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!