really.....?????

happy birthday to my best friend today.........37 years young today.......and still as goofy as ever!!!!

resting up for ball tomorrow {from the farm},
j.

inspiration Friday

from this .........to that ........

......and a little something else.

enjoy your weekend.

basking in the sunshine today {from the farm},

j.

going on faith.......

So, I promised you I'd share what was so exciting for our family this weekend.

Well......Daria (our 12 year old) performed in Manitoba's Passion Play: The Carpenter this weekend in La Riviere, MB. Anyone who has no idea what this is......"A Passion Play gives an account of the suffering of Jesus Christ during the last days of His life.......their aim is to show something of the nature and character of Jesus himself, and of the overwhelming love of His Father -- a love that can touch us personally even today." The play's setting is in a outdoor theatre in a valley. The surroundings are spectacular; so natural & beautiful. You cannot help but know that God is present as you watch the performances.

Dare's been busy with practices every weekend for over 1 1/2 months now; multiple dress rehearsals & lots of late nights. This weekend was busy with the 4 performances that made everything all worth while.

And what an incredibly proud moment it is to see your own daughter up on stage. Now, don't get me wrong, I've been there before -- I've seen Dare perform " on stage" lots of times: festivals, school productions, church productions, etc. It was just a little different seeing her on stage with such an elite & talented cast in a production that is so incredible and powerful and close to the hearts & faith of our family. It was truly a delight to see Dare on stage, calling out Jesus' name (played by a very good friend of our family) and making a personal choice to be in this play. I was so proud of her and found my eyes following her around the stage (and forgetting that the rest of the actors were there as well).

{Dare's the one on the right}
{Dare's standing on the right side -- pink dress}
So.....with that weekend over (& what a wonderful weekend it was).........we start swimming lessons today (twice/day), baseball continues, last week of school.........then summer holidays!!!!! Phew.......I think we'll make it.

Working on some NikkiSivils projects & some mSB layouts...........maybe some peeks soon. ;)

rainy again today {from the farm},

j.

these 3

Happy Father's Day (this weekend) to these 3 amazing Dads in our life.

my Dad: a goof, a "lover" -- not a "fighter", an example of faith & the strongest man I will ever know. Recently, someone compared me to my Dad (normally I am told I am "just like your mother" -- still very cool now that I am older). Because I had NEVER heard anyone say I was like my Dad, I was very happy & proud to have some sort of quality that came from him and reminder someone of my Dad, while talking to me......love ya' Dad.
my father-in-law: so incredibly kind, sincere & generous, one of Asha's favourite people in this world & the best father-in-law a woman could ever dream of having. Thank you, Dad for EVERYTHING that you do for our family!!!! It never gets un-noticed and we are truly grateful for the special bond you have with our children & with us. Love you, Dad.and my Rock, my everything, my pillar of practicality & reason. This guy needs special tlc & lovin' this weekend for EVERYTHING he does for our family. Thank you, Ron........forever!!! (insert sappy music here).

Check back on Monday to see what we were up to this weekend......big, BIG weekend for our family!!!!!

keep smiling {from the farm},

j.

Hop, Hop, HOP along today.......

Hey Everyone. What a great day to grab yourself a cup of coffee, sit down at your computer & get some summertime inspiration from our fabulous DT.

Welcome to the Jump into Summer Blog Hop with myStamp BOX and our preferred product partners (Helmar, PK Glitz and Kiki Art)!

If you have just happened upon my blog today, you may want to head to the start of the blog hop, the myStamp BOX blog www.mystampbox.com/blog

This is the schedule you will be following for today's Summer Blog Hop (just in case you miss anyone):

myStamp BOX Blog www.mystampbox.com/blog

Virginie http://lescrapdenovalen.canalblog.com/

Tracey http://www.tailoredpages.blogspot.com/

Cherie http://www.cherie-inked.blogspot.com/

Helmar Adhesives http://helmarusa.typepad.com/blog/

Jing-Jing http://thislittleartofmine.blogspot.com/

Jolene http://jolenejohnston.blogspot.com/

Monique http://moniquesscrapbook.blogspot.com/

Eva http://www.evascrap.blogspot.com

PK Glitz http://www.pkglitz.com/blog/

Ellen http://closeyourears.blogspot.com/

Maryfrances http://maryfrancesfabbri.blogspot.com/

Gudrun http://papirbloggen.blogspot.com/

Lynda http://positive-force.blogspot.com/

Jill http://www.fromthefarm-jill.blogspot.com/

Kiki Art http://www.kiki-art.com/blog_en/

Agata http://underconstruction-agata.blogspot.com

Ally http://yourmemoriescanada.blogspot.com/

** then back to myStampBOX blog.

You participate in the blog hop by leaving a comment on each and every participating myStamp BOX designer's blog and all our partner companies' blogs as well. You will have a chance to win a set of stamps! (insert a "Woohoo" from Jill here). Our partner companies will offer up a prize as well. ("Yeehaa" from Jill).

So leave a comment on all the blog posts and then return to the mSB blog and tell us what your favourite project was along the way for a chance to win!

Hope you have fun with our team today!

Now it's my turn to share. The challenge for this Blog Hop was to take anything that makes you think of Summer and create a project that fits the theme. I decided to take the theme and create two 12x12 single-page layouts. The first is all about our favourite afternoon activity to do as a family in the summer -- spend time with cousins in the pool.

Eleven in the H2O:

mSB stamps used: Wishing you Sunshine, mini letters, Your Story.

I used the cloud stamps from the Wishing you Sunshine set and stamped on a loose-weave fabric using waterbased dye ink in three shades. I then cut out the images on the fabric, afixed them to white cardstock, frayed the edged of the fabric & pop-dotted all three clouds.

The next layout was created after I took about 60 photos of my niece, Erica in a single morning of babysitting her. She was such a trooper -- waundering around our yard, just exploring everything around her.

Hello Sweet Sights of Summer:

mSB stamps used: mini letters, Border Lines, Wishing you Sunshine.

To create the stamped image on the whimsical {dictionary} flower, I used lime green waterbased dye ink & one of the clouds from the Wishing you Sunshine stamp set. It's a subtle effect, but adds colour to a very plain flower. In the background of this photo, you can see how I added the same dictionary paper to the centre of the circle stamps in the Border Lines set. I simply stamped the images first in dye ink, then free-hand cut the circles to fit the centres.

Hope you enjoyed "my take" on mSB's summery theme today!!!

Now......I have the pleasure of directing you over to Kiki Art's blog. This is an extra special intro. for me, as recently a very good soul sista' of mine chatted me up about this FABULOUS girl -- and she happens to be a preferred product partner of mSB!!!! Lucky me!!!! Please go check out her Summery project for some good ol' Summer inspiration!

coffee in hand, computer on, hoppin' around with ya' {from the farm},

j.

this week's entertainment

Be sure to join us over at the myStampBOX Blog on THURSDAY, June 17th as we kick off the summer with a blog hop!!!!

It's my first ever official blog hop that my blog is linked to. Always wanted to be involved in one, and NOW IS MY CHANCE!!!!! Woohoo!!!!! And you'll NEVER believe who I get to introduce, Allison!!!!!

I'll be sharing some of my latest summer mSB LO's here on my blog, so be sure to check back here on Thursday. You'll have a great chance to win some fabulous mSB stamps!!!

See U then {from the farm},

j.

surprise phone call

okay, i know, i know.....you've been waiting long enough for my exciting news and for me to introduce that fabulous company that i was chatting about a few weeks ago.

so, i was minding my own business the other day, cooking supper & teaching my oldest how to cook rice on the stove, when the phone rings and i pick it up. Now, understand that suppertime around our house is kinda' nuts at the best of times. But, that night, one had baseball, my dad was out doing renos, supper was running late, and the kids were getting hungry. So, I think I kinda' snapped a little "hello" into the phone. Well........on the other end of the line is the sweeeetest southern voice I'd ever heard asking for me. She introduces herself as, none-other-than "Nikki Sivils" -- THE Nikki Sivils -- and I have to quickly pull myself together because THIS is the phone call that I had been waiting for!!!!! Wow....i couldn't believe it...... Nikki was actually calling me IN PERSON. I felt very honoured and we had the greatest chat. She's just one of the nicest persons i've ever never met. She actually sent me some (i mean "a ton") of her papers in the mail after she found out i couldn't find them anywhere around here. Now, who actually does that?!? So we chatted & laughed & really connect.....especially after she............

invited me to be on her International DESIGN TEAM!!!!!

Woohoo!! I'm really pumped b/c she has some great products and you know HOW MUCH i love designing with the latest & greatest products in this industry. Seriously....go check her products out here and see for yourself.

So......I'll be posting on her blog, designing projects & layouts for her gallery, and chatting all her fabulous stuff up on my blog.

Go check her blog out today to see the line up that i'll be designing with.

Here's the layouts (& card) I submitted to her for the DT Call.

1. a layout about myself:

2. any layout that shows my style:
3. a card:

so, GO NOW, and check out Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker for the list of fabulous designers that will be joining Nikki's team!!!

enjoy your day {from the farm},

j.

a little S & T

pop on over to the myStampBOX blog today to see my latest DT post. Justwanting to "show & tell" you about the latest layouts I've created for them.

And............come back on Monday when I tell you a little {BIG}........ [HUGE]....... secret about a phone call I received this week. heeheehee. Can't wait to share some exciting news with you.

Til then, here's a sneak peek at the mSB layouts to get you curious..........go check them out!!

hey....i thought you were leaving.

{from the farm},

j.

AC challenge

There's a challenge going on over on the American Crafts blog (which i frequent almost every day for inspiration). You may have to scroll down on their blog to find it.

So......I whipped up this cute little layout of my niece, Erica. It was so easy using AC products, as I have a ton of them. I've recently created several layouts using the fabulous Dear Lizzy products from AC (I've shared these with you on earlier posts).

Here's my challenge layout for AC.

sweet summer:

AC products used: Pattern Chipboard Shape Stickers (Dear Lizzy), Fieldhouse chipboard shapes: spring & summer. Other products used: love elsie (pp), basic grey (letter stickers), heidi swapp (stamp), making memories (ribbon), Kaiser (gems), unknown (fabric).

Here's some close-ups of some of the AC products:

Lots of sprinkling with chipboard. enjoy.

{from the farm},

j.

this week

Anticipating a great week coming up. Lots of backyard renos happening............woohoo!!!!

What our patio/deck used to look like........

What it looks like right now...........

What it could look like with the magical touches of my husband & my Dad.............. (I'll post photos later in the week).

I'm also looking after this little sweetie (and her fun, big brother) a few times this week.......fun, fun, FUN!!!!!

Have a wonderful week {from the farm},

j.

Inspiration....today

i say "today" because it seems to change weekly -- just depends on what i'm working on & checking out online.

right now, my husband & i are (in the midst of) changing our backyard entertainment area (with tons of help from my dad). this photo is definitely inspiration for a lounging/seating area. just don't know if we'd have room for it........and would it stand up to the harsh, MB climate?!? but i could totally see our family relaxing here in the evenings......swatting mosquitos.
i'm looking for ideas to decorate a huge wall in my front entrance.....love the letters here......great, graphic wall art. (may need some help from my little sis).

and how 'bout these fabulous wall sconces made from old, vintage floor grates. would look great on my back deck/patio area.

and......"hello".......can you say inspiration here??!? i think this wallpaper would look funky framed and hanging on the back-"splash" of my office.
and loving the pop of colour in this chandelier!!!!! now THAT'S a statement piece. would love something like that hanging above my bed........practical? no......but very cool!!! (unlike the white ceiling fan we have right now, right Lisa??).
hope you find inspiration somewhere today as well.

breathing, sighing, smiling {from the farm},

j.

prima-luv

just sharing my latest Prima Marketing layout that i recently created. i think it's one of the only layouts i've ever created that was {almost} strictly "product-based" from ONE COMPANY.

Here's the finished LO: "my day brightener & heart warmer"


I was all out of Prima pattern paper (for a background), so i had to get creative. I took the packaging from the new Voila felt accents and stitched my trim around the entire thing -- makes for an interesting "behind the scenes" look at the LO, don't ya' think?
Here's the look from the front. Love the grid on the front of the packaging -- great background paper.

I then added my four 2x3 inch photos (machine-stitched together), felt, flowers, gems.........
Prima Paintables (cut out, coloured & pop-dotted, of course), some more fabulous flowers ......
and my title .....stamped & doodled.

Hope you've enjoyed.

Have some fun w/ some Prima-luv today.

Quick edit: go check out a fabulous blog {here} to see some exquisite digital layouts on Thailand. You will be amazed!!!! love this girl!!!!

feeling the sunshine today {from the farm},

j.