today

It was incredibly cold today.........

dreaming of hot destinations.

Spent the afternoon & evening INSIDE organizing this space after reading my friend, Vicki Boutin's incredible article in the latest Scrapbooks, Etc. magazine. Her Parisian-inspired scrap space is sooooooo beautiful!!!!!! I emailed her today to ask for a few hot tips in helping to organize my space.

This is the before photo of my space:
Blah. Boring.
I'll post the after photo in a few days (hahahaha -- weeks) when I'm completely finished & exhausted. Need to go on a hunt for a few vintage pieces for storage: ribbon, fabric, bling, tags, adhesive; maybe even a cool magnetic idea board or funky cork board.

Hey..........and go head on over to the myStampBOX Blog to see what I created with their new Backgrounds stamp set. I'm one of the DT members being featured today. Don't forget to leave a comment there to win a set of their newest stamp sets: Pennants.

staying warm {from the farm},
j.

a little love

Today I have to give shout some serious love out to two of the best companies I have ever had the priviledge to design for:

and

Both companies are getting ready in CA this weekend to kick off some new products at CHA. We sure are thinking of everyone out there this weekend -- busy setting up their booths, sweating with excitement & nervousness, getting ready for the swarms of people to come and check them out. Go get 'em!!!!!!

myStampBOX is introducing their latest stamp set: Pennants
Fortunately, I have had these little babies in my hand for about 4 weeks now and (can I say).........woohoo!!!!!! LOVE these so much. I actually sent a personal email to Bettina (the creator & owner of mSB) thanking her for sending me this set. They are absolutely spectacular -- EVERYONE has got to order them.

On another note:

Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker is also setting up their booth this weekend and introducing SIX!!!!!!! new (not just "new"...........but AWESOME) lines that are already sitting on my desk. insert a teasing sound right here......na na nana na.

Here's a little taste of some of my faves. I'm not gonna give you any more than this right now........I'll share more details about them when I create some lo's with the incredible papers.

And.....Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker is being featured TODAY on the CK Blog!!! Go check it out here.

Stay tuned for some creations very soon. And there's some BIG NEWS coming in the next few days..........something about vinyl (shhhhhhhh).


busy creating {from the farm},
j.

lions & tigers & BEARS?????

Well, we didn't exactly see bears at Animal Kingdom, but it is one of the favourite spots to hit when you go to Disney. Definitely always a highlight for our family.

Daria snapped this photo of Ron & I while waiting in line for the Kilaminjaro Safari Ride. love it!!!

This is the view of the famous "Everest" roller coaster from the bridge in Africa. Everest is over in Asia and it was such a breathtaking sight to see from all areas of the park. We, of course, all went on this ride (except Asha -- she was too short for it). Daria went on twice!!!!
Kilaminjaro Safari sights:

This guy, they say, is hardly ever spotted this closely. We were so lucky to see him.

Asha & Carter enjoyed spending time with some goats at Rafiki's Planet Watch. You'd think they'd never been on a farm before or seen farm animals {lol}. They loved the goats & sheep and they spent at least half an hour just walking around while their new friends followed them.
Here, Asha is enjoying a dinosaur dig in the giant sandbox in Dinoland. Actually, it's a funny story leading up to this photo.

There was this huge "Boneyard" play structure and playground that the kids can play in. You know the kind; tons of ropes & tubes & slides & ramps. The perfect spot to lose your children. Well.....guess what??? Ron & I had given both Asha and Carter about 2 more minutes play time and then we were going to meet at the entrance. 2 minutes went by. 5 minutes went by. 7 minutes went by. Jill started to panic. Ron never does.

What we didn't know was that, although there was only one way of getting in and out of the play structure, we didn't know there was a whole new world across the bridge over the street. We finally found the two kids digging happily in the sandbox, not even thinking for a second that they were lost.

Both Asha & Carter loved taking the little maps (either of birds or other animals) and trying to spot everything on it. Here, Asha is trying to find all the birds on her map in the bird sanctuary. I wasn't much help -- I'm not too fond of birds-at-large {lol}.

Still more Disney memories to come. Wed. I'll get some photos printed so I can start some projects. I've got some BRAND NEW!!!!!! Nikki Sivils products just screaming for some Disney photos!!!!!! I'll share soon.

{from the farm},

j.

Disney // as promised

So... let's start here.
Asha came to me about 2 weeks before our vacation and asked about getting "autographs" from all the Princesses that she was going to meet in Disney World. I chatted with her about "THE book" options and we decided on a home-made creation -- something chipboard with pattern & cardstock papers inside. Well.....what a hit it was with ALL the Princesses that Asha met on her adventures!!! (Made Mommy feel pretty special as well).
Now, I don't know if they say they like everyone's albums.....but they sure were bursting about Asha's. Cool!!!!! Asha was grinning from ear-to-ear. I'll show photos of it once we get all the photos in it.

Here's a few favourites from our visit to Epcot on the first day of our trip:

Asha & Mulan

Asha, Princess Jasmine & Prince Aladdin

So.....this is what my hilarious husband does on all our vacations. He picks up on these quirky, little things that would only catch the attention of a few and he embarrasses all of us.

Outside the China exhibit at Epcot, Ron stood for minutes on end spinning this plate on a stick -- something we had just seen by some cute little children in a show -- an actual show at the park -- not some Canadian 30-ish man who is trying to send his children running in the opposite direction. What a goof!!! And I.........I just get my camera out and snap!!! It was hilarious -- at least I thought so.

And then there's always this..............what else can I say?!? I was so enchanted by the Eiffel Tower at the France exhibit (France is my dream-vaca) and all Ron could do was try on ridiculous felt (PINK!!!!!) hats. Oh.....I keep falling in love with him more & more every year!!!?!!!!!

So......I'll share more photos as I get them editted and pick my faves. This is just a sampling of the fun we had.....for now!!!!!

{from the farm},

j.

Top 10 // CHRISTMAS // fun

Here are the TOP 10 photos (memories) from Christmas 2010:

1. Spending time with each other & being a little goofey.

2. Attempting to get the perfect "Christmas Eve Family Photo" yet another year!!!!
{Here we are enjoying our annual tradition of a chocolate fondue after the church evening program}.

3. Watching reactions like this.

4. Trying new things . . .


5. . . . and being successful at it -- even enjoying it!!!

6. Digging into Daria's wonderful Candycane Cheesecake.

7. Watching Asha prepare Moon Sand cupcakes she made from scratch.
How cute are these?

8. Dodging Carter's new jeep rippin' through a tower of boxes.

9. All the cousins trying to figure out a new game someone opened for Christmas.

10. Helping to assemble my niece's delicious & sweet creations

stacked high on a four-tier dessert tray!!!!!

Yummy.

HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS AS WELL!!!!!!!

Disney photos are coming soon!!!!

{from the farm},

j.

we celebrate in style

So.....we started the New Year off with style this year. A good friend & cousin brought about 20 live lobsters out to my sister & brother-in-law's farm to kick off the year with a feast.

My brother-in-law found this huge pot in the barn that they used to use when they slaughtered pigs & made sausage. There's a special German name for it -- and I know it -- but just can't spell it {lol}. The men started the fire up & heating the water around 3 in the afternoon and we showed up around 5-ish. It actually felt like I was in the middle of the lake ice fishing all day (although we were just steps from the house). With the ice & snow, the fire going, the kids playing in a huge fort by the barn & the drink in my hand, the party was just beginning.

We threw all 20 lobsters in at one time and it didn't take long before it started smelling like supper. It was so cold outside that the steam created by the boiling water made it tricky to see the lobsters cooking.
Twenty minutes later, the lobsters were ready to come out of the pot. We used three large roasters and lugged them inside the house as they were taken out of the water.

And here was our feast. How delicious does this look -- if you love lobster, that is??!? My sister had made some garlic butter on the stove that we dipped our meat in. Wow!!! I definitely ate waaaaaaay too much -- but it was so worth it.

still recovering {from the farm},

j.

yummies

just a little taste of what I need to share with you.
some Christmas memories.
some new year's memories & goodness.
coming soon.

i've been back from my Disney vacation for about 6 days and i am still sorting out photos. i'll share soon -- promise. need to get some photos printed so i can start using some of the goodness i received in the mail the other day (will share this soon)!!!!!!

i've got a list of things that i've been jotting down to post -- lots of new stuff; new products; new creations; new news!!!!!

Please keep checking back with me -- i'm here (alive and kicking) -- really; i am.

'til then {from the farm},
j.