Karyn's Musings and Creations

MIA again

2009-03-21T16:46:00.000-07:00

My apologies for being MIA..again. It seems like most of 2009 I have been on my sofa-and not scrapping and stamping as I'd much rather prefer.

The happy news is that we are expecting a baby this coming September!! I am still having morning sickness despite being in my second trimester.

The not-so-happy news is that I was in a car accident in February (baby to be is safe and sound, thank God) and haven't been 100% since. I also broke my laptop (don't ask) and have had less time online...but I just have a feeling now that Spring is here that things are going to be looking up and much brighter!!! Hoping to see more of my craft space and much less of my sofa.

Wall Print

2009-01-23T18:42:00.000-08:00

This is a picture I took a few months ago at my Christmas Open House-but it is not a Christmasy creation. :-) Here is a Wall Print that I created at www.cmphotocenter.com using 3 images from my wedding day. It was very easy to create-the templates are already there for you, so it's a matter of just uploading your own pictures. If you have Creative Memories Digital Software, Storybook Creator Plus, you can create your own fully customizable Wall Print!!

The Print comes in a very sturdy mailing tube shipped to your door, and if you want to frame it you can pick up a poster frame relatively inexpensive at your local crafting type store.

If you haven't visited the CM Photo Center lately-do take a peek. Wall Prints make great (and easy) decor items for a Monumental Birthday, Retirement, Wedding Reception, or Kids Decor (great Disney options)

If you register with the CM Photo Center, be sure to enter my CMC ID# 86389194.

My apologies for the glare-I will try to take a better pic and post that as well.

Great Gift Idea

2008-12-01T17:51:00.000-08:00

Ho!Ho!Ho! There are 24 more days til the big day!! Are you ready? Have you started your Christmas shopping or finished all of your papercrafting gifts?

Here is a recent gift that I made for friends who were celebrating their 10th Anniversary. It could easily be altered to a Holiday or New Year's Theme-the possibilities are endless.

This is made with the Mini-Everday Display and I used papers from the Earthy 8x8 Power Palette, with a title sticker from the same Palette and a Vellum Expression along with the invitation to their celebration. The Everyday Display features a magnetic 8x8 opening, comes with 4 magnets and 2 clothespins for the ribbon, and can either sit on a desk or be hung on a wall.

It took me all of 15 minutes maximum to do-and was a big hit with the 'bride and groom' Congrats again Tanya and Steve!

Bela's Creations

2008-11-24T12:15:00.000-08:00

My dear friend has just opened an Etsy shop for Papercraft Items. Please take a moment to visit her great shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6504378

Good luck Bela with your new store!

2008-11-23T13:19:00.000-08:00

Happy American Thanksgiving to all of the Americans visiting my blog this week!

This is a card that I made for my parents last month when we were celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving.

I used the stamp set and designer paper "First Fruits" from Papertrey Ink. It was a fun and easy set to use! I used the coordinating card stock from PTI as well- Summer Sunrise. And the ink I used was PTI's Summer Sunrise and Rich Chocolate.

A few things that I am thankful for: my family especially my loving husband and sweet daughter, my friends and of course I am thankful for my hobbies: Scrapping and Stamping! I am really happy to be a CMC as well!

What are you thankful for?

Blog Candy Alert at Passion for Crafts

2008-11-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to share that there is a blog candy offer on

http://passionforcrafts.blogspot.com/

Leaf Maker and Paisley Maker Ideas

2008-11-12T14:18:00.000-08:00

These are some super quick borders that I made up one day.

The top is a border for an album page that uses the Leaf Maker's negative image. Of course you have the benefit of using both the positive and negative images on your layouts.

The bottom shows off two little pumpkins and some more leaves by the leaf maker. The pumpkins are made with orange cardstock and punching out 3 images from the Paisley Shape Maker and then I used the Oak Leaf in brown cardstock for the pumpkin top-you can also use the Galaxy Maker's little burst image. Who thinks my pumpkins are just darling?!! I think that they would be a great accent on any fall layout page or even on a fall themed card.

And of course I have the entire thing displayed on my Black Mini-Everyday Display. The ED makes a great gift idea! (for yourself or others)

2008-11-05T15:04:00.000-08:00

One thing I love about being a Creative Memories Consultant is helping others with their paper-crafting projects-especially their albums.

Twice a year I hold an all-day crop-12 hours of cropping fun! Each participant recieves exclusive attendance gifts, and there are lots of chances for great door prizes.

Here is a picture of one of the nametags I made. I used brown card stock, DP from the Exclusive Croptoberfest Paper Pack (gift for all of my customers who attended) and the leaf maker. Very simple! I was hoping to alter the bulldog clip-but time did not allow. Bulldog clips are a fast way to make a fun looking placecard holder-and they are easily found in your local office store.

You will also see the Tools Table which housed my various Shape Makers (punches), trimmers, idea magazines, Cutting System, Scraps and my Contraband Cuttlebug. :-)

The last photo is our cropping space. Can you tell I love pink!

If you live in the GTA area and are looking for workshops and crops to attend-feel free to check out my calendar at www.mycmsite.com/karyn I can also come to your home or venue and host workshops, crop clubs and make and takes.

Canadian Thanksgiving

2008-11-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving last month-here is a very easy namecard that I made-using some white, green and orange cardstock, the Leaf Maker and a round-tip marker (all products by Creative Memories). I also have given you a peak at my Thanksgiving table-pre food and pre guests. There was 13 of us-lucky 13? Maybe-but the placecards were a hit, and likely only took me 13 minutes to make.

The Leaf Maker was recently brought back on the product list by Creative Memories-it is on a Limited Edition basis-so if you haven't ordered yours yet, you'd better get one while they're still available. The leaves make great accents to your Fall scrapbooking pages and cards, and you can also use the punches at paper confetti on your festive tables.

M.I.A.

2008-10-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

My apologies for being absent from the blogosphere lately-life threw me and my family a few hard balls-but we are all well now and getting back to normal. For those of you who were thinking of us-thank you so much.

I have been very busy creating this past few weeks (good stress reliever)-scrapping and stamping both! My laptop (to which I upload all my pics) has been in the shop for 2 weeks...yikes...but I promise that I'll be posting up some new creations soon.

Showcase!!

2008-09-13T20:40:00.001-07:00

Here's some long overdue pics from Showcase. It was my first time attending the National Creative Memories Conference and it definately won't be my last!! It was so much fun. Showcase was held in Calgary this year, at the Hyatt hotel. DH and my DD had a wonderful time while I was busy with the conference. They visited the zoo, the science centre and enjoyed a lot of room service. We also made our first trip to the Rocky Mountains-truly majestic.

The goodie bag was wonderful-lots of traditional and digital scrapbooking items, plus one of our new Frame Frames. I shopped at the Marketplace and you'll see the cute t-shirt I bought for my 20 month old.

I enjoyed the networking, the great food, the new friends, old friends. I truly was inspired by the success stories that were shared on stage. The Conference ended with a great banquet-the theme was a throw-back to Ancient Greece in honor of the Beijing Olympics. I learned many great business ideas and am looking forward to a successful Fall and Winter.

I will be posting up some of my new CM creations this week! Love the new Christmas power palettes.

Busy Summer!

2008-08-11T07:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!!

I have been having a very busy summer! We have been away most of July and now each weekend in August so far. I apologize for the lack of activity here-but that will soon change!!

I am going to the upcoming Creative Memories Showcase National Conference in Calgary, Alberta at the end of the month. I am very excited for this! It will be my first time attending Showcase and I know that there are lots of great new products coming out!!

I thought I would post up a card I did recently. This one is done with Stampin Up Card Stock-Orchid Opulence. I used a lot of Stamping Bella products: Halobella (isn't she cute!) is the main image and then I used the Curly Leafy Flourish with Versamark for the background, "You're an Angel" Sentiment, and Bella Dots (love these!) for an embellishment and then I used my SU Corner Ticket Punch on my white Card stock for an added touch. Of course, Bella is colored with my Copics!

I will soon post up some more creations with my CM products!!

Baby Gift

2008-07-04T08:18:00.001-07:00

I recently helped to host a baby shower for a good friend. She was blessed with a sweet baby girl. I just knew that the Papertrey Ink (PTI) egg box would be great for this, as well as a matching altered paint can. Of course, to my luck, PTI released their Bitty Baby Blessings line just in time!

All paper used was from PTI's Bitty Baby Blessings, with Lavendar Moon and Lemon Tart Ribbons. I used a local dollarstore find for the Chipboard Letters "Katie" on the paint can-which I think matched perfectly! I used the Bitty Baby Blessings stamp set for the paint can and egg box. On the egg box I used the Just Hatched PTI stamp set for the top stamp. I used my trusty Marvy Punches to punch out the "Just Hatched" image and layered it with a larger punch. On the sides of the egg box lid I stamped from Bitty Baby Blessings the image "Sweet Little Baby" and then added baby's name using the Simple Alphabet by PTI.

To add something "extra" I just had to use my new Stamping Bella Dots in solid light plum. You can see the Dots on top of the Egg Box and by the large elephant image stamped on the can.

My apologies for the off-lighting, my regular camera is in for repair.

Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers-19

2008-06-24T06:58:00.000-07:00

Hello to my SBS19 Sisters! I'm looking forward to hanging out on all of your blogs and getting to know you all. Thanks Bela for telling me about the SBS19!!

Father's Day Cards

2008-06-23T09:07:00.000-07:00

I promised some of my Card-Making friends that I wouldn't neglect them when posting on my blog! So, I thought I'd post up two Father's Day cards that I made. My first passion is Scrapbooking, however I am also a stamper and card-maker!

The first card is one that I made using the Father Knows Best stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I made this one for my Dad and my Father-in-law. The second card I made for my DSS and DD to give to my DH. It's done with one of Gina K's Kindred Dads stamps and the sentiment is from Kindred Greetings for Him. It's a really cute line of stamps! The brads on both cards are Screw Brads that come from Gina K Designs.The other supplies are from Stampin Up (my good friend is my enabler when it comes to SU).

2008-06-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pages from my Earthy 8x8 Album. The entire album is 12 double-side pages (so 24 pages).

I haven't put all of the pics up, but think that you have gotten a good idea of how simple and fast it was to make this album-yet the pages all look unique and look great too!

Top: Tearing Tool, Corner Rounder. Lower Photo is matted on one of the photo mats that come in the Power Palette.

(I just love the pic of John and I on the bench. We really enjoyed Reynolda Gardens in Winston-Salem!)

Middle: Corner Rounder, Tearing Tool, Oval Pattern from the Custom Cutting System

Lower: Corner Rounder

2008-06-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

First: Tearing Tool, Galaxy Shape Maker

Second: 12 " Straight Trimmer

Third: Used the 'wallpapering' technique again, plus some journalling and some designer stickers. FYI the stickers that come in the Power Palettes aren't like "stickers", they are heavy-weighted, not quite as heavy as chipboard, but not thin. They would not wrinkle as you apply them to your pages.

Fourth: 12" Straight Trimmer

2008-06-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

Top: Tearing Tool and Personal Trimmer (to crop photos), Brown Fine Point Pen.

Bottom: Tearing Tool

We were so happy about being able to make a good cup of tea (DH and I are big tea lovers) that I had to include this pic of John and I with our tea! :-)

8x8 Earthy Power Palette Album

2008-06-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

Last week I started and finished (!) an 8x8 album using the Creative Memories 8X8 Earthy Power Palette. I was so excited at how simple it was to create a stunning album to display one of my past trips. All tools used to complete this album are from Creative Memories as well. I chose an Ebony (black) album cover for this project.

This is the inside cover (front page). I "wallpapered" (aka covered my whole refill sheet) with one of the double-sided pages from the palette. The two circles on the right were created with two shape makers (punches), the Snow Maker and the Circle Maker. The top title was done using a Title Sticker that came in the Power Palette. The other title was created with Indigo Mini Classy Alphabet Stickers. I used the Scalloped Corner Maker on my photos.

Inaugural Post!!

2008-06-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am! In the blogging world...something I guess I knew was inevitable! LOL...it seems a merry mesh with my life. I look forward to sharing some musings of my life with you and of course I am excited to share my creations-I am a Passionate Scrapper-some of you know that I'm a Creative Memories Consultant, and I also have a love for stamping and card-making.