Happy New Year

  For my last post in 2009 I wanted to complete a layout I'd been working on the past couple of days (I get to scrapbook in 5min intervals due to the demands of my 7 month old).  I normally put the focus of the layout on the photos, but in this case it was more about playing with shapes.  I dragged out my Creative Memories shape cutters to create the hexagons which I placed in a circle to mimic the snowflakes cut using my Winter Woodland Cricut cartridge.  The blue and white by itself felt a little flat, so I added silver embossing to the edge of the hexagons and a couple of rinestone gems for a little sparkle.  While digging out the embossing powder I tripped on my acrylic paint, so I decided to dust them off and paint a chipboard snowflake from Stampin Up that had been hiding in my stash for some time.

  I really loved working with these photos as it reminds me of a time when my family all still lived here together.  Now that we are so spread apart the importance of capturing memories such as these has become far more apparent.  We always take for granted that what we are blessed with today with still be here tomorow.  As I enter the New Year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the treasured memories of the year past and be grateful for all that I've had.  As for the next year, my number one resolution is to live more in the moment and appreciate what is here right in front of me while I have the luxury of doing so.

I Won!!!!!!!!

  I just had to share the fact that I won the 10th day of Christmas prize over at the Bo Bunny Blog !  I'm just thrilled to be recieving an assortment of cardstock to create with in the new year. I just want to wish everyone a new year filled with friends old and new, family, and creative inspiration.  And I want to thank those that have visited my blog these past few months (I'm still a new blogger) and I appreciate all the comments left.

  I covered a little orange box in white paper and inked it with walnut distressing ink then spritzed it with glimmer mist.  I then added a snowflake patterned paper by Basic Grey.  Using my Winter Woodland Cricut cartridge I created the layered "Season's Greetings" and glittered snowflakes. (Martha Stewart glitter)

  This was to hold a few cookies baked by Kieth to give as a little something for my neighbour who always sends us some baking.

These Sock Monkeys were too adorable to resist.  I discovered them at our local craft fair this November and ordered one for each of the girls.  They have thier names stitched on the bottoms, and I was able to chose which socks I wanted them made from. You can find them on  Mrs B's Website.

  I love this picture of Isa in this little hat that came with the snow suit from Grandma and Grandpa.  The little bear was a gift from her brother Tristan.

  On Christmas Eve we heard the Fire Truck Sirens and looked out the front porch to see a neighbour's truck in flames.  The flames were so high the coating melted off the power cables above and they had to shut off her power.  Thank goodness no one was hurt.  Our stellar fire crews had the flames douced in a short while and left an icy skating rink in the road.  This was rather exciting to watch and gave Kieth and I a break from our Christmas wrapping.

Snow Shoeing Boxing Day

  Kieth and Tristan recieved Snow Shoes for Christmas this year and spent the late afternoon on Boxing Day taking a trip down to the lake with the dogs.

  The snow was quite fluffy and little Kiara had some difficulty managing it, so Tristan the protector picked her up and carried her to the crustier snow on the Lake's surface.

  Tristan stands by what I call Ice Volcanoes, created by stumps on the lake's shore. Chewy and Kiara are thrilled to have such a vast area to run and play on.

  An opening in the ice created by a small creek.  Boys are always drawn to running water.  Only the frigid air keeps them from splashing and playing in it.

  The trees look etherial all covered in frost with the moon peeking out from behind.

A little bit of Christmas

  Just a few photos from Christmas morning #2.  As we had company in from Nova Scotia that would only be with us till the 22nd of December, we celebrated Chritmas twice.  These pictures are a compilation of both Christmas's.  The ornament was made for me by my daughter Felicity in her grade 3 class.  I love my owl tree topper.  He sits as though he's watching over all the woodland creatures below.

  These are the photos we took for our Christmas cards and a family photo for Christmas presents.  I love the cream backdrop with the kids photos, but found the contrast too strong in the second photo with our dark cloths.  Will have to work on another one this spring.

Critters from the East

  Mom and Dad flew out for the holiday carrying a box full of live Lobsters as a Christmas gift for the family.  It was quite the experience cooking these critters as I had never done so myself before.  I couldn't put them in the pot myself, and no one else wanted to either, so Dad got the short straw and had to do the deed.

  We took them out of the box and placed one on the floor as we checked to make sure they were still alive.  Merlin investigated the new invaders, but didn't get too close as he recognized the danger of coming in contact with those giant claws.

  Tristan holding one of the Lobsters. He was trying to scare his sister as she didn't want to be anywhere near them.

  This critter was quite a lot of work!  We wore gallons of Lobster juice while trying to crush the hard shells of the claws with the knife sharpener.  Pieces of shell and juice went from one end of the kitchen to the other, and covered one of the Christmas balls hanging from the Chandelier.  This was an adventursome dinner that is best served out of doors I think!!

Christmas Card Challenge - Trigger Tuesday at Moxie Fab World

I way over visiting Moxi Fab World when I spotted this cute simple card made by Carolyn King based on this platter from Crate and Barrel.  You can see her creation here

So I decided for the fun of it to see what I could whip up in the 5 mins that Isabelle would entertain herself on her play matt.  I used my Cricut to cut the snowman, and just freehanded the tree.  The gold balls are small gold brads.  The patterned paper is Holly Jolly Dotted Line by Doodlebug Designs which I've had hiding in my stash for a few years now.  The style of this card is a little more simplistic than I would normally do, but I think it's rather cute and will make a great teacher card for my 8 yr old Felicity's teacher.

I feel like it needs a sentiment or greeting and may add one after, but I love the fact that I actually created this in about 5 minutes!

Inspired Blueprints: Sketch 37

With very little time to create, I needed a little help to get started and finished rather quickly. Inspired Blueprints sketch blog was just what I needed to get me on my way.  I've never worked from someone elses sketches before, but was rather pleased to be able to actually complete something as I didn't spend hours coming up with a layout for specific photos, rather I found photos to fit the layout.

So here is my interpretation of this sketch which can be found here.

The Two Hearts and Title were cut using the Wild Card cartridge from Cricut, and the Border using Accent Essentials.  The Patterned paper is Olivia by Glitz design, and the green glitter is by Martha Stewart.

This was so much fun, I plan to try using some more sketches to catch up on the mountains of photos just waiting to be scrapbooked. I'll save those extra special pages for when I have time to sit and ponder! LOL!!