home again...

Just spent a wonderful weekend away in Grand Bend for another FANTASTIC scrapbooking retreat organized by Two Scrapbook Friends. I am beyond exhausted but wanted to post a little something about the great time we had. It's so nice to be away: no one to cook or clean for (unless you count having to constantly tidy my scrap space so as not to creep onto my neighbours area!), no bickering children etc etc. I had set a lofty goal of accomplishing at least 1 layout this weekend. I know, way to aim high right? Well, with all the samples I've been creating lately I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself. Of course being surrounded by so many talented ladies all sharing in our love of scrapbooking the creative juices flowed. I managed to complete about 11 layouts which is way more than I would have done at home so definitely a success. I also did something I kept meaning to do in the 6 times I've been to the Oakwood resort. I actually walked down the beach. I went down alone and had the entire beach to myself. It was incredibly peaceful and gave me a moment to take a deep breath and appreciate just how lucky I am to be able to spend a weekend away in a wonderful place doing just what I want to do. All in all a terrific weekend....is it time for the Fall retreat yet?

Had to take a photo to prove I did actually make it down to the beach!

So calm and peaceful

Wyatt, lovin' his Easter haul!

Really love this line from Pink Paislee. There is hidden jounalling that explains that my youngest will only eat pickles when we tell him we found one with his name on it.

I won a collection pack of papers from MME (I did a high kick in pj bottoms to win this!! lol) I couldn't wait to use it to do a layout of my friend's daughter, Oceane.

Holden, future Clark Kent. I used all stickers on this except for the background and one small strip of paper.

My friend took this photo of Wyatt and I love it. I was inspired by a layout from an '09 Creating Keepsakes page.

More Pink Paislee. I made the acordian fold flowers and they were the hit of the table. Have to do a Friendzy Friday on these I guess!

Joanne has started creating sketches and I really loved the one we all had to use for a little friendly competition at the retreat.

For this one I used some Fancy Pants 'rusted sun' papers which is a very beachy theme. Just goes to show that you can use themed papers beyond what they are intended for. (gotta love double-sided paper!)

There is a lot of prep work that goes in to making these retreats smooth and enjoyable. By the look of all the smiling ladies at the retreat I'd say it was a huge success. I am signed up for the Fall retreat and cannot wait for it to come. Better get snapping lots of photos!

tidy..but for how long?

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. Between multiple hospital visits (husband and son) and creating like a madwoman for Scrapfest, let's just say my house is feeling a bit neglected. So when my lovely bosses at TSF told me to take the week off I went on a rampage and tidied up all the little piles that seem to pop up everywhere. I think the most neglected room in the house has to be my scraproom. Just about every surface in the room was covered in stuff and not just scrapbooking supplies either. It tends to be the dumping ground for lots of things.

It really does look as though a tornado flew in doesn't it?

Well I posted on my facebook status that I was looking for the motivation to clean it and exactly 38 mins later tada...

Everything is back in it's home.

Now to pack for the retreat in Grand Bend this weekend!

Scrapfest craziness

Well Holy Cow! Those were two of the CRAZIEST days I have ever experienced!!!

I just spent the last two days running the cash at the Two Scrapbook Friends booth at Scrapfest. I had a wonderful time, yes it was nuts but so much fun. It was also a totally surreal experience for me as all of the displays and kits in the booth were all designed by yours truly :) We had such a great group of ladies: Joanne, Carolyn, Audrey, Tracy, Amanda, Regan and Deanna, working the booth and we had a great time. It was fun to see so many familiar faces and to make some new friends. I'm glad we can all enjoy our addiction together!
If you missed out this year be sure to plan now for next April.

Joanne and Carolyn before chaos errupts on Friday!

Thanks to all our friends for making TSF's booth a whopping success!

Can't wait to see you all soon in the store.

Samples galore

For the past few weeks I have been creating many, many samples from all of the amazing new lines we have received. I have been like a kid in a candy store playing with these collections. Now that Scrapfest is over (!) for another year I can share some of them with you.

All of the samples are posted under Store Displays on the Two Scrapbook Friends gallery.

Thanks for having a look!

just because....

While working at the store today I received a lovely surprise. My husband sent me flowers. No occasion....just because. In my opinion the 'just becauses' in life are far more important than any occasion. It was the perfect little pick me up after a not so great day yesterday. Thanks to Audrey for snapping these pics.

where did the weekend go???

I cannot believe it is Sunday night! This weekend flew by in a blur. It started out iffy (Holden vomitting Thursday night) and ended up great. The weather was amazing including that beautiful, complete rainbow we had Saturday night. We had so much fun doing several egg hunts with the boys. They really got into it this year, especially Holden who really 'got into' his chocolate eggs. He kept sneaking them. No wonder he's still awake in his bed right now. I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and fingers crossed for many more sunny ones as Spring turns into Summer.

Yes, I do realize it appears that our new van is parked in our giant pine tree. I assure you, it's not!

I also realized how incredibly difficult it is to capture a full rainbow on film!

The boys really enjoyed themselves hunting for eggs but

weren't overly patient about waiting to find out what was inside

Hope you created some great memories this weekend and of course got some of them on film!

April Design team reveal

Phew it's been a busy couple of weeks!

This month each DT member got to play around with different groupings from My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary line. I was given some of the pieces from Little Boy Blue which I absolutely love.

For this card I used the sticker frame and cut strips of paper to put inside it. Added some mini alphas and a few buttons.

For 'Climb' I used inspiration from a Sketch by Becky Fleck. I finally used my Riff Raff tree that I have been hoarding for a loooong time.

A great way to show off all those great double sided papers is to use strips of scraps. I also used some of my favourite jillibean soup corrugated alphas here.

I tried a little something different and pleated the paper then used glue dots to add some ribbon. Owls seem to be everywhere this year and I LOVE them!

Make sure to take a moment and check out all the other fantastic designs over on the TSF gallery.