Right Back At It Again...

I'm back from the Christmas madness!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We certainly did. We didn't go back to Saskatchewan this year, and it made for a bittersweet stay at home, but it was definitely a much more relaxing time. Instead of the 2 days of travelling, trying to split 3 days between two households and a full agenda of visiting everyone, we did what we felt like, when we felt like it. Relaxation and a fair bit of ice fishing!

And as far as scrapping, I just played. Experimented.

I did make something though. Here, I'll show you..........

It is a Teabag Album and Tin.

See? I played with Prima flowers, lace and paper by Iron Orchid Designs. Can you tell I love the stuff?

Before I show you a peek of inside my teabag album, I have to show you how I got the dyed look on that big flower using Twinkling H20s.

Place your flower flat on a washable surface. What I noticed is that these flowers are saturated with color. Doing this technique will make the color bleed slightly.

Dilute some black twinkling H2O and dab it in the middle of the flower. Using the brush, then pull the paint outwards to the middle of each petal (in the photo, the middle is about where the silver reaches). Make sure when you do this, that the brush is water soaked. At this point, the flower will soak up the water and you will be able to watch it climb to edge of the petals.

Next, dilute some silver twinkling H2O and lightly brush it from the middle of the flower outwards. If the silver seems to strong, dilute it by brushing over with a water soaked brush.

Let dry. To speed up the process, you can use a hair dryer.

The finished result will have pulled the flower color (dye) and the black twinkling H2O to the end of the petals as shown.

With that said, the rest of the album:

Page 1 and 2

Page 3 and 4

Page 5 and 6

And have a great New Years too. Thanks for stopping by!

Shhh! Santa's Hiding Around the Corner......

Ahhhh. Just enjoying a little bit of the afternoon. Got a little bit of unexpected time off. I've been putting this time to use to get some things done around home without having a child call my name every 30 seconds!

A little running around.

Cleaning.

Having a quiet lunch.

And finishing up a Chritmas present. Here is some sneek peeks of what I am up to.

So, we asked my mother in law what she wants for Christmas. (Don't worry, she doesn't read my blog, lol!) All she said was a picture. GREAT! We'll buy you a digital picture frame! And while we're at it we'll get one for my parents too! (Don't worry, my parents don't have the internets!

And we did. And we loaded them up! This is just a sampling, but I loved putting a mix of cool artsy family shots, normal everyday photos and some pictures with some graphics. Just gave me a chance to play and fool around.

And lastly before I get back to a little more work, I wanted to make sure I passed on a greeting now, as I am going to be very busy for the next few days......

To all the readers out there that hop over here to read every once and a while....

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Patterned paper: Aurora, Steel Toe Mary Jane and Calliope Collections from Prima Marketing
Chipboard Letters, Glitter Star, Leaves and Poisettias: Prima Marketing
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo (Ranger)
Glosshy Accents Crackle Medium (Ranger)

(And yes, I admit, I like the word "joy". Using it has become a bit of a weird habit. Please, I need an intervention! LOL)

Have a great holiday!

Help Me Out Would Ya? Regarding Classes

Readers. I need your help. I am looking to start teaching classes and I want all of you to weigh in. And if you are so inclined, pass this link onto a friend or ten!

The more opinions the better! And hey, thanks in advance!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ZFvS5GlhywaPzu4UWXMbmw_3d_3d

Or note, if you check out my sidebar, you'll find the link there as well.

Bah Flippin' Humbug. Maybe Not. Keep reading this is COOL! I mean ICY!

The Christmas Season can make me incredibly poopy.

Why? How? What the?

Let me rephrase.

Christmas shopping makes me poopy.

1. Packed malls. I don't know what it is, but the older I get, the less I hate crowds. I just want to get where I am needing to, when I want to and be darned if a herd of lolly gaggers are going to get in my way!
2. Those kiosk people. Good lord, leave me alone! No, you can't ask me a question. Yes, I think your stuff is ugly and no, you cannot 'do' my hair. If I wanted that, I would not be wearing a ballcap and I'd be sitting at a salon.
3. Shopping for my husband. Shopping for this man makes me hyperventilate. He is the man with everything and if he doesn't have everything it is because it is out of our budget range. When I actually find something that I think he would like, I get home and the man has purchased said item.

My remedy that sucks the fun out of every Christmas surprise I have ever got him? I tell him not to buy this, that and the other thing. His mother does the same. Ticks us both off to no end.

So, I bought him an ice auger.

There. I told him after I got it. It's not like posting this that I ruined the surprise. LOL!

Vent over. Moving on.......

You gotta see the Christmas decoration I made. Seriously. It's brilliant.

The ladies at work were chatting about these glass block presents. Aren't they fun? Buy those glass blocks from Home Depot or wherever, drill a hole in them, pop in a string of Christmas lights and add a bow.

Drilling the hole, not so easy. It takes a special bit and the possibility of a $25 glass block shattering to pieces.

So, I changed it up a bit and I think it works just as nicely.

Prima Products:
Chipboard Letters Steel Toed Mary Jane by Iron Orchid Designs
Embossed Chipboard Tag
Say It In Crystals
Hambly Products:
Flourish Rub On
Graph Overlay
Other:
Bow: Craft Supply
Paint: Plaid (white), Aqua – Ranger Paint Daubers

A decorated ICE BLOCK!

Take the block and decorate! Easy. Done. No drilling required.

Alright, Janine. Step away from the Paintables....

Did I tell you I love Prima's Paintables? Well, I do. I picked up a few of them on Saturday night and immediately began to play.

And I couldn't stop. No, seriously.

I took out my watercolor pencils and went to town. But no I couldn't stop there. Uh-nuh. This is where I went with it.

And yes, I am crazy.

Prima Products:
IOD Paintables - Metropolis
Flowers - 509804, 507176, 517267
Cardstock: Bazzill
Frame: Ribba (Ikea)
Corrogated Cardboard
Galvanized Steel Wire

See???!?!?!?! I made a shimmering 3 dimensional Paintable masterpiece! I couldn't bear to put pictures over it. Nope. Not this time anyways.

So what exactly did I do the thing, you ask?

Like I said, I started off by getting crazy with my watercolor pencils. Once I was done, I went and highlighted the colors with Twinkling H2O's to give it a shimmer.
Then I took out Stix 2 PVA glue and foils and foiled the edges of the various buildings using similar foils.

But it doesn't stop there. No......

I cut each tower out of the picture and layered placed dimensional foam stickers of varying depth behind them for a three dimensional effect. ETA: I forget to mention and I should my gal Trisha threw that one out to the wind and I ran with it. ;) Thanks Trish!

Then I matted it and placed it in my frame.

To finish embellishing, I hunted down some galvanized steel wire in hubby's tool box and created the metal swirls. All I did was bend them and then attached them with Glue Dots!

Top that off with Prima flowers and voila!

That scrapbook stuff. It just aoint for pages anymore.........

Thanks for looking!

Hybrid Baby!

So, I kept telling myself that I should really try to mix both paper and digital a little more often. I love doing both paper and digi so why not combine them?

So, ther I was the other day, surfing Two Peas when I saw a post for this hybrid challenge. Ok, I admit, I didn't go for the challenge per se, but I loved the sketch that came with the post, which motivated me to get crackin' on this hybrid layout.

So, just a thanks to Sally and Josie for getting me to do something that I have really been wanting to do more often!

Alrighty, now that it is December.....

I can officially get into the Christmas spirit! So what do you do to get into embrace the holidays? Of course! You put up the tree! So, that is exactly what Jake and I did while we awaited Trevor's return from hunting in Saskatchewan.

Pulling out the decorations is a nice little trip down memory lane. And I'll get to some of that, but I could have sworn I so carefully and methodically put the bell garland away with the greatest of care, so that I could easily put it up. I fully believe I am not to blame for the tangled mess it became. I blame trolls.

After 30 minutes of untangling that mess we got well under way. Pulling out sentimental treasures and placing them so carefully on the tree.

This one is my all time favorite. When I was five and my brother was still a babe, my Grandma Ruth gave us both a Hummel ornament. When I started a family of my own Mom made sure she gave it to me to put on my own tree, And every year, I was always excited to put it on the tree because it is MY ORNAMENT.

I think these ornaments are getting particularly ratty as time goes by but I really have struggled to part with them. When I was about 7 years old Mom and I made these ornaments. I have a set of about 10 each. I know that no matter what, I will be keeping one of each. I don't think I can fully part with them. I am proud of my little creations!

And now for this evening....

The family attended Jacob's very first Christmas pagaent for playschool! Jake was one of those little kids that just hung out with the crowd. He wasn't really into the singing in front of a group, but he has been doing a great job of singing those same songs to us all week long. Ha! Still didn't matter, I thought he was the star!

So, Merry Christmas!

There are 601 Reasons to Get This.....

And 5 really great reasons in particular......hmmmm?!!!

Finally, I have been waiting for this book for like, EVER! It was really worth the wait too. It is one thick book filled with gorgeous pages and incredible talent and I am excited to say, I have count 'em FIVE pages in it too! So, excited to see them there, and one is even featured twice!

The great thing about this book is that they are all never been seen before pages. So honestly, if you want a great idea book, this is the one to get. Seriously, one meaty book filled with easy, yet creative techniques, and some seriously talented scrappers.

Saturday night and feeling alright...

Fun, fun fun! Had a great time at Jessi's housewarming on Saturday night! Thanks for showing off the new diggs!

Here are a few pics of the good time had by all!

Jessi and Jason - King and Queen of the Castle!

Stacy

Drew and Trevor

Trish and Me

A Busy Weekend indeed.....

Tonight is a late night for me, but I know that I will have a lot going on this weekend, and really wanted to get a post in. I wanted to show you what I made.....

Patterned Paper: Daisy D’s
Small and Large Acrylic circles: Picture It Pageframes
Chipboard Shapes and silver glitter: Making Memories
Metallic Foils and foam adhesive: Six2
Paint: Plaid
Ribbon: Offray

What do you think? I am so excited about it, I love, love, LOVE how it turned out! You see I was inspired by another Picture It Pageframes wall hanging. You see, my gal Trisha did an article in the Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine and I did a Pageframes project for it. I am loving the fun I am having with it, so I figured that I would mix it with Daisy D's Christmas paper and rubons.

What else..................

Tonight we had a nice visit with our neighbours. They came over to just chat. Well, mostly the men. They talk like motorboats, hard to get a word in edgewise, LOL.

They sat and dicussed their quadding adventures and had a few beers. And they were the weirest looking things I ever saw!

They were like, well remember the old "stubbies"? That is what they looked like.

And that twist off cap. Like cracking open a pop bottle rather than a typical beer cap. But that wasn't the weirdest thing about the cap.

On the inside of the cap, there were pictograms. You had to guess the phrase. Like this:

You see? Picture puzzles. Can you guess them? They're pretty easy, but let me know what you think they are! You know, just for the heck of it.

And so this weekend.......

Yep, will be busy!
1. Trevor is getting ready for a hunting trip he has been planning FOREVER! I will be happy if he shoots something this year.

2. I am planning to take Jakers to go see Santa and get some Christmas shopping done.

3. I got a party to go to! Jessi is having a housewarming bash!

So, that is my weekend. Enjoy yours too!

Here he comes and there he goes again....

You know, just when I think that I am going to spend some much missed and greatly needed quality time, face to face with my husband, they send him off to the boonies.

Trevor came home and all of us couldn't be happier. We all had some much needed hugs and just general hanging out together. Trevor missed the comforts of home and Jake and Imissed the comforts of having Trevor here. We basked in the warmth of the homecoming.

And yes, tonight we were looking forward to just hanging out, yet again. We just got our first snow and the roads have their first sheet of ice, so why venture anywhere? Well, because there is a job in Pincher Creek. And so Trevor is gone again. Grr.

*Shaking fist angrily in the air*

"Dang that oil patch!"

Oh, well. I knew what I was getting into when we first started dating, so I suppose this oil widow better suck it up!

For what it is worth, with my time alone, I got another page done, but this is just because the moment swayed me.

Patterned Paper: Daisy D's Autumn Collection in Samarkand (background), Feuillage (Bird) and Ledger (Journaling and title background), Scenic Route in Capetown Main Street
Diecuts: Daisy D’s Autumn Collection (title and top right of photo
Transparency Overlay: White Graph and orange journaling spot by Hambly Studios
Felt Flowers: We R Memory Keepers
Ribbon: Elysee by Prima Marketing
Stamps: Rhonna Farrar for Autumn Leaves (Bird and flourish)
Metallic Foils: Stix2
Paint and Ink: Paint Dauber in Aqua by Ranger Industries and Jet Black Staz On by Tsukineiko
Brad Nails: Making Memories Buttons: Craft Supply Pens: Souffle Pens by Sakura

So I'll pour on the sentimental, sappy cheese, but I am lovin' on my hubby. He makes me happy.

Later!

YAY! It's a good day.

Ahh Sundays.

Time for rest and relaxation. Well, not quite. I am completely tired as I was up late last night. My child had a 'bout of being sick. Being squemish, needles to say it was not fun. I stayed up late to make sure all was well and was getting a good night sleep.

Good news though, he woke up being his bubbly, normal, jump-off-the-walls self.

And rather than relaxing and being tranquil, I have gone on the quest to make sure my house is clean. Washing thr floor, dusting, picking up, vacum and dusting. It needed a good once over none the less, but hubby is coming home! Yay! Kiddo and I missed him like CRAZY. Sounds like he is missing us too.

But back to the business of this Sunday. I am getting some company this afternoon. My friend Trisha and here two boys are stopping by for a coffee! Very fun. For the year and then some that Trish and I have known each other, it has alway been me going up to Edmonton. So, as luck would have it, she is passing through town, so she is coming to see my humble abode.

Other than that, I have done a little scrapping here and there. I worked on my mini album for Hall of Fame. I just love it and so wish I could share, but alas, you know how that goes.....

However, I left you with a couple projects that I did for Crop for Kids using some Urban Lily papers and inspired by one of Anam Stubbington's sketches. Did you know that Anam has a regular sketch column with Scrapbook and Cards Today? If not check out this wonderful magazine, you'll find much more in it than just good sketches.

For some reason I can't got the sketch up, and I'll try to fix it. But at least you know how I was inspired by them.

Here they are.

These pages use 5"x7" pictures.

Thanks for looking. See you later!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas.....

No. Not Really.

Sure it's colder, but there is no snow around these parts. Which is weird because par for course is typically a blizzard prior to Halloween. But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth and I'll settle for what we've been getting.

Which leads me also to the disbelief that Christmas is a little over a month away. I don't want to believe it.

But regardless, I made this funky Chrismas ornament using an Urban Lily Sugarcube I had in my stash.

Now typically, doing something Christmas-y in November is completely a sacreligious thing for me, but all that Sugarcube was screaming in my mind was CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT! So, on my travels yesterday, I stopped by one of my LSS's, Scrapbookers Paradise bought some papers.

I did it with Daisy D's Christmas Paper and some Stix2 foils. And then to top it off, I randomly dabbed some mod podge on it and sugared it with some glitter.

I didn'y add any pictures to the inside, but I want its purpose to hold candies. And so it shall be.

Only problem, it is gonna sit until it becomes acceptable for me to put up the Christmas tree. That is, when it is December *and* there is snow on the ground. Now the question is;

Will there be snow in December this year? LOL!

On the Crux of Something Big.....

Alrighty. Lately, I have been consumed. Busy and completely full of thought. And after all that ecitement at CSC4K, I just had to take a little step back and refocus on other things. Even so, got some big news and I am still consumed.

Why?
Hubby got offered a promotion.
In Estevan.
Yep, may be moving.

We aren't sure what is going to happen. Frankly, we don't want to leave. We LOVE it in Alberta. We moved to Alberta because this is where we want to be.
And, just when we figured that we were going to say no, they ask hubby to "try it out for a couple of weeks". So that's where he is, trying it on for size.

However......

There are plenty of positives if we take it. Closer to family, seeing all of our old friends again. And lots of opportunity to teach!
We shall see.....

Anyways, with Trevor gone, Jake and I are planning to go into Red Deer to visit a old dear friend from Saskatchewan. We have been friends since Grade 4! We hardly ever see each other anymore, so I am THRILLED! Then Jakers and I are going to go explore Agri-trade. Tractors, cattle, and lots of other great things. Should be a fun day!

And I am scrapping. Scrapping, scrapping. I am starting to do an Creating Keepsakes Hall of Fame entry. Yep, giving it a shot. After all that has been going on, I am still going for it. Just love playin' around. I never expect to win when I enter these things, but it is fun to play along and see what happens.

What else? Hmm......not too much. I entered the Daisy D's design tam search to see what will happen. So, I'll leave you with a wall hanging I did with Daisy D's Autumn Collection

On Being the Big 30....

Nope. Don't feel old. Honestly, it never really had the chance to cross my mind as of late. First thing is here, I told you pictures, I got no camera cord. Have no clue where on God's green earth where it is. None. It is making me quite upset. Guess that is what Saturday shopping is for.

My hubby is now working in Estevan, Saskatchewan as well. It is the town we lived in before we moved out to Alberta. It is nice for him to be out there and visiting old friends but I miss him profusely and all of that matter is stressing me out slightly, I believe that we are on the cusp of something HUGE here given the climate of the oilpatch between Alberta and Saskatchewan. That is all I'm saying. If I go further, I am treading on breaking one of my rules of keeping politics and personal life in the balance. This place is supposed to be about scrappin' and fun with little tidbits of life splashed here and there. Too heavy for here.


So, as for CSC4K, I told ya I got pics. Shopping Saturday. USB cord. But to fulfill your need to see pics, I will give ya some links.

Carol Wingert

Leica Forrest

Kristina Contes

Ronee Parsons

Hope I can give ya a slight fix until mine come along. Maybe give you a good read too.

Alright....as for the weekend itself. Great sucess! I keep hearing from people what a great time they had and that makes me feel so good to hear. West Edmonton Mall facilities had presented some unexpected challenges that ended up being beyond our control, but those ladies, attendees, voluteers, teachers, they were all troopers! My love goes out to all of you!


I started my weekend there on Thursday at about 11am. From the word go, I was runnin'. Tables to get set up. Teachers arriving to greet and get settled into their surroundings. Paper and embellishments to arrange. Things to haul from one area to another. Craziness. Sore feet. Little sleep.

The last one I had a trick to. I knew I had to be up at 5:30 am every morning. I knew I would have late nights every night. So.....I made sure when it was bed time I never looked at the clock. Didn't want to know. Ignorance is bliss as they say! Seemed to work, my mind stayed fairly sharp until Sunday at least.

The classes.

They were amazing! So many gorgeous projects and talented teachers. I really was in awe of seeing all the talent when the samples came trickling in over the coming months. To hear so may people being blown away when they saw the projects and attended the classes, so good to hear. Trish picked our talent well.

My classes, over the months I secretly stressed. I kept thinking to myself, "Ok Janine, you know you are teaching along the 'big dogs' now. These gals get paid to teach and travel everyday, can you measure up?" So, I focused. I made sure I crossed the 't's and dotted the 'i's and luckily at my day job I got to take a "Train the Trainer" course to help me along!

They turned out so good. The project. The classes. So happy that my 'students got something out of it that they can take away. New techniques. Introduction to new, fun products and their possibilities. The encouragement of creativty. The knowledge that what one may perceive as a mistake, may not be a mistake at all, but instead a opportunity to take something in a new direction. That the difficult gets easier with practice. All that.

I did it! Yippee! Feels good to know my first classes were just a learning curve. But enough 'bout that....

The Teachers.

Oh my word! What a fun bunch. Such diverse personalities in the industry and I admire them for their hard work but also for their talent and their charm. Yes, sounds gushy and all that cheese, but true.

Sally Griswold and Josie Celio as Iron Orchid Designs - these gals got a great sense of style. When you take a peruse through their designs for Prima you can see that style shine. I just want to dress like them! Vintage cool, California, with a flair for Old Hollywood. But they made me giggle. You could definitely tell those two were sisters!

Kristina Contes - You know what people love her or hate her but she reminds me of well, me, before kids. Fun-loving. Bright and full of fun. A girl willing to work hard and lend a hand when its needed.

Kelly Goree - This gal is a serious one with a good sense of direction and focus, but be warned! She has a wild streak in her. Good little sense of fun!

Michelle Van Etten - This girl. This girl is crazy! Life of the party. Love her! Daring, straightforward and shoot from the hip. When Trisha told me that I would love her cah-razy friend Michelle, she wasn't wrong. I can't wait to see her again and not be working!

Ronee Parsons - This girl is a deep thinker and incredibly intellegent. Always wanting to learn and understand. I got a chance to talk to Ronee the most out of all the gals. We had a chance to have supper a couple times and we talked about a good lot of things. I wish her well with her new book and Incredible Mess . You watch that, I see good things coming!

Carol Wingert - She was a people person. Loved her going and just sitting chatting to the croppers. Happy to visit and chit chat. A lady that I wish I would have got more of a chance to sit with.

Alright, got a few more teachers to discuss, I'll leave that until another day. Enough typing Janine, sheesh!

Aahhh sweet silence.

Today was recovery. I sat around. I did absolutely nothing. In fact, I took the time to sit in my big comfy chair and stared at a blank wall.

I think I just needed to reboot and get back to normal. A weekend of full on 20 hours days, running around a busy mall on concrete floors with 5 things to do all at once, all the time, made me pooped!

Dear me, just got back last night from Canada's Scrapbooking Crop for Kids in Edmonton this past weekend. Yep, we finally did it and it was an awesome event! There is so much to share and to talk about, I am still pondering where to begin.

But I will say this, Trisha, dear, dear Trisha. I hope that gal is resting and taking it easy. I want her to know that she did a great job and the Edmonton event was incredible. That gal put her heart and soul into this event. Really.

She gone and done good and I love her for it.

I want to thank everyone that helped out as a volunteer, thank you. Give yourselves a pat on the back.

Thank you to all of the teachers, you all done good and so happy to meet you.

Thank you for everyone that attended and I hope that you enjoyed everything we had going on. Hope you are enoying your new projects a goodies too!

With that tonight, I am still wiped. I will talk more tomorrow and post pics. See you then!

I promised you Scrapfest pics.....

I promised them last night, alas they are in my camera and the batteries THEY DIED!!!! So here I am, posting my last installment tonight and then no more. All good things have to come to an end.

I took very few but here are three.......

Trisha's "Key to My Heart" Class. It was a complete success! Sold out and had a beautiful project to boot! A fun time had by all!

Here is a big shot of the Friday night crop!

Jessi have a good conversation with Lea and Kerry

Scrapfest Part deux!

I am back and I am so not done. All these women have great things going on and I hope that telling you about them helps you discover something new and wonderful!

So last night I left off talking about Stacy and there are a few more ladies that I need to mention.

Although us girls were furiously working the booth for Canada's Scrapbooking Crop for Kids, we did have a chance to look around and spend a few bucks here and there. I sure had to restrain myself though!

Our booth was situated right across the lovely Janice and her store called Paper Valise. Her store is filled with authentic and reproduced vintage embellishments, books etc. and all of it is in BRAND NEW QUALITY. I was utterly amazed. The stuff is perfect for heritage pages. Seriously, don't walk but run to her store.

Another girl with a great store is Chantal at Treasured Memories. Let me tell you, this girl bought the store about 4 months ago and turned it into a sleek, well organized, inviting and inviting store. And it has a wide selection for everyone! Her booth was so cool! And that Chantal, she has done this at the young age of 21! That is impressive. A tiny pretty little thing that gal and she is out to be a sucess! I know she'll get there too.

Next time you are in Edmonton, check out her store. It is compulsory as sanctioned by me and many others. When you do make it in there, tell her I sent you!

Last but not least there was the neatest store. The whole thing was inside the Mayfield convention centre! Yep. A big green truck called Memories in Motion Scrapbooking. The whole store is in that thing! You give her a call and she'll come out to you!

And I believe I covered the main highlights.

However.......

I'll post some Scrapfest photos tomorrow. Stay tuned!

And again, don't forget to check out Leica Forrest's blog all week for more Scrapfest goodness.

Scrapfest, Oh my!!!!

Whew! Now I can breathe. What a jam-packed weekend at Scrapfest Edmonton ! First of all a special thanks to the owners Lisa and Debbie for doing such a great job.

So now where do I start?

First thing first. I met some awsome ladies there and got to hang out with many of my scrap friends.

I suppose I'll give you a rundown of events. I may go everywhere, but at least I'll know I am not missing anyone! I am just so excited to interact all these wonderful Canadian ladies.

My Friday morning arrival brought me face to face with an online friend and overall great scrapper, Roxanne Jegodtka. We met on Two Peas In a Bucket about two years ago. She is a sweet girl and so much talent! Seriously, go click on her name, you'll see what I am saying!

The Canada's Scrapbooking Crop for Kids booth yielded the usual suspects of course, Anam, Jessi and Trish. Work or play, I love hanging with those girls! We were all working the booth, teaching and TA'ing classes doing cool keychain and magnet make n' takes with great products:
* 3" clear circles Picture It Pageframes
* Cool little Tooth Fairy stamps from Tin Box Creations And note folks, if you purchase this stamp set, all proceeds go to Canada's Scrapbooking Crop for Kids!
* Souffle and Glaze pens by Sakura
* Self adhesive magnets from Stix 2

Speaking of Stix2, I got to meet the owner Allesandra (I hope I am spelling that right, I don't have her name readily available) and she is a charming lady. I really liked her from the get go. She has some great products that I love working with. Her adhesive is incredible and her foil transfers are something that I am completly loving! Her stuff is available at many Edmonton scrapbook stores, so do check it out!

I was thrilled to meet and very briefly talk to the fabulous Vicki Boutin and the sweet Kah-Mei Smith, owner of Fontwerks. I would have loved to really get a chance to converse with to these two ladies a little more, but time didn't allow it. Hopefully, we'll cross paths again another time.

I got to speak for a good long while with Catherine and Kerry from Scrapbook & Cards Today. Let me tell you, these girls are making a great magazine with gorgous artwork and some really great articles from top designers in the industry. I got my hands on the latest issue and they have truly come a long way! If you haven't looked at this magazine, I suggest you rush to your LSS and get a copy for yourself. It get a free copy with every $30 purchase of scrapbook supplies. If they don't have it, ask for it or you can go online and read it there! You won't be sorry, and who doesn't like a free gift with purchase. Those crazy enablers!

Another couple of ladies that I cannot forget is the ladies from Crop and Cruise (scrapping, the Mexican Riviera what could be better? Not much they sold out and are planning the next one!), Allison Orthner and Leica Forrest. These two ladies are a complete and utter riot! So full of spunk and a great sense of humor. Love them and looking forward to seeing them in October! I doubt Edmonton will be the same after that.

And be sure to check out Leica's blog all this week. She is featuring pictures from Scrapfest everyday! She'll have some pic of me on Wednesday *wink wink!* hee hee. I think I know what picture she's gonna whip out too, LOL!

Oh my, I met lots of gals! But I'll give you a rest from my babbles until tomorrow, except for one person. Last thing I promise it will be worth it.

Stacy! I met her during the Friday night crop. She is from Red Deer and such a nice girl. We were chtting away and we exchange names. She's like, "Oh yeah, I read your blog!"
Really? You do?

We'll let's get this straight. Not to diss myself completely, but I never thought that my blog was interesting enough to have someone reading it on a regular basis. Not that I'm boring, and aside from my friends who read up (who I do appreciate completely, you know who you are), but out of the many scrapbooking blogs out there, someone that doesn't even know me, decided to choose to read mine regularly. Which is completely flattering to know. That made me have the warm fuzzies!

So to all of you that are reading and lurking quietly and Stacy for identifying herself as a lurker, thank you very much for reading. Seriously. It's really cool of you.

Ok. I'll have Part 2 tomorrow. I'll talk about some more interesting ladies and my Scfapfest kit projects.

So tired. Must sleep.

A Little High, A Little Low and throw some boating in there for good measure

Well, with every bit of disappointment, comes a little good news. I am just not sure which to mention first. I am supposing my bad news, because you just get it out of the way and it is over. Like ripping off a bandaid.

So a while back, I had told you I had something cool to do for Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine and I couldn't spill. Well, small diappointment. I got invited to do the cover for the fall issue along with other artists and alas......sigh......it wasn't picked. But I'll get over it. Lots more opportunity awaits. And let me tell you, that cover and the two takes are gorgeous! I was up against some competition! I'll get there. The opportunity is open, I'll get more chances...hopefully!

So now for the good stuff.......

I saw it FINALLY! I am so pumped to see my page in the October issue of Creating Keepsakes! So very cool. Been trying to get in there for a while and it finally happened! Hope that keeps up.

And so yesterday I took a little scrapping break. Since summer is coming to a close and I will miss the summer activities it brings, the family, along with our neighbours Scott and Amanda, went for a boat ride. That may be the last chance we get, so we had to take advantage of it while we could.

But now I got to go. Gotta head to work and send my baby off to his first day of playschool! How exciting! My little man is growing up WAY TOO FAST!

Thanks for reading! Take care.

We All Wanna Be a Guitar Hero

So yesterday, my dear husband Trevor was bored. I could not possibly figure why, he has many hobbies. Gas powered remote control cars, boating (I'll give him that one, it was too cold to boat), fiddling in the garage....heck, he could have continued working on finishing the basement, especially my scraproom!

No. None would suit him. So off to Red Deer he went to wander around. Wander. Wander. And what does that boy return with?

Guitar Heros.

I am actually happy he came home with it. The controller for it is a guitar! It's fun. A guilty little pleasure. I'm not too good at it, but I have playing between my kitting breaks.

Who doesn't want to pretend to be a rockstar?

Rock On my Dear. Yes, Rock on!

hee hee!

Super Excited!

I am so excited! Friday I am off to Scrapfest in Edmonton! It is gonna be so fun! Ok, not as fun as most people because I'll be working, BUT, I love going to places where I can meet other scrappers that love this hobby as much as me.

I'll be working a teacher's assistant for my friend Trisha's gorgeous Key to My Heart class. I'll be doing odds and ends for Scrapfest (whatever they assign to me when I am there) and I'll be working the booth for Canada's Scrapbooking Crop for Kids. So, this weekend I have been busy making up some page kits and some really cool make n takes with some fun papers by Urban Lily and Piggy Tales .

We wanted to make sure that they were different and unconventional but nice and fast and easy. And here's what I got for you.


First up is a paper bag card make n take using Daisy Doodles paper from Urban Lily .


















The next one is really fun and my favorite of the two. A few posts back I made a this and now you can too with this fun little kit.




Boy and girl themed lightswitch mini albums using the Hansel and Gretel lines from Piggy Tales paper!










I still have a couple of other things that are still in progress, so stay tuned!

So much to do and so little time....

Well I know I put this off. I am a horrible little blogger. I should be punished. But I have been doing alot. No really.

See, I joined this little circle journal. There are 10 of us and we picked some wild and crazy themes. Mine? Moments of Mortification. That's right. Not a little social faux pas my friends. I want to hear your WORST social disaster! I can't wait to see what these girls come up with.

Here is mine for starters.

So for the big switch, we all met at Urban Scrapbook in Edmonton. And what a switch I got. My first journal is my dear friend Anam's journal. Now this girl is creative. This is definitely a must see. I strongly urge you to see the topic and the incredible journal I get to work with.

Click Right here.

Here are some pictures from the night.

Here is Trisha, Me, Anam and Lea.

Some of the journal girls. We have dubbed ourselves a sisterhood! All in good fun.

So, I never really answered why I been so stinking busy! Let's just say I am doing my friend Trisha's bidding *snicker*. First she gave me super secret project for a project she is doing. I know that is cryptic, but I'll drop the news when it comes out. Even though, I LOVE it, I'll jinx it if I tell you.

But here's what I can tell you. She sent me home with a whack load of projects to get ready for Scrapfest in Edmonton. Canada's Scrapbooking Crop for Kids has a booth going and we are gonna be doing some fun make n' takes, and we'll have some fun projects to check out. All designed by yours truly, with a little help my some friends. That stuff I'll post to lure you over there. Of course, if you are going to to Scrapfest, make sure to stop by and check us out!

To share with all of you!

Thought I'd share some roses with everyone! Thursday was friendship day and my friend Corine gave me these beautiful roses. I love the bright orange color and they opened up beautifully!

Shout out to her, she is the sweetest gal. Love her tons and so does my son!

Now off to the Red Deer farmers market to wander and buy Jake some mini doughnuts, our ritual.

Later!

Out of comission, and now I'm back.

I know it has been a while folks but I have been one sick bird! Went camping for August long weekend and ended up with some crazy infection. Fever. Chills. Pain. Oodles of pain!

I don't know what it has been about this year, but I have managed to be sick quite a bit. I don't know what it has been, but I managed to catch whatever little bug has been swirling around. I hear about a cold, I got it. The flu? Got a nasty one this year that ravaged its way through the entire household. Whatever you do, don't get that one.

This go around the doctor didn't find what was going on, despite the dreadful feeling of pain on my right side. Blood test, xrays and not a word. Must have been something viral. No matter, I bounced back and feel great now.

So, what is a poor girl to do? Well, she is gonna scrap. What did you think she was gonna toil away on heavy duty house cleaning? That would be too much like work! I did a bit of everything too.

I made a couple of cards......

patterned paper: (cream) Basic Grey - Scarlet Letter, (arrows and red pinwheels) Scenic Route - Laurel Transparency - Hambly Screen Prints Chipboard piece: Scenic Route - Laurel Silk Flower: Prima Marketing Jewelled Circle: Heidi Swapp

patterned paper: Basic Grey - Urban Couture Transparency: Hambly Screen Prints Chipboard Piece: Scenic Route - Laurel Glitter: Making Memories

I made a digi page with a picture I have been wanting to scrap for a while now.....

Photo editing Software: Adobe Photoshop CS2
Paper and Photo Frame: Color Your World by Rhonna Farrar (www.twopeasinabucket.com)
Flower Doodle: Douceur by AmelieScrap (www.www.blogduscrap.canalblog.com)
Seasons Measure: Beyond Measure by Kate Pertiet (www.designerdigitals.com)
Paint Splatter Brush: Spazzsplatter by Hawsmont (www.hawksmont.com)
Fonts: Porcelin and Everyday Ghost (http://www.dafont.com/)

And lastly, I did a page that incorporated some stamping.

Patterned Paper: (green and Brown criss cross) Basic Grey - Urban Couture, (red & pink tripe and pink & red pattern) Basic Grey - Blush (mint green criss cross and brown) Prima Marketing Romantica, (cream graph) Scenic Route - Laurel Transparency Overlays and swirl Rubons: Hambly Screen Prints Distress Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Ranger) Chipboard Letters and Ghost Heart: Heidi Swapp Red Foil: Stix2

Now, this last one is special. First and most importantly is the story. It is about the last time I saw my grandmother before she passed away. She was suffereing from dimentia in her last days, which was hard to know, but the very last time I saw her, her mind was clear and I am thankful for that. And I had this story written for a while now, it was just a matter of time before I put it onto a page.

And it is also one that I am going to put in for a shot at the design team for the new company October Afternoon. I have been looking at their line that released at Summer CHA and I really like it. It fits my shabby side, it looks pretty darn versatile for both boys and girls (as some may know I live in a house filled with testosterone!) and those darn stamps and rub ons look darn cute!

So for this page, I did some stamping. Can you tell? In case you are stumped, it is the flowers underneath my Grandma's picture. I stamped my image on some cream cardstock and colored them in with watercolor pencil. I then cut around the image and adhered them to a piece of patterned paper. Lastly, I trimmed the edges of the stamped images and placed it on my page. My end result looks like a dimensional piece of custom patterned paper. Loved the end result!

So until next time. Take care!