Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Down for the count. Pneumonia.

Well..  Pneumonia sucks!  lol.  It started with the Flu as I mentioned last post, and after about 24hrs of feeling better, I went on a downward spiral and just kept getting worse.  Then I ended up in the ER and had X-rays and blood work done to find out I had Pneumonia.

(ps.  my autocorrect made it say bloodworm instead of work.  Glad I saw that or that would have been weird. ;)

I am finally, finally starting to feel like my normal self.  Summer is here, and I can't wait to spend more time in my craft room!

I made this card yesterday with some older, yet favourite stamp sets. I loved making the bottom half of the card with my stamp-a-ma-jig.  It's not perfectly stamped, but I don't mind.  I tried to make it gender friendly.

I made the sentiment simple with a "happy" die from Simon Says Stamp, and cut it out of vellum.  Vellum is sometimes tricky to adhere but I just used the tiniest dabs of glossy accents on some of the letters and it's not visible thankfully. Phewf! :)



For an added detail above the stamping I used a Lawn Fawn arrow die, and just inlaid it back with the white cuts.  Then finished the card with some enamel dots.

Also wanted to share the photo of my growing little man…  how sweet is he? :)



Anyhow, Thanks for stopping by!

Hope your summer is starting off well :) :) :)

Monday, May 11, 2015

A winner, a new class, and bronchitis.

First thing is first, I have  a winner for last week's blog hop!!! It's Ruth G!  :)

Thanks for all the lovely comments, I really appreciated them.

I haven't posted since the hop because that same day I suddenly fell really really ill.  For the past week I barely left my bed for anything.  I was able to binge some netflix shows, and in a feverish delirium (seriously) I wrote out a plot to a novel, AND some poetry that was swiftly deleted as it resembled the stuff my angsty teenage self wrote.  I tell you it was bizarre to open the notes folder on my phone and see all this stuff I couldn't remember writing.  I was SO out of it.  At one point I told my husband how much I loved him and didn't think I would wake in the morning.  As I said, fever delusions to the max.  Now as I'm starting to get better I've developed bronchitis.  SO MUCH FUN!  lol.  I ventured out today to run errands with my hubby and was just so weak that I collapsed in bed on return.  I need some healthy vibes over here stat!.

The timing wasn't the greatest either as I was so excited for my Big Picture class to go live, and I was hardly able to post.


But I'm here now, and I really just had so much fun putting it all together that I'm excited to share with you all :)

I just LOVE the new site they have going on, there are so many fun classes, and I've looked at quite a few of them!  Just so much to see, and the quality is just beautiful.  I love that new classes are being added all the time.  It just makes it so exciting to be a part of it.

I really hope you will venture over and check out my class.  If you are a new member I have a promo code for you to get a first trial month FREE!  

Promocode: BPCLAURA

Let me know what you think of it, please! It's always such a scary thing putting yourself out there.. :)

*Free month trial promotion ends August 5th, 2015 at 11:59 pm EST. First month free offer valid only on new memberships and is not valid for current or previous members. Click the “Start Your Free Trial” button and follow the steps to begin your free trial. Enter promo code in promo box and continue checkout process. Not valid on previous purchases. Must enter promo code at checkout. Refunds will not be issued for misused or non-entered codes.

I promise I will try and get back into posting more now that I've returned to the land of the living.  ;)

Bye!! 

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Happy National Scrapbook Day!!! :)


Hey friends! I am so happy to be here on National Scrapbook Day! Did you know that it's technically also National Garden Naked Day?! Well I can tell you with full confidence I'll only be celebrating one of the two! ;) hehe Wilna put together this fun simple blog hop including some of my most favourite people. I hope you will hop along and check out each blogger :) You may even find a few chances for fun things along the way!

Currently...
1. Favorite youtube clip:
This is an interesting one for me I think! My family is really really into boardgames, and I don't mean Monopoly, or Sorry! :) There is an entire world of board games out there that are so much more interesting and that you would actually want to play with your kids! Imagine that! ;) lol. Anyhow, my hubby and I love watching the YouTube series "TableTop" hosted by Wil Wheaton. I have so many favourite episodes, but this on is definitely up there. Forbidden Desert: Table Top
2. Listening to:
I'm not ashamed to say I'm a big Taylor Swift fan, so yeah, that. lol
3. Watching:
Orphan Black! Such an amazingly well acted show. Love love love it. Also always keeping up with Modern Family.
4. Reading…
A sweet book called "I'll give you the sun" by Jandy Nelson.  Whenever I'm scrolling through instagram and someone mentions a book I take a screen shot to remember it, then sit down every once in awhile and order a stack of books. I can't remember who suggested this book, but it was a nice easy feel good read.
5. I can eat this everyday:
Guacamole, and chips. Yuuuuummm!!!
6. Favorite drink at 4pm:
An extra spicy Caesar please!
7. On my Wishlist:
A new lens for my camera. Mine is so busted, and barely works. If I'm dreaming, then this one.
8. Enjoying…
Playing lots of board games, like Galaxy Trucker, Carcassonne, One Night Ultimate Werewolf, 7 Wonders, and so many more! 9. Favourite quote right now:
10. Smiling about:
The weather is finally getting warmer! Which means flip flops, yoga pants, shorts, tanks, and my boys home from school!! Ahhh. :)
My favorite project for this year is:


Recently I have been plugging away working on a little class over at Big Picture Classes! It's called "His &Hers", and goes live very soon and I'm so excited to share it with you all :) It includes 4 lessons, and 8 different cards. You can check it out right here, and get a sneak of whats to come!

Hop to: Next on the list is the talented Jen Gallacher!! http://jengallacher.com

Btw, I will be gifting a $10 gift certificate to a random commenters favourite online shop :) I know it' s not much, but hopefully you can buy a little something extra on your next order.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Took a little break from blogging..

Because I've been a bit busy over here!  Working on a little something fun, and just crazy busy personal life time.

It's sports sports sports right now, and with my husband and three boys it feels like we live on the soccer/baseball fields.  I really should bring my camera out one of these days, I just don't have a long lens for taking sports pics.  Anyhow, it sure takes up a lot of our time! :)

My favourite part about this time of year is the warmer it gets, the better my Fibro gets!  I wish I lived somewhere where it was "summer" year long. Oh how my achy bones would love that!  lol

I do have a card to share today that I made for the October Afternoon blog, you can see the sketch that inspired it right here.



I just adore the new Treasure Map line! It makes my boy momma island living heart happy.  :)

I am also still obsessed with using that "happy" die cut.  I feel like I use it on everything, I probably need to hide it for awhile so I stop.  lol

There are so many lovely new lines coming our from many of my favourite manufacturers.. I sure wish I had a bigger crafty budget.  I'm sure you guys can relate to that.  So many products I'd love to try.  It makes me miss Two Peas even more these days.  I  miss working for a store.  I miss them.  

Anyhow, onwards and upwards!  I know my next happy adventure it around the corner somewhere.  
I hope you guys are enjoying the warmer weather spring has brought where ever you are too :)

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Green for Griffin...

Just sharing a page I made for the October Afternoon Blog last week.  The theme for the week was Green/Lucky.  I obviously went for the Green theme. lol.  

Unfortunately my printer is on the fritz and keeps jamming paper anytime I try an print so I have no journaling on this page yet.  I will add it once it's fixed, and essentially it's about how when it comes to plates, cups, etc.  It helps him remember that it's "Green for Griffin".  :)

If you want to see the sketch I made for this page, then go check it out on the OA Blog here :)





If you are wondering, the green "arrow/tree" paper, and the gold star paper are from the amazing December Story kit.  I love that I can pull stuff from it all year long too!

It was also my Griffin's 8th Birthday yesterday!!  He is such a fun kid, and I'm so proud of the boy he's growing up into.  At this point, he wants to be a Lawyer who lives in Toronto.  lol.  I'm fine with the lawyer part, I just hope he doesn't move that far away from me!  ;)

Hope you are having a great day!

❤Laura

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Happiness is time with you..

I made this card for the October Afternoon blog and am happy to share it here today :)  I used supplies from the wonderful Saturday Mornings line.If you'd like to see the inspiration image that inspired this card, then go here!

I love the Autumnal colours, they just bring a smile to my face.  However I sure am glad spring is just around the corner!  My achy bones are needing warmer weather.  ;)

Hope you are well!  I've been a bit crazy over here adjusting to working part time again out of the house.  I can't say I really enjoy it..  But we have to do what we have to do, right??

I just keep on keeping on, knowing that that in the grand scheme of things I truly have it easy.  I'm blessed beyond belief to have the amazing little family I do. :) :) :)

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Do what makes you happy, and be with someone who makes you smile!

Oh I love that quote, don't you??  I am so blessed to get to spend my days with 4boys who make my heart so very full and happy.

I had so much fun making this page, and digging into my stash of October Afternoon alpha stickers.  They seriously make the best ones around :)

Here is the link for the blog post, and if you want to see the inspiration image I used for this page.




On another note, I start a part time job tomorrow!!  I haven't had a "real" outside of my house job since I was pregnant with Griffin, so almost exactly 8years.   To say I am nervous, would be an understatement.  We make do with one salary, and I cherish every moment I get to spend with my boys at home.  But our silly cat ate a large piece of gauze, and we have a large vet bill to pay down after major surgery to remove it from his bowels.   UGH!  lol.

So I'm a working woman, at least until that is paid off.  I'm nervous, and excited, and scared, and everything all at once.  It's just a retail job, so nothing too high stress, I'm really hoping my anxiety stays at bay though or it could be quite a disaster.  :P

We shall see!!! :)

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Remembering.. kinda.

It seems like a life time ago that I made this page.  I'm not sure I ever shared it here, please forgive me if I have.  It's one of the last few pages I ever made for Two Peas.  Which is still an emotional subject for me, which is why I haven't really touched on their closing over here.  I keep moving it to the "one day" memory bank.  One day I'll talk about how much the site meant to me.  One day…

But today, I've 
been looking through my last few projects I made for them and felt like sharing.  I loved making this page.  I love this picture of my little man, and am so happy I wrote down the origins of his current nick name, as I will surely 
forget.


I used loves of Pebbles Inc supplies, along with some October Afternoon stamps, stickers, and then some happy Doodlebug washi tape. 




I still haven't really found a "home" as far as Scrapbooking message boards go.  I'm not sure anywhere will ever be home as much as 2PS was.  I miss it, and feel the hole where it used to be.  I still haven't deleted the app off my phone.

Where do you call home these days?  Anywhere I should check out?  I miss chatting about this industry with people.

Happy Thursday!

ETA: yep, I totally shared this page here last May.  Sorry!  lol :)

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Valentines

I thought I'd share some valentines I made with Fancy Pants Designs supplies.

I'm a sucker for Valentines, and I can't stop making them even thought I really only have one valentine.. ;)  lol.

I used a run of the Wink of Stella glitter pen on this card, covering all the flower petals and the centre.  I also ran the pen along the two sides of the "greatest" banner, which looks lovely in person, although perhaps a little hard to see in the photographs.



And I'm sorry, no detail shot for this second one as I can't seem to get it off my memory card.


I haven't blogged in awhile because there seems to be a never ending strong of bugs in my house and man have I been exhausted!  I can't wait till the day when all of my children can reach the toilet when they need to barf.  I wish projectile puke clean up on no one!!!  BLECH.
Then I had a cut that got infected, and I'm on the worst antibiotics ever.  They seriously smell like cat pee, and make my stomach angry.

I long for warmer summer days, and less flu/cold bugs!!  Amen.

Hope your household is healthier than mine :) :) :)

Monday, January 12, 2015

A few simple resolutions

First off.  Thanks so much for your sweet comments and private messages on my last post.  I really expected to just hear crickets, and contemplated deleting it the moment I posted it..  Glad I didn't :)

My husband is home sick today, and I'm not feeling the greatest, but I thought I'd take a moment to post anyway.

I know it's a bit past new years, so I'm really late to the party, but I thought I'd share a few thoughts on my resolutions.  I am going easy on myself.  After 33yrs I am pretty confident in knowing my limits and what makes a reasonable resolution.  I know there seems to be a trend lately amongst people to just buck the whole idea.  Personally I'm not sure I ever will.  I think it's a great thing to try and better yourself.  In fact I'm pretty sure that will always be my goal for the rest of my days.

So with that idea of bettering myself I try to choose resolutions with a positive spin.  For example I'm not going to say no chocolate for a year, or something silly like that.  I need a nibble every now and then and would be setting myself up for failure.  I love resolutions that are easier to keep like "Drink more water".  Which is absolutely one I made.  I picked up a glass water bottle and intend to do better in the water department.  I know it's recommended to start your day with 2 glasses of water to rehydrate yourself after fasting while sleeping (unless you are a sleep eater/drinker ;), so I'm trying to make that a habit too.

I love to walk, it makes my soul happy.  I am so not a runner, and I'm okay with that.  However last year I developed nasty shin splints.  Once again, I made an assumption that the shin pain I had was my Fibro and kept trying to push past it.  Eventually I discovered it was actual shin splints and me pushing it had only made them worse :(  So I've taken a few months off my big walks in hopes of healing them up.  Yesterday I bought a new pair of runners and am really hoping I can get back into my walks.  Time will tell.  But because I'm not sure of my walking status I am making a resolution to give Yoga a try.  Eeps!  This is so new for me, I've never taken a class, or ever tried it past Wii Fit, and I'm pretty sure that doesn't count.  hehe

So at this point I'm setting the bar easy and only talking myself with doing it 1-2x a week.  I also have to do it from home and am going to use YouTube to hopefully find good instructions.  I don't drive so getting to our cities location is not possible.  Do you do Yoga?  Do you like it?  Am I silly to try doing this on my own?  Please let me know :)

In a perfect world I want to do weight lifting.  But again, I know my Fibro limits and that's just not in the cards quite yet.  I need to strengthen my body more, and need equipment.  I still do what I can though.

So I think for me, that's it!  I want to drink more water, walk more, and start yoga.  Nothing crazy, nothing that I'm going to beat myself up with.  Just tiny steps to better myself, and I'm okay with that.

And for a craft share, here is a card set I made for the October Afternoon blog last month.
Go here to see the inspiration image I used for these cards.




Happy Monday my friends! :)

Friday, January 9, 2015

Starting fresh, struggling, and being a hypocrite

I'm sure you've all heard the phrase "Do as I say, not what I do"?  Well that's pretty much been me the past few years.

I always tell my kids to follow their dreams, to create their own self worth, and never let a bully tear them down, etc, etc.  The thing is I wasn't following my own wonderful advice.  Not in the slightest.

I think once upon a time I used to enjoy blogging.  After all, my biggest, grandest, wildest dream is to be an author.  I would post funny anecdotes from our days, share pictures of my kids growing faces, and generally just share my life with anyone who fancied a read.  I'm pretty sure I can remember the exact moment that things shifted… Someone pointed me in the direction of a place where there were quite a few hurtful comments written about me, and my blog.  I remember thinking that what they said wasn't even true.  I was being accused of lying about incidents relating to the birth of one of my kids.  This person quoted that they too lived in Canada and what I wrote about something medical wasn't true and I must by lying to be dramatic.  What I had written was true, and just because things are done one way in one part of Canada does not mean it's done the same in another part.  It really stung to be torn down by people who didn't know me, or anything about the situation.


People can be SO cruel.  "Keyboard Bravado" as I like to call it.  People will say and do the worst things imaginable because they don't say it directly to that person's face.  There is no empathy because they aren't there to see how their words can damage the person.  They type, forget, and move on.  But for the person on the receiving end it's sometimes not so easy.

I remember my first few videos for Two Peas that I made.  I was naively so excited to share them, and was not prepared for the hate that would come my way on youtube.  Can you imagine meeting someone in person for the first time and saying to their face "Wow, you talk funny".  And honestly, that's me putting it nicely.  ;)  Why do people feel they can type these things?  I don't get it!  Grown women who should *know* better.  Mothers, who I'm sure teach their children to act better than that for some reason stoop lower with keyboard bravado.  I don't get it.  Does the golden rule just not apply on the internet?! :(



Anyhow, I digress.  I think I've made my point.  As said above, I had become nothing.  I let it get to me, and I let it change me.  I decided to keep things strictly "paper" here.  Gone were posts about my family other than a tiny blurb here or there.  I put a screeching halt to anything other than my work required posts.  Eventually even that changed.  My love for blogging wasn't there anymore so I would put thing off, and off.  Then this fall when I got even sicker I couldn't find the energy to post.  At all, which has made me extremely sad.

I suffer from Fibromyalgia, and with that a whole slew of other "fun" things that have come with it.  The problem with having a disorder like Fibro is that other things can get hidden under the Fibro umbrella and go undiagnosed.  Fatigue goes hand in hand with Fibro so I never questioned why I had zero energy, why It was a struggle to function properly and get out of bed.  Thankfully I went to my doctor for something else and mentioned how bad it was.  A quick blood test revealed I was anemic and the best description I've read of that likens it to suffocating from the inside.  I truly was.


It's been a few months of pills and I'm finally starting to see the light again.  I remember one day saying to my husband "Is this what it feels like to be normal?!".  It had been so long since I'd felt that way.  My desire to do things is slowly coming back.  I want to garden again, I want to blog, and go for my daily walks that pretty much stopped.  I want to live again.


I'm ready to change.

So I think the bottom line for this blog is that I want to be more active.  I want to share more about our lives.  I want to share more crafty things, and I want to share about another newer love of mine, and that is board games, and NO I'm not talking Monopoly, Sorry, Life, and Candyland.  If these are the games you think of when I say boardgames and what you still play with you kids, I'm excited to share a new world with you.  You don't have to dread your kids asking to play a board game anymore.  I promise.  There is life after Monopoly and it is so so good. :) :) :)  That I will save for another day I think though.

I have some living to do right now. ;)

Oh, and something crafty to share too!  I made these for the October Afternoon blog.
See the fun challenge here!



Happy Friday my friends :)

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

You are so loved card

Again, I seem to not be having much luck in the light department these days, so I'm sorry for the less than stellar photography on my card today.  But I wanted to share it all the same. :)

I made it with the beautiful True Friend collection by Fancy Pants Designs.  I just think it's so darling, and the orange and teal combo is another fav. of mine.  The front of the card is essential just two brad cards that I layered together, over some embossed patterned paper from the 6x6 pad.  Then I used some die cuts scallops underneath them.  

This detail picture shows the wink of stella glitter pen than I added over the heart on the brag card.  It's a simple, and sweet addition in person.


Thanks for looking!
Laura :)

Monday, September 29, 2014

Happy Holidays

As I said in my last post, I don't think it's ever too early to get started on your Christmas Cards.  I am miserable about actually sending them out however!  I really intend to do better on that this year :)

I created this card with the Fancy Pants Designs line Oh, Deer! I again used the amazing silver foil paper on this card and both die cut it, and used some old decorative edge scissors too.  Yes, I've still got those scissors and use them quite frequently ;)



How cute are those sequin berries too?  They make the most adorable little pot of sequins and I find myself adding them to all my projects these days.

As always, thanks for popping by :)

Monday, September 22, 2014

Believe

For starters, It's never too early to start on your Christmas cards, right?? :)

I just love the Fancy Pants line Oh, Deer!  It's too adorable.  One of my favourite things are the 
Brag cards.  I used two of them together and it made this card come together so quickly.  



We are currently having a storm in my neck of the woods and trying to get decent pictures it driving me batty.   So these are a bit muddy and off :(

I used my wink of stella glitter pen over the Believe, and used a border punch to get a metallic scallop that I sewed in place between the two brag cards.


The second picture shows the dimension of the card, and how the light catches the metallic foil paper.  I just adore that paper!!

Thanks for stopping by today :)
Laura

Monday, September 15, 2014

This is a true story...

Hey guys!

Thanks for stopping by today, I have a page to share that I made for the October Afternoon blog, and a challenge to go along with it.  I do hope you will go check it out ever there :)


I wish you could tell in these pictures, but I also added some Glossy Accents to the "True Story" letters and they look so fun in person.

This page has as usual, lots of stitching, and washi tape, and uses the red/blue colour combo that is one of my most favourites.

I hope you are having a great day!! :)

Laura

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