Supreme Scrap Tournament Week 2

This weeks challenge is monochromatic, double page layout with at least one black and white photo that must span both pages. You may not have ANY black on the layout at all besides the black and white photos. Theme and embellishments of your choice. This one was a huge challenge for me!

A huge shout out to my girls (you know who you are) for all the quotes of inspiration on this one.

"Be it ever so Humble" caught my eye first because the homestead is just that, humble. 

I knew for this layout not putting pops of colour on the page was going to be hard for me. I was choosing between white and red when a scrap pal said "Imagine the texture with WHITE!" So I was sold. It was going to be all about the texture.



 

 

In the details:

 

I started out slicing each page in thirds so I could run it through my Cuttlebug with some Tim Holtz texture fades. The clocks were fitting for my vintage photos. I added some metal clock hands and everything got a good coat of white acrylic paint. I sat back and stared at it for a while at that point and wanted more texture so I pressed on some random spots of VersaMark ink and added grains of chunky white embossing powder.

 Oh, hand lettering. On the one hand I DETEST it...because it is hard and time consuming and nobody likes their own handwriting or attempts at copying a different font (which is what I did). BUT on the other hand...I like it because it is hard and time consuming and has my own handy work on it. LOL Silly, right? I always love the idea of hand lettering but when it comes to the finished product...well...I am less than impressed. Some day I hope to take a calligraphy class and work on this some more. It is something I have always been interested in and I do it often on my pages, to mixed reviews.

 Birch twigs for the flower stems, tiny miscellaneous flowers and pearls, soft gauge wire and cardboard for the fence. All painted white several times over.

 All embellishments were cut with Tim Holtz dies and embossed with white embossing powder. I went over the white embossing a few times to get that pebbly look.

 

For the birds I traced some tattoos off my computer screen (hey, you do what you have to do!) with a pen onto computer paper then I went over it with white liquid vinyl. After they dried I cut them out and adhered them with pop dots to give depth. I took this photo out in the sun to show the shadows on the birds. I adore them.

 

Being part of a challenge like this is just that, a challenge. It's about stretching your legs, spreading your wings, following someone else's rules while still being yourself. I honestly haven't put this much into a challenge in YEARS. The ladies on Team Canada are wonderful and I am so happy I jumped into this. I placed 5th out of 23 artists in my thread the first week! What?! I KNOW, right? It was exhilarating. Bring on the next round!

Supreme Scrap Tournament 2014 Week 1

It's ON, baby! I signed up to participate in an international scrapbooking tournament for Feb and March. Team Canada is going to BRING IT.  Here are my teammates: Alison Campbell Day (BC), Angela Lowe (SK), Christy Riopel (AB), Corinne Braun (SK), Corlann Alfred (AB), Dawn Marie Hueser (SK), Lynne Mizera (AB), Karen Mercurio (ON), Monique Bourgeois (NB), Peggy Oliver (BC), Tracy Depeel Penner (SK), Thelma Findlay (MB).

The first challenge: 1000 Steps From Home

Make a double layout or double mixed media project that shows where your live.
But it all has to be within 1000 steps from your home!!!!
For example you could make photos of your favorite tree, bus stop, house as long it is within 1000 steps of your home!

- You can not use any spray inkts!
- You will have to use at least 3 photos on your project (scrapbooking and mixed media!!)
- You will have to add a visible journaling of at least 50 words

This was not too difficult for me...everything in town is within 1000 steps from my house! With the recent move, I haven't created anything like this in a long time. So whether I win, lose or draw, the important thing is I am creating stuff that makes me really happy and that is the ultimate goal anyway.

 

 

I used pieces of a vintage map as my background paper and bits of cardboard for texture. I embossed and painted the cardboard and added mica flakes from Stampendous. The coffee cup rub on is from BoBunny, with some metal bits from Tim Holtz. Crackle paint, glossy accents, twine and some old burlap finished things off nicely.

Journalling reads:

Nothing in my town is more than 1000 steps from my front door. That is the beautiful thing about living here. Everything is close. Everyone is tight. Neighbours helping neighbours...just like the old days. We are vintage with a touch of modern convenience. You see it in the store fronts, the way the gentlemen hold the door for the ladies at the bakery. A smile, the tip of a hat. The  friendly service at the local grocery. It is all 1000 steps from home. Our little town. Our heart. Our love.

It's in the details:

 Some great pieces of corrugated cardboard embossed with Stampendous embossing powder, painted with dark brown acrylic paint and dotted with mica flakes.

 Wooden clock face painted with Rock Candy crackle paint.

 BoBunny rub ons for the coffee cup marks and Stampendous Mica flakes which I was pleasantly surprised with. I thought it would be a novelty item I wouldn't actually like using on a regular page...but I was wrong. It adds a neat element and texture that I really enjoy.

 "Small Town" is embossed with Stampendous embossing powder and also has a layer of Ranger Rock Candy crackle paint.

 I put glossy accents on our location and painted and embossed the arrow.

I love our local grocery store. They still keep the cool sign from years ago. I raised the second photo to give it some depth by putting 3 layers of pop dots on the corners.

Week 1 under my belt. Stay tuned. What will next week bring? Who knows, but Team Canada is ready!

Sieze the day!

I read an amazing quote by Erma Bombeck today:

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say "I used everything you gave me."

Love who you are, what you are and what you do! Do things that make you proud to be you! Create! Love! Laugh! Use everything you have! Treat people as you want to be treated! Let's make the world an amazing place!
The colour on this came out a little wonky in the photo...it really is a deep chocolate brown. I used real birch twigs pilfered from my neighbours lawn! LOL I love using things that create lots of texture. Happy creating!!!

Yes, I wore an orange sweater

With the passing of another Mother's Day I find myself missing my Gram more and more. We spent a lot of time with her...from the day I was born until I was 10 years, 4 months and 19 days old. And in that short amount of time she made such a deep impression on me. Of what is right and what is important. How to love a family. Craftiness and how natural it is to work with your hands. I think even though the time was short...she had a big hand in shaping the woman I am today. The woman was a whiz with knitting needles. She could do anything. She was especially good at cables and could add them in without a pattern. She taught me to knit when I was 7 and I will never, ever be as good as she was but it makes me feel closer to her when I work with wool. Almost all the women in my family can work with wool in one form or another. It's a special thing we share. And Grandma was a firm believer in keeping a child's head covered as well. So when we were about 4, 3 and 2 (yes we are that close together) she knitted all 3 of us matching orange sweaters with hoods. The yarn went on sale at Woolworths (where she used to work) and so...orange it was! LOL Not the most fashionable by today's standards but we wore them everywhere.
This layout didn't come together like the vision in my head but it is mostly about the journalling anyway. So I will call it done for today and maybe come across some more photos of us in the orange sweaters and do another layout in the future.

Thanks for the love Gram. xox

Keep The Faith - Canadian Scrapbooker Winter Edition

Allison Orthner wrote a wonderful article in this months edition of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine about scrapbooking your Faith. I submitted a couple of layouts before the actual deadline but didn't really feel finished yet. On the night of the deadline I was on the computer sorting through some photos and one came up of a friend's son when he was in South Africa. It is a moving photo and right away I knew I wanted to do something with it so I had e-mailed the kid who took the photo and asked him to send it to me in a higher resolution. I was SO glad I had done that because the night in question, this photo flashed up on my screen and I thought "YES! That is the ONE!" I had no layout ideas. I had no time (the deadline was in 45 minutes), I didn't even have any photo paper for my printer. So what do you do in a mini crisis? Whip out your sewing machine of course! This really just goes to show that you never know what the magazine is looking for. This layout has no current product on it at all. Actually, it barely has ANY product on it LOL. A piece of Bo Bunny card stock, some really old Prima letters that I painted black (the paint was still wet when I took the photo!), some thread and a black marker. That's it. Sometimes a layout is built around the photo and the story it tells. No big embellishment needed. So from start (printing the photo on card stock) to finish (photographing the completed layout in bad light and e-mailing it to CS) this took me about 25 minutes. One of the quickest, easiest layouts I have ever done and also one that speaks to me the most. It just flowed together like it was already planned. As Allison said in her article, sometimes you are inspired by what other people do. Thank-you Levi for being an inspiration.

Sask Scraps review aka "The Adventures of Lynne Mizera"

What can I say about Sask Scraps? A fabulous time as always with people who ROCK the scrapbooking world! Here is the play by play:



Arrived on Friday to settle in and found myself at a table with Sue Sykes, Amanda LePage, Janet Weser, Barb Riley, Melissa Buhler and 2 other friends of Amanda's who I felt sorry for because they ended up at such a rowdy table! LOL Hope it wasn't too disruptive for you girls!



The only class I took was a 5 tag technique class by Vicki Boutin. I am in loooove with this 7Gypsies girl! She always does such amazing work and I will never turn down her classes. Several things I had never tried like spraying your inked stamp with water before stamping your image to achieve a watercolour look, flocking, foils and rub on glitter and spraying a paint dabber with water and using it to create paint splashes...SO fun! Well worth the price of admission and Vicki is such a wonderful, free spirited instructor. There are no wrong answers BUT she does give great step by step instructions on how to avoid BIG faux pas. Just a great class all the way around.



Before Sask Scraps I had been going back and forth a bit with Lynne Mizera. I have admired her work for a while...ever since I first saw her in Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine. Then I found out she was the mother of my fave online store owner Donna Houston! Small world! Then I am sitting in Vicki's class and every time Lynne's name was called for something I shouted "Lynne Mizera, WOO HOO!" Thinking that she would recognize me and we would have our much anticipated meeting {finally!}. Well this happened a couple times and she just kind of looked at me with a confused smile on her face like "Ok! Thanks for cheering for me! Why are you cheering for me? Have we met? Who are you? And why are you cheering for me?" I thought it was hilarious and would head over to her table later in the evening to introduce myself properly.

Then my name was called for a draw prize {7Gypsies goodness baby yeah!} and Lynne drops what she is doing, jumps up and yells out "Kate Kading?! WHERE?!" So then of course I waved and yelled "Lynne Mizera! WOO HOO!" And she finally figured out who I was and why a crazy lady was cheering for her. It was waaaay funnier in person because the look on her face was just priceless! So now I can say I met Lynne Mizera. And gifted her with a little Tim Holtz. Because isn't that what scrapbooking friends are supposed to do?



The rest of the weekend was wild and low key all at the same time. I was hopped up on a triple shot Starbucks all day Saturday, the amazing ScrapDonnas who wrote a song just for Sask Scraps won the table decorating contest and I got 20 8x8 layouts done for one of the albums to go to the children in the cancer ward this Christmas. Our table rocked the layout competition with me winning the journaling category {layout at the bottom of the post}, Melissa Buhler winning the photography category and Amanda LePage taking home the Best Overall prize! That was super exciting. Then the rest of Saturday we just scrapped and chatted and enjoyed the time together. I was planted firmly in my own little world and it was fantastic. Such a renewal of the creative spirit! Thanks for such a fun weekend girls. Let's do it again very soon! xox

Evolution of a Scrapbooker

Back in August I had a fabulous weekend at the Bloomin' Inn in Alberta. It is this delightful retreat centre for scrapbookers and quilters and I really didn't know what to expect. Come back later in the week for my full review (it's a long one) but I wanted to post this one first because it is long overdue. When Sheryl and I were at the Inn we sat with these 2 crazy gals from Calgary who had quite the Cricut set up at their station. They shared everything; it was a frugal gal's dream. A pair of sisters who were churning out the layouts like you wouldn't believe. Kari and Janis were truly an inspiration to me. They were getting it done. Beautifully. But they took one look at the eclectic makings of my Starbucks book (a new one for a friend) and Sheryl's vintage record album book and the comments started flowing about them being "beginners". SO not true but nothing I could say would convince them. We had the whole talk about how everyone starts somewhere and it's the whole point of getting your family's memories on paper that is SO important. I felt like we really gelled over the weekend...getting to know each other, teaching each other things (we let them use whatever they wanted from our stashes and they taught me how to use the Cricut machine which I had never used before!) and generally just inspiring each other. And through this all I kept telling them that everyone...and I mean everyone...has a secret "first page" hidden away somewhere. Pick your fave "famous" scrapbooker...Trisha Ladouceur. Amanda LePage. Sue Sykes. Jill Hidebrandt. Leica Forrest. Vicki Boutin. They all started somewhere. So Kari and Janis challenged me to blog my first page. Put it all out there for everyone to see. Well, I will do you one better girls. This is the evolution of a scrapbooker. Kate style.

I started buying supplies before my wedding...probably early 2002 in the hopes of actually scrapbooking my wedding. It piled up and piled up in the spare room and then we had our first child in 2004. I still hadn't touched anything. When he was 10 months old I went to a Creative Memories party. Liked the concept but hated that I paid $15 for the class! I gathered up my courage and asked for my money back. Shannon (the consultant) said I could come to 3 of her weekly crop nights and if I still wasn't happy she would refund my money. Ok, you're on lady! So I started a book for my Hubs. A sort of "this is your life" and this is what the first page looked like. No help. Just me and my "fancy" scissors. *disclaimer: I apologize in advance for the horribly quick photography. I really didn't want to waste time fiddling with these photos.*
I was particularly proud of the little metal fish. Notice the absence of journalling...I always said I could do that later. Wow. Later is a loooong time. So then I started frequenting a little local scrapbooking store in Rosthern. Terrie started trying to get me to try new things. She patiently taught me each component of scrapbooking. Here is where I learned how to round corners.

Notice no title. No journalling. This page has literally been like this for almost 6 years. I will complete it one day. LOL Next I tried adding some ribbon to a page. This is from a 6x6 album I made for the Hubs for when he was away. It took me no less than 3 hours to complete this page. No kidding. It was also the first time using the die cut machine for the title and the little tag.

First time using chalk and buttons. This page took me a whole session which was usually from 7pm to well after 10pm. I can't imagine wasting that kind of time on a 6x6 layout now. Wow! It was SO outside of my comfort zone to use different fonts on the title like that. I was really uncomfortable with it then but think nothing of it now.
Then colour blocking...I remember being really happy with how this turned out. Again, it took me over 3 hours to complete this 6x6 page and now it looks so simple and easy but at the time it was a huge jump for me. I enjoyed colour blocking. It was clean and uniform. And those words describe my early tastes perfectly.

So after the colour blocking I got a little braver and took a couple different classes Terrie had to offer and started reading Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine which led me to try something completely new. Doodling. So with my new colour blocking skills I tried this page in my wedding album. This page also embraced the belief that not all pictures have to be perfect to tell a story.

And then I completely threw caution to the wind (you rebel you) and put some colour in to my wedding album. {Gasp!} My wedding colours were black, white and silver. So I thought I was being so clever by only having those colours in my album. Do you know how hard it was to find nice stuff in those colours 6 years ago? Ugh. So armed with my new love for doodling I did this page. *The name has been blurred to protect the innocent LOL*

This was also when I fell in love with Heidi Swapp flowers. I still have a thing for flowers but I would like to think my taste has matured over time. LOL

I saw something in a magazine about hidden journalling so I thought I would try that out too. This is why a new scrapbooker should never start with a baby or wedding album. Oh look...this is where she learned embossing. And here is where she learned about brads. Sigh. It's a road map of my classes...and mistakes. But I will never change this book. I may do a new one later in life but I will never change this one. I also tried out a stapler for the first time on this page.

This was the first layout I actually felt proud of. They are great candid shots of me showing the girls my garters (first time wearing them) and little did I know that my photographer was so quick on the shutter. To this day they are still the most requested reprints of all 9 rolls of wedding photos. Go figure! Oh the bling. This page started a love affair with rhinestones that will never die.

What are we up to? Ah, the Spring Fling at Just Scrap It! My first ever scrapbooking event where I hauled everything I owned to the crop and ended up buying everything I used because I couldn't find anything in my tote. LOL

I saw this layout hanging in the store. I couldn't even tell you who did it...I just literally took it right off the wall and told Ralna I wanted everything on the page. It was a little pricey...but it was my first "Scrap lift" and was worth every penny. I felt a real turning point in my confidence.

I could post a hundred other pages. Half pages really. I have come a long way in my outlook on what is important and what is not in my scrapbooking. I don't like my handwriting but I value the meaning of it now. I still make pages I am not overly fond of but I never change them. There are no mistakes, I just move on. I feel proud of myself that I have come from that first "Gone Fishing" page to this most recent layout I took 3rd place at Camp Croppin' with this year:

From fancy scissors to handmade grunge board roses (thanks Sheryl). The evolution of a scrapbooker. What is your evolution? I challenge you to post or blog your first pages. What has shaped you into the scrapbooker you are today? Leave a comment here so I can check it out!

So there you go Kari and Janis. Hope it was everything you expected. Stickers, shapes, etc. We've all done it. It's where we go from here that matters! And no matter the experience level of a scrapbooker...we are all artists with valuable things to teach each other. Hope to see you in Calgary at Camp Croppin' in the Spring and Sask Scraps in Saskatoon next Fall! xox

Simple is good

A very quick, simple layout using some bright Bo Bunny product. I didn't have the appropriate chipboard letters so I painted these with crackle paint, let them dry and then coated them with glossy accents. And another picture is done. Only 9, 366 left to go. ;0)

Sunshine inspiration

The bright sun leads me to choose bright papers! The Bo Bunny Paradise line is perfect! A quick page with some Glimmer Mist and Stickles. I used so many flowers because they are actually hiding a bunch of imperfections in the photo LOL. But I still wanted to use the photo! It's all about the journalling anyway. Love ya Kel.

Simple Summer Pleasures

I love the SUN! I wanted to document this day of just lazing on the beach and watching the kids make tiny footprints in the sand. We need to scrapbook the small things that make us happy because years from now we will not remember these things and the feelings they created. It's a little overcast today, a good day to make laundry soap. Have a happy summer all! xox

ETA: Wow, I have no idea what happened to that photo between Picasa and here. I will hopefully clear this up and post a new photo soon! Sorry for the poor quality.

Techno savvy I am not

Ok, apparently someone has to teach me how to properly pre-post on here because I had last week's Frugal Friday all ready to go and do you see it? Because I don't see it. Floating out in blogland I suppose. SO sorry about that! I have been so busy I haven't even had a minute to check it to make sure it actually posted and then blogger was down. Now it will soon be Friday again so how about we call a do over for last Friday, cut our losses and just have some scrapbooking fun? A couple of things I have been working on lately and I never did give you the Cliffs Notes on Camp Croppin'!


We started out at *almost* the crack of dawn on the Camp Croppin' weekend with a van full of crazy women and Flat Amanda of course. To view her crazy antics click HERE. It all started with our good friend Amanda not being able to attend CC due to chemo. So we printed her out, glued her to a stick and took her on the best trip she never had. LOL It was great fun with lots of laughs and even more ugly crying than one person can handle. Thanks a lot Riley. Speaking of said "ugly cry starter" Barb took the journaling prize for the second year in a row! It was so exciting until they asked her to read one of her enteries and then the flood gates broke open. There is video of it somewhere. I am sure our snot bubbles are on Youtube by now. Fabulous. I was so pleased to follow in Barb's footsteps by taking my second prize in as many years pulling a 3rd overall with this layout:

I really love the details on this one...I glued tiny individual rhinestones to the border of her hat because that's how it is in real life. I loooove fine details like that! The rose in the corner was a technique that Tim Holtz did on his blog for the 12 tags of Christmas but of course it is not a new idea. I used old sacking and crocheted lace and sprayed both that and the rose with multiple layers of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. Actaully, there isn't a thing on the layout that made it out glimmer-free! The title letters and hearts are sprayed too. And the journaling spot. It is just so versatile. The whole layout has this soft, feminine shimmer to it that is very much like Amy's personality. She just shines.

It's really nice to do a girly layout every once in a while as I tend to dominate the all boy-all the time category! A simple fireman layout of some friends of ours:

The grey background is really grungy...the photo of course does not do it justice. I used lots of black ink and gobs of Rock Candy crackle paint. It creates wonderful texture. I made the ladder myself by snipping apart those giant metal clippy things that hold together thick stacks of paper. Clippy things of course being the technical term. Found the amazing vintage buttons at a rummage sale.

A bit of sewing on this one...I {heart} my sewing machine! Just a few simple buttons and chipboard stars to add to the Stampin' Up notebook punch because the journaling was really the focus here.

I have SO much going on right now...how about a 100 project pledge? A little exciting scrapbooking news! And an event that is NOT to be missed! Registration opens tomorrow for Sask Scraps. Are you IN?!

A scrapbook page? Shut UP!

I have been working my way through a 100 project pledge. My friend Barb suggested it {did you get it from another blog Barb?} and I thought why not? Commit to doing 100 projects before purchasing any amount of new scrapbooking supplies. Except adhesive of course. And the Tim Holtz die I already had on order at the LSS. If it's already on order, consider it bought. LOL I've been plugging away at it pretty well I think. This layout makes me happy because it's dedicated to the simple things I love. Cloth diapers. My clothesline in the summer. And I love teal felt. Everything just works for me! Are you overrun by your stash of scrapbooking goodness? Do a little purging and a little scrapping and you'd be surprised how refreshing it can be! I won't post all 100 projects here...but I am well past 20. Think I can pull off 80 or so more by Christmas? 2010 is the year of the 100 project pledge. 2011 brings a 365 project a la Jenn over at Aspergertopia and Karen of KAGS life. What inspirational gals!!! What are your goals this year?

Camp Croppin' on my mind

The time between now and Camp Croppin' is going by so very quickly. Last year was a whirlwind...I only had a few layouts to bring but really wanted to enter the competition because all the fees are donated to the Alberta Children's Hospital therapeutic scrapbooking program. Worthy cause, no? I think it's fabulous so I am of course compiling my layouts again this year. This is what I won with last year...a photo of my dear friend Annalisa's children.

As soon as I saw this photo I knew I wanted to do something with it. So...lots of painting and sewing on this. Small details and I love the "whimsy" care of Sheryl. I was stuck half way through the project looking for things that were small enough to add and I had nothing. Like nothing. I thought I would take a brain rest and go drop some stuff off at Sheryl's that I'd been meaning to get to her and dig through her vintage button collection to complete another layout I was working on. Just for a break. And she says "Oh! I forgot! I have a gift for you." She called it a "tiny jar of whimsy" and had all these small bits and bobs in it that were just perfect for the Oath layout. Strange how things work out, isn't it? She had no idea I needed stuff like that. I just asked her for metal buttons. LOL

This year I am really looking forward to travelling with some friends and showing the rest of Canada what Saskatchewan is made of. We seriously have some mad talent in this province. It is going to be an excellent weekend! Are you signed up yet? Check out the Camp Croppin' website for all the details!

Do you know where you hide your money?

I'm not talking about the big mayonnaise jar you have buried in your yard 10 paces from the tree. I'm talking about day to day stuff. Where is your money going? Just a second, I am getting a head of myself here...this is supposed to be a scrapbooking blog. But the other day when I posted my review of that finance article and went on a little rant about budgeting I got a ton of feedback. People actually blogged...about my blog. That never happens! Check out Pam and Jenn. Thanks for the shout out girls!

I honestly thought this was all stuff that every single person knew. We just chose to live differently. But then I thought back to a few years ago when my benefits ran out at work and I was truly an AT HOME MUM. Making nothin'. Spongin' off the Hubs. {Don't freak out ladies...I know that's not how it is we just feel like that at first, right?} So I had to rein in the family finances and I hadn't a clue where to start. So that brings us to today's post. Do you know where you hide your money? No? I can tell you. Go get your garbage can. No really, go get it. I can promise you that this one change {the first one I ever made and have been building on ever since} will alter your budget and is a great jumping off point. So here is the question nobody wants to answer {I don't care who you are}. Are you looking at your garbage can? Ready? Ok, here goes:

HOW MUCH FOOD DO YOU THROW AWAY IN A MONTH?

I can bet at least a few of you blushed. When I asked myself that question on the first day I thought "I need to start saving my family some money!" I was APPALLED at how much food we threw out every month. So here are a few ideas that might help you out in that area. These are things I do all the time and really, it takes 5 minutes out of your day. So I don't want to hear "I don't have time to do that." Get off Facebook for a few minutes. {I am SO guilty there! LOL}

Common things that hit the trash the day before garbage day:

Carcasses. Whatever it is, I make it into broth. My fave is chicken. You know that rotisserie chicken you had a quick supper with last week and it's been hanging out in the fridge waiting to be thrown out? It still has a bit of meat on it but nobody really wants to pick it off and one sandwich isn't enough to even feed the kids at lunch so why bother? It's worth money. Take your slow cooker out, save the carcass and GO HERE. I guest blogged on my friend's food blog a great while ago. This is what I do with every single carcass that comes into my house. If you want to get really frugal, you can steal them from other people's houses too. I seriously LOVE Christmas and Thanksgiving. "Are you throwing that out? Can I have it? No, I brought my own ziploc bag, thanks." No kidding. My Aunties love me. And if I don't have time to deal with the carcass right then (I really do cook it in the slow cooker for a couple of DAYS as it says in the other post) I just throw the thing in my freezer. I have even been known to put a rotisserie carcass in the freezer still in the plastic store container. Whatever works. Think about how often you use broth. Recipes call for it all the time. I freeze it in 2-3 cup bags in my freezer and always have it on hand. It tastes FAR better than the store bought stuff and is hugely cheaper. You just may have to add a dash more salt but salt is cheap.

Produce. Ok, here is a sticky subject with me. For those who know me personally, I can be a tad...um...scattered, shall we say? I will often buy a bag of carrots and by accident it gets pushed to the back of the fridge until it's bad. DARN IT! I am trying to avoid that! So first rule of produce is don't buy it if you aren't going to eat it. I know we all have the best of intentions to eat healthy but you know your family best. Are they really going to eat that pretty spinach? The fastest way to kill your grocery budget is to buy stuff you don't eat. Now, if you just haven't gotten around to it and your peppers/carrots/whatever are just going a little south, they are still usable. Whatever is still good can be chopped up for stir fry, or sauteed and blended with the food processor and stirred into pasta sauce or soups. If I have zero time for that it gets blended, bagged and frozen. Again with the freezer. Is she on to something here?

Cupcakes anyone? I love me some tiny bits of frosted heaven. No matter how much weight I lose (or want to lose) I will never give up cupcakes. So what do you do with all the bits of frosting when you are done? I used to rinse it down the drain when I washed my icing bags. No more! I might as well be rinsing quarters down the sink. Now when I am finished, I use those cute little snack ziplocs and save the icing in their individual colours. It's genius because I can either use them again exactly how they are (icing freezes SO well) or if I need a whole bunch of brown or black I just take everything I have, whip it together and then add more colour. So no matter what I am using, especially fillings, everything gets saved and frozen for a future use.

WHO PUT THIS SOUR MILK BACK IN THE FRIDGE?!?!? Oh, we've all done it. Poured ourselves a tall, ice cold, lumpy glass of milk. UGH! We've cut back on our milk a whole bunch so it doesn't happen as much as it used too but from time to time it does still happen and I am actually happy! Many, many muffin and cake recipes call for sour milk. Normally, you just measure your milk and add a touch of vinegar to curdle it. But why not use the real thing? If milk sours in our house I make sure I take the time to whip up a dozen muffins to use it up.

The dreaded leftovers {insert villain music here}. Commit to actually using your leftovers. It's something that does take getting used to but now I make it my own personal challenge to make leftover meals actually taste good! Leftover roast beef? Shred it, melt some cream cheese with it, hollow out some french bread, stuff it in, top with sauteed peppers, wrap the whole thing in foil and bake until heated through. YUM! Tons of my leftover veggies get sauteed, blended and stirred into pasta sauce. You can add a whole lot of leftover veggies to a meat sauce before you even notice a hint of flavour change. Try it out!

But it was SUCH a good deal I couldn't turn it down. Ok folks, I love Costco just as much as you do. But seriously, does your family of 3 really need such a huge block of cheese? Costco is all about the commitment to prepare for the future. I sound like a mortgage broker here. LOL But really, if you buy a huge block of cheese, cut into it and a month later you toss half of it out is that really saving you money? Nope. Same goes for the great meat deals. And the cereal. I could go on and on. Ziploc bags are your friends. Not the cheap Dollarama ones {I use those for school lunches when a plastic container isn't appropriate} I use the real Ziplocs for storing food. Shred a certain amount of your cheese, bag it and freeze it for future use in cooking {tacos anyone?}. Invest in a good solid piece of Tupperware for your cereal so it doesn't go stale as quickly. Got some in the cupboard right now that isn't so savory? Turn it into sticky bars. Recipe is on the side of the Smooth Kraft Peanut Butter jar. I just add whatever I have on hand. The kids love them.

No, I am not one of those people on Hoarders who eats rotted food. I am a normal, reasonable gal. LOL But my journey in the whole world of saving money and making our family thrive on a single income started here. In the garbage can. It was the first change I made and I know you can do it too!

And since this really is a scrapbooking blog...here is a layout I did a while ago with one of my favourite children's poems Wynken Blynken and Nod. I have no idea why the title has that weird shadow on it, it's very clear in real life. Lots of textured embossing and my favourite part is the little ship I made with the ribbon flag. Super cute. Have a happy, creative, frugal weekend everyone! I think Friday shall now be referred to as FRUGAL FRIDAY. See you next week!~xox

Bo Bunny!

This wonderful company has been a staple of my scrapbooking stash since I started. Their lines always catch my eye and I can't wait for the new stuff to be available! They had a challenge on the Bo Bunny Blog this week so I thought I would participate because I loooove their "You Bug Me" line. The colours are fab and match my boys so well. LOL

Busted

I questioned whether to post this or not. It brings up really, really painful memories for me. Not only painful, but embarrassing. Not only embarrassing...but expensive. But I had to scrap it. It's a bit busy but I like the collage-y feel. Honestly, I don't remember this happening at all but obviously it did. A picture is worth a thousand words. And the story is 100% true. It did happen on my first day back in town and they really did deliver it to Hub's office. Welcome to Toon Town!

Enough goofing...how about some scrapbooking?

SO nice to goof around with friends this week on my blog but let's get down to work, shall we? I really have been working. In my amazingly well designed (for me) space that my husband has been diligently working on. It ain't pretty but boy is it functional. Sure, I'd loooove to have a space that is all Ikea matchy-matchy with pretty shelves and jars and many fabric lined baskets but that just isn't in the cards {or the budget} right now so I will settle for re-purposed wood, used brackets and an ugly but totally useable desk with a cool removable work surface. That my husband built with his own 2 hands. As soon as I get everything squared away I have full intentions of posting pictures. And good intentions pave the way to hell. No really, I'll get it done because I have big plans for many, many projects this week. It's exciting to go down to my room and not cringe! A couple projects last week that I didn't hate:

I started out here with a completely blank white chipboard tag and challenged myself to use stamps. I inked it with the teal and pink then tried out some foil along the edges. Never played with foil before...I like it. You may see more of the foil. Then I stamped some snowflakes in VersaMark and used clear embossing powder (picture=no justice). Burned myself with my heat gun (why does that thing get the better fo me every time???) I stamped the cute little birdie and the sentiment in black then coloured said birdie with markers. I think I would maybe change the ribbon colours next time but I had no pink ribbon that I liked. Fastened it on with my new love*, added the silver snowflake sticker and 7Gypsies dangle.

This one I started with a blank sheet of white cardstock. Apparently I need a lesson in blending...that part didn't match my initial vision. Oh well, on with the show. Everything is stamped except for the stiches and handwriting. I never change anything...I just consider it 2 photos down, 9,369 to go.

*New Love= THIS:

I held off for a long while...I mean really, it's just a stapler right? I have lots of sizes of staplers. But OH is it ever SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT! I enjoy making tags and attaching small items to my layouts and the staplers were so flimsy. This thing is like butter. Try it out. You won't be disappointed!

Just Art

My baby sis is getting married this weekend...hence the MIA in blogland. Who reads this blog anyway? Well, regardless of my so-called fan base it's a great record of life, love and art. Here is a layout I did a bit ago but I am SO in love with it. And I thought I would add it to Jennifer Johner's challenge over at KI Memories. You should check it out, the girl oozes talent. And keeping with the quaintness of our province, my sis actually graduated with her. Just goes to show that us small town chicas are a force to be reckoned with.

FINALLY...a little bit of everything

Ok, so I don't know how to use one of those fancy random number generators and I don't have that many followers to add to the draw anyway! I am a simple gal...I wrote down the names on scraps of paper and did a good old fashioned draw. And the winner is...drumroll please...


CORINNE!!!




Wow lady, do you have horseshoes around your neck these last couple of months or what? LOL I have a package of card making goodness for you but I can't drop it off until the first week in August. Hope that is OK with you!

As for jacking Keli's layout...I had a good time with it. The photos are courtesy of Sheryl Schmidt. She was testing out her zoom lense at the last Sask Scraps event. A good time was had by all! Thanks for the goofy pics Sheryl. Love ya!

Off to the lake...blogging is being ditched for sun (hopefully). Wish me luck!

Well call me a monkey's uncle...I didn't know that!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!! 142 years young and not lookin' too bad!

On to the scrappy business...

Recently I was asked why I don't post very many layouts on my blog. And I goggled at them and said it was because I send a lot of stuff in for possible publication and haven't gotten around to scrapping more so I can have pretty pictures on my blog. I was then bestowed with the knowledge that yes, I can publish them on my blog as long as they are taken off immediately if they are accepted. Well, can I get a WOO HOO? So here is a little scrapping goodness, just to hold you over until I get back from Edmonton. At which time I will put the Farm Town aside and scrap something...I SWEAR.

This one is so far out of my box. I did it for a challenge on the Just Cr8 site (you should visit it, they rock over there). I never, never do stuff like this...but I think it's growing on me. It's all about trying new things right? The photo once again does NOT do it justice...there are staples all up the right side and it's very 3-D and distressed.

And I thought I would share a little bit of my Bucket List. Do you have one? Why don't you challenge yourself to get a little crazy this week and celebrate Canada Day by doing something on the list? Go for it!

Just a tip...the Prima goodness in the bottom right corner is of course to die for BUT it is better suited to something you will display and NOT put into an album. The corners are very sharp, poke through the page protector and could damage other layouts in the book. But that certainly isn't stopping me from using it! I LOVE me some nature on a scrapbook page. I think this one will get mounted on a canvas for my scrap room!
Until next time people...