Just Be a Diva

This week's dare from Circle of Scrapping Friends is use the phrase "Just Be ..." as the theme of a layout. Todd took these great shots of Julia, who clearly likes to ham it up in front of the camera.

Layout credits: All materials are from the "La Beaute" kit by Anna Aspnes and the "Pickadilly Papers" pack by Rob and Bob Studios, available from www.designerdigitals.com. Fonts are Chopin Script, Travelling Typewriter and Airstream from www.dafont.com.

Sunday Craft Update

I've been mostly knitting these past two weeks. I finished the socks from the Christmas yarn I got from Laura, and I am making good progress on Todd's sweater. I haven't done cross-stitch in ages and am itching to get back to it, especially after seeing Jill's latest completed project.

The Brain

This year, Kate decided to do her science project on the brain. When I mentioned this to my co-worker John, he kindly offered to lend us his brain mold, which he got from The Anatomical Chart Company. (Check out their Halloween section!) So, with 6 packages of peach-flavoured Jello, a can of evaporated milk and a few drops of food colouring, we ended up with the gloriously icky, springy blob shown above.

Kate's brain was quite the success at the school's science-fair open house and attracted a lot of people to her booth. (Usually, it's the hamsters that draw in the crowds.) Most people would take a look and walk past quickly with a loud "EEWWW" or "YUCK!!!" interjection, but then they'd slowly head back, with finger reluctantly outstretched to take a little poke.

Even though our Jello brain (which Kate affectionately called "The Thinker") was edible, we decided that too many sticky little fingers had gone through it by the time the science fair was over. However, we had saved some leftover Jello mix for our dining pleasure. Even outside the brain mold, the jelly wasn't particularly appetizing, and Todd alone was brave enough to give it a try.

Building Bridges

This week's dare at Circle of Scrapping Friends is to use two items from a given list. I used digital versions of chipboard (more like cardboard?) and brads. The photos were inspired by the weekly photography challenge at Designer Digitals, which required us to take photos at eye level of our subject. The layout is on Kate's bridge project, which was proudly displayed in our front room for a month before it finally got moved into the garage for future consideration.

Layout credits: Background paper from Dec. 16, 2007 Ad Challenge by Anna Aspnes. Brush from "Round-n-Round Brushes-n-Stamps", alphabet from "Out-of-a-Box Alpha No. 2", brads from "Flat Jacks: Frolic", all by Katie Pertiet. Frame from "Cherie" kit by Lynn Grieveson. Date stamp from "Double Dates #3" by Kellie Mize. All materials from www.designerdigitals.com.

Gilles Apap

We celebrated Valentine's Day by attending a KW Symphony concert. This was not your usual classical concert. It featured the very talented and unorthodox Gilles Apap. This video really is worth watching though some classical music lovers may find it quite appalling.



Kate's violin teacher, Martha, played in the concert, and Kate was very amused to see her playing her viola and stomping along to a French-Canadian fiddle piece that Apap did for his final encore. We had decided to take Kate along, in the hopes that Apap would inspire her to do great things one day. Kate did get restless a few times but mostly enjoyed her first "adult" concert and was impressed by the sounds Apap could make on the violin.

Morning Light

Last week's dare from Circle of Scrapping Friends, which I finally managed to finish, is to describe a favourite room in your home. I love our front room, which we've made our "music room", as the kids practice piano and violin there. Sometimes Todd joins them on guitar. Having no musical talent myself, I just listen appreciatively.

Layout credits: Papers from "Rejoice" paper pack, frame from "Stitched Up Frames No. 2", stitches from CKU bonus kit, tags from "Curled Journal Spots No. 2", all by Katie Pertiet. Brush from "Title Lines 2" by Jesse Edwards. Date stamp from "Double Dates #3" by Kellie Mize. All materials from www.designerdigitals.com. Title font is Chopin Script from www.dafont.com.

O Canada!

Kate is really enjoying playing in the Youth Strings junior orchestra group. At their first concert in December, her group joined the intermediate and senior orchestra groups to perform our national anthem. This performance was recorded and will be played at the opening of a Kitchener Rangers hockey game in March! Kate will even get the chance to go on the ice as the anthem is being played, but without her violin, as fragile musical instruments don't generally fare well at hockey arenas. What if a fight breaks out??

You can see the performance here. Unfortunately, it's hard to spot Kate, but if you look closely, you can get a glimpse of the top of her head around the 50-second mark.

Happy Birthday Jill!

My sister-in-law Jill is celebrating her birthday today! We all hope you had a great day, Jill, and we miss you very much! These photos of Julia and Kate with Jill are from our trip to the Bahamas in 2003, but Jill still looks as young as ever.

Layout credits: Background paper (slightly recoloured) from "The Grunge Factor - Just the Solids, Ma'am" by Dana Zarling. Alphabets from "Messy Stamped Alpha No. 2" and "Tall and Thin Alpha", frames from "Dirty Photo Frames Curled-n-Flat", ribbon from "Photo Wraps No. 11", and stamp from "Round-n-Round Brushes-n-Stamps", all by Katie Pertiet. All materials from www.designerdigitals.com.

Surprise Delivery

Julia received a lovely surprise from Aunt Kimberly, Uncle Tim, Lily-Ann, Alexandra and Teaghen on her birthday last week, and I decided to make a scrapbook layout out of it. The photo was inspired by a challenge at Designer Digitals to take a photo following the Rule of Thirds. Todd takes great photos but I'm still working through Photography for Dummies.

Layout credits: Papers from "Rejoice" paper pack by Katie Pertiet. Brushes from "Garden Brushes-n-Stamps 2" and "Title Lines 2", both by Jesse Edwards. Date stamp from "Double Dates #3" by Kellie Mize. All materials from www.designerdigitals.com. Font is Stony Island from www.dafont.com.

Sunday Craft Update - February 3

Some time ago, I'd posted a photo of the short Sockotta yarn socks I'd made for Julia, but now I have Kate's done as well. I've been working mostly on my knitting lately (socks for myself and sweater for Todd), as I haven't had the energy to focus on my cross-stitch pieces, but I'm starting to miss working on them and hope to get back to them soon. My real big achievement this week is finally finishing the 2007 Christmas ornament for Jill. Oops, Christmas has come and gone, you say? Well, at least I have 10 months to get it to Singapore for Christmas 2008.

A Favourite Photo

This week's dare from Circle of Scrapping Friends is to create a layout with an all-time favourite photo. Well, it's pretty much impossible for me to choose a single favourite photo, but the photo in colour in the above layout is certainly a contender (and it's surrounded by a few other favourites).

Layout credits: Title from "Wild Flowers Alpha" by Jesse Edwards. Ribbon and flowers from "Cherie" kit by Lynn Grieveson. Bow (recoloured) from "Summer Colors" kit by Dana Zarling. Tag from "Curled Journaling Spots", grid from "Ledger Grids Brushes-n-Stamps" and paper from "Rejoice" paper pack, all by Katie Pertiet. All materials from www.designerdigitals.com.