Belle Papier {pretty paper}

Well…this is NOT a football post. Actually this is a milestone for me. Today is our 19th anniversary and we’ve been married half of my life. I guess that gives my age away but I’m really not one of the people who hide it. While we’ve had hard times, we’ve had lessons, we’ve also had many, many joys that far outweigh them. I know I am incredibly blessed.

the better half

OK I will admit this “recent” photo is a couple years old. I really wanted to create this layout today to remember my thoughts and I just couldn’t find anything more recent of us together.

Take care!

There’s a lot new! I’ve just gotten back from another long weekend at the cottage. I just love it there! We had an absolutely fabulous time and now I’m scrambling to catch up after four days away. You always pay, don’t you?! I have some fun lake pics to share with you today. I actually tried tubing yesterday…first time in 20 years!!! My son took pics of that but, of course…I’m not going to show you those ones!

Over the weekend I took some stamps, ink and my Copic Markers along with my. I’m really getting addicted to sitting down and relaxing by practicing coloring the CHF detailed image lines. I spent a few relaxing hours coloring in three of them. Haven’t had time to make a project with them yet but here’s one of my favorites, The Light of Peace from the Thomas Kinkade Line.

We had a ton of fabulous entries for the Cornish Heritage Farms Can You Color Design Team search. The call closed Thursday night and it has been a pleasure to go through them all. Right now it’s the hard part of the job…choosing designers from the fabulous entries. Thanks so much to those of you who applied!

Today at CHF, there’s another Scrapblocks™ release. I’ve been pestering Lisa for a like this for months and it has been worth the wait. LOVE this stamp! 6×6 inches makes it perfect for layouts, altered projects and of course, cards. No matter which the the card is orientated…this stamp works perfectly.

Aged Sheet Music

Tonight I have an on-line class at Cornish Heritage Farms. The chat thread is at 8pm EST and I’d love to have you join me!

I’d also like to announce another on-line class at CHF. Click on the banner for more details.

And now for those pics…

I thought I’d share a little stamp room update for you. I’m sure you are all not as excited as I but…please forgive me…I just had to share! Since the last time when all you saw was a hole in the ground, I now have a gravel floor, concrete block walls, a window, it is actually framed over top with the floor joists of my new back entrance and the insulation and siding is on the new addition so we are 90% closed in. My hubby has been working day and night to get it moving along. Winter has arrived in Ontario so there is a bit of a push. Because we have a boiler/hot water heating system, I’m getting in-floor heating so it should be nice and toasty on my tootsies and won’t feel so much like a basement. Below is a pic I took yesterday afternoon. Stamping Room to the left, bedroom to the right. And my beautiful dog peeking in through the window opening. I know it doesn’t look like much yet but it has come a long way, baby! The floor is getting ready to be poured today. Can’t wait!

Thanks for putting up with me! I’m being thankful today too…with how far it has come along. That is the trick to big projects…celebrate each accomplishment along the way!

I just had to share this photo of my new stamp room in the making. LOL I KNOW it is going to take a little time to get there! I’ve had people ask me for photos of my stamp room but…the sad truth is, I just don’t have one yet! I design in a very messy corner of our family room on one little desk. Where do I store the supplies?! On the desk, under the desk, on the floor, in cupboards…wherever I can find an inch! And so…it really WOULD break my camera to try and take a pic… especially after how busy I have been lately!

And so…. this “lovely” photo is of my new stamping space. See that lovely hole in the ground…it extends right under my kitchen and what used to be part of my wrap-around porch. I just can’t wait…another bedroom for one of the boys, a bathroom, a storage closet and a small 8×8 foot room for me. Can you see the area right where the concrete blocks are…that’s it! Be it ever so humble, I still Can’t wait! I’m just not enjoying the process but hey…when you buy a century old house…what can you expect?! Tomorrow those blocks are going to start forming the basement addition walls. I’ve got the bestest hubby in the world for tackling this job! Don’t you think? He’s been putting 30-40 hours a week in on this job on top of his 44 hour week. Stay tuned for more updates! I’m sure that from here…it is only going to get better!

Four hundred Twenty-eight! Huh? What? Four hundred twenty-eight pictures that we took yesterday! LOL We had a fabulous day at the African Lion Safari, but don’t worry…I won’t bore you with them all. Actually it was a long day and I’m still exhausted and I haven’t had much time for editing them so you are totally off the hook. Scroll down to the bottom of the post if you are interested in taking a peek at the few I have edited.

Quick Tip: Ok…this is totally NOT papercraft related but I just found it out Monday and it saved me a LOT of money. You can buy tickets for the above attraction as well as many others, at Costco. It will save you a pile! Have fun!

Way’s to Use it Challenge - I was supposed to be away on vacation today but you know how it is…the best laid plans of mice and men…. LOL Anyway…I set up a guest hostess for today’s challenge but maybe that got a little mixed up? Not sure…so I went ahead and posted. You can find the challenge HERE. I’ll be back later this afternoon to post my challenge card design here and all the instructions.

Craft Critique - I’ve been a very busy girl lately and written another article for Craft Critique. This week is book review week. I’ve been so interested in learning more about digital scrapbooking lately and when I found the Ultimate Guide to Digital Scrapbooking by Better Homes and Gardens, I just had to check it out. Fabulous publication! I learned so much and I love how learning something new, you can always apply it to different aspects of design. Below is my first hybrid design. It incorporates three digital techniques I learned from the level one section of this book. Click on the link, Craft Critique book review to check out more.

Sun, Sand, Surf - a digital design for Craft Critique.com

And lastly…a few of the photos…

This darling baby zebra with his mom, was born on Monday. I was so excited to get a pic of a day old zebra…absolutely amazing!

This 9000 pound elephant laid down right on top of his trainer…yikes!

Fabulous Birds of Prey show - this is a landing young bald eagle…

The Pride…

The waterpark and splash pad was fabulous for kids and great for cooling off…