Sketchy Thursday - Bathing Beauty

Time for another Sketchy Thursday submission. I think I can just barely squeak this one in on time!!

Here is the sketch:

And here is my layout:

I'm not feeling too good right now so won't blab on and on about it. All I will say is that I am just a few layouts away from finishing Marley's Baby Scrapbook and am SO HAPPY about it! I've done a bunch of layouts since I last posted but decided not to post them because ... well, who cares about them besides me, really? I will put together a slideshow of the completed album and put that on my blog - assuming I can figure out how!!

Off to make dinner for the family and then go and lie down. Ugh!

Talk to you later!!

Project 12 Catchup!

Okay, I'll start this post with a warning ... PHOTO HEAVY!!!

All right, now that you're sitting comfortably, let's begin.

During my Direct Studies Scrapping Hiatus, I had to put my Project 12 away. It was REALLY hard not to attempt something with the fabulous PageMaps sketches!! Now that I am PDS and scrapping again I was excited to pull out the sketches and my Project 12 bin and attack it! I'm pretty organized (no, really!) and orderly (seriously, I AM!!) so instead of jumping to June which is the month that's due in a few days, I had to start where I left off with April. Here's where you can find the sketch and here is my finished layout.

Funny story though ... I had a minor disaster happen while putting this together. Beneath the pictures on the right hand side I originally planned to stamp the number 4 with an arrow but when I stamped the 4, this happened ...

 

ACK!!! It turned out that my layout was half off my cutting mat so the stamp couldn't lay flat. Sheesh!! I'm pretty new to this whole stamping thing so I said some pretty nasty things and jumped around for a bit before coming up with the fix of using one of my journalling tags overtop of the bad stamp job (see below). It worked and with some extra butterflies and strawberries, you can barely tell anything went amiss!

Here is the left hand side ...

... and the right hand side.

A couple close ups.

 

Products used: all patterned paper is from Martha Stewart's Heirloom Pad; cardstock is from my stash (can't remember the brand); red flowers are from my stash of embellishments (I think I made them when I was playing around with my Cuttlebug many many months ago); red butterflies are also from my stash but the lighter patterned ones are new and made with the Marvy butterfly punch out of the inbetween bits of the strawberry patterned paper that I cut the strawberries out of - from DCWV Nanas Nursery Baby Girl pad; brown felt flower is AC Greenhouse felt flowers; ribbon is from Michaels Celebrate It; large alpha's are Making Memories Shimmer Jigsaw in white; numbers are AC Thickers Roller Rink in Glitter; Journal tag is Pebbles Inc Share & Tell in Chocolate brown (originally 4x6 but I cut off part of the bottom to make it fit).

Next month was May in which Greg and I always fight over Mother's Day vs. his birthday. Last year they fell on the same day!! Yuck! This year they were on consecutive days and I spent Mother's Day running 10K then recovering from the shock of it!! LOL! Greg turned 40 this year so we had a party the following weekend and he got all the attention he could handle! I wanted to devote one half of the layout to him in recognition of this milestone. Here is Becky's sketch and here is my finished layout.

I tried to keep the paper placement as true to the sketch as I could but I always seem to have more pictures that I want to use than the sketches call for so I have to play around with their placement quite a bit.

Here is the left hand side ...

... and the right hand side.

Some close ups.

I had this empty space just crying out for something but I couldn't figure out what and then the cluster of buttons just sort of happened and I love it!

Products used: as above for the patterned paper, cardstock, large alphas, journalling tag and felt flowers; ribbon is from Michaels - Celebrate It Dashes, Dots & Checks; buttons are Making Memories Paperie buttons in poolside; larger buttons (on the flowers) are from my stash; small brown numbers are Recollections in bittersweet.

Finally June! Again, I used more pictures than the sketch called for but ... what the heck! Here is the sketch and here is my finished layout.

The left hand side ...

... and the right hand side.

Some close ups.

I needed something to fill this corner and found this pink net in a pad of fabric swatches I'd bought at Micheals for a laugh. I think it works and I quite like it. I may work with fabric on my layouts more!!

Products used: as above for the patterned paper, cardstock, large alphas, and felt flowers; numbers are from my stash (can't remember the make anymore); pink and brown butterfly are Stampin'Up and from a blog candy win from my friend Sandra - Stamper on the 'Shore; the pink net is from a pack of K&Company fabric swatches I found in the discount bin at Michael's; the brads are Basic Grey as are the chipboard stickers; the swirly things are from my stash and the crystals are from Michael's.

Well, thanks for making it all the way through that!! Hope you like my work. Check out the Project 12 contest here and here.

Crafty Goodness!!

Okay, so I'm working on my Project 12 layouts for April, May and June (got a wee bit behind during my Directed Studies hiatus!) and will post them soon. April and May are done I just need to do June - hopefully later today depending on how much crafting time the kidlets let me have!! but what I really wanted to post about was all the sneak peeks I've been seeing for the Summer CHA that's comin gup soon in California. I MAY have to figure out a way to go to one of these shows one year. They sound like a blast! Of course, I'd probably have to win the lottery first and then hire a moving van to bring everything home!! LOL!

So here are a few of my favourites:

Monster Stew from Jillibean Soup.

Bella Blvd has a few new lines that ALL look cute - Sunny Happy Skies and One Fall Day are my favourites so far.

The Dear Lizzy Enchanted line from American Crafts is super cute - very girly which is perfect for a mother of 3 girls!! I also like their City Park line - those felt embellishments are to die for!

Well, that's it for now. I'll be back soon with my Project 12 layouts!

National Holidays - Ours and Theirs

Living where we do, we took the opportunity today to enjoy some Fourth of July spirit. Our Canada Day was depressingly un-summer-like and meant we missed our usual trip to the Ladner Canada Day Pancake Breakfast. I think we were all bummed out by this more than we thought we'd be. The weather this year has been HORRIBLE! We'll get one nice day and you sigh, and think "ah, finally summer has arrived!" and then the next day is cold and rainy. YUCK!! So when Greg read about a parade happening today in Point Roberts which is a 15 minute drive away (on the South side of Tsawwassen) we decided to check it out. We'd never been to Point Roberts before so it was an adventure for us all!

But before I get into that, let me share some pictures from our OWN national holiday - Canada Day ...

Like I said, the breakfast was a wash out this year. Cold + rain = no fun sitting outside with 3 small children eating pancakes and sausages. Not even the memories of past Birthday cakes topped with fresh local strawberries in the design of the Canada Flag could entice us out into the damp! The day did dry out enough by the afternoon to make sitting outside at our friends the Symons tolerable. They were gracious enough to host the old Apocolypse Cows crew for a BBQ. (FYI - Apocolypse Cows is our old Ultimate Frisbee team!) As seems to happen at Cow get togethers now, it turns into a Kid Fest. We've all (mostly - Greg and Steve are desperately hanging on to their glory days) given up playing ultimate in favour of chasing after our many kids. It's a whole lot of fun, noise and brightly coloured toys!!

I didn't get pictures of them all but here are a few of the gang ...

The set up ...

... bouncing Sophie ...

... shy Charlie with Dad Dave and stiffly smiling Richard ...

... Sadie and her tongue (love it!) ...

... goofy Andrew and long suffering Jonina ...

... ah, THAT'S better!

... bike riding LC and bouncy toy chewing Sadie ...

... and what's a Canada Day party without a little street hockey?!

Last but most certainly not least, BBQer Steve!

So that was our Canada Day. Also, coincidentally it was Heather's 40th birthday but the sneaky gal didn't tell a soul!! Steve and the boys got her a nice birthday cake though which we all got to enjoy.

Now for today ...

Waiting for the parade to start.

Greg and LC.

The theme was The Oscars which for some reason meant there were a lot of hot dog related entries!

Not too sure what the casual shirts and Jamaica hats with dreds thing was all about but their bagpipes said Delta Police Band so I'm thinking ... pipers on holiday?

Did I mention there were a lot of hot dogs in this parade?

Now who or what could Fearless Marley and Fraidy Cat Paige be hiding from?

Him ...

... and him.

No really. They are (for reasons totally unknown and extremely frustrating) terrified of Chinese Dragons and Lions. Guess we're not going to any Chinatown Chinese New Year Parade any time soon!!

LC on the other hand was not afraid. Good girl! Have a lollipop! Or two!

Apparantly we should have brought their Easter Baskets to carry home the candy haul!

Marley has gotten very agressive when it comes to scrambling for candy now. I think she even took some from in front of the two kids next to us! Sheesh!! Where does she learn this stuff from?!

Paige's haul was more modest - mostly because she was too afraid to leave her seat much!

Well, that was it. We went for a little wander after the parade ended then had lunch at a local place and headed home. Point Roberts is a really pretty seaside town that I look forward to returning to. Maybe we can make this parade an annual outing. The girls would love that!

No Scrapping, just Family Updates

I've been lousy on posting updates on the family lately so prepare yourself for a barrage of photos and info!

First up, May 9th 2010 - Mother's Day (not that there were any pictures taken of me and the girls - grr!) and The Vancouver Sun Run. Greg and Marley did the Kids MiniRun (as did Auntie Jonina and cousin Matthew) while Uncle Andrew and I ran the full 10K.

May 29th, 2010 - Cousin Jasper turned 4 but my camera battery died early on so there are basically no pictures of the event. Sorry Jasper!!

May 30th, 2010 - Ladner May Days and the annual Fair and Parade. Paige's preschool has been in the parade every year since it's inception (the preschools' not the parades') so we have the covetted 1st position behind the dignitaries and the fire truck! Marley joined in (feeling nostalgic in her big Kindergarten way) and helped carry the Li'l Rascals banner. Paige was only convinced to walk in the parade if our teacher Kari held her hand the entire way (you can't actually see her in any picture that Greg took.) Once things got going though I caught her waving at the crowds! So cute. Greg took the girls to the fair before and after the parade while LC napped. Marley of course burned through her tickets in no time (she was even tall enough - in her runners - to ride the bumper cars all by herself) and Paige got brave enough eventually to enjoy some rides.

June 13th, 2010 - Cousin Sophie celebrated her 4th birthday with butterfly face painting, nutella crepes and pin the antenae on the butterfly. Paige and Marley kept Uncle Andew busy with the face painting! Cousin Matthew wanted a scary face - I think he succeeded!

June 15th, 2010 - Paige's preschool went on a field trip to a local stable (one of the Mom's works there.) Paige was (get ready to be shocked) the ONLY child to not ride the pony. See, I told you you'd be shocked! NOT!!! ... sigh ... When will she decide to be brave? When?!?! She was all ready to go, in her helmet and everything, and then she saw the HUGE horse (read: small pony) we expected her to ride and she freaked. Then, even though LC was in no danger and was actually doing very well on her own, Paige took it upon herself to protect her baby sister from another scary beast (read: miniature pony). LOL! Paige's friend Sarah was brave enough to go for a ride but not even that could convince Paige to get on the pony. Not even to have her picture taken. Not that that would be much incentive, I admit!

June 16th, 2010 - Marley's kindergarten class had their annual Kindergarten Family Picnic. Marley's friends' oldest brother Ryan spent most of the time pushing about 30 4-6 year olds around on the merry go round. What a trooper! Also, LC discovered popcorn - and how to make a mess with it! Later that day we were at the preschool for the annual Family BBQ which this time was dedicated to our teacher Mary who decided to retire this year. She will be missed!

You know, if I DO fail my Directed Studies it's not too surprising! I've been a busy Mom!!!

June 29th, 2010 - Post Directed Studies (phew!) Marley "graduated" from kindergarten. It was pretty cute. They were matched up with a Grade 7 (really it was all about them not the kindergarteners) and as each Grade 7 name was read out, a kindergartener went up and gave them a flower. In return they got a pencil (passing of the baton so to speak) and then walked hand in hand out of the gym. Afterwards I took a picture of her with her teacher - check out the comparison from her first day in September. She's growing up so fast!!

  

Well, that rounds out May and June - the 2 months I wasn't really blogging because I was TRYING to focus on my project. Ha! I'll post about Canada Day and Independence Day in another post. This one is WAY too long already!