Picture Day

Today turned into Picture Satuday.
Monkey and I are hanging out at Mom's for the weekend. With everyone being gone and Mom still not feel too well, it made sense to stay with her.
I pulled out my camera so I could join in the photo challenge at weScrap; I didn't put it down for over an hour. I decided to play with the manual settings of my camera. It's about time I learn how to use it. I am pretty pleased with most of the pictures I got. Some were stinkers, but here are a few I really like:
Monkey and I played around with the chrome on Dad's truck bumper. I digitally removed the colours other than for Monkey and I.

I know I did something wrong with this one. It's over exposed. And yet for some reason, I like it. A lot.

Here's Monkey and I playing with his reflection in the garage door window. The red car is actually inside the garage and Monkey's outside on the grass. I don't like how it kinda looks like a flash in the window. I didn't use a flash. I caught Dad's motorcycle mirror in the shot.

I just thought this was a pretty picture of Kitty. He was getting a little annoyed with me following him around.

I had been trying to get Monkey to smell the flowers. I was unsuccussful, so Mom jumped in. I don't think she wanted to be photographed, but I think it turned out lovely.

This is the front of Mom and Dad's house. I love the rays of sun caught in the window. This was taken to be part of the photo challenge.

This is the other shot I took for the photo challenge. Mom's complaint? I didn't wait until she had plants in her pots.

I had fun; I learnt; and I had to clear my memory card once; and I drained two sets of batteries.

Until next time....

5 Sickie Faves

Happy Friday!

I've been sick with the flu for a few days now. So let me start of this week's faves with:

1. Tylenol Cold & Flu meds have been a must have over these last few days. They keep me upright.
2. Tetley Peppermint Tea. Oh, how I love tea when I'm not feeling well. Peppermint tea being my fave.3. Popcorn is a fave snack in this household. Everyone loves it. I don't like my popcorn soaked in butter. I like a light buttery taste and found that Orville Smart Pop is the perfect microwavable popcorn for me.

4. Water, water and more water. I drink water daily, but when I'm not feeling well, I drink more. You need fluids when sick, right. Water is calorie free, goes down easily and is free when it comes from the tap.

5. Little boys who let their sick mother play dress up. I love my son!

And now I must go pack. Monkey and I are spending the weekend with my mother. My dad and sister are gone for the weekend; and Steve's going to play paintball this weekend. Mom and I decided to spend our alone weekend together.

Until next time...

Please Donate

I am collecting funds to be given to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.

If you can help in any way, please donate through the PayPal button. Any amount is greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Murder???

Over at weScrap there's a super fun Murder Mystery game going on. The winners will be annouced at the end of a chat with Laura Childs herself!


You have until June 6th to sign up. Come join in on the fun!!!

Somebody Pinch Me!

Oh my Heavens! Check it out!
I can't believe I won that awesome book!

Friday? Seriously?

Is it Friday already? Short weeks throw me off. I'm not used to having Steve around for full two day weekends let alone three day ones. It threw off my whole week. But I'm not complaining. I love getting to spend time with my family.

On to the faves!

1. BBQ Chicken. It's so good! One of my favorites. I try not to eat the crispy, yummy skin anymore; but sometimes a bite doesn't hurt. What we're supposed to be having for dinner tonight. It looks like it might rain. I wonder if mom will throw dad out to BBQ the chickens anyway. The chickens need to be cooked today.

2. Banana Boat's tear free sunscreen. Perfect for wiggling babies and toodlers; or if said babies and toddlers rub their eyes with freshly sunscreen protected hands.

3. My black American Eagle ballet flats. I got them last year. They are, by far, my favourite pair of shoes. I want to get another pair to put away for when my current ones bite the dust. They're cute and super comfy.

4. This washing machine. You know you're old when you get excited about a washing machine! I not only love the beautiful, bright red of this machine, but it is supposed to be quiet. My washer is so darn loud once it hits the final spin. We can't hear each other over it. Drives me crazy.

5. Jon & Kate Plus 8. I love this show. I think the kids are adorable. I feel a little sorry that the press is in their face right now. Whether the rumours are true or not; I don't think the world has a right to know every bit of information about them. But I feel that way about everyone the press and paparazzi hounds. I do hope whatever happens to the Gosselin family, the kids do not suffer.

Until next time...

Canadian Scrapbooker, Summer 2009

Found this in my mailbox today.



My layout is on page 54. The bottle cap on my son's face is supposed to be on the top corner of the picture. It must have moved. No big deal. I'm just excited. This is my second magazine publication.

Free Iced Coffee?

I'm there!

Today, Tim Horton's across the nation are giving away a small iced coffee to each customer for free! Awesome. I am so getting one. I don't care if it sucks. It's free. I love free stuff!



This is what I'm getting....

This is what I would really like...



A Starbuck's Cinnamon Dolce Latte.

I just learnt that it comes in frappuccino form too...

Hmmm...Yummy! I don't even want to know the calories that are in that one. Thank goodness the closest Starbucks is about 45 mins away. Too far to go just for a calorie overloaded cold coffee drink.

Until next time...

**Edited***

Tim Horton's iced coffees suck. So glad I didn't pay for it. It's tastes like slightly coffee flavoured milk. The ice cubes help it taste like watered down slightly coffee flavoured milk. Ewww...I did say I didn't care if they did suck before. And now I know.

Also, our local McDonald's was also giving out free iced coffees today. I don't know if any others were. I was going to stop to try their's too; but I forgot to. That's what happens when you have a tired, timbit filled toddler in the back seat.

New Layouts

Just have a few layouts and such to share today.

First up is a shadow box I made. I did it for a challege I posted at weScrap this morning. I love all the yumminess that Sassafras Lass' Vintage Yummy had to offer.

I didn't think I had enough scraps to make another layout with my weScrap May kit, but check it out...I did! That's Monkey and my sister. The two of them are always stuck to each other like glue. Not in the kit: Prima flowers.

And lastly, a layout I absolutely love to bits! This was based on a sketch from So Sketchy. I love, love, love the new paper whimsies from Sassafras Lass. They layer, they curl, they bend, they look great piled on top of each other. Oh, how I hope they come out with more and more and more of these wonderful little whimsies! And check out that packaging tape (the yellow strip)...How cool is it? I got it a while ago in a Bad Girls kit (I don't remember which one). I don't remember using it up until a few weeks ago. Love it now!

Until next time....

So Sad...

This morning I recieved some sad news. Bad Girls Kits will no longer be offering kits the way I've come to know. Wendy, the owner of the company, has decided to make her kits more limited so she can offer special vintage pieces to her kits. She wishes to offer art more than merely scrapbooking.
I completely understand her reasoning. Her company was no longer making her happy the way it is right now.
I have been a Bad Girl subber since November 2007. Many of you know that is the month I started scrapping too. One of my very first layouts was made with that November kit. I credit a lot of my growth in this art form to Wendy, her wonderfully talented design team (a dream team, really!) and the awesome online family. There were so many talented women there whom I have come to look up to and admire. Wanting to be like them has gotten me to where I am today. I am deeply honoured to have been a part of it all. I have met some wonderful ladies. I love them all!! I will also miss it all very much.
I will miss recieving my beautiful kits each month.

weScrap May Kit

I got my first weScrap kit last week. I meant to get everything posted yesterday, but due to a mystery illness I didn't bother until today. I woke up yesterday feeling fine. As the morning went on I felt worse and worse. I ended up back in bed for most of the day. I'm not feeling 100% today, but better than yesterday. I'm upright and that's all that matters.

On to my kit layouts!

This is a 12x12 of my best friend and her live-in (hopefully-soon-to-be husband). Everything is from the kit.
I coloured and handcut these precious little birdies from one of the journaling cards from the kit.

She's Daddy's only girl. That's Steve's little princess from another relationship. The very first layout I have created using one of her pictures. I need to do more. She and her brother are a big part of our family too. Not in the kit: Prima Center Kisses (heart) and Doodlebug gems.

Me right now; 27 years-old. Not in kit: Glimmer Mist in Black Gold.

My project done with the kit; a garbage can for my desk. I've been using an ugly, old coffee tin as a scrap garbage can for about a year now. I knew I wanted to alter it, but never got around it doing so. The Jenni Bowlin papers in the kit are so gorgeous, I decided they needed to be on my desk all the time. Not in the kit: Eyelets (the eyelets were yellow, green and orange. I didn't have any small black ones. So I painted the ones I did have on hand.)
Another side to the garbage can.
See...It's a garbage can! I can get about three to four project garbage stuffed into this little can before I have to empty it. Works great. And now it looks great too.

Until next time....

Old Goodies

I want one of these!!! Or maybe a few of them...Wouldn't it be an awesome base for some mix media art? I love it! On a walk yesterday, I saw an old window just sitting on someone's porch. The bad part of me wanted to grab it and run off. But I'm not a thief. I know it's wrong. So I just daydreamed about it and all the crafty fun I could have with it.
I do have an old screen in a wooden frame I picked up at the Salvation Army. I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, but I do know it will hang on my wall someday. It was too cool not to pick up. And at $0.50, it was a steal!!! I also picked up vintage, un-used index cards for $0.25. They're going to be an alphabet book someday when I find the perfect paper.
Until next time...

It's Friday!

I actually had to double check my calendar this morning because it, for whatever reason, does not feel like a Friday to me. It feels mid-week. Even though I know it's Friday because I watched Hell's Kitchen last night. In case you didn't watch it and will be watching it, I won't tell you who won. And if you wanted to know...Google it! That's what I've been doing with American Idol. Haven't been able to watch for two or three weeks now. Hopefully I'll have time to watch the finale next week.

On to my faves...

1. This bistro set. Steve and I saw it at Zehrs last night for $150. It's just the right size for our deck with enough room for two more plastic (or maybe wooden if we can find some to match) and a small charcoal BBQ. We're seriously thinking about this one. Home Hardware has the same one on sale for $99!

2. Sassafas Lass felties. I think I've said this one before, but I finally have my greedy paws on them and love, love, love them!!! I'm sorry I didn't buy more than one pack of each now. Same with the brads. Wish I bought three or four packs of them all, but I don't have the money to do so now. I'll save up a little. Adorable! If you haven't bought any yet...Run to the store right now! You'll fall in love with these fuzzy guys. I should try my hand at making some....

1. This Polaroid printer is for cell phones! It has Bluetooth tech so you can print you cell pictures off onto wallet sized prints. Adorable! I want one of these for my laptop so I can print off a cute, small print whenever I want.

4. Lime green decor. I don't know why, but I am loving lime green more and more. I love it with bright colours, I love it with dark colours; I just love it! Wouldn't bright lime green cushons look cute on the bistro chairs I like? I think so.

5. My new do! I finally chopped off my hair. It was so long I couldn't do anything with it anymore other than put it in a ponytail. I donated the cut off part to Angel Hair for Kids. I love being able to straighten my wavey locks again. It's the perfect length for summer. Short enough to leave down, long enough to put up. My mother thinks I look like my sister in this picture. I'm the older one, so wouldn't she look like me? That's what Steve said. I think my nose looks big in the picture.

Until next time...

Layouts!

This last weekend, we finally went away for a couple of days. First time in a while. We went down to Stoney Creek to be surprise guests at Steve's father's birthday dinner. The look on his face was priceless! He was so happy to see us. And we had a wonderful time. With the nicer weather, we will have to make a point of going down there more often.

I have a couple of layouts I can now share.

This one was for the Wescrap May newsletter. I was one of three who had to use a sketch. I played with the colour a lot on this one. The splat-like, swirly paper from Glitz used to have hot pink on it. I coloured the pink red with a Bic marker. I also turned the pink on the other paper red with my Bic too. BTW: those are the best stars I have ever doodled!
I did this layout as part of my application for the guest spot on So Sketchy. I've had these pictures since March when Monkey first got his Leap Frog toy. I love the Prima Mommy & Me line. The yellow around the layout is from that line. I cut out the center though. The center of that paper, although lined, was not as white as I wanted it to be. I cut off the yellow and placed it on some Scenic Route lined paper. The letter paper is also Scenic Route.

My family is sure getting a kick out of my "Secret Confessions." They're super fun to do. My mother laughed so hard when I showed her this one. I have had this Glitz paper forever. I bought almost the whole line when it was new on the shelves. I loved it and thought it would be perfect for Monkey. I used some of it in a mini album and haven't touched the rest. This layout was also part of my application for So Sketchy. And yes, I did take that picture of the Smarties box. I placed it on one of our plates (yes, our plates are gray; and our mugs are lime green...I picked them!), put the plate on the stove top, turned on the stove light and turned off my flash. Perfect lighting!

And now I am awaiting my first kit to come from WeScrap. The last kit was a little messed up with it's reveal (techie problems, I believe), so my awaited kit, techically the May kit, is in the store already. It's full of yummy, yummy Jenni Bowlin! Check it out here. June's kit should be revealed at the right time, I think.

Not this week; Next week...

No Fave Five Friday here today. I'm just not feeling up to it this week. Check back next week.

This past week (since last Friday) has been a little crazy. Looking back at the week, I think I'm old and silly to have been worn out so much. But I have been. And it's not stopping. We have a full weekend planned and I have some work to do next week.

But as much as I complain; I truly enjoy being busy. And next week I am cleaning out and organizing all the closets. It's a big task to take on. But they need it. All our closets are just stuffed with junk. With a little cleaning out, organizing and storing wisely I am positive I can reclaim those darn closets. We must remember we own the closets; they don't own us.

And now I am going to take my lovely vanilla flavoured coffee over to my desk where I am going to play with my lovely prize from Tara. I ~heart~ the new Chatterbox goodies! So darn pretty. A line I didn't think I could use, but now love it to pieces.

Until next time...

Guest Spot!

I'm going to be the June Guest Designer at So Sketchy!
I am so excited and honoured!!! Thank you, Ally!!!!!

Whoo Hoo!

I won a year sub to Scrapbooking & Cards Today!

http://www.creativecraftsandstickers.com/blog/2009/05/04/nsd-winner/

New Look?

I need to change my banner...The snow is long and gone. I'm just a little lazy.
I would like to give my blog a cool new look too. I'm so tech challenged...Let's hope I can come up with something.

Post NSD

Although I got no scrappy time in yesterday, NSD was a blast! I enjoyed poking in on the boards and seeing all the fun going around. Lots and lots of wonderful creations from the challenges over at WeScrap and crazy fun threads going on at Bad Girls.

Now that I have my challenges for NSD posted (as of yesterday) I can share my samples here.

My first challenge was a magazine challenge. I bought this magazine back in the fall because I loved the colours and the style of the cover and was really inspired by it. I finally pulled it back out and used it.
And here's my layout.

I love that little frame! I bought it for a dollar at Micheal's. It was bright blue. It took many coats of white to cover it. The couple in the picture is Steve's step sister and her boyfriend. Such a beautiful couple!

I've been playing with fabric more and more lately. I decided to post a fabric challenge as well. For this layout, I hand stitched my fabric first and then glued it down to my page.

And the next project I have to share is my second entry for the tote bag challenge at Bad Girls. I loved this kit so much! I also loved the stickers in the kit. I knew what I wanted to do with them right away. Using the Sassafras stickers, Sassafras paper (all but the butterfly paper, that's Amercian Crafts..too cute not to use!) and Sassafras paper whimsies I created a mini book of "vintage" Steve and I. It's not complete yet. I want to fill it in with facts from our parents.

Until next time...

Fave Friday - NSD

In honour of NSD (National Scrapbooking Day), my faves are all scrap product related this week.

1. Die cut paper. I have a serious love of die cut papers. I don't like cutting them up much. I like using the odd shaped papers as my background. They're just too fun!
2. Vintage Yummy by Sassafras Lass. Everyone who knows me, knows I ~heart~ Sassafras. They're by far my fave company. I, however, wasn't sold on Vintage Yummy. Yes, it looked beautiful. Yes, there's a market out there for it. But I wasn't sure it was for me. Until I got some in my hands. It's too perfect not to use! I've already used up most of what I got. I love it!

3. The new Sprout line from Crate Paper. Okay...I am loving all of Crate Paper's lines lately. This one is adorable! I think it's a baby line, but I can see spring or fall layouts out of it.

4. Prima pebbles. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!!!!! I got my hands on these froggie ones. Oh, they're going to be hard not to hoard! Too cute. Way too cute!

5. Daisy Bucket Design's My Little Monster line. Look at these sweet, little monsters! I want to do a mix media canvas staring these guys for Monkey's room so badly!

Until next time....