I can hardly believe it.  Today my son turns 4!

This sweet little baby, only a day old, has grown up into this silly little boy, oh, pardon me, big boy.

He's such a character!  Full of personality and silliness.  He loves to make silly noises and he is incredibly curious.  He asks questions about everything and has to look at new things from every angle.  He absolutely adores anything to do with machines, particularly Mighty Machines and emergency vehicles and really knows his dinosaurs.

  

He's all these silly things, but he loves to pretend he's a baby, complete with sounds.  He still loves to cuddle with me and give hugs.  When he starts telling a story, he really gets into it.  He is a challenge sometimes, with a determined spirit that really hates when he doesn't get his own way.  He's still adjusting to the rules in his Kindergarten class, but he'll get there.  God created him as a true boy, rough and tumble, climbing, playing, running sort of boy.  I can only imagine what God has planned for Nathaniel. 

Happy Birthday, my favourite silly boy!

Playing with Chipboard

Today is a special day.  It's my son's 3rd birthday.  He's quite funny about the whole thing.  He doesn't want to grow up, doesn't want candles.  He says, "I want to stay two!" with his sweet little pout.  I think he'll enjoy the ice cream cake, gifts and all the family coming over, though.  He started preschool last week and didn't really want to go until I showed him his new backpack just before we left.  Now he loves it, even getting upset this morning because it wasn't his day to go.  Here he is on his first day.

Nathaniel is our little dramatic boy.  He's got the best facial expressions and loves to be silly.  He took his time entering our family (22 hours labour!) but we're so glad he's here.  He brings us lots of laughter and keeps us on our toes as the people in our church nursery can attest to.  He loves climbing on everything.  He has a real mind of his own most of the time, although he can take his time to make a decision.  I love that I get to spend time at home just with him.  He can still be a snuggler sometimes.  He's so quick to say, "I love you, Mommy," and gives us lots of hugs.  Nathaniel loves Mighty Machines, Bob the Builder, cars, trucks, trains... you get the picture.  He points out the Mighty Machines wherever we go.  If we see any actually working he calls it a "Mighty Machine Day!"  It's so fun listening to him talk.  Okay, enough about Nathaniel.

I want to share a layout I did with my team.  We spent our creative time learning about the different things you can do with chipboard.  There are too many techniques on this page to list here, but my favourite is on my heart journaling spot.  I scored the lines with a scoring blade on my trimmer and then inked it up with a brayer.  I used Twitterpated  Level 2, chipboard from lots of different packages and Chocolate ink.

Here are a couple close-ups of the photos of Nathaniel:

I just love my big boy, who doesn't want to be called a big boy.  You're a sweetie, Nathaniel.  Happy Birthday!

Unforgettable Moments

I finally got around to scrapbooking my daughter's first real haircut.  My mom used to cut my hair, now cuts my nephews' hair, and of course, had to cut Arianna's.  I had a lot of fun with this layout, just playing with all sorts of aspects, including using an old brads package to house those precious curls.

I did some zigzag stitching for the first time, added lots of distressing along with some My Stickese.  I am trying to use up my older paper kits and after choosing the fun flowered paper that matched Arianna's top so well, I realized that I didn't have enough for the layout.  So I just stamped another one.  Can you tell the difference?

I always get a bit nostalgic when I work on old photos.  Arianna looks so little and still a bit baby-like in these photos, even though she was already 2 1/2.    Here is what she looks like today:

I guess the other reason I'm feeling nostalgic is because she's turning 5 on Sunday and I can hardly believe it!  She's a sweet girl, so smart and imaginative.  She loves school, already reading at an early Grade 1 level even though she's only in Junior Kindergarten!  We love her to bits.  Arianna is really excited about her first friend birthday party and I'm hoping that I can kick my present cold before my family comes on Sunday.

Okay, thanks for letting me ramble on.  I'll quit now. 

Happy Creating!

November SOTM Blog Hop

It's the beginning of a new month and time for a new blog hop!  If you came here from Laurie's blog, you're on the right track.  This month's hop has over 60 CTMH consultants participating.  If you're new to the blog hop, it's very simple.  Once you've looked here, just click on the link for the next blog at the end of this post and hop from blog to blog.  The stamp set we're highlighting today is called Around the Block.  It's full of super cute images that you can use to create houses with sweet windows, doors, shutters, and even window boxes.

Here is my project.  Click on the photo for a better view.

I decided to make a layout instead of a card this time.  I've tried some new techniques on this page, at least they're new to me.  I machine-stitched for the first time on the striped paper and photo mat.  I had no idea it would be so easy!  I'm already looking for a permanent place for my sewing machine in my craft area.  I also used our new soft-set eyelet tool and eyelets.  It was quick and quiet and easier than my Crop-a-dile.  All the stamped images, including the sentiments are from Around the Block.  The paper is from Magic Moments, Level 2.

Here is the photo I'm putting on it, once I get it printed.

I hope you can see where I got the inspiration for the colours I used in my stamped house.  This is my parents' home, the home where I spent a good portion of my growing up years.  And in front is my family.  I love them all and I look forward to framing this layout and using it as wall art in my own home.

Now hop on over to Kathleen's blog for some more inspiration and fun!

Thanks for visiting!  Please leave a comment.  They make my day.

Happy Creating!

Congratulations to our Challenge Winner!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my last challenge, which was to create a piece of work using only the base and stamped images.  I randomly chose a winner and that person is Leisa!  We didn't get any layouts created, but stay tuned because I'm still planning to do one for you.  I've even chosen a photo.  Leisa, you'll need to send me your address so I can mail you a prize.  I've decided to give you a couple of cards I made recently, but they are a part of my September SOTM display, so you will have to wait until October to get them.

I guess you're ready and waiting for this month's challenge.  This one may not be as difficult or challenging, but then again, it might be.  I want you to create a project with one colour.  You may use multiple shades, but there should only be one colour.  I'll make up a card to show you what I mean as soon I can.

Now that September is here, my dear daughter will be starting JK on Wednesday!  She's very excited and I can hardly believe that the day is almost here.  The neat thing is she will be attending the school I taught at before she was born.  It's a bit like going home for me, except that there are lots of new teachers.  It's been very interesting seeing the school from a parent's perspective now. 

My sweetie is really starting to get curious about Mommy's job and the creating I do.  She decided one day that it was her toy monkey's birthday, her Little People monkey.  Since she had been talking about making a card with me, I offered to help her make a birthday card for her monkey.  She was over-the-moon!  She chose her stamp, inked it up and stamped it herself.  Then she chose the paper, which is just some old stuff I let her play with.  The ribbon came from the Michaels dollar bin.  I bought it for her long ago.  We had lots of fun putting it together and she has had fun using it to celebrate Monkey's birthday over and over.

The monkey images and inside sentiment are from Life's a Jungle.  The Happy Birthday is from Say It In Style.  I look forward to many more cards and layouts made with her.

And did you know that our new Idea Book is live?  Yup, you can now click on the image in my sidebar and go see the entire Idea Book on my website.  Check it out; it's beautiful!

Happy Creating!

What a fabulous day...mostly.

I took my two kiddos to the Peterborough Zoo today. We went with some of our Blast friends. Blast is the name of the play group we've been going to since Arianna was a baby. It's great fun and hosted at our church every week. If you're in the Oshawa area, and are interested in going to the park with us next week. Let me know!
It was a bit of a crazy day. Nathaniel decided to be a bit ornery and very determined a couple of times, throwing a few fits while we waited to take a train ride and during lunch. But I loved taking photos of my daughter with her friend, Emilee-Jayne. She says they're best friends. It makes me smile, my daughter's first real friend!



What made the day even more fabulous, despite my dear son's tantrums, was that the new Autumn/Winter Idea Books had arrived on my doorstep while I was gone! I've pored over it and boy does it have some amazing new products! I'll be letting you in on some over this next month. If you want a copy of this new book when September rolls around, be sure to let me know.

On to August's challenge. Are you ready for it?
I challenge you to make a card with a card base and stamped images only, no additional paper. If you're a scrapbooker, only stamps and your photos. That would be amazing to see! Maybe I can do both. Can you do it? To sweeten it this time, I'll be awarding prizes for both a card and a layout! Make sure you leave a comment with a link to a photo of your project. I'll post an example for you in the next day or two.

Happy Creating!

I should be going to sleep, but...

It's been an exhausting day, tons of fun but exhausting! My hubby's first week of holidays started a day early and we decided to take the kids to the Metro Toronto Zoo. Our friend came along as well. We had a wonderful day. Both Arianna and Nathaniel just loved seeing all the animals, playing in the splash pad and eating ice cream and Beavertails, a special day needs special treats, after all. If you don't know what Beavertails are think Dominos Cinnastix, but made with pastry. Yum!
Arianna's favourite part of the day was looking at all the animals, mine was taking photos of the animals. Unfortunately they're still on the camera so I can't post any, but the fact that I wanted to post made me think about other photos I had wanted to post, so here they are.

These were all taken at my parents' house, in Mom's garden. Mom has always had all sorts of plants in the livingroom window. In fact she has so many that she puts some away when we visit so that there's room for the kids to play. I'm in awe of her green thumb. I have a few plants, but they need to be hard to kill or I might do just that. So I just have fun taking photos of my mom's beautiful garden.

I have no idea what kind of plant this is, but the leaves are so neat!


Beautiful lavender.


Lupins, is that the right spelling? I discovered that these are my mom's favourite flowers, not gerbera daisies like me, as I thought.


And now my all-time favourite flower, the friendly daisy! I know I just said gerberas were my favourite; I love any kind of daisy, but these ones are a head above the others.


This next one is my favourite photo of all the ones I took that afternoon. It's now my computer's desktop wallpaper. Looking at it just makes me smile.

I hope these make you smile, too.

Happy Creating!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

That's what it feels like today, except I'm also playing catch-up. I was called for a Jury Selection panel yesterday. It was a very long day, with lots of sitting and listening to the same things over and over and over. But I'm thankful that I wasn't selected and I didn't even have to get out of my seat to answer any questions. I must admit that it was a bit interesting to see how this process is done, but it did get old after a little while. Now that it's over, I can get back to business. If you're reading this and have offered to host a gathering in the last little while, I'll be giving you a call soon. I didn't want to book anything for fear of being selected and having no time to prep!

Enough about that. I wanted to share with you one of my favourite projects to date. This is the cube I taught at a workshop on Friday and everyone really loved it. I kept hearing over and over, "I really like this." or "I'm so glad I came." That made me smile. In fact just watching them put it together made me smile.
Here it is!

I hope you like it as much as I do. I still haven't completely decided if this is what I'll be giving my dear hubby for Father's Day. If I do, I'll have to go searching for some great photos to put on it. I guess I'd better decide soon!

Oh, one more thing. I also wanted to share my new favourite photo of my two kids. It was taken from our kitchen window while they played in the backyard.

I love having a camera with 12x optical zoom and I can't wait to scrapbook this photo! I might just enlarge it to 5x7 or even 8x10. I'll be sure to post a photo of the completed page.

Now I'm off to fold some more laundry!
Happy Creating!

Random Stamping and some thoughts about my daughter.

I love the new Wishes book. This card was made with the same pattern as the card I made with the June SOTM, Tender Tags. I used random stamping to create the patterned paper here. I love random stamping with Cottage Floral. The flowers are perfect for this. After stamping the flowers, I then over-stamped with Spot on Backgrounds.

All products CTMH: Sorbet ribbon and brads. Ink colours: Juniper, Sorbet, Tulip, Creme Brulee, Cocoa.

I'm not sure what I'm going to use it for yet, so I've left the sentiment spot blank.

Life is moving along so quickly. My daughter is going to be 4 years old on Saturday! I can hardly believe it. She'll be starting school in September. She's such a sweetie, most of the time. As I type this she's at preschool and probably having a wonderful time. My Arianna, if I can brag for a minute, is pointing out different words and asking such amazing questions. She can trace all the letters of the alphabet and does so very carefully. She can write her own name and even Mommy and Daddy. She's got an incredible memory and loves to sing all kinds of songs. She's a wonderful big sister and has started "reading" books to her little brother. It's so much fun to watch them together. Okay, I'm done bragging. But I do need to share a couple of my favourite photos of her.She's my little sweetie. She gives the BEST hugs! Love her to bits. Happy birthday in four sleeps, my big girl.

Happy Easter!

I know it's not Easter yet, but I'm sending my wishes anyway. This weekend is always busy for us. Our church has a Good Friday service tomorrow during which I will be presenting a monologue. The character I get to play is Pilate's wife. She is telling him about her dream. It's a fascinating piece and emotionally demanding. Just as I like it! It's been a busy couple weeks preparing. Saturday Chris, my hubby, and I will be looking for a new van...still. Sunday we'll celebrate this special weekend with my family. It amazes me each and every year how wonderful our God is!

The other reason for this post is because I just have to share some photos I took last week before the snow hit. The signs of spring are showing everywhere around here. Our tulips are growing, tender crocuses are blooming, and a beautiful purple flower appeared in the garden beside our house. If you know what it is, please tell me! I've learned so much about photography since I started scrapbooking and I hope these photos show that.



This one is our daffodils just peeking out of the soil.













Our sweet crocuses now flattened by the late snow.








And the mystery flower. Can you help me identify it?