Summer's over already?????

What ??? What do you mean it's over already? I don't know about your neck of the woods, but summer was dismally short here in Nfld...practically non existent in July.Thank goodness August rose to the challenge!
So.....despite the lousy weather I spent most of the summer gardening, trying to repair the damage done by last year's "big dig" {the result of a basement leak}. As a result, I didn't do a lot of scrapping and have thoroughly neglected my blog! But let's face it, winter will soon be here and there will be LOTS of scrapping and blogging time then . 
In saying that, I have managed to do a couple of layouts and cards over the summer that I'd like to share with you today. 

First of all, I'll share a couple of layouts done for Canadian Scrapbooker Sketchy challenge. I am proud to say my awesome scrappy friend Kelly Klapstein has taken over design responsibilities for the Sketchy Challenge. Please make sure to check it out and give her some luv!

Here's August Sketch

and here's my take on it....

This is a layout that was hard to do...I've been trying to do it all summer. We lost our precious Jasper in June and I have wanted to scrap about it all summer but wasn't ready till now.
I switched out the diamond pattern in the sketch for hearts. I didn't have a heart stencil so I free hand cut one from scrap card stock and stenciled through that. 

I loved the cascade of leaves in the September Sketch...

 but I did something totally NON fall with this sketch ...

My son and I share a love of Minions {from the Despicable Me movies for the uninformed}. 
 I jokingly decorated with Minions for his 20 Th birthday {hoping that he wouldn't think I was too corny!}. He LOVED it and got a great kick out of it!
I love that he is comfortable enough in his twenty year old skin to  enjoy "kid' stuff and still be cool.
The minions were fussy cut from a sticker sheet that I picked up at Buck or Two earlier this summer.

So why don't you all give the Sketchy challenge an try and get back on your scrap booking track now that fall is setting in!

I also want to quickly share a couple of other layouts and cards I did over the summer. 

 Hubby and I were blessed to celebrate our 25 Th wedding anniversary in August and I wanted to do a soft,romantic layout to honor it. These stunning papers from Lemoncraft were perfect!!!!

 Here's a super cute layout featuring sock monkeys and my daughter's love of them!

The papers are from Daisy D {thanks to my buddy Susan who offered them up when I mentioned doing a sock monkey LO!}. The cute little monkey down in the corner is an IttyBitty stamp from UNITY Stamp Company . I wouldn't dare confess to you how many Unity Stamps I currently own { and I may or may not have another big order on the way ...shhhh... I can't resist a great sale! }

While in Georgia this past spring with hubby, I picked up a paper pack by Heidi Swapp that I realized afterwards was to be used with a day planner line she has out. Psshhhh... I don't have any plans for a day planner but I loved the paper. So far I have done a layout and two cards with it!

Yes...It's another "anniversary" layout...what can I say... I love the guy!

and two cards done with the same paper line...

I also purchased the Tim Holtz Bird Crazy line of stamps from ScrapShotz... a Canadian company that does awesome kits! I recently signed up for a six month kit subscription and can't wait to start playing with them!

Bird Crazy birthday card

 Papers used on this card are Madeline papers from Bo Bunny .

So that's about it for my creative endeavors over the summer. I think I may have done a few more cards but forgot to take pics of them. I hope you had an enjoyable summer whether you were creative or not and can't wait to see everyone's new creations now that fall has arrived and we are heading back to our craft rooms!
Toodles and thanks for dropping by today!

Madeline Bo Bunny Layout { and a little brag about my kitchen }

Seems like I never have time for scrapping anymore. Life just gets in the way.

I recently had two weeks off from work when I thought I would get sooooo much scrapping done but no such luck. I did however get my kitchen painted. It was badly in need of a freshening up . The cupboards were by far the most tedious part but I was pleased in the end. My family questioned my sanity when I said I was going to paint the tops and bottoms different colors, but I think it turned out nice!

Did you notice the one white chair at my table? That's a work in progress. These are 100 year old chairs that were my grandmother's. I decided to paint them with chalk paint and refinish the seats. Being 100 years old, they all need to have the tin in the seats replaced and also need to be re glued....a project for hubby. So as he does each chair, I will paint and recover them. I'm waiting somewhat patiently for him to do his part.

Here's a before and after shot of the one finished chair. Can't wait to get them done!

BEFORE

AFTER

But I digress. I actually did have time to do a little teeny bit of scrapping while I was off. 

I was asked to be a guest blogger over at CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER a few days ago. 

I converted  their Sketchy Challenge from sketches for 12 x 12 pages to card sketches! You can check it out HERE .

I also,{in between all that dang painting}managed to squeeze in one 12 x 12 layout. I had purchased this gorgeous Madeline paper  from Bo Bunny last fall while visiting KELLY in Edmonton and finally got to play with it. 

This is a photo of Chelsea singing her first year with Stage West Theater in their production of " A Fine Tyme", a show of Newfoundland music. She's just been asked back for her fifth season!

Close up of the flower cluster. My 3 D flowers matched well with the flat printed flowers. I think my favorite sheet in this paper pack was the sheet of frames which I fussy cut this frame from.

Side view showing  the various layers and subtle texture added with a stencil and molding paste and a few enamel dots.

As I had doubles of all the papers , I cut out a couple of the birds along the bottom and popped them up with a few foam dots. 

I also added a zipper which I thought framed my peek a boo nicely.

I love shabby chic layouts and had so much fun playing with this one. Anyone who knows her, will recognize the influence of Gabrielle Pollacco on my shabby chic layouts. I just love her style so much.

Thanks for popping by today. I must get cracking and finish my Mother's Day gift for my mom. Happy early Mother's Day to all you moms out there. Toodles!

Spring Double the Fun Sketch at CS

Good snowy day ladies { see... I AM trying to appreciate the snow ..BLECH! }.

 

Just to let you know ...there are still two days left to get your submissions submitted to

CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER

for their spring submissions call...so get scrappin'!

 

I'm sharing KELLY KLAPSTEIN'S Double the Fun spring sketch challenge with you today and not one, but TWO versions I did of this awesome sketch. I have to say, I'm really on a roll with doubles lately {mostly thanks to KELLY }. I was, in a previous scrappy life, a double page scrapper, but then sort of drifted into the single page LO's. I'm happy to be back doing doubles!

 

So here's Kelly's sketch:

 

 

 Here's my first take on the sketch:

 

OUR SUMMER BABIES

 

 

I used a combo of Basic Grey papers for this layout...mostly from the Serenade and Capella lines.

 

We have had robins nesting in our honeysuckle vine on the front veranda for several summers now, but usually the nests are buried too deep for me to get any photos. I was thrilled this year when she moved her nest to a more accessible location. Still not the most perfect, in-focus shots but beggars can't be choosers. I'm sure the neighbors thought I was nuts when they'd see me out there balanced on a lawn chair with my hand extended up through the honeysuckle!

 

And here's my second version of this great sketch:

 

A DATE NIGHT WITH OUR BOYS

 

 

I really needed to scrap this night's events. Not just because it was a fun night, but because it was so unique. I don't think my sister, Cathy, and I have ever just been together with our sons. Usually we both have our daughters tagging along too.

 But as it happened, my daughter, Chelsea, was back in Corner Brook working, and Cathy's daughter, Savannah, was gone camping with a friend.

It was a great opportunity to just do something with the boys.

We all enjoyed the glow-in-the-dark mini-golf !

I will confess that yours truly had the most pitiful score out of us all ,but.... I WAS the only one to score a hole in one that night { do NOT ask me how..ahem, fluke I guess!}. So of course that photo had to be front and center ! LOL

I was racking my brains trying to figure out what kind of masculine element I could use on this layout and then it came to me! I made a bunch of 'planets' to pick up on the theme that was painted on the walls at the mini- golf building! I simply used different size circle punches and scraps of corresponding papers.

 

Thanks for popping by today and remember, you still have two days to get your submissions in to CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER

for a chance to be published in the upcoming spring issue.

 Toodles!

Catching Up On Some Sketchy Challenges

Oops... I forgot to post my Sketchy challenge from CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER  from October and now November's is upon us!

 

So without further ado here are my latest sketchy challenge LOs.

 

Here's October's sketch by the talented SUE SYKES :

 

 

and here's my take on it....

 

 

I replaced the banners with hexagons. Little story to that ... I loved that Pink Paislee "Cottage Farms" from the moment I saw it but was having a hard time getting any. I managed to snag the frames and a pack of matching rub ons from the collection while I was in Phoenix in Sept with KELLY but couldn't find any paper. I used a Bo Bunny Gabrielle paper for the soft green and some Bazzill card stock for the dark gold color but couldn't find a pink to match. I improvised by punching pink hexagons from the packaging that the frames came in! Perfect match. This of course is a LO of my dear daughter, Chelsea, who recently turned twenty!!! GULP! I find that hard to believe as I'm sure I'm only about 28 ! LOL

 

On to November's Sketchy challenge. Here's Sue's sketch...

 

and here's my page...

 

 

 

I replaced the circular background with this Crafter's Companion stencil and some molding paste tinted with some  Vintage Photo Distress Ink refiller. Chelsea looked so cute in her Pebbles costume! The title font was free hand cut . I googled the Flintstones font and just eyeballed it when I drew it out...easy enough with a font that's supposed to look kinda rough anyway. My 'bones' were also hand drawn . I drew them on a piece of chipboard {from old packaging} then traced the shape onto ivory cs. I inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and with a little distress ink on the pad of a Q-Tip I smudged in the shading at the rounded ends of the bones. I finished it with a smear of white paint up through the center of the bone for a little high lightening.

 

Head on over to CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER and upload your take on their November Sketchy Challenge for a chance to be published!

 

Thanks for popping by today. Happy scrapping! Toodles!

 

 

 

My Adorable nephews { and a Sketchy Challenge! }

Rob and I went to St John's / Mt. Pearl last week to visit my sister and her family. I'm sad to say we hardly ever see each other being on the opposite sides of the island. I'm ashamed to say that this was the first time we have been to her house in TWO years!!! 

I really enjoyed getting to spend some time with my two nephews. It saddens me that we are missing them growing up. We enjoyed Nathan's baseball game and taking them for little walks/bike rides around the neighborhood {and stopping into the corner store for treats of course!}.
Here's a few LOs I did using pics I took last week.

This first Lo is based on SUE SYKES August sketchy challenge at CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER.

 

and here's my take on it..... 

 

 

Annette and I had such a laugh when we reviewed all the baseball photos I took , because Nathan looks so darn serious in this one. He was a man on a mission stepping up to that plate! lol {and yes he did get a hit!}

 

While Nathan was playing ball, his younger brother Brady was busy doing his own thing. Brady has high functioning autism. Actually the kid is brilliant...just turned five, and reads on a Jr high grade level...yes , I said reads! and amazingly taught himself to read! 

But like all autistic kids, he has his quirks and one involves his hair! He simply refuses to get it cut ! Believe me, my sister has tried !!! And he just does NOT care that people think he's a girl.

I took these photos of him while he was running around while Nathan played ball. He is such a free spirit and I think I captured it in these photos!

 

 

My fav is the photo of him with his hair streaming behind him and back lit with the sun !

Thanks for popping by today. Maybe you can pop back tomorrow when I'll be sharing a new birdhouse I've done with G45 French Country papers. Toodles!

 

 



A Few Graduation LOs and Kelly's Double the Fun Sketch

I'd like to share a few graduation LOs with you today. {WARNING! WARNING!! This post is photo heavy!} I've been busy as a beaver working on them and am finally getting around to posting a few. I've gone with two really different looks with these LOs. The school colors are black and gold and as all the 'Cap and Gown' day photos are of Scott and his buddies, I've stuck to a more neutral palette and a masculine feel.

 

My first LO is a 2 pager that I made based on KELLY'S awesome sketch for CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER 's Double the Fun challenge. There's still time for you to do a LO based on this great sketch and submit it to Canadian Scrapbooker before the August 15th deadline! You never know...you just might get published!

 

So here is Kelly's great sketch:

 

 ...and here's my take on it!

 



 

These guys have been best buds for many years and have had a lot of fun {and only a little trouble lol} together!

 

Here's a few more of the more masculine LOs. I really love this one ! It is so much simpler {read less cluttered haha} than my usual LOs. I find it hard to leave negative space so this is a breakthrough for me!

 

 



 

 

and a LO with the grandparents...

 

 

Check out these cool dudes heading off to graduation in fine style!

 

 

 

 I think this may be one of my favs!

 Little story behind it ...as you can see, there are photos of three of these guys on their first day of Junior high back in 2007. I had done a LO of them at that time and for some reason that LO popped into my mind on Graduation Day and I ran into the house, grabbed my old scrapbook and got the guys to do the same poses. I thought it made for a really sweet now and then type of LO. Don't you agree?

 

 

 

This next LO is based on the June Sketchy challenge over at CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER by SUE SYKES

 

 

Here's my interpretation...

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day of Graduation was the Grand March/dance day. Scott's date wore a beautiful fuchsia gown and this allowed me to play with more color and to make these LOs a little more feminine! I couldn't wait to use the BO BUNNY 'Prairie Chic' papers for these LOs. The colors in this collection were perfect! I've only done a couple of LOs of this more formal day {yet!. There'll be more I can assure you! :) }.
This first LO is based on the July Sketchy challenge at CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER ....another design by the talented SUE SYKES .

and my take on it...

 

 

Another LO using those gorgeous Bo Bunny Prairie Chic papers....

Last one I PROMISE!!!!! Look at those gorgeous eyes!

 

 

 

 So there you have it. This is what I've been up to the last two months. Hope you've enjoyed looking at my "baby's" grad LOs. I'm sure I'll squeeze out a few more ...grand march, dancing with his momma,...yup. ...definitely can come up with a few more yet! Thanks for stopping by today! Toodles!

Mod Podge Madness plus Sketchy Challenge!

Well way back last summer I received an email from Michael's with these absolutely COOL Mod Podge superhero shoes. Dang! I wished I was twenty and could get away with wearing these...but alas, I figured they were a little too brazen for a 40 something woman to wear. However, my DD was just as enamoured with them and begged for a pair. "Great " thought I "...she has a birthday coming up". I immediately went out and bought a pair of shoes like some she already had and found totally comfy...and put them in my craft closet......and totally FORGOT about them.

Well, Christmas was on the horizon and I stumbled across said shoes still hanging out in my craft closet. Perfect! Now she's forgotten all about the shoes so it'll be an even bigger surprise when she opens them on Christmas morning. And it was soooo worth it! Check out her expression when she opened the box!

 

 I had totally planned on doing a blog post on how I made these cool shoes , but....DS {who emphatically denies it} somehow sent the photos I had taken as I was making the shoes into cyber no- man's land...never to be seen again. But, suffice it to say, it involved a lot of fussy cutting from a ton of comic books and layers and layers of Mod Podge. I had a lot of fun making them!

 

Of course I had to turn this into a scrapbook page. February's Sketchy challenge at CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER by the talented Sue Sykes was perfect for it. Check it out...

 

 And here's my take on it....

 

 

The background piece involved more fussy cut comics from my leftovers which were adhered to a 4x10 piece of cs and then mounted on a 4 1/2 x 10 1/2 piece of black cs. The title was such a fluke! After wasting about an hour trying to free hand draw the title I wanted, I decided to look through all the comics and lo and behold! I stumbled across the perfect words for my title. Serendipity for sure!

 

So while I'm on a sketchy roll again, I'd like to share my take on KELLY KLAPSTEIN'S newest Double the Fun contest going on over at CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER. I encourage you all to give it a try!

 

 

Here's KELLY"S  gorgeous  take on her double sketch ...

 

 

and here's mine...

 

 

 

I used the lovely January kit from ScrapThat that featured the gorgeous TurtleDove papers from KAISERCRAFT. The poinsettias in the corner were made using a great die from SPELLBINDERS.

{Thanks Susan for letting me borrow it ...and the beads for the centers too!}

 

Well that's it for today. Thanks for popping by. Hope you are all keeping warm with these nippy February days {and hopefully getting some scrapping done!}. Toodles!

Screechin' Kelly In/Jan Sketchy Challenge

Happy {belated} New Year to all my scrappy friends! I can not believe that January is almost at the half way mark {Happy Birthday to my dear dad on the 15th! }. Seems like forever since I had time to scrap,but I guess December is always busy, busy for most of us .

 

So to get my creative mojo flowing again, I headed over to CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER  to check out their  January Sketchy challenge! And I wasn't disappointed! Check out this cool sketch by Sue Sykes
 

 

 

 

 This sketch was just perfect for a series of photos I've been wanting to scrap of me performing a "Screech In" of my dear friend Kelly Klapstein when she visited me here in Nfld last September. For those of you who are not familiar with a "Screech in", let me educate you!

The "Screech In" ceremony is a fun little adventure offered to CFAs { Come from Aways} to initiate you and make you an honorary Newfoundlander. It is usually performed in front of witnesses{ the more the merrier...more to be embarrassed in front of ..lol}. It involves salt water, some Nfld food, drinking a shot of Nfld Screech {our famous rum!} and most importantly ....kissing the cod! Yup... a real cod fish! Right on the lips! For tee totalers and those under legal age, we will use a shot of Purity syrup in place of the rum.

One part of the ceremony involves being asked if you wish to become an honorary Nflder, to which you must reply ........  "Indeed I do me ole cock, and long may your big jib draw!". This saying is actually a wish for good fortune in the future and means may your sails always catch the wind. Hence the name of my LO!

Kelly was a a real good sport about it! I decided to perform this little screech in at Deidre Edison Clarke's Scrappy retreat in beautiful Springdale where we stayed at the gorgeous RIVERWOOD INN. Such a beautiful peaceful place! Check it out!


So here's my take on Sue's sketch.

LONG MAY YOUR BIG JIB DRAW
 

 The journaling tag under the main photo reads"Well I certainly couldn't let Kelly leave Nfld without being " Screeched In"! Luckily I had a few screech ins under my belt so I was up to the task! Deidre's scrap weekend in Springdale was the perfect opportunity...and of course it also provided more witnesses! Kelly was a great sport about it. She was baptized with saltwater, ate "wild" baloney and Purity Jam Jams, survived a shot of screech and most importantly, kissed the cod! An honorary Newfoundlander for sure! "

 I should also mention that Kelly wasn't my only victim...ummm, I mean CFA! I also had the pleasure of Screeching in a fellow scrapper Julie F! Julie thought she was safe...oh no my friend! Just because you are married to a Nflder and have lived here for several years , you thought you were safe???? Ummmm....NO!
 

 

Julie was a real good sport about it too, and...... she had been let in on the secret of Kelly's screech in before hand and she had the most beautiful gift for Kelly! Julie's hubby makes Nfld Ugly Sticks!!!! and she had him make one specifically for Kelly! Wow , we were soooo impressed. It is the nicest ugly stick I've ever seen. He's quite the craftsman.

  Here's Julie teaching Kelly to play her new Ugly Stick. If you haven't  figured it out yet an Ugly Stick is a handmade musical instrument used here in Nfld! Google it...

 
This was such a fun weekend! A big thanks to Deidre for allowing me to perform this little ceremony during her scrappy retreat.

 Thanks for popping by today. My New year's resolution is to try and be a little more frequent with my blog postings. Hope you'll continue to visit in 2013. Toodles!