This and That

Had a request for this layout to be featured in Craft Gossip's Inspiration du jour. 

Love how something so simple can be so eye catching.  Kind of like people don't you think?  The more we try to impress those around us, the less sincerely attractive, and authentic one actually becomes.  The more we allow our true selves to guide and lead us the more people want to get to know us.  Just a thought today.

Not sure if I mentioned this before or not.  But my guest designer spot here has been extended.  

Tanya and Nicole have been so welcoming.  And even more important you all have been so encouraging.  I can't say thank you enough for the times that you've popped by here to say hello, and comment on my work.  To have you pop over to the LCOM blog to leave a little love also is just so touching.  Thank you for believing in me, and supporting me in this way.  I love that I get to share pieces of my life with all of you in this fun and creative way.  This was hand delivered to me yesterday afternoon. 

Just look at it.  Sigh, it makes me want to whip out photos of the people I love and get recording the stories and experiences behind each one.  This is Double Dutch: Lily Bee's new collection.  I can't wait to get started with it.  But, alas, wait I must.  There are more pressing things this week that require my full attention as a mother, employee, and a friend.

Today is the day that the new Design Team will be revealed at My Scrapbook Nook.  The list will likely not be posted until later this evening when I'm at Dance Class so I won't be updating this post with the results.  I really have no idea what to expect.  We've been told that there are only 4 spots open, and 23 of us vying for one.  My chances are slim, I realize, but I remain hopeful.  Speaking of the Nook they have a fun game going on right now.  It's a "lift the person above you" game, and it's open to all.  You can check out the deets and sign up here.  You may also want to check out the May kit that is shipping today.  It will be full of Echo Park goodness.  You can see some photos of it here.

More Crate Paper Goodness, love this Story Teller line

Okay, I really must go now and get going on everything around here.  I'll be mia over the next few days as my girls and I compete over the next 3 days here...

We're all pretty excited about it.  I'll fill you in on all of it as soon as I'm able.  And I'll also fill you in on another scrappy secret I'm holding in too *wink*

Have a wonderful week friends!

♥ S.

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The Liebster Award

I met a very talented card maker recently.  To say she's talented may actually be an understatement.  Her name is Jody.  She lives here in the Winnipeg, and came into the Scrapbook Cottage where I work a few weeks ago to pick up supplies for an upcoming class she'll be teaching.  I checked out her blog after meeting her, and was amazed at her gorgeous card creations.  Wouldn't you know it just a little while later I see her layout on the My Mind's Eye blog as an honorable mention for their latest challenge.  She's got talent coming out the wazoo.  This same Jody is not only talented but also very sweet, as she has nominated my lil' ol' blog for the Liebster award.  

Liebster, is German for 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'

The idea of the Liebster award is to bring attention to blogs with fewer than 200 followers.  Thank you so much Jody for your vote.  I encourage you, dear reader, to pop by her blog Creative Authority and leave her some love on my behalf.  I promise you it's worth the visit, she's got a fabulous layout, and very cute card right on her home page.

One of the conditions in accepting the award is to pass it along to five (I chose six, it was too hard to narrow it down) more blogs.  So, in the spirit of good fun I am passing this award along to the following blogs.  These ladies are all putting their hearts out there, and sharing with the world a little of their journey, from crafty to faith related, and everything in between.  I would appreciate it if you would take a quick sec to stop by and visit them.

Tara: taraleclaire
Julie: Glory Girl
Hilde: scoobies lille blog
Cassandra: Scrap Savvy Creations
Wendy: on the road to destiny
Danielle: pics and cheesecake

For those interested, the Rules are:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people on the blogshare-other bloggers.
5. Finally and the best rule of all..........have fun and spread the love!

Happy surfing, and thanks for stopping by today.  If you leave a comment I'll be sure to come by your blog for a visit too.

♥ S. Pin It

Lifting myself

... well not literally.  The scrappy kind of lifting.

Challenges number three and four are up at My Scrapbook Nook.  Three can be found here.  I've not done this one yet.  Challenge number four is from Hilde, who challenged us to pick one of our favorite layouts from last year and lift it.  I chose this one of D.

Although the placement of the journaling bothers me (I think it throws the balance off somewhat), I love this layout overall, so I chose this one.  Plus I had this sweet little photo of Wilson that I knew I wanted to use for the challenge.  Here's what I came up with.

Using My Scrapbook Nook's October kit featuring My Mind's Eye

This time I kept the journaling tiny, and better placed.  It's been awhile since I've hand stitched on a project too, so this was a fun one.

That's it for me today.  Been getting things ready for our trip next week, spoiled myself with my first manicure in about 16 years yesterday, schellac, loving it so far, (we'll see if it really last 2-4 weeks), volunteered in the girls' school today for pizza lunch (loved that), caught up with a friend with whom I haven't spoken to in months, and the sun is beaming in through my window.  Overall feeling really blessed this week. 

What about you, what have you been up to this week? If you plan on scrapping this weekend, perhaps you want to tackle Challenge #12 over at Scrapping Everyday Miracles, or the January Sketch Challenge there.  Or perhaps Sketch 191 over at Creative Scrappers.  There's also the New Year Crop ongoing at My Scrapbook Nook.  No shortage of scrapping incentive this weekend, I'd say.  For those looking for a greater challenge, may I suggest the Creative Scrappers DT Call.  You have until Feb 20th to get your application in.  I just discovered this call this morning, and my heart leaped.  I love CS.  I love that the owner Kristine is a fellow Canadian, and uber talented, and was kind  enough to let me use one of her Sketches for my first ever Scrapping Everyday Miracles post.  And there's never, ever a shortage of inspiration to be found by those who submit to the challenges, nor by the wonderful sketches her team comes up with.  This will be my third time trying out for this team.  I'm really hoping this is the one for me.  If not, no worries, I'm gonna keep trying, she won't be able to shake me that easily, mwhahah.  I think it's good to keep putting myself out there, it helps me develop a think skin.  Something you very much need in this subjective world of creating, and putting emotions to paper.  Wish me luck, pretty please.

Have a great weekend, all!
♥ S.

eta: another 2Peas Fave - yay!

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Project Life: Week 1

Thank you all for your sweet and encouraging comments last week regarding my Project Life or as I'm calling it, my Moments In Between Album.  I'm sticking it out, and did manage to complete my Week One on Friday night.  I actually don't even mind it too much.  I had way more photos than I had space, so I had to decide which ones stayed and which did not, and be somewhat creative in getting everything in.  I won't lie, I did find it somewhat frustrating, but realize that that is very much the perfectionist in me acting out.  I realize that appreciating the moments in between the events is anything but perfect.  It's often the things that cause us grief and frustration that make us eventually stop and realize the blessing in them.  Granted that blessing is not always immediate.  The stuff of life is rarely perfect, rarely convenient, and often comes with some sort of price, sometimes good, sometimes, not so good.  That is the type of attitude with which I really need to begin to appreciate the album and what it will mean to us when it's complete.  I  have no doubt that we'll all enjoy looking back through it as the weeks progresses.  With that, let me reveal to you my very first two pages of my Moments In Between Album.

I've decided to use the We R Memory Keepers page protectors to keep the cost down.  They are available at The Scrapbook Cottage where I work, and I can get them anytime, versus ordering something from online.  Everything else I used here is from my stash, again, in an attempt to keep the cost down.  The patterned paper on the left is from Simple Stories Year-o-graphy line, the rest is all from my stash.

So, one week down 51 to go.  Hope I can find my groove.  I know some of you are doing this project also, how are you doing with it?  I'd love to know.

You can see my Craft Gossip feature here.

Thanks so much for popping in today,

♥ S. Pin It

New Year Crop

I've told you about the 5 week long crop happening over at My Scrapbook Nook.  Challenge 1 & 2 were posted last weekend, and closed this weekend.  I wanted to share with you the layouts I created for each of those.
Challenges 1 was a recipe challenge.  You needed to use the assigned number and specifications of products, and then follow the directions to create your layout.  This was an exercise for me that resulted in two layouts rather than just one.  I was so excited to get started on the challenge, that as soon as I read the product list I went off to create.  I should have scrolled down a little further to see that there were directions I was suppose to have followed.  Oops.

Here's the layout I created based on the product list.

My sister and brother in-law.  Using Studio Calico Jan kit.

And here's the layout I created based on the product list AND the directions.

Using My Scrapbook Nooks January kit featuring Lily Bee papers

If you look closely you'll notice they both have a lot of the same elements.  I am glad I managed to get both layouts, even if I did go about it the long way.

Challenge 2 was to use 10 different patterned papers.  I know that sounds like a ton, but there are some creative ways to use that many without overloading your page with colour.  I had 2 different ideas I thought would work well.  When I looked through the thread however, I discovered that 2 others had the same ideas also.  Hence this layout of my one of my dear friends and her daughter.

Using the Lily Bee papers again - no journaling required Maddy's expression says it all :)

There are two more challenges up for this week.  You can see them here.  There are some fun prizes up for grabs so if you decide to jump in, it may just be worth the effort to upload to the gallery too.  Tell them Sherri sent you :)

eta: look what I just saw...

Fun right?!  And I've been contacted by Francine Clouden once again to be featured in "Inspiration du Jour" over at Craft Gossip.  A scrappy good day thus far :)

Thanks for stopping by,

♥ S. Pin It

October Afternoon Holdiay Style

I took a break from the Crate Paper goodness that filled the December kit at My Scrapbook Nook, to use a little October Afternoon Holiday Style.  This is such a cute line.  I couldn't wait  to use it with some random Christmas photos.  I did these two layouts highlighting some fun stuff about my holiday experience.

My new fave holiday drink thanks to a friend.

The little baggies of chocolate covered pretzels I made for the girls' teachers.

I took a lot of photos this Christmas, more than usual, but this one really stood out for me.  It's my father-in-law, my hubby, and his nephew all on the same couch.  That's a rare photo op for sure.  So glad I got it. 

Crate: Peppermint collection.

I have a little of both lines left and want to use them to scrap the rest of my Christmas photos.  I'm really hoping to do a fun layout using a lot of tiny pictures.

I had a lot of fun scrapping Christmas photos so far this year.  I think it was a combination of having a lot of photos to choose from and two lines that were very easy to work with.  I received some fun recognition over at Two Peas for a couple of the layouts I shared with you just before Christmas.  Three of the layouts went Top 3 with in 3 days.  Two I've already shared with you in a previous post, and this was the third.

A big thank you to my scrappy friends your comments over at Two Peas.

That's it for today.  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you leave feeling inspired.

♥ S. Pin It

I'm scrapping today

I am so excited for the day off.  Simply enjoying making a few teacher treats for Christmas, and scrapping a little bit today.  I love days like this.  To make it even better I just discovered this at Two Peas...

How about you, what's in the works in your scrappy space?

Here are a few more photos of my day thus far

Funny hat day at school today

Xmas teacher treat bag prep

Step 1

Step 2

and done.

Have a great one friends, thanks for popping in.

♥ S. Pin It

An apology & a giveaway

I really have nothing new to say or post for you today.  I apologize.  Between working, and volunteer stuff, and Isabelle's birthday I have not had any time to scrap in the past few days.  I'm really missing it, but know that first things must come first.  I love that quote Denzel Washington uses in the movie The Great Debaters "we do what we gotta do, so we can do what we want to do".  He said his own father use to use that line on him and his siblings as he was growing up.  I have no complaints, life is good.  This, is simply our busy season. with 3 birthdays, Christmas and our anniversary all in the same 30 day period.  It's time to buckle up and prepare for the ride.

I had a fun bit of news yesterday.  Another one of my layouts made Top 3 over at Two Peas in a Bucket, in two  of the three categories.

How about I offer a RAK to make up for my lack of substance today?  I'll put together an assortment of scrappy goodies, and do a draw for a giveaway at the end of the week.  Simply leave me a comment letting me know if you'd like to win a little something scrappy, and ensure you're a follower.  Easy peasy! 

Thanks for popping in today.

♥ S. Pin It

Pinterest L♥ve

 eta: I'm being featured.  Check it out here.  Thanks so much Francine for contacting me, you've got a great thing going on over that at Craft Gossip dot com.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programing....

Have you joined the masses yet?

I was bucking the trend for a long time.  I do that.  Not sure why.  Every time something emerges as a trend, or on the fast track to popularity I tend to not want to jump on the bandwagon.  Sort of silly, I realize this, especially when I end up giving in eventually anyhow (Facebook, iTunes, misting, sushi).  I don't always though (smoking, Twilight, Harry Potter, Project Life).  Pinterest falls into the fore mentioned category.  I can't remember what exactly it was that pushed me over the edge, probably something, someone had pinned that I just had to see more of.  Once I visited their home page, that was it, I was hooked.  There is just SO. MUCH. INSPIRATION. in one place.
If I'm in need of a laugh I go to my "makes me laugh" board and pull up pins like these:

When I'm looking for something new and delicious to cook or bake I check out my "tasty temptations" board for recipes like these

Cream cheese crescent rolls

Broccoli, chicken crescent braided bake

Made this Lasagna soup on Saturday -yum.

Or creative projects I'd like to try someday

Paper towel roll cut up.

Or in need of a little scrapping/design colour inspiration

See what I mean?  So much inspiration.  If I've piqued your fancy you can check it out for yourself here.


Thanks for popping by today.  Be sure to let me know if you've gotten into 'Pinning' too, I'd love to see your boards. Pin It

Hooray

A quick card to share today.

The tag is from on office supply store, covered in a Vintage Vogue paper, and the butting is from my stash.

Made with the lovely Vintage Vogue papers, and embellies by Pink Paislee that I won at Leigh's fun crop back in October.  My card supply is running low, so this was a quick and easy one to add to the stash for a last minute pick me up for someone in need.  I should probably be working on Christmas cards, but it would seem I'm leaving them a little late this year.  To be honest I don't give out too many anymore.  I use to always print a family photo card for friends and family, but haven't done that in a few years.  What's your Christmas card tradition?  Have you been working on anything crafty?  If so link me up, I'd love to have a peek.

ETA: I finally uploaded a bunch of projects to Two Peas the other day.   Well, am I ever glad I did.  I saw this there first thing this morning

That first layout is mine :)

So stoked, I can't even tell you.  Another layout, (the Winter Wonder one I posted on Tuesday) should actually show there too, it's been liked and bookmarked even more than this one.  Not sure why it doesn't show up there, but at least I know it should be there,  and that makes me happy.

I also got some more amazing scrappy news last night too - it's still a secret though, but I'm bursting at the seams to tell you.  Yesterday was a super duper, fun scrappy day I'll tell ya.  I'm feeling very, very blessed.

Thanks for stopping by today friends, and for all your words of encouragement.

♥ S. Pin It