September sniffles

Well I think we can all safely say I won't be winning the blogger of the year award anytime soon!

Last week it was Denis reminding me that it was time to update my blog and this week it is JANET! Thank goodness for these friendly reminders or I may never get this thing updated!!!

I'm home from work today with a cold so I'm taking the time for an update. I want to nip this in the bud because I have a lot on my plate in the upcoming weeks and I want to be as strong as possible. The menu for today has included lots of sleep (and rest), vitamins, lots of water and orange juice and my treat for updating the blog is going to be a long soak in the tub. 

Ok - so here I go with an update. I've been very "creatively" busy in the past little while. 

Friday night I took a class at the Scrapbox. My first class in at least 6 months I think (excluding the online class of course). It was the lovely Stephanie teaching a Making Memories Passport Album. Can I just say I h*e*a*r*t this line. I waited the longest time to purchase anything from the line because I was committed to finishing my wedding album and quite frankly this line didn't fit in with the "theme"...well sod it! This is fun, I don't need to set boundries for myself. So I threw caution to the wind (yeah, i'm a real wild one now eh?) and not only did I buy a whack of this product but I also took the class.

Steph was amazing and I'm not just saying that because she's a friend. Her patience is UNBELIEVEABLE. Maybe she missed her calling and should have been a kindergarten teacher because let's face it - get a bunch of women in a room doing a project like that and let's just say at times it can feel like a class of youngins'!  Too funny.

It is hard to take a class on a Friday night after a long week at work though - my brain was fried! 

I have the "frame" down but I still have to do the decorating.  Here is a sneak peak...

Fitting with the theme - I printed some of my favourite pictures from Spain. Can't go wrong with those!

It was so nice to come home to Denis after class - we had a wonderful dinner together at Red Lobster before class and I was looking forward to hanging out with him a bit.

I was determined to be productive on Saturday and productive I was!

I got up early and got showered. Shopper's Drug Mart was having a 20X the points event and I needed makeup...CHA CHING!

I started there, got my new goodies including a new lip gloss (I love Benefit makeup) and then headed to a few other stores where I picked up a new pair of pants and sweater (fall is in the air) and a few goodies from Michaels (20% off coupon this week). 

I then made my way to Jysk to pick up a rod for my new curtains. I purchased them a few weeks ago but couldn't hang them (ok, who are we kidding...DENIS couldn't hang them) without a curtain rod.  I stood completely at a loss in Jysk as to what I needed and what would look best so I called my man D and he headed straight over to help me out. Poor guy was pulled right out of his relaxed Saturday mode by a wife who just "had" to figure out a solution to her curtain conundrum. We didn't find a solution I was happy with at Jysk so our next stop was Home Depot and eventually Wal-mart. NO LUCK. 

I suggested the tried and true solution...IKEA. Oh how I love Ikea and I haven't been since before the new catalogue came out! As we approached the exit I let out a "S$!t!" Denis thought it was a reference to his driving (no babe, great driving) but it was actually the realisation that this was quite possibly one of the WORST weekends of the year to go to Ikea! It's back to school time. Oy vey.

The good news is Denis is generally VERY patient and I was in a good (and relatively patient) mood so it was no biggie. We actually had a great time wandering around the store for a few hours - Denis was looking for storage solutions for his new home office and I was looking for a few accessories for mine. D came home empty handed (he needs to plan exactly what he wants to purchase) and I came home with a number of goodies for my studio. 

My first score was tiny little spice jars. I spotted them and immediately knew they could be super useful in my room! I was hoping to fill half with ribbon and half with small embellishments. Hmmm....didn't actually turn out that way. I think we may need to make a return visit to Ikea!

I spent a couple hours filling my new jars as Denis hung the curtains. I just couldn't resist posting a bunch of pictures because I love ribbon goodness...

The jars are colour coordinated and sitting on the new floating shelf (also an Ikea find). I originally wanted the shelf in pink but they were out of stock and I was too impatient to wait. As it turns out I'm glad I got black - matches the frames on the wall and pops against the pink wall. 

I also picked up a few little vases. I already had the hot pink one from a flea market and couldn't resist a lighter pink and white one. 3 is better than 1.  Now all I need are some flowers to fill them up (nudge nudge wink wink).

And here are the curtains all hung. These pictures just don't do them justice and I'm feeling too poopy (that one's for you Katie) today to try and take better pics. Oh, I forgot to mention I also got matching pillows. I still need to get tie backs but I know which ones I'm going to get!

In keeping with the damask theme...

You can see the tv poking out there...

Once again sorry for the pictures...

With the room all "updated" I had lots of time to focus on creativity. I was running late with my Thursday class for Got Sketch so I got that completed. I actually turned it into a double layout. 

Just a bit of background...

At our wedding if people wanted us to kiss they had to make a donation to Ronald McDonald House. The rules were the bigger the donation, the better the kiss! We ended up giving them a cheque for $500 (that was from guest donations and our top up). There sure was a lot of kissing going on that night!!!

A few detail shots...

My godson didn't understand the concept and spent most of the night trying to get the money OUT of the box...

Only married a few hours and already kissing other men!

Sunday it was great to just hang out on the homefront. We lounged around and were lazy for the early part of the day and then I got busy in the studio for the afternoon while watching the game. I've decided I'm going to start submitting to magazines and spent a few hours Sunday working on a double layout to be submitted. I cannot show it on my blog (as per submission guidelines) but I can say that I LOVE IT. It's me but it's also pushing my boundries. The best part about it is that it has some of my favourite people in the world in it. 

I have a few other ideas running through my head for submissions. 

D and I made a lovely dinner together and just chillded. We're such a good team and I can truly say he's my best friend. We seem to have fun no matter what we're doing and I feel so priveldged to have found that in my life. I really mean it. What a feeling!!!

Our recent tragedy has brought us closer than ever. I guess that Patrick was more of a gift than we'll ever know.

Tonight I'm going to work on yesterday's class from Got Sketch (as long as I'm feeling up to it) and the class has an online chat at 9 (last week was a blast!!!). I'm also going to get working on other pages for submissions...

Ok - time for my reward...I'm climbing into a nice eucalyptis bath to try and clear my sinuses.

Oh and if you've stopped by to read this, don't forget to leave a comment in my new comment box (look right).

Oh, one more thing - I sent the kids their mini books and my dad his card on Saturday. The girl that was helping me at the post office was wowed by the books and had many compliments. She couldn't believe they were handmade and that really made my day!

Bubbles are calling...

stay lovely