Fabulous Four

I haven't been very 'bloggy' lately what with the fall rush of school events, and getting back into the swing of things. But while I was away in Disney, I challenged my friends at Two Scrapbook Friends to create a design using these three colours: Goldenrod, Teal and Grey.
Here's the inspiration:

Here's my design using Authentique's Curiosity line, it has those great golds and teals and grey..which really inspires me. The photo is of us after Max's 13th birthday. I chose to use the black white as my photo choice because we weren't very colour co-ordinated..and you guys know how THAT can mess with your mojo!

I used some sequins to create a heart that matched the colours of this line perfectly. I am thrilled with how it turned out! I also inked the Tim Holtz letters an added some Glossy Accents. The letters actually had a robin's egg patter on them when they dried.

I hope you will give this challenge a try too. Thanks for stopping by and until next time: do what YOU love!

Inspiration Elevator #3: What Do You Believe?

You may recall from last month's challenge that the purpose of this challenge group was to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. We love to have new faces join us on our journey and this month we welcome a new guest designer to join us.  Please join me in welcoming Denise Morrison. Denise's blog is aptly name "Life is Yummy" and so is her art!

This month our challenger was the very talented Ann Jobes. Her challenge to us is as follows:

This month's challenge is a journalling prompt. I realize some of us do not journal much on our pages, and if we're truthful, we mostly scrapbook for ourselves - it gives us joy, a creative outlet, etc. But we do hope that someone is going to page through these albums sometime in the future, right? For this month's challenge, I'd like you to think about some of those values or beliefs that are important to you.

There is no "right way" to do this. Spend some time thinking about this. It's your chance to share with future generations something that is important to you and makes you who you are. Take some time to collect some verses, quotes or sayings that speak to your soul. Choose one that you think is a "life verse" - something that really communicates the essence of you.

Use whatever photo(s) you think will suit your message. Enjoy putting a meaningful page together using your favourite techniques, style, papers - whatever makes it "you".

I know this is going to be difficult. I'm asking you to reverse your process and put the message first when we so often put our message/journalling last, as an afterthought, if at all.

Another great challenge, which of course, was super challenging! I thought about this challenge for a long long time. Not because I don't believe in anything or I couldn't think of a saying or title to represent my belief system, but because there were so MANY! Ann and I chatted about this quite a bit and she and I agreed that we would probably need many many many layouts to cover off the tenants of our belief system.

I chose to with "Find Your Joy". I really believe strongly that choosing to find happiness in every day, in all you do, makes life worth living.

This photo of Adriane shows such a crazy grin. When she was younger, the loved the swings, being outside and she always embraced each and every moment. She was so capable of finding her joy.  The Fancy Pants Hopscotch line worked perfectly to convey such summery joy.

I added my journalling on a hidden tab under the photo.Which helped me get the design as I wanted it.

 I hope you will stop by and see what the designers on this adventure have created:

Ann Jobes

Cathy Harper

Sue Sykes

Lisa Spiegel

Joanne Burton

Christa Uttley

Laura Whitaker

Audrey Yeager

Lisa Moen

Laurel Seabrook

Denise Morrison, Guest Designer

 We would love to see what you are inspired to create. Add your comment below with a link, I will be sure to drop by and say hello.

Until next time, keep doing what you love to do.

Christa

Autumn Colours Blog Hop with Two Scrapbook Friends

Are you craving design inspiration for your Fall and Thanksgiving projects?  The Design Team at Two Scrapbook Friends, plus some special friends, have been busy putting together some amazing paper crafting projects that are sure to kick start your Fall creativity. 

To see all the great projects, begin the hop at the Two Scrapbook Friends Blog and travel from blog to blog.  If you comment on each blog, you will qualify to be in a draw for a special prize from Two Scrapbook Friends! Also, you will find a RED HIGHLIGHTED word on each blog which will make a phrase at the end of the Blog Hop! Once you have completed the hop to all our designers blogs, leave a comment on the Two Scrapbook Friends blog and email the phrase to us and we will enter your name for a second chance to win!

The hop will remain open from October 4th to October 8th at midnight (EST). Winners will be announced on October 10th on the Two Scrapbook Friends' Blog. So, be sure to stop back at the Two Scrapbook Friends Blog and check to see if you are the winner of a fabulous prize!

So remember, in order to be entered to win:
1. Leave a comment on all the blogs as you go and then go back to the Two Scrapbook Friends blog and leave a final comment there.
2. To have a second chance to win, keep track of the HIGHLIGHTED WORDS from each blog and email the phrase to 2friends@execulink.com. Put "Blog Contest" in your subject line.
3. Check back at the Two Scrapbook Friends blog on October 10th to see if you are the winner. (Winners will not be contacted personally.)

Be sure to stop be each on the following blogs, leave a comment and keep track of the secret word!

Two Scrapbook Friends

Carolyn

Ann

Christa

Jan

Amanda

Lynn

Sharlene

Jayne

Shelby

Joanne

I created a design using Little Yellow Bicycle's fall line from 2011. It had a quote that I totally loved.

" Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.~Emily Bronte"

This quote needed just the right photos and I found these three of Max when he was about 3 years old. These pictures still make me laugh and smile 10 years later! I like the balanced horizontal design for these photos and added visual interest with a large chipboard piece, buttons and twine. It's these little bits that ARE my favourite parts of a layout.

 I pulled the title "bliss" out of the quote and it really does represent his joy at playing in the leaves..(if you could just see my hubby's face ..he doesn't look quite so blissful at having to re-rake all the leaves!)

The final touches of a little bird and a chipboard bracket draw the eye to the focal point photo.

I hope you will stop by all the inspiring blogs and fall in love with FALL!
Until next time, kep doing what you love to do!

Falling with Momenta

Good Morning!  Don't you feel fall in the air? Here in southern Ontario we have cold nights and warm sunny days peppered with bouts of gray rain! So when I found these old photos of Max when he was 3, it really brought back those days at our old house on Riverside Drive and the many many many MANY leaves that would fill our yard each October.

 
 I began with a sheet of tan cardstock and added orange, burgundy and brown water colour paints to the background. I doodles a swirl in pencil and added the gold thread stitches by hand. The pennant shapes are cut from the Premium Paper Pad Fall (PA-2331).

 Some pennant shapes, some twine and some faux wooden letters finished it off. His eyes are so blue and his skin so fair. I can still recall the feel of his soft soft cheeks in the cold. I guess that's what scrapbooking memories is about! 

Thanks for joining me today, until next time keep doing what you love!
 

Inspiration Elevator Challenge #5: Something Old

You may recall from last month's challenge that the purpose of this challenge group was to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to grow as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow. 

This month our challenger was the very talented Laurel Seabrook. Laurel loves flea markets and garage sales and would love to incorporate more of those items into her art. In fact, we have invited a valued guest designer to join us this month; her name is Christy Riopel. We welcome, Christy from her regular writing and creating job at Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.

Here's a bit of what Laurel had to say in her challenge this month.

"I love going to garage sales, flea markets and thrift shops to find fun items for me to upcycle into something else either for my own home or to give as a gift. I also love just to pick up some old things that appear to have some sort of story to them. I love the shabbiness of old, worn items and the warm comforting feeling they evoke.

My challenge for you is to scrap an old photo/photos. Not only that I want you to incorporate something that is not normally a scrapping item, upcycle/recycle something to include on your layout. Vintage is definitely not my style when it comes to paper crafting. I like clean and simple so this will be a challenge for me."

If you are following my IE journey, you'll know that I seemed to struggle with the last few challenges. It's not that I can't whip up something artsy or vintage, but is it really "ME"? It is so important for me to remember that when Ann and I started IE, we kept saying to each other: "We have to stay true to our style, no matter what the challenge is." That is what makes the IE a process, not just a challenge. Growth and genius can only arise from the ashes of inspiration, and good old fashioned hard work. Maybe a bit of hair pulling and gnashing of teeth...maybe.

Well, this month certainly resulted in lots of that!  Laurel's challenge to use an old photo really got me thinking about what "old" is, exactly and I am, as a rule, motivated and inspired to scrapbook my newest photos with the newest products. It's almost impossible to get my mojo flowing on old old pictures. But since it's for my own good and further develops my creative brain, I picked up all the clumps of hair I'd torn from my head, cleared my scrappy table and got down to business. I decided genius was not going to create itself!

In the end, I decided that my very own Kindergarten photo was certainly 'old' enough and in addition, since I was in the Back To School mood and couldn't seem to get anything else on my mind, I would go with this BROADLY chosen definition of "OLD".

Then came the hard part. (What?!! you say? It hasn't been hard already??!!) I needed to choose and old item to be upcycled into the design and still make it 'meaningful' for my back to school theme. Fortune struck and I discovered a set of old report cards in my own memorabilia stash. There was that inspiration I spoke about before!

 

My Kindergarten photo is a bit damaged and yellowing. In fact it has a few spots of orange ink on it! My mom (who is a redhead) likes to tell me that FINALLY she has a ginger haired child! :o)

In the end, I decided that if I kept my goal in mind and put away the Prima flowers, I could stay true to my more classic style even when working with vintage (yes, I admit to being a bit vintage!) photos. I added pieces of the report card via glossy accents, in collage format, to a large letter "K" in my title.

A few strips of Simple Stories paper, buttons, and twine finished the little owl off and made a fairly meaningful design. Am I in love? No. Genius? HARDLY! Was I challenged? You betcha! Have I grown in the process? I feel that I have and I want to thank Laurel for another great IE challenge.

I hope you will stop by and see what the designers on this adventure have created:

Laurel Seabrook

Cathy Harper

Sue Sykes

Lisa Spiegel

Joanne Burton

Ann Jobes

Christa Uttley

Laura Whitaker 
 Audrey Yeager
 Lisa Moen
Guest Designer, Christy Riopel 

We would love to see what you are inspired to create. Add your comment below with a link, I will be sure to drop by and say hello.

hanks so much for joining us on this journey. Until next time, keep doing what you love to do.

Christa

We Scrap with Momenta and Xyron

Good morning friends! Today i am excited to share with you creations we are making with Momenta and Xyron.

I  have been holding onto this photo for a while. In fact, it sits on the bulletin board over my desk! It is of my friends Bev Code, Ann Jobes and I at the Zeal for Teal fundraiser. I decided to start with a sketch from Pagemaps. This little gem had lots of potential and allowed me to use the great patterns in the 6x6 pad from Momenta.

I used my Silhouette to cut a variety of circles from several of the double sided patterns. Using the Xyron mega runner I adhered the circles along the top of the striped border.

I also used my Xyron Sticker Maker to re-adhere the letter stickers. A bit stitching, some clips and buttons and it's complete!  I love these Xyron tools!

Until next time, keep doing what you love,
Christa

Making the Grade ..Grade Four, that is!

Good Morning! I love fall. I love Back to School, crisp fall evenings and bright sunny days. Even though Tuesday was a rainy day here, I managed to get some really cute photos of my kids before they left for school.

I also love to get those school photos scrapped as quickly as possible. Keeps me current in this small small way! Adriane is going into grade 4..whoa! Can you believe how grown up she is?

I used Queen & Co. most recent Disney paper line and a sketch by my fellow TSF DT Jayne Morgan. (Check our her awesome sketch here).  Both allowed me to create a Back to School design and match her grown up look and style. The patterns were funky and the arrows especially reflected "education" to me; lots of ideas moving in a new direction ..onwards and upwards! You know I always talk about being meaningful in my scrappy choices and with that in mind, I added a few elements of the number 4 to reflect her grade: four pins, four buttons and lots of spare 4's.

I also used my Silhouette to cut the title. The font is LD Franks Friends in differing sizes. My friends over at Two Scrapbook Friends blog are sharing a few more back to school ideas. I hope you'll head over and check it out!

Until next time, keep doing what you love