The proof is in the shrimp ! - 12 X 12 layout - July Scraptastic Kit

Happy Thursday to you !!!  It is a glorious day here - we are back to summer.  Such crazy weather this year.  Last week, there were a couple of mornings that I had to wear my winter scarf (and I even wore mitts one morning - yes, I did and yes I am a woosse LOL, but it did go down to 3 degrees C)!  Since Monday however, it has been sunny and getting warmer, by about two degrees each day.  The forecast calls for us getting back to 25-28 deg C this weekend.  I sure won't complain as we have a big garden weekend planned.  Lots of splitting and transplanting, harvesting the rest of the veg, and maybe planting the garlic (although it may actually be too warm for that).  How is the weather where you are?  What do you have planned for the weekend?  Any scrappy plans?  Please share.

I am back this time with another kitty layout.  It is the 9th layout with the July Either Way kit from Scraptastic :

Another title that I am proud of.  I find that the more I scrap, the more creative I become and the more fun I have.  Page designs and titles come a lot easier to me if I manage to scrap everyday - even if only for a few minutes.  I love that!

The supplies:  I used more product from my own add-on to create this page.  I used vanilla cardstock as the background; a first for me and I am really happy with the outcome. Other items that did not come with the kit include :

• I used Simple Stories alphas, Dear Lizzy thickers and October Afternoon Daily flash alphas for the title
• The viewfinders and dark brown woodgrain paper came from the Good Day Sunshine 6 X 6 pad from Simple Stories
• The cat wood veneer is from Studio Calico.  
• For the background stamping, I used a stamp from Stampin' Up (Gorgeous Grunge) and Soft Suede classic ink, also from Stampin' Up
• I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Italian Sunset and Coffee Shop to splatter

The story:  As I have mentioned many times, I spent my vacation in the country; in the garden.  My sister and BIL went off touring Nova Scotia.  They brought Oliver, our family golden retriever with them, since they were camping in a quite luxurious tent trailer - if a tent trailer can be luxurious LOL.  This one has a king size bed, a fridge, a gas cooker as well as heating/airconditioning.  So I guess that qualifies as luxurious ?  Anyway, I had all three cats with me (my Chopin and their Sophie and Calli).  The picture is of Sophie.  She is actually Chopin's "girlfriend" - they are just adorable together (I have scrapped and blogged about a couple of layouts featuring them playing together).  Sophie is so tiny and she is also a very cuddly, mild-mannered and a very well-behaved girl.  That is until there is shrimp in the house, or should I say "shrimp in the plate" ...  I caught her in the act of trying to steal from my plate and when I put her down on the floor, she was literally tugging at my arm with her paw LOL.  So I sent a text message to my BIL telling him about it. He jokingly replied "I want proof".  So I snapped this picture and messaged it to him LOL!!!  

So there you have it!  That is my story for today.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, spending time doing fun stuff with fun people.  Thanks for stopping by and spending your valuable time with me today.  Hugs xoxo 

A couple more layouts with the July Scraptastic Kit ... some travel, some cookin' :) :)

Happy Sunday to all !  It is a rainy one here so far.  But that's ok, the temperatures are back up to seasonal and I had a day indoors planned anyway - chores, cooking, scrapping and a little tennis watching.  And, lot of kitty cuddles :) :)

Hope you are having a great Sunday, doing what you like best and doing it with those you love most!!!  Have a couple of chuckles while you are at it !

Here are the 7th and 8th layouts I made with the July Either Way Kit.  I actually have 10 layouts completed and still have quite a bit of the kit and add-on left.  It may be a record breaking month - I think I might get 14 or 15 layouts.  Woot woot!!

For, the first layout, we are back to a travel theme.  Let me take you back to Amsterdam for a stroll along "Canal Street" ... 

The supplies:  Everything on this layout comes from the kit, or add-on, with very few exceptions :

• The "hello" die-cut comes from the Simple Stories 6 X 6 Good Day Sunshine paper pad.
• I used Dear Lizzy Foam thickers for the word "canal" in the title, and MME stickers for the word Amsterdam.  I used October Afternoon's Daily Flash for the year - 2005
• the airplane puffy stickers was the very last in the set from Amy Tangerine.

This layout came together quite quickly for me.  It is the first time I put a title sideways on a layout and I quite like the outcome.  The inspiration for this came from nicolejones911 - she does it quite a lot and I always love the way it looks on her layouts.

The story:  There really isn't any great big story with this one.  It is meant to convey how I love wandering the canal streets of Amsterdam.  It is such a pretty city.  And, to me, Amsterdam is a city to stroll - not walk, not run, not rush - but wander, and stroll, on foot or on a bicycle :)

Now let's wander back to this summer :

I thought I was quite clever with this title LOL :).

The supplies:  Again, everything came from the kit, with just a couple of items from my stash add-on:

• The doily is from my stash and I used Tattered Angel's glimmer mist, in Italian Sunset to colour it.  The colour is a little more peach, than the coral in the papers and embellishments but I still like the effect since the photo has lots of golden, peach, orange and reddish tones.
• I used my one inch circle punch to punch out the viewfinders from the Good Day Sunshine 6 X 6 paper pad
• The the subtitle uses MME word and alpha stickers.

The story:  This page will go in my summer garden/vacation album and is meant to record part of my vacation routine.  I just love stir-frying - it is so fast, healthy, yummy and it's the fastest clean-up around :) :).  It became an integral part of my vacation routine:  a long walk followed by garden work in the morning, garden salad for lunch, lazy afternoon under a tree, harvesting, reading, or scrapping.  And then a lovely stir fry for supper, again using garden fresh veggies.  I would add shrimp, or scallops, or tofu, or beans and voila ... Clean-up took all of 5 minutes and then I could settle in for an evening of You Tube or tennis watching, as well as puppy and kitty cuddles!!!  Bliss

So there you have - you have made to the end again!  Thanks so much.  Hugs xoxo

1-2-3 Stretch - 12 X 12 Layout using the July Scraptastic Kit

Happy Thursday everyone!  I hope this finds you well and enjoying the day.  As I mentioned in my previous post, we were canning tomatoes over the weekend.  And, we were very productive indeed :) :)  We got  sixteen 500 ml jars and 11 one litre jars. On top of that, we got about twenty 500 ml jars of corn done as well.  So yay us!  This weekend, all the cats (3) are with me in town as my sister and best BIL have a Golden (Retriever) Rescue activity out of town.  Oliver of course goes with them.   I am promising myself a fun scrappy weekend.  Then back to the garden next weekend to plant the garlic and finish harvesting the carrots, beets, turnips, eggplants and peppers.

Today, I want to share the sixth layout I made with the July Either Way Kit from Scraptastic.  I am getting a lot of mileage out of this kit and add-on.  The colours and patterns are so lovely and luscious.  

We are back to a puppy layout - you may have noticed that my main scrappy subjects are the furkids, travel, the garden and its bounty, food and then some everyday moments.  I try to get a few layouts from each category done with every kit.  So, on to the layout :

I am so glad I got this photo; it was such a cute and spontaneous moment.  So often, these moments happen and for whatever reason I don't manage to get a photo.  Pets will not pose and certainly won't "stay" when you want to get a photo LOL.  But this one, just worked out beautifully !!!

The supplies: I chose the Either Way kit in July and am really happy with my choice.  But I was lucky to get the Simple Stories 6 X 6 Good Day Sunshine pad as part of my Citrus Twist PL kit, so I made it part of my stash add-on since that collection was the main focus of the other Scraptastic July Kit. 

• The majority of the items on this page are from the main kit and from the Good Day Sunshine 6 X 6 paper pad.
• I used a one inch circle punch to punch out the view finders and then also used a few pieces from the cut-apart sheets in that pad.
• the wood veneer, enamel dots and stickers are from the kit as are those beautiful gold glitter thickers.  I got so much use out of them - four titles so far!
• the gold stickers are from my stash add-on and I believe they came in a Citrus Twist PL kit and are from the Oh Darling collection.

The story :  The photo was taken the day we planted the garden this year.  Ron had strained his back during the week as he worked to prepare the earth for our planting endeavour.  So he had to wear a brace for a couple of weeks.  Our planting day was a full day of physical work - a lot of bending, crouching, being on our knees etc.  So at the end of the day, Ron laid down on the floor to "straighten out" his back.  Oliver thought this was such an interesting new game :).  He ran over to Ron and immediately laid down on his back as well!!!!  I am so happy I got this photo.

So there you have it.  Thanks for joining me again today and I plan on being back on the weekend with a couple more layouts.  Until then, be happy and have fun.  Hugs

Got my head in the clouds - 12 X 12 layout with the July Scraptastic Kit

Happy Thursday everyone !!!  It is a rainy one here and the weather has turned slightly cooler .... autumn is around the corner but so far September has been lovely so I won't complain :).  I am off on Thursdays, as well as weekends.  I try and get most of the chores, and errands, out of the way on Thursdays to free up more fun time on the weekends.  Sometimes it works; but sometimes I play a little hooky on Thursdays too.  Some scrapping time is so good for the soul is it not ?

I have really been enjoying the July Either Way kit from Scraptastic.  The colour scheme is right up my alley and the papers are just beautiful,  It is a varied and versatile kit!  I have also been playing along with some of the challenges over on the Scraptastic blog and the layout I want to share with you today was made in response to a challenge to use a monochromatic colour scheme.

When I saw the cloud paper in the kit, I knew immediately which photos I wanted to scrap!  I am really quite proud of this layout, if I may say so myself heehee !

It is quite a simple page design as I wanted the cloud paper to stand out, it is central to the theme and subject of this layout.

The supplies:   All of the paper and cardstock are from the kit, as is the wood veneer.  My original intention was to use markers to colour the continents on the wood veneer but in the end I inked up the entire piece.  I wish I had stuck to my original idea... but, oh well, I still like it :)

• The camera stickers, the bow, the vellum flower piece and the tags are from previous Scraptstic kits (although the tags may be from this one; I can't quite remember).
• The aqua chipboard hearts and stars are from the Studio Calico essentials line
• The washi tape is from my stash and i actually think it is from a RAK I got last year from Lisa and Sandra (Maggie Mylow and Oh Snap Gonzo on You Tube)
• The foam Thickers are from Dear Lizzy and the alpha stickers are from the October Afternoon Daily Flash collection (I really love the Daily Flash alphas - they are my favourites right now).
• The enamel dots, flair and puffy sticker are from my stash.  The latter is from Amy Tangerine and was the last on the sheet.... yay for using up entire sheets, or sets of embellishments !!!

The story:  these photos were taken on the flight back home after my one-year backpacking trip (there are several posts and layouts about this trip and several more to come :)).  I felt that the mood of the photos matched the cloud paper and the monochromatic colour scheme.  It was a bittersweet day, one filled with mixed emotions.  On the one hand, I was happy to be reuniting with friends and family after a year apart, but on the other hand I was sad to be leaving many new friends behind.  I so loved that trip and the lifestyle it allowed me to have for a whole year.  A year as a nomad, with all my belongings on my back.  I worked when the budget required it (I am fortunate to have my Irish citizenship and well as my Canadian one) or when something interesting came along. I visited 21 countries in that year.  I saw some amazing things and places, met some fantastic local people everywhere I went, but also made great friends amongst fellow travelers.  I discovered so many interesting foods, music, culture, art, history, nature, flora,  animals ..... I could go on and on.  I could write a book.  I could, and probably will, fill many scrapbooking albums as well as many journals.  I cherish all of the memories, good and bad (there were few of those), funny, hilarious and life enriching.  All of that made for a very full heart and a lot of thinking on the  flight home.  I felt those two photos depicted that very well.

So there you have it !  Thanks so much for joining me today, as always.  I appreciate your lovely comments, likes and shares.  The scrapping community is such a great one and I value each and every one of you my friends.  Hugs xoxo

I will be back soon !  Until then, be well!

... so just call me the salad queen - 12 X 12 layout with the July Scraptastic kit

Good morning sweet friends and happy Sunday.  I hope this finds you well.  It is a little brisk where I am this morning but the sun is glorious.  I have been MIA for a couple of weeks; it is a busy time in the garden and I am there at least every second weekend.  Last weekend, we harvested the onions, thinned out the carrots, beets and turnips and mapped out the transplanting that will need to be done at the end of the month.  Next weekend, we will be canning the tomatoes - yay !!  But oh my that is a chore and a half heehee; my back is already protesting just thinking about it :)

I have still managed to get a few layouts done (priorities of course !!).  

Scraptastic had a couple of fun challenges during August, as they do every month.  It was my first time participating in two of them and I really enjoyed it.  There was a challenge for a "long title" that really got me thinking but then I sort of fell into it,  

That die cut with the quote from Julia Child was just so perfect !!!  Don't you love it when that happens.  I used it to start my title and then just continued on from there.

The supplies:   Everything on this layout comes from the July Either Way kit, except :

• The coral alpha Thickers are from Dear Lizzy and the aqua alphas are from October Afternoon's Daily flash (Mason Jar).
• The acetate butterfly is from June's kit
• the vellum with the gold hearts that I use as a mat is from my stash
• The love paper clip is from Freckled Fawn but I can't remember where I got it - likely a previous kit.
• The ribbon is from Stampin' Up - it is a 3/8 inch taffeta in Crumb Cake (their kraft colour).

The story:  It is quite simple really - I loooooove salads, I could live on salads and if I may say so myself, I make great salads heehee.  My friends and family call me the Salad Queen, as I seem to just gather up stuff from the garden and the pantry,  and turn it into a salad.  I create recipes, I invent and improvise.  Whenever, we have a get together, I am always called upon to bring, or make, the salad.  Whenever I invite friends or family over, I am told that there has to be salad as part of the meal.  So it seems I have a label and one I will gladly take on :) :)

Enjoy your Sunday everyone and thanks for stopping by.