Some Layouts To Share

Today I have two new layouts to share.  My husband has an aunt that we go visit in the nursing home often.  She is 93 years of age and is such a wonderful person.  She was a nurse for many years and worked in Africa in countries such as Kenya and Ethiopia for 30 years helping the sick and she believes that in her career she has delivered over 1000 babies.  She loves children and never got married or had any of her own.  She is such a strong woman and dedicated her entire life to others.  I wanted to create a special layout of this remarkable woman.

Aunt Mary

I also created a layout of my two sons who are 15 years apart in age.  They can still get together and have a great time.  They both love Calaway Park.  I love when my older son comes home and spends time with his little brother.

Splish Splash

It is such a nice spring day here so I think I will go out and enjoy the weather and take some photos.

Have a great day and enjoy your day!

Twisted Sketches Sketch #144

Today Sketch #144 is posted at Twisted Sketches and I had fun with this sketch.  This little guy is a real cutie.  He is one of my daughter's friends little guy Alex.  I thought Echo Park's new "This And That" Collection would be perfect for this page.  It was also fun to get the punchinella out of the stash and ink it up and stamp with it on the kraft card stock for more texture.  My sewing machine has been hiding for a while, so I decided to take it out and do some stitching.

Come challenge yourself and get out of your creative rut and play along with us at Twisted Sketches.  You can find today's layout sketch here.

Have an awesome day!

SC March Word Challenge

Today on Scrapbook Challenges it is my turn to share the March Word/Quote/Journaling Challenge.  My challenge to you is to create a layout that has the word "amazing" in the title.  The word "amazing" can also be used in a quote on your page or in some journaling. 

I created a layout on my daughter who is amazing to me.  When I gave birth to her 24 years ago, I became sick 24 hours after I delivered her and was critically ill and in dire health.  Shannon was a trooper, and stayed in the hospital for two weeks with me.  She was the "demo" baby that the nurses demonstrated how to bathe and diaper to the other moms while I was in the hospital recovering from a very serious infection.   I didn't get to feed and hold her as I was too ill.  My doctor didn't know if I was going to pull through, but after massive doses of antibiotics, my health began to improve and I was able to go home and raise my two year old son and my newborn daughter.  When my daughter was 9, she had a very freak accident that nearly took her life and she pulled through.  She is now studying to be a nurse and it is something that is her calling as she knows what trauma is and is very compassionate with her patients that are going through a hard time too.  Shannon and I have a special bond because of our history and I am blessed to have her and she is my special girl.

On a more lighter note, I would love for you to join me in this challenge and have fun and be creative then upload it to the Scrapbook Challenges Gallery and link it back to the March Word/Quote/Journaling Challenge Thread.  I can't wait to see what you create.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

SC March Madness Challenge 2

Snow Pretty

Things are going very well and I am super excited to announce that I made it to Round 2 of the March Madness Challenge at Scrapbook Challenges.  It started with all of the 16 designers and now we are down to 8 designers.  The competition is fierce and I am paired with Lauri Andrus for this challenge.  

The challenge is to create a monochromatic layout by using our team colour and put it on a neutral background of white, kraft or black.  My team colour is blue.  Blue is my favourite colour so I wanted to create a layout of winter with the cool blue tones.  The lace looks green, but it is actually a lighter shade of blue.  The snowflakes were stickers that I wanted to make sparkle so I used Glossy Accents and some glitter that I sprinkled before it dried completely.  The background was misted with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Bell Bottom Jeans.  The papers are from the Midnight Frost Collection by Bo Bunny.  I distressed the edges of the white paper background with Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Broken China.  I used some Kaisercraft jewels and pearls and some assorted brads and buttons and some machine stitching and adhered it to blue cardstock.  

Thanks for stopping by and I really would appreciate your vote at Scrapbook Challenges.  You can vote on March 29 and up to midnight on March 30.

Have a great day!

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #288

Today there are two new sketches posted at Scrapbook Challenges and the single layout sketch for today was my first sketch that I designed for the team:

Sketch #288 Single Page 

If you prefer, try your hand at the two page sketch:

Sketch #288 Double Page 

I seldom create two page layouts, but I really like the double page sketch that design team member Chanell designed and I thought it would be great to use more photos of my son and daughter-in-law's recent trip to Cancun, Mexico:

Swim With The Dolphins

Why don't you play along and challenge yourself with these sketches.  You can upload your creation to the challenge gallery at Scrapbook Challenges and also post in the Sketch #288 forum thread for this month.

Have a great day!

10,000 Views!

Hi everyone!  Hope you are all enjoying your Saturday.

I have some great news to share.  Today is a milestone on my blog.  It has reached 10,000 views!  Thank you everybody for joining me in this blogging journey.  It has been quite the journey so far.  I hope you enjoy my little piece of the blogging world of scrapbooking.

I started my blog about a year ago and it has gone from a few views per week to about 500 views per week just in the past three months.  Wow!  I am so honoured!  Blogging is my little contribution to the creative world of scrapbooking and other creative things that I love such as photography, mixed media, art journaling and cooking and baking.  It has helped me to inspire and reach out to other people who are passionate about being creative.

I really appreciate everyone that views my blog and leaves comments and I always enjoy making new friends who share the same love about being creative.

Thanks again for stopping by.  It would be awesome if you would subscribe to my blog and I would be more than happy to follow your blog too.

Have a great day!

Making Memories Guest Designer

Today is a very special day for me.  It is my very first guest designer opportunity.  Making Memories asked me if I would like to create a layout with their new Sarah Jane Collection.  Apparently they had seen my blog and really liked it so asked me if I would be interested.  I was so honoured!  Here is their blog post:

This is a layout on my son Clayton.  He was eleven years old in this layout.  I thought this collection was perfect.  Thanks so much Making Memories.  You made my day!

SC March Madness Challenge #1

March Madness is now going on over at Scrapbook Challenges and we have sixteen design team members fighting it out in our first challenge.  It goes from 16 design team members to 8, to 4, to 2 and then the winner.  If you guess correctly you could win a prize valued at $150.  

All 8 teams had to create a layout, digital, hybrid or traditional and use the first 10 letters of our first name and middle name.  My first challenge is competing with the talented and awesome Cathy from South Africa.   My layout was of one of my "She Art" girls that I created last spring:

Create Art It's My Passion

First 10 letters of my name:  LEEANNE BRE

L - LACE

E - ENVELOPE

E - ENVELOPE

A - ACRYLIC PAINT

N - NEON

N - NEON

E - ENVELOPE

B - BUTTON

R - RIC RAC

E - ENVELOPE

I used four envelopes and layered them.  The neon colours are the green and yellow and I used Ranger Acrylic Paint Dabbers to create the border and on the envelope flaps.  I could tuck some other photos or notes in the envelopes if I wish.  The orange ric rac is used for the stem of the one flower and the top envelope flap.  The lace is the melon ruffle on the bottom envelope and the buttons are used for the center of the flowers and the top envelope flap.  Whew!  It's a very colourful layout for sure!

Come join Scrapbook Challenges March Madness and have fun with us.  I am not going to ask you to vote for me, but you can if you want to.  It would be great for you to join in the fun and our weekly sketches and challenges.  

Have a wonderful day!

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #287

Mondays are always fun at Scrapbook Challenges.  We always have a new sketch up that members of our design team take turns designing.  I like that we have the choice between a single page layout sketch and a double page layout sketch.  Double page layouts are really something I am not comfortable with, but I like to go out of my comfort zone and be challenged.  

This layout was done with the "About A Boy" collection by Echo Park.  I thought it could be used for a layout other than a boy layout.  This is of a layout of our summer vacation to Osoyoos, British Columbia, Canada.  It's the only desert in Canada.  The area is known for its many fruit orchards and wineries.  My youngest son, my husband and I met my brother and his family there for two days and decided to tour a winery and see how wine was made.  My husband doesn't drink alcohol and I very rarely drink alcohol but when I do, I like to drink a glass of wine.  No, I didn't want my son to be encouraged to drink, but I thought it would be interesting to see a winery.  We had such a fun time!

I thought this collection gave it a "desert" feel and I wanted to create something that would look like grapes so I got my button stash out and even cut a few stems from a silk plant.  Don't tell anyone.

I hope you like it.

Two Page Layout

My "grapes"

Yes It Was A Perfect Day

Buttons, Silk Flower Leaves 

The Crew (I'm taking the photo)

Why don't you challenge yourself this week and play along.  You can find the sketch
here.

 I always enjoy comments so don't be shy!

Have a fun day!

March Madness!!

Scrapbook Challenges is extending their deadline! Go to Scrapbook Challenges and choose who you think will be the designer to make it to the finish.  Come join us!!!  You can download a PDF with the bracket and info here.

The March Madness gallery can be found here.

It's going to be fun, fun fun!!!

Twisted Sketches Sketch #142

I am so excited to be on the Twisted Sketches Design Team for another six month term.  Being on design teams keeps me doing what I love to do more than anything and that is to be creative and capture memories of my family and friends.  I love to motivate and inspire scrapbookers to be creative and just enjoy the process.  It's great to see someone look at their completed card/layout or project and have a smile on their face and be happy with their accomplishment.  It's great to share this passion with others and I wish I would have started scrapbooking when my older children were growing up.  Hmmm.  There is always grandchildren...

Today Sketch #142 is posted on the Twisted Sketches blog.  The twist was "green".  I assume this is for St. Patrick's Day but I chose to create a layout on my ten year old niece who is taking guitar lessons.  I used the new Echo Park "This & That" collection.  It is really geared towards boys and masculine pages, but I thought it would be appropriate for this layout as I wanted to have the photo stand out so the guitar was kept the original colour, and the remainder of the photo be black and white.  

Laine & Her Guitar

Thanks for stopping by to see my layout and don't forget to play along with us, the Twisted Sisters and challenge yourself with the sketches.  This sketch can be found here.

Have a wonderful, scrappy, happy day!

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #286

Today is Monday and that means that Scrapbook Challenges has another fabulous sketch posted.  Here is my interpretation of Sketch #286:

Doesn't my sister-in-law look great on her 50th birthday?  I chose to use October Afternoon's retro  5 and Dime Collection.  I thought it would be perfect to use for this particular layout.  Everything on this layout is from October Afternoon except for the card stock which is Coredinations.

Also, we are having a fun event on right now at Scrapbook Challenges called March Madness.   It's going to be a ton of fun!  All you have to do is fill out your ballot  and choose which member of the design team will be the grand prize winner.  A great prize is up for grabs.  Check it out here.

Also, come join us and play along with the sketch.  You can find the sketch here.

Have a scrappy evening!

Twisted Sketches Welcome!

Today, Anam Stubbington introduced the new ladies for this term on Twisted Sketches and showcased their sketch that they used to create for their design team application.  You can find the sketch here.  Their twist was "feather".

Welcome ladies!  Here are the new ladies joining the team:

Carol Levesque

Claire Richards

Deb Pulford

Elena Mazza

Ginger Demmert

Helen Eddie

Laura Drahozal

Laura Madden

Shannon Stout

Tracy-lihanne Lane

Wendy Crowe

I have been on this design team  for six months already and absolutely love it and I'm pretty sure the new ladies on the team will love it too!   It's always great to see the many different styles.  Looking forward to being on this wonderful international design team for another six month term.  Come check out some creations that the new ladies have designed here.

Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #285

Today Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #285 is revealed and for this wedding layout, of my daughter and her husband, I chose to work with the two page layout sketch.

I love the colours of Teresa Collin's new collection "Everyday Moments" and wanted to use the collection to portray a soft, elegant, timeless feel to this special wedding layout.

You can find the one page and two page sketch here.

I would love if you could join us at Scrapbook Challenges and play along.  We are a fun group who likes to inspire every scrapbooker to push their creativity to their full potential.

Have a wonderful, creative day!

SC March Madness