A couple of layouts, 2015 scrappy goals and just a little rambling LOL

Well hello there and happy Wednesday!!!  Finally, you say?  Of course, you would be right LOL... so happy happy New Year as well.  May I take a minute to wish you and yours a fantastic 2015 filled with health, happiness, fun, giggles and lots of scrappy time, or reading time, or gardening time ... or whatever floats your boat!!!

As many of you already know, I have a grueling work schedule from mid-December to mid-January - Christmas and New Year's is our busiest time of the year.  So no posting.  But I did quite a bit of scrapbooking anyway - often in 15 or 20 minute increments when I got home, or just before bed.  It is my sanity-saver and I also make a lot of Christmas presents.  I won't go back and post any of those layouts since I pretty much put them up on our various Facebook pages so you have probably seen them.  I was also honoured to be asked to be the Scraptastic member spotlight for December (see their blog on the 31st of December).

The main point to today's blog post is to set out my scrappy goals for 2015, explain them a little, challenge myself (and you if you so choose LOL) to stretch my creative limits a bit, to think outside the box and generally to have lots of fun this year in my scrap room (I know, I know some people are under the impression that it's my dining room - go figure!!!).

But, just before I get to that main point, here are a couple of my most recent layouts :

On to the goals :

The numbers :  I want to make 150 layouts this year, which translates to a little over 12 per month.  But, since I mentioned that I wanted to stretch my creative limits a little this year, they won't all be 12 X 12.  Within that 150, I want to make:

• At least 12 pocketed page 12 X 12 layouts as inserts into my normal 12 X 12 album.  I am not ready to jump on the "Project Life" bandwagon just yet, and frankly I don't think I have enough going on in my life to warrant it LOL, but I do want to get at least one spread a month done to document some of the everyday, but in particular what I read, the tennis I watch, the netflix movies or series I watch... None of these warrant 12X12 pages but I want them documented.
• I also want to try my hand at some 8½ X 11 pages, at least one a month.  Rory Vaillancourt, one of the Scraptastic DT members (kateroar on YouTube) scraps mainly in that format; her layouts, and videos, are awesome and inspiring. 

I also want to make 50 cards; my card stash is dwindling.  And, what better way to clean up the scraps after creating a page LOL

The product:  As you know, I joined Scraptastic last May and I love, love, love it!!!  I tried many ways of using the kit for the first few months and bought sometimes only a main, sometimes a main with a few extra bits, sometimes a main plus the add-on.  I sometimes added from my stash, other times not.  In late summer, I found the formula that worked for me (I did blog about it  here :   http://lifescrapsbymoira.blogspot.ca/2014/08/did-i-kill-june-scraptastic-kit-and.html ).  My strategy for this year is :

• I will buy a main kit plus an add-on every month, with the occasional additional flair, wood veneer, or the new acrylics.  I will also prepare a small add-on from my stash and then I will scrap away.  That brings me to 

My budget:  Yes, I do have to talk about it LOL !!!  My challenge to myself for the entire year is to not buy anything other than what I mentioned above. I have a stash the size of a small store and need to use it.  The exception of course will be basic tools, like adhesives, trimmer blades etc... and I will treat myself to  a birthday haul in October.

The combination Scraptastic kit, add-on and my stash is a winning one for me.  The other thing I love about getting a kit is that I do get my "new product fix"!  I am not as tempted to watch haul videos, new collection videos etc... because I know I will get lots of the great new goodies out there.  I will also get some really fun exclusives.

The kit is nicely coordinated so pulling product is so much easier.  The end result is that I have never scrapped as much as I do with the kit subscriptions.

Another big factor in my increased productivity and fun is:

My inspiration:  I am quite active on a couple of awesome, awesome, awesome (did I say awesome) facebook groups; mainly:

• nicolejones911
• victoria marie facebook group
• scraptastic member forum

These groups are amazing, full of talented, creative and fun scrapbookers sharing their layouts, their inspiration, their techniques, tips & tricks.  We encourage each other, we challenge each other, we have an amazingly fun time!!!

I am also an avid process video watcher and that community is the best as well.  It has grown leaps and bounds this year and there are so many talented scrappers showing us beautiful pages (I really wanted to post a top ten of that for you here, but when I reached top 30 and realised the list was not done; I decided against it LOL).  So hop on over to the FB groups and you will find that most You Tubers let us know on the group when they have posted a video.  There are new ones every day !!!

And finally, I want to increase my participation in challenges this year.  So my goals for that are :

• Do the nicolejones911 challenge every month
• Do at least one of the Victora Marie FB group challenges every week (if I can do both, yay me)
• do as many of the challenges run by my friends Ronisuescrapper, Megan and Jennifer as I can (at least two a month)
• participate in as many of the challenges as I can  issued by my favourite You Tubers
• Do the sketch challenge and the Pinterest challenge posted on the Scraptastic blog, as a minimum from their blog.

So there you have it - my 2015 Scrappy plan!!!  I did not make the goal of short blog posts because that, of course, would be a monumental fail.  Like always, thanks so much for sticking with me.  I hope to post every Thursday this year and one day on the weekend about twice a month (so six blog posts per month is the goal!!! :) :)

Have a wonderful scrappy week!!!  Check out the FB groups mentioned above, go have fun on You Tube ... join us!!!

A December Documented (or Daily) Prompt - make 3 X 4 cards from the scraps left on your work surface after completing another project :)

Good morning and happy Thursday to you all!  It's December ... woot, woot!  Can you hear the song :  "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." LOL.  It is one of my signature songs - I sing that portion of it in response to all sorts over the earlier part of December.  When my mom told me they had decorated the dining room at her residence, that was my response.  When my friend told me she was starting her Christmas shopping, I sang that portion of the song ... you get the picture.  Have I now implanted that in your brain for the day - will you be singing it all day???  Yay, my job is done LOL.  We can now move on to the subject at hand :

I made about 50 Christmas cards this year, here is a selection of them :

Here is my scrap table after I finished making all the cards :

So we all have messy desks after a project, right?  Please do not disillusion me if that is not your case!!  We all hate the cleaning up part, right?  Except for my cat Chopin that is (you can see his paws up in the right hand corner LOL) who loves playing in the leftovers, but usually just makes the mess messier LOL.  And finally, cleaning up that mess takes away from valuable crafting time, does it not?  So what's a crafter to do??  

TURN THAT MESS INTO 3 X 4 CARDS FOR OUR DECEMBER DOCUMENTED ALBUMS !!!

I did not buy anything this year for my album, used only things I had in my stash (the Scraptastic December kit will be Christmas themed, but it may not get here in time for me to use it in the album).  I am using a 6 X 8 album, with pocketed pages but did not have a single 3 X 4, or 4 X 6, Christmas/winter themed card.  So I cleaned my desk :

As I was making these cards, I thought of three different categories of cards that I would use in my album, and that I could make ahead of time :

• date and event specific
• event specific, but no date
• generic filler cards

The generic filler cards are the easiest and fastest to make.  I just trimmed scraps to the 3 X 4 size, rounded the corners and then searched for little bits on my desk that matched the colour and that I could layer :

There is still plenty of room to add a title or a date.   I search for different shapes and sizes from that little scrap heap, at least 3 little bits, so that I can layer.  Each little layer touches at least another one.  I also add just a touch of dimension or bling for texture and pizzazz !

Then for the event-specific cards, although I don't know yet when these events will happen :

We have not yet had our first real snow storm - that 20+ cm snowfall, but it surely will come and probably sooner rather than later ... maybe in the next few days.  So I am ready with my card.  

I don't have a tree in my house because I have my kitty and my sister has two, plus Oliver, our golden retriever; and we spend a lot of time at each other's homes.  So no trees for us.  But my mom has one, her residence has many, we have one at work, other family members and friends also have trees.  So a page will definitely be dedicated to Christmas trees.  My card is ready.  I used twine for some added texture here to represent garland on the tree and stickles on the tree to represent the lights.

Lastly, the presents.  I document shopping, wrapping, giving and opening so I am not sure where is card will wind up in my album ... probably buying because it is actually a gift card holder that I made. I may decorate the inside, or add the list of the gifts that I buy as well as who they are for:

And the very last category, is a card that is very specific and very personal to my Christmas period :

This will be the title card for December 18th.  I work in an Italian gourmet food shop and bakery and Christmas is our busiest time of the year.  We get all sorts of special orders for pastries, cakes, food, baskets .... so on the 18th of every year, I become the "List Lady"... I make lists pretty much all day - special orders by category, orders from vendors, extra staff on call, ingredient lists, crew load lists .... lists and more lists... At the bottom of each of my lists, I always write, and then sing when I give the list to whoever  "And, a partridge in a pear tree" !!! LOL

So now I have implanted a second song in your brain for the day ... wouldn't want you to get bored singing the same song over and over ... so now you have two.  You don't have to thank me, it was a pleasure!

There you have it, I hope I have given you a few ideas for 3 X 4 cards; they are so versatile and easy to make and much more fun than cleaning off the desk !!!

Pop on over to our facebook group, December Daily Inspiration Group - Anything Goes,  for lots more inspiration and gorgeous projects.  There are close to 200 amazing DD crafters in the group making beautiful stuff.  Also pop on over to Sue's You Tube channel (shiles728) to keep up to date with everything going on in the group.  And, of course, there is still time to join in Kristy Nitro's amazing challenge (Kristy Nitro on You Tube).

Are you still with me?  All the way to the end? .... Wow, you are as amazing as I thought.  Thanks so much for sticking with me and my ramblings!  Have a wonderful fun-filled day and don't forget :  SING IT FOR ALL TO HEAR !!!

My job is done LOL.  Hugs xoxo

 

11th and final layout with the Scraptastic August Boys of Summer Kit :) :)

Good morning and happy Saturday to you all!  I hope you are having a great day so far!!  I have a fair amount on my plate today - making bread (well OK, the machine makes it but still ... LOL), making chili,  getting some December Documented stuff done, planning out the layouts than I will make to give as Christmas gifts (more about that in another post); and tonight is my work Christmas party!

So I thought I would quickly pop in and post my last layout with the Boys of Summer kit. Remember when I posted the first layout and I was a little afraid that I would have trouble with this kit since it was so "little boy" specific?... Well, I guess I got over that LOL.  I am so happy that I really got a lot out of this kit and was able to adapt many of the die-cuts.

Without further ado: 

See what I mean about adapting the die-cuts!!!  If you are thinking "that die-cut has nothing whatsoever to do with that page" ... you are right LOL.  But I decided to use it simply because the critter is making the same goofy face I am on the photo and his arms are spread out like mine!  Reason enough I say, plus the colours match!

The supplies:  I was really down to scraps for this layout.  The background cardstock is from my stash as I did not have a single piece of 12X12, cardstock or paper, left.  

• The burlap stickers were left over from the Either Way kit, as were a couple of the other stickers
• I am not sure if the hello wood veneer was from this kit or a left over from another, but the spread you wings was from my stash
• The little gold circular pieces were left over from those totally yummy gold thickers we got with the Either Way kit
• I used Glimmer Mist on the corners

The story:  There is no real story to this one. It is an everyday photo from my year-long backpacking trip to Europe.  I spent two weeks in Sevilla, Spain in November of 2005 and loved every minute of it.  I have shared quite a few pages from this portion of the trip already.  On this photo, I simply wanted to show the size of the tree.  If you know me a little, you know I am a nature lover and yes I admit, somewhat of a tree-hugger ;).  This tree was not in a park or anything;  just there along a wide-alley walkway, in the center of town.  The only other place I have seen trees this size was in the California Redwoods area!!!

So there you have it, just a quick visit from me today... For once, I am sparing you from my usual ramblings LOL, but never fear, it is a short respite.  I will be back, ramblings and all shortly; maybe even tomorrow if I can get my DD act together.  

Thanks for stopping by as always and have a wonderful scrap-filled day.  Hugs xo

December documented - a page, an embelli, a tag and a few ramblings ;)

Happy Sunday to you all !!! Well, we seem to be out of the deep freeze for a few days but it is very cloudy and we are to get rain for two solid days Monday and Tuesday.  But having a choice between snow and rain, I will take the rain for now.  I love snow but starting around mid-December LOL... Yes, I know I live in southern Quebec and it snows in November but a girl can hope and dream, no?

On to the subject at hand before I bore you to tears ...

First up, I made my first page.  I apologise for the lighting.  I finished this page last night and took the photo straight away because I wanted to get this page into the album :

It says November 7 & 8 doesn't it?  ... That's not December?  You are right.  Because of my work schedule, I do a lot in November to get ready for Christmas.  I take the first week of December off to bake, decorate, send all my Christmas cards, do all the present shopping and even wrap the presents.  When the 15th or so rolls around, I work ... work and work pretty much solidly until 4 pm on the 24th.  So all my personal stuff has to be done and ready - the freezer has to have food so I can eat LOL, and my nephew (who happens to be my boss) has to have enough wine to keep me happy !!  So I start my season in November and therefore my December Documented will need a Prologue ;) :) ... Watch for that "cover" page soon.

Every year, on the first or second weekend of November, my local scrappy friends and I get together  for a Christmas crop.  It kicks the season off for me.  I love Christmas so an extra-long Christmas season is fine by me.

My second little project for today is a wood veneer snowflake.  The packaging called them wood veneer doilies (silly of them to make such a mistake isn't it?) :

I started by painting the bare wood veneer with some semi-gloss blank canvas acrylic paint by Claudine Hellmuth.  It gave it just a touch of sheen.  I then hapharzardly applied some gold ink (I used Brilliance) and then several layers of clear and glitterly embossing powder.  I think I did four layers.  This embellishment was originally intended for the cover of my album; it didn't make it but will definitely be in the album.

And last up for me today is my tag in response to the challenge over on our Facebook DD Inspiration Group, as well as on Sue's You Tube channel (shiles728).  The challenge is closed now. I am so amazed with the wonderful tags everyone created and posted.  Here is my little contribution :

 It is quite a simple tag :  I used a scrap of red cardstock to create the tag which is about 3 X 5 so I can fit it nicely into a 4 X 6 pocket.  I stamped and clear heat embossed the snow flakes on the background.  I then die-cut some smaller snowflakes out of white glitter paper (I used a Spellbinders die) and glued them to the tag.  I put small red star shaped gems in the center of each of those snowflakes and added the letters NOEL in silver alphas.  The hole reinforcer is also out of white glitter paper.  Lastly I added red and white twine, along with 1/8 inch silver ribbon.

Well there you have - as the title says - a page, an embelli, a tag and a lot of ramling LOL.

Thanks so much for stopping by and taking time out of your day for me.  I truly appreciate it.  I love reading all your comments.  

I will be back soon with a layout - my 11th and final layout with the August Scraptastic Boys of summer kit.  Until then, stay warm (or cool if you are down south, or in the southern hemisphere) and be well.  Hugs xo

December Documented cover, supplies and a few ramblings :)

Good morning all !  I hope you are having a lovely morning so far (or whatever time of day it is where you are :) :).  As I mentioned on Sunday, we had the first snow fall... it was pretty ... it turned ugly LOL.  This week has been brutal.  We have had high winds, actually warnings on Monday and Tuesday (gusts hitting 90 km), below freezing temperatures (and with that wind, the feel was even worse).  The snow turned to ice and therefore my "walking like a penguin" season has started.  Not a happy camper!  It is a little too early. Thankfully, they are announcing a return to normalcy next week so that we should get a little reprieve before the "real" winter starts.

So, let's talk December Documented... that is what I will be calling my project this year.  Many of you are more familiar with, or are doing, a December Daily but I don't think I will be able to record something every single day since there are days that all I will be doing is work (it is the very busy season for us), or where there is nothing special going on ...

I want to focus on traditions, memories, activities (baking, Christmas shopping, decorations ....) so some days there may be "nothing to report" whereas others there may be 2 or 3 pages worth.  There will be fun little tidbits - our local garden center has a beautiful Christmas boutique and outside they have an "Elf crossing" which I think is just too cute so that will be in the album.  My mom is 86 years old and still going pretty strong but I don't know how many more Christmasses we will be lucky enough to have her so that will be in the book.  Muffins and martinis will be in the book, pretty snow, and grumlings about snow will be in the book, prayers and thanks will be in the book, the fur-kids will be in the book, presents will be in the book, movies too.... You get the picture.

I will blog about the whole experience on a regular basis, since it is my first December Documented.  Please share if you are doing a December Daily, December documented, 25 Memories or whatever else you may be doing at this time of the year !!

It does not have to be an expensive project - so far I have not bought one single thing.  I had a 6 X 8 Bo Bunny Misc Me album in my stash together with enough page protectors (I think anyway LOL).  I had two perfect-for-the-occasion 6 X 6 paper pads from 2012 :

and then I shopped my stash for alphas, buttons, washi, enamel dots, stickles, punches, ribbons and twine ....

 And I decorated the album cover ... just to get things rolling.  It is a fairly simple decoration but I like the outcome.  It is not at all what I had in mind when I was thinking about the front cover but my heart and hands just made this LOL .... and I love it: 

So there you have .... LET DECEMBER DOCUMENTED BEGIN!  YAY.

Now for a few news items :  There is a DD inspiration group that is the brainchild of my friend Susan Hiles.  And there is so much going on ... challenges, inspiration, motivation etc...  There are two ways to finds us.  The main focus will be You Tube - so go on over and subscribe to Sue's channel if you haven't already (she is shiles728 on You Tube).  She already has a few videos up and each one has links to other group members, so it is like a treasure hunt LOL.  Sue also has a challenge going, until Nov. 29th for your DD cover.  Secondly, we have formed a Facebook group called December Daily Inspiration Group - Anything goes.  Come on over and join in the fun!!

So that about does it for me today LOL... True to my title, including the ramblings :)
Thanks for stopping by and spending some of your precious time with me today.  I will be back soon with more.

First ever mixed media scrapbook layout (well sort of LOL) ... 12 X 12

Good morning friends!  Hope you are well and having a lovely Sunday so far (or had a lovely Sunday should it already be over where you are).  I woke up to the first snow fall of the year this morning.  It is still snowing and so far it is staying.  I have mixed feelings about that:  it is pretty and I don't have to shovel, nor do I drive but I walk; I walk a lot and that can be quite treacherous at times during the winter...but still, it is pretty as you will see in my photo below from last year.

So on to the layout ... I took a break from my Scraptastic kit (although the background cardstock is from the August Boys of summer kit) to play with some of my December Documented stash.  This layout is in response to a weekly challenge by my friends Roni and Megan (Ronisuescrapper and Crafty Meggy on You Tube; more about my friends below).  Their challenge this week was mixed media.  I have never ever done a mixed media layout so it was a challenge indeed.  So much so that my first attempt at a background was a total, monumental and epic fail LOL.  Not even my cat would play with the wrinkled up paper (that says a lot because Chopin is not at all fussy when it comes to playing with paper - anything that flies off the trimmer will do)!!  Oh well, so back to the drawing board I went.  And this time, I am really chuffed with the results - I love it and I had so much fun doing this page.  Now, before you get all excited, it is not mixed media like many of you do but it is a start - baby steps.

I apologise for the quality of the photo - another part of the snow that I don't like - bad lighting for photo taking LOL.  

What I did:  I started simply by covering the entire surface of a 12 X 12 Whisper White cardstock from Stampin' Up with Gesso.  I don't really have a lot of mixed media supplies - well none really - no Gelatos, no watercolours...but I did find some really old stuff in my stash, along with some more current mists and played away :

• I used Nicole's and Irit's technique of mist on some packaging and then applied it to the page.  I used two colours of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist -  Patina and Italian Sunset, and then added a bit of Mister Huey's custard.  The custard mist looked nice on my try-out sheet when I sprayed it, but I found the packaging technique made it much too bright and bold so in the end I covered most of it up
• I found "Archival Opaline pigment ink" in Glacial blue in my stash (must be at least 10 years old.  It is a Tsunkineko product.  I used a SSS stencil called Stars and Dots with the ink and painted in three spots - it is not really visible on the picture, sorry.
• I misted the doily with the Glimmer Mists
• I colourd the wood veneer doily (we will just call it a snowflake, OK?) with the Patina Glimmer Mist, painted over that with the Glacial Blue paint/ink and then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.
• The rest is pretty straight forward layering and embellishing.  The paper comes from Basic Grey; it is a 6X6 paper pad from 2012, called Aspen Frost.  You will see it a lot in my December Documented album.

The photo:  Every year in late December or early January we get one, or a couple of, ice storms.  This particular morning, I was headed to work very early  - the sun was just rising as you can see in the top RH corner of the photo.  It gave everything the "glacial blue" tone.  It was lovely, but oh so treacherous ... I had to walk like a penguin.  Luckily, we did not lose power but I did slip and slide around for a couple of days LOL

Well, there you have.  Let me know what you think of my first foray into mixed media.  I had such fun. I can certainly see how it can become addictive and of course now I need Gelatos, watercolours, modeling paste, and.... and...LOL

Roni and Megan were joined by Jennifer Cambridge (also her You Tube name I think) for the challenge and they each made such lovely layouts.  If you don't know  them yet, head on over to their channels to watch and subscribe.  Roni and Megan also just started a facebook group (Crafty Meggy and Roni) so there is another lovely place to share.  Next week's challenge is to use a monochromatic colour scheme.  Everyone is welcome to join in - the more, the scrappier :) :)

As always, thanks so much for stopping by. I will be back soon dear friends - until then, be well.  Hugs xo

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 :)