December Daily 2014 | Foundation

02 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by Sara in December Daily, Mini Album

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Ali Edwards, Christmas album, December Daily, Freckled Fawn, Mini Album

I have tons and tons of pics of my foundation pages but I promise you, they’re not all going to be posted here – you’re welcome! 🙂

I’ll give you an overview and post everything on my Flickr page so those of you who are interested can check it all out. Of course, let me know if you have any questions! It’s all pretty simple – I’d never make it through the whole month otherwise – but there are some fun elements that I’ll share here.

Once again this year I got the Ali Edwards kit (it was sold through Studio Calico last year) and I made the splurge again because 2013 was the only time I’ve ever finished it! I’ve tried four other times and it was a disaster! The kit idea definitely works for me. I also added the Freckled Fawn Very Merry embellishment kit this year (I must have been feeling rich or something!) and I was altogether too excited when I discovered they matched perfectly! Seriously people, I squealed like a little girl and clapped my hands, sad….

I love my album! I went with the off white instead of red (two options were offered this year) and I’m so glad I did! I misted the fabric cover with Tarnished Brass Distress Spray Stain and flicked Heidi Swapp Gold ColorShine over that. The tree, star gems, and washi tape are Freckled Fawn while the rubber banners are from the DD kit. I did love Ali’s idea of using the huge gold letters are part of her cover but I moved that element to the inside along with the DD printed masking tape, FF washi and cork sticker:

I also added a fun present to the spine. I’ll be honest, when I saw these two presents in my FF kit I really didn’t think i would use them, just not my thing normally. However, when I gold embossed the white one I loved it!

For Day 1 I used a whole sheet of the DD patterned paper, added some Wink of Stella shimmer to the bulbs, and the wood veneer 1 plus a heart puffy sticker to the out side of the page protector. I gold sparkle embossed all the numbers but I have changed some to silver already. I still think Christmas albums should be all gold and silver – love overloading on the bling!

For Day 4 I used some of the striped patterned paper and stamped all over it with the DD stamps:

Day 5 I used a trick of Ali’s from last year – I stapled a gold 5 to a scrap od page protector I cut up and slid it in the pocket:

You can see I stole an idea from her this year as well and cut the included transparencies in half – I love that ombre circle one! The star and heart combo you see is the back of day 6. Again, it’s a gold number and it’s all attached to a page protector scrap.

For Day 10 I simply added some FF washi, the DD velvet rickrack ribbon and a number on a gold diecut over some patterned paper. Simple but I love how it looks. The papers in this year’s kit are gorgeous so I don’t really want to cover them up very much!

Day 12 is by far my favourite! I thought Ali’s idea of using the chipboard piece with the twelve holes was genius but I used one of my funnest (that’s a real word, I swear!) techniques to cover it – sprinkles of gold, silver, glitter, and ultra thick embossing powders. Then I backed the page with a thin sheet of acetate so I could stick elements on and still get a peek of the next pages:

Day 24 was an old tag I had with some stamping and embossing. You can see I used the big gold foil “25” page for Christmas Day because it’s awesome:

I also filled a pocket with paper confetti and two of the plastic words for the 25th:

And that’s it for now! I have lots more in my December Daily album if you want to check out Flickr.

So how about all of you? Anyone doing a December Daily or something similar? Link me up so I can see!

Cheers!

A Super Star

17 Friday Oct 2014

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mini Album

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Classes, Mini Album, Star Album, The Paperie Retreat

Are you going to The Paperie Retreat? If you live anywhere close to St. John’s area or like to travel, scrap, and have fun then you really should come. It takes place at The Wilds Resort and we basically have the run of the place from Thursday to Sunday – it’s a blast! Trust me, it’s worth the money and the trip…

The Paperie sets up a pop-up store with a ton of new product and retreat exclusive kits, the designers and staff do demos (Cathie and I will both be demoing brand new products!), we have Make ‘n’ Takes, and there are a few classes to take, if you want. This time around, I’m teaching a fabulous Star Mini Album.

Isn’t that fun? With the kit you’ll get instructions for that one, plus the papers and stickers for these pages:

And as a bonus, I’ll include measurements for two bigger stars as well so you can have a hanging cluster for decoration this Christmas, if you want!

The mini is a great Christmas present too, since it comes with a stand to hang your finished album on. If you decide you just want to leave it closed, it’s got a super cute cover to display!

Have I convinced you to come yet? Here’s some more! Rae Lynn will be teaching an ornament Make ‘n’ Take and on display will be the ornaments all the designers have created for our Holiday Hoopla class in early December. I’m still working on mine but here’s one that didn’t make the cut for this year:

Super sparkly but a bit too finicky for this class – I have some more ideas though!

If you want more details on the Retreat, or to sign up, check this out!

Cheers!

Seasonal Mini Album – Summer

30 Tuesday Sep 2014

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mini Album

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Classes, Mini Album, October Afternoon, Summer, The Paperie

One of the new classes I”m teaching this year at The Paperie is a series of seasonal mini albums. They’re a great size – 6×8 – and although they can very easily stand alone, they can also fit into an album, like the October Afternoon Daily Flash albums or Simple Stories Snap binders. We’ll be making them with sturdy covers so they’re beautiful on their own!

The first album was to document the summer months – June, July, and August.

We made cover pages for each month, simple but focusing on one special picture from that month.

June was still pretty cold around here but it was nice enough to go hiking!

July was hot and beautiful and we spend loads of time at the beach.

August was up and down but we managed to get a great day to go sailing with my dad, one of the kids favourite things to do!

We also added lots of fun things to the album, like a couple of chevron envelopes for pics:

And then we misted the back with some stencils:

We also added a full size coloured envelope:

That holds a tiny mini of additional pictures:

I used my Wink of Stella Clear glitter pen to add shimmer and shine to all the foam Thickers:

There were also some acrylic pages and some pages we made into pockets, plus some cool monthly dividers. I didn’t get pics of everything but there are a few more photos you can see at Flickr.

We’ll be making the fall album the beginning of December and the papers I’ve picked out for that one are pretty awesome – if you’re around here, maybe you should think about joining us!

Cheers!

Summer Fun

04 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mini Album

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Classes, kidart, Mini Album

This coming Sunday I’m teaching an awesome kids class at The Paperie – a summer mini album!

It’s going to be bright and full of fun techniques like dry embossing, heat embossing, and making our own stencils.

At the end of the class, everyone will have an album ready to fill up with summer pics – no other work needed! It’s a great size to bring along on vacation too, which means they’ll have something to work on in the car, or on the plane, or when it rains.

Plus, everyone goes home with alpha and word stickers, washi tape, and enamel dots so they can embellish and play if they want to.

So if you have kids who need something fun to do on Sunday, or want to have some crafty fun, give the Paperie a call and sign up!

Scrapbook Steals | My Mind’s Eye Chalk Studio

07 Friday Feb 2014

Posted by Sara in Mini Album, Scrapbook Steals

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Mini Album, My Mind's eye Chalk Studio, Scrapbook Steals

Hello friends!

I got a late but just-in-time package from Scrapbook Steals this week and my first product blog post for them is up today!

I had a blast designing a couple of fun items so go have a look and enjoy the Steal!

Paperie Card Kit | January 2014: Part 1

10 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Sara in Card Kit, Mini Album, ScrapBook

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Layouts, Mini Album, The Paperie Card Kit

Ok, go get a coffee, or tea, or hot chocolate, or something – this post is full to the brim with pics so you may need sustenance to get through it! 🙂

It’s Card Kit release time at the Paperie again and Wendy has already shown the beautiful cards she designed with the kit.

I know I say it every time, but this might be my favourite kit yet! It definitely netted the most projects and it contains one of my favourite stamp sets ever! To give you an idea of how good this kit is, I made 4 – 8.5×11 LO’s, a card, a mini album, some lunchbox notes, and a canvas. I’d say that’s pretty good value for a $24.99 kit!

I did give you a sneak peek a few days ago with my Simple Scrapper LO’s so today I’m going to show you the other 2 LO’s and the mini album. I’ll be back soon with the rest but if you want to check it all out now go to the Paperie to see it in person or online at their blog.

The mini album was the first thing I made – as soon as I saw the metallic envelopes I knew I had to use and highlight them!

I did pull out some washi tape from a previous kit, and used a stencil with mist for the cover, but everything else is from the current kit, including the sequins, ribbon, and stamp for the album title:

A fun note about the stamp – I heat embossed using a mixture of gold, silver, and glitter gold powder. The look in real life is very cool!

I kept it pretty simple with just a few words and washi, and the envelope pockets leave lots of room for extra Christmas pictures. I think this would be an awesome gift for a grandparent – small and easy to store with lots of photos!

For this first LO I knew I had to use this out-take picture of Molly during our Christmas Card photo shoot. She’s so funny when she has to get her picture taken and it’s always a negotiation: “I’ll be good for two pictures if you’ll take this one.” And then she makes a crazy face or pose.

I heat embossed the title again, printed the journaling on some of the included patterned paper, and scattered some sequins and doodles throughout:

The only thing I added from outside the kit were those Basic Grey glitter enamel dots – I love them!

I did a little cluster at the top of the page with some more pieces I fussy cut:

The last LO I made was a bit outside the box – literally!

To fit this in my regular album I’ll simply cut down a 12×12 page protector and sew it shut with the same metallic thread I used to adhere the flags:

Since this was my idea of an abstract tree, I didn’t want to add journaling to the “trunk” so I simply added the title to a circle with the small Studio Calico alphas and journaled around that:

And that’s it – finally! 🙂 I hope you enjoyed and got a few ideas for yourself and I really recommend you call in to get this kit. Truly, even after all the projects I did, I still have enough paper to make more cards and LO’s! It’s really chock full this month.

See you soon with the rest!

Gratitude Album | Sneak Peeks!

23 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mini Album

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Class, Mini Album, The Paperie

Tonight I’m teaching an amazing and fun mini album class at The Paperie which I’m super excited about!

For sneak peeks of the album we’ll be working on, check this out!

For these things… (sarathings.com)
Gratitude Album: Sneaky Peeks! (thepaperie.wordpress.com)

For these things…

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mini Album

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Class, Gratitude, Mini Album

…I am grateful.

I have a new class coming up at The Paperie on October 23 – a gratitude mini album. This is going to be one jammed packed class with work, fun products, and stuff to learn!

The album itself is based on a mini I did of our beach vacation this summer. I did it on the road with minimal supplies and actually had it finished the day after we got home. Anyone who knows me realizes what a huge deal that is! So friends, if I can do it, you can definitely do it too!

In class I’ll show you how to put the mini together, using an awesome 6×6 Basic Grey paper pad, fun Doodlebug enamel dots, great washi tape, and some exclusive digital die cuts that Mary Ann and I are designing just for this album. I’ll run through how to switch it up and do it “on the go” if you want to make a travel album in the future, as well as how to resize photos, add text, and get them on your pages in a fun and interactive way.

As if that wasn’t enough, I’m going to give you some photos prompts now, so if you’ve signed up or are thinking about it, you can start your picture taking now! Also, if you wish you could come but the time isn’t right, or you live out of town, give The Paperie a call – they can always put a kit together for you, with full instructions!

Since it’s Thanksgiving in Canada this coming weekend, it’s a good time to get some photos for a Gratitude Album. Here are some ideas for you to run with:

1. a family photo

2. turkey dinner

3. a glass of wine (that may be just me, but I do appreciate a good cold glass of Pinot!)

4. leaves on the ground

5. a beautiful sunset – we get amazing ones here this time of year

6. kiddies playing

7. your current book

8. raindrops on the trees

9. sunshine (crossing my fingers here!)

10. your dog or cat sleeping in their favourite spot

I’m really looking forward to this album and am super excited to see all the things that people are thankful for. With all that gratitude in one room, we’re bound to have an amazing time!

Paperie Card Kit | September 2013: Part 3 (mini album)

30 Monday Sep 2013

Posted by Sara in Card Kit, Mini Album

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Tags

Card Kit, FarmHouse Paper Company, Mini Album, The Paperie

Well, I ended up with a nasty head cold last week and so this didn’t get posted on Friday as planned – sorry!

It’s all here now though, so be prepared for a bunch of photos (you may want coffee. Or tea. Or something decaffeinated. Go ahead, I’ll wait!)

I made this album to highlight a few of my favourite summer pics. I put in 6 tabs, one each of June, July, and August for Molly and Gabe, and then added the photos of them that I loved from each month.

The album is a bit sturdier than usual – I used super heavy chipboard for the covers and spine and a Tim Holtz small ring binder to hold the pages. I decorated the cover with some of the Farmhouse Paper Company stickers and used the included stamp set with gold embossing (my favourite thing lately):

And hung a Tim Holtz Idea-ology Collage Key from the spine:

For the first page I cut down one of the envelopes and misted it. I then decorated it with one of the Farmhouse flowers (sidenote: not a flower lover here but these ones are gorgeous!) and a bit mist. It holds bits and pieces from the summer.

The main pages are cut down and then folded up to make pockets where I put additional photos. The back of each pocket has a full size picture:

And the mist I used on the envelope and pocket pages is, of course, shimmery gold to match the embossing on the cover!

Each of the small photos is mounted on a 7 Gypsies library card (not included in the kit but the Paperie carries them, fabulous for PL!). The date is written on the tab and there’s a small line about the photo on the back:

That’s it! You made it to the end – whew! If you live locally and want to see the full album, check it out at The Paperie, along with the rest of my LO’s and Wendy’s cards.

Come back tomorrow, my post is ready to go with the October Simple Scrapper templates and a bunch of the SS girls are joining in too!

Paperie Card Kit | July: Part 4

04 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Sara in Card Kit, Mini Album

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Card Kit, Mini Album, The Paperie

Here’s the final piece from my July Card kit – in September! 🙂

I used the Simple Stories 6×6 paper and cut it in half, then folded to make a tiny 3×3 album.

Good Stuff

I love the stamp set that was included in the kit and that camera was perfect for a focal point on my front cover. I also used the speech balloon stamp throughout the whole book.

make your mark

My Donna Downey for Unity Stamp Co. stamps were the perfect size to fit in them and they were also perfect as quotes in a book for my daughter.

paint your dreams

I kept this super, super simple because I really wanted the sentiments to stand out.

know who you are

There were also a couple of great papers that said everything I needed to say with almost no other work.

be.

I also believe that no album is complete unless you put something on the back cover so I used the same stamp set to put a little camera on there.

If you want to see the whole album, it’s at the Paperie so you can fondle with your eyes, and hands, or you can check out my Flickr gallery for all the pages.

The new card kit is debuting on the Paperie blog Friday, so be sure to check that out – I know Wendy made some fabulous cards, as always!