Another jaunt down memory lane

I'm holding a give-away!

I wish there was a way to bottle the essence of a baby to enjoy again once they are older and able to, oh... speak. "No, mommy!" is what I hear often these days. Ah well. Here's another older page of my oldest, his first time (or close enough to it) eating. I feel so bad for the little guy... you know how you're suppose to give them something easy to digest, like rice cereal. Well, I mixed up the boxes and gave him OAT cereal. He had such a belly ache.

Course there's the time I swear I mutilated him. I slipped while clipping his fingernails and made him cry. There was blood. I didn't clip his nails for months afterward. Even now when I'm clipping any of them (from 6 months to 4 years) I hold my breath and tense up.

This was so long ago I don't even remember where the paper came from! I used a corner punch and stickers from Creative Memories though. A friend loaned me a stencil for the letters that really went well with the blue design paper.

Let you in on a little secret... the letters are all wonky cause I know I wouldn't be able to line them up. I think it works okay though.

I'm making great progress on the commission card, soon I'll be diving into some of the other projects I've wanted to work on. I'm thinking of making an Explosion Box! They look fun!

Thanks for checking in!

Memory Lane!

I was looking through my first two scrap books (both done over four years ago), wow how things have changed.

Here's a two page spread (in two photos, sorry... the photos were actually taken years ago. With a REAL camera, not an iphone.) from my "Family" book. That's Koen in the picture... at the time I only had one baby!

I'm fairly certain the paper is a combination of Creative Memories and "some paper from the store". I know the base is Creative Memories... back before they went to true 12x12 paper.

Since the photos were taken I did finish the journaling.


It's so neat to look back and see how much your style has changed over the years.

Thanks for checking in!

Please check out my give-away!

Non-crafting give-away!

Well, I'm still working on a commission so I don't have any new crafts to show you today (but man have I got a lot of ideas to put into action!).

I'm also preparing for a craft fair on Nov 28th. Since I don't carry a lot of stock and don't have a ton of things already made, I'm hoping to use it as more of a "hey, I'm here, come join my monthly party!" event. I'll be using the left over kits from the card making party as Make&Take projects.

Today I want to give away something not crafting related. It's a book, and I'll order it from either Amazon.com or Amazon.ca to be delivered right to the winner. Before I get into details of the give-away I want to say... this book is for anyone regardless of size. It's not about fat people getting thin, or thinner people gaining weight. It's not about becoming "the" healthy size determined by society... it's about being healthy and letting your body be the size it was meant to be. Whether that's a size 2 or a size 22.

If I could, I would give this book to every member of my family. Not because I think they could "stand to lose a few pounds" but because I'm so tired of hearing people living their lives around calorie restricted diets and being miserable in the name of "health". Health is more than physical fitness. It's mental health, and emotional health too. The only reason it's not on the Christmas list for all of them is because I know it would be recieved as a comment about weight that needs fixing.

I grew up thinking I was fat. I was constantly trying to fit into smaller jeans or a tighter shirt and I saw my thighs and butt as HUGE and it was a Bad Thing. When I look back over pictures of myself through those years...wow, was I ever not the image I thought I was. I looked healthy, happy, vibrant and slender. But I shied away from the camera and as a result there are not a ton of photos of me from that time.

So anyway, I ramble. I'm doing this give-away for my family... specifically my kids, because I don't want them to grow up thinking they are disgusting, broken, objects that need to be "fixed".
Here's the prize!

Dr. Linda Bacon's "Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight"

How to enter:
Leave a comment on this post.

How to enter a second time:
Follow me here or on Facebook and leave another comment here. (Edit for Erin's sake lol: yes, if you're already a follower commenting to remind me counts as an entry.)

How to enter a third time:
Post about this give-away on your blog or a social networking site and leave another comment here.

If I reach 100 followers during this give-away, I'll draw a second name to also get the book!

Entries will be accepted until midnight (MST) Dec 8th and the winner (or winners!) will be drawn on Dec 9th.

Thank you for checking in!

Christmas Ornaments

I fell in love with Close to My Heart's "Dimensional Elements: Ornaments" (no word of a lie, I bought 4 packs!). You get six ornaments (2 large, 2 teardrop, 1 oblong and 1 small) to play around with and tons of options on how to decorate them.


Take, for example, the pink one I've got here. The chipboard design is partially covered with the design paper (Jingle paper, inked with tulip) to set it apart from the other three I have (four packs, remember? hehe). I added some flowers and a butterfly from Spring Blossom flower pack. And, of course, for my little diva... some bity sparkles!


For the larger ornament I used the Mistletoe paper, chocolate ink and some pearls. I decided to add the top piece of chipboard on an angle to better frame the faces of my husband and youngest. On the back of each ornament I've put the names of those in the photo and the date. I won't say who is getting which ornaments since I know my mom reads this blog (hi mom!) but I think they'll be well recieved.


Thanks for checking in! I'm not posting as frequently right now because I'm working on a new commission piece. So excited!

Two more layouts

Hi everyone!

In a couple months my oldest... my first baby... will be FOUR. I've been a mother for almost four years! Hard to believe my mother was right about how "time flies".


On Koen's first birthday we got a huge cake (and I mean so big you could have smuggled him out of the house in it) with a train on it. Even at 12 months he was all about the trains. We cut the cake in half and planted one half on the tray of his high chair. It took a while before he dug in, he wasn't sure what was expected. But soon he was getting icing all over the place (he was only wearing a diaper for a reason, mommy thought ahead).


With the birth of our third, Elora, we are certain we are finished. Sometimes I hold her and get a little weepy knowing she'll always be my littlest, my baby girl.


The picture in this layout was taken at my mother's place when Elora was only a couple months old. Kerowyn had just turned two, which means Koen is three and a half. No wonder I'm so tired all the time!!


Both layouts are from Leisa's monthly CTMH gathering.

If you live in the Calgary area and would like to make layouts and cards like those you find in my journal, I'll be starting a monthly gathering of my own come the new year and there are still some seats available! The way it works is you promise to spend $35 at each party and the group members take turns hosting (and so take turns getting all the free stuff you get for hosting). It's a great way to get to know some new crafters or reconnect with old friends. Give me a shout if you think you might be interested!

News Post

This isn't a craft update, but more of a ramble and an "news update" post.

I'm still accepting donations of crafting supplies or blank cards (of all types) for Ronald McDonald House Southern Alberta. Once my card swap on SplitCoast Stampers concludes (deadline is Dec 1st) I'll be parceling all the donations up and taking them down to the House. If you'd still like to contribute, please don't hesitate to contact me!

I'm working on several "use up those scraps" posts, cause... wow... do I have a TON of scraps!! Aside from these upcoming posts though, I'd love to hear from you. What would you like to see? Do you want more Technique type posts? A certain project? Tutorials? Not only does this give me a bit of a push to keep updating regularly, it challenges me to expand on what I know. Please comment or email me!

For those who are local (Calgary, AB), I'm doing a small promotion for the first three people who sign up to host a party with me. I'm an independant consultant with Close to My Heart now and would love, LOVE, to run a workshop for some new people. I had so much fun on the 14th tag teaming with my friend Colleen on the Christmas Card Extravaganza! I'm happy to work with you and your friends on cards or scrapbook layouts or a craft. Each guest takes home a project they crafted themselves! In addition to the hostess benefits you would already get, I'll be doing a door prize for your guests and the first three people to book a party get a $10 gift card (redeemable only through me) for Close to My Heart products!

In honor of the dump of snow we got today, I leave you with cuteness... and the reason pre-schoolers should not be allowed to help shovel the walk.

First Bike

When Koen was very little we got him a low rider trike with a Cars theme. I hate that bike. He'd sit in it and absently push some noise maker while staring at the T.V. or babbling to his sister. He wasn't really "riding" the bike. It's hidden under the stairs now (oh the lessons we learn the first time around, right?).

Well, this summer we were having some issues getting a jump start on potty training. So the idea of getting a "Big Boy Bike" for the big boy was introduced. He was set on getting Diego, but the store didn't have any Diego. Instead we picked Buzz and Woody from Toy story.

When we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Martens in Manitoba we took the bike, still in it's box, with us. Koen had asked Grandpa to put it together for him.

As you can see, he's rather proud of himself!

The paper, Tinkerin', is no longer available, but the stamp set, Robot Power, sure is!

I think this was one of the first pages we did at Leisa's monthly gathering.

Thanks for checking in! Happy Monday!

Gotcha!

I hope you don't mind all these scheduled posts! Today is Sunday and I'm off to my first ever event where I'm the consultant! So excited!!

Clearly I really love the photos of Kerowyn if I'm using them on more than one page!

These two pages are using the same paper but the reverse of one another. The photos didn't pick up the pink in the brown very well for Kerowyn's page, but hopefully the intent is there. The paper itself is Stardust which is no longer available.

The stamp set, however, is. It's called Picture Perfect and I liked it so much that I bought it after Leisa showed us how to put together these pages.

I put the kids "likes" and "dislikes" in the film strip, though if it was a picture of them as babies I'd have used their "birth stats" instead.

Eventually I'll have some more pictures of Elora to show off too.

Thank you for checking in! See you Monday!

Summer Sweets!

I know you're seeing lots of pages with pictures of my kids, but well... my kids are cute and next to them my favorite thing is scrapbooking. Photos of scrapping in a scap book seems a bit... redundant.

This page features my little diva again. She alternates between loving the camera and hating it (she actually has her own camera!). The top three photos are in sequence. She was being playfully pouty, trying to gain sympathy. Then a train ran behind Grandpa's house which startled her into running toward me. Then she was upset that we were chuckling at her, and how dare we take photos while she's less than her best.

The paper is Cherry-O with strawberry accents made with the "You're Sweet" stamp set (Kerowyn's favourite fruit). Another layout designed by my upline Leisa.

Aspen Paper

Oh Aspen, how I love thee so. This single page layout uses, yup, you guessed it, Aspen paper from Close to My Heart. It's still available in a Level 1 Kit, but no longer in the Level 2.

This particular page is from last year's monthly group (again, led by Leisa). The photo mounts are actually vellum paper that has been stamped with snowflakes and sponged with white ink. It doesn't show well in the photo (thank you phone camera) but it looks great in person!

White core cardstock is great for this kind of page, you can rip the paper and get that stark contrast of the cardstock colour and the white core.

As for the pictures... that's my boy Koen when he's almost a year old. It was his first time in the snow. At first he was pretty stoked, then he really wasn't impressed. Since he still wasn't crawling (I know right??) he just looked up and started wailing at us to pick him up. As a result, I only got a couple photos. That's my boy!

One last Hallowe'en post

Okay, I know Hallowe'en is over, but how can you resist such epic cuteness?!

I found a slightly better place to take photos. Alan just put in new bulbs in the kitchen and my Mother-in-Law gave me a recipe book stand a few years back. Combine the two and you can hardly tell (yeah right) that I'm using a phone for photos!

This two-page layout uses the Hooligan paper pack from Close to My Heart and was part of Leisa's monthly group. I changed mine up a bit in the decoration department, but kept the layout the same.

Once again we're using a layout from the Magic book. LOVE IT!! I can't say this often enough. This time the "magic" element is the hidden journaling (or photo) on the left page, using hinges.

The stamp set is called, "Fright Night" and I made liberal use of various Hallowe'en themed punches (bats, spiders, tree, more bats, drippy goo). I really enjoyed making this layout and I simply ADORE the photos of Kerowyn. I love how the one on the left it looks like she's going "ewwww" to the slime strip across the top of the photo!

Thanks for checking in.

Again, with the attitude!

It's apparent I have a lot of attitude! This is also my second post today, so please scroll down to see my two-page layout post!

I'd like to thank Ann from Creative Ramblings for awarding me the (new) "I have attitude" blog award. Check it out in my sidebar if you like!

So here are five more people to pass the award to:

1. Shelly
2. Elizabeth
3. Colleen D
4. Lynne
5. Twyla

Please check out these great blogs!

Veranda Paper and a Cherished Moment

I'm on a roll with getting photos into my scrap booking pages! This is another two-page layout from my upline's monthly parties. Thank you Leisa!


This is the Veranda paper pack, embellished with "Just Blooms" and the Mocha pearls. Once again there's a hidden journal on the right page, just pull the flower beside "Seize the Day" upwards and you reveal the hidden element!


This series of photos (there are more than appear in the layout) is from a visit to my mother's in Kelowna. Koen and I were discussing minnows, waves and sand. It was a lovely moment and one I cherish. Alan took the pictures from the boardwalk while sitting with Kerowyn. Koen is about two and a half in these pictures.


It is worth mentioning... Close to My Heart has a great promotion on this month. If you make the minimum purchase ($117.50Cnd) to get the Stamp of the Month, you also get ANOTHER stamp set for FREE (up to $26.95 value). To get this deal visit my site (Canadians only*) and enter your order just as you would normally. Add your free set to the list of items you want to purchase, it will be automatically set to zero cost. Feel free to contact me if you would like a hand getting it set up.


*this deal is available to Americans as well, but they must order from an American consultant.

Magnifique Paper Pack

The weather is starting to get cooler, there was even frost outside today. You heard me... it's NOVEMBER, in CALGARY, and we're just getting frost! This almost makes up for the snow last May.

I'm still taking photos with my phone, but I just had to share this layout. The layout itself is from CTMH's "Magic" book, LOVE this book, if you have not seen it... oh, my, goodness. There are some pretty daunting techniques or "elements" in the book but if they are too scarey they are also easy to omit. This particular layout was picked by my upline Leisa for our monthly gathering. It uses the Magnifique (level 2) paper and the "Unity" and "Circle of Love" stamp sets.

The left page has my husband and I holding our second child, Kerowyn, right after she was born. It's one of my favourite pictures.

The right page has Alan with our youngest, Elora (top), Kerowyn (bottom left) and Koen (bottom right). If you look really closely you might notice that the top left and bottom right are "popped" with dimentional tape. That's because this layout calls for hidden journaling!! I haven't added it yet because I need to think about what to say heh, but the way it works is the top one slides up and the right one slides out to the right. You make a "tag" out of one of the embellishments that you can use to pull out the journaling. So, clever!!


A tip that Leisa shared with us at the party that really stuck with me was how to add the circles. They're just punched with a circle punch, but before you glue them down... fold them in half and then unfold them. This gives you a line to follow as you stick them to the edge of the page. The ribbon goes on overtop anyway and this way your circles are all neatly lined up. Great tip, thank you Leisa!!

Thank you...

for all your comments! The card from yesterday kind of grew on me and with a little tweeking it'll be the fourth card for the event. Your encouragement has helped a great deal, thanks again!

On a different creative note, I'm working on my website (found here: www.stampoffeh.com) so that it's not a "coming soon" page any longer. I found a nice free template and am slowly adding content. I'm horribly out of webdesign date and don't know how to do things like... add a box, like a blogspot widget, that shows the latest posts on my blog. If anyone would like to offer some tips, tricks, advice, creative critisism, whatever... I'm definately willing to listen!

I would have preferred a template that either showcased a maple leaf (for Canada and the "Eh" part of my site name), or a tree (for my personal association with the Tree of Life). A butterfly, like the Tree, can symbolize rebirth. It also represents change, often specifically change of the soul or spirit.

Not that a website for crafts needs to be symbolically significant or anything... but it's nice to have a personal feel to it!

Another rejected card

Close shave for this guy, but he didn't quite make the cut. (Don't you just love it when people mix metaphores!) Once again I'm using the Mistletoe paperpack, with the stamp set Nature's Gift.

The bear is popped up and she's been sprayed with Stampin' Up's "smooch spritz" and I used Stampin' Up punches to back the sentiment and do the scallop border. The rest of the materials are Close to My Heart.

Were I to do this one again I think I would either use a lighter green on the tree (I'm using New England Ivy here) or do the Stamp Off technique (thank you Colleen for the suggestion).

I'm going to go back to using the Jingle paper pack and do a whimsical card for the fourth card in my kit.

Rejected Card: Christmas Card Extravaganza

I'm probably being too picky. But well, this is my first time hosting as a Close to My Heart consultant so I'm nervous!

This had a chance to be a great card, but it seems over balanced to me. I used "Father Christmas" and the "Mistletoe" paperpack. The red stamp is popped up. (Crappy photo is crappy, I'm sure you've heard enough about my phone and it's phototaking).

Were I to redo this card I I think I would do the "Postcard" stamp in gold emoboss and perhaps add a bit of ribbon.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is fast approaching and I wanted to make a card. I would love to make it out to a Remembrance Day ceremony here in Calgary this year, if so I'll be making a page for my scrapbook that includes this handcrafted poppy.

I'm sorry, I'm still using my iphone for pictures (though there's progress in data recovery and repair of my camera. There is hope!). The poppy is punched (large heart from Stampin' Up) from Cranberry cardstock distressed and then reinked with cranberry ink. The effect is to give it a bit of dimension without the stark white look of distressing white core cardstock. I'm quite happy with it (even if it doesn't show well in these pictures!)

The center is a green flower with "brass" brad. It reminds me of the poppies we wear in the beginning of November before they were changed to have black centers. (Edit to add: We wear black centered poppies in the years that service people have died in the line of duty. I miss the green centered poppies that meant none of our service people had died.)

The background paper is a piece of left over Mistletoe topped with a piece of cocoa cardstock that got the same treatment as the petals (distressing and reinking) to make it look leatherish. It makes me think of an old flight jacket I use to wear.

The sentiment is from Captured Moments. The only other stamp set I had with potentially appropriate sentiments was Picture Perfect and I really didn't think "Unforgettable" suited this card. If I had a tiny letter alphabet I might do, "I Remember" instead.

I'll leave you with a video by Terry Kelly. I watch it every year (usually several times) and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

My family Remembers. Thank you.

For the story behind this video, people visit Terry-Kelly.com

The 12 Days of Christmas

My son, Koen, was born on the Epiphany, or the 12th Day of Christmas. I think that's kinda cool. So instead of making an Advent calendar (my kids prefer the chocolate kind anyway) I thought it would be nice to make a 12 Days of Christmas calendar that can double as a "how many days to Koen's birthday" calendar.

I haven't added the title yet because I haven't decided what it will be. The tins are attached with pre-stickied velcro dots. I used the cricut for the numbers (and will again for the title). I used up paper and embellishments that haven't seen the light of day for years! The tins themselves came from Lee Valley (love Lee Valley).

The whole thing measures 12x12 and has a kickstand on the back so I can rest it on a table. I plan to place an encouraging message in each tin, and perhaps with a piece of candy for each child.

Thank you for checking in!

Wooo blog award!

I'd like to thank Kathy (and her little dog too, *cackle*) at Lucky Stamper, for awarding me with...

According to the guidelines I need to nominate five people and tell you all three things that make me different from everyone else. Hmm.

Let's see.

Hrm.

I'm pretty sure that anything I say there will be a couple thousand people who respond, "oh hey, me too!" so I'll just list three things that make me different from the few ladies I spend time with offline.

1. I like to do costume design and creation, though I haven't since my first was old enough to do more than drool. Babies and expensive fabrics don't mix. Most of my "customers" were LARPers or folks from the SCA. Now and then I'll get a request for information on a custom fit corset from someone who does neither of the aforementioned tasks. Probably for a nice dress they already have, right? *grin*

2. I love to cook... more than bake. I mean, I love the results of the baking (mmmm, Sweet Maries this Christmas, yes please!) but cooking is more forgiving and allows for spontaneous changes. Baking requires more preparation if you're going to change the recipe. Maybe I'll share some of my favorite recipes this holiday season!

3. I don't suffer fools. Not even lightly. Uneducated is not the same is ignorant. People who, for example, roll their eyes at a customer and give off the "there, there, don't worry your pretty little head, let the men take care of it," attitude... will get an earful from me. Happened just last night actually.

So now, five people to get this award!

Colleen over at DragonFlyInk

Leisa from Big Red Scraps

Jenny from Pinch of Paisley

PH from Thinking of Inking

Cat from Cat Scrap Fever

Please take a moment to go and check out these wonderful blogs.

Thanks again Kathy, for thinking of me!

Card Three - Card Extravaganza

Slowly but surely I'm making headway on the cards I plan to use in the card kit for the Christmas Card Extravaganza with Colleen.

Alas I'm still using my phone for photos.

This card uses the Mistletoe paper pack and "Captured Moments" stamp set. Super simple with just a touch of distressing on the New England Ivy cardstock. It's finished off with some gold embroidery floss.

If you would like to attend the gathering please make sure to sign up no later than tomorrow night! In order to make the right number of kits we have to cut off the sign up early enough!

Thank you for checking in, I love reading all your comments.

Hallowe'en related

Well, it's All Hallows and I promised pictures of Hallow's Eve. I have better... videos!

But first a picture of a mask I made for a Masquerade. I wanted to go as a medusa so I dressed in a roman stola and palla and carried this mask that I made from fabric that matched my outfit. I tied some more of the satin braids into my hair (they had wires in them to make them stand out a bit).

Lots and lots and lots of hot glue. And fabric paint. Ooooh the fabric paint.

Ah well, it was a fun night.

As I said before, the kids put to rest the idea of going as the three pigs, so we ended up with a "pretty witch" and "Woody" from Toy Story. Here's a couple videos of them just before we headed out trick or treating.

This was their first time trick or treating and it was a bit of a challenge getting them to understand at first. But once they got it, ooooh boy did they get it. "wait, what? we get FREE CANDY?" We had a great time with Colleen from DragonFlyInk and her two boys (who were dressed as Batman and a cow).