Friends Are Cool

My daughter is blessed with many great friends. Her two best friends live two doors down on either side of us and her dance troop is filled with wonderful, polite and enthusiastic friends.  This past fall my daughter's very cool friend, Lauren came over and we went to the mall for some girl fun and snacks! Lauren is such a delightful girl with wonderful manners and similar interests as Adriane. When I asked Adriane recently what she really liked about Lauren she said, "Mom, Lauren is so nice. She never says anything bad about ANYBODY ever...and she likes the same things I do..Disney and the mall and dance and stuff."

Well, that says it all doesn't it. I am grateful she has wonderful friends and proud that she appreciates them.

Here's the layout I made to remember that day based on a sketch from my talented friend, Laura Whitaker.

 And here is the sketch:

Thanks for a wonderful sketch Laura! I used the Christmas line from Bella Blvd in a non-Christmas-y way. and I paired it up with an older yellowswirl from Stampin UP!, Swiss Dot white and Bazzil pom pom trim.
I hope you are getting in some creative time!

I also wanted to mention some upcoming events you should be sure to check out"

We Scrap has their 12 Days of Christmas Event at their blog beginning December 1.
My Sketch World has two blog hops one beginning December 3 and the other on December 10th.
Finally, Two Scrapbook Friends blog hop begins December 10th!
So much Holiday fun. just around the corner.

Hope to see you here for the Two Scrapbook Friends and My Sketch World Blog hops.
Keep doing what you love!
Christa

We Scrap Sketchy Saturdays

Every Saturday the Inspiration Team at We Scrap posts a wonderfully creative sketch. This weeks sketch by the very talented Sarah Nolan, featured a single photo and lots of room for creative licence!
Here's the Sketch:

And here's what I made:

I used some of my recently received contest goodies from Two Peas and Authentique. I layered the Splendid collection and sewed like crazy in a contrasting thread. I added a large flourish from American Crafts after sanding it and inking it. I did the same with the title which are some older blue letters. The frame around the photo is also American Crafts and I thought it matched their eyes!  A few Martha Stewart punched butterflies and VOILA!

I should mention that I put the cream piece with the journalling through my printer and added the text in brown. I did a few practice sheets for placement. I hope you'll let me know what you think!

Until next time, be sure to stop in say "Hi!" at the WeScrap forum and pop in on Sarah..you will be inspired!

Keep doing what you love!
Christa

Family

While my friends in the U.S. are gearing up for their Thanksgiving and Christmas prep is well on its way here in Canada, it gets me to thinking about family. Through the good and the bad and the ugly..family sees you through. For me, family has come to include my very bestest bud, Carey and her beautiful children. You may have heard me tell of our weirdly symbiotic relationship before, but very recently Practical Scrappers asked us to create a layout especially for them using old Christmas lines in a new way.  I chose a gorgeous photo from the talented photographer, Angela Smith of Waterloo.

I distressed the edges here quite a bit in keeping with the background and feel of the paper. I added brown and black inks together to tone down the white core-edges. I also sanded the large Bo Bunny Chipboard letters and added the brown and black ink to distress them and make them less shiny. The flourish is Bo Bunny too and was originally black so I sanded it down and added the black/brown ink. I also tied the black twine around the lower title area to create focus on the title and anchor the page.

The large circle and the two smaller ones are from Harmonie and are inked and sewn to the page! It's quite easy to get your needle to go over those larger elements on the machine. I had tea dyed a Fancy Pants doilie and placed it underneath too.

A final note, is the fussy cut white flower (a poinsettia!) added the acrylic bud and a gorgeous jewelled pin.

I am in love with the photo and I hope the layout does it justice. Carey really liked it and truth be told, that's why I did it.

Hope you are enjoying your holiday preparations whatever they may be,

Christa

Thank You Two Peas In A Bucket

Hello!
You may remember that a few weeks ago I mentioned that I won a contest at Two Peas In A Bucket. Every month they have a challenge sponsored by a manufacturer. I entered a few entries in the challenge using Authentique product. Included in the box were TWO lines!
Here is what Two Peas sent me (and so quickly too!):

I love the paper, of course, but the cardstock stickers and tags are gorgeous. Here's a few close ups:

I wanted to thank Authentique and Two Peas  for their generous prizes. I will be playing along this month again!

I love this company so much I will be giving away some as a prize for a blog hop in December!

Thanks for helping me do what I love to do!
Christa

More Monday!

Howdy fellow blogophiles! I am thinking that this Monday I am going to share with you a layout I made from the Authentique sketch challenge posted first Saturday of the month.  If you have read my blog of late, you will know I am a big fan of this fledgling company with big ideas and a heart of gold.

I decided to use some more of my Journey collection to make this layout about my Bo-Bo and my parents 'shug' Bella. Bo is very young here and Bella is being very tolerant!



First, I turned the sketch on it's side. Then I machine stitched the outside and the margins between the patterns. I also placed a rounded corner piece under each photo to seperate it from the pattern visually.

I also made this card to go with the card sketch! Same collection , who can blame me?!

The nice thing about sketches is that they can be used as a jump off point for your creativity. You can stick as close to the sketch as you like or use elements of it for your design.

Thanks Authentique! I look forward to MORE of your inspiration next week with the colour challenge!

Til then keep doing what you love!

Christa

Friendzy Friday with Two Scrapbook Friends: Crash Your Stash of Ribbon Tutorial

Have you been to the back of the Two Scrapbook Friends Store? A huge rack of ribbon on rolls! Wow! I love seeing what they have out and what's in the cool glass jars all over the store? There are treasures to be found! I buy lots and I buy often. So..that means I have tons of it that never seems to get on pages or little bits left over.

Today, I wanted to share with you a ribbon technique I used to create a sunshine element from a ribbon circle.  It is deceptively complicated looking but in fact took very little time. and it helps use up all those little bits!

Supplies:

1 sheet yellow Bo Bunny Double Dot paper

5-7 pieces of yellow ribbon approximately 6-10 inches. This varies with how big your circle is and is up to you.

Fast drying glue

scissors

yellow rhinestones

Process:

1. I  cut a  circle in a piece of Bo Bunny Double Dot Yellow. It should form a rim and be fairly narrow. Mine is approximately 1/2 and inch.

2. I chose 6 or 7 different yellow ribbons and cut them in odd lengths ranging from 2 inches to 3 inches in length. The number of lengths will depend on how much of the circle you want to cover and how large it is. Test these lengths for yourself. After I adhered them I actually trimmed a few for effect.

3. I then folded the ribbon pieces around the edges of half of the circle. I used my Beacons' 3 in 1 glue to do it quickly and with minimal fuss. I didn't follow a pattern really and alternated between thicker/thinner and patterns.

4. Afterwards I adhered the bling on each strand.

Here it is again!

IMAGE REMOVED FOR PUBLISHING

Another layout I used a larger circle as a fringed frame.

Finally, a wreath element on this Christmas card.

I hope you'll dig into your stash of ribbon (I know you have one!) and give this a try. Til next time, keep doing what you love!

Christa

Think About it Thursday

Howdy! I wanted to share with you an idea I have been thinking about lately. It came to me when my friend Carey asked me how I put together a page the other day and why it all seems to fit together. It got me thinking that good layouts are good but there is something that makes takes a layout to the next level.

Now, as most of you know I don't claim to be Becky Fleck or Becky Higgins or any other famous Becky! But I do know what I like and after 17 years of scrapbooking I have had lots of time to think about what's what and how it goes from being good to great.

I think I'd like to start a feature each Thursday where I tackle an element of my design philosophy. Exciting? probably not, intriguing, maybe.

So here's today's item to think about:

Repeating elements provide cohesion and harmony. Those elements should have meaning to the story you are telling. Cool eh? Here's what I mean:

This layout of my daughter and her BFF in their Halloween costumes shows that their shirts had a skull and cross bones on it. When I chose a feature embellishment, I chose an enamel sticker with the same skull shape on it. I also added a wooden button with a 31 (for Halloween) on it. Finally I chose three (this is a magic number in scrapbooking which we will tackle another day!) stars because we all know cheerleaders are about winning and rah-rah-rah! Repetition and meaning. Voila!

Here's it is close up too:

Here is another example where I chose a watermelon or two (you can see why) and a sunshine element. The watermelons repeat the patterned paper strip and the sunshine represents the summer in my title. Repetition and meaning. I didn't choose and ice cream die cut or use a princess patterned paper. I chose carefully so that all the elements told the story I wanted to tell.

So it's short and sweet. Try it or look at your own fabulous pages to see if you are applying the Repetition and Meaning idea!

Keep doing what you love!
Christa

A Glossy Challenge, a Studio Calico contest and chasing away the pre-winter blues online crop! Whew!

My dear friend Ann challenged us to use glossy accents this month over at My Sketch World. I chose the great Amy Tangerine line form American crafts for this fab shot of my son 5 years ago. He is eating Watermelon!

I used a plain white background here and layered the pink and the olive paper which is a very cool wood grain. American Crafts is thinking ahead for added value and the camera strip came off the bottom barcode piece. The white scallop is from a package of Bazzill strips which I trimmed to fit. I then inked the edges of all the papers and distressed them too. One of my favourite things American crafts is doing lately is making matching fabric!

It's stunning and so versatile! I used the fabric paper to hand cut a banner, which I machine sewed and hand sewed the banner strip of twine. It's so exciting that The Twinery has tons of gorgeous cotton twine to choose from.

Finally, I used watercolour paints to make this sun out of Punky Sprouts canvas. Canvas adds depth and texture. Here, I wet the canvas and then used 4-5 watercolour yellows to shade the sun. After it dried, I glued it down and used the sewing machine to create the stitched corona.

The clouds are where I met Ann's challenge. I used the glossy accents here to trace the outside of the cloud to mimic the look of water.

I hope you'll enjoy meeting the challenges over at My Sketch World!

I also wanted to share with you a feature going on today over at Practical Scrappers. Our founder, Christine Meyer has created a set of beautiful designs from the Studio Calico kit. Pop over and say hi and you could win a kit of your own. (By November 15th..don't wait!)

Finally, this weekend begins the week long online crop at Two Scrapbook Friends. Chase away the pre-winter blues and join in these colour based challenges. I have posted one of my own, and it's sure to brighten your day!

So, as you can see there is lots to inspire you and lots of ways to do what you love to do!

Christa

Oh, Lily Bee, how lovely thou art!

Recently, my Two Scrapbook Friends  design assignment was to create with two collections from Lily Bee: The Harvest Market and the Memorandum collection. I love the rustic small patterns and they make it so easy to create non-themed layouts.

The first layout I created features a favourite picture I took of my daughter's BFF when she was 3 years old. She is wearing a life jacket in red and yellow, so I flipped the photo to black and white.

I made a crinkled lollipop flower added some distressed edges with ink too. The flourish is from Bo Bunny and the balloon stamp is from MME. The flower buttons are CTMH and the large letters are Thickers.

The small letters come right from the Lily Bee Collections and have become a staple in my kit. They come in 6 different colours in EACH collection.

I love the black and red and the rounded corners. The stitching is designed to add weight and flow around that title.

My second layout features those great family pictures from Angela Smith Photography in Waterloo. These photos of my husband and my son warm my heart and I didn't want to overwhelm them with lots of pattern. I chose a soft background from the Memorandum collection and added the blues and greens.

I also added some old rubons from Bo Bunny and inked some wheels/cogs from Maya Road. The wooden clock element provides an anchor for my cluster and meaning for my title. The canvas banner pieces are from Punky Sprouts and I used Stampin Up! ink on them.

You can see the background stamp here quite well and it is called French Script and is an old favourite from Stampin Up! The stitching anchors the upper cluster as well as the main patterned paper strips.

My final layout is called Family Style and includes and another favourite photo taken in 2009 by Angela Smith. I used many of the patterned papers from both collections. It is a simple central design and shows of those great letters again.

I hope you will find some time for a Lily Bee design in your scrappy future and keep doing what YOU love to do!
Christa

November Reveal for My Sketch World (and I was a double winner!)

This month's sketch crom My Sketch World was a wonderful whimsical sketch. It incorporated a banner and three horizontal strips to create flow. Here it is:

I am working with some family pictures taken by Angela Smith Photography in Waterloo. I chose two of my darling son, Max and me. I know the time is coming when he won't think I am the best girl in the world, and I think these pictures capture the love we still have for each other (and that he can still show me!)

I have gotten used to using a complete "line" from a manufacturer, which is so very easy! But this time I challenged myself to mix it up a bit. I pulled some old favourites from Crate Paper, My Minds Eye, and Glitz Design. I also inked some chipboard phrases and letters from Maya Road.

The heart is a chipboard piece from Maya Road. I inked it brown and added miscellaneous buttons in the colours from the main piece from Crate paper. After I added the buttons I quickly added the beads from Stampin Up! to fill in the spaces. It has to be a quick process since the glue dries quickly.

Lots of stitching later, and VOILA! I hope you'll head over and see what everyone is doing at My Sketch World! The takes on this sketch are fabulous as usual!


I also wanted to share with you that I recently played along with a manufacturer challenge at Two Peas in a Bucket! I was one of three winners chosen to win $35 in  Authentique product. Those of you who know me well know I am in love with this new mover and shaker on the scrapbooking scene. I also visit their blog regularly and play along with their challenges. I played along with their colour challenge and won! I will receive a paper pack from them directly! I can't tell you how excited I am. Please drop in and say hi and play along with their monthly challenges..you could win too!

I hope you are getting some creative time in this month too. Til next time, keep doing what you love!
Christa

Good Morning!

September marked the beginning of Adriane's second year of competetive dance. It's an exciting time of year with discussions of new costumes and music and lots of new choreography. It always gets me thinking about scrapbooking the dance photos from last year. The best part is that we see the costumes early in the year and we can spend all year finding the best possible paper and embellishments for each costume!
I was very lucky to find the Echo Park Springtime line and the Bo Bunny  lace to complete Adriane's ballet layout. They danced to a beautiful song called Morning On Boston Common  from the film Leap Year.

The letters are Thickers from American Crafts. I fussy cut the flowers and used a die to cut the flourish.

I really love this layout (and I aologize for the poor picture editing!) as far as dance layouts are concerned. We are always challenged with a portrait and a landscape everytime!

Let me know what you think! Do you ever have this challenge? If so send me a link and we can share ideas!

Keep doing what you love to do!

Christa

A Delicious Challenge at Two Scrapbook Friends!

My friends at Two Scrapbook Friends let me offer a challenge at their forum during the last half of October. It was based on a Thanksgiving menu and each person chose food items from a list to fill their 'plate'. Once everyone had chosen their items I revealed the co-ordinating scrappy items. All of those who played along were entered to win "buttons' in the forum and an RAK from me!
The random winner was Ann Jobes! Her layout shows her lovely daughter enjoying her birthday tickets to see So You Think You Can Dance in Toronto. I love how she caught her hubby's and her daughter's faces!

I hope you'll pop over to the gallery and see all the other entries. Thanks to all for playing along and I hope to see YOU there!

Til then, keep doing what you love to do!

Christa