Happy Halloween

Hi everyone!  Today is Halloween here in the States and I have to admit I am a bit sad.  Gone are the days of big pre-Trick or Treating parties.  When Brighton and Mackenzie were younger we had a big group of families that we would go out with after a soup supper.  The children always had a great time, as did the adults.  Many of the families had children Brighton's age and now that these children are 17 and up....


 Well, needless to say, these children aren't so much children and now we don't trick-or-treat together.  sigh

Poor Ainsley is left as the only one who is still interested in begging for candy and so we are looking for a new group to hang with.

OK, well...enough of my wistful yearnings for the children to be young again.   How about a project to share?  I made a couple of little treat bags for my niece and sister to celebrate this fun holiday.

I cut the bag out of some Tim Holtz Kraft Core cardstock with my Cricut machine and then embossed it using my Big Shot.  A couple of vintage digital images accented with stickles,  bits of seam binding dyed with Glimmer Mist, and of course some simple Prima Wildflowers and a doily finished my bags.

If only I had time to make 100 or so more I could give them out to all the trick-or-treaters tonight.  Yeah...right!  lol

OK, well.....back to work around here.  Thanks for dropping by.

Hugs.

Nancy

You Light Me Up - Your Memories Here

Hi everyone!  Today I wanted to share with you a bit of home decor for Halloween.  I have had a little night light lamp for years, and although I love the shabby chic shade it came with, I felt the need to do something more festive for Halloween.  Of course, having some old chandelier shades lying around the house and some gorgeous goodies from my Your Memories Here grab bag didn't have anything to do with this spark of creativity.  lol

 

I began with the old chandelier shade that I misted with a bit of Glimmer Mist in Pumpkin Spice to change the color and add a bit of sparkle.  I then added bits of lace and trim as well as some beautiful Prima blossoms and bit of bling.

Do not use hot glue for this project!  I know it seems like it would be the perfect adhesive, but when the lamp heats up the glue will soften and your beautiful goodies may fall off.  I really like Helmar Quick Dry for these types of projects.

Well, everyone here just loves this shade and I hope you do to.  Now Ainsley is encouraging me to make one for each holiday.  Good thing these types of shades come in packs of 5.  hee hee

Thanks for dropping by.

Hugs.

Nancy

Tuesdays and Teens

Hi everyone, I wanted to stop in today and share another project I made with the March kit from the Sampler.  I have been loving all the chevron patterns I have been seeing in the blogsphere and wanted to try my hand.  Let me tell you....it was not easy.

You know what was easy?  Creating beautiful flowers with the felt that was in the kit.   Just a quick trip through my big shot and done!

I accented the page with splatters of glimmer mist and the fun jewels from the kit.

There is still time to enter this month's challenges over on the Sampler blog.  And even though the full reveal hasn't happened, you can check out the April kit here.  I know you are going to love it!  The colors are just gorgeous.

Hugs.

Nancy

Your Memories Saturday

Hi everyone.  Sorry for the delayed post today, but I forgot that I was going to post today since I had shared the Your Memories Here dt announcement on Wednesday.

I have been having a great time playing with the Ruby Violet collection from Prima.  I have found the products to be so versatile.  Here I mixed them with some Crate Paper to create a more whimsical look.

There are so many beautiful layers to these products; metal, jewels, resin, chipboard.

I also added some Prima canvas resist pieces that I sprayed with a bit of Glimmer Mist.

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Hugs.

Nancy

Mixed Media

Hi everyone!  I hope where ever you are today you are warm and dry.  I know that many parts of the country are experiencing crazy weather.  Here we are having record lows at night and are expecting tons of rain.  If only the cold rainy days allowed me more time to play....sigh

I have been finding little bits of time here and there to play and one of my new favorite things to play with is mixed media.  I have made a few "She Art" girls, which are tons of fun...but sometimes I just don't have the time to commit to a canvas.  That is why I decided to start an art journal as a fun place to play with techniques and textures.   I think I will use it as a place to make pretty things, practice my sketching and maybe even get things off my chest. (warning...this is gonna get long, hee hee).

I began with a simple watercolor notebook I picked up at Michaels with my coupon.  I covered it with some scraps of older Prima watercolor papers that I colored with my Glimmer Mists and other Prima paper scraps.  I added bits of fussy cut butterflies, tons of rub ons, and a few pieces of chipboard.  Inks and paints blended it all together.  My Claudine Helmuth multi-medium keeps it all together.

The first super fun technique I decided to try was using my Goosebumps Texture Spray from Tsukineko.  On the cover I used it as a resist.  This was so fun, and easy.

  After placing my papers I layered my mask and sprayed the texture spray.

 I continued on with different paint mediums until I got the look I liked.

I found that the Goosebumps gave my paper a fun, waxy like appearance, so I tried just spraying this little card from my grab bag papers with it directly.

 And here my card is with the resist applied.

 On the first interior page I once again used the Goosebumps as a resist.

 The technique was the same as for the cover.

 I found I need to hold the mask down securely and to spray evenly if I want a nice resist.

Lucky for me I wasn't too worried.  hee hee

Well, I am sure there will be lots more to share in the coming weeks.  For now tho...my niece wants the computer and if you have ever had a two year old in the house...I am sure you understand why I need to go.

Stay warm and safe.

Hugs.

Nancy

Happy Thursday

Oh goodness...I am still trying to get used to the new year.  We are off school until the 9th, and I just can't believe how fast the time is going by.  Of course, the days are filled as I have had my niece here every day while my sister looks for daycare.

Lucky for me, I still have found time to take a few photos of my projects so that I can share them with you.

I think I mentioned that this year I had set up 5 trees in our house.  Yeah, I know it is a lot, some (Mackenzie) even says a bit excessive.  But I loved it and all the rooms were so festive.  Of course, one of the trees in only 12 inches tall and two of them are only 4 feet.....

anyway.  I did a quick and simple layout with a photo from each tree.  I used some older Cosmo Cricket papers and a few odds and ends.  I even used some older gems that I colored using my Bic Mark-its.

Cosmo Cricket Wonder, Melissa Frances card, Prima and Authentique alphabets, Maya Road lace.

I also did a fun, fast page of the plate Ainsley made this year for Santa.  We had quite the assortment of goodies....peppermint bark, spritz cookies, frosted sugar cookies and toffee....I am sure Santa would have gotten some fudge had we not eaten it all before Christmas Eve.

Basic Grey Fruitcake and alphas, Jillibean Soup corrugated alpha, Martha Stewart punch, Seam binding, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

Here I used some older Basic Grey papers with lots of yummy dyed seam binding.  I used different colors of green as there were so many beautiful shades in the papers. 

Well, I think I hear a two year old calling.

Hugs.

Nancy

Kissing Ball

Sorry I have been MIA, but with the holiday...life has just been crazy.  Did you know that we put up 4 trees?  Yep, I am a bit obsessive.  Not totally tho!  Phil keeps me in check, and even refused to let me put up a 5th tree this year in the office.  Scrooge.  hee hee

As I am sure you know that when you step under the mistletoe you are inviting a kiss; but did you ever wonder where the tradition came from?  Like many of our current traditions, this one comes from the middle ages, but was updated during the reign of Queen Victoria.  I found a detailed story here if you are interested, but here is an excerpt....

People would take a potato or apple and tie a pretty ribbon around it as a hanger.  Then they would stick sprigs of evergreen, holly and sweet herbs into the potato or apple until it bristled with them.

The herbs in the sweet ball took on the highly romanticized symbolism common to the Victorian area. Simon and Garfunkel weren't the only ones singing about "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme".   Each of those herbs plus dozens and dozens more flowers, herbs and plants spoke a unique and private symbolic language to Victorians.  The choice of herbs, flowers and boughs could state love, affection, charity, piety and more.

I decided to create my own version of a kissing ball using some beautiful flowers, Distress Inks, and Glimmer Mist from the Your Memories Here store; a bit of seam binding and a styrofoam ball. 

I used Festive Berries from the LE Winter Distress Inks to color each flower from the Prima Wildflowers Pillar. (a handful of flowers was all I needed.)

 And then spritzed them with a bit of Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Mist to give them some sparkle and shine.

 I cut a few holly leaves with my Sizzix....

And inked them with the other two colors of Distress Ink that were in the kit, Evergreen Bough and Iced Spruce.  (hint, a quick fold down the middle, run the fold directly over the pad, and you get a nice vein)

I attached the flowers to the ball using my Helmar 450.

To finish off my project I ran a bit of seam binding across the Evergreen Bough,  and added a Prima Rose.  A few Prima pearls in the center of each flower and my kissing ball was ready to hang.

I hope I have inspired you to create a little holiday magic in your home this season.

Hugs.

Nancy

Cricut Addiction?

OK, I may not have an addiction...shoot, there are people who own hundreds of cartridges...I own, maybe 50.    That isn't at all an addiction, is it?  That said, what it is is a big ole pile of boxes that hold those cartridges which I don't have room for in my scrappy space.

So, I took the plunge and purchased a storage system for my supplies.  While I love my new Scrap n Tote, it left me with a huge pile of empty boxes...and you know I like to be green. (or in this case, pink)  hee hee

So....

With a little help from the Prima grab bag I received from Your Memories Here, I transformed my Cricut storage box into this cute little treasure.

More of my A4 paper pad, beautiful Prima blooms, gorgeous bling, leaves, an adorable resin birdhouse and the cutest little birds nest.  I even used a button on the side of my box to help open it.

I misted my seam binding with Glimmer Mist in Sugar Maple and Suede and tied it in a huge bow.

I think I will use this box to house an art journal (that I have yet to make...hee hee).  I am taking the She Art 2 workshop and am thinking I may need to practice these faces, so a little mini just for them????

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs.

Nancy

More Sunshine....

please!  I love living in California, most of the time.  But when the rainy season starts.....  I guess it could be worse.  We could have snow!  lol

Well, while I dream of warmer weather I thought I would scrapbook another photo of those warmer beach days.  This time Ainsley.

Little Yellow Bicycle papers, border sticker.  MAMBI stitched title, Prima flowers and butterfly.

It is so funny looking back and seeing how long Ainsley's hair was.  And it is already getting longer.  Who knew?  Anyway, I used lots of Little Yellow Bicycle for this one with a sketch from Creative Scrappers.  I have been hitting those sketch challenge blogs hard I guess.  Hee hee

I used a bit of glimmer mist on the yellow flower to make it a little brighter.  I love that I can change the colors of my flowers so easily with that spray.

Well, off to get something done.

Hugs.

Nancy

Once Upon a Time....

I was on a roll.  I had bunches of scrapbook projects done, I was blogging most every day....and then...low and behold....life came up and smacked me around a bit.  lol

Seriously tho, sorry I have been MIA, but things have been a bit crazy.  Both girls decided they wanted room makeovers, which is understandable I guess since Mackenzie has had those fairies on her wall since she was 3. hee hee  So, before we get the new carpets installed upstairs (week after Thanksgiving), we decided we should paint.  Ugggghhhh, I don't really mind the actual painting part, it is the packing and moving everything out of the rooms.  sigh.  And those girls are pack rats!  Well, both rooms are now painted so it is time for the excuses to end.

Tomorrow on Ideas for Scrapbookers our Designer Showcase is metal.  Be sure and sneak over there and see everyone's gorgeous projects.  Here is mine.  I used a metal key from Prima as well as some older photo turns.

Glitz Designs Lady Grace collection, Prima lace, key, flowers, alpha, leaves, Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Sugar Maple and Candlelight, unknown photo turns.  

This is the view from our veranda on the Alaskan Cruise we went on in August.  Lovely.  What a beautiful end to an incredibly wonderful day.  I used a sketch from Pencil lines for this project.  Beautiful Glitz papers with bits of Prima lace and flowers were perfect for this photo.  And I had been wanting to use this paper forever.  I used a bit of Glimmer Mist on the larger flower to change the color a bit.  It didn't come out quite like I had expected, but, oh well.

Be sure and stop back tomorrow as I for sure have another project ready to share.

Hugs.

Nancy

Happy Friday

Hey bloggers!  Sorry I was missing yesterday, tons going on around here and just never found the time to sit down and share.

Another busy weekend around here.  We are going to paint and redecorate Mackenzie's room and she is swimming 2 events at a meet, trying to get her JO times (junior olympic).  I am playing Bunco tonight, Phil and I have a wine dinner Saturday night, and we have been invited to a wine and cheese party for the swim team.  Throw in the usual housework, laundry, chores...goodness....my head is swimming.

Anywho....I will find some time this weekend to scrap if means no sleep.  hee hee

Before I do tho, how about a fun layout of Phil?  Phil is so funny.  He doesn't like slimy things...like goo, gunk, gel...you know...the kinds of stuff the children love squishing through their fingers.  He can't stand wiggle teeth, or anyone in his personal space.  So...you know the children love to taunt him.   Here is Mackenzie doing so.

Pink Paislee patterned papers and die cuts, Making Memories florals, Prima felt and alphas,  Maya Road trinket pins, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists

I used some super fun "Mistables from Pink Paislee with my Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists.  I added in some of the Daily Junque papers as well as a few older embellishments;  Making Memories florals, Prima Alphas and felt, and a few of those stick pins I warned you about.  hee hee  I just love the look on their faces.

Well, back to work and school.

Hugs.

Nancy

Bad Mommy?

A few weeks ago, Ainsley had a friend over for a sleepover.  In the morning, the two decided they needed a spa day.  First up on the schedule?  Facials....avocado facials.  So the two smeared avocado all over their faces.  What did I do?  Complain?  Yell? Grab a bag of chips?  Nope, I grabbed my camera and shot these photos.  What is better than two tweens with green goo all over their faces.  hee hee

I used more of my gorgeous Prima A4 papers (I think this pack is going to last me forever) and lots of other yummy goodies from the Prima Grab Bag I got from Your Memories Here.  As you can tell, I distressed the heck out of the papers with my Distressing Tool and some Tim Holtz Distress Ink.   I based the design on Pencil Lines sketch 251.

I have been having a ton of fun with the new Canvas Resists.  A little Glimmer Mist and I can match them to my project perfectly, and they have a bit of sparkle.  Oh, and see that yummy Alencon Lace! It is definitely another favorite of mine!  I also snuck in a small Prima button as well as a Jillybean stick pin.  I found my stash of stick pins and let me say....um....you may be seeing quite a few of them in the upcoming weeks as I seem to have amassed quite the collection.  lol

And look at those yummy Prima flowers and the new Prima butterfly (and of course a few more canvas resist pieces).  Love!!!  I managed to add a few more pins from my collection, this time from Maya Road.

Kristina still has a few small grab bags available in the store, as well as some of the new Ruby Violet grab bags which should be in soon so hurry over and check them out!

Well, back to work!

Hugs.

Nancy

Fall Decor

Hi everyone! I wanted to pop in and share a fun home decor project I made last week with some gorgeous papers from the Your Memories Here store.  I found some cute little grapevine pumpkins online for cheap and couldn't wait to embellish.

I used some of the Earth Love papers from Cosmo Cricket and an assortment of flower dies.

And you know I couldn't go without using my fall Tim Holtz LE Distress Inks to ink up my flowers.

I even used the inks on my seam binding with a bit of glimmer mist for sparkle.

I have two more pumpkins that I just can't wait to play with.

Well, gotta run!

Hugs.

Nancy

Happy Thanksgiving...

A quick Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!  I have been having a crazy busy weekend since there is a swim meet. And it is a huge one!  Over 1000 swimmers yesterday, but I wanted to pop in and share this layout.

Crate Paper Farmhouse Collection, EK success punch, Jillybean Soup Alpha, Glimmer Mist

A layout of Ainsley from our Disney Cruise Character Breakfast.  I love the way they put napkins on your head to dress you up for the occasion...hee hee.  I used a super cute sketch from Creative Scrappers for this one.  And some of the fun corrugated cardboard I have been hoarding.  (don't worry, there are like three layers between it and my photo)  

Well, off to get a few things done.

Hugs.

Nancy

Inspired by My Trash

Hi everyone, as promised I am here today with a mini album I was inspired to make for the Your Memories Here blog.  I became inspired when I came across some corrugated cardboard while unwrapping some sheets for Ainsley's room redo.  Guess it is a good thing the sheets had extra packaging.  hee hee Funny the things that inspire us sometimes.

Prima Flights of Fancy, Fairytale roses, mini roses, Sweet Taffy , Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.  

I stripped some of the paper off the cardboard, painted it white and then spritzed on a bit of Glimmer Mist to color the base.  I added some beautiful Prima butterflies from a piece of the Flights of Fancy paper, stickers from the same collection, some lovely Prima flowers,  gorgeous lace, and a bit of a flourish and a Tattered Angels tag that I also colored with Glimmer Mist.

Prima Flights of Fancy and Pastiche papers, journaling card

I filled my mini with more beautiful Prima papers from both the Flights of Fancy and Pastiche collections, fussy cutting many butterflies from the Miss Pretty butterfly sheet.

Prima Pastiche and Flights of Fancy papers, flower, pearl, Tattered Angels tag, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

I used a few different colors of Glimmer Mist and a paint brush to color my tag to coordinate with my mini album as well as color my seam binding.

Prima Flights of Fancy and Pastiche papers, Sweet Taffy flower

 Just because you only have a small sheet of paper, don't not use it.  This scrap was just large enough to be a 1/2 page in my book.  I think different sized pages help keep things interesting.

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Prima Stamps, Sweet Taffy Flower, Mni Rose

One of my new favorite things to do is to mist old book pages with a cream glimmer mist and then use some stamps to accent the page.  Since the paper is a little thin to bind, I added a strip of paper to the edge to increase the weight.

As usual, I have no idea what I am going to use the album for, but I loved making it and sharing it with you.

Hugs.

nancy