kid stuff

This past weekend was full of good times for the kiddies. On Saturday, R was invited to a birthday party for one of the little girls in his class. When I left him at the party, Miss S somehow managed to get herself invited too! While I was still at the front door trying to convince R to go in and have fun, Miss S wrangled an invite in, promptly took off her coat and shoes and headed to the playroom with the big kids. She is full of spunk that one! R eventually went in and had a good time himself, and when I tried to get Miss S to leave she said "I want cake". Really, it's a good thing she's cute, because does she ever come with attitude.

Immediately after the party I took the kiddies to the Sens game {just in time to catch the team Back in Black in their new jersey}...

where they enjoyed their fabulous seats right behind Auld's net...

Jillian, Ian and their kiddies joined us {thanks for taking the photos Jill!} and we had a great time. The kiddies managed to make it through all three periods, and the Sens won!

And the No.1 Star of the Game goes to Baby G...

for not freaking out when his mommy handed him to Sparty. He may be the most mellow baby I have ever seen!

On Sunday R played a little hockey of his own...

at his final floor hockey game of the season. He really ended up being a superstar. Just a short time ago he was too nervous to stay on the gym floor by himself, and now he goes all out, happy to be there, listening to his coaches and following instructions...and scoring goal, after goal, after goal...

And where was Miss S during all of this...

On the sidelines, after being told that she could not play with the big kids. Full of spunk, I tell you.

{Oh, and there were some good times for us really big kids too - after we put the kiddies to bed on Sunday, Jillian and Ian came over for drinks - and maybe some football watching, but us girls weren't really paying attention to that. Yay!, to finally having some quiet time with adults where I can actually have - gasp - a real conversation. Good times!}

so i saw it

Twilight. The movie.

And it was alright, but the books are better. The girls I saw it with {Kelly and Lee Ann read the books, and Christine hasn't yet, but is going to now} loved it. We decided to check out the movie on Monday instead of scrapbooking. I am still just thinking about how bad the vampire make-up was! But I did love the vampire baseball game... Overall, I had a good time, thought the acting was a bit cheesy, but, there is just something about that vampire story...

Or maybe it's just like Lee Ann said, "it makes you want to be a teenager again"...
Oy, I am so old!

more silver bella...

I'm sure you are getting tired of my gushing about Silver Bella, but I still have so many more photos to share and stories to tell. Unfortunately, I don't have all my projects finished, and since getting home, have been so busy there has been no time to work on any of them. So, I am going to post projects as I finish them, and wrap up my Silver Bella posting with these final photos {and the link to the Silver Bella pool on flickr, so you can check out all the completed projects}...

I was thrilled to take soldering with Sally Jean as my first class. We made three little charms each, and I am so hooked. I will be buying my own soldering iron as soon as possible. I met Sandy, another Canadian Bella, in this class and on our last day in Omaha we made a trip to Archivers together, along with Renee and Natalea. I also ran into Janice of Papier Valise, who was assisting Sally Jean in her class, and who I met at a scrapbooking event last year in Edmonton. I love to shop at Papier Valise!

My second class was the Winter Faerie Shrine with Kim Kwan where we altered a cigar box into an adorable piece of art. Kim was so much fun, she is the self-proclaimed "Bad Bella". I'm almost finished my box, photos to come.

I loved stitching with the sweet Rebecca Sower in my Fabric Art Adornments class. I will be making more of these charming bracelets for sure...

Look at the care that Rebecca puts into her class kits...

One of the highlights of the weekend was the Silver Bella luncheon with Mary Engelbreit.

She was so great, so down to earth and open. And she did address the topic about her magazine publisher, but sadly we will still have to wait and see what happens. ME assured us that the magazine will be back, possibly in a new format, sometime soon...

I had a great time at the luncheon with Renee, and was thrilled when Mary Smilove of Sweetpeas & Snapshots joined us at our table! Is it weird that I love her shop so much {from seeing it featured in magazines and online} even though I have never had the chance to go there in real life.

After the luncheon I met ME and had my print autographed...

and had to run to make it to my next class, Holiday House Tour with Charlotte Lyons! I ended up getting there before some of the other Bellas, so while we were waiting for class to start, Charlotte told us some stories about her and ME! How cool is that - stories from when they first became friends, and about their children, and how ME got started, etc. And then, ME walk into our class to talk to Charlotte...

I couldn't believe ME and Charlotte Lyons, two artists that I admire so much, were right there, in the same room as me...I {heart} Silver Bella!

I sat with Andra in the House class, who I met at the ME luncheon. She was so fun to craft with, and she gave me the cutest pin cushion ever, that she made {the strawberry that she is holding}...

Here are some of the houses from our class {mine is the second one from the left at the very back}...

My final class at Silver Bella was Better Backgrounds with Carolyn Peeler {also a Canadian Bella}. So cool to learn all her tricks and techniques for mixed media collage. This is what I came up with in her class {a little something to hang in Miss S's pinkalicious room maybe?}...

but I think it still needs some finishing touches, to be added soon.

And that should be {although I'm not making any promises} my final lengthy post about Silver Bella. I'll leave you with these photos from the charming Old Market District in Omaha...

Ciao Bella!

silver bella vendor faire

After classes on Friday wrapped up, the Silver Bella Vendor Faire madness began. So many wonderful vendors selling their vintage goodies and handmade items. Shopping bliss. And as expected, the presentation of the booths and attention to detail was over the top. Here are just a few of the vendors...

Carol Wingert's fabulous handmade books and kits...

Stephanie's booth was so fun...

One Hundred Wishes...the trims and Wish tickets are so divine...

Heather's beautiful Pretty Petals booth, where I bought some vintage silver glass glitter in pretty little bottles...
Gorgeous craft totes made by Kim Caldwell of Artistic Bliss...

The Raised in Cotton booth was just fabulous {I love the blog too...}...

I loved, loved, loved the Curious Sofa booth. I would love to go to the Curious Sofa boutique in Kansas City. In the meantime I check out the blog for some seriously sweet eye candy...

Sadie Lou from Lollishops {the froufrou friendly marketplace} was handing out the sweetest little press kits...

And here is Renee modeling her new Lulubellas apron. I had bought one in my class with Kim Kwan {she and Cori Jones make the aprons with all kinds of pockets for your tools and ribbons to attach your scissors} - loved them when I saw them in the Silver Bella article in Country Living ...
My apron is done in browns and blues with a wide brown sash and big rhinestone buckle - love it!

And love the vendor faire!

donna downey is coming...

here! How cool is that? Just as Renee and I were whining that no big events ever come to our city, Tomorrow's Treasures announced that they are bringing Donna to Smiths Falls for two days of mixed media workshops. We could not have signed up faster!

I have always admired Donna's work in Simple Scrapbooks magazine, her books and online. I love how she goes beyond traditional scrapbooking , how she uses fabric and mixed media techniques - can't wait to learn something new from her. So excited that Stephanie and Mellisa will be going too - so much fun to create together! Check out Donna's Campaign for Creativity here.

believing in the power of your passion to create is the gift we all have to share.
"believe in your creative potential, enjoy the creative process, try something new, explore new possibilities, but most of all believe."

Other exciting news - just heard that Silver Bella will be featured in an upcoming issue of Stampington & Co "Somerset Life". I will be watching for it! I just picked up the current issue the other day...

and I am still in love with their new magazine Where Women Create {this one was hard to find here, my Mom tracked it down back home for me - so I think I will have to get the subscription so I don't miss out}...

The photos of Sally Jean's studio are just awesome {I still have to post about my class at Silver Bella with her soon, and I am definitely running out to get myself a soldering iron asap...}.

And I know my mind is really wandering on this post, but check out the sweet Sally Jean charm Renee bought for me at the Silver Bella vendor faire...

just because I convinced her to come to Silver Bella with me {it wasn't really a hard sell though, was it???}. Thanks again Renee!