Winter Portraits~

Personally I think there is just something so cozy about a winter portrait. These are photos that I had taken over our Christmas Break while we were in PEI  geocaching. Who doesn't like to take a break from running around in the woods to do a photo shoot?
Luckily these ladies LOVE to get their photos taken. I created these 2 layouts during a snow day. What better way to spend a day snowed in, then to scrapbook some wintery photos.

The patterned papers, cardstock stickers and coordinating fabric covered buttons are by We R Memory Keepers, Winter Frost Collection

The metal snowflake stickers are by Momenta

So shake off those winter blahs and go out and take some cute and cozy shots while we still have snow on the ground. Soon enough we'll be complaining about how hot it it outside.

Use it Tuesday #50: Uninked Stamps~

It's that time again! Time for Use It Tuesday's new challenge. For this challenge you are asked to use uninked stamps. You know you all have them. Those great little stamps that you just could not live without. Then come to find 5 years later, it hasn't been touched with ink yet.

This challenge was easy for me, as I love to buy stamps but rarely use them. This is the layout I created.

The patterned papers are by Kaisercraft, from their Bonjour Collection. I have had some of these papers now for a couple of years.

The pink flower was actually a Michaels sale bin find. It was actually a ring that I bought and then tore apart. I thought it would make an adorable flower.

Then I thought you might like to take a look at my uninked stamps. Yes that's right, not only are they uninked....they are also unmounted. I have had these at least 4 or 5 years. Oddly enough since I created this layout I have used the stamps again to make a couple of cards.

Even the black ink that I used was unopened and about 6 years old.

So drop by Use It Tuesday and check out what the other designers came up with for this challenge. I can't wait to see what all of you out there come up with your uninked stamps.

http://useittuesday.blogspot.ca/2013/02/challenge-50-uninked-stamp.html

More Exciting News~

I found out this evening that I will be Back Porch Memories kit club's March Guest Designer. I am so very excited to get my hands on the kit and create! You will see my posts here as well as on their blog and gallery in the month of March. So stay tuned!

Check out their website:

http://www.backporchmemories.com/

Gettin' Sketchy with The Cutting Garden~

Another month has gone by already! So that means another Sketch Challenge at the Cutting Garden!! I have come to enjoy working with sketches since they started their challenges. It makes you work a little bit out of your box, as well as challenges you to make that sketch somehow your own. So here is what I came up with this month.

The patterned papers for the layout I created are by October Afternoon, Cake Walk Collection. I love the warm tones and they worked so well with the beautiful photos of my adorable niece!

Patterned papers are available at The Cutting Garden.

www.thecuttinggarden.ca

Here is the sketch that I went from

The card that I created was made from an Echo Park line called This & That. I also used the coordinating embellishments from the same line. Chocolate brown Liquid Pearls were also used.

Here is the sketch that I went from

Now I hope you all take that challenge too and get crafty this month!!

Valentine Simplicity~

Just a simple little Valentine to share with you this evening.

The patterned papers are by Fancy Pants, Love Note Collection

Available at The Cutting Garden

www.thecuttinggarden.ca

The Mini Envelope is by Martha Stewart Crafts as is the Heart Punch I used and the Glitter Heart Stickers.

I also used Onyx Liquid Pearls

Use It Tuesday #49: Fasteners~

This time around the challenge is to use fasteners on your page. This could be Buttons, Brads or Eyelets. Who doesn't have a ton of those laying around waiting to be used??

I chose to use buttons, one of my favourite accessories! The buttons that I used on the border happened to be from my stash of buttons that were my grandmothers. I have no idea how old they might be, but I have had them for YEARS! I found the twine in the bottom of a drawer and I honestly have no idea when I bought it.

So now I challenge you to dig into your stash and join in our challenge!! Here is the link to the original blog post with all of the Design Team's ideas to share!

http://useittuesday.blogspot.ca/2013/02/challenge-49-fasteners.html

Patterned papers available at The Cutting Garden

www.thecuttinggarden.ca

The LOVE of Good Friends~

I am blessed to have some of the Best Friends a girl could have! People that care about me no matter what! Friends that send sweet little Valentines in the mail, just because. Friends that check in often just to say hi. Don't forget your friends this Valentine's Day! Life wouldn't be the same without them!

The layout I am posting is actually this coming Monday's class sample. Why is this friend related you ask? Well 1. Sean is my friend as well as partner in life :) and 2. My Monday night class has become one of the biggest joys in my week. They are a sweet group of ladies who, when they started coming to class...didn't know each other that well. Now they've become a group of friends that can't wait to get together each week. Share all the good and bad that they may be going through. And share some amazing laughs! They've become friends, and I am grateful for that!

Patterned papers by Echo Park, This & That Collection

Exciting News~

I am so excited to have been named one of Buttons Galore & More's, Button Bevy. A mouthful I know, but I am one of their new Design Team Members!! As most of you know, I have a LOVE for buttons, so designing for a button manufacturer is the perfect fit!!

Here is a link to their blog and the Design Team announcement:

http://buttonsgaloreandmore.net/button-bevy-the-new-design-team/#comment-3622

Also take a peek at some of the other new design team members and their blogs!

Allie Gower from My Card Party

Angie from The Country Chic Cottage

Carla from Carla Schauer Designs

Holly Gagnon from Ribbons and Glue

Jen Goode from J Goode Designs

Laura Bray from Laura Bray Designs

Laura Kelly from Laura Kelly Designs
Mai Larsen from Creando Con Detalle
Melony from Mel Bradley Designs

Stay tuned for lots of button filled posts in the future!!

Date Night Ideas~

It all started one night when Shelley B brought some yummy treats to class. Needless to say the group of ladies there that night polished off the yummy goodness, all that was left was the can! I kept the can thinking...."I can do something with that". Well today was the day!

So here is the lonely, empty can that I started with.

These are the little books that we had at each of the tables at our reception. Our guests wrote in them lots of different date night ideas for us! Mind you some of the ideas were not PG-13, so those ones we will keep to ourselves!

I took those wonderful ideas and wrote them on thin strips of cardstock. Now they are safely in the tin if we ever want to refer to them!

Here's a closer look at the top of the tin.

The patterned papers are from the Valentine Collection by Imaginisce. Available at the Cutting Garden.

www.thecuttinggarden.ca

Martha Stewart Crafts Border Punch

Onyx Liquid Pearls

Silver Ribbon

Making Memories Die Cut Embellishments

EK Success Rub-Ons

A Sketch Gone Valentine~

 This is a layout I created from a sketch for a challenge recently. I had all these Valentine's papers and embellishments, so I just went for it. The colors are not normally what I gravitate towards when scrapbooking, but I must say...they were fun to work with.

The patterned papers are by Imaginisce, their Valentine Collection. Available at the Cutting Garden.

www.thecuttinggarden.ca

The letter stickers are by My Minds Eye and EK Success

The felt flowers are by Pebbles Inc

The pink doily I picked up at Michaels in a bin

I used Onyx Pearl, Liquid Pearls

This is the sketch that I originally went off of.

Simple Ambiance~

A simple up-cycle of a mason jar. Makes for such a pretty centerpiece for a romantic dinner or power outage! All it takes is a small doily, some colored twine, a heart cut from some left over patterned paper, some pretty pink lacy ribbon and liquid pearls.

I used a glue gun to shape the ribbon around the heart and to glue the ribbon to the jar itself. Liquid Pearls dry nicely on glass...the possibilities are endless!

You Had Me at Bacon~

One day while scrolling through Pinterest I came across this very simple card with a saying that I LOVED, and I knew that I would have to make that card some day for Sean!

You're like bacon,

You Make Everything Better!

Who doesn't LOVE bacon?? Well, vegetarians and vegans I guess. But in our household it's sort of a running joke, when you have the option to add bacon.....you do it!

So after being sick for a week now, and having Sean take such good care of me. The moment I felt like creating something, this was what I wanted to make for him!

So I took that saying from the very simple card and made it my own.

The patterned papers are from the Love Note Collection by Fancy Pants.

Available at The Cutting Garden.

www.thecuttinggarden.ca

The letter stickers are by EK Success and My Minds Eye.

Love What You Do~

I thought I would do a bit of a re-cap of previous posts that would be appropriate for Valentine's Day. 

Today I also found out that I am going to be published again!! This time in Scrap n' Art Magazine.

So, make sure you check out their March 2013 issue!!

http://scrapnart.com/page/submissions

I do indeed, LOVE what I do!

A Celebration of Love~

Valentine's Day doesn't just have to be a day to celebrate your spouse. Think of it as a day to celebrate anything and everything that you love. Friends, family, pets or even yourself!  Try doing something for YOU this Valentine's Day.

With this said, today is the first day of a series of Valentine's Day related posts.

This layout I created using some scraps I had left over from other projects. I simply punched a single hole in each of the hearts and strung them onto the embroidery thread.