Here’s a throwback to summer on this cold blustery January day! My daughter captured this beautiful moment last summer of her daughter. Maddy was singing on the back dock surrounded by the beauty and tranquility of nature in all its glory. I just love the reflection in the water and the colours in this photo. Just looking at this picture takes me right back to that time and special place.
Mixed media is very intimidating to me, so you can imagine how excited I am to have a pre-made mixed media background to work with! The background paper was a perfect fit for this picture, and it came ready made in the beautiful blues and gold. It is from Vicki Boutin’s Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper pad. The stars (Puffy Stickers) and gold foil chipboard phrase belong to her StoryTELLER collection. You can find more on Vicki and her products here: vickiboutin.com.
The title, Always Remember This, came from Peartree Cutfiles. I wanted the title to compliment the feel of the picture and the beautiful paper. To achieve this, I backed the open letters with vellum to allow the colours in the background to pop through and to assist in keeping the overall balance of the layout. You can find the cut file here: peartreecutfiles.co.uk/product/always-remember-this/
To complete the layout, a few small enamel dots were added for extra dimension, and the date was applied with teensy type doodlebug design inc. stickers.
I hope this layout has brought you some much needed warmth and memories of warmer days. Spring is only 50 days away, and better weather is on its way. I wish you all good health and Happy Scrapping!
Here we are in a new year, with new possibilities and hopes for a brighter future for all of us! In my neck of the woods, we are still in lockdown – we’re to call it a “Stay Home” directive. Call it what you will, we are in for a long winter for sure. So what’s a girl to do to relieve the monotony and distract herself from the long, cold days ahead? You got it – SCRAPBOOK! I’ve always found this hobby extremely therapeutic, so I plan on scrapping a lot in the coming months.
I’ve been having fun this year playing with Peartree Cut Files (https://www.peartreecutfiles.co.uk/all-products/shop/). This is the first of several layouts I plan on sharing. For this layout I utilized two of their files – the Brrr title cut file and the Snowflake Corner cut file.
When I was designing this page, I really wanted the snowflake corners to mimic a snowbank. To achieve this look, I cut the file twice from AC white cardstock. Using Foam Sticky Strips from Taylored Expressions, I carefully backed one of the files to create the dimension I was looking for. The photo below illustrates this. These strips worked wonderfully, and they were easy to use. I’ll be stocking up on more in the future!
Here’s an additional shot to help demonstrate the layered Snowflake Corner border once completed.
I cut additional snowflakes from the Brrr title cut file to allow for more dimension in the upper portion of the layout and to help provide more overall balance. Again, I put the Foam Sticky Strips to good use on the backs of these snowflakes.
The patterned papers and tag used in this page come from Carta Bella’s Winter Market collection and their coordinating Frames & Tags embellishment kit. The background patterned paper is the “I Love Winter” page, and the main Brrr title was backed with the backside of the 3 x 4 Journaling Cards paper.
I’m delighted with how this page turned out. Sometimes, the simple things in life can be the most rewarding.
Thanks for checking out my blog – I wish you all good health and Happy Scrapping!
Is there anything more magical than watching a child anticipate the arrival of Santa? Remember those days of dreaming and wishing that Santa would bring you something special? The days leading up to Christmas seem endless to a child. It’s so much fun to watch children anticipate this holiday.
This Christmas was tough for all of us – as adults, we knew we were entering a lockdown on Boxing Day. We were discouraged from having big family Christmas gatherings. Holidays are the epicenter of family gatherings worldwide, but we all understood the importance of staying safe to curb the spread of this nasty virus. Therefore, Christmas – with all it’s usual fanfare and celebration – was quiet this year.
We did our best, however, to make sure Christmas was as magical for the children/grandchildren as possible amidst a pandemic. Maintaining as many special traditions as possible, was the priority of our few days together. Each Christmas Eve, our three grandchildren magically receive “Magic Reindeer Food”, from Cocoa – their Elf on the Shelf. It has been fun watching them spread this magic reindeer food and listening to them talk about how Santa and his reindeer will see the food and come down to their home. A few years back, Owen’s teacher – Ms Jacobson – gave the children in her Kindergarden class Reindeer Whistles. Owen loves to blow this whistle on Christmas Eve, and this practice has become part of his Christmas Eve tradition. With Owen about to turn 8 in a couple of months, I wanted to be sure I captured this magic moment while I still had the opportunity!
The background to this page was created with the “HO HO HO” patterned paper from the Photoplay “Christmas Cheer” collection. I used “Walnut Cream” cardstock from Bazzill on the top portion of the layout to provide a clean backdrop for the title. I cut the tile using the “Blossom” font from an old QuicKutz collection in my scrapbook stash. I used the same red glitter paper to cut the page title and the reindeer’s nose. I wasn’t happy with the bland background under the title, so I splattered white paint for snow, and cut small snowflakes from vellum to help fill in the area. My hopes were to mimic what I saw in the patterned paper below, and I feel it pulled these two sections together nicely.
The Reindeer element was not a specific cut file, but a drawing I found on Pinterest. I simply traced and cut it in Silhouette software to my liking. The list of reindeers, on the far lower right, came from the Cardstock Ephemera package from the Christmas Cheer collection. Once the photos were added, the final touch was to add some journalling to help tell the story.
Watching Owen blow on that whistle, and look to the sky, will be a memory I’ll hold onto for years to come. I’m glad I’ve documented it to share with him in the coming years. May you all stay safe and well and never lose the magic!
Goodbye 2020 and welcome 2021! It’s been some time since I’ve been in my scrap room and I’m excited to get back into a creative mode! This is a layout I’ve had peculating in my mind for quite a while now. COVID has certainly impacted all of us, and the Stay Home cut file by AnettsDesigns fit perfectly for the feel I was looking to achieve. While each of us have our own stories to tell about this pandemic, I love how this cut file symbolizes that we’re not alone. We are a street – a city – a province – a country – we are a WORLD experiencing the same challenges, and thankfully – we are not alone.
Our first Lockdown started on March 17, 2020. Little did we know then, that it would last a little over 2 months, and that we wouldn’t be out of the woods when it was over. It was a stressful, scary time when we retreated to our homes to stay safe. I’m a lucky Nana, who lives right across the street from her three beautiful grandchildren. But all the sudden, I was no longer able to go over to play, or read bedtime stories. We communicated daily through video calls. Not as good as being there in person, but certainly a second best, and I cherished those calls daily. Ben, the youngest of the grandchildren, was only 19 months when the Lockdown was called. Far too young to comprehend the enormity of the situation, he was just confused as to why he could not longer play with Nana and Bampa.
My loving daughter, Lindsay, took this photo later in March. My husband and I would go for daily walks, and I would always stop by daughter’s house to see if they were near and could see us outside. Ben caught on quickly and looked forward to “seeing” us through the bay window in their front room. When this is the closest connection you can make, you treasure every second!
For those interested in the scrapping process, I started with Vicki Boutin’s white foundations mixed media art paper. I applied a thin coat of Gesso and let it dry. While the Gesso dried, I sized and cut Anett’s file on my Silhouette using white cardstock. (You can find Anett’s cut file here: https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/885200059/stay-home-cut-file-svg-png-pdf-dxf?ref=yr_purchases.)
Prior to cutting the colourful backing, I used the “Fill” function in the Silhouette software to help map out the look I was trying to achieve. Once the cut file was fully backed, I decided where I wanted the cut file to lay on the page, and very lightly traced around it. The pencil outline helped guide the inking process. Three colours of Tim Holtz Distress Ink were used to create the background (Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Mowed Lawn). When the ink was dry (I let it sit overnight), I stamped and heat embossed some random stars using white embossing powder. The stars came from My Favourite Things “Unicorns & Glitter” stamp set.
Before adhering the matted photo and cut file to the page, the cut file was backed with double sided foam (1 mm thickness). This took quite a bit of time as I really wanted the vellum windows to remain clear, allowing you to see through to the original page. I’m a lover of textures and layers and creating this slightly raised ‘street’ added another layer to the layout. American Crafts Thickers were used for the title and I hand wrote my message to Ben below it. The final element was adding the “this is hard” sticker from Pinkfresh’s “Let’s Stay Home’ collection to the bottom left of the cut file.
Well, here we are in Lockdown number two. We know the drill, we’re more prepared, and a vaccine is on the way! Here’s hoping we’ll all be able to be out and about safely soon. Until then, stay safe and happy scrapping!
DDDesignz 