Hello! February in my world means it’s LOAD time (LayOut A Day). Since opening my store I have found it incredibly challenging to actually make a layout every day … but when Alice asked for volunteers to be a featured designer, I happily stepped up. And she always sends me just the prompt I need!
The topic for today was Video Games, and the prompt was to “Scrapbook about an adventure that happened outside of your control”. Alice always gives a technique prompt too and for today it is to use triangles, like the Asteroids space ship. One of the papers I used had a triangular pattern on it, but it’s a bit of a stretch to say I followed both prompts!
At first I got kind of stuck in the “video games” topic box, but once I stepped out of that box and thought about things that are/were out of my control, the story I wanted to tell became obvious.
Happy Monday! It’s nice to be back with another Make It Monday and a process video to boot! Don’t get used to all this, I’m sure the wheels will fall off my schedule bus again soon – LOL!
My partner in the store, Amanda, and I are trying to flood our social media feed with Valentine’s inspiration right now. Well, flood may be a strong term. “Fill”. “Sprinkle”. “Randomly post”. Those may all be a tiny bit more accurate. We didn’t bring in any new themed lines this year and that’s okay. There is only so much you can do with products that are overly cutesy, right? So today I want to show you how you can take a non-Valentine collection and make a very heart centred layout.
Happy New Year everyone. I am currently sitting in front of a giant set of windows overlooking a local ski hill. It’s a gorgeous view that I appreciate all the more for the fact that there is absolutely nothing compelling me to venture out into the snow! LOL! I may be a Canadian but this girl prefers sun and sand to snow and mountains! I do love to sit where it’s warm and look at a winter wonderland though.
My snowy getaway is thanks to my sister-in-law and her husband who own a cabin here and are generously putting up with our family of 5 for a few days over New Years. There were fireworks last night, and funny games, and plenty of good company. Just what my tired soul ordered. The last several weeks of 2022 were pretty rough for me. No need to get into the nitty gritty but suffice it to say, I have several more days away from the store ahead of me and I am really looking forward to it.
Before I get too maudlin, let me ask you a question (which I think I pose here most years): do you choose a word or phrase to help you pick a focus for the year? Many years ago I started following Ali Edwards’ tradition of picking a word – she calls it her One Little Word. For a few years I followed along with her in her class as she took us through ways each month to connect anew with our word and stay dialed-in to what we were looking to manifest for ourselves throughout the year. Now I simply pick a word that evokes a feeling or journey I want to explore and then do my best to keep it present in my mind all year.
This year it’s been tough to pick the right word.
This image was posted by my Epicure Global Director in our private Facebook Group and it really spoke to me. I’ve been drawn to the image of the butterfly for a long time and use it a lot in my scrapbooking and card making. Starting in November I created a note on my phone where I could save words that came to me as potentials for my 2023 Word. Time was seriously ticking down and for the life of me I couldn’t narrow my the list to just one word. And then this image came across my feed and I knew what my word had to be.
Hello and welcome to Tuesday, otherwise known as Monday-Too. LOL
Apologies for almost missing another Make it Monday. Some weeks simply fly past and before I clue in, it’s too late to make something for the blog. Other weeks I’m all over it! Whatcha gonna do? This week I caught myself somewhere in the middle of “too late” and “organized” but managed to salvage things for you.
And I have a question. Do you make a special album to document your December Memories? I’ve been doing just that for years – with varying degrees of success along the way. My 2020 album was completed in late 2021, and my 2021 album … well, watch the video below to see just how far that project has come! This year I’ve made the commitment to myself and to the followers of Ladner Village Arts & Crafts that I will not only keep an album, but also share my progress in our Stories. Yikes! The pressure’s on!
To that end, I brought in the Evergreen & Holly collection from Vicki Boutin and will be using it all month. Here’s a quick video showing the collection pieces I’ll be using as well as my process to creating the cover embellishment for my album.
Last month I shared how I’d taken up a new hobby (you know, with all my free time LOL) by signing up for our Crochet for Beginners class at the store. Our instructor had lofty goals for our group and her students had varying degrees of success with the projects assigned. Crochet is not as easy as it looks, and also, super easy IF you focus. A total contradiction in terms I know but hey, I stand by it.
As the good student that I used to be WAY back in the day, I was pretty diligent about doing my homework. I struggled with the first stitch pattern we were taught but did eventually manage to make two dish cloths in that stitch (called the Moss stitch but I’ve also seen it referred to as the Seed stitch). Then we moved on to another stitch which I don’t have the name of but which I found much easier to do. I’ve got two lovely dishcloths in this stitch also.
One of the most exciting things about owning your own craft store, is getting an insider look at new products and techniques directly from the manufacturers. My business partner, Amanda, and I are looking forward to one day being able to go in person to such expos as Creativation, but until then, we will participate in as many online ones as we can. I had the opportunity recently to join in on a two day online event called Celebration of Craft. It was hosted by Spellbinders and featured many of the companies that we either currently sell in our store, or hope to sell one day. When I received my kit of supplies I was floored at how packed it was. It has taken me until yesterday to finally finish all the projects (trying to follow along a live video feed while bouncing up and down to serve customers is not really conducive to getting a lot accomplished LOL!)
Yesterday I posted the completed Pinkfresh Studios layout to our Instagram but the process video has taken me a bit longer to edit. Hence the Friday Inspiration … on Saturday.
Here’s what the inspiration page by Anett Gelencser looked like:
Happy Monday! As next week is Halloween, I’m bringing you some inspiration ahead of time to help you document your memories. That way you can just sit back and enjoy the day – scrapbook later!
Last week I showed you a way to make a compilation page to document changing decorations over the years. Today, I want to share a way to document a costume coming together. As fellow crafters, I’m sure you’ve made more than your fair share of costumes over the years. It can be quite satisfying when a concept develops from idea to actuality. I had one of those experiences in 2016.
