words to live by

You are important. Find beauty in the everyday.  Laugh more often.  Never give up.  Believe.

Cherish the small things. Dare to dream big. Practice random acts of kindness. Assume the best. Fear  nothing.  Fall in love with life.  Take a risk.

You are important.

Last spring, I had some assignments from Canadian Scrapbooker and two of them were to use lace and to use envelopes. I combined the two to come up with the following layout:

Words to Live By

Supplies Used: Bazzill cardstock, Cosmo Cricket patterned paper, Webster's alpha, vibrance ink, Maya Road envelope, The Robin's Nest dew drops, Fancy Pants doilies, Martha Stewart butterfly punch and corner rounder, DMC embroidery floss

When I saw this paper, I knew I had to do a layout about myself. Those words just spoke to me ... posting today is a little reminder for me.  This was published in the Spring 2012 Canadian Scrapbooker magazine.

I still have a ton to share from last year and believe it or not, will have some new stuff in the coming weeks ... my mojo is coming back!  :)

Happy Family Day!

beach combers

On a weekend that we received almost 30 cm of snow, I am dreaming about summer.  I can't wait to run outside, throw on my flip flops, wear shorts and tank tops ... I decided to share a layout that I created for Canadian Scrapbookers summer issue last year.  The challenge was to use lace/doilies so I used a stamp and came up with the following layout:

Beach Combers

 

 Supplies: Bo Bunny patterned paper, stickers and ribbons, Vibrance ink, Stampin' Up stamp, Graphic 45 brads, Close To My Heart edge distresser, Scrapbook Adhesives tape

 

It's Abigail and her cousin Jessa on the shores of Flack Lake, where we had our last family reunion. They were searching for any little treasure they could find.

There's a lot of distressing and layering in this project - I absolutely loved creating it although it's one of the longest projects I've ever done!

This winter has been very cold and we don't seem to be getting much of a break from the cold temps.  Today we are off to enjoy community day - right now it's -26 so I hope it warms up or I'll just be making an appearance and then heading home for the warmth!  

Thanks for stopping by!

getting caught up

Wow, it's been a long time since I've blogged ... too long in fact but sometimes life just happens and you need to take care of stuff!  The perfect storm happened for me last year - I was involved in some big projects at work resulting in a lot of overtime, a little overwhelmed with a lot of scrapbooking commitments and feeling like I needed to spend more time with my family (not to mention the triathlon training, soccer coaching and sports I was also doing). 

But because scrapbooking is a one of my passions, I am back ... the break was nice but it's time to get busy again. I have quite a few projects to share from last year.  I actually have to take photos of a bunch of them and then I will start to post them later this week.

Since my last post was about Abigail's birthday, I'll share a couple of layouts I did from her birthday:

lil cowpoke

Supplies used: TaDa Creative Studios Yeehaw collection, Thickers

This layout was a DT project for TaDa - the paper is completely adorable.  This was the little photo op I set up on her birthday - Dean brought home hay bales and we borrowed a cute little wooden horse.  Dean and I made the Sarginson Ranch sign - dug out the Cricut for that project!  :)

buckeroo birthday 

This layout just summarized the day - family pic, Abigail, Abigail with her friends and myself.  So much work went into this party and it was definitely my favourite birthday party for her. Her 7th party is coming up so the planning is just beginning ...

That's all for now ... I'll be back and this time it won't be 8 months!  ;)  If you stop by, leave me a comment and I'll swing by and see what you've been up to as well.

yeehaw (winners and photos posted)

Happy Thursday everyone!

I am sorry I am late posting the winners for the Sketch Support blog hop but I wanted to post photos of Abigail's birthday party and they have taken forever to sort and organize!

Without further ado, the winners are:

The winner of the one page sketch book is:
who was:
And the winner of the Travel Sketch book is:
Who was Noey, a member of our Sketch Support team so I took the next comment:
Congratulations Tara and Ruth. Email me your address and I'll send the books out to you!

Now onto some photos of Abigail's birthday party! It was a Western theme so we had 12 cowgirls and 3 cowboys here! We had so much fun - there were 15 kids here, including Abba. Just an FYI in case you ever host a birthday party for 15 kids - don't do it alone! It was insanity around here. But so much fun. We played lots of games (pin the tail on Bullseye, race to fill up Bullseye's water trough which was by far the favourite, and There's a snake in my boot where party goers threw a snake into a boot), ate a great Western lunch (pulled pork sandwiches, cowboy beans, caesar salad - only because it's Abigail's favourite so coleslaw got booted, chips and root beer/pink lemonade) and bounced on the trampoline! Here are a few shots:

My little cowgirl:


The cowgirl outfit was my sister's when she was about 5 ... and my mom said she even had it as a child! This is my sister wearing it:

How cute! I love that they both wore it!
Dean and I made the sign for the ranch, with the help of our Cricut!

The family:

Abba and her friends:




The group as a whole:

Making funny faces now:

Here is a shot of Abba playing a game: There's a snake in my boot:


And here are some various shots of the party:
I put root beer and pink lemonade in mason jars for the kids and made little western signs for the food: Pinto Pete's Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Buffalo Bill's Baked Beans, Cactus Jack's Caesar Salad and Prairie Pancakes (chips).

The girls playing the water game:


Some various shots. Dean and I made the cake and it was delicious! I even sported a cowboy hat for the occasion! The children all got cowboy hats and sheriff badges as giveaways and a hobo stick/bandana filled with some chocolate coins and other little candies.


I also made Wanted! posters for each of the guests and of Abigail. Here are a couple of them:


Okay, I am off - this post has taken 2 hours to write! :)
Have a great night!!!

sketch support blog hop

Hello everyone - welcome to the Sketch Support blog hop. If you are just starting at my blog, make sure you begin at the Sketch Support blog to begin the hop!

Today, we are hopping to introduce you to the new Sketch Support team and to showcase one of Allison's amazing sketches and of course, our take on it.

This is the sketch we were given to work with:


and this was my take on it:

canoe trip

And now my answers to the Sketch Support Get to Know You questions:

How long have you been scrapbooking? I have been scrapbooking for about 8 years but it only became a bit of an obsession in 2008 when I discovered scrapbooking online (blogs, galleries, etc).

Why did you start scrapbooking? I first started scrapbooking by making albums for other people. I made one for my boss at work when she was retiring and I made one for my sister of her stag and doe. After the birth of my daughter in 2006, I started scrapbooking her and now I rarely make albums for other people.

What is your favorite time of day to scrapbook? Whenever I can fit it in. Life is very busy and I am trying to juggle a lot of things (new responsibilities at work, personal training, working out, soccer, being a mom!, among others) so I take what I can get. It’s usually in the evening since I have a full-time job.

How often do you scrapbook? Lately it’s only been one day per week however, in the past, I have scrapbooked daily. Over the past few months, I’ve been struggling with balance!

Where do you scrapbook/what does your space look like? I scrapbook in my scrapbook room and/or at my dining room table. My scrapbook room was designed/built by my husband. You can see photos of it here. It’s basically an L shape with a fair amount of storage and a long counter with two stools so that Abigail and I can sit together and create.

When I'm not scrapbooking you can find me... at the gym or playing soccer.

What is your favorite thing about using sketches? I love that they kick-start my mojo. I don’t have to worry about design as it’s already done. I find the design is the hardest part so it just comes down to picking the papers and photos. I can create very quickly using sketches and that is a huge help when it comes to my busy schedule.

What is your favorite sketch from Sketch Support? It's hard to narrow it down to just one but Allison is so well known for her two pagers that I selected: two page sketch #17:

Okay, now onto the good stuff. If you leave a comment on my blog, and all blogs on the hop, you are entered to win the grand prize from Sketch Support. So make sure that you hop along and leave a comment everywhere - trust me, the prize will be worth it!

But, that's not all ... I am offering not one, but two giveaways on my blog for this blog hop as well. Simply leave a comment and you will be entered to win - easy peasy. My giveaways are Allison's recent sketch books:

Her newest one-page sketch book:

and a book of two-pager travel sketches:
To be eligible for my giveaway, you must leave your comment by Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 at midnight EST. I will post the winner by next Friday.

For your reference, the blog hop order is:

Sketch Support

Penny Grimsley

Andrea Friebus

Megan Bickers

Janette Kincaid

Christy Arthur

Suzanna Lee

Michele Edwards

Sue Althouse

Virginia Nebel

Ashley Horton

Jill Sarginson

Cherie Nymeyer

Katrina Hunt

Noey Hunt

Christine Chain

Lynette Jacobs

Melissa Bell

Jennifer Larson

Allison Davis

Have fun hopping and good luck!

projects to share ...

TGIF friends,

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here. I was sick for pretty much all of last week, down and out on the couch for days on end. I was able to get up a little bit on Easter Sunday to hang out with family and friends but I am still fighting this cold .... I also have been trying to put together Abigail's birthday party for tomorrow! She turned 6 yesterday so happy birthday to my little princess:

happy 6th birthday!!

Tomorrow I am throwing a cowgirl birthday party for her - I hope it goes over well. I feel like I don't have enough done!

I have a couple of projects to share for you that I did for Sketch Support. This week it's two pager week and I have yet another Disney layout to share. Here's a peek at the sketch:


and this is my layout:

hollywood studios

That photo of Abigail and Lightening McQueen is just way too cute - she's a little model! We met so many characters at Hollywood Studios and to think we weren't even going to go! It was my favourite park! The rides were good and there was a lot to do - Abigail went on the Rock 'n Roll roller coaster (her first upside down roller coaster) and the Tower of Terror, several times each!

Last week was card week over at Sketch Support and this was the sketch we were given to work with:

and this was my take on it:

yodelayeehoo card
(happy birthday card for Abigail)

She had it all figured out - we were crafting together and I had the background on and she said "Mommy, I know what that card is going to be" and I said "what" and she said "It's for my birthday and it's going to have cowgirl Jess on it! Right in the corner". Huh. I guess she has me all figured out! No surprise for her! :)

Have a great weekend - thanks for stopping by!

birthday invites - cowgirl style

Last Saturday, I took it upon myself to make Abigail's birthday invitations. As much creating as I do, I've never made her invitations and I always feel like I should. So I decided this was the birthday to start. I made one, was satisfied and then I corraled my my fellow cowpokes (Abigail and Dean) and we made an assembly line to finish 12 of them. Okay, that didn't last all that long - Abigail's task was to do the corner punching (she was fabulous!) and inking ... I lost her after all the corner punching was done. I lost Dean to the hockey game but he did continue threading twine while watching the game so really, I can't complain too much ... no, I didn't say my husband helped me scrapbook. Not at all. He would never do that. ha!

Here's a peek at the finished invitation:

I did one with red buttons and one with yellow buttons so here are the two together:

I blurred out our address and phone number so excuse the blank space near the bottom of the card.

So the invitations have been sent out, the party planning is well underway, the BIG present has been bought and the big day is fast approaching!! 13 kids here - wish me luck!! :)