Z ♥s Supernatural

Hi i'm Gen's sister Z. I just fineshed making this layout. She thought that it was good and that I should put it up. It is for Supernatural, a show that we watch together. It showes the two main characters, Sam and Dean. The show is about two brothers (Sam and Dean) who hunt demons. I am not able to watch this season because it has been moved to a later time at nigh. I am hoping to catch up on this season over the Christmas break.



Happy Scrapping ♥ - Z

My version of the '52 Week Challenge'

I've noticed many Scrapbook bloggers are doing some version of this challenge whether it be daily, weekly or monthly LO's and pictures. I don't really do much on a day to day interest that would be of any interest, so what I'm going to do instead is post a pic each week and talk about it a bit. This could be a recent picture or one from years ago. Hopefully this'll keep me more on track with posting and give me a chance to show off some photos.




In High School I was on the Green Team, or as our school named it the North Environmental Awareness Team (NEAT). It was a big part of my life at the time and I have many fond memories of events, weekly recycling rounds and the members themselves. I even had got to be VP in my final year with my friend as President. This picture was taken as a promo for our Hug-a-Tree-athon to raise money to get David Suziki as a Guest Speaker at the school. I remember it being bitterly cold (not quite cold enough to close the schools, but enough to be a little painful on exposed skin) and having to more or less bully everyone into coming out. Even so, we only got about half of them out there. It was also 'Fake Injury Day', hence the bandages and such. In the end we never did use the photo's, but it's a great memory and the crisp blue sky against the frozen snow looks great.

Happy Scrapping and remember to ♥ the earth.

Post-It Tuesdays (on Wednesday)

This looks awesome. Check out the original post and join in! Here's my first stickie. Late, of course.



M's been driving me nuts by using me makeup despite have recieved lots of quality stuff from me last Christmas in an attempt to rectify this very problem. Apparently it's not good enough and she would rather use my $4 eyeshadow than her $18 good stuff. W/E
:).

Who Needs a Fix?

Making a poster for M's Hot Chocolate fundraiser next week and I had to create a few things myself. I really like how they turned out, so I've added a few more coordinating things and zipped it all up for you. Morning Coffee is a mini-kit with only a few items in it and no alpha, but it's cute and fun. I also put in some things from my Friends Like Them kit, so if for whatever reason you did not download it, you now have a little preview. For the most part I used the Caffienated kit from Scrapgirls (♥) which I love.
Last night I learned a new trick. Actually I technically learned two. I'm so excited about how easy this technique is and how awesome it looks! I used it a lot in the creation of today's freebie, and in my poster. So today I have a tutorial for you.

You will need:

Photoshop (I'm now using CS2)

2D image of a coffee cup like this one:
I just google 'coffee cup' and then covered it with MJO_ChildhoodMemories_12x12_DotLines to give it a christmasey look.

Tools Used:
Burn Tool
Dodge Tool


All Aboard? Alright, let's begin.

1. Open your image. If you downloaded mine, find where you put it and get it up there in Photoshop.
   
2. Easiest way to remember which tool to use when, is to think about a piece of paper that has been burnt. The edges are darker than the rest of the page, because that's where it was burnt. Dodge does the opposite. We'll start with Burn. It can be found in the second section of your toolbar. Mine was originally set to the Dodge tool, but yours may already show Burn or show Sponge which is also under that menu.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. This part is very much like regular brushwork (the kind you would 'paint' with rather than 'stamp' on). Simply run the tool up and down the edges of your cup until you are happy with the look. Obviously it wont look 'quite right' until you've added the lighter part in the middle. I like to make a 'J' like hook near the bottom to add some extra realism. BTW, the dots are my way of showing you how to do it. It wont actually look like that :).
   
   
   
   
   
4. Once your done with the edges, select the Dodge tool (same menu as burn) and go up the centre, until your cup looks sufficiently rounded.
   
5. That's it. So easy, so you do it completely to your personal tastes.
   

Click the poster for the Morning Coffee download link.

Remember to leave a little love for a chance to win.

Happy Scrapping ♥

I ♥ Comments! (and freebies)

I have a request for you. As I've mentioned earlier, I love comments. Well, that should be work out just great, as you all clearly like downloading. Unfortunatly, somethings missing in that equation. I know my stuffs being downloaded, but I'm not getting comments. Don't get me wrong, I love that you're all liking my stuff enough to download it. The thought that my creations are being used in your memories is amazing! It's nice though, to get some feedback. A simple 'thanks!' or some constructive criticism or suggestions is all I ask. I know it's a pain, especially for those of you coming from Digifree or Creative Busy Hands. If you're like me, you have about 15 different tabs open at one time just waiting for 4shared to finish counting down. It can be overwhelming, but each one of those tabs contains a lot of work, and care and pride put in by someone who, no doubt, would like to know that that effort is being appreciated. And so, as an incentive to you all to leave comment, I'm going to be creating a special 'Commenter Appreciation' gift. For each post I will randomly select a few commenters to recieve this kit. There is no minmum length or any other condition. Just leave a comment and some way for me to send the gift should you win.

I also have a new freebie kit available that I literally, thought of and created within 24 hours. A record for myself, who took 3 months to complete 'Captain Quarters'. It's called 'Asphalt Gretzky' and was inspired by a Road Hockey game I passed on my way home from class last night. I have never participated in one, however Z will enjoy a game or two in the driveway when she can find someone to play with her.


Enjoy the new kit and please remember to comment. This is the seaon of giving after all. Why not take a second to make someones day?

Happy Scrapping ♥

Christmas Traditions

I was reading today's Scrapgirls newsletter and was reminded of some of my favorite Christmas traditions. There's the basic ones, like when we put up the tree and It's A Wonderful Life and Christmas dinner, and then there are some that are completly ours. Others may not understand them and many came about more by accident than anything else. For example, for as long as I can remember we always opened one gift on Christmas eve, then one year us girls all got matching pajama's and every year it has been the same. Santa always leaves a new set of ornaments on our tree, something going back to when we used to spend Christmas with my paternal Grandparents before my Grandmother passed away. Often these are gorgeous feathered birds which we would look foreward to putting up each year. Though not 'traditional' ornaments I thought they were the most beautiful things I had ever seen and always made sure to put the prettiest near the top. Then there are my personal traditions, like buying a new role of paper each year just for my gifts and my new book ritual. This started when, angry at being sent to bed when I wanted to play with my new gifts, I decided to spite my parents by reading 'this dumb book about a wizard'. That book turned was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The rest is history.

So I have a proposal for you all. What are your favorite Christmas traditions? You can make an LO or just leave a comment. I'd love to hear about them :).

Bank Boredom

In line for the bank and bored out of my mind. This is why I don't come inside unless I have to. The machine is so much easier! More polite too sometimes.

So it's a new week and definitely the holiday season. This past weekend we had our local Santa Clause parade and the weekend before was the Toronto parade. I think I'll think up a Christmas themed tutorial for you all. Look for that by tommorow night :)

This post is mostly just an update. Like I said. I'm bored. And in the time it has taken me to meticulously type this out on my iTouch the line hasn't moved once. I have overheard some interesting conversations though. I really need to get out of this town.


**Bank Update**
30 minutes later I'm finally free and off to get a much needed London Fog.

Happy Scrapping ♥

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style

Ah Christmas shopping. Is there any better time to be in the mall? Unless of course it's December 24th or a you happen to be in a Toys R Us when schools out. That's not a good scene. I went to drop off some resumes and pick up a new planner for myself (same brand as 09 ♥) and ended up spending several hours. I probably shouldn't have, in fact I definitely shouldn't have, nut it's just so festive. I actually didn't buy much in the end and still had a blast. Here's a freebie for you inspired by the Sears Wishbook.



I'm also toying with the idea of creating some freebies specifically for those following the Twitter feed. Get over there now just in case :).

Happy Scrapping ♥

Pumpkin Spice Freebie

With Thanksgiving coming up for so many of you, I thought I'd put up this great autumn themed alpha. It's a full set of Capitals and several bits of punctiation. I've also thrown in a little surprise :)

I'm fully in the christmas spririt thanks to the Toronto Santa Clause Parade yesterday afternoon and as a result I expect I'll have many seasonal freebies, tutorials and even a few quick pages for you in the coming weeks. Check back often and to be sure you don't miss anything you can now subscribe to my Twitter account! (On a side note, the background on my twitter page is a modified version of the one I've been trying to get up on the blog).

Happy Scrapping ♥

Leisk #7

I am proud to present Jack. A 6month grey striped Tabby and the latest addition to our family. Zoe got him for her birthday Wedneswday and today he finally has a name. He's absolutly adorabe and tiny and incredibly fast. Alsway underfoot and still exploring the house. I'm definitely in love.

The Best, Softest, Easiest Cookies Ever & A Freebie

These are the greatest cookies ever. My mom showed me this recipe. Incredibly soft and chewy and ready in a half-hour tops you'll never bake anything else. You can make any variation you want, so long as you have the cake mix.

Ingredients:
1pkg. Cake Mix 2 Eggs 1/3c. Oil Chocolate Chips/Dried Fruit/Sprinkles/etc. (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Mix Cake Mix, eggs, oil and add-in's in mixing bowl until dough forms
3. Drop evenly spaced onto greased cookie sheet
4. Bake 8 - 10 minutes
5. Remove from oven and let cool before removing from baking sheet. Cookies will be very soft.

Can be stored in an airtight container for a few days, but the softness doesn't last long in the open. Which is why is good these are so easy.

I made this adorable little recipe card to go along with it using the Dinner Party set from Shabby Princess, but can't offer it as a quick page or anything of the sort because it's not my stuff. I'd love to see some other recipe cards though if anyone has their own design.



And finally, here's the aforementioned freebie:

A New Fanaticism, Freebies and WTF Suri?

Hey all,

Yes, yes it's been months. I'm sorry, but absence makes the heart grow fonder...or...something like that.

In the time that I've been not blogging for my non-existent readers, I've been working and in the time I've not been working I've been getting addicted to a few new shows. Sex and the City (which really started last summer when L from the Del had a few seasons), Gossip Girl (I love the clothes and actually prefer it to the books), Chuck (adorable super-powered nerd anyone?) and finally...True Blood. I'm working my way through season two right now and O-M-G. The only negative is that I pretty much have to watch when no one else is around as there is just enough nudity that anyone who walked in the room at the wrong moment would probably be like WTF are you watching and that could get awkward. Same holds true for SatC, but I'm not supposed to be watching that anyways apparently.

So today I was browsing the Peices of Flair application on Facebook - which is an Office Space reference, which I love - for True Blood flair when I found this:

I love it because it's about Lafayette, promotes True Blood and bashes Twilight*. So, needless to say I added it then I made a DP for MSN and a new desktop background (side-note does anyone call them 'wallpapers' anymore? 'cause I have been and no one seems to know what I'm talking about). So if you want 'em:




















Of course, I mean no copyright infringment, I don't own any of this.

In other news Suri Cruise, in true celebutot fashion, is wearing heels. Or at least she was in Boston. They're not even those fake little plastic Disney Princess ones, which really, aren't supposed to be worn out. They're for dress up. As in put on them and Mommies old dress and feed baby from an invisible bowl of cereal. Now I don't know the first thing about the very-young and fabulous set, but I heard about this through my cousins Facebook. This distubs me for a few reasons. I love heels as much, and maybe more than the next woman (or man. Whatever floats your boat), but I'm 20, not 3. First we'll start with the health issue. It is no secret that high heels are damaging. It has been proven time and time again. There're the obvious blisters and pinched toes, but then there's the long-term damage to knee's and ankles, but we do it anyways because as women that's our perogative. Key word being women. Not toddlers.

Secondly high heels have always been associated with...well sex. Not outright, but have you ever noticed how in those movies where the girl gets made-over she ends up in heels? I mean they make your butt look smaller and force you to walk with a bit of a sexy sway. Would it be ok for a 3-year old to wear a shirt with a promiscious slogan on it (or dress like a Bratz doll)? My final words on the matter? This is wrong and potentially harmful to such a young girl. Love the rest of the outfit though. She really is adorable.


That's all for today, Happy Scrapping ♥


*Disclaimer I loved the book Twilight and somehow, in a bizzare fit of telepathy or foreshadowing or whatever knew that if my sister read it, she would get all obsessive and it would ruin it for me. It's happened before. Well she read it. She loved it and it actually wasn't so bad. Then...everyone else read it. Then everyone elses sister read it. And now it's this media-whoring, pre-teen exploiting, tabloid feeding typhoon of OMG's, squealing and obnoxiousness. just my opinion, if you're a rabid twi-hard (even the name sounds dirty...) please don't hurt me.

Captains Quarters Freebie

My latest kit is inspired by one of my favorite fashion trends this season - the Nautical look. Captains Quarters, as I've dubbed it, contains 7 (!) papers, a full alpha set with both capital and lowercase letters as well as several pieces of punctiation. I am in love with this dress by Dolce & Gabbana.

Unfortunatly I could never afford if without promising my first-born or something so I've designed these adorable little sailboats instead. It helped - a little. Not much though LOL.


Here's a close-up of the glitter detail on the boats.









There are a bunch of other things in there too so get downloading! And don't forget to comment.



Happy Scrappin ♥

Vacation Memories QP

I promised long ago that I would put up a kit designed by my sister. Unfortunatly, that is yet to be completed. In the mean time I have this awesome QP freebie that she just made. It's perfect for any vacation or summer photo's and has plenty of space for your own creative expansion and journaling. There's an overlay for the photo to give it a bit of a vintage feel, so make sure you place your photo below the layer named "Overlay" when your doing it.


Happy Scrapping ♥

Some New LO'S

After the business with Facebook's policy regarding uploaded content I decided to remove all of my Layouts. As a result, I have a couple which have yet to see the light of day and I thought I'd put them up here. I love sharing them, and this is now the only way I can do that.

Journaling: Forget the show!The bus trip to Toronto for Dane Cook was eventful enough to last a weekend! Jackie nearly demolished her ticket before the transfer in New Market, which we missed only to be shouted at by crazed-carnies, frightened by drunken bus station patrons and befriended by Travis the (presumable) gay Body Shop employee. Then, finaly on the second bus, Sarah found that leaning into the aisle to talk to us put her face in a rather interesting location in relationt to the guy standing there.

Here at Last!

I've been promising it since March at least (maybe February?) and here it is. Finaly. My first complete kit - Friends Like These.

It started as a tribute to possibly my favorite TV show ever, one which holds many memories of watching it on Thursday nights with my family while growing up and I think it's perfect for any photo's of friends and family members. I am especially proud of the newsprint coffee cup and the paper I titled "The Times".


The kit includes:

• 6 papers (12x12)
  
• 2 Word Arts
• 1 Frame
• 1 Taxi Cut-out
• 1 Newsprinted Coffee Cup Embellishment
• 1 Central Perk Plaque & Screws
  
• 1 Poloroid Template
  

So what are you waiting for? Go get it! And don't forget the .

Remember to leave a little love! Happy Scrapping ♥

Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend

How's everyone enjoying the weather? It finally feels like May and Summer is in the air. I cannot wait. Despite the gorgeous weather, the closest I got to nature today was the wonderful breese blowing through my open window as I loaded up on fabulous kits, elements and other goodies.

I found the most amazing kit. It's called "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and I got it from the Digiscrap Addicts forum which I just joined. I love the newspaper textured elements. I've added Monica's blinkie to the side and the link to the kit is above.

Happy Scrapping! ♥

As promised...

I said I'd have something fabulous ready when I was all up and running again, and my word is good. Here you are - Apple of My Eye

Happy Scrapping ♥

Fun with Fonts

I've realised I have a problem. It started out innocently enough. A couple minutes here and there browsing and clicking. Then minutes became hours, and files became folders. I love fonts. I love how they're named, how they instantly jazz up any layout, powerpoint or assignment when used strategically and appropriatly and I love how a slight font tweak can take a page from 0-60 instantly.

Many of you have (or really should have) several 'decorative' fonts already on your computer wheather they came with it or because you've done some poking about already, but listen, there is so much more! First thing you've gotta do, before you can even conceive the end product is get your hands on some the raw materials.

The first website I want to mention, Font Diner I stumbled across when doing an assignment for an eleventh grade project. I had decided to use a retro theme for the title page and headings and such.

Most of their fonts are for sale, however there are some really awesome ones available in their freebies section's free silverware'. is one of my favorites!

Awesome site number two is Free Digital Scrapbooking.com. It offers lots of usefull (and free) supplies and a pretty varied Fonts section. I've been going there for ever and only recently realised they had fonts!and are the two I'm most excited to use right now. They have them organized by category (Grunge, Cursive, Patriotic etc.) and I encourage you to click through and look at them all.

Most of my fonts come from whatever google turns up for me. Ussually 1001 Free Fonts, Font Freak and DaFont. These are (for the most part) pretty interchangable. They have different ways to search and view (alphabetical, grouping, author etc.) and a preview. 1001 offers a custom preview if you're having trouble picturing the end result. If your into Dingbats there's plenty of those to, though I don't get it. I'll just google the picture, I don't want to go through the alphabet to find one. LOL.

To install new font's (in Windows) open the "fonts" section of your control panel. Start>Control Panel>Appearance and Themes>Fonts (in the sidebar under See Also) OR My Computer>Control Panel>Fonts. You now have a choice. You can copy and paste the new files into this section (good if they're spread out) or you can install them by going to file>install new font then browse through the folders to find the one you saved your fonts under. After opening each folder the fonts in it will show up in List of Fonts section. You can Select All or just the ones you want. Then it's just OK and you're done.

Now on to the fun part!
When making Powerpoint presentations and title pages one thing that drives me ab-so-lutly nuts is to many fonts. However, with scrapbooking, if done right, multiple font's can look really cool. For example:

and

The first LO uses 19 different fonts, including the letters at the bottom. The second technically only uses 2, as the "m" and "y" are alphas, but it shows the effect you can achieve with vaired types.

So when should you use fonts as opposed to alphas? Personally, I use fonts anytime I'm writting anything longer than 4 or 5 letters. It's so much easier than searching for, opening in Photoshop, resizing and positioning each individual letter. If I want to be able to put the letters at different angles, resize them or add lots of effects I'll use an Alpha set.

Any questions? Feel free to comment!
And as always,
Happy Scrapping ♥

Um...so

Internet: Check!
Working Computer: (mostly) Check!
Boatload of new supplies and ideas: Check!
Photoshop: ......


In order to fix my small internet problem, I was told I would have to reinstall my operating system. I managed to get all it files backed up, and now I have Internet, but I have to reinstall everything. Which may take some time. Bearwith me and I will be sure to put together something by way of thanks :D

Happy Scrapping ♥

All who pass, Ye be warned.

I come today with a cautionary tale. A tale of woe. Of regret. Of lost things. I come with warnings.

There once a maid, who toiled day after day. Imputing, upkeeping and preparing. Though far behind, as the deadline loomed she did not dispair quite yet. Rather he forged on with nary a thought to preserving the fruits of her labour. Then, one fatefull April day, as the month waned, tragedy struck with all the brute force of mother nature. The skies turned dark and the heavens seemed torn open as flash after flash, roll after roll. Shook the earth. And when at last, the fury subsided and all became deceitfully calm oncemore, the fair maid wept for her wasted toil.


And so I leave you with this. When the skies pour down and the sun shies away, save or all may be lost.

it's thunderstorm season and mother nature doesn't wait. Happy (saving &) Scrapping ♥

A Celebration of Sorts.

Today I bring you a double-celebration.

First the obvious. Today marks the 20th anniversary of my birth. Which is a fancy and pretentious sounding way of saying it's my 20th Birthday (which I'm sure you figured out). Meh.

Now that that is out of the way, the really awesome news! I have my first comment! Yay!
So a big thank you to Jen Graham of Graham Like The Cracker. I love her stuff and am just so excited I got a comment. I've only just noticed it now because my Internets been down and I've been browsing almost exclusively on my iPod for the past month and a half and only just sucked it up and paid for an application that will allow me to use blogger with my iTouch.

Here's a celebratory freebie for the occasion. Enjoy!Happy Scrapping ♥

Spring: Redux

Didn't we play this scene already? The patches of grass through the receding blanket of white, the rivers of sand in the gutters. For those who don't already know (and let's face it, that's probably most of you. I haven't exactly been faithful with the posts) We've been experiencing some 'roller coaster weather'. Just last week (the 2nd to be exact. It was H's birthday) we were enjoying some +20 sunlight and dry pavement. Now, the only sign we didn't imagine it, is that the grass, now slowly reappearing, is the bright, healthy green of April and not the sickly yellow of March.

It's coming though. Slowly but surely, and not a moment too soon. Only 1 week until my birthday!

♥ Happy Scrapping

Phoebe and a Tutorial

The first order of business: I have a tiny preview of my upcoming Friends inspired kit up in the shoppe. It is one of the papers I will include. This one is inspired by Phoebe. I plan to do one paper for each of the "friends" as well as a bunch of cool extra's. And of course everything I do is free.


The second order of business will actually have to wait because I'm tired, have school in the morning and it's past midnight.

Happy Scrapping ♥