I have a confession to make...

Ok, so yesterday I was out delivering a scrapbook order into Chilliwack for one of my customers and after talking with her...I decided to stop into Classics (the local scrapbook store there)...now if you've already read my previous post from early this morning, you'll have read that I haven't bought any more paper recently...not so true anymore!


I kept it at a reasonable total...not going to confess that, but I will tell you that I got 27 sheets of double-sided patterned paper, an alphabet sheet from Thickers in sunny yellow! a ribbon embellishment pack, some sort of fiber'y sand coloured dust stuff...? and some of those 12x12 cardstock sticker sheets that co-ordinate with the patterned papers...that's all I can remember right now because I was really quick in putting it all safely away in my stash containers...


Now I have to say that I created a layout right away with some of it later on last evening so that part is good news, because usually I like to purchase paper and let it sit and nicely 'age' for months on end...not so this time baby!

Now a couple general points of interest on this layout are firstly...that I crossed this bridge! and secondly, that I wanted to try to incorporate a collage image instead of same size photos...

I am a fan of the Scrapbooks Etc. webpage and on it you have sketches, much like the ones on Let's Scrap...but they also have loads of tips and tricks as well as loads of collage templates! So I opened up my Photoshop, dragged and dropped and trimmed and Voila! a collage to resize to 8"X10" and sent it off to Costco.ca to print...I could have gotten the same look with trimming my own photos, but then I'd had to have resized most of them to smaller image sizes and on this collage template you can easily zoom in or out on an image...I admit that Photoshop is a bit of a learning curve and I am in no ways any kind of expert...far from it...but I did manage to get this one done in an hour or so...

I've used a couple of the BoBunny Et Cetera sheet I just bought for the background and some more of the patterned Simple Stories Destination paper and card stock stickers for the ticket border, compass, flourish and tabs.

These tags and camera die-cuts were from the Making Memories Passport collection that I have hanging around...

Super cute certificate that they give you once you've gotten all your stamps at the different check points throughout the park...including the Bridge, Cliffwalk, Tree-top Adventure and Historic spots...

I am loving Close To My Hearts new cork alphabets...think I'll need to add another package to my shopping cart for my next order...I had this die-cut sheet in my Making Memories Passport stash as well and I inked it up considerably...along with all the other paper on this layout!

I wanted to add some journalling but as per usual, I don't always like to see it front and centre...so I dug into my journalling tag bin...yes I need an entire bin to store them all...and found this one :)

I mentioned in my previous post that I have been buying the co-ordinating 12x12 card stock embellishment sheets to some of the paper collections I've gotten recently...it sure does make short work on putting the finishing touches on some of these layouts...

It's hard to see in this photo of the photos in my layout, but at the Capilano Suspension Bridge park, they have an area where they teach us a thing or two! Here I've photographed the tags that are wrapped around these insanely huge and OLD trees...the top one is not really readable but it says: Douglas Fir...205FT tall...20FT circumference...1300 YEARS OLD! and the lower photo says: W.Hemlock...165FT tall...9FT circumference...300 YEARS OLD!

Let's talk about Swaps and Scraps!

Good Morning my fellow paper addicted pals :) 

I'm not sure sometimes what I'm thinking when I decide to do things...I am currently working away on a CTMH Swap with some lovely ladies in Canada...just spent last Saturday at a 12 hour School fundraising crop and two weeks before that I had another 12 hour School fundraising crop as well as a week of Workshops and a Card Class...phew...I am really enjoying myself of course, meeting some great people and showing off all of CTMH's fantastic products...but we always seem to forget the actual time it takes to prep for these events and Classes and Workshops and Swaps...don't we? Oh well, I'll get plenty of rest when I'm old...I'd add in there grey too, but alas...that part is here already!

So I'm prepping for my Swap right now and I don't know about you, but I can't seem to throw out my 1" strips of paper...it's a problem I know I have but I have room technically to keep it, so I do! My thought is that I just might need that 1" strip and I'm happy to say that I'M RIGHT!!! As you can see I've used up some of my 1" strips creating the title for my Swap...they are actually extremely handy for trimming them and I have decided to stamp extras just because I might use them with this paper later...these letters are going to be trimmed out, edges inked and added to my Swap pieces to be mailed out this week! I'll post pictures of the Swap layouts once they are in the mail to my Swappin' Gals...

Sometimes I just like to pull out my stamps and inks, grab some cardstock and play...this way I can sit at the table while the family is watching a movie, doing homework or just hanging out...I don't feel guilty leaving everyone like I would when I go down to my Workshop alone and I have the TV and family to keep me company. Some of my neatest embellishments have been made this way...there are times when I want to be creative but I don't really want to scrapbook and I find that this is a great way to get to know your stamp sets...play with colour combinations and be productive while spending time with your family.

It is fun to stamp and play with my stamps and inks when I have them out and am creating...then I just tuck my creations into a zippy or my paper pack envelope, sometimes I've already trimmed them and sometimes I just sit on the couch while we're watching our favorite shows and cut them out then...next time I'm creating with that particular paper collection...I've already got some embellishments made to use...faster.simpler.easier....that's what it's all about with Close To My Heart.

Here I've stamped, embossed, punched and inked chipboard bits...some I was planning on using but didn't and some I just cut out and put in my sturdy CTMH storage envelopes...

And because I love to show you how messy I can get while scrapbooking...

  

I have to say I am lucky that I have a supportive husband...this is the main floor kitchen area, the island to be specific...I do have a very large scrapbooking Workshop just for me downstairs...but remember how I mentioned I like to be around my family...tee hee

Fall Family Photo Shoot!

 With the changing of leaves and cooler weather comes that faithful time of year...the dreaded Photo Shoot! This year we visited the beautiful Deer Lake Park in Burnaby, where textures are abundant, even if Fall colour was harder to find...here's a few pictures to hopefully jump start your
Fall Family Photo Shoot!

My three fabulous kids...

Just the two of Us...where it all started ;)

Take some time this weekend to enjoy the beauty of the season!