Creative Girls Getaway

Life is dandy AND good!
I am Just back from an AWESOME creative girls weekend getaway with my pal Krista from Saskatchewan. We both drove halfway with all of our artsy stuffs and met in the middle for a Rawkin' good time!

She was working on her jewelry which was super inspiring and Fabulous!
FYI for you fellow lovers of pretty things, Krista sells her work and is EXTREMELY TALENTED!!! I got these few pictures below from her, some of the pieces she made on the weekend. That top necklace is my absolute fave.
If you are interested to find out more shoot me an email and I will get you hooked up with her.And me, I was working on scrap pages, art journaling, making product and just about every way that I could find to mess up a hotel room with my spread of "Arting" , we ate way too many snacks which is pretty standard when the two of us hook up, and got far too little sleep...also pretty standard, shopped..yep standard too, and we watched a handful of movies while chatting and creating it was SOOOO Great!!!
It always amazes me how a small time away to create and connect and just do the things that revive my spirit always leaves me SO very refreshed and renewed.
It is far too easy for us busy moms to forget about nurturing ourselves sometimes.
Anyways...enough chatter for now,
Here are a few tiny sneek peeks at some of of the pieces I was working on.
Peace to you my friends

Believe

Another art journal page from my "Grow" journal. This one has 21 layers on it and was one of those pieces where I just kind of let it do itself and followed where the art was leading. I love creating when I don't know where I am going, LOoooVE the journey, and this was one of those blind exercises in just trusting instinct and going with it where it takes you...I LOVE that!

Here's a little blast from the past for a special guy in my worldHappy birthday to my wonderful Daddy today. He is a great great man that has blessed my life more than he knows. xo
and Happy Friday to the rest of you

time to pack up for now...

I've had a super great time being an extended guest designer over at The Lilypad for the last few months. The time has come for me to pack up and be on my way so that I can focus on my store at Little dreamer and some other things that I have in the works over the next few months. Soooo... to thank all of the Great customers who have found me and given me good Luv at The Lilypad I figured I may as well go out with a bang and I am putting everything in my store over there on sale for 40% off until it's gone next Thursday!
I'm also thinking that it is as good a time as any to be generous, since God is being so incredibly generous with the pretty white snow that is covering our streets right now! Leave me a comment before end of day Thurs Apr.2 and tell me what was your best little moment in the past week; I will pick three winners to give out $10 GCs to.

In other life news, The kids are pumped to be heading into spring break next week and kicking it off with a grandparent sleepover tomorrow which is always tons of fun for all ( from what I hear anyways). My in-laws are AMAZING and the kids think it is such a treat to get in some extra time with them whenever they get the chance!
My head/neck is a wee bit better, muscles are still angry but getting there. Thanks so much for the well wishes last week, I really wasn't meaning to sound "complainee" about it, just honest. I didn't get in for as many treatments as I was hoping this week thanks to the heaps of snow that was coming down. I am just taking the crazy snow as a blessing and a reason to get some peaceful quiet times happenin' inside the house.

Peaceful Blessings to you.

book babble and stuff

Creative Stuff: My little spring friends are all done and available here until next Thursday. I think they came out pretty darn cheerful and I just might do something with them & some small canvases for Bella's room. She keeps asking to play with the little guys I have on my desk LOL, like they are puppets. A kid's imagination is such a wonderful place!

Book Babble: I am listening to Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult when I am working these days. It's not grabbing me quite as much as some of her other books have, but still really good. I have been loving her as a writer lately, so far my faves have been My sister's keeper, Change of heart and Nineteen minutes. They were all really well written and made me keep reading each for their own reasons. She really knows how to spin a tale and draw you right in, makes you feel like you know the characters and can almost place yourself right there in the story as it's unfolding.

For my "real" reading time right now I have just started Holding My Breath by Sidura Ludwig which takes place in Winnipeg; my city. That's not something you read everyday. I'm only on chapter 4 but so far so good I would say, I like her writing style.

Life bla bla bla: I am off to get fixed up this afternoon, I always leave it far too long until I am completely ridiculously damaged before I take the time to do anything about it.
I really really hope that the Chiropractor and massage appointments I have scheduled this week can work some magic for my neck/back...I have old car accident injuries and they are in quite a pickle right now. I could ignore it even longer except that I am rendered fairly useless to my family and life in general when I am like this. I would reeeeally like to be in better shape for my girls on spring break next week.
I did manage to get a bit of time to play with my KR goodie box this weekend, not done yet but just taking the time to scrap and play with yummy stuff at a peaceful pace is making me sooo happy. Here is a little peek, at one of the layouts I've got cookin'...all kinds of stuff going on there!Here's to a wonderful week!
Go gently,
CD

creative peeks

A wee peek at the little guys that I have been working on creating in the past week. These little cuties are made on layers of masking tape over chipboard and hand painted with acrylic paints, then accented with art pencils and hand stitches. I have ended up with some interesting finger blisters pushing the needle through the tough chipboard for this pack, but y'know it's a good hurt; like when you work out really well and every time your stomach muscles give you grief the next day you know you've accompolished something...well almost like that anyways LOL! More on these when they are all done in a day or two...I've got to keep some sort of suspense until I'm done right?

Much to my happiness the mail truck stopped by this week with this happy happy box from Kerry-Lynn at Kenner Road...it is all SO delish!!! This girl KNOWS how to pull together colors and new cool products with vintage goodies WOW!

I want to scrap..I want to pull out every piece from this AMAZING goodie box and make a hundred pages RIGHT NOW! forget mopping up basements, cleaning art areas and nursing ridiculously bad migraines, I just want a clean page in front of me, a paint brush near by, some art pencils and possibly a sewing needle in hand.
But alas, reality comes first sooo I am gonna make Friends with an ice pack and some serious tylenol ultra for my head, schedule a few treatments for next week, and catch up on some rest. And then hopefully I can tackle all that I hope to tackle...
we shall see what the weekend holds.
Hope you all have a good one!

Hello wednesday

Middle of the week already?!
Wowee sometimes it flys.
I was just thinking yesterday how great it is to have hints of spring in the air and all of the freshness that it brings. I spent the day opening windows and turning up the tunes, breathing extra deeply when we went outside. The happy bubble burst this morning though when I went downstairs to do the laundry...WHICH WAS PILED ON THE FLOOR, and much to my dismay this spring is apparently also bringing water into our basement along with the lovely fresh air this year...sigh.
that REALLLY sucks!!!
seriously.
So, today Bella and I are gonna head down there and tackle the lifting of everything off of the floor. We are going to hope and pray that there isn't too much wreckage of things we actually care about...I am reeeally not pumped about it, NOT ONE BIT, but that's life isn't it?

In better news, we are super proud of Tiara. She is working SO hard to improve her reading and with the help of good ol' Dick and Jane she is really doing better (thanks Gramie!). It's funny how as a parent I seem to need to learn over and over again how very different my three girls are and will continue to be. I KNOW this, and I Love it, I always have. But somehow, since Emy breezed through reading without batting an eye and has lived with a thick book firmly planted in front of her nose since grade one began for her 4 years ago, I forgot all that I know as a mama and assumed that Tiara would be just the same.
DUMB assumption on my part, since they are different in so many of their other strengths. But I honestly was totally shocked when Tiara started bringing home spelling tests with 2/10 and really struggling to learn to read at the same pace as the other grade 1 kids this year.
I was floored, didn't see that one coming at all.
Just another mama wake up call to keep me on my toes and remember that each of these little people I am blessed with comes with their own bunch of struggles and strengths that will be a part of molding them into who they are.
Go Tiara Go.

Just a quick head's up before I descend into basement drudgery; today is my $1 Wednesday at Little Dreamer. Just for today this $5 Big bundle of artsy label stickers is going for $1. It includes 4 sets bundled up into one; the warms and cools, flat and crinkly mooshed labels. I LOVE the way these print out on Avery sticker sheets for use on paper projects. SUPER fun!!! You can get the Avery sticker sheets at any Staples or other office supply store.
Happy Wednesday!

Grow Journal-Out on a limb

I don't think I need to add anything to that...pretty much me in a nutshell :)
The branch being "out of a box" is kindof symbolic of how I try and face life. It's great deciding not to be boxed in, great to always have a choice.
How do you choose to live?

background is vintage dictionary pages, with watercolors, art pencils, india ink , and pastels. wire is just stainless harware wire, and black squares are hand stiched.

spring goodies #1

Internet was out all day yesterday, which means that our phone was out too, which meeeans that there was no ringing phone or binging inbox, no blogging, or twittering or anything whatsoever to interrupt the peace and flow of the day....not too shabby... I might just need to unplug that modem of ours on purpose every once in awhileI promised a peek at the new kits I was working on and they are done and up for sale. If you are a paper crafter you are not out of luck on the fun, you can print these out for adding onto your pages and projects, and if you are a hybrid or digi creator then you know the drill!

This first one is just a fun way to say all that you have to say in your journal/scrapbook or greeting cards

These little bits were the ones that I was lovingly slaving over last week on the vintage book pages that have been holding my heart lately. They are painted and colored and pen-i-fied and then sewn for a handmade springy total package deal-e-o. ..whew!
Important thing is, They make me happyand one more for now, this is just a simple spray painted alphabet inspired by the art journaling fun that I have been having. It has kindof an artsy, edgy, urban feel and I like that sometimes.
I have at least three more packs in the works and a half cleaned art area. I keep going back and forth in my "work time" clean-create-clean-create.....hmmm hard choice right? LOL
In the end I know that I can create much better when my stuff is organized and when I clear out what I am not using etc. but oh how that takes time that I would rather be making something happy and fun.
Anyways , enough about that, Today is definitely an INDOOR day all the way, we are WAY back to inhumanly cold temps here in Winnipeg and I am a BIG suck when it comes to freezing on that level. The plan of the day is to clear off the kitchen table and pull it out to a new spot, change the table cloth to a new cute springy one that we picked up last week, and of course, try to get the kitchen clear of all things art related. Then Me and the girls are going to cook up their favorite Ham in orange sauce with some good ol' mashed potatoes and garlic bread for a nice yummy supper.
Have a good one friends, it's almost Friday!

Welcome Happy Tuesday

Today is feelin' like a good day,
I started the morning by cheerfully waving and shouting "goooodniiiight!!!" out the front door as Cam trotted off for the bus stop...hmmmm, I think my brain is still sleeping and my neighbors think I am a nut, but that's beside the point. we got lots accomplished yesterday and today is shaping up nicely already.

All 3 girls got their yearly check-ups yesterday afternoon, everyone is healthy and growing good as can be. Tiara was our main concern in the past, we have had some really intense years with her, but she has learned so much about how to cope with her sensory issues over the past year, and all of the anxiety that has gone along with that for her, and has grown leaps and bounds as a person because of it. YAYYY Tia!!!
The smaller 2 girlies went with Cam last night and got all signed up for soccer this spring while Emy and I stayed together to cuddle up and read a new book we are starting. Emy doesn't like soccer so she will be swimming instead...our little fishy girl.
The book we are reading together is Fairest by Gail Carson Levine. She is a great writer and did Ella enchanted which was the first one we read. It was SO different from the movie version and SO much better, we were just itching to get our hands on this one and then hopefully her other titles. We ended up falling asleep all cuddled together and stayed that way until my neck was all crinkled and spazed and woke me up sometime in the night.

How do I know today will be a good day? Well, other than the mixed up greetings to start it out right, it isn't even 10AM yet and little Bella and I have done our exercises, put in some laundry, I have sprayed ink, stamped stamps, and painted paintish things, and Kaiella has painted 2 posters of her own. We have painted her little nails shiny pink, Aaaand...we have read a BIG stack of books together that we pulled out from under the bed where they were hiding with the dust bunnies. If you ever get the chance to pick up This one for a small person that you love I highly recommend it. I bought it for one of my girls last time I was away and we just love it! Such a great little story of Love and the future that you dream of for your child, and the art is really sweet too.I was getting out of the van after dropping off the kids this morning and found a hilarious little gift left there for me. We have this pretty Love heart that I hang on the rear view mirror when I go away to teach, so that every time they get in the van without me it is there reminding them that I am thinking of them and Loving them wherever I may be.

I guess I haven't taken it down since I was away last and there it was looking at me with this bizarre sticker courtesy of one of my funny bunch...what the heck is that???!
I totally had to laugh out loud

well on that fine note I am off to load up another load of laundry with my sweet and eager assistant. I am not known for my efficiency in the mornings so I would have to say that all this by 10 AM is a great start to what is bound to be a fantastic day!
It's up to us right?
all a matter of attitude :)
Have a FABULOUS Tuesday friends!

my most prized possesions

...are great things like this little gift from Tiara

translation: " I like being alone with my mom, it makes me feel calm"

she shines like a star

Another page from my Grow journal.
it's a message to myself...
journaling inside of the word GROW says ""Every single day,never ever stop, never ever settle. Always learn and grow and stay open, life is full of undiscovered goodness."
We all can get stuck in a rut sometimes and forget to look up, I wanted to give myself a reminder not to let this happen :)

The background is made with tape, a text transfer, watercolors, prismacolors, pastels and acrylic paint. Lots of fun!


Today:
the weather is NOT sub arctic and I have fresh air streaming in through open windows...ahhh that puts everyone in a good mood, drives the kittens batty because they reeeeally want to get those birds out there but that too is slightly amusing. Laundry is hanging to dry and filling the house with scents of freshness, Vanilla tea is in my cup and I am putting the finishing touches on a new kit that is nice and springy and made on vintage book pages (Will share later in the week). I would say life is pretty dandy!


The reason I am not presently engaged in 4 year old play is that today the wonderful joys of preschool are busying Kaiella's little mind, and that, my friends is a VERY good thing!
She is show and telling her favorite doll "Maggie" and was pretty nervous about it on the way over to school, so I had her practice on me...cutest girl EVER. she says "...and when I hug her she shines like a star" insert big dreamy sigh and then proceeds to clear up for me that "Maggie does not actually shine light in the room from her belly button, but shines inside of my heart because she is my daughter and I loves her so much....just like you and me mama!"
oh melt my heart... Can you get any cuter than that?!
I'll play my little pony for the rest of my days if I can just bottle her up and keep her so sweet and small...sigh.

Tonight's to do list includes
-finishing my vintage book spring pieces
- working on a new class that I have been cookin' up
-making time to play in my ART journal for a bit...I figure if I can make myself do this every day then it will become a habit to make time for carefree creating again. need it love it want it...gotta do it!
-3 more loads of laundry to wash and hang
and hopefully tea and a movie with my Mom while I am up late "arting"

a life filled with adventure

Today is Tuesday....Tuesday that feels like it should only be Monday and should already be Friday all at once. Kind of that lost insignificant day it seems, but such a good one this week.

My baby is 4 and a half and has re-entered the stage of life where her mind needs to be kept incredibly busy or she will go off on her own adventure, look at that sneaky little face!!!
She adventures through the fridge, making a platter of grated cheese with syrup and frozen fruit with about half a bottle of Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top...hmm, uh, YUM? not so much. Orrr..... she may decide that the entire bathroom needs a vigorous scrub down with a few tubes of toothpaste all in a matter of minutes, you get it, the kid is on a mission to have adventure in this life.
Good for her!
I am too, totally, but for the most part I tend to put a wee bit more long term thought into planning my adventures.
Sooooo I am opting for keeping her mind busy over dealing with her FAB follies, it's better for both of us. Today we had the Chutes and ladders tournament of all tournaments, she wanted to keep on going but finally got so mad at those darn slides that she declared her girl could climb the ladders AND the slides because "she is so beautiful that they just let her", nice, I'm good with that.
Then she chose some books from a forgotten series of ours on behavior and we read some great lessons about snooping, lying and being selfish. Rawkin! LOL, she was hanging on every word it was awesome, total parenting in hardcovers. We then proceeded to paint posters to put up on the wall beside her pillow; good things she wants to dream about ( well, she painted posters and I painted pieces of this new "city streets" pack I am starting )

That lasted just long enough before Bella's "cooking" was about to begin so we had to head it off with a very long and involved game of my little ponies; we were awesome, we went to the fair and to the zoo, and across a frozen lake, our ponies are superstars.
It was one of those days where I got nothing done as far as housework or scrap work or any other kind of work , but I'm totally happy knowing that I spent hours and hours doing something that will matter so much more in the long run.
It reminds me of one of the sayings I try so hard to live by, about how years from now kids won't remember if you had dishes in the sink or a pile of laundry to do, but they WILL remember that you played with them and took time with them.
Tis so true.