Project Life | Week 27-29

How is everyone doing? We are very close to September approaching and I am just thinking what the month will bring. I have decided I will not be doing Learn Something New Everyday but have decided to sign up for Becky Higgins Project Real Life thru BPC. Her class calendar spoke to me. This year I have made quite a few changes, some personal, but lots of them have been related to getting in touch with "real life". An example is making a goal to read more books, which is something I had been missing in my life ( I hope to dedicate a post sometime soon about what I have been reading). I guess what I have cultivated is more balance and I hope to do that more frequently.

For those of you doing PL and even those who are not, have you seen the new product designs? I was talking with a friend tonight and she asked what I thought. What I am most interested in is the photo protectors. I love the square ones made for instragram photos ( I don't have instragram, but I still like this option ). As for the new design editions I think they are pretty fantastic... will I purchase them? Not likely. Here's the thing... I am not bored with what I have. Shocked? I am. Here is the original kit I made early January... have I used all the product here? Nope. Have I added on to this already huge kit? Yes. I purchased lots of digital items from Jessica Sprague and I am quite content. Something I will likely do... purchase a few Fall -like papers to keep with the change in season.

Ok... on with the PL layouts :)

Week 27

Week 28

 Week 29

Thanks so much for all your positive comments about my PL album. Tell me, what has influenced your own Project Life?
Take it easy friends!

The Height of the Matter....

That Julie is sure making some of us bloggers feisty with her new blog series the Height of Summer! She does come up with interesting ones and this is no exception! 

When I saw my friend Amy’s post today I knew I needed to take a giant sized step to complete my own blog post on this topic of conversation! 

I will try not to offend the petite women on how I describe my height, but in order to tell my tall tale I might use adjectives like “taller” and “shorter”, “smaller” and “bigger”, “above” and “below”. 

 At 5’ 7”, I am taller than the average person… and about a full head above my mom. Yes I can see the top of her head! Right now she is reading this and shaking her head… “Hi Mom, I luv you!”.  

My sisters are all smaller than me …. Really, I am not trying to be punchy here, just letting you all know the facts!

 Albeit this may be an old photo, it does show the four of us standing next to each other, and strangely enough in order of height. Well maybe not quite, okay then, actually Carmen (the bride) is taller than Brenda (the maid of honor)! The difference between Arlene and me…? Only 1 ½ inches or so, she was certain to mention the extra ½ inch is not wishful thinking!

Growing up… I was asked, “how come you are taller than the rest of the girls in your family?” Er… geez, I’m not sure. This usually led to a discussion on which distant female relative may have had an influence. There was at least one…. Auntie Annie on my mom’s side was a very tall woman… don’t’ ask me how tall, but she may have been a giant ;)

As for the men in my family… well my brother is 2 or 3 inches bigger than me and my dad was always taller, but not by much. 

Hubby? He is definitely taller… and that is a good thing!

If you would like to play along or learn more about Julie’s series the Height of Summer, then have a look at her blog “Notes on Paper” . Thanks Julie for making us more aware of each others size!!

Embrace It!

It comes once a year....

Yard Renovations Update

You will remember the photos I shared of our old spruce tree and the day we removed it. Since then, Jeff, our landscaper has created some beautiful curves that make an alluring flow of architecture. Things are not finished yet, but they are getting close. I thought I would give a peek into what is happening around here.

These photos are from this morning and already today there is rock mulch in the beds and boulders placed perfectly. For the most part he has done much of the work himself so it is taking longer, however we don't mind as he is very particular and doing a great job.

Although the front yard has been finished for a month or so, I thought I had some photos if it, but I don't, and actually, I have lots of pics of the beautiful lilies, just not of the entire yard! I will have to rectify that.

Anyway, I look forward to it being complete and enjoying the many sitting areas created! We have had such beautiful weather this past week I am getting antsy for a weekend of pure patio pleasure!

Take care friends :)

It's Award Time!

I am a little embarrassed to say that I am just acknowledging this now, but several months ago my blogging friend, Alison from, "Life in the Slow Lane" gave me a Liebster Award. That’s not all. Last month I received another Liebster award from my friend Lisa from Not Lady Like. THEN…. two days after that, guess what happened? Yup! You guessed right, another scrappy friend, the adventurous Victoria from “Word Under”, gave me the Liebster Award. Yeeshk! 

First of all I want to thank all three ladies for passing this award onto me, and likewise, I really enjoy reading your blogs and find each of you inspiring!

Next, if you have not heard of the Liebster award, let me explain to you what it means.

The Liebster award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

Here is where the awards differ from those who sent them to me. According to Alison’s blog the following are the rules for the award.

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal your five picks for the award and let them know.

3. Post about the award on your blog.

4. Bask in the love from the most supportive people in the blogosphere!  {aka your followers}

5. Finally have fun and spread the love!

Now I will share the rules for Lisa and Victoria’s Liebster Award….

1.       Each person must post 11 things about themselves.

2.       Answer the questions that the tagger set for you, plus create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer.

3.       Choose 11 people and link them in your post.

4.       Go to their page and tell them.

5.       No tag backs.

I will share 11 Things About Me

1. I don’t have a favourite color, because really I like green, orange, red, blue and purple. Yellow is good too. 
2. I will drink water over pop or juice, that is, after I have had my cup of coffee
3. I’m a bit of a clutz, yes if there is a crack in the sidewalk I will be certain to trip on it!
4. I am currently reading the “50 Shades of Grey” series… okay I was not going to admit that here… but there you go (and only because it will count towards my reading goal of the year, which I plan to write a blog post about!)
5. I love cats and I love dogs, why is there this notion you have to love one more than the other?
6. Along with my fear of falling (from high places), drowning, and house fires, I have recurrent dreams of being caught in a tornado, so yes, I have a fear of tornados. Bears too. Mustn’t forget about the bears.
7. I had an appendectomy when I was 18.
8. I have met David Bowie and acted like a bumbling idiot from being completely star struck!
9. I refuse to check my lottery tickets immediately because I prefer to dream.
10. My favorite childhood dessert is the butterscotch marshmallow squares… the recipe is here.
11. The older I get the more I prefer warmer/hotter weather.

Lisa and Victoria each had 11 questions for me, but I thought I would answer a combination to equal the 11 noted in the rules:

1.       What started you blogging? (Victoria): I talk about this in my “About Me” page here. I was never good at keeping a written diary, so mostly I started because I wanted to have a documented record of my life and to share the things I enjoy, like scrapbooking, art, photography and recipes with other individuals who have similar interests.

2.       If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? (Lisa) I always thought I would live in another country, but I believe the older I get the more I am interested in being near family and friends. I would prefer to live where the winters are mild, and so I would love to live in the Okanogan.

3.       What is at the top of your bucket list? (Victoria) Travel to Europe. I have traveled North and Central America along with the Caribbean, so the next major vacation I hope, will be a Mediterranean Cruise.

4.       Where is your favourite place to eat out? (Lisa) Hmmm… tough question. If I was going to go out for lunch, it would be the Urban Diner or Dhalias, but then if it was going to be a special dinner I would likely pick the Hardware Grill. I miss Il Portico, it was my favourite birthday dinner place.

5.       How many languages can you speak? (Victoria) Well, I did learn French in Grade 7, 8 & 9. When I moved to Edmonton I could have continued on with it, but never did and now I wish I would have.  I do remember a few things, but not much. I also learned medical Spanish when I did my senior nursing practicum in Guatemala. Tiene dolar? Do you have pain? Ha! That is as much as I remember.

6.       Do you have any blogging rituals? (Lisa) I usually blog at night after dinner. I change into my PJ’s and sit in the corner of the sectional. I blog with the TV on, and I typically have my bottle of water and camera next to me. Sophie lies on my legs and Norman is next to me too. Edwin visits too, but he gets too hot and has to move around.

7.       What is your perfect day? (Victoria) Waking up early, making a cup of coffee, sitting down and reading the paper while listening to some music. Having a pedicure and then coming home to hubby making dinner for us both. Sitting on the patio and enjoying a nice bottle of wine while relaxing to more music then heading up to my art room for some scrappy fun.

8.       What do you have to have on your person at all times? (Lisa) Sad to say, but I need my cell phone.

9.       How many countries have you traveled to? (Victoria)  Fourteen, Fifteen if you include my own country.

10.   Name something that always gets you really excited? (Lisa) Vacation or a treat from Duchess Bakery!

11.   Have you heard of the Liebster Award before today? (Victoria) Yes! I received the Liebster Award a couple years ago J

Now for my ELEVEN questions:

1.       When did you start blogging?

2.       What inspires you to blog?

3.       How has your blog evolved since you first started?

4.       What is your favourite season and why? If you do not have seasons where you live, is there a particular holiday you love and why?

5.       Do you now live near or where you were born? If not, then tell us where you have lived.

6.       What is your favourite thing to eat?

7.       Do you have anything specific you love to post about on your blog (i.e do you have a regular feature)?

8.       If you were told you had 5 minutes to leave your home, what is the first thing you would grab and take with you?

9.       If there was somewhere you could be right now, where would it be?

10.   What is your all-time favourite movie?

11.   If you were on a deserted island, who or what would you take with you?

Wowzer! My head is starting to hurt!

Here is the part where I am suppose to pick other bloggers to receive the award, but I think I have the best followers, so if you have not won the Liebster Award before then I am giving it to you!

If you choose to play along you can follow either set of rules, and let me know by leaving a comment if you do play. I would love to read your post!

Happy Sunday!

A Couple Layouts...

I went scrappin the other night at Treasured Memories and after working on Project Life I actually made a layout! It's been almost two months since I have done anything scrappy. I had so much fun that the other day I made 2 more. I will share a couple with you this evening.

The pictures on this first one show a lily, but it is no ordinary lily. We have lived in our house now for over 8 years and this is the first time we have seen this plant in the garden bloom with flowers. I am thankful we did not pull it out of the garden last year when we added the other shrubs and flowers, otherwise we would not have seen these beautiful flowers.

This second layout is a photo of sushi cones we ate at "Joey's". I love sushi and don't typically order sushi cones, but these ones were so good we had a second order!

I hope to share a few photos of the yard. It is coming along slowly but surely, it's all good though. Most of the pavers have been laid, and we do have the fire pit built. Hubby is telling me another BBQ is on the way... seriously?!! Isn't 4 enough? I suppose my response in the past regarding my scrapbooking purchases has rubbed off on him... "hon, you need the tools to do the job". Yeah, that's my line baby! His response? "I'm just keepin' it real baby"! Hmmm... this has given me an idea for a new layout... on Marvinisms'...

Goodnight!

Project Life | Weeks 24, 25 & 26

My staycation has gone by very quickly and I am still trying to fit in as much as I can in these last 36 hours! We had a wonderful weekend which started with  a scrappy night at Treasured Memories with my friends, where I managed to make a layout and play with my Project Life. Saturday we attended a family gathering at my Aunt and Uncle's visiting with our cousin Trevor and his wife Sandra. The highlight was definitely their cute daughter Aveline (only 2.5 years old) who giggled at the new phrases she learned, one of them being "Rock On Dude" which included the universal hand gesture for "rock on"!

Today of course was a bit more quiet with me trying to get some things set up on our computer which has returned from being rebuilt. Albeit mundane, downloading programs and 2500 photos from my camera has kept me rather busy this afternoon. It's the kind of things that I procrastinate, but know eventuallyneeds tackling.

Anyway, I have looked back at my Project Life posts and noticed I'm a bit behind in sharing them so here we go...

Week 24

That 10 of hearts was included in one of Becky Higgins digital downloads on Jessica Sprague`s website. You can find it here. Most of you will remember the story of how we found Mila (my sister`s cat). I scoured for PL cards cards that might fit with this story, but found nothing I liked. so,  the "Just have Faith" card was one I `created in PSE. I made it as a testament to continue having faith when things don't always seem so bright. I will try to remember to include it as a freebie download when I post from my netbook (in case you are interested :) 

On the weekend Marvin was out of town he sent me a photo of where he was eating in Quebec City.  

Week 25

This is the first time I added an additional page to a week. I used a 6x12 photo page which allowed me to add more 4x6 photos and journaling cards. It helped as I wanted to include some of the photos Marvin took while he was away.

Here is what the spread looks like with the page turned.

Week 26

The Grateful card is another I made in PSE, I was grateful we could spend time together as a family. This week has another 6x12 insert so I could place more photos with the family. I hope to make some layouts from this weekend still.

Thanks for having a look!

Enjoy your week ahead!



Lazy Hazy Days...

Don't you just love the lazy hazy days of summer? I know I do... but how do you capture that feeling in a photo?

I took this photo of some peaches I had peeled and it reminded me of being a kid when we would sit outside in the summer eating peaches with all their juices dripping down our faces.

This photo is taken straight from my camera using the AV mode with no editing. I actually really like the picture...

Here is the photo edited with Florabella Actions.

Another example... a photo of my brother and sister in law... lots of shadowing on Bev's face... Again, straight from my camera with manual mode.

The edited version...

Bev's face is brighter and the overall photo is warmer.

I have been able to utilize the Pioneer Woman's photo actions for some time now and still think they are a good choice not to mention they are free! However, I really wanted to expand my photo editing. These actions are addicting and I am certainly having fun playing with them, but the results are endless with so many options to choose.

I know some of you play with RadLab and are very happy with the results as well. I think either option is a good bet, and I cannot explain my decision to go with Florabella other than I was completely mesmerized. Florabella does offer bundles, or you can try smaller sets if you like. I ended up purchasing the "Classic Workflow + Hazy Skies"  (an early birthday gift from hubby)! It also gives some textures with the bundle, so I am all set!

What about you, do you use actions on your photos?

Storytelling Sunday | August 2012 Edition

Good Day to you! Here we are the first Sunday of the month in which Sian with "From High in the Sky"asks us to join in with telling a story. The story can be told in any way you like and you can read more about how you can join in Storytelling Sunday here.

Sian has suggest a theme of "Summer Lovin" and I was initially going to tell a different story today, but then this one popped into my brain!

It has not gone unsaid that Fall is my favourite season, but these days Summer is running a close second. I love the month of August as there are birthday celebrations, warm weather, peaches and an anniversary...

Throughout the Summer months there are many festivals and this weekend marks the Big Valley Jamboree's 20th Anniversary... however, in my mind this venue will always mark our own Anniversary, as 16 years ago it is where Marvin and I spent our first date!

I will share the lead up to this date as it would not have happened if a certain girl had not initiated an interest... While attending university, I worked at "The Moose Lodge", I was a bartender/waitress and Marvin assisted his friend Rob who was the chef at the lodge. Marvin helped out once a month when it was seniors night which included a dinner and dance. For months we would say hello in passing. I did not pay too much attention to him because I had just broke up with someone and was not interested in dating!

A few months later the staff I worked with tried to set us up but it did not work very well because neither of us had any inclination as to what was happening. Another month passed and I had enough courage to call him at his work on a busy Saturday. Although he said he was busy we sure chatted for a long time! (He likes to talk). I asked him if he would like to go out for a coffee or drink sometime and  was a bit disappointed when he did not bite at my invitation. I felt he was likely not interested.

I didn't think much more of it until I received a phone call from him several days later, asking if I would like to attend the Big Valley Jamboree this Sunday! I cannot tell you how enthusiastic my response was because I loved country music and had never been before, and of course I wanted to see him! I was taken aback though when he asked "Are you sure?" Wait a second here I thought, who asks one out on a date and then says "are you sure"?... He sensed my confusion and mentioned it was only because this was a full day event, not to mention an hour long drive outside of the city so if things did not go well, we would be stuck together for the entire day! I couldn't help but burst out laughing! I told him I would take my chances!

The date was a hit... he was a true gentleman and made sure he broughtan an extra sweater, a ball cap, sun tan lotion and chairs for us! We chatted all day and enjoyed listening to the music while doing so. By the time the evening rolled around and Randy Travis was singing his hit, "Forever and Ever, Amen" we both knew we had lots in common and there would most definitely be a second date!

Of course I do not have a photo of the first date, but do have this unedited one taken several months later!

That is it for my story this month. If you would like to read other stories, then come and join us at Sian's.

Summer Scavenger Hunt 2012 | A Bride??

Rinda, over at Gallo Organico has us snapping shots of a variety of items on her scavenger hunt! As part of Rinda's Summertime Photo Scavenger Hunt last week whilst shopping in one of the little stores across the street, I may have seen a bride!

What do you think? I quite like it and think she(the bride) looks fantastic!

I am on vacation next week and hope to collect more photos!

Come and join us over at Rinda's where she is celebrating with a link up party, so you will be able to see what others have been photographing!