Sketch #11

*** edited to change sketch/layout... realized I had already used the previous one... doh!

another older sketch and layout... thought the theme fit the time of year. Can't believe it's so close to Christmas already... I really need to get my cards sent! I also have a couple gifts that I really need to finish making, plus wrapping the ones we've bought. Not a ton of time for scrapping this time of year, but I'd love to see your layouts if you do one based on the sketch.





















KI Memories papers, forgetting the foam stamp company...

December DT layouts

Long time no update... this work thing really takes up a lot of my free time! I know I say this every month, but I had two fabulous kits to work with again.

My Scrap Shoppe's December kit is Cool and Crisp... a great mix of papers--My Mind's Eye, Love, Elsie, 7 Gypsies, Deja Views, Creative Imaginations & We R Memory Keepers (I don't know how Marcy does it every month... so many manufacturer's and it all works so well together). Fun embellishments too... Fancy Pants felt, 7 Gypsies clips and rub-ons, AC felt thickers, and some really cool Maya Road ricrac to start the list off. Check my link for a complete list. I still have some things in the works with this kit, but here's what I have done so far...

Fall Hike is a lift of a layout by Jennifer Pebbles, the guest designer at MSS this month. You can see what Jennifer did with the December kit here. Click here to see what the MSS girls did with the kit...

A fun kit this month at Bring your own Memories too! I loved working with the KI Pop Culture papers and softies (no surprise... lol). Carmen and Krystn did a great job matching up some embellishments from Maya Road, Heidi Swapp and Queen & Co too. After helping sort and separate some of the embellishments this month, I have a new appreciation for how much work they put into this kit. Here's what I've done so far:

You can see what the rest of the design team did here.

Holiday Hoopla Crop @ the Shoppe!

Come join in the fun... tonight and tomorrow there will be fun challenges and Leigh's got a great project!

Sketch #10

Finally... another sketch. This one was inspired by Scrapbook Play...

layout credits: Papers by Vera Lim, Glitter alpha by Leora Sanford, AL Uncle Charles font, brushes (to make photo frame) by FlyGuy. I'd love to see what you do with the sketch, so link me up in the comments!

Back to Work...

I've been looking for something part-time since Morgan started grade one in September, but was pretty picky about what I wanted to do. I want to be able to drop off and pick up the kids from school, and be home on the weekends, and that can be hard to find. But I did, and I start next week... not sure how many shifts I'll get, but even two or three is good for now. Morgan doesn't really eat when she stays at school for lunch, so that's a concern, but I'm hoping it will be okay if she can come home a couple days too.

In other news, I'm trying to sell some of my journaling tags at the LSS! I designed these to work with a few of the Christmas lines that are new this year (BG Figgy Pudding, Making Memories, AL's It's a Rhonna Christmas) so I'm hoping they'll sell and then I'll try a couple other designs/colours. We're going to try selling them for $1.99... so we'll see how it goes. I'd love to know what you think of them...

November DT stuff...

I've been busy scrapping away with my two design team kits... once again Marcy, Carmen and Krystn outdid themselves putting these kits together...

BYOM's November kit was full of American Crafts goodies... papers, thickers, metal photo corners, vinyl and chipboard accents plus some Queen & Co felt trim and other yummy stuff. Here's what I did with it:

You can see what the other DT girls did with the kit here...

I loved the mix in the November MSS kit, Office Party. Making Memories papers, letters, brads, die cuts and ribbons mixed with some American Crafts and Urban Lily papers, Scenic Route label stickers, a Hambly Overlay, and an Autumn Leaves stamp... much more in the kit, check out the link for a full list. Jamie Waters was a guest designer this month, and all the MSS girls lifted one of her layouts. Mine is "Calm Before the Storm" which is a lift of Jamie's "Starbucks" layout.

Here's what I did:

You can see what Jamie made with the kit here and what the MSS girls did with the kit here...

Sketch #9

Here's a sketch I posted for the online crop at MSS this weekend... it also happens to be part of my 'Inspiration Everywhere' class from CSC4K (sponsored by Tinkering Ink and Prism papers). I look forward to seeing what you create!

Layout credits: Tinkering Ink papers and Finery; Maya Road chipboard letters; Colorbox chalk ink; Zig pen

My experience at CSC4K...

yes, I know I said I'd do this Monday... and now it's Thursday... oh well.

So, first I want to say I was so excited to be a part of this event. As soon as I found out that it was happening, and so close to me, I knew I wanted to support it. Even if that only meant attending classes or volunteering, I wanted to help. Morgan wouldn't be here with us today without the Children's hospitals here in London and Toronto and I'm excited to give back to them by being a part of the Crop for Kids.

This picture is from the Wednesday before CSC4K started... a few of us had to go through all the class kits (that had been packed at kit parties through the summer as product came in) and make sure everything was in the bags, and add instructions. The amazing thing is that all of this product (and there's more you can't see in this picture) was donated by scrapbook companies and stores so more money could go to the hospitals. Multiply this by the 6 events across Canada, and you get a lot of product! So thanks so much to all the sponsors! It was a full day of work to check all these kits and then take them to the hotel.

There were so many fantastic teachers and classes, and I wish I could have taken more, but my schedule was jam-packed as it was... I took three classes with Vicki Boutin (Take Flight, Stepping Out and Layer it On) and a super cute mini-album class with Jen Backler. I can't wait to finish my Hambly mini-album (Marci Lambert and Anja Wade) and another mini-album about my childhood. I learned a lot in Ashley Calder's Water Colour & Hand Lettering class, and definitely want to incorporate more of those techniques in my layouts. I finished two of the three layouts in Tracy Kyle's Too Many Buttons class (I love buttons!!!) and need to make time to finish the last one. It was very interesting to take all these classes and see the different teaching styles.

I also taught three classes over the weekend. My first one was Saturday night (A Year Full of Memories) and there were a couple little glitches with the kits, but thankfully I had enough extra kits to get everyone what they needed. I cut some more chipboard Sunday morning to add to the kits that were missing it. We didn't even come close to finishing the calendars, but we got a good start and I hope the directions and sketches will help everyone finish. Sunday morning, I had my Altered Tin and Cards class, and I learned from the night before to make sure everyone had everything they needed before we started... The stamps from Technique Tuesday hadn't arrived in time, but I brought enough of my own stamps for everyone to share, and we did okay. A few people finished in class, and a couple others stayed a little bit longer to finish before they left. Right after, I had my last class, Inspiration Everywhere. There were only 3 people in that one, and it went really smoothly... everyone finished their layouts and card before the class was over. I had a lot of good feedback from my classes, and I'm hoping I have the opportunity to do it again...

A highlight of my weekend was spending time with the other croppers and teachers. I got to meet some message board friends in real life. I was lucky enough to get a room at the hotel at the last minute, and my roomates ended up being Vicki Boutin, Jen Backler and Kim Nunez! It was so much fun meeting them, and they were all super nice. Vicki Boutin is one of my scrapping heroes, so that was an extra little boost for the weekend... I tried not to be too stalkerish and scare her off... lol. I intended to take tons of pictures over the weekend... pictures of my students while I was teaching, pictures of Sarah and the other volunteers, pictures of the teachers, pictures of me teaching... I was so busy and had so much I was carrying around so this is the only picture I got:
Vicki and Jen came to my last class before they were leaving on Sunday so I could say good-bye and get a picture. Since it's the only one (and I didn't even take it--thanks Tammy!!!) I'm just glad it turned out!

Thanks so much to everyone who made this weekend so special to me... I had a great time and I hope I get to do it again!

Better Late than Never...

Just got the word from Sarah... the Simple Sentiment stamps for my Altered Tin and Card class arrived from Technique Tuesday today (I predicted they'd arrive yesterday, so I was close!). They were shipped September 24th, so I don't understand how they arrived so late, but I'm just glad they made it! Soooo... I'm e-mailing all of you who took the class, and we'll figure out how to get them to you. If you don't get an e-mail from me by tomorrow, leave me a comment.

Altered CD Tin and Card Class...

Finally! I got the photos of the tin and the cards uploaded to my blog gallery. You can see them here and I'm hoping they'll enlarge if you click on them. If not, you should be able to right click and save them to your computer to print them. I had a lot of fun teaching this class, and I'm really hoping that the stamp sets from Technique Tuesday show up this week and I can get them to you all.

A Year Full of Memories class...

Okay, I managed to get all the photos from my calendar class uploaded to my blog gallery, so anyone who took that class can go here and see them. Unfortunately, right after that, blogger decided it didn't like me after all, and it won't let me get the photos from my Altered Tin and card class up, so I'll have to try again later...

So much fun!

I had so much fun at CSC4K... met great people and took great classes, plus had the fun experience of teaching 3 classes to some great students! Full update to come, but I just wanted to thank everyone who took my classes (or bought the kits after) so much... you were all great, and I enjoyed the classes so much. You made it so easy! I also wanted to say that the photos of the projects I promised you are coming, but I'm having a hard time with Blogger right now. I tried a few different times today, and kept getting error messages and I'm finally giving up for the night. I'm hoping I'll have better luck tomorrow. I did manage to upload 3 pages from A Year to Remember (February, November and December) and you can see them here in my blog gallery ... I really apologize for the delay.

I'm also going to post a sketch again this week... maybe from my Tinkering ink class. Last week was just crazy trying to get everything ready for the crop!

Sketch #8

Another week, another sketch... I made it easier for you 12x12'ers too. ;)
I'd love to see if you create a layout using this sketch, so link me up in the comments!

product list: Basic Grey papers, HS file folder and journaling spot, Prima flower, MME rub-ons, MM foam stamps.

October kits...

later than I wanted to post this, but better late than never... Great kits again this month! From MSS, the Fall-ing For You kit is a great mix of Basic Grey, Daisy D's and Scenic Route papers, Hambly transparancy and MME Bohemia Transparant accents, plus ribbons, Narratives stickers, Thickers and more... too much to name it all. Here's what I did with it...

and you can see what Anita, Jen, Leigh and Marcy did with it here.

Shannon and I traded designing months at BYOM, so I'll be designing in November and December, which suits me just fine! I'm crazy right now with CSC4K, but I did get a couple things done with the October BYOM kit, and just picked up some more pictures today to work with it tonight... It's a beautiful kit, with Cosmo Cricket Gretel papers, yummy buttons, shimmery flowers, brads, scalloped bazzill, Thickers, and a crocheted flower. Carmen and Krystn asked me to design some journaling cards to co-ordinate with the kit, and I'm thrilled with the way they turned out... I have my fingers crossed that the members like them as much as I do. Here's what I've done with the kit so far:

and you can see what Carmen, Colleen, Kelly, Krystn, Laura, Monica and Shannon created here!

Sketch #7

I think I finally figured out how to get them side by side! Create a layout based on the sketch shown, and add a link to this post to make sure I see it! Supply list for my layout: Cosmo Cricket papers, Fontwerks and Autumn Leaves stamps, Basic Grey chipboard brackets and MM paint...

I must have done okay...

in my first TV appearance (promoting CSC4K in London). My classes--especially the two they showed on camera-- have been selling really well since I was on, and Sarah asked me if I'd go on the local cable show with her this week. :D I'll be talking about why I'm volunteering, about Morgan and her hospital connection, and about all the fabulous classes and make and takes there will be at the event. I think I'm showing the host how to make one of the cards from my class too! Wish me luck!

Tagged...

by Marcy!

The rules...
You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.) When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post and then choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don't' forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

A - Artistic (for a while I didn't think I was, but I just had to find the right way to express it)

N - Nerdy (yep, hard to believe, but true ;) )

N - Nice (I try, anyway...)

E - Earnest

I'm tagging Shannon, Krystn, Kelly, Bre, Laura and anyone else reading this who wants to (it's a fun, easy one)!

Sketch #6

hmmm... I didn't forget about these, but I've had a lot going on lately and I've been trying to keep up with it all.



So here's the sketch (a challenge at the BYOM crop...)

and my layout...

digi layout: Meredith Fenwick papers (some re-coloured) and elements.

And for any digi scrappers who use Photoshop or PSE, I have a template version of this sketch up on yousendit for one week (or 100 downloads) to make this layout even faster and easier for you! get it here: http://download.yousendit.com/CC2EEAD07743E0A9

enjoy!

Come join in the Online Crop!

from Thursday to Sunday at BYOM... you'll have to register to play, but there are great challenges, a couple games and prizes!

new improved me...

so going on TV has encouraged me to up my maintenance level a bit... no more Low Maintenance Liz for me! It was a kick in the pants to lose some weight, get my hair done, manicure, get some new clothes, etc. And today was hair day! Big change... are you ready?

 

and after...

busy, busy, busy...

with what? prepping my calendar kit for CSC4K... for thinking I pretty much had everything almost done, I sure had a lot of loose, time consuming ends to tie up! I think I'm pretty much done now, just a little chipboard to cut--Thanks Carmen and Krystn! Have my instructions printed up, so just need to get them photocopied so I can throw them in the bags...


Anyway, with all that, I haven't been scrapping and I forgot to post my September DT stuff... My Scrap Shoppe has a very cool kit with a great mix of products once again... Love, Elsie, Luxe, Creative Imaginations, Heidi Swapp, Making Memories, 7 Gypsies, Amy Butler... and I'm sure I missed a few others. Here's what I did with it:



and you can check out what Marcy, Anita, Jen and Leigh did with it here...

I'm hoping now that I'm caught up with CSC4K stuff I'll be able to scrap and get another sketch up...

Less than a week until my TV appearance, and I'm starting to get pretty nervous... I'm planning things over and over, and I think I'm going to do some prep work for that too... and tomorrow's my appointment for a new hairstyle! If it goes well, I'll post before and afters... ;)

Big shout out to Technique Tuesday!!!

Technique Tuesday is a company that makes stamps (among other great scrapbook/card products) and I used four sets of their stamps on my Altered CD tin and Card project for CSC4K. I just found out that they've agreed to donate 25 sets of the Simple Sentiments set so that everyone taking the class will have their own set! So now my prep job is a whole lot easier (I was dreading having to pre-stamp the sentiments in just the right places) and there's another good reason to take the class! So thank you, thank you, Thank You Technique Tuesday!!!

Sketch #5

Here's a 12x12 sketch this week, and my layout adapting it to 8.5x11 is below.

credits: Cherry Arte papers, Bazzill flower embellishment and cardstock, KI rub-ons and the swirl is a digital element by Rhonna Farrer... not sure who makes the ribbon. If you create a layout based on the sketch, I'd love to see it... link me up in the comments!

Canada's Scrapbooking Crop for Kids

October 12th-14th, 2007 - A fantastic crop and class weekend...

I have the awesome opportunity to do what I love and help kids at the same time... how cool is that?! Sarah Hodgekinson had the drive to organize a fantastic scrapbooking event with so many fantastic teachers and classes, and all the proceeds go to the Children's Hospitals. The event has 6 locations across Canada, and one of the locations is right here at home, and the money goes to the Children's Hospital that monitor's my daughter Morgan's heart condition. As soon as I saw Sarah's post at 2peas over a year ago, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. The teacher list for London is amazing... CK Hall of Famer's and runner's up, Memory Maker Masters, magazine personalities, book authors, and then little old me... ;)

I started with just one class, sponsored by Creativity Boutique. We're making a 2008 calendar in this class (perfect gift item). Special thanks to Rhonna Farrer for allowing me to print some of her digital elements to enhance this project.

When discussing what kind of class I'd like to teach, I showed them pictures of this altered CD tin and card set, and they liked it so much they found a sponsor so I could teach that class too! Thanks to Nikki's Kraft Shack in Tillsonburg for giving me this opportunity... and here's a pic of what we'll be creating in that class...

Then I had the opportunity to create another class with Tinkering Ink products and I decided to try a layout class... and so Inspiration Everywhere came to life... I'll talk about being inspired by sketches, ads and art pieces, and how you can interpret those onto layouts and cards using the pictures you have. Thanks to Tinkering Ink and My Sentiments Exactly for sponsoring this class, and also to Janelle Richmond for allowing me to use her sketch in my class. Here's a preview...

I also came up with this quick and easy Make and Take project... we use the containers from the Queen & Co large flower sequins and bits of paper to make this cute little mini-album. This will be available throughout the crop in the crop area for a small fee and all proceeds go to the hospital. Thanks to Queen & Co and American Crafts for sponsoring this project. Sarah recently asked me to go on a Canadian morning show with her to do this project with the hosts, and the countdown has begun... I'm scared, but excited too, and happy to have the opportunity to promote the event.


So, if you're close to any of the events, I'd highly recommend checking the site out. Click here to go to the main site... I'm teaching in London, and you should check out all the great teachers and classes being offered. Definitely something for everyone and it's for a great cause!

Sketch #4

I need to figure out which day I want to post these, and then stick to it (suggestions welcome). A clean and simple sketch with lots of white space this week... Can't wait to see what you do with it (link me up in the comments).

Here's my layout (another digi one)... announcing our newest family member!

credits: Everything is from Kim Christensen's Piddly Pea kit.