Friday 27 November 2015

'Tis the Season | #tgifc31


Now that my lovely American friends have lots of turkey in their bellies and while we all count our blessings... it just might be time to declare that
'Tis the Season!

WEEEEEE HOOO!


I am bringing you this card today as part of the TGIF Challenge Design team.
We bring you challenges every week to help inspire you!
This week is a remix challenge, where by you should use inspiration from 2 of the other challenges of that month. I chose the sketch challenge and the "white christmas" challenge.


The "tree paper" is actually vellum.  Its lovely and is retiring so make sure you get yours soon!

Don't forget to take advantage of Stampin' Up!'s Black Friday deals as well.

Have a great day!
Cathy


Friday 20 November 2015

watercolour merry | #tgifc30


Back again with the TGIF Design Team with some more inspiration.
Are you in full swing for the holidays yet?
This challenge is based on the following image - don't feel restricted to a sketch.  Create a project in how you interpret this image!


I created a watercolour 'splash' and then heat embossed in gold.
I wasn't happy with the layout initially so I continued to play until I was...
... and I loved every minute of it.


I am ready for the holidays with numerous Christmas parties in my schedule!
Bring it on!


Cathy



Thursday 19 November 2015

Documenting December with Hello December | Fancy Friday


Back again with another Fancy Friday. Things have changed around here though - you are in for a real treat as we have some fresh designers ready to blow your socks off.  Every single one of them have been or will be a Stampin' Up! Artisan! 


This month's theme is Christmas using Non-Traditional Colours.
Immediately I decided to show off the Hello December 2015 Project Life kit.
I figured that the watercoloured blue wasn't the traditional green and reds.
To each their own, right?

For my album cover, I used the 6x8" Stampin' Up! kraft album and painted it using 
white acrylic paint. I embellished using the Hello December Project Life Accessory kit 
and the wooden snowflake embellishments.

Like many scrapbookers, I am documenting December in it's own album.  I am attempting to build the album and the foundation pages prior to the month so that I can quickly tell my stories and get the album completed. In order to build those pages, I wanted to think about our family events in the month of December before I started.  I printed a calendar and made scribbles - then I used washi tape to place it in the inside cover of my album. 


Because I have over 30 foundation pages to show you, I thought it was best to show you a video where I flip through the album.  However, I have some of the layouts here as well.








Here's the video so that you can see it all - my apologies as its very amateur.  I just didn't have the time to properly edit it.  And as usual, the video cut off in the middle so its a little choppy.  Enjoy it all the same! (I totally just sold it, didn't I?)

Don't forget to add my channel - its brand spanking new!

Next up is my old friend, Erica Cerwin who is busy getting ready for her retreat in Texas! 

Cathy


For anyone wishing to know what my December intentions are... here's what I wrote and included in my album:

Hello December.

Hello Jack Frost. Hello Red Starbucks cups. Hello Hustle & Bustle.

My oh my have we all been waiting for you.

Like most families, our calendars are jam packed with event after event. Our to do lists are longer than we can manage and our bellies are always full.  Families are making every effort to make it memorable.  All the stops are being pulled.  New hiding places for the elves are being researched. recipes are being shared.  Sleep is moved lower on the priority list.  We are no different than all those families.

I cannot wait.

Hello again December.

I’ve missed you.

I long to get up before the rest of the family and before the sun has risen to enjoy a cup of coffee in my chair in front of my perfectly decorated fireplace next to the white lights of the Christmas tree. I long to turn on The Grinch Before Christmas and eat popcorn under a Fort in the basement.  I long to get that perfectly ridiculous photo of my two children on Santa’s knee. I long to  see their faces on Christmas morning plowing through the stockings to find the candy and savagely tearing off the paper of each new toy.  I long to play with them. I long to eat turkey and dressing with gravy.

Oh December. A Big Hello to You.

This year Jack is speaking and understanding more about the Holidays. I am looking forward to his animation and reactions to the spirit of the Season.  This year I want to teach Jane about giving and the importance of the Season rather than just presents.  I am simplifying this year and I intend to be more present.   I will continue to an abundance of pictures but this time Jane will take her own as well.  We are growing as a family and it feels special in the month of December.

Let’s do this December.

Monday 16 November 2015

Hello Good Times | Project Life


Hello Good Times.

I've been busy recording life these days!
And boy oh boy do I have a backlog.

Typically for each month, I have a Project Life spread where I place all the photos that I won't have on a page of its own.

This page includes a couple transparencies at the bottom.  I have a couple Project life cards that I found in my stash.  I altered the "recording life" card with some alphas.


Cathy


Sunday 15 November 2015

using my planner effectively | Erin Condren


A little while ago I mentioned that I was getting more organized.
A day at a time I have tackled projects, renovations and one child starting school.

I had already purchased a beautiful planner from Chapters but my sister convinced me to purchase the Erin Condren vertical planner.  I've been using it since July and playing with the layouts to see how I can best use it for me.

The above is a picture of my layout for this past week. You'll notice that I have a "running TO DO list" on the left hand side.  These are items that I'd like to accomplish this week. I also have cute little "plates" at the bottom where I have some meal planning done. 


FIRST THIRD: This is where I note our family's personal schedule.  It helps me organize drives, babysitters and pack appropriate bags.  It also helps me to plan meals - in the sense that whether it needs to be quick and whether or not my picky eater husband will be sitting with us.

CENTRE THIRD: This is where I have my work TO DO priority list.  You can tell that I didn't get to much on Monday but I did get to most of Tuesdays list.  What will happen to Monday's list is that I will move those items to later in the week or the following week.

BOTTOM THIRD: My bottom third is reserved for other items, which could be a MUST DO TO DO item or a grocery list.

GROCERY LISTS: Often I stick a sticky note in my planner with the items that I need to buy rather than make a list straight in my planner.  That way I can pluck it out and bring it to the store.

I plan every day but I try to sit down and think about my week especially meals on Sundays.  I've done this already this week.  Here's how my planner looks for my nest week.  This will evolve as the week progresses.


Right now I am not much of a embellish type of planner girl but I do use stickers to keep me on task and organized.  I also use the occasional stamp.   One of the main reasons I don't do much embellishing is because I don't want my planner to get too bulky and I will also be tossing this in the garbage once the year is finished. :)

I currently subscribe to the Studio Calico planner monthly kits.  They usually include a small stamp, some stickers and some large cards.


As for stickers, I have found some stickers that I love from Lets Plan It, which I purchased from her Etsy store.  I love these three in particular.


This was a great reminder to change my planner cover.  I purchased a cover to celebrate Halloween, as well as some others that I loved. These covers can change whenever you like - so this is my hint to change it!

Stay tuned to my planning adventures in the months to come.
Cathy



the details | a scrapbook page


Sometimes a page can come together quickly.
This is a very simple layout with a beautiful photo that tells a story.

I picked up this photo, which which was in my In Progress Album for well over a year.
I laid it on a 8.5 x 11" page - I had already decided on this size because of a layout I have on the opposite side.  I put on my head phones and wrote the journalling of this picture.

You might wonder how you write a story about shoes.
Well, I just asked myself : Why do I love this photo so much?


Once I decided to put the layout in the centre of the page, I printed the journalling.  I added one of the new Thicker words I have.  I also added some words from a Ali Edwards story kit (which are always on my desk) and finally added some sequins to bring the sequins together.

Because guess what?
It's all in the details, isn't it?

Cathy

Saturday 14 November 2015

you're sublime | #tgifc29


Seriously right?
I just love this image that comes from the stamp set You're Sublime.
This project was created for the TGIF challenge blog - this week its a sketch challenge.


I again water coloured the image and also used Crystal Effects over the window.

I've been doing a lot of watercoloring lately and its because I found an easy way! All you need is embossing powder, versamark, stamp, Stampin' Up! markers and an aquapainter (pen with water in it).


1. Heat emboss your image on watercolour paper.
2. Colour parts of the area your want to colour using a Stampin' Up! marker
3. Using your aqua painter begin colouring over the areas already coloured with the Stampin' Up! markers and begin to blend.
4. Let dry on its own for best effect.  If you are using more than one colour on an image, use a heat gun to dry before starting the other colour. 


Have fun colouring!!
Cathy

Friday 6 November 2015

I'm here for you | #tgifc28


This TGIF challenge is a colour challenge!  


Fall is definitely in the air and these colours certainly remind me of this season. I am currently hanging out at a local scrapbooking retreat nestled amongst the beautiful Salmonier Line on the East Coast of Canada.  We are staying at The Wilds overlooking the golf course and beautiful scenery. We are seeing lots of orange and yellow with an occasional snowflake or two.



This card came about as I played around with water colouring.
This time I watercolored on vellum using cajun craze and soft suede in my petals.  You'll notice under the vellum is just a "stamp pad smash".


Back to my colouring!
Have a great day!
Cathy