yeehaw (winners and photos posted)

Happy Thursday everyone!

I am sorry I am late posting the winners for the Sketch Support blog hop but I wanted to post photos of Abigail's birthday party and they have taken forever to sort and organize!

Without further ado, the winners are:

The winner of the one page sketch book is:
who was:
And the winner of the Travel Sketch book is:
Who was Noey, a member of our Sketch Support team so I took the next comment:
Congratulations Tara and Ruth. Email me your address and I'll send the books out to you!

Now onto some photos of Abigail's birthday party! It was a Western theme so we had 12 cowgirls and 3 cowboys here! We had so much fun - there were 15 kids here, including Abba. Just an FYI in case you ever host a birthday party for 15 kids - don't do it alone! It was insanity around here. But so much fun. We played lots of games (pin the tail on Bullseye, race to fill up Bullseye's water trough which was by far the favourite, and There's a snake in my boot where party goers threw a snake into a boot), ate a great Western lunch (pulled pork sandwiches, cowboy beans, caesar salad - only because it's Abigail's favourite so coleslaw got booted, chips and root beer/pink lemonade) and bounced on the trampoline! Here are a few shots:

My little cowgirl:


The cowgirl outfit was my sister's when she was about 5 ... and my mom said she even had it as a child! This is my sister wearing it:

How cute! I love that they both wore it!
Dean and I made the sign for the ranch, with the help of our Cricut!

The family:

Abba and her friends:




The group as a whole:

Making funny faces now:

Here is a shot of Abba playing a game: There's a snake in my boot:


And here are some various shots of the party:
I put root beer and pink lemonade in mason jars for the kids and made little western signs for the food: Pinto Pete's Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Buffalo Bill's Baked Beans, Cactus Jack's Caesar Salad and Prairie Pancakes (chips).

The girls playing the water game:


Some various shots. Dean and I made the cake and it was delicious! I even sported a cowboy hat for the occasion! The children all got cowboy hats and sheriff badges as giveaways and a hobo stick/bandana filled with some chocolate coins and other little candies.


I also made Wanted! posters for each of the guests and of Abigail. Here are a couple of them:


Okay, I am off - this post has taken 2 hours to write! :)
Have a great night!!!

sketch support blog hop

Hello everyone - welcome to the Sketch Support blog hop. If you are just starting at my blog, make sure you begin at the Sketch Support blog to begin the hop!

Today, we are hopping to introduce you to the new Sketch Support team and to showcase one of Allison's amazing sketches and of course, our take on it.

This is the sketch we were given to work with:


and this was my take on it:

canoe trip

And now my answers to the Sketch Support Get to Know You questions:

How long have you been scrapbooking? I have been scrapbooking for about 8 years but it only became a bit of an obsession in 2008 when I discovered scrapbooking online (blogs, galleries, etc).

Why did you start scrapbooking? I first started scrapbooking by making albums for other people. I made one for my boss at work when she was retiring and I made one for my sister of her stag and doe. After the birth of my daughter in 2006, I started scrapbooking her and now I rarely make albums for other people.

What is your favorite time of day to scrapbook? Whenever I can fit it in. Life is very busy and I am trying to juggle a lot of things (new responsibilities at work, personal training, working out, soccer, being a mom!, among others) so I take what I can get. It’s usually in the evening since I have a full-time job.

How often do you scrapbook? Lately it’s only been one day per week however, in the past, I have scrapbooked daily. Over the past few months, I’ve been struggling with balance!

Where do you scrapbook/what does your space look like? I scrapbook in my scrapbook room and/or at my dining room table. My scrapbook room was designed/built by my husband. You can see photos of it here. It’s basically an L shape with a fair amount of storage and a long counter with two stools so that Abigail and I can sit together and create.

When I'm not scrapbooking you can find me... at the gym or playing soccer.

What is your favorite thing about using sketches? I love that they kick-start my mojo. I don’t have to worry about design as it’s already done. I find the design is the hardest part so it just comes down to picking the papers and photos. I can create very quickly using sketches and that is a huge help when it comes to my busy schedule.

What is your favorite sketch from Sketch Support? It's hard to narrow it down to just one but Allison is so well known for her two pagers that I selected: two page sketch #17:

Okay, now onto the good stuff. If you leave a comment on my blog, and all blogs on the hop, you are entered to win the grand prize from Sketch Support. So make sure that you hop along and leave a comment everywhere - trust me, the prize will be worth it!

But, that's not all ... I am offering not one, but two giveaways on my blog for this blog hop as well. Simply leave a comment and you will be entered to win - easy peasy. My giveaways are Allison's recent sketch books:

Her newest one-page sketch book:

and a book of two-pager travel sketches:
To be eligible for my giveaway, you must leave your comment by Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 at midnight EST. I will post the winner by next Friday.

For your reference, the blog hop order is:

Sketch Support

Penny Grimsley

Andrea Friebus

Megan Bickers

Janette Kincaid

Christy Arthur

Suzanna Lee

Michele Edwards

Sue Althouse

Virginia Nebel

Ashley Horton

Jill Sarginson

Cherie Nymeyer

Katrina Hunt

Noey Hunt

Christine Chain

Lynette Jacobs

Melissa Bell

Jennifer Larson

Allison Davis

Have fun hopping and good luck!

projects to share ...

TGIF friends,

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here. I was sick for pretty much all of last week, down and out on the couch for days on end. I was able to get up a little bit on Easter Sunday to hang out with family and friends but I am still fighting this cold .... I also have been trying to put together Abigail's birthday party for tomorrow! She turned 6 yesterday so happy birthday to my little princess:

happy 6th birthday!!

Tomorrow I am throwing a cowgirl birthday party for her - I hope it goes over well. I feel like I don't have enough done!

I have a couple of projects to share for you that I did for Sketch Support. This week it's two pager week and I have yet another Disney layout to share. Here's a peek at the sketch:


and this is my layout:

hollywood studios

That photo of Abigail and Lightening McQueen is just way too cute - she's a little model! We met so many characters at Hollywood Studios and to think we weren't even going to go! It was my favourite park! The rides were good and there was a lot to do - Abigail went on the Rock 'n Roll roller coaster (her first upside down roller coaster) and the Tower of Terror, several times each!

Last week was card week over at Sketch Support and this was the sketch we were given to work with:

and this was my take on it:

yodelayeehoo card
(happy birthday card for Abigail)

She had it all figured out - we were crafting together and I had the background on and she said "Mommy, I know what that card is going to be" and I said "what" and she said "It's for my birthday and it's going to have cowgirl Jess on it! Right in the corner". Huh. I guess she has me all figured out! No surprise for her! :)

Have a great weekend - thanks for stopping by!

birthday invites - cowgirl style

Last Saturday, I took it upon myself to make Abigail's birthday invitations. As much creating as I do, I've never made her invitations and I always feel like I should. So I decided this was the birthday to start. I made one, was satisfied and then I corraled my my fellow cowpokes (Abigail and Dean) and we made an assembly line to finish 12 of them. Okay, that didn't last all that long - Abigail's task was to do the corner punching (she was fabulous!) and inking ... I lost her after all the corner punching was done. I lost Dean to the hockey game but he did continue threading twine while watching the game so really, I can't complain too much ... no, I didn't say my husband helped me scrapbook. Not at all. He would never do that. ha!

Here's a peek at the finished invitation:

I did one with red buttons and one with yellow buttons so here are the two together:

I blurred out our address and phone number so excuse the blank space near the bottom of the card.

So the invitations have been sent out, the party planning is well underway, the BIG present has been bought and the big day is fast approaching!! 13 kids here - wish me luck!! :)

i'm a big kid now

As I mentioned in my last post, Abigail has learned to ride her bike without training wheels - and fairly effortlessly at that! Who knew that lowering a seat and guiding by shoulders vs. back of the seat would give her the confidence she needed. It's a big moment in our household as I've been thinking she should have been able to ride her bike for a while now! :) So, when this weeks sketch came out over at Sketch Support, it was a no brainer as to what I was going to scrap.

This was the sketch we were given to work with - now seriously, isn't this sketch amazing?!

I love, love, love, LOVE the banners!!!!

Here is what I did with it:

i'm a big kid now

Supplies Used - Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd; Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Alpha: Basic Grey; Embellishments/stickers: Bella Blvd; Ink: Creative Memories Pen; Other: DMC floss, pop dots

I love how well this Bella Blvd paper goes with the colours in the photo.

I have been very, very busy planning a cowgirl birthday party for Abigail, who is about to turn six!! When I first thought of her birthday, I really didn't want to do yet another princess themed party!! So, thanks to Pinterest, I found a really good website listing birthday party ideas for girls: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/02/25-creative-girl-birthday-party-ideas.html (there is also a list for boys). Talk about a bunch of great ideas - 25 ideas!! When I saw the cowgirl/cowboy theme, I knew that was it! Abigail has been so into Cowgirl Jess lately and wants to be her for Halloween ... now, the trick was getting Abigail to agree especially when she would see all the princess ideas. In the end, it was between a Candyland birthday party and a cowgirl birthday and I won! (I told her I would have candy at her cowgirl birthday party!!). So, now that I had a theme, how was it going to come to realization? Pinterest, of course! There are seriously sooooo many good ideas on there. I came up with a fun invitation (I will share tomorrow), have some great ideas for alien cake pops (from Toy Story), Pin the Tail on Bullseye, an AMAZING cake idea that looks easy (which is good, I need that!), Wanted posters, decor and some really fun touches on food and drink! Suffice it to say though, I am not a party planner and this is very draining and very time consuming but it will all be worth it in the end though!!

Have a fabulous Thursday
Thanks for visiting!

sketch support reveals

Happy Thursday!!

I don't know what the weather has been like for you but it has been absolutely amazing here! Yesterday we hit 27 degrees, which is 23 degrees higher than normal. It has been hard to be inside - it's such a treat. Abigail learned to ride her bike on the weekend:


and I've been riding into work (25 kms each way). We've been outside playing basketball and hanging out. It's been really hard to stay inside which means scrapbooking has taken a back seat lately!

That said, I do have a couple of projects to post!!

Last week it was two pager week over at Sketch Support. This was the sketch we got to work with:

and this was my take on it:

7 theme parks

Supplies Used - Patterned Paper: Simple Stories; Alpha: Simple Stories; Tools: Fiskars Bracket border punch, Creative Memories circle cutting system; Other: Staz On Ink, Zig Writer pen

documenting our recent trip to Florida and all the theme parks we visited.

This week, we have an pretty fun sketch from Allison:

and I chose to make a card with it:

it's a boy card

but after seeing some of the amazing creations, I can't help but think "why didn't I think of that?"!!! It's worth it to surf over and check it out!

Have a great Thursday!
Thanks for visiting!

back from vacay!!

We are back from an absolutely wonderful, crazy busy trip to Florida ... we were there for 2.5 weeks and boy, did we do a lot!! We visited the four Disney parks (Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios) plus we went to Sea World, Universal, Busch Gardens, Wet 'n Wild x 2, Kissimee Olde Town and went on an airboat tour. Abigail went on almost all the rides including the Tower of Terror and the Aerosmith Rock 'n Roll roller coaster, which she loved. We met 70+ characters and princesses (beat last years record of 53!!) and met several that we didn't see last year. It was a lot of fun! I am going to post a few photos later this week!

I've been totally out of touch with everything scrapbook related however I do have a few things to share!! First up is my take on the one pager sketch for Sketch Support:

This was the sketch


and this is my take on it:

Supplies Used - Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee; Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Alpha: American Crafts; Tools: Fiskars Scallop Sentiment border punch, Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page border punch; Embellishments: Pink Paislee; Other: Cardboard, Glimmer Mist, Pop Dots; Font: DJB How Cute Am I

I love this layout so much ...it was Abigail's first snowman of the year plus it's made with some of my favourite papers of all time!!

I also wanted to share my March sketch for Canadian Scrapbooker with you. If you choose to play along, you may be selected to be published in a future edition of Canadian Scrapbooker! Check out my sketch:

We'd love for you to play along! This sketch has 6 photos but you can modify it to fit your needs!

The Spring edition of Canadian Scrapbooker is out so I'll be back later this week to share a few of my published layouts!

I am off to get caught up on a zillion things around here ... thanks for visiting!