let them eat cake...

I have been asked to do a commission scrapbook for a friend. When we initially talked about doing this project, it was going to be for his parents 45th wedding anniversary. Well, the timing wasn't right and other things like life stalled us a tad. Needless to say, their 46th anniversary just past and I am now smack in the middle of the project, having recently gathered all the pictures and well wishes from other family members. Guess it will either be a late 46th or an early 47th gift.

It has been challenging working on a scrapbook for people I have never met. Luckily, one of the family members obviously scrapbooks. Her package of pictures were numbered and she had supplied captions to go along with them. That has provided me with some additional insight into this wonderfully loving family.

I had particular fun putting together this page. After learning about and playing with molding paste in my last acrylic alchemy class, I thought... hmmm, icing! Perfect for this page.

"acrylic alchemy "

Is that a great title for a class or what? ...and I am fortunate enough to be one of the lucky students in Christina Lazar's first every classes on acrylic paint. Even though, on her blog, she admitted she was nervous to be teaching this particular class, she is doing her usual fabio job as an instructor! I have taken several of Christina's classes and have thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. We have had two sessions and the last one is tomorrow evening. We have been learning about colour theory, working with acrylic mediums, etc. The time that has been put into the handouts really shows! Tomorrow we get to put it all together and play. Can't wait!!



I made my most recent trips down to Kroma, on Christina's recommendation. I was delighted to hear such high praise for their products...as good as, if not better than other major brands, made locally in Vancouver and their prices are lower than other major brands because they sell directly to their customers. I had already tried and loved their mediums. I use their fluid medium for most of my transfers onto fabric (works great!). Now, I was going to get to play with their paint. LOVE IT!

If you are from the lower mainland and haven't been yet, GO! If you aren't, check out their website!

abreast of the situation...

This past Thursday I had an appointment I really wasn’t looking forward to. Nope, it wasn’t THAT yearly appointment to see the doc…been there, done that. But this one was going to be just about as much fun. As I was going to a new location, I gave myself plenty of time to get there.

I arrive at 11:00am. That’s okay, I’m only twenty minutes early…and I brought a magazine. I check in. The attendant seems to be having trouble locating my appointment. Ah, she finds it. It’s for 11:40am. Crap…I’m forty minutes early. Oh well. I plant myself in the empty waiting room and start in on my Entertainment Weekly. Within a few minutes I am called to go to another room. Bonus, I’m getting in early. Next I am escorted into a little change room where I am to wait for a technician. The tech comes within a few minutes and before you know it I am face to face with the Mammomat 3000!

Yes, ladies…those of you over 40 are probably familiar with it and its kind. This was only my second mammogram, but I don’t recall ever seeing the name of the machine last time. It just about cracked me up. My mind was racing with other names the inventors possibly tossed around…”What are we gonna call it?” “I know…how about the Boob-O-Matic?” “The Juggernaut?”

Humour always helps those awkward situations. Thank you to the lovely tech who made the whole experience very comfortable. Nice when you have things in common (both our sons had just graduated). Makes for easy conversation and relieves the awkwardness.

Nothing says "I am woman" more than having your breast squeezed between two plates of glass. Say cheese. Or should I say, Got milk?

At least that’s over for another year or two…I hope.

As everyone has somehow been touched by breast cancer in some way…myself, most recently through an art friend who is currently undergoing treatment, I would recommend that if you are of age and haven’t done so, make your appointment with the Mammomat 3000. A few minutes of discomfort in exchange for early detection of this horrible disease are more than worth it. And don’t forget those regular breast self-examinations.

I’ll get off my soap box now.

lesson learned...the hard way...

Don’t forget to back up your computer…

Trust me. I know of what I speak. This past week and a bit have been very frustrating and disappointing. The hard drive in my laptop decided to die. This was no slow death either…it was sudden and completely unexpected. Sure, I had a blue screen or two prior, but nothing that would indicate it was in the final throws…

Wes has done everything in his power to try and recover the data. We even went so far as to try the "put your hard drive in the freezer" trick. We would get glimmers of hope and then nothing. The fellows in the IT department of the company I work for are giving it the hail mary and if I am VERY lucky, there will be good news tomorrow when I get to work. It's a very long shot so I don't want to get my hopes back up.

So, it’s dead…what do we do now. First thing is think about the last time I backed up my data. Hmmm? Not really sure. Couldn’t have been that long ago, could it?

I pull out my external hard drive and we plug it in to Wesley’s computer. December 2006. Okay, it could be worse. Now I have to think about everything that I have done on my computer since then. All my pictures from 2007!! That was the worst part. Okay, what did I take pictures of so far this year? Two trips to the Sunshine Coast. Crap! Oh man…Wesley’s 18th birthday. Double crap! Kyle’s tattoo pictures…Bummer! My Nick Bantock weekend in Victoria…Sucks! Then, I think…NO, not my Artfest pictures! Then a quick wave of relief passes over me as I remember that Wesley had accidentally copied my entire Artfest folder, including my trades and other projects and all my pictures of the event itself onto a CD. He was only supposed to copy the pics so I could send them to a friend who had also attended. Thanks so much for that, Wes!! Happy accident!

I will have to wait until next spring to capture those beautiful cherry blossom shots I lost. Sigh…

What about Wesley’s grad you may ask? Luckily all the grad dinner/dry grad pics had been put on Wesley’s computer as well, so we still have those. Phew! What about his actual grad ceremony? All the pics with the relatives we took? Hey, didn’t I burn those onto a CD and give it to my mother? Yes, I did! Phew plus!!

Needless to say I have learned my lesson the hard way. So, to all of you out there that maybe haven’t been backing up your computers on a regular basis, stop what you are doing right now and back up your most precious data! I am going to be extra careful with my pictures from now on and will be backing up my computer on a weekly basis!

At least I have my blog, which holds the only copies of some of my lost shots. Thank goodness for blogger!

The silver lining in all of this is at least when I purchased the laptop two and a bit years ago, I decided to get the extended warranty. The replacement hard drive has already arrived.

Gotta run. I have a database for our strata council that needs to be recreated.

while we are on the subject...

Our nephew Aaron is celebrating his graduation this weekend. This is the card I made for him. It is actually a little book. Inside are pages I created using digiWERX Vintage Ledger Journally Spots. I just LOVE them!

After adding '2007' to one of the circle spots, I used glossy accents to affix it to the optical lens. I also used one of the journally tags on the front (under the word 'grad') and I sized another to use as the pages inside the book.

Inside contains Dr. Seuss's 'Oh The Places You'll Go'. If you have never read it, I highly recommend it. Very fitting for a graduate.

congratulations, graduate!

It's official. All of the formal ceremonies are complete. The dinner/dance, the dry-grad and the school leaving ceremony. With one final exam to go, our boy is almost finished with high school. Congratulations Wesley. We couldn't be prouder.

lisa vollrath - father's day countdown

More goodies courtesy of Lisa starting on June 8. Find them here: Father's Day Countdown.

streetWERX street team - our first challenge

Here are pics of my attempt at the first of our design team challenges...a hybrid manila folder using the digiWERX collection of high-resolution, downloadable, digitally rendered elements. After looking at the fabulous creations of the other members (which you can view here on the streetWERX street team blog) I realized just how "inside the box" I was on this one. Guess I took it a little too literally...but hey, I'm new at this stuff. I am hoping there will be an upcoming challenge where I can really shine. At least this piece has a little sparkle...thanks to the microfine glitter :u)