it was a 14 pound box

(click image to see better!)

sunshine & fish-n-chips

It's Friday! Thrilling. You know what else is thrilling? The weather. Loving the sunshine.

I am in LOVE with our new Dares site. It's so fun to play on and we're adding features like The Mini Dares (how cute) and finding a whole new enthusiasm for it all. GOOD stuff. We have some more stuffs up our sleeves {insert photo of me grinning devilishly and rubbing my palms together}.

My Dare from this week, featuring Guest Darer Anja. The girl rocks out with originality and I love it. I mean, NO official scrap supplies? Not a ONE? Egads, as G1 said!

So glad that Dren "posed" (as silly as they are) for me a couple weeks ago. Sexy, yes? I never get to scrap him b/c I never get photos of him. I 'spose I could use the same ones over and over again, but that would be a bit boring, no? The back of this layout is a very sturdy envelope that the fat black and white proof for The Book came in. I left the shipping papers in it and everything. I know the subject of the page has nothing to do with the envelope and why I wanted to keep it, but for me the important thing was to keep it and use it, and it really is a nice strong flat surface to work on. I added most of a swatch from an upholstery store. I used another similar one on a mini I did for The Book. These things are GREAT and I need more! Got them from a store here called Urban Source. All recycled/reclaimed stuff sold there. Must check back. And maybe the fabric places give these things away for free? Also on here, we have part of a SB cup with a beautiful quote on it, some corrugated CS from some packaging or other, and a piece of thin chipboard that came from who knows where. This dare was challenging. I love that.

Last night we went out on a little family adventure to the beach. Our intention was to eat fish & chips at the beach. It was a gorgeous night and we were to watch the sun go down and play. I would take some photos. We got there, and the kitchen at the concession was closed. WhatEVER. By this point it was almost 8:00 and we were starving. Dren doesn't get home until after 7 and I had waited to eat with him. We drove along Broadway, heading East, and had our eyes peeled for a sign somewhere that might say "Fish-n-Chips", because of course by that point we both really wanted fish-n-chips! It was not to be. Then I thought of a diner near our house that was sure to have them. Then Dren remembered this great little place called Belgian Fries. This place is to die for. Really good fries, and that's all we've tried, but they also have deep-fried Mars Bars (are you kidding me!??) and lots of other really healthy stuff. They happen to have fish-n-chips; clearly, deep-fried fish fits right into their menu. So, the drive was nice (Jaxon slept most of it) and we ended up about 8 blocks from home, happily eating fish-n-chips.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of hangin, scrappin, cleanin, sleepin, relaxin. I hope you all have a GREAT weekend and thank you so much for all the congrats! I'm really happy to be a part of the Memory Makers extended family :)

Gratitude:
For changes coming. I have to be grateful, otherwise I might freak out and lose my mind.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

It would have been nice to make Dren and Jaxon refer to me as Master Mama or Master Babe. Yes. Heeee! While I can't officially refer to myself as "master", today I can still be grateful about being able to share this.

yum

Just finished a mini album with the August Scrapologie kit. I think I love it, but I'll have to check again in the morning to make sure.

Everyone who tells me "when are you having another one...you should have another one...a little girl" can seriously shove it after the afternoon/evening I had. Jaxon had a friend over...a little boy who is 4 but I think maybe acts like Jaxon did when he was 3? Or maybe there is a HUGE difference between 4 year olds and 5 year olds that I had no clue about? Did I miss it? Cause seriously, I couldn't believe how Jaxon reverted to being some sort of annoying, non-listening child that constantly had to be heard...and we're talking NO downtime. Poor Dren was home with them all day, but I got plenty filled in between 4:30 and 7:30. And the mum was supposed to be home at 5:00. ANYway. Just slightly going crazy over here, so it really felt good to make stuff tonight. Really really feeling nice and calm now. Doesn't hurt that the house is silent b/c the boys are sleeping and it's 1:09am and I really should be in bed because even though I feel calm right now and that's great, I'm going to feel tired beyond belief tomorrow.

OK so I'll just post some photos then...some eye candy for me, photos from little spots in my own home that I love. Mostly my areas here, of course. The boys' areas are covered in things like action figures and video games and maybe some chip crumbs.

book stack beside plant
(and a photo of damien)
(we still miss him)

collection of binders. to store things and make me organized.

big long matches. they look cool like this.

seriously, this time

The Dares! we're back! we're happening!

there is something like a huuuuuge learning curve when you decide to start a website by yourself, not being trained as a web designer, programmer, or computer technician of any sort whatsoever. but i think that might actually make it that much more rewarding...as long as people don't get sick of waiting for us to get our shit together!! apparently we're on a bit of an old & crusty server so if you have any issues, please try refreshing or if that doesn't work, checking back a little bit later...i guess we'll need some patience from people (including ourselves!) for the next little while. you should have heard kristi screaming and cursing on the phone just after i had woken up this morning. oh lordy...this is a true test. we'll be adding info and dares and all that from now on...it WILL be great!

now that THAT'S out of the way, i'm feeling serious need to make stuff. so i'm gonna. got the august ologie kit to work on, and a bunch of other stuff that i want to get out just for fun...including The Gratitude Project!

here's my dare page from this week. dare: scrap your weakness. a cool one for interpretation. mine is about how i really get caught right up in taking pictures of jaxon...weaknesses can be good things too, right?

I used 7G and Fontwerks, and drew a grid on the AC thickers to tie them in w/ the grid rubs. The best thing for me to do when I haven't felt creative is to really bring myself back to the basics of product I love and is easy to use.

Gratitude:
Grateful for computer geeks and technology and forums where you can research stuff you don't know anything about but need to learn in the next 7 minutes because you've made a website go live before it's really done.

not dead

1. working on revamping entire dares website. the other one was slow and the application we were using was a little too techish and un-user friendly for us. big job.
2. working two jobs. josh is in korea until the end of the month.
3. working on august scrapologie kit.
4. working on The Gratitude Project.
5. working on not throttling my child as he goes through "one of those testing phases"

Gratitude:
I'm alive!

insomnia & books

Oh oh how I'm SO grateful for being introduced to goodreads by a couple of friends. For the last several years (let's call it "post-baby") I've made my way through a few books, but have not included regular reading in my life, except for daily reading with Jaxon. While the Wind in the Willows and Robert Munsch and Rudyard Kipling and Dr. Seuss are quite wonderful, they're not exactly chock-full of adult brain stimulation (well, they are, but in a different way). It's sort of like looking after a child full time. It's hard work and fulfilling, but at a certain point you long for adult conversation and interaction. So, do we think there is a connection between staying awake half the night and being fully immersed in a book? I dunno, but I do know that for two nights in a row I haven't been able to sleep properly. My mind going in a billion directions at once, feeling stressed before bed I'm sure doesn't help. The first night I tossed and turned, contemplating rising around 3:30am. The second night I gave in, and warmed some milk and cracked open my book. I love reading and am really glad I'm back into it. And I like that I can read a few pages or half the book, depending on my mood and schedule.

Tomorrow I'll be going back to work. Today will be spent doing some organizing and watching Dren and Len install our dishwasher, a.k.a.: marriage saver. I'm desperately in need of some creative time as well, so I hope to get some of that. I've been making things here and there, but feeling the need for direction and focus.

Ali's new daily something project got me both inspired and a little bit overwhelmed/exasperated. Jump starts are a great thing, but for as long as I can keep going on a "daily anything", I know the day will come where I can't participate and then it becomes a negative burden. I sat with that for a few days and then realized, it's OK. I mean, that's what Ali always says herself. Mistakes are OK, and we have to forgive ourselves our faults and be grateful for what we can do; for our accomplishments, our families, friends, learning and growing.

So what I'm going to concentrate on for myself will be my version of a daily something...and I'm going to call it the Gratitude Project. The days I don't necessarily have time to make something, I will rely on my blog to document the gratitude piece. Any of those can eventually become journalling for a piece of the Project. Anyone interested in the Gratitude Project? A no pressure way to continue being grateful on a regular basis. Hmmm...I think I'm going to start today!

xog

escaping

My holidays have been so busy that I wonder how I can actually have a full-time job. But, apparently I can. In talking to friends about this, they have informed me that the ideal length of vacation is 3 weeks. In talking to my mama, she thinks 6. Yes, it's true, either of those would be preferable to 1 week, but I'll have to take what I can get, right? And although busy, I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. Today we went to Watermark at Kits Beach. Me, mama, Jaxon, Colleen, her mama, and Carmichael. The boys were SO well-behaved while we ate at the ultra-chic and only somewhat family-friendly restaurant. It's gorgeous.



Gratitude:
Today, I'm grateful for a lunch with friends and family, and for walking on the beach together. I'm grateful for holidays, and sharing a bottle of nice wine in the middle of the day. I'm grateful for Jaxon learning to swing on his own and "practicing until I can get better than daddy one day". I'm grateful for being able to do a little escaping this week, and taking a break for myself.

Friday Night

gratitude:Friday night. My last day of work before holidays had just ended. I wanted something relaxing and comforting, and I asked my mum to cook dinner for us and bring it over. She agreed, of course she agreed. She misses cooking for people...has a hard time cooking nice meals for just herself, and that fit in with what I needed/wanted and I knew that. I need some time with my mum and she needed the same. The cooking/eating part just fit in with us as a family. It's the perfect way to catch up. We're all busy, but we still need to eat, right? We invited Colleen, who has her mum in town, and of course Carmichael too. They brought home-made soup and we had roasted chicken and sweet potato and steamed vegies and a beautiful salad. A 3 course meal...how nice is that!? It was nice. And I was reminded just how nice the next day when I spotted The Red Bowls waiting to be put into their home, the cabinet in my art space. Gorgeous.

Today=Spent getting out of "work" mode and into "holiday" mode. Kind of rough, strangely enough. I think I thrive off routine and not having one throws me into a bit of a tizzy. But we did see Bourne Ultimatum. So Good. AND I cut up some paper. gasp.

Thoughts of the Dares site and what a nightmare it kind of is are coming back to me...must be all this time sitting at the computer writing this post. Must go before feelings of anxiety and irritation fully creep back in. Off to bed & a book (thanks to goodreads, which pretty much rocks my world right now).

xog

on holiday!

Love knowing I don't have to go to work all week. Tomorrow's a holiday, so I'm only taking 4 days off work, but getting a whole week. Now that's smart.

Yesterday I took Jaxon and Gracie to the park. We had fun and I took a ton of photos. Remembered how much I love to take photos and vowed to keep doing it. Been out of that habit lately. Here they are peeking out through the holes in the tube at the playground.





Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.
John Milton

OMG

countless self-taught hours later:

http://www.efferdares.com/


weeeeee're baaaaaaaaaaack!!!!

and slowly but surely, the links will go live, we'll update the archives, and say goodbye to blogger forever! *please have patience with us for now...it about killed us to get the thing live for today :)