Easter Parade coming up April 4th

These photos of my neice, Cindy, and her little Westie, Skye, are from previous Easter Parades. They have been the winners of the Dog Dress-Up contest for several years in a row (I think Cindy said the past five years). I know what this year's costume is but don't want to give anything away. You'll just have to wait for the photos next week!

More photos of our day at the CN Tower

I tried to make a montage of pictures doing various things at the CN Tower. We rode up in the elevator, spent lots of time looking at the City, ventured out onto the glass floor and were able to look straight down, had lunch, enjoyed a leisurely walk back to the car and the kids fell asleep on the way home. Great day!

Happy Child, Happy Life!

What a beautiful picture of a happy child......and that usually means the rest of the household is happy.....at least for a little bit. Please note that I base that observation on my own children and not on my grandchildren because I'm sure they're happy all the time! James appears to be in absolute heaven about something here but I don't know exactly what.

I used a template by Scrappy Cocoa from Ginger Scraps, papers and most embellies from Jelly Beanies by Bella Gypsy and Connie Prince and some greenery and buttons from So Inspired designers Lisa Kane, Twin Mom Scraps and IC (sorry, only had initials).

Toronto's CN Tower

Last Thursday, I went with Phil and his children, Jack & Ava, to the CN Tower. We thought it would be a fun day out and exciting for Jack to ride up the elevator, look out the windows, jump on the glass floor (yikes!) and just generally experience the CN Tower. Anyway, here are a couple of photos from the day. There will be more, but it's late just now and Grandma is getting tired.

As you can see, I used the main photo of Jack pointing upward as the background for this layout. It's just too good a picture to not have it front and centre. The small, circular photos are of Ava and Jack crawling or laying on the glass floor looking down to the ground. Grandma was a coward and just leaned over to take a look! With age comes cowardice or wisdom, take your pick!

The elements on the page are from the kit, Zoomsters, by Sara Ellis.

Here we go again!

Oh my! This time I am participating in Survivor Season 2 over at Ginger Scraps. I don't watch the show on TV, but have definitely heard about it and, given my love for challenges decided I had nothing to lose. This is Week 1 - Safari Challenge. There was only one picture that would work for this challenge and it's Owen with his face painted like a lion. I'm so glad I had that picture!

Kits used:
Zippity Zoo Zah by Sara Ellis (almost all)
I'm Not a Lion by Connie Prince (alpha for Safari)

Speed Scrap with Connie Prince

Well, Connie had to miss this one, but her trusty side-kick TerryF was there to provide the instructions. It's always fun, no matter who is 'running the show' and, as a little extra bonus, I discovered a local digi-scrapper and maybe we can get together for coffee soon. How cool would that be.....anyway, here's my layout for the speed scrap.

Kirsten sent this picture of James and Owen using the microscopes at The British Museum of Natural History. I know Owen is definitely in a 'dinosaur' phase right now and James, well, I'm sure he just follows big brother. I was lucky to have the Lego dinosaur pictures from my trip the The Mall of America almost three years ago, proving that if you hang on to old photos long enough, you will find a use for them!

I used the kit, Jelly Beanie, a collaboration by Connie Prince and Bella Gypsy.

YAY! Last challenge completed for ADSR5

OMG! What fun this race has been. We raced for six weeks, completed two challenges each week for a total of 12 challenges. This is the last one and it was so much fun. Because I have my 'roots' in rubber stamping and cardmaking, this was an easy one for me. This card and envelope are completely digital and it's so cute. Well, check it out for yourselves.

Kit Used:

Skinny Latte by Captivated Visions

ADSR5 - the penultimate challenge

Challenge # 11 is here. No, I didn't skip # 10. My partner, Crystal, is taking care of #10. It was an 'intersection' challenge meaning that we each had to work on the same layout. I did my portion, sent it to Crystal and she completed the page and did the upload to the ADSR5 official Team site. So, while she was busy doing that, I had time to completed #11 and here it is. This challenge is being hosted by Polka Dot Plum and we were provided with a template that had all the elements required and we just had to place them where we wanted them to be.

Kit:
Full of Grace by Connie Prince

For family members who visit this blog......

here's a quiz for you! Match up the smiles with your siblings, nieces, nephews, in-laws' smiles. I'm curious to know how well you do.

Kit used:

Toothbrush Tango by Bella Gypsy & Connie Prince

Ava and the Merry-Go-Round

Here's a little clip of Ava having fun at Chuck E. Cheese's.

Ava and the Ice Cream!

Bless her little heart! Phil and I took the kiddos to Chuck E. Cheese's a couple of days ago. For dessert, we used the vending machine and got an ice cream bar. Well, Phil bit into the ice cream bar and said, "This is rock hard and tastes a little funny." Jack decided he wanted one too, so I went to buy another one. As I'm returning to our table, I see the best before date is already a month overdue! So, being older and wiser, I showed a man, presumed to be the manager there, the box with the date Feb 05 2010 and asked if he had anything fresher in the freezer in the back. While he's gone looking, Phil puts down the ice cream bar and stops eating it and sharing it with Ava. Okay, here's the problem.....try explaining to a 16-month old child why she can't eat the ice cream bar just laying on the plate looking perfect to the naked-eye. Yeah, doesn't work, does it? Out came the pout, then the tears, then the loud cries.....from a child who hardly ever has anything but a smile on her face. What does Grandma say, "I hope that guy doesn't come back with a new ice cream bar until I dig out my camer and take a couple of pictures."! I hope all you scrappers are proud of me for thinking scrapping first, child second.! Here's the page I created for Ava and will proudly show all her boyfriends when she's older.....

Kit:
Skirts & Dirt Collaboration by ValerieN Designs and Litabells

Beach Boy

Another challenge I'm fond of is the By The Numbers at Gotta Pixel. We are given a finite number of objects to use to make our layout. Here's my page for this challenge.

Kits used:
Oh Sunshiny Day by Captivated Visions
Gotta Glitter by Kathryn Estry (Pixel Club Exclusive)

Friday's challenges

Gotta Pixel provides two challenges most Fridays. At noon, there is Scrap with a List with Shawnery Mathis. Shawnery provides the list and we scrap, unlike the Speed Scraps where every 10 minutes or so an instruction is provided and we follow it. Very similar; some you know right away, the other it's a guessing game as to what's next. However, both are fantabulous!

Here's my first LO created for Scrap with a List

Kits used:
It's Playtime by ValerieN Designs (this is for members of the Pixel Club)
Let's Explore by ValerieN Designs.

The place to be on Friday evening at 8 p.m. is Gotta Pixel's chat room with Connie Prince. We have so much fun while we scrap, IF we scrap that I hate to miss any one of them. Here's my LO for last night's Speed Scrap.

Kits used:
Crash Boom Pow by Armenia Designs and Connie Prince

Another LO for today, now I'm all caught up!

This is for the Font Fever Challenge at Gotta Pixel.  I love the font Cindy chose for this challenge. Here is the layout I created using "Dirt 2 Echo" from dafont.com.

Kit used:
Riding Dirty by Creations by Rachel

It's catch up time, again!

I've been a bit lax lately in posting here. Well, not lax but busy, really. The beginning of a new month starts a new round of challenges, in addition to the ADSR5 in which I'm competing. So, I've had my head buried in my computer creating layouts. Here's the first one. It was created for a Speed Scrap hosted by Connie Prince over at Gotta Pixel.

Kits used:
Love Letters by Connie Prince
Plugged In by Connie Prince

Next up is the page I created for the February Brag Book hosted by Gotta Pixel. Each month, if you sign up, you are given access to mini-kits created by several designers at GP, in a 4" x 6" format. You create a page in a .png format so that someone can just pop in a picture and have an almost instant album. Upwards of 20 people sign up for this challenge so, in the end, I will end up with 20 pages just waiting for photos. A really cool idea. Here's the page I created using the mini-kits supplied. I just put my picture in there for you guys so you would have something pretty to look at! LOL!

And lastly we have the March Grab Bag challenge also hosted by Gotta Pixel. One of the stipulations of this challenge was to create at least one element or paper yourself (means don't use one from a kit). Look closely at my layout and you will see a little shamrock. I MADE IT from scratch and I'm very proud of it. My very first design element. Maybe there's a new career ahead of me.....LOL!

Kits used:
Emily by Coliescorner
My Sweet Girl by JulieMarie
Skinny Latte by Captivated Visions
Wonky Winter Alpha by Sara Ellis