The one with some Candy

Even though we only get a handful of tick-or-tearters every year we always buy way too much candy just in case.... but really its just way too tempting for us NOT to eat it! I think I should have waited until after dinner to put this by the door:
No scary plans for us tonight! Andrew and Jess are coming over for dinner then the girls are going to scrapbook.. yay :) The boys will be flipping between the many sporting events that are on tonight...... Go Yankees and Habs!!

I am planning on making a few goodies to sell at a craft show next weekend. I will be there helping out my friend Jen (Yennybee Baby Designs ----> see link in the sidebar!). Going to make some quick cards and shower invites and maybe even a layout or too if I am really feeling the mojo!
Hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween!!!!

-Liz

The one with Shower Invites

The first set of invitations I ever made were my own Bridal Shower Invites! I had seen an example that I loved and thought.... I could do that myself... and cheaper! So after some trial and error, this is what I came up with:

I wanted an image of a dress behind the vellum and I couldn't find any clip art I liked. Not knowing about stamps and digital scrapbooking, I just drew one I liked! I scanned it into the computer and printed it out on my paper. For my first try I don't think they turned out too bad!

This Pink and Brown one I made as a sample. I love the scalloped edges!

This baby shower invite was made for my friend Jen's baby shower! Her colors for the nursery were brown with blue and green accents and very modern. We thought that we could make an invite that would reflect her style so those attending would get a feel for what she likes. This train paper from KI was just too perfect! My favorite part it the mini button brads from making memories in the corners of the stripes.

This week has been really busy at work.... and I can't wait for the weekend! No big plans for Halloween... I think when we have kids I may be more into it. Instead my brother Andrew and his girlfriend Jess are coming over to make dinner with us... and then the girls are going to do some serious scrapping!

-Liz

PS: Today is my other brother Sean's birthday! Happy 25th b-day Sean :)

The one with the Rocio Invite

So far all of my business has happened through word of mouth. No advertising... yet! Makes me so happy to know that my friends love my work and would go out of their way to tell their friends - you HAVE to get Liz to do your invites :)

This invite I did last march for my friend Jen's sister in law, Rocio. She had a very hard dress color to math.... but with all the Bazzill colors we came pretty close! Her colors were a purple-ish wine with silver and white accents.

Here is a close up of the Monogram:

And when it was fully opened up it looked like this:

She didn't want to do a pocket but we still needed some way to include her reply card. I came up with the idea of having the corners just held in place and the guests could pull them out but still look like one cohesive piece.

I am not a fan of the fonts they chose.... but its whatever the bride wants!

When we were discussing different options in the beginning, I also made this sample:

I really love the simplicity of it.... and I think the fonts are more modern and light - if that makes sense :)

The funny thing with these two is that although they look similar from the outsides (all closed up), the second would cost less to make. Its all in how you work the paper!

In the last month I got two really great referrals and had meetings with both brides. I love being able to talk with them and get the 'feeling' of their wedding, what they envision for their special day and what fits their budget. The great thing about paper is that you can make whatever you can think up! I love the challenge and the creativity of it all.

-Liz

The one with my BFF's Invitations

I finally did it! I actually took some pictures of my invitations! Funny that I started this blog to be all about my invites but haven't posted any yet. So I will start out with everything I created for my friends Liv and Andrew's wedding.

Here are two samples of 'Save the Date' cards that I made:

I ended up making this second one. At this time Liv wasn't sure about her colors but was thinking something in the green family. I really recommend sending out Save the Dates if you are having your wedding on a Friday like Liv and Andrew were. Some guests may need to know more than the standard two months in advance to take the day off from work or to travel from out of town.

For her wedding gift I made her invitations and programs. Here are the invite set:

This is the hidden pocket in the back that the reply card slips into:

Close up of the front:

Details of the swirl and pearls:

The program also turned out really well. Liv had a message to everyone in her bridal party as well as to each of their parents. It was a really nice souvenir of the day!

More invites to come!

-Liz

PS: Please don't forget to vote for me in the Scrappy Chic monthly challenge!!!! Click here: www.scrappychiclivonia.com and then click on 'monthly challenge' on the left hand side. My layout is #2!!! Thanks :)

The one with some Ephemera

My very first scrapbook was much different than my scrapbooks are now! It was a green coiled book that I bought in Holland. I kept all my ephemera from my trip to Europe and pasted it on the pages, then hand wrote stories of what happened each day of my trip. I was 12 years old.

Today I still scrapbook for the memories, but with all the variety of embellishments out there, I often forget to include my ephemera..... even though I still save it all and have plans to use it all!

This page is from our Disney World trip in December 2007! I wanted to include our plane tickets because of the story behind them. (We were suppose to leave 2 days before but we were having so much fun we extended our stay.)

Sometimes I find it hard to include ephemera because I feel like its not 'pretty'. So I leave it til last and many times it gets left out. Here are a few ways that I now use to get more of these important pieces of my life into my scrapbooks:

1. Make a pocket page and stick all my large, hard to work with pieces that relate to one event or trip.
2. Compile one big collage page of concert tickets, movie stubs, logo stickers, coasters etc... from events that I don't have any pictures for. Like a year in review page.
3. Incorporate the most important or easier to work with pieces into my pages as I go.
4. 'Hide' it in a pocket on the layout. My favorite is a library card pocket!

I am still working on doing more of #3.... but when combining it with the others, it doesn't feel like such an overwhelming task!

PS- Went to dinner at PF Changs tonight! LOVE it! Has such a good time with the girls :)

-Liz

The one with the Jump... kinda

I love Chicago! I think it is my favorite city ever! Alain and I went there on our first anniversary and he fell in love too. Its big, but cozy at the same time. You can walk everywhere and there is so much to do. Great parks and you can't forget the shopping!
I can't believe that it was already a year ago that we went there with Andrew and Jess (my brother and his girlfriend). I think its time to plan another trip!
This page is pretty simple for me paper wise. I love to use lots of different textures and colors... but this one I kept it simple. The frame was my inspiration (from chatterbox).
(click to enlarge)

These pictures make me laugh every time I see them. We had so much fun trying to get a good picture of us jumping. All the people passing by must have thought we were crazy!

Supply List: Making Memories-journal spot, Prima - Bling, American Crafts- Thickers, Chatterbox - paper and frame, Autumn leaves- Buttons.

My goal this weekend is to get my invitations photographed so I can get them up here soon! Some of my awesome friends have been recommending me to their friends for wedding invites. It would be great to have them up here so people could see my work anytime!

Speaking of goals, Kelly Purkey (http://kellypurkey.typepad.com/) posted a layout she did about her 27 goals for her 27th year! I thought it was a great idea and made me think about what I want to accomplish in the next year. Don't think I will make a list of 28.... but right now here are some that I am hoping to accomplish by next November:

1. Get on a Design Team.

2. Get published at least once.

3. Make it to championship day this summer. (its a golf thing!)

4. Go on two vacations.

5. Book 4 clients for invitations.

6. Get back to my happy weight.

7. Finish all the painting projects around the house.

8. Be better with my money.

9. Learn to take better pictures/take more pictures.

10. Keep up my Blog!

Its getting late so I think 10 is good enough for tonight! I want to make a layout to remind me of where I am right now and where I want to be in a year. Might be fun to look back and see what I accomplished.

What are your goals for yourself right now?

-Liz

The one with a Monthly Challenge (LYB)

Each month at my LSS they have a Monthly Challenge. Chris (the owner) picks a different feature manufacturer. There is usually a sale on items from that manufacturer and the challenge is to create a page using products from that company. If you get the most votes you win a goodie bag.... not sure whats in it... but I love free goodies!!

So here is my take on this months challenge of using Little Yellow Bicycle:

I used products from their Traveler line. The 3 dot papers, chipboard stickers (day 4, Tuesday and notes from today), transparent overlay, blue paper behind the words in the overlay are all LYB products! Of course I still had to use some Thickers..... every pages needs thickers! The orange tickets are SEI and the tag and paper strip with the bottom title are MM. Brown cardstock is Paper Loft.

So I hope that you will take two minutes and vote for me! Just click here: http://www.scrappychiclivonia.com/ and click on the 'Monthly Challenge' on the left hand side. Mine is obviously #2.

Thank you soooo much! :)

-Liz

PS: If any of you fellow bloggers know why sometimes you can click on my images they get larger and somtimes they don't. It seems to be really random but I wish I could make them 'clickable' all the time! TIA

The one with a Marathon

I wish I could say that I ran it.... but I didn't! Running is not my thing.
But I did design the finish line structure and banners that adorn it. About 3 months ago we had a in house design competition here at work. (I work for Kahn - see our logo on the side panels!!!). My friend and co-worker, Callista and I won! We were picked by a committee of members on the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon team.
The marathon took place yesterday Oct.18, very early in the morning....

It might be hard to tell from these photos, but the background graphic for all of the banners is the word "FINISH" translated into 36 different languages. It was done in a texture look to mimic the look of newpaper since the Free Press is the main sponsor of the event! The idea behind our design was to incorporate an international feel to the start/finish line! This marathon starts in Detroit Michigan, then runners go over the Ambassador bridge, run through downtown Windsor Ontario and then back through the tunnel to Detroit. Its the only marathon that has an underwater mile! Its also a qualifier for the Boston Marathon--- so we get some really good runners!

Since I was not there in person I will have to rely on others photos of the event. But I still want to scrap it since I feel like I had a hand it it! I have the photoshop images of what I sent to the printing company as well and they might be neat to scrap as well.

I will be getting more pictures from the official Photographer that was there that day. But you can see lots of the coverage here: http://www.freep.com/

It is so cool to see something that you created and worked on for so long come to life!!!

-Liz

The one with a Mini

I don't do a lot of mini albums. I think this is only my third. But I love it so much. The chipboard album is from Basic Grey. The bracket shape is just the perfect size. I covered the front and back with a fabric paper by Elsie. The rest of the paper is from the Basic Grey Mellow line.
(click on them to enlarge pics)


The second page is a collection of my favorite quotes about friendship!
I created a page for each of my friends with pictures of us from over the years.

Posting these makes me want to make another mini album!

My friend Callista and I won a design contest at work about three months ago.....and this weekend we are going to see the fruits of our labors! Lets just say its a lot bigger than 12x12... but still very crafty..... check us out here giving our winning presentation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev7LCuG2iL8

Skip to the 6 minute mark if you don't want to sit through it all!

-Liz

The one with Scenic Route

Just found out this week over at 2 Peas that Scenic Route is going under! I had been wondering what happened to them over the last few seasons. They had not been any new releases from them for a while! They used to be in my top 5 for sure. I couldn't get enough of them.

So I thought I would post an oldie but a goodie with some of their papers.

I love the browns and deep reds in these papers. The one thing I liked was that their papers were never *too* girlie, or *too* graphic. There was enough variety in each line that they could work with many different things. This layout is from our Disney trip Christmas of 2007.... makes me wish we were going back soon!Close up of the journaling. I think of this page as fairly simple for a few reasons.... there is no chipboard title, not a lot of embelishments and mostly paper and photos! Much different than my style is now, but I still like it.

This week I created a layout to enter into Scrappy Chic's monthly contest. Each month they issue a challenge and you can submit your layout to be voted on. The most votes get a prize pack! The voting does not start til the 20th. So I will post my layout and a link so you can vote for me :)

Better get to bed... its after midnight again!

-Liz

The one with the Beautiful Guest Room

My guest bedroom had been on my 'to-do' list since.... well forever! This weekend I just wanted to get it done. I was tired of having it being a dumping ground for my husband's clothes, gym stuff, music stuff and pretty much anything else we didn't have a spot for. I am ashamed it stayed this messy for so long.... but here is the before - taken Saturday morning 11am.Notice the horrid roller blinds... and the patched wall that used to be a doorway to the Kitchen (I mean who wants to enter their bedroom from the Kitchen, and why does a bedroom have two doors? very werid!) The pictures make it look like the walls are yellow, but its just the very bad lighting in there! It was actually all white.

But now it is bright and green and all cleaned up! Just waiting for a guest to stay overnight! Its not perfect yet but its much improved. What do you think?
Almost everything in the room I already owned. When I was in my teenage years I was really into the Shabby Chic look, so I had a lot of Pine furniture. My mom gave me the curtains that she made for her bedroom. The paint was chosen from the green in the curtains. The chest under the window was a christams gift one year.... I used it to collect things for when I had my own house one day! Now it is the perfect window seat. I want to get a few pillows to put on it.
The bed and side tables were given to my parents when they got married from my grandparents. When I was 10 my parents handed them down to me. I love them so much becasue of the history they have in my family. The headboard has teeth marks on it where I used to nash as a baby when teething, there are nicks and dents from so many things over the years. But its the character that makes them so great!
It still needs some work with more accessories and little touches.... but that will come with time! I think its a pretty good weekend transformation and I can't wait to have our first overnight guest!

Back to some more scrappy posts this week! I think the window seat will be a perfect spot to get more well lit pictures of my work... going to try it out tomorrow for sure!

-Liz

The one with Erin McCarley

This summer Erin McCarley played a free show in Detroit! She played at CityFest- a week long celebration of food and music. The streets are closed down to make room for 3 stages and tents featuring local artisans and cusine. Since this is held just outside of my building at work, I have been there many times for lunch but never for a concert.

I brought along Jess and Mahsa with me. The best part of the night was getting to meet Erin after the show!!!

She was so nice! She chit chatted with each person and signed as many autographs as you wanted. She didn't try to rush anyone at all. I was such a dork and told her how much I loved her music and that we came from Canada to see her!

After meeting Erin we stayed to watch a little of Mat Kearney, then off to dinner at Nikki's! My most favorite pizza ever. If you are ever in Greektown... you NEED to go there!

I can't wait to scarp these pictures! Next on my list. There are so many colors in them I can't deside what papers I should use.... bright to match or neutral to let them pop? I'm thinking Basic Grey's Sultry right now.....

This weekend is going to be busy.... don't think I will have time to scrap again! But tonight we have some frineds from my work coming over to Windsor, then I am determined to paint my spare bedroom tomorro!!! I have had the paint for 8 months.... I think its time! lol

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians.... so looking forward to some Turkey this weekend! Yum :)

The one with some very late Cards

Ok! So I know that World Card Making Day was on Saturday.... so this post is only a few days late. But I did make these on Saturday.... if that counts :)

I used a 6x6 stack of Baic Grey-Lilykate for all of these. I got the stack at my LSS's yard sale for $1!!! I am going to use these cards as a set for a gift. Not sure for who yet. But its always good to have some extra cards and gifts around.

(I really need to figure out how to take better pictures... maybe when I get home tonight I will re-do these ones!)

This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving so I am looking forward to lots of Turkey and mashed potatoes and dinner with both families! My brother will be home from Toronoto again so I know we will have a big dinner at my mom and dad's.

My other plan this weekend is to paint the guest bedroom! Its been a dumping ground for things we don't know where else to put for the last two years. Since we don't have guests that often it hasn't really mattered too much. But now I am on a kick to get it painted and done. Hopefully our friends Norm and Emily will be able to stay with us when they come down in December for our christmas party! That is the goal right now anyway!

Wish me luck :)

-Liz