Scrap Kits and Layouts and Goodies, oh my!

I've been having a Scrap-doodly-icious time lately. No, that's not really a word...but it is the mood I am in!

The Just Cre8 June kit revealed last week and it is such an awesome summer treat. Bright colours and flowers and chipboard and sparkle with just a bit of vintage thrown in for good measure. People -- it rocks! I've already done 3 layouts with it and I have a stack of pics on my desk just waiting for the "June kit treatment". It's kind of good that DH is out of town this week -- that means I can scrap in the evenings and spend the whole weekend with him when he is home!

Here are my layouts that the June kit inspired so far:

And I just wanted to add a couple of layouts from the June kit by Lori Mancini. Have I mentioned how much her scrapbooking amazes me? Maybe not, but I think she is marvellous! Look out -- she has such a wonderful style and always thinks of something beyond creative to do with the kits. She is one of my scrapbooking heroes!

Layouts by Lori:

And I can finally let out a biggie secret that I've been holding in for a while now. I was asked to submit layouts to Canadian Scrapbooker magazine for their Passport to Creativity, Summer article. They chose three scrapbookers from Saskatchewan to feature and I feel so honoured and overwhelmed to be a part of that. Thank you so much, ladies! You made my YEAR!

Happy Scrapping!!!

Photo Madness

Some of you know that I finally was able to buy a DSLR camera a few months ago. I've wanted one for ages and I finally found the right one for me. I have a Nikon D40 with a 18-55mm lens.

For Mother's Day I recieved (yes...I made a few suggestions!) a new lens -- a Nikkor AFS 55-200mm VR -- for my D40. I was so hoping to get this lens before soccer season was over!

Well, DD had a game last night and I had a chance to try out my lens at the game. I think I am in love! For the first time, I was able to get the shots I wanted. Crisp, clear action shots with great colour -- and easily too! Shots that look like you are on the field but you are really sitting back in the cheering section.

All this without being a professional of any kind. (sigh) Life is good.

Here are a few of my favorites:

This one was when she realized that I was taking way too many pics of her:

Weekend adventures...

We had such a crazy weekend -- it was quite the emotional roller coaster!

The most extraordinary event this weekend was Renee's first communion and confirmation. It was a very special day on Sunday. She looked so beautiful that it took my breath away. I can't believe how fast she has grown up -- this is just one of the rites of passage that make me sit back and shake my head at how time is slipping away so quickly that I can't grasp it. Here are a few photos from our day yesterday:

Isn't she beautiful? My girl...

Confirmation...

Renee and her sponsor, Heather...

We had more excitement to our weekend...we lost Jack. He went out on Friday and didn't come home. I went for a long long walk to find him and didn't...but found a fox den in the field with very fresh tracks around it. We were so sad -- our little baby cat was gone. The kids were upset, I was upset, everyone could feel his absence. Then on Saturday afternoon, our neighbour across the highway called. Their dog was chasing something white around the yard -- could it be Jack? Russ went over to look and brought our baby home. What a happy day!

In the meantime, before we found Jack, we had a huge scare -- or at least I did! Renee and I had gone for a walk to ask the neighbours in town if they'd seen Jack while Russ and Curtis were hanging out in the yard. Russ was cleaning his truck and Curtis (he's only 5) was riding his bike in the yard. Curty told Russ he was going to go look for me on his bike. Russ told him to stay put in the yard, but Curtis didn't hear him. At least he said he didn't! When Russ looked up a few minutes later, Curtis was gone. He hopped in the truck to go find him and met me walking down the road. After he found out that Curtis wasn't with me, he drove around town to find him. I ran across to the Co-op to look for him and then went home and experienced a few minutes of the purest panic I have ever felt in my life. My baby was missing! Thank God it didn't last long, because after about 10 minutes, Russ came driving home with Curty following on his bike. Apparently he had gone down the street about 4 blocks, turned and biked about 2 blocks, turned again and biked another 2 blocks to where Russ had caught up with him. All by himself on his little bike!! He wasn't scared, just having an adventure. It made me think -- what the heck am I going to do when that boy gets his drivers' license??????

Layouts -- something old, something new!

Oy!

I've been slacking lately, haven't I?

OK, well just so you know I'm still alive and kicking --

Hello!

I've been doing some scrapping lately and I took a class at JSI, which was fabulous by the way! I'm still finishing up my project but it will be done soon!

I think it's time to go a little postal -- posting layouts, that is. I've been spending time organizing the digital copies of my paper layouts that I keep on my puter and I've found a whole bunch of treasures.

So here you go! Enjoy!


This is a relatively new LO -- I just love this pic of DS:

This LO is old old old -- but I actually still like it. It took me 8 hours to paper piece the horse (remember when paper piecing was trendy? LOL). And yes, I know there is a spelling mistake in the title!

I did this one at the crop at JSI two weekends ago -- quick and easy:

I've had these pics for a long time. This layout is for my grandma, who passed away last summer:

This one is really different -- love the pic (it's my window at sunrise) but I'm still not sure I like the LO:

TFL! Have a great day!