Jack's 13th Birthday Card

In August 2019, my nephew, Jack, turned 13 & I made him this card.

At the time, I wasn't making cards for anyone's birthdays because I was too sick with my concussion symptoms, but I could not let my nephew's birthday go by without making him a card.

My nephew appreciates every detail that I put into my cards for him. That is why I always put a lot of thought & pay extra special attention to every detail when I make his cards.

I love watching his face light up when he opens my cards and before he even looked on the inside of the card...he was asking me about how I got the screw heads onto the card. Like I said, he notices every detail.

He got a green dirt bike for his birthday. So that is where the inspiration came from for this card.

The Dirt Bike image was cut out with my Cricut machine. All the rest of the shapes were cut out with MFT dies & Your Next Stamp dies. All the stamps used on this card are from Close To My Heart except for the dirt quote & "epic adventures"; which is from The Ink Road.

The screw heads are old brads from either Scrapbook Sally or Karen Foster, the corrugated background paper came from our Gazebo Packaging that we bought & the rest of the papers are all Bazzill.

Days in December Album

I am a Close To My Heart Consultant. I have always wanted to do a Days in December Album. So, when CTMH came out with their Days in December Kit in 2019, I decided that I would give it a go. I even ran it as a workshop.

I am not a kit person. After doing this kit, I realized that I am still not a kit person. 

A lot of the pages in the kit, weren't me. So, I ended up changing a lot of the album to suit me & my family.

I did complete the kit before December 1, so that I could just add photos & journaling, but again...many of the pre-made layouts didn't fit with the activities that my family & I did in the month of December.

So, when I tried to actually complete the album...I found it more frustrating trying to make the photos fit then a fun project for me to putter with.

Since this album already has fun & fabulous layouts just waiting to be finished. I have decided to change this album to a 31 Christmas Traditions & Stories Album.

It is something that I will work on next Holiday Season.

The first two photos are the Album Cover & Spine. I designed them with my Cricut & used Cricut's Permanent Shimmer Vinyl.

The next photo is one of the 3 x 4 Picture My Life cards that I designed for my album.

I loved how this turned out.

A few years ago, we gave our After Parade of Lights Christmas Party the Ugly Christmas Sweater theme. So far, every year I have bought a new penguin sweater to wear that night.

The last photo is the only page, besides the title page, that I completed of my album.

This 6 x 8 layout works for my new theme, so all is good there. It's a photo of my son holding up his Lego Advent Calendar...one of our many Holiday Traditions.

TJ's Classmate Treats

My son & I try to make something for his classmates for all the holidays, including the popular holiday of The Last Day of School before summer break.

When my daughter was in school, I could make whatever I wanted to make for her classmates. She wasn't particular about what it was; which was great for me because then I could play with whatever was tickling my fancy at that time.

My son isn't so "easy going" about his holiday treats for his classmates. He is very particular on what he wants to give his friends.

Sometimes it is the candy, sometimes it is the theme & sometimes it is the whole design.

This is great that he puts thought into his gift giving, he gets that from me...so I really can't complain. It is a bit annoying sometimes when there is something that I really want to make & he isn't feeling it.

In June 2019, I made the Hello Summer Mike & Ike goodie bags for his last day of Grade 2. Pretty simple because I wasn't feeling well at the time...but I had already bought all these Mike & Ikes for the goodie bags & didn't want them hanging around the house for me to eat. 

The Reindeer Finger Puppet & Bookmark was a design that I bought from Digital Gems. These were a big hit with my son's Grade 3 Classmates for their Christmas goodie in December 2019.

Paint Pouring

In April 2019, my girlfriend, Danielle & I went to a Paint Pouring class at The Creative.

The First Photo is the Painting that I did at that class. I loved how it turned out.

Then I organized a Paint Pouring Night at my house with my girlfriends and that is where all the rest of the creations came from.

Photo Number Four, my cousin, Brandi was moving her painting & it dripped onto my painting...that is why there is a bright colourful spot on it.

Photo Number 8 came about when I was cleaning up. I was dumping all the extra paint into one cup & then thought it would be cool to see how it would turn out on a canvas. It now proudly hangs in my scrap room & everyone who was at that Paint Night signed the back.

Photo Number 9 was a fun gift for my dad. He has it hanging up in his room.

My Love is Love rock was hidden for someone to find & I ended up keeping the metallic rock because my husband loved it so much.

Andrea's 24th Birthday

I made this for my niece's 24th birthday in August of 2019.

She enjoyed a new cocktail that I had when she was over one day. So, for her birthday I made her a bottle of it. She loves the Harry Potter movies. That is where the inspiration for the bottle came from.

The Mason Jar was the birthday card/tag that I made to hang from the bottle. All the pieces were cut out with my Cricut & the sentiment is one of Close To My Heart's stamps.

Bay Village 1st Birthday Card

One of my favourite coffee shops in town, Bay Village Coffee, celebrated their 1st Birthday in 2019 & I made the owners this shaker card.

I filled the shaker with their fresh coffee grounds.

I used Doodlebug Patterned Papers, Bazzill Cardstock, LaLa Land Dies, Jaded Blossom Stamp & Dies, Simon Says Stamps Die, MFT Stamp & Dies, My Creative Time Die & BoBunny Ribbon. 

Snow Globe Wine Glasses

Here are two Snow Globe Wine Glasses that I made (fronts & backs). 

I had fun making the gold one, but the silver one gave me nothing but trouble.

I ended up using Krazy Glue to glue everything that is touching the wine glass because when I used my hot glue gun...the pearls kept popping off.

I am still going to make a 3rd one, but I am going to try Gorilla Glue Sticks with my hot glue gun. My girlfriend, Carol says that it worked fine for her snow globes.

Adeline's Baby Book

My cousin, Brandi & I made a 12 x 12 Baby Book for her daughter, Emma to log her daughter, Adeline's First Year.

These were the pages that I made for the album. The album went from October to October (2017-2018).

I was cleaning up files on my desktop and came across these photos. Went through my blog and noticed that I hadn't shared these pages.

My cousin, Emma, loves anything nautical. So her daughter's nursery theme & baby shower theme was nautical.

I loved how the Lighthouse Page, the last page of the album, turned out that I made a 6 x 6 version of it as the Baby Shower Card...but I can't find the photos of it.

Congratulations Tyler & Monica!

Our cousins in California, Tyler & Monica, are expecting their first baby in May 2020 and It's a Girl!

Our California Family is big into hockey. The daddy-to-be slapped shot a hockey puck filled with pink powder for the gender reveal. 

So, that is where the inspiration for the diaper shirt came from. I used Balloon Bash Font for the words.

For their card, I used Doodlebug & Craft Smart patterned papers with a Bazzill cardstock. The stamps are from Stampin' Up & Stamping Bella. I used MFT, My Creative Time & CC Designs dies. Don't remember whose enamel dots I used, but the sequins are from Cartwrights.

Happy 65th Birthday Mum!

Happy 65th Birthday Mum!

Last night we celebrated my mum's birthday a day early with a family game night & persians. Persians are a cinnamon donut with a berry icing that is a favourite treat in Thunder Bay.

My mum loves butterflies & her favourite colour is blue. So that is what inspired this card.

I used blue, foil paper from Stampin' Up, the gray, shimmer cardstock is from Bazzill, the main large butterfly die is from Lana on Facebook, the smaller, stitched butterfly dies are from Poppy and all the stamps are from Close To My Heart's February Stamp of the Month UK Version; except the "Happy Birthday" is a Jaded Blossom stamp.

She loved her card.

Crop Free Make 'n' Takes - 2019

I host 12 Hour Crops at a local community hall for my girlfriends & I to get together at throughout the year.

These were the Free 6 x 8 Layout Make 'n' Takes that I did at my crops in 2019.

Pretty much everything used on these layouts were from Close To My Heart.