As seen in Canadian Scrapbooker Fall 2013

Can you believe it's back to school time already?  Our kids went back today and they were all so excited about it.

To me, back to school season has always been a time for getting routines re-established.  Lists are a big part of the routine at our house.  That's part of the reason I was so excited to create a layout for the Leave Your Legacy article by Sue Sykes for the Fall 2013 Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.  Sue's article this month is all about Top 10 lists

This layout itemizes all of those wonderful things I love about this time of year.

The journaling, which is hidden beneath the large, focal photo, describes why each of the items illustrated is meaningful to our family.  It's too long to include here, but here's a quick snapshot.

1 - We love going to the CNE.  It really signifies the change from summer to autumn for us.
2 - Back to school.  I'm so glad our kids love this as much as I do.
3 - The splendour of the autumn colours.
4 - Picking a pumpkin to carve for Halloween.  It's good family fun!
5 - Decorating the house for Thanksgiving - inside and out.  It's part of how we recognize this special occasion at our house.
6 -  We try to hit as many of the local fall fairs around our area that we can.  We love the family time together it affords us!
7 - Halloween: the costumes, the fun with friends and the scavenger hunts.  (The candy - not so much!)
8 - Remembrance Day. It's so important to take part in activities that commemorate our veterans so we try to participate every year.
9. Yard work is a family affair around our house.  It's fun to see the kids contribute too!
10. We try to celebrate the start of the new school year with a Labour Day bonfire and fireworks. Having family and friends over to roast marshmallows and make s'mores adds to the fun.   Occasionally I manage to get a good fireworks shot too, which is a bonus!

If you haven't already, pick up a copy of Canadian Scrapbooker for more great Top 10 lists, and other fantastic layouts. 

I hope that you had a wonderful Labour Day long weekend and that the school year got off to a good start for you and your family.  Thanks for stopping by!

As seen in Canadian Scrapbooker

I mentioned a few posts ago that this page was published in the Spring 2013 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine. It's in the Leave your Legacy article by the awesome Sue Sykes on the topic of embracing change. The layout is about the dramatic changes that took place when I decided to move to Toronto. I didn't plan to stay in Ontario at the time, I thought I would work here for a few years and head back west. The decision to stay was an unexpected one.

Did you know that I used to work at the CN Tower?  It was a fantastic place to be, at a very dynamic time in the Tower's history.  I wanted this photo to show present the Tower from an different and interesting angle, to represent the fresh perspective and wonderful segue that job gave me in my life at the time.



If you know me well, you know about my love for photographing sun flares, and this photo of the Tower shot into the bright sunshine is one of my favourites! 

Published on the same two page spread are stunning layouts from my wonderful friends Sue Sykes and Amanda LePage, as well as someone I'm looking forward to meeting at a crop coming up this September, Christa Uttley. I am completely thrilled to be in such amazing company!

If you haven't had a chance to see this magazine yet, Spring 2013 is a wonderful issue, so you should really check it out. A copy is available on back order from Canadian Scrapbooker here. Enjoy!

Dare Greatly - As seen in Canadian Scrapbooker

It's been a while since I wrote this post and gave you a peek at a layout that was about to be published in Canadian Scrapbooker magazine. This has turned out to be one of my favourite pages, and I was thrilled to see it on the pages of the magazine.

The photo on this page is quite old - the kids all look so little - and it still makes me so happy! The kids are so natural and just giddy with happiness in the picture. Love it!


The title and journaling on this page were inspired by one of my favourite authors, Brene Brown, who I was lucky enough to hear speak last summer in New York on the Katie Couric show. Her latest book, Daring Greatly, is so inspiring and I wanted to pass along part of its message to the kids. If you haven't read any of Brene's books, I highly recommend them, in particular this one and this one, in addition to Daring Greatly.

The page was published in a feature in the magazine about facing your fears, written by my friend Sue Sykes. I really want our kids to strive to be the very best they can be, and not settle for average or for whatever is placed easily in front of them. I hope I am doing a good job of modeling this in my own life for them, and I hope they are not afraid to go after what they want most in life. You can subscribe to Canadian Scrapbooker and have each issue delivered to your door, or you can purchase back issues online here.

Wedding Wonders

I'm so excited that the Summer issue of Canadian Scrapbooker is hitting the newsstands. An article titled Wedding Wonders in this issue features the wedding album I created for Scrapalicious using a Fancy Pants mixed media book and the Basic Grey Wisteria collection. It's on page 67.


The album is also featured in full on Canadian Scrapbooker's website. Here's the link so you can take a look.








I had to pull all of the images of this album down when I submitted it for publication and I haven't re-posted them yet, but here's the slide show I put together when I finished the album.




Be sure to pick up your copy of this fantastic magazine soon. It's available at Scrapalicious. There are a ton of talented scrapbookers featured - at a glance I saw my awesome friends Connie, Sue and Jen (and possibly a few more once I read the whole thing!) Check it out!

Scrapalicious Wedding Album

One of the coolest albums I have ever worked with is this Fancy Pants Mixed Media album. With a mix of chipboard, felt and clear pages, this dynamic album is a blast to work with. Paired with the gorgeous purples of BG's Wisteria collection, it was a perfect colour match for documenting our wedding day.

The 8" x 8" size of this album is perfect for trimming down 8" x 10" photos to fill a whole page, which I did for a few of the chipboard pages. Scrapalicious still has a number of these albums in stock, but hurry as I'm sure they will go quickly. My album will also be on display in the store for a while.

I also used a lot of Prima products in this album. I love the way the self-adhesive felt gate frames our faces in a heart on the cover of the album (top photo). I also just love the look of their bling frames (left). All flowers in the album are by Prima, including leaves, which are white flowers.

Title stickers and stamps in the album are from two different Basic Grey sets. The mini alphas are by Making Memories. The die-cut stickers are Wisteria to match the papers. I also used lots of Kaiser bling. Of course, my favourite part of this entire album is the groom - doesn't he look handsome?

I've created a slide show of the entire wedding album below. You can also click on the slideshow and select Full Screen if you would like a closer look. Thanks to Virginia, Lancia and Mike at Scrapalicious for their patience with me as I created this album during our move, which was one of the more hectic times for our family, causing the album to take a while! Good news though - I'm making great progress on my new scrapbook room, and will be able to scrap up a storm soon! More photos of that will be coming soon. :-}

Enjoy the slideshow, and have a wonderful New Year's Eve!

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.

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*

Cover Story

Now that the winter 2008 Canadian Scrapbooker has arrived in stores, it is selling out quickly, so be sure to get your copy soon. I just received my cover layout back in the mail last week, so I thought I would post a photo of the original page. The magazine so generously sent me Corel Painter 4 Essentials software and a few copies of the magazine, along with this layout. I'm looking forward to checking out the software - probably not until after Christmas though! I really don't think I'll get to it before then, seeing as I still need to start Christmas shopping!!

I really appreciate everyone's kind comments - in e-mail, on facebook, in person, at Scrapalicious - wherever! It's been a lot of fun being on the cover, and I cherish every single one of you who has shared in my excitement. Thanks so much!

As Seen in Canadian Scrapbooker

It was certainly a pleasure to be featured in Canadian Scrapbooker magazine's Passport to Creativity article for the winter 2008 issue, alongside 2 other awesome Ontario scrappers - Patti Hozack and Lesley Langdon. The magazine provided the product for my Ticket to Ride layout, which is created using exclusively Making Memories Passport Collection product. Check out the article on page 95.
I was thrilled to be asked for this layout of Alicia with her great grandmother, or Babcha, who passed away 2 years ago last month. This layout is one of my favourite pages ever. I love how the photo depicts the patience that Babcha had with her great-grandchildren. Alicia's quote, which truly shows the innocence of childhood, is so endearing. Our sweet Alicia's little heart often overflows with loving sentiments such as this.
The third layout requested for the article was this graphic page which I made following a tropical wedding trip last year. The photo, which is one of my favourites, is of the chairs set up on the beach for the wedding, just before the guests arrived.
It was a treat to be featured with talent such as Patti and Lesley. Congrats to them both, and to all of the talented scrappers featured in the winter issue.

The next Canadian Scrapbooker

The winter 2008 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine comes out December 1st. Check out the table of contents here.





Seeing my layout peeking out from that banner makes me smile! ;-)

Who's That (Cover) Girl??

I can't believe that it's been more than four months since I posted this and raised the curiosity of some of you. ;-) I was so excited tonight to get my first sneak peek at the Winter 2008 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker online over at Just Cre8, since this is what my toot post was all about.

I have to admit, I don't usually toot. I'm not really a superstitious person, but I always feel like I shouldn't count my chickens before they're hatched, not just when it comes to publications, but generally in life. So now that I've actually had a peek at the magazine, I'll come right out and say it. . . .

I'm a cover girl! Yahoo! This is my first cover ever, and I'm absolutely thrilled! I can't wait to have this mag in my hot little hands! Thanks for letting me share my excitement. :-)

Canadian Scrapbooker Fall 2008

I know that school just started and it's not yet time to think about Halloween, but the though of it has crossed my mind - simply because one of my favourite Halloween layouts was just published in the fall 2008 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker. This photo is from our girls' first Halloween, and they are posing with my Mom, who was visiting that year.
In the same issue of Canadian Scrapbooker is this layout which I created during the Scrap Away the Winter Blues contest at Scraptivity. I was fortunate enough to be chosen as the contest's winner, and in addition to $400 in scrapbooking product, part of the prize was having a layout featured in Canadian Scrapbooker. I love how this layout shows Alicia's fun side, showing off the stickers she stuck to the bottom of her ballet shoes.

P.S. For those of you who are wondering, my recent toot is about something else, yet to come. ;-)

Canadian Scrapbooker Spring 2008

I was happy to receive my copy of the newest Canadian Scrapbooker magazine this week, as I have a layout featured in it. This page highlights the crazy antics of our kids just before Easter a few years ago, when they spent a ton of time putting together a collection of bright, colourful Easter cookies which they then had absolutely no interest in eating. I love this magazine, since it features exclusively Canadian artists. Congrats to all of the fellow scrapbookers I know who are also featured in this issue.

As seen in Canadian Scrapbooker

I was very excited a little while ago when Canadian Scrapbooker asked for three of my layouts for their Winter 2007 issue. The holiday season is such a meaningful time, and Christmas pages are very special to me. This layout of the girls playing piano is from last Christmas and I hadn't even posted it anywhere before submitting it, so here it is for the first time. The starting point for this layout was a monthly kit from Scrapologie, with a little Pressed Petals and K & Co. chipboard and MM letters added.
This layout also has a Christmas theme, and holds special meaning for our family. I also mentioned this page in a previous post. The journaling here tells the story of our first Christmas following the loss of my husband's grandmother just over a year ago. This layout also has a Scrapologie kit at its heart. The over sized chandelier transparency from Hambly Screen Prints is one of my favourite scrapbooking products ever, and the Thickers from American Crafts really make the title stand out.
Evan's obsession with Yu-Gi-Oh! is well known amongst our family and friends, and when I shot this photo for a class assignment, I knew I had to scrap it. The patterned paper here is by Around The Block. I love the stamp from Autumn Leaves. The big chipboard letters are from Li'l Davis, and the crushed velvet are Maya Road. My dude is happy to see this one in print, however chose his "Sponge Bob Marley" t-shirt from Jamaica for Show & Tell last week over showing off his photo in a magazine. Kids!

If you haven't picked up this latest issue of Canadian Scrapbooker, grab it quickly, as they are moving fast. It makes a great stocking stuffer for that scrapper in your family, it's Canadian, and it's jam packed full of great stuff.

Just About a Year Ago

Last year around this time, I was very excited to receive my copy of the Winter 2006 Canadian Scrapbooker magazine. In that magazine was my first ever published scrapbook page, All is Calm, All is Bright. I was thrilled to have this page be my first publication, since I really love the photo of our three kids around the tree on Christmas Eve. Since I wasn't blogging yet back then, I thought I would post about it now.

You see - I am equally excited for the Winter 2007 edition of Canadian Scrapbooker to come out in the next few weeks! Why? Check back soon and find out!