show you care!

If you haven't already seen this, please head over to Ali Edwards blog and see what she is doing right now!

for the benefit of my family and non-scrapping friends: Ali is a well known scrapbooker who has become my friend over the past year. She is not only a talented artist but someone who always takes the time to make a difference. Her son Simon has Autism and she talks very openly about their journey on her blog. It was because of Ali's openness , and her willingness to take time and be a friend that we were able to learn as much as we have about Tiara's sensory issues. I had written to her awhile back when we felt so lost and had no idea what was going on with this girl of ours; Something in her description of a tough day with Simon struck home with me and our journey to finding answers began. She took the time to write to me about sensory integration disorder and recommend books etc. It was the first I had ever heard of this but when I looked further into it I just knew we were finally on the right track, it was like reading the description of my own child.

Ali has been such a key player in raising Autism awareness, reaching so many people through her role as a well known "scrap celebrity" Her latest endeavor is just amazing, she has been participating in "six degrees" by raising funds for autism speaks. As I write this she has raised $42, 198 and it is still going up. She has reached the goal of having 2000 wonderful people take the time to show they care. WOW! I am just all emotional as I write this. WOW. You can make a donation through the badge on her blog ( which is now set up for international peoples like me!) today is the last day to join in and make a difference! please please show you care :)

C.O.Y?

I love this! I just came down to find my girls really busy making all kinds of little projects. Then I heard Emilea announce the craft of the year contest lol! She was telling her sisters "mommy won scrapbooker of the year, now one of us has the chance to win craft of the year, so just hang in there and keep making because the judging will start in one hour" The two little ones were all motivated to create even more :) I am anxiously awaiting the announcement of the winner!

have a great Tuesday, take the time to stop and breathe in the fresh spring air :)

hi

Just a few pics from our super fun day out at our good friend Tess's place last week. The kids had so much fun together, we played and baked and were outside for hours!

It has started melting out, the air has a new warm fresh spring smell, and the birds are coming back. I have been loving having the window open a crack to hear the happy chirping and smell the fresh air, spring is my favorite! Such a time of renewal :) The kids are starting spring break today, I am so looking forward to this week with them. Cam is heading out to Toronto on Friday for some training for work, and I am getting ready to head to Minneapolis in a week for a few days of DVD filming! Fun stuff. Have a great week

answering questions...

...over a creamy cup of hot chocolate at CK! If you left a question in the last post or were interested to read any of the answers, come on over!

creating

I love drawing and coloring and cutting things out, I love sewing and painting and making a nice big mess doing it all! that is what I am up to tonight; working on a layout for July and just totally enjoying the playing and creating with my hands. Then there are times when I completely love reducing and re-sizing my images, duplicating layers and playing with the science of good shadows. I really enjoy the way digi scrapping lets me work with my mind. This is why most often I mix it all up and scrap hybrid. The best of both worlds I like to call it :)

I have been getting quite a few sweet emails in the past couple of weeks asking me how I do what I do; the way I print my layouts, how I mix things up etc. and I was thinking maybe it would be best of I give some of those answers here. So if you have any hybrid questions for me, throw 'em in the comments of this post! I will gather up my emails and anything else that comes up here by Friday night and get answering as well as I can!

here's to happy creativity!

working through

sometimes pages take work to be wonderful. They just do. Luckily there are those that almost do themselves which is always simply thrilling. But it seems to me that it is the ones that I have to fight through a bit, and really think about, that end up being the best of all. I am learning ( especially with my paper scrapping where I can't "undo" in a click ) that it is alright to make mistakes, as long as you look at it as an opportunity to take your page in a new direction! happy accidents right? Today my friend Kristie is babysitting the two littlest girlees so that I can get some work done during normal daytime hours ( thank goodness for my sweet pal!) So I am working right now on one of these "tough" pages for July's latest & greatest column. I am completely excited about the product I am working with, but for some reason I'm really fighting with my design. And one big all too eager brown paint blob last night has forced me to cut it up a little and re-think things. Just a chance to do something even better I guess. It can be a little frustrating while you're working through that "ugh" part, but then come this moment right now where a few little changes and it all comes together perfectly! better than you had imagined it would! Hooray!!! I Love that. I've been here many times and it is so worth pushing through to get to a great end result. I just wanted to share my happy victory ( can't show, it but look for it in July ;) and encourage you to push through those tough pages. It's worth it in the end! have a great Thursday friends :)

this week featuring...

Kim! her layout for my "get centred" challenge was just stunning! For that matter most of the layouts in her gallery are too, check out her gallery link here . So much really great scrapping happened with this challenge, I was just blown away. I am hoping to see even more inspiration this week ;) ( rah rah rah!!!)

We are talking about photo placement all month. The new challenge is up; still leaving things centred but this week we are adding a photo story. to find out more come on over

I am slow

yep, I am, just plain slow. I have always been aware that I take longer than most people to do a page or work through a project around the house. I take time to really think and play around and enjoy what I am working on in the moment. And besides that I am just a pretty easy-going girl, I don't like rushing and hustle bustle, I love just living life. really living right here and now. But now that there are deadlines to meet for the magazine and people counting on me to sometimes get things done quickly I am becoming more aware of just how slow I really am ( especially during cold & flu season with 3 little girls who need some extra huggin'). I don't think it is necessarily a bad thing, it is never that I am putting anything off or just farting around. The truth is I truly LOVE the process! I love to take the time to pour my heart into my layouts and allow them to almost take a life of their own, moving things around and trying different things, one thing leads to another until everything just seems to come together, like finishing a puzzle. And when I have the time to reach that "done place" I love it and I am proud of the heart that went into my art. I have been contemplating the benefits of auto pilot these days though, y'know the ability to just work fast and do a pretty good job of putting things where they look fine even if it is not a proud work of art in the end, just because it has to be done. I guess there is a time and a place where I will have to just do it, but I don't think I ever want to take the heart out of what I do. Enjoying the whole process is what makes me passionate about my art, without my heart in it, it is not mine...just stuff on some paper that looks pretty. I sure wish I could learn to pour out that passion a little faster sometimes though lol! just been thinking.

today

I worked through the night last night, sure feelin' that today but it's OK. It's not something I do all of the time but I find peace in the wee hours, I can hear myself think, and when inspiration is flowing I don't dare shut down the shop! Thank goodness for my sweet friend Kristie she is picking up Emy from school today, and I get a babysitting day this week to work during normal people hours lol! a good thing.

Tiara got a new big girl mattress this weekend ( a nice squishy sealy pillow top from Costco) so we all spent some time re-arranging her and Emy's room yesterday. yep, all 5 of us in one little room, it was fun, and they love it! Tia and Kaiella are laying together on her new bad head-to-head writing songs and singing at the top of their lungs right now. I walked by just as Tia was saying " hey that was a really good one Kaiella!!!" They make me happy. Perfectly delightful adventurous little people who just light up our home. How lucky am I

I was just thinking this morning how great it is that we are going into a fresh new week in a fresh new month, It makes me feel excited for the possibilities that are just waiting to happen.

get centred

My CK blog challenge for this week is up. It is about working around a centred focal point. No new layout from me yet, as this one is proving to be a good challenge for me too. That is one of the fun journeys about scrapping. Some pages almost scrap themselves they come together so easily, as if taking on a life of their own. And other times it takes work and thinking, especially when trying something out of the ordinary. But when I take the time to stick with it and work it through I end up with something I love, and it feels so good to have pushed through instead of just sticking with the same ol' comfy box I am quite happy in. LOL nothing wrong with staying in your box, it is great to know what you do well and what your own style is. But it is also great to grow and push out of the box too.

I should have my layout up by tonight, hope to see some familiar faces and some new friends coming to play this week!

featured LO over at CK

This week on my CK blog I am featuring this layout by em_skrpbkmom! She chose to dress up a template, a great thing to dress up! Templates (both paper and digi) can give you just the perfect foundation to start a layout while you still have plenty of room to create the page with all of your personal flair! Check out her gallery here for a closer look at this page and be prepared to be wowed! What a talented scrapper, I just had to open every layout in there!!!

I love discovering new favorite scrappers this way, it is such a treat to stumble on a totally inspiring gallery. I have found so many new favorites just from the ladies who have come to play with me. I will have a new challenge posted by tonight, and I'll leave a quick note here when I do

just a note...

...to let you know today is the last day of my "dress it up" challenge over at CK. It's a fun one about giving the items in your stash a new life. For my layout I dressed up some old slide mounts I have had hanging around here. if you have some scrapping time to play before the end of the night I hope you'll come over and play with me there:)

the beginning

These few pictures I took during Tiara's last appointment at Children's Hospital mean a lot more to me than two kids smearing foam on a mirror. They mean answers...a beginning. This is only the beginning of our journey to help Tiara deal with her world. We have started Occupational Therapy and they do all kinds of sensory stuff with her. Lucky for Kaiella she gets to do it all too! She keeps asking if we can go to "Taara's pointment" I am glad they make it so much fun, even though Tiara is pushed to do things that are uncomfortable for her, it is done in such a "safe" way that she can cope alright with all of the activities. Today I am thankful for beginnings. A new beginning is filled with so much hope and promise. What are you thankful for today?

I also just want to say thank-you again for all of the amazing comments that were sent to me after my last post about Tiara's sensory issues. I had no idea that so many other people out there were dealing with this. It's good to know we are not the only ones :) have a happy day!