Kate's Life

And the bogging continues...

2010-01-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Today was a very good day! One of my fave stamping/scrapping places had their anniversary sale, so I HAD to go and check it out!! Needless to say, I indulged! I walked away with some awesome deals, and didn't break the bank too much! I added 2 sets of nesties, 3 Nellie stamps, 3 Maya chipboard albums and a whopping 7 new bellas!!! That along with some other odds and ends and I am a very a happy girl!!! If anyone is in the area, it is totally worth checking out the deals at the Paper Pickle in Chatham. It is always a worthwhile visit, now the prices are crazy good!

Here is another layout I finished this weekend. It is based on a sketch from CK's Feb issue. Some yummy Cosmo Cricket paper and some cute pics of my family! (if I do say so myself)

Have a great night everyone!

This may be a record...

2010-01-25T18:31:00.000-08:00

... 2 posts in as many days!!! Another layout from the online crop over at the Scrapping Turtle! The layout is based on a pagemaps sketch.

Hope it was a great Monday for all!

Lazy Sunday

2010-01-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

Hello! I have realized that I am never going to be a "regular" blogger- no discipline! I figured that I will just pop in from time to time, no guilt, no expectaions. Yeah, that should work.

My little man is off at Grandma and Grandpa's this weekend ( thank you Mom and Dad) and I have been taking advantage of the quiet time to play along with a sketches based online crop at The Scrapping Turtle!

Here is one of my layouts:

This layout is based on a sketch my our own Marissa- beautiful stuff lady!
Hope you all have a great day!!!

Happy Saturday!

2010-01-09T08:31:00.001-08:00

Good Morning! I hope you are having a great day! We are off to search for a new couch today, wish us luck!

Here is a layout that I completed last week. It is based on a pagemaps sketch ( love those sketches) and I am very pleased with the result! It didn't photograph well, but I figured I would post anyway:

Have a great day everyone!

I love Tuesday!

2010-01-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

Why do I love Tuesday, because my boys go off to work and school and I get to stay home...alone...and I can do whatever I want!!!! Today, I want to do nothing! I think I am just in recovery mode from Christmas! I hope to get some scrapping done today, and that is about it!

The one thing I am not loving today is the challenges I have with taking photos of my layouts! I have whipped up 3 new layouts so far this year, but I can't seem to get a decent photo of them! GRRRRRR!!! Clearly something I need to work on for 2010. Dispite the poor photograph, I am going to show you a layout featuring my word for this year.

I used a sketch by Julie Bonner ( love her sketches), pp is BG Eskimo kisses

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Yes, I am still here..

2010-01-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

...just really busy ( I know like everyone else, right?) I have allowed myself to get to busy living life and I haven't blogged about it!!! Things are great, we had a wonderful Christmas holiday and now I am getting ready to go back to work tomorrow! I figured a good way to get back to blogging is to post my 10 fav lo's from last year. I didn't get as much scrapping done as I had hoped ( by a lot!!!) but I am particularly happy with these projects! With no further ado...

The "spring flowers" lo was my first digi ( it is my only so far) so I had to include it!

I have completed 3 lo's so far this year ( yeah!) I need to journal, photograph and hopefully post soon!
Happy Sunday and for all returning to work/ school have a great Monday!!!

A big announcement!!!

2009-08-01T05:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday everyone!!! It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day around here!! Today is my first day of vacation (YEAH!!!) and I think my Aunt, Uncle and I are taking my little man to Greenfield Village in Dearborn Michigan for the day! We went for the first time about a month ago, and we liked it soo much we got a season's pass (thanks mom!). Looking forward to a fun day trip!

I am thrilled to announce that I have been chosen as the August Guest DT member for Scrapping Turtle http://www.turtlesoup.scrappingturtle.com/index.php?sid=7dde66b82509b38e9e5e97e2474e8a6e
The Scrapping Turtle is a wonderful store in beautiful St Jacob's Ontario. I love this place and the active message board is my online "home". If you haven't already- you should really check it out!!!
Our Sneak Peak projects went live this morning so I can share my first project with you:

This is my son and mother hanging out at the Henry Ford Museum. The papers are LYB Traveler, and I love them!!!

Thanks for looking! Have a great Sunday!

2009-07-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Sunday! I am visiting some family in London this weekend, but here is a post of a little something I did earlier this week! I was checking out Jennifer MCGuire's blog and she was making the cutest paper pieced owls! I had to try it out!

Aren't they cute! I love the eyes!! I have been working on some stuff this weekend, I will post later on this week! Enjoy your day!

A long lost blogger!

2009-07-21T08:36:00.001-07:00

I finally got a day off, and a chance to update my abandoned blog!!
Things around here have been very busy, good but busy! We have had alot of changes over the past few months! My DH lost his job with the Hospital ( cut backs are everywhere) and I was filling in full time for a LOA at a local dentist. Things were pretty touch and go for a little while- but I am happy to say that DH has a new job, and I have been hired for 3 days a week at the office I was temping at. WHEW!! What a roller coaster!

With all the working and stress, my creative pursiuts have taken a back seat. I am thrilled to have some time for myself and am planning an afternoon of scrapping for today!

Here are a few layouts that I completed on Sunday!

We have had some fun too! A couple of weekends ago we went to the Detroit Zoo and the Greenfield village for the weekend. This is a photo of TX on the carousel ( sorry for the spelling mistake on the lo). We had a blast!

Talk about retro supplies!!! I was going through my stash looking for supplies to do this weeks's 52 weeks sketch ( my first layout is a sketch from this awesome site also) I can't get over how big TX is getting- he looks like such a big boy in this photo!

Thanks for checking in! I will try to keep things up better now that things are slowing down ( YIPPEEE!!!)
Have a great day all!

Kwerner colour Challenge #52

2009-05-17T09:31:00.000-07:00

It has been far to long since I have done any scrapping ( or blogging for that matter)! With it being the long weekend around here, I had hoped to do some scrapping, but my mojo is MIA. Kristina's challenges always provide great inspiration, so I jumped in and made a card ( 2 actually, I couldn't decide which I liked better!)

Here is the inspiration photo:

And here are the cards:

I got these bird nesties at Scrapfest a few weeks ago and this is the first time I am using them- soo cute!!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

2009-04-07T15:46:00.000-07:00

Well, the gorgeous springy weather I was basking in on the weekend has been replaced by...snow. Yup, the nasty white stuff is back and I- for one- am not impressed!!! I was out taking photos like this the other day

Oh well, it can't last forever...right!?!

Here is another lo I completed this weekend. I have decided that I am a bindge scraper, I will do nothing for weeks and then suddenly I scrap 4 or 5 pages in a day! Can't argue with the process, I will just go with it!

This lo was for the ongoing BINGO challenge over at the Scrapping Turtle! The challenge this week was to scraplift a lo in the gallery. No problemo- the turtle ladies are a constant source of inspiration and the moment I saw this lo by Kim M, I knew I had to lift it!!! Just me and my boys hanging out at the beach a few weekends ago ( I can't wait for the better weather!!)

That is it for tonight! I am hoping to tackle the KWerner design colour challenge this week, so I may be back!

Have a good one!

A rainy end to a beautiful weekend!

2009-04-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous weekend we had around here! The sun was shining, the weather was lovely and warm and we had nothing we had to do!!! Yeah- relaxing weekend at home! I even got some scrapping done. I took a few hours out today and did a little shopping- I picked up the cutest little purse- I have to take a picture tomorrow!

Both of these layouts are based on sketches by Julie Bonner at the 52 weeks 52 sketches site. I love this site, the sketches are awesome as are the layouts posted! Check it out!

The photo of this layout is awful-but I am really happy with how it turned out! TX is starting to play pretend and I couldn't help but scrap this photo of him from the other night when he was growling like a dinosour! It didn't hurt that I had the perfect Basic Gray paper lying around to scrap with!

These are some photos I took when TX and I baked valentine cookies! He loved cutting out the shapes and decorating! I would have taken a photo of the finished product, but they didn't last very long!

I should head off to bed! I did a couple of other lo's too, I will post soon! Have a great Monday!

I may be the world's worst blogger...

2009-03-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

...and I am sorry for that! I have been totally swamped the last month. First we were sick( for what felt like forever) then I had a week when I worked 6 days in a row (way too much for me), and finally we had visitors ( my 3 and 5 yr old nephews, along with their dad and my mother in law) which was alot of fun, but in a word BUSY!!! This week thing slowed down a bit and we spent the day hanging out doing...not much actually! I actually got some scrapping done so here are a few recent projects!

This is a layout I did based on a sketch by Kim M over at the Scrapping Turtle. Thanks for the great sketch Kimmy! Way to get those Christmas pictures scrapped!

Here is a silly one of my little man! I saw these foam X's and O's at my local grocery store and thought they would make a great background for a Valentine's lo! It was a super quick one and it captures him perfectly!

This layout is a picture of my Grandmother (she will be 94 next month!) and I was really excited to be able to scrap this photo. I still need to do the journalling, but considering how long it has taken me to get some scrapping done these days, I figured I better get this posted!

Thanks for your patience with me! I will try to be better in the future!!!

Bad, bad blogger..

2009-02-21T09:38:00.000-08:00

... I am!!! Sorry all- it has been a crazy month around here, and my scrapping and blogging (not to mention cleaning, grocery shopping etc) have fallen to the wayside! Grab a coffee, and find a comfy place to sit, this could take a while!!!

So, you all know that I have been looking for work for the past 7 mos or so (YIKES!!!). I was very fortunate to be called in to work a day at a local office in October of last year, and have done a fair bit of temping there since. It is a wonderful place, 5 mins from my home and I am truly loving the time I have spent there. Those temping days evolved into an offer for Fridays on a permanent basis (YEAH!!). At the beginning of February, I was called to do a week at the office, and upon arriving to work on the Monday morning, was told that the Hygienist who I have been replacing is taking a LOA- we don't know how long for, but her full time hours were available if I would like to work them. I have taken on the hours for as long as they need me, and am very happy for the work. The problem was, where was I going to put the little man?

I had checked out the local Montessori school in the fall of last year and really fell in love the program and atmosphere in the school. Fortunately they had an opening and TX started the beginning of last week ( Feb 9th) and he is liking it very much.

So all is good...right? Not quite. As is typical with a child's first little while in a "child care setting" TX came home on Friday with a bit of a cough. Saturday morning he had a fever, a really high fever!!! Long story short ( for this part anyways) his fever went up and down for Sat, Sun and the holiday Monday and by Tuesday morning he was constantly running a very high fever, is a walking runny nose and is barking like a Jack Russel ( no offence to Jack Russell owners, the ones I know tend to bark alot...they are really cute though!). So I had to miss the 3 days of work I had booked ( they have been great- everyone has kids and they have been through this themselves- thank goodness!) and now we are all really sick!!! The little man is finally past the fever stage ( 5 days later!) and is just barking like crazy ( not to mention the only way he seems to be able to communicate is via whining- I know he is getting better when that happens!) So there you go, our first daycare disease! I guess we don't mess around here- go big ( or deathly ill as it may be) or go home!!!

That is it! Sorry for my cranky rant!!!
I did manage to finish a couple of projects, and I feel you deserve something pretty to look at after living through my sicky girl ramblings!

This is a project I created for Carolyn's 5x5 challenge over at the Turtle. She did a twist this time and used a Disney character as inspiration for the items she sent. I got Donald Duck, and the pp she sent had all of the characters so I made little puzzles for Thomas Xavier for Valentines! Thanks Carolyn- lots of fun!( I have since found the lost Donald piece!)

This is a lo I started about 4 weeks ago, based on a sketch from Julie Bonner's 52 weeks 52 sketches forum. I used a sketch picture that we got from Chuckie Cheese a few weeks ago ( Emma's birthday party- too fun!). I really liked the picture and the sketch is great- the lo isn't exactly what I pictured, but it is done!!!

Finally- a card for my sweetie for Valentines Day! I have had this stamp for a while and I basically copied my friend Jenn's idea with the bling for flowers (thanks Jenn!). Thanks for the roses sweetie, they were beautiful!!!

That is it for now! Have a good day- stay healthy!!!!

I have been TAGGED!

2009-01-27T20:18:00.001-08:00
So I have been tagged by my buddy Vic! The challenge states that you are to go to your picture files, select the 6th picture in the 6th file and uplod it on to your blog. You are also supposed to tell a story about the picture! Cool eh!
Here is my pic:

This picture was taken this fall at our local Zehrs store. TX was totally facinated with all of the cool pumpkins, and so I thought it would be fun to do a little impromptu photo session among the pumpkins! The weather was great, warm and sunny and we had been talking alot about Halloween. This was one of my test shots. He is such a monkey!!! Sorry, not a great picture!

I have to admit I thought about cheating and choosing a better photo ( how bad am I!!!). Insted I am going to post this picture, taken 2 frames after the dictated photo ( and ironically 6th in the succesion for the photo session!)
Here is my cute little man posing with the pumpkins. How cute is he! I need to remember that when he is screaming for no apparent reason tomorrow( it will happen!)

Good night all! I am off to work tomorrow ( for a woman with a job only 1 day a week, I sure am working alot! NOT COMPLAINING!!!!)

Snowy Tuesday Morning!

2009-01-27T06:01:00.001-08:00
Howdy!!! I hope that everyone is having a great day! We got a little more snow last night, not alot but I am so sick of this cold weather, I would prefer some SUN!!!
Oh well!
Sorry I haven't posted in ages, we have been very busy around here lately! My (usually sweet) 2 1/2 yr old son has been playing with some of those infamous 2 yr old attitudes of late, and we are finding ourselves at odds quite a bit! I don't know if it is all the changes in our life catching up with him, a recent growth spurt ( I just had to get out the size 4 shirts...Yes I said size 4!!!) or that we were due for some attitude problems. Whatever the reason, I am not impressed!!! He has been up to everything from pulling all the toys out in his toy space ( and I mean, every toy!!!), to biting me when I was getting him ready for bed the other night ( OUCH!!) to putting 5 double rolls of toilet paper into the toilet ( well, actually he dipped the first 4 into the toilet and then placed them in the sink. The fifth was dropped on the floor when I came into the bathroom!) AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have to admit, we have been very spoiled with good behaviour, so this is a real shock for me! I am trying to spend some extra time with him in an effort to impove things! As a result- not much scrapping for me! I did manage to get one lo done for the 52 weeks 52 sketches site. I think I am going to add something to it- it is a little too simple ( even for me!!)

We took the pics of TX reading a story with his friends Logan and Emma at a literacy day event. Can you tell I just learned how to isolate colour in a BW photo!!lol!
I think this is such a cool technique and I thought it was perfect for this lo!

That is all for today! Sorry about the vent- thanks for your patience with me!!
Have a great day!

Happy Sunday!

2009-01-18T13:05:00.000-08:00
Happy Sunday!! I hope you are all staying warm and enjoying yourselves! I am spending another quiet day at home, doing some scrapping and just chilling out!
I had a lovely surprise the other day from my friend Dee from the Scrapping Turtle! She gave me this awesome Blog award (My first!!!). Dee is amazing and I am honored that she gave it to me! I would have posted earlier but I just figured out how to add this- sad yes?

Here are a bunch of lo's I have done over the past few days ( there is an upside to being stuck inside!). The first is my first entry into the Turtle's BINGO challenge! Our challenge was to use a transparent object in our lo. I put my cuttlebug to work and came up with this:

Here is one of about a zillion Christmas lo's that I will be doing! We did our at home Christmas on the 26th. It was quiet, unhurried and lots of fun. Pretty much a perfect first Christmas in our new home!

Finally, I was looking at the wonderful pictures of family and friends that we recieve in our Christmas cards, thinking what a shame it is that they seem to dissaper into the junk drawer a few weeks after Christmas. This year, I am going to scrap them! I loved these pictures of my Brother inlaw and his family out in Calgary, so I started with them:

Sorry for the super long post! Have a good one!

Will it ever get warmer????

2009-01-16T17:16:00.001-08:00
Happy chilly Friday evening!!! Ok, so I realize that it is alot colder elsewhere, but it dosen't make me feel any warmer!lol
The good news about frigidly cold temperatures is that it is perfect weather to SCRAPBOOK!!!! I went to a friend's place and we let our little people entertain each other so that we could play cut and paste! Good day! The kids had a blast, I got 3 lo's done, and we stayed warm doing it! I am feeling like I am on a bit of a roll, so I hope to do some more once the muchkin is in bed!!!
Here are a couple of things I did this week!
The first is a card that started off as my KWerner colour challenge card, but I just couldn't put orange on it!!! I really like it as is, mostly because I got to use my new nestie set...Yeah!!! Now who to give it to.......

This is a lo I did for Julie Bonner's 52 weeks 52 sketches blog. I love her sketches, they really get my mojo going! The subject is my little man playing in the snow! I know I am biased, but how cute is he???

That is all for now- someone is done his bath so I better get going!! Have a great night! STAY WARM!

KWerner Challenge #38

2009-01-16T06:15:00.000-08:00
Good Morning! It is FREEZING cold here today!!! I just had a friend invite me over to crop today ( she has a 4 yr old daughter,so the kids will keep each other occupied-or so we hope!!!) and I am just trying to get modivated to go outside!! So far, not too good! I took advantage of the good light today to take pics of a few projects.
Here are the colours for KWerner's colour challenge this week:

Here is my take:

I used a couple of Michael's $1.00 stamps to do this one today! I coloured the stamp and did my background, then stamped the sentiment, embossed and popped it up! Voila! Throw on a bow and call it done! I really like the simplicity of it-I hope you like it too!
Have a good one-stay warm!!!

A couple of layouts! ( and a card!)

2009-01-12T13:38:00.001-08:00
Howdy all! I hope your Monday is going well! I have had a few hours of rare alone time and I am loving it!!! I do have to go and pick the little man up, so a quick post before I go!
First is the card, Kim M at the Turtle message board gave us a challenge to make a card using only cardstock! Ha, ha, Kim, very funny!!! I got out my cuttlebug, a few dies and a embossing folder and here is the result:

This lo was based on a sketch by our GDT member at the Turtle ( can you tell I spend a lot of time there!) Louisa! I love her lo based on the sketch and I was happy to have a way to remember on of my favorite memories from Christmas Morning this year:

Finally, this is a pic of my Cousin's new little baby girl! It has been so long since a girl was born in our family, and I was happy to be able to use some PINK for a change! The lo is based on a sketch by Julie Bonner at 52 weeks, 52 sketches blog!

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Happy Sunday!

2009-01-11T07:20:00.001-08:00
I am trying to get caught up on posting some lo's I completed in the past few weeks! I have decided that I am a batch scrapper...I won't do much for a while and then I will do 3-4 lo's within a couple of days! I am a similar blogger, as a result you are getting a few lo's today! Sorry for the poor photos, I should retake them but I am feeling really lazy today! lol
The first lo is from our visit with Santa- we had a lot of fun!!! Definatly on our list of holiday activities for next year! Thomas Xavier got to decorate his own tree this year! I dragged out the little 3 foot tree we decorated in our apartment and he went to it! Lots of fun!!! Turns out it is the perfect size for him, and we got a kick out of watching him show it off to all of our visitors over the holidays!
These are some older pics! I took this during the Migration Parade this year. Lots of fun- who can argue with a giant inflated duck on a float!

This final one is based on a sketch posted by Dee over at the turtle mb! Thanks for the great sketch Dee! This is my favorite story from this Christmas! What a riot he is!!!

Ok, that is all for now! Today is going to be a relaxing day at home! We got about 2 feet of snow last night, so it is looking like a winter wonderland out there! We did some playing in the snow yesterday, and I think we will have to venture out again today!

Have a good day everyone!

Kwerner design blog Colour inspiration challenge #37

2009-01-08T06:39:00.001-08:00
Good Morning all! I have to apologize for my negligent posting as of late! The holidays were crazy- lots of fun but really busy and my creative pursuits got kinda lost in the shuffle! Well, today I am back with my submission for Kwerner's 37th Colour Challenge!
Here are the colours:and here is my card: I didn't use the olive green colour - didn't have the proper colour in my collection ( note to self- buy olive!) so I kept the green to a minimum. I just got this Bella stamp (my first!) and I loved it so much I knew I wanted to use it if possible for this card! I am still working on the colouring thing- but it is coming along!
Thanks for looking. I have a few scrapbook lo's that I completed last week that I hope to post later in the day!
Have a great day and Happy 2009 everyone!

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T17:05:00.000-08:00
Just a quick note to wish everyone a Happy New Year! I am home doing some very overdue scrapping, so I will have lots to post tomorrow (It's about time eh???).
Everyone have a great night and be safe! Here is to a wonderful 2009!!!

The Latest Christmas Tree EVER!!!

2008-12-23T18:50:00.000-08:00
So I am sure that there are some families who decorate on Christmas Eve, but this is the absolute latest I have ever put at tree up! Whatever- it is done, and although a little lopsided, the tree looks great! It is really big- standing at about 9 feet- but it fills our now empty living room quite nicely! It almost makes me happy we don't have any furniture in the room...almost! lol! Oh well next year! I took some shots of our fireplace mantle too- it is much nicer in real life- couldn't get a good shot today! I have to thank my Mom, my Aunt Pam and my Uncle Ted ( for the awesome baby sitting!) for helping me with the decorating! Also thanks to the DH for chopping the end off the tree and helping me set it up! Sadly it has to be out at the curb on Jan 5th so we don't get to enjoy it for long! Here are some pics! ENJOY!

Only how many days!!!!

2008-12-21T16:16:00.000-08:00
Hello all! Sorry for my very poor posting of late! I was very fortunate to get work for the past 3 weeks! The office I have been working at is wonderful and it was great to get back into the swing of things again! My temp stint there is now over (sigh) so I have some time to get caught up on all of the thing I had planned to to the past 3 weeks! In other words AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Oh well, I have all of my shopping and wrapping done, have purchased enough food to feed a small battalion and now it is just down to the last of the list! I finally purchased a Christmas Tree on Friday night, and after a day in the garage, it is standing ( very) tall and ready in the living room. It is a very good thing we have vaulted ceilings and no furniture in the room because the tree is HUGE!!!!! I can't wait to decorate it!
I have had a real drought of scrap related stuff, but I am hoping to get some time over the next little while!
Before I go, I wanted to link up a chance for everyone to win a little blog candy! The team over at shortcuts is offering up some yummy treats- go check it out!!!
http://sheetloadshortcuts.blogspot.com/2008/12/frost-y-giveaway.html
Have a good one all! I will post a pic of the monster tree once we get a chance to decorate!

Yes, I am still alive....

2008-12-08T17:58:00.001-08:00
I just feel really rotten! I have had a cold for like 2 weeks, managed to get my Mom and my 93 Yr old Grandmother sick and it is still going on!!!! I haven't done any scrapping in a dogs age and my mojo is MIA! I am going to tidy up my scrap space and try to find some inspiration!
Have a good day all!g

Monday, Monday!!!

2008-11-24T19:17:00.000-08:00
Hey all! Ok I seriously need to get back to blogging and creating- I am on a bit of a dry spell right now! I am heading off to London tomorrow ( aka land of the tonnes of snow) and so I wanted to post a quick little hello before I go!

We had a great time at the Santa dinner the other night. TX loved seeing Santa and we saw many of our friends from the Kingsville early years centre. We did crafts, sang songs, and did the sitting on Santa's lap deal! Pete was able to come for the lighting of the lights at the park and the fireworks that followed! Great fireworks display- I am so impressed with how well organized everything was!

TX was all excited about going to see Santa. As we were getting ready to go, I asked him what he wanted for Christmas.

TX- a box

me- what do you want in the box

TX- a pickle

me- uh ok, what else?

TX- a sandwich

me- what kind of sandwich?

TX- grilled cheese

Seriously!!!!! I thought I was going to pee myself I laughed so hard!

On Santa's lap, when asked he said- a candy cane

and later on that night- Jammies- purple jammies

So now I have to find a box, put a pickle and a grilled cheese in it, top it off with a candy cane and then find some purple jammies ( preferably fuzzy ones!).

If anyone can locate purple fuzzy jammies in size 2 or 3 let me know ok! lol!!!!

Here are a few pics:
Don't you just love the cheesy had I am sporting!!! Terrible pics but a great night!

Have a great one!

Kate

Happy Saturday!!! My first TAG!!!

2008-11-22T10:37:00.000-08:00
Howz it going? It is a cold, but still snowless Saturday here! Spent the AM trying to get the house cleaned up ( trying to make you proud Kim!!!) and just had a little nap. The "Sweet Boy" ( as he is referred to by my Grandmother) is having a much needed nap! We are heading out to the Dinner with Santa and the lighting of the festival of lights this evening so he needs to have a really good rest!!! I am really pumped about tonight! You go and eat, Santa is there for the kids to visit, there is a choir singing carols, games and crafts for the kids and they do fireworks after the park is all lit up!!! Should be amazing!!! I will let you all know tomorrow!

As for the Tag business- I was tagged by my friend Carla over at http://moralia.wordpress.com/! She is an amazing scrapper and a card maker extraordinaire! I am honored to be tagged by her ( it is my first one!!)
Here are the specs:

So here we go ( I can't promise it is going to be pretty! lol)

1. I hate my handwriting! ( if you ever saw it you would understand!) I have tried every children's handwriting book to practise, I even bought the Heidi Swapp book! No help- it is still terrible!!!!

2. I always sing when I am in the car. Can't be helped, it just happens!

3. My bed is my favorite place in the whole world!

4. I secretly force my child to watch Backyardigans because I like it ( he doesn't hate it, but I think I like it more!)

5. Scrapbooking embellishments kinda scare me! I don't know what to do with them- it is kinda like wearing jewelry, I can't for the life of my figure out how they go together!

6. I don't eat fish. Well, I will eat fish and chips- as long as there is more batter than fish and I can smother it in vinegar!

7. I am ridiculously competitive when playing any board game or cards! I love to play, but I get kinda crazy when I do!!!

Ok, so now that everyone knows I am a complete wierdo! I get to tag some people! I decided to bug some of the ladies over at the Scrapping Turtle mb:

1. My bud Vic @ http://thepickyprincess.blogspot.com/. It is her fault that I am into the whole scrapping thing and I can never thank her enough!( also, she is an awesome friend and I really miss her!) I like to call her Digi queen!!!

2. Kim @http://21daystochangetheworld.blogspot.com/. She is such an amazing person and I am constantly inspired by her! She is changing the world !

3. Tracey@http://trays-spot.blogspot.com/. She is such a doll! Love her scrappy stuff and just adore her as a person!!!

4. Dee@http://deespapertree.blogspot.com/. Super talented and awesome fun scrapper who cracks me up! I am really enjoying getting to know her and her buddy-

5. Regan@http://stampymcstamperson.blogspot.com/. Wicked funny and also super talented!
You and Dee are so much fun!

6. Jillian@http://sleepisnotrequired.blogspot.com/. She is likely to want to kill me for this! Jillian is SUPER MOM and possibly the most patient person I have ever come across! ( Great scrapper too!) Sorry Jillian!
7.Heather @http://madeinniagarafallsca.com/. Heather does the coolest projects and I am enjoying getting to know her over at the Turtle mb!

That's it! I hope you ladies can forgive me for the tag- it is supposed to be fun- right!

Have a great day everyone! I am off the see the man in red!!!!

KWerner Colour Challenge #31

2008-11-20T06:47:00.000-08:00

I love the inspiration photo for this week's challenge! The colours were a bit of a challenge for me ( I think I redid this card 3 times and still am not crazy about it!). I love this stamp from Unity Stamp Co. and I really wanted to use it! Tell me what you think- I love getting feedback!
Have a great day everyone!
Kate

Tuesday already!!!

2008-11-18T05:55:00.001-08:00
Good Morning! Sorry that I am so behind in my blogging! Dh is away this week, so I am solo with the little man. No biggie really, but I am still not feeling so great! TX is back up to full speed ( thank goodness!) but I am thinking this first year of daycare illnesses is going to kill me!!!
Haven't been doing nearly enough crafting lately but here are a few things from past days!

I made these cards for Dee's ribbon challenge over at the Turtle mb:

Sorry for the terrible pic ( don't you just love the fancy border with the seagulls in my downstairs bathroom- I really need to change that!!!). Here is a close up

Really simple stuff, just some ribbon weaving, a little cuttlebug embossing, stamped the sentiment and popped it onto a matting! I love the little mug! It is from a set of push pins I got at the dollar store a few years ago. I had always meant to scrap with it but couldn't find the right project. I really like it on the card!

Well, the ribbon project brought to light a very scary situation...the state of my ribbon storage! My ribbon was a snarled mess! I had thought of getting one of those handy dandy ribbon organizing bags, but I am cheap ( and have no spending money) so I thought I could make my own! I found this nifty bag at Liquidation World in London when I was there a few months ago. It looked perfect for this project!

I promptly forgot about my project and the bag sat in the corner of my scrapping space for a while...until I actually had to use some ribbon! I sat down the other night with my handy dandy Silent Setter ( to think I almost got rid of that when I got my crop a dile!) and within in 10 min I had a bag that looked kinda like swiss cheese! The hardest part is rolling up all of my ribbon and loading it in the bag!

Here is the finished product

A close up

I am proud of myself- can you tell!

I think I need to attack my poor photo results now that I can't photograph outside any more ( as impressive as my seagull papered bathroom is, I am not thrilled with the photographic results!)
I found a link a while ago instructing on how to make your own light box. I recommended it to another scrapping blogger ( Carla- she is awesome!!! check her blog out http://moralia.wordpress.com/) and she is going to try it! I think I should too!
Here is the link for the instructions
http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent/
I am going to try to get this done on the weekend!

Well, I'm off! I see the KWerner design blog has a new colour inspiration posted so I am going to check it out!
Have a wonderful day all!
Kate

Happy Friday all!!!

2008-11-14T07:35:00.001-08:00
So I said I would update last night and didn't get to it! Sorry about that! I will make up for it today! Grab a coffee, this might be a long one!

First off- here are some more projects I completed for the Scrapping Turtle online crop last weekend. The first project is an altered can ( as challenged by Dee). I kept it really simple and just covered it in a paper scrap, added some paper ribbon and added a paper label I cut on my cricut. The label is 2 pieces, I inked the border and heat embossed it and the stamped sentiment. Right now it is storing my sharpie pens! This is for a challenge to use a work or phrase from a children book or song. I think it speaks for itself! What a goof! This is a pic from the first day he pulled himself up in the crib!
This lo was a challenge to use one big photo. This sure is one big photo!!! Took this shot at Storybook Garden's over the Thanksgiving weekend. Really simple lo!

Last one from the online crop. Another take on the children's song/ book challenge. I finally used the paper my buddy Vic gave me for my baby shower gift ( Yikes- so overdue!). I haven't scrapped quite a few of TX's pics from his first year, so it was great to get this lo done! These pics were taken just before we left the hospital! What a doll!

Everyone seems to be talking about copic markers these days. I would love to try them ( I am all about the scrapbooking tools) but now is not the time to be spending money ( see previous posts re. job search!!!). My friend Vic ( she rocks!) found this online tutorial that uses Sharpie and Bic Mark it pens to mimic the look of Copic markers! Here is the link http://afterhoursstamper.blogspot.com/2008/06/tutorial-how-to-get-copic-like-results.html
I have a lot of Sharpies, so I figured I would try this out! Here is what I have come up with so far, I made some cards up with the stamped images that I couloured!

I think I like the last one the best! I found that heat embossing the stamped image helped to keep things a little neater! The stamps I used are from a pack I got at Walmart for approx. $5.00 ( it came with 2 other stamps). It is simple and very clear so it made a great first image to try colouring with!

That is it for projects- bored yet? It has been a bit of a rough week around here. A little girl at TX's daycare came down with Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. In the wonderful way that young children share germs, guess what we have been dealing with this week! FUN!
Luckly for us, he hasn't had too much of an outbreak, mostly sores in his mouth and on his legs. It has made for a very uncomfortable little man, lots of crying and very little eating or sleeping! Not a happy camper this week! The worst seems to be over, he had a good sleep last night and actually ate some cereal for breakfast! This is a huge improvement! Hopefully he should be up to speed by Monday!

Here is to wishing everyone a great day and weekend! I am hoping to get the young one out for some fresh air today- doesn't look to bad out there!

Caio for now!
Kate

KWerner Design Challenge # 30

2008-11-13T08:19:00.000-08:00
Good Morning all! Sorry for being such a bad blogger of late, I will update later! Here is my entry for the colour challenge at KWerner Design blog this week. Here are the colours:
I don't have the SU colours, so I had to wing it. My photo isn't really doing it justice, but the base colour is a very deep olive. The primas have the celery green (I know a streach, but it counts-right?)
Thanks for checking in! I plan to post again later today!
Kate

Catching up on some scrapping!

2008-11-07T14:05:00.001-08:00
Well, it is a cool, rainy, miserable day outside-perfect weather for Scrapbooking!!!!
I have been a little uninspired lately, so I was due for a good dose of Scrappin' Mojo! Well, it looks as though I got it!
I finally finished this Halloween lo I started last week. I couldn't figure out what it needed, and then I found these Martha Stewart glittery birds and that did it! I am thrilled to finally get it done! The other reason for my creative push is an online crop that is going on over at The Scrapping Turtle mb! Our DT has put together an awesome array of challenges to get us all moving! It started last night and I have already finished 3!!! I never scrap that fast, but it is all falling into place right now! Come on over and play along with us- it is a very friendly group and lots of talented scrappers to chat with http://www.turtlesoup.scrappingturtle.com/index.php.

I found some old pics of TX and couldn't resist using Kim M's sketch for my lo. Her challenge was called a "recipe for Disaster" and the pictures seemed appropriate!

Lisa posted a challenge to use the colour RED! This is an easy one for me- Love RED! I used this week's sketch from Julie Bonner's 52 weeks 52 Sketches blog as my outline! She is a very talented sketch artist and she often has very yummy blog candy! Check her out @ http://juliebonner.typepad.com/52_sketches_52_weeks/

This lo is just very silly! Regan posted a cheesy picture challenge, and I thought of this picture immediately!!! Just some silliness-not my usual style at all, but I like how it turned out!

Whew! That is enough for today methinks!!! I have ideas for a few more of the challenges, so I may have more post tomorrow (depends how early a certain little man goes to bed!)

Have a great night!
Kate

KWerner Colour Challenge

2008-11-06T08:15:00.000-08:00
Good Morning! Well, I survived another day of handing out resumes ( 24 more today, I am officially over 100 out so far!) and actually got a little bit of scrapping and card making done! Here is my take on KWerner's colour challenge this week.
This is her inspiration picture ( great colours aren't they!)
And here is my card:

I was inspired by a sketch from the Card Sketch a day blog http://cardsketchaday.blogspot.com/2008/11/card-sketch-day-65-circle-week.html
I used my nesties to cut and emboss my scalloped circles and stamped and heat embossed my sentiment. I love these challenges, it defiantly makes me use colour combos I would never actually think of myself!

Quick update

2008-11-04T05:17:00.000-08:00
Good Morning! Sorry I haven't updated in a couple of days- things have been crazy! TX has graciously shared his sicky germs, so now all 3 of us are sick! I feel rotten!!! How sad is it that he has had this for days and has been less vocal ( read whiny) about it than I feel! Makes me realize what a great kid I have!

Nothing new to post project wise today. I have been working on my Halloween lo for 4 days now ( got started good and early) but my printer is out of ink and I still need to journal- maybe it will be finished tonight. Not feeling all that inspired to scrap...hopefully just a byproduct of this nasty bug!

I did manage to go out and hand out another 17 resumes yesterday. I think my total is somewhere close to 100 by now- still no job! I figure it is a numbers game, eventually it has to get me somewhere! I am planning another blitz tomorrow, wish me luck!!!

Off to clean up the house! Have a great day all!
Kate

Halloween shots

2008-11-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

Hello!
I hope everyone had a great time last night and that the come down from the sugar high isn't too brutal! We had fun! It was TX's first trick or treat experience and so it was a special Halloween for us! Too bad he was still quite sick, but when there is candy involved, my little man can rise to the occasion!
In the morning we did the Halloween Parade with the other kids from the Early Years Centre- soo cute! I wish I had gotten some good photos but I was too busy pulling the wagon! The children were totally adorable and it was fun to trick or treat at the local businesses.

As for the big event last night, he did very well! We lasted a little over an hour ( and used the wagon again ) and he had a great time.

Here are a few pictures:

Happy November all, Have a great day!

2008-10-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Good morning! I have been a bad blogger of late and haven't posted in a while! I have been dealing with a sick little man, so scrapping, blogging, (and pretty much everything else) has kind of fallen to the wayside! I did manage to squeak this little card out for KWerner's design challenge this week.
Kinda wild isn't it! Oh well! I used my new embossing folder and inked the raised surfaces to get the colour combo ( red ink on orange and black ink on white paper) and it turned out looking pretty darn cool! I didn't have any sage coloured ribbon so I used more of a lime green instead.

To update you, the Wiggles concert was great- TX loved it! I think he was fighting the cold already as he was really sedate during the concert- he kinda just stared at the stage in a trance like state! GG did well, she tolerated a lot and I am pretty sure I can guarantee she was the only 93 yr old there! I am hoping to do something with the photos soon and will post when I can!

Have a great day!
Kate

Preparing for the concert event of the year!!!

2008-10-25T07:20:00.001-07:00
Good Morning! This weekend my ds and I are in London because we are going to be seeing "The Wiggles" on Monday evening! If you don't know who the Wiggles are- you clearly don't have young kids! They are a musical phenomena for the pre- school set consisting of 4 middle aged Aussie men, a giant dancing dinosaur named Dorothy, a dancing dog named Wags, an octopus named Henry and a goofy pirate named Captain Feathersword. Kids ( mine in particular) love these guys- they are hugely popular and successful and cause me to ask "why didn't I think of this???" every time I watch a video! I purchased tickets ages ago and now the concert is approaching!!! It will be a lot of fun! Just because I like to make my life more interesting, my 93 yr old Grandmother is coming with us! Wish me luck, I am going to the Wiggles with a 2 yr old and a 93 yr old!!!! I promise to report back!!!

Before I head off, here is a recent project I completed in responce to a couple of challenges over at the turtle mb. Dee contributed a great sketch to follow and Sharpie ( Lisa) challenged us to use list/ form in a lo. Here is my attempt at 2 in 1:
Have a great day!
Kate

Whew!

2008-10-22T17:28:00.000-07:00
Howdy all! No scrapping projects to post today. I spent the day dropping off resumes in an effort to get a job!!!! I went to 19 dental offices today and it is exhausting! The area we live in has been hit really hard with the economic changes that we are all facing, so jobs are hard to come by! I am trying to stay positive and just keep on keeping! I figure it is a numbers game, the more resumes out, the better my chances. It is really tiring to try to sell yourself- let me tell you. I am hoping to get some scrapping done tonight, but right now I am watching So you think you can dance Canada ( love this show).
Hope everyone is having a great day!

Happy Tuesday!

2008-10-21T07:31:00.000-07:00
Good morning! I didn't do any scrapping or cards yesterday, instead I was fighting with my computer, trying to downsize a photo for my avatar on the turtle mb! Thanks to some IT help from my friend Louisa I got it done this morning!!! Thanks Louisa! ( I feel kinda silly now that I know what to do...oh well, at least I learned something!)

Here are a few cards I made on Sunday night. We have friends who just had a baby girl, so I wanted to make a pretty girly congrats card and I threw together a couple other cards while I was at it. I don't love them, but I can't quite figure out what I want to add, so I figured I would post anyway!
Here they are:

Have a great day! Thanks for coming to check things out!

Happy Sunday!

2008-10-19T06:11:00.000-07:00
Good Morining! We had a great time yesterday at the festival! We watched the parade (T.X. was thrilled with the candy), shopped at the marketplace and played at the children's area. We rounded the day out with a trip on the Streetcar Called Desire (seriously that is what it is called) and a bbq hot dog on the lawn of the High School. We had a great time and needed a good nap by the time we got home! I don't know if it was the excitement of the day, the cold he is fighting or the 3 lollipops he managed to suck back at the parade but T.X. woke up with a serious case of the whinies and never got over it. The day ended with a major meltdown (blessingly rare at our house) and 2 seriously frazzled parents! Oh well, today is another day!

Being the " Super Mom" that I am, I went and scrapped while Pete dealt with the screaming banshee child! Here are my finished products:

I was cleaning up my scrapspace and found these picture overlays and die cut embellies in a bag I had packed for a crop and forgotten about! I picked up a magazine and had 2 quick lo ideas within 5 minutes! I love it when that happens! If only I could actually crop that quickly! lol
I swiched out the top picture for one taken yesterday as we waited for the parade! I don't know that I will ever be as good as my bud Vic with the self portrait pics but this one came out pretty well! ( Is it wrong that I picked a picture that I look better in?). I was showing Pete (dh) the finished lo and said it was too bad that T.X. had his eyes half closed- he pointed out his eyes look exactly like mine! He is right, T.X. has inherited the Booth squint ( sorry about that babe).
Ok enough babbling on! Have a great day all!

Off to the Migration Festival

2008-10-18T06:42:00.000-07:00
Good Morning all! Today is Migration Festival in Kingsville so my ds and I are going to check it out! We haven't been before, so I am excited to see what sorts of activities are in store for us! I also wanted to post some projects I completed yesterday:

KWerner ( I love her stuff...have I mentioned?) posted this card technique in her Finally Friday series of videos over at 2 Peas and a Bucket. I loved it and attempted to make my own!

Here are a couple of lo's:

This lo was done for a monochromatic challenge over at The Scrapping Turtle's mb. It is such a great place- awesome store and fab mb with lots of challenges and super friendly and supportive chat! Check them out at http://www.turtlesoup.scrappingturtle.com/index.php

Another Scrapping Turtle challenge- this time a sketch by Kim M. The colour's look better in person but this is the best pic I seem to be able to take!

Gotta go- the parade starts soon! Have a great day!

Kate

2008-10-17T07:05:00.000-07:00

Good Morning all! I made a card for KWerner's latest colour challenge. I love her blog, all of her projects are amazing and if you haven't already go check it out NOW!!!

http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/index.html

Here is my take:

The tree image is from IO (Impression Obsession) Leigh Hannan Snowflakes (they are beautiful stamps!)and the sentiment is Inkadinkado ( I think). I coloured using my aqua painter and watercolour pencials, and added some Stickles to sparkle things up a bit. Papers are all scraps, and the ribbon is some stuff I have had for a while ( I think I got it at M's).

Have a great day all!
Kate

First project posted

2008-10-16T19:41:00.000-07:00
This is a layout I recently created. It is based on a sketch by Julie Bonner at her bloghttp://juliebonner.typepad.com/52_sketches_52_weeks/. I just discovered this blog and I am sure that I will be back again and again. I took the picture at Storybook Gardens in London Ontario this past weekend. The day was beautiful and I love the colours!
Thanks for checking it out!

So yes I have a Blog!

2008-10-16T19:19:00.000-07:00
I have caved into the pressure and I am creating a blog! What I see is a place to display my scrapbooking layouts and cards. I am always happy to show off pics of my family, so I am sure that they will creep in from time to time.
Thanks for checking me out- hope to see you back again!
Kate