Currently...

Drinking: a glass of water

Eating: nothing, surprisingly enough. We talked this morning (the kids and I) and decided that we would cut out the night-snacks. This is day one. I brushed my teeth when we got home from tae kwon do. So far, so good.

Reading: The Wall and The Wing by Laura Ruby Austin's suggestion.

Wearing: shorts and a black tee-shirt.

Feeling: Tired. The Corn & Apple Festival and our trip to Wpg. yesterday have plum tuckered me out.

Weather: It was cloudy today and I thought it might rain. We need rain.

Wanting: a good night's sleep, my scrap/stamp goodies that I ordered online to arrive, an evening out.

Needing: new front tires for my van, according to Cameron ;)

Thinking: that I am just about ready for school to start

Enjoying: the peace and quiet of three kids in bed.


What are you currently up to?

First class mail

I wanted to share a couple of cards that I made recently...


I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (aqua mist), stamps (Postmarks) & die (Postmarks). I also used My Mind's Eye patterned paper.


For this card, I used a preprinted embellishment card from Tattered Inspirations, one of our August sponsors at Scrapping Everyday Miracles. I also used Papertrey Ink cardstock (kraft), SU! cardstock (island indigo), stamps (Postmarks, Turning a New Leaf) & dies (Postmarks, Turning a New Leaf).

Thanks for looking!

Scenes from the C&A 2011, part two

Well, this post almost didn't happen....

We walked uptown this morning for the church service and I didn't bother to bring my camera with me. We came home for lunch and then walked back so Austin & Jonah could go on their dinosaur dig. Sage & I walked around and looked at the craft stuff, then walked home for a drink before returning for the petting zoo. I'd brought my camera, but when I went to take a photo of Sage I realized that I had forgotten to put my recharged batteries into it. Austin & Jonah met us from the dig and wanted a break at home before going on the rides, so we went home. I got my batteries and was able to take some pictures when we walked back to use up the rest of the ride tickets. (Doesn't this sound exhausting? It sure felt it!)

Here are my favourites from the Corn & Apple Festival today:

My three kids waiting in line for the bumper cars.


(I love the spontaneous affection so much!)




Sage got a necklace at one of our friends' craft booths. It's made from a bottle cap.




On the bumper cars:




Isn't this adorable?




Jonah wanted to use his last two tickets to take me on the ferris wheel. Sage joined us. (Austin decided to go on the Zipper with Abdalla again.)




A view of the town from the top, to the west...


... and to the east...


In the very centre of this next photo is Jonah's shadow (which he noticed while on the ride):


And after the rides were all done, we picked up some treats for the (final!) walk home....


Thanks for looking!

Scenes from the C&A 2011, part one

As I mentioned in this post, this weekend is our town's annual Corn & Apple Festival. Here are some of the photos I took on Friday and yesterday...

My thrill-seeker son and his friend, Ethan...


... riding on the spin out...


Austin & Jonah checking out the galleries...


Sage on the swings...


The bumper cars...




The balloon animal hat that we stood in line for a while to get...


Quite a few affectionate moments that I managed to capture on film...








Austin & his friend, Abdalla...


... rode on the Zipper together...


And a quick stop at the petting zoo...



Today's events include the church service uptown. Jonah & Austin are going on a fossil dig for a couple of hours, so Sage & I decided that we'd walk around "just us girls" and check out the craft booths and she can stay longer in the petting zoo (the boys tend to rush her a little there...). After the dig, the kids have a couple more ride coupons to use (Jonah has promised me that for his last two tickets, he's taking me on the ferris wheel-- isn't he sweet?) So I guess I'd better get ready...

Thanks for looking!

Another card...

... for the Papertrey Paper Dolls challenge. This one is for Challenge #44: make a card using this photo as inspiration:



Here's what I came up with:

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (stamper's select white), stamps (Fillable Frames #9 (sentiment), Test Style I, Fillable Frames #10 & Iconic Images) and dies (Half & Half, Fillable Frames #10) . I also used My Mind's Eye patterned paper and SU! pearls.

Thanks for looking!

So artsy

This summer, Sage took two classes at the Pembina Hills Arts Centre: jewellery making and painting like Van Gogh. I took photos after her painting class and was eager to scrap them.... however the colourful photos were challenging. I decided to go with a more neutral background and added some green and light purple, hoping to still keep the focus on her lovely artwork (& face!)


I used American Crafts cardstock & Lily Bee patterned paper and letter stickers. I cut the scalloped border with a PTI scalloped edge die (medium).

I made the title tag with a PTI Mat Stack #4 die and Daydreamer stamp set. I decided to play along with this week's Make It Monday #29: Freestyle Copic Colouring, using one of my friend, Susan's, copics. I added the dots with the copics and then stamped over them with a stamp from Grunge Me in a lighter purple.



The word "so" in the title was selectively inked from a sentiment from Gratitude Journal.

Thanks for looking!

Five for Friday: The Corn & Apple Edition

#1. This weekend is our town's annual Corn & Apple Festival. Which for us, means a weekend of rides, lots of walking to check out all the booths, food and fun! It's so great, too, because we live 1.5 blocks away from the festival, which means we can come home and take a break when we need to and then head back when we're ready for more!

#2. For me, it's also the hunt for great photos! The photo at the opening of this post is one of my very favourites that I've taken at the C&A (in 2007). And here's my second favourite, taken in 2006:


(Okay, how adorable are Jonah and Sage! Did I appreciate how cute they were back then? I'm sure I did!)

#3. Now, while I don't subscribe to the scrapbooking craziness of being "caught up" with my photos, I do like to stay current within the last year. I realized past weekend that I still hadn't scrapped my Corn & Apple photos from 2010, so I got them done this week (I ♥ summer vacation!)

Here's the first one, documenting Austin as a ride fiend:


I used Studio Calico patterned paper, Bazzill cardstock, Scenic Route letter stickers and Papertrey Ink Seeing Stars dies.

#4. This next layout features some favourite photos that I took of Sage.

Sometimes I find her clothes challenging to scrapbook (purple and brown?), but I managed to find some SU! patterned paper in my stash and I think I made it work okay. I used sketch 125 at Got Sketch? and my new punch that I got for my birthday from my friend, Susan.


I also used some American Crafts cardstock, October Afternoon letter stickers and Papertrey Ink goodies (Mordern Wood Mats & Gratitude Journal stamps & Love Lives Here die).



#5. And one last layout. I've been wanting to try to make a banner like this for a while. I decided to use my PTI Triangle dies to cut out the bottom of each one for a uniform look.


I used Making Memories, Crate Paper, SU!, SEI and Lily Bee patterned paper & Lily Bee letter stickers.



I apologize if this song gets stuck in your head for the rest of the day! ;)

Thanks for looking!

PTI August Blog Hop

Once again, I decided to play along with this month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. This month's challenge was another inspiration challenge, using this photo:



I decided to make a card for my friend, Susan, whose birthday is tomorrow. I was inspired by the design on the inside of the case, so I recreated the look by stamping one of the stamps from the new Gratitude Journal set repeatedly across a piece of PTI Soft Stone cardstock with Versamark and then heat embossing it with white embossing powder.


I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (soft stone, pure poppy, raspberry fizz, new leaf), stamps (Think Big Favourites #7, Gratitude Journal), button, twine & dies (Bloom Builder #3, Turning a New Leaf.) The patterned paper is Crate Paper.

Thanks for looking!

Capturing Everyday Miracles

I find that capturing everyday miracles is sometimes a case of being in the right place, at the right time, with your camera at the ready.

Case in point:


I happened to capture this miracle last summer in Minneapolis at the Mall of America on our family vacation. We were taking a break from Nickelodeon Universe and went to explore Legoland. I must have been trailing behind for some reason (maybe I got distracted by something shiny! ;) ) Anyway, when I got to where the kids were, I immediately noticed that my boys were holding hands-- not a common occurence to say the least. But, in being in such a large place, I'm sure they felt safer this way. But whatever the reason, I knew I had to capture this moment on film.

I love how the everyday miracles with which God blesses us include our relationships!

Here's the layout I made with this precious photo:


I used Bazzill (cream) and Papertrey Ink cardstock (hawaiian shores), American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket & The Girls' Paperie patterned paper, a Basic Grey fabric brad, Papertrey Ink stamps (Wonderful Words, Half & Half) and die (Half & Half) and my Quickutz Alphabet dies (reuse).

Other times for me, it's just a matter of taking a photo to remember a moment.

Here's another example:

We were having a wiener roast the other night. I was sitting behind my youngest son while he was roasting a marshmallow. All of a sudden, I heard him singing softly: "Take my life and let it be, all for You and for Your glory. Take my life and let it be Yours.” It was a chorus from a praise song we’d sung that morning in church. It made me so happy to hear this and I knew I wanted to remember it always, so I took this photo:



Yes, it's from behind and you can't see his face. But I felt moving around in front of him would have ruined the moment. Besides, this is the true memory for me.

Here's how I scrapbooked it:


I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (enchanted evening, kraft, stamper's select white), and Half & Half die. I also used Crate Paper patterned paper and a download for the title from a Big Picture Class.

Thanks for looking!