Home with some more goodies to Share

We took a couple of photos of the girls in front of one of the huge Christmas trees in Mall of America.
I wish I brought a better camera, as I only had my cell phone…but no matter, my girls still look great ;)
I have a good photo of Wayne and I in front of this tree, but he didn't want me to post it…big baby.

As I had mentioned in yesterday's post, we went to Ikea, and I found some crafty goodies.
Yes that is some decorative tape. I must have read the tag wrong, as it was twice as much as I thought it was. Didn't notice until later on.
A couple of these inserts for my roskog cart….still thinking about organizing…now to just get my butt in gear ;)

I also found these fun paper clips from there. They came in those round jars you see in the case.
Enough to share with a few friends :)

I went into Typo…that is such a fun/cute store.
Just a tip though….if you go in there, bring your cheater glasses to see the prices. They are so tiny and mistakes can be made, lol.
I thought these little sticker sheets were fun. They will be great for my planner.
I THOUGHT the price was $6.99 for each tin.
More then I would have liked to have paid, but they come in a cute tin and they were fun.
Plus when I am on a trip, I purchase things I normally wouldn't if I was at home.
When I went to pay, I thought, what the heck..this is so not correct.
Got my glasses out of my purse (after the fact) and saw that the price was actually $9.99 for each tin.
I would not have paid that at all, but since I had already, figured I might as well keep them ;)

I picked up this cute leather bound tiny note book at Marshals.
I needed a tiny note book to jot some ideas in while Wayne and I had a sit down at B&N.
I like that it is small enough for my purse and it has grid paper :)
It also has this elastic closure to keep it secure while it is in my purse.
I always need paper and a pen with me :)

On the way home this morning, we stopped at Pine City Scrapbooking.
I picked up a couple of creative goodies.
I like this film strip. I have some plan film strip, but this one has images in the film…though that would be fun to use on a project :)

That is it for me tonight.
Early to bed.
Not sure how early it will be for Heather and Kristy, Luna had missed us and won't leave them alone ;)

Hope you all had a Creative Sunday :)

Tracy :)

Day 2 of the Shopping Adventure.

Did some shopping today…lots of shopping ;)
But these are still my purchases from yesterday.
I brought enough 50% off coupons for everyone, so they could help me with my purchases ;)
We went to JoAnns and I found some new colours of Gelatos.
I also found some new colours of Inka-Gold.
I just fell in love with this colour of metallic shimmer paint in blackberry.
Ohhhh how I want to play!!!!!

Look what I found Becky!!!!
I found the "love" punch. Oh so much fun :)
I also picked up this fun deer die for 40% off.

We also went to another Tuesday Morning and I picked up a stencil and some more pretty napkins…yup, I am planning to create withe these ;)

I ran into the Dollar store and found a few goodies.
I grabbed these plastic table cloths for a crop I plan on hosting in the New Year.
I am planning on using this coupon holder for memorabilia I collect throughout the months for my scrapbooks and smash books.
The hair bands are also for using in a craft ;)

Last but not least from yesterdays shopping craziness I picked up a pretty new Christmas table cloth and placemats for my dining room table.
Look at those cute tiny tree and stocking punch..so so cute.
Some fun decorative tape and a planner, like I need another planner, lol.

Onto My Day:
Woke up early so we could get to Mall of America when the stores opened….they opened at 8:00am.
Wayne figured the girls would have 13 hours at the mall, but they only needed 7 hours the first visit, then over 2 hours the second visit, lol.
Wayne and I walked the mall, enjoyed a crepe and some Cinnabon twists. We also brought a couple buns back to the hotel for breakfast in the morning..if they make it that far, lol.
I got over 18,000 steps in today, so I think I deserve it ;)
Wayne and I had a drink and took a breather at Barnes & Noble. He went on his phone and I wrote in a journal I purchased at Marshals ;)
The girls (Ashley)  wanted to go to Ikea….I didn't plan on getting anything, but $40.00 later, I left the store, lol.

I hope you all had a very creative day :)

Tracy :)

Let the Adventure Begin…again

The title for this post should probably read "Let the Shopping Begin" lol.
We are on our December Family Get away :)

Our first step was of course to Cabela's…..Wayne's favourite store.
Don't judge me on my quantity of Bear Claws…these have to last me a while :)
I was surprised to see that the Cabela's in Winnipeg didn't carry them…she didn't even know what they were.
Also some yummy warm candied Cashews and Peacans :)

Now onto what you are really here to see…my creative goodies ;)
After Cabela's we stopped off at Blicks art.
I was excited to pick up some more of these inks/markers.
I wanted to get a dark and light shade of each colour.
I have to say, I am so happy that I take photos of all of my supplies as I purchase them.
The reason….it is so easy to keep track of what I have.
When I took photos of my last Pitt pen haul, for my blog post, I turned the markers so I could see the names of the colours.
This way I was guaranteed not to purchase the same colours, and the photos are on my phone, so right at my fingertips :)

We also stopped off at a Tuesday Morning.
We went to 2 of them today and here is what I found at the first one.
I love these red buckets for Christmas decor that Ashley showed me, as she knew I would love them.
I picked up these cool napkins for some creative fun ;)
2 Stencils, some neat book covers and this number stamp set.
I also bought 2 of these clear containers. I am planning on putting them in my drawers in my craft room for storing smaller embellishments.
See, I'm at least thinking of organizing my craft room ;)

I did more creative shopping, but I will share that in tomorrows post…..just in case I don't find anything tomorrow ;)

When Heather and Kristy asked if we could go to Winnipeg to see Lights in concert, I had told them we could go, but we wouldn't be going on our December Family Trip.
They were fine with it…but Ashley wasn't, lol.
Ashley wanted to go and felt ripped off as she didn't have a vote.
She said this would've been her last family trip as she is getting married this summer, and then start her own family.
Wayne being the hard ass that he tries to be, had asked me if Ashley really wanted to go on a Family  trip, we could.
I wasn't upset about him over-riding me, teehee.

I hope you all had a very Creative Friday :)

Tracy :)

How I pack for a Road Trip

I was contacted by Emma who is the Community Coordinator at Relay Rides, which is a car rental system.
She had seen my blog, and saw that we go on a few road trips throughout the year.
She had asked me to do a post on my must haves for our trips.
At first I wasn't sure.
But then I thought, why not, it would make for an informative blog post and you may get a tip or two out of it :)

I am a list keeper, always have been and always will be.
This is a list that I keep in a page protector in my planner.
I am from Canada and many of our weekend trips are to Minneapolis or Duluth, so there are certain things we need to have to cross the border.
Passports, American money and Health Insurance making the top of that list.
We use this list for all of our road trips though, we just omit the things we don't need when traveling in Canada.

I have always let the girls pack their own bags.
If one of them was to young to read, then an older sister or I would read it to them.
If they forgot something (which has happened), believe me they would remember it the next time.
The reason for this was to give them responsibility at a young age to be responsible for themselves, and to know how to pack.
It worked :)

Now you know I had to pack a creative bag ;)
I always bring a book, magazines and a journal or note book.
I don't travel without a note book or journal.
I like to write my ideas down, or what we did on our way, or funny things the girls say during our travels.
I probably never look at the magazines…but I have to bring them just in case.
This bag sits by my feet.
It also has side pockets to hold my pens, adhesive and white out.
I also use to pack goodie bags for the girls when they were younger…They still ask for them, lol.

This is my newest bag I take along with us.
It is a soft cooler that folds up flat.
I can never finish my meals when we go to a restaurant, so I like to bring my left overs back to the hotel for a later treat.
I have even brought them back home on a few occasions.
I love this bag.
Not only does it fold up nice and flat, but once open it is pretty big.
There is a front zippered pocket where I keep 2 large ziplock freezer bags.
I fill the freezer bags up with ice from the ice machine in the hotel and we are good to go.
I also keep disposable cutlery in the zipper pocket, just in case I do eat it at the hotel.

I just love road trips.
I know it takes longer to get to your destination, but there is so much to see on the ride there.
And if/when I fall asleep, my honey will wake me up to see them.

How about you. Do you love Road Trips?

I hope you all had a very Creative Thursday :)

Tracy :)

Happy Mail

I received some happy mail yesterday!!!
Now I know why so many people internet shop, its so fun to get happy mail.
I ordered these at the Crop & Create event.

I am so so excited to get my planners organized and ready for the new year.
This planner (which I had last year) is going to be dedicated to my creative ideas, challenges and and deadlines :)

I won a couple of e-cards from a challenge and as a winning.
Here is one of the reasons internet shopping isn't for me.
If I don't know what I want, I don't like shopping through photos.
Plus I have to click on supply categories and then the manufacturer….if you know me I really don't care about the brands.
Then I find something that I get excited about only to see it isn't in stock.
And lastly the most important of them all…I am a touchy person.
Yes I am a hugger as well, lol.

I wanted to finally use my e-cards before year end.
But one e-card didn't work, and the other e-card I needed to ask a question about shipping.
I left an email at both stores…no reply.
So I phoned both stores, no answer.
I did finally get replies from both stores…days later.
And they were both friendly and one of them went above what I expected.
But unless I am looking for something specific, internet shopping isn't for me.

Do you on-line shop?
What are the pros and cons for you?

I hope you all had a Creative Wednesday :)

Tracy :)

Time to say good bye the Fall decor.

Yesterday I didn't get one thing on my "todo" list completed…who am I kidding, I didn't even get them started ;)
So today I took the bull by the horns and was going to Get R Done.
So first thing on my list was to take the 2 table sections out of the table and put them downstairs.
I got the girls to help me and we checked that off of my list.
I was on a roll!!!!

So the next item on my list was to put away my Fall Decorations.
I gathered them all up and put them on the scrap/pool table.
Looks like I have a bit of a pumpkin addiction…..even though I don't like the taste of it,
I added a few new ones to my collection this year.
Because of this, my container wasn't big enough to store them all in.
I had to go out to the work shed and get one from there.
That all…almost fit in it ;)

Then I thought, well I should make a label for the tote/container that they are in.
At first I was just going to write on the label with a sharpie.
But then I thought, oh it would look so much neater if I did it on my laptop.
Then I thought….oh I should add some cute images to the labels…..and since I'm going one for my Fall decor, I might as well do one for the rest of my totes/containers.
See where I am going with this, lol.

Because the Fall tote is new (My fall decor used to fit in with my Halloween decor), I didn't have a place to store them.
When Wayne and I inclosed the steps heading downstairs I made sure the tiny door was big enough to fit my tote/container.
I thought I would shift things around to better store my Decor Totes.
Which lead me to taking everything out from under the stairs.
I forgot that I needed to get out of here, as I pushed everything out, I was trapped, lol.
Most of the objects I took out of here were tools.
So out I went back outside to put the tools in the work shed.
It is so nice and organized in there now…I also had a garbage bag full of unused stuff.
I have to say, None of this was on my "todo" list, lol.

Does chocolate go bad?
I didn't think so, lol
I found these chocolates that Kristy hid on us at the beginning of the year when we decided to eat healthy.
Tasted fine to me ;)

I'm just wondering, are you a stay on task, get it done type of person, or are you like me and seem to hyper focus on a task.

I hope you all had a Creative Day :)
Tracy :)

Book Review Sarah's Key

I forgot to share this book with you.
I read it on the drive when Wayne and I went to the States last month.
My friend Debbie told me I needed to read it, and leant it to me.
I have to say it was a great book.
Not only was it a fast read, it was heart touching.
It was a bit predictable, but then again it took place in WW2, which most of us know the sad events that took place at that time.
But it also took place in present time as well.
I would highly recommend this book.
I thought I did good, I didn't cry until the end.

Onto My Day:
I had a long Todo list…as I usually have on a Monday.
But honestly, I don't think I did one thing on that list…besides take Kristy to work.
I had a visit with a good friend.
Ended up going shopping with Kristy and Heather.
Chatting for a couple of hours with another friend on the phone.
Made supper
I am not one to do housework after supper…that is my down time with my honey ;)

Heather and Kristy went over to Ashley's house to help her decorate her house tonight.
Isn't her decor so pretty.
I love the mantel (that I made for her, yes, I do have to mention it every time I share it with you), the greenery and the stockings hung from it are so picture perfect :)

Ashley informed me that her decorating isn't compete. She wants to put more filler picks in her tree and more lighting.

I hope you all had a very Creative Day today :)

Tracy :)