Encre, papier, ciseaux

Love You

I have been loving a lot of releases from Simple Stories in the past few years and I was happy to put my hands on the latest release, Happy Hearts, at my local store. They only had the collection kit and foam stickers, so those were the starting point of my page. I have been scrapping pictures that were taken almost six years ago when we went to the botanical garden for a butterflies in freedom exhibit. The pictures that I selected for this page are really sweet, showing a tender moment between my sister and her daughter that I wanted to highlight separately.

I had ordered from Elle's Studio last year after finding a very specific tags stamp and die set, but while browsing their website, I also found this neat die set that is meant to put together frames or flip-ups that I was really intrigued by. I have been getting back to scrapbooking on a more regular basis in the last couple of years, but I found myself gravitating more towards traditional scrapbooking, so I hadn't done pocket scrapbooking in a while. For those pictures, I thought pocket scrapbooking could work well so I got excited about making a flip. I picked a paper that had directional patterns only on one side and die-cut the flip accordingly. I did a rounded tab, and I added a cut-apart inside for my journaling. I handcut some cassette tapes from a patterned paper and arranged them on the front of the flip, added a foam heart on the tab, a sentiment sticker at the bottom. Inside, I handwrote my journaling on the cut-apart square and stamped the date in two ink colours. I die-cut a cross stitched circle to place inside the flip-up (top part) and added the bouquet sticker.

I used the scalloped rectangle die from the same die set to cut one of my pictures. I glued it on one of the 4" x 6" cut-aparts and added a sentiment sticker at the top. I slid it in my top left pocket and I added a camera sticker with dimensional adhesive on the outside of the pocket.

At the bottom, I matted my main picture with patterned paper, fussy cut a ticket from a patterned paper and glued it on the picture. I slipped it inside the pocket and added the "love you" foam sticker outside. This collection is adorable, I can't wait to make more projects with it.

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mois Script (Lime Citron)
Patterned Papers, Foam Stickers: Happy Hearts (Simple Stories)
Ink: Calypso Coral, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Cross Stitched Circle Stackables (Lawn Fawn);
Pocket, Frame and Flip-Up - Extra Frames (Elle's Studio)
Accessories: Diamond Art Pebbles (Prima Marketing); Glossy Accents (Ranger);
Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, 6" x 8" Page Protector (Stampin' Up!) 

 

You Are the Sweetest

Because I purchased the Summer papers from Carta Bella in 6" x 6" format, I wanted to try doing a pocket page layout to use this collection for a page. I realized this is the first pocket page layout I've done all year. Pocket page had initially brought me back to scrapbooking when I fell more into cardmaking many years ago, but I finally found my way to traditional scrapbooking again and don't seem to find it as daunting as I once did. I also realized that pocket scrapbooking is only faster if you slip journaling cards in the pocket and don't embellish much. In my case, I ended up making personalized inserts for every pocket, so as you can imagine, it didn't end up being any quicker than traditional scrapbooking.

I found a 4" x 6" picture of my youngest niece wearing her cute pink sunglasses and I decided to use a protector with six 2" x 2" squares around the main picture. The Mega paper pad included cut-aparts in that size, but they were all word-heavy, so I used a few and I used patterned papers, other cut-apart images, stickers and twine to create other inserts.

Because the main picture comes from past year calendars that my sister has gifted us, there was a little hole on the side of the picture. I solved that problem with a puffy sticker, and I also added a die-cut border and washi tape to fill in the full length of the pocket. At the bottom, I added another sticker and I fussy cut a little watermelon slice to add to it.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Sticker Book, Puffy Stickers: Summer (Carta Bella)
Dies: Layering Squares (Stampin' Up!); Borders (Photoplay)
Accessories: Washi Tape (MAMBI); White Baker's Twine, Genial Gems (Stampin' Up!);
Pen (Fäber-Castell)

 

Platform 9-3/4

I'm slowly working on my London trip album. Those pictures of platform 9-3/4 were taken during my visit of the Warner Bros. studios. The reproduction of King's Cross Station is quite impressive, and I had fun taking pictures with the luggage going through the brick wall.

I mixed Project Life and traditional together on this layout, which helped me include more pictures while embellishing a little bit more. I particularly like how my 9-3/4 circle turned out. I found some numbers that were the right scale in the Plain digits and punctuation grungeboard kit from Tim Holtz. I've had this set for at least a decade and I keep going back to it from time to time. It has so many pieces in it, it's been lasting me a long time and there's still quite a few pieces to use left in it! This time, I tried something new to cover the grungeboard: Distress crayons! I recently added two new colors to my stash, Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot, after seeing online how you can easily darken some details on your projects and blend the colour using your fingers. I don't do a lot of mixed medias and I don't usually like getting my hands dirty when crafting (I have a bunch of tools, that's what they are for), but I found myself really enjoying blending the crayons in the nook and crannies of the grungeboard and around my papers using my fingers. (In bit part because the crayon will wipe off your fingers super easily without leaving a trace.) I was laying the numbers over a circle die-cut out of Merry Merlot cardstock from Stampin' Up! (which matches the Harry Potter burgundy so nicely), but it felt a little flat, so I pulled out my Black Soot Distress Oxide ink to blend on the outer edge, which made a huge difference.

Because I had selected stars over hearts from the list, I used my Star Border Punch at the bottom of the 4" x 6" black panel. I tried a few options to back the punched part, but in the end, I decided I liked having it as open lace the best. I kept the punched stars aside, figuring I could use some of them somewhere on the layout. Some were glued around the journaling part and on my number circle, but I had this last-minute idea to glue some on the right page and as I was throwing some randomly on the page, I got inspired to have them come out of the train, like a magical cloud. I'm really happy with this last-minute addition.

I also punched out a few tickets, to go with the train theme, and I topped a couple of them with star-shaped enamel shapes.

I needed something to make my journaling block and none of the Harry Potter papers I had were neutral enough to write on, so I reached for my scraps, which are organized in 12" x 12" plastic drawers, by colour. While I don't use my scraps nearly as often as I could, this system does come in handy whenever I am working on a card or layout and I need a small piece that would match what I am using. It sure came in handy here, as I went through the brown/beige drawer, trying to find something that would work. I had to get all the way to the bottom, but sure enough, I found something that worked. It got even better when I die-cut the scrap with the Stacked Deckle Rectangle dies from Sizzix and inked the edges using Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink. Perfect old parchment look. The Harry Potter sticker sheet had some red wax sceals on it, and I used a calligraphy pen to make a fancy first letter. Not my best calligraphy work, but let's give it points for effort and originality.

 

 

 

Supplies
Dies: Stacked Deckle Rectangles (Tim Holtz for Sizzix); Months (Echo Park);
Patterned Papers: Wizard (Moxie); Wizard 102 (Reminisce)
Cardstock: Basic Black Core'dinations, Joyous Noel 6" x 6" Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo (Distress Oxide - Ranger)
Accessories: Antiqued Bronze and Black Soot Distress Crayons, Blending Tool (Ranger);
Plain Digits & Punctuation Grungeboard (Tim Holtz Idea-ology); Black Journaling Pen; 
Harry Potter Alphabet Stickers (Creative Imaginations); Black Calligraphy Pen;
Washi Tape, Star Border Punch, Riding Hood Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Ticket Duo Punch,
Mini Stapler, Regals Enamel Shapes (Stampin' Up!); Circle Layering Dies (Tonic)
Wizard 102 Stickers (Reminisce); Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo)

 

World Tour

Inspiration: Lasting Memory Layout challenge #487 (various patterned papers)

I went back to older pictures for this one, from 2011. I had some fun travel-themed papers from Carta Bella that went well with them and I decided to do two pocket protector pages of all 6" x 4" pictures to get every last picture I had of this party scrapbooked. It was a fun one - it was an office Christmas party, back when I was part of the organization committee. It was out second year and we picked World Tour. It was a big success - a vast majority of guests came costumed and a lot of them put a great deal of efforts into those costumes as well. I had a white gown with a Grecian feel to it but because another girl from the committee was already doing to Greek goddess look, I decided to style mine as Roman instead. I picked some fabric at the store to do a side cape - I initially wanted red velvet but I couldn't find what I was looking for, so I ended up using this sheer sparkly fabric (that didn't need sewing - bonus!) and pined it in place on my shoulder using a pretty pin recycled from a former costume. I found some inexpensive costume jewelry at a clothes stores (in the clearance section, too!), but my favorite part was the gold laurel headpiece I made. I wrapped a cheap headband from the dollar store with black satin ribbon, and then I used my glue gun to add gold-glittered foliage also found at the dollar store on it, and I simply wore the headband sitting on the back of my head. I wish I had a picture showing it off better but it really completed the look and I got many compliments on it at the party. Looking back at those pictures bring back great memories of many years working with great people.

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Date Stamp (Office Supplies Store)
Ink: Jet Black (STazOn)
Cardstock: Night of Navy, Mint Macaron (Stampin' Up!); Golden Yellow, Pink (Bazzill)
Patterned Papers: Pack Your Bags (Carta Bella)
Stickers and Chipboard: Going Places (Simple Stories)
Dies: Deco Alphabet, Typo Lowercase Alphabet (Tim Holtz for Sizzix);
Postage Stamps Infinity Dies (Hero Arts); Tasteful Trims Bigz XL (Stampin' Up!)
Accessories: Project Life Corner Rounder Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Brick & Mortar 3D Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up!); Domestic Bliss Enamel Dots (Simple Stories);
Calming Aqua, Red Berry Crystal Drops, Bonnie Blue Vintage Drops (Nuvo);
White Needlepoint Floss (DMC); Swimming Pool Mini Paper Doilies (Doodlebug Design)

 

In Miss Annie's Class

Inspiration: Lasting Memory Layout Challenge #468 (CRISP = Corner rounder - Rub-ons - Inserts - Stickers - Patterned Papers)

I was excited to scrapbook my niece's first day of first grade using the new school-themed Doodlebug line. I also bought the matching Icons stickers and went to town creating fun inserts for my pocket page. I realized this is only the second pocket page I've done this year - all of the other ones have been traditional scrapbooking. Pocket pages are what brought me back to scrapbooking after card-making took over and felt more simple and organic than scrapbooking did for me, so it's nice to see that I'm now getting back into it more. I think the Page Maps sketches have taken the guesswork out of designing and made a huge difference for me since magazine layouts used to be single-picture layout and not really helpful (and this is where pocket scrapbooking came in and solved that problem for me). In this instance, I didn't have a lot of pictures to include—only two—but I was working with 6" x 6" paper pads so doing inserts made more sense.

I've always loved Doodlebug's papers - they are beyond cute. My one beef with them was how busy the patterns are. I've noticed that the last few paper collections I've bought for them have more tone-on-tone papers included in the collection, which makes me really happy because it makes it easier to create a balanced project. The design rule is one small pattern + one medium pattern + one large. I hope that the company keeps leaning in that direction.

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers and Icons Stickers: School Days, Back to School (Doodlebug Design)
Cardstock: Woodgrain Neutrals (Lawn Fawn)
Alphabets: Metallic Silver Medium Rub-Ons (Doodlebug Design); School Letters Stickers (Karen Foster Design);
Happy Day Thickers (American Crafts)
Accessories: Spiral Border Punch, Washi Tape, Corner Rounder Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!);
White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll); You're a Star Shape Sprinkles (Doodlebug Design)

 

Some People Are Worth Melting For

Inspiration: Sunday Stamps #195

The second I spotted the Sunday Stamps colors. they instantly reminded me of Winter Wonderland, one of my favorite collection from Simple Stories. Time has been running away from me all week, but I finally had time to make a layout using the papers. I loved them so much that I actually purchased both the 12" x 12" and the 6" x 6" pad as well. This came in handy for this layout, as I had some big die-cuts, but also the same version in a smaller size, which was perfect for my smaller inserts. I also had the sticker elements, which helped with embellishing the page.

A few details to note:

• I placed some snowflake stencils on my brown cardstock and misted it with my Gold Glow Smooch Spray, to give the page a bit more dimension and a nice shine.
• Some of the newly released Stampin' Up! supplies went very nicely with the papers: you can spot the Floral Romance seals (Occasions Catalogue, p. 11) on the orange heart of the left page, and the Needlepoint Nook Mini Buttons (OC, p. 39) on the right edge of my journaling block. Those buttons are named appropriately: they are tiny! But gorgeous - they have a mother-of-pearl shine and are really striking. The ribbon at the bottom of the page is also from the Sale-A-Bration ribbon bundle, and I was pleasantly surprised by how pretty and soft they are (organiza can sometimes be stiff, but those aren't).
• I recently found some adorable clear hearts, so I added a few around one of the sentiment - they look like ice!
• I used some leftover snowflakes from another page. The gold matches my spritzing nicely and ties in with the golden yellow of the paper. I used the same Satin Gold textured paper to die-cut the wonky scalloped square frame as well, and the little bow from the same die set on top.

Because I'm finishing this page super late, the picture of it is pretty horrendous and the light was catching the page protector. I'll try and snap a better-quality picture on Saturday in natural light and update the post to show something better.

 

 

Supplies
Cardstock: Brown (Bazzill); Lost Lagoon (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Winter Wonderland (Simple Stories); Gold Satin Specialty Paper (Tonic)
Accessories: Project Life Corner Punch, Organdy Ribbon Combo Pack (SAB 2019), Needlepoint Nook
Mini Buttons, Mini Stampin' Dimensionals, Floral Romance Seals, Gold Glow Smooch Spritz (Stampin' Up!);
Snowflake Lace Paper CutUp (The Cat's Pajamas); Crystal Clear Hearts (Essentials by Ellen);
Sweet & Tart Heart Sprinkles (Trinity Stamps); Winter Crystals Glimmer Screens Stencils (Tattered Angels);
Wonky Scalloped Squares Dies (Avery Elle); Copper Gel Pen

 

Back to School

Well, that was fast! Six days after my niece started school, I was finishing a page about it for my album! I tend to send pictures to be printed by an outside source and scrapbook pictures months or years after the events took plage, but lately, I've been using my home printer more to print out specific pictures when the mood strikes or when I find inspiration. In this case, I had the perfect paper collection ready to be used - Back to School from Echo Park. My niece LOVED her first school week. So much so that she was actually bummed that we had a long weekend due to Labour Day and she kept stating the fact that she did not want to be home and wanted to go back to school! That cracked my sister and I up, as we are doubtful that attitude towards days off will last for long...

The papers from the collection were so well thought-out that it took me no time to put this layout together. My favorite part is the composition book design - so clever that Echo Park thought to include that! I figured I could turn a 4" x 6" card into a composition book and use the label for my title. I used a piece of black sparkly washi tape to do the binding, and I CASE'd myself on the gold medallion idea. I've had those wooden shapes from Stampin' Up! for a few years now and even though I've been using, it feels like the pack has no end (and I had everything in double because I got gifted two packs from Stampin' Up!). The pack includes those starburst shapes that I never knew what to do with. A couple of weeks ago, I made a Happy School Year card on which I added a gold-painted starburst shape. I liked the look so much that I reused the same idea here on the notebook, using the new Vegas Gold shimmer paint Stampin' Up! just released.

Inspiration: Try Stampin' on Tuesday Tic Tac Toe #5 (school + red + dimension)

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Back to School (Echo Park)
Stamps: Au jour le jour Project Life, Skinny Mini Alphabet (Stampin' Up!);
À la petite semaine (Kesi'art); Inspire, Together (Heidi Swapp);
Parker Alphabet (Echo Park)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); Cucumber Crush, Real Red (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink)
Accessories: Vegas Gold Shimmer Paint, Washi Tape, Project Life Corner Punch, Everyday Label Punch, Mini Stapler,
Designer Buttons, Garden Green Baker's Twine, Gold and White Stampin' Emboss Powders,
Essentials Wooden Elements, Binding Border Punch (Stampin' Up!);
Stitched Rectangles Stackables Lawn Cuts (Lawn Fawn); Project Life Nesting Dies (American Crafts);
Black Glitter Washi Tape (unknown); Decorative Scissors (unknown)

 

Cousins

Last year, my cousins from BC came for a visit in Montreal. As you can image, we don't see each other often because of the distance so it was a real treat to have them over for dinner and catch up on life. The starting point for this page was the Girl Cousin papers from Echo Park. I can't remember if the rest of the collection did not appeal to me or if my local store didn't carry the whole collection, but I only had the die-cut page in two copies (so that I could use the striped back as well). Because I was limited on how much paper I had, I decided to go for a pocket page layout. I cut some of the square die-cuts to a smaller size (3" x 4") to fit the protector, and I combined some die-cuts together (I handcut the gold heart which initially had a soft turquoise background and I glued it over the heart background piece). I also had a piece of Dots & Stripes paper from Echo Park (turquoise with silver dots) that matched nicely, so I used the front to punch my second heart, and I used the back to make my journaling card. The striped piece at the bottom is actually the bottom portion of the 12" x 12" papers where the company name is. I reused the striped part as an embellishment and I even handcut the small heart that served as the O in the collection name to make my little embellishment. I didn't have a whole lot of pieces, so I got creative!

 

 

 

 

 Supplies
Stamps: Mois de l'année Script (Lime Citron), Alphabet (Studio G)
Ink: Tip Top Taupe (Stampin' Up! Classic Ink)
Patterned Paper: Girl Cousin (Echo Park)
Accessories: Washi Tape (unknown source); Aquamarine Cord (Lawn Fawn);
Stampin' DImensionals, Clear Faceted Gems, 2015-2017 In Color Blossom Accents, Handheld Punch,
In Color Boutique Details, Heart Punch, Project Life Corner Punch, Circle Punch (Stampin' Up!)

 

Great Hall

My local scrapbook store carries the Harry Potter dies. While I was initially excited about them, after looking at them closely, I was not sure I would really use them so I held off on buying any. Recently, I finally decided to get the Hogwarts crest. I think I can make a few greeting cards with it for Potter fans, and I also knew I could work it into my scrapbook pages, since I visited the Warner Bros. lot when I was in London. I have quite a few pictures I want to work into my album, and I started with the Great Hall pictures. One of the Potter papers I have has 6X6" squares of the house colours on the back, so I cut a 4" x 6" piece from the midle, to get the cross section of the four colours, and I added the Hogwarts crest die-cut out of Silver Foil Paper over it. I used Harry Potter Alphabet stickers from Creative Imaginations for the title. That's pretty much all I needed since the pictures filles out the rest of the pockets.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mois de l'année Courier (Lime Citron)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Patterned Papers: Wizard World (ColorPlay); Wizard 101 (Reminisce)
Alphabet Stickers (Harry Potter (Creative Imaginations)
Accessories: Glitter Washi Tape; Gold Gel Pen; Glitter Gloss Aqua Shimmer Brush (Nuvo),
Hogwarts Crest Die; Silver Foil Paper (Stampin' Up!)

 

A Common Interest

The Crafty Girl collection from Simple Stories inspired me to pull out some pictures I took of my niece when she came over for the night. She asked if we could make a house together, since she had seen some ltitle houses I had made with the Home Sweet Home bundle. I hadn't expected to craft with her that night, so I had not cleaned up my craft room, which she took a lot of joy in exploring. That night, she made two discoveries that amazed her: scallop decorative scissors and embossing folders! She went through the whole pile, selecting her favorites, and we embossed a bunch of cardstock that she went home with to use on future projects. (My sister reported that she used them the very next morning after going back home!) She's been asking to craft with me every single time she's visited since. I hope she'll keep her interest in artistic endeavours even as she grows older. It's a cool interest for us to have in common.

Inspiration: Lasting Memories Layout Challenge #391 (Use at least 4 different patterned papers on your page)

 

  

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mois de l'année Script (Lime Citron)
Cardstock: Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers: Crafty Girl (Simple Stories)
Dies: Months, Alisha Lowercase (Echo Park); Sentiments Dies (Waffle Flower); Ref. Articles (Kesi'art);
Chevron Stripes, PInking Edge Square Die-namics, Basic Stitch Lines, Sttiched Scallop Basic Edges (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Bermuda Bay 3/8"  Mini Chevron Ribbon, Project Life Corner Punch, Washi Tape, Journaling Cards (Stampin' Up!);
Aqua Shimmer Glitter Gloss Brush (Nuvo)

 

 

It's What We Do

We've collected quite a few pictures of my dad pulling faces over the year, and it looks like my sister is starting to do the same thing! This picture was taken over a decade ago, but I thought it'd work great with the All Year Long Project Life collection (another one that's retiring). It was a simple page that I put together quickly by cutting a few PL cards apart and reassembling some of them to combine various patterns. (For example, for the top left card, I used the geometric pattern as the background, then the leftover piece from the angled sentiment I had cut for the top right picture, and I added one of the silver foil sentiment, for which I cut the top and bottom part of the card.)

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Project Life Cards and Accessories: All Year Long
Accessories: Metallics Enamel Shapes, Project Life Journaling Pen

 

Tonight We Dance

I'm still catching up on really old pictures. Those were taken in 2006 and they're from the same Christmas party I've recently made pages for.  The pictures are not great, but the memories are, so I really wanted to add those to my album. So many pictures were hard to include in a traditional album, but pocket scrapbooking is the perfect solution.

That fun red sentiment that was cut into strips was actually the bottom part of a 12 x 12 patterned paper (the part with the company name). On the back of the company info was this sentence – a clever way for the company to use the available space on their paper.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Alphabet Rotary Stamp (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (Stampin' Up!)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Christmas Cheer (Paper House)
Cardstock: Corrugated cardstock
Alphabet Stickers: Cosmo Cricket, American Craft
Accessories: Brads, Ribbons, Project Life Card and Labels Framelits,
Curvy Corner Trio Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Pearl Basic Jewels, Project Life Corner Punch,
Project Life Paper Clips Framelits Dies, Lawn Fawn Pins, Subtles Enamel Shapes

Gypsy

Those pictures were taken at our Christmas office party in 2014. It took me a while to add them to my scrapbook because I wasn't sure which papers to pair them with. I finally found something that matched the colours I had in mind for the Gypsy theme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Summer Dream (Craft Smith)
Stamps: Project Life Une Date (Project Life Date It - Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Basic Grey
Accessories: Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits Dies (Stampin' Up!), Stampin' Dimensionals, Circle Punch,
Mini Stapler, Designer Buttons, Cotton Twine, Designer Washi Tape, Washi Tape Punch, Project Life Corner Punch,
Felt Flower, Ribbon, Alphabet Stickers (Making Memories, EK Success, Creative Imaginations)

 

Ice Cream Treat

While I had my Summertime papers out, I wanted to use them for my scrapbook, so I looked for pictures and found some of my mother when we went out for ice cream back in Quebec City, as this awesome chocolate factorry where they dip the ice cream in chocolate. The papers and chipboard were perfect for this page. This one is also inspired by the Paper Players challenge #309 - Something Sweet and Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Summer Fun.

A little while ago, I downloaded a serie of fun fonts and I used one of them for my journaling: Banana Yeti. It had that perfect ice cream place vibe to it. You can dowload it for free on DaFont, if you're interested.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: Summertime (October Afternoon), Confetti Vellum (Crate Paper)
Accessories: Summertime Stickers and Alphabet (October Afternoon),
Silver Gel Pen, Chipboard Star (from Stampin' Up! Card Kit), Designer Washi Tape, Gold Foil,
Owl Punch (small heart), Gold Sequin Trim, Poolside Chipboard (Crate Paper)

 

The Whole Family

A few summers ago, we had a family gathering that included some of the cousins we don't get to see often. We took a family pic while we were all together. I finally added this pic to my album when I received the new Project Life by Stampin' Up! card collections. The one I used here is All Year Long.

In the picture, the card at the right of the picture was blank, but I filled it out with the names of everyone with my father's help when he visited. (Like I said, those are cousins I don't see often, so I wanted to get everybody right!)

I kept the embellishments to a minimum, but you'll notice top right a border die-cut using the new Flourish Thinlits dies. Middle row, at left, I stamped "Let the party begin" with a now-retired Project Life stamp set. The bottom left card was stamped with a saying from the Fresh Fruit stamp set (Annual Catalogue, p. 149) and I added the circle scribble from the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits dies (AC, p. 194).

I made sure to use the cards that had the pine tree silhouette scenery because the picture was taken back home and the scenery looks exactly like that, back where I come from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Spencerian Alphabet Upper and Lower, Fresh Fruit,
La splendeur de Noël Project Life (Project Life Holiday Cheer)
Ink: Delightful Dijon, Mint Macaron
Project Life Card Collection and Accessories: All Year Long
Accessories: Project Life Corner Punch, Circle Punch, Neutrals Designer Buttons,
Project Life Journaling Pens, Swirly Scribbles Thinlits Dies, Flourish Thinlits Dies

 

Scrapbooking with a Card Kit: Waiting For You

So I have finally broken my Oh Happy Day Card Kit open today. I remember when I got the Watercolor Wishes kit last year that I meant to make only one card with it and had so much fun that I ended up putting together the whole kit in one sitting! I had a feeling this might happen again with the new colorful card kit Stampin' Up! added to its annual catalogue this year, so I waited until today to crack it open, even though I've bought it on my first new catalogue order.

I absolutely love the new Oh Happy Day kit just as much as I loved the Watercolor Wishes one. I was torn between making the suggested cards and using the kit contents to make up new stuff with. I finally ended up doing both: making the full-size cards as suggested and using the smaller cards to design my own projects.

As I was about to make the regular-size card with the flower background, I thought i was such a beautiful design (the background florals and the flower die-cut) that I decided I wanted to keep those to myself. And from this thought was born the idea to make a Project Life page using the kit elements. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I even managed to include the kit's stamp set by stamping "I Love You" on a heart I die-cut with the Sweet & Sassy Framelits dies. I used the back of one of the smallest cards to die-cut the heart, and the big heart on the front of the trifold card was used on my title insert (top right).

The only element that did not come from my Stampin' Up! supplies is the gold leafing that I did around the heart at top. The kit includes a lot of gold elements and I decided to give golf leafing a try using our Heat 'n Stick Powder. I need practice with this technique, but it was a nice way to add a bit of interest to my page.

The title was stamped with the new Brushstrokes Alphabet (a nice size for Project Life inserts) and the date was added with the Date It Project Life stamp set. The font is so nice, it almost looks like it was part of the die-cut instead of something I stamped myself! This stamp set is very versatile: not only does in include the months in two different sets of font, it also has the season. And the numbers go up to 31, so you don't have to line up the numbers individually to create your dates. It saves time, but it also makes lining up way easier. In this instance, to stamp 2012, I only had to use 20 and 12 and line them together, so getting the spacing right was way easier than when I use four stamps. Since I had the last Project Life date set, I was hesitant to get this one, but seeing how beautiful the font is on this page, I'm glad I did.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Brushstrokes Alphabet, Project Life Une date (Project Life Date It), Une belle journée (Oh Happy Day)
Card Kit: Oh Happy Day
Ink: Basic Black Archival, VersaMark
Big Shot: Sweet & Sassy Framelits Dies, Happy Heart Embossing Folder
Accessories: Project Life Corner Punch, Melon Mambo Stampin' Write Marker,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Neutral Candy Dots, Mint Macaron/Black Baker's Twine,
1/8" Handheld Circle Punch, Black Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat 'n Stick Powder,
Gold Leafing (non-SU!)

 

Scrapbooking Debut

I had some Jillibean Soup art-themed papers that inspired to look through my pictures to see if I had any of me crafting. I found those old pictures taken over a decade ago when I first discovered scrapbooking. Back then I was sharing an apartment with my sister so I had to lug everything to the kitchen table when I wanted to craft, create up a storm and then put everything away again. My sister was incredibly patient with me, as she's had to eat in the living room a few times because not only was the whole kitchen table covered with my stuff, but I had also put some stuff on chairs as well for lack of room! Seeing that mishmash of stuff in the pictures makes me really grateful I now have a spot reserved to my crafting and better crafting supplies! I've come miles - wish you could get a close-up of that card that was displayed on the table in front of me. You'd get a good laugh!

Some of the Jillibean papers had 3" x 4" die-cut cards that I cut apart and used, but I embellished them a bit - I added Candy Dots on the pushpins and a yellow-embossed wooden heart on the pin cushion. The sentiment card was stamped with stitching and embossed with Melon Mambo powder, then I added stamped sequins. Those image come from the Love You Sew hostess stamp set. I used the used the same set to create my own card at left. I started with the grid Project Life cards Stampin' Up! was carrying and I embossed the paint brushstroke image in seven colors: Merlon Mambo, Cherry Cobbler, Tango Tangerine, Crushed Curry, Gumball Green, Pool Part and Navy. Then I inked the little brush with Stampin' Write markers in matching colours and handcut them, then glued them to the card using Dimensionals. That whole process was a little time-consuming, but I love the result. I added the date using the Collage Numbers stamp set (long retired) and Jet Black StazOn ink.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Love You Sew, Collage Numbers
Cardstock: Night of Navy
Patterned Papers: Sew Sweet Sunshine Soup (Jillibean Soup)
Ink: VersaMark, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Star Punch, Gold Glimmer Paper, Wet Paint Alphabet Die (Papertrey Ink),
Stampin' Emboss Powders (Tango Tangerine, Melon Mambo, Cherry Cobbler, Crushed Curry,
Gumball Green, Pool Party, Navy), Stampin' Write Markers, Circle Punches, Project Life Corner Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Essential Wooden Accents, Candy Dots, Navy Designer Washi Tape,
Project Life Grid Card

 

West Coast Get-Together

I have family In British Columbia that I keep in touch via cards and emails, but I don't get to visit them all that often. The last time I saw my cousin Monique and my aunt Raymonde, it was fifteen years ago when they visited us in Quebec City. When I learned that I would be attending a meeting held in Victoria, I was really excited at the chance to get together with my cousins and catch up! Louise drove to Nanaimo to join us. It was a great day! We took a picture on Louise's tablet as a little memento of our day together. Hopefully, I'll see them again before another 15 years' time, this time around.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mois de l'année courrier (Lime citron)
Patterned Papers: Spring Garden (Doodlebug Design)
Ink: Basic Grey Archival
Accessories: It's My Party Enamel Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Scallop Oval Frames Die-namics, Billboard Alphabet Die, Yellow Glimmer Tape,
Ribbons, Edgelits Dies, Corduroy Buttons, Candy Dots, Ticket Corner Punch,
Stampin' Write Markers

Sugar Shack Brunch 2016

It's a little strange to be making a page with snowflakes and cold elements when summer has finally arrived and it's warm and sunny outside, but that's usually how it goes with paper crafts. You prepare cards ahead of the season and you scrapbook your pictures after the fact.

This page came together really quickly thanks to the Snow Patrol Simple Stories set, that includes papers and matching stickers. The picture was taken at the sugar shack during the Easter weekend, when my parents were visiting from out of town. I was trying to take a family picture of everyone and my niece Megan simply refused to go with the rest of the family to get her picture taken. Knowing how she usually operates, I asked if she would join us if I was in the picture as well and sure enough, she complied. That of course implied that the picture then became a selfie. I'm not really great at selfie picture yet and my face is only hald half in it, but it doesn't matter because it captures the memory of the beautiful sunny day being all together. And Megan's grimace, which is recurring on many pictures. We have a 50/50 chance of getting an ear-to-ear grin or a grimace. We got the latter that day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Alphabets (Studio G)
Patterned Papers and Stickers: Snow Patrol (Simple Stories)
Ink: Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories: Heart Punch, Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper,
Layering Squares Framelits Dies, White Knit Trim, Clear Wink of Stella Brush (all Stampin' Up!),
Snowflake Stickers (Doodlebug Designs), Wooden Snowflakes (Calico Studio), Journaling Pen

 

Halloween at the Office

While my Seasonal Snapshots Project Life cards were out and I was on a roll, I made a two-page layours showcasing pictures of my colleagues in costume at the office. Everyone went all out that year, decorating their offices, putting on costumes, wigs, makeup... I was definitely impressed!

As well as using the Seasonal Snapshots cards, I also used a couple of overlays from the Specialty Memories in the Making Project Life Cards pack that was available during Sale-a-A-Bration this year. One was added to my top picture on the left page, the other one I used to emboss a sentiment on with Tango Tangerine embossing powder, and I layered it over a piece of Core'dinations cardstock I embossed and sanded to make the little stars stand out. I then handcut the little monsters from the Seasonal Snapshots card and added them on top of the overlay. I also added a googly eye to one of the monsters.

I used White StazOn ink of add sentiments directly on pictures ("trick of treat" on the witches picture, "Howdy" on the cowboy picture and "Ahoy, matey" on the pirate picture). I mixed and match a bunch of various Halloween sets I've acquired through the years and accented my various PL cards. The tomb from Graveyard Gala was used to add the date, and I die-cut the numbers out of Black Glimmer Paper. I also pierced holes around the printed circle on one of the cards and handstitched around it using needlework floss, then I added three Designer Buttons. Lots of fun little details to make the whole layout more interesting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Monster Munchies, Cowboy Kid, Ahoy Matey, Bitty Boos Too, From the Crypt, Graveyard Gala,
Wicked Cool, Fête d'Halloween, Au fil des ans (Number of Years), Googly Ghouls,
Salutations effroyables (Ghoulish Greetings), Alphabet (Studio G)
Cardstock: Crushed Curry Core'dinations, Very Vanilla, Basic Grey
Project Life Cards: Seasonal Snapshots, Specialty Memories in the Making
Ink: VersaMark, Basic Grey, Basic Black, Tango Tangerine, Crushed Curry, White StazOn
Accessories: Circle Tab Punch, Tango Tangerine and Black Stampin' Emboss Powders, Googly Eyes, Sanding Block,
Stars Embossing Folder, Project Life Corner Punch, Sequins, Black Glimmer Paper,
Typeset Alphabet Dies, Designer Washi Tape, Ticket Duo Punch, Black Journaling Pen,
Neutrals Designer Buttons, Grey needlework floss (DMC), 3/4" Square Punch,
Seasonal Snapshots Accessories Pack

 

It's Not Christmas Without Chocolate

I had put aside a few picture options when trying to decide on which pictures to scrapbook for the Global Design Project Challenge #35 and once I was done with the first page, I was inspired to keep going with a second one. This time, I switched to the Project Life by Stampin' Up! cards from the Hello December 2015 collection. Those have been my absolute favorite for two years in a row, so it seems like Stampin' Up! is really hitting it out of the ballpark with this theme. I used both the cards and the matching accessories, and added a few extra items here and there to decorate the cards, including an hostess stamp set that has been retired for years. I wonder if some of you who have been stamping for a while will remember Holiday Blocks?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Hourra pour Noël (Oh, What Fun), Roi des forêts (Evergreen), Holiday Blocks,
Layered Letters Alphabet, Alphabet Rotary Stamp, Studio G Alphabet (non-SU!)
Project Life Cards and Accessories: Hello December 2015
Ink: Mint Macaron, Basic Grey Archival, Lost Lagoon
Accessories: Stampin' Write Markers, Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder,
Handheld Circle Punch, Gold Metallic Baker's Twine, Stampin' Dimensionals,
Red Embossing Powder (non-SU!), Sequins

 

Our Best Gift is You

This week's Global Design Project challenge #35 is Project Life by Stampin' Up! This is right up my alley, so I was hoping to have time to take part in the challenge. I went through my pictures tonight and selected some Christmas ones from two years ago and paired them with the Seasonal Snapshots cards. A lot of the cards included in the kits are journaling cards, so I like to punch out or handcut the design elements from them and add them to other cards or to my pictures, which is what I did here to create borders and fill out the empty spaces.

The title reads, "Our best gift is you." My niece Megan is the first baby on our side of the family and as I say in the journaling, we are always fussing over her and she's showered with gifts and love. I just can't imagine not having her around anymore.

 

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: Project Life Au jour le jour (Project Life Day to Day), ABC-123 Sketch Alphabet & Numbers
Project Life Cards: Seasonal Snapshots
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red
Accessories: Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sequins, Seasonal Snapshots Accessories Pack,
Silver Pen (non-SU!), Stampin' Write Marker, Real Red Cotton Ribbon

 

 

 

Gaylord Opryland Nashville

I wanted to use the new You Are Here! suite from Simple Stories, so I looked through my pictures to find some traveling ones and found some that were taken in Nashville a few years ago when Stampin' Up! held its Leadership convention there. The event was hosted at the Opryland Gaylord convention centre, which was the most impressive place we've ever been to. This centre is huge! It includes a convention center, an hotel, restaurants and shops, trees, water fountains, even a boat ride!! It reminded me of the West Edmonton Mall. I took so many pictures of the place that I wanted to include in my album that this turned into a four-page layout. 

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers, Chipboard Accents, Brads, Stickers, Die-Cuts: You Are Here! (Simple Stories)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Stamps: Type Strips I & II
Die: Type Bit Strips (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Wooden Embellishments, Twine, Project Life Corner Punch, Circle Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Write Markers, Washi Label Punch (Stampin' Up!),
Sequins

 

Pretty

I wanted to use some new papers and die-cuts from My Mind's Eye I got and I found this old portrait of myself, where my jacket matches the pink in the papers perfectly. I cut my own pocket inserts out of the papers. One page has die-cuts already on it, so that's where I got the heart, already ready to go in a square pocket. The papers have gold foil on them, so they are beautiful in person.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Patterned Papers: On Trend 2 (My Mind's Eye)
Accessories: On Trend 2 Stickers (My Mind's Eye), Gold Glimmer Tape (Stampin' Up!),
Stampin' Dimensionals, In Color Sequins, Pearl Basic Jewels, Wild Wasabi Cotton Twine,
Project Life Corner Punch, In Color Dahlia Embellishment, Gold Designer Tape, Night of Navy Big Designer Button,
Gold Metallic Twine, Wild Wasabi Stampin' Write Marker

 

Disney on Ice

These pictures were taken last year when we brought my niece to see Disney on Ice. I paired them with the Cheese II papers from Simple Stories, which are designed around the Disney World theme, so they were perfect for this.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Mickey Icon ABC (EK Success)
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento
Patterned Papers: Cheese II (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Project Life Corner Punch, Alphabet Stickers,
Love Designer Brads, Black Lace Trim, Scallop Edge Punch, Pearl Sequins

 

Learning to Skate

My sister sent me pictures of my niece learning to ice skate, so I paired them with some Bo Bunny papers to make this pocket protector page. I used the Fuse Tool to turn one of the pocket into a shaker, by putting sequins, wooden snowflakes and glitter inside before fusing shut. Learn from my mistake - put a very SMALL amount of glitter instead. I thought I would need quite a bit to see the result, but that is not the case, and the glitter tends to static cling to the sides of the pocket, so less is definitely more here!!!

 

 

Thirties Style

When my brother-in-law turned 30, my sister gave him a waist bag as a joke, saying that he was now old and that he would soon be starting to dress like an old man. He was quick to bring back the bag when it was her thirtieth birthday. The kids starting trying on the bag, and my niece was just hilarious with the bag on over her pink-heart pj's, drinking milk out of a sippy cup... Seems like everything is cuter on a 1½ year old!

I used the Number of Years stamp set and matching Big Numbers Framelits to cut out my 30 out of red paper.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Au fil des ans (Number of Years), Mois de l'année Courrier (Lime Citron)
Ink:VersaMark, Bermuda Bay
Patterned Papers: Life in Color (Simple Stories)
Accessories: Life in Color stickers (Simple Stories), Wooden Elements, Big Numbers Framelits Dies,
Project Life Corner Punch, Real Red Satin Ribbon, Alphabet Stickers,
Red and Black Glimmer Paper, Black Journaling Pen

 

Gift for the New Homeowner

When I bought my condo, my dad had to borrow my brother-in-law's power tools a few times to set things up around the place, so for Christmas, he thought the new homeowner might benefit from having her own drill. My mom reported that he totally took it upon himself to go shopping for what I needed (and my dad is really not big on shopping...) so I was pretty impressed - and grateful not to have to spend pocket change on power tools myself.

Now, I can't say the drill has been used a whole lot since Christmas, but it'll be right there when I will need it.  The cute inserts are from the Cozy Christmas collection by Simple Stories.

 

 

Sticky Kiddo

For Megan's second birthday, her mom made a rainbow cake decorated with Smarties. When Megan got her cake, the only thing she was interested in were the Smarties, so she proceeded to get them out of the chocolate frosting one by one with her fingers, managing to get all sticky in the process. (And very proud of it, judging from the last picture!)

I wanted the letters to look like they were dipped in chocolate and in sugar, so I used temporary adhesive to place the Pool Party letters on a sheet of paper and used a Chocolate Chip Craft ink pad (now retired) to cover the bottom of the letters with ink, then dipped them a few times in clear embossing powder. (Alternatively, you could sponge the bottom of the letter with Classic Chocolate Chip ink and use Crystal Effects on the bottom of them.)

For the sugar-coated letters, I applied a piece of adhesive sheets on the back AND the front of the cardstock BEFORE die-cutting the letters. The back part transformed the letters into stickers and helped glue them to the page quickly. And by adding the adhesive sheets to the front, I was able to cover the whole letter with Dazzling Diamonds glitter quickly and evenly.

 

 

 

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies
Stamps: C pour Toi (Tags 4 You), Mois de l'année Courrier (Lime Citron)
Cardstock: Pool Party Core'dinations, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Vellum
Designer Series Paper: Sweet Shoppe
Ink: Chocolate Chip (Craft)
Accessories: Dymo Tape Runner, Sanding Block, Project Life Corner Punch,
Stampin' Emboss Powders (Clear, Pool Party), Big Shot Adhesive Sheets, Big Shot Alphabet Dies,
Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Silver Glimmer Paper, Owl Punch, Artisan Tag Punch,
Stampin' Dimensionals, Sweet Shoppe Designer Brads, Pool Party Ruffled Ribbon,
Island Indigo Satin Ribbon, Banner Punch, Months Dies (Echo Park), Dear Lizzie Project Life Cards,
Stampin' Write Markers

 

First Subway Ride

My sister and I went to the museum with Megan on the Sunday when all museum access was free in Montreal. My sister's spouse drove us there, but we came back to Laval on the subway, and it was the first time Megan rode it. The bottom picture is funny because we were trying to have Megan show one finger up to indicate her first trip on the subway, but I think she got confused with showing her age, being used to showing two fingers. It cracked everybody up, including the lady that was sitting on the bench with us, waiting for the subway!

I made my own pocket inserts out of Authentique patterned papers, which matched the colours of the subway tiles in my picture nicely.