according.to.kim

Have More Fun (7)

This took some time to execute, but was totally worth it! I had tons of mediocre pics of Sophia and Madeline's party this year, so this layout was ideal. I used 14 photos on these pages! I also used some very old embellishments and letter stickers, as well as some new ones I happened to buy a couple weeks ago (some from Dollarama). I like being challenged to use up old stuff -- especially since most of my scrapbooking stash is old stuff! I'm also very pleased with the "Junior Scientist" buttons. The buttons the girls received at their party with their name on them were huge and thick, so I couldn't actually use them on a scrapbook page. But I really wanted to use them somehow, so last night, I photographed them, printed the picture, and used my circle punch to cut them out for the layout. I also used the real party receipt in the top right and I like that it says "Super Labtastic Party" on it.

M's first baby tooth!

Highlights of the week

• seeing the girls enjoy the monkey bars Neil and his dad installed in our yard on Monday. Now when they ask to go to the park and we suggest they go play in our "backyard park" instead, they can't reply, "but it doesn't have monkey bars!"
• receiving an enthusiastic and spontaneous "thank you" from all three of my girls when I gave them dessert.
• eating the most juicy and perfect nectarines with totally cling-free pits. Yummmm! They're at Sobey's, labeled www.RipeNReady.com
• creating pages and projects in Have More Fun -- and reading all the nice comments here and in the class gallery on BPS.
• remembering to order a package of SafetyTat for our trip. Fingers crossed that they arrive in time!
• getting a super bargain on Merrell sport sandals at The Shoe Company -- just in time for our vacation! I love how my feet feel in Merrell sandals.
• corresponding with relatives and making plans for our stay on Vancouver Island.
• showing and reading that orange and pink page to Sophia and seeing the big smile on her face. It seems she in particular needs extra reminders that she's loved, so I like to put it in writing for her.
• hearing about museum camp where the girls spent their days this past week. They learned a lot about bugs (the camp was called "Inspector Insect") and did lots of fun stuff, including field trips to the Wascana playground, museum annex, Willow Island, and Wascana pool.
• decorating Madeline's paint smock (an old t-shirt of mine) and her cereal box for kindergarten -- six weeks early! Yeah! Very happy to have that done.
• seeing Madeline's excitement over having her first loose tooth. It's very loose too; I expect it to come out within the next week or so.
• eating homemade corn chowder, a favourite dish of mine from childhood. I intended to make it myself on Saturday, but ran out of time, so Neil made it for me to have while he was at the Rider game.
• getting and giving birthday gifts to my two nephews visiting from Edmonton. It's rare for us to be able to give them birthday gifts in person.
• spending Sunday at Avonlea visiting Neil's side of the family. What a gorgeous day! We spent almost the whole day outside. We went swimming at Dunnet Park, and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the backyard. We celebrated Neil's grandma's birthday too. She turned 93 today!
• eating homemade saskatoon pie for dessert this evening. Heavenly! I think it's my most favourite dessert -- when it's done right, anyway. (Not all saskatoon pies are created equal; i.e., the filling must not be dry, which does not happen in our families!).

Why I Scrapbook

I've been wanting to post this for a couple weeks. It's an article about why scrapbookers "put in the time with the paper and glue." Why do we do it? If you like scrapbooking, read this! (you'll enjoy it) If you don't "get" scrapbooking, read this!

Estee's Take: Why I Scrapbook

I think Estee explains the "why" of this hobby very well. Plus, scrapbooking is FUN (there's that word again!) for those of us who just really like playing with paper and glue.

Have More Fun (6)

I'm delighted with this! Easy peasy. I used my oldest scraps of pink patterned paper and a flimsy peach card stock I probably never would have used otherwise. The challenge was to USE old stuff from our stash, choosing two colours from the photo (one for the background and one for the punched pieces). I followed the designer's layout pretty closely. Around the photo, I printed, "I see your favourite summer hat (mine too!) and your very favourite summer top -- before it was worn to rags. I see some fun dress-up shoes too. But most of all, I see the sweet & special girl that you are. {love} U."

Have More Fun (5)

Just a silly fun assignment. Basically, taste test a candy bar (or anything) you haven't had before and document the results. (I had two minutes to pop into Dessart and get something new to us. Must go back there soon!) I like how these "mug shots" conjure up the image of an opinion poll in a print publication. That was the designer's clever idea; not mine. I certainly could have carried it further by typing the quotes, but that was going to be too much work. See, I'm getting lazy... and as a result, I'm actually getting pages done -- even when I have a lot of other things to do! When we were conducting the taste test, I deliberately did not take new photos. As suggested in the assignment, you don't always need photos of the specific thing you're documenting or from the actual moment. After our taste test, I simply plucked these photos out of my '08 prints and went with it. This layout was easy and fun -- in more ways than one! Hmmm, what can we taste test next...?

P.S. Thanks for all of your comments on my other pages and projects, and your thoughts on hand journaling. All of this is fun for me too!

Have More Fun (4)

I had a blast making this page! Monday's challenge was to "take a picture of a sign in your community and use it on a page." I immediately thought of a photo of a Tim Hortons billboard I had taken in January 2007. (Is that weird?! Remember, I took a LOT of photos in 2007 for my daily pic project! Anything was fair game.) I do recall thinking that sign was clever. "Not so much held as embraced." Not many companies could pull off a statement like that! It worked for me anyway.

I didn't have to look far for supporting photos. I had taken the photo of my coffee in my 40th Anniversary Tim Hortons mug in Feb 2007. It was a "daily pic" (the billboard was not). The mug was also a perfect candidate for a silhouette cut-out which was part of last Friday's challenge in Have More Fun. I was very pleased I could combine these two challenges because I hadn't done Friday's page yet (and probably would not have time this month, or next...).

Finally, the middle photo of our take-out coffee and tea. I took that one in the spring of '08. What can I say? I like taking pictures of everyday stuff! And the sunlight from the window was hitting the cups so nicely...

I wrote on the page, "Why would I photograph this billboard on a blustery January day? I guess it just spoke to me! Yes, we like our Tim Hortons -- especially in the spring when it's time to roll up the rim to win!" and then, "Neil - extra large steeped tea / Kim - large coffee two cream one sugar."

I must add that I wrote on this page with (almost) wreckless abandon! And it worked out. It's fine! I do not (or did not, anyway) find it easy to put my own handwriting on pages. My inner perfectionist prefers the precision of computer-typed text -- or other people's cool handwriting. And I hate making mistakes (even a tiny one could ruin a page for me). But I've been working on this a lot lately, and I'm really starting to enjoy just scrawling on the page. It's just SO easy!

Anyway, this page is a slice of life and I love it!

P.S. One of my classmates did her "sign" page about TH too. She called it "A sign of weakness?" and wrote about the lure of a Tim Hortons sign for her. Brilliant!

Have More Fun (3)

I love this cute little project from Have More Fun! The mini accordion album fits inside the cool Mo-Mints case made from an Altoids tin. The label was a PDF download from the class which I adhered and sealed with Mod Podge. The words on my pages are all rub-ons and a couple stickers. So easy!

P.S. The photo of my three girls holding hands is a moment (Mo-mint!) that makes my heart sing. I love having it in this little mini album I can carry with me.

Highlights of the week

• making a very decadent chocolate sauce with the girls on Monday evening and then enjoying it on vanilla ice cream (frozen yogurt, actually) a few times this week.
• eating homemade pizza with sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, and bocconcini cheese on it (among other things).
• walking to 13th Ave with a coworker and going to a couple neat stores over the lunch hour on Tuesday.
• taking the girls to the park one evening when they behaved especially well... They were disagreeing on which playground to go to, so I wrote the names of four parks we like (that aren't too far away) on popsicle sticks. Neil made the draw and that was that. No argument or complaining! (although he did draw the one Sophia wanted...) Also, they didn't argue when I said it was time to go home. Wow!
• watching the finale of Hell's Kitchen. It was the only series I was watching, so I was interested in the outcome. I don't mind that it's over though. No time for TV this summer!
• sending my Wreck This Journal to myself in the mail. I was surprised when the post office employee didn't even raise an eyebrow when I asked for postage; it wasn't even in an envelope, just taped shut! Apparently our mail is handled gently; there wasn't a scratch on it.
• getting all of June and the first week of July photos selected and printed. Yes! So glad to be caught up with that. That will make my life easier when we get back from vacation and school starts shortly thereafter.
• having Friday off work.
• hearing the girls say how much they enjoyed Vacation Bible School. They really had a good time and they love the songs they listened to and learned all week. A CD of the music was available for purchase, so we got one.
• watching and helping the girls play with my old dress-up clothes (and all of my current dress shoes) all Friday afternoon. It was a rainy day and that was a perfect indoor activity. They even helped clean up the living room before we got the huge bin of clothes out.
• going to YG on Saturday to visit my family who live there and my Grandma B who was visiting from Saskatoon.
• having a relatively free day today. I got to work on a project for my Have More Fun scrapbooking class. We also went shopping for various things, including groceries for lunches this week, and the kids were pretty good the whole time. It was actually kind of fun! (I don't normally associate fun with shopping with all three girls!)
• taking the girls out for a bike ride/walk late this afternoon. The weather was lovely!

Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan

Did you know...?
The complete Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, "the single largest educational publishing project in Saskatchewan’s history," is available online at http://www.esask.ca/ (it was launched 18 months ago but I didn't know about it until recently). Also, the 1100-page print version is on sale right now for $64.95 (regular $125). Tempting! I like the search- ability of online, but sometimes it's nice to open a book.

Have More Fun (2)

This was not a quick layout for me either. I guess I'm just a slow scrapbooker. It seems I can't just grab things and throw them together. (Not yet anyway; I'm working on it!) The idea was to use strips of paper cut like ribbon and one real ribbon, in a monochromatic colour scheme. I went with a couple of colours based on the photos and the patterned paper I picked. I like this colour combo!

I'm considering adding the words "being goofy" next to the title "Daddy & Maddy". We usually don't call Madeline "Maddy", but I guess it works here because when she calls, "Daaaaaaaaaddy!" (usually from another room), Neil replies, "Maaaaaaaaaddy!" In these photos, I think Madeline was trying to put a flower in Neil's hair but I'm not sure. (Maybe I should print out this post and slip it behind the layout in the page protector so this extra bit of info stays with the photos!)

Rainbows and my quilt

This was the view from our back door on June 24.

And, finally, here's my quilt! To recap, I started making it in January 1999, completed all but the edge binding, and Neil's mom finished it for me in May 2008. Yay! Thanks again, Donna! This may be obvious, but in case it's not, the blocks represent the 12 months (pattern by Thimbleberries).

Note: The July block was altered to resemble a maple leaf rather than stars and stripes.