and...

We have also received the new spring edition of Canadian Scrapbooker here at the store...get your copy before they are gone. They always sell out!

New Stuff in Store

We are starting to get in new stuff..neat new stuff.  I find it amazing how product gets introduced over the years. I often find that after you have been scrapbooking for a long while, some of the product is recycled, but reinvented! Just like fashion...

Some great things we have received in store...

Goals...

Some time ago, i challenged you to create that goal list...remember?  The one where you are supposed to write your, "pie in the sky"  goals?  Well, i recently completed my second one. If you recall, the first one i did when i was in college, and i haven't looked for it...i just redid it.  This layout now sits above my desk where my goals are in front of me, reminding me, envisioning me day after day, moment after  moment...they will give me constant inspiration and cajoling to get 'er done.

The last list was 100, this one, 80.  

You know they say...if you write your goals down they are more likely to materialize.  Here's to materialization...wherever 'you' may be and whenever 'you' may come around!

Etch a Layout toniGht

The sketch was last week and tonight is the layout.  This is what i had in mind when i sketched. I really love doing pocket pages, they are great when you go on a trip and have all those pamphlets, tickets and postcards that just don't fit anywhere else, yet you don't want to throw out.

  

Week 8

We got it up and running around...here it is...

Maybe its because of Valentine's Day or the sentimentality of old age... but this week, create a card about what keeps you going. What inspires you to push ahead, keep moving, and just doing the things we do day in and day out? I took and trimmed a piece of the KI Memories' Love, Elsie self-adhesive 'cloth' paper for my card this week. That self-adhesive stuff works like a charm!! This time, I tilted the card to give myself a mini landscape to work with. Using great big Making Memories letters, I spelled out 'love' as my card's focal point. Then I wrote a bit in the middle and doodling tiny dots around the letters. Et voila!

Brown

A brown layout....sure, it is not entirely brown, but lots of brown and brown hues.  

A comfort colour!  From our last week's colour brown entry...

Problems

I don't like to use the word problem, i like to use the word 'opportunity', 'situation' or other. Problem conjures an unfixable state, however i think at this time, we have to use - problem!

We have been having some difficulties with a computer, therefore our weekly 'deck of me' from monday did not get posted. We will get it posted as soon as we can and want to apologize for any inconvenience.

Stay tuned for the 'brown layout' though, which will be posted later tonight!

A Challenge for you

Albeit we did receive new product at the store this past week, "A Shore Thing" by Imaginisce and some other product, i wanted to give you hopefully a new idea...I am working on a project i am really really excited about, but it is not complete yet. However, the new idea, is still not that.

I was at a funeral this evening, they are not uncommon in my life, nonetheless. A friend wrote a letter to his dido and had his cousin read it at the eulogy. It was an inspirational letter, complete with intention, feeling and future goals. He stated in his letter to his dido, that he motivated him to dance, with his appreciation for the culture, music, dance and heritage and that he had been there throughout with modesty, dignity and respect. And that on the 2009 tour to Eastern Europe he would be there again, this time, in spirit watching over his grandson and the ensemble with pride and belonging.


Although not a new idea per se, a challenge to you. Write a letter to someone you know who has guided you with a seed of thought to be a better person and do something more. And with that letter place it on a page with a photo of them - a commemoration to that individual and their being, for being in your life as Chris's dido was in his.

Vichnaya Pamiat Pan Sumka

Memory Eternal

Thank you

Tonight i wanted to thank you all for the support you have shown me over the last two years. At the beginning of this month i celebrated 2 years at the store. I find it absolutely amazing that so many people have supported me and offered so many kind words. I can only hope i continue to reach your needs and desires as well as continue to grow in your eyes as a reliable scrapbooking, card making and paper crafting source. You truly have been an inspiration to me and i am honoured that you choose my store.
Thank you

Sketch it

So this week is the sketch. I hope you are able to see it relatively well as this was the best i could get of this image i sketched. The small box at the right is where you can place a photo and those rectangular things all over the page - well, you will have to wait until next week to see what i meant with them. I definitely have something in mind with this sketch.
Have a good evening.

Colour Challenge

I really challenged myself last week with that quote and although i liked the quote i am still not positive on the outcome of the layout. So, this week i am moving to something slightly easier - colours again. I like colours; colours abound everywhere in life and so too when you look at a colour and it embarks an emotion in life, this is the case for colours in layouts.
Let us work with brown this week:
Brown: brown can imply genuineness; calmness, and soothing feelings. A colour of warmth and nature, brown signifies simplicity and comfort, reliability and stability.
In general, a warm comfortable colour. A lot of my layouts contain brown and so next week will be a brown layout.

Week 7

This week, think about something you're doing or have done that you're proud of... Could be as simple as staying on top of the laundry to paying it forward to someone else; maybe it is something you're doing for yourself or something you've accomplished. Either way - create a card for your 'Deck of Me.' I took patterned paper, ledger-style and adhered it to my card. Then I added a little piece of that fantastic Queen & Co fuzzy felt that already has a sticky backing. I played a bit with the edges of the card, making a fun little border using just a black pen and a white pen - doodling always adds a little personality to your art! To finish it off, I journalled just a sentence of what I'm proud of this week.

New Stuff in Store

We have been receiving new product at the store and isn't it amazing how soft colours will lift the spirit as a sign of spring?
We have new Imaginise, new Making Memories and more. While Imaginise is soft and spring like, Making Memories is bold and striking, the papers have also cut the edge as they continue to create die cut papers and edged patterns!

Getting There...

i am close to being caught up...i was going to take a photo of my valentines that i gave to my husband and parents. It was a few bottles of wine and some homemade chocolates. Some of the chocolates did not work out and some well, some looked like animal scat - but that is okay (i keep telling myself that). It is the thought that counts and i firmly believe that days like valentines should be spent on homemades and simple pleasures and tidings and love. Why do we need a specific day to celebrate love and shouldn't we celebrate this love with gratitude and well wishes everyday?
That is why we as a family waited to have supper at 930 pm - when we were all done work - to spend the time together. That truly is what matters!! Together TIme!
So - Celebrate those relationships you have and celebrate them with simple pleasures and celebrate them with tidings of gratitude everyday, not just once a year on an occasion that is marketed for the masses!
A rather interesting bit aboutValentine
Happy Valentines Day everyone!!

Sketch it

So here is the conclusion to last week's sketch. Clean and simple, i think. Again, it is my bil, i wonder if he has ever looked on this blog? Hmmmm.....
I should be caught up for the most part from that crazy power out we had the other day and thanks, for the understanding!

Gratitude

I think there should be more pages of gratitude and i think this layout will be the beginning of many. I challenged you all to the gratitude quote and here is what i did with it for my layout. Since the power out, i have gotten this layout complete - the sketch layout will be posted tomorrow.
I always wanted those cinnamon stickles and couldn't find a use for them...now i have - those flowers definitely need some cinnamon stickle centres!

Power Out

I have to admit, my layout was not done to just go ahead and post last night. It definitely did not help when the power went out mid-evening. The power was out pretty well all last night, so i could not finish nor post. Therefore, I will update the layouts this evening.
Catch up this evening with the grateful layout and the sketch layout!!

Week 6

This week, use a photograph on your card. Make it someone you've been thinking of, someone who is a vital part of your life... I've used a photo of my dear friend, Jill on my card. I trimmed the photo down to fit the card, adhered it and then rounded the corners. I went around the edge of the card with pink paint, and I journalled directly onto the photo. Make sure you use a permanent pen designed for writing on slick surfaces like photos: Zig makes a good one, as does American Crafts. (Ask Camille to show you what she has in the shop!)

NEw NEw

Hero Arts stamps have arrived at the store and they have recently created many more acrylic stamps to add to their collection. And, well, we have them in store. THey are great...

We Celebrate 2

It is amazing how time really can pass by. That truly is why, i am learning to live in the moment (Cesar).
This beats true for our 2 year anniversary at the store. I could not do it without you!
Therefore help us celebrate this weekend...

sketch it

i pulled this sketch from "becky higgins sketches"
i am trying to sketch with more than one photo and have been pretty good at achieving this goal. so here is a sketch with 4 photos!

the above sketch link just was not working for me - so sorry about that. I guess the computer is telling me that it likes my own sketches more. SO i created this sketch, with at least 4 or more photos. I heard you and you said you wanted sketches with more photos. I will continue to do this. This sketch is also a 2-pager; again, something that is a 'big' challenge for me as i look to work on "1-pagers."

Let's Quote It...

The past few weeks we have done colours, this week i am working on a quote...
Something to inspire you, but also a challenge for me (and hopefully you)
My quote for the week:

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have
into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into
a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,
a creates a vision for tomorrow."
~ Melody Beattie

So the challenge is to work this quote into your page, I would love
to see what you come up with - mine will be posted next week!

WEek 5

What makes you tick? Sometimes we have quirky little things that rock our worlds - something that nobody but you would know... Make up your card this week with a few of those

This week I used some double-sided Tinkering Ink paper to create a base for the card, and then a small ripped piece and alpha rub-ons for the word 'bliss.' I added a few strokes of paint to make my journalling stand out against the patterned paper.

New Product

Don't you love the feel of a new book? The crisp colourful pages, the unbent spine as you become the first to crack it and the endless pages of inspiration and insight. This is definitely the case for the new books we received in store.
With titles like:
all men scrapbook pages
pet pages unleashed
we dare you
the artful card
journal revolution
and so much more...
these titles are sure to entice, challenge and inspire...
you cannot miss getting at least one of these titles and be the first to ... crack the spine and sit by the fire reading and devouring the pages!