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!

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!

CS Nov Sketchy Challenge

I know ...I know ...it's DECEMBER!{gasp} and Dec 's Sketchy Challenge is on line over at Canadian Scrapbooker but I'm a little behind so I thought I'd share November's Sketchy Challenge today ..and hopefully get to play with Dec's challenge tonight.

Sue Sykes designed a 2 page sketch for Nov 's Sketchy challenge!

I actually did not one but TWO versions of this sketch this month! I have really gotten away from doing double pages in the last few years so this was a nice break. I also really enjoy doing Kelly Klapstein's  Double the Fun challenge at Canadian Scrapbooker . Another chance to get published ladies. So go check out both!

My first Lo with Sue's Nov sketch is a hockey LO. I've had these sweet street hockey pics of Scott and Rob in my "To do " box forever and just never seemed to get around to it. Sue's sketch suited them perfectly. I was more true to the sketch in this LO ...right down to the hexagons.

                                                                                                                  BETWEEN THE POSTS

oooo... I find it sooooo hard not to add flowers ...girl LOs are so much easier! I have tried ordering the cool Chicken wire stencil from Crafter's Workshop several times now from my wholesaler and can never manage to strike when it's in stock  :( . However.... I DO have a chicken wire chippie piece from DUSTY ATTIC so I used that as my stencil, thus saving my precious chippie piece for another day. Necessity is the mother of invention after all.

My second Lo using Sue's sketch is a fall Lo using all BO BUNNY 's adorable Apple Cider line. This LO features one of the many funny little adventures that KELLY and I had when she visited me in Nfld back in September. We had gone for a walk around the gorgeous Margaret Bowater Park here in the middle of Corner Brook. As we were nearing the end of our walk we noticed this crab apple tree that was laden with fruit. Kelly was bound and determined to get some of those apples { me , being considerably short than Kelly, opted to stand back and let her do all the hard work! }. As tall as she is , Kelly really had to stretch to get some apples. Such hard work...and all for not, because in the end the apples were pretty darn sour and we only had a bite each.lol...oh well, it made for fun photos!

                                                                                                                       AN APPLE A DAY...

 So there you go...two completely different looking Los all inspired by the same sketch. I know some people are very reluctant to use sketches as they think it stifles them but you know, there are NO  layout police. You can pretty much take what you want from a sketch.A great creativity booster when your mojo is lacking!

Hmmmm...seems like I recall a couple of compromising photos of Kelly with a cod fish, some Nfld Screech and an ugly stick...perhaps I should dig them out to embarrass...err scrap.. of her! Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you are all getting caught up in the Christmas spirit...and staying on Santa's nice list! Toodles!

Frances -Sept Sketchy Challenge

How can it possibly be almost the middle of September all ready???? I'm sure July 1st was only last week! Don't you find that June and July just meander along but August goes by in a snap?

So here we are already half way into the September Sketchy Challenge over at CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER . Check out the gorgeous sketch by Sue Sykes .

 

and here's my take on this month's sketch...

 

 

This is my lovely mother-in-law, Frances { She'd probably kill me if she saw this page posted here}. Frances HATES getting her photo taken and usually hides when she sees the camera. This beautiful photo of her was taken several years ago at her 50th wedding anniversary party. Photo by her son, Don Marks.  I tucked a little journal note in behind the photo that says " I could never make mother-in-law jokes about Frances. She's a wonderful, loving lady. " and she truly is .

 

I absolutely loved these Shabby Love papers from Harmonie - a great Canadian company! I picked them up last year in Edmonton when I was visiting KELLY . A trip of a lifetime that coincided with Canadian Scrapbooker 's annual Carnival...which, BTW is going on in Edmonton again this coming weekend. Sooooo disappointed to not be there this year but I think my niece, Ali's wedding this weekend is a tad bit more important! Family first!

 

Thought I'd share a brief little tutorial on how I did the floral chippie piece for this LO. My flower chippie is actually from Dusty Attic, but Harmonie does have a very similar piece. I'm creating this tut as an afterthought so I don't have a photo of a couple of steps ...bear with me! 

 

 

This chipboard piece is an open style and I started by laying the plain piece on pink cs and lightly tracing out the center shapes.

 

 

 

Next I applied a mix of Vintage Velvet, Spun Sugar and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks with a Q-tip. I wasn't really particular about this step just sorta smeared it on .

 

 

              Then I cut out the shape and erased all the pencil lines.

I don't have a photo to demonstrate { remember this was after the fact} but I had already painted the actual chipboard piece with a layer of white acrylic paint and then painted the leaves with a mix of two different greens { I knew holding on to all those tole paint supplies would come in handy one day!}.

I inked the outside edge of the flower with Aged Mahogany......

 

Finally , I laid the chippie piece down on my inked pink cs and proceeded to fill in all the gaps with Ranger's Glossy Accents { I looooove that stuff!}. I left it to dry overnight as I had a fairly thick layer of Glossy Accents on it.

 

 

 and viola! pretty custom accent.

 

 

 

 Well that's it for me tonight my friends. Must go batten down the hatches as Hurricane Leslie is fast approaching the island. All schools in Newfoundland have already decided to close tomorrow as a safety measure.Smart move me thinks! Hopefully there won't be too much flooding ....Yuck!

You still have lots of time, so why don't you skip on over to Canadian Scrapbooker and give their sketchy challenge a go. And while you're busy blog hopping check out KELLY"S new GORGEOUS fall LO and tutorial that she posted today using Bo Bunny's  Apple Cider paper line.. Soooo many gorgeous little details! Thanks for popping by! Toodles!