Another Scrapalicious Creation

Here is the clock I created using a clock overlay by Heidi Swapp.

This is the first clock I have ever altered, and I know it's definitely not going to be my last! Together with the clock overlay, I also received the Hambly rub-on as part of my August DT kit for Scrapalicious, the patterned paper is Stella Ruby by Basic Grey and I added alphas from Heidi Swapp, a Thicker from American Crafts and a lace frill from Doodlebug.

Family photo by Sears Portrait Studio.

If you have never altered a clock before, give it a try. My family is very happy about how this one turned out, and I can't wait to have it on display in our home.

August Scrapalicious Creations

It was wonderful working with Hambly overlays and rub-ons this month for my Scrapalicious Design Team kit. I layered this overlay onto a patterned paper from My Mind's Eye, and added some Hero Arts sequins, leaves of ribbon and Creative Imagination chipboard petals, Scenic Route accent, title letters are Heidi Swapp, Basic Grey and Making Memories.

This overlay was so pretty, I felt I had to use it for a wedding photo. I layered it over the beautiful wedding paper from Around the Block and a bit of cardstock. Then I added Prima blossoms accented with a Making Memories glitter brad, created the title from Heidi Swapp fuzzy rub-ons and a stamp, then finished off with a bit of ribbon, some of which is from Basic Grey.

Wedding photo by Jimmy Schwen.

I also had a blast altering a Heidi Swapp clock face overlay. I have it ready to go, but I haven't put it into the clock yet. I will have it posted in the next few days. Until then, there's a little peek below....

World's Cutest Biker Chicks

Here is the first of a few layouts I am working on with my Guest Designer kit for August from The Scrapping Nook.

I'm truly enjoying working with the summery colours of the Autumn Leaves Foliage collection.

In addition to the Foliage collection products, this layout includes a bit of Bazzill cardstock, some Prima blossoms, Kate MiniMark rub-ons from American Crafts and the awesome new Pretty Fancy Letters stamps from gel-a-tins.



These adorable biker chicks are our darling daughters with our future sister-in-law, Rosa. This picture of them really brightens up my day!

Check back shortly - there will be more to come with this awesome kit.

I Believe I Can Fly!

Vanessa's first soccer season is coming to an end, and I think she is going to miss it! She has watched Evan play for as long as she recalls, and has always asked when it could be her turn. She was excited to start this year, although she certainly had days when soccer was not what she wanted to do.

All in all though, since she has long legs, she is the tallest girl on the team and comes close to being as tall as the tallest boy! She has an amazing stride, and flies across the field at quite a blazing pace.

Future soccer star? Maybe! And I think she would totally love it!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

It was a wonderful treat to have my Mom with us for a month this summer!

Last night we took her to the airport to head home - her carry-on bag stuffed full of drawings and colouring book pages that the kids insisted she needs for her fridge.

We miss you already, Grannie! Come back again soon!

Happy Birthday Carol!

We had a wonderful time hosting a gathering for Stephen's mom Carol this weekend. She celebrated her 60th birthday, and we were not going to let that occasion go by without a big party!

The weather was a little less than perfect - right around the time that everyone was arriving, an absolute downpour started. We didn't expect to have to run out with umbrellas and escort our guests in through the garage as a shortcut, but hey - we adapted!

It was great that most of the family, along

with a few close friends, were able to attend. The kids had a wonderful time but truly, this was a party for the adults. The weather cleared up after dinner, and we talked and ate great food well into the evening. It was a fantastic celebration.


Happy Birthday, Carol! Here's to many, many more!

August Scrapalicious Sneak

I've been so happy working with Hambly overlays in my August DT kit for Scrapalicious. Not only are they completely beautiful, but they are incredibly versatile and fun to work with. They're awesome!

I still have a bit more planned, but here is a little peek of one of the creations I will be revealing shortly. Stay tuned!

Sweet Little Gal Pals!

A while ago, I took the Photography 101 class through ScrapAbility. One of our assignments was to set up a photo studio in our garage, and through this exercise, we learned a lot about lighting. You can read my post about this lesson here.

The girls were very co-operative for their first garage shoot, and although they pretended to be camera shy at times, I got a few good shots. I really love the photo where Vanessa is leaning in to give Alicia a little peck on the cheek!

With a few of the pictures from that shoot, I put together this layout.

I've been trying to inspire the gals at The Scrapping Nook with some challenges this month, as I'm lucky enough to be their Guest Design Team Member. I just loaded this layout into their gallery as an example for my Beach Inspiration Challenge. This LO was a lot of fun to make and - although I created it at the last Nook crop - I thought it included so many elements form the beach towel challenge, I couldn't help but post it.

If you're a Nook gal, I hope you're playing along.

Voyage en Inde

I recently went on a little trip, although it wasn't nearly as exotic as India.

While travelling and visiting family recently, I had a chance to stop by La Scrapitale, a favourite LSS I visit whenever I vacation with my relatives on Montreal's south shore. It's a fun store with great new product, and they're passionate about scrapbooking.

If you're ever near St. Lambert, drop by and visit them!

As I scrap shopped, I suddenly got a tad excited (who, me?) when I saw these limited edition papers by Rouge de Garance. I mean, not only did I never expect to lay eyes on one of the only 5000 sets produced, but really - they are so completely gorgeous, almost any scrapper would start jumping up and down right in the store!

See a video about these papers here.

So how could I resist them? I haven't decided whether I'm going to scrap with them or frame them as artwork for my home.

If you're lucky enough to see this beautiful blue envelope anywhere, seriously, whip out your credit card as fast as you can! It's a rare sight, and oh! so worth it. I feel very lucky to have one.

Beach Inspiration Challenge

We really don't want to face it, do we?

Summer is my favourite time of year. It's no secret that I love warm weather. Taking the kids to the beach or waterpark is my idea of family fun. But lately, the weather has been a bit too cool. Labour Day is in mere weeks, the kids are almost ready to head to school....these are all signs.

It's sad but true!


Summer will soon be coming to an end.

As part of being Guest Designer this month at The Scrapping Nook, I posted this photo in the I Challenge You! forum to inspire that gals to scrap a summer layout - my Beach Inspiration Challenge. I love the colours bright as popsicles; the pink and red circles reminiscent of fragrant peonies, with a touch of green and blue thrown in there for the sea and sky. I thought it would be a fun way to inspire summery layouts of gardens or days at the beach.

So, I hope that this inspires a few scrappers out there to capture a few fleeting memories of the wonderful warm summer season we've had. I've got a layout inspired by this photo...coming soon!

They Say it's Your Birthday!

This is my sister in law, Trish, and she is celebrating a birthday, so we all want to wish her a very happy one! I would mention that the reason that I am using such an old photo of Trish is because we are waiting.....

and waiting...... and waiting......

for her to send us new ones, but if I did mention that, I would be being a bit redundant. See here. And here.

So I won't mention that I would love some more recent photos from her. I won't rib her at all! I will just wish her the very best birthday possible.

Happy Birthday, Trish :-)

My Mini Album Challenge

I'm having a super time as August guest designer for The Scrapping Nook. I posted a Mini Album challenge for the month. Personally, I have never created a mini album before! I've truly enjoyed seeing the albums posted in the gallery, and had a blast creating this one.
Since we were away last week in Montreal enjoying spending time with my cousins and their kids, I though "cousins" was a fitting theme for my album. I actually created this mini album while visiting there. It's an accordion album that is tied closed in the front with a ribbon.


The ribbon loops at the top of each page assist with the turning of pages.


The album can be flipped through, one page at a time, or pulled open, accordion style.

There is a one-word title on each page, accented with an epoxy sticker highlighting the first letter of the word.


Journaling for each page is hidden behind the photo, and pulls out using the ribbon tabs at the side.

This was a lot of fun to create, and I definitely think i foresee more mini albums in my future!

Almost Perfect

As part of my Guest Design Team Member stint for August at The Scrapping Nook, I inspired some of the gals who have been blog-slackers lately to a few little challenges.

First, I pushed them to try to achieve 10 posts to their blogs in August.

Second, I challenged them to take a blog post, and create a work of art from it - a scrapbook page, card, altered item - anything goes!

Well, it just wouldn't be right if I wasn't up to my own challenge. So - in one post - I've managed to accomplish both challenges!

First - this is my 10th post for August.

Second - the attached layout is inspired by a previous blog post, which you can read here.

This layout is so meaningful to me, and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. The journaling says:

For Christmas 2006, Nan and Ray gave us stunning candlesticks, napkins and a tablecloth for our very first, brand new dining room set. It was an ideal fit for our dining room, and the table looked so perfect when we set it for Christmas dinner. But that year, there was no place set at our holiday dinner table for Babcha. And while our dining room looked perfect, in our hearts there was an empty space.

She is so missed.

The quote beneath the photo reads: Cherished. More than you know.

Even Now...

Even Now, the Barry Manilow song, was the closer for the Sacramento Freelancers Drum and Bugle Corps in 1982. And even now, 25 years later this past weekend, I can't believe that it has really been that long.

25 years ago this past Saturday night, Montreal's Olympic Stadium hosted the Drum Corps International Finals competition for 1982. So I felt quite the pang of nostalgia as I sat at my aunt's house in Montreal this past weekend, waiting for DCI 2007 results from Pasadena.

I recall being overwhelmed walking into Olympic Stadium back then for the first time. Each Top 12 corps was given an opportunity to rehearse on Saturday afternoon on the Stadium field, prior to the show. The corps pulled into the empty stadium, our convoy of buses and equipment truck dwarfed within the vast building. Voices echoed. We saw an unimaginable number of seats in the huge, empty stands. It was almost eerie.

Back then, unfortunately, while I did have a camera, I didn't have a lot time or opportunity to take photos (nor did I have a ton of money for film). Regardless, these are a few of my favourite memories, and while they may look grainy, they are clear as yesterday in my mind's eye.

These sheer blue flags were hidden inside our jackets during the show, and we pulled them out and slid them over our rolled flags while facing backfield just before Even Now started. They were so pretty as they shimmered under the lights. It was one of my favourite parts of the show.

Since I lived that year in the import house with 9 other out-of-towners, we had the cool opportunity of having Bus 8 actually pull up to our house to pick us up for 2nd tour. It was a ton of fun to see a drum corps bus parked on a residential street, loading up corps members right from the house. Our neighbours must really have been surprised!

As a teenager, it was hard to see 25 years into the future and imagine recalling these memories a quarter century later. But time really does fly by, and that quarter century has passed. I'm glad to have at least a few photos to go along with these important and defining memories.

Rosa and Justin

This stunning couple are Rosa and Justin, my brother in law and his sweet finace. It was Justin's birthday last week, and while they were over one night after dinner, I took a few photos of them. These are my favourites. And can you blame me, with such fantastic subjects to work with.
I think that Justin and Rosa liked these photos as well, since they asked me to take an engagement shoot for them. I'm thrilled and excited to accept! I have a few months to prepare, and am really looking forward to doing my best for them. After all, I guess this makes them my first photography clients!

Happy Birthday, Justin. And I am so looking foward to photographing you both. Thanks so much for the opportunity.

Story Time

For a girl who had little or no interest in dolls when she was younger, Alicia has evolved into quite the little Mommy! Her fascination is purely with baby dolls, though. Barbies, Groovy Girls or any dolls that do not resemble newborns are of no interest to her. She gives them bibs, feeds them, and makes sure they have teddy bears.

Here, I quietly crept in and captured her reading stories to her "babies."

Sweet or what?

Still CD-less....

Well, I'm still waiting for my CD of photos of my adorable nephew, Jared, who unfortunately lives far across the country from me. Howard & Trish, my beloved brother and sister-in-law, have been promising to send me recent Jared pictures, in varying formats, over quite a length of time now. The photos, however, have been a tiny bit (or OK, maybe a lot) delayed!

To the rescue, however, was Trish's friend Nicole Piotrkowski of Nine Doors Design. Nicole does fantastic work, (check it out here) and she recently did a photo shoot of Jared. This one is my favourite, but there are more great photos, too. Thanks so much, Nicole, for letting me post your wonderful work here, and for saving me from eternally being a photo-less aunt!

Photo above by Nicole Piotrkowski, 2007.

Isn't he adorable!

P.S. Trish and Howard, yes, this is another not-so-subtle hint... :)

Clearly Cool to Create With!

It`s clear to see - I`m in love with Hambly transparent overlays!

I`m so lucky that my Design Team kit from Scrapalicious.ca for August includes some of these awesome overlays, together with some Heidi Swapp rub-ons and transparent clock face, and a bit of patterned paper. I`m really looking forward to putting some creations together with this fantastic product.

Stay tuned for some fun stuff - coming soon!

Mother Goose and Other Stories

August is a wonderful month for us! It finally starts to slow down a bit at the office and we are able to take a bit of time off work to spend with the kids.

Stephen actually managed to take a day off this past week (and if you know him, you know what a miracle that is!) and he took a trip with the girls into Toronto to go to Centreville. It was one of the hottest days on record, but that didn't stop them from getting in a full day of fun. They surprised us all and went non-stop all day, and only relented when they fell asleep during the drive home.

It was the first time for the girls on the ferry, and they though it was completely wonderful.
Their favourite part of all, however, was the ride pictured here called the Frog Hopper. They were by far the tiniest gals on the ride, but the other kids riding with them were so kind and helpful to them. The first few times Stephen went on with them, but he let them take a few solo trips so that he could take some photos for me. The pictures here are all his! Yes, I have trained him well, haven't I?
The sky was absolutely crystal clear that day, and there was not a cloud to be seen. Stephen took this photo from the Island. Yes, he was very accommodating with the picture taking, and I really appreciate it. I love that guy!

It was certainly a fun and memorable day of bonding for Daddy and the girls.

Probably not YOUR dream photography job...

...but it sure could be mine one day!

For competitive drum corps, this is crunch time. Your show is about as good as it's going to get, and the biggest competition of the year is a week away. It has me thinking a lot about drum corps lately.

I wish my camera and I were headed to a DCI. I haven't been since 2000.

The above 2006 photo by Johnny Gilbert for DCI was posted on Flickr.

My friend Mark is going to a few shows, including Finals, and I'm so jealous!

Amateur photographers rarely can get as close to the action as the few assigned pros, who are allowed close to (almost right on) the show field. The link below is to a gallery by Johnny Gilbert, probably my favourite drum corps photographer since Dick Diehl in the 1980s (sshhhh - I'm dating myself!) Please, take a peek, particularly if you only have heard of drum corps through my blog. It will open up a whole new perspective for you.

This is awesome stuff! Really - these are great photos, regardless of whether you're a fan! Just take a peek at a few and you'll find yourself viewing the whole gallery.

Johnny Gilbert Drum Corps Photography

Maybe if I keep doing my homework for my ScrapAbility Photography course, I will get there someday!

Autumn Leaves Already?

No, it's not fall aready! We are not seeing the leaves changing colour and falling - at least not just yet!

The Autumn Leaves I'm speaking of are the most awesome kind - the Autumn Leaves Foliage papers, which will be arriving shortly on my doorstep from The Scrapping Nook, as my Guest Design Team kit for August. I'm thrilled, since this kit is beautiful, and my mind is already racing with ideas of what to create with it.

Thanks so much to The Scrapping Nook, and stay tuned for some kit creations!

Tag! Let's play Scattergories...

It's August already - can you believe it?

I'm so excited to be the Guest Designer at The Scrapping Nook this month. I have some fun ideas and challenges in mind. One of the first things I want get rolling is some help for those Nookers who started out blogging this year around the same time I did, but have fallen off of the bandwagon. If they want to get blogging again, now is the time!

And what better way to do that than a game of tag!

So, it's time for tag! The game is SCATTERGORIES ... and it's harder than it looks! Here are the rules:

* Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the questions.
* They MUST be real places, names, things ... NOTHING made up!
* If you can't think of anything, skip it.
* You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
* If your name happens to start with the same letter as mine, sorry, but you can't use my answers!


My Name: Holly

1. Famous Singer/Band: Heart
2. 4 letter word: here
3. Street: Hollywood Boulevard
4. Color: henna brown
5. Gifts/Presents: handmade articles
6. Vehicle: Hummer
7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: hats
8. Boy Name: Howard
9. Girl Name: Heidi
10. Movie Title: How to lose a guy in 10 Days
11. Drink: Hawaiian Punch
12. Occupation: Human Resources Manager
13. Celebrity: Helena Bonham Carter
14. Magazine: House and Garden
15. U.S. City: Honolulu
16. Pro Sports Teams: Hurricanes
17. Fruit: huckleberry
18. Reason for Being Late for Work: heavy traffic (or hot date last night!)
19. Something You Throw Away: ?? (we recycle everything we can!)
20. Things You Shout: Hip Hip Hooray!
21. Cartoon Character: Huey (as in Huey, Dewey and Louie)

OK, now for the fun part! If you've been tagged, complete this game using your own name's first letter, and then tag at least four blogging friends. I'm tagging the following Scrapping Nook friends, who all need a small (or maybe BIG) nudge to get them back on the bloggin' bandwagon: Elia, Tara C, and Vanessa. Get bloggin' gals!

Now, keep in mind, when you three gals do your tagging, please don't tag each other! Take a quick peek at who the other Nook bloggers have tagged, so that we are not bombarding the same gals over and over!

In the spirit of tagging those who need a blogging nudge, I'm also tagging my sweet brother and sister-in-law, Howard & Trish. Get posting!

So,Tag! You're it!