My New Find

I read on a blog somewhere that there is these new fringe scissors in the scrapbook stores now.  They are Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors and I can just see the creative possibilities with these.

School's Out For Summer

My youngest son Clayton, who is ten years old, is done school for this year.  He will be going into grade 6 now.  I always remember how great it was to empty out my desk and leave school for the summer.  Wouldn't it be great to be a kid again?

In Honor Of Fathers

Today is Father's Day and it means a lot to me.  My Dad is special to me and I'm sure, many daughters can relate.  Father's Day also means a lot to me because of my husband being a stepfather to my older son and daughter.  It wasn't always easy, but he really tried to be there for them when they were teenagers.  I remember him surprising my daughter on her 11th birthday with a bouquet of flowers.  It was her very first bouquet that she had received.  I also remember when Brandon went to college for two years and Rick felt bad because Brandon's car was wearing out.  He bought him a car to use so he could get to school and work.

Father's Day also can be sad to me too.  My own Dad lost his son four years ago, so I'm sure that is on my dad's mind today.  Also, my niece and nephew are now 5 and 8 and they miss their daddy very much.

Dads are a special part of the dynamics of a family and as the family changes in our society, dad's roles change too.  More mothers are working outside the home and the dad isn't the sole breadwinner anymore.  He sometimes is the main cook and changes the diapers.  Boy things have changed since I was little!

Today I am making dinner for my Dad and the weather is beautiful so we will have a barbeque.  I have made the potato salad, husked the corn on the cob, make his favorite chocolate mousse pie and a banana cream pie.  He will just have to grill the hamburgers as Rick isn't home this Father's Day.  It will be nice to spend the day with him and my mom.  Happy Father's Day!

My Favorite Things

As I'm sure everyone knows, I like to dote on my family. I like the new Bo Bunny's Peacock Lane papers so I got busy cutting and making some roses. I didn't know what photo I was going to use with the layout until I saw this one with my daughter and I. The colors seemed to go well.

Sweet Summer

I am just loving October Afternoon's "Fly A Kite" collection at the moment.  It brings me back to my childhood somehow.

Last year we went to Osoyoos and had such a great time.  My favorite part is all the orchards, fruit stands, wineries and beaches.  I thought this paper with the strawberries would be appropriate.

Clayton has one week left of school and then summer will officially begin.  Hopefully the weather will start to feel like summer.  Happy Friday!

I'm So Excited....And I Just Can't Hide It...

I got an email, or shall we say "Peamail" from Two Peas In A Bucket last night while I was up late scrapbooking.  It totally surprised me.  The editor-in-chief of Scrapbooking Magazine.com wrote me and saw my layouts on Two Peas and wanted to know if she could publish my artwork.  The one she wanted was a layout I did last week on my husband Rick and his new car.  I didn't think this layout was anything special, but it was something that she wanted.  It was my original work and it was fun to do.  I think the photo was a fun one and she liked it.  I am so flattered!

I told my youngest son Clayton the news this morning when he woke up and he said he wanted me to do some pages on him.  Too funny!  Usually I can't get a decent photo of Clayton lately as he always puts on a goofy face, but I think he wants his five minutes of fame.

Have a great weekend!

Another Layout of Kelsi and Shannon

This one had a lot of cutting and I popdotted all the flowers.  I love My Mind's Eye and this is the "Bloom and Grow" Collection.  These colors make me feel happy.

Shannon & Kelsi

Today I wanted to do a girly layout with these new Prima flowers that I bought.  It was a lot of fun and I love this photo of Shannon and her best friend Kelsi.

They met a few years back when Shannon and Kelsi were working as Operating Room Attendants.  They soon became the best of friends.  Kelsi is now a Registered Psychiatric Nurse and Shannon is studying and on her way to being a nurse too.

Shannon got married three weeks ago and Kelsi was the maid of honor for her wedding.  I love Kelsi.  She is always positive and cheerful and sweet.  She is a great friend for Shannon.

Dad IS His Hero

I love the age when little boys think their dad's are superheroes.  It is so funny to hear him talking about his dad to friends when he doesn't think I'm listening.  It is so cute to hear them try to outdo the other by saying things like "my dad is an electrician and he has a very important job".

Clayton has never said, until now, what he would like to be when he grows up.  He said out of the blue the other day that he wanted to be a electrician just like his dad.  He has been taking electricity in science and Rick has been coaching him along.   I find it is a difficult subject, and boring too, but he can appreciate the hard work and danger of the trade his dad does.

I just want Clayton to do good in school and be what he wants to be as long as he is doing his best and gets a deep satisfaction from his career.

My older son is a power engineer and my daughter works in a hospital and is training to be a nurse in her spare time, which she doesn't have a lot of.  I am proud of my kids, but they really didn't "get it" when they were in school until they lived a little and had to pay their bills.  Now they realize that the nagging their parents did was just to save them a few years.

Clayton has a lot of role models and it will be interesting to see what he ends up doing.  It will just have to unfold on its own.

Here is a layout I did last night with a new paper collection from Fancy Pants Designs named "Like
Father Like Son".  I thought it would be perfect for this kind of layout as well as some masculine cards.   Father's Day is a little more than a week away and I thought this would be a perfect time to honor fathers.

Handsome Groom

I know I want to scrapbook about my daughter right now as she is a new bride, but I do know that if it wasn't for the groom, there wouldn't be a bride so I looked at some paper and got started creating a layout on Rob my son-in-law.

Rob is a great guy and I am so happy Shannon has found someone so amazing.  He is a real gem...sweet, kind, fun-loving, patient,  and a real good guy.  He looked so handsome in his wedding tuxedo while he was getting ready for the wedding.  I am truly blessed to have such a great son-in-law and daughter-in-law.  Life is good.

Another June Day

Sometimes the scrapbooking mojo comes at weird times.  I find that nights are not when I feel as creative as first thing in the morning.  I started this layout last night, but left all my supplies in my kitchen overnight and came back to work on it this morning.  Sometimes a break from it gives a person more ideas.  I just love Webster's Pages Bloomers.  They are the roses.  I also wanted to try working with all black and white patterned papers to see if I could come up with something that went well together.   The Slice Machine is the next best thing to "sliced bread" and I used it for the letters "dance" and also for the diecut of the couple dancing and the music note.  It came together well, I think.  It will be another one to put in the album for Shannon and Rob's wedding day.

Back To The Grind

Rick has left today so I am a "semi widow" for a while.  We had a great time together going for drives in the new car and I am so excited because I got a new macro lens for my camera.

It is going to be so much fun playing with my new lens.  It will be good for close-ups of flowers and insects and really good for portraits too.  I also got a new tripod as my other one was a little scary when I would put my 70-200 mm lens on the tripod.  If a wind came up, I would be SOL.

It is now June and Clayton will be out of school on June 25 for the summer.  Wow!  It sure has gone by very fast this year.  Here are Ten Random Things I Am Looking Forward To Summer

1.  Not making bagged lunches - except when Clayton goes to a basketball camp in July.

2.  Scrapbooking on the deck on a nice, calm day.

3.  Going for lots of drives in the mountains and country with Rick and Clay.

4.  Taking lots of photos of flowers with my new lens.

5.  Going to Fort Mac to visit some old friends and stay with Rick at his home away from home.  

6.  Having a garage sale.

7.  Going to the new spray park with Clayton.

8.  Going to Osoyoos for a week of R&R.

9.  Outdoor BBQ's and picnics.

10.  Clayton's camp in August.  Rick and I can have a little mini honeymoon.

Changes

School is almost over for Clayton and summer is on the horizon.  I think.  Our weather has been anything but normal for spring.  I haven't even bought bedding out plants as it hasn't really been weather for planting.  We are supposed to get rain this week and the temperatures are well below normal for this time of year.  Is this global warming?

Last night I got a terrible headache and excrutiating pain in my jaw.  Today I woke up with a swollen face and it hurts to chew.  I will have to get it looked at as I don't know if it is a tooth issue or not.  Why do these things always seem to happen on weekends?

Rick, Clayton and I were going to go for a drive today, but the weather isn't great so we are going to stay home.  Rick is working on my truck and Clayton is playing downstairs on XBox so scrapbooking is calling out to me.  I have learned how to make these cute little paper roses for my layouts and it is perfect for wedding layouts and girl layouts.

Rob On The News

My son-in-law Rob was on the news tonight.   Shannon and Rob are having issues with a gas well being under their land in Calmar.

http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/video/index.html?releasePID=oeaBMnxDm_NqVP__B5l_s8h0t3fEn6QX

It's A Slice

I must say that I love my Making Memories Slice Machine that I got for Christmas from Rick a year and a half ago.  It's so portable and fun.

I was having some problems with the cutting mechanism.  I phoned Making Memories Customer Service Hotline and they helped me solve the problem.  It turns out that it just needed some WD40.  Yay!  I am back in business.  I just bought nine new cartridges at 70% off so I am anxious to try them out.  Now I just have to get the Hands Free Kit and I won't have to hold it down on the mat to cut.