boo!

~~~~~~~~Happy Hallowe'en!~~~~~~~~


>^..^<

oct lo tag with a side of pumpkin

I wanted to share my Coraline inspired layout for SkrapnChat's October LO Tag.
I was so honored when they selected my "Too Too Tain" to kick off the tag. Being the first in line on my team I had to be creative as to not take away key elements but still keeping with the essence of the layout.

I was also looking for an excuse to pick up the Martha Stewart picket fence border punch that I had been eyeballing for quite some time. All I needed was the right layout and inspiration ;0)

And speaking of inspiration, not sure who our pumpkin is supposed to look like, but Maribel designed it all on her own =)



We had so much fun carving, cutting, scouping and making a wonderful mess. I even roasted the seeds and seasoned them with a savory seasoning mix. Mmm mmm! I forgot how much I loved pumpkin seeds!

To roast pumpkin seeds you preheat your oven to 325F and wash the seeds under cold water and separate them from the pulp. (I used a strainer to put the seeds into to give a final rinse) Spread them out onto a non stick cookie sheet in a thin layer and baste with the savory seasoning by mixing 4tbs butter, 1/2 tsp garlic salt and 2 tsp of worchestershire sauce. Bake for 25 min stirring them after 10 min. Remove from the oven a let cool.

*crunch* *crunch*
enjoy =)

october finds

OooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooOooO


I'm a little late posting this months finds but seeing that last week was pretty much a write off, better late then never ;0)

Hocus Pocus!
That is this months theme. I don't know what it is, or why, but this year I really have been getting into the spirit of Halloween. Maybe its that I finally got around to pulling out my Halloween decorations that I have been hording over the years. Or it could be the excitement of my dad coming down for another visit. Either way as I was digging out my Halloween stuff, I fell in love with my black cat candle holder all over again. I'm actually tempted to keep it out all year... just looking at it reminds me of my sweet black kitties back home, Spooky and Tansai, that I grew up with. I also stumbled upon this old photo of me as a child dancing with my Gramam. She's been gone almost a year, I miss her so.



Some other favourites include reading Harry Potter #7...again, kissing Joe with my Vampire teeth tee hee, finding a cool pumpkin soup recipe from my mother's "Old World Kitchen" cookbook, painting Maribel's toes all Halloweenie, burning my Hocus Pocus and Orange Sherbet candles *sniff* ahhhhh, practicing riding my witch's broom for the big night, lacey ribbon-man I'm such a sucker for lace, and googly eyes. My great deal was my eek. I had a 50% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket and so I found the last one of these so for $1.50 I snatched it up, and so glad I did as I haven't seen another since. Woot woot!

Have a spooktacular holiday!

>^..^<

j

a pumpkin for my punkin

With All Hallow's Eve creeping up we thought it best to hurry and pick out a pumpkin so yesterday we loaded into the car and off we went to the local pumpkin patch.


Maribel was so excited to go pick out a pumpkin that she cried when we drove by because I had to make a u-turn to get to the patch.


After it all was said and done we headed to McD's for a very healthy *cough* *cough* dinner with some much needed playtime in the playground making friends along the way.



Honeslty, I couldn't think of a better way to spend my afternoon.


Now to look up some fun pumpkin recipes. =)

things happen in 3's

it's true! And Friday (yesterday) was my day!

First thing, Joe and Maribel came home from North Carolina and when Maribel opened the door and saw me she said, *huge gasp* "MOMMY! MOMMY!!!" and dropped her Twilight Turtle and ran to give me the biggest hug I have ever received from her, EVER!!! I didn't want to let go. I almost cried.

2ND thing; I am still in shock that my fellow coworkers chose me as the Information Technology's Employee of the Year 2009. I was presented with the plaque at my work's All Staff Meeting yesterday. I teared up and am flattered beyond words, I mean seriously? Me???? It really means a lot to have even been considered for it let alone chosen.

And for #3....my dad called to let me know that they are now on the road and are on their way to sunny Florida!!!! I can't wait to see my Daddy again.

I'm so glad when daddy comes home,
Glad as I can be;
Clap my hands and shout for joy,
Then climb upon his knee,
Put my arms around his neck,
Hug him tight like this,
Pat his cheeks, then give him what?

A-great-big-kiss! MUAH


Have a wonderful weekend! We're off to pick out some pumpkins!


j


PS maribel didn't even notice the porch decore. must pick up some more...today!

oogity boogity

well, sort of.

Maribel and Joe are out of town this week and so I wanted to surprise them by decorationg our porch.

Okay, so I swear I had more decorations than this but I guess not. This is the first time I brought out these decorations since purchasing them a few years back on wicked clearance. yeah, and I now know why it was on extra discount, I had to use a broom to hold the skully guy up. So If I need to sweep my porch way, I'll have company-so to speak. Having all this extra time with my boo's being out of town, I figured I had no excuse this year, but looking at my poor porch I think I might be making a trip to Target later.

Enjoy =)


Do you think it's too scary? I don't want to freak out my little boo baby

too much treat

for this chick!

For some reason, our Halloween candy seems to be diminishing in numbers before the real trick or treaters come. Hmmm... It couldn't be due to my sticky little fingers reaching in every time I walk by (which seems to be often-every chance I get)...could it?


Naaaah

step one: denial
...

wild thing

This is the finished project that I gave a sneak peek of last week. It was surprisingly easy and very inexpensive to make. I also made one for my sister, but as a hoodie 'cause that's more her thing ;0)




I've been waiting to see this movie ever since I saw the first preview. I really hope Maribel doesn't get too scared, but she looks so cute as a Wild Thing heehee

Have an awesome weekend! Now go and be a little wild.
We are!


j


You can make a hat of your own here. I didn't want the wire to poke Maribel so I used yarn instead and chained 20 and tied off.
Or to make it into a hoodie like the one I made for my sis, I just cut two slits into the hood and followed the directions for the ears for the hat and made the whiskers with whisker material (same used on plush toys) instead of wire and reinforced them with a few stitches so they won't pull out in the wash.
enjoy =)

hello hello -hola!

I'm in a place called Vertigo....well, actually I am in a place called Tampa, Florida.

I swear they were singing right to me! with over 70,000 other people around! *sigh* I can still hear the ringing and feel Bono's sweat that hit the stands! Along with the sweat of the dozen people brushing up against me to the music. Mmmmm eewwww!

Pam, Me, and Jen

We left Orlando at the squeaky hour 8:30am and arrived in Tampa at 10:45a not really looking forward to the 95f feeling like 115f blegh! heat but man oh man, it was definitely worth every sweaty, stinky, memorable moment because we made it to the front row! Oh yeah, and the concert?
fan-friggin-tacular!!!


Hi-lites *oh where to even begin...

~ Making it to the inner circle, can we say Front Row?!?!? Sorry, but it's worth repeating a few times!
~ Seeing the Muse as the opening act! Awesome!!!
~ The energy from U2 really is a once in a lifetime experience!
~ The large diet coke after the show. It was the best tasting diet cola in the whole wide world!
~ I will definately see them again! and again, and again...

Non-Hi-Lites *yes, there were a few unfortunate to say

~ The 97F with humidity and heat index of 105F with absolutely no cloud in site. Except for one that received a standing ovation!
~ Mr. Personal Bubble Invader
~ Being packed into the arena walkway like sardines for 3 hours, I'm sure breaking several fire code regulations. There was no air circulation so we were breathing everyone else's exhale. Ew doesn't even come close to an appropriate word.
~ The "dropped rose" that wasn't so rosey in non cycled air. I can still smell it!


Hello Hello, (hola)
I'm in a place called Vertigo...

Elmo in concert

Maribel went to her first "concert" today hee hee She was sooo excited to see Sesame Street friends sing and dance.

Every time Elmo left the stage Maribel would ask Joe where he went. Quick thinking Daddy would say, "Elmo had to go potty." She never second guessed his answer and when she had to use the washroom, she proceeded towards the stage to use Elmo's potty.



Have a happy weekend!


j

just a little peek

Here's a sneak peek at my completed layout for October's LO Tag at SkrapnChat. I had a lot of fun creating this page and can't wait to share it later in the month. It's mixed blessings being first in line. Now I have to wait for everyone else to finish ;0)

On my way home I impulsed and stopped at Joanns'craft store and picked up a few items that I will have to use my sewing machine for. Just think, I'll be using my sewing machine for sewing pieces of cloth together instead of paper. Haha

Can you tell what it's going to be? I'll give you a hint, I have to have it finished by the end of next week ;0)

two little cuties

Little over a month ago I received a call from my sister, telling me that she has a very sad little girl. It turned out that Sherry forgot her little crocheted Sherry doll that I made here awhile back in the movie theatre. :'0(
Vic searched the theatre high and low for the mini Sherry. She inquired at Lost and Found, picked through the garbage, what a mommy trouper, asked everyone around, and finally left her number with the manager just in case someone finds the little doll. Poor Sherrykins was so sad it broke my heart to hear her sniffle in the background.

So here we are to present day with a new Sherry.


I added more details to this one with a flower, hair ties and I made her with a purple dress instead of pink. She even has matching panties hee hee

Of course you can’t make for one and not the other so I now present to you...

Aidan


I asked him what colour he wanted his 'Aidan's' shirt and he replied, "Blue with a Spiderman on the front." That's totally doable only I didn't notice until he was all done that I reversed the colours. Oops! I don’t think he’ll notice-I hope. I also gave him a little Mohawk which took more time then originally planned but worth it in the end. He’s so cute in real life it’s only fitting that he would be just as cute in yarn. =)



I have so much love for these two and miss them more then words can say. My wish is that we all lived closer so Maribel could play with her real cousins instead of stealing the doll ones from me when I'm searching high and low for them only to find them buried in blankets and being told they are going “nigh’ nigh’”. I can see I’m not through making these dolls yet...

So their bags are packed and now ready for their long trip to their new home in Lethbridge, Alberta Canada.

Have safe trip you two! I wish I was going with you :'0(


<3 your Auntie Jenn

lovin' the scraps

Yesterday was World Card Making Day! How cool is it to have an international 'holiday' dedicated to creating something?

I don’t know why I hardly ever make cards, but this year I thought I would give card making a go. And what better way to begin then on a day dedicated to making cards! ;0)



I now have a new love for my scraps!


j

I found this awesome tutorial on making a swinger card and put it into action with the little spooky spider card.

just the beginning

October is going to be super busy for me and I am thrilled! With events such as World Card Making Day, a super cool concert in Tampa, awesome photography challenges, family coming to visit and some more giveaways with holidays thrown in the mix, I can't help but get a little excited!


To start off the month, SkrapnChat is having a photography challenge to photograph a picture a day for the entire month of October and then use those pics in a LO. So cool! =) I am extra excited for this challenge 'cause it will give me the perfect opportunity to get better acquainted with my new Olympus. (And I'm even going to learn the "manual options" too!) So this will be a great chance to not only learn more about my camera but photograpy in general.


This Saturday is World Card Making Day! But this is where I must confess, I've only ever made 1 card that was created with card stock and pretty paper. Seriously. So I wanted to change that and what better time to get into the groove then to participate in this wonderful international event. Plus, it's a great way to use up some scraps!

And the most favourite part of this month for me is my Dad will be driving down from Edmonton, Alberta Canana* with my older brother Dave!!! *So doing the happy dance right now!!!* I can't wait to see them!

So stay tuned as I can't wait to share my journey in this thing call life.


j

*that's how Maribel pronounces Canada. I giggle everytime she says it! hee hee