Make you Laugh and Get me Ready to Create!

I love to watch the Ellen Show on my lunch breaks. Do you watch it? She cracks me up. Yesterday, they played a game for a chance to win a trip to Hawaii and it almost made me choke on my orange, I laughed so hard.

If you have a minute or two, watch these clips of the game. It's worth it!





Now that I've taken care of you, I must tell you about my fantastic plans for the weekend....

Nothing!

I finally have a weekend where I have absolutely nowhere to be, no one to visit, nothing happening! I will be scrapbooking folks! I've got 11 layouts lined up. Photos ready to go, sketches somewhat drawn and most of my paper picked out! Can you believe it?

I also found this great new software you can download for free, which I think I'll be playing with. Stop by shapecollage to check it out.

So this weekend, if you stop by, you will find me in my pjs, the house will be covered in paper and glue and stickers, my computer will be left on, I will have ink on my hands (and likely my face) and I will be smiling!

And what better reason to stay indoors this weekend? It's snowing.... again!

Hope you all have a scrappy weekend!

And the Winner Is....

Another great, busy weekend over.

We went to Hanna for the weekend to cheer on my alumni volleyball team in a tournament, who had quite an outstanding showing. It was great to see everyone again and get some good visiting in.



You should know it was a retro themed tournament and none of the trophies in the photo are from the tournament, or have anything to do with volleyball for that matter.



Even in a ridiculously old jersey, yellow tights and leg warmers, Sam's a total babe.

Plus, we got a good visit with my parents and got a quick visit in with Curtis and Brandi and Jada.

I had to take some photos of my favourite little model, since I got none of Kale last weekend. First I scared her with the flash, but then she showed me her smile.





Look at that chin!! Too cute.

Lucky me, on my trip home, I got another birthday present. I'm not going to have anything to look forward to on the big day, but it's kinda nice to get a gift every weekend... plus, I got some great scrapbooking goodies and I have the weekend off to play with them!!

Okay, I've made you wait long enough... the winner of a stamp set from gel-a-tins is:

Kelly, who said...
Hey Kel! Glad you had a great w/e down south! You will have to post pics of that new nephew soon. Better get all the scrapbooking in now cause it's tough to squeeze it in between feedings and naps! Speaking of such, gotta run, babes is hollaring.

Here's what you've won, Kelly. I'll be in touch to get them to you! (Sorry about the bad photo...)



Thanks everyone else for the comments. Keep 'em coming!

Upcoming Crafty Retreat and Fundraiser

Just thought I'd let you all in on a great little retreat happening in the Hanna/Delia/Drumheller area. I'm going to try and make it....

If anyone is interested in a day retreat, here is a great option for you. For only $30 you can support Heather Jager and the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride, get two meals, a full day of crafty time with tons of room and a chance to win prizes!!!

Here's the poster info:

SCRAPBOOKERS, QUILTERS, AND CROSS-STITCHERS

If you have a hobby but you just don't have time to pursue it, this day is for you.

SAT., APRIL 18TH

9:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M.

HandHills Lake Clubhouse
Come join us for 12 straight hours of uninterrupted fun!


This retreat includes:

- oodles of room for you to work

- lunch & supper prepared for you

- like-minded people to visit, share with and inspire you

- 12 straight hours to get all those projects you've been wanting to do - done

- vendors, doorprizes, draws


Cost $30 (includes lunch & supper)

Must register by Apr. 13

PASS THE WORD. EVERYONE WELCOME.


To register or for more info call:

Marilyn 403-665-2473

or

Maureen 403-854-2189


And while you're busy having fun, you'll be supporting Heather Jager and the Sears National Kids Cancer Ride.

Hope to see you there!!!

More of Cinque Terra

Can you tell this was one of my favourite spots on our trip? I really should get cracking on this, Italy was only the first country we visited....

Anyway, I used one of the fantastic March layouts from the Just Cre8 designers as a sketch to work from. Here's a link to the sketch. It's the only one on this page, by Amanda Lepage, but if you want to click on the link there, you can see all of this month's sketches.

I love this photo. Such a beautiful village.



And a few close ups:



Did you notice the metal border on the bottom of that photo, by the flowers? I love these! They're from 7 Gypsies, and they're so great. They come with adhesive on all ready and you can trim them easily with any sturdy scissors and then just pinch them on wherever you want them.





Remember to leave a comment on the posts to win a prize.... I decided that you can leave a comment on any of the posts from the hearbeat post (big #200) on.

200th post!!

Actually, my last post was the 200th, but I was preoccupied with the heartbeat, so I missed it. Oh well, caught it now.

So to celebrate, I'm giving away a gel-a-tins stamp set. You have until Monday to leave me a comment on this post and I'll pick a winner next week.

We were in Lethbridge this past weekend for a visit. We got to meet our new nephew, Kale and see lots of family, which was great. Kale is a sweetheart.... but there were so many people taking pictures I didn't take any! Next time. Brad also played in a hockey tournament and won the B final, so I spent a good chunk of the weekend in an arena and got lots of cheering in. Good weekend!

I even got a few moments to run over to Scrapbooker's Paradise and found two things I'd been searching for!! yay! I got a Bind-It-All for Christmas and haven't been able to find any coils, so I've had this great toy, sitting in my scrap room taunting me for months. Luckily, I've got some coils and I'm ready to create!

I also got a few early birthday gifts! Lucky me!

Now, to show you the rest of the Eiffel Tower layout. I'm still not sure if I'm done with it... I see a lot of white space, and I'm not the kind of person who usually leaves much, so we'll see. If I update it, I'll let you know. For now, here it is:







I played with my new Olive Vine Glimmer Mist on this, but you can't really tell from the photos. Great colour though. Maybe I need to add more....

Remember to leave a comment for your chance to win!!

Big News!

Some of you have all ready heard the big news, but for those who haven't.... Brad and I are expecting!

We're due September 10, so we're just wrapping up the first trimester. I'm feeling good and things have looked good at all our appointments, so we're getting excited. On Tuesday, we got to hear the heartbeat, which really made it real for both of us.

Want to hear?

Using things around the house

I just spent a fantastic weekend with my mom. She came up here to visit and I put her to work! We painted our master bedroom (with some reluctant help from hubby) a really pretty baby blue, which looks so good with our dark brown bedding. It actually went so fast that we had an entire day to scrapbook, which was fantastic, plus time to shop, play board games, watch a movie, go out for supper, and just hang out. The weekend went way to fast!

So, while we were scrapping, I saw a tape runner that I thought I could use to really distress the papers on my layout.



I used the serrated edge and just dragged it around the papers to rough them up a bit and then inked over them with walnut distress ink. I really like the looks of it. See what you think.



Kinda fun. Even better, my mom got six layouts done in one day!! Can you believe it? Plus, they're fantastic. So glad she has taken up scrapbooking. Just another fun thing we can do together.

I'm going to try and touch up this layout and then I'll show you the finished product. In the meantime, see what you have lying around the house that could be used in a scrappy way. I'd love to hear your tips.

New scrappy idea

Another recent layout. One of my favourite 'meals' on our Europe trip....



This was a sort of accidental spirograph type sewing mistake I made that turned out cool!



Draw two circles and poke holes along them with your needle. Then start sewing, going from the small circle to the bigger. Eventually, they'll get angled. When you're done, start again, in the opposite direction (First you'll be moving right to left, then left to right). This will give you the spirograph look. I used two different colours of thread for this, but you could do it with just one if you wish.

Great project to do while watching TV because you don't really need to pay much attention.

Another Baby Book

This is one I made for Brandi and Curtis when Jada was born. I didn't have any photos, so I just made a ready-made album. I found the best rub-ons for this one. The cute animal ones? They're from Moxxie and I must go back and get more. Too cute.























I tried to make the pages pretty easy to finish, so they could just plop a picture in. I love all the babies around, lately. It's a refreshing change from outdoorsy photos or pics of Brad and I....Just fun!

New Layouts

Snow, snow, snow. What a great snow day! If it's going to snow more, I'm happy to see the light, fluffy stuff.

Today is the big day! Brad's birthday. And, just in time to pass on the Brad book, here are a few new layouts about the boy:







It's a bit of a work in progress, but I figure this way, he gets to pick some pictures for new pages and add his own journaling to these ones.

I love birthdays! So, tonight, we hit the town for a supper and movie date. If anyone has any great restaurant ideas in the Edmonton area, let me know.

Baby Book

Just thought I'd show you a quick little baby book I made for my sister-in-law. She's due in early March, and her baby shower is this weekend, so I don't have photos or a name or anything, yet (I do know it's a boy). I'll have to add photos for them later.



This is a cute little accordian book from Me and My Big Ideas that I got from Scrapbook Eh! last year with a simple sticker title.









And a few close-ups of some of the tags and embellishments:











This was pretty quick and easy to make. I picked out some coordinating papers, (about 7 or 8 different colours or patterns), and some stickers and embellishments. I cut out my background sheets first, 8 6x8 sheets and glued them down and then made pockets or photo mats on all of them and then lastly went through with all of my word stickers, buttons, flowers, borders, felt pieces and what-not and finished it up.

Ahh, yes, and I inked everything as I went. A project rarely escapes me without a bit of distress ink...

Scrapbooking?

I bet you've been wondering... isn't this a blog about scrapbooking? I haven't seen any new projects or layouts, haven't heard any more about Paris Hilton, scrapper extraordinaire, what kind of blog is this?

Well, my apologies. I've been so busy, I just haven't had a chance to play, but the other night, I got back at it. I tackled some more Europe photos, making a small dent, but still, progress.

These pictures are from the Vatican. They're so intricate themselves, I didn't want to make the layout too busy, so I hardly used any patterned paper or embellishments, outside of the title.



Don't you just love Thickers from American Crafts? They're the letter stickers and they're so great for any project. I like getting the white ones so I can ink them up to go with my project.





Cinque Terre was one of my FAVOURITE places in Europe. Definitely my favourite in Italy. It was beautiful. We hiked along the seacoast through fantastic vineyards and saw these picturesque little villages. If you ever go to Italy. Visit Cinque Terre.



I like this layout because it's inky and a little distressed and sewn on and it's all made with scrap paper! Love scraps!

See these grapes, they were from a super old paper pack and because I'm a packrat, I went looking for them immediately for my vineyard photos. I think they look great all cut out and layered. Besides, the paper has literally been sitting in a drawer since I was in university. Time to use it!



And this perfect little rub-on was from a Bo-Bunny travel package that I got at Scrapbook Eh! last year. Love the freebies! I love brown rubs. Aren't you glad not everytihng has to be black all the time?



And lastly, here's a link to Allison Orthner's blog. She got an interview with Miss Hilton and talks about the experience.

Another Weekend on the Road

We had a wonderful weekend in Lake Louise. Since we left in such a rush, right over Christmas, our friends decided to throw us a going away party after we moved.
It was so great! We got to see a ton of people and say goodbye to our old home.

We took up half of our favourite local restaurant, the Out Post, and enjoyed a good meal and then we went up to our neighbours for dessert and snacks and a good visit.

Such a great way to say goodbye.

And our great friends gave us some going away gifts that were really sweet and thoughtful.

Beautiful wine glasses:





A plaque to commemorate Brad's time in Lake Louise with the RCMP:



A photo book from the Fire Department that Brad served on:









You may notice there aren't many photos of fires being put out, just fires raging, and Brad posing.... makes me wonder...

And this, is our new furniture. I know it doesn't really go with the rest of the post, but my mom will want to see. The colour is off in the dark photo...