Some of my most recent projects

I'm slowly getting back into stamping, crafting and digital creations. I haven't felt very inspired lately, but with Christmas approaching fast and all the goodies I'm seeing on other blogs....well, I'm trying. Here are some of the things I've made in recent weeks. Some have a purpose, some are things I did during a class and one very special card for my granddaughter.

Here is the frame created during the Mouse, Paper, Scissors - Give class by Jessica Sprague and Heidi Swapp.

 Next is a card and a bucket of golf balls for my brother. I really enjoyed making these as a surprise. I used my Silhouette for both Ava's card and Bob's golf balls.
 

This is Ava's birthday card. She was 3 years old on November 10th.

A Long Ago Barbara

It's funny how when I look at old photos of myself  I refer to myself as Barbara, yet when I see a current photo, I'm just Barb. I wonder why that is? Well, I'm sure I don't have enough money for therapy to find out, so I'll just accept that's the way it is!

Journalling reads:

This photo was in a box of photos that I’ve had since my Mom passed away in 2003. I was shocked, amazed and pleasantly surprised to find this photo of me taken at Christmas 1970. Today, at age 62, I can’t believe I was this pretty way back when. I suppose I’m finally seeing what other people in my family kept telling me, "Barbara, you’re a very pretty girl." Why was I unable to believe them at that time. I don’t know. Is it the plight of all young women to constantly be so critical of themselves that they can’t see what others see? Unfortunately, I believe it is the same today for young women as it has always been, we don’t believe in ourselves enough and that’s sad. I think of my daughters and wonder if they suffered the same insecurities as I did all those many years ago. My mother wasn’t an affectionate mother with hugs and verbal endearments and the like. I grew to understand that she also suffered from a lack of physical affection in her childhood. I tried really hard to change that. I allowed my house to gather dust bunnies under the couch, fingerprints on the fridge and beds to go unmade in favour of playing with my kids. I remember teaching my first born to say "I love you" because I was desparate to hear it. Finally, she said it to my Mom one day and it went like this, "I lub boo, Gramma". My mom actually had tears in her eyes and repeated it to Tiffany. It seemed that from then on, she was able to tell her grandkids she loved them. It wasn’t until she was in her 80s that she could say it to her children. But, better late than never, I say!



It's been a while, hasn't it?

Now that the weather is a little colder I want to scrap again. My creative mojo was definitely on summer vacation. I stopped by Jessica Sprague's site and saw the Scrapground challenge and decided it was just what I needed to get back into the swing of things.

Tiffany, this one is for you!

Kit:
Aussie Christmas - Digiridoo

Owen & James at Play

Kirsten sent me some photos taken recently of the boys with Shrek taken while they were on vacation in Majorca. The other photo was taken at Hampstead Heath at the playground and splashpad. Just think, 60 years ago their Granddad Collier played at the same park, but without all the fancy playground equipment that's available nowadays.

Hey, remember me!

I haven't done any scrapping for quite a while, but when I saw Kristyn's profile picture I just had to use it on a layout, so I filched it from Facebook.

So, you who know Ava -- am I right?

My new toy!

I received a Silhouette SD electronic cutting tool for my birthday and here is my first creation with it.

It's a very basic card using Stampin' Up cardstock and a bit of spare ribbon I had laying around. I love that it cut that beautiful, intricate design so sharply. I can see many uses for this great cutting tool.

Swimming in the Garden with Owen & James

Here are more photos from my trip to the UK. It was a gloriously warm day so out came the kiddie pool so that the boys, including Daddy, could cool off.

I really love how oblivious James is to Owen kicking a ball around. James just wants to play in the water. Now that's focus!

Back to scrapping!

It's been quite a while since I scrapped a page and there are several reasons.

1. Mojo has been missing.
2. It's been too hot.
3. Started chatting again with cardmaking friends and was distracted making digital cards.
4. I need new glasses. It's been three years since my last eye exam and I believe I'm going to skip bi-focals and go straight to tri-focals...
5. My eye exam is August 16th, so it may be a while before I do any more of anything. I'm tired of sitting hunched over to see the screen through scrunched up eyes.....who needs more lines, I ask you!

Anyway, before I take a break, here's a page from my visit with grandchildren in England earlier this year.

Okay, this is Grandma signing out for a short break from scrapping. I'll return when I get new glasses in a couple of weeks.

Friday's "Catch The Bug" Challenge

I love this snowman by Digital Delights. Here's what I made for today's challenge.

Supplies:
Mr. Jingles by Digital Delights
SU cardstock: Whisper White, Ballet Blue
White Fun Flock, White Glitter
Coloured with Copics

Thursday's Challenge - Snow

Oh! How I wish for snow, just for a minute or two! We have temperatures here in Toronto area of 37 degrees Celsius. It's great for swimming and I'm glad we have a pool here, but otherwise.....it's too damn hot! So, it was a pleasure to make a card and look at snow, snowmen, snowflakes, etc. Here's my card for Thursday's challenge at Catch the Bug blog.

Bugaboo Wednesday Sketch Challenge

Today is the day we use the sketch provided by Bugaboo. I haven't done a card sketch challenge is eons and it was quite a struggle for me to put papers and stamps together. Just because there is no mess to clean up with digital creating, it still takes time to put it together. This card is even coloured using brushes and is absolutely, 100% digital!

Supplies:
Kit: Country Christmas by Digiridoo
Cardstock: Garden Green by SU

Bugaboo Tuesday Challenge

Bugaboo has Christmas in July challenges. You can see yesterday's post below this one, if you're interested.

Today, we are to use the FREE image of Ruby. Scroll about half-way down to find the download link. As soon as I saw her, I knew just exactly what I wanted to create for the card. In all her glory, may I present Ruby!

Supplies:
Ruby by Bugaboo Stamps
Digital Elements: Viva Las Vegas by Scrap Orchard
Cardstock: Lemon Tart by PTI

Bugaboo Challenges Have Caught My Eye!

This is a re-post from Barb's Card Creations.
I want to make cards again, but digitally. There are some really sweet digital stamps available and I love digital because there's less mess. While surfing, I found Bugaboo challenges so I'm going to give it a try.


Monday's challenge is to make a card using non-traditional colours. Here's my card:

This is a totally digital card and I used the kit, Santastic, a collab from Digiridoo.

Come back tomorrow and see "Ruby" from Bugaboo Stamps

Ava and the Trampoline

Here's a little clip of Ava having a bit of fun on the trampoline.

End of the School Year is coming fast!

Grandma has been busy making teacher gifts and cards. If the postal strike ends soon, I can send these to England for Owen. I'll be seeing Jackson later today and am going to pass these along to him for his teacher. I'm really excited and have to remember that 5 year old boys won't appreciate the fun I've had making them for them to give as gifts.

Here are the gifts. The book is for the teacher and the box of cards is for the teacher's assistant.

 Here is a photo of the inside of the book. There are pocket pages for each month and I have put in a selection of cards as well.

The last photo is the two cards I made for Owen and Jackson to give teacher. Owen's shirt is blue, Jack's is red. These were all made in Photoshop, including the colouring of the little boy!

I had so much fun doing these. I'll start looking now for projects for next year!

Splash Time!

Owen and James play really well together, especially in their splash pool. Turn up the sound to make sure you can hear their voices.

I'm working on a layout to match this video and will be back to post it soon!

Tiffany in the Vineyard

At least, I think she's in a vineyard....I'm sure I'll be informed if it's not a vineyard. I just love this photo of Tiff, so I made a layout. The template is from Jessica Sprague.

Two for Tiff!

A little break from UK pictures and back to Australia photos. I really felt that the layout yesterday would work well for some of Tiffany's photos from her trip. This is what it looks like using the template from yesterday. There is also a second page (four pages in all because both are two page layouts). Can you tell which one I did without a template?

Again, if you click on the pics, they will open up in a new window and be of a size that can be easily read.

Guess Who! Yup.....more pics of UK!

I finally finished the Digi in Deep, v.2 class. I've had the last lesson to do for more than a year now and I thought it was high time to complete the course. I'm super glad I did, because it made for a spectacular layout of James and his birthday gift from Grandma & Papa John. Click on the picture to get a really good-sized view and you can read the journalling, as well.

The very edge of the large, black & white photo is the left hand side of the page. The remainder, of course, is the right hand side of the page and they will be printed separately and placed in my scrapbook as facing pages. I'm very pleased with this layout and will soon be using it again, with different photos and pictures (think Australia and Tiffany).
The gardening set is the gift James wanted for his birthday. I waited until I was in London so I would have the pleasure of seeing his face light up when he found just what he wanted. All I can say is thank goodness it was the gardening set and not a real, regular size car!!!

More pictures from the UK

Now that I have about 200 pictures of Owen and James.....look out. Here's two more layouts I have just completed.

 I like the above layout because photos of me and my grandchildren are rare, and this one actually turned out pretty good.

What can I say about those little rapscallions, except that I'm in a pirate phase.

Tower, Tower, Tower

Owen and James building a tower. Along comes Dad and the tower reaches to the ceiling with no problem!

These were taken Saturday morning, May 28th. I like to be lazy in the mornings and thoroughly enjoyed just watching the kids play with their toys.

Paris -- Ooo La La!

This wonderful city was everything I imagined and more! It was quite an experience for one day.

Journalling reads:

The city of lights is truly a sight to behold. We started the day at 3:30 am. We were booked on the Eurostar train leaving St. Pancras station at 5:35 am. arriving in Paris at 9:15 am. Our first stop was McDonalds, across from the Gare du Nord for coffee and a muffin. Next we boarded the L'Open bus, a hop-on / hop-off tour to see the sights. Because I don't walk easily that suited me just fine. We saw The Louvre, Notre Dame, Arc de-Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower, places I had only dreamed about. Lunch was a quiche for Kirsten and a croissant for me, eaten on a park bench by the Seine.. Following lunch, we took a cruise on the river. I was so happy I couldn't tell the left bank from the right bank, they were both beautiful.  Just to be in Paris was enough. Next time I see Paris in the movie theatre I will remember the sights, sounds, smells and crazy traffic. At 7:15 pm, the Eurostar left Paris to return to London. I will never forget spending the day in Paris with Kirsten.

Happy 5th Birthday, Owen!

I've just returned from 10 days in London, UK to visit Kirsten and her family. I took a few photos, say 200, and a couple of movies, too. Here is the first of many pages that will tell the story in pictures. I had a fantastic time so thank you to Kirsten, John, Owen and James.

Owen, I hope you are having a wonderful day, even if you did have to return to school after mid-term break! Grandma will try to remember to call you before you go to bed tonight. Love you, Owen!

7 Days in May Challenges @ Jessica Sprague

As I understand it, there are going to be 7 challenges from May 23rd - 29th, with freebies at Jessica Sprague. I have decided to participate as much as I can. Here's my first layout.

Here's another one for your album, Tiff!

Catching up on Family Scrapping

Now that ADSR6 is behind me, I can get back to regular challenges and just plain scrapping. Here are three new layouts featuring Ava and Jackson.

Final Challenge for ADSR6 - 2011

This time I'm sure. Challenge 15 is the final challenge and it was a lovely one. Here's my layout.

Journalling reads:


It has been said that, as we grow older, making friends becomes more difficult. I disagree with that because I have found many friends within the digi-scrapping communities I visit daily. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do, after making a pot of coffee, is to sit down at my computer and really enjoy my morning coffee with people I know who share the same interests and priorities as myself. Within 15 minutes, I can find out if someone I know has had a baby, if their child(ren) are ill, or if they're spouse hasn't been paying enough attention to them or taking them for granted. Conversely, I can also read about my friends' successes within their lives: have they won special recognition for a particular achievement, did they have an absolutely perfect day yesterday, or, even share with them the joy of planning a celebration of any sort. My friends want to share and they invite me to share their happiness, too!


At a time in my life when I lived hundreds of miles away from my family and friends, I discovered online crafting communities. I lurked about for a while, read their posts and finally found the courage to introduce myself. I was made to feel like a long-lost friend and welcomed into their online home as if I was the most important person in the world. These wonderful people accepted me into their community and made me welcome. I had always believed that I was not creative. I was soon divested of that idea! Because of the praise and encouragement from my virtual family, I now have a hobby that brings joy and satisfaction to me and my real-life family. Because I have found passion in preserving life's moments in digital scrapbooking, I will be leaving a legacy for my children, grandchildren and maybe even great-grandchildren and through my pages, they will know that they are loved. None of this would have happened without the caring, kindness and encouragement of my online family of digi-scrappers and card-makers and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. You're the best!

ADSR6 - Challenge 14

As difficult as it is to believe, I WAS WRONG! There are 15 challenges in ADSR6, so this one is NOT the last one as previously suggested. Challenge #14 was a collaborative effort by both team members. Jamie created the layout, leaving spaces for the photos. My contribution was the journalling and photos. I think Jamie did a fantastic job on the layout which made my part so easy. Thanks, Jamie.

Journaling Reads: You know why John looks so happy in this picture? It’s because Hank has less hair on his head than he does! My husband always liked that about Hank and would point out the similarities of hairlessness whenever someone met Hank for the first time. Hank has left us now and John’s hair is slowly, but surely, following.
Credits:
Movie Magic by Connie Prince, freebie Made of Awesome alpha by Jennifer; I created the layout, flattened to PNG and Barb finished with adding the photos, title and journaling.

I shall now go to work on the final challenge in this year's ADSR6.

Just for YOU! Phil

I really liked your photos from Wonderland and decided to highlight Jackson in today's layout.

Credits:
Movie Magic by Connie Prince

ADSR6 - Challenge 13

The race is almost run....the next Challenge will be the last. In the meantime, here is challenge 13.

Credits:
ADSR6, Prize 8 from Sunshine Studios
Fonts: Packard Clipper, Susie's Hand, Zikketica

George, The Dog

This beautiful dog belongs to Andrew & Sheena. I hope Owen gets a chance to see this picture as he loves George.

A Star is Born!

Ava is singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Grab Bag Challenge at Gotta Pixel

Gotta Pixel is having some amazing challenges all month long because of National Scrapbooking Day, which is May 7th. Here is my first challenge layout for the Grab Bag Challenge. Click on the link to see the requirements for this challenge. I chose numbers 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7.

It is no secret that I love the Royal Family. I couldn't resist making a layout of this marvellous wedding.


Everything from Spring Is My Thing by Connie Prince, with the exception of the following elements:
Banner - Silhouettes by Decrow Designs
Horseshoe and Black Cat created by ME
Prince of Wales Feathers downloaded from Google Images and modified by me.

Requirements for my layout:


1. Something beautiful. (Your interpretation#


The wedding photos!


2. Something lucky. #Your interpretation#


In Britain, the horeshoe and blackcat are considered lucky items for weddings. I made these elements myself as I couldn't find any horseshoes anywhere. I also made the cat using the shape tool.

4. Ribbon#s#.


The ribbon on the horseshoe and in the cluster.


6. At least one bat, bird, butterfly, or cloud.


There's a butter fly near the cluster.


7. A cluster. #Can be made up of any of the other required elements, if you wish#

10. Button#s).


There's a blue button in the centre of the yellow flower.

In addition, you must include the color red readily visible in your layout.


The whole flavour of this layout is red.

ADSR6 - Challenge 11

This is the second to last challenge for this year's Amazing Digital Scrapbooking Race. I'm so sad to see it coming to a close. I have had loads of fun and have made a lifelong friend in my partner, Jaime. We've talked on the phone a couple of times and she sounds like a great person to have as a friend. Thanks Jamie for being my partner and, hopefully, we'll team up again.

Now, on to the layout.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JAMES!

Here is the card I made for you, however, because the mail in both our countries has had several non-working days due to Easter, I know you don't have it. Here's a sneek peek for you.

Hope you're having a wonderful day! Hugs and kisses from Grandma and Papa John.

Speed Scrap with Connie Prince

I missed the chat because I was glued all day (and evening watching it over and over) to the Royal Wedding. I would have loved to be there, but I dislike crowds.... Maybe when I'm visiting my daughter next month, Owen and I can have a day trip to Westminster and take some photos of our own. In the meantime, here's our own little princess (being the only girl of the four grandchildren, she gets all the girly pages).

Journalling reads:


Methinks Princess Ava is playing hard to get! This was at the library for story-hour and this young fellow followed Ava around for an hour. In these photos she looks like she's hiding from him. April 23, 2011
 
Credits:
Once Upon A Time by Connie Prince
Lace, Burlap & Stitching from Jessica Sprague

Font Fever Challenge at Gotta Pixel

When Andrew, was a little boy, he loved to play on construction machinery, much to my fear and dismay. Today he is employed by Skyjack as a Heavy Duty Equipment Technician and gets paid to play all day long! Now if that's not a dream come true, I don't know what is.

ADSR - Challenge 10

This layout is a collaborative effort between Jamie and myself. However, that being said, Jamie did all the work, I just suggested a few adjectives and part of the title. Jamie took all that and put it together beautifully. Here's Scrap Stars Challenge 10 layout.

Credits:
Adoption Day Kit by Trixie Scraps Designs, Family element from Sihouettes Kit by DeCrow and Studio Tangie, Fonts: Ikhioogla, Horse Puke, Harting, Hawaii Killer, Grunge Caltek, Gartenika


Barb and I chatted on the phone to discuss how to do this layout. It was a brainstorming session between the two of us that resulted in our title: What defines Family? (Barb suggested the title Family and it grew from there). As for the journaling, we decided to go with one word adjectives defining what family meant to each of us, the six words listed on our page are the final result from both our suggestions!