Bittersweet

Isn't it crazy how life throws curves at us sometimes? Last NSD, I was at Destination Create with a fantastic group of ladies, and I created this home themed mini album with Caroline Lau from Maya Road. I used the album to document our family's love for the house that - at the time - we had no idea we'd be selling.
While we are thrilled to have found the house we will be moving to and are very excited about living there, our current house holds so many precious memories for us. When we moved in, I was 8 months pregnant with our girls (and didn't know that they were girls yet)! It seems like ages ago but also just like yesterday. We've really loved living here.
This photo from last Christmas is a family favourite, and it highlights for me that we don't know what the future holds. That night we had no idea it would be our last Christmas in this house. It's bittersweet leaving our home behind, but moving on is part of life, and I'm glad to have the most wonderful husband & kids to do that with.
We are truly grateful for the blessing of having so many who love us visit our home, and look forward to welcoming you to our new house sometime in the future. If there is one quote I've read that I hope will always apply to us, it is "May our home never be big enough to hold all of our friends". You each mean so much to us.

We thank you for your kindness and friendship, and hope we'll soon be seeing you at our new address. Until then, take care and God bless.

Creative Escape Class Projects, Part 3

It was fantastic taking a class from the amazingly talented Tim Holtz. Tim was so organized! He had a fantastic slide show introduction, provided everything we needed for class, was full of jokes, tips and inspiration, and at the end of it all we literally had nothing to throw away other than the holes punched from our crop-a-diles! And isn't this little album adorable?

Tim shows more photos of this project in his blog post about Creative Escape here.

There was not a moment wasted in Marah Johnson's class, from the moment we walked in the door 'til the second class ended. Creating this altered box which holds 12 mini books (perfect for a year in review, 12 school grades, 12 days of Christmas, or so many other ideas) took being very organized, and like Tim, Marah definitely is!
We had a lot of glimmer misting to do in this class, as all of the flocked paper was misted before it was adhered. While our paper dried, we had painting and inking to do, and if we ran out of tasks, Marah had us raise our hands so she could give us an idea of what to fill that second of free time with. As a result, most of us almost finished our boxes.
Once I ink the edges of the gold wings and attach a metal floral brad to the ribbon tab that opens the box, all I have left to do is complete the inside of each of the 12 little books. I think I'm going to do a year in review project. I have to say, I am so completely in love with Glimmer Mist now. We used 3 colours layered on top of each other, and I love the look.

Isn't this project beautiful? See what Marah posted about Creative Escape on her blog here.

I still have one more post about Creative Escape classes to go, so check back soon.

Creative Escape Class Projects, Part 2

Fabric designer Heather Bailey's husband is a professional photographer, and not only did he give the sweetest intro to Heather's class, but he also took photos of her teaching, including this one (left). Heather has this and more CE2009 photos in her blog, which you can see here.
We created an adorable mini album with Heather, and most of us managed to finish the entire project in class. The class kit included lovely colourful ribbon to tie around the binder ring, which I still have to add when I get a chance. I think this album is awesome for spring or summer vacation photos, or would make a fantastic teacher's gift. Isn't it bright and pretty?
In Carol Wingert's class, we created this lovely pyramid display with a matching mini album. We made this project completely from scratch, including cutting the triangles to make the pyramid (which we now can re-created again and again), and we also learned traditional bookbinding techniques while making the album. Carol posted various ways that this project can be completed on her blog post here. I plan on decorating a small Christmas tree, adding some additional, smaller pyramids, and creating a Christmas display with lit mini Christmas trees inside the pyramids. Can you picture it?

I'll have posts coming up with the remaining Creative Escape class projects, both here and on Scrapscene, so check back soon.

Moving Scrapbook Supplies

Moving is enough of a task to begin with, but the thought of packing up a room full of scrapbook supplies is enough to make any scrapper cringe!

With only 5 days left until move day, I've already packed up most of my craft supplies and am in the process putting smaller boxes into big ones, labelling it all and getting it move-ready.
As a happy by-product of this move, I've finally put all of my layouts into albums :-) and they're all in the box at my feet. I plan on moving this box myself in my own car, rather than trusting the movers with it. The rolling cart beside me is where I typically keep all of my essential supplies - trimmer, rulers, inks, stamps, die cutting machine and dies, adhesives, etc. It's now empty and ready to roll into our new house.
Packing up my paper was a task that had me quite intimidated, but I've managed to sort it all (better than it's ever been sorted, actually) and box it all in pizza boxes and Iris cases, prior to transferring it to larger boxes. Typically stacked on the shelves on the right hand side of this shelving unit, you can see my boxed-up paper stack at left. I guess I have a bit of it, don't I? Maybe I should buy more Basic Grey? :-} I still have quite a bit of packing to do, but it's going well and we should be on target to get everything moved without much panic. I'm looking forward to organizing it all in my new home.

Once we're moved in and somewhat settled, I'll try to write a post about lessons learned when moving scrap supplies for any of you gals who may be crazy enough to try moving yours in the near future! As for me, hopefully this is our last move in a very loooonnnnnng time! :-)

Creative Escape Class Projects, Part 1

I think the greatest highlight of being at Creative Escape was - of course - the chance to take classes from some of the most amazing artists in the scrapbooking world. Each class was unique and each teacher brought their own style, personality and creative touches to the project we created with them. Here is a look at two of our class creations.
We created this richly beautiful wall hanging with Lynette Carroll, and I have to say, I don't think I've seen anyone have a project more organized than the way Lynette organized this class. The six-panel wall hanging would be beautiful with formal wedding photos, although Lynette's had everyday colour pics, and it looked fantastic!
Heidi Swapp is as upbeat and positive as I expected her to be, and there was never a quiet moment in her class. As I am in the process of moving right now, hearing Heidi's tales of moving 3 times in 18 months (and twice across the ocean!) was very timely. I can only hope to have 19 boxes full of completed scrapbook albums one day! Can you imagine!

Heidi's project was this beautiful cascading display album, which flipped up to display layer after layer of pages for photos and journaling. Heidi's own version of this project was completely filled with photos. I can't wait to finish mine.

You can get an idea of what the inside looks like in the slide show below.

Look for more Creative Escape projects, coming soon to both my blog as well as to Scrapscene.com.

Creative Escape 2009 Instructor Pics

The official photographers for Creative Escape took a whopping 1,400+ photos during the event, and I managed to find one of Virginia and me out by the pool during the scavenger hunt, left. You can see all of these photographer's pics, as well as photos from previous CE events, by looking here.

I'm going to be posting photos of all the CE2009 projects sometime soon, both on my blog as well as on Scrapscene, so stay tuned! In the interim, here is a peek at out photos with some of the awesome instructors we met. The lighting wasn't fantastic in the hotel banquet rooms, but the fantastic company made up for it! Enjoy!

It Won't Be Long Now . . .

It's coming down to the crunch for us now - we move in less than a week and there's still so much to do. The fact that I'm driving the kids to activities up near our new home, while we are still living in our current home doesn't help! But we're taking it in stride and are confident we'll get everything done in time. (How's that for thinking positive!)

Here's an aerial view of our new home. While we are still a bit nostalgic about leaving our existing home, since we've created so many happy memories there, we're really excited about moving out to the country. The space, the natural surroundings, the more relaxed lifestyle - we're looking forward to embracing it all!

I'm a little concerned that we may be without internet service for a little while at our new place, so I may not be around much in the next little while. But if I can squeeze it in, I'll be creating some posts in advance to tide me through. So while it may look like I'm organized and posting away in the face of a huge move, I'm really just grateful for that little Blogger function called "scheduled publishing!" :-)

Wish me luck, and see you soon!

What we did on our Summer Vacation

One of the highlights of our summer is heading to Montreal to stay with my Uncle Roy and Aunt Nicole and visit with my Mom's side of the family. My cousins are all great about getting our kids together - despite how far apart we live - to ensure our kids will all grow up knowing one another and with wonderful memories of time spent together.
The kids and I continued the tradition this year and managed to squeeze in a long weekend visit, despite our crazy move schedule. All of us headed to Uncle Mannie and Aunt Bunty's beautiful cottage for a Sunday family reunion. You can see posts about previous reunions here (2007) and here (2008).
Uncle Julien and Aunt Tillie are HUGE Tim Hortons fans, and get their breakfast there each morning. Years ago, the kids wanted to come along too, and another tradition was begun! So every Montreal trip involves numerous treks over to Tim Hortons where coffee, food, photos and togetherness are plentiful!

I'm so grateful for this fantastic group of cousins who care so much about each other and about each other's kids too. I think that is a rare thing in today's world. I hope this tradition continues for many, many years. The slide show below gives a more in-depth look at our trip. Enjoy!

A Rising Star

I'm once again a bit behind on posting this, but I want to send a huge shout out to my cousin Tessa's son Kristian. This charismatic guy is a talented actor and singer, and we recently had the privilege of watching him sing in the Rising Star talent contest at this year's CNE in Toronto.
Even being selected to sing at this event is a huge achievement, but Kristian also sang his way to the semi-finals for his category - quite an accomplishment for his first attempt at a show like this. We were thrilled to be there and watch him make history, as one day I'm sure he'll be a household name, and we'll be able to say "We were there!"

Congratulations, Kristian!

A Successful Surprise!

This is a looooonnng overdue post, but I couldn't resist posting it even though it's so late.

I've been to a few surprise parties in my time, but it's rare that a surprise party is truly this successful! This party was a true gem. When Stephen's uncle celebrated his 80th birthday, cousins held a great birthday bash. The surprised looks on Uncle Bronty and Auntie Ann's faces sure tell the story!
Even though she knew about the party, out of town guests added to the surprise for Auntie Ann. In keeping with tradition, like other times Mark and Diana had big parties, it poured rain, but the tent kept us all dry. The kids, adults - everyone had a total blast! Happy 80th Birthday, Uncle Bronty!

U2 in Concert

Added to the on-going list of things we probably wouldn't have planned if we knew we were moving, we were lucky enough to see U2 in concert last night! I did feel a bit guilty as we were driving into the city that I should be packing for our move instead, but as the band took the stage, that feeling wore of, at least for the rest of the night. :-)
The stage was amazing! The stadium's dome was open and the top of the stage - a huge point with a disco ball on top - reached way up into the sky. The video screen, which you can see above, was actually a collection of tiny, connected screens, which they then stretched out later in the show (see left). It was quite fantastic!

We met up with Stephen's friends Adam and Greg and attended the concert with them, and all in all it was a great night. They had preciously seen U2 in concert, but it was a first for me, and U2 is one of the groups I've always wanted to see live in concert. If you ever get the opportunity to see them, I highly recommend it!

Thinking of The Scrapping Nook

My thoughts lately have been with Patti and Elia, owners of The Scrapping Nook - an awesome LSS in the Niagara region. A short time ago, the store had an electrical fire and the gals have been working so hard getting everything repaired, resolved and getting their inventory sorted.

Fortunately, no one was hurt in the fire and the while the brick and mortar store is currently closed for repair, it will re-open as soon as the gals can get everything ready. In the interim, the online store is still open.

If you've never met Patti and Elia, oh my gosh, you have to! They are incredibly funny, sweet and kind gals. They work so hard buying great product for their store, on top of their (sometimes more than) full-time, NSBR jobs. Patti (far left) and Elia (far right) host an annual event called Destination Create on the National Scrapbook Day weekend, which is a ton of fun. Ladies have travelled quite far to attend this retreat, such as Pam (centre in the photo) who came all the way from Idaho, and is now an "honourary Canadian".

I hope you join me in wishing a swift and safe repair to the store for these ladies, and hopefully some rest and relaxation somewhere down the road once everything is complete. Thoughts, prayers and hugs are coming your way, Patti and Elia!

Canadian Scrapbooker Basics Volume 4

I created this layout for the Gr8 Cre8ive Idol contest that was held in late 2008 over at Just Cre8, and looking at this page reminds me of what hot summer weather we had that year. This year's summer was so cool and rainy, and I'm not sure we took the sprinkler out at all! What a difference a year makes! Our children have certainly grown and changed. As we pack up this house to move in a few weeks, and it makes me glad I capture happy memories like these in our scrapbooks.
This page was just featured in Canadian Scrapbooker Basics Volume 4, in a section highlighting unique embellishments. I love the look of wide ribbon on a page, and had fun adding the colourful stick pins through the knot here. In the contest I created this page for, the challenge was to use a well-known advertising slogan, and I though Obey Your Thirst was fitting for this photo.

It's always a treat to be a part of this fantastic, all-Canadian publication! Pick up Canadian Scrapbooker magazines at your local scrapbook store, or subscribe here.

How Did That Happen?

With the large amount of rain we've had this year, it barely seems like we've had a summer, does it? There sure weren't as many days at the splash pad or jumping through the sprinkler this summer, since the sun was rarely shining. It certainly makes back to school seem like it's here too early!
Despite the lack of hot weather, the kids seemed to agree that we had a great summer this year. With our trip to the Delawana, the annual family visit to Montreal (which I still haven't blogged about yet - ack!) and some fun camp activities, they all are quite ready to head back to the classroom. For me, it's fantastic to finally be dropping all three kids off at the same school, instead of driving to and from two different schools. Hooray!
And the girls barely seem nervous at all, since not only to they have a big brother at school, but they will be in the same classroom, so they have each other. Their teacher also taught Evan grade 1 and that gives them some added familiarity, at least until we move at the end of the month!

So in as much as I can't believe it's back to school already, at least I have three happy, well rested and enthusiastic kids heading back to the classroom. I can't believe we will be doing it all again at the end of the month though! Wish me luck!

Hands On Photography

If you are interested in improving your photography, you'll want to check out the latest and greatest online feature from Sue Sykes and Canadian Scrapbooker, Hands On Photography.

As mentioned in Sue's Fall 2009 Canadian Scrapbooker photography article, each month, Sue will offer some tips and techniques on the basics discussed in the current issue, plus she will post an assignment. Everyone is invited to share their photos on the Canadian Scrapbooker blog, and each assignment completed and uploaded earns you a chance to win a prize from that month's sponsor. This month’s sponsor is Rose Moka.

See more details here.

While you are checking out Sue's awesome new online feature, take a peek at the photo credits under the water photos, too. *grin*

Creative Escape Trunk Show

The day before classes began at Creative Escape we had the opportunity to attend a trunk show, where we saw tables laid out with the work of each of our instructors. To say that the talent represented in that room was absolutely outstanding would be a total understatement!

Each table was covered with amazing pieces of art, mini-albums, scrapbook pages, vintage finds and how decor pieces. I took a ton of pictures; more than I could possibly post, so here are a few highlights. Here is a peek at Tim Holtz's table, filled with awesome pages, projects and the coolest collection of ephemera.
Another of my favourites from the trunk show was this canvas but Carol Wingert. The 64 tiny squares on this canvas each a miniature work of art, and my photo truly doesn't do it justice. The details on this project are truly amazing. Take a peek at Carol's post about this on her blog. In addition to seeing the instructor's tables, we had an opportunity to meet and take photos with each of them. I've also guest posted on Scrapscene about my experience at Creative Escape, so take a peek at more here.

In the slide show below, take a little look at projects from each of the instructor's tables, as well as a peek at the lamps I mentioned in my previous entry and in this Scrapscene guest post. Enjoy!