I don't want to brag ...

... but I finished my Christmas shopping today. Granted, I didn't have a lot of gifts to buy ... basically just for my nieces and nephews, but I'm done. Yay!!!

Just have a quick card to share ... hopefully I'll have some more time to get some crafting done, but work is super insane so I'm not sure how much free time I'll have in the next little while.

Two Peas in a Bucket challenge

I recently discovered a great site called Two Peas in a Bucket. They have an education section that has several different 'classes'. The one that caught my eye was 'A Year In Cards'. So, I decided to give their challenge a whirl. Here's what I came up with ...

I know it's a short post today, but I have to run and finish up some laundry and dusting ... fun. Hopefully I'll have some free time later in the week for some crafting.

white & kraft cardstock: PTI, patterned paper: Sandylion, New Fallen Snow stamp set: CTMH

Simple and elegant card

What a busy week. I knew I would be out of town for the weekend, so I had to get everything I normally do on the weekend finished during the week. Where did I go you ask? On my annual shopping trip across the border with 5 of my girlfriends. The trip started out like a fun thing to do when my best friend was turning 30 and we had so much fun that we made it into an annual event. I'd post some pictures of all the fun we had, but there was too much shopping going on. But I can tell you that on several occasions we were all doubled over with laughter.

I do have a quick card to share ... it's simple, but elegant (I think).

Hopefully I'll have more to share soon.

Kraft card stock: PTI, patterned paper: Sandylion, New Fallen Snow stamp set: CTMH, sparkles accents: CTMH

A relaxing Sunday - and my first sketch challenge

I've had very relaxing and productive weekend (just like I had hoped). I made some chicken chili, calzones, split pea soup and English onion soup. I know that may sound like an awful lot of food, but I'm freezing most of it. I'm finding that it's not only a time saver, but also a $$$ saver ... I'm only doing one major grocery shop a month (I pick up milk and fresh produce when needed) and when I come home from a long day of work I can just quickly get dinner ready. Plus, I can take it all to work for my lunches so that saves a lot of $$$ too.

Anyway, I saw a sketch challenge over at Paper Craft Planet and I thought I'd give it a try. So, here's what I came up with ...

I think it turned out pretty good.

stamp set: New Fallen Snow (CTMH); inks: outdoor denim & twilight (CTMH); white card stock (Papertrey Ink); patterned paper scraps

Happy Halloween

I've been a bit busy lately so I haven't really had any creative time, so unfortunately I don't have any projects to share with you today. I've decided to make this weekend a 'me weekend' which means I'll be cooking up a storm ... I'm planning on making some chili and two kinds of soup (spilt pea and English onion) and getting a lot of unfinished projects completed.

In the mean time I thought I'd share some pictures with you - but I do need to clarify something first - I'm not one of 'those people' that dresses up their pets on a regular basis ... I just think it makes a cute photo op on holidays.

my little bat & pumpkin

camera-shy Maizie

Smudge - lovin' every minute

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

It's Better in the Dark

Last night I went to dinner with a group of friends to a very unique restaurant ...

... it wasn't just a place to enjoy fine dining, but one that heightened all of our senses because we ate in the dark.

That's right ... in complete darkness. 'O Noir' is fairly new to my city, but it's concept can be found in other cities in Canada and throughout Europe. When you arrive you spend some time in a dimly lit lounge area where you make your dinner selections. Once you've placed your order you are escorted to your table by your guide who is blind. In fact, the entire waitstaff is blind.

Let me tell you, once that door closes behind you it is completely dark ... you can't even see your hand in front of your face. It is very disorienting when you first sit down ... we all had a 'dizzy' feeling from our eyes trying to get use to the absolute darkness. Then, when you are seated your guide explains the layout of your place setting. You are then brought your drink and a bun ... and it's up to you to find your knife and butter so you can eat. It is lot harder than you might think ... I ended up buttering my hand.

As the experience goes on we felt ourselves becoming a little more comfortable with our surroundings ... heck, drinking and eating a bun in the dark was easy. But, then came the main course. I had the steak with potatoes and vegetables. The steak was cut into managable sized strips, so it didn't have to be cut it with a knife ... I was just picking up things up with my fork and taking bites, which was harder than it sounds because I ended up sticking my piece of asparagus up my nose. But once I got the hang of it the food was really, really good. We all ended up using our fingers towards the end of the meal because it was the only way we could think of to know when we had eaten everything on our plate. The dessert course was next ... and that was just as hard and just as tasty as the main course.

the door to darkness


the view inside the dining room

Now I'm going to enjoy the rest of my Sunday ... I'm hoping to get a few cards made and a couple of layouts organized. I hope you're enjoying your weekend.

It's been a busy week

I can't wait for this week to be over. It seems like I was always on the go ... and the worst part about it is that the rest of the month is looking like it will be the same way.

I'll fill you in on what's been going on this week. First I got a new vacuum as my other one broke. I have two cats so there's fur everywhere. I had a gift card to Lowe's that I wanted to use so I went there to see what they had. I ended up getting a Bissell Lift Off Revolution Pet which is fantastic. It has special attachment to get pet fur off of the furniture.

my new vacuum =P

It came in this pretty big box that my cats are having a blast playing in ... they're having so much fun that I haven't had the heart to break it down for recycling. I'll give them 'til the weekend and then they'll have to find somewhere else to play.

Smudge in a box

I did find a little time to work on some cards. I wanted to try some new things to see if I liked the way turned out.

snowflake card

snowflake card - open

That's all for me for today. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week.