Project 12 – June 2011

Posted on July 12, 2011 by daydesigns

2nd post today – please scroll down for my OLW Catch Up post!

I’m sure Greg is not so impressed with how much time I’ve been spending in my scrap room of late but I am! I have been churning out a huge amount of layouts this month (8 so far – two of those are double pagers too!) At this rate I’ll be finished Paige’s baby album by the end of the summer! Yay!

So my latest completed layout is my June installment for Project 12. First though, here was the sketch we were given to use.

And here is my layout.

I stuck to the sketch pretty closely this month. I was testing myself to see if I could! And I can … sort of. I did add one tiny extra picture – of Greg since Father’s Day was last month!

Here’s the left hand side …

… and the right hand side.

There’s that little additional picture I was talking about. Greg is even making a goofy face in it which is why I really wanted to add it. I think the girls are going to love these shots of their parents acting silly when they look back at these albums in years to come.

I had a ton of fun creating the embellishments this month too. I’ve been consciously working on my embellishing. I love seeing groupings of embellishments on others layouts so I’ve been adding them to my own. This banner (made out of the end bits of the bottom border) turned out even better than I’d imagined!
All right, that’s it. Thanks for checking it out. Leave some love, become a follower, … you never know, I may decide to send some love your way!
Posted in challenges, layout, Project 12, Scrapbook | 3 Comments

OLW – Catch up!

Posted on July 12, 2011 by daydesigns

I have let my One Little Word fade into the background a bit these past few months. That’s not to say it hasn’t popped into my head every now and then – especially when I’m boiling inside and just taking a deep breath and saying “Release” helps dissipate things somehow. But the assignments from Ali have been dutifully printed off, placed into my OLW duotang and then forgotten about until the next month’s assignment lands in my in-box. 12 days ago I received July’s assignment which got me thinking. “Exactly how many months behind am I now?”

4.

Yup, bad me!

So the other day I got busy. I dug out my OLW binder and duotang, read through all the handouts – starting in January just to remind myself about the beginning – and sat down to do the work. It was good to remind myself of my word. Of my original intentions for my word. Of hopes I’d forgotten about. After I got caught up to June (July is still a work in progress), I took some pictures and I thought I’d share them with you now.

Title page – pre-class assignment.

January’s assignment – self protrait and initial thought cards.

February’s assignment – 9 images.
 

March’s assigment – To Do list

This was as far as I got (except for the painting which you’ll see in a bit).
April’s assignment was to write a note to ourselves.
April’s assignment part B – another self portrait. This photo was actually taken on July 2nd but since the assignment called for a current photo and I WAS 3 months late, I opted for this as opposed to digging out a picture of me in April (which may or may not exist to be honest!).

This is my note to myself.
While jotting down notes I realized I had more to say to myelf than would fit on the blank Ali sent so I made a card that would fit into the 5×7 pocket and then covered it in this fun Basic Grey paper.

Here is the inside of the note as well as my initial scribblings.

Here’s that painting I was talking about. I originally posted about it here. It came about as a result of just having some fun with old guache paints I’d found during an organizational blitz in my scrap room.

On the backside of the painting is this layout I did for LOAD in May. I wasn’t sure where to put it but it seems to fit within the parameters of my OLW personal journey.

May’s assignment was to create task lists and/or write down things already accomplished and things still left to do with regard to our OLW journey. So far I have 5 and hope to add another 5 soon.

And now we arrive at June.
June’s assigment was to first pick a colour and then get messy – no problem! Here’s a look at the very beginning of my process.
And the finished results. 
Looking at all of them together like this makes me really happy. I wasn’t sure where to begin or how to proceed but Ali encouraged us to relax and just let things evolve. I did and this is what came of it! It was so much fun to just create without any parameters beyond our chosen colour scheme and the number of little canvasses.
Here are some closeups.
Picking a colour was pretty easy as I’d already been using almost exclusively brown and pink for my embellishments.
I pulled out all my pink and brown inks, paints and glitters and then went hunting for interesting textures, stencils, stamps, you name it. The canvas on the right above was created by spraying 3 colours of mist over a laser cut piece of cardstock. Then I added round dollops of glue and sprinkled MS glitter in bronze over them. The butterfly on the left is stamped with Ranger distress ink – sorry can’t remember the colour right now. 

The “me” canvas gave me a lot of problems. I initially tried to mist over the m-e to create a blocked out ME but I used too much mist and it bled under the letters. I put it aside and worked on the other canvasses while I tried to figure out what to do. The letters has so much spray on them that their original colours were completely obliterated and I liked the mottled look so I decided to paint over the card and then glue the letters to it. But the brown mists were bleeding through the pink paint and turned it a sort of sickly grey-pink colour. Ack! Then I got the idea of hiding it under strips of ribbon and tons of pink glitter and Voila!  It started off hugely disappointing but ended as one of my favourite canvasses. Go figure!

I started the “a” canvass with a similar idea to the ME one but using paint instead of mists. I really liked how the paint adhered the letter to the cardstock so I left it. Once it was dry I glued and glittered it. Simple but effective. The paint splatters are actually a stamp that I just stamped over and over with different colours. Then I stamped the “colour your world” part over top. It’s not as noticable as I’d like but I have no plans to change it.

The butterflies were made by painting over a glitter butterfly die cut paper then adding a few mini butterflies I’d punched out earlier.

This pink one stumped me for the longest time. I just kept staring at this blank bit of pink painted paper and wondering what the heck to do with it! Then I was reminded that Ali had used her daughter’s hand in one of hers and I went finger painting. A little flower was born and after adding a little journalling and a ribbon, it was finished. The other one is my favourite one. I used my trusty empty toilet paper holder to stamp the circles. I purposely put piles of paint on the end of the roll so the circles would have some texture to them. The circle of pattered paper I had laying out on my desk and it worked but needed something. Turns out that something was a button!

And last but not least I did more stamping. Using multiple colours again (I saw this done on a card with little birdies and now I can’t remember where it was so sorry for not giving credit where it’s due!) Once all the background was done I stamped the “be happy” – initially in pink but it didn’t show up very well so I re-stamped it in black. Much better! And lastly I added a little butterfly and some bling.
July’s assignment is to listen to our word and pick 9 songs that are our current soundtrack of our word. I must admit to being totally stumped with this one but I currently have my iTunes going so will hopefully soon be able to pick 9 songs that say “release” to me! Yikes!
Thanks for checking in. I’m hoping to get my latest Project 12 layout posted today too so stay tuned for that. Right now I must get LC up from her nap. Her escapades is “what can I paint myself in today” continue. Earlier I found her standing on top of her change table holding an open bottle of conditioner in one hand and a wipe in the other. Needless to say the “guest room goodies” basket has been permanently removed from her room!!
I am NOT going to survuve her two’s!!!
Posted in OLW - One Little Word | 1 Comment

Layouts for Apron Strings

Posted on July 9, 2011 by daydesigns

I really got my scrap on today!
This first week of summer has really flown by and it’s been a lot of fun. But I have to admit that I love days when we have no fixed plans and I can scrap in my pj’s until noon! Greg took the girls to the beach after lunch which gave me even more time to create.

Thank you hon!!

Here’s what I did today. They are all for Apron Strings, Out with the Old, In with the New challenges.

Day 3: Take one of those semi-used kits from the past and combine it with some new cardstock. Maybe a different color than was in the kit. Add a new embellishment or two if all you have left is the paper. If you don’t have kits, combine some old scraps with some new cardstock and embellishments.

Just to prove that these are all scraps (apart from the pink cardstock which was newly acquired from my friend Kara), here is a picture.
Gathering my scraps from … 
… my scrap drawer.
Technically I didn’t use any new embellishments, I made my own from the scraps. 🙂 And I had some fun with some new paints I got from my friend Kara.
Supplies used (apart from the aforementioned cardstock and scraps): MS Punch around the Edges flower border punch; MS Punch all over the page circle and butterfly punches; Marvy heart and 1″ circle punches; MS classic butterfly punch; Making Memories liquid acrylics in Manilla; Recollections adhesive rhinestones; Brilliance archival pigment in Coffee Bean; Basic Grey Pyrus alphabet stickers.

Day 4: Use your oldest non-summery kit with some of your newer photos. If you don’t have any Apron Strings kit, use your oldest non-summery papers, along with your newer photos.

The oldest non summery papers are Hallowe’en and Fall themed so I chose this Fall pack.
Did my usual shadow effect with my Cricut cut title and replaced the O and the 0 with these cute soccer ball buttons I’ve had kicking about for a couple years.

I decided to cut up the journalling into strips and added another button.
Supplies used: cardstock is more from my friend Kara; patterned paper is Making Memories Autumn Splendor pack; brown matting on centre pic is AC Baby – Mother Hubbard; Soccer buttons are from Dress it Up; title cardstock is from my stash.

Day 5: Combine two of your Apron Strings kits – one of your older ones and one of your newer ones. Mix up the papers or embellies or both. If you have a partial kit, this is a great way to reinvent it. If you don’t have Apron Strings kits, take some of your older papers and mix in a newer purchase.

Isn’t this a fun layout?

Supplies used: NEW – AC Confetti line – Fruit  Punch and Buttercream Bobby, Sassafrass dark blue glitter alphas, AC Remarks – Surprise! and AC Delights – Party Favor; OLD – AC Tea Party patterned paper, white cardstock, Marvy punches – 1″ circle and heart; other circles cut out on my Cricut using George Basics. 

Day 6: Use an older kit and five items from it: Cardstock, Patterned Paper, Ribbon, Buttons and Chipboard and from your newer items select two more embellishments or tools. Like if you purchased the Sew Easy kit, use it. Or if you have Mists, use them. If you don’t have Apron Strings kits, which is a shame ;), select the items from your stash.

During one of my excavations into my stash, I saw this old kit that came with an album I have yet to fill. When I saw the prompt for Day 6 I knew what had to come out!!
From the kit I used 3 pieces of paper, several dimensional stickers, a couple of chipboard flowers, the gems, the alphas and a piece of ribbon (green polka dot one). I added the journalling sprouts, the pink ribbon, the chipboard oval, the tab and the butterfly.
Oh yeah, and I misted the oval too.

Supplies used: Album kit from Chatterbox (all papers, green ribbon, alphas, dimensional stickers, chipboard flowers and gems); Basic Grey Paper Labels Office Tabs; Jillibean Soup Journalling Sprouts in brown; Bazzill Chips – scalloped oval; pink ribbon is MS; mists used on the oval were Tattered Angel in Bubble gum, light green, dark pink and pearl, MS Punch all over the page butterfly punch.
Thanks for checking these out! Off to a barbeque for my nephew’s birthday now.
Posted in challenges, layout, Paige, Paige's Baby scrapbook | 1 Comment

5 on Friday – July 8th

Posted on July 8, 2011 by daydesigns

Wow! Can it really be Friday and can I really be posting my 5 on Friday ON Friday?!?! Did hell freeze over? LOL! Just as I don’t expect the girls to always be happy and play nicely together, don’t you expect me to continue this timely-ness!!

1. Out With the Old, In with the New – Day 2

I thought I’d post this first so that any scrappy friends checking in won’t have to wade through a weeks worth of kidlet pics etc.

Day 2’s challenge over at Apron Strings was “find a past kit with the following color scheme. No kits? Pull some of your older papers.”

And she provided this sketch for inspiration. I ended up using the right hand page but flipping it. 
Here’s my layout – Bathtime (Fun?) about Paige’s first bathing experience at home.
I already had my oldest papers out so it was easy to pick the one with the most red, white and blue in it.
This colour scheme and the papers were more my style so this layout came very easily. In fact, the bulk of it was done last night in about an hours time. Today I added the sewing to the butterfly (see below) and added the journalling and black embellishments to the top.

Once it was all inked and stuck down I thought it looked too black but at this point I have no plans to change it. Call it a learning experience!

Once again I cut out my title with both white and black and then glued it off centre to create a shadow effect.
Supplies used: blue, black and white cardstock from my stash; all patterned paper is from AC’s Tea Party collection; black embroidery thread; Scenic Route chipboard flowers; K&Company adhesive photo frames; Color Box pigment inks in Black and Frost White.

2. Family
 
Last Sunday our family went over to my brothers for lunch. Aunt Jean was spending her last week of her Canadian holiday in the Lower Mainland. She had been with Andrew for a few days and it was going to be our turn next! After a very yummy lunch of Costco Chicken Pot Pie (highly recommend these and may put them in my cart next time I’m there!), we headed outside to enjoy the sunshine and have dessert.
 

Choosing was the hardest part!

Multi-tasking!

After popsicles it was time to play and get dirty. Something LC excels at!!!
What do you do when you don’t have a baseball bat but you really want to play ball with your nephew?
You use your daughter as a bat, of course!

Not that Paige complained much!
A shot of all 5 of us with Aunt Jean.

3. Fairy Gardens
 
While at Andrew’s we discovered something amazing!

A Fairy Garden!!!
The girls were immediately taken with the idea and Marley went hunting for the fairies. 
Paige checked out the houses to make sure they weren’t hiding in there. 
Once it was determined that the fairies were not currently in residence, Marley and Matthew had fun gathering offerings of flowers. 
Marley has since created her own Pixie Hollow out of old boxes and scraps of paper. I am turning a blind eye (or two or three) to the mess she is creating and instead focussing on her imaginative mind. It’s a wonder to behold! She still working on it but once it’s done I’ll post pictures. I want to try and recreate Jonina’s idea in our garden I just have to figure out where … and how!

4. Creative Play
I’ve posted pictures of the girls doing creative things during play dates but I don’t think I’ve posted pictures like the follow.

This is all part of the Pixie Hollow creative process. 

It was all cleaned up at the end of the playdate … only to be re-messed today.
Sigh.
It’s all good though.
5. Soccer Camp
The girls have been at Soccer Camp all this week (9-12 every day). Today was a fun day of games, hotdogs and medals. Paige had to be pulled out briefly to go and get her Kindergarten shots (which has subsequently put her in a bit of a mood!) Here are some shots of the fun.
All Vaccinated and ready to join back in!

Just hanging about!

What time is it Mr. Wolf?

Driving the van is already her favourite thing to do!

Marley takes aim at her coach.

Fun with soccer balls.
Paige dribbling … her ball that is!

Since it’s almost as big as her, LC was enchanted with this ball.

Waiting for food. 

Enjoying the hot dog with friends.
Look at MY medal!!
All right, that’s it for today.
Greg is home from work so that must mean it’s time for me to get dinner going.
Thanks for stopping by.
Have a great weekend everyone. If you’re interested, it’s the Tour de Delta this weekend. Come and check out the fun!
Posted in challenges, Five on Friday, layout, LC, Marley, Paige, Paige's Baby scrapbook, Scrapbook | 1 Comment

Out with the Old, In with the New – Day 1

Posted on July 7, 2011 by daydesigns

Apron Strings is having a month long challenge called Out With the Old, In With the New. I’m trying to play along … as much as I can. It’s Day 5 and I’ve only got my Day 1 layout done. Eek!

So, the challenge for Day One was to “use your oldest summer-themed Apron Strings kit (oldest summer-themed paper if you don’t have Apron Strings kits) and combine it with your newest metallic embellishments. ” Since I don’t get Apron Stings Kits (yet …) I went rummaging for my oldest summer-themed papers. I pulled out a pack that I’d been sent as a prize a long time ago as well as several of the papers I’d bought when I was doing my Honeymoon album a couple years ago. I went with the paper pack and using the sketch Lori included for inspiration, I came up with this.

It’s not my usual style – the paper pack is very whimsical and retro – but I think I am happy with the way it turned out. The reason it took me so long to get this finished was because I literally fought against type to get this done. I laboured over every decision and placement. Looking at this picture I really like it and would probably use more of these papers but in person, I’m not so sure. I will put the pad back in my drawer and see what happens. 🙂
To be honest, I’m not sure the papers are truly “summer themed” but I went with it anyway!
Here are some close ups: 
Oh yeah, the metallic embellishments … I do not usually use metallic embellies. I really don’t know how to use them properly! But I did recently purchase these little tags from Basic Grey and they have a metallic element to them so …

While I was digging through all my embellishments (trying to find metallic ones and other ones to put on the layout) I came across this little heart shaped paper clip. I got it as part of a Make and Take kit but didn’t use it on my project. I’d gotten too sick to finish my project at the crop so also had no idea how to use this. Anyway, here it is now.

Another one of the Basic Grey tags.

I also found these little tabs from Making Memories. They’re metal so they work, right?
Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, yes, that is Marley in the picture above – looks a lot like LC here! This Father’s Day was 2006 when Paige was just a few months old.
Oops! Fogot to say … supplies used: Kraft cardstock – Recollections; patterned paper – K&Company Cut & Paste Designer Paper; alphas – Thickers Vinyl letters; red Nittotape; Basic Grey Olivia small details; Flora Doodles handmade flowers; Making Memories mini metal circle index tab clips; Marvy heart punch.
Okay, that’s it. Marley and Paige have a couple of friends over right now which has allowed me to get this posted. I also took a picture of their “creative process” that may appear in a later post. It’s a sight to behold, let me tell you!
Off to tackle dinner and Days 2 – 5!!
Thanks for stopping by.
Posted in challenges, layout, Paige's Baby scrapbook, Scrapbook | 1 Comment

Scrappy Endeavours

Posted on July 4, 2011 by daydesigns

Just a quick post to show you some of my recent projects.

First up is another layout about Easter 2006. I posted one already (here) which I will probably put into an album for Marley eventually, but I wanted to do one for Paige’s baby album too. She was only a day old so not exactly clued into what was going on but … she WAS there! LOL!

She was definitely more interested in her fingers and nursing than the chocolate eggs that were being consumed by her big sister and her cousins!!
During our garage sale a few weeks ago, our neighbour brought over a huge pack of punches to sell. Well, Marley just about fell over when she saw them and rushed up to get the $2 needed! I used the little feet and bunny punches on the bottom of the journalling spot and then used the bunnies to embellish my butterflies here.

I blinged up the pink butterflies up by the title and then also added some tiny ones to this strip.
Supplies used: creamy cardstock base was just purchased from Clipper Street and (although you can’t see it) has a lovely natural looking fleck throughout; brown and pink cardstock is from my stash; patterned paper is Bella Blvd, Basic Grey and Best Creations; Butterfly and boder punches are Martha Stewart; Rhinestones are Recollections; and the title is cut on my Cricut using George Basics.
And now for something a bit different.
I signed up for MotherLOAD with Lain Ehmann offered through Big Picture Classes. Greg thinks I’m nuts and that I won’t have time ‘cus I’m supposed to be looking for work. But … there’s always time to scrap, right? LOL!
Week One’s assignment was two-fold. First we were to make a layout about why we scrap and then we were to take a picture of our scrap space. I went for a pictureless layout this time. I think I have seen a layout like this before but can’t remember where or who did it. Sorry if I’m not giving credit where credit is due! If someone recognizes this please let me know and I’ll add the shout out!
My reasons:
It is music for my soul.
It’s F-U-N!
I love my scrapping friends.
It’s ME time.
I love the solitary process – picking the paper, choosing the photos, writing the story.
I love the thought of leaving “footprints in the sand” for when I’m gone.
It allows me to get messy and be creative.
I am in total control – over this anyway!
I love the paper. Hello. My name is Alison and I’m a Paperholic!
I’m preserving my family’s memories.
Supplies used: cardstock – 81/2 x 11″ Recollections in cream; patterned papers are mostly Basic Grey, the music notes is from my stash and the sand dollar/footprints paper is from a Spring Break stack; journalling and title work is all marker.
And now for my scrap space. Hmmm …. I probably should have attempted to tidy it up but I was hoping to do this quickly and taking the time to clean the space would have taken WAY too long. Like, all summer!!! So here it is … in all it’s messy glory!
I use my drafting table as a work table and have various drawers, shelves, baskets, etc, etc, etc for “stuff” storage!

Yep. I have too much stuff!

This book shelf is a third scrapping stuff and 2/3 old school books, assignments and magazines (Interior Design inspiration stufff).

The shelf is a bit too high for accessing everyday so I use it mostly as display space. (Although, there are a few items up there that were put there until another suitable spot could be found and have now decided to stay indefinitely! LOL!) The bar and hanging containers are from IKEA and hold my pens, extra ribbon, edging scissors, etc. Love them and could do with more for buttons and stuff. The corkboard beneath was one I covered with some pretty fabric I had laying around. Too bad it’s mostly hidden by all the crap in front of it!!
Clutter tends to rule my life. Despite efforts to cull, organize and clean, it creeps back into all facets of my life.
You may be wondering where my Cricut is?
It’s in the dining room as there is no space in here for it … right now.
… maybe one day …

Okay, off to upload these to the MotherLOAD gallery. Happy 4th of July to my American friends. We’re actually currently watching the fireworks displays from Boston and New York. Gotta love being able to pick up Eastern broadcasts!!

Posted in challenges, layout, MotherLOAD, Paige's Baby scrapbook | Comments Off on Scrappy Endeavours

Colour Inspiration from Apron Strings

Posted on June 30, 2011 by daydesigns

** I wrote this post yesterday but Blogger was giving me issues so I had to finish it today.**

It was the last day of school today and after a short assembly we said goodbye to Marley’s teacher. A sad goodbye. She was a wonderful teacher for Marley to have this year. Marley has blossomed under her tutelage! Her reading and writing have taken off! She’s even started reading the Narnia series … although she just gave me back The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in favour of another Fairy Friends book. Oh well, it’s a long summer so I’m sure it’ll make its way back into her hands. Anyway, I’m digressing.

The reason I’m posting today is because in the heady excitement of the first day of summer holiday, all 3 girls played quite happily and quietly together. I got some business done – phone calls and emails for the preschool, made a lasagne and then still had time to crank out a layout for the latest Apron Strings challenge. I know, I know, this is an anomaly and will most likely not be repeated for the next 2 months! Which is why I took advantage of it!!

The challenge was a colour combo combo – here it is.

And here is my layout.

Part of my day (while the lasagne sauce was simmering) was spent printing off pictures so I can continue Paige’s Baby Album over the summer. When I saw the green grass and the blue eggs in these Easter pictures I knew I could use them for this colour challenge. I happened to have a piece of lime green cardstock sitting out beside my drafting table (doesn’t everyone?) so I went digging in my scrap drawer for some blues. Everything looked SO bright I started brainstorming ways to tone it down. I put some white paint on my cardstock base around the edges and then some splatters in the centre – which I realize now you can’t really see. Oh well. Trust me when I say they look cool! Then I roughed up the edges of the blue strips to soften their look. And finally I got probably my most ingenious idea ever. I found a toilet paper roll, squished it a bit and then dabbed it in white ink to stamp some egg-like shapes all over. I know, I know, please hold the applause. LOL!

Oh yeah. I even remembered a title this time!! 🙂
I decided to put my journalling into one of the eggs. I felt anything else would have detracted from the design .
In this shot you can see some of my stamped “eggs” and even a couple paint splatters.
Supplies used: all cardstock is from my stash; patterned paper with the words is from TPC Studio I think (the scrap I used had its manufacturer info cut off it!); egg shapes were cut on my Cricut awhile back and dug out of my scrap drawer – the creamy ones are from Crate Paper – Katlin collection Daydream, and the green patterned paper is from a Spring Stack by DCWV; white paint is a guache byLukas from deSerres; white alphas (2006) are Basic Grey – Basics Micro Mono stickers; Easter stickers are from my stash too – by Recollections and the white ink is Frost White from Color Box.
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