Gift Cards!!!

Are you like me? I am always on the hunt for interesting, beautiful but simple and elegant gift card holders. And this is the season for giving...gift cards!


Here are a couple of gift card holders that I will be using this year - I hope you like them!

Firstly, I wanted to write a few words in my card for the recipient so I created a holder for the front of the card.

Supplies: Urban Lily (pattern papers); American Crafts (rub ons, ribbon); brads (source unknown); Cuttlebug (die cut)

And I used the Urban Lily Swirl Memory Photocards to create an envelope for the gift card below. With the addition of a few rub-ons, I was done in minutes!

Supplies: Urban Lily (photocards); stitching; American Crafts (rub ons)

Thank you for letting me share!

Urban Swank Blog Hop

***My apologies Blog Hoppers*** I don't exactly know why the pictures disappeared but the links are all fixed now! Thank you for coming back! :-)



Welcome Welcome Welcome!!! Today is the Urban Swank Blog Hop!

I am so so SO excited to be participating in the Urban Swank blog hop :-) We were asked to create Christmas themed projects in honour of the upcoming holiday season. Well, what a fantastic assignment! I absolutely adore Christmas; don't you?

Here is my project - an adorable divided box with an enchanting box and a matching paper Christmas tree!

Here is a close-up of the box top.

I had an absolute blast creating this project and I can definitely see myself creating more of these boxes!

Thanks for dropping by to see my project! And participating in the blog hop...now go check out the other girls' blogs, ok?

Becky Teichmiller
Erika Taylord
Rachel Theall
Virginia Wong  <------You are here
Marci Knecht   <------ Click here to go to the next blog
Pauline Dirrig
Simona Gughi
Gayle Martin
Michelle Van Etten
Candra George

Don't forget to end at the Urban Swank blog and check out the Urban Swank Facebook page. Becky has some fun fun prizes for one lucky reader!

Slurp!

Here is another Urban Swank (Urban Lily) project for you!

If there is one food group that my girls adore, that would be marshmallows! LOL We save marshmallows for the special-est of occassions...like the start of school! 

I could not resist sharing that I caught Danielle sneaking into the marshmallows during the photo shoot! LOL She is incorrigible!

And here is her reaction to sneaking a marshmallow!

Thanks for letting me share!

A Head of the Class!

We are now into our 3rd week of school and things are starting to get into a smooth routine. Now I feel I can breathe a bit easier. Yes there are still some kinks to iron out with each girls' curriculum but we are moving ahead and that feels great!

I'd like to share an Urban Swank (Urban Lily) project with you. Danielle wanted a special tiara aka headband to celebrate the start of school. So I happily obliged!

Supplies:  Urban Lily (pattern papers); Tim Holtz dies; ribbon and buttons (source unknown)

Well one child cannot have a headband and not the other so...

Supplies:  Urban Lily (pattern papers); Tim Holtz dies; ribbon and buttons (source unknown)

Thanks for letting me share!

Capturing the Fickle Pre-Teen Years

Madison is my oldest. When she is happy and sweet, she is amazing! When is grouchy and moody, eek...watch out! Do you have days like that? Well, my life isn't perfect and here is a layout that captures one of my life's imperfections. :-)

Supplies:  Urban Lily (pattern papers), BasicGrey (alphas); Tattered Angels (glimmer mist); chipboard parentheses (source unknown); Glitz Designs (large black gems); BasicGrey (small black gem strips)

Thanks for dropping by!

Pomme *Heart*

Danielle, my youngest, has rarely met a fruit that she didn't love but I swear her absolute tried and true favorite is the apple or as she refers to it in her french accent, "pomme." I love hearing her little accent!

Below is a layout created with some absolutely delicious Urban Lily papers showcasing her love of the apple. I cannot even begin to tell you how many pictures I have of Danielle eating an apple or drooling over an apple or dreaming of an apple! LOL

Supplies:  Urban Lily (pattern papers); BasicGrey (alphas, chipboard heart ); Tattered Angels glimmer mist; Gems (source unknown), American Crafts (brads); Making Memories (glittered chipboard photo corner)

If your local scrapbook store is not carrying Urban Lily papers, please contact Becky at Scrap-tastic, http://www.scrap-tastic.com/ Becky is awesome to deal with and has super customer service. Tell her Virginia sent you!

Happy Father's Day!!!

It's Father's Day! At our house, any "special" day is cause for celebration, cake and some chaos! LOL Here is a mini album/card that we made for my husband and Daddy to these two girls!

And here is the mini album. The mini album is from Urban Lily as are all the pattern papers that were used to simply accessorize the already beautiful album pages.

What I love the most of this album is the pull out pages that allow you to privately share journaling/thoughts/words to the recipient. And you can also slip a gift certificate for a loved one into one of the pockets!

Here are some of the pages in my album. I am so glad I had my girls use their handwriting on the pages and when they get older, I know that I will cherish those sweet letters!

Thanks for dropping by! And a big Happy Father's Day to you and the men who have played a fatherly role in your life.

Facing Life Head On!!!

Have you ever used a really REALLY large photo on your layout? I have had this photo of Danielle for 2 years now, not quite sure how I was going to scrap it. But once I saw these Urban Lily papers, I knew they would be a perfect match.

I loved putting the title on Danielle's sweater in the photo. As well, I chose to keep the design simple so that the focus stayed on the photo. Here is a close-up of the title.

Here is a close-up of the journaling...

Thanks for letting me share!

A Dressing Tradition

I know that I do not do enough to teach Madison and Danielle about their Chinese heritage. The one thing we always do is celebrate and talk about Chinese New Years. And with Chinese New Year, is wearing the traditional dress, cheung saam. We have one for each girl for every year they have been born. I have since passed on some of the dresses but I always make a point of taking a picture of them in their dresses.

Supplies:  Urban Lily (pattern papers); Making Memories (glittered chipboard elements, mini alphas); Heidi Swapp (large alphas); American Crafts (pen for journalling)

Thanks for letting me share!

Keeping Track of Time!

Using the Photocards from Urban Lily, I created perpetual calendar. It will help me remember what day it is and lets me practice counting and the days of the week with my youngest.

The front and back covers are created by covering cereal box cardboard with pattern papers (all from Urban Lily). Then I decorated the photocards, one for the days of the week and one for the "tens" and one for the "ones" of the days in a month. All of the cards were bound together with the covers using the Bind-it-all.

Here is a close-up and side view of the calendar.

Thanks for dropping by!

What Do I Like?

At 10 years old, sometimes it is hard for Mom to remember what you like this week or next week or last week! So here is a layout of my oldest at 10 yrs old.

Supplies:  Urban Lily (pattern papers); ric rac (Savvy n Sassy); Close to my Heart (gems, white cardstock); Tatered Angels (glimmer mist); American Crafts (Slick Writer)

To create the banner, I used my circle punch to cut circles from the Urban Lily paper. I folded the circles in half and wrapped them around the ric rac. The adhesive I used was from Helmar...I love their adhesives! If you haven't tried them...go get some because they are seriously awesome! And we all know I am an adhesive freak!!!!!

Thanks for dropping by!

It's Official!! (with Urban Lily)

I can't tell you enough about how much I love the Urban Lily papers. Their versatility combined with the gorgeous patterns and colours continue to amaze me.

Here is a layout I created about Danielle's kindergarten school photos. I did not purchase the school photos because I did not feel they captured her beauty and spirit. Here are my pictures I took on the day and I am just so much more pleased with them.

Supplies:  Close to my Heart (cardstock); Urban Lily (pattern papers); pop dots; Heidi Swapp (chipboard alphas)

Thanks for looking!

Helping a 5 yr old

Last week, we unexpectedly changed bus routes; yes, 'tis true after 4 years on the same bus. However, the bus picks up and drops off right in front of the house now...and THAT makes all the change pains worth it! To help Danielle remember all the new details, I whipped up a "calling card" for to refer to in her backpack.

Here is the front...The images are from Hero Arts and were coloured with Copic Markers. There is some Stardust stickles to add a bit of shimmer as well.

Here is the back...The fun chipboard is by Urban Lily, as are the fun pattern papers and the photo card.

And here is a side view...

Thanks for dropping by!

Tweet Tweet!!!

Happy Spring Everyone!

In honour of spring, I altered a sweet birdhouse using some yummy Urban Lily papers. I rarely alter and I am not sure why because it was super fun! And it was a great project to work on at Crop4Kids.

The butterflies on the birdhouse are coloured with Copic markers; I just thought the bird house needed some sure signs of spring! :-) The butterfly images are by Hero Arts.

Thanks for dropping by!

Spring is in the Air

I would like to share a project I made for Urban Swank and The Inspired Scrapper this month.

After coming back from our Florida vacation, I was feeling blah and needed a pick-me-up! Scrapping this made me feel that spring was imminent! LOL

Here is how I made the layout - Using my EK Success Curvy Circle cutter, I cut out the large inner chartreuse circle. Then I punched several smaller circles with my EK Success circle punch from white cardstock scraps to create the scalloped edge.

Everywhere I look, I see handmade flowers and thought...I should be able to make some and that I did. I dug through the gift wrapping box to find some tissue paper. Again, using my EK Success circle punch, I punch a bunch of circles. I secured the circles iwth a brad and then "fluffed" up the circles, well, basically I scrunched them up. Then I liberally sprayed them with 2 different colours of Tattered Angels glimmer mist. I also dusted the tops of the flowers with some Ranger Glossy Accents and some Pink Paislee Pixie Stix.

Here is the side and aerial view-

The remaining supplies are: Doodlebug alphas; Heidi Swapp chipboard question mark; Zva Creative gem swirls; Hero Arts stamp; Copic markers.

Thanks for letting me share and dropping by!

The Number of the Day is 5

Remember the number of day from Sesame Street? Danielle loves Sesame Street and if truth be told, I do too! Sssshhhhh I don't want Danielle to think the show is educational or something! LOL

Here is a fun layout I did using the ever yummy Urban Lily papers that answers the question, "What are 5 ways you make me smile?"

Supplies:  Urban Lily (pattern papers, alphas, numbers); Tattered Angels (glimmer mist - Pearl); Pink Paislee stamp images; Kaisercraft gems

Here is a close-up of the alphas and numbers-

Thanks for dropping by!

Another 30 min Mini!!!

In this Urban Lily mini album, I chose pictures where I could ask the girls to write a special message about each other and our family. Again, it took 30 minutes, well maybe less come to think of it, to complete! All supplies are from Urban Lily with the exception of the ribbon which is from Autumn leaves (I think!) and Tiny Alphas from Making Memories.

Here are the inside pages...Thanks for dropping by!

Blue Eyed Baby

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Danielle. Don't you just want to pinch her cheeks and kiss her? She also looks so parisien here! LOL But what stands out to me is her navy blue eyes...and having blue eyes when both parents have black brown eyes is a sheer miracle!

Here is my layout I created using the delicious Urban Lily papers. This layout was also used for my January The Inspired Scrapper challenge which was to use 10 of something, anything. In this layout, I used 10 hand cut flowers and 10 gems; can you spot them?

Here is a close-up of the gems to help you out! LOL

Thanks for dropping by! If you haven't visited The Inspired Scrapper challenge blog, here is the link.

30 minute Mini's

I am no Racheal Ray but with the fantastic Urban Lily mini book sheets, I just might be the Rachael Ray of scrapbooking! LOL

Here is the first mini album I created - *** Warning - lots of photos ahead***

All supplie are Urban Lily with the exception of the ribbon which I believe is from Autumn Leaves.

Aren't these minis just the cutest? Madison and Danielle will be writing their own thoughts on the pages. I love that I can capture their handwriting at this point in time.

If you haven't played with Urban Lily, what are you waiting for? :-)

Thanks for dropping by!