I just had to share …

my not-so-little fur baby turns 4 today … happy birthday, Smudge!

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Happy Dance

I was just as happy as could be today … I had found a new scrapbook store in my area and decided that since I had the day off work I’d treat myself with a caramel-pecan-gingerbread scone from Whole Foods and a few goodies from the LSS. Well, I think I actually did a happy dance when I saw the Jillibean Soup ‘Atomic Soup’ paper collection there. The inner nerd in my had been on the hunt for this collection since I first saw it … you see, I have a BSc in Chemistry and Biology and have spent the last 10 years working in a lab as a research chemist. So, these papers …

… made me smile.

And, I just had to get this itty bitty stamp set to go along with the paper …

I can’t say if I’ll ever use the ‘love potion #9’ stamp, but the little beaker, test tube and Erlenmeyer flask were just too cute to pass up!

I have a few layouts in mind for this paper … I have pictures from university and the research lab that I’ve never done anything with, so I’m excited to finally be able to do something with them.

Thanks for stopping by.

YPP Sketch Challenge #2

Here’s the sketch …

Here’s what I came up with …

Part of the challenge was to use Lindy’s Stamp Gang products … so, I used a couple of colours to colour the white Thickers and to create the accent paper behind the picture (along with my very first set of Nestabilities).  I also used them to colour a paper flower and to add a bit of shimmer to some seam binding and a bit of Webster’s Pages trim.  Then I added a bit of journaling on a piece of vellum to the corner with a few grey pearls.  I’m enjoying doing these challenges as I’m finding that I’m getting a lot more layouts done.

Materials used:

• card stock and vellum: Stampin’ Up!
• seam binding: from Fini Ribbon
• pearls: Prima E line
• trim: Webster’s Pages Bloomers
• LSG: Voodoo Violet Blue, Golden Lump of Coal & Creme Brulee Cream
• Thickers: American Crafts ‘Platforms’
• flower: Recollections'
• Spellbinders Nestabilities: Curved Rectangles

Thanks for stopping by.

Stylish Blogger Award

Aw, shucks.  A big thanks to my friend Sarah over at The Handmade Card Blog for sending me this lovely Stylish Blogger Award.  So part of receiving this award is telling you all a little bit about me … so, here are 8 things that you may not already know:

1. I’m a classically trained violinist

2. I’ve taken professional culinary baking course ... just for fun

3. I love refinishing furniture

4. I have dipped my toes in both sides of the Atlantic ocean

5. I’ve helped birth a litter of piglets

6. I’ve been on a plane that had problems deploying the landing gear and had to make an emergency landing ... I got to go down the inflatable slide

7. I have a ‘thing’ for stationary – I *heart* pens, notebooks, sticky notes and tabs

and finally ... drum roll, please ...

8. I’m a science geek (sorry, can’t help it ... that’s what happens when you spend 5 years studying chemistry in university and then spend 10+ years working in a lab)

That’s it … that’s me.

I’d love to pass it along to those who inspire me everyday with their fabulous blogs …

1. Erin: http://inked.papersweets.ca/
2. Nicole: http://gingersparkles.blogspot.com/
3. Lisa: http://notladylike.blogspot.com/
4. Nicole: http://myscrapology.blogspot.com/
5. Megan: http://maddmartha.blogspot.com/
6. Deb: http://sideshowdeb.blogspot.com/
7. Virginia: http://www.scrapalicious-creative.blogspot.com/
8. Heather: http://www.stampwithheather.typepad.com/

Thanks for stopping by!

I *heart* Johnny

So, it’s no secret that Johnny Depp is my favourite actor … I’ve been a huge fan every since his days on 21 Jump Street (ok, I think I just dated myself).  I was just gitty when I found his block in front of Grauman’s Chinese theatre the other year when we went to Hollywood while on vacation. 

So, you’d think with all my excitement I would’ve scrapped my happiness before now.  Well, I would love to say that I have a good excuse reason, but I don’t.  Well, maybe I do … you see, I’ve been trying different styles of layouts, but nothing seemed right.  Until now … I think I finally found a style that I really love.  It’s simple and clean and very understated.

There’s not much to the layout and I think that’s what I like most about it.  And the best part … the layout was created with scraps of paper (not including the base paper)!

Materials used:

• cardstock – Papertrey Ink
• patterned paper – My Mind’s Eye, Prima
• Glimmer Mist – Haunted Shadow (my fav!)
• butterfly punch – Martha Stewart
• bling & pears – Prima
• border sticker – Basic Grey
• Tim Holtz tiny attacher
• ribbon trim – don’t know … it was gifted to me

Thanks for stopping by!

Winterlicious

So, in  case you don’t know I’m a foodie at heart.  The food network is always on my TV, I love reading cook books and strolling through a grocery store or kitchen-type store makes me happy.  Why am I telling you this?  Just so you can imagine how gitty I was when my friends and I decided to partake in Winterlicious this past weekend. 

What is Winterlicious you ask?  It’s an awesome 2 weeks when restaurants in the city have special menus for amazing prices … it’s an opportunity to dine in places that would, normally, be too far out of your price range or were booked solid so you’d have no hope of ever getting in.

This year my friends and I decided to check out a restaurant called Horizons … not only did it offer an outstanding menu, but the dining experience was amazing.  You see, the restaurant is located 346m (1,136feet) above the ground.  Here’s the view from our table …

view of the downtown core from 346 meters

The dinner, itself, was just as amazing as the view …

Butternut squash bisque with toasted pecan crème fraîche

Niagara Pinot Noir Braised Short Ribs of Beef, Roasted Holland Marsh vegetables & Yukon gold potato mash

Dark Chocolate, Almond Cornmeal Cake & Lindt milk chocolate ice cream

After dinner we decided to take in more of the amazing views of our city …

view of the Rogers Centre from the observation deck

view of Rogers Centre through the glass floor on the observation deck

We had a blast and can’t wait to try another restaurant in a few months when Summerlicious comes to town.

Thanks for stopping by.

A hard card to make …

… for a couple of reasons.  A very good friend of mine lost her grandpa yesterday to cancer.  So, to let her know that I’m thinking of her at this hard time I wanted to make a card.  However, I only have one sympathy stamp and it’s a tiny little thing.  So, I ended up using the hydrangea stamp from the ‘Because I Care’ set from Stampin’ Up! along with my little sentiment stamp (thanks for the idea Sarah).

I coloured the flower in with nice subtle shades of pink, purple and blue and then stamped the sentiment on a piece of vellum (thanks Natasha for the tip!) to use as an overlay.  It’s a pretty simple card, but I didn’t want anything too ‘flashy’ considering what it’s meant to say.

   flower without the vellum overlay

Materials used:

• card base cardstock: Papertrey Ink
• paper for stamping and vellum, inks and ‘Because I Care’ stamp set: Stampin’ Up!
• patterned paper: DCWV ‘Luxury Stack’
• sentiment stamp: Inkadinkado

Thanks for stopping by.