September Design Sneak Peeks

September 1st is right around the corner and that means the release of lots of new design team creations.
I was fortunate to be given the Simple Stories travel line by Two Scrapbook Friends and here are just TWO of the sneak peeks !

I also created a My Mind's Eye Lime Twist layout for My Sketch World to begin my second term with Lucy and her great team.

Be sure to stop by both sites to see what my fellow designers are up to. I've been fortunate enough to get a backstage glimpse of a few and they are amazing!

Finally, my fellow designers at Practical Scrappers have some awesome features set up for the next few weeks. If you are in need of some fabulous inspiration, stop over and check it out.

Here's hoping your last week of summer is a warm one and that you can find time to do what YOU love to do!
Christa

Lucy's Sketches

I mentioned in my last post that I have begun my second term with My Sketch World using the wonderfully verstaile sketches of Lucy Chesna. I am so fortunate to be a part of that wonderfully supportive and encouraging forum and gallery. As part of my Design Team application I submitted a never-before-been- seen layout called Live The Everyday Moments based on one of Lucy's sketches.

I used some old Basic Grey I had in my stash and stitched the outside. I used my Martha Stewart border punch and butterflies too.  I added some chipboard, rub-ons, Fancy Pants coffee filters and a few word brads. The crowning glory, though,  is the coffee filter flower I made with the Rollie Rosie on top. I have attached my Two Scrapbook Friends You Tube Video Tutorial here for your interest!
Here's a close up of the flower too!

The flower petals are punched with a scallop punch and folded for depth and fluffi-ness. The rollie rosie is twirled with the Imaginesce petal roller tool; a new favourite of mine!

I hope you will check out Lucy's sketches and join in the forum. We have a wonderful "ABC" contest going on for the entire month of September. Pop on over and get your spot to play along and be entered to win the big prizes!

See you there!
Christa

Summer Scrooge gets a taste of the summer good life!

Wow! For those of you who know me well, you know I am not a huge fan of summer...the heat, the lack or routine..how busy we are..I am actually a bit of a summer Scrooge! I look forward to school starting and I count down the days..but this month has brought me some new surprises and some great scrappy times.

I heard that I was to be published in Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine's spring 2012 issue this month. I do have a layout coming out in the September 2011 issue and couldn't believe they chose my work AGAIN! Print publishing is one of my scrappy goals that I strive for every time I create something.

I also happened to be asked to join Practical Scrappers Design Team. They are a wonderful source of talented designers who provide inspiration EVERYDAY!

 I also heard from Scrapbooking News and Review and they asked for 5 of my layouts for their most recent edition! What an honour.

Finally, Mys Sketch World had a design team call and I was chosen to be a part of their layout design team.

Can you say WOW? I am so lucky to have these great opportunities and to be part of great teams. I continue to love my Two Scrapbook Friends design team work and this month I am working with Simple Stories kit. It;s is gorgeous and versatile and can hardly wait to show you on September first!

So...I guess summer isn't too bad after all...and I won't be so quick to tell you there are only 20 days til school starts!

Still doing what I love (and so lucky to have people believing in my art!)
Christa

PS: I wanted to share with you a layout I made while scrapping  a few weekends ago. I used Little Yellow Bicycle's  Tiny Princess Line. Lots of strips and a canvas banner, a little chipboard wand and some purple polka dot ribbon. Lots of butterflies and buttons and finally, some stitching!

Anyone for a Margarita?

Anyone for a Margarita?
Margarita Paper by American Crafts, that is! This past weekend I was fortunate to be able to find time to celebrate my BFF's Ann's birthday in scrappy style. We attended the FREE anniversary crop for our friends Elaine, Anita and Laura at ScrapMuch? and had a wonderful time. I even won some lovely American Crafts Campy Trails! (thank you very much!)

But best of all, I got some layouts created.  For this one I chose some old pics of my dolly from about 5 years ago. I always wondered what was going through her mind when I took the one with her big big eyes and goofy smile.

I cut some different sized circles and machine sewed them to the background and added strips along the bottom . Two of those strips came of the BOTTOM of the 12 x12 patterned papers! I love papers that do this; it's an added bonus every time I buy something new! I also cut a few circles and made my own version of a lollipop/pom pom flower. I crumpled the circles and then cut them in towards the centre without cutting all the way through. I added a few buttons  and fussy cut some flowers from the patterned paper. I edged the journalling in orange and titled it in some Thickers!

This layout is a new favourite of mine. Do you have layouts that you are working on lately that YOU love?
Keep doing what you love!
Christa

The Reason Why

In 1996, I was invited to a friends house on evening to learn about a new hobby that was sweeping the world: Scrapbooking, of course! From that minute I was hooked and over the past 15 years I have seen so many new trends, purchased some truly wonderful products and met the most amazing people. I have created lots of pages that I adore and a few (ha ha) that I wish I'd done differently, but the one thing that hasn't changed in all that time is the main reason WHY I scrapbook.

In recent years, I have found my desire to become a cutting edge (pardon the pun!) scrapbooker, using the most current products, teaching and inspiring others. I have even been fortunate (and blessed) to become a DESIGNER for Two Scrapbook Friends my local scrapbook store, a fabulous sketch site called My Sketch World and most recently, an inspiration blog, called Practical Scrappers. While all this challenges me and inspires me to be better and grow as a scrapbooker, the main reason I scrapbook is to preserve memories for my family and create ART of which I am proud.

In that vein, I created this layout using SEI's Corrine line. I really liked the idea of a centrally located photos and the papers really allowed me to highlight the melon and blue in the photos. The background papers are machine stitched to the kraft base.  I have inked the edges and added some rub ons (Daisy Bucket) along the right side in the exact melon shade.

Finally once I added the pictures I fussy cut the Flowers from patterned paper and popped them up on the edge of the chipboard trim (MME). I added the diecuts, also from Corrine and some taupe ribbon from Stampin Up! The added touch of the scalloped border punch and butterflies are all from Martha Stewart.

The title (in American Craft Thickers) came to me while listening to my Scrappy Playlist on my iTouch. The song The Reason Why (hee hee) by Little Big Town got me thinking about what I do and why I do it with such passion. So, if you're feeling a creative slump or feeling the pressures to produce the perfect page, just remember your REASON WHY. I hope that it helps you get back to the beginning of your creative journey, where the passion and excitement for this wonderful craft set you on the journey you are on today.

More than ever: keep doing what you love to do! (and remember why you do it!)

August Design Team Reveal!

I love the first of every month, when I can peruse my fellow designers galleries and see what they have created for the new month. This month at Two Scrapbook Friends I was given the Yankee Doodles line by We R Memory Keepers. I adored the bright red, white and blue designs. I created these three designs:

I added yellow to the Beach Hair yellow and the other colours just POP! BE sure to check out the gallery at Two Scrapbook Friends for my fellow DT wonderful creations!

August 1st was also the release of   My Sketch World's August sketch. Lucy Chesna's sketches are so versatile. Here's August's:

and here's what I did with it!

I loved these pics of my family on Father's Day and a little bit of Lime Rickey from MME and some We R Memory Maker's scraps!

Let me know what you think! Til then, keep doing what you love!
Christa