CTMH Advent Calendar

My daughter, Amy & I enjoyed an afternoon of scrapbooking together. We haven't done this in probably over a year.

I worked on the Close to My Heart Advent Calendar. What a great, quick & useful project.

Amy spent some time yesterday picking out the colour pattern for the boxes and its frames. Then I spent approximately 3 hours today stamping and putting the drawers together. 

We have decided to make this Grandma Chris' Christmas Present. She loves to do puzzles. So, we are going to turn a photo of Amy & TJ together into a puzzle. Every day starting December 1st she will get a puzzle piece or two. Then on Christmas morning she will have a completed puzzle of her grandchildren.

My mother-in-law doesn't have a computer or know how to work one, so she won't see this post.

Materials used:

CTMH's Workshops on the Go Advent Calendar Kit

Cricut Artiste Collection Cartridge

Black Staz On Ink

Scoring Blade

Zig Glue Pen

In the kit, you get the stamp set to stamp out the fancy frames within the chipboard colourful frames and the numbers. You have to use the Staz On ink because the paper is a bit glossy and the CTMH Black ink pad wouldn't dry quickly enough. I tried it on a scrap piece of paper.

The New CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge is AMAZING!!!

There is a font on it. Fabulous dies that you can't see on the back of the box and the stamp sets that come with it are FABULOUS too!!!

If you want to get your hands on any of the products used in this post or any CTMH or Stampin' Up products......come on out to our 

Charity Stamping Pajama Party

& Yard Sale with a Twist

Thursday, August 30, 2012

6:30 - 9:30 p.m.

Oliver Road Community Centre

(basement)

$5.00 Entry Fee

(Includes 3 Ballots for a $50.00 Door Prize)

At this party, you will make one Christmas Card with Stampin' Up and one Christmas Card with Close to My Heart. 

For a twoonie, you can do a "sweet" make 'n' take with Amy. All the proceeds going towards the Northern Cancer Fund - Chemotherapy - Leukemia - In Honour of Patty LeClair.

There will be refreshments & some sweet treats and lots of samples to look at.

After making your projects, having a snack & checking out the samples, you can participate in our fun Yard Sale with a Twist. All the proceeds going to the Northern Cancer Fund - Chemotherapy - Leukemia in Honour of Patty LeClair.

Patty LeClair is my aunt and in May she was diagnosed with Leukemia. She is spending her summer in the hospital fighting her cancer with a very positive attitude. She is truly an inspiration and I admire her greatly.

Please R.S.V.P. by Sunday, August 26, 2012 to Donna at ddigby@shaw.ca.

DAT'S will NOT be opening on
Thursday, July 26, 2012 as planned.

Due to the test results on the air quality coming in late this afternoon, it is not a good idea for me to be in my home/business for any length of time with my allergies.

I am sorry for any inconvenience that I may have caused you.

I will keep you up to date as much as I possibly can and hopefully I will be able to open the store up for a day very soon.

Have a great day!

DAT'S Scrapbooking will be opening on 

Thursday, July 26, 2012 from 2:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

We still don't know when we will be able to re-open the store or move back into our home, so I worked out a sitter for TJ to open up for a day.

Well, I know it has been I while since I have posted a card or anything scrapbookie, but life has been a bit hectic since the flood.

It's also difficult to scrapbook when your supplies are packed in all kinds of storage containers in your living room and husband's shed without any rhyme or reason. Fortunately, I have been able to dig out a few things, borrow from my mom and shoplift from the store.

A week or so ago, I decided to stay up for a couple of hours and come up with a simple Christmas Card design and here is what I came up with.

I love it! It is truly a simple card. My simple cards in the past have had lots of copic colouring or lots of layers, but not this one.

It looks much better in person, but I couldn't get around to photographing it until too late in the evening. Whatcha gonna do!?

I used BoBunny Wine & Evergreen Double Dot two-sided patterned papers with Bazzill Prismatic White cardstock.

The tree die-cuts were cut out with one of EK Success' large border punches and the ribbon is Cinnamon Velvet Ribbon from We R Memory Keepers Red Sew Ribbon package.

The greeting on the front of the card is from CTMH's Holiday Wishes stamp set and the inside sentiment is from CTMH's Christmas Love stamp set. They were both stamped with CTMH's Ponderosa Pine ink.

The We R Memory Keepers Red Sew Ribbon package has two other ribbons in the package, so I have matched up papers with them to make the same card.

I hope to post them soon or at least have them on display in the store on Thursday.

Under Water Adventure in Donna's Scrap Room

Viewer Discretion is Advised.

If you are an avid scrapbooker, card maker or crafter of any type, the following photos may be hard for you to see. Please proceed at your own discretion.

If you have never seen my scrap room before, please look at my right side bar and you will see a photo with a title bar that says Donna's Scrap Room. Click on the photo to see all the photos that I had posted of my sanctuary.

On Monday, May 28th at 6:00 a.m., we woke up to 8 inches of water in our basement. It was coming in through our drain, toilet & bath tub. It didn't stop there. The water continued to rise until late afternoon stopping at 2.5 feet high.

My parents, my cousin Brandi & her two girls came over as soon as I called them. My best-friend's husband (Gerry) came over. My girlfriend (Irene) my mother-in-law & later in the day Brandi's mom came to help us save as much as we could & take care of TJ.

We started pulling stuff out of our basement at 6 a.m. and didn't quit until shortly after 6 p.m. Not only was my basement my scrap area, it was also my photo archival area, our spare bedroom, our storage room, our laundry room & Amy's cool hang out room.

Amy & I lost a lot of keepsakes & scrapbooking supplies & tools, but with the help of some amazing friends & family we also saved a lot. I only lost 12 photo albums and most of the photos in those albums are on cds. So they can easily be printed again. I only have approximately 2 dozen photos that need to be scanned and printed.

Trevor's shed, my living room, TJ's nursery & Amy's room is storing all the items that we were able to save.

Due to the height of the water, the hydro & gas were cut off to my house. The gas hasn't been put back on, but some of the hydro has been.

First General from Sudbury, needed the hydro to be restored to completely dry out my basement with their 10 fans & 2 dehumidifiers. To give the contractors the hydro they needed, an electrician disconnected all the basement breakers & put in some sort of panel for the contractors to use.

This gave me hydro back upstairs, but only to part of my house because we found out the hard way that a good portion of my wiring on the main floor was connected to the basement breakers.

This is why DAT'S Scrapbooking has been CLOSED.

At this time, we do not know when we will be re-opening. We need the electrical work in the basement completed, the new furnace put in, the tankless water heater taken care of, a shower rebuilt downstairs & my washing machine plumbed back in to be able to return home.

You may ask....why a shower and the washing machine. Well, we have always showered in the basement. The bath tub upstairs is built on the slant of the house and therefore is only good for TJ's baths. The washing machine is because I do a load of TJ laundry every second day. 

I have been doing enough carting of my close to 25 pound son back & forth to the house taking care of flood related items that to continue to do so while running the store will just add too much stress to my life.

So, with so many people displaced, who knows how long it is going to be before we can move back home. My contractor is working hard for me and has already found a company to put my furnace in tomorrow. We are now just waiting to hear back from the other parties involved to see when they can get their areas of expertise done at my house.

We are all hanging in there. We have had some rough days.....inventorying on Monday & seeing all that we have lost was one of them.

A BIG THANK YOU goes out to Lee-Ann, Mom, Shanna & Brandi for helping Amy & I get all the inventory done this past Monday.

We are trying to keep positive and just take it all day by day. I got to see Amy at her track & field try-outs for the first time because I didn't have to run the store. 

I also got to see her at her 3 Pitch tournament & this week I will get to see her at her Tennis tournament. Last Thursday, TJ spent 6 hours in the new baby pool we bought him for the backyard. I got to take some great photos of that. 

As soon as I can open the store again, I will and I will definitely get the word out to you. 

Thank you all for your kind words, support & understanding throughout this crazy time in our lives.

Happy 14th Birthday Amy!

Amy turned 14 on May 21 and today we are celebrating her birthday with a Karaoke Family BBQ. Tomorrow we are celebrating her birthday with 40 of her friends in Karaoke style.

Not only is the birthday theme Karaoke, but it is also florescent colours. Amy has always loved all her colours, but she has fallen in love with the 80's florescent colours that seem to be back in style.

That is why my card for her is so BRIGHT!

I used American Crafts Amy Tangerine Sketchbook 6 x 6 paper pad with Bazzill Black & Grape Slush cardstock, Stampin' Up Bright Teal cardstock from an old line and Staples Bright Cardstock. None of my CTMH, Stampin' Up or Bazzill cardstock came close to being bright enough, so I used my Staples Computer paper that I general use for posters around the store.

To embellish the card, I used Neon Green Flower Soft and Key Lime & Daffodil Liquid Pearls. I also used EK Success' circle punch, small & medium star punches; star circles & standard circles nestabilities; Spellbinder's M-Bossabilities Music and I even pulled out my old Marvy Corrugator (it's hard to tell in the photo).

The main image on the front of the card is Kraftin' Kimmie's "The Partridge Family". It was the perfect stamp for this card because it represents Trevor, TJ & I singing to Amy. I also used CTMH's Wild Thing, Party Pennants and Live out Loud - July Stamp of the Month stamp sets.

Copic Markers used: Yellow - FY1; Green - FYG2 & FYG1; Lime Yellow - FYG1; Teal - FBG2; Orange - FYR1; Pink - RV06 and Purple - V06.

I hope to post Amy's Birthday Invite along with some of her party favours by Tuesday.

Amy's Grade 8 Grad Photo Layout

My daughter, Amy, is graduating from Grade 8 this June. Her graduation photos are absolutely beautiful and I designed this layout to showcase her grad photos in the store.

I limit the photos of my children out on the world wide web, so if you want to see the layout with the photos, you will have to come into the store.

I used Reminisce Graduation Carpe Diem, I Made It & Senior Year two-sided patterned papers with Best Creations Black Glitter cardstock & Bazzill Black & Gray Prismatic cardstock.

To embellish this layout, I used Prima Marketing Black Rhinestone Scrolls, Karen Foster Baroque Black 4 inch Page Pin Ups, Stampin' Up Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, We R Memory Keepers Black Magic Glitter Floss with Bazzill Border Stitchz Template, Around the Block Tape Writer & Black Tape, Labels Four & Standard Circles Nestabilities & Base Camp Cricut Cartridge.

I am playing along with the DAT'S Designing Divas 3rd Challenge, Graduation or Congratulations Theme.

Happy 89th Birthday Grandpa!

Today is my grandpa's 89th Birthday. Due to his Cataract operation on his second eye today, we celebrated it yesterday.

We took him & my grandma to the Therapeutic Riding Association's Pancake breakfast out in Murillo, we went to Vanderwees to pick out our Cherry Tomato plants, visited my Auntie Pat, ordered Chinese for supper and then played shuffle board.

We have to go back to get our tomato plants because they weren't quite ready yet. My grandpa and I have a friendly competition going on with who can grow the best cherry tomatoes. Two summers ago, I won. Last summer, we won. This is our tie-breaking year. His cherry tomato plant is his birthday gift from my brother and I.

Anyways, one of the best days that I have ever had with my grandpa was mushroom picking on my brother's property one Thanksgiving weekend. The mushrooms were a plenty and my grandpa was like a kid in a candy shop. 

So, when Kraftin' Kimmie came out with this stamp set, I knew I had to make my grandpa's birthday card with it.

Due to the flu, I didn't get my card done in time to be posted with the DAT'S Designing Divas 2nd Card Challenge - Masculine Theme. So, I decided to post it on my grandpa's birthday instead.

I used patterned papers from My Mind's Eye On the Bright Side - One 6 x 6 paper pad with Bazzill Suede Brown Dark cardstock.

To embellish the card, I used Maya Road Wooden Buttons, Stampin' Up Old Olive 1/8 inch Taffeta Ribbon and embroidery floss from my stash. I also used Spellbinder's Wavy Rectangles Nestability and EK Success' Ric Rac Border Punch.

I used Kraftin' Kimmie's Willow stamp set & CTMH's Happy Birthday stamp set with CTMH black ink.

Copic Markers used: Skin - E00 & E000; Brown - E44, E47 & E49; Teal - BG57 & BG72 and Green - YG91 & YG95.