Silent Night

With the hustle and bustle of this team of year, one of my favourite things is to sit quietly with this guy, no tv, no music, and just the lights of the tree to keep us company.

I am glad he's such a cuddler in moments like this.

I used the cute new Wish Seasons to create this layout.  The ephemera pack, once again is my favourite.  So many great tags to choose from in all different sizes and shapes. And that striped paper, actually looks like it's been splattered with gold paint.  Gorgeous.  You can still get your hands on some of this collection in the Paper Issues store.  Use my code:SHERRI at checkout to save 20% off of everything you place in your cart.

Thanks for stopping by today friends, and a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

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The Art of Clustering

I have so much love for this crew of mine.  We managed to get all the cousins (minus 1 who had to work), in one place, at one time, and it isn't even Christmas.

The Making Waves Collection by Fancy Pants Designs is all about water.  Perfect for pictures by the pool, and especially great to use when you have both genders in the photos.

I have always been a fan of clustering.  I love the way it frames photos and embellishments just perfectly.

The art of clustering lies in grouping together various sizes of the same shape.  It can also be done using different shapes but the shapes must compliment one another, and keep the eye moving.  You can see here the anchor is the largest piece, but the chain keeps your eye moving upward and the placement of each enamel dot also keeps the eye moving in the direction of my photo, the focal point of my layout.

See above, 3 layered pieces, different colours, different shapes, all facing the same direction, and surrounded by a second cluster of coordinating colours and sizes.  They all work together perfectly.

One last cluster, this one, linking the foam thicker title to the typed journaling along the bottom of the page.  Clusters work best when they are close to other elements of your layout, and not just floating out in empty space on your page.

I just love the Dear Lizzy Snapshots Thickers.  The puffy black font is perfect for adding pop to your page.

Looking to finish up some water themed photos from Summer?  Check out the Making Waves button mix, insta pack, and other element from the collection right here in the Paper Issues store.  Use my code and save yourself 20% off everything in your cart at checkout.

If you're more interested in the brand new goodies, they can be found right here on the shop's homepage. 

Happy crafting!

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Sunny Days

Meet Wilson, this guy stole our hearts the moment we laid eyes on him.

In a house teeming with females, my husband is happy that he is not the only male in the house, even if his partner is covered in hair and eats from a dish on the floor.

For someone who never thought she would own a pet, I sure like this little guy, and he has managed to make his way onto a number of pages in the family scrapbooks over the past 6 years.  Here, I used the fabulous boy themed Making Waves Collection (available in the Paper Issues store) to showcase this hilarious photo of him looking too cool for school in the shades. I'm all about spending more time creating and less time coordinating, and just love that Fancy Pants Designs collections come loaded with all my favourite things to use on a layout.  I never have to go digging through my stash to find journaling cards, buttons, or flair.

That fun cut file background was designed by our Fancy Pants Designs friend Ashley Horton, and can be found in the Cut Shoppe store.  I found that filling all the holes with coordinating patterned paper from the Making Waves collection took away from the main focus of my layout, and therefore chose to fill only a few along the left side of the layout.

Thanks for stopping by today friends, hope you're in for a fabulous week! Pin It

Framed Memories

This week I put my love of scrapping to use in the home décor department, and created a couple of pieces to hang in my baby girl's room, in memory of her fun little birthday party photoshoot with friends.

I grabbed a few items from the new Fancy Pants Designs Summer Sun Collection, and set to work.

Items I used include:

2 - inexpensive black frames

Flair

Wood Veneer

Tags

Insta Pack

Ephemera Pack

Alphabet and Numbers Pack

Using one of the tags I layered bits and pieces onto it documenting the year of the photo, and using some Zing to emboss the largest "girlfriends" cut in the package.  I love that the wood veneer sentiments come in both large and small sizes.  This larger one, made more of a statement on this over sized project.

I chose a different tag and repeated the same process for my second picture frame, this time adding a piece of flair to the cluster.

These frames look great on Eden's wall, and were so easy to create, I'm sure next year we will swap them out for new photos and an updated Fancy Pants Designs collection.

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Inspired by Pinterest

I recently found the coolest design on Pinterest, and was determined to try and recreate it on a scrapbook page using Fancy Pants products.

I grabbed these supplies, and set to work.

First, I punched out 14 squares using my Recollections 1-3/4" square punch.  I then used my distress tool to ink each edge.

I then lined them up into 4 rows, and added 3D foam adhesive to the sides in the row that touched, like this.

Throw on a few coordinating elements, add some journaling, and voila I've created a page that falls way outside of my proverbial box.

I am pretty pleased with the outcome, if I do say so myself.

I sure appreciate your taking the time to drop by today friends!

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Groomed

Popping in to share a post I had on the Paper Issues blog earlier this week.

Have you seen the new Office Suite Collection by Fancy Pants Designs?  It was the perfect Spring collection.  Pastels and muted tones with fun and funk designs.

Who says those patterns are only good for girlie photos?  This photo of our family poodle Wilson was just far too cute to not use on this layout.

The coordinating package of patterned alphabets & numbers is great for titling your pages, here I saved myself a little space by using 3D adhesive to pop every second letter up off the page, allowing me to tuck the edges of the letter on each side under just a bit.  

I added a little more definition to my letters by hand tracing them with a black sharpie.  Easy peasy!

 If you know me at all, you know I am a sucker for a cute piece of flair and this set of flair buttons from the collection is awesome, and comes in 6 coordinating designs.

The package of labels from the collection is jam packed with all sorts of bits and pieces to tuck and layer to your heart's content.

You can see I like to layer mine in clusters.  I love that there are so many shapes and sizes included in one package.

I have also been playing with the Flutter Collection, the second CHA Winter release.  It is full of rich, but bright tones, like pinks, and yellows, and cream, and navy.

You can see all of the Fancy Pants in-stock goodies right here in the Paper Issues Store.

Note: That long arrow clip I used to hold the 2 journal cards together is by Freckled Fawn, and you can still get an assortment package of them here in the store.

I have a 30% off code for you, should you be in a shopping kind of mood.  Use code: SHERRI at check out, and save off everything in your cart.

Thanks for stopping by today friends, happy crafting!

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Pint Size Gift Bags

Ever have to give just a little something as a gift?  A birthday for a co-working, or a thank you for a babysitter, or that friend who went out of their way to give you a hand?  When I'm in that situation I often opt for a gift card or a handful of personally chosen Lindt chocolates from the Lindt store down the street.  The thing I'm always left wondering is how to give such a little gift, but yet still make it feel special.  A regular envelope is fine, but boring and store bought gift bags are often too small and/or too pricy.  Enter the handmade gift bag.

I use to make bags and envelopes by hand by using a pre-bought one as a template.  Now that I have a Silhouette Cameo, however the process is much easier.  I know there are other tools on the market that are great for homemade packaging too.  I used the Office Suite Collection to create this pint size bag duo to have on hand for the next little thank you I will have to give.

The coordinating tag and pinwheel add just an extra special handmade touch.  The tag I backed with coordinating cardstock to make it easier to read.  My plan is to make a few different sentiments to have on hand, with a few different patterned bags, so my girls with have them ready to use when needed also, female and male themed.

I know pinwheels may no longer be the hottest trend, but there is just something about them that spell Summer, and fun, two things most of us can't get enough of, and both of which go perfectly with the Office Suite Collection.

Here are the file numbers of these cuts so you can find them in the Silhouette store, should you decided to try your hand at these pint size bags.

Bag ID: 53920
Tag ID:17073
Pinwheel ID: 2007

Thanks for stopping by today friends, happy Crafting!


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Happy Mother's Day

This time of year is one of those that always causes me mild sadness, as my own mother left this world 14 years ago.  We didn't have the closest relationship when I was growing up, but we were headed down a new path with the birth of my firstborn 15 years ago.  My mom, was a wonderful grandmother to our baby girl.  She was so proud, so full of joy, and I think so happy to have a second chance so to speak with this new little person; her baby's baby.  There are still moments when I miss her.  Still times when I wish she could have been around to see my other 2 babies come into this world, especially since my last born is so very much like her.

This is where my mother-in-law comes in.  She has enough love to fill the empty spaces for both me and my babies.  She has a heart as big as the ocean, and loves me and my babies as though I were the daughter, and not just the daughter-in-law.  Her tastes are not expensive, and her needs are few, so when it comes to finding the right mother's day gift for her, it is often a struggle to find something that says "thank you for filling the empty space in my heart".  Somehow anything purchased with cash, just doesn't seem convey my heartfelt appreciation.

This year I decided to make her a gift.  Instead of the usual handmade card (that accompanies her gift of time as we enjoy a big brunch together), I have created more of a keepsake this year using the brand spanking new Summer Sun Collection by Fancy Pants Designs.

There are not many photos of her around, but I managed to gather a handful to create little mini canvases sharing a little bit of my heart for this woman I call Mom.

Just a handful of memories and moments of love captured "on film" for those of us lucky enough to have her in our lives.

Not sure Mom is gonna know what to do with this, but I hope she appreciates the love that went into it.  And if you're reading this mom, just know I love you lots and lots!

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow moms out there, biological or otherwise.

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Our Clan *Fancy Pants Designs*

We've teamed up with The Cut Shoppe this month at Fancy Pants Designs.

I fell in love with this geometric cut file, and knew it would be a great one to use with the fun patterns of the Flutter Collection.  The colours were a perfect match for this recent photo we managed to get with the whole family.

The scrabble tile alphas make a great title.  I used just a little Tim Holtz distress ink to make them pop off of the cream colour background better.  I also used one of the fantastic pre-cut scalloped pieces to separate the photo from the title.

Piecing together the background may look complicated, but it's rather easy when you simply offset the cut pattern, then adhere the matching pieces to the back of the matching size spot.

Using cut files to create your background, help to give your usual style a whole new look. Ashley has a store full of files to help bring your designs to a whole new level.  I am so glad we had a chance to partner up with The Cut Shoppe, it is fun to see the combination of great cut files, with delightful patterned papers.

You should hop over to the blog to see how other members of the DT used The Cut Shoppe files, and get yourself entered to win a $20 gift certificate to The Cutte Shoppe Etsy store.

Thanks for stopping by today friends!

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Altered ribbon spool - tutorial

Hi friends,

I wanted to share a tutorial I had up on the Fancy Pants blog recently.  It is a clever little altered project that popped up in my Pinterest feed a while back.

I started with this simple spool of ribbon 1.5" ribbon, that I picked up at the Dollar store, and a couple of embellishments from the Flutter collection that I thought I may want to use. 

To begin, I removed the entire length of ribbon form the spool, and then used my craft knife to separate the "lid" or top portion (where the price tag was located) from the spool itself.  This will expose the round cavity in the center that makes up the spool on which the rioon in wrapped.  I then decorated that top portion by cutting a round piee of patterned paper just slightly larger than the top of the spool to make it easier to act as a lit.  Cutting this piece larger than the "lid" itself, also gave me more space on which to add my embellishments (see the 1st image above).  You can also see in the photo above that I decorated the bottom of the spool in the same manner, and covered the plastic spool section with a strip of patterned paper.  

To create you photo strip, simply cut your selected photos into circles small enough to fit inside the cavity of the spool.  In this case my spool was slightly larger than 2.5 inches, therefore my photos measure exactly 2.5 inches in diameter.  Cut the same number of circles out of coordinating patterned paper, to act as the backing to your photos.

Remember that ribbon you removed from your spool?  Grab it and lay it down on your work surface.  Measure about 2 inches of ribbon and mark that spot.  It is at this point that you will glue the top of your newly altered lid.  Next to that, leaving very little space in between, begin to glue down your photos, neatly and straight, keeping the ribbon lined up directly in the middle of each photo.  

Notice that I cut just a few more blank pieces of cardstock to act as journaling cards, randomly placed in between some of my photos.  I even decided to make a title page to my album, as it just made the album seem more complete to have one.  

This is what the back side of my photo strip looks like.  Nothing fancy, just coordinating patterned papers from the Flutter Collection backing my photos.

Once all your photos and backing are added to your ribbon strip fold them up accordion style, like this, and tuck them into your newly altered ribbon spool container.

And there you have it, a sweet little photo box of sorts to store all your precious photos, and memories from a noteworthy even in your family.  This one is currently being loved and adored by my girl.  Thirteen is a pretty special birthday, and this little photo collection captures all the fun, and giggles, stories, and gifts, food, and friends with whom she got to share her special day.  

Thanks for stopping by today friends!

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Spring Around Here

I had a layout up on the Fancy Pants blog a few days ago, and wanted to share it with you here too.  My task was to create a "Spring" themed layout.  For many Spring means sights of tulips, and daffodils, and budding trees, with signs of new life emerging all around.  Here in the middle of Canada, however, Spring looks more like Winter than it does like the beginning of Summer, and in our home it looks even more different.

I live with 3 competitive dancers. Spring around here brings signs of super full schedules, innumerable dance classes and practices, cheque writing, costume fittings, 3 big Dance Competitions, a few hundred photos, and a million little things in between.  

I decided that it was time to create a bit of a keepsake to remember the craziness with which Spring begins for our family, so I grabbed, just a handful of photos from the 3 month experience, and the newly released Office Suite collection and set to work.

I knew I wanted a large title on my layout and these cardstock letters from the Office Suite collection were perfect.  To add a little more dimension to them I added some hand stitching with embroidery floss.

When I have a longer story to tell, I love to do it by running vellum through my typewriter, and laying it over a co-ordinating piece of patterned paper.

As beautiful as projects of traditional Spring are, with all their pretty colours and whispers of Summer on the horizon, I know I can't be the only one living in a climate where Spring is more of a thing that seems to arrive overnight and be gone 2 weeks later.  I hope you have been inspired to create something beautiful to document what Spring looks like in your corner of the world.

Thanks for popping in today friends!

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Breaking News

I have been keeping a secret....

I have been asked the joing the Fancy Pants Designs team.  I cannot believe my good fortune to have been invited to 2 of my most favourite teams.  Would you believe I got one invite the day after receiving the other?  I will be joining them in showcasing their gorgeous and fun to work with products over the next year.

I was able to jump in right away as we teamed up with Pagemaps for their March release.  I grabbed the newly released Flutter collection, and a few photos from our recent trip to Disney and set to work on the sketch Becky sent me to use.

Although we do not watch the Simpsons in our home the girls of course recognized Wiggum, and wanted a quick pic with him.  I just love the fun summer colours of Disney World, they go perfectly with this collection.

So many great elements in the ephemera packages.  Great value for your dollar with plenty of die cuts, including gold foil.

Gotta love a collection that includes flair buttons!  If you hop over to the Pagemaps blog you can enter to win this entire collection.

Here is the Pagemaps sketch I worked with.

I don't often work with sketches, but when I do, I am always happy with the way they make my work look new, and different, but yet still me.

You should keep you eye on the Paper Issues store for Flutter and Office Suite, the 2 new collections by Fancy Pants designs.  I know they'll be available in the shop soon, possibly even by the time this post goes live.  Don't forget to use my code:SHERRI to shop, and save yourself 20% off your order.

Thanks a bunch for stopping by today friends!

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