Wow!!

Only three people commented...should I be offended? Naw...life's to short. So I used the random.org site, added you three lucky gals names and the winner is..... are you ready for it??? Robin!!! List Randomizer There were 3 items in your list. Here they are in random order: 1. Robin 2. Colleen B 3. Bradsmom06 Timestamp: 2009-07-10 07:06:23 UTC If you send me all your addy details I can mail this out to you asap. Thank you for stopping by my blog, all 3 of ya! lol I am thinking of doing this more often but I am going to wait till I get back from my vacation. Let others know that just by leaving a comment, they too can win something, it may be something small or not but it will be something!!

Yes...it has been awhile...

I know, I know...life here has been hectic. Planning our very first vacation out of the province since being married to my hubby and that was 15 years ago, so needless to say it is long overdue. We never even had a honeymoon let alone gone anywhere so this trip is super important not to mention the family I haven't seen in 15 years. I have also been working on those bookmarks, with adjustments as well as the increase from 200 to 270 to be made, well, lets' just say, I've been really busy. I also have now started another blog, one with the sole intention of sharing my work with anyone and everyone whom may be interested in hiring me to make from wedding to baby to a simple barbecue/party invitations. Plus much more. I will post the new blog Addy once I have uploaded all my work on it. Stay tuned. Hm...I owe a few apologies to a couple of people. Catherine at YMBD, I got my prizes, how very precious they are but more so since I know that our crop day was spent supporting the Canadian Cancer Foundation! WhooHoo! Peggy, I got my lovely RAK and didn't forget about the RAK pay-it forward, I have everything already in a package all ready to go, just didn't get around to coming back here and posting pics and putting the word out until now! So here we go... ~For those that feel inclined to join, leave a comment here, state in it, Hi there, Kimmie,(okay, Kim will do just fine thanks!!) ~I would love to pay-it-forward!! This is how it works. ~I pick a winner, by random, to receive this little package of goodies I have made up, including a set of 8 Popsicle cards already made and ready to go PLUS a few other goodies, not in the picture.(pic below) ~When your name is picked and you have left some way for me to contact you, either a blog Addy or your email, I will then contact you for all your home info! ~Once you have received the RAK, it is then up to you to continue on with the kindness act by repeating it all over again! My RAK came all the way from Belgium,(Thank you again Peggy)!)anyone else from far away going to venture forth? Just leave a comment stating that you are interested and it will be on the way!!

She has decided!

My soon to be sister-in-law has decided on her favorite. With a few small changes to fit wording it was decided that she loved the magnet bookmark best. She really did like the one that 3 of my family members liked but it was to big to go where she wanted it to be placed. Not only has the count changed from 200 but to 270 now, I may also be doing invitations for her sisters wedding later on in the year as well! Yeah for me! I do have talent after all! LOL!! Thank you all who cared enough to leave a comment, it may have done nothing to help her in her decision making process but it did help me feel better about what I had created because until I got that call from her, I was sure she would hate them all but you guys made me feel, well, somewhat better about it. So a GREAT BIG THANK-YOU to all of you! On a different topic, yesterday was Mother's Day and I was quite busy. I was woken up to breakfast in bed, usually I hate eating in the morning, especially first thing after waking up, but it was my hubby that did it so what could I say?? We went to my mother-in-law's house for a barb-b-cue, I made Greek salad for the first time, hoping to bring some of it back home, no such luck! It was a huge hit, we had ribs and bacon stuffed twice baked potatoes, chicken skewers and burgers on onion buns. For dessert was a strawberry Boston cream cake and watermelon. OMG! Bliss! Mt mother in law gave me a purse that she know longer used and I love it so! I am not a girlie girl, at least I didn't think I was, and it really is no big brand or anything fancy but hell if I don't just love it to bits. Weird! We brought Sarah, we try to bring her as much as we can anywhere, but cabbing it with her is crazy, not her as much as the wait for a cab that is willing to take her!(Sometimes, I wished I drove, well, not sometimes, quite often really!) We got there to discover that not only was Sarah's daughter, Sky but Sadie and Bear were there as well! A very exciting day for Sarah and she came home and passed right out. Couldn't get her to move of the floor for two hours. Poor baby, she is getting old! I come home to find that my son had secretly raided my craft room and made me a card. How sweet! Really it is because he used tools that I didn't expect him to use and did stuff that was so very creative. I just loved it! Only one problem though, when he was using tools that I didn't expect him to use he also used something that he really shouldn't have. (He's forgiven though, it's the thought that counts, lol) So we in the scrap world know what dimensionals are and my son also knows that you can pop things up to give them a cool look, but to my dismay, instead of actually using my dimensionals he cut up my rubber foam mat that I use to stamp on. I went to use it and noticed a perfect 2 by 2 inch square cut out from the corner of it. Oh well, I can still use it and really, it was what he did with it that mattered more than anything. Still...I really should show him what dimensionals look like for future reference. LOL! Brendon got home from work late, I know, how dare my son not book a day off and then spend it praising me, right??? LOL. He surprised me with a dozen glorious pink roses and one red one. Heavenly! Right into my scrap room they went! Love them. So here are some pictures of my mother's day loot.

Drumroll please.......................

Okay...here it is...the long awaited...ah! Who am I kidding, no one really cares so here they are, the bookmarks that I was asked to do for my brother-in-law's wedding. Instead of the little candy bags or the little matchboxes that the average couples go with, they wanted to go with something that would been taken home and actually used instead of discarded, so bookmarks it is. Personally, I can't live without mine, we own like 50 of them, I buy, make and even take them! (From the library, people! Jeesh! lol) Just so you know, these are samples, I need to make some minor fixes, like glue dots instead of liquid adhesive on the transparency and pearl issues, among some others. But there are 5 samples that I am sending, the first picture you will see(if I did this right at all) is the size that she requested(the smallest one of them all) and the rest of them, well, I strayed a little and then a lot! None of them have the actual wording on them, I want to wait to see what she wants said and in what font. As you can see, she went with the Blue, Brown and White theme. (Tiffany Blue to be exact but man that is hard to get close too without the paper looking like turquoise or aqua or pale blue) Anyway, here they are! Let me know what you think!! You can click on them to see a closer point of view and to point out many more of my flaws!! LOL!! The very last one, is 3 out of 4 recommended from my house as the fave! Sarah couldn't decide so her vote didn't count!! LOL!! Sparkly!!

What an awesome day!!

First, my best friend Colleen comes into town for just a mere 4 days and takes time out from her family to spend it with me, we started at Starbucks and ended up having a very late night coffee at Denny's. Nothing else open on a Sunday night but it is the company that mattered anyway. Then she phones me the next day to say that she was going to stop by before leaving town to say goodbye, funny, I thought we had done that the night before:)She shows up with a belated birthday card(just by 5 months, no big deal,lol)and Lo and behold but there is $100 in it to spend just on myself. Like, OMGoodness! Who does that? We haven't even known each other for a full year yet, she is so freaking awesome! I love ya girl but payback is a B####h and your B-day is in June!!! Second, I get a call from my brother-in-law who informs me that there is a seat sale on right now for flights to Toronto but I know, at this moment we don't have any money, besides my B-day gift, that isn't enough. I check our Canada Savings Bonds and guess what, there it is, the whole amount, on my way to the bank as we speak. My trip to see my sisters and brothers and my new in-laws is now paid and done! I am so very, VERY thrilled!! We leave Friday July 31st and come back August 5th. WhooHoo!! And because things happen in threes, well, I just checked my email and found out that the Blog hop that I participated in on the weekend, well, I won a prize. I won a Fiskars fingertip cutter. An awesome craft knife that I am in such desperate need of right now, you have no idea! I use the one I have all the time. Like, I mean, really, all the time! But the problem is that when you have to remove the blade(s) you actually have to turn the blade to tighten and loosen it and well...as you can guess, it has been very unfortunate for me in the past, on my fingers as well as my ego. Ugh! But all that is gone now! More over is that I didn't think I stood a chance due to the fact that it was only open to residents of the U S A! She changed her mind just for me! how so very sweet of her, Thank you Rita! You are the best! Now, I must go, I have three days to complete those samples and then post them to get your feedback, honest feedback too please!!! LOL Have an awesome day, just like I did!!!

YMBD-Crop-Scrapping the Music

Okay, I pop over to Scrapping the Music, check out the talented artists and feel out the song of the week to see if inspires me. This week, it was a song that I have on my playlist, also on cd somewhere but then who plays them anymore? She is one of my fav's and I love many more of hers, so I hear this song, watch the little clip playing with it and boom! Inspired. I made this layout for my other son. The little tabs pull out to reveal a personal and sappy note to him. Hope you like it, I do! A LO for a crop challenge this weekend. Using this pic, as inspiration and this is my LO. She is a natural for photos, don't ya think??

As promised...

There are some things that I have done in the past week or so and this weekend for the crop I joined, so here they are. As promised...no bookmarks yet though...soon!

National Scrapbooking Day at YMBD

Although this is taken from another blog, it is exactly what I wanted to say...so here it is!! It's finally here! Another crop at YOUR MEMORIES BY DESIGN starting today, Friday at 7PM Eastern/6PM Central time. Check out the forum, and come join us in the fun that Cat and the Design Team are sure to offer this weekend. If you join the fun, be sure to tell everyone I sent you. BTW, all challenges completed this weekend earn you YMBD Bucks which in turn will go towards such a worthy cause, the Canadian Cancer Institute! Here is the link to tell you all about it! YMBD! If you aren't a member yet and are interested in getting together with a great bunch of gals, from Canada to everywhere, come register here, join in the fun and Celebrate National Scrapbook Weekend but more than that, come celebrate life with us. What other reason do we need than that?

So glad...

We had a Swine flu scare here this week. I tell you, this year has been so testing and stressful and it is only the beginning of the year!! I am so glad that nothing came of it here but still, with my Dad's death and then Andrew's acid burns and then a co-worker of his coming down with swine flu, I just don't know how much more of this I can take. I can be strong, I can brave many a thing out but my goodness, when does frigging life just get better? When? And for whom? Ugh!! Well, that is my rant...what is going on out there on your side of the world? What have you done lately that has made you feel fantastic? Maybe your great lives will cheer me up and give me a cause to smile, tell all! Go ahead! I promise not to get to jealous!! LOL!!

Now to something nicer...

After ranting on in the last post and letting off some steam, I thought I would share some rather good news, well, I think so anyway. I am going to Ontario this summer, for those that didn't know. I am attending my brother-in-laws wedding and more than anything, I am going to see some of my family. Siblings/nephews/nieces that I have not seen in...well...a very, very long time. The most recent being 14 years ago and the longest being 26 years. I know, crazy right!! Having a messed up childhood will do that to a family. With both of my parents gone now, I think that maybe the pressure s of being who we want or not, are gone now. I can't wait!! Anyway, as for the good news, I was asked to do the place-cards/take-homes for the tables at the wedding. I think it is an honor to be asked, it consists of making over 200 hundred bookmarks that will be placed at each table setting to match the theme of the wedding, which is Tiffany blue, Chocolate brown and white. I have never been asked to do such a thing before and think it is even sweet that they thought of me. Imagine, all those people seeing what I can do! I hope I don't screw it up. I will be making some samples for them to pick from before Shane heads down there in May, so I will post them and get you guys to give my your honest, gut-wrenching opinions before I do. I really don't want to send them stuff that is just not good enough, so I am counting on your feedback! Well, that is it for now! Oh, my BFF is all paid up for the retreat in October, so woot!! Her and I will be sharing a cabin and table together by request and I can't wait till we go, premature excitement already!! I just hope that we get together again many times before then!! She is truly a great comfort to my soul and in such a short time a friend I know I will have for life!! I love ya girl!! Later peeps!!