Caroline's Creations

2011-04-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

A weekend for some "me" time
It's funny how many times I've heard the comparison of taking care of yourself to the airplane oxygen mask procedures. You put your air mask on first and then the mask for those you are taking care of. Okay, I get the message. I have to take care of myself.

I'm not sure that I've really figured out how to take care of myself, but one thing I know is I love being creative. To feel my soul, I'm hoping to make some time over the chocolate long weekend (aka Easter weekend) and dive into Project Life. I ordered the turquoise Project Life last week, only days before Becky Higgins announced it was sold out! I consider myself very lucky!

I've also ordered photos from the last couple of months so it does feel like I have some catching up to do but I'm not going to let that stress me out. I'm going to dive in and have fun. Good quality "me" time, here I come.

2011-01-24T20:55:00.000-08:00

Picture of the Day themes

I've been reading Becky Higgins tweets about Picture of the Day ideas (posted as {POTD Idea} if you want to search for it). I love that she is sharing ideas of her own and from other people. I have been frequenting in the hospital lately and have noticed there are an incredible amount of signs around everywhere. I thought that signs would make a great theme as part of a POTD idea. Here are a few signs for your enjoyment (they are not all from the hospital).

2011-01-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

A time to reflect, as one year ends and another begins
I've been spending some of my holiday season scrapbooking and it's been so good to get back into the creative mode. The fun thing I tried out recently was listening to podcasts from paperclipping.com, specifically one with Stacy Julian and Becky Higgins (http://www.paperclipping.com/2010/12/15/prt049-all-twelve-months/). It was really inspirational and kept me motivated as I worked.

Along with listening to the podcast, I have been thinking about my processes with scrapbooking. I'm not sure my "system" (if I could call it that) is working for me so I'm taking this time to re-evaluate to make sure I'm doing something that works for me.

I revisited the book "The Big Picture" by Stacy Julian. I came across a picture of her "highlights" page that she puts in her Christmas Exchange album (pg 12). It looks like a two page layout of 12" by 12" pages with a variety of pictures and small tags titling each picture as a summary of the year. I wondered if I could do that too.

What would I choose to highlight for 2010?

I looked back through my 2010 photos and started writing some notes of the major things that happened for me this year. I realized that since I started Project 365, I have photos to go along with those events I would want to document for this year. There are things like WeightWatchers training, brunches with my girlfriend, Sunday dinners with my family, my first year as a Board Member of a group in Vancouver. Each of these events are times when I would not normally take pictures but because of my picture of the day project, I pushed myself to take a picture. When I look back to the time before I started Project 365 it seems so much is missing. I am so thankful for doing Project 365. At least I know this part of my "system" is working for me.

2010-11-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

Mistletoe Christmas cards

I want to show you the first design of my Christmas cards this year. I love the packages from Close To My Heart that come with 4 different paper designs for a total of 12 sheets (12" by 12") and matching ribbon. It makes it so easy to do bulk cards which is incredibly handy at this time of the year. Plus, what I love about it is that the package only costs $9.25 and I can make 30-40 cards including ribbon! For those math wiz-kids out there, that's about $0.23-$0.30 per card! Great deal, right?

Plus what I did to spice up this card a bit is use 3-D dots for the green ornament on the right side of the card. I also added pearls to the card for extra bling!

Want to check out this paper and ribbon package? It's on page 88 of the Winter Idea Book. It's call the Creative Basics Mistletoe Collection. The stamp set I used is on page 47 and is called Holiday Trinkets.

Want to know a little secret? I used this same stamp set last year. Shhh! Don't tell anyone my secret, ok? It's how I have learned to stretch my dollar! But I'm guessing anyone of my friends who got a card last year won't guess it's the same stamp set because I used a totally different set of colours and patterned paper. That's how Close To My Heart helps keeps things fresh! Love it!

2010-11-22T21:35:00.000-08:00

Expect the unexpected, how Project 365 became Project 352
I've been very unlucky with technology lately. First my iPhone died then my computer crashed and I lost all data on my hard drive. Gone! Vamoosh! Just like that. So, I'm sure you can see where this is heading... I lost photos from my Project 365. I'm so disappointed but I also know it could have been so much worse. I only lost about two weeks of photos. Not bad at all, right?

I guess that I can't really complete Project 365 in 365 days so maybe my project will now be named Project 352 since I lost 12 days.

It's interesting how lost I feel without those 12 days of photos. It was only two weeks but I have recognized and realized that everyday there is something worth capturing with my camera. Now that I've lost those two weeks I feel I'm missing some important stuff. But, of course this is all with a fresh mind and I'm sure in a few years from now it won't matter as much...I hope.

Moral of the story? Do you know what your back-up plan is? What are the things that are most important to you? What are you doing to protect them? At the moment I store my photos on an external hard drive and on two separate DVDs and on snapfish.com. That may seem like a bit much to some people but it's because of this system that I didn't lose more than two weeks. However, currently I'm re-assessing my frequency of back up and I'm thinking that each time I download my photos to my computer from my camera, I should have a copy in at least one of my back up locations.

Oh technology gods, I've meant you no harm but if there's something I've done to upset you, please let me know.

2010-11-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

My latest creation - less paper and more light

So I'm stretching the term "creations" out of the "Caroline's Creations" title of this blog. This weekend I created something that I've been dying to do for ages, maybe at least a year! I finally got around to making my own light box. What? A light box? Yes. It's the most awesome, inexpensive toy...okay, well maybe not for everyone, but it's awesome for me and you! (How do you fit in? Keep reading!)

I have been wanting a light box for ages so I could take better pictures of the cards I create so I can have a better sample to show you on this blog. See...that's where you fit in! So this weekend I did some reading online and found a great website that described how to make a cheap light box. The price was right so I was ready to give it a try! I got a box I had around the house (well, okay, I had to reorganize another section of my closet but I got the box out of it!), some tissue wrapping paper, masking tape, white poster board and an exacto knife. Ta da! That's all I needed.

Here is the before and after shot of my light box.

BEFORE

(Yes, shameless advertising for Close To My Heart scrapbooking supplies)

AFTER

A special thank you to Stobist website for the instructions! http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html

Oh and P.S. This is also my Picture of the Day for my Project 365 post. Another two-for-one.

2010-11-14T20:10:00.000-08:00

Flare your peacock colours!

Peacocks are trendy right now so I decided it would be a perfect theme for our Crafty Club this month. Together we made a multi-coloured peacock tail. It was easy-peasy and everyone was really happy with how it turned out. It's such a simple and impressive technique! Plus, this post is a two-for-one, it's my post on this month's Crafty Club and my picture of the day!

The supplies to make this card are:

Magnifique paper pack - level 2 (X7127B)

My Acrylix Circle of Love stamp set (D1438)

My Acrylix Say it in style stamp set (D1283)

Garden Green stamp pad (Z2120)

Juniper stamp pad (Z2165)

Moonstruck stamp pad (Z2134)

Sponge Daubers (Z726)

and don't forget the bling! Sparkles blue and green (Z1327)

2010-11-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's time for a "Creativity Bootcamp"

I went to a crop this past weekend and was feeling so blocked creatively. It was unbelievable how long it took me to finish anything. Instead of being sucked into this sense of being overwhelmed and creatively stuck, I took a few small projects and didn't let myself get caught up in how much I accomplished in the day. I thought whatever I can do, I will do and I will be happy with that.

Knowing how tough it was for me to feel creative this weekend, my wonderful husband sent me a link from the woman who wrote the book The Happiness Project. The link he sent me is all about putting yourself in a creativity bootcamp and doing your "craft" (whether it's writing, or knitting or scrapbooking) everyday for a full 30 days. I thought it was very inspiring and what a great idea! You can read more about it here: http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2010/10/put-yourself-in-creativity-boot-camp.html

Have you ever done a creativity bootcamp? Let me know if you have or if you're interested in doing one!

2010-10-07T10:22:00.000-07:00

The magic of gift tags

Do you realize the magic of gift tags? I make them to attach them to gifts of course but I also make them a little extra special when I don't have time to make a greeting card. Great time-saver, right? I have found that if you add a little sparkle or bling to a gift tag, the recipient of the gift will hardly notice there is no card attached. And with Christmas just around the corner (I know hard to believe, right?) I need all the time saving magic I can get!

October's stamp of the month, "Share the magic" is a great set for making gift tags. It has a "to" and "from" stamp which is just perfect for tags for any occasion. Plus, with this set you're ready for Christmas stamping for cards, gift wrapping paper or decorations.

You can buy this stamp set for only $26.95 or you can earn it for free (for Close To My Heart sales of $117.50 or more). Take a look at some of the beautiful pieces you can make with it. Remember, this set is only available until October 31, 2010. Email me by October 28 to place your order.

2010-09-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this? The new Close To My Heart Idea Book is here!

I've been away on my honeymoon which is very exciting but this is also an exciting time of year for YOU! It's exciting because the new Idea Book is out! What does that mean for you? Lots of new products to get excited about. There are fun papers and stamps to help you can plan projects around Halloween and Christmas (I know, Christmas already?).

There are some wonderful tips and techniques shown in this book too. Stay tuned for news about my craft clubs coming up where we will try some of them out.

You can view this Idea Book online by clicking here. If you would like to order an Idea Book and get it shipped to you, send me an email.

2010-08-11T22:37:00.000-07:00

Hey Sis! This one's for you.

It's still strange for me to get used to the idea that I have a sister (in-law), but I do and I'm grateful for that. She emailed me today and said that she loves this idea of the Project 365 but feels that her life is pretty routine so there isn't much that's new in her life to take photos of every day.

Say whaaaat?

Yeah, that was my reaction too! I would be willing to bet dollars to donuts that there is something different about each day, even those days of routine, that is worth taking a picture of.

Here are a few ideas to think about:

What you ate for dinner
Filling up for gas (don't you think a picture of the price of gas would be fun to see in 5, 10, 20 years?)
The shoes you wore
The bottle of shampoo (toothpaste, deodorant) you used
The sunset
The phone/computer you used
The coffee cup you use every morning
Who you ate with at lunch/dinner
Your debit card/credit card

Going to the bank and withdrawing money, brushing your teeth, filling up the car with gas may all seem to be "routine" but don't you think they tell the story of you? In a few months, years, decades, they will have changed and while they may seem routine now, you might get a kick out of seeing them at a later time.

I challenge you (yes, you Sis, and all my other readers) to think outside the box if you're taking on Project 365. If you feel life is routine, use that to your advantage to take photos of the every day objects you use and let that tell the story of you.

2010-08-07T11:10:00.000-07:00

Project 365, and counting...

Dear readers, I've missed you! I know I've been away for a while but I'm back and I can't wait to share lots of exciting projects and ideas that I've been doing lately!

What I want to tell you about today is Project 365. Have you heard about it? The concept is simple, you take one photo every day for a year. I've realized as a scrapbooker that I often record/document the milestone events. I'm glad I have a way of looking back through my albums and remembering those special times, but I realized that there are things that happen every day that I am missing in those albums. And yet, I believe our memory is filled with those little moments.

When Taylor McKnight started taking a photo a day on January 1st, 2004, he never imagined the project would not only serve as a way to remember a year, but also help him understand what was important to him in his life. Whether it was his relationships, his career, or his fashion sense, recording a photo a day for a whole year left him with a rich visual history of his life.

From http://content.photojojo.com/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/

I figured a good time to start was when I got married, which was this past July so I've started the project. I don't plan to post every photo on this blog but I will keep you up to date on my journey through this project. If you want to join me in doing Project 365, I'd love to hear from you!

2010-05-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

Cherish the Moment - Stamp of the month!
This month's stamp is such a versatile stamp set, it's great for making card invitations, birthday cards, thank you cards...the list goes on! Plus it's interactive because you can use a marker (a Close To My Heart marker, of course!) to check off the occasion that suits your purpose.

See the stamp that has "happy" at the top? You can check off "birthday" or "anniversary" or "day" and make it applicable to your purpose for stamping!

You can also use this stamp set for scrapbooking...want a few more ideas? Check out this artwork from Close To My Heart!

One of my favourite Close To My Heart bloggers (and consultants) created some artwork using our clear cards. See her artwork here.

If you love this stamp set, remember you can get it at a great discount or even earn it for free! Contact me to find out how! It's only available until May 31st.

2010-04-13T18:27:00.000-07:00

When life is a bowl of cherries, scrapbook it! (Sneak peak)
If you're like me, new papers and new products make you giddy. Well, just wait until you get a load of the new Close To My Heart idea book!! It comes out May 1st and it is filled with delicious cherry-themed papers, stamps and accessories. Everything is coordinated, as usual, making it super easy to "slap" your pages together (sorry, inside joke from my last Crafty Club). May 1st is when the Summer Idea Book goes live and you will be able to view it right here on my blog.

In the meantime, just to wet your whistle, I thought I'd share a photo of some of the Cherry-O products. Cherry-O uses the CTMH color mix of Tulip, Blush, Chocolate, Sweet Leaf, Crystal Blue and Colonial White. Yummy!

In the meantime, there are so many wonderful products available RIGHT NOW through CTMH. You can view the current Idea Book (Spring 2010) by clicking here.

2010-04-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

YOU ROCK!

You do, you really do. You know what else rocks? This month's workshop kit. The paper pack is called "You Rock" and I posted about it a few posts back.

I wanted to finish my sample before the workshop this month and I was amazed how quickly I got it done! Honestly, I probably spent roughly an hour putting it together. That's super fast. Plus, I feel like I hardly used much of the paper pack. There is so much left over and I have a new stamp set from the kit too! The only thing I have left to do with the layout is the journalling. I'm so thrilled with how it turned out, I wanted to share with you. Check it out!

Also, keep in mind, I only used the "basic" kit option so I could add even more embellishments with the "best" kit option but the nice thing is that it is optional.

Interested in doing this workshop with me? Email me to set a date and time.

2010-04-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Hello spring!

Spring is here and with spring comes flowers. That's the theme of April's stamp of the month.
Mother's Day is around the corner and you could use these stamps to make a terrific card for a special mom in your life.

The fun things about these stamps too is that you can colour them in which opens up the possibilities of projects you could make!

Email me to order this stamp! It's only around until the end of the month.

2010-04-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Crafty Club
Last month I had a great time with a few gals who participated in my Crafty Club. I've decided to take one evening a month and offer a "make and take" (a small project). I'll provide the supplies and it only takes about 30-45 minutes. The cost for the make and take is $5 or free with an order of $30 of Close To My Heart products. Then you can stay after the 'make and take' and chat. We enjoyed a glass of wine last time which was a great way to spend a Friday evening.

Here's our project. To make the monkey we used a special technique called "resist embossing." We used the stamp set "Life's A Jungle."

Do you like this monkey card? Would you like me to show you and your friends how to make it? Contact me to schedule your own Home Gathering.

2010-03-14T14:54:00.000-07:00

Get started in scrapbooking!
Have you thought about scrapbooking but just didn't know where to start? Trust me, I know the feeling. Don't be overwhelmed. It's just like anything, take it in baby steps.

Step 1: Think about a recent event or special person you would like to scrapbook. Pick just one!
Step 2: Print 4-6 photos of your chosen topic.
Step 3: Email me to book a workshop.
Step 4: Attend workshop (bring your photos) and let me guide you through your first scrapbook.
Step 5: Brag to your friends about finishing your first scrapbook in a few hours! Even your scrapbooking friends will be jealous!

For all the beginners reading this, I'll let you in on a little secret, even "experienced" scrapbookers like this type of workshop because you can finish a layout in no time at all!

Here's this month's workshop. It's called You Rock!
If scrapbooking isn't your thing, you can use the same paper for cards!

Workshop prices range from $35.50 to $46.50. Email me to find out the dates available for this workshop. Workshop prices range from $35.50 to $46.50 CAD.

2010-03-04T00:00:00.000-08:00

Can you ever have too many word stamps?
I know a scrapbooker who loves word stamps. I'll be honest, I share that affinity. March's stamp of the month is a perfect design for people like us! It's a great stamp set that pleases both the scrapbookers and the card makers. It's called "A Little Everything," check it out.

There are 26 stamps included in this set and it's great all year long! Order now because it's only available until the end of March! Email me to order!

Stay tuned for my next post about my March crafty club! There's a fun new technique I can't wait to share! Want to attend? Check out the details on Facebook.

2010-02-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

Sneak peek at the next 4 stamps of the month!
The March campaign from Close To My Heart is a special for new consultants. If you sign up to be a consultant you will get four stamp sets for free! Sign up as a member of my team in the month of March and you can "dare to dream!"

When you join Close To My Heart as a new Consultant this March, you will receive four new stamp sets free! The retail value of the free stamp sets total $107.80, which nearly covers the price of your New Consultant Kit*. When all is said and done, you will receive more than $460 in fabulous new products to get your dream business started. Ask me about joining today!

See flyer here.

To all my customers: If you're more interested in peeking at what the stamp sets are going to be (hey, I'll admit, I've planned my bigger orders for months when I like the stamp of the months), take a look at the flyer for the March promotion.

*The fine print: Purchase of the $115 New Consultant Kit is required. Tax and shipping/handling are required on the New Consultant Kit. There is no additional tax, shipping/handling for the free items. Free items are the May-August 2010 Stamp of the Month sets. Offer valid March 1-31, 2010.

2010-02-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

Order this month's class "to go"

There's this big world event happening in February, um, what is it again? Oh yeah, the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. It's true that it will be crazy trying to commute for the remainder of the month in Vancouver but don't let that stop your scrapbooking!

Contact me to get this month's Topstitch Workshop for Cards or Scrapbooking so that it arrives directly to your door! It's a special promotion I'm doing only while the Winter Games are on. Normally I offer these classes at my home and the benefit is (well, me of course, but besides that) you get access to my stamps and supplies that are required to complete the workshop. But if you have the required tools, there's no reason why you can't do this from home! And if you don't have the tools add it to your order and get the stamp of the month at a discount if not for FREE! I can give you a list of tools when you place your order.

The Topstitch Card or Scrapbook Workshop

Topstitch Basic Workshop Kit (includes):

Topstitch Level 2 Paper Packet ($15.50)
My Acrylix® Love Is in the Air ($16.50) Only available in this kit!!
Mini-Medley Accents Colonial White Collection ($5.75)
Workshop Guide ($1.25) It's like having me on paper. It tells you everything you need to know to make what's in the picture.

All for only $35.50 plus taxes and shipping

If you want to upgrade the basic kit you can opt for the "better" kit (no really, that's what it's called) and it includes the basic kit with dimensional elements, clear sparkles, embroidery floss assortment. The package for the "better" kit is $46.50 plus taxes and shipping. It's a great deal because you'll have lots left over after the workshop.

All you have to do is contact me to have these workshops delivered to your door! This month only!

2010-02-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

It's the month of sweets and sweethearts

Whether you're making your sweetheart a card or decorating some treats, you can't go wrong with Close To My Heart February stamp of the month. And you can also use the stamp after Valentine's Day for birthday cards and scrapbook pages or "just because" cards.

Here is some art work from Close To My Heart to get your creative juices flowing!Remember, the stamp of the month is only available in February. Email me now to place an order. You could earn the stamp of the month at a discount or for free if you combine it with other purchases (orders starting at $29.50).

Happy crafting!

2010-01-26T18:31:00.000-08:00

Have you seen the 2010 Close To My Heart Spring Idea Book yet?

With every new year comes a new season of Idea Books from Close To My Heart (there are three per year). It's an exciting time! There are lots of great products including four new paper packs, new embellishments and new stamps!

You can view the Idea Book online and contact me to place your order.

Don't forget when you place your order you could earn the stamp of the month for FREE or at a discount. January's stamp of the month is only available for a few more days, get it while you can!

2010-01-24T20:28:00.000-08:00

A wedding cake
A good friend of mine recently got married. Sure, it's not really "wedding season" but these two love birds didn't do much that followed tradition. For starters, the best man was a woman and the bridesmaid was a man. The ceremony was at Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden, not exactly a hopping place in the middle of winter! The reception was at Salt Tasting Room on Blood Alley in Gastown. What? Doesn't that say romantic to you? It was these types of details that made the wedding very unique and authentically suited to the bride and groom. I was very impressed at how all the details came together and showed how well suited they are for each other and how much in love they are too.

While I didn't exactly follow their cue to make a non-traditional wedding card, I still managed to make their list of favourite wedding cards! (This is a huge compliment because they have lots of talented artsy friends).

In case you're curious what kind of cake they really had at their wedding, you should check out the best man's blog here. She made the cake herself and it was AMAZING! I'm not a huge cake fan but this was the best cake I have ever had. I still drool just thinking about it.

2009-12-21T15:43:00.001-08:00

K.I.S.S. especially when it comes to the holidays!

Christmas is literally right around the corner. It's a good time of year to follow the "Keep It Simple (Stupid)" principle. I find it's about this time when I start to wrap gifts and realize my gifts are missing a label. I like to make sure the right person gets the right gift from under the tree but for some reason I always forget about this small detail until the last minute. My solution? Gift tags! Simple, right?

Christmas tags for your gifts are so easy to make and I highly recommend that if your'e short on time and won't be able to get/make a Christmas card a gift tag is a great substitute. Being a perfectionist sometimes I have to remind myself that it's okay! The recipient of my gift will not miss the card if I put as much care and attention into the gift and the tag. And I can write the same sentiments as I would int he card. Plus, it takes me less time to design a gift tag and I get more bang for my buck because it's so affordable. Gift tags don't use much paper or supplies at all!

I was going to post some pictures of gift tags I'm using this year and then I saw some gift tags on Jeanette Lynton's (the founder of Close To My Heart) blog. Her talents far exceed mine so I'll show you some of hers. Aren't they great?!

Now that I think about it, next year I might even offer a class on gift tags. Why not?

2009-11-29T10:56:00.000-08:00

Grace & Elegance Scrapbook Class

This weekend I offered a scrapbook workshop with the Close To My Heart paper pack called Grace and Elegance. The workshops are such a great way to finish a two page layout in about two hours. Plus the guide that comes with the kit includes instructions on how to do two additional pages and three cards with all the leftover supplies! If you're looking for a way to save money on scrapbooking, this kit for the scrapbook workshop is a great deal. Here is the layout we finished by the end of the class. I can't wait to add this to my scrapbook album.

It's an affordable way to scrapbook because you can decide how much you want to spend. For this workshop you can buy the "basic" workshop kit for $37.50 (plus taxes and shipping) and you get:
Grace Level 2 Paper Packet ($15.95)
My Acrylix® Beautiful Flourish ($17.50)
Rustic Edge Anchors™ ($7.50)
Workshop Guide ($1.25)

Plus you can add extra accessories to complete the layout and you'll have lots of leftovers for other projects. Close To My Heart calls this the "best" option which adds on to the "basic" option. For the Grace & Elegance workshop the "best" items were:

Z1247 Crystal Blue Waxy Flax ($4.95)
Z1206 Basic Craft Buttons ($9.95)

I can't wait to do more of these workshops with more people. It's such a fast way to get scrapbooking layouts done!

2009-10-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

Back to School
This weekend I went back to school with the Vancouver School Board. I taught a Scrapbooking 101 class at Eric Hamber Secondary on Saturday from 10am to 3pm.

There were 6 students in the class and they were all great. So keen and full of questions. I had a great time with them.

I was a little nervous about what I should put in the class and how long it would take to complete the class. It's so hard to predict how much time people will need to finish the tasks but I wanted to balance that with giving them as much of the basics as I could.

The goal of the class was to learn as many scrapbooking techniques as possible and walk away with a small scrapbook that could document the learnings of the class. Here are a few pictures of what we completed, all in a day!

The scallop effect on the purple piece was a breeze for this class. I was so proud of them! It's such a great trick to make a double use out of the corner rounder. The key when putting this page together is adhere all the pieces first and apply the black ribbon last.

This page is a little more "girly" for those who like pink. The left page base cardstock is black and the right page is white. There are a few neat stamping techniques on this page. The top left corner of the left page is a "rock and roll" technique. The little green flowers are two shades of green. It looks so great! The bottom left corner of the left page and the top right banner is three different inks that makes the flowers pop. I love the colours together. It's hard to see in this picture but the bottom right pink of the left page has a "second generation" effect with stamping. I put the four black boxes on the right page to show where the pictures would go. It was perfect to fit six spots for six students in the class!

The animals on this page were such a hit! It was a great way to learn how you can add colour to your stamps by colouring them in with watercolour pencils and a watercolour brush. I had to include a picture of them up close. They are such cute animals!

The left side of this two page spread is a simple one to put together with the red piece on the white base first then the blue, then the white photo mat and the dark blue with red ribbon on last. The right side is a little more complex only because of the three white pieces at the bottom that get fed through the blue hemp. You'll want to take the hemp, feed the white pieces through and then tie the hemp around the dark blue banner at the bottom. After you've tied the hemp, you can use adhesive to attach the white pieces to the blue banner. Then you can attach the banner to the red cardstock and continue attaching the remaining pieces.

And finally the last page that is very simple with a fun corner turned on the top left of the orange piece.

It was a full day but I think it's safe to say that it was fun for all!

2009-09-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

Help! I need to organize my photos!

A friend of mine recently asked me for help. She really wants to organize her photos but feels overwhelmed. I have felt the same thing and at times still do. I thought I would share my response to her with you.

I think the key question is how do you want to organize your photos and why? How do you organize them on Flickr? By albums? Have you dated those albums? I completely understand your feeling of being overwhelmed. If it helps, what I have done is put all my electronic photos into folders by date followed by event. For example, "2009_08_28 Golden Ears Camping". So when I look at my folders of photos, I see them chronologically and I can also see the event so if I don't remember the exact date, I can still find it by what it was. Also, don’t forget to back up your photos. I have them on an external hard drive and on CDs.

My hard copy photos are half organized. From the moment I started printing photos (since I was about 18 years old) I put them chronologically in photo albums (not scrapbooked). However, I would also like to start going back to my childhood and organizing my photos because they are all over the place. It's a daunting task. Don't be discouraged! I've read several tips and such on how to go through it. The best is probably from Stacy Julian. She has a book called Photo Freedom and it's written for scrapbookers but there are lots of great tips of how to organize your photos. [I’ve talked about her on my blog before.]

If you’re thinking about how to organize your photos to scrapbook them, I highly recommend you buy the book because I couldn’t do it justice. I'll summarize the part on what to do with hard copy photos for you here.

First of all, take a deep breath before digging in.

Step 1: Gather all your photos and put them in one space.

Step 2: Sort your boxes, envelopes, bags, etc by decade. Just work with your photos as a group, not individually (not yet anyway).

Step 3: Start with one decade and sort by year. Move the boxes and envelopes around to organize by year.

You’re doing great! Keep it up!

Step 4: Focus on one year and start looking at individual prints. To make it easier, just sort them into four seasons, don’t worry too much about being exact.

Step 5: Put your photos into some type of storage. Stacey Julian uses storage binders and will put multiple photos in a photo pocket. Just remember don’t use the magnetic albums, those are so bad for your photos!

Let me know how you do!

2009-08-24T15:55:00.000-07:00

Thank you

Here's another little something for your viewing pleasure. I'm creating thank you cards. I scraplifted this design from Hero Arts sketch. I have tried sketches for my scrapbook layouts, but I haven't followed it with the same gusto for my cards. I find it harder to picture what the card could look like from a sketch, but for some reason, I can do it with a scrapbook page. Call me strange.

Here is the sketch from Hero Arts.

It wasn't until I saw this example card below that I was able to visualize how to do the card myself.

I have a stack of paper that I got a super good deal on, something like 200 sheets for $20. Some of the paper is really pretty but it's not a strong card stock so I don't use it as a background for my scrapbook pages. It's best suited, imo, for cards and accents like matting. The pattern on the top part of the Hero Arts card reminded me of this stack of paper I have just waiting to be used. Plus, I got a stamp set this year with that cute little design around the "holiday cheer" stamp. I could visualize this card, no problem! So I dug up my supplies, and....

This is what I came up with! What do you think?

It always feels good to use up some materials you already have. A friend recently asked me how I can afford to scrapbook because everything is so expensive, but it's really dependent on you and how you scrapbook. Using up this stack of paper I got over a year ago for such a good price is a great way to save some dough. I figure it fits my needs for what I'm making and it's better than going out and buying new paper.

See my archive blog post on November 5, 2008 about determining what type of scrapbooker you are. It can make a huge difference on how much you spend.

2009-08-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

Hello old friend

Long time no see! Life has been totally crazy lately to say the least. After all this time you deserve to see something from me!

Here's a birthday card I did recently with one of my favourite paper packs from Close To My Heart. It's the Magic Moments series. Love it!

2009-06-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Cut, Cut, Cut...Are You Cutting Back?

It's so sad to see so many stores around us closing! Clipper Street in Richmond has closed, Clipper Street in Coquitlam is closing and now Making Memories in Vancouver is closing! (Clipper Street will still be open in Langley, and Making Memories in Burnaby is staying open).

I am guessing the recession has something to do with it. I certainly have seen an impact on my Close To My Heart sales in 2009. I attributed it to the economy. I know others have felt the same pinch as well.

What about you? Have your scrapbooking habits changed in 2009? Are you scrapbooking more or less? Are you buying more or less supplies?

2009-05-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

Top 10 Activities for National Scrapbooking Day

Today is National Scrapbooking Day. Here are a few ideas of things you could do to celebrate:

1. Attend a crop or have a scrapbooking party with your friends! Make it a theme day/night. Here are some examples to get your ideas going: Chocolate party, Girl’s night out, Poker Night, Sports Night, Sleepover.

Then everything you do should be centered around the theme. For the chocolate theme, you could wear brown, serve chocolate covered strawberries and even give little prizes (from the dollar store) to anyone who uses the chocolate colour in their project!

2. Try something new. Is there something you have wanted to try but never got around to it? Now is the perfect opportunity!

Here's a list of things, that seem simple or everyday to some, but others have never tried: buttons, ribbon, brads, embossing, stamping, distressing, chipboard, liquid applique, stitching/sewing, colouring/doodling, cutting pictures, gems/jewels, journaling, painting.

3. Scrap on your own. Printing photos, collecting memorabilia counts too. If you’re not sure where to start, write the possibilities on a piece of paper and pull one out of a hat and start with whatever it says. This is a variation of Stacy Jillian’s popsicle stick idea.

4. Get organized. Usually we feel our most productive and creative when we have an organized space to work in. Spend a little time organizing your space so you can be inspired – even if that means cleaning off the kitchen table!

For some inspiration, unclutterer blog is a great place to look for some organization ideas. Ali Edward’s craft space was posted on the unclutterer.

5. Learn a new technique. Take a class with your local scrapbook consultant or at your local store. If you don’t want to attend a class, you can surf online and find blogs or scrapbooking sites to pick up a thing or two.

6. Submit your best layouts or cards to magazines.

7. Sign up for a new email newsletter list. This will be the gift that keeps on giving. You’ll get regular updates to inspire you.

8. Scraplift! Find some layouts or cards that inspire you either from websites or books or magazines.

9. Go shopping! Treat yourself to a new product or new tools you’ve been holding off getting.

10. Find a newbie. Do you have a non-scrapping friend? Why not introduce them to this fabulous hobby. Let them try out your supplies. They will probably say they don’t think they are creative enough or they don’t have the time, but just remind them they can make this whatever they want it to be. They can try it once and never do it again, or they can make this a small or large part of their life. They have complete freedom to choose.

The Top 10 Activities were inspired by Teila King Turko. Thanks Teila!

Happy Nation Scrapbooking Day to you all!

2009-04-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

Close To My Heart Calgary Regional Convention 2009

Today was such a full day! This morning we had a great opening from Jeanette Lynton, the founder of Close To My Heart. Her passion for this business just radiates from her. Plus she’s so approachable! She said she didn’t want anyone coming up and introducing themselves by wanting to shake their hand with her. She wants a big ol’ hug! Too cute!

Anyhoo, after Jeanette we got a lot of great business advice from various members of the staff and there were different sessions available based on what we signed up for. The afternoon arrived and that meant play time for us! WOO HOO!

We made a card and 2-two page layouts. Here I am working away with a few other BC consultants.

One of the really cool tricks I learned by doing this layout is called masking. It’s amazing. You’re going to love this. Masking is when you want to only use part of a stamp. What you do is stamp the full image on a post-it note then cut out the part you want. Got that? I’ll say it again, cut out the part you want.

In this example below I want “fishing” from the stamp “hooked on fishing” from the Campin’ Fever Stamp Set (D1353 for $28.50 CDN). Using my micro-scissors I cut out fishing. Next, I put the post-it note on my page, lining up the space for “fishing” where I want it to be. With my acrylix stamps from Close To My Heart, it’s so easy to then stamp again over the image because I can line up the “hooked on” part so that with the hole I cut out only the “fishing” shows up exactly where I want it. Isn’t that neat-o??

The second great find from this workshop was the Dimensional Elements In Color – Adventure (Z1158 for only $5.50 CDN). It is a steal of a deal! Seriously, don’t tell Close To My Heart what a deal it is, I’m sure the price is a misprint. You get 11 items of chipboard with outdoor related sayings. It’s great for camping or fishing or adventure embellishments on your layouts. The wheels say things all sorts of different things. One says the months of the year and you can spin the dial to show one month. Another says: treasure, search, explore, learn, discover, celebrate.

Here’s the layout we did with the Dimensional Elements In Color – Adventure. It’s a little hard to see in this picture. I took a close up of the piece we used and the rest of the pack is below.

Okay, now enough talking and on to more pictures. Here are some of the samples they showed us. I love some of these items!

2009-04-08T21:46:00.000-07:00

Timberline Ranch

This past weekend I went to Timberline Ranch for a scrapbooking weekend put on by Get Creative Scrapbooking. Diane always does an amazing job. She is so organized and such a creative individual. She was working on her trip to Disneyland and needed to fit A LOT of photos from the parade but she didn’t know how to get them all in one layout until she remembered the Close To My Heart Folios.

The folio is a 12” by 12” file folder that fits in memory protectors. You can slip memorabilia inside or use it as a flip page for more scrapbooking space – like Diane did. She put the folded side of the folder along the top of her album and slipped one side of the folder in her page protector then when she flips it up, she has another 2 sides of 12" by 12" space to work with. This is definitely a great way to fit many more pictures is one layout. Good job Diane!

As for myself…what did I get done? I was pretty surprised actually. I didn’t have as much preparation time to organize my photos and supplies to pack for the retreat but I brought what I had and got so much done! I was able to finish some layouts I had created some time ago, and I started some pages from scratch and finished them. I tried to take some photos of what I did but it didn’t come out too well. The lighting at this hour isn’t great! I’ll try again and post some other time. Come back soon!

One of the projects I didn’t finish (or start) is my last trip to San Francisco. I’m not sure how I want to scrapbook that. It was the batch of photos I pulled out a few times over the weekend and would look at for a while, then put them away because I just wasn’t sure what to do. I’d work on something else, come back to it and put it away again. I’ll get around to it eventually! In the meantime, there are many other things I can work on!

2009-03-23T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yee-Haw! Calgary Here I Come!

It’s official, next month I’m heading out to Calgary, Alberta to attend the Close To My Heart regional celebrations. What does that mean for you? Probably more exciting ideas about scrapbooking after I return!

I’ll be there with Jeanette Lynton, the founder of Close To My Heart. I’m looking forward to hearing her speak.

All participants of the regional celebrations will be doing create and take projects, business classes and get a chance to meet other consultants. I’m really looking forward to seeing a sneak peek of the upcoming designs as well as learning more about what I can offer my customers.

I’ve seen some photos of past regional celebrations and have always wanted to go but it’s always been too far for me to go. Now that it’s in Calgary, that’s only a hop-skip-and-jump away from Vancouver so I couldn’t miss it!

Stay tuned to my blog and I’ll be sure to post photos once I return!!

2009-03-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hip-Hip-Hooray For Hatzic!

What's all the fuss about? I'm so excited to be returning to the Scrapping Away Crop at Hatzic from March 27-29th. I went last year, met lots of great women and had a blast teaching some fun make and takes with Close To My Heart products. I did a special card with a glitter flower which the ladies seem to really like.

I'm working on some exciting new projects for this year. I'll be sure to post a sample of what we're going to make together a little later. In the meantime, check out some of the great products I'll be selling at the crop. I'll be bringing paper packs of the Close To My Heart white core paper in a variety of colours as well as an assortment of level 2 paper packs (10 cardstock sheets and 12 background and textured paper).

Also, I'll have the Magic Moments Kit available for sale. It's one of my favourite products. It has everything you need to create a complete album - one two-page layout for every month of the year! It also comes with images of layout options to make it super fast and easy for you to put your layouts together in no time!

The kit includes:

24 - 12" X 12" preprinted layout pages

2 - 12" X 12" Colonial White cardstock sheets

8 - 6" X 12" My Stickease adhesive sheets

12 - 12" X 12" Memory Protectores

24" - 3/8" Cocoa grosgrain ribbon

50 Cocoa brads

I'm sure the ladies at Hatzic will be excited about this kit!

2009-03-04T21:58:00.000-08:00

Scrapbooking 101

I am proud to announce that the Vancouver School Board is offering a scrapbooking 101 class, taught by yours truly :)

Here's the class description:

Walk through the many stages of scrapbooking, from cutting & matting to adhering & arranging. Learn the creative process (including photo choice, layout, colour selection & storytelling). Techniques: sanding, tearing, stamping, creative use of ribbons, brads & eyelets will be explored. You will complete a scrapbook. Bring your camera to class, along with $25 for all supplies and a few basic tools you can take home. Registration deadline April 24.

Here are the details:

Date: Saturday, May 9, 2009
Time: 10am to 3pm
Course ID: HA05495
Cost: $69.00 + supplies

Register through Vancouver School Board
Call: (604) 713-4550
To register online, scroll to "Scrapbooking 101" (last entry) from here.

I'm really excited about the class. I enjoy teaching and I love meeting new people. Sometimes I think people who don't have much experience with scrapbooking build it up to be a big complicated process. Really, it goes back to something I've talked about before which is the hobby can be as little or as much as you want it to be. If you want to spend a lot of time scrapbooking, you can. If you don't, then don't. The point is to enjoy the hobby not to make it stressful!

My goal for the Scrapbooking 101 class is to make "newbies" feel comfortable enough with the craft that they can make it a simple hobby or an all-encompassing one, whatever suits their needs. Each student will walk away with a scrapbook that includes a page for each of the techniques covered in class. I figured this would be a good keepsake as a reminder of what the techniques are. It took me a while to find the right topics to cover in class because there's just so much I want to teach and there's just so little time! Now that I've got it figured out, I can't wait to get in the class room!

2009-02-22T11:27:00.000-08:00

How the Economy is Affecting Scrapbooking

Normally I like to blog about things that are upbeat and inspiring but this post is a bit more somber. Simple Scrapbooks magazine is going out of business. The May/June issue will be their last one. Here's Angie Lucas, Managing Editor, with the last edition that goes on sale in March.

It's clear advertisers are cutting back and the magazine just couldn't keep going. But they will be folded into their other magazine Creating Keepsakes. I guess it's tough times for the magazine industry.

It makes me wonder how the rest of the scrapbooking industry is being impacted by the economy. I have noticed a significant decline in sales from my Close To My Heart customers so I wonder if they are either:

a) not thinking about scrapbooking right now or

b) not spending money on scrapbooking

It definitely creates an air of uncertainty for consumers and suppliers alike. But at the end of the day, I still believe it's important to scrapbook and treasure those memories we are creating. It wouldn't surprise me as people scale back their expenses they start to see what's really important in life. And it's those precious moments that should be captured in a scrapbook.

2009-02-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

TAG!
I've been tagged. Go to your folder of photos, pick the 6th folder and the 6th picture in that folder and post it. Tell the story of the photo.

This is my "almost AFTER" craft space photo. Take a look at my "BEFORE" photo below.

Can you believe I used to fit all my craft stuff in that one traveling bag? It was great because I didn't have to worry to much when packing for a crop. Now, things are a little different. I've got a whole bookshelf to store my craft supplies and I'm sure I'll fill it in no time.

Your turn. Go to the 6th folder and the 6th photo and tell the story.

2009-01-25T14:26:00.000-08:00

Want a $20 Shopping Spree?

Two Peas In a Bucket is doing something pretty neat. If you upload 20 projects to the member gallery, they will give you $20 to spend in their store.

If you haven't heard of Two Peas In a Bucket, they were founded in 1999, and are a very well respected community for scrapbooking enthusiasts around the world. They were named top internet retailer by Creating Keepsakes Readers' Choice Awards and they are number one in site traffic by the Scrapbooking Top 50. They've been around so long that they have Ali Edwards' first posts of her layouts. Click here to see her first post to Two Peas In a Bucket in 2002. How cool is that?

There are a few conditions like you have to put tags on your uploaded projects and include a descriptive paragraph among a few other details...if you ask me that's not a lot of work to earn a $20 shopping spree.

Make sure you upload 20 projects to the gallery by Saturday, January 31st, 2009 to receive your coupon.

If you're interested in more details click here to visit the Two Peas In a Bucket website.

2008-12-21T21:04:00.000-08:00

Karma brings Photo Freedom

Are you thinking about new year's resolutions? I don't like resolutions in the cheesy way, but as many of my friends will atest, I set goals throughout the year (practically monthly, in fact). What I like about the calendar year coming to an end is that it's a clear cut point to look reflect and look forward. One thing I'm determined to do in 2009 is get my craft area organized. I haven't had a chance to do it since I've moved (I can't believe it's been almost two months now), but I am purposely taking my time so that I can make sure I choose the right things for my space.

As luck would have it, I recently won a book that is so perfect for me! It's Stacy Julian's Photo Freedom. (And would make an excellent Christmas gift for any scrapbooker).

Stacy outlines her approach to organizing and scrapbooking. It's such an easy read, you could get through it in no time. Stacy gets right to the point in the first chapter by outlining her three essential components to her system: storage binders, category drawers, and library albums. There are also nine extra components that can be customized to suit your needs. The second chapter outlines different ways to implement each component. The last chapter shows other women who have read the book and used Stacy's sytem, or adapted it in their own way. I really can see how her system can help scrapbookers be organized with their photos to scrapbook what suits their creative mood.

I was lucky to win this book at the Timberline Ranch scrapbook retreat. Diane, you did a great job as always! If you want to check out other events by Diane, go to her website here. It's funny how things happen because Photo Freedom was a door prize, so anyone could have gotten it. I had learned about the book by reading a few blogs and wanted to get it eventually anyway because I really like Stacy's approach to scrapbooking. Her Big Picture book totally changed my way of thinking about scrapbooking.

I think winning Photo Freedom was good karma for the bad karma that haunted me when I arrived at the ranch. Long story short, coke spilled on my camera and I couldn't use it. I think it's a goner :( It's so hard to be a scrapbooker without a camera! Maybe if I've been good, Santa will bring me one.

2008-11-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

BC's Craft Show And How I'm Eating Crow Because Of It

This year BC's Craft Show Expo was at the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. I went with my boyfriend on Friday after work to check out some of the latest tools and toys.

I was making my way through the aisles checking out all the fun things available this year, I turnaround and who do I see? Tacye from Scrapbook Warehouse! (See last post). I was so excited I shouted to her "Hey! It's the Scrapbook Warehouse celeb!!" She laughed and started telling me the story of how quickly that segement was filmed and how little time she had to prepare. Because of that it seems like there are a few things that may have been left out of the tv show and it is these things that I criticized her for in my last post. Mmmm, crow is tastey, isn't it?

Tacye and I had a great conversation about the importance of knowing what you scrapbook (cards? pages? projects?) before you make purchase decisions. I was happy to hear her say that. I think in the end we both believe in the same thing. Knowing how you're going to scrapbook and getting advice from someone who can help you through the process.

I had a great time with Tacye. She was showing me a new tool, The Big Shot, which looks pretty cool I must admit. (Possible Christmas present?) The great thing about this is that it's a tool that does die cuts or dry embossing using templates from Sizzix, Cuttlebug and Quickutz! It's so versatile which is what really got my attention. Plus, it's big enough that it can cut large dies for window cards and envelopes. Tacye was having so much fun showing off the tool in a bit of an infomercial kind of way. We had a good laugh.

The other thing that left a huge impression was a booth for the Local King Rubber Stamp. Lisa was doing some demos of how to make multicoloured stamps. The pictures she was producing were amazing! It's such a simple concept, but she blew my mind. She would take markers (non-alcoholic, dye based) and colour about 3-5 different markers on one stamp going from lightest to darkest, then stamp. It's amazing what she would produce. The catch for me was that she was using rubber stamps and I have built a collection of acrylic stamps (the clear ones). I'm going to have to test this one out and see if I can replicate what she did. Look at the hydrangea below, isn't that gorgeous!?!

All in all, I'm so glad I went to the craft show, even if it meant I had to eat crow because of my last post :)

Oh! And one suggestion to the organizers of the BC's Craft Show Expo, make a man-friendly spot...possibly a kid-friendly one too. Thankgoodness my boyfriend had his blackberry or I probably would have been pulled out of there sooner :)

2008-11-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

Let's Watch TV...
I just found out about this really cool segment on a CBC show called “Living Vancouver”. They have a section on hobbies and there was one segment about scrapbooking. If you’re just starting out, or looking for tips to keep it simple, take a look at the show.

Click here to go to the website and select “living segments” on the right and choose “live and learn”. You’ll see “hobbies” listed, click on it and scroll to the third page of the hobbies for the segment called “scrapbooking”.

Kudos to Tacye McLagan from Scrapbook Warehouse. She gives a good definition of this fine hobby.

“Scrapbooking is about using photos and putting them into acid free safe environment and putting the stories behind them so you can enjoy them for years to come. How much or how little you do is up to you.”

That last part is so key, isn’t it? There is so much you CAN do with scrapbooking but it depends how much you want to do.

Tacye lists some of the key things you need to get started, but I’m not sure I completely agree with her list. She says you need: an album that lies flat, a paper trimmer, a coluzzle (a template to create circles, ovals and rectangles by using a swivel exacto knife), acid free paper, acid free adhesive, and an archival pen.

What kind of scrapbooker are you? Do you want to make cards? Do you want to do altered projects? Do you want to scrapbook family photos? I think it’s important to have a vague answer to that question before you can know what tools you need.

That being said, I do think it’s important to start with a paper trimmer, paper and adhesive. If you want to create a scrapbook album, I don’t think a coluzzle or an archival pen is necessary. I know many scrapbookers who don’t like journaling so they would never use an archival pen. Some scrapbookers I know do journal on their layouts but they would never write themselves, they’ll type something out on the computer and adhere it to the page.

One good point Tacye makes is that you should try out products before you buy them. There are so many products on the market, you can’t possibly buy them all so focus on the ones you know you like, or know you’ll use.

And since you asked for my advice (well, you didn’t, but I’ll give it to you anyway, just cuz I like ya!), if you’re just starting out find someone who can walk you through the first few steps. Start with a small project you can do together so that you get comfortable with the tools and how to put a project together. Personally, I love helping newbies out because at the end of the day you get to see the fabulous finished project! It’s so gratifying!

2008-10-19T21:50:00.001-07:00

Challenge: Give Yourself A Present!
There is something I couldn’t wait to share with you. In fact, I’ve been away all week (on vacation in fabulous San Francisco) just dying to get back and post on my blog. It’s a challenge…are you up for it?

It’s called “Give yourself a present!” challenge.

Check out my photos first, then I’ll describe more about it.

“You have everything you need right now to be vibrant, happy and fully engaged in the creative process of life. Sometimes you just have to slow down, look around and realize it!”

These are the wise words from Stacy Julian who started Simple Scrapbooks magazine. I had never heard of her until I picked up her book “Big Picture Scrapbooking” and WOOT what a book it is! It honestly changed my way of thinking about scrapbooking and I love it when someone can give me a new perspective. I could go on about that, but I’ll save that for another time.

Earlier this month, Stacy posted this challenge to her blog and asked others to join her in the fun. Collectively they created a blog blitz by everyone doing the same thing at the same time. Okay, maybe I’m a little late to the party, I just hope it’s considered fashionably late! So do you want to come to the party too?

Here’s what you need to do (as per the fabulous Miss Stacy):
• Take ten or twelve photos of your life right now. Or find recent photos that you’ve already taken. (That’s what I did for my recent trip to San Fran.)
• Compile these photos in an album.
• Keep or carry this album with you, tucked in your purse or desk drawer for one full year.
• Promise to glance through the album every time you stumble upon it or pull it out.
• On October 1st, 2009, create a scrapbook page about your experience.

I have to admit that I was inspired by Stacy as I was taking photographs in San Francisco. I tried to take photos that may not turn out to be keepers to hang on the wall (or even scrapbook) but I wanted to take photos that would remind me of the experience and help me appreciate my vacation time. I took photos of food we ate, buildings that I found interesting and even photos of things that reminded me of the people I loved back home (or as our tour guide described, “the people you love but not quite enough to bring on vacation with you” ha!)

So if you’re up for this challenge, take photos of the big things you appreciate in your life right now – your pet, your children, your friends. Remember the things you use regularly that you might not think about until they were gone. What is your favourite gadget, recipe, shoes, or afternoon snack?

Take this moment to slow down and think about all you have in your life.

2008-09-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

What would you do with $22,100?

Thanks to Mary and Sandra for putting on the BC Crop for Kids. Because of their efforts and the 180 women who attended the crop, we raised $22,100 to donate to the BC Children's Hospital.

The crop was at the Ramada Plaza Conference Centre in Abbotsford. There were classes all weekend and the money for class registrations was donated to the charity. I learned a few new things in the classes I took which was great. I also was a wall flower for the class by Nadene and Karen, two fellow Close To My Heart consultants. I was so excited to see how they teach and to support them.

In addition to the classes, I got lots of work done. I decided to focus on projects from 2008. I brought pictures for 10 events that have happened this year so far and I got 4 done. That's really good for me, considering I even had time to nap on Saturday. I was so tired!

Here are my pages.

In case you're interested, the BC Crop For Kids is happening again next year. Mark your calendar for:

October 23-25, 2009
Ramada Plaza Conference Centre
Abbotsford, BC (again)
www.bccropforkids.ca

2008-08-07T19:33:00.000-07:00

Crafty Retreats - Christmas in July

This past July was the first retreat I’ve organized! It was a Christmas in July theme and it was a blast. Scrapbookers came to Lougheed Lodge to work on a variety of projects. We even had someone who completed her first layout ever!! It was a very happy moment!

The weekend was filled with surprises and treats along the way. It started when the overnighters woke up on Saturday morning (Christmas Day) and found Santa had come to visit during the night! There were gifts under the tree for everyone.

Here are a few early morning scrapbookers checking out what Santa had left in their goodie bags.

Without wasting much time, everyone got into their projects as well as a few make and takes that got the creative juices flowing. Everyone was in deep concentration doing the make and takes!

The day progressed quickly and after dinner there was a short break from the scrapbooking for a mini-spa treatment from Linda at PartyLite. It was a late night for most of the group with another interlude as Diane pointed out, as though it was from a credit card commercial:

1:22am + 6 scrapbookers + 1 card = Priceless

(sorry the picture is blurry, but you get the point!)

The next day was our “Boxing Day” and there were bargains galore! Thanks to Diane for contributing so much to make this an extra special weekend, including the prizes for our “Pass the Hat” game with the Santa hat! It was a fun weekend. Thanks to everyone for coming out! Keep making it crafty!

2008-07-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

It's time for babies...
Is it just me or are there a lot of babies born this year? Well, in case you need some inspiration, here are a few things I've done for mothers-to-be, or mothers who have just become a proud parent. The first two are two versions of cards I've created. You'll notice they have a similar layout which just shows how you can take the same layout and create a very different look!

And this is a baby canvas below. I was inspired by Anne S. who gave me the idea. I love this because it's such a personal gift for a new parent and they can attach any photo they want of their new family! You can't see it from this picture but I even put some liquid glue on the soother in the bottom right corner to make it look a little more real. I gave this to a friend of mine and it was a big hit!

2008-06-08T23:25:00.000-07:00

Something Special for Dad
I had the pleasure of teaching a Father's Day folio album in Richmond with a group of ladies. I had a lot of fun teaching this class. They were such a great group! It seems like all the dads were at the playground with the kids while the ladies got together to do the class. What a great idea!

The folio class used the Close To My Heart paper pack called Rustic Trail. We perfected techniques like sponge daubing, distressing and stamping. Plus, each page has a pocket for a tag that can be used for journaling or photos. You could even put quotes of things that your child has said to you. This album is a great way to write it down and preserve that memory. It was an intense class and they all got through it with smiles on their faces. By the end they had a fabulous folio album to take home!

2008-05-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Reaching new heights!
I had the wonderful opportunity to join 52 other ladies in Whistler, BC on Friday, May 2nd. It was a whirlwind trip for me, driving up the Sea To Sky Highway after work. The ladies I met were fantastic and some were experiencing their first scrapbooking retreat. I love meeting scrapbook virgins! They are so much fun!

I taught a make and take class that focused on sanding and stamping to make a scrapbook border. It was a great hit! Some ladies even knew what they were going to use the border for already!
But I also showed another option for the card makers in the audience. Here I used one border to make two cards just by cutting the border in half.

Here's a pic of me by my brand new display board. I just finished it in time for the retreat, phewph! It shows what you start with in a paper pack (level one or two) and a small sampling of what you finish with once you use the paper in the paper pack.

It was great to meet all of you. I had a blast!

2008-05-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Talk about Precious!
Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Precious Memories retreat. OMG! Totally amazing. It was jam packed with five classes over the whole weekend, tons of games and lots of make & takes.

The entire ballroom was filled with Hawaiian decorations - the theme of the weekend. It was amazing to see everyone get into it. Some of the costumes were tremendous! Making Memories had two fabulous representatives who gave us a sneak peak of a new product coming out this summer called Slice. Imagine the cricut but more portable and smaller! You're bound to love it. There was also a Deal or No Deal Game show hosted by Making Memories where the grand prize was a tote full of Making Memories products. Sadly, I didn't win it :(

One of the more memorable classes for me was by A Muse and the instructor was Julie Ebersole. She is such a cutie patootie! Julie was kind enough to pose for a photo with me.

Some of my friends think Julie and I are kindred spirits because of the stamp she designed that says "Celebrate your inner princess," which we used in the class to make a card. Check it out!

You should also visit Julie's blog to see all of her amazing work. She is just something else, let me tell ya!

2008-03-31T21:33:00.001-07:00

Hatzic Retreat Card and Layout

This weekend I went to Hatzic Lake for a scrapbooking retreat. I had a blast meeting new scrapbookers. I was only there for a half day to teach a make and take. What do you think?

Plus, in preparation for the retreat I created a sample layout using the Close To My Heart paper called Silhouette Creative Basics. I thought I'd try out the Simple Contrast layout from the Cherish Book. It took no time at all, I love it when scrapbooking is so easy!

2008-03-06T22:52:00.000-08:00

Let the cards do the talking...

I don't have much to say, but here are a few cards I've been doing lately. I hope it provides some inspiration for you!

The first two are done with the Caprice paper from Close To My Heart. Love that paper!!

I love these colours on the left side. I made that paper by stamping different colours on white cardstock then adding the navy blue strip down the centre.

This last card was done at a Stampin' UP Party I went to this week. I like how it's such a simple card with such a classic look. It was designed by Susan Farrant. She also has a blog. Thanks for a great party Susan!

2008-02-03T22:26:00.001-08:00

Heart Month
It's February and you know what that means, it's heart month - both for the heart and stroke foundation and for Valentine's Day. It's a good time to tell people you care. In case that person is a guy or you just aren't big on flowery hearts and love all over a card (there is Hallmark for that kind of cheese, right?), here's a card to get your ideas flowing. It's got four hearts I'll admit, but I think the "wow" factor is that it's a little unusual being on acetate. I put it on a blue/turquoise pillow so the acetate shows through. What do you think?

2008-02-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

Tidbits
I went to a scrapbooking open house this weekend out in White Rock. There were lots of women and several demonstrations. One of the best parts was seeing a demo on the many many ways you can use a card kit. Thanks for all the great ideas Carrie! She was brilliant with using scraps to make goody bags, add to scrapbook layouts and a mini flip album. Plus, I made a few projects too. Take a look below at some of the fun things. Isn't the lollipop a great idea?

2008-01-28T23:12:00.001-08:00

Wedding bells are ringing

It seems I'm surrounded with people getting married or talking about their weddings. Often there is a lot of stress about scrapbooking wedding photos and getting your album perfect and ready for others to see. Some are even so ambitious that they end up promising albums for in-laws or other family members! It can be quite intimidating sorting through all those photos from the big day.

I thought I'd share a few thoughts and try to relieve a little stress if I can. First of all, when it comes to the day itself (if you're a bride-to-be), there are some fun little projects that you and your girlfriends can do before your wedding. Take a look at this picture below (sorry the first one is blurry, I swear it's from bad lighting, not how many drinks I had). It's the letters "L" "O" "V" "E" in white ink on rocks. You can do this with white or black ink, usually stayz-on permanent ink is the best. The photo below that is the same concept but on rocks as place settings for everyone. Look for the rock that says "bride" next to the star fish.

(photo above by Chris Boar)

For those of you who are already married and are ambitious enough to attack your own wedding album I have a few suggestions that might help you know where to start. It can be so overwhelming.
1) Start by selecting the "must have" photos. Remember you have maybe hundreds of photos of the day, but your scrapbook album should have only your favourites.

2) Decide how you want to organize the photos in your album. For example, do you want sections dividing each part of the day?
Bride getting ready
Groom getting ready
The ceremony
The wedding party
The dinner
First dance
Throwing the bouquet and garter
The real party

3) Organize your photos for each section. This step will be more important if you have limited space, like if you only want to do a certain number of pages because it's a gift for the in-laws and well, you don't really like them that much...yet. Doing a 9" by 9" album will change things significantly versus doing a 12" by 12". I usually recommend the 9" by 9" as a gift and saving the bigger one for yourself.

4) Start scrapbooking! I could get into more OCD details here, but this is really the creative part and everyone is different. It depends how you like to look. At this point you might want to find ideas. I often will look through the Close To My Heart Idea Book for inspiration, or even Becky Higgins' sketches, these are great resources to have! Some people like to sketch out what they are going to do before they do it, others can just go with the flow. The important thing is to do what you are most comfortable with. I would recommend trying to do a section at a time. You'll start to see some progress and you'll more than likely feed off of that satisfaction and won't get so discouraged easily. This is a big project so be proud of what you do accomplish!

Email me if you're working on something like this or have other ideas. I'd love to hear from you.

2008-01-16T20:38:00.000-08:00

A new year calls for roundups
As I start 2008 refreshed and ready for lots of scrapbooking, I remembered that almost two years ago I found a fantastic suggestion from a fellow scrapbooker's blog. I thought that since this is my first post for the year, it would be a fantastic time to share that with you.

Katie, the scrapbook lady (no really, that's what she calls herself) developed this idea of a monthly roundup. The idea is that it's a summary of all the main events that happened in the last 30 days so that if you don't have the chance to scrapbook that month immediately, you have all the key events and milestones recorded so you can go back to it at a later time. Isn't that fantastic? I love the idea of taking stock of what's happened, especially since I have a horrible memory!

What I'd like to do is share with you my version of the roundup. I've taken the questions from Katie, the scrapbook lady, and adapted them slightly. Thanks for the inspiration Katie! Here are my questions:

What books and/or magazines did I read this month?

What old/new music did I listen to this month?

What movies and/or tv shows did I watch this month?

What gifts did I give and/or receive?

Who did I spend time with and how?

What illnesses or health concerns did I have?

What new foods, recipes or restaurants did I try this month?

What special or unusual purchases did I make?

What were this month’s disappointments?

What were my accomplishments this month?

Anything else noteworthy to record?

2007-12-04T21:58:00.000-08:00

My First Craft Show A Success!

There was a lot of prep work that went into my first craft show and it was such a great experience, but I am exhausted! Can I sleep now? :)

It was strange having my cards on display for everyone to see. I've never done that before! Lots of people stopped by and complimented me on my cards which was so nice to hear! And I couldn't believe how quickly I sold out of pillow boxes! I don't think I even took a picture of the ones I created (shame on me!). They are handy little things to stuff candies or gift cards in there. Note to self: make more pillow boxes next time!

Congratulations to Nicola!! She is my draw prize winner of 6 handmade birthday cards! I'm sending them in the mail for you Nicola! Way to go.

Of course, I must mention that it wasn't the best day to have a craft show because it was snowing!! I think Vancouverites were not willing to go out in the cold. And to be honest, I probably would have stayed curled up in bed with hot chocolate if I had the choice. Some of the other crafters at the Urban Artisan craft show had been there for a few years in a row and they said it was a slow year.

If you know of a craft show in your area, let me know! I'm looking for new ones all the time!

2007-11-29T22:16:00.000-08:00

Timberline Retreat
Last weekend I went to a scrapbooking retreat at the Timberline Ranch. It was my second retreat and it was tons of fun. I drove out there with my friend Lana but we got there a little late on Friday night because traffic was horrible getting out to Maple Ridge. As soon as we walked in and got our things organized we had about 30 minutes left before the name tag contest. By the time I changed and got into my creative mindset, I had about 10 minutes left. And I made a tag! That's probably the least amount of time I've spent to complete a scrapbooking project EVER! haha

Throughout the weekend, there were draw prizes and a "my favourite layout" contest. It added some excitement to our time. I didn't work on any layouts but I did get a lot of cards done for my craft show this weekend. I worked on over 160 cards! I'm not sure how many I'll sell this weekend, so I might be sending two to each friend if I don't sell many :) Here are a couple of samples.

I hope to see you at the Roundhouse on Saturday, December 1st between 10am and 5pm. I'll be holding a draw prize too. You have to show up to be entered, more details at the show. See you there!

2007-11-05T23:21:00.000-08:00

Big News!

I got a letter that reads: "Congratulations! You have been accepted to participate as a vendor in the Urban Artisans Craft Fair". My first official craft fair! I will be exhibiting on Saturday, December 1st at the Roundhouse (Davie and Pacific, downtown) from 10am to 5pm. The competition is stiff and I was biting my nails while the jurying was happening. I'm so excited I made the cut!

If you're a little into crafts or you need some unique gifts for Christmas, you should stop by. There are over 50 local artists and craftspeople displaying their work. Even if you want to stop by just to say "hello!" that would be great too.

So spread the news...I'll be at the Roundhouse on Saturday, December 1st from 10am to 5pm selling a variety of cards, and maybe a few unique non-card items too.

2007-11-04T00:50:00.000-07:00

This is my first post in a while. I've been posting all my cards and scrapbooking news at www.carolinehickton.com. And my NEW goal is to keep this blog for ideas and comments on scrapbooking, cardmaking and any other fun stuff.

What inspired me to write this blog is that I went to a CKC convention in Bellvue today. It was like being a kid in a candy store. The vendor fair was a lot to take in. Every company and product I could think of was there - except for one product. I was hoping to pick up one of those drink & garbage holders that attach to the table. Would you believe I couldn't find one? But I did see some neat things I haven't seen before.

The other part of the convention was the classes. I didn't participate in any, but I did get to peek in on a CK class with the instructor Brittany Beattie (associate editor of Creaking Keepsakes Magazine). She was so nice! I quietly sat at the back of the room and as she was instructing, she was walking around checking on everyone. She came to the back of the class and introduced herself to me. She made me feel very welcomed.

One of the volunteer Teaching Assistants chatted with me (quietly since the class was still in session). She told me a few tips for CKCs. She said classes can be tons of fun and the trick is to jump right in! If I were to go to another CKC, that's exactly what I plan to do - jump in and take some classes.

Here's one of my favourite things I saw today, it's a t-shirt that says "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eyelet."

And for the devoted scrappers who may be wondering what I picked up, I got a book called "Scrapbooking Your Family History: The Ultimate Workbook". I think this is exactly what I need to get going on my own personal childhood book. It's another one of my goals (next to keeping this blog going with fun stuff on a regular basis). I want to work with my parents and scrapbook an "All About Me" album. Wish me luck!

2007-09-06T18:32:00.000-07:00

Big news!
I'm expanding my business and have created a new website for Caroline's Creations, to be redirected click on the link: www.CarolineHickton.com

2007-06-10T09:59:00.001-07:00

Just For Dad
Moms had their day, now it's Dad's turn. Send this card to your dad and show him you're thinking of him. Father's Day cards are usually humourous, here are a couple examples of greetings you could write inside.

Greeting 1: Dad, you've been like a father to me.

Greeting 2: This is a perfect time to hear about my hidden trust fund.

Greeting 3: Grandpa, let's get to know each other better before you get Alzheimer's.

Here's the fine print: These greetings are from some e cards and are only recommended if your Dad/Grandpa has a good sense of humour, Caroline's Creations is not responsible for any consequences of such greetings.

2007-05-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

Here comes the bride, and a special wedding invitation
A very good friend of mine recently set her wedding date in September so of course I jumped at the chance to help her with her wedding invitations. Thankfully it will be a small wedding which meant we could really go all-out on the invites. My friend had a few things in mind of what she wanted (like the picture of their feet on the front and the colours) and together we figured out a design for the card. It was a wonderful experience to make these cards with my friend. The bonus is that if I don't get an invite to the wedding I can make my own!

The inside of the card has a pocket with two tags for more information and the RSVP card and envelope.

Here is the back of the card, keeping with the feet theme. This is a special technique called embossing. It's a stamp that is then covered with gold powder and heat embossed to make it solid.

2007-05-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

Save a horse, send a cowboy card

Here's another addition to my custom birthday cards, made for a big fan of rodeos.

2007-05-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

Spoil your mom
Forget the crayon scribbled "I love you" or the cheesy store bought card. Treat your mom this mother's day. Give her a handmade card. Get your order in by May 9th to get a card in time for mother's day (it's May 13th, by the way).

2007-04-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Custom Birthday Cards

It's been a while since I've posted, but I have been busy making custom birthday cards. I've had a lot of fun with these. The first one (red and black) is a fun card I was challenged to make for a ten year old boy who loves martial arts. It's on the higher end of the price range but definitely worth the extra personal effort. It's what I call an "exclusive card" because chances are you won't see another card like it.

2007-02-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

Lovey-Dove-Dove

It's here! The new design for Valentine's Day. Maybe you don't like all the hype that goes with Valentine's Day. Instead of giving major card companies your money, buy this card and give it to someone who is least expecting it. The inside of this card is blank so you can write your own sickly sweet message, or be as sour and bitter as you desire!

(Note: the "x" and "o" are glittery)

2006-12-06T23:42:00.000-08:00

I cannot thank you enough for all the wonderful things you've said about my cards. I have been pleasantly surprised with how many orders I've received for the Christmas season. Your support means so much. As far as I know, some of the cards this Christmas are going to Victoria, Toronto, Ottawa, California, Tokyo, Russia (not sure what city), and London. I never expected my cards to go so far around the globe!

I will continue to have cards available in bulk quantities for the three occasions as shown in the collection photos below (Christmas, birthday and "thank you"). One card for $5, 6 cards for $25 and 12 cards for $48. Shipping charges are additional.

If you are interested in being notified when I create a new design for upcoming occasions (such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day), email me and I can send you an email update.

Thanks again for checking out my website. Keep coming back, I've just added the counter on it so I need your help to build numbers up and make it look like I'm cool =)

2006-11-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

The Twelve Days of Christmas (or any holiday you choose) Collection

Twelve Drummers Drumming Design

Eleven Pipers Piping

Ten Lords a Leapin'

Nine Ladies Dancing

Eight Maids-a-milking

Seven Swans a-swimming

Six Geese a-laying

Five Golden Riiiiings

Four Calling Birds

Three French Hens

Two Turtle Doves

A Partridge in a Pear Tree

2006-11-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

Icing on the Cake Collection

Upside-Down Cake Design
Turn your friend's birthday right-side-up with this birthday card.

Sponge Cake Design
Perfect with a cup of tea.

Moon Cake Design
Don't get caught with your pants down. Send your birthday card well in advance of the big day.

Lemon Cake
Another year older isn't a reason to be sour. Sweeten that special someone's day with this birthday card.

Ice Cream Cake Design
Your birthday friend will melt over this card.

Pound Cake Design
This birthday card will measure up!

Cupcake Design
Sometimes you only need a little something to give the right sentiment on a special day.

Angel Food Cake
Remembering someone's birthday with this card might make you an angel for the year.

Coffee Cake Design
Nothing picks up a person more on their birthday than the right card.

Black Forest Cake Design
For a black tie celebration, add a cherry to the mix with this birthday card.

Chocolate Cake Design
An oldie but a goodie.

Cheesecake Design
Sweet and cheesy, this could be the perfect birthday card.

2006-11-17T16:14:00.000-08:00

The Colourful Gratitude Collection

Apricot Design
Send this thank you card to someone who helped you out of a jam.

Cerise Design (French for "Cherry")
When life feels like a bowl of cherries, give this card to someone who has been kind to you.

Chestnut Design
Make someone feel as warm and cozy as chestnuts roasting on an open fire with this thank you card.

Chocolate Design
When somone has been sweet to you, return the sweetness with this beautiful card.

Cinnamon Design
The spice that's good with fruits and desserts, this card will fit any occasion.

Lemon Design
Don't be so sour! Show your appreciation with this thank you card.

Mustard Design
Colonel Mustard with the candlestick in the library. Take this "clue" and give a thank you card to someone who helped you solve the case.

Olive Design
For a "shaken not stirred" occasion, get this thank you card to show your class and gratitude.

Peach Design
Give this card to someone special and make them feel as peachy as they made you feel.

Salmon Design
Thank those who helped you swim upstream.

Tangerine Design
Sometimes the smallest gestures, like saying "thank you", are the sweetest.

Wheat Design
The most important food grain used for staple foods, beer and animal fodder. This is a card you can't live without.

Welcome!

2006-10-15T18:19:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my website! Thank you for taking the time to visit. You have most likely received a "Caroline's Creations" card. Here is a little history behind the cards.

For several years I have enjoyed producing hand-made cards for my friends and family. It has given me a creative outlet and the opportunity to give each friend something unique and thoughtful. It thrills me to see my friends more excited about the card I give them than the gift.

I have decided to expand this hobby. If you are interested in birthday, holiday or "thank you" cards, please contact me. One card is $5 CAD, 6 for $25 and 12 cards for $48.

By special request, I will also make exclusive and more elaborate cards for any occasion. Prices range from $10 to $15 per custom card.