flo ozirney

scrappy tuesday.

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

i haven't done any scrapping in about 2 weeks, and even then, those were invitations! so here's another layout i did a few months back. i started it initially with no specific picture in mind. i just loved this print that was floating around pinterest, so i used that as my jumping off point. then when i found a picture - which isn't the greatest, i admit - it sat on my table for weeks. it wasn't until thanksgiving that i managed to put it all together.

when i was putting this layout together, i was using an exacto knife to cut out around the numbers. my dad walked past to see what i was doing and offered to take over cutting for me. my dad! he's a whiz at using exacto knives as he's a technical illustrator and i remember growing up, he always seemed to be using them for his job (to this day, i don't remember what he was cutting?!). anyway, i wish i took a picture because the mental image of my dad helping me scrapbook is something i'll never forget. and he was seriously enjoying it. when he was done he asked me if i had anything else that needed cutting! i'll have to remember that next time i need help ;)

scrappy tuesday.

2011-11-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

another page to share. i made this close to 2 months ago, i think? it was inspired by this image from dear miss modern design shop:

products used: pp: fancy pants, crate, american crafts, sassafras, october afternoon | alphas: american crafts, crate | mist: mister huey lunchtray, pink maya mist, tin type sprinklers | note tag: studio calico | twine: divine twine

this is probably the best photo i got of my brother-in-law and his new wife from their wedding day! which, by the way, was beautiful. they were married on bowen island, just a short ferry ride from vancouver. the church was set at the base of a hill, with the reception on the hill right next to it. it was a simple wedding, which is exactly what they wanted. our only regret was not being able to stay at the reception longer. because of the ferry schedule, we had to book it back to the mainland or risk being stuck on the island overnight without a place to stay. in hindsight, we should have booked a hotel on the island for the night as we weren't able to see curt and zoe the rest of our trip. but i guess that's what christmas is for!

scrappy tuesday.

2011-11-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

i picked up a bottle of studio calico's mister huey shine a few weeks back and used it for the first time on this page. it's almost impossible for the camera to pick it up, but it gives a hint of shimmer. it's really subtle, but i love it. i'm sure i'll end up misting all my christmas cards. and no, this isn't my cat. just a really cute one we saw at the humane society :)

GIANT laughter.

2011-11-03T08:00:00.001-05:00

i was at the library the other week because kent needed to pick up a book for school. i'd heard how hilarious this book was from a number of different people, so when i saw it in the express section, i got so excited i snatched it up right away.

it wasn't until i got home and opened it up that i realized i probably should have looked a little more carefully at the cover.
oops. although the funny thing is, it just seems to add to the humour. it's like tina fey is yelling her memoirs in my ear!

has anyone else read this? thoughts?

it's november 1. why not blog?

2011-11-01T08:00:00.003-05:00

yikes, has it really been 3 months since i last blogged? funny how fast time flies! i wish i had some great story as to where i've been the last 3 months, but i don't. the truth is, i was just a little uninspired and unmotivated.

anyway, seeming as how november 1 happens to fall on a tuesday, i have a scrappy tuesday page share for you. although i haven't been scrapping much, i did head out to a fundraising crop in morden over the weekend for leigh's upcoming missions trip and made this page while i was there. it's probably my fave of the weekend:

supplies used: pp: studio calico, american crafts, echo park | alphas: k&company, basic grey | journaling tag: studio calico

i feel like this weekend got my creative juices flowing once again. so here's to blogging regularly!

scrappy tuesday.

2011-07-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

we're taking a bit of a break over at mss, and only posting challenges every other week. luckily, since the weather has been too nice lately to stay inside and scrap! i had to force myself to sit and do this layout a few weeks ago, instead of being outside in the sun.

i chose this colour palette to serve as inspiration for this week's challenge:
and here's my layout:

friday randoms.

2011-07-22T09:30:00.011-05:00

it's been quite awhile since i've done one of these posts, so i thought i'd dust it off and do one today.

1. oh, what a difference 72 hours can make! on the left was the weather on tuesday. scorching, humid, unbearable. (notice the part that says it feels like 46C?) and on the right is the weather this morning. i actually needed a sweater! not complaining, though. after weeks of heat, i was definitely ready to turn off the ac, open up the windows and breathe some fresh air.
2. we're going camping this weekend at hecla provincial park with some friends for the first time this year. i'm really looking forward to it, as i haven't been there in years. also looking forward to diving into these books while camping (thanks lenore!)
3. after 3 years, i've decided to get back on the grey's anatomy train. not sure why i stopped watching it in the first place....i think it was before we had pvr, and we were always busy the night it came on? anyway, i'm on season 6 and so far loving it! anyone else still watching this?

4. i ran into the mall quickly over my lunch break to look for new jean shorts, thanks to a little max incident, and really shouldn't have. there's sales galore at the mall right now! i always want to laugh because it feels like summer just arrived here, and yet all the summer stuff is on sale to make room for fall. doesn't seem right at all! have you gotten any good deals lately?

5. last night, kent woke me up at 3 am to say that he couldn't find george, our cat. she didn't come running when he gave them food, which is unusual. (yes, kent feeds the cats in the middle of the night. totally his doing - i have nothing to do with it!) usually, she comes bolting from wherever she is in the house the second she hears the knob turn on the closet where their food is kept. anyway, george has a terrible habit of jumping through windows to be outside. no joke. she's busted through our screens trying to get out before. and last night, because it finally cooled down enough for us to open our windows before bed (see #1 above), we figure she must have jumped out without us knowing.

so there we were, at 3 am, in our pjs, half awake, with lanterns (because we don't own a single working flashlight), scouring our backyard for this dark grey cat. to no avail. so then we tried the front yard. kent even walked to the main street, just to check. he told me later that he was scared to even look, for fear of seeing a dead cat on the road. so after checking the front and back and calling and trying to coax her by shaking a bag of treats, we were ready to give up. and that's when i saw something move above my head. and wouldn't you know? there's george prancing on top of our carport. i guess she had climbed a tree, and jumped onto the carport roof and was just hanging out. i figure she was probably out there at least 3 hours. and she probably hated us for making her come inside. i tell you, that girl was born to be a farm cat! oh the joys of owning pets!

going grey.

2011-07-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

when we first moved in to this house 4 years ago, i wanted green walls, brown couches and a white shag rug. and for the last 4 years, that's what our living room has looked like. but about a year ago, i started itching to paint the walls something more neutral. finally, over canada day long weekend, we were able to do it.

the paint is gentle rain by behr. now normally, i would never choose behr paint. it's expensive, and i'm cheap. but by coincidence, on this weekend, there was a rebate on behr paint, making it the same price as store brand paint. luckily, since the swatch i loved the best was behr. and boy, what a difference! we probably could have gotten away with doing just one coat, but i guess old habits die hard, because we ended up doing two coats anyway. and they dried super fast - even though it was 40C and totally humid outside!

we also mounted our tv over the fireplace to give us more room (never the first choice for me, but given our small living room, we really didn't have a choice). and a few weeks prior, i found a rocking chair in great condition on kijiji for only $60.

here's what the room looked like before:
and here's what the room looks like now:
keep in mind that it's definitely not finished - i still have plans to hang pictures, sew new throw pillow covers (one of which i've already made.....pictures to come soon!) and buy/make curtains. the room looks really sparse in the picture, i know. but it's already such a big change and makes the room feel so much more open!

wordless wednesday.

2011-07-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

scrappy tuesday.

2011-07-19T08:00:00.001-05:00

this layout was made before we left on our trip to vancouver, but i wasn't able to post it while we were gone. this was for the july triple threat challenge over at mss. we had to use a pocket, ribbon and flowers.

supplies: pp: k + co, studio calico, bazzill, crate | alphas: k + co | embellies: ki, k + co, american crafts | punch: martha stewart classic butterfly

wedding #1

2011-07-18T09:22:00.002-05:00

this summer, we've been invited to 3 weddings. the first wedding was at the end of june, in dauphin, so we decided to make a weekend of it. we stayed with some friends, and visited kent's grandpa.

on the way up, we drove past ochre river, the town where kent's mom grew up, and where, up until a few years ago, kent's grandparents lived. we had heard about all the flooding in that area, but still couldn't believe how high the water was. rainbow beach, where we camped 2 years ago was completely wiped out! kind of hard to tell from this photo, but the water is just inches from the road.
the wedding was on a farm just outside of dauphin. it was a beautiful day - if not crazy hot! but the rain and the mosquitoes held off until the very end, which was nice. it was also nice to just hang out with all our friends, which rarely seems to happen nowadays. having done kim and michael's wedding invites months ago, it was cool to see the whole day come together. they wanted the wedding to be simple and rustic, and it was just what they envisioned.

(sorry shannon, this was the best picture i could find of us girls!)

where do i begin?

2011-07-14T20:24:00.002-05:00

boy oh boy. do you know how much harder it is to get back into the blogging groove when you've seemingly stopped doing it for 3.5 weeks?! how did that happen?

i wish i could say that i had a reason for the long absence, but aside from a 5 day vacation, i don't really have one. summer, hot weather, lack of motivation and some painting have kept me busy these last few weeks.

as an attempt to get back into it, i'll leave you with this little preview of our new living room (and cute cat!), with a promise of more blog posts to follow:

scrappy tuesday.

2011-06-20T12:24:00.005-05:00

we've cooked up another challenge to keep you occupied in your spare time at the cabin, on vacation or while staying inside trying to beat the heat this summer! i have to be honest and say that because of our busy schedule, i ended up combining two of the challenges. the first was to use a number in your title, stitching and some mist. and the second was an inspiration challenge, based on this photo:
and here's my layout. in case you're wondering where #1-6, 9 +10 are, they're tucked in the chevron envelope, and the maya road envelope. :)

supplies used:
journaling tags: studio calico, cosmo cricket | ribbon: my mind's eye | alphas: sassafras, studio calico | embellies: maya road, studio calico, pebbles, divine twine | mist: studio calico lunchtray, october afternoon tin type, maya road pink and sunflower

another half marathon down.

2011-06-20T12:15:00.007-05:00

for kent, that is. definitely not me! yesterday, kent ran in the manitoba (half) marathon. remember last year's debacle when i almost missed seeing him?

this year was no exception. despite getting up early, and avoiding the running routes, i still had to sprint to catch him as he turned into the stadium. and i mean SPRINT! luckily i did, because he seriously crossed less than a minute later.

all that, and this is the picture i got. (thank you lady in the white!) not to mention kent didn't even hear us cheering for him. oh, the things you do for love! :)
his official time was 1:37:57, which he was happy with because he shaved 2 minutes off his fargo time, but he really wanted to beat 1:36. of course. because running 7:28 minute miles isn't good enough for him. he says his goal for next time is to be sub-1:35. that, or run the full marathon. my goal? just to be on time! hee hee.
great job hun! i'm so proud of you!

wordless wednesday.

2011-06-08T11:52:00.001-05:00

scrappy tuesday.

2011-06-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

another challenge up on the blog this week. this time we're challenging you to alter your alphas.

to be honest, i had no clue what to do, until i spotted these white foam thickers (one of my fave alphas, by the way) and wondered if it would hold up to mist. well, here's your answer:

pp: girls paperie, my mind's eye, oct aftn
alphas: american crafts, october afternoon
punches: ek success round binding edge, fiskars threading water, martha stewart monarch butterfly
rubons: studio calico
mist: studio calico white + apple jack mister huey, maya road pink

a few things to point out:

1) please ignore what looks like white fluff in the top right. it is white fluff. from max. he likes to trample all over my layouts the second i put them on the floor to photograph, and i of course didn't notice until i uploaded it last night to the shoppe gallery, at which point it was too late to take another picture.

2) that chevron envelope? i'm totally in love. i actually forgot i had it until i was flipping through my stash looking for a journaling card. now i have to go back and buy more!

3) so although the alphas stood up to mist, i don't think my sewing machine did. i was a little eager to finish off my layout, so i don't think i waited for it to fully dry before passing it through my sewing machine. so the stitching is completely wacky - it pretty much tore through the alphas. because i knew i used the last one for most of those letters, i decided to heck with it, and just glued them back into place. can you tell?

so you want to know what i do, do you?

2011-06-06T21:20:00.003-05:00

well then. now you know.

:)

it was a beautiful day.

2011-06-02T19:36:00.008-05:00

i grew up in a family full of u2 fans. my sister, my cousins, my friends. there was no escaping it. i knew the words inside and out to almost every song on zooropa, achtung baby and rattle and hum before i was even 10.

i went to my first u2 concert in 2001 in minneapolis, with the rest of my crazed family (can you find me?):
and in 2005, i was fortunate to see them again with kent and some friends (although we all sat separately - ha!).

so when u2 announced they were finally coming back to winnipeg again, i wasn't sure i wanted to go. but then i came to my senses, and realized that i would probably regret it if i didn't see them (knowing that i live about 5 mins from the stadium where they would be playing).

come concert day, i stood in the general admission line with my friend trish and her sister, jessica to make sure we got a decent spot on the floor.

and here's what we got:

picture taken by my friend jay, sitting in the upper deck. thanks jay!

spelling fail. thank goodness bono acknowledged it as soon as they came out.
hands down, the best moment of the show - bono and the edge singing stay (faraway, so close). one of my all-time faves! i recorded the song, but i'll spare you since i may have been singing along and may sound horrible and off-key since i barely had a voice left at that point

oh, and if you're wondering why kent is not in any of these pictures, it's because we spent the entire show apart. yep. he didn't want to wait in line with us, so we (stupidly) thought we could find each other later. what we didn't anticipate was a gridlock on the cell towers because of the sheer number of texts, phone calls and tweets going in and out of the stadium! we weren't able to get ahold of each other, save one short phone call that got cut off, so we couldn't find each other. thank goodness kent was able to find some of our friends on the field (that's winnipeg for you!), so at least he stood next to someone he knew throughout the concert.

yes, i'm alive.

2011-06-01T15:59:00.003-05:00

popping in with a very quick post just so ya'll know that i am indeed alive. and that this song has been on non-stop repeat since sunday's u2 concert. which, i will be back in the next day to recap. until then, enjoy!

marathon weekend. literally.

2011-05-25T08:00:00.003-05:00

over the weekend, we traveled down to the states so that kent could run the fargo half marathon. the forecast was sucky - 100% chance of rain, with a possibility of thundershowers. even suckier was that i wouldn't be going to fargo with him. instead, i stayed in grand forks with my sister and brother in law. so sadly, i have absolutely no pictures :( i guess it'll go hand in hand with my almost non-picture from last year's manitoba marathon.

the cool thing about the fargo marathon is that they have an online runner tracker, so i could watch his progress online. kent was really nervous since he had an ankle injury about a month ago, which impacted his training, and we had a winter that seemed to go on forever, which also affected his training. thank goodness we bought an elliptical in january, as he was at least able to train on that.

turns out he had nothing to worry about. he shaved 8 minutes off his time from last year's half!
not sure if you can see all the stats on the right, but he ran a 7:38 mile, which means he finished 283 out of 6157 people. and for his age category (30-34 males), he finished 45th! not bad considering he said he felt terrible and off his game the entire race.

i'm so proud of him! now here's hoping he beats this time at the manitoba marathon in a month. (and here's hoping i get a picture!)

scrappy tuesday.

2011-05-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

twine was the featured product for may's challenge over at mss. and if you don't have any, well you can buy some here. now come join us!

scrappy tuesday.

2011-05-17T14:23:00.003-05:00

it was leigh's turn to come up with a photo for us to be inspired by for this week's challenge. she loved this top from ruche, so there was our inspiration.
i was inspired by the layers of ruffles, which came through in the way i stacked my photos. there are some ruffles in there too (albeit, hand cut!).

pp: my mind's eye, sassafras, basic grey, crate, echo park, american crafts | alphas: american crafts | journaling stickers: october afternoon

i made this at super scrap day a few weekends ago, and used marcy's typewriter so it's a bit hard to read the journaling.

wedding shower.

2011-05-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

last weekend, i helped host a wedding shower for my friend kim. it was the first wedding shower i think i've ever helped plan, to be honest. it was also the first wedding shower i've been to in ages. it was at her cousin lisa joy's house, which is right near my house in wolseley. it's a beautiful neighbourhood filled with old houses and lots of character. i fell in love with her house immediately, as we seem to have the same taste in furniture. her house is what i want my grown up house to look like. is that weird?

anyway, lisa joy shot some photos of the night and i had to share. we had a martini themed shower with both a fruity martini and a dessert (chocolate) martini. we played games, drank a lot of martinis, ate some fabulous food and i met a lot of new people (i was one of the only people there who wasn't an old roommate of kim, a childhood friend, or family).

the bride to be

birthday cupcakes, since it was kim's birthday just a few days prior

the planning team, minus lisa joy, who's taking the picture

scrappy tuesday.

2011-05-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

hopefully you can see my text now! i still can't seem to figure out what's going on, but it seems like the text will show if it's after a picture. so for now, that's what i'll do until i can find out what's up.

anyway, it's time for another mss challenge! it's a triple threat challenge, so this month we chose a brad, ribbon + doodling. i have to tell you that none of those are things i use on a regular basis so i struggled at first. but once i got going, this was probably the quickest layout i've made in awhile. i love, love, love that black and white my mind's eye ribbon. i actually didn't want to use it on this page because i loved it so much. i guess i'll just have to buy more! i also love that crate paper. accent cuts normally sit in my stash for months and i never use it all up. this is an exception as i think i might have 2 'cards' left. crazy!

come join us, won't ya?

friday randoms. the food edition.

2011-05-06T08:00:00.001-05:00

pinterest is a wonderful and terrible thing all at the same time. great for inspiration and menu planning, bad for my hips. you see, i must be following all the foodies of the world or something, because every time i log on, i'm assulted with photos of amazingly delicious food. and of course, i just have to try all these recipes. so for today's edition of friday randoms, i thought i would share my 5 favourite recipes i've tried lately.

1. asian peanut noodles with chicken

i tried this last night and it was so good. so good. i will definitely be trying this again. very, very soon. warning! it is spicy, so not for those who like things mild.

2. carrot cake sandwich cookies with cream cheese frosting
i made these a few days ago for my small group. deadly. i've decided that the frosting will be my new carrot cake frosting, it's so delicious. be warned - the texture of the 'cookies' threw me off a bit because they're more cakey than cookie. but still so good!

3. baked penne with chicken, broccoli and smoked mozza
we made this this week and i was reminded how much i love it again. i think this would be great for potlucks. oh, and since i don't even know where you would find smoked mozza, and because i'm cheap, we just used regular mozza.

4. cheddar bay biscuits
otherwise known as the mouth-watering red lobster biscuits. i made these on a cold and wet day with butternut squash soup and it was perfect. these definitely have to be eaten as soon as they come out of the oven.

5. cinnamon roll sugar cookies
this was a hybrid of cinnamon bun and cookie. it was a bit tedious to make (well, for me. i hate rolling dough, so i had to beg kent to do it for me). and it made about a zillion cookies! i only baked half the dough, and froze the other half. but it was really good. i'll definitely make these again.

scrappy tuesday.

2011-05-03T10:08:00.002-05:00

another week, another challenge. this time it was my turn to come up with one. and seeing as how i just bought a bunch of new goodies at the shoppe, i figured i might as well put them to use! my challenge was to take 5 - make a layout from the last 5 products you purchased. and of course, basic supplies like cardstock, mist, etc. can also be used.

well, i cheated (ha!), and ended up using 7 products. i couldn't help it! :)

pp: my mind's eye, studio calico | alphas: sassafras (old) | embellies: cosmo cricket, studio calico | mist: pink maya mist, studio calico lunchtray mister huey

friday funnies.

2011-04-29T10:48:00.005-05:00

i think it's funny how this started off as a scrapbooking blog that never showed scrapbooking because i was too busy. now it's turned into a scrapbooking blog that never shows anything else because my life is boring. ha! no, just kidding. in truth, i've been really busy, but just too lazy to get on here and blog about it. but i hope to change that soon!

anyway, today is a quick post of a spoof that my church did of the horribly annoying yet catchy rebecca black 'friday' song. this was done easter sunday, and let me tell you, i laughed until it hurt. like, i died laughing. the even funnier part is that we went to the early service that morning, which is typically the service all the older people attend. so i'm not sure any of them got the reference, because none of them were laughing. meanwhile, here i am practically hyperventilating.

anyway, without further adieu, here you go!

Helmut & Fiona, Easter 2011 from ourTMPvids on Vimeo.

scrappy tuesday.

2011-04-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

this month's featured product challenge at mss was an easy one: use a border punch. i already use my threading water punch on almost every layout, so this time i tried to use one of my other punches instead. but in the end, my threading water punch still made an appearance :) I kept it really simple, and made the pocket for the journaling card myself.

new life. and new art.

2011-04-20T08:00:00.002-05:00

remember this shelf?
and this post?

i'm embarrassed to say that nothing has happened since. sure, the christmas decor is all gone, but up until a few days ago, the shelf was in disarray. it was terrible, but i was just never inspired to do anything with it. i think it's because i'm still waiting to paint this room, so i didn't want to put the effort in, if we were just going to take it down right away.

enter pinterest.

i saw sherry from young house love pin this print to one of her boards:

source: paintmeapicture

and a light went off in my head. hey - i can do that! so i immediately went into photoshop, and 10 minutes later, had this:

can you tell where that is? i'll give you one guess.

and that kick-started my whole let's-tackle-the-living-room project. so the shelf is done. i'll take a picture someday. now back to the rest of the room. now that dh is done school, i think it's more realistic for us to finally do this. i just have to pick some paint (which, knowing me, can take forever). find a tv wall mount. find fabric to recover the pillows. find a chair. find a new light fixture.

baby steps.

my goal is the end of the summer. because, let's be honest. we both have full time jobs, one of us is training for 2 marathons (hint: it isn't me), pets, volunteer commitments, 3 weddings and life to live. and even then i wonder if the end of summer is totally realistic. but i know we can do it!

....i hope.

scrappy tuesday.

2011-04-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

it's time for another challenge at mss!

jen chose this picture for us to use as inspiration.
i was inspired by the rainbow of colours and the circles. that was my original intent, anyway. after fiddling around for awhile, this is what i came up with:

pp: studio calico, cosmo cricket, echo park, my mind's eye | alphas: sassafras | journaling card: crate | punch: fiskars seal of approval

scrappy tuesday.

2011-04-12T08:00:00.001-05:00

it's another triple threat challenge over at mss this week. the products we chose this time were a journaling tag, stamp and polka dots. come join us!

pp: my mind's eye, sassafras, amy butler, crate | alphas: k + company | journaling tag: crate | stamps: my scrap shoppe | embellies: sassafras, cosmo cricket, october afternoon

have you met gus?

2011-04-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

this is just one of the office dogs at fusion, gus. i call him gus gus, like the little mouse in cinderella, who, as it turns out he was named after. he's my coworker (and fellow blogger) lenore's dog. gus is one of the happiest dogs in the office, and he greets me at the door with a smile (well, what i assume is a smile) and a tail wagging a million miles an hour. lenore said she thinks i'm his favourite. (and secretly, i think i am, too).

friday randoms. the movie edition.

2011-04-08T08:00:00.001-05:00

i've been on a movie kick lately. my downloader started working again, so i've been going a little nuts. here are the last 5 movies i've watched, in no particular order. and i fully admit they're not all oscar worthy, but when you don't pay for something, it makes it easier to sit through 2 hours of not so great acting.

1. the next three days
i admit that before this post, i had never heard of this movie. i rarely watch tv, and the tv i do watch is all on pvr, so i never see commercials. ironic that the girl who works at an advertising agency doesn't watch advertisements. ha! anyway, although parts of it were slow, it was really good.

2. easy a

a movie i just randomly downloaded because it looked like cute and light hearted. and okay, maybe because penn badgley was in it. maybe. and it wasn't that bad! emma stone is totally adorable. a pleasant surprise after all.

3. the back-up plan
even though i heard this movie was terrible, i went for it anyway. i honestly think i have very low standards when it comes to movies involving cute men and romantic, totally far-fetched storylines. but holy wowza - alex o'loughlin? where have you been all my life? his voice alone makes me swoon. is that weird?

4. life as we know it
complete surprise here. i was expecting the same old gushy romantic storyline, but this was more than that. i really liked it.

5. she's out of my league
this made me laugh. and although i couldn't quite get over alice eve + skinny little jay baruchel together, it was a cute movie.

have you watched any good movies lately? anything you recommend? anything i should steer clear of?

scrappy tuesday.

2011-04-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

leigh's challenge this week at mss was to frame it - create your own frame(s) with your supplies, use products that were designed to be used as frames, create a piece of art and frame it for your home - you get the point.

i admit that this challenge stumped me at first, but when i started going through my stash i came across a super old pack of sassafras chipboard frames and that helped get me going. and then leigh also noticed that i framed my entire layout with the strips of pp. bonus! oh, and if this looks familiar, its because i ripped off lisa. and by ripped off, i mean flattered her by lifting her layout. and i swear, the cupcake picture was a mere coincidence.

pp: echo park, basic grey, october afternoon | alphas: k + co | frame: sassafras (covered in basic grey pp) | journaling tags: making memories (?), october afternoon | mists: studio calico white + lunchtray, maya pink + sunflower

remember to link your layouts here if you've joined us!

scrappy wednesday.

2011-03-30T17:33:00.003-05:00

i just realized that i never blogged about this week's challenge at mss. and it's an easy one, so hope you take part!

this week's challenge is a featured product challenge, and the product marcy chose was mists. i know i have a growing collection of these on hand, and i'm sure you do too, so this one shouldn't be hard.
i actually made my layout while at the women's retreat about a month ago. i forgot my 'misting box' (an old studio calico shipping box) at home, so i had to improvise and mist over the garbage can. i must have looked completely ridiculous to anyone watching.

pp: coredinations, crate, basic grey, amy butler, echo park | mists: studio calico white + lunchtray mister huey, maya road sunflower + pink | punch: martha stewart classic butterfly | shipping tags: staples | alphas: american crafts | embellies: pebbles + studio calico

i was inspired by this layout from sasha farina. i actually wish i had misted a bit more so the colour was more evident, but i'm happy overall. come and join us by linking your layouts here!

friday randoms.

2011-03-25T18:28:00.005-05:00

1. my last women's volleyball game of the season was last night. sad to see it end. had such a great season with these girls. just wished we ended on a winning note! afterwards, we sat around and ate cupcakes. yes, i made and brought chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes with buttercream icing to a volleyball game and we ate them, at 11:00 pm in our jerseys, sitting shoeless on the gym floor. we're ridiculous.

2. looking forward to a semi-quiet weekend. planning on finishing up the bridal shower invites i made the other night. also planning on hitting up the parade of homes at some point. no, we're not moving. i'm just a total house junkie.

3. wore my new shoes today for the second time and yeah, they still KILL my feet. :(

4. got my stella + dot jewellery in today! i hosted a party at work last week and got these lovely goodies with my hostess benefits:

30" silver chain, silver leaf, silver 'f' initial, topaz/citrine birthstone (already received as a christmas present with an 18" chain.)

delicate drop earrings

5. made this pizza last weekend for a potluck. they were delicious! it's not the best picture, but trust me when i say it was amazing. have you tried any new recipes lately?

happy friday!

cupcake love.

2011-03-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

i've mentioned we love our birthday cakes over at work, haven't i? this past friday was dave's birthday. as he's the owner of fusion, we felt we could splurge a bit and go a little over our budget and buy some cake-ology cupcakes. they're right down the street from us, so we thought we should get to know our neighbours.

and what a good choice. it was delish, not to mention super cute. hips, beware!

pics courtesy of lenore's iphone and the hipstamatic app!

scrappy tuesday.

2011-03-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

this week's challenge is an inspiration one. marcy posted this picture for us to be inspired by. not only did i love the colour scheme, but i was drawn to the handwritten love and the wooden planks behind it.

oddly enough when it came to picking out paper, i realized i didn't have much grey at all, and most of the yellow paper i had was of the same pattern and tone, which would have created a very boring layout. so instead i just decided to use the feel of the wood planks and the yellow title. i put my journaling in between the strips of pp. this is what i came up with:

pp: amy butler, crate | punch: martha stewart classic butterfly | mist: studio calico white mister huey | embellies: american crafts, maya road

i bought that amy butler paper pack over a year ago and after a few months decided i was done with it and sold it to marcy at the mss garage sale, not before tearing out a sheet or two of each design. now, i'm kicking myself as i find myself reaching for it over and over lately. have you ever done that?

anyway, if you want to participate in this challenge, or any of the other challenges, feel free to post your layouts in the corresponding thread here. can't wait to see what you make!

girls weekend.

2011-03-21T18:08:00.001-05:00

i just realized i never did tell you about our girls weekend back in february.

my mom, sister, aunt, 2 cousins and i headed off to grand forks and fargo for some shopping during louis riel weekend. it was actually the first trip we ever took together, oddly enough. i don't have many pictures from that weekend as we were too busy power shopping and eating, but i have to share this gem of a find with you.

we stumbled upon these shoes at burlington coat factory sitting in the clearance section, although i can't imagine why ;) we just HAD to stop and take pictures and model these, ahem, amazing shoes. although, should they just be called shoes if they have jeans attached? not sure.

scrappy tuesday.

2011-03-15T08:00:00.002-05:00

this week's challenge over at mss is a triple threat. the dt each picked out one supply for you to use on your layout. the supplies we chose this month were a heart, felt and a border punch. see if you can spy them on my layout (based off a studio calico sketch) here:

pp: echo park, studio calico, american crafts, oct aftn, crate |alphas: basic grey and american crafts | embellishments: marcy penner (heart), pebbles (felt flower), geralyn sy (journaling tag), pink paislee (fabric strip) | punch:fiskars threading water

lent.

2011-03-09T21:29:00.002-06:00

i always forget when it's time for lent. feels like it just sneaks up on you every year. and although i don't participate, dh always does. and every year it's pretty much the same thing - sweets. or this year:

yep, that's what i found when i opened the cupboard late last night. ha!

scrappy tuesday.

2011-03-08T08:00:00.001-06:00

march is the start of some awesome changes over at my scrap shoppe! every monday, we'll feature a challenge on the blog. there will also be member highlights, some tutorials and leigh will continue doing her friday sketches. hopefully you'll enjoy these new blog topics. for myself, the weekly challenges are great as they kick my butt into scrapping more often. remember my layout a week goal? well maybe now i'll actually do it!

the first challenge was simple - use a number for a title. here's my take on it:

pp: cosmo, studio calico, sassafras, coredinations, basic grey, my mind's eye | alphas: sassafras, studio calico noah stamps | embellishments: studio calico, the girls paperie | twine: martha stewart | punches: fiskars threading water + seal of approval

shoes, and more shoes.

2011-02-26T14:17:00.003-06:00

last night i went to see no strings attached with the girls. i can't even remember the last time i went to the movie theatre! kent and i rarely ever see movies in the theatre, so it was a treat to go out with the girls.

afterwards, my sister and i weren't ready to go home and i had to buy pecans for a dessert i'm making sunday so we ended up at superstore at 10 pm. totally lame, i know. but look what i came across:

these adorable (and real leather!) black flats were only $4.94! i've been looking for new flats for a long time now and these were perfect.

and of course, right next to them my sister spotted these adorable heels.
now, i have to say that i wasn't going to get them, but they were so cute and my sister talked me into them. oh, and they were only $9.94!

scrappy tuesday. the winners edition.

2011-02-22T17:46:00.006-06:00

well, this week is off to a good start. not only did i win a free coffee (which really means hot chocolate since i don't drink coffee), but a few weeks ago i also won a giveaway from geralyn's blog. she made these awesome tags using the much coveted real estate punch as inspiration and generously gave away some sets the other week.

i was lucky enough to have won a pack and they came in the mail today. yippee!

can't wait to use these, although i am tempted to hoard them because they're so pretty. i think i might save at least one to use as a template since i was one of the ones who wasn't able to snag this punch before it sold out over at studio calico. even with mine and marcy's tag team efforts. oh well. thanks, geralyn!

winner!

2011-02-21T18:51:00.003-06:00

happy louis riel day, my manitoba friends! i had grand plans for today, which included painting our living room, but was so exhausted from our girls road trip (more on that later) that i took it easy instead.

one of the things we did do today was hit up tims, as today was the start of roll up the rim madness! and wouldn't you know....

thinking i should quit now while i'm ahead....lol!

scrappy tuesday.

2011-02-15T08:00:00.001-06:00

it's that time again. CHA time! we've now seen all the new releases from each manufacturer, and below are some of my favourites.

crate
once again, crate didn't disappoint this release. i loved every single one of their releases.

cosmo cricket
while i can't say i was in LOVE with all of their releases, there were some cute products i spotted in each.

my mind's eye
i loved their stella + rose line. love, love, love! bonus - some of their new releases should be in the shoppe this week!

pink paislee/collage press
so excited to see collage press team up with pink paislee for their first release.

so tell me - what lines are you looking forward to getting your hands on?

happy birthday, little brother.

2011-02-14T08:00:00.004-06:00

17 years ago today, my little brother was born.

i remember the day we found out my parents told us they were having a baby. i was 10. my sister was 17. we were sitting around the table waiting to eat dinner and dad told us they had some news to share after we prayed. we knew they had been at the doctors that day, so i kept thinking the worst throughout that prayer. afterwards, when they said they were going to have a baby, i think my sister and i looked at each other in shock, laughed, and then said "ewwww...". yeah, we're such loving children.

fast forward 6.5 months later to valentines day. my mom had been having complications with her pregnancy and had been in the hospital for the past month, on forced bed rest. i remember coming home from school that day, sitting at the dining room table and getting the call from my dad that they had induced my mom because she went into pre-eclampsia. a few hours later, my brother was born - completely healthy - weighing only 3 lbs.

at 10, i had no idea the severity of everything surrounding my mom's health and my brother's birth. but now, 17 years later, i finally understand. my brother's birth was a miracle. for my mom to have given birth to a completely healthy baby, at 43, with high blood pressure, hypertension and experiencing several miscarriages previously is amazing.

so happy birthday, little brother. you made me a big sister. and you're a pretty good kid, if i do say so myself.

friday randoms.

2011-02-11T13:10:00.001-06:00

1. my sister is arriving tonight and will be here for 17 days. yay! funny to think that up until 2 months ago, i had only seen her for 3 days in the last 5 years.

2. dreaming of moving to san francisco for a year. i don't think i could actually do it, but i know kent could in a heartbeat. we looked at how much it would cost to rent apartments in the bay area tonight and i thought for a second that maybe, just maybe, we could actually do it. where would you move if you had the chance?
3. been purging scrap supplies for a few days now and have amassed two pizza boxes full. one is full of pp, the other of alphas + embellishments. if you come to ssd, you'll have a chance to buy some of it!
4. i just found out yesterday that there's now a forever21 in fargo. i am so beyond excited, it's not even funny. wallet, beware!

5. celebrating valentines day by going out for breakfast with kent. we're not big on the holiday, and we never go out to eat, so it'll be a nice way to celebrate. do you have any big plans for valentines day?

happy friday, my friends!

accidental learning + serious proofreading.

2011-02-10T20:38:00.003-06:00

most of you know that kent went back to school in the fall to pursue a degree in education. aside from the obvious changes to our house - kent constantly studying, textbooks littered throughout the house, an abundance of scrapbooking time - there are other side effects of him going to school.

as his official proofreader, i have to read every paper he writes. and while it is time consuming, and sometimes i want to scream, "i've already done this!", i've realized that i'm also learning. for example, i can now tell you what outside factors led to the creation of the christian faith as we know it today, or what the 'romantics' are (hint: it has nothing to do with love). i can even tell you about confirmation bias and adolescent growth spurts. all very, very relevant and much discussed topics, i tell ya. but honestly, i kind of like it. even though i'm only getting a very condensed, coles notes version of things, i'd like to think it's expanding my mind.

however, being his proofreader does not come without some other side effects. as part of my job at fusion, i'm in the in-house proofreader. and as dorky as it is, i take great pride in it. i've always been one to cringe when i see a spelling mistake, and i can notice a double vs. single space a mile away. at other jobs, i would have been known as the grammar nazi, but at fusion it's par for the course. so when kent came home the other day and showed me this, i very nearly had a mild heart attack:

i seriously almost cried. how did i not notice those spelling mistakes, or that misuse of the word 'there'? that's when i realized - the poor guy accidentally printed the pre-flo-hacking-his-paper-to-death-version. yikes. and because kent is such a great student, he went to talk to the prof about his mark (something i would never have done in my university days). she was great about the whole thing and told him that his paper was actually very well written but she couldn't give him a higher mark because of all the grammatical errors. she also offered to read over his draft for the next essay. so, below is the email kent wrote, with his rough draft attached. i thought it was really sweet:

So I showed my wife my last essay and she was very shocked. The reason is that she is my proofreader and she takes it very seriously, plus, it's her job. She works for a marketing agency and she does all the proofreading for the company. Anyway, she was in total disbelief that she could have missed so many mistakes so we looked into it. It seems what happened was that I printed and handed in the rough draft, not the finished (AND PROOFREAD) draft. Oh well, **** happens... a tough lesson to learn though.

and yes, my husband who goes to a mennonite university just swore in an email to his prof. (i censored it for this post, but i'm sure you can figure it out) according to him, she's a cool prof and swears herself, so he thought it was fine. and according to him, that word must not be a swear in the mennonite dictionary because it's the only swear we've heard our mennonite friends use liberally and frequently. hee!

anyway, tell me - what have you learned recently? are you as anal about grammar as i am?

in need of a change.

2011-02-08T12:39:00.006-06:00

remember my christmas wall? i'm ashamed to admit that although i've taken all the christmassy decor away, i haven't put back all the pictures that used to be there. some have been repurposed in our guest room and some i'm just not sure i want to put back up.

i think part of the reason is because i'm so DONE with our green walls. when we first moved in, i envisioned green walls, brown couches and a white shag rug. and we've had it ever since. i should have known better. i was the kid who moved her bedroom furniture around every few months because i got bored. i should have known i would feel the same way about decorating my own house. unfortunately, it's just not that easy to switch up decor when your wall is anything but a neutral colour.

i've already changed the bathroom from sky blue (which was there when we moved in) to a grey. the guest room is the same grey. are you sensing a pattern here? a few months back i went and got a bunch of grey swatches. now i think we're actually going to do it. reading week is coming up for dh and he doesn't have a ton of homework to do that week. it's also a long weekend for me, so i think we'll try doing it then.

i'm loving this grey from house*tweaking:
our kitchen cabinets are the same style, and we also have dark grey countertops. currently, we have no backsplash as we've been eyeing something along these lines since before we started our reno. problem is, they were way out of our budget (it would cost almost $500 just for backsplash!). and now that i think about it, perhaps sticking with a neutral is a better option. i would really love to go with subway tiles like this:

image from sunset

but am worried that against our slightly off-white cabinets they would look awful. what do you think?

anyway, i'm totally off topic. what were we talking about?

oh yeah, photo wall. i'm tired of staring at a half done wall. i always cringe when company comes over because they must be like "uh, what is this mess?" especially my small group, that's over every week. i'm hoping that paint will be the kick in the butt i need to finish that wall.

although, because i'm a girl, new paint will mean new throw pillows and frames and pictures and a chair, and backsplash for the kitchen, and a wall mount for our tv, and the list goes on.....

but for now, just new paint will do. mama needs change.

scrappy tuesday.

2011-02-08T08:00:00.001-06:00

quick page share from this weekend's online crop over at mss:

supplies: cardstock - coredinations stormy grey | pp: cosmo cricket, studio calico, american crafts, amy butler, pebbles, october afternoon 1 + 2| alphas: sassafras, american crafts, studio calico | rub on: studio calico | label: american crafts | frame: ki memories | stamp: date stamp | mist: studio calico white mister huey, maya road turquoise, pink + sunflower | punches: martha stewart classic butterfly + fiskars threading water

birthdays at fusion.

2011-02-02T08:00:00.001-06:00

birthdays at fusion = cake. i'm not going to lie, it's one of the better things about working there. last friday, it was lenore's birthday, and she requested angel food cake, strawberries + whipped cream.

lenore's cute little dog, gus

what gets better than summer food on a day like this?

scrappy tuesday.

2011-02-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

i showed you the sneaks yesterday, now here are the full layouts i made with this month's mss kit. i have to be honest and say that the kit was a little out of my comfort zone, but i think these are two of my most favourite layouts ever. i channeled my inner lisa (and by 'channel' i mean scraplifted).

get your kit in store or online and join us at this weekend's online crop!

for this layout, i thought it would be fun to include the recipe for the cheesecake. so i wrote it on the shipping tag, and then turned the journaling card into a little pocket by sewing two of the sides, so i could slip the tag into it.

supplies used: february kit | alphas: studio calico | tag: staples | twine: martha stewart | mist: maya road charcoal + pink, studio calico lunchtray mister huey

supplies used: february kit | alphas: basic grey | stamp: date stamp | punch: martha stewart classic butterfly (3 in 1 and regular)

sneaks.

2011-01-31T20:07:00.003-06:00

quick post just to share some sneaks of the february mss kit. i've only made two layouts with this kit, but am hoping that i can make more during this weekend's online crop.

friday randoms. the sunday edition.

2011-01-23T20:20:00.002-06:00

i kid you not when i say i had this post written 5 days ago but for some reason just never hit post. hence why my friday randoms are being posted on a sunday!

1. friday i went out with my cousins to a ceramic studio called brushfire. i think the last time we went was 11 years ago and i made my mom a mug for mother's day. i kid you not when i say it looked like a 5 year old made it, so i'm hope my painting skills have improved since then. i doubt kent would let me keep the mug in our cupboards, the same way my mom has! luckily for him, i didn't make a mug, but a miso soup bowl. what the heck is that, you ask? well, i think it has something to do with sushi, but that's not what i have planned for it. it's going to be a lovely paperclip holder. yeah, you heard that right. me + organization + office supplies + the ability to personalize = pure bliss. you'll have to wait to see the finished product in 7 days though. i know, try and contain your disappointment.

2. definitely going through the winter blahs here. it's been cold, cold, cold the entire week and all i want to do is sit at home, curled under a blanket and watch a movie. problem is, there really aren't many good movies out right now. any suggestions?

3. being in the winter slump also means being in a scrapbooking funk, even though i (usually) have a ton of time on my hands. it also makes me want to bake a lot. sitting on couch + eating sweets = not a good combination. that being said, who has a good recipe to share with me?

4. is anyone else watching american idol? i happened to catch the season premiere and i'm thinking that as crazy as steven tyler is, i'm kind of liking the new judges. we'll see how long i stick with it though, i usually only watch until hollywood week is over.

5. after 28 years, i've finally realized that i actually do like bananas. or maybe it's just been that after 4 years of living with kent and seeing him eat those things on a daily basis with peanut butter that i finally caved. but i still don't like pickles. yuck.

a hockey christmas.

2011-01-10T21:16:00.005-06:00

christmas day was very low key in the ozirney family. only one of kent's siblings was in town, and 2/3 kids were sick. we're talking, not even excited about opening presents sick. yes, it was that bad. so when all kent's siblings came into town after christmas, it was nice to have the entire family (relatively) disease free (minus me, who of course came down with a cold the day before). and good timing - kent's parents had rented the local rink for us to go skating that afternoon.

i have to say, having not skated for roughly 10 years i was a little nervous. i was on borrowed skates, and knew that i probably would wipe out a few times, and curse the skates after 30 minutes for killing my feet and ankles. well, i was surprised when not only did i NOT fall down, but i managed to keep my skates on for the entire 90 minutes. go me!

(can i just say that kent asked me the day before if i would need a helmet while skating. what am i, 5?! he said he was just worried about my well-being. pffffft.)

me with my (hopefully) soon to be sister-in-law, zoe

kent!

our NHL hopeful, evan. he's a pretty happy go lucky kid, but get him on the ice and he's all business.

friday randoms.

2011-01-07T20:46:00.003-06:00

1. happy ukrainian thanksgiving! i can't say we did anything special to mark this day, although we did have meat for dinner, which is a terrible faux-pas. in our defence, there's really only about 1/4 ukrainian in this house. ha!

2. we're almost done the bathroom reno. just one more coat of paint and another panel of wainscotting, all of which should be done by the end of the weekend. it looks SO much better! i'll post pics as soon as it's all back together.

3. hoping to get my scrap on this weekend. i still have my coworker's christmas present to finish (and start....). and we have an online crop happening this weekend over at mss. come and join us! i'll be posting more challenges tomorrow, hopefully.

4. obsessed with modern family lately. started watching it online and am almost caught up. what day is it actually on, anyway?

5. speaking of watching things online, it has now taken me close to 2 hrs to watch a movie that's only 1 hr and 45 mins online and i still have 20 mins to go because it keeps loading. argh! seriously, i should have just spent the $5 and rented it.

scrappy tuesday.

2011-01-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

time to share my january mss kit layouts!

it took me awhile to get working with this kit. i think i made one layout when i first got it, and then it sat around over the holidays. finally i managed to get the last 3 done yesterday.

the very first layout i made. i added in a doily and used a martha stewart butterfly punch. i debated about misting, then decided against. now i wish i had! oh well.

this layout took the longest. i pushed paper around for a good 3 hours. then i realized it was because the colours in the picture just didn't match any of the paper. i didn't want to turn them black and white since the whole topic of the layout was about our christmas decor colours. so that's when i decided to hide them all in an envelope. after that, it all came together.

i very rarely fill up an entire page, but i LOVED the crate pp in this kit! and those ki scribbles? i love them so much i'm hoarding them (along with this ki calendar paper that also came in the kit).

and my last layout. this came together in 20 mins, which is so rare for me! but i loved how it turned out. i used white mister huey and turquoise maya mist along with the kit.

hello, 2011.

2011-01-03T17:38:00.002-06:00

{image from inkandiron}

last year seemed to pass by in a blur.

it was my first full year working at fusion.
i flew to edmonton to reconcile things with my sister after 5 years.
family from california and bc came to visit.
max came into our family.
we threw my mom a surprise 60th birthday.
we celebrated our 4th anniversary in san francisco.
kent went back to school.
the never ending house projects.
kent turned 30.
my sister came home for christmas for the first time in years.

it was a year full of change. it wasn't easy. but good things are never easy at first. 2010 was like the building block for this family. let's hope 2011 will bring some great things.

i'm hoping to add wainscotting to the bathroom (which is actually already underway!) and repaint the living room and kitchen.
i'm hoping to take more pictures!
i'm hoping to scrap more. dare i say, a layout a week?
i'm hoping for a new sister-in-law (and a subsequent wedding in vancouver!)
i'm hoping our little puppy calms down.
i'm hoping for a minneapolis trip.
i'm hoping the bombers don't suck this year because i miss going to football games.

here's to 2011!

top ten layouts of 2010.

2011-01-01T12:09:00.004-06:00

okay, to be completely honest, not sure what happened in 2010, but it looks like i barely scrapbooked. anyway, here are my top ten layouts of the year (in no particular order):

the wreath.

2010-12-20T23:05:00.007-06:00

as mentioned in yesterday’s post, i thought i would share how i made the yarn ball wreath in my living room. of course, i wasn’t thinking when i was making it that i would want to do this, so i have no ‘in progress’ shots. instead, i’ve ripped some off the internet. ha!

the original inspiration for this came from this magazine, that marcy posted on her blog a few months back. when i saw it, i fell in love, but being the procrastinator that i am, only decided 2 weeks ago that i would tackle it. i’m overly ambitious, have i mentioned that before?

supplies:

18” wire wreath form
4 colours of yarn – my colours were pulled from this echo park paper
various sizes of ornaments
glue gun
aluminum foil (i bought a 300’ roll and probably had about 1/3 of the roll left) or various sizes of styrofoam balls
1 screw or nail
optional: needle

directions:
1) rip off various lengths of aluminum foil and scrunch into balls. i probably made 3 different sizes – large (around 2.5”), medium (2”) and small (1.5”). for this size of wreath, i would make 10-15 of each size. you can always make more later, as you build the wreath. if you’re choosing to use styrofoam balls, you can skip this step.

(image from keep'n the sunny side)

2) wind yarn around each ball, changing directions as you go, to make it look like an actual ball of yarn. initially, i did this without a glue gun, and just tucked the ends under. but after i got a glue gun, i decided to glue the ends since a few of them were unraveling. repeat until all your balls are wrapped.

(image from kristin nicholas)

3) here’s the trial and error part. i first started by laying the wreath form so that the curve/inset is face up. i put the largest sized ball in the inset and fastened it to the form by using a needle + extra yarn. i then built up that area, using various sizes of balls and ornaments, ensuring the form was completely covered, fastening each to the form using a needle + yarn. BAD idea. it took me nearly an hour to do 1/10 of the form.

that’s when i caved and got a glue gun. hallelujah!

so then, i still fastened the largest ball to the form with a needle + yarn, but used the glue gun to adhere everything else. (i figured if i wanted to redo this next year, at least i could reuse the form.) when using the glue gun, hold in place for roughly 10-15 seconds to ensure it actually stays.

(image from keep'n the sunny side)

4) keep going until you’ve completely covered the form. you’ll notice as you’re working that you’ll probably need to make some extra yarn balls to cover the smaller areas, which is what happened to me.

5) use a screw or a nail to hang in desired spot!

cost:

18” wire wreath form - $2.50 with a 50% michaels coupon
yarn - $2.50 each with a 50% michaels coupon (yes, dh and i went back twice so i could get the discount!)
ornaments – already on hand from previous years, but they were from the $1 and i probably used about 2 boxes of the larger balls and 1 box of the smaller ones
glue gun + glue sticks - $3.99 for the glue gun and $1.75 for the glue sticks from walmart
aluminum foil - $3 from walmart
TOTAL = $21.24

not bad, considering a premade ‘normal’ wreath costs around $20 and this is prettier! ha. and if you’re wondering why i chose to use aluminum foil instead of styrofoam balls, it’s because those things are dang expensive! even at the dollar store, it was 6 for $1, which doesn’t seem bad, but when you consider that i probably used at least 60 balls in the end, aluminum becomes a much cheaper option. and really, making all those balls was pretty easy – i did it while catching up on my tv!

all in all, it took me about 3 nights to make it all - 1 night to roll all the balls, and 2 nights to build it. although i'm sure if i had that glue gun from the get go, i would have been able to make it in 1 night. definitely not that hard to make!

what i've been doing.

2010-12-19T15:08:00.006-06:00

how it it already december 19?! i feel like this month is just flying by! thankfully, i was done all my christmas shopping quite awhile ago, so i don't feel that stressed.

i thought i would share what i've been working on the last few days - decorating! without a tree, i really wanted to find a way to make this house feel christmassy. i knew i wanted to make a yarn ball wreath, after seeing it posted on marcy's blog. the colours for the wreath, and the entire colour scheme was based off of this echo park paper, which i used for gift tags. it's very non-traditional, but i kind of like it. i decided to swap out the pictures on our picture wall and use scrapbooking paper to fill the frames instead. i wanted to keep it simple, and by using what i already had, i was able to do it cheap as well!

here's a before picture:
and the after:
i plan on posting how i made the wreath tomorrow, so watch for that.

and, you've already seen my mantel + wrapping here, but since then we decided to add a garland and some lights to dress it up a little more. i love christmas lights, and only wish we had done this sooner. there's nothing better than watching tv with these on.
so there you have it. our pastel, candy coloured christmas house!

scrappy tuesday.

2010-12-06T16:50:00.004-06:00

feels like forever since i posted one of these. i got my scrap on on sunday and blitzed all my christmas tags and 50% of my wrapping (i ran out of ribbon!).

i LOVE this christmas paper from echo park. mainly because it doesn't look like christmas paper. i am a fan of traditional red and green, but something about this is just so fun. i took regular shipping tags, used my fiskars threading water punch and applejack mister huey. it was looking a little plain, and that's when i remembered i had these foam snowflakes kicking around. those snowflakes were probably the best $5 i ever spent! i like how it matches the silver in the ribbon and just kicks it up a notch.
and because we're still on the fence about whether or not to put up a tree, these are all sitting on the mantel. which i actually don't mind. :)
what are you wrapping your presents in this year? matching paper? all different? gift bags?

i'm still alive.

2010-11-29T11:14:00.004-06:00

image from TwoPoodlePrints

remember this list? well, after my last post i ate some cookies, had a good cry and then moved on. so now my list looks like this:

- ~~layouts with the december kit~~
- save the date and wedding invitations for a friend
- ~~christmas shopping~~ (only 2 presents left!)
- coworker's homemade present
- ~~make christmas cards~~ (just decided to heck with it and am not making any!)
- ~~make christmas party invitations~~ (same goes for this. although i detest them, this might just be a facebook invite)
- finish up guestroom
- buy a new tree and all new christmas decorations
- put up said tree

i'm slowly making headway on the guestroom. i primed and put a first coat of paint on the furniture over the weekend. i need kent's help to finish up the dresser, but i put a final coat of paint on the chair tonight. once kent is done his last paper on wednesday, he's going full force on this room, so i'm hoping that within 2 weeks it'll all be done. heading down to grand forks this weekend and crossing my fingers that target has what i want. i have a long list of things that i would like because they're so much cheaper down there. wish me luck!

also, hoping that i get my package from mss in the next few days so i can start my coworker's present. i have it all figured out (in my head!) so hopefully it will go smoothly. my goal is to start and finish it in one day, although that entails blocking off an entire day and i'm not sure any of those exist in the near future :)

and i got some great deals when christmas shopping, especially on my brother's present. thank you, cyber monday. nothing like a little retail therapy to help cheer you up. even if it isn't for you :)

so for right now i'm okay. if you've noticed, i am still trying to ignore the whole wedding invite thing, but my coworker/graphic designer friend offered to help after i had a breakdown in front of her, so let's hope that offer still stands. otherwise i don't know what i'm going to do!

how is your christmas to-do list coming? have you finished your shopping?

drowning.

2010-11-23T16:49:00.005-06:00

today i hit my breaking point.

i'm drowning under a sea of things to do in the next month:
- layouts with the december kit
- save the date and wedding invitations for a friend
- christmas shopping
- coworker's homemade present
- make christmas cards
- make christmas party invitations
- finish up guestroom
- buy a new tree and all new christmas decorations
- put up said tree

add:
- a husband who's in school and constantly busy with homework and studying
- a dog who just got neutered
- a full time job
- cooking
- two volleyball teams
- small group

and you get me. a frustrated, grumpy and tired person. i knew it was bad when i had a meltdown and cried trying to convince max to get into his crate so i could go to work this morning. normally i'm not this bad at this time of the year. i don't know what's up this year. i have zero motivation to do anything. anything. so i make like a turtle, stick my head inside my shell and walk away instead, hoping it'll all be gone by the time i poke my head out again. but it's not. and all i've done is just wasted a few more days.

sigh.
so forgive me if i'm not around the next few weeks. i'm (hopefully) busy.....making things. being crafty. being happy. and just enjoying what is otherwise my favourite time of the year. actually, maybe this is more apropos?

friday randoms.

2010-11-19T11:16:00.007-06:00

sorry for the lack of posts. i really do mean to update it more than once a week, but sometimes that just seems impossible.

1. it's kent's 30th birthday today! happy birthday to a wonderful, funny, loving, supportive, hard working husband. and for all of you keeping track out there, here's how the moustache is progressing:
2. this little boy got neutered yesterday. he was miserable when he came home. i don't blame him, i would be too if i had to walk around with this:
it it mean to say that we keep laughing every time he bangs into something? today he's a lot better. his eyes are bright, and he's chasing the cats. (that's when i knew he was feeling better.)

3. i took the day off today so i could get ready for the party we're hosting tomorrow for kent. good timing, since yesterday mother nature decided to bestow us with lots and lots of snow last night. glad i can stay home today instead of trying to get to work in this!

4. went for lunch today at olive garden with some old coworkers. fun times, except the part where we got nothing we ordered, so the server brought us out whatever he wanted, instead.

5. and for those of you wondering what i got kent for his birthday, it was a guitar. (not the one pictured below, i borrowed my brother's guitar hero guitar as a prop). and well, technically, i just saved up a ton of cash so he could buy the guitar himself. he was actually speechless. and then said that there was no way he could top this gift for my 30th, but he had 2 years to try and figure it out, lol.
happy weekend, friends!

friday randoms. the 28 edition.

2010-11-11T20:57:00.005-06:00

it was my birthday on wednesday. i turned 28, although i had many a people wishing me a happy 29th birthday (gasp!). odd, considering just a few months ago, i had someone ask me what i was taking in school. uh....

anyway, today's friday randoms is a documentation of that day in pictures. although okay, i forgot my camera for the best part, but you'll get the point.

1. my day started off with getting these delivered to my work. i was so surprised!

2. then we had this yummy cake at work. notice the children's writing on it? yeah.
3. i came home to find these waiting for me.

4. and 20 minutes later, in walked kent with these. well, they didn't look like this exactly. this is after leaving them unattended for a few hours with a flower munching cat named george. groan.

5. we ended the day with a potluck with our small group, where i forgot to bring my camera. let's just say it involved brie, a soup off, a rousing game of marry, date or dump and a startling and disturbing revelation from a friend regarding mary poppins. enough said.

movember.

2010-11-04T11:25:00.003-05:00

i woke up the other morning to find this:

what was once previously a beard, had turned into a mustache overnight. and i had been wondering why he was growing a beard....sneaky!! i've officially said no pictures until december, although i did let him take this one. purely for scrapbooking reasons :)

anyone else's husband partaking in this dreadful event this month?

hello, november.

2010-11-02T18:10:00.006-05:00

image from ohsobeautifulpaper

i love november.

and not just because it's my birthday month.
or dh's birthday month.
or practically half my family and friends' birthday months.
or because it's socially acceptable to start humming christmas carols and talk about christmas.
or because that dreadful celebration called halloween is finally over and i get to stop answering questions about what i'm going to dress up as because i hate the darn day.
or because it means one month until christmas.

no, i just love november. it's a month of anticipation. kind of like september. (which i love too, by the way). it's a crazy month full of celebrations, food, presents and laughter. it's also a month full of self-imposed stress, but hey, i don't mind it.

i'm so looking forward to hosting kent's big 30th birthday, seeing the look on his face when he opens up his present (which, i will reveal after the day, by the way!), crafting like mad, playing in a volleyball tournament for the first time in a long time, and just being with family and friends and laughing.

in a few weeks i'll doubtedly be tired, grouchy, a year older and wanting it to be december already, but right now i'm saying, november, bring it on. and oh, it wouldn't be that bad if it stayed 14C like it is today :)

the girls at shawna's birthday a few weekends ago

friday randoms.

2010-10-29T12:43:00.003-05:00

been feeling very anxious and a tad bit stressed out lately. work is crazy busy as we're knee deep in christmas production for our clients. life is busy with two volleyball teams, max's obedience training, small group, scrapbooking deadlines and volunteer commitments. add to that the fact that a friend of mine asked me to help make her save the date + wedding invites, christmas season is upon us which means making christmas cards and our annual christmas party invites as well as my homemade work gift and kent's birthday is only three weeks away. phew.

i have to remember that all this is self-imposed and that i actually like doing all these things. oh, and that saying no every once in awhile is okay. :)

so for today's post, i thought i would share some sneaks of the november mss kit, which features one of my absolute favourite lines from cha-summer. look for it in store and online tuesday!

scrappy tuesday.

2010-10-26T06:17:00.000-05:00

kent's turning thirty. i've mentioned that before, right? at first he didn't want a party. and especially not a surprise party. he seriously told me he'd be very upset with me if i threw him a surprise party. i still don't believe him, but i'm not taking my chances. in the end, he conceded to having a party at home with some friends.

naturally, i had to make invitations. christmas parties and thirtieth birthdays warrant handmade invitations, i think. none of this facebook-invite stuff. and so here's what will be sent out this week:

i tried to make it as un-feminine as possible. when i showed him the invite still in progress he said "well, there's no flowers on it. that's a good start." gee, thanks. :) i sewed the pockets from plain cardstock, used my typewriter for the text and just tried to keep it simple.

supplies used:
envelope cardstock - coredinations stormy grey
labels - collage press
twine - studio calico and my scrap shoppe
alphas: studio calico stamps
pp - american crafts
mist - maya road sunflower

friday randoms.

2010-10-22T16:27:00.004-05:00

1. U2 announced that they’ll be coming to Winnipeg in May. It’s only been 13 years since they’ve been here! In the meantime, I’ve gone to see their last 2 concerts in Minneapolis. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go again, but now I think I would regret it if I didn’t go. A friend is trying to look into getting floor seats for me through the fan club, which would be awesome because I know this will sell out in like, 5 minutes on Monday. And last time a concert sold out that fast (Coldplay), I missed out on tickets so had to buy them from a scalper. Boo!

group trip to minneapolis to see u2 in 2001. i'm in there....somewhere.

my sister in law and i at the coldplay concert last year

2. Looking forward to Super Scrap Day in Winkler tomorrow! It’s not only a fun day, but one of the two times I shop at MSS each year. No, I’m not joking.

3. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to stay for the entire crop as we have a family dinner for my cousin and his wife who just arrived from the Philippines! Exciting. And then we’re leaving that early to go to a birthday party for a friend. Don’t these people know I have important plans that day? :)

4. It’s weird having Kent in school again. I feel like I haven’t seen him this past week because he’s been so busy with exams and papers that I’ve been letting him study at night in quiet while I get things done around the house. :(

5. My women’s volleyball team has lost 3 straight. Beginning to think it’s me, because last year they won their Tier. I’m such a sore loser too. It’s awful. Oh well, at least I look cute in our pink jerseys. That's all that matters, right? Ha!

What are your plans for the weekend?

scrappy tuesday. the art edition.

2010-10-19T19:06:00.003-05:00

on a whim last week over lunchtime, i stopped in at the salvation army. i hadn't gone in awhile, so i thought i would see if there was anything interesting there. that's when i found this gem:
pretty picture, no? :) i had no idea what i was going to do with it, but i knew i couldn't pass it up. not with details like this:
as i stood in line for 10 minutes (yes, apparently never go to salvation army on fridays at lunch - that seems to be rush hour!), i realized this frame would be perfect for my chalkboard! last year, dh came home from school with a whole pile of chalkboard slates that they were just going to throw in the garbage. he said he'd take them home instead. after painting it with black chalkboard paint, we used it to write notes and our grocery list, and it sat on the desk in our office, but we never liked it there.
amazingly, the chalkboard was the exact dimension as the picture. so now, after a coat of green paint (leftover from our living room, no less!), this $6.99 frame is now a cute little chalkboard:

friday randoms. the present edition.

2010-10-15T12:48:00.010-05:00

**edited: i added links so you can see the source. just click on the photos. sorry!**

i have presents on the brain lately since it's mine and kent's birthdays coming up in a month. that, and because we drew names for the christmas gift exchange last weekend. so today's friday randoms will be all about what's on my gift list. and i assure you, there are more than 5 things! :)

1. art.
i am the worst at picking artwork for our house. case in point? i've had an empty frame hanging in our living room for about a year and a half, because i can't decide what should go in it. because of my indecisiveness, i often look on etsy for cheap prints. that way, if i want to change them up, i haven't spent a fortune. here's some of the pieces on my list.

probably one of the only prints kent and i both agree on. i want to hang this in our bedroom. might get a different colour, but i like how vibrant this is. will pop off the brown walls in our bedroom.

for the office/scrapbooking room. the only room in the house i can have fun with and pick prints like this!

for the bathroom, or possibly hallway.

2. jewelry.
if you know me, you know i don't wear much. a watch and my wedding ring - that's it. but in san francisco something inside me went crazy and i bought a ton of earrings! and just to give you perspective, kent had to repoke the holes in my ears just so i can wear them. yes, it's been THAT long. now all i want are earrings and necklaces. case in point:

to replace the leaf earrings i bought in san francisco and lost somewhere in the airport :(

3. new duvet.
we have 2 duvet covers and while they're both nice, they're also both worn out - mainly from the cats digging their claws in when they jump on the bed. so i think a new one is in order. i love this one from target.
4. anthro loves.
a list specifically for my sister since she lives in edmonton, where there's an anthropologie. i should have bought the egg crate while i was in san francisco, but didn't. so now it's on my list. and i would love bowls like this to store things around the house like jewelry, keys, etc.

5. gift certificates.
you can never go wrong with these! i'd happily take gift certs to studio calico (i hear the november kit is to die for!), rona (so we can finally replace all our ugly blinds) or joe.

so tell me - what's on your christmas wish list?

the un-thanksgiving weekend.

2010-10-12T12:01:00.001-05:00

as i mentioned, we spent thanksgiving at elkhorn resort with my family. it's a tradition we started about 7 years ago, and is quickly becoming one of the best weekends of the entire year. i look forward to it the second september hits, the temperature starts to drop and leaves fall.

this year was a bit of a funny thanksgiving as:
(a) my parents didn't come with us
(b) we ended up in a very small and very old chalet with not enough beds for everyone (800 sq ft for 8 people gets a bit cramped!)
(c) it was over +20c the entire weekend
(d) we didn't eat turkey for thanksgiving dinner
(e) we didn't play a single board game, mainly because we had all forgotten to bring them

but nonetheless it was still fun. we:

(a) rode our bikes into clear lake a lot.
(b) jumped.
(c) ate.

(d) took a lot of crazy pictures.
(d) and just enjoyed being with family.

celebrating.....in flip flops.

2010-10-10T13:39:00.002-05:00

i am currently sitting outside, on the patio at elkhorn resort wearing a t-shirt, capris and flip flops. in october! for thanksgiving!

last year at this time we were bundled up in our winter jackets, boots, and hoodies trying to brave the snowstorm. what a difference a year makes.

popping in quickly to say happy thanksgiving to my canadian friends! hoping you have a day filled with turkey, family, laughter and pumpkin.

my cousin ashley and i right now

scrappy tuesday.

2010-10-05T10:38:00.005-05:00

for today’s post, i wanted to share the layouts i made with the october mss kit. oddly enough, when i first saw this cosmo cricket line, it didn’t grab me. but i just fell in love when i saw it in real life and could not wait to work with the kit!

the very first thing i made was this picture. when i saw that bird paper, it immediately reminded me of this print that i LOVE. but being without internet that night, i just whipped it up from memory. then when we got internet back i looked it up and laughed because it’s totally not the same, but oh well! i still love it.

this was the first layout i made with the kit. it didn’t turn out as great as i hoped, it’s lacking....something. it’s about kent’s first time in the pacific ocean.

october kit + sunflower mist + red bakers twine

this is probably my favourite layout of the month. i pushed the pictures around for a good day, then left it and the next day when i came back, it just clicked. love it when that happens.

october kit + memo pins from august kit + charcoal mist

i actually wrapped two presents with this kit, but being an idiot, completely forgot to take a picture of the first one! i am a huge present wrapper. i don’t believe in gift bags. i mean, where’s the fun in that? i also only use solid colour wrapping paper because it’s more versatile than patterned. lately, my colour of choice is kraft, (does that surprise you?) so i always try to dress it up. this is a thank you present for a friend. instead of a card, i put in that library card pocket and a journaling card from this cosmo cricket paper.

october kit + red bakers twine + library card pocket from mss

if you haven't gotten it already, go pick up the kit. it should be online soon. and what better timing with a long weekend coming up!

cooking up a storm.

2010-10-04T09:22:00.006-05:00

well, not really. but i did feel like i spent an obscene amount of time in the kitchen yesterday.

first, i got up early and made these:

image courtesy of house beautiful (mine definitely didn't look this pretty!)

which i'm pretty sure will be making a second appearance this weekend while we're in elkhorn with the family for thanksgiving. they were so easy and SO good.

then i went to volleyball to promptly burn off all the calories i consumed. (hmm....i should really start making all my desserts before volleyball games. then i won't feel guilty!)

when i came home i made the icing to go with the above mentioned cupcakes. and promptly ate more cupcakes. umm....

sat down and watched football, while cleaning up and folding laundry.

then headed back into the kitchen to make the much talked about best lasagna ever from pioneer woman.

image courtesy of pioneer woman. again, mine didn't look this good.

which really was amazing. even if you're an idiot like me and accidentally put the basil in with the cottage cheese instead of the meat. and didn't put in enough cottage cheese because she ran out. and used oven ready lasagna noodles instead of regular ones and didn't account for the extra time needed so had to put them back in after she turned off the oven.

yep, even after all that it was still delicious! and what better way to end off a meal but with more pumpkin cupcakes?

scrappy tuesday + another clue.

2010-09-28T21:42:00.005-05:00

i finished another layout of the october mss kit today. i am in love. this is probably one of my most favourite layouts in awhile.

{october kit + memo pins from august kit + charcoal mist}

kicking myself as i also wrapped a present with the kit and forgot to take a picture. argh! i'll try and replicate it, though. and i'm hoping to squeeze in another layout or card with this kit before friday. we'll see if i have time!

and, as promised, here's another clue of kent's birthday present. any guesses?

friday randoms.

2010-09-24T10:33:00.008-05:00

1. redecorating's been on the brain like crazy lately. kent started working on the guest bedroom again, so i decided to paint the hand me down furniture we have in there, and make a simple headboard. the weird nook in our hallway caused by our kitchen reno is coming together after finding a shoe cabinet (finally!). and i found a cheap and cute wall art/bulletin board idea for the office. now to start working!

2. i found a women's volleyball team to play on! my very first team, the one i really wanted to play with, magically had a spot for a setter open up after both of their setters left. they're in tier 4 so i'm very nervous. gotta start practicing! thank goodness coed starts this weekend, so i'll have some games under my belt before then. i'm so excited for this season.

3. good thing i bought these the other day:
after 8 years, i think my feet forgot what it was like to be in real shoes!

4. my sister is coming home for christmas after 4 years! i was so excited to read her email this morning. it'll be the first time since getting married that my entire family will be together at christmas.

5. it's been cold and blah here lately, but then today it suddenly got warm and sunny! looking forward to the sunshine.

enjoy your weekend!

unplugged.

2010-09-23T12:36:00.001-05:00

i'm so glad i've stumped y'all on kent's present. i was so sure someone would have guessed what it was by now! i'll post another clue in a few days so stay tuned....

my plans for monday evening included watching some girlie movies that i had pvr'd since kent was at school late. but when i went to turn on the tv i had nothing. same goes for the internet. turns out mts made a clerical mistake and gave someone else our port id while doing some installs in our neighbourhood. (yeah i have no idea what that even means) the earliest they could come out was yesterday morning, so we'd be without tv or internet until then.

going without tv normally isn't a big deal in our house, except it was monday, which meant one thing - monday night football. and after reading the paper the next day, we were sad to have missed such a great game!

so what do two people do for 48 hours when they are unplugged from the world? scrapbook! work out! continue with projects that have been left by the wayside! read! and that's what the last 48 hours have been in our house. [bonus points if you can guess who did what. ;)]

coincidentally, i received the october mss kit on monday, and that amazingly seemed to coincide with my creativity, so i got to work. i finished a mini house project and a layout. so, here are two sneaks:

more sneaks to come in the next week!

can't contain myself.

2010-09-17T08:44:00.001-05:00

i love surprises. and giving presents. i swear, we’d be totally broke if i had my way and could give all the presents i wanted. hee!

kent turns 30 this year. he said no to a surprise party. bo-ring! as much as i’d like to do it, i probably shouldn’t. :) but this is the big one! i have to do something. san francisco probably could have passed off as a 30th birthday present, but seeming as how i’m the one that came back with all the clothes, i don’t think that counts. and like i said, i like surprises. and presents.

then it hit me the other day. i totally know what to get him! and it was the kind of present that’s totally fitting for a 30th birthday because it's big and he’ll love it. love. it. and that’s the part that makes me happy and giddy. and as much as i should keep it a secret, i have to tell someone. or multiple someones in this case!

so, here’s a clue of what it is. any guesses?

thoughts.

2010-09-16T16:43:00.003-05:00

i had a different blog post scheduled for today. it was written and everything, just needed to hit publish. but there's something else that's been on my heart instead, something that was more important.

last night at small group, one of our friends told us how he's hurting. financially. emotionally. although i haven't known him very long, i know the last few years have not been easy for him. and after a few minutes of silence, we asked the extremely obvious, but nonetheless awkward question, "how can we help you?" money's always a sensitive topic. but there was no way any of us could have let him leave our house that night without doing something. how can you ignore something like this? and so, when he left our house that night, he left with a renewed spirit, some lighter shoulders (hopefully) and two bags full of groceries.

and as soon as he left i felt so.....foolish. selfish. ridiculous. for complaining about my lack of sleep, or the cold weather. kent and i looked at each other as soon as the door closed and we were both thinking it. i know i've said it before, but it's so easy to get caught up in life and forget. forget just how blessed we are. we have a roof over our head. we have food on the table. we have good health. we have cable and hot water and so much stuff.

it's sad that it takes something like this to make me realize how 'rich' we are. how have we become so expectant? and how have we seen this friend every week and not known? are we that caught up in our lives that we never bothered to dig deeper?

i woke up this morning with this still fresh in my mind, wondering what else i can do, as that's what i am. i'm a doer. i don't have an answer, but what i do know is that i am grateful. i am blessed. and for now, that just might be enough.

free glasses!

2010-09-15T12:28:00.004-05:00

i got an email in my inbox the other week saying that i was randomly chosen to receive a free pair of glasses from clearly contacts! i was so excited, although my inner self was laughing as i just bought a pair of glasses a few months ago. although, really, can a girl have too many glasses?

i've always wanted a pair of fun, coloured glasses but never wanted to shell out the money for a second pair, especially considering i wear my contacts 90% of the time. i'm always jealous of my friend megan, who has a few pair of funky glasses - including these orange specs:
but apparently glasses are dirt cheap in korea, which is why she was able to buy these.

so, i thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do just that. so at 10 am this morning, just after getting my free code, i quickly popped online to purchase these purple specs:
what i really wanted were these cute red glasses, but after doing a bit of measuring, i realized they might be too small for my face. plus they don't have nosepads and when you're filipino, nosepads are your best friend. unless you like having glasses slip off your face all the time.
i can't wait to get them in the mail in a few days! let's just hope i don't look completely ridiculous.....

scrappy tuesday.

2010-09-14T12:46:00.002-05:00

what? did you read that title correctly? i actually.....scrapped?! gasp.

i know, i know, it's been a long time since i actually sat down and scrapped. and not for anything dt related, either. hence the seeming disappearance of scrappy tuesday as of late. this past weekend mss had an online crop and it was the motivation i needed to do something. and i surprised myself by not just doing one layout, but two. but apparently that's where the motivation ended because i only managed to photograph one. haha. this is a lift of danielle flanders, whose work i just adore.

pp: making memories, october afternoon, crate, my mind's eye, american crafts, sassafras
embellishments: jenni bowlin, maya road, american crafts, marcy penner
alpha: making memories (the challenge was to use something old with something new, and these alphas were my something old!)
mist: maya sunflower yellow
punch: fiskars threading water

friday randoms.

2010-09-09T18:34:00.006-05:00

1. feeling very tired lately. my body's having a hard time getting back to this time zone after being on the coast for awhile. i was wide awake at 1 am last night, playing word warp in bed. i had to force myself to go to sleep and before i knew it, the alarm went off.

2. mss is having an online crop this weekend. hoping to participate but we've got a full weekend. might be able to sneak some time in on sunday, which would be great since i wasn't able to work with the september kit before going on holidays and i so badly want to scrap! come check it out, i've posted one challenge so far, and will post another tonight.

3. craving a white hot chocolate from starbucks.

4. really wishing i was playing women's volleyball this year. my team folded last year after a really tough year (i think we were all ready to kill each other by the end of the season!) and my old team had too many people. i didn't want to put my name on the free agent list as i wasn't sure what kind of team i'd end up on, but now i kind of wish i did. don't get me wrong - i love my coed team, but it's definitely not the same as womens.

5. still on the search for a good fall jacket. tried this jacket on in san francisco and loved it, but it wasn't quite heavy enough. any suggestions?

last days.

2010-09-07T20:15:00.005-05:00

the last two days in san francisco was spent just walking around the city, shopping and hitting up as many local restaurants as we could find. it felt like all we were doing was eating! lunch, coffee, drinks, dinner, coffee, dessert, repeat. in a city with hundreds of restaurants, we found ourselves in heaven!

fabulous pad thai for lunch

sitting in ghirardelli square drinking starbucks and eating bob's donuts

crab dinner at the woodhouse fish company

amazing triple berry cheesecake from sweet inspiration

and of course, squeezing in one last touristy thing - coit tower and a cable car ride.
we flew out monday afternoon, while russ and megan stayed another day. i think kent was depressed the second the plane left SFO. but i was ready to come back home and get back into our routine. after a nice relaxing day at home, i'm going back to work tomorrow and kent starts school on monday. summer's officially over. sigh.

friday randoms. the sf edition.

2010-09-05T00:49:00.005-05:00

1. ate some of the best french toast today from this place, while drinking coffee out of huge cups.

2. "everywhere you look, there's a heart, a hand to hold on to."

2. walked around the museum of modern art and found typewriters.

3. bought 3 shirts, 2 cardigans and a pair of jeans.....for only $58.83. saved $53!

4. ate some absolutely amazing mediterranean food.

5. and celebrated 4 years of marriage to this guy.

two in one.

2010-09-04T01:00:00.008-05:00

sorry for missing yesterday's post. our friends' camera konked out on them yesterday so we offered to let them use our camera, as they were going to alcatraz and we weren't going with. we went last year, so we didn't need to go again and weren't planning on doing anything exciting anyway. i thought our laptop had a card reader, but i guess not.

so today's post will be a two for one. yesterday was spent in golden gate park, which was a lot bigger than we expected. the front of the conservatory of flowers just called for a jumping shot. [note to self: don't wear sunglasses next time!]

we visited the california academy of sciences:

chickened out and chose to take the bus to the other end of the park instead of walking there to see the cliff house and the pacific ocean:

it was here where we parted ways, so i have no more pictures. kent and i went to union square and shopped that night, so you're not missing much anyway.

today we decided to meet up in the afternoon so kent and i decided to try and eat at the famous mama's on washington. we figured it wouldn't be as busy friday morning. wrong. the place was packed! i so wish i had our camera because i would have taken a picture of the line. we waited for close to 45 minutes and had barely moved. we opted instead to head down the street and hit up a little cafe, where kent had delicious banana pecan waffles. again, i wish i had my camera.

we met up at the exploratorium, which is like a giant version of the touch the universe exhibit at the manitoba museum. it was so much fun! we could have easily spent the entire day there. as it was, we were there for 4 hours anyway. we walked around the pacific heights area looking for dinner and found a great place with fabulous food. kent had some amazing ahi tuna - his first! the cold and wind rolled in just as we left, so we decided to walk over to fisherman's wharf and try the famous irish coffee at buena vista. not being a coffee drinker, i opted out, but they told me it was delicious.

afterwards, we stood in the freezing cold for a cable car back to union square where megan and i power shopped at h&m and forever21 while the boys went for beers. i should have taken pictures, but we were on a mission! i scored some great pieces for cheap so i'm really excited.

we're exhausted after another full day so are planning on taking it easy tomorrow. it's also kent and mine's 4th anniversary, so i think a good seafood place is in order for dinner. until tomorrow...

(almost) wordless wednesday

2010-09-02T01:26:00.005-05:00

it's been a long day over here. we're just getting back to our place now and it's 11:30 pm! because of this, i'm going to skip a lot of the narration and instead show you some pics of our day with short captions. enjoy!

lombard street aka crookedest street in the world

blue + gold fleet cruise under the bridge

lunch at boudin bakery - home of sourdough bread

dessert at ghirardelli

giants game at at+t park. giants won!

late night dinner at gordon biersch

goodbye napa, hello san francisco!

2010-08-31T22:40:00.006-05:00

it was another gorgeous day in napa valley. for our last day, we decided to visit two sister wineries - jacuzzi and cline. kent and i visited jacuzzi last year, and he loved it so much he wanted to go back.

we got to cline around 10:30 am, which, even we admitted was a bit of a crazy hour to start wine drinking. but hey, they open at 10 for someone, right? cline winery was started by the jacuzzi family - yes, the same family that created the jacuzzi tub. i knew right away that it was a great place when the guy who greeted us at the door not only knew where winnipeg was, but told us how him and his wife had plans in a few months to fly into quebec city, drive down to montreal and toronto and then take a train ride all the way to vancouver. finally! someone who knew canada!

a replica of a mission house on the cline property

we also hit the jackpot as we were told when we walked in not to even worry about the 5 wine limit or any of the costs. and that they were in the middle of harvesting, so we could go out and see the crush! everybody we talked to at the place was so friendly, it was a great way to start the day. i'd definitely recommend visiting cline if you're ever in sonoma.

the grapes they were harvesting - grenache - which they use primarily as a blending grape. it was delicious!

we drove across the street afterwards and visited jacuzzi once again. by this time i was wined out, so i chose not to taste as much. good thing, because kent seemed to have a bit too many and i ended up driving. it was here where we had chocolate wine shots, which were yummy.

we headed into san francisco afterwards and once again drove across the golden gate.

we checked into our places, dropped off our rental car and decided since we were close to union square to take a cable car ride down to fisherman's wharf. i'm telling you, being on a cable car is probably one of my favourite things to do in the world.

we decided to call it a night pretty early and have dinner at each of our houses instead of going out. i think russ and megan were still fighting jet lag a little bit, and i was happy to have a little quiet time, to be honest. not quite sure what the plan is tomorrow, but i think it might involve a giants game and more cable cars. stay tuned!

ps. can you all see the text above the first photo? for the last few posts i haven't been able to see them, but i'm not sure if it's just me. please let me know so i can fix it, if i need to!

wine, wine, and more wine.

2010-08-31T00:32:00.009-05:00

i forgot to mention in my post yesterday about our rental car. when i originally made the reservation online we booked a mid-sized car, like a hyundai sonata. nothing flashy. after chatting it up with the guy at the rental counter, he offered us a free upgrade. leather seats, a luxury car, he said. what he failed to mention was that the minimum age for those driving this car is about 70 and that having white hair is mandatory. this is what we ended up with:

yep, we're cruising around california in a grand marquis. it's totally ridiculous.

anyway, we were up and at it really early this morning, with our only plan being to hit up as many wineries as we could. we first made a pit stop at target to buy water, and then megan had the bright idea to stop and get some cheese, fruit and a baguette to have a picnic for lunch. we stopped at trader joe's for this, which was amazing. i wish we had a place like that at home.

the first winery we visited was sutter home, where kent and i visited last time. we figured it would be a good intro to wine tasting for russ and megan.

from there we went across the street to v.sattui which was packed. it was there that we had our lunch, which was delicious.

after that we went on a crazy, steep drive through the mountains to benziger. here we went on a tram tour of one of the few biodynamic vineyards in the world. it was fascinating to learn how this vineyard is harvesting and producing their wine in a sustainable, eco-friendly way. not to mention that their property was absolutely gorgeous.

benziger gave us tickets for free wine tasting at one of their sister locations, imagery, so we quickly headed over there to take advantage before it closed.

by this time we were all pretty wined out. in total i drank 21 different kinds of wine, which for someone who's not a wine drinker, was quite a bit. we decided to head over to vacaville and shop at their outlets, where i scored a sweet turquoise purse and some earrings.

tomorrow we plan to hit up at least 2 more wineries - one being jacuzzi, which is kent's favourite. then we're headed back to san francisco for the rest of the week! more to come tomorrow.....

san francisco adventures - part 1: napa

2010-08-30T00:19:00.008-05:00

we're here! after months of waiting, we're finally in san francisco. hope you guys don't mind hearing all about our trip, because for the next 10 days that's what i'll be blogging about. i think it's more for me and posterity, so i won't be offended if you stop reading after a few days. ha!

our vacation actually started last night when we left home for grand forks. let me tell you that leaving max was probably harder than either of us thought it would be. i never expected to be so sad leaving a puppy, but we both took it really hard. we flew out from grand forks early this morning and connected through minneapolis:

once we arrived in san francisco, we met up with russ and megan (our friends who were coming back after a summer of teaching in korea), got our rental car and headed out to napa via the golden gate bridge. it was a pretty foggy day, so our pictures aren't the best. that, and it's a bit hard to take pictures while driving 60 mph!

we spent the day driving around napa, hit up one of the outlet malls, sat in the hot tub at the hotel and are about ready to call it a day. we're all pretty tired. tomorrow we plan on visiting the wineries. since i'm not a huge wine drinker, i have a feeling i'll be the one driving for most the day.

stay tuned for more adventures tomorrow!

addicted. and it's only been 2 days.

2010-08-24T22:23:00.003-05:00

this blog post is brought to you by our new macbook. oh it's just so pretty. and like i mentioned earlier, we got a free iPod touch with it.

which brings me to my new addiction. words with friends.

if you have no idea what this is, it's scrabble, and you can play it with your friends, or complete strangers. you make a move, wait for the other person to log on and do the same, and keep going. so it's really scrabble at your own convenience, only if you're like me (and everyone else i know) you're constantly checking to see if it's your turn.

and if you already have wwf and want to play, search me out. my username's flo213.

okay, off to play some more scrabble.....

say what?

2010-08-22T09:57:00.002-05:00

the dog ate my underwear. yes, you read that right. and no, i'm not joking. i can't believe i just typed those words either.
it happened yesterday before i headed out to work at the farmer's market. when i saw it in his mouth, i tried to get him to drop it but that caused him to shove more into his mouth, growl, and run away. of course. so i freaked out, that woke up kent, he pried open his jaws and nada. gone.

we panicked, called the emergency vet line and they said we had to make him throw up. always a good way to start the weekend! by now i was totally running late for work, so i left kent to deal with the rest. (i know, i'm such a great wife)

he gave him hydrogen peroxide and within 5 minutes, it came out. in one piece. not kidding.

when i've told this story to others they've just said "well, at least now it gives you an excuse to buy new underwear!" because i totally get excited at that thought. and it would be true, if i hadn't just bought new underwear, and if one of those wasn't currently sitting in the wash because my dog ate it.

sigh.

friday randoms.

2010-08-20T11:57:00.007-05:00

oh boy. this blog is starting to look like a collection of friday randoms. sorry about that. i have grand plans to blog everyday while in san francisco, so stay tuned. i promise you'll see more than just one post a week very soon!

onto my list for the week:

1. so you think you can dance canada started on sunday. it's been on every day since. this sunday they're already announcing the top 20! a few things that annoy me:
- why don't they come to the prairies for auditions?!
- two words: leah. miller. please, please, please fire her, her fake blonde hair, her annoying baby voice and insincere conversations. ugh.
- the judges. i loved jean-marc when he was on sytycd but he bothers me so much on sytycdc. did it go to his head? i don't know. and if i hear the words "volume" and "louder" in reference to someone's dancing one more time, i just might scream.
for the record, i fast forward through leah miller, the judges feedback and bad dancers when watching the show on PVR. i think without PVR this show alone might kill me.

2. he's back! time to book a minneapolis trip......
3. wore my bomber jersey yesterday since i literally hadn't pulled it out since 2008. don't know why i bothered, they lost. again.
4. had a great meeting with the bank yesterday discussing loan options for kent's school. we weren't eligible for a student loan since we made too much money (ha!) so we had to go the bank route. thank goodness it went well, although bank visits always make me nervous. not sure why, i was a finance major?

5. wishing i stuck with my original plan to paint the office grey so i could use this colour scheme. maybe i can convince kent we should paint again? haha.

friday randoms.

2010-08-12T09:35:00.008-05:00

i haven't been the best blogger lately. can't seem to shake the blahs. it's been nagging at me for awhile and eating up all the creativity i have in me. and i have no idea why. usually it's the weather - but it's been sunny and hot around here, so that's no excuse. well, whatever it's from, i hope it goes away soon, if for no other reason than to produce more regular blog posts for you guys :)

****warning, sytycd spoiler below! leave now if you haven't seen the finale yet!****

1. she won! although, to be honest, i would have been happy if any of the 3 had won. i was secretly pulling for robert, but i knew it wasn't going to be him. and okay - are her and kent dating?!

2. went the library the other day and picked up a fresh new stack of books to read. let's hope they're good - the last batch i had only had one book in it that i actually liked. hate it when that happens.

3. this guy's teething is almost over. the other day one of his fangs came out. thank goodness because i can't take the biting/chewing thing anymore.
4. hoping to be the proud owner of one of these very soon. with kent’s schedule this fall, he has some very long days (starting at 8:30 am, coming home around 7:30 pm), so he thought having a laptop would help during his long spares, so he can at least get some homework done. can you believe he debated about getting a pc?! as if! the bonus? mac has a promo on right now that if you buy a laptop for university, you get a free iPod touch. score!

5. headed here for the weekend with the family. very much looking forward to it, even if the weather has suddenly taken a turn for the crapper!
enjoy your weekend!

hidden gems.

2010-08-09T16:07:00.003-05:00

for the past few weeks, kent and i have been going on bike rides around our neighbourhood. it’s been awhile since either of us had ridden bikes - kent’s was stolen 3 years ago when we were living in an apartment and he never bothered to replace it and i never rode mine in the meantime. but a friend of ours moved to thailand for the year, and let kent ‘babysit’ her bike, so now we’re able to go on bike rides again. (thanks christy!)

where we live now is close to a lot of bike trails. shamefully, i’ve lived in winnipeg for most of my life but never knew any of these existed! now everytime we go, i’m excited to see where it’ll take us. it feels a bit like narnia.....stumbling upon little patches of magic here and there.

last night we took a ride down omands creek, along the river parallel to portage avenue, through little patches of greenspace, parks, off-leash dog parks and picturesque neighbourhoods. as we rode, my head was busy looking left and right in amazement of these little neighbourhoods tucked away along the river. i think we stumbled upon where we’d love to live someday. it’s just far enough removed from the main streets, so you don’t hear the traffic, but close enough to the main streets so you can get anywhere fast, and close enough to a mall (ha!). it’s where your backyard is larger than just your garage and as a bonus, backs onto a river or a park so you have no neighbours suffocating you. it was seriously heaven.

anyway, at the end of our journey we found ourselves just across the river at assiniboine park, right by the bridge that connects the park to the infamous sargent sundae. and it’s there where these pictures were shot, on a humid, hot, beautiful sunday evening.
can’t wait to get out for another bike ride and find another hidden gem in the city.

friday randoms.

2010-08-04T21:19:00.013-05:00

1. the countdown is on! only 23 days until vacation, new clothes (hopefully!), the pacific ocean, and trolley cars.
2. subbing for my friend's beach volleyball team tonight. i'm actually looking forward to it, despite the fact that beach is really not my preferred surface.

3. i need a haircut. badly. i always know when i start to pin my bangs back everyday and straightening my hair does nothing. so i've made an appointment. it was for yesterday. i had to cancel right away when i realized we had invited a friend over for dinner that night. so i rescheduled for saturday. then i got called in to work at the farmer's market. so kent took over that appointment instead, thank goodness because i would have felt awful! so now i have an appointment scheduled for next tuesday, which means i have to put up with my crappy hair for another 11 days. sigh.

4. dreaming of skirts and dresses lately. loving these from forever21. have i mentioned that i can't wait to go shopping? i've literally been avoiding the mall for MONTHS in anticipation for san francisco.
5. it's down to the final 3 - lauren, kent and robert. who are you pulling for??

scrappy tuesday.

2010-08-03T20:24:00.005-05:00

hope all my canadian friends had a great long weekend! we relaxed, enjoyed the sunshine, ate too much and spent time with family. the way all long weekends should be.

the august mss kit will be released this week sometime, so here are two of the layouts i made with the kit. i was definitely not in the creative mood this month. not sure why. that being said, this is probably one of my favourite layouts to date. which is weird because i would never normally use that ki paper - just not me. but with this cute picture of my niece emma, it just seemed to work. the blue flower was made using this tutorial from joy madison at studio calico.

supplies used (august mss kit):

studio calico, echo park + ki pp
basic grey stitched brads
basic grey alphas
hambly rub-ons

other stash:
maya road envelope
sassafras alphas
green martha stewart twine

when i saw that the plane paper in the kit, i just knew i had to do a layout about how we love to travel. and then when i saw those tim holtz memo pins, i knew exactly what i wanted to do. and then it kind of all went downhill from there. there's something missing from this layout....i think it needs more contrast, but i had already glued the pictures on, so i decided to heck with it.

supplies used (august mss kit):
studio calico pp
tim holtz memo pins
basic grey alphas

other stash:
october afternoon journaling stickers
american crafts chipboard frame