Happy Birthday Amy!!!

It's Amy's Birthday today and guess what................I forgot to send her card this week!!!

Big shocker, eh? Hehehe!

It snowed last night and it looks so pretty and Christmasy out there. The kids and I made cookies yesterday, those shaped ones with a cookie press I just got from Epicure. The loved making the trees and candy canes the best.

Anyway, it's time to get ready for Sunday School now and maybe get some cleaning done before we go...............

Still here

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted! I have been thinking about not blogging since I don't seem to be posting much anymore but I think I'll keep going for a while and maybe post more day-to-day stuff, more of a way of journalling about things like the kids and such. I am terrible at keeping a journal plus this might help when I go to do a scrapbook page and need something to write :)



This is one of the projects from Scrapgala (from the extra class Friday night). I still haven't figured out where to hang it and I need a hanger for the back of it but will hopefully get on that this weekend!

Only a month to Christmas! Are you ready?

Halloween pictures for Mom.........

The first 2 are from Halloween afternoon when they opened their present from Grammie and Grampie. They were both still dressed up from the Halloween parties they went to in the afternoon.

The last one is from Halloween night. Emma was so excited she was nearly bouncing off the walls!

I am just getting Ian out to the bus so this is a short one (as they seem to be lately). Only 2 more sleeps till our annual girls weekend away in Moncton!!! I'll have lots to "talk" about after that I'm sure ;-)

What have I been doing?

This is going to be a quick post as I am getting my little fairy ready to go to a Halloween party at playgroup. The last few weeks in between working on stamp camp (last weekend), classes, parties and getting ready for Halloween I have been working on a "mini" album (it is 8x8 and not really all that mini. LOL).

I have posted all of the pictures in photobucket here:
http://s479.photobucket.com/albums/rr157/zoripple/mini%20album/?albumview=grid

This is a couple of my favorites although I have to say it looks way better IRL :)

Happy World Card Making Day

A week late ;)

I meant to post this last weekend and didn't get a chance. I shared the directions for this card for CompuPro and wanted to share them here as well.

Supplies:



Cardstock- Chocolate Chip (10 x 5)
- Baja Breeze (4 ¾ x 4 ¾)
- White (scrap)
Pattern Paper
Chipboard
Ribbon
Ink (pink for bird and brown for sponging)
Nestabilities (scallop square and plain square)
Stamp
Stickles
Brads
Paper piercer

Step 1: Make the frame using Nestabilities. Place the A plate on the bottom of your “sandwich” then the B plate. Put chipboard piece on B plate and then create the frame as shown. Make sure the dies don’t touch as they could crack. If you need to you can use a very small piece of tape to hold them in place but if you use too much it may be too thick to go through. Place C plate on top and put through Cuttlebug.



Step 2: Cut pattern paper using same scallop square.



Step 3: Adhere patterned piece to frame, turn over and use craft knife to cut inside of frame.



Step 4: Stamp bird image and cut excess off that will show behind the frame. Adhere to back of frame and add brads.



Step 5: Sponge edges of patterned paper and baja breeze cardstock and stamp sentiment on bottom.



Step 6: Add ribbon. This is a little tip on how I add my ribbon with a few extra pictures to show what I am talking about as I don’t think I can explain it very well. LOL!

a. To measure my ribbon I go by the length of my card/LO and add a couple of inches for the knot.

b. Tie ribbon as if you were tying it around something.



c. If you want the bow on the side, cut the ribbon about 1/3 of the way around the loop from the knot. If you want it in the middle cut it in half.



d. Tape ribbon on back.



Step 7: Add stickles.



Finished card:



Finished card size is 5 x 5.

Spooky Spider

Have you seen the Decor Elements yet? I don't think I have mentioned them on my blog before this. I have the Small Lollipop Flower on the mirror in the playroom and have a couple of others but we (well Joe) have to finish painting before I can put them up.

Anyway, I wanted to let you know that the Spooky Spider Decore Elements is available for purchase until October 31st. If you are thinking about having it up in time for Halloween now is a good time to order. I have an order going in by the end of this month or you can order directly from my site.


To view the flyer click here

A Layout and our visitor

I did this LO last weekend and have been planning on posting it all week. The sketch is from www.pencillines.

I thougth the sentiment Enjoy Every Moment would be a perfect sentiment for this picture I took when Joe and I went to Digby for our anniversary in July. I used last years In Colors (Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and River Rock) for my ink and CS.

Enjoy was stamped in Blue Bayou and I wanted to cover the dotted "o" with a grommet but of course I have just about every color but black. My solution was to make a faux grommet using Tracey's faux epoxy brad tutorial on CompuPro.

To make the faux grommet I punched a 1/2" circle out of a piece of scrap black CS and then punched out the ring using a 3/4" circle punch. I then placed the ring or "o" on a piece of waxed paper and put crystal effects all over it. I didn't play around with it too much and it stayed raised and if you try to smooth the CE you will end up with bubbles. Once it was dried I used a little tombo mono multi glue to adhere it.

Here is a close up of the faux grommet. Remember you can click on the image to see it bigger.









We have deer in our yard quite often but in the 4 years we have been here I have only seen 1 buck. The last one, I think I got a really bad picture of it running away but this guy (and a doe) stuck around our yard for quite a while. I have a feeling he might be back because he seemed pretty comfortable here :)

Pussywillows

er, I mean cattails :)

Sorry, I couldn't help it Donna..............but at least Joy will be happy you are taking the focus off her. LOL!

This was a card we made at out stamper's group party last weekend and there was some confusion as to what these were. Either way I am really happy with how this card turned out.

The cattails are made using the grass from Inspired by Nature and the horizontal slot punch. Unfortunately it turned out a little dark when I took the picture.

We have class tonight and Joe is away so I have to finish getting things ready for the babysitter. Have a great day!

Photography course

I don't think I told you I was starting a photography course yesterday, did I? LOL! Someday maybe my memory will be better :)

It is an on-line course with Kathy Thompson Laffoley!!!! Whoohooo! So exciting! We got our first assignment yesterday (to take pics at different angels) and this morning when I took Ian out to the bus I took my camera and got some pictures of a little sunflower that is coming up in the garden and some of Ian. I set up a photobucket account for the course and you can see this week's assignment pics HERE.

This is one I took a few days ago of our first sunflower. When I went out this morning the petals were all off of it so I'm glad I got some before the wind and rain we had the last few days :)

P.S. You can see Kathy's blog HERE.

Can you see the difference?

I probably had a little too much time on my hands last night (well I didn't really-there were lots of other things I should have been doing) when I decided to alter this picture of little Cowgirl Emma ready for an "Old MacDonald" Birthday party on Saturday(which is a funny story I'll tell later).



Anyway, last night I decided to play around with this picture because there were some things in the background that were "bugging me".




First was the pole right above her hat, the little bit of yellow sign on the left and the wood pile. To get rid of the sign I just cropped the picture a little bit then I started removing/replacing the wood pile and pole. Once I had those fixed I took out the little bit of another pole at the right of her hat (it is barely noticable but I figured I was on a role, why not?) and I decided the house at the tip of her right brim might as well go too :)




Of course, I could have just moved her in front of the big tree in front of our house but what would be the fun in that? Hehehe. Actually I just had only about 2 seconds to take the picture (this happens frequently with this 3 year old, her brother will pose just about anytime I want) so I just went with what I could get.




So what do you think? Can you see the difference?


I have another picture to show you later, I just need to edit the size and I'll try to post it either later today or tomorrow. Oh, and I have a card I need to take a picture of and a scrapbook page to try to get a better picture of. It looks like I will have lots to share this week :)

Sweet Girl Sierra

I probably won't have a chance to post anything over the weekend as Joe has been away this week and is coming home, for a whole day and a half (LOL), tonight then leaving again Sunday at lunch time for the week again. I was kind of minding it at the beginning of the week but once we get into our routines here it is fine. The kids have been handling it really well, over the last 6 months or so he has been away about a week a month.

This is a page I did earlier last weekend that I wanted to share. The flowers are punched with the 5-petal flower from SU, I shaped them with my bone folder and added the Build a Brad centers with a 1/2" circle of PP punched out. I also stitched on another LO! Did I show you the one of Emma with the cheese? I can't remember now...........if I didn't I will next week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend :)

From owl of us

I finally got to play with my new rubber the other night and I thought some of the stampers (that don't scrapbook) might be getting tired of seeing LO's on here. I made a couple of other cards too but they are for a party tomorrow night so I can't show you.............sorry!

This one was inspired by some pattern paper that I had on my desk from a page I had just done but once I had the owls stamped and colored I realized I should have used vanilla instead. I guess I was just too excited to ink them up and use my copics that haven't been touched in too long that I wasn't thinking. Anyway, I went through my scrap paper stash and found this piece that went with my image and finished putting it together.

The owl in the left hand corner is cut out and pop-dotted (or stampin' dimensionaled, right Donna? LOL!). I kept it pretty simple because I wanted it more on the macsuline side so I refrained from adding ribbon. I may add some brads in the 2 corners on the left though because I am finding it kind of plain............hmmm.

On-line ordering!

You know that you can now order Stampin' Up! products on-line! Whaa hooo!

If you go to my Stampin' Up! Website in the top right hand corner there is a "Shop Now button". If you click on that it will take you to the on-line catalogue. Orders over $200 qualify for "hostess benefits" (I can't remember what they are called on-line) as if you were placing the order through me.

This is a quote from the FAQ's that might help when ordering:

Q: How do I buy products online?
A: As with many other online ordering systems, adding the items you would like to purchase is accomplished
through a virtual shopping bag. Click the Add to Bag button on any item or project page, and we will keep
track of those items for the shopping session. When you are ready to make your purchase, simply click the
Checkout button from your shopping bag and follow the information prompts through the checkout process.
The last screen in the checkout process is a printable receipt. Following a short processing time, your order
will be shipped to your specified address.


I also up-dated the calendar for September (only a week and a half into September, not bad eh? LOL!) and will get October up asap.



Here is the link to My Demonstrator Website.



Let me know if you have any questions :)

Bestest Boy

I was working on this layout last night but had to call Mom this morning to make sure I had the nickname right (didn't want to confuse Ian with Tommy. LOL). Anyway, I was right about the name so I finished it this afternoon and had to share here asap :)

The chipboard letters are ones that I bought a long time ago and now I wish I had bought more.........they are soooo cool! They are fuzzy and so soft. I love them!

I have a headache today so I think I am going to go lay down for a while and hopefully get rid of this :( It is really nice outside but the bugs still seem to be bad so I guess it isn't too bad that we are staying inside.

Love you

This LO was for a challenge Hollee posted last weekend on the CompuPro forum. It was a sketch clallenge and the other 2 rules were to stamp your title and do some stitching (I kind of forgot that part though).

I used one of the simply scrappin kits from SU ( retired). I don't use stickers very often any more but I am really happy with this one!

I'm heading upstairs in a few minutes to finish the page I started a few days ago. I needed some white letter stickers and didn't have any so I popped in to see Nicole this morning and picked some up, along with a couple of other things ;-)



Oh! P.S.............Hi Joy! Hehehe!

I'm so excited!

I installed my new Photoshop Elements tonight and have been playing with what I think is probably my all time favorite picture of Emma and I just had to share it here as soon as possible!



I knew I wanted to attempt a black and white photo with just the flowers in color as soon as I saw this. I pretty much figured it out on my own with a little help from a book that my good friend Joy (I just have to say it again............JOY, sorry inside joke. LOL) gave me for my birthday.



Oh my land, I am soooo happy with how it turned out! I know if a professional looked at it they would find mistakes but for me it is perfect!



Ok, wanna see?




Here it is.................

























Of course, remember you can click on the picture to make it bigger.

I think I am going to enlarge this and frame it...........sigh.



Edited: I forgot to add............Joy, Joy Joy.............hehehe. Just making sure Joy gets her name on the blog :)

Oaklawn

This is the layout (LO) I was talking about the other day where I used scraps from a ScrapGala class from last year. I had pulled out the kid a few days before and it was sitting amongst the mess on my desk when I was looking at these pictures. I picked up a couple other patterned papers and then realized this one was perfect!

The scan kind of cut off the bottom of the page but you can see most of it, just the monkey's feet and the bottom of the file are missing. I stamped the animals on scraps of the pattern paper and cut them out (I think I am a sucker for punishment, I cut all of the flowers for the last LO after this one). Behind 2 of the pictures I added hidden jouralling by leaving adhesive off one side of the picture and tucking a file sticker that I adhered to a piece of white cardstock. For the other file folder I folded a piece of white cardstock in half and put the sticker on it with the bottom of the file at the fold and then cut around it. The letters are chipboard letters are more that I picked up a few months ago at Co-op.

Ian's first day of school was today and it started out rough but he came around (after a lot of crying, screaming running away from the bus and holding the front step/trying to be pryed off by Daddy. LOL!). I ended up driving him to school (I had to go over anyway to take his school supplies) and as soon as he was there he ran to the playground and never looked back (whew). I met his teacher and she is very nice and I think he is going to really like her. I'm sure tomorrow will be better.........wish me luck!

Bloom

I have been scrapbooking LOTS so over the next few days I will share some of the layouts with you.

This first one is something that I have been planning on doing ever since I saw the cover of the CTMH catalogue a couple of months ago. I fell in love with the papers and the layout and knew I wanted to do a page about Emma similar to it.

I cut the flowers out of the patterned paper and used glue dots and pop up glue dots to add them to the page. The ric rac is from a pack I got at the barn the last time I was there (it was actually from a boy-ish theme but the green worked perfectly for the stems). The chipboard letters are ones I picked up at Co-op for only $1.89!!! and they are Chatterbox!!! They are glittered on one side and have a different pattern on the other. Of course, the rub-on is another one from Melissa Frances. It says "Every flower that ever bloomed had t go through a whole lotta dirt to get there".

*Remember- you can click on the image to get a larger picture.

We had a sad morning here earlier. Ian's hamster Nemo died last night and we had to tell him this morning. He took it pretty hard at first but we all went out to bury Nemo in the back yard and it seemed that once he had something to do he took it much better. We made a little sign that says "Nemo" so that he can go visit her whenever he wants and tomorrow we are going after school to get a new hamster. I'm not sure he is really looking forward to the first day of school so hopefully this will be something to look forward to. I'm sure once he gets there with his friends he'll be fine but right now I think he is pretty happy staying home. (Although Mommy is looking forward to having it a little quieter here with no fights till at least 2:15. LOL)

Another page

This is another page I did last week. While Joe was away I got some scrapbooking done after the kids went to bed. While he is away I find that I can't really sleep so I stay up later scrapping. Last night though he was working in the garage so I worked on a page that I will finish later today. The really cool part about the layout I was working on last night is that I used scraps from one of the classes from Scrapgala 2007!

Anyway, back to this one...........for the background on the strip behind the picture I used alcohol inks and the applicator to make the pattern on transparancy. The "you make me smile" is a Melissa Frances rub-on. Love those rub-ons :)

We are sticking around home today, hopefully I can get Ian's school supplies together and get some cleaning done. Then I will be scrapbooking! I am on a roll and want to keep it up. Hope you are having a great weekend!

Guess what?

I scrapbooked that picture of Emma that I love so much! I kept the layout pretty simple because I wanted the picture to be the main focus (not that they all aren't but I wanted to really emphasize it with this one).

The rub-ons are from the last Stampin' Up! catalogue. The little gems are Dew Drops and cardstock colors are Riding Hood Red and Tangerine Tango (new In Colors). The butterfly is a Cuttlebug die/embossing folder combo.

Joe went to Costco last night and picked up Photoshop 6 for me (I had a really old version but lost it when I upgraded the computer). I can't wait to play around with it. I can see so many things I want to do with this picture! You may see it popping up here more next week..........once I figure out how to use my new PS :)

I found a new site last week that I am now addicted to. It is http://thepioneerwoman.com/. She has lots of yummy recipes (I have tried a couple- the chicken spaghetti is really good!), photography tips and pictures of the ranch where she lives (which of course is right up my alley). Anyway, you should check it out when you have lots of time..........I'm sure you'll need it ;-)

Cowboy Birthday

As promised here are a few pics from the party. It ended up being too hot to stay outside for too long but the kids got to play in the bard (in the picture, behind the kids) for a little bit. We had hid some little plastic animals in the hay and they got to look through the hay for those and run around for a bit. They were really good when we came inside and played really well. The playroom was still a mess at the end of it but that is part of the whole party thing, isn't it?

This is the cow cake, isn't it cute? I had so much fun with this one. I found the directions for it on www.familyfun.com. That is actually where I found most of the ideas for the party.

I made Wanted Posters for the kids to take home. I had them printed out and stamped ahead of time and then when the kids arrived I took each of their pictures. When they were playing, later on, I printed them out and attached them to the posters.

It is supper time here now so I am going to see what I can find to eat. Joe is away this week and I find it hard/boring thinking up meals for just the kids and I. Anyone have any good ideas?

Great day for a party!

I am so happy! It is a beautiful day here and that means that I can have Ian's birthday party outside :)

We are doing a barnyard/farm theme so yesterday I went to town and picked up everything farm animal related I could find. AND I had the best find ever! I found cowboy hats at the $ store!!! I was really hoping to have cowboy hats for the kids but didn't want to spend a fortune on them................I love the $ store ;-)

Last night I painted a cardboard barn red and right now I should be baking cakes (btw-the amount I end up spending on supplies to make the b'day cakes I could probably buy 2!). I am making "wanted" posters for the kids and we are having a scavenger hunt in the hay. It should be fun.............did I tell you how happy I am that it is nice outside today?


A few days ago Ian and Emma were playing dress-up and put on some old Halloween costumes. I had them lay on the floor so I could get some pics without all the playroom toys (and mess) behind them. They were laughing so hard, I love it when they play together and get along like this......................

Have a great weekend! Hopefully you get to enjoy some of this sunshine too!

On our way (yet again)

We are leaving when Joe gets home from work to go to NS for a really quick trip (we will be back Sunday night). Tomorrow is Ian's 6th Birthday and I wanted to take him "home" once more before summer is over. He is pretty excited to be having his birthday around his family!

This is a picture I took of Emma a couple of weeks ago at the kids parade NB Day. I absolutely LOVE this picture and can't wait to scrapbook it! Her and another little girl her age were "runaway brides"............so cute :)

Have a great weekend!

I'm back!

Well I haven't really been anywhere except to NS for a few days over a week ago but I was without a computer for almost a week after I got back (felt like an eternity. LOL). My computer is working awesome now and is sooooo much faster that it was worth it though.









I just posted pics of this album on http://compuproscrapbooking.com/forum/index.php and thought I should share some of them here too. This is 3 of my fav pages from the album. If you want to see the rest you will have to join the CompuPro forum (getting a little plug in there for Nick! LOL). I will warn you though it can be addicting. There is a lot of talent there, the gallery is awesome and they have lots of fun challenges. I have scrapped more in the last month or so that I have been on the site than I have in like 6 months.


Anyway, back to the album. The base of the album is a chipboard album and I covered the pages with either patterned paper, cardstock or paint. I used rub-ons, ribbon, glitter, microbeads, grungeboard, buttons and crystals to decorate the pages. I still have more pages that I can add as I get pics I want to use (I took one the other day I plan on using when I get a chance).

Joe's Mom and niece are coming tomorrow for the weekend so it might be a little quiet here for a few days again but I will be back next week (hopefully with some stamping projects to share).
Have a great weekend!

2 more pages

The last couple of days I have finished 2 more pages! Yippeeee!!!!! It feels so good to take the time to scrapbook again.

The first one is of a picture Mom took of Emma. The paper is CTMH and rub-ons are SU (flowers) and Melissa Frances (words-love them!).

Not sure how well you can see the words in the scan but it says "be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. Dr. Suess".
The second one is of Joe and Emma. The challenge was to alter a photo so I painted a journalling "block" on the picture and lightly painted around the edges. I then used a rub-on (again Melissa Frances, again- LOVE them). I added Swarski (sp?) crystals to the flowers on the rub-ons for a little bling and dimension but I kept it pretty simple and focused on the pic.



Close up of paint and rub-on.

Birthdays and Yellow polka dot bikini scrapping

I have been having problems with my internet connection the last few days so I haven't been on the computer much and when I have I have been Yellow Polka Dot Bikini Scrapping ('ll explain later).

Emma's Birthday was Sunday and we had a Teddy Bear Picnic (inside because it was too windy). The kids all brought their teddy bears and we had snacks on blankets in the living room. After Emma opened her presents they went outside (the best part. LOL) and played for quite a while. Everyone seemed to have a good time and Emma wants to have a birthday party every day now :)

On the weekend CompuPro Scrapbooking held a Yellow Polka Dot Bikini Crop Online (you didn't have to wear a bikini luckily but did you notice my avatar on the right?) and I am so excited that I have 2 layouts done and plan on doing more this week (some of the challenges aren't due till Sunday).

The first one was a sketch challenge and we had an hour to complete it. I am not happy with the journalling but it isn't stuck down very well so I will probably change it later.

The paper, ribbon, stickers and bling were from a Chatterbox kit I got at Co-op a few weeks ago. I love the colors and it helped make the layout go together much quicker. I just had to pick out cardstock and the flower to match.

The 2nd one was a Triple Threat Challenge where you had to use 3 pieces of chipboard and do something different to each one.

The star I covered with Patterned Paper and the edges inked with white craft ink. The photo corner was inked with brilliance ink and then I added the dots with my white gel pen. The sqaure piece I painted with paint daubers and inked the edges with white craft and then journalled on it.

The paper for this one was from a pack I got at the barn (love it!- so boy-ish, which can be hard to find) and the stickers were from a different company (also from the barn) and they went together perfectly.

Anyway, I just had someone (actually a really cute guy) from Aliant here to fix my internet. He gave me a new modem and it seems to be working good now..................yay!!!!! It is a really nice day today and now that he is gone I should take the kids outside but I really want to scrapbook. Hmmmm.............................