Creative Inklings

Halloween Fashions 2011 - part 1

So I've been sewing up a storm leading up to this years grand festivities. Each child has changed their mind on costume choice at least twice, and each has three separate events which require appropriate fashion for this time of year. In the end, Rowan settled on being Luigi....again. He just loved that costume too much. This was particularly easy for me, as I all I need to do was make him a new moustache, complete with "sticky stuff" so it will stay in place. No problem, my craft room is packed with furry fabrics and sticky stuff, so that took less than a minute to complete (pictures to follow next week!). He's going to wear that costume to both of his parties. Done. Molly wanted to be a cupcake - not so easy. So, I refashioned a wedding dress into a cupcake, created a "wrapper skirt" (as Molly calls it, using some felt from my stash. The look is completed by the cherry on top headband, made by making two wet-felted balls, yarn etc. etc. Here's a peak (full photos on Monday):

 

However, Molly is also going to birthday Halloween party, where there will be brightly coloured icing, paint, and lots of other messy stuff. So, she needed a second (EASY) costume for this party. I realized I had pretty much everything for a Strawberry Shortcake costume already in Molly's wardrobe. I just needed to put it all together, and add something strawberry-ish. I didn't have anything with a strawberry on it, so I made her a reverse-applique tee, Amy Tan style! I cut the strawberry pattern with the Sihouette, and the diamonds with my QuicKutz dies, and completed the whole thing while the kids were at swim practice. Since her dad is taking her to the party tomorrow, we did a dry run of the costume today ;) Here she is:

Once I started the reverse-applique stuff, I couldn't stop. It is so easy and so much fun. So, since today was black and orange day at school, I made Rowan the perfect shirt for the occasion:

I cut the tie and bats with the Silhouette. The whole thing took about 20 minutes to do - complete with cutting the shapes!

Finally, one of Rowan's best buddies has a baby brother, and I couldn't resist making one last thing for him. I wanted to make a onesie, but that proved IMPOSSIBLE to find a plain one. Sp, here's his Halloween sleeper:

Have a great weekend!

Playing catch up...

One down, six to go before I balance the layouts between Rowan and Molly. I think Molly has already overlooked it, so I slipped in a layout about my grandmother today. I'm so glad I got this one done. It wasn't something I was planning, but when I found this photo of her, it all just came to me right away. I incorporated lots of fabric scraps on this layout to make a quilt like backround, and used some of her vintage buttons that she lovingly saved for many years.  I also used bits and pieces from Crate Paper's "Restoration" line, that worked perfectly with the fabrics. This is a photo of her on her 100th birthday. She lived to be 102. My journalling is on both sides of the tag. Here's what I wote:

Gram was no spring chicken, as we used  to  call  her, when this photo of her was taken on her 100th birthday. She was born in Kingsport, Nova Scotia in 1895,  and lived to be the oldest in her family, when she died at 102.  She was the only grandparent I ever really knew, and I loved her and learned so much from her. Like how to make a good broth. Always plan your dessert early in the day.  Never throw away those bread tags. Don’t sit next to boys in a movie theatre, they may get “fresh”.  Never a end a sentence with a prepositional phrase.  The is no place like the cottage. You have to be a good camper. It’s never too early to press the panic button. She taught me how to play Solitaire and how to sew. She taught me how to help her when we would go for a walk. Most importantly, she taught me that I can be anything I set my mind to.

She loved hot tea and bran muffins.  Knew the importance of prunes in maintaining a “regular” diet. Was the biggest kid on Christmas morning you have ever seen, and believed wholeheartedly in the rip and tear method of opening.  Loved to laugh, and found humour in any situation. She was queen of the whoopie cushion.  She disliked dogs, but knew how to get them to like her (“does he want a chip”), listened to the stock market report daily, and loved to talk “money”. She loved Laura Secord French and Frosted mints.  Was always prepared with cookies and sandwiches on any outing, especially on her favourite trips to the Annapolis Valley.  She knew how to make do, and did it well. She opened her home and heart to anyone in need. She loved a good story, a good joke, and a good party.  She was thrify and would have loved that I am using buttons she lovingly saved from her old clothes to embellish this page about her.  I only wish I could have know her for longer, but I try to remember these things that she taught me, and how she lived, and know that in doing so, she is still part of me.

I love how this turned out, and I think she'd approve as well - except for maybe the grammar.

The next layout is one I did for a sketch challenge at Studio Calico. It was very different feel that the about layout! Much more modern and trendy. I loved the pose and expression I captured of Molly on our way to Centre Island this summer. This photo was taken with my iphone, and just worked better when printed in a small size. I used my Silhouette to cut many of the elements on this page.

Weekend Creativity

It seemed the whole family was engaged in some sort of creative pursuit this weekend. Rowan and his little friend got into the Halloween spirit on Friday night, making some spooky (and bizarre) masks...

Jacob was busy working on the deck all weekend,

And even managed to incorporate scrapbooking supplies into his work...

Molly made about 25,365,968 little things in the craft room,

and helped me refashion a bridal costume into her halloween costume for this year (more to come on that).

I also managed to do a little scrapbooking, and I think captured the essence of a typical day at the beach. I realize I've done mostly Rowan pages recently, so my goal is to balance that out a bit this week before I suffer the wrath of Molly's disapproval.

And it's Friday...

And that usually means playdate day at our house. So, just a quick post with a couple of layout before I go whip up a batch of chocolate chip chip cookies for the after school snack - I know, so June Cleaver....

The first is a shot I love from the cottage this summer. The weather in Nova Scotia was terrible, so there was a lot Sorry playing going on...

The second layout is a lightheart joke about my slight obsession with this hobby:

Could there be anything worse...

for a seven year old boy, than shoe shopping with his Gramma? I think not. Well, maybe fabric shopping. How many hours of our childhood did my siblings and I spend in Goodman's Fabrics, as our mom paged through those giant tomes of dress patterns, and carefully felt the nap of weave of dozens of cuordury's, silks and jacquards. I can remember amusing myself at the button rack, spinning it endlessly like the Wheel of Fortune. Actually, I can think of a few more ways to torture a seven year old boy - we've done them! Let me see...the tile warehouse, the lighting store and good 'ol Home Depot come to mind, but I digress. Last spring my parents came to visit, and whenever they come, apart form seeing Jacob and I and the kids, they like to do a little shopping. Usually we can accomplish this while the kids are in school, but unfortunatly for Rowan and Molly, this time they were subjected to a busy Saturday afternoon atthe Eaton Centre, while Gramma tried to find a pair of shoes. I still giggle when I think back to that. It was just so classic. In the end, it really was not so bad, but the pictures I got were priceless, and definitely tell the story better than  words ever could. So, I threw together this layout today. I think Rowan and my mom will both get a good laugh from it.

One of those days...

You know, where you thought you had hours to yourself, and just as your heading out of the house, in your yoga pants and hoodie, you realize you volunteered to be the parent helper for science day at school. Sigh, hate it when that happens. Anyway, I survived, but why do I keep volunteering for those things???

I have a couple of new layouts to share today. I was at Scrapfest on the weekend with my good friend Penny. We went to the crop, which I have never done before. It turned out to be pretty fun, and I actually won a couple of couple of contests. I'll share a couple of the layouts today. Again, all are made with Studio Calico kits. Now that there are no local scrapbook stores, I pretty much do all my shopping online. This first layout was very time consuming to comlpete, but I like how it turned out. Maybe a little busier than planned, but that's o.k. I cut out all the people with my Silhouette the day before the crop. I won a contest for best photography with this one - they loved the authenticity of the photos - the chocolate pudding on Rowan's face, and Molly's messy hair!

This second layout was much simpler to create. I used an instargram photo of Rowan from the summer, and created the chevron pattern using an old QuicKutz diamond cookie cutter die. Ver fun!

Creativity in all Forms

There's no doubt, one of the defining characteristics of me is my creativity. For as long as I can remember, I've been making things. One of my earliest memories is from when I stabbed my thigh with mother's good sewing scissors while attemping to cut the letters of my name out from felt.  No worries though, no major damage was done (to my leg that is, the felt on the other hand, got a bit mangled). Growing up I designed and created everything from quilts to clothes to jewelery and more. As an adult I've taken to making teddy bears, home decor, scrapbooking and card making, so yes, I am creative. However, I could NEVER do what husband has managed. In him, the creativity is not as obvious, but that doesn't mean that it's not there. He just doesn't get to use it as much, because he doesn't have a studio full of cool stuff, nor the interest to create adorable little cards and stuffies. He did, however, have the idea to make a deck. So, in August he got to work - no experience, he just jumped right in. He's been fussing and working and reading about that deck ever since. Progress has been slow at times because of his meticulous nature, but today, he is at the fun part. Finally, the deck boards are going on the upper deck! I actually (veeerrrry carefully - they're not nailed down yet) sat on it this morning. There's still lot's work, it wont be finished until next summer, but wow, I'm so impressed. So, I have a layout to share today, but also a couple photos of Jacob's handiwork (and yes, that is his high school cross-country shirt - in case you are wondering - he's crafty AND frugal!).

The deck:

My layout. The journalling (my favourite part) reads:

The stages of childhood seem to pass faster than the seasons themselves. When I look at this photo from just a year ago, I realize that a precious phase of life is coming to an end. Where walking hand in hand was once effortless and expected, Rowan is now relishing his independence and freedom to explore. The moments of walking hand and hand are much more scarce, but thankfully, he has not outgrown it yet. I can still grab his little hand, often after school, and he will tell all the things that the day held.

Baby Layout

Just a quick post today of a layout I made last weekend. It's of Rowan when he was a baby - before my scrapbooking days! He wont have a baby book per se, but instead I'm trying to pick and choose photos to scrap that tell the important stories - like his need to bounce! I found this photo of him smiling away in jolly jumper, where he spent a good portion of his first year. He LOVED that thing, and it was saviour some days. I think if they made them big enough, he would still go in one of those! Anyway, here's the layout, made with an older Studio Calico kit.

My Crafty Weekend

This past weekend I was so thankful for my family, obviously, but more importantly that they gave me some much appreciated time to myself. I love being a stay-at-home mom, but I do need a break every once in a while ;) So while my husband and the kids headed the cottage up north, I stayed behind for a much needed weekend to myself. I spent some time shopping, running, bike-riding and of course, crafting. I'm a typical scrapbooker, in that I always feel "behind". I know in reality it's silly, because I have so many stories documented, but there's always more to tell. I often print off photots with great intentions, but then either the papers don't seem to work, or the storiy diesn;t seem to flow. I was this way this photo from last Christmas:

I wanted to tell the story of Christmas spirit in our house, and the fury of gift-making in the craft room, and love in which they were given. My problem was I couldn't seem to figure out how to scrap this photo in a "Christmassy" way. The colours did.not.work. with traditional stuff. However, the Spetember Studio Calico kit, Glee Club, filled with Amy Tan product and Basic Grey out of print, did work. I worked the Christmas theme into the title, and the journalling. Here's the result:

The journalling reads:

From the moment the first few decorations are brought out of storage, the spirit of Christmas fill the house with acts of kindness and giving. In December 2010, the kids craft room was abuzz with a flurry of present –making activity. It seemed like everyday there was a new handmade gift from the kids tucked under the tree, complete with wrapping! They made presents for us and for each other. Rowan was especially engaged in present-making this year. I received a handmade necklace and a game from Rowan, while Jacob received an illustrated story book that Rowan wrote. Here, they sit together sharing his book.

Hope you all had a great weekend too. Thanks for stopping by :)

More Christmas Cards

I can't seem to put away the August Studio Calico kit, boardwalk. The colours I think were chosen for their beachy summery feel, but they really work well for Christmas too. I made a couple of graphic very non-traditional cards, using just scraps. The first uses an old Creative memories hexagon punch I picked up at a second hand sale.  I paired with hexagons with a die cut sentiment, a holly embellishment and done!

The second card was very fun to make. For this one I made a chevron pattern by punching squares, cutting them in half, in arranging them to make the pattern. I paired that with a repeating happy holidays sentiment, to make a kind  of non-denominational somewhat masculine card (you know, the kind that's good for your festivus-celebrating male co-worker!?).

The last is a repeat from yesterday, but I wanted to include it as it was also made with the boardwalk kit. The super fussy and time-consuming ornament bucket card:

And all three together: