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!