Stuie's Diner

...where your weiner gets a shake.... You could not pay me enough money to wear that on the back of my shirt! It was a hilarious moment as Jen read that and nearly choked on her food.
We went to this new diner in Dawson Creek the other day. If you know anything about me and "the Twinkie" you'll know I'm a bit leery of metal tubed shaped dwellings, especially those painted pale yellow. This one, however, was silver, so I took the risk. It was decorated very cute inside, all teal and black. They had a jukebox and lots of Elvis stuff on the walls. The menu had Betty Boop and the Fonz.

I am totally loving this layout for many reasons:
1) It's super bright
2) I used some Studio Calico I thought I never would (the cutlery paper and milkshake)
3) My photos have no mats (well, except for one). That's rare for me.
4) It's fairly flat and yet I still like it!

Close up, just for fun!

A couple baby book pages

I've been slacking on the blog posting lately. I have been scrapbooking, so really there is no excuse. Here's a couple more pages for my baby book.

I started this layout on Tuesday and finished it on Wednesday. I used a mix of supplies: some Studio Calico paper from their new line Documentary, Sassafras and old Cosmo (the green paper is from their Storybook line 4 years ago! Thanks June!) I love the mix of colours and patterns here and how my photos are arranged.

This one is actually a couple weeks old. It's funny because the only other page in my baby book with butterflies on it - I'm wearing the exact same dress. It's not really a butterfly dress, but then again, maybe it is.

No one more perfect

It's been a while since I've completed a one-pager. I like them so much because they are easy - especially when you use such a large photo! This was supposed to be a photo of Ryan and I (taken by me), but I have this tendency to forget the zoom is on when I take self portraits. As a result I got this photo of just Ryan. I really like it (as does he, which is unusual for him - he always says he looks dorky in pictures).

I started out with a Studio Calico kit I had partially used. I added some making memories scrap from another kit, some star ribbon from Crystal, and letters. It came together very quick and easy.

Room 5

Oh how I wish I had my own 12x12 scanner. This is one of my best layouts completed for my portfolio so far. These are 3 shots of the classroom I was in for my practicum. I journaled some good ideas I would like to remember from the layout/organization of the classroom.
The paper is all from October Afternoon's Report Card line. The little yellow dots are Thickers from a few years back. They came in a Studio Calico kit. I remember thinking "good god these are bright, I will never use them", but they are nearly all gone.

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.

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.

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!

Great idea!

I've been slacking off on the blog postings lately. Now that I know how great layouts look scanned, I'm hesitant to post them until I have enough to scan a CD of 20 photos (or 10 double layouts). I'm nearly there, and hope to go scan a bunch again on Thursday. Then I will spread out the postings and hopefully, by the time they are all up, I'll have a new batch scanned.
I just read this post over at Studio Calico's blog. What a great idea for using up rubons! I knew that the adhesive eraser would remove rubons, but I never thought to use them as a mask. I recommend you go to their blog now.

2 High Quality Dog Layouts

I haven't posted in a while because I knew I'd be scanning my layouts and I much prefer posting them scanned. The quality is so much better and you can see all the edges. Sometimes in photos I cut stuff out by accident. I'm planning on posting a few a day so stretch it out because I'm sure it won't be long until I have another CD of scanned layouts. I've also gone back and updated some trip layouts to scanned versions as well. Here's two layouts of curious dogs for today:

Steve had never seen crabs before. He was all about them. This is really old (and by that I mean, last year) Cosmo paper. I wanted this robot paper so badly but had no use for it. Glad its used up. I cut the title and the crabs with the Cricut. I traced another journaling spot to make this one. I also did a ring of Stickles around the crab in the large photo to highlight it. Those little crabs really do a good job of blending into the rocks.

Mack is so silly! Here he is peeking into Craig's tent. What a nosy little dog. The "Fragile" paper is Making Memories from last year. The red stuff that kinda looks like tents is exclusive Studio Calico from a couple of kits back. I added a couple of MME green rubons to the title strip for a bit of extra detail.

More trip layouts to come soon. Dont' forget you can click on them to look at a larger photo and read the journaling!

4 more...

I created the road sign background for my title using the Cricut and SCAL! The letter stickers are really old Chatterbox. All papers are October Afternoon.

My cousin's children! This uses Basic Grey's Lemonade line. Love the colours in this.

These photos are from the cabin. We always have so much fun up there. This is a mix of October Afternoon lines.

This layout is created mainly from the latest Studio Calico kit. Like my photo orientation on this one. It's a little different for me.

Two layouts!

Two more to share! This one was done last night. Crystal invited me over at 9 and I obliged. A random impulse scrap, I just threw some stuff together. But it worked. I used a sheet of Kraft paper here. I have so much of it from my Studio Calico kits, but it just doesn't seem to be my thing. I like how it softened this layout, I may start using more. Only one family page to go!

This is the layout that I showed the sneak of the other day. The photo has been printed. I LOVE this layout. Very retro. Super cool. Thanks Crystal (and Jane!) for the use of Jane's cricut cartridge to cut this flowers. They look just like the Sass flowers you can buy!

Scrapbooking Things....

I got a few layouts done the other day before all the flooding occurred. I have one more to finish as well, which I'll probably post tomorrow.I'm happy to have this one finished. This is Mack's photo and writeup off the SPCA website. We picked him based on this photo. He's grown up so much already! Love the bold colors on this, they suit him.

Really simple layout of a great photo of Ryan and I. Happy to have used the Studio Calico exclusive papers I received in a kit a couple months back. Goes well with the photo I think.

Since I left June's place in such a hurry I had also left all my tools at her place. I wanted something scrapbooking related to do last night and that finally motivated me to finish my chipboard storage. Looks pretty good. Now I need to find a new place for my Clip-it-Up....

The basement wall is leaking again, so I'm off to go mop the wall. Oh joy. Happy Easter everyone!

Procrastination Central

I do not want to do any smelly homework. I'm not sure why I'm in this mood. I'm just blah still about school. I always get like this for a few days near the end. I finished my layout though!

I love it. I am happy to have finally used the Imaginise pearls and white rubons. I have those damn rubons in every colour and have barely used any. The snowflakes came out great. The blue one is coloured in Copic Marker and then again with Distress Stickles. This was my first time trying out the new Distress Stickles. It was weird. The crystals are bigger so the nozzle hole is bigger. It was really hard to not squirt out A LOT of stickles. It came out nice though. It's sparkly, but not overly crazy. I like the look. I had mentioned that I had copied this layout from one I found on twopeas. You can find the inspiration layout here. I chose this because I had the same Studio Calico kit. I really wish I still had those great Sassafras letters, but those are the ones Mack ate. Sniff sniff. I still miss those letters. You can totally see the commonalities between the two layouts, but I love how different they are. I don't know the lady who the orignal came from, but I know from mine you can definately tell "my style". Funny how no matter how hard you try to be different you are always still you.

I've plans to use that photo of me Jen Louie took of me on the chair (see this post) for my next layout. I'm going to use the "I am from" poem I posted a few days ago with it. I think it'll make for a great page. I try to do one just about me every year at least with some meaningful journaling. I'm going to use the colour version of the photo and I think some left over pieces of Basic Grey from last year. A layout about me must have Basic Grey to be complete wouldn't you say?

New layout, busy life.

I finished a layout last night. This article is from several years back (the blank circle at the bottom is for the date when I dig it out). My Auntie Gracie had a big named Pokey. She was HUGE. We used to ride her. One day Dean threw her a ball and she ran after it, had a heart attack and died. Anyhow, this article was written while she was still alive, because she had gained quite a bit of popularity in Canim Lake. I kept the page fairly simple, and used a little bit of stamping as embellishment. (Really, what do you use to embellish a page about a pig anyway??)


Other than that, just keeping busy with school and work. Getting my Christmas lists together, making cards, collecting and hiding presents. I'm very excited for Christmas. It snowed a bunch and I've been shoveling. I love to shovel it's great excercise. Ryan is coming home tomorrow and I'm worried because we had some ice rain today. My thoughts are very fragmented and random right now, so I think I'll stop writing, put on some Christmas music and complete a few more cards.

Studio Calico is AMAZING

My Studio Calico kit came the other day. I LOVE IT! There's a few pieces I wouldn't necessarily have picked out myself, and may need to push myself to use, but overall I'm really happy with it. Lots of unique pieces. I created this layout within like 10 minutes of opening the box. I'm quite happy with it. The photo is going to go on that big newsprint spot - it's the photo below. I've loved this picture of Grandma Rosie and wanted to do something with it for a long time. I hope that this layout does it justice. I think she looks so beautiful in her fancy coat and gloves. There's still so many more pieces of this kit I need to use up! Gotta find some time!!

Kit Club

I've been thinking about doing this for a long time. I figured that since I'm doing what I'm doing today I won't be spending much time around a scrapbook store anymore so I thought I'd reward myself with a monthly surprise through the mail. Studio Calico looked like the best bet. ( http://www.studiocalico.com/ ) The kit is $30 USD, and with conversion, shipping and handling all that it was just under $50 a month, but I added up everything in there and that's pretty much what it would cost. It's not all necessarily my style, but I'm kind of excited about that. The stuff is pretty, and beautiful things were made with it, so I'm happy to push myself out of my box, not to mention receive products I wouldn't see here or wouldn't pick up.

Anyhow, that's all I wanted to share :)