My gift to you is my trust in you

What an absolutely stunning kit to work with this month! December's Trust kit is the perfect blend of soft muted tones, feminine prints and symbolism.

When it came time to thinking about trust, and how I gave my trust, how I receive trust, how it impacts my life, I automatically think of my husband. Finding this quote about trust really nailed the concept down for me. It's easy to think externally when it comes to the word trust. We think of people we trust, but what did it say of me?

This quote really said a lot to me about what trust was, particularly when it comes from me. While I often thought externally when I thought of trust, that is, who I trusted, or what I trusted, I decided to think about what it said of me. What existed within me to give that trust? How did that trust impact my life? And the kit really helped me think about that, with its symbolic border sticker/patterned paper, the sentiments on the word art, all of it. Being alone with my husband I can trust myself to be myself, because our commitment to each other runs that deep. After all, that's who we fell in love with - the real him and the real me. Why would I feel a need to be different around him otherwise?

December's Trust kit from Scrapbooking from the Inside Out

Being together makes me truly happy, and maybe that's because I trust him so much. That trust removes any additional weight I may have had to bear at work, or in the public, when I might have to show professionalism, or be more patient than I would have liked. I might have had a hard day just being what I thought I needed to be in particular moments, rather than just being myself. 

Maybe that's why I decided to edge with black this month, because it's a reflection of what's being kept on the outside - the bad day, the bad feelings. And I realized that I don't give my trust easily, but when I do, it can be soft, beautiful and give me so much happiness.

Wisdom and Courage

Hi everyone. I want to tell you about my journey I spent on this layout about Wisdom and Courage.

When I thought about wisdom, as I've said before, I didn't really reflect on my own wisdom or others around me, but what it meant as a whole. So I looked for quotes about wisdom on the internet and found one that spoke to me.

Using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's Wisdom kit

Wisdom is learning to let go when you want to hang on. Courage is learning to hang on when you want to let go. I found this very profound especially given the time I was going through when I made the layout.

I've recently been soul searching in terms of careers and while I absolutely love teaching and training, I came to the realization that I wasn't finding joy in it anymore, at least not in the position I was in. So I searched for a new training position in the department I am in, and in my area, and there just wasn't anything out there for me in training. I knew that I had to change jobs because I was actually getting physically ill from the stress of it. So I let go of my passion for training, the job that originally gave me pure bliss and looked for something new in a new field I had never worked in before. And it was scary. But according to the quote, it was the wise thing to do.

I love all the muted tones that I worked with too. It reflected my somber decision. The peach lightened the page up though, and I think that really reflects the hope I felt in following my decision.

Do you use colours to reflect your mood when scrapbooking too?

Time flies so you've got to make today your day!

I don't know why but Summer seems to fly these days. Have you noticed that too? And then we get into Fall and our lives become hectic, busy and downright chaotic at times.

All the more reason that I needed to sit back, enjoy a cropping day with friends at a somewhat local scrapbook store, and make some layouts so that I don't forget this Summer and the fun I've had.

Made with the Ambition kit from Scrapbooking from the Inside Out

I really love this quote from Princess Diana because it makes so much sense, and it simplifies decisions you have to make at times. So I had to use it for my pictures from Quebec because it agrees with my heart whenever we visit.

What does your heart tell you to do? Go tell me in the comments please, and have a great week!

Guest Designer at The Rubber Cafe - Undeniable fun

I'm delighted to be a guest designer with The Rubber Cafe this month. I first fell in love with their stamps when I saw the new Don't be Wishy Washi stamps.

I'm bringing you my first project for this month using some wonderful stamps by Candy Rosenburg called Vintage Treasures to create background designs on my art journal page. You'll see that I used the ledger stamp and the wonderful old clock stamp in both jet black and sepia ink by Ranger. I then sprayed my page with some glittery peach spray and then lightly sprayed black spray on top to tone down the brightness and add a bit of vintage flair to the page.

I also used the Script Background stamp as well, in sepia, and stamped on the background and also the green ribbon to add a bit of shabby interest there as well.

These stamps are an easy and fun way to add interest and emotion to your art journal pages. Use them on blocks for a full stamp, or hand stamp them to get some of the stamp, but not the full imprint for a more vintage effect. I find that if feels like it's faded that way somehow. Also be sure to stamp on the edges, slightly off the page so that you get a more balanced background for your layout.

I hope you enjoy this art journal layout and try to create something in your art journals at home with these vintage stamps. If you do, be sure to link us up to your art journal page in the comments.

Products used:

The Rubber Cafe stamps:

Vintage Treasures

Script Background

Canson Mixed media journal 9X12

Prima paper scraps

Prima alphabet stickers

Recollections alphabet stickers

String and Twine

Liquitex Modelling Paste

Helmar Acid Free Glue

Helmar Fabric Glue

Helmar 450 Quick Dry Glue

Ranger Dylusions spray in black

Heidi Swapp Color Shine spray in Georgia Peach

Ranger archival ink pads in jet black and sepia

Prima green ribbon

Old dictionary paper

Drywall tape

This is me today...more confident!

I have to say that I'm definitely on a mini kick lately. I've been having loads of fun playing with upcycled materials like cardboard and old canvas. I wanted to make a mini album using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's July Confidence kit, one that reflects what I'm more confident now in my, how shall I put it, mid-life years. 

Because I was working with canvas and paper I made sure to use Helmar's Premium Craft Glue to get everything to adhere to the cardboard, and of course I needed to use some Helmar Fabric Glue and Helmar Zapdots for some extra hold and dimension.

I've definitely learned a few lessons over the years, and I wanted to document them. I really love how this turned out. 

Have you learned any important lessons over the years that you want to take stock of as well? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks and have a great week!

Another peek at my altered book

I've gotten back to art journaling and I'm loving it! So much texture, so much play. Especially when you start without knowing what the ending will look like.

I used lots of gesso, book paper, Prima papers, lace, Helmar Decoupage Craft Paste and more to get the texture I wanted on the page. And then I pull out my Shimmerz....love them! Had to use some lovely greens and pinks. My favourite colour combination lately.

Hope you enjoyed this look into my altered book art journal!

A joyful transformation!

Happy long weekend to my Canadian friends! It's hard to believe that the end of June is right around the corner! Where did it go? I've been spending more time in my craft room thanks to some cooler weather and I got to pull out some photos that were a blast from the past.

Sometimes the quality of your snapshots are professional grade, but you still want to use them. I thought all the pictures of my niece in her toddler years were gone. I managed to find some and decided to scrapbook them since Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's June kit was about transformation, and she's now a teenager.

She's grown into such a special young woman, and I forget sometimes how much time has gone by and how much she's changed since she was a sweet toddler.

Using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's June Transformation kit

Because these photos are so precious to me, I made sure to use my Helmar's Zapdots and Helmar's Professional Acid-free Glue so that they will stay true for a long time.

Scrapbooking this made me think about how often we don't pull out our cameras for every day shots because they don't seem like special moments. But if you've lost photos of entire years of someone's childhood, due to flood or fire, or worse, lost someone you love, wouldn't you want to have as many pictures of moments spent with them?

Take all the pictures you can of the people you love now, even the every day moments, because they are moments that you'll treasure for always.

Getting mixed up with Gauche Alchemy

This past week, the Helmar Hotties had the opportunity to play with a lovely mixed media kit from Gauche Alchemy. It was a wonderful array of old magazines papers, newspapers, beads, lace, sequin waste and more.

You can do so much with a kit like this with a little imagination. I personally fell in love with the dance pictures that I found on a couple of pages torn from a magazine. They envisaged ballet in different media, from photography, and fine arts. I immediately knew that I wanted them to be the focus of my canvases. Well, canvas, really, since I worked on only one at first. I knew later that I wanted the finished piece to have a sister piece so that they could be hung together on our walls.

I used quite a bit of Helmar adhesive on these two canvases. I used Helmar Decoupage & Craft Paste to adhere the papers onto the canvas. I used Helmar Fabric Glue for most of the fabrics. For some of the beads and buttons, I used Helmar Gemstone Glue and Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.

The sister piece is the same size, except portrait instead of landscape. Here I used the dash of colour from the watercolour as a highlight...

I had a lot of fun playing with this kit, and I know that Gauche Alchemy is an amazing place for getting your art journaling and mixed media kits and products. I go to them time and again for my sequin waste or punchinella.

I hope you've enjoyed your weekend as much as I have mine!

Transforming You and Me into Us

Hi everyone! I'm just sharing a quick layout that I put together using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's June Transformation kit. It's juicy and fun with Glitz's Uncharted Waters featured in this kit.

It was lots of fun to play with especially when I saw the gorgeous papers and the fabric flowers! Yummy!

I'm finally getting used to using transparencies, and I love how they add something special to the layout. Of course I used all Helmar Premium Craft Glue for most of the layout, and Helmar Fabric Glue for the flowers.

I also pulled out my die-cutting machine since I hadn't used it in a while to cut out some additional embellishments for the page. Do you use a cutting machine? If so, what's your favourite, go-to die? I'd love to know, so leave me your fave in the comments.

Have a great week!

It's a Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the SFTIO Design Team Blog Hop! We are showcasing layouts by the current design team using the June kit TRANSFORMATION. If you are just arriving at my blog, make sure you go to the beginning at Melissa's blog as you won't want to miss out on all the gorgeous inspiration. This hop is special as we say goodbye to some very wonderful ladies, who have been part of the SFTIO family for over a year and will continue to be forever family. We are also saying HELLO to our new TEEN COLLECTIVE. What is a "Teen Collective"? 

We are combining the Teen Designers from CreateU with our Design Team at SFTIO. This is a wonderful opportunity to have each of these girls give their perspective of the monthly emotion. Each Teen Designer will be joining us for one month as a Guest Designer but, will be a constant and active "voice" on our website and forum. 

Ready to begin?

Here's a layout I recently did using this wonderful Transformation kit! I had a lot of fun layering the papers and making this beautiful whale the highlight of the layout! I really do believe that you need to choose happiness to transform your life into something positive and wonderful!

Created with the Transformation kit, modelling paste, Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue

Without change, there would be no butterflies!

We also have a fabulous prize! Leave a comment below letting me know what change you've made recently to transform your life in some way by Saturday, 9 p.m. pacific time. The winner will be announced by Monday on Facebook and the SFTIO blog. 
 
Life is definitely more fun when you make your own future, and transform it with your own choices, rather than just let life happen to you.

Thanks for swinging by! Make sure to visit Scrapbooking from the Inside Out. We have a FREE Inspiration Page giving you loads of ideas using our current emotion, a welcoming forum and you can grab your own kit here!

Next on your hopping adventure is Heather. Click here to be taken directly to her blog. 

Self reflection - asking myself why

Every now and then I think it's important to take some time and reflect on your own personality, your history and what has brought you to where you are today. So I did this layout doing just that.

I used my Silhouette Cameo for the first time on a full 12X12 sheet cutting out the question marks and popping them up off the page, and creating depth as well with my Helmar Zapdots White Square 1/2" by cutting them to sizes that I needed. 

Using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's Curiosity kit

I also used Helmar Quick-Fix Adhesive Runner to layer the papers and photo. It was a very fun project to make in a very short amount of time because the cutting machine did most of the work.

Take some time this weekend to create a layout or art journal page about yourself and think about what might have brought you to where you are today. If you do, link me up in the comments. I'd love to see!

A little art journal fun!

It seems like forever since I've worked in my altered book art journal. The timing just seemed right, and I really wanted to play with all my new Shimmerz and Blingz. What fun I had!!

Layered flower using a die-cut baby wipe (previously used)

Shimmerz are just positively juicy!

Use your scraps and packaging in your art journals

Have a great week and play in your journals!

Happy Moments Scrapbook Layout

Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly. 

 LEO TOLSTOY, War and Peace

Using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's May Curiosity kit

The second time around...but on new paths

You never know where life is going to take you, unless you make the decision that you will direct your own life. I've always believe that those that fail to plan, plan to fail. So imagine my surprise when I ended up loving a hobby that I tried out in my teen years and didn't enjoy.

Sometimes the timing isn't right, but sometimes it's our own mindset I think. We look at things differently as we get older and our value set changes a bit.

Take scrapbooking for me. As a teen, I thought it was all about putting snippets of my life's experiences in one place to recall them and have them together.Were the snippets important to me? I honestly can't remember. But at the time, I thought they were things I didn't want getting lost in the rest of the junk in my room, so I put them into a large scrapbook/sketchbook. And I quickly gave up on it once I started experiencing life in a way that didn't have little tickets, or papers, or things attached to them to put into the book.

But now, my life is more about the everyday and not the events, or the moments. And I want to remember the everyday little things that I did and enjoyed, and maybe that means I don't have anything to put on the page, like a ticket, or a photo. But of more importance to me is to put down my feelings on the page. I don't want to lose touch with that.

Using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's May Curiosity kit

So for me, getting involved in this hobby for a second time in my life is almost like taking a new path. I'm still on my feet and still moving forward, but the scenery is different, and so is the enjoyment of the journey.

Have you ever gone back to a hobby or recreational activity that at first you hated, but now you adore? Tell me about it in the comments! 

I hope you have an amazing long weekend! 

Do you see what I see?

Dwell in the world of possibilities and you'll be sure to tip the scales of life your way for sure!

I dwell in Possibility --
A fairer House than Prose --
More numerous of Windows --
Superior -- for Doors --

Of Chambers as the Cedars --
Impregnable of Eye --
And for an Everlasting Roof
The Gambrels of the Sky --

Of Visitors -- the fairest --
For Occupation -- This --
The spreading wide of narrow Hands
To gather Paradise --

by Emily Dickinson

Created using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's May Curiosity kit

Created using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's May Curiosity kit

Here's my happy place...where's yours?

You know that feeling...the one where you feel like you could just shout from the roof tops, feel like you are on top of the world? Do you have that feeling in mind right now? Think about it...really feel it again. Hold onto that feeling for a little bit more...Ready?

Now, imagine that you've just received some amazing news, or gotten that raise, or booked that amazing vacation for your family. I bet now you have that feeling even stronger in mind. Are you feeling the excitement? Anxious for it to all be real?

You've just found your real happy place. Now, when things get low, and sometimes they will, head back to that happy place and focus on it. Really think about your happy place and feel as if it's already happened.

Art journal page using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's April Fortune kit

Now you are ready to tackle that low mood and get on with being excited about life's possibilities! We never know what life will hold, but I can tell you something that the future has in store.

Scrapbooking from the Inside Out has an amazing kit coming in May! It's true! Are you curious?

Something to celebrate!

Sometimes it's difficult to find something to celebrate. Especially when you live in this area and get a freezing rain and snow storm in the middle of April. And it's still on the ground too. So it can be challenging to look around and be positive about your surroundings. 

I've been challenging myself to "tip the scale" when it comes to having a positive outlook. I fully believe that if you are focused on positive things, you see more and more positivity in your life. And sometimes it's just a matter of increasing your outlook by 1% to get that scale tipping to being more positive than negative. 

So I recently decided that I would create art that would help me be more positive, such as my recent art journal page I did for Scrapbooking from the Inside Out, and a positive affirmation mini album using Prima's Songbird collection.

Using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's April Fortune kit

You can read the positive journaling

My positive affirmation mini using two paper bags and Prima Songbird

And I have some pretty amazing news to share as well today.

It's going to be an amazing year, because I've been selected to join a group of very talented ladies on the 2013 Helmar Design Team. It's such a thrill to be on this team, because I love their products and am anxious to challenge myself to use their adhesives and products differently.

Needless to say, this boosted my positive outlook and I really am in celebration mode, ready to continue to tip the scale every day and reap the benefits.

I hope you've had a great weekend so far, and continue to be positive about the future. What are you celebrating today?

First World Problems

You know you have them too. We all take our lives for granted sometimes, and that's why I decided to scrapbook one of my first world problems using Scrapbooking from the Inside Out's April Fortune kit. After all, it seems rather appropriate that when you think about fortune, you think about what you have. So I thought about that, and had these pictures from a fairly recent vacation, and a rather interesting dinner party that my family had that evening in Prince Edward Island, so I scrapbooked it with tongue in cheek.

A seafood dinner on Prince Edward Island

The East Coast of Canada is truly my happy place

Leave a comment with one of your recent "funny" first world problems and how you feel about it now. I'd love to hear about your experience too!