Merry Christmas

Not sure when I'll be able to post over the next week or so but I'll be back for sure in the new year,hopefully with some pages and maybe kitchen photo's and probably snow photo's !!

Until then........

Bad Blogger !

Nearly a week since I last posted.I haven't much to report either.The boys are finished from school so that means 2 weeks with no homework and no lunches to make !

I've done everything Christmas related apart from a few last minute fresh fruits and veggies and I can't believe Christmas is in 3 days,I'm not feeling very festive this year for some reason.

Yesterday was officially the first day of winter,really thought that started at the end of November with all the snow we've had so far ! Anyway another good dumping yesterday but luckily it was Sunday and no need to leave the house.I had time yesterday to make the 3 memorabilia frames for my wall in the kitchen,so hopefully if it's sunny tomorrow I will take photo's of the kitchen.

Still no scrapping for me,I did tidy up my space and put all the things back in their right places from all the cards and mini albums I made,so maybe now I will be able to create something.



I'm up to date here with my photo a day and above is a mosaic of the first 16 days,since I don't like to post without a photo.

I'm done !

At last....
72 pieces of cardstock,
24 strips of striped paper,
18 8x10 photo layouts,
2 tape runners and
half a booklet of AC letter stickers
later and I've finished my 2 mini albums I was making for my Mum and In-laws.They turned out quite well and considering they were very simple and basically the same design for each page they still took a long time.I'll post pictures after Christmas.Which I can't believe is only 9 days away !!

Not much happening here,just a few cards left to post and presents to wrap and I'll be done and hopefully it will be time to relax.I say it every year but this year I think my New Years resolution will be to write my Christmas cards the first week of January,that way I'll remember who sent them us and they'll be done.....of course I'll probably forget where I put them because I'll put them in a safe place !

Here's card I made and mailed today for my Mum's birthday,it's at the beginning of January and I forgot to put it in the parcel with her Christmas present so I hope she gets it in time.I've had very little scrap time for the last month or so so I thought I'd use some of my recent purchases on some cards.



I can post it here as she doesn't have a computer and unless she's taken up popping into Internet cafes,which I highly doubt,I'm quite safe in the fact she won't see it.

DT news and more photo's

After 2 years of being on the Scrapbook Centrale Design Team I've decided to leave.It wasn't an easy decision but it's something that I have been thinking about for a while.Lots of reasons that make it the best decision for me right now.

I am also hoping to actually get some scrapping done this weekend...it's been so long and I'm dying to use the October Afternnoon paper I bought a while back.

I just couldn't resist and went out twice more to take more photo's !!


The neighbours pine tree just captivated me !

My photo a day is up to date here as of now !

More snow !

We had more snow last night and overnight there was some freezing rain and yet more snow this morning but it made for pretty pictures !



They should all click bigger !



I love the ice on the branches.



and lastly.....



Off out now to take more as my son's just told me I have to go check out the neighbours pine tree !

I'm up to date on my photo a day too,check it out here.

Another year older.

Yes,today's my birthday and do you want to see what I got.....................



A lovely snowstorm !!(If you click on the picture you can see the snow falling) there was only supposed to be about 3cm but there must be 5 to 6 inches now on the driveway.Anyway,it didn't stop me meeting my friends for lunch,glad they all decided to brave the weather for me !

Sunday we went to get our tree.It was disappointing this year and the first time in 4 years we haven't cut our own tree.I think this is the last year for that particular field because the trees were all either very small or too big,even for us.So we ended up getting one of their pre cut trees and we went with pine again.It snowed like crazy while we were there so it made it festive ! I love the long needles of the pine but it makes hard work decorating it.Anyway this is what it looked like last night.



It's not touching the ceiling this year so it's about 10 foot tall.

OK I'm re posting this post using Html and it seems to be making a difference,thanks Susan :)

Another year older

OK this post is now residing in the post above,it's exactly the same but I got the photo's to work.

That Friday feeling

I can say for the first time in nearly 2 months I will not be working on anything kitchen related this weekend.............Woo Hoo !!

I plan on decorating the outside of the house,getting the tree and finishing off my in-laws Christmas gift.......that's it.

In scrapbooking news I won the Scenic Route monthly challenge this month with this page and the weekly SS blog challenge with this one .Good stuff :)

That's it off to enjoy the weekend and keep up with my photo a day.

Shhhhhhh

I'm supposed to be painting but if I don't write this now I'll never do it today !

I'm up to date with my photo a day here.

We are going to get our Christmas tree this weekend,ever since we moved out here we've been going here for our tree.It's fun,the boys love it but we always come home with a tree much bigger than we thought it would be,good job we have a high ceiling.This was last years tree.....

After years of having a silver and gold tree and 3 years ago making it silver,gold and purple.I'm out for a change and will make my kids happy by having a green and red tree,with silver this year.................................I will not make them ecstatic by having multicoloured lights.......sorry kids never going to happen in my home !!

It's Wednesday !

Middle of the week and I'm here to post. I am being good this week !

I grouted the tiles yesterday........it was hard.They have a beveled edge and scraping the grout off was not as easy as things I'd done before and it took longer than I thought but it's done and really finishes it off. A little bit of painting to do today and it done except for the picture frames.I really want to get to work on these frames but I have other stuff to do first. When we moved in I created a large clip frame with all bits and pieces of our lives before and after we met,concert tickets, restaurant receipts,plane tickets but I took it down for some reason and it never got put back up. So I'm re doing it in 3 separate frames to put along an empty unless wall we have..........I have an idea on how I want it to look but I know how those idea's normally turn out ! so fingers crossed.

Here are 3 more cards I made at the weekend.....I make them with intentions of sending them but then I realise I like them so much I don't want to part with them !!

I have loaded my first 2 photo's here for my photo a day challenge.

Oh and Ash "awarded" me this ! Thank you Ash,so I'm passing it on to my friend Susan who's blog I love when she updates it ;)

December DT

Let's see if I can post everyday this week !

This month for Scrapbook Centrale I got to use the Christmas line from Doodlebug.It was fun,bright and glittery..........

1997 seems a very long time ago.........the holly stickers are glittery and I liked them as we had a huge holly bush in our garden in England,something that makes me think of Christmas.

I also made these 5 cards using the Doodlebug stuff and it all co-ordinated so well with some coloured Christmas American Crafts rub-ons from last year.

I was on a card roll and made 3 others from Scenic Route stuff,I'll post those tomorrow.

Good intentions.....

....I had them I really did !

I fully intended to update before now but life got busy.

Friday I was not in the best of moods I was mad,upset and could totally understand why my son is so discouraged but after a glass of wine,lots of extremely loud music and a moan to a friend I'll leave it at some rules and regulations are just bloody stupid and some people are obviously set in there ways and there's nothing you can do about it.

The kitchen is almost there,really it is...................we tiled this weekend here's proof....




Well I tiled he cut tiles and took photo's,now I just need to grout and touch up the woodwork and voila.....done!

Since today is December the 1st it means I'm starting my photo a day again over here . I'm so mad with myself because the shot I wanted to take today I couldn't as I forgot to take my camera because I was not fully awake when we left the house at 6.20 this morning.......................Oh well,I'll find something else !

Oh and hopefully fingers crossed we passed our citizenship test today.It will be 8 to 10 weeks before we find out but I am 99.9% sure i answered everything right and the interview was good so just waiting for that piece of paper.

Bad blogger.......

Yep that's me.

I just have not had the time or the enthusiasm to post unfortunately,too many things on my mind does not make me a happy person :(

The kitchen................still not done but it's getting closer,all the little bits were finished off today.

Citizenship..............I wonder how many born and bred Canadians know all these facts ? and why don't the over 55's need to take it ? !

Scrapbooking....................hardly anytime for this and that makes me sad,I like my hobby how dare life get in the way! I did get a page picked up yesterday for the April CK which was great.

The weather............... I did not like waking up to this yesterday............

We had about 6 inches and it's still out there,oh I am so not looking forward to winter.

I'll be back soon in a much better mood !

I can see it.......

The light at the end of the kitchen tunnel ! Yesterday should have seen the fitters back to finish all the little bits but someone either Home Depot or the cabinet company didn't order the panel so it's next Wednesday now BUT we got the stove top and the sink in this weekend so I no longer have to cook on the BBQ and I have running water in the kitchen,life's little luxuries !

So now I just have the tiling to do and I do believe it could be finished by the end of November,just in time to start all that Christmas baking.Although I thought ahead and cooked my Christmas cake at the beginning of September and have been generously lacing it with rum ever since !

Not much else except this............ we got our notice to appear to write our citizenship test (better start reading the booklet because I only have 2 weeks to prepare!) It's probably not very exciting to anyone else but us. I'd put this to the back of my mind,we applied this time last year,we've been eligible for a while but whenever we had the money something else like snow tires or a leaking pipe took care of it,unfortunately.The notification which we received in February said 12 to 15 months so it was such a surprise to find that in the mail yesterday.Happy mail,got to like that so fingers crossed that soon we will be 4 Canadians in our house and not just one.

My Father in law turned 80 the other week so I'll leave you with the card I made for him.

November DT

I got to work with the MME,Nightlight collection this month for Scrapbook Centrale.There was some really great stuff made you can check it our here. These are my 2 pages,all with last years pictures and 3 cards.

Above is my favourite page this month,just love that journaling tag and below my favourite colours scheme :)

I made these 2 cards,with the leftover pieces of paper and then remembered the little flocked ghost.........

...............so quickly made this one too,there are stickles on the word boo but it hasn't shown up well.

100 Questions

Thought I'd answer this from Nathalies blog...............

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band ....at school
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis...................I actually saw one for the 1st time this summer.
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped ............ I will never do this one !
12. Visited Paris................does 2 hours in the airport count !!
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill..........it was a summer job !
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon........................I'm still trying to run my first 5km !!!!!
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud ........we ran cross country through a pig farm,does that count !!
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving............Never for this one too !
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

26 out of 100....pretty sad eh !!
Lots on there I would like to do though and obviously some I wouldn't such as 75,97 and 99 !!
Give it a go..........

So,what's new?

Did I mention I have a new dishwasher and I love it ! It just gets better and better,it really,I mean really cleans stuff ....I have mugs that are very stained from all the tea/coffee we drink and they never came clean in the old one and even by hand I couldn't shift it.Well I take them out of the dishwasher and I did a double take........absolutely spotless,I'm telling you it's the little things !


What else ? Oh the kitchen,yep still working on that,this kitchen is nothing special but you'd think it would be all the bloody hard work it's taken! This past weekend we put on the baseboards and tomorrow my counter top is being fitted...........so that means this weekend we can get the sink plumbed in...............a big hooray to that one and get the hob top in,an even bigger hooray for that because it will mean no more BBQ until the spring.Then I can tile the back splash area and it will be DONE !!


Sunday we went to the open house at the high school Ad will be going to,luckily my friend came with us as interpreter !!I swear if one more person looks at me as if I'm sending my child to Hell when I tell them where he's going I'm going to lose it.It has good programmes and he seemed very excited about being able to pick drama as an option.I would like him to sit the exam for the enriched programme they offer......he has to be recommended for it by his teacher,is that the normal way ? I have no idea how it works here.He passes all the requirements they suggest but we are having teacher issues this year,of all the years to have them and I have a gut feeling I might have to fight for this one.Since my son isn't French enough it seems.......erm no,go figure,of course he's not but he performs better than a lot of the Francophone kids,grrrrrrrrrr things like this make a permenant trip on the 401 very appealing.


Scrapbooking......I actually did a page yesterday and I am going to start one today when I've finished cleaning out all the crap that's accumulated in the garage,so I can get my car in and made cookies.I can't wait to get this kitchen done so I can go back to proper cooking and baking.Anyway scrapbooking,I miss it, it's my stress relief,especially since I'm no longer running,working on a page I just forget everything else for that hour or two and that's good,it may be a little sad but it's good for me :)


Things like this are good too,I went out with the kids for the bus this morning and saw this on my car.....
I think it's cute and it made me laugh but you're welcome to feel otherwise !!

It's the little things.

In life that give you pleasure,right?
Last night I was very happy because I finally have a dishwasher again...woo hoo,no more washing up in the bath...no more washing up full stop,it's been a long 8 months,well 8 months of washing up only 3 weeks in the bath.
The old one packed up way back in March and "it's OK we're getting the kitchen done,we'll wait."Well I never thought I'd wait this long (it's been in the garage 3 months,well it was a great price on sale !!) but it's in and working and it's clean and has big baskets that actually hold wine glasses,very important that ! and it's so,so quiet and I am very happy !
It's sad I know but top of my list house hunting 5 years ago,after 3 beds and a garage was a dishwasher !! I'd never had one before and thought I was due this little luxury especially since I have a husband that loves to cook and use everything item possible to do so. I got my wish,didn't matter that I probably had the oldest dishwasher still in working order,that was missing half the plastic spokes to hold plates,didn't matter that it was so noisy you couldn't possibly watch TV....it washed dishes and it washed them well,with it's half or full capacity and twist to start button,it did it's job until it decided it was no longer going to drain and emptied its self all over the floor with bloody hot water.
Wow, this is possibly the longest post I've written on complete nonsense........

Monday,Monday,Monday......

....I don't even work and I hate Mondays !!

Nothing new here,worked on the kitchen again,all weekend and that is enough said on the matter!

So it's November and I managed a photo a day all for October,didn't skip a day or have to cheat.Some days I was definitely more inspired than others and even though these are tiny images,it's fun to see them all grouped together.

So I think I'm going to try it for December too.....we'll see!

Nooooooooooo!!!

Urgghhhhhhh it snowed.This is the earliest I have seen snow settled on the ground in the 9 years I've been here and I really hope it's not a sign of things to come this winter. Of course I was outside taken photo's at 7.30 this morning while the boys waited for the bus !

Yes,already downloaded,that's because I've been awake since 3 this morning with the howling winds ! another ones here,as really I can't image I will get anything else that sums up today !

October #4 and November #1 Sketches

I was so busy last week I realised I never posted the sketch for last week,so it's here along with


this weeks sketch below....you can also check it out here.

A photo a day for October.

Well I've been keeping up with my photo a day challenge and posting them every couple of days here. Last night I couldn't sleep despite being incredibly tired so I created a couple of mosaics using blocks of 9 but settled on blocks of 16.

All of my photographs so far have been portrait so these are cropped tighter but it's still fun to see them all together.Only 6 days remaining and I have no idea what I am going to take today as it's chucking it down out side.

Where?

Where did this week go ? I remember Monday and now it's Friday ?!

My Mum went home last night and I'm sure this visit wasn't her most relaxing one but at least she had nice weather !

My kitchen units were fitted Wednesday,I'm missing a side panel for my tall unit and all the top moulding,so at least 2/3 weeks before that gets finished.Waiting for the worktop people to come measure up the work surface area,again another 3 weeks for that to be fitted.There have been a few little problems,units fitting closer to window/door frames than anticipated,so we will have to change those.......all that priming and painting gone to waste but nothing else for it.

I'm still washing up in the bath and cooking on the BBQ but I have at least moved everything out of my dining room,which now feels massive and of course with nearly everything back in the kitchen that feels much smaller !

I have still been taking my pictures and have updated here and will add 2 more later tonight.

So busy....

I'm not sure leaving the plumbing until the weekend before the installation was the best idea because it's not going as well as it should but I am trying to stay calm,it will be OK,it will be OK !

So while the plumbing part of the team has gone back yet again to Home Depot I've snuck on the computer to update my photo's here.

Later.........

The room that started it all.

So the story goes we thought we needed to practise our renovating skills on something smaller before we tackled the kitchen,so we went with our family bathroom,which I've hated with a passion since we moved in. Mmmmmm,blood sweat and tears were poured over this room !

My bathroom is long and thin and dark and it's still waiting for a blind to be made and a new ceiling light which I can't find(I'm too fussy apparently)but it all worked out in the end,totally over budget and took twice as long as expected but we did it.

Goodbye ugly vanity unit which was really kitchen cabinets and hello lovely stone tile instead of nasty grey vinyl.................the only thing is the boys use this bathroom and I don't think they care one way or the other !

My photo a day page.

On the forum there was talk about how we'll scrap our photo a day photos and I am going to do something similar to the page below I did for May last year.............

I think I'll rotate the sketch or change it a little somehow but I'll pick my favourite photo and enlarge it.This has to be my favourite double page I've done,not that I've done many !!

October Sketch #3

Here's this weeks sketch over at Scrapbook Centrale,no time to do this one myself though.

I'm here but........

....I'm busy,still working on the kitchen and with Mum here my computer time is a lot less than normal.

I'm missing scrapping like crazy,a combination of not enough time and the fact all my stuff is in boxes still,although the washer and dryer went back in this weekend and my desk.My old kitchen shelves went up in my space but I dare not put everything else back as I'm scared it will all get covered in dust while work still goes on.
I'll check in when I can but I did have time to update my photo's here......

A page and I'm still busy.........

My Mum arrived on Tuesday evening so I've been busy with her in between working on the kitchen.The floor is down and grouted(ouch my back and knees !) and today the top coat on the windows went on.I've been without the sink and my washer and dryer for a week but Saturday they should go back in until the 22nd which is the big day and I can not wait.

Above is my page based on this weeks sketch,my best mates cute little bundle of joy,just had to scrap that photo.

I've had 3 requests for pages over the last 2 weeks which has been rather nice and will top up my scrap fund for all those purchases I really don't need :)

I've still been taking my daily photo and just updated here.

12 years ago today.....

........10 days late this boy came in my life and I remember holding that little 5lbs 14oz baby and hoping like hell that nobody would leave me alone with him because I had no idea what to do with this tiny baby!! 12 years on we're doing fine,he's a wonderful,friendly,confident,polite,happy boy who could talk your ear off ! and who was over the moon at getting books for his birthday( and a fair amount of cold hard cash !).

I think he's 8 months old here and I had these on the computer as I plan on using them on a page.Time flies....



Added photo's here from the weekend.

October #2 Sketch

Here's my sketch this week over at Scrapbook Centrale,I did a page for this at my cottage weekend so I'll post it later this week.

October DT

Here are my DT projects this month for Scrapbook Centrale using the really fun Moda Bella line from American Crafts . When I first saw this kit I was a little scared and wondered what the heck I was going to do with it but I actually really enjoyed making these pages.

He didn't care his popsicle was pink he was just too happy to have passed white level swimming !!

I have journaling about being married 10 years(later this month)but no way it was going to fit on here so I'll do another page.

I did an extra page this month,I had the scallop circles ready for a card and then had an idea,it wasn't exactly how this one turned out but you can't win them all !

Lastly 2 cards using the thicker accents as i hadn't managed to put them on any pages.

Just took my photo for today and hopefully I'll have time to upload it here later this afternoon.

Busy doing laundry before I lose use the use of my washer/dryer for another 5 days !

Another blog

So I made another blog for my photo a day pictures,it's here.Hopefully I'll use it after the month is up to post other photo's and stuff,hopefully being the key word !

It's Friday and my walls are painted the skanky old floor is up and gone and we are all set to tile tomorrow.I actually have the installation date of the 22nd a day before my Mum leaves,so lots of time to get the little bits and pieces done,like the top coat on the woodwork,phew I won't be scrambling at the last minute and getting all stress out although looks like we'll be forfeiting the traditional Thanksgiving dinner this year,Oh well maybe I'll enjoy my turkey more for Christmas dinner.

I don't like to post without a photo so here's one of my photo's from my photo a day last year,this was February 5th 2007......................some heat on a cold day.

A photo a day

So Nathalie set a challenge of taking a photo a day for the month of October over at Scrapbook Centrale.I'm joining in and will post the photo's here.I did this last year as a photo a day and used it as a way of getting to know my camera and shooting in manual only.I think I averaged about 25 photo's a month and I'd link them here but when my computer crashed,I lost my original log in details to Flickr where they all were,oh well !

Off to paint.........

Behind schedule.......

Well due to the havoc that the tiles have caused we are behind schedule with the kitchen so I will be working my arse off this week painting like a mad woman because the floor has to go down this weekend.I got one coat on the ceiling this morning and after I've eaten something I can get another coat on.

Luckily a friend came over Saturday to help drink beer,sorry rip out this side of the kitchen and also helped us install new Sheetrock or whatever the stuff is called because it's called plasterboard from where I'm from !! As the tiles this side were glued on even better than the other and there was no way they were coming off without bringing the wall with it.

So above was my kitchen Saturday and below is my kitchen this morning.My lovely husband re plumbed in the sink on a makeshift stand because I really couldn't handle washing up in the bath for the next 3 weeks.Those wood window frames are taking more coats of primer than I thought but primer is my new friend and they will look so much nicer white than before.

No rest for the wicked so back to it........

October sketch #1

Here's this weeks sketch over at Scrapbook Centrale.I've only had time to do one sketch myself this month and it wasn't this one !!

Back later with a kitchen update.......

A page and stuff.

So here's my page I made with this weeks sketch,we only made 1 visit this summer to the sprinkler park.........how sad is that ? and it is sad because my kids love it and we have 2 to choose from.
I got home today to find this on my doorstep,completely forgotten about it.I think this magazine is really great for what is essentially a free magazine(you were buying those scrapbook goodies anyway right !)

Ok well back to priming woodwork........

kitchen nightmare #1 !!

I am lost in all the work that needs to be done on the kitchen,we worked so hard last weekend and no doubt this weekend will be the same.My house is chaotic to say the least...........one level with no basement is fine when you don't need to move one entire room into another.Most things went OK last weekend except this ...........

That is what happens if you remove tiles from a wall that have been glued on,yes GLUED,I'll repeat it since it's so bloody stupid,who glues on tiles ?

September Sketch #4

Here's this weeks sketch I posted over at Scrapbook Centrale I'll post my page later this week.

I actually did 6 pages from my 4 sketches this month,not so for next month !