Good morning everyone!

I promised to show you what I created in my craft room to work on, so here it goes.  This was my inspiration photo:

 

I got 2 desk top pieces from Ikea that were 23-5/8" wide and 78-3/4" long...

And screwed each end to the top of these 6 cube organizers that I got from Michaels...

 

 

This is what the table looks like with the two desk tops pushed together.  I found that the tables were so long, they needed some support in the middle, so I added another couple of the 6 cube organizers.  (Hey it was all good...more room to store stuff!!)  They are not screwed to the desk tops, they are just sitting there.

 

 

Then I purchased two of these Expedit drawer units from Ikea...

 

and pushed them in so they backed up against the organizers.

 

 

 

They fit perfectly, and I am able to store my cricut and vagabond on them.  The best thing is that they roll out and you have extra work space to use if you need it.  (You know... for all those Christmas cards you're working on right now.)  :)  On the other side of the table, it looks like this:

 

 

You can see where those middle organizers can now be accessed.  They sit in about a foot and a half, so they are easy to reach.  There is also room to store a stool to sit on, and I have my longer cutters tucked in the gap on the right.

 

 

 

These containers were purchased at Canadian Tire.  They store a TON of stuff. 

 

All in all, this table uses 6 of those organizers from Michaels, and it is 4' wide by 6-1/2' long.  I LOVE it.  So much room to work on and so much STORAGE!

 

Now I just need to get filling it up!  LOL

Hope I've given you some ideas for your room.  If you have any questions, just send me an email.  Have a great day everyone!

 

Linda

 

A Thrill for Me!

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share an honour that was bestowed upon me (I'm sounding a little "royal" aren't I? LOL) by Swirlydoos a few weeks ago.

This layout that I did of my granddaughter, was selected as "Layout of the Week" on Oct 28th.  

To say I was thrilled, would be an understatement!!  

When I joined the Swirly "Savages" back in 2011, they opened a whole new world of scrapbooking to me.... layers and textures, flowers and bling, ink and distressing... I was entranced, and have been learning new skills ever since.  

This group of ladies share their talent willingly and give unending encouragement.  I have been loving every minute of my time with them.  BUT, I never ever thought that something I did would be selected for layout of the week.  Thrilled? ... oh Yeah.... I'm still floating on cloud 9!  :)

Before I go, I'd like to show you a close up of the Hot Off The Press "Color Me" paper 

that I used as a mat.

I inked portions of it with some Distressed inks and let them flow over the lines.  Doesn't it give such a nice soft look to the layout?  I just loved using this paper.

These lovely butterflies were courtesy of Lisa Gregory:

She spoils us every month with a downloadable file of beautiful new butterflies to print out!

I've been working on my scraproom lately ... come back tomorrow and I'll show you the cool table my husband I built out of shelves, etc from Ikea and Michaels.  I love, love, love it!

'Til then .... enjoy your scrapping!

Linda

Erin Bledgen's October Giveaway

Hi everyone, I wanted to share with you this wonderful giveaway that Erin Bledgen is having over at her blog My Scrap Cabin.

You will enjoy visiting her blog because there is some stunning artwork to be seen there! Have a great time visiting!

A Quick Little Gift Box

Hi everyone! Hope the summer is going well for you all. We have had some ferocious storms the last couple of days in the Calgary area, but I hear we're in for some nice weather again now. That is good, because we need to get out with rakes, etc and clean up all the broken branches and flowers that were destroyed by the hail!! I needed a gift box to tuck a grad gift into, so got out some old "Bliss" paper from Close to My Heart and made this sweet little box. Very quick and easy. The lace flowers on the side are a new product from Close to My Heart that just came out August 1st.

It looks big in the photo, but is actually only about 6" wide. Here is a photo of the top.

And this is the little card that I made to go with it.

The lace doilies that are on the top of the box and the card, were made with the new Artiste Cricut cartridge that also just came out in August.

You get all this for just $99. If you want to take a peak at the 700 shapes that can be cut with this cartridge, send me a request by email to gpekrul@telusplanet.net, and I will send you a PDF file that shows them all. You will be amazed! Enjoy the remaining days of summer! Linda

Wedding Layout

I worked on this layout for a challenge over at Swirlydoos today. You have to lift your team mate's layout and make it your own. This is my team mate's (Jackie Clark) wonderful layout that I got to lift:

You can see more of Jackie's incredible work over at her blog Scraps of Brilliance. She also makes the most wonderful cards! For this challenge you received extra points for using black and white plus one other colour. That made the choice of a photo easy for me, because I have been planning on scrapping some of my son's wedding photos and their colours were black, white, and deep pink.

The paper line that I used is Bo Bunny's Enchanted. It comes with some beautiful coordinating embellishments and that is where I got the centers for my Gerber Daisies. To make them I used this flower from Close to my Heart's Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

I cut 2 black ones at 1-1/2", 3 black ones at 2-", 2 pink ones at 2-1/2", and 3 pink ones at 3". The little pink flowers that are on their own, were cut at 1'1/2" and then I scrunched them up to give them a ragged look. Down in the bottom, left-hand corner of the layout, I made a white flower embellishment from this Cricut shape from the same cartridge.

I inked it up and embellished it with some pearls and another Bo Bunny embellishment. Great fun! I encourage everyone to try doing some challenges. My favorite sites to go to are Swirlydoos and Flying Unicorn. There's always great inspiration and lots of friendly people to visit with!

Mini books and Stick pins go together!!

I was involved in a pin swap over at Flying Unicorn and wanted to come up with a way to package the pins. Paulien over at Swirlydoos was my inspiration with the mini book that she linked us to over at Tim Holt's blog. (Click on "Valentine mini book".) These little books are wonderful because they just use one piece of patterned paper, and you can decorate them to your heart's content. They also have several little pockets that you can tuck things into, so they worked well for the pins. I ended up using 3 of my favorite paper lines (as I had 3 different books to make) from Close to my Heart: Florentine, Dreamin' (retired), and Sonoma (soon to be retired), and I also made a matching card. Florentine:

I will only show you the inside pages of just one of the books - Florentine. If you would like to see the others, just email me and I will send you pics. I embellished the books with the co-ordinating stickers, flowers, etc that Close to My Heart produces for each paper line.

Dreamin':

Sonoma:

One final word about the pins. (I hope you have a coffee with you, because I know this has been a long blog.) :) Super, super, easy to make. You have got to try it. You will become addicted! I just picked up some beads at Walmart, 3 inch header pins, some E6000 glue and I was away. (There is a tutorial here for using a glue gun but I opted for the E6ooo glue instead.) They are a lot of fun to do, very economical, and you will be able to customize your cards and layouts in a whole new way. Ok. That's it. I hope you enjoyed this post. I'm off to enjoy a lovely summer day! Linda

Cowgirl Outfit in honour of the Calgary Stampede

During Swirlydoo's last blog hop, I ran across Kellie Reynolds' blog and fell in love with the paper doll outfits she makes. They are just gorgeous and really appeal to the little girl inside you. LOL. I decided to give it a try and since the Calgary Stampede is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, I decided to make a cowgirl outfit.

I have to admit, I just about skipped making the little hanger because I thought it looked too hard (yes I'm a wimp ... I know) but decided to give it a try because it is so cute.

Kellie's tutorial is very easy to follow and I enjoyed making it. It's not perfect, but with a little practise I think I will have less kinks in the wire! I would encourage you to give these a try, Kellie provides tutorials and patterns, and with a little tissue paper and some patterned scraps, you're off and running. I'm going to try making a wedding dress to embellish an album that I'm planning for my daughter-in-law. I think they would also make cute embellishments on a special layout! Enjoy your day everyone! Linda