Great Day

It was a great day here in Southwestern Ontario. The sun was out and the air was pleasant - not heavy and humid as it can tend to get up here.

I uploaded some pix from my camera today and found one of the invitations my mom and I made for my sister's baby shower. We were very pleased with the final results. We intended to do simple but I think we went above and beyond what we had planned adding brads, punches and dimensionals. The hour long task (that we agreed on) became an all night event. I don't regret a second of it though. My new niece and sister deserve to have special invitations. We ended up having a tea party and it was simply delightful. I made pretty little pink cupcakes with babies on top that I am kicking myself for not capturing on camera. At least my mom captured me making the cupcakes which shows how much fun they were to make. I know Reese won't remember he welcome party but I sure hope her mommy does.

Ready for Anything

Wow. The last 2 weeks have turned into a blur. I've had a baby shower, doctor's appointment, class, Father's Day, workshops to present, workshops to attend ... and the list continues. I'm exhausted and ready for some down time. I've made these small greeting cards for a stamp-a-stack workshop I demonstrated recently. When life gets busy, it's good to have cards like this on hand.

New Aunt

Lot's of celebrating the past couple of weeks. My folks celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary to which I created the card for. I didn't have a lot of time, so it was simple but I was pleased with the result. I just used the Cool Caribbean paper an ink and randomly stamped heart images from Simply Said. Then I mounted the piece on Whisper White with "happiness" from Warm Words stamped underneath and some silver cord. Like I said, simple but sometimes less is more and I think it looked very elegant. My parents thought it was beautiful.

Speaking of beautiful, my family and I welcomed the arrival of my niece, Reese Carol. My sister was in labour for 36 hours - bless her heart - to bring this glorious angel into the world. She is an absolute darling, perfect in every way. I am looking forward to spoiling this little one as she has made me an aunt for the first time. Since I have a boy, who I love with every proton of my existence, it is nice to have a girl to shower with girly girlness. Welcome Reese!!!

Some Summer Travel Ideas for Southwestern Ontario

I've just added a link for "101 Things to See and Do in Southwestern Ontario". I love to have ideas for day trips in my area and this article in the London Free Press gave me some great tips on things to do that I never thought of before. When travelling across Europe, I started to realize there were so many places in my own back yard that I've never seen and took for granted. I've since started to take daytrips and have found it's a great way to get out and immerse myself in my local culture and have time to spend with my family. It allows me to pass on some traditions, culture and heritage to my kids. If you live in Southwestern Ontario or think you might like to visit, check out some of these ideas.

For myself, some personal favourites are picnics in Stratford along the river by the Festival theatre, picnic at Queenston Heights at the base of Brock's monument, a drink at Rock's Pub and Grub in Innerkip. Please let me know of any of your personal favourites.

Layers of Diapers

My mom and I got this idea from a gift that my sister got at her baby shower. It looks like a wedding cake but it's made up of layers of diapers. We rolled each diaper so that the fold was on the outside and then held them together with tiny elastics that we got at the craft store (came in a box of 1000 I think). Then we tied each layer with a string (or ribbon) to hold them in place and also to cover the elastics that held the diapers together. We used a medium sized silver platter that we found at the dollar store for the base.

Once all the layers were done, we stacked them and placed a small stuffed animal on the top - I guess we were thinking of a star on a Christmas tree. Finishing touches included sticking some bath toys, socks and face cloths around the finished product, glued lace to the edge of the base and wrapped it in cellaphane. It was the talk of the shower.

Happy Mother's Day

It's the end of a long but wonderful day. It was my third Mother's Day and my son rewarded me with some trees that I've had on my wish list for years (of course he's only two so I imagine he had some help from Daddy). I had hoped to get them planted tonight but after fitting in so many other events for the day, we just didn't get to it. It wasn't just Mother's Day for me, it was Mother's Day for my mother too. I got her a gift certificate for Micheal's and placed it inside this card I made for her. I cased this from a design I saw on Taylor Van Bruggen's blog: "Taylored Expressions".

Happy Mother's Day to all of you.

Sunshiny Day

What a glorious day here in Southwestern Ontario. The sun was out full force and I enjoyed every minute of it. We haven't seen too much of good ol' Mr. Sunshine lately so we have been delighted he blessed us with a whole day.

Spring cleaning was on the agenda and it's something I really don't mind doing when I can open the windows and pump up the dance tunes for a little extra motivation. I'm so proud of myself this week. I signed up for acting classes - something I've been meaning to do for a long time now. I'm very nervous to be revisiting that part of me but more excited than anything else. And you know what? It feels right. It feels like I'm being pushed in this direction and I'm just letting the force take me.

Also, I'm excited to report that I went on a date to see Fracture last night with my husband. My homey Ryan Gosling didn't let me down. His performance was terrific. He does our country and region proud. I was a little disappointed in the story but 2 hours of Gosling suited me fine. I'm also happy that he was in a film that my husband could stand to watch. The Notebook was hard for him to stomach. At least he had some pleasure in watching Rachel McAdams.

Anyway, my artistic contribution to this site is my "Laugh" card. It's all about welcoming the Spring and reminding myself and others to laugh. It truly is the best medicine and a great sentiment to reach out to anyone for almost any reason. My "So Good" card is a tribute to all things good in life and for doing "so good" by taking my first step on my journey of discovering my "Dramatic" self.

Enjoy.

A Slow Start

And I'm off at a turtle's pace. I am comfortable with computers but blogging is a whole new world to me. I need to learn the tricks and quirks to making my page as inviting and inspiring as some of the others out there. Like, how do I get fancy banners and buttons on to this site and get my pictures to look right. I know you stampers and creative colleagues are awesome and if you have any advice or tips that you think might help me, I would welcome the feedback.

This card I have posted was made to welcome a special new addition to our family. My cousin and his wife just adopted a brand new baby boy and he's a blessing that our family has long been waiting for. He's adorable, as most babies are, and super special and I wish nothing but goodness and sunshine to shower over him and his new family.

Welcome

Welcome to my first page on my new site. I have so many goals and passions in life and I thought I would put these out there for others who might need some inspiration or want to see what I'm up to. I am a drama queen at heart and hope to revisit that very soon in my life but for now I let out my creative expressions in paper art form. I'm a Stampin' Up Demonstrator which has been a very rewarding experience that has allowed me gather the supplies that I need (or want rather), gain confidence, set goals and obtain a little extra income.