Another 12X12, another sketch for Stamping Rooster's YouTube channel

Happy Sunday to all!  I hope you are all having a great day, or had a great day!  The weather here is even crazier than usual - we had 30 deg. C yesterday, followed by severe thunderstorms and torrential rains.  This morning we woke up to 8 deg C.... oh my!  so, we still haven't been able to plant the tomatoes!  

Popping in today to share another layout for Gretchen's challenge.  In case, you missed my last post, here is the link to her awesome YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/StampingRooster/videos 

I chose her Sketch number 11 this time, one that could either be used for a 12 X 12 layout, or by just moving the main photo block over to the left, it could also easily be adapted to an 8.5 X 11 format.  I made a 12 X 12 : 

and here is the sketch:

See that blue mist all over the yellow banner? ... Yup I made a huge mess!  It was all over the pink patterned paper as well - so I made another layer of that same paper, distressed it all and then inked over the edges to hide most of it.  As for the stain still showing on the yellow banner ... well there you have it LOL :)

The supplies:  All of the supplies for this one also came from my Scraptastic March Rivers and Roads kit, with very few exceptions :

• The scalloped ribbon is from Stampin' Up in Melon Mambo
• The "watching you" portion of the title are from my stash - they are Dear Lizzy Thickers and matched this kit so well that I used them on quite a few layouts
• The enamel dots and shapes were from my stash
• The mists I used were from Glimmer Mist (Patina) and Mr Huey's (Passport blue and Boss Lady)

The story:  Again, this one just captures a fun everyday moment.  The photo shows our Golden Retriever Oliver watching intently as we work in the garden.  The title comes from the fact that he is actually watching my BIL Ron (his human) a lot more than any of the garden goings on.  Just in case, Ron decided to go somewhere... Oliver is at the ready ... maybe for a  car ride, or a W-A-L-K, or playing fetch, food, or anything fun that Oliver could partake in with Ron... Because, after all, it's all about Oliver :) :) 

Thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me on the blog today.   You still have time to check out Gretchen's challenge - it closed at midnight tonight.  

Hugs, xx

12 X 12 layout - New bed (by Oliver, our Golden Retriever LOL) and a couple of extra photos

Hi all and welcome back to my blog.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you are having a fabulous weekend.  The weatherman has told us that we might actually reach 0 deg. C tomorrow... finally.  It stayed in the minus teens all week but that is still a lot better than we had had since New Year's day.  I "retired" my ski pants last Wednesday LOL.  We have had the coldest winter in well over 100 years, a dubious honour I could have done without.

Back to a 12 X 12 layout today, and another one about our puppy Oliver: 

Don't you just love that paw hanging out the side of the bed.  LOL ... That is one deep sleeping puppy.  If you follow my instagram account (mooreilly), this was the second of two photos (just the photo, no layout :) ) I posted on Valentine's day weekend.  

The first photo was of Oliver with quite the scowl - he is normally a very smily puppy, but at minus 30 degrees, even he wanted to go back indoors :

The caption read : "OK human, I've done my business - get me the heck back indoors; it's minus a gazillion out here!" He really does look annoyed don't you think LOL. Unfortunately the photo quality is not great.  I will put it in my February pocketed page but did not make a layout with this photo.  

The caption with the photo that I did scrap was :  "Good human!  this is more like it!"  LOL

About the layout:   

• I have been enjoying pops of black on my layouts lately.  That is quite new to me, as it is not a colour I used at all.  In fact, I did not own any black cardstock but will remedy that fact soon :).  I find it adds depth to my pages and makes the other, brighter colours pop even more.
• I have been using die-cuts, stickers, or vellum pieces on the last two or three layouts as part of the title, as a sub-title, or in this case, as the journaling.  I am getting along so much better lately with vellum and this pack of Maggie Holmes die-cuts pieces is pretty much done and dusted.  Yay !!
• Everything on this page comes from my mega-kit, put together from the October and January Scraptastic kits and add-ons.  The exception are few :  the arrow washi tape is from my stash and I also pulled some Studio Calico Wood veneer from my stash.
• I had a piece of the "crimped" pattern paper left from my previous layout and tucked it in under the photo block.
• I did not do any misting, or splattering on this layout.  It called for black India Ink but I don't have any LOL.  Simple misting would not do  so I chose to just leave it for now.  As soon as I buy some India Ink, I will go back and add a couple of splatters.

Well, there you have it - another puppy layout.  I could watch Oliver, or one of kitties, sleeping all day.  It is so relaxing!!!

I hope you have some fun this weekend, doing what makes you happy with someone who makes you happy!!  Hugs

12 X 12 layout - Sweet dreams filled with tickles ..., using the August Boys of Summer Kit from Scraptastic

Hello, welcome and happy Thursday to all !!  The sun is shining, the wind is blowing and the temperatures are down into the single digits... oh well, on the upside it means Xmas is approaching.  I love Christmas, don't you?  I am busier than a beaver but I do try to have fun throughout.  I will be back either tomorrow or on the weekend with the first post for my December Documented project.  In the meantime, I  today I want to share the ninth layout made using the Scraptastic August Boys of Summer kit. 

Oliver has reclaimed his bed ...

My last layout and post got him lots of great comments from y'all, a few laughs and he got lots of commiseration LOL.  So I thought I would let you know that all is right with the world - Oliver has regained the rights to his bed!  He just loves it too :).

The supplies :  I only have one full sheet of 12 X 12 paper left from this kit but did have quite a few great strips and scraps left, so made good use of them on this layout.  The background is from my stash and is a Stampin' Up (SU) cardstock called Smoky Slate.

• All of the paper is from the kit except for the golden yellow woodplank layer behind the photo which comes from the Simple Stories 6X6 Good Day Sunshine paper pad.
• the background stamping was with the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set from SU and I used Weathered Wood distress ink.
• All of the alphas are from my stash:  the chipboard letters are from and older collection (Mint Julep by Basic Grey), the October Afternoon Sticky Keys are Peacock Blue and the tile letters are from the October Afternoon Daily Flash in Deep Sea.
• The stickers and die-cuts are from all from the kit
• The heart chipboard pieces are from the Studio Calico Essentials Collection
• And finally, I used up a couple of packages of gems and brads for the October challenge over on the nicolejones911 FB group.

So there you have it - no real story here, just Oliver getting his bed back.  Oh and  maybe just to let you know that Cali is still comfortable though as she has claimed my best BIL's lap LOL.

I will be back on the weekend.  Be well my friends :)

Layout in response to the fun challenge by Jenny Box for her 500+ You Tube subbies

Happy Sunday to you all !  I hope you are having a good one.  It is rather a cloudy autumnal day here but the temperatures are still reasonable - 11 deg C so far today (it is noon here).  I am still fighting my flu bug but went for a long walk this morning to help clear my head and my sinuses.  It seemed to work ... yay !

Two blog posts in one weekend you say?  Well, yes.  This second one is for a challenge by my You Tube friend Jenny Box (you will find her under her name on You Tube, and she is also part of the nicolejones911 facebook group).  If you know Jenny, you will know that she is Australian and that she makes awesome layouts.  She has two "trademarks" - layering and black ink splatters.  I think Jenny is the queen of layering; she makes it look so effortless and the results are always beautiful.  She also finishes each page with some black India ink splatters in two corners of her page.  The perfect finishing touch.  Jenny challenged us to take on her trademarks on our own pages!!  What fun, but a challenge indeed.  So without further ado, here is my response to her challenge and my 5th layout with the Scraptastic Boys of Summer kit :

What I did that was new to me :  Firstly, this page is a lot busier than my normal style but I really like the outcome.  Normally, when I use a lot of bits of patterned paper on a layout, I will use cardstock, or a very subtle pattern, as the background but this time I went for the bold because I wanted the star PP as a  background since the layout is about Oliver's (the golden retriever in the picture)  bed and both he and Cali (the queen kitty LOL)  are sleeping.  Secondly, I clustered the title in a block down at the bottom of the layout so that it sort of acts as an embellishment cluster as well.  

This layout sure made be appreciate Jenny's layering talent even more because I did not find it as quite as effortless as it looks when Jenny does it :).  But I enjoyed it and I will certainly do more layering on my layouts as a result.  Thanks Jenny.  I used Mister Huey's mist for the splattering but I will be buying the black India ink because I like the effect much more.

The supplies: I used a few more supplies from my stash add-on this time around, to bring in the pet theme.  However all of the papers are from the kit with the exception of the grey cardstock behind the star PP, which is Smoky Slate by Stampin' Up, and the yellow-gold plank paper (which I can't quite remember where is comes from - I know it is recent and it is a 6X6 pad).  The other items from my stash add-on are :

• The dog and cat wood veneers are from Studio Calico
• the bone sticker, good dog sticker, paw sticker and kitty face sticker are all from the Simple Stories dog and cat sn@p collections
• the rest of the stickers are from the kit
• the alphas are mainly from the October afternoon's Daily Flash in Nightfall
• as I have already mentioned, the mist is from Mister Huey's

The story :  Well there isn't much of a story here, the photo is pretty much self-explanatory.  Cali, who is my sister's older cat just loves sleeping in the dog's bed.  We could never understand it because Oliver's bed, which came with him from the Rescue organisation, was pretty stinky no matter how much my sister washed it LOL.  But since it was the one thing Oliver was used to, they kept the old bed for the first year after he joined our family.  Early this autumn, Deb couldn't stand that old bed any longer so she went to buy Oliver a new one.  This photo was taken on the same day !!!  Cali got to the bed first LOL... and Oliver just let her be.  He never nudges her or tries to get her out of his bed.  But, if one of the cats gets within a yard of his food bowl ... oh my, that is a whole other story !!!

So there you have it - the story of Oliver's bed, or should it be Cali's bed?  

Thanks so much Jenny for this fun challenge, I really enjoyed it.  And, if for some reason, you don't know Jenny, get out from under that rock and search her out on You Tube.  Her videos are as amazing and her layouts.  

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I will be back soon with another layout and more ramblings.  Hugs xox

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

8th layout with the June Scraptastic kit - 12 X 12 - My favourite martian

Good morning all !  I really hope you had a fabulous weekend.  Here in Canada, it was a long weekend - yay !  I got back home yesterday, after 3 weeks in the country playing in the garden, playing with the animals, reading under a shade tree, harvesting garden bounty, scrapping up a storm, cooking up a storm,  and sometimes just staring off into the distance LOL.  Such relaxation!!!

I am still on vacation until Friday, but this week is a bit of a transition week, getting ready for the return to work.  It is also the Masters 1000 ATP Tennis tournament in Toronto and the WTA women's International tournament in Montreal, so a big tennis watching and cheering week.  But I will definitely get some scrappy time in as well :).  And, I have a ton of photos to get printed from the vacation!

This morning, I wanted to pop in and show you my 8th layout with the Best Day of my Life kit - a fun layout about our dog Oliver :

The story : Gord and June (members of my extended family) bought a house recently.  The house had stood empty for a couple of months, so the grass in the backyard was almost knee high when my BIL Ron and Oliver got there to help Gord out the day he took possession.The yard is totally fenced in so we could leave Oliver off leash even though it was new surroundings for him.  Well, he went crazy running and playing in the tall grass - it was so high, we could hardly see him LOL.  When it was time for Ron to actually cut the grass (oh my what a job !!!!), Oliver went up on the deck to sit with Gord.  If you look closely, you can seen that his paws are all green !!

The supplies:  Everything on this layout came from the kit except a few very small items:

• I cut the yellow camera die cut at the top out of a piece from the Lemon Lush 6 X 6 paper pad
• The puffy stickers (the house on the bottom left and the balloons on the top right) came from the Amy Tangerine collection
• The little strip with the bones on the right hand side came from a 4 X 6 card in the SN@P dog set
• I am not sure if the flair is from this kit or a previous one, or maybe my Citrus Twist PL kit?
• the enamel dots could be from the kit or from my own add-on

I really love scrapping these fun little everyday moments and have been doing more of it lately.  Something I plan to continue.

As always, thanks for stopping by (I love getting up in the morning and checking out the view stats LOL - yup maybe I need a life LOL).  I appreciate all the time you take to visit me and if you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to leave them below.

Have a wonderful day, wherever you are and whatever you have on your plate today.  I hope you get at least a chuckle if not a full blown belly laugh.  Hugs xoxo