Rocky Mountains

This layout gave me more Cricut practice! The photos depicted are of the Rocky Mountains in western Canada, between Calgary and Banff (in Alberta). It is really, honestly, one of the most beautiful drives I have ever seen (even after having lived in Switzerland!). I love it out west.



The day these photo were taken was a beautiful, sunny, clear, crisp day. I chose navy blue card stock for my page base because I really wanted my photos to stand out against the dark colour. The layout is quite simple, allowing the photos to be front and center. The snowflakes on the right hand page were cut using the Cricut, and then were run through my Xyron and covered with glitter (from SU!). The snowflakes on the left page are card stock stickers.


The journaling block was made using my Top Note die from SU! (yes, again). The silver ribbon is from Michaels. The letters for the title were cut using my Cricut. The patterned paper is SU! as well.


The words on the right hand side of the above page are clear stickers.

Check out those mountains....breathtaking!


Here you see my journaling up close. Yes, by hand again! As I have mentioned before, I am working on including my handwriting in my albums more. It is so much more personal than typed journaling. I know that I love finding my grandmother's or my aunt's handwriting on old recipes, now that they are no longer with us. It is a little piece of them that I still have with me. I challenge you to do the same. Let go of the need to have everything lined up and perfect, and just write!

Silly Boy

I have been fortunate enough to attend CKC Cincinnati for the last two years running. Both years, I convinced my fun loving friend Carol, to be my partner in crime, signing us up for ridiculous numbers of classes and dragging Carol in my wake. She has been a good sport!

This layout is from one of the classes we attended together. The class was by Piggy Tales Academy and they provided all of the papers and supplies.

The photos featured are of my son, Noah. He used to be so photogenic....but as he gets older, he seems to feel more awkward in front of the camera. He gives me these forced, fake looking smiles that never really look like him. My best bet is if I can catch him unaware....then I may get a laugh or a giggle that is genuine. The photos below are Noah's attempts to smile for the camera. When I began to laugh at his silliness, it segued into a game of silly faces.



Closer shot of the right hand page. You can see some of Noah's 'forced smiles' in action here.


These photos were some of the ones that I got as part of our fall photos. Each year in the fall when the leaves are changing colours, I take the kids out and try to get some photos of them with the leaves as a backdrop. It has now become a family tradition. The colour palette of this layout worked really nicely with the fall colours in my photos.



Here is a close up of my journaling. I know that journaling in your own hand is tough for a lot of people....especially those of us who are critical about our handwriting! This is an example of where I included my handwriting on a layout, mistake and all! You can see that I made a 'typo' and attempted to fix it. I really and truly had to take a deep breath and tell myself that it was OK to leave the mistake. The perfectionist side of me really wanted to re-do the entire journaling block, and the entire page if that's what it took, to fix things. *deep breath*


Well, I'm off to upload some more photos. Have a great weekend!

Dream

I can honestly say that I rarely....actually make that never.....as in, this is probably the very first time, that I have ever scrapbooked a page about myself. Why, you ask? Well, I am the one behind the camera 90% of the time. I think that often happens with scrapbookers, because we are the ones who are recording the memories, and therefore we are the ones who want the photos taken!

I am also very self critical when it comes to photos (aren't all women?). Oh...that was a bad hair day. Hmmm....my face looks too fat in that photo. Yikes....look at those wrinkles! People call them laugh lines to make you feel better, but in fact, they really are just wrinkles. Yes, I am guilty of all of the above!


So, it was very out-of-my-comfort-zone to create the layout below. I decided though, that some day when I am no longer around to annoy my kids daily, they may (0r may not....who knows?) want to know more about their mother and what made her tick. So, this is my attempt at leaving a legacy for them.


This is one of the few photos that I actually quite like of myself. It was taken in Calgary, Alberta at the children's museum. There is a fun house, type exhibit used to teach children about perspective, and it was in that exhibit that this fun, colourful photo was taken.



I used my Cricut to cut out many of the flowers that are tumbling down and around my photo. The small green flowers are actually from Michaels and are found in the wedding section. They are meant to be decorations to use in the centers of tables, etc. The one red flower on the corner of my photo with the button center is a random one that came from my jar of miscellaneous blooms. I couldn't tell you where it originated from.



Here you have a close up of my journaling. That is another 'something' that I am working on. I am pushing myself to tell more stories....the stories of our famliy (thank you, Ali Edwards!). This, for me, means journaling and telling stories, instead of just recording dates and facts. Generally speaking, I hate the journaling part. It always comes out sounding corny or somehow wrong. I am a work in progress in this department!



And here you have a close up of my blooms. I used pop dots to raise some of the flowers to give the page some dimension. I prefer when everything isn't just flat.

In case you have seen a layout like this before, that is because I did find this inspiration somewhere. I wish I could remember where, in order to share it with you. See, that is a lesson to keep up to date on my blog, and then I wouldn't have this problem! I also have a habit of intending to scraplift a layout, and then I change so many things that it looks nothing like the original anyways! So, maybe you won't have see it before after all! :)

Perfect Balance

The subject of this layout is my daughter, Rebekah, learning to ride her bicycle on two wheels.

I remember when my son was 5 years old, and in kindergarten, my husband taught him to ride without training wheels. He learned very quickly....in only one afternoon.....so when Rebekah was 4 years old....I thought, why not give it a try? Noah was obviously ready at 5...and probably could have learned even sooner. We just didn't know that we could teach him any sooner! So, like most things in parenting....whatever you mess up with the first kid, you can correct with the second! :)

So, when Rebekah was 4 years old, my husband began to teach her without training wheels. We weren't disappointed! She was a natural. This layout documents the experience.



I must admit that this layout is a bit busy compared to my usual style. I often am more 'clean and simple' about how I approach things, but I must have been feeling adventurous this day! I do love the colours....the pinks, blues and greens really appeal to me.



Here is a close up of the left hand page. This was my first real foray into using the Cricut. My friend, Carol, was the brains behind this bicycle tire. I had decided that I wanted a big bicycle tire on the page, but didn't have a clue how to execute it. That is where Carol came in. She had already had some practice with the Cricut, so she came to my rescue. The cartridge we used was Graphically Speaking, if I remember correctly.....


Here is the right hand page. I used the black rings to focus the viewer's eye on the subject, as well as for the purpose of tying the two pages together.



Here is a close up of the layered flowers (Primas) I put together....


And here we have a close up of the journaling. The journaling block is made from the SU! Top Note die which I ran through my Cuttlebug.

Rebekah is now about to turn 7 years old! She has moved on to bigger and better things with her increase in years. She now plays the piano, rides horseback and skis, in addition to riding her bike on two wheels. :)

Destination Istanbul

I have to say....I really love this layout. :)

This colour pallet is one that I reach for again and again. I am really into the earth tones. I also love chocolate brown paired with pastel colours....pale pink, baby blue, pale yellow. So pretty!

The photo featured in this layout is of my husband and I in Istanbul, Turkey during the time when we lived overseas in Switzerland. The photo was taken on the rooftop of our hotel (the Hotel Empress Zoe....it was amazing) and that is the world famous Hagia Sophia Mosque that you see in the distance.



This layout features some SU! patterned papers, and flowers that I cut out of felt (purchased by the sheet at Michaels) using my Cuttlebug and flower dies. The scallop edged page in the background was cut using the Cricut. The journaling was done by hand using a white gel pen.

Sigh....now I am dreaming of another vacation......

MFT Guest Designer Entry

Well, I have decided to go out on a limb and enter the June Guest Designer Contest for MFT. I am not usually one to enter contests....I think I have entered two (ever!). My logic was this....I entered a challenge the other day and actually won (it was a random selection....), so I was feeling lucky.

So, on a high from my lucky win, I came up with this card below. The challenge was to interpret the theme 'Some Like it Hot'. I used MFT stamp set Girls' Day In to create an image of 'Who's That Girl' getting ready for a hot date.

I used Nestabilities to mat the image, Copic markers to colour Who's That Girl and her bottle of polish, and I paper pieced her comfy looking chair. The card base is ivory with chocolate chip cardstock from SU! I still love that chocolate chip! It just seems to make everything look good!

The rest is self explanatory....so I am off to bed.

Hopefully tomorrow will be another lucky day! :)

Happy 30th Birthday - Version II

As you probably saw in my previous post...I have twin sisters who just celebrated their 30th birthday. I can't tell you why, but my sister, Heather, has a 'thing' for motorcycles. She has never owned one, and as far as I know, she has only ridden on one once. It was with her fascination in mind that I bought this stamp from Hanna Stamps ages ago, with the intention of making her a card. Well, I finally got around to it for her birthday this year.

Once again, I was working with limited supplies, on the go, and at my Mom and Dad's house. For those reasons, this card is lacking a sentiment. I had pre-stamped and coloured the image with my Copic markers. It was the assembly of the card that took place on the fly. It was at the assembly stage that I realized I lacked a sentiment for the front.



The supplies for this card include Copic markers, Chocolate Chip ribbon from SU!, twine from my Mom's kitchen drawer, Sage Shadow paper from SU! and kraft paper.

Oh well, the most important thing is that my sister LOVED her card. I actually got a scream when she opened it. :)

I hope you like it too!