Blog Hop Winner!

 

                                              WINNER!!! WINNER!!! WINNER!!!! WINNER!!! WINNER!!!!

 

Hi ladies . The winner of a little bit of blog candy from me for participating in the April Crop Circles blog hop is.............. Alison Goodyear! Congrats Alison! You can email me at m.marks@nl.rogers.com with your address and I'll get your prize in the mail. Thanks for playing along this week.

Spring has Sprung! April Crop Circles Blog Hop

Hello everyone! Happy Spring and welcome to our April Crop Circles blog hop! The topic of this month's hop is, curiously enough .... SPRING!  You should have arrived here from SARA'S blog and if so, then you're moving in the right direction! If not, head on back to Cathy's blog and start again right HERE.

Cathy Caines - http://cathycaines.blogspot.ca/

Sara Case Strickland - http://sarathings.com/

Michelle Marks - http://michellesscrapbits.blogspot.ca/

Kymberley Wragg-Machamer - http://kymberleyscraphappens.blogspot.ca/

Natasha Connolly - http://goldhalo.blogspot.com/

Cheryl Ashworth - http://cherylane.wordpress.com/

 Shar Strahan- partner with Cheryl Ashworth Brande Strahan - partner with Cheryl Ashworth Catherine Stockley- http://catherinelovesstamps.blogspot.ca/

Rhea Skomorowski - http://www.rheaski.blogspot.ca/

 Darlene Head Whalley http://cherrytat.blogspot.com/

Lori Smith - http://itsabouttimeblogspot.wordpress.com/

 

 

To me, nothing says spring more than my first crocuses and daffodils poking through the barely thawed ground, so I figured this photo was the perfect place to start.

 

As some of you might know, I've bit the bullet and started a small kit club for some local gals. Our first kit featured the gorgeous Graphic 45 SECRET GARDEN COLLECTION.

{blog post about that to follow lol}

 

So here's my LO dedicated to spring..............

 

DEJA VIEW?

 

 

 

and no... I did not spell deja view wrong...it's a play on words. I'm "viewing" this little flower all over again.....get it? Ah come on, humor me! Oh well, I never claimed to be a comedienne.

 

I'm offering up a little blog candy again this time for those of you who comment here today . You don't have to be a follower but it would be much appreciated { nudge nudge wink wink! :) }.

This is in addition to the awesome Maya Road prize that Cathy Caines will be awarding to one over all lucky blog hopper.

 

 Please note that our hop will continue till April 12 th...so you have lots of time to play along! Thanks for hopping here today . Enjoy as you now hop along to KYMBERLEY'S .

Toodles!

 

 

 

My First Kit Club Kit! {And a Canadian Scrapbooker Sketchy Challenge}

After much cajoling, {and just a little shoving lol}, I've bit the bullet and started a kit club for some local gals. Unfortunately, being here on an island severely limits our access to scrappy supplies ... well at least for all of us west of the overpass. Our Townie buddies are blessed with THE PAPERIE  to shop at {plus a few big box stores}. The rest of us are pretty much limited to a few brave souls who bring in a bit of supplies to sell to our friends {check out Renee in Grand Falls Windsor and Deidre in Springdale}.

Well, I wracked my brains, had a mild panic attack and had horrendous frustration dealing with my wholesaler and getting sufficient numbers of everything.... but I persevered and am proud to show you all the first Michelle's Scrapbits kit, featuring the super gorgeous Graphic 45 Secret Garden paper line and beautiful flowers from I Am Roses .

SECRET GARDEN

 



The kit includes eleven patterned papers, a matching alpha sheet, and the beautiful banner pieces, three matching Bazzill cardstock, some beautiful I am Roses flowers and leaves, some pretty pearls from Kaiser Craft, Clearsnap Smooch ink, and a few more odds and ends.

 A couple of the girls confessed to being a little intimidated by the beautiful but complex papers from Graphic45, but I say...don't worry about it...just suck it up, Buttercup, and start cutting!

I jest of course.... I was just as intimidated and hated the thought of cutting up all those gorgeous papers {BTW my fav is the yellow with the white daisies...what about you?}. So, with a deep breath and a prayer to the scrap paper gods that I not ruin anything, I took scissors to paper and came up with a few of these projects!

First up are three layouts that  I created :

 DEJA VIEW?

 

 

 

COUSINS

 

 

and lastly...

 

LOVE

 

 This last layout is also my entry for the April Sketchy Challenge over at Canadian Scrapbooker.

Here's the April sketch by the talented Sue Sykes! Isn't it gorgeous? You still have plenty of time to play along at Canadian Scrapbooker. Who knows ...you might even get published! Give it a try!

 

Well I could have just continued on and on with the layouts {and I still have a few layout ideas floating in my head}, but I decided to create a card and a little off-the-page project to show you how versatile these beautiful papers are.

 

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARD

 

 

 Not sure who will get this pretty little birthday card but it's nice to have a few pre-made cards on hand.

And lastly, I'd like to share with you this cute little birdhouse I created last night to add to my ever growing collection! {See my last Graphic45 birdhouse HERE}. I find the Graphic45 papers lend themselves to OTP projects so well!

 

SECRET GARDEN BIRDHOUSE

 And a side view to show you the cute roof...

 

 

It really is quite small as you can tell by this shot of it sitting in the palm of my hand....

 

 

 

So there you have it. My "first" five projects using the Secret Garden kit. I hope you've enjoyed seeing what I have created and I truly look forward to seeing what YOU create with them. Please share them with me!

Thanks for popping by today to check out my new kit and much thanks to my good friend KELLY Klapstein, and local scrap buddy, Susan Byrne Piercey, for both giving me the "boot in the arse" I needed to bring this to fruition. Toodles!

 

Playing with some G45 { and Kelly's birthday gift}

 I  soooooooooooo love me some Graphic 45!  How can you not ? All those gorgeous papers  just begging to be fussy cut  into all those beautiful little pieces! and I love fussy cutting...tedious but yet somehow, relaxing.

So the other night, I dug out the gorgeous graphic45 Birdsong papers that KELLY brought me when she visited last September.  Another thing I love {and collect} is birdhouses. Well this seemed like a marriage made in heaven and I decided to tackle one {of the many} wooden birdhouses that I have sitting around my scrap room waiting to be decorated. This is what I came up with....

 

and a little close up...

 

 

 There is a double thick layer of dimension dots behind the birds and flowers for support.

 Back view... I left this pretty plain actually { Kelly told me not to add anymore lol}.

 

 So if this little birdhouse was for me, I bet you are wondering what I made for Kelly's birthday?
  I can share this now that she has received it... a tea box made with g45's LADIES' DIARY  pps. {Yes the same ones I used for my wall tray a while back... check it out HERE }. Kelly and I share a love of tea ...she has introduced me to some wonderful herbal teas and I have taught her how to enjoy the traditional Newfoundland cuppa... Tetley with Carnation milk! lol. Would you believe she didn't even know tin milk was for tea until I told her???? Fresh milk in tea? BLECH!

I've been sending Kelly selections of Newfoundland Teas made by DARK TICKLE COVE so I thought I'd create a little keepsake box to send this batch in.

                                                                             KELLY"S BIRTHDAY TEA BOX 

and the inside....

 
I sent a variety of teas this time...some Newfoundland teas, a yummy chocolate mint from President's Choice, two kinds from DAVID'S TEA and a Lipton ice tea {she loves that too!}. I hope she knows how much love went into this gift!

Would you like to see how I made this gift box?

I started with a plain wooden tea box that I picked up at Dollarama. I removed the hardware and then painted the box inside and out with black acrylic paint....

 Next I measured and cut out  the floral side pieces for the box. I cut the pieces  leaving about 1/4"
margin so that some of the black paint showed around the edges { I also inked all paper pieces with Distress Ink in 'Black Soot'}. I added sook-wang {aka Skor tape} to the paper pieces to adhere them to the box. I loooove sook-wang...awesome  and powerful adhesive!

Next I trimmed off the beautiful edges of two of the papers in this collection to decorate the top and sides of the box top..again leaving a small margin of the black paint showing and inking all edges with Distress Ink. You might also notice that I mitered the corners... personal preference... I just think it looks neater.

Then I added a row of beads around the edge of the glass with a liquid glue and made and added a TEA banner for the upper corner of the top. I loved the alpha sheet that came with these papers...so gorgeous and elegant!

 

 

 As you can see by the above photo, I lined each compartment inside the box with various papers from the collection...fiddly work no doubt, but I was pleased with the end result!

 

Here's how I made the floral clock embellie on the top.....

Pick out the piece you want to use and fussy cut....

I inked all edges with 'Black Soot 'except the clock face on which I used 'Vintage Photo'. After fussy cutting, I found the piece was too thin so I backed it on to a heavy black card stock and fussy cut again, leaving a tiny margin of black cs all around. I then covered the clock face with Crackle Accents. I rubbed a little more 'Vintage Photo' into the clock face when it was dried to accent the cracks. I added some pearls and dabbed a little Stickles in the center of the flowers for a little bling...a girl gotta have bling ya know! The piece was supported underneath with dimension dots.

 I also fussy cut, layered on black cardstock, and fussy cut again, a teapot and cups to decorate the front of the box. Re-attach all the hardware and fill with your fave teas. Viola!

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial today. Happy Birthday dear Kelly...save me a cuppa for when I come to visit again in September. Thanks for popping by today ! Toodles!

Crop Circles's Blog Hop!

 

Happy first of March  and good morning to all you crop hoppin' ladies out there! Welcome to the first ever Crop Circles Blog Hop!

 

 

Crop Circles is an on-line bunch of mostly Newfoundland ladies {or those who have a tie to the island!}. We love to share and inspire each other and hope that you'll enjoy hopping with us today and maybe even catch a little inspiration along the way.

For every comment you leave on the participating blogs, you will be entered to win a Stampin' Up bundle worth $50!!! Some of us are also offering extra blog candy along the way. I will be sending out a little scrappy gift to one lucky hopper who leaves a comment on this posting { and signing up as a follower would also be greatly appreciated! }

 

 So if you have arrived here from Catherine's Blog then you are on the right track. If you've gotten lost along the way then just find your way back on track in the links below:

 

Cheryl Ashworth - http://cherylane.wordpress.com/

Shar Strahan & Brande Strahan - partner with Cheryl Ashworth
Kelly Klapstein-http://kellycreates.blogspot.com/
Rhea Skomorowski - http://www.rheaski.blogspot.ca/
Natasha Connolly (partner with Rhea)
Catherine Stockley- http://catherinelovesstamps.blogspot.ca/
Michelle Marks - http://michellesscrapbits.blogspot.ca/
Darlene Head Whalley http://cherrytat.blogspot.com/
Corina Mayo Thorne - http://craftycorina.blogspot.com/
Sara Case Strickland - http://wp.me/p280bG-FE
Lori Smith - http://itsabouttimeblogspot.wordpress.com/
Elaine Lambe Beck (partner with Lori Smith)
Liz Davis - http://piecesofmyeverydaylife.wordpress.com/
Rexene Lockyer (Send to Cathy Caines)
Cathy Caines - http://cathycaines.blogspot.ca/

We have decided to use a sketch from Sketchbook365 for our hop today.

Isn't this cute?

 

 

I'm more of a shabby chic kinda girl myself and find it very hard to stick to the clean, uncluttered look... I practically had to sit on my hands to stop myself from adding more stuff! But I persevered and this is what I came up with--- a cute Lo of my adorable pup, Jasper, basking in the sun last summer.Well, pup is probably too loose a description of my Jasper given that he is almost 14 years old and full of arthritis!  I tell everyone he's my little ole man! I figure he's the equivalent of a little 85 year old man lol...but a sweeter, more gentle dog you'd never want to meet! We really lucked into an angel when we adopted him from the SPCA about 7 years ago.

Did you notice the cute dog collar across the bottom of my LO? Wanna see how I made it?

 I first came across this belt-like embellie when it was shared by the super creative, fellow Canadian scrapper, Gabrielle Pollacco on her BLOG a couple of years ago. Now she is one truly artistic and creative lady who absolutely loves to share her ideas with everyone. She is the queen of shabby chic and it would really be worth your while to pay her a visit! She originally used it as a ladies belt .... I just adapted it slightly as a dog collar.  All you need for this embellie is :
two 1" x 12 "strips of card stock in the color of your choice,
one 1/2" x3 " strip of the same color card stock,
 a white marker{ brown works well too! }
Tim Holtz Distress ink in Vintage Photo {or brown ink of choice]
 and a circle tag {I bought mine at Staples}.

 Start by cutting your two strips of  1" x 12" card stock and rounding the end of one piece... I did this free hand.

 

 Using a ruler , draw a white line on both sides about 1/8 th " in from edges...again, I free handed it around the curved tip.

Now start to add dots along these lines to mimic needle holes.

 

 

I also cut {and doodled sewing lines} on a third piece of cs approx 3/4"x 3 " . Ink all edges with some Vintage Photo distress ink..Glue the rounded piece of belt on top of the other  1" x 12' piece at the length you want across the page  and then  wrap the thinner third piece around it to create the belt loop , securing behind with two sided tape.

 

 

I used my Crop-a-dile to punch a few belt holes in the strip but I'm sure a hole punch would work just as well.....

 

 

 And finally, I finished it off by printing Jasper's name inside a circle tag from Staples and twisting it on to the belt loop.

 

 

 I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial for the dog collar.

 

Now hop on over to Darlene's Blog and check out her creation using the sketch.

 

Thanks for playing along today. You have until March 3 rd to complete this hop and be entered for that fab Stampin' Up prize! and I'll be picking a lucky hopper from those who leave a comment on this posting and sending her on a little bit of blog candy too! Good luck everyone. Thanks for popping by! Toodles

Mod Podge Madness plus Sketchy Challenge!

Well way back last summer I received an email from Michael's with these absolutely COOL Mod Podge superhero shoes. Dang! I wished I was twenty and could get away with wearing these...but alas, I figured they were a little too brazen for a 40 something woman to wear. However, my DD was just as enamoured with them and begged for a pair. "Great " thought I "...she has a birthday coming up". I immediately went out and bought a pair of shoes like some she already had and found totally comfy...and put them in my craft closet......and totally FORGOT about them.

Well, Christmas was on the horizon and I stumbled across said shoes still hanging out in my craft closet. Perfect! Now she's forgotten all about the shoes so it'll be an even bigger surprise when she opens them on Christmas morning. And it was soooo worth it! Check out her expression when she opened the box!

 

 I had totally planned on doing a blog post on how I made these cool shoes , but....DS {who emphatically denies it} somehow sent the photos I had taken as I was making the shoes into cyber no- man's land...never to be seen again. But, suffice it to say, it involved a lot of fussy cutting from a ton of comic books and layers and layers of Mod Podge. I had a lot of fun making them!

 

Of course I had to turn this into a scrapbook page. February's Sketchy challenge at CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER by the talented Sue Sykes was perfect for it. Check it out...

 

 And here's my take on it....

 

 

The background piece involved more fussy cut comics from my leftovers which were adhered to a 4x10 piece of cs and then mounted on a 4 1/2 x 10 1/2 piece of black cs. The title was such a fluke! After wasting about an hour trying to free hand draw the title I wanted, I decided to look through all the comics and lo and behold! I stumbled across the perfect words for my title. Serendipity for sure!

 

So while I'm on a sketchy roll again, I'd like to share my take on KELLY KLAPSTEIN'S newest Double the Fun contest going on over at CANADIAN SCRAPBOOKER. I encourage you all to give it a try!

 

 

Here's KELLY"S  gorgeous  take on her double sketch ...

 

 

and here's mine...

 

 

 

I used the lovely January kit from ScrapThat that featured the gorgeous TurtleDove papers from KAISERCRAFT. The poinsettias in the corner were made using a great die from SPELLBINDERS.

{Thanks Susan for letting me borrow it ...and the beads for the centers too!}

 

Well that's it for today. Thanks for popping by. Hope you are all keeping warm with these nippy February days {and hopefully getting some scrapping done!}. Toodles!