Layout #161

Molly by Haley Ross

I feel so lucky when I have a great photo that is centered so that it will make a perfect layout when blown up to a 12x18" photo. This was one of those times.
I haven't journaled the page yet, but I will.
I am proud of myself because I tend to cut corners & skip anything that requires too much 'detailing' in my layouts these days. This time I took the time, did the stitching & embellishing, and I am proud of the way it turned out.
I am grateful for Michelle who not only took these beautiful photos but also came by to scrapbook today & was there to provide "encouragement" while I did this layout. She is such a calming soul & I find I take my time when scrapbooking with her. Thanks Michelle!

Materials: Patterned Paper & Die-cuts: My Minds Eye; Rub-On: Basic Grey; Pearls: Kasier Craft; Floss: Basic Grey; Pen: EK Success Zig Writer; Cricut Cartridge: Opposites Attract.

My heart melts when Miles falls asleep in my bed. I love that kid.
And the other day I came into my room & he was holding his sisters hand... I couldn't get my camera out fast enough! It was so sweet. Such a great moment.

And then he poked her in the ear.

And the 'moment' was over.

Layout #160

My Funny Valentine by Haley Ross

This is one of my favourite pictures of Miles.

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: My Minds Eye; Rub-On: Kasier Craft; Alphabet Stickers: Thickers by American Crafts; Flip Flaps: Close To My Heart; Border Strips: Bazzill Basics; Pen: EK Success Zig Writer; Sticker: DCWV.

Layout #159

I took waaaay too many pictures of this day, so I made a simple layout & I'll put this page protector of 4x6 photos in-between the two pages. I didn't want to throw any away but how can I possibly scrapbook 20 pictures of the same thing? I love having this option.

Materials: Patterned Paper: ki memories & Scenic Route; Glitter Paper: DCVW; Chipboard: Scenic Route; Brads: Doodlebug Designs; Pen: EK Success Zig Writer; Page Protector: Making Memories.

Layout #158

Little Monster by Haley Ross
It's like this paper was made for me! I couldn't have planned this better if I tried!
Materials: Patterned Paper, Brads, Stickers & Chipboard: My Minds Eye; Alphabet Stickers: Doodlebug Designs; Wordfetti: Making Memories.

Layout #157

To Infinity & Beyond! By Haley Ross
Materials: Cardstock: Worldwin; Patterned Paper: Bella Blvd.; Sticker: Jolees; Alphabet Stickers: Making Memories & Thickers by American Crafts.

Layout #156

Believe by Haley Ross
I started this layout & had such a great picture in my mind... but somewhere things took a turn for the worse. I don't think I chose the right paper, which doesn't help. But here it is. Done.
Materials: Cardstock: Worldwin; Patterned Paper: My Minds Eye; Brads: Karen Foster; Tags: Making Memories: Fuzzy Brads: Doodlebug Designs; Rub-ons: Making Memories; Alphabet Letters: Thickers by American Crafts.

Layout #155

A Place To Grow by Haley Ross
(made in a class with Susan Tutt at Scrapbookers Bliss).

I'd like to apologize to Susan for butchering her beautiful layout. I took her class at Scrapbookers Bliss a couple weeks ago & made the middle part of this layout. But, because I am anal, I had to turn it into a double-page layout. (It looked much better in my head). I love the tree. What a cute idea! That Susan is too talented! (She is one of my favourite local scrapbookers). Check out her classes at Scrapbookers Bliss in Calgary. You won't be sorry (and you might see me there!).

10 Randoms

10 Things I Love About Spring

1. Miles can play outside. And he does. All day long. In fact, sometimes he eats lunch out there. He just loves being in the backyard.
2. No more winter driving.
3. Every time it rains, it gets a little greener (is that a word?). I love that.
4. BBQ-ing is THAT much easier.
5. I get to plant my garden (which is actually just a series of over-sized pots.)
6. Patios. I love going to a pub & sitting on a patio, even if I have to be near the propane heater until summer comes.
7. Propane Heater (see #6). We got ours as a wedding gift & we love it! It extends the time we can be out enjoying our deck by months. We start having a glass of wine on the deck in April some years... and continue until October (okay, maybe add a wool blanket to this.).
8. Watching my lily grow.
9. May Long Weekend at the cabin. This is usually the first time we get there each year. And I start looking forward to it in February.
10. Having the windows open. I love catching the cross-breeze & airing out our home after a long winter. I also love sleeping with my bedroom window open & listening to the trains, birds & eavesdropping on the neighbors (haha!).

Ouch!

A while ago I put my blood, sweat & tears into something special. It took me weeks & weeks to create. And maybe even longer to come up with a name for the 'baby' I had put so much time & effort into. And it was a success. And then someone ripped it off without asking or giving me an ounce of credit. I could cry.

I love marketing. I love it. I enjoyed it in college & still enjoy it today. I love the THINK TANK. I love trends. I love fads. And I love improving an existing idea or putting a new twist on something that needs it. But I also believe in giving credit where credit is due. And sometimes, if you don't, it's called COPYING. And since Kindergarten most of us know that being a Copy Cat isn't a good thing. Which is why when most of us copy a layout, buy the same cute shorts our girlfriend just bought (Kim!) or change our hair color, we give the original creator a little bit of credit (I know I always do... or at least acknowledge it wasn't my idea)

I wanted to keep this thing I created for myself. I wanted to make it uniquely mine. In fact, I had discussed it & marketed it to another scrapbook store owner who was going to hire me in the fall to promote it. And now I feel ripped off. I feel like I am pitching an idea to her that I STOLE (when in fact it was the opposite.). And a couple people asked me about it.... wondering why I claimed it was mine...And I don't know what to do... but I am crushed.

The thing is... if she had asked, I would have given it to her & started again from scratch on my own. I honestly would have.

I am totally feeling this KICK IN THE GROIN....

I wish I knew what to do. Call Her Out & try to take back what I created? Or Move On & make something even better? Which one is right? Which one will make me feel good? I just feel so sad. Like actually SAD. Not mad. Not bitchy (which is what I usually feel). Just sad.

Adventures in Potty Training...

Lately Miles has been telling me when he needs to go Poo. And then, once he has, he lets me know he's ready to be changed. I have a feeling in his head he is saying "Come on lady, you're slacking off here!". So I bought a couple books on Potty Training. And I ordered a DVD.

I doubt that he's ready.... I think we need to work on communication.... But just in case he is, I am going to try a casual approach for now. No pressure. And if it doesn't pan out... Meh. We'll just try again in a little bit.

The adventure begins at Zellers. As some of you know, I am very pro-Canadian. And when given the choice, I chose Zellers over the American Wal-Mart any day. Any day. So we headed to Zellers to buy a 'Potty'. (I hate the word 'Potty'.)

I decided to let Miles pick his own Potty. First he picked a Diego one. It was orange. Doesn't match my bathroom AT ALL. So I put it in the cart. And then (by the grace of god) he changed his mind to this one (below). And I didn't even have to try to change it for him :)

So we got the Potty. But there's no price on it (soooo typical of Zellers).

After trolling the store to find a scanner for 20 minutes (one is broken, one is missing, one is Out Of Service??) I find a lady who tells me to go to Customer Service. All the way at the front of the store. And there is a line-up. It takes me 30 minutes to find out our new Potty is $24.99.

I love Zellers. But here's my beef: Have you ever loved a store/restaurant/etc. so much, but the service is terrible? That's how I feel about Zellers. I love it. I want to shop Canadian & will even pay the extra 10-15% in order to do so... But NOTHING in this store is priced. There is no one to help you & it's a mess. (It's always a mess! Not just at Christmas or during a Sale!) I would say that of the items that are on a shelf... less than 40% of them have a price. And you shouldn't have to HIKE to find out what it is. At our store we rarely priced our papers (because of quantity & because we moved them so frequently), but I like to think we were always available to help you when needed...

I've heard that a 'reward system' (AKA: Bribery) works well with Potty Training. I know a friend who used M&M's so I picked up a bag of Smarties. But I don't want Miles always having Candy as a reward (in case you haven't noticed, this family has weight issues) so we get a bucket of soldiers (which coincidentally also had no price along with all of the other Toy Story Toys in the aisle, so back to Customer Service...).

So... We got the Potty. We got the Rewards. Here we go...

(Please post any & all advice in the comment section. I can use all the help I can get...)

Layout #154

Miles' Baby by Haley Ross

Pink on a boys layout! Who knew?

And check out this old product. Some of these stickers were bought "off the roll". Yeah it's been a while.

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper, Stickers & Die-Cut Alphabet: Heidi Grace; Brad: Bazzill Basics; Border Punch: Fiskars; Alphabet Stickers: American Crafts; Flip Flaps: Close To My Heart.

Layout #153

Adventure by Haley Ross

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper & Chipboard: Close To My Heart; Alphabet Stickers: Making Memories.

Layout #152

Smile by Haley Ross

I bought this pack of stickers a couple years ago. There was paper to match but I didn't love it.. so I only got the stickers. And they have been sitting around since then.. almost impossible to match with anything. Until now. I am so happy I finally got to use them. They are so cute. This is one of those layouts that I started (with all the brads) and wished I hadn't. It was so time consuming. But I am happy with the final result.

Materials: Patterned Paper: Making Memories, Scenic Route & Scrapbooking With Attitude; Stickers: Daisy D's; Brads: Making Memories; Grommets: K&Co.; Pen: EK Success Zig Writer

Layout #151

Gone Truckin' by Haley Ross

I cut a huge star out of a piece of patterned paper so it would coordinate with another unrelated paper. So happy with the results. I love Cricut.

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics & Coredinations; Patterned Paper: BoBunny, October Afternoon, Basic Grey & American Traditional; Alphabet Stickers: Basic Grey; Metal Monogram: Scrapworks; Journaling Spot: Jenni Bowlin; Die-Cut Flower: Basic Grey; Eyelet: We R Memory Keepers; Pen: Zig Writer by EK Success; Flip Flaps: Close To My Heart.

Layout #150

Go Fish by Haley Ross

Layout 150! I've done it! I've met my 2009 layout goal!

Oh wait... It's 2010. Dang.

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: Making Memories; Flip Flaps: Close To My Heart; Stickers: Making Memories; Brads: Karen Foster; Acrylic Letters: ki memories; Other: Pop Dots.

This paper is adorable huh? And it's a couple years old. I love how making memories always has such good Halloween stuff. And a huge assortment of embellishments to chose from.

Well, my husband is busy in the kitchen making Chorizo Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup... so I thought I'd spend a part of the afternoon uploading all of these layouts. And for the most part (3 exceptions) these layouts were completed in 2009. So here they are.

Now to complete & post another 1o0 layouts bringing the total to 250 (I've lessened the challenge by 50 layouts... after all, I have another kid to contend with this year...) . Who thinks I can do it? (I didn't raise my hand). It's gonna be tough but I think I can manage. Here's hoping.

Layout #149

Come Fly With Me by Haley Ross

Materials: Cardstock: Coredinations; Patterned Paper: Lil Davis; Charms: Karen Foster; Alphabet Stickers: Thickers by American Crafts; Other: Embroidery Floss.

Layout #148

The Ross Family by Haley Ross

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Quote Sticker: DCWV; Rub-Ons & Die-Cuts: Basic Grey; Buttons: American Crafts; Alphabet Stickers: Pink Paislee; Photo Corners: Making Memories; Pen: EK Success Zig Writer.

Layout #147

Trick Or Treat by Haley Ross

I love this layout. I think I just love all things Halloween. I love Halloween. Love it. And because I love it, it's easy for me to want to use up all of these great products. I love these Grand Adhesions (3D stickers) from K&Co. So cute! I'd have a hard time using them normally, but I just loved them so much (that cat on the coffin is adorable). The transparency is lifting a bit but it will flatten out in the protector. I love it. Love it! Even though I used a LOT of product.

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: K&Co; Glow in the dark Brads: Karen Foster; Themed Stickers: K&Co.; Journaling Spot: Jillibean Soup; Swirl Transfers: Scrapworks; Gel Pen: Sakura; Pen: Zig Writer by EK Success; Flip Flaps: Close To My Heart.

Layout #146

Gingerbread by Haley Ross

I really like this layout. And I love the paper from MME. I also love the small 2x3 photos that you can get printed at Wal Mart. So handy. And I cut a CTMH Flip Flap in half and it worked perfectly for the small pictures.

Materials: Patterned Paper & Die-Cuts: My Minds Eye; Flip Flap: Close To My Heart; Brads: Karen Foster: Alphabet Chipboard: Lil Davis; Other: Pop Dots

Layout #145

Camp Grub by Haley Ross

Materials: Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Stickers: 7 Gypsies; Alphabet Stickers: Bella Blvd.

Layout #144

Gingerbread Genocide by Haley Ross

Holy Sparkles Batman! Seriously, this is one festive layout!

Materials: Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper & Stickers: TPC; Alphabet Stickers: Thickers by American Crafts.

Layout #143

Playtopia by Haley Ross

I used some mesh paper on this layout that is about 7 years old. Seriously, 7 years. Who keeps paper for 7 years? I do.

Materials: Patterned Paper: Cosmo Cricut; Brads: Doodlebug Designs; Pen: Zig Writer by EK Success; Letter Stickers: Making Memories; Other: Mesh & Corrugated Cardstock

Layout #142

5 days old by Haley Ross

This is the first layout I have done of Molly. Doing girly layouts is a whole new ball game. I like a simple layout, but having all these options (flowers! rhinestones! swirls!) is making it hard for me to remain simple. I saw this new BoBunny line at Scrapbookers Paradise and I fell in love. LOVE it. And it matched her little hat perfectly.

Big shout-out to Michelle Gier who took these pictures. Job well done.

Materials: Cardstock: Coredinations; Patterned Paper & Die-Cuts: BoBunny; Calendar Die-Cut: Jenni Bowlin; Cardstock Number: Thickers by American Crafts; Pen: Ek Success Zig Writer.

Layout #141

Together by Haley Ross

My Auntie Tara (who is pictured in this layout) is a scrapbooker (I actually have lots of scrapbookers in my extended family!). She is what I call a "Cardstock Scrapbooker" meaning she rarely uses patterned paper. And her layouts look great. I rely heavily on patterned paper... this layout only has 3 different patterns and that's pretty minimal for me...

Materials: Cardstock: Coredinations; Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny; Flowers: Prima; Title Sticker: Doodlebug Designs; Buttons: Basic Grey; Transparency: Making Memories

Layout #140

Me, at 28 by Haley Ross

I do this layout every year before my birthday. This is the fourth time (I wish I had started this tradition when I first started scrapbooking.). It's cool to look back and see how I've changed (or haven't). I did the journaling back in January but finally got the layout together yesterday. The paper I used is about 5 years old... not having the store anymore, I am on a serious scrapbook budget so I'll be using up old stuff a lot more often now.

Materials: Patterned Paper: ki memories; Ribbon & Alphabet Stickers: making memories; Button: Basic Grey; Chipboard flower: Heidi Swapp; Rhinestones: Kaiser Craft.

The 'New' Me

Alright, maybe not. I still swear, love wearing my ripped sweat pants, I watch Dazed & Confused once a week & love eating cheese... But overall, it feels like the person I was in January is no where to be found. How can things change so quickly?

Molly has been a huge learning curve for me. Having 2 kids is unbelievably hard. I heard it was and 'they' were right. It seems I had enough love, but not enough attention to go around. And Miles is getting jealous. I know I'll get the hang of it. When?

Oh! And Molly is doing fine. She doesn't sleep much (here is a picture of the rare occasion) but she eats well. And she finally got some furniture in her room so now it feels like she is here to stay.

Being at home has been hard. I know that there are thousands of women out there who would love to be able to stay at home.. I was one of them. But it's harder than I thought. I miss talking to adults. I miss grabbing a coffee while I'm 'out'. I missed having goals & accomplishments that have nothing to do with diapers or bottles. So I went looking for new ones... and they seem small and insignificant (even pointless & thankless) but I have a feeling that's just part of being a mom.

I have decided to use this time at home to hone my cooking skills. I grabbed yet another cookbook (I have already devoured Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet). So now I am working my way through Jamie's Food Revolution. I've never had a Jamie Oliver cookbook & you know what? I love him. This book is great. It's exactly what it claims to be. Simple. Delicious and affordable (And I saved $10 off the cover price by picking the book up at Home Sense!).

Last night I made a chopped Salad (pg. 120). It was FAB. So, for those of you who don't have the book, here it is (but seriously, go buy the book):

4 Scallions (I used green onions as well)

1/2 a cucumber

(Thanks to Jen & Tom Weisgerber who brought us fresh cucumbers on Easter! They were amazing!)

Handful of Basil

2 ripe avocados

1 Butterhead Lettuce ( I didn't have this so I used Kale & Arugula)

Handful of Alfalfa

2 ounces Cheddar Cheese

EVOO

Red Wine Vinegar

English Mustard

Salt & Pepper (I skipped the salt)

* Chop Scallions & Cucumber. Slice Basil. Mix it all together. Halve avocados and chop. Add chopped lettuce & alfalfa. Crumble in cheese (Optional. We used super sharp cheddar. I loooove sharp cheese.). Mound the salad into the bowl and make a well in the middle. Drizzle 6 tbsp. of EVOO & 2 tbps of red wine vinegar (Okay, I cut these two ingredients in half because I light salads with very little dressing. Also, I find the oils in avocado contribute to the texture.) Add teaspoon of Mustard and S&P. Mix well. Enjoy!

I also grilled up some shrimp to top it off (Brian has a hard time only eating salad for a meal.) Toss thawed pre-cooked shrimp in whole wheat flour. Heat some EVOO in a pan. Drop in the shrimp. Add a pinch of S&P and some Paprika. Grill until golden brown. Done!

So my goal is to cook 4 kick-ass meals a week.

I also want to scrapbook more frequently (I did 2 pages this morning & finished journaling another half dozen). I'll post them as soon as my camera battery is done charging :)

And I want to start blogging again.