Still stuck in 2009 and Martha Stewart

With so many ideas and so little time, often my scrapbooking plans don't last long. One rare exception is Project 12. Conceived by Davinie Fiero, the idea is to make, for every month, a scrapbook page which is a summary of that month.

She started it last year and is continuining this year, together with Scrapbook and Cards Today. I'll definitely keep this project, as it is a great way follow the changes and main events of the family without having to scour pages and pages of photo albums or scrapbook pages.

The only problem is, I am still stuck in 2009. I started with Dec/2008 and have all the subsequent months till Dec/2009 with one exception - Nov/2009 is still not finished. Gotta finish it this week  and then try to get Jan/2010 done. It is the kind of thing that works better when the memories are still fresh.

Since I am going to have a special album for Project 12, I created an opening page.

*Patterned Paper: Fortitude by Create Paper, scraps
*Number Stamps: Storytime by Studio Calico
*Rafia: Woodies DIY


That takes the first part of the title.

The following bit is about Martha Stewart, or rather, stuff that I saw in her magazine.

My daughter wanted to make a cake for the cake sale in school. Last year I made a simple cake but after seeing the amazing stuff that the more talented moms made she wanted something more showy. Problem is, I can craft, I can't bake. Then I remembered about some sort-of gingerbread house ( using biscuits instead) in a MS Living magazine. I retrieved the magazine, went to the local supermarker I bought some crispbread, ready-to-mix royal icing, chocolate buttons and other sweets and with her help we made this:

 

The thingie in front is supposed to be a tree :-) It is a fun project for a kid, I put the structure together and she decorated it herself. The thing is edible in theory, if you like crispbread with icing. I made another one for my son to bring to his Montessori school, the teacher said they eat all the sweets, and then licked the icing off the crispbread, he he he!

I didn't show my daughter the original houses in the magazine to avoid high expectations, but you can see it here and here.

Just by chance we ended up in Eason's last weekend and I grabbed the latest MS Living mag, and I am so glad that I did, there's an article about Darcy Miller who works for the magazine and had her first gallery exhibition. She is a scrapbooker with a twist, you gotta see them to understand.

I'm definitely going to copy this idea:

I love when she matches a photo with the real life item, like here:

 I love making scrapboxes, she is a really talented and inspiring artist.

Making Justice to my blog name

I've wondered if I did a mistake when choosing my blog's name. Alien I am, not an extra terrestrial you understand, but a person living in a foreign land. Hybrid, in scrapbooking terms, means someone that mixes digital and paper techniques, and for a while, all what I did in digital terms was behind the scenes, like the working out my designs in the computer and then translating into paper.

But lately I have been putting the digital more to the foreground of my pages. Though I only get a feeling of being finished when I see a paper version of my layouts.

For this I used two of my favourite digi designers, Shimelle Laine and Karla Dudley.



* Template: One Week Page Template by Shimelle Laine @ Two Peas
* Digi Label: Write it Down Aged Labels by Shimelle Laine @ Two Peas
* Digital Paper: Sobe by Karla Dudley Designs @ Digichick
* Rub-on: My Mind's Eye
* Letter Stickers: Jenni Bowlin Studio
* Font: VT Portable Remington

What is it about? The journaling says it all:

"One day, when you’re older, you might
look at your albums. Maybe you’ll
compare your albums with your sister’s.
Maybe there will be a little bit more
pages in her albums
than in yours. Maybe
you will wonder why.
So, for the record,
THAT’S
WHY."

PaperPlay: Pink, Green and White

I posted about this photo earlier, it is my favourite from the winter months. This week's challenge immediately reminded of the photo as my daughter is wearing a green top and pink scarf.





Do you like the the flowers and leaves? It's a favourite, I went through my previous PaperPlay entries, it is the 3rd time I made spiral roses, but this is the one that worked out the best. And the leaves? Did you spot they are digital?



* Digital kit: A New Leaf by Paislee Press and Audations Designs @ Oscraps.com (paper and leaves)
* Letter sticker: Making Memories
* Font: VT Portable Remington
* Other: twine and chalk ink

Not much journaling, it is all about the photo this time...

"a moment in time. unforgetable.
the magic of photography"

TFL

Why a girl needs two printers...

We woke up today and it was freezing cold. Heating off, there was some short circuit in the house. After lots of tries I remembered that my HP printer was printing a lot of rubbish last night and that I forgot to switch it off before going to bed. It seems to be the cause of the problem, so no HP printer/scanner for me.

But I have also an much loved and under used A3 Epson printer. Which is where I am going to print my second layout using Shimelle's Can't Buy Me Love kit.



The layout below is digital, now I am going to put a printed version together for my album. And maybe finish my Valentine's cards later.
Have a good weekend and Happy Scrapping!




*Patterned Paper: Can't Buy Me Love by Shimelle Laine @ 2 Peas
*Leaf sprout: Photogenic by Paislee Press and Audacious Designs @ Oscraps.com
*Fonts: Marketing Script (title) and VT Portable Remington (journaling)

A card and a layout

Since I am slow, I thought it better to start making Valentine's cards for the 3 loves of my life soon. Specially as my husband's and daughter's birthdays are in February too!

I've finished my husband's one using a digi stamp of my own, plus Shimelle's new digi kit, which is perfect for Valentine's layouts and cards.



*Patterned Paper and speech bubble: Can't Buy Me Love by Shimelle Laine @ 2 Peas
* Mouse: Mr Mouse in Love (digital stamp) by Mami Doodles.


And today is Thursday, PaperPlay day!

Kate's challenge was hard for me, as I am not exactly in love with my handwriting, but that's the point of challenges, you get to do things that you normally wouldn't do. In the end, I was pleased with the final result.



* Font: VT Portable Remington
* Other: Acrylic paint, glitter, heart punch, black and white pens.


The title doesn't make much sense unless you read the journaling:

This is a quite funny and cute thing that Luke started doing with Daddy. He’d ask “Do you want a kiss, Daddy?” and he’d kiss Daddy. “Do you want a lick?” and he’d lick his face. “Do you want a burp?” And he would blow raspberries in Daddy’s face. “Do you want a hug?” And a big hug finishes the session.
Daddy loves it, because he’s the main, and for a while the only, recipient of this special treat from Mammy’s boy. Mamãe got it two or three times and Lucy was offered once. To my surprise, little no-yuck, no goey stuff in my face miss accepted with relish!

Ice and Snow

It hardly snows in Ireland, specially where we live, in Dublin, near the coast.

But this year we have unexpectedly had a much cold weather, with lots of frost and two days of snow. Kids had lots of fun. Pity Santa couldn't predict it, he should have brought tobogans instead of scooters and roller blades. But no worries, a couple of cardboard boxes flattened out and a laundry basket with a rope is everything they needed to have fun.

I hope to to scrap the photos soon, in the meantime, these are two are my favourite non-kid photos. One morning whatever chore I had planned to do couldn't be done, so I took my camera and went to St Anne's Park to take some photos.




Lesson number one, trying to get the white balance right is hard when there's lots of snow. The original photo turned out too blue so I played with the curves in PSE for a sorta-vintagey effect. I took a couple of photos in RAW but I still have to learn how to use the raw converted in PSE...



I am not sure why I like this photo, it somehow looks very "foreign" to me, it is definitely not a typical Dublin scene.



Because I can't resist putting at least one photo with children. My favourite of the 100's photos in the first days of January.

PaperPlay day

It was my turn to set the PaperPlay Challenge this week:

Furry Friends

"Make something dedicated to our friends that bark, squeak, meow, roar, moo or neigh."

Here's my own take:



* Stamp: Kitty & Flowers by Little Claire, from Cara Craft Supplies.
* Calendar Design: Sam & Cheryl @ Creature Conforts

The calendar has a pocket to add notes to and also should have something to hang it, but this one is going to stay in my desk.