Card's and Projects By SU! Consultant, Catherine Black

Catherine came and did a card class with us and introduced us to Shimmer paint. I used the card we made in last week's Play Along Monday challenge (Thanks Nancy..lol!). Here's her display table from the retreat of some of her creations. So much talent and inspiration here!! Thanks again for joining us, Catherine!

Some Photo's Of Our First Retreat!

Hello! As promised, here are some photo's from our retreat! We're missing about 5 girl's in our photo as they had already gone. We'll have to get them in there next time! We had a fantastic turnout for our first retreat and we've already started booking for June! We're already almost full, which is so exciting!

We Have A Winner!

The winner of last week's Play Along Monday challenge is Nancy! Congrats on your win, Nancy! I hope you enjoy your new stamp set!

"Play Along Monday's" Challenge #19 - Circle Scallop Santa Face (with instructions)

Good morning!!! Well, we had a busy wknd and I have yet to get started on my Christmas cards, so I went back in my blog for idea's and I found the santa claus face tags that I made last year! You can find the instructions here, (Thank you Tanya!) but I've also did my own little tutorial below. These are so cute when they're finished. So, for this week's challenge, I'd like to see you do your own! Can't wait to see how you incorporate your Santa tags!

Materials Needed:

• circle scallop punch
• standard hole punch
• red, white and blush colored paper
• adhesive
• trimmer or scissors

Instructions:

• using your circle scallop punch, punch out 1 blush, 2 red and 2 white
• using your standard hole punch, punch out 2 white and 1 red, this will be your eyes and nose

• leave your blush scallop circle whole, trim 3 scallops off 1 white and trim 5 scallops off both the other white and red

• attach white 5 scallop pc to the top of your blush circle and red 5 scallop piece to the bottom of the blush circle

• attach the white 9 scallop piece to the back of your santa, on the bottom, this becomes part of his beard

• now take your 9 scallop piece of red and tuck it under the back of your red piece on the top. this becomes santa's hat. i tucked it under and matched the first scallop on the 9 pc to the second one that's already attached (i hope this makes sense..lol..you can always click on the above link for more instructions if needed)

• now add your eyes and nose and using a black marker, add your little eyeballs and you're done!

Underwater Fun!

Another layout from the retreat, I was quite busy and productive! Again, this one is from the condo pool as well. We bought an underwater camera and had some fun with it. The kid's loved it! Again, this is the paper/sticker kit I bought from a CM consultant.

REMINDER!!

Hi everyone! Hope all my US friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and enjoyed the Black Friday sales!! I just wanted to send out a quick reminder to everyone that you only have a couple days to play along in this week's challenge for a chance to win a CTMH stamp set! Click the "Play Along Monday" photo in my sidebar for full details!!

Pool Time!

This is another layout from the retreat. We stayed at my in-law's condo and here's some photo's of the kid's enjoying some pool time and R&R. The paper and stickers are from a CM kit I bought from a consultant who joined us!

Dreams Come True....

Here's another Disney layout I put together at the retreat. I really love how the titles all turned out! Making these pages over the wknd really made me want to go back there. We plan on returning and doing Epcott and Animal Kingdom. Kim, another lady at the retreat was working on a Disney album as well, of those 2 places and I can't wait to visit them!!

Materials:

• "Dreams Come True" crictu cartridge
• CTMH "Daydream" paper pack
• CTMH "Cherish" for the layout design

Riley's 1st Christmas (with us) and Angel's in The Xmas Tree!

Our (big!) puppy, Riley, turned 1 on Nov 20, maybe now he'll start to settle...we'll only be so lucky! LOL! I had a photo opp with him the other night as well. This will be his first Christmas with us and so far, it's been interesting. He's afraid of the blow up snowman outside and he keeps trying to get the Christmas balls off the tree. Good thing he's cute! LOL! We'll be keeping a close eye on him this season though. I caught him by the arch checking out my snowman, thought it would be a great shot!

This is our little "Angel" whom I found sleeping under our Xmas tree, so you guessed it, I had to grab the camera for another photo opp!

Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Precious Moments

I've been trying to figure out all the settings on my camera, so I've been playing around with it alot. I put some of our Christmas stuff up on Monday as we have a Christmas party next wknd and I didn't want to be running around all stressed out. Last night we had family over and we were visiting and I caught Ashleigh looking at all the Christmas balls on our arch (yes, this is actually a 7.5' garland arch and it's beautiful!) so I had to grab my camera. To me this is one of those precious Christmas moments. Christmas is huge in our house as it's our favourite holiday of the yr. Followed very closely by Thanksgiving.

Here's a little story for you! My husband and son spent hours putting up all the outside lights a couple weeks ago and you'll never guess what happened!! We were talking by the front door and we saw this squirrel run by with something in it's mouth. It had chewed about a 12" pc of wire right off the strand and took off with it! Since then, we have seen them running by with more wire, bulbs...I don't get it. Needless to say, all the lights we put up and the money we put out on new lights this yr is all gone. We have a few lights here and there, but that's it. We've never had this happen before!!! Our house is known for it's lights as Keith goes crazy every year...I don't know if he'll even bother now or if it's even worth it. Gotta love those squirrels....

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to take a moment and wish all my US friends a very happy and safe Thanksgiving!!

Bon Voyage!

Here's another Florida layout I put together. My husband and I left the kid's with grandma and grandpa and we went on a dinner cruise on the "Starlite Majesty" out of Clearwater Beach. Was beautiful. It was only a 3 hr cruise, but we had dinner, there was dancing and of course yummy drinks!! The sunset was so pretty too.

Again for this one, I used my cricut "Life's A Beach" for the title.

Don't Forget...

Hi friends! Don't forget, if you have a moment this week, to play along with this week's challenge! You'll have a chance to win a Christmas stamp set! Just click the photo in my sidebar to be taken to this week's challenge!

FBW # 85 - Circles and an Angel Ornament

Good morning!! This week's Flutter By Wednesday challenge is to use a circle or circles AND use a fairy, butterfly or an angel for the holidays. I've been so excited to show this off! At our retreat this past wknd, Pam Russell joined us and taught us a "water color with markers" class. She designed this little ornament and we all made one! As soon as I saw the circles and of course the angel, I knew it was perfect for today!!!! The angel is from a CTMH set called "Angel Sent"

Be sure to visit Danni's blog and also to hop on over to all the DT blogs to see their creations! You can find them all listed in Danni's sidebar. Have fun! Don't forget to create something yourself and link it in Mister Linky on Danni's blog so we can all come visit!

"Play Along Monday's" Challenge #18 - Favourite Christmas Stamp AND A Giveaway!

Hello and thanks for stopping by! I'm a day late, but here's this week's challenge and a little surprise! First off, a big thank you to all who come and play along whenever they can. I know it's a busy time of year, so I appreciate you coming out and trying to play along! This week's challenge is a simple one and you likely have it sitting out already as you work on your Christmas cards, or close at hand. I'd love to see everyone's favourite Christmas stamp. That's it!! But here's the surprise!! This week I also have a little something I'd love to give away...so all you have to do is play along AND leave a comment telling me what your favourite family Christmas tradition is. Lucky winner will be chosen by random.org and will win CTMH "Holiday Warmth" Christmas stamp set! Winner will be announced with next Monday's challenge!

For this week's card, I actually used the photo of my cousin, Nancy's, as we all did the same one at a class on Saturday and I haven't photographed mine yet. The stamp is from SU! and it's called Dasher and this is where we learned all about Shimmer Paint!!! See all that glitter? That's shimmer paint. Catherine Black told us to mix 1 oz rubbing alcohol to 10 (eye)drops shimmer paint in a little spray bottle (dollar store) and voila!! And it is NICE!
So, go find those stamps and let's see YOUR creation! Don't forget to leave me a comment and good luck! Happy crafting!

"Smilebox Greetings" From Our Retreat

Visit my cousin Nancy's blog for a little retreat slideshow she put together!

Beauty & The Beast, Layout

This is one of the layouts I completed over the wknd. We went to Disney for our first time in Oct 2007, so I thought it was time to get working on this album! Stay tuned for more layouts to follow this week!

Materials:

• CTMH "Cherish" (layout design)
• CTMH "Daydream" LV2 paper pack
• "Dreams Come True" cricut cartridge
• Shimmers paint on the title
• Stickles on the rose

Project Tuesday - Post It Note Holder!

Good morning! Today on Project Tuesday, our project is to make a Post It Note Holder! I used all CTMH product for this one. The paper pack is called "Welcome Home". Don't forget to pop over to Project Tuesday to see what the rest of the DT came up with and try it yourself!

Retreat was AWESOME!

Good morning!! We're back from the retreat and now it's back to reality too! I tell you, you go from being pampered to being mom/wife in a matter of seconds, lol, there's no time in between! We had a wonderful relaxing wknd. The food was fantastic, oh my goodness. There was dessert with both lunch AND dinner and when you don't eat that normally, I feel like I need to run a marathon right now! We had 2 classes and a demo on Saturday and learned to watercolor with markers with Pam Russell and we also learned all about shimmer paint. OH WOW! Let me say, I think our SU! Consultant, Catherine Black did very well with orders!! That stuff is fantastic! I'll post my card later today as it's part of this week's challenge. New friendships were made and it was just an all around fantastic wknd. We have booked already for June 3 - June 6, 2010 (yes, an extra day girls!) as well as Nov 19-21, 2010 AND June 2 - 5, 2011!! We had a request for an extra day and we're accomodating it! We're so excited! I'll have to do some sweet talking to my son though, as June 2nd is his birthday, but this place is already booked up to 2015!!

I did manage to get some work done on my Disney book, as well as some of my DT projects done, so over the next few days, I'll be showing it all off! Stay tuned!

Just Popping In!

Hi friends! I'm popping in QUICKLY, lol, as I am still in the midst of packing for the retreat this wknd! Yes, that's me, last minute packer! I've done amazing really...in a matter of 2 hours I have 2 loads of laundry (almost) done, just about packed and about to clean the house a little. Not bad! I'll try to pop in over the wknd, depends on how the wireless works there. So, have a wonderful wknd my friends and we'll 'chat' soon!

Happy crafting!

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Flutter By Wednesday Challenge and Some Awesome News!

Good morning! I have some fantastic news! I've applied for, and been accepted, to be a member of Danni's Flutter By Wednesday Design Team!! How exciting is that! I love Danni's work and now to be a part of that is pretty neat. Thank you to Danni for this opportunity and to the design team who have all sent me such warm welcome's! I look forward to working with you all! I had everyone's link on here, but it kept going all funny on me, so will post later, but you can find all the DT's on Danni's blog. Be sure to pop by and visit them!

So, this week's challenge is open, but we ask that you please use a butterfly, fairy or angel on your project. Make sure to stop by Danni's blog and visit the other DT member's blogs as well as welcome the new members of her team!!

For my card, I used a new stamp from The Angel Company's October Vintage set. She's so pretty! The paper is CTMH "Evensong" and of course, I added a little glitter. Enjoy!

Project Tuesday "Peek A Boo" Box

This week over at Stamps and Smiles Project Tuesday, our project is to make a Peek A Boo box! This was a lot of fun to do and it makes quite a cute little keepsake for someone. I put Reece's Pieces in mine, but you could put so many things in there. I had thought about a little piece of tissue paper and you could put in a little pair of earrings...lots of ideas! Be sure to head on over to Project Tuesday to see what the rest of the DT came up with!

"Play Along Monday's" Challenge #17 - Create Your Own Designer Paper!

Good morning! Sorry I have been missing in action, I've been swamped! My friend Kelli and I are also hosting our very first retreat this wknd, so we've been busy getting ready for that and now I have to spend this week getting MYSELF ready! I went to Michaels and bought myself a Disney's Mickey Mouse album kit and going to work on my Disney/Florida pics from 2 yrs ago. We're very excited about this coming wknd. We have some of our scrapbooking group attending, but we also have alot of new faces coming. We also offered a day option, so we have that filled up as well.

I want to thank everyone for playing along last week! Your creations were fantastic! One thing I think I'm learning with my challenges, especially at this time of the yr is that simple is better. So, this week's challenge is an easy one. I'd like to see what you can do with some stamps, ink and plain paper. You got it, I'd love to see your own personal designer paper!! Can't wait to see your creations! Be sure to post a DIRECT link in Mr Linky so we can come visit. I've attached a really pretty card from my blogger friend, Michelle. She sent me this with my last TAC order and I have to share it. Isn't it pretty!!! Thank you, Michelle!

Have a fun day everyone and happy crafting!!

Warm Holiday Wishes - Project Tuesday Pocket Card

As some of you know, I completely missed getting my project done for this week's Project Tuesday - Pocket Card. So here we go! A day late...but I did get it done and it's so cute! I decided to try something different with the inside of the card, so I made it into a gift card holder. It worked quite well! Don't forget to hop on over to see all the DT creations and maybe try your hand at one as well! You can also find the instructions here.

All products (except ribbon) are CTMH:

• evensong paper pack
• merry pursuits (elf stamp)
• festive frills (sentiment)

Would you like to win this card? (sorry, Bella Bucks card not included!) Leave me a comment and let me know one thing you love about the winter season! Winner will be announced on November 14th!

Remembrance Day - Lest We Forget

Christmas Invitations

Good morning! First off, I want to thank everyone for your kind comments and emails regarding the loss of our kitty. It really meant alot to me. I knew the time would come and knew it would be hard, but wow, I wasn't prepared for the loss I felt! I'm feeling much better now, so thank you.

My hairdresser asked me to make her Christmas Open House Invites again this year and she wanted something simple yet elegant and less is more kind of idea. She gave me an idea of what she was looking for and this is what I came up with. I used my cricut to cut out 3x3" red squares, then I cut out 2 1/4 x 2 1/4" white squares. I then used my CTMH prisma glitter around the edges, cut out snowflakes with my Martha Stewart punch and added MS course glitter to those and finished it with curly ribbon. Let me tell you, there is glitter EVERYWHERE!! LOL! I did the information using my printer and velum.

This is my project that I didn't get done in time for Monday's "Anything Christmas" challenge! I hope you like it.

So Forgetful!

So, after all the going's on this wknd and the kid's being off yesterday for a PA day, I completely drew a blank that today is PROJECT TUESDAY! I completely forgot I had to have it done for today! So, stay tuned as I will have my project completed this week.

A Little Quiz from my friend Sally!

My friend Sally sent me this list of 35 questions to answer in one word...so here goes

1. Where is your cellphone?....mantel
2. Your hair?....shoulders
3. Your Mother?....work
4. Your Father?....work
5. Favourite Food?....quesadilla's
6. Your dream last night?....forget
7. Favourite drink?....grapefruit
8. Your Dream/Goal?....happiness
9. What room you in?....dining
10.Your hobby?....papercrafting
11.Your fear?....Death
12.Where do you want to be in 6 years?....wealthy!
13.Where were you last night?....yoga
14.Something that you aren't?....(overly) confident
15.Muffins?....Chocolate
16.Wish list item....??
17.Where did you grow up?....keswick
18.Last thing you did?....invitation
19.What are you wearing?....clothes
20.Your TV?....Big
21.Your pets?....alot
22.Friends?....Great
23.Your Life?....fantastic
24.Your mood?...happy
25.Missing someone?...ginger (my cat)
26.Vehicle?....van
27.Something you are not wearing?....earrings
28.Your favourite Store....
29.Your favourite colour?.... pink
30.Last time you laughed?...Today
31.Last time you cried?....Saturday
32.Best Friend....Sister!
33.One place you go to over and over again....computer
34.Facebook....nope
35.Favourite place to eat?....mansion house!

"Play Along Monday's" Challenge #16 - Anything Christmas!

Good morning everyone. Supposed to be another nice day here today, but I will get something done, promise! Thank you to everyone who played along last week, loved seeing all your creations. Don't forget, feel free to play along whenever you wish! You can find all my Play Along challenges in my sidebar.

For this week's challenge, I'd like to see a project of your choice with a Christmas theme! I can't wait to see what you come up with. I'll post something later on today, I just didn't get a chance over the wknd to do something. Don't forget to post a DIRECT link in Mister Linky!! Most important, HAVE FUN and happy creating!

EDIT: Since I didn't get mine done in time for a sample, I've added it into Mister Linky!

Amazing Weather Here In Ontario!

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. The weather here has been incredible this wknd! Yesterday and today we hit 15*C! VERY unlike Nov weather, so we've been out enjoying it and I've done NO creating this wknd. A little reminder though, last week's challenge was to create something with one pc of paper and I'd love to see some more entries! I find everyone's work so inspiring! A new challenge will be posted tmw.

Also, I have a couple Regal orders to go in, so if anyone would like something, have a look on my sidebar for the link to my online webstore and we'll all split the shipping. For my US friends, I'll just add on the exact shipping from me to you afterwards. Some great deals in there!

We also had a sad day yesterday as we lost our 16 yr old kitty. We had just bought and moved into our first home together, we were on separate shifts and I was waiting on the front steps when Keith came home one afternoon and in his hands was this precious little kitten (my first cat) and I fell in love with her. She's always been a very cuddly/huggy kitty. Yesterday she was bugging me in bed, trying to curl up around my head and then I heard our daughter crying saying Ginger couldn't move. It was awful. One minute she was ok, the next she was completely paralized from the waist down. They figure it was an embolism/broken blood clot on her spine. So we had to say our goodbyes. I took it quite hard. She was a sweetheart and she'll be missed. Even Riley was moping and crying as they had become best friends and were always together, even slept together. She's in the back corner, in her favourite place where she loved to lay and watch the birds. It's funny because Riley loves to lay against the fence back there too. We both missed her terribly last night, that's when I had a really rough time and finally let it all out. I'm so used to her being on the bed at night. I feel much better today though and know that I made the right decision and she's off lazing in the sun and doing her infamous birdwatching again somewhere!!

So, on a good note, be sure to enjoy this beautiful weather, wherever you are and happy creating!! I'm going back out to lap up this sunshine and clean some windows :)

Our Very FIRST Weekend Scrapbooking Retreat Is Almost Here!

I can't believe it's only 3 weeks away...our very first scrapbooking retreat! My friend Kelli and I run a monthly scrapbookers club in town and we decided to try our hand at hosting a retreat. Well, we're doing amazing! We're almost full and we have ppl coming in last minute to see if we have room left! This week we've been getting emails and phone calls. It's so exciting! We have to have final numbers in on Nov 11th. It's being held 5 min's from my house, so that's convenient for me! We have some special events taking place, demo's, classes..all free of charge AND we've decided to do a "Trade or Sell" event on Friday night along with 'Mock'tails. Bring anything you'd like to sell or trade off for something else! We're offering both weekend and day options and we have both filling up nicely, so we're really excited. We've already booked the conference center for next June and Nov!!

If anyone out there is interested in coming, send me an email and I'll send you all the details!! We're located an hour north of Toronto, an hour south of Barrie, right on Lake Simcoe. The rest will be in email. I wish all my US friends could come, would be so fun to meet everyone. I promise to post pics and details of all the fun we have.

Wedding Thank You Cards

As some of you know, my Aunt recently got married and we had fun making her invitations from a kit and then I was asked to make some place card markers for the kid's plates and I also made their Wedding Guest Book. So, when my Aunt recently talked to me about Thank You's, I looked into having them made and then asked if I could see what I could come up with on my own. My daughter and I went to Michaels last night and matched everything up to the invitations and this is what I came up with today. I really like them. They're simple yet classy. The flower is from the reception as well. We had them on the tables in place of confetti, so it was fun to bring those into the thank you cards. I have to say, I really loved putting all this together! My sister, cousin Nancy and I just finished an online wedding album for them as well and it's beautiful. Can't wait till we get it back so we can all get together and give it to them.

I just talked to my hubby he informed me that friends of ours, one of which is his co-worker, all have H1N1. They've been tested and diagnosed with it. His wife and 3 kids have it, so he's likely next, poor guys! Unfortunately, it's likely going to go through work now as well. I have had a sore throat the last couple days, but more irritating than anything. Today as the day progressed, it's gotten worse. Thank goodness we already have a dr's appt for a follow up for Ashleigh. Fingers crossed that I'm not getting sick :(

EDIT: WELL, GOOD NEWS IS THAT MY THROAT IS IRRITATED, BUT NO NEED FOR MEDS JUST YET, WAIT AND SEE! GREAT NEWS IS THAT OUR GIRL IS 100% BETTER! YAY! THAT FLU KICKS THE ENERGY RIGHT OUT OF YOU!

One last thing, I want to send a big birthday shout out to my friend Christine today!

Also, one more thing..today on Danni's Dreams, some very sad news was posted and I just want everyone to go and give their little one's a hug tonight. If you do pop over to Danni's blog, there's a special tree that's waiting to be planted and all the details can be found here.

There's A Sale Goin' On!

Hop on over to Stamps and Smiles new releases to take advantage of some huge savings! Save 20% on all Fall/Winter stamps and receive a goodie bag with every order! "This NEW release bundle is available at a special price for a limited time. Buy the whole stamp collection and save 25%, now through December 15th."

Stamps and Smiles is now selling digi stamps too and oh my, they are SO cute! Be sure to go have a look! Make sure to check often as new ones are being added as they become available!

My First Paper Tree!

This is it! This is what we are doing with our Scrapbooker's Club this Friday night. Kelli (we run the club together) found this idea on Tracey Mason's blog. Isn't it pretty? I wish my leaves were curled a little more, but I think it's pretty good for my first try! For this one, I used:

• Spray Adhesive
• Martha Stewart Course Glitter
• "Evensong" CTMH Paper pack (LV 2)
• 3x3" squares

You can find the instructions that I used by clicking on Tracey's site above. Kelli came up with her own cutting design so we don't waste as much paper, so stay tuned and I'll post those when I get them in my hands!

Regal Greetings and Gifts

I just wanted to let you all know that I've recently become a Regal Greetings and Gifts Rep. I now have an online webstore, which you can find in my sidebar. Each week there's a new special, I believe it runs Thursday - Thursday. You can find the specials under "Current Promotions". You can also view the catalogues online or if you would like your own, please let me know and I'll mail one out to you. You can now shop online as well. They have some amazing deals on cards in there as well as some cute Xmas gifts. Please feel free to check out my webstore and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me!

Guess What?! And A Little Guessing Game!

Hello everyone! I have an exciting announcement! I'm staying on as a designer for Stamps and Smiles "Project Tuesday"! I'm so excited as I love all the little projects they have done and I love all the little stamps too. I even chk'd today and my photo is up on the Project Tuesday blog!!

So, this Friday, we're having our monthly Scrapbooker's Club night and my friend Kelli found a great idea for a make and take. I just finished mine, waiting for it to dry and I'll get it posted. I was going to wait till tmw morning, but you know, I just don't think I can!! Let's see if anyone (besides our club members..lol) can guess what it is!! Here's a couple clues:

• about 6 inches in length
• LOTS of glitter
• rows of patterned paper

That's all you're getting or I'll be giving it away! LOL! Let's see what you think it is! Stay tuned for the 'answer'!!!

"Believing"

Here's another triangle box that I made, just to have one hand. These are so versatile, you could use them for anything. For this one, I decided to do it without stamps. I used:

• CTMH "Paper Garden" Lv 2 Stickease
• Paper from Michaels
• Curly Ribbon from Dollarama

Very simple, yet elegant. I hope you like it.

Project Tuesday: "Let It Snow, Let It Snow..."

This week at Project Tuesday, the project is to make a Triangle Box. All you need is one 5"x10" piece of CS and embellishments! It's that easy and looks so cute! Hope to see some of you play along! For my box, I used paper from Michaels and my second digi stamp!! Thank you, Jennifer!! You can find more of Jennifer's digi's over at Stamps and Smiles. I covered my image with adhesive and then sprinkled it with glitter. Now to fill it with candies and then I can attach it to a Christmas gift!