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 :)