Instagram Delight!

I adore the Instagram App on my Iphone. I use it all the time to create cool effects on my photos. This month I was Challenged to create an Instagram layout inspired by the ladies at XOXO blog.
Here's what I made using Bazzil Divine Delight. My daughter and her glorius hair!
 The ladies at XOXO had many layouts with bright coulours, a centre photo design, and flowers galore.

Let me know if you were inspired!
Christa

Hi!

This weekend has been a wonderful exercise in scrappy flow! I attended the Fall Retreat at the Oakwood Inn in Grand Bend with my friend Carla and the Two Scrapbook Friends. We scrapped and ate and scrapped and ate some more! I made some new friends (Hi to Paula and Judy!)
I also created 6 layouts and a card. The card is in response to the colour challenge issued by Authentique.

Those of you who read my blog or know me well know I am in love with this new company. Paper quality and designs are top of my reasons why. The card uses the Wonder line (you can't see that underneath the black flower is a bit of red since it is a Christmas line!) and the green letters are Authentique too.

How do you think I did with the challenge! I hope you'll play along each month too. It really gets your mojo flowing and you could even WIN! Til next time, keep doing what you love..and if you can do it while on Retreat with Two Scrapbook Friends!

Christa

Authentique Challenge at Two Peas!

Two Peas In A Bucket has a challenge sponsored by Authentique. I have entered three designs and the gallery is filled with wonderful entries. Here's my first one:

And this one of my hubby as baby:

and this card:

Patterned papers are by Authentique. I also used a chipboard gate from Dusty Attic and inked in dark brown. The rosettes are freehand cut and rolled with my Imaginesce petal roller. The two borders along the bottom are Martha Stewart and the wire is from the hardware store.

If you get the chance to head over to Two Peas and check out the contest I hope you'll let me know! Good luck! Til then, keep doing what you love.

Christa

Boy Meets Dog

Recently I was lucky to get a great picture of my darling son and our delicious Boston Terrier Bo-Bo. Bo and Max have not always been the best of friends since Max is often too busy. Most recently though, Max and Bo-Bo have been enjoying sometime to themselves and a wonderful relationship has developed. Here is a layout I designed for Practical Scrappers Challenge Me Tuesday feature.

Max's shirt has that horizontal stripe which, as part of a design, is a strong visual element. I didn't attempt to use a stripe in my design but rather used dots and a chevron to balance out that stripe. The patterned paper is from my stash of scraps so I am unsure of the manufacturers! The letters are American Crafts.

I love this picture and the resulting layout  too. I hope you are creating things you love too!
Christa

It's Pugg-a-licious!

My daughter's BFF JJ has a stuffed pal who has seen her through tough times. Puggy is made of fabric and stuffing but that stuffing is a core of steel! Her Mom had this photo taken by Angela Smith to commemorate JJ's relationship with Puggy and I wanted to be sure she had a chance to remember it too. I have encouraged JJ to write something special to Puggy which we have adhered it to the back side of the layout. Those words will help her remember how Puggy made her feel even when she has grown.

I used the American Crafts fall line and a great Thickers font. I sanded the orange felt chipboard (it used to say Thanks) and added some letters form Lily Bee. There is wood and wire, which I think represents the solidness of JJ's relationship with her Puggy.

I love you JJ and I am glad you loved this layout of you and Puggy. It's Puggalicious!
Christa

In My Eyes You Are Tall

I adore fall. Not only does it mean the end of the hectic summer months, it means cooler temps, routines and of course, gorgeous colourful scenery (and pictures!) Recently, I created a layout for Practical Scrappers to showcase these wonderful pictures of my son and my Dad from 2003. Although he looks a bit 'grumpy', so my Mom tells me, he is actually thinking about something he and my son were talking about and investigating. I love how they seem interested in the same thing and have such similar expressions! My son looked up to his Poppa and still does even though he is now 12 years old.

I used Best Creations fall line and added lots of machine stitching and distressing. The punched border is Martha Stewart and the leaves are felt from the bulk bin at my LSS. The letters are Kaisercraft (small) and American Crafts (large).

I hope you'll head over to Practical Scrappers and check out all the other fall inspiration. It's obvious the designers there are doing what they love to do, are you?
Christa

KAPOW!

Halloween is almost upon us and I must admit to not paying too much attention to the season except for frantically searching for a costume for my daughter (my son has decided he is too old!) and buying candy for the hundred or so children who will ring my doorbell!

But recently Practical Scrappers challenged us to create a Halloween layout.  I was a bit panicked since my Halloween pictures are usually taken on the fly and the lighting is bad and the kids have little (or No) patience with the camera. I did find one lonely picture of my son when he was four years old. I had made a Batman costume out of a black turtle neck, a mask, a balaclava, felt and some yellow foam. EVen his treat bag had the Batman logo on it!He was so happy that I made his costume...Go, Mommy!

I used Best Creations and old Stampin Up! paper and some great letters from Pink Paislee, American Crafts and Me and My Big Ideas. The colours are traditional but I love all the circles and how it sets off his little costume. I am hoping to get some great pictures this Halloween...cross your fingers!

Thanks for stopping by and seeing what I am up to! I hope you're doing what you love to do too!
Christa

I Had A Dream

Really..I dream often. I hear some people don't but my head is always filled with dreams...sometimes even when I am sleeping!  My Hubby says it's an overactive imagination and I don't suppose he's wrong, but the other night I was perusing the Canadian Scrapbooker website and enjoying the Sketchy Challenge sketch.

That night a layout came to me (hokey I know!) and when I awoke I knew the pictures and papers and design I wanted.  Here is in all it's glory!

This is the Maragrita Line from American Crafts. I love the bright colours and the stripes and  little buildings. I began with a splattered watercolour palette in the shades of the paper. I went heavier on the pink to better set of the photo. I layered a few strips of paper and added two circles of paper and edged in pink ric rac. I then fussy cut the buildings and built a layered look on that lower left side.  I mounted the photo and cut the palm tree (Silhouette image). The title took the longest and I was determined to find the right balance in the fonts. Did you notice how I used the two "8's" to make a Mickey head? The orange brackets helped tie it all together! I stitched on those journalling strips and added a (not-so) hidden Mickey.

I hope you like it as it came together just as I imagined. Thanks for stopping in and joining me for this dreamy layout! I am doing what I love and dreaming about it too! Are you?

Christa

Putting on the "Glitz"

This week I was fortunate enough to work with all three of the gorgeous Glitz Design papers that Two Scrapbook Friends has to offer. My Glitz-y story begins with an email and a photo to one the "friends" Carolyn, who was on her way to CHA this past summer. I begged her tot get a close up look at the Dance in the Sunshine line. There was something about it's lavenders and aquas that made me want to CREATE!!!
Carolyn ordered all three lines and called me when they came in. She had piles of paper and trims and some stickers laid out when I arrived and she said (every scrapbooker's dream) : "Take what you need!"

My favourite of the layouts is using that Dance line that had caught my eye. I had taken a few shots of my Dolly at a park in spring a few years ago and caught her beautiful toddler face.

I fussy cut the birds and the branch is from a Silhouette design. The little leaves are crinkled and inked and those sparkly letters are all American Crafts Thicker goodness! The design, though simple, allowed me to splash watercolours on the background and ink and distress  the edges of the layers. I also used the wonderful Epoxy stickers to create a sun. Here's a closeup:

I used this same line to create a another design focusing on a photo taken the same day. It's title is another nick name we had for her when she was this age and constantly giving anyone who stood still, slobbery kisses.

The design features epoxy stickers made using my Epiphany epoxy maker. It is a wonderful thing!



I used a grey background and sewed larger circles on with matching aqua thread. They have been crinkled and the edges folded up for lots of dimension. The letters are American Crafts (aqua) but the tiny ones are Glitz.  Here's a closeup:

The next line was the Vintage Blue.  It had wonderful navy, which is hard to find in scrappy papers, plus my favourite: yellow! I made the following layout to celebrate a family friend who is a wonderful "Grandma" to my kids. She is a seamstress and still finds time to create wedding dresses for friends and family. We were headed to Walt Disney World to have tea with Princess Aurora on our very first visit to the WORLD. It needed a very special dress and my Dolly knew who to ask! No store bought dress for this special occasion! Dolly and Grandma Sharon hit the fabric stores and bought everything she needed from trim to underskirts; from lace to satin. It was gorgeous. Here's my small attempt at payion homage.

I used a Maya Road dress form chipboard and inked it. I then pleated paper and sewed the top together in an accordion pattern and adhered the skirt with glue. I traced the bodice and added My Mind's Eye bling for buttons. The lace sleeves are Glitz Trim pinched and sewn into circles. Prima roses, Clost to My Heart flower buttons and some Me and My Big Ideas gold letters finishe it off nicely. I am not normally a bling-y gal but this layout called for it by the bucket load!

Here's a close up:



My final layout uses the Beautiful Dreamer line and features an old photo of my dolly in the field of Queen Anne's Lace near our home.

This line is gorgeous in it's romanticism. I heavily distressed and tore the edges of the pink and layered it on the cardstock. That image in the lower left is on the patterned paper and does wonder to anchor the design.  I cut flourishes with my Silhouette and the title "dreamer" is also Silhouette. The smaller roses are Prima but the larger is Recollections. I layered a few matching papers and machine sewed. I finished with a few punched butterflies, a metal frame from Stampin Up! and a "Beautiful" sticker from Glitz. 

Here's a close-up:

I hope you have enjoyed puttin' on the "Glitz" with me! I adored this collection and hope you'll get a chance to see it at Two Scrapbook Friends. Once again, Carolyn, thanks for taking a chance on me and buying the Glitz! I have heard it's a hit!

Keep doing what YOU love to do.

Christa

More "Soup" for You!

My dear friends at Two Scrapbook Friends asked me to design some projects with the Christmas Chowder line from Jillybean Soup. I am not sure what it is about "the SOUP" but I like to get out my kraft cardstock and paint when creating. Jillybean does great repetitive patterns and the colour scheme is often very versatile.
To get my mojo flowing, I began with an SRM tube and created a place card for "Aunt Sue" filled with Skittles. I used the cardstock stickers and a scalloped punch to add to the cute little tube.

I then created a few layouts; two Christmas-y ones and another Summer-y layout. The first Christmas layout called Cool You-le, shows a splatter paint technique in red with some random button placement. The buttons are actually sewn on the background rather than glued on. I used the Jillybean corrugated letters and tons of machine and hand stitching for texture. Rounded corners and sideways journalling finish it up.

My next Christmas layout is a Disney Layout. I love the trees at WDW and used these happy papers to show off my favourite tree at Hollywood Studios. I used rounded corners again and popped up some of the trees for dimension. More stitching and buttons too. I loved the many font title and the hidden Mickey. Can you find it?

My last layout was a non-Christmas layout. Jillybean's colour choices really allow for your to create non traditional layouts with a Christmas line. Here is my daughter in her swim suit acting silly. The browns, pinks and blues are perfect for this design.

I used a chipboard title and inked it. The flowers and butterflies and stitching give it lots of texture and dimension.

I also made two cards and a banner! The cards are very simple and incorporate the Jillybean stickers.

The Banner is created by fussy cutting the trees and penguins. I used glitter and liquid applique for the snow and added googley eyes and buttons. I have never created anything like it before and I hope you like it!

Wow! I loved working with this line and am so grateful to Two Scrapbook Friends for giving me the chance to create for them! Be sure to check out their blog and see what everyone else is creating. It's amazing!

Thanks gals, for letting me Do What I Love to Do!
Christa

Friendzy Friday with Two Scrapbook Friends and Jillybean Christmas Chowder

Happy Friday! Welcome to Friendzy Friday with Two Scrapbook Friends. Today I wanted to share two products I adore; especially at this time of year when we are getting a head start on our Christmas Cards.
Liquid Applique and Glitter Ritz MicroFine glitter.

I also wanted to share my video that I made showing how to use these two great products to make a really cute penguin cards.


You'll need the following supplies (Plus your basic trimmer, scissors, glue and tape runner):
1. Liquid Applique
2. Micro fine glitter in white
3. Three sheets from the Jillybean Christmas Chowder line
(Snowflake,penguin and christmas tree)
4. An adhesive sheet (Scrapbooks Adhesives is what I used)
5. White Cardstock (1 12x12 sheet)
6. A Cool sentiment (I used my computer and chose "Hope Your Yule is Cool")
7. Twine (I used aqua twine from the Twinery)
9. Teeny Tiny googley eyes (I got mine from the dollar store)

I have used this technique to make a banner too! Watch for it soon at Two Scrapbook friends! I hope you enjoyed this technique.
Keep doing what YOU love to do!
Christa

Face Time at MSW

This month Lucy produced a fabulous sketch for us to work with! It inspired me to get out some old pictures of my daughter and use some new Fancy Pants Designs for my design team submission.
Here's the sketch from Lucy:

Here's what I did with it. I layered the wild flower pattern over the black background. I chose it because it mirrors A's nature as being a bit "wild". The little embellishments (arrow, heart, stamps) and the circular flower at the top and bottom of the focal photo is are from a Fancy Pants embellishments pack. I added some messy machine stitching and some rough baker's twine. I even adhered the journalling strip with a few staples.

I love Lucy's sketches and I hope you'll pop over to the MSW blog to see what my fellow designers have done with it too...especially my BFF Ann..she had a surprise for me this month! Stop in at her blog and say hi!

Til then, keep doing what you love!
Christa