Goodbye 2010

Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.

As we say goodbye to 2010 and welcome in 2011 I am reminded of the fact that time really does fly by.  It seems like only yesterday we were making plans to ring in 2010 and an entire year has flashed by me at lightning speed.  I am very thankful for a healthy year and I am thankful that this past year we got to see Meagan twice and that Craig is still in school ('cause we all know how he feels about school!), I am thankful for great family and friends, time spent laughing and enjoying every moment with loved ones.  All-in-all it has been a great year and as we move into another year I have much to look forward to.
I wish each and every one of you much love, success and happiness in 2011.

Til next time, Enjoy!

Holiday Traditions

I love all the Holiday traditions that we have made as a family. I always make my own Christmas cards and special treat bags as place settings for Christmas dinner and when my kids were born I started the tradition of buying them a Christmas tree ornament - the idea being that when they moved out and had a family of their own they would be able to fill a tree with special ornaments.  I always get an ornament that reflected what they had done over the past year and have such an enjoyable time deciding what to get them.... and, because I always want the perfect ornament, I start looking in October! My mother-in-law started the tradition of playing the “Christmas game” on Christmas Eve where we all steal small gifts from one another while a timer decides when the game is over (this really brings out the best in all of us!). This year we may have started a new tradition of cutting down our own Christmas tree – will see how I feel about that when next Christmas rolls around. We have the usual traditional turkey dinner with all of our favourite desserts, and I always have to take some family photos; this year I was really happy with the ones that I took in Fish Creek Park. Setting up the Christmas tree, decorating the house and my Christmas village are some of my very favorite traditions.  We have the traditional Christmas day games of Christmas trivia and the "oven mitt" game which consists of unwrapping many layers of tighly wrapped paper using heavy mittens revealing a small prize.  Some of our traditions have changed slightly over the years as we have lost loved ones and can’t bear to keep that tradition going without them - but new traditions fill the empty and sad space in our hearts and we go on. 

      

Now that Christmas Day has come and gone, quite quickly I might add, our family is now glued to the television set to watch the World Junior Hockey Championships which traditionally start on Boxing Day. We have been doing this every year for as long as I can remember and both Craig and Meagan have grown up knowing and loving this tradition. We, or should I say, they plan their entire day around what time the games will be on and nothing can change it. Game one began at 1pm today and everyone is glued to the TV, only coming up in between periods to refresh the beverages and snack trays. It doesn’t matter where we are in the world, we MUST watch the hockey. I think my most favourite times were when we spent Christmas in Saskatchewan with my in-laws and my father-in-law would be so enthralled in the game you would almost think he was the coach…. Dale and Craig have since taken over that position with Meagan joining right in… somehow I think if you opened up all the windows in my house, Team Canada could actually hear them shouting and cheering them on. In most recent years it has been really exciting to watch as Craig has known some of the players.
Of all the holiday traditions we have as a family; I think this one is my favourite as I get to watch my family interact with each other in such a positive and joyful way.

  Go Team Canada Go

Til next time, enjoy!

The Christmas Village

Another year has come and almost gone and again I have set up my prized possession, my Christmas Village. 
As a child I always loved doll houses and, while living in Scotland, had the most amazing one full of hand-made wooden furniture .  I loved setting up the rooms, the people and rearranging the furniture.  I played for hours.  Sadly the house was too large to make the trip across the ocean to Canada and was given to the local Children's Hospital.
About 10 years ago I saw a Christmas village display set up in a shop and a flood of memories came back to my days with my doll house.  Right then and there I knew I was going to start collecting pieces for my new village.  As I was looking for particular pieces I decided on Department 56 "Snow Village" and "Christmas in the City" themes.  The pieces are beautifully detailed and were the perfect fit for me.
Every single piece holds special meaning for me; from the home with the tree house and tire swing in the backyard just like the one Grandpa built for the kids, The Centre for the Arts for my Mother's (and my) love of the theatre and all the shows we have seen, the Quilt Shop for my love of quilting, the Tree Farm because, this year, we are going to cut down our first Christmas tree, The University; a gift from my "university" kids, Downtown Shops; for my love of shopping, Woolworth's; a gift from my brother as my Mother used to take us there once a month to have pop and french fries at the lunch counter.... it was a big deal for us to be able to sit on the swirly stools and enjoy our special time together, the Apartment Building; as I grew up in an apartment building with my Mom and brother, the Dance School; for my love of dance and my dance classes, the Golf Clubhouse and Hockey Rink; because both my "boys" love both sports and the Garage in memory of my Father-in-law who owned his own business "Klassen Motors".
Each year I add more pieces and I love spending an afternoon putting it all together.  Every piece is special, bringing back all the happy memories of days gone by and my inner child.  It takes me hours to decide which building goes where as I have never displayed it the same.  I have gone from one small table to 3 very large pieces of plywood and next year I suspect I will need 4 as I want to add a train station to my railroad.

Til next time.... Enjoy!

Bring It On

"The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there".......

OK Santa..... bring it on.... we are ready for Christmas.... At least I think we are ready!  I had several Christmas craft projects that I wanted to get done and I am officially finished.

My house is partially decorated as I MUST wait for Meagan to get home to put up the tree.  The lights are hung on the house, the Christmas knick-knacks are displayed everywhere and my christmas village is underway!

Here are just a few of the creations from my craft room..... There are more but I can't post them as they are gifts.
 

 

'Til next time.... Enjoy!

Jingle All The Way

Jingle bells, Jingle bells

Jingle all the way

We had the Scrap Yard staff Christmas party on Saturday night; Lori ordered in some food and brought out a huge box and placed it in the centre of the table and told the 4 of us to take a look inside. We started to pull out wooden letters and began putting them together to try and spell a word. They were all mixed up and we had no idea what they were supposed to spell or how many there were. We were like giddy schoolgirls each of us pulling out large wooden letters and trying to match them up. In the end we realized that there were 6 sets of “JINGLE”…… Fantastic, beautifully cut, thick, very large wooden letters. We spent the next 7 hours choosing our own paper palette, painting them, cutting out the paper, gluing it to each letter, sanding the edges then adding embellishments. We laughed, told stories, jokes and had an amazing evening of “girl fun”. This is the result….

So nice to be appreciated, what a great gift..... Thanks to Lori, Amy, Susan & Jackie for a fun-filled evening!

Lori... the owner of the Scrap Yard.... always smiling, laughing and having fun!  You go girl!

 Til next time, enjoy!

The Bucket List

  “Get busy living or get busy dying”….

As I approach another birthday I look back on my bucket list that I created when I turned 50 and can successfully cross off a few items . Creating my bucket list was one of the best ways to make sure that I could use my time and resources in order to accomplish and experience what I really want out of life.

My list is scrawled on a piece of paper torn from an old notebook and I add to it on occasion. I don’t look at it regularly but I do know what is on it and I don’t stress about fulfilling everything on it. These are just a few of the things that I want to accomplish in my next 50 years…… and are in no particular order……

The Eiffel Tower
Have a scrapbooking layout published
Play more golf
See Meagan and Craig graduate from university
Become a Grandma
Watch my children get married
Create a website for my business
Make 1 quilt a year
Do something nice for a stranger
Become a member of a design team
The Grand Canyon
Weekend in New York
Learn to play the piano
Stonehenge
Participate in a flash mob
Broadway performance in a London Theatre
The Louvre, Paris
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Island hoping in Greece
Take up photography
Take a cruise
Watch every movie that has won an Academy Award for Best Picture
Learn not to take what others do or say personally
Own a VW “Bug”
Make a difference in at least one person’s life
Volunteer to serve dinner at a homeless shelter
Be a great wife, mother, daughter, sister & friend
Write a children’s book
To be an extra in a film
Shop at Harrods
Own a beach house
High Tea at Fortnum & Mason in London
Start a blog
Write a letter to each of my children telling them what I want them to know about my life and the lessons I’ve learned

Cherish every single moment of every single day

Take the time to create your own bucket list and remember to live each day as if it was your last…. After all….. “The journey is the destination”.

‘Til next time…. Enjoy!

Page of the Month

The Basic Grey Page of the Month is a "travel" theme using the "Wander" collection.
I'm teaching this 2-page layout on November 24th from 6-9pm at the Scrap Yard.  Give them a call at 271-2225 and book your spot.

Until next time..... Enjoy!

Captured

Captured:
by a moment...
a picture perfect moment...
captured through my lens.


After sitting through three sessions of my photography class I decided that I should get out on this beautiful Fall day and put what I had learned into action. 
I didn't sign up for these classes to become a professional photographer.... That's never going to happen.  I'll stick to what I know and that's not photography.  I want to be able to know what my camera is capable of and to take some good shots so that I can scrapbook them.
Anyone who knows anything about photography will find several flaws in each of these photos but they are memories on paper for me and I'm going to cherish them... flaws and all! 
The classes have been information overload for me so I just played around with all my camera settings, and out of hundreds of experimental photos I got a few good ones.... at least I think they are good...  after all, isn't that what counts?

 

 

 

  

Til next time... Enjoy!

Winnie the Pooh & Friends

When I think of how close I am to all of my friends, I think of this quote that always holds special meaning in my heart:

"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember.  You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think, but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you".
Winnie the Pooh

One of my most favorite things to do is get together with friends.  Whether it's been a while and we are catching up over dinner or a concert or whether it's once or twice a week croppin and creating at The Scrap Yard or dancing with my dancin' girls..... I love every minute I spend with my friends..... and I have the most amazing groups of friends.  I have many different hobbies and interests and I have groups of friends with the same hobbies and interests.

Last week was our last "Lynn Thune" class at the happiest place on earth - The Scrap Yard creating our 6x12 family album and, as I was creating my last layout, a feeling of sadness came over me..... wondering what will I do with my Thursday afternoons - our same group has been meeting for a year!  Fortunately Lynn has decided to do another 20 week session for a 9x9 album and I'M IN. 

I feel so thankful for all the great things that scrapbooking has brought to my life but making new friends has to be the best thing of all.

This is one of the last layouts that we created for our "family" album.... my scrappin' group of friends!
'Til next time..... Enjoy!

We've only got today!

"Carpe Diem! Rejoice while you are alive; enjoy the day; live life to the fullest; make the most of what you have. It is later than you think."

“You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth" This quote has come to have meaning this past week for my son as he lost a good friend in a motorcycle accident. I truly believe that we’ve only got today and today must be lived to its fullest. Since my kids were old enough to understand I have been preaching to them to say and do one nice thing every day. It may be just holding the door open for someone or telling them to have a nice day….. sound sappy? Just ask my kids; they think I am sappy, but at the end of the day I want them to think about what they did that day that made someone smile and I want them to pass this trait down to their children. Don’t drift through life, make the most of every single day because we’ve only got today.

Quite hanging on to the handrails….. let go, surrender, go for the ride of your life….. do it every day!

What if the “hokey-pokey” is really what it’s all about?



My Guys

This past weekend was Thanksgiving and, like most of you, I am thankful for a lot of things in my life. This weekend I was thankful that I got to spend a day with “my boys”. It’s not that often that they want me to join them on their “man” games but I had the perfect day! We played a round of golf, had dinner at the golf course and then came home to watch the hockey game. I took some photos and decided that I needed to create a layout of “My Guys”.

I used the Creative Scrappers Sketch #125 for this layout. They are celebrating their 125th sketch – congrats to them! What a talented group of designers! I get so inspired every time I visit their blog.  Til next time.... Enjoy!