{stay beautiful}

Paris Mini Album

2012-01-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Please watch my youtube video for more explanation and details!
As you can see, I have been very neglectful to my poor blog over the last few months. I have been in my first year of university, working, and playing ringette. I also try my best to balance my time with my wonderful boyfriend and all my other wonderful friends. This leaves very little time for other things such as my blog! Anyway, I can't promise that I will get any better, but I do enjoy your wonderful feedback both here and on youtube. Thanks for sticking with me! This album is all about Paris! I finally got around to scrapping some of my pictures from my trip back in spring of 2011. I used the 7 Gypsies chipboard covers and used my new Cinch to bind the whole thing. Hope you like it!

Here I used a keychain that I got on the trip. I removed the key ring and simply used the already attached jump ring.

This album turned out very thick! I didnt add very many embelishments because I knew I wanted to have a ton of photos! I used 1 inch Cinch binding but the album is much thicker than that.

One of my favourite pages, used my ancient DYMO label maker for the title.

I used several trimmed-down 4x6 images as full pages because the album covers are slightly smaller than that.

I did some stamping throughout the mini using TH distress inks.

Here I cut the photo and used it horizontally as 2 pages. (I love this Cathedral!!)

Thank you for visiting the blog, again, please check out my video! :D

walls

2011-10-19T13:50:00.000-06:00

No, I have not disappeared off the face of the earth! I am still here but living a very busy life now that I am well into University (midterm coming up tomorrow!), Ringette and work. I cannot promise anything post-wise because I havent even had time to do any crafting in the last couple months. I do have some older stuff yet to share but we will see if that ever happens! This is an art journal page from awhile back, hope you like it!

Thanks for visiting!

Live the Life you Have Imagined

2011-08-17T15:08:00.000-06:00

I created this card for a friend who left for a great adventure in Europe. She will be living and working there for 5 months! I cant wait to see all her photos and hear all her stories but I am also missing her a ton! I coloured in the camera using chalks and poped it up with foam squares.

I have been creating tons and actually have 2 new albums to share! I hope you enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

The Piece by Piece July Challenge

2011-07-27T11:47:00.000-06:00

This is my first time participating in this challenge as I just discovered the blog through someone on Youtube. It looks like a great place so you should all check it out! This month's challenge is to alter a dress form. You can still participate until the end of July and there is a great prize! Instead of altering a dress form I took it one step farther and created my own dress form! I made the body out of newspaper and masking tape (similar to when you paper mache) and then covered it in bits of an old sewing pattern. The skirt is made from some G45 paper from the Fashionista collection. I folded it to look like pleats.

The necklace is made from some tiny chain and some silver snaps (to go with the sewing theme) which i distressed with rub and buff.

The high waistband is made from some royal blue silk ribbon, some lace and some twine. I used this to hide the raw edge of the paper skirt.

I embelished the back with a nice blue bow. This was attached using a gold headed pin.

The dress form stands on legs that I created from wire. Here you can also see the coordinating inside of the skirt! I hope you enjoy my project and please check out The Piece by Piece blog and store!

NYC times square mural

2011-07-22T23:28:00.001-06:00

This is the NYC mural I did at the end of June. It is going to be hung in what we call the link at our school (the link is a hall that connects 2 buildings to make one school). It is my way of leaving my mark on the high school as I have now graduated but want my work to be remembered. I am very happy with the way it came out and I hope everyone likes it! There are a lot of very strong messages in this piece of work so try to spot and decode them! Everyone will interpret it their own way but if you would like to know what I meant by something just leave a comment. Here I am with the mural in our art room

This was done on a 4'x4' piece of bristle board wood using house paint and magazine clippings. There are also some pictures printed from the computer.

Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this mixed media piece!

I was Published!

2011-07-02T11:03:00.001-06:00

So I have mentioned this a few times but never got around to actually making a post about it: I was published in the spring 2011 edition of Canadian Scrapbooker! It was so exciting to get that email back in October sometime last year but I didnt really want to share till it was super official. Well it has been official for awhile but now you know :)It is really easy to submit work to Canadian Scrapbooker, Just go to their website and fint the submissions page. My layout was made for a lime green challenge. since my room is painted this colour I was so excited to give it a try!

This is what my page looks like in the magazine. If you want to find it, check out page 55 of the spring 2011 edition!

This is the photo I submitted to the magazine. Hope you like it! Thanks for reading

Jordan's Birthday Card

2011-06-30T12:11:00.001-06:00

I made this for my amazing friend Jordan (my only non internet friend who reads my blog- thank you Jordan!) She enjoys sewing and I love dress forms so I took the opportunity once again! This card was inspired by a tag I made awhile ago (which also inspired an art journal page) I did an embossing powder resist technique on some cream cardstock and distressed it with vintage photo, walnut stain and aged mahogany distress inks. I also used these colours to distress the stamped image of the dress form.

I covered the maya road chipboard sewing macchine with vintage photo ink and added perfect pearls (which sticks to fresh ink!)

I hope you love your card Jordan and another happy birthday to you! (belated as most things are on the blog, atleast the month is right!)

Father's and Mother's Day Cards

2011-06-21T20:43:00.001-06:00

So both of these occasions have passed and I feel bad for not posting them sooner (especially mother's day!) but here they are, the cards I made for my parents. I used a TH embossing folder on some grey cardstock and distressed it for this card. The chipboard letters were painted with blach acrylic and distressed with rub and buff.

I used paper from the TH lost and found collection too because my dad loves cars (and licence plates are related)

This is the card I made for my mom. I love using dress forms and she enjoys sewing so I took the opportunity!

the Maya Road sewing machine chipboard was painted in white, inked with broken china and then I added perfect pearls.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading. My last Diploma is tomorrow and then I will be done high school forever! Scary. Very scary....

smile

2011-06-16T16:43:00.001-06:00

My poor blog and all of its readers have been neglected lately! I have been so busy with school because of grad (which was amazing!) and diplomas are now here (1 out of 3 are done) and work too (the LSS that I worked at closed down! I was devastated! I recently started a new job as a busser at a local restaurant). Next fall I plan to attend school at Mount Royal University and take a few interior design courses. In the winter semester I am thinking about applying at Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) because I know I would love everything there but I dont know where I will end up. Life is such a challenge. Today I thought I would share with you one of my happier art journal pages in attempt to cheer myself up :) here it is! First I journaled all over this page using plack ink. This is a fun technique for me because I can jot down all my personal feelings then cover them up with layers of paint. It allows me to express myself in a creative way, yet people cannot read my private feelings. (this is the same idea I used on my previously posted page- "The Unknown") I find this to be a metaphor for myself because often I cover up my own feelings or keep them hidden. After writing everything down I added layers of paint and tissue paper.

Thanks for reading and putting up with my sporadic posting! Hope you enjoyed :)

The Unknown

2011-05-02T16:49:00.000-06:00

I am sure everyone has some sort of fear in life and recently I have discovered mine. It is the unknown. Right now I am trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life after completing grade 12. Just thinking about it frightens me a little and I wish I just knew what I was meant to do/be.

Europe 2011

2011-04-30T15:39:00.001-06:00

My trip was awesome! I am so excited about everything I saw and the memories I made :) I just got back on thursday and am finally starting to adjust to the time difference (most parts of Europe are 8 hours ahead) Cant wait to scrap these photos! here are some of my faves. Eiffel Tower, Paris France

Vespa/Moped

Canal Cruise, Bruges Belgium

Supreme Parish and Collegiate Church, Berlin Germany

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Germany

handsome

2011-04-17T18:56:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone, hope you had a great weekend! I have been busy packing for my Berlin/Belgium/Paris trip! We leave on tuesday evening, less than 2 days to go! I am pretty crazy excited :) On this art journal page I used an emboss resist technique and a page tearing/molding paste technique. In the future I could possibly to a video tutorial if anyone is interested.

sorry I've been MIA

2011-04-12T19:12:00.001-06:00

It has been crazy busy with school and life in general lately. Do not fret! I am not abandoning the blog! I am just starting to get ready for my Europe trip this month. We leave in one week! I am soooo looking forward to it! I hope to come back with some awesome pictures! I will let you know how it goes. I have other big news, many of you may already know but the blog has not heard about it yet. I got my first scrapbooking publication! Yes that is correct! :D In the spring edition of Canadian Scrapbooker, page 55, look for me! :D I found out several months ago but wanted to wait until it was final. Thank you to you readers, you have supported me thoughout my journey and I promise to continue to create. I will post pictures of my published page asap.

Ok, about the project! I used paper from the TH lost and found stack. I did something a little different, see the red wire? I have never used it like this on a card and i like how it turned out. The letter A was cut from a clothing store bag (American Eagle, love them! they have paper bags) and I used a recipe card divider in the background.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully I will find more time to post someday!

artful memory shadow box

2011-02-28T20:51:00.001-07:00

I just uploaded a video to youtube! It has been awhile, thats for sure. For close up pictures and info on how I made this project please watch my video here! Thanks, hope you like it!

Ringette

2011-02-27T17:32:00.000-07:00

This was a page for our feb staff challenge at work. I love the Curio BG paper we recieved, super fun and pretty! The extra challenge was to scrapbook a hobby we have (other than scrapbooking!) I love playing ringette and as we near playoffs and provincials things are getting even more exciting!

Here i made some spiral paper flowers and a small fimo clay rose. Love the look of these together!

I used some cuttlebug dies to cut the title out.

Here I used stickers to show what number I am and also wrote the years of the season.

enjoy the journey

2011-02-22T16:59:00.002-07:00

More art journal work, this time inspired by my travel pictures!

I liked mixing the photos in with paint and pastel, very fun look. Some travel rub-ons to finish it off!

I am excited to tell you that I have almost filled my first art journal! The other day I put my second one together and have it all bound, decorated and ready to go!

give your stress wings

2011-02-20T01:10:00.000-07:00

I thought this was an appropriate page to share today because I am feeling pretty stress free. We have a week off from school and I am hoping to accomplish a lot but it will mostly all be relativly painless. I am very excited for some down time and catching up. I used a vintage library card and some tissue for collaging on this page. I like the way the colours turned out. I think I used vintage photo and broken china distress ink but that is not for sure...

art journal - direction

2011-02-14T23:29:00.000-07:00

This page is rather random but I really loved the camera rub-on and I wanted to feature it. After applying the rub on I covered the image with glossy accents to make it stand out.

The background of this page has some ink doodles and some random bits of an instruction manual in different languages. I used bees wax on top to make the layers appear through each other. (for more on this technique try youtubing it, very neat idea) I also added some distress ink, paint and tulle.

memories

2011-02-12T19:21:00.000-07:00

This is a page I did for this month's staff challenge at work. I dont usually use pink so it was a bit hard for me but I love how it turned out. The pictures I used are from the day I got to meet my best buddy in Spain. She was on an exchange there and I hadnt seen her for almost 3 months! It was amazing!

I made the flowers on this page using the spiral technique. Very quick and fun!

Hope you like it! Thanks for visiting!

art journal - home

2011-01-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

Good news everyone: I have finished my diploma exams for this term! This month has been incredibly busy with finishing up courses, studying, stressing and finally I am DONE! I now have a heavenly 5 days off till I go back to school to start my new term. Hopefully it will be less of a course load. Should be very good and I am looking forward to being in art again!I created this page back in the summer when we moved. The journaling means alot to me and although it is a bit personal, I dont mind sharing it with you because I'm sure many people can relate to the confused feeling that we all feel when leaving home.

I used white BG chipboard letters for the title and inked them a bit.

I used some threads pulled out of the fabric (that is also on this page). There is even some paper towel mixed in here!

Here you see the fabric material and some numbers I collaged in.

I used a Creative Memories silver gel pen, love these!

Anniversary Album

2011-01-05T15:24:00.000-07:00

The first post of the New Year! YAY! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are off to a great start this year. I thought I would share a big project (one I promised long ago!) with you today. Finally, here it is; the Anniversary Album!

I have been trying to upload this video to Youtube for some time and am having issues. Hopefully it will work out soon! Thanks for stopping by!

art journal - texture

2010-12-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have watched my youtube videos may have already seen this. Usually my blog is much more updated than my videos but in the case of my art journal it is not! I created this page probably back in the summer, but for some reason never got it posted.The texture on this page is really much better in person. I love how that element came out.

I mod podged some lace into the paer, very pretty.

As always, this page has many symbols for me. Art means different things to everyone so I will leave you to make your own judgements on what those symbols might be :) Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas gift tags

2010-12-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

Well I am just on a blogging roll now that the busyness of Christmas is over! I am looking forward to some relaxing and fun days before I have to go back to school.
Today I have 2 different tags to share with you. I like making these for my friends and family because once they open the gift, they can still use the tag as a bookmark or just keep it to look at. I wrapped my gifts in brown paper bags (yay recyling!) and that way all the tags coordinate!For this tag I used a TH stamp (at the movies set) in the background and then inked and glimmer misted over it. I stamped and embodded the wings, then cut them out and inked them.

For a final touch, I added the safety pin with the cross charm on it. Very simple, but pretty.

Here I used similar techniques. I repeatedly stamped "Christmas" in the background, then glimmer misted and inked it.

I stamped the snowflake, them embossed it with gold. The "do not open until christmas" stamp is from Stampin' Up.

Merry Christmas to All!

2010-12-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas day! I sure did :) We went to my Aunt and Uncle's house for dinner (it was fantastic and yummy!) and I got to see my cousins and aunts and uncles and everyone else. Had a good time :) Today we are having friends over for supper and that will be fun too. How I love the holidays!
I have 3 cards in this post to share with you. They were all very quick! I used some imaginisce paper and some DCWV paper. I loved the look of the TH film strip layered on the TH paper tape. Super pretty!

This paper is just adorable! All peices were cut from one sheet!

Here I mixed it up by stapling lace onto the card.

Thanks for stopping by! I will have more cards and some christmas tags to share in the near future!

christmas cards!

2010-12-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

So I have been putting off making christmas cards this year (mostly because I didnt have time!) but yesterday I finally felt the creativity to get started. These 12 cards came together rather quickly (only a few hours) and I like how they turned out. You are probably thinking "but its already christmas eve!" Do not fret, I will be giving them out tomorrow. Here are all 12 cards. In this post I am sharing 2 and will show you the rest in future posts.

I just got the TH film strip ribbon transparency stuff. LOVE THIS! I am really into anything film strip and this is just great! I love how it fits perfectly with the stamp from Tim's At The Movies set.

I stamped and embossed these wings and handcut them out.

This card is the exact same but with the brown and green reversed. I like how both look but I think this one is my favourite.

art journal - sew glimmery

2010-12-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it is December already! How the time flies. I sure can't wait till Chrismas holidays, it will be a much needed break.So this is the art journal page that was inspired by the tag I last posted. I used alot of the same techniques. (ex: perfect pearls on the chip pieces) The background was created using mainly paint, distress ink, TH tissue tape, some dictionary paper, glimmer mist and perfect pearls. I stamped some images from Clear Art Stamps' "Material Girl" set (same as tag) using black Staz-on ink and then covered them with glossy accents.

I added some TH ruler ribbon (made from canvas material, super fun!) and I drew some stiches using my caligraphy pen and ink.

More pretty perfect pearls chipboard (pieces from maya road)

I like to stamp the date somewhere on some of my pages just so I can remember when they were created. (yes, sorry, I made this on Nov. 14th and it is just getting posted now... my bad)

dress form tag

2010-11-21T23:15:00.000-07:00

This is just one of those projects that I made and can't stop looking at. We all have those right? The shimmer from the perfect pearls and glimmer mist looks better in real life. I love this stamp from Clear Art Stamps' "Material Girl" set. Super cute! I used the emboss resist technique on this tag. To achieve this look, I stamped and empossed the script with clear ep, then inked (aged mahogany, frayed burlap and vintage photo) and glimmer misted overtop. The splatter you see is actually from my messed up GM sprayer. I actually quite like this look. For the chipboard piece (maya road), I inked it with vintage photo and then added some copper perfect pearls to it.
I liked how this tag turned out so much that I just had to do an art journal page inspired by it! I will be sharing that very soon.

what I've been up to!

2010-11-17T19:47:00.002-07:00

Life has been busy but I do have a couple things to share with you! I have finished a few projects but since it gets dark so early these days I havent been able to properly photograph them. Hopefully it will happen soon! For now I wanted to show you the fimo roses I have been working on. I plan to make a video tutorial and upload it to youtube so keep an eye out for that.These flowers are super cool to make and the look really great on cards, mini albums and tags.

This is a quick bicture of the anniversary album I made for my parents last month. I still need to take some good pictures of it but I will have that up for you to see soon I hope. It is a very interactive album with tags everywhere :)

Thanks for stopping by!

art journal - the storm

2010-11-01T21:17:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the sporadic posts, or lack of posts in general. Life has been crazy busy... I doubt its gonna get any less busy, but I will still try to post more! I am quite sad about the mere one post last month, but hey, what can you do :) I havent done any seasonal creations yet (halloween was to busy!) hoping for a good Christmas creation turnout. This is an art journal page I made some time ago. I love this quote. To me it means opportunities in life dont always come at a convenient time, they must be taken when you can get them.

I have been trying to upload a journal flip to youtube but it keeps failing. Not sure why! You can look forward to a mini album from me in the near future! I created an anniversary album for my parent's 25th last month.

Cruise layout - cool drink

2010-10-12T23:42:00.000-06:00

This summer I was very proud to finally finish my Cruise 12x12 album. I am still working on sharing all the pages so you will be seeing more of these soon. Let me know what you think! I used the reverse side of some very brightly coloured Cosmo Cricket patten paper for the main background of this page. I matted my photo and stamped and embossed the palm tree image. I added the post card piece which I cut from some Making Memories Passport collection paper.

I used some black alcohol ink on the plastic button to give it a more aged look. This layout was finished off with some journaling and a few small embelishments. Overall, it was very quick and easy.

altered divider

2010-09-26T21:11:00.004-06:00

I can't believe September is almost over! What a crazy month! I hope things will slow down for me soon but it isnt looking to promising! Oh well, keeping busy is good for you I guess.
I wanted to share this project with you today! I made it from a little divider thing (these are used to organize recipes or something I think) I altered it by first adding the dictionary paper and then distressing it. I used some white acrylic paint, ink and TH distress tool. I used a little paper tape piece (the blue and red) from the vintage findings mm collection. I added some cute dollar store lace and little letter stickers. I made the flower using a spiral technique (actually quite easy and pretty!) and hand cut the leaves. I added an eyelet to the flower which seves as a spot to clip the little arrow charm to! I love how this looks!

I cut the tiny bingo cards from the TH lost and found paper pad. I added a tiny feather and behind the flower is a found piece cut from some mail (which I distressed)

I glimmer misted and distressed the back of the plain divider. I added a simple paris stamp (used some perfect pearls on it) and the tag/bookmark/fun thing is complete!

Bo Bunny Cambridge - Castle Alcazar

2010-09-26T21:04:00.002-06:00

Sorry once again, I have been so incredibly busy there is no time to post! I am hoping to get back into an easier routine soon and share more creations with you. I have a bunch ready to be uploaded, it is only a question of when! This is the other page I made with the Bo Bunny Cambridge collection. It came together quite easilly becuase my pictures were pretty much perfect for the paper!

I cut around the top of the crest on the pattern paper so that the photo could go under it. I added some dimentionals also. There is some glossy accents on the lion images too.

Sorry for the slightly poor photos, taken with my phone again as it was the only option.

BoBunny Cambridge

2010-09-13T21:08:00.000-06:00

So sorry I have been MIA for a bit! I assure you I am still crafting away, although not as much as I would like. I have been super busy with school as it is my last year and the teachers are very homework obsessed... I also have been hanging out with friends, working and starting up ringette for the season again. Cant wait to get my craft room organized how I want it! It will be a very long project. I have created this project for a class at the LSS I work at. I needed to used this new BoBunny Cambridge paper because they decided it was "my style". I really enjoyed working with this paper and the pictures I chose fit perfectly! I have done another layout with it and I will post that soon. I used som paint and punched out scallop circles from the patterned paper. I added a mat and some ribbon and it was a really nice, simple layout to create.

I took these photos with my new Blackberry! What do you think?! although not camera quality, I am still very impressed :)

post card tag

2010-08-26T15:37:00.000-06:00

I love making little charms with the tiny fragments by Tim Holtz. I have made a couple projects using them so far and I just love the look of the little plane stamp inside it. I like to create travel themed tags, cards and layouts and this little chrm goes perfectly. I stamped the postcard image using staz on, then clear embossed over it with versamark. I distressed the tag using vintage photo ink and some white paint.

It is super easy to add the charm to a safety pin using a jump ring, then just attach it to your ribbon.

art journal - growing up

2010-08-20T00:08:00.000-06:00

We drove down to Montana yesterday for some "back to fall" shopping (I dont like to use that nasty "s" word) and had much success! I like exploring all the stores we dont have here in Canada and the prices are alot better on lots of things. it was a great time :)
So about the project: I have another art journal page to share with you tonight! I did some stamping and collaging in the background of this page. I used alot of numbers on it to symbolize growing up and growing older. This is something I have been thinking alot about lately because I am going into my last year of school and I need to decide what to do with my life. It is a scary thing and this art definately helps a little...

to make this flowerish type thing I used part of a coffee filter. I painted it with watercolour paints and a bit of ink. I tried to capture a childish feel with the primary colours on the page.

I love this quote and I feel like it really relats to my thoughts right now. It is so true, children are always creating beautiful things and as we grow older we become self concious about our art. Maybe we dont share it as much or dont take the same pride in it and lots of people are just not motivated to create anymore. I am so glad I found scrapbooking when I did :)

paris tag

2010-08-17T14:26:00.000-06:00

I recently bought the Tim Holtz stamp set with this awesome Eiffel Tower image and I thought it would look really cute on a tag (inspired by some of the lovely tags I recieved from Arelene's June tag swap) I stamped the image with Stazon ink and distressed the tag using vintage photo ink and some white paint. I covered the tower with glossy accents and when that was dry I rubbed on a bit more paint.

To finish it off I just added the pretty bling. It was very simple, yet elegant and fun!

art journal - born to roam

2010-08-14T22:45:00.000-06:00

I have several pages completed in my art journal so hopefully I will find time to do a journal flip video soon. I really love the creative outlet this provides... seriously, everyone who tries it says this but its just so fun! For this page I first glued down some dictionary text. The wetness made it tear a bit so I just tore it some more. I added some watercolour, some tape, paper lace and pastels.on top are some 7G stickers and rub ons.

I love the look of the blue pastel border here, just adds another pop of colour. "love the journey, love the adventure, create the art" This sticker is just so true for me because one of the main reasons I love to travel is because of all the photography and scrapbooking opportunities.

The "born to roam" sticker to me, makes me think of traveling again. Mostly I create a page and as it progresses, I begin to figure out what it means to me. The page decides where it is gonna go and it is my job to interpret it.

home decor canvas

2010-08-07T22:19:00.000-06:00

I made these 2 canvases to hang in my new room. We have recently moved (I may have mentioned this... not sure) so I get to decorate my new room! I have painted it bright green and I love how it looks. I have black ikea furniture and am using black and cream/white accents to tone it down. I will definately share some pictures as I get more set up. These are both 6x6. I started by painting them black and went from there. I added some dictionary paper, masking tape, brown paper bag, paint, ink, vintage tickets, TH lost and found paper, 7G tape and an ornate plate on this one.

I also stamped some french script with Stazon ink. I used an adage ticket behind the plate.

On this second canvas I did the same background techniques. I added more metal TH embelishments including the lock and key, swivel clasp and philosophy tag.

I have created about 8 new layouts recently! I am working on my cruise album from a couple years ago. Still need to finish all my travel albums. Also I have new art journal pages to share. I will hopefully be posting a bit more frequently this month but I am still super busy with the move, work and all other summery activities. Thanks for reading!

art journal - live strong

2010-07-29T12:08:00.000-06:00

I have been working on my art journal alot, just havent found the time to share some pages! This is a 2 page spread that sort of took on a life of its own and created its own meaning. It amazes me how sometimes I create something without a lot of thought and it turns out to mean something completely unintended. Does this happen to you? I made the right hand page first. I really just liked the bike on the vintage bag and decided to highlight that. I outlined it with glossy accents. I picked the title "grow strong" for that page. Next I created the left page. I chose a bingo card that says live. It never occured to me that "Live Strong" was an actual foundation. Of course I knew about it and stuff but I didnt relize what I had created... if that makes sence. And with a bicycle on the page too! I cannot belive it! haha

I added paint and ink over the glossy accents for a distressed and raised effect.

I outlined the stamped title with more glossy accents. I really like using this on my pages because it is fun to feel.

bird album in birdcage

2010-07-20T18:30:00.000-06:00

This is just gonna be a quick post using some pictures I had saved as a draft. We are currently at my Auntie's cabin in manitoba. I am sitting by the lake in a lovely chair enjoying the beautiful view! I will return home on the 26th and will hopefull have time to record some vids after that.I got this idea from Bona at LiveLoveScrap on youtube. She is a crafty genius! The birdcage is from Micaels.

For the bird shape I made a template based on the Maya Road chipboard album.

I created the grungeboard wing with my own template, painted it with crackle paint and sewed the layers together with wire.

skull fragment

2010-07-06T16:16:00.000-06:00

A quick project to start off July! I have recently purchased a stazon ink pad and I really wanted to test it out. I stamped the skull on the fragment with the new ink and added a bit around the edges too. I heat set it to make sure it was dry. I used glossy accents to adhere the fragment to some inked paper. The blue paper I used is from Basic Grey and the bit of newsprint (which is actually a tv guide!) is from some October Afternoon pattern paper.

Happy Canada Day to all my fellow Canadians! So proud to live here in this amazing country! I will try to post some in the next while (got a few things lined up) but we will be moving to our new home on Saturday and are crazily packing everything.

may staff challenge

2010-06-30T23:15:00.000-06:00

I made this page for last month's Staff Challenge at the store. I didnt have any photos that went with the colours of the paper we were given so I printed off my favourite Spain picture in black and white. I created the black border strip using an old creative memories punch. Instead of using the pattern paper for the main piece, I used it as a border around the edge of the page so that it wasnt to busy.

I sanded the edges of my picture for a distressed look. The brads are possibly Making Memories but im not positive...

I used some Christina Renee Stamps behind the title to add interest.

first art journal page

2010-06-26T10:55:00.000-06:00

Hey blog readers! I have already shared this first page of my art journal in my video on youtube. Check it out here if you like. I have been working on my journal alot and I just love the easy, relaxing and messy creative outlet. If you havent already, I really recommend you give this a try!I used water colour and acrylic paints for the colour of this page. I also used some dictionary text and computer printed measuring tape in the background. for a collage effect.

Here I painted some old chipboard letters and sanded the edges to reveal the old colour. I used a couple vintage looking postage stickers and a ticket behind them.

The texture you see was created by gluing tulle onto the page. I also added some embossing powder and painted over it to blend it into the page.

Art Journal

2010-06-23T11:41:00.000-06:00

I have seen alot of youtube videos lately where scrapbookers are discovering the joy of art journaling. I have to agree that it is very freeing and relaxing and just fun in general! I made this book specifically because I wanted to try art journaling and so far I LOVE it!

I made the cover out of some burlap I found. The front and back covers also have heavy chipboard and corrugated cardboard and the spine is just the burlap (making it very flexible)

The book measures about 7 by 5 and I wanted to try this smaller size for my first journal. The pages come together really quick and I love it! I will be sharing some pages very soon! Cant wait to create more!

envelope minis + VIDEO!

2010-06-21T20:26:00.000-06:00

I have been playing with these coin pocket envelopes and I just love all the things you can do with them! they are great to include as a pocket in a mini but they also make great mini books by themselves. Here I used a coin pocket for the front and back covers and also used a maya road sheer tag on the front.

I bound it using a technique I found in one of my favourite books (Re-Bound by Jeannine Stein)

I attached a tag between each signature and decorated them using TH stamps

Here is the next project which I created from one envelope (6 1/2 X 3 1/2)

I made a closure using a circle of chipboard, a brad and some embroidery floss

Here I used a TH fragment (stamped behind it then stamped on cardstock that was then glued to fragment and lined up the images)

To see another idea using coin pocket envelopes, check out this post. Please also visit my youtube channel to see my video of these projects.

June Staff Challenge

2010-06-16T16:55:00.000-06:00

I cant believe it has been so long since I posted a layout! I havent done as many as I used to but I create atleast one every month because of our staff challenge at work. Many of them I guess I just havent gotten around to photographing or posting. I plan to catch up on some vacation layouts this summer so there will hopefully be alot more! Speaking of which, today was my last day of school! I have 2 exams and then it is summer relaxation time! HOORAY! We were given some new basic grey paper that I absolutely LOVE! The black/greyish grid is my favourite! I cant wait to work with some of these other papers that I have purchased.

Part of our challenge was to create our own embelishments. I made this ribbon flower and cut out the center part from some design paper then matted it on yellow cardstock.

I used some foam letter stickers then stamped the rest of my title. These pictures are from when I got to ride the high speed bullet train in Spain from Madrid to Barcelona. I will be adding some journaling on this soon.

I am really excited about these flowers! I found some acrylic plastic and ran it through the cuttlebug to cut them out. I sanded the edges a bit to smooth them out and then alcohol inked them! This was my first attempt at using this product and I quite like how it came out. I used the pitch black, bottle green and a brown (possibly something ginger?) Hope you like it :)

Arlene's tag swap!

2010-06-10T17:52:00.000-06:00

I have completed all 8 of my tags for the June tag swap! I am planning to mail them out this weekend so they can get to Arlene in lots of time (not sure how long that will take...) The theme is "postcard form paris" with a vintage/collage challenge. I used many techniques on this and am currently uploading a more in depth video I just filmed to youtube so please check out my channel!

I glimmer misted the flowers and added a vintage button and feathers to each.

There is the little charm I beaded. It is attached with a safety pin to the top.

This is the background I created. (was originally plain vanilla cardstock) I grunged it up using dictionary text, stamping, glimmer mist, paint and ink. Hope you like it!

film strip tag

2010-06-06T15:49:00.000-06:00

I have been quite busy lately getting ready for exams, working and creating my tags for the tag swap this month. They are almost done and I am happy with how they turned out. I will be sharing those soon and mailing them out. Cant wait!
Today I have decided to cut into valuable study time to post on the blog instead! I just really wanted to share this tag with you and I am quite excited with the new technique I have been playing with. I created the background of this tag with alot of distressing, embossing, paint, and found materials. I used a vintage library card (the kind inside the book) in the background (the corner of it is sticking off the tag) and I also used some ditionary text.

I cut the keyhole from chipboard with my new TH die. I inked it with vintage photo and some black then added a couple layers of UTEE.

Here I added a key charm attached with a safety pin to the top. Love this piece!

Here is a close up of some of the texture in the background. To get the effect I did with the white paint I used a piece of tulle sort of like a mask and dabbed over it.

small project and news to share

2010-05-31T22:20:00.001-06:00

This journal was very quick to create. I bought it with the pages already bound and everything. I did take apart the spine so I could replace the flimsy cover with some corrugated cardboard. I used my new TH die cut to cut the hinges from grungboard and embossed them with gold ep. I used super glue to adhere them to the cover. I created the splats by taking the lid off my glimmer mist and using the spray top to drip tattered leather GM from the straw. What will I be using this journal for? To plan my new bedroom! This brings me to my first news: we are moving! I have lived in the same house all my life and it will be very odd to be somewhere new. Although I will only be in the new house for a few years max before I move out I still get to design my new room. I will also be getting my very own craft room which I am super excited about! We are going to be moving starting mid June and will be settling in for most of the summer. I will try to keep my crafting to a max and update the blog as often as possible but it will be busy.

I do have more news! This month I will be participating in my very first swap! I was lucky enough to get signed up in time for Arlene's June Tag Swap! I am soooo super excited! The theme is "postcard from paris" with an optional challenge of vintage/collage. This is totally up my alley and I have already designed my tag and started on the mass production. I cant wait to share more!

tag incorporating die borders

2010-05-29T18:20:00.000-06:00

I have been tag obsessed again lately. I really need to start doing some layouts of my spain trip but tags are just so quick! I promise more layouts once summer vacation starts!
I really wanted to try out my new dies and this project was calling for both of the border strips. I have pre-made a bunch of these tickets and stamped and inked them for quick use. Love them!
For this tag's background I added some white and black paint, embossed some random patches, added some dictionary text, and then added more paint on top. After all that I inked it with vintage photo and ruby red. The film strip die cut was originally white. I painted it black and them added some black embossing powder. You cant see it very well in the photo but the ribbon at the top matches the brad in the center of the flower really well. Super cute pattern too!

Hope you like it! Please let me know what you think :)

bird cage tag and some new stuff!

2010-05-25T20:59:00.000-06:00

My birthday was this past week and my mom completely spoiled me with a ton of wonderful scrap supplies! She is not a scrapper herslef but I have a feeling she had quite the time running around town finding all this stuff! Here are just a couple things she got me:TIM HOLTZ DIES! I almost died when I unwraped these! She somehow managed to find them in store! She got me the birdcage, the harware findings, the ticket strip and the film strip! I was sooooo impressed at how well she knows my style!

Here is the first project I created with the cage die. I havent had much time lately but i will most definately be creating a ton more stuff with all my new supplies!

To cover the cipboard bird I used dictionary paper. I inked it using tempting turquoise and tea dye distress ink. I then covered it with 2 layers of UTEE. This creates an interesting effect causing the print on the reverse side to show through a bit. Kinda hard to explain but very cool in real life!

I added a wing charm with a jump ring and some ribbon to the bird cage. Oh! I distressed the cage chipboard with gold embossing powder, sanded it and glimmer misted it.

I went for a mixed media look on the background. I originally did this on cardstock but then backed it with chipboard. I did some emboss resist, added some dictionary text, crackle paint, glimmer mist and on the left you can see a tag off of a pillow I think it was (I collect all types of random things)

pocket tag

2010-05-16T17:53:00.000-06:00

So I walk up to my craft table the other day with one goal in mind: to make a tag with some texture. This is what happened. I quite like how the background turned out. I acheved this look by first glueing some ditionary paper on my tag, then inking, sanding, painting and more inking occured. I wanted it to be rough yet sorta elegant.

To get this great texture on the background I put a peice of tulle down, dabbed some paint overtop then pulled the tulle off.

I used another one of the flowers that I have been making. Love em! The little envelope was cut out using the cricut at my work. there is another tiny tag in there that pulls out.

mother's day card

2010-05-13T17:26:00.000-06:00

So I am posting this a little late mainly because I just found the time today and because I didnt want to post it before mothers day! Yes my mom occasionally reads my blog so I wasnt taking any chances of ruining the surprise!I chose to use this Tim Holtz stamp because it is one of my mom's favourites. I think her raising my brother and I must have been a journey for sure. I also used the gel-a-tins gone to seed flower stamp (thats what I call it :P) because she loves this one too. To distress the background I first inked it with vintage photo, stamped with vintage photo, dry brushed on some white paint and then distressed the edges.

I have become addicted to making these adorable little flowers! I use the same instructions as the Tim Holtz grunge paper roses but I like to make mine from paper. Here I used just a brown paper bag and added some glimmer mist and inking. Behind the flower I have some dyed lace/tulle and a pearl string.

On the chipboard postage stamp frame (sizzix) I first inked it with vintage photo, added some gold embossing powder, sanded it, then inked it some more. I am really pleased with it's appearance. In person it looks just like metal!

dragonfly tag

2010-05-10T20:52:00.000-06:00

Good Monday to you all! I hope you have started your week off well. I know I have :) no particular reason, it is just a good day. (A nice change on a Monday) This simple tag was made using a glimmer mist background and some stamping. After the ink was dry I applied crackle accents to the dragonfly. When that was dry I added some stickles glitter glue and edged the tag with dark brown ink.

I will be posting the mother's day card I created soon but I have not yet photographed it. Cant wait to show you the pretty flower on it!

Welcome Home!

2010-05-05T12:57:00.000-06:00

About 3 months ago I had posted a bookmark I made for my friend Cassandra as a going away gift. (see it here) She is finally returning from Spain TOMORROW! I am really excited to see her again! When I was in Spain I actually got to meet up with her but only for a day. It wasnt even close to being long enough. I cant wait! I am going with her family and some other friends to the airport to pick her up and it will be incredible :) Cassandra is really into black and red so I tried to use that combo. It came out pretty vintage which I think is sorta cool. Hopefully she really likes it. To make the key, I stamped and clear embossed the image on some BG distressed cream paper. I then used vintage photo distress ink overtop.

These fragments are new to me and I really wanted to just play with them. I made the little charm before the card but it actually fit really well with this theme. I lightly stamped a Tim Holtz ticket in the background and then stamped the plane overtop.

I used a 7 Gypsies "claim check" card. I thought the part at the bottom was pretty funny.

Distressed Tag

2010-05-02T18:48:00.000-06:00

So I have been on a tag making streak lately. Today I created 2 and yesterday I made 2 aswell. Here is my favourite so far. So I just adore the new glimmer mists I bought! I used both caramel apple and the tattered leather. I gave the tag a bit of colour then clear embossed the stamp from my Christina Renee set. I continued to add a couple more dark layers overtop to make the image pop.

To make the grungeboard wing I first cut out the shape from an embossed but not die-cut sheet. I actually didnt ink it at all but instead sprayed it with several layers of the tattered leather glimmer mist. I added a touch of white paint and blended it while it was still wet. It came out alot more charcoal coloured rather than brown but I really love the overall appearance. It is hard to tell but alot of the glitter stuck to the low spots on the grunge piece. Very cool!

The tiny typed numbers were cut off of one of those magazine subscription cards. I stamped the Tim Holtz ticket and inked it.

follow your bliss

2010-04-28T18:20:00.000-06:00

Alright so you may have noticed but my cards lately are all using this same distress technique. I did a bunch of them at once and they are all kind of a series. I hope you like it and dont worry, I will have some new stuff up soon!

Speaking of new... my Scrapbooker's Paradise trip yesterday went wonderful! I got a ton of new beautiful paper, some Tim Holtz metal tags, a new ink pad, fragment charms, Spain stickers, travel rub ons and I finally took the leap and dove into the world of Glimmer Mist. Of course I have used them before but now I have my very own! To start my collection I bought the caramel apple and the tattered leather. I cant wait to create a project!

Distress Technique

2010-04-27T16:43:00.000-06:00

Hello wonderful blogging world! Today is a good day! I have no homework (this is a very rare occurrence!) and tonight I am heading into town to visit Scrapbooker's Paradise! What a wonderful store that is. I am hoping to find some great things to scrapbook my Spain trip with. Speaking of which, I have already made a Spain mini book as part of my school module that I get credits for! I will be sharing that soon too. Today I would like to share 2 cards that I recently made at a crop. I only used scraps! They are a tiny bit smaller than a standard size card. I used my new Christina Renee stamp set for the vintage lady, ticket and backgrounds.

I used tha same technique that was on my 2S4Y card this week. I just love the vintage worn look. and the tickets are so versatile!

The main stamp on this card is from SU. I love it because it looks like the streets of Spain and it is such a detailed, clear image.

collage tag

2010-04-25T00:57:00.000-06:00

I made this using some old cosmo cricket paper and newer maya road journaling cards. I took pieces of each and decopaged them to the tag base. I distressed it using tea dye ink and some black. To finish it off I added the rub-on and the clip with some ric-rac.

grungy chandelier

2010-04-21T17:32:00.000-06:00

I made this card for this week's 2S4Y challenge. I have been making alot of these grungy brown stamped images and have made several into cards already. I got this new Christina Renee stamp set and just LOVE all the vintage images. I cannot wait to use them for scrapping my Spain adventures.

I glimmer misted the lace with tattered angels (I forget what colour) and stamped some music notes (same set) along the edge. I freehand drew the top note bracket and cut it out of mulberry paper.

vintage text tag

2010-04-20T16:58:00.000-06:00

I made this tag using a regular shipping tag. I first covered it with dictionary text paper then distressed it using white acrylic paint and some inks. I distressed the edges using the Tim Holtz edge distresser. I used 2 Tim Holtz gears but painted the smaller one with white acrylic paint.

I added some twill ribbon, lace and feathers to finish it off.

album close ups

2010-04-18T14:16:00.000-06:00

Finally! Here are the pictures of my latest mini book! I have already posted the video on youtube and if you would like to see it please check it out here. I hope you like it!

Spain Adventures!

2010-04-15T17:50:00.001-06:00

I have returned! Thank you for being so patient with my lack of posting the last couple weeks. I have finally unpacked and am almost used to Alberta time again! No more waking up at 5am and going to bed at 9pm! Spain is 8 hours ahead so the transition was a challenge. here are just a few highlight pictures of my trip and I will maybe post some more soon. I can't wait to get them all scrapbooked!

Keep your eyes peeled for my mini book pictures which I promised and havent posted yet! They will be up soon! I pinky swear!

"me" mini album

2010-04-02T00:38:00.002-06:00

I have made a video! I posted it on youtube! Please check it out and let me know what you think. I will post some more photos of it asap but I just dont have the time right now as I am leaving for Spain tomorrow! My school group will be visiting Madrid and Barcelona! We are there for 10 days and our schedule is jam packed full of amazing sights to see! I cant wait!

macbeth mini

2010-03-27T17:43:00.000-06:00

Here is the Macbeth mini I made! This is a school project, Im definately not that obsessed with Shakespeare... This 3x3 album was really quick and fun to make. I hope you like it! I kept the cover simple but I just love how it turned out! I used some paper lace, a handmade wing, a little dollar store frame charm and some October Afternoon letter stickers.

I bound it with some gold elastic cord and attached an adorable crown charm with some jump rings.

The bits of ribbon sticking out are what hold the tags down. I just tied it around the whole page.

For the written portion of the project I journaled on some tags I punched out with a CM punch. I used my School Desk stamp set to stamp journaling lines.

I used pictures found on Google images. The tiny ticket is a TH stamp.

I used a SU marker to add some red on the white flower. I put glossy accents overtop to make it look bloody.

Inkadinkadoo ticket stamp.

A Making Memories postage stamp.

I cant wait to share my newest 6x6 album! Hopefully I will get a video made!

Coin Pocket Mini part 2

2010-03-24T20:48:00.000-06:00

Here are a bunch more pictures of my mini album! I hope you like it. Scroll down to see original post.

I have a couple more completed mini albums! One is a project i did for school - very quick 3x3 album based on the Shakespeare play Macbeth. The other one is a 6x6 "all about me" album. I have been working on this one for quite a while and am so excited that it is finally completed! Cant wait to share them!

Coin Pocket Envelope Mini

2010-03-22T14:46:00.000-06:00

Finnaly! Here is the envelope mini I have been talking about! I did alot of distressing with ink, paint and glimmer mist. I hope you like it! I will post more pictures soon because I didnt want to include them all in one post. It is a big album! I got this idea directly from Bona at LiveLoveScrap on Youtube. Please check out her awesome inspiring video! On the cover I used my postage stamp frame sizzix die. I inked it and covered it with UTEE. I used one of my favourite charms from Blue Moon.

here is a view of the distessed pages. There is a tag in each coin pocket.

On the background I used GM, paint and stamped the alpha background from Tim Holtz.

To bind it I used some black cord and tied on a little key charm.

Here are some pages. There is a cardstock insert for journaling between each page. These are removable because I used the SU spiral punch on the edge.

owl tag

2010-03-20T23:04:00.000-06:00

This is the last of the tags i have made so far. Do not fret! there will be more coming soon! The next thing to post is my new mini album! I cannot wait to hear what everyone thinks! I first clear embossed the branch (basic grey stamp) and then lightly stamped my new prima music note background overtop. (you cant really see it) Next I inked over it using tea dye and some black.

I stamped the owl (from an inkadinkadoo set I think) and watercoloured it in using some ink pads and re-inker. After the owl was dry I put some glossy accents on top and added some feathers.

Destination Unknown

2010-03-17T18:59:00.000-06:00

Another tag to share! I am still into making these so expect to see more. They are just so pretty and quick. I used a stamp from gel-a-tins and clear heat embossed it. I lightly stamped the canvas backgrounder overtop and inked it with old olive and tea dye.

The tag is a Tim Holtz stamp which I cut out and disressed. The little stamp is from Making Memories Vintage findings. I also added some travel rub-ons.

Crackled Glass Tag

2010-03-16T17:56:00.001-06:00

This tag was made using the cracked glass tecnique. There is a great tutorail that was posted on March. 3rd on the Cuttlebug Challenge Blog. I used several layers of UTEE embossing powder, let it harden in the freezer, then gently bent it creating this awesome effect.

I used a 7 Gypsies tag that already had the black pattern on it. A super simle way to add interest! I stamped the little bird and used some clear ep overtop.

bird cage tag

2010-03-15T16:59:00.001-06:00

I have been using this stamp set so much! I just adore the cute birdcages! I think they are my favourite thing right now. i cant wait to start my bird mini album but I am still collecting items and supplies for it. I recently finished a super vintage, distressed, travel/outdoor coin pocket mini. I cant wait to share! I used the emboss resit tecnique on the birdcage and used a combination of wild wasabi, not quite navy and tea dye inks. I also stamped in the background with my SU canvas stamp.

I used some travel rub ons (black in background) to add intrest. I stamped the ticket and handmade the tree.

bird cage birthday

2010-03-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

I made this for one of my close friends who just turned 17 yesterday! Happy birthday Cassie! I was so excited to recieve my new birdcage stamp set i have been using it on everything. I have a couple tags to post using it as well. The littel blue bird is from the basic grey build a branch set.

I did some emboss resist (my current favourite!) to make the cage stand out. The pretty brown paper is actually flocked and feels pretty cool.

Boy Birthday Card

2010-03-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

I made this card for a friend who is turning 16. I know it is very childish but the cartoon kid reminded me of him. I cut it out from a piece of Rusty Pickle pattern paper. I embossed the red mat using a cuttlebug forlder. I used a Creative Memories punch to make the yellow star and white splat. It was really perfect because the star matches his helmet and the splat reminds me of a cartoon "noise" bubble.

I have very exciting news! After 2 weeks of checking the mail way to often my stamp set has finnaly arrived! I was SOOO excited when it came! Awhile ago I posted a picture of the Basic Grey Bird Cage set that I had ordered online and I am super excited to try it out. Cant wait to share some projects!

daily news tag

2010-03-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

Yet another tag and more to come! Don't worry, I will share a card soon too. The newspaper pattern paper is a piece from October Afternoon. I inked the paper and background then stamped the alpha background from Tim Holtz's School Desk set. The bingo card is a stamp from the Mini Muse set. I love both so much and use them ALL the time!

The key is a Tattered Angels chip piece. I added a bit of tea dye distress ink to the flower. I rarely use pink but I like the vintage look of it on this tag. Something new to try possibly?

memoirs tag

2010-03-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

I am pretty obsessed with these tags right now. Gotta love the big box from Staples! I used a stamp from the Tim Holtz mini muse set. Super cute and fun to play with. I want to find more ways to use this stamp as it is so awesome and vintage!

I used a similar technique on this tag as I did on the one posted Sunday. I first stamped the image in black and put clear ep overtop. i made a mask to cover the image of the people and then used my SU canvas stamp over that. I added some ink and glossy accents to finish it off.

Before stamping I used my brush tip red pen right on the stamp to make the numbered section red.

rain man tag

2010-02-28T00:17:00.001-07:00

A quick project to share! I quite like how the colours of this tag came out. First I stamped the rain man in black ink and used clear ep overtop. Then I used my SU canvas stamp with not quite navy ink. I inked the edges with black and added some tea dye ink in the middle.

The men's hockey GOLD MEDAL game is today! GOOOO CANADA! I can't wait!

altered mini box

2010-02-25T17:17:00.000-07:00

I love saving all sorts of tiny boxes to create cute little projects like this. I found this one in a hotel! It is one of those little complimentary sewing kits. I unfolded the box and glued some 7 gypsies pattern paper on it. After re-assembling it I sponged the edges with tea dye distress ink. You cant really tell in the photo but the box has a really cool shape. It comes to a point at the top and is wider in the middle. i just love how this turned out! I think I will keep it on my desk for a while. The paper is my favourite part. So cute!

This ribbon was originally black and white. I used my tea dye re-inker and painted it with an ink/water solution. I cut out the tiny tag with a cuttlebug die.

happiness card

2010-02-24T16:57:00.001-07:00

I made this card using this week's 2S4Y sketch layout. As always, it is very cute and easy to work with. I hope you like my creation!

I used a grungeboard oval bookplate and simply distressed it with some tea dye ink and black ink. Behind that is some vintage dictionary text. The red pattern paper I used is from the Old World Stack available at Michaels.

Instead of using a scallop on the edge I decided to try my SU round tab punch. I like how this turned out. I stamped the word "happiness" using my office policy collage press stamp set. Please let me know what you think of my card!

First Online Order!

2010-02-20T23:46:00.000-07:00

As you may know I am planning a bird mini album and I really wanted to do a bit of a birdcage theme. I do not currently have any birdcage stamps and all the pattern paper I find doesn't really go with my vision. This Basic Grey set (Pocelain Aviary) is retired as far as I know (because it is not on the Basic Grey site) and I have not seen it in stores for a long time. I did see it once some place and have since regretted not buying it. Anyway, this dilema has led me to my first online order! I see all these Ebay hauls and people ordering from different sites and the idea of recieving mail just seems so great! I bought this set on www.tuscanrose.com. I only ordered it a few days ago and have not yet recieved it so the wait is painful. I am very excited! I have been working on an awesome thick 6x6 mini album and I cannot wait to finish! I still need to print more pictures and find some time so it could be a while before you see it. I am hoping to make a video about it too. Stay tuned for more!

Michaels and Scrapbook Central haul

2010-02-15T16:33:00.000-07:00

I posted this video on Youtube yesterday! I would be doing alot more videos but I dont have an editing program on my computer. I like to cut out the parts I dont need and everything. I will see how it goes. Anyway, I hope you like my haul!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of my mini cards and one small altered item! I hope you like them. Tim Holtz School Desk set used for the background, little lady bug stamp from Stampin Up.

Tim Holtz Mini Muse bingo card stamp, charm hanging from eyelet.

This was one of those individual tea bag boxes. I unfolded it, covered it in paper and re-assembled it.

goodbye for now my friend

2010-02-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

So earlier this year I had mentioned how my friend Cassandra had an exchange student here for 3 months. Anna lives in Spain and it is now Cassandra's turn to go there. She left just yesterday and it seems really weird that she wont be here for everything we do. I wrote her a letter to read on the plane and included this bookmark. I hope she remembers we are here for her whenever she looks at it. On the front is a picture of Cassie, Kirsten and I because we are her closest friends. This photo doubles as a pocket and inside is a small tag. I did alot of distressing on this using tools, ink and white paint. On the back is some wrinkled up dictionary paper.

Here I used a Tim Holtz stamp which I felt really applied to the situation. It was so perfect! I stamped it in black and used some clear embossing powder.

I hand cut this wing from chipboard, glued on some dictionary paper, gave it a light coat of brownish paint and added some white on top.

I used a giant coloured safety pin and tied on a little shell charm.

Here I used Stampin Up's label punch. I distressed it with ink and paint.

This is the tag behind the photo. I covered it with a piece of spain map. Tarragona is where Anna lives so I used a small circle stamp to make it stand out.

love letter

2010-02-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

Another little 3x2 card! The adorable stamp frame is one of my favourite new dies from Sizzix! I bought it for half price at Michael's a few weeks ago along with the film strip one. They work great in the cuttlebug which I love too.
Here I just die cut some white chipboard and added some ink. Super easy and pretty. I stamped the ticket and cut it out. The awesome "love" bingo card is a rub-on from Maya Road.

Valentine's mini card

2010-02-06T15:43:00.001-07:00

Here is the first of many little Valentine's cards. To make the adorable evelope I just scored and folded a tag. you can see how I did it better in the next photo. I attached a little bug charm to the paper clip and added some ribbon.

I used my DYMO label maker to write "love bug" and the cute ladybug stamp is from Stampin Up. I also used the Tim Holtz School Desk set on the tag.

Dec. Staff Challenge

2010-02-03T16:38:00.002-07:00

I made this layout for the December Staff Challenge at work but of course forgot to photograph it before dropping it off! better late than never... speaking of late I have my October one to post soon too! oops... I will probably do some journaling on this page to explain the signifigance of this photo. maybe use some paint to make lines then write overtop?

I used an oval bling to highlight the focus of the photo. It adds a cute touch.

Some flowers and a die-cut finish the page. It was part of the challenge to use the snowflake you see here. They came in a strand like ribon but I cut it apart to just use one.

valentines' day cards

2010-02-01T20:56:00.001-07:00

First of all I cannot believe it is already February! Luckily I am now done my exams and have started all new classes. I am looking forward to the new term. I hope to get back into regular blogging but no promises. You will be happy to hear I have several projects I am working on. I have two new layouts ready to be posted, I'm working on an awesome thick mini album and of course there will be many Valentine's cards! Here is a peek at what I have been up to lately. I just love how all the colours of the cards coordinate so I had to snap a couple photos of them together. The cards are all 3x2 inches and were very quick and fun to create.

I hope you like them so far! I will be back soon to show you individual cards and close ups!

Christmas Layouts

2010-01-27T14:29:00.000-07:00

I did both these layouts for a class that will be taught at the store. There are 2 more that make up a double page layout with this same collection but I forgot to photograph them. The paper is all from My Mind's Eye, the Colorful Christmas collection. This page was made using only scraps from the other 3 pages. I used pretty much every last inch of paper.

The tree is from the die-cut sheet.

I used some ric-rac across the page and I think it really suits the feel.

I used more die-cuts here along with an awesome plastic orange label tab thing.

My favourite part of this page is the twirled ribbon and paper. I used part of a border from the die-cut sheet and curled it around a pencil to give it shape.

exams

2010-01-21T17:56:00.002-07:00

Everything including my camera, laptop and artistc view of things will distract me from studying. 1 down, 2 to go. See you bright and early tomorrow my dear Social exam.

Jan. Staff Challenge

2010-01-18T20:26:00.001-07:00

I havent got around to posting all my staff challenges but each month at the store we get a bag that has some paper and sometimes ribbon or an embelishment. The challenge is to create a layout without adding anymore paper and using your own embelishments. Here is my latest creation!

The paper we recieved is from Glitz Design, the plum crazy collection. Very pretty stuff. I used a photo of our apple tree and edited it using picnik.com. The photo corner rub-ons are also fron Glitz Design. It was originally a frame that I cut in half diagonally.

Here I stamped one of my favourite images from Tim Holtz's set "mini muse"

These letter stickers are from October Afternoon. Very versatile

christmas tags - it's about time!

2010-01-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

I am really sorry for neglecting my blog so much. I still check on it quite often, read other blogs, leave comments for people etc. but have just not found the time to update my own! Im sure you all know what that's like. I haven't been crafting as much as I would like either. At school the end of our term is comming up which means unit tests, essays and finals. I have also been busy with Ringette too. I hope you can forgive my slacking! To make up for it, I am posting 3 tags tonight! Enjoy! I kept this one pretty simple so the cool background wouldn't be taken over. I got this awesome effect by misting the tag with water, crunching it up, misting it with some brown ink/glimmer, inking the high points and finally sponging in some red and blue. I also stamped on it with the alpha stamp from Tim's set "school desk"

This vintage button is absolutely awesome! I found it at my favourite store/place of employment. Scrappin' With Friends!

Here you can really see all the pretty colours and texture.

This second tag was sometihing I created just for my mom. She loves blue and loves snowflakes. I used a similar technique as the previous tag minus the water mist and instead used Ranger re-inker. It does make a difference! Softer easier blending of colour. The stamps are all Stampin up.

I tied a bell to each end of the ribbon and tied a bow around the top part. Added some embroidery floss too.

This tag was based on one Tim Holtz made for his 12 tags this year. I modified it only slightly based on the products I had on hand. For further instruction check out his blog here

watercoloured santa

2009-12-27T12:42:00.000-07:00

I hope you all had an amazing and cheery holiday! I know I sure did! Exciting news: I am posting from my new laptop for the first time! Yes Santa was good to me :) So here is one of my last Christmas cards. It was super simple to put together after I finished colouring the image. I used my inkpads and a damp brush to do this technique. The edges were distressed using my tea dye distress ink and my Tim Holtz edge distresser.
Later this week I will be posting some Christmas tags! Some were inspired by Tim holtz's 12 tags of Chrismas and some are just ones that I went crazy with. Please check back soon!

decorated tree version 2

2009-12-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

This card is the same as the one I posted yesterday, but with a new colour scheme. I really like how these colours and the ripped border turned out but I like the chain on the other one better.

Only 2 more sleeps until Christmas morning! We recieved our parcel in the mail from our relatives in Manitoba today! It is starting to feel like christmas now. The 2 feet of snow on the ground helps a bit with that too :)

decorated vintage tree

2009-12-22T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here is the new and improved version of the card I posted a few minutes ago (scroll down to see it or click this link)

As you can see I added the flower, used a bigger tree stamp and added the chain decoration. Other than that the colours and layout are similar.

I really love what the old chain garland on the tree adds to the card. I like to include something "exciting" on every card.

Check back soon for the "decorated tree version 2" of this card. Same layout, new colour scheme!

vintage tree card

2009-12-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

As I make Christmas cards each season, I get more comfortable with my supplies as I go. This was one of my favourites in the first bunch of cards but I have improved and added to it since then.I will be posting the new and improved version very shortly! I hope you enjoy both.

oh christmas tree

2009-12-20T13:41:00.000-07:00

We finally got our tree up this morning! It looks awesome! I haven't even finished my shopping yet and the card situation: about half have been mailed. I still need to make the ones for my friends and coaches. This is one of my favourite cards I have made so far this christmas. I like it mostly because of the flower/sprocket gear/charm combination. Three of my very favourite things all together! I stamped the tree first using a detail black pigment. Next I stamped the tree again on some scrap paper, cut out the rough shape and used it as a mask. I then stamped the french script on top.

crackle christmas

2009-12-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

So instead of keeping up with my blog I have been very busy making Christmas cards. Hopefully I will get to share all of them eventually (or atleast my favourite ones) I recently bought a new Tim Holtz stamp set! It is called Mini Muse and has all sorts of awesome vintage images. On this card I used the bingo stamp and the ticket stamp. Love them both!

I tried something new on my grungeboard piece. First I painted it with crackle paint, then I dripped some tea dye re-inker on it. While the ink was wet I added a layer of glossy accents. This mixed with the ink a bit giving a neat effect.

the first Christmas card!

2009-12-05T16:52:00.001-07:00

Happy December! So far this winter it has been pretty tame weather but yesterday the real Canadian snow hit. We had a blizzard! We got about 20 cm of snow but the crazy winds have made drifts everywhere! Some are up to 5 feet deep at my place! I cannot wait to go sledding! With the first big snow comes the first Christmas card! I used some old Cosmo Cricket paper for the main part.

I wraped some hemp twine around the main panel. I used a black Glitz Design rub-on in the background. A safety pin with a knot of ribbon finishes the look.

dog layout

2009-11-27T15:48:00.001-07:00

Here is my staff challenge layout for the month of October at Scrappin' with Friends. I used a couple fall pictures of my dog from last year. He is so photogenic despite his hyperness!

The title is white BG chipboard letters that I inked. The paper you see in the above photo was originally much lighter in colour. I inked and glimmer misted it.

This paper had a journaling block right on it! I painted the edgesof the layout to make the distressing on the main paper consistent throughout the other layers.

Canada Album part.3

2009-11-23T19:17:00.000-07:00

This is the last of the Canada Album. Hope you like it! The left page is at West Edmonton Mall. I used some clothing tags for shopping accents. Anna of course doesnt have these same stores in Spain so it will be a cool way to remember some of the stores we like here.

Adorable dress charm. The colour just went really well with this page.

Some concert pics! I also included the Marianas trench ticket which includes the data and location.

This ticket is from one of those big rolls you buy when you are doing like a 50/50 draw or something. I like this style because it is not to stiff and is only black and white so it is east to coordinate with.

These letters were cut out with my cuttlebug.

The right page has a pcket. In it is a file folder that has pictures inside. There is also another photo behind that.

I have a new layout to post soon, some awesome new stamps to share and of course some cards or tags I will be creating with them. Check back soon!

Canada Album part.2

2009-11-15T14:21:00.000-07:00

Here is part 2! There will still be atleast one more post on this album because there are so many pictures! So I found this pattern paper by Stamping Station called Alberta Travel. I used the alberta shape for one whole page! This way Anna can look at the album, find Calgary and see all the other places she has been in AB. My friends and I really love to skate. I love this sticker by Jolees By You. It is so realistic!

I made a pocket for the page on the left. The tag has a picture on both sides.

The page on the right is one of my favourites. I used some paper by Glitz designs. Anna LOVES leopard print so it really suits her. I painted the grungeboard key with weathered wood crackle paint.

Another pocket with zipper trim! the orange piece unfolds and inside are 4 pictures!

I used the stamps from Stampers Annonymous called School Desk.

Sticker frame from Glitz Designs.

The picture on the left doubles as a pocket. Inside is a tag with some journaling.

Crown sticker from Glitz Designs.

There is still more to come! Please check back later!