Legoland

Here is the layout with our admission tickets and a picture of the
boys just before we entered Legoland California.



Since these two layouts are pretty basic.. I thought I'd share two today.

This one is of Spongebob built completely out of Lego bricks.



I LOVE this "sponge" paper!

Critter Challenge Blog - Challenge #11

Here is what I came up with for this weeks Critter Challenge Blog. This is me right around my 18th birthday. It honestly feels like yesterday... my sister and I got these pictures done for our parents for Christmas. We were both living away from home and thought it would be a nice surprise for them. Not only did they love them.... but they are my mom's favourite pictures of us and they still hang on her wall.

Challenge #11 was a sketch with a twist which was to include buttons on our creation.

This is our last challenge for the month of April. For this challenge you will have until Friday, April 30th to enter your creations at the Critter Challenge Blog. On Saturday the winner will be posted for the My Scrapbook Supplies give a way.

Ms. Brightside Award - Thanks Terria!!

This award was given to me by Terria. Terria is one of my fellow Crafty Critters. She inspires me, so it was nice to be recognized by her. So thank you Terria for honouring me with this award to me.

Ok For this award I have to list 10 things that I love and that make me, I then leave you with 5 pieces of trivia, and pass it along to 5 of my friends so lets get started.

1. Family - first and foremost - they make me who I am.
2. Teaching - so rewarding knowing that you are making an impact on the future.
3. Scrapbooking - love creating albums so that my children will remember their childhood. I also love what it has done for my confidence, I'm proud of what I can do and without sounding conceited, I think I'm pretty good.
4. My sense of humour... sometimes it can be a little off colour - but I'm pretty good at knowing when and where it is appropriate.
5. Patience - I am a very patient person - a great trait for both my family life and my job.
6. Chocolate - trust me.. not only do I love chocolate - it makes me.. just ask my family.. a mommy without chocolate is not a happy mommy! :)
7. Penguins - love them.. have since I was 12 and they are a part of my every day life... I don't think there is anyone in my life that doesn't know about my love for penguins... I actually had to put a stop to penguin themed gifts as I had TOO many!! They still surface every once in a while... but that's okay! (Just don't tell my husband! LOL)
8. I love the Vancouver Canucks - if I ever win the lottery I am buying season tickets!
9. Thanks to my husband - and after many years of trying not to give in - I like football.. love the BC Lions and now that Carsyn is playing I have even more appreciation for the game.
Last but certainly not least.....
10. My friends, both real life and online - for without them, I wouldn't be who I am.

Trivia - I'll tell you some weird things about me haha!
1. I grew up in a small town of 1500 people - Port Alice - on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia
2. I have an irrational fear of bananas - and until my boys arrived I couldn't even touch them. Now I can buy them - but don't ask me to touch a peeled banana - it won't happen!
3. I met my hubby online - me met "in real life" four days later and have been together ever since.
4. Grew up in the same house from birth to graduation, but, in the 20 years since I graduated from high school I have moved 15 times - UGHH!
5. I have never had a manicure, because my nails grow beautifully naturally (I never have to file them - only clip them if they get too long) - I was often accused of having fake nails - so I never polish them any more so that people can see that they are my own. I did have my nails painted for my wedding - but don't consider that a manicure.

Okay... now the 5 people I would like to pass this on to. I can't choose just 5... so I'm passing this on to all of my fellow Crafty Critters.

School Pictures

Here are the boys' school pictures from the first year they were with us. I can't believe how much they have grown up!!

Simple layouts.. the paper was already printed.. I just matted the photos and used my circular template to place the brads.

Carsyn


Brayden



These class photos are actually from last year. I used a two page layout that I had received in a swap. I added the title, ribbon, and smiley faces.



Four pages, done in about an hour... quick and easy!!

Carsyn's Birthday

We were lucky to spend Carsyn's 11th Birthday in Disneyland.



I love this striped paper.. it is actually Christmas paper that I paid 25 cents a sheet for.. the other side has mittens and toques on it. Gotta love a bargain!!

Not sure why my pictures have a yellowish tinge to them.. bad lighting the night I took these I guess.

Crafty Critter Blog Group... Challenge #25

Our blog group is on its 25th Challenge.. Unbelievable!

Melanie was our "challenger" and here is what she came up with.

I know we all like to combine challenges. I see everyone doing it all the time on their blogs. So for this challenge it's going to be a Challenge Combination.

Element 1: Place a flower somewhere on your card. This can be a paper flower, prima flower, stamped flower image, flower dp, etc. As long as there is a flower on your card.

Element 2: Embossing, I want to see embossing. This can be dry embossing with your Cuttlebug or Big Shot or it can be heat embossing.

Element 3: Use SCS sketch SC273.


I made this card for my mom's birthday, today. Happy Birthday Mom!!!

She loved it! :)

Challenges:
Paper Sundaes - No People
Pile it On - Spring

Football Is Life

The boys' football photos from 2009.

The "Football is Life" title and football are both cut from the Sports Mania Cricut Cartridge.

I love the football.. the paper feels like a real football.. picked it up at Michael's ages ago.

The boys' thought it was a store bought embellishment... now I'm really cool!! Hehe.. I so love that they appreciate me doing this for them... makes it all worth while!

It's All About the Chocolate

We just had to get Mickey shaped ice cream.

I got the idea for this page from the Cricut Message board... check out this amazing link for some more fabulous Disney ideas...

Fun in the Pool

These were taken in the pool when we were in San Diego last summer. We loved taking an afternoon break and hitting the pool. We did it every day when we were in Anaheim (not sure why I didn't get pictures there)... it was a great way to split the day up and relax and rest up for the evening activities.

This is the first time I have used these "Thickers" letters... and let me tell you.. I LOVE them!!



Challenges:
Penny's Challenges

Critter Challenge Blog - Challenge #9

Wow, can you believe, we are already on week #9 at the Critter Challenge Blog.

This week we were given colours to be inspired by and use in our creations. When I first saw them I thought... hmmm.. pink, purple, green... I guess I will be making a card.. because I don't have any pictures that I can use for my boys' albums. And, because I rarely use those colours.. I didn't have any in my stash... great excuse to go to the LSS.... which had just changed owners and locations... so I was looking forward to checking out the new location. I couldn't believe my luck when I stumbled across this Crate Paper line. I pulled up the colours on my phone and thought... perfect! So I picked up just one sheet... after all I was just making a card.. I didn't need anymore than one sheet of each. The more I thought about it... the more I thought.. I can't make a card.. I need to stick with the scrapbook pages... so... I totally went outside my comfort zone, and found a picture of me.. that I didn't mind (I hate most pictures of me... I'm so NOT photogenic)... and then headed back to the LSS to grab one of the last pieces of paper.. I have to make the same pages for my boys!

I absolutely love the page... and even wowed my hubby and kids. I even made my own matching flowers using a circle punch, scrunching up the paper, and inking the edges.

I hope you like it as much as I do.

Supplies:
Crate Paper - Bliss Collection - Glee, Spirited, and Mod (Love this line... there were a couple other sheets that I didn't choose - but I did use the backs of them for the solid pink journal box and green mat around the picture).
Bazzil - for the base - forget the name - sorry!
Versa - Pinecone Ink - everything has been inked.... I've said it before.. this is the best colour for distressing - it goes with EVERYTHING
Gem Brads - from my stash... probably dollar store.

So, come join us and you could win a fabulous surprise from My Scrapbooking Supplies.

Crafty Critter's Virtual Stamp/Scrap Weekend

Our blog group held a Virtual Stamp/Scrap weekend this past weekend and we had 5 challenges to do.

This is my layout for the challenge that I put out for our group.

These pictures were taken when we were at Sea World in San Diego last summer. We surprised the boys by buying these hats and having the hat seller take them to them (they were sitting in the splash zone... and we weren't!)

It is a little hard to see in this photo, but the pictures are matted in green and there are green dots on the patterned paper and there is yellow streamers in Carsyn's hat and a yellow ribbon and yellow brad.

VSD #3 Challenge #2

Ok.. I know a lot of you are going to hate me.. but I'm challenging you to make a scrapbook page. I'm pretty sure just about everyone scraps... (even though some of you haven't in years!) and if you don't.. then adapt this to a card.

Please use the following sketch.

Please make sure you use a stamp on your layout.

And since our theme is spring, please use the colours green and yellow somewhere on your layout... stamp, paper, embellishments.. etc...

I am also challenging you to enter your project into a challenge blog... You can enter it at the Scrap and Stamp Saturday blog (that's where the sketch is from) and/or wherever you choose.

Here are my layouts for Challenge #1

These pictures of my boys were taken on the beach... it wasn't a tropical beach, but we consider where we live paradise.

We weren't allowed to colour our stamps... so I used a Versamark pad and stamped the stars all over the pages.

My one embellishment is the chipboard circle with the star on it.

I crimped the three strips of paper to make a border for the photos.

Here is what the challenge was....
VSD 3 Challenge #1 - Paradise Inspiration

It's an inspiration themed challenge with a recipe to go along with it.
Create a card, page, or 3D project designed around this picture:


Ahhhhh, do you feel like you are in Paradise? Look at the great look of these rocks, their grooves and shapes, the green landscape behind them and of course, the beautiful crystal clear water!

I would like you to design your project around this photo. Then, follow a few little requirements (recipe):

~ Only 1 embellishment
~ somewhere on your card use a crimper. If you don't have one, manually get the look of crimped paper/card stock by accordion folding it, then laying it out on your project.
~ Last but not least....NO COLORING! GASP!!!!!! I know right? But, isn't that why it's called a challenge? Get out all those solid stamps and colorful ink pads. Or, just use a sentiment as your main focus. It's totally up to you, but you can't color your image.

This is my layout for challenge number 5.

1 Image
2 ribbons - the thick brown stripes are ribbons
3 layers... under the photo are three different mats

VSD Challenge # 5...

This is my card for challenge #3.

I made a layout last week using a similar picture. I had an extra so I thought I would make a card and send it to our aunt, whose house we were staying at when Carsyn fell in love with these little birds.

VSD Challenge #3

VSD #3 - Challenge #4 - Greeting Farm

Sorry Melanie.. I just ran out of time.

Great challenge though.. and I will try and get it done and post it later.

Sporty Challenge

My sister loves to cruise the blogs and is always sending me ideas... some I keep and others I don't. This past week, she sent me a link and it inspired me to create a page, right then and there.

Here is the link to the post that inspired me.....



I've entered this page in the Sporty Challenge at Scrap and Stamp Saturday.

I have stamped the Soccer across the bottom as well as using white ink to stamp right on the background page.

Fall Fun

Here are some of the pictures from our yearly visit to the hay maze at our local pumpkin patch.

The kid always have such a blast.

Wave Racers

Here is a layout from Legoland. This was one of the only rides the boys were able to go on. The line ups were crazy for rides there.. but they had a "blast" as they tried to soak each other!

Family Adventure

Here is our "1st Visit" family photo.

Love our ears?! Haha...

Quick and easy layout... I did Stickle on all the characters to give it a little extra bling. The ribbons bits were all from my scrap bag... love it when you can use up you scraps.. and these little "flags" are perfect for ribbon scraps.