Thursday, October 30, 2008

Cool

For this layout, I was inspired by a layout that I saw in Scrapbooks Etc. Although its not exactly the same I did get my inspiration from it. I used paper from Scenic Route. I just love this line. I stocked up on it when a local LSS went out of business in the spring and am really just now getting around to using it. Once again my little great nieces and nephews were the inspiration for this layout.

Got Sketch Express Week 4

Wow, it’s hard to believe that it’s already been 4 weeks. Once again this sketch was inspired by this weeks sketch. I used more Scenic Route and photo’s of my adorable 5 yr old great nephew Jeremy. He’s such a ham.

A couple of years ago my Aunt had given me a studio portrait of my father and uncle when they were little boys. In the picture my dad was about 3 and my uncle about 18 months old. What I noticed right away is that Jeremy looks identical to my father when he was little. The same blond hair and tight wild curls. They have the same facial expressions too. One of these days I will have to get around to scrapping their similarities. My father passed away in 1972 and sadly never got the chance to meet any of our spouses or his grandchildren.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Got Pups?


I love these pictures and have just never gotten around to scrapping them until now. Back in the summer of 1999 my beautiful Husky/Collie mix dog had a litter of 10 puppies. Sadly one of the puppies died during the night. It was pretty weak when it was born and things didn't look very good for it. I ran out and got some formula and a bottle from the local vet and we tried feeding it but sadly it didn't make it. The other 9 puppies grew bigger and bigger by the day. It really tore out a piece of our hearts when the day came that we had to let them go. We had all 9 spoken for by the time they were 6 weeks old. My Aunt and Uncle took the runt of the litter and she turned into a beautiful dog.

I've really struggled with scrapping pictures of my dog as she passed away in January of this year. She was 12 1/2 years old. Then in February my almost 15 year old cat passed away. I really miss my fur babies and I'm not sure if I'll ever get another pet. It really broke my heart when we had to put our dog to sleep. We were there with her until the end. I miss her so much as she was my shadow 24/7 and she was never more than 3 feet from my side.

I used some of the Cloud 9 Hannah's Story papers for this layout. I just love the colors and quality of the papers. On the right side I've add a little pull tag so that I could add some hidden journaling which I've slid under the photo mat. Again the photo's are of my son when he was younger.

Another GSE Inspired Layout

It feels great to finally be all caught up on the Got Sketch Express email class layouts. I finished my interpretation of sketch 1 today. I definately love these sketches and love how I am finally getting around to scrapping some of my son's photos.

This layout is of my son and my two nieces (my sister's girls) playing at a local park in 1988. My son was 2 at the time.

My Fiskars Toys


When I first started scrapbooking in early 2004, one of the first tools I purchased was the gray Fiskars Paper trimmer and of course my Fiskars Scissors. Over the next couple of years I continued scrapbooking and did so on a very limited budget. In the spring of 2005, I joined a card club hoping to be able to use some of the techniques in scrapbooking. Little did I know that I would totally give up scrapbooking and only create cards for the next two years. During this time I met Bonnie who became my mentor & enabler. (Well, it worked both ways). I continued to buy a few Fiskars tools here & there, mainly just border punches for my cardmaking.

In April of 2007 I came across the Fiskateers site and immediately I was hooked. I won a few RAK’s some of which included Fiskar tools. (I won a Fiskars Craft drill)

Last summer my BF Bonnie and I made two road trips to Amherst, NY in search of new craft supplies. I purchased several of the Fiskars Squeeze Punches as at the time I didn’t own any punches. I was on a mission to buy punches! Needless to say I bought a lot of Fiskars tools.

Like most scrappers, I have a problem remembering what I own when it comes to tools. I decided to make myself a little organizer that I can carry in my purse when I go on a shopping spree. I also keep it downstairs beside my computer so I don’t order duplicate tools when shopping on line.

This was such an easy project. I just cut up some ATC size pieces of cardstock (2 ½ x 3 ½ inch). On each piece of cardstock I attached a punched out shape, or a piece of colored cardstock showing a punched border, a cut with decorative scissors and at the back of the booklet I’ve listed the miscellaneous tools that I have – scissors, trimmers, Ultra Shape Express & templates, etc. I kept the cards pretty simple so that if I need to change one I can easily do so. After the card was done, I slid it in an ATC sleeve with the open part at the bottom. This way the pages are all protected and won’t get torn or messed up when it’s traveling around in my purse. I punched a hole in the top left corner & attached a binder ring that I decorated with ribbon. I also punched out tabs with the Stampin Up Tab punch and labeled each tab. This way I can easily find the tool section I want. (Right now the backs are blank but I would like to fill in the price of these items so that I have an inventory price list for insurance purposes.) Then I decorated the cover with Heidi Grace paper scraps and it was finished.

This is a cute little project that goes together pretty quick. The only time consuming part was punching out all my Squeeze Punch and border shapes as well as the decorative scissor shapes. I’m really happy with how it turned out and love that I have my Fiskars Toys organized.

New Fiskars Christmas Squeeze Punches

Living in a small town in Ontario, Canada and trying to find any of the Fiskars Squeeze Punches is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. When I saw that Sheila from scrappingreatdeals.com had the new Fiskars Snowflake “a Total Flake” Squeeze Punch in stock, I had to order it. It arrived in my mailbox last week. I can’t wait to play with this new punch.

In the summer Fiskars had a survey posted on the Fiskateer Message Board to help them name these new punches that were being released. Of course I was one of many who filled out the survey. I was thrilled to find out that I was one of 12 who was to receive the new Limited Edition Halloween (Cat) Squeeze Punch that Fiskars was naming “Scaredy Cat”. It’s hard to believe that 12 of us came up with the same name. Great minds think alike! lol Everyone who entered the survey and had their name chosen received the punch that they named. How cool is that!!! My “Scaredy Cat” punch arrived on my doorstep earlier this month.

These new punches are flying off the shelves. The Halloween punches are orange and the Christmas one’s are green so it’s easy to identify them from your blue punches. They have all of the same great features we’ve come to love in the Fiskars Squeeze Punches. They are easy to use, they easily punch through even the thicker (Bazzill) cardstock and they also stack for easy storage. I love it when you stack them as they have a small picture of the punch shape on them so without flipping them over, you can tell which punch is which.

I’d love to find some of the other Halloween/Christmas punches (and the ovals) but I doubt that it will happen. I’d really love to have ALL the Halloween one’s as they are just too cute! Sadly, I just don’t have access to stores that carry them.

In case your wondering, here’s a list of the new Fiskars Squeeze Punches:

Candy Corn: You’re So Corny
Pumpkin: Jack
Ghost: Hide & Go Boo
Halloween Cat: Scaredy Cat

Pine Tree: I Pine For You
Holly: Happy Holly Days
Snowflake: A Total Flake

Plus there are also new scalloped punches - Circle Scallop Punch, Heart Scallop Punch, Oval Scallop Punch & Square Scallop Punch.

Happy Hunting!!

Monday, October 27, 2008

Halloween Spider


These adorable Halloween spiders are just too cute. They are easy to make and a great way to use up all those scraps. I just used my Stampin Up Scallop Circle Punch to create the body and the Stampin Up Photo Corner Punch to create the legs. Since I didn't have "googly eyes", I used Glossy Accents on the black to give it a raised look for the eyes. The candies are Halloween chocolates that I got from our local dollar store. Now these spiders I like.

Halloween Candy Holder


I've seen these posted in galleries and on blogs for sometime now. I've also had these on my "To Do" list forever. Today I finally got around to trying one and I must admit they are so easy to make. These can be used as a table decoration for any occasion. I am using mine for Halloween. I also got the chance to pull out my new Fiskars Scaredy Cat Squeeze Punch that I won in a contest to help name it. I love these squeeze punches!!




Got Sketch Express Sketch 3

Sunday was the perfect day to scrap. The sky was pretty dark, the winds had been blowing hard all night & most of the morning. We had some thunder & rain but by 5 pm it had turned nice.

This morning I decided to pull out sketch 3 from the GSE email class that I’m taking. The class is by Janna Wilson & Valerie Salmon and if you aren’t familiar with these two ladies, they are so talented, creative & inspiring. I just LOVE their sketches and their classes (Got Sketch 101, 102 & GSE). This is the third class that I’ve taken with them and I’m looking forward to Got Sketch 103 in the New Year.

This layout was inspired by Sketch 3 although I turned the sketch around a bit and made some changes too. I also used the Cloud 9 Hannah's Story papers. I really love how it turned out. These photo’s are of my DS when he was 3 (19 years ago). I also added a hidden journaling tag as I wanted to add some extra journaling to this layout that the sketch didn’t accommodate.

My son loved this jeep. Right from the first moment he got behind the wheel, he was hooked. All he wanted to do was drive. He didn’t like anyone else driving his jeep (he still doesn’t like anyone driving his vehicle today!) and really lit into our neighbor’s daughter when she drove it up over the sandbox. lol He made sure that his passengers were buckled up and loved to take them for a drive around the yard. At the end of each day he would faithfully park his jeep in the mini barn (his garage). He took such good care of his jeep that when we finally parted with it 5 years later it was still in perfect running condition (we did buy a new battery for it) and still looked like brand new.

Over the years, he didn’t change much and that passion for driving just continued. I remember spending hours with him driving up and down the road at my cousin’s sand pit (it was on private property). After the second trip to back to the sand pit, I’d be telling him how bored I was and asking if he was tired yet. Not him! Anything just to get behind the wheel and drive. lol As soon as he turned 16 he had his beginners permit and every time we had to go somewhere, he’d be out the door & behind the wheel before I even had my shoes on. Soon after he was the owner of his first car. He bought the car for cash, did all the necessary repairs and has done that with each vehicle he’s owned. At 22 he has already owned 5 cars and presently he has 2 cars. (I think he’s owned almost as many as I have through the years). Since he pays cash for all the cars & fixes them up, it’s a good thing that he’s an apprentice mechanic!

Hello Mr. Swan

Saturday turned out to be a gorgeous day. What started out to be a rainy, dark & dismal morning turned into a nice afternoon. My plans were to head to the next town to pick up my pictures that I had uploaded earlier in the week and to stop and visit my mother who is recuperating at a retirement home from knee replacement surgery.

Since my morning kind of got away from me and I didn’t end up leaving as early as I had hope to, I decided to grab lunch on the road & stop by my favorite park. I used to spend a lot of time at this park when I was little. My grandparent’s home was near this park and when we visited, grandma always had left over breadcrumbs for us to feed the ducks. Now I didn’t mind feeding the ducks it was the Canadian Geese & Swans that I didn’t like. Sure they are nice to look at but when it comes to feeding them (especially if your walking) forget it. They can be mean and they are definitely greedy. Many times we were chased away by these geese & swans only to leave me with a fear of them.

Today I decided that I’d give the few left over French fries to the ducks from the safety of my parked van. I had noticed the mix of Canadian Geese & one lone swan swimming in front of where I was parked. I wasn’t really paying attention and when I looked up there peering at me was this huge swan. By this time the food was gone but this swan just stood there looking at me. I was a little leery of him and his intentions but not leery enough to ignore a perfect photo shoot of such a beautiful creature….. Hello, Mr. Swan.

I used the Cloud 9 Hannah's Story papers that I got in my order from ATRS (Addicted to Rubber Stamps)last week. I love it. I love doing Photo Collages when it comes to adding lots of photos to a page. These photo's show Saturday's visit from Mr. Swan.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Marathon Reading Session


Not only am I addicted to scrapbooking, I’m also addicted to reading. I’ve been a huge lover of books ever since I was a little girl.

My taste in books vary from a bit of Romance to Murder Mysteries. I always say that I like a little romance with my blood, guts & gore. lol My taste in authors varies too….Danielle Steel, Jude Deveraux, Iris Johansen, Kathy Reich, Fern Michaels, James Patterson and more. Plus I'm always on the lookout for new authors.

May Flaum (http://mayflaum.wordpress.com/) got me into reading the Sophie Kinsella Shopaholic series. I enjoyed them so much that I’ve read all the Sophie Kinsella books as well as few that she has written under the name Madeleine Wickham. Sophie's book Confessions of a Shopaholic has been made into a movie and I think it’s coming out in the new year. (I hope it will be available here.)

Not only did May get me hooked on the Sophie Kinsella books, she has now got me hooked on the Janet Evanovich "Plum series" books.

I took me awhile to get started on them as I'm the type of person who likes to read a series at the very beginning. I had found “Two for the Dough” at a yard sale in the summer as well as a couple of others in the series but I didn’t want to start reading them until I read the first book in the series. Unfortunately I had to go on a waiting list at our local library for book one in the series "One For the Money".

Well, needless to say after reading book one, I was hooked. I ordered books 3,4, 5 & 6 from my local library. Wouldn’t you know it, they all came in at once last Thursday along with a Kathy Reich’s book I’ve been wanting to read. Unfortunately they are ALL two week books.

I was reading book 2 when all these books came in. Well, I finished book 2 & 3 and I started reading “Four to Score” last night so now the race is on. I have 1 week to finish reading 4 books. (They can’t be renewed when they are two week books).

With 14 books in the series along with a couple of in between Plum books, it looks like I’ll be reading them for awhile yet.

My New Toy The Fiskars Scissor Sharpener

A few weeks ago, Rebecca one of the Lead Fiskateers had a contest to win one of two Fiskars Scissors Sharpener. She asked how many of us sharpened our scissors and to leave a comment. My comment was “What, you mean we’re suppose to sharpen them?” I couldn’t believe that there were 103 comments left on her post & surprising enough I was one of the two winners. Look what showed up at my door last week.

Well, now that I no longer have an excuse for not sharpening my scissors I decided to give it a try on my favorite pair of Fiskars scissors. These little scissors are excellent for the intricate cuts. These scissors are my oldest pair of Fiskars scissors & they are used everyday. They’d be the scissor’s that would most likely be in desperate need of sharpening.

After opening the box and removing it from it’s packaging. I was surprised at how light the Fiskars Scissor Sharpener is. After a quick glance at the instructions on the back of the box (they are really good), I was ready to go.

All you do is insert your scissor blades into the gray sharpening unit, make several gentle cutting strokes. (The box states that four strokes is usually sufficient). I was waiting for that “grinding” noise that usually gives me the shivers but it didn’t happen. Then you clean the blades with a soft cloth to remove any dust and your ready to test cut. Also, for left-hand use the gray sharpening unit can be switched around.

I definitely noticed the difference right away. I guess I didn’t notice just how dull my scissors were. I love this new tool and will definitely take the time to keep my scissors in tiptop condition. After all, they do deserve it.

Yummy Fall Apples


Last year I took a journaling class with May Flaum (one of the Legendary Lead Fiskateers). She did a layout & journaled about her favorite apples “Honey Crisp”. Well, the way she described these apples, I knew that I had to try them.

I found them at my local grocery store and bought a bag. I was hooked. These apples are so delicious. They are crisp, juicy & sweet. I love them. Unfortunately, they are only available for a few weeks each fall.

Last year I didn’t have to share my “treasured apples” as DS never even tried them. On Monday night my GF got me a 10 lb bag from her work (she works at an apple grower) and DS just happened to be there when I carried in my treasures. Of course he had to try one and now he’s hooked too. Now he started taking them to work with him. This doesn’t make mom a happy person! Why you ask...now I have to share my treasured apples with him. lol

If you haven't already tried these delicious apples, I'd advise you to not wait too long as soon they'll be gone for another year!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Got Sketch Express (GSE)

After taking Got Sketch 101 and Got Sketch 102 by Janna Wilson and Valerie Salmon, when they offered Got Sketch Express, of course I had to sign up. As you can see by my previous posts and layouts from the other two classes, the inspiration I’ve gotten is amazing. This class is no different. Each Tuesday from October 7th to November 26th, we receive in our email box a pdf with a sketch, a sample layout and instructions on how to put it together. Plus we have a link to a gallery where we can post our finished layouts.

I don’t know why, but this time around I started off with week 2’s sketch. (I hope to get sketch 1 done today). I love how it turned out. I chose to do a layout using pictures from my sister’s surprise 50th birthday party that we had for her last year. I hope that she likes it.

May’s Legendary Fiskateer Crop Challenge #3

May’s challenge #3 required us "to “lift” a project from either the fiskateer gallery OR http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/. When you post it in the fiskateer gallery be sure and tell us who you lifted! NOTE: None of the challenges have to be a layout. You are free to create at will!"

With so much creativity and talent in the gallery and on the Fiskars Craft site it was difficult trying to decide what to lift. In the end, I decided to “lift” the October Downloadable Project by Janna Wilson called “Paper Doll Canvas” on the Fiskars Craft site. (You can see her’s here http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/projects/t_oct08download.aspx)

This project was actually pretty easy to do. All it took was a canvas from Dollarama, acrylic paint (I have over 100 colors left over from my Tole Painting days), patterned paper, flower stamp, some ribbon & lace and a photocopy of a person’s face.

I was quite surprised at how quickly this went together considering that I’ve never done one of these before. I love the way it turned out.

Funny thing is when I was growing up I hated “crafts”. It was always my sister who was into crafts and she was really good at it. I preferred to play “house” and play with my cut-out paper dolls. I remember sitting on the livingroom floor for hours, cutting out the people from the Sears catalogue and making my own paper dolls. Who would have thought that years later, I’d be the one doing crafts (my sister doesn’t now) and that I’m still playing with paper dolls.

Anyways, here’s my Paper Doll Canvas. My little paper doll is none other than my 6 year old great niece Chloe.

Today’s the Day!! Fiskateer Online Crop

Well, today’s the big day! The Fiskateer Online Crop hosted by none other than our Legendary (former) Lead Fiskateer May Flaum.

The challenges were up on the board last night for all to view and the gallery is already overflowing with creativity. There are several planned chats and interviews with the Fiskars Design Team members. Oh ya, I can’t forget the RAK’s. There are always lots of them to enter. Head on over to http://www.fiskateers.com/public/blog/ to join in on all the fun.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

I took the Crazy About Kits Online Class by May Flaum

Back in the spring I took another online class called “Crazy About Kits”. This class was taught at Big Picture Scrapbooking and taught by none other than our Legendary Lead Fiskateer May Flaum. You can go here to see classes by May and other great instructors http://www.bigpicturescrapbooking.com/
This was another awesome class and definitely helped me with putting together kits of my own and to not be so afraid of some of these bolder patterned papers.
Here are some of the layouts & projects that were inspired by May’s class:

This first layout is of my DS back in 1987


Another one of my DS when he was little.


This next layout is of my youngest great nephew. These pictures were taken at his cousin's 2nd birthday party and he was having fun crawling in and out of one of the gift bags.


This layout is of my great niece Chloe on her 6th birthday.


I was inspired by May's class to make altered style cigar boxes & mini albums for each of my nephew-in-laws & my brother in law for Father's Day. Inside the mini album are photos of them with their kids. I love how they turned out and so did the men.





Just a Few More Layouts

Here is another recent layouts & project that I’ve completed.

Canadian Girl - This layout was inspired by my adorable great niece. She looked so cute all dressed up in red and white on Canada Day that I knew I had to scrap these pictures of her.


This was my entry for May's paper craft free-for-all back in May of this year. I used my Fiskars scissors & fingertip craft knife on this project. I love how this adorable cut out doll of my oldest niece Chloe turned out. Too cute!!

Got Sketch 102 Inspired Layouts

After all the awesome sketches & tips that we received in Got Sketch 101, I was right there signing up when Janna and Val announced that they were going to be doing Got Sketch 102. This time around, Got Sketch 102 was all layouts. This class just finished at the end of September so I'm still doing catch up. (But of course I had to sign up for Got Sketch Express lol)

These layouts were inspired by Got Sketch 102

"Two" - This first layout is of my adorable 2 1/2 yr old niece on her second birthday. She just loves Dora.


Corky & Me - You remember Corky? He was the talking doll Cricket’s little brother and he was quite popular in the late 80’s early 90’s. My son got him for Christmas and they were fast friends. Corky could talk and came with several different outfits that went along with the story books and tapes. Corky went every where with us. These photos were taken on holidays in Tennessee.

Eventually Corky had an accident and to this day we really don’t know what happened. DS and my niece were playing upstairs when I heard a blood curdling scream. I ran up as fast as I could only to see the two of them cowered in the corner pointing at Corky who was missing an eye. There story was that they left the room and when they came back in, there was Corky with one eye. I tried to fix him by putting a “band-aid” over his eye but soon after Corky was no longer his best friend but had suddenly become “evil”. I guess the release of the movie “Chucky” didn’t help Corkys appeal any. Lol

This layout “Corky & Me” was inspired by Got Sketch 102.


“D” - Another sketch inspired by Got Sketch 102. Again my 2 1/2 yr old great niece was the inspiration for this layout. These pictures were taken last summer by her mother. I love all the elements in this sketch. The use of transparencies for the butterfly and the one scallop circle.


Last but not least for this GS102 class, we were given a bonus card sketch with a cupcake on it. It was really cute and inspired me to do a mini book of my oldest great niece's 6th birthday using the cupcake template. (I did white out one of the children's faces in the photo)


Janna Wilson and Valerie Salmon are so creative and their sketches are just so inspiring. If you haven’t taken one of their classes (GS101, GS102), you should look into taking Got Sketch Express which is on now. Here’s the link for more info http://gotsketch.blogspot.com/. You can also see their work at http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/

Got Sketch 101 Pre-Class Challenges

Before the Got Sketch 101 class started we were given a couple of Pre-Class Challenges to keep us busy while waiting for the class to begin.

Pre-Class Challenge 1 - My youngest great nephew is subject in this layout. I really do have to pull out more photo’s of him as he is such a little love.


Pre-Class Challenge 2 - Now this layout is another one for DS’s album. He used to love playing in my kitchen cupboards (I think all kids do). I took everything but my Tupperware out of the cupboard just so he and his cousin C could play in it. Eventually I had to remove that too, as between him and his cousin “C” they were taking my Tupperware out and putting it in the toy box.

Got Sketch 101 Inspired Layouts

Back in early May/June of this year, I signed up for the Got Sketch 101 class by Janna Wilson and Valerie Salmon. This class had a little bit of everything, card sketches, layout sketches as well as 3D items. These layouts were inspired by the sketches from that class.

This sketch is of my great nephew doing hair. His mother (my niece) has a hair shop out of her home so you never know, he could be a hair stylist in the making.


This layout is one for my son's scrapbook. Since he's now 22, I have 22 years of memories to scrap. I'm slowly working my way through the years but since I don't work in any order, it'll take me forever to catch up on his albums. (one of the faces in the top photo is whited-out)


I was on a roll for this class. Here's another layout that I completed for my son's scrapbook. I love this two page sketch. The right side of the page has flip ups for photo’s and you can add photos to both sides of the flip ups. I only added mine to the top side.


This next sketch is one of my darling great niece learning to ride a bike.


Here's a cute card that I did for this class


Talk about a great class put together by Janna Wilson and Valerie Salmon. They are both so talented and inspiring. Not only do they provide great sketches...they also provide us with awesome tips.

U Crack Me Up

I'm pretty fortunate to have six adorable great nieces and nephews that live close by and are a very important part of my life. Having a close knit family, we spend a lot of time together. These adorable kids certainly keep us laughing. My oldest great niece is 6 and she has a little sister who is 2 1/2 years old. Then there is my great nephew (he's 5), his sister who's almost 3 and then the youngest member of the family is 1 1/2 years old. So having six little one's who are all six and under certainly can lead to some funny (and loud) get togethers. Next year it will be a little louder as both of my nieces are expecting in May of 2009. These are all my older sisters grandchildren (but she does share them with me).

This next layout was inspired by the sock monkey that my great nephew is holding in his hand. I knew that I had to use my Stampin Up Sock Monkey set on this layout. The reverse monkey was done just by stamping him, flipping him over and piecing the backside. It doesn’t take much for my adorable great nephew to get his little sister laughing. But then again if they aren't laughing they're fighting. lol These two are such little dolls and are the subject of a lot of my layouts.

My Fiskateer Online Crop Challenge Layouts

As I said in my previous post, this Saturday (October 18th) is the Fiskateer Online Crop hosted by none other than the Legendary May. May was nice enough to post 3 challenges in advance for us to work on. I love it when she does this as I don't always have the time to scrap the day of the crop and this way I can take my time and work on them during the week. So now that I have finished the first two challenges, I am posting them here on my blog too.

Challenge #1 – we had to create a card or layout based on the sketches from http://www.fiskarscrafts.com/ for October.



My adorable great niece was the inspiration for this layout.

Challenge #2 – was a bit tougher as it required us to create a craft project that has the following items on it: button, ribbon, cardstock, something with a sparkle (glitter or sparkly/glittered item), a stamp, ink somewhere applied directly to project, and one or more fiskars tools used. You were able to use anything else you’d like but you must include all of the above items.

This is my take on May's Crop Challenge #2. This layout has all of May’s requested items. I’ve used buttons, ribbon, cardstock, something sparkly (chipboard alphas were painted & glitter added), a stamp (laugh & circle one), ink (tag is inked) and one or more Fiskars tools (Threading Waters & Fiskars Squeeze Punch Mint Condition). Talk about a challenge for me as I normally don’t use all of those items on one layout. I really love how this layout turned out.



I had all these pictures that I took of my adorable great niece and great nephew (they're cousins) and figured that they'd make a great collage. I had printed this off and decided to use this for the focal point of my layout. Then it was just a matter of fitting all the challenge items in on the layout. I loved this challenge as it really made me think.

Just a little note: FiskarsCrafts.com always has great monthly scrapbook & card sketches. Once you've completed your sketch challenge for the month, you can submit it to the gallery before the end of the month and you'll have a chance to win a prize. Not only do they have the sketches, there are downloadable projects, articles, a great gallery and of course Fiskars TV with new shows twice a month. If you haven't already done so, you should check it out!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Got Sketch Express

I am a huge fan of both Janna Wilson and Valerie Salmon. I first became aware of their talent while browsing the Fiskars Craft site (www.fiskarscrafts.com) where they are both on the Fiskars Design Team. In the late spring there was a posting on the Fiskateers Message Board announcing that they were taking signups for a class “Got Sketch 101”. Needless to say, I signed up and the rest is history!!! Since then I have taken Got Sketch 101, Got Sketch 102 and am not currently taking Got Sketch Express. Talk about addicted. lol

(from the Got Sketch blog) If you love creating with sketches -- then you'll want to register right away for Got Sketch Express! Email deliveries began Tuesday, October 7th. These sketches are delivered to your email inbox once a week for 8 weeks, along with a downloadable PDF with the step-by-step instructions, supply list, and project notes you'll need to re-create the layout example provided.

Here’s the link for more information http://gotsketch.blogspot.com/

I’ll soon be posting some of my layouts that have been inspired by these awesome classes.

Only 3 More Sleeps

Only 3 more sleeps until the awesome Fisk-a-teer on-line Fisk-a-friendzy/on-line crop/party/legendary crop/SUPER CRAZY FUN EVENT!!! This party is hosted by none other than the A-may-zing May who is a Legendary Lead Fiskateer.

(This is taken in part from the announcement on the Fiskateer Message Board) So, what is this all about? How does it work? It’s simple, really. You already know and love this site- checking in here at the blog for inspiration, the message board to chat, the gallery to see projects, and the chat room to talk with fellow crafting friends around the world. We’re going to do all of that, plus you know that by logging in on Saturday, October 18th even MORE fisk-a-teer friends will be here, prizes galore, extra inspiration, more chats, well just really more everything!

Even if you don’t have the time to crop, you can still pop in to say hi. There will be fun stuff going on all day so you won’t want to miss out!!! Join in for one of the many scheduled chats during the day, take a challenge, browse the gallery or check out the message board. You won’t be disappointed. May has invited the design team, friends at fiskars, and all your current lead fiskateers to join in the fun too, so you never know who you might see! Click on the Fiskateers link on the side to join.

May has posted in advance 3 challenges for the crop. I love it when she does this as it allows us to work on them before the crop. So far I have completed two of these challenges and am still trying to decide what I want to do for the third challenge. I’ll be posting mine here as soon as I take some pictures of them.

Altered Cigar Style Box and Mini Album


A few weeks ago I created an altered style cigar box with a matching mini album for my mother. Since mom is recuperating from knee replacement surgery I thought that she’d enjoy seeing what her cat is up too.

I purchased the cigar style box from Dollarama and covered it with modge podge, pattern paper and painted the edges with acrylic paint. The mini album has 14 pages and I used binders to hold it together. It fits perfectly inside the box and the box stands up on it’s side to make a great display piece. My mother loved it!