Scrapathon

Just over a month ago, I had a really fun day of scrapbooking with my friend Melanie. She has gone to a Scrapathon put on by one of our local scrapbook stores for a few years now, and this time around she invited me to join her. It was so fun, and there were door prizes, a registration gift bag and an amazing turkey dinner with all the fixin's!

I completed many, many layouts that day... some for my 8 1/2 X 8 1/2 travel album, some for my kids' albums, and even a couple for my 2008 yearbook. (8 1/2 X 11 size). I made this page, and then left myself a note in each photo block to remind myself which pictures to get printed from that day. I opted to print them in sepia because then they would all go with my layout colour choices.

Dare To Be Fabulous!

When I first saw the set "Fabulous Flowers" in the SU! catalogue, I loved it! But for some reason, I didn't buy it right then... other sets seemed more practical, perhaps, or I had already spent my budget for that month!! (ha! like I have a stamping budget - kidding...) But whatever the reason, I only purchased it recently, and I have really been having fun with it since. I love the saying, "Dare to be Fabulous," and I think the set lends itself to any colour combination.

Here is a card I made this week while playing around with the set. I inked the stamps in Pumpkin Pie and then used a red marker to colour the edges. Markers are so versatile, and one of my favourite things to do with them is to ink right onto the stamp.


card measures 5 1/4 X 5 1/4 square and fits perfectly in the large square envelopes from SU!

I saw the light!

Written by my mother...

This morning I thought I was a gonner...

I even saw the light at the end of the tunnel that people talk about when they are dying...

It was pitch black out and I headed out to get the newspaper before 7am. I went my usual route out the back door and down the stairs...I thought I was on the last step but I wasn't. I had enough time to call out, 'Oh Lord Help Me.' and I fell and smashed the back of my head on the packed gravel and instantly I saw a bright light...I really felt that was it. I felt no pain from the bang to the back of my head...It was then that I realized that the fall triggered the motion light to shine directly into my face. It was not the shortest prayer recorded but the Lord is Good and I am Thankful.

The shortest prayer recorded in the Bible is where Peter walking on the water toward Jesus, lost faith, and started to sink, and called out, "Lord Save Me."

You all have a good day :)

Love Mom

My Blog Updates

I just added a link on the side of my blog, powered by FeedBlitz, that enables you to get an email when I update my blog. If you want to do this, please add your email where it says.

Thanks so much Lisa for helping me figure this out!!!

Writing Lines...

I made Scott write lines today. He had begged for me to write something out for him to copy, then after he had done a beautiful job of printing out the words, he scribbled them all out. I said, "Now you are in trouble, and your punishment is lines." He actually thought they were quite fun to do...some punishment, eh?! He's 5, so he had to write "I am sorry" 5 times....

Make and Take Card

Last weekend, I had the honour of doing a home workshop for Dona and her friends. Here is the make and take that we did. I love glitter... can you tell??? We used the 2-way glue pen to add a border of glitter around the vanilla paper, and on the tree, as well as surrounding the sentiment oval. And, I love this stamp set (Scandinavian Season) - bet you couldn't tell that, either!!!

My Artistic Mother

One of my favourite things about myself, I inherited from my mom... art. Here are a couple paintings she did years ago. These paintings were both in my Grandparents' home. My Grandma died just over 4 years ago, and my Grandpa died earlier this year. So, my mom got some of her artwork back when their house was sold, and I thought I'd share it with you... probably the first time she's been showcased on the Internet :)

The first one is a painting of the woods near her childhood home in Northern Ontario, when they would go and gather sap for maple syrup. My dad put a new frame on it, and it is now hanging in my parents' house.

This next one is one she did in High School, and I have just become the proud owner of it! I think it will go in our guest room.

SU on TV!

Check out Shelli Gardner of Stampin' Up! on TV!!!! I just came across this clip, and wanted to share it with you. Such great ideas for the BIG SHOT... I have these products and I love them. If you want to place an order, click on my website and you have access to online ordering 24/7... or you can always call or email to place and order too!

Enjoy the video...

SU on TV!

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My helper strikes again!

Last night I had my Stamper's Club and here is one of the cards we made... It is the Bright Bulbs wheel, and then coloured with markers, filled in with Crystal Effects, and finally sprinkled with Dazzling Diamonds.

Moments before my club members arrived, with all my stuff set out on the tables, ready to go, I left the room to get ready myself. I thought all the kids were in the playroom playing, and Steve was close by, as well..... BUT..... one little "helper" snuck out to mommy's very tempting class supplies, and thinking I set this all up for HER, Elise nicely completed my card. So, who wants to get this one for Christmas? She has such an attraction to my Stampin' Up! markers... some kids get cars for their 16th birthdays, I think I will get Elise a set of SU! markers :) When I walked into the room again, she was sitting at the table, red marker in hand, looked up at me and said, "I coloured this for YOU mom!!!!" Wow, thanks Elise...

A day of flowers!

They say, "When it rains, it pours!"

Well, I say, fine by me when the showers are in flowers!!! Today, I was blessed with TWO bouquets of flowers.

The first bouquet is from Steve, my wonderful husband... he said they were just because he loves me! I do feel loved! I am especially enjoying the beautiful Fallish colours in this bouquet. Thanks Husband!!

The second bouquet came from my new friend Jacky. We met because our sons go to school together. Today I had Noah for the day, and Steve took both boys to and from school (Noah and Scott) and then brought Noah back after school for more playing with my kids! When Jacky came to pick Noah up, she gave me these beautiful flowers... thanks so much!

Better IRL... (in real life)

This is the second card we made last night at my Stamper's Club. I think it is a good example of how things can look better in real life. This was a hard one to take a photo of. One of my club members requested we play with glitter this month, and I was happy to please! This card uses chipboard frames which have been covered in Heat and Stick powder and then glitter. As well as on the bottom, we covered 2 lines of sticky strip in chunky glitter. The images on the card have been heat embossed in silver, and there is a piece of silver cord finishing it all off. It is pretty sparkly, but most people said they liked it! In Steve's words, "It's very Christmas!" He also said it wasn't "too Las Vegas" when I asked him if it was over the top! On the inside of the card we put white pieces so it is easier to write your message.

My little Trick-or-Treaters :)

Scandinavian Season

Last night I had my pre-buy class for "Scandinavian Season." Why did I pick this set? Well, first off, I love it! And secondly, it feels a bit like my heritage. My mom was born in Norway, and then immigrated to Canada with her family when she was young. I have never been to Norway, but it is high on my list of places to visit. I was supposed to go there with my mom in the Summer of 2001, then instead, I got sick and needed surgery. Bummer. Later that year I got married, and the opportunity fled as Steve and I went other places on vacation.

So, when I saw this set, all kinds of visions of rose malling came to mind. And the mitten looks just like the ones that my Mormor knitted throughout her whole life. I think the Scandinavian style is so beautiful, and this set really appealed to me.

The first thing I did was to raid my mom's rose malling collection for inspiration. And then I made up some cards, as well as checked out Splitcoaststampers for more ideas.

Some pieces...


The cards we made last night:

The "Bandanna Technique" Cased from Speedystamper

Ornament card Cased from stamperjen0

And this last one is just a take on the SC200 sketch challenge on Splitcoast

Fabulous Fall Colours!

We went out yesterday to take some family shots in the beautiful fall colours... here are a few that turned out fairly well.





The next few were taken on my film camera then scanned in... so they are not as clear here, but they are in real life.




This next one was actually taken a few days ago while I was driving in town, but I love the contrast of the orange-gold leaves against the bright blue sky... so I thought I would share it too!

Mennonite Girls...

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about this blog: Mennonite Girls Can Cook.

Check it out for some great recipes, and fantastic photos!

Date Night....

Yesterday afternoon, around 3:30, I told all the kids to get their shoes and coats on, and found Steve in the office... here's how it went:

me - Stand up, let me see what you're wearing.
Steve - ok
me - looks good. turn the computer off, get your shoes on... let's go.
S - what? where?
me - you'll find out when we get there!
S - you want me to turn it off off? or just the monitors?
me - off off.
S - ok!
me - kids get in the truck.
kids - where are we going?
me - you'll find out when we get there!!!!!

Having previously arranged with Steve's parents to have the kids (overnight :) I secretly packed their bag and had it ready in the truck. We got to his parents and then I said, "See you tomorrow!" Steve said, "what? they're staying overnight?!!!!!" I said, "yep, let's go!"

We needed gas, so we filled up by our house. Then stopped at home to pick up the directions that I forgot... Steve ran in and got a couple apples.... He said, "I don't know where we're going, so I thought I should bring a snack." Shoot. That was a wrench in my plan. I said we had to eat them right away. He understood as soon as I told him to head for the border and pulled our our passports. He said, "what? Are we going to Mexico?!!!!" I said, "no, Bellingham!"

So, at the border (my only real worry for the date, because the last two friends I've talked to about their border crossing experiences have NOT been good - long delays, questioning, handcuffs, bruises, etc... so that almost made me change my mind) we made it through without a hitch, and the Customs Official even laughed when he saw our row of carseats. He said, "Triplets?!"

A quick stop at Edaleen Dairy for this:

Then on to Bellis Fair....

My only purchase of the day... besides the $3 photo booth, that is actually harder to use than it looks! I'm saving those pics for the s/b page!

The real reason I whisked my husband off to Bellingham was to see a new movie. It's unfortunately not playing in Canada, so we had to go south of the border. Totally worth it. If you are married, or ever plan to be married, you should see this movie. Check out the link for the trailer, and for more info on where it's playing. If you are not in the states, or don't live close enough to the US border.... the link will take you to the DVD info.



Before picking the kids up this morning, we decided to go out for breakfast. Tim Horton's was the choice, and a great way to end a surprise date!!

A bunch of winners!!!!

Way back in September, I saw some colouring contest pictures at Safeway, and I took 3 for my kids to colour. They worked hard on them and I returned them to the store. The day I took them back, I bought each of my kids a little "prize" consisting of a sale-bin book and a small thing of smarties. They were all "winners," I said. Here's the story in pictures....

Sept. 10 - the kids enter the contest. (notice Scott's band aids, because this was just 3 days after his Emerg. episode!)

Sept. 12 - I am shopping at Safeway and my heart fills with joy as I see my kids' artwork displayed in the store!

I thought the story ended there.

Fast forward to October 15... I got a call from Safeway saying that there were prizes for my kids waiting at the Customer service desk for the colouring contest they entered over a month ago!

Oct. 17 - we went to Safeway to claim the prizes, and I was NOT expecting this..... Each kid got 2 prizes....

Scott got "Mix-ems" markers and Bathtub crayons.

Todd got a Colouring book and "mix-ems" markers.

Elise got sidewalk chalk and a colouring book.

Needless to say, the kids were overjoyed!!

October 18th - the kids using Scott's tub crayons! I was happy that they came off very easily!

Thank you, Safeway!!!!

The future of Stampin' Up!.....

Here she is, folks! My little helper... and she is already a BIG Stampin' Up! fan! Last night I had a class here, and this morning when Elise saw my apron sitting out, she said, "You put dis on me, mom? I want to wear dat!"

Only problem is that when she wears the apron, she thinks she has free reign of the supplies too.... ummm, no, those are MY markers!!!

Playing with Picasa 3.....

I just discovered Picasa 3.... I have been using Picasa 2 for quite awhile now, and I love it... easy to use, organized, etc. But I am delighted that Picasa 3 has a few new features....

- writing text directly on the photo (I was currently using my Zoom Browser to do this, and it added an extra step that was time consuming).

- text on an angle

- photo correction... cool!!!!!!

- video editing

- photo collages

- much much more!

- EDIT: Another one we just figured out is you can take a still from a video - fun!

All for FREEEEEE!!!!

Fall Pages

Just wanted to share a new layout I did for my Scrapbook Club. The pictures are from Sept. 2007, on the 19th anniversary of my husband's car accident. It truly is a Season of Thanks every September 23rd when we celebrate his health. I have just printed these pics from my computer, and I will order the "real" copies through Snapfish this week, and then put them on there for a better quality finish.