In My Mailbox...

There's nothing sweeter at the end of a long day than finding a box of scrappy goodness in my mailbox - nothing, maybe, other than being with my family AND that great scrappy goodie box.

I was very excited to be selected as the Guest Design Team member for Scraptivity for September 2008. When my kit box arrived, I was really excited to take a photo of it. Of course, I can't reveal the contents yet, but Evan was happy to take this photo of us with the box. The big reveal will be on September 1st in the S! gallery.

Check back for my creations using this kit at the beginning of September. In the interim, I'm off to get the kids reluctantly ready for heading back to school. Wish me luck! :-)

Scrapalicious Sneak Peek

Whew! It's so great to finally get a chance to scrapbook. It's been a busy summer, and finding time to get pages scrapped hasn't been easy. Here's a peek at one of the pages I created this week with my Scrapalicious DT kit. This page features Basic Grey's new Euphoria with a little Chatterbox and Doodlebug.

There will be more coming soon, so be sure to check back again soon!

Did you hear the one about the Scrapbooker. . . ?

I once read on 2peas the story of a gal who invited another she had never met in person to be a bridesmaid at her wedding! I'm serious! You'll have to trust me on this one, as I can't locate the thread now. These gals had only met online, but they felt like they had known each other since childhood. They only met face to face just moments before the walk down the aisle!

And you know what - I can understand that!

Scrapbookers are awesome people, and I can certainly understand how two ladies could develop a friendship of wedding party calibre over years of regular chats on a message board and blogs, despite whatever geographic distance exists between them.

About now, you're probably wondering what my story has to do with the above photo of the July 2008 Scrap Pack from Just Cre8, aren't you? Let me tell you.

Last month, I was lucky enough to be the winner of this gorgeous kit through a message board contest over at Just Cre8. Just Cre8 is a Canadian monthly kit club that allows you to customize your kit using some or all of the product offered each month. It's a wonderfully flexible idea, and the kits Sue puts together are both stunning as well as creative.

When Sue started Just Cre8 over a year ago, I purchased one of her kits, and loved it! I joined the message board, and regularly peruse the gallery, where their very talented Cre8ive Crew design team posts tons of inspiring pages. My friend Lori is one of the Cre8ive Crew, and creates beautiful work with these kits. Check out the gallery here.

So I took a photo of this kit, which I can't wait to dig into when I get a chance, and started this post. Then, as I typed, I found myself writing that "not only does Sue put together an awesome monthly kit, but she's one of the coolest gals you could meet..." Then I realized - I've never met Sue in person! I did a bit of a double take as I typed, because truly, I feel like I've known Sue forever. I met Sue on the very first scrapping message board I joined years ago, and have "known" her ever since. Our kids are similar in age, we obviously share a passion for scrapbooking, but also share family values of education and faith, as well as a love of photography, a sense of humour, and so much more. I drop by her blog regularly and stay up to date on her family's antics. I feel like we go way back, despite that we've only ever chatted on message boards!

So a big thank you to Just Cre8 and to Sue for this great kit. I'll post creations with it as soon as I can - although I won't EVER promise Sue that I'll remove all of the centres from my chipboard letters! ;-)

And if you haven't yet, check out Just Cre8, and stay tuned here for some creations with this "gr8" kit, coming (relatively) soon!

What we did on our Summer Vacation

Have I mentioned lately that my cousins ROCK?! Well they do.

The great thing about planning a vacation with these gals (and the few not in this photo) is that they never lose sight of that these trips are all about the kids! Our parents' generation let us spend as much holiday time as we could together growing up, and it's critical to each of us to let our kids do the same!
While our parents visited in Montreal, we drove together up to Mount Tremblant. In past years, Tessa and I haven't been in town for this trip, but everyone made room for us so graciously! Thanks so much, gals! And guess what - after the kids were in bed, we even talked scrapbooking! :-)
You see, my cousin Sharon is a scrapbooker who doesn't know it yet! Tell me what you think: she reads my blog daily, along with Vicki's and Layle's, has read Elsie's book, she tags along on my Montreal LSS runs...Sharon, really - get scrapping already! You know you want to! :-)
I was also lucky enough to see my cousin Julie from NY for the first time in almost 20 years! I loved getting caught up and meeting her husband John, as well as her great kids - they are adorable! Even though we only overlapped in Montreal for less than a day, we made the most of it.

So thanks to my cousins, my cousins' cousins :-), our aunts and uncles, and - of course - our great kids, for such an awesome vacation. I've put together a little slide show of the trip below, so take a peek. To see the a larger version, click here.

Check this Out!

The fall 2008 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker will be on newsstands September 1st. I'm looking forward to this issue, since I have two layouts coming out in it. If you don't subscribe, be sure to look for it at a newsstand near you! This is a great magazine, and it sells out quickly.

Until then, check out the table of contents preview, which Canadian Scrapbooker posted on their website here. Part way down the page you will see Alicia featured in my So Very You layout, one of the layouts that will be in print this issue. What a treat to have it featured in the online preview.


I'm so proud to be a part of this great magazine!

A Day at the Races

We've been back from Montreal for five days, and I still haven't done any scrapping. I still have hope that I might get some done this weekend, but life is getting in the way. Too many chores to do! Perhaps whoever invented the self-cleaning oven could invent a self-cleaning house! :-P

I have managed to go through and edit some of our vacation photos, though. The first set I finished is of our day trip to Montreal's Nascar event. I wasn't sure if the girls would be crazy about going to a car race, but they loved it! It was a fantastic day. Thanks to my cousin Sharon for suggesting it, as I would probably never have even considered it otherwise!

As we arrived at the event, I really didn't know what to expect. I certainly didn't know that we would be able to get so close to the action. There was really only one name in racing on the agenda that I recognized going in, and it was Alex Tagliani. To my surprise, Alicia and I walked around a corner and there he was! He was so nice! He would have taken a photo with Alicia if she wasn't too shy. I've posted a slide show below of some of our shots of the day so take a peek.

Next on my agenda - the rest of my Montreal pictures, and some designs with my Scrapalicious DT kit - coming soon!

These are the Days We'll Remember

It's true - we are so blessed and lucky. We've just returned from a wonderful vacation in Montreal with many of my cousins and their children. It was filled with days of complete fun and wonder. I'll post more about this in the next while, but here is one of my favourite photos of the trip.

It's been such a busy summer at our house. One of the things that had been keeping me hopping just before our trip was my attempt at a Memory Makers Masters entry, which I managed to get about 4/5 of the way through. So no submission this year for me, but I'm completely thrilled with the layouts I've created. I haven't yet decided whether I'll post them or hold them back, so more about that later - maybe! :-)

I will admit, thought, that I've held back and not posted a number of photos I've recently taken that I absolutely love. I did this because I wasn't sure what I might use for MMM, and since MMM requires never-posted photos, I didn't post them. With the deadline behind me, I'm now taking a break from withholding my faves! This photo is definitely one of them. My family is such a gift in my life, and I thank God every day for them. Don't you just love this photo of these three tots? It was taken at the top of the big gondola at Mount Tremblant. The kids loved it up there - they were literally "on top of the world!"

I've got to run now. I have TONS of photo organizing and editing to do - not to mention TONS of laundry!

Following that, I'll be working on my next DT kit from Scrapalicious, so stay tuned.

Marimba Magic

Since Evan really enjoyed being at piano camp last summer, and this year he was old enough to attend marimba camp, we thought we would give it a try. He loved it! In just a week at camp he learned a lot about percussion instruments, and at the recital on Friday, he was able to give a quick description of the marimba he was playing. The campers were secret agents and they played Mission Impossible.

Fortunately, he didn`t come away from his week at camp wanting to play the drums! :-)

Animal Lover

Evan is such an animal lover. On Father`s Day we were visiting with Grandma and Grandpa, and Stephen`s brother Justin and his wife Rosa brought along their new puppy Tonka (an English bulldog, NOT a boxer - grin! See my post - here for that story). We were meeting Tonka for the first time, and Evan was completely taken with her. He is quite the little animal lover, that`s for sure. It`s been a while since I posted a layout, so I`m really happy to have a page to post. Can you tell that Evan would love to have a dog?

Maybe someday, Evan. For now, visits with Tonka will have to do!

Congratulations Zandra & Ray

A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to attend a special party celebrating the 40th wedding anniversary of my cousin Zandra and her husband Ray. The party was held at my cousin Tara and her husband Mark`s beautiful home, and was hosted by cousins Alyson and her husband Anthony, along with Tara and Mark. We all had a wonderful time.

Unfortunately my Mom, who had travelled all the way here from Edmonton, and had come weeks early specifically to attend this party, ended up staying home with a case of shingles. Not fun! She`s far better now, though, and will be enjoying visiting with family in Montreal soon enough.

Isn`t this a lovely shot of Zandra and Ray? Still totally in love after 40 years. Congratulations!

Being Idolized

We've been Idol-ized! Evan and I were lucky enough to attend the Canadian Idol results show last night. We had a fantastic time. I have to say, CTV sure put everything together well and made it so easy to have a fantastic time at this very kid-friendly event. If you ever have an opportunity to attend a show, it is certainly entertaining and fun.
The pre-show was quick but fun with Ben Mulroney cracking jokes and making Evan laugh. There was no photography allowed during the performance, however as the show ended I managed to catch a quick shot of Katherine saying her goodbyes. Evan's favourite, Mookie and my gal, Amberly are still in the running.

The full experience included a t-shirt for Evan, a colour headshot of your favourite Idol, poster making prior to the show, autographs from Ben and the judges, and - lucky us - a quick photo op as we exited the building at the exact moment that Jaydee Bixby was being escorted to his car. It was a great evening for Evan, who had a blast, and probably will be talking about it for ages.

As for me - I'm a bit more stressed since I didn't spend the night working towards the scrappy deadlines I have looming, but tomorrow is another day! :-)

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.

More great Scrapalicious stuff

I've been feeling a bit euphoric lately.

Maybe it has to do with my latest Scrapalicious DT kit and the yummy product it's made up of, including Basic Grey's new Euphoria. I'm also thrilled with this beautiful Chatterbox release called artsy.licious. Add some stunning rhinestones from Prima, and it's no surprise I'm smiling.

I can't wait to start creating with this beautiful kit - but wait I'll have to! Despite that I haven't been posting many creations lately, I am actually scrapping away - and have enough on my plate to keep me busy until late July. I wish I could show it all off, and I will - once I can! :-)

What that means is that I won't be getting to this kit for a few weeks. Really - I can't wait. So until then, please stay tuned!

Definitely no Winter Blues here!

Earlier in the year, I had a great time participating in the Scrap Away Your Winter Blues challenge over at Scraptivity. The contest consisted of 12 layouts with a different requirements for each. It really forced participants to think outside of the box!

I love the layouts I created during this challenge, and also really enjoyed looking at everyone else's take on each technique. With so many great layouts and so much to see in the gallery during the challenge, winning the contest was icing on an already wonderful cake! Thank you so much to Scraptivity - Barb, Rebecca and everyone involved in making this challenge happen.

Here is a quick peek at the prize goodies that recently came in the mail. Stephen somehow thinks that now I won't have to buy any more scrapbooking supplies for the next year or so! Yes, I know it's quite the haul, but please tell me - where do men get these crazy ideas? :-)

You can see the layouts I created for this challenge here.

Surfer Dude!

We are so completely thrilled and proud of our little surfer dude!

Evan spent the first part of his summer vacation experiencing summer camp for the first time. We were fortunate in that he was able to attend the same camp as his cousin Kristian, and that made the transition so completely easy for him. Despite a case of strep throat and about a million inflamed bug bites, he had a fantastic time at camp. Yahoo!

(special thanks to camp staffer Dave G. for this awesome photo!)

Bag Lady

I'm totally in love with my new Amy Butler tote!

It's not only beautiful, but it's the quintessential scrapbooking bag. It's big enough to hold an Iris case or your favourite kit club box, as well as all of the scrapbooking essentials, along with your wallet and whatever you typically carry in a purse. It's so perfect to take to an evening crop; it's the only bag you need to bring. I'm thrilled to finally own one.

If you're not familiar with the amazing designs of Amy Butler, who created the beautiful fabric as well as the tote bag for K and Co., check out her lovely creations here.

I had an opportunity to buy this bag about 3 or 4 months ago when I saw it online for the first time.

I put it into my shopping cart and hesitated for a few minutes, thinking over my purchase. When I decided to go for it and went back to my computer to complete the transaction, the bags were sold out. I was so disappointed!

Well, fast forward to present day. A week or so ago I walked into Scrapalicious and there they were! Three beautiful, brand new Amy Butler totes. Well, this time, I didn't hesitate. I snapped one up faster than you can say "functional, as well as beautiful!"

If you've had your heart set on owning one of these beauties, hurry! Head to Scrapalicious before they are all sold out.

Boxer Shorts

Meet Tonka, the sweet, playful little puppy that my brother-in-law Justin and his wife Rosa just added to their family. We met Tonka for the first time on Father's Day, and while it was a short visit, the kids had a great time with her. Evan, in particular, spent a fair bit of time playing with her, and I took some cute photos of them getting to know each other.

Well, back at home, I printed off the photos of Evan's quick meeting with Tonka and began scrapping. I laid out the photos, tossed around some ideas in my head - and then a great title struck me - Boxer Shorts! A quick (short) meeting with the new puppy (boxer) - get it?

It was perfect!

So I started playing with title placement on my layout when Stephen came along. "What's up?" he asked. I was so excited about my perfect title. I just loved it. I proudly told him about it. I could tell instantly that he wasn't as impressed as I was.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Ummm, well....Tonka's a bulldog" was his answer.

Ooooooops. I guess I really don't know much about dogs!

Do any of you scrappers out there happen to have photos of a short meeting with a cute boxer puppy that you need to scrap? Feel free to use my title. It's back to the drawing board for me!

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.

Happy Canada Day!

Wow, 2008 is half way over already! I can barely believe that the first part of the year has flown this quickly, much less that it is Canada Day once again.

Today was probably the quietest Canada Day we have had in a lot of years. Grandma and Grandpa went to the local Ribfest on the weekend and took the kids along, which is what we often do on Canada Day. So since the kids had already been, we decided not to go. I didn't even do much in the photography department today, so here is a peek at a patriotic tot from a few years back. How lucky we are to be living in such a wonderful country. We make a big deal of Canada Day in our house, because we want to ensure that the kids know and appreciate how very blessed we are to be making our home in a country that is abundant and free. Wishing a blessed and happy Canada Day to you and yours!

Coincidentally, back when I went to my first CM party, I brought Canada Day photos and made my first page ever on that topic. Little did I know back then how big a part of my life this hobby would become.