Girls' Weekend

Last summer dd and I had ourselves a girls' weekend in Kingston. Aside from the shocking fact that I'm now old enough to have a daughter who's old enough to have a real girls' weekend with her mom, it was great! We got to do all the stuff we wouldn't get to do if the boys (and especially dh) were with us. We took a trolley tour of Kingston to see all the historical sites. We ate at Thai and Indian restaurants. We bought fashion and cooking mags and junk food and hung out in our hotel room. We went into every single clothing shop on Princess Street (and couldn't believe the $345 jeans we saw). We went on a nighttime haunted walk and learned all about the ghosts of Kingston. We had a massage and a pedicure at the spa. We spent an afternoon at the mall. Good times. We hope to be able to do another girls' weekend this summer.

One of the great things about scrapbooking is reliving the memories while you scrap the page. I had lots of fun reminiscing while I put together this layout:



but I realized that I took more pictures of "things" than of people and that I didn't get any pictures of us together. Doh!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Scarlet's Letter)
Journaling diecut: Luxe
Chipboard Photo Corner: Making Memories
Black&gem flower sticker: Sandylion Essentials
Flowers: Dollar store, unknown
Large brad: Unknown (I'm thinking Bazzill or MM)
Button: I think Daisy D's
Alpha: Thickers by American Crafts (these adhere really well, by the way)
Floss: DMC
Ink: Colorbox

Spent some time at the scrap desk tonight, just to decompress. Always amazes me how spending time scrapping can relax me, center me, and take away the day's stress. It's been a rough week so far stress-wise - mostly work stuff though. Worked late every night this week ... and still nowhere near being caught up. I really wonder how I'm going to manage the more demanding new job when the old job was never done. Well, at least I know I can spend a few minutes at my scrap desk at the end of the day to unwind. And if work ever gets so bad I decide to quit, well, I can always sell my scrap supplies for grocery money - that stuff should keep us in lobster and prime rib for years to come!

The Loud. The Proud.

Starting to wonder if I should have a separate Senators album, given the number of layouts I've been producing about Sens hockey lately! But I guess it's a big part of our (uh, my and ds') life, so it makes sense for those layouts to go into the everyday life albums.

I've spent a bit of time here and there scrapping lately. No big hours-long sessions but still, I've managed to produce a few new things. Yesterday I wasn't feeling well and stayed home from work (a rare occurrence) and had high hopes that I would feel better throughout the day so I could scrap. But, I ended up spending the entire day on the couch and no scrapping got done. Seems that rest is really the key for me, because, just like a couple of weeks ago, a good rest seems to have done the trick. I'm back to my old self today.

Last summer, I read in the paper that the Senators were unveiling their new NHL jerseys at an event at Scotiabank Place. The first 5,000 fans in the doors would receive a new Sens Army t-shirt. Luckily, it was during my vacation time. Ds and I headed over and stood in line for what seemed like hours just to get in the doors ... but our efforts paid off, as we were one of the first 5,000 in AND we got an excellent seat not far from the stage. I'm currently working on a layout with pictures of the actual unveiling ... the pictures below are taken outside Scotiabank Place before and after:


I'm starting to run out of design and embellishment ideas for these Sens layouts. There are only so many ways to do red, black, white and gold!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: Luxe (black & white), Junkitz (plaid)
Sens Sticker: dollar store
Alpha Stickers: Stickopotamus (white), Unknown (gold)
Brads: MM
Journaling block: Luxe
Rub-on: All My Memories (#1), American Crafts (*)

I managed to use up some patterned paper from my scrap stash on this one. I've been trying to make the effort to do that lately because I have so many scraps. But I also have so many yummy new papers too, so it's hard.

Happy weekend everyone, and thanks for looking!

Disorganized

During a conversation with a coworker the other day, I was told that the reason I accomplish so much despite being short-staffed, etc. is that I am so organized. I actually managed to keep a straight face through that conversation. The truth is, I may appear organized, but right below the surface there is disorganization, propped up by procrastination.

Case in point - on Saturday, I finally headed off to the gym after at least 6 weeks' absence. Grabbed my gym bag (which is really an oversized canvas purse) and lo and behold, inside I found something that I had been looking for since before Christmas ... and that I had assumed I had somehow lost. An envelope stuffed full of a sampling of scrapbook goodies from past retail therapy sessions, meant for my sister D. If you're reading this D (and you probably are), I had planned on mailing this to you before Christmas ... and then turned the house upside down looking for it so I could include it in your Christmas package ... and then gave up on it. Now that it's found, I pledge to get it in the mail this week! Seriously!!!

Now if I could just muster up the energy to organize the chaos on my scrap desk ....

I Miss Summer!

This time of year, it feels like it's been winter forever, and like winter will never end. We haven't had too much of the minus a gazillion degrees Celsius weather, but we've had snow on the ground since it first fell on November 21. Some lucky people get to spend a week or two down south this time of year (like my sister M who is just wrapping up a nice warm cruise), but not me. So I'm longing for summer!

I thought I would live last summer again by looking through my unscrapped summer pictures. It didn't make me feel much better, but it did inspire me to scrap this:


One day early last summer, the kids and I went to Waterways to hang out at the beach for a day. The day before was hot and humid. The day after, hot and humid. But the day we chose to hang out at the beach, it was almost cool at a windy 23C. Ds (who once jumped in these waters on Victoria Day weekend) didn't mind the cool weather though and made the best of it by building sandcastles and elaborate waterworks by the edge of the water all day.

Supplies - T at the Beach

Patterned Paper and T monogram: Basic Grey Scarlet Letter
Cardstock: Bazzill
Embellishments: Westminster Finery by Tinkering Ink and buttons by ?
@ symbol - Thickers by American Crafts
The word beach - Wonderful Words by Deja Views
Letter stickers - unknown

On the bright side, going to bed early the other night probably did me a world of good, as I didn't come down with a cold this week after all. I'm all tired out from an intense workweek though, and have to deal with 7 a.m. hockey practice tomorrow.

On the here's-something-different front, I spent this evening playing NHL 07 on the Playstation 2 with ds!!! I was (of course) the Senators but couldn't completely duplicate my favorite team because of the players available last season. I managed to score a couple of goals but I pretty much got blown away by ds (who kept apologizing and telling me I was doing REALLY WELL for a beginner). Ah, good times.

Happy weekend everyone!

Random Stuff

I haven't created anything new in a while so don't have anything scrappy to share with you, other than my random thoughts...

1. Just fyi (Nathalie/famille1999!) the Sens won against Detroit on Saturday night. 3-2. Helluva game. Alfredsson rocks. Ds and I had the best time! It took almost an hour to leave the parking lot after the game, but that didn't bother me in the least ... I just listened to the post-game show on AM 1200. Yup - this hockey addiction is worse than you all thought it was.

2. I un-decorated everything except for the hutch in the foyer (still filled with my Christmas nutcracker collection). Tree's still up in the living room (taking it apart, boxing it & dragging it downstairs is dh's job). It looks funny all naked. Since one shouldn't post pics of naked things on the internet, here's my tree all-dressed.




3. There are days when I wish I had an easy simple uncomplicated stress-free no-decisions-to-be-made job. I can handle work pressures, high volumes, etc.; what I find hard is when people turn to me for solutions and I don't have any. Hoping to dream of a solution to a particularly difficult problem tonight. I sure can't think of one during my waking hours.

4. I started having chills and aches at about 4 pm today ... by the time I climbed the bus for the ride home my throat was sore ... now I feel like crap ... oh no. I need a cold right now like I need a hole in the head!





5. Dh is really busy, with new business coming out of thin air. Between his busy and my busy, we are lucky to even cross paths once or twice a day!




K, I should get off the computer and get into bed. An early bedtime is the way to go tonight! I can sort of hear my scrap desk calling, but I think I had better ignore it. My mojo's probably sick too.

Night y'all!

Just one more teeny tiny hockey post

Wow, I am so stoked for tonight. Ds and I have tickets to the Sens - Red Wings game. We purchased these last fall as a Christmas gift for ds, and I chose this game simply because it was on a Saturday soon after Christmas (and also a little bit because Jan 12th is my Dad's birthday, the first one since he passed away, and I thought going to a hockey game would be a good way to remember him). I had no idea that this would be such a hyped-up game; the Red Wings are 1st in the Western Conference right now with a very impressive record (10 points more than the Sens at this point). We could very well be facing them in the Stanley Cup finals this year. So what a bonus, to be going to such an exciting game tonight! And I just heard that Emery will be starting goalie. Hmn. It'll be kinda hard to pick my new favorite Senator when my current (former?) favorite is on the ice!!

So far today I've slept in (8:00!), done the groceries and un-decorated the family room (hoping to get the rest of the Christmas decorations down tomorrow). Now we're off to ds' hockey practice and after that, it won't be long before we change into our jerseys and head off to the game. I love it when I have stuff to look forward to!

Happy Weekend, everyone...

Do you miss my hockey posts?

Hey, it really has been a while since I've bored you with hockey. Never fear, hockey still forms a pretty important part of my life, between ds' house league career, my new habit of watching EVERY Sens game on TV, and our occasional real-live-in-person attendance at ScotiaBank Place. Not to mention my cruising sports websites for Sens news. I wouldn't be surprised if my friends and family were planning an intervention to rid me of this obsession!

Until I get cured, though, I am still going to occasionally blog about hockey. But just to keep you interested, here's a hockey layout. So now this post is actually about scrapbooking - so there.



Supplies:

Cardstock - Bazzill
Patterned Paper - Scenic Route (Savannah)
Arrows - Scenic Route
Alpha - Chatterbox, Basic Grey Black Tie
Other - Autumn Leaves journaling stamp

I think I've mentioned here before that goaltender Ray Emery is my favorite player. I'm sad to report that I'm starting to rethink this. It actually has nothing to do with his play, despite the fact that it's been infrequent and inconsistent this season - partly because of his recovery from wrist surgery, but also partly because of his attitude on and off the ice. And this is the reason why I'm not so sure about him anymore. I mean, he's always been a scrapper (um, the fighting kind, not the paper-and-scissors kind!), and it's no secret he's a big boxing fan. He's always been pretty flamboyant, with his hip clothes and many tattoos. But I think the fame has gone to his head in the last year, he's been acting like a spoiled brat on and off the ice. Little kids look up to their NHL heroes, and I surely wouldn't want any little kids to look up to Ray. Temper tantrums, road rage etc. don't make for a good role model.

So with a heavy heart, I am in the market for a new favorite. Who will it be? Fisher? Alfredson? Heatley? Not sure. Guess I'll have to watch a few more games, very attentively, before I decide. Luckily, I get to watch one in person with ds this weekend.

It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!

Scraplifting

It's interesting that this wonderful scrapbooking craft has spawned all kinds of weird terminology. Certainly, it has given a whole new meaning to the words "to scrap". A few years ago, when my husband would say "my wife's a scrapper", I'm sure people would imagine me with the boxing gloves on, no holds barred ... but the word has now taken on a new verb meaning, and a meaningful new noun status.

A brand new word that came out of this craft is "scraplifting". (I'm explaining this in case you're reading this and you don't scrap. It could happen. You know who you are, eh?). To scraplift is to use someone else's layout as inspiration. You can do a full scraplift (exact page design, supplies, etc.), a partial scraplift (combo of page design and/or supplies) or a vague scraplift (starts out with the idea but develops into its own somewhere along the way). I'm usually a vague scraplifter, paging through scrap magazines or surfing websites right before scrapping in order to get some creative juices flowing. Last weekend I needed a wee bit more inspiration though, so I focussed on a layout I had clipped out of an old magazine. Thought I'd share the result here with you.

Here's the original layout (artist unknown - so sorry about that - but I had cut it out of a magazine without saving the name), followed by my scraplift:

ARTIST UNKNOWN

MY SCRAPLIFT

I think the result looks enough like the original to be considered a partial scraplift - but not enough to be a full scraplift. The beauty about "stealing" ideas in this craft, is that it's not actually stealing, it's more like flattery. I've never heard of anyone being upset that they've been scraplifted (well, except maybe on Two Peas, but that's a whole other topic!).

Supplies:

Cardstock - Bazzill
Patterned Paper - Frances Meyer (Japan Garnet Wine), All My Memories (Herbanella), Bo-Bunny (Boys to Men)
Ribbon Tape - Heidi Swapp
Chipboard letters - Queen & Co, Pressed Petals Chip Chatter
Journaling Stamp - Autumn Leaves

Well, that's just about the last of the layouts I produced in the last few days - it's been fun being off work, but today was back to reality (aka work) for me, and I get the feeling that sessions at my scrap desk will be few and far between for the next little while. Which is too bad, because scrap desk sessions make me so happy. Too bad I don't get the same high off Public Service Renewal, human resource policy development, and performance management issues!

One Less Unfinished Project

For my entire crafting life, I have had a mess of unfinished projects haunting me. When I was into knitting, I would have bags of sweater pieces ready to be sewn together - if only I could get around to knitting that one last sleeve. When I was into cross-stitching, I worked on a canvas for over two years only to give up on finishing it when I had only about 1 inch square of black background left to do. I have plenty of single crocheted booties - if only I had given birth to babies who only felt the cold in only one of their pudgy little feet!

One of the things that quickly attracted me to scrapbooking, and confirmed me as an addict, is that each page is a project in itself, and it is actually quite possible to finish a page and get a sense of accomplishment. Finally - no more unfinished projects haunting me! Or so I thought. Once I strayed from chronological albums into the realm of theme albums, crafting procrastination once again reared its ugly head. I currently have several unfinished albums, including my daughter's Girl Guide album, my childhood album, my wedding album, my sister's tribute album (that one looks finished, but looks can be deceiving - I still have a few pictures I want to scrap), and my godson's album. And maybe others that I don't even remember. But as of this weekend, there is one unfinished album that is unfinished no longer - my high school grad album!

I started this album in October 2006 when a bunch of scrappy gals got together for a day of scrapping. I figured a theme album would be easy to prepare and pack for. I only got a few layouts done, and it took me until this weekend (about 15 months later!) to get at it again. But I finished it! And am basking in the sense of accomplishment. So much so that I've decided to share the entire album here with you (don't worry - it's short!). Here goes!












If you're still here, thanks for sticking it out to the end!! A couple of things - first of all, I just realized I forgot to put the dot on the "i" on the cover page - oops!! Second - I am 15 years old in these pictures. I wish I could tell my 15-year-old self that, despite the ups and downs, it really is going to be all right. Third - I went to the prom with a friend (as opposed to a date). He was short so I had to wear ballet flats (but wore very high high heels to the grad dinner). Fourth - I really cherish the picture of my Dad and I dancing together. The only other time was at my wedding. Fifth - my (high school) best friend Brenda features prominently in these pages. We've lost touch ... I wonder what she's doing now? And finally - isn't it cool that my corsage has survived 26 years in a magnetic photo album?

Supplies used:

Cardstock - Bazzill
Patterned Paper - Signature Series by My Mind's Eye
Flowers - Prima, Bazzill, other
Ribbon - Unknown
Brads - Making Memories, unknown
Buttons - SEI
Grad stickers - Creative Memories
Paper/punchout embellishments - My Mind's Eye
Letter stickers - Basic Grey

Final Instalment

Here are the last scans of layouts from my nephew's album ... I didn't scan them all (no time in the pre-Christmas frenzy) but I did scan my favorites. Because I didn't do any titles or journaling, and there's basically one pic per page, this album went sooooo fast! I was thinking about this yesterday and "suddenly" remembered that I have another 8x8 album project on the go, which requires minimal titling and journaling. I started this other project in October 2006 and yesterday, I finally got back into it and got it 99% completed! I just have the cover page left to do, and then I'll share it with you! Here's a hint: get ready to meet my 15 year-old self!! Another hint: if you were at the Tracy Austin crop way back when, you saw me start on this project!

And now for the layouts from J's album:




I've got an early start today despite being on holidays because I have my annual physical at the doctor's this morning (ugh) and an appointment for highlights and a cut with my hair guru Rita (yay!). Hoping to be back at my scrap desk by mid-afternoon!

Have a good day, y'all!

Resolutions

While I tend to agree with Calvin here, if I really think about it (and actually, I don't have to think about it very hard), there are a few things about me that I would like to change. That need changing. People say that New Year's resolutions don't work - that's why I decided yesterday to defer my resolutions to today. It's not New Year's anymore, is it? Therefore, the resolutions will work. Twisted logic, eh?

When it comes down to it, I really have 3 broad categories requiring change.

Health

This is a biggie. I know all of the things I need to do to stay healthy; but I don't do them. This year I want to focus more on my health. I need to get back to the gym, I need to think before shoveling food into my mouth, I need to listen to my body and get the rest I need. Specific steps I can take:

(a) go to gym at least 2x/week
(b) rejoin Weight Watchers to get back into good eating habits
(c) go to sleep by 10:30 on weeknights.

Finances

Big picture, no problems here. But to be honest, plenty of money gets blown on little things, and while I track spending in general (ie withdrawals and such), I don't track cash spending specifically (ie, how much gets spent on lunches, lattes and luxuries). Specific steps I can take:

(d) keep track of "little stuff" spending for a month to raise my awareness
(e) bring lunch to work 4x week
(f) stop buying scrap mags (honestly, there's at least $50/month right there!!)

"Me" Time

All work and no play makes me a pretty boring gal. I certainly have my hands full with work and by the time the kids' needs are taken care of, and the house somewhat cleaned, there's not much energy or time left for me. Specific steps I can take:

(g) scrap at least 2x/week
(h) date night with dh at least 1x/month
(i) lunch or dinner with a friend (or a sister!) at least 1x/month

Why am I splatting my resolutions on the 'net for all the world to see? Well in own personal experience, I do better when I'm accountable to others rather than only to me. For example, Weight Watchers has always worked great for me, not because it's such a fantastic program, but because I have to weigh in weekly in front of someone else!! So, by sharing my goals here, I have a greater chance of actually reaching some of them, because I am accountable to you, dear readers! More of my twisted logic! So next month, I will report back on how I'm doing on these 9 specific steps. Wish me luck.

Meanwhile, I've already gotten a head start on the "me" time thing ... since I scrapped yesterday! And here is the result (wonky scan - the pp is the same shade on both pages, lol):



Halloween

Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: SEI Paisley & Petals, K&Co (pumpkins), Unknown (orange diamonds ... came in a kit I got at Costco)
Letters: Chatterbox (orange), Rusty Pickle (black on white) and Provocraft (white on black)
Felt lace ribbon: Queen & Co
Other: Autumn leaves clear journaling stamps

Happy New Year!!!

Wow - 2008 already! There's an old Greek saying (or maybe it's just an old saying, not sure if it's particularly Greek) to the effect that whatever you do on the first day of the new year, you will do all year long. I sincerely hope so ... since I got up around 10 a.m., am still in my pajamas even though it's mid-afternoon, I spent some time reading, and I also scrapped. Sounds like a good year to me!!!

We had a lovely evening with friends last night, and I didn't get to bed until almost 3 a.m. - not used to staying up so late anymore! I ate too much. One of my resolutions (if I decide to make any) should probably be not to eat so much. Meanwhile, I resolve to think about resolutions tomorrow ...

So I spent some time in my scraproom cleaning up the mess, putting away some new stuff and actually scrapping a layout - a Halloween page which I'll share here some other time (doesn't go well with the New Years theme!). I took some pictures of my Christmas goodies before putting them away, here goes - first picture is a cool tote my sister D got me:


This is a picture of the journaling stamps (which I used today btw) and the notepad she also got me:


And finally, I found these in my stocking ... Santa actually brought me scrap stuff ... hockey scrap stuff, to boot ... cool!



I am looking forward to the rest of my lazy day, which is going to include watching the Sens game at 4:00, perhaps more scrapping, and maybe snuggling and watching a movie with dh and/or kids later. Hope you are all having a wonderful day ... and from me and mine to you and yours, here's wishing you a very happy new year - may 2008 bring you health, happiness and prosperity!