Birthday Gifts 2010

I am blessed with a wonderful, fun, creative family. I was also blessed this year with some fantastic presents from them for my birthday... here are a peak at some of the fabulous things I received:

I love Aprons. I have quite a few... and I wear one every day. For my birthday this year, my sister Lydia made me this gorgeous tomatoe print apron! I love the colours and the style is so cute! She is so talented! Check out some of her other FABULOUS DESIGNS at Hawadaere!

 

The sides wrap quite far around...perfect for wiping my hands and not getting food all over my thighs and bum! The V-neckline and fitted bodice adds style and make it fit really well!

My younger sister, Eliza, got me this fantastic paper pack. I can hardly wait to start using these colourful designs! The colours are bold, the patterns fun, and the possibilities endless!

When we were in Saskatchewn, my Hubby bought me this awesome Roughriders bunny-hug (my favourite sports/football team!). It fits perfect (I happened to be there at the time...) and he also bought me two pairs of really nice sunglasses... great pick honey!

This wasn't really a birthday gift, but I got it around the same time... so it counts. My little-sister-in-law went to Switzerland for a month this summer and she brought me back these great re-usable shopping bags! How neat is that?!? What cool designs... I can hardly wait to go shopping, and I hate shopping!!

My Mother also gave me a "sticky-note-coupon" for a piece of original art from her collection... what a deal! I am seriously weighing my options and considering carefully what to choose... I'll let you know when I know! Check out some of her art HERE!

Thanks everyone!

**Don't forget to link your "simple" layouts at the Lasting Memories Layout Challenge!! This challenge ends Friday!!**

We are back from vacation!

We are back from vacation! Wow, what a trip! We had a wonderful time, put on over 7000 km and are exhausted! Isn't it funny how you are always more tired after returning from Vacation than before you go??

And it is only just beginning... there are berries to be picked, tomatoes and peaches to can, jam to be made, a house to clean, a yard and plants to be tended to, a fence to be built, two more weddings to attend... the list just goes on and on! And somewhere in there, I would like to take some time to craft... hmm.

Well... it is going to be very busy for me in the next little while, but I thought I would leave you with some momentos from our trip!

While on the Queen Charlotte Islands, it was very cold and windy and rainy on the Northern Island (where we went first). My sister happened to bring some wool, so we crocheted some toques. She made a normal-ish toque for her husband... and mine evolved from being for my hubby... to a very feminine, small-ish hat. Cute though! I really love it and will probably wear it quite a bit this winter. Unfortunately we really didn't get to wear them much as we soon had had enough of the cold and went to the Southern Island where it was very nice most of the time!

We ended up staying a day longer in Southern BC than we had originally planned... and had to whirlwind tour home. We arried home about 4pm on Wednesday, proceeded to cut, package and freeze all of the fish we caught, unpack the truck, pack the car, shower, eat supper, stop at WalMart and Staples, and be BACK on the road in about 2 1/2 hours... heading to Saskatchewan!

We arrived in MooseJaw about half an hour before the wedding rehersal and supper. The weekend was a flurry of activity and family gatherings. But what fun we had!

As you (hopefully) know... I (and my entire family) are HUGE fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. My Uncle managed to find us each a box of the sold out, limited time offer cereal... FANTUZ FLAKES! Thanks Uncle Ralph!!!! It is already displayed prominently in my scrapbook room!!

There are a MILLION other stories and pictures I would love to share... but unfortunately my peaches are going moldy as I speak. They must be tended to!

It is good to be home!

Adding Memorabilia to pages... Ideas and Examples

We all like to save memorabilia from important events... some of us are worse then others (hoarders, you know who you are!!). Why not start using those precious time-capsules in your scrapbooks?

Here are some ideas of things you could use to enhance your layouts:

- event tickets

- programs

- scraps of ribbon and material (from an event or otherwise)

- napkins/favours (from a wedding or reception)

- baby hair & hospital bracelets

- badges

- stamps (mailing/post marked)

- newspaper clippings

- letters and awards

- money (foreign coins or bills from travelling)

- postcards

-Famous Autographs

- gift cards and tags

- paper bags

- wrapping paper

- name tags & business cards

- receipts

The possibilities are endless! I even used the crushed pieces of my husbands wedding band!

A scrapbook is a place to keep your memories fresh and tangible, not just a story book to look pretty on your shelf. So start diggin' through those boxes and bring out those little chunks of history for everyone to see!

Here are some examples of things I have used in the past:

When my sister and I travelled in Cambodia, we went to the 'Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.' I wanted to keep the pamphlet so that other people could read about it.

 The background of the left page is actually a paper bag from our trip to Skagway, Alaska. There is also a business card from the "Olde Tyme" photo shop we got our picture taken at.

At another stop in Alaska, they gave everyone a cedar chip to "throw in the fire and make a wish." Of course I kept mine to scrapbook! 

 For the title page of my "Yukon Years" album, I used a post marked stamp from my home town.

 One of my University roommates and I are both obsessed with curling (and football!). One year we volunteered at the "Canada Cup Qualifiers." Of course I had to put our volunteer badge and autographs in my scrapbook!

Ticket stub to prove I was at the game!

My little brother is obsessed with hockey... I made this page for him from our visit to the "Hockey Hall of Fame." I used the pamphlet, stickers, a cut out from the paper bag and some old monogrammed credit cards (which I signed up for simply to get the cool picture!!) 

 Here I used the invitation and tickets from my highschool graduation. 

My Hubby was a Cadet for many years growing up, and he won many distinguished awards. Here are a few newspaper clippings and a badge from his time in the Army Cadets

This layout is actually mostly a collection of memorabilia. My sister and I spent an entire month in Vietnam, but we did not take very any pictures. In order to document our adventures, I used business cards, Vietnamese money, a "smog mask" and postcards from the places we stayed. In the blank space, I will journal our adventures.

And there you have it... it is just that simple to enhance your pages and have something tangible to remember an event by! Have fun coming up with ideas... and let me know what YOU have used in the past to enhance your layouts!

In the spirit of the Olympics...

Well, it has been a while since I posted... I have been busy studying for an exam I have to take for my "real" job in a few weeks. Why do they make case studies so bloody ambiguous!?!?! Good thing Kurtis has been gone for the week so I can focus on studying!

In the spirit of the Olympics (Go Canada Go!!), I thought I would post some "sports" themed layouts that I have done in the past. Sports are a great scrapbook subject! The fast-action shots and victory faces are precious memories that you want to preserve in a rich format. I find sporting events very fun to scrapbook because you can use a big, bold and bright approach. Below I have included a few examples of "sport" oriented pages from my collection.
Take me to the rodeo!

And of course, my all time favourite sport, curling!

I wouldn't be Canadian if I didn't include some hockey pictures...

Fast action sports...

And of course, the best team to ever play football... The Saskatchewan RoughRiders!

Well, hopefully these can get your mind working on some possibilties for "sport" pictures you may have laying around just waiting to be scrapbooked!