Two tickets to Paradise

First time back at the cottage :)

Even though it was a long cold winter, it seems like we never left.

Heinz is up to its old tricks again... 

Or they just like messing with me;( 

Put the batteries in the solar lights and left them on the deck to charge. 

I took the plastic off of the outside of the windows....thanks Wayne you did a great job last year putting it on.  My hands are now in a permanent knarled position from pulling 8000 staples our of the window frames. 

Wayne charged up the quad batteries.

Then I went for a short burn. 

I know, I don't have my helmet on.

Believe me I am a stickler for wearing protection on the machines. 

I knew we needed a new flag as it was ripped last year. But I didn't realize how faded it was.

Ladtly enjoyed a wonderful dinner Wayne made for us.  I am not big on eating red meat...but I do enjoy a T-bone steak every few years. 

Lastly we enjoyed our 1st sauna of the year. Even though the temperature reached 28c today, a sauna actually cools you off. 

I hope you all had a creative Saturday :)

I decorated some planner pages this evening.

Tracy :) 

May's Challenge Card..surprise, its a Tag

Here is my May's card challenge..surprise, we switched it up and made a tag ;)

The Challenges for this month are:
Use a Prima Tag
Use a Prima image
Inspirational sentiment
Use flock or loose glitter.

I love tags and I Love, love, love this one.
I almost didn't want to give it away ;)
I made this tag at my Crop I hosted and it just seemed to come together perfectly.
Maybe it was being around all my creative friends :)

I coloured up this fun Prima doll image with my Copic markers.
I paper pieced her headband, shoes and dress. I then added shading to the paper pieces as it makes the cut pieces look like part of the image and not like it was just glued on.
I wasn't to sure of her hair….with that huge bouffant I wasn't sure what to do with it, lol.

I used this Tim Holtz sentiment for this tag.
I have to thank Denise for giving me this sparkly button I spied in her embellishment container, it goes perfectly with this tag.
I added glitter around the whole tag as well.
I also wanted to play around with some embossing paste, so I used this Heidi Swapp stencil with it. I love the texture it adds.

Lastly I added a little cluster at the bottom corner of the tag.
I gave all of my friends who attended my crop a goody bag and these tags I made were in them.
They are just small shipping tags from Staples, all I did was use a border punch to the bottom to add some prettiness :)
I then inked my tag to match the project :)

I also put together this video with a bit more detail on how I put this tag together if you are interested :)
If you would rather watch it on my YouTube channel, just click on the link :)
"Tracy's Treasures24"
I hope enjoyed my tag and I hope you all had a creative Friday :)
I am heading to our little piece of paradise soon, I am so excited :)

Tracy :)

Altering an ATC envelope

I am finally sending out my ATC's for my swaps.
I wanted to put them in nice packaging, but I didn't have any.
So I decided to alter some.

 The envelopes I used are bank envelopes.
They are thin enough for the ATC's to fit in there comfortably.
But I cut them down a bit.
Here is a tutorial I did on how I cut down my envelopes ;) Click Here

I then wanted to add some colour, so I used distress ink and added some colour to the envelope.

I wanted a vintage look that is why I used Vintage Photo to ink the background and then (my new) Chocolate Chip ink from Stampin' Up for the script stamp.

I also made a pretty one with flowers :)

Now I can finally mail off my ATC's tomorrow :)

I hope you all had a creative Thursday :)

Tracy :)

How to Caulk in the Bathroom

You may be wondering…Wayne washes the carpets and Tracy caulks the bathroom?
Yup thats how we roll in this house ;)

My new laptop froze yesterday. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even shut it down, so figured I would do some work around the house.

Our bathroom counter needed to be re-caulked and after caulking around the downstairs toilet, I figured I should do the main bathroom counter next.
This is the after photo, forgot to take a before photo.
I had done it in clear caulk last time and I didn't like the clear, so went for the white this time around.

The first thing to do is remove all the old caulk.
It is a tedious and not so fun of a job.
But my finger exacto knife from Fiskars worked great.
It scraped away the thinnest parts of this.

I have never tried this way before, I had always just used my finger, but I thought I would give it a go.
Using painters tape, adhere it to the wall and another strip to the counter, leaving a gap for the caulk.

Keeping even pressure to the tube, run the caulk in-between the tape.

After that is complete, wet your finger and run your finger between the tape, smoothing the caulk.
You have to clean off your finger and re-wet it many times during this step.

While the caulk is still wet, slowly pull off the tape for a nice crisp seam.
When the tape is pulled off, some of the caulk may lift up, just wet your finger and re-smooth the caulk….isn't that a funny word, caulk ;)

As you are waiting for the caulk to dry…why not take a selfie, lol.

Here it is looking like new again :)

That was my exciting day today :)
I also put together my mailings for my ATC swap I am in.

I hope you all had a very creative Wednesday.
I am enjoying the season finale of Survivor :)

Tracy :)

Z Fold card tutorial

The other day I had shared the cards that Sharon and I made for Kards for Kids.

Becky had asked me the measurements of these cards.

I told her I would do a photo tutorial, wellllll. I forgot.

I did a video tutorial but forgot to take photos…oops.

The image on this card I coloured with my Copic markers for a challenge last year.
I missed the challenge date, and never finished the card.
So I figured I would use it for this tutorial.
You can't tell but I added glossy accents to her goggles :)

Here is the video.
I share all of the cards on the video, but if you just want to check out the tutorial, go to 3:45 on the time.
If you would rather watch it on my YouTube channel, just click the link "Tracy's Treasures24"
I hope you all had a creative Tuesday :)

Tracy :)

Creative Long Weekend has come to an end.

The long creative weekend has come to an end.
Lots of creating, fun, laughs and junk food was to be had.
Now it is back to reality and getting back on track with real life and a healthier lifestyle.

Here is an ATC I had made during the weekend.
I think this is my favourite one so far.
I LOVE it!!!
I used Tim Holtz stamps for the sentiment and image.
i used some mist sprays for the background and coloured the heart and banner with my Copics.

I guess Wayne forgot to water my flowers :(
I can't complain too much as he cleaned all the garbage we had collected in the yard from last weekend, he washed the carpets and they look like new, he also tidied up the house. And to make him sound like a perfect man, he is making me some calamari for supper with his homemade dipping sauce ;) so, nope, you won't hear me complaining ;)

I thought I would give my flowers a good soaking of water before I gave up hope.
But was surprised mine had lasted as long as they had.
Ashley and Sharon had both thrown their flowers out last week, or the week before already.
They look a bit sad here don't they.

But after a soaking of water and a bit of time for them to absorb it, they are all perky and healthy :)
This makes me so happy.
Love this bright happy colour :)

I hope you all had a creative Monday :)

Tracy :)

Card making night

I wanted to use up some of my scraps.

A perfect way to do this is to make some cards. An even better thing to do is to make cards and donate them to the  Children's sick kids hospital. 

So Sharon and I spent the evening making these cards and making matching envelopes.

Here are a few of them close up. 

Today I vowed would be my 12x12 layout day. 

I completed 6 layouts (I had already started them at home) only 2 of these layouts have the photos in them. 

Yes I am the worlds slowest scrapbooker. 

I am off to start a new layout :)

Hope you all had a creative Sunday :)

Tracy :)