Where have I been....

Whew, its been a busy month. Getting ready for Christmas always stresses me out, but I made it. And with the New year just around the corner I thought I would post about the things I am thankful for. I do have some stuff I've made, and in the New Year I will post some, but I have also decided that since I love dooing mostly layouts, that is what I will post more of. Anyways, on to my year:

  I spent a wonderful 5 weeks in Florida at the start of the year. I had my Mom and step dad there, and my In laws too. Great family vacation!!! I spent my 10 year wedding anniversary in May Jamaica with just my loving husband. My oldest turned 18, and I got to take him to the bar for his first time. My other kids turned 12, 8 and 4!!! WOW, where does the time go. I turned 34 and my hunny turned 36 and we went to Pearl Jam!! We spent a full year in our new house, and while it has been delievered yet, we ordered new furnature for both our living room, and our basement rec room!! And TODAY, my sisters 4th little girl was born....just squeaking in under the 2011 wire. Presley Margarite was born at home at 2:03 am weighing 8lbs 7oz!!! Me and my sis are somewhat astranged, but I am so happy for them all.

  Today I am going to spend sometime scraping, so see you all in the New Year!! Happy NEW YEAR to all!!

Huge candy giveaway

Just a quick post....but I just came across a HUGE giveaway over at Creating from the Heart. Melissa is giving away $150 Michaels gift card, as well as a few other AMAZING items. Go check it out!!! And its available worldwide!! Click HERE and say Hi.

A Little Crafting....

was in order after my semi busy weekend. I HAD to start my shopping, so both Friday and Saturday night I ran out and got some presents bought. Saturday and Sunday afternoon we made sugar cookies and gingerbread men, aand 2 loaves of banana bread, so yesturday afternoon, I was able to get some crafting done, phew. Here are 2 of the gift packages I made for my 8yr olds teacher. One will hold cookies, and one will hold a couple packages of hot chocolate and a candy cane....

 Paper,Stamp,ink, stamp, markers, liquid applique- CTMH, red stickles,Ribbion and Bling- Creative Charms

Twine-Lime Twist, Snowflakes- My stash

Paper-Cosmo Cricket Bling- Creative Charms, Ribbon-my stash

I'm entering the pringles cookie holder into these challanges:

1. Docerela Creations- 3D project with a Christmas theme

2. Kaboodle Doodles  Challange #96- Colors of Christmas

3.My Craft Spot Challange #36- Christmas packaging.

4.Robin's Creative Cottage- Bows or Ribbons

 Have a couple more projects to finish today, so see you all later :) Happy Scraping.

More Sewing...

Another post about sewing....I have been crafting...but I'm kinda in a funk, so I have 4 pages to finish as well as a couple teacher gifts. On top of my funk, I've been addicted to Pintrest, so now I have all these ideas and room makeovers I want to do, just not to sure where I should start lol. Money is also an issue, so I can't buy the stuff I want to finish the projects I want to start. But anyways, I went to my MIL's again on the weekend to make the final stocking we needed, so I made that, and my girls made pillows. Here's the pictures:

 Had to get the Cricut Santa hat. Made me chuckle:)

And this is the snow we got on Saturday night.

We're about 20 degress warmer then we usually are at this time, so were happy about that.

Anyways, I'm off now. I'm battling yet another cold. Third one this fall/winter season.



I'm Sewing....?

 This was a busy weekend, but it wasn't. Does that make any sense? lol On friday I had planned to go to a crop with my MIL. Kim puts on these wonderful hall crops. I love going to them, but since moving, I'm now on the other side of the city. Well this friday, one of my daycare kids was picked up late....instead of getting picked up at 5:15-5:30 she was picked up at 5:45. The crops start at 6. I like to get there as close to 6 as possible to get the most out of my time. But the worst part of this, was that we had a small snow storm friday night. so my Half an hour drive ended up taking me over an hour :( By time I got my MIL and we picked up coffee, it was after 7. I didnt get anything done. lol I packed light, which mean't all the stuff I needed to complete y LO, I left at home....But I won a door prize ( althought, I think to all of K'm's crops, I only haven't won twice) and I bought some raffle tickets to win a Demember Daily...and I won that too:) I'll post pics of that soon. Its a beautiful book that one of the crop goers made. All the money went to chariety which was why I bought the tickets to begin with.

 Then on Sunday me and the kids made our Christmas stockings!!! Its been about 18 years since I've done any sewing. Even my kids made theirs except the 4 yr old...and the 12 yr old bailed about half way threw....but here they are:

If you know my kids...you'll know who's is who's lol. I wanted traditional Christmas stockings, but they had other plans:) I don't have a fire place, so this is where they hang until I fill them, then they rest on the couch for the kids to find.

 So, today I plan on getting some crafting done. I'm still waiting on pictures from shutterfly to come...I have to say, with how long it takes, I really dont think I'll order from them again. Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends, and to my fellow Canadians, we can enjoy your holiday tv and maybe some travelling for black Friday sales.

Christmas Cheer

 I know some of my American friends are getting ready for Thanksgiving, but as a Canadian, ours was last month, so right after Halloween, Christmas starts to make an apperance in my thoughts. Last year we were leaving on the 27th of Dec for Florida, so I had to put all my Christmas stuff away on Boxing Day. So inorder to have some holiday cheer, I put our tree up the beginning of November. Well this year, because of some family situations I was feeling kinda a blue. So what better way to cheer someone up, then Christmas trees. Since last Friday was Veterans Day and the kids had no school, we stayed up late on Thursday and set up the basement tree:) It was our first time setting up that tree, and thanks to my Mother in law, it was possible.

 For some odd reason, my son thought it was just the funniest thing to wear a Bob Marley hat while decorating the tree. That kid has such an odd sense of humor lol. My girls, as you can see love to pose. I thought this would hold me til Dec 1 and I could put up the upstairs tree and finish decorating the house, but Monday, my 18 yr old came to visit with his girlfriend, for supper. I mentioned somethng about setting up the tree, next thing you know, it was 9:30 and the tree was up and decorated :)

  I haven't posted anything crafty in a while, so I'm just going to post something quick. I've been making advent bags for my kids and did a few layouts and a card, but I'll show you this name frame I made. My girlfriend had a baby girl 3 weeks ago. She and her husband had 3 boys under the age of 4, so they where over joyed to add a little girl to their group. I made her the name frame and a framed layout that she could add her own picture too. ( I forgot to take a pic of that!!!)

Paper- CTMH, Ribbon- Hobby Lobby, Flowers-recollections, Storybook Cart- cut @ 4, gems/bling-from my stash, Twine-


  I recieved a pink ATG yesturday from a blog hop...i apologize, I wrote it down, but can find the paper. So my plan today is to give that a try and figure out how to cut with my gypsy and E2. Thats the plan, but hubby worked a double last night and got home at 630 this morning, and now me and the kids are trapped in the basement. So we shall see ;)  Happy scrapping.



A day of Nothing...

  I feel like I've been out of my scrap room for ages, when really, its only been a few days. On Tuesday at about dinner time, I got extremely dizzy and felt like I could just close my eyes and sleep forever, it was such a strange feeling. My kids ended up making their own lunches so I could just lay down and pray the room would stop spinning. And ever since then I just haven't had any energy. Today, I'm hoping that changes. I feel somewhat ok.....and my E2 just arrived!!! As we speak its sitting beside me still in the box :) Trying to keep the joy of it arriving as long as possible :)

 I do have an award I recieve that needs to be thank for. Susan at Cricut and Grasshopper gave me the

award. I can't tell you how much this means to me:) With it comes some rules though:

1. Thank the person that awarded you- Check

2. Tell 7 things about yourself that people may not know about you.

3. Pass on the award to 7 other blogs.

So, the 7 things are

1. I have social anxiety disorder, which I now push myself to do things that I really fear doing.

2. I dated my husband briefly in High School.

3. As much as I love being able to be a SAHM I really really miss working outside the home.

4. I love planning parties

5.I don't own a scale in my house and can't remember the last time I weighed myself, or even cared. I am who I am.

6. I love TARGET, but know as soon as they come to Canada, it won't be the same :(

7.I love watching "retro" cartoons

And here are the peeps I award this too:

1.Christine at Scrapping with Christine

2Scrappin' 2 Little Princesses

3Scrappin' With Chriss and Lou

4Scrap- Stickle-Pop

5Respect My Kraft

6.Liz's Paper Loft

7.Lady of Leisure Ink

  So there it is ladies. I am now off to open my E2 and hopefully get a chance to play around abit!!!

Christmas Goodness....

 Like I've mentioned, I have many " favorite" Blogs. I mentioned Rinne's a few posts ago, but this time I want to send you on over to Candy's Craft Corner. She's giving away, not 1, not2, but 3 Cricut Cartridges away!!! So go on over, say Hi. You won't regret it:)

UGHHHHH

  I just have a quick post tonight. I so had big plans for this weekend, BUT on Thursday afternoon, my laptop died. I thought the hard drive was fried, but good news, turns out it was just a virus. Not to sure where it came from, but atleast its fixable. Soooo, having said that...all the pics I wanted to post and challanges I wanted to enter can not be done til Monday (I'm hoping). I have my husband's tiny little netbook, so I can still check my friends out in blogland, it just takes a bit longer.

 But the reason for this post, on this tiny little machine, is..... I just ordered the E2 from the Shopping Channel. On the Cricut blog they mentioned they were previewing it. I only have the small Cricut and while it did just perfectly for my scrapbooking, I realized to venture into the world of paper crafting, thanks to you wonderful ladies, I do NEED the bigger better machine!!! Im so excited!!!! In 4 to 7 days I'll have it. Now, if I could just figure out what photo printer to get, I'll be aces:)

Quick note on some awesome blog candy...

 I have, like most people, a few blogs that are my "favorite" I love them all, but the people on these special blogs have helped me and showed me some love almost since I started blogging. One of these people is Rinne at Rinne's Bliss.  She makes some amazing cards and layouts. And right now she's giving away some good candy. She went through her stash and is giving away her loved but neglected goodies. Check her out. You won't be sorry.

Click HERE

RCC27- Christmas is in the air...

 well, in my thoughts anyway. Here's a layout I made:

Paper- Stampin' up, making memories, memory keepers. Bling-Gemstones The Paper Studio

Tool-Tombow adhesive, creative memories circle cutter

Challanges:

1.More then Favors-Wacky Wednesday- Must use brads, buttons or bling (or all 3)

2Ribbon Carousel-  RCC27 New DT crew, anything goes.

 I have a couple of thank you's to go out, but I'm beat tonight and still have a layout to finish, so I'll send my Thanks tomorrow.



At Long Last....

 My room is done. It only took 4 days. I should start somewhat at the beginning. We moved to this house last une. In our old house my scrap spaces changed almost monthly. It started in a plastic 3 shelf storage container in the livingroom corner, where it was for 2 years til I got pregnant with my first daughter. After which time I moved it up to my room and stored it in the enternaiment centre (very small room). I kept it there for about a year. Then me and the DH decided to move it down into the basement (which up until then was under renos) in the computer room. Well then low and behold, I got pregnant with my last little monster, and in a 3 bedroom house with 3 kids space is tough to find (the house was only barely above 900sq ft)....so I moved to the furnace room. I had a table, a book shelf with 4 shelves, and the furnace and hot water tank. Nice eh?

 So when we bought this house, there was a built in "SPACE" that the previous owners used as a playroom for they're daughter. I called dibs right off the hop. We hadn't even gotten the house offer put in and I called dibs!! You can check HERE.  You still have to ignore the floor, I'll get around to changing it soon:)

  My Disney wall. Pictures of us all 3 times in front of the lego dragon

 My favorite saying (bought, not made) and my favorite pictures

 My table and shelves

 I bought the pink shelf, but it was wood color, I painted it. It holds my glitter

 CD shelves I bought at the thrift store to hold my CTMH stamps

I bought 2 of these and painted them white and added some ribbon and flowers where they were

damaged. One holds my FELT.

 It's a small room, and as I grow as a crafter, my room changes. This won't be the last time I change it I'm sure. I love my room. Its my little piece of heaven, where with a cup of coffee, tea or a glass of wine, I can craft and just have some me time:)

So Excited....

 Since the hubby decided to go on a road trip with his buddy (both Canadian, both HUGE American collage football freaks), I decided, rather on the spur of the moment, to redo my craftroom. I went to the thrift store, got a couple of things, and let the crazyness begin. I'll post before and after pic when I finally finish. YAY!!

Little bit Halloween, little bit Christmas....Beware, Picture Heavy

 The last couple of weeks have been kinda a blur. I had my niece's birthday party last weekend. It was a dress up party... I showed the card on my last post. Then this week my Husband was getting ready for his road trip which he left on yesturday (Thursday). We carved pumpkins on tuesday, and let me tell you, that was a chore in of it self. We carve 4, because of course, my kids can never just decide on one thing to carve, they each have to have their own. So, I cut the top off, and the rest was up to then, except my little one, where I cut out her's. Well lo and behold, after digging out the guts, they all quit on me and left it all up to me!!! So 2 hours later, 4 pumpkins where carved.

 I posted the last one because I was playing with the settings and while its not a great picture, my girls look like ghosts in it:) We're not a big Halloween family. We carve pumpkins and the kids trick or treat, but thats about it. Christmas is more our thing. Which leads me too.....

 A little bit Christmas. I love decorating for the holidays. This year I'll even be able to put up a second tree:) Anytime I can make a new Christmas thing, I get excited. So this project had me sooo excited.

Pattern paper: stampn 'up cardstock- Michaels, ribbon-Hobby Lobby. "Joy" cut at 3" flowers and brads from my stash as was the Merry bingo card.

 I think it turned out really well. I have another frame to decorate. I bought them both for a buck at our local dollar store. I have a great idea for the last one, and I'll post that soon. I also have a card for a friend who, after having 3 boys in the last 4 years (one set of twins :)) Finally had a little girl. She is so excited. I'll post that card after I mail it to her.

Hope you all stayed awake :) Happy Scrapping.

Halloween is just not my thing...

 Dont get me wrong, I lvoe dressing up the kiddies and taking them trick or treating, and we carve pumpkins, but really, thats the extent of my Halloween-ness. I start thinking about Christmas the beginning of october, so its hard to think of ghost and witches.
 
My neice turned 4 on saturday, and she had a Halloween dress up party, so I went with the theme and made her a card.

card stock- Michaels
star paper- 6x6 gift pack
Ribbon-black Michaels
            Orange Halloween- local dollar store
purple stickles

 I've left my comfort zone and started making cards, and now, I'm really leaving my comfort zone and entering this into
Little Scrap Pieces
and

Die cuttin Divas #38- anything using halloween colors-purple, black, orange, and green.

Blog Candy

Stumbled upon a very nice blog today, and she's got some candy to give away..check here and see Jo at A Little Piece of Me

Projects, projects, and More Projects

 I have tons of projects on the go right now....tons! But I caught a cold earlier this week, and its putting a hamper on my crafting time. I don't feel horrible, but its just made me REALLY tired. By 5:00 I'm ready for bed, lol. But I need manage to finish 2 of them. Both of them are my first tries, so I know that the more that I make, the better they will become.

  Both of the are gift card holders. I give alot of gift cards over the holidays. My step dad and Father in law both have EVERYTHING, so gift cards are usually the best gifts for them.

 I used CTMH paper and covered a toilet paper roll. I used a CTMH chipboard tag and covered it the same paper using the Art Philosophy cart to cut the same shape with the little holly cut out. I used a glossy accent adhesive to make it shine a bit. I stamped the sentiment on the front on white cardstock and cut it out. Added some ribbon, and voila!! Once I buy the cart, I'll use a glue dot to add the card to the chipboard tag and it done :) I really love this one. I know the more that I make, the more embellished and fun they'll become, but I do like the simplicity of this one.



This one is an according style. (excuse the pictures, I should have went upstairs to take them) I cut a piece of card stock 9x5 I believe and scored it at 3inches. I used scraps to make the pouches, but I do know that the pink with the snowflakes is CTMH as well. So the gift card could go in either pouch and the other you could add a little note, or a picture, a candy cane...anything:) I punched two eyelets in and used ribbon to tie it closed. Although next one, I think I'll use twine. I heat embossed a tree ornament on the front and used pink embossing powder (both are CTMH), but it didn't turn out when I first stamped, so I tried to line it up and stamp again. Didn't work, but I don't mind this one either. I love that its not the traditional Christmas colors, even though I love using red and green.

 So there are atleast 2 of my projects. I have 2 more I'm working on, as well as a Halloween/Birthday card that needs to be done by tomorrow, so I have to finish that today. Happy scarping people.

Could cards become my new thing?

 My daughters had a birthday party on the weekend, so I decided to give it another go a the card making thing. The little boy was turning 7, and since I didn't kow him to well, I went with a "spooky" theme instead of something else.

All of my supplies I used were scraps, so I'm not to sure what paper is what. I cut the skull at 3' and "Danger" at 1'. Both are from the preloaded gypsy Wanderings.

The pre made card was bought at the dollar store here, and had a type of sheen on it, so I had to emboss the "its the " which I think turned out really good, kinda ghoulish. I cut the "Birthday Boy" at 2' and it's from storybook.

  My nieces birthday party this weekend is a dress up halloween party, so I decided to make a card for that too. I have a nasty cold, so I didn't finish it last night. The plan is to finish it tonight, so if I can do it I'll post it. I'm also making some cards for a cause I found on Ling's Design Studio. Its Cards that Care, and its sending cards to seniors who may not have the opportunity to see family over the holidays. I have a couple of cards that I have for that already, but again, they need a few finishing touches. Will this become my new favorite thing to make now? Hmmmmm

 I have a couple of Christmas projects I'm working on as well, so stay tuned for those.

need some inspiration.....

I'm looking for a fun easy advent calender ideas....I have 3 kids so making little boxes isn't practical as 75 boxes kicking around with daycare kids isn't a good idea. If you have some ideas, send me a link:) I have a few thoughts turning in my head, but I might need a plan B ;)

Thanks crafty buddies.

Looking for a Great site?.....

Then head on over HERE. kamscraftyplace has some great blog candy and has some great cards too :) Check her out. Here's a pic of all her lovely goodies :

Long Weekend over :(... RCC24

 It was Thanksgiving Weekend here for us Canadians, and as usual, we had a couple of Family dinners. One at my In Laws, and one at my mom's. My inlaws had my Mom and Step Dad there too, so that was nice.

She made the cute little Pillgrim name tags using Everyday Paper Dolls. Aren't they cute:)

This is a layout I fif on Friday at a crop I went to. Its a pic of my girls at the Habour in Miami. We went for an overnight day trip during our Disney vacation in January. The cardstock is Co'redinations. The red print paper is Paper Crate and the colored print is American Maker. Ribbon is from Michaels. The parrot is cut from a cart I can't quite rememeber right now, but at 3 in and its covered in sparkles from Martha Stewart

, glitter ritz and stickles.

I'm entering these in:

1.papercraftweekendchallenge-product- Shimmer Challenge. I have yet to use any type of spray shimmer, so I'm using glitter as my shimmer.

2.ribbon carousel challenge- It must have ribbon, twine, thread...anything that comes from a spool, and this week was add sparkle or bling.

 Happy Scrapping



Quick Blurb...

 Is blurb a word? lol Anyways, this is a huge weekend for us here in Winnipeg as its Thankgiving today AND its the home opener of the return of our NHL team....The Winnipeg Jets!!! Huge deal, our turkey dinner has been postponed so DH can go to the game. But the reason for my quick post is this...

 I am a huge believer in supporting the smaller blogs new to the blog world, much like myself. One of the blogs I follow, Candy, has just reached a 100 followers!!! Its an amazing feat to me since I've been at 17 for a while now.  She gave away some awesome blog candy....and because she went above 100, she has decided to have another giveaway. So check out Candy at candyscraftcorner. Become a follower, check out her great projects, and possibly win some candy:)

A Little Bit of Scrapy Goodness

  So Sat. was World card Making Day, and I didn't make a card!!! Shocker I know. But, I did get a chance to scrap ALL weekend!!! Well, except for friday, I think I was in bed friday night at like 9:30, but thats a whole other story lol. But Saturday, the DH had football all day, then came home to WATCH football, so I tidied my room, and got some pages done. Then on Sunday, my girlfriend Brenda came ove (3 sunday in a row) and we pounded out some more pages!!! I only got 3 done on Sunday, but I do love them. I'll get to one of them in a minute though.

  But first, I'm a little confused on some things, lol, ok maybe more then a few, but lets start with just 1. I get the digi stamp...print it out and color, pretty simple. But what I dont understand is the digital dies. Do I print out the shapes on card stock and then cut it? Or do I attach my cricut to the computer and cut it that way?  Sometimes being new to the blog world can be kinda intimidating. All the lingo, I'm learning!! I swear I am :)

  On to my layout.....This year has probably been one of the best for us here weather wise. We had a very cold very wet spring, but we had one of the hottest summers, and right now, our fall has been pretty darn fantastic. For you Canadians out there 28 C in october can't be beat. For you Americians, I believe thats mid 70's, maybe closer to 80. (not to sure on the conversions, bad I know), so spending time outside has not been hard. Seeing all the beautiful colors of the leaves, while still wearing shorts and tshirts...not hard to love fall. So, while the pictures in this layout was from a rare warm Spring day this year, the colors remind me of fall. The pictures aren't stunning in the "art" sense, but I LOVE them. It was a warm day, and we were just having a quick meal of hot dogs and noodles, but we took our plates outside and had a great little picnic. Our patio furniture weren't even out of the shed yet. But it was all so sweet and perfect.

Recipe: Cardstock (all) CTMH-top picture cocoa,base-desert sand, journaling block-chocolate, Squarel-Chocolate,

cocoa,blush, bamboo. Patterned paper-scrap piece, will have to find what it is, eyelets, making memories, glitter

brads- doodle bugs, glitter- glitter ritz, bird sticker-peel-offs. Die cut squarel-Cindy loo cuts at 3inchs. Adhesive-Tombow

Corner rounder-CTMH

 So there you have it folks...and I am entering this in a challange. To check out the challange cateredcrop

I used :

1. Colors- Fall colors- gold yellow green

2. Embellisments- Glitter

3. Tools- Rounded corners ( journaling block)

 Go check out cateredcrop, try mixing up a reciepe or 2. And let me know that you did:) I'd love to see it.

Frustration,frustration, frustration

So, I am the QUEEN of procrastination. If I can put it off until tomorrow, I will, and do. Last month a made a note in my date book to send a card off for my nephew's birthday on the 21st. 2 weeks before, I thought, "ok Angie, don't forget to make a card" "ok I will tomorrow" well 14 tomorrows came and went, and I still hadn't made a card :( So Yesturday, I sat down to finally make a card. Well, as we all know, I'm not a card maker. I had the thought of making a hockey dude, but soon realized that I only have the Paper Doll dress up cart, not the Everyday Dress up. So there went that idea. Now what.

 I didn't want to make the card to babyish, he turned 9. But I didnt want it too "manly" either, cuz he is still a kid. So after 5 attempts I finally have one made.

 Here's one of the 5 attempts:

 I loved the colors on the paper. Its from CTMH and I thought they were perfect boy colors...so I went off of that. Then I added the chipboard shapes, but since they don't ink well, I thought, I'll cover them with paper....well have you ever tried to cover a swirl with paper then cut off the excess. Man, its tough. So then I looked at it, and it looked just messy. But I continued. I stamped the rocketship and colored it in. I don't have any sentiments stamps, so I just wrote "Hope you had a blast" After finishing it, I hated it!!! So I give up. Tomorrow is another day...

So ta da!! Here is what I'm sending. I had cut out a giraffe and had this whole "hope you partied like an animal" thought going, but after I cut out the giraffe, I just didn't like him. The owl was something I stamped for one of yesturdays tries, and I thought he was pretty cute. I used the CTMH heart cartridge to cut the card at 5.5 inches and the same cart to cut the flower shape, 1 at 3 in 1 at 2 in. I added a pearl sticky thing from CTMH as well. The ribbon is just extra stuff I had. I did stamp one the inside "Follow your dreams..." and "Believe in WHOOO you are." plus a little hand written note;)

 I was sooo frustrated making this card, and its not anything near fantastic, but I'm proud of it. I think it looks pretty good.

 And just a little plug for another blog...justyolie is having a link up for pink starting Oct 1st. Head over there for some added inspiration and for a good cause:)