so very special

As you've probably noticed, I am on a "no-buying" spree...which is REALLY REALLY hard for me. This last weekend I was downtown shopping and came across these earrings at a super posh store on government street called Viollette. They sell all sorts of local and French jewelry - they even carry sugarlime.com stuff, which is some of my favorite!

I fell in love with the earrings. Molded with an antique french molding, imported directly from France.

I know it's lame to use "love" and material things in the same sentence...but it's true. I love them. And, I went crazy. Then my friend Jenn said, "No. Do not buy them." Since Jenn is not my authority, I decided to ask God...and in my heart, He also said, "No." I sadly listened and heeded obediently.

Then, I excitedly told the admin girls at work about this highlight of my weekend! One of them is getting married in only TWO WEEKS and I am helping her with some last minute wedding stationary stuff.

She remembered the EXACT earrings I described and where to get them.

Then, sweet Rhianna went and bought them for me! AND GAVE THEM TO ME!!!!

I immediately cried! I hugged her three times! Inside, my heart was saying, "Thank you Jesus for this wonderful gift! Thank you for using Rhianna to bless me so richly!" I am truly thankful...and these earrings are MORE than just an OBJECT to me...they are a reminder that God works through those around us all the time.

It is better to receive something as a gift then to buy it for yourself! (Although, I think the actual quote is: "It is better to give then to receive.") LOL!

THANK YOU RHIANNA!!!!!!!!!!!

Colleen and Faithlyn

It was such an incredible gift to do a photo shoot with my dear friend Colleen and her little baby Faithlyn. Faithlyn was born at only 27 weeks, and was just recently brought home from the NICU. At 7 lbs Colleen kept exclaiming, "She's so big!" That's not exactly what I was thinking :)

Thank you Colleen for this wonderful privilege - I hope that some of these pictures captured the beauty and intimacy between you and your little precious girl. I love you both.

New Collar and Leash

Thank you so much to Kelly from Collars by Design on Etsy.com! I love love love Jolie's new matching collar and leash - handmade by Kelly and the whole set was only $30!!!!! YAY! Jolie looks adorable and I am so proud of her new fashion accessories :)

I highly recommend anyone who wants a beautiful new collar and/or leash for their pup to visit Kelly's sight: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CollarsByDesign?ga_search_query=collars+by+design&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&includes%5B0%5D=tags&includes%5B1%5D=title

Purple Pigtails

Something just came OVER me. I couldn't resist. I had a sudden urge to forceably tie purple bows in Jolie's hair and take pictures. No reason. Just an urge.

Thankfully, she didn't mind...well, for too long.

Downing Family Book

The Downing Family - what a precious and important part of my life they are! Misty, the mom, was our babysitting since my little sis was in diapers! I still remember when her highschool sweetheart would come to our house to "watch movies" with Misty after we would go to bed. Eventually she and this sweety Steve got married...then they had two little girls with the same initials as my sister and I: "E&K" Elizabeth and Katelyn.

Krystal and I then became Kate&Liz's babysitters :) We love these girls and truly feel like their AUNTIES even though we're not biologically related...we feel like family.

I did this photo shoot about three years ago...since then a lot has changed! They've added little Juliann to their family...and I got a DIGITAL instead of a FILM camera :)

These shots were all done in my little second bedroom that I converted into a photo studio. I was using a film camera, so I had not idea how the pictures would turn out! But, I am SUPER proud of them - no alterations, nothing. Just shear love captured in this mini book.

Used the Martha Stewart lace edge punch...I borrowed it from Kristin (THANKS!) and totally fell in love - must get this some day! Used random various AC letter stickers and just a few words here and there - didn't need any journalling; I wanted the photos to just speak for themselves.

Loved adding a little fun by using my Hambly bird cage transparencies...just a special touch.

This is the first 6"X10" book I have done...and I totally love love love this size! It's so fun and perfect for 4"x6" photos!

I LOVE this patterned paper - I THINK it's October Afternoon (or maybe Cosmo Cricket?!). I had JUST bought it before this project and then is was PERFECT. The red woodgrain on one side and the awesome retro but totally MOD print on the other side set exactly the mood I wanted...
I used vellum to separate some pages just for a little added formal flair.

Used a D for Downing and a key charm to dress up the front. Bound with my zutter.

So Many Books

I was a math major because I loved how simple and straightforward math is...not EASY, but simple. Unlike literature, art - all those RELATIVE things.

After school, I fell in love with books.

My shelfari bookshelf (to the right) is filled with my latest reads. Many reasons why I love those books - many reasons why I DON'T love others...Questions about any of my books, lemme know!

What are you reading?!

Scrappin Room - More Organizing!

Made another executive decision to take my big background Stampin Up stamps out of the boxes and store them like books...hoping this will help me use them more often! Love them all - will never part with them...These background stamps are one of my all time favourite SU products!

(Above) I used empty Stampin Up boxes to store small embellishments. They're all labeled and stored vertically in a drawer. Love how re-organizing these made me remember how many cool things I have! And, I have gotten rid of pounds and pounds of excess packaging (recycled, of course Kristin!)

(Below) Finally got the last three Clipper Street clear containers I needed to finish up one of my two cupboards! I am so happy with having exactly one dozen of these 13X13 containers with removable lids (no clasps/handles to break!)

Anyone else finding their paper collection getting WAY WAY WAY outta hand?

Well, I LOVE my paper. I don't want to "purge" it. I want to touch it, look at it, play with it, and enjoy it. I am in LOVE with paper!

I was one of those "office isle" kids...you know, the kids who would beg their moms to just let them wander the office supply isle while she did the grocery shopping. Just smelling the scotch tape, admiring the massive Crayola collections, and running my hands over piles of notebook paper made me happy.

And it still does.

I've been having a hard time with my patterned paper, though. You know, the more you get, the more there is to choose from! And, when there is SO MUCH to choose from, it can take a long time to do a scrapbooking layout...and, well, that's just counterproductive now isn't it?!

My pal Tammy told me that she organizes her paper by color. I've heard of this, but kept my collections by brand. I used to work at Clipper Street Scrapbooking, so I learned all the brand names pretty well. But, the problem is, there are a LOT of different brands! And, I am not loyal to just a few, so it was still hard to find my papers.

So, Tammy helped me re-organize my patterned paper by color. What was really hard was all the multiple colors on a page! But, she helped me through and just said, "What's your favorite color on there? What's the color that you BOUGHT the paper for?" And, that really helped! Thanks Tammy!

So, now I periodically paruse my own paper collection...love it :) TFL!

Office Organization

I love to organize. And use my label maker. A lot.

I know, I am weird. But, it's true.

Most of my home is in pretty good shape, I think anyway. It works. I am able to follow my three simple steps to organizing anything:

1) find a suitable "home" for the object

2) put it there

3) follow the "one-in-one-out" rule to avoid excess clutter

HOWEVER, I have been unable to follow my own steps with success when it comes to the...

dum dum dum

DREADED HOME OFFICE!!!!

David rarely throws a fit about anything (well, accept having to go shopping...), but the other day he finally let me know his opinion on HIS home office space. He complained about how unfair it is that the only space that's supposed to be HIS in the whole house is always cluttered and piled with crap. And, he was right.

So, I took on the DREADED home office project. I got it completely FIXED in my mind that we MUST have this ONE kind of drawer-organizing container. I found only ONE of these containers at Winners/Homesense, but needed about 8 of them...

My lovely mother in law drove me all around the lower mainland to MANY Winners/Homesense stores to try to hunt down these coveted containers...we went to: Park Royal, Metro Town, Lougheed, Coquitlam, Surrey Centre, White Rock, and Langley...all in all I visited 9 YES NINE stores to find these containers!

Then, David spray painted the brown ones black, which really didn't turn out that great. But, whatever. They work, and I am NOT going to obsess about the SLIGHT color difference.

So, as soon as we got home today, I labeled and labeled and labeled. I found homes for ALL the clutter on our...um, I mean, HIS...desk. I made it functional AND pretty. And, I am hoping that it will work for us! YAY! It's done!

PS - yes, I even went so far as to label every different kind of cord and put them in individual baggies...I was so tired of them getting all wrapped together! DONE.

PSS - these are all the random mismatched containers that our stuff was in BEFORE. Funny how organization boxes can actually BECOME the clutter, eh?!

Sick Easter Puppy

Thanks to Nana Lois for the Easter Bunny toy on Jolie's first Easter ever!

Jolie is quite ill...David thinks she has Giardia. She's basically been throwing up and having diarrhea for a week. We have to feed her rice...which sticks to her ears, chin, and nose...too cute! Poor thing...