Isa's Birthday In Barkerville

  Isa turned 2 recently, but as Daddy was away working we waited to celebrate with him.  We decided on a family trip to one of our favorite spots....Barkerville, BC.  The kids love the ground squirells popping out of their holes, the old fashioned Horse and Carriages, and all the great Street Performances going on throughout the day.  They loved running to each of the different exibits and seeing all that "old fashioned stuff".

   Felicity dressed for the occassion in her bonnet we got from Barkerville some years back and an easter dress made of cotton eyelet.  Kieth had his Barkerville hat..and Tristan his typical teen garb.

   As always...Icecream is one of our favorite treats to end a delicious homemade style lunch.  And a great Chineese dinner ended the day.

Family Calendar Minis (photo heavy)

 Three weeks before Christmas I decided to start a project as Christmas presents for some of my family.  Photo Calendars are always a favorite and so I decided to make 3.  Needless to say these calendars were more of an undertaking than expected and Christmas presents turned into New Years presents, then Valentine's, and now St Patty's.  I was thrilled to have finally shipped them early last week and cross them off of my unfinished projects list.  Although the first 2 1/2 months have already passed, they will make great mini albums for them to enjoy once the year is done.

  The calendars are 8 x 8 and each month features a scrapbook page with pictures from 2010 and perhaps some journaling and/or a Title.  I tried to keep the pages relatively simple so that these projects could actually be finished.

  I know that these will be cherished for years to come and it makes it all worth it, and is the reason I scrapbook in the first place!  Next time though, I think I'll start a little sooner lol!!  Now on to the rest of the pile....

A Few Projects to Share! (Yes Im still here)

  No I haven't won the lottery and disappeared to some exotic Island in the middle of nowhere, I've just been hiding under a tonne of unfinished projects and can't even post any of the finished ones as they are gifts that haven't been recieved yet. But.....I do have a couple of little things that I've made in between that I can share.

  On my Birthday weekend, my girlfriends came over for a craft day and my friend Tracy brought the supplies and inspiration for they cute cards and gift mug we created.  She found the inspiration on another blog called Sarahs Ink Spot if you'd like to check it out.

  I don't have a list of supplies or manufacturers as they were provided by my good friend Tracy, but I hope you enjoy.  I will be back in the next couple of days to post a couple more projects.
  And thank you to those who continue to stop by even though there has been nothing new for quite some time. I always appreciate the comments and love to know that there are others out there that I can share my passion with.

Ava - Birthday Card

Just a quick post to show off a Birthday Card I made for my Grandmother a couple of days ago. I used some more of that beautiful paper Juliana sent me by GCD Studios - Ava. I've been dying to make some of those roses I see everywhere using th 5 or 6 petal flowers, so this is what I came up with:

 I cut apart one of my Prima Say it in Pearls to add the swirlies and three dots under the greeting.  The flowers were dressed up with a little Stickles and then covered entirely with Glossy Accents to give them an epoxy look. The leaves were some leftovers from a friends wedding flowers just hot glued beneath. I just love how rich these flowers look with that added shine.

 I used one of my Stampin' Up sets which had been long neglected for the sentiment.  I keep promising myself that I'm going to start stamping more, but have yet to find the motivation to do so. So I figure baby steps..LOL!!

  I hope my Grandma doesn't see this post before she gets this card, but I just had to share it as it has been so long since I have posted anything and didn't want everyone to forget I exist.

Supplies:

Patterned Paper - GCD Studios Ava, Glitter - Ranger Distressed Stickles, Swirls & Dots - Prima Say it in Pearls, Cricut Cart - Storybook, Sentiment - Stampin' Up, Cardstock - Unknown

Last Minute Birthday Invites

  It was Felicity's Belated Birthday Party this weekend and only a couple of days before I decided to make her some party invitations using the leftover scraps of black from a project I'm currently working on and her favorite colour purple of course.  I used the Wild Card Cricut cart and Zoo Balloo to cut the title and all the spiders, bats, and headstones as well as the grass edging (on the cupcakes below).  A white gel pen was used for the wobbly webs.

  The inside of the invitation was made in Adobe Photoshop Elements using an unkown free stamp for the background. I added a little purple bat which had a little Ranger stickles glitter on it.

  I spotted this tutorial over at the Cosmo Cricket blog and decided to whip up these little goodie bags.  The little bat is a rubber stamp from Stampin Up as is the Orange Grosgrain Ribbon

  We decked the house out for Halloween as that was what she wanted for this years party theme.  Her girlfriends thought it was awsome!  They met at the pool for a swim and then came back here for cake, games, and opening gifts.

  The house felt rather crowded with 12 kids (including my own) and we enjoyed the peace and quiet when the last went home.  Uncle Dave and Rachelle showed up for a late dinner from there trip accross Canada to make a perfect birthday ending.

1st Birthday Pics

  Like a little pink princess, Isabelle was the star of the show at her Birthday BBQ last weekend.  The timing was perfect as her Nanny and Papa were in town as well as Leah so we were able to celebrate with them as well as our friends in town.  She's wearing an adorable little outfit picked out by her proud Daddy which matches her sucky perfectly.

  The sun shone all day and there was hardly a mosquito in sight.  I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.  It was so nice to have family and friends gathered together, an event that proves more difficult as more of us move further and further apart.  I can't believe my baby is already a year old!! :o( 

  These blue and pink cupcakes disappeared quickly with the children gobbling two each.  I even made the icing from scratch this time, not bad for the non-baker LOL!!

  Isabelle very daintily picked off and ate all of the icing from her pink cupcake, licking off her fingers carefully between each bite.  Her buddy Levi ate only the cake and skipped the icing, they could have shared one between them.

  Once she was done with the icing she decided to play with the cake that was left behind.  So much for being dainty.  She spread icing all over her tray and filled her bib to the brim.

Isabelle's first steps !!

  Just as I thought she would never walk, she took those first akward steps on the eve of her first birthday.  She was a little slow to get moving but gained momentum with each step.  This new game of walking to her sibblings continued through to bedtime.  With my other two, once they figured this out there was no more crawling.  But Isabelle has tired of this new game and is back to familiar ground scooting around on her bottom.  With some encouragement we can get her to take a step or two, but she is not eager to walk as her sibblings were.  OK by me as she is growing up way too fast anyways.

Happy Belated Blog Giveaway!!

  Now that everything's cleaned up and my scrap room is back to normal, I thought this would be a great time to celebrate the birth of something that has connected me to a world of wonderful talented people who give to me so much in inspiration and encouragement.  I started this blog March 15 of last year and have loved being able to share my life and creativity with friends, family, and so many others out there in the blogasphere.  To help celebrate I would like to give a little something back in the form of a giveaway!

  I've purchased two of these fabulous kits from Love Is In The Details.  One for myself, and one to share.  All you need to do to be entered is to leave me a comment on this post!  For a second chance to win, advertise my giveaway on your blog with a link back to this post.  Then put your blog address in your comment so I can check it out.  Closing date is Wednesday March 31, 2010. Good luck everyone, and thanks for celebrating with me :O)

xoxo

Glynis

Mini Album Project

  Felicity helped me cut and glue the back covers of her Birthday mini albums created for herself and each of her guests.  We wrapped cereal boxes cut to 6" x 6" with black cardstock for the backside, and cut a 6"x6" piece of the patterned cardstock to cover the other side and hide the black paper edges.

  We used the Bind-It-All to create these minis which had 6 patterned cardstock pages.  The front covers were 6"x6" pieces of acrylic which I inked with black Staz On ink and then added some cool swirly rubons.

  I just loved how they came out!  I printed some digital journaling spots which I colour matched by adjusting hue in photo elements.  I would have liked to pre-cut some photo matts for the girls, but just ran out of time.

The girls all loved them and had a blast decorating them.  It  also made my life easier as they were occupied for quite some time rather than running around mad, hopped up on pink icing!

Felicity's 8th Birthday

  Brrr.....It's -14 c this sunny Thanks Giving morning. What happened to all that unusually warm weather we were having this October? A perfect day for catching up on my Blog though. With Tristan entertaining Isabelle and Felicity at a sleepover, I figure I better take advantage while I can.

  Felicity's 8th Birthday was a success with the girls enjoying the craft projects Felicity and I planned for them, and they were just thrilled with the hand stamped Goody Bags stuffed full of girly things. We had Felicity's Favorite Chocolate Cupcakes with multicolored icing and sprinkles of course.

  Although this was supposed to be a no presents party, each of the girls insisted on getting her a little something. They sat on the floor and played spin the horn to see who's present she would open first. She was ecstatic to receive a grey Webkins kitty to replace the one she lost on top of the school. She also received a lovely bracelet and necklace set in her favorite color - purple!, and an adorable tin full of special goodies and trinkets.

  These girls are so goofy! I couldn't get a group shot with all of them smiling, as they were determined to wear their party hats on their faces. They look like a group of Dodo birds.

  Each of the girls had a different bead kit from which they created necklaces or whatever else they could come up with.  It was fun to see thier individual creativity as no one copied the pattern that was included in each kit.

  With more stickers and embellishments than any girl could want, they had a blast decorating and personalizing the mini albums Felicity and I made for them. I took pictures throughout the party and printed up pictures on my little printer for them so they would have photos for their albums. Some of the girls used the albums for a diary, using stickers to put the name of a cute boy they like on the page. Lots of giggling and whispering at the kitchen table.


  After the parents collected these party goers, Isabelle passed out for a much needed afternoon nap, and I sat back to survey the damage.  Cake crumbs everywhere, and packaging and paper all over the kitchen table.  But over all there was little cleanup, and most important, the afternoon had been a success!

Kieth's 38th Birthday

I wanted to bake Kieth a cake for his birthday, but since he wouldn't be here to eat it, and the last thing I need is a cake I thought I would wish him a happy birthday and make a picture of a cake for him instead. We will have to wait a week till he comes home for the real thing. This will be the first time in 20 years that he has had to work on his birthday, (as he has reminded me several times). As I only spoke to him briefly early this morning, I hope it turned out to be a good day for him. You never know how things will go on "the Patch".

With so many birthdays in the last few days (friends, family, Felicity's friends), I felt inspired to sketch out and create a few birthday cards. Unfortunately, I've only had time to complete one so far but am optimistic that I will have time for the others later this week as Isa's nap schedule seems to be back on track.

This first card is rather simple, but I like the colours and whimsical design in Basic Grey's paper pack and didn't want to distract from that by cluttering up the canvas with too many embellishments.