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!

Q & A Time

For as long as I can remember, I've had a cat and an unfinished basement; the perfect scenario for Dusty Cat Syndrome. Think the basement's pretty clean? Think again!
Our current kitty, Spooky demonstrates this perfectly in these pics. Photographing all black pets is tricky. Dusty, all black cats are especially tricky as using a flash not only causes glare from the fur, it will also magically erase all of the details. Not a bad idea if you don't want anyone to know how dusty your basement is, but for me, that was the whole point of the pics! So anyways, the center pic is in focus, the outside pics are both a bit blurry, as cats do not make the most cooperative models when a slower shutter speed is called for. Oh, who am I kidding, cats are just plain uncooperative! Still, I liked the effect and the pictures were printed and used anyways.
Oh, and the q: and a: are Thickers.....puffy sticker Thickers! Another little bit of nostalgia, as I remember collecting stickers as a kid.... and puffy stickers could only be topped by scratch and sniffs!
Thanks for looking; hope you enjoy!

An Oldie, But a Goodie!

I did this layout months ago, shortly after the pictures were taken at Cole's first ball game. It's simple, but a favourite of mine with hand cut waves, some stickers and lots of fun rubons.
Right from that first game, we were all so impressed with Cole's focus and ability to absorb everything he was told about how to play the game. He played hard and with heart; you can't ask for more than that!

Long Time, No Blog!

Hey! It's been months since my last post, but now summer vacation is over, school's back in session and I'm almost caught up on all of it...scrappy-wise anyways!
This year, I've been using a Pebbles, Inc album which can use both 12x12 pages and 4x6 sleeves. I love this, as it allows me to add pics into my album that I don't want to scrap so all the year's pics are still in one place. Generally, it isn't any faster, as I've just got to add some journaling and still sometimes crop and mat the pics before sliding them in.
Another advantage of these 4x6 sleeves; I was able to display both sides of our tickets to the Titanic exhibit. Although I wasn't able to fit a pic of the back of this page, they printed a mini bio of passengers from the ill-fated ship, allowing us to pretend we were that passenger while travelling through the exhibit. At the end of the exhibit was a wall that listed all of the passengers. They were listed by class and whether they survived or perished. All of our passengers survived.

I made journaling cards to go along with these tickets that I decorated with inchies I received in a swap from the MMMB forum. Contributing artists are Sondra, Elaine, GrandmaCosmo and Faeiryrocks.

Their work really helped give a Victorian feel to the journaling cards. Inspired by their inchies, and needing some more to help embellish the remaining empty spaces, I made a couple more. Mine are the ones in purple.

It felt so good to get some more use out of my swap items. Thanks ladies for your lovely artwork and the inspiration to finish these cards in style!

Playing Circle Journal Catch Up

Above is my contribution to Lisa's CJ: What I Miss While I'm Away. I guess I could really wrap it all up into one category, I miss the comforts of home. My family and pets, my bed, my get inky and creative studio and all my favourite spots on the world wide web.

I had a lot of fun inking, stamping, embossing and glimmer misting for this one...turning plain lilac cardstock into fun, textured patterned paper.

Below is my layout for Emma's CJ: My 3 Favourite Actors/Actresses. This was another fun one to create. I started out by running the edges of my paper in silver paint. While using my heat gun to speed up the drying process, I overheated a glob of paint and the bubbling reminded me of old movie film being burned (something I've seen in a movie or two), so I continued the effect. It's a very simple layout, with lots of paint, embossing and black and white photos of my choice of stars to compliment the monochromatic theme.

It took me some time to make my choices, and went with the three ladies that stayed constant in my mind.

Meryl Streep has forever been a favourite of mine, from lazy afternoons watching Out of Africa, Heartburn and Death Becomes Her with my mom.

Sandra Bullock, well, I like physical comedy and she does it soooooo well. Who can forget that sexy strut-turned-clumsy-topple from Miss Congeniality or that nude collision with Ryan Reynolds from the Proposal?

And finally, Charlize Theron. I liked her long before, but after seeing her performance in Monster, I was sold. This girl has substance to back up her beauty...and isn't afraid to forgo the beauty part, either!

So now, all that's left is Jean's 3 favourite verses. I've got them picked out, just need to get back into the studio and create. And then I'm done and ready to ship off to Lisa. What fun this has been!