Happy Together - CTMH Brushed Collection

It's been hot, and that's reminded me to continue scrapbooking our cruise photos from last year. I had this beautiful collection from Close to My Heart called Brushed. It's a Bring-Back-My-Pack collection so it's only available for a short time. I decided to get scrapping with it and selected a few flowers I had on hand as well as some CTMH acrylic hearts and Julep accessories. I hope you like it. I'll have a process video linked below. You can purchase the collection from my website here until July 31, 2020: https://kikihalbert.closetomyheart.ca/ctmh/promotions/campaigns/2006-bbmp-brushed.aspx

Relationship Goals and a New Challenge Jar

So glad you could be here with me today. I wanted to share a beautiful layout that I made of my inlaws when we last visited in October. Boy that seems so far away now, and it really is. But the feelings from these photos are just as fresh in my mind as ever. I didn't have the perfect background, and I didn't have the perfect lighting but it was the perfect moment to take these snapshots.

Snapshots. We all have them. Do you scrapbook them or think that they aren't worthy of a page. Because I did. And then I realized that I have boxes of snapshots with no story attached to them, and I needed to document them. So I started here.

If you want to see how I made this page, using the sketch I found at Cookin' Up Creations, then check out the process video below.

And be sure to subscribe to the channel to see how I'm going to be using my new Challenge Jar (which is really just a mug). I explain all about how that will work in this video below, where I create a homemade scrapbook kit.

Scrap the Boys May Challenge: Process Video

Hi everyone! I have a quick process video for you today. I recently found a great scrapbook challenge blog called Scrap the Boys. Here's their monthly challenge for May called Baby It's Hot Outside!

You can click on the image above to get to the challenge. And here's my take on the challenge this month:

I used some older Carta Bella papers from the Beach Boardwalk collection kit, and some chipboard from Creative Embellishments. Check out the process video below for a quick look at how to scraplift this layout from the sketch I used.

Back to my roots with art journaling on a scrapbook layout!

It's been a while since I pulled out texture paste, and glass bead gel. It's been forever since I used roller stamps and just randomly stamped around a page mark making. And it FELT SO GOOD! I know that being back to this style of scrapbooking and creativity is right for me, because it speaks to my heart.

I can't wait for you to see my latest creation here:

If you want to create beautiful pages, watch my process and learn new techniques, then start now by subscribing to my YouTube channel so that you don't miss any new projects.

A Masculine Layout with Feminine Touches? YES!

It's been a beautiful weekend here in the Pacific Northwest. Hot and sunny! I hope you enjoyed yours! My husband and I celebrated 15 years of marriage this week, and he bought me some lovely gifts to be used in my craft room. I cannot wait until my new project case arrives. I'll be able to craft more freely, being able to bring incomplete projects from one room to the next, so that I can finish them while watching TV or when I want to be in the dining room instead of isolated from my family. It's been a wonderful stress reliever, being able to get into doing something creative, while this pandemic rolls on. It's given me stress relief, my own space away when I feel overwhelmed, and just a place to be me, on my own. Once in a while we need that, right?

I know that very soon, I'm going to throw art journaling back into the mix as well, because it gives me a voice. Scrapbooking is wonderful, don't get me wrong! But I find it hard to journal out emotions on pretty pages about events that have nothing to do with how I am feeling in THIS moment. That needs another outlet; enter art journaling. When I did art journaling in the past, it was an act of pure creativity, abandoning perfection and an idea of what the end product should look like. And I could just sit, and add layer after layer, being mindful, and work through emotions in my own head, in my own space. That's how titles for pages would often come out. Something random would pop into my head, and end up on the page. Now that I'm reading about Morning Pages, I realize that I had been doing them in my own way in the past as art journal pages.

Now though, I'm scrapbooking again because I have so many memories to get down on pages. After my mother died almost two and a half years ago, I realized that there were so many of her pictures that I had seen, but I didn't know the story behind them. And there was no journaling. My mother had been a bit of a scrapbooker in her single days but decorated her pages, and not done any storytelling. And I inherited these pages, and that changed how I look at scrapbooking. Originally I had viewed it as another beautiful form of creative expression, art really. Now I see them as so much more. A legacy. Someone will read these once I'm gone. I need to tell the story. So you will definitely see a transformation in my pages in the near future. I will still do artsy pages believe me. I have too many beautiful embellishments to use. 

Which takes me to my latest layout. Here's a masculine layout with feminine touches. Who says that scrapbooking the boys and men in our lives has to be snips and snails and puppy dog tails? It can be an eclectic mix of metals and woods, along side flowers and flourishes. Want to see what I mean? Here's the process video for you. I hope you enjoy it and if you do, please subscribe and share it with friends.

So check in with me next post to see a storytelling page and see if you think I'm on the right track.

The West Coast life is giving me creative vibes!

Hello everyone! It's so great to be back on my blog again. I've really missed being about to chat with you all about my creative life. A lot has happened since I posted last. I'm living on the West Coast now with my husband, dog and two cats. How did that happen? Well I took an early retirement from my job, and got to purging what we didn't need in our townhouse, bought a new vehicle and drove across the country. What an amazing trip that was! I fully intend on scrapbooking some of the photos we took very soon and get to making that album.

We've been here now for a little less than four years, and it's been the best move possible for us. It brought us closer to both our parents. My mother moved out here about 3 years before we did. And of course, my husband Paul was missing the Pacific Northwest life and his parents. I'm so thrilled that we finally got to move here for his sake. I know that he missed his family dearly, and until I took my retirement, we really had no plans to move out here due to our finances and being stuck in the day-to-day.

What have this move and these four years taught me? Hold onto your dreams. Heck, have a dream! I realized that in terms of where I wanted our family to be in the near future, five years, ten years down the road...I didn't have any clue! Now if I had given it some serious thought after we got married, and we sat down to discuss our family plans, we probably would have been out here much sooner. That in itself has taught me that you need to take time to actually dream. Don't just daydream when it's convenient, but actually make time to dream, and work toward that dream. It's also taught me that no dream is too big. Honestly. I would never have thought that we could make a move almost five thousand kilometres away.

So now I dream a little more. I still have to try and make time for it. And I have to silence my inner critic who thinks it's silly to dream. We all have one, right? Now to set those dreams into motion, I have to set some goals. Ugh. I really hate that word. It sounds like work. But goals aren't work. Not really. They are just this abstract thing you want to accomplish, but they themselves don't mean any work. What did someone say about goals and plans? That if you don't create a plan, with tasks (work), then it's just a dream? That is not going to be my life any more. I am going to give myself work, even if it's difficult, to reach for my dream.

Here I am again, on my blog, starting on the plan. I'm back sharing some of my latest scrapbook layouts, perhaps some art journal pages, and more creative works. What's my dream? Honestly, I'm still working on nailing it down. Right now it's a lot like a feeling, a yearning. I know that it feels right when I get back to creating. So for now I'm going to say that I'm dreaming about being more free to create.

I've ventured into different ways to explore that creativity, including a new YouTube channel. And the videos will be primarily scrapbook and art journal process videos. But I'll be back here regularly posting updates on my creative life, twists and turns it might take, and give my creativity another voice by sharing it with you.

I'd love to hear your opinion on my latest videos as I get started out on YouTube, and would love it if you'd subscribe or share them. Thanks for sticking around and I look forward to your comments.

I'll see you again soon with a creative update. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy (look for a blog post on the current pandemic soon)!

Vacation on the Coast - what a sparkling delight!

This past weekend I finally got around to scrapbooking a family vacation that I took with my husband to Oregon. It was such an amazing trip. I instantly fell in love with the Oregon Coast, with it's rugged coastline, sandy beaches and lighthouses. So when I opened up my Carta Bella Beach Boardwalk collection pack, from Tina's Scrapbooking Creations, I knew that it would be delightful for pictures of the trip.

Of course I had to use some Prima embellishments like flowers, some bark butterflies and sparkling gems.

And let's not forget just how yummy things turn out when you spray them with Lindy Stamp Gang Starburst sprays which give a beautiful two-toned effect. I used it on the title, and also on the butterflies for a little glittery accent.

And I got plenty of use from my Silhouette Cameo as well. So glad that I got it since I can usually find shapes and die cuts I need to go along with things.

I can't wait to share more with you from my vacation album. If you have used any of these products, I'd love to see how you used them. I love learning new techniques and gather new ideas.

Have a great weekend!

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!

Snow boots and more fun!

Hi all! Hope you are enjoying your weekend. We finally have resolved the leaking water issue, thanks to the January thaw, which totally threw us for a loop this past week. Once the problem was dealt with by the rental company, I could relax and find some time to do a couple layouts.

I started one last weekend but hadn't finished it before the end of the evening, and the same really goes for the second layout too I guess. I started using this amazing paper, and then realized that I had no snowflake embellishments. Tragic! So of course I had to take a trip to my local scrapbook store and get some.

 Originally I hadn't thought of scrapbooking this photo because it was blown out a bit. They I decided that it was too cute not to. So I started scrapbooking this onto some kraft-coloured paper that I stamped for some additional texture, and filled the right side with some border papers. I like how it offset the cluster in a simple way.

The next layout made me realize that I really like dark backgrounds. They just really make your page pop.

We bought our dog Nanouk some booties for the winter, because he injured his foot on some ice we had a few weeks ago. Once he had them on though, he didn't want to move. I practically had to drag him into the backyard to test them out. Made me laugh! I really loved this paper collection that I picked up at Tina's Scrapbooking  and of course, I had to go back there to get the additional embellishments. I found some white snowflake buttons, and some gorgeous Studio Calico wood snowflakes. I touched them with some Prima chalk ink edgers for added punch.

But the real story that I'm excited about is this Liquitex glass bead gel I used through a snowflake stencil. It added subtle texture and then once dry I hit the beads with some Prima chalk ink edgers in light blue and white.

I love how they just add something extra to the already complex design on the page.

I also bought some crackle paste this week, and I'm definitely going to be posting the results of trying that out. I'm thinking that might go into my art journal first, to experiment.

So I'm heading into the craftroom today to do a little organizing and also play a bit with my new mediums. Have an amazing weekend and remember to link me up to your galleries so that I can leave you some love.

Loads of productive fun!

What a Saturday I had! It was fun, perhaps even a bit manic, but it was still very productive. I went to a scrapbook crop at Auntie Em's Scrapbooking store in Cornwall with quite a few friends, and got my scrap on! I was really looking forward to working with some products I received just a few weeks before...from Australia!

I'm a guest designer for Mad About Scrappin' this month and the owner Leanne sent me a wonderful box full of great goodies to play with. I chose a few papers from Teresa Collins. I cannot resist damask, in any shape or form, so that was a clear winner for me. I also selected some sweet flowers, some jute ribbon, and charms. By the time the weekend rolled around, I was really ready to dive in and create a layout or two using these beauties.

I wanted to do a sophisticated layout with a self portrait I had taken a while back. I really loved this vintage clock paper, and I wanted to jazz it up just a bit. I used the beautiful patterned paper and fussy cut it to fit over a doily, and put down some jute ribbon, some lace, a couple flowers, bling, and some glass elements.

I really love how it turned out. I really loved the pink flowers too. Two-toned flowers are so much more fun.

I've been wanting to scrapbook these pictures for over a year now. We took a trip with my father-in-law to the Royal Canadian Mint last summer, and we each took the opportunity to have a photo taken with us holding a real gold bar. These pictures needed something neutral, and the papers worked out great!

I wanted the photos to be the focus and be surrounded with bling, to go along with the gold. I also cut out some more of the patterned paper and added the pieces as embellies.

That wasn't all I accomplished at the crop, but I'll leave that for another post later this week. I've been a very busy lady, and I've got lots more to tell you on the weekend, so come back soon!

I scrap because it make ME happy!

So often I get the question asking why I decided to start doing paper scrapbook layouts, considering that I don't have children, don't have a legacy to leave to anyone, especially since I've been doing digital scrapbooking for over 7 years. While it's true that I don't have adorable baby pictures, or pictures of events I want to remember years from now, my every day moments are just as important to scrapbook. I recently read an article by a woman who is obviously wise beyond her years who addressed the issue of creating scrapbooks for yourself. Not your children, your family, but you. And it really resonated with me. So I decided that instead of scrapbooking my fave photos of my dog, or my cats, or my husband, it was time I showed up on the page, and not feel guilty about it.

This weekend, I did just that, and I scrapped a large 4X6 headshot of myself. Yikes! Seeing my face, that large, staring back at me from the page was intimidating. I thought others might think it vain to use this photo. But I did it anyway. And I love it! Really love it!

And of course, since I had the stencils and modelling paste out, I couldn't resist creating an art journal page on a 12 inch piece of cardstock. I love how it turned out, given that I didn't bring a lot of my art journalling materials with me to the crop.

I guess what I'm saying in this post, is that sometimes, even if you DO have children and family that you share your scrapbooks with, do a few pages every now and then that are just for you. It's very liberating, and gives you permission to try things that you've never done, without worrying about having the pages judged by others.

Now, I know I promised you photos of the mixed media journal I did at the Prima workshop, but I'm going to reserve posting them just yet. I still want to finish up the cover, and complete the journal before I post more about it.

Have an amazing weekend everyone and for those of you that are in the path of Frankenstorm, stay safe!!

Serious fun this weekend with Prima!

This weekend was such great fun! Some wild and crazy women got together at Auntie Em's Scrapbook and Beading shop in Cornwall, Ontario for a fun-filled weekend with Cari Fennell. I have to say that personally I make it my mission to attend each and every Prima workshop that is within my area if I can. They have some of the best educators for scrapbooking and mixed media. Cari is a special treat though, throwing her own flavour and excitement into every class.

We worked with the gorgeous Firefly collection from Prima, and I had no doubt that I would love that class on Saturday. I have a love of all these soft and dreamy, especially watercolour-like papers. If you haven't seen this collection, you have to see it in person. No pictures I've seen online do it justice. We worked on two layouts on Saturday, and for the first time, I scrapbooked layouts without pictures. Eeek! Totally out of my comfort zone, since I usually work with picture first, and then select my papers, embellies, etc. But they did turn out quite wonderfully I think. Here are the layouts, waiting for just the right pictures.

I was in flower cluster heaven! A picture should cover the cut journal scalloped card.

Yummy layers!

I admit to being bow challenged.

Such juicy layers!

Even though I have been scrapbooking for a while, I learned so much in this course. Use those beautiful journal cards to create more dimension on your page. Cut them up and use them on the edges of your layouts for a little cluster yumminess. I also learned that no matter how ugly your bows are (and mine are definitely lacking in romance), your layouts can still be beautiful.

I cannot wait to find the right pictures for these layouts!

I'll be back later this week to share more from the weekend, including the Donna Downey Mixed Media canvas journal we worked on, so stay tuned. There was plenty of madness, and a whole lot of fun this weekend at Emma's. I'm looking forward to more.

Crop & Create Ottawa was an incredible experience

Friday morning after arriving home from our vacation at the cottage, I sat down to my laptop as usual and perused the usual...Facebook, Google Reader. I thought about how lovely our vacation was, and how even though I packed up some scrapbook and art journal materials, I hardly did anything creative while up there.

And then I got a notification for a group I'm in. It had a new post, and I checked it out right away. I was thrilled to read that the owner of Loonie 4 scrapbooking was looking for someone to take her spot at Crop & Create in Ottawa, and it started that day! She was offering it to the first person who replied, and I had to say, I scooped that baby up so quick! The owner contacted me right away to arrange the transfer of registration.

I had only found out about Crop & Create coming to Ottawa in August, and it was already sold out. So this opportunity to go was such a nice surprise! I cannot say enough about the owner's generosity in giving this wonderful gift! It just goes to show that women in the scrapbooking community are truly a reflection of the best qualities we possess. I contacted my friends to let them know I'd be there. It turned out that we were taking a class together too, and we got to sit together for the cropping on Saturday.

Here are a few layouts that I did during my adventure this weekend:

This layout was created for one of the challenges

I love using Fall pictures for warm layouts

My fave layout from the weekend

Learning from Vicki, Kelly and Catherine was a real pleasure. I learned so many techniques, such as tissue encasing, tape binding, and making an adorable fridge magnet from a Maya Road bottle cap and sticker sheets. (Catherine it truly was the best make & take EVER!)

I really hope that they come back to Ottawa again in the near future. It won't be the last time I go to an event they've organized. The location was ideal, and the organizing team had everything running so seamlessly that we quite often forgot about how much work went into it all. If you get a chance to attend a Crop & Create, take it! You will not regret it, and you'll be hooked and waiting for the next event.

Time to unwind...and news!

I'm ready. So ready to take a vacation with my husband away from the hustle and bustle of my job, the city, life. We are both eager to spend some real time together to enjoy each other's company and get out into nature. Just thinking about it brought my mind back to a hike we did together not all that long ago. So I scrapped it as my submission for this week's The Color Room layout. Here's the palette:

I love that he doesn't mind having pages with his photos surrounded by flowers. He's rugged but sentimental I guess.

And have you heard the news? I'm the new blog coordinator for Creative Scrappers. It's such a thrill to be working with these talented ladies. Mad skills I tell you. Mad. I'm sure going to enjoy soaking in all the inspiration!

So while I am away, I'll definitely be bringing my art journal materials with me, some scrapbook supplies too, and I'll be letting loose the creativity that is locked up inside me right now. I'm quite sure that I'll have several more nature-inspired layouts coming.

Hope you have an amazing week!

I scraplifted... myself! Digital to Paper

I used to think that I would never scrapbook using paper. Digitally I could resize photos and crop them in an instant. I could resize elements to fit the layout. I could layer and shadow and make anything look realistic. But there is one thing that I learned today that I never understood until today. Despite being able to create a layout that looks virtually like a paper layout, it was not as satisfying as creating the same layout with paper.

Oh sure, I wish I had an abundance of items on hand to almost replicate what I did digitally, but the accomplishment I feel after having spent time looking through my stash for the right paper, the right spray, the perfect elements, well it's awesome. I sat down and looked at what I had in front of me, and I used what I had on hand, and what I didn't, I manage to improvise. And I love the final product.

Here's the original layout done about a year ago, digitally using Photoshop CS3:

It was definitely a challenge making this layout using a variety of elements from different designers and trying to get a cohesive feeling from it. I really loves the final product. That's why I decided to scraplift it. And here's the result (click the photo for a larger image):

I loved working with the leaf skeletons and the different flowers, and ribbons. I had a lot of fun, winding that rope through the title as well. I had done it digitally before but this was a first for paper.

It's not an exact replica obviously. I took a two photo layout and made it one photo. I changed the title location. I used slightly different colours. But I love it. I'm definitely going to put this one in a shadow box and frame it. I love this photo, and remembering the day and how perfect the light was.

I really hope you think about scraplifting yourself and seeing how you can change something up, especially if your style has changed over the years.

Hope you had a good weekend, and stay tuned for more fun later this week!

Twice as nice

A few posts back, I told you about my scrapping day at Auntie Em's in Cornwall. When I went to the crop, I really didn't have a few select photos to choose from to scrapbook. I had quite a few prints with me from our latest trip to Quebec. I had already scrapped one, but I thought I'd pull out a couple more that I liked and make a more elaborate page with them.

Only once I got home did I realize that I had already scrapped one of the photos with the same Prima Song Bird collection. At first I thought "Doh!" but then I realized that I guess that says that I really love that photo, and cherish that moment. So it's not a foible after all. It's just twice as nice.

Have you ever made more than one layout using the same photo? On purpose? What were your reasons?

Weekend fun...I need another weekend to recoup

Who knew that scrapbooking all day could be so tiring? I certainly didn't. But I will tell you, it was totally worth the 1.5 hr drive, and the Sunday to rest and recover. Visiting Auntie Em's Scrapbooking store in Cornwall was the most fun I have had in a long time. It was a blast! And I got so much done, both projects and learning. 

Prima was sponsoring this crop and provided a beautiful goodie bag for our donation. And I did most of my projects using what I got from that bag of scrapbooking goodness. 

Of course I had to bring a notebook with me to alter. So I used the Prima Annalee paper we got, as well as just a few of the flowers, some Prima crystals, and lace.

Altered Composition Notebook

 And of course, I had to try my hand at a tag. This one uses Prima's Songbird stamp and Prima flowers, as well as Annalee paper that I distressed on the edges.

Art tag

 Then I pulled out some of the Moulin Rouge papers, and more flowers to scrap my dog Nanouk. He's so photogenic!

And last but not least, I used another Annalee paper and fussy cut my husband and I out of a picture that had a busy background, and did a layout of our latest trip to Quebec. Gotta love the Starbucks at the Chateau Frontenac!

I also did a layout using the Song bird collection of papers, flowers, alphas, etc. that I brought to the crop. I'll show that one off a little later.

I'm so glad that I attended the crop because I found a wonderful store (somewhat local) and met some amazing ladies that day. It was a long day but so worth it in the end!

Oh so romantic Quebec!

This past week I had printed off a few photos at Costco with the intention of actually scrapbooking them, rather than be satisfied with only digital copies of the pictures, and some digital layouts. And I really wanted to scrapbook our last visit to Quebec with my husband's father. He took some really nice photographs of us, which we rarely get, and it was high time to have something of the two of us on paper.

I really like this photograph of the two of us, ready to head out on another day, our last in Quebec, just inside the walls. There were tons of potted flowers hanging from the walls, and old lamps and buildings. It just oozes romance in Quebec. Hence the title of the page.

I used the Song Bird collection from Prima, primarily because it's so soft and romantic, and I happened to stock up on it when it was released. I love the colour scheme and the delicate patterns.

 The only thing that I'm not thrilled with is that Costco doesn't print small prints. The smallest print size is 4X6 inches. That's okay, but I have to consider how I'm going to crop the photo afterwards. So I printed this one off my inkjet printer at home instead.

I'd really like to work with some Instagram photos and some of the cute sizes, like 3X3 inches, with a small polaroid-like frame. I'm on the hunt for an online company that does it.

The bottom cluster. I had to use a bit of pink!

Do you scrapbook romantic pictures? Do you frame them, or just keep them in an album? And if you know of an online print company that prints odd-sized photos and ships to Canada, I'd really love to hear about them.

Have an amazing Sunday and I hope you all have a great week ahead of you!