My Sister's Quilt

My sister is handy in lots of ways (she does my business website - www.noteworthydesigns.ca, shameless plug), has lots of power tools, makes cards and can use a sewing machine! I wish I had that last one in my resume of creative things - but sadly, I don't. Here is a quilt that she made for one of her friends new babies - see if you can guess his name! Can't wait to get my quilt...one day (another hint!). Sorry about the sideways photos - it is how they were sent to me.

Quilt

I saw this LOVELY quilt on Quilt Nut Creations that you can enter to win!! Isn't that sweet!?!? I want to win it so bad - I have never had a quilt before but think they are BEAUTIFUL!! Seriously. When we have a kid, I want to commission someone to make one (as I never will). Actually, my sister likes to quilt....humm.....

Go to Old Red Barn Co. and enter now! Or don't - and increase my chances of winning - just kidding!!! I love the colors in it too.

Where Do Stamps Go When They Retire....

....into your stamp collection! The 2008 Retired Stamp List has been released today and there are tons of the list again that will be leaving the catalogue and never returning.

FREE Shipping & Handling on any stamp set purchases through me (Laura Hit) that are on the 2008 Retired Stamp List. A great deal!

I can't upload the PDF here, but will be emailing out a copy shortly. Please let me know if you would like to receive it!

Last Bootcamp Challenge

Here it is - our last challenge! I found a photo on Pottery Barn's website and this was an inspiration challenge. The challengers were to take inspiration from the photo in any way - the colors, the feel, a certain element or anything else. Be sure to go to the bottom to see the winner!




I planned all the challenges in week 1 and coincidentally, a few weeks afterwards, Kristina Werner posted a Color Inspiration challenge on her blog with a picture from the same patio set. Check out her link for more inspiration.

Here is Michelle's last challenge. She is great at taking "non scrapbooking" stuff and turning it into a great card or project. The background are pieces from a sample book of lighting films (like photographers would use). Love it!



And Joanne's final challenge card is this one. I love the colors and I love the square card. Nice work Joanne!




This one is my card.




So thank you to Michelle, Laura W and Joanne for participating. Since Joanne and Michelle made it to the end, their names get entered to a draw for the Grand Prize. And the winner is...




...Michelle! She wins the basket above, 20% off your order and the samples that I made during the challenge.

And in 2nd Place (out of two, good odds!) is Joanne! Since you completed everything Joanne, I have a little gift for you too that I will mail.

Nice work ladies, thanks for playing!

Bootcamp Challenge #3

Nice work ladies - 3 weeks done! It hasn't been hard, has it? And I think it has gone rather quickly!

So Bootcamp Challenge Number 3 was a Limited Supplies Challenge. We were encouraged to use these items: A Wheel, Patterned Paper, A Brad or Eyelet and a Paper Punch. In addition, we tried not to use: Versamark Ink, White or Vanilla Cardstock and any Ribbon.

Here are the photos from this week!

Joanne's card is this one. Such dramatic colors and I like how she used different patterned paper. I'm always afraid, but this looks great! Nice choice!



Here is Michelle's card. She didn't have a Stampin' Around Wheel, so interpreted that part how she wanted - the wheel on the bicycle instead! Love the creativity! And for the paper punch, she used a circle punch for the balloons, but trimmed the edges to give them more dimension . Very cute!



This one is mine. It was a huge challenge for me to not use vanilla or white cardstock! And I don't love just the two colors. But I think the little duck wheel is so cute!


Laura W didn't have a chance to do one this week - if she does, I will post it. Stay tuned for the last challenge! I'm excited to see the outcome of this one!

Our backyard

On the long weekend, I saw our trees start to bud into flowers. It was quite exciting. And the next day, our tree exploded with beautiful blooms. I am so glad I took a photo before we left for Ottawa because when we got home - all the pretty flowers were on the ground! Not sure what happened - a friend said that because spring was later this year, it could be that the season was just shorter. I am said, but glad to have photos to remember! It has been so fun watching our plants grow this year as we moved into this house late summer last year, so everything was going down hill (especially in our Medicine Hat heat!).

This one is nearly all gone - just the nice burnt red leaves are left.




I cannot wait for the peonies to bloom! They are my favorite and I have been waiting for them since we bought the house!



This one feels so cool - kind of like rubber!



Bleeding Hearts I think - I 'm so proud for knowing a few plant names!



This is one is one of the ones with all the flowers that have fallen off. It was beautiful and now looks like it snowed under the tree with all the white petals.



Our lilac bush!



I thought this one was a lilac tree, but am suprised that the purple one is still going strong, but this white one is all gone. Maybe it is just the variety.



Mesh and I so proudly planted this annuals in our front little patch. We were nervous that they wouldn't survive as we don't know what we are doing. We were sure to take some photos as proof in case they didn't, but so far, they look great. We are so proud!


Edited to add: I took a photo today (June 1) to see how our flowers have grown and the progress they have made. I think it's cool to see them grow!

Bootcamp Challenge #2

Nice work ladies - the cards are great! Hope you are enjoying it so far. This challenge was based on a layout that I provided (inspired by Splitcoast Stampers).

This one is Michelle's. I like that everyone's looks different and the themes are different. It is a nice use of different patterned paper - goes well together. I like the blocks as the central image - so cute!



This one is Joanne's. I like the bright colors and the use of the metal rimmed tag as the focal point! Plus those little buttons are so cute!



This one is Laura W's. We made ours at the same time at our house - I love what she did with the scallop and put the two circle layers on dimension and glued the scallop straight to the card. So much, in fact, I ripped mine off when she left, changed the image and did a similar thing.



This one is mine. Don't love it as it took awhile to get the size right! I decided to add the Old Olive layer underneath so I didn't have to start over. And at the bottom is using a Stampin' Up! rub-on sentiment.

Ottawa & Montreal Highlights

This past weekend, my husband and I went to Ottawa and Montreal for a few nights. One of my good childhood friends was getting married. My parents (also friends with the family) went as well, so it was a great time spending time with them. We had a blast and I thought I would share some photos. Mostly scenery though - I spent a lot of time clicking photos outside the car window and was pleasantly surprised how many turned out!

The parliament building:



Some wedding photos (I didn't really get any good ones to share). It was a big greek wedding (my first one) and it was really cool!



My husband and I on the way to the wedding (our hotel was right across the river!)



The bride Michelle and I. She looked gorgeous!



I love peonies! So beautiful



We went to Montreal as well. It was fun seeing the signs in French. I was in the car when I took this one and these people were laughing at a tourist (me) taking photos out of the car. So I tried to do it subtle, and barely made the picture!



Some photos of us (my parents and I)



And here are my parents and Mesh



We visited a couple churches in Montreal - beautiful!



Kindof a random photo of some chicken wings that Mesh had, but I really liked the photo!

Bootcamp Challenge

I did a bootcamp challenge for my friends and Stampin' Up! customers. It is 4 weeks long and just includes things like a layout challenge, colors challenge, etc. Just to get the creative juices flowing and to find inspiration in different things. Part of the deal is to send me a photo that I will post on my blog to share with one another. So, here they are...for week 1. A color challenge for this one. This one is mine:

This one is Joanne's. I like how glittery it is and the green adds such a summery dimension to the card. As well, the layers look awesome and it makes the happy birthday pop at the bottom. Is that a chipboard flower??


This one is Laura W's. I like the little tulip she added in the corner on the pumpkin pie and as well how just used the brad instead of tying the ribbon. I didn't do her card justice though. Laura and her husband were visiting us last weekend, so she made her card at our house. I took her photo, but it didn't turn out the best. Sorry Laura - it was a cute card!

And here is Michelle's card. She called me saying she didn't have any of the colors and ended up pulling it all together! I think the picture makes the pumpkin stuff look gold, but I don't think it is. I like the multi squares on the top right and bottom left squares!

Crazy for Chipboard

I am loving using Chipboard on my projects! It is so fun!


Supplies from Stampin' Up!, Heidi Swapp and Basic Grey

Happy Mother's Day

In typical form - I am late sending anything to my mother and mother in law! So, to try and give myself some more time I'll post some cute wishes!

Please pretend it says "We Love You Mommy! Mesh and Laura." I think this really is a cute gift - I would like to be able to write my message of the day on it to myself!



Thank you to our moms and all those in our life that act like one (in a good way!) We appreciate you and thank you for all the things that you do for us and just for loving us too!

Happy Mother's Day

photo courtesy of gifts.com and family.com