Happy Canada Day and Happy Birthday to Rachel

Another teenager in the family, only one more to go.  Hope everyone had a lovely Canada Day and enjoyed or will enjoy the fireworks tonight.  We certainly can't complain about the weather can we, sunny and yet not humid....great!

Here are the cards I promised to post that we did in card class on Thursday.  Always lovely to hear the ladies say "I can't believe I learned something new again tonight".   Linda and I often wonder what more can we do for the seasoned cardmaker to make it interesting to come to class, but when we hear that, we know we've done enough. 
 
 So here's what they were working on in class.

This card was a good amount of cutting with the Spellbinders dies and the Cuttlebug and at first the ladies thought it was quite intense.  However once they had made it they felt it wasn't so bad after all. 

Although intricate, taken step by step it's not nearly so intimidating and would make a lovely wedding card.
 

This faux pyrimage card was quick and surprisingly easy to make.   We used an economical stamp at just $2.69 and cut off the leaves and stem to make it the way I wanted it to be.  Using Picked Raspberry, one of the new Summer Distress inks, the blossom stands out boldly.  We also stamped the background with an Impression Obsession background stamp again using a Distress Ink.  Although we didn't put dimensionals between the layers for the sample, one of the ladies at class did, and it gave a lovely pyrimage look.

This card again used an economical stamp at just $1.69, but was stamped with Versamark and again with a white ink.  This gave a nice depth to the design.  Once again a nice fast card when you need one in a hurry.



I made a pop up card for Rachel's birthday, but forgot to photograph that, so will show you that later.  If you click on this link here, you will see the cards that both Linda and I made for her last year.  You'll find Linda's posted on July 7th and mine on July 1st.  Maybe they will offer you some inspiration.

This past week or so I've talked to a couple of ladies in the store about different free fonts that they can download and use with their Silhouette machines.  Here's a link to one at Dafont.com - remember these are to be used for personal use only.   This one is for tools and you can print out a key so that you can just check that for whichever tool you want instead of going through all the alphabet.  There are many many more fonts like this where you can install the font and use it to cut a shape on the Silhouette SD or Cameo.  This was the font we used to cut the hammer that was on our June Card Class in a Bag.   you can see that on our flickr website here.

Until later, happy crafting

Lilian

Creative Ladies

Do you remember when I told you that I was at my sister's on the May 24th weekend and we were creating card kits for her to make with her Womens Institute as a craft?  Well that happened today and here's the result. The ladies not only made the cards, they bought some for their own use and still had some left over for the card convener to send out throughout the year to shut-ins and others on their birthdays.

Well done ladies for all your efforts in "paying it forward" and making
someone else's life a little brighter.

I'm not going to be able to show you the cards that Linda made for Emily's teacher and the music teacher, because she forgot to take a photo, but she tells me they were lovely.  I'm sure they were too.   We've had a number of people into the store in the last couple of days commenting on the beautiful swan lake card. You can see it if you scroll down a little.   I'm going to ask her to make another for display in the store because it would make such a gorgeous wedding or even sympathy card. So keep your eyes peeled for it to be seen in the near future at your local craft store.

We've noticed the difference now that schools are out, with families coming up to our beautiful Muskoka and their cottages.  They're stocking up on crafts to keep the childrens hands busy whether on a sunny day sitting on the dock, or a rainy day which is bound to happen now and then.

Lots of interest being shown yet again this year in the weaving wheels and bracelets made with floss or the gorgeous bright colours of rat tail that just arrived in stock.  With 20 yards on the roll for only $2.99 great value here.

 

Linda took the time to write out some basic pattern instructions for the weaving wheels to help people get started, and she also sourced a really helpful website that shows you how to design your own.  Ask us about them.

We had a great technique class again tonight with ten lovely ladies laughing, learning and having fun.  We played again with Versamark ink which inspired them to see their stamps and cardstock in a different way.  Distress ink is always a hit and we made a simple yet stunning pyrimage style of card.  Using an economical stamp along with a large background stamp and one of the lovely new summer distress ink colours, we took a simple piece of cardstock to new heights.  Our third card had many steps to it by using an embossing folder, and a number of Spellbinder diecuts we created a beautifully layered card.  It was a little intimidating at the start, but everyone said once they'd gone through the steps and the card was complete, they felt it was easy enough to make.  One lady was thrilled to have a card ready for a wedding she's attending.  I'll show you the cards later because I too forgot to take photos yet...LOL!

Did you sign up for to receive an email when a new posting is put on the blog?  Just up on the right hand side you will see "Keep up by email with what's new at the Craft Nook".  Fill your email address in the box and you won't miss when an entry is made on the blog.

Happy Crafting

Lilian

Busy Creating Again!

That's what Linda's doing again tonight, making a card and gift for a teacher and a card for the music teacher too.  Last night it was creating a bracelet for a mini jewellery class we had today, I'll show you that later, it was gorgeous and the three ladies that made it were so pleased with the results too.

I can't show you the cards being made tonight just yet, but thought you may like to see the ones Linda made for the dance teachers....drop down gorgeous they were too.  Inspired by the girls dance costumes, this is what Linda came up with.

Emily in Swan Lake. Doesn't this card show the costume beautifully and wouldn't it make a lovely wedding or sympathy card

Rachel in her ballet Czardas.  This card is taken from one  that we created in a Thursday night Technique class and beautifully reflects the elegance of Rachel's costume.  A lovely birthday or anniversary card.

Emily in her Hip-Hop Dance Pata Pata.  Isn't that the most fun costume, so much nicer in my opinion than the slouchy style of dress you often see for hip-hop.  And look at that card, wouldn't that make a great birthday card for a young person.....fun fun colours.

 

  

Rachel in her Jellicle Cats Acro costume.  This was a cute costume with all the cats a little different.  Linda and Rachel added whiskers to her nose after this photo was taken.  How about the card, can you see the likeness?  Great circle card with the fun elements of the googly eyes and whiskery nose, surely a child would be thrilled to receive this for a birthday.

  

And finally we have Rachel in her Senior Competition Tap Dance Queen.  What you don't see here, is that they begin their dance with blue jeans and the top on.  A few moments into the dance they disappear off stage and re-appear seconds later with their jeans off and the skirts on (that was a challenge for all the dancers), hence the blue jean Authentique paper on the card.  Wouldn't a teenager enjoy this card for their birthday.

 

So are you inspired when  you see these drop down gorgeous cards that Linda created to thank the girls dance teachers Miss Meagan and Miss Tammy.  We were priviledged to watch the dance recital on Father's Day sunday at the Rene Caisse Theatre.  What a truly professional performance The Dance Connection puts on.  With five shows to accomodate all the people that wanted to see the students performing, you know that it must be exhausting, and yet Miss Meagan and Miss Tammy are there through it all smiling, encouraging everyone.  Amazing role models for these students young and older.

And now we have another Guest Blogger.

This time it's Bev and she's participated before in our blog challenge cards and has come up to the plate again with some more organisational tips.  Here's what Bev has to offer all of us.

What great ideas Di.   Thanks for the tips.  I love the spice rack idea, as a matter of fact I have one in the attic that I will dig out as soon as I finish this blog addition.  

We don't often take the time to really look at something and say, "now that could be used for....."

I came across an old beat up 2 drawer filing cabinet, spray painted it black, bought a few hanging files and stored my 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock in it.  I keep smaller cut pieces in front of the file with corresponding colours.

    

A dear friend gave me her, no longer used, CD rack.  It's great for holding embossing folders.  You know those old CD's you never listen to any more, throw them out and use the empty CD case covers for storing your die cuts, they fit perfectly.

This tip isn't free, but close to it....buy little containers from the dollar store and keep all those odd ball things handy such as glue, spritzers, scissors etc..

  

Save empty plastic spinach and fruit containers for all those little pieces of ribbon that just might come in handy some day.

Empty cookie tins (of course they're empty because you ate all the cookies), can be used for stamped shapes, pieces of card stock cut outs, etc. 

Small spice jars are great for brads, tiny embellishments, flower petals and so on. 

Join in ladies and with all these money saving tips we will soon be able to take that vacation to our dream paradise!

HAPPY CRAFTER, BEV

Thank you so much for your ideas and great blog contribution Bev.  I know I've used some of your ideas myself, like the dollar store containers for my smaller pieces of cardstock when re-doing my craft room.  Look back on the blog (you'll have to scroll down as it's near the bottom of the page) to see that photo. 

Now how about it ladies, you have two challenges here from Di and Bev.  Lets have some fun inspiring and challenging one another.  What do you have to share? 
Perhaps like me you've recently revamped your crafting area and would like to show us what you've achieved. 
Maybe like Linda you've been busily creating some cards for outstanding people in your life and you can inspire us through your creativity.
How about Nancy who created a really special album for someone that you'd like to share with others.   Just email your ideas to the store linda@scrapbookingncrafts.com  and once we've taken a look, I'll be happy to blog them for you.

Well though this may have been a long post, I hope that you have gained some inspiration from it.  Don't forget that you can keep up by email when something new gets posted to the blog.  Just look down the right sidebar where it says keep up by email (near Rachel's ballet photo) and enter your email address and you will receive an email each time a new post happens.

Until later... Happy Crafting

Lilian

Contributing Guest Blogger - Diane

Have you ever wondered about blogging?  For crafters, it's a great way to share ideas and to inspire one another, but it does take time to blog and post.  You can imagine my surprise when I opened my email to find someone asking if they could make an entry onto our blog. 

GOSH yes I thought!!  Had to read it over first though....don't want to be advertising some competitive business on our blog after all is said and done.  What a beautifully written entry it was though.   So here it is for all of you to enjoy and if you'd like to contribute, please don't hesitate to do as Di suggests and email your contributions, ideas, photos, inspirations to us and we'd be happy to share them with all of our readers.  I'm sure they'd like a change sometimes from my ramblings....LOL!  

Here's what Di has to say.....

I was reading this blog and enjoying a tour around looking at all the scrap pages and cards, absorbing and feasting on the inspiration it was giving me.

I then stood back and thought to myself - WOW what a lot of hard work has gone into this blog, how do Lilian and Linda keep coming up with new ideas?  Maybe they could use a hand once in a while.

I was busy in my kitchen later on the same day and was still thinking about crafting.  Looking around I noticed  slim box I had cut diagonally across corner to corner, covered it and stamped it appropriately and now use it to store my tin foils, cling film wrap etc on end without them constantly falling over.  Looking around I realized I use many items for my crafting, which was not what they were intended to be used for.  I bet I'm not alone, that you all have adapted and reused items in some way to enhance your crafting storage and needs.   Why don't we all share our ideas of alternate uses for home gadgets that lend themselves to crafting.

I'll start, let's get the ball rolling and make this page a shared work of  art and inspiration....come on ladies crafting is made for sharing. 

Hints tips and alternative uses1. Spice rack used to store stickles, liquid pearls and paint

2. Cutlery drainer for pens glues and scissors

3. 2lts plastic Pepsi bottle cut down the long side used to store ribbons

4. Pringle tubes used to hold paint brushes neat and out of danger of curling up or getting dusty.

I've photographed some of my suggestions, but you don't have to photograph them, perhaps  a few words will paint the picture.

Lets give The Craft Nook ladies a break and contribute to this wonderful blog. which we all enjoy. 

We can't post directly to the blog, it's only right that all entries are given the once over so email away to the Craft Nook.

Looking forward to seeing and being inspired by your ingenuity.
Di

  

Thanks so much Di for your contribution.  Hopefully more will decide to make a comment at the bottom of each blog entry, or even to send in an idea or two.

  

Happy Crafting

Lilian

Summer Scrapbook and Cards Today Magazine

Just to let you know the Summer Scrapbook & Cards Today edition will be in our store on Friday. 

Don't miss your opportunity of this magazine, free with a $20.00 purchase.

Full of inspiration and ideas for all of your paper crafting.
A great way to survive the heat of the season.

Limited numbers available.


Happy Crafting,

Lilian

Surviving the Heat.

What do you do to survive the heat?  I like the quiet coolness of my craft room where I can create to my heart's desire.  Long gone are the busy days of caring for family, so time is more available to me now. 

Along with creating, I love the technology that's available to me to use and explore.  I think one of the best gifts I ever received was one from my sister-in-law when she not only gave me a Paint Shop Pro Program by Corelle, but she taught me how to use it.  It was a very intense time as I worked through the lessons she had taken at a night school class, but so worth the effort. 

Having and knowing how to use the program enables me to enhance or alter my photos for my scrapbooking pages. I often clean up a not so spectacular photo, or even alter it by layering it with another photo, maybe even taking someone in or out of the photo.  Well you get the drift.  So in doing all that, I sometimes create digital pages that I use as screensavers on my PC.  I'm still very much a touchy feely kind of scrapbooker, I love the paper and embellishments that are available and the ability to create through my Silhouette machine.   These digital pages however, enable me to see family photos in the scrapbook style I love, on my PC.  Here's such a digital page that I made of family in England as they awaited the arrival of the Olympic torch going through their town recently.

Now here's a photo for a touchy feely page I have ready to do where I've added someone into the photo.            

This is the before....

   and here's the after photo.......I see the difference, can you see the difference....LOL!

I usually make note in my journalling when I've digitally altered a photo such as this.

We've had the pleasure of helping someone lately as she created some beautiful touchy feely pages for her son's 30th birthday album.  Nancy was a newbie scrapper when she came to one of our Friday Crop and Craft Nights.  We had no idea what her goal was at that time.  Believe me they were lofty goals, but she attained them....kudos to Nancy for her dream, desire and drive.  She created a couple of double page layouts on the friday night, but more than that, she was like a sponge, listening to and taking in all the suggestions we offered her. 

Can you believe Linda's surprise when Nancy came into the store a week later with numerous file folders containing her photos and a layout she had chosen for each of them.   They worked diligently finding papers that would do justice to her photos and the chosen layouts, then home to create them as she wasn't able to attend our next Friday Crop and Craft Night.  Back came Nancy in a week or so with more file folders, layouts and photos and again we chose paper for these sets.  Nancy and I talked about what to do if she wasn't able to get all the pages done, however that was a moot point.  On the next Friday Crop and Craft, just a month after she began this daunting task, we worked at putting the extra pages she needed into her album. With longer posts and chipboard spacers, the album opened cleanly and displayed her amazing work. 

WELL DONE to a newbie scrapbooker who has found her creative talent.  Nancy's taking a couple of weeks off right now, but we look forward to seeing her again as she begins her next project without the same timeline to deal with. 

Here are a couple of examples of the pages she created.......

I'm off now to scan the photos of Linda's two girls in their dance costumes.  They had a very busy weekend of four dance recital performances.  I'll show you the cards that Linda created using their costumes as the inspiration.  Their teachers were extremely pleased to receive the beautiful cards.

Until next time, happy crafting....
Lilian

Promised Photos

. 

 

Here's a sampling of Jonathan's photos from his camping trip on the May 24th weekend.  As I told you, he had some input from a lady who was also on the cruise and who explained to him about the rule of thirds when taking photos.  It made a dramatic difference to his photography as you can see, causing him to stop and think as he was composing his shots.  I don't know about you, but I would be really happy to scrapbook some of these photos myself.

However not all our photos are perfect and so they may need some help before we print them.  I was reading on a blog how to blur the background of a photo if it is very busy and overwhelming the subject matter of the photo.  They used Photoshop Elements as their program, but I would think the concept would work with other photo programs too.  Here's the link so that you can watch the video how to.

Do you have some graduating students this year?  One of our customers altered the shirt card that she made in class to become a graduation gown, great idea.  This is the card, can you visualise it as a gown? 

 Or how about a mortar board using this design and black cardstock for the card?  I googled images and came up with this picture....do you see what I mean?

  

And if you're looking for a teacher gift idea here's another one for you. 

My niece is making cookie tray calendars for her children's teachers.  That's why I had to teach  her Mom, so she could then teach my niece.....LOL, it goes around and around.

Well I started this post on the 28th, but I just heard my clock chime and now it's the 29th.  I will post the digital scrapbook page that Linda mentioned in the newsletter, but not tonight, so check back later in the week for that.

Until next time, Happy Crafting....

Lilian

Have You Done It Yet?

Have you signed up for the All Day Card Class?  It's filling up fast, and although I wasn't at work yesterday, Linda tells me it's half full already.  So don't delay and be disappointed, we're only doing one class this time around.  Check us out. Offering ten differently styled cards with all the supplies and instruction for just $40.00 it's a steal of a deal!  Keep an eye here on the blog and I'll perhaps give you a sneak preview in the next few days.

How was your May 24th weekend?  Couldn't have been better for weather could it.  Our family was scattered this time, with some of us away camping in Tobermory, some getting ready for a week away at Trillium Lakes Art Camp and some of us visiting (and crafting) with family it was quite different for us. 

We knew May was going to be a busy month and it has panned out as expected with additional twists in the road, which gave me the opportunity to meet up with two of my sisters. 

Here's another photo (did you see the one's in the newsletter?) of us enjoying one another's company.  Evelyn,  from Belleville, is planning on renovating/organising her craft room after being inspired by what I've done in mine.   I'll be looking forward to some photos when she's done that I can share with you.  My sister-in-law in England, Diane, who some of you have met, is also in the planning stages of a room for her crafting.  Lots of lovely goodies coming your way soon hopefully.

 And of course here's my dear husband who patiently filled his time as we crafted.  He commented to me on the drive home that I had obviously enjoyed my time with my sisters.  I asked him why he thought that and he said..."I could see it on your face as you were teaching them new things." 

I don't think of myself in that way, but I do realise I have had the opportunity to learn many things and just want to share that knowledge with others.  That can be a disadvantage for them sometimes, (LOL) as when I'm on a roll I don't stop talking!   
This is standing on my counter opposite where I craft, a reminder to share the talent with which I've been blessed. 

I'm hoping to show you some photos that Jonathan took when he was at Tobermory.  He bumped into a lovely lady who shared some of her photography tips with him and which he used.  The result being some really great photos to scrapbook.

Also hoping that Rachel will have had time when she was at Art Camp to take a few photos, but their schedule is pretty busy.

Here's a couple of links for those of you who are interested in the upcoming Olympics.  This one is of the torch run which my sister-in-law was at yesterday.  It reminded me of when we saw the torch go through Bracebridge for the Winter Olympics.  The other is of my nephew's interview for CTV and his Road to London. 

Until next time, I hope you have many happy hours of crafting.   Don't forget if you have a craft that you want to share with others, get in touch with us or email it to us so that we can post it.  Don't forget that we all get the benefit as we pay our gifts forward.

Lilian

What a Lovely Mother's Day.

I don't know about you, but I enjoy the special day put aside for Mothers.  I love that I get time to spend with my daughters, but I love too the fact that they are able to enjoy the day with their children. 

This year I was able not only to enjoy their company, but my sister's company too as she visits from England.  She in turn enjoyed her second Mothering Sunday of the year.  England celebrates Mother's Day, or Mothering Sunday as it's called there, earlier than we do. 

Both Christine and I were treated to a gift that brought back some sweet memories for us.  I'll post the photo of that gift later.

Right now I want to show you the two lovely cards we received.  Hand made cards are so nice to receive, though I did have to chastise my sister for almost pulling hers apart as she tried to see how it was made!  She's an avid cardmaker too.

I do have another card to show you, but forgot to get the photo from Linda, so will do that in the next few days too.  Linda made cards for two of Rachel's teachers recently.  Although they were modeled from a card we made in one of the Thursday night card classes, I want you to see how different they ended up.  However.....you'll have to come back for another visit to see them.

Until then though,

Happy Crafting

Lilian

Card Class Last Week.

Did you see the cards that were made in last week's card class?  Here's one of them, and you can look here for the other two.

The ladies had a great time making some pretty neat flowers for to embellish the cards.  Maybe we'll make some more next week too.  We also double punched a strip of cardstock and one of the ladies didn't punch in quite the same way and ended up with a beautiful "outside the box" embellishment.  Drop into the store to look at another way to use your border punches. 

One of our regular cardmakers wasn't able to attend this class and she was none to happy that she missed out on these techniques.  Never mind, we'll be sure to catch you up to speed Tammy.  

It was quite a learning curve for me to discover how many ladies didn't know how to tie the ribbon to make the man's tie on the masculine card.  Having worn a uniform to school many, many, many ....did I say many years ago, I had to tie my tie every day.  It's ingrained now.

What have you been crafting at lately?  Why not send us a photo of your latest creation to share with others on our blog. 
Here's a beautiful card that I received recently from a friend.
It was a lovely pick-me-up from a pretty sad week for me.  I was so thankful for her kindness.


Happy Crafting until the next time I blog

Lilian

A peek into my creative space and more....

Well I promised you some photos of my creative space and again the days got away from me.  Life sometimes throws you curves that impact on your good intentions.  Some background on my space though.  In the planning of my space, I decided that I would repurpose the furniture that I had instead of purchasing more.  This meant finding out how to successfully paint laminated and pre-finished furniture. Thank goodness for the internet!  There are so many blogs where someone has tried to do what you want to do, already figuring out the pitfalls for you.  I learned that the best way to paint laminate was to use a good primer before you paint.  I also chose to let it cure for a bit before I put anything on or in it.  So my two unmatched bookcases and unmatched dressers were all painted white along with the grey counter top on the cabinet I inherited when Linda had her kitchen redone.  I'm very pleased with the results and love being able to put my hands on everything easily.  Well, that is except for my ruler that seems to have done a runner!  So here's a peek into my space......

This is how my space used to look.  See all the mismatched pieces of furniture and the grey counter top.  My workspace faced the window, so my back was toward our living room.

This is the same view into the room with the new look.  The counter top is now white and I changed the door hardware too.   Now the worktable comes out from the window, so when I'm working I can see into the living room.  It is also considerably longer as it's actually a door secured to the wall at one end and supported on the bookcase at the other end.  It's wide enough that my sewing machine sits on one side with the chair in place ready to go, along with space for another crafter on that side. 

 

This photo shows the left side with two bookcases at either end painted white, along with the two dressers.  One was cream and one a dark wood with legs which I removed.  This made it shorter so I bought some dollar store plastic bowls, added the same hardware as on the opposite cupboards and  sat them on top of the shorter dresser.  Randy helped me cut the new counter top for this side as I couldn't cut it with my scroll saw.  I cut a shelf for the top of the bookcases to display some of my "stuff" as I work on it.  It also helped to bring all the pieces together as one unit.  

Here's the right side of the room.  See all the scraps of cardstock organised in dollar store baskets with colour samples hanging on the front for easy viewing.  My Cameo sits in the corner of the counter ready to use, the Cuttlebug is in the cupboard behind my chair.  Punches are to the side of the chair in the plastic bin and patterned paper is in the stack beside my chair.  I can reach just about anything I need without moving much from the chair...LOL.  You can see two more work areas in the background.  One is a rolling table that can pull out and the tall stool in the other photo can be pulled up to the space at the counter.  The pendant lights that you can just see hanging over the desk area, provide some lovely direct lighting.

This is the bookcase that supports the table and holds most of my painting books along with a myriad of other things.

I hope you've enjoyed a look into my space and maybe I've inspired you to craft a space in your home for the crafting that brings you pleasure.

Last but not least I have a quick link here to an interview that my nephew Brian did just recently as the Canadian Olympic campaign was launched.  The campaign is called Give Your Everything.   He is once again going to the Olympics and who knows may again bring home another gold medal for Canada.  Good luck Brian and all our hardworking athletes. 

Well I hope this post wasn't too long and inspired you either as a crafter or as a supporter of the Canadian athletes.

Happy Crafting

Lilian