Blog Candy Winner!

Well, I had quite a few people take guesses as to who was "more" correct, me or Lee, on the size of our new home and what you all thought might be the square footage.

I was surprised that only 2 people thought Lee was correct... and HE was!  So that narrowed the competition down right away.  I really saw that women tend to stick up for each other, though.  ;)

The guesses on the square footage ranged anywhere from 1800 sq. ft. up to 3600 sq. ft.  It's actual size according to our construction plans is 4498.7 sq. ft. (not including the garage of 852.1 sq. ft.).  It totally doesn't show it in the photos, does it?  Even walking around in it, I would never guess it was that size, so that's partly why the debate with my husband.   LOL  Well that and the fact that when we were picking out our plans, we went with this house in part because it was only 3158 sq. ft.  Only to find out later that didn't include the bonus room over the garage, and that we added a little over 500 sq. ft. more to have a proper laundry room and to make our master bedroom and bathroom larger.  So I still had the 3600 range in my mind and was not being convinced by Lee in no way was it 4500.  Yikes.  Now I have to look forward to cleaning that sucker!  hehe

So that means that the winning guesses belong to:

Twyla Norris

Congrats Twyla!  (Can you contact me so I can get your mailing address?)

Let's Party with some Hooligans

*** Don't forget to play along for my blog candy... you just have to answer 2 simple questions.  (See my post below this one or click HERE.)

I took some time to play yesterday and this is what I made.  A fun little birthday card for a fun little "hooligan".  This card uses all new CTMH product that will be available starting next Wednesday, Sept. 1st.

On my card, I paper pieced the little critter and used liquid glass on his eyes and the balloon.  I also sprinkled some Prisma Glitter on the balloon while the liquid glass was still wet.  I also random stamped the words onto the Gypsy B&T.  Take a look at the new colours, too.  The purple is called Gypsy, and the green is Pear, and the blue is Lagoon.  That's only 3 of the 8 new colours!  Don't ya luv them?

The Hooligans paper pack is a fun one.  It can be used for Halloween, or for fun birthday, or even everyday scrappin'.  I can't wait to show you how I used it on a layout and on another card (non-Halloween and non-birthday), but I can't just yet, as they have been entered into a contest with CTMH for Consultants.  So as soon as I can, I will post them here.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used are all CTMH:
Paper:  Hooligans B&T; Black, White Daisy, and Lagoon CS
Stamp:  Party Animal
Inks: Black, Gypsy
Embellisments:  Lagoon stitched grosgrain, Black bigger brads
Other items:  Wishes - Simple Expression, Liquid glass, Prisma glitter, Waterbrush, Micro-tip scissors, 3D foam tape

Slowly but surely... and some Candy

I have lots of pictures of the house.  It's at a bit of a slow stage, as the roof is taking a lot longer than the framers anticipated.  They are hoping to have the roof sheeted sometime next week, which will be good because it's been a bit rainy here lately and my house keeps getting wet and muddy...  ;)

This picture shows the ceiling beams in the living room.

This is looking up from the large living room windows to where my son's bedroom will be.  His window is huge and he has a great view out the back, and out the front from where his doorway will be.

This is looking from the living room up towards the loft area, a storage room, and my future scrapbooking room above the garage.

Again looking through the loft, storage room, and you can see the doorway into my scrappin' room.

This is the view of our house from the driveway side.

These next pictures are going from the back left side of the house and working your way around to the right in a circle...  This one shows the masterbath, main entrance, main bath, spare bedroom on the lower level, and the media room and Cole's bedroom on the upper floor.  There is also another bathroom between the media room and Cole's bedroom, but it's more central and has no exterior window.

This one shows the main entrance, kitchen, mudroom and garage on the lower level, and the loft, storage room and scrappin' room on the upper level.

This is the garage, with my scrappin' room above.

This one is of the garage, laundry/electrical room, dining room, and living room on the lower level, and my scrappin' room, storage room, loft, and vaulted ceiling in the living room on the upper level.

And this last picture is of the master bedroom, with the master bath on the side without a window (the window faces the other side) and there is also a walk-in closet on the lower level, and the media room is on the upper floor.

It's getting more and more exciting.

~~~~~

So, onto the candy...  I'm going to run a little contest just for fun.  It's been fairly heavily debated (mostly between me and Lee) on the square footage of the house, less the garage because I don't count the garage as "livable space".  I kept telling my hubby that it was one size and he kept telling me it was another.  I looked again at the plans to see who was closer in the debate.  Guess who won???

Leave me a comment with who you think was right and just for fun give me a guess on the square footage.  The person who guesses the correct answer as to who was right along with the closest guess on the size will win something from me....(one comment per person, please). 

Yikes!  What do I have to offer?   I've been heavily cleaning out my stash of stuff lately, so let me find something I can offer.........(running off to look.... insert annoying music of your choice here...)

.....Okay, I'm back.  I have a D-sized stamp set called Cherish the Moment up for grabs.  It was the May Stamp Of the Month, so it's not available for purchase.  (If you are a Consultant and you already have this set, you can still enter my draw, but I'll send you a hand-made item instead, something using new product that you can use for displaying if you wish to do so.)

So good luck, and as the Templar Knight said on the Indiana Jones The Last Crusade movie, "Choose wisely..."  LOL

I'll draw a name on August 31st, so that gives you until Tuesday at 12 pm (noon) Pacific Standard Time to leave me a comment with your answer/guess.

:)

Christmas in the Heart

Yup, I'm still alive and kickin'!  ;)

I quickly created this card this morning.  It might end up being my Christmas card that I'll be sending out to friends and family this year, though I'm not sure yet.  I like to keep my Christmas cards fairly time friendly and cost effective on the ol' postage since I have quite a few to make and mail out. 

~~~~~

Thanks for hanging in with me, though I haven't posted much lately. Even though it doesn't seem like it, I have been creating when I can, but it's really just been on some entries for the Make It From Your Heart Constest for Consultants. Our deadline is the end of the month, and then once they announce the winners I will post my creations here. Can't wait to share them with you...

Once September comes and school starts (not until Sept. 7th around here), I'm hoping I can get back into my crafty creating habits once again.

Until next time, happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper:  Creative Basics Mistletoe B&Ts; Colonial White and Black CS
Stamps:  Card Chatter - Christmas, Just For The Holidays
Inks:  Black, Cranberry, New England Ivy
Ribbon:  Colonial White Crochet
Punches/Die:  1 1/4" Circle, 1 3/8" Circle (SU), 1 1/2" Circle (EK), Scallop border (SU); Top Note die (SU)
Other items:  Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), 3D foam tape, 1/8" Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal)

Super Quick Card Set & Shopping Bag (Workshop to come...)

Hey all!  I thought I'd share this with you.  I made this set... gosh, probably this past Spring and I still hadn't posted it yet.  Mostly because I was hoping to do a workshop, but it just hasn't happened.  So I'm still going to plan to do it for a workshop sometime in the future, I just don't know when that will be yet.

Isn't this little shopping bag just the cutest?

It easily holds the 8 cards and envelopes we will create for our class.

And here's the quick, but cute cards...

A huge thanks goes out to fellow Consultant Amanda DesJardins who created and then shared her class instructions with me.  Luv ya, Amanda!

So for anyone who may be interested in taking my class, keep tuned, as I won't be sharing Amanda's instructions here simply because they are not mine to share.   ;)   

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper:  Animal Cookies B&T; White Daisy, Dutch Blue, Tulip CS
Stamps:  Thoughtful Seasons; Warmest Regards (SU)
Inks:  Black, Tulip, Dutch Blue, Clover Meadow, Tulip, Black Journal Pen
Punch:  Scallop border (SU)
Other items:  Silver eyelets, Silver cording (Walmart), 3D foam tape, Scor-Tape (ScorPal)

Construction Pics...

Yeah, I know... where's the crafty stuff, right?   Hoping to find some time soon to play (maybe tomorrow - but I have to work in the AM).  Today ended up being rather busy, so while I wanted to play, I had too much other stuff to do.  Sucks, but it's really not that bad.  ;)

Last night we took a couple of pictures of/from our new home I'll share with you.

The upper floor has been sheeted and they put in a construction staircase, so we can walk around up there now and get a feel for where the rooms will be.

Great view...

And today they started placing the huge beams with a picker....  all I can say is WOW.  Standing in my living room looking up at the main beam, it looks like it's so far up.  Very cool and hard to describe.  It's one of those "you'd have to be there" kind of things.  I didn't take a photo of it though (insert afterthought here... hehe).  Will need to do that and post them at another time.

These pics were taken today from the other side of the lake.

You can see some of the beams in these pics...

~~~~~

My birthday is coming up on Saturday... the big 4-1!  So what better way to celebrate than to go shopping with some of my winnings (gift cards to two scrapbooking stores) from the Fall Fair.  Here's what I bought so far... and I still have some shopping to do.  Yes, I am a happy girl.   :)

So my appologies for not doing much crafty posting.  I have a couple of cards in the works, but just can't post them yet.  I have so much new product siting here and I am so wanting to get creating!  My husband did warn me there'd be days like this while building.  Yes, honey... you're right!

Hoping you all are getting your crafty on!

Happy creating!  :)

Fall Fair stuff...

Well, the Fall Fair ended yesterday.  My weekend was so busy that I didn't get a chance to attend and see any of the other entries.  By the time I arrived to pick up my stuff, everything was packed up/picked up.  Darn.  I love to see all the crafty creativeness of others.

Here's another item I entered; this one was for the Home Decor category.  I've seen so many dry erase message boards made using a picture frame that I can't possibly remember where I saw the idea first.  But I was told by a few people while picking up my entries that this was the hit of all my items, the "talk of the town" so-to-speak.  Funny, eh?

Sorry for the not so great photo, though.  It was difficult to get a good picture with the reflections off the glass.  There is a brown self adhesive Prima felt tree branch on the left side of the frame that is blending in a little too well for my limited photog skills.  The felt is a little darker than the frame so you can actually see it in person.  And I had to use my new SU owl punch which arrived just in time.  Added the perfect last little touch.

So what did I win?  I took first for all of my 7 entries and I also won Grand Aggregate.  I'm not sure what that means exactly, but I think it has something to do with taking first in the all the entire Scrapbooking category.  Wow!  An unexpected, but nice surprise.  :)

I've had some people wanting to see all that I was entering.  We are allowed to enter anything we've created within the last year, or basically since the last Fall Fair.  So most of the items I have previously posted.  I'll just show you the thumbnail images and if you want to see the original posts, you can just click on the description links.

Papercraft - Home Decor:  Dry Erase board (photo shown above)


Papercraft - 2 Cards:  Great Day Card & Thank You Card
(I can only show you the one card right now, as the other one is entered into a contest)

Scrapbooking - Bite Sized Page(s):  You're Loved 8x8 Layout

Scrapbooking - 12"x12":  Beautiful Banff Layout

Scrapbooking - Judged on Journaling:  What Happened? 12x12 Layout

Scrapbooking - Paper Art Craft:  Asian Tea Holder

Scrapbooking - Any Article Not Mentioned Above:  My {Cool} School Buds Envelope Mini Album

Happy Creating!  :)

Supplies used for the Dry Erase Message Board (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper:  Twitterpated B&T, Colonial White and Chocolate CS
Stamps:  Classmate Alphabet, Felicity stamp set
Ink:  Chocolate
Embellishments:  Twitterpated MyStickease, Sorbet woven ribbon, Twill, Felt Leaves and Mushrooms from Heartfelt Wonder, Felt Tree Branch (Prima Marketing)
Punch:  XL 2-step Owl (SU)
Other items:  11x14 Picture frame (dollar store), Dry erase marker (Staples), 3D foam tape

Card Set using another Triple Play mini album...

 Triple Play is now available!  Here's a card set I recently made with one of my 3 mini albums, using fellow Consultant Gloria Rogers' creative genius!

How cute is that?  Thanks, Gloria!

Gloria has shared a tutorial on how to turn one of the mini albums into a card set just like mine that I've shown above.  And she took it one step further and shows you how to turn one of the mini albums into an interactive layout.  (So clever!)  *** Update:  Gloria has moved her layout on her blog, so it's now just below her card set, so you just need to scroll down from her card set to see it.

And here's the link to my mini album I put together for my neice in July for her birthday.

So if you like mini albums, this is great because you get 3 of them in the Triple Play kit.  If you like to make cards or layouts, now you have other options too.  :)

~~~~~

Triple Play is available now for National Scrapbooking Month from August 15 - September 30th, while supplies last.

How do you get one?   There's actually 5 ways:

1.  Buy the Triple Play kit for $34.95.

2.  Purchase $30 in MyAcrylix stamps and get the Triple Play kit for $15.

3.  Purchase $47 in MyAcrylix stamps and get the Triple Play kit for just $5.

4.  Host a Gathering with sales reaching $350 or more and get a Triple Play kit for FREE.

5.  Join Close To My Heart as a Consultant and get the Triple Play kit for FREE.

If you have any questions, please email me at vwizniuk@pris.ca. 

Happy creating!  :)

You're Loved 8x8 Layout

Here's another layout that I just now completed which I'm planning to enter in our local Fall Fair for the Bite Sized pages category.  The Fall Fair is happening this coming weekend, so I have to drop off my entries on Friday.

I think I have pretty much everything ready, except for a Home Decor entry.  I'm hoping to get that done tomorrow, that's if my day goes without life interrupting...  and by life, I guess I mean kids & hubby.  lol   ;)

So what do you think of my little 8x8 layout with my most fave pic of Cole when he was only six?  It's using pretty much all new product (that just arrived today into my excited little hands) which will be in the Fall/Winter Idea Book.  Notice two brand new colours, too!  Oh, and I even pulled out my sewing machine to do some stitching.  I was nervous to use it for scrapbooking after having it repaired this past January.  I did a big no-no, actually quite a few of them, and had been stitching over glued areas on my cards and layouts, which caused a big gummed up catastrophe in my machine.  Yikes!

Anyways, I now vow to plan in advance if I'm going to sew on my papercrafts and I will not use glue in those areas...  :)

Hope I inspired some creativity in you today...

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Lagoon, Pacifica, Colonial White CS; Magnifique B&T

Inks:  Lagoon, Pacifica

Embellishments:  Col. White & Chocolate Primavera rub-ons, Colonial White metal tag, Chocolate waxy flax, Lagoon grosgrain, DE monogram C, Pizzazz Irresistibles

Punch:  Real Estate Sign (EK)

Other items:  My Legacy Writer 0.5, 3D foam tape, Scor-Tape (ScorPal), Make-up sponge (dollar store), Sewing machine (Kenmore)

Just some construction pics...

I was happy to see the main outer wall of the living room up today!  You can see a bit of our view, although it's smoky from forest fires and overcast when I took these pics around noon today.

So who's gonna clean those windows???  Asks the girl who's scared of heights... lol

These pics are of the garage.  I didn't realize that there are glue-laminate beams in there too.  I thought they were just inside the house.   (Though I'm sure my hubby will tell me that he already told me so, 'cause he probably did.)   

This is the view as I drove in.  You can see my car parked to the left...  ;)

It's coming along nicely.  Can't wait to see it with another level (so I can walk around and see the other rooms), a roof, doors & windows, and the Hardiplank siding. 

'Til next time...  :)

What Happened?

Wow, I find this layout to be busy, but boys tend to be busy, don't they???

With Cole turning 10, I find myself reflecting more on life lately.  Here's my journaling in case it's hard to read:

"What happened to my baby?  Where did he go?  I swear he was just here not too long ago.  Now you are getting so big and there's not even a little ounce of baby left in you.  As parents, we are always told how fast our children will grow, and to make sure we treasure life's littlest moments.  Even though we were warned, we tend to get caught up more in each milestone you reach as you grow, and seem to always look forward to the next one, sometimes forgetting to pause... just for a while.  Now you have turned 10 and I wish I could go back to enjoy more of the little moments with you.  Lesson learned."

I also included a quote from Robert Munch:  "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."

I am going to submit this layout to our local Fall Fair in the Scrapbooking category for Journaling.  (Along with a bunch of other items in different categories.)  I plan on entering my work in most every category this year. 

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used:
Paper:  Paper Crush 12x12 Scrap Pack (Colorbok), Chocolate Chip CS (SU), White Daisy CS (CTMH)
Stamp:  Save The Date (CTMH)
Ink:  Chocolate Chip (SU)
Embellishments:  Paper Crush Varnish Icon Chipboard Stickers (Colorbok), Heidi L Black rub-ons (Making Memories), 5/8" Brown/white Sidesaddle grosgrain (Walmart)
Punches:  XL Double Cogs (SU), Circles - 1 3/8" (SU), 1 1/2", 2 1/4", 2 1/2" (all EK)
Other items:  Base Camp Cartridge and Cricut (Provo Craft), Pinking Shears (Singer), 3D foam tape (dollar store)

Note:  (The Colorbok paper I used is very likely not available. I purchased it at least a couple of years ago at Zellers.)