Share Creativity

This layout and the photos are both from back in January, but I haven't shown it yet, so thought I would today.

On your next layout: listen to creative advise or a tip from a friend.

While I told Chelsey about my recently purchased butteryfly punches, on the night of her birthday, she told me I should punch out a bunch of them and layer them all together. I thought that was a great idea, and figured it would be another good way to get use out of my punch.

I love this navy blue colour (Dear Lizzy + American Crafts Enchanted Elated Iris). Love, love, love it! When I saw it, I knew I had to use that pretty colour - and, it's really a colour that I've never used before. Maybe that's why I like it so much, because it's so different. And that's what I pulled out to punch out the butterflies.

Although you can't see it really well, I stamped a flourish-y design in the same navy blue. I'm liking tone-on-tone right now.

This dark blue take actually came from a pair of jeans. I really like re-using interesting tags, lables, etc. from clothing like this. Or like I did here with embellishment packaging. I guess it gives me a challenge, and I like that!

Not only did I use lots of the 'B' side of the navy sheet, but I used a little bit of the 'A' side too. Just thrown in for good measure. And I'm all about my decorative edge scissors at the moment.

I'm also really liking rub-ons right now too, so there's a few of them around the page.

Journaling says: Lately I've been wanting a hair cut so badly. I can't though, because I'm growing it out to be donated for cancer patient wigs. I've been looking at older photos recently - of me trying on the wedding dress and Team ABC Weekends - and I really noticed how much I like how bangs look on me. Sunday morning while Justin was still out of town, the scissors were snipping away and soon I had bangs again.

So, listen to your friends. What creativity can you learn from them. Be inspired, and leave a link in the comments.

After Mexico

Watching: more on the Tsunami coverage in Japan on CNN.

Eating: nothing: too full after our stop in High River at Dairy Queen for cheeseburgers, a basket of french fries, two gravies, two diet cokes and a vanilla milk shake.

Drinking: nothing, but knowing I can have a glass of tap water when the mood strikes me!

Reading: the "breaking news" updates on the Earthquake/Tsunami in Japan on CNN.

Wearing: shorts, a tank-top, hoodie and my San Fransisco coat. A combination of the warmth of 25 degrees, and the shock in temperature change of 0 degrees when we got to Calgary.

Wanting: our house/family/Lowie/friends to be in Mexico, so we can enjoy more of the sunshine!

Needing: to peel the flaking skin off of my peeling nose.

Wishing: I took more photos of our week away.

Thinking: what a wonderful time we had, how we were all mostly strangers going down, but now feel like a family.

Wondering: when we are heading back to Mexico!?

(Photo from our hotel room balcony about an hour before we left for the airport, journaling written when we arrived back at home.)

While We're Away

Right now we are in Mexico, and Justin and I are:

Spending lots of time together, catching up on missed kisses, and taking lots of self-portraits in front of beautiful scenery. (Photo taken July 30, 2009 in Cody Wyoming at Trail Town. This is the trip that I mentioned here, our shoe-string budget trip that is one of our favorite vacations!)

We're being lazy and catching up on our sleep. (Photo taken June 2, 2009 at our old house - can you see Lowie stretched out on the floor by Justin's foot? Both crashed right out. This picture is taken ten days before we movied into the new house!)

And we're missing our tom cat way too much, and can't wait to get back home to see and snuggle with him again! Although, we know that his Grandma's are taking good care of him. He's seriously handsome! (Photo taken July 28, 2009.)

Married Love Birds

So, Justin and I have been married now for over six months. I really loved the photos we took two weeks ago. It was cold, Justin wasn't happy about taking photos in the wind, but we made it work. I didn't like the first picture because I thought my arm was in a funny position. But after looking carefully at the photo, I really like how I'm leaning into Justin and he's sheltering me from the cold wind that was blowing; very much a metaphor for how our life is - I always know he's there to protect me. So that's the photo I chose from those six I took that day.

On your next layout: scrapbook what's been on your mind. Let your journaling be the star of this layout.

Remember when I talked about my feelings when someone asks us "so, how's married life?" I knew I had to make a layout about this, and I thought the layout from our six month "shoot" would be perfect for it.

I don't think I've ever cut out an ellement out from a page before, and I really liked these two birds on one sheet I had. I love how they look perched atop the photo. I think it still says, "even though I'm saying that nothing has really changed in our relationship, we're still in love with each other and enjoy being married!"

Journaling says: We get asked this question so much - and it irks me every time! Life is exactly the same as before we were married, it's just two new terms: husband and wife. We've lived together 5+ years and we understand what makes the other tick, how to make them happy and what buttons not to push. It's still the little things that keep us happy: taking self portraits, watch a PPV and looking at our wedding photos. This is us: married - 6 months later.

I love the little bits of goodness at the bottom left side of this page too, makes me smile, and ties in more of the same colours of the birds!

There you have it; what's on your mind, get it onto a layout, and leave me a link so I can check it out! (Right now we're enjoying ourselves in Mexico - hope you're enjoying yourselves wherever you're at too!)

Friday Randomness

Watching: a blank TV screen.
Eating: two left-over McNuggets from supper.
Drinking: an Aquafina Vitamins+ 10cal black and blue berry.
Reading: my "diary" entry from Wednesday, so I know what I should be writing about.
Wearing: comfy clothes that I'll be wearing on the airplane tomorrow.
Wanting: for the plane flight to go good tomorrow (I don't like flying).
Needing: to go to bed soon since we're going to have a wake-up call at 1am.
Wishing: I didn't have to get up in three short hours!
Thinking: how excited I am to be in Mexico in about twelve hours.
Wondering: if anyone will see this post before we get back home!

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3 March Goals 2011

I honestly don't know as I go to type out my goals for this month what they are going to be! I decided one of them just yesterday, and the other two - we'll have to see what my fingers are going to type!

1. Have a good time, take tons of pictures/videos and relax while in Mexico. Justin and I have never had a holiday like this; one where we have no agenda, no set be-to-this-place-by-this-time scheduale. This will be the kind of vacation where we get to lounge by the pool, swim when it's too hot, dip our toes into the ocean, and soak up the sun. Right now it's about -30 here, a few days ago (Friday) the wind chill was -40 to -45; we need this vacation, and I can't wait until it's +30! (Photo taken August 2, 2009 in Grand Teton National Park outside of Jackson, Wyoming. This was the most rushed trip that we've ever taken, on a shoe-string budget to-boot. But it's one of our most memorable trips - and why I like Walmarts at night, and their parking lots!)

2. Keep a diary for the month. I know this month is going to fly by, and I want to record as much of it, and how I'm feeling as possible. If this process makes me happier and less stressed - all the better!

3. Take a self portrait on everday of the weekend (this includes Friday), and make a list like Amy Tan does: watching, eating, drinking, reading, wearing, feeling, weather, wanting, needing, wishing, thinking, wondering. This goal took me SO long to come up with (it's actually March 2nd as I'm typing this), I had no idea of what to do. I knew I wanted something fun and random - and this is exactly that! (This goal will also help get me showered and dressed on weekends, as I tend to have a habit of living in my pajama's if I don't have to leave the house!)

Now for February's update: 0/2 completed to what I see as successful.

Okay - that is a horrible score, and I need to clarify my poor job! I picked a horrible time to do the $20 date nights; we've been trying to scrimp and save as much as possible to get a few things paid off, and it just seemed this wasn't a priority. We were just as happy at home, spending no "extra" money! As for my exercising plan, I completely failed at that. There was a few nights (six I think), of aquafit, and a night of bowling - I didn't come even close to meeting my goal!

I Joined Pinterest

I did it, I joined Pinterest (an online "bulletin board" for photos found online). Then I sat at the computer gathering pins for my categories. For over two hours - like over five hours! It was such an incredible rush of colours and ideas floating around in my head! Somehow this weekend, I managed to get three layouts completed; I figured for sure I could get one done, maybe two - but three! I surprised myself!

On your next layout: gather inspiration from www.pinterest.com.

As I was gathering all the pictures into my boards, pinning away I was so inspired. It actually took me a really long time to get to bed because of all the thoughts whizzing around in my brain! There was a pin of mine that stood out that I looked at right before creating this layout. Now, it's the colours that stood out to me, which kind of seems strange looking at that pin, then my layout that it inspired. It was the colour choice of navy blue and green with pink that really caught my eye. And after lookin at lots of Kelly Purkey and knowing how many food layouts she creates, that went hand in hand with the photos I had to scrap.

This layout came together really fast - probably about an hour! That' a record for me. It's not super fancy, but I really how simple it is and I love the white space on the bottom third of the page. Makes me happy!

Sometimes I find it a bit challenging to arrange the small photos on a layout. I often get these smaller ones printed, and want to try to lay them out differently from page to page. When I laid these ones down, I had a little gap between the 5x7 main photo and the two vertical smaller photos. I thought this was a good place for my title to be! All the letters in the title were originally white, but I inked the smaller font black and let "best" really pop. And the arrow brad points to the best of the best pasta.

Did you see the stitching? It's my favorite part of the page! Before I stuck everything down, I could picture stitching right there, and new I had to attempt this technique again. I love it, and love that it's not straight, but just a bunch of squiggly lines. (I stitched, then backstitched again and again.) Love it!

Journaling says: Without a doubt this was my favorite pasta meal. Next time we are in Whitefish we're absolutely going back.

Last night while I was laying in bed, not being able to shut my brain off, I thought about all the different layouts I've done and the style in which I create them. It seems that I create differently, using a different style, for each kind of page. The three pages I did this weekend were all completely different: a page about Justin and my's six month of marriage (created very whimsically with some cut-out paper shapes), a layout of Lowie's cat hut (created very linearly, and very manly), and this one about the best pasta I've ever eaten (created in a minimalistic way - where less is more). Looking at lots of blogs, looking at lots of layouts gathering my pins, I think that's how everyone scrapbooks; creating differently, changing styles a bit depending on the subject matter. Have any thoughts on this?

I didn't think I'd find as much joy and inspiration in Pinterest as I did, so give it a try and see how it can inspire you. Leave a link to your creation and the pin.

Nicole's Sort-Of Bachlorette Party

This post could also be titled: "Dancing With Burnt Legs," "The Night We Met Bachelor Todd," "The Art Of Getting Drinks Bought For You," or "Note To Self - Take More Pictures!" Let's get at it, shall we?

Justin and I started tanning on the 15th (the day after Valentine's Day), to have a good base for Mexico so we don't burn up. We've been going almost every day, with a few days off to let our bodies rest a bit. Friday night Justin decided it would be a good idea to go in the stand up/full body machine first and then take a run through just the leg machine. Good idea in theory, but in actuality - I ended up with burnt legs! While out for supper, I didn't notice it too much, but afterwards at Blockbuster I wondered why my butt felt like it was on fire! Soon I realized what had happened; when we got home and I changed into pajama pants - my legs were beet red! I had Justin put anti-itch/anti-hurt lotion on my legs a couple times that night.

This made getting dressed for Nicole's bachlorette party a bit of a challenge! I couldn't wear really tight jeans because they rubbed on my legs too much. I ended up wearing one of my new shirts I bought at Ross while in Kalispell. I bought the shirt intending not to wear it until Mexico, but I've been wanting to wear it so badly, it was determined that since tonights festivities were related to Mexico, it would be alright. Oh - and while I was doing my hair (I curled it all), I burnt the inside of my wrist on the iron (maybe this is why I don't get "dolled up" too often - so many things can go wrong with my clumsy self!).

Amanda and I (along with Lincoln and Justin) had a discussion one night as to what we should do for Nicole's bachlorette. We ended up deciding on a late supper, drinks and dancing afterwards; no games and a gift certificate for a langerie store so she could pick something out that she really liked/wanted. All great ideas. When we got the phone numbers from Nicole (for some of her friends), and then Amanda called, then I talked to Megan and asked if anyone was coming - it seemed like it wasn't enough notice for some of Nicole's friends. Wanting to make the best of things, Amanda, Chelsey and I all went out (and the bride-to-be/bride-already Nicole was also there).

We went to Moxie's at eight for supper and some drinks. When Nicole ordered a Mexican Bulldog - I wanted one too. I've been wanting one of these from the moment I heard about them - my two favorites in one cup! (It's a margarita with a small sized Corona dumped into it upside down. This is my new favorite drink!) We ordered yummy food (my left-overs were a good snack once Justin and I were winding down in bed shortly after midnight) and enjoyed ourselves.

When Nicole saw the size of the Corona bottle in her Mexican Bulldog, she wanted to keep it, so she wiped it off as best she could, and put it into her purse. Then, in the bathroom stall she found a driver's license and added that to her "goody bag." While at the casino earlier in the day Nicole had one $50, and when she found these goodies, she declared it was her lucky day!

When it's Chelsey and I - there is always a bathroom photo! And Moxie's was a much better pee-spot/photo-opp than the bar was going to be!

When we arrived at Essie's, it was ladies night! There was a draw that we filled out ballots for (they did a draw every half an hour). While we were filling out the ballots, this guy comes up to us with a Sharpie in his hand. It's his bachlor party, and his friends are making him wear a shirt and having girls sign it. This was too much fun, and a really good idea!

After getting drinks and sitting down at a table, Bachelor Todd and his friends asked if we'd dance with them. Nobody seemed too excited about this idea - but I said yes, and rangled the troops. Nicole looks less than thrilled - but I promise she did have a good time!

While we were dancing, Nicole's name was announced over the intercome. We wondered what was up (completely forgetting about the contest), but when she came back with a hat and a $50 gift certificate for the mall - we understood that she had one!

Apparently this is where I stopped taking photos! There was a lot of me kicking Bachlor Todd's butt - his shirt said to! Then once, after getting off the dance floor, he snuck up to me and kicked me in the butt; I told him I deserved that, and I half expected it after I started kicking him. There was this Matt guy that randomly sat down with us. After some chit-chat (it was obvious he thought he was going home with one of us - HA!), he wanted to get some celebratory shots for us to do. I went to the shooter bar with him, declaring that I only had five dollars, and that wasn't going to buy a round of shots. He pulled out his twenty, and we got five peach schnapps/raspberry sour puss shots. (This was after a discussion I had with my mum yesterday about getting guys to buy drinks while out at the bar. See - it does happen!) We went back to the table, had the shots and Nicole and I went back up dancing. When we came back, our friend Matt had thankfully gone back to his friends table. I wrote a fake phone number on Bachelor Todd's shirt (a combination of my parent's number and my cell phone), walked around the bar a bit and decided to call it a night.

We did drive past Bos Hogs to see if there was a line, but it looked too busy to get back out into the cold and wind again. Justin called while Chelsey, Amanda and I were heading back to the house, and we met up with them for a quick horn honk at Wendy's. We made it back to the house, the Kurtz's and Sipko's headed home, and Justin and I headed for bed. A fantastic night - can't wait to do it again when more of Nicole's friends can make it out to celebrate!

Family Day Weekend - Sunday and Monday

Sunday was a little bit of a lazy day for Justin and I: he went out shopping for a gift, and I watched TV. I finally had a shower at about 1:30! Sandy came over for a little visit at 2:30. She brought us a papaya; when I saw the label said "Product of Mexico," I got all excited for our trip all over again.

We went out to the Keg for supper to celebrate Dalton's 18th birthday. The food was really good, but the service we had wasn't the greatest. We were there for close to three hours, and probably an hour of that was waiting for our meal to arrive. The waiter was slow on refilling our drinks also. I guess, in the end it didn't matter since we got to spend more time together - and with a glass of wine, it's all fantastic!

Afterwards we went to my parents. We eneded up staying there really really late too, it was after midnight when we finally left. I fought my mum's printer, and with help from my brother, got a collage printed. This is why I print my photos at Walmart!

Monday Justin went out to go hunting for coyotes, and I scrapbooked. Now - it took me from about eight until about three to complete one page! I honestly think it was the longest page I've ever created! It was a struggle, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

When Justin got back home, we got ready to say goodbye to Hewie. I admit, I was on the verge of tears when he left. We've had him the longest of any of our vehicles. We took him to Thunder In The Valley the first time Justin and I ever went camping (and when I first met the future Kurtz's); I remember that's when Justin bought the tent and I was so upset with him for buying such a small one - especially when we could have just borrowed one. Hewie came camping with us when Justin met Thom, Gloria, Brittany and Kas the first time. We took Hewie to BC the first time that Justin ever went, when he met my Grandpa and Yvonne for the first time. In his later years, when I was driving the '86 Blazer or the Jeep, when Justin and I went to get groceries, or just driving around town - we drove Hewie most of the time; nothing beats his heater - I will miss the hot air blowing on my face in the winter time. He will be missed.

After Hewie was taken to his new home, we were going to head over to my parents. But beforehand, I wanted to go to the field by our house to take some photos - it was, after all, six months of marriage! I still can't believe it's been that long, and it's only been that long! Being with someone for six years, and having lived together for five and a half of those years makes "being married" not such a big deal. SO many people have asked, "so, how's married life treating you." Well, it's not really any different! I can see how stressful it would be though, if we hadn't lived together previously. Even from basically living together (being at Justin's every day), to him living under the same roof as me was a huge difference. That was really the only time I noticed a change in our relationship. Living together means sharing bills and responsibilities, which means you have to work together to manage tasks of life. I love Justin, and can't wait to see what the next six months, ten years, fifty years and everything else in between, will have in store for us!

Be Mine Colourful Valentine

This layout has probably taken me the longest of any I've every made before. Innitially I was going with this Dear Lizzy background paper, but then I started to second guess myself. A few hours later, and I decided to go back to my original plan. Then I wanted to use teal on the layout; I just so happened to look over at my muffin tin on the rolling cart next to my work table and spotted a broken necklace that I love. Perfect, I'll use that on this Valentine's layout!

On your next layout: use a jewelry item as an embellishment.

You can see that one of the flowers was broken from my necklace, but I think that adds to some of the charm of it. I'm glad I saved this, and could give it another life - re-using!

I went to use my Fiskars patterned scissors, and spotted a heart and a butterfly punch in the kit Justin bought me for our first Christmas together. (I've been using this way more in the last year than I ever did when I first got it five years ago.) It seems I've used a lot of butterflies on my layouts lately - ever since I bought those punches.

When I pulled out a chipboard heart to use on this page, I knew I had to cover it with glitter for it to match my layout; this matches the sparkly alphas perfectly (the glitter on the flourish is a little more of a finer texture, but I think it all worked well together). Unlike last time, this time I laid the glitter onto wet glue. I stuck SO much better, and once I shook and tapped the back of the chipboard, almost no glitter was falling off.

When it came time to think about my journaling (this almost always the last element I think about when creating a page), I thought it would be a neat idea to inset it into the curvature of the background paper. With some tracing the lines onto a peice of old vellum and some trial and error, I love how it seems to become part of the page. The shape makes me think of Christmas ornaments!

Journaling says: Since we'd been eating out all weekend (in Whitefish), I decided we needed to stay in for Valentine's Day. I put Justin in charge of a $20 supper (Japanese chicken with rice) and I made a $20 dessert (chocolate and butterscotch fruit fondues). $10 was spent on gifts for each other. I think this $80 night could become a new tradition!

Dig through your jewelry, and see what you can re-purpose as an embellishment for your next layout. Leave a comment with a link.