StampinThursdays

Playing with Photoshop again

2009-07-29T09:13:00.003-03:00

Have I told you lately I *love* photoshop? :)

I also love, love, love this picture of Sierra!

2009-07-05T10:36:00.001-03:00

Free Photo Editing Class

2009-06-22T14:39:00.006-03:00

Jessica Sprague is offering a free class!

Check it out on her blog here:
http://spraguelab.squarespace.com/blog/2009/6/22/free-registration-is-open.html

.

Leavin' on a jet plane.........

2009-05-29T08:13:00.003-03:00

Well, not really a jet plane but I am leaving this morning to go to my parent's for the weekend. I am going all by myself! Of course, I am leaving in about 2 hours and have only just started packing this morning while I was getting Ian ready for the bus.

I'm so excited! We are taking a class at Paulette's and I am going to take a mini album I started at PAAT just in case we get to scrapbook. We are probably taking in some Apple Blossom festivities and hanging out with my family.

I know I've been neglecting this blog................sorry. I'm not really sure if anyone is even checking in anymore but I am going to try to post more regularly again once I get back. I'm not doing my classes anymore so there shouldn't be any excuses why I don't have time.

Ok, gotta go pack! I have a new book that is waiting for me to start it once I am on the ferry :)

Do you have Photoshop?

2009-02-27T07:25:00.002-04:00

Do you know how to use it? I've been playing around with PS since I got it last fall but I didn't really know how to use it properly. Yesterday I signed up for Jessica Sprague's online course Photo Editing: Good-to-Great Workflow and I am soooo excited! I know I'm a terrible enabler but I can't help it. I knew how to play around PS enough to do a bit of editing (more special effects and cloning) but didn't know the basic steps. I've only done the first lesson, I'm hoping to do lesson 2 today but I have stamp camp tomorrow that I have to finish getting ready for so I might not be able to do it till after tomorrow. Anyway, here is the before and after pics from the first lesson.

Poor Ian

2009-02-23T08:43:00.004-04:00

First, I took this picture Friday morning. I just love this picture and had to share! I went out with Ian when he was waiting for the bus and took a bunch of pictures of him playing in the snow.

Friday night I had a Tupperware party here and one of Ian's friends and his sister came with their Mom so Joe took them all upstairs to play during the party. We were just starting and hear a big crash and then screaming. I went upstairs to find Ian and Joe in the bathroom with blood all over Ian's face. He had fallen off the top of his bunk bed (his friend, Emma and Ian were all playing up there) and landed on his face.

He has a bump on his forehead and a bruise on his nose and upperlip. Friday night his nose was swollen and he had dark circles under his eyes. We thought we were going to have to take him to the Doctor Saturday morning but it wasn't as bad as we were expecting.

I took this picture Saturday morning. We kept asking him how his nose is and he just said it was sore.

He is pretty happy today though because school is cancelled and Joe is home until probably 11am or so. It is still snowing like crazy! I'll have to go out later to see if I can get some pictures.

You

2009-02-10T07:55:00.003-04:00

This is one of the layouts I did for a crop a couple of weeks ago on Skrapnchat. I think it is one of my favorite LO's I've done!

For the U in the bottom left corner I stamped the u in red ink on white cardstock and cut it out. I then put it on my background PP (pattern paper) and covered the U in Crystal Effects. I love the dimenion it adds to the letter.

The quote (Dr. Seuss) says:

Today you are you
that is truer than true
there is no one alive
who is youer than you.

Something I never thought I would see!

2009-02-09T08:24:00.002-04:00

Joe using a laptop! LOL!

I've been teasing him because he's been bringing the laptop home from work lately. He has never been a computer kinda guy (the only thing he does on the computer here is banking and looking up tractor stuff) and now he is using one all the time!

Anyway, I am probably just a little jealous because I've been saying I want a laptop but it is really only so I can have a computer in my scrap/stamp room and it isn't really practical to buy one just for that.

I'm trying out some new smilies. I've been using them on Skrapnchat (http://www.skrapnchat.com/) for a little while and they are so fun!

If you are looking for some inspiration check it out (I've got Amy addicted!) there are lots of challenges going on all the time and the gallery is full of awesome layouts and cards.

He comes by it honestly

2009-01-30T10:51:00.002-04:00

First, this is my second post today!!! Shocking isn't it!?! So scroll down to see my first post and get the rest of the story :)

I was talking to Mom earlier and was telling her about Ian's camera addiction and she said well he does come by it honestly. Hehehe!

I also told her that the other night I made weiner roll-ups for supper and they were on top of the stove while I was getting everything else together. Ian said to me "Mommy go stand beside the hot dogs so I can take your picture". That is when he had the bug bad!

Anyway, these are some pictures I took this morning. I couldn't help but post them as kind of a follow up to the last post :)

I've created a monster!

2009-01-30T08:18:00.004-04:00

I gave Ian my old camera a couple of days ago and he has been having so much fun taking pictures of everything! In less than 2 days he has taken over 40 pictures and I'm sure it would have been more if the memory card was bigger!

This is one he took of himself. Not bad for the first time, eh?

We have a whole bunch of pictures of the tv screen for the Wii. He's been getting Joe to play this airplane game for him when he gets stuck................

Another self portrait. His lips are really chapped from this cold weather we've been having. Look at those eyelashes though!!!

Emma is also a pretty good subject for him. I wish she would pose even has as much for me as she does for Ian. This was Ian's camera (can you tell I have a thing for cameras? Did I tell you I got a new one after Christmas? Hehehehe!) but someone (I'm not naming any names but I'm pretty sure it starts with a J) took the cover off to change the batteries and lost the cover. Argh!

This is Emma getting ready for Dance class. My hand is behind her head, I'm trying to do her hair but she is more interested in what her brother is doing.

Ok, time to get some breakfast. I just had to do a quick update :)

.

2009-01-16T11:17:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to let you know that IT IS COLD here!!!!! This morning when I took Ian to the bus (well, I stood on the step and watched him walk to the end of the driveway as the bus was pulling up) it was -34!!! It has now "warmed up" to -30! Just so you Nova Scotianer's know, I don't want to hear any complaining about the cold :)

P.S. I think the font is "funny" the last half of that post but I can't figure out how to change it.

The best of intentions

2009-01-12T08:34:00.006-04:00

I had planned on posting more often in the New Year, getting things "back to normal" and trying to record some of the daily "stuff". So far I'm off to a really bad start though!

The last week everyone in the house has been sick (except me!) and it's been pretty busy. Ian missed the first 2 days of school but is back in full swing now and I think he likes being back in a routine (although I'm sure he would really like to be home playing the Wii all the time).

Ian and Emma started skating lessons on Saturday. Emma was so excited and was sure she would be able to just go! Ian's lesson was at 10:15 and I took him over expecting to have to help him out for the first little bit but he did so good! Ian was done at 11 and I came home for a few minutes and then Emma and I went over while Ian and Joe stayed home to get some things done (although I don't think much was actually done!). Emma really liked "skating" but my back suffered big time! Next week Joe and I will probably both go so we can switch off. She did do ok after a while but she had a really hard time staying up and had to be held the whole time. I'm sure Ian was like that at the beginning of last year and it won't take her long though.

Oh! I have a funny story! Emma was sick with the flu Friday night (and on the way home from town in the van but I don't think you want to hear about that one...........blah!). She had only had apple juice and when it came back up it looked exactly the same. While she is gagging and sputtering she was saying "Wh.....wha..........what.........kin........what kind...............what kind of puke is it?" Joe told her it was apple juice and she turned to me and said "it's apple juice puke Mommy". I said ok, thanks.

Ok, I don't know how it is now 9:45 but I have to get off the computer and get some cleaning done. Emma was supposed to go to the sitter today but she is sick with a croupy cough so we are taking it easy here today. In a way I'm glad I don't have to go out anyway since it's
-22........................and Dad was saying we wouldn't want to go out when we were there over Christmas and it was -10! Ha! That's not cold! :) Just kidding, it is cold but this is COLD!

Gotta go!

Happy Birthday Amy!!!

2008-12-07T08:26:00.002-04:00

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

2008-11-22T08:41:00.003-04:00

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.........

2008-11-05T07:30:00.002-04:00

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 ;-)

2008-10-31T08:51:00.000-03:00

What have I been doing?

2008-10-30T08:20:00.002-03:00

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

2008-10-10T21:46:00.002-03:00

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

2008-09-23T09:12:00.004-03:00

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

2008-09-21T08:27:00.003-03:00

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

2008-09-18T16:35:00.002-03:00

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

2008-09-16T14:04:00.007-03:00

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?

2008-09-15T08:22:00.003-03:00

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

2008-09-12T13:03:00.002-03:00

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

2008-09-11T13:30:00.003-03:00

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!

2008-09-09T08:47:00.003-03:00

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

2008-09-08T14:37:00.003-03:00

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

2008-09-04T14:39:00.004-03:00

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!

2008-09-02T22:37:00.007-03:00

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

2008-09-02T13:18:00.003-03:00

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

2008-09-01T09:06:00.004-03:00

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

2008-08-31T09:33:00.003-03:00

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?

2008-08-28T09:51:00.001-03:00

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

2008-08-27T13:46:00.003-03:00

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!

2008-08-23T08:11:00.003-03:00

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)

2008-08-14T12:35:00.002-03:00

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!

2008-08-06T10:10:00.002-03:00

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

2008-07-18T09:01:00.002-03:00

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

2008-07-13T07:06:00.003-03:00

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.............................

Way too long

2008-07-09T10:09:00.002-03:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I posted on my blog! This is going to have to be a quick post because I don't have my cards ready for tomorrow night (shocker, eh? LOL!) and I wanted to start them this morning while Ian is at VBS.

I will try to stop back either tomorrow or Friday with another post (maybe with some pics I have taken the last while). Hope you are enjoying your summer!

My Ordinary Super Hero

2008-06-18T19:23:00.002-03:00

Mom could tell this story better than I can but I have to give the story behind this card. I think it was last year sometime Mom asked Ian what he wants to be when he grows up and he told her that he wants to be an "ordinary super hero". He also loves the Incredibles movie so when I saw these stamps from Pink Cat Studio I knew I had to have them :)

So here is my Ordinary Super Hero (I took this 2 days ago when he was playing soccer with Joe) and here is a card I made that was inspired by him.

The colors for the card were inspired from the movie The Incredibles. I used Only Orange, Real Red, Yoyo Yellow and Basic Black. The super hero's side kick (the dog) was stamped on a scrap piece of white, cut out and pop-dotted. I colored them with my SU markers (I have been using my Copics I just haven't had a chance to make a card with the pieces I have colored.......yet).

I'm not sure if you can tell but I sponged around the orange and yellow pieces with only orange.

Remember you can click on the images to get a bigger picture.

Also, did you see the retiring stamp sets list yet? Click here to view it.

A card, some answers and we have strawberries!

2008-06-17T08:01:00.002-03:00

First, this is another one of the cards we did at the last stamp camp. I used a sketch I found for the starting point of this card but I can't remember now where I found the sketch (sorry, if I find it I will add a link).

I had a couple of questions over the last little while that I haven't answered yet. I apologize for that, between being sick with a cold the last month and everything else that has been going on I keep forgetting to answer them.

I am going back and checking the posts from the last while but if I missed something please add a comment to this post and I will edit it at the bottom to answer.

Josee asked where I got my Copic markers from. I have been ordering all my copics from Hanna Stamps (<----- click here to go to the site). When I ordered mine they had them in sets but they are out right now, you can still order them individually (I got a "few" yesterday. LOL). They are excellent to order from. Paulette asked where to get a good deal on Nestibilities. I bought all of my nestabilities from Scrappin' Great Deals and I think I got a good deal on them ;-) It is the best price I have seen and the shipping if free if you spend over $100..........not hard to do. LOL!

Paulette asked "was this just a regular bottle cap or a craft bottle cap? could you use a hammer?" (from this post). It was a regular bottle cap, my friend Pam supplied me with the ones I used but I'm sure you could get them anywhere that sells wine making supplies (that is where she got them). I think you could use a hammer. You would probably want to put something solid over it to make it flatten evenly.

Paulette asked if I used a tri-pod for the pics in this post................nope. I just held the camera as still as I could. I think because it was dark and the sparkler was moving anyway it didn't matter if I moved the camera a bit.

Angie asked what "Ghosting" would be used for (see this post ).............I have no idea. LOL! I think it is just a fun technique.

Look at our strawberries!! Soooo exciting.................

Happy Birthday...........

2008-06-14T09:27:00.002-03:00

..........to me :)

Today is my Birthday but if you ask Emma it is her's and she will argue if you say otherwise. LOL! Joe and I are going out for supper tonight (the Diplomat, my first time). We haven't had a babysitter for the 2 of us to do go out in ages. I have her come if he is away when I have stamping but that is about it. It will be a little strange going out without the kids.

This is one of the cards we did at the last stamp camp. The flowers on main circle piece are stamped in white craft ink and embossed in white ep. Then I used a sponge dauber to color the flowers with real red and pumpkin pie and pink passion for the beackground. The colors are really bright and "pop" in real life. The pink piece was stamped in real red and then colored with a pink passion marker and white gel pen. I'm not sure if you can tell but the ribbon is Real Red striped grosgrain and I colored part of it with an Only orange marker.

We started planting our veggies last night. We are a little late but I guess it is better late than never, right? Our strawberries are looking awesome! The blossoms are turning into green strawberries already. I am so excited! This is our first year with strawberries on the plants so it will be interesting to see how they turn out. I am going to try to get out later to take pics.

Have a great day!

2008-06-11T17:05:00.002-03:00

Supper is almost ready so this is going to be super quick. It has been so long since I have posted because I have been sick for almost 2 weeks with a "viral throat infection" (meaning they don't give any medication) and have been really feeling under the weather. Today seems to be a little better but my throat is still sore. I have an appt. tomorrow but I am hoping in the morning I will feel well enough to cancel (crossing fingers here).

Anyway, I had taken a bunch of pictures of cards from the last while but when I uploaded them to the computer they weren't as good as I had hoped. I am going to re-take them asap but until then here are a couple of pics that I took today.

The first is of our strawberry plants and the second is a bird that was on the swing set for quite a while this afternoon. I thought Mom might like to see the bird one and maybe tell me what it is :)

Hit Hard

2008-05-29T08:34:00.002-03:00

I'm sorry I don't have anything new to share yet. I have been getting ready for stamp camp (this Saturday) and have been fighting a cold all week but last night is when I got hit hard. After I picked Emma up at the babysitter yesterday I was getting supper ready and she was sick. She fell asleep on the couch at 6:30 and I took her up to bed shortly after that. Around 1:30am she called me crying asking me to take her glasses off............the poor thing had her eyes "glued" shut. I think she picked up pink eye from playgroup last week :(. Not long after I got her cleaned up and back in bed she was sick again. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep last night as she was sick until around 5:30 this morning and we were up at 7 to get Ian ready for school.

Oh yea, and to top it all off Joe is away this week so he isn't here to "relieve me" in the evenings. I always miss that time when there's 2 of us here to spell each other off. Especially stamp camp week. At least there is no class tonight.

So far Emma has been ok this morning so hopefully she will be ok now so I can get everything cut out for Saturday. I will try to post a sneak peek tomorrow if I can get lots done today........wish me luck.

Another awesome weekend

2008-05-19T20:14:00.004-03:00

Mom and Dad left this morning after their visit here for the long weekend (although somehow it never seems long enough). As usual we packed as much into the weekend as we possibly could. Saturday Mom, Emma and I went into town to pick up a few odds and ends and made a quick stop into CompuPro (of course, Mom and I can't go to town without going there. LOL). Saturday night we had company over to play a game of Skip Bo. I don't think I have played any games since New Year's so I was happy to have a game :)

Sunday morning we were trying to decide what to do and between Mom and I we convinced Dad and Joe to go to Saint John to the zoo. I know you are thinking we have a thing for the zoo (we did make it there after PAAT) but at least this time we had the kids for an excuse. LOL!

When we left here it was gorgeous and warm but when we got to the zoo it was cold and just starting to rain. Of course we couldn't tell the kids (esp. Ian) that we couldn't stay so we borrowed umbrellas from the zoo and went anyways. It was actually not that bad once we got going and by the end of it the sun was back out.

Last night we went up to the farm to go for a wagon ride and to see the animals........Ian wanted Grammy and Grampie to see Tewhana (remember Ian's favorite cow?) but the cows are outside now and didn't come close enough to the fence.

Everyone here is coming down with colds now but I am going to keep
trying to fight it. Ian started with it last week and Emma was feeling really bad tonight (so bad that she couldn't even eat her favorite supper........Macaroni and Cheese). She was asleep before 7 so hopefully she sleeps all night.

Ian has his second week of soccer tomorrow night so as long as he is feeling well enough to go you can pretty much guarantee there will be some soccer pics this week.

Hope you all had a good long weekend :)

One stamp, 2 looks

2008-05-13T12:15:00.003-03:00

I finally had a chance to ink up my Thomas Kinkade stamp yesterday that I picked up at Carousel Rubber Stamps. Of course I had to get the one that had the horses on it :)

The first one is stamped with Basic Gray ink and colored with Prismacolor Pencils. The only place I used Gamsol (oderless mineral spirits) was on the sky. I found the sky the hardest place to color.........hopefully it comes with practice.

A close up of the first card.

This one was from an experiment that didn't go as planned but I am glad I took it back out of the garbage can. LOL!

I stamped the image in Basic Brown ink and sponged the edges with Creamy Carmel. I then went over it with a thick layer of Crystal Effects and set it aside to dry. I was hoping it would crack when it dried but it ended up kind of a leathery texture. It is really smooth!

The layout is from Jen's SFYTT (sketch for you to try). This was the first time I have had a chance to try one but it won't be the last :)

2008-05-11T13:05:00.001-03:00

Ahhhhh..............

2008-05-10T08:48:00.003-03:00

That was a sigh of relief, not an ahhhhhh scream :)

As much as I LOVED PAAT and my photography course it is so nice to have a weekend that I am not doing homework or prepping for classes/Make n' Takes. With Joe away quite a bit the last 2 months it seems that I was always chasing my tail. I hope that this doesn't come across as complaining because like I said I have loved everything that has been going on the last while.

Okay, onto the reason for posting...........

Last night I (are you sitting down?) even did BOTH (yes both) of my cards for NEXT Thursday night. Can you believe it? It was so nice to sit down and not be rushed at figuring out what we are going to do next week. Yes, I work well under pressure but it was nice to not be doing it at the last minute.

I can't show you the cards yet but I think I will try to start posting the pics after classes. Hopefully even on Fridays but I'm not promising anything :)

I am so excited because on one card I used my new Martha Stewart butterfly punch that I got last weekend!

These are a few pictures from PAAT. The first one is my sister Amy and my Dad (Stud Muffin, right Donna?). The second one is Titty Titty Bang Bang (I'm sorry, I didn't make up the name-it is hard for me to even type. LOL) they were our entertainment to kind of pick us up around 10pm and the last one is Feng and Shui who served Eggrolls at midnight (the best eggrolls I might add!). Just in case you didn't notice, Dad is the one on the left :)

Got Cheese?

2008-05-09T10:34:00.003-03:00

We interrupt your regular scheduled programing (aka PAAT pics) with these pictures of Emma.

Emma was playing nicely in the playroom a few minutes ago so I snuck upstairs to clean the bathroom and bring down a load of laundry. When I came down I peeked in the playroom to find this:

Of course I had to take a few pics before I took it and cut off a piece for her :)

What a ride!

2008-05-08T08:35:00.002-03:00

We have been back for a few days but I think we are all still on a high from the weekend. It feels like this week is just flying by and I can't believe it is Thursday already. I have a few pictures to show you today and I will try to post a few more tomorrow (I need to space them out so I don't have a book here).
The first 2 pictures are borrowed from the web (I think it was from the Flood Watch website). This is what downtown Fredericton looked like last week before we left. I'm not sure exactly when these were taken so it may have even been worse than this when we left.

The next picture is one I just love :)

It is Nancy and Linda looking at the cards on display at Carousel Rubber Stamps. I just love the expressions on their faces!

This is the "Stampin' Roadies" at Mom and Dad's before we left for PAAT.

The Dream Team at the end of the event.

Thank you so much ladies for everything! You did an awesome job!!!

Don't forget to check back tomorrow as I have lots more pictures to share. I will also post the Make-n-Takes I did once I have a chance to take a picture of them.

P.S. Angie Eisnor, we missed you. I hope you can come next year!

I love Photoshop!

2008-04-30T09:54:00.005-03:00

Last night at our last photography class we went over some of the basics of photoshop. I had attempted playing around with it before but didn't really know what things meant or how to do them. I still need a lot of practice but I had fun this morning playing with this picture. One thing I can't find on my program is how to make the black blacker on the horse. She showed us how last night but my program is different and I'm not sure if I have that option.

Anyway, here is the before picture. Notice the fence by his feet and the hay "thingy ma-jigy" right by his tail. (Not the trailor the other thing) LOL! Sorry I don't know what the hay thing is called. I also took out the dark patch in front of his nose and cropped the picture down. Oh! And I made the grass greener :)

I can see I will be having so much fun with this..........my house work may suffer. LOL!

Don't forget you can click on the image to make it bigger.

One more thing. I found out this morning there is no stamping class tomorrow night (thank you Donna). I think it is a volunteer night at the MFRC. I am sorry for anyone who was planning on going but this takes one thing off my to-do list so I have to say I am a little relieved. Now I can concentrate on the Silent Auction table :)
If your not sure what I mean read yesterday's comments.................I think someone is worried about being out-bid. LOL!

Love this one!

2008-04-29T08:33:00.002-03:00

Did you see this card in the group picture? This was my favorite card from Saturday. The flower idea came from a video Kristina Werner shared on her blog HERE.

I loved the ribbon flower with all the different patterns but I didn't have enough of the same or similar buttons (shocking isn't it? LOL) for everyone in the class. My solution was to use the bottle caps that Pam gave me a couple of weeks ago. I flattened the bottle caps with my cuttlebug, this is the "recipe":

B Plate
Tan Mat
Bottle (Cap ridges up/smooth side down)
Card stock (scrap)
B Plate
A Plate

It flattens them out really nicely. It is a little tight going through the cuttlebug but I didn't break any plates :)

I punched 2 holes in the cap once I had put my pink and brown cardstock circles on it (cut with Nestabilities) with my crop-a-dile and then put the ribbon through like a button.

The bottle caps are so much fun.........think of all the possibilities!

3 more days and we are leaving for PAAT! I am sooooo not ready. I have talked to a couple of the girls who are already starting to pack. I don't even have my make-n-takes done or my cards for Thursday night class. Last night I was working on our income tax. It is almost done so this morning I am going to finish it and file and then start working on my stamping things. Wish me luck................hopefully we aren't cutting paper at Mom's Friday night. LOL!

And I said it was going to be quiet :)

2008-04-27T09:04:00.003-03:00

Thanks to the photography course I took my camera to stamp camp yesterday. I warned the girls before class that one of the assignments was to take at least 5 pictures dedicated to telling a story. I thought what better story to tell than about stamp camp? Well maybe PAAT would be a better story but that is too late and probably too many pictures. LOL!

This is one of the projects we did yesterday (I will show some of the others after I get better pics). It is a frame that was inspired by one Amy Rysavy did HERE. This is the one I demoed in class, the one I did for a sample has a pic of Emma but I forgot to take a picture of that one.

I couldn't find any quote stamps that would fit so we left it blank so they can either put a picture or a favorite quote in it. I think they are so cute and really easy to make. Wouldn't they make great gifts?

This is the group picture from yesterday.......you can't have a story without a group pic can you? LOL!

Thanks girls, for being so patient with me :)

Having way too much fun

2008-04-26T22:05:00.003-03:00

Poor Joe was being my guinea pig tonight. We went out after dark with some sparklers, matches and my camera. One of the assignments this week was to use a long shutter speed (at least 1 minute) and I think the shutter speed on these picture was 15 seconds.

The neighbor even got in on the action and stopped in when they saw the sparklers. I'm sure everyone going by thought we were crazy.

I think it was worth it though :)

P.S. If there are any spelling errors please forgive me I am talking to Amy on the phone as I type. LOL!

One week from today........

2008-04-25T08:48:00.002-03:00

we, the NB girls will be on our way to PAAT. Last year it took us 13 hours from the time we left Oromocto till we arrived at Mom's house. I wonder how long it will take this time?

We got together last night to "plan our trip" and it was so nice to have everyone together here. I think I need to figure out more excuses to do that more often :)

This is a picture I took of Ian last weekend by the river. I think he looks so cute with his Mickey glasses on.

Oh! I tried to post yesterday but I was having problems with blogger and didn't have time to come back but I have to say I am very happy to have everything cut out and ready for Stamp camp tomorrow. I actually finished Wednesday night! I am sure that is a record for me. LOL! Now today I just have to pack everything and make something for the potluck. I am really excited about the projects for tomorrow..............now just pray that Joe makes it home tonight. His flight to Edmonton was VERY delayed and I don't have a babysitter for tomorrow for backup. Crossing my fingers..............

Lots going on

2008-04-21T09:57:00.006-03:00

This month has been really busy with lots of things going on. It will probably be a little quiet here until after Paper Arts A Thon (PAAT) but hopefully after that I will get back into posting more often.

We have 2 more weeks of photography classes left (tomorrow and the week after). This week one of the things we had to do was make a "soft focus filter". I decided to bring my stamping into it and make one with my linen background stamp. I stamped the linen with white Staz On on a piece of transparency. While that was drying I cut a piece of chipboard (around 5 1/2" square) and then cut a hole a little bigger than the size of my lense. I then taped the transparency to the chipboard. This is what it looks like:

This is the before picture of my cat Ripple.

This is with the soft focus filter.Pretty cool, eh?

And this is soooo cool.......

Ian was my model for Ghosting. He thought it was pretty cool that he got to be a ghost. Plus there was a little bribery with gummy candies. LOL!

Anyway, I am off to start figuring out what we are doing at stamp camp this weekend. My homework is pretty much done so now I can concentrate on stamping................well and maybe a little house cleaning.

Playing with new stuff

2008-04-11T09:05:00.003-03:00

A week or so ago I got my Copic markers (from Hanna Stamps) and new stamps from My Favorite Things. I think I mentioned before that I had colored a few images in but hadn't done anything with them yet.

Yesterday I snuck in a few minutes to make this card. I ended up not using the images I had colored because I wanted to try to make the dog a black lab and I wanted to use the Summer Picnic paper so I matched my colors to the paper.

The hat and sandals I stamped seperately, colored and cut them out. For the sandals I put them flat on the paper and the hat I popped up. (I did the sandals because I originally had them blue and didn't like it). The little "pebbles" are dew drops from Hanna (I think they were called Cowboy).

My voice is finally starting to get better.....yay! It is still a little scratchy but it is definately getting better. This afternoon I am planning on going out to do some of my photography homework. I really don't want to do what I did this week again (trying to save my pictures to disk 30 minutes before I had to leave). If I get some good pics I'll share them here :)

Oh! But maybe not until after Tuesday, I don't want the others copying off me. LOL!

Losing my voice

2008-04-07T08:28:00.003-03:00

The last few days I have been losing my voice and today it is worse than ever. The last 2 days it was not so bad during the day but by evening after talking all day it was bad. Today if I try to talk above a whisper I really have to strain.

It may have something to do with my stupid (I am being nice here) dog running away last night. It was just before bath/bed time for the kids. I snuck out to try to take some pictures of the vehicles going by (panning). I was turned facing the road and she took off out the back corner of the yard. We have a "zapper collar" but apparently the battery was low so it didn't work. I'm sure calling her for 20 minutes did my voice in. This is the second time this week, this morning I changed to battery. LOL!

Anyway, I am really hoping this doesn't last. I need my voice for Thursday night. Thank goodness Joe is coming home tonight so I can rest my voice the next couple of days. He can do all my talking to the kids for me :)

But I can still laugh! Check out this video I found this morning while blurfing (blog surfing).

Another fav

2008-04-06T08:18:00.004-03:00

This is another favorite card that we did at a stamp camp a while ago. For this one I punched the circles out of Close to Cocoa cardstock and then ran them through my Zyron machine. I used the new chunky glitter on the circles and it looks sooooo sparkly in real life.

For the stems I ran Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon through the Zyron and then cut it in half (it was either Debbie Olson or Nicole Heady that did this). The leaves are from the level 3 hostess set Time Well Spent. They were stamped in Basic Brown, colored with markers and cut out. I then shaped them with a bone folder and glued them on with pop dots. The doodling is free-hand. Not one of my strong points but it is fun :)

Jill asked if the tacky tape affected my punch (last post). I think I put a little goo gone on it after and then punched some scraps to remove the excess. I still find it sticks a bit but it still punches fine. Hopefully with more punching the stickyness will go away. If you had a Zyron machine the technique above might be the better way to go.

I finished a card yesterday that I had started the day before so hopefully I get a chance to post that later today or tomorrow. I have been fighting a cold this week and I think yesterday it finally won :( I am feeling a little "blah" but life goes on. Right?

What a week

2008-04-05T08:46:00.002-03:00

We seemed to be running all week long. I think it started Tuesday when I started a basic photography course. It is going to be a lot of fun and I am really excited about it but there was a lot to remember and take in the first week.

With Joe still away I ended up having a babysitter 3 times this week. For the photagraphy course, a dentist appt. and stamping Thursday night. We haven't had a babysitter in months so I was a little worried about how the kids would do but they were great. Both nights they were in bed by the time I got home and the sitter said they were great! That makes it so much easier on me (and them) when I have to go out.

Wednesday morning Emma went to the daycare and had a blast with the other kids. I had been thinking about sending her once a week to get her around other kids and since she had such a good time we have decided to do it. When we go to playgroup she is stuck to my side most of the morning. I am hoping this will help with a bit of that "shyness". Is that a word?

Anyway, only 2 more days till Joe comes home! I have been doing a bit of stamping but I plan on doing a lot more next week :) I broke down a few weeks ago and ordered copic markers. I colored a few images with them but I haven't made any of them into cards yet......maybe tonight.

Oh! I should say somthing about the card, shouldn't I? The layout was cased from a card I saw somewhere online that was shared at leadership. Sorry I can't remember where it was.

I don't know how well you can see it in the pic but there are 3 half circles under the bashful blue piece. I punched them out of terrifically tacky tape and then once they were on the card I pressed them into the blue micro beads. I added the micro beads on the bird with Tombo Mono Multi (my new fav glue!). The beads on the right side are on a staple. I just opened one side of the staple, slid them on, bent the side back down and then pushed it into the card.

Time to get some cleaning done......blah. It is a really damp, cloudy day here, we had a bit of snow last night. Hopefully it will clear up later so I can get my homework done for my photography class. I don't want to be doing it at the last minute Tuesday. Although, I am a procrastinator so chances are that is what will happen :)

This is for Paulette......

2008-03-31T14:03:00.002-03:00

Well not really for Paulette but I am posting it for Paulette. Get it? LOL!

When I was home for Easter Amy and I made a quick visit (well as quick as we could be. LOL) to see Paulette and Ria at "The Barn". I picked up these cute bird chipboard pieces and was thinking what am I going to use them for but they are sooo cute how can I pass them up? Paulette suggested using them on cards. Of course the price was right so why not?

Anyway, last night I needed a little "me" time (although I should have been getting ready for class Thursday night) so I decided to play with one of the chipboard birds and cover it with pattern paper. My neighbor went into the hospital on the weekend so I wanted to make her a card to let her know I was thinking of her.

It has been a while since I have done much stamping so I was feeling a little out of practice. I think it is a little plain but I am going to leave it as is so I can get it to her asap.

This is another one I did last night. The owl was also from the chipboard pieces. I traced it onto the back of my patterned paper and once I had it cut out I decided not to mount it on the chipboard to have that for something else. Instead I put it on a piece of cardstock and cut around it again. I then sponged it with Tempting Turquoise ink.

I think the owl needs eyes but I haven't found anything to use for them. I think I want something dark to show up. Any ideas?

Warning: lots of pictures :)

2008-03-25T11:23:00.004-03:00

This is going to be a quick post with some pictures of our Easter Weekend in NS. I finally got Emma to sleep after over an hour because she fell asleep on the way home from dropping Joe off at the airport. He is probably gone (in Edmonton) for about 2 weeks so the good news is he will be back in lots of time for me to go to Paper Arts A Thon without worrying about who will watch the kids. Yay!!!

I won't get into much detail about the pictures because my little monkey is up again. Agh!

The first ones are of Ian and Kaylee hunting for Easter eggs.

Emma got her pink cowboy hat!

This is Sierra wearing Emma's new Tinkerbell sunglasses.

The kids (big and small) painted eggs.

This one is Marty's :)

Millie after Emma dressed her up in jewels.

The outdoor Easter Egg hunt at Marty's house.

Time to get my night hawk to bed. Wish me luck........

Look at who was visiting this morning

2008-03-17T09:21:00.004-03:00

Sasha was barking this morning in the sun porch (aka playroom) and I thought she was barking at the neighbor who always walks by around that time. Finally when she wouldn't stop I went to look and all of these deer were crossing the road in front of our house.

I think there was about 12 deer! If you click on the picture it should open in a new window so you can see them better :)

The neighbor was also going by almost right behind them and they just stopped and watched her and her dog go by. They are quite tame because we have a neighbor that feeds them. When I went to the end of my driveway they were watching me pretty close but I think they were waiting to see if I had any apples :)

I am loving my new camera (I got a Canon Digital Rebel XTi) but I really "need" a zoom lense. I take quite a few pictures of the wildlife around here and I think it would be better for taking those pictures.

This is one I took last night on the way to the farm (to see the new calf). We were just about to turn into the driveway when we spotted 2 fox in the field below the farm. We watched them for quite a while. They were chasing each other and playing. It was really cute.

The first one is the "un-cropped" version and the second is after I cropped it to see them better.

The fox on the right is laying down, I think it is on the ice because it looks like that is where the river is.

A very long/hard week

2008-03-14T09:56:00.002-03:00

As you may already know if you read Mom's blog the last week has been a very long and hard one. Last Thursday morning I got a call that my grandmother had had a fatal heart attack.The rest of the day was spent on the phone trying to contact Mom and Dad in Quebec. They had called the night before saying that they were in Point a la Croix so that was one of our starting points. Amy, Marty, Amanda, Joe and I used every resource we could think of to contact them and finally it payed off and they called Amy back. As hard as it was knowing that they had heard over the phone it was a relief to know that they knew and were on their way home.

Sunday morning Emma and I took the ferry (a very rough trip) home while Ian and Joe stayed here. I didn't want to take Ian out of school and I think he would have had a hard time trying to understand everything that was going on around him.

Like Mom said Dad was so supportive of all of us and it was such a comfort having him and all of our family close. We are so lucky to have such a close family and I think in a way this has brought us a little closer together.

We were so touched by the food, cards (and e-mails) that were delivered to Mom's house (and here when I got home). It is comforting to know that so many people were thinking of us.

This is still hard to write about and I'm not really sure what else to say except thank you to everyone who has been there for us and thinking of us.

Same but different

2008-02-26T08:57:00.002-04:00

This card is the same layout as the last one but I changed the stamp set and color combination. The inspiration for this came from a notebook Beate posted on her blog a while back. I loved the color combination (who doesn't love brownand pink? LOL) so I had to do a card with it.

I'm not sure if you can see it but I used the glitter pen to add a little sparkle to the flowers. It really makes them "pop" in real life.

We had a great weekend with Mom and Dad. Emma was attached to Dad's side from the moment they arrived and she didn't let Tommy out of her site for long. They brought Ian and Emma a Mickey and Minnie and they have been carrying them everywhere with them. I had stamp camp Saturday so they went to see Ian skate in the morning and then Mom and Emma stopped in at the end of stamp camp for a visit.

We, of course, had to make a trip up to the farm so Grammie and Grampie could see Tehwana. The only problem is that we all smelled like "poop cow" (that is what Emma calls it) when we got back.

They left yesterday morning and Emma was trying to convince us that Tommy wanted to stay here. I don't think he really wanted to make that long trip but I'm sure he was happy to have a break from Emma and her picking at him :)

Something I forgot to tell you

2008-02-20T20:22:00.002-04:00

I am waiting for Ian to fall asleep before I go up to stamp (my stamping area is right outside his room) so I thought I would share a quick story from a while back.

Before I do that I will mention the card. It is one we did in class from a while ago. I can't remember when but I'm pretty sure I haven't shared it here.

The flowers on the top are stamped in Ruby Red ink on Ruby Red cardstock and then I took a glitter pen and added glitter to the dots. The second picture shows the sparkle a little better.

Now for the story. Before Christmas Joe was doing some body work on the neighbor's car and he had painted it. He had taped off the area he didn't want to paint and when he went back to remove it the there was some adhesive that wouldn't come off. He asked if I had anything to take it off and we talked about Goo Gone but we were afraid it might take off the paint. Then I said what about my adhesive remover (from Stampin' Up!)? He took it out and he said it came off perfectly! I luckily had a couple for classes anyway so he can keep that one in the garage. I guess my stamping stuff isn't just for crafts is it? Hehehe.

Mom and Dad are coming for a few days tomorrow and I have stamp camp on Saturday so you probably won't see any posts from me until after that because I am still not ready for stamp camp :)

I think I have 2 more projects to figure out then I will be cutting everything out. Some day I will be able to have them done far in advance........

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T07:00:00.004-04:00

I am actually writing this Wednesday night (are you shocked I am so organized? LOL!) while listening to the water dripping from the light fixture in the sun porch. I was a little freaked out but Joe has been on the roof numerous times (which was also freaking me out because of the ice up there) and he cleared off the roof. It seems to be slowing down and Dad assures me the water in the light isn't a fire hazard.

Anyway, I am crossing my fingers that by Valentine's Day this will be all over :)

This is the card I made this evening for Ian's teacher. He picked out the paper (with just a little help) and I pretty much did the rest. He did write in it an it was so cute but I forgot to take a picture before I sealed the envelope.

I am loving the new rub-ons! I used them a while ago on a scrapbook layout I did and on something I can't share for stamp camp (sorry). On this card I wanted a heart but I didn't really order any Valentine's sets this year and I couldn't find a heart I liked with the paper so I went into my rub-ons and found this in the Sale-a-bration pack. It fit perfectly in the scalloped punch and was a quick and easy way to put a heart on the card.

Today is also Mom and Dad's anniversary so I want to shout out to them "Happy Anniversary" since I didn't get a card in the mail (big shocker there.........hehehe). They are supposed to be coming next week for a few days so we'll celebrate then :)

Update on the water: It has stopped dripping. Yay!!! We have been here almost 4 years and we have never had a problem like this so I was a little (maybe an understatement. lol) worried for a while but it is looking better now.

School was cancelled again today because of the roads. Aparently there was a lot of water on the road last night and some flooding in the area so it is quite a mess out there. I want to go later this morning to see what the river looks like (and of course take some pictures).

Ian is in love!

2008-02-12T19:11:00.000-04:00

Ian fell in love on the weekend. He won't stop talking about her.

He told Grammie yesterday the she is a cowgirl.

Her name is Tehwana (not sure if I spelled it right but that is close).

We went to the farm 3 times on the weekend to see her and we had to go back tonight to see her again. She is all he talks about!

Wanna see a picture?

Here she is...................

She is about a month old and seems to have taken to Ian too. She was licking his jacket while he patted the top of her head and then she started nibbling on his pant leg.

Ian came home Saturday night and asked if we could buy a farm so we could buy the calf!

This is a better picture of her. It was really hard to get a good picture because wouldn't stay still for very long :)

I was also taking some pictures of the horses because Lucas' birthday is this weekend and I thought for a present I would enlarge a picture of one of his horses.

This is Tex, he was one of last year's colts. What do you think of this picture? I may have to go back up by myself to try again. I am happy with this one but I kind of wanted one of one of the mares.

What we've been up to

2008-02-09T08:50:00.000-04:00

I don't really know where the time goes. I always have good intentions to post more often but I guess life gets in the way. LOL!

The last few days I have been researching/looking for a new camera and bugging everyone around me. I'm sure Joe is tired of me talking

about cameras but he's going to have to listen for a little longer until I get one. Hehehe.

This is a hostess gift I did for the last stamper's group party. I don't know how well you can see it but the center of the flower is covered with the new chunky glitter. It is so sparkly in real life!

I don't think I mentioned it before but Ian started taking skating lessons a few weeks ago. Well sort of. He went the first week, then Emma was sick and I had stamp camp so Joe couldn't take him the second week and then last week we were all sick. Tomorrow is the next class and there is supposed to be a big storm so it will probably be cancelled. Anyway, we have been taking him at least once a week so he can get on the ice and what a difference! He went from hardly being able to stand up on his own to moving all around the ice. I put skates on a couple of weeks ago and he is doing better than me. LOL!

And this is what Emma has been up to :)

A few nights ago we were getting ready for bed time. Joe and I were getting their snacks ready and we went into the living room to find her like this. The orange on her nose stained a little but the rest came off.

Thursday morning I came in from taking Ian to the bus stop (the end of the driveway) and she had colored all over her hands in black and purple. I guess at least it isn't the walls ;-)

Exciting News!

2008-02-01T19:43:00.000-04:00

I have been a little behind on the news the last few days so I just found out today that Stampin' Up! has a special on the starter kit that starts today.

From now until March 17th new demonstrators will recieve 20% off the starter kit plus can choose any stamp set from the catalogue free! This means the starter kit is only $208. Whooo hoo! This is the best price I have seen on the kit. Let me know if you would like more information on this special.

Also, I just finished setting up a buisness website. I have been thinking about starting one for some time now and finally decided tonight was the time to do it. LOL! Please visit and let me know what you think. Just be kind........I just set it up tonight and I haven't had a chance to do many up-dates. Over the next couple of days I will be adding cards and projects and I will up-date my calander. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to comment here or e-mail me. I would love to hear your feedback. Here is the link.

As you can see I didn't get to download the pictures off my camera today. We are supposed to have a storm tomorrow so I should have some time to do that (and maybe stamp/scrap) since we will be stuck inside :)

What a week......

2008-02-01T10:13:00.000-04:00

Last Friday Emma came down with the flu and had it through till Monday or Tuesday (I can't remember now-the days kind of blend together when you are up all night. LOL). Then I got it Tuesday night and was fine by Thursday morning except for being sore and this headache I can't seem to get rid of. This morning Ian woke up saying that he wasn't feeling well and within half an hour he was sick. I can't wait till this is all done and we can get on with things (like stamping...hehehe).

On the upside we had stamp camp last weekend and had a really good time. I think I took pictures of some of the projects. I will try to download them off my camera sometime today and will post something later.

I just wanted to update some of you that have been asking what is going on. I even got an e-mail saying that Angie commented on Mom's blog wondering where I was. Too funny. Sorry for leaving you all hanging :)

Oh! Did you all know that Sale-a-bration starts today! Whoo hooo! That is the other thing I am working on (in between cleaning up puke-sorry I couldn't resist. LOL!), I am trying to figure out what to order for my pre-order from the new mini (starting March 1st) and of course what SAB sets I "need".

Wonderful Friend

2008-01-21T08:22:00.000-04:00

This is a quick post because Emma and I are on our way to my stamping friend Donna's house (waving "hi" Donna!). I kind of forgot to bring her order to her yesterday when I saw her so this is a good excuse to go and visit :)

This is another card I made using the Bali Breeze paper. The patterned paper is so nice that I had a hard time covering it up!

I hope you have a great day!

I wish.......

2008-01-15T13:48:00.000-04:00

Angie commented on the last post that she thought I was in Florida with my parents........I wish :)

We had a storm here yesterday and I think we got around 16 inches of snow! Joe had to stay at work last night (not because of the storm) so he wasn't home to plow the driveway this morning. We have the best neighbors though! They came down with the tractor and plowed out the driveway. I was just going to leave it so Joe could, um......play with his tractor :)

I have to post a couple of pictures that I took last week, just beacuse I love them!

The first one is Ian after his haircut. He wanted it spiked in the front so I cut is quite short. I think he looks so much older with it cut.

The second one is Emma ready to go to Playgroup. The coat was probably my favorite find from when I was in Bangor. It was from Gap. I think the regular price on it was $68 and it was marked down to $16.95! I kind of wish I had gotten the one in the bigger size too for next year. It has felt flowers down the front! Sooo cute!

I scrapbooked last night! Whoo hoo! I did a 2-page layout and I finished another one I had started back in October. They are both fairly simple but I am happy with how they turned out and the fact that I got some scrapping done. I have to start working on projects for stamp camp and the next few classes but I am planning on taking the time to scrapbook more in between. I'll try to share some every once in a while too.

In Love!

2008-01-14T10:37:00.000-04:00

This is a card I did last week when I was playing around with my new papers and stamps. I soooo love Bali Breeze and Embrace Life!

For this one I used a piece of Bali Breeze for the background and then I used a scrap from that piece for my Build a Brad. I punched it out with a 1/2" circle punch and used a glue dot to stick it down with the opposite side facing up onto the brad and then put the clear "pebble" on top. This was my first time using the Build a Brad and I love them too! They are soooo much fun.

Yesterday I decided it was time to rearrange my stamping/scrapping space again. Joe had gotten a desk from someone at work a few months ago and we were trying to decide where to put it so it has been sitting in the "barn" waiting for a new home.

I kept the table that I have been using and moved it so that the desk and table go together in the corner. The table is now storage for my Cricut, Cuttlebug, ribbon storage and a few other things and the desk is now my work space. I still have a few things to figure out where they will go but the worst of the work is done. I even sat down with some pictures last night to start thinking about scrapbooking again! Mind you I didn't end up scrapbooking because I need to go through some magazines for inspiration but I am ready..........whooo hooo! It feels good to have my space clean and organized again.

Getting back to normal

2008-01-07T13:41:00.000-04:00

We came back from NS on Tuesday (in between snow storms). We have been busy the last week re-organizing and cleaning and making room for the new toys and things. It was nice having the time to get some of these things done since it was so busy before Christmas.

I didn't get a chance to do any stamping until Saturday night and I couldn't wait to play with my new sets that I had pre-ordered. The one used here is called A Beautiful Thing and the paper is Bali Breeze.

I first punched the scalloped border with the small corner rounder and then stamped the flowers in Purely Pomegranite ink in the scallops (they don't quite fit perfectly but it is pretty close). I then stamped the centers in Pumpkin Pie ink. On the white piece I stamped the circles in Apricot Appeal and then stamped the verse in Purely Pomegranite. For the flower I colored it with an Apricot Appeal marker and then darkened the center a bit with Pumpkin Pie marker. The brad is an Ice Rhinestone circle brad.

Oh and the stitching on the Tempting Turquoise piece is done with the mat pack. I punched every other hole on 2 rows of the template and then faux stitched with my white gel pen.

This is what our front step looked like when we got up Wednesday morning. We had gone in the back door when we came home Tuesday evening and hadn't shoveled the step off so this is what we got in the week we were gone. The kids were pretty excited to see so much snow and Ian has lots of hills to play on :)

We are on our way

2007-12-26T08:26:00.000-04:00

In a few minutes (hopfully. LOL) we are heading for NS. We just have a few last minute things to do. I don't know if I will have a chance to post while I am at Mom's so I am leaving you with a few pictures.

It was really hard to get a good picture at the concert. Ian is the one in the front on the right in the blue vest.

This is one of the ornaments Ian brought home that he made at school. It is a glass ball with his hand print turned into snow men.

I LOVE it!

This is Ian after we got back from the hospitalFriday night. The Doctor gave him the Mickey mouse and he has been taking it pretty much everywhere since.

See the little splint on his pinkie finger....

I think this is one of my favorite Christmas cards I made this year. The House Mouse image is stamped in basic brown ink on vanilla cardstock. I made a mask with a circle punch and traced the inside with a brown (waterproof) marker then colored only the inside. I then put the mask back on and pressed versamark into the circle and embossed with clear embossing powder.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2007-12-25T12:57:00.000-04:00

Santa was here and there was a mess of wrapping paper and toys in my livingroom this morning. The kids are having a blast with their new things. We have played with new toys, watched a movie and played a couple of new games.

I'll try to come back later with some pictures. We are trying to start packing for the trip to NS tomorrow so we can leave nice and early. I also still have a couple of last minute gifts to wrap :)

I just have to give a shout out to a couple of people that gave me gift certificates. I feel like I should be giving these people gifts because they are so good to me............thank you Joy and Sandra!

Hope you are all having a great day!

'tis the season....

2007-12-21T13:55:00.000-04:00

to be busy :)

The last week has been so busy and sooooo much fun. Saturday was Stamp camp day and then Sunday afternoon Mom came (it was a little touch and go right up until she got on the ferry because of the storm). Monday school was cancelled so we hung out with the kids in the morning and then Mom and I made a quick trip into town (mainly to go to Nicole's) and then Monday night we worked on a book Mom had gotten the kit for in Moncton.

Tuesday morning was Ian's Christmas concert (I was going to post a pic but Joe seems to have moved the cord to my camera-I'll share later). He did great! He sang the songs and did the actions. Joe video taped but it looks like next time I will be on video duty. LOL! At least we do have it :)

After lunch Joe and I went to town to try to finish up our Christmas shopping. It was such a change going to town without the kids- so quiet ;)

Wednesday morning I took Mom to the ferry and then did "a little" shopping in Saint John (mostly at Michael's). I got home in time to do a quick tidy of the house (Joe had actually done most of it-hehehe) and then we had friends arrive at supper time. They are on their way to NS from Ontario and stopped here for 2 nights. Their daughter is a year older than Ian and it was so nice to see how great they got along.

Yesterday we went to Kingswood and they played in the play climber for probably an hour. Poor Ian, he had a blast but took quite a beating. First he came off a slide and twisted his ankle. Then he came off the same slide and twisted his pinkie finger. A little while later he came over to us to get a drink and he had a bit of a bloody nose! Our friends daughter had kicked him by accident when they were climbing. Anyway, our friends left this morning and we are getting ready to take Ian to the hospital. The swelling still hasn't gone down in his finger and it is still bothering him so we are going to get it checked out.

Ok, it is now Saturday morning............I had to leave before I could finish posting. We were at the hospital from about 3:00 till just after 7 last night and he does have a small crack in the bone. He did not want to go into the hospital but once we were in there he was great. He sat perfectly still for the x-ray and he has a little splint on it. I took some pictures last night but I still can't find my cord (gotta ask Joe about that).

Sorry for the long post but I guess when I am only posting once a week I have to make up for it, don't I? LOL! Hopefully later I can get some more pics uploaded and I am planning on playing with some of my new stamps and rub-ons later so I will have something new to share :)

Yankee Swap

2007-12-14T22:40:00.000-04:00

This is going to be a really quick post. I have stamp camp tomorrow so I am going to bed soon to try to get a good night sleep so I will be well rested for a full day of stamping :)

I mentioned a while ago that I was in a Yankee swap (my first time) and the gift was to be around $10. Of course, I knew I wanted to make something (it was for the ladies craft night in my community). Anyway, I decided to make a bracelet/earrings set in red and clear. I made them pretty simple and quick since I was going this the night before.

Once I had the set done I wanted to package it up nice so I went searching though my................um, messy closet (don't tell Mom). I found some Altoid tins and thought they would be perfect but how to put the set in and make it look nice on the inside?

What I did to make it stay in place was I cut a piece of cardstock just a little bigger than the inside of the tin (minus the rounded corners) and I scored around the outside of this piece (I think about 1/2"). I then cut a slit in each corner on the score line to make it stand up inside the tin. I cut 2 slits for the bracelet to go through and I hooked it together in the back and punched 2 holes for the earrings.

The only thing I wasn't 100% happy with was the fact that the cardstock couldn't go to the outside of the tin. I think if I had had the time I may have tried to change that but maybe next time :)

Sorry the pictures aren't the best. I was in a hurry when I took them-just before I put it in the gift bag and ran out the door :)

Better late than never

2007-12-12T09:07:00.000-04:00

I promised the girls from the last stamp camp that I would post a link to the template for this box we made. The original came from Lauren Meader's blog My Time and the template can be found in this post. I used whisper white cardstock for the base of the box and stamped it with images from Season of Joy and Priceless in River Rock, Wild Wasibi, Purely Pomegranite and Groovy Guava.

One day last week when I was uploading some pictures onto my computer Emma was in the dining room playing with markers. After a few minutes of her being a little too quiet I went to check on her and this is what she looked like!

She had colored on both of her arms, took her socks off and colored the bottom of her feet and pulled her pant legs up and colored her legs!

Thank goodness it wasn't on the walls. She has colored the walls a little but I don't think this much would have come off as easily as it did in the bath. I was just around the corner but it doesn't take long to make quite a mess :)

Little monkey. I definately can't trust her with markers, can I?

Look at the snow!

2007-12-06T08:14:00.000-04:00

This is what it looked like here Tuesday morning (and still does). The kids had so much fun playing in the snow and Ian was back out yesterday digging paths to the swing set.

Poor Joe has been driving his tractor for months (just for fun) and now that there is snow to play with.......er, I mean plow the tractor isn't working. He fiddled with it for hours Tuesday morning and then finally broke down and called the neighbor to plow. The reason I am telling this is because it worked out better for the kids because the neighbor can make bigger hills because of the bucket :)

As soon as Ian heard Joe saying he was calling Luc he was saying "Daddy, tell him to make a big hill!"

This is kind of a fuzzy picture of Sasha but I think it shows how much fun she had too :)

And last but not least I finally took pictures of some cards yesterday. This is one we did at the last stamp camp. I don't know how well you can tell by the picture but it is a shaker card. I hadn't done one in a long time and they are so fun to make.

Sorry, I couldn't help it

2007-12-03T14:00:00.000-04:00

Notice my Avatar on the right? That is what it is starting to look like here. The snow has just started coming down about an hour ago and we are supposed to be getting up to 30cm of snow over the next 24 hours! At least that is what the weather channel said earlier this morning but that could have changed by now :)

I am finally starting to feel better. My cough is almost all gone and I think I would have slept through the night if Emma hadn't gotten up. It figures, the whole time we were sick she pretty much slept through the night and now that we aren't up all night coughing she gets up. LOL! You never know with kids. Actually, I am glad that she was sleeping though the night so that any time we did get a break from coughing we could sleep.

Tonight I am supposed to be going to a pot luck/ Yankee swap with the craft guild so last night I did a really quick bracelet/earring set up. It is red and clear crystals (not real ones though). I thought it would be nice for Christmas and even if the person that gets it doesn't wear jewelry they can give it to someone else. I haven't done any beading so it was nice to sit down and make something last night. I still have to cover an altoid tin and make a salad. I have been kind of stalling thinking they may canel but I haven't gotten a call yet.

Yesterday we went to the kids party at Joe's work and they had a blast. They had 2 bouncy houses set up, a basket ball net (it is so cute watching Ian try to get the ball in the net) and some other ball games and things. Santa was there and had presents for the kids and they could have their picture taken with him. Ian hid behind Joe and carefully reached around Joe to get his present and Emma locked right onto Joe and he had to take her present for her. It doesn't look like I will be getting any pictures with Santa this year.

Ian just got home from school so it is snack time then I am going to go up and get the things finished up for tonight. I'll be back soon with some pictures for you.

Hi All

2007-11-27T10:26:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to pop in and let you know that I haven't had a chance to do any stamping the last few days. I have had a cold for almost 2 weeks and thought I was getting better on the weekend but then last couple of days it has gotten worse :(

I was thinking on the weekend that I was going to have some time to do some stamping and maybe scrapping because I have a pretty slow week but no such luck. Oh well, this is my body's way of saying I need a little break, right? The last 2 nights I have been in bed at 9:00!

Ok, I didn't come here to whine. Did you notice my new Avatar? I sure wish I looked like that when I am sick! LOL! I think she looks pretty good even with all of the kleenex all around her. I just think she needs some toys around her and kids hanging off her robe. LOL!

Hopefully the next couple of days I will feel better and will take some pictures of the projects from last stamp camp and maybe even do something new!

Copper Baroque Motifs

2007-11-19T09:31:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a chance to take pictures of the projects from stamp camp yet so I am sharing a card we did in class a while ago. I started coming down with a cold the end of last week and have been a little "under the weather" all weekend, and still am :(.

I did start some cards last night that I was supposed to have ready on the weekend for a fundraiser for Ian's school. I am doing 2 sets of Christmas cards up for the 2 baskets they will be selling tickets on (I think they start next weekend or I guess it is this weekend now isn't it?). I used the dashing paper and Merry and Bright. I kept the same colors and they are very simple. I will try to take a picture when they are done. I just need to find an easy pattern for a box for the cards. If anyone has a good one please share :)

I am still here :)

2007-11-15T21:54:00.000-04:00

Earlier today I was thinking that I was surprised that I haven't had any e-mails or anyone giving me a hard time for not posting but then I had class tonight and there were a few people getting after me. LOL!

I guess you guys have missed me?

I am coming down with a cold (thanks to Mom and Amy) and was planning on going to be as soon as I got home but I was starting to feel guilty and decided you need something new to look at.

Before I explain the cards I have to say I had an awesome time in Moncton with Mom, Amy and all the other lovely ladies that partied with us till too late Saturday night/Sunday morning. We had soooo much fun. I loved all of my classes. I wouldn't have changed one of them but I do wish I could have some how fit more in. I do have 2 kits to work on though :)

There was talk on the weekend that they may not be able to do it again because the #'s were lower than they would like and I really hope they can do it again next year. Mom had a great idea on how to save the $ and I think I will do it too. If anyone wants more info let me know.

Now onto the cards. The first one is from the last stamp camp. We used crystal effects to make the icicles (put it on wax paper, sprinkle with glitter and let dry). They are really shimmery in real life.

The second card is one I made a while ago while I was playing around with some of the chipboard from the mini (I can't remember what it is called right now). The scalloped square is the chipboard piece. I used a craft re-inker to paint the ink on. The ribbon is the awesome satin ribbon (chocolate chip) from the mini.

Now I can go to bed :)

Still recouperating

2007-11-07T08:52:00.000-04:00

I think I am still recouping from the weekend shopping trip in Bangor and we have our weekend scrapping trip to Moncton in only 2 more days!

We had a blast in Bangor (Roberta, Joy and I). We left around 8:00 Saturday morning and were back home at about 5:30 Sunday night. With the time difference and the time changes we were so messed up by the end of it. LOL! We got to Target, Joann's, AC Moore's, Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory, and lots of other stores. I think my fav's were AC Moore's (for craft stuff) and Kohl's (for the kids clothes). Oh, and Walmart! I was really surprised that there was so much of a difference in the prices of clothes and things there.

I got most of my Christmas shopping done (which is unheard of for me to be this done this early) and I got a few new toys for myself. I picked up a few Prisma Color markers to try and the Gelly Roll markers I have been thinking about getting. I also found a cute Tinkerbell stamp that was on sale :)

Now I have to find some time to play with my new toys. Today I am working on my swap cards I have to give Mom this weekend. I did my cards for Thursday night yesterday and cut everything out last night so I am free today to get the swap cards done. I am hoping to figure out the one for Sandra's swap so I can work on those during the scrapping time this weekend. I'll be so far ahead I won't know what to do with myself. LOL!

Halloween pictures

2007-11-02T09:57:00.000-03:00

As promised here are a few pictures from Haloween night. I'm not sure if you can tell by the pictures (it was hard to keep her still long enough for a picture) but Emma was Tinkerbell and Ian was Spiderman (he should be pretty easy to figure out. LOL)
They were both really excited to go out. Ian is pretty shy so he doesn't really talk to anyone. I took him to the 2 houses next door and then Joe drove them to a few others. The last couple of houses he figured it would be easier if Daddy would just go in and get the candy for him. Joe had to explain that it doesn't work that way. LOL!

The first 2 pictures are before they went out and the second 2 are from when they got back, checking out their loot :)

The last one is of our pumpkins. The third from the left is the one Ian drew and then I cut the face out.

I am trying to get some cleaning done this morning so I can stamp this afternoon. I am going to attempt to start on some projects for Thursday night classes and the next stamp camp because I am away this weekend (shopping in Bangor! Whooo hoooo- this is my first time), next weekend is our trip to Moncton for our scrapbooking weekend (Mom, Amy and I) and the weekend after that is the next stamp camp! I can't belive how fast the time is going by.

I will try to post a couple of pictures of Sandra's party tonight. If I don't get to I will share them on Monday after we get back.

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T12:07:00.000-03:00

Are you ready for Halloween? I am almost ready :) I am going to try to put together the bags of treats when Ian gets home this afternoon but if it doesn't get done I will just give them out seperately. We usually only have a hand full of kids so it won't take long.

Last night Ian and I made sucker covers for him to take to school today. We made them super simple, just an Only orange piece of CS folded in half and a hole punched on the (fold for the stick to go through) and then we stamped the ghost from Booglie Eyes on white and tied it at the top with twine. Ian glued all of the ghosts to the orange and I did the rest. He has been sick the last few days so by the end of it he said I could do the rest when he went to bed. I knew then he still wasn't feeling well!

My October stamp camp was on Saturday and the chocolate bar holder card above was one of the projects we did. I will try to find where I got the pattern from and add the link later. Sunday was our Stamper's group party and we had an awesome time at Sandra's. We had a Halloween party with lots of tricks and treats :) I did take my camera and have a few pics but am getting more tomorrow night so I will share them after that.

I can't wait to take the kids trick-or-treating tonight! This year Emma will be more involved and I think she will love it :) I will post the pictures from tonight sometime tomorrow. We have a Halloween party at play group in the morning so I will try to pop in after that.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

1 week

2007-10-24T07:26:00.000-03:00

Halloween is only 1 week away! Ian has been asking when it is and for some reason last night he had it in his head that it was in 3 days and there was no changing his mind. Maybe it has something to do with it being on the 31st?

Anyway, he is easy this year because he wants to be Spiderman and we were given the costume last year just after Halloween. Emma wants to be a princess and I still don't have her costume so we will be last minute shopping for her. Hopefully they still have some in her size.

This isn't a new card to anyone that was at my stamper's group party in September but I haven't had a chance to take pictures of some of the cards I have done lately. I will try to do that today and will scan my layouts from the weekend. We had an awesome time at the Scrapper's treat. I think I did 13 pages! We had soooo much food and a "few" drinks :) And the company was awesome!

The last few days I have been working on projects for class Thursday night, Stamp camp on Saturday and our stamper's group on Sunday. I think I only have 1 or 2 projects to finish up and then it will be time to start cutting. If I am quiet over the next little while you will know why :)

Time to get Ian out to the bus. Have a great day!

Tagged

2007-10-19T12:33:00.000-03:00

Lucky me I was tagged by Mom :)

I am getting ready to go scrapbooking for the weekend but I wanted to pop in really quick and do this so I can take it off my "to do" list. I may be back later if I have time to share a card and once I get back I should have some scrapbook pages for you!

Here are the "RULES":

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.
3. Tag eight people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blogs.

Eight Random Facts About Me

1. I love horses. I used to own a horse named Oscar. I also had ponies when I was younger. They were named Nibbles and Speed (I didn't name them. LOL).

2. I married my high school sweetheart. We have been together since we were 16 and have been married 9 years.

3. I was a hairdresser/aesthetician. I took hairdressing in '95 and worked for 4 years then went back and took aesthetics (I don't think I am spelling it right but it isn't coming up in spell check). I then worked at both in a day spa.

4. I worked at a strawberry U-pick when I was a teenager.

5. I sold Tupperware for a short time before I had Ian.

Oh my land I still have to think of 3 more!

6. Oh, I have a dog named Sasha, a cat named Ripple and a hamster named Nemo. Of course if you read Mom's blog you know this.

7. I am very close with my family and am so grateful for that!

8. I love playing games. I think Cranium is my favorite but the last time we played I was too tired to enjoy it (I can't wait till Emma sleeps through the night on a regular basis).

Now I need to think of some people to tag. I don't know 8 well enough to tag so I am going to take the easy way out and say that if you are reading this and have a blog you can consider yourself tagged and if you don't have a blog you can share them in the comments on this post. I would love to hear from you :)

Rainy Sunday

2007-10-14T11:10:00.000-03:00

It is a rainy, cold, lazy day here this morning so I am posting a fun flower card to hopefully brighten the day.

I have to say I was a little intimitated by this stamp set and I had it for over a month before I inked it. There are so many georgous cards made with this set and many are done with techniques that would take too long to do at class on a Thursday night. I finally decided to pull it out last week and do something fairly simple but I am happy with the results.

I don't think it shows in the picture but I added diamond stickles to the centers of the flowers and the white spots on "Fabulous".

I hope you have a fabulous day!

True Friend

2007-10-12T09:59:00.000-03:00

I just love the True Friend set (with the Apple Cider paper it is awesome!). It is so easy to work with and it is fun for a change, coloring the image on the stamp with markers.

The first one was really quick, I just inked the stamp with Really Rust and Old Olive markers and stamped on Vanilla. The pattern paper is one piece (5" x 3 3/4") cut in half and then matted on Really Rust cardstock. I added some copper stickles to the spots on the flower.

The second card I used the same patterned paper and stamped the big flower on the stripes in Really Rust. The flower was inked with the same markers as above and I added a fire rhineston brad so the center.

Around the card base I used All in a Row for faux stitching in Very Vanilla.

I realized this morning that I lost my links when I changed the template a few days ago so I will add those on the right in a bit.

A really quick card

2007-10-11T08:23:00.000-03:00

I made this card last week while I was playing around (probably when I should have been getting ready for class!) and wanted to do something quick (or maybe it was when I was cleaning my stamp room before Mom came. LOL!).

I have been trying to use up some of my patterned paper scraps so I pulled out a couple of pieces from Petals and Paisleys (not that this used very much of it up! hehehe). I cut them down to 1 1/2" squares and put them across my white card base. I then cut the excess off the sides.

The flower from Priceless is stamped once in Regal Rose and once in Old Olive. The Old Olive one is punched with the 1 1/4" circle punch and I cut the flower out of the Rose one. I matted these on a 1 3/8" Old Olive circle and added the clear rhinestone brad.

I am excited this morning because the November Stampin' Sucess (SU's demo publication) came on-line this morning and the winners from the demo contest from the last few months were shown. My CD album was there with a picture of me. It is pretty cool seeing a picture of you own work in publication.

Coaster book

2007-10-10T10:13:00.000-03:00

This is a coaster book we made at stamp camp a couple of weeks ago. I used Dots and Dashes paper (retired from SU) for the front and back and used Temping Turquise for the pages and Taken with Teal for the binding and the inside front and back.

The Only Orange flower is from In the Spotlight and the verse is stamped in Green Galore (from Polka Dots and Paisley).

I was so excited about this little book that I had to add the pictures right away. Most of the time when I do books for classes I don't take the time to add the pictures but this was just too easy.

This is one of the pages where I cut the picture in half to go across the 2 pages. I did this to one other picture and the rest were single 3" squares with the outside corners rounded.

The directions for the Coaster book can be found HERE on SCS. I am sure I will be doing more of these. They will make great Christmas presents :)

Staying with the pink theme today

2007-10-09T14:40:00.000-03:00

I have now spent a lot of my day on the computer (too much really) but I am happy with the changes I have made. The new template makes it much easier to add new links and do the changes I wanted to do so it should be easier to keep up to date :)

I thought I would post this Stinkin Cute card to keep in the pink theme. The inspiration for the glittery patterned paper came from some paper I picked up at CompuPro last week. It was Christmas paper with lots of glitter. I decided to make some of my paper I already had on hand glittery with stickles. You could of course use 2-way glue and dazzling diamonds (or another fine glitter) but I thought this would be a little less messy.

I used my orange and pink stickles on all of the dots and set aside to dry. I then stamped the skunk with black craft ink (I like this one for more solid images) and set aside to dry.

Once they were dry I added the flower (inked with markers) and put it together with some May Arts ribbon (hot pink with polka dots). I think I might add a little stickles or a crystal to the center of the flower for a little more bling. The picture really doesn't show the sparkles as much as in real life.

Going Pink

2007-10-09T11:26:00.000-03:00

Well a different shade of pink with a new template. What do you think? I have been planning on making some changes but I wanted to stay pink for Breast Cancer awareness month. I decided to make the changes but keep some pink.

I also have been playing around with making my avatar. Do you like her/me? LOL! I wish I really looked like that. Hehehe. I had to add my dog in there (there weren't really any kids that worked) and I am wearing a pink shirt for this month, at least until closer to Halloween. I may have to change closer to Halloween :)

I have some cards I have taken pics of and a few more I need to do so once I get those done I will put them on my computer and will add something for you later.

We had a great weekend with my family. It was really hard when it was time to say good bye's but in just over a month Mom, Amy and I will be meeting in Moncton for our annual scrapbooking weekend so we have that to look forward to. I'm pretty sure Grampie will be coming here to spend the weekend with Joe and the kids so they will have some time together too :)

Time to get lunch ready for Emma and I and hopefully I will have some time after that to get some pics together.

Also, please let me know if you find the new colors hard to see or if there is anything I need to change. Sometimes it shows up different depending on the computer you are viewing it on. Some of my links have dissapeared as well so this should be a good time to update my list as well.

Edited: I just added *lots* of new links for you to check out. I don't get to check all of them every day but I do try to check in on as many as I can:)

To get your own Avatar just click on the link at the bottom of my Avatar and it will take you to Yahoo where you will need an account. It is free and there were lots of fun things to choose from when you get there. I can see myself changing it often and it is supposed to change automatically on my blog when I make changes on Yahoo. This could be lots of fun.

One more thing, I know there are lots of you checking in that don't comment. Please don't be shy and let me know you were here. I would love to hear your feedback.

Birthday Bug

2007-10-03T08:32:00.000-03:00

I had to do a ladybug card with Pick a Petal and Cutie Pie Paper. They just seem like they were made for each other. LOL!

I had done a red ladybug a few months ago and wanted to do one in Purely Pomegranite. They are really easy, for the wings I stamped and cut out 2 petals and punched a 1 1/4" and a 1/2" black circle. The 1/2" one is cut in half and put on top of the "wings". The antena was drawn in with a black marker.

For the scalloped border I used my slit punch and 1/8" hole punch.........I love how this border looks.

I have a few cards ready to take pictures of so I will try to do that later so I can have something for tomorrow. I am on a 3 day roll, don't want to break it:)

Only 15 sleeps till we (some stamping friends and I) go for a scrapbooking retreat!!!! I am so excited!

2 days in a row!

2007-10-02T09:03:00.000-03:00

I am going to try to post more often again. I do good for a while and then it gets busy here and I end up not posting. Yesterday I took pictures of a few cards and I have more to take pics of so I think if I can do a few at a time to have stocked up that might help ;)

This is one I did for a party a few weeks ago and I made about 5 more to have on hand (one went to a friend for her Birthday and I have another one set aside for another friend). It was a really quick card but I love the color combination in the Cutie Pie designer paper.

It feels like fall

2007-10-01T14:35:00.000-03:00

Fall is definately in the air the last few days. We even had to light a fire last night and this morning :(

I thought this card would be appropriate for today. It is one from a month ago that I found in my stash and realized I hadn't posted it here. The tree is colored with watercolor crayons and misted with water before stamping. The faux stitching is done with All in a Row to tie the pattern paper in with the Old Olive cardstock. I made a few extra of these for my "just in case stash" because I thought they would be nice to have on hand. A lot of my cards lately I have been leaving the sentiment off so I can use them for any occasion.

Last Thursday we went apple picking with our play group. These are a couple of pictures from that day. We went again on Sunday and I took my camera but forgot to take pictures.

My family is coming this weekend (for Thanksgiving.......yay!!!) so I think I will make some apple pies this week :)