Colorado in pictures

I am finally getting through some of the photos from our trip to Colorado last month. We had such an amazing time on so many levels. These little girls became such good good buddies in no time at all, as if they had known each other all their lives. It was so nice for Kaiella to make her very own new friends without her big sisters overshadowing her. Don't get me wrong, she loves both of them tons and loves being with them, but both of my bigger girls have such Big personalities, each in their own way they have such a fabulous presence, and this little one is quieter by nature. She just goes with the flow and that can mean she blends into the background sometimes when we get together with friends. Seeing her having such a special time making her own friends and enjoying them so so so very much was really great!
All three of her new little pals have been the topic of MUCH conversation since we got back LOL

Look at these 2 brown eyed buddies! They are only about a month apart in age and personality wise they were a match made in heaven. Such sweet gentle little hearts these two girlies have.

And I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture below of the three pals on our adventure to the garden of the gods Such a breathtaking spot. WOW, I have never seen anything like it, WOW WOW WOW!!! Kaiella's dusty little bum makes me smile, she had such fun climbing and sliding and running around the red rocks and in and out of the nooks and caves.

We managed to get all kinds of great photos taken; posed, candid, everyday life, you name it I shot it! It was a real honor to be able to capture some really precious moments for such good good people. To be honest, it is always something that I find a real privilege. You see so much about people and who they are that you may normally miss when you are able to observe and quietly capture little moments through a camera, I feel like I get to see a bit deeper and I have the opportunity literally within my hands, to give people gifts that are truly 100% priceless.


This one is my fave shot of my good friend; the ultra talented Miss Amy Martin.
She is a gal of many gifts and talents, creatively and otherwise, but most importantly she is one of those rare people in the world who is genuinely good and beautiful inside and out. A true-blue kind of gal.And I got SOOOO many great moments of her sweet sweet littles; the light was good, weather was perfect and of course they are all gorgeous happy little people! Here's just a few quick faves...

I love the way this one quietly captures their Big sis/little bro relationship. mmmm and those sweet chubby little hands clasped together.

And what can I say about this one? It was her idea, her pose, and she is breathtaking.
I picked an outfit and dressed her up and sweet "E" and I went walking on our own adventure taking photos. We had such a great time, I just adore her fun and happy little spirit.
XO to you my little pal, miss you already!Oh to be 4 years old again!
It just makes me grin ear-to-ear the way A's carefree little spirit comes through in these couple of pics below.
This one...well it just reminds me of the great adventure of life that we are all on. It can seem so Huge, and we can feel so very small sometimes, but we've just got to keep on climbing and keep on believing and we are sure to find ourselves in some truly beautiful places. I Love photos like this that speak to me.
Some just do.

Last but not least a few of my little Bella too of course!!!
I LOVED this location, and she was so super cute in her funky little layers that she pulled out of her suitcase
Another one from her big adventure, a rare moment that she was sitting still LOL! I parked her here while I took family pictures, and when I turned around there she was all cute and patiently waiting, just watching me climb around.
Oh, and this one of Bella and her doll "Alice" was a total fluke...just a quick snap while we were outside playing. It is not "technically" fabulous, but one of those pleasant surprises you sometimes find waiting for you when you download a whole whack of pictures.
mwwahhh...sweet little angel girl.

So there you have it, a bit of our time in Colorado in photos; took me awhile to get to them but I am so so happy I got some time to go through a few before we get too super busy with Christmas stuff.
A big thanks to our friends for all of the great hospitality and good good times :)

Some new goodies

Time to share some new goodies again... Here is what I have been making lately.
In my store at Little Dreamer
A new pack of painted canvas accents; I know, I know, it is winter and all...Christmas is around the corner, yes, but flowers in my art make me happy happy happy all year round. And in fact, I think that I need them more when the world is covered in ice and snow. These print out really nicely for use as accents on paper pages or cards. The texture of the canvas is just really yummy the way it gets jiggy with the watercolor paint.
mmmmm.

some teeny alpha stamps because I may possibly be obsessed with little alphabets and red ink/paint.....OK not possibly, I AM obsessed LOL.
This pack has two sets in it; both inked and painted.
And one more set to satisfy my happy creative places, puffy paint and colorful arrows; can't get enuf of either right now so these were born...and I have also added a few more guest goodies over at The Lilypad
These stamps are a fun set of continuous line drawings; I love that they are just carefree and imperfect, made by drawing while your pen doesn't leave the paper. You see this style of art popping up all over in ads and cool places these days and I find it so so inspiring.

And some neutral naturals because I Love to use them.
Totally essential for me and my scraps :)

And that is the way the cookie crumbles.

Rawk on peeps!

-43 degrees: this is how we do it

It's C-C-C-C-cooooooold here lately. Tons of snow and so so bitterly freezing that it hurts to breathe in deeply. I am not complaining, just trying to describe it for all of you warm weather peoples who may never see winter the way we do. Actually the truth is that it just wouldn't be Winnipeg without some crazy super winter at some point between November and March. It's just the way we do it here and we don't mind so much ( well, us Muckoskys anyways, I can't speak for the rest of Winnipeg).
The super cold is not usually quite this early though, this snap kind of took us by surprise, most years it is more like February when we get hit so hard.

Anyways, I was just thinking today how It always cracks me up when I travel around the world and people find out where I am from, most often they want to know all about the winters here in Winnipeg.
The most asked question after "How cold does it get?" is
" How do you even go outside?!!!"
So here is this year's visual for you....snow pants and big boots buried in front yard snow that is well up over our knees, and the rest of us bundled so that just our eyes are peeking out.
Got to get out, got to have fun...so THIS my friends is how we do it!
We had a blast playing outside today a little bit. Not too long but the girls just needed to get out and tumble around a bit and I guess I needed it too. there is something about playing in a yard full of snow that can bring out the little kid in anyone :)

Happy day to you wherever you may be, and a big fat WHOOOOT for Hot Chocolate with whipped cream and a wee sprinkle of cinnamon.

toothpaste monster

Apparently my bathroom sink has been attacked by some crazy toothpaste monster sometime this afternoon. It appears to have snuck into my house and coated the sink with aprox. 2 ENTIRE tubes of toothpaste, some nice bright white and some pretty sparkly blue. hmmmmm....perhaps an attempt at a nice re-decorating surprise??? Kind of like a "while you were out" type of idea? or more accurately a "while you were not looking".
I LOVE HAVING KIDS IN MY HOUSE
LOVE IT to bits!!!
they keep my life interesting and filled with much redecorating
TLC has nothing on us

birthday lovin'

I had an amazing Birthday yesterday, so full of Love from all the amazing friends and family in my life. I am truly Blessed, that's for sure! I was woken up to a great chorus of Happy birthday from my little family and everyone ( including our big ol doggie dog) jumped in bed to start my day with lots of good hugs and cuddles, I did get this pretty bracelet from my sweet girls and lots of adorable handmade crafts. Having Kids who think that your birthday is a national holiday just makes it so much more fun!

Cams parents put on a great little party for me and we had good eats with great peeps...I really couldn't have it any better ( thanks guys!)

little travel princess

My Bella the amazing traveller!

She was so proud of her rolley bag and her new passport. She donned her tutu and polka-dot legwarmers at 4 AM with a smile on her face and was the first one in line to hand over her "ticket" to the gate agents. They got a real kick out of her. there was absolutely NO fear or even a tad of worry about flying, as the airplane began hurtling down the runway faster and faster she would quote lightening McQueen every time shouting out "Speeeeed, I am speeed.....KACHOWWW!!!!!" and a few hearty additions of "WHEEEEEE!!!!!"
She spent all of her time during the flights doing stickers and drawing and singing her happy little songs. Such a happy little sunshine girl, honestly.
The littlest of three girls sometimes just is in the mix of what her big sisters are doing, which is all fun and good...but it really is so so nice to be on a trip just the two of us.

Got2B Grateful sale

Happy US Thanksgiving to all. I for one have so much to be thankful for in my life that I really don't mind celebrating twice! ...one for Canada and now again for the US Holiday. Fun , Fun , Fun; y'know a holiday all about being truly grateful for what you've got is right up my alley so that is exactly what I am doing...my second Thanksgiving of 2008. It is great to be a part of this weekend with our friends here in Colorado. I haven't loaded any photos yet but I'll share a few when I go home later next week. Kaiella is having an amazing time with her new little friends and I am having a great time too, taking photos and spending time with my pals both new ones I have just met and the old ones I already thought were FAB! 

In honor of all things good in life I am throwing a quick little 3 day sale on my guest goodies over at TLP. 40% off on everything until  midnight on Sunday. 

God Bless, and wishes of health and happiness to you wherever in the world you may be this weekend

note to folks in Colorado Spring area

Kaiella and I jumping on a plane in the morning and we are going to be in the area for the next week. I have time to fit in one more 3 hour photo session while I am out that way. if you are interested please email me for more details.

And to everyone else out there, hope your week is filled with Blessings, too many to count.

soulographer and a few random thoughts

I haven't had a lot of time since I got back home to go through the photos that I took in Austin at the Soulographer workshop but I wanted to share these few from my first look through them.

the kids were amazing, and it was a beautiful location. Definitely a different experience than my usual photo shoots with kids, shooting at a workshop with 28 other women doing the same thing. It was fun. I didn't get to connect with the kids quite like I usually would of course, but that wasn't the point of the day.

In other news, gas prices have come WAY down WHOOOT. $45 filled 3/4 of our tank today and that, my friends, is gooood news. It is icy and cold here now which finally has me in the mood to create some Christmas cards and gift tags, the snow was late this year we were treated to a pretty warm start of November which is FAB but so strange for Winnipeg :)
Last but not least, the laundry has piled up once again...no one has 2 pairs of matching socks, and the fridge is nearly empty....ok so wanna know my thoughts on this? I JUST did a massive amount of laundry, and totally JUST went and bought the best ever groceries of a lifetime. Now really, aren't these things supposed to just stay done for awhile?! How the heck do they undo themselves in such a hurry LOL.
There you have it
Happy Monday

making christmas memories

We took the kids to the Santa clause parade here in Winnipeg yesterday. They LOVED it! We went in good time to get our spot right on the curb and sat breathing in the fresh chilly air and all of the excitement of the crowd gathering to line the streets. I can't believe how many people come out to celebrate and join in the fun!
I haven't gone since I was a kid but I still remember the thrill when the day finally arrived, getting ready, packing blankets and waiting in our spot along Portage ave to see the parade go by. I remember bundling head to toe and the smell of the hot chocolate steam rising from our thermos, I remember the excitement as the parade began and not caring that my toes had gone numb in my boots. Some memories are so clear as if they were just yesterday. We had such a great night watching all of the pretty floats, the kids rushed excitedly to a new spot at the end of the evening to get a good look at the man in red, and Bella who is still kind of scared of him settled for daddy's shoulders a safe distance away.
Then we went out for pancakes and hot chocolate together to warm up before the fireworks show. The kids even got to roast marshmallows at the campfires that were going. I love things like this that become traditions and memories we hold onto for a lifetime. I was listening to my father-in-law tell the kids about his memories of the parade from his younger years and it made me smile that such a cool memory has been made over generations of Winnipeg kids and is now being made for our little ones too.

for all of you letter lovers...

Thank-you SO much for sharing the things that you love with me.
It makes me happy. I LOVE the things that you all wrote, life really can be filled with simple joys when we look for them:) If you haven't yet You should totally go and read these comments and get a dose of happy yourself.
My little Kaiella ( who can't read) closed her eyes and picked the winner of my two alphabet packs.....
and the winner is

" janice said...

I LOVE the changing of the seasons! The colors of SPRING when everything is turning green, fresh and NEW! And then again in the FALL when God takes his paintbrush and gives us the wonderful colors of red, gold, green, and brown! What could be better?!!"

congrats Janice!
email me and I will send over your goodies

guesting!

I am super honored and totally excited to be doing a little guest appearance for the month of November over at the Lilypad!
here is the results of my happy hand crafting the other day :)

the designers and CT over at TLP are a super great bunch, and I have started my month by joining in on their big build your own collab kit. Here are my 3 packs and as I can I will add some more to my little section of the store!
Whoo hoo for creative fun!!!

On the fly

Hello from Toronto airport *waving*

I am on the go again today, Heading to Austin Texas for a few jobs, and also heading to the the Soulographer workshop this weekend. I am really looking forward to learning about being a rawkin' RAD photographer. The workshop is put on by Skye Hardwick; check out her photos she's pretty darn awesome!

For now; I left home at 4 AM this morning and I have 6 hours to wait here so I am taking a deep breath and settling in for a book and a tea.

hand crafting

I hand stitch because it makes me feel domestic, I love the softness and the homespun feel that it gives to whatever I am working on.
I paint because I love it, experimenting, layering colour, adding and washing away... sometimes the outcome is great and sometimes I have to wait for it to tell me where to go next in hopes of becoming good. But I love it.
I color because my hands were made to layer strokes of colour on paper ( or anything else that may jump under my pencils) to see what the outcome will be as it takes shape, because I think I may have been born with dreams of art in my tiny heart.
I create because i just have to, I crave it like I crave cold water; it makes me feel alive. Always evolving, growing and changing, I love that something which has always been there within me can take so many different paths.
Today I am making things, and both my hands and my heart are blissfully happy.
I wish the same to you.
Peace

Party Day

the girls and I spent today at kaiella's preschool Halloween party. it was a blast! the two big sisters were thrilled to help the little ones with their crafts and games and we even got to hand out candy as the 3 and 4 year olds went around to different doors with their little treat bags and buckets. here's our little preschool princess getting ready for a game of musical chairs and feeling like a million bucks. she was all grins in her head to toe pink.
Then came the family fun at night. SO super cool to be on a Friday night this year and totally avoid the day after Halloween-late-night-and-sugar effects as we try and herd tired kids off to school . That just might have been the best part....in my opinion anyways.
Every year without fail Cam and I turn back into a couple of kids for a night it seems. Each Halloween he lets the girls pick what he should be, it is a tradition. They are always full of giggles as they dig through the costume box and conspire to turn Daddy into something, anything, that he probably won't want to be. That is half the fun right? Last year they dressed him in a curly wig, pink tutu, wings, and a wand as "the tooth fairy" and being the wonderful fun loving Dad of 3 girls that he is, he went along with the fun all night and played the part quite well! This year I put my foot down and told them that they had to at least let their poor dad be a guy thing. So he still got a nice long blond wig but this year it had a headband around his forehead a peace sign on his cheek and a guitar hanging around his neck. My big "hippie" was strumming all kinds of interesting chords as we walked the streets LOL. I still attempted stubbornly to take pictures with no flash because the darn thing totally obliterates the real glow of the pumpkins and the mood of waiting on a dimly lit step. I can't say that my results were fantastic but I did get a few that captured the mood and will be so much fun to look back on when the threesome are not quite so little.It is good to take time to skip and giggle and embrace the carefree fun of childhood right along with our children.
Oh so good.

for the love of letters!!!

Just wanted to let you know that I have two more new alphabet packs!
Serendipity and Free Spirit
Man do I love letters LOL, it is kind of a thing with me... chubby letters, tall letters, boxy letters; all of my life doodling letters all over my binders, my notes, and projects. Sigh...I guess old habits are hard to break!

I like sharing new things, so if you would like a chance to win these two new alpha packs then
Leave me a comment about what it is that you Love...not your family or your dog...I know that you love your family and your dog, so do I... immensely. I mean something quirky and all about you. Something seemly small that has always made you happy.
Kewl
you gotta play to win ;)

note: These kind of packs work out really great even for paper scrappers with only the most basic computer knowledge. You can just drag titles, a monogram, or simple journaling onto your photos before printing them out. Or you can print them onto ink jet transparency or a tag, office papers... etc. lots of fun! I will find out the best way to put together some tutorials for my paper scrapping pals who have asked me how to best use my products in their pages.

Saskatchewan

I am away on a trip to Whitewood, Saskatchewan this week.
My little Kaiella is along with me and we are having a great time! It is wonderful here, lots of wide open space and plenty of fresh air. As far as our fun time goes we have managed to fit in some yummy lunches out, a bike ride, a visit to the library and some toddler painting so far. I am sure the rest of the week will be full of happy adventure, Bella and little Jake are just the best of pals.
Here are a couple of photos I did of our good friends Krista and Braden and their wonderful little guys.Over and out for now
Have a great day wherever you may be and
don't forget to see the blessings that are all around you!

kick off party WINNERS!

First of all I want to say a huge thank-you for all of the wonderful comments that you guys left me on my kick-off party post. It feels so great to have that kind of support in a new adventure :)
thank-you thank-you thank-you!
Now let's get right to the good stuff...
announcing all of the winners!!!

From the comments my little Kaiella has randomly pointed at these 5 who win a free pack of their choice from my LDD store.

1. kam said...
yippee...you are selling your wonderful creations! How awesome! Now I have another new fave for myself! Love your stuff.

2. Traci said...
Hey CD,I am so happy that you are "branching out" and "spreading your wings" into the unknown. You know we all adore your work and I know you will find tons of support. I had an amazing time sharing class with you at inspired. and know what you are speaking about is completely true.

3.Tara C. said...

Awesome product, CD!! I can't wait to have some money in PayPal so I can splurge on some of your beautiful product!!!
Thanks for the chance!

4.Victoria said...

Thank you for the sample, C.D.! I'm so glad that you have decided to start selling some of your designs. It has been delightful to see so many wonderful things happen for you! You bring an attitude of fun and acceptance of one's abilities on every level. Your grin is infectious, too! Best wishes to your success in this new venture!

5. Denise R said...

Yay CD! Believe it or not, I just stumbled across your desings the other night when scrapping (I pretty much just do digi now!) and already bought some!!! They are so cute! Of course, I bought the doodle alphabet first after spending all that time in class that time at CKU trying to do that myself! haha! You KNOW you have a fan in me and I will buy pretty much anything you put on the site! Hope you and your family are doing well!!!

A big thank-you to everyone who ordered goodies from me. These 5 ladies are the random shoppers who win 2 free packs each

1. Penny Noel

2. Jeanne Carver

3. Sherry Medley

4. Bonnie McDonald

5. Melanie evans

And .....drumroll please......

the grand prize winner of all 8 packs in my original post ......

from those who posted in galleries using my designs......

IS

IMCCANDLESS

whoo hoo congrats!

check out her super cute layout

All listed winners please shoot me an email letting me know what you are wishing for and I will get your prizes over to you!!!

Thanks again for all the good lovin' everybody :)

Happy Canadaian Thanksgiving to all!

Hello and warm wishes from cartoon me!

hee hee

I can't believe how good these things come out,

too funny, I just had to share :)

you can make one for fun here

We had a great Thanksgiving with all of our fam here this past weekend, and we really missed all of our family that aren't here in Winnipeg right now to share in the festivities; sending blessings and lots of thankfulness for each one of you guys spread across Canada this weekend.

I haven't loaded our photos yet...Things are going to be slow around here this week, I have one of those kind of head colds where your head and your eyes feel about 20 times their normal size and you can't sleep because it hurts your throat to breathe through your mouth and it is nearly impossible to even try the nose route. And y'know, my ears are so plugged that I may possibly be shouting at everyone in my path without knowing it, but if indeed I am, then so far they are being quite fabulous about it.

It's life, we have all been there right? :)

Thankful today for such a loving husband to take care of us all.

wishing everyone a happy week

We have a new baby on the way!!!

Isn't she gorgeous?!!!

As you can see our baby has a full head of beautiful orange hair and sweet little blue eyes, and most important to note is that she is not of the human variety ;)

but truth is that from the time she and her siblings were born I have to say that the excitement around here is practically equal to if she was, LOL !

We went to have a visit when the kittens were 6 weeks old and this little girl slept in Tiara's arms almost the whole time. she is so peaceful and sweet we all just fell in love with her right away. I loaded these pics that I took and I just had to share our happy news.

Nothing much else of interest to say right now, I have been putting together a handful of new kits when I have a minute, the laundry reeeally needs to be done or I am afraid the kids are going to have to go sockless to school, and we are getting excited for some happy family get tethers this weekend ( Canadian thanksgiving). Today Emy and I are working on a project for school that involves a cutlery drawer organizer, plastic animals and a glue gun. sound fun? It really is!!!

She is so super creative and I love helping her out and hearing how her little brain works. It is one of the best parts of being a mom sometimes, just to sit back and observe these wonderful little people that I am honored to have in my life.

on that note,

Take care and Happy day to you

creating just to create

This week there is the perfect amount of crisp fresh chill in the air, it is sooo refreshing, makes me just want to stand on the spot and breathe it in deeply. The leaves are really starting to change colours, my favorites are the rich reds and yellows they make me smile everywhere I go....in case it isn't already clear , I LOVE THE FALL!

Simply adore it.

Today we are creating...just making stuff with no plan and it is super energizing. I LOVE MAKING STUFF!!!

I feel like it has been forever since I had the time to just make stuff that wasn't for a class or for my new designs , for a magazine article etc. I create differently when it is just for the sake of letting my heart and my hands do the walking and with no concerns for the how and why of it. I think that I need to make a plan with myself to do that more often.

OK, So here it is, my public declaration:

"Self, you need to make stuff just for the sake of making stuff...to watch the creation take shape and unfold as if it has a life of it's own. And no matter how big or small or even how ugly, it HAS to happen once a week absolute minimum."

OK done deal signed and dated.

Alright now I'm feeling the need for a sidenote: I don't often spend time talking to myself, but I figure that this blog is a pretty good place to keep myself accountable and so... what the heck!

Tiara and I settled right into making her a paint shirt for school today. She decided on a big T with wings and a halo and told me what to write on it. Such a great project to do together with a kid.

Just prepare the shirt with gesso in the area that you want to write/paint/colour on and then once it has dried completely treat it just like paper. Easy peasy and super fun together time!
And me, I am happily playing around with old french dictionary pages, mesh, ink, matte gel and lots of sand paper all in a little old board book I am starting to turn into something'R'other the fun is really not knowing where it will end up till I get there. Tiara and Kaiella did most of the sanding ( see above for cute little busy hands) and all of the gessoing for me and they loved every single minute of it...so much fun to get them involved in the creating and spend time together exploring what we can make. Some moms bake with the kids and around here we sand up books with aliens in them...why not.