Bisous Artist & Owner Suzanne Carillo & All That It's About

Online Chat

Want to come and chat with me? I'll be on Creative Scrap Shack  this Friday evening Jan 25th 7-8 pm EST. Don't be shy...come out and say hi!

Gift Making

Well I decided to only make gifts this holiday. Sure it takes time...but people really seemed to appreciate them so much more. Even when I would simply give a handmade card with a gift card inside everyone commented on the handmade card and how they would save it to display next year. Makes you feel better when you put in a little time to make something that you know at least they're not tossing it into the recycling bin the day after Christmas.

This is the cover of an album I made for my girlfriend. It's a 6 x 12 bare chipboard album by Basic Grey that I turned into a "What to Wear" album for her. You can view the full album on our idea gallery at http://www.bisous.ca:80/gallery/ I'm a big fan of the show What Not to Wear and am considered a "personal shopper" by most of my friends and family. I can help them put together outfits when I'm with them but then they forget what they were wearing the next time they go to put something on. I decided to make this album so my girlfriend would have a quick resource to find the perfect outfit she is looking for when she needs it. When she changes her style she just has to replace the photos with new ones. I love how it turned out. It's made with a mix of the Violet, Regal and Take-out lines of PDQ papers and chipboard. They all combine to work together more than you would think. Also the 6 x 12 format allows for some creative opportunities when cutting the papers.

New Calendar Idea

I made this using a bunch of the new PDQ papers and a Karen Foster bare calendar...needless to say...my Mom loved it as it was her Christmas gift.

Get Rid of Your Old Stash for a Good Cause

I know lots of you out there have older stuff you no longer want to use...it seems to accumulate for everyone. Here is a chance to get rid of those products and feel great about doing it. Brody, an 11 year old cancer patient is trying to create scrapbooking kits for all the kids that are treated for cancer. It's a way for them to express their feelings and cope with the difficulty of cancer in a positive way.

I just sent off a big box of Bisous supplies today and I hope you'll join in the cause and show Brody just how generous scrapbookers can be.

You can read more info here http://www.freewebs.com/scrapingwithcancer/index.htm .

My TV Crush in Real Life and the Kennedy Experience

Recently we were lucky enough to be invited along to the RFK Golf Tournament and Memorial in Hyannis Port. It was really interesting to visit the “Kennedy compound”.

For those of you who don’t know about the RFK Foundation it raises money to recognize heroic men and women who stand up to oppression in their pursuit of human rights throughout the world.

We got to mingle with “famous” people and chow down on some gorgeous eats all in the luxury of the Kennedy house/patio/party tent.

We met Ethel Kennedy whom I would best describe as a gregarious firecracker of a woman. She made us feel right at home even though we’d never met her before. Apparently she met her late husband Robert Kennedy while she was skiing just outside of Montreal. She was excited when we told her we were from Canada and mentioned how much she loves the country. Apparently part of her family is buried here. The entire time she was talking to us she was rubbing my back…just an indication of how informal and warm they are. The whole family was experts at greeting and making conversation with someone they had never met. That is a skill I’d love to have.

Most of the great grandchildren ran around as they liked, scraggly and dressed in whatever, running around amongst the sharply dressed well heeled types that were there. The four big dogs managed to act like they owned the place as well, happy to squeeze in and out of the crowd and caterers, or sit by a chair during the meal and beg.

My “big” famous person of the evening was Scott Wolf. For those of you who used to watch Party of Five he was the ultra amazingly cute Bailey. I had such a huge crush on that guy for years that I wanted to name my dog after him. ( I don’t have kids…otherwise it would have been my first born).

As we were getting our name tags at the entrance to the Kennedy house I glanced over and saw this guy…so cute…and I thought…OMG!!! That’s Bailey! I was so excited I just turned to the person next to me and said, “ Hey…that’s Bailey!” The fact that I didn’t know that person didn’t matter.

Later I caught up with my husband and wanted to tell him all about my star sighting. We were making our way out to the party tent to find our table I was gushing that I’d seen “Bailey, Bailey Bailey” and was describing how he looked just like he did on TV…hadn’t changed one bit. As I was walking on the grass in my high heeled shoes my heels sunk into the moist mud which made walking gracefully very difficult. I had to watch my footing and glance behind me as I almost fell backwards. As I glanced behind to ensure I didn’t fall on someone who was there? yep…Bailey! Okay, it’s not Bailey, it’s Scott Wolf, but for me he was still Bailey. I was hopeful that the noise of the crowd had made it impossible for him to hear me going on about him. I did a casual, “oh it’s you” look and smile and he smiled back! Yep…his smile is stunning…just stunning. What is it with Hollywood smiles? They must have fantastic dentists out there. Anyhow…enough about me going on and on about this. It turns out his table was right next to ours and I managed to sit facing him all evening, so by the end of the night my star struck feelings had worn off a bit.

Later in the evening as we were waiting in line to use the guest washroom also know as the shrine since it is full of photos and memorabilia, who should be there but Scott Wolf and his wife, Kelly. Oh yeah…did I forget to mention he is married to a totally beautiful young knock-out blond? Anyhow…if you can believe it they didn’t have a ride back to their hotel. So some conversation ensued and we offered to try to get the van we had come in to drive them back to their hotel. Since we came as a group it wasn’t easy finding the person who had the keys. During the time my husband went looking for the other members of our group I had to suffer through talking to Scott. Ah…more like dream through it …

It was funny since we were talking for a while before he offered me his hand and introduced himself. After I introduced myself I said, “Yeah…I know who you are.” But that was it. He was lovely to talk to, gorgeous to look at, and a very polite gentleman when they left. It turns out their hotel shuttle arrived to pick them up. I figured it was just as well since there would have been four of us…not exactly the romantic adventure I had thought about all those years ago.

There was other stuff that happened at the tournament…my husband played golf for the first time. Bill Murray was playing at the same time as him, but with Ethel Kennedy. Apparently she is quite good at golf.

The ladies went into Chatham shopping for the day while the men played golf. But everything else seemed rather anti-climactic after my encounter with Bailey. Strange how seeing someone on TV for so many years makes you think you know them, or want to know them.

Now if I were ever to meet Olivier Martinez I’m really hoping his ride doesn’t show up.

If you want to see some photos from the event check out the slide show below.

Kennedy Memorial 2007 & Boston Visit

Family Love Home Dec Project and Album

I made this cute album that looks great sitting out on a table top or mantle with 3 of the Tailored PDQ papers, the PDQ apple chipboard letters and shapes, Bo Bunny chipboard book covers and assorted embellishments. It was so quick and I think the colors will work perfectly with loads of household interiors.

I literally traced the chipboard pages onto my PDQ paper and then cut them out and glued them on. That took all of maybe 15 minutes. I did ink the edges in black. After that I had fun adding all of the embellishments. I punched the holes though and tied it with some yarn.

These mini albums make such great gifts for Christmas...here's hoping my sister doesn't check this out before Christmas otherwise her gift is already opened : )

 

New Mini Remembrance Album Project

Bisous PDQ Regal Preview Coming Sept 2007!

Tropical PDQ Sept 2007 Preview