Layout #10 and a Weekly Update

On Monday, I got so sick of seeing Ailis and her front tooth hanging on by a molecule that I just ripped it out! Actually, I only had to give it a tug it was that loose.

Tuesday was my little Brenna Bean's first birthday. I made this pathetic-looking Angel food cake (from a box, I know, atrocious, but she won't even remember it!) while the boys were at hockey, and then I didn't even get to eat a piece because I left for book club right after the photo session! I think Brenna really enjoyed her first taste of cake:

Wednesday I managed to fit in my first workout in a week while watching Survivor. Note to self: don't expect to have a decent workout while watching TV, it just does not work! My workouts have been very intense and gratifying, but I am losing zero pounds, ugh! Oh well, if I keep at it, it will happen eventually. Thursday was sooooooo bad, but I don't want to go into details. Surprisingly, though, Friday was pretty good, especially when I got this in the mail:
Just a little prize package from Scrap-tures for participating in their online anniversary challenges. Nice, huh? I first heard about Scrap-tures when I won a kit from them last year through Creative Scrappers. It is a fully stocked kit, and this here is the 3rd layout I've made using it:
I started planning this layout, oh, 5 months or so ago, and finally worked hard at it all week to get 'er done. I used a Page Maps sketch from last summer's Scrapbook and Cards Today mag, and I really love how it all turned out! I guess you can't really tell from the photo here, but my stamped butterflies have lifted up wings and bling down their centres. The journaling card fit perfectly, and I just adore that Maya Road velvet ribbon - already gathered for me, just how I like it! Incidentally, if you've ever wanted to be a designer, live in Canada, and love to get free stuff, Scrap-tures is looking for guest designers right now - go check it out for sure!

Supplies (all from Scrap-tures April 2010 kit): Little Yellow Bicycle patterned paper, felt butterfly, journaling card, and chipboard stickers, Bazzill gingham ribbon, Maya Road velvet ribbon

Other: CTMH Colonial White cardstock, pearls, and pink gems, Colorbox ink, Studio G stamps, Kaisercraft blue gems, Prima clear gems, dollar store yellow and white opaque gems, Creative Memories pen, unknown date stamp, buttons, and staples

Read More

2011 Layout Challenge #9 - Love!

This layout I started designing for the Design Dollies Elements Challenge, but just could not get it blogged in time. Once I got back from bringing Nolan to his hockey tournament and doing the weekly groceries, it was past the deadline. Aw shucks, story of my life, as you well know by now! It was good incentive to scrap this photo we took on Christmas Eve with Jason's new gorillapod, though. (If you haven't seen these, they're pretty neat. They're about $20, and they're these little tripods with bendy legs, totally cute!) After I finished this page as a belated Valentine's Day present for Jason, I showed it to him and he said, "Where did you find the quote?" I told him I googled it. He said, "Do you really feel that way?" "Of course I do!" I replied. "I wouldn't have chosen that quote otherwise!" He said, "Aw, that's really beautiful, thank you!" Just thinking about it gives me the warm and fuzzies, which is great because I had another terrible day at work, topped off by witnessing Nolan get in a brawl as soon as I got out the door. Lovely! Ack, now I just pulled out Ailis's top tooth! Things are definitely looking up!

Anyway, back to the layout! I used a sketch from Sketchabilities, and the cupid frame is an image from Graphics Fairy. I cross-stitched some x's in two of the corners so I can enter the challenge at Scrapbooker's Anonymous, plus they kind of go with the love theme. The big piece of patterned paper was in my stash forever, but it was not 12x12, so I made my own background piece using cream cardstock, Fired Brick Distress Ink and some black Glimmer Mist. The red ribbon was tricky. First I hand stitched and gathered it, then stuck it down with glue dots, then stitched it down again because it was just not staying put. I don't know if you can see it that well, but on the black velvet ribbon is a silver buckle that I found in my mom's old stash of buttons. So cool! And that's about it. What do you think?

Tomorrow Brenna is turning one! Holy cow, this year went by at the speed of light! We don't have a big party planned but I will try to get some good photos to post. Have a good one, Roxy!

Supplies: CTMH cardstock and black ink, Tim Holtz stamp set, distress ink, and grungeboard, Prima flourish, Basic Grey and unknown patterned paper, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Creative Memories pen, unkown ribbons, buckle, and journaling card, thread, Graphics Fairy image, Canon matte photo paper

Read More

Project 12

So if you've been wondering where I've been, this is part of it:

I know, total mess, right? This is my scrap space, in all its glory, and it happens to live in the rec room. Granted, I took this photo in the middle of a minor overhaul, so it normally doesn't look this bad, but I just wanted to show you what I've been up to this past week. Brenna is mobile now!!! It's not an official crawl that she does, it's more of a combat crawl. It's pretty comical, she looks like a paraplegic worm, but now that she's on the move, we wanted to make things a bit safer, plus we needed to clean up for the big par-tay!

Yes, I pulled it off! Ailis is now 6 years old, and the party went off without a hitch. Here are a couple of pics of her big day(s):

We had the party on Sunday, and the weather cooperated enough that we could get all 9 guest kids in skates and on our rink without too much frenzy. Our entryway is really small, so it was an ordeal to get everyone laced up and helmeted (is that even a word?) and then undone afterwards. Jason was superdad, I couldn't have done it without him! He helped me clean up for two days beforehand, and he was making coffee and chatting up the mums, making nachos, lighting candles, carrying kids out to the ice... The list goes on! Thanks, honey! Valentine's day was a bit of a bust on Monday, no cards exchanged, no date, we were totally pooped from the big show. But Ailis told me it was the best day of her life, so it was all worth it.

We don't have kids over here very often. I have my hands full with my own, thank you very much, I don't need to worry about other people's. After a big shindig like a b-day party, however, it reminds me that my kids really aren't that bad. I was reminded that they're smart, well-spoken, (mostly) polite, and best of all, not whiney! I hate whining, and girls have GOT to be the worst!!! Anyway, if you're from Burns Lake and your kid happened to be at this party and you happen to be reading this, I'm not talking about your kid, I'm talking about all the other kids!

Well, without further ado, here is my first layout for Project 12. Have you heard about Project 12? It's a program put out by Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine, where they release a Becky Fleck sketch each month. You're supposed to summarize your month on a 2-page spread so that you'll have a nice album at the end of the year. I first heard about this through my fave LSS, Creative Accents, but then I saw that my friend Alison did it last year and is doing it again this year, so I'm going to give it a go, too. (Thanks for the inspiration, Alison!) You won't believe the troubles I had with this layout! First, I repeated myself in my journaling, hence the 3 flower brads in the middle as a cover-up. Then I noticed I mispelled January with my letter stickers: Januay! I must've been sleep scrapping, which is quite possible as I've been first responder most nights to Brenna's teething/coughing episodes. So I had to do another cover-up with another flower brad. Why didn't I just start journaling over again, you ask? Because, seasoned scrapper that I am, I had already glued everything down! And we're not talking measly tape runner here, we're talkin' industrial strength Liquid Glass! Go ahead, laugh, I don't mind. As long as you can learn from my mistakes, it is all worthwile!

P.S. If you're still here, just a quick note to say thanks to all who commented on my last post! You are all so sweet and supportive, mwah! Work has been getting better, and I think that by just staying positive, I can make it through to summer holidays. This may be just the push I need to consider other career options.

Supplies: CTMH cardstock, Boom-di-Ada and Splendour patterned paper, and hemp, Creative Imaginations patterned paper, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, American Crafts letter stickers, Prima journaling card, Bazzill trim, Making Memories flower brads, unknown buttons, ticket, and fussy cut flower

Read More

Finally done with these!

Well, almost. Did you wonder where I was? I've been getting used to producing something every other day, and it seems like forever since I've blogged anything. The reason is two-fold. First, I've been working on these birthday party invitations for Ailis's birthday. And, in typical Roxy-style, I made everything so much more difficult than it needed to be. I found a tutorial to make these little pockets here, and I thought they would be pretty cool. They are, but they're also time consuming when you have to make a number of them. Then, I didn't have any pink paper, so I used white and brayered it with pink ink. I made a couple of measuring mistakes, ripped the hole off one of the tags when I was adjusting the ribbon, barely had enough patterned paper, and I still have to make two more for the boys. Not to mention hand writing all the party info, gluing and glittering...ugh, I am never doing that again! It's just that, being a paper crafter, sometimes I put pressure on myself to do something original and special. Heaven forbid I use dollar store invites, gasp! After labouring at my desk for the umpteenth hour today, Ailis says, "I know Mummy, you just want everything to be perfect, but the invitations don't make the party." Now ya tell me!

The other reason I didn't get these done and posted earlier is that I started work again on Wednesday. I've been really stressing out about this, first of all because I couldn't find daycare for Brenna, then because I wasn't sure I had a job to go back to. Before Brenna, I'd been working for the past year and a half as an Education Assistant/Personal Attendant for the school district, which means I helped kids with special needs or behaviour problems. It's nothing I've been trained for, but it seemed to be a good fit for me, and for the most part I enjoyed it. Plus the hours and pay are pretty good. One of the down-sides of this job, though, is that at the end of every school year, there are lay offs and bumping. So, while I was on mat leave, I was bumped out of my job, and when I said I wanted to come back, there was nothing to bump into. Anyway, long story short, I did find a really nice girl with a licensed in-home daycare to take care of Brenna, and I did manage to find a job until the end of June. But, and there's always a but, my first three days back were so horific I'm contemplating getting pregnant just so I can go on mat leave again! (Okay, I'm kidding about that last part, but don't tell Jason, or he just might get ideas in his head!) Seriously, though, I don't know if I can make it until the end of the term. Have you ever been in a job you didn't like but had to stick with? If so, how did you cope? I'd really love to hear your suggestions!

Supplies (all CTMH): Tulip and White Daisy cardstock, Jingle patterned paper, Annotations and Cherish the Moment My Acrylix stamp sets, Tulip and Blush ink, Tulip marker, Prisma Glitter, Liquid Glass, White Daisy Organdy ribbon

Other: Creative Memories pen

Read More