Q & A Time

For as long as I can remember, I've had a cat and an unfinished basement; the perfect scenario for Dusty Cat Syndrome. Think the basement's pretty clean? Think again!
Our current kitty, Spooky demonstrates this perfectly in these pics. Photographing all black pets is tricky. Dusty, all black cats are especially tricky as using a flash not only causes glare from the fur, it will also magically erase all of the details. Not a bad idea if you don't want anyone to know how dusty your basement is, but for me, that was the whole point of the pics! So anyways, the center pic is in focus, the outside pics are both a bit blurry, as cats do not make the most cooperative models when a slower shutter speed is called for. Oh, who am I kidding, cats are just plain uncooperative! Still, I liked the effect and the pictures were printed and used anyways.
Oh, and the q: and a: are Thickers.....puffy sticker Thickers! Another little bit of nostalgia, as I remember collecting stickers as a kid.... and puffy stickers could only be topped by scratch and sniffs!
Thanks for looking; hope you enjoy!

An Oldie, But a Goodie!

I did this layout months ago, shortly after the pictures were taken at Cole's first ball game. It's simple, but a favourite of mine with hand cut waves, some stickers and lots of fun rubons.
Right from that first game, we were all so impressed with Cole's focus and ability to absorb everything he was told about how to play the game. He played hard and with heart; you can't ask for more than that!

Long Time, No Blog!

Hey! It's been months since my last post, but now summer vacation is over, school's back in session and I'm almost caught up on all of it...scrappy-wise anyways!
This year, I've been using a Pebbles, Inc album which can use both 12x12 pages and 4x6 sleeves. I love this, as it allows me to add pics into my album that I don't want to scrap so all the year's pics are still in one place. Generally, it isn't any faster, as I've just got to add some journaling and still sometimes crop and mat the pics before sliding them in.
Another advantage of these 4x6 sleeves; I was able to display both sides of our tickets to the Titanic exhibit. Although I wasn't able to fit a pic of the back of this page, they printed a mini bio of passengers from the ill-fated ship, allowing us to pretend we were that passenger while travelling through the exhibit. At the end of the exhibit was a wall that listed all of the passengers. They were listed by class and whether they survived or perished. All of our passengers survived.

I made journaling cards to go along with these tickets that I decorated with inchies I received in a swap from the MMMB forum. Contributing artists are Sondra, Elaine, GrandmaCosmo and Faeiryrocks.

Their work really helped give a Victorian feel to the journaling cards. Inspired by their inchies, and needing some more to help embellish the remaining empty spaces, I made a couple more. Mine are the ones in purple.

It felt so good to get some more use out of my swap items. Thanks ladies for your lovely artwork and the inspiration to finish these cards in style!

Playing Circle Journal Catch Up

Above is my contribution to Lisa's CJ: What I Miss While I'm Away. I guess I could really wrap it all up into one category, I miss the comforts of home. My family and pets, my bed, my get inky and creative studio and all my favourite spots on the world wide web.

I had a lot of fun inking, stamping, embossing and glimmer misting for this one...turning plain lilac cardstock into fun, textured patterned paper.

Below is my layout for Emma's CJ: My 3 Favourite Actors/Actresses. This was another fun one to create. I started out by running the edges of my paper in silver paint. While using my heat gun to speed up the drying process, I overheated a glob of paint and the bubbling reminded me of old movie film being burned (something I've seen in a movie or two), so I continued the effect. It's a very simple layout, with lots of paint, embossing and black and white photos of my choice of stars to compliment the monochromatic theme.

It took me some time to make my choices, and went with the three ladies that stayed constant in my mind.

Meryl Streep has forever been a favourite of mine, from lazy afternoons watching Out of Africa, Heartburn and Death Becomes Her with my mom.

Sandra Bullock, well, I like physical comedy and she does it soooooo well. Who can forget that sexy strut-turned-clumsy-topple from Miss Congeniality or that nude collision with Ryan Reynolds from the Proposal?

And finally, Charlize Theron. I liked her long before, but after seeing her performance in Monster, I was sold. This girl has substance to back up her beauty...and isn't afraid to forgo the beauty part, either!

So now, all that's left is Jean's 3 favourite verses. I've got them picked out, just need to get back into the studio and create. And then I'm done and ready to ship off to Lisa. What fun this has been!

Jessica's CJ

Alrighty, 3 Reasons I Love Summer.....hmmmm......actually, I think fall would be my favourite season; it's still warm, the kids are back in school, the world turns into a tapestry of colour, I get to celebrate our anniversary, Thanksgiving, my birthday and Halloween. But summer?

Well, it would seem there's some great advantages to summer. The kids are on holidays, which means that while they're here all the time, we get to sleep in. Scott gets the majority of his holidays in the summer and we take full advantage of the time we have off together. We've seen some pretty amazing scenery touring the province we live in, making wonderful memories with family and friends. Then there's the outdoor fun, particularly croquet, a family favourite. We play by our own, slightly altered rules so that everyone can have fun...and a fighting chance! And what summer would be complete without a trip to the beach? We're fortunate to be surrounded by the Great Lakes, especially Lake Huron, with it's sandy beaches, warm water and beautiful sunsets.

Yes, summer is a pretty sweet, laid back season. And I'm lucky enough to enjoy every little bit of it!

Jenn's CJ

Jenn's cj topic is 5 Reason's I Love Being a Woman. To be honest, I've never really thought too much about it. So this one took a little brainstorming and my conclusion.....being a woman really does rock! Yeah, ok, men on average make more money and are physically stronger, plus they can pee standing up. Big deal. I'm entitled to as much attitude as I need in any given situation and that is far more powerful!

Hope you enjoy my list and the layout. The woman stamp was actually a fairy, so the trickiest part was trying to just stamp the woman without the wings. But look at the attitude in her stance; she simply had to be part of my layout!

10 Things That Make Me Happy.

Kathi sent this to me, and it seems the perfect way for me to get back into blogging after being a real slacker. So here's my list:

1. My family....when they aren't driving me nuts....even sometimes when they are driving me nuts since only the most important people to you can truly push you to the extremes. Of course, I'm not always that philosophical at the time....
2. All my fur-babies. I'm a sucker for a sweet poochie...and even the odd cat.
3. Scrapbooking and other creative endeavours. Things just aren't right in my world if there's no creative outlet.
4. Computer games. Where would I be without my wii, my facebook and webkinz games? Likely more productive, but not nearly as happy.
5. Vacations away. It doesn't have to be far....just far enough to get away from the daily grind of routine and expectations.
6. Music. Growing up, there was always music playing. Sometimes I feel my life could be summed up in a soundtrack.
7. Visits with my mom. It's mom.....'nuff said!
8. Cooking....but not baking.
9. Reading. I've always loved getting wrapped up in a good book.
10. Gardening. I'm a bit of a fickle gardener....I'm a wussy in the heat and I have been known to pitch a hissy fit when things don't work out the way I want and give up....but oh, the satisfaction of a quiet day digging in the dirt, making things look pretty!

Okay, so there it is. Now I'm supposed to pass this on to 3 other bloggers so here it goes.....in no particular order......

Elaine

Lisa

Paula

I'll have to check around and make sure these ladies haven't been given this award by someone else previously, but for now, this is my list.

Proud Moments in Hoser History.

Here's my latest layout, featuring our good natured yellow lab Bella showing some national pride during the first meeting of the Canadian and American men's Olympic hockey teams. Some of you may remember receiving this picture on your cell during the game (for those of you who didn't, I apologise, I must not have your number!).
For this layout, there's lots of glittery gold embossing (as our hockey women, and eventually men both won gold....yeah!), inking and freehand borders and journaling lines.

Oh, How I Love a Deal!

The Scrapping Turtle, my favourite LSS (or at least in the top 2) hosted a yard sale for their customers to sell off some of their old, tired scrappy stock, allowing deal-hungry scrappers like myself to give it new life.

Now a friend of mine kindly reminded me I'm on a self-imposed paper spending freeze.....but each pack of patterned paper (each row represent one pack) only cost me $2! How could I say no? Especially when I consider at least 90% of each pack great stuff that will easily work with my style and only maybe 2% having a total ick factor!

Other items: a loose pack of school themed stamps, a set of arrow stamps, binder rings and a large pack of cardstock (that included a lot of colours I was running out of) all for a grand total of...(drumroll, please!)...$24.50.

Best of all....I've already used product from this stash! Serene's cj layout includes a sheet of patterned paper and two of the arrow stamps.

My daughter came along and picked up a paper pack, some fun embellies and an organizer she's using to store items for her new hobby, making sock animals.

I already can't wait for the next sale, scheduled in the fall......and no worries mom, I'll be sure to let you know about that one!

Serene's cj - The Odd Files

So, after much debate, I finally came up with 4 unusual things about me/that I've done. I really thought this topic would be easier than it was. However, it seems that I'm far more ordinary than I thought. Sigh.......

To recap, my unusual things are:

• Planning a family trip to Disney World to celebrate 10 years of marriage. This idea had been in the works since our 5th anniversary. Everyone said to go away just the two of us....we said, nuh-uh! We're all going to Disney!
• I cannot swim. At all. Yet I taught our daughter to swim. In fact, she didn't want her dad's help at all....and he has always looooooved swimming!
• While I've always liked camping, it's been a stipulation of mine to have a flushing toilet and showers nearby. So it came as a shock to everyone (including myself) that our family "roughing it without hydro or plumbing" trips have been so enjoyable for me.
• Monster Jam......demolition derbies.......who knew that a girly-girl like me could get so excited over such metal-crunching, engine-revving, testosterone-pumping action?

I came to the conclusion that all of these items were related to parenthood. Wanting a big family getaway, helping my kids push past fears of mine and discovering new interests by exposing them to their interests.....all the oddities in my life right now really stem from my kids!

And finally, my sign in tag for Serene. I used a mini file folder, like the one in my layout, with index prints from our Disney trip tucked inside.

Thanks everyone, for looking; Serene, hope you enjoy my layout for you!

My Studio

Okay, a few posts ago, Kathi mentioned she'd like to see my studio and since it's recently been re-arranged it seemed like the perfect time to do so!
Here is what I see when I enter my studio, which as you may have guessed is located in the attic. This used to be the kids' play area, but they decided they were scared of the attic so I took it over. This is the second floor plan that's been put in place, as my darling daughter was taking over my table, causing all sorts of fights. Her argument: she needed more space and lighting to make her desk more user-friendly. I've left out her area on purpose...even though seeing her desk would make mine look sooooo much neater!
On the left is a short shelving unit that was many moons ago a dresser (I think) but I've used off an on throughout the years as shelves. On it, I store my embossing powers, my Purple Cow, ribbon and embellies, my sewing basket, stamps, inks, Mr. Big Bite and other assorted tools I like to keep close.
In the far left corner of the room is a desk that I currently have no official use for yet, and beside that is a basket with my collection of stuffies. If you look behind the chair, you'll notice that Eeyore has escaped.
Below is the left side of my table. It's full of bins full of stuff. There's a bin for unused pictures that haven't been labelled and placed in an album, a bin for odds and ends that's in desperate need of reorganizing, a bin for embellies that are still in their packaging, a bin for journaling tags and one for small stuff I've acquired in swaps but don't fit a specific theme category.



On the right hand side of my table is this nifty paint can organizer I picked up at my LSS's garage sale. I use it to keep my adhesives and other little often used tools close and handy. Often beside it is my photo box, though it's official home is on the top shelf of the right-hand side leg/shelf with my bin of pens and extra adhesives/refills. Oh, and the candy dish.....cannot forget the candy dish....that I forgot to fully get into the shot.


Looking back from my table and towards the sitting area of the attic are these built-in shelves for some of the bigger stuff. On the top shelf is a picture of our dog Tabitha playing in the water months before we lost her (there's also a layout of her on the wall by the window) and another of my sister, both done by my mom. Below that is a file folder organizer for my stickers, rubons and chipboard, sorted by theme and my collection of Cricut cartridges. On the bottom shelf is my hanging file paper organizer, my Xyron 510 and my Cricut.

This corner is my little inspiration station...magazines, cards from my scrappy friends and projects done by my daughter.

One picture that's missing is the Ikea bins in front of Kelsey's desk. I forget the system name....think it might be Antonius???? The top bin is for scraps. She loves that there's no top on the rack, as all she has to do is push her scraps off her desk and into the bin. Under that is a bin for her projects, one for my projects and a fourth yet to be designated.

And that's about it! While not as pretty, tidy or whimsically decorated as ones featured in the magazines and other blogs, this space makes me happy. Everything is where it makes sense to me, organized and placed to make tidy up as easy as possible....and I don't think it gets any better than that!

Thanks for coming along on the tour!

Melissa's CJ Pages

So here are my pages for Melissa's 5 Things I Can't Live Without CJ. The hubby hasn't seen it yet, I only told him about it. Seeing as how I didn't mention the pets or computer, he says I'm lying....he thinks he's sooooo funny!

I'm sure he'll also have something smart to say when he reads that humour is what's kept me sane....oh does he like to tease. But not to worry, he loves to tease me because I fight back, and often zing him so badly he's left speechless!

Anyways, this layout is all about the ink....and some finger painting behind the title. And having used my coffee themed mini Gela-Tins stamps two weeks in a row, it's certainly looking like they were a good investment!

Oh, and the story behind the humour pic of me and my little guy.....we were on holidays, having a friendly best-ball-partners game of croquet (oh yes, we find any way we can to include everyone in a game of croquet!) and were having our post-game placement pics. I crouched down to be level with my partner in the pic but instead he sat on my lap, sending me flying back on my butt and my friend, being a scrappy mom herself, saw a perfect photo op. And you know what? She was spot-on!

Oh, and once again, I'm late on the tag. So I now need to finish Paula's and Melissa's tags to be officially up to date.

Elaine's Welcome Sign CJ

Here is my layout for Elaine's Welcome sign cj. It looks very plain, but took a great deal of prep work, really. The base paper is red, with the light brown painted over and the coffee stamps randomly placed on the pages. The actual welcome sign is a matted journaling tag; the title was stickers I used as a mask, with a number of inks blended over top.

And here is the Do Not Disturb tag for her sign in sheet.

I haven't forgotten Paula's sign in tag....I'm just struggling is all. I've got an idea now what to do, now it's just a matter of getting a picture of me that will fit.

The Story of Stella, Marley and Scarlett

In an incredibly unusual turn of events, I have Paula's cj pages finished ahead of schedule! Wow-wee! I've impressed myself! Everything just came together, my top three characters got chosen, the wording came to me and the rest just pieced together like magic. Gotta love it when that happens!

For Stella's page, I left in some imperfections, like the uneven cut on the journaling paper and the leftover dusties from the silver embossing powder (I think Stella would like the stardust effect it leaves!). If you can find this book, which is a challenge in itself, read it. The illustrations are amazing and the story is an important one for adults and children alike.

The other two characters are likely more recognizable and I think the journaling sufficiently explains my choices.

Now, to figure out my sign in tag for Paula's book. Hmmmm....I'll think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day!

Travelling Musts

Here is my contribution to Kathi's Travelling Musts cj. I did this in a narrative style instead of list style. It's just how this layout worked for me. Just in case my handwriting is too hard to read from the scan, I'm including it here:

Once upon a time...there was a young woman named Courtney who was very particular about having her purse with her when she travelled. Inside, she had her wallet, her cell phone, camera with extra batteries and a charger with both a wall plug and one for the car, just in case she was travelling some far-off land with no electricity. She also preferred to bring her makeup, but some destinations were far too rustic for it to be practical!

So, okay....I also have about 7 items listed (and that's if you're willing to count the batteries and charger as one item...) But in my defense, I was originally thinking of just my wallet, phone, camera and charger as being count-able objects....with makeup being an optional fifth. What can I say.....I don't travel light.....and I have troubles following rules....they're more guidelines anyways....right????

Here is another example of me doing things a little differently. For my sign in tag, I used a luggage punch (courtesy of Carrie from a punchie swap) for my name and hometown but adhered my pic onto this fun chipboard piece. The picture is of my son and I playing in the warm, clear water of Lake Huron. I hope this is alright, Kathi. I had a really hard time thinking inside the suitcase!

And now, I'm off to create a layout for Paula's "3 Favourite Book Characters" cj. This circle journal is such a wonderful challenge, and I thank all you ladies for your thought-provoking topics!

Compulsive Creations

Every now and again, I get this compulsive need to create something. A while back, it was wreaths, often it's just the next layout or a card that I "have to do." Well, yesterday, I "had to" alter this clock. Here it is, basically finished just without the glass and front fastened on. I was too focused on taking it apart to think to take a before pic. Originally, I bought the clock to go up in the living room and surround it with pictures. But it never went up and since re-arranging my studio, I've found it quite annoying having to turn around to see what time it is. Laziness can certainly motivate us to do some pretty ambitious things!
When the idea first came to me, I had something quite different in mind. When I couldn't take the clock completely apart, my plans changed. Then when the Glimmer Mist and paint idea started looking more like a gory blood and guts horror film prop I came up with this. Simply put, it's paper and embellie scraps all layered together to make a pretty collage.

This picture shows the clock back together and on the wall over the window, directly in front of my table so I only have to look up to check the time. Ahhh! Much better!

Sign In Pages

So, I need to apologise. The first shot is fuzzy because I scanned it instead of taking a picture and, well, shell beads are just a little too 3D for scanning.....who knew?! The second page is much clearer and contains the only re-purposed item on this layout other than my tag. The ribbon was once the pretty packaging for a pair of pajamas.
In time, this page will be covered in re-purposed items and friendly, smiling faces. And that, in turn, will make me smile back!

Oh, and yes Lisa, that is Elaine's writing on my tag!

My 4 Re-Purposed Items Page

Alrighty, here it is; the first page for my cj titled 4 Things I've Repurposed for Scrapbooking. Hope this helps you ladies get some ideas for your pages. I'm so excited to see what everyone comes up with!

Though not repurposed, all the paper I used is from the DCWV Green Stack so at least it's recycled paper, right? The "title" was done on a tag from a cloth shopping bag and the word RECYCLED was actually cut out of the Green Stack cover.

And yes, I've actually got 5 items. It would seem that you put a tape runner in my hand and I forget how to count!

So next post is my sign in page and then I believe I'm up to date.....yay!

Cuddlin' Canine

In response to a pet challenge Elaine found and shared with some of us scrappin' sistahs, I made this page about and from the perspective of our dog Lilah.
She's such a funny dog. She's scared and snarly with anyone new, but from day one was so stuck on our family; especially Cole who never previously showed any interest in dogs. Certainly one of the more curious personalities of all our pets!
Thanks for looking. Don't forget to hug your pet today!

Honest Scrap Award

Alright, Jenn sent this onto me quite a loooooong time ago, so I've got to think up of 10 truths about myself. She's probably figured by now that I've forgotten but I haven't....just struggling with thinking up truths worth sharing! Should be easy enough...right? Maybe not.



1. I made my parents read Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish so many times when I was a child that to this day I can still recite a good chunk of the book with little to no prompting.


2. I looooooooove coffee. Just coffee, black, no added flavourings, no fancy names....just coffee flavoured coffee.


3. I enjoy cooking, but am completely hopeless at baking. I think it's because you can wing it with cooking far more successfully than with baking and I so enjoy winging it!


4. I live in my own time zone. It is a very well known fact amonst family and friends. The clock tics ever so much slower there; sometimes it even stops for a while.


5. Even though I gave it up as a profession, I'm glad I finally went through the schooling and became an esthetician.


6. I am having a really hard time thinking of stuff for this list.


7. I could count on one hand the number of days I've been pet-less in my life and I plan on keeping it that way for as long as I'm able.


8. I am easily distracted by dogs. They're a bit of a preoccupation for me.

9. I do not like the heat.

10. I am happy to finally have this list done.

I'd send this off to other bloggers, as per the instructions....but I think everyone has already gotten this one. If you're a follower and you haven't done this one yet, please, give it a try!

4 Things I've Repurposed for Scrapbooking.

My friend Lisa is hosting a circle journal that I'm quite excited to be participating in. We were to pick a list-style topic, using any number between 3 and 10. My topic is 4 Things I've Re-Purposed for Scrapbooking.
Below I've posted an instructions page for my fellow participants . I hope it's legible after you click on it. Since I've requested it of everyone else, I've added some re-purposed items on this page. The paper in the top left corner with the pretty design on it is a subscription request postcard for Canadian Scrapbooker; and the sticker in the bottom left corner is a tag from an old gymnastics outfit of my daughter's which I've altered with some ink. I'm also posting my sign in tag, made from a fabric clothing tag (complete with it's safety pin and string) which I applied Maya Mist to. My name is done with an old school labeller (okay, not really a re-purposed item anymore, I know), city, province, country from a card mailed to me, along with the postage (does anyone recognize their handwriting?). To top it off, are some shell beads threaded through the safety pin.

And there you have it, a good, healthy start to my cj. Please be sure to keep an eye out for my layout, which I hope to create and post within the next few days.

Tranquil Moments in the Snow.

Yesterday morning, the world was a brighter shade of white, thanks to a light dusting of snow the night before. My mom and I took full advantage by going for a drive through the countryside and playing with our cameras. This is a new hobby of mom's, who recently acquired a drool-worthy DSLR camera with an equally enviable mega-zoom lens.
These are not her pictures. They are the ones I took with my handy-dandy, does-the-job point and shoot Olympus. I got her to stop for these trees: I would have preferred this shot without the hydro pole; even Mennonite country is not without modern conveniences:

It's all about depth here:

It's so wonderful to be able to share this passion with my mom, who has also taken an interest in digital scrapbooking. She's quite talented (and equally addicted!) and I'm sure will have a page or two to share with me from this day on our next visit.

Can't wait to see what I can do with these pics, all the others from yesterday and the ones from road trips I see coming in the not-so-distant future!