Distressed Stickles

I love all things Distress, which is funny since when Distress Inks first came out, I wasn't impressed. That was before I realized how they were different and before they added all the colours (the first round was mostly browns) and now I love them. I love how they all react with water and how you can use them for so much more than just as a stamp pad and reinker (for starters).

With this technique, I coloured clear stickles with two different colour Distress Reinkers and then swiped my paper through it. It gave such an awesome texture and it was easy to match colours to use to stamp (not that I did on this card, but you could).

So Bunny Cute

I'm still getting organized to start Blogging and sharing again, and while I was looking through my photos, I saw this layout just sitting there. I loved it and so am excited to share!

When Nathalie was a baby, I had this froggy coat that I completely loved. I got so many comments on it and it's packed away in my keepsake box. When she outgrew it, I ordered a Bunny coat and she was just as adorable!

I had fun with this layout too. I played with my new (well, they were new when I did the layout) Distress Markers. Sometimes, I just putter and play when I scrapbook and it's nice to be able to relax. Often times, I feel stressed about getting caught up and getting it all done, so it's nice to be able to play sometimes too!!

It's Been Awhile

The title really says it all. It's been awhile. I always have such good intentions about posting, but then life happens and I don't. Or I figure no one reads this, so I don't bother. Then someone will mention a post they saw or something and I think, "I should post again." But, this year, I just haven't.

There are so many reasons really. One is just that life gets in the way. I have 3 kids and I run a business. I sit as the Chair of our School Council and all that seems to take precedence. And I enjoy a clean house (although lately, you'd never know it) and I feel an obligation to feed us. So, all of that takes time. Time I don't get to stamp or scrapbook. Then when I do actually create, I don't take the extra step to share it. My office is separate from my craft room (which is what I want) and so I need to bring my cards and pages in here to scan and then post, so it's one more step in the process. One more thing to stop the flow.

Truthfully, though, I haven't even stamped or scrapbooked much this year. I was feeling a ton of guilt over the fact that I didn't get very much time in my room. And then when I was in there, I was fulfilling obligations: my technique club and my paper pack club. And I enjoyed them. A lot. But I just felt such pressure. Well, I've dropped both of those which was both good and bad. No more pressure which was great, but also, no more creativity since I wasn't forced into my craft room for anything. So, I didn't do much. Add to that the fact that I'm not happy with my organization in there and I wouldn't spend much time in there. I redid my room many years ago and have made small changes since then, but I'm running out of room for my unmounted stamps. I need another shelf. And I don't really have anywhere to put all my Distress Stains and Paints, so they sit in a box. And there are a couple of boxes of stuff that I haven't put away because I don't know where to put them and so it makes it even more cluttered in there.

But it's all changing now. My awesome brother has agreed to help me build some new storage solutions and I'm so excited. We're going to move some stuff around, rip some stuff down and build new shelves. I'm going to have a whole embellishment area and it's all going to be awesome!!! He came over last week and we talked about what we could do. It's tough for him since he has no idea what half the stuff is, but he asked questions and I talked about what I want close and what I don't need access to all the time and so we have a plan! It's going to take a bit as we do one section and then plan out the next, but I'm excited. And I even organized a bit in there the other day and I'm starting to find my groove again.

I did 5 pages last Thursday and Friday. That's a ton more than I've done in months, so I'm pretty excited. I'm hoping to have lots to share too. I'll start with a page I did awhile ago (not one of my 5 recent ones as they are hanging up in my room at the moment), but it's a start right??

I finished to Nathalie's second birthday and so am starting up with Kayla's album now. I left off at her third birthday and she is 10 1/2 now, so I'm seriously behind. She is so excited that I'm working on her album now too!! This is a cute one of her smile. She looks so different now; so grown up. It's hard to remember her when she was little and so it's fun to go back and do these pages now.