Scrapbook News and Review Published Me!

I was so excited to learn that Scrapbook News and Review has published two of my layouts in their most recent issue. They chose Sunshine Of My Life with it's plethora of buttons and the Sassafrass Lass Mix and Mend collection, that I created for my friends at Two Scrapbook Friends in January.

and Grow Old With Me where I used a Quick Quotes canvas kit and switched it up and added bits of red.

I so proud to be a part of this great magazine. It carries tons of inspiration (with a convenient print button that lets you print all the layouts for scraplifting! and great articles and turtorials. Be sure to check it out.

Once again I am blessed to be part of a great crafting community! Keep doing what you love to do...Just like me.
Christa

Family...

With Family Day around the corner here in Ontario, Canada, I got to thinking about how we celebrate our families everyday. Families aren't just the traditional format these days and we shrink or expand our definitions as our families change. My family looked like this in the summer of 2009. This picture was taken by Angela Smith in Waterloo and for those of you who read my blog regularly, you will have seen many of her photos grace my scrapbook pages. I posted a challenge at Two Scrapbook Friends today to share your family photos, both good and bad and old and new.

In addition to the new stuff going on at Two Scrapbook Friends, I have been actively participating in the My Sketch World Sketch-a-thon.  Lucy Chesna has been producing a thrilling array of new (and previously loved) sketches over the past 15 days.  I just completed the following based on this sketch for day 11:

I used My Little Yellow Bicycle patterned papers, gears from Maya Road, Ribbon and Ric Rac from Jillybean Soup and foam letters from Thickers. I sewed a zigzag stitch to connect all 9 patches and cut the You Are My Hero from a Silohuette design.  I can hardly wait to get today's sketch! Keep up the good work Lucy!

So be sure to celebrate your family in both the big ways and the small ones. My friend who had some pretty sad times in the past two years that she is going to remember to spend her life rather than save all her money. It made me even more determined to get every drop  of LIFE out of each and every day. Keep doing what you love to do!

Christa

I am a New Design Diva at My Sketch World!

I was so exicted to hear early this week that I have been invited to be a part of My Sketch World Design Team. In addition to my beloved work at Two Scrapbook Friends, I will create a new layout in the middle of the month using one of Lucy Chesna's sketches. She is a very talented creator and I am thrilled to be part of her supportive international community. Here are a few layouts I have done using her sketches:

 Also one of my favourite buddy, Bo-Bo:

One I used in our Superbowl Crop at Two Scrapbook Friends:

Thank You to Ann Jobes for her continued encouragement and support in my application, as usual I couldn't do it without her! Finally, I want to say that I am looking forward to being on this wonderful international team of designers and using these creative sketches to inspire myself and you, to scrappy greatness!

As you can see, I am doing what I LOVE to do..hope you are too!

Christa

I HEART You

Valentine's Day is almost upon us and I love all the crafts people make in red and pink and white. I love the look of doilies and flowers. And of course it gets me thinking about the love of my life, Richard! We have been together since 1987 and this year we will be celebrating out 17th Wedding Anniversary. He is a great guy and I am grateful he still loves the 40 year old me as much (or more) as the 16 year old me!  So in honour of Valentine's Day, I pulled out some old photo strips I had from a photo booth in the 1980's and made this layout for a challenge I am sponsoring at Two Scrapbook Friends.

The patterned paper is old Stampin Up! and the diecut is from Silhouette as is the title. The string is MME and the heart brads are old stash I had lying around.

I challenge YOU to create a project that reminds you of those days when love was new and unfettered by the demands of everyday life.  Drop me a line with a link to your creation..I'd love to see what you've made.

Thank you for sharing this with me! Keep doing what YOU love to do!
Christa

Friendzy Friday with Two Scrapbook Friends: Canvas Leaves

Helloooooo Friday! I am exciting to share with you my first technique at Two Scrapbook Friends Friendzy Friday . A few weeks ago, my friend Avril Tanner shared  how to make a beautiful canvas flower. This week I am showing you how to turn plain old canvas triangles into gorgeous leaves. For this project you'll need the following:- canvas triangles like these Lil' Petals- ink and a brayer. I chose green (or shades of green). For fall you might chose reds and yellow and orange. You can also use glimmer mist too.- matching thread and a sharp needle- stickles or crystal effects for finishing touches- safe surface for inking or misting- running water and a paper towel (not shown)- gloves if you don't like to get messy (not used! I'm a crafty gal!)   1. Rinse the sizing out of the triangles. This allows the ink to settle right into the fabric and frays the edges a bit. Blot the water on a paper towel.     2. On your ink safe surface, brayer the ink on the triangles. I use a few shades of green to obtain the coloration I prefer.         3. Thread your sharp needle and tie off the end. You'll need it ready . Then, the tricky part. Fold the wide end of the triangle into a 'w' or an 'm' shape. It should look something like this when you have it right:       4. Using the sharp needle pass the thread through the end a few times until it is secure. Tie the ends tightly. 5. Now the finishing touches. Add some stickles (I used my finger to 'paint' them on) or add a few drops of crystal effects to look like dew. Be sure to let it dry thoroughly before adding them to your pages.   6. Now, get scrappy! Add them to your pages with those gorgeous canvas flowers Avril showed you. Your scrappy friends won't believe how easy it was!     Please share with what you've created! Head over to the Two Scrapbook Friends Gallery and show us what you've done! We love to see how we've inspired you. Keep Doing What You Love! Christa

TOUCHDOWN!

This is not a word I have ever had cause to shout..really! But this weekend is all about the Two Scrapbook Friends Superbowl Online Crop! Oh yeah, TOUCHDOWN, whoop whoop!

Well my friends, if you have never participated in an online crop before it's actually the perfect opportunity to give it a try.The best part is that you can be at home with all your own scrappy stuff, in your jammies and complete your projects on your own time. Personally? I am excited to welcome some friends on Saturday for an all day scrap adventure at my place! So maybe YOU want to gather some pals and do the same.

We will be launching the challenges around 4 pm on Friday. You have until 6 pm on Sunday evening to complete them and link up! You can post a picture of your projects in the Layout Gallery, under Super Bowl Crop Challenges and link back into the forum. There are currently 6 challenges but you never know... there may be another surprise 7th challenge at anytime! There will be a conversation / chat thread in here for you to discuss the game (totally kidding, you can talk about whatever you want)!

Any challenge that you complete and link to the challenge thread will earn you 10 buttons.  Remember those Two Scrapbook Friends buttons can add up to a gift certificate and Carolyn and Shelby were just at CHA ordering more and more new product for the shelves! (Check out the Button Rewards program here.)

The prizes will be awarded as follows...
When the crop ends on Sunday, we will be drawing for 3 fabulous prizes. You have the chance to win a prize just for participating and completing at least one challenge. You will also have another chance to win if you complete all the challenges. Then last, but not least, there will be a final prize for the best creation of the weekend!

If you win one of these prizes you will also receive 50 more buttons.

Because the 2 Friends are being so generous with the buttons, you will not be allowed to combine challenges in order to complete them. So in order to receive points it has to be a project completed for that challenge only. And in order to be in the draw for those that completed all the challenges you will have to have submitted a separate project for each posted challenge.

If you have any questions about the online crop... feel free to ask them here or online and we will be sure to answer them asap.
So...get your game face on!
Keep doing what you love!
Christa

Happy Anniversary My Sketch World!

Happy Anniversary to my friends over at My Sketch World! Lucy Chesna has been leading the charge at My Sketch World with her creative and innovative sketches. Her Design Team and all her followers have created a supportive and positive community where I always feel welcome and love sharing my scrapbooking creations.

Shouldn't there be gifts on an anniversary? Well there is! Beginning February 1st there will be a new sketch posted in the forum EVERYDAY for 20 days. Thank You Very Much Lucy! For each layout or card you post based on the sketches, you receive a ballot to win some wonderful prizes. You can check out the rules and regulations and all the prize sponsors in the forum. It will keep me motivated to try and complete a layout based on Lucy's sketches every day. There will be card sketches too.

I have used a Lucy Chesna sketch to create this layout of my Mom with the We R Memory Keepers Valentine's Day line for my February Design Team at Two Scrapbook Friends.

So, I hope you can find time to visit Lucy and her Team  to wish them a Happy Anniversary!
Keep doing what you love!
Christa