Jackie's Stuff

Another week as gone by.

2012-01-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

Yeppers, that's right, another week has past us by and I forgot to make any posts. LOL
I am just not doing very good am I. Well I bit the bullet and dropped Farmville.. it was just eating up too much of my time. I was spending every single available minute of my time playing farmville and not doing anything else so it was time to put the brakes on.

Here is my updated Month long challenge layout. It is starting to fill up and we still have 10 days to go with it.. it is gonna be pretty full by the time I am finished with it LOL.

Month long challenge

2012-01-13T13:50:00.000-08:00

Yes that's right, we are doing a month long challenge. Everyday Colleen gives us a new step to add to our layout. It is actually fun, wondering what it is going to look like when it is finished. As I said each day we get a new item or technique to add to the layout. At the end of the week, this list is deleted and the first of the week we start fresh so we better have the items written down or have them done. I can't list the first weeks because that wouldn't be fair because they have already been deleted, but this is this week's items so far:(I will delete these at the end of the week.)

This is how my layout looks so far:

I haven't had time to do anything else to this layout yet but I have a couple more items I need to add to it.

Such a Sad State of Affairs

2012-01-11T18:09:00.000-08:00

I honestly thought I would start the new year off better than I did. I had planned that I would blog at least every other day if not every day. I sure fell short of that plan didn't I!

The last months of last year were not good for me, I fell into a depression that I couldn't pull myself out of no matter what I did. I didn't want to scrap, I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't even want to work and I love my job. However I did manage to pull/drag myself through it.

Hence my blog went thoroughly neglected. I will try to do better this year.. try being the key word here.

We had a wonderful Christmas with the grand children. Of course we had to spoil them.. now I have to start thinking of how to spoil them this year. LOL New Years Eve was rung in quietly here at home playing Farmville..what else? Farmville is my life these days.. when I am not working I am playing Farmville.

On January 4th I did the unthinkable, at least as far as my cat is concerned, I went and got myself a dog. While I have always owned a cat I have never ever owned a dog. Jack seems like he was meant to be ours. We went to the animal shelter just to look and see what they had but even though the hours on the door said they were supposed to be open, they were locked up tight. Alan suggested we go to K9 Klips, which is a local dog grooming salon. The lady that runs it is a major pet lover and also takes in animals for adoption.. but mostly cats and kittens so I didn't think there was much point in going there. However, Al said well it won't hurt to go and take a look. So we went. Now Mary Ann has this cutest little fluff ball of a dog.. and I got down on the floor to play with it, while I was down there this other dog comes over to me and starts climbing on me and licking me. So, being me, I had to cuddle it for a while. Mary Ann says, he is looking for a good home, just got him in this morning. His owners broke up and she couldn't take him with her. His name is Jack and he is a 7year old Shih Tsu. Two things I said I would NEVER have, a male dog and a Shih Tsu. But I fell instantly in love with him and we brought him home for the night just to see how it would be. It was like he had always lived with us.

Anyway, here is our newest family member.

He is a real joy to have around. It is so nice to come home from work and have him meet me at the door and jump up in my lap as soon as I sit down and snuzzle up to me.

On a more serious note, my oldest grand daughter got bitten by a dog just after Christmas. It looked pretty bad for a while but thank goodness.. no Thank God it healed up very very well. She was on a liquid diet for a week and had no movement in her lips at all. The inside of her bottom lip was nothing but pulp. We were expecting her to need reconstructive surgery but prayer intervened and it healed quite nicely. Only a fine scar marks her top lip.

Colleen and I are responsible for the challenges over at the Sisterhood for the months of January and February. We have quite the list prepared to keep the gals motivated and scrapping. Colleen is doing January's challenges.

For the first week she posted three challenges.

January 3, 1967 --A patent for an apparatus for solar cooling and heating a house was received by Harry Thomason. For this challenge let's think about something warm and sunny. Please use on your layout something yellow and bright.
Of course since yellow is my favourite colour this one was easy for me to do.

January 4, 1972 Willy Wonka's trademark was registered. So in honor of Willy Wonka, let's see lots of chocolate colored papers.
Who doesn't love chocolate.. another easy one LOL

January 4, 1643--Isaac Newton was a noted physicist, mathematician, and astronomer, who invented a telescope. Let's see some dates and/or numbers on your layout or card.
This one was more difficult for me because I have a hard time using numbers on a layout.

Week 2
January 7, 1913 Patent #1, 049,667 was granted to William Burton for the manufacture of gasoline. Instead of doing a layout or a card, this time make a tag. It could be an arch tag, square tag, doesn't really matter but on this tag you need to have a car or truck.

January 15, 1861 E.G. Otis was issued patent #31,128 for "improvement in hoisting apparatus" (safety elevator). For this layout, please show some movement.
The little bug thingy on the bottom of the layout moves across the page.

January 16, 1984, Jim Henson's copyright claim on "Kermit, the Muppet" was renewed. In honor of Kermit, let's see some animals on your layout or card.
I think a frog is in keeping with Kermit LOL

This is all for the time being. There will be more challenges next week. Most likely more Jack pictures.. Missi is starting to accept him so maybe get some pictures of her actually close to him LOL

I am still around.. yes Honesly I am!

2011-08-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Wowsers!!! It has been a long time since I have posted anything. Truth be told it has been a long time since I have felt like doing anything. Depression has claimed my life once again.

To those of you whose blogs I have been following, I am so sorry that I have not been to visit you lately, I will try to get around to doing some visiting soon.

Today I was reminded that part of my duties on the Sketches:Creatively Yohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifurs is to post my designs each week as the sketches are posted to their blog and I have been very remiss in doing this since June :(

I am going to try to play catch up now.
We are starting with July 2 and this fabulous sketch.

This is Theresa and Donald at their school concert.

Next up is July 8th and this awesome layout:

I had to create a layout using these photos of Theresa with her best friends.

July 15th brought us this terrific card sketch:

Of course I needed to create a card for a scrappy friend and this sketch was just perfect for that.

I love this sketch from July 22nd...

It was just perfect for this shot of Donald and Theresa with their friend.

On to the month of August...
August 5th..

Our darling Smanth graduating from junior kindergarten.. she is soooo proud of everything she has learned.

August 12th.. and now I am all caught up :)

There is nothing Isaac loves to do more than fish.. unless it is to annoy his mother LOL

Don't forget to head on over to SCY to check out what the rest of the DT has done.. awesome work happening over there.. great inspiration.

S:CY Reveal

2011-06-24T08:45:00.000-07:00

Another gorgeous sketch to reveal today.

I love this photo of Theresa that Janet snapped of her while she was distracted with the television.. she has such an intense look on her face

Hop on over to Sketches:Creatively Yours to see what the other designers have done with this sketch.. amazing work!!!!

Typically Me!!

2011-06-16T20:46:00.001-07:00

I honestly don't know why I keep this blog, I never think of updating it until I have neglected it for weeks at a time. It is not like I have a gazillion followers or anything. I am not sharing any amazing news or hot secrets. But yet I still occassionally pop on over here and write a few words and post any layouts I have created since the last post.

I am responsible for the Saturday Card Challenges this month at SOS.
My first saturday I chose a shadowbox card.

The second saturday I did a Gatefold Card with a twist.

This one was for the first June challenge.. to create an Arch card.

Created for June Challenge #2-Engagement Ring

June Challenge #3-Dress Shopping..I love this little card. You wind up the flower before putting the card in the envelope and then when they take it out of the envelope the flower spins.

created for June Challenge #4-Looking at your reflection. Another one that I really like.. the hello spins across the card.

Challenge 5-The Cake

Challenge #7-Bridesmaid Dresses

Challenge #8- The Tux

Challenge 9-Guest Book

Challenge 10-The beautiful day

Challenge 11-The Music

Challenge 12-Here comes the bride

Created for Challenge Monday - June 13th

I am missing challenge #4,I am hoping to get to that one tomorrow night.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, today is reveal day for Sketches:Creatively Yours.
We had this awesome card sketch to work with:

And this is the card I created for my Best Friend. I create all her cards for her.

I also missed the last reveal of a truelly awesome sketch from Ali..

This is the layout I created for that sketch.

Oh my gosh, I just realized I missed another reveal.. June 2..

I gotta start trying to stay on top of things better.

You should hop on over there and check out what the rest of the DT created.. you will gets lots of great inspiration.

Oh Dear Me!!!

2011-06-02T01:53:00.000-07:00

I am so far behind!!!
I lost my mojo for most of the month of May and had no interest in anything. Well that's not quite true, I was very interested in sleeping.
I missed posting the SCY reveal on Friday... tsk tsk tsk... that was not very good of me, doesn't make for a good DT member. :(
I will post it now, This is the sketch that Ali gave us to work with:

This is the layout I created from that sketch.

I also missed posting the reveal for the card sketch:

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This is the card I created from that sketch:

Sketches:Creatively Yours has a special guest designer this month... Lain Ehmann, so head on over there and check it out.

I also did a digital layout just for the fun of it.

Here is another one I did for a challenge but I can't remember what challenge I did it for LOL.

S:CY Reveal and others

2011-05-14T10:50:00.000-07:00

It is time for another Sketches Creatively Yours reveal. Another beautiful sketch from the talented Ali was a delight to work with.
This is the sketch we were given to work with.

This is the layout I came up with. I was amazed at how close this dragonfly allowed me to get to him.

WeScrap had a Favourites Thing Crop with a Blog Hop. Each blog had a different challenge. I really enjoyed doing those challenges. Now I am not posting these in the order in which the blog hop went because I can't remember the order LOL.

WeScrap Kits Blog - sketch challenge..Here is the sketch.

For this one I used digi papers from Digtal Diva Designs, Raging Seas.

Victoria Lau - fav photo challenge.. I just had to use this photo of my mother taken when we were camping at Fanshawe Park. It is the essence of my mom. She was so fun loving. She said she didn't like camping yet she loved the week she spent with us, she said it wasn't camping because we were in a camper.

Sue Sykes - fav things today challenge..I created a digi.. Yeah!!!
I used all paper and elements from Ikea Godess

Allison Cope - colour challenge... light blue, red and grass green.

Jennifer Benoit - fav medium challenge..I used Glossy Accents

Sarah Nolan - fav embellies challenge, for this one we were to use our favourite embellies.. I used brads and buttons. I also used digi papers from 2Peas, Anne-Lanpa's Citrus Freeze.

Bev Code - Tic Tac Toe challenge

I also did a layout for a layout tag challenge at Sisterhood of Scrap but I can't show you that one yet because they haven't had the big reveal. :)

Happy Anniversary and others

2011-05-05T21:28:00.000-07:00

Today is reveal day at Sketches:Creatively Yours.
another fabulous sketch from the very talented Ali.

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I used an old family photo of my Mother's sister on her anniversary to create this layout.

You should take a trip over to SCY to take a peek at the eye candy from the rest of the DT, they really knocked this sketch out of the park!

I have also been doing a couple of challenges for SOS and WeScrap.
This was a challenge to use green as the background for either a layout or a card, I choose to do a card.

Challenge #4 was to use pattern paper with flowers as a background, I also combined this one with the colour palette challenge from WeScrap. Here is the colour pallete.

I used a photo of my oldest neice with her three children for this layout. The green flower was made using a bunch of hearts and the other big flower I cut from the cover of one of my paper pads.

Challenge #3 was to use flower punches either for the flowers or for a flower border, I used both.
This is a photo of my DD and her cousin when they were about 4 or 5.. give or take a few months. The large flowers are from the dollar store and the smaller ones were made with the MS cosmos punch.

For Challenge #1 we were to take the colour of our favourite flower and use it for the basis of our layout. Since all flowers are my favourites, I just closed my eyes and picked a colour.. Pink was the colour that I picked. This is the layout that I created for it.

Lots more to come.

Canatara Park

2011-05-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

I am now officially another year older. I don't think my family knows about it though, at least none of them mentioned it anyway. I did think my daughter would phone but the phone for once remained quiet all day. My boss gave me a card with a humongeous gift enclosed.. I was surprised that she even knew when my birthday was much less to remember it.. but the gift just floored me. My brother and his wife came for a birthday visit yesterday and I really enjoyed that. I have recieved numerous wishes from my online friends.. couldn't even count those all up there are just too many to count and I am holding them all dear to my heart.

Today I managed to drag myself away from Garden's of Time long enough to create a layout. I combined a challenge from WeScrap with a challenge from Sisterhood. The challenge from WeScrap was a sketch challenge and the one from Sisterhood was to use more than five flowers. Here is the sketch we were to use. Isn't it just a fabulous sketch? It is by Beecee.

This is what I came up with. I fussy cut the flowers and I made the larger flower at the bottom using a tutorial that Colleen gave us on Sisterhood. The center is from BoBunny, a package that I recieved in a RAK from Helen. The flower was so easy to make I will be making many more of these.

This is May-The Month of Flowers over at the Sisterhood so you will be seeing a lot more challenges with flowers this month.. Stay Tuned.

May 1st, a New Month

2011-05-01T18:18:00.000-07:00

Here it is a new month and I haven't finished posting my challenges for April yet. TSK TSK TSK.. shame on me. I have to admit that the new game "Gardens of Time" on Facebook as pretty much taken over my life. That is one addicting game to say the least about it. I am hooked, hook, line and sinker. I can't get enough of it. I am to the point where I am adding people to my friends list just to get neighbours, have no idea who they are, just know they play the game and will be neighbours. I know, it has me in a tailspin.

Oh but I was going to post my challenges from last month.. let's get on with that shall we before I become a year older.
These are all challenges from WeScrap.
This first layout was completed for Sketchy Saturday April 23rd. I loved this sketch and can see me using it over and over again.

To the best of my knowledge this is the only photo of the brother who died before I was born. He lived til he was 9 years old.

The next challenge was Sue's April sketch challenge. Here is the sketch she gave us.

This was my grand daughter when she stayed with me a couple of weekends ago, she was very busy scrapbooking.

Next up was Ally's April Challenge: Let's Fly Away. This one required we do a card with an image of something with wings.

May is looking to be a fabulous month at the Sisterhood, some challenges have already been posted and its going to be a flowery month to be sure. I think I am going to making lots of flowers this month. Stay tuned, if I can pull myself away from the garden long enough I will be doing some creating with flowers. :)

Reveal time

2011-04-21T21:17:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, it is reveal time over at Sketches:Creatively Yours. If you haven't dropped over there yet to check out Ali's sketches, well then what are you waiting for? She does awesome handdrawn sketches and the DT just knocks them out of the park. If you are looking for inspiration, look no farther than SCY. SCY has a surprise on the blog this week.. nope.. not gonna tell you what it is, you gotta go see for yourself.

This is the sketch we had to work with this week.

I just had to scrap this picture of my youngest grandson rearranging my cupboards.

Caught Up for now

2011-04-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

I finished that double Pager I was talking about. I used a sketch from Sketch Support. I managed to get a lot of pictures on these two pages. These are photos that I took a couple of summers ago in Canatara Park in Sarnia.

Monday's challenge at SOS was to use a photo without people or animals and to use mainly two colours. The photo without people or animals was easy enough since I have a gazillion nature photos. I was hard put to do it with just two main colours though but I finally came up with these papers. I also combined that challenge with the saturday sketch challenge from WeScrap. Here is the sketch.

Here is my interpretation of that sketch.

Sarah's April colour challenge was also posted today at WeScrap so I got right on that one. Here is the pallate she posted.

This is what I did with it.

I am now all caught up on all the challenges, now to get caught up on the DT assignments.

Oh my Goodness

2011-04-17T18:34:00.000-07:00

This has been such a busy month for me. Sisterhood of Scrap is having a birthday party and there is so much happening over there. Challenges are coming out of my wazoo. LOL
I have also been extremely depressed so I have had to fight the depression and make myself scrap and keep going. There have been so many days that I really didn't want to go to work and had to make myself get up and go. I am starting to wonder if it was because I tried to quit smoking that I got depressed or if I am cycling through another stage. Anyway, on to the challenges.

First of all it was reveal day for Sketches Creatively Yours.
Here is the sketch.

And here is my card.

The party at the Sisterhood officially started on April 8th, with a layout challenge and a card challenge.. each day after that had the same thing.

April 8th Layout Challenge {It's A Birthday!} I combined this one with sketchy saturday April 9th at WeScrap. This is the sketch.

April 8th Card Challenge {stamped piecing technique}

April 9th Layout Challenge {Decorating with Felt}

April 9th card Challenge- all wrapped uphttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

April 10th Layout Challenge {Oops, duplicate gifts!} We had to scraplift from the gallery, I choose this one of Carla's.

and this is the one I did. I also combined this one with Jen's April Challenge over at WeScrap.

April 10th Card Challenge {You need a birthday card}

April 11 - Layout Challenge sketch

April 11th Card Challenge {balloon and digi challenge}

April 12 - One Year Older and Another Year to Grow I also combined this one with Bev's Inspiration ITeam Monthly Challenge April at WeScrap.

April 12th Card Challenge {It's All About Cupcakes!}

April 13-All the pretty ribbons Once again I combined with a challenge at WeScrap, this time with Victoria's April Challenge: Photo Challenge.

April 13 Card Challenge - Signs of Spring!
Closed

Open

April 14th Layout Challenge {It's All About Family} I also combined this one with Bev's Mist It Up April Challenge at WeScrap.

April 14th ~Gift Bag of Cards Challenge

April 15th- "Thank You" Card
closed

Open

The April 15th layout challenge is a double pager but I don't have that one done yet.
So far so good.
On saturday April 16th, we had a one hour challenge. This is the sketch we were given and then had one hour to create our layout and post it.

This is the layout I did.

There you have it folks.. stay tuned, I WILL get that double pager done before the end of the month. However, I do have some DT duties that I must attend to.

S:CY Reveal April 8th

2011-04-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

Today is reveal day for Sketches:Creatively Yours. We had an awesome sketch to work with this week.

Here is what I came up with.

Try Try and Try Again!!!

2011-04-06T02:12:00.000-07:00

On March 15th I tried to quit smoking again. This time I made it for two weeks before I buckled. I was able to handle the cravings but I couldn't muddle my way through the depression. Funny thing, all the other times (and there were plenty) I never had the depression, that is the first time I got that. When I reached the point that I was too depressed to go in to work I knew I had to do something and fast, so I bought a pack of smokes and just sat there and smoked them. :(
I will try again, I haven't given up giving up.

I have been busy with my scrapping trying to keep my mind occupied and that worked keeping the cravings at bay.

Sketchy saturday April 2nd at WeScrap gave us this sketch to work with;

I really really love this sketch and all the possibilities. I created the title using SCAL and my Cricut. I also made the flower.

Next I combined two challenges, one from SOS and the other from Scrapbook Heaven. Both challenges were to use a frame on our layout. Once again I used SCAL and the Dividers font to make the frame and I used the Fancy Pants Hot Chocolate paper kit that I won from WeScrap. Love the way it turned out.

SOS is having a pre-birthday Challenge and it is to create a card/layout or project for each letter of APRIL.. These are what I did.

A is for Animal as in Animal Magnet.

P is for Paint as in the paint on the snowflake.

R is for Ribbon as in the ribbon on this card. I love the way my rose turned out. I made this card for a very close friend who has been through a very rough year.

I is for Ink as in the ink I used to stamp the background on this card.

L is for Lace as in the pretty lace on this card.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

I think that took care of the word APRIL very nicely LOL
Now don't forget, SOS will be celebrating its birthday starting on April 8th, it will be a great party so head on over there and start having some fun. Remember that SOS is NOT an online store so it isn't going to be trying to sell you anything, just a great bunch of ladies who are fantastic to hang out with. They are there for you when you need encouragement, when you need a laugh, when you just wanna chat, when you need inspiration, heck they are there for you no matter what it is you need or want LOL

S:CY Reveal

2011-04-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

Good Morning, Happy April Fool's Day to you all.
Nope no pranks today. Today is Reveal day for S:CY so without further ado lets reveal something LOL
Here is the first sketch we were given to work with:

Here is what I did with the sketch; I used Fancy Pants Hot chocolate line of papers on this one. The flowers are Petaloo and the flourish is Maya Road. Ribbon is from The Paper Studio. I used a Fiskar's Punch to punch around the edges of the paper.

This is a very versatile sketch and I loved working with it.

All That!

2011-03-29T19:55:00.000-07:00

Janet was playing with her new flash and sent me a bunch of photos so of course I had to take advantage and scrap. Also it was Sketchy Saturday at WeScrap on saturday and I had to do that sketch, I was just itching to get at it but I had to work both Sunday and Monday and after work I wasn't in any scrapping mood.
Here is the sketch that was posted

And here is what I did.. I used MME's Good Day Sunshine papers. I made the flowers myself.

Saddle Up!!

2011-03-25T17:49:00.001-07:00

Yeppers, still working with horse pictures. Well you know I have tons of them so what did you expect, cat pictures instead? Come to think of it, I have some of those too.
Catching up on some challenges at WeScrap. They were down for a couple of weeks so wasn't able to do the challenges there (didn't know what they were).
Sketchy Saturday March 12th gave us this sketch to work with.

As you can see by now, I love the Toy Box collection of papers from Crate Paper. I used it to create this layout of Daniel when he was much younger.

Fleur's March challenge was to create a layout about a sport or an event. I was hard put to come up with something for this challenge until I remembered I had these photos from Donald's track meet last year. Once again I used the Toy Box collection from Crate Paper. I also used a sketch from Sketch Support.

Next up was Sarah's colour Challenge. This is the palette we had to work with. A lot of papers are using these colours.

This is what I came up with.

I also recently applied for the DT at WeScrap, obviously I fell short of their expectations.. here are the two layouts that I had created especially for that application.

They still haven't announced their new DT but one girl has announced on her blog that she made it so obviously they have already contacted the ones they have chosen.
I have never applied to DTs before but I had assumed that they would also contact you to let you know that you didn't meet their requirments, obviously I was wrong on that. I shall look forward to seeing what the new DT has in store for us.

My new Best Friend

2011-03-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

One of my customers raises and races horses. Now I am one of the biggest animal lovers you could ever find. Horses are tops on my list of favourites. I could spend my life with them. He has told me many times that any time I wanted to drop by to see his horses to feel free to do so, so the other day I did just that.

Oh my, I could have spent the entire day there. The horses were so darling. However there was one that I fell in totally in love with. It would seem that he had a "thing" for me too. I held my hand out to him and he gently nibbled it, then he nibbled his way up my sleeve, proceeded to nibble my neck on to my cheek where he nibbled at it. He followed me around and kept nibbling at me everywhere I went. He was a fascinating horse. Huge but so very gentle. You could lose yourself in his eyes. His name is Rocky and he is a Grand Champion.
The March 19th Going Green Layout challenge at Scrapbook Heaven was to use either the word green or the colour green in our title, and the challenge at SOS for Monday March 21st was to scraplift a layout from the gallery. I choose this layout by Carla.

And this is the layout I came up with for both challenges.

March 19th was Saturday sketch challenge at WeScrap, here is the sketch:

This is my take on the sketch.. those are photos my daughter shot while out canoeing the other day.

Ally's March challenge at WeScrap was to use squares as a background. I used a sketch from Sassy lil Sketches for this one. This showcases Stormy and Bo, two more of the fabulous horses.

That's it for now, more to come soon, I have several I need to catch up on.

Yeah, it's the weekend!!!

2011-03-18T18:42:00.000-07:00

Why am I excited, I got to work all weekend! Oh well, at least I have a job that is more than a lot of people can say these days. I have spent the past two days doing what I love.. scrapping of course LOL.

I did a layout for Let's Capture these Sketches, I loved the sketch they had this week so just had to do it. This is a photo taken just a few years ago..this just goes to show how tricky daughters can be, and how naive mothers can be. She says, come on Mom, you can hold it with me, I will be holding it's head. So, I fall for it.. we are holding this gigantic snake and the guy says "oh I forgot something inside the tent, will be right back.. don't let anyone upset the snake".. and off he goes with us standing there holding this thing.. suddenly it dawns on me.. DUH.. I am holding the most dangerous part!!! Now you have to remember.. I am deathly afraid of snakes, how she convinced me to do this I will never know, I think she drugged me or something.

I also did a layout for Scrapbook Heaven's Going Green challenges. I did the March 18th : Going Green: Layout Challenge - 3 R's..- REUSE one or more of your favorite scrapping techniques.
- REDUCE your stash by only using old supplies (older than 3 months)
- RECYCLE some scraps, did deep in your stash and put those scraps to good use. You could also RECYCLE a non-scrappy item on your page.
Everything on my page is older than 3 months, the strips of paper are from my scrap bin.. and I inked my paper, distressed my photo and water distressed my circle.

I also did a layout for Scrappin Mojo. I did the Terri's March sketch challenge. Here is the sketch she provided for us.

And here is what I did with it.

I probably won't get anymore scrapping done now til Monday. But I will be thinking of ideas while I am working LOL

Exciting News!!!

2011-03-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

I have some exciting news to share with you today. I have been chosen for the DT for Sketches:Creatively Yours. I am really looking forward to the next six months creating layouts for the sketches created by the very talented Ali.

Masking Tape adventure

2011-03-16T22:18:00.000-07:00

I decided to do the challenge at Crop Suey. It was to use tape somewhere somehow on your project. Ha HA, I love using tape, especially masking tape, it gives such great texture. I tore it into little bits and stuck it all over my card letting it wrinkle when it wanted to. Then I sprayed it with mist. I was so happy with the way it turned out. I also used this for Going Green Card challenge at Scrapbook Heaven to use Green ribbon on a card.

Leave me a comment and let me know if you have ever tried this technique.

Using up the trash!

2011-03-16T18:26:00.000-07:00

Yeppers, that's what I have been doing. I have been using thrash. LOL
I made this nifty party favour from a toilet paper roll. Isn't this the cutest little thing? So easy to make too and you can put any little thing you want into it. I think they would be great little favours for a little girl's birthday party. A couple of little jewelry trinkets and some candy would be perfect. These were a challenge for the Go Green Event at Scrapbook Heaven.

Another Going Green challenge was to make a little notebook. This is the one I made.

Carla tossed in a challenge to make our own Baker's Twine. I made mine with wool and put it on a card which I made for the March 5th card challenge at SOS.

The March 10th Going Green challenge was to use something unconventional on your layout. I found some wheels from the kids dinky cars in the toy box and thought they were pretty unconventional LOL

The March 12th card challenge at SOS was to use Iris Folding. Wow, that took some patience but I enjoyed it and was pleased with the results.

For the Challenge Monday March 7th, the challenge was to create a layout using two photos with similarities ... Well I used a photo of my eldest brother holding me when I was a baby and then a photo of my two oldest brothers with their wives and me with my husband.

The Challenge Monday March 14th was to use more than two or three lines of journalling. That was pretty easy to do.

Come again soon.. big news coming up. :)

Birthday Party

2011-03-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

The Sisters are having a birthday and you are all invited!!

That’s right, the Sisterhood of Scrap turns 4 in April and we would like to invite you to join in on our Birthday Bash week April 8 – 15.
We will be posting challenges and games all week for your chance to win prizes from our generous sponsors.

So mark your calendars, grab some cake, and come and join in on the fun!!

See you at The Sisterhood April 8th.

Snuggles

2011-03-11T18:43:00.000-08:00

My daughter has this ink black long furred cat that she calls Inkster. He is so loving and cuddly. She snapped this shot of him on one of the many occassions that he has snuggled in for a nap. I created this layout for the sketch challenge at LCOM. Sorry the flash messed up the photo a bit.
Products used:
Basic Grey paper - Curio
Heidi Swap Chrystals
S.E.I. coaster tags..Kitty's Place
Sugar Loaf stamps..Flourishing
Ribbon is unknown

Going Strong!

2011-03-09T18:11:00.000-08:00

Well I thought I had seen it all with my boss but he surprised me on Sunday. As I have stated before, I never work to a schedule. When I leave work, they tell me when I am working again and when I go in to work, they tell me what time I am working til. I have tried to pin them to a schedule but it didn't work out. They were constantly changing it and I was getting crap for not showing up for work because they would change the schedule to have me work on a day before I was scheduled to work again and not let me know about it. Anyway, on Sunday before they left I asked the usual question "What time am I working til?".. and he comes back with "I don't know" You could have knocked me over with a feather. Poor Sophia just started laughing like crazy. I guess he decided he didn't want to have to be home at a set time. Oh well, at least they weren't too late getting home to relieve me.

I finished up the last of the challenges for the march madness at SOS.
March 21st~National Teen-Ager Day,Today we are going to celebrate the Teen years. We have all been one once.
For this challenge you must include a picture of a teen. I would like to see you use Brackets and stickers. Nothing too fancy!

I managed to find this picture of Janet when she was a teenager. She was working for MacDonalds at the time and had just been named Employee of the Month. She had taken her bonus and had gone to the hairdressers and gotten a perm. She was so proud of herself.. and of course I was too. :)

Happy Birthday Harry Houdini!Mar 24th is Harry Houdini's 137th birthday!! So to mark the day, I'd like to challenge you to make a layout with some HIDDEN JOURNALING (tell me you didn't see that coming a mile away!!) Show pics of how and where you've hidden your journaling while keeping the actual journaling hidden.

I love this photo of Samantha showing of her filthy hands. She was playing in the dirt and loving every minute of it. OMG did she get dirty or what!!! I left her alone and let her play to her hearts content.. a little dirt never hurt anyone and she was soooo happy.

I have also been working on a couple of challenges for the Going Green event over at Scrapbook Heaven. I don't think I am very green oriented because I haven't been doing very many of them. I only do those that I have some interest in.
The first one was to create a layout using only items that you have had for at least 6 months or longer. Well that was an easy one for me because most of my product is that old LOL.. yeah I have a few new sheets of paper but not that much.
Here is a photo of my mother with my nephew when he was a baby.. that is an OLD picture.

Next up was to create some Magazine medallions using the tutorial from this site here I'm afraid I didn't make a very good showing with this so I only made the one. If it had turned out better I would have made more of them. It looks to me like her paper was a lot thicker than mine was.

I also did Tara's Brighten Up challenge at WeScrap. Now for this one I dug up some really old scraps of Cosmos Cricket. I never throw out my scraps if they are over an inch wide.. never know when I can use them for something you know LOL

Well that's all for now. I am caught up with all the challenges.. at least the ones I am going to do. Oh yeah, I forgot, I also made a few note cards. I have made four more since I took the picture. I am going to be making somemore cards too.

It's that time!!!

2011-03-06T21:35:00.001-08:00

Yes, that's right, it's that time again!! WeScrap is having a DT call. Do you have what it takes to become a member of the DT at WeScrap? If so head on over there and apply. You will be working with a talented group of ladies.

I have been busy working on challenges as usual. Some day I am going to get a life but until then I will continue to enjoy myself doing what I love haha. Sisterhood of Scrap is having March Madness month and they have come up with some holidays that you wouldn't believe and the challenges to go with them is something else. Scrapbook Heaven is having their "Going Green" month.. their challenges are way out of the box, and WeScrap are having their regular monthly challenges. I still haven't decided which way I like the best.. WeScrap posts their challenges over time throughout the month but the other two posts all their challenges at the beginning of the month. I like being able to pick and choose my challenges but at the same time I enjoy looking forward to the new challenges during the month.

Okay on to the challenges and not necessarily in the order in which they were done either LOL
#1 Did you know that March is Music in your Schools month???
So for this month I want you to create a project (card, layout, atc or altered item) celebrating music. This can be by using music papers, ribbbons, song titles or even lyrics from your favorite songs.

For this one I created a card. I have no idea where this paper came from. I think I got it in a RAK, I am sure I didn't buy it.

#2.March 13 is Buzzards Day. So for Buzzard day this is what your layout needs:
1. Some kind of splatter on it, either paint, mist or ink
2. Feathers
3. One strip of pp
4. One Photo matted
5. A Flower
Now DH told me these were all stretching the limits and I should explain my thoughts, 1. is for when the animal is killed and splattered all over the road, mean buzzard supper. 2. Buzzards have feathers, right? 3. is for the stripe down the middle of the road. 4. One photo matted, the dead animals on top of the road. 5. Rest in peace departed animal.

This is what I came up with.

#3. Did you know that March 9th is PANIC Day!!In honour of this holiday, I want to see a layout or a card or an ATC or an art journal page with what causes you to PANIC!!!!

Well it is no secret that spiders and snakes are my worst enemies LOL

#4. March 19th is National Quilting Day.Quilting is kinda similar to scrapbooking .... instead you're creating with fabric rather than paper. There are so many beautiful patterns out there and so many different ways of arranging those prints.

For this challenge, use paper pieces to create a bigger pattern on a layout. For my sample, I used 12" strips to make a background. As with anything to do with quilting, be sure to use some stitching -- real or faux!

I combined this one with the sketchy saturday march 5th challenge from WeScrap. Here is the sketch.

I also combined it with the March 5th: Going Green: stamp with trash challenge over at Scrapbook Heaven.. got some mileage out of this layout LOL
This is what I came up with.

#5. March 8th is Mardi Gras. Hi girls I chose to celebrate Mardi Gras because I love the glam of it all and who doesn't love beads.
Mardi Gras is Always 46 days before Easter; also known as Fat Tuesday.
For this challenge I want to see you use the Colors: Green,Gold/Yellow,Black, and Purple.
You must also use mist of some sort and something shiny, feathery or glitzy!

This is what I created for this challenge.

#6.March 19th is the first day of spring. First Day of Spring challenge to me says windy days, so that means something flying, I chose a kite but want to see what you come up with. Also green grass starts showing up so your layout should be mostly green and of course the animals like to get outside as well so throw in some kind of animal and you know me, it is going to have to have some flowers as well.

I had fun with this one haha. I also combined this one with Sue's challenge over at WeScrap, it was a sketch challenge and here is her sketch. I'm telling ya, the gals over there can really put together some gorgeous sketches.

#7.March 11 is worship of tools day! can you believe their is a WORSHIP OF TOOLS DAY??!?!?!?!!
Well to celebrate this Day I want you to use your tools!!!!!
USE your stamps, your inks, your border punches...as many as you can!!!!

#8.March 2nd Dr.Suess Birthday. Happy March everyone! To celebrate Dr Suess's (a man I hold partly responsible for my children's love of reading and of goofy words) birthday on the 2nd, I'm challenging you to do a layout using some part of his writings either in the title or the journaling. There are lots of links to find his quotes, but here's a good one to start!
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/search?q=Dr+Suess&commit=find+quotes

#9.March 14th is Albery Einsteins birthday. For this challenge you have some options. Pick one, and create a layout.

You can:
a. create a layout that is about your favorite invention.
b. create a layout about one of the smartest people you know.

#10.Alexander Graham Bell's Bday is March 3...and of course, he is known for inventing the telephone! When I think of using the telephone, I think of 'reaching out' to someone. So to celebrate, I would like you to reach out to someone you know by sending them a card. Ccreate a card - any theme - and then send it to someone.

I am not good at making cards but I came up with this one.

#11.March 13th is Good Samaritan Day. When I think of the "good Samaritan" I think of someone who helps another person or encourages another. So, my challenge is for you to create a card -- it can be a "thank-you card", or a "thinking of you" card.... maybe just an "hello" card to a friend you haven't talked with in a while. Once you make your card, be sure to send it off in the mail and make someone's day :-)

I wanted a plain card for a male but still a nice one, so this is what I came up with.

I think I am going to have to quit this posting only bi-monthly and start posting everytime I do a layout or at least every couple of days .. I am starting to lose track of what I have done. :)

FREE FREE FREE

2011-03-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

That's right, WeScrap is giving away a year's worth of free kits. Hop on over there and check it out.

Misty Morning and others

2011-02-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of February and I have no idea where the month went. Tomorrow starts a fresh month, lets hope it isn't as cold and snowy as this month was. I can't afford another gas bill in the $300 + range. I still can't figure out why they are so high this winter, tripled the bills of the past winters. I even had the furnace guy come and give the furnace a complete go over to make sure there was nothing wrong with it.. still no change in the bills. I am worried because on my pension those are too high for me and I really really don't want to move. :(

I have done a little bit of scrapping but not much. A few challenges for WeScrap. The first one was for the Sketchy saturday, february 6th challenge.
This is the sketch:

This is what I did with it.. I used Hot Chocolate papers.. love love love that stuff.

The next one was for Sketchy saturday february 26th challenge, this is the sketch:

This is what I did for the sketch.

Next up was Tara's Fabric and Frills challenge. I had purchased this piece of lace a long time ago when I was into sewing. It is covered with pearls and sequins.. I just never got around to using and I thought it worked just perfectly on this layout.

As I said, tomorrow starts a whole new month, that means a whole new batch of challenges. With my time cut back so much at the store I have plenty of time to work on them. My biggest challenge is coming up with the photos to scrap.

The Month is Over

2011-02-25T19:26:00.001-08:00

Wow, I can't believe it! This month went by so fast, I blinked and it was gone. While I am happy that it means winter is zipping by I can't help but be bothered by the fact that it also means my life is zipping by as well. I need to slow time down but I don't know how so instead I have to live every minute to it's fullest.

I have finished all the sketches for the "Love, Love Me Do!" Sketch Crop over at Scrapbook Heaven. I also finished the February 19th saturday sketch challenge over at WeScrap. Yesterday and today I have been making flowers. I am quite happy at the way they turned out too. (patting myself on the back) First I followed the tutorials the way they were and then I tried them in different ways. I tried them with UTEE, I tried them with Making Memories glaze and I tried them with glitter. I used a bunch of different tutorials, all from YouTube. Just go to YouTube and type flowers in the search box and you will find a whole whack of them.

Okay so on with the sketches. The first one:Sketch #6, Marcias challenge to use paper tearing and bling.
Here is the sketch:

For this one I used Cosmos Cricket Mitten weather paper, dollar store bling and unknown ribbon.

The next one was Sketch #8 {Michelle: Favorite Things..

I used Magic Mesh, bazzil cardstock, unknown Ribbon,Flowers are BG and Prima,Stickers from the Phrase Cafe, and the stamp from See Ds. Punch used was Fiskars.

The sketch for saturday february 19th at WeScrap was:

I used Moxxie papers for this layout. I have had them since the first day I started scrapping. Faces are blurred because they are friends of my grandkids.

On to my flowers. Oh my gosh I had so much fun making those babies. I had glue all over my fingers and table. I had glitter everywhere.. good thing I picked up one of those tray thingies with the funnel on them, gosh they work great. I had just picked up a new pack of paint brushes at the dollar store too so it was good timing as I needed them to apply the glue for the glitter.
First ones I made were some mini rosettes. These are a RAK for the winner of my challenge over at Sisterhood Of Scrap. Very easy to make but a bit tedious. I didn't have the design for the leaves at the base that she used so I just used a star, think it works just as good.

I liked them so much I decided to make some for myself. I decided to try some UTEE on them to see if it would work.. it didn't. The dark blue one was the one I tried that on. Then I discovered I had Making Memories speciality glaze glitter, aha, says I to myself.. bet that will work. So I painted each petal with it and let it dry and then shaped the flowers and it worked like a charm. This is what they turned out like.

Next I tried my hand at some ribbon flowers, these were extremely easy to make but I didn't have much lace. I am definitely going to be making more of these trying different ribbons.

I had seen these pleated flowers several times and fell in love with them, I tried to make them but could never get them to work out. I also tried one of the tutorials that I found but it didn't work either. I found another tutorial today and it had the key to success LOL glue the ends before you glue it to the circle.. works like a charm and easy to make. I just wish I had more edge punches.

I loved the scrunched flowers made by wetting them and scrunching them up like spit balls. I wondered how they would be if you used different petal patterns to make them, so I decided to try it for myself and see. I loved the results. The first one I used a weird design pattern that I downloaded as an SVG file. The second one I used a nine petal flower design.

One of the girls over at SOS posted a layout on which she had used rolled roses and oh my goodness they were so beautiful I just had to try to make some of them. Well I made a couple but they just were not turning out right, so off to YouTube I headed and sure enough, I found a tutorial for them.. didn't take me long to get it right. :) I guess I am one of those gotta see it to get it kinda girls. LOL

I don't know why that first one is showing as brown when it really is a peachy colour.

Gotta work tomorrow so I better get my buns in the bed. Have a good night.

Scrapping like crazy..

2011-02-21T22:02:00.000-08:00

Wow, I have been busy scrapping! Over at Scrapbook Heaven we are having a "Love, Love Me Do!" Online Sketch Crop and boy they are good ones. Of course there are still the regular challenges happening at WeScrap not to mention that the "Your Crop, Your Way" is still going on over at SOS, plus they still have their regular challenges happening. I am trying to keep up but it really isnt happening LOL
I am off for a couple of days so I hope that will get me all caught up. I have managed to double up on a couple of the challenges.

Last night into this morning we got walloped with a snowstorm to beat all snow storms, by the time it was over we had over a foot of snow on the grown. It was wet heavy stuff and there was no way that Alan could shovel it so I called in the plow. His timing was perfect, he showed up just as we were getting in the van for Alan to drive me to work. So he pulled in behind us and dragged the snow out of the driveway so we didnt have to plow through it with the van.. very kind of him and it made it much easier for us to get out. I was kinda worried about trying to get through it. Driving to work was a nightmare.. the side streets were nothing short of dangerous, but the main roads were bare.

Anyhoo.. on to the challenges..
First sketch and challenge:The challenge is to use all PATTERNED PAPER EXCEPT to mat your photos if you choose....but NO SOLID CARDSTOCK except to mat for this one! Have fun!

I used Cosmos Cricket papers, circa 1934 papers. Bling from the dollar store, flowers are Prima and Petaloos, Family Ties is from Pebbles.

Next up was:.remember wire??? I know you have some somewhere in your stash...so if you choose to do the challenge I want you to use WIRE on your layout somewhere! Have fun!

I used BGs Hopscotch papers. I used a metal butterfly from the dollar store and sprayed it with Glimmer mist for my butterfly and used wire for the feelers. The blue alphas I have had for years and have no idea what they are. The pink alphas are Chatterbox. Ribbon is unknown.

Challenge #3 came from Carla: My CHALLENGE is to use at least one heart on your layout. This can be patterned paper, a heart-shaped button or brad, misted heart, sewn heart -- your choice!

For this challenge I used BGs Oliver line paper.

Challenge #4 was:For this challenge, use at least 10 circles on your layout. Be creative with this :-) It can be a masked circle, a circle embellishment, buttons, etc.

I used BGs Oliver line Papers for this challenge.. Funny I never used to like Basic Grey papers before but lately it seems to be what I use most.

Sketch #5 and challenge:My challenge is to scrapbook a party or event. And let's see some doodling!

This one I combined with Heathers Feb 21st challenge at WeScrap, it was to use a banner but not the usual triangles. I doodled some teacups because the party was a tea party. I used Fancy Pants Hot Chocolate papers on this page.

Sketch and challenge #7: The Challenge: Time to get naughty with a little strip tease! Gather up your strips of scrap paper, glue or stitch them together and cut them into a shape to use on your layout.

This one was fun to do, I just drew the tree and cut it out and then layered the strips of paper on it. Since they were just scraps I have no idea what lines they are. I also combined this one with a challenge from WeScrap.. Sues Feb 16th challenge to do a layout about a bouquet of flowers we had received.

I still have Sketches 6 & 8 left to do at Scrapbook Heaven before the 24th, February 19th sketchy saturday at WeScrap and three challenges from SOS still to do before the end of the month.. like the little train, I think I can, I think I can... I know I can..

Good Grief!!!

2011-02-16T18:19:00.000-08:00

It is the middle of the month already, where did the time go!! Seems to me that the time is going faster and faster each month. At the rate it is speeding away, I won't even know the month is here before it is gone.

Over at WeScrap Ally gave us this challenge: My challenge for you this month is to create a card or layout using some kind of trendy image. I see a lot of birds, owls, chairs, bicycles, typewriters and trees! Let's see what you can come up with using one of these trendy images.

This is what I came up with. I used BG's Marjolaine papers. Bazzil cardstock. I used two stamps, the bird stamp is from Autumn Leaves and the cool kitty stamp is from See D's. The flowers are cut from the paper and then embossed with UTEE.

Over at Sisterhood of Scrap, Colleen threw out this challenge: My challenge today is to use at least 2 different punches on your layout and some bling and a something with that has been crocheted (it can be crocheted ribbon, a flower or trim you have taken off something before you threw it away).

This is what I came up with. Echo Parks Winter Time papers. Flower in upper left hand was crocheted. Flower bottom was hand made using eyelash fibre. Snowflake was handmade using fibres. I used a MS edge punch, a Fiskar edge punch and a Paper Studio edge punch. Centers for the flowers are broken bits of jewelry. The center for the snowflake was a piece of a necklace with a missing stone, I filled it with stickles.

Stephanie's challenge for February (SOS) was to create a waterfall card. Since I used all scraps I can't tell you what papers I used and I have no idea where the stamps came from since I got them in a RAK.

I recieved the most gorgeous RAK of flowers from my friend Colleen and I just couldn't wait to use some of them. This is the flowers that I got. Aren't they just the most beautiful things?

Anyway I have this very old polaroid photo of me and Alan so I decided to scan it and scrap it. I used We R Memory Keepers, Grandmas Kitchen papers, some of the flowers from Colleen and some that I made. I used two Paper Studio punches and one Martha Steward punch. I also used white stickles and bling from the dollar store.

Dimpled Beauty and more

2011-02-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

Well here it is, Valentines Day! The supposed day of LOVE. Around here, everyday is a day of love, we dont need a special day for it. So how do we celebrate Valentines Day, Alan is sitting downstairs watching TV and I am sitting upstairs on my computer, and will be shortly going into my scrappy room. Later we will go all out on dinner and have Kraft dinner with beans. LOL Yes, it is a day the same as all others for us. Our big day is coming up though, just stay tuned :)

I have been having a lot of fun creating some beautiful flowers from some YouTube tutorials. Oh my gosh, have you seen all the tutorials on YouTube.. if you havent you should check it out.
On this first layout, the flowers were made using UTEE. Now on the tutorial she uses a melting pot for the UTEE and dips her flowers into the melted UTEE. I dont have a melting pot (nor am I going to buy one) so I just embossed them with the UTEE in the normal way, and I think they turned out just as nice as hers. I also hand cut the swirls, then I sprinkled them with a pale pink glitter and added some pearls. I did this layout for a challenge from SOS that Colleen gave us. We were to pick a number from 1 - 10. She sent me that Title card (without the text) in email and I was to use it on a layout.

This next one was a combined challenge. I created it for a Sketch challenge at WeScrap and for Jules slant-it challenge at Scrapbook Heaven. I used Echo Parks- Little Boy papers. The chipboard star is from Scenic Route, painted, then stamped with a stamp from Daisy Bucket, then covered with UTEE. Ribbon is unknown. Cardstock is coordinations.
This is the sketch:

This is what I did with it.

Let me eat Cake and more

2011-02-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

I joined another scrappy forum, Scrapbook Heaven. Yeah you would think I have enough to do now wouldnt you... oh well what can I say! I am only on three and WeScrap is really really slow and it appears that Scrapbook Heaven is not very busy either. I am the type that needs a flurry of activity to keep me going, without it I tend to lose focus and my mojo.

Anyway, the first challenge I did for Scrapbookheaven was to do a layout about a pet using this sketch.

Meanwhile, Over at WeScrap, we had a colour challenge to do a layout using these colours:

So I combined the two challenges and came up with Evil Catified. I used BG's Hopscotch papers.

Next I did a challenge to use a cluster on a layout, which I combined with a challenge from SOS for an inspiration challenge. I used BGs Curio papers. The flowers are fussy cut and then covered with UTEE. I got the idea for the flowers from a tutorial for glass flowers here. The tutorial uses a melting pot for the UTEE but I just used my embossing gun.

I also did another challenge for WeScrap, the challenge was to use bling on a layout. I combined that challenge with a challenge at SOS, that challenge was to use a die-cut paper that had been cut into pieces but all the pieces used on a layout.

I used BGs Paper, Max Whiskers line. I converted a PSP mask into a SVG file using Inkscape and then cut it with my Expression using SCAL to get my Die cut paper and those swirly things in the corners. The bird and the flourish were both cut from Maya Road chipboard designs. The flourish was embossed first with orange embossing powder and then with UTEE. The bird was inked with a yellow ink. The blink is from the dollar store.

Since I am barely getting any time at the store anymore, I just might end up joining another forum or two. The only problem will be pictures... I need pictures to scrap. I am already scrapping pictures that have been scrapped before.

Been watching a bunch of YouTube how to videos and have a lot of things I wanna try.. so stay tuned.

Oh my, What can I say!!!!

2011-02-08T19:41:00.000-08:00

I am so lucky I have won two wonderful prizes. I also recieved a lovely RAK in the mail last week, I should have taken a picture of it but I never thought of it until it was too late.. duh!!
Anyway, I won Januarys Iteam challenges at WeSCrap here is a picture of what I won, it is the February kit - Hot Chocolate.
The picture doesnt do it justice though.

KIT CONTENTS:

Patterned Paper:
{1} Fancy Pants Iced Mocha
{1} Fancy Pants January
{1} Fancy Pants Wrapped Chocolate
{1} Fancy Pants New Bird
{1} Fancy Pants 12x12 Hot Chocolate Bracket Diecut
{1} Fancy Pants Hot Chocolate Cards 12x12
{1} Fancy Pants Hot Chocolate Strips 12x12
{1} Fancy Pants Chocolate Ice

Cardstock:
{1} Bazzill Palm
{1} Bazzill Mocha
{1} Bazzill White
{1} Bazzill Sparkle
{1} Bazzill Ruby Slipper

Alphas:
{1} Fancy Pants Hot Chocolate Cardstock Sticker

Embellishments:
{5} Raw Kraft Paper Tags, Assorted
{1 Sheet} Dazzles Stickers White Snowflake Stickers
{6} Tim Holtz 1.5" Memo Pins, assorted
{1/2 Yard} Twine
{3} Prima Fairytale Roses, French White
{6} Favorite Findings Snow Reflection Gems, assorted
{3} Blue buttons, assorted
{3} Prima Say It In Pearls embellies, assorted

Hey this kit is only $19.99, head on over to WeScrap if you would like this kit too.
You can come on over and join up because the Iteam has their challenges every month with a kit to be won.

I also won the January White Sale challenges over at Sisterhood of Scrap. this is what I won:

Hey, this month SOS has a new challenge going on, it is called, Your Crop, Your Way, and everyone got to post challenges... believe me there are some duzzie challenges posted and you got til the end of the month to do them so why not join us there and have some fun. If your scrappy mojo has been a little lacking lately, we will help you get it back LOL

Here are a couple of the challenges I have completed so far;
Ali gave us a sketch challenge, here is the sketch.

Of course I put my own spin on it. These photos were taken of myself and my daughter playing Twister.. I had gotten myself in a bad position. LOL I used We R Memory Keepers papers from the Kitchen Garden collection and I hand made the flower then sprayed it with Glimmer Mist.

Then I combined two challenges, Helens challenge to use a banner, ink and numbers also Monday, February 7th challenge to use three different fonts in your title. I used Cosmos Cricket papers and I embossed the Title.

Mia challenged us to use 9 different items on a layout. That was harder than I thought it would be LOL. I have used:1. Paper 2. Photo 3. Ribbon 4. Magic Mesh
5. Bling 6. Flowers 7. Buttons 8. Chipboard 9. Sticker 10. Stickles and for good measure I added doodling :) I have to admit I had fun with the photo before I printed it. I played with it in PSP which is something I havent done for a few years and almost forgotten how to do. I added a mask and a frame.

I think I need to start spending more time in PSP before I forget everything I knew. I used to enjoy playing with PSP so much then I kinda got away from it. Yesterday I loaded all my masks, textures and patterns etc... gonna have some fun tomorrow I think.

Your Crop Your Way

2011-02-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

Oh my goodness, we have challenges coming out our ears over at Sisterhood of Scrap. This month everyone gets to post a challenge and believe me, the challenges are good. So far I have done eight of them. I am not working on them in any particular order, just grabbing one and going at it.

Chris gave us a sketch challenge. I used Prima papers. I embossed the title and bike with clear embossing powder. I found a clipart of the bike on the net and used Inkscape to convert it to a SVG file and then cut it with my Cricut Expression.

Here is the sketch.

This is what I did with it.

Jennifers challenge was to use something hybrid on our layout or card. I used digital papers from 2Peas, the Citrus Freeze line, the ribbon, and the circles are also from that line. The border around the circle was a strip that I cut into pieces and made the border. Once again I went looking for clipart of a car, converted to a SVG and cut with my Expression.

Tabitha gave us a challenge to use strips of journalling on a layout. I used digital papers from Scrapbook.com from their I Followed My Heart line.

The challenge that Lois threw out had several requirements:
1. Use red
2. Use at least 2 patterned papers with some red or pink in it.
3. More than one photo
4. A title and journaling
5. Chipboard of any kind anywhere.

I used digital papers from Scrapbook.com's Winter Romance line. I also used a pagemap sketch.

To use three different ribbons in three different ways was the challenge that Jo gave us. I have black polka dot ribbon ruffled under my photo, red ribbon stapled at the right and ribbon tied to the medallions. I used MME papers. I am not happy with this layout, I got carried away with the flowers and it is overpowering the photo.

Now then, Maggies challenge was very long.. lets just say it was out of my comfort zone. There was a list of ten things to do on the layout.. I am not going to list them all. Anyway, this turned out to be one of my best layouts ever. I hand drew all the petals for the flowers and hand cut them, then inked them. I tore the bottom edge of the striped paper. I destressed the pinked paper and then sprayed the edges with water to make it curl. I painted the chipboard title, then stamped it with a background stamp. There is a masked butterfly in the upper right hand corner.

Lindy also gave us a sketch challenge. She also stipulated that we use one of the techniques from Maggies list. Here is the sketch she posted.

I masked part of the title as the technique part.

Helen posted an announcement that since there are so many challenges posted that we may double up on our challenges this month. So This next layout I combined Kathys challenge of including a letter on your layout, with Melissas challenge of using a February Page map sketch.

I have one more almost finished but I have to wait for my flower to dry first LOL.

Divalicious

2011-01-31T17:48:00.000-08:00

I really love doing sketch challenges and this one was no different. Saturdays are always sketch challenge days at WeScrap. For this one I used Little Yellow Bicycle papers and I tried something new. I drew some hearts on pink foam, then I stamped it with embossing fluid and heat embossed them. I was really happy with the way they turned out. I used a border punch from The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby) and some ribbon and lace from my stash. I used the Alexandra Script font for the title.
Here is the sketch:

And here is finished product:

Tomorrow starts a fresh new month with all new challenges and I can hardly wait :)
Especially since we have snow storm warnings in effect starting tomorrow night into wednesday.

More Challenges, more fun!

2011-01-28T21:31:00.000-08:00

Last week we bought a new van, Dodge Caravan. Okay so it wasnt a new van but it was new to us. It just had a new motor and new transmission put in it and it was a good deal. We bought it from our best friends son who happens to own a respectable garage here in town. We know that he would not sell us something that isnt any good. As a matter of fact, at first he said he had a Montana for us but after giving it a good go over, he said no, it would not be any good for us because he suspected it would nickle and dime us to death.

Anyway, today we decide to drive to Windsor, about an hour away. We have to pick up Alans camera at the repair shop and I need to do some scrappy shopping. So Im motoring along the 401 at 120 clicks an hour when all of a sudden...BANG.. the van lurches but that was all, it kept going and nothing to indicate any problem. We get into Windsor and I notice that the van doesnt have any get up and go pulling away from the intersections. Anyway, we get to the camera shop because that is on the way to the scrappy store and for some reason instead of just pulling in head on which is how I always park, I pulled around the back way with the front out... never ever have I parked like that before. So we go into the camera shop and pick up the camera, Alan just beaming because now is camera is finally working right once again and come back out.. start the van and pull it into drive but the darn thing wont move. I put it into reverse.. no go.. the tranny was locked up solid.

I went back into the camera shop and the guy was nice enough to allow me to use his phone to make a long distance call to Terry.. he wasnt in so the other guy had to locate him meaning I had to call back. When I called back, Terry was there and wanted to know exactly what had happened so I told him. Anyway, he called the local towing company here in Wallaceburg and sent them to Windsor to pick us up, but I had to call them to tell them where I was. So we had to sit there in the van for two hours waiting for them to show up. LOOOOOOONG Day!!! NO Shopping :(

However, we feel very lucky indeed. Number 1, we didnt break down on the highway. Number 2, the guy at the camera shop was so kind. Number 3, Terry is such a nice guy and is taking care of all the costs(the tranny is covered by warranty), the tow and the cost to install a new tranny. Number 4, the fact that for one time in my life I parked front out instead of head on, and the tow truck could access the van. Yes, I think God was looking after us today.

However, it was a long bumpy ride home sitting in the middle seat of the tow truck. For some reason they dont use the 401 so we drove the back roads which makes it a much longer trip and with that big gear stick in front of me I almost needed to wrap my legs around my head... I was glad when we got home.

Anyway, enough of my troubles and on to my creations LOL
Despite this being a somewhat disappointing week I have managed to finish a few more challenges from WeScrap.

I did a couple of sketch challenges. The first one was the January 8th sketch.
This is the sketch.

and this is what I did with it. I used MME paper and I cut the edge with a border punch from Fiskars. The brown edging I cut with my scissors. I cut the flower and the title with my Expression. I used some stickles on the flower. I also used alpha brads to spell Sibling down the side.

Next was the sketch from January 15th. Here is the sketch.

and this is how I used it. Oh my goodness I had fun doing this one. I cut the title and the flourish with my Expression. Then I embossed them with Fall Fiesta embossing powder. I used Cosmos Cricket paper(love me my cosmos cricket). The flower is from the dollar store as is the bling.

Next I did a colour challenge for January 10th. Here are the colours.

This is what I came up with. Everything on this layout is old from when I first started scrapping. The paper is from my scrap tote. I have no idea where the black felt flowers came from or the ribbon either. I did the title in Paint Shop Pro and then cut it by hand. I put a little black stickles around the edge of it. The journalling block is a digi block from the Shabby Princess,Spontaneous-Delight collection,that I printed.

I think I have all the challenges done on both the forums. Tomorrow will bring two new challenges though. A sketch challenge at WeScrap and a card challenge at SOS.

Been Having Some Fun!!

2011-01-26T08:25:00.000-08:00

I have been having some fun creating. First of all my wonderful hubby bought me a couple of new toys. I got a new Cricut Expression and a new HP7500 wide format printer. So I have been watching YouTube tutorials for Inkscape, learning how to convert clipart and other graphics into SVGs for use in Sure Cuts A Lot. I want to be able to get as much use out of these new toys as possible.

I have also been doing challenges from both WeScrap and Sisterhood of Scrap.
At WeScrap the first challenge was to ink it up. I inked the edges of my paper although it doesn't show very well, I did faux stitching around my circle and I outlined my title.

Next was the January 22nd sketch challenge. I love this line of Cosmo Cricket Paper called Jack's World. I am proud to say that this one was chosen for layout of the week.

Then we had a challenge to do a layout about something or someone who makes us smile.Well I have a lot of things that make me smile but I choose to do my layout about my DGS Donald who had my daughter and I just doubled over laughing when we watched some of his video's that he had shot over Christmas. He was doing some videos of himself as a reporter for Wolf News.. I took some stills from one of the clips. In the clip he said "Wolf News, this is Donald Post, I am amazing, I am the best.. obviously" .. so funny! I created the movie camera from clipart and cut it with my Expression. I used a Clipart TV in Paint Shop to create the title.

The next one was a joint challenge.. the challenge at WeScrap was to use Be Mine for the title and the Challenge at SOS was to use all white with a black and white photo. Since our anniversary is coming up next month I decided to do a layout for it. I used white stickles and cheap bling from Dollarama.

Over at SOS I did the January 3rd Monday Challenge which was a recipe challenge. Recipe: -Kraft paper -Ink/paint somewhere -Chipboard embellishments -Stitching -Sticker(s) There is a catch.....You MUST show me some paper tearing somewhere!!!
We had to choose three of the items to include on our page. I used "faux" stitching,chipboard, inked my papers and my chipboard, and used two stickers... and of course I tore my paper

Challenge monday January 17 Besides your background paper, use only scraps smaller than 6x8. Well I have a tote full of scraps so that was no problem for me LOL.

So now that I have almost caught up with the month's challenges I am off to play somemore with Inkscape and SCAL.. I still have one more challenge to do at WeScrap, I have the sketch printed off and my pics chosen but will work on it later.

One Hour challenge

2011-01-23T14:45:00.000-08:00

We had a one hour challenge over at Sisterhood of Scrap last night. Helen posted a sketch and then we had one hour to do a layout and post it. That sure had the adrenelin pumping let me tell you. The time flew by so fast, I was sure I had only been about fifteen or twenty minutes but when I looked it had been fifty four minutes.
Anyway, here is the sketch she posted.

I turned the sketch on its side for my layout, and this is what I did for mine.

It was a lot of fun and I am already looking forward to the next one.

Yikes!! I've been Busy.

2011-01-17T19:53:00.000-08:00

My friend Colleen, the one who always comments on my blog, talked me into joining the Sisterhood of Scrap forum. Wow, they are super nice ladies over there. I felt right at home from the minute I joined. For the month of January they are having a "January White Sale" Challenge. There are ten different challenges and I have managed to get them all but that does NOT mean they are easy by any means.

Challenge #1.Since January is the first month of the New Year let's start with this challenge. Use something for every letter of the word January.
So you must fiqure out something for all the letters J-A-N-U-A-R-Y and incorporate them onto your project!

J is for for the jute I used behind the photos. A is for Aquatic in the title. N is for Nature which is the subject of the layout. U is for the word Unbelievable used and underlined in the journalling. A is for chipboard accent. R is for the Rhinestones, and Y is for the year written on the bottom of the layout.

Challenge #2.Crisp new linens… isn't that what a January White Sale is all about; getting crisp new linens for your bed. So for this challenge you need to use only things that you have bought or been given within the last 3 months. Nothing older than that on your project!!

I used papers from the kit I won from WeScrap in October and received in November. Even the photo is new. :)

Challenge #3.Don't you just love new fluffy towels, I know I do.
So for this challenge you need to use something soft on your project.
It could be material, pipe cleaners, felt, etc.

I used some yellow felt and cut a little birdie.

Challenge #4. Colors and prints were added to the white sale in the 1950s. So for this challenge let's use 4 different colors (could be paper, paint or flowers, etc) and 4 different patterned papers.

Here I have used the colours Purple, green, black and white. You can tell that my title is stickers because of the glare

Challenge #5.We all like to stock up on great deals... especially our scrappy stuff! For this challenge you can only use stuff that you have had in your possession for over a 1year.

This paper is from the very first pad of paper I bought when I started scrapping six years ago, and I even found an older photo to use with it.

Challenge #6.We know we all love to see the sticker price of the white sales and the lower the price the better.
I know you all have stickers around in your stash so pull them out and let me see
at least 4 different stickers on your project!!

The three stickers that I used were the two dolphins and the Warning sticker not to mention the alpha stickers.

Challenge #7.Nothing smells better than sheets hung on the clothesline!
You get that nice fresh smell, nothing is better than that.
So for this project, you need to hang something on it!!

I hung a "Joy" bracelet from the ribbon.

Challenge #8.We all know we must sort our clothes before we wash them… well… my dh doesn’t!!!
And we all know that if we put black and white together everything comes out dingy!
Let’s not do that!!!!
So for this challenge you can only use black and white ….. NOTHING ELSE!!!

I really had fun with this one. I bought this paper several years ago at the dollar store, it is Forever in Time, and it is all bling. It meant a lot of fussy cutting but it was well worth it. The photo don't do it justice because it looks much prettier in real life than it does in the photo.

Challenge #9.You just got brand new white sheets and put them on your bed and make a proper bed. Nice, tight so you can bounce a quarter off it. So keep that in mind and let’s see some money on your project, either in the title, embellishments or photos.

This one was a little trickier for me. I really had no idea where to go with it but once I decided to go digital with it, I had a blast. I googled "money" and came up with some pics that were usable and found a photo of my "dream" car and was off to the races LOL. I used papers from Crossed Emotions and used Paint Shop Pro to create the layout.

Challenge #10.In order to keep your whites white, you need to use bleach.
So use bleach on this challenge somehow, somewhere.
Either create the background using bleach or use a stamp dipped in bleach. Just use it!!

I have never ever used bleach on a layout before and was a little (okay a lot) nervous about doing it this time. I used a stencil to create a corner frame around my photos.

Also, during the week a challenge was issued to create a card. The challenge was that we had to use embossing on something other than paper on the card... (that was a toughie)... I embossed some vellum/foil that I had in my stash. I am not sure if it is vellum or foil or a mixture of both because it has characteristics of both. LOL
It is very very shimmery.

That's what I have been doing when I haven't been at work.

Time is Flying

2011-01-11T19:31:00.001-08:00

My but the time is just flying by! Here we are into the middle of January already and it seems like we just had Christmas. Mind you I am not going to complain, the faster this winter goes by the happier I will be. It is snowing outside right now and the skidooers are having a heyday with it. They are flying back and forth on the street out front. Of course Ski Doos on the streets are illegal but it doesn't seem to slow them down any. Won't be long now before we start hearing of them going through the ice on the river. Some of them are total idiots and think that just because we had frost overnight the river has to be frozen thick enough to withstand not only them but their machines.

Things have slowed down at work, so I have read all the gossip magazines and now have nothing left to do but just stand there and wait for any straggling customers that might happen to pop into the store. The price of gas is really taking a toll on business, only people who have no choice but must buy gas are the ones who stop in. There is no end in sight either, right now we are selling at cost but eventually we will have to put our price up or go out of business. People who complain to us about the price of gas don't seem to understand that we have to pay that same price, and that it is hurting us probably more than it is hurting them. My hours have been cut way back since the new year came in. On top of that the TSSA is giving us grief over our Liscence to sell Propane. All along we just needed to send in the money with our renewal application, but not anymore, now we need to send in an Emergency Response Action Plan that has to be co-ordinated with the fire department but the fire department is not co-operating. They say, "it's not our job" but they do have a Fire Prevention department and it should fall under that department. So if they won't co-operate with us, we can't get our liscence renewed and we only have til the end of the month to get it. STRESS!!!! I get drawn into that because my boss is Korean and he doesn't speak English well enough to have the conversations necessary with the contacts, so I have to go with him to all these departments to be his spokesman.

I have also done a bit of scrapping. I did my favourite layout every I think yesterday. My daughter sent me a few pictures she took of my grand daughters dog, Brownie, frolicking in the snow and I couldn't resist scrapping them right away.
I used digi papers but I can't honestly tell you which ones are from where because I used different ones from different places... I took them into Paint Shop Pro and changed colours on them so they would all match. Even the title is Hybrid.

This one is a portrait Janet took of Donald Christmas morning. She tried everything to get him to smile but he wouldn't smile no matter what. I used papers from Scrapbook.com, the Noel collection.

This is Theresa's portrait from Christmas morning, I love this pic! I used digi papers called Shiny and Bright on this layout.. I can't tell you where they are from because there was no text info included in the package.. most designers include a policy notice in their packages but this one didn't.

Our Star is the portrait of Daniel from Christmas morning. He is so very solemn looking. For this layout I used papers from a pad that Janet and I bought way back when we first started scrapping.. and that was when Daniel was a baby.

I love Isaac's portrait, he looks so smart in it. The papers used here are from OneSource and were simply called December.

Since we always go to Janet's for Christmas I never cook a big christmas dinner at home, but this year I decided to go all out and cook a full traditional Christmas dinner right down to a christmas center piece on the table. So, of course I had to take pictures of it LOL. I created this layout for the January 8th Sketch Challenge at WeScrap. I used Shabby Princess digital Papers from the Holiday Sampler/Christmas line.

Wow Wow Wow!!!

2010-12-29T12:27:00.000-08:00

What a month this has been. It has been a busy one for me, working almost every day trying to get ready for Christmas. I wanted to make it a special one for the grandkids and for my daughter and son in law. I think I suceeded. I gave all the grandkids digital cameras, including the two little ones. I don't think Daniel was too impressed with his, but the other four were having the times of their lives shooting photos and videos all day long. I had sooooo much pleasure just watching their faces, it was pure joy.

Donald was so funny, he was just a hoot. He did a lot of "Wolf News Reports" with "Donald Post reporting" and it was so hilarious that my daughter and I were in tears laughing so hard. I can see he is going to keep me in supply for a long time. It didn't take him long to figure out the modes and all the little gadgets etc on his camera and put them to use.

Theresa, was soon taking pictures of everything around the house and trying out the video mode on her camera. She was taking some pretty good shots too. I was surprised that her camera had such good video quality.

Isaac, was so excited about his camera that he went nuts taking pictures, the flash was popping all over the place. I think he needs to learn a bit about his camera though. Once things quiet down a little his mother will give him some lessons so he can get some quality pictures.

As I said, Daniel really wasn't that impressed by the camera and was more taken by the case and the fact that it had a separate compartment for little things. He did take a few pictures but you would be hard put to tell what they were. LOL

Samantha was overjoyed that she also got a camera, and had to inspect it very carefully to make sure it wasn't just a toy. She fell totally in love with the colour (purple) and with the case that went with it. She was having trouble remembering how to hold it though and ended up with a lot of pictures of little fingers. However, she never gave up and kept trying. She was such a treasure to watch when she was trying to take a picture, the serious expression on her face was precious.

Janet and Dan were delighted by their new stove. No more hissing and popping before their burners light and it would appear that Dan loves that idea very much.

All in all, I had a wonderful Christmas. I am totally pleased!!!

I have managed to do a couple of layouts, the first one is of the children as they opened their cameras... the pictures didn't come out all that well. I thought I had my camera set on sports so it would catch the action.. but it was set on portrait so they came out pretty darn blurry :(

The second one is of Samantha taken at her Nana Post's on Christmas morning by her mother. I used the December 25th sketch from WeScrap and digital papers from Shabby Princess' Holiday Magic collection.

I hope to get a couple more days off on the weekend and will probably do more scrapping then.

That Time of the Year!

2010-12-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

Well the Christmas Season is upon us once again. The hustle and bustle of shoppers fills the stores and the smell of baking fills the air. The excitement of the children is enough that you think they are going to burst for sure. Secrets held tightly to the heart.
The Christmas tree, the symbol of Christmas is erected in the homes and decorated with all sorts of decorations and glimmering lights. (to the delight of the hydro companies who will line their pockets with glee)
When Janet was about 11 she thought it would be fun to make some ornaments for our tree so off we went to the craft store to peruse some magazines and books for ideas. We found some patterns for some bead ornaments and some popscycle sleds so home we went to make some. Then we discovered a book of patterns for crocheted ornaments and were delighted. They were time consuming little things, for once they were crocheted then we had to find something to use as moulds so they would keep their shapes when they were dipped in hot starch. Then once the starch was dry, we had to get the mould out without damaging the ornament.. piddly work. But the ornaments were worth it. The first year we had them on our tree, word of mouth had so many people coming to see them that they were selling off the tree faster than we could make them. Eventually I had to put my foot down and say no, if you want them, order them and I will make them to order but you can`t buy them off my tree. Finally it got to the point were I had to say no more orders, it was impossible to keep up. For some reason the little mouse was the most popular, everyone wanted him.

These are the ornaments:
There were two different kinds of baskets.

The bell and the sled.

I devised this birdhouse after trial and error. I had to use Balsa wood so it wouldn`t be too heavy.

I didn`t think I would like this one but after it was done I didn`t think it looked too bad.

I think the French Horn was always my favourite.

I had several different patterns for the hats, some from Barbie patterns that I had from when Janet was much younger.

Two different birds, on with a large tail and one with a small tail.

Two different parasols, one open and one closed.

I had twelve different snowflakes.

I loved the teddy bear.

The Victrola and the Violin.

This one took me a long time to complete, I crocheted four sets like this and yes, even the trees are crocheted.

Not much to say.

2010-12-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted lately because I don't have anything to say. I have chatted with my son a few times on Facebook but he really isn't interested in chatting or having any sort of relationship which is very disappointing. However, at least now I know he has had a good family and a good life and for that I am very thankful.

I have been working a lot more these past couple of weeks. My co-worker quit so that leaves just me at the store other than my bosses. I really don't mind right now because it gives me something to do to keep my mind occupied plus generates a little extra cash with Christmas crashing in upon us. I have received my orders from the grandkids and duly noted each one. They definitely have my genes, all have her hands full. First she is going to have to teach them all how to use the cameras, then she is going to have to keep finding the battery chargers (you know they are going to be losing them) to recharge batteries, then she is going to be constantly helping them to download their pictures to their computer... and then there is the printing... yeah, I can see the headaches coming on. Maybe I should pop some Excedrin in her stocking. LOL

I have decided that I am going to find out once and for all if Santa is real, I have asked him for a new Ford Flex... if I don't get one I will KNOW there really isn't a Santa Claus. :) I told him I would settle for a large format printer haha.
Winning the lottery would be okay too. I am not holding my breath because I started thinking last year that maybe Santa was just a hoax.

I haven't been doing a lot of scrapping lately. My mojo took a leave of absence, without my approval I might add. I just haven't felt like doing very much other than playing games on the computer. Darn Facebook! I have become addicted to the games there.. especially Bejewelled Blitz, man I can't get anywhere with that stupid game but I just can't help myself, I gotta keep on trying and trying. Good thing I haven't started gambling or I would be in deep doo doo for sure.

Alan has been having some problems lately with losing the use of his right hand. After having it happen several times I finally convinced him to go see the doctor about it. Turns out that he is having mini strokes. Just what we don't need after the major strokes he has suffered through. Anyway, the doctor was very concerned and got him in for cat scans, mri, echo grams, and goodness only knows what else in short order. In less than a week he had him in to see the Cardiologist and the Internest, something that is impossible. He has to wait now for his next appointment to find out what all is going on. We are hoping they have found the problem so that they can fix it.

I have managed a couple of layouts in the past couple of months. I am working on Marine Land now.
I was surprised to find a train crossing in the middle of Marine Land.

We found Marine Land to be very expensive and really not worth the price. While we did enjoy the day, there really wasn't a lot for us to do there. We weren't interested in any of the rides, just the marine portion. They really should have a separate price for each section. It was at least a nice day for just walking around.

Have a great week and I will be back later... maybe. :)

I Found Him!!!!!

2010-10-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have experienced joy beyond imagine. The letter's paid off. I had received about 20 phone calls from R. Schwartz's, each time my heart would come up into my throat and my stomach would roll over but each time it would be someone informing me that they were not Rodney. Several letters were returned to me marked "unknown". After about a week with no more calls, I figured that avenue turned into a dead end and was pondering what to do next.

Then came the call. When he gave me the correct birth date, the tears started pouring out in buckets. It is still all surreal to me. I want so much to just reach out and hold him but for me I have been wanting that for a long time. To him this is pretty sudden and he wants to just chat online and get to know each other. I was very happy to hear that he had good parents and a good and happy life, that was very important to me.

He also has a daughter, that gives me another grand daughter to love on. :)

I am just so happy I feel like I am in a dream so I am going to go and do more dreaming.

Excitement Mounts

2010-10-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

When I was a young girl I had a beautiful baby boy. I got to hold him one time and that memory lingers forever in mind. I named him Christopher Blair. I was however, not capable of raising a baby at that time and I wanted what was best for him so I gave him up for adoption. I have spent 39 years being torn apart over that decision, was it right or was it wrong. Could I have managed, should I have tried.. No, I wasn't able to, but I might have.. back and forth, back and forth. After I got married and I got pregnant, I was terrified I would have a boy, because I knew that I couldn't handle that. No one could replace Blair in my heart and I wouldn't be able to raise him. The nurse's kept telling me that once the baby was born it wouldn't make any difference that I would see, everything would be all right. When the baby was born, the nurse said, "congratulations Jackie, you have a beautiful baby boy" my heart died, and I said "take him away, I don't want him"... I just couldn't look at him, my baby boy was gone and no one else could take his place. The nurse quickly said, "I was just teasing you, it is a girl.

Janet grew up knowing that she had a brother somewhere out there. That couldn't be helped because even though someone else had him, he was still a part of me. I never fully let him go.

I registered on all the free online adoption search sites. I got a couple of hits but once we exchanged facts we found they lead to nowhere. Then the 30th of September a Search Angel sent me an email and informed me of the fact that I could download a form from the internet to mail to ServiceOntario requesting information about his adoption. I sent that form in on the first of October and received the information back on the 12th of October. I now know my son's name is Rodney Allan Schwartz. I did a search on Facebook and came up with one and sent him a message, still haven't heard back from that one. I did a search on Canada 411 and came up with 38 R. Schwartz's in Ontario. I have mailed a letter to each of them. I have heard back from one so far.

I keep reminding myself that he may not even live in Ontario, or that he may not be listed but that doesn't keep me from being hopeful and stressed. Everytime the phone rings my heart goes crazy and everytime the computer dings indicating email I almost run to the computer.

What if he doesn't want a reunion? That worries me too. But, I have one thing that keeps hope up there. My sister in law told my other sister in law that a man contacted her earlier this summer saying that he was searching for his birth mother and he believed that she was a Primmer. However, she knew nothing about it so she couldn't help him. :( Sometimes it doesn't help to keep secrets.

In the meantime I have been doing a little scrapping but not very much though. I have also been busy at work. Gotta get those hours in, Christmas is coming and I am getting my lists from the grand children. LOL

I finished off the Botanical Garden photos with these two double pagers.
Click on the image to see a larger version.

I am now working on the Butterfly Conservatory.

Time for an update

2010-10-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

Not that I have anything to say mind you, but I promised myself that I would keep this blog fresh. We did have a bright sunny warm day today and that of itself is something to brag about after the cooler weather we have been having. It has been so chilly here that we took our air conditioner out of the window yesterday and stored it for winter.
Now THAT is something I am not looking forward to. Nope, not at all, I am actually dreading it. I guess I am just hard to please.. I don't like the heat of summer and I detest the cold of winter. Today's temperature was just right, I would like it to be like this 12 months of the year, that would be perfect for me.

I think I am getting a cold, I have been sneezing all night and have a runny nose.. I prefer to call it a snoggy nose.. a combination of snotty and soggy. I dread coming down with a full blown cold, I am such a whimp when I get a cold.. I don't know how normal people can just continue on with their lives as if nothing were wrong when they have colds because I certainly can't do it. I mean I get feeling so miserable that I can barely hold my head up, and I feel like crap. All I wanna do is crawl in bed and curl up and die.

Doc gave me the word this week that I should tell my boss that I can only work 20 hours per week and no more. To stand up for myself and not allow myself to get pushed around. I know he is right but I just can't say no to them. Like I said, I am a real whimp. I have had trouble saying no all my life. I guess that is why I was in trouble almost all my life LOL.

I really do love my bosses though and always want to please them so that is where the trouble comes in, they just have to look at me and I am falling over myself to please them. They are good to me too and all I have to do is ask them for something and they will see that I get it. I laughingly told him the other day that I needed $22,000 for a new car, and should I just take it from the cash drawer, he looked at me for a minute and said "you really need?" I told him no I was just joking. I think he would have lent it to me if I really meant it. He has lent me as much as a $1000 in the past without a bat of the eye. They gave me the air conditioner that we have and it isn't one of the cheaper ones either, it is one of those fancy programable ones. Like I said, they are really good to me, they just forget that I am not "normal" from time to time and try to work me on a normal basis. I can forgive them for that.

I have been doing a little scrapping, I discovered some sketches for a lot of photos on one layout.. I loved them and used them to make 2 pagers with the photos from the Botanical gardens. I have sooooooooo many photos from there that multi-photo layouts are a necessity.
For this first one I used some paper from Kaiser Kraft called "Be Mine". I used the Cricut to cut the flowers, and a MS punch to do the borders. The lace is from Hobby Lobby and the ribbon is from my stash and I have no idea who makes it. Really a simple layout but I love it.
Click on the image to see a larger photo. The images all have a little washout from the flash.. sorry about that.

This next one I used paper from K & Co, called Wild Saffron.. love that line. I got the pad because I liked it so much. I used the Cricut to cut the scalloped edges, the flowers and the flourishes. I used my scissors to cut the edges of the mats. Once again a simple design but I like it.

This one I did for a challenge. We had to use the quote on a layout. I love this photo of Alan. We were on the nature trail and got caught in the rain. We carry those rain ponchos in our camera cases all the time but this was the only time we ever had need of them. I used MS paper for this layout. I used my scissors for the edges. I used some of the shapes that come with Paint Shop Pro and converted them to SVG files in Inkscape.. I used one of them with the Cricut for the shape I used for the quote.

I love the way this one turned out. The challenge was a title challenge and we were to use "he/she said" as the title. I didn't have any pictures from back when we met so I used a current picture instead. The journalling reads,
"see that guy over there with the black hair and glasses, he's the guy I'm gonna marry!"
It was a friday evening, July 1971 and I was working at Suriano's Restuarant in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. We each had our tables and these two guys had just sat down at a table assigned to another waitress and I was explaining to her why I wanted to serve one of her tables.
She then asked me when I got engaged and I told her that I wanted to serve them so that I could meet him.
They kept coming into the restaurant for the month but I wasn't having much luck until one night he asked me if I would like to go to Thunder Bay with them. Not the thoughts that should have been going through my mind were things like, "I don't even know this guy's name, and that is a long way to go with a complete stranger".. but oh no, not me, I couldn't get "yes" out quick enough.
On our way to Thunder Bay we had a bad accident which put me in the hospital for several days and the doctor told me that he barely left my side. I wasn't able to work after I got out of the hospital so I moved him with him, and we have been together ever since.
We got engaged at Christmas 1971, and were married February 1972. We were just meant to be.
I used paper from Forever in Time called Butterfly Fancy and Floral Fancy both. I used a Paper Studio punch for the edge. I used the Cricut to cut the circle. I printed the title on regular paper from Adobe, then stuck the butterfly card on over where it printed on the paper and reprinted it. I also did the journalling in Adobe and printed it on Floral Fancy paper.

That is enough for someone who didn't have anything to say. I am actually making a dent in my photos. Oh well, give me a couple of months and I will be grumbling about not having any pictures to scrap.
Have a great weekend!

All Alone!

2010-10-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

That's right, I am now the only employee at work. My co-worker gave her notice this past week. I am torn because this could mean extra money for Christmas, but it could also mean that I end up getting sick again from working too much. I had a chat with my boss about the hours that I can and can not work and he said he don't want me to get sick so at least we are in agreement on that. The only problem is that he will still need all the days covered and I just can't cover them all. I don't know if he is going to look for someone else or not. The only reason he hired my co-worker was because they were going to Korea for a couple of weeks, up until then I had been the only employee... so I guess it can work out. We shall see.

Janet has been telling me that the older children have been making out their wish lists for Christmas. So far they sound very interesting, Cameras all around, Ipods, some kind of video game that I just can't remember for the life of me... whatever happened to the simple things? I know Donald wants a phone but he is just too young for that for a while yet, not til he is old enough to buy his own "pay as you go" cards. No word yet from the two younger children, I guess they haven't seen the christmas catalouge yet. hehe Nothing to choose from.

In the meantime I have been doing some scrapping, working diligently on my Falls photos. Skipping between the Butterfly Conservatory and the Botanical Gardens.

Click on Image to see a larger view.

I have been using my Cricut more and more. I love the SCAL program and find myself using it for my titles more than I do anything else. I have also been using it for cutting shapes and flowers. I have also been getting back into Adobe more and using more hybrid in my scrapping. Lots of fun!!

All Shook Up

2010-09-25T10:34:00.000-07:00

I got the fright of my life at work the other day! Alan is always waiting for me when I get off work but when I finished the other day he wasn't there. So I just figured he got tied up in traffic and I had a smoke while I waited for him. Still no Alan so I pumped a couple bottles of propane and waited a little longer. After 15 minutes I gave him a call, no answer, so I figured okay, he must be on his way. But then the phone at the store rang and it showed it was coming from my house. I answered it but there was no one there, I could hear the TV in the background but no one was speaking. Well, the only thing going through my mind was that he had had another stroke and couldn't speak. So I am yelling at him, cough, make some kind of noise do anything so I can hear you.. after all he had to have been able to make the phone call. But no, nothing just the open phone with the TV going in the background. I was frantic! Sophia was gone with their van so the boss couldn't drive me home.. I had to call a cab and wait for it. Just as the cab came pulling into the lot, Alan pulled in. When he tried to phone me from home, he had a dead phone on his end. He said he couldn't get anything on it, just dead air. He had fallen asleep and when I called, I woke him up but he didn't get to the phone in time so he called me back to let me know he was on the way but when the phone went dead he just came on to the store to get me, not knowing how frightened I was. I think it took me the entire night to calm down and get over the shakes.

The weather here can't make up it's mine. It knows it is Fall but wants to stay summer, so we are having a cold day, then a hot day.. never know what to wear. Today it feels like I should turn the furnace on but darned if I will... too early. Almost time to make a drive up north for some fall shots.

I have been moseying through my photos again and found some that I didn't know I had, or at least I forgot I had them. So of course they had to get scrapped. Been doing some challenges at the different scrappy forums that I am on. I don't think I would do any scrapping at all if it weren't for the challenges that keep me motivated.

This first one was for a sketch challenge and we had to use a mask. I hate using masks, I don't think they turn out very good when I do. I used a Heidi Swapp butterfly mask and masked the title, using Glimmer mist. These are photos that Janet took earlier this summer of Samantha on the beach.

The next one was for a challenge requiring we use a list on our layout.

This one required that we just use scraps of paper instead of using large amounts.

Another challenge required we use linear photos either horizontally or vertically on layout. I choose horizontally. These are photos that Janet took of Daniel that same day at the beach.

I am running low on some good paper, I think I will need to make a trip to Kilworth on Wednesday if I'm not working. I really do wish she would accept E-transfers as a method of payment on her online store, it would give me more money to spend on scrappy goodness instead of having to pay it in gas to drive all the way there and back.

I Made It!

2010-09-21T11:50:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh was I tired when I finished on Sunday night! Believe me I was ready for the two days off. I did enjoy the week though and can't say that I didn't. I was going to look forward to the extra pay but the van took care of that mighty swiftly by dropping the muffler. :( Seems it knew I had the extra money coming in and didn't want me to waste it.

I finally got the back to school pictures from my daughter. So naturally I had to scrap them as soon as I got them. The kids are growing so fast and it is hard to believe that even Samantha is in school now. Seems like it was just last week that she was a baby. Samantha is not in the group with the rest of them because she started on a different day.

I also found some other photos while browsing through and thought I would scrap them too. The first one I did for a challenge, it was to scrap a photo that was funny. I thought this one would fit the bill. The flash kinda washed out the border a bit.

This next one was for a colour challenge, we had a colour palette of pinks, brown, and green. Once again the flash washed out some of the title which is brown sticker letters.

I also did a couple more from Niagara Falls from the Botanical Gardens.

Now I have to go do some housework and get my laundry finished off because my two days is almost up and it's back to work tomorrow. :)

Every day is a New Beginning

2010-09-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

I am starting to look at each new day as a new beginning instead of just another day. It can be the start of something wonderful, or it can be just another ordinary day, it is up to me to make it what I want it to be. I had to take another line because I just couldn't face the mornings LOL I am not used to getting up in the mornings. I am a night person who rarely went to bed before 5 or 6 in the morning and then got up around noon. Now I have to be at work by 10.. that's stretching it for me. So it's an all new adventure. I am telling my customers that I have turned over a new leaf because I wanted to see if they looked different in the mornings.

Mornings are also much busier at the store, also a lot more propane. Drat it was cold pumping propane today in that pouring rain! However, I can't really complain as it was the first time I think this summer that I had to do that and we really do need the rain. I had something really really weird happen at work today, I have never seen it happen before and we still don't know what caused it. A customer came in and pumped $58 worth of gas or at least that is what the pump and the console said she did, however when she got in her car and started it, it still showed on empty... in other words, she hadn't pumped any gas at all. The boss went out to check it out and he pumped another $42 worth of gas in her car and it was still empty. So, he went and pumped $30 into his van and it worked okay. So, he tried with her car again, this time pumping another $50 worth, this time it actually worked and filled her car. As I said, we have no idea what the heck was going on with the pump and it didn't happen again.

I have managed to sneak in a couple of challenges after work.
The first one was for a challenge at ScrapDango. We had several colour combo choices and we were to use 12 and 12 only items on our layout. I used the Chocolate Chip and Milk colour scheme.
Three colours of cardstock, two patterns of paper, two colours of stitching, one photo, One font(for the title, bling flourish, and one flower with center.
Please click on image for a larger photo.

This next one was also for a challenge at ScrapDango. This one required:At least 2 different fonts in your title
One of these forms of writing seen on your page (Book paper, patterned paper with writing on it, script paper or stamps)
Your journaling needs to be either a 'Once upon a time' story or a letter to the person scrapped. For Extra Credit:Include a quote on your page
Use lined paper

I went with the Once upon a Time story.

This one I did for a challenge at WeScrap. This one was "All the Glitters" and we had to use glitter on our layout and use either the layout provided or one of the layouts from the gallery. I choose a layout by Ally that had caught my attention in the gallery (her work is awesome). Believe me when I tell you that there is lots of glitter on the layout, there is also lots all over me and my scrap room!

Perfect Health

2010-09-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

So that is the report from our doctor. We had an appointment with our doctor today and he went over all our tests with us and gave us a clean bill of health. Even our blood sugars are in a good range for a change. I was a little worried about that one since we have been eating a lot of banana splits lately. Yeah, I know we are bad. Alan do have to go for some kind of scan on his neck because of an Occlusion from when he had the strokes. The doctor wants to check that out and find out how serious it is. Like my gosh, he had those strokes way back in 2003 and they are just checking it out now!!! I swear I will never understand doctors. I must say though that this doctor is new to us, we just recently switched doctors this year and maybe if we had this one all along, maybe he would have had it checked out years ago. The doctor we did have was so busy it would take us a year to get an appointment to see, yeah its true, if we had to book an appointment to see him, he would be booking for the next year. Also if your appointment was for 1 in the afternoon you could count on getting in to see him around 4 or 5. So when we had the chance to change to this new doctor, we took it. So far he seems like a very nice guy who has our health in his concern.

Well my co-worker is getting married on Saturday. I hope we have a nice day, she is getting married outside so I hope the sun shines bright for it. However, her getting married means I am going to have to really work next work. I sure hope I can do it, I am only used to working every other day and dont know if I can keep up with working everyday for full week. I start tomorrow and work friday, saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday, thursday, friday, and saturday. I would have had to work wednesday too except I have an appointment with my shrink that day.

I dont think I will get much scrapping done next week at all. Too bad because we are in the midst of a Schools In crop at ScrapDango which I am loving, and Saturday WeScrap is having Fast Times as WeScrap High.. I am going to miss that one and I really did want to play :( Scrappin Mojo has a crop coming up in October. Why must work interfere with our fun!

Here are a few layouts I have completed for challenges.
Please click on the image to see a larger version.
This is Niagara Falls at night, I really should have used my tripod for these pics.

This was for a challenge that required,picture of an animal, misting or paint,technique, use of an xacto knife, sewing, and a journalling spot. I spritzed the card stock with glimmer mist. I made a ric rac flower (didnt turn out so great), the other flowers were cut with my xacto knife, I sewed around the heart and also used the heart as my journalling spot.
The photos are of Missi displaying a side that no one ever gets to see other than me and Alan. She loves her daddy and that is how she spends her time, cuddling with him in his chair. If any one else comes into the house she disappears unless it is our DD, then she appears and spends her time growling and hissing. We have no idea why she hates Janet so much but she sure makes sure that Janet knows it. LOL

And here I have made a start on the Botanical Gardens.

Alan seems to be a magnet for animals, especially cats. This cat was roaming around in the gardens and as soon as it spotted Alan it headed straight for him and was soon curled up being petted and purring like crazy.

That is all for now, it might be while before I post anything else. Have a great weekend.

I am finished!

2010-09-05T19:47:00.000-07:00

I did absolutely nothing today but scrap. Phone kept ringing but it was the boss and I knew what he wanted and since I cant say no to them, I refused to answer it. I know I am terrible, but I really really dont want to work tomorrow. I want to go to Rhondeau instead. It seems like forever since we have been there.
I finished off the pictures from the Bird and Reptile Kingdom today. I am a little disappointed that I didnt get all the names of the different lizards, I missed a few of them. Oh well, I didnt get the names of the birds either so I guess I just will have to deal with it.
I did one as a double pager and used some really old paper for it, but I like the way it turned out. This layout has the ugliest bird I have ever seen as well as probably the prettiest.
Click on image for a larger view.

These are the Lizards, one snake and one frog..the poison dart frog. Most of the lizards were just roaming free, a couple were behind glass. Once again I used paper that I have had for a long time. The flowers were cut from the paper.

This is a couple of shots of the inside of the building.. such a beautiful place. Multiple levels but in an open sense. You can see what I mean with the ramps.

Next I will start on the Botanical Gardens. It will take me a long time to get all those pictures done. I know, I should just pick out some but I have a hard time doing that, they are all special to me, that is why I took them after all. LOL

Birds birds and some more birds!

2010-09-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

Just in case you cant tell, I love birds. Of course I love every animal that I have ever come into contact with. I am terrified of some of them but that does not mean that I dont love them. Snakes for instance, they scare the heebeejeebees out of me, but I still think they are awesome. There is just something about all creatures that draws me in, they are all so different. I just cant for the life of me believe that they came into existance from a big bang.
I have been scrapping the bird pictures that I took at the Bird and Reptile Kingdom in Niagara Falls. I have loved just looking at the pictures while I scrapped them. I also scrapped some pictures of the bears.
The bears were in like a dug-out filled with water and the people were dropping food down to them. The bears were just snatching for the food as if they had never eaten anything for days.

These birds are just the cutest lil things. I so enjoyed watching them flit around hither tither and yon!

I have about three more pages to do to the Bird and Reptile Kingdom.
The children start back to school on Tuesday and it will be the first day for Samantha so I am anxious to hear all about it and to get back to school photos to scrap. When Janet put Samantha in Day Care she told her it was play school and Samantha was so excited that she was going to school, I cant imagine how excited she must be now that she is really going to school.

My co-worker is getting married next saturday, so I am only working one day next week. The week after though watch out! I am working every day, dont know how I will handle that, I am only used to working every other day. Not sure I can handle working more than two days in a row but I guess I will find out.

Lazy Scrappy Day

2010-09-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

I did not do anything today other than scrap.. not one thing LOL
This hot weather is taking everything out of me. I am feeling dragged out and always have the starting of a headache, it never amounts to much other than feeling miserable.
The weather man advises cooler weather moving in tomorrow, thank heavens for that.
Today I did a couple of layouts based on challenges. The first one I combined a challenge from Scrappin Mojo to use a sketch from Page Maps september maps and a challenge from My Sketch World to use at least three rub-ons to up with Bird and Reptile Kingdom.

The next challenge was from My Sketch World to use the quote Life is an Adventure as a title. I had the perfect photos for this challenge. These photos are of the roller coaster Thunder Mountain.

I used my Cricut to make the title. For the word Life, I used the negative instead of the letters. I love my Cricut because with SCAL anything is possible even though half the time I forget to use it.

All's well that ends well!

2010-09-01T21:34:00.000-07:00

I have been missing my jaunts across the river to Port Huron to buy my scrappy supplies. Since they made it necessary to have a passport I haven't been able to go and to add insult to injury, the only scrapbooking store in town closed. Well since my supplies were getting dangerously low (in my mind they were and that was what counted) I decided to make the hour plus drive to London to go to Micheal's. I went online and printed of a couple of their 40% off coupons to take with me.
I was shocked at their prices, in essence, I couldn't afford them. I did pick up an album because they had a three ring binder type and I love those and had been looking for one for Niagara Falls photos but hadn't been able to find one anywhere else. It was regular price $34.99 but on sale for $17 so that was good. I also found a couple pads of paper that I liked but most of the pads were paper that I would never use.
I also picked up two MS punches that I liked and were marked at $16.99 so I figured we would each use a coupon for those and get them at 40% off. When we got to the cashier however, she informed me that that was the sale price so we couldn't use the coupons.. needless to say I put the punches back.
I decided to go to another store that someone on the My Sketch World forum had told me about, it was in Kilworth not far from London. Scrapping Great Deals was a delight! They have everything a scrapbooker could ever want or need. Remember the two punches on sale at Micheals, well I got those at SGD for only $13.99 plus they had 25% off everything in the store. Oh I really dropped a bundle, so I am well stocked for now. I really should have picked up that tin of Maya Road chipboard though it was a good price. Oh well, they are also an online store so maybe they will start accepting E-Transfers as a way of payment (I suggested it to them and she said she would think about it) and then I can shop online instead of making the long drive.
Well School's in at ScrapDango and those gals can really come up with the challenges! I will need to be on my scrappy toes for the next month. The first challenge was a doozey!\
First Period Math!
Since we are here in math class, I need you to include some mathy things on your projects. Three items will be required and the last one you choose from those I've listed or create your own for some math extra credit!

Requirements:
*include grid/graph paper
*include 2 or more geometric shapes (squares, circles, rectangles, triangles, etc.)
*include numbers

Extra Credit:
*make a pattern somehow
*include a mathematical symbol
*include a ruler
I also had a layout sketch challenge to do from My Sketch World so I used that sketch and did both challenges together. Here is my finished layout. I used photos of a bird that caught my eye at the Bird and Reptile Kingdom. I could barely take my eyes off it I was so enchanted by it.

Here are a couple more that I have completed from my Falls photos.
Here is the tiny room we had. We were lucky to find a room that was dirt cheap but not a dump. It had a queen size bed, TV, Air conditioning, fridge, Wifi and even had free breakfasts.

This is the only ride we went on. We were both pretty scared when we first go it but it didnt take long before we were enjoying every second of it. Nice air conditioned cars and a view to die for!

This is a photo I took of Alan standing in front of a huge maple leaf in the Floral Show House gardens.

Of course one dont go to Niagara Falls without going to the falls themselves. They are so breath taking! The noise can almost swallow you up and the mist seems to be constant. We were going to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist but the lineups where just too long. If it had been a bit cooler maybe we would have waited in the lineup but it was unbearably hot and we had taken the ride once before so we decided to not bother.

I just cant believe that I, without anyone forcing me at knifepoint, walked into this cage contraption and allowed myself to be carried across the gorge, over surging waters, with the only thing holding me up being a few wires! It must have been the heat of the day doing weird things to my brain because I KNOW that under normal circumstance there is no way you would get me on that thing!

I still have the photos that I took from the Aero Car to scrap.
It is back to school on Tuesday, so I hope Janet will have some back to school pics for me. Samantha starts school this year so I definitely want pics of her first year.

Summer is almost gone!

2010-08-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

I cant believe that summer is almost over. I dont want it to be over yet, seems it just started and if it is almost over that means that winter is close and I really really dont want winter. We have had a good summer though so I suppose I shouldnt really complain.
If you have noticed that I am not using an apostrophe, it is because my keyboard goes into fits and at a whim will turn itself into a french keyboard turning my apostrophe key into a è key. I have no idea why it does it nor when it will or wont do it. It is also the same for my question mark key and my quotation key. It bugs me no end but it has been doing it now for over three years and I still havent figured it out. It goes in spurts.
I thought I had finished my Bird album but I found another bird that I hadnt done so I did it today. The Red Tailed Hawk. I was so proud of getting that bird too. We were leaving the park because it was pouring rain and it had been a rather disappointing day. I spotted him sitting in the tree but I couldnt take my camera out in the rain to get a good shot because it would have ruined the camera, so I shot him through the windshield. I took about thirty shots and only one shot turned out without the wipers being in the shot.

We have been having a wonderful time over at My Sketch World with an ABC Crop. Each day we were given a letter of the alphabet and directions for scrapping it. One day would be a card and the next would be a layout. Today was the last day. I think I am going to miss it. I still have one more card to make because I missed Y is for yellow..

Day one was A is for adornment, use lots of bling on the card. I used sparkly paper and bling in the center of the flower.

Day two was B is for border punch. I used my favourite punch and created my Winter Wren layout which I already posted previously.

Day three was C is for Clouds and we had to create a card with a cloud on it.

Day four was D is for dots and we had to create a layout using paper with dots on it.
I created the layout for my House Wren which I previously posted.

Day five was E is for event and we had to create a card for an event. I made a Congrats on your wedding card.

Day six was F is for four photos and we had to create a layout using for photos. I created a double page layout of the Floral Show House in Niagara Falls.

Day 7 was G is for girly green and we had to create a card that was girly with green on it. This is the card I made.

Day 8 was H is for hot and we had to create a layout with red, orange and yellow. I created the layout for the Wood Thrush which I already posted.

Day 9 was I is for inky and we had to create a card using lots of ink. I made sure to ink my edges lots for this one.

Day 10, J is for Jimminy Cricket and we had to create a layout that had a critter somewhere on it. I did the layout of the Wood Thrush which I have already posted.

Day 11, K is for kiss and we had to create a card with the word kiss on it.

Day 12, L is for love and we were to create a layout about our significant other or someone we loved or cared about. I did this one of Alan at the Floral Show House.

Day 13, M is for more, we were to make a card using five layers. Easy peasy.

Day 14, N is for naked and we were to create a layout using naked chipboard. I created the layout of the Ruby Throated Hummingbird which I have previously posted.

Day 15, O is for Owl and yes, you guessed it, we were to make a card with an owl on it.

Day 16, P is for pins and needles. Create a layout with stitching on it. Good thing we were allowed to use faux stitching. Once again the layout I created was previously posted, the Robin layout.

Day 17, Q is for quick and cute card sketch. Love the sketch challenges.

Day 18, R is for ready and was a title challenge. We had to use the word ready in the title of our layout. I had the perfect photos all waiting and ready to use for this challenge. I had gone to my daughters a few weeks earlier with the warning that I was coming to take pictures and they were all waiting and eager.

Day 19, S is for Swirly Stamp Sweetness and we had to create a card with swirls and a stamp on it. I had to use swirly paper because I dont have a swirly stamp.

Day 20, T is for two techniques and we were required to use two distressing techniques on our layout. Janet had just sent me some pictures of their dog, Brownie, chasing a Cormorant, and I just had to use them. Poor Brownie, the bird tormented him so much. It would stay there in the water until Brownie was almost upon it and then he would dive and Brownie would be so confused.

Day 21, U is for U, we had to use U as the word on a card.

Day 22, V is for verse and we had to create a layout using a verse or poem. As you can tell by now I am working on my vacation pictures. Once again I did a double layout using photos from the Floral Show House.

Day 23, W is for wish and we had to create a card with the word wish on it.

Day 24, X is for X marks the spot, the spot being a big circle. We had to create a layout with a circle at least 6 inches on it. Once again I used photos from the Floral Show House.

Day 25, Y is for yellow and we have to create a card with at least three different papers with yellow in them. I still have to do this one.

Day 26, Z is for Zebra and we had to create a layout that was all black and white with one other colour. I did the layout of the Red Tailed Hawk pictured above.

So has you can see, things have been happening over at MSW. I am going to have to find something else to fill my time now that the crop is over.

It is finished!!!

2010-08-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

Yippee!!! I have finished the last layout for my bird album. I am so happy today. I cant believe how quickly I did it. Naturally I am hoping there will be more to add later, there is still that elusive Coopers Hawk and there are more warblers to catch.
I think it helped using digital papers, it made it so much easier and faster to find delicious matching papers and alphas. Of course it meant a lot more work because there was so much more fussy cutting involved but I enjoy that anyway.
Without further ado, here are the last six.

ROBIN

RUBY THROATED HUMMINGBIRD

WINTER WREN

HOUSE WREN

WOOD THRUSH
0D

NORTHERN WATER THRUSH

Blogger was doing screwy things to my images today and wouldn't let me upload the full size pics. Therefore I had to go with smaller ones than usual.

Making Progress

2010-08-18T17:35:00.000-07:00

I am making some progress on bird album. I only have 6 more birds to go. After that comes all the photos from Niagara Falls. Now those should give me something to do for a long time.
I love my job but I hate this working every other day. I would prefer to work two days in a row and then have two days off. I feel like I never get really rested working this way. Also, I never seem to have enough time to what I want to do. I guess I shouldn't complain, some people don't have any job to go to, let alone one they like.
Here are five more Layouts I have completed.

COMMON GRACKLE

These were created using digital elements. All the paper used was digital as were all elements, flowers, ribbons etc... lots of fussy cutting involved here.

CATBIRD

AMERICAN GOLDFINCH

HOUSE FINCH

MOURNING DOVE

I took a vacation!

2010-08-15T12:34:00.000-07:00

I did so, I took time off and we went on a mini vacation to Niagara Falls. We left here at 6:30 Wednesday morning and didnt get home until late Saturday night. Oh my gosh, we had such a wonderful time! We went cheap cheap cheap all the way so we could pack in as much fun as possible. We lucked out in finding a really cheap motel. Even though it was cheap, it was still nice. It was clean, served a free breakfast, and even had wifi. It was also close to all the places we wanted to go.
Wednesday we did the Falls and then we walked all the way to the Bird and Reptile Kingdom. Wow, what a joy! We spent hours in that in place! It was so amazing there is really no words to explain it. The birds were not caged, and it was nothing for one to fly right across in front of your face. Thank heavens for digital cameras because I would never be able to afford to get all the film printed from a regular camera. The birds were so pretty, but there was one there that I just fell in love with, it had a tail that was a least a yard long. The snakes and lizards were okay too but I am not really into those. hehe We also did the Floral Showhouse, it was so beautiful, so many gorgeous flowers! Kudos to the gardener and staff.
Thursday we took a ride on the Sky Wheel which is a giant Ferris Wheel. It has individual glass enclosed cars that are air conditioned. You get a fantastic view of the falls from this ride. They stop the ride at the top each revolution. When you start the ride they tell you it will make three revolutions but we made six. It was great and I really enjoyed it. We also went to the Butterfly Conservatory. Oh My!!!
I thought I was in heaven. This place was luscious to say the least. The layout of the place, the greenery and the flowers alone were enough to keep me there for most of the day, but the butterflies... oh dear, what can I say.. they were everywhere and I mean everywhere! Once again the camera got a workout. There were butterflies of every colour and every description. Some were astonishing when they were in flight but when they landed they closed their wings and were a plain grey.. frustrating. I got photos of them though! We also went to the Botanical Gardens, now there is a place where you can spend an entire day without much trouble. We walked and walked, took photos and walked some more. When I win the lottery I will have to hire that gardener for sure. I cant imagine the hours and hours of work that must go into that place. It is just plain beautiful there.
Friday was saved for Marine Land. This place was a disappointment. Such an expensive place and really not worth the money. We enjoyed the Dolphin, Sea Lion and Killer Whale shows but that was about it. I am not sure what we expected but certainly more than we got. It was fun to watch the Bears but really all they did was sit there and wait for you to drop food to them (food which you had to pay for), same with the deer.
Saturday we just took our time and drove home the back way and enjoyed the views.
We stopped at Janets on the way home and spent some time with her and the family. While she looked at all the photos we had taken.
Since then I have scrapped some more photos of my birds. I am slowly but surely getting my bird album finished. I counted today and I have thirteen more birds to go.

NORTHER CARDINAL

COWBIRD

TURKEY VULTURE

AMERICAN REDSTART

RUBY CROWNED KINGLET

I Am Back!!!!

2010-08-12T16:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a long hard road for the past few months but I have made it! I must say this has been the hardest breakdown I have had to come back from. During the month of December I went through three shock treatments a week and those drained me as well as reducing my memory to slush. They didn't help! I have gone through four medication changes, the last one finally worked. The hardest part for me was losing interest in everything. I just sat in my chair all day long waiting for night to come so I could go to bed. I don't want to go through that ever again.
About a month ago I finally started getting an interest in going back to work and that made me happy because I love my job. I have been there now for six years and I couldn't ask for nicer bosses. I love interacting with my customers, it is more of a socializing time for me than it is a work time. Last week I started to scrap again, FINALLY, that really bothered me that I had lost interest in that. I mean scrapping had been my life and the fact that I had absolutely no interest in it really got to me. I had been going through all my photos from Rhondeau Park and it hit me as to how many different birds I had managed to get photos of, so I started to print them. Then I went on auto-pilot and started scrapping them. It was like I had never stopped.
Here are the ones I have done so far:
NUTHATCHES

JUNCO

BARN SWALLOW

HERONS

WOODPECKERS

WARBLERS

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SPARROWS

BLUEJAY

CEDAR WAXWING

ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK

This is obviously not a bird, but I had to do this one of my grandson. Isaac and Theresa were out on an adventure, they were throwing rocks into a stream when one of Theresa's rocks went awol and hit Isaac in the head. Of course my daughter had to get pictures of it to send me to scrap.

That is all for now. It is too hot up here to do anymore today. I am going downstairs where it is air condioned and much more pleasant. :)

Swanie River

2009-08-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

We went boating with my son in law, Janet and their brood.. oh my what fun we had. They have a tow along that the children love riding. They love bouncing along the waves and cry "faster dad, faster", "make a bigger wake, dad". The two younger ones don't ride on it because they don't like getting wet, but Theresa and Isaac would stay on it all day.
As we left the dock and were going out the channel this swan followed us, I think he was making sure we were really leaving. LOL

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids out on the tow along.

Some serious stuff...

2009-08-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had an appointment with my trainer again. He is not happy with the way I am improving or should I say the lack of improvement in my cardio training. My resting heart beat is still way to high and therefore when I am working out it is much too high. Against his better judgement he started me on some weight training although not very much. But like I told him, I can't afford to pay for the gym and the gas to drive back and forth to the city every day just to ride the bike and walk the treadmill. I can understand where he is coming from but he also has to understand me too. So we did a compromise. He is concerned that without the proper cardio fitness I wouldn't be able to withstand the weight training and end up quitting, which is a possibility but there is a much bigger possibility that I would quit if I just continued doing the cardio. Some is better than none in my books. So I promised him that I would let him know if I start finding it to hard to keep up with the training, I doubt that will happen since he only has me on four machines and very low weights at that. The problem now is that my hours are increasing at work.. I should have known that would happen. I sit here bored to death all year with nothing to do and as soon as I find something to do they increase my shifts.. doesn't that just stand to reason!!!

This heat and humidity is incredible!! I roast at work and then come home and cook some more unless I stay downstairs with nothing to do. The windows upstairs in the computer room and the craft room are too small for air conditioners.. we thought we had found one that would fit but it was half and inch too wide. :( I think this weekend is going to be spent at the beach if I can find one close enough where you don't have to walk half way to the states to get out far enough to swim. :)

Encouraging Results

2009-08-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

August 1st was weigh-in again and I am seeing some signs of improvement. I am down to 181 pounds, Yippee!!!! So all in all I feel much better. Over a month of doing without and I have only given in and smoked the one pack of smokes during that time. I am very pleased with myself. Taking caffeine, nicotine, and sugar from your system at the same time is not an easy task and I certainly expected to fail a lot more times than I have. Determination is strong though and having come so far it is much easier to say no way not after going this long.. and now that I am actually seeing some weight loss I have no excuse to smoke at all now. Of course the losing must continue and not just be a one time thing. I do need to lose more than the seven pounds.
I have to admit that I am starting to feel a bit better with the training and am now able to do 20 minutes at level 2 on the bike and 20 on treadmill without my heartrate going "beepbeepbeep" at me all the time. Improvements to say the least. :)

Discouragement - Big Time!

2009-07-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

Today was weigh in time and while Alan has lost five pounds I haven't lost a pound. Needless to say I am devastated. I can't believe that I haven't even lost one pound. I was so discouraged the first thing I did was had a cigarette. Yes, I needed it. I can't do anything right so why should that be the only thing I be able to do right?
I didn't even bother with going to the "Y" right now I am asking myself why bother..
I know I will get past this but right now I am discouraged and angry with myself.

One Hour Card Sketch Challenge

2009-07-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

My Sketch World is having a One Hour Card Sketch Challenge.
Here are the particulars:
**Friday, July 24th
**Sketches posted at 9:00pm EST
**Finished cards need to be posted in the gallery and linked to sign in thread by 10:20pm EST.
**The 6 sentiments we are working with will be posted the day before so you can pull papers and get psyched up.
**6 sketches will be posted and you will get one prize draw for each card completed and posted by 10:20pm EST.
**All action will take place the "Card Challenges Forum."
**WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!! Ummm...I mean....It's going to be a swell time!!

New Beginnings

2009-07-11T18:17:00.000-07:00

I have hit a point in my life where I realize that I have to do something for myself. I need to reset the direction my life is going. I need to take charge of my health. So, a week ago I quit smoking.. put the soda pop aside and decided to join the "Y".
I have to admit that once I put the determination to quit on the table, will power followed right behind and it wasn't half as hard as I expected it to be. As a matter of fact I have to admit that it was downright easy. Oh sure, I crave a cigarette but it is easy to just say no I am not having one and with each passing day it is easier.
The Diet Pepsi was actually a bit harder to quit than the smoking... especially when I am at work. However, I am sticking with the water or the diet iced tea... mostly iced tea because it is supposed to be good to help you lose weight and I have 55 pounds that has to come off. So far my trainer has me working on just the bike and the treadmill, he says that I need to build up my cardio before he will allow me to start any weight training... pfffffft!!!! Darn it after all I want to start loosing the weight now, not later but I guess he knows best. I was very discouraged that after one week instead of loosing I had gained three pounds... I was almost ready to give it up already. I blame that on Alan though because I know better than to weigh myself that often and I shouldn't have done it but he was excited to see how much he had lost... no more scales for me until the end of July.

So much for the bland diet!!!

2009-06-18T19:29:00.001-07:00

I think I am destined to be in pain LOL. I just can't eat plain food, I don't have it in me. I have to spice it up some or I just can't eat it, it's as simple as that! So I eat the good food and suffer the consequences. Thank Heavens for Tramoset and Imodium, at least they help keep me from suffering too much. :)
We have discovered a Chinese restaurant in Sarnia that is top notch.. believe me, they are a rarity around here. This one is scrumptious!!! The hot food is hot and the cold is cold... the buffet has a humongous selection to choose from.. all you can eat and believe me, I can eat an awful lot. The best thing about them is that they are cheap.. yeppers, Cheap. We can even afford to go there to eat. Oh my.. the mushrooms in Oyster sauce are to die for... yummy, the curried chicken is perfection, the honey garlic ribs are beyond description.. oh yeah they even have a sushi section too. :) They have quite a large seafood selection, which being a Newfie pleases me to no end. Crab legs, so many different kinds of shrimp that I couldn't name them all, smoked salmon, cheese crab, oysters, and I better not forget the scallops. :) This is on top of all the chinese dishes. Now I have gone and made myself hungry after eating a huge t-bone steak for dinner. Sheeeeeesh, can never fill the huge hole I call a stomach.
This week we went to visit the Uncle Tom's Cabin Historic site in Dresden. It was very interesting. The site commemorates the life of Josiah Henson, the Black slave who's biography inspired the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. It is built on part of the land where he lived. The Museum has a building that contains a lot of artifacts from that period and a lot of slave history, as well it has the last house that he lived in, another house from one of the fugitive slaves, the church, part of the sawmill they used and the Henson graveyard.
Now of course I learned about slavery in school and I have known of existence much the same as anyone else. I have to say though that walking through the site and standing in his house, sitting in the church.. it was a little over-whelming. It seemed to make it more personal. Looking at the whips, chains, the neck clamps and the other stuff almost made me cry. I couldn't possibly imagine the suffering they went through. I could almost hear them cry out. How could any human being treat another in that way? To think they were not even considered to be humans.. how did they stand under the burden! It is not that I learned anything new, it was just that I was brought a little closer and had my eyes opened. Not a pretty sight.
I don't know what this week will bring, we shall just have to wait and see. I am thinking about making a trip to the Moore Museum but it will depend on how well my money lasts LOL

What a Relief it is!

2009-05-25T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well I have been so worried and not a little scared. I finally broke down and went to see the doctor about my problem. He agreed that all the symptoms were those of colon cancer and set me up with scopes to look into it. After I came out of the anesthetic the nurse told me that they did two biopsies and before I was discharged was given an appointment to see the doctor today for the results. I have to admit that walking into his office today I had trouble breathing past the knot of fear in my chest. Turns out that all the worrying was over nothing. I have a spastic colon LOL. So I have been put on a rather bland diet to say the least.. all my favourite foods are now tabu, no spices, no garlic, no pepper, no salt,... may as well eat cardboard!!!! Oh dear, nothing will ever taste the same again. Now this is going to take some getting use to. I mean I do like a little food with my garlic and spices. I mean you take the spices out of a kitchen and you may as well remove the cook.. I dont know how to cook without my spices. Heck, that means even Ketchup is no longer on the menu because it has spices. I am sure that over time I will come up with passable meals in the meantime we shall have to suffice with the cardboard. At least there is always Jello for dessert.
Now that the worry is gone maybe I will be able to get back to do normal and do some scrapbooking. Although, to be truthful there hasnt been an awful lot happening to get many photos.
We have gone to Rhondeau a couple of times but those dratted little birds are so full of energy that they are hard to get good shots of. They wont stay still for two seconds. I will spy one sitting in a tree but by the time I have managed to line up the shot, they have flown away. I have seen a lot of different warblers this spring, it is exciting to watch them and to listen to them.. such a beautiful sound. I wish I had a way to record it.. the sound of the birds, the wind whispering through the trees, with the waves crashing against the shore in the background.. my but that would be such a beautiful thing to fall asleep to every night.
I am working again every weekend now so I dont get to go as much as I would like, but then if I werent working, I wouldnt have the money to go so it is a catch 22 situation. LOL
I am off to bed now to have the first good night sleep in a few weeks.

The Next Level

2009-05-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for challenges to boot your mojo, or you just want something new to inspire you, look no farther than The Next Level. The Next Level is an exciting new concept whose aim in is not only to produce really creative Weekly Challenges that are not tied to any specific brand, but also to explore new avenues, ideas and techniques with a completely fresh approach. They will be launching on June 1.. check them out.

Birthdays are so much Fun!!!

2009-05-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

I am now officially old!!! I think once you go above the double nickles you are supposed to be old but I refuse to grow up even if I am old so there. On Saturday we celebrated my birthday by going to Rondeau Park.. love that place. I packed us up a nice picnic lunch and off we went. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining down on us. The trails were perfect. The Carolian forest was alive with flowers bursting from forest floor and the birds were singing, the trees were in full bud.. it was just a great time to be there.

We watched a Red Bellied Woodpecker for a while, such a beautiful bird. The Chickadees play peek a boo with us from the tops of tree they have such a marvelous song. The Cape May would not stay still long enough for us to get a good look at him, I got some yellow streaks but that is all. I did get a pic of another bird that I have no idea what it might be, when I first took the pic I thought it was a Robin but after looking at it, I now know it isn't. I will send the pic to the Park department to find out what it is. It was a great day even if we didn't spot any "special" birds. :)

I finished the album for my BFF and she was thrilled with it. She looked through it several times commenting on this and that. So I was happy to have been able to make it for her. I love being able to do things for her because she is always to happy with them.

I have made a couple of layouts for myself. I did one of my Mother who passed away in 1998.

Theresa decided she needed an Hammock so she made one.. Her mother took some pics which just had to be scrapped :)

I love this photo which Janet took at the Toronto Zoo.

That's all for now, I will have more later. Donald has his track and field day later this week which I will be attending (with bells and my camera of course) so you can count on lots of layouts coming from that one. hahaha

So So busy!!!

2009-04-27T18:15:00.000-07:00

Hi, I have been so busy that I haven't made any posts for a long while. What have I been doing you may ask.. well.. I have been working on the album for my BFF and I have it almost finished, just four pages to go. I have 44 pages done so far, wow I can't believe I have done so much in such a short time. I gave her a sneak preview.. she hasn't seen the album or anything, just a few pages and she is just gloating over it. I am quite happy with it too, I think it has turned out very nice. It hasn't been the easiest thing to put together, not knowing who half the people are or anything about what they are doing etc... a lot of the pages don't even have titles. I have made up for that lack with a lot of bling and embellies. LOL
Now, that hasn't been the only thing I have been doing .. oh no, I have also been busy at DT Boot Camp at WeScrap. Now I have to tell you that it has been exciting, fun and yeah a little bit hard too. There is nothing like learning all the ins and outs of being on a Design Team like learning at Boot Camp from the pros. We learned all about how to do challenges, incite chat on forums and for the final week... well that was the oh la la of oh la las.. we were broken into teams and sent of to act as a Design Team. Our job was to organize and co-ordinate a crop, complete with challenges, projects and games. I am the leader of our team. Personally I think we have done an exceptional job on organizing our crop... we shall have to wait and see what the Generals think. :) All I can say is that it was a great learning experience and I was proud to be part of it.
I have also been involved in two online crops this week, one at My Sketch World and the other at Creative Scrappers... not only that but I had to work Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Okay so I really didn't work on Sunday I dragged myself through the day but I still get paid for it :) WOW.. I made myself tired just typing it all.

Reveal Day

2009-04-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

Today is reveal day at Just My Sketches. I am always blown away by the talent the DT has. We have a wonderful group of gals there and they do amazing work.
Here is the sketch we had to work with this month:

Here is my layout for the sketch:

Just chillin'

2009-04-12T18:48:00.000-07:00

We have enjoyed a beautiful sunny Easter Sunday here. We did wake up to a very cold house this morning though. The motor on the furnace decided to die sometime during the night so we when we woke up it was not very warm. Thank heavens we don't still have the same old landlord that we used to have or else we would still be sitting in the cold... she would never pay the extra money to have someone come and do the work on a weekend much less on Easter Sunday. Not this landlord, as soon as I phoned him he was on the phone calling around to find someone who could get out right away to fix it. Of course for the afternoon we really didn't need it, it warmed up to 52 degrees but didn't take long to chill down again once the sun made its departure. I am looking forward to next week, forecast is for temps in the 60's... yeah, bring it on, I can take it.
We have a tree in our backyard and I thought yesterday it was mighty nice of the neighbour who lives behind us to take the time to trim it... until I realized that he was stacking all the branches that he was cutting off against our shed. Whoa, wait a minute... first of all the tree is not on his property, it really didn't need any cutting, and we have no way to get rid of the branches. Needless to say the landlord was a tad bit disturbed by this behaviour as well. He is going to remove the branches for us but he is also going to have a chat with the neighbour. I think I see a fence in our future LOL. I also mentioned to the landlord that the house was a tad bit on the dirty side and that I was going to call the pressure washers and have them come and clean it. He immediately said no, he would do that, he would call the ones that does his farm equipment.. once again I was surprised.. landlords normally don't care about that kind of thing, oh well, it's $125 saved for me and I like that. I just hate a dirty house where you are afraid that your clothes will brush against it and get filthy.
I am working on an album for my friend. Sorry, I won't be posting any photos of those layouts. She saw it yesterday for the first time and was estatic with what I have done so far. Which is about 28 pages and I have I would judge about another 10 -12 to do. I also have not been feeling well now for over 2 months, I had hoped it would just clear up and go away but it is now getting worse and I am starting to get scared. On one hand I know it isn't anything but something stupid like my diet which I really do need to get a handle on and cut out the pop but on the other hand I am terrified that it might be something serious. The fear of making a complete fool of myself by going to emerg to find nothing wrong other than my diet completely overcomes the fear that something serious is wrong. I am sure that if something serious is wrong, I will find out soon enough. In the meantime, I have to start looking after myself better. Pop has to go, so do all the sweets that I eat.. after all I am diabetic.

That is about all that is happen... oh wait, I forgot LOL I completely changed around my scrap room. I have found that bending myself in half everytime to enter or exit my scrap room was starting to have a side effect, or should we call it a back effect.. I didn't have anything in the way of pain killers strong enough to kill the back pain anymore. So, I took another room. It took me sometime to move everything out of the other room and slowly bit by bit move my scraproom into it but I succeeded. It isn't as convenient as the other room was in the way I had to set it up, the room is wider but shorter... so things are not at my fingertips anymore. You have to give up something in order to gain another. LOL

There, now that is all the happenings around here. I should soon be getting back to the birdwatching because the birds should be coming in soon... can't wait!!!

Sharing some News

2009-04-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to share a bit of my exciting news with you. Check it out here CCAS Blog. I am looking forward to this time and have some exciting stuff planned.

2009-04-06T10:50:00.001-07:00

It's been a long day..

2009-03-27T17:11:00.000-07:00

I am tired tonight and my legs hurt, my back hurts and I just want my bed. I sat down to watch some TV after I got home from work and the Stupid Cat just had to lie in my lap the entire time.. I swear she weighs a ton... okay at least 10 pounds then. Since we moved she has become awfully sucky, always wanting to be on someone's lap or lying beside them in the chair. If we come upstairs to be on the computers she follows us and just sits here bawling at us until one of us goes back downstairs. She has taken to sleeping on my face again at night after I fall asleep... now how do I know this if I am already asleep? Because I wake up with my eyes glued shut and unable to breath through my nose.. I am allergic to the darn thing! I swear she knows this and does it deliberately.

We had such a beautiful day here today, oh my gosh I really didn't want to work let me tell you. I would have much preferred to spend the day outside. Of course I did spend every second between customers outside. My boss pulled up at one point and I was standing outside having a cigarette with one of my customers and reminded me that I was supposed to be working but I told him I was on strike... he said "Oh.. ok, wat I do with you?" laughed and left. I love my bosses and they know I would never do anything to harm their business, that if I was having a smoke with a customer it was because I knew the customer and that the customer was more than willing to wait. In this instance it was the customer's suggestion because he had some things he wanted to talk to me about.

I am very excited because I learned about a new software program for the Cricut. It is called SCAL (Sure Cuts A Lot) and it allows you to use any True Type fonts on your computer to cut with your Cricut... Yippeeee no more paying $89 per cartridge and I can use my favourite fonts. I downloaded the demo version and it works just as it says it will. Only thing is that you can't use the stuff you cut with the demo version because it cuts a lot of lines through it to make it useless, but it sure cuts enough to make you want the program. LOL Now to convince my darling daughter that Mother's Day and birthday is coming soon and $75 is really not a big price to pay for it. ... she might go for it. Oh well if she don't, Alan will or at least I will tell him he did :)

Oh yeah, scrapping and layouts... of course I have been creating layouts! Well did you really think I hadn't? Missi has been helping me lately, she rearranged my paper several times and sorted my mini brads. No wait... she spilled my mini brads, I sorted them. She thought my ribbons were too wide and tried to make them narrower but alas and alack for her, she's been declawed so all that happened was that she got to play with them for a while. I told you, she's got real sucky lately and wants to be with me where ever I am. She's not quiet about it either. Oh no, it's Meow this and Meow that... you know she's a female cause she never shuts up. Stupid cat.
Oh yeah.. sidetracked for a minute.. layouts..(mind is going you know..cats fault of course).. no particular order or why they were created, just gonna post them.