I have been having fun this month trying out some new techniques that I learned over at Swirlydoos.  Those girls over there are such a creative bunch and always so willing to share their ideas.  Lynne Forsythe showed us how to make the coolest canvas.  I loved learning the techniqe to do the background.  You can find her tutorial here.  This is the canvas that I made.

Making the cardboard flower petals was pretty cool too.  Go give the tutorial a try!

I used the beautiful doilies from Close to my Heart's Bohemian Assortment pack, as well as some of the shapes from the Garden Wooden Shapes pack to add some extra embellishment.

I have been so blessed this week to be given the Liebster Blog Award by two of my favourite scrappers, Joyce and Tammy.  These women have inspired me from day 1 and I have learned from them and been encouraged by them.  You MUST go to their blogs and see what I am talking about!

Joyce can be found at Scraps of Elegance and "elegant" describes her work perfectly.  She shares the most wonderful stories and insightful journaling, plus you've just gotta see how she alters chipboard....beautiful!!!!

Tammy can be found at My Scrapping Place.  Tammy's work is just beautiful.  She is an accomplished flower maker and shares very detailed descriptions of how to re-create what she has done.  Tammy is another one who has many creative ideas on how to alter chipboard, which she cheerfully shares!

Thank you Tammy & Joyce for giving me this award.  It is such an honour to receive it from the two of YOU!

"Liebster" is a German word meaning dearest, beloved or favorite, and the Liebster Award is sort of a chain letter among bloggers that's inteded to showcase exceptional up-and-coming blogs (typically, those with 200 or fewer followers).  There's no evaluation committee or formal award process for the Liebster, but in a way it's even nicer - it's recognition that a peer has noticed and appreciated your hard work.

Here are the rules:

Choose 5 up-and-coming blogs of fewer than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.

Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them. 

Post the award on your blog.  Link back to the blogs you have given the Liebster to so everyone else can pay them a visit.

And, now I am sharing and passing on the award to five wonderful blogs that I'm sure will want to stop by for a visit and say hi:

Maggi www.scraptravelbark.blogspot.com.  I have so much enjoyed Maggi's blog over the past year since I discovered it.  She creates layouts of great beauty and shares a lot of tips, plus she's great fun - you will be glad you went to visit her!

Jennifer www.scrap-escape.blogspot.com.  Jennifer is someone else who has inspired me since day 1.  She has an incredible talent for using anything and everything on her layouts and they turn out absolutely gorgeous!  The wonderful little stories that she shares as she describes her work, make you enjoy visiting her blog and leave you wanting to come back again.

Maggie and Jennifer have both received Liebster Awards in the past, but I think they are so sonderful, they deserve it again!

Rosie www.atcexchange.blogspot.com.  Rosie creates inspiring and thought-provoking art journals, which are not only beautiful, but they help me stop for a moment in my busy world and look at things that need examining.  I am so glad I discovered her blog because I am always inspired by what I find there.

Barbara www.scrappygal-scraphappenings.blogspot.com.  I have only recently come to know Barbara's work, but she has been "wow"ing us at Swirlydoos for a few weeks now.  You are going to love what you see at her blog!

Debbie www.kindakrafty.blogspot.com.  Debbie is another talented lady with a very cool website.  Because I love mini-albums, I love going to her archives and looking at all her beautiful albums.  She gives great tutorials on how to make them too.

Enjoy your visit to all these wonderful blogs and remember to leave them some love!

Win a Pion Design Collection

 Pion is giving away some wonderful blog candy in honour of the Pion Design Blog's 1st Anniversary!
For details on how to win the entire collection of  'From My Heart II' and From My Heart II 6x6, go to

You'll love their blog.  It is packed full of wonderful ideas.

Here's the paper collection that could be yours (or mine LOL)

Challenge time again.  Those girls over at Swirlydoos and Flying Unicorn are keeping me busy this month.  LOL

This is a picture of Alberta, where I live, in the wintertime.  Days like these are so beautiful!  You can see why I call my blog BlueSkyScrapping...  I love the crystal blue skies we have here that go on forever.

The kit I used is called "Mystical Winter" from Swirlydoos.  Between it and the add-ons you can get, there was a ton of gorgeousness!  I started out by painting gesso on the background paper around where my blue frame was going to be. 

  
I want to share a new product with you that I learned about at a quilting retreat that I went to over the weekend.  These are Frixion pens from Pilot.  The blue one is a gel ink pen and the green one is a hi-liter.  What is unique about them, is that they can be erased from fabric or paper by using a hot air blower on them.  The writing disappears like magic.  I used the hi-liter to trace on my paper where I wanted to paint the gesso.  It was quick and easy!  The quilters went wild for them and I think papercrafters will also as well.  LOL.

The blue frame was made using left-over Dusty Attic scraps.  I sprayed them with Midnight Blue and Abominable Snowman Glittermist.  Then I stamped snowflakes on them, using a Snow Cap Adirondack Paint Dabber.  After drying the snowflakes, I took a fan brush and brushed on some more of the Snow Cap paint and then sprinkled it with Fairy Dust Glitter - Pralines and Cream.  Whew...I had glitter everywhere!  (Someone needs to send me a tip about that stuff!  LOL)

The snowflake mat you can see in the bottom left corner was made using Martha Stewart's Alpine punch set and then the paper was misted with Decadence Chalkboard Mist by Tattered Angels.

The tag was made out of a piece of Bo Bunny packaging which I cut to size, distressed around the edges and then inked with Prima 'Branch Bark'.  I sanded it lightly and then sprayed it with the Midnight Blue mist I used earlier.  The little embelly is from Bo Bunny.  I dyed the seam binding with both Midnight Blue mist, as well as Decadence Chalkboard mist.  The title was stamped using CTMH's 'Typeset' alphabet stamp and Prima's 'Branch Bark'.

This layout is being used in a Round Robin Challenge at Flying Unicorn and also in a SwirlyGirls challenge at Swirlydoos.

I hope you enjoyed this posting.  Get the pens....you will LOVE them!!!

Today's post is a layout that I did of my mother when she was very young.  It has always been one of my favorite pictures of her.  She was living in northern BC, Canada at the time and you can see how beautiful it was there.  I tried to capture some of the beauty and wilderness in the layout by using the deer mask and the tree chippies.

I inked all the edges of the papers and did faux sewing around the edges.  I used the Tim Holtz Reindeer Flight Bigz die to make a mask.  The evergreen trees were inked with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink, then sprayed with TA Olive Vine Glimmer Mist.  Then I touched them here and there in Forest Moss Distress Ink with a background word stamp to give them some texture.  Here's a close-up that might help you see better.  The butterfly came from Swirlydoos.  Lisa Gregory has created a whole file of them and they are very beautiful.  You just print them and decorate how you please.  I chose to just put a little Crystal Stickles on the wings.

The doily was made using a corner punch tutorial done by Lisa Gregory.  I then inked the edges with Forest Moss Distress ink and finished it the same as the trees:  a light spray of the Glimmer Mist and a few touches here and there with the word stamp.

This layout was entered in challenges at both Swirlydoos and the Flying Unicorn.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog!

Hello, hello!

I had so much fun today working with my December "Christmas Wishes" kit from Swirlydoos.

It was such a delight working with so many beautiful papers and embellishments.  The picture is of my son and his girlfriend.  I love girlfriends because they take such great pictures.  My son obviously knows how to behave himself when he's with her, because he is not sticking his tongue out like he usually does when I try to take his picture.  LOL

This is a close up of the embellishment I made for the layout.  The chippy is from Tattered Angels and I inked it in Festive Berries & Tea Dye Distress inks, then sprayed it with a coat of Perfect Pearls Heirloom Gold mist.  I cut a piece of co-ordinating paper for the back, tacked on a bow and pointsettia and  "Voila" it was done.  Quick and easy.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Linda

It's hard to believe, but my son Colin, turned 30 years old today.  Happy Birthday Colin!  Here is the card that I made for him.

He loves to ski and the higher he can jump, the happier he is!  I hope his next 30 years bring nothing but joy and prosperity!