YEAH!!!!

Okay so I can finally tell you. Holding secrets is hard!!! Scrapbook. com had a major major contest. Giving away thousands of dollars in free scrapbook supplies. This contest had like thousands of entries and I placed!!!! They were choosing 7 main winners and 70 runners up/honorable mentions. I was an honorable mention. So I am pretty pumped because I was not going to enter. so if you want to see which layout won go here.

• My other big news I cannot release yet, sorry hopefully after the weekend. It's big, I'm excited, cannot wait!

• We are off to the lake Right Now!, so I'll tell you all my juicy stuff when I return.

• Also, thanks Kate & Will for an awesome day!

sorry I didn't post today/ allergies hit me hard and I feel yucky. plus super busy! talk tomorrow.

First Day of School

So Riley is back at preschool today. still mornings only. such excitement took place this morning. Riley told me he knew that 5 of his friends from last year were going to be there. Especially Kara. So he was excited. He has 2 new teachers, but he was so excited when he saw Miss Ada (last year's directress Assistant)

So today I decided to make it a Jager morning. He was really wanting to stay at Riley's school. Actually DID NOT want to leave. So instead I took him to the river, we walked on the Meewasin and stopped and played at Gabriel Dumont park. GREAT park. Enough uniqueness that kept us busy. But when I said let's go get Riley he was ready to go.

I just love his adorable smile! We had a fun morning hey Jag?

One stop before we picked Riley up. Yesterday's Memories got all of the Daisy Bucket line in. (*they are one of my sponsors, whose product I've never seen in real life yet) So I went and looked, shopped, and left exhilarated because the line is fantastic and FEELS cool. I love double sided patterned paper every day, but textured always makes it the best. Just a little scrapbook shopping to make a girl feel great.

So I plan to scrap tonight, get ready for my classes tomorrow night:

I still have openings in the Who Am I? & All About ME class tomorrow night starting at 6pm. email me if interested. scrap-mommy@hotmail.com

• I'm looking forward to having an awesome visit tomorrow afternoon with Kate Kading. Seriously, she is amazing. She is starting up an awesome program for kids, and I can't wait to get together with her to hear all of her plans. Ladies, if you are coming to my house Scrap, Swap & Chat- Sept.18th 6pm - 10pm just let me know. I can only hold a certain amount of people. Just to remind everyone, it is a night where we can get together and chat, share our albums, have appetizers and look through each other's products to swap & then also donate to Kate's group.
• Oh, so I definitely have awesome news to reveal on Aug.31st, not a moment before. So please come back then, and I'm hoping to have the best news to share tomorrow.
• I have some new sponsors for the cruise, AND I will show you a picture of all the LUXE design product I received. I hope that you guys are excited to receive it for FREE in your goody bags I'm giving at the 2 crops. Remember, if you weren't able to get into the crops, please come and say hi anyways because then you are eligible to win a $100 worth of free product.
• Cannot wait to see you tomorrow. Have a great sleep.

Our big Adventure! Lot's of pics!

Today was such an awesome day! I dedicated it 100%to the boys. Riley starts school on Wednesday so I thought, summer's over. No more unlimited play dates, late bedtimes, etc. Instead regimen, sports practices start, early bedtimes. So today I decided that we would do whatever the boys wanted to do, go wherever, eat whatever, do everything fun!!! no worries about deadlines, emails, phone calls, or scrap assignments that I HAVE to get done!!!! (I saved that for tonight) Today was the kid's day! and you'll never believe this. I received a massive LUXE shipment (like $3000.00+ retail that contained all my class products & prizes, goody bag product & prizes for both crops & then just stuff for me to design with!!!!!!) from the awesome UPS dude! (Lovin' UPS!!!!) just as I was walking out the door. And did I stop and go through it??? NOPE! Was it killing me all day???YES! But that didn't matter because just to have the day with my boys, seeing their endless smiles, to wrestle with them by the river. It was the best! And I took over 300 pics and about 80% are scrapworthy. We went to different parks we've never been to, in really remote locations. We'd stop only if they liked what the park looked like. Then we walked on different bridges, then we spent almost 2 hours playing on the new walkway bridge under Circle Drive. The boys LOVED this bridge. Then we drove out to Bare A@@ Beach and played in the river beds, splashing through the water, the sand, making castles. The water was so super warm. I turned my eyes to see Riley laughing and next thing I know I hear Jager right below me saying "fwimming". I looked...yes, yes he was! In full clothes! Never dreamt today would turn into a swim day. So stripped down to our britches and had a gay ole time for another hour and a half. then we had to pack up because tonight was Emily's 13th bday party. Our extended family always gets together for relatives bdays. This was a blast. We went to gramma's washed our clothes, ran around naked until they dried(we attempted toga towels for the boys but they kept falling off )too skinny, and then the clothes were ready just as people started to arrive.WHEW! So today turned out to be the best 12 hours of my entire summer. The only thing better would've been if Jim took the day off from work and joined us. We missed you honey! So here's just a few pics from the day! Enjoy!

see you after the weekend!

sorry for lack of blogging.just plain busy! we have 2 weddings tomorrow, trying to get Fall prep done and getting ready for school next week. So I hope everyone has a great weekend. Looks like it will be lovely weather! see you Monday!

cute photos!

I had my last, yes, LAST dentist appointment. And today's was the worst yet. I really am sore, but it is all finished. So I don't feel like doing anything but vegging out. so I thought I'd show you 2 pics I took 2 weeks ago that I love. Enjoy! And I have to admit I didn't even use photoshop! I was having fun with my new lens, testing out the different settings. I really actually enjoy these!

See you tomorrow!

Elsie Layouts

So last night we had so much fun at the class. A room full of women, ready to let down their rules! So we took Elsie's concept and made them a little more real for us. Her flamboyant style is outrageous and fun but we don't necessarily take those crazy pictures that make the pages work. So instead we tried out different multimedia, painting, sewing, ribbon and COLOUR!!! The following 3 layouts are my class examples:

These little paper clay buttons were the most fun I think. I had premade over a hundred(because they needed to dry!) then I brought them to class and everyone painted their own. There were GREAT styles. I love seeing everyone's uniqueness! Great job girls! We kept this layout low key, to let the clay buttons stand out! Elsie is known for layering materials and taking up an entire page in a different way of journaling. I didn't know how practical that would be for anyone, so I combined an area for journaling and an area to put random patterned paper (mimicking fabric)

I was able to take a few photos, I'm missing quite a few, So if you take a picture of yours, when you finish it with a picture please, send it to me, I'll upload them here.

I do have room in tomorrow's classes. Eye on Design- hearts, Eye on Designs-flowers.

just email me!

Upcoming Classes

• So what do you think of Elsie Flannigan? Love her style, wonder about it? want to maybe try it but too scared? Well I have the perfect class for you!
• August 20th 7-9pm $30.00 You can come and complete 3 Elsie type layouts! These layouts have lot's of multimedia, dimension and a touch of UNIQUE doodling and handwriting. You will be sewing, painting, using fabric, felt, buttons, scrabble letters, transparencies, clay & chipboard. How's that for learning some awesome techniques?? (still have 2 openings)
• August 22nd- 6-10pm A double class is running tonight. Take one or both. Eye on Design :hearts ($20)is from 6-8pm and stars ($20) 8-10 pm These classes show you how to combine different mediums or embellishments while using the same theme.

• August 23rd-6-10pm A double class is running tonight. Take one or both. Summer Activities ($20) 6-8pm and School photos ($20) 8-10pm.
• August 30th 6-10 pm A Double class is running tonight. Take one or both. Who Am I ($20) 6-8pm and She ($20) 8-10pm These are fun classes to scrap you. Not very often do we focus on ourselves, so come celebrate you and let your family learn more about YOU!

If any of these interest you please email me! I can send you directions to the studio. Have a great day! I hope that some of you got to take in Folkfest & the Air show. We had a few too many things on our plate, so we didn't go to Folkfest but we do have tickets for the airshow. So I'm hoping for a great day!

Cruisin crops

sorry to anyone who didn't get in...both crops are sold out. But remember to come drop by anyways, because I am giving away a $100.00 worth of my absolute favourite product to someone who comes to see me (I will do this for both crops). People have been bugging me to make it so that they have better chances to win.

• So here's what I've come up with: Between 10am-11 am (on both days, Sept.29th & Oct.27th) you will get 5 tickets each to put your name on. I want to start the day out with a bang! 14 hours of non-stop fun will begin as soon as those doors open. Then for every $25.00 you spend throughout the day (whether you are cropping there or not) I will let you put in an additional ticket. So your chances are up to you! Also, if you bring a friend you will also get another ticket. Cannot wait!
• Make sure when you come, bring a few samples of your best work to share. There are some exciting things to be starting in the fall and I'd love to be able to give some recommendations on who the next top scrapbookers are in SASKATCHEWAN!

Can you believe it is only less than 6 weeks away???

Layouts!!!!

So the other day I bought the new Basic Grey & Cosmo Cricket lines when Yesterday's Memories were having their big sale. Can't wait to use the huge savings coupons in September!

• So I only allowed myself to do a couple of fun & quick layouts for myself the last 2 nights and then I got back to work that was more time pressing. I'll show you 1 that I did the other night and 3 I did at my gramma's garage sale today! Sorry no peeks from last night. So I dropped Riley off at VBS, went & helped at the garage sale, then went back and picked him up. And then Jim took Riley to work with him today and they had a blast. So with how busy our day was, I can't believe that I was able to get so many layouts done.. and still help people! And I got 5 done!!!!(see a dedicated scrapbooker can scrap anywhere! table or no table) I only took what I could quickly shift off my lap to help people, kept my supply choices extremely limited and I had fun. Enjoyed the awesome sunny day, I didn't realize it but I actually got burnt. oops!
• I like that Basic Grey is different this release. I actually found quite a few papers that really will suit my summer pictures & my boys! As for Cosmo Cricket, well everyone knows I LOVE everything they make. Hello, it matches my house, my life, the farm...everything. So I had to scrap these pics, I love them. Jager is so innocent, having to try everything.
• Cosmo Cricket- at the garage sale! Made this easily with premade accents that coordinate with the paper line. And I LOVE circles!!!!

• Basic Grey- at the garage sale This is a simpler layout, but still efficient. It says everything I wanted to say and still has a little punch with the minimal accents. I especially love d taking this picture in the trees after church one day. It was a day that I dressed the boys the same, but Jag wanted NO part in smiling. He was more interested in chasing the bugs.

Cosmo Cricket- Such a soft romantic line. I wanted to do a layout of us for my mom's book, so these colours seemed more elegant. For my own album & the boys album I scrapped this picture with a funkier line. also, check out my AWESOME new swirl stamps that I got at Yesterday's Memories, I have now used them on everything, they are so great.

Basic Grey- Garage Sale

• This is definitely one I love! I really liked taking advantage of the worn off areas because it looks like graffiti. I wanted the photos to stand out the most so I made the title really subtle, in the same colour tones as the paper. "Sunscreen Boy" . Lot's of times I love to use a lot of things, I think, the more the better sometimes, so seeing what I could make with minimal choices, makes me realize that the photos are still really the focus. I think we all lose sight of that sometimes. I definitely love how this is something so true to how Jim let's the boys learn. I swear I need to do an album just on what happens when daddy watches us! Jim you are so funny, and you allow the boys to learn & experiment while I forget and just do it for them, Jim, thanks for letting them be kids! And hey, I have been getting the best photos of the kids doing really funny things. more for me to scrapbook (maybe that's what Jim is thinking, what can the boys do today that Leica will scrapbook??? just kidding)

so tomorrow is Riley's last day at VBS, then we have the family supper at church with his final performance for us. I'm so excited. VBS was definitely one of my favourite camps when I was growing up. Have a great night everyone! See you tomorrow!!!!

random!

Hi everyone,Can you believe how fast summer is disappearing??? Only a short while till kids are back in school and routine resumes. I'm torn between the regimen and spontaneity. First off, if you are thinking about coming to the 2nd cruisin' away crop in October, than you better hurry and sign up. Only 5 spots left! I received another huge box of stuff to give away at both cruise crops today and I will get another huge box tomorrow, it's in I just have to go get it. It's feeling like Christmas. And it's all for YOU guys at the crop. Two full days of non stop prizes, fun & the greatest food around. I have a crazy agenda of things to get done tonight, but I hope to post layouts tomorrow or Friday at the latest. Riley is loving VBS. It's so positive for him, I only wish Jag was old enough. In a few years. Well got to go. Talk later!

Interview #1- Jill Hildebrand

Okay, so if Blogger is being stubborn I can always trust the slide!!!! Here is

• Jill Hildebrand.
• She is from Manitoba and currently is on the design team for Smalltown Scrappers. Which has many stores in Manitoba and online shopping. Talk about one stop service. Anyways, I met this awesome scrapbooker and her friend Bronwen (who owns Smalltown Scrappers) while waiting in line for Camp Croppin last year. These Manitoba ladies knew how to have a good time, we enjoyed each other's company. Now I have the awesome privilege to teach with Jill on the Cruise. This accomplished lady is also going to be teaching at the BC expo. Talent,talent!

So I asked everyone the same questions, here's Jill's response:

• Name: Jill Hildebrand
• married status: Married to my incredibly sweet & funny husband, Ron for 12 years .... yes, married young!!!
• kids: Yes!!!!! Oh sorry......Daria (9 - going on 19 most days, very gifted in swimming); Carter (6 - incredibly bright & loves animals and basketball); Asha (3 - a.k.a. "the reason we quit after three" -- lots of energy & attitude).
• profession: #1 - Stay-at-Home Mom; #2 - Need-to-stay-at-Home-More Wife; #3 - Substitute Teacher; #4 - Scrapbooking Instructor & DT Member for Smalltown Scrappers
• favourite food: Will forever be Spaghetti & Meatballs
• favourite drink: a nice, cold glass of MILK
• music genre: I listen to mostly Country Music with a little bit of Rock Oldies thrown in at times -- love the good 'ol 80's stuff).
• dream place to visit: Of course, Paris, France!!!! Ron promises to take me sometime....right??!?
• favourite scrapbook medium(s) to work with: Right now I'm on 12x12 and my most frequently used tools & embellishments would be circle punches, paint, my acrylic stamps & ink, my sewing machine, journalling spots, bling & my own handwriting!!!! In short: LOVE IT ALL!!!!!
• favourite book: My most favourite book I've read up 'til now is by John Saul entitled "Shadows". Oh yeah......and I love reading about LIFE in all of Ali Edwards' books!!!! Great inspirational reading.
• random fact about yourself: Hmmmmm....something you may not know about me (and maybe wished you never did)......okay.......I'm one of those wives that has Sportsdesk or TSN on the T.V. all the time; not because that's what my husband wants to watch and I go along with it, but because I love watching sports and sports highlights on T.V. as well. I love NBA basketball and have gone with my husband to see several teams throughout the league play.
• pet peeves: Okay, I know this will be strange, but.........Left open closet & cupboard doors. Keep 'em shut!!!
• Okay, so now check out this slide to see a sample of her work. You'll have to come on the cruise to see it in real life... but if you do want to see more, then just click here.

Feel free to leave any comments or questions for JIll here. Thanks for droppping by guys.

Foiled! & test driving...

okay, so my plans to start my interviews today were foiled. Blogger refuses to let me upload anything. I started having problems last night. So I'm going to fool around with some sizing issues maybe. I don't know. So today was productive, Riley started VBS, totally had a blast! He's so excited for everyday this week. Putting him to bed was super because he didn't want to miss tomorrow! Then my mom & I spent the ENTIRE day test driving and checking out vehicles. The deadline is approaching to when I will need one, so why leave it to the last minute. Now that Jim is home all the time, come winter he's taking the truck and parking the Superbee till Spring, so then the kids & I need a method of transportation. So I think I'm intent on getting a mini van. So if anyone has any advice let me know. Totally loved the Honda Odyssey today. Mom's first choice for sure!!! Love the sto & go seating in the Dodge Caravan, the Nissan Quest was recommended too but we ran out of time. So please leave me a comment to help me out. I've been a 4x4 truck girl for all my life. Only for a couple years did I own a car. Anyways, see you tomorrow, hopefully I have better luck!

Family Weekend Fun!!!!!!!

I have so many more pics to show you but Blogger just jammed so I'll have to try later or tomorrow. Have fun with these. We spent today on our lovely Saskatchewan River boating. It was awesome. It always is a good time with family & friends. Our river is so attractive too. So have fun looking at these. Jim totally loves any pics that show the "wake", so needless to say I have lot's for him. the boys loved trying to skip rocks. Uncle Shane & Andrea were teaching them. I love catching them in the moment.

awesome painting on the bridge. If someone has seen this, don't you wonder how on earth they got up there to do this??? WOW! My boys were so excited. They love spiderman. In fact they both started saying spiderman before we realized why, great eyes kids!

here they are approaching the bridge...

I walked up onto Broadway Bridge to take some bird's eye view pics. It was cool. We don't have any pics of our boat like this, so I had fun. My brothers (Steven & Shane) Andrea, Matthew, Trent & us were all on the river today. But we only had one boat on the river out, the boys didn't bring theirs so we just took turns. Which was fine with me because I wanted to take pics. Look, little Jager is already sleeping.

leaving the bridge

I really like this photo, the architecture view I guess.

Another Bess photo taken from our boat! isn't this hotel magnificent, such an asset to our city.

Here's a few pics from the Exhibition yesterday. We had such a GREAT family day there. Both boys loved going on all the rides. Over, and over, and over... Anyways it was fun! Enjoy!

So starting tomorrow I am going to start a fun thing. Interviews!!!! Get to know some people that I think are awesome, see their work. It'll be fun. See you then...

My reveal!!! Layouts, SUPER LONG POST!!!

Okay, so let's start off the day with my best news of all. I have been put on Luxe Design's permanent designer's list. So cool. So what does that mean??? Every month I will get a package of goodies from them, ALL their new product when revealed, etc. So jumping for joy right now. But every month I have to do so many layouts for them, design classes, pitch ideas, and blog EVERY layout I do with their product. I am not actually part of their official design team, I am on a different type of list, but maybe someday I'll be there. As for now I am going to love being a part of this list! So this will be a fun job!!! Also, I am now teaching a class on the cruise that is solely LUXE Designs products, using awesome stuff they are sponsoring me with!!! So I am pretty pumped. And guess what, the news doesn't stop there. If you are coming to my Cruisin Away Crops in Sept & Oct (at Yesterday's Memories). you are in for a treat because the goody bags and prizes are now going to have LUXE! LUXE! LUXE! If you haven't seen Luxe Designs products you must go here.They rock! I came to know them because I met one of the most awesome scrapbookers in the world Emily Adams (who now works at Luxe Designs)at Camp Croppin in Calgary. She really had a huge influence on my thoughts of what I want to do with scrapbooking. I am glad that we have reconnected. Here's a sample of some of their product! All the patterned paper is double sided. Ribbon to match, die cuts to match, transparencies, rub ons & jotters. So much amazing product!!!! Check them out!

So Riley passed today! He is now going to be a salamander. We are so proud!!! He is really getting to be such a good little swimmer.

So this is my household EVERYDAY!!!!! Both our boys are climbers, and they have been able to crawl onto everything before they could walk. Now they just seem to keep outdoing each other. It drives me nuts. I truly feel like I am raising my brothers. I remember being young watching my brothers climb trees and we used to go onto our house roof, the barn's roof, then the boys used to jump from the top of bins to the next bin, we always played bail tag, which was the best! So I was glad that I had my camera yesterday. Because I usually am at the bottom of the stairs yelling at them to get down. But at least Jim is right beside me in case.

Okay, does this kid look like a trouble maker or what?

Here is a close up of the next layout to show how I put ghost letters ON the photo. It is just a subtle word...FUN!

I had so much fun doing this layout. I LOVE collage, monotone, you can have so much fun with it!So many mediums can be used!

so I just took this photo off my photo wall, so time to scrap!Cosmo Cricket paper & chipboard monogram, Fancy Pants stamps. I LOVE this photo. It tells such a story! Jager is screaming, Riley is squinting. It is setting such a funny scene. I am actually happy that it wasn't the "perfect"Santa pose. This one has so many more memories!

This layout is using Cosmo Cricket paper. And of course circles & stars are so my favourite so I had fun using those. Added just a little diamond glaze to the title to add dimension. The dotted circles I actually just drew myself, then I could put them more where I wanted them in the proper sizes.

I had so much fun doing this layout.

pg#1 This layout came together so fast, because in all reality I just assembled the squares, and when you make them at the Kodak machines you can get 6 printed out on a 4x6 sheet so I actually only arranged 4x6 sheets. Quick & fun!

pg #2. these pages will go in my SHE album because they tell such a story about where I am in my life right now!

Oh and if you need a scrapbook fix, Yesterday's Memories is having a massive sale till Aug.12th. Including 20% off the brand new just arrived stock. Hello! that Heidi Grace stuff sure called my name!!!!! Great time to stock up on supplies. If you are like me, you now have so many summer pics to scrap, may as well do it for cheaper!

I'm seeing nothing but daisies!

That is Daisy Bucket! They have become one of the layout sponsors AND they are sponsoring me completely with patterned papers & stamps. They are a very new company that just celebrated their anniversary. They just said that they are going to be coming to Canada too. AWESOME! AWESOME! I think that this company is going to be the latest rage with all their awesome product and affordable too!

So go here to check them out further. Here are just 3 of their lines. So cute hey?? sets that have coordinating double sided, cool texture papers, ribbon to match AND neato tag sets. What more could you ask for to complete a look?

They are sending multiples of 17 of the following stamps. My class focuses on doodling, flowers and texture so we will be experimenting with these cool flower & doodle stamps!

Sorry I didn't post my layouts from last night, I was too excited about DAISY BUCKET!

• click here to see all the sponsors so far for the cruise! more keep coming aboard every week!

Tomorrow!!!

• Love you guys. You are the reason why we have fun scrapbooking. People that want to keep learning, growing and discovering new elements. I love keeping my hobby fun & interesting and nothing is better than sharing it with a great group of scrapbookers & bloggers.

a quick update!

Okay, so as far as I have heard, there are still a couple spots left for the Oct.27th crop. The Sept. one still is sold out with a very long waiting list. Truthfully girls I don't think anyone is giving up their spot. sorry!!! I'm still overwhelmed at how quickly they filled up. So much awesome support from the coolest people & friends around. A quick shout out to my friends Pam & Melina who have helped me so much too! I'm super excited that Pam will actually be able to come and scrap on the Oct.27th date because on the first date she is only stopping by for visits because she is moving! So I can't wait for those of you who haven't met Pam, she is a really talented artist, person and creates the most unique jewelery. So she has donated some of her jewelery for prizes! WOW! Also the super coolest Melina(only the best local photographer around!) will be there on both days too,so you'll definitely be able to see her amazing photography in person! Katharina Doyle from Canadian Scrapbooker, told me today that she will be donating another magazine subscription for the second crop. And also I may have some super huge news to reveal later this week or the beginning of next week. Deals are still being worked on. but one definitely involves more brand stinkin CHA new, not accessible,(are you drooling yet?) FREE product for the goody bags. WOO HOO. I tell you, I am determined to make this the most fun you can have on land! And I am really excited to teach the new class as well. Can you believe that you get 14 hours of scrapbooking, lunch, treats, goody bags, prizes, prizes, prizes, cheesecake, scavenger hunts,layout contests, & more games for only $35.00. ( also we are bringing in virgin Pina Coladas, and other fun cruise drinks! the mood must be set!) I am really proud that these 2 events are so affordable. It's not fun when you go to a crop and it costs so much. I'd rather spend it on PRODUCT! Sorry for the quick synopsis of these events again, I just am totally bombarded with emails that I feel I am barely responding fast enough and everyone has such similar questions. Sasktel keeps giving me that you've reached your 98% for messages quota. so tomorrow I will (promise promise) read all, & respond to all and then I will have to delete them, need more space!

Also is anyone going to Scrapfest this year in Edmonton? If you are please come to our Crop & Cruise booth and visit! I know we are doing promotional work for next years big cruise but also there is still 5 spots left on this years. Also I think we are doing a TV thing too, so I am so pumped to see Allison do her thing live and in person!

Tuesday's layouts

okay, here is a few layouts I did Tuesday night. I'll post a few. Lately I've been doing lot's of monotones. Made the black hibiscus with the small mask from Heidi Swapp and just positioned it where I wanted. If you don't know how to use masks go here.

I have hundreds of the Riley laughing in the pool. so now I'm working on layouts for my mom and sis. Jager likes to play on the outside more when Riley is in the pool. I think he is still a little scared. But he is slowly trying more with water. So I don't have too many of him in the water.

More dinosaur layouts. still have a few more to go as I plan to do one set of layouts for Riley., Jager, Hunter, mom& dad & jim's & my book. So I hope you don't get bored seeing them. This one isn't finished yet. I'm going to make fact sheets that the boys can pull out to learn more about the dinosaurs individually.

This one I really wanted the feeling of danger! So I took a sweet little paper that was very soft & romantic and made it dark, creepy & powerful. I'm deciding on a unique way to put the journaling beside the picture. I want it to feel alive, really different so I'll hold off finishing it till I think of something crazy!

Someone sent this funny test to me. After seeing the results I think I'm in trouble, I guess it could be worse...I could be 100%! 80% Well I guess it is into the wee hours so I should attempt to sleep. I did another 4 full layouts and started another tonight. At this rate I think I might catch up by the end of the year!!!LOL. I'll take some pics and post them tomorrow night. Have a great sleep!

Thank you!

Here's a big shout out to Allison Orthner. She used the doodling I taught her for her TV segment and aired one of my favourite layouts. I was so pumped. If you want to know more about doodling click here. Also, I don't know how I never realized this before, but why on earth wasn't I scrapbooking in my scrapbook room???? I have accomplished so many layouts this week, I could dance for joy. The boys have been loving sleeping in the basement, so you know me, night owl, I put them to bed between 9-10pm (summer hours!)and then I have been scrapbooking for like 5-6 hours straight! I don't go to bed before 2 am on a good night so I have actually accomplished a lot! Usually when the boys sleep upstairs I won't go scrapping in the basement because I definitely can't hear them 2 floors up, so I bring everything to the kitchen table or else go on the blogs. But now I'm on fire...and my house has stayed clean still! amazing! Oh, I am giving a haircut in 15 minutes but I will post some layouts I did last night. Also I just got a new super telephoto lens so now I am PUMPED!!!! Look out Saskatoon Bridges, I am making a date to try this baby out! Okay, got to go get ready! See you in a bit!

Layouts, fun times & swimming lessons

Gramma & Grampa had bought this horse for us when my brothers were 4 +5, now they have created a place for it in their yard for my kids & hunter. they LOVE it. They even named their horse Blackie.

I'm a little cheesed that I wasn't ready to take a photo. Jenn was pulling the boys around last night in the wagon and they were squealing, so I just missed Riley's whole face. I still love it anyways.

It is funny how life evolves. This man, MY Grandfather was the strict military man my whole childhood. The full "children should be seen but not heard". I swear that my 2 brothers, my sister and I drove him nuts because we were so "full of life" (as I will politely put) As I moved onto my own I have seen him still tackle every issue with full force. (and the man has only a 1/3 of a lung. He hasn't had 2 lungs since his twenties because of tuberculosis) He never stops working and especially helping us grandchildren out. Now that he is a great grandfather to Riley, Jager & Hunter he has become such a gentle man, who I have seen smile so many times. He is having so much fun with the boys. Jager just adores him. He always runs to poppa first. I find this amusing sometimes as I remember being scared of him when I was little, now I can't picture him as anything but the way he is now. These are memories that I will capture, because I want my boys to remember their time with him!

My gramma just adores her great grandchildren. I am so fortunate that she helps me out with the kids. We have so much fun with her! When I was growing up she took us to our swimming lessons in the summer, and we biked for miles. She would always take us to the paddling pool, and now she takes my kids!

Swimming lessons are going GREAT! I have a little swimmer on my hands.

he loves to practise his floats. Today they were in the deep end so they needed life jackets!

This page actually has a lot of different things going on. The paper comes with all the awesome bumps on it. Then I painted areas with 2 different colors of paint, especially the green so that would allow the clear brown acrylic letters to pop. I wanted to continue with the theme of lot's of plant life like the dinosaur show had. So then I added the Basic Grey Urban swirl rub ons & Luxe flower rub ons. Then to stay with the magical theme of this show, I added different colours of glitter. I had so much fun with these dinosaur pages.

I really love dimensional items, so these KI Memories Alphabet soup letters totally rock!

The following 2 layouts are a 2page spread. this one is the left hand side.

pg.2 (right hand side)

Here is a close up of how I used UTEE on the entire background of the layout previous. I stopped embossing it just after it started to melt but before it became smooth. The reason being, the dinosaurs look so lumpy so I wanted to mimic their appearance. Used a lot of UTEE(UltraThick Embossing Enamel) but it was worth it.

So, since I have been stock piling for years, here is another layout mixing old with new product. I did more whimsical sewing on this layout, which was fun. I have a pullout area on the left for Jim to write some stuff to Jag. I do most of the journaling lately so I have been consciously trying to include Jim in that part more. He hates his writing shown, which is silly because it is nice but I don't want him to feel embarrassed so I tend to do more hidden journaling on his layouts. Jim's more private with his thoughts for the boys so he'd rather they weren't for anyone to read except for the boys anyways.

Thanks for looking guys!

ALLISON ORTHNER!!!

So today was so much fun. I got the privilege of spending it with Allison Orthner discussing all the details of the cruise, the nitty gritty details, the fun surprises for the guests, the parties, the goody bags, the prizes the glamour shots, everything. I even got to give her a mini doodling class so that she can present it on her fantastic TV show!

So much fun! Her family came over for supper and the kids all had a blast. It was really a great experience and made me really excited to be on this adventure with such a classy lady who is really on top of her game. the wheels are already turning about next years concept, so if this year wasn't in your budget, start considering it for next year!!! Because I am amazed at how awesome and well planned this event is. We have a wedding tomorrow and then I think we are going to go boating for a few days, so I'll talk to you guys later!!! Have a great weekend!!!

a slower day, nothing too exciting...

Jager at Kinsmen Park the other day. He wants to swim so badly!

Here's Riley and his swimming instructor. He is trying so hard. Way to go Riley!

okay, here are layouts & pics!

Oh and since I couldn't get a hold of my parents yesterday (August 1st) because they were on their hot hot date. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! My whole family loves you guys to death! Way to go being such an inspiration to all of us out there! Hope the Bessborough rocked, the Samurai was oh so yummy and the Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan was fun! Can't wait to hear...

so I truly am almost done organizing my scrapbook room. It is the last thing in my house that needs attention. I am glad that the last 2 days cooled off because I scrubbed my house clean like the queen was coming for a visit. You know how they say statements like "you could eat off the bathroom floor", well in my house I will make that statement (it may only last a day, but I tell you we are totally disinfected & disgustingly clean in this house right now!)You know it's bad when daddy brings home the boys and the first words out of his mouth are "don't make a mess boys". Only for Riley to ask how come our house is so clean, is people coming over? Wow, now does that say something or what? I allowed myself to give up on being a great housekeeper like my mom, gramma, Andrea & Natalie.These 4 women are the epitome of "CLEAN HOUSES at all times!!!!" So now, I am actually embarrassed. I thought I always did a decent, respectable job but for a 3 year old to notice, I must have bombed! So maybe I need to purge more, and give up a little more of my scrapbook time to clean... who knows. But then again, I don't really want to be known only as the mom with the clean house. I want to be known as the mom who was super cool, who taught us the neatest things, who spent so much quality time with us. Now having said that , no I still won't bring the sprinkler into the house so that the boys can run through it on cold days. I'm not that cool!

• the funny part about this photo is I love the sun effect of it. My shot of it doesn't do it justice but in real life it is really neat. And of course I LOVE LOVE LOVE heidi Grace stuff. I've done I think 12 layouts with her new stuff. I'll post them sporadically so you don't get overloaded!

Here's me & my sweetie again! I had done this photo before in a sepia tone, but I will do one for each boy & Jim's & my album. So I still have one more to do!

I have done so many of Riley posing, but he is loving the camera right now, and I am loving HIM!

this layout is really 3D. had fun with it!

the tags pull out of the pocket to reveal different journaling tags

So I have to say I am truly addicted to scrapbooking.(It just dawned on me you see) Since January I have filled massive boxes with layouts that need to be put in albums. I would guess around 150 or more. I have albums coming out of every single room, literally. I patiently wait, with a stack of 50 plus albums on the floor sitting collecting dust, while I have more downstairs underneath the bench seats around the pool table, in our room, Riley's room, my scrapbook room, for my wall unit to be built. Dad asks where am I going to keep putting all these albums I am completing? Great question!!! I have no idea. So now I am consciously really going to just scrapbook my favourite pics, the better shots and put the rest in albums that can hold many pics. Otherwise I will have no solution but to ...move. When I start sorting those boxes I'll take some more pics of my layouts to show you.

• By the way I really want to say thankyou for all the nice comments and especially the really awesome emails I have received this week. It is nice to know that the scrapbooking community in Saskatoon is so supporting. I appreciate every single email & comment. Oh and definitely thank you to my awesome friends at Scrapbook.com. I have been overwhelmed with the response I have been getting there lately! Thanks again!

My exciting NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!

So here's my news! The "Cruisin Away" crop that is being held on September 29th totally sold out and the waiting list for cancellations is huge! So I've been totally been asked to do another crop! And of course I said YES! So the 2nd crop is on October 27th,2007 So last night I ordered all NEW goody bags for everyone because they have to be different from the first crop of course. And I am going to do a totally different class as well. So it will be super exciting!!! Sign up for the new one is starting right now too! I know that for all the ladies that came to the store and put your name on a waiting list, you will be given a spot. Just make sure you confirm that you still want it. All proceeds of gently used scrapbook supplies will also go towards the underprivileged children's group as well! And heck if you can't make it to the 2nd one just mention that you are still interested in the first one. you never know what will happen...

And second of all, I'm just filled with news today!!!!

• Corrine Braun(super cool lady! I have a link to her site on the side) works at the Dundurn Army Base. This year they are trying to send as many cards as possible to our Canadian troops overseas. this is an amazing cause as we all know how they are sacrificing their lives to make the world better. So on September 13th there will be a
• Cardmaking Crop for Troops at my house. Bring any unwanted Christmas paper or ribbon to make the cards with. And if you have nothing come anyways with your paper trimmer and adhesives!One thing Corrine did mention is that absolutely NO metal (brads, hinges, bookplates, paperclips, etc) can be used on these cards as it just causes more problems going through security. So keep that in mind! This is such an amazing cause. Hope to see you here! (I will tantalize your buds with scrumptious appetizers too!) I'll pull out my best Martha Stewart recipes. Actually to tell you the truth I might call Saucy because that girl knows how to throw a party, go and check out her food pics. All I can say is WOW...I want to be like Martha & Sasha! email me if you are coming!
• Third point of interest: I am going to be having a
• "Scrap Swap & Chat" at my house September 18th. Anyone is welcome. This is what is going to take place. Everyone will bring an appetizer of some sort as well as their old supplies & scraps they no longer use and their favourite albums. We will visit, eat, share albums and then we are going to spread all the scrapbook supplies out. Then if there is something you want, you can take but you have to give something as well. So the end result is that we have all taken some new to you items but have created a huge amount of boxes to donate to Kate Kading's underprivileged children's scrapbook group. We all know we hoard supplies that realistically we are never going to use again so why not help a good cause out. It is also a nice social evening to get to know other scrapbookers as well as share our albums. So if anyone is thinking that they would like to come but are so new to scrapbooking that you have nothing to give, you are still welcome of course! The idea is to share and have fun.
• Oh and yes, Mindy, Terry & Lori ,Jim's still laughing that I told him you guys wanted a sleepover party that night. Funny thing is he thinks we are joking hey?....

sorry it seems so overwhelming but all these important causes have deadlines for them to get to the people in charge. So put them on your calendar and come out and socialize and have fun!!!!

So absolute LAST topic of discussion...

Scraptology has changed dates on our classes for August. As most people are away and there is a demand for these super awesome events. Here are the new changes:

• Family Album- Summer activities that was going to be on Aug.8th is now combined with Family Album-school photos class on Aug.23 starting at 6pm-10pm.

• "SHE" class on Aug.16 is now moved to Aug.30th with "Who Am I", which will also start at 6pm-10pm

• Elsie class will still be on Aug.20th.

• Eye on Design Flowers (Aug.21) is now moved to a double class on Aug.22 with Eye on Design Hearts. this will also start at 6pm-10pm.

that's it I swear!!!!!

So since I have not showed you any layouts forever I will take pics and post a bunch tomorrow! Promise, promise, promise. Also the infamous Allison Orthner is coming to Saskatoon to chat with me about the cruise and all the fun events so I am pretty excited to see her again! So maybe I'll have more news, who knows. I hope everyone is having a smashing summer.

Go check out this hot and upcoming jewelery megastar!

Okay, totally hijacked this of Miss Melina's site (only the greatest photographer around) because I totally think that Pam has the coolest jewelery around. Each piece is handcrafted, unique and really is beautiful. So if you have a minute, go and check her out at the fringe this week (Aug.2nd-Aug.4th) One thing I will guarantee is that she is a lot of fun to talk to, hang out with and she does teach the most amazing classes at Scraptology! So go introduce yourself to her. Hope you have tremendous success Pam!