Are You Ready?

Have you cleared your calendar?  Because ready or not the registration day for the Mega Crop Weekend draws near. 

Don't be left out in the cold.  Enjoy a weekend with people who share the same love of scrapbooking that you do.  There are only a limited number of spaces, so make sure that one of them has your name on it.

Lilian

Cards from the U.K.

Did you know that we have quite a following of blog readers in the U.K?  One of them is my sister-in-law Di's friend, Cathie.  She got the card making bug from Di after Di had been over here on vacation. They get together sometimes to make cards and here's a sampling of their work.

Di's made a lovely patchwork/easel card.  Cathie's shaby chic Eiffel Tower is really eye catching too.  Did you see the good use Cathie made of her border punch on the red and black card.

How about your art work?  Would you like us to showcase what you've been up to?  I heard from Linda that Lucille and Kaitlyn have made two pretty nice pages which they showed her in the store.  Wouldn't we all like to see them?

Lilian

We are so Blessed

Linda and I are so fortunate to have so many lovely customers.

We had a card class tonight and I have to tell you that Linda and I weren't at our best tonight.  It had been one of those days where so many little things piled on top of another little thing until they became increasingly problematic. Nothing big, nothing that couldn't be dealt with and fixed, just annoying.

Anyway where I'm going with this convulated story is that after card class, there on the front counter was a lovely little potted chrysanthemum with a note in it saying thank you.  We don't know which one of the ladies brought it in, though we have our suspicions, and we are going to assume that it was for us and not left accidentally.  But whichever one it was, let me tell you that it couldn't have happened on a better day for us and we thank you for your thoughtfulness.

We've said this before and we mean it sincerely, each and every customer is important to us and we strive at classes to make each of you feel comfortable, successful and able to enjoy the time spent in class.  Hopefully we have been able to do that.

Here's what they made in class tonight, but I forgot to take a photo of the extra flower they made by stamping on Vellum and heat embossing with white powder.  Will add that later for you to see.

Stamping on Sticky Back Canvas 

Stamping on Felt

Lilian

Promised Sharing of Pages

I promised you a couple of days ago that I would share some of Marykay's innovative scrapbook pages and tonight's the night!

You have to pay attention to the way she has used her own photos as her background paper.  She's had them printed as 12x12 and then scrapbooked as usual.   How neat is that?  On the mountain page the inset is a photo of the people that you see at the bottom of the mountain on the background paper.  Pretty unique don't you think.

With the wedding layout Marykay took a photo, had it enlarged and printed in black and white.  Don't miss how she drew attention to the groom's wedding band either.

Last but not least, she's been playing with the newest toy she purchased from us...the Silhouette Cutting Machine.  What a clever card for a tween don't ya think! 

Way to go Marykay and thanks for sharing.

Lilian



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Free Scrapbook Page made at Midnight Crop Feb 18th

Here's the page (left side) that all the midnight croppers had the opportunity to make last Friday night. Don't you wish you had been there?   We used strips of paper randomly placed and woven down the right hand side.  All the flowers were cut on the Silhouette.  What a great way to use up all those scraps you have left over from previous layouts!

 

The right side is the additional page I added for my scrapbook.  Don't forget the white border isn't there in real life.

Lilian

Expressions and Sentiments - Great Suggestion.

I was chatting with one of my sisters-in-law in the UK today. (Love that Skype)   Can you believe that she has senior moments like me and often can't think of the right word!  She had a great suggestion though, it was just tough to pull it out of her head as she struggled to find the word.  (Are you getting the mental picture.) 

Anyway....on to the suggestion which is in fact in keeping with her struggle for the right word - LOL.  How about we start a thread (this was the word) where you can comment below this post any of your favourite sentiments for cards or scrapbook titles.  You can then return to it when you are stuck for an idea.  (Do a search on the page - side bar - for "expressions".)   We all know that we have a zillion sentiment stamps, but sometimes not the right one for the card we're making.  This could be a go to place, but only if you participate.  So how about it? 

I'll post Di's ideas, who'll be the next to post some of theirs.  Don't worry if they overlap some, just post your ideas in the comments below.

Here's one I made at some time for a page I think but never used, and another I use on cards sometimes.

This one can be made using Word and the Word Art option.

Now it's your turn.

Lilian

Finally the Scrapbook Page is Done!

 Well it took me some time, but FINALLY it's done!  I had so many photos that I wanted to use (as always) but didn't want to have to mention all the different places we visited in the journaling.  I got round that by printing the names right onto the photos before they were developed.  The larger photos I mentioned their location in the journaling. 
Do you see the band of swirly things on the side of each page?  I liked the brown of them matching the chipboard letters I used, but didn't like the pink that was in that paper.  I bet you can't see pink can you? (Click on the photo for a larger view and then click again to magnify it further).  That's because I coloured over the pink with my green pencil crayon and then topped it with glossy accents.  Don't be afraid to alter the paper to match your overall design, whether it's by colouring it as I did, or perhaps by using a background stamp to change the paper. Oh by the way, the white border you see around the photo is added as I post the photos, the pages don't have white around them.

Well did anyone look at the time of this post?  Yes it really is 1:50am and I'm off to bed now.  We had a midnight crop tonight and though horribly windy and snowy, we were all warm and cozy at the store and enjoyed some lovely laughter.  Well, until we had to leave to go home that is...need to work on that process methinks!

I have some other "stuff" to post later for you to see.  Mary Kay has sent us some very innovative scrapbook pages that she's made and also I'll post the page that the folks created at the crop tonight.

Oh I just noticed that it's Constantin Brancusi's 135th birthday today.  Who is he? I had no idea but I learned that he was a crafter just like you and me.  Closer to home though, it's my daughter Sandra "C's" childhood friend Sandra "B's" birthday today too.  That's how we identified them...Sandra "C" for Carrick and Sandra "B" for her last name.  Aren't you glad that you learned about that bit of family trivia...LOL.  One of my quirks...... having a birthday/anniversary/death/event to go with a date.

See "ya" later...... night.

Lilian

Card Making Day

I can't believe how fast our card classes sign up...not that the class is full, but already today, just one day after posting it, it is half full.  Now ponder that thought...is it half full, or half empty?  Too much for my little brain tonight I'm afraid. 

I've been working on a scrapbook page the last couple of days and it seems each time I sit down to work on it, something prevents me.  However that said, I only have the journaling to do now and that's written out, just have to type it up.  Hate my handwriting so very little of that gets into my albums.  Some does, but not much.  I'll try to scan and post it tomorrow.

Thought you may like to see this card my hubby got for his birthday a while back.  Made by one of our daughters, she loves Mojo Monday as a starting point for her cards.  A bit like Page Maps but card oriented, worth looking at if you haven't already.  You can see the link on the sidebar of our blog.

Lilian

The One Album Only Scrapbooker

My friend Edie came into our store a number of years ago for help with a scrapbook album she was making.  It wasn't the easiest task she had ever taken on and when I suggested the next album would be easier, she insisted she was only doing this one album.  Well here we showcase an example of the work she has just completed on approximately her twentieth album!  Many of them have been gifts to family members, how special a gift is that.

This is a page from her family's vacation, yes the whole family vacationed together and you can see in the photos the pure joy they shared.  Not only that though, you see great use of stickers placed on the photos to accent them and support the journaling.  The floral embellishments were stamped, cut out, coloured and mounted in a very eyecatching way.  In making a whole album on a vacation it's difficult to find yet another title, but Edie again used a sticker embellishment in an innovative way as the page title.  Click on the page to see it close up and as always it's soooo much better in real life.

Edie had asked Linda and I if we would put extra pages into her album and assemble it for her.  I told her there would be a cost to it, the cost being our opportunity to showcase her work.  She doesn't feel that she has anything to offer other scrapbookers in way of ideas, but she's dead wrong isn't she!  Great job Edie and right on with your guess as to which page I chose to showcase.

Did I mention she's already started on her twenty first album?   Page Maps is her "go to" source of inspiration, but we think she's used just about every layout they've produced now and always puts her own thumbprint on them.

Terrific work Edie and thanks so much for sharing.

Lilian

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A Dancers Heart

Well three hearts actually.  Can you imagine 30 busy little dancers making this craft that Emily so proudly displays for us, at their Valentine party last Friday night?  Well they did and apparently it was very successful.  Kudos to Linda for dreaming it up and creating the kits and to Miss Tammy and Miss Meghan for being so organised allowing the dancers to enjoy themselves in this way at their party. They range in age from 6 to about 12/14 I think, so can be a challenge to find the right craft for everyone, but praise again to the teachers for having such organised work stations that made it all go smoothly.

I'm beginning to wonder about our adult crafters though.  I'm patiently awaiting some contributors to the blog, but haven't received any emails yet. (Perhaps though I didn't express myself very clearly). I know you craft at home, because Linda and I get to see some of your work.  How about sharing it to inspire others.  Just send me an email with a photo attached and your work will be showcased as Deanne's was.

If you check in tomorrow you'll be able to see the work of one of our scrapbookers.  She's been scrapbooking now for about 6 years and has put together an amazing number of albums.  I'm not going to tell you any more, you'll have to drop by tomorrow to see her work.

Did you see Linda's little hint about the upcoming Crop Weekend registration?  I don't think it's too far away do you?  Thankyou to that very special customer who was kind enough to bring me a tea on Saturday, you are a treasure Joanne.

Lilian

Where is Spring?

I was lulled into thinking that winter was soon coming to an end and then came today!    Not only was it really cold at 6:30 this morning, -25 on our thermometer, we had more snow overnight.  How about you though are you  a winter body or like me looking forward to spring and all that it brings?  My thoughts travel forward to the crop weekend....have you cleared your calendar?  Remember it's April 15, 16 and 17 are you ready, because ready or not it will  soon sneak up on you.  How about another all day cardmaking day, that would be fun too.  I have some cards rattling around in my head, we'll announce a date soon.

I think this was the first time this winter that we had to stop and consider whether or not to cancel cardmaking class. However we went ahead and here's a look at one of the cards the ladies made as they played with Stickles on two different mediums.  If you go onto flickr you'll see the other one displayed there.

Lilian

Shopping Again

That's what Linda and I were doing AGAIN today, and we didn't even leave the store!  Many of you who know us will know that neither one of us is a shopper.  However to find the newest and nicest items to fill the store, be it plasticine from a new supplier, or paper products being released after CHA, that's what we do at least part of the day.  We also had an order come in today with some pretty paper - "Twig" by Little Yellow Bicycle.  Drop on by the store to see it.

We also get the pleasure of assisting our customer/friends as we help them learn how to use their new toys,

Or helping choose a Valentine gift for someone dear to the heart.  We did that today too.   Lucky lady don't you think?

 

Or maybe part of our day will be spent helping select some of that pretty paper to make a scrapbook layout. 

  Figuring out a craft for a group of 30 children (can't show you this one yet)....all in a days work you say.    Never dull never boring, that's our day, but these are the fun parts of the day, the shopping however.....hmmm still thinking on that one!

Let us know if we can help you in anyway.    Whether it's a tutorial on your tools, a party/weekend craft for your family and friends or a card for that special someone.  Ask us and we'll see what we can do to help.

Lilian

The Wonder of Technology

I told you that I would share my experience with this wonderful technology that we have at our fingertips today.  As many of you know most of my family lives in England.  That distance for us is diminished because of the chat program Skype and our computer cameras.  Both my sister and my sister-in-law will often drop in to our home for a class via Skype and our cameras.

That's what happened just recently when my sister-in-law Di was making an apron for our father-in-law.  He assists the nurse when she goes to his house to care for our mother-in-law, so during a recent visit there, Di and he thought he should have a uniform to wear.  Never faint hearted, Di set out first to make an apron, then to decorate it with the help of her Silhouette. 

That's where the lesson time came in as she emailed me for help and we got together with our PC's and cameras and worked through her challenges.   This is the result modeled by Di's husband before she mailed it to our father-in-law.  Great isn't it!

Look at the detail with the watch at the top along with all the tools of the nursing trade.  He has it now and is apparently very proud of it, wearing it each time the nurse visits.  Well done Di, great creativity and thoughtfulness.

Keep in mind that the Silhouette isn't just for papercrafting.  As Di showed us it's great for decorating clothing too in a unique and special way.

Lilian

Tried Hard Not to But I Failed!

I wasn't going to post anything tonight especially not another Valentine card, but I just couldn't do it...sorry!  This will be a quick post though.  Here it is a cute girlie kinda card for all those little "misses" in your life.

This is an older paper, so I don't remember the line. I stamped a few extra hearts on the paper and used a white Signo Uniball pen  -  simply the best white pen I've come acrosss  -  to enhance the flowers already printed on the page.  Scallop scissors put a nice edge to the paper and of course a lovely Hero Arts girlie stamp, coloured and popped up.

Almost forgot...are you checking out all the links Linda shows you on the newsletter?  Joanne was thrilled with what she learned about Spellbinders.  Take a minute and follow some of the links (actually, you may need more than a minute).

Don't be looking at the time of this post now...I've learned how to schedule them, now you'll never know the truth...LOL!

Lilian

Hope you had a lovely birthday June.

How was your Weekend - any Creativity going on?

Why is it that weekends are so short?  Before you know it, it's time to start thinking of work or school. I had a goal this weekend to colour, cut and Glossy Accent some butterflies and I achieved that goal....unlike some of the loftier goals I set myself.  I'm a butterfly person and love to put them on cards, but get a bit miserly with them if I only have a few in my stash, hence the goal.   Here's a few of them, some glazed, some not, some coloured with watercolour markers, some with pencil crayons.......all ready to be used though.

The nice thing about weekends I find, is that sometimes I have the chance to chat with family overseas and today I bumped into a sister-in-law that I hadn't seen online for a while.  That was nice because it's her birthday on Monday, so I was able to wish her a happy birthday. 

Also to chat with a granddaughter who is experimenting with making her own webpage.  I could never have imagined that when I was her age.  Isn't technology wonderful!  I'll share more about the power of technology tomorrow.

Hope your weekend was wonderful and that maybe you got to enjoy some of our balmy weather too, I know my friend did. 

Lilian

Crop Night

Well we had a very busy Crop and Craft Night last night with 12 ladies signed up.  There were card makers and scrapbookers there as well as some who love both crafts.  One innovative lady had saved a leftover piece from her Distress Ink class and used it very effectively as a frame for a photo.....nice job!  Lots of ideas flowed back and forth around the tables as wall hangings and mini albums as well as double page spreads were made.  In the midst of that creativity they all had an opportunity to make these two cards.  The valentine card (this one was for you Krista...missed having you with us) used text fill which can be a great accent on a scrapbook page and the other featured Distress Ink, dry embossing and sanding.  This too can be used to create your own paper for a page.

Oh did I mention all the fun and laughter that happened as well as tutorials on the Silhouette......a very busy night!  You have to sign up early to share the fun.

Basic Grey Valentine Card

Here's a feminine card that I made from Basic Grey Paper.  The card layout idea I found on a blog which unfortunately I didn't take note of, but I thought it was really lovely.   I chose the Olivia line double sided using both sides of the Desiree.  The border was cut with a Spellbinder Fleur de Lis Borderability.  Did you get yours while they were on sale?  I think there's only one left in the store now, although there are Renaissance Hearts and Kaleidoscope Borderabilities that would work well too.  The heart I free hand drew and scissor cut, though if you have a Silhouette, Cricut or Spellbinder die you could use one of them.  The ribbon is a gorgeous double sided satin that we have in stock from May Arts, and there's a little pearl bling on the border.  Again no stamping for those that don't like to stamp.  

Hope to see you drop by the blog again, because you'll see ideas on here that you won't see displayed in the store.

Lilian

Valentine's Day is Almost Upon Us - Are you Ready?

Sending Valentines is so much different now to when I was young - yes I was young once!  Then you would only send to someone you secretly admired or to whom you were married/engaged/courting.  (See I even use old fashioned words).  Now though you send cards to family members, friends, co-workers - much more scope for our creativity isn't there.  However, the downside is figuring out those masculine cards.  It's always easy to do the fussy, flowery ones (I'll post one later this week), but the masculine is a much greater challenge.

Here's one I created for my grandson and it doesn't require stamping if you're not a stamper.  I used scraps from my scrap bin, do you have any?  I pierced the brown patterned paper with my trusty Tim Holz ruler and my Tim Holtz/Tonic piercing tool then sewed with red floss to hold the nuts that I took out of my hubby's tool box.  The brown mat was edged with red cardstock and the hearts punched from red cardstock, all mounted on a white card base.  The sentiment I wrote with my black Micron pen (love those pens).  I didn't try to keep the writing even because I wanted it to look funky with the dots added to each letter.  Click on the photo for a larger view.  All in all I was pleased with the results and the little time it took.  Try one if you have to create a masculine Valentine.

Lilian

Hello and Welcome

If you're here looking at our blog today, it's because you read about it in our E-Newsletter.  It was a long one today wasn't it, Linda was like the energizer bunny that just kept on going, but there really was so much to share with you this week!  Thanks for reading the newsletter and dropping by.  I just realised that you can see the time I'm posting, so I'll have to take care or you'll all see what a night owl I am.

I wanted to put this little card on the blog.  It really isn't my card but I took the liberty of mounting the stamped image onto a card and adding some ribbon, string and a tag.  One of the ladies from last Thursday's class left it behind because as we understand it, she wasn't pleased with the result of her embossing.  What do you think, wouldn't you like to receive it, isn't it gorgeous?  Click on the photo to enlarge it.

And she's a new cardmaker too.

I couldn't let this post go without showcasing Deanne's December Project 12 page either.  The photo just doesn't do it justice, it's so much nicer in real life.  The detail is amazing and I couldn't decide if my personal favourite was that funky snowman or the canvas tree.  Leave us a comment as to what you think.  Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Way to go Deanne.

Lilian

PS.  Just wondering, how many of you had to look down at the time stamp just to see what time I posted this...LOL?