Christmas gift project

I sometimes have creative ideas out of the blue. I had leftover canvas from a scapbooking class I had hosted a couple weeks ago laying around, and bottles of finger paint that I found in my kid's craft corner and I had one of those ideas.  I would have the kids I had at my daycare paint on a canvas and then scrapbook their picture on it.  The kids has so much fun making it and I did too.  I love those kids so much and it was a joy to put 2 of my passions together like that.  The final product turned out even better than I had hoped, and I think the parents were impressed as well.  I loved how they all turned out so different, as unique and special as the child pictured in the art.  I could not wait until Christmas, I gave them their gift today.  Here they are.

Starting to feel like Christmas - kind of...

Despite the wind (lots of it..) and the rain, I'm starting to finaly feel in the Christmas mood.  I'm almost done shopping, the Christmas tree is up, the Christmas CD is playing.  What gets me in the mood every year is the wrapping of presents.  I love it!  I've also started a Christmas project that I'll show you next weekend, once I've delivered them. I don't want to spoil the suprise.  In the meantime, here are some more Studio J layouts that I completed.  Can't wait to get the printouts in the mail this week!!

The pictures in this layout were taken at a nearby corn maze last October.  The kids loved playing in the maze.  They had this funny game where you had to color a finger with chalk at each of the 5 stations in the maze, when you came out, you had to look up your color combination and perform a funny task.  We'll definitely be returning next year.  The kit used is exclusive to Studio J and is called Boo!. 

We had so much fun this year at Halloween with the kids I babysit.  They all came with costumes that they swapped during the day.  They are so cute! How could you not make a layout with these pretty faces?  The kit used in this layout is Giggles and Grins.

I love this layout of my girls playing in the leaves.  I used the Olivia kit for this layout

See you soon! I have presents waiting to be wrapped.  Fun, fun fun!

more Studio J layouts

Don't you just love it when you spend the whole day thinking it was Sunday and then realise that it was in fact Saturday.  We had a fun filled day today, started with swim class, then we finaly put up our Christmas decorations.  We then ventured to the mall.  We were suprised to find it practically deserted.    We even took the girls to have their picture taken with Santa Clause since he kind of looked lonely, nobody was in line!   We then got home and started cooking.  The girls love to help out in the kitchen. 

So here are some more Studio J layouts that I promised. 

This first layout is made with pictures from a visit to the Village Acadien in Caraquet.  The picture on the bottom left hand side was taken of Zoé looking out a bright red window.  I changed that picture to sepia as well as a couple more just to add balance.  That is one feature I love about Studio J is that you have a built-in photo editing software, and your pictures are always just the perfect size for the layout.  The kit used in this layout is called Simple Pleasure



This next layout is of my little princess Zoé who loves to play with her hair.  The more elastics I use in her hair, the more she likes it.  The kit i used for this layout is Hippity Hop, a Studio J exclusive.

Well, I have a couple more to show you, I'll have them all up within the week.  

Studio J and discounted products

First of all, let me inform you that there has been discounted products added to my website, (SALE!!!) and more will be added in the weeks to come!  My favorite is the heartfelt wonder that normally reatail at $11.50 that are now on sale at $1.75!!!  Plus with every order of $20.00 or more, you get a D size stamp free! 

Secondly, I want to update you and Marianne's penny drive.  It has been extended to mid January since we had the great news that Catherine will be the campaign's poster child in January.  Her story will be featured and she will be photographed with the big H.  Look for her on billboards!  It's all very exciting!  Now I am working on convincing Marianne that we need to roll all the pennies she collected.  For some reason she wants to make a huge pile with them before.  I took this picture of her in hopes that she would let me start rolling them, but they are still in the tins. 

And finaly, I've been busy doing Studio J layouts.  I had loads of pictures to develop, so I though I would scrapbook some of them on studio J and save on developping fees.  Here is 2 of them.  I'll be posting more over the weekend and next week.

You can try Studio J anytime for free on my website.  You only pay per layout you print out.

Have a grat Friday and I'll see you in a coupel days!

mountain of pennies

Marianne has reached her goal, actually she more than tripled it!  And the pennies just keep on coming.  I'm overwhelmed by the response she received.  She filled her bank 3 times already.  We'll keep on collecting up untill the week before Christmas and then we'll bring the mountain of pennies to the babies for Christmas.  That's Marianne's plan. 
The Christmas countdown has officially started in our house a the girls opened the first door in their advent calendar.  I love watching them get excited for what is really just a tiny peice of chocolate.  I hope they never stop being excited for the littles wonders in life. 
And finaly, here is what I came up with for my december project.  I used Mistletoe paper and Magic's Mesmorise layout along with St. Nick and Father Christmas stamp sets.  The big shimmer brads gave the final touch to the layout. 

Generosity

I am so proud of my daughter Marianne!  She keeps suprising me everyday.  I knew that she was caring, and has a big heart but when she asked me is she could help her friend Catherine with her penny drive I was just bursting with pride.  Here's a little backstory : Catherine is 6 1/2 years old  She lives on our street and is one of Marianne's best friends.  She was born premature and was a patient at the local neonatal intensive care unit for the first 3 months of her life.  This year's hospital fund raiser is focused on buying new equipment for the NNICU.  Catherine decided that she wanted to help the babies that needed help like she did when she was born by doing a penny drive.  Today Marianne made these collection banks featuring a picture of Catherine as a baby at the NNICU, one to stay at home and one for her dad to put on his desk at work.  Her goal is to raise at least 5 cents for each of the 570 babies that was admitted in the NNICU last year.  So if you have pennies to spare and would like to help Marianne collect 2850 cents, let me know. 

Let it snow

It's snowing!  The girls had a blast building the first snowman of the season.  They are now wanting to decorate for Christmas.  Zoé, my 3 1/2 year old asked me to check the phone book for Santa Clause's phone number.  She is getting her Christmas list done and though it would be easier to just call him instead of writting him a letter, as she can't write yet.  It was a perfect setting to finish working on my workshop projects.  I can't wait to have picures to put in them. 

As promised, here are the pictures of the Mistletoe workshop project.  If anyone would like to make these at a gathering, I still have plenty of kits left so I could easily do this project for you and your friends.  Contact me for more details

I used the Mistletoe paper pack, the Mistletoe accessories pack and the Fresh Shapes dimentional elements.  The first layout is the proposed layout with the workshop on the go kit

Crazy November

Well, after promising to get blogging sooner, here I am a month later!  I'm so sorry.  It really was a crazy couple weeks.  Halloween parties, followed by my daughter's birthday combined with lots of scrapbooking parties made for some very hectic times.  I would not change it for the world though.  I really had fun.  It really got me thinking of what a great group of people my family is surounded by.  We have amazing neighbors that really feel like family.  Our Halloween block party was a sucess again this year. We also have great friends, some old, and some new,  some which we don't see nearly as often as we would like, but we truly are blessed to have them around.  Choosing and keeping great friends is a skill I want my daughters to learn as it take you so far and makes life so much more fun.  Seeing my daughters interact with their friends at Marianne's birthday party made me realise that they are on the right track.  They are compasionate, energetic, helpfull and so charismatic that other kids all seem to want to be their friend.  It make me so proud!

Now, back to scrapbooking.  Here are a couple projects atht I have worked on. 

This one is another take on the Flip flap project.  I was asked to do a workshop using the flip flaps with autumn colors.  The Olivia Workshop on the go pack was perfect.  I also added som mocha opaques.  I found that the leaves popped more if you scored them in the middle.  They jsut look more natural

This other layout is ready for my Christmas 2010 pictures.  It is my November workshop project.  I used the Mistletoe Creative basics paper with the AdornAble stamp set.  To add the silver, I used embossing powder and the heat setter.  I love the final product. 

Now I won't make promises I know I won't be able to make, but I do know that I have a Christmas workshop that I am hosting on Sunday.  I will have pictures of the finished project on this blog by Saturday night!  Have a nice rest of the week!

school photos

I received my daughter's school photos and was inspired to do the layout featured on page 16 of the CTMH autumn/winter idea book.  I always do double layouts, but looking at my albums, I noticed that I was missing the first page layout on some of them.   That is what prompt me to do a single layout last night.   I love how it turned out.  I love her photos too.  It was the day before she lost her top front tooth.  Her smile is a little crooked, but she's so cute!

I used the Hooligans paper pack with the Hooligans felt monsters and Licorice Opaques. 

One front layout down, a couple more to go, I'll keep you guys posted on the outcome!  Have a great day!

busy, busy busy!

What a crazy couple weeks!  I'm not complaining, it just fells like yesterday that I last blogged and I found it strange that when I logged on to my blog I noticed that it's has been a couple weeks!  Where has the time gone?  I did spend an awesome weekend in the states with my very dear friend Nadine.  We went to see the So you think you can dance tour in Manchester NH.  It was AMAZING!!!  I'm a huge fan of the show but I left with a greater appreciation of the talent these artists have.  I laughed, I cried, I screamed, and some parts left me speachless.  We also went shopping at Kittery and North Conway.  My first experience in outlet shopping and I loved it.  All around a fantastic time with a great friend.  Hope to make it a yearly trip.

My daughter's  7th birthday is coming up and she wanted to make her invitations herself this year.  I told her to go through my scrap box (a box of paper scraps that I leave ender my scrap table that I let my girls play with) and pick out the papers that she liked best.  I then let her pick out the cardstock that she wanted for the background.  I was amazed at the final product.  I have to say that I guided her a bit, but she did all the glueing and she had the final say.  She also wanted all the cards to be different, saying that she loves all her friend for diferent reasons and she wanted the cards to be a unique as her friends are.  She put a lot of though and effort (even cutting out the butterflies from the Life's Delight paper) behind every single card.  I am so proud of her! 



Well that's if for now, hopefully another couple weeks won't slip by before I find a minute to blog again. 

A bientot!! I

Playing Single Mom

Hi Everyone!

I'm so sorry I have not blogged in a while.  I've been playing single mom while my husband is halfway around the world, literally!  He left for China for work about 2 weeks ago and will be back in 5 sleeps.  The kids and I are missing him alot.   It also made me realise how much he does around the house.  Little things like baths, and lunch making, and doing the dishes and having him to talk to a suppertime....   So with him gone, I have not had lots of time to scrapbook, but I did manage to make October's workshop project.

Hopefully I'll have more done when he's back home. 

October workshop using your choice of hooligans (pictured) and Majestic

I'm cold

It's hard to believe that a little over a week ago we were facing heat in the 30's when I've been freezing all day today.  It was kind of fitting though that I was asked to host a Christmas card workshop today.  Before I post the cards I made, let me get to two of my favorite layouts that I made over the years as promised in my last entry.

This layout using the That's CTMH amore paper kit

 This layout using the Silhouette paper pack, I distessed the sides of the black paper with white paint.  Love this paper.  The picture of Zoe sleeping is also priceless. 

And here are some of the cards I made for my Christmas card workshop today.
Well better get myself in some cozy warm pyjamas now.  See you soon!

Austria trip scrapbook

Well, a little over a year after coming back from Austria and I can say that my album is complete.  I still have a couple of journaling spots, and I might retouch a couple layouts adding a button or a brad here and there, but all in all my album is done!  I am so proud of the finished product, but I'm still kind of sad that it's complete.  I had so much fun making this album, reminiscing about every little aspect of the trip that I had dreamt of since I can remember.  Altough Austria would probably not have been my first choice in country for my Europe vacation, I left with a promise to return.  I simply loved the place. 

Last page of my Austria album using PassageWorshop on the go with picures of my favorite sites I visited during my vacation

Another layout I did with the Passage kit.

These 2 layouts were made at the CTMH convention in 2008. They were from a the Perfect Day Workshop on the Go, perfect for my Graz pictures

 

and here is my favorite picture off all from my trip.  I used the Twitterpatted Workshop on the Go kit for this one. 

I'll be taking pictures of my favorite layouts I did over the years while I'm organising my scrapbooks and posting them in the next couple days.  See you soon!

Heat Wave

I have been looking for ways of keeping myself cool this week with the weather being so hot.  We have spent alot of time in the basement, my daughters playing Wii, and me playing on the computer or scrapbooking, and sometimes joining my girls for some Mario.  I've also indulged in a Tim's ice cap that my thoughfull neighbor delivered to me yesterday.  All in all, it was a great last week before school starts again and I'm ready Earl and  the long weekend ahead

I've completed my first layout using the new Magic book featuring a picture waterfall of my trip to convention.  By pulling on the flowered circle, you flip over the picures to reveal more pictures and hidden journaling.  I found that I had to tweek it a little from the original plans in the book, but i'm happy with the end results.  This is the layout I'll be using to the September workshop. 

I have also completed the introduction page for my Austria album using the Passage kit.  I wanted to add something else to it, like a stamped image or flourishes or ribbon, but I think I like it the way it is, simple.  What do you think?

Olivia

I started playing with the Olivia workshop on the go last night.  What beautiful paper.  I just love the new accessories in the fall/winter Idea book.  I'll be getting at least one of each for sure!  I'm almost done my Austria 2009 trip album.  I'm so excited!  One double layout to go and then a cover layout and a back layout to tie it all in.  I loved Austria.  It's a kind of place where I could see myself living. I had high expectations of Europe having dreamt of going for as long as i can remember but I was not dissapointed.  I will definately be returning. 
Here is the layout I did last night

If you would like a copy of the new Fall/Winter Idea book and get a chance to see in person some of the new products featured in it, I will be hosting an Idea book launch/Open house Sunday August 29th from 7 to 9 PM.

Fall preview

Well, I've let myself off the hook.  I still have a few layouts felt incomplete, but they will have to wait.  I have taken out my fall paper that I received at convention and finished the flip flap layout! Amazing how many picutres fit into this layout thanks to the new bigger flip flaps!  If you would like to make this layout yourself, I will be hosting a workshop on Sunday September 19th.  Message me to reserve your spot.

 this is the 2 page layout using the Magnifique paper with flip flaps closed

 here is the left layout with flip flaps open

and this is the right page

We also made 4 cards at convention, here they are.

 here is the first cards using the new clear cards

 cards no 2

 Cards no 3 using the new Olivia paper!  simply beautiful!

Cards no 4 using Olivia and a clear cards

Hope you like them!  I'll have an Olivia layout posted next time.  Can't wait to get started!  See you soon I hope!

Mid-August already!

We are almost at the mid August mark!  The summer has gone by so quickly.  Another eventfull weekend has passed.  My sister in law and her family came by for a sleepover.  We went to the Dieppe market and ate some fruit crepes and other delicious pastries. Mmmh! We made the most delicious drunken chicken on the BBQ!  We had a great time! 

On the scrapbooking front, I ran out of pictures so I was not able to complete all the layouts that I had wanted to complete in July, but they will be done eventually, now that I know how easy they are to complete.  I have been focusing on organising my scrapbooks and preparing for my workshops and gatherings.  I like that I'm getting into the routine of things again.  Now I have to find time to go shopping for school supplies. 

I got to work with the August-September special (August 15 - September 30)- Triple Play.  It was so fun!  You get so much for $34.95 (a stamp set, 4 mini stamp pads, 3 albums (one pink, one blue and one green), die cuts, ribbon and insctructions!)  Plus you can get it at a discount or even free!  message me of visit my website to order.  Here is the finished product -

I have talked about the canvas I made to put on my walls at last night's gathering.  Here they  I just used painter's canvas as the base and worked them like I would a scrapbook page.  I just loved doing them

 for this one I painted the canvas using peal paint and twilight reinker.  The picture really does not do it justice.  I then made paper roses in veranda, passage, more to adore and cherry oh papers.

I used veranda paper and the same paper roses on this card that I made for swaps at the Washington CTMH convention last month. 

I made the following cards for a gathering I did yesterday do show different techniques. 

This one using Cabbodle paper, to show watercolour pencils, the stapler and simple tag making and distressing

This one using Veranda - showing the felts, dimentional elements and rub-ons.

This one using Cherry-Oh paper, using the glitz, soft set eyelets, and corner rounder for corners and scallop edging. 

And finally, here is my workshop scrapbooking project for August using Zippedee paper. 

Well, hope you enjoyed my little recap of the week.  I hope you enjoyed it.  Don't hesitate to leave a comment.  I want to know what you liked, what you think I should write about, what you would like to see.  I'm open to any suggestions you may have.  Even if it's just to say "hi!".