Backyardigan Season Begins...

Yaaa!!!  May 24 Weekend and the weather was pretty much perfect!  I spent some time cleaning up my gardens and then took time to sit out and enjoy them.  I love my little backyard oasis.  It may be small and underwhelming to some... but it's just right for me.  When I am out there, it's as if nothing else exists beyond my fence.

The Scrapping Bug - May Sneak Peek

So this is my first Reveal as a Designer for The Scrapping Bug.  I used the acrylic journaling tag set and added more pages using supplies from my May kit to create this mini book about things that 'Make Me Happy'.  I plan to keep it on my desk at work.  On those days that are 'less than perfect' I will look at my book to remind me of the many blessings in my life :)

Supplies List:  

Acrylic journaling tag set - Maya Road; Patterned Paper - Pink Paislee, JilliBean, October Afternoon, Crate Paper; Cardstock - Bazzill; Flowers - Prima; Letters - My Little Shoebox, Maya Road; Punch - Martha Stewart (crab); Stamps - Pink Paislee, Studio Calico; Ink - ColorBox; Misc - Ribbon, Hot Dog on 2nd-last page created by me with cardstock, my trusty scissors, ink and a little ol' imagination :)

Make sure to visit The Bug DT Gallery to see what the other DT members have been up to!

Princess

I created this l/o for a Shelley's May 1st sketch challenge of The Scrapping Bug forum.

Fun times at the KOF

Well, it's been another busy, busy week at the new building - KOF (Kitchener Operations Facility).  We took a bit of time out today for a little fun.  The cafeteria was full at lunchtime as we celebrated the new site and all of our accomplishments in getting there.  First we had a Pizza Party, and then it was time for the real fun - Pies in the Faces of management.  Hmm... if you ended up having a lot of pies thrown at you, does that mean you're popular or not???

Isn't He Pretty?

I've had this layout created for a few days, but with such a busy schedule this week... I haven't been home during daylight hours to take a picture!!!  Finally this morning I opened the blinds and took a couple of pics of it before leaving for work.  It was still a little dark, but the colouring isn't too bad.

Journaling reads:  this is the penalty for showing up late for work at the Patch!

Design Team Member

Guess who was selected to be a Design Team member for The Scrapping Bug in Kitchener?? That's right - yours truly! I am so freakin' excited, I can hardly contain myself :) I picked up my kit on Saturday - it's amazing. I can't wait to get cracking on this one. I hope I can impress.

Scrapfest 2011 - Posing with the Fancy Pants'

Avril and I were so excited to win these girly aprons from Mr. & Mrs. Fancy Pants themselves. I got mine for guessing the colour of Mrs. Fancy Pants' car.... ORANGE :) Denise actually won the one that Avril has on, but she gave it to Avril after I won mine - 'cuz it's just not her thing. Yaaa us!!!

Retrooooooooooooooo!

Well, apparently I'm not the only freak out there :) This dance held at the Portuguese Club in Cambridge was sooo much fun!!!

Getting my 80's FREAK ON :D

Soo.... going to a Retro dance tonight and we're supposed to dress for the era of our youth. That's 80's for me baby. Like... y'know? Soo excited :) I love, love, LOVE dressup :) Will post some pics tomorrow!

ba-bee...

I received my 'Moses Supposes' kit from Studio Calico in the mail the day before Scrapfest in Kitchener. When I opened it up, I was so inspired by the bee flashcard and the phrase strips... the layout just came together in my head almost instantly. I really love how it turned out.

...You Gave Me Wings

I've used this photo (a fave of mine) before for a layout that I framed and gave to my Mom for Mother's Day. I love the updated look of the layout using this new Echo Park 'For the Record' paper line.

So Colourful

I love this shot of Dylan. It's a great perspective - the look on his face, the angle it was taken... luvit! This was a fun layout to work on. This Crate paper that's been kicking around for awhile in my stash was a great fit with the photo.

Mental Case

Yet another shot I found of D on his Facebook. Thankfully, he's very understanding about this :) I was originally going to use two 4 x 6 photos and have the title go across the top. I'm glad I made the switch... I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out. Also pleased that I used up some of this Cosmo Cricket 'Boyfriend' product that I love, love, love - but have been holding onto. Yaa me!

Stooges

I was not going to buy the Echo Park - Playground kit. I have no little kiddies at home, so although I loved the vibrancy of this line, I thought it would be a waste. I was at the Scrapping Bug debating and scheming with myself to come up with ideas for the kit, and in the end I convinced myself to go for it. Sooo glad I did. I had so much fun working with all the great papers, stickers to create this layout. This pic is of Dylan and his 2 sidekicks - Brandon & Chris - being their usual goof-ball selves :)

Turning Over a New Leaf?

Well, I'm trying. I am such a horder. Not like on the show (but sometimes I worry about my tendencies), but I do tend to hang onto so many things... needlessly. When it comes to my scrap stash, I'm trying to make a change. I have paper that I purchaes in 2003 still sitting in my stash. And in some cases, I'm not talking just 1 piece! Eeek! What a waste. I loved it so much when I bought it, and just couldn't bare to use it up! Or, in other cases, a bit of it would be just perfect for a layout/card, but I wouldn't cut it up for just a small piece. Instead, I held onto it and now it's 2011 and it's STILL SITTING IN MY STASH! Not anymore..... hopefully! I'm trying. Below are a few projects that I've created where I applied this philosophy. Hope you like them!

Birthdays!!!

So I'm going to a birthday party tonight. Actually, a surprise 40th birthday party that my friend, Rhonda, is throwing for her boyfriend, Craig. While browsing the Internet for ideas for a gag gift/card, I came across an image that showed a fortune cookie with this fortune in it: Confucius says "Old age is like underwear. It creeps up on you." Perfect! The idea was born. A little more searching for just the right fortune cookie images and I was well on my way. I used leftover October Afternoon paper that I had leftover from the layout I created last night, and some Jillibean that's been wasting away in my stash (I prob have 3 more sheets of it - not joking!)

Rhonda's birthday is Monday, so although the party is for Craig, I had to whip something up for her, too! I had originally purchased this Crate paper, Echo Park stickers and Imaginisce rub-ons to create a Spring layout (whenever that arrives!) But I diverted it to this card instead. I've only had this product for about a month, but I'm happy I used it here. I'm sure that by the time I actually create that Spring layout, I will want to use something different anyway.

sk8

I created this layout using some older October Afternoon paper that I've been hording for a couple of years! I used these cool shots of Dylan skateboarding and playing around that one of his friends took of him. Just a little Studio Calico paper and letter stickers thrown in, and some images of vintage skateboards that I grabbed off the Internet. I'm pretty pleased with the overall effect, and I'm so happy to have finally used this paper :)

"...Youer than You."

So I picked up this BoBunny paper/stickers at the Scrapping Bug yesterday and I had to use it right away! I luvit! OmGosh.... so happy to see these awesome, saturated colour combos. These are goofy pics of Dylan that I found on his Facebook. The Dr. Suess quote just seemed to fit perfectly. This layout is for a couple of challenges on Sisterhood of Scrap this month.

Colour Me Happy

When I bought my house last year - dear friend, Helen, was a huge part of the whole process. She even helped me paint (by 'helped' I mean she probably did 75% of it!). These shots are of me on the ladder painting the bathroom, and Helen is supposed to be painting the hallway. She took a timeout to give me a pedicure use the PAINT!!! My toes stayed that way for a week. Wearing summer sandals... I think people thought I had some kind of disease ;) This layout is now on display on the wall right outside the bathroom.

Knit the Bridge Cambridge

That's what an artist did to the Main Street bridge here in Cambridge. She used knittings donated from all over to cover the bridge. The display was up for a month. After it camed down, the artist took it all down and created blankets from it for the homeless. Pretty awesome! I loved the layout so much, I put it on display in my home.

This layout was created for a challenge on the Studio Calico blog... to create a layout making use of paper strips. This was right up my alley, as I have a huge collection of paper strips just waiting to be used...

I < 3 Frenchy's

LOL... Frenchy's - a staple of the Maritimes. It's as much a part of who WE are as Baked Beans and Brown Bread.

I created this layout for the Monday Challenge on Sisterhood of Scrap.

Dreaming of Summer

Here's a l/o I created for some challenges on Sisterhood of Scrap and Crop Suey Blog. This l/o is using a sketch that was posted for 1 challenge. Another challenge required at least 9 different items to be used, so here they are: cardstock, patterned paper, stitching, grungeboard, letter stickers, chipboard, ink, mist, Cricut butterflies, ribbon, crystals, and border punches.