It's time for babies...
Is it just me or are there a lot of babies born this year? Well, in case you need some inspiration, here are a few things I've done for mothers-to-be, or mothers who have just become a proud parent. The first two are two versions of cards I've created. You'll notice they have a similar layout which just shows how you can take the same layout and create a very different look!


And this is a baby canvas below. I was inspired by Anne S. who gave me the idea. I love this because it's such a personal gift for a new parent and they can attach any photo they want of their new family! You can't see it from this picture but I even put some liquid glue on the soother in the bottom right corner to make it look a little more real. I gave this to a friend of mine and it was a big hit!

Something Special for Dad
I had the pleasure of teaching a Father's Day folio album in Richmond with a group of ladies. I had a lot of fun teaching this class. They were such a great group! It seems like all the dads were at the playground with the kids while the ladies got together to do the class. What a great idea!

The folio class used the Close To My Heart paper pack called Rustic Trail. We perfected techniques like sponge daubing, distressing and stamping. Plus, each page has a pocket for a tag that can be used for journaling or photos. You could even put quotes of things that your child has said to you. This album is a great way to write it down and preserve that memory. It was an intense class and they all got through it with smiles on their faces. By the end they had a fabulous folio album to take home!

Reaching new heights!
I had the wonderful opportunity to join 52 other ladies in Whistler, BC on Friday, May 2nd. It was a whirlwind trip for me, driving up the Sea To Sky Highway after work. The ladies I met were fantastic and some were experiencing their first scrapbooking retreat. I love meeting scrapbook virgins! They are so much fun!

I taught a make and take class that focused on sanding and stamping to make a scrapbook border. It was a great hit! Some ladies even knew what they were going to use the border for already!
But I also showed another option for the card makers in the audience. Here I used one border to make two cards just by cutting the border in half.



Here's a pic of me by my brand new display board. I just finished it in time for the retreat, phewph! It shows what you start with in a paper pack (level one or two) and a small sampling of what you finish with once you use the paper in the paper pack.


It was great to meet all of you. I had a blast!

Talk about Precious!
Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Precious Memories retreat. OMG! Totally amazing. It was jam packed with five classes over the whole weekend, tons of games and lots of make & takes.

The entire ballroom was filled with Hawaiian decorations - the theme of the weekend. It was amazing to see everyone get into it. Some of the costumes were tremendous! Making Memories had two fabulous representatives who gave us a sneak peak of a new product coming out this summer called Slice. Imagine the cricut but more portable and smaller! You're bound to love it. There was also a Deal or No Deal Game show hosted by Making Memories where the grand prize was a tote full of Making Memories products. Sadly, I didn't win it :(

One of the more memorable classes for me was by A Muse and the instructor was Julie Ebersole. She is such a cutie patootie! Julie was kind enough to pose for a photo with me.

Some of my friends think Julie and I are kindred spirits because of the stamp she designed that says "Celebrate your inner princess," which we used in the class to make a card. Check it out!

You should also visit Julie's blog to see all of her amazing work. She is just something else, let me tell ya!

Hatzic Retreat Card and Layout

This weekend I went to Hatzic Lake for a scrapbooking retreat. I had a blast meeting new scrapbookers. I was only there for a half day to teach a make and take. What do you think?


Plus, in preparation for the retreat I created a sample layout using the Close To My Heart paper called Silhouette Creative Basics. I thought I'd try out the Simple Contrast layout from the Cherish Book. It took no time at all, I love it when scrapbooking is so easy!

Let the cards do the talking...

I don't have much to say, but here are a few cards I've been doing lately. I hope it provides some inspiration for you!

The first two are done with the Caprice paper from Close To My Heart. Love that paper!!


I love these colours on the left side. I made that paper by stamping different colours on white cardstock then adding the navy blue strip down the centre.


This last card was done at a Stampin' UP Party I went to this week. I like how it's such a simple card with such a classic look. It was designed by Susan Farrant. She also has a blog. Thanks for a great party Susan!

Heart Month
It's February and you know what that means, it's heart month - both for the heart and stroke foundation and for Valentine's Day. It's a good time to tell people you care. In case that person is a guy or you just aren't big on flowery hearts and love all over a card (there is Hallmark for that kind of cheese, right?), here's a card to get your ideas flowing. It's got four hearts I'll admit, but I think the "wow" factor is that it's a little unusual being on acetate. I put it on a blue/turquoise pillow so the acetate shows through. What do you think?

Tidbits
I went to a scrapbooking open house this weekend out in White Rock. There were lots of women and several demonstrations. One of the best parts was seeing a demo on the many many ways you can use a card kit. Thanks for all the great ideas Carrie! She was brilliant with using scraps to make goody bags, add to scrapbook layouts and a mini flip album. Plus, I made a few projects too. Take a look below at some of the fun things. Isn't the lollipop a great idea?

Wedding bells are ringing

It seems I'm surrounded with people getting married or talking about their weddings. Often there is a lot of stress about scrapbooking wedding photos and getting your album perfect and ready for others to see. Some are even so ambitious that they end up promising albums for in-laws or other family members! It can be quite intimidating sorting through all those photos from the big day.

I thought I'd share a few thoughts and try to relieve a little stress if I can. First of all, when it comes to the day itself (if you're a bride-to-be), there are some fun little projects that you and your girlfriends can do before your wedding. Take a look at this picture below (sorry the first one is blurry, I swear it's from bad lighting, not how many drinks I had). It's the letters "L" "O" "V" "E" in white ink on rocks. You can do this with white or black ink, usually stayz-on permanent ink is the best. The photo below that is the same concept but on rocks as place settings for everyone. Look for the rock that says "bride" next to the star fish.

(photo above by Chris Boar)

For those of you who are already married and are ambitious enough to attack your own wedding album I have a few suggestions that might help you know where to start. It can be so overwhelming.
1) Start by selecting the "must have" photos. Remember you have maybe hundreds of photos of the day, but your scrapbook album should have only your favourites.

2) Decide how you want to organize the photos in your album. For example, do you want sections dividing each part of the day?
Bride getting ready
Groom getting ready
The ceremony
The wedding party
The dinner
First dance
Throwing the bouquet and garter
The real party

3) Organize your photos for each section. This step will be more important if you have limited space, like if you only want to do a certain number of pages because it's a gift for the in-laws and well, you don't really like them that much...yet. Doing a 9" by 9" album will change things significantly versus doing a 12" by 12". I usually recommend the 9" by 9" as a gift and saving the bigger one for yourself.

4) Start scrapbooking! I could get into more OCD details here, but this is really the creative part and everyone is different. It depends how you like to look. At this point you might want to find ideas. I often will look through the Close To My Heart Idea Book for inspiration, or even Becky Higgins' sketches, these are great resources to have! Some people like to sketch out what they are going to do before they do it, others can just go with the flow. The important thing is to do what you are most comfortable with. I would recommend trying to do a section at a time. You'll start to see some progress and you'll more than likely feed off of that satisfaction and won't get so discouraged easily. This is a big project so be proud of what you do accomplish!

Email me if you're working on something like this or have other ideas. I'd love to hear from you.

A new year calls for roundups
As I start 2008 refreshed and ready for lots of scrapbooking, I remembered that almost two years ago I found a fantastic suggestion from a fellow scrapbooker's blog. I thought that since this is my first post for the year, it would be a fantastic time to share that with you.

Katie, the scrapbook lady (no really, that's what she calls herself) developed this idea of a monthly roundup. The idea is that it's a summary of all the main events that happened in the last 30 days so that if you don't have the chance to scrapbook that month immediately, you have all the key events and milestones recorded so you can go back to it at a later time. Isn't that fantastic? I love the idea of taking stock of what's happened, especially since I have a horrible memory!

What I'd like to do is share with you my version of the roundup. I've taken the questions from Katie, the scrapbook lady, and adapted them slightly. Thanks for the inspiration Katie! Here are my questions:

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

What old/new music did I listen to this month?

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Who did I spend time with and how?

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

What were this month’s disappointments?

What were my accomplishments this month?

Anything else noteworthy to record?