Just The Other Day

Bumpa was picking them up on his school bus to take them for their first day of kindergarten.  Suddenly they are graduating!!!  How can that be?  But yes it's true, Rachel and Jonathan will be graduating today from Monck Public School.  A day that will be filled with excitement and then sadness as they move on to become High School students. 

Here's a happy moment they've shared in the past.

 No doubt tomorrow they will NOT look like either of these photos, however Jonathan will have his ball cap on!  He ordered a very special one to complement what he's wearing for his graduation, so we'll have to wait on those photos.

Of course our households have been busily creating for this special day with gifts and card for teachers, which will no doubt be shared with you later.  

Tonight though you can have a peek at the graduation cards I've made for them both and maybe you can figure out what they will be wearing tomorrow.   The scrolls on each of the cards have some words of what I hope are wisdom for each of them as they move on to this next step in life.

Last week I was looking for some needlework ideas to share with you and came across this...isn't it cute!

I did find these to share with you though.

Two very lovely cross stitch patterns from DMC's archives and better still, the charts are available here and free to boot!  If you're in need of the floss, then drop into the store we have a full compliment of DMC colours.

On Saturday one of our customers was asking me about the "sandwich" to use when cutting with Nestabilities dies on the Cuttlebug.  I diligently wrote it all down for her on a card so that she could keep it as a reference, then forgot to give it to her!  

So Fay this is for you, I've made a visual reminder of the "sandwich" layers..  The "recipe" for cutting and embossing on your Cuttlebug machine. 

If you left click on the image it will bring it up larger, the right click, copy and paste it where you want to print it or save it.

I was just wondering, were you one of the early birds that picked up their free Scrapbooking and Cards Today magazine?  I handed out lots of them on Saturday, so hopefully you won't be disappointed and miss out on this full and inspiring issue.  All you have to do is drop into the store, spend $20.00 and you'll receive this great magazine.

Until Later...Happy Crafting

Lilian

Heads Up

The new Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine is now in the store, so make sure you drop in to pick one up before they are all gone.  All you have to do is spend $20.00 and the magazine is then free to you, and this issue is packed full of ideas.
We are always happy to realise how "in tune" with the industry we are and once again some of the articles in the summer issue talk about ideas we have already presented to you.
On page 12 you can read more about colour inspiration, which I mentioned a couple of blog posts ago.  A customer was in the store on Tuesday telling me how very inspiring and educational she had found it...have you read it?  It was the posting of June 10th headed "Have You Been Surfing".  Scroll down there and there's an article similar to the one in this new issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today.

Another interesting article in the magazine is on page 41, part of the 3 i's. Ideas, insights and inspiration.  Emily Pitts has created an ombre scrapbook layout.  One of the challenges we presented to the scrapbookers at our Spring Mega Crop was to use an ombre border on a layout.
Don't miss looking at page 33 either, where you will find the same layout in easy, detailed and expert...really good ideas.
And of course if you are the lucky owner of a Silhouette cutting machine, they have treats there for you!  Read through carefully and you will find a number of FREE cutting files for you to download.

Don't despair if you're not a scrapbooker either, because there are some quick and easy summer cards for you to make.
We also have many customers who as they read through the magazine use it as a resource for products they are interested in, contacting us to ask us to order it in for them.  So make sure you read all the articles and advertising too, often there are some great products that you may not know about.
Didn't I tell you this issue was packed full of ideas...so hurry in because there are a limited number of copies available and all you have to do is spend $20.00 to receive this magazine from us.

Remember that I mentioned to you that Lisa had shown me the great artwork she was creating with the alcohol inks?  Well she sent me a photo of   the one that I mentioned to you...what do you think?  Should she be working toward a show of  her own?  It's lovely isn't it.  Can't you just see an abstract field of summer flowers in what Lisa created? A little like a Monet even?


We were playing with distress inks again with some enthusiastic ladies at Wednesdays card class.  Using three inks to create a lovely background for the focal point of a card.  Thursday/Wednesday Technique Classes are a great opportunity for you to delve into an art that you may not have tried, or that you want to explore further.  We had three "newbie" card makers on Wednesday night, so Linda and I were kept hopping, but they went home very happy with what they had been able to create.


I've been busy tonight making a card for my dear Mother-in-law's 90th birthday which is coming up really soon now. I'll show it to you later, but it too was fashioned from one of the cards we made on Wednesday night. Maybe I should have you guess which one it was. The hardest part was to find a verse to put in the card.  I wanted something unique and somewhat special to mark this milestone, but couldn't find anything that appealed.  I ended up taking after one of my sisters and writing some verses myself.  Where do you find inspiration for the inside verses of the cards you make?  I'd be interested if you'd like to share your resources with our blog readers.

Until Later....Happy Crafting

Lilian

So Many Creative People Around Us.

When there is so much instant entertainment and gratification, it's refreshing to have the opportunity to see and hear from the creative people in our community.

I had someone in the store on Saturday who was so very excited because she's going to be a grandmother for the first time. Although for me it was 22 years ago that we were blessed with our first grandchild, I could still remember that feeling of excitement.  

This soon to be (September) grandma was telling me that they were not going to know if it's a boy or girl and that she wants to make some outfits for the baby.  

She was starting with the purchase of some felt in order to make some little booties for the baby, I think something like these on the left. You can find the tutorial here, along with some other great ideas.

If you want to get fancier and are able to design your own pattern, how about these that I found on Flickr for that little girl in your life?  

A simple enough design and yet dressed up with some lovely ribbon embroidery.

I found a tutorial for you here for these booties also. What generous sharing people there are in the blogging world.  Using this pattern as a jumping off spot, your imagination could run wild on how to "dress it up" couldn't it.  Did I inspire you to have fun?

Did you see (get the email) of the extra blog on Saturday?  We had such response to our All Day Card Class with a waiting list by Thursday,   that we have opened another class.  See Saturday's blog below for more details.  

This is definitely a reason to sign up to receive our blogs in your inbox, because by early Monday morning there were already five people signed into this class that I know of and I wasn't at the store today!

It's really easy to know when I've blogged.  All you have to do is sign up to follow by emails.  It's on the right hand side of the blog that you're likely reading now just, below the fourth green subtitle.  Type your email in there and each time I blog, you will receive notification in your inbox....easy peasy and you're ahead of any newsletter recipients.

I was looking through some of my scrapbook files today and came upon this one that Linda made at one of our Mega Crop Weekends and which I was supposed to have scanned...oops. Done now, but still has to have some journaling added, which now I'm returning it to Linda she'll be able to complete.  

The reason I mention it though is because it caught my eye with the mix of card stock, scrapbook paper and stamping coming together to make a lovely layout don't you think?  Do you stamp in your scrapbook layouts?  It does add another dimension to the page.

Speaking of scrapbook pages...what do you think?  Won't she be a lovely focal point for any page?

What a joy it was to sit through three hours of dance on Saturday evening. Yes you read that right, a joy!  An amazing coming together of talented young people and more than that even, the talented, giving, sharing, caring teachers they have the opportunity to study under.

Miss Maria...how she came up with the idea to teach her five classes of students all of whom are at different skill levels and put them together onstage as one, I just can't imagine.  

That was 59 ballerinas of different ages and maturity, slipping on and off stage numerous times and then finally all coming together in perfect timing as one, onstage, at the end of their performance.    

The piece was called Orchestra, so of course there were many different instruments being interpreted in ballet, as well as a harp flitting in and out.   

Our Emily was one of the flutes, the instrument she actually plays with such finesse too, great casting...LOL.

Amazing show, amazing young people...great evening of entertainment.  If ever you have the opportunity to partake of this, you should.  They have put on three performances and there are two more next weekend, all sold out performances.  It's fast moving, only long due to the amount of talent.   That said, every item is so unique and different that it reminded me of  a scrapbook album and the anticipation of the next page/item.  I'm looking forward to seeing Emily's scrapbook page sometime in the future.

Until Later ....Happy Crafting

Lilian

Did You Miss Out on the First Class?

Well our summer card making class which we told you about on Tuesday was filled up by Thursday with a waiting list to boot!  We had some pretty excited card makers from Ottawa and Quebec who were the first to register for the class and then by Thursday some of the ladies from the Technique class had to have their names put onto the waiting list.
Never fear though, we've booked a venue for a second class.  It will be held on Saturday August 3rd at the Community Room in Independent Grocers, so don't delay because there won't be a third repeat of this class.
Linda and I have all ten cards designed though only eight actually made at the moment, but that's not bad in a week is it!

I had the pleasure of some show and tell today.  Lisa was in and purchased some alcohol inks and if any of you know me, of course I had to ask her what she was using the alcohol ink for...right?
Lisa told me that she's been playing with them to paint with and showed me photos of some of her work.  Let me tell you ladies they were beautiful!  One I was greatly impressed with was an abstract field of flowers, similar to the scene to the right, but flowers rather than sky and water.  Perhaps if Lisa sees this post she will share her artwork with you.  I did ask her when her art showing would be and she lied to me inasmuch as she said she's not good enough for that yet....hmmmmm.   Perhaps you will all have the opportunity of being the judge of that if Lisa allows you to see her work.

We had another young lady in on Thursday who was excited to want to knit. She told us that she'd only knitted twice before and didn't know how to cast on or off.  Through talking with her I learned that she only knows how to work garter stitch, but let me tell  you that she left the store with yarn and needles to begin making a blanket.  She was going onto YouTube to find a video to refresh her memory and she was going to make a blanket.  
I was impressed by her excitement and desire to knit which is fast becoming a dying art.  Here's a YouTube video if you feel the same desire to learn this needle-art that she did.
I was also introduced this week to a knitting technique I'd never heard of before and must try in the not too distant future.  It's a Scandinavian technique to prevent the rolling up of the bottom of your garment without knitting a rib.  It's called Twined Knitting and I'll leave you to source that technique.

Until Later ....  Happy Crafting 

Lilian

Have You Ever Been Surfing?

Do you like to do that, not on the ocean, but on the Internet?  

Linda says I've too much time on my hands, and maybe I do because I no longer have a family to raise and run after as she does.  I've had my turn and quite honestly I like the little extra minutes I have here and there to "surf" the web.   

Though I'm definitely not a "social media" person, I love the fact that I can actually see my family's homes from the roadside in Australia or England. That I can chat on Skype as if I'm in the same room as people so far away from me.  That we were caught not once, but twice, on a webcam.

But more than even that I love what an amazing resource it is and no matter which country you live in you can find information from where ever and for what ever interests you.

You'll be well aware that crafting pretty much as a whole interests me so that's one of the resources I search for.  One resource I use when scrapbooking, and I use many, is Scrapbook Update. 

There are often interesting articles that cause you to step outside the box and try something you may not otherwise try.  There has just been a three part series run on "Using Color Palettes to Inspire your Layout."  

Do you sometimes find yourself drawn to the same color palette? 

Though the style that is shown on Scrapbook Update is quite different to mine, I did find some interesting features.  

If you read this article perhaps it will help you try new colours, but bear in mind it's a three part article, so may take you some time. 

You can find the first part here.  Here they touch on  how colour palettes can help in your product selection and also direct you to a site that helps you  find colours that work together, link here. By adjusting the R,G,B levers on the top left colour square and then clicking "go get it", you will be given colour choices that work together.  Great for when you're decorating too.

Part two is here.  Here they give you some ideas on design and discuss such things as the rule of thirds.

I particularly liked this colour palette and how they spoke of Halloween colours being mainly orange and black and yet when you link them with these other colours, how interesting it becomes.

So click here for the third part of this series.

Some time ago now I mentioned to you how Rachel had made a doll for a cousin, Jessica, that she met for just a few hours last summer.  I have told you more than once that I'd post the photos for you to see, but realize on a Monday evening that once again I don't have them...however tonight I do, so here they are for you to see what an incredible job our 13 year old budding seamstress did. 

Rachel gave Jessica the responsibility of naming her doll and she chose the name of Isabel Sunflower.

 

Do you see the sewn on tag that says made by Rachel?

And this is Jessica giving me the thumbs up after she completed the walk for life recently with her Mommy in England, for which I sponsored her.  Such a happy smile don't you think?

Linda and I are often busy preparing for future classes behind the scenes and that's the case right now as we've just booked the Independent Community Room for our Summer All Day Card Class on July 20th.  

Once again we will be making a minimum of ten cards in five hours, so if you want to join us don't delay as there will be a cap on the numbers for this class.  

Good news is that we're almost half way toward completion of the ten sample cards...hooray!  Well maybe one third of the way...still that's just since Friday when we booked the room...not so bad.  Maybe I'll give you a sneak peek next week.

Well have I hit on your craft yet?  Maybe you're a card maker and excited to hear that we are offering our bi-weekly class on the opposite week as well now and also on another day that may just suit your schedule better?  

We've been challenged over the last months to accommodate our card maker's. Often having to tell them, sorry the class is full and overflowing. Hence the decision to add the extra, albeit the same class the following week on the Wednesday, so now there's no reason to miss out on an evening of fun, learning and laughter.

These classes are technique classes.  A little different to the All Day Classes as we are able to work more one on one in these with time to instruct a technique or two, so join us to learn more of a craft that you love.

For your interest though, on the Scrapbook Update blog where I found the info for the scrapbookers, I found this lovely card for our card makers.

I really love the way the Spellbinder was taken off the top of the card with the cute little kitten in the centre, don't you?  Banners continue to be a hit on both cards and scrapbook pages after quite a long time now.  Notice also how the bottom border is turned up the opposite way. Yes and last but not least, I do like all the machine stitching on the card.  A lovely card indeed.

Until Later....Happy Crafting

Lilian

Well I can't leave without wishing my dear sisters an early "Happy Birthday" in two more days.  You're cards are winging their way to their respective homes.

Where Did That Week Go?

I don't know about you, but the week just flew by and I couldn't honestly think of much productive that I accomplished...hate those weeks.

However for the French Exchange Students at Monck Public School it was a power packed week of activities!  

Can you imagine approximately 100 student travelling around our area enjoying time kayaking, canoeing. Exploring downtown Bracebridge and the Wharf at Gravenhurst.   A long day trip to Toronto ending that day with a trip to the theater to name just a few activities they enjoyed!  

Jonathan's twin asked for a "down" day on Sunday because he was so tired...LOL.  Rachel had given her twinned student a lovely mini scrapbook which encompassed Rachel's trip to Quebec and her twinned student's visit here.  I chuckled when I read in one of Rachel's journaled pages how much she had enjoyed her visit to Quebec, but how pleased she was to be going home as her brain was tired from searching for the right french word to use at times.  

I'm sure that was the way with the Quebec students as they journeyed home today, but they had the joy of working on a 60 page English test on their way home...great way to pass the eleven hour journey I guess.

As the end of school approaches you may be in need of a card for the teacher.   Here's a quick idea for you to use. We have some for sale at the store if you don't have time or paper to make them yourself. 

Father's day is fast approaching too, so here's a greeting that you could use on either the front of a card as the focal point, or inside as the greeting.

Linda had mentioned in last weeks newsletter that I may show you some of the felt pieces I  have been playing with, so here are a few samples.  Drop into the store if you want to see them in real life.

They are fun to do, cost next to nothing and take very little time.  A great craft to pick up and put down in the summer or when travelling in the car 

(you need to be the passenger though).

Above you will see three little purses, with the flip side of the blue one below showing the button closure.

The long blue one above and the green one to the right are iPhone or iPod sleeves.

The burgundy with orange flowers above is a needle case with the inside showing on the right.




Here are two special coasters I made for my Mother-in-law as she always used to tell us about the sheep on the hills near where she lives.
 So why not join us on Friday night at the Crop and Craft night and learn how to create these simple felt appliques.

Did I ever tell you what a great researcher my daughter Sandra is? Any time you want to know something, almost before you've finished asking, she's searching on the internet for the answer.  I don't know whether she just thinks of the right key words or what it is, but she really does find out some interesting points.

Before we went to England and Wales she found the webcam in the town where we would be staying in Wales.  She sent us the link and suggested we should try and find the webcam whilst we were there.

Well I don't know if you are aware, but there is a five hour time difference between Canada and England/Wales and quite honestly we forgot about the webcam .....however Sandra didn't!

So one day I sent a quick email to say we had arrived safely and would be going out for dinner shortly.  Sandra picked up that email on her lunch hour, figured the time out and thought she'd just pop on to the PC and see if she might see us on the webcam.  Here's the results of what she found....

I've highlighted in the small square, two people (I know the photo is really poor, but it's a webcam).  Those two people were my husband and I reading the board telling the history of the town.  

Can you imagine what amazing timing that was!
Sandra having her lunch, us just returning from dinner and stopping for such a few moments to read the board, and being seen from three thousand miles away! All in real time as well.  If you look at the time stamp on the photo, you will see it was 6:42 pm in Wales and that would be 1:42 pm in Canada.  The town we were staying in was Aberystwyth and you can see in the background of the photo the ocean of Cardigan Bay, which is part of the Irish Sea.

Well there's your Amazing Video (webcam) story for today along with a little geography too...LOL

I hope I've inspired you to try something new, whether it's card making, applique or Internet research.

Until Later, Happy Crafting


Lilian