Connie comes Thursday, School is over on Friday and Bon Jovi is on Saturday

........who needs Christmas with all of these things happening?

By the Way

.........5 days till front row!

Just in case you forgot!

Here is another picture for you all to admire!

Christmas Cards Part 1

Well it felt great!
I did cards for some of my friend at work. It was fun to stand in front of the wall of mailboxes and deliver them. Included was a packet of Apple Cider too! They were well received and many folks enjoyed a hand-made card.

Now, this weekend I need to finish and address the ones that I will be sending out to friends in the mail.

thank you

another treat to help with the Bon Jovi countdown....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESOVrc4K3CQ&feature=related

It's my ringtone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g50vzZzAja0&feature=related

This time next week

...............I will have had another item on my LIFE List crossed off. It's been a huge "want" of mine for a very long time. Sitting in the front row of a Bon Jovi concert! My best friend Connie arrives on Thursday from Saskatoon and us two wild and crazy girls are making it happen. As grown adults this is the best time for us to enjoy the experience and remember it for a lifetime.

I have a countdown going on, well my friends know there has been a countdown going on since I bought the VIP tickets. Now if there was a way to meet the band and say hello, take a photo or two....let them know that they have had remained a constant. I have their music with me at all times.

7 more sleeps till it's "Christmas" in my world. Some may have an advent calendar but for me it's Bon Jovi. You will for sure join the countdown with me, won't you?

Never again

There is alot of emotion in this song. There is an intense growl of her voice and the passion to which she promotes "overcoming" the hurt and the pain. This song speaks to me. It needs to go on my workout playlist for the treadmill. May it give me the courage I might need....

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bPKUdoBKVqc

Did you know?

....that the concert is in 11 sleeps.

Connie arrives next Thursday for the weekend.

I have fresh colour and a new haircut.

There are 7 days of school left.

I am done my report cards.

Wow, doesn't this photo look amazing!

The countdown is on

...........well honnestly I have been counting down the days for a little while now.

I have been watching videos on Youtube and frankly it is exciting to see the show that Bon Jovi is putting on. I can hardly believe that I am going to be living out the whole night in the front row. It's been something I have been daydreaming about for many years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ6wgsy6dGA&feature=related

rainy day mondays

• It poured this weekend and I napped on the couch after helping my friend with some of her wedding plans. She was concerned about making tags for her favours and I kept telling her it would be a cinch for I have so much stuff in my studio and combined with the HUGE die cut machine at the store she had nothing to worry about.
• I drank my 3 L's of water today, had more when I got home and have had a cup of tea tonight.
• Aqua fit was a self directed class tonight and after running off, parking the car and being excited to go I just cannot fathom a class where I have to monitor myself. I love going and being in the front row, staring down the moves and zoning out....I work hard with the instructor right in front of me. I am a teacher and can't work out like this. I was so disappointed! I came home and worked on the core ball, did some weights for my arms and got on the Gazelle for some cardio. That made it all feel good.
• The Ministry of Education accreditation team is visiting our school this week. It's nice to have people in to see our school and what makes it special. I wished we got this type of feedback more often. It's an added pressure but the folks that are with us seem very, very nice.
• I am leaving work early tomorrow night, which is odd for me but I am meeting my friend Gerlind and we are going down to Washington for a few hours of shopping. I am on the lookout for some jeans that fit me since the ones in my cupboard are tooooooo big! Would be lovely to find some nice fashion boots for the winter.

Oh and by the way I am a PRO on flickr.com

.....before the dollar met the US at par, I bought a PRO account on flickr.com.
I was happy to shoot 2 weddings this summer, both for teachers. You can see the many albums by checking out my own space on the site... comments would be fun too! Feel free to leave one or two or three.

Here are a few favourite shots from Tanya's wedding on the Sept long weekend.

Today, I returned to the store and it felt great to sit and share the Paper Arts hobby with others.

It has been a little while since I have been at the instructors table at Photo Express. Having shifted gears awhile back, from being the "Sunday girl" to an Instructor. Todays Quickutz crew event felt great. I was able to share an amazing card designed by my dear friend Jo with some lovely ladies who came into play with some fun supplies.

I am working on a major class idea to be offered in the November Class Calendar and just working out some logistics in my head. Some of my best ideas come alive when I am doing other things, like sleeping!

Life is great....my Kindergartens are fabulous...I notice I am smiling more and more. I wore heels twice this week, a skirt a few times and bought a new lipstick which was toted as a "must have" from a blog I am reading. The lipstick is a beige so I am really not being all that wild. Tomorrow is the 14th day of school this year and I have yet another new outfit to wear. I think they will run out by Friday but if I look closely in the closet I bet I have some more new pieces I could throw something together. I feel like a girl again!

I have decided to walk again in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer come August 2008

My walking mates (Michele and Renee) from Doreen's Miracle are joining forces again for the 2008 version of the event. Doreen is hosting a scrapbooking fundraiser crop locally in October which I will be attending. There are so many ideas for my own personal fundraising projects that are milling in my mind. I am excited .....

If you would like to see photos from the 2005 event, look here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/for_ladybug/

See, another Scrapbook/card making holiday that I might have to take time off work to celebrate

http://www.worldcardmakingday.com/

Single girl builds another piece of IKEA furniture

Hi universe,

Yes I am an independent woman and I do own a few tools but for some reason building my latest IKEA piece was daunting. It sat in pieces for about 2 weeks after I checked all the pieces. My dresser is "discontinued" so when I wanted to pick up the smaller one with my Birthday money I was shocked to find this out. There were only 20 left so I bought it right then and there.

So if you have seen the commercial with the load of boxes atop of an old VW Beetle, then you would laugh at this. I pulled and pushed the box into the car after putting the roof down and moving the seat back. After hoping to the heavens that it would fit into the car so that I would be able to take one home. I have the photo on my phone to prove how funny it looked but I did it. The dresser is home, in my room and is now an antique!

The next time I need to assemble something I really hope there is some testosterone in the house to make it a little more expedient.

Stepping up to reclaim my Summer

Shopping spree for back-to-school
Signed up for Aquafit classes
Took clothes to the consignment store
Made thank you cards for end-of-the-year gifts, but still need to send them.
Painted my bedroom
Bought a new dresser, but still need to put it back together
Had a few PRINCESS Days

Wow, have I been AWOL that long?

So May and June were busy. So busy that a few things had to get dropped. My Blog was one of them.

My teaching partner in the other Grade One class was suddenly placed on bed rest and the end of the year was looming. I gave up a few things and now, I am hoping to post a little more.

School is over.....the last time for many things. My last Grade One year, last spelling test, last Sleepover and many more "last" things. I am excited about moving to Kindergarten in September. I will be working rather late hours this week in order to pack up my classroom and have it ready to move. What a huge ordeal.

Bring on summer!

Mothers Day Scrapbook Class

Hi all.....here are a few photos of the Mini Album I designed for class at Photo Express this month. Make your mom smile on Mother's Day by gifting her this gorgeous mini album, created with the brand new papers from Très Jolie. Be ready to get a little messy as we build this board book from scratch: sanding, drybrushing, gluing, hole punching & assembling. You'll finish off your sweet creation with buttons, lace and other accents to enhance the shabby chic look of this 6x6 album. You will complete the entire album during class and afterwards, you can compose a personal note to tuck into a special part of this gift album...just in time for Mother's Day.

Cleaning the cupboards

.....nothing better than going through winter clothes and trying them on to find that they are too big. I washed them all and bagged them up. Tomorrow all my old clothes ( several of which are NEW , old clothes) are going to go to school with me. A colleague of mine works with several agencies and I know plus sized clothes are hard to find. I am most happy to spend Earth Day going through and finding new homes for my clothes.

Then it got better...I found 5.00 in the pocket of some jeans that I can wear again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is a fabulous photo of Keith Urban. I like the composition alot. I like the facial hair, I like his wispy hair....ok, ok. I like everything about this photo!

Weekend checklist

Friday night I worked at school till about 5:30.
Left directly to get a friend and go to Poco for Game Night but too bad the Canucks did not show up.

Saturday morning, Patricia and I decided to go shopping.
Stopped to look for linens at Costco, walked out of there. Why did we go on a Saturday?
Coquitlam center was next.
I have new summer shoes and I am very happy with them. I love Keen Shoes.
Bought some more Green Tea Lotion from my favourite place, Escents.
We hit Superstore for some groceries and then home.

Sunday I cleaned, vaccumed and did laundry like a mad woman.
I also watched the hockey game and was thrilled to have an early, overtime win.
Made chicken and froze portions. Bagged veggies and berries also to get ahead.
Finished my class submission for Photo Express. I designed a gift album for Mothers Day. It would make all moms very happy. Watch for the May schedule to go up and run in to sign up. It's cute. I will link a photo here when it has all been posting through the store.

My Absence

I took some time to redirect my energies....to dedicate some time to me. March Break came and went. I took the first week to visit with my family, play Wii with the nephews and sit and hold my Grandma's hand.

I began a new Wellness Plan and I am starting week 4 tomorrow. So, tomorrow is a big day for me. Many folks have told me that new habits can be formed in 21 days, whereas some have told me it takes a month. Well I am in that ZONE. New habits are on the horizon. My mind is still strong, my determination even stronger. Pardon me, if this Blog takes on a new shape. It's writer is taking on a new shape as well, finding her hips again. I am going to share my journey and blog to help me stay strong.


No sugar
No white flour
No Beer, had my last Stella the night before I started
No Starbucks, so I have found Peppermint Green tea and love it.
Carbs/starches are from an approved list only.

Eating lots of veggies, prepping lots of veggies.
Eating meat/poultry or fish on a daily basis.
Consuming a mixture of pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds each day.
Seeing results and more importantly feeling so very good from the inside out.

I have trimmed 11.4 pounds

Long time , no post.

I was on my Spring Break and neglected some of the duties I perform in order to have some fun and refocus on my energy.

Today I am home, sick. The sniffles and head cold I was fighting got the best of me. There was not alot of sleep last night. Best not to be in with the kiddies. I will post later....I am taking another nap.

Bon Jovi - Dirty Little Secret

Sharing my Bon Jovi with you!

OK , confession time.

For most of my close friends, they already know.
I have a crush.
I have had this crush since I was 10.
I would do almost anything for my Crush.
He even named an album for me- called Crush.

A friend at work told me there was a huge billboard downtown in Vancouver. Jon Bon Jovi has partnered with kenneth cole to do a cologne called RSVP. The money raised from his partnership goes to build homes with Habitat for Humanity. Jon Bon Jovi is a humanitarian.

It's raining, it's pouring

Life on the Wet Coast can be somewhat crazy in the winter. The rain can beat down and make things really wet. The grass in the front yard is flooded, basements are flooded and it's miserable in the rain. The rain is making me crazy. Thank goodness for the fireplace that is in my place.

I slept in this morning, actually laid down on the couch last night at 8:30 and crashed till 2 in the morning. Spring break could not have come any sooner for me. We are all bushed, kids included. Lots of things were packed into this last term which happens to be the shortest one of all. The Junior Girls Volleyball team had a great season, only losing one game all term. We were awarded PYP ( Primary Years Program) and MYP ( Middle Years Program) status through the IB office in Genever. This makes our school a WOLRD IB school and it is a very exciting time for all of us on staff. We have worked very hard and this news was a wonderful way to end the week. We have two weeks off and I am going to enjoy each second of it.

Tonight, I watched the Canucks play the Red Wings and we won. Hope Floats is playing and I loved this movie when it came out. I will love it again tonight as I am nestling in. The scenes with that little girl just make my heart break. This is the movie that my BIL took my sister to on one of their first dates, the main song was their Wedding Song. Going to snuggle on the couch and just breathe.

Tell me you know about Scratch and Sniff Stickers!

Today I needed a little spark in my step, something to perk up the flow of the day. It was as simple as to read through the notebooks that belong to my students. I pulled out my collection of stickers. Much to my surprise several of my kids did not know what a scratch and sniff stickers was. It was a joy to show them how to use their fingernail and scratch off the top layer and then smell the scent of "apples". They were very excited. The innocence of it all and the way in which we shared a few moments today. They are the most expensive kinds of stickers to buy as a teacher but after today I am going to splurge.

This whole event took my mind back to the memories that I carry about my "sticker collection." My sister and I had photo albums of stickers, grouped together over many pages and in neat and tidy ways. My favourites were always bubblegum, grape and the spearmint ones. We never liked the pizza, skunk and gasoline ones. You were cool if you had special ones like , Shirt Tales, Smurfs, Donkey Kong, Pacman, Snorks, E.T, Strawberry Shortcake and Garfield ones. Our French teacher, M. Toye always had the best stickers. We were kids of the 80's for sure and I have the sticker collections to prove it.

Here is a neat link of someone who is still collecting....maybe I should dig out my binder and make a sale. I could re-invest the profit from the sale and place it into the purchase of some proper, adult stickers....you know the kind....for scrapbooking!

Wet and Soggy

We have had so much rain in the last couple of days. The sun came out just a little after lunch today and it was a welcomed sight. The kids really enjoyed being outside for recess today and I think their TEACHERS did too! Over the noon hour a friend took some time to run down the street to Starbucks for coffee and was so kind to offer to get me one as well. I was in love with her kindness because several little tiny things all piled up and got on my back today. Somehow a dark roast coffee made it all seem a little bit better. Spread out, all these things would have been hurdles and annoyances but today they were a huge problem for me.

I have been thinking about my friend Jo who spent the day pumping over 4 inches of water out of her basement. It was coming in so fast last night that they felt they could not make a dent in the water level. Her neighbours lent a hand and the drains are being looked at so that they know where the problem was.

I am having a huge creative block, sitting at my desk for a long period of time and not being able to satisfy my own expectations for Scrapbook classes in April. I have one more kick at things tomorrow night and I hope that I can achieve all the things I would like to offer. I am focussing on DIY chipboard techniques.

Four more days till Spring Break!

Feeling Accomplished

Here are a few of the 12 cards I did on the weekend. I used scraps of Chaterbox paper, my Squeeze tool and some Stampin' Up tags ( from the tag box last year) to adorn some pretty simple white cardstock. You see, I love neutral cardstock, simple and clean designs, not alot of clutter for the eye. I enjoyed working in the silence and these are going to be kept until I find just the right person who needs a special THANK YOU.

Thanks to Michele D for sharing the photo with me.

Neglect

I am alive.
I am ok.
I have not been blogging.
I am in midst of Spring Report cards for my grade ones.
I am investigating going to a new Doctor and they are not easy to find in the Lower Mainland.
I need to design and turn in Scrapbook classes for March 15th.
I am looking forward to Spring Break, 7 days to go.

Does this resemble me?

So can you tell this is me?
Yes, embrace your inner geek!
Can you see the sparkling earings? the denim jeans? the boxy black purse? the 'plus size' build that they gave as an option and the dark hair?
Yahoo lets you create your own online identity aka, Avatar. This was the result of playing around with their options. They did not have a scrapbook room as a background so here I am in the classroom.

I have no idea if this is a true taste of things to come for Spring 2007 but it sure gives us some interesting colour combinations. I will be very happy to wear any of the colours from any of the 3 columns to the right side.

As for creative projects, I think these templates give us alot of combos to work with. If you would like to see more then go to Fashion Trend Setter.

Stamping Witt

A stamp that I found on the River City Rubber Works site.

There are so many witty stamps on this site that I feel I NEED to have.

This Weekend

Make your own list......

Card Creation

I have some parents in my class that spent their day with us on Monday. We were on the bus and headed to Vancouver for a visit to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen garden. The rain always seems to follow us on this particular trip. This year, there was no change. Wow! It was sure wet! The rain was coming down sideways.

This card was something I whipped up tonight to thank those 4 moms who endured the drenching rain to help supervise the class on this trip. It's a bazzill base, Autumn Leaves flourish with Stamping Up white ink, some good ol' gingham, Making Memory bard and polka dot paper with an Amuse stamp.

A crush

If I tell you all then it is no longer a secret crush. Aside from my adoring love for all things Bon Jovi, this man makes me happy. The character he plays on Law and Order is strong, brilliant, attentive and he lives each day to save the world. Vincent D'Onofrio is an indulgence on Sunday nights.

Flowers from a Boy

...he's six. His mom carried them into class for him but told me he picked them out. It was very sweet of him/her. I never get flowers from a boy.

What do the numbers 4-65 and 5-7 mean to you?

....maybe nothing but to me, they are the magical numbers from the two tubes of colours that formulate the colour for my hair. Thanks be to Connie who created this nice combo for me and taught me how to do it all myself. She set me up with the salon quality products and now I can keep it up every 6-8 weeks.

Tomorrow, I get the locks chopped. So my Valentines Day will be with the first graders, then my Jr Girls Volleyball team and finally my stylist. My stylist just got married in Jan so the last person she wants to spend the night with is me! At least there is a touch of red in my hair so we'll be following the theme!

Studio Space Tour Day Two

This is another view into the space where I create. It makes me giggle how we all feel the need to clean up our spaces before we take photos. You can see how perfect that 4x2 mini Expedit shelf fit into the alcover in the wall. I made a few switch-er-ros and finally adjusted to having my paper collection on the bottom two rows so that they are handy when I am going for that perfect shade.

Right in the basket behind me are my favourite EK Whale of a Punches, my Quickutz binders and squeeze tool are there as is my large silver container of inks. They are all ready and in sight for a quick project.

My parents upgraded their computer desk and I was happy to take their old one as it is a perfect table for me. It fits my Making memories cutting pad and the keyboard tray under the table allows me to hide my trimmer, rules and a few adhesives. You don't see the chair I sit in, I would like to replace it and am keeping my eyes open for something I like. I am not one of those "stand up" scrappers but do stand up every now and then to get a birds eye view on my projects.

Studio Space Tour Day One

In my new place, I had to create a space for the scrapbook studio. I used to have an whole entire bedroom but now I have integrated my living space with my scrapping space. The idea here was to go vertical and buy some furniture that would be more decorative and help define my "creating space."

Can you say IKEA?

Yes, that is the Expedit shelf, both the large one and the small 2x4 which fits perfectly into the alcove behind my table. When Dad was here, he helped me assemble those shelves and even shared my pure joy when the measurement for the alcove verrified that we would indeed be able to fit the little shelf in there as well. The vertical Cropper Hopper storage files needed a wee bit of a trim , so a 1/2 inch was sliced off each then the 12x12 paper found a new home. The white cabinet off to the right side of the photo is VINTAGE Ikea, circa the early 80's and it has been up north with me and out to the prairies. I am on the lookout for something to replace it but it has to be perfect and black!

My studio table fits behind the sofa and allows for some of the surface clutter to be hid away. I bought some square glass jars from Superstore to hold pens, tools, adhesives and some commonly used stamps. The shadow boxes came from Photo Express and they allow me to frame some gorgeous paper from Basic Grey. The 3 drawer chest behind my desk is painted black and the front drawers are modge-podged with the Basic Grey papers. If I ever want to change things up in my space then all I need to do is replace the paper and recover the front of the drawers.

More to come this week....stay tuned

Trying to create from the bottom up, stepped up my Sweet and Simple approach to cards.
The ones I created today have flaps, folds and all fall under a Birthday theme. I will be proposing these newly created cards for a class at my LSS in March. It is good to push your creativity and sometimes it takes a long time to get a product that you like.

Do you know the Secret?

Ask

Believe

Receive

If someone wanted to send me flowers I would pick these!

Martha is known for her flowers and her arrangements are classic is shape and design. She does a mail order system and one of the choices is to get roses once a month for 3 months. Could that not be lots of fun?

Today in the newsletter there were several bouquets featured. I picked this one out of all the Valentines ones shown. Now do I send flowers to myself or just hold my breath?

Trying to develop a thicker skin in my old age. One that would hopefully not cause my heart and my brain to fester over things for too long, things that others say are not worth it. How come the little things seem to be worth it to me?

I have to say that I went to my Starbucks and bought a new bean for my brewing machine. I wanted to be brave and the Pike Place roast was not a good one for me. So I tried a sample of their new blend. Wow! When they say this would be found in a fine restaurant, they are right. Here is the run down on the feature coffee.

Guatemala Casi Cielo®
Casi Cielo has amazing character and great depth of flavor. Smooth and versatile to please a variety of tastes, every sip begins with an elegant floral aroma and surprising lemony flourish, and finishes with deep, satisfying dark cocoa notes.

Key Term: Elegant

Geography is a flavor You can tell a lot about a coffee if you know where it’s from, because every bean has a distinctive flavor particular to its land of origin. Coffees from Latin America are celebrated for their great balance, medium body and clean finish.

Card Creation Inspiration

I saw some really neat cards in the new edition of the Papercrafts Magazine called Card Creations from Start to Finish. Many of the artists who had their work published in this edition are really pretty. I splurged this weekend and bought several new magazines and this one really lead me to draw some simple sketches.

Kah- Mei (Fontwerks owner) RAK'd me with single sheets of her "Fashion Collection" a few shows ago. I like most other scrappers, saved the papers for a special layout or idea. I need to use and create with what I have stashed away. Here is the first of a few I made tonight. Sweet and Simple ideas, easy cards that bring smiles to the people who receive them.

I think I have the perfect person in mind to receive this creation. It was her 40th birthday over the weekend.

Holding on the wheel with two hands.

Good morning world.
It's is a new day.
Today is the day I made a new promise to myself.
It is something I can do!
Although sometimes it is hard.
When helping others or busy it often gets sticky.
I can't put it on the bottom of the list anymore.
It might make others wonder or question me
It will look, feel and sound different than before.
It might even hurt.
I might cry, worry and have anxiety because of it.
My true friends will understand it.
My family will be most proud of it.
My students will benefit from it.
I want it!