Written by Just wanted to let you all know that my article about my fertility journey was published in the Yummy Mummy Club!
Click here: Our Little Miracle
A shadowbox celebrating a first holiday!
I love helping to preserve your special memories in shadowboxes! I was so excited to create a shadowbox for a little baby girl celebrating her first Christmas! I created a “purse” embellishment that Barbie is holding and a matching decoration in the right upper corner. The actual shadowbox is a custom 11×14 dark brown wood that I sourced out to fit Barbie. The second picture shows a thin shadow around the embellishment so that you can see the 3D effect. Enjoy!
Thank you Isla for letting me capture a moment for you!
First Christmas
Trip to New York and Chip Coffey’s biggest fan!
I love making new shadowboxes for you all! Here’s a couple of my faves!
Here’s a trip to New York that I captured in this 13×13 shadowbox. All the elements are 3D and I positioned them at different levels. I also hand cut and created all the embellishments from the Chanel and I <3 NY bags to the tiny cabs that are less than the size of a quarter. You can also include small souvenirs in your shadowbox. Look at the I <3 NY chain! The chain does hang down when it’s on the wall 
Trip to New York
If you’re a fan of Paranormal State and Psychic Kids , you definitely know who Chip Coffey is! I have a fan who has seen Chip Coffey at different events in Edmonton through Trixstar. I created this 13×13 shadowbox for her pictures and VIP passes. The best part about this picture is how you can see the 3D elements. You can see the shadow behind some of the pictures if you look close
Chip Coffey's biggest fan!
Why I resolved to never have resolutions again!
Every year as the year comes to an end, people start to look forward to the closing of a year and the new beginning of something different and special. It’s a time of saying goodbye to the not so good from the past year and the celebration of wonderful times to come.
Oh how I love the excitement of watching those fireworks, the magic of midnight’s first kiss, and the hope of making fresh resolutions for the upcoming year. Maybe it’s the enchantment in the air, maybe it’s the impulsive nature of New Years celebration… It always seems to me that these resolutions are GIGANTIC and always are lined with high hopes. Resolutions remind me of highschool graduation. People are always asking, “What are you doing after highschool?” You always want to make it grand, you never want to say something boring and typical… Right? Highschool… the end of an era. New Years Eve… always tainted with a dramatic ending almost like an era. All those pounds you wanted to lose last year are probably still hanging on, all those cigarettes that you wanted to stop smoking are still waiting to be bought, and that bucket list still has nothing checked off.
So what’s wrong with making a resolution? Why did I stop? I stopped setting those resolutions because I was sick and tired of not completing them. Every resolution I made, I NEVER completed. It was as if I made wishes and just EXPECTED them to happen. That’s why I resolved to never have resolutions again. I realized that I didn’t want to make magical wishes on New Years Eve. I wanted to make real and attainable goals on my life long journey. These goals take time, effort, and planning; not just hoping that they happen. So don’t make a wish… MAKE IT HAPPEN!!
A honeymoon captured in time!
How honoured was I to be asked to scrapbook an album of a client’s honeymoon in Europe! The client had saved receipts, maps, coins, and even a playbill… Small momentos of her honeymoon. When I met with her she gave me a large envelope filled with cherished momentos and a flash drive filled with over 500 pictures of the 5 places she had been to in Europe with her husband. She asked if I could pick the best pictures and momentos to scrapbook and it was truly my pleasure to do so! Enjoy!!
Castle in Europe
Portions of maps mounted with pictures
Souvenirs and pictures mounted together w decorative paper
Decorative hand cut swirl embellishment
Decorative swirl embellishment
What the newlyweds had to say!
“I have a habit of saving every little ticket and brochure whenever I travel (much to my
husband’s dismay) but never get around to doing anything with them. It all sits
in a box for years until I eventually forget what it was even from and in the
trash it all goes. I’ve never had the patience to scrapbook, and I find my
biggest downfall is that it all seems interesting to me, so I can never decide
what to save or include… That is until I found Scrappy Mommy. She took all my
“mementos” and photos and turned it into a memory book which I can be
proud to show off… It really tells the story of our trip and brings it all
back every time I look through it. I will definitely use Scrappy Mommy’s
services again! It was well worth it! (And no more boxes of fading ticket stubs
crowding our office shelves) Thanks Scrappy Mommy!” ~Laura (and Mark)
NEW! ~Scrappy MINIS~
I am so pleased to introduce you to Scrappy MINIS ! These are the perfect way to share a few memorable pictures with a special loved one or just to have for yourself to capture a happy time!
Scrappy MINI
Scrappy MINI
Here are some great uses for Scrappy MINIS:
- Stocking stuffers
- Use in place of cards
- Birth announcements
- Wedding favours
- Surprise gifts for your partner~ JUST BECAUSE
These pre-made, cash and carry items include adhesive squares and traditional paper corners for your pictures. All your have to do is personalize the Scrappy Mini yourself in the journaling square (inside the cover) and add pictures!
Current themes available are:
- Rockstar (star embellishment w metal star)
- Beauty (flower embellishment w metal studs)
- Prince (crown embellishment w metal squares and studs)
- Princess (crown embellishment w metal squares and studs)
- Family (square w metal filligree embellishment)
- Love (heart embellishment w metal heart)
Scrappy MINIS will be available at the Shopping Winter Sale and are on sale for only $10 each starting this Saturday NOVEMBER 19!
Couponing and Condensed Milk
Being a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom) has been an adjustment. Losing a regular income definitely puts a cramp in my spending style. What was once a time of buying shiny new clothes, jewellery and whatever else I HAD to have to give me that “buyer’s high” (ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ)… Has now turned into scouring flyers, ordering coupons, and making what I can to save my almighty dollar!
People look at me like I’m crazy when I buy 10 brand name gel anti-persperants, but I bet you didn’t get them for $1.17 each! They roll their eyes when I purchase 15 brand name shaving cream, but you also didn’t get those for $0.33 each! How about the 12 double roll packs of brand name toilet paper that those bears use for $4 each? AND then came the 20 cans of condensed milk… Then my husband thought I really had lost it! I mean what was I going to do with CONDENSED MILK??
Well let me tell you, you can’t taste the difference when you’re cooking with it. Fresh milk is so expensive so now I substitute condensed milk in place of fresh milk for cooking.
My top ten things to substitute condensed milk for fresh milk:
- Cream soups
- Scalloped potatoes
- Mashed potatoes
- White sauces
- Puddings
- Rice pudding
- Chocolate fondue (yummmm)
- Quiche
- Hot chocolate or cocoa
- My CARROT PIE
So yes I do have a stockpile going now for many different useful products. From cleaning products and toilet paper to cereal and pickles! I’ve even gotten full size brand name body lotions for $1.99 each!
Let me know if you want to know more!
My Coupon Binder!
My Well Trained Toddler…
As I was waiting in a long, long line at a very busy grocery store a woman in front of me said, “Oh I didn’t even notice your toddler sitting there! He’s so WELL TRAINED.”
Yes you heard me! Well trained! lol Then she went on and on about screaming toddlers. I thought, “How nice that you think that he’s well trained.” She obviously has some sort of delusion about babies and toddlers. I don’t know many or any trained toddlers! I have spent many hours reasoning, pleading, timing out, and consequencing my SCREAMING toddler. I don’t know any parent, even with the most angelic child, who hasn’t thrown their hands up in the air and wanted to run away screaming from their “well trained angel.”
My “well trained” son has taught me well though… If not for him being so “well trained”, I would have not developed the patience I have now and the wisdom to know when to ASK FOR HELP! I am so far from perfect and being my best means knowing how to recognize my limits. So that’s what I do, when I am at my limit I get help. I love knowing how my son will truly be raised in a community of love. Oh and a good cup of coffee helps with my “well trained” son as well! 
Age of Entitlement…
I just gotta say that it really bugs me when people say that life:
- is not fair
- means that the world always screws them
- means that the world owes them
It’s fine to feel that way sometimes, but really… LIVING YOUR LIFE WITH SUCH A SENSE OF ENTITLEMENT AND FEELING SORRY FOR YOURSELF WILL GET YOU NOWHERE!!
We all can tell a story of how someone hurt us, how someone scarred us, maybe of how someone robbed us of an innocence… It’s okay to feel hurt, feel angry, or feel depressed, but move on. Figure out what you have to do to heal yourself and move on. When you live your life in misery it’s going to D R A G on and on. When you figure out how to move through bad things or situations, you’ll realize how happy life can be and how bad things happen to everyone. No one deserves bad situations happening to them, but they just happen! That’s life.
Life is full of random bad things that happen, but you can either:
1. CHOOSE to move through and work through these bad things and be HAPPY or
2. CHOOSE to feel sorry for yourself and expect others to owe you and be MISERABLE.
The choice is yours! You deserve happiness! SO DO IT! GET HAPPY!
Get Happy!
My life as a mama~ What balance is to me!
I am a WAHM (working at home mama), SAHM (stay at home mama), part-time student, and wife. I thought that being a SAHM meant more time for my family… You know cookies in the oven, sunny days at the park, and lounging around the house in pjs once in a while… HA! What a nice fantasy!!
What I didn’t realize was that my social life would get a billion times more active, my son would have a social life full of activities, my relationship with my husband would now have to get more scheduled with dates and alone time… And to top it all off, how would I fit in my school and home business?
At first I tried to schedule everything to death. I soon ended up with no time to myself. I felt drained and very unhappy. Then gradually I realized these things:
- You can’t make everyone happy.
- It’s not your job to please everyone.
- Family comes first.
- Put your partner first because your relationship is the foundation that keeps this family together.
- Your schedule should be family time activities AND partner dates first. Work comes after!
- Set deadlines for work and prepare so that way you can be there for your family first.
- Say no when you have to and don’t feel guilty for it.
- Be kind to yourself and love yourself.
- Let go of mistakes and forgive yourself.
- Have fun and laugh easily because you’re only here for a minute.
Family Fun!