Black and White

First, a profound thought. I found out something interesting about trees the other day. Dh told me that you could plant two identical trees in two different spots - one windy, one not windy. The tree that grows in the windy spot is going to grow faster, thicker and stronger than the tree that is in a sheltered spot. I think perhaps it works this way with some humans too. Barbara's comment on my blog post from yesterday got me thinking about this - she said I seemed like a very strong woman. I have certainly never thought of myself that way, and actually, I don't think I was born that way. But I think that with all the wind that's been blowing my way these last few years, I've managed to grow stronger rather than snap. It's good to know that no one will be using me as firewood anytime soon!

Ok, now for the fun stuff. I had the most ideal, fun afternoon on Thanksgiving Monday. I rotated between my ironing board, the Sens-New Jersey hockey game on tv, and my scrap room. It's probably a given that all of you can really understand why the scrapbooking part was fun. Some of you may even understand why the hockey part was fun (especially considering the extra bonus of a 4-2 win - my Sens are so far undefeated!). Most of you are likely wondering why the heck the ironing part was fun. Well let me tell you, when I can get all of my ironing done in one fell swoop and it doesn't sit there looming at me all week, I am one happy gal, and I can enjoy all of the other fun stuff guilt-free.

I have been busy creating cards lately, with the odd All About Me layout thrown in, but yesterday what I really wanted to do was get back to scrapbooking basics - layouts for our chronological family albums. I also really wanted to dig into some of my paper stash. A few months ago I attended a friend's wedding, and her wedding colours were black and white - very chic. So next time I was shopping and I saw some gorgeous black and white papers by Rouge de Garance and Luxe Designs, I knew they were coming home with me. Yesterday, I finally got to use them. Both of these layouts feature pictures taken at the aforementioned wedding.


A Reluctant Charmer

Cardstock - Bazzill
Patterened Paper - Cupidon No. 6 by Rouge de Garance
Flowers: Prima, Bazzill, K& Co, $ Store
Leaves: Garage sale find
Gem Brads: Making Memories
Other Brads: Unknown (could be Bazzill, could be MM)
Parentheses Brads: Around the Block
Rub-on title: Bohemia Transfer Titles by My Mind's Eye
Rub-on alphas: Mini-marks (ned jr.) by American Crafts


The Fab 4

Cardstock: Unknown
Patterned Paper: Classic Black by Luxe Designs
Pink Flower: Bazzill
Clear Flowers: Clears by Making Memories
Pearl Spray: Unknown - cut them off a decorated baptism candle!!
Pewter Flower: Making Memories
Pewter Photo Corner: $ Store
Pewter Brads: Making Memories
Pink Word Tabs: Tailored Tabs by Scrapworks
Ghost Letters (fab): Heidi Swapp
The Number 4: Thickers
Rub-on alphas: Mini-marks by American Crafts

It felt so good to be creating layouts again! And not only did I get to use up some old stash, but I also got to use brand new stash ... those transparent flowers are my most recent purchase, last Friday night to be exact. Fun. Very Fun. And cool. Very cool.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! (And for my American readers, if any ... no, you haven't slept away the last seven weeks or so, this is Canadian Thanksgiving, always in advance of yours, second Monday of October).

Have you thought about what you are thankful for this year? I have. We celebrated yesterday, and we have a yearly tradition of going around the table as we start the meal, stating what we are most thankful for. We started this tradition when our daughter was very little. Those of you who know her know how sweet she is. But, she's had her moments over the years. One year, when she was about 4 or so, she was in a major cranky mood on Thanksgiving day and when we went around the table, she said "I'm not thankful for NOTHIN'", which really didn't go over well with us and resulted in what was probably her first and only time out. She wasn't allowed back to the table until she found something to be thankful for. The memory is fading now (too bad I wasn't a scrapbooker back then) but I think she came back the table professing gratitude for her goldfish. Lol!

As for me, well, the last couple of years were kind of rough, and there were times when I did find it hard to think of something to be thankful for (but being me, I always managed to find something). So I guess the first thing I am thankful for this year is that I got through the hard times in the last couple of years and am a better, stronger person as a result. I am thankful that I was able to care for my mother and father during their illnesses. I am thankful for the memories I have of my sister, my mother, my father-in-law and my father. I am thankful for the influence they had on me, for the things I learned from each of them. I am thankful for my husband, my daughter, my son, for the joy, comfort, humour, love and pride they bring to my life. I am thankful for my sisters and my brother, with whom I've grown closer (as always, something good came from something bad). I am thankful for our health, which is so very precious. I am thankful for my friends, who like me are very busy juggling a hundred things on a daily basis, but who make time for me nonetheless. I am thankful for my job, which over the years has taken a life of its own and has become a career. I am thankful for the instructor in a leadership course that I took last June, who helped me realize that I actually deserve to be where I'm at and whose words still help me feel confident on a daily basis.

On the lighter side, I am thankful for shoes (especially my new purple suede ones), lipstick, my new really gorgeous office, my hairdresser Rita, and the fact that I have found my girl gene again after a few years of neglect.

And last, but not necessarily least, I am thankful for scrapbooking. It's a hobby that melts away the stress of daily life. It's a creative outlet which makes me happy. It's a way of preserving memories past, present and future. It's brought a richness and fulness to my life that is hard to explain.

With any luck, I'll find some time over the next few days to capture all of these thoughts in a scrapbook layout, so that years from now, if I find my memories of Thanksgiving 2007 fading, total recall will be only as far away as the shelf in my living room.

On our way ...

That's what I look like this morning - Sleepy the Dwarf. Minus the dwarf part. And the goofy shoes. I was up until 2:00 a.m. getting ready for today's Thanksgiving-at-the-Hunt-Camp yearly event!!! I got a late start - had a full day, a late dinner, drove dd's friend home, and by about 9:15 I was chopping, sauteeing, mixing, boiling, "prep"ing a variety of things including stuffing (my father-in-law's special recipe), brussel sprouts in sour cream and cheese (hope our friends' kids like brussel sprouts!), honeyed carrots, and apples stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon and oats, which hopefully will cook well wrapped in foil on the wood-burning stove. While I was doing all this, I also finished the laundry (total of 6 loads yesterday!), put new sheets on the beds, got all the non-food stuff ready for packing, etc. I also made a very lame attempt at making sucre-a-la-creme (after dd's attempt failed and we ended up with caramel). Well this morning it would appear my attempt failed as well, mine was worse than caramel, it was liquid goop with funny looking parts in it!

I was up at 7:00 this morning to finish getting ready. I am almost done packing everything up, and soon we will head out for our annual Thanksgiving celebration with our good friends at a hunt camp with no running water and no electricity. We look forward to this all year - can't wait! To all those of you celebrating Thanksgiving today, have a good one - eat well, be merry, give thanks for all the good in your life. I know I will!!