Addiction....

I've long since accepted that I have an addictive personality. Not really bad addictions, no alcohol or gambling problems, no need to shop or spend all our money, but anything that I can get myself all tangled up in, let's say, a plot line or a character, that's another story. I can easily lose myself in a story, a song, a tv series, anything that captures my imagination and piques my interest. I'm not sure exactly what the linch pin is for me, but I can pick out a few examples from my past, quite easily.

Mr. Big's song, 'To Be With You,' junior high, repeat button pushed on my stereo for weeks (I don't think my brother can stomach the song anymore)

The TV series, Roswell, high school, minor problem with the lead characters never getting together and staying together

Grey's Anatomy, first season, why do people insist on talking when my show is on?

And, I've just found my newest addiction...

You probably remember my post last week about Twilight. How much I enjoyed it and how I couldn't put it down. Well, a few days later, I went to Calgary for a meeting and had a few minutes to spare. I told myself, "I'll run into a store quick and if it's there it's a sign." Thankfully, upon entering my third store, I found the second book, New Moon. Sometimes you have to look hard to find signs!



I also went and saw Twilight in Banff with some friends. I really liked it, except it was a little hard to keep the tension built as all of the girls in the theatre kept giggling like crazy whenever Edward (Rob Pattinson) came on... I guess that's the price you pay for reading teen books :)

So, now I've read the second book (again, one night after work, I cracked it and couldn't put it down until I was done). So, I feel like I'm ahead of the game a little. I don't want to stumble upon any spoilers before I get through the series, so I have to keep my addiction in check. I'm hoping I can wait for Christmas for the other two.... I should probably stay away from any kind of store though, in case I run into another 'sign.'

If you're interested, Stephenie Meyer's website is kind of interesting as well. A look at how she wrote the books and where her ideas came from. Just a little tip from an addict.

Lucky, lucky me

I am so lucky! I just found out I won a year long scrapbooking course from Tim Holtz's blog! Seriously, I can't wait for the new year to start this.

Here's the blog post, in case you want to see how this came about.

And some info on the course that is offered through Big Picture Scrapbooking.

Anyone want to take it with me? It looks really great and everyone needs a shot of inspiration and creativity in their life. And from reading the teacher's blogs I'm going to receive a hefty jolt of inspiration.

Thanks to Tim and teachers Kolette and Jason Hall for offering up this fantastic prize!!

All I had to do was write why I wanted to go and include my favourite quote. Amazingly, I'm a quote lover and was just working on a little rolodex revamp project to showcase some of my favourites when this opportunity came up so I literally had some of my favourites at my fingertips.

Here's a quick look at the project I was working on, which I made for a Just Cre8 Challenge:

















Speaking of neat ways to showcase quotes, did anyone see the quote forest in Canadian Scrapbooker?? They don't have a picture up on the web, but it's in the winter issue and it's really cool. I love it. I'm all ready thinking of a neat way to recreate it for our new place....Hmmmm, all ready decorating the house I've yet to find....

I think I'll take my luck and turn in for the day. Hope you're all having a good week.

Snowy Days Spent Reading

I always get so caught up in the joy of sunshine and green grass and bare feet in the summer that I spend those months cursing the return of snowy, cold winters. Then we have the first glimpse of snowy weather in the mountains and I remember how relaxing winter is after the hectic pace of summer. Such a nice trade off.

I've been taking advantage of the snowfall to read a few good books, lately. This is the perfect time of year for curling up under a homemade quilt with a cup of tea, a good book, and some background music. Ahhhh....

So, lately, I've been reading some Jodi Picoult books. Have you read her books before? She's such a great writer. I almost find myself appreciating her writing style over the story sometimes, but that's not to say her stories aren't good. They really deal with some big issues that make you think about life and question your opinions. Lately, I've read, Nineteen Minutes, about a school shooting, Change of Heart, about a woman whose daughter's killer wants to donate his heart to her remaining daughter (I know), and The Song of the Humpback Whale, about a mother and daughter falling in love at the same time.

Yesterday, I read Twilight.



Have you read this yet? I literally read it yesterday. It took me one day and I had to finish it. It's kind of addictive really. I'm dying to get the other three books in the series. I started it on my lunch break and I couldn't concentrate all afternoon. I could see it peaking out of my purse and almost had to put it in the car to stop the temptation!

The funny thing is, it's made for teenagers.... Yep, like the Harry Potter series (which I also enjoyed). So, even thought I talked to alot of people who loved it, I kind of feel like it's a guilty pleasure. Like, maybe I'm not that much of a grown-up myself.

Now, can I wait until Christmas, or do I buy myself the whole Twilight series tonight after work?? Hmmmm....what would a grown up do?

Edmonton and Challenge #3

We had a great weekend in Edmonton, touring around some interesting neighborhoods and checking out a few houses. Plus, we saw Eagle Eye, which was pretty good, but makes me want to throw out my cell phone... We also had a few meals out and did some shopping at West Edmonton Mall. Pretty great weekend. Just nice to spend some time together and it's so exciting to be moving!

Also, here's last week's Just Cre8 Challenge:



The challenge was to use an ad as inspiration for a layout. This is the ad that I chose (we were given three options, and this one gave me the dream idea):



And here are a few close ups of my layout:







This has been interesting. I don't think I'm making the best layouts I've ever made necessarily, but it's making me step outside of my usual scrapping box, which is fun. The deadline is what kills me... They give us the challenges on Saturday and they have to be uploaded by Wednesday. Which means if I'm gone for the weekend and have supper plans Monday night and work all week (like this time) I get to start and finish my challenge Tuesday night....

Maybe it's good to get my mind working faster on layouts. I have a million Europe pics to scrap so I need to step it up a bit :)

Digital fun!

Hi there,

Just a quick update on last weeks challenge for Just Cre8. The challenge was to use a rhebus puzzle in your layout....
Rhebus puzzle??

That's what I thought, but we've all done them. There are two kinds, one where you use pictures in the plaec of words or pieces of words ie. picture of a key next to the words 'to my heart.'

The second kind is a word puzzle, like if you wrote Seasons four times, it could mean four seasons....

Get it?

I used 1 in a million..... m1llion. Get it?

Anyhow, I used a ton of pictures of my hubby skiing (I even made a little photo book on the page, behind the journey tag). I think I used about 15 pictures. Such a great way to use those photos where you have a little tiny person and tons of background ie. snow and sky

Anyway, here's the layout:



And, otherwise, I've been ignoring my piles and piles of scrapbooking fodder to play with some digital stuff. Whenever I get in a scrapping slump I like tostep away from paper and play with pixels.

I made a quick calendar (I made a calendar out of canvases awhile ago, so I made new monthly calendars to clip in). Here's an example.



And a quick layout I made. Another Europe picture.



I made both of these with free digital kits I downloaded. You can find free stuff at Creating Keepsakes or Memory Makers or Shabby Princess or with a quick google search.

Halloween Rundown

I love Halloween! What a great holiday. I think it's even better as an adult.... you can have more fun with it and you don't have to layer a snowsuit under your costume to have fun.

Here are a few pictures of the party:





It's not the best picture of my costume, but, do you know who I am?

All kinds of babies, adoption papers, big hair....you can't see my tattoo here....but I had a big one on my shoulder....

I'm Angelina Jolie! I know, the resemblances are shocking.


And the details:



A table full of horrific goodies: vomit dip, tongue and cheek crackers, worms in dirt pudding, witch's fingernails, Adam's Ribs, etc.

And our tribute to Lake Louise:



What a fun pumpkin, eh?! We had a bit of trouble carving this as we didn't have the proper tools, but it turned out all right.

And one quick question. Someone left me a post the other day welcoming me to Edmonton (thanks) and gave me info on a house and some scrapbooking stores.... was t you? I'm so sorry, I should probably know who left the message, but you didn't leave a name, so I'm a little baffled.

Leave another comment or drop me an email if it was you.

Thanks!