Nika and her "grandpa" Swirlydoos Cabaret kit - March

I just adore this photo of my Dad and Nika. She loves standing on her back legs and does it all the time. She and Dad were "dancing" and I quick grabbed the camera and got this shot. Papers are from the March 2011 gorgeous Cabaret Swirlydoos kit featuring Prima Moulin Rouge. Everything else is from Swirlydoos at one time or another. I will post supplies later.

Sketches: Creatively Yours

I am excited to say that I am on the DT at Sketches: Creatively Yours!  There are new friends to make on the DT and also one of my Swirly sistas and several of my SOS sisters are there too!  My very dear friend, Ali hand draws the sketches and does a great job!  I am looking forward to creating her sketch blog along with all the other DT members.  First reveal is April 1st, please check it out!!

Kaisercraft Chest - Swirlydoos tech kit

This is the March technique kit from Swirlydoos.  Don't you just love it?  This kept me occupied for most of the day yesterday. I think its just the cutest little chest!   It's a Kaisercraft chest that I covered with paper on the outside.  The drawers are partially covered with paper but the insides are painted a very dark green.  The edges are covered with Tim Holtz tape.  I really like that stuff, its easy to work with.  I used a Martha Stewart punch to make the scallops on the back.  I might covered the drawer fronts and top of the chest with crackle accents.  I haven't made up my mind yet, it will protect the paper so....maybe.  I have to look at it for a few days before I decide!

Happy birthday Sisterhood of Scrap, come join the party!

That’s right, the Sisterhood of Scrap turns 4 in April and we would like to invite you to join in on our Birthday Bash week April 8 – 15.


We will be posting challenges and games all week for your chance to win prizes from our generous sponsors.

So mark your calendars, grab some cake, and come and join in on the fun!!

See you at The Sisterhood April 8th.

Yikes, here it is mid-March already!! Caribou layout

I'm not sure where the month has gone and I can't believe that I haven't posted anything here in almost two weeks!  I have been doing some things but I can't show any of them as they are for projects to be released next month.  And one is a gift so can't show that.  I've done three more arches for a swap, I think they turned out really great, but can's show those either!

Oh well, I did do this layout last week for a color challenge at Scrapbook.com.  I took the photo at Denali National Park.  One thing visitors always try to do is get photos of the big 4, moose, bear, caribou and dall sheep.  So this is my caribou photo.  It was as if he was poseing for us, don't you love the way he has his head turned?  The papers I used for this layout range from old to really really old, like from 2005!  I love it when I did that deep into my stash and get rid of something!  And that burlap is from a roll I bought when we lived in Denver and the flowers are Prima; I altered the one at the top.   I was planting water lilies - you wrap the dirt in burlap to keep it from totaling trashing your pond.  I did use a new mask from Prima for the floral mask, its an 8x8 mask, really nice. 

Aside from the usual, I have been busy with tax work, well that's a good thing, I need some income to support my SB habit!!  I hope to have some creative time tomorrow!  Cross your fingers for me!

Shout out for Bella Creations!

Oh it is my lucky week!  I won a random drawing for this fabulous prize at Bella Creations by entering their challenge, Tres Chic, to do a shabby chic project.  That was right up my alley!!  You should check out Bella Creations, its a new Ning group that has some fun challenges and great prizes!  Thanks Lacee!!

Speaking of prizes, I also won this in a random drawing at Sisterhood of Scrap for entering a challenge!  Yay, I love to get scrappy goodies in the mail!!  Thank you SOS!

Memories - LO for Get Picky

I did this layout for the Get Picky Inspiration challenge.   I just found this challenge blog and I really love their concept as their challenges focus on doing multiple photo layouts which I love to do!  Here's a link to Get Picky and here's the photo that was provided for this challenge:

I love the flower petals, the soft pink colors, and the girliness of it all, that is where I drew my inspiration.  Here's my take on the challenge:

  I love the peachy pink color in this, I am seeing this color in a lot of lines lately  - I think I'll be using alot of it.  I antiqued the chipboard, you can see how here.  The picture is of my Mom and I think she must have sent one of these photos to my Dad during the war as the inscription on one of the photos reads, "Your ball and chain. I love you."  LOL, I think that is so cute!

Supplies:

BasicGrey Curio collection

Back page – Rose water
Pink rectangle – Camelia
Fussy cut rose – Chiffonier
G45 – Le Romantique pearl pp & stamps images
K & Co Classic K journal spot
Bazzill peach CS
Prima flower – Rossetti Roses Grace
Maya Road chipboard title painted with antique white paint, Crackle accents, Distress ink – antique linen, copper perfect pearls,
Unknown ribbon

Yippee!! I won the sketch challenge at Dusty Attic!

Wow, did I ever get a nice wakeup this morning.  I turned on my computer, as usual, opened my email, and there was a message telling me I had won the February sketch challenge with this layout, Imagine. this layout!  What a wonderful way to wake up!!  Here is the Dusty Attic Feb sketch that I used.  Dusty Attic lasercut chipboard is just the best , they have such beautiful products.



Chena and Escape Kitty

Have you been following the adventures of Escape Kitty (EK) on Scrapbook.com?  My good friend, Jennifer (jrabs) has a cat that is trying desperately to escape the confines of her house.  Poor sweet EK longs to be outdoors but alas, Wiley Coyote, has been spotted so EK is destined to be an indoor kitty.  Jennifer posted a challenge to do an Escape LO of whatever is your escape and I thought it would be fun to do a LO of Chena and EK.  EK has her bags packed and is waiting patiently by the door for Chena to pick her up in her mobile doghouse and they are off to Alaska.  HA-ha, they don't know that it is still really cold in Alaska and the ground is covered with snow.  They are in for a BIG suprise.  And geez, Chena has never driven in the snow before.  I sure hope they make the jouney safely.  I told Chena to be sure not to let EK eat any birds but I think the birds will be safe as there are only 6 species that spend the winter in Alaska so the hunting will be sparse for EK!  LOL, Chena put lots of cat food in the doghouse for EK!

Journal says:  EK, come travel with me in my mobile doghouse.   I've been from coast to coast, Florida to Nova Scotia, and all the way to Alaska.

Supplies

Base paper – MME Lost & Found Union Square Perfect Damask Print

Other papers – 6x6 BAsicGrey pad, Capella
Bingo Boards and Calling Cards – Tattered Angels
Vine – Reflections
Flowers – Prima & handmade
Escape letters – BasicGrey Max & Wiskers
Fence – layered Sizzix diecut painted with white crackle paint and Crackle Accents, inked with Antique linen distress paint
Suitcase pile – Tattered Angels glimmer chips
Burlap fabric
Key & Bookplate - MM Vintage Findings
Prima flower ribbon



Imagine & antiquing a frame

Every now and then I do something that I really ,really like and this is one of those!  I just love the way that the Dusty Attic Frame turned out on this, IRL, it is soooo pretty and french antique looking!  I did this layout for the February  sketch challenge at Dusty Attic.

The journal says:  This photo was taken shortly before Mom and Dad were married.  Did they imagine that they would be married for more than 67 years?  Today, they are almost 89 years old and they are still working on their love story.

 

Method for Antiquing the Frame
The effects I used on the frame are really easy and here's how I did it.  First I painted the frame with clear Gesso so that my acrylic paint would adhere better.  I used Plaid Antique White acrylic paint and I applied 2 coats.  After that dried I used Ranger Crackle Accents and applied a heavy coat on the frame with a paintbrush.  I let that dry for several hours and then I rubbed Distress Antique Linen ink into the cracks.  That still didn't quite give me the effect I wanted so I rubbed Ranger Copper Perfect Pearls into the cracks and it was Perfect, LOL!!  The perfect pearls gave the frame a nice sheen.

Layout Supplies:

BasicGrrey Curio –
• Needle Lace – back pp
• Ophelia – floral rectangle
Bazzill CS – french vanilla
- peach
Glitz – Vintage paper layers – printed pp
Kaisercraft pearls- chocolate colored
Prima e. – black and peach pearls
Dusty Attic frame
Kaisercraft rubons – Devonshire collection “Imagine”
half flower – Petaloo
Other handmade with Alterations Tattered florals
McGill starburst punch &  leaf punch
Colorbox cates eye ink –
• bisque
• olive
Distress ink –
• forest moss
• wild honey
• antique linen
• black
Ranger alcohol ink – pitch black
Tsukineko Fantastix brush point coloring tool
Martha Stewart edge punch
Venetian lace – Lace Heaven
Glimmer mist –
• sunkissed peach
• olive vine
Ranger perfect pearls – perfect copper
Plaid acrylic paint- antique white
Gesso
Autumn leaves clear stamps - journaling stamp

Homeward Bound

I haven't done a layout like this is a long  time and I really enjoyed doing it!  I love to journal and here I tell part of the story of our trip home from Alaska.  Did this for a challenge at Sisterhood of Scrap and its a Pagemaps sketch.

The Cassiar Highway has two claims to fame. It is said to be one of the worst routes to Alaska and you are advised to take spare tires and drive SLOW. Second, it is heralded as being of unsurpassed beauty. For me, the thought of a drive full of scenic wonder caught my attention and for Dick, well who doesn’t love a challenge! So when we moved back to the lower 48 in 2000, we decided we would take the Cassiar route to Denver. About 10 miles into that trip, we had had enough. To be fair, we were driving a ¾-ton pickup with a Bigfoot camper on it, pulling a loaded trailer full of Dick’s tools and his ’22 Ford, and we weighed in at 22,000 lbs. We were just too heavy to deal with the potholes and extreme grades of the Cassiar so we reluctantly turned that rig around and headed down the Alaska Highway.


Fast-forward to 2010, the year of our return to Alaska, and we were determined to drive the Cassiar and decided to take that route on our way home in August. Can you just imagine how we felt when we heard that the Cassiar was closed because of forest fires? We got to the turnoff for the Cassiar, and sure enough, the road was closed. But, there was a long lime up of cars, RVs and a few motorcycles. There’s a gas station there at the corner and we learned that the road was going to open in about 30 minutes and we would be escorted through the forest fire in a convoy. Ah, talk about timing!

Our drive through the fire was uneventful; we didn’t see much in the way of flames, just the devastation left behind from a fast moving fire through the stands of black spruce. There are always many fires burning in the summer throughout the wildernesses of the northwest and many are left to nature’s whim as long as the fires are not a threat to population centers. The Cassiar runs through complete wilderness – we had no cell phone service the entire 450 mile route. There are only a few small settlements along the way. We camped in the parking lot of a store selling jade the first night. The 2nd night we spent in Stewart, BC which is a 38-mile jaunt off the Cassiar. Hyder, AK is just another mile or so from Stewart and we went there for some excellent bear viewing at Fish Creek.

Just as a postscript, the Cassiar has been greatly improved since our attempt in 2000. It is a gorgeous drive and the road is very accessible to all RV’s.

And this page accompanies the above.   My inspiration was a sketch by my good friend, Ali.   Journal:

We started our drive home on August 4, 2010. We made a quick stop in Anchorage to provision before hitting the wilderness of the Cassiar Highway where there are very few services. We stopped at the Commissary to buy groceries for the two-week trip home and the PX to buy Christmas presents and souvenirs! These two pictures were taken along the Glenn Highway and that is Mt. Drum in the distance at the top and at the bottom is the ever-present fireweed, so named because it is the first plant to return after a forest fire.

Stewart, BC is a Canadian border town at the end of the Portland Canal, a narrow saltwater fjiord about 90 miles long. The fijord is a natural boundry between Alaska and Canada. The town is surrounded by high peaks and glaciers freely flow down the slopes. These pictures are of the Salmon Glacier, the 5th largest glacier in the world. It is unfortunate that the weather was so poor when we were there, however, we did get the occasional break in the clouds that allowed us to see the glacier.

I used MME So Sophie papers for both of these layouts.  The little flowers are forever old and they are Fancy Pants.  The diecut is from Bo Bunny Flutterbutter and is cut in half.    The letters are cut with the Alterations Vintage Market sizzlet.

TFL!



Give me a Kiss on which to Build a Dream

I did this for the Feb butterfly challenge we have at Swirlydoos.  I love this picture of my parents, there's a romantic story behind it.  The two pictures are the same but the one at the bottom that looks all tattered is a scan of the actual photo that my Dad kept in his wallet thoughout his time overseas during WWII.  They were married before Dad went overseas, I think this is so sweet!

Supplies:

TPC Studio – Grandma’s Attic –

• Vintage Stripe back pp
• Grandma's Attic Trinkets , half sheet & large brown scallops
• Mirror with title on it
Photo mats – MM Paper Reverie Brun Antique Dictionary
Die cut – Creative Imaginations Remember Ledger – used backside
Petaloo layered flowers, Prima jrweled flower in the center
MM Paper Reverie Brun Antique small resin flower & clear facet teardrops
Martha Stewart punches
Reflections mint green flower center brads
K & Co large butterfly – Tim Coffey Blossomwood
Unknown – beads,
MLYB – bag of feathers

SISTERS - Swirlydoos Feb kit

This is a layout I did for a round robin challenge at Swirlydoos. I started out with a base sheet of G45 Timeless Collection Core'dinations which I sanded around the edges to reveal the brocade design.  Then  I did alot of water distressing on the remaining layers which are TPC STudios Grandma's Attic. The three inner sheets are cut at 7", 6", and 5" and distressed by dampening the edges of the papers with my fingers and then folding and bunching the dampened edges.  The swirls are Tim Holtz grungeboard painted with Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist.  The key on the left is heat embossed with UTEE.  While the UTEE is still hot, I sprinkled on Distress walnut stain embossing powder to give it that aged look.  TFL!!

Supplies:

Base paper - Core’dinations G45 Timeless Collection

TPC Studios – Grandma’s Attic Collection
• Large sheet – Hidden Treasures
• Bottom small sheet – Reflections
• Next layer small – Homespun
• Top layer – Homespun
Remember Tag – made from Creative Imaginations Remember Ledger pp
Swirls – T Holtz grungeboard painted with Tattered leather Glimmer Mist
Pearl swirls – Prima
Pearls – Kaisercraft
Flowers – Petaloo
Large flower centers – Prima
Small flower centers – MME Lost & Found brads
letters – Alterations diecut
Key – Dusty Attic heat embossed with Gold Utee and Distress walnut stain
Prima lace bottom left and right
Unknown - Velvet ribbon , stick pins

Garden of the Gods

This is a scraplift from Sherrenae, RR entry at Swirlydoos, and I just love this design!  Even though I wasn't on her RR team I decided to scraplift it anyway!  Photo is of me and dear friends at Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs.  You should definitely go there if you're anywhere near as it is show stopper gorgeous.

I am just now using my Swirlydoos November kit and I do love it.  It is all about using inks to color the resist stamped pages.  for this layout I used:

Letters Bo Bunny Flutter Butter & BasicGrey

BG pp – Heidi Swapp Invisibles circle frame
Inner circle – Glitz Vintage Love Strip
Printed flowers – Prima
Yellow Flower made with Bazzill dotted swiss and Alterations tattered flower die
Leaves cut with McGill Punch
MM journal spot
PP inked with Distress Ink:
• Wild Honey
• Tumbled glass
• Vintage photo
• Faded jeans
• Brushed corduroy
Leaves inked with Cats Eye Olive and lime pastel, then painted with green Donna Salazar colors Smooch Spritz

Dusty Attic chipboard painted with:
Plaid Keepsake Colors – Maple Syrup
Tattered Angels - peacock chalkboard glimmer mist
- Tattered Leather
Cats Eye Olive and lime pastel
Smooch Spritz Donna Salazar colors -green

The Soldier Returns

I love this picture of my parents that was taken shortly after Dad came home from WW II.  They were out for a night on the town in Washington, DC.  The little card on the right is a scan I made of the folder that the picture was kept in.  What a time that must have been with all those soldiers coming home from the war, it was a celebration indeed!

I used the new G45 Curtain Call papers for this layout plus a sheet of Fashionista (that's the brightly colored paper peaking out under the photo.  I found an image of a newspaper headline proclaiming the end of the war in Europe.  Dad went to Paris shortly after Paris was liberated and so I thought this paper particularly on point for this!  This is the 4th time I've scrapped this photo, this is my favorite so far.   I did 2 layouts of this photo for my brothers and I did one for myself along time ago that needed to be redone!

G45 Curtain Call collection

Back paper – Curtain Call

Piano keys – Let’s Dance

Stamp border – Tour de France

PP under floral pp – Pantomime

Floral – Fashionista Collection, Potpourri

Images in center of flowers – Pantomime
Band director cut-out - Let’s Dance
Red CS – Bazzill

Alterations Die to cut rosettes

Creative Charms Vintage Accents – metal flower centers with watch glass
Casino Royal – Scan of actual picture folder that the photo was in
VE Day headline – downloaded from internet
The – Cosmos Cricket Tiny Type
Soldier Returns letters – Cricut Printing Press Cartridge
Distress ink – Wild honey
- black soot
- vintage photo