Our second assignment in the Scrap Away the Winter Blues challenge at Scraptivity was to create a layout featuring journaling. My page tells of Alicia's fun-loving nature and her knack for making people laugh. I just adore the little stickers on the bottom of her ballet slippers in this photo! 
In January I made not one but TWO trips to Edmonton. The first, planned. The second, sadly, was to attend the funeral of my dear friend Cathryn's father. On that second trip, I was in Edmonton all of 25 hours. So, while it's been longer than usual between blog posts lately, there's been a good reason for it. 
We put together three layouts using Scenic Route's new Loveland collection, we foiled, we glittered, and we laughed a whole lot. If you ever have a chance to attend one of Vicki's classes, you simply must go for it! It's a blast, and you learn so much while you're there - about Disney World, Tai food, marshmallows and - of course, scrapbooking!
So, in all of my spare time ;-) I've decided to join in on the Scrap Away Your Winter Blues Challenge over at Scraptivity! I'm truly not sure where I'll find the time, but one week into the challenge, I'm keeping pace! Here's my layout for the first challenge, which was to use four different stamps from the same set. I used four stamps from Gel-a-tins Build your own Flourish set, along with 2 other Gel-a-tins sets and one EK Success set here.
While it's not ice cream weather right now, I can't wait to sink my teeth into Basic Grey's new Two Scoops collection. Here is a glimpse at the DT kit I am playing with for Scrapalicious this month. The colours are reminiscent of delicious ice cream scoops, and they're so perfect for Valentine's Day. Stay tuned for creations with this cool kit - coming soon!
3) When I moved to Ontario, I quickly dropped many of my western colloquialisms because I was teased endlessly when I used them. One favourite word I have eliminated from my vocabulary is the word "parkade". Really, it's so much more efficient than saying "parking structure", don't you agree? On my recent trip to Edmonton, I saw the happy word within moments of my arrival.
If you haven't had a chance to see We Will Rock You yet, try to fit it in. I saw it a little while ago, and found the performance a lot of fun and the music fantastic! I went with a group from work, and a few scrapping buddies came along too. We had a great dinner before the show, and I still have Queen music in my head to this day.
In October 2007, I had a great time at Canada's Scrapbooking Crop for Kids, where I took two classes from awesome New Zealand scrapper Nic Howard. I posted one project earlier here, and said I would post the other layout once I completed it. Well, here it is, and I am thrilled with it! Vanessa's outfit in this photo goes so perfectly with the florals on the layout. The journaling on this page talks about how serious she gets about playing dress up.
Earlier in the year I attended the Divine Design event at The Scrapping Nook, and I've finally finished my layout from Jen Backler's class. It's a fun 2-page layout featuring paper that I adore, Cosmo Cricket.
Our Christmas holidays were wonderful, and we managed to squeeze a lot of activities into our time off. Together with celebrating the reason for the season, we have a number of other annual family traditions. We always set out cookies for Santa, and race over to the cookie plate on Christmas morning to check whether Santa visited and ate his treats. Of course, he always does!
One of the girls' favourite gifts this year was a beautiful white satin wedding gown. They love taking turns walking down the aisle, and playing maid of honour on alternate turns. Here Vanessa is the blushing bride, and Alicia plays her best friend, maid of honour and flower girl in one. Notice the rose petals scattered on the floor! 
Having a birthday close to the holidays often means taking a back seat to other Christmas activities. My sweet hubby and the kids made certain that didn't happen to me this year. We spent the whole day together; saw The Bee Movie, sang Happy Birthday, and had a wonderful chocolate cookie cheesecake for dessert that night. Who could ask for more? Happy Birthday to me!
We took advantage of all of the extra Family Skate times at this time of year, and went skating a number of times together. The girls are getting better with each skate! Evan, of course, was skating circles around all of us, and loved playing tag and skating backwards. We also managed to get the sled out to the local hill before the warm weather came and melted away all of the snowy fun!
Here they are - my first layouts for 2008. These were created for Scrapalicious using the American Crafts Metropolitan collection papers and Fancy Pants' fantastic 12" x 12" felt shapes. If you haven't tried the felt yet, it is thick and sturdy and wonderful to work with. This page features a photo from last summer of Alicia and her eternal companion playing in the sandbox. If we let her, she would take that bear absolutely everywhere with her. You are never alone when you have a Teddy!
In October of last year, I was lucky enough to have taken engagement photos of my brother-in-law Justin and his beautiful fiance (who is now his wife), Rosa. I was thrilled to have the opportunity, and I managed to capture a number of photos that I really treasure. The fall colours of the kit I was working with this month were just perfect for my favourites from that photo shoot. Here I added a bit of sparkle with Doodlebug's sugar coated paper and my new Quickutz Metro font.
Here's is another favourite from the shoot, and I couldn't resist enlarging it, since I really love the white space that the brick wall provides. It seemed to be calling out for the title to be placed right on the photo.
Well, I've kicked off the scrapping New Year on the right foot - there have been 2 days so far and I've finished 2 pages! These are the long-awaited layouts I've been so anxious to work on for Scrapalicious using American Crafts papers and Fancy Pants felt shapes.
Our family started 2007 on the heels of a miscarriage, together with the loss of my husband's grandmother - both in the same week. As I took the Christmas Eve photos here (left) back in December of 2006, I remember my bittersweet feelings of a celebration tarnished by loss, and the melancholy notions of what 2007 might bring. But I truly feel that I was tremendously blessed in 2007. 
While our family did not grow in size, we most definitely grew in an abundance of love. New friendships blossomed. Through something unexpected as this blog, I have connected with so many - in particular, scrapbookers. And as a scrapbooker, I joined a Design Team for the first time, and added wonderfully creative artists to my circle of friends. 
As a photography student, I have learned so very much this year. I have so much gratitude for my fellow students and teachers, in particular Patti from whom I took two Scrapability photography classes, but also Michelle and Kimmie whose blogs I love to peek at and whose images I completely adore. 
We are all finished with work and school and Christmas family time has started. It's a busy time around our house, since we are not quite finished with all of the wrapping and our cards just went into the mail a few days ago! But amidst the bustle of activity, we always take time to be together.
Making a gingerbread house with Daddy is a Christmas tradition, and the kids do more of the work each year. Cookie baking is another annual event. While I do the more precise work after the kids are in bed, decorating gingerbread cookies is the kids' task.
The kids are happy that my mom is visiting for the holidays. While she doesn't necessarily know the rules to the games they want to play, since they have often made up their own, she is a good sport and plays along regardless. Watching them interact is as much fun as watching as any holiday movie - something else they do together.
Being outdoors is another fun winter activity, and the kids are thrilled that there has been so much snow this year. Our yard is one of their favourite places, and despite the lack of slope, they love to take out the sled and have sled rides. It's only a few days until Christmas, and we're all looking forward to spending it together.
I had a great time at the Scrap Divas' & More Secret Santa Christmas Gift Exchange at Milestone's restaurant in Burlington last week. The food was great, the company was awesome and the gift exchange was a blast! Thanks so much to Leanne for introducing me to this fantastic group of scrapbookers and to Nancie for organizing. 
...around our house without a Christmas party to mingle with family and friends. With how busy each of our lives are, it's wonderful to see all those we wish we saw more of all year. We had a fantastic time at this year's event. As the official shutter bug, I admit that I failed miserably at capturing all of the photo opportunities all night - I sort of lost track of the camera as the evening went on! But the conversation was great, and the company was the finest. It's now become a tradition for Evan to play Christmas carols on the piano, and I look forward to seeing that continue far into the future. 
I'm happy to report that my friend Patti's husband Ron is recovering well from his heart surgery. I'm also pleased to report that my daughter has helped me to select a winner for the RAK, pictured here. 
The kids had a blast bowling at a birthday party last weekend. Evan really wanted to show the girls what he knew and "teach" them how to bowl. They are now at the age where they are conscious of their score and want to do well, so were very excited when one of them scored a strike!
I'm definitely a summer loving gal! But kids love the snow, so out we go to play - or to "work" as Evan puts it when he heads out to help with the shoveling.
We got a real kick from the name of a bottle of wine we received at our Christmas party last weekend. It's called Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush! While the name is quite humorous, the cause it funds is a serious one - sales from this wine help support the Ontario SPCA. 
