Altered Canvas...

two posts in one day! wow!

I was inspired by Ali Edwards months ago to alter a canvas, and finally did it! It was so much easier than I built it up to be in my head, and it was so fun to just play with the paint and paper, and work with whatever happened... Here's my end result:

I posted directions at MSS for part of our online crop this weekend.... come check it out if you're interested.

I also did a sketch for the crop, so I'm sure it will show up here in the near future! ;)

BYOM February stuffs...

I've put off uploading these because I was waiting until I had one or more done, but I'm just going to post, and I can always add more later. Even though almost all the papers in the kit were flower-y, I did two layouts with Grayson! I really liked the colour combo with his hair/clothes and just went for it. I also made two cards... loved the Autumn Leaves stamp! Lots of great layouts from the rest of the design team too... check them out in the BYOM Gallery!

February kits...

Carmen and I couldn't get together this month, so I haven't gotten my BYOM kit yet, but I'll post my layouts when I do them. It's a fun, spring-y mix of Autumn Leaves and Doodlebug this month, and I can't wait to get it. I'll post a link to the DT gallery when it's up too... I'm sure everyone has rocked it!

The February Red Star Kit is a beautiful, Love oriented kit... How do I love thee? but I also used it for a birthday and everyday layout. Marcy designed the stamps again, and it's so cool to have a custom stamp to go with the kit. Here's what I've done with it so far (I love how much stuff is packed into these kits... I can keep going and going with it. I think Leigh created ten layouts this month!):

You can see what Anita, Jen, Leigh and Marcy did with this month's kit here and check out the MSS blog for challenges and tidbits from all of us throughout the month.

Sketch #12

Time for another sketch... I'm getting some milage out of this one! I used it as a challenge for the MSS crop, for a challenge @ BYOM this week and here too. So forgive me if you're sick of seeing it!



layout credits: Paper by Jen Wilson; brushes by Katie Pertiet, bird (re-coloured) by Meredith Fenwick

Label Freebie!!!

I created these labels for the crop @ MSS this weekend... they co-ordinate with the January kit (Love, Elsie - Noel; Scenic Route - Roxbury) but I'm hoping they'll be versatile with other papers as well.


I've got the file up at YouSendIt - click here to get the file. It's a 4x6 jpg file, so if you can print a photo, you can print this to use it on a card or layout... The file will be up for 100 downloads or 7 days (from yesterday). I can upload it again if the link runs out, so just leave me a comment if that happens.



If you snag it and like it/use it, I'd love to see... leave me a comment!

January Crop @ MSS!

Come join in the fun! The crop has already started and there are some great challenges already. I have a sketch challenge up (I'll add it to my blog over the weekend, too) and I have a free journaling card file going up later tonight or tomorrow for a hybrid challenge. Marcy also has a fun, practical project with instructions!



Here's a preview of the journaling card... I'll add a link here too, so everyone has a chance to snag it.

Christmas & January DT stuff...

Long time no blog! Between work and getting ready for the holidays and all the normal everyday things, the blog got left behind... We hosted Christmas dinner for my family, and the dinner was pretty yummy if I do say so myself. The kids had fun and seemed happy with their presents and had lots of fun shopping with their gift cards and cash from grandparents during the Boxing Day sales. Christmas is a crazy fun time, but I'm glad to have a chance to breathe now that it's over. Still haven't gotten my Christmas cards out, but they're all made and I have half in addressed envelopes, so I'm getting close to getting them out...

The January kit @ MSS is holiday themed - Fa La La - A great mix of Scenic Route Roxbury, Love, Elsie Noel and a little MME Bohemia for good measure. Add some American Crafts felt thickers and a very cool label stamp (designed by Marcy--only available in the kit) among other embellishments and you get a rocking kit as usual! I started a mini-book for our favourite Christmas recipes so they're all in one place, and used up some holiday photos (from this year and last year) to get two layouts done.

To see the individual pages of the mini-book, and to see what Marcy, Jen, Leigh and Anita did with the kit, check out the MSS Red Star Kit gallery. Jennifer Johner is the Featured Designer this month, and you can see what she did with the kit here.

This month at BYOM Colleen, Shannon and Kelly are the main designers for the newsletter, but I did manage to get a couple things done before the deadline... I still have lots to play with, but I want to show what I've done so far. I really like the blue/orange combo lately, and the MME papers mix that with some brown so I was all over this kit!

Shannon designed the awesome sketch this month, and I couldn't wait to create a layout with it. Heart Check was my first take, and then I couldn't resist turning it into a two page layout (see Deck the Halls ~ above) too. Thanks Shannon!

You can see what Carmen, Krystn, Laura, Monica, Shannon, Colleen and Kelly did with the kit in the January DT gallery.

I'll be back later this week with another sketch to start off the New Year!