..this one is for you Katie!

So I completely went out of my box on this one and wanted to do a vintage shabby like layout. It definitely took me some time to do, but in my defence there was lots of prep to do. For starters the playing card had to be aged..not an easy task since it had a gloss to it. I still have to be careful or my finger will leave a print on it by taking off some of the distress ink. I used grunge board for my title and found it turned out like an embossed leather after playing with different inks. The hinge and key are also made of the grungeboard. I received a sheet of store ledger in a vintage swap I was in and knew I had to use it since the surname on one of the customers is Adams(and this is my grandparents Surname)so I knew it was just for this page.Of course all my papers were distressed, crumbled, inked and sanded. The larger flowers are hand cut out from a pattern paper and then I curled and inked the edges to give more dimension, I cut out some of the stamen so they stick up somewhat and then I inked some prima stamen and inserted in the middle. I inked the leaves and they had wire in them so that they could be shaped and lifted from the page. I used a rusted tag(one of my first sb purchases years ago) and added the key, tag and pin. The centre of the biggest flower is of a vintage earring. I love the colour of the beads. Of course I had to add a wee bit of bling swirls also. I really enjoyed playing withthis, but I do believe my next layout will be more simple...this one took me 2 afternoons to do:) I do hope the title makes sense...in the thesauras it did say that kindred was same as family...I know you can say Kin, but to me that sounded to backwoods..lol..so I went with the entire form of kindred. I do hope you can click on the photo to see it larger for the details. I find it is a hit and miss when I put phots up on here..sometimes I can see the larger version and then other times not..hmmm..perhaps it is my computer...hopefully that is the case:) Enjoy..ps Katie..how did I do...did I nail the BG style somewhat;)

a creation.....tagged...& what not.....

So today was a snow day...has any one seen my mind, I lost it about..oh...at least 6 hrs ago...and to make it all worst, tommorrow is a pd day...who the heck makes a Thursday a pd day, I mean really. Thankfully John brought home all his work to work from home tommorrow, so we can tag team the parenting..lol. I actually did manage to do a layout..which I must admit was inspired by a good ol' web search...I will not say scraplift because once you start it really becomes one own..kwim...you see a layout and take bits and pieces of how the layout is arranged(ie photo placement and such) and then you add your own style. I reallt love the clean lines of it, and really think I will do this type of layout again...here it is...I used a bunch of manufacturers on this one..love elsie, 7 gypsies, making memories, heidi swapp, scenic route and a few goodies I received from a vintage swap I participated in. Talk about an old photo too huh...I really need to load up my ps and some of my photos from the external drive back on my machine so that I can do some editing and print off some new photos..I have not done this since oh..September...

So my loveable friend Katie has tagged me on her blog. The purpose of the tag is to go into your pictures folder, go into the 6th folder and pick out the 6th picture there and then give the story about it. So here I go..here is my photo:

So this is a real oldie:) It is taken in August of 2005 at the civilization museum in Hull. It is of Abigail(look how tiny she is...wow) anf her cousin Ronnie as they play a giant game of snakes and ladders. You can see John in the background kneeling by a bench..he is trying to call a bunny to him(what an awesome memory huh) So now I must tag someone, to do the same..I am tagging whoever reads this post...and let me know in the comments that you intend to do this so that I can go check out your blog;)

As for what nots....I am trying to figure out what to make on a cold snowy day like today for dinner. I am leaning towards warming up the homemade turkey soup and perhaps making sandwiches..we will have to see what the census is on that one:) I am hoping to work on another layout also tonight..I want to do a vintage shabby look..not too sure if I will be pullling it off..but I just feel like doing something different. That or I may just grab a glass of wine and warm up with a good book and hot bubble bath..we will see what wins out later.

"because"

so this is the second word for the ABC a year in the life art journal. I finished up this journal entry a few days ago, but just got around to taking a photo of it. Not totally in love with this one, but I had a chance to play with different mediums. So here it is....











Now I also have one more photo to post. Now how cute is this....Last night the two of them cuddled up on the couch with me. Sorry the phot is not the greatest..I prefered no flash, because the ones with the flash just washed out their colours:)

Today I am hoping to maybe scrapbook a bit. It has been one heck of a morning in our house today and I think I need the "me" time. But first I must do a wee bit more housework..ick..I swear it is never ending...before I can go off an play.

Oh I forgot to add that I have started the process of lighteneing my hair. Presently it is more of a light brown/dark blonde with copper tones to it. I could not lighten too much due to how dark I was to start..I did not want to fry my hair completely. I will add more blonde highlights in a month and half or so.

a little home decor

So I was inspired with the first project posted on the project 52 blog and thought this was the perfect time to try and do my framed art piece I was wanting to do months ago. It is very whimsical and I was just not too sure if I liked it in family room above the fireplace. But as I have seen it throughout the day it is kind of growing on me:) So I started with putting my word art wall phrase onot the glass of the frame. I then use various pattern papers, chipboard, crackle paint and acrylic paints, rhinestone swirls for chimney smoke, fabric for the curtains in the windows, coffee filters dyed with alcohol inks for the tree and some buttons, brads and acrylic shape(the bird) to embellish. So without further ado....here is my work.....

truly signs that we are in the tech age

So I have heard this come out of Hadley's mouth before but forgot to document it in any way. We drove Ab to school today due to it being once again frigid, and on our way home I figured I should check the mail since no one has done it yet this week. Well as we are coming into the house Hadley states to me..mom did you get e-mail...lol... any mail is e-mail to her. I had to explain to her how e-mail only comes through the computer and all the paper stuff that we get down the street is just called e-mail. I am sure in the not too long of a future, e-mail will be the only mail she will deal with...I mean most of our bills and such come that way already. Most mail these days is junk mail with the cheques that come once a month(have not gotten around to doing direct deposit..lol) and the occassional parcel.

a year of Art

I have become aware that this just may be the year of art for me:) I have just finished surfing the blogs of Pam Garrison and Rebecca Sower, and I am in love. I love all the collage"y" stuff they do with all the fabric and notions and such. Everything looks so tactile with all the textures! It is really funny how I love the look of all the shabby chic stuff yet I do not incorporate that into my home..lol...Maybe I will try and change that...at least a wee bit. We will see.
I am procrascinating big time today. I had a nice little visit with one of my neighbours sister(she is house sitting her house this week, so I told her to come over whenever)and now I should really be getting some well needed house cleaning done. I will get to it eventually. Perhaps if I vaccum and do a little laundry then it will be okay to take a break and maybe create a little something fun:)

Hadley had her first dentist cleaning yesterday(we forgot her appointment, but they were able to get us in later in the afternoon). They were shocked how well she was during it. Another big milestone for her is that she can skate all on her own without any help from a chair or us. She is a real natural to it. Ab is all excited because she gets to do an announcement in the morning at school on the PA system in regards to some book making club she is in. I love to see the excitement come over her face and hear it as she talks about doing it.

preserving myself....

...no I am not going to do plastic surgery or anything of the likes(mind you if I had the cash I would seriously think about it..lol). What I mean by preserve myself is this....I am going to try my best to take a self-portrait every week of this year. I have just come to realize that I have plenty of photo's of the girls and John, yet very little of me since i am usually the one behind the lense..heck I think there are more pictures of the dog and cat, then me. I am not too sure I will be able to keep up weekly, but even if I come out with just one photo a month I would be happy. I think I would also like to try and do some more family portraits instead of just doing the once a year ones at christmas..now I just have to work on ABigail behaving. I took at well over 100 this year..with really no suitable ones due to Ab's posture or looks...ugh...she is definitley getting that pre-teen attitude...just check out our family pic

Now back to the subject of me..lol..no I am not high on myself I just need a few opinions. I am looking foro a change and what easier way to receive an immediate one is through that of haircolour:) I am considering going blonde..not the bleach blonde..but more of the dirtyégolden type with perhaps some caramel like highlights throughout. What does one think....I am tired of the darker colour...I believe John is for it because he says..what will it hurt...it will grow out eventually..so I definitely took it as a yes....spew the opinions out guys...I am going to make an appointment for the end of the month.

Now onto proud mommy moment. Saturday marked the day of activites once again started including the dreaded gymnastics for Hadley. Now I say dreaded because past classes consisted of her not listening and me chasing after her. Well on Saturday she listened and did every activity to the tee...it was the most stress fee wonderful class yet. Crossing fingers that it stays that way. On Sunday we spent a family day together and part of that included skating. It was the 3rd time ever that Hadley was on her skates(once last year..which did not last very long, and again this year which was short due to the cold) Well we gave her a little chair to push along which she did effortlessly and quite fast I might add. Well the little neighbour next door was trying to give her instructions(he is 4) on how to do it on her own and then Ab went and took her hand to help her sans chair...well by the end of our skating adventure she was off skating with no help from anyone. Of course she had a few falls but she actually kept her balance quite well(hmm..wii balance board must be working:) ). Ab is all excited about being able to go to Carelton U with her basketball to watch another game and then later on again go to practice with them and be able to swim at the pool. SHe is most excited about the high diving towers.

Well I blabbed enough, I should really go do some housework..I made it a small task of putting all laundry away and cleaning the girls bathroom..then hopefully we will head out to the library. I found a new writer I want to try and read..she does the vamp books also and it says the library carries some of her work...yeaaaaaaaaaa...:)