My Blogaversary!

So as of exactly 1:22 PM today (when this was posted!) my blog was one year old!

I am celebrating this with a brand new look for my blog! A green theme! This is now my current favourite colour and I was getting very bored with the old look.

I wanted to also celebrate and show my appreciation for my readers by uploading my first video! I was so excited about making and editing it but blogger just cannot seem to upload it. I have issues I know because I see people do it all the time! Does anyone know what my problem is? Should I first upload it on Youtube? If so then how do I get it on my blog? If I ever figure it out I will be sure to share my incredible video skills with you.

7G notebook

I just love how this notebook turned out! Sadly I do not know what paper I used but I will try to figure that out. The clock is a transparency from 7Gypsies and the "general indtruction" notecard is also 7G. The foam letter stickers are from american crafts. In this notebook I have glued sketches I found in magazines, ones I have drawn and ones I have printed off the net. It really helps me get started with my pages.

So as hard as I have been trying my amazing blog surprise may fail. I am still trying to make it work. As of tomorrow at 1:22 PM (I think) my blog will officially be 1 year old!

popsicle to note

Speedy post here! I am working very hard to get my blog surprise ready for the 29th. I sure hope it works! Just a pretty card to share right now.

welcome card

Quick card to share! I made this at work last week. I am always surprised when I find a way to craft in places other than my scrap desk. I always feel most creative at home with all my supplies but I manage. I love using the cricut machine at work! (the tree was cut using the paper dolls cartridge) and with a whole store of beautiful product it is hard to not be creative.

I have 3 new camping layouts to share and 1 other one! I will hopefully get them photographed tomorrow when the lighting is better. Keep and eye out for them! Oh and only 5 DAYS till my blogaversary! YAY!

New York Trip - Times Square

What a gorgeous weekend we are having here! It hasnt been this hot all summer! Yesterday our thermometer said 38*C. That was in direct sun though. In the shade it was still 30*C. I am loving this and I hope I will get to work on my tan :)This page was hard for me. I was trying to use a gorgeous Times Square sticker that was pretty big but it was taking away from the pictures. Instead I tried to keep it simple with no patterned paper and small embelishments. The photos are just so busy and I wanted to capture how they make me feel.

I cut out the title on the Cricut machine at work. I used the printing press cartridge because I like how the letters are all different fonts.

I hand cut chipboard wings, inked them blue and put a layer of white glue on top for the shiny look. I also used a red vintage ticket I printed off the computer and a barcode off some paper. (it reminds me of shopping in Times Square)

I stamped with a journal block to make the red dots overtop of the paint. The corners were just drawn with a black pen.

anniversary card

First of all I would just like to thank all my followers and frequent visitors for being so supportive. I love all the feedback I get from sharing my ideas and of course you are all very inspiring too. I have been creating many projects and doing more scrapbooking than usual because it is summer. I would like to post more often but I do not always have the time. Thank you all for keeping me motivated! With this card I was going for a rustic but elegant look. The chipboard key is from Tattered Angels and I covered it with some paper I distressed with ink. I painted a couple grungboard hearts with weathered wood crackle paint. I decided to attach the lace with brads so that no adhesive would show through. For the blue frame sort of thing I painted the edge of some thick cardboard and stamped it on the paper.

As my 1 year blogaversary is comming up (Aug. 29th) I am planning something cool. Make sure you don't miss it!

summer layout!

I really love this paper from Scenic Route. It just captures the summer feel of my lake photos so well. I do like this layout but if I were to do it again I would use a different colour for the background. Maybe teal instead of More Mustard. It seems like the gorgeous sunshine paper is just washed out. The border around the sunshine paper is inked with teal pigment. I used a sticky note as a mask to get the straight edge on the inside.

In the croners of the larger photo I used little scrap strips to add more detail. I only used 2 different sheets of pattern paper but managed to use some of each side. The polka dots were just to cool to resist!

Blog Awards! oh my!

I was so pleased to find that Heather F of Daily Creativity is Key has chosen to honour me with these blog awards! They are the first ones I have recieved and just in time for my blog's 1 year anniversary! You should definately check out Heather's blog, her creations are beautiful and I would totaly send these her way if she hadn't just sent them to me :)

So I am supposed to choose 5 of my favourite blogs to give these to. Believe me, there are so many blogs I adore and this was very hard for me! But anyway here they are after much concideration and contemplation:

• Julia of Belle Papier
• Kathy of KAT Toys
• Melina of Living Creating and Appreciating
• Jill of InkGenious
• Cassie of Open Ice

Although I do not know all of you personally I always enjoy reading your blogs! You are all very inspiring!

grunge rose

I created this grunge rose back in July. I first saw these beautiful flowers on KAT Toys. She sent me some very helpful instructions and so I just had to try it out! I have only ever seen these made from grungepaper but sadly I haven't got around to trying that stuff yet. Instead I decided to be resourceful! I actually used grungeboard but of course this is much to thick. Ok the secret: I peeled the grungeboard apart! I made thin grunge!
I used crackle paint and some spray to colour my grungeboard. I have been keeping this flower on my desk as a decoration. I have not yet thought of somthing special enough to put it on.

So now it is time to share some of my life adventures! On Wednesday night I left with 3 other friends and we headed off to Carsland campground! It was so FUN! We just got back today and are all quite tired. Not alot of people our age actually go camping. We felt pretty awesome! The freedom of driving there, cooking our own food all on a fire, staying for 2 nights and surviving is all pretty sweet. Hopefully I will get to share some pictures soon but our internet is being incredibly slow. (I had these pics saved in as a draft)

Card Class sneek peek

Ok well I know the pictures are pretty bad but hey, all I had was my cell phone camera :) I made this at work today for an upcomming card class. (still loving my scrap store job!) I was very excited to have the opportunity to design one of the 3 cards for this class and I also put the kits together! In the second picture it is easier to tell that the tag says "happy". I cut this tag out using the tags, bags, boxes and more cartridge for the Cricut machine. You can't really see it but on the left side of the tag I stamped mini calendar numbers.

Supply List:

• ink- ruby red, not quite navy, gable green
• paper- red, Cosmo links, Cosmo logic board, Cosmo dutch girl sophie
• stamps- warmest regards ("birthday"), so very ("happy"), it's a date (calendar #'s)
• other- cricut, doodlebug paperfrills, embroidery floss

Organization Tip 6

So I have been slacking on my plan to share tips all the time but I have finally found somthing worth sharing! Do you see anything new on my desk here?

It is a drawer unit thing! I remember using this for beads and tiny treasures a few years ago but it has been in storage for a while. I decided to get it out and clean it up! As you can see there are still drawers to fill! that means I can buy more stuff! YAY!

In the bottom row of drawers I have all my letter chipboard organized! I have been needing a system because I hate searching through all my letters just to find out I have no "e" or somthing. I divided each bottom drawer into 4 sections and so now each letter has it's own section! I love this so far.

On all the other drawers I used my DYMO machine to label things. You would be surprised how excited I am about this whole organization breakthrough. I can't wait to create!

Cruise layout - Set Sail

This was a quick and simple layout but I love the look of the paint! It is like adding a layer of paper but with a rugged look. If you do not have the colour of paper you want, try mixing some paint! I uesd a piece of corrugated cardboard dipped in paint to make the grey lines behind my title.

New York Trip - Statue of Liberty pg.2

Here is the second Stature of Liberty page! I would have put them in the same post as a 2 page layout but they dont exactly go together. Yes, they have the same colours and subject but the styles are totally different if you know what I mean....

I cut the Statue's shaddow out of some pattern paper. The sticker is from Sticker House Productions. Just like my previous layout I distressed the photos with ink and colour spray. The "freedom" paper around the photo is from the same sheet as I used for my other Liberty layout.

To get the splatter effect I used food colouring mixed with water in a small spray bottle. This worked better for me rather than some type of glimmer mist because it gives a splatter/spray and not a fine mist.

I also included my monument ticket. It has the same colours and I like to include real keepsakes.

New York Trip - Statue of Liberty

This was an incredibly speedy page for me! And by that I mean it only took me a couple hours :) My favourite part is the Statue of Liberty cut out. I allowed it to take over the page by working around it. It is actually a piece of pattern paper! It was oringinally black and white so I lightly inked and sprayed it.

I also inked my photos and dripped some coloured water onto the edges. The journaling was very quick and easy. Just typed and cut apart. I traced the Statue's shape and inked around that area directly from my ink pad. It was easily tidied up with an eraser. This technique gives the shape a short of glow.

Here is a picture of the paper I used. It is from Art Warehouse Danelle Johnson. I made another Liberty layout that goes with this. I will show you how I used the rest of the paper!