Time to Play

Look what turned up on my doorstep today :)

I have been curious about these markers since I had first heard about them last year or so.
You all know I LOVE my Copic markers, and they will always be my first choice in colouring.
But with only 20 markers, as opposed to my 300+ Copics, I thought these would be easier for me to cart back and forth to camp, or for just a quick colouring.

And lookie what I found at Dollarama :)
These Smash books were only $3.00 each and the inside pages are really pretty.
I picked up this fun notebook and mini calendar….mostly for the 2016 calendar…isn't it just too cute :)

Last and definitely not least, washi tape…or decorative tape for those technical crafters, lol.
Getting excited to decorate my Faubonichi journal for the month of October :)

I hope you all had a very creative day today.
Me….I just played around a bit with my new markers.
I didn't colour an image yet though.

Tracy :)

Smashin' It

A Smashbook Page…haven't done one of these in awhile.

This is a photo of my sister Julia and I at Ashley and Tyler's Wedding.
I like how this page turned out…plus Julia and I are lookin' cute ;)
One thing I think is so fun with these Instax cameras, you are able to use the photos right away.
The down side, the photos are not very crisp, and are pretty thick, especially if planning on putting quite a few in a book.

When Debbie and I went on our creative getaway I made this page and 12 full 12x12 layouts.
I'm thinking that is pretty good for me :)

Onto My Day:
I invited my friends over this afternoon to come by and do some scrapbooking.
But before then, I went to the doctor on call as my toe is infected :(
I was up most of the night soaking it in a salt bath….it was pretty sore.
I have no idea how this happened, but sometimes when I walk a lot, the side of my big toe near my nail gets tender.
I did do a lot of walking this last weekend, but no more than other weekends.
Weird.

I hope you all had a very creative day today :)

Tracy :)

Winter Crop Smash book page

I have another Smash book page to share with you.
I am on a roll.
My goal was to do a page a month….look at me, my second one ;)

I started this page at the Crop I put on the other Saturday.
I actually took these photos that same day (as I am in the photo, someone else actually took them ;)
I used my new Instax, instant camera my daughters bought me for Christmas :)
It is a fun little camera, I had an instant camera when I was a young girl and loved it :)

Let us take a closer look to this page.
Here are the cute photos :)
I popped them up with foam dots.
At the bottom of the layout I needed to cover up the manufacturers information.
I didn't realize when I did my first page (which is the back of this page), that this wasn't where the books pages actually started, lol.
So I used some pattern paper to make a pocket to cover it up, I then added a journal tag and popped it inside the pocket with my journaling on it.

I had fun making this little cluster :)
I used a journal card and added a overlay on top of it.
I added some washi tape, a flag that I cut out of the same paper as the pocket and lastly stapled this cute birch bark butterfly on top of it all.

This butterfly was given to me by Verna (she is in the bright pink shirt). She punched it out with a butterfly punch out of a thin layer of birch bark that was picked up on some trail…or in someone's back yard ;)
Pretty cool eh?

Using the same pattern paper as I did for the pocket, I cut out this banner.
I then adhered it to some twine and popped each banner up on a foam dot.

I sprayed this wood piece with some glimmer mist to better match the colour of the layout.
Orange would be one of the last colours I would use in a layout, but the page facing this one has pretty orange, I guess they are more of a peach colour, flowers on it.
I like the facing page, so wanted this one to blend nicely with that paper.

Here is a closer look at the overlay on the journal card.
"Enjoy This" is on the overlay.

One last look at the finished page :)
As you can see, I have added the journaling to the journal card.

 

I just started a new novel and I have a feeling it may be a late night for me ;)

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and a Creative Sunday :)

Tracy :)

Smash booking this past weekend

Here is a page I completed in my Smash book, during the 12 hour crop from last weekend's Scrap for Autism.
I use this Smash book for all the little trips I take with my family and friends.
Once this book is full, I'm not sure if I will do another one in this theme, as we seem to do and go to the same places every year.
I will do other Smash Books, but they will be on other themes instead.

I have mentioned before that I don't really like most of the images on the pages in my book.
I am not complaining as I was gifted it in a RAK.
But how I am rectifying this problem is to add my own papers over the images I don't care for.
This is what I did on these two pages.
I like my pages to have a cohesive look to them, so if I cover one side, I usually cover the other side.

For some reason when I was working on this page, I kind of just sat and looked at if for a half hour or so.
I am not sure if it was because this is the last thing I was working on at the crop for the evening, or I was just stumped.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to span these photos between the two pages, or just make a one page layout.
Well as you can see, I choose for the one page layout.
The photos on the left, I made into a pocket to add my journaling in.
That is one thing I do like about these Smash pages, because they are not in page protectors I can add interactive elements or more bulky item to the pages.

Today was a bit of a sad day…I picked up our income tax from the accountant…the government is going to be  very happy to get our return this year, lol.

I hope you all had a very creative Tuesday :)

Tracy :)

Creative Mess, snacks and WOYWW

This has been my snack of choice for the last couple of weeks.
When Kristy saw me with these she asked me "What are you mom…6".
She is one to talk, her and I have been eating Fruit Loops for breakfast, for the last couple of months, lol.

I got to play a bit today.
Look how nice and clean my desk it :)
I started on my challenge card for this month.

Didn't take long for my desk to be full and chaotic….well chaotic to the uncreative ;)
I will link this post to WOYWW (Whats on your work desk Wednesday)

Remember yesterday's post (LINK) about my  Smash book looking more like scrapbooking then smash booking.
Well here are the pages that I did that are more like Smashbooking. I added some hotel card keys, business card, envelope from the hotel.

On this page I added a coaster from Red Lobster, another card key envelope that I decorated up and store names from the receipts or pamphlets.
I still like my pages that look more like scrapbook pages though.

I tried a new recipe tonight.
It was so easy, mix everything up and then don't worry about it while it cooks…..my kind of cooking :)
Under all this cheese is tortellini, tomatoes and sauce…and a bit more…but here is the link to the recipe if you want it. LINK

I still haven't finished my card for this month. It will be completed tomorrow :)
I hope you all had a creative Wednesday :)

Tracy :)

Smashing or Scrapbooking?

I have a couple of pages to share from my Smash book.
One thing I realize about myself, is I am a scrapbooker.
I was planning to use this Smash book more for documenting with memorabilia and such that I pick up on our travels
But here I am making my pages like a scrapbook.
I have tried to make a couple of pages with a mish mash of memorabilia, but I didn't like the looks of them.
I have no idea what I am going to do with all those key cards and such I pick up along our travels, lol.

This page is from last year when Wayne and I went for our 25th Anniversary get away.

I do like to use washi tape and cut a parts from paper packs.
Oh look!
I added the pamphlet from the Bluefin :)

See what I mean about my pages looking more like scrapbooking pages
I have mounted my photos on card stock and even have a title.
I do like how this looks though :)

This is an element that I had cut out of a paper pack, I then added a heart shaped brad to it..again backed it with some card stock.

Awww, look at the happy couple ;)
I didn't adhere the left side of the photo down so the pamphlet can still be opened and read.

Onto My Day:
We didn't get the snow like we were suppose to, so Heather and I packed up the jeep with all the donations and then dropped them off.
I then helped Wayne take all the garbage into the back of his truck so he could bring it to the dump.
I was wiped by the late afternoon….took a bit of a nap ;)

If  you know me, then you know cooking isn't my most pleasant thing to do.
So lately I have been setting up my iPad by the stove as I cook and watch some videos….see Heidi Swapp up there ;)
I usually get distracted and walk away from the stove, and sometimes the food is a bit…lets say, overdone ;)
This helps me stay on task, lol.


















Do you have a smash book?
Are you able to be free and just place memorabilia haphazardly on your pages, or are you detailed and the pages look more like scrapbooking pages?
I would love to know your process.

I hope you all had a creative Tuesday :)

Tracy :)

Grey Raskog Cart Organized

Here is one of my Ikea carts all organized and suited to my needs.
This grey Raskog cart stays upstairs as I create a lot while watching televisions with Wayne in the evenings.
I like these carts as they can hold a lot and they have nice sturdy wheels, so when company comes over, I can wheel it in the bedroom out of the way :)

So let me explain more on what I am using this for.
This one is dedicated to my P365, Smash book, journals and my Day Planner.

The top of the cart holds my travel tote.
This travel tote hold all the necessities for these books and for everyday crafting.
To see what is in this tote, check out this post ***Travel Tote***
I like that it sits so nicely in here. I can get everything out with leaving it in the cart, but yet easy to take out when I am on the go.

The middle tray holds my photo trimmer, a few stamps and stickers that go with my books.
I have decorative envelopes in here and some avery labels so I can make my own custom stickers.
My new mini banner punches and some post it notes.

The bottom tray holds my composition books that I enjoy altering and using as various journals and a new Smash book.
It also holds my label maker in that box with the butterfly on it.
My Stampin' Up markers are in that pink bag and my red tape gun.
I also put in a couple of 6x6 paper pads.

I was really trying to incorporate my tag and journal tray in here, but I just couldn't figure out how.
Not a big deal though, I will just bring it upstairs when I need it.
If you want to see what is in the **Journal Tray** click on the name.

You don't think I forgot about my washi tape, now did you ;)
My washi tape drawer is to big to fit in here.
So I grabbed an extra hanging shelf thingy, added some washi to it, that I have picked out for my month Planner pages and and hung it to the tray edge.

I am still brainstorming on how I am going to use my turquoise cart to its full potential :)

Hope you all had a very creative Monday :)
Today was Family Day here in Canada. All stores were closed and we enjoyed a nice relaxing day at home.
Ashley even came by…..to do laundry ;)

Tracy :)

Handmade Smash books a video and time to finally change the planner pages

Do you remember these smash-type books I made when I was on my Girls Getaway?

I love how they turned out…but I have yet to put them to use.

With my goal of having January my catch up month for last year and being in the present come February. I have been catching up on making my videos.
So here is a video talking about and sharing the inside of these two books.
I notice my videos are really big on my blog and get cut off, so if you want to go to my YouTube channel to watch it there, you can see the whole screen.

Thank you for the well wishes about Ashley's cat Sebastian.
He is doing well.
Ashley took the day off of work to care for him. She said he is doing well, but doesn't like the kitty litter he has to use because of his claws. And you know how this silly cat loves his litter, lol.
Isn't this a sweet photo of them.
I guess they both needed a nap today ;)

I thought I needed new month pages, but it turned out that the ones Wayne bought me for Christmas has them already.
I may still use the ones I purchased as they are 1 month on 2 pages. The one that came with the package is 1 month on 1 page.

There are a few differences in these planner pages than the ones I had last year.
Some good points and some not good points.
I will share those in a video later on :)

I hope you all had a creative Thursday.
Mine was spent making some videos and trying to figure out my iMovie program. The biggest problem was getting my Mac to read my video camera..but I think I got it figured out :)

Tracy :)