Everyone needs a pep talk once in a while...

Two fabulous ladies of Crop Circles, Natasha Connolly and CoraLee Kilfoy, posted daily challenges for us members during the month of February. 

I'm going to show a few of my pages!

I didn't complete all the challenges (nor am I posting all I completed) as I was busy visiting with my sister and baby nephew. 

(Wait a minute! That coffee tag looks familiar! See it HERE).

The recipe for these are HERE.

Enjoy!

All at once

*Crop Circles spoiler* don't want to ruin sbd reveal? Stop where you are and bookmark for later!
 

 

Blogging beside these flowers from my garden,

and a homework completing Missy B.

I know, I know, I haven't been blogging. 

With being busy, yard sale preparation, and a stomach bug, I haven't sat with coffee in hand to type an entry. 

That doesn't mean I haven't been working on projects...

I made three yoga may bags (similar to this post) for sale.  
 

 

 I am working on simple mini albums to sell. 
They will range in style in price,
but I have yet to complete a full one (or take photos). 
Y'all know I work in stages. 

The Crop Circles "same but different" hosted by Kymberly.

 I based mine on the lovely work of Prima Artist Finnabair.

 

 

To make this I simply kept layering and adding pieces until it felt right.

Once I was happy with the arrangement, I gave it all a coat of Gesso.

 

The seed beads look fantastic, but were a royal pain in the neck.

  

 Once I let the Gesso dry (normally I heat gun to dry, but let it air dry this time) I added Ranger Distress inks and stain, Tattered Angels mists, and Smooch spritz. I blended and brushed the sprays, and even poured it on instead of spritzing in some spots.

 

This project is great for those misters that have barely enough liquid left to spray, but too precious to toss in the trash. 
 

My sewing machine has also been incredibly busy.

 Aprons for the kindergarten concert,
 

 

clutch wallets (similar to these, from this pin with alterations),

 

and Christmas stockings.

 

Have you seen Tim Holtz's Eclectic Elements?

Oh my. I want it all!

Can you imagine the purses, yoga bags, skirts, stockings, tree skirts, mini albums ...

 

I still have another day to clean

 and create before it's time to go to work again.

Hope you had a great long weekend. 

Enjoy!

April Hopper Winner!

Hi Everyone!
 

I know I mentioned showcasing ATC from a recent swap for today's post, unfortunately my mailbox did not contain the remaining on Friday. That was the "if all goes well" part from last Wednesday's post. I will prep the post and have it ready to go and will show you as soon as I get the last ones.

The Grand Prize Winner from the April Crop Circles Blog Hop will be announced on the 14th on In The Cat Cave by Cathy (see sidebar). 

My comment winner is LyndaKay.

 

She will receive some fancy envelopes, an assortment of 6x6 papers by Authentique, Webster's Pages, and My Minds Eye, and a Little Yellow Bicycle Chipboard slider.
 

 

Please comment or email contact information.

 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend, I'm off to prep some garden beds.

Enjoy!

April crop circles blog hop

It's that time again!

 

The lovely and talented ladies of the Facebook group Crop Circles are having another blog hop.

 You should have come from Catherine Stockley's blog, if not, don't worry. I have a list at the bottom of this post to steer you in the right direction.

Don't forget to comment along the way to get in on PRIZES!


 For those of you who missed the last one (here's my post); Crop Circles is a Facebook group of Newfoundlander's, or those with ties to Newfoundland, who are scrap-illy inclined.  We challenge and inspire each other as often as we can. Wait until you see their entries for the ATC swap we hosted last month! I will post those on Saturday if all goes well.

This month we decided to go with a Spring theme.
Honestly, I haven't managed a page in a while.
 I was looking in my photos and came across a couple of layouts from last year.

 

I was lucky enough to win the "Hello Spring!" collection from the Little Yellow Bicycle blog. The colours were so bright and inspiring, I knew just what I wanted to do with them. I had printed a bunch of PageMaps sketches (I have no idea the link to the exact ones, sorry) and went for it.
 

Hope you've enjoyed my stop along the way.
Your next stop is Darlene Head Whalley. 
Dont forget to comment, prize entry for each comment, and the hop is open until end of day April 12th, 2013.

Blog Hop Order:

Cathy Caines

Sara Case Strickland

Michelle Marks

Kymberley Wragg-Machamer

Natasha Connolly

Cheryl Ashworth - with blog partners
Shar Strahan & Brande Strahan

Catherine Stockley

Rhea Skomorowski - That's me! 

Darlene Head Whalley

Lori Smith

Be sure to check back on Saturday to see the winner from my blog,
and the grand prize winner. 

The grand prize is a Maya Road bundle.
 

Feel free to follow me by email, or on Facebook. 

 

Enjoy!

Blocked

Yet again I feel as though I've hit a creative block.

By now you should know how much I like to scrap while watching tv.

Normally it helps (music is required for sewing).

It could just be that Nathan Fillion is too funny in "Firefly". 

 

Even with the block, I need to do something.

Another gift from the talented Cathy, In The Cat Cave, was this stamp set by Stampin' Up.

 

 

 Follow the link to her Stampin' Up online consultant store and check out the great products available.

 

I grabbed some light scraps and my Ranger Distress inks. I did a few of each, not worrying about the text portion as I wanted to cut them out.

 Next I stamped the images again on another light scrap. After stamping I notched for a flag end, or punched with a large EK Success punch.

Inked the pieces with my trusty "Gathered Twigs" Distress ink and Inkssentials dauber. I misted each piece with water and dabbed away the droplets with my craft cloth.

Normally I would use my heat gun, but I am in even more disarray than normal with the renos in the home of my future office/studio and adjoining laundry room.

 

 

Out of foam squares (rather, I lost them), I keep scrap chipboard handy to raise elements on cards. Sometimes foam squares alone can cause sag spots in the voids between squares. Having chipboard between paper and foam helps eliminate this.

 

I've managed to pull out the papers I plan to use and cut card size pieces.

 

 

 Now I'm stuck.

 

Here's hoping my April Crop Circles Blog Hop idea makes a miraculous entrance and coordinates with my hands by the 10th.

Stay tuned!

Enjoy!

"Same but Different" card inspiration

*Gasp* I didn't blog on Saturday!

 I spent Easter with Granny and the family, without wi-fi.
I hope you all had a great weekend. I know we did.

 

I've been really tired lately, and haven't been creative when it comes to paper.

I managed to make a few more aprons for a customer. I get lost browsing through the fabric stores, and I want it all. When I would get the time to use it all I'll never know.

 

Recently Cathy, from In The Cat Cave, sent me a lovely present.

It was just what I needed to perk me up and get me creating with paper again.

 

The scrapbooking group I belong to on facebook had a "Same but Different" challenge in March and I hosted this time. The challenge is simple enough, each particpant was sent the same (or similar) items and we all created something from it with items from our own stash.

 

 Originally, my plan was to create a layout using the divided page protectors and make an element from my supplies. As I went on a card came to mind using the new Little Yellow Bicycle stamps I won.

 

I kept going.

 

 Since I hosted I had the extras out nearby, I started making similar creations.

 

The Stampin' Up set Cathy sent me just pushed me on. The vintage feel to the colors and journalling tabs mixed with the images was so inspiring.
 

I made a whole stack before I knew it.

 

 

Like Pablo Picaso said "Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working".

 

Enjoy!

Where's my spark?

Hey Everyone!

 

Do you ever have one of those days where nothing you touch seems to look right? When you have really great plans of being productive, ideas swirling in your head, and then blah. You make an ugly card, and that's it. That's been me. ALL week long.

 

The only shiny pretty thing I have to show you was made at the beginning of last month. I was part of a Twinchie Swap at Crop Circles. A Twinchie is a 2" square decorated, and the completed pieces can be used for cards, scrapbook pages, banners, etc. I plan on using them for a wall art piece for my future office (don't get me started) showing of my crafty friends. I have all of the Twinchies at my house to sort and send a mixed set back to each participant, and they are all fabulous. I can only show mine, but Cathy posted hers this week. Click the link on the side bar to go to "In The Cat Cave" to see her sparkly creations.

 

Supplies: Bazzil cardstock; Ink, crackle paint, stains, Tim Holtz for Ranger; Tim Holtz Stamp;

Unity Stamp Co. phrase stamp; unknown canvas paper.

 

Upon receiving some of them I did make a quick set of embellished pieces, some twinchies, some just random scrap sizes. I try to stay productive even when I have no luck completing. I have a stack of embossed card fronts that I ink during theses lulls.

 

 

 

Hopefully your creative spark was bright, maybe I will be in a better crafty mood next week.

 

Enjoy!

P.S. On a happy note, look what hubby brought me back from his trip on Thursday!

I may have to do a week of Little Yellow Bicycle.

 

Winners!

Hi Everyone!
 just a shortish post today.
I have the winners from the Crop Circles Blog Hop!

This prize goes to Debbie!

How did I pick you ask? I asked 3 people to choose a number from 1-27, then added and divided by 3.
 

 

The Grand Prize goes to Lisa M!

Congratulations Winners!

To collect the prize from my blog please email me.
(Lisa has been contacted via Cathy's blog)

I haven't been super crafty this week so far, I had a couple of surprize visitors from away and have been spending precious time with them. I will get my post dates regulated again soon.

Enjoy!

 

First Ever Crop Circles Blog Hop!

 

Hi Everyone! I'm Rhea, welcome to my page! If you are participating in the Crop Circles March blog hop you should have come from Kelly Klapstein’s blog. Don't worry,I have a list at the bottom of the post! Crop Circles is a group of women who share layouts, ideas, tips, and friendship. We challenge each other monthly to keep us on our toes. Cathy Caines is the ringleader for this one. The sketch for the hop comes from Sketchbook365 , with our varied styles this is bound to be fun. My non-blog partner for today is my friend Natasha Connolly.

Here's the sketch:

Initially I had different plans for the sketch as I make a lot of tags (and I may do that layout later still), my creativity took another route. If you’ve been following my blog you've seen that I've been scrapping our Fall family photos and wanted to keep up with that for this week’s posting. My Authentique stash was next to me (pilled on my lap, covering the couch, the cat, and Warren). I really wanted to include the large journaling sticker as “A unique blend of wishes and dreams come true” since it reminds me of my children. The base is from the “Splendid” line, the teal 6 x 6 sheets are “Free Bird”, the card stock label from “Genuine”, and the navy paper and stickers from “Original”.
To create the layout I inked the edges of the base paper with my Tim Holtz distress ink in Gathered Twigs, straight from the pad. I layered stickers on my Ranger non-stick mat or back them in card stock. I like to glue last, as many of you know, but I do glue page elements to each other just not to the base. The American crafts stickers I wanted to use were an 'e' short. I grabbed a color that nearly matched and smushed ink on top same as I did in Wednesday's post. Since my elements bring not attached to the base I could move them and add ink to the background. I used Tattered Angels mist to create droplets by simply unscrewing the sprayer and flicking the straw at the paper.  
 

 

I drew the hearts with the straw on the base paper and let it dry. Then I decided I didn't like them. Crap. How can I fix it? I thought “I know, I’ll trace it with my Picket Fence Distress marker”. I went outside the line. Double crap. Then I had to fix that by using the marker to highlight the elements of my layout. Then it looked weird. Whole darn litter box of crap. I wasn't about to give up, since by that time I had glued it all down. I stared at the TV for a bit, Richard Armitage was on MI-5/Spooks shirtless, showing off his character’s black line Russian prison tattoos. Inspired, I decided to grab my Black Soot Distress marker to contrast the highlights. It was much better. Lastly I added Glossy Accents to them really make them pop.

Supply List: Authentique patterned paper and stickers; Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks, and Markers; Ranger Glossy Accents; Tattered Angels Mist; Paper Valise twine; unknown vintage trim and buttons; Bazzill Basics cardstock; American Crafts Thickers; Best Creation Foam.

I'd like to introduce my blog hop partner Natasha Connolly!

"Press F5: Refresh/Reload.

After having a falling out with my scrappy supplies, we decided that we both filed for separation. We have had a year of just being on quasi-talking terms and I am happy to say that we have reunited and are now relearning things about each other. We needed a reload! To start the process I first began redecorating the space that I share with the kids – they call it the play room, I call it the scrap room – either way - we both PLAY! We recycled some old furniture and wall art to make it more cohesive with the “PINK” theme and of course added some new items for good measure! While EVERYTHING isn’t ready for a reveal quite yet, I was super excited to get started on the sketch provided! I was further inspired by The Paperie’s Mojo Monday: Bash your Stash Challenge  – and after picking out some old papers and embellishments (some from 2004), I started creating. I remembered how much I love PAPER and that I really did miss it more than I even thought. 

Then, I saw it, the Glue Glider Pro, standing proudly in my tool carousel, just screaming to be used, still smelling of cellophane. Even though he was well over a year old, I only just removed him from his packaging when I was reorganizing my scrap space days earlier. To top it all off, he was PINK! If you know me at all, you KNOW… I LOVE PINK!

 Ironically, God blessed me with a house full of testosterone, a husband, two wonderful boys, and incidentally, all of our pets, including the fish, have been male. Alas, I digress. I completed the layout in record time (for me anyway) and Boo (the youngest-testosterone filled-youngest child – who has an uncanny resemblance to hubby and myself) also had fun creating. He, however, is much more into different mediums – he loves paint, clay, playdough, and markers. It was a success for all, Bubba (eldest testosterone laden child who, even with a quick glance at him, you would see myself and Hubby oozing out of him – looks and personality), Boo, AND myself had a FABULOUS time just being together and creating. What about Hubby? He LOVED that I was FINALLY using all that “scrap stuff” that was taking up space, and he even pretends to like the PINK curtains! That is REAL love huh? What else did I learn? I’m a “stand-up” scrapper – who knew?

I loved the sketch, the papers I selected, the photo, AND the people in it – talk about setting myself up for success! To take it one step further, I get to post on Rhea’s blog – she IS the ReAson I FINALLY scrapped! Thanks for being a friend, lending an ear, and helping me ReAlize that I NEEDED to scrap again! F5 - I'm Refreshed!"

Supply List:

Cardstock/Patterned Paper: Bazzil Red and Black, Unknown White, Bella Blvd: Making the Team

Mists/Inks/Stamps: Color Mist: Mister Huey's Calico White, Sprinklers: Holiday Style: Spruce Tree, The Crafter's Workshop: 12x12 Template: Chicken Wire, Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black, Sharpie: Fine Black, DCWV: Black Rub-On Stitching, Autumn Leaves Stampology:Borders Celebration

Embellishments: Little Yellow Bicycle:Clear Cuts Journalling Pieces: Calendar, Wild Asparagus:My Mind's Eye: "Handsome" Tag, Scenic Route: Chipboard: Summer Collection: Arrows, Bella Blvd: Making the Team: Alpha & Bits.

Be sure to leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win the prize listed below, and on each blog in the hop to win the grand prize ($75 value).  The next stop is Catherine Stockley. The Hop is open from March 1 to March 3 to qualify to win a prize.

 

Enjoy!

Blog Hop List:

1. Cheryl Ashworth with guests Shar Strahan & Brande Strahan

2. Kelly Klapstein

*3.You are here* Rhea Skomorowski and Natasha Connolly

4. Catherine Stockley

 5. Michelle Marks

6.  Darlene Head Whalley

7.  Corina Mayo Thorne

8. Sara Case Strickland

9.  Lori Smith and blog partner Elaine Lambe Beck

 10. Liz Davis

11. Cathy Caines and guest Rexene Lockyer

 

Shar Strahan & Brande Strahan - partner with Cheryl Ashworth
Kelly Klapstein-http://kellycreates.blogspot.com/
Rhea Skomorowski - http://www.rheaski.blogspot.ca/
Natasha Connolly (partner with Rhea)
Catherine Stockley- http://catherinelovesstamps.blogspot.ca/
Michelle Marks - http://michellesscrapbits.blogspot.ca/
Darlene Head Whalley http://cherrytat.blogspot.com/
Corina Mayo Thorne - http://craftycorina.blogspot.com/
Sara Case Strickland - http://wp.me/p280bG-FE
Lori Smith - http://itsabouttimeblogspot.wordpress.com/
Elaine Lambe Beck (partner with Lori Smith)
Liz Davis - http://piecesofmyeverydaylife.wordpress.com/
Rexene Lockyer (Send to Cathy Caines)
Cathy Caines - http://cathycaines.blogspot.ca/