Scrappin' Sistah

Oh Willard...

2011-12-16T21:58:00.005-05:00

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I love Willard, he is so so cute! The Stamp is by Kraftin' Kimmie. Isn't he just adorable?

This week Kimmie had a sketch challenge on her blog.

Here is my card featuring, yep you guessed it....Willard!

The paper I used for this card is Close to my Heart Aspen. The accent colors are Creme Brulee, Outdoor Denim, and Twilight. I used spellbinders for the die cuts that Willard is on. I did the bottom one in Outdoor denim and the plain circle in creme brulee. I then added jewels to all the tabs coming from the spellbinder cutout.

For an added season touch, I added a bit of sparkly felt behind Willard so that he would like he is standing in snow.

The image is colored with Copic Markers.

Shoes: E25
Pants: BG72, BG75
Shirt: YG95, BG72, BG75
Hat: YG93, YG95
Hair: E25, E57
Face: E00, E11
Mug: C1, C3, E55
Scarf: BG72, BG75, R46, YG95
Mittens: R27, R46

Happy Holidays!

It's like....

2011-11-08T20:47:00.006-05:00

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Christmas in a cup! I had my first Peppermint Mocha last night and it was so good!!! I love the snow and the cold weather of winter. I love the cool sensation you get after a sip of the hot drink!

Right now I am watching one of our MANY Christmas movies, The Christmas Cottage. This card reminds me so much of the movie. Just the idea of a house/cottage/home filled with friends, family and loved ones for the holidays is amazing.

Here is the closeup of the house. The image has been colored with copic markers. The snow is made with liquid applique with a bit of glitter added before it was heated.

Hope you enjoy!

Back again!

2011-09-02T18:34:00.005-04:00

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Woo Hoo....

I can't believe how fast the summer has flown by this year. I am excited for fall though and the colour changes. It is by far my favorite time of year, not to mention thanksgiving....pumpkin pie....and that's all I am saying...LOL

So fall themed cards here I go:

Here is what I used:
Stamp: House Mouse "mice landing"
Copics: Leaves (YR12, YR14, YR21), Mouse (E30, E31, E33)
Blue chalk for the sky

Enjoy!

What a day!

2011-02-20T20:29:00.006-05:00

This day started out normal enough in my house. We moved out all my furniture so that my dad could paint my room. Afterwards my sister and I went to the movies to go see I am number four. It was really good, the type of movie I enjoy ;).

After the movies we stopped at our local Metro store to pick up some bean sprouts and bok choi for dinner when.....we saw one of the metro employees get his foot run over. It was shocking! It's like in the movies when everything slows down and as much as you want to stop what is happening you can't. I still can't even believe it! The boy ended up having to go to the hospital. I just hope that he is ok.

On a better note here is a card I made yesterday while my friend Krystal was over scrapbooking with me.

The cardstock and paper (notebook line) is by Close to my Heart. I used my plain ribbon I had in my stash. The image is Stamping Bella's babycarriageabella. I used copic markers to colour here, and shaded with blue pencil crayon. The accents on the side are also from Stamping Bella.

Here are the copic colours I used.

Bella: E00, E35, R85, R83, C00, C1
Baby Carriage: R81, R83, C1, C3, YG11, B0000, B00
Shading underneath: W00. W1, W2, W3

So of course here is the closeup of the image!

Enjoy.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T20:02:00.000-05:00

Hey Everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you all had an amazing day!

Here is the little goodie I made for some of the people I work with.

The heart bag, is made using my Cricut, the cartridge is Bags, Tags, Boxes and more! The best investment I have made on a cartridge!!! I filled the inside using smarties, cinnamon hearts and few jelly beans. They came out so well!!

Hope you enjoy!

It's a hair kinda day....

2011-02-10T20:58:00.003-05:00

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I was feeling kinda down today, needed a change, so what did I do?

I got my hair cut! YAY, didn't like how my hairdresser did it so I might take some pictures tomorrow after I have tried styling it myself. Now on to the card!

This is my card for Faith's challenge. You can find her challenges and stamps at Designed2Delight Digital Stamps. The stamp I used is "big heart". It is so cute!

Here is my close up. I colour the image with copics and shaded with aquamarine.

Enjoy!

Baby Card

2011-02-05T10:35:00.006-05:00

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Good Morning All!!

Today is a great day, getting everything done early so that I can do some card making with my friends this afternoon. Beds are made, laundry is almost done, I even got to watch the episode of Off the Map that I missed this week.

My mom had a baby shower to attend yesterday so I made her a special card to take with her. I had an old paper pack of muted papers with the old alice in wonderland characters on it that i decided to use. I tried one set of papers before I decided on these. I think they work so well together.

The stamp I used is from Stamping Bella. The stamps are the Ketto Line, specifically the baby lingerie and the clothesline. I think they worked out really well for this card.

Here is the close up of the image.

I used copic markers to colour the main image and shaded with chalks and blue pencil crayon with goo gone.

Here are the copics I used:

R32, RV34, YG93, YG95, W1, E31, E34.

Hope you enjoy!

Snow Day

2011-02-02T13:54:00.004-05:00

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Oh, what a day. It is snowing here like crazy in southern ontario.

Here is one of our friends out in the backyard that visited us for peanuts during this storm. He is so cute!

Here is my card for Faith's challenge. You can find all her digital stamps at Designed2Delight Digital Stamps. The image is called "for the birds snowman". I love the detail she puts into her images.

I only did some light colouring on this image because it worked well with the muted colours in the Close to My Heart paper.

Here is the close up of the image.

enjoy!

Happy Friday!!!

2011-01-27T21:31:00.004-05:00

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...well tomorrow that is.

Here is another card I made.

The image is created by Faith. She does terrific work. You can find her here, she also has a fanatic store were you can purchase her digital stamps!!!

Now, I am going to be totally honest here. I found this the most challenging image to create something with. Now that is only because I am in such a valentine's mood. I made it through though and made a really awesome card.

Hope you enjoy!

For this card I used Close to my Heart paper. I printed the image on Bella's bestest paper and coloured the image with copic markers, and shaded with pencil crayons. I used CTMH rubons for the love in the bottom right hand corner. I also added a bit of bling in the top right hand corner.

Enjoy!

It's snowing

2011-01-20T21:49:00.005-05:00

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Hey ladies,

I am so toasty warm today inside watching the snow falling down. I worked on another card this afternoon using one of Faith's Digital Stamps. You can find them here: Designed2Delight Digital Stamps

Here stamp is called "Love you cupcake". SO cute!

I used copic markers to colour the image and used blue pencil crayon and goo gone to shade the back ground. The paper is Close to my Heart.

Here are the colours I used:

Cupcake bottom: E31
Cupcake top: R20, R21
Heart candies: YG03, R24

I used stickles to add the bling!

Well I hope you are all toasty warm inside too!!

Hope you enjoy the card.

hello all!!

2011-01-16T22:12:00.007-05:00

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I was working late all week so I didn't get to post. But I will make up for it.

On Saturday my friend Carol hosted a crop. It was great!! It was supposed to run from 1pm-9pm....we were there until 12:30ish. Carol, Marg, and myself closed the joint down. LOL. I did get lots of Valentine's cards done. Here are a few:

For these cards I used older paper by Close to my Heart that I had in my stash.

The stamps are my Inkadinkado, Animal Hearts. I had fun adding bling and ribbon to these.

Well, I hope that you enjoy these cards as much as I did making them.

Now off to bed for me as I have to get up early tomorrow for work!

Enjoy.

Love Ewe....

2011-01-10T21:45:00.004-05:00

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Good Evening!

I came across this awesome site Designed2Delight Digital Stamps The creator Faith is awesome! Every week she has a free digital stamp that you can save and create something with it. You can then post it to her site and she will email you the next stamp! SO COOL!!!

Here is my creating using her wonderful stamp...

I used Close to my Heart paper, rub-ons, and ink. I used C1 and C4 copics to colour the lambs legs. I shaded the image with pencil crayons and goo gone. I added some jewels to the right of the image for a bit of bling.

This has got to be one of my favorite stamps so far for Valentine's Day.

Please be sure to visit Faith's site.

Enjoy!!

Saturday Night...Sunday Morning

2011-01-09T00:14:00.005-05:00

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Good Morning everyone...it is now Sunday Morning. I am having a late night today because I am working away in my studio preparing for the 15th in which my friend carol and I are having a ten hour crop!! YAY very excited. I am also adding to my stash of cards, very low on thank you cards.

My family and I went to the movies last night (saturday) to see The Fighter with Mark Wahlberg. Yummy! I love him as an actor, Amy Adams and Christian Bale were amazing too.

I recommend this movie to anyone who loves an underdog or a very inspiring movie. It is based on the life of boxer "Irish" Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), his older half brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale). It takes place before he went pro in the mid 1980's. The coolest part was during the credits. They have both Micky and Dicky sitting down together talking to the audience. It was really neat!!

Ok so enough about the movie, on to my card for the day!!!

I am working on some valentines too to take to work here is one design I Scraplifted and changed up a bit that I saw in a magazine.

I used Bella Blvd. - December Details - Sugar Plums paper, so extra cardstock I had. The ink I used is Close to My Heart Cranberry. The stamps are Gelatins (Hearts a Flutter) and Inkadinkado (An affair of the heart).

Hope you enjoy!!

Alexis

A new year

2011-01-03T19:53:00.004-05:00

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I made this card on Saturday night while I was at my friend Veronica's house scrapbooking. I really enjoyed colouring this image.

On this card I used Basic Grey paper - Eva - Versailles, as well as some pink and brown cardstock. The image is magnolia's Fairytale Tilda. I coloured the image using Copic markers and did the shading using my pencil crayons and goo gone.

You can see the colours I used on the close-up image:

Skin: E00, E93
Hair: E55, E25
Dress: R20, R21
Frog: G21
Crown: Y15
Flowers in Hair: R21, G21
Flowers at Bottom: R59

Enjoy!!

Happy New Year...

2010-12-31T15:45:00.004-05:00

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It is that time of year again where we look back at the past 12 months. Our triumphs, challenges, the happiness and sadness of the year.

Here is a card that I worked on for Valentine's Day. I know, early right! LOL

I used some pink cardstock for the background. I used patterned paper from Bella Blvd's, December Details, Sugar plum line. The image is Stamping Bella's perk me up daisy outline.

I coloured the image using pencil crayons and blended using Goo Gone. For a bit of bling I added some Stickles (star dust). I also added a bit of very thin green and brown ribbon.

So...

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

Cheers ;)

Stylish Blogger Award

2010-12-28T23:41:00.006-05:00

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Hi everyone!

I received this wonderful award today from Kari at Pigtail1's Paper Patch. It was a complete surprise! and many thanks! I never thought people other than my friends were reading my blog and it is nice to hear from people that they like what I do. So thanks again Kari!!

So here is the deal with the award:

After receiving this award I link it back to the person who sent it to me, then I list 8 facts/statements about myself, and finally I pass it on to blogs I have discovered recently!!

So here I go:
1. My most creative time is very late at night or very early in the morning depending on the way you look at it :)
2. I bought a new car in March and drive it as much as I can!
3. I am from CANADA!!
4. I am a consultant for Close to my Heart.
5. My favorite entertainer is Anita Renfroe. I have now seen her twice!! She does an amazing parody of Beyonce's "All the Single Ladies", she calls it "All the Wrinkled Ladies"!! Check it out on YouTube!
6. I am a GLEEK, are you?
7. I am supposed to wear my glasses, but don't.
8. My favorite stamp is my Sticky Boy. He is the prototype for Close to My Heart's acrylix stamps. He is only availabe to consultants at Convention, the catch is you have to find him as he is hidden all over by the corporate staffers.

Now to pass on the award:

Tina at Scrapdiva Tina

She does some amazing work! Check out her blog!

Cheers!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-24T16:15:00.006-05:00

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So the day has finally arrived. Been a bit busy getting ready for the holidays, pretty crazy here getting ready for 3 cookie exchanges, family visits and such. I am enjoying the time with family and friends.

My mom decorated the outside of our house before the snow fell. Here are some pictures.

This is the urn she designed....isn't it pretty!!!

and the fake cat with his festive hat!!!

I love him. We have all kinds of hats for the holidays for him. We have bunny ears for easter, a green hat for St. Patrick's day....

When I get home I have to wrap the last of my presents. Hope your holidays are filled with friends, family and good cheer!!

All the best,
Alexis

December....snow...what else is there?

2010-11-30T14:44:00.005-05:00

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Instead of waking up to snow this morning, it was all rainy. I really didn't want to get up and go into work, one of those lazy days! Outta the house at 7:30am though and off to the train.

On Saturday my friend Carol and I attended the Stamp until you cramp at Stamping Bella's. It was great! I got to see Laura and Kelly and we had a FABULOUS time together. I also got a lot of my Christmas cards done. One of the ladies at work had asked for some cards with Penny Black's hedgehog on them and I was very excited to make them for her. I love her stamps!! Finishing touches go on them tonight and will post some pictures of them tomorrow.

One of the other cards I created is this one:

The image is from Stamping Bella, Not Even a Mouse by Mo Manning. I fell in love with this stamp as soon as I saw it. I even had the best paper to go with it. I had taken a class at The Workshop about two weeks ago and I had some left over paper with the plaid on it. It worked out perfectly. I added some brown ribbon and an ringed edge that was punched out using a Martha Stewart punch. I also included three gold baubles to the bottom right hand corner.

Here is a close up of the mouse in her cup. So adorable. I colored the image using copic markers.

Here are the colors I used:
For the mouse: C00, C1, R11
Blanket: B000, C00
Letter: E00
Cheese: Y11
Stocking: E55
Cup and Saucer: G95, G99, R29

For all the shading around the image on on the cup and saucer I used a dark gray and medium gray with Goo Gone.

Just an update on my dad's mom, tumor is back and she goes for surgery tomorrow, all fingers are crossed!!

Cheers!
Hope you enjoy!

food for thought

2010-11-22T22:50:00.002-05:00

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It is interesting how life can take such quick curves when you aren't looking. At the house were I grew up we had a neighbour, Hazel. She saw both my sister and I born, and watched as we grew up. After my grandmother passed now 15 years ago, she became almost a surrogate grandmother for both me and my sister. And a mom for my dad, even to this day he calls her mom. She's sick again and it scares me. It is like watching what happened to my grandma all over again. So this is my therapy...writing and making cards because right now I am hoping she gets better....

Thinking of you...

2010-10-25T21:26:00.001-04:00

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One of the girls at work just lost her grandmother. So I created this card for her.

I created this card using some scraps from my Close to My Heart papers.

The stamp is also from Close to my Heart. The inks I used are bamboo, desert sand, and black.

Enjoy!

Happy Anniversary!

2010-10-21T09:48:00.005-04:00

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It was my parent's anniversary on Saturday. 28 years together!

I found the best stamp to use on their card. You can find it at Stamping Bella. It is designed by Mo Manning, who creates the most amazing images. This stamp is called Young Love.
Here is the card I created:

I coloured the image with Copic Markers! I will amend this post later with the exact colours I used.

I used a Martha Stewart punch for the lacy purple paper, some beige ribbon and three clear jewels.

Here the up close image of the stamp.

The couple is just so cute!! Did you notice the two little birds behind them on the bench!!

Enjoy!!

A somber event....

2010-09-27T22:32:00.007-04:00

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This weekend I attended the third annual butterfly release at Fairy Lake to commemerate the passing of loved ones. Our next door neighbour lost his mom so we attended along with other family and friends to remember her with him.

Here is our neighbours with their butterflies. They were packaged in little white triangular boxes. They had to pull off the elastic that held it together and then open the box to release the butterfly. They had to aclimatize first before they took off.

Here are all three butterflies getting ready to take off. They were truly spectacular. All the butterflies that were released were all monarchs.

A close up of one of them.
All of them were so vibrant.

The weather also held out so that all the butterflies could fly away.

Here is a special moment I caught of Richard with his butterfly. He talked to it very quietly before it flew away. I really love this shot and was so glad I got it.

A little pick me up!

2010-09-27T22:30:00.002-04:00

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Have been having a horrible week. When they say bad things come in three's they sure do mean it. So I thought I would do a card.

Here is what I created using some left over Basic Grey paper I had in my stash.

I used the House Mouse image and colored it with copics. The shading is done with a blue prismacolor pencil using goo gone.

Hope you enjoy.

94 days till Christmas...

2010-09-21T13:41:00.004-04:00

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...are you ready? I'm not. So I thought I would get a jump on my Christmas cards early this year. Here is one I made on Saturday at our little crop that Carol hosted. Carol was there, Connie stopped by, there was Jennifer, myself and Lisa came by as well. It was a great day.

Here is the close up of the Santa. I fell in love with him as soon as I saw the Close to my Heart catalogue. I have always like the vintage images. It is on page 44 of the Fall/Winter 2010 catalogue and is called "Father Christmas".

The image is coloured with copic markers. I used: E00, E11 and R11 for his face. I used a bit of W0 for his beard to make it pop. The berries are coloured with R27. His suit is coloured with W4 as the base and then with R27 over top. On the holly leaves I used YG93 and YG95. Then I used my gold gel pen to add a little sparkle.

Around the image I used brown prisma colour pencil with Goo Gone to create the shading.

Enjoy!

Wishing for some good weather....

2010-07-23T17:05:00.002-04:00

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I woke up to torrential rain this morning. I definately wasn't looking forward to leaving for work. So here's a card to make you smile.

The image is from Stamping Bella's Hugabug line. Isn't she cute. I love that it is raining hearts. This was just a very easy card to create. Very simple.

enjoy.

Convention 2010, Last Day

2010-07-19T13:54:00.003-04:00

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Hello again from Washington.

Today is the last day of convention. Very sad :(

Our general session started with Jeanette answering questions that were sent in by consultants from all over. This was really heartfelt and informative.

We also got to find out that our next convention will be in California in DisneyLand. Woo Hoo!! Everyone was so excited.

After our general session we started with our make and takes. We made two layouts using the new papers, stamps, and inks.

They are truly amazing.

After this we had our business classes. Another amazing day.

In the evening we had our Dinner where we recieved our specially made convetion stamps. I also found a STICKY BOY!! My first!! I was very excited.

Convention 2010, Day 2

2010-07-09T21:54:00.002-04:00

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So the sun rises and brings with it another convention day filled with paper, ink, and lots and lots of embellishments.

Today started again with General Session, and our keynote speaker was Mary Christensen, a motivational speaker. She is the author of "how to be a network marketing superstar". This woman was great. She was funny, entertaining, and engaging. She kept us really entertained.

After lunch we had two business classes and then our make and takes.

We completed four cards for our make and takes, using the new stamps and embellishments. They were SO cool.

After we were done we went out for dinner and dessert. We had a great time. I even got to go into the Peeps store!!! I have never seen one before! Not that I actually eat the things, mind you, my sister and I have a ritual of microwaving them. SO FUNNY!!! you should definately try it. We are usually in stitches for hours when we do this.

Well that's all for now, going to bed. :)

Convention 2010, Day 1

2010-07-09T21:44:00.002-04:00

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Hoorah!!!

It's hear! The official first day of convention.

General session started at 9am, but we did breakfast of course first and some card swapping. Got lots of neat cards from consultants I had never met before. This is a really great networking time, plus you get all this inspiration.

At General session we got to see all the new product that Close to My Heart is releasing in the new catalogue. The biggest change is that we are going from three catalogues a year down to two. But don't fret, these two catalogues are going to have 24 more pages each. YA! We also got introduced to 8 new colours in the spring colours. They are amazing. We also got new papers, stamps, and embellishments.

After general session we did lunch, then were off to Extravaganza.

Here we went to 8 different stops and sat and listened to all the different classes from boutique chic to glittering. It was fantastic. After each session we handed in a ticket and got a new product from the catalogue. After 8 all sessions we had: 3 new stamp sets, the opaques, flip flaps, the new inks, metal accents, and clear cards. WOW!! These are going to be used in our make and takes on Friday.

Pretty good day!

Museums and Memorials...

2010-07-07T15:37:00.002-04:00

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Today Gail and I went to the Smithsonian Museum, specifically the Museum of American Hisotry and we also visited the Holocaust Museum.

Our trip started at 9:30 where we met up with Liz, another CTMH consultant we met on this trip. We took OnBoard tours down to the Old Post Office. We decided to do the Tower Tour. This is where you go into the Old Post Office and travel all the way up the tower. You can then look out across DC to see all the sites. In the back drop you could see the Cathedrals, the national monuments, and the White House. It was pretty high up and I got a bit queasy.

On the way down we stopped where the housed the bells. Got a really good picture. Then on to the bottom of the building. We looked in the shops and got some really good postcards of washington.

Next we headed over to the Museum of American Hisotry. We got to see Julia Child's kitchen. This was one thing I really wanted to see especially after having seen the movie Julie and Julia. I had so much fun...Bon Appetit!! LOL. I also got to see the Holidays on Display, Pop culture items, and the First ladies dresses. In the pop culture section I saw KERMIT the frog, Judy Garland's ruby slippers, Archie Bunkers chair....it was pretty cool.

After we had visited the gift shop Gail and I headed out to the Holocaust Museum. When we arrived we went and looked at Daniel's Story. It took you through the changes that Daniel experienced with his family. Very sad. We were lucky that we booked tickets to the permanent exhibit....I am very glad that we did as it was amazing and sad all at the same time. The entire time you walked through the exhibit there wasn't a word uttered. It was completely silent, very respectful. Some of the images were a little hard to digest, but it really made you think. I would definately recommend that if you are travelling to washington, you make this a stop. I was practically in tears by the end of it. The sadest part was the children's section. I had to walk by that, there were pictures on the wall and toys....

While in the gift shop they had this really interesting poster, it said:
THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW
- the next time you witness hatred
- the next time you see injustice
- the next time you hear about genocide

We ended up getting back to the hotel about 3:30pm.

Gail and I then headed back to the room and then out to register for convention.

Night tour of DC

2010-07-07T07:53:00.003-04:00

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WOW!! Last night we boarded the OnBoard Tour bus with all kinds of CTMH ladies. Gail, Carol and myself had signed up for DC the Lights tour. This tour took us to the US Capitol Building, Iwo Jima Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, The White House, Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, World War II Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial. The only one we didn't get to see was the the Old Post Office.

Our driver and tour guide were amazing. Our first stop was teh Iwo Jima Memorial. It was a really good day to do this tour because on Tuesdays, they have a practice with the guns and the band infront of the memorial.....all those guys in uniform. It was spectacular. It's amazing the control they have when throwing the guns and flipping them. If I ever tried it you can bet your booties mine would be on the ground on the first flip.

We stopped next at Korean War Memorial. We learned that the statues are covered in this special paint so that at night when the special lights are on they look like ghosts. On the wall there are faces of people who have perished. The tour guide even had one lady who saw her father's face in the wall. After you pass by the statues and the wall you come to a little fountain, and on the wall is the quote "freedom is not free". This was truly awe inspiring.

Next we stopped at Lincoln Memorial. Can I just say he is HUGE!!! Makes me feel so small! Underneath the statue there is a little museum about Abe with quotes and such. Then you can go up on this elevator to get to the statue. The view looking out is great. It was dusk by the time we got here, so it was even better. On a side note though....We saw the biggest nasty RAT at the memorial. We were all totally grossed out practically running away from it when we noticed it, however, one girl (as a true scrapbooker would) went to find it to take a picture. Truly Brave!!

Next stop....Vietnam War Memorial. There were supposed to be three parts to this memorial however they were restoring one, so we only got to see the nurse's statue and the wall with the names. I can't believe how many names are on that wall. The memorial is made up of two walls that make a "V" for Vietnam. The nurse's status was really neat, and it's nice that they recognized the work that they do. The tour guide had informed us that there were a lot less casualities because of the work that these women had done.

YAY!!! Obama....too bad I didn't actually get to see him, however we got to visit the white house. I even saw the guys who patrolled the top of the building. It was pretty cool. We walked around part of the building before we got to the front. It was neat to see it at night with all the lights, and the fountain lit up. The other neat thing is I got to see the Secret Service Police car. The lady driving it was pretty cool when I asked if I could take a picture.

On to the World War 2 memorial. In the centre of this memorial there are fountains and all around are pilars with states names and wreaths on them. On one side there is a wall with approximately 4,000 gold stars....and one little duck....LOL. I didn't think it was real, but it was!!! I chuckled about that.

.....and last but not least the US capitol building. Again the lights on the building were pretty cool.

All in all it was a pretty good tour, a little dark and gross outside because it was still about 80F with NO wind, but it was a great experience, and I would recommend this to anyone who comes down.

Until later today...

Official Day 1 in Washington, D.C.

2010-07-06T15:41:00.002-04:00

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Hiya Ladies,

Today is my official first day in Washington. We left yesterday morning about 7 am from Newmarket, Ontario. It was Carol, Gail and myself in the car along with our luggage, and scrapbooking supplies. We arrived in Washington about 8pm. It was a pretty long drive with a few pit stops along the way. All in all it was a good trip, even managed to grab a nap.

We did hit a few snags with the directions and got a bit lost, but everything turned out ok. We got a pretty good room at the Gaylord National Hotel. We can see some of the river to the right of our window, and the views from the inside of the hotel of the Potomac River are specatular!!!

So, now back to today. we got up pretty early had the oil changed in the car (wanted to make sure that we would be able to make it back home as it had gone down quite a bit because of the heat and the long drive). Then we headed to Mount Vernon. This was really cool. We got to see where George Washington lived and died. The building itself is now owned by "The Ladies", a group of women that bought it in the 1800's for $200,000. This included all the buildings and the approx. 300 acres of land. Pretty neat, eh? I thought so.

We took the tour of the house, saw where the servants of the guests stayed, where family and visitors stayed, and the kitchens. We also got to see all the out buildings, and the tomb of Washington and Martha, and their other family members. I believe the tour guide said that there were about 25 other family members buried there.

We got to see where the slaves were buried and where the farming was done. It was a terrific experience. We also did the museum where the took you through his life, and his military carrier, and what happened in his life. We also got to see this really neat movie about some of his battles. The chairs even moved, and we got snowed on too!!! LOL. Not real snow, but soap bubbles of some sort. Now ask me how I found out they were soap bubbles, well of course I looked up. Please DO NOT look up if you go. I got it in the eye. Not such a happy camper. Luckily all was good.

So tomorrow, I believe Gail and I are going to the Holocaust Museum, and to see Julia Child's Kitchen (my idea). I wanted to see this kitchen after that movie....Julie & Julia, which by the way I LOVE!!!

Well catch up tomorrow.

Post pictures when I get home as I can't on the computer I am at!

Cheers.

another week....another card

2010-06-15T08:24:00.004-04:00

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Good Morning!!

Here's a really cute card for your Tuesday morning.

The image is Whiff of Joy. The stamp is called Dancing Willow.

The sentiment "Happy Birthday" is from Stamping Bella.

I used copic markers to colour the image. I used: R11, R20, and R21 for her dress. For her skin I used E00. For her hair I used E11, E31 and E35. I used the perfect pearls to add a bit of sparkle to her necklace.

Enjoy.

it's finally here......

2010-06-04T17:47:00.006-04:00

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Hello, everyone.....it's SATURDAY!!!!

Just because it's Saturday it makes me want to smile. I am very excited for the weekend, except for the rain. So, in honour of the rain I thought I would share with you a card I created just for this occasion.

I found this stamp at my local Michael's and instantly fell in love with it. Don't you just love it too??? Let me know. Post a comment. Do you have your own boots, too?

The image is stamped on Stamping Bella's bestest paper with Momento ink.

The boots were coloured with Copic markers.

I also added some clouds using chalks, a light blue and a bit of grey to add some depth.

Enjoy, and I hope you have a great weekend too!!!

CROPTOPIA 2010

2010-06-03T09:46:00.013-04:00

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Hiya!

I am still recovering from Croptopia this past weekend. I had an amazing time. This crop was held at Camp Iawah in Godfrey, Ontario. This camp is beautiful. The really neat thing about this place is that it is always full of dragonflies when we come. It's specatular. Here are all the ladies. There were over 90 of us in attendance.

Here are my cropping buddies:

There is Clare, Veronica, Me and Rose, in our matching PJ's. We wore them Saturday night.

We had so much fun at this event. I took Friday off of work and spent the night at veronica's. Rose came Friday morning at 4am. Veronica (the master packer) was able to get all of our supplies into the car in twenty minutes. I think this was the fastest time so far.

We had a good trip out to the camp. Sadly, we were unable to pick lilacs this year as they were already past their blooming stage. We took a nap in the parking lot of a Tim Hortons as we were all pretty tired....not me though, I got a good nap on the way down. Thanks again Vern for driving.

We got to Iawah about 9ish. We got signed in and our stuff emptied out of the car. Then we got down to work. I got quite a few cards done. Here is one.

This is a new Stamping Bella stamp. It is part of the LULU collection. it is called LULU's wedding cake. I love how fanciful it looks on the card.

Here is the close up of the cake.

I chalked around the image with a rose colored chalk. Under the cake I used a bit of grey for the shadowing. On the cake itself I used copic markers, specifically: R81, R83, R85, YG23, R20 and R21. I used perfect pearls on the cake to add a bit of sparkle. I love how this card turned out.

I ended up staying up until 1:30 on Friday night, just working away. I was one of the last people to leave.

I was up again Saturday morning for breakfast about 7:30am, then back to scrapbooking. We didn't stay up too late on Saturday as I was pretty tired.

On the way to the rooms Saturday night Veronica and I saw this beautiful sunset. The picture doesn't do it justice.

We were up again Sunday morning for breakfast at 8:30am. We scrabooked until about noon. After lunch we were on our way home.

Here is another neat thing we saw on Sunday. It had attached itself to the netting at the doors. It's a moth. VERY NEAT!!

Well hoped you enjoyed.

A disasterous long weekend

2010-05-23T09:45:00.000-04:00

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Well the last few days have been interesting to say the least. I was supposed to go up and visit my sister at school in Waterloo this weekend, however, my body had a different idea. I ended up staying home from work on Thursday due to a very sore throat. I woke up Friday morning and it was worse so I ended up going to the walk in clinic. I was in and out within the hour which was fantastic, but the prognosis was strep throat. By Friday night, it was terrible. I ended up having to go to the emergency room as my glands in the back of my throat were so swollen I was having problems swallowing. The staff at the hospital were amazing. My doctor was great too. After looking at me and taking a throat swab, he thought I might have mono. I was not looking forward to that!! Luckily, that test came back negative. YAY!! So with some medication I was outta the hospital, feeling much better. I had a very relaxing rest of the long weekend.

april showers bring may flowers

2010-05-17T20:52:00.004-04:00

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I love The Greeting Farm stamps. Their images are so cute.

Here is their little gardener.

Here is the close up of the image. I coloured her with copic markers. I chalked around the image.

The fence is a punch by Martha Stewart.

oh rainy day.....

2010-05-12T10:09:00.004-04:00

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It is absolutely awful outside today....so I thought a card would make it better.

Here is the close up of the Bella. She was stamped with Momento ink on Bella's Bestest paper. I coloured her with Copic markers, and chalked around the image.

~enjoy~

I'm a total Klutz...

2010-05-09T23:43:00.003-04:00

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This weekend started out pretty great. Got some cards done friday night, got to sleep in Saturday morning. Then.....I walked down the stairs....

That's right, I totally fell down the stairs. I even managed to wake everyone up. Not the most pleasant way to wake someone up. Luckily I walked away with some really awful bruising, a sore little toe and a very sore back.

Now, to the good stuff. I got this stamp when I was in Kitchener. She is a Greeting Farm. Her name is Cheeky Glamour.

I used some scrap black and white paper I had in my bin. I think it is Basic Grey. I colored her using copics.

well, hope you like her.

enjoy!!

so many cards....so little time....

2010-04-27T17:26:00.008-04:00

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Hi Everyone!!!

It has been WAY too long since I last posted.....

Here's the low down on what has happened since...oh WOW...I didn't think it was that long....March 1, 2010.

I have been very bad with not keeping this up to date.

So here goes....

I bought a new car. YAY. A little dark silver Nissan Versa Hatchback. I LOVE it. It's so cute.

I went to The Workshop's weekend retreat from April 16-18, 2010 in Stratford. A little change from our usual Collingwood, however, it was a great new experience. My friend Carmen and I drove down together. We spent sometime in Stratford before starting to crop. We went to a little burger and fry place on the main street called Boomers. It's really great. Burgers are good, and the BESTEST thing: if they don't make it there they get it locally. YAY. love the local support.

Here is where we cropped. It was in the Guthrie Room in the Hotel. There were about 50 ladies that attended the event. I cropped with some of my SISTAH's, Carmen, Carol, Elaine, Carrie, and Sharrie.

Here is my desk. Do you think I could get any more on it.....hahahahaha I had a huge laugh looking at this picture after....can you see it? what i was laughing at.....my Timmie's coffee. As any true Canadian can attest to, you day doesn't start with out that morning's timmies coffee.

We had a great time. We even went out to Scrapfest. It was such an amazing experience. For all those out there that couldn't make it....there's one coming to the toronto area. YAY!

Here is Carmen, Carol and myself, under the Scrapfest banner.

I am going to post some cards tonight....

STAY TUNED....

Proud to be Canadian...

2010-03-01T17:41:00.004-05:00

OUR COLORS MAY BE RED AND WHITE, BUT OUR HEARTS RUN PURE GOLD!!
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I love being a Canadian! With the end of the Olympic games and the amazing goal by Sidney Crosby yesterday in the hockey match, I was extremely proud of my country. We have so much talent here in Canada. It's great to see all areas come together to celebrate, the athletes, artists, builders, and the companies that donated their time and supplies, it goes to show you how we can come together.

Here is one of the cards I created on Saturday at the Diva Crop. The stamp is called Rabbits of the Round Table and is by House Mouse. As soon as I saw this stamp I fell in love with it. I coloured the image with copic markers.

Here is the close up of the bunnies.

been awhile

2010-02-28T11:56:00.003-05:00

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Wow, this last month has been very busy for me.

My friend Veronica hosted the Diva Crop yesterday. I had so much fun. I also got to visit with some friends that I haven't seen in awhile. Julie from Sassy Scrapping was there with her store. If you guys haven't checked out her site, it's great!!

I sat with Marg, Barb, Sue, Elaine, and Lisa. We had an absolutely fun time.

Now, here's a card to get you ready for St.Patrick's Day.

Enjoy

been away for awhile...

2010-01-14T11:49:00.002-05:00

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Hello Ladies,

Sorry I have been away from my blog lately. I have been studying for my paralegal licensing exam that I wrote yesterday. WHEW!! It’s over, now I have to wait for the results to see how I did.

Ok. So Close to my Heart is giving away a free Felicity Collection Kit every day for the month of January to celebrate National Papercrafting Month. Click HERE to access the blog. All you have to do is comment each day and you are entered. It’s that easy. Just don’t forget.

Also, we are hosting a Crop for Heart on Saturday, March 27, 2010 from 10am to 9pm. This will be hosted at St. Paul Catholic Elementary School in Newmarket. It's going to be so much fun. For more information you can either leave a message here and I will send you the flyer, or you can email Carol at ctaggio72@rogers.com

Cheers!

a new year, a new card

2010-01-05T22:24:00.002-05:00

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Hello Ladies,

Hello 2010!! Hope everyone had a great new year's.

I had a very interesting day today. While I was on lunch I was reading the paper. I came across the obituaries. On a whim I went through them. Wouldn't you know it...I found my dad's name!! Not just his first and last but the same middle name....it was disturbing....so of course I sent it to my mom. She certainly enjoyed it.

Well here's my card for today. Hope you like it!!!

and here is the close up of the little girl:

Enjoy

here's another bella...

2009-12-30T13:13:00.004-05:00

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I absolutely love the Lulu line by Stamping bella.

Here is one of the Lulu stamps:

and here is the upclose of the lulu's

Oh Bella...

2009-12-27T18:07:00.003-05:00

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Hi Guys!!

Hope you had a great holiday...

Here is a beautiful card I created using Stamping Bella's wildflower trio.... I just love this great flowers....Hope you do too!!

...and here is the upclose of the flowers:

enjoy!!!

The Holidays

2009-12-22T09:46:00.002-05:00

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Good Morning,

I haven't been on lately much as we are getting ready for Christmas at our house. We had two parties this past weekend and I had tons of fun. On friday night we had the guys and their partners over for drinks and finger foods. There was so much food. I had a great time. Saturday we had our old neighbours and my aunt and uncle over for dinner. We had Chicken piccata, scalloped potatoes, steamed carrots and for dessert blueberry white chocolate bread pudding with ameretto cream sauce. OMG!! it was so good. We gave everyone a cracker on their place settings. I got a golf counter, it was so funny. I didn't even know what it was, I had to read the instructions.

Well I am looking forward to seeing my family in the coming days!! I plan to post some cards tomorrow that I have done over the last week.

Well I hope you all have a great holidays!!!

marshmellows and penguins...

2009-12-15T21:34:00.004-05:00

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I found this new stamp company called Darcie's. They make the cutest penguin stamps.

I especially like their penguins in a cup of cocoa.

I used some leftover paper that I had in my stash. I coloured my image with copic markers. I added three Bella baubles under the sentiment. I finished the image with loose glitter. I think this image is so cute.

Here is the upclose of the image I used.

Doesn't it make you want a cup of cocoa?

until next time....

a pocket full of posies....

2009-12-14T22:03:00.005-05:00

Good evening ladies,

I got a new Lulu from Stamping Bella, her name is Bessie. She is adorable. Hope you like her.

For the card I used bits of Basic Grey papper I had lying around.I coloured Bessie with copic markers. I coloured the grass and the blue behind her with pencil crayons. I added some sparkle to the flowers using the gelly roll clear glitter pen. It is the best pen.

Here is her close up.

Isn't she cute.

another card....

2009-12-08T19:56:00.007-05:00

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Hi Sistahs!!

So last night I printed off my first digital image. I had never used one before. I LOVE them
!! I got mine from Alison. You can visit her website HERE. Every Wednesday she does a free release.

The card I made contained her princess image, she is kissing a frog. SHE IS SO CUTE!!!!

Here is the closeup of the princess:

I coloured her with copic markers and I used my glitter pen to accent the sleeves of her dress and her crown.

Here is a list of the colours I used. R81, R83, R85. E00, E000, YG23, Y11, Y13, Y15

I love this image. So cute!!

Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks again to Alison for the great digital image.

Bella's Blog Hop

2009-12-07T12:45:00.003-05:00

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Good Morning Ladies,

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone who visited my blog and commented on my card. THANK YOU!!!!

Hope you had fun with the blog hop on Saturday. There was a little mishap with the blogs, and I did seem to get skipped. However, some of you ladies did visit which was GREAT!!

Now if you missed it on Stamping Bella’s blog here are the winners:

OUR BLOG HOP PARTICIPANT WINNER (one who posted a card on their blog) of $100 in BELLA BUCKS is….
LISA HENKE! Lisa, please email me with your info and I will send you your voucher!

THREE RANDOM BLOG HOP COMMENTERS WHO WIN A $100 GC
(1) from Joannabella’s blog: LORI TECLER
(2) From Karen Motzabella’s blog: MICHELE BOYER
(3) From Danabella’s Blog: DENISE LAWRENCE

The GRAND PRIZE WINNAH of the ENTIRE new release and a GUEST BABE for JANUARY is…..drum roll please…….. JODI COLLINS! Congrats!!

Bella's Birthday Blog Hop

2009-12-05T10:02:00.001-05:00

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Welcome to the Bella Birthday Bash Blop Hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! If you've just happened upon my blog, you can CLICK HERE to start from the beginning at Bloggabella.

Otherwise, you should have just come from Erica’s Blog. YAY Erica!!! Hope you have enjoyed your trip so far, you are now at number 51!!!! That’s me….

This is the card I made for this hop. I used paper from Prima, their Urban Cosmos line. It is absolutely terrific. I used the Sistahoodabella stamp, very fitting for this challenge.

Here is the bella sentiment I chose to use on my card. Of course, it is meant for all you bella's out there that share this passion.

The colours I used on this card include: RV69, Y15, E74, B0000, W1, YG03, E39, YG23, Y11, RV95, G21, Y13, B93, RV93, YG25, RV34, YG93, E00, E44.

Here are the girls...all ready to go to Stamping Bella to shop....

Well I hoped you enjoyed this Blog Hop. REMEMBER TO LEAVE A COMMENT.

Three gift certificates for $100 in Bella Bucks will be hidden along the hop, but we’re not telling you where so be sure to leave some love as you hop!!! Make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! The winners will be announced on Monday, December 7 at the Stamping Bella Blog. MWAH!Thanks so much for stopping by!

Now it's time to hop on over to Monika!! YAY Monika!! Hoped you enjoyed your time with me.
Cheers to all those sistah’s out there!

On way to work

2009-12-04T11:42:00.002-05:00

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So I was having a pretty good morning today, got dressed but on my heeled boots. I felt great, that is until I did a face plant by the CIBC building.

Oh yeah! I was so embarrased. Luckily there weren't too many people around.

Well thought I would just update you because now, thinking back on it - Had I been a bystander I would have been laughing my butt off!!!

Hope this makes your crazy Friday better.

Cheers.

Lulu's and broken ribs...

2009-12-02T14:41:00.000-05:00

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Well, backdating a bit - this happened November 11.

I got home around my usual time from work to find my mom, extremely sore and puking. Well I was pretty frazzled...don't usually see my mom like that. From what she tells me she was cleaning out the vaccuum and popped a rib. Not sure what it is medically as she didn't go to the hospital but that is what she told me she did.

Well I got pretty freaked out, even called my dad home from work to try and convince her to get herself looked at. No go there. So instead we sat on the couch together and watched Bones and Glee. Great shows!!!!

Here is a new card!

The colours I used for this card include:

E00 - skin white
G24 - willow
R24 - Prawn
R27 - Cadmium Red
R29 - Lipstick Red

Anyways, here is my card:

And her closeup:

I got this Lulu stamp from Stamping Bella. This has to be one of my favorite lines now. Her "girls" are just so cute, that I want to take each one of them home. Which I can say I have almost all of them now.

Days with my Father

2009-12-02T14:33:00.002-05:00

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So I was visiting my friend Veronica's Blog and came across an old post about a son and his dad.

OMG!! It was so touching. Girls, if you look at this website make sure you have some kleenex. It is truly wonderful. I hope you enjoy it.

DAYS WITH MY FATHER

Let me know if you check it out.

Cheers.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-01T22:53:00.003-05:00

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So I am quite behind on my posting so I figured I would wow you with some cards I have done. I used one of the sugar plum stamps. Hope you enjoy.

This is a closeup of the card:

These are the colours I used:

Killing trees?!?!?!?

2009-11-16T17:11:00.002-05:00

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At work we received a achievement award about our use of paper. Then one of my co-workers said that we shouldn't have received the award with the amount of killing trees she did last week. I burst out laughing, and I wasn't because of what she said it was because of what my mother had me doing this weekend.

Yesterday, I was cleaning my scrap area, shuffing off all the old stuff and such. When my mom asked me to come with her to Walmart. I said sure as she had hurt herself last week and I didn't want her lifting anything heavy or pushing the cart.

So we did our shopping and loaded the trunk once we were done. As we were pulling out of the parking lot my told me that we were going for a drive. Well, I should have guess why she wanted me to come. You know when you have that little inkling that something isn't right.

Well doesn't my mom hand me the shears. She wanted me to cut some boughs for her baskets at home. So here I am at the side of the road trying to cut these thick branch while my mom is screaming "get in the car, get in the car!" She didn't want anyone to see us.

After I had got her her boughs we started home. I looked over to her and said, I felt like I was selling drugs and the cops were coming down on us.

It certainly was an interesting day.

Well I hope you enjoyed the craziness of my family.

Debbie Doncaster

2009-11-11T16:32:00.001-05:00

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This lady has now reached 200,000 visits in 17 months. Her work is truly amazing. Click HERE to visit her blog.

Hope you enjoy her work as it is truly awesome!!

She is also offering some Blog Candy to a luck winner.

Here is what she is giving away.

Noah Biorkman

2009-11-11T15:39:00.003-05:00

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Hi Guys,
Me again!

I came across a post in the Splitcoast Stamping forum about a little boy who is very sick with cancer. You can check out the article on him HERE. It is very sad. Everyone is sending him cards for the season. If you want to send him one too, you can send it to:

Noah Biorkman
1141 Fountain View Circle
South Lyon, MI, 48178

This is a very moving story. I am sending mine tonight.

Remembrance Day

2009-11-11T15:32:00.002-05:00

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In Flander's Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flander's fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, tho poppies grow
In Flander's fields.

Liet. -Col. John McCrae

got the image from: http://steeb.wordpress.com/2008/11/

Secret Sister's Crop Day

2009-11-09T22:44:00.005-05:00

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Hi Ladies,

It's me again. So yesterday the girls got together for a little crop. We also had vendors in for Close to my Heart and Pampered Chef. We also had two jewelry vendors in. I got to see Katie and her mom again, which was great.

I also worked on some cards. I love House Mouse stamps. They are the cutest little mice ever.

I used the Bella paper by Close to my Heart. I coloured the image with my copic markers.

I got this stamp at Scrapping Turtle in St.Jacobs.

Here is my card.

Enjoy.

Scraps, Scraps and more scraps....

2009-11-07T21:50:00.002-05:00

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So I decided today that I would make a card entirely of scraps I had in my scrap box. This was a huge challenge for me as I haven't been into this box in about 3 years. It contains all kinds of bits of patterned paper and cardstock.

I decided that I would find a sketch from the Splitcoast Stampers website. I decided to do their newest posting from November 4, 2009. This is what they posted.

This was certainly different for me. So I pulled out some paper and decided to use one of my Close to my Heart stamp sets. I used "Reach for the Stars". It is a great little stamp set for those of us aiming for the stars and beyond.

The copic colours I used in this card are as follows:

BG05 - Holiday Blue
YG23 - New Leaf
RV69 - Peony

It turned out awesome. Here is my card. I changed the landscape of the sketch.

Here is the close-up of my card.

I also accented the spaceship with glitter.

Blog Candy from Jacque's Joie de Vivre

2009-11-06T10:45:00.003-05:00

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Hi Guys!!

It's me again!! WOW two posts in one day.

Just wanted to post a link to Jacque's Joie de Vivre blog. She is offering some great blog candy for her six month blogging anniversary!!

Enjoy.
Muah

OVO - Part Two

2009-11-06T09:48:00.002-05:00

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Ok, so now it is the next day and i'm dragging my feet. We got home after the show at around 11:30 - and I didn't fall asleep until 2:30am.

At least I have Starbucks!! Thank God for my "Grande Cinnamon Dolce".....mmmmm........

So, the second half of the show was great as well. The had a whole segement with a spider and her web. I can honestly saw I never thought the human body could twist like that. She put the best contortionist to shame.

They also did a little love scene between the blue bug and the lady bug. SO CUTE!

They also used trampolines with the grasshoppers. WOW. It was pretty awesome.

The end was a huge banquet where all the bugs came out. Fantastic.

As a side note - the music was done by a live band. The singer was spectacular.

Ok. Well that's all for now!!

If you get a chance to go - GO - you will enjoy it!!

OVO - Part One

2009-11-05T21:06:00.000-05:00

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All I can say is WOW!!! The show so far has been spectacular! It's the intermission now and I have seen all kinds of bugs.

The best so far has been the cute lady bug. She is just so cute.

I have seen two dueling bugs - praying mantis - spiders - bugs flipping corn and kiwis. These dancers-acrobats are completely astounding!!

There was one dancer all by himself and he danced so beautifully. He could even hold himself up by one hand - and get this - spin around. Spectacular!!!

When the grasshoppers came out they went around visiting everyone.well wouldn't you know it. It stopped in between my parents. Scared my mom half to death - while I was peeing myself laughing - IT WAS GREAT!!!!

Well that's all till after the show!!

Muah to all those "OVO" fans out there!!!

As a challenge - do you know what OVO means?
I do.... But I'm not telling!
Well maybe...but not until later.

UPDATED - and blog hop

2009-11-05T16:29:00.001-05:00

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I have updated for the last week!!

Also as a side note check this out - It's a blog hop hosted by Stamping Bella

Here's the link:

BLOG HOP

lots of fun...and there is a prize available - 'LEAVE COMMENTS' on all the blogs.

SNOW in Toronto?!?!?!?!?!

2009-11-05T16:28:00.001-05:00

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Ok. So while I was at work at my desk, I get an email from my friend.

"it's snowing. woo hoo"

I turned around, and wouldn't you know it....the stupid white stuff is falling.

I am astounded, however, it only lasts a few minutes. It definately was a sure sign that that time is coming however much we don't want it too!!

I am very excited today, as my parents, my friend Julie, and I are going to go see OVO by Cirque du Soleil. I have been told that it is amazing. I will give you all the details tomorrow.

My life in....

2009-11-03T15:55:00.002-05:00

My Life in...

Spent the evening with my Mom.

We ate pizza and watched My Life in Ruins...pretty good movie.

Halloween Weekend

2009-11-02T17:25:00.003-05:00

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Didn’t get much scrapbooking done this weekend.

Spent the weekend hanging out with Dori. We went to the mall, Walmart, and the movies on Sunday. We saw Amelia. It was a great story and even better movie. Hilary Swank played an amazing Amelia Earhart. She was very inspiring.

On Halloween we vegged out at my place and watched True Blood, Saving Grace and a bit of The Witches of Eastwick. It was so much fun. We even did a little fashion show. Here's our best impression of Charlie's Angels!!!

I loved playing around with the wigs and the mask. Even my dog got into the fun with his devil costume. Isn't he cute, not really a scary devil.

We bought face masks from Lush and did those while we watched the shows on television, although we did wait until all the trick or treaters had come and gone.

We exfoliated first using Ocean Salts. I can't believe the salt that was in it...although by the name you would think I wouldn't be surprised. However, when I was washing my fash I got a mouth full of the salt. YUCK!!! The mask I used was Brazened Honey. Dori got Love Lettuce. Here is what my mask said: " Refreshing Detoxifiying mask to brighten tired skin and scrub away dull old cells. Full of honey, lime and ground almonds - perfect for when you've been neglecting your poor face." It felt great on my skin.

I haven't done a mask in such a long time, that it was really nice to do it. It wasn't very expensive either.

Waterloo

2009-10-26T00:02:00.001-04:00

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Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's off to Waterloo we go!!

Dori and I went out to visit my sister in Waterloo today. We had an absolute blast.

On the way to Waterloo Dori and I attempted to make a video. Well it really didn't work out too well. The camera slid around, fell down, chopped off heads and body parts. It was a funny experience.

We got to Waterloo around noon and went to pick my sister up. I had brought her our halloween costumes as per her instructions. Although at the time I didn't know she was looking for our Hersey's Kiss costume.

While Kae was looking in my trunk one of her friends had come up to see what we were doing. He managed to find our chicken costume and proceeded to try it on. He looked so funny.

Here is this big guy trying to get into a tiny costume. I almost peed myself watching.

After our little show, we then went to St.Jacob's as we always do in Waterloo. We visited the Bakery, the Silo, Scrapping Turtle, as well as Gecko Beads.

My sister and Dori totally hit it off - it was great.

We toured around Walmart for a bit, then we went to see Law Abiding Citizen.

The movie was spectacular!!! Love Gerard Butler.

"It's going to be biblical" - my favorite quote

Erin's Wedding Album

2009-10-24T23:56:00.000-04:00

Today I went over to my friend Erin's place to finish up her wedding album with her. This was my gift to her and her husband Jeff.

It turned out spectacular. I also did a little pre-wedding album to go with it. this one contained all the parties before the wedding occured.

I used the Close to my Heart Silhouette line and paired it with red cardstock by bazzill. The photos turned out awesome.

I will be posting the photos this coming weekend as the book will be completely finished by then, so stay tuned.

Baby Cake

2009-10-19T23:07:00.000-04:00

When I got home my mom was so excited. She lead me to the dining room from the kitchen with my eyes closed.

She was so excited because she had created this "cake" out of baby wash cloths. I have to admit, even I thought it was extremely cute. Check it out:

I am so proud of her, that she created all this by herself. She even tells me that she has no creative gene. Well, this just proves her wrong.

Cowboys and Turtles

2009-10-18T19:28:00.000-04:00

Here is another card I created. I used Stamping Bella`s Turtle tots - cowboy. I used Close to My Heart paper the Sarsaparilla line.

I used a white card base and inked the edges with Barn Red ink by CTMH (Close to my Heart). The layers on the card start with a black base then blue patterned paper follwed up with a torn piece of the worded patterned paper.

This is the close up of the cowboy turtle. To cut the white circle that the turtle is stamped onto and the scalloped circle were cut using my spellbinders.

I coloured the background using blue chalk to make the clouds. Yellow chalk to create the sun. I used a bit more yellow to create a sunny effect around the clouds.

These are the copic markers I used to colour the image.

I love him - he looks awesome on this card.

CROP FOR THE CURE

2009-10-18T01:00:00.000-04:00

My friend Veronica hosts a Crop for the Cure every year. This year we were raising money for Princess Margaret. Veronica hosted the event at the Woodbridge Memorial Arena & Pool. Every year this event gets bigger and better. The event started at 9am to 9pm. Here is everyone getting ready for the event.

Once everyone arrives we all sit in our seats and get ready. We had 40 people at the event. It was great. I got to see some people I haven`t seen in awhile. Vern had put down pink table covers that looked awesome.

I sat at table 2 with Carrie, Sherrie, Marg, Carol and Carmen. This is a picture of the center piece that Veronica created for every table. There were beautiful white roses mixed in with all the other flowers and greenery.

Carrie`s sister had driven all the way from London with her friend to be here for the crop. I haven`t seen her for awhile so it was great to spend some time with her and her friend.

For the event I baked some cupcakes and a cake. I made the ribbons out of colour flow icing. I had to leave them on wax paper to dry. It took two days!!

Here is Vern and I with the cupcakes that I made. They turned out awesome.

Of course you`ll notice that we are wearing our bras outside our clothes. Theresa, one of the other girls at the crop issued the challenge, and quite a few girls answered. It was great.

These are my crazy eyelashes - I LOVE THEM!!!

Here is Marg - Love the hair!!

and Rose and Cheryl!!!

and of course....

Here is myself, Barb and Veronica.

I had so much fun at the crop.

Just want to say thank you very much Veronica, and Rose. You did an amazing thing!!

updated

2009-10-09T10:07:00.000-04:00

I have updated my blog, however, i still have to upload some pictures of what i have been working on so far.

:)

Kaelyn's surgery

2009-10-08T09:36:00.000-04:00

So my sister had her surgery today. Got the call around noon that everything was ok and that she was groggy.

However, instead of going straight home I went out with Dori to the Eaton Center. We got our hair done, not too happy with mine, but as i said last night - It will grow out.

We then had dinner at Mr. Greenjeans. I had their french onion soup which was great. I enjoyed it.

Got home pretty late so I really didn't get to see my sister.

what can i say

2009-10-03T00:05:00.000-04:00

Well, haven't been at it lately but I will update!

Today started as any raining day - I rolled over - not wanting to get up!! But does anybody on days like today.

Got ready for work and got on the train as usual. However when I got off and was walking to the underground - my day took an unexpected turn - I looked up to the street level. There they were - I smiled and chuckled to myself all the way to my building - I was on cloud 9. Now you are probably asking yourselves - What the heck did you see?

At york and bay there were two storm troopers and DARTH VADER!! It was great and brought back memories of Dad, Kaelyn and I watch the last three movies almost every summer since we were little.

After work I went with my friend to get her tattoo it looks awesome!!

Once we were done we walked to the movie theater to go see Love Happens! I give it four stars. Truly an awesome movie about grieving and moving on.

I left Dori at University and Queen (she took the subway) and I continued onto the bus station after the movie.

The Kiss concert had let out so I saw all kinds of fans - was kinda neat.

To end my awesome day out I saw a guy peeing in the bushes at the bus stop -- eeeew, gross!!! I was blinded by the site! Blach!

Well that was by very interesting day - see you guys tomorrow!

PS - I will updat asap!

Dinner with John and Veronica

2009-09-26T10:05:00.000-04:00

I got to see my Godfather today. Haven't seen him in years, since he moved out to British Columbia. It was great.

We got to see what they had been doing. We got to see all kinds of pictures.

Mom made a great dinner.

It was so good to see both Uncle John and Veronica.

Erin's Wedding

2009-09-25T09:49:00.000-04:00

Congrats Erin and Jeff!!

Went to my friend Erin's wedding today. I grew up with Erin on Nelson St. It was an absolutely beautiful ceramony. The reception was held at the Venetian. The venue was awesome and the dinner was fantastic.

It was great as I got to see a lot of people I haven't seen in years.

I had so much fun.

Thanks again you guys!!

Toronto Zoo

2009-09-19T09:48:00.000-04:00

Went to the Zoo with Caroline and Tim.

Had a great time. Got to even pet a sting ray. We saw all kinds of animals. I had tons of fun.

I will upload the images when i get home today!!

A day out

2009-09-12T09:32:00.000-04:00

Went out with Dori, one of the girls from work, to look at apartments. I only had one appointment - I was pretty happy with location but not so with the building. It was kinda dirty and I didn't get to see the specific apartment that I asked to see - but I will keep trying.

We then decided to go to fairview to see inglorious basterds. The show wasn't until two so we decided to walk around the mall for a bit. I went to Bath & Body Works!! I only went to get a small bottle of cream, however when I walked into the store I saw my shampoo!! I looked like a kid at christmas - they said that they would not be carrying it yet there it was!!! I first found this product down in Florida - I loved it and it lasted three months - what shampoo and conditioner do u know that does that. Anyways they didn't have the vanilla that I liked so I got cherry blossom - it smells great.

So then dori and I ventured to saphora. We got to see the kat von d products. Love the saint perfume - it smells so good. As a side note - I love her show - I think she georgeous but she is truly stunning without her tats too!! If u get a chance u have to check it out.

We also went to the Children's place to see if we could find something for Dori's sister. I saw this cute onsie. Isn't it awesome.

We certainly had a great day - the movie and company was awesome.

leaves changing

2009-09-08T23:51:00.000-04:00

So I was a little scared to see a tree that's leaves had already turned and were starting to fall. This is what greeted me as I got out of my car to walk to the train this morning. Can you actually believe it? I can't so I am going to post the pics tomorrow - it's crazy!!!

Christmas in September?!?!

2009-09-07T21:55:00.000-04:00

Bonjour!

Now I bet you are thinkin' I am crazy....well.....I was in Michaels the other day just looking around when i came upon their christmas display. I went starry eyed at all the beautiful stamps and cards. Starring up at those packages my eyes grew three sizes bigger (to somewhat quote The Grinch).

Anyways I made this wonderful card. I used The Paper Company Uptown Gold, Bazzill Ruby Slipper and some gold ribbon.

I used Copics to colour the image - R89, G24, G99, G94, E35, and E44. I embossed the gold background with the cuttlebug swiss dots embossing folder.

Here is the full card:

and the closeup of the christmas tree.

Enjoy!

A cat in a cape!

2009-09-06T09:29:00.000-04:00

I had the house to myself today. It was pretty good. Dad was at the cottage getting ready for his fishing trip with the boys next week and mom was at work. It was great as I got to do some work on my cards as I have been slacking a bit.

I was able to package my 6x6 layout swap for Veronica's Crop for the cure. The challenge was to create two 6x6 pages using brown, pink, white and black (only a bit). There are ten people in the swap so once everything is swapped out then you have an entire album to fill in photos and you're done.

When I visited Vernonica at Pointers Friday Night Crop I picked up a set of Halloween stamps by Penny Black. I love her stuff. It's extremely cute. Plus Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. What is better then dressing up in some funky or scary costume. It's a day that you can be someone else. Anyways....

Here is my card.

The background paper is KI Memories, and the blue cardstock is Bazzill Mediteranean. I used Close to my Heart inks in Orange and Blue. The stamp was coloured with copic markers and highlighted with loose glitter. The copics used in this image include: Colorless Blender, Y15, B26, B24, YR04, YR07 and YR0000.

Here are two more close ups of the cat so that you can see the detail.

Enjoy!

Friday night chatter...

2009-09-04T23:02:00.000-04:00

Work couldn't go fast enough today as I was really excited to get my hair cut today. It look awesome. I got a lot of brown put into it with a few blonde streaks.

Afterwards, I went to visit Veronica at Pointers for her Friday Night Crop. I brought her some dinner because she was starving. I also got to see the girls. It was great fun, but I couldn't stay long as I was super tired.

Here was bella's challenge this week. This sketch was provided by MEAHNIBELLA.

Here is the card I created using the sketch.

This is the upclose image of the bffABUGS. These are awesome little bugs. I coloured them with copic markers and shadowed with yellow chalk.

Enjoy!!

A new day - A new card

2009-08-31T20:56:00.000-04:00

Good Evening -

I decided I was going to go out of my comfort zone today with my card and tried for something different. I was surfing the net for card sketches that I could play with and came across Jen del Muro's blog. She is a pretty amazing artist. I found an old post of hers with a pretty neat sketch. Here is the sketch.

I used paper from DCWV asian paper line. I used stamping bella's stamps, Close to my Heart inks and I think it turned out pretty neat. I just have to "bling" it up a bit.

Enjoy.

Warm water and mermaids!!

2009-08-30T21:39:00.000-04:00

Today was almost like a fall day in October instead of a summer day in August. The sun was shining however it was overcast and cool. It pretty hard to believe that I was wearing a sweater today. It makes you wonder if next year it will be like this.

Anyways...

I have been going through my old paper and came across this beautiful paper by DCWV. It went really well with come Core'dinations card stock I had. For the stamp I used "underwatergoddess-abella". It turned out amazing.

I coloured her with copics and used chalk to creat the background around the bella stamp. She looks amazing.

Here is the close-up of the mermaid. You will notice that I also added some seaweed. It certainly isn't the best but it looks good.

Bellaland - Day Two

2009-08-23T22:09:00.000-04:00

I got up pretty early today so I decided I would make lavender shortbread. I had seen the recipe in a magazine and had mentioned that I would like to try it. Well I was lucky enough to find a lady at the Baysville Farmers market that was selling bundles, so i picked one up.

As you can imagine the response from the family was not the best - ranging from eww gross to i am not putting that in my mouth!.

So at 9am i started my oddessy into lavender shortbread. Well an hour later i was still picking off the dried little flowers. OMG!! it was awful. I tried not to get any leaves or dried stem in the mix - well let me tell you I will probably never make this again!! After my hour of picking out flowers I finally had the 3tbsp's i needed for the recipe - and yes after all that pain, sweat and time - it was only for 3tbsp.

Well mixed the dough, and it smelled pretty good now considering I had lavender everywhere - and when i say everywhere I mean it!! That stuff is gross. However, I was very calm thoughout the entire process. It must have been from the smell.

So I rolled up the dough and let it chill while I got ready to go out with Carrie.

I finished the cookies by baking them. It smelled great. They weren't too bad - they were very different from your normal sort of cookies.

I went to Bellaland again to take a class with Paulabella on pencil crayons. I am definately more of a copic fan. Although I still work a bit with pencils.

It was a great day overall. When i got home my sister told me that my mom and tried my shortbread (and she was the one who didn't want to in the first place) and she actually liked it.

It was a great feeling.

Bellaland - Day One

2009-08-22T22:05:00.000-04:00

I was in Bellaland today to take a class with one of the bella's herself - Lindabella. She it truly an amazing artist.

Today's class was focused on Copic Markers - these are a great tool for card making!! They create absolutely beautiful images.

We did three cards today using bella's stamps. Gail, Carol and Carrie came. We all sat together to do the cards which was great as I had not seen Gail for quite some time.

Let's hear it for our newest copic fan - CARRIE!!! - she came to class excited to learn and very enthusiastic. She was new to copics and wanted to check them out - she is now part of the copic craze!!

If you want some more information on Copic Markers check out their website.

Here are the cards we did.

Thank you very much Lindabella!! The class was amazing.

So after I got home Fran, Colleen, Mom, Kaelyn and I decided to have a girls night and went to see Julie & Julia. It was great. It was kinda weird that Stanley Tucci played Meryl Streep's husband in the movie, it took me a few minutes to get use to, but it was absolute hilarious. The movie was extremely well done.

It was a great girls night out.

The Big Storm

2009-08-20T22:03:00.000-04:00

Hi guys!

So we were very fourtunate yesterday that we didn't get hit with the worst weather. We got hard rain but that was about all. The worst of the rain came after we pulled into our driveway after I had got picked up. It was like some turned on a faucet and let it run. We had to wait in the van until it slowed down a bit.

Vaughan seemed to get the worst of it. Luckily I was able to go to my appointment at the gym - it was great as we started circut training! It was very hard but as I got into it it got better! The sky was awful when I started but an hour later there was the most beautiful sunset I have seen - it only sucks that I didn't have a camera on me! The colours were so vibrant with the yellows, reds and purples. It was a sunset that took a few minutes to enjoy. Absolutetly stunning.

After I got home I worked on some more house mouse images for my sisters doortags. Overall, it was a pretty great day but we were very lucky in our area

Bumble Bees

2009-08-16T22:10:00.000-04:00

Went out to water the gardens this morning and noticed that we had some huge bumble bees drinking the necter and rubbing themselves in the pollen on our rose of sharon tree. So I ran into the house and got my camera. It was great fun trying to catch the bumble bee in flight. I got two really great shots.

Enjoy!!

I loved watching these guys - it was quite funny watching the bees flit to and from the flowers rolling around in the pollen and making funny bee noises.

Duck!

2009-08-07T20:53:00.000-04:00

At the cottage I was sitting in the sun room and all of a sudden saw this duck start coming up from the water.

It was weird as the ducks don't usually come up to the cottage. Luckily I got my camera and got this really good shot.

Cottage Trip

2009-08-06T20:01:00.000-04:00

Had a great time at the cottage spent all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I did some sun tanning and beading. I made my mom the necklace she wanted that was in silvers and burgandy. It turned out awesome.

I will upload the picture once I have pried the necklace away from my mom. LOL.

I saw the bluejay and got this really awesome photo as he was leaving a branch. I was pretty lucky to get this shot as he was extremely fast.

Elaine's Birthday

2009-08-04T14:49:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELAINE!!

Elaine had a few friends over to celebrate her birthday. It was really great to see some friends and to meet some new ones.

The party was hosted at Elaine's home. It is beautiful. We had a great dinner and an amazing cake.

Poppa Joe's Birthday

2009-08-02T15:01:00.000-04:00

Today was the birthday party for Poppa Joe's 80th. It was a grand affair. The party was held at my neighbour's home - Fran. Oh my gosh - there was so much food. Fran had put together meatballs, sausage on a stick and lamb on a stick.

Fran also had fresh veggies, bruschetta, rolls, fresh fruit, sushi, and shrimp.

Joe's wife brought her rice balls - which were very good. My mom brought her red pepper jelly tarts.

As my present for Poppa Joe - I made his birthday cake.

I made a cake cut with strawberries and covered in buttercream icing. On top of that i used fondant. I put on grapes done in two different colours. I also made drapes on the top part of the cake.

House Mouse Cards

2009-07-26T13:58:00.000-04:00

As a family we were going to see The Ugly Truth however that got postponed until wednesday - so after I got home from the gym Kaelyn and I worked on some of her cards for when she goes back to school. She is in love with the house mouse stamps - and I have to say the are cute. Here is what I have done so far:

Erin's Wedding Shower

2009-07-26T13:44:00.000-04:00

Today we had Erin's wedding shower at Karen Comptons. It was really great as I got to see some people I haven't seen for years. I also got to see Hazel (dad's adoptive mom) who just had brain surgery on friday. She is one very strong inspiring women, nothing can keep her down. It was definately hard hearing that she had a tumor but seeing her happy and laughing made me feel better.

I made a cake for the event and it turned out ok, wasn't textermely happy with it. However everyone loved it and it tasted pretty good. Erin loved the acrylic album I made for her, I am so glad.

Here is the cake - it was made with strawberries in the middle and butter cream icing. I made red rose on the top with gold pearl dust all over them.

Waterloo - Day Two

2009-07-12T22:01:00.000-04:00

Woke up early because I had to drive my sister in to her conference for 8am. Well I found out that she hardly slept last night because she was afraid of burglars and that someone was going to steal our car. She is so funny sometimes. After I got her some Timmie’s I dropped her off and went back to the Motel to get ready. I had my shower, got dressed and –packed up the car. I checked out of the motel about 10ish. I then decided I would stop at the local Walmart. After I spent some time looking around I went back to St. Jacob’s. I took a lot of pictures of the street because there were hardly any tourists out. I went to sit down by the river to make my sister a necklace because most of the stores did not open until noon. I went to this little gourmet shop and got this corn peeler (apparently it shaves off the corn kernels on a cob of corn); my mom wanted it. I also got some local honey and maple syrup. After I finished I had about an hour until I had to pick my sister up so I decided to so to the park with the zoo. I took some great shots. There were baby bunnies, and baby ducks. They were so cute.

After I picked my sister up we decided to head home. It was a great weekend.

Waterloo Trip

2009-07-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

Today my sister and I left to go to Waterloo. My sister had a conference to attend at her university because she will be a Don (resident advisor) next year. We left at about 10 am after we had gone to the gym.

We decided to go to St. Jacob’s first before heading to Waterloo. I have always loved St. Jacob’s. It’s a great little town filled with all these neat little stores. We walked around The Shops at Riverworks – looked at the book store, the clothing store and the jewelry place. Next we walked across the street to The Mill. We walk up the steps to the second floor to go to Gecko Beads and to Scrapping Turtle These are great stores. Gecko Beads now has a lampworking studio and you can purchase some of their pieces. I picked up some bumble bees and a urn style bead with white and orange dots that look like scales. I can’t wait to use them. Kaelyn and I then went to Scrapping Turtle. My passion – scrapbooking. This store is great, and they now carry House Mouse stamps. Kaelyn bought me four of them.

Here is a picture of the bees she makes:

After I had finished we decided to go to Waterloo and check into the motel that we rented. We went to the Comfort Inn off Weber St. The room was cute. It was very stuffy though so as soon as we brought in our stuff, on went the air conditioning. Kaelyn had to be at her conference for 5:30, so by the time we had done loading the room it was about 2:30. I really wanted to go to the bead store in Waterloo the Bead Bazaar. There we found some lampworking by Brian Newman. They were very gorgeous pieces. I got Kaelyn a heart pendant and a flower drop.

I dropped Kaelyn off at her conference at 5:30 and then went back to the motel. I worked on some bead work until I went to pick her up. We watched some television before we went to bed.

Bella's Challenge - July 10

2009-07-07T23:34:00.000-04:00

Every Monday Bella posts a challenge that you need to complete before thursday. You need to provide her with an email and picture of what you have completed. This week was a sketch. All you have to do is log onto Stamping Bella's Blog It's a great way to challenge yourself.

This week was a sketch. This is what the sketch was:

Here is the card I created based on the sketch we were provided with:

This is a close up of the stamp I used:

I used Close to my Heart – Key to my Heart paper. For the circles I used Nestabilities. To colour the stamped image I used my copic markers. They are awesome. I told myself that I would not get into them. That didn’t last long. They are great to use.

The stamp I used on this card is “shower BUGG” with the sentiment “just wanted to say”.

It turned out awesome.

Movie Day!!!

2009-07-05T19:52:00.000-04:00

Kaelyn and I decided that today we would go and see “The Proposal”. OMG! It was great. We didn’t stop laughing. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

The best part is when Sandra Bullock’s character and Ryan Renold’s Character sang Rob Base’s It Takes Two. I can still hear it playing in my head.