The Look of Love

Cathy's challenge at Let's Scrap last week was to use a song as the title of your layout. What a great chance to finish another wedding layout!

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The original photo looked really dark, but it was the only picture of that moment when they were getting ready for the wedding, so I really needed to scrap it. I had been postponing it for ages, until I joined Elisha Snow's photo editing class at Big Picture and it really helped me improve this and other photos. Have a look at the before and after pics:

Isn't the change amazing? I am so happy I took this course, I know it will be very useful for years to come!!!

Sneak Peeks!

I know I say I love Freehand Scraps' kits every month (and how could I not?), but January's kit has to be the one I like most so far.  A-B-S-O-L-U-T-E-L-Y Y-U-M-M-Y! Have a look at these sneak peeks to see what's coming:

Looks scrumptious, doesn't it? If you are feeling like giving these wonderful kits a try, click here. And if you'd like to see some gorgeous layouts, Practical Scrappers has asked all the DT to choose their favourite layouts from 2011. I have to say there are tons of inspiration in that feature!!! My favourite layout from 2011 is this one, based on a Pagemaps sketch, and using mostly Doodlebug supplies. 

It is still a holiday here, so everything's been slooooooowwww.... two days to get back to normal before the next holiday begins! As my husband and daughter have been saying (a million times) these days: "A vivir la vida linda!!!" (Live a good life!!!). See you soon!

Ten Fabulous Christmas Ideas

Just wanted to share a couple of things with you today. The first one is a picture I took when trying to take a photo of my pop-up tree card. The weather here keeps changing all the time, but that day was worse than ever. It was a little windy, and the clouds kept covering the sun every few minutes. Every time the sun started to shine I went out, put the fabric on the table (I can't leave it on as the birds would be happy to come and play on it... and leave their mark!), set the card, sprinkle snow on it... and the sun was gone, replaced by very dark clouds that would ruin any picture. Finally, after several attempts, I put the fabric on the table, set the card, arranged the little gifts sprinkled the snow, and shot:

Oops, a little elf popped up from behind the fabric and I had to start all over again!!! Sometimes it takes longer to take a decent poto of a project than it took to make the project itself...

The second thing I wanted to share today is that I have a new post at the Freehand Scraps' blog called "TEN FABULOUS CHRISTMAS IDEAS TO INSPIRE YOU". I have picked my favourite ten Christmas ideas for layouts, cards, and projects so you can get inspired and, why not, lift some of them to make your projects stand out. Click here to have a look at them, and if you feel inspired and create a project using any of these ideas, please leave a comment with a link so I can have a look at it and leave you some love. Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Pop-up trees

Today I'd like to share with you a couple of pop-up trees I created for the fabulous a-Christmas-project-a-day feature at Practical Scrappers, one using the Sizzix die, and a simpler one you can print and make without any machines. 

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Pin It If you'd like to have a look at tutorials and printable templates, please visit my Practical Scrappers' post. Merry Christmas to you all!

Chubby Penguins

The beginning of the month always brings with it a reveal! This month I am happy to share with you the projects I have created using Chubby Penguins, the absolutely fabulous December kit. 

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I love this picture we took when we were staying at the Disneyland hotel in Disneyland Paris. The rooms were not as good as we expected, they lacked that Disney feel, but the Hotel Lobby was magical. It was also a very cold holiday, so these papers were just right for the picture.  I created a tree using the tags in the kit and my sewing machine. It is one of my faves from this month. Those glitter photo corners were a great addition to the kit, too!

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And what can be better than starting Christmas morning by hugging Mickey Mouse? This was a very easy layout to create using the die cut strips that came with the kit, but I felt it needed a special touch, so I doodled a string of Christmas lights all around the page using my white marker.

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For this layout I fussy cut the ornaments in one of the patterned papers in the kit, and made shaker boxes with them. They were a very easy way to make the layout stand out.

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This folded tree card was very easy to make using this folded tree template: http://inkspiredtreasures.com/cards/stamping-411-folded-christmas-tree/. And the Christmas lights in the kit can make any tree look fab!

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Love, love, love the extra touches that always come in Freehand Scraps kits. This month's included this textured paper that brought a ton of possibilities to my mind. In the end I decided to leave it unaltered and use it as a snowy background, but I sure wish I had had more to experiment with!

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Last, but not least, Christmas tags. These are double tags, they have one of the kit's tags in the background and a patterned paper tag with a punched out (actually hand cut, my tree punch was not big enough) Christmas tree on the front. They were an immediate success with my daughter, who asked to have them for the Christmas gifts she is preparing. I haven't seen them since.

Hope you enjoyed looking at these projects, you can visit Freehand Scraps to have a look at all the projects in the gallery and get yourself one of these fantastic Chubby Penguins kits!

Joy!

This week's challenge at the Create:Blog is to create a Christmas card using non-traditional colours. I love the lime green/light blue/pink colour combo for Christmas, so this was an easy task.

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I bought the We R Memory Keepers flocked lace in a Crafty Steals' deal a couple of years ago, and I am so happy I finally got to use it. It was a bit tricky as it is not as white as it seems when it has the backing paper, so I had to use two layers, which took some time and effort to make them match perfectly. Totally worth it because I love the delicate look of the lace tree. The buttons are from my button box and the star is by Teresa Collins. The patterned paper is not Christmas paper, but Watermelon Gazpacho Soup by Jillibean. And the fabric behind the card is part of my new Christmas fabric stash, not sure what I will do with this one yet, just liked and bought it, inspiration will come soon enough! (and that is how my stash begins to grow).

Woo hooo!!!!

Wooo hooo!!!! I have finally found a fellow scrapper who lives in the area and we are getting together to scrap!!!! I have missed my scrapping buddies (and friends) so much, I am really looking forward to our crop!!!!!!!!! I know, too many exclamation marks,  but I am that happy!!!!!!!!!!!

In the meantime, I'd like to share with you a very quick project I made this morning, based on this week's sketch at Let's Scrap, 11-23-11. Just a little bit of cutting, pasting and embellishing, a quick page for my sister's wedding album, which is getting thicker but is not much closer to getting finished....

Lots of Jillibean Soup paper, die cuts, alphabets and pins, together with a BG metal flower and MME buttons. Here is a close up of the layout. Love those buttons, and the pins are totally yummy.

Fa la la

Christmas is now in the air everywhere. In Trinidad it means Parang sounds anywhere you go, and you can't help getting into Christmas mood. This kind of mood made working with next month's Freehand Scraps' kit SOOOOO easy! It is a yummy kit full of the most fabulous Christmas papers, die cuts and embellies, plus some extra details you'll enjoy for sure. Here are some sneak peeks for you to have a look at it:

For a look at the projects, come back on December 1st. I will have a little Christmas giveaway, too. Now, off to sewing Christmas pijamas for the whole family. Considering that I had never even threaded the needle of a sewing machine until last week, they are turning out pretty fab! And my daughter is so happy she keeps thanking me every time she puts them on. Can I ask for anything else? So I'd like to thank this tutorial, which made it possible, it is easy, clear, and the results are fabulous, don't miss it:

http://mycottoncreations.blogspot.com/2010/07/christmas-eve-pajama-pants-tutorial.html

40% OFF at FREEHAND SCRAPS!

Now through Monday, November 28th get your scrap on with some great Black Friday deals at Freehand Scraps!! 
40% off ALL kits!! 
Value grab bags with $30 retail value for only $14.50!! 
There are so many yummy things it is hard to resist temptation!!!! Click here for more info. Enjoy your weekend!

Ready to use up your Christmas stash?

The challenge today at Practical Scrappers is using up your Christmas stash. I bought lots of Christmas stuff a couple of years ago when we did a charity Christmas fair in Tripoli and I was in charge of making cards, so this was the right challenge for me! I took a bunch of die cuts I have had for ages and used only once, and I decided to find a way to use them ALL in a layout. Here is the result:

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Not your usual Christmas colours, but still a good combination. I also used some brads that I've had since I began scrapping, and they look great, too! Now I am ready to use some of my newest Christmas stash, and it is YUMMY!!!

Create:blog challenge - Cards using wood

Today I'd like to share a card I made for this week's card challenge at the Create:Blog, which asked us to use wood on a card. As soon as I saw it I thought I still had one of those yummy wooden rulers that came with Freehand Scraps' November kit, Sweater Weather. I had so much fun making this card, and I did it really ahead of time, but I then forgot about it and did not mail it :(. Anyway, here it is:

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The badge you can't see says HOME SWEET HOME, which I thought was very appropriate for this image. I am working on lots of Christmassy projects, so there will be bells jingling in this blog very soon!!!!

Thank you cards and Studio Calico Giveaway

Today's feature at Practical Scrappers is cards saying THANK YOU. I have been having lots of fun with shaped cards in my Silhouette, and so has DD, who tries every card with me and gives them her personal touch. For this card I chose a flowerpot design by Lori Whitlock that I loved at first sight.

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It is so bright and cheerful that it could make anybody happy. The pot is the front and the envelope as well, inside there is another pot with some space to write a message (sorry, I forgot to take a picture when I took this, and it is raining now!). 

If you'd like to get some inspiration, visit Practical Scrappers to see all the fabulous Thank You cards featured today. And if you'd like to win a Studio Calico kit (Yes! Isn't it a fantastic prize?), click here to see Practical Scrapper's SC giveaway.

Layouts x 3!

I am so happy to be scrapping again this week! First of all, I added a double layout to my sister's wedding album. I started with this page, based on last week's Sketch Inspiration's sketch.

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And then I added another page to the left, keeping the banner and the same kind of embellies.

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Almost all the materials I used for these layouts were part of last month's Studio Calico kit. Loved the colours, and all the butterflies. I even decided to use the negative of the kraft butterflies in the layout!

And that was not all! I had some creative time to spare, so I made a layout for this week's fabulous DT challenge at Let's Scrap. I had to use something on the layout that was not a scrapbooking supply, so I used some stars that I got from hair bands. We have plenty of those at home!

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I love the look of the tags as a background. I find it difficult sometimes to open a new pack of supplies and use it up on a single layout, like with these tags, but I think this was really worth it. If you want to play in this challenge, you have time until Thursday at midnight.

30 minute photo banner

For my Freehand Scraps altered project this month, I decided to create a photo banner. It was a very simple process that took less than half an hour, and if you'd like to give it a try, I have posted a tutorial here. 

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I am finally working on a layout! And it is a double pager, believe it or not. I used this week's Sketch Inspiration's sketch for the right side, and I am now working on the left one. I will show it to you later on, once I have finished both sides. 

Cards with no sentiments

The Create: blog had a no-sentiment-card challenge this week. I haven't participated in their challenges for some time (October was a crazy month!) and I decided to make a no sentiment card this morning. I wasn't sure it was going to make the deadline but it did, and it is always an honour to find one of my cards among so many gorgeous examples. You can see my card below, and if you want to drool over some fabulous no-sentiment creations, visit the Create: blog.

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List of supplies: 

Cutting file: Lori Whitlock for Silhouette

Patterned Paper: My Little Shoebox, Pebbles Inc

Rhinestones: Doodlebug

Pins: Webster's

Ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon

Markers: Gelwriters, Uniball

Gue: Glue dots

Sweater weather?

Well, living where we do, it is never sweater weather, and I sometimes really miss the feeling of warmth a sweater brings... that kind of feeling is what I got when I started working with this month's kit from Freehand Scraps. There's warmth in the colours and the materials, and you feel ready for a cozy layout as soon as you open the box! Here are the layouts I've created this month:

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This is my favourite layout this month. I used a Pagemaps sketch, and got inspired by my friends Kathy Perry and Betty Anne Orr, who used these circle/squares for a Let's Scrap challenge, with fabulous results. I just had to lift that idea!

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This one was so easy to make, as the paper itself was like a sketch! Just stick the picture and start embellishing. Don't you just love those rulers?

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And you'll have to take my word for this, but this layout looks much better in real life; I couldn't get a good enough picture of it. Just one look at this splashy paper and I realised I wanted to make a layout about the Splashers' pool at Atlantis Hotel in Nassau. And I even made my own letters with cardstock and glitter. I think this was also based on a Pagemaps sketch, but I can't find it right now to confirm... :(

I also worked on an altered project I love, and I will share it tomorrow. If you want to have a look at all the inspiration in the gallery and the yummy things in the Sweater Weather kit, visit Freehand Scraps!

November kit sneak peeks!

I have a few sneak peeks to share with you from my Freehand Scraps' November kit projects. I am still working on some of the projects, and it is a pleasure!!! The papers are gorgeous and I have been having tons of funs with the embellies! 

You can visit Freehand Scraps' blog later today to have a look at more sneak peeks, and if you are planning to get a kit next month, I definitely recommend this one!!!

Halloween lanterns

Practical Scrappers had a Halloween feature last week, and I decided to prepare some ornaments for it. I had a very busy week last week, spending time with our visitors, so I am only posting them now. I found a bunch of very cheap paper lanterns in a local shop, and they quickly became my project. I painted them black, orange and white first (yes, I even painted the white ones to give them a more finished look). Here's my little helper doing her job (or pretending to do it for the camera!!!):

As soon as they dried, I started having fun with them, and this is the result:

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I got lots of inspiration from Halloween projects I saw in Pinterest, here is my Halloween board. I think DD's friends will really enjoy having these lanterns hanging above them during the party! I have another busy but crafty week getting ready for the school's International Food Fair. I am in charge of decorating the booth for Argentina and Uruguay, and preparing souvenirs for the 1000 visitors we are expecting. Will give you some peeks of my projects as soon as I finish them!

Exploring the swamp

It's been a very-busy-no-scrapbooking week, as we have family visiting and we've been showing the island to them. Yesterday afternoon we went to the Caroni swamp, which is an amazing place. Fifteen thousand scarlet ibises (Trinidad's national bird) come to spend the night here, so around sunset, it is a unforgettable sight. Here is my little explorer ready for the trip:

These are some of the other inhabitants we saw on the way there:

Kind of makes you think if the life vests would be useful at all if the boat sank with this kind of creatures around! 


And this is when the ibises begin to come and fill up the tree. I found it hard to take a good picture of this amazing moment, but these are my best attempts, not close enough to real life!

So happy I got a few minutes to share this with you! I'll be back with some Halloween altered projects (remember the lanterns I was painting) on Thursday. Thanks for visiting my blog!

Halloween layout and card

Today I am sharing with you the Halloween projects I created with my Freehand Scraps' October kit. There are some fabulous Halloween papers in there, so I couldn't miss the chance to work on last year's Halloween pics. Here are the pics I took at my daughter's pre-K Halloween party. I wanted to include lots of them, and they were not great quality pics, so I decided to go with a small pic size.

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I also created a Halloween card with this little witch I found at Creepie Cute Stamps. 

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I also made a Halloween page for Pagemaps' October newsletter, and you can have a look at it here. It was great to get to contribute to Pagemaps, as I absolute LOVE those sketches. And now, I have some more Halloween projects to finish (remember those paper lanterns?) so I'd better stop blogging and start working. Have a fantastic day!

Giveaway winner and new Freehand Scraps reveal!

I am so sorry for not having posted this sooner, but it has been a very busy weekend, and I have switched computers, which is driving me crazy! Every time I need to do something I realise I don't have the necessary program, or the one I have is completely different from the one I had before and it takes some time to adjust. Love my new computer, though, so I can't complain!

I just went through my list of comments again making sure nobody was left out, then used random.org to choose the winner. And the winner is JILL!!!!! Jill, please send me your snail mail addy (click on the e-mail link in the sidebar) so I can mail the prize to you. Enjoy it!!!!!

And now I'd like to show you some other projects I've made with this month's kit at Freehand Scraps. If you haven't seen it yet, click here to have a look at it. The first project is a layout based on a Pagemaps sketch, with one of the pics we took when we had lunch with the princes and princesses at Auberge de Cendrillon in Disneyland Paris. It was a magical lunch and my daughter was ecstatic! Here she is with Philip and Aurora (you may notice the photographer -DH- cut their feet off, but the magic is still there!), and the place was very elegant, so I thought these elegant papers and embellies would do the trick. I am very happy with the result. 

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As I said in my previous post, lots of glitter this month! I used gold glitter on the frame of the picture as well as the swirls below the title. The chandelier was glittered already, and I used a yellow Copic marker to change the colour of the rhinestones. All the materials I have used came with my Freehand Scraps kit, except for the ribbon (Martha Stewart) and the flower trim (American Crafts).

And I have another card to share, this one using the other chandelier that came in the kit, and the swirls again, this time with black glitter. I love how easy to use and neat looking the swirls are. And they look so elegant in black!

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I hope you have enjoyed having a look at these projects, I have more projects to share with you this week and a tutorial coming soon, so come and visit when you have some free time!

October kit reveal: read.

Today I'd like to share with you some of the projects I made with Freehand Scrap's October kit. The first one is a layout of my daughter Mia reading to her dolls. Ever since she started reading, she enjoys reading anything and everything, all the time. Since I can only listen to so many stories, she sometimes needs new audiences, and the dolls provide a very well-behaved one. The layout is called LEE: READ, and it is based on a Pagemaps sketch.

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The kit also has a fabulous wooden tree accent by Kaiser crafts, which could be turned into a spooky Halloween one, or be blooming with spring flowers, like the one below:

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And if you want to see this tree in fall, take a look at Suz Mannecke's blog here. Another project I'd like to share today is this canvass:

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It is a very simple project, but I love that quote. I am not a person with a million friends, but I have been blessed a with a few very good ones, and they are a very important, if sometimes ver far away in actual distance, part of my life. The actual quote is longer and reads: 

"A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world".  ~Lois Wyse

It was too long for this canvass, so I chose my favourite part. It is a very easy project to put together, and there will be a tutorial for it some time this month.

If you took part in the Freehands Scrap's giveaway at the beginning of this month and woud like to know who the winner is, please be patient with me as I am having a very busy Saturday today, and I would lik to double check all the entries to make sue I am giving everybody a fair chance. I will draw the names and make an announcement tonight.