8!

My boy turned 8 today!

8 Trips around the sun. 8 wonderful years of growing.
My sensitive boy.
My energetic boy.
My competitive boy to do his best in sports.
My running boy.
My boy who likes to dance freely to various musical styles.
My boy who likes to play video games.
My boy who likes to help cook.
My boy who likes to play with his sister.
My boy who says, "I love you" to his sister and draws her pictures.
My boy who stands still next to me, waiting for a hug.
My boy who has brought so much to our lives. A laugh, giggle, snort. Not always in that order.
Happy Happy.

Happy Birthday Rafael. You are much loved by many.

party hang over

Oh my, could I have a hangover from a kid's party? The 3 days of preparations (and that's with hubby coming home to the rescue to finish the cake and making the pasta flavour) taste testing e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. sugar overload and the excitement of the beloved day... I'm done in. And so are the kids. Good times.

here is a pic I just HAD to share. My friend Jenny is a photographer extraordinaire. Check out her blog
here


thanks girlfriend. I think I'm actually going to go to bed now. it's only 10pm! Oh my!

thanks for looking,
Amanda

felted mushrooms

howdy, been a busy few days and I can't wait for Friday!
I finally bit the bullet after a few months and bought some roving in Laval over the holidays and some felting needles a few days ago. I started with a mushroom. rafael wants a mushroom house akin to the tiny world house, but I decided to make it a felted mushroom. then Neve wanted one too....


Fun to work with and I want to make a few snowmen, a penguin that is in Martha Stewart Living and some other cute animal heads I found online.

oh, just a note, Michael's did not have any roving or felting materials.. dang.

And now a little personal stuff..

Today my boy turned 6! How much he has grown and how much he will grow.
I love that he is interested in so many things. He plays piano with 2 hands and treats us to his tinkering throughout the day. He wants to be a chef like his dad. (his dad is an engineer, but he's the one who cooks at home. I know, I lucked out eh?)
He is a budding scientist, sitting next to daddy with their experiments, playing with tools on daddy's bench to fix his cars, running, running, running, learning karate, skating and just being happy.
He has found his nurturing side with wee ones and now appreciates that his little sister is also a playmate. The games they have between each other are special indeed.
My sweet boy and his sense of humour. I look forward to watching you grow into whatever, whomever you choose to be.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

SU case

Here's the 1st card I cased to get my mojo going last week. I haven't stamped since then, so it's the last I have to show you until I get another hit of inspiration.

it's in the Stampin' Up! catalogue. Don't have it right now, i can't tell you what page it is on.
Of course, I had to change it up a bit. I used Quickutz revolution flowers die and Sizzix buttons die.


We spent the day at an indoor fair, complete with ferris wheel and mini train. It was an awesome day. it's an annual thing and our 3rd year going on May 1st. It's cool to note how each year, my daughter can do more and more. And my son is becoming a speed demon! Here's a special picture from today for my valued Mississauga reader. Beijinhos.


no plans tomorrow, I'm hoping to do some stamping. i finished the dress, but my model isn't being cooperative at present, so maybe another time. And I'm working on another dress.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

button tree and crochet flowers

i did it! I got to create today. And what a rainy day it is here! Sorry for the dull pics. there is no happy light here today.


papertrey ink had a challenge to use buttons this week. I LOVED Maggie Holmes' scrap page with buttons on the tree and the white and black outlines. http://maggieholmes.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/03/vintage-button-basics.html
I used it as a starting point. And I love her style. She packs a whole bunch in a little space.

The sentiment on the photo is from Creative memories. I just painted some white under it. The orange butterfly is a new one from Quickutz. The blue one on the bottom is Martha Stewart punch. i punched it on vellum also and used my cropadile to make the holes in it to mimic the QK one. Oh yes, the grass. LOVE this package of goodies also. Michael's- K&Company. It has a bout 6 different borders- bubbles, waves, alphabet, train with cute animals in it, gumdrops.... I could see myself using all of it, but really liking the grass one at present. i added the white to it.



Buttons are from my stash from Walmart and Zellers. The flowers are my own. So nice to just pick 'em out when I need them. I sewed the stems.


I forgot to take a pic of the text bock on top. It says...
" I don't recall what the issue was, but you weren't very happy with me. In this pensive looking picture, you were ignoring me! Exploring the world beneath your feet."




Hoping I stay awake tonight to do the page of Miss Neve. I have 2 frames on my wall that help get me creating new scrap pages to change up the scenery.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

And he learned to whistle...

Quick, tell me the difference between a camel, a donkey and a giraffe....
Sorry, private joke. Onto today's project.

About a month ago, my son learned to whistle. it took about 3 days to get a good sound and a few tunes. He was so proud, his teacher was proud, his classmates were envious, I was wishing there was an "off" button! lol it's like when a kid learns to walk and talk, you can't turn them off.

So I just had to make a page of it:

Paper is S.E.I., letters are from 2 different companies, upstairs, at the moment, birds and music notes are from Quickutz and I love the pom poms. Background paper is bazill.

Off to frame it.
thanks for looking,
Amanda

Rafael the red nosed reindeer

My son, the joker...



He likes to get a little silly sometimes. Doesn't he remember his mother always has a camera ready?!
This layout has been swirling in my head for a few weeks. I finally got some things together. Felt reindeer from michael's, dotted paper from SU, black paper with cutouts from memoriy makers, mini tree lights from the buck store last year and the letters from a bunch of different places. i really should invest in some proper chip board letters. Or at least more than 1 pack of 1 kind. I used glitter and flocking on them. oh yes, and the micro beads. Don't forget to colour the letter under the micro beads. I did for the flocking, but not the beads. Learn from my mistakes people. it looks naked under there. lol And I used the antler from the hat he was wearing. It had lived it's life and is now immortalized.


I made this just for you , you know, so I could give you something to look at.
Thanks for stopping by and go wrap a present or something. I know I should.
Amanda

Autumn leaves

Here is the other layout I did on Friday night:


Leaf border around picture is felt sticky back ribbon. The autumn leaves title is chipboard from Joann's last year. It was done with versa mark and puffy embossing powder. The paper is Scenic route. the tress were already on it. I punched the leaves from various mini punches. Harvest moon vellum paper on the bottom is from my stash. Probably a few years old.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda