More painting in my future

I have big plans this weekend to do some more house painting, before I get too tired and busy with summer events.

I painted our downstairs bathroom a few weeks ago and it turned out very bright! Like, need to blink to adjust your pupils when you walk in bright...so, I'm looking for suggestions on how to dull it down a bit (preferably without repainting the whole room). So, I'll be off to Home Depot to look into solutions. Perhaps, I'll just hang a big mirror and some pictures and get a little dresser and try to hide as much of the walls as I can. Maybe that will work.

I also have to paint the baby's room sometime before baby arrives, which seems much more appealing than repainting a bathroom. I have a plan, but need to get some paint and figure out exactly how I'll do it.

And, one day, we're going to have a garage sale, so I can get rid of the junk we've been moving from place to place for years... one day. Oh wait, if you're in the area, I mispoke.... it's not junk.... just things we don't use. You should come by when I have the sale and pick up some things!

This week, I've really had the mojo flowing thanks to the inspiration at Just Cre8. My hands have been permanently stained with ink since their crop started.

Here are four layouts that I made based on a 'recipe' that they posted. All you need is four pieces of patterned paper and four pieces of cardstock as backgrounds and you can make all of this:









Of course, I added some embellishments, but it's nice not to have scraps leftover and it's an easy way to do four layouts at once.

More inspiration

They've extended the online crop at Just Cre8 until Thursday so if you're looking for inspiration, head on over and check it out.

Here are a few more layouts that I created thanks to their crop.

This layout was inspired by a Bo Dean album cover. It's tiny, but gives you an idea...



The cover is actually a photograph divided into 6 pieces, but since my printer isn't working at the moment, I divided my layout into 6 pieces and showcased some of the modes of transportation we utilized on our trip.



These next two layouts I was playing with a very distressed look, since the ruins in both are crumbling and looking a little 'distressed' themselves.

The first was actually part of a poker rally. (WHAT??!!) Yep, a scrapbooking poker rally. We had a number of topics to choose from and had to create layouts based on these topics. Each layout created gets you a card. Best hand wins. So far, I have a pair... plus, I still need another card, so ... cross your fingers.



And this was a journaling challenge. I love these pictures from Ephesus in Turkey. It was a part of the most intact ruins we saw on the trip and some of the best in the world.

Just Cre8's Crop and the weekend

I've had another busy weekend, but a great one! We got to spend some time exploring our new city, and so far, I think we'll like it here.

We went out for great Thai food with some friends Friday night, then hit the Strathcona Farmer's Market and Whyte Avenue Saturday morning, and took the scenic route home, checking out new areas of the city. A great weekend!

In between our excursions, we did a bunch of yard work, tested out the new mower and weed whip and planted a bunch of flowers and some veggies. When I wasn't enjoying the sunshine, I squeezed in a bit of scrapbooking in answer to the challenges posted at the Just Cre8 crop. It's not too late to check them out if you're interested!

Here are a few of the layouts I created when I got too hot outside!

This was inspired by a white necklace with a circle pattern on it:



A close up of the embossed circles I stamped on the background paper after seeing the necklace:



Brad is sort of picking up the crafty terminology. While I was heating the powder, he asked if I was embalming my layout... almost there, Brad....

And this was a challenge to create a layout without using any patterned paper:



Both of these layouts are images of Turkey.

Still Busy

We got so much done over the long weekend, it was great!

We shopped around for a BBQ, lawnmower and weed whip, spending tons of time in Home Depot, Rona, Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, everywhere we could think of (a plus for city-livin'). And finally picked up everything we needed. Brad put them all together, hooked everything up, and charged all of the batteries, so we're ready to go. We even had out first steak on the new BBQ!

Since we woke up to snow Tuesday, there will be no testing of the new lawn tools for awhile, but when it gets nice again, we'll be ready.

We watched the movie, Taken, which we started watching three months ago, and could finally see the end of. Pretty intense movie. Cleaned up the house, did tons of laundry, planted a few flowers and transplanted a few house plants, and just enjoyed some down time together. Quite nice!

And, Brad got to feel Saskatoon kick for the first time! It makes it so much more real when you have a constant reminder of what's going on, and this baby is active! Kicks, head butts, elbows, I'm getting them all and all over. This is definitely Brad's baby: super active and full of energy, just like her dad.

This weekend, we have a few things planned and will be sticking around home again, so I'll be heading over to Just Cre8 for their Happy Be Scrappy Online Crop! I've been around for their last two crops, and they were great! Great people, challenges, contests, and prizes, plus a fantastic stop for inspiration. Hopefully, I'll make a dent in my Europe pictures.

Here are a few more:

I decided to make my initial sunset page into a two pager because I loved the photos so much, so I created a second page to match the first.



Unfortunately, I couldn't find all of the same papers I'd used, but I think it turned out all right.



This was part of a scrap tag challenge on Just Cre8. It's a neat game where you start with one layout and send it to the first person on the list, they take some kind of inspiration from it, and then pass their layout on. This is my take. If you're on the site this weekend, you can see the whole progression (it's kindof like telephone, the last layout looks nothing like the first).

Long Weekend with my Hubby!

Some of you know that my hubby had to go away and teach a course in Winnipeg for a month (hence all of the house painting, yard work, and general keep busy projects I've been doing lately). I finally got to pick him up at the airport Friday night, but in the meantime, I had to keep myself busy during the day. Unfortunately, I had the day off, which just made the time pass slower.

I visited a friend, did some shopping, read a book, tidied the house, talked on the phone... and then it was only 4 and I had to wait until 11:15 to pick him up.... so, preggo that I am, I decided I was hungry and craving sushi (don't panic, I don't do the fishy sushi or anything raw, just veggies). So I headed out to find a sushi spot near our house. An hour and a half later, no sushi, but still a craving, so I went to Safeway and bought everything I needed to make it.



That's determination! I'd never actually made sushi before, but it turned out well and was pretty easy to make. I used cucumbers, carrots, and sweet potatoes in mine. mmmm.... I will definitely make my own sushi again. Much easier than driving around aimlessly.

Luckily, I kept myself busy until it was time to pick him up and we had the rest of the long weekend to spend together!

And now a layout to continue with the food topic....



Our first meal in Italy, complete with a fantastic bottle of house wine (for 3 Euros). Even cheap wine is good in Italy!

And a layout of Brad and I in Nice, France:



Hope you all had a good long weekend!

Venice and Doctor's Appointments

I had another doctor's appointment today. Baby and I are both doing good. The baby is all ready over a pound and is growing every day. Heart rate was still around 151, lots of movement again, all around, a good check-up!

I had a plan last night to try a layout without layering paper (which is my usual go-to scrapbooking game plan) and had some success. I took a lot of close-up pictures of the detail in Venice so I made a layout about that. Lots of photos and not much paper. Only layered the title and the journaling I guess, but for me, that's pretty impressive.



I did this while watching the season finale of Lost. Anyone watch it? I thought it was really good and what a cliff hanger!

Now, I just need to wait four months and try and ensure I'm not delivering a baby or desperately trying to get a baby to sleep to see what happens...

More layouts

So, the sun is out... even though there's frost on my deck from last night, it may be a nice day today. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday, Bailey and I walked in freezing rain/snow that stung the face. Yuck!!! What happened to May flowers?

Here are a few more Europe layouts. I gathered all of the photos I had left and divided them into pages.. only about 30 or so more that I'd like to make. Sigh.
I'll keep plugging away and hopefully get caught up.

This is another one of us in Dubrovnik's Old Town. It still needs some journaling, and I might add to it later, still not sure if I'm done with this one.







And, the Mouth of Truth.... This was outside a little church in Rome. The story is, if you are thought to be telling a lie, you must place your right hand in the mouth of the monument and tell your story. If it's a lie, it will snap closed on your hand. Yikes!

Guess what???

I just got back from our second ultrasound. The baby was a bit more cooperative, this time, so I got a good look at Baby Malacko.

And ....... we're having a

Baby Girl!!!!

I'm so excited! We got some pictures of the new addition and got to see the baby again. It just makes it more real each time I see the baby or hear the heartbeat or feel a little kick or squirm. She was really active during the ultrasound. The tech kept laughing because he had to 'catch' her!

I can't wait to meet the little one!

Here are a few shots of her:



A close up of the legs and the face looking straight at you.



Profile of the baby



A profile (top, right you can see the face)



Giving the peace sign.....



A little downward dog (see the bum top left and the spine running to the right?) Apparently, baby likes the yoga class....

A few of my favourite things....

Two more layouts from the Europe trip... Must finish these photos before September....

These are both from Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. Are you starting to recognize the park? We took a lot of photos there. Plus, these layouts showcase two of my favourite new products.



The die-cuts (the leaf and the circl-y border strip) on this layout are from the new Cricut cartridge I got for my birthday. I really like it!! Very versatile. It's called Home Accents, if you're looking for a new cartridge to add to your collection, I recommend this one.



And this one uses my new favourite stamps. I love these stamps! They're from gel-a-tins and are so fantastic and fun. You will use them on all of your layouts, cards, anything you do from here on out. Trust me.

Scrapbooking Holiday

Did you all do something scrappy this weekend to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day?? Did you know that our little craft has a day to honour creativity? If you didn't, make sure you mark it down for next year and tell anyone who will listen that it's your day off! You must honour NSD and do nothing but scrapbook...

Here are a few sites that are offering giveaways or free downloads to celebrate. Good luck if you choose to enter any contests!

A great prize to be won from Scrapbook and Cards Today

Freebies from Creating Keepsakes

Memory Makers Giveaway and free downloads

Unfortunately, I wasn't home to celebrate the big day, but I made up for it a bit on Sunday. Here are a few of my more recent layouts:







I took these photos in a shadowy room, which kind of helps you see some of the folding I did. To add some dimension or even just show off a double sided sheet of paper, folds can be a really easy, quick technique.

In the fairy tale life layout, I simply folded over an edge of double sided paper. Pretty simple, but it highlights the rub-ons in the top corner and gives a little different look than the usual straight edged or rounded corners.



In the Old Town layout, I folded a border to add dimension. Still easy, just takes a few seconds longer.



Simply score four lines in your border piece (the distances between scored lines can vary depending on how you want it to look) and fold. I started with a four inch wide border and scored my first line 1 inch from the edge, then another one cm away. I folded the paper on the first line like you would a card, and then folded the second line back on top of itself. Do this with the other side and voila! Done.