About Mother's Day

Another Mother's Day has come and gone.  This one was quite different for me.  I actually managed to get a photo of me and the girls together for the first time in 5 years!  Some of you may remember this LO from 2010.  Well the drama continued and 2011 did not yield me that much dreamed of photo.  2011 held a trip to the emergency room with severe intestinal pain.  Thankfully it was nothing serious.  Then in 2012 Lisa had to attend a bachelorette party in Las Vegas.  I was nervous for her to go as Mother's Day usually means a medical emergency for Lisa or at least a sickness.  She was fine so I hoped that the spell was broken and I might actually get that photo in 2013.  Yay!!!  I got it.  Rob photographed it as soon as Lisa came in for fear that some emergency was lurking around the corner.  LOL

This week's case at CSI gave me the perfect reason to document this story.  Documenting "5 things" had me thinking of the five years that I waited.  Here's the case.

I used a blurry photo of Lisa taken last Christmas.  I wanted to add to the theme of it being hard to get that capture.

I used a sketch by Kristine Davidson from her second eBook.  Love these sketches!

And here is that photo!  I think it may be showing up on a LO sometime soon.

Jen

House Guests

If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you may be aware that I am a bit of a bird geek.  These little feathered friends just make me happy.  One of the best things about leaving the condo and coming back to a house with a yard is that I have songbirds to enjoy once again.

Last Sunday a couple of Tree Swallows swooped into the yard in a furry.  They decided to move into a new birdhouse that we had just put up a few weeks ago.  We watched them begin the nesting process, before it was time to leave to visit my mother in the home.  By the time we got back, they had left the new construct and were hanging out at one of the older houses.  I regret not buying a filler for the house to help start them of with the nesting.  They must have figured that a pre-existing home would be less work.  Smart birds.  I agree.  ;)

This morning I heard a thump at the back door.  When I looked out, the female was sitting on the deck stunned.  The male was sitting close by.  When I opened the door to check the bird, the male flew off to the lawn chair and watched.  She wasn't moving her head and sat still.  I came in as not to scare her.  After awhile,  I opened the door again and was happy to see her fly off.  My only worry was that she would fly off to die somewhere.  I watched the male sit alone on the fence and wondered what his life would be like without her.  Would he find another mate at this point in the season?  I hoped he would.  Soon enough she returned.  Reunited!  I have some photos to share.

The happy home owners.

The female is taking it easy today and doing lots of fence sitting.  I hope she is okay for mating.

The male is quite chatty as you can see in these photos.

Oh he is a beauty!

I am happy to report that the neighbourhood I am in also has a pond just around the corner from my home.  I walk to it daily to watch the activity.  There are at least 3 couples of Canadian Geese who share the pond.  The pond at the condo only ever had one couple as the male was quite aggressive and would chase off any other couples who arrived.  Yes, 5am geese fights were often heard.  Too bad because that slough had enough room for many geese to share.   In chatting with my previous neighbours, I have learned that he is back again this year and dominating the waters.  LOL

A few days ago we were talking past the new pond only to spot these beauties!

They are American White Pelicans.  They are huge!  They were there all day and then I spotted then flying overhead early the next day.  Sadly they have moved on.  It would have been thrilling to have them near by.  Apparently they live for 26 years!  They nest between April and August and both parents sit on the eggs.  They are social birds and live in colonies so I guess they went off to find the others.

So here is the official springtime warning.....  With so many geese on the new pond,  some photos of new little goslings are soon to follow.  Okay maybe more than some photos.  ;)   One mama is sitting already.  I'll have to bring over the binoculars to see if I can spot more.

Wishing you a wonderful day with something beautiful from nature to enjoy.  :)

Jen

Upcycling ~ The Roots of Scrapbooking

For me, upcycling means turning trash into treasure.  Taking something that would either be thrown in the trash or at best recycled and turning it into something with a purpose or even a thing of beauty.  When you think about it, scrapbooking of the older days was really upcycling at its best.  Taking little bits and bobs that are found and using them to compile a book of stories and photographs.

My No Buy Challenge has me looking a little closer at items that I come across in my day.  It is my yearning for something new in my stash that is motivating me.  Am I sounding a bit desperate?  ;)  I do keep a little drawer in the studio where I put things that I figure I may be able to upcycle in a page at some time.

Yesterday, while driving in Rob's car I spied a map sitting in the console.  Curiously,  I opened it up to see what I can only describe as a Studio Calico kind of vibe.  It was a free map given out by our community showing where all the bike paths are.  I immediately asked if more were available and could I have this one.  When we arrived home, this is what I created.

Then I went on to making a few more with the sewing pattern paper I received at the thrift shop.  Love the primitive look of these.

Here is a peek at some of the items in my upcycling drawer.

Drink coasters from a restaurant.  I pulled them out from under the glasses as soon as the waitress left the table.  ;)

Packaging from a make-up kit.

Scrappy packaging.  There is something about these cards that make me think that they should be used together.

What is left when you peel the sticker away is awesome negative space!  I'm just waiting for the next CSI challenge that calls for gold.

This bus ticket was given to me by Diane.  She thought she was being funny and pulled it from her pocket to give to me to use on my page as she stood by my desk and I scrapped.  She looked at me like I had rocks in my head when she saw my excitement and I quickly squirreled it away in my stash.  Ha

This crisp paper bag from the card shop must be turned into something.  Check out the print.

And a few more items....

These are for a future Ikea LO. Scraplift idea from Sian.

I plan on punching these letters out.  It was a Christmas promotion at our retailers last year.

This "tuit" coaster is available free at the LSS in Edmonton.  It is a "get to it" theme and advertises some of their services.  Free for the taking.  I have to find a use for this on a page.

And of course there is always embellishment to be salvaged from greeting cards received.  Check out these butterflies on my Mother's Day card from Lisa.  Not sure if I can part with the card though.

I love how an upcycled item can add so much originality to a page.  The downside to it is that it is sometimes hard to incorporate these items into a page.  But when it works, it works in a big way.

Well I am happy to say that I am off to the LSS today.  The girls gifted me with scrappy gift cards for Mother's Day!!!  Historically they don't encourage or support my scrappy addiction but this year they must be seeing it differently since I am not buying.  I am so excited to get to go and pick out some new items..... I mean sooooo excited!!!  LOL   Mother's Day and my Birthday this summer are the two occasions this year that will give me a bit of a break from the diet.  These new items will motivate me to get through to 2014.   I plan on using the certificates frugally and wisely.  I'll be looking for the most bang for my buck but also looking for newer trends that will update my older supply.  I will be sharing my finds and buying strategy at the end of the month in my update.

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Jen

New in the Shop

Susan and I have been busy creating again.  Check out these beauties.

I love negative space!  We made a set for ourselves too.  I never think of stopping to diecut things like this while I'm in the middle of creating.  It is nice to have them on hand.

In other "supplies news",  Susan recently came upon an amazing find at a warehouse style scrapbook store that is new in Edmonton.  You can see her amazing bargains here.  Well, being the generous sister that she is, she brought over her goodies to show me and to share with me!  Thanks Susan.  :)

I think I love the older Studio Calico stuff just as much as the new stuff.  It is always such a classic.

Wishing you all a creative day.  :)

Jen

"Colour My World"

Remember that old Chicago song in the 70's?  I still love it as well as any Chicago music circa the 70's. Hmm the 80's.... not so much.  This song was my inspiration for this week's case at CSI.

Here is my friend's little guy having some crafty time at my place while the grown-ups visited.

He always enjoys a trip down to the studio to gather supplies and usually goes home with a bit of a craft kit.  He has been asking me to teach him how to knit since he was three!  I did manage to find him sewing cards this past Christmas but I think his heart is set on knitting.  Maybe one day.

Here is the sketch that came along with the challenge.  I used it for inspiration and then added my own twist.  I have problems with things being totally balanced.  Hmmm..... what does that mean?  LOL

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and a Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there!  My girlies are coming over today.  :)

Jen

Thrifting & New in Canada

Today I decided to head on down to my favourite thrift store to hunt for treasure.  It is a hit and a miss kind of thing but today was a great day!  Here's what I found...

The amazing glass leaf shaped dish will hold some tiny goodies on my scrappy desk.  Check out that old school (no pun intended) ruler.  It is 16 inches long and they just don't make this quality anymore.  It is thick and varnished.  Reminds me of the rulers I had back in the day when I was in elementary.  I was so happy to find this book.  I was gifted with a Kindle years ago and this is the first, and last, book I bought for it.  Half way through the book, I decided that I am not an  eReader kind of girl.  The Kindle was sold and I always wondered how this memoir ended.  For 25 cents I will finally find out!  And the best part about shopping today was having my ruler wrapped in a piece of paper from an old sewing pattern.  This just might be upcycled into a lollipop flower.

In other shopping news.... Canada finally has Target!  Ours opened yesterday.  I was brave enough to venture over this afternoon.  Ours isn't a huge store.  I did find these amazing plastic baskets for the studio.  So happy to find a few more items in my studio colour.

While going through the checkout I was wishing that Kristen Wiig would be there to ring me through and welcome me to Target.  I know it would take a bit of time because after all she would have to run off and pick up a few of those blue baskets for herself before finishing the transaction. ;)  ( Any SNL fans out there?)

Hopefully I will get scrapping again very soon.  It has been a while and I am missing my creative time.

Jen

It's a Slippery Slope

This past weekend was a hard one for me doing the No Buy Challenge.

National Scrapbooking Day for me always meant scrappy shopping.  Actually,  it meant scrappy shopping at great prices with door prizes involved.  I knew that this year would be different.  Kind of like Santa not showing up on Christmas Eve.  Wahhhhh.  ;)

So Friday afternoon found me in a scrapbook outlet store.  A scrapbooking warehouse in Edmonton who used to only have periodic sales has now opened up an actual retail store.  I have avoided going in because, well it is torture to be around the goodies,  let alone goodies at rock bottom prices.  Well, I went in with a purpose.  Susan is on a hunt for the Martha cornflower punch and I thought that they just might have one since it is an older issue.  Well, they didn't but I did spy some really good stuff and cheap.

So I wandered through looking and knew that I would eventually land at some cardstock where I could finally get some kraft paper.  I found the kraft paper at the back of the store but sitting right in front of it was a rack filled with 2 Studio Calico lines from 2011 that I have always wanted...... Countryside and State Fair. They were only $0.60 a sheet!  At that moment I really wished that I wasn't on a scrappy diet.  At that moment I really wanted to quit the challenge.

So my mind went into problem solving mode.  I knew that Rob was planning on giving me a gift card to a scrappy shop for my birthday in July.  I could wait until July and come back then.  But what if they were sold out by then. I might never find this old stuff again.  I had to find a way around this.  I decided to buy the paper and a few other goodies that were not on the "to buy list" to be put away and given to me on my birthday by Rob.  He will reduce the amount of the gift card for me by the $33 that I have already spent.  Yes, I pre-shopped for my own birthday gift that is still 2 months away.  Pathetic I agree,  but desperate times call for desperate measures!

In the interest of full disclosure, I felt the need to share this on the blog because I almost feel like I have cheated in a way.  I twisted the rules a bit.  On the other hand, I got lots more for that $33 than I would have at the regular LSS in July. The scrapoholic is now rationalizing.   ;)  Rob said to put the stuff in my studio but I refused.  It is all sitting here in it's bag in our front entrance armoire.

 It will not be touched until my birthday in July. (I won't even take it out and drool over it or sniff that new paper smell. )  I will share it's contents at that time along with whatever other purchases I make with the remainder of my birthday gift card.   Phew!  It feels good to get this latest development out there.

So wouldn't you know it that what really got to me in this challenge was coming upon some old stuff!  No surprise that it was Studio Calico.  This was my first real bump in the road.  It was a slippery slope which I navigated with some creative thinking.  I think I better stay away from the scrappy stores if I want to make it until 2014.  Suddenly this challenge is feeling quite challenging.  Time to get strong again.  Time to focus on how good it feels to have less in the studio and feel organized.  I must remember those words by Ali Edwards.... "You have plenty of supplies to record all of your memories."  This is what is important.

Jen