Online Scrap With a Friend

Last night I was in the mood for a little scrapbooking. I was just getting myself organized when Patti (from Alberta) caught me online. We decided to scrap together. I had never done this before, but I was up for the challenge.

She provided this sketch.....

I really enjoy scrapbooking from a sketch. It gives me the starting point and then the creativity just seems to flow.

Here is Patti's take on the sketch. She is so creative. I have to admit that I am a little intimidated by her. She is on a few different design teams and has a real flair for using embellishments.


So, here is my take on the sketch. I love how this page turned out. All of the papers are from the new Delight line from Fancy Pants. I used a border stamp and Vintage Photo Distress ink to do the doodle lines around the page.

One of my favourite parts on the layout (aside from the photos of my son) are the trees. I learned this technique from a friend. She had used it on a card, so I thought I would try it out. They are layered circles out of cardstock and pattern papers. I used a mister and sprayed the papers with water, crumpled them up and then opened them again to dry. It adds great dimension . I was very impressed with the results.

I used the Alphalicious font for the Cricut for my title along with another circle element for the dot on the letter 'i'.

Thanks to Patti for a great night of scrapbooking. I hope to do it again soon!

Snips & Snails and Puppy Dog Tails.....

I had the opportunity to visit my friend Sue again. She owns Moonstone Kennel and she is a very good friend of mine. It is always great to visit with her and visit with her puppies. She has quite a few litters and we were able to meet and greet lots of them. Most of these were sold, but there were still a few available.

Amanda has always wanted to have a dog, so this is a great way for her to get her puppy fix. She just loves visiting them. They seem to really love her too!

It is just a sea of puppies.....running, jumping, playing, sleeping! You just don't know what to look at first. Some are fat, some not so fat. Some are dark and some are light. They are all cute! I don't know how people pick which one they want.

The puppies love to play with each other. They wrestle each other and bite each others tails. It is all fun until one puppy yelps!

We spent a lot of time tying up our shoes. The puppies would find our shoe laces and tug until they were undone.

How sweet is her face. This is one of my favourite photos from the day. I love the expression on her face and how her face is in focus, but the grass is not. This was not expert photography, just luck.

Amanda brought her friend along and he was having a great time with the puppies. It looks like they are having a great conversation and the puppy is smiling! I love it.

This time I made sure that Amanda took a couple of photos of me. I never seem to make it in the photos with the puppies.

Matt joined us for the puppy visit too. It always amazes me how gentle my rough and tough boys are around these dogs. It is nice to see.

Ok, here is another favourite of mine. I took this photo of Matt holding one of the puppies and you can see one of his back paws! How cute is that.....another lucky shot!

Here is Amanda with her favourite puppy. It is moments like this that I wish we had got a dog for her.

What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Thanks to Sue for letting us visit again. She was very busy with appointments but it was nice to see her, even for a short time. We will have to come on a day where she will have more time to chat.

A Walk To Work.....

On Tuesday, I had to walk to work. You see, Amanda's car was leaking some fluid so I gave her my car to drive to school. She needed to get to co-op after lunch and because I was at the store alone, I was unable to drive her. It just worked out better for her to have the car.

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and it was warming up. I was only minutes into my walk and I thought it would be fun to take some photos on my way.

This is the field at the school all three of my kids went to until they graduated grade 6. I haven't walked across it in a very long time. I used to be over there every day....sometimes 3 times a day.



In front of the school they have a garden that the students and some parent volunteers maintain. There were lots of spring flowers in full bloom.

A long walkway, between some houses, takes me out of my neighbourhood and into the next.

For a short bit I have to walk down Lexington Rd. It is a very busy street and there are no sidewalks. First I came across a rabbit that had been hit by a car (I didn't take a photo of that)....poor bunny and then I stumbled upon this beautiful tree in full bloom. I couldn't resist taking a photo of it.

After walking for a bit more, I have to go down another path that takes you to a green space with a little creek and a beautiful walking trail.

This little creek winds itself all through the green space and is home to lots of creatures.




As I rounded the corner I spotted mom and her babies floating along. How cute are they! I got as close as I could without making mom too mad to get these photos.

Nearing the end of the path there is a very big tree. In the summer there are hardly any leaves on it, but I think there are some of nature's finest living in it.....what do you think?

Here is one last shot of nature before we emerge back into the city. It is really amazing that this little bit of paradise is right in the middle of my neighbourhood.

It takes me about 15 minutes to walk from my driveway to the parking lot at the store. I don't know why I don't do this more often. Maybe it is time to set a goal for myself......I could do this once or twice a week. I will keep you posted and let you know how I am doing.

Busy Weekend!

Actually it was a very busy week! I haven't done that much scrapbooking....ever. It was fabulous. I tried to participate in as many challenges as I could. In all, I did 24 of the challenges. Here is a summary.....

Monday Challenges:
My Before & After Organizing Challenge
Karan's Product Challenge - Handsome Bunch
Laura's Orange Challenge - Handsome Bunch
Patti's Numbers Challenge - Handsome Bunch
Cheryl's Oh Canada Challenge - Mmmm Syrup

Tuesday Challenges
My Circle Challenge - Bloom
Patti's Stitching Challenge - Bloom
Laura's Sketch for the Card Challenge - Mom Card
Karan's Sketch Challenge - MVP

Wednesday's Challenges
Joanne's Spring Bling Challenge - Flower Pots
Laura's Sketch Challenge - Time Flies

Thursday's Challenges
Joanne's Pinwheel Challenge - Life is Good
Cheryl's What You Love Challenge - MVP
Karen's Clock Challenge - Time Flies

Friday's Challenges
Laura's Glitter Challenge - Mom Card
Karan's Chipboard Challenge - Life is Good
My Favourite Colour Challenge - Life is Good
Patti's Stars, Circles, Rings Challenge - MVP
Cheryl's No Pattern Paper Challenge - Flower Pots

Saturday's Challenges
Karan's Distress Challenge - Bloom
Patti's Metal Challenge - Flower Pots
Cheryl's Lots of Photos Challenge - Mmmm Syrup
Karan's Scraplift From The Gallery Challenge - Mmmm Syrup
Patti's Use Your Stash Challenge - Time Flies

And here are images of all my creations (some are repeats, but I love them so much, who cares!):

The World Blooms When You Smile! This is my niece, Payton. I spent the day with her on Thursday and we went to see the Hannah Montana movie.


Life is Good! This is the layout that I used to demonstrate how to make pinwheels on our store blog. My daughter, Amanda, was trying to decide which sunflower we should buy for our garden.



Handsome Bunch! This is a photo of us last summer. We took a couple of days and went to explore the area that we had rented a cottage later that year. Family time is so special, especially as the kids get older.


MVP! This is a hockey layout I created for a photo from Jason's last tournament of 2009. I am so proud of him and his accomplishments in hockey.

Mom Card! I have a couple of mom's that deserve a card this coming weekend. I was happy to get one done in advance.


Flower Pots! Aren't these adorable? I love them. We gave them away at our NSD crops on the weekend.


Before & After Photos! These were for my organizing challenge. It is so much easier to find things now.



Mmmm... Syrup! I scraplifted this layout from Cheryl (on our design team). As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to add it to my album.


Time Flies! This is a photo my sister gave to me. Every Thanksgiving we go for a family walk in the woods near her house. Monty's knee does not allow him to join us on the walk, so it is just me and the kids. Wow, how time flies. I remember when they were all little.


Hopefully you had a chance to participate in some of the challenges on our forum. If not, you should try it sometime.....it is really fun and motivating. I didn't get them all done, but I am going to work on finishing them up this week.

Another challenge off the list

Here is my entry for Joanne's Wednesday challenge on our forum. I had so much fun doing these.

The inspiration came from a gift that Joanne and I received at our recent Fall Retreat.

The challenge was to use flowers, butterflies, bling etc. I used the flowers and I changed the butterflies to ladybugs and dragonflies.

I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes in the buckets and put brads through to add some detail.

I better get ready for work, or my boss is going to kill me. Big sale today....better not be late!