A Starbucks Book Tutorial

This was the project I did while I was at the Bloomin' Inn because I was told there would be plenty of space to haul in my sewing machine. There totally WAS. It was so great. My good friend Char had asked me if I would do a Starbucks book for her after she saw the one I made HERE. Now I certainly am not going to lead you to believe I invented this idea. I love to blog hop and several years ago I saw it on Wilna Furstenberg's blog. I enjoy her style so much and she is delightful to take a class from. She had posted this digital Starbucks book project on her blog but...I was not doing any kind of digital at that time so I just ran with the initial idea and made it my own. Now I love them so much I ask for extra cups every single time I am in Starbucks! Which reminds me...I need to collect up some more before they bring in that hideous new logo. It is so not for me. But I digress.

Start with a cup and a cardboard sleeve. Carefully cut the bottom out of your cup. You can use any size but make sure it is a new cup...I have never had success washing a used cup unless you dig that wrinkled wet paper look.
Flatten the cup and cut up both sides to form the front and back covers. Cut out the Starbucks logo from the cardboard sleeve leaving as much extra around the green circle as you can. Now if you are a very clean and straight scrapbooker this may be stepping out of your box. There is nothing precise about these books. They are very gypsy looking and are not meant to outlive your grandchildren. So toss aside the ruler, get out all your bits and bobs and just go with it!Note*** I accidentally cut really close to the green on this one. I usually leave as much cardboard as I can so I can sew this circle onto the front cover***

I use the front cover as a guide to trace out as many pages as I want. Use good, heavy card stock or chipboard! Remember, not everything needs to accommodate a photo. I love to put in pockets, transparencies, little journal tags and whatever else strikes my fancy. So the pages I do here are only a base. Watch out if you use a trimmer while doing this...the pages are somewhat V shaped. Smaller at the bottom and wider at the top.

Then I start with the front cover and work my way to the back! The covers are always my favourite because they can actually handle quite a bit of abuse. I like to do really heavy sewing on them...it makes me happy. But first I dive into a little ink and glimmer mist just to give it an interesting base.

And then hop on the sewing machine to make it look like this. I love to use the extra cardboard for making tabs. And what project is complete without ric rac? I take the front cover just to this point...there is MUCH more I want to add but I still have to bind it. So stop yourself from adding and move on. Just for now.

The inside of the front cover. I stamped it with a messy background stamp and added the chipboard buttons to dress up the sewn circle. If you don't know what else to go with, a stamped quote is a nice go-to embellishment. It had a good number of pages so I will just highlight a few. I used scrap fabric to create a pocket and tag.
The green cloud is not part of the page...it will hang all on it's own as a smaller page. Don't be afraid to mix it up and add different sizes and shapes! This type of book is wonderful for using up scraps of things you didn't want to throw away but had no idea what you were going to use it for. I have a whole Rubbermaid bin full of stuff that falls into that category!

This photo actually shows 3 separate "pages". There is the base page, the cute little polka dot transparency and the chipboard key which attached to one ring and kind of nicely hung out all on it's own.

Inside the back cover. I have a thing for bar codes.
Back cover. Love that sewing. It adds so much texture.

When I am done all the pages I put them all together and see what my best plan of action is for binding. I generally like to use the metal rings...2, 3 or 4 depending on the size of the book. You could also sew it together (my poor little EuroPro!) or use a Cinch or a Zutter. I happen to have a Zutter but I find for this project I don't like how the coils sit. It's all a matter of taste. So I line up the front cover how I want it and punch the appropriate amount of holes with my Crop-A-Dile. Then I hold the next page against the cover and punch it too. Then the third page against the first page and so on and so on using the previously punched page as a guide for the next page so it all lines up.
When I am all finished lining up, stacking and binding I finish blinging up the front cover and add ribbon to the metal rings. You can use as much ribbon as you want...I just put 3 pieces on the top ring for a little more embellishment.

Funny side note...I happened to use a bunch of chipboard puzzle pieces on the cover and on a few of the inside pages and Char got all excited about it and thanked me for using them when I gave her the finished book. I was a little confused. Um...you are welcome? For using puzzle pieces? Then she reminded me that the puzzle piece is the logo for Autism Awareness. Char's youngest is autistic...and I had forgotten about the significance of the puzzle piece and just used it by accident. Wonderful coincidence! It's a God thing. xo

The Bloomin' Inn - A Review

Back in 2009 when I won Camp Croppin' there was a gift certificate included in my prize package. I had never heard of the place before but several of my scrapping pals said they had heard wonderful things about the place. The Bloomin' Inn in Pincher Creek, AB. I didn't even know where that was but I never look a gift horse in the mouth so I planned to go immediately. Which of course turned into later. Which turned into much much later. Which turned into "Oh my word I haven't used that gift certificate yet!!!" It was a fabulous addition to the prize...a weekend for 2 at the amazing scrapbooking retreat centre valued at over $400. I had asked my friend Sheryl to go with me waaaay back in the Spring of 2009 but the weekend we both had free in the Fall was all booked up at the Inn and we couldn't get away in December so 2009 faded into 2010. We attended Camp Croppin' again and we started talking about the weekend again. Finally we booked for late August. Now, I believe in being entirely truthful when I do a review so I have to say I really wasn't expecting much. Yes, they have a fabulous website filled with all kinds of great info and photos but due to some kind of weird circumstances I had a less than courteous experience with the booking process which led me to be less than impressed. But I let it roll off my back and was open to anything at that point so I put my adventure hat on and off we went. Because hey, it was free.

The drive there was looong (8 hours plus a few stops) but it was so pretty. We found this dill field a few hours out of the city and needed a stretch so out came the cameras. It was ridiculously hazy that day but we still got some cool shots.
With the signs and our multiple maps printed off Google it was fairly easy to find and in the early afternoon we pulled into this beautiful farmyard complete with a wraparound covered porch.
Nobody was around so we just wandered inside and I died and went to vintage heaven.

We found our way to the crop room and were told that the annual fair was this weekend and the owners Colleen and Francis were really busy that day. Ah, no matter. We are self sufficient...so we unpacked and claimed a spot to ourselves. I was impressed with the amount of shelving each person had! Things were simple...not extravagant but highly functional. My kind of space. There was even a plug in right at my station for my sewing machine. Heaven.
At this point I still wasn't expecting much in the way of amenities and service. Remember my (multiple) poor phone experiences? They had nothing at all to do with the owners themselves. Let's just say I am happy that I am who I am because I did NOT let that set the tone for the weekend! I am thrilled to report that the Cyrs (and the guests at the Inn that weekend) not only made it a super fun visit, they also made a very lasting impression that I will carry with me always. WOW WOW WOW!!! The Cyrs were so warm and welcoming, coming to the crop area later in the evening after their fair commitments were complete to personally welcome us all and announce that supper was served. The food was a whole other ball game...I'll come back to that.
Our table mates from Calgary Keri and her sister Janis. They shared everything and let me play with their Cricut! These girls were SO FUN. I hope to see them at Camp Croppin' this year for sure!
The whole crop space accommodates quite a large number of people and it was so comfortable.

A highly functional little kitchen area was so handy for making snacks and tea. On the other side was a small bank of computers for journalling and had Internet access.

The view from the mezzanine where the bedrooms are located. Isn't it SO vintagey cool?

Just outside our bedroom door. Each room up there can comfortably sleep 4 people. Antiques everywhere. Swoon.
The eclectic mix of antiques in the main house has your eye wandering from piece to piece the second you walk in the door. I love the mix of dining tables and chairs. The food. Ah, the FOOD. Down home, wonderful, fresh from the farm, GOOD COOKIN'! Like Grandma used to make. Served up by people who you want to sit down and have a chat and a cup of tea with. I can't say enough how welcoming and wonderful this place is. It is something you MUST experience for yourself.

I wish I had these signs for my kitchen!

Back to the main attraction! Across a small foyer from the scrapbook area is a huge area for quilters. There were some ladies from Okotoks there enjoying some stitching time together and were nice enough to humour me with my camera. And my questions. And my begging for fabric scraps.
The cupcake quilt was by far my favourite. It had sparkly thread for the sugar lumps and little pink crystals on the tops of the cupcakes. Every detail was just to die for.


The talent was unreal. These ladies impressed me and inspired me to be nicer to my sewing machine. I think they felt bad for my little EuroPro working it's little heart out on my Starbucks book. LOL

The amount of care and work that goes into these pieces is huge. The photos don't do enough...you have to touch the fabric to appreciate the quality.

This was serious business. They had quilting tools and accessories like I had never seen before.
This is a hobby I would definitely get back into. Linda was the ring leader...she owns a glorious quilting store called Rumpled Quilt Skins (click on the name to see the website!). I am dying to visit this store and take a class. Although I am not sure I would be allowed to walk through the door with all the horrible things I have done to my machine since I ditched sewing for scrapbooking!

This weekend was a whole new level of creative inspiration for me. The scenery, the indoor environment, the people...every detail helped to make it a renewal of the spirit. This particular trip didn't cost much because of the gift certificate...but I can say hands down that I would not hesitate to book again with the Cyrs no matter the cost. The Bloomin' Inn is a great place to congregate with your best gal pals...a great place to meet NEW gal pals...snap a few (hundred) photos on a hazy day when the windmills are turning and go out and seek some creative adventure. It's just out there waiting for you!

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.

Tick Tock

So what are you up to fellow scrappers? This is consuming my mind right now: So much inspiration and Christmas spirit! I {heart} the 12 Tags of Christmas...just visiting Tim's blog every day for 12 days gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling.

Click the photo to get inspired and have a calm, peaceful, wonderful 12 days my friends. xo

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

BOO!

Frugal Friday has turned into "Frugal Whenever I Want" so Happy Halloween! Is there a holiday that has more frugal potential than Halloween? I think NOT! What did you send the kids off as this year? We had a couple of pirates in this house and it only cost me $20. We got them each this wild set of accessories...sword, hook, eye patch and earring. Then I fashioned them a bandanna, jacket of sorts and painted them up. Well, truth be told only one little pirate made it out the door this year. Pirate #2 wasn't feeling well so he stayed home with Mummy. But he's 2 and doesn't care about anything but the orange sucker I gave him. What's frugal about Halloween? Well I will tell you what's frugal about Halloween:

~Hop on the internet for some interesting ideas and then hit the thrift store for the costumes. It is amazing what you can find for totally low prices!

~Planning ahead will save you money. Going to WalMart the day before Halloween will break the bank every single time. Do I have to admit that I did that this year? LOL I had a plan in mind so it didn't break the bank BUT I was at WalMart yesterday. {gulp} it was a madhouse. I almost lost one of the children under a pile of costumes.

~Candy Candy CANDY. Save me from all the sugar. Spell with me for a moment: C-O-N-F-I-S-C-A-T-E. Spell it loud and spell it proud. As soon as that bag comes into the house I whip out the Ziplocs. One Ziploc is for acceptable lunch items (fruit snacks, puddings, etc. Those come from the Grandmas. They do up the treat bags right!), one Ziploc for "Oh my word there is NO WAY on earth I would ever give you that" which is saved for next year (Yup, I do it. Kids don't care and between parades, birthday parties, Easter and Christmas you would be appalled at how big my collection is by the time Halloween rolls around again) and of course the bag that holds the stuff that isn't too bad and they can have one piece after school (sugar after supper around here is a no go).

~Not only our money is meant to be saved. Time is precious! Plot with another family and swap talents. Let the Dads take the kids out while the Mums stay back to hand out candy...and maybe have a sip or two of fine wine! If treats are required for school swap some childcare for a couple dozen cookies. You get the idea. We are all in this together...let's show some support!

~When the weather doesn't cooperate (This year is the exception!) hit the local malls. You stay warm and dry but the kids still get to haul in the loot.

~And if you have decided that Halloween is not your thing...get together with other parents who share the same views and party hard! Gather for some fun and games and have each parent bring one item to be put into a loot bag for the kids. A girlfriend of mine does this and it is a huge hit. She had 27 kids and 16 parents (bless them) at her house last night! It was a humdinger of a good time and none of the kids feel like they have "missed" Halloween. They just go about it in a different way.

~I used to be the full size chocolate bar house. This was before we had 2 kids and lived on one income. You don't have to be that house. Your enthusiasm and participation is far more appreciated than what type of candy you give out. Although I do remember the pic-a-pop house. And the older couple who gave out coupons for McDonalds french fries. But that was um...well...let's just say it was a few years ago and times have changed. The pic-a-pop guy worked there and probably didn't pay much for them and I bet the McDonalds house owned a franchise. LOL Nowadays you can drop half a weeks grocery money buying Halloween candy. Just don't. And let's leave it at that.

Hope you all have a spooktacular time tonight! I know my night will be interesting. I made a pact with a friend that we will not break the seal. Not ONE piece of Halloween candy will pass our lips. I'm not sure I was in my right mind when I made that promise. Say a prayer for me. xo