So much going on

Wow crazy long time since I last posted. I always grumble in my head about those people who only update their blogs once in a while and here I'm doing the same. I'm sorry! The last few months have been so different for me in so many aspects that blogging hasn't been a priority. My children have gotten older and their problems and school lives have gotten much more demanding. Anyone who says having a baby is hard work hasn't had a junior high student yet, lol!

Things with my dayhome business have been very different as well. Last year at this time I was full to the brim with children and it was crazy and great all at the same time. This year, well, its been quiet. I'm learning to be thankful for the quiet but in reality its a bit concerning for me. I started my business because I love kids and I really wanted to be home with Owen. With only having 1 full time child and one less than full time child, I really need some extra kids :) so if anyone knows of anyone needing great childcare please feel free to give them my name 8)

Also I have decided to take my love of scrapbooking, cardmaking and crafts in general down a different avenue. I've offically signed up to be a Stampin' Up! demonstrater. As many of you can tell from my previous posts I'm a huge Stampin' Up! fan and I love to teach and share new ideas so this was a no brainer for me. For those in the Plamondon area please don't think that I'm undermining my fabulous sister-in-law Rhonda who was the previous demo. She had decided about a month ago to step down as a demo and has passed the stamping torch to me :)

So in January there will be another scrapbooking/cardmaking class where people can sign up for a kit and learn some fun new techniques. I'll keep you all posted with more details. I now have a website for all my Stampin' Up! creations and online ordering for those who aren't in the local area. Please feel free to check it out and leave me some feedback. The address is http://www.stamphappyrebecca.stampinup.net/  here you can sign up for my newsletter and recieve special promotions via email.

Big news post I know! But I'll leave you with some of my latest creations!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Which means projects for the Festival de Noel for us! This was the half way point for my dayhome kids in their gingerbread creation. After this they added more and more candies and icing. Awesome. Great (sweet!) project for 2-3 year olds :)

My own personal projects took a bit of a backseat so that Abby could finish as many as she could. She entered 5 and I only entered 3. I'll post photos later :)

Canadian Scrapbooker!

I'm so excited to finally be able to say I'm offically published! My first ever layout published in a scrapbook magazine! I'm on page 40 of the Winter 2010 addition of the Canadian Scrapbooker. And the icing on the cake? It's one of my favorite layouts about my boys <3

some at home scrapping

I'm not always able to go out scrapbooking but that's why I'm so happy to have a space to call my own. With this past weekend being an extra long one I was able to get some stuff accomplished as well as have some fun play time.

I so needed to scrapbook about my new coffee pot. I've had the worse run of coffee machines lately, with having 3 others die on me! Those who know me know I love my coffee so I decided to try a new kind out. I'm totally loving it!

This layout was done with Stampin' Up! Designer Series paper (Elegant Soiree), Ali Edward's stamps from Tech. Tuesday.

 I have a box set aside for new stuff that I get so that I can use some of the new fun scrapbooking purchases that I've made. But lately I haven't been digging into it due to getting monthly scrapbooking kits. These are papers that I got late in August from We R Memory Keepers. They worked so well with these photos of Abby.

 Some more oldies from the "new box" Jilliebean Soup papers paired with my go to favorite, crumb cake (kraft) paper from Stampin' Up! Owen loves to walk now that he has his monkey backpack/leash thing. I don't worry about him running off on me in the stores. Last time I tried him walking without the monkey I had to chase him around the local grocery store!

 LOVE this photo! My sweet man washing my floors! Wink wink! Layout was done with Crate papers.

 These next two layouts were done with Scrapshotz November kit featuring SEI moonrise papers.

 The only thing I added was some red chipboard hearts to Ethan's layout. I love the pop of color!

 This layout came from the "new box" too, but these papers were boughten so long ago that I forgot when! I do know that they are Basic Grey's Max & Whiskers papers.

I was able to get all these layouts done in 2 days despite having to feed my family and take care of other stuff. I used Becky Fleck's page maps 2 for all my jumping points for my scrapbooking this weekend. I love how it helps simplify the creative process without stifling it! I highly recommend it!

a bunch of randomness

So its been a while due to a whole lotta stuff and blogging always take a back seat. Sorry! This weekend I was pretty bummed about not being able to join a scrapbooking group to attend a great 3 day retreat that was close to my place. Totally sucked! But I've already made arrangements with my dh to watch the kids so that I could join my sister and my aunties/cousins for a the annual Girls' Shopping weekend. And really I felt guilty about asking him for a second weekend. Sometimes a girl's gotta choose! But I was lucky to be able to participate in an online crop at Scrap Shotz so I still got my scrap on!

 These are some of the cards and layouts that I made for various challenges. Sometimes its great to step outside your comfort zone and play a bit.

 This tractor layout was very outside of my zone. I'm not a big angler or someone who uses green a lot. Weird though, my biggest paper stash is green (both pattern paper and cardstock) so it must appeal to me somewhere deep down lol!

 These layouts were done with the Scrapshotz November kit featuring SEI moonrise papers and embellishments.

 Except this card, it was done with last year's Bo-Bunny pattern paper scraps.

 I also used a sketch from the new Becky Fleck's pagemaps 2 idea book. Its a great resource and worth the purchase price.

 Saturday morning also included some bribing. I got some quick photos of my kids and 2, count them 2 family photos taken. Not 2 good ones, 2 in total. Thank goodness one turned out great!

 My Owen has become a little monkey lately, demanding and *so* active! He always wants to see what's on the camera  but never wants to stay still. I'm happy to get what I get with his photos!

 My Abby, the poser. She was the most willing, except for her clothes. She was ticked at having to wear a shirt under her dress because it was cold. Bribery is fabulous.

 Ethan, who hates getting is photo taken almost as much as his dad. He's always colder than anyone else, more tired than anyone else and more done than anyone else. You should see him when he's sick (rolling eyes here!)

 the only photo I got! Thank goodness!

 My card challenge for the crop.

This layout was done for a layout race that I participated in. I just grabbed some of my Echo Park scraps and threw it together.

The new family addition. I got the go ahead from Ron to get myself a new camera, well new to me. I bought this bad boy off of ebay (barely used) for $500 less than the retail price. I'm thrilled to say its great and I'm looking forward to learning all the ins and outs of it. Ron's thrilled because he gets my other dslr.

like I need another hobby!

So since mid September I've been visiting my Grandma on Monday nights and learning how to sew a quilt. I've wanted to learn for awhile and though I have basic sewing skills I've never attempted anything more than hemming pants or making hand puppets out of felt for the kids. I mean I took the home ec classes at school and my mom is an excellent seamstress but really sewing didn't tell me much. But I really wanted to spend time with my Grandma and learn her craft.

I'm shocked at how well things are turning out! This is the quilt so far. I'll be adding a couple more strips of denim and cotton along the top and bottom just to lengthen it but basically its almost done.

 Learning from my Grandma is really cool because she's so pro at doing these quilts that she doesn't press seams or pin anything! I, on the other hand, really need to pin because the fabric slips a lot for me.

 Totally laughing at this photo! I had just finished my last panel for the night when I ran out of thread on the top spool! Honest I didn't mess up!

My zig zagging stitch, which I think is the most fun for me. Don't ask me why ;) So now I've got this quilting bug that I want to go buy cool fabrics and create with them! Cause you all know I have so much free time lol!

a long overdue post

I seriously tried to update my blog before but blogger had other ideas. I haven't had a whole lot of time to do a lot of crafty stuff do to other commitments but I tried! I was thrilled to get the new Scrap Shotz monthly kit for October featuring Fancy Pants Happy Together paper and embellishments. I have to say that the combination of white, brown, blue and what I'm calling Baja Breeze (like Stampin' Up!'s colors) knocked me off my feet! But I didn't have any of the right color of photos for the papers. So I threw most of them into black and white.

 I had to use one of my new punches from EK Success, its this huge honking big scallop with circles cut out. Fabulous for scrapbooking pages but I doubt that I'll use it for cards lol!

 My favorite photo of Owen lately!

 Just for those who can't read Owen's shirt it says "my mom is outta your league" guess who bought that ;)

Trying out a transperancy card. This transperancy has very cool flocking on the outside that just begs to be touched!

 These cards were done for a challenge that I put up for the Scrap Shotz card crew. The idea was to take an inspriation piece and built a card around it. I had fun finding pieces from Pier1 online and Pottery Barn which has a ton of eye candy for the home decorating people. Or people like me who can't decorate my house at all and need tons of help from sweet sister in laws! Thanks Nicki! Course if I could go shopping without 3 children and have an unlimited budget I'm sure I could come up with something lol!

 These cards were the subjects of the Christmas Card class that Rhonda (my sil and SU! Rep) taught locally. Not pictured is the cute little gift box and the Christmas tags that were made as well. It was totally awesome because we had total newbies and some seasoned stampers who all loved the class. Everyone learned something new and had fun! My fun was added by the few Bailey's and coffee that I consumed ;)

 This card was also done for a challenge at ScrapShotz, the challenge was to use white and kraft on a card. I love how it turned out and to be honest I love anything kraft :)

 Just an extra layout from the Fancy Pants Happy Together kit.

First day home

I had a wonderful time this past weekend. As I mentioned before I was heading to our family cabin for a mommy time weekend. Firstly I ended up leaving a bit later than I had intended. But by the time I got there, unloaded all my stuff, put away groceries and started a fire in the woodstove I happened to look out the cabin window to this. So I grabbed my camera and headed out to the shoreline and got some amazing photos! I've personally never seen a sunset quite like this with the blues and yellows. This photo is straight out of my camera, manual settings.

I went to the cabin for some rest and relaxation but I brought my scrapbooking stuff plus a book I was wanting to read. It was great to also have a friend come over for a drink Friday evening.

I had planned a bit of my packing a week or so before. I was thrilled to get a hold of 2 new lines from Echo Park, one of my new favorite paper companies. I got their paper packs and added cardstock and embellishments to match so packing was super easy. Just add photos and I was all set. This layout was done for a design team challenge from ScrapShotz and it was to use a quote on your layout. I rarely ever do quotes but this one fit. With the renos to our house the quote was oh so perfect!

This layout was done with the new Bo-Bunny papers and embellishments, so simple but it conveys the story I want. And that's why I scrapbook.

Same papers, Bo-Bunny but they worked with the outdoor twisting that Owen loves to do.

This one was also done for a challenge, using felt on a layout. It may seem weird to use flowers on a *boy* layout but it fits with the journalling. Part of it reads " I know school hasn't always been sunshine and roses for you..."

Look! I did a 2 page layout without being told to, ha! I just had so many great shots of Owen's first trip to the lake that they had to be scrapped. This was also done for a challenge, putting a list on it!

More Echo Park papers! I so love this company! Its pretty bad when you buy the paper once and then see it in the store again and seriously contimplate buying again!

Every time we change Owen's diaper we always call him a "Soggy Bottom Boy" and I finally had a chance to scrapbook it. Bad mommy here, I forgot to pack a swimmer diaper. So sorry buddy!

My Abby adores being outside and the lake was no exception. I think she would have eaten her lunch in the water if I'd have let her! These papers were also from Echo park but the backside of the double sided paper.

This one still makes me laugh! Abby and Ethan are typical siblings...they fight. Ron finally got fed up with them and the new punishment is to hold hands and sit on the couch for an entire hour! I grabbed my camera of course and boy was Abby mad that I was taking a picture! She kept trying to get away from Ethan who hung on, because that was the rule. He's such a rule follower ;)

This was one of the photos that I tried to take when I was redo my profile picture for facebook. Its totally not in focus becasue taking photos of yourself is very difficult (at least for me) Its funny because I still see myself as fat but by looks of this photo I'm not sporting *that* much muffin top. Still needing to work on a bunch of stuff.

I think this is one of my most favorites from this past weekend. The photo is my typical Abby. She's been going through the typical 8 year old girl thing, from feeling misunderstood to crying over a glass of spilt milk to laughing and playing with her little brother. We've been butting heads more often lately too, we're just so much alike. I keep praying everyday that God shows me how to be a better mom to her.

Whew! Are you all tired of going through all the photos? Sorry! I also created 5 different cards this weekend but I can't show them as they are for a class coming up and I gave some away already! Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my work!