When life gets in the way of fun stuff.

So how was your Christmas? :)
I got totally blindsided this year. Everything seemed to be going along swimmingly until around mid-month, when I got a call telling me my Dad was going to have to be moved again, thanks to the lovely government system we have here. One week before Christmas! It was a major bummer for him, and for us too, as he's farther away and it's more difficult for us to get there. Lots of adjustment and adapting to do. After getting him settled in somewhat, things just turned into one big blur, and the DD got put on the back burner once again. I have all photos downloaded and journaling to go along with, but alas, time has been short and I haven't had time to work on it at all since then. If you're not averse to seeing Christmas stuff in February, I'll be posting it here as I get it done. It will be simple with a capitol 'S', but I'm determined to finish it, and for once have a completed album to look back on next year. I'm so tired of having unfinished projects laying around!


 One of my other Christmas projects these past few weeks was to make Noah the sock monkey he's been asking for for a few years now. I bought the original 'sock monkey' socks on e Bay in the fall, after not being able to find them anywhere here- I'm glad I did, because he turned out adorable, and quite like the monkeys you see all over now. The boy adores him, and says he was his favourite present, so that made me feel pretty great. I of course had to do a quick layout about the monkey, since I'm pretty proud he got done at all... sewing is definitely not one of my skills, and I now know why thimbles were invented, after pricking myself about 1,000 times during the process.

Wishing all of you a happy, healthy and peaceful 2011~

Happy New Year!

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December Daily, Days 6 & 7

Ahh.. it's Sunday morning and the snow is falling quietly. I'm sitting here all cozy in my pyjamas, and dreading the fact that I have to get dressed and go to work in an hour.  Needless to say, I would much rather stay in and work on the book, nap, and bake some Christmas cookies. Working weekends is not much fun, especially in winter!

This will be another quick post, because I need to get ready for said job, so here's a few photos of Day 6&7. I'm a little behind, but on a path to getting everything done & caught up in the next few days if the stars align, and I can stay on track. The days are getting busier now. I have barely any shopping completed, and I think I need to concentrate on that this week, as the 25th is fast approaching! We're doing a more minimal Christmas list this year. The kids are older, and the Santa factor has all but disappeared. It's a little sad, but nice all at once. The gifts are bigger and more $$$, but there are many less little niggly ones to think about.

How's your DD going? I'm feeling good about mine, feeling like it's do-able and I will be able to keep it up.  And keeping it simple is definitely THE way for me to go with it... I'm enjoying this size immensely, it works well for what I want. Thanks a ton for all your wonderful comments on the last post. If you have questions about anything, just shoot me an email or ask me here, and I'll reply in the comments.

Day 6

Day 7

Day 7 detail


And here's the photo from Day 7, taken from my sons's bedroom that day and pretty much what today looks like outside too... 
Happy Sunday, all!

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December Daily- days 3-5

I haven't forgotten about Day 2. It will be done eventually, when I figure out photos.. I didn't take any of what I want to use for that day, so I'm looking at alternatives to that.
In the meantime, here's a bit of what I've got done so far:

Day 3:- Incomplete, but idea is on paper. :) I used the Teresa Collins star transparency, which I LOVE. Even though I'm not using transparencies throughout the book, I couldn't resist this beauty. I have a weakness for stars, and loved the bold, graphic look of it. I added a tag on which I embossed a Fontwerks star stamp in a shimmery white, attached the date tag to that, and stapled it onto my page.

Underneath the transparency, I used the front page from a little catalogue from Simons that I got in the mail last week, I really loved the title and graphic design on it. I'm not sure yet how I will cover up the 'Simons' part, but maybe with a photo or two. Too bad I don't have a boy named Simon. ;)

Days 4& 5:

Because I work on weekends, and have very limited time to take photos on those days, I decided to do single pages for these days, and it has really simplified my process. I used some shots of my sons on Saturday am taken before I left for work, and journaled my thoughts about working weekends. Sunday's photo is really from Friday, taken for the Big Picture class I'm doing right now.
Here's how it looks in the book: (click on the photos to get a bigger view)

 Day 4 is super simple & fast, done digitally, printed onto photo paper, and then cut out and simply adhered onto the patterned paper background. I added a handwritten 'December' on the number tag, and a red brad on the bottom under my journaling after I took this photo, so it looks a little more finished.
Day 5 is very influenced by a layout in Molly's beautiful book from last year. I loved her detail of the digital tape and frame on one of her pages. I added some real washi tape (from Martha Stewart) to my photo, and an American Crafts tag.

And some detail shots below, since my journaling is fuzzy on the above photo:

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here. I can't reply personally through Blogger like Typepad does, ( a feature I can't believe they haven't addressed yet), but I can answer here in the comments.

I'm off to make up 25 very last minute card kits for my son's Cub Scout group tonight. And hoping for some more snow today, I'm dreaming of winter photos.

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Day one down.

Just a hit and run post with some badly lit photos taken on my table tonight. It got dark before I realized, which is about 4:30pm here now, and that makes for a short day. It was balmy & sunny here today, so I can't complain too much.
Here's the first page done with Ali's freebie template from today. I'm not sure what I'm going to put there, so for now it's staying blank. Maybe photos, maybe a poem, or I may change the entire page all together.The inside cover is done with a very pretty and classic Anna Griffin glittery paper that I love.. the look totally reminds me of vintage books that I remember from childhood that were pretty vintage even then... maybe the 50's era?

 Day one is a simple collage of photos of things we did during the day, and my journaling on the left.
I combined computer journaling with my handwriting, and stamped the star border with cranberry American Crafts ink. 'Hello December' is older Ali Edwards Holiday word art from Designer Digitals. One aspect of the album I haven't decided on yet is a number scheme, and that is kind of stressing me out a bit in terms of my design. Must relax... ;p I do think I'd prefer them to be all the same rather than mixed up, but I'll wait a few days and see what works best.

Day 2 is on the table right now, but I'm calling it a day and working on it tomorrow with a fresh perspective.
 I'm feeling much more confidant this time around, and I think that has a ton to do with my book having a structure. I'm very happy that I finally listened to Ali's advice, and took the time to make it before I started, it's a huge time saver.

Hope you're enjoying the DD process so far if you're involved!

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December 1st!

I've got a lot on my plate this month, as I'm sure all of you do too... there's so much happening in December that it always seems to fly by in a whirl of craziness. In addition to the December Daily project, I've signed myself up for this online class which starts today. I think the 2 projects will work well together and I'm looking forward to the inspiration it provides, and that little push I'll probably need around mid-month. I'll be sharing my photos throughout the month here and you'll probably be seeing a few of them on my DD pages. I did 'Picture Fall' back in October, and loved it- if you're on the fence about taking this class, I highly recommend it. I saw there's a coupon code for a 5$ off discount, which makes it even more enticing. I"ll try to find a link for it and post it here.

Here's a fun page I did with Noah a few weeks ago... he likes to scrapbook too. :) I was weeding through my quite ginormous sticker stash, and had put these aside for this page following a conversation we'd had about what he wants to be when he grows up. Perfect huh? He wrote his top 3 career choices on the notebook paper, and I instructed him on the rule of thirds & the 'less is more' addage for the star placement, or else there would have been major sticker sneeze all over this page. ;p  Also, I'm not sure what's up with my white pen, but I'm not loving the scratchy mess it made here.. argh! I wish someone would come out with a perfect white pen. I've bought about 10 uniball signos over the past years, and they all get like this- this one is new, so it's rather frustrating.

I'm hauling out some Christmas decorations today, even though it's more like a spring outside- we've had so much rain in the past 24 hours. I was hoping it would have turned into snow overnight for some wintery photos this am, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunity for that in the coming months. ;)
Have a great December 1st, everyone!

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December Daily, 2010 edition

December Daily is a project dear to my heart. It's something that inspires me a ton, even though the extra effort of doing it at this time of the year sometimes seems like an added stress.  This will be the 3rd one I attempt ( years1 & 2 are still unfinished, although all elements, journaling included, are stored in their bags, waiting for me when the day comes!) I've been working on this one for a few weeks now, gathering supplies, jotting down ideas, and thinking of things I want to incorporate in my book. It will be minimal, there's no doubt,  and very photo centric. I'm anxious to get started, and especially excited to take photos again, as I had no time in November, and barely picked up my camera. So here we go...


I made the cover using Eska board and pva glue, and this classic text paper from American Crafts that I love. If you're making any kind of cover or album, I highly recommend the pva glue, although you do have to work fast as it dries quickly, and there`s not much room for error.

 I LOVE the 6x8 size. Last year's square 8x8 format really wasn't my favourite. Since I usually scrap 8.5x11, this is just a smaller version of that size, and feels much more natural to me. Also, I've left it numberless for the time being, since I haven't decided yet if I'll add that digitally or not. I haven't really gone beyond putting in the pages ( mostly kraft, white, and red) and will add embellishments as I go along, since I like/need to have a visual  (ie. photos) when I design a page. The inside is covered in a very pretty silver & cream Anna Griffin paper- sorry, no photo of that, but you'll see it as the days go. I'm counting down now.

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It's sooner than you think.

In an effort to get organized,  I'm trying to get a head start on making some Christmas cards early this year.
Last year, I decided very last minute ( re: the week before)  to make some cards to sell at our school fair to raise money for my son's Scout troop, and they were a huge hit. I probably could have sold another 100, had I started in time. And I was lucky to have had help from a kind friend, or else they wouldn't have gotten done at all.

So this year, seeing as I've been inundated & brainwashed with new Christmas stuff at work since August, and also?...given the fact that I could probably make a 1,000,000 cards with the load of product I have, I decided to get my rear in gear, stop the procrastination habit, and work on a few prototypes.
These are simple- all the same size & basic design, and fine for what I need. I used the adorable new American Crafts Christmas line by Dear Lizzy/Liz Kartchner.

Now I just have to come up with about 25 other styles using the many new Hero Arts stamps I've aquired in the past while. ;)

Speaking of Hero Arts, I'm so excited that none other than the mega talented Jennifer McGuire is coming to teach at our store in mid- November!! I immediately signed up for all 3 of her classes, and can't wait to see what she's got in store for us.  I'm hoping she can help me spice up my cardmaking style and teach this old dog some new tricks. If you're local, there are still a few spots available on the Sunday, but they won't last long. Honestly you don't want to miss out on this, it's going to be a blast!

Alright... I'm off to put away the summer clothing for good, and make some room in my kiddos drawers.
The joys of changing seasons... fall has definitely arrived here.
Have a great Monday!

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Where I've been since July 2nd. :)

I haven't had the heart or the time since my last post to give an explanation of why I've been MIA these past few months.When something bad happens to someone you love, everything else falls by the wayside and seems trivial. To make a very long story short, my Dad was hospitalized at the end of May due to a bad fall, and the last 3 months have been like a true comedy of errors. This past summer felt like I was stuck inside some kind of horrible revolving door of  hospitals,( not good for someone who is hospital-phobic) dealing with some good people along the way who genuinely wanted to help, but also many who were just plain jerks. I've seen the' not so great' side to our free health care system here, and it's really scary how people who are ill get shuffled around and nothing gets resolved. Anyway, I think he's finally almost out of the woods and on the way to recovery, thanks to a wonderful doctor I had the good fortune to come across a few weeks ago.

Coping with an ageing parent on your own, and taking on the role of parent to your own parent is very tough on one's psyche, I have to say. These past months have left me feeling depressed, angry, tired, stressed out, & frustrated.. I'm kind of ashamed to say that, but it's the truth. I wish I could change things that can't be changed, and I'm itching to make changes where I can, but have been too afraid or lazy, or maybe just too busy to think with all of this going on.

So, we shall see what Autumn brings about... it's a perfect time for some much needed soul searching that I've been putting off.

We did manage to get away very briefly this summer to Maine, and I even managed to scrap this double page of our time there... it was so lovely, but all too short. I had fantasies of buying a house and never leaving. Talk about avoidance issues... ;p

I also did the one above for an Ella Article written by my gal pal Linda, who is now blogging, (YAY!) and whose blog looks like a million bucks. I'm totally jealous of her web skills, and have begged her to redesign mine. Think a prettier looking blog might just entice me to be, uh... bloggier? :) 

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Oops-it's been a (long) while.

I had to chuckle when I read my last post. So much has happened since then, and I haven't really given this blog a second thought for the past 2 months. Some not great stuff happening in my life right now that I've had to take care of. I had actually kind of forgotten that I have a blog, to tell you the truth... that's how hectic the past 2 months have been. I've thought about shutting it down for good, and I go back & forth on that. One part of me likes having it here, in case I feel like posting stuff, and the other part finds it a nuisance, and just another extra thing to add to my huge to-do list. I'm amazed that people can find the time to blog on a daily basis- that's never going to happen with me, I'm afraid.
I've decided to keep it as-is for now, and just post scrapbooking stuff, since that's what it started out as in the first place. And while I'm heavy into photography now, and enjoying that immensely, I'll probably just post the occasional photo here. If anyone is interested in seeing more, they can click on the Flickr link on the right and check out my gallery there. :)

So here's a few recent pages, and a few things from the AC blog from this past winter & Spring. I haven't done much else, just because I haven't had a spare second in a long, long while. It's funny how scrapbooking gets put on the back burner, and you think you'll never get back into it, but when I sat down to do these pages the other day, that familiar rush of contentment came back to me, and I was so thrilled to have done something! It got me itching to do more, so I hope in the next few weeks there will be more to show you here. I will try my best. :)

 HAPPY CANADA DAY to all my fellow Canucks!

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Happy Sunday...

 Working over the weekend now that the weather is getting nicer sucks. I'm off to work in a bit, but thought I'd share some sun with you.
I'll be back tomorrow with a page... yeah, I scrapped!

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Always a bridesmaid...

I thought I'd share my cover version for the latest issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today. It's a wonderful Canadian magazine, very professionally done, and (gasp!) free of charge. If you haven't seen it in hard copy, you can download it on the above link- you won't be disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised to get an email from Crystal back in December, asking me to try out for the cover. I did several cover attempts during my years at Simple Scrapbooks, and alas, none of them made it to that coveted spot on the magazine. So, I wasn't too surprised when this one didn't make it either, lol... but it was an honour to be asked. In retrospect, it was probably a little TOO simple, but it's my style, and I was happy with it!

Hope you're having a gorgeous Monday!~

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random.org says....

nspiegel said...

Beautiful layout and you are right - I can't wait to get my hands on these products (hint, hint)! As for future lines, I am always looking for beach/vacation lines that are a little different, i.e., something other than pails and shovels and seashells.  Thanks! nspiegel, please email me at melaniedotlouette@gmaildotcom, and I will get some Abode goodies in the mail to you asap. Thanks for all your comments and great suggestions!

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Welcome to the AC Abode blog hop!

When I saw the Abode line from American Crafts at CHA previews last January, my heart skipped a beat... the colours, the patterns, and most of all, the theme of this line was made just for me. Case in point, the subject of my layout below. ( click on it twice to see it larger) It couldn't be more perfect for someone who has a chef in the family, n'est pas? I was thrilled to finally get a chance to scrap a layout about my hubby's job- been wanting to do this page forever.
Since I am someone with limited willpower and patience, I couldn't wait for my DT box to arrive, and had to buy some... ok, mostly all of the Abode at my lss when it came in- it was very hard to resist when it sat there taunting me on a daily basis. ;p So, seeing as I have some stuff in duplicate, I have an extra pack of these robin's egg blue 'Flat' thickers and a few other goodies to give away. Just leave me a comment about what you'd love to see AC come out with in future lines... it's always fun to dream about your personal wish list, isn't it?  And you never know who might be be reading the comments. ;)
  I'll draw a name from that random generator thingie Tuesday night, and post the winner here on Wednesday.

Please be sure and visit my DT colleagues blogs to check out their pages- I'm off to do that now. :)
Here's the list of who's where:

 kim arnold - www.kimarnold.typepad.com
moon ko - www.mooner363.typepad.com
kathy thompson - www.kathythompsonlaffoley.typepad.com
katrina simeck - www.katyat34.typepad.com
piradee talvanna - www.piradee.blogspot.com
loredana bucaria - www.lovescraplife.typepad.com
martha bonneau - www.mugsyboo.typepad.com
nichole duenke - www.nicholew.typepad.com
shannon zickel - www.shannonzickel.typepad.com
beth proudfoot - www.bethproudfoot.blogspot.com
paige evans - www.chrisandpaige.blogspot.com
wendy sue anderson - www.wendysueanderson.blogspot.com
doris sander - www.sanderdk.typepad.com
mary jo johnston - www.maryjojohnston.blogspot.com
elizabeth carney - www.itsmythingy.blogspot.com
dusti nakamura - www.acupcakelife.blogspot.com
kim watson - www.kj-starre.blogspot.com
holly hanks - www.hollyscharmedlife.blogspot.com
danielle layton - www.vtpuggirl.blogspot.com
kelly purkey - www.kellypurkey.typepad.com

amy tan - http://amytangerine.blogspot.com/ 

Happy hopping!

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Happy Easter!

Wishing you all a blessed Easter- hope the bunny leaves you lots of chocolate!

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Confession time

Don't fall off your chairs... but yes, I'm actually posting on the blog twice in one week.Shocking, isn't it!

I've had many people asking me these past months what the hell is happening with my blog, and why don't I post layouts anymore? ( Helen from Toronto, if you're reading this, you have to leave me a comment, got it? :D) I'm totally assuming here that someone is actually still reading here amongst the tumbleweeds, lol..

 So here's my confession.

A while back, in January or so, I thought long and hard about shutting down this blog. I was exhausted from the holidays, feeling burnt out, and at the same time, feeling a huge sense of  excitement about starting the 365 project on Flickr. I wasn't at all into blogging, mainly because I had so much other stuff going on in my life, and couldn't find any left over energy to post. I had nothing to say. Call it the winter blahs, I don't know. But what I really wanted to say was that I was becoming a little bit jaded about the whole scrapbooking world in general. If I can be completely honest here (and I will be, because it's my blog, and I can say what I want, lol) all the tweeting, status updates, horn tooting, and Facebook fan pages really got under my skin, and I decided to distance myself from it all for a while, and just do what was making me feel good, which was taking photos. I'm a fairly humble person, and I don't feel comfortable crowing about everything I do. It's just the way I am. So I stopped reading blogs all together, ( even Cathy Z got the boot)  kicked my Facebook habit, did some mental housecleaning, and pared down my online consumption/web surfing to a reasonable amount of time /day.
With the exception of Flickr, which I became addicted to in about 5 minutes after starting the 365. Ha.
Uh, yeah...
Anyway, I took a brief, but much needed break from scrapbooking & blogging, and now that spring is here, and the birds are singing, I actually feel like I want to do both again.
(That statement elicited a huge sigh of relief from the hubby, who was freaking out over the thought that all the paper I've amassed over the past 5 years would eventually have to be used as fire starter for our charcoal BBQ.)

So to ease back into it, here's a page I did this week that combines my 2 loves... scrapbooking and photography. It's sort of a lift of an old page I did a while back, and while there is nothing innovative or trendy about it, I really like it. It's simple, it's who I am, and it makes me very happy to be able to combine the 2.
As always, this page was done mostly with my one true product love, American Crafts. My deep affection for them is undying. :) That cool negative ribbon is from Tim Holtz... I knew I'd need that.
Have a great Thursday... I'm off in search of some Easter goodies for Sunday. They're calling for 23C+ weather this weekend, how awesome is that?

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Box making 101

If you're local, and shop at the lss where I work, then you've probably already seen this box on display at the store. My friend Denise is a talented bookbinder/box maker/stamper with a degree in engineering, and it shows.. her boxes are impeccably well made. After a year of wanting to learn how to do these, I was finally able to take a class with her last week. And it's not as easy as it looks, believe me! The box was made entirely from scratch, but thankfully Denise cut the eska board for us beforehand, or else mine would have definitely turned out looking like something out of a Salvador Dali painting. ;P It was hard enough to cut everything to the right size, and there's a definite trick to getting the corners folded just right and using the pva glue without making a huge mess all over. The darned stuff dries fast, and you have to work quickly. Have I mentioned I'm not a glue person either?

I'm not very *ahem* adept with precise measurements, and I was possibly the neediest person in the class that night, having to have her check my poor math skills. It didn't turn out perfect like her's, but it's so pretty!

I did up the cards that came inside with some of the leftover scraps, and added a few other embellies from the Dear Lizzy Line. I'm planning to give this to a friend of mine for Mother's Day, so I thought the decorated cards would be a nice touch.

I totally recommend taking a box making/bookbinding class if you've never tried it- I'm dying to make another one now, but I'll have Denise on speed dial just in case I can't figure out what 5/16th is on my trimmer....

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American Crafts Easter cuteness

Since Easter ( my favourite holiday) is drawing near, I thought I'd share these 2 cards I made for my niece and nephew last month. ( and mailed today, lol).
I used these cute and very inexpensive ($1.95 for a pack of 8 cards with envelopes... can't beat that!)  die cut cards from Studio G/Hampton Arts, and embellished them with some American Crafts goodies.This Dear Lizzy tiny heart paper ( Picking Pansies)  is one of my most favourites, and I've stocked up on quite a few sheets of it.. it's so sweet and dainty, and very multi-purpose.
These were so simple to make, and seriously only took about 15 minutes for both cards. I didn't have a pom-pom for the bunny tail, so I used a little bit of cotton ball and stuck it on with my glue pen, added some ribbon for the bow around the neck, and a glitter brad for the eye. The egg card has a mix of old and new AC stuff, and is perfect for a Spring card if you don't want to do Easter. That's it!

I'll be back tomorrow with a cute project from a class I'm taking tonight, with more Dear Lizzy goodness.

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Luck of the (non) Irish

Here's a fun story I think is fitting for today, being St. Patty's day and all. It's one of those little 'non-events' that I will remember all my life, and one that I need to sit down and scrapbook in the near future!

The story of this four leaf clover is cool. I had flown to Vancouver for my brother's wedding, 34 weeks pregnant and about to pop.It was late July, and I was huge & uncomfortable. One afternoon after the wedding had taken place, my entire family drove out to see the lot that my brother was going to build his house on. The field was full of clover, and my grandmother ( a very superstitious lady) had spent the better part of an hour searching for that rare 4 leafed one in the field. I casually ( or not so casually, given my enormous preggo belly)  bent over to pick one, and I was elated when I looked at it - it had 4 leaves. I immediately showed my Grandmother, who very nearly passed out from excitement. I thought since she had been looking so hard for that elusive clover that I should give it to her, but when I tried, she refused, telling me that I should never give away my luck. She said it was a sign that I would have a healthy and happy baby, and that I was blessed. Little more than a month later, I gave birth to my healthy & beautiful son. He was such a good baby, ( sleeping all night at an early age and barely ever cried) and she always said it was because of the clover.
 
I took that clover home with me all the way from B.C. and framed it, and it's been in my home for 10 years now. I'm not even 5% Irish, but I love this little piece of good luck. And the only person I'll ever give it away to will be my my son, who I'll always associate with it!

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My Olympic hangover

A whole month has gone by without a thought about posting to this blog, and I apologize. If you watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics last night, you'll know that us Canadians are pretty famous for being apologetic, it's true. Not sure why that is!  I have no excuses, other than I have been pretty darned busy with life in general. Oh, and watching those amazing Olympics pretty much 24/7 for the past 17 days. I even left work early yesterday because there was no way in HELL I was going to miss a minute of the Canada-US hockey game, and I'm SO glad I did. Did you watch it too? I think every single Canadian had their tv tuned to it. It was a nail biter, and after the US scored on us 24 seconds before the 3rd period ended, I didn't think I could bear to watch anymore. It was heartbreaking. But when our beloved Sidney Crosby scored that golden goal in OT, it was worth every ounce of stress and grey hair- what a beautiful moment, and one I will NEVER forget! Absolutely amazing. I have a little bit of an Olympic hangover today, but I'm so proud of Canada for all their achievements these past 2 weeks.


 So as you may have noticed,I have been taking a much needed break from scrapping, Facebook, and all that stuff. Once in a while it feels good to disconnect, and I needed to rethink a few things that weren't working for me. I'm happy to report that I scrapped 2 pages this week and I'm glad that the mojo hasn't completely disappeared. I was worried there for a while that it would never come back. Here's one of the pages I did, with some of the new and wonderful American Crafts stuff:

Spring is around the corner, I can feel it... I'm so looking forward to warmer temps, spring decluttering and fresh perspectives. Happy March!

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Back to life.. back to reality..

I've been away from my blog for almost a month now- wow. How did that happen? Well, back in the new year I got swept up in the wonderful world of Flickrland, working really hard on my 365/photo-a-day project. I dove head first into it, fell madly in love with photography, and haven't come up for air all month.  I've basically been consumed with taking photos since January 1st- I even dream about it! Crazy, huh? I'm that kind of all or nothing person- 'extreme' would be a better way to phrase it. ;p
  I wish I could figure out a way to channel that energy and creativity into other aspects of my life at the same time, so as to be a bit more, *ahem*... productive in other areas. But I'm slowly coming back down to earth now that the month of January has almost ended.  Last week I thought about quitting the 365, just because it has consumed me way more than I had intended or thought possible, but I'm going to try and stick it out. I'm proud of the photos I've taken this month, and I can already see a difference.

I'll leave you with this amazing video, done by one of the founders of Shutter Sisters. It's full of beautiful  images & words that will make your heart swell.  Click here for the link to watch.



And speaking of SS- I was thrilled to find out that they featured this photo ( my very 1st 365 of the year) on the blog. It was a huge honour for me.

Hope everyone has had a great, productive month of January!

xox

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Happy New Year!

I hope your holidays were as lovely as ours. We spent NYE doing a bit of shopping, and then went to see Avatar, which had THE most spectacular special effects I've ever seen. GO see this film, please. You'll be blown away by the 3-D stuff, I promise.
 After the movie, we picked up some Chinese take-out and played Blokus while watching the World Junior hockey game. GO CANADA!!!  Been enjoying that.
 All in all, a lovely quiet night with the family. What can I say? My partying days are over, and I don't miss them in the least.

I wanted to post a bunch of photos with this post, but I'm having some issues with my new PSE program running R E A L L Y slow. UGH. So, I haven't been able to re-install any of the actions and fun stuff I had on the old version, and I feel kind of lost without them.

What else?
 I decided on a whim last night at about 11:45 pm that I really wanted to do some kind of project 365, and so I signed myself up to a few groups on Flickr and commited to it.  I'm not going to stress about how perfect the photos have to be, and I hope the exercise will bring me to a new level in photography if I manage to finish it. Right now I'm excited as heck about it, but I may change my mind once June rolls around. I posted todays' photo on Flickr, so if you're interested, you can have a look-see over there, as I can't resize the photo for the blog right now... hoping to have that annoying glitch fixed up soon.

 I didn't get a second to get anything scrap related done between Christmas and NY, meaning no DD for a few days at least, and no Write.Click. Scrapbook. layout from me this month. (Elizabeth, if you're reading this, I owe you 2 for next month!) I'm looking forward to the kids going back to school next week so I will have time to get those projects underway once again. The holidays are exhausting! I have a week off coming up, and I dearly need it to recuperate and organize my thoughts and  many plans for the new year.
Be back soon!

xoxo






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