Twisted Sketches #141

Twisted Sketch #141 is posted and it is the end of team special.  The twist is "leap".  For this layout, I got messy and used a stencil, some gold acrylic paint, modelling paste, a black paint dabber, an old book page, buttons, a transparency and had some fun.  I wanted to create a layout of my husband so I wanted to keep it rugged and masculine.

He Is Not Afraid To Leap

Yes, he wasn't afraid to leap because he became a journeyman electrician at 40 years of age and got his high school diploma at 40 years of age also.

You can find the sketch here.

Have fun and challenge yourself!

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #284

Scrapbook Challenges has Sketch #284 and all I can say is wow! This is one of the most unique sketches I have ever worked with and it was a challenge.  My layout is quite different than anything I have ever created, but I thought I would give it a try.

When my son was four years old he was into superheroes in a huge way.  Spiderman and Superman was his obsession.  I thought I would create a little boy layout with the new Echo Park Collection A Boy's Life.  I thought it would be perfect for this layout.  I used my Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors to create the border and I also inked the Maya Road Gear Chipboard with a variety of Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  I finished off this far out page with buttons and doodled circles all around the border and to separate coloured sections of the circle.

If you like to be challenged in your scrapbooking, you have to try this sketch.  There is also other variations to this sketch to make it a another single page layout or a double page layout.  Find the sketch at
http://scrapbookchallenges.com/forum/showthread.php?491-Sketch-284

Have a great day!

Donna Downey Rocks!

Last weekend I went to Cropaganza in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.  It was great to have a weekend away having fun with some ladies that share the same passion.

I took a class with Donna Downey.  This is the second time I have taken a  Donna Downey class.  The last time was in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada when I went to the Urban Scrapbook Scrapbook Convention back in 2004.  At that convention, she taught a chipboard mini album class and I enjoyed that one too.  She gave us a ton of product and autographed my canvas bag that I still have!   I love her simple style of scrapbooking and I love taking a class when I don't feel overwhelmed and stressed and her class was all that.  Here is the inspiration journal that I created in her class:

Front Page

Side View

One of several inside pages

Canvas ruffle on back page

Layers and texture

Vintage book page ruffles

Title 

Prima flowers and branches

I love working with canvas and I love all the layers and texture and the old book pages.  A product that I have never worked with until now is Liquid Glue Dots. Let me tell you that I am in love with this Australian product!  I applied it to the canvas letter "R".  I can see using this product a lot instead of pop dots for dimension.  Shimmerz was another product that I have never used before.  I love this mica goodness and loved the sheen it gave to my canvas butterfly!  Now to complete the album, I just have to add some  photos, more embellishments and some rubons.  What a fun class!

If you get a chance, be sure and take a Donna Downey class.  She is not only talented, but a lot of fun too!

Get Messy Challenge

Today is my turn on Scrapbook Challenges to share the February "Get Messy Challenge".

I love using different mediums on my pages to give my layout texture, dimension and interest.  Below is a layout I created on my son when he was five years old.

Five & Alive

On this layout, I used Liquitex Modelling Paste, Claudine Helmuth Acrylic Paints, a 6" X 6" Chevron Stencil by Balzer Designs, Americana White Acrylic Paint and Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Black Soot.  I also added some Jillibean Soup Kraft Corrugated Letters and doctored them up with various colours of Claudine Helmuth Acrylic Paints.  To complete the layout, I used some ruler ribbon and some Jenni Bowlin Black Vintage Buttons embellished with My Mind's Eye "Lime Twist" Twine and a Maya Road Kraft Journaling Tag.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope I have inspired you to try some different mediums on your projects and to get messy!

Oh, and because February is the month of love, my challenge to you is to use the following song that was my wedding song back in September 1999 and create a project with the title "All My Life".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXvMT_mVbqw

Have fun!

Be sure and check out Scrapbook Challenges for more inspiration and challenges.  Have a wonderful, scrappy day!

A Quick Layout To Share

This is a layout of my youngest son when he was five years of age when we went on a ferry to Vancouver Island.

I made this layout last weekend at a crop.  I used the new Teresa Collin's Everyday Moments papers.  At the moment, I am loving the yellow and navy blue colour combination in this collection.  I also added some Maya Road Chipboard that I stained with Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Faded Denim.  The edges are distressed and inked with Tim Holtz Distress ink in Stormy Sky.  Finally I inked the edges of the kraft background paper with Ranger Adirondack Lights Acrylic Paint Dabber in Lemonade, added some assorted buttons and yellow ribbon and a journal tag from Maya Road.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Wednesday!

Some Big News!

Last week I was having a bad day and I went to look at my email.  I think I just about fainted.  There was an email from Making Memories.  They said they had come across my blog and really liked what they saw.  They asked me if I would like to do some design work for the Making Memories blog.  Heck ya!

I have been on cloud 9 all week since I got this news.  What a surprise!  I will be doing a layout for March with some of their new product so keep on checking back here.

Have a scrappy week!

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #283

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #283 is posted on their website today.  The sketch was created by my fellow teammate, the lovely Tabitha Collins.  Here is the sketch.

Here is the my take on the sketch:

Marv's Soda Shop

Come play along with the team and myself.  Have a wonderful Monday!

Cropaganza Was Perfect!

This weekend was fabulous.  A scrapbook convention named Cropaganza was held in Red Deer, Alberta organized by the awesome Christy Riopel, Allison Orthner and Michelle Zemlack.

It's always nice to get away for the weekend and hang out with the girls and take some classes.  Donna Downey was there teaching and I was able to take a class with this awesome lady.  I love her sense of humour and her simple style of teaching.  She is so personable and down to earth.  She also served her students coffee if they wanted some.  It was so much fun and I came away from her class feeling great.

I also took a class by the talented Cathie Allen.  We worked with pigment inks and the Smooch products. I love learning new techniques and she had several of them to share.  Cathie is a sweet lady with a true passion for her craft and it shows in her teaching.

The fellowship was wonderful, the accommodation was very nice and it's always great to meet new friends that share this passion of scrapbooking.  We "get" each other.

It's A Good Day! I Got Published!

Scrapbook News and Review Magazine published a layout of mine today in the pet section of their traditional scrapbooking category.  It is a layout on my daughter's cute dog Elly, when she was a puppy.

If you are looking for a great e-zine to subscribe to, SNR is really great.

Twisted Sketches Layout #139

Twisted Sketches Layout #139 is posted and I love what the entire team did with this.  The twist is "old" anyhow, anyway.

I love the vintage/retro craze at the moment.  There is a little shop near where I live that serves old fashioned diner food and sodas.  They also sell old fashioned candy and if you know what a "45" record is than it is a place that will be close to your heart.  This diner reminds me of what my parents would have experienced when they were teenagers growing up in the 1950's.  

I won a kit from Wescrap last November, which contained lots of goodies including some patterned paper from the  "Off The Press" collection from Basic Grey.  I thought it would be perfect for this layout.

Check out the sketch that the wonderful Anam Stubbington designed here.

Jumpstart your creativity by playing along with us.  Have a fun day!

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #282

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #282 is revealed today and as I am not usually a two page layout scrapbooker, so I challenged myself to do one.

Christmas trees all over the place!

Why don't you play along with us.  There is a one page sketch and a two page sketch, so choose your sketch and challenge yourself.  You can find the fabulous sketches here:

Have a scrappy Monday!

Gotta Love My Art Journal

Last September,  I took an online workshop taught by the wonderful Christy Tomlinson called "She Has Three Hearts".  It inspired me to keep an art journal.  Actually, I have many art journals.  Some are personal that I keep to myself and some I share with my family and some I share with the world.  I love that I can paint, mist, stamp, stencil, write, draw and use Pan Pastels to express myself in a deeper way.  It helps me to concentrate on being positive and grateful everyday.  It helps me through many bumps in the road.  It is so good for the soul and it's a way of being creative at the same time.  It doesn't matter if the art doesn't feel perfect.  The reason is to jumpstart my creativity and be therapeutic at the same time.  Art journaling is very popular at the moment and I love it.

Here is an art journal page that I created of all the things that I love and make me happy and grateful:

Christy's workshop is fabulous and I urge everyone to take it.  You will laugh, you will cry and you will explore your creativity.  You will surprise yourself.

Pinterest has many ideas for your art journal and you can follow my Pinterest account as I have a board set up exclusively for art journaling.  This is where I got the idea for this page.

Have a fabulous day!

Photography....My Other Passion

Scrapbooking isn't my only passion.  I also love photography.

Whether a person has a point and shoot camera or a DSLR,  photography is what your eyes see and not what the camera sees. Anyone can take great photographs.  It just takes a will to learn and get out there practice and have fun! I have a long ways to go in my photography journey, but I love to learn.

When my scrapbooking mojo is lacking, I like to head out with my camera and take photos.  Living close to the mountains, my husband and I go there often to get away from the hustle bustle of everyday life and go on a search for some landscape and wildlife photography opportunities.  Macro photography is another interest of mine and I enjoy the challenge of taking photos of beautiful flowers.  I also love photographing architecture and my one of my photography dreams is to go to Italy some day and enjoy capturing all the beauty of the old buildings and also to New York City.

While I was out and about yesterday, I took some photos of my beautiful hometown.  It has tripled in population since I was a child, but I still love the beautiful city that I grew up in.  Calgary is one of the fastest growing cities in Canada and because our economy revolves around the oil and gas industry, there are many people moving here.  The mountains are just an hour away so many people enjoy going there to ski some of the most beautiful and challenging ski resorts in the world.  The sky looks quite smoky 

because  there is a landfill fire west of the city, but I still enjoyed the view and got out and captured these:

Calgary Downtown Skyline

Alberta Children's Hospital

University of Calgary Campus

Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Polytechnique

Looking Southeast 

CTV Calgary Tower

Have a wonderful Friday and enjoy your weekend!

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #281

Today over at Scrapbook Challenges the Monday sketch is posted and I love what the design team has created.  Here is my layout that I created of my niece Laine and her horses:

Laine Is A Horse Lover & Cowgirl

It was fun creating this western theme layout.  In this layout I used my Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors, my Slice and the Happy Trails cartridge for the stars and the letters and words, some thinner jute to give it the lasso feel and a plaid stamp from Hero Arts to stamp on the die cut letters.  I also used pops of red in the Cosmo Cricket letter stickers and the red pom pom trim.  Finally I took some brads that I have had in my stash and embellished the stars with them and added some more buttons tied with some twine onto some horse patterned paper.

Come play along with us over at Scrapbook Challenges.  We also have some prizes for our membership drive.  Tell them that Lee-Anne sent you.

Here is the sketch and the entire design team's take on the sketch.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Twisted Sketches #137

Today there is a new sketch over at Twisted Sketches.  You can find it here:

I created this festive layout with the Wonder and Wishes collection from Little Yellow Bicycle.

Come have some fun and see what you can do with the sketch and post it at www.twistedsketches.org.  Have a great day!