Running With Scissors!

Christmas Gift

2011-11-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I can't believe it is almost December. Time sure has flown!! Today is another Showcase Monday and, as you've gathered, we've been working on Christmas gifts for our Showcase Mondays for the month of November.

For my project, I altered a stacking wooden box. I added papers by Simple Stories from their 25 Days of Christmas line. I inked the edges of the papers with my Ranger Distress Ink stamp pads in coordinating colours. I used acrylic craft paint to paint the lids -It took a lot of mixing of colours to get the shades of red, green and yellow that I wanted, but it was fun. I adorned the box with American Crafts ribbon and embellishments by Prima and Petaloo. I think it'll be a fun, decorative box to display during the Christmas season. I plan on lining the inside with wax paper and filling each layer with Christmas candies.

I hope you liked my project and that it perhaps gave you some inspiration for your own Christmas crafts!

Products Used
Prima Flowers - Holiday Red
Prima Flowers - Splendor Moss
Petaloo - Berry Spray -no longer available, but other similar products exist, check out our online catalogue
American Crafts - Ribbon - Caramel
Ranger Distress Ink - Peeled Paint
Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

Simple Christmas Card

2011-11-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Christmas and Winter Holiday Season is fast approaching!

Here's a little Christmas card I put together with some traditional coloured/themed papers and embellishments from our store. Hope you like it.

Product List
Prima Flowers - Holiday Red
Kaiser Craft Rhinestones - Black Strip
Simple Stories Paper - 25 Days of Christmas
American Crafts - Ribbon - Caramel
Tsukineko Brilliance - Dew Drop "Painter's Palette" 4 Piece Set (#55 Pearlescent Beige)

Steal of a Deal

2011-11-17T10:04:00.005-07:00

I found this cute little stacking wooden box decoration thingy (that is the technical term) at Micheal's the other day. Because it was out of season I got it for $1.50 ...Yay! I'd say it is approximately 10 inches high, and since I'm covering it with paper, those cut-outs will be unseen.

I am doing a Christmas Gift project for Scrapbooker's Paradise (the design team blog) and I think I'll use this for it. Once it is all gussied up, I think it'll be perfect for lining with wax paper and filling with different Christmas treats!

Featured Product - Adhesive - "My Girl"

2011-11-16T00:01:00.000-07:00

HEY EVERYONE!
Welcome to another Featured Product post for SCRAPBOOKER'S PARADISE.

This time we are featuring something I think every scrapbooker and cardmaker uses; EZ-Runner Adhesive! There are a lot of different options out there for adhesives... I love my EZ-Runner Adhesive, though, it works great and easy to apply and fantastic for scrapbooking.

So from Nov 16th until Nov 30th, we have 3L EZ Runner Duo and Mixed Packs on sale for $10.50 instead of the Regular price of $12.50 ... To get this great deal, just use online code: FIDP when checking out at our Online Store.

I used my EZ Runner adhesive when I made this scrapbook page... like I do with all my pages! Check below for a list of the other products I used.

Products Used
Kaiser Craft 12x12 Paper - Bonjour "Notre-Dame"
Kaiser Craft 12x12 Paper - Bonjour "Provence"
My Mind's Eye - Lost & Found Breeze "Fun Day" Pearls
Alphabet Stickers
Brown Ribbon

Check out Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings
to learn about how you can win a FREE EZ-Runner Duo Pack!

Ready for Halloween

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-06:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I have a scrapbook page all ready for tonight! I actually purchased a Kit from Karen Foster called Spooky Cinema for this page. It came with two sheets of stickers and eight sheets of patterned 12x12 paper (four different patterns). I'll have lots of fun Halloween paper to work with later on!

Anyhow! I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween!

Products Used
Karen Foster Kit - Spooky Halloween
Tsukineko Stamping - StazOn Pad - Black
Ranger Distress Ink - Tea Dye
Kaiser Craft Rhinestones - Black Strip
Clearsnap Dye Ink - Wicked Black Cat's Eye
Authentique 12x12 Paper - Glowing Foundations
Golden Yellow Ribbon

Plane Ride

2011-10-26T00:01:00.002-06:00

HEY everyone! I hope you are having a wonderful autumn!
Here's another scrapbook page made after my son and husband's air plane adventure last month! This one is a fairly simple 12x12 page.

Product List
Canvas Corp - Tags & Ties Skinny Chalkstock
Kaiser Craft Rhinestones - Black Strip
Imaginisce 12x12 Paper - Bon Voyage "Far & Away"
Imaginisce 12x12 Paper - Bon Voyage "First Class"
Ranger Distress Ink - Tea Dye
Clearsnap Dye Ink - Wicked Black Cat's Eye

Showcase Monday - Fly Day

2011-10-10T00:01:00.001-06:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!
...and happy birthday to me

Today is another Showcase Monday!

This fall we had the opportunity to go on an airplane ride at the Red Deer Regional Airport. It was a beautiful fall day with a lovely, blue fall sky. I didn't go up in the plane, but my husband and son did. I can imagine the view of all the fall fields and trees from up there was absolutely beautiful.

Bella Blvd's Finally Fall line brought out of the colours of my photos so perfectly! I did a really simple 8.5x11 layout with it.

Products Used:
Bella Blvd 12x12 Paper - Finally Fall Leaf Pile
Bella Blvd 12x12 Paper - Finally Fall Quadrants
Prima Flowers - Reflection Love Note Collection
Sandylion Sticker - Owls Large Handmade Essentials
My Mind's Eye - Lime Twist Charmed Alphabet
Ranger Pen - White Opaque
Tsukineko VersaMagic Pad - Cloud White

Showcase Monday - Fabulous Florals

2011-09-26T00:01:00.000-06:00

Good morning everyone! I hope you are enjoying FALL!

We have these gigantic, beautiful trees just near our place that are just BRIGHT yellow and beautiful right now. I can't get enough of them. I love fall... the bittersweet part is that I know it'll only be days until all those leaves are on the ground.

So, it is my turn for our Showcase Monday and this month we've been doing FABULOUS FLORALS... I did a 8x8 scrapbook page. I've been trying to get a photo in front of a welcome-to sign for each town in Alberta just as a fun challenge. These are some photos from last fall.

Products Used:
Bella Blvd 12x12 Paper - Finally Fall Leaf Pile
Bella Blvd 12x12 Paper - Finally Fall Quadrants
Prima Flowers - Reflection Love Note Collection
Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

*I'd also like to point out that I used all my top five tools for this layout!

My Top Five Tool Picks!

2011-09-20T00:01:00.001-06:00

My TOP FIVE Tool Picks

These are some of the scrapbooking tools and items that I use for pretty much every one of my projects... they are definitely staples in my scrapbook supply collection.

1) My Paper Trimmer

I have a simple Fiskars Paper Trimmer which serves me very well. There isn't a single scrapbooking tool in existence that I use more. I'm pretty sure that any scrapbooker you meet will say the same of their own personal paper trimmer. There are lots of different types and brands of paper trimmers out there - I guess it is up to you to figure out which one suits you the best.

2) My Sanding Block

Sandpaper and/or a Sanding Block are items that I use with many of my scrapbooking projects. I love to use it on the paper for more textured and distressed edges. It is also great for use with Co re'dinations cardstock that have different coloured insides. I even use my sanding block to distress the edges of my photographs!

3) Distress Ink

I only just got into using Distress Ink this last year, but I am hooked! The ink is amazing, the colours are amazing, and there's so much fun stuff you can do with them! I mostly just use them for "distressing" the edges of my papers, but there are so many other experimental ways to use them!

4) Spray Bottle

This goes hand-in-hand with my Distress Inks, because I love how Distress Inks react with water. So, after inking my papers, I often will spritz some water over the ink and watch it change. I also love these spray bottles for mixing inks, glimmer mists and other fun things in to make my own colours and concoctions

5) Embroidery Floss & Needles

I love putting hand stitching into my special scrapbook projects! It adds a special touch to a project, as well as additional texture. Going through layers of paper, though, I find the regular needles from the craft or sewing stores just don't hold up... good thing we sell needles made specifically for us scrapbookers! We also sell an assortment of colours of embroidery floss to match any project!

Featured Product: Glimmter Mist

2011-09-15T00:01:00.000-06:00

Hey Everyone!
How are you enjoying your September?

I'm here to tell you about this month's SUPER SWEET DEAL... our Featured Product over at Scrapbooker's Paradise! From Sept 16th until Sept 30th you can get our Glimmer Mist for 7.50 (Reg. $8.99) if you buy it through our online catalogue! Just use our Featured Product code in the comments section when you check out: FIGM

This great deal is JUST IN TIME for the awesome release of a bunch of NEW Limited Edition colours! Stock up while supplies last!

I used some Glimmer Mist over my fern template to alter my sheet of "Glowing Foundations" paper by Authentique. Look how SHINY it is! I also played with a (MIST)-A-BLES journal tag by PinkPaislee. I altered it with Glimmer Mist and some different ink pads. It was a lot of fun!

PRODUCT LIST
Authentique 12x12 Paper - Glowing Foundations
Kaiser Craft 12x12 Paper - Hunt & Gather Search
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Butternut Squash Fall 2011 LE
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Crème De Chocolat
SEI Chalk Ink Block - Cherry
Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Ranger Distress Ink - Tea Dye
Pink Paislee Embellishment - Mistables Journal Tags Resist
Crafter's Workshop Template - Ferns 6x6

Below is a photo of some of the fun products I used!!

BECAUSE this is our Featured Product, you could have a chance to WIN a FREE bottle of Glimmer Mist! Yay! Add another colour to your collection! Check out our blog, Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings for more details!

Happy Scrapping!

SNOW Much Fun!

2011-09-04T00:01:00.000-06:00

SAY IT ISN'T SO!

Yes, we have new CHRISTMAS scrapbooking supplies at Scrapbooker's Paradise! They keep trickling in...

Here's a 12x12 scrapbook page showing some photos from last winter - SEVEN photos, to be exact. I'm proud of myself for fitting so many on! It can be such a challenge, sometimes, to try to get lots of photos into a layout.

SUPPLY LIST
BasicGrey 12x12 Paper - Nordic Holiday "Alpine Yule"
BasicGrey 12x12 Paper - Nordic Holiday "Carving"
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Red-Nosed Reindeer Winter 2011 LE
Glitter-Covered Chipboard Snowflakes
Old Chipboard Letters - painted red and sprayed with Glimmer Mist
Maya Road Ribbon
3L Adhesive - E Z Runner 33'
Glue Dots Adhesive - Pop Up

When he grows up, he wants to be a Scientist

2011-08-29T00:01:00.004-06:00

Hello!
Welcome to another Showcase Monday. This month, August, we are doing "Wonderful Whimsical Kids" as our showcase theme.

My project is an 8.5 x 11 inch scrapbook page showcasing my silly boy. He wants to be a scientist when he grows up. I thought this fabulously retro line by October Afternoon would be perfect for scrapping my son.

Product List
October Afternoon Paper - Rocket Age "Deep Space Probe"
October Afternoon Paper - Rocket Age "Captain's Log"
October Afternoon Paper - Rocket Age "Blackhole"
October Afternoon - Rocket Age "Chip Shapes"
My Mind's Eye - Lime Twist - Charmed Alphabet

In Honor of Alpha Stickers...

2011-08-24T00:01:00.005-06:00

Hi everyone! Can you believe summer is almost over?

Wow, here it comes... excitement for fall, kids going back to school, new seasons of our favorite tv shows, and dare I even say looking ahead to Christmas?

Anyhow, this scrapbook page is about none of those, but it definitely is about excitement and anticipation.

Here's an 8.5x11 page showcasing baby #3 who is due in March. We're very excited and a tiny bit freaked out, haha. We had hoped to finish our basement before having any more additions to the family, right now we're kind of smushed into our main floor of our house.

Anyhow, for this little page, I used the Baby papers by Memory Works and some paper by BoBunny. I was trying to go for a interesting mix between a graphic look with the text and a shabby chic, antiqued look. I thought it would be a neat juxtaposition. I'm not sure if the attempt was successful or not. I'll let you be the one to judge.

I quoted my son's reaction for the journaling/title of the page. When I told my son, the oldest of my kids, that I was having another baby, he said "I hope it is a boy!" and I asked him why and he dramatically exclaimed "Because one sister is enough trouble!!!"

I thought it was hilarious and would be great for a scrapbook page about the coming baby. I know Jayden will fall in love with his new sibling just as quickly as he did Alysha, boy or girl, but his statement was really cute... and I think I feel the same way, haha.

click to view larger

Products Used
Bo-Bunny 12x12 Paper - Double Dot "Chocolate Journal"
MemoryWorks 12x12 Paper - Baby Steps "So Precious"
MemoryWorks 12x12 Paper - Baby Steps "Totally Adorable"
Prima - Flowers - Reception Gatsby Collection
Prima - Say It In Pearls - Swirls Brown
October Afternoon - Mini Market - Pink & Black
Sassafras Sticker - Alpha "Krafty"
Cosmo Cricket Sticker - Tiny Type - Cream Alpha

click to view larger

Featured Product - Tim Holtz Tools

2011-08-16T00:01:00.004-06:00

From August 16th (TODAY!) until the 31st, Scrapbooker's Paradise is Featuring some fabulous Tim Holtz tools by Tonic! They are normally $6.99 each, but if you buy them now, while they are on sale, you can get them for just $5.99!!

Just use the Coupon Code: FITT when checking out

PRODUCTS USED
Authentique Embellishment - Blissful Excerpts
Authentique 12x12 Paper - Blissful Foundations
Authentique 12x12 Paper - Blissful Happiness
Kaiser Craft - Pearls
Kaiser Craft - Ribbon

Tonic - Tim Holtz Retractable Craft Knife
Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

Glue Dots Adhesive - Pop Up
3L Adhesive - E-Z Runner Adhesive

To showcase our Featured Product, I made some cards using the beautiful new paper by Authentique, a company we newly carry! I used a retractable craft knife to cut and layer the flowers from the paper Blissful Happiness on both cards. There's so, so, so much you can do with a retractable craft knife, though!

Check out Kim's Blog to see what she did with her Tim Holtz Tool! And don't forget to visit Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings to enter to win your own Tim Holtz Tool!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

"Love You More" by Jennifer Grant - Book Review

2011-08-12T12:01:00.003-06:00

A completely honest book, "Love You More" by Jennifer Grant tells the story of the international adoption of their fourth child, Mia, from Guatemala. Broken into three different parts and further into fifteen chapters, this book covers much of the author's life story and mom-hood, her thoughts on adoption, her religious views and belief system, and the events and process of adopting her daughter, her daughter's homecoming and the trials and successes of grafting her into their family tree.

I don't read a lot of memoir-type books, and I haven't really read much of anything pertaining to adoption, so, this story was a first for me. I enjoyed Jennifer Grant's personality that shone through on every page of the book. She was so honest and relatable in her writing that I almost felt like I had made a new BFF by the time I finished reading the book. She has some really great insights. Her anecdotes and random tangents are cute and really help connect the reader to the story, although sometimes they are a little awkwardly worked into the book.

I held the page in front of her and she looked at it, silently, for a very long time.
"I miss her so much," she said, beginning to cry. I pulled her close to me and told her it was all right. She hugged me and then turned again to the page, eyes locking on the image.

"Love You More" by Jennifer Grant

I am not sure how old Mia was, I think she was possibly 3 or 4 years old. It is hard to tell, because, though the book is generally written in chronological order, often, the Grant jumps back and forth in her anecdotes and memories, as if writing exactly her thought process at the time. In any case, I was particularly touched by this part of Jennifer Grant's story where Mia starts asking about her "tummy lady" and see's what her birth mom looked like for the first time.

I really like that there are a lot of resources, notes and even tips at the back of the book for those who are possibly looking at adopting. Although, I am not one who is looking at adopting a child, I found this book insightful, heart-wrenching at times, and even relatable just in the fact that I am a mother. I appreciate how transparent and vulnerable Jennifer Grant allows herself to be in this book, and enjoyed her incorporation of some of her more learned explanations, like her use of the red thread from Chinese folklore to explain her feelings about their connection to Mia before they even adopted her.

At times the book was a little repetitive and the author's reminiscence perhaps poorly incorporated into the point of a particular section, however, it was a good read. I read the entire book in one sitting, not wanting to put it down. I definitely recommend it!

25 Years

2011-08-07T00:01:00.003-06:00

Here's a scrapbook page of my Aunt and Uncle at their 25 year anniversary in 2009. I am really loving this new line of papers by Authentique... the greys and yellows and hints of pink-red are really awesome!

Products Used
Authentique 12x12 Paper - Blissful Happiness
Authentique 12x12 Paper - Blissful Foundations
Glimmer Mist - Limited Edition -"Red-Nosed Reindeer"
Prima - Paper Flowers
American Crafts - Ribbon
GCD Studios - Alpha Stickers

Thanks for dropping by,
I hope you enjoyed my project!

Jayden's Field Journal

2011-08-03T00:01:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was our first day of homeschooling... we're easing into it because I've been so sick with this third pregnancy. Good thing it is just "kindergarten" and we don't have to be "hardcore".

We made a little book.

I tore a bunch of papers to size and folded them in half. We put them into a little book and used my paper piercer to poke holes a long the fold. Jayden picked his favorite colour from my collection of embroidery floss and then he and I threaded the holes to make a little book. We decided to put a little button on the bottom as a fun little adornment.

Jayden is pretty excited.

I told Jayden how to spell "Field Journal" and he wrote it on the front and then decorated the front and back of the book.

He's already decided that he wants to be a scientist when he grows up... so, I told him that he should have a field journal. The plan is that Jayden will take his Field Journal with him when we go places or just for walks. He will draw/write about his discoveries in the journal. Right now, he can't read, so, it'll be mostly drawings and I'll help him label things.

I'm curious to learn what will catch his eye and imagination enough to put into this journal.

--------------------------------------------------------

Eager to use his journal, Jayden decided we need to go study some of the canola near our house.

When we are driving Jayden says that the canola looks like dandelions and I always say that it is actually way different... so, Jayden said that we should look at it closely for his journal.

I had to coach Jayden to draw what he saw instead of just scribble a pretend flower plant. I think his end result is quite a good representation of a canola plant. We even taped a few samples in his book. This project is already really rewarding!

I'm taking the Plunge

2011-08-02T09:06:00.004-06:00

“By 10 years old kids will have formed the dietary habits that they will most likely stick with throughout their lives."

I've been following the SUPER HEALTHY KIDS blog for a while now. I must believe that somehow, if I follow blogs like this, I will magically have healthier kids and a healthier me. Why? Because all I've been doing is following the blog. Well, I've decided to stop sitting on my hands. I'm tired of not being assertive with what goes on our dinner table.

Right now, I hate our kitchen and I hate food. I'm 8 weeks pregnant and absolutely sicker than sick. Just getting out of bed in the morning makes me feel like vomiting. I don't think I'm in any position to try foods that are new to my system. But, I ordered two Healthy Kids Plates this morning and I look forward to using them in the future... hopefully, I only have a few more weeks of this sickness and then it'll start to go away.

The concept behind the plate is so simple that it doesn't seem like it should even work. A divided plate with specifically sized sections for the the food groups. Portion control for healthy kids.

I think the introduction of the plates will be fun and exciting and a good teaching moment for my wee kids... and then I think from there on, the plates will be more helpful for me than anyone else in our house. Helping me come up with meal ideas that are healthy and have the right things in them, and they don't have to be traditional, either!

It isn't just the plates. This lady has a blog where she comes up with new meal plans for you that fit perfectly with her plate and are fabulous and nutritious. On her site she has lots of photos of different meals on the plate to give you even more inspiration. You know, if you follow her meal plans and recipes, you probably don't really even need the plate! But they don't cost much and for me, they are a reminder and a commitment.

This is going to be a slow transition for me, I think. Every time I've really tried to make a change to our diets and eating habits, it hasn't stuck. Usually because I hate the food and I feel like I'm in food prison.

When I had my first son, I had gained so much weight with that pregnancy that I didn't even recognize myself anymore. So, I bought "YOU on a Diet" by Dr. Oz and tried following it. It was probably the closest I've come to being successful with a diet or change in eating habit.

Honestly, it is a good book and I'd recommend it to anyone wanting to make a change. It is informative, funny, has exercises and stretches, meal plans, recipes and even grocery lists. It takes the work out of trying to change. The problem was, I didn't like most of the meals (I don't eat fish)... or, couldn't find some of the ingredients because I don't like in yuppie-ville. So, it was hard for me to stick to it. But, even just half-following his plan, I did lose quite a bit of weight. Of course, my husband complained about the food even more than me and I got tired of having to make two meals every supper or feeling guilty watching my husband make his own food after working all day. So, it didn't stick... and I ballooned up again pretty quick after.

So, I may fail yet again, but at least I'm trying. What I'm going to do is use those plates and get meal ideas from sources like Super Healthy Kids. I'll work new meals into our weekly eats and will hopefully find healthy meals that I like, my husband likes and that the kids like (that'll take a lot of work). I'm not going to be too drastic, I don't want to go back to food prison. I just want to start making good choices on purpose when it comes to food. I just don't like cooking, especially when I know that I'll end up fighting the kids to even eat what I've made. It will be a process and it may take a long time to get there... but I hope that this'll be a turning point for our dinner table.

Inchies - A Tutorial

2011-08-02T00:01:00.006-06:00

Image borrowed from Boxotrix

What are Inchies?
They are tiny pieces of art that are one inch by one inch square.

What do you do with Inchies?
Whatever you want! Make them, Trade them, Collect them, Display them, Use them on cards or scrapbook pages... etc.

How do you make them?
EASILY! Check out my post on Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings to see my tutorial!

Inchie Links
Inchie INKlings - Inspiration
Every Inchie Monday - Inspiration
ATCs For All- a Place to Trade
Inchie Arts - Inchie-sized Supplies
Scrapbooker's Paradise - Craft Supplies

Sweet Summertime

2011-07-25T00:01:00.005-06:00

Woohoo, another Summer Fun Showcase Monday!

Summer is just whizzing by... kind of sad. However, we've had so much fun already, and we still have August! For our Showcase Monday, I scrapbooked some photos of my kids enjoying the rides at our town's big birthday celebration midway this recently past June. It was a great day and I was surprised at how many rides my 4 and 2 year olds were able to enjoy.

click to view larger images

Products Used
Little Yellow Bicycle 12x12 Paper - Sweet Summertime "Summertime Stripe"
Little Yellow Bicycle 12x12 Paper - Sweet Summertime "Summer Garden"
American Crafts 12x12 Paper - Margarita "Calypso"
Little Yellow Bicycle - Sweet Summertime Chipboard Shapes
Bazzill Basics Pom Pom Ribbon
American Crafts Letter Stickers
Glue Dots Adhesive - Memory Glue Dots Sheets
3L Adhesive - E Z Runner 33"

Thanks for viewing! I hope you enjoyed my scrapbook page and that you have a fantastic rest of your summer!!!

Thanks!

click to view larger image

Camping Fun

2011-07-21T19:59:00.005-06:00

Earlier this year, American Crafts and Creative Imaginations both came out with some really funky camping themed lines. "Campy Trails" and "Forest Friends" are two lines that I just loved the moment I saw them and had to buy right away!

I've been meaning to use them but keep pushing it back. Finally, I got out some camping photos and made myself power through a creative block to make this page. It isn't the most spectacular or involved scrapbook page, but I am happy with it, it showcases the photos and the fun paper. I hope you like it.

Products Used
American Crafts - Campy Trails "Caribou Creek"
American Crafts - Campy Trails "Silver Lake Trail"
Creative Imaginations - Forest Critters "Happy Together"
Pebbles Embellishment - Trees Layered Felt

Recent Work...

2011-07-20T18:04:00.001-06:00

Frustrating Summer

2011-07-18T10:54:00.008-06:00

I, like many, look forward all winter to the coming of spring and inevitably, summer. I love summer!

Well, in theory...

I love the green grass, the blue skies, the brightly coloured flowers, the golden canola fields, the time to spend outside gardening, going to the beach, camping, road tripping...etc.

But, when summer actually gets here, I am confined to the house for the most part. My allergies are so bad. I look like crap all summer cuz my face is all swollen and I can't wear make-up. My skin is itchy from the pollen and hay dust in the air. My sinuses run all summer, as if I have a perpetual cold. I get sinus headaches. My eyes itch and hurt. I barely get any sleep because of all this. And can you imagine being a nice person to be around when you are in a constant state of irritation and exhaustion?

And to top that all off, people, who supposedly know me, just say "well, why can't you just take something for it"... oh wow, what a good idea, as if I've never ever thought of taking an over-the-counter antihistamine for this. I've been to three different specialists, I've tried prescription allergy medications that just made me sicker, I've had to live with this for 15 years. I've lost my connection with the majority of the things that used to bring me great joy - horse riding, camping, spending time outdoors. Yeah, my pain is trivial and I should just "take something for it" and get on with my life.

These are some photos I took last night when I went for a drive by myself. I thought I'd drive around the countryside just near our place and take a few photos to use as references for my next paintings. I figured, if it was just a half-hour or so and I was mostly just in the car, it wouldn't bother me so much. Wrong. I paid for this little drive last night. I spent almost the entire night awake. I went through half a kleenex box, spent a lot of time with a cold pack on my face, and had a hard time trying to fall asleep with shortness of breath. This summer, though, has been a particularly bad one for allergens.

It really frustrates me that once mid-June hits, I can't spend much time outside until October without paying dearly for it with physical pain. I don't like winter, but perhaps I need to start liking it, since summer is pretty much out of the question until they find an actual cure for chronic allergies. I feel so guilty for not being able to take my kids out to the beach, and camping, and even just to the playground for very long or very often. They are at the age where they still need my supervision when outside, and I just can't be out there to give it. Hopefully, in another summer or two, Alysha and Jayden can spend more of their summers outside in our yard flying solo. I want them to be outside enjoying the sun, but I don't think it is a fair trade for a grumpy mother who feels the need to tear her own face off.

Hopefully my rant hasn't gotten you down, though, and that these photos are enjoyable!!! For those of you who can get out there this summer, without constant sinus pain and itchy eyes/skin, take some serious advantage of every nice day, you have no idea how lucky you are!!

Featured Product! CC Designs Stamp!

2011-07-16T00:01:00.003-06:00

Hurray! It is Featured Product Day!!
From today until the end of the month (July 16-31st), all single image stamps from CC Designs are on special at Scrapbooker's Paradise!!

All you have to do to get your single image stamp for only $6.25 instead of the regular $7.50, is order them from our online catalog and then use the coupon code: FICC when you check out!

I love Kiki La Rue, so, I decided to go with one of her stamps for my card! I used Coffee Kiki La Rue - isn't she so cute?

You can get Kiki La Rue, Lesa, Nora, Emma and other lovely stamps from CC Designs. Just check out our site!

click images for larger views

Jayden Appleseed

2011-07-13T00:01:00.000-06:00

Here's my latest scrapbook page!

I used a fabulous layout sketch from Sketchy Thursdays as a starting point for my layout. I love to find papers and embellishments and whatnot at the store and put them together with photos... but I often have trouble deciding how to take them from being pretty purchases to being a complete scrapbook page. So, I love layout sketches and page maps.

We have a number of different lines from different companies in at Scrapbooker's Paradise right now that are so bright, bold, colourful, and summery! I love combining different lines because it makes me feel like an advanced scrapper... hahaha... I'm probably just silly. Anyhow, I used paper from EchoPark's "Splash" line and American Crafts' "Margarita" line and embellishments from Little Yellow Bicycle's "Sweet Summertime" line for this layout... I think their lines really go well together!

Products Used
Echo Park - 12x12 Paper - Splash "Orange / Red Distress Solids"
American Crafts -12x12 Paper - Margarita "Merengue"
Little Yellow Bicycle - Sweet Summertime Chipboard Shapes
Bazzill Basics Pom Pom Ribbon
American Crafts Letter Stickers
Glue Dots Adhesive - Memory Glue Dots Sheets
3L Adhesive - E Z Runner 33"

Thanks for dropping by,
I hope you liked my latest scrapbook page!

Awwwww!

2011-07-12T15:27:00.003-06:00

Old Navy is such a bad friend ;)

They put out such cute cute cute outfits for cute little girls and it just so happens that I have a cute little girl who would look really cute cute cute in this particular outfit, as well as all the other outfits they carry. Super cute.

Daddy's Lil Rockstars

2011-07-09T00:01:00.001-06:00

Happy Saturday, everyone!!
I hope you are out enjoying summer!

Here's a fun scrapbook page I put together this week. You might remember me posting about being excited for Best Creation Inc. and Basic Grey's new lines earlier this week.

For a Father's Day gift to my husband, I took the kids in to town to get their photos taken. I had bought them both AC/DC t-shirts and Jean Jackets for the "photo shoot" -- we even brought along my husband's Guitar Hero game guitar for Jayden to hold.

I framed a large photo of the two kids together for my husband and they gave it to him for Father's Day. The photos turned out so cute, though, that I had to get a bunch of the other photos as 4x6's.

It was awesome that I didn't have to hold onto the photos long before we got some great new papers in at Scrapbooker's Paradise that I could use to scrapbook them with!

Papers Used
Best Creation Inc. - 12x12 Paper - Rock Star "Rock My World"
BasicGrey - 12x12 Paper - Out of Print "Bits n Pieces"
BasicGrey - 12x12 Paper - Out of Print "Etchings"
BasicGrey - 12x12 Paper - Out of Print "Reprint"

Embellishments & Stuff
Pink Letters - Sophisticates by Bella Blvd
Green Alpha - Teeny Alpha by Glitz Design
Black Flourishes - Say it with Bling by Want2Scrap
Glitter - Stickles Glitter Glue by Ranger
Flower Centers - Brads by American Crafts

Nana's Dress

2011-07-07T07:00:00.002-06:00

A photo of my beautiful baby girl in a beautiful dress that has now been worn by three generations of babies...

This was my mom's dress. I wore it as a baby. This is a photo of my baby girl wearing it! I thought that was pretty cool.

It was a year and a half ago that I bought some Pink Paislee papers, brads, alpha stickers and other related stuff to scrapbook this photo.

I even searched for a special pattern package of a dress similar in year and style of the dress.. so that I could use the papers on the scrapbook page.

I found a photo of my mom as a baby of a similar age as Alysha in this photo. I bought a little charm. I printed off the photo and put it in the charm for this page.

Yep, I've been collecting stuff for this page for a while now... But, for some reason, I've been too scared to scrapbook it!

(click images for larger view)

I finally mustered the bravery to do this special page. I had a deep photo frame for it, so that I could frame it when it was done... Funny thing is, all this time, I thought it was a 12x12 frame and turns out it is 11x11... who makes a 11x11 frame!? Lesson Learned. Oh well, the page can go in my scrapbook.

ANYWAY, Thanks for looking.. hope you like my page!

(click image for larger view)

WILD fun!

2011-07-05T15:15:00.004-06:00

(click image for larger view)

Well, my buddy, Gail, always seems to be entering fun challenges and sketch contests and whatnot around the bloggerhood. So, this week, I decided to try to give her a little competition (although, I'm not sure if she's entered the Sketchy Thursdays Challenge this week).

I have this habit of collecting Sassafras papers... but I never tend to use them! So, for this sketch challenge, I decided to pull out my Sassafras collection!

I wanted to do two 8.5 x 11 scrapbook pages instead of 12x12, so, I tried to alter the sketch for that while staying close to the original concept... buuuut, as I went along, it deviated from the sketch a fair bit. Hopefully it'll still be close enough to qualify. Anyhow, I am pleased to have done some fun scrapbooking today, and to have used some of my stash! Yay!

Thanks for stopping by,
I hope you enjoyed what you saw!!

What's She Up To?

2011-07-04T07:01:00.000-06:00

It is a good thing that ROCKSTAR by Best Creation Inc. and Out Of Print by Basic Grey came into the store the same week or I might have not noticed just how much these two lines are CRYING OUT to be used together for the greater awesome!

Stay tuned! ;)

Update on Alysha's Room

2011-07-01T14:28:00.003-06:00

Hurray, Alysha's room is finally a usable little room!

...and she loves it so much. Every time someone comes over, she has to take them and show them her room. She proudly says "Blue! Room!" and then she adoringly adds, "Mommy!" ...it makes it work all the trouble, for sure!

Her room is layered in pretty things and in love.

There are items in here that were given to me to put use in her room from a few of my friends. The wicker basket toy box, the handmade throw pillows, the pretty quilt that matches the room so well, a pretty plush unicorn the same colour as her walls brought to her from Mexico, the little jewelry box on her dresser sent to her all the way from Germany... etc.

Also, there are a lot of little DIY projects in this room; like the white shelf on the wall, the white dresser, the painted canvas with the bible verse on it, and the light blue trees painted on the wall.

There are a number of garage sale, clearance and pawn shop items in the room as well, which represent a good many hours that I spent looking around for pretty things for Alysha's room.

And there are a few hand-me-down items that were my special things when I was little. The clown, for example, was mine as a wee one.

People might say that going through the trouble of making such a special room for a two year old is a waste of time. But I can tell that Alysha really loves her room, and the love that was put into her room, I think, is pretty evident when you walk in.

I have a few more things to add to her room, and I still have to paint her closet and put in some closet organizers, but overall, the room is almost complete. However, my hope for it is that it will not remain a stationary item, but it will grow and change with Alysha over the years to more reflect her and her interests.

Happy Canada Day

2011-07-01T10:27:00.010-06:00

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

Rainbow Cupcakes

2011-06-29T08:26:00.004-06:00

Here is a tasty and brightly coloured cupcake for you to eat with your eyes, hope it starts your day off well!

It was so nice, this morning, to wake up to a bright blue sky. It was so nice to wake up not all hot and sweaty because last night my husband put a fan in our room.

And now my little girl and I are having a lazy morning because my son had a sleep-over at his Grandma's house. We are shared a cupcake for breakfast in our pajamas!

I baked these cupcakes to take to my good friend's house last night. We had a really good talk. These cupcakes remind me, now, that I need to stop allowing myself to be upset and stressed over stuff and just enjoy this stage of my life.

UPDATE: My Kitchen / Living Room

2011-06-28T09:00:00.001-06:00

So, I've KNOWN the colour scheme I've wanted for our living room for over a year now. But it is only until recently have I actually hashed out the actual paint colours to use. I've chosen Spiced Plum by BEHR, European White by CIL, and Tennessee Haze by CIL.

However, I choose paint colours, I paint the wall, then I decide I need it to be tinted one way or another just a tad more... just like with my bathroom. So, probably, the paint colours won't be pure. I have a feeling that I'll be changing Tennesse Haze, for sure. Anyway, here's some photos I took when we were first moving in to our new place this past April. I took them into Photoshop and added my chosen paint colours to the walls to give an idea of what it'll look like.

Below are some colour schemes I made on ColourLovers.com while hashing out my chosen colour palette... as you can see, there is definitely a trend, but there could be many versions of it! The hardest part is choosing what the other two paint colours would be - because I knew I wanted the dark purple behind the cabinets. I still plan on going bolder with the accessories. I have some greeeen throw pillows, and lots of purple and fuchsia accessory plans.

Now, we plan on doing some larger changes to the place... new flooring, new back splash tiles, new appliances... etc. But. like most people, we don't have a huge lump of cash sitting around to do everything at once. So, this will be a long-running project. However, I do not plan on waiting until then to paint my walls and get out of that "living in a rental" feeling.

We plan on replacing all the appliances this fall. However, this past weekend, I opened the freezer door of our fridge to receive a blood bath - exaggeratively speaking. The freezer stopped working, and all the meat had thawed. Gross. The fridge itself was slowly warming up, as well. So, after some damage control and cleaning up, we replaced our refrigerator.

The fridge I chose only swung the opposite way we wanted and couldn't be changed. It would take three weeks to get one that swung the other way.. and we kind of needed a fridge. So, instead, we purchased the one pictured here - for slightly more. Even though I really loved the other one, I very quickly warmed up to this one and love it!

We will hopefully be replacing the rest of the barely-working, ugly, white appliances this fall... and then everything will match! Not only that, but I won't get burned when trying to cook the stove top. And, perhaps the dishes in the dishwasher'll actually come clean the first time through - and without the chance of being broken by the top rack falling all the time.

I think that even with just painting the walls and replacing the appliances, though, we will see a huge difference in our livingroom/dining room/kitchen. Oh, and I plan on changing the knobs on the cabinents with black/bronze ones; which, with the dark purple paint behind then, will hopefully make them look less like cheap crap, and more intentional. However, I look forward to the day my husband gives us the green light to start shopping for new flooring. The current flooring is ugly, stained, and even has cigarette burns... yuck! I'm glad I don't have any crawling babies anymore!

So, that is the story on my Kitchen / Living Room at the moment!

A Turtle Birthday! ...Showcase Monday

2011-06-27T00:01:00.005-06:00

Happy Monday!! It's our Showcase day, and continuing with this month's Birthdays and Parties theme, I have a 12 x 12 scrapbook page to share with you! You know, it worked out really well that we had June be our Birthdays & Parties Showcase theme! My daughter just turned two this month, and we had a little party for her, so I scrapbooked it for Showcase Monday!

click for larger image

We had a turtle-themed birthday party for her because she just love love loves turtles. You know, I'm not sure where this came from, but she sure is cute the way she says "tuuuuutle".

click for larger image

I used a number of different companies for this page. Papers from My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey, and Echo Park... oh and even a little bit from Sassafras. I used chipboard flowers from Sassafras and pretty pearls and rhinestones from Kaiser Craft. I inked all the papers with Distress Ink (our featured product!) and even sprayed the main patterned paper with some Glimmer Mist.

click for larger image

PRODUCT LIST
BasicGrey 12x12 Paper - Sweet Threads "Spring Tote"
BasicGrey 12x12 Paper - Sweet Threads "Fashionista"
Echo Park 12x12 Paper - Dots & Stripes - Candy Shop "Bubblegum Small"
My Mind's Eye Embellishment - Lime Twist "Wish Journaling Card"
My Mind's Eye Embellishment - Lime Twist "Happy Day Title"
My Mind's Eye Embellishment - Lime Twist "Charmed Alphabet"
Ranger Distress Ink - "Vintage Photo"
Ranger Distress Ink - "Peeled Paint"
Kaiser Craft - Classic "Antique Rose" Rhinestone Flourish
Kaiser Craft - Classic "Cream" Pearl Flourish

click for larger image

Thanks for stopping by!
Hope you have a great week :D

Hedgehog of the Blue Birch Forest

2011-06-23T06:00:00.001-06:00

Last spring, I was ranting and raving about some Awesome Clocks! Well, this spring, I found a cuuute hedgehog clock in that style at SUPERSTORE of all places. I got it for only $7 ... HAH! I am glad I didn't cave and buy those other ones on Etsy for $30 plus however much it would cost to mail them here. Anyhow, I think it looks perfect in Alysha's room!

Masking your Titles

2011-06-21T00:01:00.006-06:00

Hello!
Today I have a little tutorial over at Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings for Masking your Titles. The main idea is that you take your chipboard or cardstock letters and place them on your scrapbook page and they ink over them, spray them with glimmer mist, or splatter paint over them. You should check out Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings for more related photos and ideas, though.

This scrapbook page is called "5614"
It is a little 8x8 page for my Alberta Adventure album. The Album is pages of pictures in front of town signs because I have this fun goal of getting a picture of myself in front of a 'Welcome to' sign of every town/city in Alberta. It might be a far-fetched goal, but it is fun.

Anyhow, this is a picture of me in front of Blackfalds sign, but we also just recently moved to Blackfalds. So, I titled the page 5614 because the population on the sign says 5610... and there's four of us.

Products Used

Cosmo Cricket 12x12 Paper - Odds & Ends "Scraps"
Cosmo Cricket 12x12 Paper - Odds & Ends "Remnant"
Cosmo Cricket 12x12 Paper - Odds & Ends "Junk Drawer"
Cosmo Cricket 12x12 Paper - "Vintage/Grass" Color Pick
... also, brown cardstock, some buttons, and embroidery floss

"Be Strong, Be Bold" - Distress Ink by Tim Holtz

2011-06-16T00:01:00.005-06:00

Welcome to Thursday!!
We are one day away from Friday!

I sure hope the weather will smarten up so we can enjoy this lovely June weekend! I know the forecast says it won't, but stranger things have happened.

Anyhow, I'm here to tell you that Scrapbooker's Paradise is having a new Feature Product! Tim Holtz Distress Ink! Yup, it is on sale, aaaand, I believe if you head over to Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings you may even be able to enter to win some free Distress Ink! Woo!

To celebrate our Feature Product at Scrapbooker's Paradise, I made these two cards. I used "Vintage Photo" and "Tea Dye" coloured Distress Inks and some older papers by Pink Paislee and My Minds Eye. There wasn't a paper, cardstock, patterened or vintage, used in this card that wasn't "mucked-up" with Distress Ink. I love inking my papers because if the colours are a little off, you can make them all coordinate with ink!

I inked the wings stamp with the Tea Dye ink and then used a little Vintage Photo on the tips of the wings, then I spritzed the stamp with a tiny bit of water before stamping it down on the white paper... this gives the stamped image kind of a watercolour effect. Then, I rubbed some Tea Dye on the white paper to make it less stark. Finally, I used the Vintage Photo to ink the edges of the white paper. I rubbed the "Vintage Photo" and "Tea Dye" on all the other papers involved as well.

Thanks for dropping by,
I hope you like my cards and that you'll leave a comment before going!

Don't forget to check out Scrapbooker's Paradise to buy some Distress Inks for yourself at our special Featured Product price and check out our blog to see what our other design team artist, Hannah, made!

FEATURE PRODUCT
Tim Holtz Distress Ink
regularly priced $6.50
on special for $5.50
June 16th to 30th
COUPON CODE: FIDI

BASE(ment) CAMP

2011-06-11T00:01:00.004-06:00

Click the image for larger view

I have to say, Helen Dardik is an artist hero of mine... and I LOVE that she illustrates for Creative Imaginations. I love her fabulously whimsical & kitschy style! Everything she does is fun, fantastic, and inspiring to me as an artist. I love that I get to scrapbook with her art!

As you can imagine, I was absolutely thrilled this earlier this year when Scrapbooker's Paradise brought in a line from Creative Imaginations by Helen Dardik called "Forest Critters".

For my scrapbook page, I used "Wild Berry" as the base, cut out a birch tree from "Forest Fun", and backed my main photo with "Happy Together". The green strip is from "Forest Fun" as well - the papers are two-sided. I also used some Epoxy Stickers from the line.

I should take this moment to talk about how thrilled I was with those epoxy stickers! Wow, maybe I don't buy stickers enough or Creative Imaginations is just awesome... but those stickers so so so outranked any epoxy sticker I've ever used in the past. You can tell they were good quality as you peel them off their paper. I know it sounds silly, but it really did stand out to me when I used those stickers.

Click the image for larger view

Oh, and for those curious about the fuzzy photo... my husband felt he'd rather not be shown shirtless on the internet, so, I fuzzied him out of the photos of the scrapbook page in photoshop. Yup, so, that's my husband, censored.

Songs that Impacted Your Life

2011-06-09T09:58:00.002-06:00

Hey there!

Happy Thursday!! Hurray, we've got some sun today! I hope we get a summer this year... last summer wasn't much to speak of, and so far, we haven't had much heat. I don't do well in extreme heat, but I'd love to at least hit the 20'C mark a few times a week, lol! June is still young, we have time to heat up.

Anyhow, I've been adding some of my old faves to my iTunes today and it reminded me of a few songs that are historically significant in the course of my life hence far...

"Hurt" by Thousand Foot Krutch

"Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2

So, what songs can you think of that really impacted your life? Not songs that you like, or that get stuck in your head a lot, but songs that really SPOKE to you at some point.. songs that might have even helped to change the course of your life. Tell me which songs are important to you!

Have a great and musical rest of your week!

Freebie Friday - More Paper Dolls!

2011-06-03T00:01:00.000-06:00

Hello there! In the last two fridays, I brought you a Retro Paper Doll named Heather. This week I have a new character to introduce to you! Here is Rosemary and a set of clothes for her that I hope you'll enjoy. Click on the link below to download a nice 8.5 x 11 printable PDF file of Rosemary and her clothes. You can then cut her out and play some dolls!!! Or find other uses for her! Enjoy the nostalgia!

The above image is just a preview.
To get the full-size, print-ready image... please click *HERE*

I hope you enjoy Rosemary and her outfits!

Please don't redistribute this image; if you want to share, just direct your friends to this blog post so they can get it from the source!! Thanks! Have a fabulous long weekend!!!

Fairy Baby Scrapbook Page

2011-06-01T00:01:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, I spent Saturday scrapbooking with some lovely ladies at a day crop. I didn't get a lot of scrapbooking done, unfortunately, but I had a good time and was happy to have a day to not think about the house and not take care of my rug rats.

This is one of the few pages that I did get done! I was using some cuuuute paper by Best Creation Inc. and flowers by Prima and Imaginise. You can click on the photos to see their larger versions!! Thanks for stopping by! Have a lovely Wednesday! ...and HAPPY JUNE! 19 more days until my daughter turns two!

Pretty Princes Room...

2011-05-31T11:54:00.008-06:00

ALMOST THERE!

Well, Alysha's room has been painted, the trim has been painted, and last night I finished the birch motif on her walls! Today the trim went back up on the wall and now we're ready to start moving the little princess into her magical Birch Forest!

I still have a few more projects to do for her room, but it is really exciting to see it come together!!!! The pretty quilt I've been collecting coordinating blues, whites and pinks for is still just a pile of fabrics.... and I still have a million little princess throw-pillows to make for her room.

I have a little white coat-rack/shelf thingy that you hang on the wall to display all her pretty things, but it needs to be repainted as it has a lot of scuffs and things. Right now, the carpet in her room is hideous, worn, and stained.. and her door and closet door need to be replaced - which will probably happen when we replace ALL the doors in the house. We will replace the ugly brown doors with white when we do.

I wanted to the paint the inside of her closet pink and do some pink birds flying on her walls... right now her closet is FULL of my junk that I haven't found a space for yet, heh. I need to go out and buy her some curtains and probably some other random stuff as I put her room together and see what is missing... but mostly, it is just time to unpack boxes and arrange her room!

ANYWAY... beeehold, Alysha's Blue Birch Forest Room (so far)!!! Yay!

So stay tuned for future updates, as Alysha's room gets pieced together... but, just so you know, there's one thing you won't see in her magical princess room...

...at least not in her decor or furniture! She'll probably have a toy or book (or a few) before she grows up -- sad story, haha!!

"The Field" - Scrapbook Page

2011-05-30T00:01:00.001-06:00

GOOD MORNING!

Here's a simple 8.5 x 11 inch Scrapbook Page I did with some brand new My Mind's Eye papers from their line, "Lime Twist".

I just love the line! I love their balloons and kites and whimsical clouds... and their fun colour scheme!! I'm sure you will, too!

Anyhow, when I saw their cloud and kite papers while browsing the aisles at Scrapbooker's Paradise, I straight-away thought of some photos I recently developed.

Actually, just this morning we discovered a new and super-fun thing in the field behind our house! Early this morning when we were just getting ready to start our day, a bright yellow hot air balloon flew by and landed in our field!!

I will probably make a few more pages with this line from My Mind's Eye to scrapbook the many, many photos I took of the kids and dogs in the field this spring. This page was really simple with not much embellishment beyond the papers and paper title from My Mind's Eye. We'll see what I do with the other pages, later on, maybe I'll try some other styles with the paper.

Products Used
My Mind's Eye Embellishment - Lime Twist "Soar Title"
My Mind's Eye 12x12 Paper - Lime Twist "Soar Kites"
My Mind's Eye 12x12 Paper - Lime Twist "Genuine Sky"
Alphabet Stickers by American Crafts
Journaling Tag by October Afternoon
Embroidery Floss
Brown and Cream Stamping Inks

Another Far-Out Freebie Friday!

2011-05-27T00:01:00.001-06:00

Well, last week, I brought you a Retro Paper Doll named Heather. This week I have another set of clothes for that same dame. Here are some more outfits for Heather in a nice 8.5 x 11 printable PDF file. Enjoy the nostalgia!

The above image is just a preview.
To get the full-size, print-ready image... please click *HERE*

I hope you enjoy Heather and her psychedelic outfits!
Please don't redistribute this image; if you want to share, just direct your friends to this blog post so they can get it from the source!! Thanks! Have a fabulous long weekend!!!

...... a TREE!

2011-05-24T16:53:00.003-06:00

Don't underestimated the value of pennies, nickels and dimes!

My mom was going to town today in her truck to get a bunch of shrubs and things for her new place. So, I went with her so I could get a tree and have her truck it home for me. I've had my heart set on a mountain ash, but the place we went to had no mountain ash trees... and their trees were half the price of elsewhere... so, I gave up on the mountain ash tree idea and went for a pretty little pink crab apple.

My husband did not want to spend part of our house budget on a tree... we have so much to do in this house and our yard right away and all those costs add up. Well, a big jar of mostly dimes, nickels and pennies that I've had for forever came to my mind this morning. I spent an hour watching Spongebob with the kids while rolling change. I was able to roll enough to buy the tree with only the change from that jar!

My husband had said I could spend $20 on a tree. I don't think he ever looked into how much trees cost.. lol!!! But since I was allotted $20 and spent none of it on the tree, I bought a little Hydrangea plant too... hehe.. see it there in the picture?

Anyway... all trees need names... so, this is an informal NAMING CONTEST! Please reply with your name ideas for the new tree! Hurray!! BY THE WAY, you can CLICK on the photos in my blog post (and all my blog posts) to see the larger version of the image!!

"Sweet Birthday Wishes"

2011-05-22T00:01:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone!

Happy Sunday! I bet many of you have been looking forward to this long weekend! Yay! Last Sunday we had a giveaway for a free stamp set and the winner is being announced over at Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings, today... so that's probably another reason why many of you have been looking forward to today, heehee!

Over at Scrapbooker's Paradise their Inkadinkado clear Stam p Sets, which are normally listed at $10.99, are an online-only special at $9.25!!! (Just stick FICLRINKA in the comments section when you check out). As well, you can save on adhesives... our most popular EZ-Runner Duo Pack by 3L, regularily priced at $12.50 are only $9.99! This Feature Item is available in store and on line! (Just quote FI3LDP in the comments section at check out). This offer ends May 31st, so get shopping!!

I decided to make another cupcake-themed card this week, since I just love my Inikadinkado stamp set. It is a really simple card, but the whimsical colours really make it stand out, I think.

Products Used
TPC Studio 12x12 Paper - Party Hearty "Party Hats"
TPC Studio 12x12 Paper - Party Hearty "Cupcakes Glitter"
TPC Studio 12x12 Paper - Party Hearty "Candy Buttons"
Inkadinkado Stampset - Birthday Cupcake
Yellow Offray Ribbon
Watercolour Pencil crayons

Thanks for looking!
<3

The Kingdom of Heaven

2011-05-21T08:17:00.001-06:00

I love listening to Mark Driscoll's sermons... and this one is really great! Especially to watch on a day like May 21st, lol! Have a watch if you're interested.

Freebie Friday - Retro Paperdolls!

2011-05-20T00:01:00.002-06:00

Let us welcome back my Freebie Friday event!!!

This freebie friday, I have a very retro, very fun freebie for you! I've been going through oodles of old boxes lately that I haven't look through in ages. I came across some old paper dolls from the late 60s and early 70s. They have seen a LOT of use and are taped together with aging, yellowing tape.. are bent in all sorts of places.. and well, just aren't in their prime. But they are so wooonderful! So, I decided to scan them and fix them up in Photoshop!!

I started with a paperdoll girl named "Heather" which I think is a Mattel product. I did a lot of fixing for her as her one arm was pretty much mangled to nothing.. and her face had so many creases in it that she was looking her age! I stuck her and some of her outfits together on an 8.5 x 11 inch PDF file that's ready for printing and re-loving!

The above image is just a preview.
To get the full-size, print-ready image... please click *HERE*

Preview....

2011-05-18T09:10:00.003-06:00

Alysha and I have been working on getting her room painted in her pretty bright blue. I love seeing the change in the rooms from their cigarette-yellowed primer-white to a brand new colour! ...But, I hate hate hate being the one doing the painting. Painting walls is boring and annoying and painting around ceilings and trim is tedious for me and I stink at it! If only there was a "flood fill" option like on Photoshop!

I look forward to when the room has all the coats of blue it needs and it looks super awesome so that I can start painting the birch trees!

Rock On! ;)

2011-05-16T00:01:00.002-06:00

"A Series of Moments All in a Line" is a line from a song called "And So We Run" by David Usher. I thought it worked nicely as the title for this scrapbook page which features many moments from a concert of his that I went to a few years ago.

I had a lot of fun making this scrapbook page! I took a sheet of "Cobblestone" paper from one of Cosmo Cricket's older lines, "Fleuriste" and played with it! I mucked around with my acrylic paints, india ink, watercolours and a Glimmer Screen (mask)... and then inked the edges of the paper with my ColorBox Black dye ink.

Then I just matted my main photo and put my smaller photos on in a line. There really aren't a lot of elements on this page; a chipboard heraldic lion, some alpha stickers from basic grey and cosmo cricket, some strips of paper, and my photos. It was a bit of a different style than my current norm, and that was why it was so much fun!

...a Bright, Summer Birthday!

2011-05-15T00:01:00.001-06:00

I love our Feature Product!

Beautiful Inkadinkado stamp sets!|

Actually, we have TWO Featured Products this time around; we have Inkadinkado stamps for our online customers, and our wildly popular 3L Adhesive Duo Packs are our featured product in our store. So, if you're near a Scrapbooker's Paradise, you can take advantage of both specials by ordering online and going into the store!

So, check out our online store to see all the beautiful Inkadinkado stamp sets that are listed at $10.99, choose one, and then make sure to stick in our featured product code: FICLRINKA in the comments section when you go to check out. You'll only be charged $9.25 for the set instead of the $10.99!

The set I chose to work with was our Birthday Cupcake set.. although, I really had a hard time choosing, personally! For me, it was between that and the Pennant Alphabe t set, the Day at the Zoo set, and For the Birds set! It was actually the paper that helped me finally decide on a stamp set to go with.

Echo Park just put out the cutest, brightest, most summer fun line of papers and embellishments called "Summer Days" ... I knew I wanted to make a card with that line of paper, so that helped me narrow down my stamp set choices to the Pennant Alphabet set and the Birthday Cupcake set... in the end, cupcakes trump pennant bunting every time... which is probably why I could stand to lose a few pounds in my middle, hah.

Anyhow, I made this card (based on the layout of a card our fabulous design team member, Laura, made months ago) that I just love. The colours are so cheerful and the cute cupcake just makes me happy. I love how you can add some extra PIZAZZ to your cards by using double sided patterned paper for the base of the card. The outside of my card is a nice polka-dotted purple... but when you open the card.. BAM!... look at all the festivities!

PRODUCTS USED
Echo Park - 12x12 Paper - Summer Days "Banners"

Echo Park - 12x12 Paper - Summer Days "Rainbow"
Provo Craft - Cuttlebug - "Polka Dots" Embossing Folder
Quickutz - Square & Scallop Square Die
Inkadinkado Stamp Set - Birthday Cupcake
ColorBox - "Tutti Frutti" Queue Cat's Eye Dye Ink Set
Ranger - Stickles - Glitter Glue - "Icicle"
Blue RicRac Ribbon
White Cardstock

Don't forget to check the Scrapbooker's Paradise Blog to enter to win our Featured Product Giveaway and to see what other design team members came up with!!!

"HOLD ON to your Childhood"

2011-05-14T00:01:00.000-06:00

Happy Saturday everyone!

So, I am pretty much certain that Echo Park had my photos in mind when they created one of their recent lines, Summer Days. I don't think anything could match more perfectly!!!

I love bright, happy, beautiful, colourful, whimsical colours like these... so, of course I jumped when I saw this line come into the store. When I saw the cute carousel cardstock sticker, I immediately thought of these photos of my daughter that I had taken a month earlier.

Boy, they fit better than I thought they would! Usually I try to mix lines and companies and whatnot when I scrapbook so that I can get a more... umm... eclectic? feel -- but this was just so perfect that I bought the alpha stickers, the chipboard stickers, and almost every piece of paper from the line!

Not wanting my journaling or the style of my writing to take away from the page, I turned one of the chipboard stickers into a tag and put some seeecret journaling on the back! i feel so sneaky!

I wasn't sure how I really felt about the phrase on the sticker... actually, I've come across many a phrase used on stamps or stickers or rub-on's that didn't philosophically sound right to me... so, I actually based my journaling for this page around the saying on the sticker!

Which is probably a good thing, cuz otherwise the magic of the page might have been lost with my explanation that these photos were taken on the coin-operated carousel in front of the local Wal-mart.. lol!!!

I added some glitter to the chipboard carousel sticker, used white gel pen to draw on the faux stitches around the edges, and a pink rhinestone to the dot on the I of LIFE.

I hope you like it! I'm pretty crazy about it!!

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Dude (Sara)

Adventures in Baseboard Removal

2011-05-11T12:55:00.005-06:00

So, I have never done this before.. and I don't know the correct way of doing it... but here is what I did. First of all, the tools I (incorrectly) used to do this are pictured on the left. A screwdriver, a utility knife, and a wall scraper... also note the pen.

First, I used the utility knife to cut through the paint and whatnot that were sticking the baseboard to the wall. Once there was space between the wall the baseboard, I wedged the wall scraper in there and eased the baseboard away from the wall enough to fit the screwdriver in there. Don't reeeeeef on the wall scraper unless you want to buy quite a few of them, haha.

You don't want to break, crack or otherwise damage your baseboard if you're hoping to put it back on the wall at some point. So, don't powerhouse your way through this... you need to make your way along the baseboard piece and carefully work it away from the wall by jiggling and applying pressure to the screwdriver.

Okay, hindsight wisdom... you may want to remove things like this before trying to pull up the baseboard around it....

Once you have successfully pulled the piece of baseboard away from the wall without breaking, cracking or damaging it, you must do an enthusiastic fist pump.. while being careful of the evil poky protrusions on the back of the baseboard.

Before you move on, you may want to use the pen and number the baseboard... unless, that is, you have a lot of time on your hands and really like irritating puzzles.

So, if you know me, you know I am a pretty enthusiastic person. I get excited about ideas... and I am quick to jump in with both feet... not one to be wary of taking on new projects and commitments. If you know me REALLY well, you'll also know that I get easily discouraged and that I'm a big-picture person, not so much a detail oriented person.

I have recently learned the long-winded way that the vast majority of people who use the phrase "slap a coat of paint on it..." are being sarcastic (or something). One does not simply "slap a coat of paint" on something and have it look really good. All I wanted was a bright blue/cyan room for Alysha... and here I am learning out to remove baseboard... haha... this is torture for people like me who don't like dealing with the details. I'm interested in the end results - I'm not overly patient.. but I'm gonna have to learn it.

...the face of someone who is just soooo excited to be doing
long-winded, boring house projects like removing baseboard....

Anyhow, once I removed all the baseboard, I stuck it in a place where I wouldn't be stepping on it (me no likey stepping on poky things!) and then I began sanding the crap outta the wall. Depending on the age of the house and how many times you and/or the people who owned the place before you painted.. there might be a considerable difference between the wall and the wall under the baseboard. After all the elbow grease involved with sanding the walls, you wash the walls.. and maybe even sweep and swiffer the floor or vacuum the carpet.

Theeeen... you poke your head out of the room to check on the kids that you completely forgot about because you were so busy working on all this stuff. If you thinking all this prep-work before painting is just a quick thing you can do while your kids watch an episode of Spongebob SquarePants.. you are totally kidding yourself!!! Luckily for me, I found my kids just playing in Jayden's room - although, Alysha had pulled out all of her and Jayden's clothes onto the floor, had taken off her diaper, and was trying on his underwear, haha!

Anyhow, that's the little story I came to present to you. Perhaps you find it enlightening... but maybe just amusing.. either way, I hope you were entertained for a little bit. Join me next time to see Alysha's room hopefully move ahead a bit faster in its progression toward my little childhood dream room...

Oooh, living vicariously through our children.

Adventures in Booga Booga Land - Volume 1 (DVD)

2011-05-10T16:04:00.006-06:00

This DVD is the first Volume, in a series of DVDs that follow the Adventures of the main characters, Marty the Monkey and Gerard the Giraffe. The stories are supposed to be Richard Milner's allegories of Parables told by Jesus.

On this DVD there are three episodes. Each episode is done after a specific parable and starts with the name of the parable and the bible reference. For example, the first episode called "So This Is Booga" which introduces us to Booga Booga Land and the characters who live there, is based after 'The Workers In The Vineyard' as told by Jesus in Matthew 20:1-16.

We find Gerard and Marty who have come to the capital city of BoogaBooga Land and are in need of jobs. They are hired as window washers at a set wage, and as the day goes on more window washers are hired. At the end of the day, Gerard and Marty are a little put out when they are paid the same as those who worked less hours than them.

The other two episodes on this DVD tell the parables of "The Wise and Foolish Builders" and "The Lamp under the Bowl" in similar ways.

The animation isn't what one would call high-end -- but the simple shapes, bold outlines and bright colours are fun for young children. I liked the fruit rolling across the screen when they changed scenes. My 23 month old daughter was excited to watch the first episode of the DVD, and it held her attention during the whole episode. I think the fact that each episode is only about 15 minutes works well for younger kids with shorter attention spans. My 4 1/2 year old son watched all three episodes consecutively and thought they were pretty funny. He enjoyed Marty's antics -- especially in the second episode, "Marty's Sandcastle".

The "acting" and some of the conversations between the characters was downright lame at times, however, that can be looked past if it remains entertaining for the child viewers (which it did for mine) and it actually presents some good values... But, I don't think it really succeeded at presenting good values or explaining the meanings behind Jesus's parables.

I don't think any of the episodes on this DVD could stand alone as representations of the parables or as teaching material for children. They missed the mark and, because of this, are really just silly shows meant only for entertainment purposes at best. None of these episodes seem like they could possibly help make the meaning behind Jesus' parables any more clear to children. Perhaps if they put in little conclusions at the end of each episode where Marty and Gerard actually explain what they learned, it would be better.

Had I paid the high cost for this DVD that special Christian outlets charge, and found that it only had three very short episodes on it and just as much Christian teachings as a secular Children's DVD... I would have been quite disappointed. I'd much rather spend the same amount and buy a Nickelodeon DVD like Ni Hao Kai Lan or Dora the Explorer... at least it would have some sort of teaching value and more episodes for my dollar.

Overall, I'd rate this DVD at 4.5/10

I'd be disappointed paying full price for the DVD, but it would be an acceptable buy from a bargain bin. Better luck next time!

I received this complimentary DVD from Thomas Nelson Book Publishing to review as part of their Blogger Review Program. I am not required to give a positive review; this review is my own personal opinion.

First Zoo Day

2011-05-08T00:01:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was National Scrapbook Day, so, I pulled out some photos that needed to be scrapbooked and got to work! I put together this 12x12 page of photos from our trip to the zoo in July 2009. Was it really almost two years ago, already? Wow! My sweet babies look so small in the pictures.. well, Alysha was only a month old!

I used this really cute paper from Kaiser Craft's awesome Spring/Summer line, "Bubblegum Hills" ...I love that other companies are starting to catch on to the awesome idea Sassafras Lass had of colouring the backs of their barcode/company name strips. The pink and the green strips of paper on the bottom of my page are such strips. Yay, Kaiser Craft, glad you jumped on that bandwagon!

Products Used
Kaiser Craft Paper - Bubblegum Hills "Blue Lemonade"
Kaiser Craft Paper - Bubblegum Hills "Calipso Punch"
Paper & Fabric Flowers by Bazzill Basics "Gerbera" & "Daisy"
Cosmo Cricket - Chipboard Alphabet - "Lavender Bling"

The pretty centers of the flowers were taken from some old, tacky embellishments that I took apart to give a new life to.

I hope you like my page!
Happy Scrapbooking!!
Sara

WHAT?! Where does the TIME go?

2011-05-06T10:43:00.005-06:00

Being able to honestly ask that question must be part of the initiation into adulthood. I took both those photos of my younger cousin... but, as you can see, they were taken quite a few years apart. I love that photo of my cousin when he was a wee one... always have... I have been wanting to scrapbook it. When I took that photo of him last summer, I knew I'd be scrapbooking it on the same page. I love how the photos, when placed side-by-side, show how he's grown and changed, but partially stayed the same.

Masculine May @ Scrapbooker's Paradise

2011-05-02T00:01:00.000-06:00

Today is Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings' first Showcase Monday for May! What is Showcase Monday? Every Monday, each month, the Design Team will take turns sharing their creativity on a common idea. April was Weddings, and this month we are going to the more masculine side of things to focus on things masculine!

I'm the lucky Design Team Member who gets to go first!

I made a fairly simple 8.5 x 11 inch scrapbook page this week. I didn't want to over embellish it or do too much with it because I wanted the main focus to stay on the photo. This has to be my most favorite photo of my husband.

My husband is a funny guy; he complains about me in craft stores and scrapbooking stores... but you should see him when we goes into the tackle section of wal-mart or how long he spends in hunting/fishing stores. Everyone needs a hobby - too bad I absolutely hate the taste of fish.

Anyhow, when I saw this new line of awesome papers brought to us by GCD Studios and designed by Heather Tozzi, I knew I had to get some!

I was lured in by my favorite paper of the line, "Lured In". I didn't end up using the back-side of the paper, but I absolutely love it. It is a plaid pattern in bright, horrendous yellow and woodsman green. It goes with the other papers marvelously and reminds me of all the fishermen and hunters in my life. I already have plans to make my Grandpa a Father's Day card with the leftovers.

Products Used
GCD Studios 12x12 Paper, "The Great Outdoors" - Lured In
GCD Studios 12x12 Paper, "The Great Outdoors" - Ponderosa
Cosmo Cricket Alpha Sticker, "Tiny Type" - Cream
Older Cosmo Cricket Chipboard letters
Older BoBunny Chipboard Shapes
Red Handmade Specialty Paper

Thanks for stopping by!

Treasures Discovered - A Childhood Remembered

2011-04-27T08:17:00.006-06:00

This might be the first time in my adult life that all my possessions are under the same roof... wow... So, I've been unpacking boxes and coming across all sorts of little surprises. The other day I was frantically rifling through as many boxes as I could get my paws on because I can't find my charger for my camera's battery pack... which I still haven't found and now my camera has completely lost all juice. But I did discover some long-lost treasures from my childhood!

A green horse my great aunt made for me, a charming rocking horse someone else made for me, and a precious madame bunny that my grandma (who died almost exactly two years ago) had made for me. So special! So beautiful! I put them in my daughter's room.

Then I came across a pile of my old books. Even a few ones that I had made myself in school, lol! But, of all of my old books and all the wonderful stories I had read and had read to me growing up, these two stood out to me the most...

They are both so beautiful.. absolutely beautiful.. the illustrations are gorgeous and whimsical and magical and... did I mention gorgeous? The store in "There is a Difference" is wonderful. It is about a beautiful Apple Blossom and how she thumbs her nose at useless plants like the wretched Dandelion and then her change of heart when she sees the facts. "The Birthday Moon" is kind of just a long poem with exuberant and beautiful illustration, and it kind of lacks "story" but is very fun to read and very imaginative.

Anyway, what really strikes me about this beloved childhood books, though, is that they kind of explain my crazy love and interest and the magic I find in the Dandelion and the Moon. It is so funny.. but I love both of that natural phenomenons so much.. I even collect art made of them.. and I'm sure if you've ever read much of my blog, you'd already know how much I love both of those things... I loved those things without remembering those books.. now that I've discovered and remembered those books, it all makes perfect sense!

It kind of makes me wonder which books and which toys and which childhood memories will stay with my children into their adulthood and remind them of the whimsy of their childhoods.

....Hello from my NEW home!

2011-04-23T11:15:00.012-06:00

Well, we got possession of our new place on Friday, April 15th... and immediately started moving our stuff over. The place was a good deal because it was repossessed.. of course, that does mean that it wasn't quite move-in-ready.

The bathroom floor was rotted straight through to the basement. We had a contractor come in on the 16th and rip out the floor under the leaky toilet and replace everything and put in nice, new ceramic tile to replace the crappy builder-grade laminate floor. It looks tonnes better and I don't fear for my life when I sit on the toilet, which is a bonus, haha. We do plan on eventually gutting the entire bathroom, but that might take some time to get to.

There isn't a wall in the house that doesn't need paint, or a door/cabinet/appliance that doesn't need repair or replacement... but we are super excited to have this place and for the potential in it. The basement isn't finished, so, we have lots of room for expansion in the future.

Anyway, I decided to start on Jayden's room, first, since he has been waiting for his robot room for a year now... plus, it'd be nice for him to have his own space while we slowly tear it apart and put it back together. So, I began painting his room this week.

I painted three of the four walls a light grey-blue and the fourth a darker grey-blue colour. If you are curious, the colours are from CIL and are Fostoria Glass & Oxford Blue. They don't photograph well, but they really are stunning colours.

Jayden and I were doodling in one of my art journals a few weeks ago while we were waiting for possession day. I really loved the drawings of robots Jayden did to show me what he wanted on his wall... so, I tried to do them a similar whimsical style.

It was actually my husbands idea to have the gears all over the room in random places, I love it. It was a lot of work; I stayed up until 2:30 last night painting and my shoulder is still numb... but it was all worth it for the look on my son's face when he came home from his Gramma's house today.

I would really like to paint all the trim white. I'm not a huge fan of wood trim in most cases... plus this trim, though it is nice, has drips and smears of four different paint colours on it from the last peoples who lived here who obviously couldn't paint worth a dime. It is especially annoying since one of the paint colours is a shade of blue very similar to the blue I put on the walls, so, it looks like I did most of the mess... and they painted that blue colour all over the outlets and light switches for some stupid reason. We are replacing all the poor-quality, hollow, ugly doors in the house, eventually, with pretty, new white doors... so, white trim would be stellar.

But, before I get to the trim, I need to re-finish the ugly dresser that's in Jayden's room. I'm trying to decide a colour, though. I'm thinking white, but am wondering if I'm playing too safe. Maybe a deep red or a navy grey-blue? What do you think?

EDIT: My friend just suggested ORANGE with Brushed Nickel hardware for the pulls... that might just be the most genius thing! But I don't know if I will be able to find a decent orange spray paint.

Wedding Invitations / Thank You Cards

2011-04-11T00:01:00.000-06:00

Any BRIDES on a BUDGET out there?

How'd you like to make some beautiful Thank-You cards to send out to all your guest after the wedding for LESS than $1.00 a card!?

Not only are these Thank-you cards less expensive than store-bought ones, but they are gorgeous and easy to make! AND with some small changes to the project plan, they could even be used as Wedding Invitations.. and still cost around $1 an invite! Wowee!

Check out SCRAPBOOKER'S PARADISE to get my whole tutorial on how to make them with the list of what to buy and everything! And, hey, if you are working on Wedding Invites and other Wedding projects, keep your eyes on that blog for the month of April as our Design Team will be showering you with all types of Wedding-themed projects!!!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

Copic Markers

2011-04-08T12:54:00.002-06:00

Well, I've been wanting to start playing with Copic Markers but they are sooo expensive! For a long time they were something like $8.99 a marker which is crazy! So, when I saw that Scrapbooker's Paradise has them on sale for $5.99 , I was totally stoked!!! I think I'm going to have to buy some and get my expensive collection going! lol!

So, any tips from you Copic Artists out there? Or even you scrapbookers and crafters who have been using them? Which colours should I buy first? I don't think I could get away with buying more than three or four at a time! Even though the whole set would be fabulous, lol!

Wedding Card

2011-04-06T00:01:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone!

I hope you all are having a good week so far.
Today I'm here to show you a card I made using some Prima paper. I love the beautiful muted tones of this pretty paper, and I think it works great for a spring wedding!

I did some embossing with a nice olivey grey-brown colour from my Stampendous Embossing kit you might remember it from our featured product giveaway back in January. The LOVE and FOREVER stamps are some old Heidi Swapp stamps that Scrapbooker's Paradise used to carry. The butterfly stamp is by Inkadinkado, they make fabulous stamps!

Products Used
Prima 12x12 Paper "Botanical Adore"
American Crafts Ribbon
Prima Flowers
My Mind's Eye brads

Thanks for stopping by!

Definitely one for the Scrapbook!

2011-04-03T16:18:00.002-06:00

Leaving the house to go to church this morning, we were greeted by the sun which made Alysha's colourful outfit even more cheerful. My camera was in my purse, so I pulled it out to take a picture of her - she just looked so cute heading toward the car. The moment she saw my camera, however, she turned around and sat down on the step and covered her face. She grumbled "No Mommy!" from behind her pacifier.

I definitely want to scrapbook that photo... it'll be fun! I can't wait until we're moved and I can unpack my scrapbook supplies

Sorry for the Silence...

2011-04-01T16:02:00.002-06:00

We've bought a new place and are packing up all our stuff while we wait for our possession date to arrive. My scrapbooking supplies are all boxed up (sniff sniff) and my art supplies will follow shortly. Hopefully I'll be back to posting more regularly by the end of the month!!

We have lots of busy days ahead and great things to look forward to this April!

A NEW HOME!

UNPACKING!

EASTER!

Have a great weekend, everyone! :D

Kiki La Rue is ready for Spring!

2011-03-20T00:01:00.005-06:00

Well, I had so much fun playing with my cuuute new Kiki La Rue stamp from C.C. Designs (our current Feature Product at Scrapbooker's Paradise!) and this beautiful, whimsical, happy paper from Echo Park, that I thought I would do it all again!!

This time around I swapped my Basic Grey bling and my velvety American Crafts ribbon for some buttons and Prima flowers. I used some Stickles glitter glue by Ranger and some Clear Accents, also by Ranger, to dress up Kiki and my strip of pink paper.

Products Used to Create my Card:

Echo Park - 12x12 Paper - "Springtime" Lemonade & Robin's Egg
Echo Park - 12x12 Paper - "Springtime" Floral Fun
C.C. Designs - Single Stamp - Kiki La Rue - Spring
Ranger - Glossy Accents - Clear
Assorted Prima Paper Flowers
Ranger - Stickles - "Diamond"

Don't forget to check out Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings (the blog for Scrapbooker's Paradise) to take part in our product giveaway and also learn how you can save some money on your CC Designs purchase. Hurry! You only have a few more days to enter to win!!

Tshirt Pillow

2011-03-17T10:31:00.006-06:00

I love to buy groceries at Superstore because of their JOE clothing line. I went there the other day to get some diapers and I haaaappened to pass by the bay girl section and I haaaappened to stuuumble across this SUPER CUTE tshirt! They had a whole bunch there similar to this in different colours with different cute phrases and things... I loved them so much, I just HAD to get one for Alysha.

But as I was thinking of it, I thought that she'll probably only wear it one season and it'll probably get a bit worn looking after being stained and washed countless times. SO, instead, I decided to get the largest size and make it into a throw pillow for her bedroom!

Once I had decided that, it was easy to pick which shirt to buy! Her room is going to be a turquoise/sky blue colour with white furniture and trim and pink accents... so, this shirt was the top choice! YES, I've been dreaming of her room for two years now... There are many many blog posts to confirm it.

Anyway, I really would like to make lots and lots of throw pillows for Alysha's ''princess'' room, because I have memories of wanting everything to be "beautiful" and "princess" when I was little.

So, I bought some bits of $2.00 fabric at walmart for the back of the pillow and some pretty pink thread. I sat down at the sewing machine and spent an hour or so (interrupted many times by children) and I made Alysha a little pillow that she loves.

What I didn't anticipate was that the fabric of that tshirt doesn't work so well for pillow-making... I maybe should have backed it with a better fabric before sewing it as the front of the pillow... it looks kinda lumpy with the stuffing inside and was hard to sew straight. But then, I'm not a patient person, I don't like to measure twice and cut once... I'm a don't measure, just cut kind of person. So, most of my sewing projects aren't sewn straight anway! haha!

OH! And when I was partway done sewing the pillow, I decided it was missing something... so, I went through my collection of scrapbooking ribbon and found the perfect ribbon! My K&Company ribbon from the Elsie line that came out a few years ago. So, I sewed that onto the front as well.

T-shirt: $8
Pink Fabric: $2
Thread: $0.50

Much-Loved Pillow: $10.50

We have a Winner!

2011-03-16T08:31:00.000-06:00

Random.com has chosen Amber!

Amber said...
A totally adorable Elephant is on the main picture on your mini art page!
Thank you for the giveaway :)
February 26, 2011 9:10 AM

Congrats Amber!

You have won a custom, original, watercolor & ink artwork by me that is 4x6 inches. Please send me an email and let me know what you would like. Reference photos/images are ideal.

Flowers for Spring! ...Product Giveaway!

2011-03-16T00:01:00.000-06:00

This week's feature item at Scrapbooker's Paradise is the C.C. Designs single stamps! Normally they cost $7.50, but they are on sale this month for only $5.99! They are SO great for card-making and even using in your scrapbook layouts!!! This is definitely the perfect time to buy your favorite ones.

I used the Kiki La Rue Spring st amp! Isn't she such a cutie?? These stamps are so cute and so much fun to colour! I used my watercolours to add colour to my stamped gal.

You know, something I really have always loved about We R Memory Keepers, is that they often would have their 12x12 sheets of paper divided into four squares of different coordinating patterns on one side and a full pattern on the other. So, when I picked out the papers for this card, I assumed they were We R Memory Keepers because they did the same thing... silly me, I should have known the cute but graphic style was that of Echo Park!

I think it is an absolutely fabulous idea! Having four different coordinating patterns on one sheet of paper is great for cardmakers as well as for making mini albums... and really great for hoarders like me who love all the patterns in a line and want to take them all home! haha!!

Anyhow, what you really need to know about is the FREE GIVEAWAY happening over at Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings (the blog for Scrapbooker's Paradise). To be enter to win the giveaway, all you have to do is head on over to the blog and comment on the giveaway post. It would be a good idea to FOLLOW the blog so that when they announce the winner a week later.

Products Used to Create my Card:
Echo Park - 12x12 Paper - "Springtime" Lemonade & Robin's Egg
Echo Park - 12x12 Paper - "Springtime" Floral Fun
C.C. Designs - Single Stamp - Kiki La Rue - Spring
Basic Grey - Pearls - Blue Flourish
American Crafts - Ribbon - Velvet with Scallops "Taffy"

KIM also created a project to celebrate our Featured Product. You should check out her blog to see what she came up with!

Thanks for stopping by!

SNOW!

2011-03-13T22:55:00.004-06:00

Oh, it has been a good many years since the snow has ever been this deep... especially in MARCH! At least as far as I can remember! I do remember when I was in elementary school that I had to miss school one day because it had snowed so much the night before that we couldn't get our front door open! We ended up having to open a window and climb through.

Anyhow, my four year old son took that photo of me. We were playing in the snow in front of my Grandma's house on their farm. I was walking on top of some snow but then fell throw and sunk that deep in the snow! It was crazy! I had the hardest time trying to get back to shallower snow... lol... I ended up crawling on my chest (almost like I was swimming) through the snow. My son thought it was pretty hilarious to watch as he sat on top of a mountain of snow that had been pushed off the driveway weeks before by my Grandpa with his tractor.

Miss You

2011-03-11T00:01:00.005-07:00

It's time for another challenge at Scrapbooker's Paradise! I don't personally play in the challenges every week, but we have them every Friday... yup... the Challenge Team brings us a new and fun challenge to play every week! This week, the challenge is layout Sketch.

This page has some photos of the deeelicious edible bouquet. He was away for a whole month and wasn't here for Valentine's Day, so, he surprised me by having this sent to the house. I cut up the note that came with it and stuck on this scrapbook page as the journaling.

PRODUCT LIST
American Crafts & Prima Ribbons
Echo Park - 12x12 Paper - For the Record "Advertisement"
Echo Park - 12x12 Paper - For the Record "Fancy Floral"
Chipboard Alpha Stickers - American Crafts Thickers - Cherry

Now, it is your turn... Come play along with us! You have until next Thursday at noon to enter our Challenge. Make a card or scrapbook page using the sketch for inspiration and you could be our next Paradise Player with our team!

Need a little more inspiration? Check out what fabulous projects the Challenge Team came up with!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Totally RANDOM Fun!

2011-03-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Good Morning! One of the things I often hear when I'm working in the store from customers is that they never know how to scrapbook their boys and men. Yes, there are a lot of less masculine scrapbook papers and embellishments out there nowadays, but some women still feel stuck in flowers and bling world and don't know what to do with their masculine scrapbook pages. How do they embellish them as beautifully as they do their feminine pages without making them 'girly'?

But ladies, there is more out there than flowers and sparkles! I was sad to miss out on all the girly stuff in the store when all I was scrapbooking was my son and my husband... when my daughter came along, I went craaazy overboard with girly scrapbook pages because I finally could! lol! I definitely am guilty of forgetting that there's more out there than flowers and sparkles. And even so, you CAN use flowers and sparkles in a more masculine way. It is all about the colours and the attitude of the page... and don't forget about Tim Holtz products!

So, for my latest page, I made sure that I scrapbooked my son! Poor guy, his photos have been ignored lately. Of course, when I saw this absolutely beautiful woodgrain paper by My Minds Eye, I had to buy some! It was the perfect starting point for this page!

Products Used
My Mind's Eye 12x12 Paper - Stella and Rose "Tapestry"
My Mind's Eye 12x12 Paper - Stella and Rose "Joy Woodgrain"
My Mind's Eye 12x12 Paper - Stella and Rose "Love Letters"
Cosmo Cricket - Alpha Sticker - Tiny Type
Kaiser Craft - Woodgrain Buttons
Prima Flower

I had a lot of fun with this page! I love the colours on it, the stitching, and how the red/burgundy elements form a visual triangle that includes the photo of my son... and I love how the sanding I did on the edges of the photo brought out some neat colours that made it look aged. I hope you like it and that this post inspires you to scrapbook those men in your life... and maybe even use a flower or two on their page.

It is that time again!!!

2011-02-25T15:00:00.003-07:00

Welcome to my blog!
Since you may be new to my blog, I thought I'd take a moment to introduce you to myself.

HI! I am Sara
I am a published author and illustrator
I am a freelance artist
I am on the design team for Scrapbooker's Paradise where I also work part-time
I have two beautiful children and a wonderful husband
I am an independent consultant for Heritage Makers
...and I have a few hobbies on the side, too!

I am a self-representing artist. I like to illustrate with ink and then colour my pictures with watercolours. I like to work in a small scale. Most of my art is UNDER six inches in size!! You can check out my website to learn more about my art (and my books!)

www.BorrowedDreams.net

In hopes of acquiring a few new followers of my blog, visitors to my website, and maybe even customers of my etsy shop, I am having this giveaway.

From now until March 15th, you can enter (via this blog post) to win some free, custom, original art. Art is awesome... especially when it is ORIGINAL... and what's better than original art? FREE original art, of course!

So, this giveaway is for a custom, original, piece of art by me that is 4x6 inches (or smaller) in size. Below are some ways you can enter to win!

Make sure to "follow" my blog as the winner will be posted on here on March 16th!!

Ways to Enter:

1st Entry: Comment on this post
Additional Entry: Find and LIKE Sara Steeves Dudenhoeffer on Facebook and comment here telling me what book is pictured in the profile pic.
Additional Entry: Check out my Etsy Shop and comment here telling me what my avatar on etsy looks like.
Additional Entry: Add an item in my Etsy Shop to your etsy favorites and comment here telling me which one.
Additional Entry: Check out my LuLu Bookstore and comment here about which book most interests you!
Additional Entry: Check out my Website and then comment here telling me what animal is in the first picture on the MINI ART page.
Additional Entry: Post about this giveaway on your blog and then comment here with the link!
Additional Entry: Visit Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings and comment here telling me what the main colour scheme of the blog is.

That gives you EIGHT ways to win!

**Please make sure that you leave a new comment for each entry

Excited for Spring!

2011-02-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hello! Happy Monday!! Today is a special Monday if you are haling from Alberta. Today is Family Day Monday! I hope you enjoy your day today.

Now, as I've said before when we first got in some of the Best Creation papers here at Scrapbooker's Paradise, I just love how cute and pretty their papers are and am so excited that we carry them now!

We just got Best Creation's new spring line, Jubilee, in the store and I just loved it so much that I had to jump the gun and make a spring-themed page. Since it is still very much winter here, I made a blank page with spots for photos and a spot for journaling. When the snow is melted, the weather warms up, and the grass starts to green I'll be able to get some good spring photos for the page.

I used a combination of my Glossy Accents and Diamond Stickles by Ranger to make my own butterfly embellishment out of pink and brown cardstock... and I used my stickles to dress up my white paper flowers, too!

Products Used
Best Creation - 12x12 Paper - Jubilee Flutterby's
Best Creation - 12x12 Paper - Jubilee A Day in the Park
Little Yellow Bicycle - Twig Stick Pins
Ranger - Glossy Accents - 2oz Clear - Featured Product until Feb 28th!!
Prima - Assorted White Flowers
Ranger - Stickles - Glitter Glue - Diamond
12x12 White & Yellow Cardstock
Glue Dots Adhesive - Memory Glue Dots Sheets
Colourbox Dye Ink - Tutti Frutti - Queue Cat's Eye Set

Spring is just around the corner... and I can't wait!
I hope you're excited for spring, too!

Thanks for looking at my project today :)

Featured Product Post!

2011-02-16T00:01:00.003-07:00

Products List
Moxxie 12x12 Paper - Fighting Back - Support the Cure
Making Memories - Silver Butterfly
American Crafts Ribbon - Pink
Ranger - Glossy Accents - 2oz Clear
Pink, White & Yellow Cardstock
Prima Flowers

This scrapbook page is of photos from The 2nd Annual Breast Crop Ever. The large pink breast cancer ribbon on the page is foam. It was a decoration from the event that I saved to use for the scrapbook page.

All our Ranger products are on sale as our Featured Product at Scrapbooker's Paradise! Just quote RANGER15 in the comments section of your online order and get 15% off all your Ranger brand purchases!!

Don't forget that we pretty much aaaalways do a FREE Giveaway on our blog for our FEATURED PRODUCTS so check out Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings and enter to win!!!

Stories of the Moon

2011-02-14T12:03:00.002-07:00

Here are from ATCs I drew and painted in the last few days. ATCs are Artistic Trading Cards and are original pieces of miniature artwork that always measure 2.5 x 3.5 inches in size. I'm hosting a moon-themed swap at iATCs (www.illustratedatcs.com) this month and I'm pretty excited about all the amazing moon cards that have come in for it!

Stitching on Paper

2011-02-08T00:01:00.002-07:00

Good Morning everyone!

Today is Technique Tuesday over at Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings - the blog for Scrapbooker's Paradise. This week, I get to be the member of our design team who is sharing a technique.

Now, this technique is not new. It is actually really ooooold... possibly older than scrapbooking, even! We're going to be talking about stitching on paper! This is a fun and easy way to add a little dimension and texture to your scrapbook pages and cards!

With different stitches to use and a rainbow of colours of embroidery floss, the options are nearly endless with this simple technique.

With Valentine's Day on the way, I thought I would follow that theme with my scrapbook page. I had a lot of fun capitalizing on the different lines of Valentine's Day themed papers from a few different companies with this project! I just love Valentines themed displays in stores!! Even dumpy places like Walmart can look pretty this time of year.. so, you can imagine how pretty the Valentine's Day aisle looks at our local Scrapbooking Store!

I used a few different but similar techniques for stitching on paper with this scrapbook page. You can learn about them all over at Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings. While I unfortunately did not have a little video to show you, I did post plenty of photos (like the ones below), so please go have a peak!

Products Used

Fancy Pants - 12x12 paper - Love Birds "Sweetheart"
BoBunny - 12x12 paper - Double Dot "Chiffon"
Making Memories - 12x12 paper - Je t'Adore "French Dictionary"
American Crafts - Ribbon - Crimson Lace
Kaiser Craft - Classic Pearl Flourish "Latte"
Bazzill Basics - In Stitch'z - Fantasy Flourish Template
Cosmo Cricket - alpha stickers - Tiny Type "Cream"
American Crafts - Thicker - Pink Fabric
Ranger - Stickles - Glitter Glue

New in my Etsy Shop

2011-02-06T23:33:00.002-07:00

NEW in my Etsy Shop, I have one of only TWO prints in existence of a 4x6 original illustration I did. "My Heart on a String" is an illustration of a little girl with a red balloon that was inspired by a song called "Red Balloon" that my looooong-time friend, Codi Kreil wrote and sings. This is a very limited edition print... there are only two prints in existence.. one for me and one for whoever buys the one listed in my etsy shop! The original illustration is in the possession of Codi Kreil.

SO YEAH... check it out!

Also, I have some original illustrations ON SALE in my Etsy shop right now!

Winter Vacation

2011-02-04T23:19:00.004-07:00

I made this little display for my Step-Dad for Christmas. But, he actually hasn't received it yet, lol!! I also made it for a class I was going to teach at Scrapbooker's Paradise. So, it was on display at the Red Deer location over Christmas. I didn't end up running the class, unfortunately, because I didn't get enough people signed up to cover the costs of running it.

Whether or not anyone else thought it was a good looking project, I sure had fun making it and think it turned out really great. I love the bright, happy, summery colours! I made the fish and seaweed embellishments myself!

So, I got two art canvases and I sprayed them with Olive Vine Glimmer Mist. When they were dry, I attached them together with ribbon and then covered them in paper. The clouds were cut out of white cardstock. I mounted paper and my photos on chipboard for a more raised effect before putting them onto the canvases. I used a dark blue Acrylic Paint Dabber to paint the chipboard swirl/flourish and stuck it on.

The fish, I drew on cardstock and then cut out. I cut out different parts of them from different colours, inked around the edges, and glued them together. I finished them off with some stickles accents for some shimmer. The "seaweed" is ribbon that I put through my sewing machine and then pulled the ends of the thread tight to make it bunch up. I used mini glue dots to arrange the fish and seaweed on the canvases.

OKAY, full-disclosure.. I made this project up as I went a long... and I tend to fly by the seat of my pants when I do these sorts of projects.. so, the steps I explained above aren't exactly the order I did everything.. I kind of played with it until I got it to where I was happy with it.. haha..

The only thing I think I would change about the project if I were to make it again, is to get some hinges to use instead of ribbon (that or use stronger ribbon!). I bet Tim Holtz or someone sells some cool hinges.. though, I bet I could just find some at the local hardware store.

But yeah, I figured that since I didnt get to share my project in the classroom, I would share it with ya'all online! Hope it sparks your imagination.

Have a great weekend!

Hugs & Kisses

2011-02-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday, everyone!
I'm here to show you my latest project. Here's a Valentine's Day card I made.

You know, I was looking at the greeting cards when I was at the grocery store today and I saw plenty of cards for wives and plenty for daughters and son-in-laws and for parents and so on... even ones from kids to their teachers... but I only found three cards for husbands. What the heck? Well, I guess Valentine's Day is a day for wives moreso than husbands. How many men do you know who would like to receive a heart-shaped box of chocolate, a pink teddy bear, and a fluffy card that sings some romantic song when you open it? Heh.

Anyway, that was kind of just a random thought that I'm not going to finish. Anyhow, if you want more photos of my project and a more proper list of the items used in the project, check out SCRAPBOOKER'S PARADISE PONDERINGS, the blog for our store, Scrapbooker's Paradise.

Thank you!
Have a great day!!!

Yellow & Blue

2011-01-30T00:01:00.005-07:00

Outside right now it is white and grey... that's all.. just white and grey.. mostly grey, really. The white isn't a CRISP, beautiful, happy winter white.. it is a "ewww, why won't winter end?", dull, yucky sort of white.

So, let's think about something truly wonderful, happy, bright, cheerful and uplifting... how about the colour Yellow!?

You know, if someone were to ask me what my favorite flower was, they would probably be a bit 'weirded-out' by my responce. Honestly, though, I love Dandelions. I think you really have to admit that you lost all the enthusiasm and magic of your youth the day you see Dandelions as nothing by a nuisance... what a sad day that would be.

Is there anything happier than a bright green field dotted with happy yellow dandelion faces lifted to look up at a bright blue sky? Here in Alberta we grow a lot of Canola. I think the only other 'flower' that gives Dandelions a run for their money when it comes to being my favorite flower would be Canola. It gives a very similar 'happy' effect...

Canola and Dandelions are awesome!

Dandelions make me think of my childhood. My cousins and I spent hours in my grandma's big front yard out on their farm making Dandelion Crowns and Necklaces. We would chant the song "Momma had a baby and its head popped off!" and use our thumbs to pop the blooms off the dandelions. You always knew that summer was finally on the way when the pastures would take on the happy yellow haze.

Canola is more of a July thing here in Alberta. I love Canola fields. You know you are in the best days of summer when you are driving down the highway and either side of you is field upon field of BRIGHT YELLOW. Sure, it is a little stinky... but you'll grow to love it... plus, canola fields are great for photo taking! Below are some photos I took of my kids last summer.

The thing that really makes Dandelions better than Canola, though, is that when Canola finishes for the summer, it can be kind of sad and depressing... but when the yellow of the dandelion is gone, there's still more magic to be seen and fun to be had!

The white halos are beautiful and magical. I just love how inspiring those little dandelion seed fluffs are. Even many adults have trouble refraining from picking a dandelion gone to seed so they can blow those white fluffs.

Dandelions are magical, did you know? You can make wishes on a dandelion. You pick a dandelion gone to seed, make a wish, and then blow. Those wishes will float away on the breeze carried by the little white fluffs. When will those wishes return to you? I don't know, but supposedly they do come true.

I love it in the evenings when the sunset colours shine through the white dandelion halos. Below is a photo I took one June evening last summer.

And I love after a rain when the dandelion halos have raindrops captured in their delicate spindles! Yes, there is so much to love about dandelions... it is a shame some people can't see the beauty in them. I bet those are the same people who walk around the world with a set jaw and sagging hearts. If you are blind to the beauty around you, how do you truly see or feel anything

Anyway, the thing that got me on this little stint is that a few days ago we were visited by a bright yellow hot air balloon!

It was a beautiful January day... the temperature was slightly above zero (which was a super-nice break from our wintery slumber)... the snow was sticky and perfect for snowmen... it had snowed a lot a few days before so the snow was bright white and clean... the sky was bright blue... the sun was reflecting on the white snow making it even more beautiful... and then this bright yellow, happy hot air balloon randomly comes floating above our house!!! PERFECT!

It isn't a bright, happy dandelion or a field bursting with yellow canola... but that yellow balloon in the perfect blue sky was just the amount of happy I needed to get me through the rest of the winter! And now, today, it is grey... the road conditions are deplorable... and I am missing my husband immensly as he's been gone for over a week to some oil camp in BC... so, it is nice to look at some photos of Yellow and Blue... such happy colours!

Have a wonderful day!!

Welcoming a New Family Member!!

2011-01-29T00:01:00.006-07:00

Products Used
Creative Imaginations - Lullaby Boy - Humpty Dumpty

Basic Grey Paper - Hopscotch - Skipping

Kaiser Craft - Pearl Flourish - Classic Latte

American Crafts - Ribbon

Ranger - Tim Holtz - Distress Ink - Vintage Photo

Prima - Flower

Cosmo Cricket - Alpha chipboard & alpha stickers

...and brads, buttons, adhesive, and more!

My cousin had her very first baby a few weeks ago! We were so excited to meet him that my baby girl and I made the seven hour trip to see my cousin and her new baby boy, Mavric. I think he has the BEST NAME EVER, by the way!

He was super cute and wonderful, as all brand new babies should be. I took this photo of my baby girl (who didnt seem much like a baby anymore next to him) checking out her new little cousin. I thought it was super cute and needed to be scrapbooked!

Have a great day!

Freebie Friday in My Exotic Garden!

2011-01-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Hey! This is it!

The last page of our Alphabet colouring pages!

I've been doing four letters at a time, but since I would have two leftover had I done that this time, I decided to stick the rest of them all on the same page. Here are the UVWXYZ foods that finish off our alphabet! These colouring pages are free for you to print as many times as you like, but please don't redistribute them. If you want to share them with your friends, just give them the link to this blog post!

You can find the page in pdf format HERE

(the preview image will not print at full size. You need the pdf format if you want to print this page at 8.5 x 11 inches)

If you want the colouring pages before this, click on the "freebie friday" label at the bottom of this post or on the left side of the page to find all the previous Freebie Friday posts.

I'd love to see some of your children's coloured versions of these! If you take some photos or scans of any of these colouring pages coloured by your children and stick them on your blogs, I sure would love to come check them out!

Hmmm... now to come up with a new thing to offer on my sporadic Freebie Fridays... any ideas? No, I can't afford to send you all scrapbook and/or art supplies... or trips to vegas, sorry!

... a Quilt

2011-01-26T22:32:00.005-07:00

This is not a full-size quilt. This is sort of a decorative, hang over the back of the couch, lap quilt. A full size quilt would just be too big to send on a plane overseas. I am assuming that my "sister" doesn't read my blog and so, hopefully, I am not ruining the surprise in posting this... but, I am working on this Quilt as a wedding gift for her. She's getting married this spring! Woot!

I used Spoonflower.com to have some CUSTOM fabric printed that I designed myself. One pattern has her and her husband-to-be's initials on it and the other has their wedding date on it. I cut up these fabrics and used them in the patch quilt along with the other fabrics I chose for the quilt. I don't know what their house's decor is like, but I remember in the past her saying something about a green colour... so, these colours will hopefully compliment.

ANYWAY... That's one of the MANY projects I've been working on recently.

Too much on the go!

2011-01-21T20:50:00.004-07:00

I spent all evening working on a quilt!! It is partially done... but my back hurts from bending over my sewing machine for hours.

I have a lot of different crafts and artsy things on the go, plus many more on my to-do list... well, my mental to-do list... I'm starting to lose track of everything so I am going to write myself a to-do list here!

TO MAKE
3 Candy themed ATCs
3 Moon themed ATCs
3 Pregnant Ladies themed ATCs
2 Northern Animal themed ATCs
2 Weird n Wacky themed ATCs
~~BABY BOY Scrapbook Layout for design team~~
CD Cover for friend's latest CD
Stamp design for Scrapbooker's Paradise

TO FINISH
Pony Figurine - needs paint
Quilt - needs backing, batting, and to be put together
HARD COVER version of "Art in your MailBox"
My website's new look!
"New Horizons" novel
"Have you seen this dog?" novel

...hmmm, I feel like I'm missing something.

Playing in Paradise

2011-01-21T00:01:00.003-07:00

This month's Playing in Paradise sketch challenge over at Scrapbooker's Paradise Blog is a nice simple one. Go check it out to see the sketch and to enter to win a great prize!

Products Used
Graphic 45 - Once Upon A Springtime - Woodland Fantasy

Kaiser Craft - Pearl Flourish - Elegant Latte
Prima - Cottage Blossoms - Pink Quartz

When you head out to see what all the other members of our Design Team have done with our Playing in Paradise Sketch Challenge, don't forget to check out Carla's blog -- she's our special guest Paradise Player this month!

Some "Stampendous" Cards

2011-01-16T00:01:00.004-07:00

Good Morning! I have three coordinating cards to share with you today! I don't often do cards, so, this was a fun little break from scrapbook pages. I've used an absolutely fabulous embossing kit by Stampendous with each of these cards. The kit comes with five different colours of embossing powders.

Scrapbookers Paradise carries these beautiful Embossing kids by Stampendous in different coordinating colours. I used "Meriot" -- I just loved the colour palette of wines and olive greens! And we have them on sale as our Featured Product right now! From January 16th to 31st if you quote "FIEK" in the comments when you order from the website, you'll get a very nice little price adjustment!! Check out our blog for details!

Products Used

Fancy Pants - paper - Lilac House - Strips
Fancy Pants - paper - Lilac House - Heirloom
Stampendous - embossing powder kit - Merlot
American Crafts - Heat Embossing Gun
3L - Adhesive - EZ Runner
Glue Dots - Memory Book
Ribbon by Making Memories
Cardstock
Various Stamps

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my latest cards! I encourage you to check out my friend, Kim's blog as she has made a project with a Stampendous Embossing Powder Kit this week as well! And don't forget to stop by Scrapbooker's Paradise to take advantage of our Feature Product pricing!

Have a fabulous day!!

Pink and White and Cute all over...

2011-01-15T18:03:00.005-07:00

Here's a scrapbook page I made today. The photos are from fall 2009... awww my widdle baby isn't this little anymore!!! The "title" of this page is actually a joke that my son Jayden made up and told to me one day around the same time as I took those photos of Alysha. I thought it was so cute and would be perfect on a scrapbook page.

Anyway, this is actually for a Crop at Scrapbooker's Paradise next month. You get to choose whatever paper from the store to make your own version of this layout with your own photos as well as have six hours of scrapbooking bliss to get caught up on all your projects!!

I love crops at the store because if you need anything, well, you have the entire store at your disposal while you work!! Plus, we have SUCH a fantastic community of ladies at our Red Deer location that it is always so much fun to come to these events! I hope you can make it if you live nearby. Check out our website for details.

Good Morning!

2011-01-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 1.11.11!!!

New items in my Etsy Shop

2011-01-08T13:53:00.003-07:00

I have some new items in my Etsy Shop that I'd like to tell you about!

First off... I'm getting into making PAPER DOLLS because they are so much fun! I'm going to be making 8.5 x 11 inch sheets to sell as well as little booklet sets. Right now I have my first booklet available in my shop. The darling character featured in the booklet is Ethel. She loves fashion, strawberry tea, and criossants. She is a bit shy, but she'll make a fabulous friend. The booklet is approximately 4x6 inches with her standing just under 6 inches tall. There are five different outfits in the booklet that you can cut out!

CHECK OUT HER LISTING HERE

I hope to make more doll characters in the future. I already have illustrations for another gal underway. Her name is Claudette, and she is a fiery and outgoing one! I'll have her in my shop soon, hopefully!

Also in my shop I have a number of Poetry Illustrations each featuring a different poem. These are not prints! These are illustrations drawn directly on the pages of a vintage book of poetry. Check them out in my shop! -- CLICK HERE --

I have plenty of other art pieces in my Etsy shop right now! From little ATC-sized originals and prints to listings for Custom Original 8x10 paintings. Please check it out!

A Fairytale Birthday!

2011-01-07T00:01:00.003-07:00

Good morning!

I'm here this morning to introduce you to my new favorite line by Graphic45!

Once Upon a Springtime is such a beautiful, classical, magical line! When I saw it for the first time, I was immediately drawn to it. Some of the papers in it are so absolutely beautiful as they are, that it is a scary thought to cut them!!

I often buy papers like that and just hold on to them for forever because they are so beautiful that I can't use them! I don't know how little me could bring anything new and awesome to these papers that could make them any better than they already are... however, I've decided to STOP IT! LOL! So, I challenged myself to actually USE these beautiful Once Upon a Springtime papers by Graphic45

..so, here is what I came up with!

It was definitely a challenge, I have to say! I spent hours sitting in front of the papers I had picked out and the photos I had planned on using... I just sat and looked at the papers, trying to figure out what to do with them... and willing myself to actually cut the pretty papers! lol!

If you have the same sort of problem as me when it comes to pretty papers... I challenge you to push yourself to actually use them! It is a good feeling to make something you like with them!

Products Used:

Papers
Graphic 45 - Once Upon A Springtime - Woodland Fantasy
Graphic 45 - Once Upon A Springtime - Pixie Post
Graphic 45 - Once Upon A Springtime - Primrose Cottage
Basic Grey - Boxer (an older line from my stash) - Commando

Embellishments
Prima - Cottage Blossoms - Pink Quartz
Prima - Say it in Pearls - Brown
Webster's Pages - Storytellers letter stickers - {Colour} Beautiful (an older line from my stash)

Thanks for stopping by!

Don't forget to check out SCRAPBOOKER'S PARADISE PONDERINGS, the blog for our fabulous store, Scrapbooker's Paradise. Have a fabulous week!!

Happy New Year - scrapbook page

2011-01-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Doesn't it look so much better with photos?

Here's my scrapbook page that I posted about just over a week ago. I made it beforehand and just added photos and journaling today. It sure is sparkly!!

The background paper is called Fantastical Fireworks. It is all shiney and glimmery! I love it! It is actually from one of Reminisce's DISNEY lines. The square bracket was plain chipboard that I painted white and then sprayed with Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist. I love the glimmery shimmer that spray gives!

Anyhow, you can check out my earlier post if you want to know more about the scrapbook page! I hope you all had fun bringing in the new year!

Have a great day!

Goodbye 2010

2010-12-31T12:45:00.003-07:00

2010 was a good year...

It was a year of pesonal growth for me, it was a year of new adventures in my art & my writing, it was a year where we made lots of new and wonderful memories, and it was a year where I did a lot of reflecting on old, cherished memories. I hope 2011 is even better!!

So, goodbye 2010, I thank God that you were a good year for me... and I pray that 2011 will not bring me sorrow, heartbreak, loss... but more good things instead!!! I pray that I can go into 2011 without fear, but with great anticipation for the new and exciting things that God has in store for my family and me. I pray that for you as well!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

...hugs from Mrs. Dude!

Here Comes 2011!!

2010-12-26T00:01:00.001-07:00

Good Morning!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your friends and family!

I wonder how many of you are out braving the crowds to get some fabulous Boxing Day sales, teehee. I plan on heading out to find a nice Christmas Tree for super cheap. Hopefully, next Christmas we'll be decorating our own home and putting up our own tree!

Anyhow, on to the next holiday!

Every New Year for the past few years, we've been going to my Aunt's house for their New Year's party... they celebrate New Year in a special way by giving gifts on New Years Day instead of on Christmas Day. So, all her kids and their kids come over New Years Eve and stay overnight.

I like to start my scrapbooks for each year with the first page being photos from New Years Eve & Day.... so, I thought I'd get a jump start on the page this time around!

Items Used:
Paper - Reminisce - Real Magic Collection - Fantastical Fireworks
Snowflakes - dollarstore Christmas tree decorations
"2011" - random bling numbers
"Happy New Year" - Sticko "Label Lingo"
Ribbon - random Christmas ribbon (check out our large assortment of ribbon!)
Bracket - Bazzill Chips - painted white then spritzed with Radiant Rain Shimmer Mist

So, there it is... all shiny and shimmery and sparkly... waiting for my photos from our New Years celebrations, and a little journaling too. Have a wonderful New Year!!!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas with friends and family!
-Mrs. Dude