Valentines Banner

Remember the little banner kit I bought at Target in their dollar spot?
Here it is all put together.
Kristy enjoyed making this for her big sister Ashley.
She didn't use the sparkly hearts.
Oh I'm wrong, I see two pink ones on either end of the banner.

I had to run out and get a few groceries….and of course toilet paper, teehee.
So I phoned Ashley to see when she was taking her lunch, so we could meet up at her house.
I made sure I got there before she did to put up the banner.
She was touched :)

It looks cute on the mantle that I made Ashley doesn't it ;)
See that little teepee?
That is Sebastian's (Ashley's cat) bed.
I dont' think he goes in there though, lol.
He has been know to lay on the top of it. Which scares Ashley as she thinks he may impale himself on the sticks. I am sure that wouldn't happen though.

I spent most of my day waiting for the refinishing guy to come by the house.
We had a couple of chairs from our new dining room set, that were flawed.
Also a few scratches on the table top.
I am a bit upset..okay a lot upset, as the sales person assured me that the finish was durable.
I questioned this as the table on display had many fine scratches on it.
He again reassured me that they now use a better finish and this wouldn't happen…Right!!

Enough of my complaining for today :)
I hope you all had a very creative Tuesday :)

Tracy :)

Crop & Create Layout with a video.

Do you remember these layouts I had shared on my blog?
Well, I have finally made a video for them :)
I know I wanted January to be my "Catch up" month..but it looks like I am pushing it into February as well, teehee.
But I am catching up AND keeping up with this year.

1st page of my 2 page spread.
I seem to only do 2 page layouts.
I think I am in the minority though.
Do you all do 1 or 2 page spreads?
In my 6x6 album I have made 2 page spreads but on two different events…I think that is as close as I can get to doing a 1 page layout.

2nd page of my 2 page spread.
Another thing I am ol' school about, is using post bound albums.
I just don't like the look of the binders for me personally.
Funny as when I did 8.5x11 scrapbook pages they are all in binder albums.
How about you, post bound or binder bound albums?

And finally my video :)
I hope you enjoy.
If you want to see it on my channel, as I still can't figure out how to size it smaller on my blog…here it is …Crop & Create Layout
I hope you all had a very creative Monday :)

Tracy :)

Creative Goodies and in the Zombie Zone

We made it home safe and sound :)
We came home early in order to watch all of this season's The Walking Dead and the new episode starts tonight….so excited!!!!

So I thought since most of my day was traveling in the jeep and sitting on my butt watching TV all day, I would share with you the rest of my shopping goodies :)

The first store I am going to share with you is called Fabric Works.
I have been in this store a couple of times, but before they started selling paper crafts.
I remember they let me shop, even when they were closed and they took me into the back where they were doing a quilting class…that was more than a few years ago.
This year I was given a gift.
Once they learned that I enjoy making mini albums and had a Blog and YouTube channel, Barb gave me a neat tool she invented to help with cutting your papers to the correct size of the chipboard.
I haven't given it a go yet, but she gave me a great demonstration while I was there.
Go here to check out her Perfect Trim Ruler.  It is the yellow tool at the bottom of my photo.

I love those paper clips of the cameras and clocks :)

I honestly didn't think I would find that much at Michael's.

But the prices are 40% less than what I pay here at 

home, plus I had a coupon or two.

Extra bonus, Heidi Swapps new stamps were out ;)

Here is Wayne's Michael's purchases ;)

I needed a few more of these thin containers, as I used them for my flower storage. But this is the only one where the latches stayed shut.

Because it was already on sale, I needed to give Wayne something that wasn't on sale for him to use my other coupon ;)

I was looking for these Heidi Swapp butterflies.

I found a few goodies at Target as well.

I am so into the Valentines theme right now. I love this heart punch :)

I found this banner kit in the dollar bin.

Thought it might look cute on Ashley's mantel, if not…Kristy will have fun putting it together ;)

Yes, that is a T-shirt in this photo. I rather buy creative supplies, but I really do need a few more shirts.

While Wayne and I were in a Grand Marais, I wanted to check out Ben Franklin store.

Yes I found quite a bit of creative goodies in there as well….I can find crafting supplies in every store I go into, teehee.

I think this owl stamp is so cute. It is really big too, its bigger than the palm of my hand.

Heather loves owls…so I see a birthday card for her with this on it ;)

The flair badges are quite big as well. I love the maple leaf and chickadee :)

Well that is all from me tonight.

Getting into the Zombie zone and enjoying The Walking Dead :)

I hope you all had a creative Sunday :)

Tracy :)

Off the beaten path

This is why I love to go off the beaten path.

I get to see beautiful views such as this one.

I just love the smoothness of the ice from the water crashing and freezing on the rocks. Also the giant icicles that form.

I brought a few crafting goodies with me on our getaway. You didn't think I could go 4 days without being a bit creative!?

Even if it is just working on my planner pages. 

Wayne and I stayed in most of the day. 

We did venture out to check out the gift shop and go out for dinner. 

Was a bit surprised when a couple walked into our room. Wayne was in the shower, so he had no idea what happened. 

No sure who was more shocked them or me, lol

Here is another snow sculpture. This one was near the Bluefin Grille where we ate supper again. 

Off to warm up in the jacuzzi tub :)

Heading home in the morning. Can't wait for the new episode of The Walking Dead. 

I hope you all had a creative Saturday :)

Tracy :)

Fun filled day

I promised you some creative shopping puctures, so here are a couple.

I'm not going to share all of them as this post is picture heavy as it is. 

Here are my goodies from Hobby Lobby. 

I have a giveaway coming up, 4year blogaversary, so picked up a few things for that as well.

And this is what Wayne bought from Hobby Lobby. 

He said he liked the vintage look to it. Plus he told me I can use it whenever I wanted....such a sweetie eh, lol. 

We went to "My Sisters Place" for lunch. I love the sweet potato fries there. I brought over 1/2 of my meal back with us. 

Sucker anyone? 

I love this place, there is so much to look at. 

There must have been a snow sculpture compitition here. This pinecone is probably 6ft tall. They are so detailed. 

I was going to take a photo of the otters from the other side because it looks like the bottom otter is a butt sniffer, lol. But my phone died:(

Lake Superior is so beautiful. 

Hard to believe that this was mostly ice yesterday on our drive up. 

Another gorgeous scene. 

Here is the view from our room's window.

Hearing the waves crash against the rocks and shore is so soothing.  

Last photo. 

We had supper at the Bluefin Grille. 

Delicious is all I can say. 

Again I brought 1/2 of it back with us. 

Between my leftover from the last two days, we don't have to go out for lunch tomorrow. 

I hope you all have had a creative Friday. 

Tracy :)

Anniversary Getaway

Wayne and I are on a little getaway in celebration of our anniversary.

Like last year we came to the Bluefin Bay Resort.

Again we have the honeymoon suite with a fireplace and jacuzzi tub...Wayne informed me this is where your dreams come true, lol. 

It was -25c. 

See the fog coming off the lake.  Cold.

We first drove to Duluth for a bit of shopping and had lunch at Miller Hill mall. We love these coney burgers. 

Supper at Red Lobster. 

I wasn't feeling my best, so no shrimp trio for me. 

I did a bit of creative shopping and met a couple nice ladies at lovely store called Fabric Works. They carry all my favourite supplies for paper crafting, yarn and fabric. 

I haven't had a chance to take photos of my goodies yet as we had a fireplace malfunction, that Wayne, I'm sure, doesn't want me to share with you all. 

But take my word for it, it's hilarious. 

I hope you all had a creative Thursday:)

Now off to see if all of my dreams come true, lol

Tracy :)

26th Anniversary

Today is Wayne and my 26th Wedding Anniversary.
We dated for about 4 yrs before we got married.
We eloped…hence the bad photo of us ;)
We sat at his parents house waiting for them to come home from a dance to tell them that we got married. Actually this is where this photo was taken.
I can't tell you how nervous we were.
But they were so happy for us.
Wayne's dad said "this calls for a celebration drink"

I made my own dress. I was not a seamstress, I was a "I can make that" type of girl, lol.
I was 20 here and Wayne was 24.
Such baby faces ;)

26 years later we are just as happy as we were then….maybe even more happy.
This man is a great husband.
He cherishes me and our daughters.
He is the best provider a family can have.
Plus he takes things with a grain of salt…which is a good quality with 3 daughters ;)
Here is to another +26 years of marriage :)

Here is my Anniversary post from 2013
Anniversary post from 2012
Anniversary post from 2011  My favourite post
Anniversary post from 2010

I hope you all had a creative Wednesday :)

Tracy :)