February "Showcase On You"

I am excited about having a layout that I recently made of my niece and nephew featured on Nikki Sivil's, Scrapbooker's Blog.  Here is the layout:

This was a layout created from Nikki's "Henry's Brilliance" papers.  I love owls and thought this would be perfect to use in a layout about my elementary school aged niece and nephew.

Nikki Sivil's has very cute papers that I enjoy working with.  Check it out on their blog for February 26, 2011 "Showcase On You" http://nikkisdoghouse.blogspot.com/

Painting The Scraproom

For the last week or so, the interior of my home is getting painted.  I am especially excited about having a fresh coat of paint on the walls of my scraproom.  It was the previous owners nursery and there was a nice bunny mural on the wall that the grandma had painted.  It was cute and sweet, but I was looking forward to making my creative space my own.  After living in the home for 4 1/2 years, it was time to paint.  It wasn't an easy choice deciding on a color for my scraproom.  I was thinking of a funky lime green, a pale blue, or maybe even a dramatic color such as dark orange.  I realized that I had to make my space warm and cheery.  I am not really a yellow fan, but I saw this yellow/orange shade in the painter's Benjamin Moore Paint Chips and decided to go with Suntan Yellow.  It goes well with our wood trim.

Now the challenge is to clean, sort and organize my scraproom.   I also need to hang some inspiration on the walls and buy some paper sorters and shelving.  I really like those clothesline thingies to clip up layouts.  There are lots of websites that have ideas for organizing scraprooms so I will be checking them out.  If you have any websites you can suggest, please let me know.

World Of Wheels

Rick and I love our cars, especially American muscle cars, so we went and saw the World Of Wheels this weekend.  It was  a perfect opportunity to practice my photography.   It would have been ideal to have my tripod and I should have brought my wide angle lens too, but we wanted to travel light and just enjoy walking around and drooling over all these pretty, colorful works of art.

We have signed up to be in our local Camaro club and it should be a lot of fun this summer cruising with other Camaro enthusiasts.

Here are some of the photos I took of the show:

Deserving Praise

Today I went for a little shopping spree at Scrapbooker's Paradise South Store in Calgary.  Nowadays it is difficult to find awesome customer service in stores but I have to mention these ladies as they are the best!  I always walk into the store and feel the positive energy and always enjoy my shopping experience.  They are the nicest, personable store clerks I have ever had the privilege of knowing and I always leave the store feeling inspired and happy.  They love what they do and it really shows.  They are funny, knowledgeable and vibrant.  I can`t say enough about all of them.  They make a person feel so special and welcome.  Thanks ladies! You really made my day and I love you all.

www.scrapbookersparadise.com

What Can I Say--I'm a Hopeless Romantic

I just love scrapbooking my family.  It gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling.  I had some Valentine's paper that  I wanted to use that was two years old.  It is My Mind's Eye Love Me Do Collection.  Here is a layout on my family taken last year on the day after my daughter's wedding.  We all look tired, but wanted to get one photo before everybody went home.  It's not an easy task to get everyone together.

I also did a layout on my sister-in-law Pam and my niece Laine and nephew Dylan.  My brother Dean passed away in November 2006 so he was the only one missing from these family photos.

I Love My Life...

Just having one of those reflective days and thinking of how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband and soulmate.

Life wasn`t always full of bliss.  I got married at 18 years old the first time and I had dated my first husband for 4 years before that.  We had two beautiful kids that mean the world to me.  We were married for 19 years and then our marriage fell apart.  No, I don`t want to blame him, nor do I want to say mean and nasty things about my first marriage because there were good times and I will always love my first love.  I care about him but knew that it wasn`t a healthy relationship.  Life goes on even though I know first hand how difficult divorce is.  It is a death with the person still living.  It is the hardest thing to do and I always feel my children were victims.  But I also knew that it is crazy to stay together if a person knows that things are not going to change.

I met my second husband Rick when I was 36, I was recently separated from my first husband and was working two jobs.  I knew what I wanted and what I didn`t want, in a relationship and a marriage.   I had been rollerskating with the older kids and fell and broke my wrist badly.  So bad that I had to have it rebroken and pinned a week after I broke it.  I was off work for 3 weeks as I was a secretary and couldn`t type or work on a computer.  My neighbor was a single mom and told me that she had been doing some online dating and told me that I should try it.  I thought she was absolutely crazy!  The idea was scary to me and she urged me to try it.  As a silly, crazy woman I thought it was a big joke but said I would try it.  There were all kinds of messages of men that would tell their interests and a little about themselves.  Yes, there were the guys that wanted the perfect girl, with the perfect body and I thought there were a lot of shallow men out there.  One day as I was sitting alone and bored at home recovering with a broken wrist.   I listened to Rick`s message and it totally captivated me.  He was so sweet and sincere.  He had been single, never married, no children and was 34 years old.  He said he wasn`t looking for someone perfect because he wasn`t perfect either.  That really spoke to me.  A sincere guy that was humble and down-to-earth!  We agreed to meet at the Cheesecake Cafe in Calgary for a coffee.  I was petrified that it would be some serial killer or something.  Here I am going on a date for the first time in 20 years with a complete stranger!  I made sure he didn`t know where I lived or what I drove.  We had a great time talking and when it was time to go we had decided to go out again.

The second date was quite an ordeal too.  I had told my kids, Brandon was 13 at the time, and Shannon was 11, that I was going to dinner and a movie with a guy that I met and was a little nervous.  I was living in an apartment and I told the kids to keep their eyes out for a fellow in a black car, which looked like a Batmobile and memorize his license plate number just in case something went wrong when I was with him on our date.  He drove into the parking lot to my apartment and my son was in awe with Rick`s car.  It turned out to be a black Camaro.  Rick was very well mannered and opened the door for me and everything.  He was really sweet, handsome and a real gentleman.  Well as they say the rest was history. 

We got married in a private ceremony  in September of 1999 and had Clayton in October of 1999.  It hasn`t been an easy life as the step family dynamics was not an easy feat.  My older kids made it really difficult.  They were not happy that it wasn`t their dad.  Rick treated the kids so good and they treated him like crap.  I totally understand now why they were so angry.

We have been together for 11 years and Rick has been my best friend, my counsellor, and my soulmate.  He has shown me that there is healthy love and I couldn`t ask for a better person to share my life with.  We don`t have the most ideal situation, but we are committed and we make it work.  Maybe it is that we don`t take each other for granted and we aren`t together all the time that makes it work for us.  We cherish the time we get to spend together and we make a point of phoning and emailing each other every day.  He makes me laugh and he has given me so much love.  He spoils me in every way and it makes me want to spoil him too.  I thank God for him everyday and I really want to make this marriage successful.  Valentine`s Day is a very commercial day and I feel that two people should treat each other that good every day.  Not just on Valentine`s Day.

All You Need Is Love

My daughter is an auntie for the first time.  I wanted to do a playful layout on Shannon and her nephew.  I am using older Valentine's papers by My Mind's Eye named "Love Me Do".

Update On Camp Croppin

I am super excited to be chosen as a winner for the "Early Registration" for Camp Croppin.  That will entitle a friend and I  to register early for the crop and as many classes as we choose to take on April 15 and 16.

I will be taking all four classes as they are always so jam packed full of inspiration and the instructors are always so fabulous and fun.  Thanks to Scrapbooker's Paradise for this wonderful prize.  It is appreciated more than you will ever know. 

Something To Look Forward To

This is definitely my favorite time of year for everything scrapbooking.  First there is CHA where all the manufacturers show their new collections and then there are lots of local scrapbook conventions and retreats.

Today I got registered for "Scrapbook Your Heart" retreat, which is held at Camp Caroline.  Here is the link.

www.scrapbookyourheart.com

I have wanted to go to this retreat for three years now and this is the first year that it is possible.  It should be awesome!

Now I have to wait until February 15 to register for Camp Croppin, which has been one I have attended for 3 years now.  

Why I Love Camp Croppin

Camp Croppin is a scrapbook convention that I have attended for the past three years and hope to be lucky to get in on the registration for this year.

It is held at the Carriage House Inn in Calgary, Alberta, Canada usually in April.  Scrapbookers congregate from all over to participate in this fun event.  There are usually awesome classes, prizes and make and takes.  I usually try to take as many classes as I can possibly take as the instructors are very seasoned artists and scrapbookers with wonderful new ideas that keep a scrapbooker wanting to learn more and more about the industry, techniques, trends and all the scrapbooking industry has to offer.  It is also a great way to make new friends.  I love it and I am going to love it even more this year as there is going to be more scrapbooking space than ever and more options to take more classes!

Scrapbooker's Paradise has been my local scrapbooking store for two years now and I always enjoy going to see the ladies at the South Calgary store.  They are the greatest bunch of ladies and they always make my shopping experience a great one.

Here is a link to Scrapbooker's Paradise blog:

www.scrapbookersparadise.blogspot.com

Words To Live By

I read this today and had to share:


Dear Unique Girl,

Everyone has a different journey. So different, in fact, that new lessons can be learned every single day from each other's journeys. Your friends' journey are different from yours. Your children's are different, too. Your parents also went on an entirely different journey than the one that is meant for you.

That is why it is so important not to compare, criticize, or complain. We often have the tendency to compare the worst of what we are living through with the best of what others are enjoying. Everyone has the exact path, with the exact battles and the exact joys that are meant for them. We all learn in different ways, and we can all learn so much from each other, too.

So live YOUR life. Love YOUR life. Make the most of YOUR life. And whenever you have the chance to meet another fellow traveler along the road of life, lend a helping hand whenever you can. An encouraging smile or a kind word or two. Be happy when good things happen to others and show compassion when difficult things come along. Remind those you know that ALL of it is good. ALL of it.

All of it is meant four our growth and our ultimate joy.

Keep being the fabulous YOU that YOU are.

xoxo

Flowers From My Sweetie

I've always known that I have a keeper and he treats me so good.  The last three weeks have been very difficult for me and my husband knows it isn't easy.  It's not easy on either of us as we really have a long distance marriage for most of the time.  He spoils me and I spoil him and that's what love is all about.  My son asked me the other day what divorce was like and I told him that my first marriage ending in a divorce was the most painful thing I have had to endure.  It was so difficult for my older children and everyone involved.  I told my youngest son that I do not want his daddy and I to have to go through a divorce and that is why it is so important for his parents to spend quality time together when his dad comes home.   A good marriage is hard work, but it really is worth it.  Flowers is one of the ways he spoils me and he surprised me with these flowers.  He won't be here for Valentine's Day so he wanted to give me these today.  I just love the necklace that is on the vase.  I think I will wear it on Valentine's Day when he is back  at work.

The Gown

I am still working on my daughter and son's wedding albums.  This layout was fun to do as I liked trying something different with my ribbon as I was inspired by the flowing of Shannon's wedding dress.  I made the big pink flower with some cool ribbon I bought at Christmas.

 It was fun to do a girly page of my princess.  Fancy Pants have such nice papers to fit my style.  For this layout I used the "Wishful Thinking" collection.  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Baking Cookies

Something that relaxes me as much as scrapbooking is baking.  Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are always a hit.  I bought these cute little Valentine's Day plates at my local grocery store and thought they would be good to serve to my son and husband.  I love the birds on these and thought of all the scrapbooking papers I have that have birds on them.  It will be fun scrapping these.

fresh from the oven

Cinnamon Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My Hubby Is Coming Home Today!

The last three weeks has been a very long three weeks, to say the least.  It is a good thing that I have scrapbooking to keep me out of trouble as I have been in a cast as I fell at the grocery store.  My husband left for work the day before it happened and it has been quite an adventure!  Luckily, my parents live closeby and have been helpful getting groceries and a wonderful neighbor has been there for me by taking me to the doctor and getting xrays and also shoveling all the snow we have been getting. Clayton, my son has had to help out more too, which is a good thing!

There is always something good that comes out of something bad and it has been wonderful to scrapbook every day.  I recently have joined another wonderful scrapbooking community and have made some new scrapping friends from all over the world.  It is great how scrapbooking can bring people together!  Have a creative, wonderful day!

New Technique

I am somewhat new to Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and decided to try something different.  I sprayed it with Tiger Lily mist after the page was all completed.  I don't know what to think, but it's always fun to experiment and try something new.  I also wanted to try a banner, which seems to be very popular at the moment.   Stamping is another technique that I used on this layout.  I also used a blender pen and some chalk ink and colored in the letters of the stamps.  The little letter stickers from October Afternoon are getting lots of use lately.  They are perfect for smaller titles.  I hope you like it.  It was fun!

My Oldest Son

Brandon just turned 26 on February 3 and it is amazing how fast life goes.  I don't have many recent photos of him as he lives 3 hours away and he doesn't take many photos.  This layout was done when he was 19 and going to college to study for his power engineering in Fort McMurray.  I love the challenge of creating masculine layouts.  I love stars and layering and buttons to embellish.  Isn't he cute?