut one of the small daisy punched pieces in half and then glue behind the wavey edge of the cup so just a little is poking up behind. Dab with the Star Dust stickles.

The stems were also cut freehand and inked along the egdes to add some dimension. Cut a few skinnier strips with pointy tips and roll tips around bamboo stick to replicate the leaves. I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. I'd love to see anything you create with these daffodils.send me a link!

Thanks for popping by and please support your local Cancer Relay for Life when it happens in your neck of the woods! Toodles!

Mini Album for upcoming crop I'm hosting.

I realized today that I haven't posted in FOREVER!!! I've been so busy with work, some inside painting, grad dress shopping,blah,blah,blah. I have done a little scrapping but the last few days I've been busy designing a toilet paper roll mini for my first ever crop that I'm hosting at the Bay of Islands Yachet club on June 12 th! I'm so excited! There's been a huge void left in the scrapping scene here in Corner Brook since our only LSS closed last June and I really miss getting together with other scrappers. So I've taken the bull by the horns so to speak { with only a small amt of pushing form Tracey, Kris, DH Rob and Kelly LOL} and have organized a crop. Hopefully it is just the start ! So I thought I'd share with you the mini I designed to do with the ladies at the crop. I've used all Basic Grey Capella pps for this mini and Stampin' Up "chocolate chip" ink and cardstock. It's the perfect brown for the Capella pps!

Here's a quick tutorial on how I created this mini.
Supplies: spare chipboard sheet , three flattened toilet paper rolls, 12x 12 pp of your choice, crop-a-dile, two eyelets, book rings, ticket corner punch, embellies,ribbon, journaling spots{ I cut mine with Cricut} and ink colour of choice, embossing machine and patterned folder of choice { I used Cuttle bug "Textile"], punches of choice

1. Flatten TP rolls , use bone folder to sharpen the edges { I stored mine under heavy books while collecting}. Don't worry about scraps of paper left on rolls as you'll be covering them anyways. HINT: try to use the same brand of TP so all the rolls are uniform or you may have to trim them.

2.Cut 12 x12 pp into 4 6x6 pieces and then further trim them down to 6x4 3/4 pieces. Keep your trimmed off scraps to make your tags later.

Apply adhesive of choice to center of wrong side of 6x4 3/4 piece of pp and lay flattened TP roll on top. Cut small "v' s to each corner as shown in picture below.This helps to avoid tearing when tucking in your end pieces. Then adhere the pp along length first and then tuck end pieces inside the roll, gluing down all edges as you go.Repeat for other two rolls and set aside.

3: Now let's tackle the covers. Cut two pieces of chipboard 3 x 4.5 inches each. Using a brayer , add ink to the raised side of your embossing folder. Insert chipboard into inked folder and run through your embossing machine. The debossed side will now have ink down in the pattern.Flip over the chipboard and using a sponge /inking tool...gently add ink to the plain embossed side and also ink all edges of the chipboard covers inside and out. Holding the two pieces of chipboard together, punch two holes where you want your book rings to go and then set eyelets in the front cover holes to strenghthen. Proceed to place first TP roll under the front cover lining up the edges on the eyelet end, and use pencil to mark where you need to punch hole and punch with your crop-a-dile. This first TP roll becomes your template to punch the other two rolls. When all are punched, stack together and thread onto the two book rings. Your basic album is now complete. Proceed to decorate with whatever embellies you choose.

4. Now let's whip up those tags for inside your TP rolls. Remember those 6x2 1/2" scraps that were left over at the start? These can now be trimmed down to make tags to fit inside the paper rolls. I left mine sticking out about 1/2" longer than the roll itself. I used a Stampin" up ticket corner punch on the two outside corners of the tag and a hole punch on the center of the outside edge and thread a little ribbon through it to make it easier to pull out of the rolls. Add quotes, small pics or whatever you choose to your tags. And that's it!!
As you can see from the first pictures , I entitled mine "Time Flies" and I used all the wallet size photos of my DD Chelsea from Kindergarten to Grade 12.I can't believe she's graduating next month! This mini album would also be nice as an inspiration book filled with your fav quotes or Bible verses, a grandma's brag book etc. The sky's the limit! Thanks for popping by and an early Happy Mother's Day to all my mom friends out there! HUGS!

Thank God I'm a Pack Rat!!

I "try" to curb my pack rat tendencies most of the time. I'm pretty good about everyday junk around the house { tho my hubby may beg to differ LOL}, but when it comes to sweet sentimental things by the kids ...well my good intentions go right out the door. When Chelsea was only 9 years old she wrote this sweet little poem about pussywillows on a scrap of paper...and I've held on to it ever since! When I saw these K and Co pps full of pussywillow images , I knew I had the perfect match! The photo of her was taken that same summer. Lots of punchwork on this one. MS "garden lattice" across the bottom , and a couple of EK Success punches also. The small daisy was used for the center of my flowers and a 1" scallop circle punch was used to decorate the edges of my red circle. The flowers were made using a pattern on Accent Essential cartridge. I fussy cut the butterfly and bees from coordinating K and Co paper { which is a Tim Coffey collection called Blossomwood BTW} . I painted all the wings with Stickles Star Dust for a little sparkle and curved the wings to give a little dimension. When I saw "paint with Stickles" I do actually mean paint. I don't always want a heavy layer with the stickles so I squirt a little Stickles on a scrap and then literally paint it on with a small artist's brush. Sometimes I'll add 2-3 layers depending on how much sparkle I want . This method also dries very quickly compared to squeezing on a thick layer. Good for me because I'm FAMOUS for forgetting I've added Stickles and then keep brushing my arm against it making a mess. I think I've discovered my new "favorite "font. I love the fancy handwritten look of these EK Success foam stickers that I used for the title. They are called " Alpha Mod script Black' and I'm pretty sure I had them at my local Walmart { sure hope so cuz I want to go get more!] Thanks for dropping by . Happy scrapping !

Overdosing on Graphic 45

Well after a couple of clean and simple Los last week , I'm back in the shabby chic mode again and seem to be OD'ing on Graphic 45 ! I really enjoyed playing with two of the newer lines over the last few days...Once Upon a Springtime and Hollywood Vogue.The hardest part with Grahic 45 is getting up the nerve to cut things apart..the papers are always so beautiful in their own right and it almost seems like sacrilege to cut them up! LOL . Wouldn't you agree? Does anybody else have "issues" cutting up patterned papers? I've even been guilty of buying 2 of the same papers ...just so I can leave one uncut....sigh. That may be part of the reason why I have more paper stashed away then I will ever use in this lifetime!!! Two little things I'm kinda proud of on these LOs. On the "Once Upon a Springtime" Lo , I was really pleased with the three large flowers that I made..I feel the colours matched really well. You might also notice that when I did the fussy cutting on the peach flower vine, i cut out a few extra flowers and added them here and there with popdots to give it a little extra dimension.
On my Graceful Girl Lo , I looooove the Dusty Attic dress form. I inked it first with Dusty Concord distress ink, then spritzed it with a mix of white Perfect Pearls powder and a little water. The skirt was made from a little piece of mauve tulle and the silver belt is from the gorgeous pack of matching Hollywood vogue trims. Thanks for popping by ! Hope you are all off to a great start in the New Year!