Vicki Boutin

Have Bags Will Travel

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One of my favourite post-Covid activities is travelling! We are truly blessed to have family living in Austria that allow us to visit and use their home as a base to travel from. We made several trips overseas during the last twelve months, and have additional adventures planned ahead. I keep pinching myself that I should be so lucky! The picture in this layout is from Venice, Italy, where we met our family for more exploration and to make unforgettable memories together!

I chose the Tourist Mode paper collection and ephemera pack from PinkFresh Studio to document this romantic picture of Venice. I love how the colours in this collection complemented the beautiful colours of the canal.

The title cut file, Have Bags Will Travel, comes from Peartree Cutfiles. It perfectly encompassed my feelings for these great adventures we’ve been taking.

I was also attracted to this cut file because it let me personalize the suitcase. Many friends know I travel with a pink and red rosed suitcase with gold fixtures. This beautiful cut file allowed me the ability to mimic this look. I used an older sheet of patterned paper in my stash from Creative Imaginations called Prom Paper to recreate this look. I turned to gold foil cardstock to create the gold accents. 

To achieve the blue ombre effect in the title, I offset the letters slightly and cut them from white textured cardstock. Using Altenew inks in Blueberry and Winter Lake, each letter was inked to create the overall effect. Once I was happy with the overall tone and gradation of each letter, they were adhered to the back of the title. The entire title was secured to the layout using black dimensional fun foam for added texture and visual impact.

The bottom three phrase strips came from the Tourist Mode ephemera pack. The wording perfectly captured my thoughts and feelings on this trip. The origin of the “Are we there yet?” chipboard accent is unknown, as I have had it in my collection for many years.

The foam “Fav Photo” phrase and all the coordinated foam dots on the layout belong to Vicki Boutin’s “Loving This” thicker collection. The two additional pieces of ephemera belong to the Tourist Mode collection. Each piece of ephemera was inked along the edge with a colour-coordinated Altenew ink (Orange Sherbert, Orange Cream, Caribbean Sky, and Limestone). Doodlebug Designs teensy-type stickers were used to note the date and location.

I hope everyone finds an opportunity in their life to travel. For me, it is not only educational and enlightening, it is truly life-changing. Thanks for taking this trip with me today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Explore Dublin

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Last Fall we had the good luck to travel to Ireland. We spent 4 wonderful days exploring Dublin. The history of this beautiful city is simply outstanding. This double-page layout focuses on Christ Church Cathedral, just one of many treasures in this gem of a town!

Those of you that regularly follow me, know I have an addiction to designing with Peartree Cutfiles! Therefore, this layout is no exception, as I have used two Peartree cut files to complete this design. I love the versatility of these cut files, as you can use them over and over. This is not the first layout that I’ve used the Explore cut file with, and likely not the last time either. This cut file was also an excellent fit with the paper collection used in this layout. I used Echo Park’s Getaway collection and found the backside of the Adventure patterned paper worked perfectly. The black and white compasses tied in nicely with the compass in the cut file. I used the Adventure paper to back the cut file with the exception of the compass itself. I used the backside of the Planes patterned paper for this element. A small black brad was used to complete the compass.

Drawing on the circle theme of the compass, I used one of the Radiate Stencils from Vicki Boutin’s StoryTELLER collection to stencil a random background on the right-hand side of this page. I was looking for a very subtle background for the Walnut Cream cardstock from Bazzill, and I turned to Tim Holtz’s Pumice Stone Distress Ink to achieve this overall look.

The right-hand page of this double-page layout uses the Film Strips Background cut file. It was part of the March 2023 Pearscription package. I highly recommend you investigate the Pearscription packages. You receive 5 exclusive cut files each month, and I can honestly say that I’ve never been disappointed! This cut file was the perfect way to add multiple photos with lots of detail from our visit to the Cathedral.

To balance the film strip, and draw your eye to the multiple pictures, I filled 3 separate frames with embellishments. The compass and word travel were stickers in the Getaway paper collection. The rustic star-shaped element comes from a package of Mechanicals by Finnabair and is called Steampunk Blades. I secured it to the layout with a small bronze brad. The third embellishment, Road Trip, is a glazed chipboard piece that’s been in my supplies for years. To complete the layout, I added the date with small round Doodlebug Stickers.

Thanks for stopping in today, I hope you’ve enjoyed a quick tour of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Life is a Beautiful Ride

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When Canadian cousins get the opportunity to meet up in Austria, a good time is guaranteed! As the Nana to Ben, and the Aunt to Raquel, I have to tell you this picture gives me all the feels! It is so difficult being so far away from your family, but when you see them get together on another continent, and see the love and joy on their faces, it makes one’s heart burst! It certainly makes me count my blessings to be part of such a loving family.

If you are familiar with Peartree Cutfiles, you’ll know their tagline is “There’s a Cut File for That”. I can’t think of a better cut file for this photo than Life is a Beautiful Ride. This picture of Ben and Raquel was taken at the historic Prater Amusement Park in Vienna, Austria. (Photo credit to my talented daughter, Lindsay!) I cut the file in black using American Crafts Precision Cardstock. It was backed with gorgeous papers from Craft Consortium’s Ink Drops – Ocean collection. I loved how the hues and tones of this paper blended with the blue watercoloured background foundation page from Vicki Boutin’s Color Study Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper collection.

The rest of this layout came together quite easily. After adding a bit of journalling to describe the photo, I used Thickers from 3 of Vicki’s collections to embellish the layout. I pulled hearts, words, phrases, stars and an arrow from the Loving This, Stories of US, and Perfect Day Thicker collections.

Every time I look at this layout my heart, and maybe even my eyes, fill up! So much love, so much fun, so much to experience and share together. I am so thankful these two had the opportunity to make such great memories together!

Thanks for stopping in today. Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

This Life

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With Spring finally arriving it seemed an appropriate time to share this double-page layout. We have had cool and rainy days in our neck of the woods for weeks. The grass is finally growing again, and so are the dandelions! Every time I look out the window, and see the dandelions growing, I am reminded of this very special day in my life. My sweet grandson Ben, just 2 at the time, rang my doorbell holding a bouquet of dandelions. Imagine my delight, a special bouquet picked just for me! But as life would have it, that isn’t quite how the story ended.

Here’s the story I journaled on this layout: “Ben – today you showed up with some beautiful flowers you had picked in the park. Nana, these are for you!!! But as you began to hand them over, you quickly snatched them back. No, Nana – I’m going to take these home!!!” Well, either way, you made my day! I knew this precious memory needed to be documented for prosperity.

I chose the gorgeous Mamarazzi paper, cardboard stickers and paper die-cuts from Mintay Papers to document this memory. The specific papers used in this collection were numbers 02 and 04. The combination of the yellow florals and cameras made it an instant hit with me. I was attracted to the frames used in these papers and utilized them to highlight my pictures. Several elements from the paper die-cut package were added, some with a layer of fun foam to add dimension and texture.

I kept all the embellishments to a minimum. I did not want to distract from this beautiful background paper. A couple of floral clusters were added to enhance the right-hand page. Phrases from the cardboard stickers were included on both pages of the layout. And the title “This Life” and all remaining embellishments were added using Vicki Boutin’s “Stories of US” Thickers from her Fernwood collection. The date was added using Paige Evan’s “Happy Life” Thickers.

The Mamarazzi paper collection is highly versatile. I have used other papers in the collection to document some of our travel pictures and will share them with you at a future date.

Thanks for stopping in today, I hope my precious memory has provided you with a little laugh and made you smile. Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Roarsome

~ dddesignz ~ 1 Comment

In late June, we travelled out west for our son’s wedding. My daughter and her family planned a few side trips while we were there, and Drumheller was their first destination. Drumheller, Alberta, is located northeast of Calgary. It is known as the dinosaur capital of the world, and it was a huge hit with our grandchildren!

I chose the Roarsome title from Peartree Cutfiles to showcase a picture from their trip. I loved the addition of the dinosaur on top and wanted to make it a bit whimsical as I designed the layout. The patterned papers in the title come from an older Carta Bella Paper Co collection aptly entitled Dinosaurs.

While I backed the words in the title, I chose to lift the pieces of the dinosaur by securing a piece of black fun foam underneath each piece to create dimension and the illusion of flight. I added green googly eyes to the dinosaur to enhance the whimsical feel of the layout. Once the title was complete, both the picture and title adhered to the fun background paper 12″ Life in Color Bricks. This background page also belongs to an older BoBunny collection called Life in Color.

The final elements of the layout came together quite quickly. The “vacay” puffy phrase and accent stickers came from a Vicki Boutin collection of Thickers called Loving This. The date and location of the picture were documented with Doodlebug Design Inc.’s teensy-type stickers.

And there you have it, a simple and whimsical page that focuses the attention on the picture and title. Thanks for stopping by today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well and Happy Scrapping!

Hey Bestie

~ dddesignz ~ 1 Comment

This layout is very special to me. I designed it as a birthday gift for one of my life-long friends, Gail, who was celebrating a milestone birthday. We’ve been through decades together, and she’s been there for me through thick and thin. While there may be a few years difference in ages, we’ve had fun together as if we were classmates growing up together. It turned out that we both married the man of our dreams the same year. Coincidently, our husbands share the same first name. The picture in this layout comes from our mutually celebrated 25th wedding anniversary trip to Italy. A dream come true for all four of us!

I used the Hey Bestie cut file from Cut to You as the centrepiece for this design. The cut file was cut from white cardstock and then pierced with a paper piercer to allow a stitched border.

The letters were stitched with pale peach embroidery floss and the heart with pale blue. Cocoa Vanilla Studio’s, These Days, coordinating patterned paper, was used to backfill the letters in the title.

I created a shaker pocket for the heart and added some sequin mix from Cocoa Vanilla’s Daydream collection. These sequins coordinated with this collection beautifully. At this stage, the title was set aside. The background paper for this design came from a Vicki Boutin collection of Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper pads. The gold, pink, and peach background was a stunning backdrop for this completed title. In preparation for securing the title to the page, it was backed with Foam Sticky Strips from Taylored Expressions. The photo was placed on a coordinating patterned paper used in backing the title. Once I was happy with the positioning of each, they were both secured to the page.

The page was completed by adding various coordinating embellishments from the These Days collection. The flower cluster, seen at the top left of the photo, was created using various elements from the Floral Ephemera pack. The yellow butterfly was used from the Die Cut Ephemera pack and the small colour-coordinated hearts came from the Puffy Stickers collection. The final embellishments added were the gold heart and the YOU ARE SO LOVED phrase to the bottom right of the title.

When the layout was complete, it was placed in a white shadow box before it was gifted to Gail. She loved her gift and the beautiful reminder of our special friendship. I hope you have at least one friend this special. Here’s to girlfriends everywhere!

Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Life is One Big Adventure

~ dddesignz ~ 2 Comments

I recently had the pleasure of going away for an extended weekend of scrapping time with several of my dear crafting friends. There’s nothing quite like time spent with those that share and encourage your crafting passion! It’s been far too long since we’ve had this opportunity, and I hope this is the beginning of many opportunities to come.

This layout was one of several I created during my time away. I chose beautiful coordinating papers from Vicki Boutin’s Fernwood collection to showcase this lovely photo. The colours were a perfect complement for the photograph, and I liked how the zigzag pattern mimics the mountain range in the photo’s background.

I used the Life is One Big Adventure cut file from Peartree Cutfiles for this layout. I chose three coordinating papers from the Fernwood collection to complete the title. I wanted a little texture in the title, so I backed the letters for the word BIG with double-sided adhesive foam and secured them on top of the cut file.

At this stage, I was still looking to add more texture to this layout. I sprinkled black paint across the page and title to create this texture. This effect strengthened the black elements in the layout and helped to enhance more of an overall masculine feel.

Once the paint dried, I added several chipboard elements to complement and complete the page. These chipboard elements belong to the Thickers, Beautiful Day collection, designed specifically for the Fernwood collection. The date was added in the bottom right-hand corner using Doodlebug Designs – my type stickers.

And that’s a wrap on this quick and easy page! Thanks for stopping in today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Stella

~ dddesignz ~ 4 Comments

Meet Stella. She belongs to my future Daughter-in-Law, Tanis. Stella is one of the biggest cuddlers I’ve met to date. Stella lives to be in your lap, bed, or, as you can see, your book! On our last trip out west to visit, Stella spent a great deal of time in my lap. And I loved every second of it. But don’t get the wrong impression, Stella gives as much as she gets! Who wouldn’t want to spend their day giving and getting love?!

When I saw this picture of Stella begging for some more “me time”, I knew it needed to be scrapbooked. Lucky for me Paige Evans, who also gives so much to her crafting community, provided a free Sketch and Stitch cut file in her Facebook Group Paige Evans – Happy Scrappy Place. The specific cut file is named Time Spent With Cats, and the link should take you to Dropbox to download it. I knew I would stitch the cut file in black embroidery floss to match Stella. I needed a background paper that complimented the black stitching and was sturdy enough to withstand the extensive stitching process. Vicki Boutin‘s Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper met all the criteria. The beautiful pink background was a lovely complement to the black, and it also provided a fun mixed media look without having to do all the work. This particular background came from Vicki’s Color Study collection.

I chose to resize the cut file a bit smaller than the original design. The stitching took quite some time to complete, but I find the process very relaxing and the results very rewarding. It was fun to watch the shape of the cat come to life as the stitching progressed.

To keep in line with the black and pink design, I sought out embellishments in these colours to complete the layout. The ephemera banner directly below Stella’s picture comes from a black and white paper collection from Echo Park called Capture Life. The three adorable black kittens found on the page come from a die-cut set from Impression Obsession called Cat Set (KIE083-K). Stella’s name was incorporated using Thickers Puffy Letter Stickers called Starlight. I’ve had this set of Thickers for some time. The combination of pink, white, and black letters fit perfectly in this layout. The final touch was including the pink Baby Hearts by Doodlebug Designs.

This page brings a smile to my face every time I look at it. I hope it brings a smile to yours as well! Thanks for joining me today, and until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

Anywhere With You

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I love the downtime between Christmas and New Years Day. For me, it’s a time to relax and work on some Christmas layouts. Today’s scrapbook layout focuses on my son Sean, and his fiance, Tanis. With Sean’s career choice, it seems they spend more time apart than together. So when opportunities to slip away to spend precious time together arise, they seize the day. Just before Christmas, they spend a wonderful weekend in Canmore, Alberta. These two love every second they spend in the mountains, regardless of the time of year. You can see it in their faces in this beautiful photo.

I picked the gorgeous Patterned Christmas Trees cut file from Peartree Cutfiles as the central focus for this layout. I chose this cut file because it represented the beautiful treed background in the photo and the holiday season. I also turned to Peartree Cutfiles for the title Anywhere With You. It seemed so fitting as Sean and Tanis are getting married next year.

All cut files on this layout were backed with gorgeous patterned papers from the Joyful collection by Cocoa Vanilla Studio. Once the cut files were complete, I adhered them to the background paper. I chose a coordinating Ready-to-Use Mixed Media Paper from Vicki Boutin’s Color Study collection. I love how the green background mimics a forest background.

Once the picture and cut files were in place, the rest of the layout came together quickly. The cute woodland animals, gifts and branches (around the title) all came from the Joyful Die-Cut Ephemera pack. Gold-Glitter Puffy Stars, also from the Joyful collection, were used to embellish the top of each patterned tree. They are gorgeous fabric embellishments that add a lovely texture, dimension, and feel to the overall layout.

The final touch was placing the ALL I want for Christmas banner directly below the picture. This phrase is so representative of these two beauties. All they do want is time together!

Thanks for stopping by the blog today. I hope you’ve had some time to enjoy your hobby this holiday season. I wish all of you a very Happy New Year! May 2022 be the year we start to get ahead of this pandemic!

Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!

The Girls!

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With summer just around the corner, it’s time to share a highlight from summer 2020. We’ve just come out of a very long lockdown and I can’t wait to make some fun memories this summer with my family and friends! This photo is one of my favourites from last summer as it captures 3 generations. We get so busy having fun together that we often forget to pause for a minute to take some pictures. This picture includes me, my daughter and granddaughter on a beautiful summer day at the cottage – our favourite place to be in the warm weather! I’m so thrilled that Marcy Milly SVG designed thegirls! cut file. It was exactly what I was looking for! This title lends itself to so many possibilities – sisters, reunions, weddings, sororities, girls night out, and many more – so many options!

I decided to use the Vicki Boutin Color Study paper, ephemera, and stickers for this layout. The bright bold colours remind me of beautiful summer days. I cut the title in Fushia cardstock and then offset the title 2 separate times to layer it in coordinating (orange and teal) cardstock. This also helps draw more attention to the title cut file. Once my picture was printed and matted I added fun foam to the back of the cut file to pop it up further and to create some dimension on the layout.

The rest of the layout came together quite quickly. Several embellishments came from the Vicki Boutin Color Study Journal Ephemera and Icon Ephemera packages. I also utilized a sticker (This is the Stuff That Matters) and the gold foil dots came from the 6 x 12 Sticker sheets that belong to the same collection. The date was added using teal glitter foam letter stickers from Thickers called Sunny.

As we start to see daylight in this pandemic, I hope the summer of 2021 is one of love and laughter for you. I can’t wait to hug so many important people in my life!! And don’t forget to grab pictures of your reunions and events that bring us back together. This is going to be a summer to celebrate!

Until next time, stay safe, stay well, and Happy Scrapping!