Back To School 2014

The kidlets went back to school yesterday - Connor to Gr. 10 and Aili started Gr. 5 at her new school (due to re-zoning for French immersion).  I thought it'd be fun to do a little Back-To-School interview on the first and last day of the school year.  Here's the first day results:

photo by Gary Sykes

Your Name:  Connor Sykes
How tall are you? 5'8"
What are you MOST excited about this year? Football
What do you hope you will learn? Coding
Who do you want in your class(es)? My friends
What is your favourite subject? Dunno yet
What do you like to do in your spare time? Read
What is your favourite colour? Green
What things are you good at?  Football, reading, video games
What is your favourite thing(s) about yourself? Funny
Favourite sport? Football
Favourite food? Fooooood
Favourite lunch snack?  Foooood
Favourite book?  Sweetness:  The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton
Favourite TV show/movie? Friday Night Lights/Remember the Titans
Favourite song? Jungle by Jamie N Commons and X Ambassadors
Who is your best friend? Bailey
What do you want to be when you grow up? Dunno

Your Name:  Aili Sykes
How tall are you? 3.5 feet (Mama's note - she's closer to 4.5 ft tall!)
What are you MOST excited about this year? Seeing my friends
What do you hope you will learn? Everything
Who do you want in your class(es)? Natalie
What is your favourite subject? Homeroom
What do you like to do in your spare time? Draw
What is your favourite colour? Green
What things are you good at?  Drawing, playing, reading
What is your favourite thing(s) about yourself? Funny, kind, nice
Favourite sport? Cheerleading
Favourite food? Coconut Curry Chicken
Favourite lunch snack?  Brownies
Favourite book?  Harry Potter
Favourite TV show/movie? Camp Rock
Favourite song? Club Can't Handle Me by Flo Rida ft. David Guetta
Who is your best friend? Natalie
What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be an engineer

As you can see, both of them were highly impressed with having to take a photo on the porch…  At least Connor is smiling in a photo!!

Check back tomorrow for more Paper Cuts projects and the August Sketch winner!

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the challenges on my blog for a chance to win:
Sept Sketch Challenge (deadline Sept 30th, 2014)
Leave Your Legacy challenge - Don't Stop Believing (deadline Nov 30th, 2014)

Exhaust Your Excess! challenge blog - check it out!!

Who's The Boss?

So… the topic today all started because of this mop of unruliness.

If  you've ever had a child with fine, crazy-curly hair, you understand my pain.  Now that she's grown older, it's even worse.

Trying to drag a comb through this without any tears or wiggling is like trying to tame a caged tiger.  I find that distracting her is key.  And while I don't usually use television as a distraction, the other night we decided to try to find a cooking show to watch together while I combed.

(She discovered cooking shows like Jacques Pepin's on PBS a few years ago and loves watching them!)

After flipping through the Roku unsuccessfully, Gary came in and said he had the perfect thing… and a love affair has begun.

Cake Boss.

The kids were equally fascinated by the intricate cake decorating AND family dynamics! LOL.

Fast forward to several days (and episodes) later and they are both still talking about fondant, modeling chocolate (said with a Jersey accent!) and lobster claws!.  Aili insisted on spending time with some modelling clay tonight.  I was working downstairs, trying to clean up some of the mess from the flood (more on that later this week!) and she came down to show me one of her finished products:

Isn't it adorable?  She plans on painting this mama dragon and her baby dragon eggs - I asked if she was making this for a project in mind and she answered…

"Oh no, Mama, I'm just pretending it's fondant.  I'm going to be a cake decorator"

Does anyone know if Michaels' has a Wilton class for kids???

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the challenges on my blog for a chance to win:
July 2014 Sketchy Challenge (deadline July 31st, 2014)
Leave Your Legacy challenge - Don't Stop Believing (deadline Nov 30th, 2014)

Exhaust Your Excess! challenge blog - check it out!!

Off the Cutting Room Floor

I have a few more projects that I haven't shared with you yet!  Today I'm sharing an old layout that was half-finished for about a year before I decided what to do with it!

Supplies used:  Bazzill Basics cardstock; Fancy Pants patterned paper; Cricut die cut machine and Songbird cartridge; Stix2 glitter paper; Unity Stamp Co. and Just Cre8 stamps; Ranger distress ink; Tsukineko Versacolour ink; Heidi Swapp distressing tool; Martha Stewart Crafts and EK Success punches; Sakura marker; Bazzill Basics large brad; American Crafts glitter brads; Maya Road trinket pins; Ranger Stickles; Stockade wooden heart; Prima and miscellaneous flowers; Stampin' Up! doily, feathers and half pearls.  Photo Credit:  Amanda Lepage

I love this photo of Renée and Aili - especially the near-toothless grin!

Journaling reads:  "You and Renée immediately hit it off when the Lepages came to Ontario in 2011.  In fact, by the end of the trip, you were referring to each other as "Big Sister" and "Little Sister"!  Sharing a room enforced this and after 12 days together, you were both sad to part, as we all were…"

The cluster of flowers is a mishmash of "vintage" (read: product that is more than two years old!) flowers and brads, mixed with some craft feathers from my stash.

The stamp from Unity was blinged up with some Stickles:

I also covered the wooden heart with Stickles.  It was originally inked and stamped, but the stamped image started to bleed and I didn't really like the result so when in doubt, add sparkle, right?!  The reflection makes it look like the colour's off but in reality, it all matches! :)

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the challenges on my blog for a chance to win:
July 2014 Sketchy Challenge (deadline July 31st, 2014)
Leave Your Legacy challenge - Don't Stop Believing (deadline Nov 30th, 2014)

Exhaust Your Excess! challenge blog - check it out!!

The Rejects - Part II

I'm back again with another layout that ended up on the editing floor! :)

**As an aside, I hope everyone knows that I am being quite tongue-in-cheek here… my natural sarcasm usually doesn't translate well in blog posts! :)  I never EVER expect that all my layouts (or ANY for that matter!) will be published in each issue. **

This layout was created while at Younique in February with the ScrapFest team - love those girls!  Always so much fun!

As a close-knit Italian family, we would always gather at my mom & dad's place for dinner on Sundays.  Even after my mom passed, we would all head to my dad's and my sisters and I would cook a big lunch/dinner and we would always hang out afterwards, just talking and sharing stories.  One day in May, my sisters thought it would be funny to dress Aili up, complete with wine glass and chunk of bread!  Still makes me giggle.

And no, she didn't actually drink any of the wine!! Although I nearly lost a finger, trying to take the bread away… those chubby cheeks didn't happen on their own!

Supplies used:  DieCuts With a View card stock, patterned papers and tag; American Crafts Thickers and pen; Stampin' Up! piercing template; Tim Holtz tiny attacher; The Twinery twine; misc buttons and ribbon from my stash.

I created the 3D heart by cutting out three hearts from the patterned paper, folding them in half and then attaching the left and right sides of two hearts to corresponding sides of the third heart.  It was "stitched" down the middle and attached to the page:

Here are some close ups:

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the challenges on my blog for a chance to win:
Sketchy Challenge - June 2014 (deadline June 30th, 2014)
Leave Your Legacy challenge - Don't Stop Believing (deadline Nov 30th, 2014)

Sketchy Challenge | February 2014

I have just posted the February 2014 sketch for the Canadian Scrapbooker Sketchy Challenge:

And this month, I actually have a layout to share!! (I know - I can hear you gasp from here…)  Before you get giddy, I will say that I finished this layout at a crop in November from a quick sketch I drummed up while planning some kits to take!  And I just finished the journaling a few weeks ago!!

Just keeping it real, peeps!

Here's my layout:

Supplies used:  Bazzill card stock; Fancy Pants patterned paper, corrugated paper, chipboard and felt accents, buttons and stickers; Spellbinders dies (Foliage); EK Success, Marvy Uchida and Martha Stewart Crafts punches; American Crafts glitter alphas; Maya Road bird; The Twinery, American Crafts and My Mind's Eye twine; Close To My Heart filagree metal charm; Canson photo corner; Sakura marker; miscellaneous buttons, flower clip, paper flower and sequins from my stash.

In packing for the crop, I came across this adorable photo of Aili (circa 2006).  I edited it in Photoshop, converting it to B&W and adding a vignette border.  The circles were punched out of scraps from Fancy Pants' Park Bench line (LOVE this line!!).  Once the photo was double matted and placed on the layout, all that was left to do was to add a little love to each of the circles!

You may not have noticed in the other photos, but a catastrophe nearly occurred while creating this layout!!  I am a pretty linear scrapbooker so when placing the photo, I was torn between lining it up even or tilting it on an angle.  It was passed around to several people (even other tables - I'm indecisive, at best!).  When it finally came back to me, there was a small oily fingerprint on the upper right corner!!

Luckily, one of the girls at an adjoining table brought out her Embossing Buddying and a few pounces cleared most of it up - with just a slight residue.  Can you spot it?

I didn't want to clutter this layout any more with journaling so I tucked it under the photo and added a tab sticker:

Journaling reads:  Aili, you are such a smarty pants!  You showed interest in going potty at an early age - daycare started putting you on it when you were only one!  It was a bit young, though - when I asked you one morning if you were ready to go and see Lisa, you said, "NO 'RELLA!!" (your training panties had Cinderella on them!)  You are in big girl panties by the age of two (both during the day and at night!) and no 'accidents'!"  My bright, sweet girl!  ~May 2006

Hopefully you find some time this month to play along!  Please head over to the Sketchy gallery and get inspired to create your own layout!  You can use the sketch as is or as a springboard for your project - the choice is yours!

{RAK ALERT!}
If you play along with the sketch this month, upload your layout in the gallery into the February 2014 Sketch section HERE, and then using the linky tool below, add a link to that layout, by 11:59 pm on February 28th, 2014. On or around March 1st, 2014, I will randomly draw a winner from the comments here of those who participated, for a prize!

Stay tuned - I will be announcing our January 2014 Sketchy winner in a day or so... :)

**PLEASE NOTE:  In order to qualify for a chance to be published in an upcoming issue, your layout must be posted in the online gallery by February 28th, 2014.  To qualify to win MY prize, you must add a link to your layout BELOW by February 28th, 2014, using the InLinkz tool below.

Cheers,

Her

I just realized that I have several projects published in the Fall 2013 issue of Canadian Scrapbooker magazine that I haven't shared yet!

I know.  You're just beside yourself with anticipation, aren't you? :P

In honour of my Mom's birthday yesterday, I thought I'd post this one first:

Supplies used:  Bazzill and Bo Bunny cardstock; Melissa Frances patterned paper and sticker; Basic Grey letter stickers; Cricut die cutting machine and Songbird font; Martha Stewart Crafts border punch; Prima paper flowers and bling; Stampin’ Up! wood buttons; Robin’s Nest Dew Drops; The Twinery twine; Tim Holtz Distress Ink; JilliBean journaling tag (hidden); Ranger Glossy Accents; vintage lace ribbon; unknown buttons.

This photo was snapped literally moments after my mom stepped into my room, after delivering Aili.  Having been diagnosed with lung cancer just two weeks prior, her proud smile tells the story of how happy she is to have the chance to meet her.

The title is both a play on that, as well as from Aili's perspective - I didn't think my mom would get a chance to meet her final granddaughter.

Hidden journaling reads:

"Aug 13, 2004 - Facing cancer, my mom wasn't sure she'd get the chance to meet you - especially when you were two weeks late!!  We were blessed to have her for four more short months.  I'm glad you two had a chance to meet..."

And what's a feminine, frilly girly page without flowers and bling!?!

I just picked flowers, buttons and bling in coordinating colours and went to town!

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the other challenges on my blog for a chance to win:

September 2013 Sketchy Challenge (deadline:  Sep 30, 2013)
Leave Your Legacy: Top Ten Lists (deadline:  Nov 30, 2013

First Day of School 2013

Well, the first day of school has come and gone - and everyone is still happy!

My alarm went off at 6:16 am yesterday, but Connor was the first out of bed.  He has to leave the house by 7:15 am so he can stop by Bailey's house to pick him up on the way, to make it for his 8:00 am warning so his first-day-of-school photo didn't turn out so great...  I had to use a flash because it was still dark!

And because he was running late because he didn't prepare his clothes the night before, as suggested...

Connor - 1st day of Gr 9 | Sept 2013

As you can probably notice from the final result? *shaking my head, grinning*

I watched him walk away from the house yesterday morning with a lump in my throat and watery eyes.  It didn't seems like so long ago that this was happening:

Connor - 1st day of SK | Sept 2004

Aili was  excited as well, but in true fashion, she had all of her clothes picked out the night before.  Thankfully, there was also better lighting at 8am that there was at 7:15am, so I didn't have to use a flash!

Aili - 1st day of Gr. 4 | Sept 2013

(We set her hair using this method (by the Paper Mama) last night and it turned out in gorgeous loose curls - a definite Pinterest win!)

She has grown up so much, as well - sometimes, too much, I think.  Today's society tempts our girls to lose their innocent looks and ways too soon.  Why can't they all stay like this?

Aili - 1st day of LatchKey | Sept 2008

This year, I took the first day of school off work, which I haven't done in a while.  It was great to be home to greet Aili at the door and hear about her first day!  And to jump into the car to pick up Connor from football practice and hear about his first day and how much he likes his classes and teachers.

And to try not to faint from the potent fumes he was giving off, after a 2 hour practice in the sun! :)

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the other challenges on my blog for a chance to win:

September 2013 Sketchy Challenge (deadline:  Sep 30, 2013)
Leave Your Legacy: Top Ten Lists (deadline:  Nov 30, 2013

Back To School v.2013

This is me today:

(I'm the one in the middle, in case you were wondering...)

And the reason for my booty dance?  Those of you with children will know the answer...

IT'S BACK-TO-SCHOOL!!!!

The kids aren't doing the mama-happy-dance, but they are excited for this year!  Last year, during the last week of school, Aili got a chance to spend some time in her new teacher's class - they put them on a rotation so they could learn who was in their class and to meet the teacher for next year.  I thought this was a brilliant idea - it lessened any back-to-school jitters about who they were getting and who'd be in their class.  Aili is starting Gr. 4 this year and excited to have some of her besties in her class! :)

Connor is excited as well - in a nervous sort of way... this year, he starts high school!  It's crazy when I stop to think about it!  Time has just flown by, especially the last 10 years.

A few weeks ago, we received a letter with information on an Orientation day at the high school.  I was reading it out loud, and when I got to the part about how parents were welcomed to attend with their child, I looked up at Connor, who was sitting across from me.

Me:  "Um, did you want me to come to your Orientation Day?"

C (looking slightly panicky at the thought): "Uh, no, that's okay..."

Me:  "Good.  Because that would pretty much seal your fate at high school, I think!"

We both laughed and marked it on our calendar.

However, on the morning of Orientation, I was getting ready for work and I noticed that he was pacing around in our bedroom while I was in the ensuite bathroom.  I stuck my head out and mentioned that maybe he could call Bailey (his BFF) to see if Gary could pick him up on the way so they wouldn't have to walk in alone.

C: "No, he's going with his mom..."

Me (chuckling):  "Oh, really?  He's going to be that kid, eh?"

I noticed however that Connor was still pacing around and not really laughing so I stopped him and asked him if he wanted me to come with him.  He stammered a bit and mentioned that I had to work but when I told him that I would go into work later if he wanted me to come, he paused and thought about it for a minute.  Then he said, "Nah, that's okay, Mom - it'll be fine!"

Sigh.

I thought about him all morning and wondered how it went.  Finally, I heard from Gary - all went well, he knew some kids in most of his classes and he started football practice that evening, about which he was really excited!

So it begins.  A new chapter for everyone.  I'll share photos of their first days at school tomorrow!

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the other challenges on my blog for a chance to win:

September 2013 Sketchy Challenge (deadline:  Sep 30, 2013)
Leave Your Legacy: Top Ten Lists (deadline:  Nov 30, 2013

20 Questions with Aili | 2013

Today, the princess of the house turned NINE!!

What happened to this adorable baby!?

Er, I mean THIS adorable baby:

You may remember that I interviewed Aili on her 8th birthday.  Here are her answers*, verbatim, for 2013, at 9 years old:

1. What is your favourite colour?  pink
2. What is your favourite song?  what makes you Beutifel by 1D
3. How do you get to school?  school bus
4. What chore did you do last?  emptyd x loded Dishwasher
5. What do you want to be when you grow up?  Don't know yet
6. What is your favourite TV show?  fech with ruf rumen + wild crats
7. Who is your best friend?  Ashley + Amira
8. What is your favourite cereal?  chireoos
9. What makes you mad?  connor
10. What's under your bed?  puzzel
11. If you could have any pet, what would it be?  Bird or ginny pig
12. What do you like best about yourself?  i have celly hair (Mom note:  I think she means curly...)
13. What's your favourite joke?  nothing
14. What is your favourite holiday?  Chistmas
15. What vegetable do you like best?  cucumber
16. How tall are you?  3 ft + 5 in (Mom note:  not even close, but closer than last year's answer!)
17. What size shoe do you wear?  3
18. What's your favourite subject in school?  liBrary
19. What's your favourite sport?  gimnastics
20. If you could have one superpower, what would it be?  to change the wether

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the giveaways/challenges on my blog for a chance to win:
August 2013 Sketchy Challenge (deadline:  Aug 31/13)
Leave Your Legacy: Pet Peeves (deadline:  Aug 31/13)

*Inspired by an interview that Nicole conducts with each of her children every year on their birthday, I used a combination of Nicole's questions, questions from a special issue from Simple Scrapbooks, Scrapbook Shortcuts with Quizzes and Questions, along with my own and came up with my own list. 

She-Art Canvas, à la Christy Tomlinson

The other night, I wanted to distract Aili from screens.

Note:   In our house, "screens" include all forms of electronics:  TV, Nintendo DS, iPods, iPads, computers, Wii... you get the idea - we are a techie family! 

So I suggested heading into my studio to create or paint something.  She thankfully readily agreed.  I handed her a canvas, gave her full access to my paints and brushes and let her do her thing.

I also grabbed a canvas and decided to try my hand at some She-Art, à la Christy Tomlinson.  I started with these gorgeous Graphic 45 papers:

Despite my love of this paper, I'm not crazy about how the background turned out.  I think it's the painting that went onto the papers.  At any rate, I had fun and will definitely keep trying to perfect my backgrounds!

Here's a quick snap from my iPhone - I will photograph it this weekend and share a full peek!

P/S... this is my 999th blog post!! Check back tomorrow for a chance to win a prize!

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the challenges on my blog for a chance to win:

Sketchy Challenge:  June 2013 (deadline:  June 30/13)
Leave Your Legacy: Pet Peeves (deadline:  Aug 31/13)

Guest Designing | Susan K. Weckesser

Today is my last day to share a project as a Guest Designer with the Susan K. Weckesser team.  I'm so thankful for the opportunity to work with Susan and her team - they are all so inspiring!

Using a purchased wooden letter and Susan's patterned papers, I created a fun decor piece for Aili's room.  You can view my blog post on Susan's blog, My Sweet Earth.

Supplies used:  Wooden letter; Susan K. Weckesser Whymsical Paper; Plaid ModPodge; Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations die (Tattered Florals); Spellbinders die (Foliage); My Favourite Things Dienamics dies (Loopy Bloom, Large Rolled Rose, Rolled Rose, Mini Rolled Roses); Recollections paper tape, wire, rhinestones; water mister; hot glue gun.

I covered the letter with patterned paper and ModPodge.  While waiting for it to dry, I cut all of my flower pieces and foliage from various papers and created my flowers.  Once the flowers were completed, I adhered them, one at a time, beginning with the largest flowers.  After all the flowers were in place, I tucked in my foliage as needed, and added rhinestones as accents to a few flowers.

The corkscrew tendrils were created by covering thin wire with green paper tape and curling around the handle of my paper piercer.  So easy and adds great texture!

Here's a view from the right and left sides.

Thanks again to Susan and her team for their kindness and inspiration over the last few months!

Cheers,

P/S:  Don't forget about the other challenges on my blog for a chance to win:

Sketchy Challenge:  May 2013 (deadline May 31/13)
Leave Your Legacy:  Pet Peeves (deadline Aug 31/13)