Digital Creations

I've slowly been accumulating quite a variety of digital elements thanks to great, free digi kits available on sites like Two Peas in a Bucket, Creating Keepsakes, Shabby Princess, and polka dot potato.

I love playing with these when the traditional juices aren't flowing. Kinda helps out my scrappin' mojo sometimes, plus it's a handy way to procrastinate when you're on the computer.

Here's my latest creation:



I used elements from a bunch of different kits. Polka Dot Potato has a huge digital kit on their site that you can download for free and it's full of goodies. The flower cut out (which I actually cut out from a piece of paper in the kit, only to discover, that it was a seperate element as well), papers, note paper, and metal brads and photo corners came from this kit. The leaf brush is a Melanie (brushes.nenuphar.net) photoshop brush, the frame and text overlay are Rhonna Farrer designs, and the corrugated corner is a Veronica Ponce creation. Thank you all for creating these beautiful pieces.

If you have any questions about digital scrapbooking or any of the techniques I use on anything I post here, let me know. I'd love to answer questions, or help out if I can.

I like playing with photos and layers and all of the goodies in Photoshop and it's an easy way to get crafty without getting messy... No ink on my fingers, glitter stuck to everything in the house for days, embossing powder spilled on the table, no mess of any kind. Very satisfying.

Canvases

I haven't been able to do anything crafty for almost a week now, so I finally had to sit down and do something fast to get my scrappy juices flowing again. I've been getting so many ideas lately, I really should get down to work more often and do some of them! Now that the rush of Easter and traveling and company and so on is over, I can get scrappin'!

This is a canvas my mom and dad brought me back from Costa Rica. Just a small one, really cute, and literally a blank canvas for me to create on. I decided to try out painting on canvases because I've only ever scrapbooked them with paper.



I may add to it... not quite sure whether I'm done or not, but I thought it was kinda cute and I thought you may like a little peak. Hopefully, this week will bring some more projects.

Spring is here?

Brrrrr!!! It was cold this morning! Not very spring-y. It was -21 C when I was scraping my windows before work! That just makes the first day back after a long weekend more difficult. Oh well, only a short week ahead!

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter!

We had such a nice, relaxing weekend. It was great to have the time off together, to see so many family and friends, and just get away.

Plus... I got to open up a few birthday presents early!! I got some really neat scrapbooking loot: metal page borders from 7 Gypsies and bling from IOD, great new papers and ribbons and stamps and loopy brads and flowers and all kinds of goodies! I'll have to make some layouts and show you what I got.

So, my big plans were to take some photos over the weekend... unfortunately, my batteries were dead. Grrr. And, they're not a standard size, like double A or anything, so I couldn't even swap some new ones in. Big grrrr...

So, I borrowed my mom's camera and took a few, but I have to wait for her to email them to me. I'll tell you though, I missed sooo many photo opportunites. Of course, that's all I was thinking of because I didn't have a camera on hand. The calves were flouncing past me in the field, my little cousins had a great Easter egg hunt and decorated some really cute eggs, there was a beautiful, full, harvest moon, and we had tons of family over.

Alas, this will teach me a lesson. Keep your camera handy and the batteries charged!

Thankful

To celebrate Easter, I have a Thanksgiving layout for you : )

Timing is everything.

I always have fall papers and elements around as I'm slowly working on our wedding album (we got married Oct. 8... 2005) so I really can't help but use them even if they are a bit innapropriate seasonally.

Here's a layout with photos of myself and my parents. I didn't have my camera with me that day (of course) but it was such a perfect fall day. We were surrounded by beautiful, yellow, crunchy leaves and the sky was just a perfect blue. Next time, I will have my camera ready. Thankfully, someone else had a camera and I got pictures from them.



Some neat things I did on this layout:

I used two fake leaves on this layout that were actually part of our wedding decorations. They look just like real ones, but won't crumble. See them behind the big brown circle element? This is why I keep everything. I always find uses for things.

To make the journaling lines, I painted one side of an old CD case and used it as a 'line' stamp. I just used a cream coloured acryllic paint to do this. Cheaper than buying a stamp, and I like how it turned out.

Now, my challenge to myself is to take photos over Easter. For some reason, I haven't been taking many pictures lately. So, after the weekend, I'll have more pics to post.

Happy Easter!

Get your game on!

Just seems to be a fun time of year, doesn't it? St. Patricks Day is kind of a lighthearted, skippy leprechauns in green tights kind of holiday, spring is in the air, and with Easter around the corner, there are all kinds of decorated eggs and candy...mmmmmm, Mini Eggs... How fun!

As I'm in the mood for games, and my mojo needs a little boost, I've been playing along with some of the games at Just Cre8, a great little Canadian kit club who will be sponsoring the retreat. It's their birthday celebration all week and they have some awesome challenges, prizes, and classes going on over there.

If you have time to play, head on over and see what Sue has in store for you.

This is a quick layout I did for their sketch challenge. I may go back and add to it... I think it needs something more, but it's fun and whimsical which I like.



Notice Brad and I pointing out our winning (at the time) board game piece? We never seem to do all that well at Canadian Trivia... a Mountie and a Parks employee, and we still can't win. Sad really. That's all right, we'll just beat them all at Scotland Yard or Clue!

And, a quick layout to give you a glimpse into my childhood. It was a happy one, if you can't tell by the scrunchy-faced grin :)

Ha! I just thought it was a cute picture for my 'book of me' scrapbook. I want to get my mom to write some journaling for me, though, because I don't even know what beach this was at or how old I was... Luckily, I think she can help me fill in the blanks.



Hope you all have big plans for Easter. We're heading to my parents farm for a little R and R and some visiting. Can't wait! The best part is that it's calving season, and they've all ready had a few so hopefully, when I come back I'll have some pics of the newbies frolicking around in the field to show you all.

Living in a National Park has a lot of perks, but unfortunately, there is a down side.... Lately, things seem to be falling apart in our house and nobody wants to come out here to fix things.

Our internet has been spotty, our toilets are tempermental, and I can't get anyone to cut my dog's hair, or mine, for that matter. Bailey is starting to look a little like a Rasta Dog... time for a trim.

Oh well, with no internet, hopefully I'll spend more time getting things done :)

Here are a few layouts from the MAK weekend (scanned with my wonderful new scanner) :



I don't know if you can see it here, but I incorporated a little tulle that we used to decorate at our wedding into this layout. You may see it behind the flower and on the tag. Also, I used some Ranger crackle paint, which I love and the Kaiser pearls, which are perfect for wedding layouts (or any kind of dressy occasion).



I really love the colours in this one. I am definitely a fall colours person.

I've been trying to incorporate my handwriting, because I think that just makes it more special, but I think I need to take a handwriting class...I just can not keep it neat.

Oh well, so my future generations know I am not a neat writer.

Hopefully, I'll have a few more layouts for you to check out later this weekend.

MAK weekend

What a great weekend! The sun was shining, I had some great company, and I got a bit of scrappin' done!

For those of you who don't know me well, you've never heard of MAK. Well, 'MAK 3' was the password that my cousins and I had to get into our tree fort at my grandparents place when we were little. You had to say those special words before we would roll down our little rope ladder and let you in. Not very inlusive were we.... but to tell you the truth, it wasn't actually all that 'secret.' :)

My cousins, Meagan and Ange (plus Kelly, makes MAK, get it? Pretty creative, I know...) and I are all very close in age and have always been really great friends.
Since, the treefort is long gone, and we've all moved, but still remain close friends, we converted our secret password into the name of our get together weekends. Hence, MAK weekend.

The girls packed up a TON of stuff and came out on Friday for a weekend of scrapping, skiing, snacking, and visiting and we had a blast! I really love these little get togethers.

I wish I could say I got a ton of scrapping done, but I really didn't. For me, it was one of those days where you move the same sticker around for 40 minutes and never stick it into place. But, it was still fun and Meagan and Ange both got a ton of pages done, so I would call it a success.

I'll have to post some pics later this week.

Hope you're enjoying the sunshine!

Christmas present

I know it's March, and here I am chatting about Christmas. Well, I don't know if this makes it better, but I'm talking about the Christmas that just past, not the one coming up in 9 months. I know I'm late, but it's taken me awhile to discover the true joy of what I got from my hubby 3 months ago...

The background to this story is that my husband really likes to get Christmas lists from me. Very specific Christmas lists. Not just what I would like, but specific brand names and colours, and where he can find it (meaning what store, what shelf, etc.) I, on the other hand, don't really like making these lists. I hate asking for things and I honestly feel like I have enough all ready.

So....

I guess we've learned to work with each other and I actually had thought of something that I wanted. A scanner. A very simple one. Just something that I could use to scan in layouts I make or old pictures I want to keep or whatever I may find that I think should be saved electronically.

Brad jumped all over this. Not only had I given him an idea, it was a gadget. I was giving him permission to go gadget shopping.

I didn't really realize what I'd done until I opened my gift at Christmas and saw the biggest scanner I've ever seen. What I opened was a Microtek ScanMaker 9800XL.

Yes, it's as big as it sounds.

While I loved the idea and was very grateful, I really thought it was more than I needed. I was just looking for a simple scanner, and this behemoth wouldn't even fit on my desk.

Unfortunately, before I could return it, Brad had ripped open the box to get a closer look.... there went the return option.

So, jump ahead a few months, the house is all unpacked and set up, life is returning to the routine we had established before our house fire, things are good. Then I look over at the enormous scanner perched precariously on my desk. I haven't even set it up. Sure, maybe it's more than I need, but it's not going to get any smaller now is it?

So, I set everything up and had an inaugural scanning ceremony, and guess what? I love it! I've been scanning everything I can get my hands on.

I don't know if I needed a scanner this big, but I guess that's what Christmas is all about, getting something you wouldn't buy yourself.

So, moral of the story, I guess I should just be quiet and be grateful. Brad had fun shopping for it and I really do find it quite handy.

So, here it is, my awesomely huge and extremely handy Christmas present: