Hooray.  I finally found some time in my schedule to create.  And it really relaxed me after a long day.  Thanks to Inspired By and The Official Magnolia Challenge Inspiration blogs for giving me the starting points for this red umbrella card.




Inspired By inspired me with this fabulous photo:


And TOMIC challenged me with a 3 (patterned papers) - 2 (embellishments) - 1 (stamped image) pattern. 

I used patterned papers from Stampin' Up and 1 other that was unbranded, Tulip cardstock from Close to my Heart, Recollections paper flowers, CTMH Colonial White bitty brads and bitty pearls, and liquid glass.  The stamp is Magnolia's Tilda with umbrella and the sentiment is from Magnolia too.  All beautifully coloured (if I do say so myself) with Copic markers. I also used my CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the shapes.

I have to say, I really love how this turned out.  It was so worth staying up past my bedtime to finish.

This is one of my favourite layouts and it's perfect for the Cupcake Craft Challenge this week.  I love the new Cruisin' papers -- especially the argyle -- and it worked perfectly for Sam's music pictures. I also love the new baker's twine -- it gives a more masculine spin on ribbon (and ribbon is SO my weakness!).  Look closely at the pennants -- the twine is there -- as well as on the argyle squares.



Want to make this for yourself?  Check out my Pennant Fever workshop, coming up in March.

I've talked about digital Scrapbooking with Studio J before.  I love how quickly I can put together some really beautiful layouts.  And I also love how, once you get the photo printouts, you can add even more pizzazz.  Take this adorable layout I did, featuring my equally adorable 6-year-old Charlie.



Nice, eh?  A great memory and I'm really happy with how the layout turned out.  But I really like my pages to have dimension.  So where I digitally placed Colonial White brads on the layout, I have now added REAL brads for texture and depth.  It just took 2 minutes and now a great layout looks even better.  Don't you think?

I've been busy designing wedding invites for a delightful and deserving bride, my husband's cousin Ashley.  It was lots of fun, once I got over the "page fright" and felt the creativity.  Here is the one she chose (minus the butterflies and "Love"):





And here are few of the other samples I designed:

This one has bitty pearls in between the pennants.

Happy February 1st.  Tomorrow is Groundhog Day and I certainly hope we learn that spring is close at hand.  In the meantime, here's some news to shed some sunlight on your day:  the Spring & Summer Idea Book is NOW LIVE!

I've been playing with the new papers and products for a few weeks now, getting ready for the season ahead.  Take one look and I think you'll like what you see.

Here are some birthday cards I made using the new papers and stamps:

Superhero papers

Cruisin' papers

Footloose papers

This Idea Book has a really nice balance of masculine and feminine papers.  Here is an adorable waterfall card that I made using some girly pink paper -- something I don't get to play with enough for my personal projects.  Isn't it fun?

Lucy papers and Card Word Puzzle Stamp

Such pretty colours

Build your own message

Want to see more?  Check out the new Idea Book online.  Or email me to get your very own paper copy.  Also, my Spring & Summer Idea Book Launch Party will be held on Thursday, Feb. 23 from 7-9 pm and Saturday, Feb. 25 from 1-4pm.  Come out to see the new products up close, plus get a chance to win some prizes.  RSVP at justscrapit@sympatico.ca

Good morning!  This is my first post of 2012 -- hooray!  Things are busy right now but you're going to hear a lot from me very soon.

What I want to write about today is creative juices.  I know for me, once my creative juices start flowing ... watch out!  Whether I'm participating in a creative blog challenge, planning a workshop or scrapping at a retreat, if the mood is good, my creativity is unstoppable.

But sometimes, I'm just not feeling it.  I may have a great idea but have trouble executing it.  Or I may just be stumped for ideas.  Or I may have lots of ideas but have put too much pressure on myself for it to be AWESOME that I have stage fright.  (Or page fright, in the scrapbooking sense.) 

For example, I'm in the middle of a project right now and I have 4 great design ideas that I'm excited about.  They are all sketched out and ready to execute.  However, I'm having so much trouble actually getting out the paper, trimmer, glue, ink and sparkles to bring it to life.  On one end, I don't want to mess it up.  On the other end, there's the deadline I've set for myself to get it done.  And they are squeezing the creative flow right out of things.

What did I do?  I gave myself permission to walk away.  I had set aside last night to work on this project and was really struggling to get into it.  So I took a deep breath, curled up on the couch and watched Jeopardy instead.  The project is still there.  The ideas are still there.  But I've taken some of the pressure off myself.  And I feel so much better about going back and trying it again today.

So if you're ever feeling Page fright, the best advice I can give is to walk away for a short time.  If it's something for yourself, then it's up to you when you come back to it.  If you have a deadline, then take a shorter break and plan another time to be creative.  But don't be afraid to take a break.  It will do you and your creativity some good.