An occasional burst of energy

leads to an occasional blog post.

I'm still adjusting to this full-time job thing. Can't say I like it - the amount of time I'm away from home/kids etc and the lack of time for just about anything else part but the job itself is pretty good and the paycheque's a big time bonus.

Have you popped in to check out the Deals each day. I've managed to stay awake in the evenings long enough to check and see what's offered. I've seen Summer Sassy Strands and a mini-album and some metal rim tags and a couple other things I can't remember off the top of my head. I've picked out a couple stamp sets I've been wanting and now I'm just waiting for the right deal to come along.

While I haven't had a chance in a long time to 'play with paper' as my friend Carrie and I call it, and it's been even longer since we played with paper together, we are making plans to do just that this Friday night in my dining room - complete with Chinese Appetizers just like we used to. I can't wait! I'm even all set with some inspiration taken straight from CTMH founder Jeanette Lynton's blog. Each Monday Jeanette posts a Colour Me Monday challenge and this weeks colours are too yummy to pass up. Sweet Leaf, Twillight, Tulip and White Daisy - Oh My!

If you get a chance this week to 'play with paper', give the colour challenge a try. I'd love to see what you create.

~K

It's a Deal-A-Day sale you won't want to miss!!!

Each day during the month of June, from 8am to 7am (central time) the following day there will be a different Deal available on my MyCTMH website http://kdann.myctmh.com (don't use www. or you will get an error message) There will be two different types of Deals and the Deal will change each day.

During most days in June the Deal will be to receive a specially-selected current product absolutely free when you purchase a My Acrylix® stamp set, size A, B, C, D, or E (excluding Stamp of the Month, customized or K-size sets, and Art & Soul featured stamp sets). The free product will change daily and shipping will be flat rate of $4.

On 6 randomly selected days in June, you can purchase a “mystery” box filled with “Great Goodies.” Contents will vary by box and include both current and retired favorite stamp sets, paper packs, embellishments, and other great products. The six “Great Goodies” boxes will all have different pricing of at least 50% off retail, with some at even deeper discounts! Shipping will be based on the price of each Great Goodies box, but will be deeply, deeply discounted and represent only a fraction of the value of the contents. Shipping pricing will be clearly posted at checkout on each day that a Great Goodies box is offered and are expected to range from $13-$22.

For the purpose of this sale, ONLY the stamp set and free product or the goodie box can be on your order to receive the discounted shipping rates. Adding any additional items to your order will cancel the special shipping and the cost of shipping will revert to that of a traditional order.

Stop by daily to check out what the Deal is for that Day.......you won't want to miss out on something fabulous. Oh and if you get yourself a "mystery box"....pop back in here once you receive it because I'd love to hear what was inside.

~K

It's really been almost 3 weeks since I posted?

Wow.

Time really does fly when life gets turned upside down doesn't it.

Seriously.....I think most of my stuff is still packed from the Weekend Crop it's been that crazy around here. I did take out a few things to quickly make Emily's birthday party invitations 2 weekends ago but I haven't touched a single scrapping goodie since then.

Actually the last 2 months have sort of passed me by in a blur. After almost 14 years in business my husband and I decided that it was time to close the doors so there has been alot of ups and downs associated with that and unemployment has made things a little stressful. We are slowly adjusting to life with my hubby working evenings and a week ago today I finally started my new job. Exhausted pretty much covers how we are both feeling especially with working opposite shifts.

The blog posts will probably continue to be few and far between for the next few weeks while I adjust to this new routine. It was much easier to write blog posts......and play with paper and stamps and ink during the day while the kids were all at school. Right now I'm just so tired by the time I get home in the evening that keeping my eyes open is a challenge nevermind trying to be creative or wordy.

I do have an announcement about the wonderful online sale CTMH has planned for June. I'll be sure to make the time (and stay awake long enough) tomorrow after work to tell you all about it.....I actually just found out about it while catching up on email from last week so I have to go figure out the details and then I can share them.

Hope your life isn't as crazy-busy as mine right now and you find time to scrap some memories.

~K

Weekend Recap Pt 3

Sunday's class featured a technique called Emerging Colour. This was my sample layout for the class. Using white cardstock as a base, images from the Connections stamp set were randomly stamped using Tulip, Juniper & Creme Brulee ink. The solid circle from the retired set Magic was stamped with versamark and clear embossed. After embossing I used the three ink colours and sponge daubers/tools to rub - in a scrubbing, circular motion - the ink overtop the embossed/stamped images. The clear embossed images resist the ink and the white base of the cardstock pops out through the colours. You end up with a tie-dyed effect.




Here are a couple layouts using the emerging colour cardstock that were made during the class. Elaine chose autumn colours - barn red, new ingland ivy and sunflower and I snapped a picture of this layout she was putting together.


and Heather used petal, vineyardberry, honey and sweetleaf and I took a picture of her layout in progress which includes a title using the Chalkboard technique too.




I didn't get pictures of anyone elses emerging colour projects but they all turned out great and a couple people even experimented with the technique. Here's a piece Heather made with stamped circles that were lear embossed to mask them and protect their colour. She then took an outdoor denim ink pad and dragged the ink across the embossed images instead of rubbing the colour on. Different end result using the same basic idea.





And that pretty much sums up our weekend. Good times and lots of scrapping fun had by all.

I think I have a few more layouts to share and I'll post those in the coming days.


If you want to check out even more beautiful artwork pop over to http://www.scrapbookandshare.com/ a website set up by Close To My Heart to celebrate National Scrapbook Month. Be sure to leave a comment or two on the layouts that are posted there. CTMH founder, Jeanette Lynton is giving away a Tickled Pink kit to one lucky person who posts a comment each day this month. Winners are posted on her blog http://www.jeanettelynton.com/

I also encourage you to check out the details of the layout contest - there are a few different catagories, and create a layout and enter to win $150 in Close To My Heart products!



~K

Weekend Recap Pt 2

I'm so impressed by the number of pages created throughout the weekend. Evelyn by far outscrapped us all and I think her final count (and she left early Sunday) was something like 35 pages. Wowser!




This is my favorite layout that Christine did. She announced she's now "finished Christmas". Geesh. I haven't even printed pictures from Christmas yet.






and this layout she did is by far the funniest. I plan to print a photo of this layout and make a page about it with the title....."I wonder if Sears knows what mom does with their catalogues?" You should see what she can do with a calendar too. I didn't take a picture of that page but we all agreed it looks pretty cool.



My fav that Marlene did was this one. I love the way she placed the alphabet stamps on a curve for her title. She thinks the page is too busy but I don't.




Heather got quite a few pages done which is surprising considering she took apart her layouts (and one of her cards) more times than we could count.





and she reprinted her journalling a couple times when she didn't get the paper cut straight enough. We may have teased her about her perfectionism but the final results were amazing.





There's more photos to share but I'm saving them for next post.

~K

Weekend Recap Pt 1

I've finally recovered from the busy weekend and 'tomorrow' turned into a few days but I'm finally getting a chance to upload photos (slowly) from the weekend and share a recap of our crop weekend.

On Friday we got into the hall just before 5pm (not for lack of trying to get there earlier....I'm sure my mother-in-law would have started at noon if I'd have let her) and we scrapped the night away until shortly after midnight. Saturday morning I was there just before 9 and when I walked in I had a few moments to myself to snap a few pictures of the hall....all set up and ready for a day of scrapping. Everyone agreed that being able to just stop what we were doing, go home, sleep and come back the next day and keep on working was wonderful. No need to pack and unpack.....just continue on where you left off the night before. Originally, when we'd talked about this weekend, the idea was we'd scrap till 2am on the Saturday night but that didn't happen. Didn't even come close. By 10pm most of us were getting tired and by 11:30 some had left. The rest of us thought for sure we'd keep scrapping a while longer but I'm sure it wasn't 20minutes later that we called it a night.

Included in everyone's goodie bag was a bingo card and each square contained a specific product or technique idea. When you used that item or idea on a layout you got to cross it off your card. For each square crossed off I added another ticket into the door-prize bucket and I gave out prizes throughout the weekend. I think everyone got something....and some people should go buy a lottery ticket because their name came out of that bucket alot. :o)



Aunty Hazel said she loved the bingo card because it made her try things that she wouldn't have otherwise done and that it sure added variety to her pages. On this page she stamped the image of the girl and hand painted the image using ink from stamp pads and a paint brush. Of course that was the whole point to the bingo card - to try new things (or use old things you'd hadn't in awhile). I know for myself I get into a rut and sometimes my pages all start looking the same because I'm using the same techniques or ideas over and over. A few people also added to the challenge of the bingo card by seeing how many of the "squares" they could get onto one page. I wish I'd taken a picture of Evelyn's page that she did using as many of the 'squares' as she could. It turned out great!

Sadly nobody completed the whole card.....nobody wanted to use staples. Oh well. I'll make them use them next time. It will be my challenge to show them the possibilities.



One of the great things about getting together like this to scrapbook is that you are almost certain to learn something from those around you. Everyone has a different way of doing things --- such as how to cover chipboard with paper.......... or how to print journalling and titles. Heather brought her printer and a (quirky) laptop and spent quite a bit of time helping out with that.


I demonstrated a couple new techniques over the weekend and I think everyone enjoyed learning them. I know I spotted a few of them being used in pages over the weekend. Elaine used faux leather crumpled paper as journalling mats on one layout and I heard the phrase "I'm waiting for my paper to dry" a few times Saturday afternoon. Heather used the chalkboard title idea quite a few times including on a double page layout she made twice...two copies of the same layout...one for her album and a 2nd copy as a gift for my son. I'm pretty sure she took the layout apart more than twice too - trying to get everything perfectly straight.

On Sunday I taught everyone how to make patterned cardstock using a technique called Emerging Colour. This technique is a step up from random stamping and involves using clear embossing powder to "mask" stamped images so that when you add colours ontop of the embossed images using sponge daubers, the masked images remain untouched by the added colour. I'll share my samples as well as some of the ones made during the class but for now, my internet connection is being very picky and since I'm uploading images one at a time and keep loosing my connection and having to start over....I'm beyond frusterated so the rest of the pictures will have to wait till part 2 of this weekend recap. I also took pictures of some of my favorite layouts made this weekend (or ones I found in everyones albums) and I'll share a few of those as my patience and internet allows.

~K

Exhausted!

I don't think the word exhausted begins to describe how I feel tonight. I'm sooooo tired. I'm glad the weekend is over but sad too because we had so much fun and it went by too quickly. Everyone agreed that while we were tired, we weren't quite ready for it to be over.

I took lots of pictures to share and I have many tales to tell but I had family things to tend to when I got home from my weekend ---- the kids couldn't wait any longer for their birthday presents and someone needed help with a science project that is due tomorrow so I was right back into mom mode the minute I walked in the door. Everyone is finally in bed and I'm falling alseep at the computer so the photos and story telling will have to wait until tomorrow.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz

~K