KriskropMemories

New cupcake toppers just created

2011-11-11T12:55:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful long weekend so far!
This week I have put together a few new cupcake topper sets and I hope to have more completed by the end of the weekend.

Circus Lion - set of 12

Robots - set of 12

Both are currently available in my Etsy shop.
Cheers

A wonderful weekend

2011-11-06T23:38:00.000-08:00

Even though it was a beautiful weekend outside I had no desire to go outside my front door. Crafting and sports with a few family games thrown in were my speed. The football team won, my hockey team won and I completed two projects, it was a great success, I only wish that it was Saturday night and not Sunday night, one more morning to sleep in sounds awesome.
I also watched a few movies, loved Water for Elephants, I should have read the book before watching the movie, not sure that I can now. I am not one to re-watch movies or re-read books so I am not sure if I can read this book after seeing the movie. I do highly recommend the movie though.

The projects I completed included a Christmas banner and some fun circus lion cupcake toppers. I haven't taken any pictures of the lions yet but will post when I do. The banner has been added to my shop and I would love your thoughts.

Heres to productive weekends, hoping for the same for the rest of the week.

Cheers

A couple new additions to the shop

2011-10-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy busy week and the next few days don't appear to be much slower. I have a feeling that between now and Christmas there won't be any slow weeks.
The pumpkins will be carved tomorrow and the candy is ready so all is looking good for Halloween.

I did find time to put together a few more pieces for the shop. I would love your feedback.

Baby Boy Shower - cupcake toppers

I also found some patterned cardstock to make cupcake wrappers with, these I think are perfect to coordinate with the turkey cupcake toppers. Great for Thanksgiving.

We are off to watch a local hockey game tonight, the boys are really excited, especially the youngest as this is his first game.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Thanksgiving layout finished

2011-10-22T18:05:00.000-07:00

It did take a few days longer than I had expected but I have put together the Thanksgiving 2011 layout I have been working on.

Cheers

Holy pumpkin

2011-10-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

The plan was to go pumpkin hunting at the patch today, unfortunately the weather had a different idea. It was pouring today! Hoping tomorrow will be a little better, as much as I love the pumpkin patch not feeling the mud!
I have been searching the web for pumpkin carving ideas and came across this pumpkin

This is so cool. We are planning on 8 pumpkins this year, I am thinking 4 carved and 4 like above.

I found this picture and idea at http://www.curbly.com/ - they have some fantastic Halloween ideas to check out.

Cheers

Thanksgiving projects

2011-10-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful day today. Met with the boys teachers today (had to be done during regular school hours since the teachers are on work to rule so I took the day off work) and found that they are doing awesome. Trev had his first "real" test of the year in math and got 21/22, totally impressed :)

I was able to find some extra time to get to work on some Thanksgiving projects I have been wanting to do for the shop. Everything is cut and ready to assemble so with any luck I will be ready to have these added to the shop on Friday.

Not much more going on, just a nice relaxing middle of the week day :)
Tomorrow however is Spooktacular (fun family Halloween party) so I am ready to see what fun all the kids have managed to put together, I love Halloween.

Cheers

Soccer, Frogs, and Love bugs

2011-10-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Well we lost track of time and didn't get our little guy signed up for soccer this summer. After many requests from him we finally signed him up today. I have never been a fan of soccer, I am a hockey girl, so the idea of going out in the rain and cold wasn't really appealing. I decided to be a better Mom and get over this. I am though debating this decision now after finding out his games are on Saturday at 9 a.m., ugh, so rain, cold, and no sleeping in on Saturday morning.

Found some time today to finish a few projects I have been working on. The first is a frog cupcake topper set, fun colors and great for that person that loves frogs, the second is a diecut set perfect for scrapbook pages titled Love Bug.

I plan to have these listed in the shop tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Mickey Mouse - toppers and wrappers

2011-10-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

It is Thanksgiving weekend and I should be thinking of the 25lb turkey in my fridge and all the dishes that will accompany it but instead I am in crafter mode.
I have put together a new set of Mickey Mouse toppers and wrappers and have just added them to the shop.

Not sure if I will have time tonight to get anything else accomplished..here's hoping.

Have a great Sunday,
Cheers

10 Scrapbooking supplies that I cannot live without

2011-10-08T21:37:00.000-07:00

Almost daily I find that there is something new that I could be picking up to add to my everending supply of materials, however I find that I continue to use the same supplies consistently. I thought I would put together a list of these supplies.

1. Cardstock - my favorite is Bazzill - http://bazzillbasics.com/ - there is nothing more satisfying then looking at a rainbow of color options, I am always picking up this paper.
2.Cricut machine - I have the expressions machine. I am not sure I would have continued with scrapbooking if I didn't have this machine, it has made the possibilities endless.

3. ATG gun - wow this makes using adhesive a breeze.
4. American Crafts foam dots - I don't think one project is completed without these
5. Scissors - this is a given - I don't have a particular favorite though
6. Copic Markers - http://copicmarker.com/ same story as the cardstock - I can't have enough colors.

7. Paper punches - my favorites right now are most of the Martha Stewart ones including this one:

8. Ribbon
9. Stamps - I find I am a fan of digital stamps
10. Ink - Memento Tuxedo black is a regular for me

What are your must haves for crafting?

Cheers

Soccer Sunday and scrapping

2011-10-02T22:25:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning to a beautiful cloudless blue sky, this was so unexpected as we were advised it was to be raining. So the first thing that came to mind was that the family needed to get outside, off to watch my 12 year old neices soccer game we went.
It was wonderful to be outside, these days I'm sure will be few and far between.
I was also able to get some scrapping done this weekend as well. A few custom scrapbook pages, pages for my boys, and 2 new sets of cupcake toppers.
The first set is one of multi colored dinosaurs:

The second set was for Thanksgiving - 12 Turkeys:

Next up for me are some Mickey Mouse cupcake toppers and wrappers - hope to have them done early this week.

Happy Monday to all!

Applesauce, Hearts and Butterflies

2011-09-25T23:38:00.000-07:00

I had every intention of sleeping in this morning, like really sleeping in, but of course the family and the dog had other ideas. The two boys and Dad decided to take off for breakfast to Tim Horton's (apparently this is what they do when I am not up to make breakfast) and as soon as they left the house the dog decided to bark, a horrific don't leave me whining bark. Try as I did to sleep through it, not possible.

Ok so early this morning instead of sleeping I was attempting my first shot at homemade applesauce. Brendan loves the store bought variety and after realizing that I wasn't supplying him with a healthy snack (high fructose corn syrup) I decided this would be a project he and I would share. He was having such a good time putting everything in the pot and then mashing I thought we had a winner, as it turns out I think he will eat it but I believe it may be the high fructose corn syrup he really liked ;) Time will tell as I made a triple batch.
Here is the link to the recipe I used:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/sarahs-applesauce/detail.aspx

So after the applesauce experiment, many loads of laundry and a little bit of chilling in between I figured I had a perfect time while the kids played games and dh watched football to get some crafting in.
Here are my latest creations to be added to the shop:

Tomorrow I am hoping to get some dinosaur toppers done, they are next on the list.

Wishing everyone a happy Monday,
Cheers

Halloween costumes and a 12x12 Halloween layout just completed

2011-09-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

I have just listed in my shop my latest 12x12 scrapbook layout. The theme....Halloween of course, one of my most favorite days of the year.

Speaking of Halloween, we went out today to get the kids their halloween costumes. I had one of those moments where I needed to remember it's more important to let the kids express themselves and their interests instead of forcing mine onto them. I mean really Luigi!!!! After we got it home I can see that it is super cute just not my idea of the perfect costume, but then again I had my day when I was kid.

Cheers

Lightning McQueen - Cars - cupcake toppers

2011-08-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to listing a new set of cupcake toppers on Etsy this evening. Lightning McQueen (Cars) cupcake toppers. As usual these are a set of 12, they are done in red and each has a different image. They can be customized with a different color background and if more than 12 are needed that would not be a problem.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80300280/cars-lightning-mcqueen-cupcake-toppers

Cheers

Our first family camping trip

2011-08-15T23:52:00.000-07:00

We just came back from our first camping trip and we had a BLAST. When we asked the boys to rate camping from 1 - 10, 10 being the best they both gave it a vote of 16! So I have to say it was a huge success. We roasted marshmallows, hot dogs and had our fair share of s'mores.
After battling with the tent I can say everything else went smoothly. We did see some rain on Saturday, which unfortunately was to be beach day, but for the most part the weather was great, the boys had a blast and I guarantee it is something we will definitely do again in the future.

While camping we also took a break to enjoy some go cart racing. I am not a racer at heart so I am the photographer. Trevor went on his own for the first time and did a great job. It was really funny because at first his cart wouldn't get going, from where I was I couldn't figure out why, after he returned he told me that he didn't know he needed to take his foot off the brake in order to get moving :)

It was a perfect family weekend and I can't wait to do more of this very soon.

Cheers

Wonderful Birthday weekend!

2011-08-07T23:08:00.000-07:00

I had such a great weekend!!! It was my birthday on Saturday and I had one special request, a night of fireworks and a great steak dinner.

We spent the first part of the day car shopping, I was getting such a kick out of the fact that the one year I say no presents my dh decides to buy me a car, lol. Just kidding, our vehicle has been acting up lately so we thought it might be a great time to look for a new one.

The Ford Edge was the car of choice this day, awesome vehicle but just a little pricey for us. We have not had a car payment for some time so the thought of a payment freaks me out. Anyway more on this in a little bit.

Back to Saturday....after the car shopping we took off for Granville Island. A great tourist stop but honestly not a place we visit often. Traffic was a mess so we didn't have a lot of time to look around before we stopped for dinner. I was craving a steak so we went to the Keg, mmmmmmmmmmm.

Once dinner was over we walked over to Vanier park to take in the Celebration of Light...this is a fireworks competition held each year in Vancouver where different countries put on a fireworks display to music. China and Spain had already competed. 30 minutes of spectacular fireworks off a barge in English Bay, honestly it doesn't get much better. We saw a wonderful sunset, ate kettle corn (not sure how we could after dinner) and watched dancing colors in the sky.

Such a wonderful birthday!

Back to the car, we changed our minds regarding the edge and put a deposit today down on a 2011 Escape, this will be our third Escape in a row but we know we love this vehicle and with all the bells and whistles we added it should be a great fit for many years to come. We haven't completely decided, just put the deposit down because there are not many of them left and we wanted to be sure to get the color we wanted. Plan is to sleep on it so we'll see tomorrow.

Cheers

Etsy listings up

2011-07-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to provide an update - the cupcake toppers have been listed:

Winnie the Pooh - http://www.etsy.com/listing/78493807/winnie-the-pooh-cupcake-toppers-set-of

Dora the Explorer - http://www.etsy.com/listing/78493464/dora-the-explorer-cupcake-toppers-set-of

Cheers :)

Sun and Crafting...what a wonderful weekend

2011-07-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

Well we finally saw the sun this weekend, it's been so long seeing it here that I almost forgot what it looked like ;)
Unfortunately not the whole weekend was spent outside, not realizing it was going to be nice I promised my youngest that I would take him today to see Cars, we took the Trev to see Harry Potter earlier this week (what a great movie!!) so this was only fair, just really didn't want to be in a theatre during one of our only nice days of the summer.

After spending time in the garden, kids running through the sprinkler and having a great bbq dinner I finally found some time to finish some new cupcake toppers..these will be added to the Etsy shop tomorrow. Just as a reminder they can be customized with other colors and coming soon for all sets will be coordinating invitations and tags for treat bags.

Both the Winnie the Pooh and Dora sets are sets of 12.

Cheers :)

Planning for our first camping trip- assistance please :)

2011-07-21T23:37:00.000-07:00

I came home from work a month or so ago and received a very elaborate drawing from my then 5 year old. It depicted an image of a campfire and smores (they were black and I was advised that they were overcooked, lol).

The writing on this picture noted Yo Mom Y don't we go camping? Looking at this picture I realized that we have been on many vacations to places that many young kids don't go, now this has always been my plan I want to experience the world with my kids, but we have never taken a camping trip. I grew up camping on an almost weekly basis so this blew me away that we had not yet done this.
So here I am now trying to figure out what is needed to put this trip together and make this an awesome time.

I have noted before I am a list person, so the list goes together this weekend, I mean we have nothing camping related, not even a cooler. This is just a weekend trip so the list shouldn't be too long but I really want to be sure that the boys experience all they can of camping. The only reason I can be happy about this awful cold and rainy weather is that I hope we have had enough of it so we don't have a campfire ban when we get away, I mean really why camp if you can't have a campfire ;)

If anybody has any great ideas for menu ideas or tips for making the list a little shorter that would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Had to run away to find summer

2011-07-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

I have been reading a bunch of blogs lately of others speaking of their hot summers, well I am not sure of what is going on here in our area but we didn't have Spring and still have not seen Summer!

So we ran away for a couple weeks to find it....off to the Caribbean and Orlando. We had an absolutely wonderful time and honestly it was hard to come back. On the trip back I was hoping we would land and find that summer arrived while we were gone, well not so...the rain has not stopped and hoodies are required in the evenings...just crazy!

Still here!!

2011-05-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

I took a blog break for the last few months but after re-reading posts decided to get back at it.

Life is going full speed as usual. Both boys are in baseball so we are spending a lot of time at the park. This would normally be a great time if it wasn't soooooooooooo cold :) I am still cold (have not been able to warm up) and I have been home for hours.

My other boys (the Canucks) are doing well in the playoffs so this is taking up a bit of time as well. Not complaining, I hope to be watching the Canucks well into June!

Cheers

Disneyland and rain

2011-02-02T22:30:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we (my sister and I) took my Mom to Disneyland for the weekend for her birthday. It was such a great time!! My Mom bought her first set of Mickey ears and wore them the entire day at the park.

Another first....she went on her first what we call grown up ride, Indiana Jones. As kids my Dad always took us on the roller coasters and bigger rides while my Mom sat and waited for us. My Mom is a huge people watcher, not a trait I understand, so she was never bored during these times but I really wanted my Mom to experience such a ride, so at the young age of 57 she took the plunge!, you should have seen her face, totally freaked out the whole time we were waiting to get on the ride, when it was over she says "I have been scared of this my whole life???, why?"...too funny but we still couldn't convince her to try Space Mountain :)

We were going to check out the beaches of SoCal on Sunday but were met with rain. We still made the trip to Santa Monica and Venice Beach (not my cup of tea) but didn't spend much time because with the rain it didn't have the same appeal. We then headed off to Beverly Hills to check out the homes, WOW.

Anyway we had such a great time and I would love to do it again! Soon :)

Cheers

New Sesame Street cupcake toppers

2011-01-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

I have just finished another set of cupcake toppers today, they are super cute ( if I say so myself, lol) but I am a sucker for Sesame Street.

Cheers

Little bit of this...Little bit of that

2011-01-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

I have little tidbits today - the way my brain is thinking these days ;)

Etsy shop - I have just listed the Valentine cupcake toppers in my Etsy shop on sale. They are now 20% off!!

Kids - I am so proud of Trevor - he has taken up the love of reading just like his Mom. Every time I turn around he is reading and I love it. For Christmas he received a box set of Ronald Dahl books and has so far finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He is now on to Goosebumps, not sure what that one is about but based on the jokes in the back it is no doubt a book for boys!!

Home - Our new house is turning into a money trap. First we had to block the bottom of the deck to keep the raccoons from nesting (they may be cute but they freak me out!), now a new toilet. I was under the assumption that it was a new toilet but given the fact that is a no name toilet (no markings on it at all) it was obviously not built to last. The plumber is in tomorrow.

Came across a new recipe tonight and thought I would share as finding something that both boys and Dad likes is rare:
Hearty Lasagne Soup

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, chopped (about 1/4 cup)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
3 1/2 cups Swanson® Beef Broth (Regular, 50% Less Sodium or Certified Organic)
1 can (14 .5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed
1 1/2 cups uncooked mafalda or corkscrew-shaped pasta ( just used broken lasagne noodles)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.Cook the beef, onion, garlic and parsley in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, or until it's well browned, stirring often to break up the meat. Pour off any fat.

2.Stir the broth, tomatoes and Italian seasoning in the saucepan and heat to a boil.

3.Stir the pasta in the saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 minutes or until the pasta is tender. Stir in the cheese. Serve with additional cheese, if desired.

On that note I am off to chill and watch American Idol

Snow, Snow, Snow, ready for Spring

2011-01-13T19:41:00.000-08:00

Snow in 49 of 50 states...that is crazy! What is a snowbird (ok not quite there yet but it is the plan) to do when you offer no refuge from the snow :) I mean Hawaii....seriously, something is terribly wrong with this thought.

We were blasted with a huge dump of snow on Tuesday night but the temp has risen so drastically that now we just have a huge wet mess!

My head is already in Spring so I spent last night putting together St. Patrick's Day cupcake toppers. These have been listed in my Etsy shop and are ready to ship immediately. So now you can pick up Valentines and St. Patrick's cupcake toppers and be ready for the upcoming parties this spring!

Hope everyone stays warm and the sun soon begins to shine!

A lovely Sunday

2011-01-09T16:20:00.000-08:00

Since life has become a little less hectic it is nice to have a quiet Sunday to enjoy just relaxing (isn't this the definition of Sunday, lol)
Today Trevor started baseball camp, it's 10 weeks of fundamentals that should help him get right into the swing of things when the actual season starts.
While Trev and Dad were doing baseball, Brendan and I decided to take advantage of this beautiful (= not raining) day and kick the soccerball around the backyard. Since moving into this home in the late fall we haven't been able to really use the backyard, what a pleasure to have enough space to play and not worry about the ball going over the fence.

I was able to get some Etsy things completed as well today. I have listed another Valentine set of cupcake toppers. Next on the list for toppers are the St.Patricks day ones.

Off to my sisters for dinner, wow it's an even better Sunday when I don't have to cook, ha ha ha.

Hope everyone had a great Sunday and a wonderful upcoming week.

Cheers

New Valentines Day cupcake toppers

2011-01-08T16:10:00.000-08:00

I have just finished listing a new set of cupcake toppers perfect for Valentines Day.
These were tons of fun to complete and I hope to make another variation of this set later today.

Love to make it a longer post but my oldest is bugging me for a Just Dance competition on the Wii.
Oh what fun :)

Princess cupcake toppers

2011-01-05T23:46:00.000-08:00

Just finished a custom order for Princess cupcake toppers, tons of fun.
I am in the process of designing a few Valentine themed toppers and then I want to start working on banners.
I have a custom scrapbook project on the go as well and hope to have this finished by the end of the weekend.

On the personal front I have to tell you my oldest sons teacher made my day today. When he came home from school he had a dvd in his possession. His teacher has been putting together a video scrapbook of sorts and today we received the first installment, Sept - Dec. Such a super idea!! Typcially you don't get to see them in this part of there lives and for 45 minutes today we did, he was so proud, as was I. I can only imagine how much fun it will be to look at 20 years from now :) .....as long as we can still play DVD's, lol.

Cheers

2010 has come and gone - 2011 here we come!!

2011-01-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

Wow what a year it has been!!!! Probably one of the busiest and rewarding years ever.
With the Olympics, Rorys medical case being resolved, new house and travel it feels like we haven't been still for quite some time.

As a person who LOVES to be busy I can honestly say I am looking forward to some slow time. Time that I can use to concentrate on making our new house a home, concentrate on my Etsy business (something I hope to grow to a full time venture) and just BE.

I hope everyone had a safe a wonderful holiday seaon and all the best in 2011!!!!

Cheers

A day in Disneyland on a whim!!

2010-11-30T23:33:00.000-08:00

I received an e-mail about a seat sale that I just couldn't pass on. Seattle to Anaheim for $80 return, sign me up :)
So the plan is to take my Mom to Disney for just one day, both my sister are out of holidays so we are making a weekend out of it to surprise my Mom for her b-day. Leaving early on Saturday and home Sunday, phewf, I love to live in the moment and this is just an example of how I do it.

Cheers,
Kristine

Finally getting settled

2010-11-29T18:59:00.000-08:00

November has but one more day and honestly I am not sure where this month has gone. We moved in our new house earlier this month and to date it still doesn't feel like home. I wonder how long it will take to get that feeling.

Participated in one craft fair this year and I am going to say it was a success because I made my table fee back and some profit, I did think that I would do better. It's kind of hard when we have our first snowfall warning of the season the weekend of the fair. We never get snow in November. It's actually kind of comical, the year before and the year after the Olympics are snowy, the year of the Olympics well not so much :)

Getting full swing into Christmas shopping, actually almost done, hooray!! Two weeks from today I will be cruising to the Caribbean and returning a couple days before Christmas so it's really now or never.

I have been busy crafting as well and have listed some new cupcake toppers in my Etsy shop. These are totally customizable, any color can be done.

Now that things have slowed down a bit I hope to be on here more, sorry for being such a poor blogger, sometimes life takes over.

New house and Disney, life has been busy!!

2010-10-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Well the vow to keep up with the blog doesn't seem to be happening.
I am going to cut myself some slack as it has been nuts around here for the last month.
In this past month I have signed up for a craft fair, being going crazy getting ready for it, bought a new HOUSE (yippee) that closes in less than a month and have been to Disneyland.
I hope to have pics of the trip and the new house soon but honestly blogging is going to have to take a back seat to packing and crafting!

Hope everyone is well.

Cheers

Halloween challenge card

2010-09-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

I put together the following Halloween card based on a challenge at Stamping 411 - http://www.stamping411.blogspot.com/
I just fell in love with the cats :)

Cheers

Brens first day of school

2010-09-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

I honestly wish I could bottle up my youngests enthusiasm regarding school and keep it for a later date (like Trevs age since right now all I hear from him is how much he hates school. I know he doesn't mean it but thinks it's cool to say)
This morning Brendan came bouncing down the stairs singing "it's my first day of school, it's my first day of school", I thought he was going to burst with excitement.
Had a wonderful day (oh I should say hour) playing with play doh, wonder what's on the list for tomorrow.

I on other hand am very excited too. We told the kids yesterday that we are heading to Disneyland next month, we are off to see the mouse, I am super excited :) No singing from me though ;)

Cheers!

Quick card challenge

2010-09-13T00:08:00.000-07:00

Well the weekend has come to an end and unfortunately I cannot say anything we had planned to do was completed but we were busy.

Yesterday we viewed a couple houses as we are now in search of our next home. It is a struggle because in the area we live there are not many new houses that come with any land and those houses that have some land (when I say land I don't mean acreage, just a backyard where the kids can kick a ball) need so much work, of course if we were willing to spend 800k+ we could find that but that's not in the cards unless we win the lottery :) Anyway these houses we looked at yesterday were beautiful inside but didn't have even enough space for a patio set so they are out, back to the drawing board.

We had planned to go apple picking as noted in my previous post but the rain changed those plans so we took a trip to Washington state to do some shopping, picked up the kids indoor shoes for school but not much more.
I did complete a challenge card tonight but honestly must get cracking to be ready for the craft fair season.
The challenge was for Crazy for Challenges and was based on the following color combo.

Here it is:

Happy Monday to all :)

Etsy apple feature

2010-09-10T23:17:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
this weekend as long as the weather doesn't turn too bad the family is planning on doing some apple picking. I love to go out and show the kids where the apples come from and have them help pick them, this year I just have to remember to watch the signs and not pick apples from trees that aren't ready, I had a whole bag full before anybody said anything :)
So because I have apples on the brain I decided to do an Etsy feature dedicated to apples. Store links are below each picture so if you see something you like be sure to stop by the store.

http://www.themustardseed123.etsy.com/

http://www.sinami1.etsy.com/

http://www.mapleshadekids.etsy.com/

http://www.karenfabian.etsy.com/

http://www.cottontopquilts.etsy.com/

http://www.canadiancreationz.etsy.com/

http://www.adrienneaudrey.etsy.com/

I know technically it is still summer but with school and apple picking it sure feels as if Fall has indeed arrived.

Cheers

Long weekend + rain = crafting!

2010-09-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

The decision of what to do outside today and last night was made for us easily, it is pouring today (actually started last night). So with no plans, which has been a rare thing these days, I was able to get quite a bit of crafting done. I am planning on doing some craft fairs this upcoming holiday season so I have to get a plan together and get cracking.

I was working on the following challenge card last night from ccmonthlychallenge.blogspot.com using the following sketch, below is my interpretation. I actually made a set of 4 that I plan to add to my craft fair inventory.

I have also started working on cupcake toppers for both my etsy shop and the craft fairs, I would love your input as this is a new venture for me.

Ok off to do more crafting before heading to my sisters for dinner, has to be an early night though as the fall routine officially starts tomorrow with the first day of school :)

Cheers

Card challenge & Niagara Falls

2010-08-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

This has been a lazy weekend, making up for the crazy week we just had. We left early last Monday for Hamilton, ON. Rory had a doctors appointment so off we were on a 5 1/2 hour flight across the country.
Normally the time change doesn't affect me but I think leaving on Monday and coming home Wednesday did a real number on my system, quite honestly this is the first time since last weekend that I have felt alive.

We took a detour since we had an extra day to Niagara Falls. This place has been on my bucket list for quite some time so I am really happy to have seen it, it was also nice to be with just Rory, nothing against the kids but some adult time was really needed for both of us. We were both surprised by our reaction to the falls, they were simply magnificent but I think we both imagined them to be a lot taller.

Since being home nothing much has been accomplished with the exception of a lot of yawning but I have put together a few custom layouts and one card challenge. It is my sis's b-day tomorrow so we are heading out for dinner tonight, this is the card I made for her big day.

Cheers

Four leaf clover vs Friday the 13th

2010-08-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

It was funny yesterday, I came home and found the entire troop hanging inside on a wonderful sunny day playing DS, Wii and the computer. After realizing that this was the itinerary for the entire day I turned off all electrical devices and ordered the boys outside. Of course I was hit with the "I have nothing to do!" whine from Trevor to which I responded, "Oh well, get some Vitamin D and figure something out.". He then tells me that he is going to search for a four leaf clover, I encourage this as I figure it will never happen but will keep him busy on a hunt for quite some time. Yep the best laid plans right, not more than two minutes later he comes up to me and asks, "is this a four leaf clover?", and guess what it was!!

I checked on-line to see the odds of acutally finding one and read that for every 10,000 3 leaf clovers you will find 1 4 leaf clover, I wonder how much further the odds go up if you are looking on Friday the 13th!!!

It was exciting but unfortunately a few minutes after the research of the odds I hear " I have nothing to do!", lol.

Planning the quick trip to Ontario on Monday so not a lot of scrapping/cardmaking going on, hopefully I get right back in the swing of it when we get back.

Cheers

Blog candy, mmmmmmmmmm

2010-08-11T21:20:00.000-07:00

I was doing some blog surfing tonight and came across this blog, http://www.sassylilsketches.blogspot.com/ to find there was a wonderful blog candy post. So be sure to go take a look, some wonderful work to view!!!

Cheers

Happy Monday

2010-08-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well thankfully the rain has come for a few days. In July we received a total of 1mm of rain and that has not helped the forest fire situation. Today after three days with on again off again drizzle they have lifted the health/smoke warning. As I said in the last post the air quality has been so bad many have been forced to stay indoors.

With the rain maybe my lawn with change from that lovely gold color to its natural green, probably not but here's hoping :)

I have finally taken the time to take pics of some projects I recently finished. They were originally for challenges but with the lack of computer they did not get posted as such.

I am working on some new challenges this week so hopefully I will be able to enter the challenges before the due dates....this is the plan.

Personal layout for Brendans Book

Cheers :)

Another birthday has come and gone

2010-08-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

I have been absent for quite some time but this time I do have an excuse. My laptop screen cracked (not my fault but long story) and I have been without a computer for quite some time. We do have a home computer I could use but I never seem to have more than 5 minutes before the kids or dh are crying to get on, seriously what did we all do with out time before computers :)

I celebrated my birthday this past weekend (Friday acutally) and it was a great one. My Mom took me to see a local production of Glengarry Glen Ross starring Eric McCormack, it was a great play. The week before we had seen The Lion King, I have never left a play disappointed but this time I was, not sure if I was just expecting too much but I was not a fan.

We went for a nice dinner Friday in Queen Elizabeth Park, usually the views are outstanding, one of the tourist destinations, but on this day the smoke from the 400+ wildfires going on in B.C. left a haze leaving the view a little disappointing. I truly feel bad for the people with respitory problems because the air has been really bad.
Wonderful hubby purchased the Big Shot for my b-day present, I haven't really found he time yet to play with it but I can't wait.

Also while I was away from the blogging world we took in the fireworks (largest fireworks display in Canada), I wasn't going to take Brendan because I feared that the crowds would be too large (300,000+) to take both boys but I am glad I did, he had such a blast seeing it for the first time.

We were able to get all the kids school shopping done yesterday, crazy having to buy for both of them this year. Brendan is counting down the days to his first day of school!!

Finally I found out on Friday that Rory has too see a doctor in Hamilton, ON, NEXT WEEK. I have never heard of flying 5+ hours for a doctors visit on a weeks notice. We have to find a kennel for the dog but thankfully we were able to get Rorys sister in to watch the kids here, I have to go as well at the doctors request. One nice thing is that the way the flights came about we will have 1 full day to look around and Niagara Falls are only one hour away, this is a place that has been on my bucket list so for that I am excited.

Hope to have some of my craft projects loaded here tomorrow.

Oh and also if anyone knows what I would have done to have all my sidebar items at the bottom of my blog I would love your advice on how to fix it, it's driving me crazy ;)

Cheers,
Kristine

Ducks, Geese, Fish, Dogs and cards

2010-07-26T22:34:00.000-07:00

We had such a wonderful weekend! I came home from work on Friday and just new that we needed to spend the weekend outside. Thought of camping but since you need to book campsites weeks if not months in advance that was out of the question. So what to do? I found myself on-line in search of someplace new that would be fun for the whole family but didn't cost an arm and a leg to get in. We found ourselves on Saturday morning at a bird sanctuary, wow what a fun place! There were ducks and geese everywhere, even some cranes. The kids each had a bag of seed and I felt like the pied piper with the ducks, they would just follow along, I am not sure why since there was seed everywhere. Great walking trails as well, we had a such a great time!

On Sunday we had Rorys brothers family over for a bbq and took off to a local park for another walk, again a great day out. It was too funny, our dog decided half way through the walk that she was done, plopped herself down and wouldn't move, well sorry Peanut it doesn't work that way, get up and walk!!

The weekend ended with some crafting. I finished a few more layouts and some challenge cards as well.

The first card challenge I finished was for Clean and Simple (http://www.cleanandsimplestamping.blogspot.com/)

this is the sketch and my take on it:

The second card challenge finished was for Sweet Sketch Wednesday (http://www.sweetsketchwednesday.blogspot.com/)

again the sketch and my take on it:

Cheers!

Couple cards done this weekend

2010-07-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated my nieces birthday with a pool party on Saturday. I put together the following cards for my niece (she has the sneaker card because we gave her some cash towards new shoes) and one for my sil as it was her birthday just days before.

I did these based on the following challenges as well:

Yesterday we spent the day in Point Roberts where we had a wonderful lunch and hours of playtime at the beach, it was a truly awesome weekend!!!

Cheers

WooHoo I found some time to play with paper

2010-07-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

I was able to find some time over the past few days to play with paper and scissors and I had such a great time :)

Here are a few of my latest creations.

We had such a great time today as a family. I haven't written much about how hard it is to get out for Rory (most outings I do with the kids and my Mom or Sister) since his accident. You can see the stress and anxiety build but I have been trying to let him know that the kids really need to have him involved, they ask constantly "why isn't Dad coming?". So when he agreed to take the extra time I had today (took a half day off work) to do a picnic at the beach I was thrilled. We all walked in the ocean (the tide was so far out that I couldn't count the creatures we found), played in the sand, and snacked on KFC (remember only half day off so no time to prepare the picnic, thank goodness for drive thru, lol) and then mega ice cream cones. The weather was awesome and we all truly had a great time.....I love summer!! I hope yours is great as well.

Cheers

2010-07-12T18:37:00.001-07:00

So I did find some time yesterday to do some crafting as it was PJ day at our house. We have been on the go so much lately that a day of not getting out of pj's was definitely needed by all.

I didn't get as much craft time as I would have liked since Brendan was going nuts wanting to open every single gift he received the day before at his party. It was definitely a fun day, not too hot and just plain relaxing, just what a Sunday should be :)

The day before was Brendans party with Rory's side of the family. It was a cowboy theme with Woody (and Buzz, I know, I know he doesn't fit with the cowboy theme but the cake our friend made with them both was so darn cute) from Toy Story. We had a wonderful BBQ which included roast beef, potato salad, and grilled corn, mmmmmm, it was so good, but best of all was that Brendan really enjoyed his day(s). He is however a little confused , we always told him that when he turned 5 he would go to kindergarten, well he's five so it only makes sense that he has asked every night since Wednesday whether he is going to school the next day, I am having a hard time explaining summer holidays to him.

So I was able to get a few scrapbook pages completed yesterday. I would love to show them here but because they are for a customers custom book I don't feel comfortable uploading them here. I have put together some ideas for tonight though for a few cards and maybe some pages of the boys, hope to get those done tonight and uploaded tomorrow.

Cheers

This past week - updates

2010-07-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

As you can see lately there has not been a lot of crafting going on. I do have a plan to change that, unfortunately I stick to my plans like I stick to my diets (that's not been so good!!)

On Canada Day even though summer had not yet started (dreary days) we decided to take a picnic to a local beach/park. Purchased a new tabletop bbq and did the hot dog/potatoe salad thing. Walked along the beach, the kids played in the playground, and we played a little bocce ball as well. We ended the day with a trip to Dairy Queen, it was a good day!

Friday night we decided to bbq at home. I started the bbq and went inside to prepare the sides. When I came back out to start the bbq it was up in flames. The whole thing was on fire, it was very scary for sure. Needless to say no bbq that night and a trip to Home Depot was in our future for a new one!!

Saturday, I woke up with no plans. Sat down with my coffee, watching the kids shows with them only to see that their favorite channel was doing a summer party with all their favorite characters at our local amusement park. Thinking it would be fun for them to see these characters and ride a few rides off we went. My sister joined us as well because some rides I wouldn't be able to take both boys on. The summer party was a complete bust but the boys (and I) did have a blast on all the rides. To see Trevor on his first adult rollercoaster was quite the trip!!

Brendans 5th birthday was on Wednesday. We had a birthday party with Rory's side of the family yesterday but on Wednesday we did have a bbq (oh yeah, picked up the new bbq this past Sunday), the cutest cupcake cake and presents with my Mom and sister. He was so cute all day asking questions like "when are my guests going to start to arrive?".

Finally one other way I know summer has started (oh yeah the sun finally decided to peak out and visit) is with my favorite summer escape.....Big Brother started this week, yahoo!! I admit I am a huge Big Brother fan and I love to indulge in this escape 3 times a week.

Cheers

Happy Canada Day

2010-07-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Well although it is raining just a bit we are off for a Canada Day picnic. So far our summer weather has yet to materialize so we are getting a little tired waiting for it. A picnic in the rain, shouldn't be sooooo bad :)

Cheers

Exciting month of June (and end of May)

2010-06-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

So the end of May saw the marriage of my niece and her fiance. It was a beautiful ceremony (even if it did rain, which is apparently a sign of good luck) and the reception was awesome. It was held at the Vancouver Yacht Club and the food....I have never seen such a spread. It was a buffet than never seemed to end!! All in all it was a fantastic day! Congrats Em & Paul.

The very next day was Rory's 40th birthday. I had a dinner planned for him at a local golf club and then cake back at my sisters. It was so classic because everybody started to leave and say goodbye as if they were leaving for the night and going home. You should have seen his face, no cake, no presents, and we didn't even sing happy birthday. I was laughing so hard inside watching him, knowing that my sisters house was decorated with the 40 theme and the most expensive cake (more than my wedding cake) was waiting to be cut. Again it was a wonderful party, and so nice to see all of my boys dressed up for 2 days in a row!

The next day we were off on our Alaskan adventure.

1 week on the Carnival Spirit with my Mom and the boys. The weather was spectacular (better weather than we are having here now). We visited the following stops and rather than inundate you with my 400+ photos I will just add a couple for each stop.

Endicott Arm

Skagway

Juneau

Ketchikan

Victoria (we didn't dock here due to high winds, not such a big deal as we can take the ferry to Victoria and day but I am sure there are some that were disappointed.)

I highly recommend this trip, the beauty is amazing, but just as an fyi from what I have been told and experienced June is the best month to visit. The reason I was told was because you get a bit of both snow and green as opposed to all of one in the earlier or later months of the year.

We returned on the 8th and were surprised to find the baseball season was still going strong for Trev's team. They were supposed to be done while we were away but they made it into the playoffs. His team ended up taking first place and Trevor was named MVP for one of the games (very exciting!)

It doesn't feel as if we have stopped since coming home but that's a good thing, always better to be buys than not!

Talk soon (more regularly from now on)

Cheers

Back from Alaska, what a wonderful holiday

2010-06-12T00:24:00.000-07:00

We have actually been back since this past Tuesday but honestly at midnight on Saturday this is the first second I have had to sit and reflect.
I am hoping to put together a post before the weekend is up, we have one last busy weekend with baseball so I am not sure.
Here are a few pics from the trip, many more to follow :)

Cheers

A challenge card

2010-05-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Working on some of the new cards for my shop I have decided to also work on some challenges as I like to see how my interpretation of a sketch eventually comes out.

This card was done for the challenge over at Technostamper, here is the sketch

and here is my interpretation:

Have a great Sunday, we are off to the Rodeo today, should hopefully have pics to share tonight it I don't forget my camera AGAIN!!!

Cheers

In the scrapbooking groove

2010-05-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

For quite some time I had lost my desire to do any scrapbooking, it was a bit of a chore. I am not sure if it was the wedding invitations I made for my neice with little or no notice (which meant I was making invitations some nights till 3 a.m.) or just a little creative rut. Whatever it was it doesn't seem to matter any longer as I have been really enjoying my scrapbooking time these days.

I put the following together last night. One card for my Etsy shop, some diecuts for the shop, and a layout for Brendans book.

Not sure how much more I will get done this week. It is going to be a crazy one, getting ready for the wedding next weekend, the following day is Rorys 40th birthday dinner, and then the next day we leave for Alaska, (Rory isn't making this trip so I am scouting it out to see if we will want to go again, if any of you have done this trip, a cruise, let me know if you have any pointers). So there will be a lot of last minute things to do but I am hoping to get most of it done this long weekend.

Cheers ;)

New Sock Monkey notecards listed tonight

2010-05-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

I have been able to find some scrapbook time and put together the following notecards. I think they are so cute.

You can find them in my Etsy shop. http://www.kriskropmemories.etsy.com/

Cheers

Oh you know you are getting old when......

2010-05-18T00:33:00.000-07:00

after mowing the lawn you can't move.

Yep that was me today. Not sure why this happened as I do this every week with no problems but today ouch!!

Cheers :)

New additions to the Etsy shop

2010-05-16T11:01:00.001-07:00

I have been able to get some work done this week for my Etsy shop. The items below are the newest additions.

These can all be found in my shop, http://www.kriskropmemories.etsy.com/

I also found some time (because the Eagles concert I had tickets to was cancelled) to put together a personal layout. Here is my next Olympic layout, this one is for Brendans book.

Happy Sunday to all :)

Golf Time, lol

2010-05-15T23:40:00.000-07:00

I have been a hockey fan for as long as I can remember. I thought this year was going to be the year that my team, The Canucks, would make it to the end and take home the cup.

Well not to be :( Instead it is golf time for the team.
This is why I decided to put together an Etsy feature about golf. Pretty good timing too I think with Fathers Day just around the corner.

I hope you enjoy these golf related items as much as I did. The links for the items are just below the pictures

http://www.toys2treasures.etsy.com/

http://www.libbie.etsy.com/

http://www.knobcreekmetalarts.etsy.com/

http://www.haberheartwork.etsy.com/

http://www.emrah79.etsy.com/

http://www.dugshop.etsy.com/

http://www.dedalo.etsy.com/

http://www.allendesignsstudio.etsy.com/

Happy Golfing!!

Slime, Goo worms and scrapbooking

2010-05-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

The last few days have been fun. Yesterday Brendan had a blast ball game, seriously funny to watch, the kids go every which way but where they are supposed to. They have a blast so it's all good.

Then of course it's playoff season for the Canucks, so after the game I raced home only to be disappointed. They lost, one of the most frustrating games I have watched in quite some time. Go Canucks Go.

Trevor had a game today, he is getting so much better, I am really proud of him. I see improvements every game and practice but more importantly I see his confidence growing as well.

In between all that we had an evening making slime and goo worms. Trevor received a goo kit for his birthday, it's teaches little science experiments regarding how and why the goo worms and slime came to be. I was expecting it to be really messy but it really wasn't and they had a blast.

I was also able to find a few minutes to get some scrapbooking done. Here is my first of many Olympic layouts.

Cheers

A wonderful weekend

2010-05-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a blast!
On Friday evening after realizing that we dropped Trevor onto a ballteam and didn't teach him the fundamentals I decided to spend the evening with him one on one going over all that is baseball.
He had a team practice on Thursday and I kept looking at him on this team full of kids roaring to play and just kept thinking he looked like a deer in headlights, then my own headlight or lightbulb went off. Although he had played tee-ball for 2 years they never taught him the game and neither did we, and here we (Rory and I) just expected he would know the terminology and plays, poor kid.
After about 45 minutes it started to pour, he didn't care, he just was happy to learn the game.

Saturday we kept up with the baseball theme and headed to the batting cage. Trevor has been hit by a few pitches and now has a fear of the ball, the batting cage was my way of trying to get him past that fear. I am happy to say after watching his practice tonight that I think it was a success.

On Sunday we decided to take a mini road trip to Seattle, more specifically Snoqualmie WA. The Snoqualmie falls are there and before this weekend I didn't even know they existed, absolutely beautiful sight! After viewing the falls we headed to a 50's theme diner, the food was amazing.

All enjoyed milkshakes and burgers, mmmmmmm. Finally we walked across the street to the Railroad Museum and took a ride on this old train, these cars are being refurbished by volunteers and although they still need a bit of work it was quite amazing to walk through these old cars.

Ended the day with some shopping at Target (oh I want one in B.C.) and then waited for about an hour to get through the border. It was a long day for sure but a total blast!!

Cheers

Where did April go?

2010-04-27T21:41:00.001-07:00

Do you remember as a kid when grown ups would tell you that as you grow older time goes faster, you'd think yeah whatever! Well it's true, time is just flying by and I would like it to slow down!

This past weekend we celebrated Trevors birthday again with an extended family party. When we planned the party we didn't realize it was opening day and pictures for baseball, opening day was cancelled (it won't stop raining) but while we had a house full of relatives Rory was doing the picture shuttle. Trev first and then an hour later it was Brendans turn.

Getting some cardmaking done this week and plan to start looking at my Etsy store with a little more focus, just need things to slow down to find the time, oh and if the cold would go away as well that would be awesome!!

Cheers

1000 blog hop party?, can it be done

2010-04-20T20:46:00.000-07:00

Clips n Cuts is celebrating their 100th post and would love to celebrate with a blog hop party that gets to 1000 crafty bloggers. Lets help get this done, if you want to take part simply copy the script below (be sure to be in HTML mode).
Cheers

Baseball & Birthdays

2010-04-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

We just finished our first week of baseball with both boys playing this year. They play on alternate days throughout the week and because of this every day, with the exception of Friday, we were at the ballpark.

Brendan is playing blast ball, this is our first crack at this and it's a learning experience. They practice for 1/2 hour each game and then play 2 innings. I think the kids have the most fun running to the bases because when you jump on them they honk, I had no idea what it was at first, crazy but cute.

Trevor is in his first year with pitchers. They play 2 innings with pitchers and then 3 innings with the machine. Oh and the uniforms, awesome!!! Trevors team are the Orioles and they look like mini Orioles, belt and all.

Today we had Trevors kid party for his 8th birthday. We had a movie party, 8 kids to see How to train your Dragon, honestly I think this was the best kids movie I have ever seen, I loved it. We didn't see it in 3D and I am happy we didn't because I think it would be too scary for some of them. We had a ball!

I was also able to put together some scrapbook layouts and cards this week, so it was a busy week but a fun one for sure.

Cheers

Etsy feature - Monkeys

2010-04-10T22:47:00.000-07:00

Today I was at a baby shower and the theme was Monkey's. I honestly have never seen so many monkey themed items and it inspired me to do a monkey feature.

Here are just a handful of the wonderful items I found today on Etsy.

You can click on the links below the pics to view these items plus many more in the shops.

http://www.smileywalls.etsy.com/

http://www.mudfairy.etsy.com/

http://www.kustomkicks.etsy.com/

http://www.funkychickendesign.etsy.com/

http://www.adorableblessings.etsy.com/

Thanks for looking :)

Sick and windy

2010-04-10T21:08:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy week since Easter. We had a wonderful holiday weekend but one of my guests decided to share more than I would have liked :) Actually I don't know where it came from but I have been fighting a cold all week. It comes on so bad I don't want to move a muscle and then a few hours later I feel fine and then back to the other state. I wish it would either come on full force to get over it or even better just go away all together. I am actually tired of my whining, lol.

Then there has been the wind, it has been a constant wind storm for the past week. This isn't normal for us and it's starting to get on my nerves, we have a vent outside that just bangs when it's windy and it's awfully noisy when trying to get some sleep....there I go again with the whining :)

I put together a baby shower card today but unfortunately forgot to take a pic, you will just have to take my word for it, it was really cute!

Cheers

Happy Easter - a little early I know

2010-03-31T23:13:00.000-07:00

I am expecting life to be a little crazy over the next few days so I would like to wish everyone an early Happy Easter!!

Tomorrow the kids are going to my sisters for a sleepover so Rory and I are taking advantage of the free night and heading for a night away in Seattle.

Once home on Friday it will be all out time to get ready for Easter dinner and of course the famous Bunny!!

My bil and his family (getting larger all the time with fiances and boyfriends) will be having Easter dinner with us on Saturday. I have never cooked for Rory's side of the family (meaning a holiday dinner) so even though I am a nutty planner I think I have gone a little overboard this time, oh well at least with the lists I know all will get down when necessary.

Sunday, the famous bunny arrives and the kids will be on a sugar high I'm sure. My Mom is having us over for Easter dinner that night so I believe we will be turkey'd out bigtime, not a bad thing, I looooooooooove turkey dinner.

Oh also forgot to mention that in between there Trevor has his first ball practice, the season kicks off this weekend, he is very excited! Brendan also starts this year in blast ball (not sure what blast ball is, Trevor never played that), he was so funny tonight, his coach called to set up the first practice and I couldn't get him to stop jumping up and down, he is so excited that he now has a coach like big brother Trevor!

I have been playing around with some paper piecings and stamping this week as well, here is my latest creation.

Again, have a great holiday and I hope the bunny treats you all well!

Cheers

Wedding registries

2010-03-28T00:31:00.000-07:00

So I am horrible at putting things off till the last minute and then running around like a mad woman to get all done. This is the story of last night!!

I need a gift for my niece's bridal shower for Saturday afternoon, so 6 p.m. on Friday night I am off, with absolutely no ideas in mind.

First stop Bowrings, beautiful items in this store but not really what I was looking for. Second stop, Homesense, again awesome items but when you know nothing regarding what the bride (couple) need (probably something I should have researched prior to heading out to the stores!) it can be hard to make a decision. I did however end up with the cutest Easter centerpiece and tablerunner for Easter dinner :)

Third stop, Pier 1, again nothing. I did almost pick up another Easter item until I realized I was wasting precious walk aimlessly through the stores time.

Next Home Outfitters, oh wait forgot Urban Barn (who knew there were so many home decor stores). I was getting a little upset with myself at this time, see I love to find the PERFECT gift, one that shows I put a lot of thought into the idea, however this time I really didn't so it was hard to find such a gift.

Finally decided to pick up a picture frame collage thingy and get a gift card, really mad at this time because I HATE giftcards, when what to my wondering eyes should appear, no not 8 tiny reindeer, the computerized gift registry and whoa there names were on it!!! Yippee, hooray, I now have an idea, actually I have 4 double sided printed pages worth of ideas. I finally narrow it down and I am off and running except now the problem is I can't find anything on the list. Find the sales girl and she advises this store doesn't carry the items on the list they are all at The Bay. Ok so I am now off to The Bay, to make a long story longer I can't find any items I want on this list there either, again ask for assistance and I am told they don't yet carry the items from the line I am looking at, I ask stupidly "how does something you DON'T carry end up on a registry?", well apparently my neice and her fiance registered at the large store in Vancouver and we out in the suburbs don't have many of these items.

So today I am not a huge fan of 1. Home decor stores and 2. Gift registries.

The gift???? Oh a super fancy, out of this world TOASTER OVEN!!!!!!

A pretty good day today!!

2010-03-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

So today out of the blue I received a promotion at work, yippee!!
I have been promoted to purchaser, essentially I was already doing the work but without the title or compensation.

It really is nice to have your hard work validated once in a while.

I forgot recently to post some pics of the boys at the zoo, we went there the weekend before last and had a great time. What was really nice was with the exception of an absolute downpour while we were in a restaurant having lunch, the weather was pretty good!

Brendan is trying to get close to the peacock.

Not sure what's up with the face :)

Cheers

2010-03-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

So it's only a month or so late but here are my experiences shown through pics. Unfortunately my scrapper side didn't come through, meaning the pics do not do justice for what I saw and experienced, in so many cases I was just so caught up in the moment that there wasn't time to pull out the camera.

We spent the first day of the Olympics in a Vancouver suburb that was putting on an Olympic celebration. The thought was to stay out of downtown with the kids the first weekend because honestly there was talk of protesters and the crowds were going to be huge. Thankfully the protesters didn't get very far, the first day they made a bit of a mess but were quickly stifled.

One of the local curling clubs brought out demonstration curling for the kids to take part. The curling rocks were so heavy that they weren't really able to move them well but they got the idea for sure.

Next we tried tobagganing, I thougth they were going to bring in snow but honestly it was just like a slippy slide. See my foot hanging out the tobaggan, I thougth they entire way down I was going hit the side and break my foot. They had a bump at the bottom, Brendan and I actually caught some air and then came crashing down, thought I had broken my back. Not really the best part of the day.

This was the beginning of my day on the 18th. I took the entire day off so I could spend an entire day at leisure taking as much in as possible. My sister, Mom and I drove downtown, found an all day parkade and off we went. I have never walked my city as much that day and honestly probably never will again. From one end of the city to the next and back again, it was a blast. As you can see in the pic we had brilliant weather, it was a wonderful day.

Here is my Mom at the Northern House. Many countries and Canadian provinces had free venues where you could learn about their cultures. Considering my Mom grew up in Northern B.C. I am sure she felt quite at home, lol. Culture shock for my sister and I. It was a wonderful pavillion, one of the best in my opinion.

Ok looking like a true dork in this picture but honestly that gold bar was heavy and all I could think was please take the picture so I can put the bar down. The was taken at the Mint pavillion. They were they creators of the Olympic medals. At this pav you had the opportunity to see and touch the medals or just tour through without seeing the medals. We chose just to tour because the lineup to touch the medals was longer than 4 hours and I can't imagine standing in line for that long for anything.

Acting like goof on Granville street, one of the many streets closed to traffic making the party environment much more fun as the party filled all these streets.

After waiting in line for about an hour we stepped foot into Cokes pavillion. I don't now but in years past I had a huge Coke collection so this was definitely one of the sites I wanted to visit. This pavillion was in a place called Live City, they had huge screens to watch the Olympics live and concerts and fireworks every night, the energy here was electric.

Our plan at this point was to stay at Live City and watch an awards ceremony live on the screen (Canada had won a gold medal the day before so it would be an exciting ceremony to watch), unfortunately at this point we were tired and cold so we opted for dinner instead. We decided on dinner at the Keg in Yale Town. It was definitely packed but we were able after a 1/2 hour or so to get a table in the lounge. What was perfect was that not only did we get dinner but they had the t.v.'s set up so we were able to see the awards ceremony as well, I can tell you I have never been in a restaurant where everyone started singing the national anthem when the gold was awarded, amazing.

Another amazing thing happened at this dinner, something I don't imagine will happen again in my lifetime. We had just finished dinner, we were sitting at a table for four and of course there were only 3 of us. My Mom had left the table to go to the washroom and I was looking down into my purse getting ready to pay the bill when I was startled by a large man coming over to the table. He wanted one of our chairs. My sister then told him we were just settling the bill so he could have the table in just a few if he wished, to which he replied "settling the bill, well let me do that for you!", of course we objected but when he asked the server for our bill I think she realized very quickly that a larger tip would be coming her way from him than us, not necessarily true but I think that was the thought. He grabbed our bill pulled out a couple hundred dollar bills gave them to the server and then picked up the chair and walked away. He did tell us that he was a mayor from Alberta and was having the time of his life and that this was the least he could do in exchange for this experience. Never in my life has someone out of the blue picked up my dinner and probably won't ever happen again, such a great memory to add to my already memorable day.

I took this shot just outside where the Olympic cauldron was, I thought it was funny having the Winter games while daffodils are starting to bloom. As many know we had the warmest winter EVER (since records were kept), kind of funny considering the winter before was one of the snowiest and coldest, timing is everything eh?

Olympic cauldron at night.

We have been lucky to be able to obtain an official torch (this one was run in Northern B.C). Here is Brendan with it,

and now Trevors turn. The dark patches on the torch are the burn marks from the flame.

This was inside B.C. Place, we took in an Awards Ceremony and concert here on Feb. 26th. We were really early as with the kids and a big hockey game going on next door we wanted to be sure to get there in time. Security was tight, Brendan was a little confused going through the metal detectors, he has never flown before so it was a new experience for him.

Outside B.C. Place. A police officer was nice enough to take our pic, nice to get one with everyone, it was pouring rain but even that couldn't dampen our spirits.

Throughout Vancouver they had different places set up for photo ops, here the boys are in a bobsled. Oh by the way Trevor has decided now that he would like to learn how to become a bobsledder, I guess a trip up to Whistler is needed to check it out, it is so awesome that we now have these facilities to check out.

Another bobsled, one of my favorite pics. Brendan looks so tiny in the bobsled.

I was planning on adding my favorite moments from the games but honestly there were so many that I can't pick just few.

I am very proud of my city, with or without snow I believe we put on a great show and honestly I wish it was something we could do every year. What a blast!!

An Olympic fog

2010-03-01T00:05:00.001-08:00

Ok I haven't posted since the day before the Olympic games started. Where have I been, well between all the activities I have taken part here living at the host city and simply watching the games as they unfolded I haven't accomplished anything, seriously not a thing, it's as though the world stopped for 17 days and I feel like I don't know what to do with myself tomorrow :)

I plan on putting a post together hopefully tomorrow with all the pics and stories but before that I just have to say I have never been so proud to be a Vancouverite and a Canadian. These games truly pulled this nation together and shouted out our pride to the world like nothing else has done before! Way to go Canada.

Oh and to prove the point that we are a gracious country (getting a little tired of that stereotype myself but as shown at the closing ceremonies it can be made to be funny) congrats to the USA who did own the podium (just not as many gold medals as Canada, oops how rude and un-Canadian of me, lol). No seriously congrats to all the athletes from around the world for whom without their dedication to sport there would be no games!

The most memorable 17 days of my life for sure!!!!!

Just one more sleep!!

2010-02-11T22:57:00.000-08:00

I am just amazed that the countdown clock for the Vancouver Winter Games has less than 24 hours remaining. Can you imagine waiting for Christmas for seven years and today is finally Christmas eve, this is what it feels like.

I am not an athlete, not a volunteer (I wish I was) and really not a spectator as I only have tickets for one Olympic event but the anticipation is overwhelming.
How to make you understand why I feel this?, in all my life I have never felt such pride to be a Vancouverite, many many years we are listed in multiple publications as being the most livable city in the world, well now many will see this and I can't wait.

When Rory and I were younger (meaning without kids,lol) we would on a regular basis drive into downtown, the same route through the park, by the beach, up Robson and then where ever and I would usually like a broken record always say, "wow this is the prettiest place ever!!", now the world can see.
I know there are many wonderful places and cities in the world but for the first time since I have been alive the eyes of the world will be here and I know they won't be disappointed.

I wish every athlete regardless of your nationality the best of luck and may this experience truly be life changing for you all, I mean really no one walking away from this will lose, medal or no medal I don't know many Olympic athletes and I believe just by getting to the Olympics you are truly a winner already!!!

By the way speaking the other day of commercials getting me all teary eyed, here is the song that is doing it to me now, and the video attached, well honestly another reason I feel such immense pride!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v0o27BPIIk

Cheers - Happy Games for all

Do commercials make you cry??

2010-02-09T22:27:00.000-08:00

I have to start off by saying that over the next two weeks I can only assume that my posts will have a very common theme....the Winter Olympics.

It was back in 2003 that I sat around a computer at work and heard that we were awarded the 2010 Olympics, 7 years. Trevor was 1 and Brendan wasn't even a thought yet.

I ask the commercial question because lately I have been overwhelmed with emotion while watching the Olympic themed commercials. I think it stems back to the fact that when my Dad was diagnosed with cancer in 2003 one constant thing he said to his doctors was that he WOULD be here for the Olympics in 2010. Although he put up the biggest fight he possibly could have it didn't happen and know as the time comes closer I wish that he could be here, he was so proud of his city and was so very excited. Rory helps to cheer me up by saying that my Dad gets to see everything, he doesn't need a ticket (oh by the way 4 gold medal hockey tickets are currently on auction for $70k).

Yesterday the torch came through my town on it's way to the final destination. I live only a block from the torch route so I took the day off work so the whole family could witness this. There was an all day celebration at our events center and the plan was to stay the day there. Trevor had other ideas though, he came down with a 103 degree fever and was going nowhere. He was ok in the early morning when the torch went by our house so he did see this, I would love to show the pictures I took but .... well always check your cameras battery before leaving the house, yep dead battery only discovered minutes before the runner went by.

I did go to the events center to see the community cauldron lit, I unfortunately only have one picture because 10,000 people showed up for this event and I couldn't get close enough for pictures, I swear every 7 foot person in Langley stood in front of me. I would move and another 7 foot kid would move in front of me...who knew Langley had so many tall people, I guess I didn't get the memo as I stopped growing at 5 feet :)

Last Monday my brother in law was a torch bearer in a small town up north in our province. It's funny how things turn out, by bil was the torch bearer in the town my Dad grew up in, I thought that was weird. You don't get to keep the torch you run with but can purchase it, after all is said and done it costs about $500. Not everyone on his route purchased the torch so he had a surprise for Rory and brought him home a torch as well, Rory was so happy. I personally don't get why you would want it if you didn't run but Rory feels like he has a piece of our history and couldn't be happier. Oh by the way, many locals have dubbed the torch the joint, and considering that we are unfortunately known as the marijuana capital of North America not sure the design was the best choice, you can be the judge, lol.

I am taking in many of the free events during the games and did get tickets to an awards ceremony, not quite sure what to expect for that .

So the plan is to ensure that the battery is charged and to have the best experience ever!!! I'm guessing just a few more tears to shed. Tears of pride though.

Oh and Trevor he has fifths disease (slap hand) a virus that will keep him home for the next week and a half to ensure it doesn't spread further.

Cheers :)

Letter of Intent

2010-02-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

Dear Trevor,

I can' t tell you just how proud I have been with you over the past few weeks. I mean I am always proud but it just appears that you are starting to come into yourself and your confidence, desire, and passions seem to be growing.

First I watched you all week try to learn that list of 11 words necessary to get all correct to move on to the next list. I have never seen you be so hard on yourself and at first I was concerned. Now I realize that you were understanding the process and that this was important to you, and although the learning process sometimes ended up with a wrinkled nose and forehead you succeeded first try. 11 out of 11, honestly the pride I saw flash on your face when you told me the results literally melted my heart. Way to go.

The next milestone is another that is melting my heart but for different reasons. You see before you were born I always saw myself the Mom to a son that was so nuts for hockey that I wouldn't be able to contain you. I saw myself at the rink at 5 a.m. and attending hockey camp after hockey camp. You are almost 8 and since many kids start their hockey careers :) at the tender age of 3 I just finally came to terms that Mom would be the hockey freak in the family. I promised myself early on that I would never push my dreams on you, you had to find your own passions and desires but I secretly hoped :)

So when you came up to me on the ice while were were skating together and asked if I would sign you up for skating lessons so you could join a team I was so overjoyed. You were so sweet, saying maybe one day you could play in the NHL?? I have decided to let a few months pass to ensure that this is truly something you want to do, either way whatever proves to be your passion I will always be super proud.

Love Mom!

The following commercial playing in Canada goes with the letter above, almost brings me to tears, well done Timmies!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44SrGGU1was

If you would like to read others Letters of Intent be sure to check out Julies Blog, just click the link :)

Cheers

Woohoo...It's the start

2010-02-04T22:51:00.001-08:00

So I sat here this evening flipping the t.v. between Dr.Oz and Oprah watching them talk about diabetes and excess weight and it got me thinking. Everyday I say tomorrow I will start to seriously change my life and then tomorrow comes and I just keep repeating the mantra, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. Well tomorrow no more!! I turned off those shows and popped in the Jillian Michaels Wii game I received for Christmas. I didn't go crazy because you really have to be careful but I tell you I did break a serious sweat and I am very proud of myself.

I am going to keep it up, I am tired of this weight!!!!

Regarding the family, we also incorporated an after dinner walk into our day today. We are quite lucky right now because we are experiencing spring like weather so it was really nice. Still working on the diet but honestly the number of meals we are eating out has decreased significantly so it's a step in the right direction.

Cheers!

A few new items I want to share

2010-01-30T20:21:00.001-08:00

I am starting to get my Etsy shop back up and running and wanted to show some of the items I listed today.

These and other items can be found in my shop www.kriskropmemories.etsy.com

Cheers

Why I am so proud of my city

2010-01-30T00:41:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share this link with others, I absolutely loved this and thought it was beautiful.
I was born and raised in the Vancouver area and can't wait to have the city showcased to the world in less than two weeks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xMz2SnSWS4

Cheers

Letters of intent

2010-01-29T23:01:00.000-08:00

Dear My Bug,
This past weekend was honestly one of the scariest we have had since your car accident. For reasons I still don't understand you decided on your own that my life was so horrible with you that the boys and I should leave and start over. I don't understand what brought this on but I hope that those feelings are truly gone.

When I explain to people for the first time what life is like all I can say is that our life was changed forever the day of your car accident. I definitely lost the husband I knew that day and our boys lost the Dad they knew. Yes you have a brain injury that has altered your personality but even on your worst days all I can say is that you are still a man that makes me happy and I believe our boys are the luckiest kids in the world to have such a great Dad.

I am not sure what your thought process was to come to the conclusion that our life would be happier without you but I NEED you to understand that the vows I spoke 14 years ago were for forever. For better, for worse...no doubt this is the worst but can I tell you I still feel like the luckiest person that we decided all those years ago to walk this life together FOREVER come what may.

I go to bed each and every night and hope that somehow our life can return to the way it was, that you can enjoy the moments of our life to the fullest and that the pain you suffer through daily will diminish. However if this never happens please know that you have a partner in life that will stick by your side and live this life together with you forever!

Love you :)

Dear oldest son,

I have to tell you I am so proud of you! To have a teacher (not yours) search me out at a school to tell me that you are such a sweet kid and that every time she sees you you make her smile. What a wonderful thing to hear. You are a sweet kid with a heart of gold. Love you to pieces!

Dear Provincial Government,

you are my gripe for the week. I have to say first off that I am so excited and happy to have the Olympics coming to town.... great job getting this done. I do also though have to say that I am very disappointed to hear that you bought 1 million dollars worth of Olympic tickets. In a time when so many are hurting financially and so many programs are closing down due to a lack of funding I am honestly blown away that you find no issues spending money on tickets to Olympics events. Please let me know how you can hear the stories of elderly programs closing down and essentially leaving them helpless and not feel that inappropriate decisions were made with these purchases.

If you would like to read others Letters of Intent be sure to check out Julies Blog, just click the link :)

Cheers

Uneventful days

2010-01-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

It has been a pretty uneventful last few days which is why I took a blog break.

This past weekend on Saturday we took a trip across the border to return some Christmas gifts to Target. Of course while down there I had to do some grocery shopping. My Sister and I always make plans to make plans to go shopping down south in WA but to date that hasn't happened. Aiming for Sunday, we'll see. It's just crazy, with a 4 year old we go through a lot of Goldfish crackers, I was able to buy the same size bag as up here in a multitude of flavours for $1.33, the same bag where I shop here at home is $3.79. Not all items are less expensive but I would venture to guess that approximately 75% are, and now since the border isn't as strict regarding how much can be brought back (I brought beer back last month that I declared and had no issues, a couple years ago I would have been sent in to pay duty) the worry of duty seems to be a thing of the past. Of course now that I have typed that I am going to be hit every time I go across :)

After shopping we went to Jack 'n the Box, my family's favorite, we don't have one up here so very rarely is a trip made south without at least one Sourdough Jack!
(I know this doesn't go with my post about being healthier, oops, lol)

Sunday we had a double birthday celebration for my niece and brother-in-law. We had dinner at a restaurant that we (Rory and I) hadn't been to before. We had to get there at 4 p.m. when they opened or we would have to wait in a line outside the restaurant. It is apparently this busy everyday. The portion sizes were out of control (each dish enough for 3 people) and I think this is the reason they are so busy. The food was good but definitely not something I would line up outside in the pouring rain for 1 to 1 1/2 hours for.

Other than that it was pretty quiet which was nice.

I am off to a hockey game tomorrow, Vancouver vs. St. Louis, this is the last game they will play at home for over a month as there ice will be taken over by the Olympics so hopefully it's a good send off for the boys.

Cheers

Valetine Etsy feature

2010-01-19T19:44:00.000-08:00

It has been quite a while since I have done an Etsy feature. After falling in love with many Valentines items over the last few days I have decided to feature a few of my favorites.

Be sure to check them out, I will link the pictures to their shops if you want to take a closer look.

Cheers :)

Healthy Living

2010-01-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

I have decided to get serious this year and make some changes in how our family eats and gets active, it is my goal for us parents to lose quite a bit of weight and for us all to be healthier.

After skating this past weekend and walking around downtown I realized just how easy it is to enjoy quality time (which includes physical activity and not just the Wii) with the family with very little effort.

The only problem was that each of these outings was followed by a lunch/dinner out which was full of fat and lots of other junk! Don't get me wrong the food was awesome!, but I don't think it is smart to get active skating and then follow it up with a Bonzai Burger at Red Robin.

So I am going to make a huge effort this year to find fun active outings and a fun way to get us all eating healthier, it may drive you crazy but I might start using this blog to help keep me accountable.

If you have any suggestions on how to incorporate more veggies onto picky eaters I would be very grateful, btw the pickiest of the bunch is the DAD!!!

Cheers

I am going to be sore tomorrow :)

2010-01-17T23:05:00.000-08:00

Trevors class is going on a field trip this week and next to the skating rink. Since I don't get to take part in many of his outings due to work I decided I would take a few hours off each day to enjoy some skating. One problem I didn't think through. Trevor can't skate and I haven't been skating in about 15 years. We decided to do a practice run today (so Mom doesn't look like an idiot on skates) and I have to say I was presently surprised that my legs remembered what to do!

I was even more surprised and super proud that both Brendan and Trevor took to skating without any incidents, they loved it! Brendan (the little guy) kept telling me to leave him alone, stop following him! Ok, yep, sure bud, you have never been on skates, the place is packed and you are the size of a large 2 year old, you are on your own! I don't think so! I do love his independant nature though.

Last night I finished 4 custom invitations for my niece. The request was purple, with ribbon and no other details on the front. This was hard, for one I don't really like purple, two, I like embellishments, and 3, not sure what 3 is but it was hard :)

I would love your feedback on these (the pictures aren't the best but I really don't want to remove the ribbons to open the cards until my niece and her fiance see them):

The last one here is my favorite, the flower is not yet attached because as I said they didn't want any embellishment. When I saw these flowers I just knew they would be perfect but I didn't want to force it so I thought I would just place it there for them to see, maybe they will change their minds :)

Have a great Monday!!!

A tourist in our own town!

2010-01-16T18:21:00.001-08:00

Well we made the venture downtown to be tourists in our own town. It was a little weird getting around because there have been a lot of road closures and parkade closures.

I will be making one last trip downtown before the start of the Olympics at the end of January for a hockey game, I am thinking it might be crazy!

We found our way to the Art Gallery where the countdown clock is situated, it was quite amazing to see how many people were there doing the same thing as us, getting the picture. We were lucky to find a nice guy willing to take the picture of the entire family.

We also went down to Canada Place, I had read that there were some events starting on the 12th of January, I guess I read this wrong because the place was inaccessible as the media has taken it over, this is where many of them will be stationed for the games. We did find the Olympic rings but of course because it was during the day they were not lit, oh well still cool to see them in the harbour.

It was an amazing day, the first time I think we have seen blue sky since before Christmas so it was refreshing to get some fresh air and enjoy the day as a family of 4.

Cheers

Mind numbing day!

2010-01-15T23:34:00.001-08:00

Phew, what a mind numbing day I had today. I had to be at work at 7 this morning to take part in an ergonimic training session. The session lasted until 3. It was definitely very informative but do you ever find yourself when in such long meetings drifting at the 5 hour mark. Anything to learn after that point is just wasted on me, I don't know maybe it's just my attention span :)

I finished two more pages for Trevors book tonight, they are from a bowling trip we took when he was 5.

Tomorrow the plan is to visit the Olympic countdown clock, I want to get the kids picture with it before it's gone so they will have mementos to show that they were part of such a wonderful party going on in their city. As you can see from the pic here when taken there were 917 days until the Olympics, we are now done to 28 days, wow!!

We are also going to try to get a pic in front of the rings in the harbour. Not sure how it would work if it's not dark, we'll see.

I will post the pics tomorrow night if all goes according to plan :)

Happy Saturday!

My first card of the year

2010-01-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

I put this card together tonight for a co-workers birthday this weekend.

I will also be entering this card into two challenges (something I will be doing more from now on). This card was entered into Inspirational Card Sketches using the sketch below and Cute Card Thursday, pink and grey challenge.

Have a great Friday!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-13T12:51:00.001-08:00

I know it's supposed to be wordless but I just have to say this is what happens to a Shitzu if you allow them to stay outside in the rain where they find a mud puddle. Oh what fun!!!!!

I am only probably about a year behind everyone else

2010-01-12T18:27:00.001-08:00

but I finally did it. I finished all 4 Twilight books in the past 4 weeks. I really didn't think I wanted to read the books and declined many peoples offer to borrow the books until..... I finally saw Twilight and it sucked me in :)

Having read the saga back to back to back I can honestly say that I do need a break but look forward to seeing New Moon in the next few weeks. I didn't want to see the next movie until I was done the books, I am ready now.

WooHoo I did it!!!

2010-01-11T23:00:00.000-08:00

Ok so before I noted that I would not have any New Years resolutions and I am sticking to it! I have however made some decisions to make some changes and one that I noted before was that I am going to work more on my boys scrapbooks. I love doing custom work but I have to say it has taken me away from the boys books and I am very happy to get back at them.

So anyway here are the first two pages I have completed, it is of Brendans 3rd birthday, yes he will be turning 5 so like I said I am a little behind :)

The next pages I will be working on are of a family bowling trip, can't wait.

I do however have some custom work to finish up this week. I am making some wedding invitation samples and when I have the samples ready I would love some feedback, this is a few days away.

Hope you had a great Monday!

I guess if you spam a million people one will bite

2010-01-10T23:31:00.001-08:00

But I sure do feel for that one person. What am I talking about you ask. Below is an e-mail I received today and I honestly can't believe with all the stories on t.v. and in the news that this still works. Please remember it's a scam!!!!

A new job opening in your area, its a work from home/office position and you are notrequired to pay any registration fee or pay for any application form before you getemployed.

Our Company seeks the service of a payment processor who would act as a medium of reachingour customers.
If you choose to work with us, you do not need to quit your present job, orhave problems with your employers as this is on a part time basis

THIS IS WHAT IT ENTAILS:
1. Get/receive payment from clients/Customers.
2. Process Payments at your Bank.
3. Deduct 10% which is your commission/Payment on check cashed.
4. Forward the remaining 90% to the information that will be provided later on.

I will need you to provide me with your basic personal info such as:
Full Name:
Contact Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Country:
Phone Number:
Fill the above application so as to qualify you for the position.
Richard S. Lincoln

Just my two cents
Cheers

My first craft fair and what I learned

2010-01-08T23:02:00.001-08:00

So this past holiday season I finally attended my first craft fair as a vendor. I did it with very little notice and have to say that I was just pooped when it was all done. To say I didn't want to look at another Christmas card was an understatement, which really sucked considering over the next few weeks that was all the mail I received.

Anyhoo I learned a valuable lesson, as I was successful (I think for my first show, I made my table fee and supplies back and about $100, not so bad considering it was a monsoon outside and the foot traffic wasn't as heavy as usual, so I was told) and would love to do more shows, that lesson is to start now. I am going to organize myself so that I am not only putting in great effort to my Etsy and ebay stores but into planning and creating the items I can do now and properly storing them, this way I am not up until 3 a.m. the morning before a show.

Also I know I have said this before, bit of a broken record, but the boys books are taking a top priority this year, I am so far behind and really want to focus on those as well. I am off to a good start as I have printed photos for about 6 layouts and will do these before anything else.
So the reason for this post is too let you know that I am not off my rocker when you see Christmas goodies posted around Easter, I am just getting prepared :)

Happy New Year!!! I know a little late ;)

2010-01-06T17:39:00.001-08:00

I would like to wish everyone a happy New Year and hope your holidays were the best ever.

2010, wow, is all I can say. I can remember the day that we were awarded the Winter Olympics (7 years ago) and 2010 seemed so very far away and now they are but 5 weeks away. I heard before kids how time goes so much faster once you have them but holy moly time is flying!!!

So life around our area is going to be a little crazy for the next 3 months with the Olympics here but also very exciting. I am so excited! I didn't get tickets to anything but do plan to take time off work to enjoy many of the free events/concerts that will be going on.

We had a bit of excitement in our neighbourhood earlier this week. I guess excitement isn't the right word, scary is better.

My husband saw a red light flashing and I went to investigate, only to find a house in our subdivision was fully engulfed in flame. Thank goodness the firefighters were able to put it out before it jumped to other houses, we are all so close to one another. I only found out today that this house was a grow-op, have to say I am not too fond of the idea of this in my neighbourhood (or any neighborhood for that matter) but as my husband said you never really now your neighbors anymore and this could happen anywhere. Here is the pic from the local paper. Apparently about $200k in damage and not covered by insurance because of the grow-op, what a waste!

So I have decided to make some changes in my life (excercise, get healthy, yada, yada, yada) but I am not going to think about them until the 15th, that way they won't be resolutions to be broken in my mind, oh I am so clever, lol.

Anyways it has been quite a while since I last posted so I am going to take baby steps, lol, getting back into the swing of things.

Have a great one!

Lost from the blog world for a while

2009-12-17T22:29:00.001-08:00

Well I have as you may have noticed taken a break from the blog. It was not intentional but it appears that everytime I even glance towards the computer I just get this feeling of "not today". For someone that spends hours and hours typically on the computer I just haven't had the desire, it seems once the kids are in bed the couch is calling my name. It sounds like the blues but honestly I am just tired so I am making a conscious decision to leave the computer behind until the new year, that way I don't feel bad for not keeping to the obligations I have put on myself, after all this is supposed to be my fun release, last thing I need is another task I don't want to do.

With that said I would like to wish EVERYONE a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful start to 2010!!!!!!!!

Cheers

2009-11-13T23:30:00.000-08:00

Todays post is all about my Dad.

It was 4 years ago today that my Dad passed away. Some days it feels like just yesterday we were hanging out and then other days it feels as if it has been a lifetime.

It's hard sometimes to explain the relationship we had, he was only 19 when I was born so as I grew up and became an adult the switch from parent to friend was flawless. It was quite common for Rory and I to go out on a Friday night with my parents and just hang out, we enjoyed a lot of the same things.

If I could have one wish it would be for my kids to know my Dad. Trevor was just 3 and Brendan only 4 months when he passed away. I talk about him all the time so they are coming to know the stories but it obviously is not the same.

My Mom put the following memorial in the paper today:

If tears could build a stairway and memories a lane I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again Love you always

Miss you Dad!!

MRI, Anne Murray, and Poop

2009-11-12T23:46:00.000-08:00

It has been a few days (yeah more like a week + 2) since I have posted. I had made a promise to myself to not let that many days get by without adding a post but... sometimes life gets crazy.

Since my last post I have been quite ill, met Anne Murray, had an MRI done, and made some poop (not gross I promise, lol).

First illness - well my sister offered to take the kids overnight out of the blue, now I love my sister so it pains me to say but something like that done out the blue is quite rare, needless to say I was shocked. So here I am with a free night to spend with Rory and what happens, you guessed it. A headache, stomach pain, and just overall feeling crappy takes over. So instead of a much needed date night I spent the night, and next day in bed. Lovely.... I asked her tonight if I could have a do over to which she replied, ha ha ha, that's more like the sister I know :)

Anne Murray - I heard weeks ago that Anne Murray would be doing a book signing in our local Chapters. Knowing that my mil is a fan I purchased the book and then headed out to Chapters to have the book signed for said mil. Never having been to a book signing I had no idea what to expect.....seriously I had no idea that I would wait 2 hours for a 20 second signing. Oh well I am chalking it up to one of those things I can now say I have done but will probably not do again. Actually that isn't true, if Jon Bon Jovi

ever had a book signing I would probably camp out for a week to be there, but for no one else for sure.

MRI - I had an MRI yesterday just to be on the safe side that I am not dealing with cancer (oh the thought just sends a chill). So Rory is telling me no big deal, the test is easy ( I tend to panic over these things), I get in there and see that really it is no big deal. Wrong!!!!! I am clausterphobic, and that was a really tight space. I kept trying to just sleep through it but the technician kept interuppting me asking if I was ok, felt like screaming I would be if you would let me fall asleep, lol. I get through all the tests and think I am done, nope, they now need to inject me with a dye, I wasn't aware this was even a possibility. They start poking at me and I let them know that finding a vein is very difficult, 6 pokes later finally they get in. Anyway I am just being a whiny baby, it's done and over with, now I just have to wait the final results in about 4 more days.

Finally Poop - snowman, reindeer, and elf poop, I am up to my ears in it. Just kidding, I am making these for an upcoming craft fair, I think they are a lot of fun and I hope that others do as well.

Ok so the reason I needed a dose of funny regarding the H1N1 (swine flu)

2009-10-31T23:45:00.000-07:00

Oh my what a week of battles I have had with Rory over this terrible flu.

I am not one to play into paranoia over anything and as such although aware and an active participant in the steps to prevent getting the flu I do not prescribe to overreaction. Honestly I believe we have been surrounded by overreaction and it is driving me crazy!

I can't tell you how sorry I am to hear of kids and adults dying of this (and yes the speed in which this is occurring does scare me) but I also take a step back and realize that the numbers just don't warrant the reaction.

First argument.....my MIL, who was never a real fan of Halloween, was trying to convince my husband (also never a fan of the holiday) to cancel trick or treating because of all the germs. Now if you did this I can't say I understand but your decision to make. It definitely wasn't mine, hence the fight :)

Second argument.....my sister as I had posted yesterday caught the flu. She is fine but housebound for 7 days as per the directions of her doctor. As it turns out the day she went to the doctor her boyfriend was not there and my Mom took her. That same night my Mom was supposed to come for dinner and discuss some plans she needed help with. Well.....when Rory found out that my Mom was in the same vehicle as my sick sister he banned my Mom from coming to our house. Ummmmmmmm I DON'T think so, nobody bans my Mom but ME (never have, can't imagine I ever will) You see he called a local hotline we have here for the flu and they told him that because she was exposed that we shouldn't be around her for 7 days as well. Seriously people my sister had a towel over her face on the way to the doctor and a mask on at the doctors, and my Mom wiped down her car with alcohol wipes after my sister returned home.
So we weren't on good terms over this, I did concede that one after speaking to my Mom because we realized that nothing we would say would ease his panic over this. Rory isn't scared so much that he will get it but he is scared for the boys.

Rory sent me that picture with piglet I think as a gesture to let me know that even he knows he is acting crazy but he just can't get past it (one of the many issues he has had since the car accident, irrational thoughts). I have asked that as soon as he hears mention of the flu he turns off the t.v. or radio, maybe that will help us all get back to a bit of normal!!!!

Not sure though because only minutes ago he suggested we toss all the boys candy and buy replacements because of the potential germs....oh dear God please get me through flu season with sanity!!!! :)

Cheers

Swine Flu funny

2009-10-31T00:40:00.000-07:00

Now I hope nobody finds this offensive because I know a lot of people have become ill with this flu (my sister, and two niece's included), but after I post in more detail tomorrow you will understand why this picture is a dose of funny during a very draining week.

Cheers

If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!

2009-10-26T16:05:00.000-07:00

I was sent this today at work and just had to share it, I did find it hilarious.

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning .. Uphill BOTH ways ...
through year 'round blizzards. Carrying their younger Siblings on their backs ... to their one-room schoolhouse, where they maintained a Straight-A average, despite their full-time, after-school job At the local textile mill ... where they worked for 35 cents an hour just to help keep their family from starving to death! And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and How easy they've got it!

But now that...I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look Around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, Compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but You kids today you don't know how good you've got it! I mean, when I was A kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email! We had to actually write somebody a letter....
With a pen!

Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3's or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, You had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or You had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and messed it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either! When the phone rang, you Had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!!
You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like "Space Invaders" and "Asteroids" and the graphics sucked !
Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and Harder and faster and faster until you died! ... Just like LIFE!

When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadium seating!
All the seats were the same height! If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you Were just screwed! Sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was no onscreen menu and no remote control! You Had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!

You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.

Do You hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up....
We had to use the stove or go build a frigging fire . imagine that! If we wanted popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing and Shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.

That's exactly what I'm Talking about! You kids today have got it too easy.
You're spoiled.
You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!
And because we didn't have all those things, we went out and invented them.

Wow, what an extra hour can do!!!!

2009-10-24T12:57:00.000-07:00

Last week because I had some tests and appointments to complete I decided to make up the time at work rather than losing a holiday day. Instead of starting at 8 each morning I have been going in at 7. Should be no big deal! I mean I used to start work at 6:30 and have to commute approx. an hour to get there by then. Well I was terribly wrong, not sure if it's just that I am getting older or if my body is just used to that extra hour of sleep but I have been a mess this week! All I want to do when I get home is sleep, absolutely no energy. I'm not sick but I feel as ragged as if I were!

Speaking of sick, I am having a terrible internal debate regarding the H1N1 vaccination. It becomes available to us in B.C. on Monday and they (the government) are rolling it out in stages. My youngest (Brendan) is in the first stage, next is Trevor, and then Rory and I. I believe we will just wait for the final stage to get the entire family done in one appointment, that is if we actually decide to get the vaccination. This is my debate, do I vaccinate my children with something that I am not 100% confident in for the off chance they do get sick with something they could have easily fought off, BUT what if do not vaccinate them and God forbid they are the 1 in a million that does get really sick, oh I just don't know! If you have any thoughts either way I would love to hear them

Anyway busy weekend ahead ( I need to find my energy), all my boys have a dentist appointment (Dad included) today (my turn is next week, ick!), then off the pumpkin patch between rainstorms (oh I can already feel the gushing mud under my shoes, again ick!) and finally decorate the house for Halloween. In the midst of all this I must find some time to get ready for the upcoming craft fair in November.

Cheers

20 page custom scrapbook listing

2009-10-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

I have again listed on ebay a 20 page custom scrapbook listing.
If you have tons of photos but no time to put your books together then take a look at this ebay listing (starting at just 0.99 cents).
This would also make a great Christmas gift or a perfect baby shower gift.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370278051407

Here are examples of some of my past completed layouts:

Cheers

Stocking Stuffers - $5 and under feature

2009-10-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

So I know I just finished a post on Halloween and not 24 hours later I am starting a stocking stuffer feature, but really, can you ever be too early getting ready for Christmas.

What I plan to put together over the next couple of weeks are stocking stuffer features. $5 and under, $10 and under, $15 and under, and last but not least $25 and under.

So here is the first of the bunch.

Fishy Soap for Kids
http://www.soapwerks.etsy.com/

Bath Lollybombs
http://www.sinfullysweetsoap.etsy.com/

Candy Gift Bags
http://www.shannondean4.etsy.com/

Magnet
http://www.mudhutt.etsy.com/

Coin Pouch
http://www.momof3monkeys.etsy.com/

Bird Tag Set
http://www.misseskwittys.etsy.com/

Magnetic Fly
http://www.magnetwear.etsy.com/

5 Star Shine Crayons
http://www.magicrayons.etsy.com/

Post It Note holder
http://www.kreationsbykarma.etsy.com/

Chocolate Chip Cookie
http://www.homemadesoy.etsy.com/

Margarita Lime Tea Lights
http://www.hollycandleshoppe.etsy.com/

Mouse Ear Beaded Girly socks
http://www.girlysocksandmore.etsy.com/

Pocket Mirror
http://www.flirtbuttons.etsy.com/

All of these great items can be found from Etsy shops and are no more than $5.00.

How Halloween has changed (for the better I think)

2009-10-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Last night I was at my Mom's for dinner and a there were houses in her neighborhood fully decorated for Halloween.
My sister had made a comment that she doesn't remember this (decorating for Halloween weeks in advance) when we were kids. After thinking about it I think she was right.

We always had the Halloween class party and decorated the school but houses in the neighborhood didn't really start showing signs of Halloween until the day before or the day of. Now, in our neck of the woods anyway, houses are starting to decorate for Halloween in mid September. I know the media has been stating that this is the fastest growing holiday market and that is really becoming obvious looking at all the houses around.

My concern this year is annual pumpkin patch trek. We had a very unusually warm summer and as such apparently the pumpkins came into season about a month too early for Halloween. I am going to do some research this week to see which patches are open and hopefully we can find a pumpkin or two for the kids to take home. Brendan is at the age this year that I think it will be a blast for him so we have to give it a shot.

This weekend coming up we will decorate outside, with the new house we have to figure out where everything will go which should be fun. Oh and Trevor is trying to convince me to go and purchase a witch we came across the other day. It is a life-size witch that is so incredibly life like it is scary (appropriate for the holiday eh?), the only issue is the cost of the witch, $300...sorry Trevor don't think it's happening :)

My scare!!!

2009-10-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

I had put together a post for yesterday about Flat Stanley and Trevors experience with it but I didn't get as far as posting it. I came home from work yesterday to find out Rory had spoken with my doctor. Last Friday I went for an ultrasound because I had been having some stomach pain, I didn't hear back on Tuesday or Wednesday so I thought all was good. Not! They found some cysts, now I know this is a very common experience for women but because of my family history (a lot of cancer, my Mom is a breast cancer survivor, but not all members in my family have been so lucky) I was a total mess last night.

I should back track a little, you see for the last month and a half for unknown reasons I have had this nagging feeling that something just isn't right, so when I heard the doctor wanted to see me about these results, well let's just say I visualized every possible scenario.

As it turns out I have a type of cyst that is only cancerous 2% of the time so I am not as worried now as I was yesterday. The doctor still wants me to go for an MRI to ensure everything is ok but for now I am going to squash the nagging feeling and just move forward with life.

I did think that Rory was going to shoot the doctor today though. For the last year he and my Mom have been nagging at me to get a mammogram, I have just nodded and said I would. So today when I brought it up with my doctor and he told me he didn't think I needed one, well to say Rory became a bit upset is a definite understatement, never mess with an Irish man with a brain injury :) Rory and my Mom are right and the doctor really wasn't thinking, considering my Mom was only 44 when diagnosed I think it's time I stop nodding and get it done!!

Anyway here is the Flat Stanley post I was going to do yesterday:

Yesterday Trevor had his Flat Stanley send off at school. It was quite sweet. The class had a big pancake breakfast and then put their packages together. Trevor's Flat Stanley is on his way to Ireland. It was cool because the Flat Stanley was holding an Olympic flag and I believe they included some Olympic themed items with the packages, only 119 days to go till the big event.

I had never heard of the Flat Stanley project (http://www.flatstanleyproject.com/) until my cousins son was in second grade a few years ago, I think it is an incredible way to teach the kids about different countries and cultures. I was just saying to Rory last night that kids today have such a global opportunity with education, if utilized correctly it can make learning that much more fun and interesting.
I am a big fan of learning through experience (don't get me wrong I understand the importance of learning the fundamentals as well) , can you imagine the life lessons you could teach while travelling to different countries and experiencing life as they live it. It has always been my dream to give my kids a globe, have them spin and point at it. Where it lands is where we go. That will never happen though as Rory isn't a risk taker, he likes his traditional vacation spots :)

If given the opportunity and money wasn't a factor where would you go and why?

Our Thanksgiving weekend

2009-10-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

We decided this year to spend Thanksgiving with my extended family about 3 hours away. As a child we almost always spent the holidays (all the major ones anyway) with my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins but have not done so in many many years so this was a lot of fun.

We didn't have anyone to watch the dog so we weren't able to leave on Saturday as the rest of my family (Mom and Sis) did, but we did leave early on Sunday morning.

It is a very long and boring ride. My kids have taken road trips to San Francisco and Disneyland, which are like 13 and 20 hour drives very patiently, this road trip though I must have heard "are we there yet?" about 50 times!

When we arrived we found that the weather had changed and I wasn't aware that this was to happen. No snow but cold cold weather. I sort of felt pretty bad for my kids with their spring/fall jackets in minus zero weather, we did all survive.

It was a quick trip, but very rewarding. To see the next generation of kids get along so great and enjoy themselves as we did as kids was awesome!! Oh and the food was great too, still stuffed!!!

Ever wonder what a school field would look like if the weather suddenly dropped below zero and someone forgot to turn off the automatic sprinklers over a long weekend? Well wonder no more, this was quite a sight!

Cheers

Orange is the feature today

2009-10-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Here is another color feature. I have decided to do orange, figured it was a good choice with Halloween just around the corner.

If you see something you like (I think they are all wonderful items) be sure to follow the link to these Etsy seller shops.

http://www.prettyprettybows.etsy.com/

http://www.olivetreetextiles.etsy.com/

http://www.littleoddforest.etsy.com/

http://www.jollyjennifer.etsy.com/

http://www.gush4plush.etsy.com/

http://www.dandelionseeddesign.etsy.com/

http://www.creativekiwi.etsy.com/

Cheers :)