Rainbow Cupcake Toppers

Our friend's daughter turned three over the weekend and she had a rainbow themed birthday party. Because my friend knows I love making rainbow baked goods, I got tapped to make the cake and some cupcakes. I was pretty excited about it and decided to make some fun cupcake toppers (I got to use my glue gun!). I'd never made them or used them before, but now I'm totally in love with them, and am obsessed with all wonderful things I am going to top my cupcakes with. Seriously, any excuse to use my glue gun!

I have a lot of scrapbooking supplies, so this craft was pretty easy to create.

First I punched some 1 1/2" stars using card stock in rainbow colours (red, yellow, green, blue). Then I punched some 1 1/4" stars in white card stock. I free hand wrote the number 3 (the birthday girl's age), in coordinating colours on the white stars.

Next I used a glue stick to stick all the numbered stars to the colourful stars.

Using regular toothpicks, I used my glue gun (so fun!) to adhere the stars to the toothpicks.

These were simple and fun to make and were a festive addition to the cupcakes.

Greeting Card: It's a Boy

Friends of ours recently had a baby boy and I made a really simple card to welcome him to the world.

I found some Old West stickers in my stash and just let them do all the work.

Sometimes less really is more, and I just love how this card turned out.

Anniversary Card - 1 Year Smoke Free

A friend of mine is marking one year free of cigarettes today and is having a get together to celebrate. According to her count, over the past year she did not smoke 9500 cigarettes! That is amazing! I bet her lungs feel great!

A congratulatory card was needed to commemorate her achievement. Over the past few months I have gotten out of the habit of making my own cards, but I've been socializing with quite a few card making bloggers recently and it has inspired me to get back into it.

For this card I did a spin on the saying 'quitters never win', changing it up to 'quitters always win", as they always do when they quit smoking!

When I first looked at the finished card I thought the design looked like a quilting square. I quickly read over the words and it looked like it said 'quilters always win'.  It is true that quilters always win. The way the card turned out may mean that I'm subconsciously into quilters, but I accept that.

So a big congratulations to my friend celebrating her 1st year smoke free! And many more to come!

To Enjoy The Whole Year Through

I reluctantly took down my Christmas cards yesterday.  I know, it is the middle of February, but I love greeting cards and love having the "cheer" hanging around.

Look how festive and happy these are!

As I was taking them down, I got the bright idea to leave the string up and display whatever random greeting cards I'll receive throughout the year.  Previously, greeting cards would sit on my desk, but due to limited space they were easily knocked over and didn't get the attention they properly deserved.  Now with them hanging up, I will be cheered the whole year through!

Look how festive and happy these are too!!

What do you do with your greeting cards?  I have a giant box of them from over the years. Every time I move, I look through my giant pile and clear out any that I'm not attached to anymore.  I also have a plan to make a scrapbook that showcases the greeting cards that I'm really sentimental about...but that will be a BIG project, so it hasn't moved past the planning stages.  So what do you do with your greeting cards?  Do you display them, store them, or toss them?

Card Making: Valentine's Day Edition

Valentines Day isn't a holiday I care too much about (for more on that be sure to read tomorrow's post), but I do love sending mail and making cards.  I also really enjoy making my nieces and nephews feel special.  I got a new heart punch this week, so even if Valentine's Day is stupid, I still had a fun time making cards.

For all my nieces and nephews: 

For my Grandparents:

 

For Mom and Dad:

This is the inside of Mom and Dad's card:

For Bro and Tab:

Remember the cards I made at the scrapbook store open house? 

I sent them to some friends as well:

Do you send cards on Valentine's Day?  Do you make your own or buy them?  Even if I think it's a silly holiday, have yourself a great one!

It Doesn't Matter if You Win or Lose...It's How You Play the Game

A big thank you to everyone who voted for me, but unfortunately I didn't win the Scrapbook Layout Contest.  But I am a winner just for participating...blah, blah, blah... :)  The winning layout can be found by clicking here, and the winner profiled a cat too, so I think it's a good choice.  I'm also really impressed with the time it must have taken her to cut out the snowmen from the patterned paper we were given. Congratulations to the winner!

I picked up my layout yesterday and it is now happily in my 2010/2011 scrapbook.  I'm still very happy with it, even if it didn't win me first place.  The contest led me to purchase and work with brads, which are my new favourite embellishment, so I'm a winner in my own way (...but in a more accurate way, brad manufacturers and the contest winner are the real winners).  :P

Scrapbooking Open House

There is an Open House at The Cottage Scrapbook here in Midland today from 2pm - 4pm, and also on Saturday from 2pm - 4pm.  They are doing a "Make and Take" which means you'll learn a scrapbooking technique and make something in-store and take it home with you (all for free).  I'll be checking it out today and will post my Make and Take later this evening.

Shameless self promotion wise, this could be a great opportunity for you to go to the scrapbook store and vote for my layout!! (My layout is the one pictured, right). I'm just saying...

Find The Cottage Scrapbook store hours and location here.

UPDATE: I'm back from the open house and the Make and Take was awesome!  We made TWO Valentines Day cards (for free) and learned how to use scrapbooking watercolour paints (I had no idea there was such a thing!).  The open house is on again tomorrow (Sat Jan 29) from 2pm-4pm, so if you want to do something crafty this is a free and fun way to do it!

Here are the cards I made at the open house.  Not bad, eh?

My Finished Scrapbook Layout for the Contest

As I've detailed here and here on the blog, I am participating in a Scrapbook layout challenge.  I've finished the layout and handed it in and now it is up to the voters/visitors of The Cottage Scrapbook here in Midland to see where I place.  There are 13 participants in the challenge, so they are awarding first and second place prizes ($20, and $10 of store credit respectively).  If you are in Midland, head on down to the Cottage Scrapbook (294 King St., right beside The Perk!) and check out all the awesome entries...but be sure to vote for mine! :)

First things first, here is a photo of Gary sitting on my layout (it is in the paper bag, thankfully):

Gary likes to sit on important things.

And here is the layout I worked on and submitted to the contest:

The theme was Christmas 2010, and the layout features my little cutie Gary.  It was really fun creating this layout and working with new materials.  I did way more planning than I think I ever have for a layout.  Even if I don't win, I will probably participate in this event again.

If you are in Midland, please go downtown and vote for me!  Voting closes at the end of the month!  Thanks!

Find the hours for The Cottage Scrapbook here.

Adventures in Scrapbooking

Participating in the Scrapbooking Layout Challenge put on by the Midland scrapbook store has made me very aware of my scrapbooking style. I am a very photo heavy scrapbooker (I just printed 150 photos last week, so I'm not surprised by this revelation). I love the detail that is added through embellishments, but they have always taken a back seat to the photos. I seldom use loud or busy paper for a background, as I want the photos to be the focus, not the background. My scrapping mindset seems to be that I am scrapbooking to remember the good times, not to look back and admire really cool stickers (I could get a sticker book for that!).

My reluctance to sacrifice photos for embellishments made the Layout Challenge just that - a challenge. The kit came with more paper and embellishments than I would normally use on a two page spread, let alone the one page I was to do for the contest. The rules stated that you must use 80% of the materials provided, which meant I had to step out of my comfort zone and rock that paper!

The challenge led me to pick up a few new techniques.  The first one was layering papers. Many of my previous layouts have had pictures placed on accenting paper to give them the illusion of a boarder.  For the challenge layout I put photos on top of accenting paper on top of EVEN MORE accenting paper; two boarders instead of one!  Layering the paper was an easy way to use it up, so I did it as often as I could.  I even used the layering effect to enhance the lettering for the title of my page by combining it with another new-ish technique: using a square punch.  I have a Creative Memories square punch that I rarely use, but it was perfect for helping me boarder the letters in my title.  My normal go-to style is to just put lettering directly onto the page, but I love the way the layered letters turned out, so I am definitely going to use this technique again for future layouts.

The best new technique I had to learn was working with brads (see photo, right). I have seen various brads in the stores before, but I was never really interested in them.  Now that I have worked with them, I can't wait to use them again!  I don't have the tool kit you are supposed to use to set them onto your page, but I had a general idea of how it worked so I improvised using a hammer and a Robertson head screwdriver.  It worked just fine!  Plus the awesome thing about brads is that they remind me of being in grade two and making paper clocks. Did you ever do that? The brad fastens the clock hands onto the clock face and allows the hands to be movable so you can set the time.  Seven year old me wants to get some more brads just so I can make a paper clock. So much fun!

Now that I have told you all about my new adventures in scrapbooking for the layout contest, you would think I would show you the finished page I made.  And I would ... if it was finished.  Rest assured, I will post my Layout Challenge page once it is completed.

Social Scrapbooking

The last few months of 2010 I renewed my obsession with scrapbooking.  I only have four layouts left to do in my 2009/2010 scrapbook, which means I am sooooo close to starting my 2010/2011 book!  Wouldn't it be amazing if I actually finished a scrapbook in the same year the photos were taken?  That is the dream people!  I just printed 150 photos, so I am ready to start my new book.  Scrapbooking for the win!    

I am on the mailing list of the Midland scrapbooking store, The Cottage Scrapbook.  This month I noticed they are having a Layout Contest to win $20 store credit.  It costs $7+tax to enter, but you get the card stock and embellishments you need to do the layout.  I went in yesterday and picked up my layout kit and I am excited about doing it.  The theme is 'Christmas 2010' so I am going to look through my photos and see what I can come up with.  The challenge for me will be planning out the project so I don't ruin any of the card stock that was supplied, as you cannot use any paper that isn't in the kit.  I'll also have to practice my lettering ability as you can't use any commercially made letters (I am a sucker for alphabet stickers).  Wish me luck!

If you are in and around Midland and interested in participating, you need to buy your kit by January 21st, and you need to hand in your finished layout by 5:00pm on January 22nd, 2011.  I can't wait to start mine!

The supplies found in the contest kit.

Scrapbooking Origins

My adventures in scrapbooking started about eight years ago when my sister-in-law Jeanette made me go to a scrapbooking party.  I had fun while I was there, but didn’t really get into it.  Regardless of my lack of enthusiasm, I purchased an 8.5 x 11 album and started a “Family Wedding Album” which would feature my sibling’s weddings.  I did most of my scrapbooking at Jeanette’s house as she had all the awesome tools from Creative Memories.  I scrapbooked all the photos for my sister’s wedding - and then I was just done with it.  Sure it had been fun, but I didn’t have any cutting tools of my own and I wasn’t excited enough about it to buy any.   

I forgot about scrapbooking until about three years ago, when I noticed Dollarama had an amazing amount of scrapbooking supplies and stickers.  Maybe I did like it after all, I just needed the proper tools.  With John’s encouragement, I spent about twenty dollars on neat scissors, stickers, and assorted papers; enough stuff to get me going on a few pages.  I even went to a department store and picked up a 12 x 12 album.  I was ready to roll.

I did a few pages for my “Family Wedding Album”, this time working on my brother’s wedding.  Something clicked and I was having a lot of fun with it.  I also did a few pages for my 12 x 12 album, and fell more and more in love.  I realized that scrapbooking combines four things I love: photos, organization, creativity, and (usually) TV on DVD.  It is a winning combination for hours of creative fun!

So for the past three years I have been thoroughly obsessed with scrapbooking. Beyond the initial supplies I picked up at the dollar store, I have since collected Creative Memories cutting tools (ovals and circles), three paper trimmers (two with strait lines and one with squiggly), a photo corner rounder, square punch, star punch, and countless other tools, papers, and card stock.  Scrapbooking can be expensive when you are first starting out (as are most hobbies), but I now have an adequate amount of tools and materials, that all I need to maintain my hobby are photos and accents. To keep costs low, I always purchase my photos during a photo sale, never wanting to pay more than .10¢ per photo. In May I printed 130 photos during a .10¢ sale, and I currently have 101 more photos waiting to be printed for when the next sale comes around.  I love photos as much as I love photo deals!

I have a pretty good sticker/embellishment collection, but I’m always looking for new accents at the dollar store, or the department store if there is a deal.  They don’t always make stickers for every page idea, so I sometimes make my own embellishments, either out of card stock, or other crafty materials.  I recently used a glue gun and some felt to make accents for a page I couldn’t find the right stickers for.  I got to be extra creative and using a glue gun is one of my favourite things to do.  Hot glue rules! 

I’ve come a long way from thinking I didn’t like scrapbooking.  I completed my “Family Wedding Album” last winter, which is good because the most recently married sibling got married over five years ago, so it was about time.  I also finished my first 12 x 12 album, which gave me an amazing sense of satisfaction.  Forty-two pages of cutting, cropping, positioning, accenting, titling, journaling...it really is a lot of work when you think about it.  I’ve also completed a baby book for a friend, discovered card making, and started three new albums.  I can’t wait to see how they turn out!

Card Making: Mother's Day Edition

Happy Mother's Day!  This year I made some home made cards for some special ladies in my life.  I enjoy scrapbooking and have tonnes of supplies, so when card making, I often hunt through my stash for the perfect paper or stickers for the occasion.

I have a really fun paper pack that makes me think of a child's school project, so I made some cards that look like they might have been made in grade two art class. I think it makes them look sweet, especially since the Mother's in question will be receiving the card from an almost thirty-year-old!

 Child inspired # 1

Child inspired # 2

I also had some fancier paper, so I also made some more elegant cards with it.

Fancy card # 1, front

Fancy card #1, inside

Fancy card # 2

With home made cards comes home made envelopes, so I made a few of those too.

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I hope all the Mother's out there are being appreciated for all they do and are having a great day!