Ahh the winds of change..

Here's a toast to new beginnings and the memories of all that has come before.

in two days it will be exactly four months since we made the adjustment to star a new life for our family here in Blackfalds, Alberta.  I think we have finally reached the stage where we are settled in to our new community and our new life, because as I was discussing with my friend just last night, now has come the twinges of homesickness.  We spent 9 wonderful years in our hometown and the house in the country.  High Level and Rocky Lane were the places where my hubby and I grew up and it was where we chose to settle down and start our family and watch it grow.  So it was bittersweet to say goodbye to all of those memories in order to journey on this new path here in Blackfalds, but I am a firm believer that if you are going to try something new than you need to embrace it with all of your energies, and that is just what I have been doing in our new home.

Let me just start by saying that I like our new home and our new community.  I find Blackfalds very welcoming, it's got the same small town feel as High Level, and I love that my children can now play down the street with their neighbours or go for a bike ride, or we can go to the local rec. centre whenever we feel like swimming, or playing badminton, etc.  It feels comfortable to live here.  I also like that we are just minutes away from a more urban community such as Red Deer.  We can go into the 'city' for a movie, dinner, or just for a day of shopping and errands if we like, which we do often...then it's right back to Blackfalds for the small town feel.  All in all, we really like living here.  

I would say the only downside of living in our new community is that I haven't met many crafty types yet and I've come to realize that I, myself, do not feel very crafty unless I am around other creative types to motivate and inspire me..so in this way I am really missing my crafting friends back home.  I haven't even touched my craft supplies or played in my brand new craft area since we've moved..it's sad really but I just can't seem to get motivated to take on a project, of any kind.  The biggest thing I've done since moving here was putting together the Halloween Wreath kit from Stampin' Up! with my son and I only did that because we were decorating outside for Halloween and it was either put the kit together or forego it for another year..so the time crunch forced me to do it.    I know it's time to get in there and get gluey but I'm just not sure how to motivate my self..one thing I've been thinking of is to try to start a new card group here, the timing is right with Christmas just around the corner..I think a group would be fun to make cards for the holidays.  Perhaps that's the way to start, inviting others to join me for a holiday card group.  Can't hurt to try right?!  

In the mean time I am back in Roller Derby and trying to push myself to get better every week, to master some of the derby skills..it's slow going but I'm determined to get better and faster; I also joined a belly dancing group this week and that was a lot of fun...one way or another I will find my niche here in my new town and I will find a way to get my creative juices flowing once again.  For now, here's a taste of some of what I've been up to in the past few months ala photo journal style but in no particular order :)

Cheers

Orange pound cake recipe from Pinterest, I was in a baking Mood!

Since September I have been on such a Pumpkin kick..and now I can get the coffee whenever I want..my grocery store sells the Keurig pods

My son loves all things Halloween and his birthday is at the end of September..he says its the best of both worlds

Strapped on my skates again for Roller Derby! I'm still Fresh Meat but one day I will Benchmark!

Beautiful beach sunset by Gull Lake

The beginnings of my new craft area

I love fresh cut flowers and all summer I've been able to get these kind of bouquets from the local farmers market

Got to see this play again this summer..AWESOME!

The view from my room :)  an early fall weekend away with friends in Canmore/Banff

Window shopping for the perfect pumpkin

DIY Retro Fresh Kitchen Tile Style

Hi Everyone,

Can you believe that Summer is just around the corner?!  I told my son the other day that we don't really have Spring months up here because as soon as it gets warm enough for the snow to melt we seem to skip Spring and fast forward to Summer clothing, Summer BBQ's and Summer thoughts.  I said that the true indicator of Summer would be after we have one more good rainfall, because then the leaves on the trees will truly sprout and we'll see green trees everywhere.  Last night it rained by our house..not a torrential downpour but apparently enough for my predictions to come true.  The trees around our house are a lovely shade of budding green!  I know I should expect at least one more frost before its safe to plant or enjoy the outdoors as summer weather, but it's so hard when you experience Winter for 6-8 months out of the year.

My wish for everything warm and sunny was the start of where my inspiration came from for this neat technique for making your very own Scrapbook tiles, that and a little bit of home decor searching online. Stampin' UP! has this great Designer Series Paper (DSP) called 'Retro Fresh' from the Spring Occasions Catalogue (Item # 132993).  I love the colours in the paper but I'm not really a retro kind of gal, at least not for the 50-60s era, but if the 80s and 90s could be considered retro than I am all over it LOL. Anyhow, as I was looking through the papers, one of the patterns caught my eye.  It was these teeny tiny bi-colour tiles that look a little bit like paint swatches.  What they actually made me think of is the tiles that go on kitchen or bathroom backsplashes a la the 1960s, and then I thought to myself, 'wouldn't these look just like those kinds of tiles if I could figure out some way to make them all shiny like actual backsplash tiles?!'.  I immediately went through my inventory of adhesives and liquids to see if anything could produce the desired effect and sure enough, I found my Stampin' UP! Crystal Effects (Item #101055).

Now it was just a matter of putting the two together to see if this technique actually played out in real life the way it had come together in my mind..the result:

What do you think?!  Doesn't it look just like ceramic kitchen tiles!

The technique is simple enough, but it is time consuming to 'paint' each tile so I only did half of the sheet.

I thought it turned out pretty amazing actually, exactly like what I had pictured in my mind and the technique is simple enough..Just 'paint' each tile with one coat of Crystal Effects and let dry.  In order to get an authentic tile look, I coated each square individually rather than painting the whole sheet so that each square is shiny and looks bubbled, like real tile.  I only coated half of the 12x12 sheet as I just want to use the finished product for a border so I won't need to use up the whole sheet this way and I didn't want to waste it, but I know it is simple enough to do if I need to create more.

So that is my share for today, a simple technique for creating your very own retro fresh kitchen tile style embellishment!

Cheers

Just Pin It!

Good afternoon everyone!

Spring is just around the corner, I can feel it in my bones (or rather my feet..soaked through my boots and gonna have to invest in some rubber boots very very soon!) and I can hear it in the air.  Yesterday I heard a bird outside my house that I haven't heard all winter..couldn't tell you what kind of bird it is but I recognized it's song as one that comes every spring and that got me all excited and giddy like a kid.  I am sooooo not a winter person.  I bundle up in the winter, I try to hibernate, and I most definitely do NOT enjoy outdoor winter sports, pfft...just give me a good book, a warm blanket, and a place in cozy bed to hide.  Anyhow, Spring is so close and one of the things that comes with spring is new inspirations to craft, cook, and yes, even clean!  Crazy huh!  I've been pinning like crazy on my fave social bookmarking site - Pinterest.  Feel free to look me up under My Pinterest Profile .  I am a bit of a Pin addict and I try to go on the site at LEAST once a day for new ideas and inspirations.

YUP This is ME!!

Today I thought I would share some of my favourite pinspirations with you so you can see that not only do I pin voraciously but I do actually use the sites I've bookmarked as well.  There are some great recipes, some great craft inspirations but also some genious gifting ideas too...I just love this site, can't say that enough..love love love Pinterest!  Anyhoo..enjoy my pinspirations and have an awesomely cheery spring day!

This image just makes me smile because there really is beauty in the unlikely and the simple.
find it at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/283586107756057495/

I have 365 pins on Stampin' Up! Inspirations alone, soo many great ideas
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/283586107760372282/

Tried these, loved these, and will make again!
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/283586107759343465/

Used this idea for a work giveaway..it was fabulous!!
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/283586107757638638/

These are just some of the many many pinspirations that are out there and just a taste of what's on my boards.  Feel free to check out my boards, and please share with me any great ideas you might have, I'm always looking for something new to pin!!

P.S.  This is a site I keep going back to because I just love making these flowers and the tutorials show you how to make different kinds and it's really simple to follow.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/283586107757350377/

Dapper Diaper Cake

Good evening and greetings from that which was lost and now is found...well not really lost but forgotten for a while.  I've been a busy lady these past months and kind of forgot to prioritize my blog and post all the various creative eats and treats I've been making.  I know, yet again, bad girl *smack on the hand*.  Finally a friend mentioned that they do still watch for posts on my blog and wondered if I was ever going to put anything new on here.  That made me realize that I do have at least one person who checks this baby out so I'd better get my butt in gear and give them something to look at.

Really I do like posting to this page, I just forget now and then to do so.  Anyhow tonight, I had my creative juices flowing and I actually remembered to take pictures as I went so I thought, 'well girl..no better time than now to get back in the saddle!'  So here I am!

My mother-in-law, Mom2, asked me to create a diaper cake for a baby shower that she is attending tomorrow.  She said she wasn't sure of the baby's gender as baby is still on the way and the couple wants to be surprised so this is a 'baby-to-be' shower, but she knew that the nursery was going to be grey and yellow.  What an interesting colour combination for a gender neutral nursery..actually I think it's kind of neat and that gave me the idea to do a simple diaper cake with those colours.  Now with limited time and inspiration, I decided to do a three tiered diaper cake with a banner and paper flowers in the colour theme of grey and yellow. I didn't want the cake to be overly girly since baby to be could be a boy, hence the banner idea and, since I don't know the baby's name yet, I decided to use the title of 'wonderful' cause that is what all babies are..so here are some photos of my creative process, enjoy!  I promise not to go so long between posts next time!

the start of the diaper cake, I used 75 sized two diapers for this cake.  p.s. I didn't have enough yellow ribbon so I used yellow washi tape for the top and bottom layer!

This is the start of the flowers for the cake, I made 8 large flowers and 3 smaller ones.

 I can't take the credit for these amazing paper flowers..please check out this link to see a number of tutorials on how to make a variety of beautiful paper flowers  Moments of Tranquilty - flower tutorials and trust me, once you practice with these techniques you will never be without a flower for your papercrafting again!

This is the cake after I added the flowers, but it still needed something on top

I've only just gotten into using banners in my projects since this summer when I made my daughter's birthday cake with a banner..since then I love the unique and fun look they add!

I ran into a problem in that I wasn't sure what to attach my banner to..paper straws to the rescue!!  I had to cover them with grey ribbon to match my cake though

Completed banner...TA DA!!

Doesn't it look great as my cake topper?!

The finished Product, looks good enough to eat!

I am always giddy and impressed when a project comes to fruition and resembles what goes on in my brain. Aside from the diapers, washi tape, inks, and straws..everything you see here came from my Stampin' UP! stash of products.  I love how versatile the products were in creating this cake..an added bonus is that as good as this cake looks, it has zero calories :)

Anyhow, that's it from me for the evening.

Cheers!

The Apple of my eye!

Wow, can't believe summer is here and in full swing!  I keep telling myself that I haven't really had a chance to relax yet because I've felt so busy cleaning, running errands, living up to commitments, etc. but really that's just a cop out I think.  The truth is that I have had time to relax but I've just been taking that time in such small doses that it hasn't registered with my multi-tasking brain.  I really need to take more time for me and put aside the other stuff so I can truly feel rested.  Like today for example.

I woke up craving apple fritters and coffee for breakfast.  It just seemed like such a homey and comforting morning treat, that is until I went on Pinterest and realized the recipe would take a little longer than I first thought and since I got distracted looking on Pinterest in the first place, I didn't actually start making breakfast until after 11.  But what the heck, I was still craving it and I was in the mood to bake so I went ahead with it anyways!  Boy was I glad that I did!  This recipe is actually a lot easier than I first imagined, you prep your apples, topping, and oil while the batter sets up and let me tell you, once you sit down with that hot cup of coffee and take your first cinnamony bite of the fritter, it tastes like homemade tart apple pie goodness finished off with sweet melt in your mouth dusted icing (be sure to have a napkin handy cause that 'dusting' tends to find its way onto your clothes).

I'm literally drooling as I post this and may have to go back for seconds...okay thirds! Cheers and enjoy!

I just couldn't start my day without taste testing this recipe and enjoying a great cup of coffee in my favourite coffee mug!  Find the full recipe here:  http://userealbutter.com/2012/09/30/apple-fritters-recipe/

What's a little frying between friends!

not sure if I added enough icing sugar  LOL

Made with love!! And, no I did not pose this pic!  Cool huh!!

Blessings and Bliss!

Happy Monday Everyone!

I realized something today, 1) that I've been procrastinating on blogging yet again, and 2) that the reason I've been procrastinating isn't because I've been forgetting but because I haven't had the time to post pics and I feel like if I don't post pics, I can't post!  Well, silly me!  After I realized this blunder, I also realized that this is my blog after all and I can post whatever I please...sheesh!  I swear I make more rules and obstacles for myself than anyone could give me.  So here I am, blogging and remembering that the best thing for me is just to BE! 

At work we are doing a Mental Health Challenge for the month of May.  Each day we are asked to record on a Calendar something that we do for our personal mental health and wellness.  I've been dutifully recording my items each day but there are so many things that I overlook in my daily life than can fit on my calendar and I thought I would share some of these items today.  They are my blessings and bliss and by putting them down here, they'll provide me a reminder that I shouldn't take them for granted so much and that I should appreciate them more!  So here's a top 10 for May!

10.  Country Life -  As I was sitting in my newly decorated gazebo at home this weekend, watching the candles flicker in the firebowl, I noticed for the first time this year, how peaceful everything was.  I enjoyed the soft breeze keeping the majority of the mosquitos away, the tinted sky as blues shifted to peaches and purples, and the quiet as the world settled around me.  I took the time to just sit there and enjoy the peace and quiet and be thankful for where I was in that moment.

9.  Wonderfully Warm Weather

8.  Friends

7.  My cell phone - Yes I know it seems silly to love my phone as much as I do, but it's truly a lifeline to my world.  I traveled to Las Vegas for the very first time this month, heck it was the first time I've traveled anywhere that requires a passport (score one for the bucket list!).  I absolutely loved the trip, partly because of the trip itself but also because it was a mother/daughter trip and we need to do more of those!  Anyhow, while I was away my cell phone was the only thing I had with me that kept me in touch with my family and friends, via text, face-timing, Face book, etc. and without it I would have been lost.

6.  Fun, Fasihonable Summer clothing

5.  Gardening

4.  Television

3.  My Mom - I can't thank my mom enough for taking me on a Mother/Daughter trip to Vegas for My birthday!  I don't get to spend enough time with her, she's one of my best friends, and to have a whole week to hang out, connect, and travel with her was honestly what made this trip so worthwhile!

2.  My babies - okay so they aren't babies anymore but a week away from them all really made me appreciate and miss them so much!  I was so happy to come back from my trip and hang out with them, enjoy their smiles, their laughter, and their love!

1.  My husband - yes my hubby wins the appreciation award for the month of May!  He looked after everything while I was gone, he still made me feel special for the entire month (which he usually refers to as my Birthday Month!), we got to spend some quality time together while I kicked his butt at cards, and I just simply enjoyed our quiet moments together this month.  I know I take him for granted a lot and this was definitely a month where I appreciated him and what he does for our family!

So that's it, my top 10 for May!  Maybe I'll do another top 10 next month, maybe not..either way I hope I remember to keep blogging whether I post pics or not, because this is as much a part of my creative flow as the crafts, baking, and cards I post!

What do you do for your Mental Health and Wellness?  What is your top 10 this month?  Feel free to share!!

Cheers

Administrative Assistants ROCK!

Last week was Administrative Assistants Week/Day where I work and I felt the need to write/share a post about it this week. I have a school based job and I see three to four Administrative Assistants on a weekly, if not daily basis.  These people amaze me every day with their roles.  They are right up there with the job of 'Mother' in my opinion, because each day they multi task, manage, and care for the students and staff within the schools they work for.  They have to be organized, creative, flexible, and empathetic of a variety of situations.  Kudos to all these talented gems that we work with!

As soon as I found out that it was Administrative Assistants week with the official Day being Wednesday, April 24th..my creative brain started to percolate.  I wanted to do something to thank these special people for all the great things they do, especially considering all they do to help me function in my role and really, I feel like they do a lot!  So I went home and logged on to my Pinterest account for inspiration and along with a healthy dose of yummy goodness from the Betty Crocker Website, this is what I came up with.

These cute little purse/treat bags and this lemon whoopie pie recipe.  The only thing I changed to the recipe was that I added in about a teaspoon of Lemon Chiffon Dip Mix (from Epicure) to the icing mixture.

Beautiful and delicious treats for some truly awesome women that I know, it was truly my pleasure to give these to the ladies that I work with because I really do appreciate everything they do in their jobs and especially when they help me in mine :)

How do you appreciate your co-workers? Please share!

Cheers!