Announcing the 2008 Winner of the Super Prize

The winner of the 2008 superprize is Teresa my friend from Hilltop!!!! Congrats on your win, you will receive:

A. Adirondak Markers
B. Miscellaneous Papers and embelishments
C. PortaInk Dual Swivel Traveler
D. A marker buddy to attach to the PortaInk to store your markers,











E. An Acrylic mini-book
F. And a partridge in a pear tree...oups, where did that cone from? That's wrong!
G. A Big Bite, yup that's it, a Big Bite!

Congrats to Teresa and to all have a wonderful holiday!

Remember everyone, the blog contest will start again in January with the first gift handed out early February 2009~

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

A Yearlong Gift

A Yearlong Gift

Rushing here,
Rushing there,
Christmas gifts bought here and there.

No more time
For me to share,
Have to wrap those gifts with care.

What is free takes little time
What each can give to humankind,
Don't have to charge for it, it's free,
A smile I give to you from me!

M-C Graves

I love Christmas time. Not the preparation, that's a lot of pressure, but the enjoyment of the smiles and laughter and goodwill. I'm not the first to want to bottle the Christmas spirit and I'll surely not be the last. I truly enjoy the smiles of people receiving a gift and am touched and humbled when someone things that I'm worthy of their time or thoughts. A smile is a small thing and yet it is the biggest gift of all. It is hard to feel lonely, hurt or angry when someone is looking at you and giving you a genuine smile that says that they care, that you are special. A smile is something that you can share with a stranger you cross on the sidewalk, a cashier handing you your sales slip, a child or harried mom in a checkout line.

I've always believed that a smile is the best gift we can give each other, and so I send you all a smile for Christmas and my wish that you exchange and receive a zillion smiles in the months and years to come.

Close to Home

Sometimes beautiful things are so close to us and yet we either don't hear about them, don't pay attention or even just simply take the time to go and check them out. So it is that down by the smoke stacks on Apollo Beach, a 5 minute drive from my house, there was a place that I had never paid attention to though I would think that I must have heard about it before. Truly, after I took the time to check it out, I noticed the signs about it on the highway. Silly how we sometimes don't notice something that is right under our nose! Too rushed, too busy, to self absorbed? I'm not sure why I never paid attention to this wonder earlier. If I had checked this when I first moved here, it could have given me an extra two years of enjoyment!

During the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I wanted to do something special with my son. Something new. It occurred to me that it would be great to go down to the power plant and see what was really going on and find out if it was worth adding to the list of things that you bring visitors to see.

Oh my goodness! Well put together, it is an awesome sight. There is a coffee shop and walkways and a space where you can sit and eat, a souvenir shop. Like I said well put together. By now you are surely wondering what I am rattling about.

I am speaking of a well cared for Manatee Viewing Center. Manatees are huge, inoffensive sea mammals. Strict vegetarians, they seek the warm waters of Florida during the winter and even more so the warmer waters of places like Blue Springs, or the Crystal River and Apollo Beach power plants amongst other spots. Because we were having a cold snap, there were about 30 manatees in the inlet and according to the ranger there were roughly 80 manatees in the inlet in the early morning hours! What a site! I can only imagine that they must have been almost shoulder to shoulder, or is that side to side in the morning. Manatees are protected animals and they cannot be fed and people are not allowed to touch them. This isn't a problem in Apollo Beach since swimming isn't allowed and frankly I wouldn't be inclined to go swimming there, but in Blue Springs, humans and manatees share the beautiful, warm spring water.

Needless to say that any visitors I have with a little time on their hands will be directed to drive down Big Bend Blvd right down to the Manatee Visitor Center! I wonder if there is a similar site near your place that you have a tendency to overlook?

I Should have...

I really should have announced the winner of the Big Bite already. What a silly head I am! Anywho, the winner is... drum roll please... Marie-Laurence!!! Felicitations! Ces pingouins sont tres contents! (Congratulations! These Pingouins are very happy!) I hope she is reading this! I'll give it to you next time we meet, which I hope is this Saturday!

Next week I'll announce this year's big winner. The winner will receive the biggest prize of the year super hopefully in time to open it on Christmas morning! Everyone's postings will give them one ticket in the potgood luck to you all!

Would you believe it...

Wouldn't you know it! Last Sunday I went to bed and with everything that is going on in our lives right now, I had a hard time falling asleep. Not only did I have a hard time falling asleep, I woke up at 3am and couldn't go back to sleep, so I watched a couple of pre-recorded TV programs till something like 5:30. I finally fell asleep again and woke up to the phone ringing at 9 something. I answer the phone to a perky "Hi is this Ms Graves?" "Hmm yes, this is she, can I help you?" "Well this is Julie from the Scrapbook Shoppe and I called to let you know that you won the big basket!" "Oh my gosh, I won? I won the basket? That is just awesome! I am so thrilled! Thankyou for letting me know!" Julie went on to tell me that she would put the basket back in the classroom with my name on it. I assured her that it would not be sitting there for long.

What is so weird is that it nearly didn't happen. Sunday I went to the Scrapbook Shoppe for something to do and because they were having a 25% off storewide sale and I thought well there might just be something that I'd love to have. So I drove on over and bought a couple of things to use on a Kaiser 12x12 clock that I bought a while ago. I am walking out the door when I think, oh darn, I didn't put my name down for their Christmas draw. I never win those type of draws so I very nearly got into my car and drove away, but for some reason I turned around. I put my name and phone number on the piece of paper provided, crumpled it and put it in the basket telling everyone, "well I guess I can't win if I don't fill one of those." Oh my gosh there is so much stuff in the basket and it is so awesome! Here is a picture of Alexia handing me the basket, well there is no basket but anyhow the big bag full of Christmas goodies!

Thanks to Julie the owner and Alexia for always being there, for the prize and for their always sunny disposition when I go in there to browse and shop! You guys are awesome!!!

Nov Christmas Cards

Well here are the Christmas cards I made this month. There are two sets, both from K&Co, one is their Swell Noel, the one with the funkier colors and the other uses more traditional colors. One of the amazing things about all the cards I've made this year is that no two are exactly alike! Again thanks to Lynne for the challenge. Now all I have to do is the insides and of course actually send them out, LOL!

I hope you enjoy looking at these and continue to comment on this blog. Remember there is one more winner for November and then from everyone who commented since the beginning of the blog there will be a winner picked for the big December giveaway!

Next up on the blog, the great news I got on Monday morning!

So Much to Share!

It has been a while since I updated my friends so here goes.

On November 3rd, Rick and I flew to Washington DC so that Rick could go to the AALS meat market. OK well it isn't really a meat market, it's a recruiting conference. But given how things are done and people selected it has always reminded me of the NHL's draft pick extravaganza better known as the NHL meat market in some circles. He had a number of interviews. Unfortunately for me, I was sick for the first few days with a fever of over 100. I couldn't even remember seeing 100 come up on a thermometer in the last few decades!

Once we got home it was time to get ready for the scrapbook class I was teaching today (Nov 15th) at Scraptopia. This was the second time around for this Thanksgiving class. I must say that it was rather flattering that so many people liked the project. However two people wanted kits and being me, I felt it was only right that they get complete directions, which I completed only 5 minutes ago. So now the question became, how to share them? Well seems to me that the best way is to put them online. So if you click here you will be able to see the instructions with pictures.

I am currently working on a perpetual calendar to be given as a class and a Xmas 8x8 wire bound book. I've also completed work on the November Christmas card challenge which I'll upload tomorrow if possible, a number of 6x6 pages for my BIL's birthday and some knitted sweaters. I guess I'm a little busy. In addition, Rick and I will be going to northern Kentucky shortly for an interview. I've driven through there with my son Shaun when we first moved to the US from Canada and found it to be rather nice country. We'll be flying into Cincinnati and renting a car so that I can drive around the area and get a feel for it should we end up moving there.

However until anything concrete happens, I have vowed that I'll keep living as if I were never moving, enjoy the dear friends I've made and continue to have fun. Which reminds me that I'll be going to the Scrapbook Expo on Friday December 5th and scrapping all day. If you are attending the Expo on the Friday, be sure to look for me and my buddy Janie!

More later!

And the Winner is...

I suppose that I could announce the winner tomorrow, but I can hardly wait till then to let this person know what she will be receiving! Besides tomorrow is a day for voting and politics and finally going forward and finding out if change really means what we all think or hope it means.

So for now, let me pray that whomever becomes the new president, and whomever gets to sit in the house or the senate, will rule the country with wisdom and integrity and leave office having made this country an even better place to live.

But back to my winner. Cathy R, you are the designated winner. I'll be shipping out to you a couple of chipboard mini books, one that says Adore and the other 12345. I hope that you will find something fun to do with them.

Happy Halloween!!

Oh my gosh can it be that we are already October 31st? I can't believe that time has moved so quickly! Well it's time to share again! I completed two challenges this month, a 2 page Halloween layout using a punch (the black cats) and the colors orange, purple and green as well as the October Christmas Card Challenge.

I think November is the last month for the Christmas Card Challenge. I guess with all the cards I made, I better start addressing the envelopes! It's been fun and I have Lynne to thank for making so many cards this year. On the other hand, it's been pretty difficult making over 80 different cards, and I must admit that the last batch took me a long time to get done, LOL!



Here are the cards:


Some of these are part of the card class I'm giving at Scraptopia on the 15th, which is why I'm not showing them individually. Once the class is past, I'll tell you which one of this batch is my favorite. And I do have a definite favorite! I'm also working on a sweater form my DMIL. So far I really love the effect of the two yarns I decided to put together to make it. Hopefully my MIL will also enjoy it and it will fit properly! Well that's it for this week! I have an all day crop tomorrow that starts at 9:30 and I need to email Lynne to let her know that these have been uploaded. For some reason, I'm having a hard time posting to the RCS newsgroup!

Have a great weekend!!!

I Got Tagged by Teresa

I got tagged by Teresa and I'm tagging my fellow friendly bloggers, Deb R, Marie-Laurence, Lynne M, Crystal W, and Linda C

THE FIVE TAG

5 years ago ...
1. I was enjoying my pool in Parrish, FL
2. I had just discovered scrap stuff other than CM
3. I was contemplating opening my own scrapbook store
4. We were getting ready for a trip to DC... we are doing that again this year!
5. My car, which I no longer own had somehow gotten thousands of flecks of paint on it from a house that was being spray painted in the neighborhood.

5 Things on today's "to do" list ...
1. Finish my perpetual 4x4 mini calendar
2. Cut out a second set of Xmas cards to serve as a template for the other sets that I need to cut out for one of the classes that I'm giving at Scraptopia on the Nov 15.
3. Watch TV (Dancing with the Stars, the Rays game etc)
4. Sew the sweater I finally finished knitting. It's for my little nephew for Christmas
5. Email Carol B and apologize profusely for not getting back to her sooner! Sorry Carol!

5 Snacks I enjoy ....
1.Chocolate (I'd say chocolate 5 times but...)
2.Ginger Snaps
3. chips (all kinds)
4. Granny Smith apples
5. Those big sour smarties (did you know that in Canada smarties are more like M&Ms)

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire ...
1. Pay off our house
2. Update the floors at our house
3. Buy my son a house in Orlando
4. Pay off my car
5. Help my brother out

5 places I have lived ...
1. Quebec City, QC, Canada (I was born there)
2. Paris, France
3. Montreal and suburbs
4. North Little Rock, Arkansas
5. Tampa Bay area of Fl (St Pete, Parrish and Riverview)

5 jobs I have had ...
1. Blood Taker at the Montreal General Hospital (didn't last long, I just can't stand hurting people)
2. Secretary Searle Pharmaceuticals, Montreal.
3. Canadian Armed Forces (25 years Private through Major)
4. PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Tampa (taught Oracle financials and the company's structure)
5. Arthur Anderson in Sarasota for a year before they got Enron-ed. (IT manager)

Wow that's more about me than I usually tell most people and on my blog... I'm losing my mind! If you find my mind, please be so kind as to return it. I'll even pay the COD if I remember, haha!

Scrapbook Sanity

Scrapbooking is something that grabs you and becomes a part of you. It is more than a hobby, it is a social phenomenon that has replaced the quilting bees of our great, great great grandmothers. It is not just something that you do alone in your home, it is something that makes you want to pack up your supplies and go and sit with others and share. It would be simplistic to say that what you are sharing is a hobby for what you share is so much more. You are sharing a part of yourself, you are sharing your life, you are creating a support circle of people who by their very nature will be there for you when you are in a tight spot. Scrapbooking is one of the great anti-depressants of our time.

With economic times being what they are, we still want and perhaps even need the interaction of crops and scrapbook classes. In fact in my case I need this interaction more than ever. As a scrapbooker I love to take time with my friends to sit and talk while working on my pages. I makes me feel not just connected, but like I'm accomplishing something special.

As someone who is fortunate enough to teach scrapbooking at a couple of scrapbook stores as well as to my group of Scrapbook Buddies, I have tried to make sure that the projects I offer have a lot of bang for the buck. I want, no I personally feel the need to make sure that the people that come to my classes have a good time and leave with a feeling that they had a great few hours and that they came out of class not just with a great project but happier, more fulfilled and empowered than when they came in. I take far more time than many of my fellow instructors getting my classes ready because more than anything I want them to be a no stress zone where I can assure the people that they will be able to complete the project before they leave. I cut out anything that is not part of the learning process ahead of time, make sure that there is time to complete the project and always make sure that there is no class immediately following mine so that I can stay as long as I'm needed.

As someone who hosts crops, I've seen an increase rather than a decrease in the interest people have to get together, to be a part of something while getting away for a few hours from the daily grind. I confess to having the same need to have my friends around me and get away from it all, the economy, the declining prices of homes, our house which we got for about $10,000 less than the market value when we bought it is now worth about $65,000 less than when we bought it, and the rest of the bad news out there.

When I am scrapbooking with my friends, I know that tomorrow will come and that we, each of us can have a hand in making sure that it is better. How do we do that? By having faith in each other, by making a stranger smile, by being courteous rather than curt, kind rather than abrupt, optimistic rather than negative. By holding out a hand to someone that is less fortunate than we are and there is always someone far less fortunate. But more than anything by looking in the face of a friend and knowing that together you can help each other make it through the week, the month.

St Francis of Assisi wrote this so many years ago and it is still my favorite prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Last Saturday's Classes and What's Coming Up

Last Saturday I was at Scraptopia giving my Happy Thanksgiving minibook class. I had such a great time. I always seem to be very blessed to meet wonderful people in my classes. Between the people that picked up their kits and the people that actually attended we sold out the class and Jackie the owner has decided to schedule a second class on November 15th and see if we get any more takers. As part of the class I created a number of cards from the scraps and gave each students three card kits to take home.


The first two cards I've uploaded with this blog entry were part of the three I added to as a class surprise and the other cards shown are prototypes. I was too lazy to go and rotate the other cards I made in photoshop, so you don't get to see them. Terrible me!

I will also be teaching a Christmas card class on November 15th and Keshia has also asked me to fly to the Bahamas and teach a Christmas card class at The Scrapbook Cottage on November 22nd. I'm looking forward to seeing Keshia and her family again. This coming weekend is my Haloween class and with a little luck, I'll be able to sew up and finish three sweaters I've been working on as Christmas gifts for Ricks family and complete, scan and print in 8x8 size the 20 pages I've completed or my family heritage scrapbook.

Breathe Baby, Breathe Tomorrow Will Come

With the world around us seemingly spinning out of control, no wonder we are all feeling slightly out of breath. There is no better time than now, to grab our cup of tea or coffee, or our glass of milk and take a moment to just chill, just like my big kitty is doing here! The more stress there is in our lives, the more we need to take those cleansing breaths most of us learn about during labor and delivery. The more important it becomes to take time out to rest and relax. We need to do these things and stay as healthy as we can because our families and friends need us to be there. It is so often our role to be the calming influence, the voice of reason, the person who keeps the channels of communication open between various family members. It is up to us to ensure that there is understanding without hate and strength without pigheadedness.

To be there for our loved ones, we need to escape somewhere where the economy and the future of the world are not the main topic. In fact with luck, these things are not even brought up. Not because what's going on in the world isn't important; it is very, very important, but because no one can live in the pressure cooker that is our current world 24/7.

So if you are lucky as I was today, you go to a scrapbook store sit and meet some new people or in my case today, teach them a whole bunch of techniques while creating something that will be enjoyed for a long time. If you are really lucky, you get to sit and enjoy the newbies growing confidence as they progress through the class and feel proud of a job well done. For a few hours, I got to escape from the rat race, the frantic world outside and was reminded of the important things, the basic things. Strangely enough, that is what scrapbooking is about. The people we love; the memories we cherish; the new things we are planning to do, document and scrapbook. Scrapbooking reminds me that these bad times will pass as have the others and that no matter how bad things can get, if we hold on to our core values, we will always come out on the other side with more great memories to preserve.

September Blog Commentator Award!

Well at least it's not mid October yet and I didn't forget and I'm going to announce the winner for September!!!! But first I just wanted to share two things in one using this picture. One, it's a digital layout made a couple of Christmases ago and two, GG and Boyd are holding one of the presents I made for them. It took me forever to get the exact color mixed backgroud that I wanted, but they did seem to like them.

As for this month's winner, she is a member of RCS, someone that I've only gotten to meet once, for a few days, but that I care about a lot. She has her own blog which is a delight to read and she is one of those precise creative people that I admire for the quality of their finished work. She is sweet and thoughtful and lives on the west coast, yup she is a California person. So Lynne, congrats on your winning and I hope that I can get your present off early next week.

For those of you who come across this blog, do leave a comment even if I don't know you! It's not only a pleasure to read but each comment also qualifies you for one entry into the blog comment contest and all entries are entered with one person picked each month. Each entry will also count for the December Christmas present Super Gift that will be sent out to the winner in time for Christmas! Come 2009, I hope to come up with something new and creative to reward you for!

3 Classes Coming up in October!

Have I mentionned that I love creating things for classes? I've got 3 classes coming up in October, 2 at Scraptopia, the closest LSS to me, and one with my Scrapbook Buddies.

The first is the 22 page 12x6 Family Time book that is scheduled from 10am till 1pm at Scraptopia. The cover is made using a prima embossed 12x12 chipboard cut in half and then covered with 4 different layers of paints, glimmer mist and modge podge. The inside pages are from My Little Yellow Bicycle, Sandylion, with Bazill cardstock and MLYB embelishments. I just found that line so yummy, I had to do something with it. I used glitter mist, paint, ink, a stencil, stickle and acrylic. This 3 hour class is $49.00 and I intend to give mine as a Christmas gift to someone.

The 2nd is "Happy Thanksgiving, a class starting the same day at Scraptipia at 2pm. I used a Bo Bunny Happy word bloom book, Creative Imagination and K&Co papers and embellishments. As it happens I love those beautiful gliter and metalic papers so this 3 hour class is $39.50. It really does look great in person!

I'm also doing a Haloween book for my Scrapbook Buddies at my house. I've used Zutter acrylic and chiboard covers, Teresa Collin papers and K&Co embelishments. I'm working out the scheduling of this one right now as the Thanksgiving one might be pushed back to the 18th, which would mean that this one would have to be the 25th. I'll let you know as soon as I do!

Well It's that time of the month...

There was a time when that didn't mean time to upload my Christmas cards for the month. But frankly I love that this post is about Christmas cards! Given the last two posts you would think that I'm a little wacco about Christmas and you'd be half right. The Christmas cards are part of a challenge on Rec.Crafts.Scrapbooks a newgroup I've belonged to almost since I first started scrapbooking. I've really waited for the last day of the month to get them done this time!

Hope you enjoy them!

Scrapook Buddies go Crop for Charity

Isn't Santa looking great? Last weekend, (from right to left) Carol, Sharron, Britten and I went to a crop organized by fellow Scrapbook Buddy, Becky. The Santa in September Crop is held to raise funds to help out children with things like school supplies, shoes, and a Christmas gift. Becky and her elves did a great job organizing and having Santa there was wonderful!

Everyone had a great time and I am sure that we will all want to attend again next year, though at this rate, Becky will have to get a bigger hall! Congrats Becky on a job well done!

The Scrapbook Buddies is the Meetup group that I organized in the Tampa Bay area, specifically in the Brandon/Riverview area of Florida. I try to set up at least one Friday night and one Saturday meeting, plus a class of some sort every month. I also let everyone know when I'll be going/working at a crop so that we can get together!

Things I've done Recently

I think it's about time I went to Disney again. Would you believe I live this close to Disney World and I haven't been since 1998? That really is silly! I went to Disney more often when I lived in Montreal!

Anyhow the picture shows the front of a mini album that I designed from scratch, cutting the chipboard and painting it and glittering it and coating it and zuttering it and adding ribbons. We are hoping to get it done a little later this year or early in 2009. If you would like, you can click on it to see a much larger version.

Back on the subject of scrapbooks, I've also changed the look of my in home scrapbook display for when people come over to crop. I've refurbished 5 bookshelves using pegboard that I bought and had cut to size at Lowes. I attached the pegboard which is much more solid than the original backboards used to the backs of the bookshelsves. I then used 2nd hand 12x12 trays that I got from a friend and put as many as I could bellow the fixed bookshelf. The most I was able to put in is 28. If you want some trays please just get in touch with me.

Another Class and Ramblings

Usually I start by writing in my blog and then I choose the pictures. For the fun of it today, I decided to start with pictures and then write about them and then pick a title. The pictures are of a 6"x12" 22 page book that I am doing as a class at Scraptopia on the 27th. The covers are made of raw Prima embossed chipboard that I cut in half and then painted with different layers and types of paint amontst other things. This picture was taken before I added the ribbons and handed the project over to be displayed in the store.

The secong picture actually whose 4 usable pages, since there is an acrylic sheet in there embelished with stickles. I really had a lot of fun making this and I do hope that I get a few more people in my class. I'm supposed to go to Nassau from the 17th till the 21st, but I haven't heard from Keshia since the hurricanes went through there and I am more than a little worried about her. I hope that all is well at her end!


A few weeks ago I had a sleep study done and being a very light sleeper I was sure that I would never be able to sleep with all the electrodes and tape and other bothersome things that they hook up on you. Surprisingly I fell asleep almost right away and had a typical night. Meaning that I woke up about 15 minuts after falling asleep and roughly another 4 or 5 times after that that I was aware of. I think that the reason I was able to falla sleep is that the room was big and airy and I had a nice comfy queen size bed to speel on as you can see in the picture and that there is so much stuff hooked up to you that you are on sensory overload and your mind just wants to shut it all out! I was told that there were anomalies, but seeing as I was going on a crusie, tomorrow is when I will finally get the results of both the CAT scan and the sleep study! I would give a lot for blissful, uninterupted and refreshing sleep, so here is hoping that they can/will do something to help with that!

The Winning August Commentator is...

As the sun was setting it dawned on me! Oh my gosh I forgot to post the August winner!!!! So here it is the winner is.... drum roll please....

Kenda!!!!! You have won!!! What you have won is a surprise so you'll just have to wait till you get it. I have appointments for the next 3 days, but I hope that I can put something in the mail to you sometime this week! I'll let you tell the nice people who visit this blog what you've won when you get it! Congrats!

For the record, I will be changing the nature of how people become eligible to "win a prize" starting in January. But meanwhile, keep your comments coming. It only takes one comment to win, but the more comments you put in the more likely you are to win and your name will be entered to win the grand commentator prize as many times as you have commented since the blog began. The prize will be a wonderful present and sent out to the grand prize winner just in time for Christmas!!! Won't that be fun!!!

Cruising with Gustav

We had a great cruise! The weather from our departure from Tampa until the following Saturday was hot and sunny! Rick unfortunately had to work for the first few days, but I met people, went ashore, took pictures, scrapbooked my favorites, and journalled my experience.

As you can see above, we did encounter the bands from Gustav on our return trip. In fact as soon as the ship left Cozumel the Friday around 5:30 pm, the engines went up to 18 and then 23 knots. That is awfully fast especially during the dinner hour. It was obvious that we were speeding to outrun Hurricane Gustav. The pictures above were taken on Saturday evening. The seas were choppy and there were some significant wind gusts.

Obviously, I enjoyed them, though I must tell you that I was unaware that Rick was taking continuous pictures. I was waiting for him to take a picture and wondering why he was taking so long. I hope that the people that are cruising this week are kept as safe as we were by our Captain.

Oh and since I said I would share, here are some pictures of Cozumel.