I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We were lucky enough to spend the day with our two awesome kids and their equally awesome spouses, our adorable grandson and our daughter-in-law's family. It was a great day - thank you Santa!
Here is a photo of our little grandson on Christmas Day.

See why I say adorable? He is such a sweetie!

Now that gift giving is over I can share with you a special project that I worked on last month. It was a Tim Holtz Configuration Tray. Last year I made two '7Gypsies' ones for our 'kids' of their respective honeymoons.They are made of dark wood and the 'boxes' are permanent and a part of it. They are awesome and are a lot of fun to do but the TH ones are different. They are made out of a heavy ivory coloured chipboard and contain several boxes that are removable. You remove or move the little boxes within the tray to get the 'configuration' you want. This allows you to completely customize it to fit your photos and embellies. Once this was done I used a plain binding tape to hold the boxes together and make them permanent. I made sure that all corners and crevices were covered and smooth before painting the top and sides of the tray, as well as inside the boxes, with Making Memories Scrapbook Paint in 'Manila'. Next I sanded it to give it a distressed look. It still wasn't the shabby-chic look that I was going for though. So I dry-brushed it with MM chocolate brown paint then sanded again. After all was dry, I was ready to add photos, paper and embellies. I used 'Simple Stories - Baby Steps' line of papers and some miscellaneous embellies. I used a SU! pennant builder punch to make the cute banner along the top adding twine and SS buttons. I really enjoyed making this but most of all I enjoyed seeing the joy on faces as it was opened Christmas day.

I HOPE EVERYONE HAD A FANTASTIC CHRISTMAS!

One Last Christmas Project

Last night was the final night of the year for our Technique (Geek) Club. We made a cute little 'christmas tree'  luminary. We stamped vellum cardstock with flourishes after running it thru the Big Shot with the SU! cone shape die. Next we folded and adhered it to a scalloped square base. As usual, I messed up!! I folded it in the wrong place leaving an obvious crease along the front. The way I look at it though is that mistakes are good as they force you to be creative. So, I added seam binding ribbon to cover my mistake and added a bow. It's also from SU! (Baja Breeze - the same as the ink colour and cardstock base). I added some rhinestones in both clear and blue and topped it with a glittery silver snowflake (SU! die) attached with a glittery silver brad from MM. The final touch though is to add a little battery operated 'tealight' to the inside back and let the light shine thru!! So pretty!

Final Christmas Card

For my last 2 cards I decided to make gatefold cards. I quickly got one in the mail to go to Ont. before I got pictures taken. But I did manage a photo of the 2nd one - the design is a bit different although it is still a gatefold and I used the same paper line from My Minds Eye (Lost and Found - Christmas).

I got the basic design from one we created at my monthly Technique Club - shown HERE. I then made an accordian flower using 'almost artichoke' SU! CS and adhered a MME chipboard circle to the front (love the sparkle and bling on it). I then attached a tag with a pearl brad both from the same pp line. To finish it off I added grosgrain ribbon in 'very vanilla' from SU!

HAVE A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST IN THE NEW YEAR!!!

Xmas Cards

I have 2 more cards to make this year, then I'm done. It's a good thing as they need to be mailed to Ont. asap! Meanwhile, I picked a few faves to share with you.

The first card uses Theresa Collins Christmas line and the amazing Webster Pages xmas cameos and antique lace from my stash. I used a SU! label stamp with a xmas sentiment and the matching label punch.

This card uses My Minds Eye 'Lost and Found - Christmas', one of their beautiful pearl brads and the same antique lace.

This card is also the Theresa Collins xmas pp using the 'Welcome Christmas' stamp by SU! and one of their beautiful antique brads. I bought a pad of black 'Brilliance' ink, which I have always loved, but when I got home I discovered it wasn't a true black. It's kind of a greyish black but when you tilt it in the light it has a gold shimmer to it. I love it! Here is a closeup of it showing the shimmer.

Next is a card specifically for my bachelor brother. He is a deer hunter who lives in northern Ont. I thought this card was appropriate. (Again Theresa Collins pp)

Next is one using Bo Bunnys 'Father Christmas', a SU! stamp and again a beautiful Webster Pages cameo.

My aunt loves sparkle and bling on everything! She also grew up in the days of big, glitzy chandeliers, so this Theresa Collins pp was perfect for her.

I used assorted Rangers Stickles to add the sparkle and bling - here is a closeup:

The next card was more of a technique trial. I stamped the SU! images using the 'Welcome Christmas' and 'Lovely as a Tree' stamps on cardstock. I then stamped with Versamark and covered in UTEE (Ulta Thick Embossing Enamel). Next I randomly sprinkled on some SU! glitter glass in champagne colour then heat set it. Again, I added Versamark, another layer of UTEE and heat set again. Once dry don't be surprised when it cracks a bit. I carefully used an exacto knife to cut the image into quarters. I placed this on cardstock to look like window panes (albeit cracked window panes!). I added this to Bo Bunny pp and added a BB trinket and SU! ribbon and greeting stamp.

The last one is my favourite. First off I love the combination of black and blue on any card - be it birthday, anniversary, thank you or Christmas! I used Prima pp from the 'Printery' line - no, there's no christmas paper here! I first painted an embossed chipboard element from Tattered Angels with Making Memories 'Manila' paint. I then ran my versamark pen around the outside and sporadically on the chipboard then used platinum embossing powder and heated. I then rubbed it with Ranger Stickles to add some glitter and distressed a bit more by sanding. Once this was done and attached to the card with Imaginisce black pearl brads I added a Websters Pages Cameo to the centre. To finish it off I stamped a sentiment from Inkadinkadoo.(lol - that name makes me laugh). Love it!

THANKS AND I HOPED YOU ENJOYED MY 2011 CHRISTMAS CARDS

Gift Cardholder Purses

OMG - How cute are these!! Last month I missed my Technique (aka Geek) Club but the wonderful and talented Marlene Peters made up a kit for me to do at home. I am so thankful as I am totally in love with her little gift cardholder purses. The first one I made from her class kit but where she had little jingle bells attached to the bow I opted to use a SU! antique brad and used the jingle bells on my stocking tag. It was ingenious how Marlene used a negative part of the 'top note' die inside to hold the gift card! All supplies for this were SU! except for the magnetic strip.

I loved it so much that I made a second one. With this one I used Basic Greys 'Little Black Dress' line. There is a paper in this line that reminded me of the Burberry plaid so I created a Burberry handbag with a cute Prima flower. I decided not to round the corners on this one just to make it a bit different. I used a tan coloured twill for the handle and attached it using brads that have been in my stash for ages. They were perfect for this - just goes to show you that you should always hoard as you never know!(I'm good at that!!) The thing I love about these purses (except the fact that they're so dang cute) is that they can be made for any occasion or age depending on the paper used. I absolutely hate giving Gift Cards but this makes it fun and it at least looks like you have put some thought and effort into it. Thanks Marlene!

Mojo is Back!

Well, sort of. I am taking it slow but with Dec. upon us, time is running out! I have some mini file folders to share with you. On the first one I added a tag inside to insert a gift card into. I cropped and converted the photos of my adorable grandson to b/w so they wouldn't clash with the pp on the folder. It's for my mom (great grandma) so I printed off 4X6 colour copies for her also so that she can add them to her own photo album.

I used the Bo Bunny 'Father Christmas' Line for this along with Prima bling and a SU! antique brad and ribbon. The next one is a combination of BB Father Christmas and My Minds Eye 'Lost and Found - Christmas.' The edges were unintentionally covered in assorted sticker hinges to cover a mistake - but it turns out that I kind of like them. I also used embellies from both lines and flowers from Prima.

That's it for now. I have a ton of xmas cards that I need to remember to take pics of before I mail out. Time is running out - Send me some Christmas mojo please.

MIA

Here I was all excited about my new blog - and I've been too under the weather to keep it up. I don't know what's wrong. Either do the doctors. I've been to my neurologist, cardiologist and even the local hospital. I've had ekg's, echocardiograms, chest x-rays, doppler tests and blood tests. I'm not a big advocate of medication and believe that it sometimes does more harm than good. I truly believe that this is one of those times. Despite my disability I have never relied on medication to help me get by day to day. Being the President of The BC Ataxia Society for many years, I have seen many ataxians on various medications., sometimes helping and sometimes not. We are all so different. So, I've always taken each day as it comes and have managed to trudge on.
Until now. This has thrown me for a loop - and I must admit at times I thought I was completely loopy! I made it my own decision to wean myself off my medication. Maybe not what the doctors would recommend nor what I would recommend for others, but what I myself feel is best for me. Despite being overly tired, for the past 2 days I have felt better than I have in several weeks. With my disability, I have the luxury of staying at home so am able to sleep in or try to catch up on my sleep whenever the need hits. I used to fight it - not any more. Yeah, guess I'm not as stubborn as I once was - if tired - I go to bed! It's a simple and rewarding thing!
Anyways, in between naps I have been sneaking off to scrap every now and then. I have made several christmas cards, experimenting with different techniques. I have also made 2 mini folder albums that I want to share with you. I have 3 mini albums to finish (2 of which I haven't even started) and am afraid christmas will be here and gone before they're done!
Well, it's always nice to get a surprise parcel in the mail once Christmas is over and the long, cold winter is upon us.
Please bear with me. Hopefully, I'll be back to my old self again and will share some of my projects with you.

Oh yeah - BTW - add me as a follower on this, my new blog. (previously Blue Apple)

Time for a Change

I decided to change my blog name and design and I really have no idea what I am doing. So, please bare with me as it's kind of a trial and error thing. This is just a test to see how things are going so far!
I have been working on Christmas Cards and mini file folders so will add them after I try to remember how to  add gadgets, blinkies, etc. Man this is a lot of work - I don't know why I get myself into these situations!
Oh well, I like the new look and fingers crossed that it'll be nice when it's done.

From Tragedy to Triumph

Today is my neighbours 3rd birthday! She is such a sweet little thing and so excited about her party today.Pinata, face-painting and decorating cupcakes!At club this week we made a cute little baby card ('so worth the wait' sentiment). It was mainly yellow with green.Well, her favourite colour is yellow so I changed the sentiment to 'wish big' and made it into a birthday card.

She LOVED it! And I love it too! It is so cute with the SU xmas stocking punch turned upside down and used as a hobby horse. My favourite thing about it though is the hair, or should I say 'mane'. It's grosgrain ribbon with one side cut off and frayed - perfect!For her gift she wanted 'letters'. So, I decided to make her a little 4X4 chipboard album using each of the letters to spell her name, SOFIA. The last page was a banner with her named spelled out. It was done in her favourite colours of pink and yellow. (oops, sorry no pic - I was so excited to give it to her!)The book was supposed to fit into a chipboard box which I also decorated to match.Of course I got carried away with embellishments to the book - adding flowers, buttons, brads, bows, etc. - so it was pretty thick when finished.It wouldn't fit into the box - oh no! This is where the TRAGEDY comes in.Well, she would just have to use the box for something else I thought. Then it dawned on me - it would make the perfect crayon box! So I bought some crayola's and filled it. Perfect fit and perfect present for a 3 yo. Yay - TRIUMPH!

Disaster averted - again! That's what I love about this hobby. There is no right or wrongs and everything turns out great in the end. Now if life could only be that way!

A Star is Born

I haven't been feeling up to par lately but have managed to get a few projects done.I have been working on a Tim Holtz Configuration Tray for my little grandson for Christmas. Have you ever tried one of them? They're the same idea as the 7Gypsies one but all the little 'boxes' can be moved around to whatever 'configuration' you want. Rather than wood, it is made of a heavy chipboard that you can paint, ink, paper, mist, whatever. So, after taping the boxes where I wanted (I used binding tape)I sanded then painted then sanded again, giving all the little boxes an old, worn look. To add to it I dry brushed paint over bits to really give it the vintage look that I was going for. I used 'vintagey' baby papers from 'Simple Stories' and 'Webster's Pages'. I love how it turned out but sorry you'll have to wait to see it - it's for Christmas - sshhh.I've also been working on some mini albums too. Again, a do not peek until Dec. 25th kind of thing.
BUT, I can share with you a layout I just finished. We bought our little grandson this cute little onesie  - it looks like a tux! I saw it in a store and laughed then put it down when I saw the price - 3 times the cost of a regular onesie! Hubby loved it but we left it there and went for lunch. During lunch, hubby confessed that he couldn't get it out of his mind and was going back to buy it. I'm so glad we did!
He actually wore it to a wedding when he was only 6 weeks old - haha! I'm sure he was the most admired person there - next to the bride of course.
So, I made a LO of him and his mommy.

 I covered chipboard stars with pp from Theresa Collins new "Christmas Home' line. Who says you need to use christmas paper for a christmas layout though. This paper line is awesome - sure to become a classic!  I inked the edges, added some SU seambinding ribbon and pop dotted them (is that a word??) to add dimension. The red sparklystar was done the same way. I added a black ‘bowtie’ and cute cameo stickpin from Webster's Pages. I added a rub-on timepiece from Imaginisce to add balance and faux cross stitches just because.
After dealing with terrible leg pains it was nice to sit and work on this - it helped me get my scrapbook groove back again. Hopefully it''s back to stay!!

Welcome Sophie!

This week we welcomed another new member to our family. Sophie Lynn was born to my niece on Sept. 14th. I am still trying to wrap my head around ME being a grandmother but my little sister?? Wow, where do the years go? And my little niece having a baby??
Both mother and baby are doing fine and Evan couldn't be happier with his new adorable cousin.
I had bought the 'Baby Mine' line from Fancy Pants to do some layouts of Evan but wondered what I would do with the girly paper included. Well, problem solved!
I started out by making this cute little 'onesie' card from a template I found on-line. I used the 1 1/2" circle punch to make the neck and legs then the 2" scalloped punch to add trim. I added buttons down the front from the same FP line and added brads to the bottom for the 'snaps'. The 'monogram' I should have stitched but I took the easy (and lazy) way out and used a SU writer. It opens up as a card with the striped pp on the inside but it could be used as a gift tag using only the front.



This next one is a simple layout I did of Sophie when she was only a day old. (she's sooo much older now - 3 days old!!! LOL)
Again I used the 'Baby Mine' line. I love it when the pp has pics on it as it makes it so fast and easy to make a layout. I simply matted and added the photo then added rub-ons and stickers all from the same line. Sophie was not wearing pink so I picked up the green in her hat and pulled the pink that was in the pp. A cluster of 'Prima' flowers were added to the left corner and voila - done in no time!



It's so nice to have little ones back in the family again - holidays and family times just aren't the same without them. My only wish is that Evan and Sophie didn't live so far apart - but I'm sure there'll be lots of fun and happy stories to tell coming from both sides of the country!

I Love Cardmaking

but Scrapbooking is my passion - especially now that I have my new sweet little grandson to scrap!!
I've waited a long time to be able to scrap a little grandchild and had sooooo much fun doing it. So far, I've only done two but I know there'll be many more to come. Just a warning!
The fist one is titled 'precious'. I love the distressed look on layouts and this pp from Simple Stories ('Baby Steps' Line) allowed me to sand, tear and ink to my hearts content. First I started by misting the background cardstock with 3 different shades of Clearsnap Smooch Spritz (caramel latte/wood stain/sea breeze - all by Donna Salazar). After distressing my papers I tore the top layer down the centre and inked the edges. All the layers were adhered with the top layer 'separating'. I used my paper piercer to poke holes and laced the top layer together using twine. To finish it off I added a SS tree sticker to the bottom corner and added some pearls.
It turned out pretty and soft but still rough and tumble just like a little boy should be!




The next one is simply titled 'EVAN'. I used the 'Baby Mine' line from Fancy Pants.
I had the new banner punch from Stampin' Up that I was itchin' to use so this was the perfect time! I punched, inked and oops - I didn't have small enough letters - no stamps, stickers, thickers or chipboard small enough so I drew the letters on and outlined with SU writer markers. (believe me, this is not an easy feat for someone with Ataxia!) After adhering I added little pearls in between. Lace ribbon was added and I made a rosette with ruffled ribbon. It's so easy when you use ruffled ribbon - all the work is done for you - just wrap and stick! And whoever said that boys can't have flowers! The 'mobile' transparency is also from Fancy Pants. It's hard to see the glitter. I admit I messed up a bit and in order for the 'mobile' to hang at the right height I had to use my SU writers to extend the 'ties'. After all, who looks at the layout anyways - the baby is what it's all about!