Happy St.Patrick's Day!!!

I know I should be posting something 'green' today, but I did post three cards and a layout in festive St. Patty's Day colours yesterday and now I'm all green'd out!

So I'm moving onto one of my favorite things...my niece!

As I'm sure you've gathered if you follow any of my posts, I am spending a lot of time creating layouts using photos from our Christmas/New Year's holiday to Mexico...

I have a habit of taking oodles of photos of any kinda event because, you know, it's digital!!! and of course the progression of my nieces hair braiding is no exception :)

In the creation of this layout, featuring a wonderful sketch from Let's Scrap, I was rummaging through my never-ending STASH for some pink papers. I actually do not have a ton of 'pinks' because my girls are no longer 'pink lovers' and I find that I scrap them in some of their favorite colours...anyways, I'm getting off topic :) I stumbled across 4 or 5 sheets of this Crate Paper 'Pink Plum' collection and luckily I also found the coordinating chipboard sheets I bought a very long time ago! 

I have to say if I was to instill any scrapbooking wisdom your way...when you purchase papers of a certain line, make sure you also get at least one coordinating embellishment...whether it is a  package of decorative brads or a sheet of chipboard bits, because when you do, it sure does make for a FAST layout...you don't need to labour over what matches what because the manufacturers have already done that for you!

I took a 4X6" piece of coordinating patterned paper and after typing up a quick journalling bit, ran it through my printer and I was done! Super fast, simple design using TEN photos! Take some time this week to do this sketch too!

September's Sharing From the Heart BlogHop!

Good Morning!

I hope you've got your coffee or Tea and are sitting comfortably so you can enjoy our Close To My Heart BlogHop! and Remember to click on any of the images you see here for a more 'close up' view~

If you've arrived from Amy McVey's blog then you are on the right track!

This month I want to show you several different projects that I hope you'll enjoy as much as I enjoyed making them!

Let's start with Fall!

products used:

Originals Card program pg. 29

Mischief paper pack

C1463 Harvest Happiness

Sunset ink

Red Barn ink

Cocoa ink

Desert Sand ink

I love to add more stamping to the inside of my cards and the envelopes...

products used:

Original Card program pg.29

Mischief paper pack

C1462 All Hallows Eve

D1437 Party Animal

Black ink

Grey Wool ink

bitty sparkles

I have been using the Stamp of the Month, Limited Edition (S1109), since I first got it...It will have many purposes I can tell but this is how I used some of the stamps in this set this time:

I've stamped the journalling spot and added the little floral wisps from the Dreamin WOTG kit's exclusive stamp set...I've also used the new Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut out the paper on the chipboard title! Yeah!!! no more fussy cutting and sanding and time consuming work! 


Now this is the sketch I used for this layout and it happens to be the new Let's Scrap sketch for this week!

I have to say that I love this sketch...if you have some favourite paper collections that you only have a tiny bit of...this sketch is perfect for it! I've used a little paper and it's created a big effect with this sketch...give it a try yourself!

I used our new Trinity Alphabet set to stamp the 'let the' words and then I used the 'goodtimes' from the Stamp of the Month set...

products used:
(all CTMH unless otherwised noted)

Dreamin paper pack
Dreamin WOTG stamp set
S1109 Limited Edition stamp set
Brown Bag ink
Pacifica ink
Goldrush ink
Cocoa ink
Cocoa re-inker with CTMH Spray Pen (love this!)
E1021 Trinity Alphabet stamp set
C1446 Retro Tech stamp set
Notable Alphabet (chipboard)

Thanks so much for visiting! If you are interested in becoming a regular follower, just click on the Networked Followers or Google Followers in the upper right column...I love making new friends!


Now head on over to Nicole Schuette's site to see all of her wonderful creations :)

Let's Scrap Sketch for Wednesday!

Good Morning Scrappers!

It's Wednesday again and with the new day, comes a new sketch from Let's Scrap!

Here's the Sketch from Cheri O'Neill @ Let's Scrap:

Now there's a reason I love Let's Scrap...there's a lot in the name...when they say Let's Scrap...they mean let's scrap! Since finding this site and actively playing along with the sketches starting from May...I've completed some 30+ double page layouts! 

Because I haven't journaled on this layout yet I thought I'd give you the background on it! For years I've been taking my girls to a great little Historic Town in BC called Fort Langley. It is about a 20 minute drive from our home and is loaded with fantastic little diners and restaurants, antique stores and other cute little shops...my daughters LOVE it there and I love to take pictures there :) The Planet Java diner is totally Retro 50's style diner and the retired old CN Railway Station, that my Grandparents used to arrive from Manitoba on, is a must visit every time we go there!

The journaling circle was cut from my CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge 

and I played with our new stamp set, (D1482) Love Life...

Here's a picture of the images included in this

 fabulous new 'Love Life' stamp set:

If you'd like more information about some of Close To My Hearts products and how you can get your hands on them...
send me some mail and I'll help you out!

Studio J ~ Focus on the Photos

Studio J has just published a fantastic tutorial where they are focussing on the photos. They are showing you some of the FAQ's you might have after playing with the online software. I found it very helpful for myself as I am new to playing in Studio J...remember that Studio J is available online FREE...purchase only those layouts that YOU want...otherwise, maybe think of using this online software when you are sharing the couch with your family...at the same time creating some scrapbooking layouts...

Maybe you don't like the look digital scrapbooking? 

If that's the case with you, I encourage you to play with the software and use it like a 'dry-run' before you go and play with paper and scissors...create some layouts, save them and then the next time you are ready to sit down and play with paper...pull up your pre-done designs on the computer and copy them using your actual product...this way you have some fast and easy layouts to produce...you've only printed out the photos you need for the layout and  you've just saved yourself money and TIME.

Cosmo Cricket and Crate Paper together...lookin' good

My little girl is growing up...makes me sad to think back at all the memories and know that in a few short years this little baby is going to be on her own...my only consolation is in knowing that we raised an independent, strong and wonderful little girl into the young lady that she is today...we had a special little escape to Fort Langley for her 16th birthday in November...right after stopping into the Motor Vehicle office so she could write her Learner's Test...she passed of course...then drove us to Fort Langley!!! One of the charms with Fort Langley is all of the little Antique stores and little specialty shops like this fantastic hat shop...

Does this layout look similar to the one above...same Close To My Heart design...just completely different looking theme's and paper...why re-invent the wheel when the layout works and looks great...just make another one...might just speed up your create-time and challenge you to take the same layout and add touches to each of them to make them appear different...it'll even give you extra time to maybe add or try some different techniques like ribbon flowers or hand stitched stars...?

Remember to keep some of your layouts clean and simple...some photos tell their own story...journalling is important, but not always required...I'm planning on leaving these layouts the way they are right now...perhaps I'll add a few words later...maybe

Time Saving Scrapbooking

Well there are many different styles of Scrapbooking and I am definately a Classic scrapbooker...I love the look and feel of paper, cardstock, chatchki's (AKA. Embellishments) but sometimes I don't actually feel like making a mess and I lack the creative juices or TIME to dream up my own 'original' design...sound like any of you?

Digital scrapbooking has always been 'interesting' to me, but honestly, I don't want to sit infront of a computer for hours on end creating a layout, especially as I'd be re-learning scrapbooking through Photoshop or having to purchase software...

Studio J online scrapbooking has been the answer for me lately...I have been busy working on photos of my daughter's Spring Break trip to PARIS! Playing in the pre-designed layout patterns and choosing my paper...dragging and dropping pictures into the photo wells...easy peasy lemon squeezy!

So needless to say, I am starting to cross over for some projects, I have created some layouts on my account in Studio J, I'm waiting to send in my order as I want them to come together...and I'm tweeking them a little here and there. I have also created 'Classic' layouts with scissors and paper :) I plan to mix them together in her travel Paris album.

Here's a YouTube video created from CTMH's Corporate office, showing you how you can honestly create a fantastic layout for yourself in 5 minutes...I know this as I did one myself with my son...