I am a Geek, and proud of it.

Naturally, I totally love the web series "The Guild". And the new music video, too funny. (if you read through a blog reader, click through to my blog to see the embedded video.)

Shopping cart pals

I hate shopping for groceries. But sometimes it's not so bad when I have a couple of cuties like these in my cart.

Wake Up!

This is my last layout that I did with the August kit from Crazy Daisy Kits. I can’t believe how much paper I still have left – these kits are jam-packed. The August kit sold out quickly, just like previous months, so if you want the September kit, I highly recommend pre-ordering. You can see a sneak of the kit here. It’s gorgeous – you’re going to want this kit!

I took these pictures when Liam was taking a little nap on the couch. Rhys really wanted his attention, and was trying to wake him up. She looks guilty, doesn’t she? Little monkey…:P


I cut apart one of the My Mind’s Eye die cut tags so I could use it in 2 places on this layout. It tucked in nicely with the photos. I also cut apart one of the swirl rub-ons, and used it in a couple of places. Did you know that rub-ons work well over felt? (Yeah, I didn’t either, but I thought I would try it)


I used one of the Pink Paisley rub-ons up in the top corner for balance, and added one of the tiny buttons.


I had a few Prima flowers in my stash that were the perfect colour with these papers, so I added a few in here. There were lots of great buttons in this kit, as usual, and I used a bunch on this layout. I also added a few extra ones from my stash, since they matched the kit buttons.


Here’s a close-up of the journaling tag. You can see a corner of that gorgeous crochet flower here as well.


Supplies (from kit):
PP – Basic Grey, Jenni Bowlin, Pink Paisley
Felt letters – American Crafts Thickers
Die-cut tag – My Mind’s Eye
Journal tag – Jenni Bowlin
Rub-ons – My Mind’s Eye, Pink Paisley
Crochet flower – Maya Road
Buttons – Basic Grey, Buttons Galore, vintage

Other Supplies:
Paper flowers – Prima
Brad – American Crafts
Ink – Ranger
Marker – Staedtler Triplus Fineliner

Mommy - are you trying to Poison Me?

It's reveal day again at Creative Scrappers! Come see what the rest of the team has created with this week's sketch.

Rhys has pretty much hated every new food we introduced to her. I usually get this reaction. It really looks like she thinks I'm trying to poison her. It's hard to tell from the small photo here, but she raises one eyebrow at me, and gives me quite the dirty look. It's kinda funny.





Supplies:
PP - My Little Shoebox
letter stickers - My Little Shoebox, Scenic Route
flowers, bling, felt - Prima
buttons - Doodlebug, vintage
brads - Queen & Co, American Crafts
ink - Ranger
white pen - Uniball Signo

Little climber

My petite little just-turned-one-year-old just climbed the entire staircase at my Mom's house, all by herself. She's never been on stairs before. I might have a little dare-devil on my hands...

(That's 14 stairs for those keeping score)

And no, the Momarazzi did not capture it on film. I was standing right behind her on every step, scared to death that she'd fall otherwise.

Late Night Fun

I'd been holding on to these pictures since January, waiting for papers that seemed right, and I found them in the August kit from Crazy Daisy Kits.

When Rhys was younger, I needed to eat more frequently to be able to nurse enough, so there was many a late night snack for me. Rhys would usually end up playing on the kitchen floor and I actually remembered to take pictures at least once. :P

I used the other half of the My Mind's Eye transparency that I had cut apart for one of my other layouts. I cut in half a bunch of the silk flowers in the kit and tucked them under the edge of my photo, to make a floral mat.

I distressed one of the chipboard shapes with a sander and some ink, then adhered one of the butterfly sequins on top.


I cut one of the journaling tags in half so I could make it fit under the photo.


Supplies (from the kit):
PP - Pink Paisley, My Mind's Eye, Jenni Bowlin
felt letters - American Crafts Thickers
rub-ons, chipboard shapes - Pink Paisley
transparency - My Mind's Eye
journal tag - Jenni Bowlin
buttons - Basic Grey
silk flowers
butterfly sequin

Other supplies:
ink - Ranger, StazOn
marker - Staedtler Triplus Fineliner

No Mommy - it's not cool

Here's another layout that I did with the August kit from Crazy Daisy Kits. Remember when I told this story? Well, I had to scrap it, of course!

I loved the Pink Paisley die cut sheet from this kit and I knew I wanted to use it here without covering the entire background sheet, so I cut the edges off, and used just those. Now I have some left over for another layout! I also cut apart the transparency from My Mind's Eye - so I could use it on two layouts.

I thought the top corner of the photo would be a good spot for this rub-on. I had to use it - it's something that I say to Liam all the time.


I did my journaling in strips because I didn't want to hide all of the paper behind the journaling. Of course, I ended up with a little extra space that called out for something, so I used one of the buttons from the kit, and a couple of Pink Paisley stickers from my stash.


Supplies (from kit):
PP - Pink Paisley, My Mind's Eye
felt letters - American Crafts Thickers
transparency - My Mind's Eye
rub-ons - Pink Paisley
button - Basic Grey

Other Supplies:
small letter stickers, circle stickers - Pink Paisley
ink - Ranger
marker - Staedtler Triplus Fineliner

One Year Old

Would you believe that this little bundle turned a year old today?

10 Months

This is one of my monthly photo layouts of Rhys. Each month I take a picture of her with the same stuffed mouse. Love this new paper line from Basic Grey. The cherries were perfect for this photo of Rhys, as her onsie has heart-shaped cherries all over it.


Lots of Prima goodness here, too. Yummy flowers, page pebbles and jewels. Also added some Kaiser jewels.


Lots going on this month, as you can see from the journaling.


Supplies:
PP, laser cut paper, stickers, rub-ons - Basic Grey
vinyl letters - American Crafts Thickers
flowers, pebbles - Prima
jewels - Prima, Kaiser
ink - Ranger
marker - Staedler Triplus Fineliner
white pen - Uniball Signo

August Monthly On-Line Crop @ Scrapbook Star

Don't forget the August on-line crop at Scrapbook Star is this weekend! Come on over, try your hand at the challenges, have fun with the theme (Grease!), get some pages scrapped, and maybe even win a prize! Hope to see you there!

Chatterbox Butterfly mini-album

You get a mini-album with every main kit at Crazy Daisy Kits, and the August kit was no exception. This month it was a fun mixed media / mixed shape album from Chatterbox, with a butterfly theme that perfectly matched this month's kit. With such a sweet feminine album, I had to choose pictures of my baby girl (I know, such a chore for a mother, right?) :)

(As usual, click on pictures for a larger view)

I painted the back of this transparent cover with white acrylic paint, and added my title to the front, along with some Distress Stickles in "Broken China"


The inside cover was then a perfect place for a sub-title (P'tite Princesse is french for "Little Princess"). Of course, I had to use the crown rub-on from My Mind's Eye (included in the kit). I painted the edges of the cover in more of the white acrylic paint.

The next page I used Distress Stickles around the entire shape of the butterfly. The "Broken China" colour was a great match with this book.


On this page I painted the edges white again, and tucked some Prima flowers (from my stash) around the photo. I added one of the cute butterfly sequins from the kit, as well.


Do you remember that I cut apart a title tag from My Mind's Eye for an earlier layout from this kit? I didn't toss the middle part of the tag. I cut out some of the shapes on the tag, and I've used them here in the mini album. The flourish you see below, and the pink flowers on the next pages were all part of that tag.

On this page I also used a portion of the recipe card from the kit. The little flower and fairy were so cute, I wanted to include them in the album. My butterfly punch also saw some action here, as I used it to make butterflies from the Jenni Bowlin paper.


More acrylic paint, and border punch usage on this next one. The paper is from one of the Pink Paisley sheets. And the flourish? Look familiar, but a little smaller? I actually cut it out from the packaging on the Heidi Swapp stickers that were part of the kit!

Did you know that you can use glimmer mist on transparencies? You just need to allow it a lot more time to dry, but it works great. On the transparent butterfly page next, I used a white Sharpie paint marker, and glimmer mist in "Patina".


On the next few pages, I incorporated more of the same techniques - glimmer mist, cut outs from the Heidi Swapp packaging, acrylic paint, border punches & rub-ons. These are all fun ways to add flat embellishments to a mini-album. I hope you give them a try!


Supplies (from kit):
mini-album - Chatterbox
PP - Pink Paisley, Jenni Bowlin, Basic Grey
die cut tag - My Mind's Eye
rub-ons - Pink Paisley, My Mind's Eye
Heidi Swapp stickers packaging
recipe card
butterfly sequins

Other supplies:
flowers - Prima
letter stickers - Pink Paisley, Making Memories
glimmer mist - Tattered Angels
acrylic paint - Adirondack, Folk Art
ink, stickles - Ranger
marker - Staedtler Triplus Fineliner, Sharpie Paint

Angel Eyes

It's reveal day at Creative Scrappers! This is my take on this week's sketch. Don't forget to check out what the rest of the team has created!

My friend Claude took this picture of Rhys at a Friday night crop. (My pictures came out so-so that night). This picture of Rhys makes me melt every time I see it. Thanks Claude!

I stamped this journaling spot on the Bo Bunny double-dot cardstock, and then cut it out. I love the look of this cardstock, and it's much easier to stamp than Bazzill. I tucked flower pieces under the edge of the journaling spot.


The more I use these rain dots from Stamping Bella, the more I like them. I like using them for flower centres and scattering them around a page.



Supplies:
PP, cardstock, rub-ons, letter stickers, brads - Bo Bunny
lace, flowers - Prima
journaling stamp - Scrapbook Star
rain dots - Stamping Bella
ink - Ranger, StazOn
marker - Staedtler Triplus Fineliner

He Makes Her Laugh

Here's my next layout that I did with the August kit from Crazy Daisy Kits. I really wanted to try something different with the wonderful die cut paper from Crate, so I cut it in two, and arranged it as shown on the background paper. Then I stitched between the two pieces.

I used the Pink Paisley chipboard shape for my title, and added some buttons and a couple flowers from my stash. I also used one of the phrase stickers as part of my title. I wanted to rough up the chipboard a little, so I sanded the edges and added StazOn ink.


I loved this suede flower from Maya Road. Such great texture. After I adhered it to my layout, I realized there wasn't enough contrast, so I added some chocolate brown flowers around the edge.


I added a few of the Pink Paisley rub-ons around the journaling, to draw a little more attention to the strips. I took this picture back in December. Even then, at only 4 months old, Rhys found Liam to be very funny. He still makes her laugh, and I love the sound!


Supplies (from kit):
PP - Jenni Bowlin, Crate, My Mind's Eye
chipboard shape, rub-ons - Pink Paisley
phrase sticker - Heidi Swapp
suede flower - Maya Road
buttons - Button Galore

Other Supplies:
letter stickers - Pink Paisley
paper flowers - Prima, Bazzill
floss - DMC
marker - Staedtler Triplus Fineliner
ink - Ranger, StazOn

Bottoms Up!

This is my first layout with the August kit from Crazy Daisy Kits. The previous months' kits have all sold out, so if you love the kit, get it before it's too late.

I love how well the Basic Grey and Pink Paisley lines coordinated in this kit. Like they were made for each other. I did a lot of layering and inking on this page. There was a title card from My Mind's Eye in the kit, and I really liked how it looked behind part of the layers. I didn't want to hide the entire card though, so I just cut off and used the ends. (I'm sneaky that way).


I traced around the felt letters with a marker to make them pop a little more. I also added a few items to the top corner, to balance the layout.


I had the coordinating Pink Paisley journal spot in my stash, so I used it here. I distressed the edges to make it work better with the layout.


Supplies (from kit):
PP - Basic Grey, Pink Paisley
die cut card - My Mind's Eye
felt letters - American Crafts Thickers
rub-ons - Pink Paisley
buttons - Basic Grey, Buttons Galore

Other Supplies:
journal spot - Pink Paisley
ink - Ranger, StazOn
markers - Staedtler Triplus Fineliner, American Crafts Slick Writer