Forgotten layouts

Hello everyone,

I'm presenting some forgotten layouts, both made with the Simple Stories Pumpkin Spice collection. The first one was featured in Creating with Sketches by Kristine Davidson, volume 4. The cut file is available on her Etsy Store. The backing of the cut file was a bit labour intensive, but I really like the end result. The boys were photographed during a family photo shoot and we were lucky to get such smiles as they were quite busy exploring the beautiful park.

This one was created with the same collection- it's all about our hiking trip to a National Park close by. I just love those Adirondack chairs place in the perfect spot for a beautiful view. The boys have more and more endurance as their legs get longer and we are able to do more trails than we ever have. We love the trail with the falls and cute bridges everywhere!

A double pager!

This is a double layout I made mostly because I wanted to use every last delicious bit of this beautiful collection by Simple Stories. Our local orchard has a playwark, a pumpkin patch and some berry picking as well as the usual orchard full of apples. Fall is such a delicious time of year, with heavenly smells. I listed off our favourite things about October and Fall...

The left page is of DS#2 posing proudly in front of the pumpkins and tractor. We can take a tractor ride to the field to pick our very own pumpkins. The high bush blueberries are still being harvested at this time of year. 

The right page stars DS#1 and 3 posing in the fall decor.  We've listed our favourite fall activities on the journaling card, which includes picking apples and blueberries as well as pumpkins. We love to go hiking and Hallowe'en is always a highlight, of course.

TFL!

Summer layouts

Summer is coming!! Summer coming!!

I just can't wait! I love the bike rides, the warm weather, the occasional ice cream, the beach... pure bliss! And the photos make such great layouts!

Here are a few I created at Crop & Create this past March. I love this annual weekend as it is a chance to catch up with friends, get inspired and create some fun layouts.

Here are a few summer ones I started up at the crop, and finished at home.

This is how we sometimes motivate the kids to go bike riding... LOL!

This was made with American Crafts Amy Tangerine Rise & Shine. It was just a 6x6 paper pad, mounted on a single sheet of another collection I had. I love grids and should do this more often. The flair is Simple Stories.

This is a layout of the very same outing. I just can't resist a dirty face photo!

The papers are by Simple Stories Summer Vibe, and the flair is by Lime Citron.



This one is about the neighbour teaching the boys how to cast a fishing rod. They were practicing their new skills on the porch, hence the title: Porch Fishing.

This was made with the Simple Stories I Heart Summer collection. The flair is October afternoon, I think. 

Thanks for looking!

Just catching up!

It's been forever!! I haven't stopped scrapping, I just took a pause from blogging as I was mostly doing Christmas cards, mini albums and finishing up some projects. Those will be the subject of another blog post. Right now, I'll be showing you some summer layouts. After a long winter, there's nothing like a summery layout to lift the spirits. I brought a winter coat to the cleaners today, so that's a great sign!

I took a look at Creative Scrapper's new April sketch- sketch 305- and just made this page then and there. I put lots of techniques on this page: watercolours, stitching, cut files, stamping, typing... These are super old pictures from 2011 as the title clearly states, but I hadn't done a Canada Day layout EVER. I kind of like how it turned out.

Here is the sketch:

And here is my take:

We had gone into the city that day with 2 toddlers and the baby. The 2 older kids loved the games, bouncy castles, food merchants, musicians, etc. They were quite disappointed to leave as they were gaining quite a bit of momentum in the bouncy obstacle course. 

Thanks for looking, I'll be back soon.

Creative scrappers sketch 297

Summer is ON!! And I love it! The beach, the heat, the road trips, the camping... Love it all! A recent road trip to my grand-father's town for his birthday left me some idle hands time during the drive, and so I got inspired and hand stitched like I never have before. 

This is a photo of our kids and our camping buddies at a waterpark last year. Amazing fun. They play so well together. We watched them hold hands while we were making our way to the lunch area. So fun... We had tons of fun and especially loved the wave pool. The kids had a blast. This oversized Adirondack chair for photos is just icing on the cake.

For August, Creative Scrappers teamed up with The Cut Shoppe with Ashley Horton. This is our fun sketch:

We could choose any cut file from Ashley's online boutique, The Cut Shoppe. Ohhhh, the choices!! So hard as I love so many of them! I finally settled for a swirly one called Spinning Spirals and went to work... I chose some papers that could fit nicely as a colourful background. I flipped my photo added embellishments and voilà:

I love this bokeh paper from Simple Stories Summer Vibe. Most of these papers came from the 6x6 paper pad. I was saving this up for a special occasion... It's just so soft and captures the colourful bathing suits...

I admit the stitching was a bit ambitious, but that road trip served more than one purpose. And the conversation with hubby while stitching was way better than me sitting there reading of surfing the web...

Creative Scrappers sketch 296 and free cutfile!

Happy Canada Day everyone!! Family gatherings, BBQ, fireworks and awesome weather! I hope you all have fun!!

It's a great day for a reveal!!

Sketch 296 is up on the Creative Scrappers blog and we have a new sponsor!! It's Just Nick Studio and owner Nicole Nowosad has generously donated a free cutfile for the challenge. Deadline is July 31st- details and free cut file coupon on the Creative Scrappers Blog!

Here's the fun sketch:

Here's the free cut file:

And here is my take on it:

We were visiting the village at the ski resort and the boys decided to goof off in front of the Inukshuk. When I was a kid, there was an old Heritage Canada add on television where the Inuit were explaining the reason behind the building of these Inukshuk- "To let the people know we were here..." Oh how we use the phrase everytime we see one...

   It was a lot of fun to let the lettering from this fun paper peek through the cut file. The papers are by Simple Stories. After making 4 full pocket pages about this mini vacation, I was able to make a layout, and there are a few more pages to be made from this mini kit.

I hope you have a great Canada Day and find a moment to join us and participate in this fun challenge!

MercyTiara's 27 Day May Challenge!

I'm just so excited (as I've said before) that Creative Scrappers is back! But I'm also excited to be a part of Mercy Tiara's 27 Challenges! It started in February of 2016- Tracy posts a Youtube video with the 27 Day Challenge of the month. Then, we see all sorts of awesomeness from participants from all over the world!

Then, Tracy picks a winner for the challenge, at random. This winner usually gets a ton of encouragement, and maybe some stash prizes, and the chance to pick the next challenge! Just tons of fun- a great place to create!!

If you haven't checked out her amazing, inspirational Youtube videos, check them out here:

The May challenge is to use 3 or more pictures, one of which should be a 4x6 picture!

Here's mine:

This has the pictures taken from the soccer game we saw last summer as part of the Fifa Women's World Cup! The field pictures were a little dark and hard to see, but our selfies documenting the experience turned out great. As you can see, I also kept the tickets from the double header we saw...

This was made with Simple Stories 24/seven. It's such a fun, colourful collection! I had yet to break into it, but I feel it was perfect for these pictures!

Happy Scrapping!

Cards! Cards! Cards!

I've been busy creating a bit more lately, a few layouts here and there, and lots of cards. Here's an update on these cards, I hope you like them...

Here's a Valentine's Day card for my son, a school request. I really don't ever mind an occasion to tell the kids how much I love them.

Here are 2 birthday cards with some leftover Imaginisce papers: 

I've go 2 cards for Administrative Assistant's Day:

Here are 2 sympathy cards made with the I am collection by Simple Stories as well. I can't believe how versatile this lovely collection is!

Well, that's all for now folks! I hope you like them...Happy scrapping!

Catching up!

It's been awhile... I've neglected you blog...I feel like the hiatus is over... I needed a break I guess... Regardless, here we are...

I've been away from the blog, but have still been scrapping. I've made some pocket pages, some cards, some layouts, etc... more to come soon.

In the meantime, here are a few layouts I've made.

I had a great time making this one, about DS#3's love for Batman. Any excuse was good to be Batman for awhile. Batman is pretty awesome in our house. Lego Batman gets a lot of points too. This layout was made after getting some inspiration on the Paper Issues Blog, layout by owner Cassie Box. I love how it came out. It's a mix of Studio Calico papers, some Jillibean Soup Staples and some cool stamps.

"Always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Then always be Batman." Love that!

Here's another:

It was made for the Let's Capture Our Memories September 2015 color spot, and realized I had never shared it here. I must have a picture with DH sleeping with each of the kids at some point or another. I love the fact that DS#3 was sleeping with some costume eyeglasses. 

Here's one made with So Rad by Simple Stories... A lot of stitching on this one. You should see the back...  a real mess! But I really like how all the stitching brings out the photo. The kids were hamming it up on the soccer field after a game. 

These next ones were made to bust out some stash. It was part of the Mercy Tiara 27 day challenge. Look it up on Youtube and Facebook. It's great fun! It started in February, with a stash busting challenge. The winner (random draw) gets some fun stuff and the chance to pick the next challenge...

Here is another, just as I decide to finish off this Crate Paper Toy Box Collection from 2011... There are just a few die cuts left over...

This was a Creative Scrappers sketch, a great source for inspiration. He's a climber for sure! This spider web play park is reserved for 7+ and little buddy was 4 1/2 on this... close supervision required. 

Here's another:

This is made with the Scrapbook & Cards Today  Crop & Create Delivered kit. There are such happy things in that box... I love a day at the beach!

And last one for now...

Ahhh, the Silhouette Cameo... I'm taming the beast. I made one fatal error in the settings on my first cut, ruined the mat and it all went downhill fast. I got a new mat, and everything's been great since. I really love these papers from Fancy Pants Design. The layout was inspired by Mercy Tiara's 27 day Challenge- a masculine/boy page for this month. I have to admit that this present challenge is not much of a stretch for me, Mom to 3 boys...

Well, that's it  for now... I'll have to finish my mini album pictures, and we'll see you soon...

Reveal day 132 featuring some Simple Stories

This week, I broke out this amazing collection by Simple Stories! I just love it! It's so LOUD! Just like my boys sometimes... *sigh*

But seriously, it's the perfect collection to feature the fun, loud and colorful pictures taken at the skate park this summer. We had a great time biking to the skate park, playing around with the hills and inclines and jumps. DS#3 even found some awesome graffiti of his favorite superheroes. We then went back for some frozen yogurt. It was an amazing afternoon of family time...


The sketch is by Becky Fleck at Pagemaps:

Here's my take on it:

Everything is by Simple Stories, the So Rad collection, except a bit of washi tape...maybe Queen & Co... It was a very simple collection to work with, everything matches, comes together easily... Yay! TFL!

Part 2 of catching up...

Hi everyone,

My last post was full of layouts I'd neglected to add to this list... Here are a few more- hope you like them...

These are all made for Let's Capture Our Memories DT. Go check them out for some additional inspiration!

This is a cool, versatile sketch by Nicole Nowosad- It screamed simplicity and I've had a photo just waiting for the perfect sketch since last year... 

This is DS#2 goofing off on the slide at the local orchard, after some pumpkin picking. I love this picture and have been waiting for the perfect papers too. These are Studio Calico neutrals, they just complement the photo colors... I've got a Jillibean Soup placemat and a few pieces of Becky Higgins chipboard as well as a rare Prima flower on there..

Another sketch and layout:

This one is by Lisa Rukin Swift, so full and detailed...

It just begged for the collection of selfies we've had going with the boys during vacation... We've had some good times camping, in the amusement park, at the beach...

And I just love this collection by Simple Stories. I am. I am so many things, but above all, I'm a wife and Mom to 3 wonderful boys...

With all the adult colouring books going around, I thought it would be funny/nice to actually try doodling on a layout...I rather like the effect...

 Thanks for taking a peek, your comments are appreciated...

Update!

I cannot believe how long it's actually been since I've posted some layouts here... Talk about neglect... I'll get started right away, but be warned, this may be a layout heavy post...:)

I've got a lot of catching up to do.

I have been scrapping regularly as a member of the Let's Capture Our Memories design team and I've had a few more time consuming projects on the side, but more on that later.

Here's is a layout done for Mother's Day- seems so far away... It's a lovely sketch by Shirley Mascarina. It's great for all those vertical photos we have lying around.

Here's my take on it-

I used almost every last bit of Fancy Pants Design The Good Life collection. It's just so beautiful! I may have a bit leftover for a few cards, that's it!

"Nothing pleases me more than spending time with my boys, and the fact that Grammy and Grampy are joining us more and more, that's the cherry on top of the sundae!"

Next up is reveal 124:

Another great sketch!

And here's my take on it:

I was actually "soup-spotted" on this one! Yet another collection I've decimated- Macho Nacho soup! There's barely anything left for a card...

Another layout done for LCOM is this one with Lynn Lefebvre's sketch:

And this is my interpretation, done with loads of Simple Stories I (heart) Summer! It's all about a camping trip in 2014 in NH, at a campground with a huge pirate ship in the pool! Amazingly fun!

The next one is a fall layout, made with that fabulous Sweater Weather by Simple Stories.

The sketch is by Lynn Lefebvre.

It's about a great day trip to the nearby National Park- I love getting pics of all my boys together!

Well, that's it for now, more to come soon! Thanks for looking!

My little sweetie pie

It's reveal day again at Let's Capture Our Memories! Today marks the last reveal day for the present design team. What fun that was! Soon, with a few changes and tweaks, a new team will bring more inspiration on a screen near you, hopefully next to a fresh cup of coffee... :)

This is a fun sketch by Becky Fleck at Pagemaps. Even though I kept to the sketch pretty faithfully, I really love the versatility of it. The elements and photos are certainly interchangeable to suit your layout's needs.

Here is my version of the sketch, with photos of DS#3- our cute little sweetie pie. Every day he is a little sweetheart. The list is about how he is right now... he's loves to tease, to give hugs and kisses, to smile, to tickle... He's a champion with the ipad and he is a super fan of Batman, Mickey Mouse and Super Mario.  Photo credit Laure Handfield, taken in September 2014.

This was made with the My Mind's Eye Collectable collection. I was hoarding this paper for the perfect photos and sketch...The alphas are MME and Simple Stories. The Studio Calico wood veneers were painted with watercolors to match the papers. The enamel dots are Basic Grey, the clip is my from my stash. I finally tried out a Silhouette for the circles sketch file and added some stitching.

Thanks for looking, I hope you like it.

Let's Capture Our Memories sketch 117- anything but winter...

It's still winter in our neck of the woods, although spring officially arrived a week ago... the snowbanks are still at least 4 feet high and I can barely see the top of the hedge in the backyard. Maybe this is why I've been doing warm weather layouts lately, just waiting for the sun to shine on my face and maybe peel off a few layers...

This is a fall layout made with the wonderful Simple Stories Sweater Weather. Its' warm, cute, fuzzy-knit goodness fits with any fall layout...

We had a great day at the orchard last year with my parents. It was one of the last days the orchard was open, and it was a bit of a challenge to find full trees, and DS#3 was a bit moody at first, but it all turned out rather nice at the end. We had oodles and oodles of apples. DS#1&2 helped me peel some of them afterwards.

This is the sketch, by LCOM's very own Shirley Mijares Mascarina-

And this is my take on the sketch:

Everything is Simple Stories except the stamps (Scrapbook & Cards Today, My Favorite Things and Lime Citron), and the wood veneers by Studio Calico. Thanks for looking!! 

A bit of summer in the snow

It's full of that gorgeous fluffy snow outside and although it looks beautiful and inviting, it's pretty cold out there today. We might have to wait a bit before venturing outside. In the meantime, I'll bring back a warm, cute memory from summer.

It's reveal 107 at Let's Capture Our Memories and it's a wonderful, fun sketch by Laura Whitaker. When I saw it, I knew immediately what collection had all these cute elements to match my photo. This sketch is a great way to use and showcase all these little embellishments and chipboard elements. I used the I Heart Summer from Simple Stories.

I've had this photo of DS#3 lying around since I took it, in the summer of 2013. I knew it had to be a big photo- big enough to really showcase the ice cream on his bike helmet. The fact that he has no idea it's there or where his ice cream went was priceless. We had been on a bike ride with our visiting friends and their kids and had stopped halfway for a soft serve treat. We got a treat and a pretty good laugh!

Here are a few close-ups:

I didn't use all circular elements like the sketch, but I kept the same proportions- to me, this still works. As you can see, this was amazing simple to create, but sometimes, it can be easy. It doesn't have to be a really complicated masterpiece each time. It can be about telling the story... ;)

I hope you all have a fun, crafty week making stuff, if not, at least making memories!