A Whole Lotta Classes Goin On!.. AND A GIVEAWAY!!!!

Yep, classes are going crazy....  T'is the season I suppose but yikes, it is hard to keep up sometimes!  I spent two hours cleaning off the top... JUST the top... of my scrap table because it was  getting to the point where I could only see the two front corners of it!  If you live close, I have the following classes at Creative Scrapbooks coming up:

Monday Oct 17th - Glitter Christmas Card Class - FULL

Sunday Oct 23rd - Mistables Frame Class

Thursday Oct 27th - Baby Mini Album

(picture to come soon!)

Tuesday Nov 1 - Advanced Copics

Sunday Nov 6th - Cardinal Christmas Watercolour Card Class

Monday November 21st - Star Wreath Class

Tuesday November 22nd - Beginner Copics

Tuesday November 29th - Advanced Copics 

Yowza huh?

Oh... and if you live in Lloydminster,   I am there this weekend to teach Copics and Alcohol inks at a retreat with Scrapbook Studio!  I feel very honoured to have been ask to come join Jackie, Shauna and the rest of the gals ... and I hear there are very few spots left open if you are looking for some fun!

Last month, we did monochromatic colouring with Advanced Copics and I have to admit that they are some of my favourite cards to date.  They look easy but it is a bit tricky colouring with unusual colours!  I realized that I have 2 of the same stamp so... tell me which card is your favourite and one lucky commenter will win that stamp (and maybe some other goodies from the stuff that I cleared of my scrap table)! 

SEPIA - (warm grays)

BLACK AND WHITE

SEPIA (brown tones)

Contest will close on October 28th!

Look - it's back!!

It sure feels good to be blogging again! I was sitting avoiding some other work last night and actually did up a SOTW! Yep, I really did!


See? A real sketch! And that pretty background paper is from Cosmo Cricket's new line Odds & Ends... it hasn't shipped yet but I will be watching for it as I love the look!
And...to thank those of you who nicely nudged me back into blogging.... a little RAK to give away! If you leave me a comment, you will get a ticket entered into a draw for a goody bag (I will take a pic later today and post) ! If you do the SOTW, leave me a comment where to find it (or send me an email at icecheeks@yahoo.com) and you can get another entry. And... if you're new to my blog and sign up as a follower, you will get another entry! Don't worry, if you're already a follower, I will give a ticket too! Deadline for entry is 11 pm, Sunday May 15th!

I Need a Kick in the Pants.....

To get back on the bloggy/scrappy train!

So much to do.......and somehow the blog gets to the bottom of the list :( And scrap...what is that again?? I feel like I haven't scrapped in ages and I miss it. I am hoping to do some this weekend so keep your fingers crossed!

And the blog...well, it was driving me crazy how the last template I installed wasn't working for everyone and so I avoided it...because I am an avoider....that's what I do!

So, after playing around yesterday, I ended up installing two different templates at the same time and ended up with this look - which I am kinda enjoying!

Things that I have been meaning to blog about and just haven't:

1. Went to Vancouver and took the Copic Course - what a fun day and I learned so much that I cannot wait to teach the classes! Note the pretty little new Copic Certified box that I can now keep up on the blog! I have to say that Sherrie Siemens was a great teacher - there is talk of an advanced Copic class and I am really hoping that she will offer it!

2. Went to Vancouver and simply had an amazing 4 days - time to myself, time with an amazing friend and his family, time with nature and ..........just a perfect weekend. I cannot wait to go home again this summer - the count is on!!

3. Had a friend suffer a tragic loss and watched in amazement to see what an incredibly strong woman she is - I was so thankful to know that her faith in God is helping her through this incredibly tough time.

4. I am trying to get some more camera time in - I seem to have been neglecting it lately but Vancouver gave me the time to really focus on me and it reminded me how much I love taking pictures. I got some great ones of my daughter and dayhome girl in their cute matching dresses as well as some really pretty nature ones in Vancouver so I will probably post them later.

5. School is almost done here for the year - only two more days!! (yes, we have to go back next week and do Monday and Tuesday...dumb!) G finished up playschool last week - we had a carnival on Thursday and then one of the moms invited us all over (yes, all 14 kids + their siblings + their mommies and one really brave dad! + the world's most amazing 4 year old playschool teacher!!..well she's not 4...but she teaches the 4 year old class...just needed to clarify that!) and we had an amazing afternoon. It really feels nice to have things slowing down a bit for the summer.... I love not having to rush around so much! Plus the exciting news that all 3 of my kids plus my one dayhome child will be in summer camp at the same time which leaves me with.......wait for it......... AN ENTIRE WEEK OF AFTERNOONS TO MYSELF!!!!!! One could get used to this alone time thing!!

6. I am ever so thankful for my Monday morning coffee ladies - it is a great way to start off my week and I enjoy each of them so very much. A true blessing :) I think we are all so very different in many ways but find that I learn so much from each of them. Looking forward to Tuesday morning park dates with them this summer!

7. And last but definitely not the least.......the winner of the scrappy contest that I posted. So four lovely ladies played along...... thanks Tammy, Marie, Pam and Dana! And the winner is......
Congrats Dana!!! I have sooooo many things that need to be sent out that way so I am vowing to have it done by Monday! Pinky Swear!

And that is it for now - I am going to post some pics later on tonight. Hope you come back and check it out!

I can't scrap - will you?!

First off, if you are having a hard time reading my blog...like you get a big long list of other blogs and have to scroll thru 2 pages before you see my post, it's because I went and installed this beautiful new template. But little problem with it, it only seems to work in Firefox :( So if you know how I fix that, I would love some help!!!!

And now back to regularly scheduled programming....

Alright ladies.... here's the scoop!
So I am going away and will probably not scrap while I am away...so I thought maybe you could all scrap for me! I did up 3 SOTW (to catch up for the last bit!) and decided to throw them all to you at the same time.

The rules - simple - complete all three sketches by midnight (in whatever time zone you live in) Tuesday June 1st.
If you play along on the A PILE OF SCRAP! forum, upload them there.
If you aren't playing along there, YOU SHOULD BE!! but if not, please email them to me at icecheeks@yahoo.com
And then wait to see who the winner is!


Winner, you say? Yup, a winner!
There will be one of these


and some goodies from the scrap store that I get to visit while in Vancouver - but the rule for me is that I can only buy something that I can't buy at APOS or at my LSS that I work at!! And if for some reason, that scrap store hasn't yet opened in Vancouver, you will have to be satisfied with some kinda cool thing I find while I am roaming about (did I mention ALL BY MYSELF??!!!!).

And without further ado, here are the sketches!

Try out some doodles on your page!




And then use some of that notebook paper that I love.



And then ink it up for me!

Happy Scrapping - can't wait to see everyone's creations!

Latest Creations and Some Blog Candy!

Well I have been a scrapping machine lately! LOAD definitely helps as did the online crop at A PILE OF SCRAP! - I finally got the chance to take some pics in better lighting so I thought I would share today....and...

I think it's time for a little
Blog Candy!
So here are the details - for your chance to win a $20 gift certificate at the A PILE OF SCRAP! online store and some extra goodies from my stash you can have your name entered by
- Telling me which of these is your favourite and why
- Follow my blog
- Send a friend (make sure they tell me that you sent them!)
Simple as that ! I will leave this contest open until Sunday at Midnight :)
And without further ado, the creations!

We have a cool game on our forum that we play every month called Crop Circle where the winner from the previous month picks 5 elements you must have on a layout - this month we had to use punches, stitching, die cut paper, bling and ink. I am using up old pictures as I seriously need to get some pictures developed and my printer is out of coloured ink...
Next is the online crop stuff - we had an all 80s theme and some pretty cool challenges came out of it.
The Barbie Girl (remember the song by Aqua)- use some plastic on a layout
The white wedding challenge- use white cardstock as your base
The AIDS challenge - use red ribbon on your project
The Dirty Dancing Challenge (nobody puts baby in a corner so no corners on the base cardstock)
And the last challenge that I was able to get done was a Strawberry Shortcake cupcake card - this was a template that I found somewhere and forgot to take note - so if it yours, please let me know and I will make sure to let others know! I seriously need to take another pic of this as the background paper and my "mist box" are a little distracting!!

And this one was one that I played with at the LSS, experimenting with embossing powders and the Clearsnap design adhesives (that is the words under what is supposed to be the photos - I freaking love these!!) Scrapping without pictures is a rarity for me but I like how this one turned out.
And lastly are my LOAD creations - awesome prompts from Lain to use my stash has motivated me, now let's just see if I can make it through a shift at the LSS tonight without buying anything!

LOAD 1 -No Title Needed (all scraps)

LOAD2 - Vintage (me as a baby!) (old photo)
LOAD3 - Two (old stickers that I used as a mask with Glimmer Mist)

LOAD4 - Field Trip
Whew! And that is it! Hope you are having scrappy week too! Don't forget to leave a comment!

BLOG HOP WINNER!

Thanks to everyone for playing along, it was great fun!
Things are winding down a bit here - I hope you all had an amazing holiday season with your loved ones. I tried to pry my kids away from their toys long enough to help me pull a winner out of a hat video but no such luck... so thanks to random.org, we have a winner!!

Congrats Tams! A gift certificate awaits you!!

HAPPY BLOGHOP!!

Welcome to A PILE OF SCRAP'S! first ever bloghop! You are almost at the end of the hop, I hope you have enjoyed all the girls' creations.

Hopefully you have made your way along the path and linked here from Vicki's blog... if not, make sure you go back to Valerie's blog and follow your way through the links! If you have left a comment on everyone's blog and follow the instructions at the end of the post, your name will be entered for a scrappy prize!

First up, the card sketch:
I asked all the girls to stick with this colour combo - but they were welcome to use any shade of the colours... I opted to make my own coloured paper with 4 different shades of Glimmer Mist as none of the cardstock I had on hand matched! And since I was sparkly already, I figured stamping with a little glitter wouldn't hurt! And this was the perfect opportunity to use my new Spellbinder's die that I picked up...
And the second sketch was for a layout - this is a pretty plain sketch for me but I really wanted the girls to show their styles!
And so.......I scrapped!!! Yep, I did! For me!!!!! I haven't had a chance to do that in way too long and it really felt good! And to top it off, my scrap area is now cleaned up so I may get to do a little more over the holidays! Not only did I scrap, but I actually scrapped holiday pictures!!!! It's a Christmas Miracle!!!!! (I honestly tend to avoid all holiday pictures as I feel there is too much pressure...but I am happy with how this turned out). We had a little scrappy swap on the forum and I received my parcel today...so I had to use my new Starfish Glimmer Mist and the pretty red bling from Bazzill - thanks so much Cheryl for my goodies :)

I hope you all enjoyed our very first blog hop! Make sure you head on over to the forum and look for a post called "Blog Hop Finish Line" and leave your final comment there for a chance at the prize!

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!

WINNER, WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!!

And now for some contest winners! My biggest apologies as I had totally forgotten about the contest for Following Me until I (ahem) cleaned my desk off and found this stash of goodies! I had my son draw a name for me and the winner is:

CHUXFOX!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats!!!!! If you would be so kind as to email (at icecheeks@yahoo.com) me your address, I will happily send you out some goodies!

And to send out more goodies, the winners of the felties are

So that would be TraceyT and Sarah! Tracey is off to CHA so when you get back and a chance to catch up yourself, let me know where to send to :) Sarah, please send me an email and we can make arrangements too!
Have a great weekend everyone - we are in a heat wave here so I'm not sure how much scrapping I will get done as my scrap room just happens to be in the hottest room in the house :( Big DT reveal coming up on Sunday - stay tuned!

I honestly didn't think summer would be this busy..but with weddings, my parents coming for a visit and my new job at the LSS, somehow, bloggy gets a little neglected. On the plus side of things, I did teach my very first class this week and had the best time!!!!!!!! I can't wait for the one next month!

I did forget to post the last 2 of the Sketch of the Week so thought I would add those here!

SKETCH OF THE WEEK.......(or AW MAN, I FORGOT AGAIN!)

HAPPY CANADA DAY! I hope you are all getting to spend a great day with your family - I slept in this morning and am happily drinking a Tim Hortons...not sure what the day will bring us but hoping the weather stays nice so I can take the kids to the fireworks tonight!

So school finally ended.... I had my last day with my regular dayhome kids yesterday (I will miss them but hopefully we manage to make more playdates with them than we did last year!) and the new summer dayhome kids have started. I have been doing a lot of work over on the forum to get our newly chosen Design Team girls ready for the adventure - be sure to come back tomorrow and check out my post with all their links!

It has seemed a lot less chaotic but somehow my brain is still not working at top speed! I posted the Sketch of the Week on the forum a day early but somehow forgot all about posting it here until right now! Actually I did remember last night but I got a new printer (YIPPEE!!!) and spent last night playing with it! That and I did some blog surfing that I haven't done in a while...be sure to head over to Pinky's blog for a look at a funny layout and a chance at a some great goodies! (If you tell her I sent you, I get even more chances!). And while you're over there, I think you should also tell her that she should run a contest and make the prize be a layout made by her for ME! I just love her work - her style is truly her own and absolutely beautiful!

So the sketch...I was trying to highlight some new paper lines so this is courtesy of Fancy Pants new Kraft Kuts line. A lot of my faves in this line - birdies, kraft paper and die cuts!!

Have a great day - if you are Canadian, I hope you shout it loud and proud!

SKETCH OF THE WEEK MAY 26-31

First the sketch and then some other stuff! Trying to play a bit more with colours for me and mixing up the patterned paper.... it's always good to step outside my comfort zone! Hand journalling is another big issue for me so this one forces me to do it.

I did manage to get a layout done on Friday night. I had been out of printer ink and couldn't print out any pics at home so once I got that fixed, it helps get me scrapping again. I love being able to print all different sizes at home - definitely more convenient!

We have been having beautiful weather here for a change so we have been packing up picnics and heading to the park - I LOVE SUMMER! At the grocery store, I picked up a magazine that I have only bought once or twice before called Scrapbooking and Beyond and immediately fell in love with this layout

So I googled her name (Robbie Herring) and found her blog with the lovely layout on it! Some of the girls on the forum were wanting a quick challenge so I posted this one and told everyone to scraplift it - I will ask the gals that completed their layout if I can post theirs as well but here is my scraplifted version! (I couldn't get a straight picture of it if my life depended on it so I gave up) Don't forget about the BLOG CANDY that is getting ready to be shipped out!!

SKETCH OF THE WEEK MAY 18-24

I almost forgot that it was Sketch Day today as it is a long weekend here and I have been on a cleaning spree! I have been avoiding scrapping a bit lately so I am feeling the need to get down and dirty and create a grunge page! I have had some requests for a 2 page sketch so if you are only into one pagers you can create 2 separate layouts or else choose a side and have a go!
Don't forget to leave a comment HERE and sign up as to follow my blog for some great Blog Candy!! I need one more follower to add to the goodies!!! Hope you all have a great week :)

SKETCH OF THE WEEK MAY 11-17

I feel the need for .... white! I rarely use white on my layouts and I am determined to do it this week! I am apparently also stuck in my browns though as I didn't avoid that this week! Do the colours that I put in the sketch influence your versions? Would it be better to just have them in black/white/grey? Always nice to hear constructive criticism! Make sure you check out the BLOG CANDY POSTS as you wouldn't want to miss anything (THIS ONE TOO) !

More Candy!

Wooohooo.... time to add more candy since I promised to add more for each 5 followers!! Make sure you check out my I'VE GOT CANDY post to read all the details. Adding into the basket today is this cool little embellishment (I used one in this layout) from Junkitz:


I have a pile of stuff to throw in so I hope to see the followers list grow!! Will be back later to post the Sketch of the Week - hope you are having a fabulous Monday!

I'VE GOT CANDY!!

Okay, so I am breaking down and adding the "FOLLOW ME" application.... We are having a little contest over on our forums and have asked for our members to invite their friends to follow the Design Team blogs. One of my favourite ways to blog surf is to click on the "Who's Following" people and find their blogs. I have found a lot of very neat blogs that way and am looking forward to some more. So to entice you to sign up, I have a little BLOG CANDY to give up!

• If you sign up to FOLLOW ME, your name will be entered for the draw.
• If you leave me a comment here, your name will be entered for the draw.
• If you refer a friend and they FOLLOW me, your name will be entered.
• IF YOU ARE THE FIRST PERSON TO TELL ME HOW TO MAKE THIS POST STAY AT THE TOP OF MY BLOG, YOU WILL EARN AN EXTRA DRAW!!
  

Just be sure to tell your friends to tell me that you referred them! So what kind of candy do I have??? Well.....I will start off with some goodies and then for every 5 followers I get, I will add something!! Right now in the goody basket, I have:

2 pieces of Riff Raff
1 package of Thickers
2 bottles of Stickles

These pretty bling by Me and My Big Idea This beautiful stamp by Daisy Bucket

AND MORE TO COME (hopefully!!) This contest will run until the end of the month!

And while we're on the subject of blogs, I have a request to put out there. I was thrilled to discover a lady who runs a blog that highlights scrappy Canadian Blogs called Canadian Blog Carnival. She has posted that she is in need of a bit of a break and is looking for someone to help run the site for a while and I thought I would post it here in case anyone is interested. Please check her out!

A Quick Post

Just to show you some of the layouts that I accomplished at the retreat last weekend. I have a couple more but they have to wait till tomorrow as part of the Design Team Reveal. Hope you are all having a great weekend!

Kissin' - a layout of my daughter tackling my son for a smooch! This ribbon technique is so fast and easy and really makes an impact on a page!

Best - a layout of my best friend Tanis and my daughter. Tanis was in the delivery room when Danika was born and has been there through everything - an amazing friend whom I cherish. This layout was done based on a challenge by a DT member Jerusha who left the sketch as a challenge for the girls on our forums who couldn't make it to the retreat. This is one of Beggahuna's sketches.

Dogpile - from the Sketch of the Week March 9 - 15. The gears are from Riff Raff...LOVE me some Riff Raff!

Ready 2 b 3 - My son just before his 3rd birthday. This wasn't supposed to be a grungy page but I touched somewhere with ink on my hands (or arms...cause I'm a very messy scrapper!) and went with it!

PS - I am on the lookout for Blog Candy to share...and maybe get some ideas about what I need to put in the giveaway basket! Go check out Catt's Scratching Post for a great giveaway!

And I recently found another Canadian Blogger (love finding those!) who is giving away a very unique prize...I would tell you about it but I want you to go read her blog On the Funny Side of Life

BLOG CANDY!

I am such a blog surfer and came across some really neat sites tonight...and to top it off, they are allhaving a giveaway! Please check out the following sites and make sure to enter! STARVINGARTISTAMPS
PAPERCRAFTSBYRACH
LESLIESLOFT
and my fellow design team member JERUSHA

Hmmmm...makes me think I should find some candy to share too!! So tell me what it is you would love to win!