celebrating YOU

You're turning SIX today!!!!
(insert a "yikes", a tear & a smile).

Love you lots & lots, Asha.

remembering 6 years ago today -- ouch!!! {from the farm},
j.

big BIG News!!!!!! (no babies)

It's official!!!! I have been chosen as one of the selected LUCKY few to be a design team member for, none-other-than:If you are new to this company, you can read all about them here.

I am sooooo excited about this new adventure!!!! I received the official "Welcome to the Team" email last week and it's been killing me that I couldn't tell my friends, my fellow bloggers OR MY SISTERS!!!!!! Are you kidding me?!? Not even them -- I kept it from them!!!!!

So..........I will be receiving (anyday now) in the mail my first set of mSB stamp sets as a DT member. Cooooool!!?! I can hardly wait to see which set they will be. Hope they don't come the day before I work -- I'll need the next day to "play".

Here's the list of the extremely talented mSB design team members that I get the priviledge to design with. Please take a peek at their blogs and check out their work:

Allison Cope (coordinator) yourmemoriescanada.blogspot.com
Agata Pfister http://underconstruction-agata.blogspot.com
Cherie Nymeyer cherie-inked.blogspot.com
Ellen Sosnoski http://closeyourears.blogspot.com/
Eva Pizarro Videla www.evascrap.blogspot.com
Gudrun Loennecken papirbloggen.blogspot.com
Jill Hildebrand www.fromthefarm-jill.blogspot.com ........ ME!!!!!!!!!!
Jing-Jing Nickel http://thislittleartofmine.blogspot.com/
Jolene Johnston jolenejohnston.blogspot.com
Leica Forrest 10-4livingoutloud.typepad.com
Lynda Lindley http://positive-force.blogspot.com
Maria Schmidt http://scrap-artdesign.blogspot.com/
Maryfrances Fabbri http://maryfrancesfabbri.blogspot.com/
Monique Liedtke http://moniquesscrapbook.blogspot.com/
Tina McDonald http://tinamcd-mysanity.blogspot.com/
Tracey Taylor tailoredpages.blogspot.com
Virginie Delbecq http://lescrapdenovalen.canalblog.com

AND.... here's a peek at the layouts that I submitted to mSB when I applied for the DT. Couldn't show anyone these ones up until now.

And this one (which I have shown you before):

Also, check out the mSB Blog (everyday!!!!!), but also on April 5th as they are having a Blog Hop and will be introducing all the new DT members that were just announced. That's me included!!!!! These Blog Hops are very cool -- you get to hop from blog-to-blog and see some amazingly talented designers that you may never have discovered before. You won't want to miss it!!!

Well.....off to get some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz's.

too excited to sleep {from the farm},
j.

feeling green ...

not with envy.
not sick to my stomach.
just green.

enjoy your day {from the farm},

j.

out-of-the-box baby gift

Last week I whipped up this cute little baby gift for a woman I've never met before.
Ron was hauling canola down to the States for the last time before restrictions were coming on and he suddenly sprang on me the night before that Jess* was going on maternity leave that week. Now...... let's be clear here: Jessica works at the plant that Ron is at weekly and he often will go into the office to visit with the people there (friendly guy, I guess). Over the years, I have actually used her place of work to ship any scrapbooking "goods" to places in the States (i.e. cruise kits, etc.). She's an incredibly nice person AND fellow scrapbooker, but..... I've never met her before. The odd time, I've sent a little "scrapbook package" down with Ron for Jess -- just because.
So, I created this photo display for her using a Lisa Bearnson Photo Folder kit that I purchased online about a year ago. She can just slip her newborns photos (all 4x6) onto the photo mats and display them somewhere in her home.
Ron was a little apprehensive handing Jessica a gift that had "love you" plastered over the front, but I told him to explain the gift to her (that it's for HER BABY) and he would be just fine -- very funny!!!!

What a quick & easy project. I love that it is not the ordinary baby gift.

working on some LOs today -- will show soon.

{from the farm},

j.

anyone up for a good drool?

Prima Marketing Inc. has picked their favourite products for March:

I have always been inspired by the products & projects over on the Prima blog. I find myself waundering over to them and , I mean peeking at all the wonderful work their designers are doing. I have a file folder on my computer labelled: Inspiration - Layout Ideas - Prima. In it you will find prima layouts that I just love and wish I could scrap-lift.

Here are some of my ultimate faves from my computer folder (so sorry I don't know the designers' names):

finding myself inspired. must scrap.

excuse me while I ship the kids off to bed......what time is it anyway?!?

diggin' out some Prima tonight {from the farm},

j.

celebrate, childcare & creating

My father-in-law celebrated his 70th birthday TODAY!!!!! Happy Birthday, Dad. We love you very much.Have been enjoying the childcare that I do for my sister while she teaches every few days. Erica (a.k.a. Ricki -- from her auntie j.) is a doll. Love her spunky personality and all the noises she is starting to make. She is soooooo curious about everything and VERY independant!!!!! Hmmmmm.......wonder where she gets that from?!? Here, she's watching Uncle Ron in the tractor outside.

And with Ricki, comes Colin. This is Asha's best buddy (next to Emma, who is also her cousin & Emily & Mackie & ........). Boy, lots of great friends right now. It's actually sooooo much easier watching the two of them together because they play ALL DAY LONG!!!! Seriously.... I never actually see or hear from them -- although I do check on them occassionally so that I can justify getting paid for looking after them.

Here's some of the layouts that I've been working on lately. Wish I could say they are for a specific purpose: huge magazine article, design team submission, working with a particular company to test-drive their products, etc. But, alas, no....... just personal creations WHICH I LOVE JUST THE SAME!!!!! Lovin' the effortless, stress-free scrapbooking these days.

Taking a Stroll:

Three girls on a Sunset Beach:

Road Hockey Stars:
Watching for spring {from the farm},

j.

when in Rome

Look familiar to anyone?

It's the latest thing that I am seeing on all the galleries, blogs & magazines. It's little triangles cut out of pattern paper, fabric, cardstock, ribbon, etc. to create a funky little banner across your page.

So..... naturally, I had to give it a whirl:

I cut an assortment of triangles from some PP and fabric. I adhered them where I wanted them on the page first, then stitched through them with my sewing machine. Then I curled the edges up a bit by hand.

I created these accordian-style flowers out of 1- 2 inch strips of pattern paper. The depth of the flowers (how far they stand off the page) will totally depend on your accordian folding. My folds on the dotted flower are about 1 1/2 inches -- a little too wide for my liking. The green ledger flower is better with 1 inch folds. Used some ki memories GLOO in the centre to attach the decorative brad. Attached the flowers to my layout with a large circle of adhesive cut from Microdots.
The photo of Daria was a little busy around the edges (she's standing behind a ladder), so I scratched around the perimetre of the photo with my paper piercer. I scratched a few large ovals around the photo first using my plastic oval photo cutter by Creative Memories. Then I simply scratched away around the oval. Just gives the layout a little more character. :)Hope you enjoyed {from the farm},

j.

you look how I feel

We have been suffering from foggy days here in Manitoba and it is starting to wear on my nerves. Usually I can see the road down our half mile lane (see photo below), but all I see these days is fog, fog, fog. It's depressing. Don't know how the people on the west coast deal with rainy & wet weather for much of the winter. I will take the minus 30 weather for weeks on end..... anyday. So... I got out my new rubber boots the other day. funky. cool. and a little sassy (that's for you, Cale).

This is what the back of my van looks like EVERY DAY!!!! and the sides. and the front. and the inside, for that matter. yuck.

hoping to see the sun soon {from the farm},

j.

Come back Monday to see some layout photos -- been scrapping lots lately due to the dreary weather.

a misty challenge

I've been into some online product challenges lately. every tried these? they get me thinking 3 things:
1. they really stretch my mind when it comes to using specific products on a layout.
2. they make me realize that i need to stock up more on some of my frequently used stash of products (a.k.a. Ki Memories embellishments).
3. they make me want to totally organize my paper and embellishments by company name and that is so insanely ridiculous, but it would be so cool to have a space THAT organized!!!!!

Ki Memories (one of my fave companies -- love their paper, love their embellishments AND LOVE jamie waters!!!!) ....... anyway ...... they are having a challenge on right now to use your mist to create a project. You can use mist on the background, on embellishments or on a mask. really, whatever you can mist; you name it.

So... i got my embarrassing stash of Glimmer Mists (really -- i need more) and started "misting". Now, i must admit, i am not a huge user of "the mists" and it's probably b/c i don't have the right colours to use on any of my projects. i think the colours i have left on my desk on more subtle and maybe used for a more vintage look. And does jill do vintage? Uhhhh....wrong?!? believe me; i've tried. but everything i try to "age -- weather -- make vintage" ends up looking a little more whimsical b/c i am soooooo drawn to bolder colours and a little of that extra kick that, obviously, gives a more playful look. blah blah blah. wow -- so i need to stock up. would make me use it more, for sure.

Here is the finished layout that i created tonight:
our beach


I ended up using Glimmer Mist on almost all the flowers around the photo. I sprayed them with Sage, Patina & Copper. Most of the flowers are paper flowers, but I did spray some Sage onto a crocheted flower (Close To My Heart). Of course, it took the mist beautifully and gave the very plain white fabric some colour. I added lots of dimension to the layout with several pop-dots. Ki Memories products used: Pattern Paper - Pop Culture (coloring book); Bloom (parasol); Surprise Hoopla; Love Elsie (blue clouds); Lace Cardstock (boquet white); Sheer Delights.

hope you enjoyed.
try some misting tonight..... and get out those fabulous Ki Memories products.

{from the farm},
j.

beautiful AND talented

Our downstairs computer has been out of commission for a few months due to the lack of a descent monitor. So, I got it up and running again this evening because I wanted to work on some digital banners for my blog. Like the newest one? Nothing fancy -- just "playing" with some brushes & backgrounds that my sister-in-law borrowed to me.

Anyway... came across some photos that I haven't looked at for a while.

Found these photos of some canvas art that I created about a year or two ago.

This one is an inspirational canvas -- think it's actually still hanging in the Smalltown Scrappers store........hmmmmm -- gotta check on that.

I worked on these next 2 canvases for my niece's birthdays. Printed 3 great 3x5 inch photos of each of them, then used a variety of supplies to decorate the canvas: paint, stamps, pattern paper, crystal swirls, flowers, gems, Thickers, etc. Love how they turned out and I know that they both hang them in their rooms at home -- I've seen them there.

Very simple, but they both scream "teenage girl".

And so..... if you are still wondering about this blog post title and you are STILL thinking that I am talking about myself, you are incredibly and mistakenly WRONG!!!!!

I am referring to these two beautiful women (the same two that are on the canvases above): Sophie & Alyssa -- 2 of my wonderful nieces.

This coming weekend they will be performing in The Sound of Music at their high school. Alyssa is one of the nuns and Sophie, I do believe, is in the Chorus. I am sooooo incredibly proud of these two girls. They are so beautiful AND talented in both singing & acting. Their personalities are contagious and their smiles light up everyone's day. Although I don't get to see them as much as I would like, I think about them often and look forward to family gatherings & weekends when we can chat and catch up on what's happening in their lives. I must admit, there are moments when they scare me just a little -- as Daria, my oldest, is growing up way too quickly some days and will some day be talking about the things they are right now. Slow down, girls -- YOU growing up means your Auntie Jill is also getting older -- .

Anyway..... just know that I am sooooo proud of you girls and I am looking forward to Friday evening when we all get to see you on stage. Clapping already!!!!!

getting sappy -- hey, I'm allowed to; I'm the auntie {from the farm},

j.

hi friend

One of my everyday reads is the Studio blog over at American Crafts. love, Love, LOVE this company -- their products are so up my alley and they have amazing pattern paper; which is a HUGE passion of mine. totally gaga over their little felt embellishments too.

Anyway......they always post their weekly challenges and I always read them, do the challenge, and then never get around to posting them here and on their blog.

So.....this week (actually tonight) I {again} read their challenge, created the challenge, BUT..... am now posting it and will link this post on their blog later on tonight -- "hi to everyone who found me from the AC blog".

This is the challenge for this week:

So, like the true scrap-user that I am, I scrounged my scrap-island for American Crafts products and found a few. This is the card I created:

AC products used were: all the pattern paper on the card, including the butterfly punched pp -- minus the lace-punched ledger on the bottom; the felt tree & the chipboard bird.

Love layering and pop-dotting to add dimension to my creations. Here, I also had to use a new silver vinyl rub-on from my sister -- love ALL the stuff she sends me. :) I punched the edge of the card with my Crop-o-dile and tied ribbons through the holes to bind the card. Little hint: don't tie them too tight; the card won't open properly then.

Here's the inside of the card. The little stickers say "friend" -- for a "hi friend" card. Used some stickers from 7 gypsies to add a little somethin' somethin' to the inside.
I added a beautiful AC pattern paper to the back of the card for a little surprise. So often cards can be so boring from the back. LOVE this paper and needed to use it somewhere. Really pretty and a little bit of whimsy on the back never hurt anyone. :)

Hope you enjoy.

thankful for my hobby tonight {from the farm},

j.