By Ness

I'm on PageMaps

2012-02-02T09:20:00.000-08:00

Here is the sketch I was given

And here is my layout

Make sure to check out all the other sketches and layouts. I just love Becky's sketches!
You can check the whole newsletter out here: Feb Pagemaps

My Project 12 is complete!

2012-01-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

I did it! I did a 2 page layout a month documenting the whole year.

Here are all of my layouts in one spot:

Project 12 - December

2012-01-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

I had a lot of photos this month. The sketch had only 3 - 4x6 photos which would most definitely not be enough. To fix this problem I split each 4x6 space into smaller photos. Also because of more photos, I needed to use an extra long journaling spot this month.

Here's the sketch:

And here is my take on it:

Project 12 - September, October, November

2012-01-09T20:20:00.000-08:00

Ok...I have been really behind in updating this. In the new year I am trying to catch up all of the projects I have been working on. Tonight I managed to finish up 3 months of Project 12 - Only one more month to go. Unfortunately I finished when it was dark out, so the pictures aren't that great.

Here they are:

November Scrapdango Sugar Reveal

2011-11-15T10:22:00.001-08:00

You can check out the full kit contents here at Scrapdango

TFL!

Scrapdango October Sugar Reveal

2011-11-04T19:08:00.000-07:00

My kit went on another trip this month, or got held up at the border. But I loved this kit so much I completed all my layouts the night that I received it.

Here are the layouts:

From a Pagemaps Sketch

The Cards:

And I managed to make a little mini of the kittens inspired by this one at the Crate Paper blog

TFL!!

Scrapdango September Spice Reveal

2011-10-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to find a new blog template that I really liked, and now I have found one that I am happy with for now. I think I will keep the header and just change the backgrounds as the seasons change. I have also started a new blog about the kittens - Seamus and Rosie. Come check it out, there are only a few posts on it now, but soon I will have their whole story on there. They are very entertaining, so I thought it would be fun to share.

But anyways, without further ado, here is the main reason I am posting - The Scrapdango September Reveal.

My layouts:

My Cards:

I went with the Spice kit this month and I loved the mix of the Echo Park and Fancy Pants. Although I was skeptical at first, the Basic Grey Oxford stickers worked really well. Thanks Heather for putting together another great kit!

Project 12 - August

2011-09-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

I had so many pictures for August that I couldn't use the sketch from Scrapbook and Cards Today for this month. I looked through there sketches from last year, and decided to use the sketch from July of last year.

Here it is:

TFL!!

Project 12 - July

2011-08-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

Squeaking in just under the wire, here is my Project 12 layout for July

School's In

2011-08-20T22:29:00.000-07:00

Come join us over at Scrapdango for a great back to school event!
There is going to be an awesome prize!

Scrapdango August Reveal

2011-08-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

I got a lot more out of this kit that I expected! I am still working on one more project with it. But here is my reveal for Scrapdango.

August Sugar Kit:
The Layouts:

The Cards:

TFL!
I'll be back tomorrow with a Scrapdango announcement :)

Scrapdango July Reveal, June Reveal, Project 12, and Kittens......

2011-07-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

I have been REALLY bad about updating my blog lately!! This post is going to be big, and very picture heavy, as I am just going to throw everything I have missed all into one.

First of all, the most recent, my Scrapdango July Reveal:

This kit was awesome, and I loved the Simple Stories paper a lot more than I expected.

Here are my layouts:

Project 12 - June 2011

This is for my inspiration challenge over at Scrapdango - you can check it out here


My favourite new puppy!

And my cards:

Next is my Scrapdango June Reveal:

This Jillibean Soup kit was awesome!! I never realized how well Jillibean papers went with my scrapbooking style.

The Layouts:

Project 12 - May 2011

For my fabulously frugal challenge over at Scrapdango (closed) - For paper I used only one piece of cardstock and one piece of patterned paper for this layout.

The Cards:

And now for the reason I have been so bad about blogging:

Kittens!!!! (8 of them, plus their mom)

We have been fostering Calliope and her 7 kittens + 1 orphan for the SPCA. The last one goes to her home today, and the mom is back at the SPCA "drying out". It has been an awesome experience and Steve has been off work due to breaking his knee - so he has been taking really good care of them. And of course, we couldn't bring them all back. We are keeping two of the kittens Seamus - the big black one, and Rosie - the one with the orange face and pink nose. My mom is also keeping two, and my aunt and uncle have one, so we can visit them still :D

Here are some pics:

TFL!

LOAD

2011-06-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,
I have been so busy with fostering kittens for the SPCA I haven't had much time to blog.
But hopefully us girls at Scrapdango can get your scrappy mojo going for July, because we are having LOAD!! (layout a day)

The poster says it all. Hope to see you there :)

Scrapdango's Totally Excellent Crop!

2011-06-10T07:02:00.000-07:00

Come join us over at Scrapdango for like lots of fun! It's going to be totally awesome!

Project 12 - April

2011-05-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

Here is my Project 12 Layout for April

TFL!

Scrapdango May Reveal

2011-05-18T13:40:00.000-07:00

This month I worked with Scrapdango's Sugar Kit. All of the Scrapdango reveals can be found here.
This kit was a lot of fun to work with, it was perfect for scrapbooking our new foster cat and kittens.
Without further ado...

This paper was perfect for a cat that likes to hide behind books on our bookshelf

Our morning in Fort Langley last month.

I loved the Bo Bunny packaging, so I used it on this card.

Dango Girls' Blog Hop

2011-05-13T10:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Dango Girls' Blog Hop. I'm so glad you hopped on over to my pad. We've got a lot of fun coming your way for the weekend and through the week. If you just happened to hop on over here and didn't know about this blog hop, then hop on over to the Scrapdango Blog (HERE) where you should start this hopping good time. Okay, enough with all the hopping. Let's get down to scrappiness.

We have a brand new DT over at Scrapdango, and this blog hop is a way to introduce us. You will learn a little about each of us, and we will each post a challenge. You have until next Friday the 20th at midnight EST to post comments on each blog and to complete the DT challenges. There will also be other ways to earn draws, and one lucky person is going to win a fantastic prize of one of Scrapdango's fabulous kits chock full of scrappy goodness. Here is the breakdown of how you can earn draws.

--1 draw by posting comments on each DT member's blog (must comment on all blogs to get the draw)
--1 draw for each challenge that you complete. Please provide a link to your challenge in a comment.
--1 draw for becoming or already being a Scrapdango Blog follower
--1 draw for becoming or already being a fan of Scrapdango on Facebook (FB Page HERE)
--2 draws for correctly answering quiz questions on the DT members. The quiz can be found on the Scrapdango forum HERE

Some fun facts about me:
My name is Vanessa Rose Lee Blythe - 2 middle names, which my brother was jealous of as a kid. His middle name is James, but he would always tell people it was James Bond. My first name was after Van Ness Avenue in SanFrancisco. Aside from scrapbooking, animals are my passion. My boyfriend and I walk dogs at the SPCA every week, and we are now fostering a cat and her kittens (7 of them!!!). It is going to be crazy when they get bigger (they are only just over a week old now) - but they will provide lots of material for scrapbooking. I also love to bake, but I don't very often because I tend to eat it all afterwards, which isn't great for my waistline. I wish that I liked cooking more, because I end up eating out way too much. The funny thing is, I really like watching cooking shows.

And that brings me to my challenge:

One of my favourite shows is Chopped, on the Food Network. For those who have never seen it, there are three rounds: Appetizer, Entree, Dessert, and for each round the contestants are given 3-5 "mystery ingredients". They can use the ingredients as much or as little as they want, but all of them must be included in some way, they are also allowed to add any other ingredients from the pantry and fridge.

So for this "Chopped" challenge
Your mystery ingredients are:

-Kraft Paper
-Buttons
-Stitching (machine, hand stitching, or doodled)
-A Grid
-photo(s) smaller than 4x6

You may interpret these "ingredients" in any way you like, and you have the use of anything from your "pantry/fridge" (scrapbook stash)

Can't wait to see what you cook up!

Here is my example:

So there you have it. Mine is the last blog on the hop....hope you had fun. I would recommend hopping over to the Scrapdango forums (HERE) - join in the fun, and share what you have come up with for our challenges...and don't forget to take the quiz!

Like I said at the beginning, if you have just ended up here, or got lost along the hop, here are the links to the other blogs:

Scrapdango Blog <--------- START HERE
Heather's pad
Laura's pad
Celeste's pad
Megan's pad
Ellen's pad
Vanessa's pad <---------YOU ARE HERE

Scrapdango Blog Hop

2011-05-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

See you then!!

Scrapdango DT!!!

2011-04-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

I am excited and honoured to announce that I have been chosen to be a

The term starts in May and will continue for 6 months. I look forward to working with Heather (the owner) and the other DT ladies:

Laura Gilhuly
Celeste Brodnik
Ellen Sosnoski
Megan Aaron

Exciting News and Scrapdango DT Application

2011-04-18T09:51:00.000-07:00

I am going to be part of the latest release of Sketches2Scrapbook (iPhone app). Basically it is an app with a ton of sketches, and then when you click on the sketch you get an example, and the supply list. Very cool!!! I am going to have some cards in the new release, which I can share once the release is out.

Also, I sent in my Scrapdango DT application yesterday. I am really crossing my fingers for this one!! I have been a part of the Scrapdango message board, for almost as long as I have discovered the online scrapbooking community. For the application we had to attach 3 of our favourite layouts - one of them being a double page layout. Now I like doing double page layouts, but I always tend to use a sketch - i.e. Becky Higgins Project 12 Sketches. So I was having a lot of trouble with this one. Once I figured out what pictures I was going to use, I decided that I would make a quick sketch on the computer so I could figure out what size to print the pictures in.

Here is my sketch:

And here's what I came up with:

Snow Day

It all came together quite quickly with the sketch!

TFL :)

Owlie

2011-04-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a layout I scrapbooked this weekend, based on Audra's April sketch challenge over at Scrapdango.


Owlie

The longer story on Owlie - Every year around the time of our anniversary (Nov 10) Steve and I buy a Christmas ornament, or ornaments. The first year we got ornaments from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. The second year we got a set of mini nutcrackers. This past year we got Owlie. We got him a little late, I spotted him in the store, and remembered we had forgotten to get an ornament, and thought Owlie would be perfect, Steve agreed. So we brought him home and went to hang him up, and the string came off his back. I tried to glue it back on, but it just took more "feathers" out of his back. So I decided we would play a game with him, take turns hiding him around the house. The rules were you had to hide him in plain view (not behind anything, not under anything, not in a drawer...etc.), and the person looking had 3 days to find him, if not, the hider could hide him again. I don't think either of us hid him a second time in a row, because after a few days we would give each other clues. His final spot was as the tree topper on our Christmas tree. He is now waiting on top of our bookshelf for next December to come around, and for the game to start again.

Some Favorites

2011-04-05T08:52:00.000-07:00

Scrolling back in my blog, I realized that I missed posting my Crowned layouts. So here are a few of my favorites, that haven't made it on my blog yet.

TFL!

Project 12 - March

2011-03-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

Ok I think I'm on a roll...but I don't want to jinx it.
Last night I completed a layout for Scrapdango's spring cleaning event, and also my layout for Project 12 - March.
I know that March isn't over yet, but we have nothing exciting planned except for work until the end of the month, and I had more than enough photos to fill the spots. I also decided to use CosmoCricket (Togetherness) papers, but I only had a mini deck, so I cut out 3 x 3 squares and made a grid pattern for my background.

TFL!

Project 12 - February

2011-03-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

Here is my February layout for the Project 12 sketch.

Tomorrow I'm going to work on the March sketch, but I can't decide - Echo Park (For the Record), Cosmo Cricket (Togetherness), or Cosmo Cricket (Social Club)

Then, of course, I need to work on my DT application for Scrapdango.

TFL!

Project 12

2011-02-28T21:22:00.000-08:00

Is anyone doing Project 12 this year??

I am! 2 years ago I tried Project 365 and it became too much, and last year I printed calendar pages, and wrote notes and stuck pictures on it for each month. This year I am going to attempt to do a whole year of this, with a 2 page layout every month.

What is Project 12? Check out the explanation here and here
The sketches by Becky Higgins are awesome and easy to follow, I think I will be able to do this :)

Here is my first layout...for January of course!

Next order of business - make myself a new blog header, the one right now is kind of a place holder.

TFL!

CROWNED 2011

2011-01-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

Ok....so I haven't posted for over a month now, but to be honest, I haven't really scrapbooked.
I started up again with Scrapdango's library crop last weekend. Now that that is over, there is an even bigger thing going on over at Scrapdango, and I am hoping it will kickstart my scrapbooking even more. I had so much fun participating last year, and made some of my favorite layouts. So with out further adieu, here are the details:

Cards for the Troops

2010-12-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

Many of you may have heard of Operation Write Home. It is a program, where cardmakers send their handmade cards to deployed American troops so that they can write home to their families. When I completed Scrapdango's ABC's of cards, I had a lot of cards, and was searching for something to do with them. What I found was something similar called Cards for Canadian Soldiers. It is a smaller site, founded by one generous person, to get cards out to the deployed Canadian troops. It seems to be just starting up, so I was happy to contribute.

Here are some of the cards that I sent:

If you have an extra stash of cards, or love to make cards, then I encourage you to send them off to one of these organizations. It is just something little we can do to give back.

TFL!

Exciting News and Picture of the RAK!!

2010-12-01T18:04:00.000-08:00

Ok...so I have been holding back this news, because I wanted to save it for today when I posted my challenge over at Scrapping the Moments. For any of you that are followers of Cosmo Cricket's blog, there was a contest recently to win a box of Julie's stuff.

"Ok, enough of that, we haven't had a giveaway for a while. And, I'm in a cleaning out my house sort of mood. So, I am giving away to one lucky winner a huge box of everything in my office that I don't need anymore."

.....And I won it. The had a heck of a time getting ahold of me...somehow I missed the blog post announcing I won (you can follow this story on their blog)....but I just received it last night, and holy crap there is a lot. So much that I need to give some of it away. Some of the pages aren't full pages, and there are a few stickers missing on one of the sheets, but for the most part I chose full sheets out of the box.

So without further adieu, here is a picture of the RAK that one lucky person will be getting.
(I apologize for the bad lighting)

There is some Nutmeg in there, Earth Love, lots of The Boyfriend, a bit of Jacks World, Everafter, and a few random rubons and stickers thrown in. (I may even add to it as I continue to sort through my box of goodies)

So just to remind you, here is what you have to do. Go to Scrapping the Moments (sign up if you don't already belong) and complete my sketch challenge by December 15th. Your layout needs to be posted in the Sketch Challenges folder in the gallery to be entered to win. I will randomly draw a winner on Dec 16th. Can't wait to see what you come up with :)

Sketch Challenge

2010-12-01T17:17:00.000-08:00

Hey Ladies,

My second sketch challenge is up at Scrapping the Moments. I had so much fun creating this sketch and layout. I even broke out a needle and thread.

I would love for some new people to this site to come and check out my challenge. And as an incentive I will be offering a RAK. I will be posting a picture of it as soon as I get it organized. But lemme just say there is going to be lots of Cosmo Cricket yumminess.

In order to be entered to win, you need to complete the challenge by Dec 15 and post it in the Sketch Challenges gallery.

Hope you have as much fun as I did :)

December 1st Sketch

My Example (Wonderfall)

Advent Calendar

2010-11-28T16:13:00.000-08:00

Steve and I always get an advent calender, one of those cheap ones that has the chocolates in the plastic mold that you pop out. This year I was looking up ideas for making my own advent calendar. I had seen the KaiserCraft and Karen Foster premade ones that you decorate, and while I really liked that idea, they were a hard to find, and cost too much to ship. In my search I found this great idea for an advent calendar using a mini muffin pan. All you need is adhesive magnet sheets, patterned paper, numbers and whatever embellishments you want...oh and of course a mini muffin tin. You put the chocolates or whatever you want into the muffin spots, and then cover it with a 2 1/4 inch magnet square. I had made mine a few weeks ago, but just finished loading it up with chocolates today. Hershey's kisses fit fairly well.

Here it is:
(I used the SnowDay collection from Crate Paper)

Guest Designer at Sketches in Thyme

2010-11-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

I was very excited to find out that I have been chosen as a guest designer for Sketches in Thyme. They are starting card sketches every Tuesday. The first card sketch, and my take on it will be up on November 23. Go check out the site, it is full of lots of inspiration :)

My Challenge is up!

2010-11-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

I am the sketch designer over at Scrapping the Moments and my sketch is up today. Please come on over and check it out. If you get it done before tomorrow night at 10 pm EST then you will get a draw in for the Grand Opening prizes.

My Sketch

And here is my example layout

Here is a link to the challenge. Be sure to check out all the other great challenges going on there. So much inspiration and talent!!

Also, look out for my next sketch on December 1st!

Grand Opening at Scrapping the Moments!

2010-11-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

It has finally come. This weekend is the grand opening over at The Moments. Go check out their blog and just by registering and leaving a comment you are entered to win a great prize - A kit from Lucky Girl Crafts. There is also a grand opening challenge. And all of the DT's challenges will be posted tomorrow! Please stop by and check mine out :)

TFL!

Scrapping the Moments

2010-11-07T10:21:00.000-08:00

I am very excited to announce that I have been chosen to be part of the design team over at
Scrapping the Moments. It is a new scrappy forum/blog that will have lots of challenges, and inspiration. Please come check it out, and look for my challenge on the 14th.

Here's what I have been up to....

2010-10-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been very busy at my house and I have also been very busy outside the house. It started on Friday with Steve and his brother Drew ripping all the baseboards off and the carpets out in the living room and master bedroom (We are getting laminate...yay!!) The rest of the weekend they spent laying the laminate, and luckily did not kill each other. I was also lucky enough to be out of the house most of the weekend creating some scrappy goodness.

My friend Katie and I took 2 classes at the BC Crop for Kids. The first one and my favorite, was called "Charming Favorites" mini album. The instructor was Cari Locken, designer for Canadian Scrapbooker. She was an amazing teacher, and we had so much fun. Here are some pics of my finished project.

The papers are from "Paper Trunk" and the embellishments are from "Steam Trunk Craft Works"

Katie and I also spent some time with Steve's mom, making Christmas cards. I pre-cut all the patterned paper, and we managed to make 15 cards each in about 2 hours. We had so much fun, and luckily we were at Steve's parents house, so we managed to stay out of the chaos at my house.

Here are some of the cards that I made. I just love the new Jovial line from Basic Grey! Also, the SRM stickers, made it so quick and easy!!

The living room floor is almost done now, and there is a thin layer of sawdust on everything, but it is looking so good!!

Unfortunately because of Strata, we are only allowed to work on it between 10am-5pm on the weekends, and 8am-5pm on the weekdays. So nothing will be getting finished until next weekend. Until then, I am going to close myself in our computer/scrapbook room, and work on my Scrapdango DT application, and Scrapdango's ABCs of Cards.

TFL!!

Vanessa

SLICE

2010-09-27T09:28:00.001-07:00

I have re-listed my Slice for cheaper now.
Please do go and check it out.

Ebay Listing

Making Memories Slice

2010-09-09T18:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys,

The budget is getting a little bit tight lately, so after much deliberation, I have decided to sell my Slice. It is very lightly used, and I have 5 design cards to go with it.
So if you are interested in getting a Slice, please take a look.

Here is the listing
Ebay Listing

A Layout

2010-07-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted since my design team work at Scrapdango. It has been pretty hot here, and so scrapbooking has gone out the window. But last night I managed to get a page done.
It is for a challenge at BackPorchMemories as well as Page Maps.

The picture is of Steve and me, from when I was in the hospital for the 2nd time, after getting my gallbladder out. It is a little blurry, but for me it totally works, because thats how I felt....blurry from all the morphine and demerol. And when I look at that picture it makes me happy, because it reminds me that when he wasn't sleeping or working, he was there by my side.

Scrapdango Kit Reveal, and LOAD

2010-06-16T17:26:00.000-07:00

I have been having so much fun over at Scrapdango, being the GDT for this month. Everyday the DT has been posting new inspiration for the LOAD contest. My week just finished, so go check out my inspiration, and of course what the other ladies in the DT have posted.

It was also the reveal for the June Kits today. The kit I worked with was the Sugar kit, with papers from Lily Bee. Such awesome papers!!

Here are the layouts and cards I came up with for the kit:

June GDT - Scrapdango Sugar kit teasers

2010-06-10T10:29:00.000-07:00

So I have been authorized by Heather over at Scrapdango to give some sneak peaks of my layouts for the June Sugar kit reveal. The full kit contents are posted on the site already....go check it out! Look for my full reveal on the 15th, and go see what the rest of the DT did with the kits over on the site.

So without further ado ....here are the teasers:

June GDT at Scrapdango!

2010-06-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to announce that I am the guest designer this month over at Scrapdango! This month we are having a LOAD (layout a day) contest, with lots of inspiration, and weekly prizes. Look out for the kit reveal, which will be on June 15. I will be posting my layouts here as well.

What I've been up to

2010-05-19T22:21:00.001-07:00

My scrapbooking was put on hold for a couple months during my move. Now that I have settled in, and have everything organized, I am back to scrapbooking, in full force!

Here's what I have been creating.

Yes...I am scrapbooking Christmas in May
This one is a scraplift of a layout by Elizabeth Kartchner. Her layout was featured in CK July 2009.

These next 4 are for the GDT challenge over at Scrapdango

Mother's Day Cards
And a card for the NSD crop over at Scrapdango

Can you tell I like kraft cardstock right now!

Scraproom

2010-05-19T22:02:00.000-07:00

We bought a condo recently, and moved in last month. Finally everything is organized. I especially like that I have a place to put all of my scrapbook stuff. The spare room is officially the office, scraproom, storage area, man cave...lol.

Check out my lovely organized shelves!

Week 3 & 4... crowned

2010-03-09T19:16:00.000-08:00

While I was a little dissapointed that I didn't win anything in the Crowned contest over at Scrapdango, I still got 2 more pages done. And in all fairness I was up against some amazing talent over there.
Even though it is over I would still like to share my week 3 and 4 layouts.

I won!

2010-02-23T07:52:00.000-08:00

There was a contest on Photo Express' facebook page to upload a photo of a card that you have made recently to be entered to win a Sassafrass Lass card kit. So I uploaded a picture of the valentine I made Steve, and I Won!
Here's what the kit makes:Thanks Steve! for being my Valentine, and of course thank you Photo Express!!
There website is here if you want to check them out.

2 New Layouts

2010-02-13T23:14:00.000-08:00

I'm participating in the Crowned Contest over at Scrapdango.

Here are my Week 1 and 2 Layouts

Week 1 is using Cosmo Cricket - Nutmeg

and

Week 2 is using October Afternoon - Cherry Hill & Road Map

Seattle Roadtrip

2010-02-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted anything in a while. So I thought with this blog post I would share my most favorite project to date. I made it using the Road Trip line from October Afternoon. I also used a card from Orange Twist on the cover.
Let me know what you think :)

ETSY

2009-10-18T23:20:00.001-07:00

So it has been quite a while since I have posted on this blog. I had my gallbladder out in the summer, and lost the urge to scrapbook. October is a month of birthdays for me (including my birthday) So I have started getting back into my scrapbook stash by making cards.

In my search for happy birthday stamps or tags, or anything, I ended up on Etsy. Etsy is a website to buy and sell handmade items, vintage items, or craft supplies. I have heard of this site before, but never really spent any time looking into it. It is a great resource for scrapbook, and card supplies and embellishments!
Some of my favorite shops so far:
leprintemps
paperandinkling
PaperRoute
livingroomfloor
purple mushroom

Through all of my searching, I realized that I could make a shop too. I would make thank you cards. So today I went to work at making 4 sets of thank you cards. I present to you my new etsy shop

My listings are on the right side of the screen.
After all of this card making, and working with my pretty papers again, I can't wait to get back into scrapbooking.
Further posts on that to follow...
Thanks for looking!

More Basic Grey and LOAD Contest!

2009-06-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my next project I made with the Urban Prairie papers that I bought:

The rest of these layouts are a few of my layouts for the June LOAD (layout a day) contest at Scrapdango. Come join us at www.scrapdango.net! I don't know how I'm going to manage next week, as I am going for surgery, but for now I am actually keeping up. Yay me!

Basic Grey Bug

2009-06-05T07:22:00.000-07:00

I have officially caught the Basic Grey bug. Before I started scrapbooking for myself, and before I went online to look at scrapbook blogs and websites I had no idea what Basic Grey was. I have been eyeing the Urban Prairie Collection for months! There was a little bit of it left at my LSS and I used some of the line to make my sisters grad present. Last night I was at Michaels and the paper pack was on sale, so I bought it!! Yay!

When I got home, I went right to making a card with it.
I can't wait to get home to scrapbook some more

My Sisters Graduation

2009-06-01T09:45:00.003-07:00

My sister's highschool graduation was yesterday. The grad ceremony was actually alot shorter than I expected, which was nice, because mine dragged on for so long, the principal of this school just motored through everyone's names. It was still really hot inside though!!

I made these gifts, and this card for her, a photo box and a note tin. This was my first attempt at making an altered project, and it didn't really go as planned. The first box I tried to cover, I put paper all the way over the corners and everything, so there was none of the box exposed, but then it made really ugly wrinkles and bumps in the paper where the box opened and closed, so I had to start over. The second time around, I painted the box a coordinating color, and then measured out each piece for each surface of the box, that worked much better. Then after everything was attached I put modge podge over top. The tin worked a little better, Steve spray painted it first with acrylic model paint, and then I attached that paper with super tacky double sided tape. Then sprayed it all with a sealer. TFL!

Crate Paper

2009-05-13T16:26:00.001-07:00

I am loving Crate Paper right now. I received 3 of their collections in the mail that I ordered, about 2 weeks ago, and have since made 2 layouts, and 1 card, one out of each collection. The first layout I made was the "A Little About Me" layout I posted in my previous post, and then the second layout I was unable to post, because I was entering it into a contest. Now that the contest is over I can post it here. This one was with the MIA collection:

I had to post all of the detailed photos, because I just love how it turned out! To get the butterfly's wings to stand up like that I first folded them at the body, and then I curled each wing around a thick pen. The title was cut using my Slice (which is awesome by the way...review to come soon) I cut it in both cardstock colors, then cut in in half and lined it up. I drew the white border around it to make it more unified (it was hard to read without it). Underneath the photo is a hidden journaling tab. To do this, I cut a rectangle of cardstock, shorter than the photo, and attached a tab to it (folded over cardstock of the same color, that I cut) then I attached the photo just around the edges, and on the bottom, so that the journaling could slide right under. Because the tab on the top is folded over, it is a bit thicker than the cardstock sliding under, and so it stops nicely and lines up where it should when I put it back. Also, the shaped pattern paper, and cardstock I cut using a die cut cardstock sheet that I use as a template.

The card I made was with the Blue Hill Collection and I used sketch 81 from the Got Sketch blog.
The flower on top I cut with my Slice.

My Favorites

2009-05-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

I have been getting behind on posting updates, but I have still been scrapbooking. Here are some of my favorites that I have made in the past month.

Project 365

2009-04-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

So I decided to start project 365. See the concept of it on Becky Higgins blog here. Basically you take a picture a day for 365 days, so that you can capture everyday things instead of just important events. I started taking pictures on April 19 and have been acquiring the supplies to put it together. I am still waiting for the page protectors to come in the mail. I am using a D-Ring Album by American Crafts, page protectors (6 4x6 photos per 12x12 page), and downloaded "week of" and journaling cards from Becky Higgins blog here (I just really liked the style, and didn't want to buy a bunch more stuff). Hopefully I can keep up with all the photos, and I should have a pretty interesting album by the end of it.

...

2009-04-22T07:25:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted in a while, I have been sick, and this has been the last thing on my list of things to do. Hopefully I will be feeling better soon and back to blogging. Thanks for checking in!

Blog Candy

2009-04-02T19:05:00.000-07:00

Check out these other blogs to win some free stuff!

1.Phoenix Crafts 2. Any Shade of Green

3. Pink Gem Designs

4. Paper Therapy

5. Must go on a Stash Diet

6. Franmade

Go check them out!! Good Luck

Creating Your Own Rub-Ons

2009-03-27T09:01:00.000-07:00

If you look up "making your own rub-ons" on google, you will get many answers. You can buy special paper, special glue, special transparencies etc. I haven't tried any of these, because I don't want to put the money into something that might not work. So, I chose the cheapest way I could find. Printing on a page protector and rubbing it onto my page. A few months ago I tried this on my cousins baby book, with pretty bad results. It printed out all globby, it smeared everywhere, and it just looked really bad. With the past layout I was working on, I decided to give it another try. I didn't have any letter stickers or chipboard to match my layout, and didn't want to write my title on. Here are the steps of what I did:

Get an overhead transparency (or the cheaper way) a page protector.
Cut the page protector down to size (ie cut the holes off so it is 8 1/2 x 11)
Create your design on the computer
The image will be inverted once you put it on your page, so remember to flip your design especially if it is words (you can use any paint program to flip your image, I used photo shop and selected "flip horizontally" after I was done. You can also use Microsoft word for your words, just make sure to use the "Word Art" option, as you can't flip regular text.)
Set up your printer. This is the one I had to play around with for a while, as I said, my first attempts came out globby. Using photoshop worked out the best, because it had better printing options. I chose the setting for high quality photo, and glossy photo paper. This way enough ink is deposited onto the transparency.
Print your design onto the transparency.
This is the important step (the one I neglected when I tried the first time) LET IT DRY. I was thinking if I let it dry fully that it wouldn't come off onto my paper, so I put it on my paper early, and it smudged everywhere. Let it dry for at least 10 minutes. I know...it's hard for us impatient people.
Put the transparency ink side down onto your paper. Make sure it is exactly where you want it before you touch the paper, because some ink will be deposited right away.
Hold it down firmly, and use a popsicle stick to rub it onto the page (just like a regular rub-on) you will see the ink darken in places where it has transfered to the page. When it all looks like this, remove the transparency..you are done :)

It doesn't look exactly the same as a store bought rub-on, but it works in a pinch. I would reccommend trying it on a scrap piece of paper first before putting it onto your layout. For me it took a few tries to get it right. Play around with the printer settings and designs, see if you like it.
Here's my layout that I used this technique on. The title "A Walk in the SNOW" is the rub-on I created. Let me know what you think :)

Update: This only works on an inkjet printer. Also, if you choose to buy transparencies to do this, don't get the ones for inkjet printers (the whole point of those is for the ink to stay on the transparency, therefore it won't transfer)

Another Kitty Cat

2009-03-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

Another layout of a cat that isn't mine..hah. T.C. (which stands for tailless cat) is quite an old cat, but she still has great personality. Everyone calls her "puppy kitty" because she follows you around like a puppy, and when you call her she will come. Around the layout I wrote the many other nicknames of T.C. For the doodles around the corner I used Making Memories doodles rub-ons. I love using rub-ons because they can go over many different layers. Just make sure you rub really hard, and that they are stuck down to your page before you pull off the plastic, if not they could rip. Let me know what you think :)

Lego Layout

2009-03-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

Here is another page from my Disney Scrapbook. I am having a really fun time going through all of my pictures and remembering my trip, but a really hard time deciding what to do with them. Last night I finally put some pictures to paper and made a layout. It's at the Lego store in Downtown Disney. The giraffe in the picture was more than twice my size! Let me know what you think.

Sketches

2009-03-13T08:56:00.001-07:00

I have been looking through the sketches on the link that I posted, and so far my favorite site on there is Pencil Lines. It is a sketch challenge blog, so basically they upload a new sketch every week and see what people can come up with. Right now I'm not really looking for a challenge, I am looking for guidance and some inspiration, so I didn't use the current challenge sketch, I browse through the previous sketches to see what I could use. For my Pirates of the Caribbean Page a few posts below I used Sketch 113 . Sometimes it is hard to see what you can come up with with just a sketch, thats why I like that they post some layouts done with the sketch to give you a better idea.

Blog Giveaway

2009-03-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Check out the Created by Courtney blog for a chance to win a $50 Sweet 'n Sassy stamp gift certificate.

Blog Carnival

2009-03-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

My blog was featured on the Make It From Scratch blog carnival. Check out their blog at http://gottalittlespacetofill.blogspot.com/

...it was also featured on http://cerebralbarbedwire.blogspot.com/2009/03/cerebral-barbedwire-blog-carnival-

My First 12 x 12 Page

2009-03-10T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the first 12 x 12 scrapbook page I have ever made. I made it last night. The picture is from the pirates of the caribbean ride at disneyland. I'm really happy with how it turned out. I printed the map on vellum and then got my boyfriend to burn the edges.

Even More Kitty Cat......and a Dog

2009-03-08T22:26:00.000-07:00

As you may be able to tell by now, I like animals. These animals aren't mine, they are my boyfriends parents, but they are the only pets I have to scrapbook. We are over at my boyfriends parents often so I see them lots. There are 2 dogs, and 3 cats. So you will be seeing alot more animal pages in the near future. Hope you like.

Layouts

2009-03-08T10:26:00.001-07:00

If you are having trouble sketching your own layouts, or are stuck on coming up with new ideas, here is a link to a list of many great layout sketch sites

SketchLover

Embossing Powder....not just for stamps

2009-03-07T10:05:00.000-08:00

Over a year ago, a friend of mine gave me a stamp and some silver embossing powder. She had used it for her wedding invitations, and didn't need it anymore. I used the stamp once for a Valentines day card, but then after that I couldn't think of a way to reuse it, but I liked the effect that the embossing powder gave to it. I didn't want to buy more stamps, because I didn't know if I would get into it, so I bought an embossing pen. It's called "ZIG Emboss Writer". Basically its just a felt pen, with two different ends (one with fine point, and one thats a bit thicker) and it has almost invisible ink that takes a while to dry. With this you can emboss whatever design you can draw or write. Something fun that I tried was to make one of my papers more exciting with embossing glitter, here is a sample of what I did:

I basically just outlined the pattern on the paper with the thicker tip of the embossing, then sprinkled "Stardust" transparent embossing powder on it, shook the excess of, and then used the heat tool to set/raise the embossing powder. You can't tell on here very well, but it made the paper sparkle very much. Another thing you can do with the embossing pen is use it to emboss your writing. I used it, with silver embossing powder, here as a title for one of the pages in the baby book:

If you are just starting scrapbooking, it is a little expensive to buy the heat tool. I have tried hair dryers and car lighters, but the results are very inconsistent. I would recommend waiting for a 40% off Michaels coupon, and buying the heat tool then. If you already stamp, this would be a cheap thing to try, if you haven't already.

The products I used:

Marvy Embossing Heat Tool
ZIG Emboss Writer (with 0.5mm and 1.2mm felt tips)
Stampendous - Stampi-N Stuff Embossing Powder in "Detail Silver Opaque and Stardust Transparent"

All of these items were purchased at Michaels
Here is a link for the current 40% off Coupon : http://vancouver.flyerland.ca/view_coupon.php?coupon_id=1315#
If you are looking for coupons in your own area, just go to the flyerland website , type in your city and go from there.

More Kitty Cat.....and a little on layouts

2009-03-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed making that first page so much that I decided to make another one.

I find that the best scrapbook pages come from the simplest layouts. If you are unsure of where to start on a scrapbook page, start by drawing a rough sketch. It may take a few tries to get a sketch that you like, but its better that than putting it all together and not liking it. Here is the sketch that I started with for this scrapbook page:

Another tip I have for creating a layout that you like, is to not stick all of the elements down until you are happy with what you have. I put all of the photos and patterned paper onto black cardstock first, trimmed it, and then moved around the photos and patterned background a few times before sticking it down. I ended up going with my original idea, but its still a good idea to play around with it.

Kitty Cat

2009-03-04T16:13:00.000-08:00

I am not feeling well today, and because of that I am a bit down. So what better way to cheer myself up than making a scrapbook page of my favorite kitty .

2009-03-02T22:35:00.001-08:00

So You Want to Start Scrapbooking?

2009-03-02T20:42:00.001-08:00

The Basics For Beginners

For some people, including me, going into a scrapbooking store is overwhelming when you first start. There are so many different tools, stickers, papers etc. What do you start with?
I would recommend not starting in a scrapbooking store. Superstore, Zellers, and Walmart all have sections for scrapbooking. Sure their selection isn't as great, but they are often cheaper and will carry the basics that you will need to get started.

This is what you will need:

Photos
Album
Paper
Cutter
Adhesives
Pen

Albums come in different sizes and formats. My first and only scrapbook so far was 8 1/2" x 11", and I will probably never make one that size again. Most papers and kits come in 12" x 12", so I would recommend getting an album that size. It is also a good idea to get a post bound album, they have top loading page protectors, and are expandable, so you can add pages as you need to.

Paper is the base of all scrapbook layouts. For just starting out some 12" x 12" Cardstock in solid colors will do just fine. You can get packages that have a variety of colors.

Scissors and an X-acto Knife will be your best cutting tools to begin with. To cut straight lines I use a metal ruler and a cutting mat. Just line the ruler up on the paper where you want to cut, and then drag the X-acto knife along the edge of the ruler. Don't do this without something to cut on, or you will end up with nasty cuts on your desk or table top. To cut other shapes use scissors.

Adhesives put it all together. There are many different choices, its just a matter of personal preference. You can use, glue sticks, glue runner, or my personal favorite adhesive squares. Just make sure the adhesive you choose is acid free, so you don't ruin your photos.

A Pen is used to add journaling. Write what the picture is, what was going on when the picture was taken, or how you felt when it was taken.

With these items you can make basic layouts. Use your creativity and see what you come up with. The fancy tools, stickers, and papers come later. Have fun with it.