Right Here. Right Now. | Oct 24

Back in 2011, inspired by my friends, Lee and Christa, I started a weekly list of documenting my life at a moment in time.  I kept it up for a bit but life got busy.

So I tried again in 2013.  This time, I stuck with it for a decidedly longer bit of time - and looking back, I love that I included PhotoBooth selfies each time!  So great to go back and see life at a given point in time. But alas, blogging took a back seat to Life.

Well, hopefully the third time's a charm.  Because I'm resurrecting this again, in hope that it will encourage regular blogging and documenting of our daily life.

The Project:  Every Sunday (or some part during the weekend!), at some point, I will post a self-portrait (it won't always be pretty - I'm warning you now!!) and document what I'm doing/feeling/seeing... right now.

dateline:  belle river, ontario, canada @ 12:01 pm on oct 25, 2015
weather outside:   overcast, cool
mood inside:  productive

listening to:  my Rdio paylist (presently playing, Call by Francesco Yates)
eating:  a simple breakfast of a toasted bagel with herb & garlic cream cheese
drinking:  water
wearing:  black yoga pants, black henley shirt
feeling:  productive - hoping to check off several things of my list today!
wanting:  another day in this weekend
needing:  to find a solution to paper clutter
thinking:  about food prep for the week
enjoying:  this crisp fall weather - my favourite season!
learning:  to say yes more to my family and no to everyone else
creating:  plans for the upcoming fundraiser crop I'm planning!
wondering:  about the results from Aili's EEG on Tuesday
procrastinating:  cleaning my studio (see photo below!)
loving:  my new wood wall in my dining room! (see it on Instagram here)
anticipating:  dinner with my dad tonight!

what a mess!

Cheers,

Getting to Know Me - 2015 Edition

Browsing through my blog post, I came across this quiz, sent to me from a friend.

Since I want to do a better job of documenting the Here and Now, I thought it would be interesting to see how my life has changed in five years...


1. What is your occupation right now? 
2010: Accountant. Writer. Photographer. Teacher. Mom.  Take your pick.

2015: Mom. Wife. Accountant. Scrapbooker. Event Coordinator. 

2. What colour are your socks right now? 

2010: Pink

2015: Black

3. What are you listening to right now? 

2010: Beautiful Day by U2

2015: Prayer in C by Robin Schulz

4. What was the last thing that you ate? 

2010: Marshmallow egg

2015: Red seedless grapes

5. Can you drive a stick shift?  

2010: But of course!

2015: Definitely.  It's a good skill to have!

6. Last person you spoke to on the phone? 

2010: Gary, via BlackBerry Messenger

2015: My nephew, Cory, via iMessage

7. Do you like the person who sent this to you? 

2010: Absolutely!

2015: Still like her, although I haven't seen here in years!

8. How old are you today? 

2010: 42.  And holding.

2015: 39.  I don't know how that happened...

9. What is your favourite sport to watch on TV?  

2010: Hockey, with soccer and football tied for second place.

2016: Football, hands down!  Probably the ONLY sport I watch on TV.  Even with the Blue Jays in the finals...

10. What is your favourite drink? 

2010: Lime Margharitas and Bailey's on ice.

2015: Gin and tonic, Bloody Caesars

11. Have you ever dyed your hair?  

2010: Ever since I was 19 - heck, I can't even REMEMBER my original shade!

2015: Out of necessity now. So. Much. Grey. (although the "Granny look" is trending!)

12. Favourite food?  

2010: King crab legs

2015: Still crab legs, with salted butter. Also a thick, juicy steak is delicious!

13. What is the last movie you watched? 

2010: Up In The Air

2015: The Princess Diaries (trying to keep Aili awake for her sleep-deprived EEG test the next morning) and Back to the Future (in honour of yesterday - Oct 21, 2015!)

14. Favorite day of the year? 

2010: First day of school! :D

2015: First day of summer!

15. How do you vent anger? 

2010: I'd say yoga... but there's nothing like a good cleansing scream.

2015: See above.

16. What was your favourite toy as a child? 

2010: Easy Bake oven.  Barbie Stylin' Head.

2015: See above.  And my Hot Wheels race track.

17. What is your favourite season? 

2010: Fall

2015: This answer will never change - I LOVE fall weather!

18. Cherries or Blueberries? 

2010: Cherries

2015: Cherries. Unless I'm super hungry and don't want to chew around the pit! :)

19. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? 

2010: I want them to post their answer on THEIR blog, with a link in my comments so I can see! :)

2015: n/a

20. Who is the most likely to respond?  

2010: I dunno!

2015: n/a


21. Who is least likely to respond? 

2010: I dunno!

2015: n/a

22. Living arrangements? 

2010: Hubby, son, daughter.

2015: Hubby. Son. Daughter. Still waiting for the hubby to agree to another Golden Retriever...

23. When was the last time you cried? 

2010: January

2015: Last week.  Stupid commercial.

24. What is on the floor of your closet? 

2010: Bag of clothes to donate.  Basket of shoes.  Laundry Basket.  Clothes that missed the aforementioned item.

2015: Framed university/college degree/diplomas. Sconces to be hung up. Basket of mismatched socks. (WHERE DO THEY GO!?!?!)

25. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to? 

2010: n/a

26. What did you do last night? 

2010: Easter dinner with family, then played Wii.

2015: Event planning for fundraiser crop (April 2016!! Save the date!)

27. What are you most afraid of?  

2010: Something terrible happening to any of my family members or friends.

2015: Same

28. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburger? 

2010: Cheese, please - but make mine mozzarella and don't be afraid to add some sauteed onions and mushrooms, and a bit of bbq sauce, too!

2015: Cheese - more specifically, a Big Daddy Mac from Mamo Burger!

29. Favourite dog breed? 

2010: Golden Retrievers, of course.

2015: Still love 'em!

30. Favourite day of the week? 

2010: Friday.  The only day where we don't have swim practice or gymnastics or meetings... it's our Family night.

2015: Thursday or Friday - depending on when the football game is! :)

31. How many countries have you lived in? 

2010: One

2015: Still one... unless I win the 50 millions dollars and then I'm moving to Bora Bora.

32. Diamonds or pearls? 

2010: Diamonds - much less pretentious and a whole lot more sparkly!

2015: Diamonds - it's all about the bling, baby!

33. What is your favourite flower? 

2010: Gerbera Daisy, Stargazer Lily, Dahlia, Iris... I'm not particular, if you want to send them...

2015: Peonies. And orchids.

May and June Sketchy Winners!

Thanks to all who played along in the May and June challenges - my apologies for the delay in announcing the winners!

Using Random.org, I listed the winners for both challenges,

(for May)

List Randomizer

There were 3 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Anne
2. Karla
3. Lee-Anne

Timestamp: 2015-10-20 02:01:46 UTC, IP: 24.55.199.95

(for June)

List Randomizer

There were 2 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Genevieve
2. Karla

Timestamp: 2015-10-20 01:56:05 UTC, IP: 24.55.199.95

Congratulations, Anne and Genevieve! Drop me a line with your mailing address to sue[AT]canadianscrapbooker[DOT]ca and I will get your goodies out to you ASAP!


Thanks again to all who played along!  Not just for these months, but for all the months since September 2012 when I began doing the sketches!  If you missed any of them, you can find them all listed on my Sketches page.

Cheers,

Hello...??

[source]

Is anyone still there??

I seriously can't believe that it's been over four months since my last blog post.  To be honest, as I scrolled past my posts in the last year or so, it was all sharing layouts and posting challenges and creating cut files and announcing winners.

Gone were the posts with funny anecdotes about the kids like this one from 2012 and this one from 2006.  Or the documenting posts about life at a given point in time, such as Connor's 11th birthday or one of Aili's many stays at the hospital.

You may have noticed that the talented Kelly Klapstein is now creating the sketches for Canadian Scrapbooker.  Now don't get me wrong - I loved creating the sketches for Canadian Scrapbooker (and you, my lovelies!).  But it seemed that as I delved deeper into the designing world, the less I was documenting our lives.  Which is the main reason I created this blog in May 2006, 1143 blog posts ago...

And so after a discussion with my wonderful boss (and friend!), Jackie, I decided to take a short break from my commitments with Canadian Scrapbooker.  As of July 2015, I no longer create the sketches or Paper Cut files for the magazine.  In fact, I don't think that I've even turned on my Silhouette since then! :(  Life just seemed so overwhelming and full that I felt torn between trying to get it all done.

And so, a small break was needed to help me focus on my priorities (family, health, friends) and feed my creative soul (writing, scrapbooking, drawing/painting).  It's still a work in progress but I'm enjoying the absence of deadlines for the time being, while football and gymnastics and other things occupy this time in my life.

So to those of you who are still patiently waiting for a prize package from me....

  {--- (this is me)

Thank you for being patient with me!! I have packages for Rhea S. (NL) and Karen Sue W. (MB) boxed, labelled and ready to drop off at the post office tomorrow!  And I still need to announce May and June winners so check back tomorrow!

Thanks for sticking around - I'm committing myself to regular blogging and freebies in the future so please come back and see what's new!


Cheers,

Jun 2015 Sketchy Challenge

Welcome to another Sketchy Challenge!  Here's my sketch for June 2015 - you can also see my sketch in the CS Sketchy Gallery here.

No project again from me this month, sadly - Planning and packing for our Disney trip in early June took up a lot of my creative time! :(

Hopefully you find some time this month to play along!  Again, please head over to the Sketchy gallery and get inspired to create your own layout!  You can use the sketch as is or as a springboard for your project - the choice is yours!

{RAK ALERT!}
If you play along with the sketch this month, upload your layout in the gallery into the June 2015 Sketch section HERE, and then in your comment below, add a link to that layout, by 11:59 pm on Jun 30th, 2015.  On or around July 1st, 2015, I will randomly draw a winner from the comments here of those who participated, for a prize!

**PLEASE NOTE:  In order to qualify for a chance to be published in an upcoming issue, your layout must be posted in the online gallery by Jun 30th, 2015.  To qualify to win MY prize, you must add a link to your layout BELOW, using the inlinkz tool, by Jun 30th, 2015!


Cheers,

An InLinkz Link-up

April Sketchy Challenge Winner!

Thanks to all those who played along with my April Sketchy challenge.  A winner was randomly chosen for each, using random.org…

List Randomizer

There were 5 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Karen
2. snazzyjj
3. Elaine
4. Anita
5. Sandy

Timestamp: 2015-05-16 05:03:17 UTC

Congratulations, Karen! Drop me a line with your mailing address to sue[AT]canadianscrapbooker[DOT]ca and I will get your goodies out to you!

Last month, I asked previous winners to email me if you were still waiting for a prize from me - my planner (with my blog prize list of winners and addresses) had taken an unexpected bath!  The good news is that I have sent out prizes for Michelle, Karrie and Rebecca!!  I am still waiting to hear back from Sarah and Rhea… if you know them, please pass along the message!

Thanks again to all who played along!  There's still time to play along with the May challenge - you can find it here!


Cheers,

Paper Cuts | Spring 2015

In every issue of Canadian Scrapbooker  I design themed cut files in .studio and .svg formats that will be available for download on the Canadian Scrapbooker website, as well as here on my blog, on my PaperCuts page.

I just realized that I forgot to share my Paper Cuts projects from the Spring 2015 issue!  (I also have an announcement on our April winner for the Sketchy Challenge coming up in a day or two…)

Here are this issue's cut files available for download:  

Spring Journaling Cards

||  DOWNLOAD NOW  ||

Clouds

||  DOWNLOAD NOW  ||

Monarch Butterfly

||  DOWNLOAD NOW  ||

Here's are my projects created with them:

Supplies used:  Canadian Scrapbooker SuperStock; Strathmore watercolour paper; Silhouette Cameo die cutting machine; Sue Sykes Spring Journal Cards cut files; Prima Marketing flowers; Artist's Loft watercolours; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L foam squares; Me And My Big Ideas rhinestones; paintbrush; miscellaneous button.

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics Paper cardstock; Simple Stories patterned paper; Silhouette Cameo die cutting machine; Sue Sykes Clouds and Spring Journal Cards cut files; Silhouette cut file (sun); Making Memories fabric label.

Supplies used:  Strathmore Drawing paper; Bazzill Basics Bling cardstock; Silhouette Cameo die cutting machine; Sue Sykes Monarch cut file; Sharpie; watercolour crayons; aqua brush.

You can find the links to download these and other files on my PaperCuts page (CLICK HERE!)

Cheers,