Ready for a Road Trip :)

Well we are off...no not really but early tomorrow morning we are :)
We are heading over the boarder to look for a prom dress for Kristy.
Yes my baby is graduating from High school already.

So I have our medical insurance (never cross the border without it)
Our passports, you only see 4 because Wayne isn't coming. He said dress shopping isn't his thing..but if they had a Cabela's in Duluth you know he'd change his tune ;)
We have our American money, that's self explanatory.
And some craft coupons ;)  I'm doing the driving, so I get to check out my stores as well. You may think there is a lot of coupons..but 4 people, that is 4 coupons I can use ;)

Heather had 4 coupons for free Blizzards at Dairy Queen.
Funny as we had them for a month and today was the last day to use them...Heather and I both procrastinate ;)
No we did not each get two, she gave away the other 2 coupons :)

 We got a bit of a storm here tonight.
It was so nice and sunny here, even warmed up. Then the clouds crept in.
This photo was taken by a friend on FB, Stephanie.

Here is another cool photo of the storm clouds.
This photo was posted on the Magic 99.9 FB page. Click on the link and there are new, really cool photos on their site, posted by our local residents.
















I will be up early in the morning for our 4 hour drive to Duluth.
I love road trips.
Sadly Wayne won't be with us, but I can still get Ashley to drive if I need a break.

I hope you all had a creative Friday and I will share my crafty goodies with you tomorrow.
I hope I have lots to share ;)

Tracy :)

May's Tag...just in the nick of time

I finally got around to making my tag for May.
Nothing like waiting until the last minute....a true procrastinator I am ;)

I bought these bright orange butterflies from the dollar store, toned them down with distress markers.
See my tiny butterfly charm? I added alcohol inks as it was a shiny gold.
Lots of rub-ons here. The flowers, vines and the "happiness" are all rub-ons the rest are stamps.

So let me share with you how I did this. 
One of Tim's techniques this month was to use rub-ons.
I went to Michaels and only found one of his sets and it was just words.
And honestly...they cost to much, so I just used what I had.

So I took my tag, found my rub-ons and starting a rubbin ;)

The rub-ons are rubbed on ;)

For Tim's tag, he used his distress stains...which I don't have and don't plan to purchase as the prices are crazy here.
See CRAZY.
But I may get them next trip to the States, prices are so much better there for crafty goodies.

So what I did do was, I put ink on a slick sheet and spritzed some water on it.
Then I dragged my tag through the ink to pick the colour up.


















See all the pretty colours :)

I then did some stamping.
Isn't that large butterfly stamp gorgeous.

There you have it, my May's tag.
I hope you all had a creative Thursday :)

Tracy :)

Nominated! Liebster Blog Award

I have been nominated for this award by Jennifer of My Purpley Life.
I found Jennifer on YouTube watching her planner pages. They are so pretty, and she is such a sweetheart :)

The Liebster Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.
 Here are the rules for receiving this award:
1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tag backs!

Okay to be technical, I can't be nominated for this award as I have over 200 subscribers :(
But...I am not technical and it would be rude not to except..right ;)
Plus I love answering these questions ;)

So lets get on with the fun stuff :)
Here are my 11 Random things about me...hard to think of ones you don't already know..
1. I am trying to get healthy, but just made my impossible pie..it will probably be eaten by the end of the evening.
2. I love horror movies..but anything with zombies is a hit with me.
3. I have 4 brothers and 1 sister.
4. My mind never stops creating...I even dream about it
5. I am currently loving decorating my day planner..thanks Jennifer ;)
6. I tried to go without pop yesterday, was drained and got a headache..so Wayne bought me a can of Coke and all was fine.
7. I love the colour red...but it has to be a certain red. Don't like the orangey red, blech.
8. My mom loved the colour red and I didn't want to be the same as her, so I told everyone it was blue when I was younger, lol.
9. I love all types of music.
10. I sing all the time, much to the dismay of my family ;)
11. Me and my family quote (or blurt out) movie quotes..it confuses people.

Wow that was harder then I thought...

Here are the questions Jennifer asked:

 1. If you were stuck on a deserted island and could only eat one thing, what would it be?
Oh this is a hard one...Coca-Cola...no, no crepes.

2. If you were a color, what would it be?
If everyone else were different colours as well, then I would pick red.

3. If you were an actor/actress, who would you be?
I have been told I look like Jennifer Love Hewitt...I wish.

4. Who is you favorite singer/band?
This is a hard one as I love all types of music..love Areosmith....am I showing my age here ;)

5. What musical instrument did you wish you could play?
When I was a little girl I wanted to learn how to play the piano.

6. What are your favorite pizza toppings?
I don't really like pizza. But when we order it I always get pineapple and ham.

7. What is your favorite quote/saying?
Not sure if it is my favourite...but I always say "seriously..are you flippin' kidding me"

8. What is your favorite season (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall)?
I love the beginning of every season..but my most fav. is summer as we spend a lot of time at our cottage with my hubby and my girls.

9. What color is your car? (If you don't have one, what color do you wish it was?)
We own a black truck, and 2 red jeeps ;)

10. Where would your dream house be?
Anywhere that doesn't get the amount of snow we get or the cold temperatures.

11. What is your favorite scent?
I have trouble with favourites...I would have to say baking, fresh cut grass and rain.

Thank you Jennifer for this award :)

Now because I couldn't technically be nominated for this award, what I am going to do is award this to my subscribers who have less then 200 subscribers :)

I hope you all have had a creative Wednesday :)

Tracy :)

Miss Lily Jar of Hearts :) DT Day

Today is my day to share my project, in this case a card, for my design team Little Blue Button Stamps.
Isn't  this image just so darn cute!!!
As soon as I saw her, she took my heart away :)
My plan for this card was to have punched hearts floating all around her, and her dancing on a vine with leaves...I think I even had a few butterfly punches out as well.
But once I had coloured Miss Lily Jar of Hearts all coloured up...she called for center stage.

Here is a closer look at her...isn't she just tooo adorable.
I know I don't usually colour my girls with blonde hair, probably as my girls all have dark or red hair.
Mind you Ashley had almost white hair when she was a little girl.

Look, I actually remembered to share my Copic colours I used on this image :)

My blog keeps freezing on me:(
As short as this post is, it is taking me forever to write it.
If you want to check out my post on the LBBS blog just click on their name)

I hope you all had a very creative Tuesday :)

Tracy :)

I'm still Smashin'

I have been playing in my Smash book lately.
I have dedicated this book to the little road trips I take with my family and friends.
This is a trip from last year, but I did the pages up at the cottage this last weekend.

This first page, I added a few photos from this trip.
Yes that is me with Tim Holtz and Heidi Swapp ;)
Ashley kissing a bear...she is one tough chick, lol.
And the girls sleeping in the back of the jeep....they would kill me if they knew I posted this, teehee.
The yellow car was one that Kristy thinks she should own ;)





















I outlined the pages with my sparkle gel pen, and added a sticker :)
I also outlined the shape around the journaling as it wasn't noticeable.

Onto My Day:
Kristy had an eye exam and her eyes are good :)
She has been getting headaches for a long time and even though her doctor said it was her sinus's, we just wanted to make sure it wasn't because she might have needed glasses.
I have been working on my DT card tonight for tomorrow's my day to share :)

I hope you all had a creative Monday :)

Tracy :)

Planner pages and some camp life.

Here is my completed week in my day planner/organizer :)
I had a few cherished stickers that I had planned on using on a scrapbook page about 12 yrs ago, lol.
Well, at least they got used :)
I see nothing was written on Sunday...but then again I didn't do much, besides come home from the cottage and relax the rest of the evening.

Just thought I would share my bags for this weekend.
This isn't my clothing....just some scrappy supplies.
Man I thought I was going to do a lot of creating, lol.
Mind you, I did make a two page spread in my Smash travel book. I will share that tomorrow ;)

Isn't our camp cookie jar cute.
I don't think it has ever had a cookie in it...but it is a great place for my sunglasses :) 
I have always let the bear wear them, so I don't forget where I put them.

Just thought I would share my camp hands with you.
No more nice manicured hands for me now that summer is here and there is camp work to be done.
Yup there are some split, broken and just ratty nails there, lol.

I was on Pinterest and there was a pin 101 Things to do with your Husband.
One of the things on the list was to cook or bake together.
I was wanting some peanut butter cookies, so Wayne and I decided to bake some.
Ya, not a good idea.
When you get the urge to smash the plate of cookies in your husbands face....I don't think that's what they were going for, lol.
Wayne is a great cook, but baking....not so much.
I'll just leave all the cooking up to Wayne ;)

The cookies did taste delicious though.

I hope you all have had a creative Sunday :)

Tracy :)

Living the cottage life

Wayne and I came out to the cottage yesterday and it is as gorgeous as ever.  Still a bit nippy in my opinion but perfect weather for working outside.

And that is exactly what we did all day today.

We took off all of the storm windows, put out the patio furniture, hung our solar lights and name signs.

We even had time to fit in a quad ride and a wee nap in ;)

Can you see what is wrong with this?!

Seriously Heinz stop messing with my head, lol

I think we eat better up here then at home.... But then again Wayne does all the cooking up here, teehee

 

I am posting this on my IPhone so not sure how it will look or even if it turns out.

But if it does I hope you all enjoyed your day and hope it was a creative Saturday

Tracy:)

Friday's photo day

Okay, so I was misleading in my title ;)
These are iPhone photos from yesterday.
Today's photos would have been me cleaning the house...don't want to see that, lol.

I wanted to share my calendar yesterday, so that is why I didn't share my day of photos yesterday.
So here is the first one.
Finally at the lawyers signing our wills.
Look at all those books...I wonder how many times he fell asleep reading those ;)

I came out of the lawyers office to this.
A bit close don'tcha think.
Good thing I am still slender enough to get into my jeep (I'm the red one by the way ;)
Do you see the yellow line...no..well that's because genius beside me here parked over it.

I made a quick look see over to Michaels.
I see washi tape is on for 40% off.  At these ridiculous prices who could afford them.
Now you wonder why I buy it when we go over to the States.
Funny thing is the Canadian dollar is only a penny or so lower. Even when our dollar was higher our prices were still way higher then anywhere else....shame on you Michael's.

 But as you can see...I picked myself up a container, teehee.

And lastly...guess where I was.
Now if you are on my personal Face book page, you know already ;)

So that is all for me for today.
Heading to the cottage when Wayne gets home. 1st time this year :)
I wonder what I will do up there?
Go for a walk...probably.
Drive the quad...probably.
Kayak around the lake....good chance.
Go for a swim...definitely NOT.
Not sure if I can get Internet this weekend, so if I can't I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

I hope you all had a very creative Friday :)

Tracy :)

Calendar Stand and some Layouts

If you remember from a post from a year ago when I purchased the Recollections Layout Stand.
I had shared that I was going to use it not for layouts but for a yearly calendar.
And if you also remember, I made the calendar for January and didn't like it.

So back to the drawing board.
I brought my calendar papers to a crop I was at last month and finished the calendars there.
I was so happy with the results that I knew I wanted to keep it.
Then I figured what better way to document the year calendar than with photos too :)
So I added a second page with photos, paper embellishments and journaling :)

So what I did was resize some photos from that month and made a scrapbook page out of them :)

I like to back my papers and photos with black card stock. I think it makes everything just pop that much more.

I used the Graphic 45 a Place in Time 8x8 paper pack.
At first I didn't really care for this paper.
I know what you're thinking..."why the heck would she buy it if she didn't like it"
Well the reason is, I didn't want to regret not getting it later on. As I can only find these types of papers when I am away on a trip.
Well anyway, as I worked with these papers the more I liked them.

The other problem I had with them is that they only included one calendar page in the whole paper pack.
Seriously! One calendar page, when we have 12 months in a year!
How did I rectify this problem? I copied them ;)
Where there is a will, there is a way ;)
As you can tell the copied papers are lighter then the original, but this doesn't bother me.

I also put together a video so you can see these pages in more detail and you can hear my rant in person....well in video, lol.
Onto My Day:
I had to be out and about early today. I am not an early morning person.
But I had to meet Wayne at our lawyers to finally sign our wills. We have the worst lawyer ever...but never have to deal with him again.

Then thought I was kind of on that side of town, so ran into Michael's.
Picked up a couple 6x6 albums, a T-square (that I have been looking for all over) and some washi tape.
Then I ran to the mall to pick up some lunch for my girls. But ran into Home Sense and picked up a new craft mat for my table.
Came home for a bit, picked up Kristy for her college class then came back home, had lunch with Ashley, made my video and lastly picked up Kristy from college...oh ya then Wayne and I ran out for groceries as we are hoping to go to the cottage this weekend :)

I think I need a nap now, lol
I hope you all have had a creative Thursday :)

Tracy :)

My Day with Kristy

Today was a busy day.
I picked up my beautiful daughter Kristy from school to take her to make an appointment to get her (gasp) tattoo.
I am not against her getting one, she is of age. I wanted one when I was younger as well. I was just hoping that she would wait until she is a bit older...but not a chance.

Look at how beautiful she is.
She looks like an angel..she has the halo to prove it ;)

I actually cropped the photo...are you proud of my editing skills....I am, lol.
I took Kristy for lunch at Applebees.
They redid the restaurant. It looks really nice, but we were sad to see the carousel horses and the movie star photos gone :(

After lunch Kristy had a dentist appointment...no cavities :)

I hope you all had a creative Wednesday :)
I will be back tomorrow with a creative project..I forgot to take photos of them today..oops.

Tracy :)

All About Me book..the beginning.

Here is one of the projects I was working on, this Girls May Long Weekend :)
It is a book All About Me :)
I have been meaning for the last 15 yrs to make a scrapbook page about myself. But have never done one. So I took it one step up and started a book about me :)
I also got my SIL, Sharon to start one as well. I don't think she was to excited about it at first, but I can usually persuade Sharon to do what I want, lol.

I told Sharon to think about her grandmother, and what would she like to know about her.
When most of us think about our grandma's we think of them as just that...our grandmas. Wouldn't you love to know more about the details of her life?
What were some of her favourite things to do, her favourite foods, her favourite colours?
What was she like as a child?
When making our pages..think about what you would want to know about your grandmother or even your mother for that matter.

Here is my intro. page.

I started with a simple composition note book.
I plan to decorate the front, back and insides covers of the book, but wanted to first see where I was going with the pages before committing to the papers on the front of the book.

Now for the fun part....WASHI TAPE :)
I selected the tapes I wanted and adhered them to the long edge of the paper.
I adhered a tad less then half the width of the tape.

Then I gathered up 3 more sheets of paper (total of 4).
Then flipped the pages over to the last of those 4 pages.

I smoothed the sheets flat and then folded over the washi tape and adhered it to that 4th sheet of paper.
Sharon adhered some of the middle of her papers. I didn't, I just used the washi tape.
If you get wrinkles in your tape you can do like Sharon did and not worry about it.
Or..you can be anal like I am and lift up the tape and reapply it ;)

I had seen the washi tape idea from mom.run.craft blog. But I wasn't sure from her instructions if she went all the way around the pages with her washi.
As you can see I didn't. I figured this way I can slip a thick piece of paper in between the pages if I am using alcohol markers or a heavy ink.
The tape is hanging out the ends, so that means some trimming ;)

I didn't have my corner rounder with me, so I just cut the corners with my scissors :)
But I am sure it would be a lot easier with the corner rounder.

Look at all those pretty colours.
Don't they just make you smile :)

I didn't get that many pages done as we didn't start this until the last day.
But we sure had a great time making them :)

I have seen this "Currently" page so many times, and think it is a fun page to add to an "All About Me" book.

I made a video to share with you a bit more of how and why I am making this book.
Hope you enjoy it :)


I hope you enjoyed a look into my All About Me book and are inspired to make one (or even a page) about you.
Hope you all had a creative Tuesday :)

Tracy :)

The End to a Wonderful Creative Weekend

Today is a holiday in Canada and believe me I have made the most of this long weekend.
Every year my daughters and I enjoy the weekend up at my SIL, Sharon's camp.
We call it "Girls Long Weekend".
No men allowed, unless we forgot something and they are delivering it to us ;)
So before I get on to the details of our weekend, I will share with you my completed week 20 of my day planner.

Sharon, Heather and I went up in the afternoon on Friday.
Kristy and Ashley had some parcels to be picked up over the border. Sharon's camp is only about 10 minutes from the border, so we went to pick them up and have a bite to eat.
The border crossing was packed both heading to the US and coming into Canada.
Canadian's wanted to go shopping and the American's wanted to come here to go fishing.
Well, sadly both the restaurants were closed.
So we went to the casino for a burger.
I think it took all of Sharon's will power not to gamble...she loves casinos, lol.

Ashley and Kristy came after work.
Ashley picked up some KFC for supper and these pretty tulips for our centerpiece :)

Here we are day 2.
Needing some showers, lol. Or should I say a sauna (steambath).

If you know me, then you know one of my passions is not Cooking, lol.
So we go for fast, simple foods.
Pancakes is not a fast, simple food.
So when Kristy brought pancake batter that she made at home. I was not going to cook them.
But I did.
Actually I only cooked two. Working on this old wood-stove and being impatient are not my strong points, lol

So during this weekend, Sharon and I move the kitchen table in the living room.
One reason is it has the best light, the other reason is I get a wonderful view of Lake Superior.
See that gorgeous view behind us?
That is the stunning view I look at all weekend. I get that view from where I sit :)
Even on a rainy, cloudy day (like this whole weekend) it is still a scene I can look at all day long :)

I worked on quite a few projects this weekend.
My 8x8 calendar album, 6x6 crafty friends album and a smash type book titled "All About Me".
I also made Sharon make one as well.
I'm not sure if she was keen on the idea at first as she tells me she doesn't really remember her youth.
But once we got working on it, she really was excited and actually got further along in her book then I did :)

I will share with you my projects in the next few day :)
I came home to a flood warning in my city :(
If you remember from last year and the homes that were damaged because of the floods, you would know how worried so many are here.

I hope you all have had a creative Monday :)

Tracy :)