This time around I really, really have a good excuse for not blogging. The last few months were so busy - I didn't even remember that I have a blog. OK, OK, I did remember, but honestly, truly didn't have time to create and therefore felt I shouldn't be blogging either. I am getting back into crafting now, so watch out!!

At the end of the summer break we sold our house in Kitsilano and moved to Abbotsford. I don't know if you've ever sold a house before, this was my first time and let me tell you - I don't want to do it again. The number of hours that went into getting the house ready for viewing was huge! I keep thinking how many cool things I could have made in that time! LOL. Anyway, we're in Abbotsford now and finally starting to settle in the new house. There was a lot of work being done on the house and I wasn't able to unpack as fast as I wanted to. One of the areas that had to wait was my home studio. I will take pictures of my studio and post them in the next few days.

So, no worries, my classes, clubs and craft fairs are still happening. Christmas Stamp-A-Stack was a big success. We made 20 cards (4 each of 5 designs). Here they are:











I've been spending a lot of time with my boys. It was a difficult adjustment period in the beginning, but we are all doing really well now. Here are few pictures from our annual pumpkin patch trip. We always go to Westham Island Herb Farm. It is a great place:





OK, that is it for today.

Blog ya' later,

It is Thursday. We've been back from our camping trip for about three days now and I am still away in my head. Green Lake was beautiful, as usual. Colder than usual at this time of the year, but beautiful anyway. We had some thunderstorms. I love thunderstorms, I wish we had more of them in Vancouver. Maybe I should move to prairies, eh? We did some geocaching, went for bike rides, built forts on the lake shore, and talked. And then talked some more. And when we were done talking, we talked some more. And it was a great time. We talked so much that you would think we never talk otherwise. Here is a landscape detail on our drive up.


While I was away, the new Stampin' Up catalogue went live. I love this one!! It is full of fantastic samples and it seems very different from previous ones in that way. Did I say I love it???? I rarely ever case things from catalogue, but there was a card, a simple one, on page 217, that I just loved for some reason. And here is my take on it. Not much changed, a tiny tad. Lookie:



If you don't have your catalogue yet, and can't wait to see it - go and check it out online by clicking on the picture below:






I will start taking pictures of the stamps that will go on sale on July 23rd, at my Catalogue party. I will post them here, so if you see something you like and HAVE TO HAVE, let me know and I might be able to set it aside for you. Otherwise come and see me on July 23rd, 12-5. Watch for the stamps and accessories list coming up in the next day or two.

Blog ya' later,

This class planner features the one sheet wonder technique. From one stamped sheet of 8 ½” x 11” CS you can create this amazing gift set made up of seven cards and a matching custom made card shawl!

IN STUDIO CLASS:

Date: July 13th, 2-5pm; July 16th, 1-4pm
Cost: $25
Location: my house

TO GO CLASS (includes the instructions (sent by email), pre-cut materials and embellishments so you can finish the projects at home on your own time. You will provide the stamps, inks and adhesives):

Date: Any date
Cost: $20 plus necessary postage
Location: your house

Please email me to sign up for this class: happyinker@gmail.com

You can receive just instructions for this class for FREE with a Stampin' Up order of $50 placed in July (sorry, club orders don't count).

That is it for tonight. Blog ya' later,

Last Sunday I was at the Main Street Car Free Day. The Beaumont Studios hosted an artisan market, and it was lots of fun. The weather was funny and I had to monkey around in order to make sure my stuff wouldn't get rained on. After all the shows I've done, I still don't have a proper pop up gazebo/shelter, so I had to use our camping gazebo. LOL.


Here are some of the close-ups of the table.




Thanks to all of you who came by and said hi - you know who you are. It is always fun to have someone to talk to and have a laugh with.

On Sunday I am in Portobello Art and Fashion Market, in Creekside Community Centre in the Olympic Village. I might have some of the 2 for 1 admission tickets - let me know if you would like some.


Blog ya' later,

I know, I know, it's been two weeks since my last post. I got busy again. I am in charge of getting something special done for my son's teacher for the retirement gift. I am very sad she is retiring, I was really hoping that my younger son would end up with her as a teacher in his grade 2, but no such luck. She is an amazing teacher and was the best thing that could have happened to my son. I am very thankful for that. I can not tell you anything about her present yet, just in a case that she pops by my blog. :-)

I am also wrapping up my activity with West Side Family Place. For the past 5 years I was the chair of the Board of Directors and it was a great experience. Alas, the time comes when we need to move on and help somewhere else. I am hoping to get more involved with my kids' school, it is time to be growing up with them.

Last weekend I had my stamping club ladies over, and as usual, we had a blast! I love these ladies so much, I've missed them badly while taking a small break from our club meetings. Here is one of the cards we've made. It was inspired by Andrea Walford, and it is using four out of five new In Colors by Stampin' Up.



I was invited by The Beaumont Gallery to join them next weekend, they are hosting a market space at Main Street Car Free Day at the intersection of Main and 15th on Sunday, June 19th. Here are couple of pictures so you can see what it looks like when I am getting ready for a market.




I am throwing one more photo in tonight, just as an excuse for abandoning you for 2 weeks.


OK, that's it. Off to bed now.

Blog ya' later,



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Click on the image below to see the last chance list. Make sure that you enlarge it fully.

STAMPS LIST


For Accessories list and Definitely Decorative List, please click on the image below.



Blog ya' later,

So, here it is officially - two new classes coming up.

NAUTICAL EXPEDITION CLASS

Nautical Expedition Class features The Open Sea stamp set and Nautical Expedition Designer Paper. The four cards and matching Log Book Card Box make a wonderful all Occasions gift set.


Date: Saturday, June 18th
Time: 2-5 pm
Cost: $25
Location: My house, 3150 Stephens Street

If there is interest, I will open up a date on Tuesday, June 21st, 6-9 pm as well. To reserve your seat for either one of these dates, please call or email me.


TIM HOLTZ STYLE CLASS

On Saturday, June 25th, I will be teaching Tim Holtz techniques. Come and play with his products, make your own grunge board bracelet, and get dirty with me. Hmmm, that did not sound very appealing, did it? ;-) I don't have pictures of the projects yet, but I will post as soon as I have everything done.

Date: Saturday, June 25th
Time: 2-5 pm
Cost: $40
Location: My house, 3150 Stephens Street

If there is interest, I will open up a date on Tuesday, June 28th, 6-9 pm as well. To reserve your seat for either one of these dates, please call or email me.

That's it for today. Blog ya' later,

What a gorgeous day we had yesterday. The sea wall was bustling with crowds of people enjoying a sunny day. The Creekside Community Centre was busy and full of light and laughter.

For those of you who had never had a chance to come and visit me at Portobello West, for the first time ever, here are the photos of my display.





I don't know why I've never had pictures posted before. I've just never done it. I'll try to get better at it. I had a great day. Lots and lots of people came by my table and I had lots of heart warming comments. I came home tired, but very, very happy.

I will be at Portobello throughout the summer and I'll let you know if I go to any other shows. Off to bed now...

Blog ya' later,

I love Fridays. My kids love Fridays. When a Friday comes around, that means we can stay home for two days, go for bike rides. Daddy doesn't go to work. We can watch movies and be silly. Or go geocaching. That is what we did last weekend. Well, a little more than that. We went camping and geocaching. We left Vancouver on Friday and went to Squamish. We've stayed at Paradise Valley Campground. It is a great place. Then, on Saturday morning, we left for Cache Creek. Across a snowy mountain, to the other side... We've stopped at the Seton Lake to rest and give our motorhome some rest as well. You can see behind our motorhome the mountain we went over.




After a break, we kept going until we've reached Hat Creek Ranch. What a great place!!! I've seen some things that I've only heard of before. The boys learned a lot in those two days. About the old times, about first nations, mainly Shuswap. We've seen Shuswap dancers, a kekuli, and a lean-to, and a sweat lodge... We've seen an old road house and all the old stuff in it... Well, take a look for yourself:

The boys having a ride in a stage coach while still in their pyjamas:


A Shuswap dancer:


Old cigar cutter:


Playing cards with no numbers, not many knew how to read back then:


Ice cream maker:


I was in heaven with all this old, old stuff around me. Oh to have some of it for my displays at the shows!

And here is our Geocache:


Mentioning shows, I will be at Portobello West Art and Fashion Market on Sunday, May 29th. It costs only $2 to enter, so come and see me!


Here is some of the new stuff I will have at my table:

These are three bottle cap pendants with a chain packages.


These are some of the scrabble tile cufflinks I've made:


The next items are made of upcycled bamboo tiles. Love these...



The pictures are not the best. It is very late and I am tired. It was a quick shoot and dash for bed...

Oy, this turned into a really lengthy post, eh? One more thing to mention... Two new classes coming up. On June 18th, I will be teaching a class for those men in your lives - fathers, brothers, husbands, you know those guys we all love so much... Lookie:


Yes, I know it is really, really close to Father's Day, but I have no other opportunity to teach this. So, come and get some cards ready for Sunday.

On June 25th, I will be teaching... drum roll, please... a TIM HOLTZ class!!! Come and play with his products and get dirty his style.

I will be posting exact times and details on Monday, so come back then.

Phew! See, it is better when I am quiet, eh? When I start, can't stop, I tell ya'. :-) Gotta go now.

Blog ya' later,

What a soggy, soggy day... My kids school is only three blocks away, and yet, I was drenched by the time I picked them up from school. The street we walk to school is lined up with cherry trees. Today all the blossoms hung heavy and sad.

I played again with My Digital Studio. Slowly, I am getting hang of it. It's not that different from other design programs I've used before - so no steep learning curve here. Look what I've made:


I am really, really starting to like My Digital Studio. I still do some stuff for my pages in Photoshop, but I have to wonder why I waited so long to give MDS a try.

For the last two months I've been participating in Portobello West Art and Fashion Market. It is a monthly market at Creekside Community Centre, held on the last Sunday in a month, and I am scheduled to be there every month through August. I will be selling my jewelry, including my bottle caps designs and bamboo tiles jewelry, my handmade cards and some altered art items. Come and visit me if you can.



That's it for tonight. Sleep tight.

Blog ya' later,