home in my arms

My daughter is a snuggler. Always wanting "tuddles". When we're out in the morning, we make it half way thru before she puts her thumb in her mouth and her hand up my sleeve or shirt, depending on what I'm doing. So I stop what I'm doing and have some "tuddle time" I know it won't last forever, so I go with it.


The swirl is chipboard painted white. Script is, "No matter where we are, in my arms you are always home."


I cut out the circle in the brown paper and wanted to use the Friskar's circle lace punch. I couldn't work it correctly, so I used my corner punch around the edge for a little scallop. that changed the flow for the rest of the layout.
The flowers are double sided stickers that I glittered with martha Stewart. Man oh man, I can't believe I used so much of it and had it flying everywhere. Guess my glitter fear is in the past. The house is Maya Road, I painted the back white and used the stickers for the house parts. Buttons from the buck store and the home letters from a pack from Wal mart. Bird from Prima.
Maybe one day I'll make a page of her without pink. I've been informed that her favorite colour is purple, thank you very much. :} So now my wall has her bright pink page and Rafael's cool blue page.


Thanks for looking,
Amanda

button tree and crochet flowers

i did it! I got to create today. And what a rainy day it is here! Sorry for the dull pics. there is no happy light here today.


papertrey ink had a challenge to use buttons this week. I LOVED Maggie Holmes' scrap page with buttons on the tree and the white and black outlines. http://maggieholmes.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/03/vintage-button-basics.html
I used it as a starting point. And I love her style. She packs a whole bunch in a little space.

The sentiment on the photo is from Creative memories. I just painted some white under it. The orange butterfly is a new one from Quickutz. The blue one on the bottom is Martha Stewart punch. i punched it on vellum also and used my cropadile to make the holes in it to mimic the QK one. Oh yes, the grass. LOVE this package of goodies also. Michael's- K&Company. It has a bout 6 different borders- bubbles, waves, alphabet, train with cute animals in it, gumdrops.... I could see myself using all of it, but really liking the grass one at present. i added the white to it.



Buttons are from my stash from Walmart and Zellers. The flowers are my own. So nice to just pick 'em out when I need them. I sewed the stems.


I forgot to take a pic of the text bock on top. It says...
" I don't recall what the issue was, but you weren't very happy with me. In this pensive looking picture, you were ignoring me! Exploring the world beneath your feet."




Hoping I stay awake tonight to do the page of Miss Neve. I have 2 frames on my wall that help get me creating new scrap pages to change up the scenery.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

birds and flowers

I've been working on scrapping this picture for some time now. Nothing ever worked for me. Finally, 1 day before it's delivery, i figured it out.



The silver dandelion and the wacky weed is from Stamping Bella.


Sentiment is from a sticker pack. The white paper is embossed with sentiments about family. I was thinking I should rub some silver paste over it to bring it out, but it was late, i was lazy. :} The photo corners were just silver heat embossed on paper.


The big challenge with this layout was to keep it flat. The frame has no give to it or space in between, so it couldn't be overly embellished.

Have a great weekend!!!
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Sea Maiden

We took these pictures last summer on our visit to Shelbourne, Nova Scotia. It was a great sailing event and a lovely little town. hoping to make it an annual thing.


The title and the embellishments are not really coordinating. I have birds all over the place and then slap a nautical title. Oh well, I couldn't think of anything to call it.


The flowers are ones that I made, the green felt frame is from a flower coaster at Michael's, Red bird-Quickutz, acrylic bird-May road? I also bought a few houses. I added the buttons in that odd place as there is a hole there from the ball and chain it was on. Why do they do that? Do you have any of those chipboard outline people? They have a hole on the top of their head! What do you do with that? But I digress....The white writing is from Quickutz also. Paper- bought at the 2nd hand sale last week. Will find out the name later. They totally dictated and changed my plan for these pictures. I wanted to do a spread of my crochet flowers, but when I saw this paper, i just had to use it. it went with the colours in the photo.

It was a lovely day at my LSS, Scrapbook By Design. I attended a crop. Went late, as my printer ran out of ink and I had to get them printed at the grocery store. thank goodness for the instant digital prints eh? I left a little early, as i was feeling guilty, imagining my family home without me. You feel that too sometimes? Jokes on me, they weren't here when I got home! They were still out and about. They went to a maple sugar bush and had some fun. I think I'll make a little book out of the pics DH took.

K, thanks for looking,
AManda

And he learned to whistle...

Quick, tell me the difference between a camel, a donkey and a giraffe....
Sorry, private joke. Onto today's project.

About a month ago, my son learned to whistle. it took about 3 days to get a good sound and a few tunes. He was so proud, his teacher was proud, his classmates were envious, I was wishing there was an "off" button! lol it's like when a kid learns to walk and talk, you can't turn them off.

So I just had to make a page of it:

Paper is S.E.I., letters are from 2 different companies, upstairs, at the moment, birds and music notes are from Quickutz and I love the pom poms. Background paper is bazill.

Off to frame it.
thanks for looking,
Amanda

Apple of my eye

My uncle Glenn, artiste extrodinaire, sent me this photo of my parents last week. out of the blue. Since it's rare to get one of them together, i was inspired to make it a keepsake.



Paper is by Bo Bunny. The letters are from a box that spell out Adventure, live out loud and play. I was able to spell out apple with it. I used a d for a p.
Love that it has the same colour palatte as the paper edges. Total fluke. My son drew the white apple tree on the right on acetate. That's why the wooden buttons are there. To cover the glue dots.
The apple on the bottom symbolize my parents 6 grandchildren. So they are the apples of my parents' eyes. it's not an earth shattering layout, but I like it.

yes mom, I will be sending this in the mail to you with other pictures of your grand children. Just don't go checking the mailbox everyday. you know how I am!! LOL

pout much?

Whipped this layout up tonight, This is the photo I wanted to use my crochet flowers on. I've been making all kinds and shapes and sizes. But the other day, I bought this bazzil textured paper and had it on my desk. I also was looking thru my bucket of primas (bought at Stamping Bella) and had them on the paper. BAM! idea came to mind.


I was first thinking of putting different coloured thread in the buttons, but decided to make it monochromatic when I found this slippery cotton in my embroidery floss box. Yes, the picture is yellow. I special effect-ed it that way. Had I known I was going to do this layout, I probably would have antiqued it a bit or washed it out some more. The letters some from a stack, I mean , maybe over 75 pages of letter punchouts I bought at a 2nd hand sale for 2 bucks!! Colours galore!

I shall use this kind of layout again. I'm curious to try it with coloured thread.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

well hello!

Hi there..
thanks for coming by when I've been missing. Nothing special happening, just getting back into routine and not getting up to my room to stamp at night.

Thought I should show you something and say hello...

What do you get when you put this...


and this......


and this together??


i don't know yet! But I'm hoping to play with it soon. hahaha

This kit was at Winners for 4.99!! I Love the scrapbooking section at Winners. You can get large pads and all kinds of kits for under 12.99. They have so many great themes. i decided to just jump into a kit and see what happens.

I have to make a few birthday cards for this weekend, so I'll have something new to show you soon.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

Rafael the red nosed reindeer

My son, the joker...



He likes to get a little silly sometimes. Doesn't he remember his mother always has a camera ready?!
This layout has been swirling in my head for a few weeks. I finally got some things together. Felt reindeer from michael's, dotted paper from SU, black paper with cutouts from memoriy makers, mini tree lights from the buck store last year and the letters from a bunch of different places. i really should invest in some proper chip board letters. Or at least more than 1 pack of 1 kind. I used glitter and flocking on them. oh yes, and the micro beads. Don't forget to colour the letter under the micro beads. I did for the flocking, but not the beads. Learn from my mistakes people. it looks naked under there. lol And I used the antler from the hat he was wearing. It had lived it's life and is now immortalized.


I made this just for you , you know, so I could give you something to look at.
Thanks for stopping by and go wrap a present or something. I know I should.
Amanda

Joy Joy!

At this time of year, I work with an agency and sing Christmas carols in various places around the city. My husband brought the kids to watch me and Neve was enthralled. She got daddy to come back twice before they actually left.

When I came home, she wanted to put on my costume. I managed to snap this picture before the doilie fell off.

I KNEW I had to scrap it. When I went to my friend Sarah's to play (www.sarahiscrafty.com) she let me loose with her Quickutz Silhouette cutting system. WOW! Great machine. Endless.....




I chose this Joy Ornament on real red SU cardstock. The black paper is from Making memories. It is in a pack of 6 black pages with various cutouts. I embossed around the opening using my enveloper as a guide. The snow flakes are SU and the brads in them are from Target. Got them a few years ago. The silver flowers on the snowflakes are also form SU. The ribbon is from Michael's, last year.
So tickled that the green CS matches the shirt.

her photo is not so washed out in Real Life. I braved the freezing cold and took it out on the walkway to get some light. It sure was bright today. And Cold. And windy. I chased that thing around the yard more than I wished. lol

I think I'm a think about it for a few days scrapper.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Autumn leaves

Here is the other layout I did on Friday night:


Leaf border around picture is felt sticky back ribbon. The autumn leaves title is chipboard from Joann's last year. It was done with versa mark and puffy embossing powder. The paper is Scenic route. the tress were already on it. I punched the leaves from various mini punches. Harvest moon vellum paper on the bottom is from my stash. Probably a few years old.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Bonita!

What a great night last night!

Went to a crop at my LSS, Scrapbooks by Design. Group of friends went. We all put out our wares of Quickutz, Nestabilities and Cuttlebug supplies and then created.

I felt so productive. I went with 2 layouts in mind and practically finished the 1st one in an hour, but then went to Starbucks for a tea run. Man, time sucker! Anyhow, here's one of my layouts:


The picture is of my daughter on Halloween. My friend brought this flamenco dress back from Spain this summer. And there are shoes to match!! Love them
I was so excited to find the background paper. The white swirls sold me on it. I had spent the previous night covering and sanding the chipboard swirls. that helped a lot in terms of time.

The title is Quickutz (sorry, don't know which one), the flower is the actual flower that was in her hair that I made of scrapbook supplies on hand. Then added a few jewels for the dot of the i and on the side of the B.

Oh yes, inspiration for this layout came from Christine Drumheller at
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/pg.asp?cmd=display&layout_id=1409898

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

I did it!!

Yeah! I finally scrapped a page!! I've been wanting to like forever. I've been taking pictures with the intent to do it. I've been collecting scrapping stuff. And tonight... I did it!!
This layout is from Jennifer Akirk's blog. I discovered it while blurffing. I would go back everyday to see it, but realized that it she had stopped blogging in March!. But I love so many of her layouts. Here's the one in February.



The paper on the right side is SU. It was a little too white for the American Craft dotted paper, so i used creamy caramel chalk on it. Kinda hoping it matches one of the circles. And look!! I used glitter!! Lots of it. My room is a mess. My clothes are a mess! I haven't looked at my face yet. And I'm still here!! THe swirl is from a 2nd hand sale. Don't know who it is by, but I have almost 4 whole sheets of circles and swirls. Yeah. I used the martha Stewart glitter on it. The letters are from the dollar store. Can you believe it? 1 buck! Even better as my LSS didn't have brown. I better go buy more, now that I'm into this scrapping thing. :}


Instead of putting my journalling on white paper, I printed it on acetate. Then used the 3 teeny, tiny brads in the corners.

I'm so happy I actually did it. It's not heavily embellished or a lot of photos, but I like it. I printed off a few more photos and am looking at layouts to make more. Just not getting anywhere with the card thang. Maybe this is the change I need. I'll welcome it. :}

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

a scrap page! and a bday

Here is the scrap page I did last weekend for my sister in law's impending addition. The paper matches the decor in his room, so I went with the star theme again. It is made for 5x7 photo in black and white.


My baby turns 2 tomorrow, but we celebrated with friends today. We celebrate with her avo (grandfather) tomorrow.

I put on a little sing song at the party with my ukelele. I just got a nice big tenor one, so it was cool to play. I was slated to perform on stage at an outdoor event, just before Max and Ruby came out. But the rain started right on cue for my time slot! Let's hope it stays away tomorrow.
Here's Neve playing the maracas. She is so dirty. Too many strawberries and a flood of rain at the sailing club where we celebrated. What a mess, but much fun. Happy Birthday babe.


Thanks for looking,
Amanda

More sibling love

I really liked this picture of the kids, so I decided to make these cards for immediate family for Valentines. Of course, they are not finished, and I still have to get them to the post office. That takes the longest time of all. lol
So if you are family, your surprise is ruined.
No stamping! The card bases are 5.5x5.5 from the Embossed box at Michael's. Prima's are from my LLS and the rhinestone centres are also from Michael's.
I'm too zonked to say anymore than this.
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Valentine love

ok, it's between a brother and a sister. Love is the theme today.
These kids are having so much fun lately. It's so nice to see them interact with each other. And for my daughter to initate a lot of the play. They do have a great laugh.

I got the idea for weaving from my friend, Sarah's blog at www. sarahiscrafty.com
The designer paper is from a huge slab one of my customers gave me. I don't know who it's by, but I do know that I had previously bought some of the paper by the sheet from the LSS.
The white heart and love sentiment are chipboard with seafoam EP. This fridge magnet is for daddy's filing cabinet at owrk. Apparently, his office at his previous job only had 1 card made by my son and a mug with their pic on it from when my son was less than 3 months old. So this time, his office wil have many pics of the family.

We are smothered in snow here. I haven't seen so much in the city since the big storm of 99. Good thing we have a part of the driveway to pile it in. But I'm parked on the street and a little snowed in. Haven't even been able to gear up to go to the grocery store. That's bad. DH stops by now and then, so we're not too bad.

alrighty then, look who's been Chatty Cathy. lol
Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Happy birthday Sam and Evan!

This is a picture of the little darlins.. Evan and Sam. THey turned 1 today and we had a nice party in the park. Thanks Jen. Lovely.

THe cards were complimentary to the scrapped page.

No details tonight, I gotta get more work done. I'm expecting my demo Starter kit from Stampin up tomorrow. Gotta make some room:} yeah me.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Molly

here is a card/fridge magnet I did for wee Molly's 2nd Birthday! It was a lovey day.

The picture was "antiqued" in iPhoto. (Love iPhoto for making these things so easy). Was quite happy to discover this paper in my stash. It is from a block from my LSS. (once again, I should be upstairs with my stuff to find the names. If you really want to know, email me) The reddish embellishments are also from a kit. The RELAX letters came from Joann's Craft store in the US. There were several titles in the package on blue ribbon. I glued it all together, then put it on a piece of magnet. (theDollarama) Attached the magnet to the card front with brads.

Just take the brads off the card and you have a keepsake to display on your fridge. Unless, you have one of those fancy stainless steel ones, hey Sarah!

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

baby Neve

Here is one of the few scrapbook pages I've done. I feel overwhelmed with the size of the 12x12 page. I will share some pages I did later that are about the size of a card:} That I can handle.

These pics were taken after Valentine's day at our drop in centre. All of the Valentine crafts were put into the sensory bin. It looked like fun, so I just plunked Neve into it. Her brother was pouring the stuff over her head. They were having so much fun. Neve was 6 months old then.

The picture does not do justice to the colours. I'm looking into making a light box, so hopefully these poor lighting photos will be a thing of the past.

Pink background paper is bazzil, the red swirly paper from Absolute dollar.
All the brads, jewel hearts, ribbons and buttons also from the dollar store. The paper hearts from my LSS, Scrapbooks by Design. (they have online catalogue. check them out....www.scrapbooksbydesign.ca) Probably sizzex or quick kutz. THe stamp set is "So Very" bu Stampin' Up. Some primas layered in the middle and my white signo pen on the top of the page for the hearts.

Thanks for looking.

Have a great Labour Day. Hope you aren't labouring!

Amanda