Thankful for good friends

It's so nice to know that you have good friends to talk to, to sort out your problems with, to forget your problems with, or just hang out and smile and laugh. On Friday night I got together with many of my scrapbooking friends for a few hours and we had a great time together getting glued up, sharing stories of our lives. This is not a layout I did that night, but it does show how thankful I am for my dear friend June.

3 things I like:
1) I like that the colours represent us here - these are very June and Ang colours.... it could only be made more perfect by adding some teal and pink.
2) Changing a photo from colour to sepia - I don't do that very often, but this photo we both looked drunk (which we were not) our cheeks were so red. Cooking a turkey can make a person flushed.
3) Meaningful journaling - if you don't have journaling, it's not done!

Be Happy

Jen took this photo of me before (?) we went to the 50s diner in her car. It was kind of random, but I liked it, so thought I would do a quick one-pager. This took about 40 minutes from start to finish, inspiration from October 2010 Scrapbook Trends.

3 things I like:
1) Sassafras border stickers - They are so easy, go with nearly everything and add a perfect finish.
2) Felt - it softens everything
3) October Afternoon word stickers - I have 4 sheets of these. Also a very versatile product. The "My Bliss" and "photo taken by:" stickers are from these sheets.

Halloween Banner

I know it's early, but I was inspired. Last year, pretty much around Halloween Crystal and I cut out letters with the intent of making a halloween banner. The letters sat and sat in a ziploc baggie until I was inspired last week. I used mostly Basic Grey's line Eerie.

First Bike

I completed this layout on Friday at our monthly scrap night. The first page is inspired by a Bo Bunny ad in Scrapbooks etc. I used Basic Grey's line Sugared for this - how old is that? 3 years? Glad to use it up!
The ribbon is from Webster's pages; I really wanted it, but had no idea how to use it. With a little (or lot) of persuading from Crystal I added the flowers to the top of it. It added a lot of dimension and broke up all the brown. I love how this page turned out!

Lots of old, a little new

I took this photo before Christmas one night when I was bored. I hadn't scrapbooked it yet, because I was sick of doing Christmas pages. This is the last of them.

This page is made up of many lines, most of it old. The blue snowflake and stripe are Basic Grey Figgy Pudding - that's FOUR years ago! There's some 3 year old MME, and last years Basic Grey Wassail. It's so nice to use up that old stuff.

The inspiration for this layout came from 2 peas. You can find it here. Ryan doesn't like the tilted letters in the title; looking at it again, neither do I. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I think maybe the problem is that the S is too high. Oh well.

EDIT: I fixed the crooked letters, I couldn't stand it. They are all straight now.

Space filler

The trouble with one pagers is that sometimes, you have random gaps in your albums. I didn't really get scrapbook-worthy photos from the Peace Canyon Dam (it wasn't the interesting of a place), but there was a hole in the album after that layout of Ryan, so I had to put something there. And this is what I came up with:

I tore the first page of the info book I took while we were there and added two pictures. The page was basically full, but not done up enough for me, so I had to add a few embellishments. The border just cause I could, and the colour matched. The "discover" is part of a Mr. Campy journal spot cut up. The lightbulb and "the details" is actually a MME journal spot. I chopped it up too to make it fit. What better embellishment for a hydro electric dam than a lightbulb. Really, what else do you put? Not the greatest, but a moment remembered nonetheless.

3 layouts

I printed some photos yesterday, so I was able to finally finish this first layout! I can't even remember when I started it..... 3 months? 4 months ago? It was missing the photo of the Christmas tree, I needed it in 5x7. It is now complete and safely in the album! Always a great accomplishment.

I had to go back 3 albums to find the place for this page - and it's only from last summer! Perhaps I scrap too much. Maybe my mom is right. Haha, not likely. I left these photos for a really long time because I was set on having a Jolees lawnmower or some sort of lawnmower embellishment. I finally gave up that dream, and created a lawnmower mask.... it's not as great as I'd like, but best I could do. Crystal donated the few stickers from a father's sticker sheet by Bella Blvd. It's a fairly flat layout, but that's okay once in a while.

Canada Day! I struggled a lot with this one during our Friday night scrap session. Crystal had to hold my hand and guide me through it. Adding the arrows (which are very old, and exciting to use up) helped to remove some of the Minnie Mouse feel and make it more Canadian. Ryan, who on Canada Day refused to wear a red shirt, said that we ruined the layout by not wearing red. Oh, well look who is right! Me again!

2 Water Dogs

This layout is a total mishmash of stuff. I pulled papers for this page based on colour. I was just looking for colours that went well with the photos. The sassafrass embellishments came last, because I was looking for some border strips. I think you can't use sass embellishments and papers all at once, it's just too much.

These are photos of the dogs swimming at Moberly Lake on May long. Steve LOVES to swim. He is really funny too, and makes this odd snorty, wheezing sound. He keeps the whole front end of his body out of the water, Adam calls him a motor boat.

I've never used a banner on my page before. It's a pretty big trend lately, and I had to try it out. I think I like it :)

Stinky Cookies

I finally finished this layout! When did I start it? January? Now that school, and my portfolio, are complete I have all this free time. I start work on Tuesday, but even then, it's amazing that I won't have anything to do in the evenings. How great! So, like I said - this page is finally finished. I didn't have much to do; I just added on the journaling and hearts.
This page is mostly Basic Grey Nook and Pantry. The orange puppy paper is from Adornit, and there are a few LYB dog stickers on there as well. Fairly simple page - just lots of paper layering. It's my typical 3 vertical 4x6 pictures layout. haha.

I also wanted to share this picture I took of Mack. He looks so grown up! My baby isn't a baby anymore... sniff! I was shocked he sat in one place long enough for me to get a photo I liked.

Another portfolio page

The first page of this serves as a title page for the section of pages. The second page is my final reflection which is part of the portfolio assignment. I wasn't really sure what she was asking for, so I hope I reflected up to standard. haha. I decided to make them out of the same paper for looks.
I did use a Maya Road acrylic butterfly on the first page. It is inked with yellow staz-on. There is a second one... but I do not know where. At some point in the ink drying time it went missing. I realize someone may have ate it, but I don't want to think about that. If I find it, it will get attached to the page also.

Cherish Frame

I've been a bad blogger lately, I'll admit. School and Christmas and all that have been really catching up to me. One more week of school until January though! I am quite excited to have a few weeks of relaxation.... Last night, while procrastinating homework I completed this frame for Mom and Dad for Christmas:

The photo is one taken last Christmas. The frame is clear... it has no backing, so your wall colour shows through. Clear projects totally freak me out! Had I known this Fancy Pants frame was clear when I purchased it, I may not have. That being said, with the help of Crystal I totally pulled it off, and may attempt another one. (I actually want to keep this for myself, it will be quite hard to give it away!) We ended up sewing (well, Crystal did) for some texture. I struggled for a while with how to cover up the seam between the two pieces of transparency (the frame is 18" long and scrapbook paper is only 12"). The photo covers it nicely, and the border along the bottom covers up a bit of a paper trimmer mishap.

The bottom corner was looking a little empty, so I tucked this quote in. I've had it kicking around for a couple years so it was nice to use. Actually, it came from a book full of clear quotes, shapes, etc, and I might not be afraid to use them anymore.

Just a close up of the title. Crystal had a bit of crooked sewing, and I had a bit of crooked glueing, so between the two it looked terrible. I was rescued by Crystal once more, who sewed the "mother-you know what", out of it. I quite look the additional sewing.

Close Knit

I've been getting in trouble for not blogging. So this is just for you Junie :) Another layout from crop. I think this one is possibly my most favourite. It just turned out perfectly. Normally I have one thing I'd like to change on a page, but not this one. I finally used these Heidi Swapp chipboard hearts with embossing on them. They added just a little extra texture and dimension to the page.
This is a photo of my Uncle Charlie and myself. I don't think there are too many of those. It's amazing how much him and my dad look the same.

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.

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.

Avalon Mist

This is one of my favorite pages so far! I love how black can make bright colours pop, although I often forget that little trick. I tend to prefer browns, but black is so much more bold. This one sheet of October Afternoon cloud paper came to me in a Studio Calico kit I believe. I've been hoarding it for a few months, not willing to touch it. It works perfectly here! It's good to save things up (RIGHT Crystal?) for when they are absolutely necessary.
It was a little tricky to balance the right and left side. The first page is based on a sketch out of SBE. I had so wanted to do it and then realized afterwards that only one of my remaining photos was not a duplicate of those in the grid. Ooops. It worked out well anyway.
For "Avalon" I was able to pull out my Quickutz and use Beauty Queen one more time. Since the Cricut the QK has been ignored a little. Again, I do like having all the options so they never look stale or the same.
These photos are from a day on Dad's boat. It was so hot that day! If we were out any longer I would have burned, and I do not burn ever! The dogs were very well behaved and slept most of the time.

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.

Vacation Layouts

I completed several layouts today at June's place. It was rainy and the perfect day for scrapbooking!Mom and I got our toes done at Bliss. June came up with the great idea of journaling on a flip flop. Thanks June!

I love the colours in this one. June and I played around with the Cricut markers. They are pretty cool. I was surprised by how fine a print you got from such a thick marker.

Banana boats! Yum!

It took me forever to decide on this one. I kept switching the pages around.

Another from the photo shoot

I'm running out of photos to do from the photo shoot. I think I only have one double and one single pager left to do.... I used Basic Grey Marakesh for this. It just worked really well with the colours in the photos. I designed this page a little different from usual. I said "I'm just going to make the background look pretty and figure out where the photos belong after that." It was a strategy that worked well actually.

All supplies are Basic Grey except for a few. The "LOVE" is Thickers (of course). The die cut Family pieces are old Daisy D. I actually bought them off Jen D at the LSS garage sale for $1. They coordinate perfectly! I bet she's sorry she sold them now!

You're the Coolest

I love it when you find paper that goes just perfectly with your photos. The green in Basic Grey's new Lime Rickey goes great with the walls in my bedroom! This layout was done in like half an hour. I did barely anything to it. The birdie paper was just so cute and I wanted to use a lot of it. I didn't really feel I could cover it up without making it look super busy. What do you think? Not too bad for half an hour. I never am that speedy!