A New Look

If you’ve visited my blog in the last few weeks, you will notice that it got a bit of a facelift.   Thanks to Karen Valentine of Valentine Designs for creating this stunning new blog layout for “Simply Me”.  Karen is a genius creator in the blogging world and her designs and creations are only limited by your imagination.  Take a look at her blog and contact her for an update to your blog, she really is amazing.  Hugs to you Karen…..

These past few weeks I have been on sewing/crafting overload....and I'm loving every minute of it.  This past month I made over 12 baby blankets, designed  and taught two projects at a kid's birthday party at  The Scrap Yard, created weekly layouts and cards for my design team position at Let's Scrap, designed and prepped kits for my upcoming "Scrap That!" trio class and I'm currently working with my friend Susan on 6 projects for our summer kids camps at The Scrap Yard.  It's been busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.... I'm loving my life right now!
I just wanted to share a few of the blankets that I have made this month... some really funky colored ones.... loving the orange and fuschia.... along with the favorite and familiar feminine ones.

Card Creations

It's card sketch day at Let's Scrap and this is my creation.  Most of my cards are for women so I decided to change things up a bit this week..... I love the masculine feel of this card!  I used DCWV patterned paper as my card base.

... and here is another take on the same card sketch...

This past week I was fortunate to have two cards published at Scrapbook News & Reviews, an on-line magazine.  The first card chosen was my "Love" card and this is what they had to say about it.

For this call, our readers and staffers really outdid themselves. One of the projects that caught my eye was a card submitted by Valery Klassen entitled “Love.” The layout is simple but all of the embellishment details come together to create a beautiful vintage card. I love the texture and dimension she created by using tulle on her dress from. It falls perfectly and adds a touch of color to the neutral tones of the card. Valery created her own three dimensional floral embellishment by die-cutting flowers in different sizes from patterned paper and ruffling and layering them. She accented the petals with glitter and the finishing touch is the pearl center that coordinates with the pearl pin embellishment that she pinned through the sentiment tag.

The second card is one that I had created for my challenge at Let's Scrap a few weeks ago.

Til next time... Enjoy!

Once Upon a Springtime

Spring has sprung.... or so it seems.... as the sun has finally peaked its head and the snow has melted.  I can finally see some green in my yard.  The rain over the last few days has helped my newly seeded yard to grow and the puddles it has left on the roadway has inspired me to put on my funky new rainboots that I purchased on my weekend trip to Great Falls, Montana and splash through the water like a small child.....  I have always had a fetish for rain boots and have a difficult time finding them in my small size so when I saw this pair in the kids shoe department, they had my name written all over them.

My favorite thing about Spring are all the colors.... everywhere new colors emerge but especially in scrapbooking, so..... in keeping with my "Spring" theme I decided to create my weekly "Let's Scrap" layout with Graphic 45's new Spring paper line "Once Upon a Springtime Collection".  I just love this line as it has a vintage feel to it.

Last weekend was Mother's Day and I got to spend it with my family by taking a trip to have brunch in the mountains at Nakoda Lodge.  I hope all of you got to spend a memorable day with your loved ones and that you captured those memories on film..... Just love this one that I captured of my son!

I'm also excited to tell you that I have two birthday cards being published in the May 15th issue of Scrapbook News & Reviews

Til next time... Enjoy!

We have a winner!

We have a winner!  OK.... without further ado... the winner of my anniversary blog give-away is Betty Anne as chosen by the random number generator.  Congratulations Betty Anne your prize will be in the mail today!  I hope you enjoy it.  Thanks to everyone who left me comments and became followers of my blog.

This past weekend I spent 4 days at our annual scrapbooking retreat at the Bloomin' Inn in Pincher Creek, Alberta with my "Besties".  We had the most amazing time, scrapbooking, talking, laughing and eating.  The facility is a beautiful country location with the most amazing scenery and home cooked meals.  We all made the most of our time there and created some memorable pages, cards and mini-albums.  I was fortunate to get a head-start on my Christmas cards..... the blizzard that started  on the first day put me in the Christmas mood, so I ran with it!  Here is just a sneak peek of a few things that I created.

 A couple of sneak peeks at two layouts that I created.... will feature them in an upcoming post.

My current design team position at Let's Scrap was up at the end of April so I decided to re-apply.... and I was chosen for another term.  This is the layout that I submitted for my application.  The photo is one taken last summer when my daughter was home for a visit.... Meagan and her best friend Lisa.  They have been best friends since birth when Lisa's Mom and I became best friends while pregnant.  Just love how they have kept in touch across the miles and always have a special place in each other's hearts for one another.

I used Little Yellow Bicycle's Elizabeth Park line.  I cut out the butterflies and pop-dotted them up in pairs along a piece of string. 

Til next time... Enjoy!