Happy Birthday to ME!!

Well, the day has arrived. My 39th birthday.

Ugh.

Actually, it's not that bad so far. Last night Greg took me out to see the Whitecaps battle the Seattle Sounders (no score despite several good chances on both sides including a nail bitingly close one in the dying seconds from the Whitecaps!) We got to see a real life celebrity (Drew Carey) and then went into Yaletown for dinner. All in all a fun evening. Today it was early morning soccer game (which the birthday girl begged out of), lunch out courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa Day and then Marley's opening day of Basketball (at the same time as Paige's soccer game). Tonight we are going out for sushi. Pretty low key day but I'm okay with that!

Here are some pictures from yesterday ...

I've never attended a soccer game at the newly renovated BC Place so this was all pretty exciting for me. This is the Pre-Game festival - booths, games, food, drumming group ... you name it!

The roof was open!! Looks SO much better than that ratty old dome!

Wouldn't you know, our seats were directly in front of the NBC Sports broadcast booth! This is what sportscasters do before air time - check their Twitter feeds!!

I've always enjoyed the Canucks pre-game hype up show but the Whitecaps one beat it BIG TIME!!

Biggest. Flag, Ever!

Just in case you forgot who to root for!!

Fireworks too.

Proof of life! LOL!

Our half time entertainment came in the form of one Mr Drew Carey! Yup. Mr Price is Right himself. In the flesh and at the broadcast booth at my feet. Our section gave him a bit of a hard time but he took it all in stride. There were a lot of calls of "Buzz Beer", "The price is wrong" and "I bid a dollar". The one fan (a Whitecaps fan) who asked for a picture with him got boos and jeers of "traitor!" (he's one of the owners of the Seattle Sounders) but it really was all in good fun. We're Canadian after all. We're too polite to be intentionally mean!

Getting Drew settled at the booth.

The broadcasters had a hard time ignoring the crowd and Drew did his entire interview with a huge grin on his face!

Night has fallen. The dome looked pretty cool with the starry sky behind. It was cold though! Note to self: bring a blanket next time.

This is Jay DeMerit - the Whitecaps captain who came to talk to NBC after the game. Super cute. Super buff. And from all accounts, super nice too! Had to take a stalker pic.

Well, that was our little date night last night. Might get another one next season!!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone. For my scrapper pals (if any of you made it all the way through this NON scrappy post) don't forget to check out my post on Practical Scrappers and this companion post with giveaway! Tell your friends. I will add to the pot as the comment total rises!!

A Practical Scrappers Feature Post - Are you Scrapping Yourself?

Hi there! I have a feature over on the Practical Scrappers blog today and I'm asking the question "Are you Scrapping Yourself?" I'd love for you to head over there and check out what this ...

and this ...

have to do with my answer.

If you'd like to come back and tell me which of my ME layouts was your favourite and become a follower, I will pick a random winner to send a little surprise. Not sure what it's going to be yet. Maybe 39 punched butterflies!! LOL! Just kidding, I've got quite the stash to pull from so it'll be good, I promise!! 

ScrapHappy Pre-LOAD Blog Hop

Welcome to the ScrapHappy Pre-LOAD Blog Hop!! I'm so glad you're here. You should have arrived here from Heather H's site but if not, why not start at the beginning and work your way back to me! If you get lost there is a list at the bottom of this post to set you straight.

Today we are sharing our words of wisdom (well, others may have wisdom, I pretty much just have words!!) about the LOAD (LayOut A Day) process and what we typically do to get ready. If you are not a member of ScrapHappy I'm sorry but you will not be able to participate in October's LOAD as it is only for ScrapHappy members. If you're interested in finding out about ScrapHappy please follow the link and listen to the message from our Fearless Leader Lain Ehmann.

Okay, so you're interested in participating in LOAD are you? Awesome! It is so much fun!! I have participated in some degree or other in 3 previous LOADs - May 2011, Feb 2012 and May 2012. You can see my layouts in my Flickr Gallery and there is a slide show in my side bar of my LOAD212 layouts you can watch. In May 2011 my husband and I took a week long trip away without the kids so LOAD got interrupted and then in May 2012 we all went to Disneyland so my participation was a bit hit and miss that month too. But I loved getting the daily prompts from Lain and checking out what the other LOADsters were adding to the gallery. I am pretty determined to get 31 layouts done this October though!! I'd like to be able to take more pictures like these ones.

This is the stack of layouts I created during LOAD212. Isn't it awesome?! SOOOO satisfying! Here are 29 stories that are now recorded thanks to Lain's prompts!

So, what can I tell you to help you prepare to create a stack like this of your own? Here are my 5 tips for a successful LOAD.

1 - Make the Commitment. This may sound silly. You may be thinking, "but I already committed when I signed up!" which is true but you really need to make it official. Tell yourself and those around you that you will be making a layout a day for 31 days and there are no ifs, ands or buts about it! :) Get your head 100% in the game. If you for one second allow the "well, it's just one day, I'll catch up tomorrow" attitude to creep in you won't make it. Now, before I go all Drill Sergeant on you, it is totally okay to only do 30 layouts this month. Or 3 for that matter!! But if you want to do all 31 then you need to make sure it happens in your head first. Now I'm sounding like a coach "visualize the finish line people!"

2 - Stock Up on Basic Supplies. In  my world, this means adhesive, card stock and letter stickers because that is what I use on every single layout. I never have to stock up on patterned paper because I frankly have too much of that! Whatever else you use all the time, make sure you have enough to last the month. there is nothing more frustrating than having to run to you LSS mid-layout because you ran out of your favourite colour mist! I have learned to stock up on adhesive whenever my LSS has a sale. They have a 40% sale 3 or 4 times a year so I buy in bulk on those occasions. Everyone has their favourite adhesive - I use Be Creative Tape (in both 12mm and 5mm size) to stick my larger pieces of paper down, Scrapbook Adhesives E-Z Runner tape for smaller bits and pieces and whatever glue dots are available for everything else. Oh, and for popping things off the page I LOVE my Stampin' Up Dimensionals but admit to being almost out of them right now so will be using some other Dollar Store variety this LOAD!

Here's a look at my current stash of adhesive ...

This is where they live (yes, I label stuff!)

This is my stash - the Be Creative tape is at the back.

And this is my drawer for my glue dots, pop dots and rolls of tape currently in use. 

3 - Prep Your Photos. This may mean printing off a stack of photos that you want to scrap (if you have a specific project in mind this is a great way to go) but if you want to follow along with the prompts where ever they may take you then this may mean familiarizing yourself with your photos so you can quickly and easily find ones to match the prompts. I like to follow the prompts. I find it can take me to places I never imagined going and telling stories I never thought I'd tell. Hard stories. Funny stories. Crazy stories. It doesn't seem to matter what the story, I always feel a HUGE sense of accomplishment once it is told! Take 30 minutes to scroll through your digital photos or flip through your already printed ones sometime over the next 4 days. You'll be so glad you did!

4. Prep Your Space. Do you have a dedicated scrap room? Do you pull out your supplies and sit at the dining room table every time you want to make a layout? Either way, tidy that space so it is ready for action! If you can, leave out your basic supplies for the entire month so making your layouts will be easy every day. If you have a dedicated scrap space, why not pull out a piece of your favourite neutral card stock and lay it on your scrapping table in preparation. You may not end up using it for prompt #1 but the fact that it's there will spur you to action when the time is right! I am lucky and share a little home office with my husband and his computer (although I would really like to boot him out!!) This is what I hope to get my desk to look like by the 30th!! ( I will NOT be showing you what it looks like right now!!)

Well, something like this anyway. The wicker basket is no longer on my desk but everything else is there still. 

5. Have Fun!  Remember why you got into this scrapbooking thing in the first place? Was it to feel pressure to create beautiful, perfect layouts or was it to be creative, document your stories in a beautiful way and to have fun doing it? I'm going to guess the latter! If you find yourself getting stressed about finishing a layout, don't panic! Walk away. Take a break. Have a cup of tea. I promise you, the layout will still be there when your head is cleared and you can finish it then. If this means you don't get a layout done on Day 17, then you don't get a layout done on Day 17. No worries! 

All right ScrapHappy Sisters. Feeling motivated? Ready? Got the juices going? Keep on hopping for more wonderful words of wisdom from Cathy H!

Lynnette http://sassyscrapper2010.blogspot.com
Leslie http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com
Katrina http://k84mansramblings.blogspot.com
Kelli P. www.scrapbookgirl71.com
---YOU ARE HERE --- Alison D. http://adayinthelifeor5.blogspot.ca
--- GO HERE NEXT --- Cathy H. http://pikespeakscrapper.blogspot.com
Dani www.acoffeeaddict.com
Heather H. http://heathazscrapz.blogspot.com
Alison C. http://scrappinginsingapore.blogspot.com
Heather D. http://heathersdragonsden.blogspot.com
Danielle H. http://ecoscrapbook.blogspot.com

See you on the message boards!!

LGS Challenge #30 - Grade 3 Girl!

Once again I was too late to get my layout posted on the Let's Get Sketchy blog today but I DID play along with this week's sketch so I thought I'd share it with you.

As a reminder, here is the sketch this week - Challenge #30

And my layout.

I have a confession ... I'm not completely in love with it. I'm not sure what it is - probably that aqua card stock background - but something about this layout makes me cringe. Sigh. They can't all be winners I suppose! 

What makes me extremely happy though is the fact that once again I have scrapped a recent event! I may never "catch up" with my kids lives but at least their current memories are getting onto layouts!!

I had some fun with sequins on this layout. I don't think I've used them before even though they've been sitting in my stash for ... years? Okay, maybe A year. As in one ... and a half? Oh, who knows. The important thing is that I finally used them! And I like them and will use them again!!

I went small with my title this time. All that white space in this photo was screaming for something so I decided to add my title there. These fun purple letter stickers fit the bill perfectly!

Okay, that's it. That's all I'm going to say about it. Now please check out the GORGEOUS layouts over at Let's Get Sketchy and then go make your own! 

LGS Challenge #29 - First Day of Preschool

Hi everyone and welcome to another sketch challenge reveal for Let's Get Sketchy! It's Design Team A's turn again which means ... MY TURN!! :) I hope you have already visited the LGS site and seen all the other  gorgeous layouts but if not, simply click here.

Here is the sketch we are working with this week.

And here's what I came up with.

Continuing my theme of scrapping things immediately, these photos were taken last Monday on Christine's first day of preschool. She is our "baby" so this is a pretty big deal for us! As I'm sure you can tell by her grin, it's a pretty big deal for her too!

Some of you may know that our older two girls attended a Parent Participation Preschool here in Ladner but as it closed down at the end of Paige's two years there we knew we'd be sending Christine somewhere else. We chose the Community Centre run preschool and so far are really happy. There are about 25 kids enrolled so Christine will have lots of playmates (to terrorize! LOL!) 

Some close ups of the layout - starting with the title cluster. I was originally going to use '1st' instead of the whole word 'first' but with the style of lettering I chose it looked like 'IST'. Gack! When pulling off the letters there was a bit of 'stickage' so the heart cluster had to go where it is! Sometimes these little mishaps work in our favour. Instead of using paper to create the circle in the sketch I used a combination of paint and glimmer mist. It was a bit too subtle so I added some doodling around the edges.

I tried to use themes that were "school-ish" hence the alphabet paper choice, the notebook punch border and the apple sticker.

More apples! I found this punch in my basket o' punches!!

Thanks for coming by today to check out my layout in detail. I'd love to hear what you think in the comments section. I also hope you'll play along this week. You've got til Sunday Sept 23rd at 8PM MST to add your link to the challenge post. To be eligible to win the monthly prize (a $20 gift certificate to ScrapTastic Club) you need to complete 2 of the 4 sketch challenges this month. This week is the third challenge for September so it's not too late! I will be looking for your layouts over at Let's Get Sketchy!!

Playing along with LGS Challenge #28

I took some time yesterday to play along with this weeks sketch challenge over at Let's Get Sketchy. As a reminder, here is the sketch for Challenge #28.

And here's the layout I came up with.

I am attempting to scrap moments shortly after they happen (as well as catch up on older stories) so these pictures were taken on Tuesday of this week. This is Paige showing off her new desk and posing with her new teacher. She is in a split Grade 1/2 class this year which I hope will challenge her just enough!

I really had fun with this sketch and since I'm also entering it into the Seriously Creative September Challenge, I used several textural elements (there's a close up at the end of this post). There is cork behind the two photos, the clocks are cut out of a canvas piece of patterned 12x12 and the cardboard I found in my stash. It's probably old packaging material or something. As far as the text print ... I kind of forgot that was one of the challenge elements to be honest. But I do have numbers on one of my patterned papers so maybe that can count!! :)

I have had these alphas forEVER and they are seriously depleted and lacking in stick now so I made an 'r' out of an upside down 'j' and an 'a' out of a 'd'. It's always fun to see what you can make out of what you have!! Oh, and to ensure they stay stuck I used micro glue dots on the back.

Here's that close up I talked about showing all the different textures. And what do you know! A text print in there after all!! On a recent trip to Michael's I found piles of cool textures. The sheet of sticky back cork was one as well as the canvas clock prints. Love finding cool products like that!

Last close up for today - just showing more of my fun circles.

Thanks for stopping by! You've still got a little bit of time to get in on the fun over at Let's Get Sketchy! To be entered into the monthly draw you need to complete 2 of the 4 weekly sketches. I'd love to see one of my friends win the prize which is a $20 GC to Scraptastic kit club. Layouts based on this sketch are due by 8PM MST on Sunday the 16th. 

Have a great weekend everyone!! 

Practical Scrappers Feature on Grandparents

WARNING: THIS POST MAY CAUSE YOU TO NEED A TISSUE!

Don't say I didn't warn you!! :)

This is also my second post today - for my Let's Get Sketchy post please scroll down.

Okay, now that the business part of this post is out of the way, let's get on to the fun part. Today on Practical Scrappers we are featuring layouts and cards about Grandparents. My children are very fortunate to have 2 sets of loving, available and invested grandparents - Grandma and Grandpa Day (babysit when we need them, run "Granny Camp" for a week in the summer, shower gifts for no reason other than the fact that they can) and Ammee and Poppa (a.k.a. Grandma and Grandpa Graham - babysitting providers, scooter fixers, chaos instigators {there are 14 grandkids on that side} and all around fun people to be around). I could have done any number of layouts celebrating my kids relationship with either set of these wonderful people. But I chose to talk about the Grandparents that left us before they were born. Grandma and Grandpa Campbell. MY parents. 

I am using this Sketch Inspiration sketch (#335).

Clearly I deviated a bit!! :) I mostly used the sketch to place my background papers and then to help me know where to place my other items, but the number and orientation etc is different. But hey, that's what a sketch is for, right? Give you a general starting place for you to make your own!

Let's talk details now.

I've titled it "The Ones You'll Never Know". The large black letters started off as plain wood veneer but I felt I needed something dark up there so I sprayed them with my Warm Calico Mister Huey. The little hearts I've scattered around the layout were also from this pack of letters and I coloured them Mister Huey's also.

I created a pocket to hold my journalling and the order of service from their funeral. On top of the pocket I attached a couple of old passport photos I found in a box of papers I have (I hope to create albums for my brother and myself ... one day ...) The date is the date the photos were taken and I woke up this morning thinking it was confusing and maybe people would think that was the day they died so I have added the words "passport photos taken" above the date sticker on my layout. 

Here are the items in the pocket. The journalling reads (get your tissues ready!):

"Grandma and Grandpa Campbell ... or Mum and Dad as I knew them. These are the grandparents my 3 beautiful, loving, fun, wonderful daughters will never know. They'll never know how Mum used to huck caramels at Campbell's Quiz winners. They'll never know that Dad used to fall asleep in the oddest places - like the bus home from work or the church pew (bent over his bible so people thought he was reading scripture!) They'll never hear my Dad read Arabian Nights or wait forever for him to get the "perfect picture". They'll never get to taste my Mum's cooking. So much lost. So much to tell them!"

The large picture is from their wedding and - before you freak out - is NOT an original. I took the original and scanned it before printing off the copy I used here.

Tucked down at the bottom and barely visible (on purpose) is this little tag. 

Well, there you have it. This was truly a labour of love for me. The journalling is probably the most personal journalling I've ever written for a layout and I freely admit to shedding a few tears. Mum and Dad went to be with Our Lord on April 27th 1988 and not a day has gone by since then that I haven't missed them. My Graham parents are SO wonderful and I love them deeply but boy do I wish these two were still around! I know my Dad would LOVE the fact that Marley stays up way past her bedtime reading and can finish books like Alice in Wonderland in 2 days!! She's 8 by the way!! I know my Mum would have some deep wisdom about Paige and calm my heart about her future. And I know the two of them would love to laugh at Christine's antics - probably all the while telling me she is a chip off the old block and I was just as 'troublesome' when I was her age. One day I'm sure we'll get to do all that but for now I can only tell my girls as much as I remember in an attempt to keep them from being forgotten.

Thanks for coming on this journey with me today. Please be sure to check out all the other beautiful projects on the Practical Scrappers blog - no tissues required!

What a Difference 10 Years Makes

Happy Monday morning everyone! If you're in Canada (like me) you are likely enjoying the last day of summer holidays before the kids go back to school. It's Labour Day today and I for one am going to a bar-be-que later! How about you? Any special plans?

Today I've got something extra special to share with you. This is my first layout as a new Design Team Member on the Let's Get Sketchy Design Team! If you are coming here from the LGS site then welcome! I love to hear your feedback so please feel free to leave me a comment. If you are a regular visitor then I do encourage you to pop over to the LGS blog to see all the other beautiful layouts my fellow Design Team Members have submitted. They are truly a talented bunch and I am honoured to be included!!

Here is the sketch for Week 1 in September:

And here is what I came up with.

Greg and I recently celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary and I had a layout like this in mind so when I saw the sketch it all came together pretty quickly. The hardest part was finding a picture of us from our wedding! I ended up taking a picture of this photograph from our wedding album - turned out great! Will definitely remember that trick for future!

I flipped the picture orientation around from the sketch but the rest of it is pretty well as Laurie laid it out.

I debated adding any journalling at all because I find that using a longer title can sometimes explain a lot of what is going on in the pictures. But in the end I found there was more I wanted to say so I added a little Elle's Studio tag behind the main block. It's sort of hidden because while the sentiments are addressed to my husband, they are not completely private. Plus I liked the way the circular journalling spot echoed the other circular piece (a doily image cut out of a piece of the new My Minds Eye - The Sweetest Thing line).

Here's a closer look at the tag.

See, not too private!

I liked the horizontal elements on Laurie's sketch and thought a strip of washi tape would work perfectly here. When I looked in my stash I found this 'WITH LOVE' one in an appropriately complimentary colour. Don't you just love it when that happens?  

A quick word on these flowers. There were originally bright yellow and a pale pink. Really! Neither colour worked but I liked the shapes so I used my Mister Huey mists to change them. I used Heirloom Blue and Plum Thumb (and also splattered some Plum Thumb on other areas of my layout). Now they work perfectly!!

Another look at the flowers.

Thanks for stopping by today. I'd love to see what you do with the week's sketch. There are 4 sketches a month at Let's Get Sketchy plus weekly favs and a monthly prize (please go here to read all the details about how to enter) so I hope you'll join us.

Have a great week!