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.

Praying for a friend

On Wednesday, my friend's husband died. He was only 56 years old. I had the privilege of working with her in my very first year of teaching, and she became very special to me because it was also my first year living away from home. During that year, I went to her house several times for dinner, or a visit, and felt totally loved by her family. Her husband was like a big teddy bear and he was loved by so many people. I can't imagine losing my best friend, and my heart goes out to her, and I have been praying that God will wrap his big arms around her and give her comfort.

I made her a card and I wanted to mail it off right away, so I forgot to take a picture. This is pretty much the same card. I used markers directly on the stamp and then "huffed" on the stamp to moisten it again before stamping it on the paper. These colours feel like sunshine to me, and I hope they bring comfort when the card is opened.

Open House

TODAY!!!

Between 2:00 - 5:00 pm

World Card Making Day Open House

* Make and Takes
* New Products to see and try
* Specials
*Door prizes
* Refreshments
All of the above for FREE!!!!

Hope to see you here! And bring a friend :)

Around the house...

I have added a couple more vinyl decor elements pieces to my walls. Over the doorway that leads into our Great Room area, I put up "Welcome."


And in my stamping room, above the window, I finally put up my "Create" definition. That is the very first vinyl product that I bought, and I have only just put it up now. It took me awhile to figure out where to put it in my stamping room, and finally decided on this spot above the window. As long as this is being used for my stamping space, and not a bedroom, I don't plan on putting up curtains or blinds, so that can be my focal point for the window! It is one of the few windows in the house where I don't look out onto another house, so I love leaving it uncovered.


One note about putting up a large vinyl element... it is a good idea to grab a helper to put this up - I did it by myself, but I think it would have gone a lot faster if I had had some help. I had a clear table and as I pulled the backing off, I taped the main piece down every few inches so that when the backing was completely off it wouldn't spring back and fold over on itself. If that happens, there is not much you can do to save it because it is so sticky.

Terrific Techniques

Heat Embossing...

One of my favourite techinques is heat embossing. It is so easy, too. You just stamp in a pigment ink, or versamark, sprinkle on the embossing powder in your choice of shade, and heat it with the heating tool.

Here is a card I made recently using the "Wild About You" stamp set, and 3 shades of metallic embossing powder (currently, just the gold and silver are available through Stampin' Up!)

The beauty in roses....

Just found this picture in my files, and it kind of reminds me of the "Wilton Rose" that I recently learned how to make. I do think God does a better job of creating roses than I do, though! (and His smell a lot better, too!!!!!!!).

Happy Birthday Granny! (and K.I.S.S.)

My Granny turns 88 today, and she is my last grandparent alive. Here is a recent picture of her and my kids. She has recently moved into a new care home, and the latest report is that she likes the food there... that is great news because at her last place she didn't have anything good to say about the food!



And here's a two-for-one post for you... This is the card that I have sent to Granny. It qualifies for a "KISS" technique feature. I used the sticky cuts in the SU! catalogue, and covered them with chunky sprinkles. Easy card! I was done in about 5 minutes.