Creative Inklings

Project Life - week 1

I did it - I jumped on the Project Life bandwagon. The general consensus amonst super-busy moms seems to be that this project is both not too time-consuming, and totally worth it. So, I've decided to jump in with both feet and get started. I considered buying the Project Life kit, by Becky Higgins, but honestly I was kind of irritated that there is only place to buy it from if you live in Canada, and the shipping was over $17.00 - even it I only bought a small pack of journalling cards. Grrrrrr. Instead, I'm using my own (ample) stash - for now at least (I may cave later). I already had a pack of 12 by 12 divided page protectors, and tons of old journalling cards. I'm in the process of compiling a Project Life stash, but don't have it all neatly organized yet. For photos, I'm using my Nikon, edited on my ipad - this is proving to be a very fun part of the project. So, here's my title page, and the first week of Project Life 2012:

The "P", and two quotes were cut from my Silhouette (the orginal version, not the cameo). The CN tower image is from some packaging on a Christmas gift.

That's it - I'm off to scrap again!

 

A winter stroll to pass time...

And they're back....at school. They're happy and I'm happy. The kids are happy to see their friends and get back into a routine, and I'm happy to get back to my studio, and into a rhythm of creating and sharing again. Project Life is underway, I had a scrap night with some girlfriends last week, and I have a layout to share today using my latest SC kit. I hope I can keep up with intensions - to photograph and document this entire year. Here's what I made this weekend:

I'll be back with ProjectLife tomorrow!

Sewing, photographing, glueing.....

I have a few random things to share today. Thie kids are home this week for their last week of Christmas break. I was hoping we would do things like sledding and skiing, but there is not a flake of snow to be seen around here. Luckily, they are amusing themselves happily with their Christmas loot, especially Molly, who has adopted her her Maplelea Doll as her new sister. They love to dress the same, which means I've been busy sewing up a storm creating a new wardrobe for Leoni (and Molly). I've made them matching nightgowns...

And a party dress for Leoni (maybe a matching skirt to follow for Molly):

I'm also doing photo-day, and having fun getting my daily snap:

And a little time for scrapbooking. I'm feeling a little rusty as it's been a couple of months since I've made a layout, but I loved that photo of Jacob playing his new guitar:

That's it for today. Off to entertain the kids!

Happy 2012!

Wow! We have had a wonderful holiday. Lot's of hanging out in jammies, board games, skating, bowling, rollerskating, visits with friends and family and .... eating. I'm ecited to be joining the masses in starting Project Life today for 2012. I don't know how it will unfild, but I'm taking Nicole Samual's Photo-a-Day class at Studio Calico to get me started, and hopefully help me stay on track. This is my first photo for 2012....someone got a new guitar for Christmas :)

 

December Daily - The Beginnings

Amidst the shopping, concerts, cleaning, cooking, posting, wrapping....I am trying to steal a few moments to photograph, and to scrap. The moments have been few indeed, but at least I have been able to get a little start on things this week. The year, I didn't pre-construct anything. I am going with the flow, and not necessarily doing a "daily" album, more like a December composite. Some days will be numbered, some not. This gives me the freedom I need, to not be pressured to build this book a certain way. That being said, my first two page sets are from December 1st and 2nd, but it wont necessarily continue like that. For supplies, I've compined some old with some new, some Christmas stuff with some generic stuff. I ordered the Studio Calico 6 by 8 page protectors, which I am loving. I also ordered a few new rolls of washi tape in a red star design, a green tiny polkadot, and blue stars. And finally, I couldn't resist this year's October Afternoon Holiday Style collection, LOVE it. I found an old drawer on the sidwalk the other day, and it was the perfect found object for storing all my collected bits for building this years album. So, hopefully I'll be able to sneak a few moments in my studio, and get a few more pages done this week. Here's the first two days, a warm-up for pages to come!

'Tis the season...

of craziness! However, the dust is settling a bit after my craft show, and I finally have mailed off all my packages that needed to go afar, and I can think about getting back to a little crafting (December Daily maybe??), and blogging. I'm also parting with some much loves Studio Calico stamps, in an effort to make way for the new, and streamline my craftroom a bit. Here's what I have for sale:

 

Journalling Block, $1.00

Clouds "Sky the limit", $8.00

Phrases $5.00

Jetsetter $10.00

Mini Cherries $2.00

Today Banner $10.00

Bubble Backround $12.00

Time Flies $10.00

Carter Alphabet $30

 

Details:

Shipping $2.50

Paypal Only

More available upon request

Email with questions: sarah.doig@utoronto.ca

 

 

Tags Part 2

I think I have become addicted to designing with shipping tags! Right now I have made enough to outfit presents for many years, so I think it's time to stop.  The most fun and time consuming part of the tags is coming up with the design, even it's really simple. Once that's done, the tags are pretty quick to complete. I have six new Christmas designs today, and a fun set of birthday tags, which would be a great alternate to a card.

For the first set, I used up a set of Maya Road chipboard triangles. I sprayed them with some Studio Calico Mister Huey to change the colour, and decorated the trees with some baubles in my stash. I added a wood veneer trunk and some stamped sentiments.

For my next set I brought out my under used Stampin' Up! Ornament punch. I punched the shape in the top tag, then sandwiched some scrap fabric in between another tag, and stiched around the edge. It was finished off with a stamped sentiment and ribbon bow.

The third tag is so simple, and was put together using a few different stamp sets from Papertrey Ink, Stampin' Up! and Amuse.

This tag uses one of my favourite quicKutz dies and little bit of bakers twine - I may still add a sentiment to this one:

The snowman tag was a little fussy to make, so not sure I would do this design again. I did get a chance to use an old Studio Calico stamp that I have always loved though!

I love this last design. I die cut the canvas stars, the layered a chipboard star over top, and secured with a brad. I then repeatedly stamped the peace image (Stampin' Up!)

The last is a set of fun birthday tags. I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment on a post it note to create a mask (see tutorial here), then spray mister hueys on the tags. I then added strips of washi tape and a large eyelet. All the tags will be finished off with some twine and ribbons.

I just love how they look all together in my antique box...

Thanks for visiting, have a great day!

Studio Goings On...

It's been busy in there, I have the mess to prove it! What's amazing to me is the diversity of "stuff" I can make, just by using what I have (insert embarrased smiley here). I'm getting ready for a craft show at a local school in December, it was the last show I did three years ago! So here's a peak at why I haven't been doing as much scrapbooking lately....

When I saw these on pinterest, I had to make them! I made my own pattern, and adapted her great tutorial:

I've been having too much fun making shirt and ties...

I have a bunch of canvas star ornaments in progress...

And an experimental bunny...

Some Martha inspired canvases, that I recruited my Silhouette for....

and an ever popular button-tree canvas.

There's lots more, I will share another day. Off to make some washi birthday tags.

 

 

 

Craft Show Time

It's been a few years since I've done any kind of craft show, so I bit the bullet and signed up for one this year in December. I've this particular show before, so I think it will be worth my while. SO this week I've been busy taking stock of old stuff, and getting to work on some new items. I have so many ideas, sometimes it's hard to stay focused. Monday I was working on tags. I have about 10 different designs, and although I didn't do a great job of photographing them, I think they turned out pretty well. I'm including a little picture tutorial today of how to mask a design. For supplies, I used standard packing tags from Staples in a few different sizes, stamps from Stampin' Up!, Pink Paislie and Studio Calico, scrap paper, QuicKutz dies, ribbon, buttons, glitter and other little bits. Here's what I have so far:

And a few close-ups:

 

 

To create the above tag, I needed to do some masking. Here's how I did it:

First stamp the image to be masked on a post-it note:

Cut out the image, and set aside. Next stamp the same image on the tag:

Cover your image with the mask (I had already done this several times!):

Now stamp your backround image over top of the mask:

Remove the mask, and complete the tag:

Have a great week! Thanks for stopping by.

Chevron

I adore that pattern, but I admit it's getting a bit overdone these days. I couldn't help it though, I had to use it on my page today. This layout is not at all what I envisioned. I started with an entirely different concept, with entirely different photos in mind, but this is what I ended up with. It's the best photos from the kids cross-country meet last month. The photos weren't great - I was too busy cheering them on! They did great though - so proud of themselves.

The layout is made with a mix of supplies - but the bulk come from the Studio Calico September kit, Glee Club. I also used lots of Washi tape, my Silhouette, Nestabilities and Lifestyle Crafts circle dies. Here's the layout: