Gracie's Birthday mini album

First off, Happy Birthday Auntie Linda!! Hope you have a great day!!!!

And on the topic of birthdays, since Gracie will be turning two in September, I figured it was time to share the mini album I made of her first birthday(s).


I put an acrylic cover and back page on this one and then bound it with the bind-it-all. I really like the look, plus, it all ready saved my inner pages from a little seepage from a nearby plant!



The colours are a little off, it really is bright and cheery, even though it looks a little dark and dreary....

Funny Friday

We've had a stressful past few days. Lost a Great Aunt and a great friend/former teacher, had a few setbacks and meltdowns with our nearly two year old (Terrible Twos???), and Gracie and I are sick.... again, so I need a few smiles to keep me positive. Here's a few quick laughs to keep you going for the weekend.

Smile #1
Gracie's take on strollercize:




Smile #2
An email I found in my junk folder from 'Vigara - Cheap'. Not only does this appeal to me because I'm anal about spelling, but I love that you can get 'Vigara' cheaply..... as long as you're not too worried that it's not Viagra. Locate your nearest hospital before taking these pills.

Smile #3
The Bridesmaids. I love the trailers for this movie! Can't wait to see it. Here's a link.
http://youtu.be/nrRd2QSsGc4

Smile #3
It's sunny outside!!!! Hurray for summer. Get outside and enjoy it, folks.

Tissue Paper Flowers

Even with all of the beautiful flowers outside, these are my favourite little blooms lately. I stole a bunch of old patterns from my mom and have been using them on my layouts and I love the look.





For these, I just made a quick accordian flower out of a strip of tissue paper and then smooshed it a little and put a button on top.

Simple, fun, and a great textural dimension on any layout, plus I'm recycling! Just doing my part for the environment.....

In Bloom

Our trees have exploded into blossoms this past week. They're so beautiful right now.

Luckily, the bugs aren't too bad in our backyard, so we can enjoy them up close, but they even make me smile through the window every time I see them.

Our plum tree:





The apple blossoms:



Gracie likes them, too.

Scrapbooking

A few quick layouts since I haven't shared any in awhile.

I am always crunched for time, so I like to streamline my creative process while still being artistic. On one of Gracie's naps, I had two pictures I wanted to scrapbook and couldn't decide which ones to use. I decided to use them both, do two seperate layouts at once. The nice part, they aren't layouts that will appear next to each other in Gracie's album because they're pictures of her at different ages.

If you have a few minutes, use the same sketch to make two layouts.





The basic sketch is pretty simple, three squares on the side, inked and sewn on, a picture (or two) opposite, a pattern spritzed on with Glimmer mist, and a title. Add a few embellishments, and voila!

Two layouts, two different looks, same basic idea.

....And still, dirty floors :)

Busy week

It seems like life is just busy every week....

Last weekend, we had Brad's mom up to help us look after Gracie while we were at a wedding (and for a visit). It was a lot of fun. Gracie got two grandmas in one week!! Lucky girl. She had a lot of fun and is still wandering around the house waiting for more company to pop out.

My friend from University stopped in for brunch and a visit and the wedding I mentioned was a three day affair. It was beautiful. The couple are East Indian and the sari's and dresses were gorgeous, plus, both bride and groom had about 7 outfits. Who says you only get one wedding dress??

More Pictures of Easter:

Ring around the Rosy








What a couple of cuties!!!

Gracie's Easter Pictures

Easter Dress..... check

Easter Bunnies..... check

Easter Cutie.....check







Thanks mom for the pictures, for coming up and watching Gracie, scrapbooking with me, visiting and going for walks, and cleaning my microwave : ) It was fun. Next time, stay longer and bring Papa.

New Online Scrapbooking Store

Visit Treasured Memories new online store this weekend to receive 25% of your order!!!
They're a great store, so I'm sure the new online component will be fabulous!

And.... Keep voting for Gracie!! See the post below for the link to follow. You can only vote once, so if you've voted, you're off the hook :)

Vote for Gracie!!

Updated! The link I had up before wasn't working, so here's a new way to vote.

She could win a prize...

Just go here and leave a comment saying I vote for Gracie Malacko, that's all you need to do. Only one vote or your vote doesn't count (Grandmas, that means you!)

Thanks!

Since those pictures are a little older, here's some more recent ones:







Notice the rug burn scar on her nose? Who said girls were full of sugar and spice? Gracie's got a bit of puppy dog's tails in her, I think.

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope all of you mom's out there are having a fantastic day!

A BIG happy Mother's Day to all of the mother's in my life, you've been an example, a shoulder to lean on and a blessing to have in my life.





There are more mother's in my life than I have pictures of, but here are a few special ones.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! You're the best mother, mentor, confidant, and friend a girl could have.

Easter Hats

I don't think I mentioned that we went to Airdrie on Easter weekend for a great supper at my aunt's place and a nice visit with my Grandma. It's so nice to have so much family fairly close by. We had a good trip and Gracie had fun (mostly with Katelynn, who knows all kinds of neat things).

Gracie got an Easter hat from my mom:





Oops, there's the bruise....



And one from my Grandma:



Pretty cute! She likes to model them for us.

Easter, Class and New Bruises

We went to Hanna last weekend to celebrate a belated Easter with my family and it was great. All of the photos of the weekend, and there area few good ones, are on my mom's camera, so you have to wait to see them....

Jada, Gracie and their friend Hawkin hunted for Easter eggs, which was pretty cute, plus Grams had matching dresses for Jada and Gracie (she actually bought them awhile ago, but they fit perfectly now and they're super springy and perfect for Easter).
We took the girls out to see some of the new calves and walk around the farm, which they loved and Gracie got lots of time with Grams and Papa. It was a good weekend.

My class at Artisan Emporium went well. Everyone did a great job and the time worked out just perfectly. I love seeing other people's spins on what I teach, too. There were some beautifully decorated projects and everyone was game to get inky and sticky, so it was fun!

Now, we've been back home all week, and I'm still trying to shake a cold. Two weeks I've had it and it won't leave me alone. We've got nothing planned, but yardwork this weekend, so hopefully that will put an end to it.

Here's a few pictures I took last night so you'd have something to look at.

Gracie and her babies, all tucked in.



Can you see her EAster tattoo sticking out of her sleeve? A big, sparkly bunny and Easter egg tattoo, and it has lasted through four baths and numerous hand washings all ready.... May still be there for Christmas.

And a close up of her nasty new bruise. I know kids are going to get bruises, but each one breaks my heart. Gracie got a little extra Easter candy last night, because I was feeling for her....