Look what followed me home today

I went shopping with some girls from work today and look what followed me home from Build-a Bear Workshop. I guess she knew I needed some company this coming week.

Canoe Tripping

With all the gear that I have in my living room ready for Arthur, Aaron and Jenna to take canoe tripping they may have to rent extra canoes just to take it all. Keep your fingers crossed for them so that we have good weather.

School's Out for The Summer

Summer is always my favourite time of year because there is lots of time to spend with my children. This year will be a little different in that I have returned to the work force and have to balance work and family but I am looking forward to it.

Today we are meeting friends at a water park and then tomorrow will be getting everyone ready for a 4 day canoe trip.

Road Trip

After working 53 hours last week it was nice to have Sunday and yesterday off. I made good use of my time. Sunday afternoon we went to the beach and out for dinner and yesterday went on a Last Hurrah before School's Out scrapbooking roadtrip with Carolyn and Rachel. It was so much fun picking up cool new things. I'll use them on my next few layouts and point them out. We went to Cambridge, Kitchener and Woodstock. Tried going to Tilsonburg but the store there was closed.
Its going to be a very busy rest of the week getting my family ready for a canoe trip so I may not get a chance to scrapbook.

Having a bath

Ever since I had kids I don't close the bathroom door when I am in there unless there is someone else in the house. If I close the door the kids or the cat are trying to get in. Last night I thought everyone was asleep and it was safe to go and have my bath. Wrong. Kally came in to drink my soapy bath water. Jenna came in looking for the cat so I asked her to get the camera and she had enough time to get it and take this great shot of Kally looking at her. Maybe some day I'll be able to have a bath in peace but for now this is a fact of life.

Stamp Class at Lizz's

I went to scrapbook page class at my friend Lizz's yesterday afternoon and again was able to complete the pages with photos the same day. Got to like it when the pages are perfect for recent photos. Thanks Lizz for the layouts, the extras and the goodies. Eliz, love those egg salad sandwiches and pickles. I'm glad we are going to continue over the summer.

We're having a Wii Party

Aaron has some friends over for his 12th birthday party and it is a Wii Party. We have a couple of games, we rented a couple, he got one as a gift from one of his friends and another friend brought a couple of games. All I have to provide is food and supervision so I will be on the comptuer for a while in the family room. Easiest party I ever put on.

Good News for Meridian

My husband works in the struggling Automotive industry and we have been living with the uncertainty of knowing whether the company he works for will be here tomorrow. Good news is that they have been able to do some restructuring so that business can continue as usual for the time being.

Here is a press release on the company website if you are interested.

http://meridian-mag.com/news/?id=55

Got Sketch 101 Layout for sketch #2

This layout is based on sketch #2 of the Got Sketch 101 class. I didn't have the heart to crop Kally out of this picture as she just nonchalantly walked into my photo. The 2nd page is based on one of Valerie Salmon's earlier sketches using circles. I just turned it to fit the orientation of my photos.

Got Sketch 101 Layout for Sketch #1

Arthur took Aaron and Jenna to visit his sister and her family at their trailer (which they bought from my parents) in Goderich during the May 24th long weekend. It was cold but they kept toasty beside the fire.

This layout is based on a 1 page sketch in the Got Sketch 101 class.

(Someone might get the idea I like green as my last few layouts have been green)

For the 2nd page I just stretched the sketch and had the tags coming out of the side instead of the top of the photo mat. (You'd think I staged the boys wearing orange and blue and Jenna wearing green.)

Sheet Load of Cards

I'm helping to spread the word by Shouting out about SheetLoad of Cards.
Every month you can download card patterns and cutting measurements. Click on the image and it will take you to the June Preview.

Working on Get Sketch 101 class

I spent some time last night working on the Get Sketch 101 class I reversed the order of pre class sketches 1 & 2 to create this layout celebrating family and the love that is shared at my mom's birthday party.

In honour of her creative needlework skills I added crocheted flowers and stitching.

The 2nd layout is a make and take from Memories On Main St. in Lambeth that was perfect for the recent Total Eclipse of the Moon. Anyone who knows us knows that Arthur is a star gazer so we can't help be interested in what goes on in the sky. I added the lyrics to the song done by Enigma on the Voyageur album. I added gold ink to the edges of the layout and the patterned paper pieces. The photos I downloaded from the internet.

Community Quilt

Arthur and I joined Aaron and his classmates at Museum London for their very own art show. Their class was fortunate enough to be able to participate in a 3 session series of art classes and then to attend a show of their work at the gallery.

Refreshments included a candy salad bar, punch and cake. Each group was able to take their community quilt and the other art pieces they created home. Unfortunately their quilt was mistakenly taken by a high school group from Woodstock. The kids are now eagerly awaiting the return of their eagle quilt.

It was a fun morning.

Keeping cool

I am sure glad we put a new central air conditioning unit in our house the end of last summer. It was so nice to come home from working last night to a cool house. Arthur had put it on just before I came home.
The house was nice and cool for him to go to sleep when he came home from work this morning.

June Pagemaps and Cardmaps are available

The June Pagemaps and Cardmaps are available on Becky Fleck's site. Well worth a look!

my vent about computers

Computers like cars are great when they work and a pain when they don't. I picked up Aaron and Jenna's computer from the repair shop today set it up for them again. I found I had to reinstall the wireless network adapter. It was simple the first time I did it, but not so this evening. After many tries, I discovered by going to the manufacturer's website on our other computer that I needed an updated driver after service pack 3 had been installed. I downloaded it and then had to unzip it and transfer it to this computer with my flash drive. I finally got a network connection but no internet connection. After many more tries and reading the help files and the troubleshooting wizards I finally, 2 1/2 hours later got the internet working. Its now almost 3 am and I haven't been to bed yet.

So again computers are wonderful when they work and I think I should leave the rest to the experts.

Long time no see

I was at a stamping class at Heather's tonight and there was a girl who looked really familiar but I couldn't place her. She knew exactly who I was including remembering my last name. Michelle and I had graduated from Fanshawe College E.C.E. program 30 years ago. She is still in contact with several other classmates. How cool to meet again after all these years. It was nice to see her. I look forward to possibly having contact with some of the other girls as well.

Look what I found in my stash!

While cleaning up our stamping room I came across these acrylic stamps a friend insisted I buy last week. A whole year of calendar stamps in the $1.50 bin at Michaels. Now I should have something now for every calendar page I do.

Happy Birthday Eliz

For her birthday I treated my friend Eliz to a roadtrip. I took her to All About Scrapbooks in Woodstock, Ontario and gave her some money to spend. Can't take a friend to a scrapbook store and not provide her with resources now could I. She bought paper and I found something similar to a gift my aunt gave us when we were little. It was fuzzy powder and adhesive sheets to create pictures with. Fun Flock by Stampendous is similar. The sales staff recommended using Quickie Glue Pen, or liquid glue to adhere the flocking. I'll play with it and let you know how I make out. I bought blue, orange, green and brown.