Blog Hop Winner!

Thanks for participating in our WeScrap blog hop this past weekend - I hope you got a chance to visit all of my teammates' blogs for some "tricks & treats"!

The winner of the blog hop will be announced in the WeScrap Forum, but I wanted to share the winner of my RAK:

kimberly said...

 love this idea... wow... i am impressed once again with your art 

October 30, 2011 12:28 AM 

Congratulations, Kimberly - and thank you! :) Please send me an email at sue{at}canadianscrapbooker{dot}ca with your mailing address and I'll pop your RAK into the mail this week!

Thanks to everyone who commented and joined us in our blog hop! And welcome to my new followers - I'm so glad you're here! :)

Happy Hallowe'en!!

Wishing you a safe, FUN and happy Hallowe'en!!

Watch my blog later today for the winner of my Trick or Treat blog hop RAK!  And our Hallowe'en photos to follow tomorrow!

Seven Sunday Blessings

Another three weeks without my Seven Sunday Blessings, but it's certainly not for lack of gratitude - just time!

This week, I'm thankful...

1.  For a job that is flexible.  My associates are understanding to my family responsibilities and are usually quite willing to let me set my own hours, provided my work is complete.  I'm also thankful that I have a job that allows me to bring work home to catch up, which limits my time spent driving into the city.

2.  That I had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with fellow Canadian Scrapbooker teammates - Cathie, Christy, Jackie and Karen - as well as ScrapFest's awesome ladies:  Lisa, Sandra and Lorna.  I also got to connect with old friends and meet several new ones (You know who you are!!).  So thankful to CS for these opportunities that I've been given.

3.  For my hubby.  Every week, he gives me another reason to be thankful for him. *smooch*

4.  Miche bags.  I love my new purses - Jennifer and Wendy (not shown) - that I picked up at CreativFestival!

5.  Midgees.  So thankful that I may consider taking payment in this form in the future... 

6.  Milestones' peach bellinis.  Around Hallowe'en.  Let's just say that the plastic hardware that came with it brought Christy and I so much closer... :)

7.  Mme Fletcher for encouraging and organizing her class to perform the "Thriller" video dance on Hallowe'en day.  Working on this with Connor has brought back memories of high school and an odd sense of pride at being part of such a ground-breaking era in music videos.

What are YOU thankful for this week?

Leave Your Legacy: Amazing You

Time for a new Leave Your Legacy challenge! If you're new to my blog, welcome! You can learn more about my Leave Your Legacy challenge here.

I came across a quote the other day that set me to thinking:

"If we did all the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves."

Thomas Edison

This quote provoked me to wonder about how we, as adults, have become fearful of trying new things or of unleashing our creativity.  Governments have instilled the importance of mathematics and sciences, while our arts programs are being cut or eliminated.  Is it any wonder that so many children are losing their sense of creativity as they grow older?

So, on that note, here's your challenge this week:
Create a layout about an incredible or amazing accomplishment that you have achieved in your life.  Describe how you overcame obstacles or broke through barriers to complete it.  There is no gauge for this - all accomplishments, big and small, qualify.  The only requirement is that it was done, it gave you an incredible feeling of accomplishment and a huge boost of confidence in your abilities.

If you'd like to participate in this year long challenge, please share your layout below, using Linky Tools, by 11:59pm EST on December 31st, 2011. Please see the Leave Your Legacy page for guidelines, before linking here. Winners will be announced on January 1st, 2012.

Trick or Treat Blog Hop!

Welcome to WeScrap's Trick or Treat Blog Hop!

To celebrate Halloween, we would like to share some of our favorite scrapbook tricks and treats with you today! So join us on our blog hop where you'll be inspired by some cool projects, learn some new tricks, and have a chance to win some scrappy treats!

As you hop along, each of our Inspiration Team members will have 1 or 2 words for you to collect.  Leave a comment on all of the blogs and collect all the words to create a sentence.

Hop on back to the WeScrap Forum and add a post to this thread.  Be sure to send Victoria a private message with your sentence for your chance to win our GRAND PRIZE!

Here's our Favorite Things Blog Hop rotation:

WeScrap Kits Blog 

Sarah Nolan

                                   Sue Sykes  <--- You are HERE!! 

Melissa Buhler

Jessica Acs 

Victoria Lau

My TRICK that I'm going to share with you today is how to use gel medium to transfer an image.  I used the following supplies:  Golden gel medium  Soft Gel (Matte); an image printed on an inkjet printer, trimmed; manila tag (or cardstock) and foam brush.  It's that simple!

First, cover the surface area of your tag with gel medium, using the foam brush.  Make sure to cover a large enough area to fit your image.

Place your image, face down, on the gel medium.  Make sure that it doesn't slide around by holding it in the middle and using your bone folder to smooth out the paper from the center to the outer edge, in a clockwise motion.  (I am using one hand, because I had to take the photo!).  Burnish the back of the image for several minutes.

Slowly, lift one corner of your image.  It should be transferred to your manila tag - if the image is not transferred, continue to burnish the back of the image for a few more minutes.

Remove the paper.  Don't worry if there are some spots that did not transfer - I think it adds to the vintage feel!  

If there is still some of the paper remaining on your transfer, wet the image with a foam brush and water and rub to remove.  Take care not to lift the transfer.

Let dry - or use your heat gun to speed up the process - and voilà!

Sorry the photo is blurry - I didn't realize it until after I completed my project.  Speaking of which, here is my quick tag I created using the transfer:

Supplies used:  DCWV cardstock; Golden gel medium; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Martha Stewart Crafts border punch; The Twinery twine; kraft twine from my stash.  Printed images were left over from a Donna Downey class.

Please leave a comment here with your favourite Hallowe'en costume ever to be entered into a random draw for a little TREAT from me!

My secret word for you today is TRICKS.

To be entered to win the grand prize, you must complete the entire blog hop by Sunday October 30th at 11:59 EST.

Winners will be announced on the forum on Halloween Day – October 31st!

Good luck and happy hopping - your next stop is Melissa's blog!

Back to the Living

[source]

Sort of.

The last few weeks have been nothing short of a madhouse around here.  You wouldn't believe it if I told you.

Actually, I will tell you - and then you'll have to believe me, right?

Since my last post:

Oct 8-9:  Spent the holiday weekend with Gary's dad and brother

Oct 10:  Celebrated Thanksgiving dinner with our extended family (for which I cooked a very tasty bird, thanks to Ree's recipe!).  So nice to spend time with our family - despite a rather competitive game of Taboo!

Oct 10:  Discovered that my godmother's mom, who has been a big part in my parents' lives, passed away at the age of 95.

Oct 11:  Received a call that my godfather and uncle was admitted to hospital yesterday and was not doing well.  He's had problems in the past and I was glad that Connor and I had a chance to visit him a few weeks ago, the last time he was in the hospital.

Oct 12:  Talked to my dad and learned that my uncle was doing better.  Thankful that He is watching over him.

Oct 12:  Revised presentation and handouts for ScrapFest class on Oct 15th.  Sent to printer for pick-up on Thursday.

Oct 13:  Sadly, my uncle did not pull through and passed away today at the age of 85.

Oct 14:  Left for ScrapFest, despite my heartbreak.  Hoping that my friends' laughter and big hearts would help me get through the weekend and meet my commitments

Oct 14:  Unloaded van and set up booth, with my lovely Canadian Scrapbooker teammates, Christy and Cathie.  Their contagious laughter eased my sorrow and helped me forget, for a little while.

Oct 14-15:  Worked Photo booth at ScrapFest in front of the World's Largest Scrapbook page, created by the very talented (and newly appointed CS contributing writer!), Karen Ellis.  I will be sharing photos later this week, or early next week!

Oct 14-15:  Printed photos for attendees, thanks to Sony's generous donation of their new S-Frame printer (DPP-F800).  Thanks to Paige for stepping in and helping me out on Saturday by printing photos for me, while I was teaching my class!  For those folks who were photographed too late in the day to receive a photo (we ran out of time!), I will be emailing you the .jpg files this week!

Oct 15:  Taught another great group of people this year on Saturday!  The rain kept up from heading outside to put the lessons into practice, but we will managed to have a Q&A session in the vestibule!

Oct 15:  Had a great time at dinner after the show with my friends! :)  Lots of laughter, rude jokes and tummy-aches from the belly laughs!

Oct 16:  Returned home to reality.  Made sure that Connor was packed and ready to go for his Ropes Leadership camping trip.

Oct 16:  Agreed to read the Prayers of the Faithful at my uncle's funeral mass, with my cousins, Margaret and David.  Gary was asked to be a pall bearer.

Oct 17-18:  Gary dropped Connor off at the bus for the leadership camp.  Mildly apprehensive about him, but so glad that he's getting the opportunity to learn new skills and face any fears.

Oct 17:  Attended the visitation on Monday night after work.  Finally broke down and wept for the gentle man who has been a big part of my life for so long.

Oct 18:  Got Aili off to school and attended the funeral.  Managed to read my lines without losing it.

Oct 18:  Back home to pick up Aili and headed into town to pick up Connor.  I went into work to prepare for my inventory the next day.  Worked till 8pm, but made it home in time to see Connor and heard all about his stay.  Love the enthusiasm and confidence he's exuding!

Oct 19:  Inventory Day!! 12.5 hr day, trying to prepare all reports so I didn't have to go back in on Thursday morning, before leaving for Toronto.  Plus, we received some shocking news that will result in some changes around there...

Oct 20:  Got up early, packed and headed into Toronto to set up for the CreativFestival.  Dinner out with my nephew, Cory, and his girlfriend to thank them for helping me!

Oct 21-23:  Worked the Canadian Scrapbooker booth at the CF.  So great to see my editor and co-founder of Canadian Scrapbooker, Jackie, again!!  Have missed that girl!  Also saw lots of other friends and met some new ones, including Brae's new baby girl, Ellery!  So. Darn. Cute.  Introduced Jackie to her new favourite shooter, Broken Down Golf Cart, or as she calls them, Broken Dump Trucks! :)

Oct 22-23:  Connor competed in the Richmond Hill Fall Classic swim meet - a silver medal, 2 bronze medals and fifth and sixth place ribbons.  I couldn't make it out to see him, but thanks to Sarah for driving out both days to watch!  He had a rough start to his relay race,which threw off his first individual race, but he took time off on all races - WTG, Connor!

Oct 24:  Headed back home in time to greet the kids after school!

Oct 25:  Back to work and news that three more stores have come open in the area.  Just when I think I may want to go back to work part-time...

So... now do you believe me that it's been a madhouse??  I have a few design team commitments to finish and will share some photos when I get a chance - don't forget to check back for the WeScrap Trick or Treat blog hop!

A Blog Hop is Coming!

I've got a catch-up post coming but wanted to leave just a quick note....

SAVE THE DATE!!

The WeScrap Team will be sharing some tricks and treats during our blog hop so be sure to check it out, starting at the WeScrap blog here on October 28th!

Seven Sunday Monday Blessings

[source]

Welcome to the Thanksgiving Monday edition of my Seven Sunday Blessings!

This year, I have been writing each week, with the exception of the summer months, about the things for which we are so grateful.  On top of all of these things, I am thankful...

1.  That we have a solid and happy marriage, built on love, trust and a genuine liking for each other's company!  Having seen many of our friends' marriages dissolve due to irreconcilable differences, I continue to be thankful for our relationship.

2.  That our children are healthy, safe and happy.  For the most part. :)  This year, I've heard story after story of children battling cancer, or surviving abusive homes, or sadly, dying by the hand of one of their family members.  I continue to thank God every day that my children wake up healthy and return to me safely from school.  Blessings and prayers to all of the mothers who are not blessed with this great gift.

3.  For my extended family.  Having always been a very close-knit family, tragedies always strike very deeply, and my mother-in-law's losing battle with ovarian cancer was no exception.  The huge hole that this woman's absence will now leave in all of our lives will never fully heal.

4.  For friends, both in real life and online.  Not only am I blessed with wonderful friends in our neighbourhood and at work, but I have met so many wonderful people through the scrapbooking industry online that many of my "cyber" friends have become "in real life" friends!

5.  That we live in this great country of ours.  Sure, we can complain about health care and tuition and taxes... but we should also be thankful for our freedom and safety and beautiful surroundings.

6.  That we have abundant food and drink, not only today on this day of thanks, but that we are both fortunate to have jobs in this economic climate.  May I be continually reminded to be grateful for a roof over our heads, shoes on our feet and food on our table.

7. For happiness in our lives. No further explanation needed...

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

Card to Share

I forgot to share another card from the World Cardmaking Day crop at WeScrap!  I didn't get a chance to try all of the challenges but I did work on Sarah's watercolour challenge, since I was already in digital stamp mode from the two challenge projects!

Here's my card:

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; ColorBök patterned paper; Glue Dots; Pink Petticoat digital stamps; watercolours and ribbon from my stash.

Very simple card with no fancy schmancy tricks.  Unless you call dimensional foam adhesive fancy...

Sometimes, that's all you need.

Happy Sunday!

Sketchy Saturday > October 8th

Today is another Sketchy Saturday at WeScrap, and I was lucky enough to work with this awesome sketch by Sarah:

(Doesn't Sarah have the BEST sketches?!)

Here's my version:

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; Basic Grey patterned paper; myStamp BOX stamps (Backgrounds), Stamp Craft ink; EK Success border punch; Doodle Bug Designs alpha stickers; Luxe Designs rub-ons; Sakura pen.

Minimal colour, no embellishments save a few rub-ons... I stared at it for the longest time, wanting to keep adding things but in the end, I liked the simplicity of it.

I used a free brush set downloaded from the Internet to create the title on the photo:

I added the journaling in by hand, and as always, wished I had done something else!

Journaling reads:  "I know you're still just a tween, but when you give me this look, I'm reminded that I don't have much longer before you're a full-blown teenager and this look will be more commonplace.  Sigh..."

The white letter stickers didn't stand out on the patterned paper as much as I would have liked, so I outlined them with a black marker.

If you try this sketch, be sure to share it in the WeScrap gallery and forum for a chance to win our October prize!

Thanks for looking!

Leave Your Legacy: The Artist in You

Welcome a new Leave Your Legacy challenge!

If you're new to my blog, thanks for coming - I'm so glad you're here! You can learn more about my Leave Your Legacy challenge here.

Earlier this week, I pulled out some of my Donna Downey unfinished class projects (see more about this  here and here) and thought about working on them.

I say "thought about", because it's been so long since my last class with her that I almost forget all of the techniques that we learned! :(  Well, forget may be the wrong word - intimidated may be more appropriate. I have all of these supplies and I'm afraid of "messing things up" or having it turn out wrong...

I can almost hear what all of my mixed media artist friends are saying to me: "Turn out wrong?  In art? You IS crazy, girl!".  But the intimidation factor was still there.

Until a few days ago.

I came across a great quote and it reminded me of an important lesson:

"Every artist was first an amateur." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

And just like with Oprah's words, I knew that the best way to become a true artist was to forge ahead fearlessly and hone the craft through trial and error.  So I dug out a small 4"x4" canvas and began to experiment.

Without pause.  Without the fear of making a mistake and ruining my project.  With pure joy in my heart and paint on my hands.

And stinky gesso - but that's a story for another time!

So here's your challenge this week:
Using the above quote by Emerson, create a project or layout.  Remember that leaving your legacy doesn't just have to tell the story of your life in words, but it can be as simple as leaving a piece of art for future generations to share in your inspiration or muse.

Here's my project:

Supplies used:  Canvas Concepts canvas; Art Alternatives gesso; Golden gel medium; Golden, Making Memories and DecoArt paints; myStamp BOX stamps (Backgrounds, Colorful Companions, Seal It!); Stamp Craft and Staz On ink; 
Higgins India ink; Ranger glossy paper; Martha Stewart Crafts punch; Bazzill Basics cardstock; Sharpie paint pen; vintage book paper, music sheets, sewing patterns, tissue paper from my stash.

At first glance, I can see all of the "mistakes" - but then I realized that these mistakes pushed me to get creative!  Happy accidents, as I like to call them.  

Like the butterfly stamping on the right lower corner that didn't take because of the give of the stretched canvas on the frame: 

So I used it as a shadow for a cut-out butterfly stamped on glossy cardstock, adhered with a dimensional glue dot.

Or the original black handwritten text, that while passable in style, was lost on the dark painted background:

So I reached for my Sharpie paint pen... (Still not sure if that's a happy accident, because the paint pen tended to splatter when it hit a bump!)

I am in love with the how the paint job turned out though! :)

If you'd like to participate in this year long challenge, please share your layout below, using Linky Tools, by 11:59pm EST on December 31st, 2011. Please see the Leave Your Legacy page for guidelines, before linking here. Winners will be announced on January 1st, 2012.

Card Crop Challenge #2

Yesterday, I posted my second challenge for the WeScrap card crop - create an odd-sized card.

Here's mine - it's 3.5"x 6.5":

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics and Recollections cardstock; We R Memory Keepers patterned paper; Pink Petticoat digital stamps (Qwirky Qwerty); Artist's Loft coloured pencils; Martha Stewart Crafts and Fiskars border punches; Sakura pen.

I love this digital stamp from Pink Petticoat that I just bought!  It comes with an entire page of sentiments, like "you're just my type" and "good news".... so gosh darn cute!  I cut out the paper, as well as the rest of the sentiment, and adhered it with foam adhesive to add dimension.

I tilted the punched shape and hung it off the edge a bit, since it was an itty bitty skinny card.

And then, since the sentiment was kind of lost on the yellow, I used my pen and traced around the outside... and fudged it up. :(

Sure, I could have used PhotoShop to correct it.  Just keepin' it real, peeps.

There's still time to participate in our crop - the challenges are open until October 7th!  You can find the full rules {here} and the challenges are posted in the forum {here}.  

Seven Sunday Blessings

[source]

This week, I am thankful...

1.  That my inventory is finally done!  At one store anyways - two more to go...

2.  For my husband.  We celebrated 14 years of wedded bliss on Tuesday.  Well, not actually celebrated, as I had inventory and he was at work, but we will take ourselves out to a nice fancy dinner one night, once the craziness dies down at work.  I love you so much, G!

3.  That my children seem to really like their teachers this year.  And the feeling seems to be mutual.  After a few years where Connor's teachers decidedly played favourites among the kids, it's nice to have had a couple of great teachers, back-to-back, to encourage him along.  When I mentioned to his teacher this year that he was wondering what made her choose him for the leadership camp, she said, "I  don't know - I just see something in him... a spark of something great."  Nice to see that we're not the only ones...

4.  For some DT deadlines that, while they are adding to my To Do list, are also keeping my mojo around and getting me to scrapbook regularly.  

5.  That I have come to the conclusion that I need to be home for my kids.  That brings about the decision to only work til 3pm every day, so I'm there when they get off the bus.  There to feed them before swim practice.  There to help with homework.  There to just BE THERE and ask about their day when they walk in the front door.  It may mean working six days a week, or getting into work really early.  But it needs to be done - family ALWAYS comes first.

6.  For the break in rainfall we've  been getting, even if only for a few days.  I'm starting to think that my feet will become webbed...

7.  to Modern Family, for the belly-aching laughs.  I think maybe because some of the scenarios scene so plausible...? LOL!

What are YOU thankful for this week?

WeScrap Card Crop!

Want to jump start your inspiration for your Christmas cardmaking?  Or just want to enjoy a relaxing day, cardmaking with friends?  Join us at WeScrap today and tomorrow for challenges by the iTeam and a chance to win prizes!

My first challenge this weekend is our Sketchy Saturday challenge.

Here's my card sketch:

I came across some digitally stamped images that I had printed on white cardstock and wanted to use them for this challenge.  So I re-watched a great video tutorial by Shari Carroll about using coloured pencils and then dug right in!

Here's my card:

Supplies used:  Creative Memories cardstock (kraft); Die Cuts With a View cardstock (brown); Recollections cardstock (white); Bo Bunny patterned paper; Pink Petticoat digital stamps (Yoo Hoo); Artist's Loft coloured pencils; Marvy Uchida and Martha Stewart Crafts punches; Just Cre8 stamps (Designer Labels), Glue Dots; Versamark ink; Ranger embossing powder; Sakura pen; twill tape, gingham ribbon.

I sewed a basting stitch down the centre of my twill tape and then gathered it.  I had the idea to sew the gingham ribbon over top, but was too lazy to change my thread to I just hand tacked it down.

Meh.

Now that I think about it, it probably would have been just as easy to baste both ribbons together and gather them.  Then again, I wouldn't have the cool ruffled look on either side of the gingham.

I would have also preferred to have real stitching around the card edge, rather than doodling, to add more texture, but what can I say?  I was lazy last night. :(

I did dig out my Just Cre8 stamps that I designed a few years ago - Designer Labels - and stamped the back in Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder.  Just a nice touch to let the person know that you cared enough to send YOUR very best... :)

For a chance to win a RAK, create a card using this sketch and head over to WeScrap and post it in the gallery, while adding a post with a link in this thread.  I'll randomly draw a winner when the challenges are over!