Last night our little family went to the Festival of Trees. What a neat place. It was held in a big conference center downtown, and talk about a christmas atmosphere. And so many Christmas trees! It's a competition where companies sponser a person to decorate a christmas tree. There were glitzy trees, sports themed trees, mod trees, old fashioned trees...and there was a fabulous gingerbread house and decorated christmas cake competition as well!!! I did not know this. Look out people, I will be entering both or at least one of those competitions next year! I can make a cake or a gingerbread house!!!!

Anyhow, thought I'd post a pic or two of some of the fabulous trees we saw. I'm so in love with the 'woodland' theme tree this year. Unfortuneately finding ornaments in this theme appears to be more difficult than I had imagined!! There were so many 'glizy' trees. I loved them. And gigantic ornaments. So pretty. Perhaps I just like shiny and glitter.
This was the first of our christmas outings. Monday, being the first day of December, is officially the day I can start putting up christmas decorations! Hopefully tomorrow we can get our lights up on our house. Lots of people on our street already have their lights up and turned on at night. A little early, but one must think 'safety' here and be doing lights before the really cold weather and snow hits. I'm hoping we can be safety concious and do the same.

Oooh, a new post...for the two people that read my blog. As one would say..."WHOOT!!!!" The picture above is just a reminder of the nice warm (short) fall weather we had. Back when I could still take the doggers for a walk. I really do enjoy fall. I love the colours and the smells in the air. (I actually like the smell of cranberries ripening....most people would say they smell like stinky feet...but there is such an 'earthy' smell to them...totally reminds me of fall). And having the dogs always encouraged me to get out to T-Park, because, of course, T-Park is one of their favorite places and going for a walk is always the highlight of their day. Now the highlight of their day is being curled up on the floor by my feet. Eventually once the baby gets a couple weeks older, I'll be taking them back out to the park...for short walks anyhow. Cold weather does not encourage me to get out.
So, anyone excited about Christmas yet?????? Anyone interested in decorating for Christmas yet????? I am. But according to the Christmas guru (a friend of a neighbor friend) official decorating for Christmas cannot start until Dec.1. Of course not all people listen to this.....as shown by a couple of houses on my street...but I will. Although I'm itching to put up a wreath on my door that I found a Superstore for cheap. It's real and it needs some decoration on it, but it's a real wreath! Had a real one last year and loved it! So as a new and official re-start to the blog, be on the look out for christmas celebration pictures!!

Do you think these two pups are laughing at me? I think so. This was two weekends ago on the coldest day of the week (all temps for about 1.5 weeks before this were above 0 degrees...this day happened to be -18, feels like -24 with windchill day. The day after this? 0 degrees!!!!), a sunday to be precise on the St.Patrick's day run. I let a friend talk me into running 10 km this day in the fresh snow and the freezing temps. The pups and hubby came along to offer encouragement and cheer. I think the pups thought it was all funny. Well, as I stood at the starting line, I didn't think it was so funny. But about 2km into the race I was warm. Yes, running (with some walking) 10k pooped me out. But I did survive. Thanks to everyone who supported me (pups and hubby), and the patient and strong gal that ran with me. YAH!

Some birthday wishes...

It appears that birthdays are sprouting up everywhere.

Woot! Lookit that cake! I got a special commission for this cake. It celebrates a milestone birthday. Hopefully I did some justice for the special day. Unfortuneately she won't be able to indulge in it as she would have to come to Edmonton....I don't think it would travel well to Vancouver. So we here will enjoy it for the birthday girl instead. A chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling and chocolate fondant icing on top. The cake is kind of supposed to represent a basket of flowers. It was fun to make. I was groovin to tunes from the '80s while decorating it. I also had a little bit of help in the kitchen in the form of a yellow lab and a chocolate lab....they were supervising.

Who did I give this card to? Anyone? I can't remember! So I'm posting it anyways! Partly because I can't find anything else to post and partly because I'm celebrating the start of a new month! March is one month closer to spring. How much happiness is that!

And that's all I have to say for today.

Orchid show...

So 'S' and I went to the orchid show at the local college here on Friday evening. Seeing as she was the only one even remotely interested in going with me, little did she know, she really had no choice. If you really want to see some spectacular flowers and plants, an orchid show is something you really must attend. It's such an amazing species of plant. There is not much foliage to an orchid, but it bursts out in such amazing flowers, it's really quite neat. Anyhow, at this show there is a retailer area where one can race over to purchase an orchid after being inspired by the other half of the show, the actual display and competition portion. I myself had already decided before even entering the building that I would try to find myself an interesting orchid to bring home. This is the third time I've visited the show, and both other times I was dying to purchase. Unfortuneately my time and energy at the time was more devoted to getting myself through university and not spending time and energy on a plant. This time however, I didn't let these barricades stand in my way....neither did 'S'! She bought one too! We both bought small plants, with the hopes that we would be able to encourage growth from them. Mine came with three flowers so I'm already a step ahead of the game I figure. Plus I've got a Phaleinopsis (sp????) flowering for the second time in a row in my front window at home, so maybe I've got a little bit of luck on my hands too! Anyhow, I recommend if anyone hears of a show in their area...GO! It's well worth it! Yes, apparently there is one in Calgary in the fall....and one in Vancouver coming up in March I think. And just for the record...my red amarylis is flowering...AGAIN! And it has two flowers coming up! I swear that thing has a life of it's own. I actually wanted to repot it because the pot it's in is cracked and it's got babies (more like teenagers actually at this point) growing like mad in the same pot. But apparently I'll be waiting for it to finish flowering first! I'd like to think that this is an omen for spring....but maybe I'll just not jinx things and put that thought aside for now....

Basement renos are beginning to move along. The framing is done and the wall on the main level of the house between the living room and the kitchen is.....gone. Sure is different! Electrician and plumber coming in this week and supposedly the drywallers are aiming for a Thursday start! Pretty exciting!

One picture uploaded to blogger; ah-ah-ah-ahhhhhhh. Ok, for a couple of days now I've been trying to post some stuff and I swear blogger is seeing its demise in my eyes. Maybe it's because my pictures are too big, but that has never been a problem before, not sure why it should start now. Anyhow, as ya'll know and were a part of, these are pages I made for B's christmas album. Although you've all seen them (with the exception of mom), I'm posting them again! Here is one starring myself (yes I should probably crop the photos! All the pages revolve around Christmas at Dad's last year. I thought they turned out rather good. So much so that I'd like to create and 8x8 album for myself in the future! All pages shown are 8x8.

OK, I made an effort and cropped the pics. These are of kitty cat. He lives in the barn, chases mice, chipmunks, whatever. Every farm needs a kitty cat and every kitty cat needs a hug once in awhile. I'm happy to oblige of course. In case you can't really see, the flower says 'adore' on it.

Not much else going on up here. We had a bit of snow last night, got to drive home in it...Yay. But the temps are at least warmer than they were. We're above -10 and apparently going to be above 0 on Friday. We'll see how the weather channel decides to change that on us by the time we get to Friday. It would be nice, but snow melting during the day and freezing again during the night just does not appeal to me.

Soooo I've actually got some scrappin stuff saved up for more posts in the coming days. Go figure!! So chow for now. Updated blog ....Woooo!

Sucker, is it ever COLD outside!

Ok all. Winter has truly hit. It is blizzarding and windy, snowy, cold, frigid, freezing, windchilly, and just darn winter out! Just wanted to let everyone know that we're set for -30 degree temps for the next week. Those people in a warm climate...count yourself lucky.

Think I've nabbbed em all...

Ok, had some computer issues...I may have solved the majority of them. And without having to reboot my whole and entire computer. I still think that I will be attempting some more work... not that I'm knowledgeable about computers or anything.
So, here's my latest observation. Was at the grocery store the other day, and noticed that the grocery carts in this store now have coffee cup holders on them. Is this society truly ruled by coffee breaks and coffee? Let's see.... a Tim Hortons, Starbucks, and Second Cup, all within 1 km of each other.5 minutes away, another Second Cup, a Starbucks within the Safeway store and a Fresh Start deli place which for sure serves coffee. All the coffee stores have drive thrus, all the gas stations have a coffee bar. And now, after you've gone through the coffee drive thru, you can go grocery shopping without the risk of spilling your coffee! Just for the record, the lady in front of me at the grocery store check out line did have a coffee, but did not use the coffee cup holder. She preferred to balance it precariously in the child seat basket in the front of the cart.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day...

Well, actually I didn't. It was pretty quiet here today with just me and the hubby and two rambunctious doggers and a ninja cat. Someone brought up the word ninja to me today...and I can't get it out of my head. I like that word. "Ninja!"

So someone (not I ) was up at 0530 this morning. Not sure why. But because that person was up, the doggers and the cat had to get up as well. I ignored them all! And slept in until 0700. Good enough! All the Christmas lights were on when I got up, the fireplace was a-roaring, and my stocking was stuffed!!! Presents were also around the tree. How exciting! And there was a plate of pancakes waiting for me. How much better does it get???? Anyhow, after the eating of the pancakes, we pretty much dived into the present opening. Seeing as we don't have kids, christmas morning kind of revolved around the pets. They all opened their presents first (go figure!) and we watched the doggers play and destroy their new toys (sigh). So enough was enough after that, we gave them each a new bone to chew on and they settled down in the living room and left us to get the rest of the work done. So I must say thank-you to everyone who sent presents. We got some awsome and neat stuff and are much appreciative. So now all the excitement is over and we did a quick clean up of the house (ok, it actually took most of the afternoon and a bit into the evening) to prepare ourselves for the boxing day breaky we're hosting tomorrow.

So here are the doggers opening a 'dirty rotten kitty'. Kona has floppy toy radar. She knew what was in the packages the moment we picked them out from under the tree. There is no doubt about it, Kona loves her floppy 'hit me in the head' toys!

Last day before Christmas...

It's 1030 pm and it's time for bed. To me the greatest part of Christmas is Christmas Eve evening. It is when the best anticipation occurs. You know the next day is going to be Christmas and it's only one sleep away. The Christmas lights and Christmas tree are magical, and the presents under the tree are just dying to be opened. It's the first visits with family (if you're all together), knowing that there are more days to visit still to come. To me it's the true beginning of the Christmas season. Anticipation and magic reign at this time of year. I type this on my way to bed. Two tired dogs and a husband falling asleep on the floor. Still a couple of things to do on my 'christmas to do' list, but after today all the deadlines, and must do's are over. The end of the year draws near, and the time to turn over a new leaf approaches. So....

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a great night! (may those who can.....SLEEP IN!!!!)

2nd day before Christmas...

Ok, Hubby and I did the unthinkable last night. We went to the new Wal-Mart stoopidstore (I hate wal-mart!) on the southside at 1030 pm! Apparently this store is open 24 hours, so like the sillies we are, we thought we'd check it out late in the evening, on the last Saturday before Christmas. Hubby's reason? "I like to see the kerfuffle!" And of course I'm just along for the ride, and to possibly get a couple of last minute stocking stuffers. So we get to the store and the parking lot is PACKED!!! Yup, 1030 at night. We get inside the store and the line-up are HUGE! At 1030 at night. We look at each other and set out the challenge. 25 minutes, we both seperate and go hunting for respective stocking stuffers, meet at the front door at 1100. So off we go. After a couple of unsuspecting run-ins to each other (I ran like a freak pushing my mini buggy each time I saw him, it was funny), I made it into a fairly short line at the self-checkouts. Short line means about 10 people in front of me. Sat there for about 10 minutes as the same lady tried to check herself through the self-check out. I began rolling my eyes, then saw an opening in the line beside me for a closer self-check out and dashed into it before anyone looked! Only 4 people in front of me now! "What the heck????" That fourth person in line was feeding the self-checkout with all their loose change??!!?? They started digging through their pockets and her purse to get all their loose change. Which I guess would be fine if you continuously fed it in...but these people would pop in a nickel, then watch for the total to register on the computer screen. Then pop in another nickel. Oh lordy! They kind of smiled to the people in front of me and said "We like to use up our change!" All I could think was, people, you just don't get it, do you. Regardless, I got through the checkout in about 15 minutes. I saw hubby waiting for me at the doorway....empty handed. He promptly pointed out his deserted cart in a line up of about 100 people long. He said "Forget this noise! And abandoned his cart with my stocking stuffers in it. As disappointed as I was, I had to laugh. He just doesn't know the art of looking for the shortest line up. And apparently the other 100 people in that line don't know either!

So that was the trip to the ginormous store where you can do all your shopping in on trip. Honestly? I won't be heading back there anytime soon.

4th day before Christmas...

Ok folks. I guess it's no secret that we currently have another dogger in the household at the minute. We've taken in a foster dog. Her previous home (which was a good home) had her getting picked on by the other dogs. So she gets to stay at our house for awhile and hang with Kona. Of course Kona loves having a playmate...but she is also a jealous dog. If you want to pet Polly (foster dogger), you'd better also want to pet Kona. Kind of goes the other way around too. And because they are both under the age of 2 (Polly is 2 and a bit I think, Kona 1 year and 2 months), they still possess alot of energy. So being greeted at the door when I come home from work is quite the exhuberate experience. We've had some trials and tribulations with Polly in the house. She's not trained in anyway (didn't even know what 'sit' meant!), and she's used to being outside, so inside is new for her...and something she has grown to like very quickly (I would too if the temps outside were -25 degrees C, like they have been!). Unfortuneately for me, my clothes, my furniture, and my floors, being inside has caused her to shed the winter coat she once had. My vaccuum cleaner is getting a very constant workout. There are Polly balls and Polly bunnies everywhere. Polly is quite gentle and is very loving. She's really like a big teddy

bear, which is much different than Kona. Kona is sleek and pretty. Polly is soft and cuddly. Polly likes to give kisses, Kona likes to lay beside you and cuddle up. Crazy dogs. Polly is also alot bigger than Kona and together they're like two big galluts running rampant through the house. It is a kerfuffle when everyone wakes up in the morning (at 0530); between the two dogs and the cat there can be some ruckus. So much for ever being able to sleep in again!

Alright! So! This is the last weekend before Christmas. Anyone feeling the anticipation yet? I am. That is my favorite part! What are my plans for this important weekend? I may just brave the crowds tomorrow. Apparently this is going to be one of the busiest weekends before Christmas EVER! Everyone must have excess money burning holes in their pockets. Or perhaps they are just lookey-loos who need just one last poke around to make sure all bases are covered. Or maybe people are lemmings....if everyone else is supposedly shopping, then I better be too@! Or are they procrastinators? Just leave it all till the last minute. Or maybe they just like to feel the crowds closing in on them, the slow moving traffic jams, and the frustrations of there being nothing christmasy left to buy. But perhaps Miss Polly has a better solution to the last weekend before Christmas....

5th day before Christmas...

Ok, since my pictures of my christmas tree are not behaving I will post something else.Ok, don't ask me how I did it, I just did it. Here is my christmas tree and the picture is NOT SIDEWAYS!! Joy to the world baby!

I'm quite happy with my tree this year. I bought some new ornaments from the Bay during a 40% off sale. Just simple red and green ornaments...but BIG ornaments. So my tree theme this year is sparkly red, green ornaments with gold tinsel and white crotcheted snowflakes (courtesy of grandma!) Tres elegant. And hubby suggested I put it in our very rarely used dining room, used mostly to store bikes during the spring/summer/fall, so that everyone driving by and walking by could see it when it is lit up. I drove past the house the other day with the outside lights on and the tree lights on. Very Christmassy. I like it! So I also bought a wreath for the door this year as well. Went with the real wreath and decorated it with some cheapy ornaments....but I think it turned out quite nicely. I didn't do too much else for decorations in the house. Put out some stuff on the fireplace mantel, but that was about it. Had intentions of doing more and never really got that far. So much planned, very little got done!

I took the doggers for a walk last night to look at all the christmas lights in our neighborhood. Man does this little development go nuts on the light. We live on the street that has a blue and white theme (go figure, hey... a huge long street and everyone's lights are blue and white...well next year I'll be changing that up a little. I bought red lights at Costco this year! Gotta add a little spice to our street!). So many houses are decorated. And those big blow up figures (santas, snowment, toy soldiers) are very popular as well. What a great time of year to go dog walking...or just people walking for that matter! I've decided that the most magical time of the year is Christmas Eve, going for a walk in a neighborhood full of Christmas spirit and Christmas lights at night. The anticipation of Christmas day is at it's highest at this point, put together with lights and snow and christmas trees lit up in people's windows...you can't beat it! So this year I'm planning to take the doggers (and perhaps the husband!) on a Christmas eve walk. That will be the beginning of the Christmas festivities for us!

7th day before Christmas...

My computer sucks. I'm trying to post pictures of my christmas tree and all pictures are posting sideways! What the heck?????!!?? Who wants to look at a sideways picture if it's not meant to be sideways? Any suggestions? ANY????? Lame photo shopping computer programs. They all suck.

10th day before Christmas...

Alright people....10 days left before Christmas....and how much have you accomplished??? It seems like new projects and missions are coming out of the woodwork everyday for me. How come so hectic before Christmas? It is a deadline? Apparently I'm treating it like a deadline. So I went out on a spree today. Visited alot of places in a short period of time (before 1300 in the afternoon!) and on basically the second last weekend before the grand holiday. Almost got everyone bought for. Am narrowing it down to the nitty gritty here and am quite proud of myself. I actually started before Dec. 1 and am quite pleased that I did so cause otherwise there would be people NOT getting presents and that would have been disappointing. Anyhoo....
My lovely christmas tree is up and so are about half the decorations. Will be finishing that off this weekend. I put the tree in our dining room this year (the room that stores our bikes in the spring/summer and really doesn't get any other action any other time). Mainly to keep the pets from knocking it down. I decided that I was bored with all the old decorations so bought some new ones this year to spice it up and change it up a bit. Hopefully will get a picture posted before the weekend disappears. I also decided on a natural (REAL) wreath this year. I'm extremely pleased with my decision. Threw a couple of decorations on it and hung it on the front door. Lovely! Will throw up a picture of that as well, seeing as the only family that will get to see it is us and one other sister!
Doggers are doing good. Polly is finally settling in. Has been a bit of a challenge having those two brats around. Jingles is currently sitting in front of the big window and watching them play in the backyard. I wonder just what the heck she's thinking. Hmmmm, her ears just went flat...oops, shes now decided that's enough watching doggers play and is heading for the stairs. Oh the life of this cat. I bought her Christmas dinner today...chicken and liver. Hope she likes it. Hope I didn't make a mistake.....if you know what I mean!
Last thought for the day....if you ever feel like you want tranquility and peace, sit down and drink a cup of eggnog latte in a greenhouse. There is something about visiting the greenhouse that is calming and inspiring! I love it!
Challenge for this weekend: finish christmas decorating and get those bloody decoration boxes back downstairs where I can't see them!!!!

Ok, so I had good intentions to blog every week with a challenge....and once again I am unable to commit to my plan. But I plan on continuing to try. Which is too bad because I was hot-scrappin there for about a week. Gettin stuff scrapped, made a couple of cards....which I still haven't sent out....but perhaps this weekend I'll get on the bandwagon.
This weekend I'm dedicating it to starting all those christmas projects that I have saddled myself with. Got lots to do and gettin on to little time to do it in! Perhaps also will put some outdoor christmas lights up. Yes, I know it is only November, but there appears to be a slew of people in my neighborhood that are getting in on some Christmas action. Besides, it snowed a flurry today and this may mean that the real snow could be on its way. So best to get lights up outside before the danger aspect of it becomes more dangerous (?!?!?!). Anyhow.....that's all for now folks!! Ok, let's just sum up before I take off...

Weekend challenge: christmas and christmas projects! Let's get the party started!

I took a trip to Micheals today. Mostly because I had to get one measly thing. But also because I thought I'd check out the Christmas wares also. All the stores were already into Christmas before Halloween came and went, and because I'm of the firm belief that Christmas should not start until Halloween has played it's cards, I refused to even glance in the Christmassy direction of stores that decided to jump the gun a little too early this year. But see, herein potentially lies my mistake and I discovered this today. The Christmas isles at Micheals already look as if they've been ransacked! Apparently people are hot to trot to buy Christmas decor....especially those crafty people who frequent Micheals. And I was there (today) on a weekday. There were definately a few people there exercising their purchasing power(don't these people work????? and maybe they should be exercising something else other than their VISA cards). Anyway people are well into their Christmas decorations shopping if what I saw today has anything to do with it! That leaves me with a decision. Go crazy and buy decorations now, or tempt fate and wait until Dec. 1. Myself tells me to wait until Dec.1. Then you know that if it is sold out, it was just never meant to buy. Take that! Oh ye Christmas shoppers.

Halloween. The night of ghosts and goblins.....well, more like boy pirates, girl pirates, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and Snow White. Also many Spidermans, and for some reason, small chickens. We actually ran out of candy. As much as it hurt me to do so, I had to turn the front light off, and just for good measure I shut the lights off in the rest of the house too. I guess that's the universal sign for 'no more candy available at this house'. I also took the opportunity to dress K-dog up. Thanks to my mom for all her help in the costume. I took K-dog out for a quick walk in our neighborhood while it was light out. Honestly, I felt kind of dumb.... but one look at K-dog snuffling around with this silly outfit on made me laugh. Sooooo here's a picture

She was a spider. Oooooo, scary! Not the greatest picture, but really couldn't get her to stand still for picture taking opportunities!

Also must be posting a picture of what the house looked like all aglow in Halloween splendor. This is the first time I've decorated for Halloween, other than the traditional carving of pumpkins.. I even found some nifty lighting....although I think next year I should have a colored light in my porch light....














Ok, once again, lame pictures, but the idea is there. And now it is all over and we can legitimately start thinking about Christmas......

Yeah, I did decorate my house for Halloween.....had a bit of spiderweb stringing help from mom. The only abnormal thing is....I have spider web, but no spiders. Been on the lookout for some crazy large fake spiders, but not finding much. Am finding that people totally buy early for their holidays now-a-days. Leaves nothing less for us bargain shoppers to peruse when it all finally goes on sale (not that there is alot left to go on sale). I do have a couple of fake black cats....maybe they are only black cats when you look at them, then when you turn away they turn into the spiders that are weaving their webs around my front porch, then when you turn back they turn into black cats again. That's an idea; I'm going with that! And on that note....of course you all noticed the christmas stuff already in stores. I shakeith my head and rolleth my eyes. Pictures of my front porch coming....just waiting for the gailin wind outside to take a break.

Halloween Challenge

Ok, This weekend will be the last weekend (kind of anyhow) before Halloween. My challenge is to decorate the front porch of my house. I've actually gone out and bought a few things already. It may be only a small decorating feat....but as the years roll on, hopefully I'll continue to add cool things to my decoration collection. You know, something along the lines of Christmas decorations. And hey, you may feel that decorating for Halloween is goofy, but were I live I see inspiration everywhere and I really want to join in the fun. Pictures to be posted at the end of this weekend....hopefully!!!!

A New Challenge

Ok, so I'm trying to restart this blog. For all you dedicated readers out there!! (mom, sisters....maybe one friend...). I'm going to start out with a challenge per week for me. And that will then lead to at least one post per week. I could fail terribly at this...or perhaps I will be successful. Only time will tell.

So, the challenge for today was to take the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful fall day that was today! So after spending my morning saying good-bye to one husband that had to go to work, and a houseguest that stayed for the weekend, I decided I would go for a bike ride. Needless to say, I have NOT been on my bike for probably 2 months now. Yes, that is pathetic. Plus I'm still getting over a horrible cold and am currently having plegm issues. So, with camera in hand, I took off to T-Park. I decided I would take the more difficult but much more beautiful way to the park. Unfortuneatly by making that decision I also took a horrendous crash down a somewhat steep incline right in front of 2 dudes. One which just crashed only moments before in basically the same area where I had just landed. I think I must of slid about 20 feet, on my back, headfirst, without my bike. So after I brushed off my embarrassment and all the prickles that I landed in, I carried on in good ol' stoic fashion, and really enjoyed the fall colours and the warmth of the sun. Of course because I am soooo out of shape, and having phlegm issues, I had to stop several times to recover from exertion, wheezing and snorting. So in the end I did complete my challenge, got some fresh air, and got a couple of good pictures!

More scrapbooking...

I know of a certain sister who would much rather see 'swag', but I haven't taken pictures yet so she will STILL have to wait! (Sorry!) Just thought I'd post yet another 'veer away' from the originally proposed colour scheme of my wedding album. And in pink yet! This is paper used from the Basic Grey 'Perhaps' line. Totally get inspired by that paper. And some bazzil solid paper with some BG rubons....still the best rubons I've used yet. They are so sturdy! Not much else to report. Other than windy windy windy here. But semi warm at least.

I think the rain is gone???

I finally got some pictures uploaded from my camera to the computer. Heck, there's been enough rainy days where one could really do nothing else, so I don't have any excuses other than laziness.

The one thing about this page that I don't like is that I added the names of everyone in the picture along the sides. I now wish that I hadn't done that as it takes away from the page. But it's important information and I didn't really know where else to put it. Gotta love those diecuts!! And I've successfully used vellum! I'm pumped! And now I have officially veered away from the color coordination of blue and green that my wedding album was supposed to be. And I don't care!

Revelations..

So, over the past couple of days I've had a few revelations.

1.) My poor cat has mats in her fur! I didn't really realize it until about a week ago when I was trying to brush her and I felt lumps on her back. They were mats! Poor little kitty. She's been somewhat neglected since we got our puppy. So now, whenever I can make her lay still for a couple of minutes I've been working out the mats. One at a time. And boy am I pulling out a lot of hair in the process! But I think it's a good thing. Her fur feel so nice and soft and smooth where I've worked out the mats. And she sits for this....so she must feel better afterwards (you kind of have to understand Jingles to know that she doesn't sit for very much! Unless you want to play a game of hit and miss with her claws). It's been about a week and I've worked myself from her neck and am now around the tail area, so almost done. I've pulled out handfuls of hair. So maybe she won't be leaving so much of that hair on my furniture....

2.) Our lawnmower does not have an oil drain plug. Now go figure! Anything with oil in it should have an oil drain plug to assist in the changing of oil! Something that is recommended for all 4 cycle engines. Of course we no longer have the owner's manual (hmmmm, go figure! And this is only the second year of ownership) so I couldn't even look it up in that. So after some fruitless searching on the internet, I gave up and just tipped the sucker to drain the oil. Now it sits. I must go purchase oil and air filter next.

3.) Justin Timberlake sounds like a girl. Now in my defence I don't normally list to 'Hitlist' radio stations. But hubby has XM radio in his truck and I was driving it today and I don't know how to make the radio go to back to regular radio. So I was stuck listening to XM. Which isn't bad, if I could have found a decent station to listen to. I gave up and listened to nelly furtado, some fergie type thingy, old TLC, then this song came on and I thought "I've heard this song before....I know who sings it....girl group, girl group, girl group....or maybe female solo artist. I was stuck, so got home and downloaded it from the internet. Shocking! It was JT. So I downloaded the song just to see if it was the same song. Shocking! It was! He sounds like a friggin girl. Weirdo!

Enough revelations for today.

For Mom...

Ok, here's something semi new just because I haven't posted in such a long time! This was the card I gave mom for mother's day. It's got a little shabby chic going on. My style really is shabby chic with lots and lots and lots of embellishment. I've been cruisin some of my favorite blogs lately and noticing that I'm not really liking the direction cardmaking is going (of course there is the few exceptions to this comment). Simple and blank. Or weird color combinations. Mind you there is nothing wrong with weird colour combinations, but when they don't jive they just don't jive!!! But I guess to that everyone has their ups and downs when it comes to being creative. Heck I certainly do. It takes me 7 days to complete one scrapbook page. At the rate I'm going I won't be even close to completing my wedding scrapbook before the end of the year. Anyhow, I'm totally addicted to Basic Grey paper lately, although the mindboggling patterns can be difficult to work with. Really now, how does one overembellish a piece of scrapbook paper that is already so busy it makes your eyeballs roll? I guess you just enhance it.

More adventure in cake..

Ok, now I know there is a sister out there waiting for me to post pictures of winning cake swag.....but you'll have to wait a bit longer cause I just don't feel like taking pictures right now! Instead I'm concentrating on studying for the RN exam which will occur in about a week and a half. Yes....must study. I can't wait until it is over. And all fingers crossed that I will pass so I don't have to worry about it again. The worst of the worst would be if I didn't pass and had to fiddle and fart around with nursing textbooks until september. I think I'd die. I want to be free from school!!!!! (here I say that and currently my work is going to send me and the other grad nurse to perioperative school for 2 months starting the 1st of June. Lovely. Not that I'm not appreciative, cause I am...they pay for it afterall and I'll get paid to go. But the thought of homework during the summer does not turn my crank whatsoever.)

So today I will post a picture of my big achievement over last weekend. The first 4-tiered wedding cake I've ever made!! (My own wedding cake was only 3 layers). And all covered in fondant! Whoot!

The sword sitting on the table has cut 28 wedding cakes, all in the same family. Pretty cool. I think the cake was a hit. It was all chocolate with chocolate ganache filling and covered in buttercream, then fondant. The flowers were silk. Took me a whopping 1.5 full days to create it. For me, impressive. What was even better was that I had made way too much ganache filling, so made it into little chocolate balls covered in cocoa for the gift opening the next day. Those who didn't choke when inhaling cocoa dust really loved them (actually those who choked must have liked them too cause they kept coming back for more....but there was always some type of poking fun comment regarding inhaled cocoa dust).

Ohhh, the cake....

So I was convinced by the sisters to enter a cake in a contest, interpreting my favorite t-shirt from an online company. I worked on my cake, slaved on my cake, then went to post pictures of my cake, and saw many other fabulous interpretations of other peoples favorite t-shirt for an online company in the form of cake! Not only that, but I didn't take any wacky pictures of me making the cake, or eating it for that matter, so I'm kinda the odd man out with the cake. Regardless, I sent the pictures in. And now I'm posting them here so everyone can see my cake.

This is titled..."the loch ness imposter meets the loch ness monster". Of course the t-shirt I interpreted is also called "the loch ness imposter" Great t-shirt from threadless. Anyhow, the cake is half gone now.....

More puppy show

Ok, here are some pics from the dog show last weekend. Did I say Kona won 2 red ribbons and a blue ribbon??? We were some proud puppy parents!Here is Kona posing outside on the 'not quite spring like conditions' grassy patch.

She's closing her eyes to the competition here. What one doesn't see, doesn't make one nervous! Kind of a good strategy I guess. But I don't think she was nervous. I was nervous enough for all of us! And I didn't have to do anything but carry poop bags and last minute grooming tools...not that there is much on her to groom either....but just in case. Just to get that last minute flyaway! And here is what happens at the end of a really long weekend! It took her a matter of seconds to find a comfy spot in the back seat of the truck and fall asleep!

Doggie show!

So, we're back from our first puppy show. Yes, this weekend Kona was a show puppy. That l'il gremlin girl! She did good. I think she went through a very big learnin curve this weekend, with being in the show ring for the first time, being in this crazy, busy environment for the first time, and having so many people want to pet her for the first time!! I know that some show dog owners won't let the public pet their dogs; it's for their own reasons I know, but we let everyone pet Kona. Of course there is the disclaimer we always say first..."She does jump on people and she still likes to nibble once in awhile. She also likes long hair! So petter beware" And then we try and hold her down (teaching her to keep 4 feet on the ground) while she gets some adoration. She loves it. And at the end of each day this weekend we've come home with a very tired but happy (I think!?!) puppy. This weekend was good practice for her.

She's just on the cusp of actually being able to show. Puppies are not allowed to be entered until they are 6 months old. Kona is 6 months and 1 week. And it shows. She's not as husky and heavy as the older dogs. Which is fine. She was the smallest dog there in stature. I do think she will be of a taller sort when she gets older though. And she was the curliest in coat. Which isn't always a good thing as labs are only allowed to have a 'wave' to their coat, not the actual curls that Kona has on her bum. Whatever, I like her curls. It makes her unique. She showed the best on the second day, Saturday. She trotted well around the ring and she stacked herself when standing (this is when the feet are placed parallel and appropriate in order to make the dog look good when standing and showing). She naturally places her feet appropriately and shows off which makes it easier for the handler! And what her handler (hubbie!) liked best were all the compliments Kona got. Definately made him feel proud about her.

Now the two of them are asleep on the couch. Yep, it's been a long but busy and good weekend.

Dog Blog...

OK, this is turning into a dog blog....

And this is why one doesn't mess with gravity...

And No, Kona is not normally allowed on this chair when I'm around. I was only around to take the picture. Someone was being naughty.

But I admit, it provided some very good laughs.

We don't have easter bunnies...we have gremlins in our house!

I'm still not sure if these pictures are scary or really really funny.

I'm sitting at the computer finishing up my last nursing paper/project (oh thank God! I'll thank God even more when I'm absolutely finished...which will probably be no earlier than midnight tonite!). I'm watching all these people walk by with kids, with dogs, joggers, bikers....Hey, it looks nice outside. The sky is blue, the sun is shining...in fact it looks exactly like it did yesterday. Until I went outside for a walk and got blasted with icy cold wind. Now I'm gunshy to go outside today. I can see those trees swaying in some type of breeze, and the leaves flittering along the ground. I know there is wind out there. Not sure if it's cold icy wind though. Perhaps I will check in a hour or so......

Kona

What a silly looking puppy! She's in a growth spurt right now and she's got all this skin that she still has to grow into. And she's getting these goofy facial expressions now. For example; when she's begging for food she looks at you with half closed eyes and her head sits way back on her neck. She kinda looks stoned, but I think she's trying to look nonchelant (sp?)...just in case one was to give her a little nibble or a small piece of something were to fall on the floor. Then she springs into action. Her nose has also grown quite a bit in the last little while. It's larger and longer.....a more 'mature' look than she had before. Her eyes look small here, but they aren't really. I guess her head has just gotten bigger. And she still has her curly hair. Apparently some labs have a double coat; they keep their curly hair into adulthood, whereas sometimes labs will have a curly coat when they are small, but then they grow into it and the curly hair disappears. I hope Kona's hair stays curly. It gives her character.

So, she's been allowed to become a couch dog. (NOT by me). And she has picked out her favorite spot on the couch. Her on one end of the couch and Mr.Man on the other end of the couch. I now have to sit in a different chair....which is fine as my cross stitch stand is all set up nicely with one of the other chairs. So I won't complain!!! Kona is about 21 weeks in this picture...I guess that is about 5 months old!

Dog vs Cat...

I had to break up a fight the other day. Our puppy is getting very big. She's not really a puppy anymore, but there certainly is lots of puppy attitude. And she's got energy. I really thought that Labs were supposed to be laid back and lazy. This one is not. She gets into these moods where she runs laps around the house. I guess I don't blame her. She does have to stay home along during the day when we're at work. And we don't always get a chance to take her to T-Park for a super run. Anyhow. No puppies or cats were hurt during this confrontation. I must say that Jingles (the cat) is getting much braver during these 'confrontations'.
Kona usually corners Jingles in the guest bedroom (or Jingles' bedroom as this is where the cat has hung out since we've gotten the dog.) By the time I get upstairs to interfere, Jingles is usually under the bed and all one sees is the swiping of paws out from under the bed. It is funny in a sense; I wonder what goes through the cat's head when all this is occuring. I don't know if she is really scared more than she is just mad that her life has been interrupted by this goofy puppy. I guess we should have forced more 'meetings of the pets' when Kona was still a baby. I just didn't want Kona to get hurt. Now I'm afraid for them both.







The picture is kind of blurry, but you get the idea. I'm not sure who looks more scared here, the cat or the dog!

Another nifty artwork project...

To go along with the birthday that that nifty cake was made for, I also made the kids picture frames. I was inspired from many hours of surfing scrapbook blogs on the internet, then decided to visit a scrapbook store and promptly became inspired when I saw the bestest paper ever! Yeah, I know that sounds weird, but sometimes scrapbook paper just speaks to me and says....'Buy me! You won't regret it!!'

So this is a windowbox type of picture frame, which turned out really cool. This was for a little boy (obvious little boy colours!), and really didn't take all that long to make. In fact I made two in one night as I also made one for the little girl too.

I was quite happy with how both picture frames turned out (did I say that yet? Maybe a thousand times?). It was one of those really satisfying moments. So satisfying I may in fact create some more. So all those related relations and friends...look out! You may already know what you're getting for your birthday. (hee hee).

And for all those people who aren't all that familiar with scrapbooking, all the decorating on these frames was done with precisionally cut paper. So there!

Oh that cake!

I was commissioned to make a cake for a birthday, and of course I jumped at the chance. It was a 1st birthday, and since I'm not much of a baby person (didn't really know what to put on the cake) I kind of went generic. I was told 'no limits! Do whatever you'd like to do!' So I did. And this is what I came up with!

I am quite pleased with the final outcome. In all, the cake took me all day to bake. In reality I baked the actual cake the night before, then spent the morning and afternoon assembling it (which didn't take all that long...only 2 layers to the cake) and then tackling the decorations. The part that took the longest was mixing the colored fondant. I've found a recipe to make my own fondant, but so far have found it easiest to use it right after making it. According to the recipe, it should sit overnight. But I find it gets tough and is hard to mix and mold. Go figure. Don't know what I'm doing wrong. BUT the most important part...although the cake looks cute, it also tasted yummy! It was chocolate of course as I haven't found a satisfactory vanilla/white recipe yet. And it had this lemon pudding/cream cheese filling. I still have some of the filling left in my fridge. Yes, I've been eating it plain...without the cake. It's really that good!

Scrappity scrap scrap....

Ok, the long awaited scrapbook pages. I've been trying to finish off my Christmas scrap pages. I may have gone overboard in the number that I've done, but whatever. I won't care anymore after I've finished them and they'll look nice! So, without further ado!

This was done with Basic Grey paper and good old solid color cardstock with some nifty Stampin Up stamps.

I've really gotten into putting a lot of busy embellishment on my pages. I'll probably look back in a year or so and think "What WAS I thinking!?!?!?!" Ha!

Each page has an area for some journalling to happen. I decided I wouldn't write the stories yet. Not until I've finished all the Christmas pages and then I'll go through and make some witty comments.

This page used Basic Grey paper (from the Dasher collection I think), Stampin Up cardstock, and snowflake stampin up stamps. The 'holiday happy' is some Basic Grey chipboard, so is 3D in real life. This is one of my favorite christmas pages! That's enough for now! I now have to go save something from my nibbling puppy...... Sounds like velcro.....must be a shoe of some sort.

Wow! Cake...

Ok, so I was between classes this weekend (end of one class, start of another; nursing class schedules vary greatly from a typical university class schedule), and I did no homework related work whatsoever! Although I perhaps should have been studying and refreshing myself for my final practicum, I did not. Instead, I spent the weekend scrapbooking and on Saturday I made a cake. And let me say, I even impressed myself. Not cause it was fantastically tasting (I made if from a cake mix, but it still tasted good!), but because the decorating job was crazy! I attempted to make my own fondant, and I used it to decorate the cake. It was a success!!!


I decided to go with a valentine's theme, seeing as this is probably the extent of valentines creativity I will get to..due to being in school of course. I was even able to successfully drape a huge sheet of rolled fondant over the entire cake without catastrophe! No ripping, to tearing, and the entire cake covered without a wrinkle. Of course this was only a 9" cake, I guess next will be a larger cake. Gets trickier as the cake gets larger. Now if only someone would come eat this thing, as it's really not part of my diet. Actually, we had a few people over for superbowl, and managed to finish the cake off then.

Now I should go take pictures of the awsome scrapbook pages I made this weekend as well. I was happy with my product!!

Into the New Year...

I guess 2007 has officially started. For me it's come in like a lion. Had a horrible cold starting on New Years Eve and still have it 10 days later. Sniffles, headache, fatigue, crankiness. 2007 is not starting out well. Now apparently we're going to get blasted with another bout of winter. Estimated snowfall for tonight is approx. 15 cm, blustery winds, and -20 degree C temps. Add some windchill to that and we're probably talking -30 again. The one good thing....another blanket of snow would cover all the brown snowbanks we have now. Brown snow is just ugly and depressing to look at. Of course it also means someone will have to shovel the driveway...

I found these really neat paper ornaments this year for my tree. I did not get all made that I wanted to, but next year I plan to cover my christmas tree in similiar paper ornaments. These were precut, prescored ornaments from Basic Grey patterned papers. There is the star that is quite visible, plus there is the round ornament in upper left of picture as well. Every year I try to add one type of homemade ornament to my christmas tree. This year was kind of late, and I almost gave up on this tradition until I was browsing ebay and saw these kits. Very cute.

I guess for the new year I must make my resolutions. In honesty, I don't particularly feel like doing so, but I will.

Resolution #1. Be more organized.
I'm already struggling with this.
Resolution #2. Organize my craft room.
I've already begun this, but it will take some monetary funds to finish this, so it will have to be delayed at this point.
Resolution #3. Of course to loose weight. I've already weighed myself and taken measurements for the record. I've decided to do this at the end (or beginning) of each month. I must say I'm sorely failing at this resolution already.
Resolution #4. Start doing scrapbook techniques instead of dreaming of them.
Resolution #5. Finish all the starts (a whopping total of 2) of cross stitch that I have, in order to start a fresh new miribillia and a fresh new Chatelaine design. I'm well on my way in this resolution!

OK. That's enough resolutions for the start of this year. Definately managable ones, so we'll see how I do.

I think that is enough resolutions to keep me busy