Monday, February 28, 2011

Paper Flower Tutorial

I saw these flowers here while surfing around online and thought of my friend, Jacqueline who's making decorations for a little girl's nursery.





These were made for a wedding reception decoration using sheet music because the groom is a musician, and I thought it looked fantastic.

I tried to make some at home, just because.

One thing I would suggest that I didn't have is a punch or template to make the petals more uniform. I just freehanded these and you can tell.



First, I hand cut 7 leaf shapes out of white cardstock. You can use more or less, depending on the look you like.

Next (bare with me) I dipped them into my cold tea. Bizarre, yes, but I was going for a tea-stained look and it was in front of me, and I don't like cold tea....



Anyway, it didn't give it any colour, but it made the paper easier to work with and helped the ink spread.

Next, I dabbed some ink on a new makeup sponge and pounced it on the petals, front and back. I used the brown allover and the pink around the edges to give it an antique rose colour. Start with a little colour and add more as you go, until you have the look you want.



Do the pouncing over a napkin or protective mat so you don't ink your dining room table..... that doesn't go over well.

Let it dry a little, then pinch one end of each petal together, and place two-sided tape on the outside of the pinched end. Glue the petals together.

Pretty easy, but it's a neat look. I might make some smaller flowers for a layout using this method.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Happy Birthday Brad!!!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Braaaaaaa-aaaaaad. Happy Birthday to you!!!!!

Hope you're having a good day!

Here's some pictures to make you laugh.

Doing it herself seems to be Gracie's motto, lately.

Since we had company all wekend, we have a ton of leftovers, so Gracie is eating weird combinations as is, but when she gets to serve herself, she makes quite a concoction and quite a mess.





First she rolled her french fry in yogourt and then dipped it in ketchup.



Yum!



Next came some scrambled egg dipped in yogourt.



Then her apple slice in her ketchup.



So many tastes to try out. So little time.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Catch Up

We've had company for the past few days, so I'm playing catch up with a few things today. I'll post a few photos today and talk more next time.

First off, Happy Birthday Gramma Gay!!! Hope you're having a great day.

Second, here are a few layouts I made, using this sketch from PageMaps.



This sketch was really easy to work with and for says when you don't have a creative bone in your body, it's a good way to get your mojo back!

My first stab at it. See the little flag just below the picture? That's a hat pin with a square sticker wrapped around it, and a dimensional sticker (heart) on top. Wouldn't have thought of that without the sketch...



Not too shabby, but I prefer my second layout. I love that bright pop of colour. Fun!



And a few pictures of Gracie eating macaroni.......



She loves macaroni.



Oh dear.



Makes a mother proud.



I thought I'd give her a spoon, but that didn't make it much prettier...

By the way, these are about two weeks old (I'm a slacker). I've trimmed her bangs since these were taken.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Valentine's Day Fondue!

We had a quiet night in for Valentines Day. Just the three of us and a fondue party!





Brad was in charge of the hot rock, cooking our meats to perfection.



I enjoyed the chocolate dessert fondue.



As did Gracie...





Wait, that's all I can have?



Hmmmmm.....



Don't want any of this chocolate to go to waste!

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Monday, February 14, 2011

The Luckiest

Happy Valentines Day!!

Seven and a half years together, B-Rad.









Rockin' it since 2003. Love us or hate us, this is the way we roll! :) We're canoeing in that last one... case ya couldn't tell....

Now, since you're all pulling out the mushy mix tapes, here's a thought. Why not use the lyrics to say what you can't with your journaling? (Nice segway into scrapbooking talk, eh??!)

I hear so many songs that make me think of my life. When you can't word something quite right, someone else can say it for you better in a song.

I chose to scrap a picture of Gracie with some of the lyrics from a Ben Folds song that I like.

This is pretty simple, some lyrics, a great sheet of paper (Making Memories), a pen, some stickers (Glitz Designs), alphas (Maya Road), and a picture of Gracie and her giraffe.



If you'd like to listen to the song, grab your valentine and tune in.



How many of you are spending this Valentine's Day thinking that you are the luckiest??

Sunday, February 13, 2011

A Little helper and a little dose of spring

First, here is what it looks like to do anything on the computer while Gracie is awake:



What are you doing? Can I try?



A list? Hmmmm, I'll add to it.
Yes, these are dad's sneakers. I like to wear them when he's at work. Someone has to.

And a layout. So spring-y and full of bling, it made me happy. Hope it brightens your day.

Friday, February 11, 2011

Some new layouts

First off, what do you think this says about my impending luck???



Yep, it's a crushed piece of fortune cookie, with no fortune, in a sealed package.

Can't even buy luck with Chinese food! I think the fortune cookie gods are trying to tell me something.

Well, more reason to stay inside and get crafty. It's dangerous out in the real world for a girl with no luck :)

Here are a few layouts using felt die-cut shapes from Fancy Pants Designs (A side note, follow this link for their newest releases from CHA, I love their line, it's the little things. See if you like it, too!)

I like to hand stitch on felt to keep it from looking flat. A few simple stitches really makes it look like more than the cheap sheets of felt you buy at garage sales.

A quick layout about Gracie's first haircut. See the little envelope at the top, tucked behind the photo? I have a little snip of Gracie's hair tucked away in there.



Sorry, the green turned a little garrish in this photo.

And some older pictures of Gracie's first time swimming, at 6 months old, that I just got around to (at 16 months old...).



If you ever want to see more detail in a photo, simply click on it, it will pop up larger.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Child Labour

Jada and Gracie don't just get to kick back and have fun at Grams and Papa's place. They have chores to do, too.

They must bake cookies.







The trick to getting the sprinkles to stay in place is to lick each cookie before applying. This technique is used frequently....

They fold laundry








And you saw Jada feeding the cows in the last post.....

"Work, work, work, that's all I do"
:)

Monday, February 07, 2011

Fun at the Farm

Pictures of Gracie and Jada from a trip to Grams and Papa's farm.



Gracie likes to watch the cows (no matter their gender, they're all 'cows' at this stage) and quietly moo at them.



Jada is right in there feeding them hay.



Two future farm girls??



Jada is strong enough to pull Gracie in her sleigh.



But then got to trade for a ride of her own.

We've started potty training and it's going fairly well. The key is to put her on the potty a lot and have a lot of distractions ready. So far, running water and drinking water while on the potty are helpful. Trying to tickle something out of her hasn't worked yet, but sometimes I can't help but try :)

If you have any tips, I'd love to hear them.

Friday, February 04, 2011

I hope you dance






Favourite pictures of the moment. Thanks mom, for taking these super cute shots!