BlogHoppin' with a Very Merry Christmas

Hello and Welcome to another SOTM BlogHop with some fabulous Close To My Heart consultants! We've got 66 participating this month and hopefully we'll get you excited to create some Christmas themed projects.

If you've arrived from Kim's Blog, then you are on the right track!

Well I'm loving the new Pear and Partridge papers but I love it even more when you add a sheet of Dakota paper as the wooden board background...this card just feels rustic to me :)

Stay tuned for more posts with this great October stamp of the month!

Now head on over to TerryAnn's Blog for some more inspiration and I hope to enjoy this month's Hop!!!

What a feeling...

What a feeling! To use up some paper that I've been hanging on to for too long AND to get these photos from 2009 scrapped and added to Marissa's school album!!! YIPEE!!!

Not only have a used some paper from long ago, but I've also gotten into the sticker sheet I bought that coordinates with this Jillibean Soup line.

I held onto the little slips of paper that Marissa created from a machine during her visit to Science World...decided to cut out around the image and add them to the layout seeing as I've kept them for 3 years !

Now I have to say that I typically DO NOT like to cut a photo and split it over two pages...don't know why I am so adamant about this but I've definitely stepped outside my comfort box on this one...the photo worked for this and I wanted to get all 5 photos in without having to crop them too small.

Science World is always so much fun and educational, no matter your age...

Marissa spent a dollar to press this penny with the Science World machine and it made a great embellishment!

Here's this weeks Let's Scrap sketch, fast and easy, I hope you have a chance to play along and get some scrappin' done!

check out my post!

Hello again, I know two posts in one day is a little over the top! but I forgot to let you know that I have got a featured post on Scrapbook Challenges today...it's called Web Wednesday and as a Design Team member there we get to post to the SC blog!

Check out this link here:

 

Stripes and scraps

Hello!

Stripes, stripes and more stripes...that might be going through your mind when you see this sketch from Scrapbook Challenges this week, but I saw, scraps, scraps and more scraps! 

What a great way to rid yourself of papers bits and pieces, especially from those packages of paper collections that came with two sheets of each patterned design...I know I have lots of papers that fit that description...once I used the one piece of patterned paper, I didn't go back to it again...I get bored easily and I like to use up that paper, so I can get new paper!!!

This is a great sketch to highlight several pieces of patterned paper without it being too overwhelming with pattern...

I thought the quote was perfect for this photo of Matthew...doing something kinda new; Paintball and doing something old; PLAYING...because you are never too old to play and hopefully he will always remember that!

I've been adding lots of Brass bits up in these past two layouts and you'll see more in tomorrow's post too...so love getting into my older products and getting them into my layouts!

I've used this single sketch but the double would look great too...I think I'd add some more photos to the LHS and move the journalling more to the left as well...perhaps another day...enjoy!

Head on over to Scrapbook Challenges for more inspiration from the Design Team ladies

Hello ! 

I've got this weeks sketch from Scrapbook Challenges...its a little different and I don't totally LOVE my layout, I went a little bit crazy with spritzers...even inked up some of my photos! oops!!!

I think I'll have another go at this sketch with some different photos and papers and see if I'm satisfied with the sketch then...but sometimes you DO have to stick it down and move on...so this is a perfect example of me doing just that!

I took a couple pictures of my son and his Hockey team at their season wrap-up gathering at the Paintball place...great idea for boys...it was a really wet and muddy day so that added to the experience.

So I spritzed the Kraft card stock LOTS, which looks better up close and I also spritzed it onto the canvas alphabets which I quite liked in the end :)

The Burlap Ribbon from Close To My Heart was a little too wide so I cut it down the centre and adhered it instead...I like the burlap, it reminds me of the dirty man site at the Paintball place!

Here are the double and single page sketches...I hope you enjoy using them yourselves!

my life is nuts...

Or maybe...my life in a nutshell...not sure which is truer? but as much as renovating is fun and exciting, it is also stressful and MESSY! 

This is pretty much what I've been doing for weeks:

and I've even kept it plugged in...which isn't typically me as I like everything to have its place and everything to be in its place!

So this week our deck construction is waiting on our flooring guy, all we've got to do is the stonework, put the siding back on the house and finish the floors. 

On the deck floor we have decided to go with a finish that will look like tile but it's actually a type of epoxy finish, durable like concrete but won't crack in different weather conditions...sounds great, looks even better but unfortunately this guy is super busy and we have to wait for him to have a day to do the weatherproofing on the deck first before we can continue on and finish the rest...he will put the finished deck product on last once everything else is completed...so this is what it's looking like today:

Jeff has gotten the corner fireplace framed, which changes the look considerably and I really like it! The stonework and framing will continue all the way up into the ceiling on the fireplace with the beam running through it...harder to visualize now.

I'm working on quotes for my chandelier and wall sconces...fingers crossed I can get some smaller quotes as the prices are crazy and now that I know what I want...I want it!

The siding guys are going to have some fun trying to get our old pieces back up, kinda like a puzzle and seeing as it is now discontinued...we have to make sure we get every last piece back on there!

This is the part I am really looking forward to...seeing my deck through the windows inside the house...I have had these shutters closed for years, because of the excessive amount of light and also because I didn't always want to see the yard or neighbours yard...soon I will get to see some lovely rock work and our outdoor fireplace...getting excited :)

WOW, hello again!!!

Ok, so I've been seriously MIA...I'm sure its because school has started and my eldest, Olivia, is now off in Prince George at University...(sad face)...and I'm trying to get into some sort of routine...I think I could be sad and maybe a little depressed that my kids are growing up so darn fast and if I sit still and do 'nothing'...maybe it won't happen????

Well that's my take on it anyways...so scrapbooking has been lacking and my Mojo has been hiding lately...only coming out when it must...like today!

Here is my take on this weeks Lets Scrap sketch...these are photos from a couple years ago when Matthew went with his Grade 7 class to Camp! Jaime (hubby) went also as a chaperone and had this group of boys in his cabin...I'm sure there were more stories than the ones I heard, but I hope to do a companion page with a journalling pocket so Matthew can re-tell them for future reference :)

Now when you buy these paper collections with fun papers like these, sometimes it is difficult to actually 'use' them! This weeks sketch just happened to work well with the photos I had printed already, the chipboard embellishments worked well too! Which was a very good thing because with my Mojo missing lately, this layout didn't give me too much trouble!

You can just barely see the texture in these papers, but this little owl and branch were a great addition to the layout and just goes to show you if you hang onto something long enough, you can find a use for it!!! teehee...maybe not words to live by...but it worked here!

It's blurry but you can see the new CTMH burlap ribbon I've used and I LOVE IT...just sayin'...and of course my CTMH cork alphabets...we better keep these guys for a while longer because they are my go-to alphas :)

Now here's this week's sketch...check out the Lets Scrap site for more examples using this sketch and to perhaps get some scrapbooking done!

Deck Progress

After our return from Shuswap in August, our builders surprised us with the demolition of our deck!

This is the view from the grass:

and this is what the deck looks like today:

the ceiling is looking great and Jeff has the walls built for the bar-be-que station and the wind break next to the stairs...the pillar on the right of the stairs will be wrapped in stack stone as well...tomorrow Jeff will be building the wall for the fireplace.

 It's exciting to be creating this outdoor living space, but the construction is quite messy, sawdust everywhere inside the house...whenever the dogs come inside the floors and couches are covered with sawdust...I've given up on keeping it clean...hopefully the cutting of wood will be done this week and we will start focussing on the roof and stonework...stay tuned for more progress photos :)