Christmas in July!

OK, so I missed July, too! But my intention was honourable! After taking such an (unplanned) lengthy break from blogging, I thought a winter layout was a great segue from my last post, since it was of our family at Christmas. But alas, I didn't manage to get this posted in July, either.

In any case, it's nice to get back to posting again, something I hope to do on a more frequent basis during the rest of 2013! This is a layout inspired by a sketch I saw on Scrapping Nook.  It's a blustery look at ski camp from last Christmas break, featuring Alicia.

Here's a close up of the title block. I embossed the snowflakes around the edge of the page with clear embossing powder and the Gel-a-tins snowflake stamp set from ages ago.

 Even though I haven't been blogging, I have managed to scrapbook a few pages. Although I posted last in December, it had really been a while since I consistently posted my completed layouts - probably about a year or so - and here is the stack of pages I've done in that time. I may not post them all here - some haven't even been photographed yet - but I hope to get plenty of them up in the next little while.

In keeping with the Christmas theme, here is a little peek at a page I really love. The girls dressed as Santa last Christmas. I'll post the full layout sometime soon.

And to prove that I do realize it is August and not December, here's a look at the kids in our current season. What season is that, you may ask? Not summer, but soccer! Yes, our busy schedule continues, but I still hope to be back here again soon. Thanks for stopping by! I would love it if you left a comment so that I know you were here. See you again soon! :-}

Summer Captured

I'm so pleased that Scrapping Nook is hosting their Summer Photo Challenge once again this year. I enjoyed it so much last year. Having a list of photos to take really helps me to think outside of the box and I end up with great shots that I may not have thought of taking otherwise.

These are a few of my favourite shots from this summer. To see all of the photos I posted for this challenge, see my thread here. You can also look at last year's photos here.

100 Photos of Summer

The weather here has been incredibly hot and sunny, and we have managed to take full advantage of the warmth with busy days and restful nights (or the occasional nap on our pup Merlin!) The kids and I have managed to visit many of our loved ones, and I even took them to their first drum corps show, which they LOVED! :-}

The kids all did piano exams towards the end of the school year, and all of them did well. In keeping with the drum corps theme mentioned above, Evan has started drum lessons and is enjoying them a lot. He is looking forward to playing drums in the band at school next year. The rest of the family - we've been (mostly) taking the drumming practice in stride!

I haven't managed to do very much scrapbooking, but I did spend one short night of chatting and hanging out with my sweet pal Sue, the night before this scary event happened. I'm glad I was able to help her out at during such a rough patch, and I'm thrilled that Gary is now improving more and more each day.

We've managed to spend quite a bit of time outdoors - yes, some of it has even been spent riding bikes in our pyjamas! :-} I'm taking part in the second annual 100 photos of Summer challenge at Scrapping Nook once again, and the photos in this post will be part of my entry. I posted about last year's entry here.  I'm hoping to be able to add more as the season moves along.

Soccer has been a big part of our summer this year. I'm sure I'll have more soccer photos to post, as I've literally taken hundreds of them!  I'm looking for a variety of shots to fulfill the photo challenges, so I hope you'll enjoy this little peek into what we've been up to. I also hope your summer is turning out to be as much fun as ours!

T is for Technology!

When you combine a new Macbook Pro, a (somewhat) new look and feel to blogger, a (similarly somewhat) new look and feel to photobucket and the crazy schedule of three kids and a business, what do you get?  Nothing, that's what!  Nothing on my blog, that is, for more than two months!  Man, that's quite the hiatus for me - a longer break than I've ever taken from blogging. 

All of the technology changes have made a quick post less than quick, so even posting something short and sweet has been a bit daunting

But it's been a good hiatus for our family - a bit hectic, but filled with sunshine, swimming, recitals, visits with cousins, as well as great report cards and piano exam marks!

Sadly, it's been filled with very little scrapbooking.  In my last post I mentioned skypebooking with Leanne over the NSD weekend.  Here is a little peek at one of the layouts I created that night.  It is from an awesome Kelly Goree class kit I purchased at Scrapfest, and it still needs journaling, but it's a cute tribute to our lovable pup, Merlin.

I've also started the Scrapping Nook's 100 Photos of Summer challenge once again this year.  I had so much fun doing it last year so I hope I can capture as many of the images this time around.  Stay tuned and I will add a few of those shots here.

Also upcoming for me and the kids - we're attending a drum corps show later this week.  Can't wait!  It will be a first for the kids, and I'm sure they'll love it, particularly now that Evan is taking drum lessons - yes, you read that correctly!  More on that to follow too, hopefully in less than two months! :-} 

In the interim, thanks for checking in here after such a long time, and I hope you're having a spectacular summer! 

100 Photos of Fall

I had a blast this summer during the Scrapping Nook's 100 Photos of Summer challenge, and was thrilled to find out I won a Picture Keeper! Thanks to the Nook for helping me to capture our summer! I also submitted two of the photos I took during this challenge at our local fall fair, and won two ribbons!
This photo took second place in the people category, and my photo of Evan walking Merlin (or is it Merlin walking Evan??) won for pet photos! Now the Nook is hosting a Fall Foto Festival. Here's one of my first fall photos - the kids at school scooping out pumpkins for soup bowls.


I'll post more photos as the season progresses. If you are interested in taking part in this challenge, look here.

100 Photos of Summer

Over the summer months I participated in a photography challenge over at Scrapping Nook Ltd.. The challenge was called the Nook's Summer Photo Experience, and it involved attempting to capture a list of 100 photos related to summer.



I loved participating in this challenge because it forced me to think about summer differently and capture images I might not have otherwise even thought about. I managed to post a photo for 95 of the 100 topics!




I plan on creating a slide show of these images and listing the title of each photo and some background info on each image. Until I manage that, here is a peek at some of my favourites, or you can see my challenge thread here.

Scrapping Nook's Opening Day

I had a ton of fun at the opening of the new Scrapping Nook last Saturday. Scrapping Nook Ltd., now located in Welland, is now Janice's baby, and how truly fitting. Once Patti and Elia decided to sell the store they created with so much heart, it's only fitting that it go to someone who has been a huge part of the Nook right from the start.

Congratulations, Janice!

Jen and I drove down together and it was so worth the trip. To be honest, it was a bit of an emotional day. The Scrapping Nook in Fonthill was just one of those places that lives in your heart forever. I went to my first crop ever at that location, and when I arrived I didn't know anyone in person at all. We had only met online, I was a beginning scrapbooker, and I was totally nervous!

That was in 2005, and these ladies were so wonderful and welcoming, and have been a part of my scrapbooking life ever since. I can't say enough about how much Patti and Elia have connected a wonderful group of women through their hard work, beautiful personalities and generosity of spirit. The fall of 2009 was a difficult time for the store, first with an electrical fire, followed by the sudden, sad loss of Patti's Mom, Barb, taking its toll. So many of us were worried that we had seen the end of our beloved Nook.

But now, Janice has picked up the torch and is running with it. I'm so glad to see Scrapping Nook Ltd. continue into the future, and look forward to many more fun events and meaningful connections there.

In the photo above, clockwise, are Patti, Lori, Vicki, Janice, me, Deanna and Elia. Jen was behind the camera, and there were so many others, both present and there in spirit, that made the day great! See you again soon, gals!

See some of my posts about the Nook over the years here.

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!

Destination Create Creations

When I made my first altered clock a loooonnng time ago, our friend Indra loved it, and I promised that I would make one for her. I created this at the DC crop a few weekends ago, and used Scenic Route and Websters Pages papers, and Maya Road, Prima and Kaiser embellies. I think Indra is going to love it! Those are her sweet grand-daughters in the photo.
Since I wasn't feeling well the entire weekend with a bad ear infection (that I STILL have - don't ask!), I just wasn't feeling up to designing pages. I had put the product for this shadow box together quite a while ago and decided to work on it. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I love that the bingo card had a 5 on it to highlight the 5 in our family with the little heart.
Here's the cover of the Maya Road Home Reflections album I made in Caroline Lau's class at the crop. I love it! I used it to tell the story of our family's love for our current home. I'm going to photograph the inside and create a slide show of it when I get a chance. Thanks to my table mates for making it such a great crop, despite my lousy mood due to my icky ear!

Destination Create 2009

Destination Create 2009 was an awesome event that was a blast to attend. We were lucky enough to have Caronline Lau from Maya Road there to teach some classes and share some Maya Road product with us - what a treat! I took Caroline's Home Reflections class, and managed to finish this sweet mini album. Thanks, Angela, for taking this (and actually getting the album in the photo!)
The theme for Saturday night's crop party was Hawaiian Luau. Our table created quite the tiki bar (thanks, Kat for your luau decor!) and managed to win the best table decor prize. It was wonderful sharing a table with Angela, Kat, Lori and Jennifer, and despite that I had a miserable ear infection (which I STILL have!), we had some great laughs.
My friend Leanne also came to this year's DC for the first time, and her table tried to give us a run for our money in the table decor contest. Gina, Nancie, Carole and Leanne were a ton of fun to be with, too. Hostesses Patti and Elia were kind and gracious, not to mention a whole lot of laughs. We celebrated Patti's 40th birthday on Saturday night, and really surprised her.

So, for those of you who stayed home this NSD and think you want to attend a retreat next year instead, I highly recommend Destination Create. I will be posting photos of the Home Reflections album as well as the other items I created at the retreat soon, so stay tuned.

More Photo Orienteering

There's not much time left in the Summer of '69 challenge over at The Scrapping Nook. Like making the most of summer, I've tried to make the most of this challenge, but haven't had the time to do as much as I would have liked. Here are a few shots I entered into the Photo Orienteering challenge - this one is for the topic "eyes".
While in downtown Toronto, I took the opportunity to interpret the challenge topic "neighbourhood". Although the CN Tower is only in my geographic neighbourhood in the broadest sense of the word, I couldn't resist snapping a shot of it for this category. It's been a while, but I once worked at the CN Tower, and am still in touch with some of the great folks I met there.

So the CN Tower is in my neighbourhood in a nostalgic sort of way, too. Speaking of nostalgia, it will be with a twinge of sadness that I watch the Summer of '69 challenge come to a close. The gals at The Nook always make me laugh, even if I never can figure out Where in the World Bryan Adams is! ;-)

Thanks for a summer of scrappy fun, Patti & Elia!

A Scrapbooker's Son

OK, I know you don't believe me, but I'm going to say it anyway. On the morning I took this photo, my son chose his own clothes and dressed himself. Really. I was quite impressed when I saw that he was wearing this GAP shirt, considering that one of my goals for the day was to take photos of that new gap from his missing front tooth.

We had a little Mom and son time that day while Stephen took the girls shopping, so we went to the park, and Evan was totally co-operative, letting me take quite a few photos. He's totally a scrapbooker's kid!

So with this photo, I plan to create a page for one of the Summer of '69 challenges over at The Scrapping Nook. One of the latest challenges is to let your photo tell the story, and not use any journaling. I think this photo works perfectly for that. Read more about the Summer of '69 challenges here.

Have a great weekend! I hope (aka NEED!) to get quite a bit of scrapping done.

Fun in the Sprinkler

Next in the series of pictures I've taken for The Scrapping Nook's Photo Orienteering Challenge is this photo of the kids playing in the sprinkler over the Canada Day long weekend. This photo is for the current week's topic, which is "wet". You can get more information about this challenge by checking out this link.

I'm glad we had great weather over the long weekend. It was the first time we pulled out the sprinkler so far this summer, as it was the first day this year to be warm enough. The kids had a wonderful time.

To those of you who celebrate the 4th of July, here's wishing you a wonderful, fun-filled and safe time with your family and friends.

Photo Orienteering Challenge

As part of the Summer of '69 Challenge over at The Scrapping Nook, I've been participating in a Photo Orienteering Challenge. Every week, Patti and Elia will be posting a new item for us to photograph. I'll be posting some of my photos for this challenge, and here is the first one. The topic for this week was "feet". I took a photo of our daughters during a break at one of their soccer games.


Have some fun this summer, work on your photography and play along! You can find the details here.

The Summer of '69

Some of my favourite childhood vacation memories involve travelling to Montreal to spend time with my cousins. It's a tradition that we continue today - getting our children together for vacations, just as we did as kids. Much of my family reads my blog regularly. My cousin Sharon, who now lives in Ireland, checks in pretty much every day, and many of my aunts and uncles visit regularly as well.

**This is me, waving! Hi!**

So what has brought about this little nostalgic peek? Well, one of my favourite scrapbooking places, The Scrapping Nook is currently hosting a challenge on their site called the Summer of '69 challenge. It's going to be a great summer-long scrapping journey through 69 different challenges, photo scavenger hunts, games and prizes. So if you're a scrapper, don't miss out on the fun - come and play along! Check out all of the details, here.

This photo is of one of my childhood summer vacations in Montreal with my cousins. I left the date stamp on the border - it was the summer of '69! And yes, I really am that old! Left to right, Lucy (New York, USA), Sonja (Austria), me (Ontario, Canada), Karen (Austria), Sharon (Northern Ireland) and Angelo (New York, USA).

I'll be sharing some of the challenges I participate in as the summer goes on, so be sure to check back. I hope your week is as bright as the sun must have been when we were posing for this photo!

Destination Create: Part V

At the cropping table...

It was fantastic sharing a cropping table with these delightful and talented ladies at Destination Create. Pictured with me are Jen Backler, (who also taught some awesome classes), Angela, Jennifer and Lori. Not only are these gals great fun to be around, but I was so inspired by each of them and their wonderful work.

We also had fun being seated next to Kimmie, Tina, Janice, and The Nook's talented photographer/teacher/designer Deanna. The scrapping mojo, the laughter, the conversation and the snacks were all the very best. Take a moment and visit these gals' blogs and check out the unique and innovative designs they each create. You'll be inspired!

Photos of the 70's disco craziness will follow soon.

Destination Create: Part IV

This much fun really OTT to be illegal!

After planning for and being excited about Destination Create for the past year, it's hard to believe that it has now come and gone. I'm thrilled to have spend the past weekend with some of the most wonderful gals anyone could possibly know. Patti, Elia and gang put on a wonderful, fun-filled and exhausting retreat. It rocked!

Between the draws during classes, gifts from sponsors and door prizes, I was lucky enough to come away from the event with these wonderful products to add to my stash. You may notice in the back ground here an OTT light - yes, I won one of the door prizes! I can't wait to try it out. Also, I'm a huge fan of all of the sponsoring companies and was fortunate enough to come away with some great supplies, including a few from Cosmo Cricket and stamps from gelatins. Lucky me! :-)

I hope you all had as wonderful a National Scrapbook Day weekend as I did. I'll be posting more about the event over the next little while, so stay tuned!

Also coming up soon is a little peek at the layouts I've completed with my latest kit from Scrapalicious. Have a super week!

Destination Create: Part III

Happy National Scrapbook Day Weekend!

I'm so excited that this weekend is here. For those of use headed to Destination Create, we've been talking about it for a year now and it's finally going to happen! In addition to hanging out with my fantastic roommates Angela and Lori, and taking classes from the awesome Jen Backler and the amazing Vicki Boutin, this weekend of fun sponsored by The Scrapping Nook's incredible Patti, Elia and team will be the site of an incredible disco dance party. I'm totally ready to dress the part! From the tip of my sequined hat to my platform sandals, from my John Lennon sunglasses and peace sign necklace to my patchwork snakeskin pants, I'm going to dance the night away.

Here is a tiny peek at my disco outfit. When I set up to photograph it, the girls wanted to be in the picture, so I let them! Vanessa wouldn't stay still and is a bit blurry, but that's OK. I'm so hyped about Destination Create! I'll have more photos to share after the big boogie.

Have a wonderful NSD weekend. I know I will!

Destination Create: Part II

What to Pack for a Crop...

I'm not a great mobile scrapper, I'll admit it. I do most of my scrapbooking at my kitchen table after my family is in bed, so packing up my scrap tote to scrap away from home is a challenge! Being faced with what to bring along and what to leave at home, I started a list; I thought I would share it with you. Here's a bit of a peek into my rolling tote, packed and ready for Destination Create:

Papers - cardstock, patterned papers and paper collections, scrapbooking kit club kits, die cut and specialty papers, specialty cardstock
Photos - don't want to forget these! :-)
Cutting Tools - portable trimmer, cutting mat, ruler, craft knife and extra blades, circle cutter, corner rounder, border punches, shape punches
Die Cutting Tools - die cutter, fonts and shapes, embossing folders
Stamping Tools - alpha and decorative stamps, inks, paints, embossing ink and heat tool, embossing powders, stamp cleaner or wipes, stamping blocks/press, watercolour paints or pencils, paint brushes, foam brushes
Adhesives - ATG gun and refill, glue dots, foam pop-up dots, liquid adhesive, Glossy Accents clear liquid adhesive, mod podge, glue stick, skinny glue pen
Writing Tools - pencils, pens, markers
Altering Supplies - mini-albums, Heidi Swapp clock face
Distressing Tools - sandpaper, Basic Grey file kit, Making Memories distressing kit, emery board
Lettering Supplies - letter stickers and alignment template, chipboard letters, letter rub-ons, Thickers, ghost letters. Since I'm not bringing a computer or printer, I'm bringing some pre-print journaling, and LOTS of tiny letter stickers by Making Memories, in tons of colours
Embellishments - ribbons, flowers, brads, Maya Road sheer journaling spots and chipboard shapes, rhinestones, transparent overlays, Grungeboard, any other cool items you've purchased and haven't take out of the package yet! ;-)
Camera Bag - camera, extra memory card and batteries (what fun is a crop if you can't take photos to scrap later?)
Inspiration - sketches, magazines, idea books, journals or notes - whatever inspires you!

Well, I think that covers it, although I suspect once I've arrived, I'll realize I've forgotten something - hopefully not anything crucial! Feel free to use this list to bag your own scrappy tote, or leave a comment if you think of something I've forgotten. Happy cropping!

Destination Create: Part I

I'm terrifically excited right now.

You see, for National Scrapbook Day, I will be at a wonderful event called Destination Create. Hosted by the fantastic gals at The Scrapping Nook, DC is going to be a great time, with classes, cropping, shopping, visiting with online friends and trying new things! I can't wait. One of the new things I'm excited about trying isn't all that new - it's the Basic Grey Magnetic Precision mat.


This terrific tool was released quite a while ago, but to me it's still new - in fact, mine still in it's original packaging. When it arrived on the scrapping scene, this 15" square magnetic cutting mat sounded like just the thing for me - and I still think it is! My challenge is that I'm usually so pressured for time when I scrap that I don't try my innovative new purchases. Instead, I rely on my tried and true methods and tools. And I have a number of wonderful, unopened packages to prove it!

Well, I'm so convinced that BG's Precision Mat will be a tool that I love, that I have already packed it in my rolling tote for the crop. I'm determined to start using it. How will it work for me? Stay tuned; I'll let you know after Destination Create!