Snow Much Fun & A Birthday Card

Hey there!

So we are being hit with our 4th snow storm in the past 9 days.  According to the weather authorities, our city has seen 201cm of snow so far... and more is falling as I write this.  The kids have missed 3 or 4 days of school in the last 2 weeks.  Today just happens to be another snow day for them!  YAY!

My daughter is extremely happy she has the day off as today is her birthday!  My baby girl turns 10 today.  While they are outside playing in the snow, I've headed to my craft room to create a little card for her special day!

I really miss sitting down at my craft table and creating stuff.  I especially miss creating cards.  I usually just go with the flow when I create cards, but for this one, I actually had a plan!  So I got my tools out and went at it!

I haven't taking out my mists in so long, I thought maybe they wouldn't work.  I gave them a good shake and dropped some specks on a piece of white cardstock.

Gave them a quick dry with the heat gun.  I wanted to emboss a background on the panel, but didn't want the powder to stick to the mist.

Inked my background stamp with VersaMark Ink and them heat embossed it with some white embossing powder.  I wanted a white on white background.

While wanting to get a good impression of the stamp on my card piece, I pressed a little to hard and the paper moved.  So the words aren't very clear, but no matter, I wasn't really looking to be able to read the background.  I was looking for something subtle, to give it texture.

I have a bunch of washi tape hidden in a drawer... I choose 3 that matched the mist and created these banners.  I poked a hole on each side and stringed some floss and tied it in a bow.  Reminds me of a wrapped gift.

I added my sentiment and sprinkled a few sequins for extra bling!

And VOILA!  The finished card!  I like it.  I think my little princess will like it too!

I hope you're inspired by my card today and will create one too!

Thanks for stopping by.  I appreciate the visit.

Much love,

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all  had an amazing end to your year last night.  I sure did!  We spent a relaxing night at home with the kids.  My mother-in-law joined us for supper and later we watched a movie together.  It was the best New Year's Eve in a long time!  Something to be said about spending quality time with your loved ones! As we near the 2nd anniversary of my father-in-law's passing, we plan to make spending quality time together our priority in the new year. 

My FIL was an exceptional man.  The most kind, thoughtful and giving man.  We spend many moments together reminiscing about the wonderful times we spent with him.  Although we manage to smile and feel happy about these memories, it's been difficult for me to go through picture albums of him.  I haven't been able to scrapbook any picture of him, until now.  This makes me happy.  I know he'd be happy, too.

I'm sharing this layout with you today.  It's a picture of my FIL as I remember him best.  His beautiful smile would shine through any room and touch so many hearts.

This was the last Christmas we got to spend at home as a family before he got sick.  It has always been important for us to celebrate our joys together.

I've created a tag to journal some thoughts about him, us, our family.  I haven't been able to write it down yet, but it will come.

I was itching to use up some of my Jillibean Soup Placemats.  This triangle one was just perfect to cut up into a tree shape to use as a background.  So versatile, this placemat! And since I was in the spirit of Christmas, the Jillibean Soup Holly Berry Borscht collection was just perfect for this layout!  I was inspired by Nicole Nowosad's layout found in the current Winter Issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today Magazine.  

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you find inspiration today to create with {heart}! 

Much love,

Clothespin Snowflakes

Good morning!

It's already December!  This year has just flown by and it would seem as though I've neglected my blog a little in the process.  Hopefully I can make it over here more often in the near future and share some crafty love with you all.  :)

How about sharing some right now?  I've been all over Pinterest lately trying to come up with some cute little crafty gifts for our church groups.  I found snowflakes made from clothespins and thought these would be so fun to make with my kids.  So we gave it go!  A warning!  They are addictive to make!  I posted a little sneak on Instagram the other day and received a few request on how to make them.  So, here I am.  A little tutorial for you.

I gathered up some old wood clothespins from our camping gear box and with the help of my kids, we started by taking them apart and sanding the ruff spots.

Once sanded and smoothed out, I hot glued back together by their backsides.

And glued five together at their points to form a star.  Now, I've tried gluing 6 together and it was a little tricky.  Gluing 8 together is the best and make the prettiest stars.  We decided to stick with five for this project. We needed to make about 20.

Next came the painting.  I'll admit to child labor for this step!  My kids went at them with some white paint.

Once dried, we sanded them down a little to give them some character.

I knew I wanted to add some glitter to them, but I wasn't sure how at first.  Then, I remembered my stash of Stickles!  I used just a small amount, than rubbed it with my figures to spread it out.  And it dried in no time and no mess!!

Then the fun part!  I used my snowflake punch to punch out some snowflakes out of metallic paper.  That center snowflake is acrylic and I found those at Dollarama.  Those little bells are from there too.  Hot glued everything in the middle and VOILA!!

We still have a few to make for tomorrow night.  My kids and I are having a blast making them and I'm certain we will be sharing some with family and friends this holiday season.

Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day for me today.

Happy scrapping!

Memories of Crop & Create

Good morning!

There comes a time when I have to push myself to take more pictures of events, adventures, etc. that happen in my life.  I sometime try to over think the photos and end up not taking any.  And then there are times where I just let myself (more so my trigger finger!) go.  Click away!  And most times, it's in these instances that the best pictures are taken.  

Last year at Crop & Create, I found myself with only a little bit of time to walk the floor and visit with friends I hadn't seen in a while.  I brought my phone with me and started taking selfies with my peeps!  Click here, click there!  It was so much fun!!  And these are the pictures I've been scrapping with the most lately.

I created this first layout for Let's Capture Our Memories' December Color Spot .  It had some great colors and it was perfect for the little pictures I used.   The layout was a difficult one for me to put together, but it ended up great and it's one of my favorites.  Most of the supplies for this layout came from a Studio Calico Kit and of course my go to Jillibean Soup alphas.  

I couldn't wait to get this next picture on a page!!  My friend Michelle and I most definitely "bonded" that weekend!  Hee! Hee!  Nothing like a good duck face to get the giggles going!!  Just look at those Hot Lips!!

I used a Pagemaps sketch to guide my inspiration.  Papers are from Studio Calico.  As I was looking through my stash for some hearts, I found a couple of corrugate shapes from Jillibean Soup and chipboard hearts from Maya Road.  I altered the chipboard by adding some distress ink and giving them a layer of glossy accents.  Those red glitter Thickers were perfect for my title and those little enamels from CTMH for a finishing touch.  Super simple, super fun and everytime I see those pictures, I pucker up and remember the fun weekend I had with my scrappy peeps!  I can't wait to share another Crop & Create with them!

Check out the C&C page for info on how you can join in on the fun!  I would love to take pictures with you too!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fresh Cut

Hello again!

I'm here to share with you yet another layout that I started and was able to finish at a recent crop!  It's always fun to be able to sit down with my scrappy peeps and smell paper with them!  Hee! Hee!

This is a picture of my daughter after getting a hair cut.  It takes us back to 2011, I think (I really need to keep track of dates!!).  Although she doesn't really like to cut her hair, we did manage to cut a few inches in length.  She was super happy once she got home.  We just had to take a picture!

For those of you who know me best, I'm not really a girly type scrapbooker.  But when Cosmo Cricket came out with their Creative Girl collection, I just had to have it!!  It was calling to my inner "girly"!  LOL! I used the collection pack for most of this layout.  The background paper is from a Studio Calico kit.  Used up some enamel dots from My Mind's Eye and those little stars are from Lawn Fawn.  You really can't go wrong with Thickers and a little badge from Evalicious.  Oh and I stitched on this layout!  Oh boys!  That didn't turn out to good, but I covered the boo-boos with those stars!  

Thanks for stopping by today!