Altered Cork Mats

So I was at the Dollar store today and saw these coasters made of cork.  I picked up the one that had the scallops.  I thought it might make a good mini album.


















There were 6 coasters in the pack, and they were fairly sturdy.













 I sorted through some very old pictures and chose some that show kids from my home daycare that I ran for a few years.

Then I cut them out with my Cricut.

 I looked in my school scrap supplies and came up with a few embellishment and papers.

I traced around the cork shape and then cut it out with scissors.  I am envious of those who know how to use an exacto knife to cut things out, I tried and messed it up!

And then I used Zip Glue to put it all together.  I used up some of my stash, which is always good, and I got some very old (1982) pictures scrapped.

If It's Groovy

I recently joined another group called If It's Groovy where there are lots of challenges.  One that appealed to me was the altered art idea, of buying a clock and altering it.  I did one, but had to take it apart again because I couldn't see the black hands against the black in the photo.  So I simply used a silver marker on the hands, then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  This is the finished product.

SKI

I found an old photo of my brother of when he went to Austria with his boarding school way back in 1967.  So I added a snow boarder accent from Meri Meri Accents that I found at Winners and some Gossip White Pop Culture from K I Memories, and came up with this layout.

I think that I work better without a sketch, I prefer making up my own layouts.  Using a sketch limits me, because I am so influenced by the idea already there.

Using my Cricut

Since I am home with bronchitis I figured that between coughing and sleeping I should make an attempt to create some cards.

I seldom use my Cricut for cards, so I am making an effort to do more with it. The first one is a child's birthday card, the dog image is from Everyday Paper Dolls.  The flower in the card is an idea from Creations with Christina, but I only used a single flower.  The flower was cut from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge.

This one was an idea I saw on Posh Designs Scrapbook Store.  As soon as I saw it I knew I had to try it.  I used the birds and love word from Home Decor.  I love the way it opens out to reveal a different look. I have posted a few angles that the card was taken from.

Tag

Here is My Pink Stamper's 3rd challenge, a tag for a gift.  I am making gluten-free muffins tomorrow, so I will give some to a friend of mine.

Spring

With the bitterly cold weather we are having here (but no snow), I made this spring card to brighten the day.  This is another challenge from My Pink Stamper

Dad

I actually accomplished a very simple page today.  It is my dad.  My mum took this photo a number of years ago and it turned out to be very good.  I simply added all of the things that he has been throughout his life.

This turned out to be another red and black project!

My Pink Stamper Challenge.

One of the blogs I read daily is My Pink Stamper. Robyn is snowed in and decided to do some challenges, and I thought I'd give it a try.  The challenge was to make something using your favourite colour and to add black to it.  So here is mine.  Can you guess my favourite colour?

January

 

This layout for January is missing something, especially at the top right.

Dad's upcoming birthday

My dad will turn 83 in February.  He's doing well, even though he has Alzheimer's Disease.  He lives with his dog Lucy in a 3 bedroom house in England.  He has family that check in on him regularly and also 'carers' who visit 3 times a day to make sure he has eaten and gets his meds. 

My mum died 5 years ago and my sister and I thought that Dad would follow shortly thereafter because the two of them were hardly ever apart, and my mum was the head of the household.  We didn't think he could manage without her and would die of a 'broken heart'.  We were wrong!

I try to go home each year for a couple of weeks, to give family members a break, and to hang out with my dad.  Sometimes it gets a bit uncomfortable as the disease will affect his mood.  But for the most part I enjoy the trip.  I won't be going this year due to some debt that I have.  So hopefully he'll hold on for another year!

He used to be passionate about photography, but he seldom goes out to take pictures anymore.  He was always in his developing room being creative with his work.  But since the digital camera, he never does any developing anymore, except for printing on his computer.

He loves to fish, so for his birthday card I used my recently bought Cricut machine and made this card for him.  I know he'll like it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAY

1st. Birthday

A friend of mine wanted a card for her friend whose baby just turned 1.  I wasn't fast enough getting it made, but this was the idea that I had. Just as well, I had made this for a boy and it turns out it was a girl!!

So now I am submitting this one to Posh Designs Scrapbook Store for their challenge.  Thanks Kim for the design.

The deadline is tomorrow.

I have at least 4 birthday cards to make this month, so I should get busy.

Blog Giveaway

I read many blogs on a daily basis.  Some for inspiration, some for fun, and some for information.  Booth #32 is one I tend to get all that from.  Aaron has a huge following and recently she was up to 100,000 hits!

If you are interested in checking out her wonderful articles, go over to Booth #32 and check it out.  Oh yes of course, don't forget to enter the contest to win.  Just leave a comment about your new goals for 2010.

Christmas Card Layout

Every year I make a layout of the Christmas cards I receive.  This is my layout for this year, 2009.  I usually include the stamps and airmail stickers from my friends and family living all over the world on another page.

The following picture is from my 2008 Christmas cards.

And this one is from 2007.

Balcony pages

I did a quick page with another shot of Thomas as a baby.  I seem to be using lots lately.

He is on the balcony in the sun, and in the background is our neighbour we had at the time, Kenny.  I think it's a great shot because Kenny was always working out on his balcony with his weights, and here they are both showing off their chests!

This 2 page layout show Thomas on the same balcony, probably the following winter.  He is having fun eating snow and offering his "Horsey" some snow too.

Cards for my nieces.

Who knew??

I actually did another layout today.  Must be on a roll!  I have been sick almost all week and haven't had the energy to do anything.  Now it looks like I'm a scrapper all over again!

Seems to be blurry here!  Anyway this is a couple of photos of my parents and their long time friends.  My mum is the one who looks like she's about to be under the table!  While I was home in England this past summer, my mum's long time friend Connie died.  She is the one in the top left corner.  So now I figure the two of them are raising hell in heaven!

Christmas 2003

After a really long time I finally got a 2 page layout done.  I realized that the mess on my workspace was not allowing me to even envision anything creative.

So I cleared it off and immediately got inspired to get busy creating a layout.

I chose 2 sketches by Valerie  Salmon, that complemented each other.

My mum spent her last Christmas with my sister Lorna and her family.  We had no idea that it would be her last one, but they sure do look happy.



The paper, poem and some of the embellishments came from a swap that I did over 5 years ago.  I wish I could remember who gave it to me, but I think it may have been from a yahoo group that I used to belong to, PST.

Amazing giveaway

So, in the paper crafting world there are so many generous people who give away amazing blog candy on a regular basis.  I don't think any other community does that.  I often come upon them by accident, or other crafters leave messages on their blogs, or send out emails.  We love to share the goodness that is out there. 

I won my first blog candy a couple of weeks ago.  I was so excited, especially since I wasn't having a very good day and then came home to an email with the great news.  Posh Designs Scrapbook Store holds a giveaway every Tuesday, and my prize was 2 stamping sheets for my Cricut machine, as well as a $10 voucher to their store.  I received them in the mail and now I am waiting until I can get out to the store to buy a deep cut blade so that I can make my own stamps.  How exciting!

Every Friday one of the sites I visit often Scrapbooks and Cards Today has a giveaway and I wanted to share that with anyone who reads this blog.  It is a huge prize.  It is called the Creatopia and is a multi facited machine.  It cuts, embosses, adheres and laminates.  What more can you ask for?  Anyway go over to their site and add a commnet telling why you need to have this machine.

Good Luck!

Finally....

It had been a very long time since I put some scrapbook pages together, as I am so into making cards these days. I was invited to Keitha's place to get some scrapping done, and to catch up on what each of us had been doing. Here are the few pages I completed.





I am not sure why this is so blue looking! I will try to take a better picture later.

This is another layout that I worked on. It is awaiting some journaling about the amazing balconies I saw in Havana, Cuba.




I also took photos of a rum factory in Havana. I have started a 3 page layout, but have only put together the first two pages. Who knows when that third one will get started! Again, as you can see I have a hard time getting the journaling done. But now that I have a new printer, there really is no more excuses!

Card Sketches.

I got the idea for this sketch book from Kristina's blog. I used the PDF files she offers and and decorated the front with fall colours. I've already added some sketches some of which are ideas from Kristina's blog.

Christmas cards

After spending the day shopping with Keitha in Cambridge and the surrounding area, I found a great little 'share and tell' 4 x 6 creative pad. So I started making Christmas cards this morning. I love the way these turned out.