Playing Along With LGS ... Finally!

Do you ever find yourself so swamped with all the items on your "to do" list that things slip? This week has been a week of letting things slip for me! Starting with not getting a layout ready for Let's Get Sketchy's Monday reveal. It IS Team B's turn this week so playing along is really a bonus for me but it's something I told myself I would do as a way to have regular posts on my blog. But ... I dropped the ball this week. I also completely forgot to take my girls to their hair cut appointment on Monday. Not sure where my head was that day!! 

Without further ado, here is the sketch that we are working with this week.

And my interpretation.

I have a tiny confession to make. I looked at the sketch, saw that I needed two landscape photos (I went with 4x6 to keep things simple) and then totally forgot to look at the sketch again while building my layout. What?!?! I am not advocating this as a way of following along with a sketch challenge by any means! I count it as a lucky coincidence that my layout resembles the sketch at all - albeit mirrored. This is just how my week has gone!

Sigh.

Here are your detail shots.

My title is made up of 3 different components. A word tag, small letter tiles and more traditional letter stickers. Remember that you can have fun with any component on your pages. Don't get locked into one way of thinking. Like, "My titles must be made up of Thickers!" When you're using up your stash like I am you quickly realize that you've got to get creative with your resources or pretty soon you'll run the risk of thinking you can't make another layout because none of your Thicker sets have enough letters in them to spell "Thickers"! Mixing and matching styles, manufacturers and products keeps things feeling fresh and new - no matter how long the product has been sitting on your shelf!

From that same Teresa Collins set as the "family" word tag was a 12x12 sheet of month journaling cards. I cut out the February one to use on this layout. The clocks are also from a Teresa Collins collection pack (for whatever reason I have a TON of Teresa Collins packs - must have bought them on sale or something!) I liked the symbolism of time passing for a child's birthday layout.

The row of little clocks looked a bit bare so I dug out some mini brads to fill the centres. Now it looks finished and I love the pops of red and hints of shimmer with the gold.

In fact, I loved the gold so much I knew I needed to add it somewhere else - the centre of the large clock embellishment seemed like the perfect spot! Kind of wishing I had some of that Heidi Swapp gold lame colour shine spray too ...

Well, that's all for today. Thanks for stopping by. Are you playing along with Let's Get Sketchy this week? There's a $10 GC from The Paper Bakery up for grabs this month. All you need to do is enter 3 out of the 4 challenges by the end of March. Good luck - hope to see you on the blog.

Double Page Layouts

Do you make double page layouts? I admit to having made a ton in the past but lately I've focused on single pagers. Well today at Practical Scrappers we are sharing some of our recent double page layouts with you. Hopefully they'll inspire you to create more double page beauties! You can definitely tell a more in depth memory over those two pages (and, of course, include more pictures!)

I went back to our Disney trip for my inspiration and came up with this.

(click to make it larger)

One of the last pre-made pages I have from all the ones I started with was the base for this layout. I did add a couple more blocks of patterned paper - the one behind the title and the one the journaling is on. Actually opposite corners of the same piece of Teresa Collins paper. The journaling is worth a read. It tells the story of how we were literally steps away from meeting the Top Three princesses (Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty) but got Belle, Ariel and Tiana (who?!) instead. Sigh. An hour in line for the second stringers!! Hmmm, I think I'm still a little bitter about missing out on my  favourite Disney Princesses. The girls? Happy as clams!

Here is a close up of that journaling. 

I felt I could embellish with flowers since the subject matter is fairly girly.  I had one giant black one left from my Disney stash but it was too big and I really needed more than one. Digging through my flowers tin (see this post) I discovered a hole or two in my available colours. Yellow and black! I had one large yellow flower but that was it. What to do? Mists to the rescue! I took some old Stampin' Up paper daisies and sprayed a couple of the large ones black and three of the small ones yellow. 

You can see one of the large black flowers in the journaling close up above and the last detail shot below. In this close up of the title you can see the small yellow one as well as the other colours I used. 

Another thing that's quite fun to do - and will help with the ol' memory many years from now - is to use letter stickers to put the names of princesses we saw on their pictures. It adds detail without adding bulk or taking away from the pictures. In fact, that small bit of information enhances the layout as it adds to the memory/story being told.

Here's that close up of the black misted flower I was talking about as well as the one large yellow flower I managed to find in my stash. Oh, and the Mickey Mouse ears gem that I've been adding to all my Disney pages. It's little details like those that tie an album together. If you're wondering what spray I used to mist this black, it's Dyan Reavely's Dylusions in Black Marble.

Well thanks for coming by today. I value your visit. If you liked what you saw today please leave a comment, I certainly do appreciate them and would love your feedback. Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday. Have fun scrapping!

Past Time to Pick a Winner, Don't You Think?

Um ... oops? My apologies for forgetting to pick a Birthday Bash Blog Hop winner!! First off, a big thank you to all my commenters (is that even a word?) I really appreciate you taking the time to leave your thoughts on my little crafty efforts.

As per random.org, the winner is comment #16 ...

Buffy EsserMarch 1, 2013 at 9:58 AM

Oh My Goodness this is the cutest thing! I really love the colors you used for the feathers!

CONGRATULATIONS BUFFY!

Please email your mailing address to alisonday at eastlink dot ca and I'll get those goodies out to you.

Whoops - Family Friday Update on Saturday

Well I'm not doing to well with my Family FRIDAY Updates, am I? Oh well, since it's a day late you all get a bonus story!

Last Friday we were all gearing up for Marley's 9th birthday party. It went off without a hitch! Greg went in the pool with Paige and Christine while Marley and her friends played games with the play leader. I was on the other side of the glass from the water action so only got a few pictures of Greg and the younger girls but not Marley's group.

While they played in the water I got the party room set up.

Cupcake cake. When I saw these owl cupcake holders and owl toothpick decorations at Pier1 I snapped them up. Marley loved them! Score one for Mommy's staff discount!

When we were in Mexico the girls had each bought a pinata from the pinata craft person we visited on our Investour. Unfortunately we were unaware that Canada considers them dangerous goods so they were confiscated when we tried to carry them on board the plane home. Marley had been really looking forward to having a pinata and I briefly toyed with the idea of making one but it became too hard. So this 3-D owl I purchased at Michael's (when I was shopping for party favours and craft items) took it's place. Now it adorns her room I think. 

Once they were changed they descended upon me and made a paper plate owl while we were waiting for the pizza to show up.

Olivia and Marley Owls. New breeds!

I hadn't really planned any games/activities beyond the owl craft so the girls made up their own fun.

There was a dog pile on Marley ...

... some Simon Says, Go, go, go, Stop, and "Night at the Museum" (a game of their own making).

And then the cupcakes came out!

And presents were opened. Marley had asked that this be a toonie party - guests were asked to bring a toonie for Marley and one for O.W.L so of course they brought other things too! One of the favourites was this stuffed owl. Marley has quite the menagerie now! This one brings the total to 6!

After all that excitement we enjoyed a relaxing Sunday. We'd had a ton of rain leading up to the weekend so the grass fields had been closed which led to the cancellation of Paige's game. Marley's had been rescheduled to the turf field at Holly but the team they were supposed to play against couldn't make the early time slot (8:00am) so it was cancelled too. What a rare Sunday! No games, no work shifts for me, oh and the irony of it all? It was gorgeous and sunny ALL DAY!! Go figure!

So let's fast forward to today. (In case you didn't figure it out, this is the bonus part I was talking about.)

MARLEY AND PAIGE WERE ON NATIONAL TV!!!!

Their soccer club was given the opportunity to act as player escorts at tonight's Vancouver Whitecaps game.  I had to work so Greg had the honour of going with them to BC Place. Kickoff was at 4:30 but they had to be there at 1:30 to practice and what not. Here are some photos from the day.

Since Greg had to leave the girls at BC Place, he and Christine got to have a little Daddy/Daughter bonding time. This one is outside the Stadium.

Waiting for the Seabus over to Granville Island.

Then he hooked up with the girls again for the pregame festivities at Terry Fox Plaza. 

They were given these uniforms to wear for the game. Had to give them back though. Ah well.

Paige looks like she had fun.

They got to clock how fast their shots on goal were.

Christine got to have a little face painting - she's always excited to get her face painted!

And then the main event!

That's Marley holding Whitecaps Captain Kenny Miller's hand. Know it's a bit far away. Really need a zoom lens!!

Paige was holding the hand of one of the players on the opposing team. 

Lining up for the national anthems.

And running off the field so the game can get started.

And last but not least, they all got to sit and watch the game. Greg rolled in at 8:00PM with Happy Meals all around. Sigh. Tomorrow is going to be rough! Spring Forward and Soccer jamboree too!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'll be back tomorrow with my winner from THIS POST - you've got a few more hours to get your comments in if you want to win my prize of a stamp set and ribbon/brad bundle.

Thanks everyone!

First March Monday Reveal ... And A New Twist!

Welcome back! It's Monday again and time for another new sketch over at Let's Get Sketchy. Since this is the first Monday in March everything resets. We had a TON of participants last month. I love checking out how everyone interprets the sketches! It was great to see some new faces playing along. Keep up the great work! 

Hope you're looking forward to 4 brand new sketch challenges (one with a new twist!) and a new sponsor too. At time of publication I don't have details on who our sponsor is for March but check back with the Let's Get Sketchy blog for more details. And don't forget about our Birthday Bash Blog Hop! It's still going on - you've got until March 8th at midnight CST (that's 10 PM PST) to submit a challenge entry based on one of our Birthday Inspired Projects and be entered to win the grand prize. Just not able to get to your scrap space this week to create something birthday inspired? Don't despair! There will be plenty of other opportunities to win RAK's this month as we are celebrating ALL MONTH with prizes. Make sure you you're a follower of the blog and check back often for those extra chances to win!

And now for our sketch this week - which comes with that twist I was talking about ... a colour combo!

As you can see from our colour inspiration picture we thought maybe you'd have some Christmas photos needing scrapping but ... I took it in a very different direction!

As we had just come back from Mexico and the colours were showing up in my pictures a lot, I decided to use them to create a tropical feel. I'd also been sent a couple sets of rub-ons that contained the colours I needed so I decided to use them.

Here are my detail shots.

The blue isn't in the inspiration picture but as Greg was wearing a blue shirt I thought that adding a few touches here and there would help tie everything together.

Here are those rub-ons I was talking about. I am not the biggest rub-on user out there (they kind of scare me to be honest!!) but I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out. I was also able to journal right over them which was great!

The doily was also part of the same prize pack I won. I liked how it was square! Using it on an angle gives the layout some movement and energy.

The little red flower was from the same rub-on pack and the brad and the dahlia are from my Stampin' Up stash. 

Another look at those big flower rub-ons and my white Mister Huey splatters. Marley had suggested mists for another layout (this one) and I liked it so much I duplicated it here. This may have to become my unifying thing for all my Mexico layouts. That and the kraft card stock. Thanks Marley!

Now it's your turn. How will you interpret the sketch and colour challenge? Can't wait to see! Be sure to upload your layout on the Let's Get Sketchy site by the end of March. Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great week!

S.W.A.T Drill #3 - 4 Photo Challenge

It's time for another challenge from your local Scrap Warrior! Oh heck, it's too late in the day to think up witty little lines for a blog post! 

With St. Patty's Day right around the corner we wanted to challenge you with some four focus fun.Just as a four leaf clover brings good fortune, so does this challenge. Simply create a layout using four photos and you could be the lucky winner of a $20 gift card to 3 Scrappy Boys!

Here's my layout - another Disneyland layout. I've been lax on finishing this album but it is slowly coming together. 

I cropped two of the photos to 4x4 to make a even grid. 

Some of my details for you.

Tucked behind the flowers and the red journaling card is one of our Photopass Cards. I like finding new ways to tuck bits of memorabilia into this album.

My letter stickers were not sticking so much, despite additional glue, so I got creative and stitched them down. I don't have a working sewing machine but I do own a Sew Easy (We R Memory Keepers) that got the job done just as well!

Okay, that's it for today. Your challenge is to create a layout with 4 photos on it. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Oh, and if you're looking for my Let's Get Sketchy Birthday Bash Blog Hop post go here.

Family Friday Update - Marley Turns 9!!

 If you're looking for the Let's Get Sketchy Blog Hop please go here.

This week (and the upcoming weekend) has been taken up with Marley's 9th birthday. Nine?! Really?! When did THAT happen?! Greg took her to the Canucks game on Tuesday (her actual birthday) so we had to reschedule the traditional Birthday Dinner to Sunday night. Our tradition is that the birthday girl (or boy in Greg's case - LOL!) gets to choose the restaurant where we all have dinner. Marley chose White Spot so here we are.

Marley and Christine goofing around opposite me.

"Take a picture of me, Mommy!" How could I say no?

Not sure what she's doing here ...

Christine's turn to get into Marley's picture.

Oh! Now I see where they get their goofiness from!

No seriously, THIS is how she posed for me! 

*sigh*

I'm surrounded by goofs!!

Grilled cheese and sweet potato fries in a boat. What could be better?

Sparklers and a sundae for the birthday girl!

In case you thought there wasn't going to be a craft component to this post, here is the card I made for Marley. The background paper is something I made for my new Staffer position at Scrapbook News and Review ... can't share that project with you though. If it makes the magazine this month I'll let you know!

Anyway, since I had a small piece of this hand stamped paper left over, and not a lot of time to get a card made ... simple does it!

On Tuesday morning I think Marley was a little underwhelmed at her birthday breakfast. I'd had a rough day on Monday fighting some nausea of unknown origin so just wasn't able to get anything organized - or even get out of bed early enough to greet the birthday girl in the manner she was probably expecting. She took it in stride. Such a great girl!!

Once Greg came home from work we measured her height - something we usually do first thing in the morning! 

She's now 135 cm (4' 5") or there abouts. Which means that technically she still needs a booster seat until she's 145cm (4'9"). Bummer.

Then it was time for presents. 

I found a pretty intense book on owls that Grandma and Grandpa agreed to give her (since we'd already purchased her presents but I knew how much she'd love this book! Thanks G&G!!)

The girls gave Marley "Owls in the Family" by Farley Mowatt (sensing a theme?) and this pretty journal I found at Pier1. Marley loves to write and I am always on the lookout for pretty sketch books or journals for her. And all the girls for that matter. I've got quite the stash actually!

And then the big present which was ...

Surprise, surprise! An owl print for her bedroom! 

 

Oh yeah, and the Rihanna tickets! :)

A rare Mommy and Marley date to look forward to in April!!

Paige and Christine had fun with the bubble wrap!! 

Christine is excited for Marley's birthday and by extension her own (which is imminent!) but Paige is feeling a bit of jealousy this year. I haven't seen this sort of reaction from her before so I'm a little at a loss of what to do. I get it. It's hard to see Marley get so much attention and she know she still has to sit through Christine getting all the attention in a few weeks before it's her turn in April. Lots of extra hugs seem to be doing the trick! Oh, and getting to meet many of the Canucks tonight with Greg helped a ton too!

So that's where we're at these days. Tomorrow is Marley's party, Sunday is soccer which I may actually get to see as I'm not working anywhere and then we're back to Monday. Which leads me a bit of sad news. I will be working my last shift at The Upstart Crow on Monday. The store is going to be shutting down over Spring Break while they expand their workshop space. It's pretty exciting really. It will completely change the focus of the store - from mostly retail with a side of classes and workshops to mainly classes and workshops with a side of retail. But reducing the retail shop means that so many sales Crows will not be needed. I am bummed, I'll not lie. But I'm pragmatic enough to understand how these things work. I still hold onto the hope that there will be space for me to hold workshops but only time will tell. I would ask a favour from my local readers. If you would like to see me teach a workshop, can you reach out to Megan at The Crow? Go onto their Facebook page or their website and make class suggestions. What classes would you like to see in the new space? Cards? Layouts? Scrapbooking for beginners? Introduction of multimedia techniques onto your pages? How to scrapbook faster? I've got a ton of ideas! If you'd prefer me to teach out of my home, I'm happy to entertain that option too. A monthly crop would be so much fun!! 

Anyway, enough whining. I know there are exciting things on my horizon. Can't wait to see what they are!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I'll share pictures from Marley's party next Friday!