Doris - HallowQueen Mug

Back in November 2019, I made Two Coffee Mugs & a batch of Shortbread Cookies as a Thank You gift for our friend, Doris.

Doris LOVES Halloween. So referring to her as the HallowQueen is a perfect fit.

When she found out that our daughter's shag was the Day of the Dead theme, she didn't hesitate to offer her make-up expertise for the Bride-To-Be & the Groom-To-Be.

As you can see, their make-up for the Shag was absolutely AMAZING!

I bought the plain, black coffee mugs at Wal-Mart & used Siser's Permanent Vinyl for the lettering. I cut out the lettering with my Cricut Machine using the Gingerbread Cake Roman Font, Lori Whitlock Freedom Font & Storybook Shorty Font. I do not remember where I got my crown SVG.

For those of you who do not live in Thunder Bay, Ontario, a Shag is a party where we raise money for the Bride & Groom's upcoming wedding.

Family Strong

In Fall 2019, my sister, Vicki, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

At Thanksgiving, my brothers & sisters all came home & we got together for a family supper at mom & dad's house. The whole family wore pink to show our sister/daughter/mom/aunt that we were there for her...Family Strong.

At that family gathering, we took a bunch of family photos. I took those photos & put them together in a 6 x 8 album for my sister & gave it to her at Christmas.

She knows that her family is always there for her, but I know from experience, when you are going through a tough time...you sometimes feel alone. This album was made up for her so that she can quickly be reminded how loved she is.

Most of the album was photos that weren't "scrapbooked"...just printed photos in different sizes...grouped together to tell our story.

I designed the front cover & the spine of the album on my Cricut Machine.

The following photos are the layouts that I made up for her album.

The third photo is a rock that our mom & sister-in-law paint poured & then they asked me to cut out the word "family" in vinyl. On the bottom of the rock, the whole family signed it.

The first layout is photos of cousins who don't live in Thunder Bay and weren't at our Thanksgiving Supper...but were showing their support from afar. 

The second layout is my sister & brother-law...I forgot to take a photo of the corresponding page...it was a fun layout that shows their deep love for each other.

The third layout is of TJ with his Auntie Vicki at TJ's 7th Birthday Party which was the Emoji Poop Themed Party. TJ designed most of this layout with a little help from mom.

The forth layout is the last page of the book. It is of my favourite photo of my sister & I on a very special day in 2017. 

Giving a Little Comfort During a Difficult Time

Last year my girlfriend, Sandra, was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

I knew there was nothing I could do or say that would make things better, but remind her that I was here for her & that she is loved.

So, I made her this card & Squeeze-Um. Normally, when I make my squeeze-ums, they are only 1.5 inches in size & hold one Hersey Kiss inside....but I had always wanted to make a big one...like a candy dish.

I loved how it turned out. The squeeze-um is made out of plastic canvas. I glued different sayings onto the bottom of the Hersey Kisses & stitched in the word "THRIVER" on the back.

Robin Roberts, who is on GMA & a Cancer Thriver, uses the word Thriver instead of Survivor because she didn't only survive cancer, but is thriving in life after cancer.

All About Me Mini Album - Pages 1 & 2

At my crops, I offer a Free Make 'n' Take & lately I have been doing 6 x 8 layouts.

With the New Decade & one of my goals this year being to scrapbook more for myself, I thought it would be fun to have my layouts prompt us to share more information about ourselves. Then at the end of the year, we will have a mini album all about us.

So these are the first two pages of this on-going project.

To make the background paper for the "All About Me in 2020" layout,I spritzed the CTMH White Cardstock with green Copic Markers & used the same markers to colour my flower. The black & white patterned paper is from one of CTMH's Mix-In Paper Packets & I used CTMH's Gold Glitter Paper.

The 3 x 3 photo frame was cut out on my Cricut as well as the title. For the title, I used A Holiday Story Script for all the letters but the "t". For the "t", I used the Agatha Font.

To embellish the layout a bit, I used CTMH's Ribbon & CTMH's Gold Glitter Gems. The flower is from CTMH's Mandela Vibes Stamp & Thin Cuts Set.

For the "This Year's Goals" layout, I used patterned papers from CTMH's Into the Wild line with CTMH's Toffee Cardstock for mats. I used CTMH's Pebble Cardstock for the snowflakes with a gray patterned paper from one of CTMH's Mix-In paper packets for the backgrounds of the snowflakes. 

I used CTMH's Snowflake Thin Cuts & a Spellbinders Die for the snowflakes and embellished the middles with CTMH's Gray Enamel Dots. I also used EK Success' small corner rounder for one of the journaling areas.

I used CTMH's Stitched Borders, Checklist, Year - Noted & New Beginnings stamp sets with CTMH's Cocoa & Black inks.

Amy's 21st Birthday Card & Guest Page

On May 21, 2019, our daughter, Amy, had her Champagne Birthday...which we actually celebrated on May 20th.

I threw her a Paris Themed Champagne Birthday Party...since she dreams of going to Paris one day.

I made her a Shaker Birthday Card and a 6 x 8 Guest Page for all our family & friends who attended her birthday party to sign.

Teacher & Bus Driver Canvas Bags 2019

For the end of my son's Grade 2 School Year (June 2019), I made canvas shopping bags for his teachers & bus driver.

I am most proud of the "atom" bag because I designed the atom myself. 

These were the first projects that I made that I used my Easy Press 2.

The pencil bag is what made me start looking into light boards & once I got it...boy was weeding my projects much easier.

Be Kind Wreath

Close To My Heart is offering Wooden Wreath Kits this month as a promotion.

I chose to do the "Be Kind" Wreath.

The Wreath is 16 inches in diameter. You get 2 double sided 16 inch circle papers with the kit to choose as your background. That is the only thing that I used from the kit.

I used various gray patterned papers from CTMH for my hexagons & CTMH's gold foil paper. The black matte sequins are from Cartwright's.

The bumblebee is a SVG that I had in my files & I made the hexagon "frames" using Cricut's Hexagons.

I inked the wooden wreath with CTMH's Whisper & Chocolate inks to match the flooring in the main floor of my house & I used gray & gold papers to match my kitchen/dining room area because that is where I am hanging this wreath.

I rubbed my ink pads directly onto the wooden wreath. I used old ink pads because I figured the wood would chew up the ink pads a bit & it did. I also used paper towels to rub off the excess ink.