Love this season!

Here is a short slide show of our pics from Christmas. I took an unusually small number of photos (for me) - I guess I was really into it!
I've also been scrapbooking (yes, the old fashioned paper way :P) and here's what I've come up with:


Sorry about the terrible color on these - I took the photos in my basement. :) The colors are much nicer IRL. The two page spread is actually scrapped on a nice tan colored cardstock - not a greeny-yellow one :D I was even bold and added some glitter to the one with the butterflies. Yes - I used glitter! LOL!

I had a great, though quiet, Christmas this year. We loved the peace and quiet, but we found that we really did miss the visiting with family and friends. That surprised even me! The kids were happy with their gifts, and we all spent a great day together - just the 6 of us. I even did the whole turkey and mashed potatoes thing, and I LOVED how yummy it was. Here's a neat trick - lay slices of bacon over your entire turkey (it took one package to cover mine) then stick it in the oven to bake. No BASTING! That's right - the bacon bastes the turkey! Oh, and rub chili powder over the entire turkey before laying on the bacon. I stuffed the turkey loosely with some chopped apples, onions, garlic, and sage. Then - here is the fun part - brush maple syrup over the turkey during the last half hour of cooking. It was delish! I have to say, though, I've got WAY too much turkey left over. I think we ate about 1/4 of the turkey - the kids were so filled up with the treats from their stockings! Sheesh!

Hope you had a great Christmas season with your families! Ciao for now!

What I've been working on...

I've been busy doing something I've wanted to do for a while, and something that I am SO excited about. I've taken it upon myself to start designing some Digital Templates. I've discovered how much I enjoy using them (how easy they make my digital scrapbooking) and I thought, "hey! I can do that!". So, here are a couple of sample layouts that I made using my own templates:Blue Patterned Paper : Anne Lanagpap, Ribbons and star paper: Gina Cabrerra, Striped paper: Kim Crothers, Alpha "Bright": Lisa Whitney, Yellow Flower: Sande Krieger - all from BHG Scrapbooksetc. Font: Century Gothic Purple and Blue papers from Shabby Princess.
All papers, embellishments, and aplha used on the above page are from my own kit. I have been attempting to design my own digital kit, and this is the fruits of my first one. I call it the "true love" kit. So yeah, I've been a little busy :) I'm still not sure how I'll sell my kits or my templates, but at least I've been busy working on them. In january, I'll be giving away a free template for you to try, so stay tuned :) And if you have any ideas on how best to sell these things, I'd love some advice! Thanks!

Merry Christmas from our Family to yours!

My Man!

I was tagged by Mandy, so I'll go ahead and tell you about my MAN!

What is your Husbands name: Lyndon. I LOVE his name!

How long have you been married: 9 1/2 amazing years

How long did you date before you were married: I didn't know we were even DATING until he proposed. I guess it was about a month and a half before being engaged, and another 3 months until we were married.

Who eats more: Lyndon does. But I LOOK like I do :P

Who said I love you first: Lyndon ( I didn't know we were dating, remember? But I QUICKLY returned the sentiment. I KNEW I loved him, just hadn't said it)

Who is taller: Lyndon

Who sings better: I think we're equal in that department

Who is smarter: I have a higher IQ, but I think he is more sensible than me.

Who does the laundry: Me, but Lyndon helps (puhleeease let ME fold those towels, Lyndon!)

Who does the dishes: We both do - thankfully Lyndon is a guy who realizes it's his responsibility too. One of the many reasons I LOVE this man!

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: Lyndon

Who pays the bills: Lyndon. I used to but discovered I didn't enjoy it :)

Who drives when you're together: Lyndon - I hate driving!

Who is more stubborn: I am! No, Lyndon is! No I am! Okay, we are equally stubborn. Good thing we see eye to eye on most everything.

Who proposed: Lyndon did - refer to previous questions.

Who is more sensitive: Me, Me, Me...wahhhh!

Who has more friends: Me - I think people are afraid of Lyndon. Tee hee hee. When he's not smiling, his face looks like he's scowling. I hear people tell me all the time how angry he looks, and I just laugh because he's really a goofball!

Who wears the pants in the family: Lyndon - I mean, he isn't known for wearing skirts. We are equal partners (he respects my opinion), but when it comes down to it, I respect him as the patriarch of the home.

Where did you meet your husband: Through Church when we were teenagers. I always had a crush on him. I think he first noticed me when working at the mall, though.

Where was your first Date: He took me to play pool at the Institute building (kicked my butt, too) then took me to see the movie "The Apostle". It was horrible, but we still saw each other so the company must have been good.

Where was your first kiss: In front of my back door after a YSA dance.

Where did you get engaged: On a hill overlooking the mall where fireworks were going off. VERY romantic.

Where did you get married: Cardston, Alberta Temple

Where was your honeymoon: I'm still on it!

I tag: Joanne and Michelle!

My Birthday Wish! (I'm *ALMOST* old :)

Yes - it's my birthday today. Can you hear the birthday music playing, or do the Christmas Carols drown it out? I'm 29 today. Getting older, but not quite OLD yet :P I'm not planning anything over the top, but I am going to be doing my favorite thing to do on my birthday, and that's to spend time with my husband OUTSIDE the house. We will be going to see the new "National Treasure 2" movie, which I am SO excited about, and eating out at a nice Chinese restaraunt my hubby discovered with his pal Rob a few days ago. Other than that it's going to be a quiet one, which sounds right up my alley right now.

I do have one birthday wish that I'm going to "borrow" from Kristi's blog, and that is - to have everyone who visits to leave a comment! I want to meet all of you "lurkers" out there and to learn your names :) I have some exciting blog candy I've been working on - of the digital variety - and it's going to be super sweet because EVERYONE will get some! I guess that's MY birthday gift to all of you! So stay tuned! And please make my birthday wish come true ;)

We've been so busy around here getting ready for Christmas right on the heels of moving. It's been interesting... especially having my husband be HOME all day....everyday...day after day.... Don't get me wrong - there are definite bonuses to having him home (honey, can you hang this picture here?) but I'm a woman who is used to having the house virtually to myself during the day. When he's home it's hard to stay in my routines. Not sure why that is, but I NEED my routines. Anyway, he'll be getting back to work soon and I'll love being able to MISS him :)

Take care everyone and I'll be back to bloggin after Christmas! Look for the digital blog candy probably the first week of the new year! And remember - I'd LOVE to "meet" you, so leave a comment!

Fog, Photos, and Fun!

I just took some photos for some good friends of mine and I think you'll agree - they are a GORGEOUS family! Unfortunately the day was an EXTREMELY foggy one, so the lighting was not the best - in fact, I found it very difficult to get enough light to get away without using my flash. I ended up bouncing a flash especially for the group shots, but they still turned out okay. If you want to know what fear feels like - it's driving through this on icy roads at 100km/hour. YIKES!
We've know these guys since my hubby and I were kids. I grew up with the mom (best friends) and my hubby grew up with the dad (best friends). We were so completely excited when they ended up falling in love and marrying after we arranged a meeting between them. They were the ones who helped us to move to Saskatchewan and have been instrumental in making us feel so welcome and right at home. You can see more shots of them on my photography site HERE. We love them!

It felt so great to get the camera out again, and I'll be more excited when the snow melts in the Spring and I can get outside for more shots. I find it harder to be creative when I'm constricted to four walls. I know - think outside the box, but my brain is still focused on getting settled, AND preparing for Christmas. No room for that bit of extra creativity right now. I also get to jump right in to being Enrichment leader now as well. What a way to get to know the sisters!

My daughter is turning 6 right after Christmas, so I made up these invites for her friends (which are pretty much limited to the above family and another girl in her Primary class). I completely lifted this idea from Becky Higgins and I love it. I really, really hope she has a great time - I'm so worried about her adjusting, but so far she seems very happy to be here. I think the kids are adjusting better than I am! I hope she has a fun, fun birthday!

Tutorial - creating a vignette (or burning edges)

This is a super easy technique that will add a little something special to photographs where you want to highlight the subject. The same idea applies in both Photoshop and Elements, so give it a try! Lets go:

1. Open your image in Photosthop (or Photoshop elements). Be sure to create a duplicate image and close the original. (Image>Duplicate) Crop and edit your photo however you like.

2. Select the Burn tool (looks like a curled up hand and is found on the tool bar to the left of the screen). At the top of the screen, put in these settings: Brush size: 600, Range: Midtones, Exposure: 10%. You can change these values by clicking on the arrow to the right and selecting what you want from the drop down menu. When you've got these settings, we'll continue!
3. Move your mouse over your photo and you'll see a circle like below. Click on your left mouse button, and holding it down move the mouse over the edge of the photograph. You will see a subtle darkening of the image wherever you move your mouse. Keep it to the edges. Go over the edges of the photo once to begin. You can always go darker by passing your mouse over them a second or third time.
4. Now, go back to the top of your screen, and change the RANGE from midtones to SHADOWS. Repeat the steps above until you like the result. This is a simple way to burn the edges of your photo creating a vignette that is customized for your photo!
VOILA!
Here is another example of when I've used this technique:

You can make this as subtle or pronounced as you like. Experiment and have fun! Remember, you aren't working on your original, so feel free to play with it!

*Like this tutorial? Let me know and I'll add some more!

Oh yeah! The photo above reminded me...My oldest lost her first front tooth today! It was hanging by a thread, and it fell out just as she was talking. Yeah - talk about READY to fall out. She wouldn't have let me pull it if I tried. You'd think I was torturing the poor child. Sheesh! Anywho - one more down and too many more to go!