It's Rosa's birthday...

...and to celebrate, I thought I would post a few photos from her recent bachelorette party. Rosa and Stephen's brother Justin are getting married next month, and a few weeks ago we celebrated with some girl time. We had a blast both at our house as well as - let's just say "out on the town!"
Here are the party girls - left to right, Carol, Gloria, Maria, Andrea, Rosa, Vanessa, Sarah and Holly.
I hope you have as great a time on your birthday as we all did at your bachelorette, Rosa! Take time to relax and be pampered. You definitely deserve it.

Happy birthday Rosa!

Whirlwind Visit Photo Shoot

Despite a visit comprised of fewer than 4 days, Patricia and Cameron managed to squeeze in more activities than I thought would be humanly possible during their visit to Toronto. Patricia and I haven't seen each other since Cameron was born - therefore no one in our family had met Cameron, and Patricia had not met our girls in person prior to this weekend.
Let's see - we squeezed in a photo shoot, a bit of shoe shopping, a trip to the Creative Festival, a visit to Scrapalicious and a lot of scrapbook talk, lots of Timbits for Cameron, pizza, an attempt at seeing Rattatouie, a few more pictures out in the yard, lots of colouring, a subway and streetcar ride, Alicia and Vanessa's skating lessons, and a visit for Cameron with Roz.
The main event this weekend, however, was the trip Patricia and I took downtown to see the Barenaked Ladies with Jay Leno. It was a great girl's night out with food, a little beverage, and tons of talk and fun! I would have to say that I enjoyed parking on the street I used to live on and taking the subway into downtown almost as much as the concert - it was a great little nostalgic snippet!
Here are a few of the photos from the shoot. I had so much fun taking pics of Cameron - she is quite the character. And while Evan probably felt a bit overwhelmed by the number of girls in the house, the girls had a great time playing with Cameron. I have more photos of the kids that I will add when I get time. Wow - I hope it is fewer than six years until our next visit.

School's In at Scrapalicious

It's been fantastic putting together this Fancy Pants School Days Kit for Scrapalicious this month. I can't wait to get it finished. I must admit, it took me a while to organize and print the 19 photos that are going into this chipboard mini album in a box, but now I can't wait to get them all into the book! It will be a week or so before the album is finished, but for now, here is a peek at the box it goes into. Stay tuned!

A Few Barenaked Ladies...

...and Jay Leno, too! Patricia and I had a fantastic time seeing both of these performances. To be honest, I didn't even think that Jay Leno did such tours, and although I thought the act could have been Canadianized a bit more (lots of US political humour), he was completely funny in his hour long set.
The Barenaked Ladies were great and very funny. Their on-stage antics were as entertaining as their music. Patricia was sure that Ed was gazing directly at her. She was in heaven all night, despite my reminders that she's married! (Don't tell her he can't even see into the crowd!)

It was tough getting good photos with the lighting and our distance from the stage, but I managed to snap a few as evidence that we were really there. It was Patricia's first visit here in over 5 years. There are more photos of her visit to follow sometime soon. We had a wonderful visit and a great weekend.

Reward for a Dance Well Done

In my recent post about the cool CSC4K class I took, I mentioned that I had previously used the pretty patterned paper from Urban Lily on a layout. Well, here it is. I love this sweet photo of Vanessa completely enamoured with the little sticker that her dance teacher stuck to her had after her first ever dance recital. She was just tickled pink. I love this LO, but so far it has been unloved the magazines I have sent it to. Oh well, Vanessa thinks it's awesome, and isn't that what really counts in the scheme of things?!

Journaling says: Sweet Vanessa, it wasn't your pretty pink leotard and sheer skirt, your little leather ballet slippers, the Disney music or the jumping and twirling that you loved most about your first ballet class. It was the tiny sticker your teacher, Brit, gave you as a reward for a good lesson. A constant companion and reminder for a sweet, tiny ballerina. June 2006 - Vanessa's first year-end ballet recital.

Coffee with Heather

While it didn't work out that I could attend either of classes that Heather Verrier was teaching at Canada's Scrapbooking Crop 4 Kids a short time ago, I was lucky enough to be able to meet her for coffee and a quick chat instead while she was in town getting ready for the crop.

Heather taught two awesome classes at CSC4K, and she posted about them on her blog here. Her classes both involved using gel-a-tins stamps, and Heather, who is on their design team, put together great projects for either the scrapbooker or the card maker in you! I would have loved to have squeezed her classes in.

I love how many photos she fit onto this project. Isn't her Micah the sweetest! It was great seeing you Heather! I hope that we can scrap together again sometime soon.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

I have been teasing my friend Patricia and her husband Miles for a while now that I need some recent pictures of their lovely family.

Other than a photo of their darling daughter Cameron each Christmas, I have no recent photos at all of this beautifully photogenic family. What a shame!

One cute fact about this couple is that they share a birthday - same day, same year and everything! It's almost enough to make me believe in astrology! I wanted to do a birthday blog post for them. I've cajoled, even threatened to post a photo from the delivery room after Cameron was born, all to no avail. Still no new photos!

So, both in recognition of Miles and Patricia's collective birthday, and as well in celebration of the fact that they arrive this Thursday for their first visit to this house ever, here is a layout featuring their sweet daughter saying goodbye to her first house, on the day of their big move a few years ago. Lots of Basic Grey Dasher in this one along with some Heidi Swapp.

So, happy birthday to Patricia and Miles, and have a safe trip here! Aren't you glad you're not looking at that photo from the delivery room? See you soon!

Passport to Fun

Passport to Fun is the name of one of the classes I took at Canada's Scrapbooking Crop 4 Kids last weekend, taught by Nic Howard. The idea behind the "passport" is that it is an autograph and memory book for your CSC4K weekend. What a fun concept! Unfortunately for me, this was the last class I attended, so since it was too late to collect autographs, I decided to make mine into a mini album for photos of my girls.
This was my first time making a paper bag album, and it was a lot of fun. We put tags into every possible pocket for journaling or hidden photos. Since I wasn't using mine for autographs, I covered all of the pages with the pretty patterned paper from Urban Lily. I love this paper, and once made a layout of Vanessa using it. I'll have to post it one day soon!
Nic had a stamp specially made for this class, and I used it on the back of the album. It is a little postage type stamp with CSC4K and the class dates in the circle to help commemorate the event, and we each received one in our class kits. What a fun idea, and great little memory. We also used these Autumn Leaves stamps, which I couldn't resist buying too!

OK, so I've made it this far, the next step is actually finishing the album, and once I've done that I will post the finished product. In my other Nic Howard class, we made a pretty floral layout, and I've just printed the photo for that, so stay tuned for the end result soon!

It's No Surprise...

...that we wish Tessa the most wonderful birthday possible!

My cousin Tessa is hitting a milestone this month - the big 40 - and while it looks like there will be neither a surprise party nor a celebratory getaway to Vegas in the picture right now, at least we can look forward to having a visit with her whole family in a few weeks. Have a super birthday, Tessa!

(P.S. Hmmm....this whole scenario sounds a little familiar. I think it is some sort of bizarre what-happens-when-hubby-tries-to-plan-a-surprise-party-for-his-wife's-milestone-birthday phenomenon! And hey, it happened to me, too!)

I'm Totally Rapt...

...and you would be too, if you had a chance to take not one but two scrapping classes from kiwi scrapper extraordinaire Nic Howard at CSC4K this weekend!

Nic travelled all the way from New Zealand for her first visit to Canada in support of the Sick Kids Hospitals and managed to teach at both the London and Toronto venues. As the Toronto event was small, the class size was intimate and we were able to chat a lot with Nic and even pick up a few kiwi colloquialisms!

It was completely fun and inspiring. If you don't know a lot about Nic, check out her blog and her new book, That's Life too! I couldn't resist buying one! Thanks, Nic, for the great projects; have a safe journey home, and see you next year!

It felt wonderful to participate - even in a small way - in the Canada's Scrapbooking Crop 4 Kids, a scrapbooking event which took place simultaneously in numerous cities across Canada this past weekend, each in support of the Sick Kids hospital in their area. Learn more about CSC4K here. I can't wait until the next one.

Rosa and Justin's Engagement

I was lucky enough over the Thanksgiving weekend to take engagement photos of Stephen's brother Justin and his lovely fiance Rosa. It was wonderful to work with people who are just so easy to photograph. Aren't they a lovely couple?

A few months ago I took a few photos of Rosa and Justin while I was completing some homework for a photography class taught by the amazing Patti Miller over at ScrapAbility.ca. You can see a few here. I sent them copies of a few shots, and they then asked me to do this engagement shoot. I was both thrilled and flattered to be asked.


I still have a bit of editing work to do, but I was too excited about this project to wait and have added a few favourites here. Take a look - and I would love to hear what you think.

Recess - my favourite subject!

Here's a quick sneak peek of what's in store for October from Scrapalicious - a fantastic School Days box set from Fancy Pants, along with the great new Recess collection from one of my favourite paper lines, Basic Grey. I give this DT kit an A+ in both versatility and fun.

Stay tuned for the completed album box set later in the month!

Wenonah Wall Hanging

There were classes offered on Saturday at the Wenonah retreat, and when I decided to take one of them, I was surprised that I was the only one who signed up. Thankfully, the class ran anyway, with me as the only participant, and I came out of the session with this lovely, ready to hang, wall hanging. I love it! Can you believe no one else signed up? The class was taught by Gwen,owner of the former Scraps and Scribbles scrapbook store in Burlington. This weekend was my first time meeting Gwen, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her, talking about the industry, and trying a few new techniques.

I love all of the pics I used here. In the one of Alicia, she had been helping me with laundry that day, and decided to try on my clothes. She dressed herself - and is wearing her own swimsuit, one of my swim tops, as well as my pink t-shirt (which is inside out!)

Doesn't she look proud of herself!

This creation looks lovely hanging in our upstairs hall, but the lighting there is brash and brutal for photography, so I tried moving it around the house a bit to get a good shot of it. Truly, there was no hope; I had waited until too late in the day, so I though I would try going outside. Well, that didn't work much better, however, I think that this photo of Evan trying to help me is too adorable to pass up! He had collected that little tree branch when he was camping, and just loved the way that the waves had made it so smooth. I was outside looking for somewhere to hang the project, when he got all excited. "My tree branch!" he offered.

Look at him peeking around it! Sweet or what?

When we were finished, he made me chuckle by saying "See, I told Dad we had to bring this branch home because it would come in handy someday!" I love this little man!

Well, that's it for Wenonah projects. It sure took me a while to post them all. I'm thrilled with how productive the weekend was, and can't wait to do it again!

Wenonah Castle Mini Album

Of all of the projects I completed this weekend at the Wenonah retreat, this one has to be my favourite. It's an accordion style castle mini album from Creative Imaginations, and I made it using a scrapologie kit. It was a blast to alter, and I love how it turned out.
I used 7 Gypsies 97% Complete stickers for the title and journaling strips in the album, and they were both perfect and fun. The title says "The best things in life aren't things". I used a variety of favourite family photos, one of each of the kids, a few of the 3 of them, and a few of us all.
I think the kids love this album more than anything I have ever done, and if I let them, they would play all day with it.

In hindsight, I would have reinforced the binding between the pages with cardstock before covering the pages - a little tip for anyone making one.

If you have a chance to get your hands on one of these little gems, it is a blast to make, and I highly recommend it!

Wenonah Layouts and More

There is nothing like being surrounded by a group of passionate scrapbookers throughout an entire weekend to get your mojo flowing.

I had a super productive weekend full of lots of finished projects. In addition to my "H" and these two layouts, I also completed my Twice The Treat! layout for Scrapalicious while I was on my Wenonah retreat too.

My Harmony LO was inspired by my Beach Towel Challenge for The Scrapping Nook. I've had it in my head since I posted the challenge, and I wanted to get it finished. Love the BG Pheobe, Imaginisce charm flower centre and AC Thickers here.
Speaking of The Nook, here is a project for their store - an H for Holly to be displayed on their Wall of Letters. I used Stella Ruby from BG to create this. I have been meaning to get this off to them for a little while now, so I was determined to finish it this weekend. Just one minor X-acto injury in the process, but it's done! Wahoo! It will be in the mail soon. So, look for it in their crop room next time you visit The Nook.
Here is the first of what I hope to be many layouts about our vacation in Montreal this summer. The photo here is of my cousin Sharon and her two adorable kids, Cameron and Rachel. We have a fun tradition when on vacation in Montreal - heading to the local Tim Hortons for breakfast every morning with Uncle Julian. He is a regular there, and known by all of the staff by name, so even with the language barrier, we always feel totally welcome and catered to. Sharon and her kids love this tradition as much as we do!

I created this layout using supplies from a mix of monthly kits by scrapologie. I love these kits, but wow - I just can't manage to use them faster than the new ones arrive!

This is just the tip of the iceburg - I also created a mini album and a wall hanging during the retreat, which I will get posted soon. Stay tuned!

Wenonah Weekend - Wow!

For the past few years, I have spent a weekend with a great group of non-scrapping gals up at Camp Wenonah. I've always enjoyed my time at the camp, which is run by wonderful people and a great chef. So this year, when the dates for our annual trek were not optimal for me, I got gutsy and signed up - all on my own - for their scrapbooking weekend.
Well, even though I arrived on my own, I certainly didn't feel lonely. Scrappers are a friendly bunch; possibly because we already have a passion for our hobby in common. And of course, a tolerance for supplies spread out and not moved all weekend is enough to make any cropper feel welcome!
Our entire cabin ended up at the same table. We shared late nights, flashlights, popcorn, a little Baileys and tons of scrapbooking fun. Then I met Leanne (left) over dinner, and we talked well past dessert about life events so much deeper than paper and glue. I know we'll have crop dates in our future!
To say Wenonah was a fantastic, productive weekend doesn't do it justice! It will take me a few days to get all that I created over the weekend posted here - but eventually, I will get to all of it. And if there are scrappers out there looking for a fun, annual scrapping getaway every fall, can you guess what weekend retreat I would recommend?

What's Brewing at Scrapalicious...

Trick or Treat! Here are the designs I created with my September DT kit from Scrapalicious.

The Hambly spiderweb overlay that I used on my Twice The Treat! layout was a lot of fun to work with. Couple that with these adorable boots from the Heidi Grace Die Cut sheet, which is full of chipboard shapes for display in the home, and you have fun waiting to happen! Lots of Quickutz letters and a few Making Memories sheer shapes round out the mix.
I've designed Twice the Treat! so that if the background latte cardstock is removed, it can be displayed as a transparent layout. The Heidi Grace chipboard comes with little stands for each of the larger shapes, so the layout can stand up for display as well.

In Too Cute To Spook, the pumpkin and spider are also part of the Heidi Grace sheet, and the patterned and flocked paper are Heidi Grace.
I mentioned in my previous post that the bottom two layouts are being packaged at Scrapalicious as make-n-takes, so scrapbookers who stop by the store in October will have a chance to make their own version of these layouts. I think that between the two, whether photos are of girls or boys, sweet or scary, one of the two works with the pics.

Don't you feel all ready for Halloween now?

I'd better get the camera ready for this year's costumes. Have a super October!

Sneak a Halloween Peek!

It was a ton of fun creating these layouts for Scrapalicious this month. I love how excited my kids get about dressing up for Halloween, and I found tons of photos of them in costume from past Halloweens to scrap with these adorable Heidi Grace papers and embellishments.
These layouts are going to be featured at Scrapalicious this month as make-and-take pages for scrappers to create for themselves in about 15 or 20 minutes right in the store during October.

Any Halloween photo - be it a ghastly ghoul or a pretty princess - is sure to be a fit for one of these two pages.

So if you're heading to the store, bring a few pics of costumed kids along. Maybe I'll see you there! I'll be able to post these layouts here in their entirety in the next little while, so check back soon!

I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to October.