Catchin up with Fall

Just wanted to catch-up ... it has been an unusually warm autumn.  I love it!  The days are crisp and bright ... our lawn is lush and green and the pups are happy and playful!  We spent many hours with the dogs in the yard. 

An old ... really old ... golden lives just 2 doors down ... his name is Loki.  Some days the poor guy can barely move, but these days he's all frisky.  He wanders over to our back door and barks, "Can Sydney come out to play?"  He has a thing for Syd.

 

Loki



Loki and Syd.  Tuck and Alf in the background




Sketch Support Creative Team Call

So, here I am again, submitting for the Sketch Support Creative Team.  I wish I could say that I'm confident ... I feel like I was too rushed ... I didn't even see the call on the blog until early last week (computer not working).  But I just couldn't let it pass without trying ... you know?

First up ... Between the Pipes ... In Feb 2007 my nephew James wanted to be the goalie for his house league team. He worked really hard and got quite good at it!  The page is simple and easy to look at ... I like it.

Between the Pipes

This layout is based on Two-Page Sketch #21.

Supplies:  The Paper Company, Creative Imaginations, Moxxie, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Stickers: Bella Blvd, Brads: Bazzill Basics, Floss: DMC

Variations:
First, I changed the sizes of my background pieces. Instead of 3 4x6 blocks I used a 5X6 picture, with 2 paper blocks 3.5 and 2.5 inches wide.

I reduced the number of pictures. Instead of 5 3x3 photos, I used 3.

I moved the embellished area under the title to the second page.

I stitched a random curvy line across the top and placed black brads along it's length to mimic the movement of the puck.

Here's a couple of close-ups ...

Second ... bring 'em all HOME ... My nephew Chris is an amazing athlete. Baseball is just one of the sports he excels at.  When the bases are loaded his team can always count on him to bring 'em all home!  I really like this page!

bring 'm all HOME

This layout is based on Two-Page Sketch #21.

Supplies: Creative Imaginations, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper

Variations:
I stayed close to the sketch. I thought the background needed something so I stitched a circle onto the cardstock using baseball stitching.

Instead of a stripped border, I used grass to continue the baseball theme.

I put a 1/4 inch strip of black cardstock along the top of the background blocks to help ground the layout.

I used some old die-cut baseball bats to embellish the title. I popped-up the bats and the word "HOME".

and here are some close-ups ...

And last ... "that BOY'S got some moves" ... Again Chris was playing for his first AAA Hockey team.  Even at the age of 7 he moved like a seasoned pro.  On one occasion, as I stood near the glass watching him expertly moving the puck up the ice, the man next to me whispered to himself  "that boy's got some moves".  I'll always remember that! 

"the BOY'S got some moves"

This layout is based on Card Sketch #11.

Supplies:  Striped paper unknown.  Cardstock Bazzill, gold metallic paper unknown, HP glossy photo paper.  Floss is DMC.

Variations:
Obviously I used the sketch to create a two-page layout.

Instead of hearts, I used nested gold and white stars using the metallic gold paper and glossy photopaper.  I stiched around the stars with gold and white floss.  I popped-up some of the stars.

And here's some close-ups ...

... and so there they are.  I hope it's three times lucky!

Computer Troubles

We've had some problem with the computer ... I really DO miss the internet when I don't have access to it.  Anyway, I'm back now!  I'll do some catch-up later today, but first there's something important to take care of ...

Weekend at home

We're both zonked ... it's rainy and cold ... and both of us have mild colds ... all stuffed up, sore throats, nothing serious.  I spent some time on my scrapbooking ... so much to do!

So, I finished this one weeks ago, but for some reason didn't post it on my blog.  These pictures were taken in September 2004 during our vacation to the east coast.  The little tour boat circled Perce Rock while northern gannets crashed into the sea all around us!

Rocker-Perce

And this one ... I love this one,  While vacationing on the west coast in 2008 ... I took a whale watching tour out of Victoria, BC.  It was very windy and the whales were frisky ... leaping, cartwheeling, spy hopping ... we saw all of it!  It was a dream come true!

Whale Watching adventure

I did finish a layout for the challenge on Sketch Support ... it was late, but so what ... I already own all her sketch books anyway.  I used the card sketch to make a title page for my Vacation 2003 album.  Steve and I had not had a 'real' vacation in years, so together with some friends we embarked a Road Trip to the East Coast ... 2 weeks, 4 provinces.  I pulled out my distress inks and blending tool and my tattered angels mists for this ... I think that it looks way better in person.

Road Trip 2003

And finally, this one really fought with me.  I got what I wanted, but Murphy was working against me, that's for sure.  In Feb 2010 Steve surprised with a trip to Owl Woods.  It's a private conservation area where owls ... even the rare Boreal Owl winter.  It's located on Amherst Island and to get there you have to take a ferry across the St. Lawrence River ... the frozen St Lawrence.

breaking the ICE

I've got 3 more close to being finished ... a pretty good effort!

More Murray Lake

I love looking through pictures.  I've picked a few more to post.

This year we packed a big bag of sunflower seeds, another bag of shelled peanuts and 4 loaves of bread JUST for me to feed to the birds.  The Blue Jays and Grey Jays visited us every morning and then again in the afternoon to grab some grub to store for the winter!

Grey Jay

We heard the tapping before we saw it.  Although very common, I've only seen a few of these large pileated woodpeckers in my life.

Just outside our cabin!

And finally ... every day we watched the sun set.  Each night the lake lay before us like a mirror ... loons wailed in the distance, or whistled together on the lake.  This year there were no spectacular sunsets, but this was lovely ... very serene



Simply beautiful.

And then we'd watch the stars ... up here there is absolutely zero light pollution.  Billions of stars filled the giant sky ... even the big dipper, pictured here, is hard to find amidst that incredible star filled sky.  Across the lake an owl called, so peaceful, so perfect!



The big dipper.

 And finally, in the end ....



YIPPEE!



Getting back into it!

Thanks Lynette for your comment on my pictures.  Here's the thing, I've already gone one planned using the new October 2-page sketch on Sketch Support ... and I've got my heart set on the Huckleberry Pond collection to really make the layout pop ... and my local scrapbook store ... the best scrapbook store ... Two Scrapbook Friends has only got a few bits and pieces of the collection in stock ... the rest is on back order.  WHAAAAAAAAA.

But I've got enough to do ... again, I've let things get bogged down.  I've started at least 10 layouts in the last month and have not finished one.  I'm bad for that.  It's the final touches ... I never know if I'm done ... so I take it out and look at it ... push some embellishments around the page ... then put it aside until I'm sure.  I plan on finishing some off this weekend.  We'll see ...

The Sketch Support site had a challenge last week for a layout based on a card sketch.  I really wanted to do it ... I printed out the pictures even.  But I just have no energy after work these days.  Now I see that no one has entered the challenge, and I actually feel guilty about it, like I've let Allison down or something.  But I just can't do it tonight so I'll try tomorrow ... so what if the challenge ends tonight.

Where's Tucker?

I'm so embarassed!  A friend from work asked me if Tucker went to Murray Lake with us ... and that's when it hit me, I had not included any pictures of my sweet boy Tuck on my blog.

So, I've included some pics to show that ... not only was he there, he had a great vacation too!

Handsome Boy!

Tucker's not really a swimmer ... he'll go in after toys or sticks, but he doesn't swim very well at all ... he's gone under on us a few times so we don't push it with him.  Left on his own, he'll play in the shallow water with his frisbee ... too bad this one sinks!

Who NEEDS to swim!

In this picture Alf was dancing and skipping at the end of the dock with all the guys, but he lost his footing and fell in ... I think Tuck may have been laughing at him.

HAHA!

Whenever Steve was down at the boat, all three dogs went to check it out.

Whatcha Doin?

And more pictures including Tucker!

Syd with her duckie and Tuck

The gang's all here!