Take time for detours!

 Happy Sunday!


I made this card for Amy's 14th Birthday - Happy Birthday Amy! 
I've had this image for some time and was so looking forward to using it with these fab papers!

I would like to share my card at:
Our Creative Corner - Shabby chic - my colours are not very feminine but I think the image, the papers and all the distressing make it fit the challenge
and
Cupcake Craft Challenges - book lover


Enjoy the rest of your weekend! It rained all night here and looks like it is going to rain all day so we are staying indoors!


Hugs,
Shanna :)


What I used:
papers: Bo Bunny - Weekend Market Collection
stamps: Uptown Girl Molly (Stamping Bella)- available at DAT'S
sentiment: CTMH
Tim Holtz - Distress Ink (Antique linen), Filmstrip ribbon
misc embellishments

Happy Birthday Cars - CAS

Hooray for Friday!
My card today is for the challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays - masculine card using designer paper.
Many months ago, this became one of my go-to quickie designs - perfect for using up scraps of patterned paper. It was originally based on a sketch at Less is More.

I have also discovered that I LOVE tying my Bella bling donuts on with twine or baker's twine. 


Word of the day - this one popped up in one of the stories we were reading together and I hesitated about how to explain it to the boys - I think I told them it referred to a person who is not so good...
fiend - 1) devil 2) demon 3) an extremely wicked or cruel person 4) a person excessively devoted to a pursuit 5) addict


Sure hope you have a great weekend!


Shanna :)

Happy Birthday!

Yikes, things have been busy here, leaving little time for blogging. My previous post shows just some of what we were up to on the weekend - besides hiking, I did yard work, laundry, cooking, learned how to use a drill, built a frame covered in netting to protect my strawberry patch from the birds, baked a strawberry/rhubarb pie, went to see The Avengers with the boys and the list goes on. The weekend was packed with fun - when Tuesday morning arrived, I decided I wanted to go on vacation, lol! 

Oh well, I'm back today with a card for the current JUGS challenge. It's a colour challenge - blue, white and yellow. I LOVE these colours together! I don't tend to use a great deal of yellow, but this was a good reason to play.







A quick story...Chester was not feeling well and stayed home from school on Tuesday. It was a damp and rainy day. When we left the house to pick his brother up from daycare, I put on my red polkadot rubber boots (see exhibit "A" on left) along with the inner liner of my ski jacket which is a rather flashy pattern with purple, bright yellow and black and struck a "pose" before heading out the door. ( I was quite the sight - even I was considering whether I might embarrass myself...)


 Although Chester has not really expressed thus far that he is totally embarrassed by his parents (I'm sure it will happen soon enough) - this is what he said to me: "Mom, aren't those the kind of boots you fill with dirt and plant flowers in???" Hmm, am I just in denial - is he embarrassed by me but too nice to say it?!?!? We had quite the giggle!!!


Shanna


p.s. Sorry Fluffy, I keep talking about pie don't I? Just remember that reading about it doesn't cost you any calories. If I keep this up, I am going to have to do a LOT more hiking!!! That was A LOT of pie in one weekend - good thing I had people to help me eat it!


What I used:
stamps: May Stamp of the month CTMH - Friendship bouquet
CTMH sentiment from the stamp set that accompanies the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge
papers: Authentique - Genuine (available at DAT'S)
gems - Queen & Co. Twinkle Princess Cut (also avail. at DAT'S)
raffia, machine stitching

A visit to the Giant that Sleeps

What a beautiful day! We hiked the Middlebrun Bay Trail at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. The trail is a little more than 4 kms, but we were treated with this fantastic view from the rocky beach when we arrived.

Middlebrun Bay

We stopped in at Silver Islet after our hike and brought home a fantastic lemon meringue pie after chatting with the local store owners. YUM!

  The store at Silver Islet

Middlebrun Bay, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park




Word of the day:


fen - low swampy land


The information we found about our hike told us that we would find a secluded beach as well as a fascinating wetland known as a fen. We weren't sure what a "fen" was, so had to look it up. The beach was definitely the most fascinating part and definitely made the hike worthwhile!

Happy Lights

Hooray, the weekend is almost here!!! What a week it has been! I won't bore you with the details, just so glad the weekend is nearly here!

Well, here we are heading into the first long weekend of the summer season and I have made Christmas cards, go figure! Well, I'm glad to say that's two more for the stash! 


I took these fun photos when we went home to Southern Ontario for Christmas this year - had so much fun photographing everything with the freshly fallen snow - and couldn't wait to turn them into cards. You can bet I'll be mass producing a few more of these, but I need your help - blue card base or black? I just can't decide, though the black alone would make them thinner and easier to mail. Your opinion?

I would like to share today's card at:
Cute Card Thursday - sparkle (a little or a lot)
Christmas Card Challenges


Well, I was able to stop by DAT'S today and pick up some NEW FUN stash - so hoping to get into my scraproom soon to play!


Thanks so much for stopping by!


Shanna :)


p.s. I've been neglecting my "word of the day" - here is today's from the book I'm reading with the boys "Martin the Warrior" by Brian Jacques - they LOVE this book and I am so happy there are many in the series.
limpet - any of numerous gastropod sea mollusks with a conical shell that clings to rocks or timbers.


What I used:
corner punch
Bazzill Basics Paper Rub-ons (come in packs of 10) - available at DAT'S
gems

Challenge #3 - Congrats/Graduation

It's time for challenge number three from DAT'S Designing Divas! 

This time, the theme is Congratulations or Graduation. Click on over to see what the DT has come up with for this timely challenge. We look forward to seeing what you have to share with us!


Take care,
Shanna :)


What I used:
stamps: "Grad" from Technique Tuesday 
papers: MME - On the Bright Side - One
ribbon: SU
Twinkle Goosebumps from Queen & Co.
all items available at DAT'S except the SU ribbon

Say what? No patterned paper?

 This week's challenge over at Cupcake is to make a card using no patterned paper - a difficult task except that I had this fabulous stamp sitting on my scrap table just waiting to be inked! I think it lends itself quite well to a CAS style card.

I made two versions because I couldn't figure out which I liked better. What say you? Stitching or hand-bombed lines? Plain white card base, or mounted on a black base for more contrast?

Yikes am I ever tired! Tired enough to nap after work, yep you heard it! I think I might still be recovering from my super busy work trip last week and perhaps fighting off some germs as Doodlepants has some nice ones just now. Oh well, this too shall pass... (hopefully sooner than later!)

A shot of my Pasque flower taken about a week ago. This is a lovely early bloomer (with many flowers in the bunch) that is comfortable in our cooler climate here. This plant was transplanted from a friend's garden last summer and is doing well.  I think I need more of these for lots of pretty purple blooms to go with all my daffodils!


Stay tuned for the next challenge from DAT'S Designing Divas!


Take care,
Shanna :)

Celebrate

Today's card is for Crazy for Challenges - an inspiration challenge
I used some of the fabulous colours from the eggs in the photo. Love these papers from MME!

Happy Mother's Day!
Shanna :)


What I used:

papers: MME Lost & Found Two - Rosy 6x6 pad

ribbon: SU

paper flowers: punched out of an old dictionary I picked up at a yard sale

wooden buttons: from DAT'S

Two more for the stash

Well, it has been a super busy week. I'm glad to be back home and sleeping in my own bed!


I had some fun once again with Simple Stories "25 Days of Christmas" Collection. LOVE these bingo cards!

And the inside:

I would like to share today's cards for two challenges:
Simple Stories - A simple challenge - It's all about the elements
Christmas Card Challenges - humour

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!


Shanna :)


What I used:
papers: Simple Stories - 25 Days of Christmas
misc buttons, up-cycled raffia
cricut: CTMH Art Philosophy
stamp: CTMH sentiment - D1492 Christmas Love

Thinking about you

Just stopping in quickly to post this as I am heading out on a work trip in the AM and won't be back until Thursday night. 






I had a few different ideas for Laurel's Inspired By challenge this week. I didn't get to all of them, but managed this one this morning. My tulips aren't yet up this year, this is a photo I took in my brother's garden a couple of years ago. I LOVE tulips - they have to be one of my favourite flowers!


I would like to share this at:
Inspired By 
Crazy for Challenges - gardening theme/outdoors


Have a fabulous week!
Shanna :)

Hideaway Campground

Happy Scrappy Day! 
I thought it would be fitting to post a layout today rather than a card, in honour of this special day!

The photos on this layout are from our trip to the Canadian East coast last August. These were taken at Hideaway Campground (the title along the left side is part of a postcard we bought while there) on the Northernmost tip of Cape Breton Island. A beautiful spot, though it was very damp and foggy during our stay as luck had it. 


The boys would say the best part about this campground was the fresh cooked lobster that was always available - you can see that Doodlepants was pretty thrilled! (I would say the best part was the nice clean, hot showers!)


In between rainfalls, we bundled up and went for a couple of great hikes where I had some fun photographing interesting things in the forest, the boys found a snake and Doodlepants adopted this little snail who he called Aspy after the body of water we were camped near (Aspy Bay). 


I had a fun time with this layout using Echo Park's
"A Boy's Life" but had difficulty fitting in the journalling. I like the first shot (above) before I added the journalling, but had to find some place for it, so I journalled on a shipping tag and tucked it behind the photo. I feel like it messed up my design, but there was too much to write to leave it out.

I had Doodlepants print his own list of Top 3 faves from our trip:

I try to get the boys to add there 2 cents here and there when I can. It is fun to have their writing on these pages.


I would like to share my layout at:
Crazy for Challenges - gardening/the great outdoors - I think a camping layout fits nicely :)
Cute Card Thursday - one for the boys - I think this fits the criteria, though it isn't a card, but certainly is about boys. :)


I will be heading to DAT'S shortly to teach my class and do some SHOPPING! Did you hear - there is a BIG sale - 25% off - don't miss it!


Shanna :)


What I used:
papers: Echo Park - A Boy's Life - some of this line is still available at DAT'S
spellbinders - postage stamps

Celebrate and only one more sleep!

  

Good Friday morning!

Only one more sleep until National Scrapbooking Day!!! Did you know that our LSS, DAT'S is celebrating with an entire day of workshops! There are still a few spaces left - click here to see the workshops and call 344-7702 to sign up. 

                          

9:00 am – 6:00 pm

Saturday, May 5th

Workshops!

Prizes to be won!

New Products to check out!

Sales throughout the store!

I finally got around to playing with the current stamp of the month from CTMH - Friendship Bouquet. I have always loved sunflowers and couldn't wait to play with this set! I have been neglecting my copics of late, so it felt good to get colouring again! I also got to play with a brand-new paper pack available at DAT'S - "Anthologie" from We R Memory Keepers. I love that it is full of fun texts/patterns and fun colours that are a bit muted - so "me"!

I would like to share my card for the following challenges:

Inspired By - photo inspiration - I went with the general them and a few of the fun colours

check out the fantastic inspiration photo for this week's challenge!

Raise the Bar - "Report Card" - use text or letters

Have a happy Friday!

Shanna :)

What I used:

papers: Anthologie by We R Memory Keepers

stamps: sunflower - CTMH S1205 Friendship Bouquet, sentiment - from the stamp set that comes with CTMH's Cricut Art Philosophy

Cricut cartridge: CTMH's Cricut Art Philosophy
copics:
petals - 1) YR23 2) E15 3) YR24 4) Y19 - I layered in this order, highlighting certain areas and filled in the outer edges with the Y19 only pulling colour from the middle
stem - YG95
middle - 1) YG95, 2) E27 dotting as I went , then blended from middle out with E15

Challenge #2 - a masculine card

Happy Tuesday and thanks for stopping by!!!


Today's card is for Challenge #2 at DAT'S Designing Divas Challenge Blog - to make a masculine card.


DAT'S recently brought in some fabulous merchandise from Life is Good including T-shirts, adorable coffee mugs, frisbees, footballs, soccer balls etc. No more running around shopping for birthday gifts when my boys get invited to a party!!! These t-shirts are super cool and unique. I already have two super comfy t-shirts and a fabulous hoodie that I can barely take off to wash it is so comfy. (Can't wait to get me another!) Click on over to the store blog where there are some photos posted! 
Anyhow, Donna also brought in their stickers. I think perhaps they are meant to be bumper stickers, but when she used it as the focal point on a card, I just had to try my hand at it too! 
To see Donna's card made with a different Life is Good sticker, click here.

I made two of these and plan to make a couple more.


And here is the inside of my card...



I would like to share my card at The Paper Players this week where the challenge is Tic Tac Toe - I managed to use five squares - designer paper, ribbon, square card, dry embossing and the colour blue.

Also, just a quick note to let you know that there are a couple of spots left in my National Scrapbooking Day workshop (the above layout) at DAT'S this Saturday. My class is at 4:30 pm. For more details please click my original post here. To register, call DAT'S at 344-7702.


Be sure to stop by the Designing Diva's Challenge Blog to see what the rest of the team has been up to. We look forward to seeing what you have to share with us!


Shanna :)


What I used:
papers: Echo Park - A boy's life
Life is Good sticker
stamps: CTMH alphas used on "license plate" - D1481 Vintage Type (yep, I cut the strip of alphabet apart to do this - I never hesitate if it is going to suit my needs), CTMH D1475 - Card Chatter - Birthday
denim ribbon - SU
bella bling
Spellbinders - wonky squares
cricut Art Philosophy (CTMH) for the license plate