It's No Joke!

**BEWARE: This is a long post and photo heavy!***

It's April 1st and at Scrap Shotz, that means it's Reveal Day! I cannot be more excited about this kit called Fabulous Finery. Gosh, it was just so full of goodies from Chatterbox; I did not know where to start...I was honestly in love with every single thing in the kit!

Here are my projects:

An 8.5x11 layout titled, Happiest Place on Earth...(and no, I am not talking about Disneyland!)

To Danielle, the happiest place on Earth is our backyard and everything outside! LOL It doesn't matter if we take the same pathway every single day because it is new every day! I love that about here...she likes to say, "You get what you get Mommy and you just have to make do!" Aaah, at least I have one practical child! LOL

Here is a close-up of the layout. For fun, I stitched a "trail" for the butterfly. And I just have to say that I love love LOVE the stitched felt pieces from Chatterbox. They were my absolute favorite embellishment!

I seriously loved this kit alot and used my scraps to create a 2-pager that was 6x12 in size! When this size first came out, I thought, why in the world would I scrap this size and you know what???? I love it! I scrap it every so often and have fun with it!

A few items were added to the kit because my accents had not arrived...but hey, I've got lots! On Page 1, the large blue flowers are from Prima; the felt flowers are by American Crafts and the paper flowers are my Making Memories. The buttons are from BasicGrey and Making Memories.

For Page 2, the yellow felt flowers are by American Crafts; the chipboard flower is leftover from another Chatterbox kit. The buttons are from Autumn Leaves (I think???) And the ric rac, I am not sure but it came in a kit we had about a year ago.

Ah, this next layout is about Madison's great year in Grade 2. It REALLY does make a difference who you get as a teacher. She went from enjoying school to loving it and having a smile on her face each and every day!

The "i hate it" layout...what can I say about? You scrap the good AND the bad, right? Well, let's just say, life is difficult with Madison these days! LOL And she is a PRE-tween, not even a tween yet and a fair bit aways from being a teen! What do I have in store for me?

Anyways, she apparently liked the haircut but part way through decided she hated it and let's just say the change in moods happened in the span of 10 minutes...10 minutes!!! ... sigh...

All supplies in the layout are by Chatterbox with the exception of the polka dotted blue chipboard butterfly. He is by American Crafts. (I love him!)

And well, I just had to remember what Madison was like as a baby...all sweet and hanging on every word I said...ah, the good old days! LOL

In addition to the April kit, I added the large and small fabric yellow flowers by Prima, the felt flowers by American Crafts. Buttons I think are from Autumn Leaves...but again I am not sure as I re-organized my button collection. The title block was cut from Spellbinders - love this shape! And the scalloped edge was created using the Fiskars Apron Lace border punch.

This is one of my favorite layouts. Why? Well, I am rarely in any photos let alone a layout. And these photos really represent how much joy Danielle receives from the outdoors.

All supplies are from the April kit with the exception of the epoxy alphas from American Crafts.

With the scraps of pattern paper, I quickly made a set of 3x3 cards! 5 minutes is all it took!

And yes, there is more...an adorable mini album! I am not quite finished yet and will show you all in the next few days!

Thanks for dropping by! Wow! Life is busy with 2 active kids!

-vw

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

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

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

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

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

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