I {heart} Seattle!

I have been MIA for a week because my sis and I took a mini trip to Seattle for four days last week! Despite the fact that I only live 85 miles away ( by water!!!) I have never been to anywhere in Seattle but the airport! My sister flew to Vancouver from Calgary, I picked her up and we were off on our road trip!!

It was also the longest I have been away from my kids ever - 3 whole nights!!! Which some may call pathetic, but I still missed them a lot and saw so much that I want to share with them!! That being said - it was a great trip despite the requisite cool and cloudy weather! (And I got my hug fix from this "cool" guy at the waterfront!! ;)

We saw the Space Needle ( no one told me that elevator was on the OUTSIDE of the building!),

Experience Music Project ( despite my love for Rockband, a music career is NOT in my future!),

the Science Fiction Museum ( a highlight for me - yes, I am a Star Wars geek!),

and of course Pike Place Market and all of its colours, sounds and smells!!

I, of course, had to make the pilgrimage to the original Starbucks - so small and oh so crowded - I must to admit to taking photos and then going up the street for my actual coffee!!!

Friday night was the big highlight for me - a Seattle Mariners game at Safeco field. It was so much fun, despite their not so fabulous performance ( we lost 6 - 2 to the Twins). Who knew garlic fries could be so delicious????? :)

The only crisis of the week was that I (gasp!) forgot my battery charger for my camera, so I have very few photos!!!! I had only a mild panic attack when I realized this, and I managed to get a few good shots the first couple of days!! Then I borrowed my sister's, well, less than up to the standards of my beloved Canon Rebel camera, and took a few shots on it. The unfixable date stamp thing droves me crazy, but hey, it was a camera!

I will be using my friend Anna's trick of using postcards to scrap this trip!!! It was a great adventure and I am pretty sure their is a return trip in my future - we only saw a fraction of the sights and sounds of this fabulous city!!!

Ocean Friends!

We had a fabulous morning (Ben, Em, Josh and I) up at Bamberton Provincial Park - just north of Victoria. It is one of our favourite beaches for exploring and beachcombing, so we got up early enough to be there for low tide at 8:50am!

We found a moon snail - the coolest creature ever! They start out enormous:

Then as you gently squeeze the water out:

You can see how they fit into their shell!

Emily's eagle eyes spotted this amazing little sunstar - how she saw it in knee deep water is mind boggling for my old eyes!!!

The boys also had a great time collecting and identifying at least 5 different kinds of clam shells, plus oyster and mussel shells as well!And of course they always love the sand dollars!

The beach was completely empty except for us - our own private paradise!!!

More Mamarazzi. . . .

I am having a lot of fun with this line of paper from BoBunny!

As promised - I used up the leftovers from the Mamarazzi mini kit and came up with this layout of my lovely daughter Hannah:

I love these self portraits - although she says she looks a little cross-eyed in the one with the camera! That is what happens when you take photos in a mirror - I think she looks fantastic - but I am more than a little biased.

There are still a couple of spots in my class on September 4th at Scrapbook Parade - check out the store blog and website for more info or to register! $30 gets you a fabulous minibook, plus the supplies and instructions for this layout!!! It is a great deal and I would love to have you join me!

I have a bit more of this line that I bought in the summer, so I am thinking I will be doing at least another double layout with it - maybe one of all the times my kids hide their faces from their sort of psychotic, picture takin' mama!

Watch here for more from BoBunny and the other great companies out there!

Happy Day everyone!

Mamarazzi Mini

I am teaching a class on September 4th at Scrapbook Parade in Victoria using the very fun and cool Mamarazzi line from Bo Bunny! This mini comes as a kit, but because I am pathologically unable to colour inside the lines, I just had to change it up a bit!!

I am a bit ( ok a LOT) of a stalker when it comes to taking photos - I am rarely without my camera and so I love this line with all of the great vintage camera images - and the colour combos are fabulous!

I am actually doing this one for my kids - about - gasp - ME!!! I rarely scrap myself, and I realize that my kids will probably want to know some things about their mom when they are older, so. . . . I am biting the bullet and doing this mini about myself. The trick will be finding photos, since I am rarely in front of the camera - and always behind it.

This mini is really flexible though and can be changed up for any purpose!! If you have some time on September 4th and are in the Victoria area, give the store a call or email them ( click on the link, above) There are still a few spots available. As a bonus for class participants, you will also receive step by step instructions for an additional single page layout you can make with the kit "leftovers" - there are lots!!!

Maybe you could even consider doing it about YOU!

Happy day, everyone!

Recent pages. . .

I am in love with Upsy Daisy's Home Sweet Home line - great for fall, family - you name it!! Here are a couple of layouts I have just finished with this great product!







I also did this one using Basic Grey's Green at Heart - I am addicted to making handmade flowers of every kind!!!

And this one for a weScrap challenge - using Cosmo Cricket's Snorkel line and based on a sketch by Michelle Galloway:

What is your scrappy agenda these days???

Vintage fun!

I have been working on some older family photos and was so happy to come across this one of my dad. He died when I was just a baby, so I never knew him. He was an amateur radio operator - it was a passion of his and I love this photo of him at his radio.

I used the Communique line from Graphic 45, which I think was a perfect fit for this photo.

I also have been playing around with a few more types of handmade flowers on this layout of my mom and dad leaving their wedding reception for their honeymoon.

I love the original reservation responses for their first night in Calgary and then a couple of nights in Banff, AB. The paper is from the Passport line from Making Memories.

Finally, I hope you will join me - I will be hoppin' with the gals from weScrap today- they have great mini album that I am sure will be awesome!

Happy Day, everyone!!!

Project 12 July Layout

Have you been following Project 12?? I have been trying to do my layouts each months - some have been better than others!!! It is hosted by Scrapbook and Cards Today, and you create a double layout each month. You can click the link in my sidebar for all the info!! Here is my July Layout, based on another great sketch by Becky Fleck!

We had so much fun at Atlantis Waterslides! I am also trying to use up my stash - these papers are from Scenic Route - sadly now out of business - with a few newer ticket embellishments from Tim Holtz, October Afternoon and Jenni Bowlin

While I was on a double layout roll, I also did this one with pics from our strawberry picking adventure earlier in July! I have SO many photos - I am really trying to do more double layouts with lots of pics on the page!!!

This one uses papers and embellishments from Echo Park's Sweet Summertime line. Clean simple and get it done is my current motto. ( Except for when I need to be all vintage and one photo-ish!!!!)

Happy Day everyone!

A cool new ( to me, anyways!) site!

I came across this website and was so happy to find a lot of really great info and inspiration for those scrappers out there who are, well - Women of Substance, shall we say, and who are looking to lose some weight, get fit, feel healthy and all that other good stuff!

There is a lot of great info on healthy living, including recipes, and other tips! I also found lots of scrappy inspiration in the form of challenges, sketches and a gallery and forum!

The person who runs the site is herself very inspirational, having lost over 120 pounds! It seems to be friendly, fun and offers lots of great stuff! AND they begin a 90 Day Weightloss and Scrapping Challenge beginning September 1st, which I will definitely be joining in on!!!

Click the image above or in the sidebar to check it out for yourself - as far as I am concerned it is just one more reason why scrapping is good for me!!!!

Happy day everyone!

Creating Family Trees for Your Scrapbooks!

Hey Everyone!!

I have been busy working on a custom scrapbook for a 50th Anniversary gift, and one of the things my customer wanted was a family tree. Never having been involved in the genealogy side of scrapping, I wanted to find a program that would allow me to create a simple family tree that would be printable and look good in a scrapbook!

I found a great site that offers a free download to help you organize your genealogical information and make pretty family trees for your books, or for school projects, etc!

The site is called My Heritage, and has free downloadable software called Family Tree Builder4.0 to help you build your family trees in a variety of formats and styles. It is very user friendly and I had fun selecting the various fonts and styles that would meet my customer's needs, and look great on a scrapbook page.

It almost ( that is almost - I absolutely CANNOT get involved in genealogy!!!!) got me going on my own - but I will be encouraging the kids to use it next time they do a family tree project for school!

Check it out - it might just capture your imagination and spark an interest in your family history!!

Happy Day everyone!