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!

Warm Fuzzy {{{HUGS}}}

If you are a long time reader here you know me and my crush on the gorgeous Leica Forrest. We actually grew up in the same area, attended the same school functions, went to the same youth group/church functions. Weird hey? Small, small province. So a few years back we hooked up again (such a blessing!) and ever since then my scrap life has been rowdy as a hurricane. This lady has some causes, let me tell ya. And I am always up for a challenge. So this morning I was perusing Facebook (shocking, I know) over my coffee (that I'm not supposed to drink) and saw that the fair Leica had a call out for help. Not just any help. 180+ pages worth of help. YIKES! She was 9 books short on her project for the peds unit at our local hospital and would never dream of sending over the donated books if she didn't have enough for every single child. Well she needn't have fretted because the Saskatoon scrapbookers busted it out in rare style. Kags and Jenn and their gals pumped out 60! Can you believe that? Janet in her magical way, waved her wand and did up 113. No, you didn't blink. The lady did 113 pages today. Because Leica needed it. That's Janet. What a doll. I know Pam was busy too...getting ready for a family vacation (pretty sure they leave tonight or tomorrow) and she did 30! Wow, I am SO freakin' impressed! I myself got in a books worth (20 layouts) and was SO pleased with the results. I didn't have time to photograph them...I was literally gluing on the last star when Leica dropped by to get them. But I still had to blog about it. Leica, if I have missed anyone here please give a shout out. Every single person who dropped their to do list to create those 8x8 layouts today deserves a hug and a Christmas kiss! I am so humbled by all the generosity we have in our scrapbooking circle. Saskatoon and area has some very classy ladies. And I am so blessed to call them my friends. xo

Are you ready?

Canadian Scrapbooker Spring call in T-minus 8 days. And counting. Always counting...why can't time just stand still for a little while so I can get the housework done??? Then the clock can start again so I can spend all afternoon scrapbooking! My perfect world. Well, if you haven't seen this yet, it's time to get crackin' people!

Canadian Scrapbooker wants to see and publish your work. If you have an unpublished, original layout that you want to share with others across Canada, please send it to us! It’s simple. Below you’ll find a quick guide on how to submit your work. Call For SPRING – Deadline November 15, 2009
We are currently looking for pages in the below themes:
Layouts that use the colour VIOLET
Layouts using tissue paper
Layouts inspired by Ukrainian Easter eggs
Spring is in the air
Layouts using vintage tags
Easter
Layouts inspired by nursery rhymes
We are also looking for that perfect photo for our Spring 2010 cover. If you have a photo that you have taken and you feel it would look fantastic on our magazine cover, please send it to us!

There is SO much talent in this province...let's show them what we've got! It is SO uber simple to send your work in. I dare ya.

Share the love, don't just throw it in the trash

For those of you who don't know, I started a free scrapbooking class for underprivileged children when we lived in the North. I also used my own supplies to teach card classes to 150 gradeschoolers for every single holiday. That went on for over a year before some friends and internet acquaintences started sending me donations of scraps. Then Leica Forrest's layout Girl With A Cause was featured in the winter 07/08 edition of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine and boxes started rolling in from all over the country. That is how my classes stay afloat. I am now volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club and soon to be with the Canadian Mental Health Association as a scrapbook teacher. I certainly don't get paid and we don't have a budget. I am forever trying to come up with creative ideas using little product or using my own money to augment our stash. So you can imagine how enraged I was when I saw this:

But Kate...why are you showing a big pile of garbage covered in pink paint??? That is pink paint...but it's not garbage. It's many, many, MANY packages of very sought after Heidi Swapp/Advantus scrapbooking product. And this is just what Lauren Ferguson was able to rescue from a dumpster at a scrapbooking show in the States. She and 3 of her dedicated friends brought it home, cleaned it up and donated it to worthy causes. Bless your hearts ladies. You are a shining example at a time when apparently SOME people (namely large companies who deem this stuff garbage) need a lesson in charity. Not to mention reduce, reuse, recycle. For the full story GO HERE and check out Lauren's blog. Show her some love! I will have to think very seriously if I will continue to support companies who have such ignorant and apathetic attitudes. Put some effort in people. The scrapbooking world is not going to stand for this.

Spoiled in real life AND in blogland!

I won this bit of scrapbooking heaven on Vicki Boutin's blog this week!!!

Vicki will be at Saskatchewan Scraps this November (are YOU signed up?!? CLICK HERE) and I am SO excited to meet her.
She is teaching an amazing 7Gypsies class that will for sure be the highlight of my day. Ok, who am I kidding? It will be the highlight of my year. I took a 7Gypsies class back in March in Calgary. Soooo, it will be my biggest highlight since then. Besides the whole baby-is-walking-and-talking thing. A girl's got to have priorities, right? LOL

I am actually thinking about Christmas right now...I have had a Christmas album idea in my head since my oldest son was born. He's turning 5 in the Fall. I know, hey? Look up "Scrap Procrastinator" in the dictionary and THERE I AM. So when I saw these on Vicki's blog they immediately went into my save file. To be scraplifted later. Isn't she FAB?



So thank-you SO MUCH Vicki! I will be stalking the postman now. I'm sure he appreciates that. {NOT} The poor guy...ever since my first publication last year, he doesn't even walk up the driveway anymore. He just stands on the sidewalk with his arm out hoping it doesn't get ripped off in the process. Hey, everyone has to have a hobby. Even if it involves traumatizing the mail guy.

Just a little bit of life getting in the way

Hey it happens, right? My family can't stay out of the freakin' hospital! Seems like everyone is on the mend (thank the LORD) and things are slowly sliding back into the normal category. Or at least as normal as we ever were in the first place. Give me a couple of extra days on the draw...I am adding to the gift and I am just finishing up my layout. It had to be put on hold. I scrapped with the Bad Girls on Friday with full intentions of doing my "Self" layout but I had to finish a canvas for my sister in law first as my Mum needed to pick it up Monday. Forgive me for delaying...but I think it was worth it. It's the biggest canvas I've attempted and I have to give a special creative shout out to Dawn Hueser who stood by me every step of the way. She is my layering mentor. LOL I had the general idea of how I wanted things...but I was still struggling with the layering. I have been layering and layering in the last year or so...trying to make it work and wondering how other people do it. Then Dawn talked to me on Friday about not only layering but having each layer a different level. (aka lots and lots of foam tape) And then the lightbulb went off. Of course! The item you want to highlight or make POP should be the highest point on your piece. Or on the flip side you can make everything around it high and your focal point could be your flatest item. It was such an AH HA moment for me. And that's why I luuuuurve me some Bad Girls. Make sure you check Dawn out HERE. And just for good measure, here's the rest of the Friday night Bad Girls in all their scrapbooking glory:

Amanda
Sheryl
Corinne
Janet
Andrea
Karen

With a nod to our new friend Dawn #2! Great to meet you!

What a hoot these gals are. They have a hug when you are down, a smile when you are up, a bottle of Zip Dry when you are out. They are SUCH a laugh. And we all have our cameras ready at all times. I'll have the incriminating evidence of Sheryl's birthday bash later in the week. *wink*

Just a little shameless self promotion

Well...FINALLY. I have figured out how to put one of those follower thingies on here. It really wasn't that difficult once you actually, well...ummmm...follow the instructions. I may have just a tiny problem with jumping in first and asking questions later. But I have that all sorted out now...so a little celebrating is in order! All of this week's new followers will be put into a draw for some YUMMY scrapbooking goodies. And to inspire you a little more, here is a layout by my best gal pal Keli...who really needs to scrapbook more because I think she's great. So, no copyright infringement implied but Kel, you've been jacked.

I don't know why (I am only moderately in love with yellow usually) but I LOVED how she worked the colour on this. And I always love the quirky, cute pictures she takes of herself! It just jumped out at me. So I am throwing down the gauntlet...the challenge is to do a layout inspired by this one. 2 elements must be there: Picture that totally shows your fun side AND a little bit of hand doodling/writing. Post your link in the comments and we'll hop the blogs! Plus an extra entry in the draw for the participants. I'll post mine on Friday and draw for winners Monday. Complete with photos because I finally have a handle on the Canon. Yeah me!

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...

It is SO a jammie day

Jammies, chocolate, cookies & milk, TV and book reading. That's it today. I spent all weekend away from my boys getting my scrap on with the chicas from Just Cr8 and now I need some cuddle time. BEST event I've been to yet, tons to blog. People, food, make n' takes, prizes, it was all just SO fab. So relax today...rest and revel in the warm fuzzy feelings of a good time had with good friends. Ciao until tomorrow. Or whenever. ♥

I CAN'T BELIVE IT!

Well this whole thing is just turning into a million dollars worth of free publicity! Rambling Dave from C95 is continuing this week with his little scrapbooking insults (tongue in cheek of course) and is actually showing up at Saskatchewan Scraps on Saturday morning! Knock me over with a feather! It'll be so much fun to help him create a few pages with the girls at the Just Cr8 table. Dawn, you did a FAB job of drawing attention to our wonderful art! I am proud to know you girl!

So I will be blogless for a few days (big surprise) as some girls from Just Cr8 are stopping by tonight to get some goodies ready and I am still scrapping my entries for the competition. Megan gets in tomorrow night and the rest will be HISTORY! SO EXCITING! More later.

It's a Scrap Challenge Baby!

So Rambling Dave from C95 sort of opened up a giant can of whoop a$$ on himself this morning with a comment about scrapbooking. And how it's like a sticker collection. Really? Oh Dave...you have no idea what you have gotten yourself into. The Just Cr8 gals have rallied together led by the uber talented Dawn Hueser and have started e-mailing him samples of our art. Hear that Dave? It's ART. Not a sticker collection. Oh my word is he EVER not going to hear the end of this. We have all thrown down the gauntlet and dared him to show up at Leica Forrest's event this weekend. Saskatchewan Scraps will never be the same. More on that later!

Seriously? This feels almost like work.

So I have actually been scrapbooking lately. Shut the DOOR. I know. I'm pretty excited myself. I want to have a nice big stack of layouts to choose from when I enter the competitions at the Saskatchewan Scraps and Camp Croppin' events! Woo HOO!!!
I just picked up this little bit of goodness: This package has SO MUCH in it! LOVE IT! The stuff you see...wings, crowns, etc. But also skulls and crossbones, letters, flourishes. Lots of bang for your buck. Or many, many buckS in this case! Ssssshhhh. Nobody needs to know that. What I mean is my HUBS doesn't have to know that. LOL. Go scrap something!

Just Say It Isn't So

I would like to take this opportunity to announce my resignation from the world of scrapbooking. I just can't do it anymore.



Ok, Ok. So maybe I am being just a tad over dramatic. No, I will never stop scrapbooking. I will never give up on this amazing hobby that brings me so much joy. But I do seriously need to consider where this industry is going when I see this and this. What the heck? I am all for scrapbooking equality but will we have to worry about paparazzi at CHA now? LOL

That is of course said tongue in cheek. But I honestly believed my beautiful scrapbooking bubble would only be graced with REAL celebrities like Tim Holtz, Trisha Ladouceur, Christine Middlecamp and Leica Forrest. I am SO curious to see the photos that come of this.

Merry Christmas to me (oh...and everybody else too!)_

SHUT THE DOOR!!! I am the proud new owner of the following:

The hubs totally surprised me...who would have thunk it??? Now off to Ebay to find some great dies and embossing folders. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Wednesday nights are for creating

Most people know I am a HUGE Tim Holtz fan. Like HUGE. Bigger then big. He is on my bucket list. Well, not him directly...I'm not going to steal him and display him in my scrapbooking room or anything. I just want to take one of his classes. So Tim, if you read this blog (yeah right) Please come to Saskatchewan! We LOVE you here!
Anyway, I taught at the Boys and Girls Club last night and decided to do one of Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas. Which I am going bankrupt doing because I really want the kids to learn the cool techniques featured this month. They LOVED it! It was a messy good time playing with all my alcohol inks. And a big thanks to Laura at JSI for helping me prepare some of the stuff. Which funny enough we didn't need because the Tim Holtz stamps I ordered came yesterday morning. Are you kidding me??? I just ordered those last weekend. Oh how I LOVE living here. No more waiting 3 weeks for mail. That is my dream...the postman/woman coming right to my door. Oh wait a minute...they do now! I guess I am living the dream. *wink*

Here are a couple of the tags the boys did last night. Go boys!


Unfortunately, the pewter charm that Tim used on his tag (gorgeous!) was too cost prohibitive to buy for all the kids. That was a fabulous final touch on his tag but ours turned out great just the same. I won't post mine yet...I'll wait until the end and post them all. Happy Christmas scrapping everyone! xox

For Kel...cause that's how we roll

Nothing serious today...just some big birthday fun! My friend Keli did some amazing invitations for her oldest daughter's birthday this month and I thought it was so completely blog worthy. So you must be asking "Kate, you always link up the FAB person's blog with their name...you forgot to link Keli's blog!" No, dear people, alas I did not forget. Keli has put her blog aside :0( even though it was totally creative, funny and well-written. So Kel, this blog's for you baby. Leave a comment petitioning Keli to get back in the blogging world...cause I miss reading it! (Even though we talk on the phone pretty much every day but that's not the point) Aren't those totally adorable??? I'm SO copying that for my son's next birthday! Thanks Kel!

Spreading out the goodness

Ok, Ok...it's more then a week later. Can I say I am just trying to spread out the goodness as far as I can? LOL. I am still all aglow with the amazing good time I had at Leica's event on October 25th. I am already looking forward to the next one! Another girlie I just loved meeting was Jill Hildebrand. She is teaching on the cruise with Leica...the cruise that I have not yet attended and will not be attending in Feb. "Why am I always pregnant when you do that?!?" If you're a "Friends" fan you'll find that funny. If you're not...you really won't know what I am talking about. Won't be the first time for me...;0)

Anyway, I missed the last one due to throwing up and the next one, I'll still be nursing. So I told Jill look out...2010 here I come!~

This lovely photo (and I use that term loosely) was taken at the very end of the night. Why do I do that??? Leica must have been super tired but you sure couldn't tell...that girl can look good in a wind storm let me tell ya. I stayed until the very bitter end...I was the last one to leave at my table. I wanted to squeeze as much alone time out of the day as I could!
So those are all the sweet ladies I had to brag about. Next time I'll snap some shots of the projects. And I swear, I'm almost done. Sure Kate, SURE. (insert eyeroll here)

Scrap Hangover

You know how some people say the best cure for a hangover is another beer? Well, that is what I am doing today, sans beer. I attended Leica Forrest's AMAZING crop yesterday...15 straight hours of croppin', stampin', eatin', winnin' goodness! So of course this morning I have a pounding headache and a very sore back and what am I doing? Heading over to JSI to take Trisha Ladouceur's class. Now that's dedication.

I'll name drop and flash some goodies later in the week. (oh get your mind out of the gutter, you know what I mean!)

I have to recover first.

Tiny fingers creating

I've been scrapping a lot lately...entering contests and challenges. So I thought I'd show a bit of what the kids have been creating. They LOVE to get out my scrapbooking supplies. And as my niece says "Auntie, can we have the good stuff and not just the kid stuff?" That is their FAVE. Prima, Fancy Pants, Basic Grey. If it's brand name, beautiful and expensive, they love it. I thought I'd go broke before the school year began again but we survived. The last thing they did were mini books. All I did was pay for the pictures and make the books with my Zutter. That's it. They cut, glued and painted their little hearts out. God bless these little hands, they had SO much fun! Love you my babes! xox