2 Bandits

I'm sharing this layout on a fitting day. My puppy was a bandit today. I don't want to say anything more than that as it will make me very angry. He's lucky he is so cute.

Ichabod

I realized I hadn't ever posted this layout.... Do you remember Baby Ichabod Crane? I first blogged about him here. Here is the completed layout. I journaled quite a bit on this one as I thought it was a cool story to tell.
For embellishment I used Ki Memories baby stickers, and punched circles of my background paper. The bird paper is by Basic Grey from the Pheobe line. I didn't know what I was going to use to dress this page up, so I went with more paper. That was actually a great way to embellish with little effort, and no extra money. The circles are inked, and some are popped up for extra detail.

Goodbye Scenic Route

Oh no! Scenic Route is closing their doors. I don't always pick up their papers.... although there are many I have definitely enjoyed using. So sad to see them go....

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With a landslide of conflicting emotions we have decided to close the doors at Scenic Route. Our last 6 years doing business in the scrapbook industry have been both fun and challenging. Through the years I have learned so much, I know that we can do anything we set our hearts on with a little creativity and a lot of hard work. With that, I am looking forward my next creative adventure.

Thanks to you, Scenic Route had growth year after year culminating in our best month ever in August 2008. Unfortunately, September 2008 brought economic hardships to our company, the scrapbook industry, and this nation.

Thank you so much to all of you who have taken this journey with us and supported our efforts to bring fun and innovative products to the scrapbook industry.

Retreat Weekend!

We had tons of fun this weekend scrapbooking! Michelle, June, Crystal and I totally knocked out the layouts and worked our way through a ton of awesome pages. There was some great bonding time as we fumbled about in the dark, drove out to the camp, chatted over pages, and whispered quietly at night.... Here are a few shots.Crystal had a brad accident. It turned into a cool picture.

Who is this dork? haha.

Me and June. She looks beautiful, and I look all lumpy (and chunky right ladies?)

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Matthew Good is coming to Dawson Creek! Who's coming with me? November 13th!!! He always sings for me close to my birthday!

A "Family" Photo?

Again, I have fallen in love with Cosmo Cricket. Basic Grey used to be my number one, but I'm sorry, I think they have been bumped. Julie and Lindsay, I'm not sure which one of you I can side on this one: Girl Friday or Snorkel.... I've used them both so many times. What great work you have done designing fresh, unique paper.
Here's yet another layout using Cosmo's Girl Friday....

First Day Back To School

I start school today.... Elementary Language Arts is my only class. Is it wrong to hope it's easy so I have lots of time to scrapbook still? I am looking forward to school though. I'll have to let you know tomorrow what I think....


This is my completed layout from Mom and Dad's Surprise 25th Anniversary party. The papers are from Basic Grey's Urban Prairie line. Although this paper is from last year, I've been using it all up lately. My Avalon Mist layout is made with the same papers, as is my Snickers page.
I included a pocket on this page where the invitation slides in and out. I didn't have room to just place it on the page, as I had so many photos I wanted to include. This way, it is there, and actually, the most important info is still visible even when it is in the pocket.
I chose to include names on this page, as these aren't all people you will find in my scrapbooks normally. I really believe that one of the main reasons to scrapbook is to preserve the past, and I would like future generations to know who these people are. In hindsight, I should have included last names for some one them, but I think it will be okay.

You Melt My Heart

I love this photo of my babies! Ryan took this while we were camping over on Texada Island. I selected the paper for this layout by simply sorting through my paper stacks. I sort my paper by colour. When I came across the trees paper it looked awesome so I went through my stash and collected up other pieces from Basic Grey's Offbeat line.
The result is a bit of an eclectic mix. I wouldn't pair all this together normally, but hey, it's from the same line so it has to go, right?
The arrow is a Maya Road chipboard piece, that is actually a page from a minibook. Crystal handed it to me, and I inked it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
The while along the edges (and around the edge of the main page) is paint. White ink just doesn't show up in the way I'd like it to. I wanted something bold.
I have so many photos of my babies, but it is hard to get one of them together. This one is special. I think I might frame this somewhere in the house as well.

A grey day....

The weather is still terrible around here! Only 9 degrees! Brrr! I guess Labor Day really does signal the end of summer...
I've been working on many layouts lately and have decided that I should start sharing some tips to go along with them. Impart my wisdom, you know? Haha.

This layout started as a sketch - I do believe it was from CK, but I did it at Crystal's so I can't say for sure. It's okay to start from someone else's idea... sometimes you just need that boost. What attracted me to this layout was the grid style - there is 12 photos on this page - TWELVE! And big ones too. (I'm currently working on a camping layout with 12 photos, but they are all much smaller). I couldn't have ever jammed all these photos on a page with out help.
Sometimes you need to think a bit to make your embellishments work. Even though these epoxy stickers match some of the background paper they couldn't just be stuck down. They were too "see through" and just didn't have enough oomph. I had to back them in cardstock and cut them out. You can see now they really pop off the page.
Finally, look at individual products, not at a line on the whole. The letters on this page are K&Co's Actopus to Zelaphant line... definitely not Western! But the woodgrain makes them work.

It's raining, it's pouring!

... there is no old man snoring here. I do have 2 very hyper dogs who just want to run around outside and get wet and muddy. I let them, since I have a new vacuum that suck up all the dirt! In hopes of banishing this terrible weather, (it feels too much like home!) here is a layout of some gorgeous weather.This layout is created from a mix of things. I had a Studio Calico kit with 2 sheets of Making Memories Great Escape paper. I had already purchased the tiny word stickers myself. Crystal shared with my some 6x6 papers from this line. The canvas tags and epoxy stickers are from last years Making Memories line - Passport. The ticket stubs also came in my Studio Calico kit, I think they were SEI. This layout was a struggle to make, I had a hard time fitting all the photos I wanted to fit, and making it balanced. It turned out great I think. The orange cardstock really goes well with the photos. It gives them a more sunset look than if I had used a different cardstock. It's interesting how different papers can give your photos a whole new feel.

Secret Scrapbook Society

Crystal, June and I really would like to start a monthly scrapbook night. Something similar to a book club where each member hosts a night at their home. The host would provide snacks, and a scrapbook challenge for the other members. We are hoping this club will take off, and be the first Friday of every month. Next month is my house - Friday October 2nd, 7 pm. We'll try to be a bit more organized for that go around.
Last night Crystal and I met together for our first evening. She challenged me to use felt on a layout. This is NOT something I am comfortable with. She even tried to get me to stitch a piece, but I think I had too big of dreams and it just didn't work out. The layout isn't finished yet, but here is a sneak peek, with my little felt hearts.

My new vacuum

Check out my new vacuum! This man knocked on the door last night and asked if he could shampoo a room in my house for free. I wasn't doing anything, and Mack had just puked in my scrapbook room that morning, so I said yes. Long story short, I bought a vacuum. In this photo it is set up to be the shampooer.

This is slightly embarassing, but the reason I bought the damn thing. This dirt all came from my teeny tiny scrapbook room. Eew yuck!

This new vacuum cleans 6 to 8 inches deep, so it cleans right to the subfloor basically. I was shocked at how much dirt was still in my carpet. It actually takes the dog fur off my couch too! What a great day to go and clean everything I own!

Studio Calico labels

Just thought I'd let you know I went through my blog posts and added a new label. Any posting with a Studio Calico kit in it is now labeled. If you are a kit user and want inspiration, it'll be easy to find now!

A layout of "uglies"

I've finally scanned some more layouts! It was hard selecting from so many which I'd like to post first. I chose to post this one as it was a surprise for me how much I like it. The individual pieces were things I'd never buy ordinarily. But sometimes that turns out to be a good thing.
I needed some Kayak embellishment, and really, there isn't much of that out there. The only thing I could find was the Stickoptimus stickers on this layout. Stickopotimus really makes some low end stickers, they are thin, and the images aren't the best. But they are cheap. So I picked up these stickers and was determined to make them work.
The background paper of this layout is Sassafras. I got it in my most recent Studio Calico kit. I was disappointed as this is a slightly older line and I really didn't like the boy and dalmatian that are on the paper. Coincidentally it matched the kayak stickers perfectly! So I designed a layout to cover up the boy and the dog and here it is. I LOVE THIS LAYOUT!

Grandma Lee

I don't watch America's Got Talent, ever. I do like to watch Britain's Got Talent on You Tube. But tonight, I turned on the tv and AGT was on, so I watched it. This woman is hilarious. There was only one video on YouTube already and it's not the best, but you need to check her out. Before her act there's this story about how she spent her life with a husband in the military, moving around for town to town, raising her children. She says she is finally becoming herself and doing things for herself. What a funny old woman!