Blog Hopping Along and tidying up

opping along and practicing some cools new techniques/challenges I'm learning from DHD for my digital scrapbooking.

If you think the H is cool, check out Daily Drop Cap for loads of cool drop caps to add to your  blog posts or digital scrapbooking!

I know I been absent for eons now, but as I have given up my SU demonstrator status, I've had a bit of a break from crafting.  My craft area is finally organized how I like and I've even pared down on some supplies (gasp!) so I can get back to the inks and papers soon.

I will soon be selling some older stamp sets and have loads of older SU catalogues to give away.  If any SU demo out there would like SU bags and a few other demo supplies, drop me a line.

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

George Bernard Shaw

Playing with the camera – again

I’ve been fortunate enough to have a new camera and have spent some time playing with it.  My favourite subjects are my girls of course.  Although I haven’t yet made the digital scrapbook page I’ve been challenged to do, I thought I’d share some of the great shots that I took.  So modest, I now – but it’s amazing what a good camera can do for your ego!

Oh, yeah, and I’ve made a card or two!

The digital camera is a great invention because it allows us to reminisce. Instantly.
Demetri Martin

Post dating my blog

I’m sitting at the kitchen table, with the laptop, eating a yummy cheeseburger (apologies to vegetarians, Orthodox Jews, and Tim).  It’s Sunday, April 17th and I thought I’d dabble in advanced blogging.  There aren’t a lot of opportunities when I have computer access AND feel the need to do something other than play Bejeweled Blitz (curse you, Reanna & Stephen) or browse Facebook.  So, I’m seeing if I can get the deferred posting option to work for me.  I’ve tried it before to no avail, but I think the problem with my blogging was pure operator error!

Anyhoo,  I said that I had indeed done some crafting before so here is an example:

First up, the hybrid scrapbook page I made.  It is not pure Stampin’ Up as I am quite happy to look about online for free digital elements and even have a few delivered to my inbox daily.  But all of my digital work is created in My Digital Studio and with the exception of not being able to use the freebie alpha sets from some sites, I have no complaint what so ever!

My parents have (so far) been blessed with an even dozen grandkids.  I say so far, ’cause we are hoping that at least one or two more will pop out – and no, not from me!  Three is just right.

Heather was invited to a party a couple of weeks ago, so, of course, I made a card.  The little birthday girl really likes Hello Kitty   So trolled online and found another SU demonstrator who had created a Hello Kitty card and I copied here!  Thanks to creatingthehive.com I found her and was able to create this little item in spite of my intense dislike of all things Hello Kitty.  However, at this point, I can’t mention her name as my stupid browser won’t open the site!  But, if I have success with advanced blogging, you will never know as I can go in and change this info!!

It’s nowhere near as good as the original that inspired it, but not too bad considering I made it in 20 minutes without following her instructions to the letter.

(I’d did manage to look her up and her name is Lynn Pratt – she’s pretty awesome)

 

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

Albert Einstein

And the winners are…

Remember I recently posted the entries I sent in for the Stampin’ Up My Digital Studio contest??  Well, I’ve finally managed to get my memory back in line and am now put the link here so that you can see the winners and check out their creations. http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/18786.asp

Enjoy!

I’ve been trying to get some crafting done in time for Valentine’s Day as I have 3 little monkeys in school now and that means loads of cards for their friends.  I could easily grab those little ones from the dollar store but where’s the fun in that??  So I grabbed some cardstock in the retired colours (hey, I love my kids and even like their friends, but why use current stuff on their cards when I have a mess load of older cardstock to use up?).  As a fabulous mom, I also have stamps with their names on them – saves me the agony of watching them scribble their names over and over getting messier as they go along.  Here’s what I made – 21 for Katie, 26 for Heather and 30 for Sarah.

Then I grab those handy leftover bags from the Summer Reading Club medals, add candy, heart-shaped lollipops, and stickers and send the kids to school!

Like what you see?  Let me know!

I claim there ain’t
Another Saint
As great as Valentine.
~Ogden Nash

Contest entries

Hi all,

I’ve been a bad girl and haven’t posting in eons!  But as the snow gently drifts down, I’m suddenly feeling the need to post. 

A while ago Stampin’ Up held an amazing contest for both demonstrators and customers alike.  The challenge was to use only My Digital Studio and SU downloads in order to create 2 scrapbook pages and a card.  I decided it was time to actual submit something.  well, I didn’t win but that’s okay.  I set a goal and achieved it and have some great work to show for it – if I may say so myself.    Now that the winners are chosen, I can go ahead and show you all what I made.

The first one is of Katie’s feet, well not her feet, but the cool shoes she picked out to wear when she started preschool this year.  we were down in Oregon and she was so excited about her sisters’ getting back-to-school shoes that she decided to find some for herself.  Turns out she has pretty good taste in shoes.

My second entry was designed around the colours and patterns of Katie’s purplish flowered pants.  We at Fort Langley and I couldn’t tear the girls away from the adventure playground.

I didn’t have to do a card – the contest was quite flexible but I thought I’d push myself and submit the maximum.  So at the last-minute, almost literally, I threw a Christmas card together.  This evening, with the snow, can you pretend it’s still Christmastime when you look at it??

 Art has never been a popularity contest.
James Levine

 

So that’s what I did!  If you like what you see, let me know.  I’m going to try to be a good girl and post more.  One of my girls has already told me that I’m on the naughty list for next year, so I have a lot to do to redeem myself before next Christmas!

Here a chick, there a chick

So what did you do for the last long weekend of the summer?  We went away in our RV.  The site was gorgeous – well treed, overlooking a pond, electric hook up and water when needed – all for the low, low price of NOTHING!  

One of  my many sisters recently moved to the other side of the world, also known as Ryder Lake, just outside of Chilliwack.  As we hadn’t seen her place and felt it was too long a drive  just to drop in, we planned a trip.

 

Little did we know that the neighbours are just a few metres away and that they have livestock.  Two cows simply called Meat (they are not long for this world), 34 laying chickens and several dozen chicks.  The fluffy little ones arrived not long before we did.  The future is not bright for these chicks but such is the world and its food chain.  The girls were okay with the truth as we are not vegetarians and they have understood for a long time that they’ve been eating animals.  Regardless of your opinions on our food choices, you still might enjoy the digital scrapping I did of our weekend.

 

 

When we arrived home, Katie informed me that our house was boring!  Too bad we only have a dog, a cat and a fish tank to entertain them.  BTW, anyone have any eggs recipes?  We arrived home with 30 fresh eggs straight from the chickens’ butts.

 

 

Q. Why Did The Chicken Cross The Playground?
A. To Get To The Other Slide.

Dog days of summer

Summer is winding down, just a few short days until the girls are back in school – fortunately they are all excited about it.  We had a great time in Oregon not only camping but doing some tax-free back-to-school shopping.  New shoes, shorts, dresses with matching socks and brand new glow-in-the-dark pink skeleton pajamas.  The girls were given a set of the jammies a couple of Christmases ago, but as they just keep growing (should I stop feeding them to keep them little?) and have all made holes in the knees due to excessive wear, I bought each of them a new set.

Pete bought himself more cool graphic tees but I only bought a pair of shorts and a shirt.  I can shop for hours for stuff for the girls but absolutely despise shopping for me!  So our first night, spent in the WalMart parking lot at Wood Village was cheaper for us than the other families we were with – just groceries for us.

Our trip was with 4 other families so there were 9 grown-ups and 11 kids altogether – oh, yeah 3 dogs too!

 

 

 

The dogs all get along quite well although it took Echo a few times to clue in that she really shouldn’t eat Molly’s food unless she wants to see directly down Molly’s throat!  Cute but not so bright.

All the kids had an absolute blast whether it was playing at the beaches or looking at lighthouses.  Our girls developed a love for lighthouses last summer when we visited the Umpqua River lighthouse.  Our family visited 3 more this year.  The other families came with us to the Heceta Head lighthouse just outside of Florence.  As we were staying at the Jessie M. Honeyman State Park, it was fairly close.  That same day we had all headed to the Sea Lion Caves where we expected to be gagging from the stench.  I guess that fact that it was overcast, cool, windy and that the sea lions were all outside made for a surprisingly fresh air experience!

 

 

I’ll try to post more vacation photos in the next few days but now I really should start thinking about get my photos printed and my scrapping started!

 

“ Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time”

Edwin P. Whipple

The marriage of digital and traditional

Now that the dust has settled after my parents’ party and we are about halfway through the parties the kids have been invited to, I’ve had a chance to start on the physical scrapbook for my parents.  Having put so many hours into the digital slideshow, I’m not about to let that go to waste.  Yes, I will transfer it onto DVD to share with my folks and siblings but I’ve also printed off several of the digital pages and am using them in the scrapbook. 

I’ve shown you a hybrid card now here are some hybrid scrapbook pages.  Like what you see?  Let me know.

 I love the way Versamark ink creates such a gentle look. 

  See what a few lovely flowers can do.

 Don’t tell Shelli but that’s not SU! ribbon.

Now that’s SU! ribbon with the Versamark ink again.

Now this next one isn’t a hybrid and it cracks me up!  No, there is nothing funny about the invitation to the celebration for Mom and Dad’s 50th or about the layout.  What is funny is that my eldest sister created a memory book for our parents and her first page is EXACTLY the same as mine!  Great minds, fools, whatever – you decide.  So you ask, why are you making a scrapbook if your sister has made a memory book?  They are two totally different animals.  Mine is being created with pictures and hers with words. 

For years now, my Dad has declared that we are to buy no gifts for him for any occasion and instead requests that we write down a memory of a special event or even an ordinary day that has stuck with us through the years.  He has a binder (or perhaps it’s two by now)  in which he puts all of these ruminations.  For the big day, each of us – including our kids and most of the spouses – wrote a special something to be included in the memory book.  Doreen took these pages and whipped up her magic in the form of 12×12 patterned papers with embellishments and created a masterpiece.  This was the perfect gift for the event and Mom and Dad loved it!

 

It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life. 

~Rita Rudner

50 years and counting

Friday night my siblings and I hosted a party at my brother’s place in honour of our parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.  Tents were put up in the backyard, complete with white twinkle lights, tables and chairs.  The caterers produced a fabulous feast and one sister ordered a gorgeous cake from the Bon Bon Bakery.  Another sister put together an amazing book of memories that most members of the family had written for the occasion.

I spent quite a while putting together a slideshow of their wedding photos and pictures from the following 50 years – including many of us kids as we grew.  I’m just putting a few on here as there were almost 120 pages in the slideshow!

Enjoy, and if you like what you see, let me know!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That’s all for now, but I’ll share more another time.

You’ve worked here how long??

February marked the 30th anniversary that my co-worker Sue has been working at our branch.  She has been working Tuesdays and Thursdays since the branch opened in 1980.  However, she originally started in the system in 1965 when she was still a high school kid.  Since some people change jobs like the rest of us change underwear, 30 years in one location is a huge  milestone.  She has seen some amazing changes in the library world over the years. 

As many of the branch staff that could make it had a lovely dinner out to honour her contribution to our lives and our workplace.  And, of course, I made a card!

This is what I created using My Digital Studio.  The template was for a Hallowe’en card.  I loved the layout and the colours but clearly the time of year and occasion just didn’t fit.  So I tweaked it to my liking.  (Confession time:  the blue paper is not SU, it’s a freebie download I found online that just was too perfect to pass up.)

 I printed it onto 4×6 photo paper, trimmed it slightly, added a button, a pretty flower, a strip of Whisper White ribbon through a ribbon slide and mounted it onto some cardstock to produce my first attempt at a hybrid card.  I’m quite pleased at how it turned out!

 Like what you see?  Let me know.