A new look…

I recently changed the name of my blog to Trucks and Tutus Custom Creations. My main creating focus has somewhat switched from scrapbooking to making wooden signs. I know quite opposite hobbies. I still scrapbook from time to time but making signs has become my main focus right now.

I decided on the name Trucks and Tutus because since I last posted, our life has definitely changed. My last post talked about how we were celebrating the first birthday of our daughter. Since then, we have celebrated the first birthday of our third child, Tristyn. Yes, life has been pretty busy and somewhat crazy at times with three kids under the age of seven! Since my sons are crazy about trucks and my daughter sure loves here tutus…it was a better suiting name and since I already had a blog created, I thought I would continue it as for both :) Another big family change we had, was we moved to the mountains and away from big city life. We moved onto to a small town called Blind bay (its by Salmon Arm and in the heart of the Shuswaps) and onto an acreage. We wanted our children to grow up with space to run, snowmobile, quad, boat and live the BC lifestyle … one we were not able to achieve living in Spruce Grove AND I tell you… life could not be so opposite from what I was used to. We have experienced bears, moose, coyotes, clear nights full of stars by the fire pit, NO mosquitos, hot - humid summers and very a mild winter…so far. It's been absolutely wonderful living in the Shuswaps so far..maybe minus the bears and coyotes. lol.

My husband now also works out of town. To occupy myself after the kids go to bed, and instead of watching TV… I make signs. It started out as making decor for my new house but has turned into a hobby that I am quite passionate about. I buy all my own wood… I load it into my SUV…yes I do some funny looks but I get it all to fit. I also cut, prep, stain, paint and create the signs all on my own. Totally addictive AND totally satisfying. On this blog I am happy to share what I have created.

You can also go check out my FACEBOOK PAGE - Trucks and Tutus Custom Creations and INTAGRAM as trucks_and_tutus where I post regularly. Enjoy.

Trucks and Tutus Custom Creations (Facebook)
trucks_and_tutus (Instagram)

I'm back…..

It has been forever since I have posted anything on my blog. The term "life gets busy" is most definitely true. Last March, our family of three was blessed with a little girl and this last year has been an absolute whirlwind. I have not had any time for scrapbooking (or sleep for that matter), so my main focus was taking pictures of the kids. Taking pictures was the easy part since my brother and sister-in- law bought me a Nikon d7100 (I know, I am super spoiled!!). Now that Reese (our little girl), is sleeping through the night, has a napping schedule and Raydn is in preschool, I have more time on my hands (and the constant urge to fall over from exhaustion is gone). So…….bring on the scrapbooking!! 

A new purchase also lit a fire under me… a couple days ago I purchased a silhouette cameo and what a wonderful machine that is. I am so ready and excited to jump back in! To try it out, I made some decorations for Reese's first birthday party. So, so much fun! 

I kept the decorations nice and simple. I opted out of inking and for anyone that knows me that was very tough. I LOVE TO INK… EVERYTHING! Her theme is pink and grey princess but with carriages. I'm so excited to see it come together on her birthday. The table will have glass vases filled with grey and pink candy, the cake is a two tier fondant with a fondant princess carriage on top. There will be tissue pom poms and round paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Reese is my "Princess in training". Kind of hard not to go all girly when it has been birthdays with monster trucks, construction vehicles and Super mario bros so far.

Brrr...Winter is back! Hopefully it doesn't stay to long with the temps we are hopefully suppose to be getting next week. I am so ready for summer!!  A couple of weeks ago I broke my leg, which for some scrapbookers would say is a god send....having to sit, lots of endless time on your hands, your husband waiting on you hand and foot and having lots of time to scrapbook. Unfortunately, its all true for me but the endless scrapbooking. Our house is under renovations including my scrapbook area, it's not in the books for this girl for a bit. So in the many, many hours everyday I have been looking for what I love to make: flowers. Here are some tutorials I would like to share. Enjoy. 


Gesso flower by Sussi Poppins


Wrinkled paper flowers by Paperdrama


Shabby crinkled flowers by Simply Paper


Water distressed cardstock blooms by Gabrielle 


Twisted flowers by Erin Reed 


Roses by Roxanne Olsen


Swirly Hibiscus flower by Swirlydoos


Twirled ribbon rose by DiVan Neikerk

Happiness is you...

Another layout..Wow! I've got back into my groove and got out of my uncreative funk I was in. I just needed one layout to get me inspired again. This picture in the layout of Raydn was taken in the summer using the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone. This app has so many different picture combinations to choose from but the great thing is you can save the combinations you like using best. In this picture I used the Kodot XGrizzled Film and the Lucifer VI lens with no flash... by far my favourite :) 
In this layout I used the Simple Store paper line called Baby Steps, the colours matched the distorted exaggerated colours of the hipstamatic photo perfectly. I used the wooden birdcage and bird from Kaiser Kraft. I coloured the bird brown with walnut stain distress stain and embossed it with iridescent embossing powder...I meant to grab clear though....opps. First it was too shimmery, so I reapplied the stain to create a water drop affect and added thick embossing powder. It ended up melted like glass and had a slight tint of sparkle in it. The more you reapply embossing powder  and "melt it", the more glassy, smooth looking it will be become. I got the idea from a layout we did in Roxannes class to lay the bird behind the cage and add feathers for the tail. You can buy the flowers from the dollar store in the craft isle. Very cute idea...Thanks Roxanne :) 

I of course, layered lots of paper with some heavy walnut stain inking. The thing that was hard for me was using pre-made flowers. I always prefer to make my own but the greens and creams in these Petaloo flowers matched perfectly. The little bird nest was from Prima flowers...super cute. Lastly, what ties the whole layout together was the stamping I stamped on each side of the picture in forest moss ink. I think it matches the swirls pretty close that was originally on the paper. 

Designed and Created by 

Rhonda Witzke

Winter.Snow.

Well, it certainly been a long time since I last blogged. Sometimes it feels life's activities get in the way .... and also my very busy 2 year old. This was a class I took from Urban by Roxanne of course. This year Roxannes theme for her classes is using sketches. She of course also still incorporates new techniques into each layout. Roxanne gets her sketches from a well-known websites, Page Maps by Becky Fleck. The sketches are organized by month and by sketch type. They are very easy to navigate and you can also view a sample page beside each sketch. This one is the 12x12 double page sketch from March 2011. The paper line she used was "The Yellow Bicycle"...beautiful paper. Details that made this layout unique were the little handmade pine cones (which I had a little bit of trouble making) and the many different ways we inked and embossed the snowflakes. Very fun class to take. 

Roxannes interpretation of Becky 

Fleck sketch and put together 

by Rhonda Witzke