Orchids

I'm still working away on the Bloedel Conservatory portion of my Vancouver album. As a change from birds I'm scrapping some of the amazing flowers I saw while visiting the Conservatory.

My first is orchids. They are so gorgeous and there were so many varieties. I can only pick a few though or I'll never get done.

These beautiful pink ones worked well for the mood board and sketch challenge over at Let's Get Sketchy.

The colours in the mood board are decidedly 'spring' in nature so what could have been more perfect than pink orchids?

Here's the sketch I worked from,

 

and it's accompanying mood board.

 

 

I used Bo Bunny's "Enchanted Garden" collection because it had such a great array of pastel colours.

Instead of two pictures I took the opportunity to use a 5 x 7 photo.

The page didn't need a lot of embellishment so some butterflies, pearls and string did the trick.

I didn't add a title this time as the page is part of a large section, already titled within the vacation album.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

Birds of a Feather

I took so many pictures of the birds at the Bloedel Conservatory I suddenly realized I needed to put more than one picture, (x6 actually), on a page.

The little birds were intriguing. They were content to sing and flit around from feeder to feeder. They were obvious contrast to the much more boisterous calls of the parrots and macaws.

 

The sketch is one from Let's Capture our Memories designed by Laura Whitaker. I'm not usually one to use small pictures so admit to being very pleased with how the layout looked when I was done. In fact the pictures were showcased beautifully. I think it had to do with having one side of photos higher than the other.

 

 

I think I'll introduce you to sisters Carmen and Maria next.

Be prepared to meet some very colourful birds.

 

Vancouver 2012

I failed miserably at paring down my Vancouver photos to what might fit on 20 pages or so. Seems to me I'll be needing some more albums as I'm forecasting double or triple the pages that would fit in just one.

The other challenge I faced was where to start the albums. In the end I decided I'd start right at the beginning which meant when I left for Vancouver from Pearson Airport.

I didn't have any pictures of my departure but I did have little bits and bobs from the flight and a brochure with the layout of Terminal 1 in it. Being directionally challenged of course I'd have one of those.

I'd never done a layout without a photograph or a card before so this was a first. I loved the idea of going back to the roots of scrapbooking.

In the beginning there were very few pictures, and only if you could afford the exorbitant cost were you likely to ever get one, so everything was done with journaling and those bits and bobs I mentioned. You might use things like fabric from a baby's dress or a lock of hair. Newspaper clippings were also popular and you might also have used sketches you drew of something or someplace special.

So my albums have begun. I hope you'll find my adventure interesting because there are a lot of pages to come that I'd like to share with you.

 

 

I had a great time creating this page. I used the sketch by Laura Whitaker posted on the Scrapmuch?

blog on March 6th.

 

I stared at the sketch for quite a while. While rooting through all my Air Canada 'stuff' the whole idea of the Provincial outline and Canada themed papers materialized.

 

 

Instead of the square frame I took a Silhouette cut file of British Columbia and cut out the middle to create a 3/8" frame in the shape of the province. In order to make sure I didn't obliterate the shape, I used velum as one of the paper layers. It allowed the outline to show through very nicely. For the other layer I used paper printed with red maple leaves.

 

Then it was all about using those bits and bobs in the design.
The luggage ticket/strip made a perfect horizontal banner.  The boarding pass and terminal diagram from the brochure took the place of the pictures. Adding a BC flag button to  the boarding pass added a bit of colour outside of the black, red and grey.

 

 

The title and swizzle stick finished off the right side of the page.

Everyone drinks on a plane right?

Shouldn't there always be a swizzle stick? :)

 

 

 Since the page was all about leaving for Vancouver there had to be an airplane on it somewhere. After much searching I found this plane sticker/embellishment. Did you know that most embellishments of planes are travelling west to east? Yup it's true. Finding one that I could use for an east to west flight wasn't as easy as I thought it would be.

 

 Now what adventure should I do next? 

Hmm.

I don't know either so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Cupcake Smash

I admit that when my nephew told me they were having a "cupcake smash" to celebrate Sam's first birthday all I could say was "Huh?".

Turns out it's now fashionable, and obviously fun, to sit down baby with a huge cupcake and let him "have at it".

When I got the picture I wanted to be one again and dive into a huge cupcake, smear it everywhere and eat it as I painted myself with broad strokes of cake and icing. We never grow out of some things and making a mess is one of them.

Between his look of wonder, and the amount of icing on his face, hands and feet, there can be no doubt that Sam had a great time.

The sketch I used is by Laura Whitaker for Scrapmuch?. There's still time to create your page and get it posted before the end of the month. It's always fun to try and win a prize.

 

Instead of a separate layer against the background I used only a pictorial paper. I just loved all the little animals that came to the party.

 

I interpreted the doily as outlines of clouds in complimentary colours and the embellishment was, of course, a cupcake with a No. 1 on top. A simple title and the whole thing came together. To me it says fun and little boy party.

 

 

Wanna party anyone?

 

 

 

Something fishy this way comes.

With a layout featuring the fishing successes of our 2014 summer vacation, the album is finished.

Each year we have a competition amongst the kids. The one who lands the biggest fish during the week is proclaimed the winner. We even have a plaque that is engraved with the details of the catch. Once engraved it lives with the winner until the next vacation.

This year it was Richard who won. His 1 lb. 15 oz. pike was all it took to secure his victory. He's won 3 out of 4 years. Time for the others to try and capture his crown.

The sketch came from Stick it Down. I'm a Single Page Layout Design Team member at SID and can't resist a good double pager so knew I just had to create with this sketch. There are also a card and single page layout to play along with. You have until the end of the month to participate in

any of the March challenges.

The paper for this layout is from the Outdoor Trail Collection by Kaisercraft and features all things outdoors, including fishing. With the addition of some themed buttons there was no doubt left about what the subject of this layout was. Thank you Joey for finding me that extra piece I needed to create a double page layout with!

Our summer vacation fishing trophy.

Scrapmuch? Retreat at the Elm Hurst Inn - Wow!

Oh my goodness did I have a great time! It was my first scrapbooking retreat and I loved every minute of it. Thank you Scrapmuch?

We scrapbooked, ate, played games, ate, shopped, ate, or did I mention the incredible food already?

I saw this great kit  in the on-site Scrapmuch? store and just knew it was 'spot on' for the layout I wanted to make to remember my first scrapbooking retreat. It's called insta Moments and it was as perfect as I thought it would be.

In keeping with the insta Moments theme I used a selfie we took with the I-Phone and two of the poloraids taken with my Instax camera.

Great fun!

 

 

How hard can it be? Very...LOL

 

Thar she blows!

 

I can't wait for my next retreat!!!!! 

Maine-ly Chillin'

Creating this layout brought back some fantastic memories of my trip to Maine in 2005.

I know people say they go on vacation to relax but most find so much to do that they don't get to the totally relaxing part. That's happened to me on other vacations but not on this one.

One of my favourite days in Maine was spent on a rented pontoon boat.. I still can't imagine anything more laid back than enjoying a picnic lunch on a pontoon boat anchored in front of majestic Mount Kineo on Moosehead Lake. Add wine, sun and a lake breeze and you've got heaven on water.

This is my third reveal as a DT member for Stick it Down. I loved working with this sketch. I know you'll enjoy working with it. You have until the end of the month to upload your layout and be in the running for a prize. There is also a card and double page layout posted on the site for March. Check them all out. Doing all three would be a scrapbooking hat trick.

The sketch suggested all sorts of opportunities for embellishment. I also really liked the idea of a large title and journaling.