Five for Friday

1. On Sunday, we attended the Morden Festival of the Arts highlights concert, where Sage performed her French poem that she'd presented for Speech Arts. She was the only one to perform a French poem at the concert! And, both she and Jonah won awards for how well they'd performed their poems. I was so happy for them!

2. The other morning, when I woke up, I could hear Jonah & Sage talking softly. I got up to check and here's what I found:

Jonah had climbed into Sage's bed and was reading to her! It was so sweet, I had to grab my camera to take a picture!

3. They also got pretty creative this week and set up a sumo wrestling ring in the basement, stuffed some pillows in their clothes and played "Penner Sumo Wrestling":

4. Austin was honoured in taekwondo this week.... Master Braun called him to the front of the class to present him with this mini-target key-chain and spoke about the growth she'd noticed in him since becoming a poom belt... how she appreciated his volunteering for the whole day at the tournament, his willingness to work with the new students in class and how she sees him becoming a young leader in the club. I was super proud!

He's got a big day, today, too... This afternoon, he's working at the town library to raise money for their student council's work-a-thon and then tonight, we're having his birthday party (I cannot believe he's turning 13 next week!) He got to pick what we do for his party, so we're going to see The Avengers in the theatre tonight.

5. I got another layout and card done for Kelly Purkey's sketchbook class...I'm up to #11. Only one left and I've finished the workshop. :)

Here's my layout:

I used Echo Park patterned paper, Papertrey Ink cardstock (harvest gold), stamps (Simply You, Movers & Shakers Sentiments) and dies (Edger's #5). The decorative brads are all My Mind's Eye.

For the title, I used the "YOU" from Simply You and then modified the "You're all these things and more" stamp, by selectively inking the "re all these things and more" and then masking so I could stamp just the "A" at the front.

Because the layout was so full, I decided to include some hidden journaling behind the patterned paper, so with the Edger #5 dies. You pull it out to read it  -- some mushy stuff about how I love being his mom. ;)

And here's the card I made, using another one of Nichole's colour combinations for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink.

I used PTI cardstock (aqua mist, fine linen, berry sorbet, simply chartreus & rustic white), stamps (rosie posie, happy day) & dies (rosie posie, happy day, quatrefoil plate). I used the quatrefoil plate as an impression plate instead of a die. I also stamped with the matching ink on the cardstock to create my flowers.

Thanks for looking!

Another Mother's Day card

I made another Mother's Day card, using another one of Nichole's colour combinations for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink.

Here's the card I made:

For the card's design, I was inspired by a card by Jennifer McGuire in the latest Papercrafts magazine. After stamping and cutting out the butterfly image by hand, I added some glossy accents to cover it to give it a glossy finish.

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic white, plum pudding, lavender mist), ink (Winter Wisteria), buttons (lavender mist, plum pudding, ocean tides), stamps (pretty peonies) and dies (heart border, double-ended banner). The dark grey ink I used is A Muse Studio (Slate).

Thanks for looking!

A Mother's Day Card

Today, I'm sharing a Mother's Day card that I made yesterday, for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Using Colour Inspiration.

I chose this colour combo, which was a stretch for me, as I'd never thought of mixing melon berry and lavender mist together!
 

And here's my card:

I don't own any lavender mist ink, so I decided to use the technique that Maile Belles shared recently on her blog: heat embossing on coloured cardstock, which worked well, using clear embossing powder.

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (soft stone, melon berry, fine linen, lavender mist), buttons (lavender mist, melon berry, fine linen), stamps (pretty peonies, rose posie, bb:houndstooth) and dies (rosie posie).

Thanks for looking!

Pages with Papertrey -- Challenge #9

I've been really enjoying posting challenges for Pages with Papertrey and I hope you've been liking them, too. Today, I'm sharing the challenge for May: stamp on patterned paper.

For my layout, I stamped on the coral polka-dot patterned paper with the large stamp from PTI's Lace Bouquet:

I used Bazzill cardstock (12x12), My Mind's Eye patterned paper, decorative brads & label sticker) & Quickutz Cotton Candy alphabet dies. I also used PTI cardstock (soft stone, smokey shadow), stamps (lace bouquet) & dies (heart border).

Here's a close-up of the journaling:

I'm also adding a bonus to this challenge... you'll get bonus points if you include a photo of yourself on the layout. :)

If you create a layout using this challenge, please link it here in the comments on my blog or here in the Papertrey Ink forum, so I can see what you've made!

Thanks for looking!

Sketchbook 4 -- Sketch #10

I wanted to share the layout and card I made using Sketch #10 from Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 4 workshop. For the layout, I decided to scrapbook some photos from our club's recent taekwondo tournament.

I used Fancy Pants & Lily Bee patterned paper, Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic white, pure poppy), stamps (movers & shakes sentiments, simply you) & dies (double-ended banner, journaling tabs, uppercase block alphabet) & a trio of My Mind's Eye decorative brads.

Here are a few close-ups:

I also created a tab that you pull out to reveal the journaling:

And here's the card I made with the sketch:

I used The Girl's Paperie patterned paper, Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic cream), stamps (pretty peonies) & dies (mat stack 1, bloom builders #3) & the decorative brad is a SU! build-a-brad.

Thanks for looking!

Sketchbook 4-- Sketch #9

I got a little behind on scrapbooking this past week, but yesterday I was able to finish the layout I'd started for Sketch #9 of Kelly Purkey's Sketchbook 4 class. I also made a card for Austin for his birthday (coming up in a week & a half) using this sketch last night.

Here's the layout:

I used Papertrey ink cardstock (stamper's select white, classic kraft), stamps (Framed Out #3) and dies (Framed Out #3, alphabet block.) I also used SU! cardstock (island indigo) & My Mind's Eye patterned paper and decorative brads.

Here's a close-up of the photos:

And here's the card I made, inspired by the sketch:

I used Papertrey ink cardstock (rustic white), stamps (Label Basics, Movers & Shakers sentiments, Boy Basics: Game On, Grunge Me, Botanical Silhouettes) and dies (Label Basics).

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday

1. We've been busy with piano lately, with Festival last week and a recital last night. The kids all played one favourite solo piece and I played our duets with Sage & Austin. It was fun.... something I'd like to do again, for sure!

2. I had the day off on Wednesday and decided it was time that I take down my Christmas decor outside of my front door and make things look a little more Spring-like...

I purchased some silk flowers at Walmart and used some containers I already had...

3. I also changed around some things in my scrap area earlier this week. I'd attended a fabulous crop on Saturday and when I went to unpack on Sunday afternoon, I realized what bothered me the most about my previous set up (as seen here): I don't like sitting with my back to the room. I prefer to look out in to the room, with my back to a wall. So, I moved over some shelving units (with a little help from Austin & Sage!) and pulled my table away from the wall. Here are some photos of my newly organized space:

Here's what I have on my table, from left to right: my containers of buttons & baby wipes (to clean my stamps),  my PTI stamps in their Tim Holtz stamp folders and my caddy that holds scraps of white cardstock and 6x6 patterned paper, my scissors, rulers, craft knife, bone folder and pens & pencils.



Then, I have my rotating shelving which holds my jewels, felt, twine, thread, small tools (eraser, edge distresser, corner rounders, needles) & my inks. Beside that are my file folders that hold my PTI cardstock and then my files that hold my 12x12 patterned paper.

Beside my table, I placed my IKEA kitchen stand. Over that, I have my framed 1st Dan Taekwondo certificate. Then, I have a card display that I use to store a few non-PTI stamps and my punches. On the table, I have my photo trimmer and my Big Shot.

On the shelves below, I have a box of photos (there are presently a couple of sleeves of decorative brads in front of the photos) and a box of embellishments. Below that is my binder of diecuts.

I have a couple other shelves with hold my supplies that I don't use as often, but form some reason, I forgot to upload this photo. You can see part of these shelves in the first photo.

4. I started this layout last Saturday and finally got it finished last night, so I thought I'd share it:

I used Papertrey cardstock (classic kraft, smokey shadow), SU! cardstock (island indigo) & My Mind's Eye patterned paper (hexagons), diecut & decorative brads. The strip of yellow polkadot paper is Lily Bee and I diecut my title using my Quickutz Classic alphabet dies.

5.  At our piano recital last night (see #1), we gave Mrs. Wiebe, our piano teacher a gift certificate to a local nursery and this card, which I made using this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Glitter Diecuts.

I used Papertrey cardstock (stamper's select white, pure poppy), stamps (stitches & swirls, Think Big Favourites #4, Happy Day) and dies (3.5" limitless layers ovals, Happy Day). I also used Crate Paper patterned paper, some Martha Stewart glitter & some white embossing powder on the background.

Wow, what a long post!

Thanks for looking!

A Papertrey Princess Challenge

It's my turn to post a challenge for the Papertrey Princesses, so here's my challenge... The PTI design team is so amazing! Choose one of their projects and use it as inspiration for a card.

I was inspired by the last card in Maile Belles' latest post on her blog to create this card:

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (stamper's select white), stamps (beautiful butterflies, TBF#3) & dies (beautiful butterflies). The patterned paper is Crate Paper, which I covered in Martha Stewart glitter for this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Glitter Diecuts.

Here's a close-up of the glittered diecut:

So, Princesses, I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for looking!

PTI April Blog Hop

A co-worker shared with me yesterday that she recently got engaged! I am so happy for her, so I decided to make her a card to let her know. I decided to do so for this month's PTI Blog Hop, where the challenge was to be inspired by this photo:

(Isn't it lovely! I think these fabrics would make such a beautiful baby quilt!)

I was inspired by the stacks of patterns, as well as the large floral designs. Here's the card I made:

I used PTI cardstock (rustic cream), stamps (rosie posie, botanical silhouettes) & dies (rosie posie). I also used patterned paper: My Mind's Eye (both blue polkadots), The Girl's Paperie (floral & text) and Crate (bottom pink).

Thanks for looking!

Scrapbook Stamper's Workshop -- Lesson #8

So, in focusing on making layouts for the Sketchbook 4 class, I took a little break from the Scrapbook Stamper's Workshop lessons. Truthfully, I was a little stuck on one lesson, because I just didn't have the stamps to make it work. I decided to skip it and to move onto the next challenge, which was to stamp & die cut & stitch a border of stars on your layout. I put my own spin on this challenge and came up with this layout:

I used Echo Park patterned paper and Papertrey Ink cardstock (stamper's select white, hawaiian shores), stamps (super stars, wonderful words additions) & dies (seeing stars, uppercase block alphabet). Instead of stitching my border, I decided to add some My Mind's Eye decorative brads.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

Thanks for looking!

Sixteen years

Today is my husband, Cameron, & my 16th wedding anniversary. I can't believe we've been married this long! LOL! I thought I'd make a layout commemorating our special day and I decided to use Sketch #8 from Sketchbook 4 to do so.

I used My Mind's Eye patterned paper and diecut, Studio Calico, October Afternoon, & Webster's letter/number stickers, Pink Paislee chipboard letters and Papertrey ink cardstock & dies (tag sale #5 & block number).

 Here's the journaling: 

"Together, we…have attended 1 church faithfully…have lived in 2 different homes… …have lost 2 dads… have 3 beautiful children… have gone on 4 long road trips… …have seen 8 movies together in the theatre…have had 9 different jobs…have owned 11 different vehicles…have gone for countless drives in the country & bike rides…have had many ups & downs… …have celebrated 16 years of marriage… April 20, 2012"

 Then, I used some scraps from my layout and the same sketch to make a card:

I used My Mind's Eye patterned paper & Papertrey ink cardstock (soft stone, stamper's select white), stamps (beautiful butterflies) & dies (beautiful butterflies, tag sale #5).

 Thanks for looking!

Welcome, baby

My friends, Beth & Greg, had a new baby boy in February (welcome, Baby Declan!) and I'm finally getting around to sending them a gift & a card. I konw, it's pretty sad, but this way, it stretches out the gift giving. ;)

We got him an adorable striped polo onesie and I made a card to coordinate with it. I decided to use this week's Make It Monday at Papertrey Ink: Step it up: Layering in making the two cards, as well as this week's Monday with Melis Challenge, which was to create a card using the following:

1. A new to you style.
2. A cupcake or something sweet (cherries, pie, cake, candy, etc.).
3. Buttons.
4. A background stamp.

For my "new to me style" I decided to go very CAS, with some masking & colouring with watercolour pencils (things I don't do very often.) Here's my card:

I used PTI cardstock (soft stone), stamps (tremendous treats: birthday, BB: Retro, BB: woodgrain, simple sentiments) & button. The watercolour pencils and blenders I used are SU!

So for my "step-it-up", I added some patterned paper, a few different colours & some dies & paper-piecing. I also used Sketch #7 from Sketchbook 4.

I used PTI cardstock (soft stone, harvest gold, rustic white), stamps (tremendous treats: birthday, simple sentiments) & dies (oval dies). The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye.

So, which one do you like better?
Thanks for looking!

Premier Championships 2012

I wanted to share a few photos from our tournament on Saturday...

After a competitor line up and an officials meeting, we started with patterns, beginning with the black belts. My group was suppose to be a group of four, but two competitors didn't show up, so we joined another group (the teenagers) and formed a group of six.

Then the colour belt & poom patterns...

Then we started with the black belt breaking (I only broke one board out of my three) and poom belt breaking (Austin broke his first board with an axe kick!)

And then we started sparring, beginning with the lower belts and moving up... Here are some photos of Sage (the only sparring competitor from our family-- so proud of her!)

Even though we all tried our best, Jonah was the only one from our family to bring home a medal... a bronze for patterns!

And I wanted to share a layout I made using Sketch #7 from Sketchbook 4 and some photos of Austin from the tournament...

I used AC cardstock (12x12), Echo Park patterned paper, Webster's letter stickers, My Mind's Eye, Pink Paislee & The Girl's Paperie decorative brads and PTI cardstock (aqua mist), impression plate (woodgrain), stamps (Grunge Me) & die (Seeing Stars).

Here's a close-up of the journaling, which explains the cryptic title...

Thanks for looking!