A glance through my gallery will tell you that Scenic Route is one of my favorite scrapbook manufacturers. The company’s papers and embellishments have been a staple for me for years.

Now it’s official. Scenic Route is closing its doors, and although I’ve been expecting this for sometime, I’m still saddened by the news. Here is an excerpt from Sarah Milne’s announcment:

It is official, we are closing Scenic Route.

As you can imagine, I have mixed feelings about this but overall I am happy to start a new chapter and adventure. I know it is cliche at times like these to say “I really just want to spend more time with my family” but that, more than anything has been my motivation to let SR go. . . .

I am so proud of what we have accomplished over the last 6 years. I love Scenic Route, the friends I have made, scrapbooking, our employees and the 4 zillion lessons learned.

I wish Sarah and her family all the best.

In honor of Scenic Route, here’s one of my all-time favorite layouts, just published in Scrapbooking & Beyond.

Here Comes Nate

Supplies: Patterned papers, chipboard frame, and chipboard accents—Scenic Route Paper Company.

Our longtime elementary school principal retired last year, and I think she will be missed by all the students, but especially my youngest son. Whenever I attended a school function with Nate, we were sure to run into Miss L., who would inevitably give Nate a hug and comment that he is always laughing, always smiling. True, that. And here’s the layout to prove it…

Always U

Supplies: Patterned papers—Harmonie loisirs créatifs; letter tags—EK Success; circle tags—SEI; punches—EK Success (border) and Martha Stewart (scalloped circle).

After a long summer filled with nothing but work, work, and more work, I’m back to scrapping and (no doubt) blogging about it. Here’s my first page after three scrapless months. It’s a lift of Linda Harrison’s “On the Edge” layout for the Scrapbooks Etc. Make It Yours challenge. You can see Linda’s layout here.

Double Digits

It might be difficult to see in the photo, but the title word “DIGITS” is part of the green cardstock mat.

I rather like this little cluster of American Crafts accents. They go so well with the SEI paper.

And I’m pleased that I remembered to include the date, because I usually forget and end up pencilling it in somewhere inconspicuous.

So there you have it. The kiddo has turned ten, and now—five months after the fact—I still can’t believe it.

Thanks for visiting.

I made a useful discovery while working on the layout below. I needed to remove some rub-on letters that I changed my mind about, so I tried my adhesive remover, which I had read was great for this purpose. As it turns out, it’s not. I tried my craft knife, but that was roughing up the cardstock too much. I used a bit of transparent tape to pick up the tiny flakes of rub-on that I had managed to scrape off—and lo and behold! the tape removed the entire rub-on very cleanly. I haven’t tried it on patterned paper or other materials, but transparent tape is now my official rub-on remover for cardstock.

Anyway, here’s a layout of my older son acting silly. I manipulated the photo in Photoshop Elements just for the fun of it.

Supplies: Border sticker, diecut, and red letter stickers by Scenic Route; gold chipboard stickers by American Crafts.

One of my layouts for the summer issue of Scrapbooking & Beyond magazine has made it onto the web as a featured project. I was quite honored and pleased to see it there yesterday. The layout was built around an idea I had for creating a mosaic inspired by a piece of art. The technique takes a bit of time but the result is rather stunning, if I say so myself. ;-)

You can check out the layout, with full instructions, here. There’s even a pattern online for recreating the “wave.”

The new Chic & Glamour collection from Harmonie loisirs créatifs features six elegant papers, plus acrylic, chipboard, and wood embellishments and letters; acrylic stamps; metallic foil stickers; and coordinating ribbons, buttons, and bows. You can see the entire collection in the new Harmonie catalog.

Here are a couple of layouts I made recently.

Ninety

Supplies: Patterned papers, acrylic numbers, stamp, and foil stickers from Harmonie loisirs créatifs.

I backed the acrylic numbers with patterned paper to make them more visible on the layout.

I punched the blue flower centers from the same patterned paper.

Mother-Son Dance

Supplies: Patterned paper, chipboard embellishment, and stamp from Harmonie loisirs créatifs. Chipboard letters from WRMK.

The Vivement le Printemps collection from Harmonie loisirs créatifs features six patterned papers with a nature theme; acrylic, chipboard, and wood embellishments and letters; silver and gold metallic stickers; ribbons, buttons, and crocheted flowers; and coordinating acrylic stamps—in short, everything you need to put a little spring in your scrapbooking. You can see the entire collection in the new Harmonie catalog.

Here are a couple of projects for inspiration.

Sam’s Last Hike

Supplies: Écorce Argentée and L’Orée du Bois papers; acrylic stamps; ribbons, button, crocheted flowers; and chipboard letter from Harmonie loisirs créatifs. Collage template by Jessica Sprague.

Bird Ornament

Supplies: Acrylic bird from Harmonie loisirs créatifs; alcohol inks from Ranger; beads salvaged from costume jewelry.

The new website for Harmonie loisirs créatifs is now live, and it looks great. Follow the Products link at the top of the page to see the catalog with the new spring and summer collections. I’ll be posting some work shortly using these collections. Stay tuned!

I thought I would share these three projects in case you need ideas for a last-minute card for your sweetie. They use both new and old product from Harmonie loisirs créatifs. The heart tree stamp used on the second card and the acrylic shapes used on the others are from a recent release. The papers are older, mostly from the Nature Love line.

Enjoy the day!