A Colourful Life

Sebastian's New House, Squash and a Card!

Who is Sebastian?  Sebastian is our fish.  He came to live with us when one of my bestest gifrlfriends, Jo went to live back home in Australia.  Miss ya' JOJO!   Anyway....Sebastian is now happily swimming around in his new home.

 

He's still in our kitchen, right by the table we have our meals -- so he's very much a part of the family! 

In other news Doug & I have started playing squash.  It is so much fun and super exercise.  The amount of running involved in this game beats the treadmills hands down!

 We started out just using the gym racquets, then soon found out it was good to get used to the same racquet all the time and have since then bought our own equipment.  We have hired the squash pro at the gym to give us lessons and are really enjoying it!  The kids just shake their heads when we tell them what we are doing -- this is new for them -- cause we've never done this before and they have never heard the words, "spaghetti's in the microwave, heat it up when you're hungry.  We're gonna go play squash."  And that has been happening quite a lot lately!

 

 

Finally here is a card.  It is one of the cards I am teaching in my Spring Fever class at Clipper Street.

 

I used new stamps from Our Craft Lounge called Spring Garden.  We will be coloring in the images with several coloring mediums including copics and watercolors. 

In this card I also used the quickie glue pen to create a squiggly line trailing the greeting and continuing after it to adhere ultra fine glitter, just to add some bling.  The butterfly images are stamped to simulate movement and make it look like it is flying toward the right and out of the card.  The paper I used is the new line from Making Memories, called Flower Patch.

 

Enjoy!

And February Whizzes by......

February is a short month -- so that means, in a week it will be March.  March brings Spring Break for the kids and then Easter.  Wow.  Before we know it summer will be here once again!  Wasn't it just Christmas? 

So what's new in our little family....well, let's see.  Alyssa starts rehearsals for upcoming dance competitions next month.  And that means my life will be endless day after day of driving for fittings, rehearsals, competitions, etc.  Oh the joys of motherhood.  But sh'es good at it and she loves it, so in the end, it's all good.  Jordan is still doing well at school and has made Principal's Honor Roll each term with an A average across the board.  This kid's motivation to excel is so strong that I wonder if he really is my child!???!!  Was I like that in High School?  I kinda was, but this kid's desire to do well is beyond any desire I ever had at that age.  I'm not complaining, I just wondering where he got it from.  And I'm hoping it rubs off on his sister.  Either that or she finds someone really rich to marry, cause all Alyssa wants to do is sing, dance, act and perform.   But as I always say.....as long as they're happy....

We got some new stamps at Clipper Street from Cornish Heritage Farms. Here's a card I made using the Cute Curls stamp set from the Kim Hughes collection.   If you live in Greater Vancouver and its suburbs, come on down to one of our locations and check out the new stamps!

 

I love the outline images from the Kim Hughes collection because they lend themselves beautifully to coloring mediums -- no matter what you choose to use to color -- Copics, watercolors, chalks -- it all works!

I also used some patterned paper from Basic Grey's new Marrakech line called Honey Bush.   I like this stamp set and all its swirly lines -- so smooth and flowing.  Plus birds are always such a versatile image -- you can use them for girlie cards or guy cards.  Don't you agree?  For this card I colored in with Stampin' Up reinkers in Night of Navy and Sage Shadow, pulling a color theme to match my patterned paper.  Simple, simple.  Very fast card to make!

Enjoy.

Quiet Sunday at Home

Today we're just spending a quiet Sunday at home.  Doug just got back from a business trip yesterday, Alyssa has a friend over, Jordan is working and I'm just playing in my craft room.  We did get up early to go to the gym and I've had my daily fix of exercise, so now I'm just chillin' in my craft room!  I made this card.

 

This card uses an older stamp set that is now retired called "Best of Cluck".  The colors I chose were all taken from the patterned paper.  I'm trying to use as mcuh of my patterned paper before I buy any more.  Heaven knows I have enough of it lying around!  As is usual, I always assembly line make my cards as you see here.

  I figure if I'm gonna make one card, I might as well make several of the same and save time.  That way I'm also slowly building up stock for future craft fairs. 
This card is very festive and thank goodness Easter is just around the corner, because these colors are so Eastery!   I think of cotton candy when I see these colors together!

The chicks are watercolored using reinkers.

 

Here's a close up of the finished card.

 

Finally......a card!

I know it's been 2 posts since I've uploaded a card that I've made.....but with being in Vegas for our anniversary, then coming home to the laundry room from hell....there just hasn't been any time!  But finally, I was able to put aside all the chores and boring stuff tonight and actually play in my studio!  A luxury at the moment....cause I still have lots to do to get caught up with housework, but tonight was play night.  Here's what I made.

 

This card uses images from Eastern Blooms (the flower) and Upsy Daisy (the greeting).  I used older patterned from paper from Stampin' Up (the name escapes me right now....so if anyone knows, please leave a comment!). 

  To get the ribbon to match perfectly, I just used plain ol' white ribbon which I've had hanging around since the caveman days (or so it seems....) -- I just held the ribbon down with a stampin' sponge on a freshly inked So Saffron stamp pad and pulled it through and voila -- instant color coordinated ribbon.   Of course, you have to flip the ribbon over and do the other side as well, but it really took no time at all to get the length I needed all colored correctly.  So if you have white ribbon -- color it any color you want with your inkpads!!!

 

Here's a close-up of the card.  I used a Martha Stewart punch for the zigzag border.  Doesn't that ribbon just look perfect on the card after it was colored???  I also colored the clear rhinestones using a copic pen, YR23 yellow ochre.  Just like the white ribbon, I just color in my clear rhinestones with my copics to suit whatever color I need at the moment.

 

Hope to play more on the weekend and share some more cards and projects!

Home Sweet Home

No matter how often I travel or wherever we go, it's always nice to go home.  There just isn't anything quite like home!  We did have a wonderful trip, though and here's some pics and some highlights.

First the actual plane ride down there. 

 

Here's Doug as we were waiting at the gate for boarding to start.  We had a great flight down there in business class and Air Canada knew we were celebrating our wedding anniversary, so the head flight attendant arranged for us to be greeted and they even sang Happy Anniversary to us. 

The flight was smooth -- and I spent it watching movies.  Here's a picture of Nevada as we were approaching the airport.  It really is all desert down there!!!  From my window on the plane, for as long as you can see......this is all you saw!!  The ground looked so dry......

 

 

And this is Las Vegas itelf, taken as we were approaching.  Can you see the Las Vegas strip???  Those hotels are MEGA - HUGE!

 

The first thing we did when we got there, was check out what the gym at the hotel looked like. It was pretty good, with elipticals, bikes and treadmills plus weights, so I was able to get my daily fix of exercise. 

This was taken in the morning, around 9:30 AM when most of Vegas was still sleeping.  That's why the strip looks empty.....but we did notice that there were not as many people there right now.  This city is hurting....and it's obvious.  Not a lot of visitors!!  For a city who relies heavily on tourism, this is bad.  There are some amazing deals for the locals, as the city tries to make up its losses, but you have to show your Nevada ID to take advantage of the deals....and there are lots of them! Cheap hotel rates, 2 for 1 shows, etc!  Though not good for Las Vegas, this was good for us, cause it meant less crowds, hardly any lineups for anything and the best views for all the free shows like the ones below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dancing waters at the Bellagio.  What an awesome water and light display.  At some points during this performance, the water shoots up so high -- even higher than the actual hotel!

 

The free pirate show in front of  Treasure Island -- this was the later show we watched at 10 PM, and it is different from the one I remembered it being when I was there last!  This one is kinda raunchy and not for kids -- it is called the Sirens of TI and had lots of scantily clad dancing girls -- it looked like a Pussycat Doll concert for the first few minutes before I even saw a single pirate come out!! 

Then there was Circque Du Soleil's Ka at the MGM Grand.  All I can say about this show is OMG -- Awesome, awesome, awesome!!  It is unlike any other Cirque show that I've seen -- the stage is frickin' unbelievable, suspended on hydraulics and forever moving around.  It starts of level, then it might spin, or go at an angle, and at some points, the stage was completely vertical, like a wall and performers must have ahd special shoes that stuck to the surface!!  At one point, when the stage was completely vertical, the performers were suspended on it, hanging on pegs and they fell off one by one and it was scary to watch cause the stage was pretty tall and some of those falls were pretty high!  If you ever are in Vegas, this is a MUST SEE!

We also sawDonny & Marie.  I love those 2!!  They were very entertaining and I wish we were allowed pics because we were so close to the stage that I could smell Donny's sweat....(okay not a very good visual there.....but we were really THAT CLOSE!)  Now, I'm on a mission to find a CD of Donny singing all his old hits like Puppy Love and Go Away Little Girl.  I love that guy!!  Here is a medley of him singing in the show they put on in the UK -- it's similar to the Vegas show, but the Vegas show has more dancing and much more dynamic!  The Vegas show also had a segment on Donny's songs from his stint on Broadway as Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, signing this.   I loved this show!!!  Marie also wowed the audience singing this and of course they closed the show doing their standard closing song, May Tomorrow be a Perfect Day.

I loved the Venetian.  It reminded me so much of Italy and it seemed that everyone there were all better dressed than at the other hotels!!  Why was that???  We enjoyed the Grand Canal Shoppes and this hotel had the most awesome restaurants.....it may have something to do with my love for Italy and Italian food  -- but this was by far, my favorite place in Vegas.  Here we are in Tintoretto enjoying Italian gelato.

Now....it's back to reality and work.   We had a great time, and I'm already looking forward to the next time we go away!

 

 

 

 

11 Years old All Over Again

We're in Vegas and last night we saw Donny & Marie.  I was ambivalent about seeing them, thinking we wouldn't enjoy the show -- but I was wrong!  The show was awesome.  They are such good show people and they wow the audience with their singing and dancing.  They come out together, do some songs together, then they each take the stage solo and sing their hits.  Marie did a medley of her songs and Donnie did a medley of his songs including an awesome Stevie Wonder medley that had me swooning.   I had a big crush on Donnie Osmond when I was 11 and that night I was 11 years old all over again.  Doug got us awesome seats in the golden circle up front and at one point Donnie came right out and stood on our table and danced right on it!  He is in such good shape for his age.  No pics were allowed so I have none to share, but we did buy a pic of us taken by the photographer and I can scan those later and post them

I have taken lots of pics, but forgot my memory stick for my laptop at home so can't upload anything.  So the pics will have to wait.  Today we went to the Premium Outlet mall where I shopped and conquered and help boost the U.S. economy -- bought 5 pairs of shoes, 3 new jeans, a bunch of DKNY tops and jackets, etc. etc.  Going to the gym has paid off -- I fit into a size 4 jeans!!  Tonight we are seeing Cirque du Soleil's KA and tomorrow is a free day.

Blog ya' later!

Leaving for Vegas

On Wednesday, Doug & I head off to Vegas for our anniversary.  We come back on Saturday.  We will be staying at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club at the Flamingo  and have tickets to see this.   I'll be bringing the laptop, so will try to post from there, if we have time.  I haven't packed yet, but I always leave that to the last minute, i.e. the night before we leave...!

Yesterday was my niece Carolyn's 18th birthday party and she had a fun party with all her girlfriends at the Marriott.  Her theme was Pretty in Pink.  Here are some pics.

 

  Here's the birthday girl in the middle with Kath and Jordan.  Jordan deejayed the evening.  This was taken at the start of the evening before all the guests started to arrive.   Jordan has his haircut into a mohawk, much to my horror.  It's hard to tell here, but IT IS a mohawk.  I'm glad Grad isn't for another 5 months.......like I really want my son's grad picture to be of him in all dressed up in a tux and a mohawk.  

Everyone wore pink as you can tell.  Too much pink for ya???? 

Kathleen emceed and I helped her out at the start.  It was fun!

 

Isn't this cute.  Everyone got a CD of Carolyn's fave music and each table had the most beautiful rose centerpieces surrounded by pink and white confetti hearts.  So nice!

 

Before I go on my trip, here's another one of the cards featured in my Love is in the Air class at Clipper Street. 

 

 

This card actually uses patterned paper from Kaisercraft that is from their Nursery Line, but it is double sided and I used the striped side and the heart side.  The other side of these papers have a baby and Nursery theme!  I love double sided papers cause you just never know what's gonna be on the backside!

Okay, next time I post will either be from Vegas if I have time.....or back home next week!