Tales From a “GREEN” Minivan

Mom, if you’re reading this click your back button, I don’t want you to spoil your surprise!

There, now that I have that out of the way, I’m going to show you what I made on the weekend.  In March I took a class at our local Family Resource Centre that I really enjoyed and didn’t want to end!  I met Tina Weller (aka- The Serene Stamper) who is a consultant with Stampin’ Up!  She is a super exuberant gal with a passion for craft, and just what this gal with self-proclaimed “scrappers block” needed!

After the 4 weeks of  classes ended, some of the girls decided to start a “Stampin’ Club” and get together once a month to papercraft.  We made a commitment of 6 months to buy $35 each and each one of us will host a night and get some free products.

Last weekend’s project was a card and matching candle. I know I was a little curious as to how we could stamp onto a candle, but it was much easier than I thought and the result is just stunning!

We actually did not stamp onto the candle at all, instead, we stamped our designs onto some white tissue paper, the kind you use in gift bags. We stamped onto the shiny side of the tissue then used some chalks and blending pens on the opposite side.  We then cut each design out, Tina recommended wetting just around the perimeter to tear it away.

Next we positioned each stamped design  onto the candle and placed some wax paper and wrapped the entire candle we made sure to have some excess to use to hold onto from the back. The next step was using a heat gun, a paper crafting tool like a mini-hair dryer and in circular motions over each of the designs you will soon see the tissue disappear into the candle.  Once you see the edges of the tissue dissolve into the candle, roll the candle with the wax paper still attached several times on a hard surface.  Then carefully peel the wax paper away.

Here’s my completed project!

and the matching card!

Last night and all day today I got to resurrect a very neglected hobby of mine…Scrapbooking!  I started scrapbooking this exact same time of year 3 years ago.  There’s something about the fall that gets my creative juices flowing.  Maybe it’s my internal calendar where fall is the start of a fresh new school year that kickstarts my brain, or perhaps it’s the fresh colours of the fall foilage? I’m not sure, but whatever it is I like it.

I felt completely unprepared to go to a scrapbooking crop earlier in the week . You may be asking what is a “Crop”? For those that are not scrapbookers it’s an event that brings scrapbookers together in a huge hall, where all sit together and do our thing.  We eat laugh and bounce ideas of of one another.  Everyone is great about sharing supplies and and helping out one another.

I was a really nice break after a long week of Andrew working late almost every evening. Another nice thing about the event was that the proceeds for the raffles, Silent Auctions and the sale of other items and part of the registration fee was going to help a 32 year old mother with Breast Cancer.  It was found out that some of this mother’s medications were not covered by her drug plan and she could not afford them.  An account was set up at her pharmacy to donate all proceeds from the day for her.   How great is that?  I’m pretty sure that over $1000 was raised.

Naturally “Pink” was the theme of the weekend and we were told to wear pink and design and make a name tag.  I literally whipped one up Friday afternoon!  Here’s a couple of pics of Tracy and I at the crop.  It would not have been the same for me had Tracy not been there. I absolutely love scrappin’with her and we laugh all day long!  Thanks for bringing me into this world Tracy, I truly love it!

My Name Tag- a little jean purse I made from a pair of Finn’s jeans that had a big hole in the knee

Tracy- Deep in Concentration

Some of the Christmas Cards I’m Making

So today inspired me to get back into my papercrafting and start preserving some of those memories captured on film that have been neglected.  I love the feeling of taking something bland and reviving it with my own personal touch.  I’m planning to make about 60 cards for Christmas, and I managed to complete 20 of them and each one is different and unique from the others!  Only 40 to go wish me luck!

This past weekend Andrew’s sister got married on a beautiful Saturday evening. Being the non-traditional girl that she is, her and her fiance Ben planned a small ceremony with immediate family and a few close friends to be held in the early evening outdoors at Ben’s Parents house followed by a reception dance in their barn!

It was nice to get the cousins together, earlier in the day my SIL Tracy and I got the kids together and had a group shot of them taken.  It’s always a challenge to find one photo that we both liked, my Tracy and I have similar tastes and we both settled on this one, I played around with Smilebox to liven it up!

The boys checking out the horses before the Ceremony:

The boys all wanting to sit with Nanny!

Mackenzie was one of the Flower Girls, a first for her!

Andrew’s dad giving Colleen away. Her dress was made from Hemp, and she designed it!

Colleen and Ben being Bonded.  Before rings became the norm, couples were tied together to Bond them.  It was quite humourous to see Andrew’s very staunch catholic father squirm during this one!

The Millers

Colleen and her Sister-in-Laws - left to right: Tracy, Rebecca (Bens sister) and me

The wedding cake- A Delicious Carrot Cake (yes I got the recipe, I’m making it later in the week!)

Congratulations Guys! It was a beautiful day!  We wish you guys the best of luck on your move to Montreal!

Just a quick post today!  We headed into NYC via Staten Island, it’s just under 2 hours to drive over from the Poconos.

Here’s a Smilebox I created with our photos from the day.  I hope you enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

What a weekend!  I was seriously sad to pack up the tent!  Camping with a family of six takes a lot of prep work, so tearing down the tent after only two days is always bitter sweet.

This past weekend we loaded (I mean stuffed things into every open crevice) of the minivan, and headed towards our destination of Prince Edward Island.  Our home for the weekend- Twin Shores Camping Area.

This place was amazing and HUGE!  I really could have stayed for a week, as there was just so much to do.  If you ever consider camping on PEI, I’d highly recommend it!

Here’s a little recap of the weekend.  Our departure time was a little delayed, as I wanted to make sure I added my submission to the FSL consultation website, everyone was still sleeping so with a clear mind I added my 3 page thoughts. We finally got on the road around 11:00am and stopped at the Big Stop for gas and a quick bite to eat and we were out on the road again and didn’t stop until we hit Borden, PEI.  The kids were amazed at the Confederation Bridge.  We had been over before but the boys were too young to remember it.  While in Borden we stopped at Gateway Village a little shopping area and information centre to pick up a map, have some Cows Ice Cream and let the kids burn off a little energy at the playground.

We arrived just after 3:00pm and headed straight for our site to get things set up.  I was a little nervous as we had just left 2 days of thunderstorms back in NB, and it looked as though they had followed us.  The sky was covered in eerily dark clouds on one side.  Getting the tent set up was first priority to allow for shelter in case of rain.  A fellow CPO’er  Tricia (QuiltingMum) who had arrived earlier stopped by and said hello while we were setting up and we made arrangements to get together the next day. We got the tent set up and beds inflated and headed for the beautiful beach.  I grabbed these shots of the kids on the way down while the sky was still blue.

The kids played on the beach for a bit, and when the skies started to get darker we decided to head back to the site ad have dinner before it started to rain.  On our way up we ran into Kelly- Miscouchemommy , when she saw the imminent rain she also decided to head backup.

For dinner I made a Thai dish.  I know it doesn’t sound overly “camping friendly” but it actually was very simple.  I tried to take as many canned goods as I could.  I grabbed a can of Thai Curry Paste, and can of coconut milk and a can of sweet potatoes.  We has some left over chicken from the night before, so I had that in the cooler along with some precooked jasmine rice.  I heated up the paste, coconut milk and sweet potatoes and chicken together on the camp stove and once it was hot I added the rice for a minute or two to warm it up.  It was really good!  Of course it started to rain just as I started to cook, but I was in a fairly sheltered area so it wasn’t too bad!  Here’s the gang enjoying some Thai “camp style.  Look how dark it got!

After dinner we took a walk up the the General store and the huge playground as the rain seemed to have settled. We got ready for bed and all piled into the tent.  Once Finn was asleep, we took turns telling stories and Andrew and I attempted to play a game of Cribbage. The boys were getting a little restless, so we decided to turn out the lights and finish our game once they were down.  We all fell asleep though!  Well I should say, that Liam and Ciaran were down, but Mackenzie, Finn, Andrew and I were up quite a bit through the night.  We got hit by a torrential rain storm with high winds.  I’m sure it was pretty scary for Finn, I know I was a little scared of getting drenched.  It bought back memories of previous camping excursions before kids when I awoke to a leaking tent dripping on me!  Luckily we fared quite well, there was only one area that was wet and that was because we had some things pushed up against the tent on that side. We again woke to cloudy skies, and light drizzles every so often.  Once again when I started to cook breakfast, more rain!

We took a walk up to the playground for the boys to play and we ran into another CPO’ers daughter!  Chantelle’s daughter Caitlin was there with her grandmother.  She was really helpful and told us of some things that were going on at the campground like a rodeo, and Mussels & Music on the Beach later that evening!  We took the boys up to the rodeo and again ran into Kelly.  Of course the boys protested the whole way there, but were entranced once they saw what was going on.  This is them in from the the corall.

The sun finally came out and the later part of the afternoon was spent down at the beach.  It’s so nice to actually swim in the ocean.  Here on the Bay of Fundy, that water is numbingly cold.  I’m not exaggerating either, it only changes 5 degrees in temperature from summer to winter!  Here’s a few candids from the beach.

Ciaran so proud of his Crab Leg find!

Finn playing with Tricia’s little guy Andrew

The bathing beauties, Tricia and Kelly

That evening after Mussels on the beach we took the kids up to Tricia’s site  for a bonfire and some Cayman Coladas (Pina Colodas with a splask of Chambord- a black raspberry liquer) and Lobster Rolls.  Kelly brought her Nutella for some S’Mores!  We didn’t stay for too long as Finn was just not being himself, but the all the kids had a blast exploring Tricia’s trailer, and palying in Andrew’s bed!  It was like getting together with longtime friends!

Here’s a shot of the three of us, and a couple of family shots of the girls (minus Kelly’s Braeden…where was he? I didn’t get to say goodbye!)  They all stopped over while we were packing up to leave.  This was one time I was actually not anxious to go home, It really is so beautiful there!

Tricia and Family

Kelly and Fam

Farewell Twin Shores!  We’ll be back!

I have so many more photos from the weekend, so here’s a Smilebox I made with some more:

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Make a Smilebox postcard

So you just saw my (not so small) dirty little secret!  I’m not sure just how things can get this out of control in the house, but it happens WAY TOO OFTEN!!  The first step they say is admitting you have a problem.  My problem, I hate cleaning, but I hate even more having a mess!  This is not a good combination, because as soon as I see the mess I want to tackle I get frustrated and overwhelmed.  I start the job, but it never gets completed the way I want it to.  Yes, I will admit I have a few distractions in the house (well four of them ) and that doesn’t help, but it doesn’t take long for things to get out of control like that. This needs to stop, I need to start good habits of taking 5 minutes after a meal rather than dealing with the crisis that ensues when I “leave it for later”.  Upbeat music really helps me, and I tackled the kitchen mess to one of my all time favourites, Bob Marley’s- Legend.  This music is truly timeless and I never get sick of these songs, even the kids love them!

One thing I’ve decided to do is to reward myself.   After watching the Kitchen Inspiration Slideshow it has really given me some motivation. I have hated these kitchen counters since we moved into our house almost 6 years ago.  They are an awful dark shade of dusty rose (just like the awful carpet on the entire second floor), I’ve decided I want to reward myself with a mini-kitchen makeover if I can maintain the kitchen until my birthday in June (the 23rd).  I want to replace the countertops and stain the cabinets and island a darker colour.   Wish me luck, and I’ll be sure to post photos, if I reach my goal!

I have been crisis cleaning! When you take a look at my Before & After Smileboxes you will see this crisis, that has been surrounding us.

I will admit, I have let the housework slip lately, but when everyone got sick last week, then I got sick everything went downhill from there. I had started to clear out the closets to put away all of the winter jackets, boots, hats and mitts, then everything got left then scattered all over the entry way! So I will swallow my pride and show you my mess! I even added a suiting song!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Tomorrow! You get to see the horrific Kitchen shots! It’s bad…really bad! Thank goodness for the Clutter Control Club, it arrived just in time for me!

Here’s a bigger photo of my Shelves as requested:

I’m was very happy to see some great new St Patty’s Day Smileboxes added! Here’s one that I created in less than 5 minutes from last years’ celebrations!

Make a free ecard - it’s easy!

have been having so much fun with Smilebox ! I have had very little time to do one of my favorite hobbies of scrapbooking lately, so this has been a great alternative (although not a replacement). I like that with my premium account that you can save the jpgs individually and have them printed out, or just save them to create your own slide shows, this is what I did for one of the gifts for my dad. I got him a digital photo frame, and made Smilebox pages to display on it!

Here’s a few from the kids playing in the backyard after our first snowday! We’ve actually had 2 snowdays already this month!

Click here to see the Smilebox I created:

Here are what the jpgs look like when you save them!

I’m hoping to do a year in review scrapbook so watch for that soon!