ok.....phew............

Here we go!!!
I get to share something that I've been SO busy with for a couple of months. It's kind of amazing how much of my creative energy this took, but I loved doing it.

I have designed two lines (6 sheets each) of paper for paperWERX (the paper division of Lazar Studiowerx) and they're going to debut at the end of this month at winter CHA! It was awesome to work with a local company and I feel like it's such a good fit. Christina is an amazing artist with several lines of hand-painted papers, and that was so up my alley. I hope to get some stamps done too before the show, but for now I get to share sneaks of the paper!!!!! I really really hope that you scrapbookers and fellow artists like it...let me know what you think!

This is CELLULAR:

and here is ORGANIC:

PS...I know the images are a bit small.....you should see it close up. There is so much texture and detail........how will I cut it up?

i will leave you with some random j-bits.
i'm always smiling when i read missy's blog with con-speak...
i will try to re-create the mood and kid-speak voice like she does so well:

if you don't brush your teef you get sugar-bugs.
yes.
do sugar bugs have big moufs? or teeny moufs?
teeny ones. they're just little tiny bugs.
do sugar bugs eat your teefs?

den one foggy christmas eve,
santa came to say (in his underwear!!!)
hey! look at my eyebrows when i say in his underwear!
dey wiggle up and down!

i know you like movies wif stories instead of fightings.
so i picked dis one. i hope you like it.

can you turn dis song up? dis is my song.
oh, and dis one is my song too.
please turn it up some more mama.

(to auntie-aley who has left for china):
hey! i fought you were leaving already!
not quite yet...do you want me to leave?
uhhhhmmmm....
(hey! little monkey....!)

no mama. i don't want any books for chris-miss.
i promise i don't.
(too bad...sucka!)


and with that, i close. i must get some food into my gut pronto.
just under 1/2 a day left and another 1/2 day tomorrow...
then ALL of next week off. YES!!!!
love holidays.

hmmmm

i found this today while looking through folders upon folders of photos from the last year or so. got me thinking again, relative to my last post.

it was part of dare 25...way back in april, if you can believe it. near the beginning of my "effer"/dare career. near the beginning of the HAMBLY explosion. neat. good quote too.

uppity-date

so i only post once a week for how long...now twice in one day? shock of all shocks.

power is back. thank god.
there will be no scrapbooking by candlelight for me tonight.

Do you ever have those moments when you think to yourself. "Hmm...I really don't like most of the stuff I've been making lately." I'm going through that I think. Not enough time to enjoy the process...play, etc. Or, and this just came to me...maybe I've been experimenting and pushing the envelope. Trying new things. Hmm. You know that might just be it. And just not being entirely happy with everything. I guess that's part of being an artist and the whole growth process. You need to go out of your comfort zone from time to time, whether it's to realize you like what you were doing before, or to find new techniques that you want to repeat. Yeah. OK so I actually managed to cruise the gallery at 2peas for a few minutes today. It was really inspiring. I also think that recognizing what you like in others' works can remind you of your own personal style (aka comfort zone). Anyway, it made me realize I have not had time to play lately and make some fun stuff. I think the lack of that in an artist's life can lead to feeling...dull...maybe bored.

Just some food for thought.

Oh and a bit more to share for right now. I think this is my first time EVER in a monthly magazine. VERY exciting for me...I had to pick up a copy when I saw it in the store today :) BHG january issue, in the Made It Yours column. Thanks Candi! It was a fun page to do because I pulled out some old "winter" photos and Jaxon happens to be just a wee little thing...mere months old in these photos. He's so cute!!!!!!!!! (and I was so skinny, but let's not talk about that).

I can't wait to get home and PLAY tonight!!!

ohmygoodness

What a wacky morning! The power went out, sometime between 3 and 4:30am. I had a ROUGH night's sleep. Major windstorm, and I'm getting a cold I think. So Jaxon and I went about getting sort of ready in the candle and flash lit place (he had daddy's cool high-tech flashlight, so he was happy). We arrived at the daycare to find it in pitch-blackness and to the news that the school was also closed. Hmmm. I was 45 minutes late for work, and my sister now has Jax for the day. They will have fun...everyone is happy. Then we had hail, sleet, rain, wind, and now, brilliant sunshine. Vancouver and its multiple-personality-disorder weather.

J-speak throughout the night/morning (he crawled into bed with us at some point during the night):

(slaps d 4 times on his bald head-top)
d: hey! jaxon...stop hitting me!
j: (almost crying) weeeellll...you did it to meee!
(i assure you, dren did not smack the child in his sleep)

san...red....sh...
me: what?
j: santa wears red shoes!
me: are you sure? i thought his shoes were black and his suit was red.
no response.
alright. back to sleep.

we should get daddy to come home and fix it. because he's really good at fixing stuff.
(re: the power being out)

what!?? i can't watch my shows?
well, at least i have my toys.

can we call the fire department to come and fix the TV?
(re: the fire panel located on the wall just outside our apartment, beeping incessantly due to said power outage, related in j's mind to the issue of not being able to watch morning cartoons)

yipeee!
(upon learning that daycare and school were not options today)
me: huh? you WANT to come to work with me? why? you were so bored last time.
j: because i love you so much.

And just to celebrate the J a little more, I have his first-ever hand-written Christmas list. Love it. This week's dare is brought to you by RedDiva kits...gorgeous stuff in there...can't wait to play some more. Specially with the coolcoolcool 7G album.

hello friday.

and thank god.
i am in need of a break BIG time.

today's dare was brought to us all by the one and only lovely jamaica.
hello, my name is:

all about names. fun stuff!
although i finished this last week, i realized earlier this week that i really want to do a page honouring the name some might know me by in the scrapping world...
PAPERJAX!
i love that name. a page must be made.

ok. feeling the need to get messy.
xoxog

uhm yes.

hello. me here. i do exist...i am alive.
just
really
really
really
really
busy.
some fun stuff, some not-so-fun.
work is IIIIINSANE right now.
it's "rush" season.
kind of amazing that there is a season for ordering cds and dvds, but whatev.
we got our tree decorated yesterday. yay!
there is a jaxon-height horizontal line of ornaments, many the same, but i'm leaving it just as is.
ok what else?
nothing. i'm too busy to be doing this.
alright bye then.
with a little peek at something fun...

one week later

Time is flying by me at light-speed these days!
Lots going on, lots of email and "computer stuff" to get caught up on...I just haven't been spending much time at the machine apart from during work. It feels good because I've been getting lots done and spending lots of time with the boys, but I want to make a better effort to stay in touch because a) I miss it and b) If I don't return some email people will either think I've been arrested and thrown in jail (or something) or that I don't love them and then I'll be left with no friends. Hmmm...not good. So email is definitely on the to-do list!

Dare #50...quite possibly the worst photo of a layout ever...but whatever. I didn't want to scan it cuz of the lumpy flower rhinestone thing. I LOVE this photo of me mama...she looks so gorgeous. Love her.

50{ish}:
























And BY THE WAY! We had snow almost all week and it was SO exciting so early in the year! Of course, now it's all melting into grey mush in typical Vancouver fashion but it was fun while it lasted.

Off to a Christmas party tonight, and then a hopefully relaxing weekend ahead.

thankful

for lots of things, including my 'mer-can buddies.
happy belated thanksgiving all you u.s. of a-ers!

conversation with a 5 year old

"*gasp* MAMA!"
"yeah babe?"
"i seen...i seen...i seen a big nest outside the daycare window!!!"
"wow...really? what kind of bird lived in the nest do you think?"
"swallows. it was a swallow nest."
pause
"do swallows live in Earf mama?"
"yes."
"swallows have split tails."

sigh.
goodnight sweet pea.

getting better

Disco glow in the dark bowling was super fun. I wish I had known it was glow in the dark...I would have worn white. We had to wait about an hour and a half before we got a lane (who knew that bowling was like night-clubbing for teenagers!?) but that gave us a chance to chill in the pub and *gasp* talk. It was quite funny, actually, two couples with small children trying to figure out what, besides their children, to talk about on a double date. We managed :)

The stupid Saturday incident won't fully escape my brain. I've been dealing with the co-op Board and the lawyer and hopefully (it would be nice if they'd actually call me back) the police. On one hand, I just want it all to be over with and forgotten about, but on the other hand, I'm glad to be proactive in helping myself. I don't want to pour too much energy in, that's for sure. However, the more people I talk to, the more encouragement I hear to follow through and charge him. We'll see... Anyway, it's still ongoing...thank you for leaving comments and words of encouragement. That's what keeps me strong...the people in my life being supportive and encouraging.

Lil Jax is sick with a cold. D thinks he's getting it. JOY.

Our water is not safe to drink, wash food with, or brush our teeth with. Last week we had major rainstorms and the water treatment plants became overwhelmed due to all the sediment churned up by floods. Two mornings in a row, I've brushed my teeth with the water. Just completely forgot. Creature of habit. I hope I don't die.

mean people seriously suck

Seriously.
I have never had to deal with a situation like I dealt with tonight. Yes, people have been mean to me before. Sometimes in the past I probably deserved it. But I'm growing up. I'm learning, changing, and turning into a nicer, calmer, more caring person. Tonight I didn't deserve what I got.

It's a really long story to get into all the details, but I'll give the short version (as short as I can lol). I live in a co-op. A co-op is a building or group of buildings where all the tenants are members, and co-operatively work to run. We have a Board, committees and deal with most of the "landlord" stuff ourselves. I am the chair of the membership committee. Tonight, I showed some new members their new suite. I gave the member who has already vacated the suite the required 24 hour notice to access it. The outgoing member has had, and is currently having, problems with the co-op (board), some legitimate, some not. She wants her boyfriend to act as her representation, but hasn't yet given the co-op the required documentation so that he can be her agent, so to speak. She (the member) is meak, quiet, unassuming, and never really got involved in the co-op community. He, on the other hand, is loud, agressive, outspoken, and has been very involved with the co-op (in a negative way) in the last few months. She legally has posession of the unit until the 30th of November, but has been moved out since the end of October.

Tonight, he showed up to the suite while we were there (the overdue pregnant mother-to-be, her boyfriend, and mother-to-be's mother)...burst in the door all wild-eyed and ready for a fight. Telling me all about how we're breaking the law, unlawfully entering, not following the rules, blah blah blah. He pointed at me and said he would be charging me. Keep in mind that this is someone who is not technically supposed to even be in the property (rolling my eyes, because now that it's over, I can do that). A verbal altercation ensued, but none of the sane ones (all of us minus him) wanted any part of it, so we decided we would just leave. He told us that "those 3" could leave, but I couldn't. He back towards the door, locked it, put his hand on it, and stood in the hallway, barring us from leaving the suite. The dad-to-be got on the phone w/ the police, and I got on the phone w/ one of the board members. He and another member showed up to diffuse and help. So appreciated. The cops took forever, the situation got reasonably diffused, and we decided the new members (if no one else) should leave. I walked them out (after just a mini-meltdown on the phone while calling the police back wondering where the @#$% they were (that was in my head...I was pretty nice outloud)). I went back to the suite where outgoing member's boyfriend gave some lame-ass speech as an apology of sorts...I said "I'm done...I just want to go". As soon as I walked into my house, I burst into tears. The adrenaline was leaving my body and I just crumpled. So I went to another neighbour's and de-briefed. Phew. And now I'm doing the same thing here. And it feels really good to just let it out. It boggles my brain that people can be so irrational and unreasonable. But I guess that's the world we live in.

And tonight, in about 25 minutes, in fact, we are going on a double-date to some night laser show bowling (or something or other...it involves 10-pin bowling and beer) thing. And I'm going to have a blast. Yes I am. !%^* mean people.

i'm crazy!

yep. and that's just me.

fontwerks explosion!

Gettin scrappy. Good times. Fontwerks all over the place!
I think it's pretty cool that the MC kit used Fontwerks papers, then I got my hands on some fresh acrylic by same company, and so almost everything I've touched lately turns to Fontwerks love!
Also workin on streamlining the space a little more. What that actually means is that I'm trying to get stuff off the floor and into homes. The stuff is very happy, and so am I. Oh, and so is my dear darling husband. :)

I actually did this one in response to Ali's AEzine challenge to group/layer stamps...use stamps...make mistakes, etc. I say actually, because I'm actually impressed with myself that I remembered the challenge and completed the layout...and it was just for fun!


I've had these mustard face photos hangin out for so long. I used the November kit from Memory Creators for this, as well as that cute lil curly frame stamp (Fontwerks). I'm irritated because the writing is crooked. Oh well...I'm letting it go. For now :)



Sophie and Jaxon. From a long time ago. From one of my favourite series of photos. Look at J's lil baby face huh!? More goodies from the MC November kit, plus some older Fontwerks rubons and some grid paper from my stash.


OK...This page makes me happy for so many reasons, despite the kind off-ish scan.
1. Taila. She melts my freakin heart. I could scrap her endlessly.
2. The Fontwerks label stamp. I am in love with the labels. LOVING the labels.
3. Some of my all-time favourite 7 Gypsies paper.
4. A little corrugated action. Don't know why, but i just love the stuff.
5. Rhinestones. Even though they make for crap scans, they are good stuff.
6. George. Alphabet, that is. All. Time. Favourite.
7. A weird coloured cardstock for the background and actually liking it.

Back to work. Argh. Why is it so hard to go back to work after a long weekend? I suppose that's obvious. Argh.

as promised, g squared

gabby sent me a few pix, so here we go.

how friggin CUTE is she!!????

me & dren. wow...that's a shot that doesn't happen very often (thanks g1!)

THIS is a shot that almost never happens...so precious to me.

us. kissin.

and this. ha! dren grabbed my butt then went for the boobs. it was funny.

she even named the shots "hilarious" "cuteness" "ilovethisshot".
sigh. missin the gabby. lovin the photos.
and it's the weekend!


dare from this week. i don't like the resulting page, but that's what happens sometimes, right? a little birdie told me it may be the big chunk of vertical pp that's throwing it off. she might be right. there are elements i'm satisfied with, so i'll just have to repeat them some other time (the ghost letters, stamped with purple onion stamps, the vertical handwritten title, and journalling on the photo (totally inspired by megs).

ok. time to go make sm'art! :)

hump day comes to a close

11:41pm wednesday night. gabby left yesterday. we had such a whirlwind of a visit. the best whirlwind ever. i seriously love that girl. the fact that she came here to visit, stayed with us, made herself at home, made herself comfortable, slept under jaxon's stars & moon canopy (joyously), showers in 12 seconds, uses funny voices, laughs at the most random funny things ever (with me...ok...sometimes at me), braved the most rain vancouver has seen in a 48 hour period in like forever, and eats good food like a champion (me), shops like me (quick and glancy except when the store is totally deserving of some real serious attention; hello paper-ya...ya?)...sigh.

it rocked.

and aaaaall the photos are on her camera. which, despite a flight cancellation, a lost-then-found bag (which said camera was not in thank god), and a TWENTY HOUR journey home, is safe in her posession....

can't wait to see the photos (again) babygirl. i love you!!!

today was back to work day. it was hard! i wished it was thursday, not wednesday. but we can't always get what we want, right? oh well. tomorrow is thursday.

tonight i went to mum's for dinner. we made gourmet pizzas with the sisters and a couple friends and helped aley with her photos and frames (she frames flower photos that she takes...amazingly). it was yum. but it was a long day. after a couple other long days.

and now i'm ready for bed.

g'night!

i love

i love amy butler fabric. like i'm hardcore back in love with it. (re)found my stash. all over it. now to bust out the sewing machine again.

i love fridays. not only is it my last day of work, but it's also dare day (duh).
this week, an extra-special super international dare, featuring a page by each of the girls from the aussie dares, the new zealand dares, and the uk dares! and well, of course, us, the north america version too. each group submitted a dare and combined we have this 4 part dare. theme: childhood memories.
cover every inch of your page (mine's covered in muslin...)
title must be on the photo.
throw in some paint.
i thought it would be impossible, but it was totally fun...and what a blast to join forces with women all over the world in our scrapping-dareage madness!
covered a piece of white cardstock in muslin (as per above)
+slipped some AB fabric into a little vinyl pocket made for mini-discs
+plopped some HS chipboard alphas on the photo
+used my favourite white pen for more title action and journalling
+a LSW butterfly stamp
+HS journalling spot
+MM paint
+ a staple
+ a rhinestone
= a page i love
(it's so nice when that happens)

i love being on a cleaning/purging binge. LOVE it. i think d's starting to get a little freaked out though. where did my calm and relaxed wife go? are we really back to this anal-retentive crazy cleaning all the time persona? damn....please don't start nagging me all the time again...
(i'll do my best)
(but i am loving having a cleaner, tidier (sp?) house, so basically, look out boys)

i love gabby.
and i'm sooooo excited to pick her up @ the airport on sunday!
we are totally gonna rip it up vancouver styles.
actually, we'll probably mostly sit around in our PJs drinking tea and watching the rain fall. but that will be just as much fun, if not more.

i love the rain.
right now, it's not bothering me one bit. being inside, cozy, with a warm cup of something...listening to it on the room or window or just watching it fall. totally calms me.
ask me again in 6 months when it's still raining....

i love you for reading my blog!

i love clean & orderly

It could even get scary. Like OCD scary. We did a huge toy purge on Sunday. My mum took Jaxon to Science World and Dren and I busted our asses to weed out all the broken, unused, unloved, pieces of junk, baby, and otherwise toys. We did it. Oh boy. Did we do it. For about three years our living room has been dedicated to toys and boys. I am so happy to report that I have 11 empty wicker baskets (previously housing toys) and 3 empty shelves on our shelving unit in the living room. It feels like heaven. I know having them empty forever won't feel like heaven, so I'm wondering...what did we used to keep there? Wow. Pregnancy and having a child really does steal brain cells. I seriously cannot remember. For now, the empty baskets feel good. I'm thinking...candles, both tea-lights and scented pillars. I'm thinking (gasp!) adult books. I'm thinking plants. A photo or 3. Sigh. The possibilities are endless. And J's room is all ready for Gabby's visit. I wonder if she'll want to sleep under the canopy/tent/tube thing that attaches to his 1/2 bunk? We shall see, my friends, we shall see. I'm definitely leaving it up to soak up her reaction to "this is where Gabby sleeps!"....hee hee. Love me some G1.

Now I want to attack every space and room in our house with the clean and orderly spray.

In other news. Huh. Not much to say apparently. Dren's working. Jaxon's at a friend's playing. Potatoes are roasting in the oven and I've got to get out the steaks to salt for barbequeing. Yeah...so it's 2 degrees. And? ANTM is on tonight, and I've been working on this week's dare, which is going to be totally different and totally fun...so it's bound to be a great night.

And to steal from Nisa, because I know it's "her phrase" but I really can't help it because it's also just so me...

wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

happy pumpkin day.

it was a good one.
jaxon had a great time.
me too.
now i'm soooo tired.
long day.
time for bed.


here is the ninja in all his glory.
i was alble to put an undershirt, long-sleeve turtleneck and a sweater under this bad-boy of a costume. so he made for a chubby little ninja. he didn't mind. and he was warm and cozy. and yes, he sucked on the mask we made him out of a t-shirt. you should have seen it by the end of the night. he showed off ninja moves, said trick or treat and thank you and have a super happy halloween to almost every house we visited. and we now have way too much candy for one household to have. next year, my goal will be to actually carve some pumpkins (oh the shame) and experience a little more of the lead-up fun prior to the day. but for this year, the day was just perfect for us. g'night.

happy place

wanted to share my happy place from last night.
so happy.
today, monday, at work...not quite as happy. but trying ;)
had a g-chat w/ g1 today...she will be landing in vancouver in just 7 sleeps.
i can't wait!!!!!!!!

tonight

i did a little blogging.
checked up on online friends and aquaintances and people i just admire.
i really enjoyed my time doing that tonight.
i wanted to throw a post up before bed to document that.
to document that, and the fact that i'm glad i have a blog.
there's lots of changes it seems in the blogging world lately.
i've seen them here and there...around and about.
but for right now, i wanted to just be thankful for blogging,
for what it's brought to my life, others' lives.
i feel really grateful for being able to connect to so many people this way.
it's really wonderful.

small things

I'm trying to appreciate the small things in life...looking at the glass half-full and all that. When I was a teenager and in my early twenties, I was a pretty pessimistic character, and pretty damn miserable, to boot. It still takes effort to remain positive and productive, even after lots of practice. But I can certainly say that as the years pass by, making the effort is worth it, and that my life is a happier place to be.

So, small things:

1. While I don't have the luxury of being a stay at home mama, I have a job flexible enough that it will allow me the day off tomorrrow to accompany Jaxon's class on a field trip to Science World. I can't wait!
2. While we don't have a receptionist and it's proving very difficult to find one, being more involved with the customers on the phone is reminding me that they are human beings and not just dumb people who can't follow instructions and try to make that your fault.
3. I've been watching a huge tree outside my office window turn from green to yellow over the last week...it's gorgeous.
4. Black cherry vanilla coke. Yum.
5. Carmex lip balm.
6. I think yesterday I banged my head on something and then realized if I hadn't done that then something good wouldn't have happened, but right now I can't remember what that thing was, so I'm thinking that maybe I'm wrong. I don't know, but at least that thought made me smile when it came to me.
7. A cute rubber pig that one of my neices left on my desk months ago and so it's stayed with me. It's tiny...like 1/2 an inch tall and maybe 1 inch in length. I wish I had my camera to take a cute little picture of it, but it's cute, trust me. It's like my pet now.
8. Rescue Me last night...watched with D and we both laughed our asses of. I love Dennis Leary.
9. Glysomed glycerine-silicone-camomile hand cream. It's the bomb-diggity.
10. Pho for lunch today.
11. ANTM on tonight. Guilty pleasure #75209037.
12. Grey's Anatomy and ER tomorrow. Guilty pleasures #75209038 and 75209039.
13. Scrapbooking, painting art, generally getting messy and creative while participating in above-said guilty pleasures.
14. Banrock Station Shiraz Mataro. Newish find. Yum.
15. Re-discovering a bunch of classical music CDs that my dad gave me years ago. I must be getting older. I actually appreciated the couple I listened to yesterday.

Holy smokes...I started and I just couldn't stop! I suppose I should quote Ms. Stewart...

it's a good thing.

kit lovins.

I can now say with confidence that I love kits. I used to be bothered by them. I'm sure I've said this before, but now I just go with the flow and do whatever I want. I'll add to them...but I try not to. I've FOUND the versatility that I NEED when I scrap. I can use a little and not worry. For this reason, kits are really cool too...you can make them last and last. They contain little random bits of a bunch of stuff (eg. ONE little pad of journalling spots...without having to buy the whole set). Anyway, I'm done my little "I love kits" speech now. Here are some pages I made with the Memory Creators November kit.

The photo in the bottom one was me buttoning up my oldest sister's dress before her highschool graduation. One of my most favourite photos ever. My dad took it. I printed an extra one when I printed a large one to use in her birthday present. (the 60s party, on a side note was AWESOME...i forgot my camera *gasp* but lots of people have great photos that i'll have to steal and share).

Friday...and I'm so thankful.

Same as every week...Friday comes along and I'm happy happy happy. I wonder if that means I don't like my job anymore? I hadn't really looked at it from that perspective before.

I am excited to play with some new stamps I got...I'm excited about a new project...I'm excited to scrapbook with the November kit from Memory Creators...I'm excited to make my sister's birthday present (her birthday is...uhm...tomorrow)...I'm excited to be @ home tonight w/ my boys and go for ice cream. I'm excited to sleep in later than 6:30 tomorrow morning...I'm excited to watch The Notebook and maybe even Love Jones (again) on my laptop while I scrapbook. I'm excited to drink my coffee tomorrow morning in front of the computer at home...I'm excited to get ready for (and attend) my sister's 40th birthday bash...60's style.

And I'm also excited to share this week's dare...brought to you by the one and only Laura Kurz. Love the girl and her style. Memorabilia y'all...scrapit. Dangit.


The scan is horrible terrible no good very bad day, I know, but it's a lumpy page...forgive me. The memorabilia bits are from the box of Freestyle books I got way back when. I kept them, knowing the opportunity would present itself to scrap 'em. Dotty line rubons by Fontwerks, sticker strip thingy by 7Gypsies, the canvas flowers are AL and the round circle stamp is Lazar StudioWERX. Hmm...interesting. There's more stuff on this page than it looks like.

OK over and out and have an awesome weekend!

it's so dark

in the mornings...definitely fall...all foggy and chilly and misty and spooky. We're going to figure out Jaxon's Halloween costume this weekend. When I suggested making a bionicles costume for Jaxon, he thought perhaps we should see what they have at the store to buy. Hmph. Yee of little faith.

My oldest sister Rhi is turning 40 on Saturday. To celebrate her birth in the hippie-lovin 60s, there will be a bash like no other. She's been ordering peace necklaces, John Lennon glasses in all hues, elastic flower beaded children's necklaces to wear as headbands, tie-died bandanas, lava lamps, and beaded curtains off the internet for like 2 months. She's putting her children in a hotel with a babysitter. She's got drinks planned to last for years. It shall be fun, I'm sure.

I'm really excited. I signed up for ARTistry, happening here in beautiful BC in March. Three full days of classes taught by Donna D, Claudine Hellmuth, and the one and only AE. I can't wait. I've only taken one class before in my life, and this will be around 18 hours of them in 3 days. Plus, I get an extra day off work to go play with a bunch of like-minded people. Yeah baby.

OK gotta work. Mmmmmmwah!

Oh and PS. So the movie wasn't exactly what I was expecting. But I enjoyed it. And it fully solidified how much I love Vince Vaughan. And I loved just hangin on the couch with my babe and I didn't even fall asleep. Money.

dust yourself off

and try again.
ebb and flow.
ups and downs.
all that jazz.
tonight me and the man have a date with the couch.
and vince vaughan and jennifer aniston.
and maybe some chocolate cake.

it was such a monday

Ugh. My anxiety levels were through the roof today. All I wanted to do from the minute I crawled out of bed was crawl back in and sleep the day away, cocooned up in a safe place of warm blankets and cozy pillows. And rest for my body and brain. I don't know why some days are like that...they just are. Sick. I hate it...I'm discouraged with it, I'm frustrated by it. I don't understand it and I don't even really care to. Blah.

I pushed through the day, slowly but surely getting through. I saw Dr. M and she was fabulous as usual, going to check up on me soon. Hoping things start to work soon. I got home and crawled into bed. Neither my mind or body would let me really rest, but I think I got a small cat-nap in.

The boys came home and brightened my mood. Brought my energy levels up. I built Star Wars Lego with J until dinner. Tacos. Made by Dren. Yum. Then, more Star Wars tacos along with Project Runway. There were some good parts of this oh so Mondayish Monday. There were.
Gotta remember that.

lazy(ish) sunday

The morning started off with us waking up to the sound of rain falling on leaves outside our window. It is one of my favourite things, for sure, to hear that sound. So relaxing.

The first thing out of Jaxon's mouth was "dad, you'll never be like the hulk."

D got up and made coffee. I got up and poured a cup and cleaned the bathroom.

Checking emails, tidying, J playing with all his new birthday booty, D grocery shopping...I'm getting ready to vaccuum.

Leftover Chinese in the fridge.

I have a movie from the Toronto Film Festival and I'll set up my laptop over at the table and more than likely play the rest of the day away.

Perfect Sunday.

free hugs

Fridays make me happy. They just do.

On this particular Friday, I have some sharing to do. Oh, and I've done a bunch of stuff with that 2906 album that I need to scan in.

First, Free Hugs. This video is totally warm and fuzzy. Guaranteed to make you smile. Check it out.

I'm in obsessive love with new rubber from Lasar StudioWERX. We're talking Polaroid Transfer Edges, Flourishoodled swirlies, and Evidence Sketches with lots of places to fill in the blanks, to be exact. They speak to me and make me want to make stuff. Those are the best kind of products, in my opinion. Once again, I find myself at work, thinking of new, freshly mounted rubber stamps strewn about my table and what I can make with them ASAP.

This page had been brewing in my head for a few days. Reflecting on my mini-break from cyber-land and thinking about how I was feeling. Remembering how therapeutic scrapping is for me, and trying to make sure I document everything I think is significant.


This page is for this week's Dare. To use wrapping paper on a page. Totally fun...and man...there is some kick-ass wrapping paper out there! So make sure if you ever get something wrapped in cool paper, save it. And use it on a page. Even a smidgen.

Tomorrow is Jaxon's birthday party. 12 krazykids running around in their white glowing t-shirts with bowling balls. The little ones. 5 pin I think it is? Yes, I'm obviously an expert bowler. Wow. That's a whole lotta children. Any suggestions about glow-in-the-dark-bowling photos? Right then.

I'm really excited about seeing G1 in November. She sent me her flight dates today and I can't wait to squeal and run up to her and give her a big huge i-love-you-and-i-know-your-life-has-sometimes-been-the-shits-over-the-last-little-while-but-here-we-are-and-i'm-glad-you're-my-friend kinda hugs. So you get ready for that missus G1! You and your bum!


And that layout was made entirely with the October kit at Memory Creators. Oh and of course with the addition of a teeny bit of Fontwerks georgeys because i love george. And staples. I love those too. And they didn't come in the kit.

And now, my friends, I think I have spent long enough away from actual work (as opposed to the pretend work I'm doing right now). So back to it.

Love and peace and happy weekend to all.

almost back

Today, I am feeling a LOT more sane than I was. Today, I am feeling motivated and energetic and happy. I'm not totally back, because I do have a lot to share and yet don't quite have the time. One step at a time. But I have been surfing a little bit, getting inspired, and I have been busy getting stuff organized. I went through papers and artwork and purged. A LOT. Last night, my sister Aley helped me sort through two drawers of wasted space in my very useful vertical drawer thing that I'm hoping to actually put to good use soon. I'm learning to make small, attainable goals and take one day at a time. It will be a life-long process, I'm sure. I've also been doing a little bit of really fun scrapbooky stuff.

However, the REAL reason I'm compelled to post today is because my little boy is finally 5. He's been waiting (not entirely patiently) for this day for a long time. He's already enjoyed some birthday lovins in the way of lego that turns into 6 different vehicles, amazing amounts of dragons and dragon stuff, and a book about a cobra that has a model built right into it. from grandpa, granny, gramma Anne and auntie Aley. Glow in the dark bowling will commence Saturday at 11:30am. Lucky, beautiful, 5 year old boy. I love you.

going on hiatus

As piles of paper and child's art continue to encroach upon my living space and virtual piles are encroaching upon my brain, and the busy-ness is not going away, I've decided I need to cut back on some things. I'm going to be officially neglecting my blog for a little while. I figure if I make the decision to just be less present online I can get caught up in other areas of my life. Like a big fat purge and some deep cleaning at home. Like projects. Like mail that needs to be sent. Then, I'll be back. With a vengeance. I'm thinking that I'll probably miss blogging and surfing so much that it will motivate me to get all caught up. What do you think? Do you think I can do it?

it's done...it's finally done

The week. It seemed very long!
It's Friday. I have a huge amount of email waiting for me. I have seriously neglected my email this week. But it's also been a fun, good week. Birthday celebrations abound (another tonight!), scrapbooking, family time, good TV, and today, mail love in the form of my new Memory Creators kit.

I started a new mini book on my birthday. Yes, I scrapbooked on my birthday. It was pure heaven. Time to myself to scrap. Gotta love. The minibook I started is unofficially titled 2906. It will be all about me and where I'm at for 2006. I've started a couple of "sections" for the pages (Observing, Thinking About, Loving...). I'll get the section tabs done, then add pages as the year progresses. Should be fun! For now, I've just got the front cover done and am working on the first section page.

So, my kit arrives today at work. Nothing better than a little mail loved received AT WORK. Especially on a day like today when I was up to my eyeballs and had a 10 hour day. I put off opening the box until I had a good few minutes to peruse and absorb. Can I just say...

*heaven!* in a box.

MY heaven, to be exact.

Here's a little taste of what I'll be playing with this month:

There's other great and fun stuff in it, but these are of course, the absolute highlights for me. Oh, and one VERY cool lasercut swirly, designed by one of the amazing DT members. Can't wait to play! I'm almost hoping tonight isn't a late night so I can get home and scrap. Obsessed much???

lucky or not...

here we go!

almost 30!

Today I'm 29 years old. Wowza...getting closer and closer to the three-oh. I have to say it doesn't bother me one bit. I'm comfortable and happy.

I'm also totally behind in life, thanks to J's surgery. He's doing really well, but I honestly took a big break and just concentrated on him. We have spent a lot of time together over the last week or so, and I have to say it's been awesome. Fun and bonding and all of that. Making me wish I could stay home with him more often. Oh well...onwards and forwards and it's time for some catching up!

The lovely and charming Stayce (aka BK @ MC) tagged me.

The rules are : List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Don't forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog!

My response:
Weird? Me? Never.
Right then.
1. I have a thing about being able to see open cupboard doors in my peripheral vision. It bugs the hell out of me.
2. Yesterday I ate three pickles for breakfast.
3. Sometimes I'm a neatfreak and sometimes I'm the most disorganized and messy person. And I'm becoming OK with that, even though even I think I'm weird that way.
4. I don't watch any TV or movie at home without doing something else (cleaning, scrapping, sudoku, fidgeting, falling asleep if I attempt to just sit on the couch and watch).
5. Sometimes I let my cell phone die and I don't charge it for 3 days.

And, because I suck and I'm a procrastinator and I have to get to work and can't think of 5 people to tag and I don't have time to go and tag them on their blogs right now and I'm often the killer of the tagalicious blogger fun....I tag no one. My heartfelt apologies to anyone who is sad and disappointed by my actions.

Just a few more things...

Today, I walked into work and my office was decorated ceiling to floor. My sister hung mosquito nets and ribbons and streamers and a happy birthday banner and then she and Josh and Leanne hid around the corner to jump out at me and yell "surprise! happy birthday!" and then started clapping. It scared the crap out of me but then I laughed. I almost spilled my coffee, though, which would not have been good. At all.

Last night, I went for dinner with my mama and my sisters and my auntie and my friends Colleen and Maridee. To Watermark. It's ON the beach. Oh. My. God. It was amazing. I had grilled salmon. Prawn spring rolls. A martini. Some amazing red wine. Others had seafood stirfry. Mussels. Steak. The food and company and surroundings were incredible. I took some photos, but haven't downloaded them yet. Hopefully some turn out!

I also have new hair for my new age. It's been almost a year since I got my haircut. Have I mentioned that I am a procrastinator? Yeah...well, here it is. (I got one bright red streak and Jaxon tells me I have FIRE HAIR...like a superhero. That's right boy...just call me....SUPERMAMA!!!). And now I really must get to work!

quick update

It went really well! He's recovering well, "thwollen up penith" and all. He has SUCH a good attitude and did pretty much from the time he woke up in the morning until he fell asleep at night. He's on tylenol w/ codeine and it's pretty obvious when that starts to wear off. In and out of pain, in and out of energy, but mostly coping just like the little hulk he is. Love him.

Yesterday, he settled nicely into the role of being waited on hand and foot, after a few attempts to go out and play with friends or have some over. Yeah. So he had me hoppin! In between catering to his every need, talking to him, trying to put together some decent meals and cleaning up after BOYS, I'm getting into work for a few hours. Mum's helping out with childcare. Love her.

This week's dare is super fun! Totally awesome guest. Make sure to check it out.
























I used the wicked patterned paper and tag from Lazar Studiowerx, labels from the office supply store, heidi stars, magic mesh, and georgy stamps from Fontwerks. This page was quick to put together...I love when a page just falls out of me like that.

I think I'm gonna scrap and watch Star Wars w/ J!

Yeah...okay nix that. The doorbell just rang and I'm gonna let J play his Star Wars video game for a little while with friends. We'll see how it goes. He's already told them his "weinie is all thwolled up". Fabulous.

wish us luck (it's all about the penis)

Today is the day Jaxon will be having surgery. Circumcision to be exact. TMI? Yeah well...let's get the party started!

Circumcision is no longer a regularly practiced procedure when boys are born here. Whoever back when decided it's really not necessary and usually when people choose it, it's now for religious or personal reasons. So, you have to pay to have it done. My concern when I was pregnant was that I didn't want (my possible son) to feel different, look different, etc. etc. The doctor was like "well...most of his peers won't be, so he'll fit in just fine". She was quite blase about the whole thing and I felt like this really wasn't a big deal. And I'm sure for lots of little boys it's not.

I guess J didn't play with his enough or who knows what to make the skin fall back on its own, naturally. I don't have a penis (really!!??) so I have no clue what's supposed to happen. We have all girls in our family, even the rest of the kids, so we really didn't know what to do with a boy at all! Along the way we've learned funny and super helpful tips like "make sure when you're putting the diaper on you face the penis down and don't let it lie upwards". Why? So the pee doesn't travel up along the onesie all the way to his neck. Yes. Thanks.

We've tried for over a year now to help Jaxon get that darn skin back with this medicated lotion to stretch the skin and it's been a long road. There's been an infection, there's been pain, and we're done. The pediatric urologist recommended at his last visit that we operate.

I have mixed feelings about it, but when I heard a story of a friend's 13 year old relative needing circumcision, I realized I really don't want any of us to be dealing with this over the course of his life. It will hopefully be not too traumatic, and will take care of the problems once and for all. Of course, surgery comes with side effects and it's hard to know that my little baby boy will be put to sleep and cut and completely in someone (several someones, in fact) else's care for at least an hour...complete strangers. It will all be fine, I know. But I'd totally appreciate some kind thoughts of us, praying...whatever it is that you do. Thanks much...I'll update later. Mwah!

are klutzes born?

or bred? I'm a full-on, total 100% complete klutz. I always have bruises. I often hit my head. Or my hand on a door frame as i'm walking through or elbow on a wall or stub my toe on just about anything including the flat ground I walk on. I spill things and drop things, but it's mostly self-abuse that I'm about. J is a total klutz too. I think he spills a drink at least once a day. And I don't know what to do. It's almost becoming comical. Tonight it was a nearly-full can of sprite. Onto the area rug in the living room. Don't worry - we're nothing fancy here and I really don't care all that much about the rug. But whether it's water or milk or juice or the occasional pop...I'd really rather it just stayed on the table.

In other news, kindergarten is going quite wonderfully. At least I think it is. J seems happy. Mind you, when I ask him what he did in kindergarten today, the answer is usually the same(ish). "I don't really know". "You don't know what you did today in school?" "I just can't talk about it. I just don't want to talk about that anymore." Oh. Well excuuuuse me!

Oh.
My.
Goodness.
How I love this boy.
Just this very minute, you know what he said to me?
"Mama?"
"Yes sweetie"
(sigh) "Oh nevermind"
"what is it?"
"oh.....I'm just sorry I spilled my sprite. Mama are you mad at me?"

melting
my
heart
right
now.

So, we're adjusting alright to the new schedule. Read: I'm adjusting alright. I think I'm the only one with issues about change and adjustments.

It's very Mondayish around here. Our receptionist at work is quitting. Honestly...I feel exhausted just thinking about it. I've thought a lot lately about back in the day when we were such a solid, small group and worked together so well. I'm the only one left and it's hard to even think about the hiring process and training process and just....ugh. What can I say...it was a Mondy through and through.

I'm going to pour myself a glass of cab sauv and sink into a hot bath. Have a good steam, put the kid to bed, and get ready for a couple hours of scrapping and Project Runway at 10:00. Actually, that sounds like kind of a heavenly end to a very Mondayish Monday.

back to the dares

and it feels so good.

our dare this week was sponsored by the fiskateers. check them out...too cute. crafting ambassadors...whodathunkit!? we played with some heidi grace stuff. it was really fun (and kinda challenging!) to mess around with some "girly" type stuff. i've been drawn away from pinks lately, which i normally love. i will have to remember to get back to it more.

and it's friday!!!! i love fridays. i'm going to scrap up a storm this weekend. and maybe clean a little bit. happy friday all!

where have i been?

No, really, I'm asking. I mean, busy, I guess? Had nothig to say, I guess? Hmmm. Oh well. Taking a break is never a bad thing. I *have* been pretty busy and sick and working and appointments and all that jazz.

I've been scrapping a TON but mostly stuff I can't really share just yet. Bummer. Note to self: do some stuff just for fun. But having a serious amount of fun with what I have been working on, which feels just SO NICE.

Oh...I stumbled upon THIS just a few minutes ago. Brand new TATTOO influenced brushes from the genius brush maker Jason Gaylor himself? HELL YEAH! (i say). Or, if I were a tad more conservative, HECK YEAH! like someone southern or with a U.S. of A accent. So cute.

Off to finish making the dinner (it's 7:16pm) that I had the best of intentions about but me & J ended up eating tuna fish sandwhiches instead because he was starving and so was I and in all reality it's not going to be done for probably another 45 minutes considering I forgot to start the rice and it's brown and brown rice takes a million years to cook.

At least Dren can have some. And at least my lunch and dinner tomorrow will be yummy.

LOVE!

sick, sad & happy all at once

So I'm sick. Got a cold. Totally hit me yesterday and I passed out about 8:30. Today I'm feeling better than yesterday but I sound way worse. Go figure. Dosed up on Dayquil today, and while it's not quite as effective as Tylenol Cold and Flu, at least I'm vertical. Sinus colds in the summer suck. Also our whole house is infected. Ick.

Sad & Happy at the same time. Weird huh? But I'm sure it's totally normal. (as if I have to assure myself that my feelings are "normal" when what is "normal" anyway and I never pretended to be "normal" a day in my life.

But I digress...I suppose the Dayquil might have something to do with me going off on a philisophical tangent...let's not shall we? OK then.)

So. Jaxon started kindergarten yesterday. But yesterday wasn't the first real kindergarten day. Because the parents and kids basically met the teacher, they got a "welcome to kindergarten" award, name tags, and coloured a poster that said "Today is my first day of kindergarten" and got their photos taken with said poster. We learned the rules of kindergarten, were told to bring a change of clothes and healthy snacks, stayed for 45 minutes and all parents and children went on their merry way. All of this happened at 11:00am...perfect timing for working parents I might add...I feel grateful and lucky to have a somewhat flexible job where I can do this sort of thing with my kid. It was totally fun.

Today was the first "official" day of kindergarten. The door to the classroom stayed closed until it was time, and then when we got to the door Ms. Sran nicely but firmly said "Kids only today, no parents!" with a big smile on her face. My heart sort of leapt into my throat. Slight panic set in. We can't even enter the classroom now? What about all the instructions I have for you about the daycare teacher picking him up after the hour was done? What about this plastic bag I have full of clothes that you told us to bring? He can't walk away from me without his spiderman lunch bag...he needs to remember to take it when the daycare teacher picks him up! Will you remind him? I only had about 17 seconds to spit this out (in a much calmer manner than I was feeling in my head and heart and tummy). While we had been waiting for the door to open, Jaxon had sweetly whined/whispered "mama will you stay with me? why can't you stay with me? i want you to stay with me!". At that point I had been the strong one. Once that door opened and the teacher spoke, he was all "bye mama!" as the lure of the fresh new classroom pulled him in. I was happy about that, and at the same time, as I walked away, I couldn't believe we were here already. I called Dren and left him a message about how our baby was growing up and could he believe it and I was sad and happy all at once. I want Jaxon to grow up well-adjusted and happy of course, but transitions (huge transitions) like this make me a little bit unsure and sentimental. I'll do my best to help him make it through, and in time everything will get easier for me as well...I know that.

As I drove to work I thought about the little book I started last month for the Memory Creators newsletter front page project. The title of the book is "Jaxon starts school" and it's an altered board book that I gessoed and painted and have begun to embellish. I am definitely going to put this to good use. As well as recording his changes, accomplishments, and trials during this time, I'm going to make sure to add mine as well. And I'm thinking it might just help ease my soul.

hell yes.

project runway season 3 premiered on the life network last night in canada.
i am relieved (SO RELIEVED) to be out of my miserable suffering due to being completely and utterly deprived for the last several weeks while my girls in the US chatter about show details making me completely insane.
project runway is back.
this show makes me happy and crazy inspired.
and it's back in canada (yo).
hell yes.

inspired

love saturday.
sipping on hot dark coffee w/ lots of milk.
4 kids in the living rooms making lots of noise.
sunshine.
going for brunch @ lolita's with friends.
read mg's blog this morning and was reminded about the new garden blooming.
i LOVE the amount of inspiration found there. and i'm only halfway through page 2.
theme = art = happy gen :)
i'll be back later to soak up some more and feel the need to scrap.
although i should really clean my room and the bathroom first.
the afternoon will be filled with some of my favourite things to do on a summer day:
family
friends
cleaning (not kidding...i do love it)
sudoku
cold cider
being inspired
scrapping
good food
so happy this saturday.