Merry Christmas

From our home to yours, wishing you and your family a happy
and blessed Christmas and all the best for 2012.

Christmas Crafting

When Sue stopped by to scrap with me a few weeks ago I managed to finish a Christmas present for my hubby. I love creating the calendars that we use in our home each year. This year I used the My Mind's Eye 2012 Calendar kit. Since Stephen reads my blog I can only give a little peak!

Creating Christmas gifts is a good excuse to squeeze in a little bit of scrapbooking time around the holidays! :-}

This calendar took approximately 2 hours focused time (not including chatting, giggling and watching Crazy, Stupid Love time) to put together and it was easy to find in the craft section of my local HomeSense. Above is the December page. I found with this calendar I did add titles to many of the pages using my own stash, though.

If you are looking for a last-minute gift idea and have tons of photos kicking around, this is good choice. I'll post photos of the rest of the calendar once hubby unwraps it Christmas morning!

Slow Down for a Moment

We interrupt your regularly scheduled holiday hectic-ness for a little fireside puppy love! Love is what this season is all about, after all! Aren't they cute?

OK, you may now return to your regularly scheduled Christmas shopping, baking and general craziness.

Christmas Readiness

It's now less than ten days until Christmas and all is amazingly calm and bright at our house! The past few years I haven't sent out Christmas cards, and I'm still behind on that this year (although I'm intent on getting them in the mail before December ends!) Other than that, I'm feeling quite ready for Christmas!

We decided (OK, maybe I decided!) to try something different in our living room this year - we moved the tree over closer to the window. It was formerly beside the fireplace, in the left in this photo where the poinsettia now is. What do you think? I think this flows much better, and hey - it photographs nicely too! :-}

Are you ready for Christmas? If not, don't panic, there's still a whole weekend ahead of you! Enjoy it, and best of luck with your Christmas to-do list!

A peek at last year's December photos

Here I am once again - I'm taking daily December photos and realize I haven't yet posted the December slide show from last Christmas! I posted 2009's daily images a year late, too! For 2011 I'm hoping to do a bit better, and will assemble 2011's December daily photos in a more timely manner!


The nice thing about my procrastination, though (other than how similar it makes me to my husband!) - looking at last year's Christmas slide show totally gets me into the Christmas spirit! :-} I hope it does for you too!



We've had a wonderful December so far. This weekend we finished shopping for everyone in our home and prepared the box of gifts for shipping to Edmonton. We also built the frame for our ice rink and started to flood it, then squeezed in some family time by the fire.


As a special treat for me, I managed to sneak in a dinner out with some fantastic cousins; I also scrapbooked into the wee hours with Sue - finishing a final Christmas gift in the process. I hope you had a productive and fun weekend too, and I wish you a fantastic and productive creating and capturing Christmas memories.

(The images above are also from 2010's December daily photos)

Here's the slide show of Our December 2010 in Daily Photos

Never a Dull Moment...

Seeing as our life is not already busy enough . . . yes, we have adopted a kitten! How could we resist? This little guy and his five siblings were abandoned in a garbage dumpster outside our kids' school a few weeks ago. The kids chose him and named him Smokey before I even agreed to bringing him home!

So far he seems none the worse for wear and he has acclimatized well to his new home. The vet checked him out and he appears to be in good health and has doubled his weight in the past two weeks - a good sign. Merlin is very loving towards the kitten, but seeing as he doesn't seem to know his own strength, we have to keep meetings somewhat controlled for now.

Above, Stephen encourages Smokey as Merlin approaches. Hopefully they'll be best of friends soon enough!

Christmas is On Its Way!

It's almost December; snow is falling; Christmas recitals and parties are filling up the calendar! I know that Christmas is on its way when I hear carols sung being by a choir, and last weekend the kids and I were lucky enough to hear my nephew Kristian sing two beautiful Christmas solos with the Peterborough Singers.
In the photo above, Kristian is singing Believe from Polar Express. At left he sang Good King Wenceslas in a page's costume. Kristian is very talented; he made the Top 16 on the 2011 season of the YTV show The Next Star and has been a finalist at the CNE's Rising Star for the past 3 years running.

You can hear more from Kristian on youtube here and here, or join his Facebook fan page here.

As December approaches I am once again preparing for my December Daily project - taking a photo each day in December. Looking back on my blog I realize that I didn't post a slide show of my 2010 daily photos, so I will put one together and post it soon.

If you have never taken on a daily photo challenge, I highly recommend it for December. Tomorrow is the day to start, so get your camera battery charged! :} Read more about the amazing Ali Edwards who originally coined the phrase December Daily here.

Still More Family Title Pages

When I had Sharon and Leanne over to scrap earlier this month, I worked on more title pages for my Library of Memories album system. If you're not familiar with Stacy Julian and her fantastic concept for keeping your photos and your layouts organized, look here - it's fantastic!


Once I created an album for each member of our immediate family, I wanted to also create sections for layouts which focused on more than one family member. So many pages are about activities or memories surrounding two of the siblings or Stephen and I. Here is a look at the page I created which will be the title page for the album about our twin daughters.




I want all of my LOM pages to have a consistent look. I've maintained a format for my LOM title pages which includes Chatterbox artsy.licious papers and embellishments, ribbon, a journaling box and one large focal point photo with five smaller, supporting photos.







The journaling boxes are all still empty now, but I plan on including some journaling on each of the title pages in the future. This is the title page for layouts of me with my husband Stephen.








And this page heads the album which is for photos of the three siblings together. I have so many photos that I absolutely love of these three that there has to be an album just for that!


So now I am finished the title pages for those family members who live in our household - at least the human family members! When I started LOM back in 2010, we didn't have any animal family members, so I didn't pre-create the titles for pages about our pets - and yes, I said pets, plural. Our kids brought home a kitten they found in a garbage dumpster last week, so how could I say no? But that is a post in itself, which will follow soon.


Thanks for checking in, and have a great week!

Home Sweet Home mini album

Last weekend I journaled the Home Sweet Home mini album I started so very long ago! I took this class at Scrapalicious with Layle Koncar ages ago, and it inspired me to take photos of our home at that time. Now I'm so glad I did, since we don't live there anymore and these memories are forever captured!
We loved our old house, and only moved away because we wanted a slower-paced, rural lifestyle, a pool and more space to for the kids to run and play. Thanks so much, Layle, for helping me ensure that we never forget our love for this wonderful home where we experienced so much of our kids' childhood.


I've created a slide show so that you can see most of the album. Enjoy!

Joining the Club!

I just had a most fantastic weekend!

On the heels of Stephen being away for the week, I thought I would need a break and invited my friend Leanne and my newly repatriated cousin Sharon over for the weekend to help with the kids and indulge in some scrappy goodness. It was an almost-sleepless, snack-filled, gourmet cooking, scrappy chat fest!
Sharon just moved back to Canada after spending 15 years in Northern Ireland, and while we've seen each other regularly in Montreal most summers, we've never had a girls' weekend together. I've always said that Sharon would LOVE to scrap, and that her artistic side would make her a natural!
I don't know many ladies who can be as proud of their first project EVER as Sharon can be of this layout! This page about Sharon and her hubby (also Stephen) on their way to see Lady Gaga is fantastic, don't you agree? Welcome to the scrapping world, Sharon! I know you'll take it by storm!

More on the pages and mini album I created this weekend coming up next.

Ooh la la la....

Have you heard the commercials? "It's better in the Bahamas!" Well, Stephen and I were able to experience that first hand this past week. Yes, we are each wearing a tan as our Halloween costumes today after just returning from a week in the sun. Here we are at our resort on Great Exuma island.

We took a day trip along the Exuma arparchipelago, a group of 365 tiny islands in the southern Bahamas. I have never seen water so blue. It feels like you can see forever. The weather was fantastic and our tour guide was full of knowledge about the history of the Bahamas.


We stopped at the island apparently owned by actor Nicolas Cage, where we fed grapes to iguanas who were very excited to see us. In the photo at left, this little guy is eating right out of my hand. It was a fabulous day.



We traveled with the same fantastic group that we went to the Rhine with last year, and our evenings were full of great functions, laughter, warmth and wine. The resort was stunning at night. We're home now, just in time for trick or treating! More on Halloween to follow soon.

Home Sweet Home mini album peek

Ages ago I took a class at Scrapalicious from Layle Koncar in which we created her gorgeous Home Sweet Home mini album. Back then we were still living in our former house and had no idea we would be moving! Isn't life full of surprises? Well, I've finally filled all the pages of this album and just need to journal.

It's a sweet and nostalgic trip to create this album from my new perspective of no longer living in this house. It was definitely a wonderful home for us, and we do miss it, although I would change our current home for the world! I'll have more to post of this album once I have a chance to do some - yes, get this - hand-written journaling! Stay tuned!

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.

Rhine Cruise Mini Album

I've finished my Rhine travel album almost exactly a year after we returned from our Rhine River cruise. I have far more photos of our trip in a photo album, but for this mini I wanted to capture the most memorable shots of each city and country we visited.

This album was so quick and easy to put together, and literally any scrapper has the materials to make one of these sitting in their stash without so much as a trip to the LSS! Truly, it is simply three pieces of scored and folded cardstock embellished on both sides with photos and related elements.



The album is so much fun to look through. It's nice to open it up completely and get an overview of the entire album, but it folds back together quickly and easily for display.





It is also really easy to flip through it in sections to see each topic and read the journaling. IF you've never made an album like this before, I highly recommend it. It couldn't be quicker and simpler, not to mention easy on the supply budget! I'm sure this one won't be my last!

Leader of the Pack!

Our dude was quite proud of himself when he arrived home from Cubs the other night. He was selected to be Sixer - that's Scouts Canada speak for a leader within his Cub pack. This change is indicated by the new shoulder epaulet he is wearing with double green stripes. Doesn't he look sharp in his uniform? Way to go, Evan!

Rhine Cruise Mini Album peek

Last year this time Stephen and I were just getting back from our cruise of the Rhine River. This weekend I finished a mini album of highlights of the trip that I started quite a while ago. Here's a peek at the cover. I'll take more shots of the album in daylight and post them in the next few days. Stay tuned!

I've heard some fantastic things about Fall Scrapfest, which just finished up this weekend in Oshawa. Maybe the stars will align better this year and I'll be able to go. Scrapbooking combined with gut-busting laughter is always a good thing!

If you missed out on Scrapfest but are free this coming weekend, you may still be able to head over to Destination Create in St. Catharine's. I've attended this event in past years and it is an absolute blast! If you're going this year, I'm totally jealous. Have a great time, ladies!

We Are Family LOM Title Pages

Here are the Library of Memories title pages I created for each member of our family. I've left a journaling block on each page to add a personal note later. I used a similar format for each page, since I wanted a consistent look. The larger photo is 5 x 7 and the smaller are wallet prints. Here is Alicia's page. She was quick to point out to me that I'm not finished making title pages yet - I need to make one for Merlin! :-}


Vanessa's page is pink. I used Chatterbox's artsy.licious line for all of these layouts. I snapped quite a bit of it up so can make whatever additional title pages I decide I need in the future as I expand my Library of Memories.











I used Evan's title page the sneak peek in my last post. The large photo I used on this page is one of my favourite pictures of him ever.













I used a photo of me when we were on holidays in Jamaica a few years ago as the focal photo for my page. Hmmm, I feel like I am about due another tropical vacation any time now, don't you think? :-}










For Stephen's title page, the large photo is of him playing DJ at a New Year's Eve party a few years back. He's so totally in his element!

If you don't know what Stacy Julian's Library of Memories system is (and you have tens of thousands of photos on your hard drive - like me :-o ), take a peek here. I love the concept she has built around photo and scrapbook page organization.

I don't follow it to the letter, but I have used many of her processes to organize my pages and photos, making them so much easier to find. This class typically runs once a year at Big Picture Classes. I highly recommend it!

More Library of Memories Title Pages

To complement the four main category title pages I created for my Library of Memories last year, I've created individual title pages for each member of our family. These will be the first page in each of our albums. Here is a peek at Evan's. I have photos of each of the pages to post in the next few days.

I picked up a ton of artsy.licious paper when Scrapalicious had it on special at Scrapfest last year. I was thinking ahead to many more title pages I may have to make to organize my albums, since I do want all of the title page papers to come from the same collection.

BTW, if you're heading to Scrapfest this weekend, I'm totally jealous! Unfortunately we just have too much going on at this time of year, so I can't make it. If you're heading there, have a blast!

Oh, and if you're cropping, bring a crash helmet! :-}

Canvas Swatches

I took this class quite a while ago, but finally have photos to post! I love Donna Downey's style and spending time with her in a workshop was a wonderful learning experience. We created three altered pieces at Donna's Swatches workshop, and this one is my favourite!

I have quite a phobia about writing directly on my scrapbook projects. but Donna wouldn't let anyone use that as an excuse! We used India Ink - which is totally unforgiving - directly on these canvases. Yes, it was intimidating at first, but I love the result. I also love the stamped "I love you" in the puddles of paint.

In Donna's original design, the blue canvas was the only one with photos on it, but with the incredible backlog of photos I have, I decided to add photos to each of these canvases. The quote on this reads "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are".

This canvas with it's gorgeous golden orange colour is the perfect home decor item for fall. I chose the lyrics to Greatest Love of All for this canvas.








Here is a zoom of this canvas. It's on display in our the fireplace mantel in our family room right now.








Now our fireplace mantel is ready for fall! Ironically, we are having gorgeous, summer-like weather this long weekend. We even spent time in the pool this afternoon!







While I was shooting these photos, Merlin didn't want to be left out. Here he is, happily chewing on a toy while I take pictures. Isn't he just the cutest pup ever?

I hope that you and your loved ones have a wonderful Thanksgiving long weekend.