A couple of layouts, one 8.5X11 and one 12X12 - both some fun everyday moments

Happy Sunday to all and thanks for stopping by my little blogworld :).  Well, it looks like we may have finally turned the corner and Spring may have actually sprung.  It rained, and rained on Friday, it was crazy windy yesterday and today we have the sun and a forecast high of 15 deg C!!!!  Wow!  It looks like we may be in the teens all week - happy dance :) :) ...

How have you been?  What has been going on in your part of the world? Or in your scraproom?.  I started using my Scraptastic February Counting Stars kit and am having lots of fun with it.  In the latter part of March, I had a cardmaking binge.  I dug out my Copics, stamped away, coloured away and then made a few simple cards.  It is so relaxing.  I will get a blogpost up about that soon.  In the meantime, I wanted to pop in a share two layouts with you today :

An 8.5X11 layout about my winter attire LOL : 

I swear I looked like that every single morning, from early January to as late as last week.  I am so done with the look.  But I do love that big wrap around scarf my great-nieces gave me for Christmas.  Our winter did start late but then was brutally cold!!!  In fact, we broke records almost daily, had the dubious honour of being the coldest place on earth a couple of times during January and had the coldest winter in the last 123 years !!!!  So to finally feel a little sunshine and warmth (well it is all relative LOL) is bliss!!

The supplies:  Everything on this page came from the kit.  I am loving the acrylic shapes we are now getting as part of the kit, as well as the exclusive pattern papers.  I made those little arrow "thingies" from a branding strip.  The only thing from my stash is the flair button which is very old!  It was part of a pack from Studio Calico.  The enamel dots may be from my stash as well.

The second layout for today is a throwback to 2006, during my backpacking trip.  I am in Paris this time, relaxing and having a fun afternoon with friends :

Paris turned out to be a little bit of a hub for me during the trip since I have great friends there and had a couple of teaching assignments throughout the year.  This was my last visit, for a week of teaching, in February 2006.  

The supplies:  Most of the product on this page comes from the Counting Stars kit but there are a few bits that were left from the previous kits - the Heidi Swapp glitter heart, the vellum "favourite moments" piece, the "lovely" sticker which comes from Shimelle's first collection.  The heart enamel dots are from my stash and the numbered strip on the side of the photo is from a branding strip.

So there you have it for today!!!  

My friends and family have been asking me create a place where they can see all of my layouts in one spot.  I have created a facebook page just for that.  You can find it here : https://www.facebook.com/lifescrapsbymoira.

I have created several albums  - by Scraptastic kit, by category (cards, PL spreads, 8.5X11 layouts) and also by theme or subject.  I will be adding more subjects as I go - one for each country for instance, one for the furkiddies, the garden ....  I would love for you to stop on by and to "like" if you so feel inclined.

Have a lovely day my friends.  Talk to you soon!  Hugs xox

Kill a kit, an 8.5 X 11 travel layout and a final moan and groan about winter ;)

Happy Sunday to you all!  I hope you are having a lovely one.  I am staying indoors today - really this winter is just dragging on and it is really time for it to just go away LOL. Yesterday, we were around the freezing mark and had a precipitation cocktail - snow, freezing rain, rain and wind (let's not forget wind!!).  This morning??  it is beautifully sunny (yay) and .... wait for it .... minus a gazillion!  Ok, well that may be a slight exaggeration, but it is minus 16 deg C ... #sodonewithwinter. On the upside, I am staying in my pyjamas, watching tennis and scrapping ALL day :).

I wanted to pop in and share the last layout made with the January mega kit I put together from the Scraptastic October and January kits and add-ons, as well a little bits from my stash.  I got 21 layouts out of that kit and I think I did it justice.  Here is the paper I have left:  

I added that piece of Shimelle pattern paper to my February kit and put the cardstock back into my stash.  As far as the embellishments go, I had just a few bits left and they all coordinate quite will with the February Counting Stars kit so I just added them in there :).

So on to the layout :

I really am enjoying the 8.5 X 11 format lately and, if you recall  my goals for this year, I wanted to make at least one a month.  Well that is one goal I have shattered - I have made 6 so far this year.  This one is not my favourite - it was a lot nicer in my head LOL, but it's done and in the book: 

I almost forgot about this page.  As I was sorting through the bits and bobs left in my kit, I came across a mini page kit I had put together to scrap this photo!!  I tried to channel my inner Tracy (mercytiara) and Jenny (jenny  box) and layered quite heavily behind the photo.  I also popped up some of the layers, in some corners.  It is hard to see on the photo but that is one aspect of this layout that I like.  

The supplies: Every thing on this layout came from the mega kit with very few exceptions.  The yellow letter stickers for the word "buddy" in the title are from Chickaniddy (Scrumptious), and were left over from a previous kit.  The puffy stickers are from my stash (they are "Oh what fun" from Evalicious).  I love puffy stickers, they are my new addiction in the making :),

The story:  The Berlin Buddy Bears are an integral part of Berlin's cityscape and these lovely, colourful and whimsical sculptures can be found all over the City.  They started as an artistic event in 2001.  The goal was to bring art into the streets of Berlin and since the bear is the city's heraldic animal, it was chosen.  In June of that same year, there were over 100 of these sculptures all over the city.  They are quite the tourist attraction.  They now also travel the world on exhibition.

Well, there you have it.  One lovely kit done and another waiting in the wings.  I am so lucky.  Thanks for visiting with me today!! I hope you get some scrappy time today.  Hugs and I will be back soon with the first couple of layouts from the February Counting Stars kit. xo 

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

An 8.5 X 11 layout, a great you tube channel and a fun challenge !!

Happy Thursday scrappy friends!  We have a "heatwave" LOL ... the temperature is minus 10 deg C today but that brought a little snow, just enough to mess up the rush hour this morning but I have the day off so woot woot!

I made my second ever 8.5 X 11 layout and I must say I am really starting to like this format.  Once I got the proportions sorted, it became quite easy and I love the result. This size of layout, and this particular page,  are totally inspired by one of my favourite scrapbookers - Rory Vaillancourt.  She is on you tube as "Kateroar" and is also a member of the Scraptastic Design Team.  Rory is immensely talented and makes lovely layouts and great videos. Her voice is so soothing and relaxing as well LOL.  She is also quite active on our various facebook groups.  If you don't know her, head right on over to You Tube.  As a double bonus, she is hosting a challenge right now.  The requirements are super easy - be a subbie, make a layout and link to it in the comments section of her challenge video. The prize is totally awesome as well !!!

This layout is really a scraplift, not of a specific layout of Rory's but rather more generally of her style, design and some of the techniques she uses often.  I used a monochromatic colour scheme.  The banner under the photo was given texture by using my crimper (gosh I don't even know when I last used it!!) and then distressing, and inking the edges.  I used some vellum behind the photo and then some fun foam to pop both the vellum and the photo up.  All "Rory techniques" LOL.

Here it is : 

The story behind this layout is very simple really.  The journaling says it all:  "My day is always brighter when I meet a kitty or puppy along the way!"

The supplies come entirely from the mega kit I put together using my January Scraptastic kit along with the leftovers from the October main and add-on, as well as the TLN kit.

I must say that I am really happy with this layout - it is one of my favourites so far this year.  

Thanks for the inspiration and motivation Rory.  And of course, a big thanks to all of you who take the time to read my blog, like and comment on my layouts whether it be here, on instagram (mooreilly), or on our various facebook groups.  I am so very lucky to be part of this fantastic community. 

Cheers!

12 X 12 Travel layout (11/150-2015) - Canal Love (Venice)

Happy Sunday to all!  I hope you had, are having or will have a wonderful day depending on where in the world you are - I hope you are warm, or cool, as the case may be LOL.  As for us, here in Quebec, Canada, we are still in the deep freeze.  It is the coldest winter in over 20 years according to the experts.  On Friday, the maximum for the day was minus 23 deg C!!! Hmmmm 'nuff said. 

I wanted to pop in today with my final layout for the portion of my trip that I spent in Venice.  This one is aptly called "Canal Love".  It is also for a challenge over on the Victoria Marie Facebook Group.  If you are not a member of the group yet, head on over there; it is a really fun place to be.  A great group of scrappers, tons of inspiration and motivation,  fun challenges and well Victoria is just a hoot and more - her posts crack me up!! 

I love Canal cities and towns - they are so beautiful and lovely to walk around.  I spent 2 or 3 days just walking around Venice; discovering almost every corner.  I also enjoy going off the beaten track so I deliberately allowed myself to get lost and wind up in residential areas where peoples' boats were tied up outside their door.  I don't have great balance when it comes to standing in moving vehicles (of any kind), or vehicles that are not on a firm footing, or ground LOL.  So I would probably wind up in the water as often as I would go through the entrance if I lived there LOL.   There is something so very calming about strolling around canal streets.  I do hope to get back there one day.  If you have been to Venice, I would love to see any pages you might have made and read about your discoveries, likes and dislikes!

The supplies are entirely from the "mega" kit I prepared from the January Scraptastic kit and add-on (This must be the place), together with the October TLN kit and the October main and add-on (Heart It Races).  

The only items I added from my stash are the enamel dots and black gems (the latter are from BoBunny). 

This was the 11th layout I made with this kit.  I have made two more layouts since and still have enough for about 4 more.  With scraps, I might even it make it to 20 !!

So there you have, a quick visit today, with the ramblings somewhat in check LOL.  Thanks for being here :) Have a great scrappy day and I will be back with another page, and post, on Thursday. 

12 X 12 Travel layout using Scraptastic kits and a little story :)

Happy Sunday to all!  I hope you are having, or had, an amazing day, or evening!  Hope that cover everyone LOL.  We are still in the deep-freeze in Quebec, Canada.  Our winter started quite late but it has been so so very cold since the first of the year.  We are setting records often and actually had the dubious honour of being the coldest place on earth on Thursday, January 8th!!!  The themometer seems to be stuck in the minus 20's C. I have become a master of layers, but the upside is that it is too cold to snow so we are having a very easy winter from that point of view.

I have gone back to making a few travel pages to try and stay warm LOL, so today we are revisiting Innsbruck, the capital of the Tyrol region in western Austria.  I visited  in the summer mind!  

I originally started this page with the intention of following a sketch for the weekend challenge over on the Victoria Marie Facebook Group.  But in the end, this page took on a life of its own and in no way, shape or form resembles the sketch I had chosen - absolutely nothing except for the double matting of the photo.  So back to the grindstone on that challenge !!!  But I really love how this page turned out; it is one of my favourites this month.

The product:  After finishing all my Christmas presents, I had used bits from the September, October and November Scraptastic kits but still had lots left over.  I made quite an attempt at killing the September one but then the January "This must be the Place" kit arrived and it was love at first sight.  Not wanting to leave October's kit behind (it is so beautiful), I created a mega-kit for this month - it consists of the remainder of the October Heart It races kit and add-on, the October TLN kit and January's kit and add-on)  I hope to get 20 or more layout from this mega kit and am loving it.  Those two months complement each so much that half the time I really don't know  what comes from which. Therefore, I have not really added much from my own stash.  In this case, all the supplies come from my mega kit with the just a couple of exceptions :

• The background paper is from Stampin' Up in Basic Grey with vanilla polka dots
• I used a few brads from my stash, as well as enamel dots and shapes.

I am getting a lot more comfortable using vellum and just love the effect on this page.

The story:  I visited Innsbruck and Igles fairly early on in the one-year sabbatical trip - in August of 2005.  It is so beautiful!  When we arrived, there was big convention in town so hardly a room to be found.  The tourist office eventually found us a lovely pensione, at quite an altitude and  at quite an uphill trek LOL.  This particular pensione was actually closed but the landlady (then in her late seventies, early eighties I think) still lived there with her daughter, grand-children, two dogs and three cats.  Every once in a while they would take in tourists, as long as it was for a week or more, and as long as it was not a group!.  Well, what a gem of a find.  The landlady was just so lovely as well.  She did not speak English, nor French and my German is more than atrocious but we still managed to communicate.  I spent a couple of evenings watching her sew and do the most lovely needle work I have every seen - embroidered table cloths, sheets and pillow cases that were stunning.  My room was amazingly comfortable and breakfast each morning a real treat.  There was also a lovely terrasse - the photo in the picture is the view I had sitting on that terrasse while sipping a glass of wine, or drinking coffee.  As the journaling says : "Priceless".  Unfortunately, that lovely lady would not allow her picture to be taken - she felt she was too old and no longer photo worth --- what a shame, as she was quite lovely.  It was obvious from the photos in the dining room that the pensione had once been THE place to be - there were photos of a much younger her and her husband in the pensione, or on the ski slopes,  with many celebrities, Olympic althletes and politicians.  One of the most beautiful two weeks of my trip (and such a getting into shape two weeks too LOL, lots of hiking which I loved).

So there you have, you have made it to the end of another of my long and winding blog posts - thanks so much !!  I will be back soon to report on how I made out with my goals for January.  Until then stay warm, or cool, as the case may be!  Cheers xo

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!!!