Delights of the Season

My Fiftieth Christmas wish to all my family and friends is for a Peaceful and Loving Holiday.

Let the Light Shine from your Heart and your Eyes!

Hope you like my Grand Finale card for 2009.


all products are Close to my Heart.

see you in 2010!

Holiday Cheer!

For my Fiftieth Christmas Year... I sent Ms. Holiday Cheer!

This card is a spirited and sweet little number, adorned with all the trimmings.

It was a very good Christmas for all at Driftwood Ave. We are thankful for family, friends, and our health.

Peace...

Stephanie

And so this is Christmas ... and what have you done?

Let us pause in our hectic lives and take a moment to remember John Lennon... the modern music world's greatest advocate of peace, tolerance, and love.

I would love to try to paint John.

What a beautiful soul.

Belfountain

Bell Fountain, or Bell Fountain... I saw it spelt both ways... is just a very tiny village north of Guelph where Rick and I spent an afternoon sipping latte, browsing the General Store, and then walking a wonderful trail along the waterfalls and ravine with Zowie. The paths and grounds were laid out exquisitely, by someone long ago. Walking along with the wonderful fountain and iron railings, and passing over the swing bridge in the calm of autumn into the circular forest trails , I felt transported into a mystical state of being. We walked over moss , stones, and damp leaves that had fallen in gentle patterns. Leaving the grounds, we embarked on an ancient stone path that extended in a Zen bridge upwards. It is now one of my very favorite memories, captured in a photo . I wonder who first lived here long ago?

I scrapped this layout at Talisman with deep denim blue, soft yellow, and Grace pattern papers. I don't have much to say about the layout this time. It is more about the mood.

Serendipity

These are 6 cards that i created in my spare time at the chalet with die cuts, Grace papers, and Serendipity stamps. The design is extremely simple so I added layers of paper flowers to embellish. I like the ones that stamp handwriting on the flower petals the best. I used up most of my desert sand die cuts . Now that I completed these, I will work on some using the light blue die cut flowers from the same kit.

Talisman

My sister in law invited Peggy and I to her ski chalet which backs onto Talisman near Collingwood 2 weeks ago to scrap. I got a bit accomplished, but not as much as i would have liked. It was a wonderful day for a walk and Peggy took some great pics. This is a little brook running down Talisman. Nature is amazing.

Bite me... please!

come on, just a nibble... I swear it wont hurt....

Rick's cousin Kelly got married in November in Mexico so before flying south, they hosted a pre- party in Tilsonburg : Jeff and Kelly's Wicked Wedding... October 31.

It was really well done. Her sister got miles of red velvet hangings and all sorts of huge pillars and crosses to create a very convincing Ghoul's Den. They even had dry ice to make fog for the ceremony. Of course, almost every guest came in costume! Bride and Groom came as The Bride of Frankenstein... his makeup was amazing . The kids were all costumed as well and very much in the spirit! Sexy sister Tracey came as a Hot French Maid, and her husband David came as Brorro... a black Zorro.. the parents of the bride were Elizabethan Royalty.

I should mention that while I like costumes , and of course, makeup, this event took some convincing for Rick . Costumes are not his big thing. He's a hockey coach! But I didnt push it, as going out in costume with someone in a permanent scowl is not much fun. I just let him know I had a great idea if he was willing to try and he decided to do it!

Following the craze for Twilight and the popularity of vampires, Rick and I teamed up to appear as a sexy vampire couple... well, we tried our best . lol. I splurged on the long red wig. The makeup was fun and transformed both of us. I knew Rick was in the spirit when he started pumping his cape like a bat on the dance floor. I stole Liam's bright green pimp hat and posed for a great picture on the velvet couch, holding a large rat.

Since I had lots of great photos to show, I used flip flap photo holders to add a few extra layers of photos to the top of the page protector.

I completed this layout up north at my brothers chalet behind Talisman 2 weeks ago.

Colours are Sweet Leaf, Smokey Plum and black... inspired by Jeannette Lynton's Colour Me Monday post in October. delectably twisted.

http://www.jeanettelynton.com/2009/10/back-in-black/html.

I really love this colour combo . I was telling Peggy and Bernie up north at the chalet that lots of folks use dark purple for Halloween layouts but neither of them was having it. In fact, Peggy thought the purple was unappealing (to put it mildly) Some times , my scrap pal gals and I differ on our tastes. Me, I have done pumpkins over and over. Orange would be fun for Easter , though!

New Muzik

i have arranged my playlist to include new muzik for your ears...
its Christmassy . enjoy!

Holiday Cheer

the second in a series... this Ms. Holiday Cheer is showing her little tushie in faded denim jeans. I used a waterbrush to dilute the ink and make a wash to fill in the jeans. The hat is done with the ever popular and easy to use Stickles product . The Rhinestone frame and Jingle Papers are both by CTMH .

I was out shopping for tombo tonight at the LSS (local scrapbook store) because I am going on a scrapbook retreat with my sister in law and good friend Peggy on Nov. 13. I got some new blades for my Fiskars trimmer, and then started to browse through the store. Lo and behold, I found 12 inch styrofoam cones on sale. So what , you ask? Omygosh I cant wait to make Tracey Mason's paper tree ( tmasonstudio.blogspot.com ) with Peggy and Bernadette at the chalet in two weeks!

It is an eclectic multi paper tree that reminds me of Tim Burton a bit with the curly tips. You can use leftover paper, it doesnt have to be Christmas themed. I am going to do mine in deep aubergine, browns and golds. I might throw in some olive green. I got 6 cones so I will share with the ladies and make a few extra for gifts. Going downstairs to sort through my papers. See you soon!

Ms Holiday Cheer

The first of some tasty little cards that I am creating . Ms Holiday Cheer really appealed to me because she is so cute sweet and happy. The colours are tulip, juniper, creme brulee, twilight and blush. I am experimenting with different products such as Fun Flock and Liquid Glass on the stamped images. All supplies are CTMH except for ribbon.

Surprises

I found a treat and flower pot on my desk for my birthday, last week on Oct. 16 left by a mystery friend.
Thank you Phebe for the beautiful red gerbera daisies and chocolate dessert! I could not for the life of me find out who brought it on my birthday until I read your post.

This card design was a big hit at the Birthday Bash Class. All papers and stamps are CTMH. The tiny green flowers were a gift from Phebe.

It is made from a 5 1/2 by 12 inch piece of cardstock scored at 2" , 4", 8" and 10" . Slits are cut 1 1/2 " from the top and bottom edge between the 2" and 10" fold. Then it is folded m/v/m, v/m/v, m/v/ m ( m = mountain fold, v = valley fold )

You can google the template for this fun, interactive card. It begs for add ons and dangling features.

Birthday Bash

More Bracket Cards... These 2 are from our Birthday Bash class on October 14 last week.

The ladies attending were fabulous! I could hardly keep up with them. We did heat embossing, cuttlebug embossing, and 2 tri-shutter cards .

These 2 are masculine and feminine versions of the bracket card. All products are CTMH.

Milestones

My 18 year old daughter and I at Crabbies, for my birthday party October 16, 2009

I turned 50 this past Friday and I had a party! It was a ball. I danced, sang , and enjoyed myself. I want to thank ALL of my friends for the wonderful wishes...

Of course, being 50 has many advantages, one of which is you are finally entitled to speak your mind (tempered by tact). Of course I received a few funny cards about turning older. My favorite of this type was:

Dont worry about your age, celebrate your birthday like a teenager...

Get a wrinkle pierced!

Design Element: the Curly Bracket

Most scrapbookers would agree that we are artistically inclined in more than one area. But there is also a connection to math in scrapbooking that works its way in over and over. Estimating measurements and lining up paper edges and centering shapes takes good mental math.

Along comes the latest trend : the bracket! It is found both in math, music, and language (and is great for conversational asides). A bracket in architecture supports or carries weight!

according to Wikipedia:

Curly brackets (also called braces, or "squiggly brackets") are sometimes used in prose to indicate a series of equal choices: “Select your animal {goat, sheep, cow, horse} and follow me”. They are used in specialized ways in poetry and music (to mark repeats or joined lines). The musical terms for this mark joining staves are accolade and “brace”, and connect two or more lines of music that are played simultaneously.[9] In mathematics they delimit sets. In many programming languages, they enclose groups of statements. Such languages (C being one of the best-known examples) are therefore called curly bracket languages. Some people use a curly brace to signify movement in a particular direction.

Julia sent me some beautiful Key to my Heart papers which I used on these cards that feature a stitched bracket stamp by Close to my Heart. We will be making some of these bracket cards at my Birthday Bash Class October 14.

Mega Crop 3 : Elora Gorge Layout

This third layout was done after lunch at the Mega Crop in Chatham.

I used the reverse side of Outdoor Denim textured CS for the grey-blue background. I was inspired to block in the photos over a horizontal band by a layout Heather had in her display album. I added a thin torn piece of blue patterned vellum to enhance the water theme.

Once again, I used the quickcutz tool for the lettering in the title. I pencilled in the swirls using a fancy stencil I got at Christmas time . Speaking of which, I bought a second stencil with graduating circles at 50% off. This was a Good Idea, since I am forever using lunch and dinner plates as my circle templates .

Elora is a very beautiful little town north of Waterloo near Listowel. The gorge is breathtaking from the top . Rick drove me down one night after dinner in August on a whim. I am always interested to explore places like this! I like the photos of Rick and his dog Zowie in this layout. They look so peaceful.

So that was it for the weekend. coming soon: birthday cards!

Mega Crop 2 : Holy Communion

This is a photo from the one end of the Kinsman auditorium in Chatham. There look to be about 50 croppers and 6 vendors at the event. I will say the food was fabulous... we could help ourselves to coffee, banana loaf and cookies all morning and there were 4 kinds of wraps at just $2 for lunch, and then a huge fruit plate with more cookies.

There were door prizes for everyone, classes, a silent auction and a garage sale of new and used items. Of course I did a purge of my hoard in the Studio and brought in 3 boxes of stamps and papers for the garage sale. 25% of the total went to charity so it was a Win/Win/Win situation for myself, the croppers with cash, and the charity .

The Holy Communion layout was done with one piece of embossed paper which i purchased at Skribble and Skraps this summer ... because it was so beautiful . I knew I would find a use for it. My niece's blue headband and white communion dress were the focus of the Communion photos and fit in nicely with the colourful floral paper. I just cut it into strips and made a quick background with it. Then I went shopping for something else to add. I found the perfect items in the exact colour ! And... they were 50% off! The frames really did it. I also got some great brads and paper flowers. It all came together quickly after that. I just punched a few more quickcutz letters using Phebes new punch (since Peggy was still Somewhere Else and hadn't unpacked her Sizzlits for me to use).

and ... Voila! Blingy scrapbook perfection. Just the way I like it sometimes.

Mega Crop 1 : College Freshman Layout

I went down to the Mega Crop in Chatham with my friend Peggy N. I got 3 two page layouts completed in about 5 hours and spent 2 hours walking around, shopping, and talking to Phebe and Amy. I met a really nice Ctmh consultant named Heather down there who sold me 2 sheets of cardstock in desert sand, bamboo, colonial white, and vanilla cream and 2 sheets of textured outdoor denim. She also happened to be a teacher, AND her 9 year old daughter was named Chloe! Coincidences! After looting her stash and getting what I needed I was ready to roll out the creative truck and away I went.

For the College layout I wanted to use Caprice paper to bring out the yellows and blues in the photos. The photos were taken on the morning my ex and I and his wonderful wife moved my eldest into her brand new college dorm at Fanshawe. I needed some tiny letters for the Fanshawe College title so Phebe offered to lend me her quickcutz toolkit that she had just purchased used. I learned how to use it and off I went making the letters in different colours. No sight of Peggy , so I worked away on 2 complete layouts without any further interruption other than 2 breaks for coffee and a chicken wrap. Peggy wandered back to find me after doing some Copics card classes around 2:30 and offered to buy me lunch. "Peggy", I remarked, "if I always waited for you to buy me lunch I would lose 15 pounds!" Not that I have 15 pounds to lose... I only have about 7 ... ish. but that is Another Story. I am turning 50 this month, and in Turning 50 , one wants to appear at one's most desirable weight. Thus, eating light for the next 12 days. Whatever eating light means... more salad, no desserts, smaller portions might work. At least I am hoping it does. I will join the gym later.

Back to the main narrative :

Peggy proudly showed me the turkeys and hippos she had been working on. I asked her what the worms were doing at the bottom of the hippo. "They are not worms, they are supposed to be ribbons!" she insisted. Apparently, she did not use the Copics markers which give the correct 3D effect on the ribbon. After my insensitive remarks, she realised that she really needed to purchase several colours of Copics markers and 8 blending pens and acetate, after which she felt artistically fulfilled. This is what happens when you love the tools as much as the craft.

Grace Layout

Yes, its been a while!
Lets just blame the Lambton Kent district school board for that.

I changed my blog photo to a watercolour I did last year of Chloe and Colton at Lake Livingstone.
Those were the days of perfect trust, beauty and innocence. Now they have almost developped into independent adults . There are lots of days they both need hugs , understanding, love and smiles as much as ever... maybe even more.

I had some ladies over in September to create this fabulous fall layout using Grace Papers by CTMH. When my layout is filled in with birthday photos, I will re- post.
I was honored to have Beth Norman attend the workshop . While browsing her website, I found this great tutorials section:
http://www.sunflowers-dragonflies.ca/blog/tutorials/
Coming soon in October are birthday bash cards and Ms. Holiday Cheer.

Japanese Waterfall Card

If you have never made one of these , they are a lot of fun and make a great Special Occasion card. The tab at the bottom pulls out to flip up 4 panels and reveal a message on the long tab.

My friend Karine came over and reminded me as we made these cards that her favorite papercraft theme is Japanese.... I showed her my stash of real papers from Japan and plan to show her the Kimono and fan template that I use for iris folding (which works wonderfully with oriental papers.)

Papers are from the Caprice Level 2 collection by Close to my Heart.
Stamps are Vintage ctmh circa 2003-4.

Serenity Prayer

I made 8 of these by request for Bev T, who

does a great deal of selfless volunteer work with St Stephens Home in London ON. and with Alcoholics Anonymous thoughout Ontario.

Here she is with us at a Tigers game in August.

I used Life Delights level 2 and Stickease and made a little gift box for the cards.

She wants to pay me for them but I dont want the money! I appreciate all she does.

Happy 18th to my little girl

Chloe's 3 good friends came over to celebrate her 18th birthday at our home, all wearing matching floral tops and bringing her one to wear as well! I had fun taking some crazy photos of them and fed them Mexican fare: Nachos, tacos, and gooey dip. It was a very nice time.

I wanted a simple, modern look for the layout , with a little "edge" to it. I had copied a template for the scallops some time ago . It looked like an easy and colourful way to showcase the 4 photos. I traced the scallops onto cardstock and cut out both layers at once to save time and it actually worked ! ( I don't recommend you try cutting two layers of anything detailed at once unless you want uneven results) . The black die cuts were done at Peggy N's home on one of her many machines... I added CTMH corduroy brads from the Autumn Garden mini-medley accents collection ... colours olive, hollyhock and goldrush accent the Blush, Tulip and Creme Brulee cardstock perfectly. More black and white accents as in the prom layout. The black capital letters and brackets are from a promo set of CTMH alpha diecuts. I hadn't used any of them at all, so figured an eighteenth birthday was well nigh time to break into the fresh set of alphas. Peggy also showed me how to make the chipboard frame in soft green at her home. The colours look much warmer and richer in true light.

We went shopping for college today and I splurged and bought her a funky purse, heeled boots, and stretchy heel shoes at Aldo. Spoiling her for the last time? Making us both feel better about her not living with me anymore? Getting the hugs and hearing "I love you Mom" felt great.

Hosting a High School Pre Prom Party

I love the way this layout turned out for Chloe's Prom. We hosted a party for 24 of her friends in our back yard by the pool before they boarded the limo - bus to the prom. I was concerned about drinking getting out of control since many of them were 18 but everything went well and I would do it again for sure. We had help from lots of parents in supervising and the kids were just happy to be celebrating. Since my daughter's dress had a very vivid colour pattern to it, I decided to do the background in formal black with a bit of shimmery hot pink accent paper and black and white accents. I found some circular black gemstone accents and pink gems at Janice's Scrapbook Store in Reeces Corners that dressed the page up perfectly. The black background paper has tiny holes punched in it on the sides so I just let the hot pink peek through for a bubbly effect. The right hand page has a flip flap so that I could add the extra pictures of Chloe lined up with her friends.

Chloe was so pretty and feminine in her lovely dress. I am so proud of her.

She is now attending college and studying Fine Arts! She even won a small scholarship from Gallery Lambton that will help pay for her art supplies.

The photo of my daughter and I turned out to be the cover photo for both this website and my facebook home page for several months.

BWB: Bluewater Bridge

It's a family tradition to go for fries under the bridge when my brother visits each summer.
It turned out that Colton and his friends had also planned to be at the bridge as we arrived with my niece and nephew in tow, but had a slightly more daring idea of how to enjoy the view.
Some folks need more adrenaline than others.
I brought my camera to capture the view and portray my niece and nephew under the bridge, and was lucky to catch these shots of the teenagers jumping off the guard rail. There is a perfect shot of my son doing a backwards dive over the St Clair River.
I used the rusty brown plaid Sasaparilla papers and black matting to compliment all the blue in these photos. I added chocolate ricrac . All products are Close to my Heart.

Family Fun

This is the companion page to Fam Damily, posted yesterday.

The images are somewhat blurry but I wanted to show how the second page complements the die cut border used on the first one. I kept the background blue consistent on both pages and left it simple as a 10 inch square. More Emporium circles... I dont get tired of them do I?

and matching library cards for the journalling.

i am not the greatest photographer, so I apologize for the images... I dont mind too much about that personally. When I select a photo to scrapbook my main intent is to capture a memory not acheive photographic perfection.

One day I will take a photo course and get a better camera... one day!

our Happy Fam Damily

This is the left side of a layout I did using the cocoa die cuts border from CTMH. My dad likes to take his grandkids golfing as part of my brother's yearly summer visit from faraway Ottawa.

This year they went to "Crabbies" in the Grove.

As a side note, I finally figured out how Brights Grove got its name as I was driving down Waterworks near Old Lakeshore today. I saw dozens of rotten apples in the gutter, fallen over ripe from overhead apple tree branches on folks front lawns and thought, those trees must have been planted a long time ago and survived the suburbanisation of Brights Grove. It must have been an orchard grove belonging to the Bright Family at one time. I think I will google it and see if I can find out if my theory is correct.

Back to the layout... more Emporium, cut around the circles to create scallops, Floral Tapestry Stickease for the lettering, more of my library card journal spots from Lasting Impressions, and some cute little buttercup brads. Not your typical golf green colours are they. But it works.

Happy Birdy Card

Okay, I remade this lovely 6 x 6 card that I posted in February http://cuttingedgestudio.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html

with new bling, stickles, and tiny paper flowers on the heart and I think it is nicer this time! the inside says, Happy Birdy.

I stamped the scalloped border using the Serendipity stamp set on Twilight Cardstock and cut it out. It fit perfectly around the 5 x 4 background piece, a bit of luck in hindsight.

The bird wing has been stamped on blush paper and added.

I really dont mind doing all the cutting , I find it relaxing and I think it makes the card extra special to have all that rich textural detail.

The papers are from Sassaparillia and the Acrylix Stamp set for the five inch heart and bird is Love Language, all by Close to My Heart.

The new fall winter catalogues have arrived at Driftwood Ave... if you want one, let me know and I will deliver it to you!

My own take on the NeverEnding Card

And... here is my version.. ta DA!

I created a birthday card and added

some bling to the stamped images.

All papers are Emporium by Close to my Heart.