Retreat Treats

Let me just tell all you retreat attendees... you will not be disappointed with the AMAZING door prizes and goodie bag items we've got for you!

Here's a pic of A FEW of the goodies that await you:



This is just the beginning if you can believe it. There are still more waiting for you, and even more to come! I really have to send a great big shout out to our sponsors!

Plus, the class kits are so jam packed full of goodies, and the vendors will have new, neat products on hand, so don't worry, you'll go home with a whole new stash of scrapbooking supplies.

And, the instructors are really amazing. Really, all of these women have inspired me, and that's why I contacted them. They will knock your socks off!

Can't wait to see you in April.

Visit the website for more details on the retreat.
www.scrapbooksavvy.net

Favourite old photos

I have been looking at some old pictures lately, and I've decided to incorporate some of the pics of my childhood into my book of me. I don't want to open a new can of worms by scrapping all the old pics I have (since I can't even keep up with my current stock), but some of them are so precious I want them taken care of.

Here's a layout I did using a favourite photo of my dad and brother and I playing. My mom took it and I absolutely love it. I can just imagine all four of us playing in our old place...



I still feel like it might need something else, so I might keep it out to play with...

digi scrappin'

I have a challenge for you all to get your scrappy mojo flowing...

Create a layout using the word 'footsteps.' It can be digital, paper, or hybrid, your call. Be creative and lets see where you take this.

Please leave a comment directing me to your version either in an online gallery or on your blog or send me an email with a jpg of your layout and I'll feature it on the blog later this week.

Here's a little digital project I did using 'footprints' (thanks to Lisa for posting the sketch for this at Concealed Beauty). The picture is of some friends of ours at the zoo. They have the cutest girls...



All of the papers and elements were from A Little Dreamer Designs and were created by Michelle Coleman. The kit is called Wild Sorbet. I especially love the elements in this kit. They have great frames, ribbons, transparent shapes, and rub ons. Very fun to play with.

Happy scrapping!

Scrapbook Savvy Mountain Retreat Updates

Head on over to the Scrapbook Savvy site to get updates on the retreat.
www.scrapbooksavvy.net

The instructor's bios and class descriptions are up and classes are open for registration. Make sure you check out the times of the classes, so you don't double book yourself.

Check it out!

Scrappin' all Saturday

What a great weekend!

I had a visit from a friend that I never get to see last night, the laundry is almost finished, and now, I have no plans for today or tomorrow... how rare is that?

I'm not even going to cook tonight. I cooked a big batch of yummy soup Thursday and a roast last night, so I'm taking tonight off and we're eating left-overs (Valentines Day is over hehehe).

To top it all off, it's beautiful outside! Lightly falling snow, the temperature is hovering right around 0.... quite perfect here in my snowy haven.

I went for a great cross country ski this morning, so the dog is exhausted, hubby is off to work, and I'm free to scrap to my heart's content! Yippee!!

Here's a look into my Saturday scrappin' so far:

A layout about some of my favourite things, with a lot of doodling, some paint, and lots of photos (10 to be exact).



A close up of the doodled title (and my eye...)



And a look at the out-takes we have from our Christmas photo:



I also made some great journaling blocks while I was playing on my mac this morning, so I'll have to use them on a layout tonight!

Hope your weekend is just as great.

Friday ramblings

Guess how we spent our Valentines Day yesterday? We went and picked up our new washer and dryer!!!

It's been a month and a half without one. Can you imagine? We've worn a trail between our neighbours door and our own, lugging laundry baskets ever since our move, now, we can do it at our leisure (and our neighbour will not appear at our door holding a bra of mine in his hand ever again). *blush*

Who would've thought this would be so exciting? Happy Valentines Day, honey!

Well, here's a look at our washer:



You can find out more about the Kenmore Elite HE5T 4.0 Litre front loading, energy efficient washer and dryer combo can be seen here (in case you're in the market for a new set).

Also, the door prizes for the Scrapbook Savvy Mountain Retreat are coming in fast and furious and there are some great ones! It's hard for me to stay away from them... pretty ribbons, great stamp sets, storage units, beautiful papers, class kits, rub-ons, wall art, magazines.... anyone coming, you will be happily surprised!

And, the classes are just about up which means registration will begin shortly. You know what? There will be some excellent classes. These ladies are so talented, and the projects are fabulous! You will be so happy with the projects that you can make.

Check out the progress on the retreat here.

On another note, here's a recent layout I did for a mountain biking race, my hubby was in "The 24 hours of Adrenalin."
I love these photos of him, and had fun playing with the bright colours. I also used black embossing powder to distress the edges of the paper and accentuate the dirt on hubby's face :)



Hope you enjoy!

Wow!!

I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone for stopping in to check out my blog. I installed a hit counter two weeks ago to keep track of traffic, and I've all ready had over 300 hits!!

Wow! 300 hits in 2 weeks, I had no idea...

Thanks so much folks.

new layouts and things happening

I have a few new layouts to post, but before I do, I must tell you about the great, week-long Valentine crop going on at Concealed Beauty this week. There are daily challenges, prizes, games, inspiring layouts and much more. What a great way to spend Valentines week!! If you stop by the forum, make sure to say hi and check out the great kits and items in the store.
Stop by to check it out at www.concealedbeauty.com

Also, there's a great Canadian kit company called Just Cre8 which has phenomenal kits and amazing people.
They are also sponsoring the Scrapbook Savvy Mountain Retreat!! You can look forward to an awesome door prize from them if you're attending. Stop in and check out their great forum and take a peak in the store to peruse all the great goodies Sue has in stock.

Now, on to some layouts...

Here's a dedication layout I did about my brother Curtis, and his wife Brandi:




I had these two really great photos of them from a hiking trip my family went on and needed a good use for them, so I thought this would be perfect.

Notice the Kaiser pearls?? Lovin' them right now.

Also, another photo from the same hiking trip of my dog, Bailey.

'Still' doesn't really describe a two year old Airedale Terrier so you'll appreciate the sentiment if you have a puppy.



I was playing a lot with this one. I hand drew the ripples around the picture and pierced some holes to highlight them, sort of like bubbles....possibly in my mind only : )

I also stitched some grass in the corner.



Just mixing things up a bit....did you all know that I won a trophy for sewing when I was in grade school?? And this is how I use my sewing machine now : )

Toot toot.... that's me tooting my own horn.

Hope you enjoy!

Maya Road at CHA and some cool videos from Tim Holtz...

If you love Maya Road products like I do, you'll love this!

Maya Road released their Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) new release catalog. Check out all the new goodies they've come up with here.

If you were like me, planning to maybe hold back on the scrappin' supplies for awhile, you better wait a few more months, this stuff looks good!

Also, check out these great videos from Tim Holtz.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

digital how-to

So, here's another digi layout for you all....



If you're new to digital scrapbooking, I've compiled the steps to make a basic layout such as this one for you.

All of the elements I used are free downloads from Rhonna Farrer and Jessica Sprague.

First, open a file that is the size you'd like to work in, I use 12 x 12 because that's the size I usually have albums for and a nice big canvas to work on. Make sure to save it here so that if anything happens, you'll at least have the benefit of save updates.

Next, open your background paper and drag it onto your document.

Open your picture and place it on your layout, sizing it accordingly (I usually size mine to about 5 x 7 in advance so it's not a huge file).

Next, open the frame and size and rotate it using free transform, in your edit pull down menu. A note for those new to designing, if you hold down the shift key, you will maintain the elements proper proportions. This way, nothing looks flattened or squished.



Next, open the explore text and drag it onto your layout. This time, try sizing it by going to edit and then transform and then scale.

Open the bird file and drag to layout, size using either of the previously mentioned methods.



Most of the time, I like to try and place elements on my layout in the order I'd like them to appear, however, that doesn't always work... I always think of elements I'd like to add or change my mind, which is a part of the creative process. This time, I thought the background looked a little boring so I added a transparency.

To do this, open the transparency and drag it to your layout. Move it behind all of the other elements by choosing the layer it is in from your layers palette and click on it with your cursor, hold it down and drag the layer directly above of your first layer (your background paper). This way, all of the other elements will be above the transparency, except the background paper.

I changed the opacity of the transparency to 28% using the opacity slider located above the layers palette.

A few last minute things and we're done. I moved the explore text and added a ribbon to finish things off, and then hit save. Voila! Done.

Now save your file. If you won't be altering it, ever again, save it as a jpg, this will flatten all of the layers so anything placed in the file will be unmoveable in the future. Otherwise, if you're in photoshop a psd (or gif in most photo editing software) file will allow you to come back and move elements, change layers, etc.

So, happy digi scrappin'!

And the winner is.....

Sharon Shuttleworth!!!!!!

Congrats Sharon, I'll be contacting you to see how you would like to use your $50 gift certificate to the retreat!

Here's Sharon's winning comment regarding what she's working on:
My focus right now is on my 4-H members' projects - I lead two groups, my "2nd Yr Scrappers" (3 girls, ages 10-12) and the "Grad Scrappers" (3 university girls). Just finding and learning new techniques to teach the kids is keeping me busy. The results are worth it though - they are having a ball, and producing awesome layouts!

For all of you who were waiting for the announcement, I apologize, my internet is still down, so I have to knock on neighbours doors to do my posting...