Shine a Little Light

A quick post about the lamp I made for my dear friend Wyatt Jonathon. In the summer I posted a picture of my "design board" for Wyatt's baby room. Kirsty (his Mom) loved it (she should - she came up with the colors) and we got right to work. It looks so good! Against (Lisa's) better judgement, they even painted the inside of the closest an accent color (yellow). So here is my little gift to Wy Wy. Okay, I have many gifts to Wyatt and you'll see them soon, but I just can't help myself. If you follow this blog, you know that I'm itching for the day I can have my own child to craft for. 

I spray painted the base of the lamp yellow, pulled off the original "piping", cut the new fabric in panels, glued it on with fabric tack and glued on some new yellow "piping". Cute. 

Halloween Rewind...

I had SOOOOOO much fun at our Halloween party this year!!! Many thanks to all of the people who brought food and treats (Amanda, April, Leah, Jill, Victoria, Jen, Heather... I could probably go on for ever). There was way too much but it made me so much more relaxed to know that I would not have to refill food trays and worry about refilling drinks. Everyone took care of themselves and, while that makes me seem like a terrible hostess, I don't think that at this type of party anyone noticed. Thank also to April for helping set the food out and making me drinks while Leah and I feverishly got ready. Halloween was full of great memories (and yes, I do remember): Lisa had a REALLY good time (Acai Tequilla anyone?), the costumes were amazing, the dance party in the living room was non-stop (and bettered by KC's "the party stops here" sign which was assaulted in the process), and the laughter was constant. 

In the end, the costume that Jill helped me put together turned out fab! It was totally worth the loss of skin that occurred when we glued the outfit directly to my skin by accident the night before. Totally! There was supposed to be two black swans at our party and apparently the other person thought that she would have outdone me. I dunno... I'm pretty awesome... Check it out for yourself:

And check out Amanda who won for scariest costume. Her "Two-Face" outfit and hand-crafted burns were incredibly awesome and disgusting. Well deserved win. I wish I had taken a picture of the trophies I made - you would have laughed at the grotesque over-crafting - they were hideously wonderful if I do say so myself. 

Thanks again to my beautiful, kind-hearted friends and family. It was so nice to enjoy an evening with you! You made my favourite holiday a blast!

I'm not quite dead yet!

For any fans of "The Holy Grail" you'll recognize the title of this post as a classic line. So fitting, as I feel almost, but not quite, dead. Ugh. So many things to gripe about but not here, not now. I went to the gym with Jilly and Jen for the first time in 2 weeks and I feel a whole heck of a lot better. Working out is a such an easy fix to my whoas. I wish it was easier to get myself to go because once I'm there I want to work out forever and I feel so great!!! Time. All I need is time. When you don't sit for more than 30 seconds in a day its really hard to put on the sneakers and sweat it out... but I did it! So enough of that.
I have the best news: my fake (I prefer the term "familialy challenged") nephew has arrived! He's perfect and adorable and wonderful in every way! Introducing Wyatt Jonathon:

Oh how I love thee!

My goal is to post a few short posts in the next couple days and actually accomplish something on a crafty date with the SILs (this did not happen :( but hopefully will soon) and at the TM Christmas party this weekend (this already happened and I DID craft - posts to come) to share in the upcoming weeks.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Ah... the stores are covered in spider webs. Shoppers browse in fear that they might set off a decoration that will shriek, moan or thunder. It's like Christmas songs for the demented and disillusioned folk like me who treat All Hallow's Eve like Christmas morning. I think it's the costumes... we all know I lurve a good costume party...  but I also think it's the excuse to continue living out (your most adored) part of childhood, much like Christmas is. This year will be our 4th annual costume party - my friends are such good sports! I'm already finding it difficult to make the invites different than previous years. Last year I went all out but too late in the season and the invites I discovered (too late) were too large to send in the regular post. This year I kept it simple. Last year's My Mind's Eye stamps, this year's American Crafts Halloween line (clouds) and some printed craft paper (including Beetle Juice inspired stripes). The clouds are really a sleeve that slips up to reveal the details of our shin-dig. I've used this so many times but I'm too busy to judge myself right not. The dorky stamps make it all better :)

Five Minute Card

So I set my timer again yesterday; this time for 5 minutes. I made a simple birthday card for my soon-to-be BIL. I thought it was cute to use the little boy patterns for his 28th birthday... why not? A quick post for an even faster card.

Mac at his Finest

Finally getting back to some crafting. I've actually been desperate to craft but I've had the craziest week at school which included supervision every lunch hour, the swim team starting up (before and after school practices, one of which included one of our students being saved by a lifeguard), staff meetings, tutorials, the list goes on and on. But, I just sat down, set the timer and got to work. I managed to "finish" this page. I'm not actually sure it's done but the timer rang out and I didn't know what else to do. I'm off to complete another timed project instead of doing school work... I just can't bring myself to get to work just yet.

You can tell that I was inspired by the post of Lisa's.

Thoughtful Gift from a Beauty

My darling Lisa, how wonderful are you?

Lisa bought me the most thoughtful (double entendre) belated birthday gift. Not only was it so elegantly wrapped and perfectly suited to my personality/personal tastes, it was also a great tester for my literary knowledge. I will not pretend that I am as well read as my beautiful friend but I did pretty well. (I have not yet brought myself to tote any to school for fear that a student may get their grubby hands on them and they may never return.)

Speaking of reading, I did manage to get a few books read this summer. A very few for me but one stunner stood out from the rest: Room by Emma Donoghue.

Now I definitely only judge books by their covers; books, not people. Promise. I DO NOT read the back/jacket of books. I like to let them unfold as the author intended, not with my own preconceived notions or expectations. Room (based on the cover) was a no brainer. I had heard that it was a dark book. I had also heard that it was a story of hope. I had also heard (from April who lent me the book) that many nouns were capitalized and it annoyed her :) I found the proper names given to everday objects clever and necessary. (We disagree about writing style again Apes :)) It spoke to the human condition and the determination of the human mind to create meaning in the (seemingly) meaningless. I really enjoyed the authors style and there were few artistic liberties that bothered me. April and I both agree that this book was excellent and, I speak for both of us, would highly recommend for an easy but powerful read.

Remember Me?!

You know I was just starting to get the hang of this blogging thing finally and then I had to go and get a job! I'm so grateful to be working in this economy and the state of our school board this year but I really did enjoy my summer. I've set several "goals" for myself going into this new school year. Simple things like laying my clothes out the night before, packing a lunch in the evenings, etc. The next one on the list is obviously to build some time into my schedule to craft. I have so many projects on the brain and I'm really excited for them all. They are all very simple but do-able - hence my excitement.

Oh, yeah, my beautiful sister and her man got engaged!!! NBD. Wahoo!!! We went for a celebratory dinner at the Creperie... om nom nom. I had scallops, perfectly cooked scallops... and Flirt cupcakes for dessert back at Mom's... my blue jeans will thank me later. Anywho, in the car ride between the two epic food adventures I decided to conduct some self-portraits. A unique passion of mine, guests at our home will often find such spectacles on their cameras several days post party. What can I say? It's a gift. Perhaps they should also put a distracted passenger bylaw into effect to prevent such disastrous occurrences... but then you couldn't laugh at this. Remember me?!

A teacher at school once told me that I reminded him of Jenny McCarthy. I asked if that was because I was beautiful. He replied: "No. It's because your face seems to be made out of leather rubber. How do you make all of those faces?"

These are actually not my finest work...some are just too similar. It was hard to give them all a name. Any suggestions for the last, most nostrilly one? (Or I would love some hilarious renames!)

Crazy Baby Stealer On the Loose!

Beware! There is a batty ol' lady obsessed with babies who has reached the point of possibly stealing a stranger's child, convincing them that their parents were just a bad dream and loving them to the point of adulthood, or until someone recognizes them as Edmonton's most recent Amber alert.... okay, okay, it's just ME!!! I can't help it - I've got babies on the brain. Not having my life in order and watching all of my beautiful friends start/continue to grow their families is kinda of like being on Survivor and watching the winning team chow down on burgers while you eat your crummy rice. I don't want to eat anyone's baby - I was just joking in the intro, really!

My bestest friend Kirsten is having her first baby in November. We have been friends since birth (seriously) and we always dreamed of having children together. I couldn't be happier about (if a bit jealous of) her bun cooking in the oven. I'm so excited! I can't stop thinking about it. Seriously, I haven't slept in days because I've been planning her nursery in my head. She asked me to "help out" and I got a bit loopy. Proof? I sent her this image last night after we talked on the phone about what she wanted.... like right after... and then I didn't sleep... NOT NORMAL. But hey, who am I kidding, I never was :)

Images stolen from: http://pinterest.com/pin/39241916/, http://susanweinroth.typepad.com/a_little_bit_of_me/2010/05/a-look-at-the-nursery.html, http://www.domesticadventure.com/2010/12/the-nursery-reveal/, http://www.yourdecoshop.ca/Shop/?typeGroup[]=WallTattoo&category[]=GROUP173ee94f48ff0aea84a7f450d27ebe94&gclid=CJPP2P20tKoCFQvKKgodp3KW4w, http://pancakesandfrenchfries.com/2009/02/a-little-hut-alphabet-cards/, http://gallery.tryhandmade.com/nursery-art-_-custom-birth-print/, http://www.etsy.com/listing/59081896/nursery-art-print-for-girl-or-boy-dream

Hopefully I can come back and site these in a more user friendly way but I've been on the computer organizing my school computer files for several hours now and I just don't have it in me.

Please don't forget to leave a comment for my previous post expressing your innate desire to throw me (and 5 other wonderful people) a bone! Come on!

Pay It Forward!!! (Finally)

Many, many moons ago, I got overly excited at the thought of Ginger making me something that I eagerly commented on her Pay It Forward post. And despite the gleeful, pee-your-pants anticipation I can't get over this nagging feeling... perhaps it's the fact that I, in commenting, also agreed to PAY IT FORWARD. Sheesh! When will school and life stop getting in the way of my crafting?!

Here's the deal in Ginger's words: "I promise I will make something handmade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment here specifically stating they want to join in the Pay It Forward fun. The original "rules" state that you must repost this status, offering something handmade by you to 5 other people and it must be sent to your 5 people some time in 2011." I mean, really, a homemade gift is great any time, right? So perhaps, because of my failure to post until the 11th hour, you could cut me some slack and I'll have your beautifully crafted project to you by March, 2012. Common... you know you want to!

As I am only beginning to post regularily I anticipate gathering participants might be a tricky task. Please do not be shy!!! I love strang....ers! Even if we have never met and do not live in the same city, country or continent, I think that this idea should be spread all over!

Baby Boutique

Did you know that Shoppers Drug Mart offers its patrons these beautiful bags? All you have to do is start worrying about aging, spend many sleepless nights picturing yourself with 100% more wrinkles and greys and, as such, spend $150.00 on gourmet anti-wrinkle cream in the Beauty Boutique section of the store!!! Ugh. When did I get this shallow? I thought when my grandmother told me that my dimples would become craters at the end of my wrinkles, my laugh was genuine. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Moving on. Because this bag was so purdy to begin with and because I purchased these most incredible baby Vans in Vegas for Madison, I just had to turn it into a "welcome to the world" number. Here's some before and after shots of my 5 minute make-over and, of course, those shoes!!!!!!!! Awww :)

"My Favorite Aunt" Kit

Yippee! August was my month to make a kit at TM! I never used to like taking on this task but I'm really enjoying it now... maybe a little too much actually. I always have way to much stuff and seem to be going in a million different directions. I simply cannot help loving multiple patterns and colors on a page. The kit turned out to be a scrumptious combination of kitschy patterns and cozy colors, reminiscent of cabins, quilts and all things campy. With so many of the papers being double sided, there were so many options it was so hard for me to showcase all of the components of the kit. In the end I did what worked with my pictures and hoped that people would see the value of this kit on their own. I ended up with four 12x12 LOs, two 8.5x11 LOs and what I hope will be two cards (yet to be completed). Pretty sweet! I also really tried to only use what was in the kit, including only your basic tool kit. No dies, no Glimmer mist, only a little bit of ink and a couple printed sentiments. (Note: this was really more so a constraint of trying to craft at my home rather than in my crop room (still at Mom's) and not some sort of highfalutin scheme.) Here's a sneak peak of "My Favorite Aunt":

Actual LOs will be posted in the store at the beginning of the week as well as on the TM blog.

A Birthday Card to Finish the Week

Here is my last card from my Whack-a-Stack with Jen. I'm thinking it will turn out to be a birthday card for Bella as her birthday is in October and I'll be teaching and well, let's be realistic, crafty will become a distant memory. I had fun designing a little sentiment for the front using Microsoft Word; I swear I use that program for everything! Helpful hint: buy mismatched envelopes at Hallmark for a buck. You get approximately 25 envelopes depending on the bunch and then you can make your cards to suit. It saves the frustration of trying to find an envelope that fits your beautiful, handmade card after the fact and it's super cheap. The first Kidz Kamp at TM is tomorrow - hope we have a blast!

Side note: We will be flying home from Vegas today. Sad face.

Swinging from the Chandeliers... In Vegas!!!

Today is Mom's birthday and we are celebrating in Vegas. I'm sure I'll have lots of pictures from the actual day (I'm really writing this before we have even left) to post and scrap when we get back. For now here's a little card that I made for Mama. She loves pink and bling so I put a little of both on the card. The interior reads: Hope you find yourself swinging from many chandeliers! There are also a few sweet sentiments written inside but because we were to be in Vegas, I simple could not help putting something a little more Vegas-ee than sweet. I bet we're having a blast right now :)

Carried on Butterfly Wings

This is a card for two of my dear teacher friends who recently lost their son only a few months into his new life. He was born with a heart condition and subsequently suffered a stroke. I still cannot fathom this tragedy but I believe that everything happens for a reason. Instead of a funeral, they had a celebration of life at the Devonian Botanical Gardens. In their invitation they expressed their desire for everyone to come and enjoy a moment of peace and tranquility with their loved ones as time together is a precious thing. I could not be at the service but I will be sending this card in the mail and David and I still intend to visit the gardens for the very reason they expressed. The interior of the card reads:

As a butterfly graces our lives with a moment's fragile beauty, so too has {your baby's} presence blessed you, and those that surround you. May you find peace and joy with each butterfly that passes, knowing that {your baby} lives on in the hearts of all they touched.

Thank you for reminding me of the importance of love and relationships and to be grateful for the life and time I am given little baby. You have shown your parents a love they never knew and reminded us all of an important lesson.

All Little Girls Love Bunnies... Don't They?

As promised, another card. This one is meant for a new baby girl. I did a baby boy one with the same sentiment on the front and I loved it so I made one for a girl. My bestie Kirsten (K2, yes I have a best friend with the same name, no it's not weird) is pregnant with her first child. She doesn't know what she's having but if she has a girl I'm sure her girl will like bunnies, right? I still think the card is lacking but I'm not sure what I want to do yet... think, think, think.

I used my new We R Memory Keepers SEWeasy. It was fab. I actually have a blister on my pointer finger from forcing some embroidery on another page earlier in the week so I was very grateful to have this handy lil' feller.

Whacking Another Stack... or Small Pile

Well Jen (my SIN) came over for dinner and crafting last night. As per usual, she was much more productive than me.That girl really knows how to whack... a stack that is! She made some adorable cards. Sixteen to be exact. My most favorite is the card using the high school cut-outs that I forced her to use as a wedding card. I'm totally going to copy :)

I was crafting at my usual snails pace but enjoying every minute of it. I finished 5 cards; a triumph! Here's a really cute one that someone (I'm not sure who; David, Jen, Heather and I were all in on the action at one point) came up with. Everyone seemed to think that they were squid. Only once I started to put my card in an envelope did I notice/remember that they are jellyfish. Ugh! Meh. Still cute.

I designed and printed the little quote in a circle using a liberated ink splat from Google. The paper is ancient Bam Pop, I believe, and the other circles are a cut Hambly transparency.

I'm hoping to post one of my cards each day these week. I craft so slowly, I have to drag it out :) Plus, I'm going to Vegas this week so I'll have these posts ready ahead of time. Yeppers! Vegas with my mom and sister - we are going to have such a good time! I can't wait!

Unconditional Support

I allude to the fact that life has not been sunshine and daisies for the past year quite often. Those of you that have the pleasure of hanging out with Debbie Downer herself get more than an earful more often than you would like I'm sure. But I'm very lucky to have people in my life who have not turned their back on me. They continue to ask me to do things, even when I constantly turn them down (for reasons I will not explain at this time). They offer advice and are patient when I'm quick to defend or are hypersensitive. I have so many of these beautiful people in my life. I am eternally grateful for their friendship, I try to make sure I tell them I love them whenever I get the opportunity. And I really do love them. Not just in jest. They warm my heart and keep me strong. If I haven't told you I love you today - I do. Thank you for making my life that much brighter.

One of those wonderful people is, of course, Amanda. Love you Bear!

Kidz Kamp at TM

I'm really excited to be teaching Kidz Kamp at TM again this year. Our first crack at it went so well last year we decided to give it another go. Apparently KC is cooking up something for the winter as well... She asked if I would be okay with that. Ha! what can I say? She had me at "kids". I love 'em. And they usually think I'm alright too :) So here are a few sneak peaks of the upcoming classes but you can find more info here and here.

Canada Day in the Hood

I love the Millwoods' Canada Day celebration. Most of the years David and I have been together we have walked down the hill at the corner of 23rd Avenue and 66th street and enjoyed as good a fireworks show as I have ever seen. It's delightful and snuggly - what could be better? So that's what the two of us did. I tried to get a few shots with my iPhone. You can tell I had to take a couple by the apprehensive look creeping across David's face :) When we got home the furry bambinos were so scarred by the noise of the fireworks and so happy to see us. Awww...