Saturday, March 28, 2009

I Am Still Here...

Thanks everyone for checking up on me! I am still here...just have been busy with the kids and yes, we are still sick! We packed up and spent 4 days in gorgeous Fernie...and well, much to my dismay, I could not get a good internet connection. It isn't very fun to be blogging or perusing the internet when you signal goes down every 2 minutes! I have lots to post so stay tuned for tomorrow!

-vw

Friday, March 20, 2009

Week #2 Entry for the Ribbon Rave

Here is my entry for last week's (Week #2) Ribbon Rave contest at Savvy n Sassy. The major criteria was to use ribbon and staples creatively. I threaded a bead through the staple and then used my stapler to shoot the staple through a button...ok, I think my stapler is broken now but it was really fun! LOL

Supplies: Brown cardstock (Scrapbook Sally? I am not sure as it is very old!); BasicGrey (all pattern papers, "Spunk" rubon); buttons (Making Memories, Autumn Leaves, BasicGrey); Flowers (Prima - large green; felt and smaller paper from Making Memories); Brads (Queen & Co; Chatterbox); Making Memories (green glittered label); Inkssentials white pen (journaling); Fancy Pants (felt swirl)

A close-up of the bead in the staple on the button...

And another look at the bead and staple...

Thanks for dropping by...I am looking forward to Week #3...
-vw

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Project 365 - Day 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20

Thanks for indulging me with all my pictures! At the end of the year, I will have 365 pictures to show you! LOL

So Day 16

A beautiful bouquet of flowers to cheer me up from two very good friends! Thank you Tracey and Jacquie!

Day 17

Playing around with my camera in my studio while Madison was doing her homework!

Day 18

An unseasonably warm winter day as I shovelled the driveway and Danielle played in the snow. I was Shoveller Mommy and she was Picker Danielle. She was collecting all the ice crystals in the plastic bag the newspaper came in! Fun times!

Day 19


Finally captured Danielle sleeping - not the best shot but one nonetheless! How can someone who is so busy during the day look so angelic when we sleeps??? LOL

Day 20


A historic day - the day Barack Obama became President...I'm glad I have a picture of him even if it is on tv! LOL

Thanks so much for dropping by!
-vw

Monday, March 16, 2009

Creative Scrappers Challenge Blog

I was thrilled and honoured to be asked by Kristine Davidson of Creative Scrappers Challenge Sketch Blog to do her super fun sketch! Here is my take on her sketch-

Supplies: BasicGrey (Sultry - all pattern papers); Cardstock (not quite sure on the brown but I think it may be very old Scrapbook Sally; light pink is Bazzill); American Crafts (alpha foam stickers); Making Memories (glitter label); Butterfly dies (large - Cuttlebug; small - Spellbinders); Kaiser (gems on butterflies); stitching; oval coluzzle (to make the thought bubble)
And here are a couple of close-ups on the butterflies-





Thanks for dropping by!

-vw

Sunday, March 15, 2009

My Sketch World March Sketch Reveal

It's March 15th! Not only is it the "Ides of March" but it also reveal day at My Sketch World. Very VERY fun sketch by Lucy Chesna - if you are lacking in some creative juices or want some major inspiration, drop on by at My Sketch World.

Here is my take on the sketch-

Supplies: Cardstock (yellow - not quite sure but I think it is also some very old Scrapbook Sally); BasicGrey (Gypsy - all pattern papers); ribbon (from Savvy n Sassy); Fiskars (border punch); Butterfly dies (large - Cuttlebug; small - Spellbinders); stitching

And a couple of close-ups...




Thanks for dropping by!

-vw

Friday, March 13, 2009

Heidi Swapp's Mirror Album

In our February Scrap Shotz kit, we received Heidi Swapp's mirror album. At first I was uncertain on how I would approach the album. It had reflective qualities and its inserts were transparent. After mulling it over a bit, I got to work and here is my album. I hope you like it! It sure was fun to do!!! Oh I have to add that reading Ali Edwards' Life Artist book made me relax about how I approached the album and that helped tremendously.

Here is the cover - I absolutely love the mirror cover; it's the coolest!

Supplies: American Crafts alphas; Making Memories chipboard heart; Prima crystal; Urban Lily chipboard sentiment; various scraps of ribbon (unknown sources)

The first page of the album includes a picture of me and Danielle. While not the most flattering picture of me, I remember quite vividly the moment it was taken and it will always be special to me.

Supplies: Making Memories shaped paper; KI Memories lace paper; rub (I am not 100% sure but it is either Basicgrey or Cosmo Cricket - sorry about that...)

And a close-up of the lace paper - I love the see-through quality of the lace paper against the transparency insert.

And page 2...OK, this is one of my favorite pages. I love the transparent look and this picture makes me laugh! I love the photo and it fits perfectly in the Chatterbox Eclectique frame.

Supplies: Chatterbox Eclectique frame; Prima crystal; Urban Lily rub

A close-up of the bottom - I like that you can see the other pages layered behind...

Page 3 ... This might possibly be my favorite page! First of all, I love the photo and secondly, I had a blast using my KI Memories rubs all over the insert.

Supplies: Fancy Pants (pink floral rub); Prima crystal heart; KI Memories (adjective rubs); Pink Paislee (rub in parentheses); chipboard tab (Basic Grey Marrakesh line)

Page 4 just grabs my heart - I love that Danielle loves Pinkie so deeply and unconditionally just like me to her...sigh...

Supplies: Chipboard fleur de lis (American Crafts); Glitz Design (gems); Urban Lily (pink circle rub); Luxe Designs (light pink sentiment); Fancy Pants (blue bird rub)

Page 5 - This photo IS so Danielle - she has such a fun and BIG personality! I love that!!

Supplies: Heidi Swapp (black gems); Basic Grey (chipboard tab); KI Memories (softies - butterflies); Fancy Pants (star and flourish rub)

Page 6 had me stumped. Do I paint the letters? Do I cut pictures to fit the letters and then by luck, the insert I tossed on my desk landed on the photo and that is how the page was born!

Supplies: Doodlebug pattern paper; Martha Stewart border punch; Pebbles (chipboard glittered blue heart); KI Memories (lace paper from which the 4 was cut); Prima crystal; KI Memories (rubs); Pink Paislee (rub in oval)

And a close-up of the last page...

My album is a bit chubbier than most as I added several pages created with my Hambly screen prints and some BasicGrey Euphoria. All in all, I had so much fun creating this album and I don't know why I was scared to start! LOL

Thanks for dropping by!
-vw

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Project 365 - Day 12, 13, 14 and 15

Some more pictures to share for Project 365...

Day 12 - I love Lund's Organic carrots...and I took a picture of them! They are the sweetest carrots I have ever tasted in my entire life!

Day 13 - Pau Pau had to go home. Madison was starting to get sick. I kept her home from school and we all drove Pau Pau to the airport...lots of tears that day. We came home to have a Hospital Day...movies, juice and pajamas all day long.

Day 14 - I won't post the picture online but I took a measurement of my ulcer. It was getting better and today was a day that I was feeling there would be an end in sight.

Day 15 - Another Hospital Day - Madison and Danielle were both flu-ey...

Thanks for dropping by!

-vw

Monday, March 9, 2009

A New Take on Scrapbooking

If you recall in an earlier post, my word for the year is Refresh. One of the ways I am refreshing my scrapbooking is entering various contests. It is an easy way to challenge myself to scrap outside of my comfort zone.

I entered the Paper Trunk Designer of the Month contest - no luck there but then if you don't try, how will you know???

I entered the My Sketch World Designer call and guess what? Yes, I was chosen! I am really enjoying the sketches here and the forum is great fun too!

Now I am doing the Ribbon Rave at Savvy n Sassy! For the next 6 weeks, there are challenges to complete. All you have to do is complete them - no eliminations, no being thrown off the island! It's great fun and tomorrow is the start of Week 2!

Here is my entry:

Supplies: Close To My Heart (green, black cs; black ink); Scenic Route pp; Tim Holtz grungeboard; Prima flowers: Heidi Swapp (F-A-M-I-L-Y chipboard alphas); Making Memories (leather photo corners); Autumn Leaves (journaling spot); American Crafts pen; Queen & Co orange brads; Chatterbox glazed brad with owl; ribbon (Love Elsie - printed; May Arts - orange)

And for good measure, I think I'll enter yet another contest - what? I am not sure! But it keeps me hopping! LOL

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Project 365 - Days 9, 10 and 11

These pictures make me smile! Why? I planned the perfect surprise birthday party for Madison, that's why! She did not even suspect any party whatsoever!

The night before, we had shared cake as a family. I bought Madison (and Danielle too!) a heart locket. We put the locket in a jewellery box purchased at the Skimeisters Silent Auction - all in all, it was a great gift for a young lady.



This is a picture of the actual surprise sleepover - we were just about to start decorating our pillowcases, play some Wii and watch a movie!



And a picture of the morning after! LOL Yes, they all did indeed manage to sleep!



Really REALLY great kids and a fabulous birthday party!

Thanks for dropping by!

-vw

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Yes, Spring Will Come

At Scrap Shotz, it was my turn to do a card challenge for the first of the month challenge. My challenge is to use something that reminds you of spring. It can be the fun bright colours; a butterfly or two or some flowers.

Here is my take...

Supplies: Close To My Heart (white cardstock base); Bazzill (dark pink cardstock); EK Success (light pink glittery pattern paper); K&Company (Amy Butler pattern papers); Nestabilities (Large and medium butterfly dies); Cuttlebug (medium butterfly die); Glitz designs (clear bling large): Prima (small bling); Kaiser pearls (Pink); various sentiment rubs (Melissa Frances, Daisy Bucket and a few unknown!); VersaMagic (Jumbo Java chalk ink)
And a close-up of each card...

And I cannot do pink without blue now can I? So here are some blue-ish cards! LOL

And a close-up...

Thanks for dropping by! I had so much fun with these cards!

-vw

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Marrakesh Madness - Part II

Welcome back to the second day of my Reveal at Scrap Shotz! Here are some more of my projects to share...

A layout of my youngest daughter pining away for her older sister and just the luxury of being included! LOL

I have to say that I just adore those leaves from the Basic Grey sticker sheet! Yummers!

And a layout that absolutely captured the spirit and personality of Madison...

The circle photos are propped up on pop-dots - I have such a newfound love of those things!


What do you think of the glazed brads? I totally dig them!

And my last layout is about Danielle at her music class - gosh, just looking at these pictures reminded me of how much she loved the marrachas!

Thanks so much for dropping by!

-vw

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Marrakesh Madness - Part I

On March 1, it was Reveal Day at Scrap Shotz. And boy oh boy, working with the Basic Grey Marrakesh kit was a dream! The papers and colours are rich and oh so versatile. Here are the projects I made with my kit - I hope you like them! All supplies are from the Scrap Shotz March kit.

Lately, I have renewed my interest in doing 2-pagers! There is so much real estate to use and it's rather freeing! Here is a layout of Madison and Dominic - Maddy and Daddy. Right from the get-go, Madison and Dominic were close...it warms my heart to see it every day. These pictures are a collection from 2000 to 2008. Hope you like it!

I quite liked the patterns of the Marrakesh paper, in particular, I loved the flower pattern of the orange paper. For some added dimension, I cut out the flower of orange paper and rolled the edges of the points to create the flower pets. Then I added one of the glazed brads for the flower centre and adhered the unit to my layout. Here is a close-up of the flower...

And lately, I have this undeniable urge to use up my old printed photos, especially from my film days. Basically I am on a roll to use my stash because at Scrap Shotz we are doing a 100 Project Challenge - in general, you cannot shop for more scrappy supplies until you have completed 100 projects! At first, I was thinking ... what in the world am I doing? But I am at 98 right now and it wasn't that hard! I thought I would not be able to shop until the end of the year but since Jan 1, I have completed 98 projects...did I mention I completed 98 projects?

Anyways I digressed...here is another layout using the Marrakesh kit and photos from the film days (I think) or at the very least the early digital days...

And a close up of the journaling...

I have loved using my sewing machine to add just a little something special to my layouts and I recently have been stitching my journaling strips to the layout. I like the look...it really gives a homey feel to the layout.

The chipboard flower elements in the Basic Grey kit are AMAZING! And I decorated mine with the Jenni Bowlin flower gems. Here is a close-up...

This month with my kit scraps, I made an ABC book for Danielle. She can already recognize the big and small letters but she likes to "trace" her fingers over the letters, basically on anything she sees with letters. For this project, I used up scraps from previous Scrap Shotz kits and from the various odds and sods of letter stickers and rubs and die cuts. It is amazing what I have in my "extras" bin and I am pleased to say I made quite a dent into it!

So this is the front of each letter page. In the circle is the capital letter and then the lower case letter. And for continuity, I used up all my old chipboard. A quick splash of paint and everything looks the same. Ahhh...I have been so loving my paint lately...


And on the back of each letter page are samples of objects that start with the letter on the front. For example, the letter A page has an apple and an alligator on the back of it.

This is Part I of the reveal - please drop by for the remainder of my projects tomorrow!

-vw

Monday, March 2, 2009

I'm Back

Just a quick note to say...I am still here!

For the past 2 weeks, I have been horribly sick with the flu...for the 5th time. Yes, you have read it right, the 5th time. I will never ever ever go a year without the flu shot again! This has been absolutely the worst year for me with regards to the flu. And right now, my hubbie is sick with the flu. I have honestly never seen him this sick - he has pretty much slept away the last 2 days. My two neices who are visiting are also sick...and gosh, they are so darn cute. It hurts my heart to have them sniffling.

And little Danielle has now come down with the flu too. Her fever has been hovering between 38.4 and 39.8 C - she is my spunky shadow and for her to be crying at the drop of a hat or lying lethargic, it is so unusal. Again, it makes me so sad.

So a quick post but I will be back tomorrow with the March Reveal at Scrap Shotz. I have so much to share...lots of pictures and projects...the next few days will be busy and fun!

Good night everyone!

-vw