Adios Dominican

Awe.... It kind of makes me tear up just to see the 3 of us saying goodbye at the end of our trip... it may be a while before the 3 of us can splurge and do this again... I sure hope not! Chloe is off to college in the fall. I hope my kids remember this trip with fond memories !

I used a buttercup cardstock circle to envelope the photo with the clear overlay . I wanted a yellow sunset ... at the end of our book. I knew I would add some swirls . The adios tag was a last minute thought... backing it with circles from Emporium is brilliant because by cutting around the circles I got a scallop frame. I added some off white cardstock backing to show the details on the top of the overlay because Peggy told me they were lost on the yellow. Mind you , Peggy just had a cataract operation when she saw the plan for this layout ... lol that just occurred to me.

other ctmh elements: Moon Doggie tropical blue hibiscus print, cocoa diecut circles, oxford colour ready alphabet, journey journalling spots, chocolate rub ons (family, together, happy, smile)

The final Dominican posts....

Oh I am so pleased with how my last 3 pages turned out... I am going back through the entire album at this point to add, tweak, rewrite some of the journalling, but the Dominican 09 album is finished. (March.... July... 5 months?) You know what, I am not in a race to finish "events". My goal is to choose a special event to scrap... not every photo I take this year is going to be scrapped by any means. This trip, Coltons 16 birthday are done. Chloe's pre prom party and birthday are next. Some travel this summer and my 50th birthday will be included for sure this year , and as always, Christmas. No stress... just fun, planning, saving new ideas to try... I still like scrapping very much.

I used buttercup, cocoa, and Moon Doggie papers for the basis of these 2 pages. I used the large cocoa diecut frame to trace and create the smaller buttercup frame on the second page so that the border motif would tie together on both pages. Orange was my "pop out" colour, because of Connor's shirt. I think orange and blue are a neat combo. I found the Basic Grey pattern chipboard "matched" extremely well with CTMH papers. I am also loving those library card tags for handwritten journalling.

The photos show 11 of us friends and family at Golden Village Playa Dorada Dominican Republic . The resort is geared towards kids and families, and we enjoyed the wave pool and water slide as well as the ocean , snacks and drinks at the pool , together.

WE R Family

I love this photo so I enlarged it to be the focal point of an entire page.

Meeting my brother , his wife and daughter, on the last day of our Dominican trip was the most fun of all! All of us had huge smiles .

I used a die cut frame by Close to my Heart , to encircle the photo; the little postcard is Ctmh Journey Journalling Spots; ctmh colour ready alphabets in oxford; Emporium papers, and my Basic Grey designer rub ons and chipboard stickers which were selected specifically to complement the colours and designs in Emporium.

Four pages to go in my Dominican Album!

Boom di Ada

Boom di Ada papers are fun and bright : great for summer birthdays... and I have two very important ones coming up in our family. I used the large Pharmacy font acrylix to stamp the word Happy for this trio of cards in bloom.

The ribbon is ctmh; the bling is island blossom dew drops from Phebe M at the Town Scrapper, more of my new Kaiser rhinestones , and some ctmh floral rhinestones. These 3 cards were pretty straightforward to create, other than all the cutting I did on the lettering.

My brother and his two kids have left today after a 10 day visit, and the house is quieter. Not quiet, just quieter. Chloe and Laura are watching TV and recuperating from a Bayfest weekend. I have lots to look forward to , visits with and from friends are planned all week here on Driftwood Ave. and I have Karine coming for a class on Wednesday night.

I am so grateful for my friends.

new Tunez

I changed the playlist up a bit and tried to keep the music mellow and gentle.
I added a very quiet tender ballad by the late great John Lennon.

Oh my love
for the first time in my life
my eyes are wide open
Oh my love for the first time in my life
my eyes can see

i see the wind
i see the tree
eveything is clear in my heart
I see the cloud
oh I see the sky
everything is clear in our world

Hope you like it!

Mojo Monday 94 Contest

I have been curious to try a Mojo Monday challenge and today seemed to be a good day for it. Well not only did I finish the challenge, I went out on a limb and entered a card into the Mojo Monday Contest.

Here is my humble offering:

Bird on a Flowering Branch of Friendship

I used :

Emporium papers , Close to my Heart chocolate and designer ricrac ribbon rounds, my brand new!! Kaiser rhinestone bling, and ctmh rubons for the sentiment. I think that's it. The background colour of the card is buttercup yellow, one of my mellow yellow faves. There is also another one of my faves, in the card, sweet leaf .

New LOOT!!!!

I ran out of Tombo, in the middle of making the notecard box, so off I went to Janice Jamiesons Scrapbook Corners at Reece's Corners to buy a refill.

...and... I found some:

very cute glossy Heidi Swappchipboard

: black and white rub ons and

: Kaiser rhinestones in 3 colours

that I thought would work well with my daughter's pre prom party layouts.

Close to my Heart only makes white rhinestones, so I felt totally "justified" in this contraband LOOT for my hoard/stash.

notecard box

As I mentioned, I was inspired by Kathi's Corner to make the notecard box . I followed the link to Valerie Stangle's Stampin' Gal Val website where the template is published for public use. http://valeriestangle.blogspot.com/2009/06/notecard-box-redux-and-explanation.html

She chooses to share on her blog and on the Score Pal website. I did not use a Score Pal, but simply scored one inch and 2 inches from 2 sides and one end of an 8 1/2 BY 11 sheet of cardstock . On the bottom end I scored 2 inches and 3 inches in. Her directions are for 8 5/8 by 11 1/8 cardstock. Is that something you people are familiar with? I strictly use Close to My Heart cardstock so have never run across it.

I am very pleased with the way this box lends itself to gifting!

one thing leads to another , and another, and another

The inspiration: Kathi Carlson

http://kathiscreativecorner.blogspot.com/2009/06/one-thing-leads-to-another.html

The papers: Close to my Heart, Notebook

The embossing: Cuttlebug (thanks Dave Thomson)

The ribbon: unknown (part of the ancient studio hoard)

The bling: ctmh rhinestones

The acrylic stamp: Be true , in blush and cocoa

The sentiment: U R special kind beautiful smart caring genuine

The gift box comes with this set and will be featured in my summer Notecard Class on the 15th

at CuttingEdge Studio. email me to sign up! Cost is just $15.

omg ! I am excited about teaching 3 classes in July!

I am teaching 3 classes in July!
Its been a while since I made a waterfall card. And I probably have my instructions on file somewhere but it is easier to google . I found this really extensive website in the process:
http://www.paperscrapz.screentastic.ca/templates.html

I added it to my list of templates for future reference , and it has links to more good sites.

Dominican title page

Every book should have a title page. This album is dedicated to my two teens . Such fleeting months before they become adults and move on with their own lives! I chose a picture of Colton and Chloe on our first night out to dinner and some beautiful tropical leaves from the Moon Doggie CTMH papers. I used colour ready alphabets , which I coloured in Spring Iris marker to give a soft look . I added a large floral chipboard piece from Basic Grey and a few rub ons in a soft celery green by the title.

I have always like greens and blues very much.

There is a song by James Taylor that I used to sing to Colton as his lullaby when he was a baby. It is called Sweet Baby James. It is fitting because "James" is my children's last name .

Good night you moon light ladies

Rockabye sweet baby James

Deep greens and blues are the colours I choose

Wont you let me go down in my dreams

And rockabye sweet baby James

CLEVER scrapbook flip pages by Tresa Black

Tresa Black has discovered a few ways to use CTMH Flip Flaps and 9x9 page protectors to extend the space on your layouts that have a few too many pictures on them ( see my 11 photo layout below ) No need for exacto knife cuts ... it is a fold and stick process.

Her website is Fabulously Artsy. If you click on the video it will take you to YouTube and you can see the rest of her Cool Scrapbook ideas on Video Tutorials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Vdcmbqk2QE&feature=player_embedded

Let me know if you enjoyed watching it! I thought it was pretty cool!