when in Rome

Look familiar to anyone?

It's the latest thing that I am seeing on all the galleries, blogs & magazines. It's little triangles cut out of pattern paper, fabric, cardstock, ribbon, etc. to create a funky little banner across your page.

So..... naturally, I had to give it a whirl:

I cut an assortment of triangles from some PP and fabric. I adhered them where I wanted them on the page first, then stitched through them with my sewing machine. Then I curled the edges up a bit by hand.

I created these accordian-style flowers out of 1- 2 inch strips of pattern paper. The depth of the flowers (how far they stand off the page) will totally depend on your accordian folding. My folds on the dotted flower are about 1 1/2 inches -- a little too wide for my liking. The green ledger flower is better with 1 inch folds. Used some ki memories GLOO in the centre to attach the decorative brad. Attached the flowers to my layout with a large circle of adhesive cut from Microdots.
The photo of Daria was a little busy around the edges (she's standing behind a ladder), so I scratched around the perimetre of the photo with my paper piercer. I scratched a few large ovals around the photo first using my plastic oval photo cutter by Creative Memories. Then I simply scratched away around the oval. Just gives the layout a little more character. :)Hope you enjoyed {from the farm},

j.

you look how I feel

We have been suffering from foggy days here in Manitoba and it is starting to wear on my nerves. Usually I can see the road down our half mile lane (see photo below), but all I see these days is fog, fog, fog. It's depressing. Don't know how the people on the west coast deal with rainy & wet weather for much of the winter. I will take the minus 30 weather for weeks on end..... anyday. So... I got out my new rubber boots the other day. funky. cool. and a little sassy (that's for you, Cale).

This is what the back of my van looks like EVERY DAY!!!! and the sides. and the front. and the inside, for that matter. yuck.

hoping to see the sun soon {from the farm},

j.

Come back Monday to see some layout photos -- been scrapping lots lately due to the dreary weather.

a misty challenge

I've been into some online product challenges lately. every tried these? they get me thinking 3 things:
1. they really stretch my mind when it comes to using specific products on a layout.
2. they make me realize that i need to stock up more on some of my frequently used stash of products (a.k.a. Ki Memories embellishments).
3. they make me want to totally organize my paper and embellishments by company name and that is so insanely ridiculous, but it would be so cool to have a space THAT organized!!!!!

Ki Memories (one of my fave companies -- love their paper, love their embellishments AND LOVE jamie waters!!!!) ....... anyway ...... they are having a challenge on right now to use your mist to create a project. You can use mist on the background, on embellishments or on a mask. really, whatever you can mist; you name it.

So... i got my embarrassing stash of Glimmer Mists (really -- i need more) and started "misting". Now, i must admit, i am not a huge user of "the mists" and it's probably b/c i don't have the right colours to use on any of my projects. i think the colours i have left on my desk on more subtle and maybe used for a more vintage look. And does jill do vintage? Uhhhh....wrong?!? believe me; i've tried. but everything i try to "age -- weather -- make vintage" ends up looking a little more whimsical b/c i am soooooo drawn to bolder colours and a little of that extra kick that, obviously, gives a more playful look. blah blah blah. wow -- so i need to stock up. would make me use it more, for sure.

Here is the finished layout that i created tonight:
our beach


I ended up using Glimmer Mist on almost all the flowers around the photo. I sprayed them with Sage, Patina & Copper. Most of the flowers are paper flowers, but I did spray some Sage onto a crocheted flower (Close To My Heart). Of course, it took the mist beautifully and gave the very plain white fabric some colour. I added lots of dimension to the layout with several pop-dots. Ki Memories products used: Pattern Paper - Pop Culture (coloring book); Bloom (parasol); Surprise Hoopla; Love Elsie (blue clouds); Lace Cardstock (boquet white); Sheer Delights.

hope you enjoyed.
try some misting tonight..... and get out those fabulous Ki Memories products.

{from the farm},
j.

beautiful AND talented

Our downstairs computer has been out of commission for a few months due to the lack of a descent monitor. So, I got it up and running again this evening because I wanted to work on some digital banners for my blog. Like the newest one? Nothing fancy -- just "playing" with some brushes & backgrounds that my sister-in-law borrowed to me.

Anyway... came across some photos that I haven't looked at for a while.

Found these photos of some canvas art that I created about a year or two ago.

This one is an inspirational canvas -- think it's actually still hanging in the Smalltown Scrappers store........hmmmmm -- gotta check on that.

I worked on these next 2 canvases for my niece's birthdays. Printed 3 great 3x5 inch photos of each of them, then used a variety of supplies to decorate the canvas: paint, stamps, pattern paper, crystal swirls, flowers, gems, Thickers, etc. Love how they turned out and I know that they both hang them in their rooms at home -- I've seen them there.

Very simple, but they both scream "teenage girl".

And so..... if you are still wondering about this blog post title and you are STILL thinking that I am talking about myself, you are incredibly and mistakenly WRONG!!!!!

I am referring to these two beautiful women (the same two that are on the canvases above): Sophie & Alyssa -- 2 of my wonderful nieces.

This coming weekend they will be performing in The Sound of Music at their high school. Alyssa is one of the nuns and Sophie, I do believe, is in the Chorus. I am sooooo incredibly proud of these two girls. They are so beautiful AND talented in both singing & acting. Their personalities are contagious and their smiles light up everyone's day. Although I don't get to see them as much as I would like, I think about them often and look forward to family gatherings & weekends when we can chat and catch up on what's happening in their lives. I must admit, there are moments when they scare me just a little -- as Daria, my oldest, is growing up way too quickly some days and will some day be talking about the things they are right now. Slow down, girls -- YOU growing up means your Auntie Jill is also getting older -- .

Anyway..... just know that I am sooooo proud of you girls and I am looking forward to Friday evening when we all get to see you on stage. Clapping already!!!!!

getting sappy -- hey, I'm allowed to; I'm the auntie {from the farm},

j.

hi friend

One of my everyday reads is the Studio blog over at American Crafts. love, Love, LOVE this company -- their products are so up my alley and they have amazing pattern paper; which is a HUGE passion of mine. totally gaga over their little felt embellishments too.

Anyway......they always post their weekly challenges and I always read them, do the challenge, and then never get around to posting them here and on their blog.

So.....this week (actually tonight) I {again} read their challenge, created the challenge, BUT..... am now posting it and will link this post on their blog later on tonight -- "hi to everyone who found me from the AC blog".

This is the challenge for this week:

So, like the true scrap-user that I am, I scrounged my scrap-island for American Crafts products and found a few. This is the card I created:

AC products used were: all the pattern paper on the card, including the butterfly punched pp -- minus the lace-punched ledger on the bottom; the felt tree & the chipboard bird.

Love layering and pop-dotting to add dimension to my creations. Here, I also had to use a new silver vinyl rub-on from my sister -- love ALL the stuff she sends me. :) I punched the edge of the card with my Crop-o-dile and tied ribbons through the holes to bind the card. Little hint: don't tie them too tight; the card won't open properly then.

Here's the inside of the card. The little stickers say "friend" -- for a "hi friend" card. Used some stickers from 7 gypsies to add a little somethin' somethin' to the inside.
I added a beautiful AC pattern paper to the back of the card for a little surprise. So often cards can be so boring from the back. LOVE this paper and needed to use it somewhere. Really pretty and a little bit of whimsy on the back never hurt anyone. :)

Hope you enjoy.

thankful for my hobby tonight {from the farm},

j.

around the corner

my youngest turns six at the end of this month.

just looking through some awesome photos of her and found this one.

with spring just around the corner, i am loving the yellow & pink combination.

inspired by lizzy's new line right now -- wish i had some (thanks for thinking of me, leica -- will get my hands on some soon :)

hugs {from the farm},
j.

these moments

In the aftermath of the Olympic Ceremonies last night I started thinking about all the incredible moments that have happened in just two weeks. Our family watched more Olympic coverage this year than we ever have. Could have been the age of our children; could be the business of our lives (yeah, right?!?); but I think it was because all the events we watched were actually "LIVE" at the time. We were not watching an event that we already knew the outcome of from a different time zone. We were experiencing the thrill, the rush, the excitement, the drama, the suspense with the rest of Canada & some of the rest of the world.
We are a HUGE sports family -- so you can only imagine what our house looked like in the evening with everyone around the t.v. watching their favourite event.
Wanted to share just a few of the highlights for me (source: www.vancouversun.com)

1. Gold medallists Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir - pairs figure skating. Love their connection & passion for their sport and each other.

2. Skeleton "crazy-man" from Russell, MANITOBA!!!!!! Jon Montgomery -- love this guy's energy. Al, we may have to get this guy for an up-coming cruise?!?

3. Joannie Rochette's awesome display of courage & strength.

4. Crosby's "golden goal" in OT -- are you kidding me?!? A remarkable event that made grown men across the country weep for joy.

keep cheering others on {from the farm},

j.