this and that...

Hi blog friends

Long time no speak

I have made a few posts lately but do they really count when I'm simply sending you over to Katie's blog?

First things first....

Do you like the new blog makeover? I have Katie to partly thank for the ultra-divaesqueness of my blog! She treated me to a HOUSE OF 3 background and banner on Saturday to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day. The timing was perfect because I took a blog design class last week so I got to put it into action!!!

It's not perfect. I still have some things I'd like to tweak but it'll do for now.

I'm having a hard time remembering everything I wanted/needed to say so I'm just going to jump around a bit...

For starters the D man and I treated ourselves to new runners last week. We've both been in dire need of new runners for a while now and since they are actually being put to use, it was well worth the purchase. I tried out my new babies for the first time tonight and they are FABU. Wow - what a concept to actually have support in runners!!! They are also Nike chip enabled so I'm going to pick up one of those too so I can track my workouts.

Do not adjust your screens. These are actual size. They may look like skis but they are not...



Dorrie tried on D's size 15 men's runners (size 17 women's) on Saturday. It was quite hysterical. I think they were the size of her entire lower leg. She looked like a circus clown!!!

Speaking of Saturday, I celebrated National Scrapbooking Day with Katie, Dorrie and Steph. Unfortunately Rach could not make it because she's a sickie right now. We totally missed her but did manage to have a great, wonderful, awesome day. They are fabu girls and I'm thrilled to have them in my life!

We did a potluck and Dorrie TOTALLY WENT NUTS. She made several mexican treats (to die for) for lunch and a banana split cake thingy. OH MY GOSH. I could barely move I was so full and the food was so yum.

Katie learned the hard way that one should wear gloves when cleaning out jalepenos!!! It was well worth all of the pain and lost sleep though...her bacon wrapped jalepeno poppers were AMAZING.

And Steph hooked us up with a yummy, fresh and healthy salad to go with the lasagna and garlic bread (both store bought not homemade) that I cooked up.

Ok so get this...I took a ton of pictures of the banana split but very little else. Hmmmm. I know D and Dorrie took a ton of pictures as D gave her a crash course on photography!

Group shot at the end of the day....

And last but not least...here are my creations. Some are from Navcan and some are from this past Saturday. I even have one from Scrapfest.

I have to say I TOTALLY LOVE the scrappin' groove that has found me of late. I can't really explain it and I really don't want it to go away. I'm taking risks. I'm not second guessing my work. I'm enjoying. It's an amazing feeling.

I think the classes I've been taking lately, particularly with Vicki Boutin have really brought me out of my box. Yeah Vicki. I fight you all the time but somehow all the icky dirtiness (with and without peni$ straws) is doing the trick!!!

Katie made these oh so cool flowers - I LOVE THEM. So can't get enough of their yumminess!!!

Ok - look at all the new techniques. FABRIC for starters. On my pages. I completely crystal lacquered the damask sticker on the left. AND I SEWED. Forget adhesive. I SEWED THE DARN PICTURE ON THE PAGE. yeah baby!!! With my hands. Sewed. Did you hear me? s-e-w (oops - i almost wrote "x" instead of "w")

I must thank Miss Rach for the fabric - she treated us to fabric swatches at Navcan...they were EXACTLY what I needed for my pages...

Now I want to put fabric on EVERYTHING! I added beads to my fabric on this page...

The sticker says "freeze: i want to hold this moment in my heart forever"

a page on speeches...

sticker says "cherish: this is the good stuff"

Once again - lots and lots of crystal laquer

I really really heart this page. I love how it came together....

I still use clean lines but i'm "divafying" my pages now...

I used my absolute favourite scrapping supply EVER...(on a couple of these pages actually)...FLAIR. How great is flair?

Hearts courtesy of my Slice!

I did this page in my simple design class at Scrapfest with Kathy Thompson. Love her!

I totally scraplifted this layout from a magazine. love the way it turned out. Once again - totally out of my zone. Lots and lots of "messy" (but intentionally messy) sewing. Yes S E W I N G. This time with a machine.

I used RAFIA. Isn't that a blast from the past....

That's my dad with my nephew Hayden by the way...

This layout was tricky. I had a great idea to do a heart in buttons. easier said than done because i made a TOTAL MESS with my glue. so i had to "hide" the mess with ribbon and an acetate overlay. Steph put the ribbon down for me before I cut off my glue-filled fingers and threw the page in the garbage!

My dad always says to the kids "papa loves you" hence the title for this page...

a yes - more flair! I also managed to organize my buttons on Saturday with the handy button container Janet gave me. Thanks J - i LOVE IT. Perfect storage solution for buttons!

Well my lovelies. That's it for me. It's been a rather productive evening and yet not nearly productive enough to cross off all things I have on my "to do" list...

'night lovelies,