Card # 21 & 22 2011 Challenge

Good morning everyone!  Seems like I haven't had much time to scrapbook lately, although I have been making Halloween treat bags.  Once I get them all done, I'll post pix...they are so cute!  For today, I have a couple of really simple cards that I made from the leftover paper from my "Dinner Time" layout.  Sometimes I just put the leftovers into my card-making bin, but because it was World Card Making Day when I did that layout, I HAD to make these cards right away!

Cardstock is CTMH textured C/S, Patterned paper is Echo Park.  The die cut paper is from a Making Memories journalling book, the twine is from My Mind's Eye and the buttons were from my stash.  Edges of the papers were sanded and/or ink distressed.  The Happy Birthday is an acrylic tag that had the sentiment etched into it but it was hard to read, so I went over it with a souffle pen and backed it with cardstock. 

Layout # 36 2011 Challenge & 30-day Photo challenge

Hi everyone! Here's another quick layout that I did, very easy but I love it!  Fancy Pants paper and rub-ons, CTMH chipboard, a felt flower from Maya Road and I don't know if you can see them or not, but there are small felt flowers (from a set of Thickers) and bling all over the paper in the flower centers.  This paper was one of those papers that I absolutely loved and had stashed it away because I didn't want to  use it.  I'm over that now!! Those "special" photos never seem to happen often enough to justify hoarding all that paper. 

I have given up on posting the rest of my 30-day photo challenge pictures.  I have them taken and I'm working on finishing the coffee sleeve mini album, but I do have this one from day 29 - Purchased.  My mom & I went on a little shopping spree at Costco that day!  This was my haul, there are a couple of things from some of the other stores we hit too:

Layout #35

This is one of the layouts I created on the weekend and I am entering it in Scrapbookers-Anonymous long-title-mini-challenge.  This is a long title for me...I usually only use a one-word title and it is a little hard to see in the photo, but it says "It's Dinner Time in Mom's Backyard".  The papers are from Echo Park Country Drive....it took me forever to find this collection so I will be hoarding most of it!

I also have die-cut birds from Crate Paper at the top, so this qualifies for Scrapbookers-Anonymous October challenge!  I love SA's challenges as they get me to use up some of my stash that I might not otherwise think to put on the layout!

Layout 34 2011 Challenge

Well, my world has been crazy busy the last couple of weeks.  In addition to my Close To My Heart business that I am struggling to get off the ground here in Nova Scotia, I am now the Welcome Wagon lady too!!  I know this area very well, which is why I was hired, but I was originally going to develop the Business Welcome Program in this area and organize a 50 Plus Showcase for the spring.  I'm still going to be doing that, but have been asked to do Community Welcome visits as well!  So, I've been trained for that and have started my official duties.  I was also away all weekend at a crop in Windsor, NS - had a wonderful time although I didn't get much done.  I worked on a special order for a client most of the day on Saturday, but then did a couple of cards in honour of World Card Making Day and a few scrapbook pages.  For now though, this is a layout that I did while I was still in Winnipeg but hadn't quite finished it up....it needed a title and journalling.  So this is the finished product:

 I love CTMH's "Tinkering" collection, retired now, and the Jolee's embellishment...perfect for these pictures!  This layout is an 8 1/2" x 11" double page spread, a format I haven't used in awhile.  The pictures are from my now 21 year old's seventh birthday!  Talk about being behind in my scrapbooking! lol  I ink distressed the papers so I am entering this in Scrapbooker's Paradise Challenge # 35.

Layout # 33 Multi-challenge!

I have not had a vehicle for the last two weeks, so have had lots of time to play in my scrapbook room.  I have also had lots of time to visit other blogs and have been keeping a list of some of the challenges posted on those blogs.  When I visited Scrap It With A Song's blog and the challenge was Coldplay's "Fix You", the lyrics inspired me to scrapbook this photo taken last summer of my brother and his daughter.  Then I visited Scrapbook & Cards' blog and Summer Fullerton has a colour challenge that fit perfectly with this photo as well!  (http://scrapbookandcardstodaymag.typepad.com/scrapbook_cards_today_blo/2011/09/the-colour-suite-challenge-september.html) 

Scrapbooker's Anonymous has a challenge to use anything that starts with "B" and one for using chipboard on your layout.

I've used a patterned cardstock base from Quick Quotes Paper - Khaki Collection and matted the photo with yellow, cream, and khaki.  The title is Basic Grey "Sweet" chipboard letters and the flowers are from Bazill bling and paper flower packs.  The "Love" bingo image is from Maya Road Mini Bingo Singelton Acrylic Stamp set and the Jewel flowers are also from Maya Road.   I used a brad in the center of the flowers and the ticket is from Tim Holtz's Ticket Tags.  Epoxy heart sticker is from the dollar store and the yarn was from my stash. 

I love the way this turned out....thanks to the challenges!!

30 day Photo Challenge & Layout # 32

Hope everyone had a great weekend, although yesterday was a day of reflection for most of us.  Most of us remember exactly where we were 10 years ago yesterday and the events of that day will be etched on our hearts forever.
I spent part of the weekend re-organizing my paper stash in my craft room. I had put stuff in drawers and boxes for the move and hadn't had a chance to go through everything. I couldn't find things and was getting frustrated. Why is it that we spend so much time organizing and so little time creating sometimes? It's all good now - and one of my pictures today will prove it!

Faceless Self Portrait

OK, so the self portrait is a cheater - I didn't take this, my husband did, but I like this picture and wanted to use it. 

Something I Made

Something Fun - In My Scrappin' Room!!!!

 I have also been trying to be more organized about some of the challenges that are out there.  I follow lots of blogs and see so many different ones and think "I can do that!" and then go on to the next blog....then later in the week, I can't remember where I saw the challenge I wanted to do! UGHHH!  So now, as I see them I am copying & pasting the details into a Word document titled Sept. Challenges so I can keep track of them all!  So far it's working...I've got one done.  This layout has lots of chipboard pieces on it which is the criteria for the challenge at Scrapbookers Anonymous, plus it is another towards my 2011 goal!  Don't you just love those little chipboad cars from Maya Road??  There is CTMH dimensional element chipboard from the Miracle kit on there as well, and chipboard pieces from Deja Views "Timeless" collection.  In total, 7 pieces of chipboard.

Layouts 27-31 2011 Challenge - *Studio J*

I have had my Studio J membership for almost a year now and have really not had much time to play! I had to place at least one order before my membership ran out - RIGHT?! So these layouts were created over the past two evenings, spent about 1 or so each night and voila!, I have 5 beautiful layouts on their way to me as we speak! Each layout took me progressively less time to complete and it really is quite addictive. Now, don't go thinking that I am giving up the traditional scrapbooking 'cause that will never happen. But I do like to have the option of doing layouts like this when I am feeling behind in my scrapbooking, or for a gift. Christmas (I know, it's kinda early to be bringing up that!) is coming and if you have family far away, being able to post the JPegs on a blog or Facebook is a wonderful option too. Anyway, I had a great couple of evenings creating these pages....hope you like them!

Cards, Cards, & More Cards #13-20 2011 Challenge

I am finally getting back on track and getting caught up on a few things. I needed to place my order with Close To My Heart so I would stay active during this move! I can not wait to get my hands on some of that new product and start creating! In the meantime, I have been trying to finish up some of those layouts and cards that have been lying around for awhile. I've actually got them all organized in a CTMH Work in Progress album....so much easier! While travelling across Canada, I brought a few kits with me and these cards were all made from a Basic Grey card kit - Indian Summer. I love the colours and how the rub-ons were used to accent the chipboard pieces. I plan to use these patterns with some of my Close to my Heart papers and chipboard, along with my Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

Card 1 and 4 uploaded sideways despite everything I tried to do, turn your head to get a look - LOL!

Layout #26 2011 Challenge

My family and I have been slowly making our way to Nova Scotia and we have been having a fantastic time. The weather has been wonderful, just one little rain shower in Toronto. Our Internet in hotels is coming to an end soon though - we are going to be spending time with my Mom and then going to a cottage on Lake Pleasant for 8 nights. Thought I would do a quick post before hitting the road today. This is a layout featuring some lovely "Go Scrapping" ladies at at retreat at the Nottawasaga Inn in Ontario a couple of years ago. The theme was the YaYa Sisterhood of Scrapbooking and we all were encouraged to make headdresses!

Layout # 24 & 25, Cards # 9 - 12 2011 Challenge

Just little ol' me playing catch-up again. I am finally finished working for StatsCan as of Friday and my CTMH Customer Appreciation day was on Saturday, so now it is just prep for my up-coming move to Nova Scotia. The packers will be in for day one of packing on Friday - Yikes!! We will lose Internet and phone at home on Wednesday of next week but I will have Internet access at the hotels we are staying in along the way. Everything will be packed and loaded on the truck by Thursday night next week. So I thought I should do another post since it's been a couple of weeks since my last one.

The four cards were made at CTMH's Regional Celebrations in Toronto this April. They feature the "Mayberry" paper pack and the following My Acrylix stamp sets: Paper Lantern, Happy Moments, and Affection. They also use patterns from our Wishes how-to book for cards! Both layouts were done at the crop I attended in Ontario in April as well. I made the ribbon rose with black grosgrain ribbon. Love making these flowers! The double page layout was lots of fun to do - glimmer mists and fun colours in the BoBunny paper! So these are my stats up to now:

Layouts - 25

Cards - 12

Helen O - 2

Wishes - 6

Layout # 23 2011 Challenge

Good morning! Well, the news is out that I am moving to Nova Scotia in July! I can hardly wait - not that I haven't enjoyed being in Winnipeg because for the most part, I have. The only bad memory I am taking with me is my experience working at the LSS! Oh, and the cold temperatures in the winter, and the mosquitoes in the summer, and ........OK, never mind....I really have enjoyed living here but my family and the ocean are calling to me from home! I have been away for seven years now, and my mom is not getting any younger, so it's time to be back so I can keep an eye on her! We will be on the road July 2nd and don't take possession of our new house until the 28th, so we've arranged a little over a week at a cottage once we arrive in NS. No Internet there of course, so my posts will be less frequent again. This is a layout that was done at Kim's retreat in ON in April. The base die-cut paper is BoBunny, the sentiment is a Tattered Angels Mist-able (really cool how the flocking resists the glimmer mist!), Jenni Bowlin bingo card, Little Yellow Bicycle flourish overlay, velvet ribbon, bling & flowers from my stash. The base cardstock is CTMH and I misted that as well with Tattered Angels Olive glimmer mist.

Layout # 22 2011 Challenge

It's me again, still trying to stay on top of everything but there never seems to be enough hours in the day lately. Work is starting to slow down a little (I think?) so I actually managed to get the house cleaned yesterday....what a job that was! So here's another layout that I managed to get finished up amongst all the chaos that is my life right now. This was one of the projects we did at Regional Celebrations in Toronto and it was a ton of fun. All products are CTMH and it features Sweetheart paper, Sweetheart Level 2 assortment embellishments, pink buttons, tulip and grey flannel re-inker, spray pen, stipple brush, and My Acrylix "Affection", "Card Chatter - Love" and "Headline Alphabet" stamp sets. OK, gotta get to work so ciao for now!

Layout # 20 & 21 2011 Challenge

I'm back!!! I have been absent from my blog for several weeks and I am feeling a little sheepish! I think the bulk of my work with the Census is done, at least the really time-sensitive portion of it, so hopefully I will have a little more time to devote to other things. I've been away so much lately as well - I just returned yesterday from a week in Nova Scotia with my family! It was so wonderful to be home - it's funny what you miss, like the sound of the birds and frogs singing, the beautiful country roads, the familiar faces when you go to the mall, and of course time with family. We spent the last night in a gorgeous Victorian inn in Wolfville, I will post pictures in a couple of days.

The first layout here was super easy, patterned paper was just accented with flowers, matted the photo and added the title and journalling piece. The second layout was from a sketch that I've used before and uses paper from CTMH's "You Rock" collection. The chipboard alpha was embossed with clear embossing powder and then inked to colour it, same look as what you get from CTMH's irresistables. Images are from CTMH "Starstruck".

Layout # 18 & 19 2011 Challenge

Sigh.....yes, I am still alive and well but sooooo busy. I have been working like crazy at my new job with the Census and also have some personal things happening behind the scenes as well. I just spent a fabulous weekend attending Regional Celebrations in Toronto with Close To My Heart, and I am going back to Ontario again next week to attend my friend Kim's weekend scrapbooking retreat. I think I am going to need that down time if the next few days are like today! I put in over 11 hours today! So this is just a quick post, with a couple of quick layouts I did before all this craziness entered my life!

Layouts 16 & 17 2011 Challenge

Two more layouts from my "unfinished" pile that I can now get put away! I have been busier than usual lately, mainly because I started a new job today! I have been doing some training and today was my first official day on the job with Statistics Canada/Census 2011. So for the next little while, you may not see me here as much. Going to try to stay up-to-date with everyone's posts though. I haven't given up Close To My Heart.....would never give that up!!! LOL

Layouts - 17

Cards - 8

Helen O's - 1

Wishes - 2

Layout #15 2011 Challenge

Is it quiet in blogland, or is it just me? I follow quite a few blogs, but there's been nothing new lately. Well, I've been quietly working away trying to get some of my unfinished projects wrapped up. So here's yet another layout that just needed journalling and a title. I love this paper from Imaginisce and that "brass" embellishment has been in my stash for a LONG time! The turkey and leaves were from Michaels.

Layout 14 2011 Challenge

OK, here's another layout for ya! For this one I used paper from a Paper Pizzazz book that I've had for ages. Added some ribbon from my stash and a Bazzill bling flower. Large brad is also from Paper Pizzazz, letter stickers from my stash, phrase from Wordsworth, journalling block is from Colorb0k Friendly Forest collection (which I slightly modified). These photos are from 22 years ago and I am so happy that I kept that certificate. Newf is long gone, but I will never forget how much my oldest son loved that stuffed animal!

Layout # 13 - 2011 Challenge

I am feeling a little "accomplished" about this layout.....it is my very first Studio J layout created with our exclusive online software. I needed to create this layout as "homework" for the CTMH Regional Celebration happening in Toronto in mid April. We were all asked to create a layout to be displayed there and I must admit, I was a little hesitant about using Studio J.....I've dabbled with it, but never created a whole layout. I loved playing with all the features....omg you can do so much with this application!! So, what do you think? If you feel like playing, go to my shopping website and click on Studio J. You can create layouts to your heart's content for free....you only have to pay when you actually purchase a layout. So go play!!

Layout #12 2011 Challenge, Scraptures Contest

Last night I got together with my hostess club and this is the layout we created. We used all CTMH products last night, but I knew I was going to add the flower and some bling. This layout is from our how-to book "Magic" - Backstage and uses Sophia level 2 papers, but I did sneak a strip from Olivia in there, and the photo matte is actually from Boom-di-ada! I love mixing the paper packs to use up leftover bits and pieces. We stamped the images with brown Staz-on ink, then coloured with water colour pencils and a water brush. We also painted a CTMH Colour Ready Border with white paint, then a little CTMH White Pearl Paint. The title was stamped with the alpha set from our Felicity Kit. A little blush ric rac and some faux stitching finished it off - until I added the MM paper flower and brad from my stash, then filled in the holes of my colour-ready border with some Kaiser Craft bling. I am entering this in Scraptures "Spring" contest. Check out their blog here: http://scrapturesblog.blogspot.com/

Cards, Cards, Cards! # 6 - 8 *2011 Challenge*

Earlier this year, one of my best friends and I decided that, in addition to all the other challenges we had going on, we were also going to do one of every card in CTMH's how-to book called "Wishes". I counted them up.....there's quite a few in there.....so I decided that perhaps I should get going on this little challenge. I have made quite a few but will pace myself with posting them! lol
The first two cards are both made using the Long Layers pattern on pg. 81. I cut "a wish came true" with my cricut, stamped images using "Cherish the Moment" and Happy Holidays" My Acrylix stamp sets. The third little card is 3x3 pattern called Middle Ground and the stamped images are from the Unity stamp set. The colour in these photos is not great - hate taking pictures of these without natural light.

Layouts - 11 Cards - 8 Helen O's - 1 Wishes - 2