Raise a Reader

I'm a big fan of using tools as many ways as possible. Sometimes, there really is only one way to use them, but when you can use a stamp or ink pad in multiple ways, then that makes them so much more useful.

I love my Scor-Pal because it is such a versatile tool. I remember when Diana Crick, the creator of the Scor-Pal, first came out with it, I already had a Scor-It Board which I liked (but didn't love). I went back and forth with Diana via email about why I'd need another tool which did the same thing. I loved how it looked and I loved how it had multiple scoring lines, but I just couldn't justify it. She did finally break me down though and I ordered one. When it arrived, I ripped it open in anticipation and it's been by my side ever since. I put away my Scor-It Board just in case I decided to go back, but I eventually just got rid of it.

I use my Scor-Pal every time I make a card and I love that my measurements are always exact (I didn't have that kind of success with my Scor-It Board). I also love that I can do multiple scoring lines without moving my paper. I actually eventually upgraded my Scor-Pal to the newer version when it came out because it had so many more grooves.

I saw this technique on the Scor-Pal site I think and used it on a card, but then thought I'd do it on a larger scale on a scrapbook layout and I was happy with how it turned out. It filled the space which is sometimes a struggle for me.

Unfortunately, the scan doesn't really show the lines, but there are horizontal score lines above and below the line of brads and then vertical lines every 1/2" up to the brads. It looks like white wainscoting in real life and the texture of the lines really adds to the page.

Hallowe'en Paper Pack

I've had this Hallowe'en Paper Pack for awhile and finally got around to pulling it out last fall. I try to always order matching embellishments when I order a paper pack because it makes everything go so much quicker!! Well, I got a ton of pages done using just the stuff from this pack and a couple of cut outs from my Cricut. It's amazing what you can create and it's so easy when everything matches. I think I got all of these done in less than 2 hours!

Believe in Yourself

My friend, Robin, came over last summer or fall to scrapbook and she brought a photo of a layout she wanted to do but she said she didn't have the paper. I looked at it and thought: I bet we could make something similar. So we gave it a try and I was so thrilled with how it turned out.

We started with white cardstock and added a couple colours of Distress Ink with an Ink Blending Tool. I made sure to leave some white space. Then I placed a large 12x12" stencil over and spritzed with water. I dried it with my heat tool and where the water was changes colour as it reacts with the Distress Inks. These are such cool inks because they are meant to react with water and I'm still always amazed by how it happens. After, I chose a different stencil and spritzed with glimmer mist. I think I might have used some old Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, but I've done this technique many times since, and have just created my own glimmer mist with one of the two colours of Distress Ink I've used; I prefer that since I know it will match perfectly. Then I just started layering on top of the background I've created by stamping in white pigment ink, then Silver Staz On and finally black. I loved how the background turned out and it didn't need much other than the photo (which I also love) and a couple rub ons.

I love this background technique a lot. I always look at it and am amazed that I started with white cardstock. There are so many different layers and it looks so much better in person.

Frozen

I feel Frozen. Seriously. I am so sick of Winter and am anxiously awaiting Spring which seems like it might never come. It seems fitting that since Winter doesn't seem to want to leave, now would be a good time to share a "Frozen" cake.

I generally decorate cakes with either my sister, cousin, or both! It's more fun to do together and since my cousin is so much better at it, it's helpful to have her input and expertise too. My sister always has very grandiose ideas and I sometimes feel at a loss about how to execute them. That was the case with this cake too! She wanted to do a cake from the movie "Frozen" for my niece's birthday party. We looked and looked at ideas, but couldn't find anything we loved, so we ended up taking ideas from a few separate ones along with ideas of our own too, which was somewhat challenging since we didn't really have a clear idea of the end result.

It worked out though and it turned out great! My niece loved it and it was actually really fun to make.

We marbled the blue fondant and made white icicles from gum paste. My cousin modeled an Olaf and we made added some gum paste snowflakes as accents too.

3 Cheers

I feel like I've blogged this layout before, but I can't find it on the list of blog posts, so either I named it something different, I'm blind and can't see it, or I didn't actually blog it.

I'm going with the third option which also makes me feel like I'm losing my mind a bit, but that's a better option than I'm dumb or blind, so I'll take it.

My brother and sister in law brought back this adorable cheerleader outfit for Nathalie years ago when they went to Vegas on a trip. She must have been about one when I tried it on her and did her hair in pig tails. Unfortunately, she outgrew it quickly, but I am so happy that I got a few photos of her all dolled up.

I love this photo; in fact, it's still the screen background on my phone. I don't have the heart to update it. The layout was simple so that I could focus on the photo. Just a white background with a black border, black accents and a splash of purple to tie in her outfit.

Zip A Dee Doodle

Bo Bunny released a paper pack awhile ago called Zip A Dee Doodle and I had fun playing with it last fall. It seemed so easy to use and I made a bunch of layouts pretty quickly with it.

Sometimes the paper packs just go together so well and I find Bo Bunny is often like that. Of course, it also depends on the colours in the pack and how bold the patterns are. I find Bo Bunny often has less intense patterns which makes them easier put together. Whenever I order a pack, I try to also order at least two or three of the matching embellishments and Bo Bunny always has lots of extras from which to choose which also helps when I am trying to make quick layouts.

Neon? No Way. Yes Way.

Anyone who knows me know that I like dark colours. Throw in some neutrals and lots of black and white and you have me completely figured out. I'm pretty predictable, really.

Imagine my complete surprise when I was at the scrapbook store, ready to pay for some new cardstock and my eye is drawn to the bucket of Washi Tape on the checkout counter. It was like an out of body experience when I reached in, sorted through all of it, and emerged with four rolls of neon bright tape. Of course, the proposed purchase of these new colours required a trip back to the cardstock section to look for new colours, since I was guaranteed I would have nothing at home to match.

In the end, I loved the cards I made. I did one design and then made a ton in each of the four colours. I paired the bright Washi Tape with a strip of black. I've read the design tip to have black in every room because it grounds stuff, and if I didn't believe it before, I sure do now. The cards are still bright, but the strip of black really does ground them.


The stamps are from a set I've had for a couple of years that I pulled out on a whim. I think it's going to become a fun new favorite. The flower is a single stamp and I stamped it several times on a curve. Then stamped it on scrap white and coloured it and cut it out (I don't even recognize myself; neon and cutting all on one card!) and then mounted it with pop dots. The saying was naturally curved so it fit perfect with the flowers. Add a couple strips of Washi Tape and very fast (and bright) card!

And I'm Back in the Game ...

One of The movies that I really like is "10 Things I Hate About You" and there is a line in the movie where he character thinks he is out of contention for what he wants and then there is a twist and he says, "And I'm back in the game ..." For some reason, I really like that quote and at the moment, it sums up my thoughts on stamping.

I have not stamped in a long time. Not really. Other than a weekend of stamping a few weeks ago, I have not really done anything in my stamp room for months; probably since before Christmas. When I was going away to my weekend away, I was so stressed and overwhelmed about what I was going to work on and what I was going to bring. I shook my head and thought, "This is NOT supposed to be stress-inducing." I gave up all pressure to be totally creative and thought instead that I would just find cards I liked and print them off and try to recreate them. I always find it difficult to get back into the creative groove after being out of it for so long, so it was a good way. And back into the groove I thrust myself. I ended up making over 70 cards of many different designs and I loved the lack of pressure. I don't always have to come up with something new! There are lots of awesome ideas out there and even when we copy them, we always put our own spin on it.

Another reason I haven't been stamping much lately is the fact that my room was a total disaster. The kids get in there and they never truly clean up. And, I am struggling a bit with storage, so when you don't have room for everything, then it's tough to keep on top of it. And looking at the room, it just seemed so overwhelming and I didn't even know where to start. But with any job, the hardest part is starting and I finally did that on Saturday night. I spent a bunch of time in there slowly putting everything away and organizing and I finished it all up on Sunday and now it just makes me so happy!! I am really excited about playing again which makes me smile since I know that it is a good release, and I definitely need that!!

So, here are some pictures of my room all sparkly and clean. I'm planning some more renovations in there, but that will come!! I am loving the big storage unit I made with my brother last fall. I'll post more about that another day.

I've been watching YouTube videos getting ready for a demo I need to do in May and I'm getting excited about all the cool ideas!

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.

Toy Story

I'm back to working on my Disney layouts. Part of me is getting bored and part of me is excited that I might have something scrapbooked within a few months of actually doing it.

I had done a few "boring" layouts and so was looking to do something a bit more creative again and in the end, I do like how it turned out. I'll have to go back to boring for awhile though if I ever want to finish!

Splotted Distress

Today, I want to share an old card. I used the Splotted Distress technique which I love as it gives such a cool background (ink your paper with Distress Ink and then flick water on it and let it dry). I love that I can then use the same colour to stamp and everything will match!

I've had this card sitting in my folder of stuff to share for awhile. The stamp is a Hero Arts one and I just added some rhinestones to the flowers to give it a bit of bling and make them pop.

Donald Duck

I was getting tired of boring Disney layouts, so I wanted to be a bit creative. I figured I'd give it a try with a Donald layout. And in the end, I an really happy with how it turned out. It's pretty busy and loud for me, but it was a nice change putting together different papers. At first, I thought I'd have to do 2 pages because I had 3 - 4x6" photos and I had put Donald's signature on them, but I ended up cutting that part off and went with 4x4" photos so I could keep it on one page.

Hockey Cake

I enjoy making cakes although I would never want to do it for a living or anything. I don't really know what I'm doing, so it takes awhile to make them, although sometimes it's fun to just play around.

Kayla's friend was having a birthday and I wanted to make a cake for her. She plays hockey so I figured a hockey themed cake would be cool. I spoke with my cousin, Debbie, and we found a picture of one we liked. I figured it was way beyond me (well, it was) as it had a figure on it, but Debbie thought she could do it so we went for it.

Well, the figure turned out so awesome and Kayla's friend loved the cake!! And truth be told, I really liked it too.

More Disney Princesses

Another quick post. I just wanted to share what (I hope) is the last of the Disney Princess pages for my Disney Album. I'm definitely ready to move on!!

Cars Land

Cars Land at Disney was insane. The Cars ride had a 2 hour standby wait time at times and it was a 30-45 minute wait just to get a FastPass!! I got some at 10:30 am and they were for after 3:00 pm. But the ride was pretty cool and Disney did a great job building the area. I had a few extra photos, so I decided to make it a 2 page spread.

Winnie the Pooh & Tigger too

I've been working on my Disneyland album and I've been getting a bit tired of the same old boring Princess pages, so I wanted to do a few that involved a bit more creativity. In the end, I was pretty happy with the happy medium this layout ended up to be. I used some themed paper, but just on one side and then worked on being a bit more creative on the other side. They're both pretty basic, but they're done and that made me happy!

Distressed Striped Trees

I forgot to Blog yesterday. Sorry. That's life though. The funny thing is that it wasn't because I didn't have anything to blog, but more that I was actually stamping last night and just forgot. I guess it's not much of a routine.

My friend came over last night and I made 4 cards to submit. I haven't done that in so long and it's been a goal of mine for quite awhile to do it again, so I'm excited. And I wasn't feeling well last night, but still managed to come up with 4 cards that I don't hate (and a couple I even quite like) which was impressive.

I was playing with the Distressed Stripes technique and having fun! It wouldn't be a technique if I didn't manage to stamp my favorite trees on at least one sample card though, so here  it is!

Precious

My new obsession is the Petaloo Flowers. They are gorgeous!! They come with 5-6 per package and if you order red, then there will be a mixture of shades of red that complement each other, so you can use one package instead of needing several. They're awesome!!!

I created this layout and used a bunch of my Petaloo flowers from 2 packages (a pink and a cream) because they coordinated. I also pulled out a bunch of old flowers and just placed them amongst the Petaloo ones until I liked it. The paper is just two coordinating pieces from a paper pack, so that part was easy. I mounted the photo and added the embellishments. It was so quick & easy! The hardest part was just playing around with all the flower possibilities and that was kind of relaxing and fun!