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Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Christmas cards and gift wrap


I have been having such fun making Christmas cards and gift packages! This year, I decided to use some of what I have and 'clean house' while doing my Christmas preparations. I love the way this poinsettia card turned out.


I gave some of my friends a challenge, to decorate some cardstock gift boxes with a sheet of designer paper. We got snowed in last weekend, so I had fun creating some special cards and tags, and even a mini accordian book! The two gable boxes were decorated by my daughter to hold gifts for her cousins.


Calgary had a huge snowstorm last weekend. My brave boys kept the driveway cleared Friday. Saturday morning, however, we had huge drifts all over. The largest was by the front porch! It took some digging to get us clear. Here is my brave Jon-Jacob, heading out to shovel Saturday morning. The huge drift is just in front of him, and covered the steps to the level of the porch (which is 4 steps from the ground).


We are due to have more snow this weekend! Isn't winter exciting?!!  Take care, all, and stay warm! Susan Bruyn
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Friday, December 4, 2009

Iris folding ornament punch card



As I write this, we are in the midst of yet another winter snowstorm.  Here is a photo of our newly painted green house!  I love the depth of colour it now has!  It's quite a change from the brown we've had for 9 years. 

Last night, I had some ladies in for a Christmas party.  I designed this delightful iris folded card for them, using Stampin' Up!'s ornament punch.  I'm really tickled with how it turned out.

I wanted to show a few other samples of iris folding, so I came up with these two cards as well.  I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed my evening with friends!


Posted by PicasaTake care, and stay warm!  Susan Bruyn

Friday, November 6, 2009

Scrapbooking the Memoreis


I've been making some scrapbook pages for my calendar classes.  It is so good to scrapbook those memories, and I find when I teach a class, I am inspired to scrapbook the memories right away.  Above, you can see the page I created for September.


This is the October page.  We went to a greenhouse just outside of town.  They have an annual Autumn celebration during Thanksgiving.  The kids all carved pumpkins, and had fun watching a 600 pound pumpkin drop onto a car (creating an instant sunroof).



This is the page I created for November.  I haven't done the journaling yet.  Although it looks a bit 'fussy,' it turned out really nice.  Everyone really liked it a lot!  Black and white with a 'pop' of color, can really dress up a page.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Susan Bruyn

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Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Pattern's Great Adventure

This is Patterns. Patterns is a leapord gecko. She lived at our house for about 2 years, and then joined the kids at school again (which is where we originally got her). Just over three weeks ago, Patterns moved to Juliana's class, Grade 3/4. After just two days in the class, she escaped and got lost.

I brought flashlights at the end of that school day, and we hunted everywhere for her. Alas, Patterns was not to be found. After two weeks, we mourned for our Patterns, and assumed that she was lost for good.

This past Monday night, our school caretaker, Ken, went to enter the classroom. He unlocked the door, and almost left, as he couldn't remember what he needed in the classroom. He decided to check out the room anyway. He opened the door and turned on the lights. Nothing was there. Then, he happened to glance down - to his amazement, there was Patterns on the floor at his feet!!! She was very cold and very, very hungry!
When the children arrived the next day (yesterday), they found Pattern's cage all set up with water in the dish and the heat lamp on. There was a note saying that Patterns had returned home again!! What a true miracle!! I made Ken this fun card which has miniature geckos all over it. The kids are all going to sign it to thank him for going the extra mile and finding our lost gecko!!

I just love stories with happy endings, don't you!!

Susan and Juliana Bruyn
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Summer Holiday Photo Cards


Summer holidays were spent in Northern Alberta.  We enjoyed spending time with family and friends, and I was able to show my children where I grew up in Lac La Biche, and the exciting provincial park I always toured (exciting because of the wildlife we saw when we were there, like black bears, pelicans, and even cougars once)!

We even got to spend a weekend in Montana, where we saw osprey and hummingbirds.
When we returned, I wanted to send a special thank you to family and friends.  I made special photo cards for each family, using photos taken in their area.

It was fun to make them, and my family enjoyed them.  I did get the magazine holder pattern off the internet.


I want to leave you with a fun photo I took.  We've had some changes at our 'brown' house.  I am loving the new colour, and the depth of colour with the sun and the leaves shining!

Take care, and have a great day!  Susan Bruyn

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Saturday, July 25, 2009

Happy Birthday JJ!

Today my eldest boy, Jon-Jacob, turns 12 years old! He had fun helping me make these fun Star Wars invitations for his friends. JJ is very excited to have some friends over for a party. We bought some lego kits. His friends get to put the lego together without knowing what the kit should look like. Sounds like so much fun!

JJ loves to swim and have fun! Yesterday he took me for an hour long bike ride! I was tired when we returned, but he was ready to go again!

Happy Birthday, JJ! We love you!

Susan Bruyn

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Friday, July 24, 2009

Creative Projects

I really enjoy it when a project works well. I love how the paper colours match with the photo. I used the retired Stampin' Up! "Walk in the Park" paper with the new Medallion stamp. Of course, I added bling and ribbons also!

I had so much fun with the page, that I tried the same thing with a card. I love the sunburst effect, and how the medallion finishes the card. It's a great way to use paper scraps.

Here are some more fun cards I've made recently. I often look in magazines and books for inspiration. This project idea came from an Australian magazine. This is a technique I've tried before called "One Sheet Wonder." You simply decorate a sheet of white cardstock, and then cut out the decorated cardstock in a variety of ways for use in cards. I love how the new Bermuda Bay, Mambo Melon, and Crushed Curry worked with Green Galore. I also enjoyed this arrangement of cards. The stamp set I used is Circle Circus. Don't these cards look summery and bright!

Take care, and enjoy this lovely hot day!

Susan Bruyn

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

Family Reunion and Horseback Riding


We went to a family reunion in Ponoka this past weekend. It was so good to see cousins, aunts & uncles, who I haven't seen for quite some time. I had a good time visiting with each one of them.
I spent some of my growing-up years in Ponoka, both in town and on an acreage 7 miles out of town. My mother and I took a moment to drive near our old home in town. It has been painted, but hasn't changed much. There is still the same fence in the back yard that I remember!

One evening, we took Juliana for a walk in the neighborhood. My aunt lives near the edge of town, with farms just across the road behind her place. Well, we saw a deer in a green space between two houses. She wasn't concerned about us at all. We moved closer, and all of a sudden, this little one popped out of the bushes close to its mama! What a pretty sight to see this little fawn bounding around, copying the movements of it's mama!

On the same walk, we saw some very pretty wildflowers. I don't remember the name of these ones, but they grow everywhere. You can see them in varying shades of pink and purple. I have not seen many with this deep purple before.

On Sunday morning, my cousin's daughter brought her horse over for the kids to ride. Apparently, Molly is an older horse who used to do barrel-racing competitions with Tamara. It was fun to watch the kids ride. I even got a turn! What fun! This is JJ on his very first horse ride. Tamara couldn't believe he hadn't ridden before!

Timmy has ridden before, and was very confident on Molly! He even got her to canter and trot a bit.

We had a good time at the family reunion. My cousins and I mentioned that we'd like to see one another again, before another 15 years has gone by! It is a good reminder to keep in touch with those we love!!

Have a great day!

Susan Bruyn

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Summer's Flowers


What I enjoy most about summer is the flowers! There is a vibrancy in the colours and variety of wild-flowers, as well as domestic flowers that can be found during the summertime! They really inspire me!

I created this fun card from a new Stampin' Up! set called 'Animal Stories.' It uses the colors Crushed Curry and Dusty Durango, as well as Old Olive and Always Artichoke for the leaves and stem. The ribbon is the new dotted Dusty Durango grosgrain. If you look closely, you can see the beak of the owl - doesn't he make a great flower petal!

This card uses another new set called 'Autumn Days', and the colors Dusty Durango and Soft Suede with Chocolate Chip. I also used the new Modern Label punch and the Soft Suede dotted grosgrain ribbon.

We went for a walk to the Waterfall Valley, in Beaumont Park, in Calgary's Northwest. Here were some of the lovely flowers I saw while I was there.

Have a great day, and enjoy the flowers!

Susan Bruyn

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Summer Scrapbook Challenges

Now that school is finished, I am taking some time to do some scrapbooking. My friend Christy Riopel ( http://christyriopel.blogspot.com/) has a weekly scrapbooking challenge on her blog. I have had fun trying some new techniques with my scrapbooking.

On this page, I needed to sand or scratch a photo - notice how the main photo of JJ really stands out! When I sanded the background, it faded, and he 'popped'! Quite striking, I thought. I am enjoying the new "Tall Tales" designer series paper from Stampin' Up!, and the new Crushed Curry polka-dot ribbon that I used on this page.

I love the bright colors on this page. To me, they reflect the colourful diversity and variety of animals! We went to the Calgary Zoo with friends. This page needed to have 'fussy cutting' on it. I made a fun collage of some of the animals. Some of the animals are popped with dimensionals, as you can see in this next photo. I love how it turned out !

What makes it more fun, is that these are the actual animals as we saw them on July 3!

I am having fun with my new supplies from Stampin' Up! also. Their new "In Colors" are a lot of fun! I colored this stamp with the new "In Color" markers. Combined with the Bermuda Bay paper and Melon Mambo dotted ribbon, it makes for a cheery card!

Take care, everyone, and may your day be filled with sunshine, even in the midst of rain!

Susan Bruyn
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Spring IS Coming!

Spring really is coming here in Calgary! Here is proof that spring is on the way! We keep getting snow, but I did find my hyacinths blooming! It is so nice to see some color in my flowerbeds! They are so bright and cheery!

I am teaching a card class on Thursday night. Here is one delightfully simple card that I designed. I did stamp the vellum with white ink before cutting out the butterflies - I think I'll tell the ladies to cut the butterflies first, as they can easier direct the placement of the designs. the paper used is Stampin' Up's "Walk in the Park" and I've used chunky pink glitter with crystal effects for the butterfly bodies. I also attached them to the card with another bit of crystal effects.

Here is the perfect card for Dad, using Stampin' Up's 'Sense of Time' stamp set, and 'To the Nines' specialty paper! I love the thickness of the specialty paper! I used a transparency sheet, stamped with Staz On ink for the smaller circle in the clock, to better define it).


Finally, here is our bunny Bits, during one of the many snowfalls we have had this past week! He wasn't too happy to be plopped into the snow, but he did pose nicely for me! I put him under a tree, and he dashed toward his hutch and tried to climb in!

Have a great day, all! Susan Bruyn

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