Simple Scrapper Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY! | February 2013

05 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by Sara in Giveaway, ScrapBook, Simple Scrapper

Tags

Giveaway, October Afternoon, Simple Scrapper, stickles, Studio Calico, Wood Veneer

It’s time for another Simple Scrapper blog hop with the Design Team and we’re showcasing the new February templates and/or Story Starters – as usual, Jennifer has outdone herself!

I used one of the Story Starters for my first LO. I had this picture of M during the first snowfall this year and it was perfect for this one:

Inspired by a Simple Scrapper Premium Member Story Starter; Template – Simple Scrapper Premium Member Template (April 2011); Patterned Paper – American Crafts, Fancy Pants, Vintage Book Paper; Transparency – Fancy Pants; Vellum, Wood Veneer – Studio Calico; Tag – Elle’s Studio; Metal Word Bands – Ranger; Stamp – American Crafts; Glitter Glue – Ranger; Stain – Ranger; Ink – Staz-on; Adhesive – Ranger, Glue Arts; Sewing Machine – Singer

Instead of writing my own list of things for her to remember as she grows, I used the Tim Holtz Idea.ology Word Bands – the sentiments were perfect for this!

I rubbed a little bit of white paint over the words to make them stand out better and then handstitched them to the LO – they’re so heavy I wanted to make sure they would stay put!

I also used some October Afternoon chipboard to make custom purple glasses just like hers:

I then coated those and the wood veneer words with Glossy Accents to make them pop.

Finally, I really wanted the snow to shine, so out came the Stickles and I added small dots to the flakes falling around her, as well as the wood veneer snowflakes:

Love the extra sparkle it gives the photo!

For my template LO this month, I pulled out a couple of photos of Mr. G that made me laugh. He’s beginning to hate getting his picture taken and his face in these is priceless!

Template – Simple Scrapper Premium Member Template (February 2013, Letter #1); Patterned Paper – Crate Paper, Studio Calico; Card Stock – American Crafts; Fabric Stars, Wood Veneer – Studio Calico; Letter Stickers – American Crafts; Washi Tape – Freckled Fawn, American Crafts; Mist – Studio Calico; Punch – Jenni Bowlin for Fiskars; Stain, Ink – Ranger; Stamp – American Crafts; Adhesive – Glue Arts; Thread – Coats; Sewing Machine – Singer; Kits – Studio Calico (Handmade, Story Hour)

I used one of my all time favourite alpha sets, which I misted and then sewed to the page – they’re not going anywhere!

And I finished it all off with lots of stars – if Studio Calico ever discontinues those wood veneer stars I may cry!

If you want some more great inspiration, I recommend you check out the other Design Team Members, they did some really awesome LO’s this month!

Simple Scrapper (Jennifer Wilson)

Margrethe Aas Johnsen

Van Nguyen

Sara Case Strickland (this is me!)

And now, the giveaway! Use this link to enter a giveaway for a one-month trial subscription to Simple Scrapper. Entries will be pooled and one winner selected at 11:59pm CST on Wednesday, February 6. You may enter from multiple blogs so go check them all out!

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping. Each month members receive a new collection of sketch templates and Story Starters, story-focused prompts for pages and projects.

Final Yearlong Class 2012 – Part 2 (and some awesome news!)

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, ScrapBook, Yearlong Album

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

2012 Yearlong Album, Classes, Kelly Purkey, Simple Stories, Studio Calico, The Paperie, Wood Veneer, Year.o.graphy

So, yesterday got away from me and I didn’t post the LO’s I promised – oops! And there was a big exciting announcement made by The Paperie which caused a Twitter frenzy among the local scrapping crowd. I’ll get to that bit later!

First, here’s how I added my own personal twist to the final bonus pages of the Yearlong 2012 album. (You can see the original LO’s here).

The things I use the most lately are wood veneer shapes and stitching and on these two LO’s, I loaded up!

For the first one, I added little birds (for my two chickies!), a bunch of stars (because they are the best wood veneer pieces ever), and a few other random pieces.

I loaded up on the stickles and the Metallic Gold Mister Huey so there’s lots of bling. I also stitched over the sticker letters so they would stay put – I hate letters that end up floating around your LO!

The second LO also has a ton of wood veneer, stickles, and stitching, but I matted it on a 12×12 background too. Normally I place all different sized LO’s in the same album but my wedding album is all 12×12 so I decided to stick with that.

All I did to make the original LO flow into a 12×12 is spray the background with coordinating mist and add stitching to the top left corner. This is my go-to quick and easy way to switch a letter size LO in a larger square – simple add a couple of elements like mist or embellishments that tie the two together and no one will ever know it’s a mashup!

I added the wood veneer doilies to tie in with the stamped doily border:

And of course, since it’s a wedding LO, I had to add the potty people and a heart!

Now, onto the exciting Paperie news….

Kelly Purkey is coming! And Krista and I get to share the teaching stage with her over the weekend! My class, naturally, is technique based so we’ll be making 4 cards with Ranger products and I’m going to try and fit in as many different products as I can – including the new Distress Paints!

If you’re in NL or are looking for a super fun weekend full of classes, cropping, and good times, sign up now and join us! Plus, it’s over St. Patrick’s Day weekend and since we do boast about George Street having the most bars and pubs per square foot in North America, you can bet there will be a party happening!

I do have to curb my excitement about Kelly a little and design and teach a few other classes before then – lots of fun and awesome things are coming your way!

Family Pictures and a little Project Life

24 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by Sara in Family

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Ali Edwards, Designer Digitals, Family, family portrait, Kiddies, kiddies, Studio Calico, Wood Veneer

The weather, though not at all fall-like, was gorgeous on Saturday so I dragged the family off to the park for a picnic and photos – I needed an undated one for the first page of Project Life! 🙂

Now, you know how Miss M feels about pictures, it’s a horrible, terrible thing I torture her with! So she was told that we need the picture and then we could go feed the ducks and play at the playground – the quicker the pictures, they longer the playing.

It didn’t work.

But I got some awesome out-takes (and one semi reasonable family picture!).

This is limp noodle M and G wondering why he has to behave if she doesn’t.

This might be my favourite one – M couldn’t look more pathetic, G is having the time of his life “drumming,” and D is already pretty PO’d at the whole situation! This one makes me laugh! 🙂

Now we’re getting to the point where G is getting fed up and M is *still* not cooperating.

This is another fave – see that sweet face on my boy? And M is glaring at the camera over her glasses – hilarious!

Now we’re getting somewhere – she’s trying really hard not to smile here! It’s only a matter of time, my friends, before I win!

Yes! One that will work and no one looks grumpy! I win! (insert big fist pump here)

On a side note – don’t you love that Ali Edwards/Designer Digitals overlay? I’m going to have to reprint the picture just like this for my PL album, I have it in there now just plain and it looks so boring!

And notice how there is no “S” on my picture? It’s the only letter I’m missing from my Studio Calico wood veneer letters so I’m trying to decide what to do there…. If anyone has an extra “S” it would save me some debating power! 🙂

Back tomorrow with a washi minibook tutorial – if I can get the paper I need!

Thrifting….

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by Sara in Family, ScrapBook, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Charles Dickens, Frozen yogurt, Kiddies, Wood Veneer

We finished dinner early a few nights ago and I dragged everyone out with me to the thrift store with the promise of ice cream after.

And it was a good trip! Here are my finds:

…an old book to cut up, a great kid’s book for colourful backgrounds, some sewing patterns, and a bonus silver serving dish.

I love the kid’s book – fun and colourful for collage backgrounds and small enough patterns to blend in. The patterns were a steal, $0.69 for two, I should have bought another package…

And this book:

…is awesome! It was printed in the 70’s so it’s got nice old yellowing pages with age and water spots and it has some fantastic pictures too. I apologize to anyone who loves Charles Dickens but I already have a collection of his works so I don’t feel bad at all. I could have gone with the copy of War and Peace but there were no pictures. I do, however, regret not buying the copy of Heidi – it had great color pictures in it. I think another trip is due to see if it’s still there!

And finally, I got this lovely piece:

…which I think is going to house my wood veneer shapes so I can easily rummage through them when needed.

As you can see from this picture:

…it’s time for some organization and cleaning in my scrap cave again which is why I picked up the dish when I saw it!

After my great luck, we headed out to Menchies for frozen yogurt and, if you follow me on Twitter, you would have already seen this tweet. Let’s just say that M was not impressed with mixing different yogurts, toppings, and sauces. Apparently, “It doesn’t look tasty anymore!” Let’s just say that we were very close to a total meltdown and I swore I’d never go back again. With the kiddies, that is!

All in all, it was an entertaining and productive night and I’ve already had a chance to use some of my goodies on a canvas. I’ll show that off later this week!

Hope you’re all enjoying the last long weekend of the summer – I know I’m not ready for it to be over yet!

Index Card A Day – #41

12 Thursday Jul 2012

Posted by Sara in ICAD2

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cosmo Cricket, Creative Imginations/Luminarte, ICAD, ICAD2, Sharpies, Studio Calico, The Crafter's Workshop, Twinkling H2O's, Wood Veneer

I’m so sorry. My mojo is still in hiding so you have to suffer through another blerg card. You can leave now and come back tomorrow, I don’t mind, really!

Still here? Well, don’t say you weren’t warned….

Another premade background, this time with flexible molding paste and coarse pumice gel – the texture is amazing!

I painted each little block with different coloured Twinkling H2O’s, then misted with water to blend them all a little. I blotted with a paper towel and thought, “Blech.” Seriously. That was the word that came to my mind.

I took a Cosmo Cricket phrase sticker, cut it up, stuck it down and drew lines around the pieces. Then I coloured in the word “color.” Then I inked some wood veneer pieces and stuck them down. Then I threw my hands in the air and called it done.