Same Trip, 3 Different Layouts.

For a special year-end treat, Cole's grade 4 class went to Niagara Falls. Although unsure if it would be such a treat for me, I volunteered to supervise. I'm really glad I did. My group was a pleasure to accompany (an advantage to being the mother of one of the class' prominent "problem children" I guess....all the other kids they give you are the good ones!) and I got lots and lots of really great photos.
Over the summer, I've slowly worked on the layouts from our trip. So much happened that day, I couldn't possibly make a single layout about it! Because each moment I wanted to document was so different from the others, it resulted in layouts that were in stark contrast to one another.
The first layout I did as part of a challenge on the MMM message board. It's from Bird Kingdom, where we were witness to so many beautiful, exotic birds as they roamed free through the aviary. This was kind of scary for me, as birds aren't particularly kind to me. But I minded my business, snapping their pictures and they minded theirs, posing and preening for me, and we got along famously.

The second layout features pics of Cole, hamming it up and goofing around while we waited for lunch. The colours are more vibrant and the whole layout more playful, taking cues from the background, his slithery souvenir and Cole's fun-loving mood.

And finally, a layout about the Falls themselves. I got the opportunity to take a whole lot of pictures of the Falls throughout the day. Another reason why I enjoyed my group so much; they were very happy to take their time, soak in the scenery and take lots of pictures too!

To me, the shots I got had a very aged quality to them. Likely just the water and spray playing with the lighting, but it worked nicely with these patterns from a K&Co. paper pack I had.

In my album, the opposite page to this is 4x6 sleeves showcasing more of my favourites of the Falls and the impressive skyline.

And there you have it; 3 very different layouts showcasing equally different parts of a wonderful, memorable day!

A Monkey of a Birthday Card

I made this card for Cole to give to Kelsey for her birthday. The sentiment was perfect and was a fitting match to the sock monkey paper I'd bought ages ago with Kelsey in mind!

It also worked for Use it Tuesday's latest challenge to use two hoarded items. First, there's the monkey paper I'd already mentioned. Then, there's the die-cut quote which came from a sheet of birthday die-cuts that have sat forgotten in my embellie folder for years. The buttons are also old, from a Basic Grey kit of long-ago. The orange patterned paper and baker's twine are both new, but still leftover scraps from recent layouts. So that brings the tally to three hoarded items, two scrap items. Not bad for a little card!

Scrapbooking as Therapy

On a school morning, not that long ago, I had some issues getting Cole off the computer. Transitions have been particularly tricky lately and this day was a prime example. Even so, his outburst caught me off guard and rattled me more than usual.

Neither the quiet drive back home nor the scenic-yet-heart-pumping dog walk afterwards could calm me down. There was a layout brewing in my troubled, shaken mind. I had a title, I had tidbits of the journaling. I did not have the sketch mapped out, but I knew there had to be paint and ink and I wanted my hands coated in both before it was done.

I made the scalloped borders with my Cricut (the actual cartridge, I'm unsure of at the moment). I thought they looked a little like rainbows. So I misted them with rainbow colours, but made sure they were in splotches instead of long, symmetrical ribbons. I felt this represented my mood, and autism in general, more accurately. The hand started out as a sideways fist, as if it were pounding on the wall, but that didn't show up too well.

I left the journaling to the end. Originally, I wanted to write directly onto the page and use 1/3 to 1/2 of the page for it. Yes, I had that much to say. But all of the inking, painting, misting, the mess and the creating focused and refined what I needed to say. Using the journaling cards allowed me to use a stamp I have that my broken rainbows reminded me of, "Count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms." And just like that my tone and perspective changed:

I goofed up, slacked off a bit. It happens.

He freaked out. It happens. Sometimes it happens even when he's given ample time and warning.

Really, it comes down to having the tools to cope; sure-fire ways to stay calm or calm down and release the tension, anger, frustration, disappointment and all-around deflated self-worth. I, for one, have a few tricks up my sleeve. Music helps, walking is good, but it's my problem solving hobbies that wield the most success lately, and that would be gardening and scrapbooking. The messier the better.

Yes, I called scrapbooking a problem solving hobby. You have a message, a moment in time, maybe some pictures. You want to put them all together, make them look pretty, make them tell a story. How are you going to achieve this goal? Therein lies the problem to be solved.

Often, I don't scrap about whatever is bothering me. There is just this unspoken need to take some quiet time where I can create, get messy and make something pretty. Other times, it is about literally working through whatever my troubles are. Either way, I find it very therapeutic and very necessary. I won't even try to sell it as being cheaper than traditional therapy. I'm not truly convinced that it is. But it is far more satisfying for me!

Just to clarify, I don't often talk about Cole's autism. He was diagnosed as mild-to-moderate autistic and I know our struggles are equally mild compared to what many other parents have to face. So I try not to whine and complain, but I do need to work on admitting that while it could be a lot tougher, what I go through sometimes is pretty tough all the same.

Keeping perspective is key to me. Autism explains his behaviour at times, it is not to blame and it does not solely define him as a person. Neither will it define me as a parent.

Oh yes. I have, on occasion, given the finger right back to autism!

Double Inspiration for Double Trouble.

I quite fancy this layout of mine. Maybe it's the subject matter, maybe it's all the wonderful product, maybe I'm just so happy I got this picture and captured this story. Then again, maybe it's all three!

Ok, a little info about the product first. I love, love, love Bo Bunny's Double Dot line! This is the second or third layout where I've used it as the background paper. The colours are yummy and the patterns are perfectly neutral (or maybe it's more understated and distressed) for backgrounds, matting or diecutting/paper piecing.
Then there's My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose. I've been drooling over this line for a while and finally broke down on my last shopping trip and grabbed my favourites, two of which I used on this layout.
And the matte for my title? That's from the Simple Stories line, which just started showing up at my LSS's and I'm assuming is a new company. This matte was from a sheet of flash cards. So far, I'm really liking their stuff!
Now, you can see Double Trouble in the picture; that would be Scott and Cole. But the double inspiration I'll have to explain a little. See, this layout has inspiration from two different sources. First off, I used this Pagemaps sketch from waaaaayyyy back in November of 2009 to get started:

I've used my sketch book a bit more lately, as I've been having troubles getting started on some recent layouts. My Pagemaps archives have been particularily helpful!

The second bit of inspiration would be in the title. Last month, Lora did a blog post on using her Dymo label maker and mine has been on my mind ever since. This just seemed like the perfect place to add a little Dymo magic!

Oh, and something that is just all me: "finger painted" inking in the background of the title block.

Supplies I Can Recall: Paper - BoBunny, My Mind's Eye, American Crafts, Simple Stories. Stamps - BoBunny and unknown stars. Twine and Paperclip - Making Memories. Button - Basic Grey. Ink - Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress inks. Fonts - Cricut and Dymo. Ricrac ribbon - superdooper thrift store find.

Practice

This is Kelsey's first season of softball. Scott is very excited about this. He loves that the kids have both taken an interest in one of his passions, something he can teach them a thing or two about. I snapped these pics while watching them from the porch.
Admittedly, baseball isn't one of my passions, but that didn't stop me from having fun creating this layout! I put some scrap cardstock through a crimper, grazed it over my Versamark pad and embossed it for a rough, corrugated cardboard look and then tore along the edges. The title is chipboard letters that I inked.

The scrap paper I used while inking the letters ended up looking really cool, so I just had to use it for a journaling block!

Products I Can Recall: Patterned paper: Echo Park. Cardstock: American Crafts. Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Barn Door. Chipboard letters: Making Memories. Embossing powder: Zing.

Coach Dad

So, in my last post, I shared the troubles I was having with my spending freeze and the decision I made to lift it. On Thursday, I made the trip out to one of my favourite LSS's with a list of layouts I needed supplies for, including the one of Scott's year as Cole's assistant ball coach. I'm very happy with the results: All the paper, except for the navy cardstock, is new Bo Bunny. The journaling tag is from a Jenny Bowlin set I found in the sale bin. The Thickers were already in my stash.

It feels really good to have finally completed this page with results I'm so happy with.

The Challenge....Revisited.

It was 17 days ago. That's when I posted about my scrappy spending freeze challenge. Friday night I sat in my studio, feeling quite defeated. I wanted to scrap. I was out of new pics. So, I decided to tackle the layout of Scott's year as Cole's assistant ball coach, that Scott has not-so-patiently been waiting for.

There's still a ton of cardstock and patterned paper. Not one scrap of it would work. It was either the wrong colour, wrong pattern or wrong dimension. None of my inks, paints or mists could sufficiently alter any of it. Every idea I came up with to "make it work" just did not make me happy. They all felt like too much of a compromise.

I later shared my disappointing news with Scott. He simply told me, "I guess we'll have to get you out for some scrapbook shopping this week."

Huh? "But I'm on a spending freeze." I argued. "I feel bad. There's still so much stuff up there!"

"You told me you weren't going to buy any more until you'd used up what you could of what you had. Obviously, you've used up what you can."

Normally, I would have argued this point further. But truth be told, he was right in this instance and the only thought I had was how I really needed to learn to think more like a guy sometimes.

"Well," I thought outloud, "maybe I've got so much stuff because I need to do a better job purging out the old stuff I'll never use."

Silence. That's code for "You got it!" Ok, sometimes it's code for, "I'm giving up on this because you're going to argue no matter what I say" but this time I'm pretty sure it was the first option.

So, does this mean failure? I'm not sure. I spent 17 days without even feeling the need to purchase any scrappy items and in that same time created roughly 5 layouts (I never thought to keep count). That's pretty good. And there's still future layouts I could easily make with the supplies I have on hand. The stuff I want to keep. That's good too.

But baseball layouts? No. And with both kids playing ball this year, I will at least need more paper to work with.

I'm not saying I've given up completely on my challenge. It just needs a bit of a reassessment. My studio needs a serious purge. I need to be making mindful purchases, such as individual sheets of patterned paper I love, over kits that I will tire of before they're used up. I also need to cut myself a little slack when the deal of the day sites all get it right at the same time and allow me to stock up on the basics for cheap.

So I'm going to stop calling it a spending freeze. Instead, I'll call it mindful spending and it will no longer be a timed challenge, but an ongoing effort. Anyways, being consistently diligent in my spending and using up of scrapbooking supplies will get me a lot further in the long run than short spurts of freezing my spending.
In theory, anyways!

Do Less. Do It Better.

Saturday was a very productive and enjoyable day for me. It was beautiful outside and I'd heard reports of rain on Sunday, so I got to some yard work I'd been itching to do for a while. Because it was so nice out, I decided to take breaks between my chores on our beautiful new patio furniture, under the shade of the gazebo. This whole work/play rotation brought a balance to my day that I haven't felt in a long, long time. I couldn't put it into words, but it just felt good!

During one of these breaks, I brought out my laptop. While reading an article on Paperclipping I happened on this link recommended by Noell. Now, normally I'd steer clear of any blog named The Happiest Mom (I have this fear and high suspicion of anything that even remotely hints at some June Cleaver-esque euphoria), but the title caught my attention. And there it was; the exact words to what had made my day so perfect. Do fewer things. Do things better. Well smack my head and hand me a V8, why, oh why couldn't I put something as simple as that into words?

And just like that, the ideas started brewing for a layout. Here's the journaling:

On a sunny, warm Saturday, I took advantage of the weather and my family being busy. I did dog duty in the backyard. I raked the front garden. I did some dishes and some extra loads of laundry. I took care of what needed to be done. And that was enough.

When that was all done I again took advantage of the weather and my family being busy. I set up the patio furniture cushions. I made more coffee. I read the paper, surfed the net and snuggled with Lilah on the patio. And that was alright.

Admission: this picture was not taken on the date shown on this layout. It was taken a week or two before, just after we set up the furniture. Lilah came and jumped up to test out it's comfiness with me so I got Kelsey to snap the shot. However, it was perfect for this layout.






And see that flower? You don't know how long it's taken me to figure those darn things out! All this time I was trying to glue the ends together completely wrong!

Other tidbits: I Glimmer Misted the Thickers, which started out leaf green. All of the paper is a combination of Basic Grey's Ambrosia and My Mind Eye's Meadowlark collections, including the diamond which is actually a MME die-cut frame.

A New Challenge Begins.

Lately, I've been having some fun (maybe too much fun) shopping for scrappy supplies, both online and in store. After making two daily deal site purchases on the same day, I decided that enough is enough. It's time to use up these supplies, both old and new before accumulating any more.
So now, I've taken on a personal challenge to freeze my scrappy spending and use up my stash. I haven't decided on a timeline yet, but I do have a few simple rules. I can still purchase adhesives and develop photos. All other supplies are off limits. Ok, that's really only one rule; but it's still simple. And simple is good!
So here is my first layout created since on this challenge. The picture is from December and is a favourite of mine that I've been wanting to scrap since I had it developed of Scott, Lilah and Kelsey snuggling together:
This layout uses paper from the Basic Grey Ambrosia kit I bought recently at a store yard sale. I believe the ribbon is also Basic Grey. They're scrap pieces. The rub-on title (that wouldn't rub on, so instead was glued on) is from an old Fancy Pants set.

The flowers were hand-cut, rolled up, glued, Glimmer Misted, squished and then attached with brads (also Basic Grey). The decorative border (Martha Stewart) was punched, and then I adhered the negative edge to the other side. The only paper wasted from this border was the tiny flower details.

The glued-on title that would not rub on.

Finished off with simple journaling.

What is great about this challenge, it's not just about saving money. It's about finding creative ways to make my supplies on-hand work for whatever project I'm doing. And to be perfectly honest, I've got plenty of stuff to keep me going for a looooong time.

Wish me luck!

MME, revisited.

Ok, so a few posts ago, I showed two different looks on two different layouts from one manufacturer, My Mind's Eye. Well, this time, I'm going to show you Be Loved and Meadowlark being used together on the same layout.

Our cat Spooky, like many cats loves to climb into boxes and bags. I snapped these pics of him getting caught in the handles of a cloth shopping bag and thought these two product lines worked well together for this subject. The patterned paper and the red border diecut are all from Be Loved. The polka dot rub-on border and two journaling/title tags are Meadowlark. The silliness is all Spooky!

Welcome, Spring!

This year I'm more excited for Spring than usual. It all started with a planter full of pretty purple and yellow pansies. Then, some Spring/Easter plant picks from the dollar store caught my eye. And then, there was the whimsical decorative birdcage at the thrift store. Put them all together and what do you get? A decorative front porch that makes me smile every time I leave or return home!

To top it off, Kelsey made up an Easter basket and strategically placed some pots and an old watering can. Oh and then there's the new cushions for our chairs.

Now, if only Mother Nature would cooperate with us a little!

Having Fun at my Misfortunes.

I had a lot of fun planning and making this layout about my favourite coffee shop's annual springtime promotion. The journaling explains it best:

Every spring, Tim Hortons has Roll Up The Rim To Win and year after year, I collect "Please Play Again" rims while Scott wins coffees, donuts and other goodies...galore! Of course, Scott takes great pleasure in teasing me everytime he gets a winner-and I take equal pleasure in telling him where to go. I wonder if he knows how lucky he is I love him? ;P

My family laughed at me for saving the losing rims. Now I think it makes sense to them.

Of special note: I used some of the Basic Grey Ambrosia paper kit I picked up at the Scrapping Turtle's yard sale, the circle and the masked swirl were cut from my new Cricut cart, Accent Essentials and the ribbon scrunching technique (I actually used two ribbons glued together) I've been just itching to try since I saw it on Two Scrapbook Friends' blog. Also, the Glimmer Mists were a new purchase. One of the daily deal sites had a 4 pack for $10 or so and I just couldn't resist!

I'm just a little excited about all my new loot, can you tell?

going swimmingly

It's taken me some time, but I've finally come up with a layout for the pictures I took of Cole during his last swimming class in March: I combined a fun mix of new papers and scraps, Thickers and cardstock letter stickers, borders, inking and ribbon.

The file folder below was from a punchie swap I did ages ago (so happy to still find uses for all that stuff!). In an effort to conserve paper, the Report Card was cut freehand with my new swivel finger knife from behind the photo on the same layout page. After so long without white cardstock, I can't seem to get enough of it and am now officially out of the good stuff again!

One Manufacturer, Two Different Looks.

I don't usually think too much about scrapbooking supply manufacturers. I like what I like and often take no notice of the label. But one name that often pops up in my supplies is My Mind's Eye. In fact, the last two paper packs I bought online happened to be MME, and arrived within days of each other.
The first layout shown was made with the Be Loved collection; a fun and colourful set perfect for Valentine's or any lovey-dovey layout. It seemed perfect for these pictures of the dogs jockeying for top spot on my lap. Some of the background flowers in the large stripe of patterned paper even look like paw prints!

And then, in a complete turnaround, is the classic black and white styling of the Meadowlark Dawn collection. I've also got the Dusk collection, but this was all made with Dawn (except for the purple circle tag, an oldie of unknown origins, and the cardstock). I like how the patterns worked with the background elements of my living room.

See that strip of black polka dots? That was the sample strip (showing the backside of the paper) from the bottom of the background paper. I've used those sample strips a lot, love the companies that put them on!

On a bit of a side note, I'd like to say that in real life, that bird eyeing me up would be doing so in anticipation of the perfect moment to peck my eyes out. Thank goodness paper birds are not so malicious!

So there it is, one paper manufacturer with two totally different looks, both that I love and I think are sooooo me.

My Studio, Now Improved With Purple-ish Carpet.

Thanks to my fabulous hubby, Scott, my studio is now sliver-free! I found this carpeting at a discount flooring store, marked down ridiculously low because it seems not everyone has an appreciation for purple-ish carpet. The salesman really liked my description of the colour, but that didn't get me any further discounts.


I should have gotten some shots while the studio was freshly put back together and tidy, instead of waiting until I was in the middle of a project....but such is life. This is how it looks most of the time, very lived in, just like the rest of my house!
And this time, I've included a shot of my stuffies, who watch me from the corner in their stuffie-bin. Hmmm.....I never really thought of them watching me.....creepy!

Chairs, they're not just for humans anymore!

Yes, that's the title and sub-title of my latest layout! I was determined to participate in Paula's sketch and colour challenge on the Memory Makers board and this is what came of it:

Originally, I'd planned on making a layout about the kids playing in all the snow we've got, but as I didn't have the pics developped yet and the urge to create wasn't going to wait, I found a common thread in the many, many un-scrapped pics I have of Lilah and used them instead.
Lilah likes to sit on the dining room chairs. It started with her sneaking up on the back of my chair while I played on the computer and has grown to her sitting with everyone, and sometimes even snagging a chair on her own. She is good enough not to try this while we're eating or there's food at the table. Often her interest seems to be the computer; I have another layout that states, "if she had thumbs, she'd use the computer herself."

Fun With Cardstock.

I am a big fan of Core'dinations cardstock. Not necessarily because of it's distressing abilities but more often because of the colour selection. I just find the best stuff from them when it comes to matching to the patterned papers I like.
Yesterday, however, it was about both the colour and the possibilities! Originally, I'd bought this red cardstock for a Christmas layout, but then never used it for that. But it was the perfect contrast for a picture I had where the three fabulous ladies in the pic (my daughter, sister and mom) were wearing mostly grey and black, with a bit of purple in the mix. Oh, and it really made that flower circle pop too!
For some extra fun and interest, I stamped a random pattern along the bottom with Versamark ink, followed by an application of clear embossing powder. After it was heated and set, I sanded over the stamped area. Most of the embossing came off as well, but the original colour was still preserved over the stamped areas.

I'm still working on the finishing touches to this layout, but I'm very happy with the results of this stamping/sanding technique.

Silly Bands

Oh my, I've been a very bad blogger! I can't believe it's been this long; but it's a new year and with it comes the hope of more time to play, create and share!
Today has been a day just for that! I got two layouts done today, including this one. Silly Bands are these fun coloured, funky shaped plastic bracelets and quite the fad right now. Kelsey has an impressive collection of them that keeps growing and growing....and growing (thankfully, they're cheap!). One day, Kelsey was sorting through her collection while Lilah slept beside her.

I'm not sure where she got the idea to use Lilah as a canvas, but it did look really cool so I snapped a couple of pictures...and then made Kelsey clear them all off before Lilah woke up and shook silly bands everywhere!

And just like that, a layout idea was born. I kept things simple, using cardstock scraps and making silhouette cutouts with my Cricut and punches to copy the look of the bands. The colours are a bit off in the photo, but I was excited to get this posted.

So there you have it, quite possibly my first layout of 2011; hopefully the first of many I share here too!