Come Cyber Croppin With Me!!

Wooohoooo!!

Yep, it's time we all broke out the prizes and give some stuff away! Our Design Team Gals over at A PILE OF SCRAP were chatting and we all decided that this weekend a few of us may be SuperBored with the SuperBowl so why not do an online crop? And to top it off, we also have Crop Circle starting up this weekend too!!!

Sooooooooo....let's fill you in on a few little details

First off, in order to win any prizes, everyone must complete the Crop Circle challenge! Jeananne is going to post this on Thursday to help you all get a little jumpstart on things.

Secondly, you can choose to do any or all of the DT challenges - each DT member will be announcing their challenges - however many you complete, your name will be entered into a draw for the grand prize that many times! For example, if you do 2 of the challenges (plus the crop circle) your name will be entered twice!

You will have until midnight Sunday to post all of your completed challenges. We also have a bingo going on throughout the weekend and some fabby make and takes!! Each DT member will choose one winner of their own challenge and then there will aslo be the grandprize SO we have 4 DT prizes, the Crop Circle prize and the Grand Prize!........ and you never know, there may be an odd game or two thrown in with some extra prizes!!

Be sure to head on over and sign up - it's ALL FREE!!! I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im Such a Keener

Not too shabby... I posted the sketch this morning and I am posting the layout before midnight! Actually, I just had a dayhome break today :) This entire layout was done with scraps from my long buried scrap box. The butterfly and the flowers were courtesy of some techniques posted over on the forums - what a great motivator this place has been for me lately! I am scrapping at home for the first time in ages...and it's reminding me to try out things that I had buried away! We are also hosting our first on-line crop this weekend so pop in if you have a chance!

Sketch of the Week #4 - Jan 26- Feb 1/09

One pic, one page...what story can you tell?!

Sketch Done :)

I finally got up the nerve to pull out the sewing machine and have at 'er! I love how it looks and am glad I was finally brave enough to do it. I was a sewer (one who sews, not one who processes waste...lol) long before I was a scrapper and did find it a little hard to sew messily but still had a lot of fun in the process. I didn't really have any paper to match the fabulous hat but made my own paper instead with handstitching...isn't my son handsome?!

My Daughter the Crafter

Oh how my daughter wants to craft....At just over 2, she loves to wander in and out of my room and play with my craft stuff, always asking "me caft Momma?" Most often if I give her a pen and some paper, she is happy to sit on the floor beside me and "cawa" but sometimes she likes to get into stuff she shouldn't all by herself. And unfortunately, this is exactly what happened on Thursday.... I was downstairs making lunch for the 7 kidlets that were in my house (who were all happily in the living room, minus miss craftypants) when I heard the 7 year old gasp "UH-OH" These are truly dreaded words...It usually takes me a bit to get up the courage to investigate but there was no need as when I turned around to go find the trouble, instead TROUBLE was staring up at me, knowing she was in BIG trouble!! When I first glanced at her, I thought a pen had exploded and my first worry was the carpet....however when I made it upstairs (with her following behind me exclaiming "I did it Momma, I caft!!") the first thing I noticed were 3 lovely shades of Staz-On that were open and laying on the carpet.... You see my crafty 2 year old had found Momma's stash of Staz-On Ink... you know the incredible ink that STAYS ON?!!!! Yeah....and I always said that I loved the smell of Staz-On, it smells like maraschino cherries to me...and apparently she liked the smell as well as she needed to be much closer to it, as you can tell by the pictures! So let this be a lesson to all you fellow Staz-On owners...... HIDE IT NOW WHILE YOU CAN!!!

Technique Tuesday...on Wednesday!!

Sorry I am a day late....but better late than never! I was inspired by a challenge over on Our Creative Corner. This is a great site that has new challenges every week and it is really neat to see what different things people create with the challenges set out. We recently did a photo challenge on our scrap forum and I loved seeing the different ideas that came from it... I actually need to ask permission if I can use one of the gal's layouts to show you what she did - it was amazing!! I will let you know if she agrees! Sooo..where was I again? Oh right...onto the technique......Emboss Resist! Please remember to click on any picture to get a close up look!

For this technique, you will need the following items:
White cardstock
Cardstock to create a mask
Clear or Holographic Embossing Powder (I used
holographic)
Embossing Gun
Versamark Ink
Sponge
Pigment Ink (not craft!)
A Stamp that is mostly filled in (not just outlines)

Stamp your image with Versamark on your white cardstock. Cover with clear/holographic embossing powder and heat to emboss.

Create a mask using cardstock. I used my handy dandy Slice and cut out a 3 1/2 inch circle, saving both pieces to use as a mask.

Cover your stamped image using the circle that you cut out. Blot your sponge into your ink pad and sponge all over to cover the white background. You can continue until you have the colour you are looking for.

Now cover the remaining white part of your cardstock with the open circle and cover the part you have already sponged. Sponge right over the stamped image as this is where the EMBOSS RESIST comes in! I sponged a little bit of pink and then over that with a light green. If you want the edges a little less sharp, blend the two colours a bit more.

And now for the EMBOSS RESIST part! Simply wipe your pigment ink off of the embossing and your clear image will POP thru!
And voila, the final project! There are so many fun ways to use this technique - please go check out all the beautiful creations on Our Creative Corner And it goes without saying, I would LOVE to see anyone else's creations too!

Sketch of the Week Jan 19-25

Happy Monday! I took some great shots of my son on the weekend in his new hat.... his hat that I just HAD to buy because it screamed LAYOUT to me!! I was really happy with the shots and decided I really wanted to do an 8 x 10 print of one of them...which got me playing with sketches until I found one that I was happy with. This sketch is a 2 page layout but if you are more of a one page kinda scrapper, please feel free to just use the left page :) Also, if you don't print at home or you don't have an 8 x 10 sitting around, feel free to use a smaller picture! Can't wait to see your creations :)

Two In One!

It was a fairly quiet day today...one sick little boy and no dayhome kids so I actually managed to get a layout done! This one worked out well for me as I accomplished two challenges in one layout :) There was a photo challenge on the forums and I happily agreed to do it...when I got the pictures, they were so cute I couldn't turn my brain off wondering what to do with them! These are the pictures:




























Aren't they the cutest?! My girlfriend has 2 beautiful dalmations, another something that I can't remember (in the dog family) and a cat who lost his best friend earlier this year :( She is the biggest chocolate fan I know so her pets names are Snickers, Hershey, Crunchie, Plain and Peanut (as in M and Ms)...lol! This gorgeous puppy is Hershey.
So I managed to get her challenge done using the photos and my challenge done using the Sketch of the Week! I thought it was quite funny how my sketch had lots of spots and so did her pictures! Still hoping to see some other layouts using the sketch! Enjoy mine :)

Sketch of the Week - Jan12-18

First off, I forgot to post one of my LO from the DT reveal so if you peeked before, make sure you have a second peek to see my beautiful sister and her husband!

And onto the sketch....I was inspired by one of my new Cuttlebug embossing folder called Spots and Dots which I had finally pulled out from under the scrap table (I think it had cobwebs on it!!) It is a quiet day today and I am hoping to maybe do a few different versions of the sketch today.... maybe... ! Enjoy :)

Design Team Reveal - December

Wow...I have been busy! I received my DT package very late - Thursday as a matter of fact! I have spent the last 2 days creating away - my scrap area looks like a hurricane hit it but I was happy to get the creative juices flowing! If you are at all like me, you want a closer look so remember to click on the photo to make it bigger and easier to see! So without further ado...

THE PACKAGE
First off, the actual package is from Sandylion - the Kelly Panacci Christmas Memories kit. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous as there was a lot of stickers in there and I am the biggest avoider of stickers out there! However, the more I played with it, the more I found I could do!


PLACE SETTING
First off, a little bag that I made for place settings. These are fairly painless to make and can be used for all different occasions. I put an inital on mine but you could easily do full names or whatever theme you are going for. These also make great little goody bags for birthday parties. I will be posting the how-tos on Technique Tuesday!






TREE ORNAMENT
A purse ornament made with small scraps! The first picture should be closed more but I was tired by the time I got to it so my apologies! The inside is done using MS Word but could be handwritten for a more personal touch.

GIFT CARD HOLDER
A gift card holder. These are very quick and easy to make. They dress up a gift card quite nicely for those that think gift cards are impersonal! My daughter decided to undo the bow but I didn't notice until I was downloading :) Stickles are used on Santa's trim.

The inside of the gift holder. My son wanted to make sure that everyone knew that his ToysRUs gift card is not up for grabs!









MINI CARD BOX

This was probably my favourite thing to make - such a great gift idea! I will definitely be keeping this in mind for teacher gifts at the end of the year. This one will be going to my mother-in-law althought I really want to keep it for myself!

MINI CHRISTMAS CARDS

The 6 mini cards that went in the box. These were a lot of fun to make and surprisinly easy with those stickers! A lot of Cuttlebug, embossing powder, Glossy Accents, brads and eyelets and glitter on these!

SANTA CARD

More of those stickers! Crystal Stickles on Santa's trim, Versamark and random clear embossed snowflakes for the background and Glossy Accents (which I put my finger in 3!!! times) on the Believe chipboard.

NOEL CARD

A simple card with scraps, copper brads and eyelets. The chipboard was orignally cream but I covered it with Cappucino Dimensional Pearls - which was painted on with my finger after it exploded all over my table!

LOTS OF DOTS CARD

Luminescent vellum put through a Cuttlebug Embossing Folders. The snowflak dots and star all have Glossy Accents on them. Little bit of bling with green bling brads (try saying that 5 times fast!!)

GLIMMER MIST CARD

A background of Gingerbread Glimmer Mist. Random embossing of snowflakes and Merry Christmas. I have to admit that this embossing powder was very disappointing to me as it looks much more gold in the jar. It is a mix of red and gold but hard to control what turns red and what turns gold.

LAYOUT - FAMILY

The last of my layouts with little bits of scraps. This is my sister and her son and daughter with my family :)

Random ink and embossing. The "metal" piece is the one from the Technique Tuesday on January 5th. I inked it up some more with brown ink to help it fit in a little better. I was trying to use up some more of those gorgeous letters but didn't have an F or a Y left so I made them from a P and an X...can you tell?!

LAYOUT - SNOW ANGEL

This chipboard came with the kit but it was cream and I was using white so I embossed it in denim to match. The large brads at the top I embossed in the denim and then glittered. I placed the chipboard underneath and lightly sanded to show the Coredinations cardstock. The jewels are glued onto a piece of foam that came from packaging of one of the kids' toys! Letters courtesy of Slice....LOVE that machine!



LAYOUT - JOY
My beautiful sister and her husband. I gave this to her today - I love giving scrap gifts to others! Joy chipboard is Glossy Accented and glittered, Christmas chipboard is holograph embossed.








LAYOUT - MERRY

My beautiful son on Christmas morning. I was playing around with ribbon and thread and really liked how this turned out. Clear adhesive vellum is one of my favourite journalling friends! I must have over 200 fonts and yet I can search for a long time before I find jus tthe right one! The Santa chipboard has holographic embossing on it, the Noel has Glossy Accents.




LAYOUT - REASON FOR THE SEASON

A very personal layout for me. I tried hard to make this a very simplistic and clean layout, trying to express the beauty of the nativity set. The chipboard has been painted, sanded and clear embossed. Silver rub-ons on the photograph. The verse says "I can do anything through Him who gives me strength" from Phillipians 4:13

Hit Me With Your Best Blog

Okay, I admit it....I am a blog-a-holic! I could surf all day long looking at scrap/craft blogs. I also have to admit that I am a bit selfish and don't always like to share my most favourite ones...but I am trying to change that this year! So fellow blog-readers, I issue you a challenge! Please, post me your top 3 favourite blogs. I am dying to read more! I will be awarding 2....YES 2 prizes should you choose to post! I would like to send out a RAK to the person who posts the blog I like the best (and yes, it can be your own) and one to the actual blogger of that said blog. I am seriously wanting to spend all weekend looking at blogs (okay, not all weekend as it appears that design team stuff is due this weekend...lol). As an added bonus, I am going to submit all Canadian blogs to that fabulous website I posted the other day at CANADIAN SCRAPPER'S BLOG CARNIVAL so we can get them even more traffic. Now the only hard part of this whole thing for me will be to leave the comments public and have to share these scraptastic blogs!!

Technique Tuesday - Faux Metal

This is one of my favorite techniques. This is one of the very first techniques I learned way back before I ventured into scrapbooking!

You will need the following supplies:

Versamark pad, embossing powder, heat gun, stamp, sanding block and cardstock. I used the silver embossing powder but any metallic colour comes out beautifully.

Take a piece of paper the size that you want your metal piece to be (I used a 2" x 2" square) . Then put the entire piece of paper in the Versamark pad. You will need to move the piece around to make sure you cover the entire top of your card stock.

Cover your piece with embossing powder, shake off the excess and heat with the embossing gun. Don't worry about imperfections as they will only enhance your "metal" look. You may want to use your pokey tool (that is my technical name!!) to hold the paper so it doesn't fly away. Once you are done, lift the pokey and heat that spot to make the pinprick hole disappear.

Let your piece cool for about a minute. Then take your embossed piece and cover it again with Versamark and then the embossing powder. Continue to melt your powder with your embossing gun. Your powder is now going to be thicker on the cardstock. Repeat the step for a third time.

Place your stamp into the versamark pad before heating this final time. That allows the image to release easily and you won't have a problem with the image sticking.After you heat the powder for the third time place your stamp directly into the embossing powder. Be sure to press hard but carefully as it is easy for the stamp to slip.

The best part is if you don't like the image you can either reheat and try again or put it back into the Versamark and put more embossing powder on to add a new layer.

You now have the faux metal piece! I sanded mine of a bit of a weathered look ....stay tuned to see what I create with it! And please share yours!

GO CANADA GO!!

Woooooohooooooo! Way to go Team Canada Juniors! They just captured their 5th gold medal in a row! It was an exciting game and hearing them all sing the anthem at the end honestly makes me cry. I often hear people say that we Canadians aren't patriotic enough but I have to say that I am proud to stand up and yell "I AM Canadian!"

And on that note...you may notice a link on my blog to other blogs that I follow. Well, I stumbled upon a site the other day that promotes Canadian scrappers and bloggers! Her blog is called CANADIAN SCRAPPERS BLOG CARNIVAL and I honestly urge you to check it out! I noticed that she hadn't posted in a while so I sent her a quick message to ask if she was going to continue it and was thrilled when she answered back that she would be doing so in the New Year. From what I read, she would like her blog to be bombarded with requests for blogs to be showcased so I am asking you to do just that! Please send her any blogs that spark your interest and will inspire others! I could honestly spend hours blog-surfing and am excited to read more about Canadian scrappers! And while you're at it, leave me a comment and tell me about YOUR blog!

Happy Scrappin'!