Scrapblog Creations

The past year or two I have loved using Scrapblog! Here are a few of the different ways that I have used it.



This is a few of the 10 pages I made for a "quiet" book for Anni for church. She loves it and it really does help her to be more reverent! (a little bit :))









This is a Mother's Day card I made for my mom last year. I love being able to make a personalized card, yet doing it on the computer is cheap and mess free!!





This is Annika's birth announcement I sent out. The photos were done by Rachelle Cooper, and Tess did use Photo shop for me after I had done it in Scrapblog for inserting the photos. I recommend doing this when using it for something special, as the quality of the photos when printed from Scrapblog are so-so.




These next two are ones I did recently for my bro-in-law and his soon to be wife. A simple but cute way to do invites! I just used my little photo printer to print these.
Tess did the actual invitation for them, which turned out great. She used Photoshop, though. I'll have to get her to post it, as long as everyone doesn't show up to the wedding!




The best part is all of these were FREE to make! I love them because they make personalized gifts, cards, or invitations! Did I mention they were all free?
I just save them as JPEGs and print them on my handy dandy little photo printer, or you could burn them onto a CD and take them to your favourite local photo centre (Walmart, Costco, etc...).

We'd love to see what you all create!

Rice Krispie Easter Eggs

Tess made these the other day for a get-together. As cute and yummy as can be!
Just good ol' Rice Krispies formed into eggs and dipped with some chocolate, then decorated with sprinkles, and whatnot.....

 

Design Blog

My cousin and interior designer Danielle Oakey has just started up her design blog. She is good. She is one creative gal!
Check it out!
http://danielleoakeyinteriors.blogspot.com/

Cruisin' Away in Taber

The ladies down in Taber have been busy decorating and creating their cruise ship atmosphere in the church gym for the upcoming stake dinner dance. These pictures are courtesy of my talented mom, who made all of the giant palm trees! Good work ladies! It looks like it's going to be one fun cruise!

House becomes Home--the Burrs

Here are some recent pics from my sister Tess's house.
Tess is a great decorator and is one of the most creative people I know!
I still remember when she was probably 9 or 10 and she got to restyle her room.....she went with lime green paint and big polka dots! You can see from these pictures that her taste has maybe matured or calmed a bit, but she still has her own little unique flare!

Here are some highlights of Tess & Bryan's work on their home:

*the chair was found for $10 at the Bissel Centre in Edmonton, and the fabric was from Fabricland. Ma-in-law Bev helped recover it!

*the dressers were bought second hand for $75 for both, and Bryan painted them white, and the handles black.

*the window above the master bedroom bed was found in the shed.......good find! She just washed it and hung it! free ninety free!

*a new light fixture was hung in the kitchen. makes a big difference! she found it at Homesense for $25 bucks in the clearance. It replaced a dirty greasy old black ceiling fan. haha (these are Tess's descriptions)

*kitchen table from liquidation centre for $120! Gotta love that place!

*curtains from ikea, mmhmm.

*coffee table-found in the garage! Don't we all need garages with that kind of stuff just sitting there! free again!

*couches- courtesy of some nice people found on kijiji (can you tell we are related?!) white couches for $300 and black leather couch for $100)

*living room curtains from army and navy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Time

Here's my little Easter display! The flowers are dollar store that I have had for quite a while, the eggs are dollar store (new this year at Dollorama), and the white metal tree thing (I don't know what to call it?) is from Pier 1 (new this year as well). I love getting into each season and holiday! Now all I need is a little dish of mini eggs, but that could be dangerous for me! I don't think they would last too long.

Curtain Experiment

So as previously mentioned....I am not much of a sewer. I would sure love to be, but I chose sports over learning things like sewing and piano. What was I thinking? Ha!
I have been wanting to have some curtains for our bedroom, but the price of those things are just too much to swallow right now, so I got brave on Friday (as I had the evening to myself as Darin was away) and made my first set of curtains! I went for the simple tab panel style, which is the only style that would work for our corner windows anyway! I had some material that I thought might work, and it did! I used every square inch of that stuff and it happened to be just enough!
So if you don't think you are much of a sewer and think you can't make curtains, I am here to say YOU CAN! If I could do it, anyone could do it!
I just pressed all the edges, made some tabs, did some measuring, sewing, and about 2 hours from start I had myself some curtains.
Should I have lined them? Yes, probably. Did I? No way! Maybe on my second attempt at curtains I will go for the lining.
All in all I am really happy with the results, and my husband is even happier! He is proud of his little sewing wife and wants to show everyone who comes to our house the curtains I made! What a guy...

Before:


After:


They just finish it off nicely :)

Hair Clip Night

Continuing on with my desire to learn to do some more "crafty" things, last night I had a few girls over to work on some hair accessories, both for baby and mom. I knew Jessica had made lots of hair clips and flowers, so I was excited to learn from her.
Jenn is also just one crafty girl, and we had talked about getting together to make something, so this was the perfect opportunity.
Jessica showed us how to make flowers, taught us some of her techniques and little tips. She had just ordered a big bunch of fold over elastic off of Ebay, so she was kind enough to share some with us. This stuff is great! It looks so cute and doesn't give you or baby a headache!
Thanks girls for such a fun crafty night! We'll have to do it again soon!

Baby Shower!

I got to help with a baby shower last week! There isn't much more fun than baby showers.....Baby Haylen is just as cute as can be and we are so happy to have him as our new little neighbour!

I just used some plain gift bags (from Walmart) and also some scrapbook paper from Walmart and created Haylen's name. I was trying to think of something that would be "big", in other words noticeable, and this worked well as I already had all the supplies.
I found the fabric for the tablecloth in the clearance bin at Walmart as well! I thought it was worth it to just buy fabric, seeing as I can use it again, as it turned out to be cheaper than buying plastic or vinyl table cloths.
The fresh tulips were a suprise from my oh-so-thoughtful husband. These cannot be tagged with a price:)


I made some little frames using some scrapbook paper I had. I bought the frames at Michaels for $1.50 and painted them, then used Mod Podge with the paper. The photos of Dani and Haylen I got from Dani's talented sister-in-law Erin. She is good.


I also made some platters for the occasion. I just went to Value Village and bought some old candle holders, some plates (ones with some character are the best, and it doesn't matter what colour or pattern is on them). I bought some epoxy and spray paint from Walmart. I first glued the plates to the candle holders, let them dry and then spray painted. It took a few coats of paint, but I thought they turned out great. I put little paper doilies on them to actually serve food. I can use them in the future for other special occasions.

GAMES:
1-I filled some sippy cups (Dollorama) with candies. Everyone had to write down a guess as to how many candies were within the cups. The winners got to take home their new sippies!
2- I filled a diaper bag with 16 items related to babies. Everyone had a piece of paper and pen. I emptied the diaper bag in front of everyone and let them look over the items for 2 minutes. I then put everything back in the bag and said "go". Everyone then wrote down as many (or all) of the items as they could remember. The person with the most items won an Oilers bib!

Let's Share

Lately I have been reminded of how much I love to create!
I know you all do too.....so let's share! It can be anything from a good recipe, sewing project, scrapbooking, a story you have written, etc.... You create it, you share it!

This talk is my inspiration for doing this.....Hope it inspires you too........


The Work of Creation
The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before.
Everyone can create. You don’t need money, position, or influence in order to create something of substance or beauty.
Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty—and I am not talking about the process of cleaning the rooms of your teenage children.
You might say, “I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.”
If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? Think about it—your spirit body is a masterpiece, created with a beauty, function, and capacity beyond imagination.
But to what end were we created? We were created with the express purpose and potential of experiencing a fulness of joy.4 Our birthright—and the purpose of our great voyage on this earth—is to seek and experience eternal happiness. One of the ways we find this is by creating things.
If you are a mother, you participate with God in His work of creation—not only by providing physical bodies for your children but also by teaching and nurturing them. If you are not a mother now, the creative talents you develop will prepare you for that day, in this life or the next.
You may think you don’t have talents, but that is a false assumption, for we all have talents and gifts, every one of us.5 The bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or a sheet of paper and do not require a brush, a pen, or the keys of a piano. Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before—colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter.
What you create doesn’t have to be perfect. So what if the eggs are greasy or the toast is burned? Don’t let fear of failure discourage you. Don’t let the voice of critics paralyze you—whether that voice comes from the outside or the inside.
If you still feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it.
Nearly a century and a half ago, President Brigham Young spoke to the Saints of his day. “There is a great work for the Saints to do,” he said. “Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations. In the mean time continually seek to adorn your minds with all the graces of the Spirit of Christ.”6
The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create. That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come. Sisters, trust and rely on the Spirit. As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.
-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf


As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf




-Jenna