I'm a lucky lady!

To have such sweet gentlemen in my life...indeed.

photos taken at Lego Land in California. December 2012

And BFF! I think he is kind of, sort of getting used to how often I pull out my silly camera. It didn't hurt that this represented an amaze-balls symphony date...and we did look pretty spiffy!

photo taken at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton. February 2013.

I have NOT been inspired to create anything scrapbooking related lately. I ordered some photos from Prinstagram, but even those aren't doing it. My printer has been kind of an a-hole lately, and the colour is really weird and wrong, so I can't print photos (reliably) at home. And when I ordered some online, I learned that the place I used to use all the time doesn't do one-hour pick up anymore. So I am super behind on Project Life, and just not feeling like I care enough to get caught up.

That's not to say I haven't been busy creating...

(I'm a little bit obsessed...practice makes perfect, and this needs to be perfect...)

And I am behind on blogging as well. As I write this I only have two posts in the queue. That's not how I like to roll! Get moving lady!

later loves

Update: I don't know why, but I changed one little print setting and it's working now! And I did some Project Life last night...wowee wow wow.

Disney Layouts (part two of......)

Here is the second batch of Disney layouts that I finished this weekend. I did a bunch at the crop on Friday night, hanging out with Candace & Nadine & Jen. Some more came on Saturday morning...all my stuff was just sitting in the hall begging to be pulled out again! And then Saturday night was the TM Xmas party, so, well, you get the picture!

A "double-page layout"...some of you might know how I feel about matchy-matchy spreads, and I think this one is just right. I've even got a third one in mind to add to this! Also, the timing of this Studio Calico kit with the Ferris Wheel paper couldn't be better!!

Journaling reads:  We convinced Lucas to go on the the big Mickey ferris wheel, but not without some reservations on his part. He was worried about the swinging cars - which we "fixed" by choosing the "non-swinging gondola" line. And he worried about the height, which he continued to worry about the whole time! Oops....

Dude was NOT happy to meet any of his favourite characters. Not even McQueen could make him smile....once he got close to him! When we saw Pluto in Toontown and I made a beeline for him - wanting only to get my picture taken - Dude immediately exclaimed "I don't want to get my picture taken". Before we even had a chance to ask!

Journaling reads: I have fond memories of "it's a small world" from my 1st trip to Disney...mostly because it's so kitschy! HA! The 1st day we were here the line up was CRAZY! I can't even beleive it!! When we came back through on Sunday there was no line, so we jumped in a boat and were off. It was just as lame as I remembered, except this time with an Xmas theme!

I have a feeling that journaling is going to be super important with these layouts. I have loads of funny stories to tell from our trip, and I don't think the pics and pretty things will be enough for me to remember them down the road! Like how Dude stood beside Phineas & Ferb's photographer & cried while Russ & I posed. Or the creepy kids in "it's a small world" with their Christmas songs, and tacky gear. And how it loses some of its allure as an adult when you notice the colour of the ceiling tiles, and can see where the ride needs some maintenance!

later loves

Clever Instagrammers!

Sometimes I wonder what I would do without Instagram. That may seem dramatic to some (most), but for me it is a wonderful tool! I get to see what my best pals are up to, and share in their small joys of everyday life. And I in turn get to share with them, and document all those moments that are forgotten as easily as they come.

My cousin got married in October, and his wife is herself an Instagrammer. She created a wedding hashtag to be used by her guests, so we could all share in each other's small wedding moments!

She's a clever lady! It's fun to do a little search and look through other people's pictures. I've got a couple of my cousin's on this layout, that I just couldn't do without.....they have cooler filters than I do! (wink)

I have been using my Instagrams quite heavily in my Project Life binder (yes...I'm at it again). And it has really helped me to anchor each day with a doodle/deep thought in my moleskine. Most of the time I don't have my official camera with me, and if I want to "capture a moment" I do it with the (gigantic, cumbersome, stupid-looking) iPad....and share it on Instagram.

I document waiting, and funny news, and beer loves, and work woes, and sushi kisses.

Instagram suits me just fine!

If you're on Instagram you can follow me @formerlylisas

My profile is private, because I just can't stand the thought of random creepers checking out pictures of me, and dude, and my fabulous scrapbooking!

later loves

Like Mother Like Son

Does it even need saying...???

We are both giant dorks...

We like to sing silly songs. And skip, and giggle. And run really fast, and then walk really slow. And practice our British accents. And have impromptu dance parties in the living room.

And we both like to smile. And eat pizza (no cheese/fake cheese). And draw. And build things. And laugh.

It's impossible to pick and choose what personal characteristics your child(ren) picks up from you, but I hope that Dude gets my laid-back, carefree, big smiles attitude toward life. And that some dorky makes it through as well.

And that is Dude + Me in a nutshell. "Ah! I'm in a nutshell!"

later loves

Saturday with the Boys

I spent the Saturday afternoon of my Birthday Weekend Celebration with my Boys. We went for lunch & then took a little ride over the High Level Bridge. Add in a Starbucks coffee/frap/cookie & it was kind of a perfect afternoon.

Can I just say that I have a handsome husband? We are a good looking family, yesirree.

For the scrapbookers: You can't really tell from my lacklustre photos but the orange ink and orange paint splatters are the most delicious neon I have ever seen. My good friend Nadine bought me some Hero Arts NEON ink pads for my birthday (I love her the best!) and the orange and pink ink just happens to perfectly match the neon paint I already had in my stash. Serendipitous! (which I totally spelled correctly on the first try...say what?!)

Also (still for the scrapbookers) the title banner and "bathroom people" were cut for me by my gorgeous new friend Candace with her Cameo. While I have nothing personally against die cut machines, I just don't understand their popularity...even though they make pretty much whatever die cut design you (or someone on the internet) could imagine.

Also (still for the scrapbookers) I have been hoarding that piece of calendar paper for a long long time. Oh yes. And I finally just broke down and used it! Isn't it funny how we hold on to things like that? I mean, I bought it to use it (I bough a couple of sheets actually), but I could never bring myself to cut it up. We scrapbookers are weird that way....I know that some of you reading this know exactly what I'm talking about! HA!

In other news...

Tonight is the first concert in my symphony series that I treated myself to you this year (after I got the "new" job). I am very excited! And I hope BFF is as well...he's my "date". ***EDIT: Apparently I originally scheduled this to post last Friday. So just pretend I make sense, okay? Are any of you still reading? Aliens have landed and are destroying the building!!.........??? Just checking!

later loves

A Beautiful Surprise

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the species, "scrapbookers" are a unique & wonderful group. We see the world a little differently, much like a photographer does I imagine. We see the details, & the colours, & the "behind the scenes" that maybe other people miss. We build layouts as we move through the world. We are already matching paper to outfits & thinking of colours and embellishments we have at home that might work.

I am less worried now about the matching as I used to be. I see this hobby as my craft & an extension of my art. But I still try to make sure I have captured as much of the moment with my camera as I can, so when I get home I can properly tell the story.

You can go ahead and imagine lots of words in those blank spots!

This story starts off with an email from Nadine. Kara was coming to town for a buying show on her birthday, and planning to meet Nadine for dinner on the Saturday night. And wouldn't it be completely amaze-balls if a bunch of extra people that Kara knows and loves - aka us - showed up at dinner as well and surprised the tears right out of her eyeballs?

The answer: "Yes. Yes it would."

So while the photos are beyond blurry, and I am so not good at taking dark restaurant photos at the best of times (forget after I've had two beers and a belly-dancing lesson), I think they all help tell the story of that time Kara thought she was going to dinner with Nadine & ended up eating Greek food & cupcakes with a bunch of dorks.

later loves

Desperate Housewives

First things first, please ignore my spelling mistake in the title of this layout. I was getting all flustered with having to use 3s and 5s instead of Es and Ss and make my own As that I accidentally spelled "Desperate" very wrongly. I don't have auto-correct on my sticker letters. It's fixed now in real life, but I didn't want to re-take the photos. La-zy!

I took all of these photos at Jill's wedding shower on the 19th. Her lovely mother Joyce hosted it at her house, with lots of help from Jill's fabulous bridesmaids (sister Kirsten included). I had loads of fun, and I think all of the other ladies in attendance did as well.

And look...it's a double-page layout that matches but isn't "matchy"! Gasp!

 Page the first: Jill is still jealous of my Sassafras "flowers" and I can't blame her because they are pretty awesome, and perfectly match (another gasp) the colours in the photos! I also added some new MME sticker labels, and cut up some new Echo Park paper. That sheet of "labels" is going to be perfect for many titles and Project Life layouts.

 

Page the second: I wanted elements to mirror the first page, but not line up perfectly or anything. Hence the strips of paper at the bottom, my go-to design!

I am also really jonesing the black journaling against the white background. It adds some interest and movement in the otherwise sparse background, but it's not overwhelming. And it serves a very important purpose...reminding me of all the fun things that happened at the shower!

This is going right in to the Project Life binder alongside the other photos for the week of February 13th to 19th. Hey, that reminds me of a funny P.L. thing I've noticed. My week begins on Monday, and Nadine's (for example) begins on Sunday. Isn't is lovely how different (beautiful) brains work!?

later loves