I've been Tagged

I'm a big fan of Mystele's blog and she tagged all her blog friends today and I like to think of her as just that... an artsy cool  friend that never fails to bring a smile to my face every time she posts or vlogs. The kicker is that by doing so one of her art pieces is up for grabs...Ohhh Ohhh Ohh Pick Me!!!!! lol Seriously I love her art because it comes from the Soul and would love to hang it up on my wall of inspiration. So enough gushing already here's my six randoms...

1) I have always battled bouts of insomnia.  I love to be up late feeling like I am all alone in the world... everyone else asleep while I while away the hours painting, scrapping and reading up on art, painting, creativity, photography, scrapbooking... you name it. After having my two kids it's only gotten worse, it's the only "ME" time I get. the downside is that as I get older it is taking a toll on me so I've recently been trying to reign it in and go to bed earlier during the weekdays at the very least.

2)I get really cranky when I don't get enough "ME" time. I need solitude, time to just putter, time to get messy with paint and paper, time to watch movies or CSI episodes ,time to crochet, time to cook or bake,  time to just be by myself and be as dorky as I want to be. Many people are surprised by my actual interests and hobbies when they find out. It always gets a big laugh. My friends & family  refer to me as the Black Martha. I don't get embarrassed by it, I stand by what brings me joy. I actually find it some what funny that these hobbies would be seen in that uncool light because people will pay top dollar for the 

finished product of these art  forms... and also sad that something as simple as cooking/baking has become a lost art as is ma

ny other handicrafts. 

3)My grandma used to say I had an old soul because I was always most comfortable with adults or kids much older than me. No wonder that my husband is 14 years older than me (which is why at only 27 years old I have 4 step boys who range from 15-21). I also find I get along much better with women who are older than me...I have friends who are the same age as my Mother, who is also my BF (despite are bickering at times lol), and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

4)I LOVE greens! Especially Rapini also known as Brocolli Rabe. Give me a bowl of Spinach, Callaoo, Kale or Okra cooked up with some garlic and I am in heaven. I love my salads to be made with dark greens too and even blend them all up with an apple for added sweetness to create healthy Green drinks.

5)My favorite place to be in the entire world has got to be back home in Jamaica. The moment my plane gets close and I look out my window and see Montego Bay airport and the ocean touching land I get excited.  As I step off the plane I take a huge, deep breath of that gloriously fragrant air full of the heady scent of the red earth below and the salty freshness of the coast with a mix of florals and spices. MMMMMMMMMmmmmm. That smell is BLISS to me. If I could bottle it and carry it with me on my return to our home here in Canada, I would. It would really come in handy, especially this time of year when the snow is everywhere and it is so blasted cold. 

(sorry that sounds a bit bitter but we have been experiencing "arctic winds" with temperatures ranging from -20 to -33c... it is BEYOND cold ya'll!)

  

 I can close my eyes and hear the sounds of the ocean crashing on the rocks right outside my bedroom window, I can imagine waking up when the roosters start to crow (4:30-5 a.m.) and it being really bright outside and seeing the ocean glittering beneath the sky... beckoning me to come for a swim. Ahhh....take me away.

 I dream of the day when I can divide up my time between living here in Montreal, Canada and White House, Jamaica. I imagine that I could bring small groups out there for artist retreats. I imagine teaching art courses at the huge University out there. I imagine going to all the locations I love and discovering more and taking photographs, documenting the country and landscape that I love then heading back to the studio and translating that further in my art. I imagine banquets under the stars and adventure's under the sun. Doesn't that sound heavenly?

6) I get along best with men. Yep. I think that growing up the first girl born into a family of plenty of boys and men really gave me a whole different outlook and reasoning. My best friend in the whole world is man, we've been friends now going on 15 years. We talk every single day, sometimes for hours at a time. Coincidentally he ended up dating and fathering a child by my husbands cousin. I say friend but really he's family.

 That was fun. I'd love to hear your randoms, but hate to impose a tag on my blog friends. So if you feel like playing along post 6 random things about yourself and let me know that you did. :)

On the creative tip; 

 I altered a Tv/Laptop tray for my Mother this past weekend.

 I kept the design very streamlined and simple and chose to do o for two reasons.

1) To highlight the  huge picture of the boys and the quote to go with it

2)I didn't want anything too textured or bumpy because this will have to be a functional laptop tray for my Mother to use.

 This was an easy project and I am really happy with how it turned out. I started with a UGLY  tv/laptop tray (the kind with a tray on top and a pellow underneath) that had a print of a horse painting on it. I then took some sandpaper to the laminated surface of the print to give it some tooth upon with I used gel medium to glue down some yummy scrapbook papers by the company Chatterbox. I printed out a 8x11 precious picture of my sons sleeping and adhered it to the tray with glue dots. Next came some Alpha stickers for my quote, Home is where the Heart is..., a layer of acetate to protect everything from  wear and tear and a yummy ribbon to finish it off. 

I apologize for the bad photos but lighting at my Mother's house is rather poor and the acetate was causing a glare. 

My Mother is a nurse practitioner who works out of town doing  northern  nursing way up in the Arctic so she is gone  for 2-3 months at a time. She has often complained of getting a cramp in her neck from having to bend over her laptop on tables and of a hot laptop on her lap. So I thought she would enjoy sitting in a bed or chair with this. The added bonus; a piece of home she could look down at whenever she was feeling lonely. 

Turns out she loved it!!!

Hope she doesn't kill me for popping this picture up on here, with her hair all wild! Love ya Mom!

A Fresh Start

 

How's that for a cliche title? Well as cheesy as it sounds for my first post of  the New Year it is oh so appropriate non the less.  Despite a wonky blog start and personally getting caught up in wanting things to be just so, I've decided to jump in and just go with the flow. All the fancy bits and pieces will fall into place as I go along.

 What can  I say I'm a work in progress! If I'm lucky enough to garner any blog friends then that's great and if not I'm OK with that. I just want a place to dish on my life, to document the everyday things that I find fascinating, frustrating, inspirational and just cool. 

I want to be able to share my in progress projects, my artwork, my scrappy projects and anything else I think is inspiring and hopefully in turn I can invoke inspiration in those that stop by and in return be inspired by them. I'm all for it! But the really cool thing is that at the end of each year I will be able to  turn to this blog and see a documentation of my journey and see my own personal growth and that is what I think is so awesome about a blog. The documentation and the accountability it lends to your own journey. 

That being said I have jumped on the Project 365 bandwagon along  with my Scrapbook Star friends and despite my first week being a bust ( I missed a few days) I have decided not to worry about it and just go with it, so I'm starting fresh with the above pic. A fresh start and a great excuse to break out the oh so freakin' cute rain boots!

 Hot pink paired with polka dots, I mean really could it get any cuter?  Not sure my DH agrees but I have gotten tons of compliments on them from other savvy women... mind you I didn't bust them during winter but when inspiration hits... go with it, right? Please note that my neighbors (who all seemed to be arriving home during the course of this shoot) now officially think I am nuts. Who else spends over 20 minutes outside freezing their booty off and getting frostbitten fingers while trying to get the perfect shot? I'm sure someone out in Blogland can relate, I know I am not be alone. ;) at least this is what I tell myself...

 So after scurrying inside, (who am I kidding, I practically kicked down the door!) I contemplated how nice it would be to indulge in a hot chocolate but decided against it because I am back in Full Training Mode. This means I have been going to bed early and waking up at 4 a.m. to be at the gym for 5 a.m. and training until 6:30-40 a.m. and back home in time to get my eldest up, ready and off to school. I have to say I am loving it! I love that focused, exhilarated feeling I get during and after a workout and I find it really sets the tone for the rest of my day. I have more energy to keep up with my boys and my attitude is much more upbeat.

 I've also noticed that the early bedtime has worked wonders on my energy levels and my face! (goodbye under-eye circles, hello fresh and clear skin!) Now all I have to figure out  is how to rearrange my day to be able to include creative time as I used to paint or scrap late at night after the kids were asleep. Considering Mon-Wed is gym time and Thurs-Fri is home workouts I suppose I could  go to bed a tad later although I plan on sticking to a early bed time in relation to my old late night ways... and there is always the weekend!

 My goal right now is to increase my overall fitness level, tone up this 2 kid bootay and decrease my bodyfat. I want to see muscles! lol All this talk of goals leads me to this, my word for the year;

ACT!

 Being a huge fan of Ali E  and her idea of having a word that sums up your focus, your goal or feeling for the coming year I decided that this year was not a year for contemplation, procrastination or dreaming... nope! If last year was about wanting Change (props Obama!) then surely this year was all about ACTing on what I felt needed changing. So that's my philosophy this year. ACT now on all my hidden desires, to-do lists, goals and the like. Figure it out as I go along. I'm not perfect but I'll never know if they could be done if I don't get out there and just do it, just ACT on them. 

So that's what I leave you with today. Here's to a fresh start, I wish you all a Happy New Year and continued blessings. Lets get 2009 started with a bang shall we!.... or at the very least lets step out in some cute footwear! lol

I'm doing it.

I'm finally re-constructing this blog! 

I`m still alive under my rock...

still trying to figure out the direction I want to take...I not sure if I should continue with this blog or start a whole new one. Something doesn`t fit...I`ve grown as an artist or to put it more aptly I`ve rediscovered my inner artist that I abandoned in my late teen years for a life of partying...I`m happy to report that I am painting again, and having stumbled upon artists like Suzi Blu, Tascha, Paulette Install and Wyanne have been really jazzed about mixed media...I`ve found a form of art that really speaks to me and flows naturally for me. I`ve started an Art journal that just brings me infinate joy and with all this creativity I`m just so much more happier as a person. To think that my road back to art all started back in 2004 with a trip across the street for some Fashion magazines for a project upon which a copy of CK magazine caught my eye. From there a full blown obsession with scrapbooking/papercrafts emerged which opened me up to a whole new community on the web, which opened me up to blogs and from there I feel like I`ve stumbled down the rabbit hole and came out into a magical world where a whole world of like minded souls are creating beautiful things and supporting one another through it. Not having many friends or family members that ``get`` me has meant for a degree of lonliness throughout my life and yet It has enabled me to feel very comfortable in my skin. To some degree I have always gotten along better with men than with women, not sure still as to why that is...I just never seem to fit in with any of the other girls. LOL Through these online communities however, I have found some great woman connections both virtual and IRL and made some friendships....but most of all I have found some very inspiring women that prove to me that there are people going through some very similar things as I am and no I am not a weird Loner!
As much as I have wanted to Blog I have been majoring procrastinating on it...using it`s not cool enough, I don`t know how to make this or do that, the learning curve, etc as my main excuses...in reading The Artists Path by Julie Cameron I have discovered that this really is just Fear. Which leads me to what pray tell am I afraid of? the answer , not living up to my high expectations of what I think it should look like, not being sure of what my voice is or what I want to convey, and yes something as simple as do I even like the name?
All this adds up to me making a serious muddle of things and making it all bigger than it needs to be.
I simply want a place to share my Art be it scrapbooking or mixed media, my thoughts and my path in life. Sounds simple right.?! and yet I am struggling with this.

This site is officially going under Construction folks.......

I have shamelessly neglected this blog. In truth my heart has not been in it...too many things just didn`t sit right with me...from the design of it (or lack thereof) to the title, to the content...but all that is going to change...I have my mojo back and am brimming with new ideas and a better understanding of the creative direction I am taking in my life. So lots of changes are to be expected...I am deciding whether i want to create a whole new blog and link it from here or keeps things at this spot. Also thank you for all the warm thoughts regarding my Mother, she`s doing better...one day at a time. On that note I`m out...So to all my blogland friends..if you still bothers to check out this spot, please don`t disown me yet, good times are coming real soon!

It's been an embarassingly long time since my last post....

But please bear with me! My computer has up and died on me! It won't even turn on...well it does kinda...it does give me a weird beeping noise. For awhile I had my DH's laptop but it worked on a wireless connection that was very picky on who it chose to work for...can you guess that I was rarely one of them. LOL

It took me awhile to figure out that I should just plug the darn thing into my modem that was previously being used by my computer...Duh! Gosh it's been awhile!! What's new? TONS lets see schools started and DS is officially a grade 1 student who has declared that school is boring because he has to do "work' all day and if he was the principle he would let the kids Play all day! LOL and so it starts....

Ajani is walking as of last Friday and he is just so proud of himself (as am I ...my baby is getting so big!) and is doing it constantly!

I've been mad creative and have done tons of projects...although quite a few have been for other people. with clients comes Drama so I've had my share of that too... sigh. but that comes with the territory.

I'm working on getting a new computer or endlessly for the technician that seems to never want to come. Hmph. Guess that's what you get when you are getting a friend (a.k.a free) to do it. might end up just buying another one. I accept donations, cash only... ;)
ok. joking. well mostly. ;)

All my pictures of my scrap stuff are on the comatose 'puter so I guess this post is a tad on the boring side...I like posts with pictures, eye candy... you know? I have a new Banner just have to scan it and get it up here...

Not much else to say. I'm sleep deprived at the moment and still on the net. tearing myself away to actually get some rest.
talk to you.

And fun was had by All !

I have been way late in posting this, silly me saved it as a draft instad of posting it!

I just want to say CKC Buffalo was one of the most memorable trips of my life. Seriously. I had one heck of a time. I could not have chosen better travelling companions, I mean really these women ROCK! I had so much fun chatting with them, cropping with them and laughing with them!

We found a cool bar in Buffalo that is called the Chocolate Bar... where they serve up.....Chocolate Martini's, and a slew of other yummy conconctions, like the swedish fish martini...another absolute must try! Lets just say we made this are official Haunt! picture this. After spending all day in scrapbooking classes and then at a night crop until 11pm we would head here and grab ourselves some sinful martini's....Ahhh Bliss right??? What could be better than that right?.... well..............

Mouthwatering chocolate fondue??? complete with an array of yummy dippers such as homemade pistachio cookies, strawberries, pineapple, marshmellows, pretzel sticks, chips, etc... YUMMY and oh so pretty how the waiter would come and sprinkle rose petals on the table before he would set up the fondue...details such as these really add to life don't cha think?

Chocolate shots anyone???

Now that I have you drooling with me...lets get to the nitty gritty....the classes!

I took so many but out of all of them two stand out to me...and both are by Stacy Julian. This woman is even more inspirational in real life, let me tell you! And I know why. She speaks from a place of truth. Authenticity has a way of touching people at their core and believe me she touched me. I really enjoyed listening to her and opening my mind and heart to her ideas...because really she was speaking about things I knew in my soul to be true, feelings I myself had thought about but not dared to delve into. Powerful stuff.

So without a doubt if you ever have the chance to meet her, grab a class by her...Do So, you will not for one second regret that you did. She is very very very good at what she does. VERY!

Here's Stacy and I posin' for the camera (that Cutie in the right is her son Taft...he was there with her and was so cute..he was helping give out prizes and even graced us with his super cool comedy routine and he's good!)

As far as the other classes go I was pretty happy with them...especially the Papecrafts card making class...so fun and the cards are so pretty! A bonus was the cool Technique Tuesday stamps we got...so cute!

The disappointments??? would have to be the Little Back Dress Designs Classes...of which I took three! The instructor and owner was great, she's really nice and very personable..plus she had great style! It's the projects that were...BLAH! In all three classes we worked on the same Tag albums and the finished result was...just well...boring. I expected more especially since these were 21$ classes, not the same material for all three very different classes....I will not be taking classes from them next year that is for sure. They may be better suited to a beginner scrapbooker...IMO

Yep you heard right...I'm gong again next year. I'm so making this a yearly thing as long as CK keeps bringing CKC/CKU to Buffalo you can count on me going! It was that Fun!

I went crazy with the shopping...absolutely nuts! I was just in heaven being surrounded by all this amazing product and the prices...oh my...the deals.....how could I resist? My favorite buys of all have to be the yummy kits I picked up by The Button Farm. These kits are so gorgeous and so generous and so easy to follow. I picked up 3! I was so inspired by their Motherhood Album I got to work on it right then and there at the Nightly Crops...with the intention of gifting it my Mother for her 50th Birthday...well she loves it!

Told you I went crazy ya'll!

and here's some of the free loot!

I have projects to finish and get posted and I finally got the wedding invites back so I will post them as soon as I get the chance!

I'm so excited!!!

I know I know I've been MIA for a bit but things have been so hectic round these parts....I swear I have a good reason. Ready?

I'm headed to my first ever major scrapbook event....I'm headed out to CKC Buffalo in like, 15 minutes!!! Now only a scrapbooker can begin to imagine the excitement that is building within me.....I'm scheduled for 10 classes and two major crops....AHHHHHhhhhhhhh Bliss!!!!! Not to mention the fact that I'm headed down there with some amazing scrapping buddies I've met through Scrapbook Star , I just know we are going to have a blast!!! Did I mention the amazing shopping I'm going to be doing....I'm salivating over here and I ain't even there yet! So all this being said and before any of you track me down and take my place...LOL I'm Outtie 5000....ok LAME. I'm out!

Talk to you!

Ok Ok

I couldn't leave without posting a pic of the cuties I'm leaving behind for 4 days....

Get your Glad On!

No I am not talking about the ziplock baggies that are ever so useful in a houseful of kids....LOL

I'm talking about taking the time to reflect on the positive things/people in your life that just make you feel Glad. I've been totally inspired today by this idea put forth recently by Annie and have spent my morning really thinking about it and here goes;

Things that make me feel Glad as of today

• My Mother coming home today after 2 months in (she does northern nursing way up north (think Arctic) for 2 months at a time)



• Being a Mother to 2 fabulous boys



• Being a Step-Mother to 4 awesome teenagers who are fast becoming exceptional young men!



• Knowing that in 8 days I will be having a blast at CKC Buffalo with my amazing Scrapbook Star Message Board Friends!



• Having my friend and client "love" the Wedding Invite Samples I made for her, getting the contract and receiving added praise and encouragement that "I can do this", make a career out creating art that is.



• The return of warm weather, sandals, skin baring clothes, swimming and Barbeque's !



• Ice Cappuccino's!!!! Starbucks, Timmies (Tim Hortons) and my homemade Nescafe version...I love them all!



• My AMM Vituri Purse and matching wallet filled with my Boys & DH's Pictures...I'm loving this stylin' purse!



• Having really great friends that have stood the test of time with me. I may not have a whole lot of close friends but the ones I have Rock!



• Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking, Scrapbooking! It's opened up my world by enabling me to meet new people and experience and celebrate life in a whole new way. It makes me profoundly happy!



• Hearing my baby Ajani trying to talk and watching him crawl! So cute!



• Sharing an interest and a love of creating with my eldest son Ashanti. I just love how he cannot go a day without creating something he absolutely must draw, paint, color, cut, glue something several times a day! He reminds me so much of myself at his age and heck even now.



• Waking up and snuggling my DH from behind while he washing dishes...



• On the above note The smell of my DH makes me extremely happy! (is that animalistic or what? But I swear I just come up to him all the time to smell him! LOL)



• Really nice, cute shoes! I get happy when I buy a new pair of shoes...I'm have about 200 pairs! ( hmm... maybe I need to find something new to get that happy about as I'm quickly running out of space to put them all....;) or I could just build another closet or kick DH out of his....)



• My Picturemate Deluxe. I love that I can print awesome quality Pictures straight from home...perfect for those late night scrapping marathons!



• My Cricut. This machine just rocks!



• The Internet. I just love that information, friends, family, are just a click away.



• Scrapbook Message boards and websites. Love Scrapbook Star for my amazing friendships there and just the whole down to earth, friendly vibe...not to mention the amazing online crops, online store, contests and the awesome LSS to go with it. Love the new SisTV site!!! It's beyond amazing...the webisodes, the gallery, the message board, I find myself getting lost there for hours! Love my daily ScrapBook Lifestyle Webisodes, I look forward to them every morning and have learned some very cool techiques from them. They continue to just inspire me and I love seeing how happy the finished albums make people! Doesn't scrapbooking rock???



• Knowing that my cousin Tanika is close to five months pregnant and this being her first child, I couldn't be happier for her! Of course my mind is buzzing with ideas of all the items I am going to alter and make for her!



• Knowing I am going to be an "Aunty" to my Best Friend Judith's soon to be here and in a RUSH, twin girls!!! How amazing is that! Double the PINK!



• Scrapbook magazines and magazines in general...I am addicted to them and always feel giddy when I have a new one in my hands...


• Cooking and baking with Ashanti
  

Gosh I'm seeing this list growing and I know I have tons more to add! But alas my baby Ajani has woken up and *needs*...LOL he's full blown howling so...so I guess this is it for now!

**I haven't forgotten to post the Invites I just didn't get the chance to take pictures of them that day and my client has them right now...she is supposed to be dropping them off soon so when she does I will be sure to post them here! I'm so proud of how they turned out and can't wait to show you all!

talk to you

I'm so excited....

Ok. I get super duper excited when I come across a cool and amazing Scrapbook product, seriously I get darn right giddy and simply must share the news with everyone I know. So what oh what has got me doin' the Happy Dance?

The Essential Glue Pad by Tsukineko. This little pad is amazing!!! I have been in "Wedding Invite Samples" hell and once I broke this baby out, my world brightened. I used it to stamp "Two become One" (used a Marcella by K & Co. clear stamp, another reason to be happy*) and then I quickly covered the stamped image with ultra fine silver glitter...The Results??? Clear, Defined and Bling'd out wordage...I almost swooned!

Now my mind is buzzing with the possibilities of this little wonder of a glue pad...oh I am going to have fun playing some more with it, I may need to ummmm...show some restraint or else Glitter will end up on even more pages than it already does....I am going to post some pics of the invites so you can see what I am talking about later tomorrow when the light is better.... or umm LOL, later today, I see it's 5:45am and I've been up ALL night!!! Funny how time flies when you are immersed in paper and glue.... That being said I suggest all of you run and go nab yourself one, seriously RUN, before I buy them all! LOL

*Now I couldn't sign off on this post without mentioning these stamps...I was wandering Winners (I *heart* that store) on Saturday and came across these clear Wedding stamps by Marcella by K (K& Co.) for get this....3.99!!! 11 clear stamps for about four dollars, an amazing find and most of all a well timed one!

I had been mulling over and over in mind ideas to decorate some of the Invites and was coming up with Nada. I went to the art store and saw a few stamps that looked interesting, yet they were going for $11-21 a piece and with a bride that is extremely vague on what she wants/likes I wasn't going to shell out the cash for something I wasn't sure absolutely positive I was going to use more than once! What's cool about this set of stamps is that it has awesome scrolls and words like Love that can be used for other themes so at that price it couldn't have been more perfect!

Don't you just love it when you come across a good bargain??? Especially when it's crafting related? I'd love to hear about your cool finds or any great reviews on some cool scrapbook products that have caused you to do "the Happy Dance" lately so feel free to leave me a post about it! Help feed my shopping addiction! ;)

I am inspired....

OK so in light everyone waiting for me to get my new projects up here....(I know I know I'm slow for real)... thought I'd at the very least provide y'all with some inspiration.

See my Gurl Karla has been up to some cool things....she, along with some really cool and talented ladies have gone and created a way cool challenge site called One Little Word. It's a spin-off of Ali E's (and we all LOVE her, right?) Words challenge from a while back. See the premise is that each week they will post a Word that will be the inspiration for a Layout, Card, Altered item..you name it...and get this...there is even an amazing knock your socks off prize for the first challenge...so ready, set, GO!!!

You can be sure I am. I'm really excited by the whole idea...I'm a strong believer in the power of words. BIG Believer. Word Up! (I couldn't resist that one...)So you can call me a Wordster too, LOVE that!

Another really cool and inspiration site is the new Scrap in Style TV...also known as SIS. With amazing features, a groovy message board, videos, interviews, awesome kits and get this it's FREE! It's totally revolutionary and innovative and I love the message behind it, that we are a community of "sisters" and that we should be nice and encouraging toward each other no matter are differences of artistic style and opinions.
That being said I do believe I need to pull myself away from these very sites and umm....actually get to finishing these darn Wedding Invites as I am supposed to be meeting with my client and friend on Friday...EEKS. I have no idea why these invites are proving to be the bane of my existence...don't you just hate it when you get blockage? I tend to get it when I feel overwhelmed with a looming deadline..which of course makes it a major problem...Ahhh well, I'm just going to roll with it and try to work through it.
talk to you

Happy Mother's Day!!!!

In commemoration to this special day here's some pictures of my Mom and I,
Happy Mother's Day, I love you Mom!!!

On that note I wish you all a Happy Mother's Day! Being a Mother is a life changing experience as I 'm sure "we" all know just like "we" all know that everday should be Mother's Day! Have a great one!

What a day...

Funny how one minute everything can be fine and smooth sailing and then in a flash your swept up in a Drama....

Today I took the kiddies to visit my Stepfather....a weekly family ritual. My Mother is out of town working (She's a Nurse Practitioner and does Northern Nursing...IE: She's up in the Arctic...) but even so I keep it up. He gets lonely and I know he enjoys our visits. Today went a little differently though...
We had only been there about an hour and I was trying to put the baby down for his nap when my stepfather barged into the guestroom to inform me that he wanted us OUT! To get Gone! Seems he was upset that DS (5 years old) had ripped a flower out of the garden and thrown a plastic water bottle into the street...(basically because DS was misbehaving... ) So he wanted us to leave and told me to call DH pronto...

I tried to get to the bottom of what was going on but he was just ranting that he wanted us gone now, etc...so I put the kids jackets on, grabbed the diaper bag & my purse and headed out to the bus stop (take note that my mother lives in the South Shore (The Burbs) a 2 1/2 by bus commute from my home...versus a 20 minute drive) Luckily DH was still in the area looking at house lots, etc...and came and got us...My Mother is Livid by the whole situation and is really pulling all the cards on this one. ...and I'm well...not really angry...just shocked really.

One thing is clear though...I absolutely must start studying for my driver's license, This is ridiculous! For those of you who don't know this about me I'm 26 years old and I still don't have my Driver's permit nor license. I just never felt the need to go do it when I was a teen because everything was within walking/bus distance. Later on I was involved in a car accident and for a year straight I had dreams of crashing a car...which I took to mean I should stay as far away from driving as possible. When that year ended though coincidentally two "old" friends (who were always in the dream) died in a car crash...so maybe the dream was not meant for me...

Flash forward to being busy with babies and school and I've taken the term PROCRASTINATION to the next level on that one! I don't think there's a week that doesn't go by that I don't curse to myself that I need to get on with it and do this. So that being said where did I put that book...hmmm. ;)


Totally unrelated...I've been mad busy creating all types of stuff...from LO's to altered canvases to wedding invites and will be uploading them real soon! I'm really having a blast but it also means I'm not really sleeping that much if at all....

Talk to you.

A little late posting this but it's important that ya'll know...

Ummmmm... I think a taxi driver tried to drug me the morning of NSD on my way to the Scrapbook Star NSD Crop....I know sounds crazy, right??? But I CAN"T shake the feeling that I am right. Here's my story.

I get a cabbie I recognize over the years (isn't it always someone you "feel" comfortable around) an elderly gentleman who is the VERY talkative type...he see's me and starts rambling on about how gorgeous I look today and oh how did I keep my figure after 2 kids, and how I look like a model, etc... OK nice but I mean he was really going on and on about it... so anyways we get on the highway and he turns around and quickly offers me a lifesavers (the peppermint kind) and rambles on about how it's refreshing etc... I'm a little tired at this point and take one and pop it into my mouth without really thinking...(DUH, NEVER TAKE STUFF FROM STRANGERS!!!) and within minutes as I am in a full out conversation with him I begin to feel WEIRD.

My mind begins to feel fuzzy, my chest starts pounding, I'm talking serious palpitations, my mouth feels like it is swelling up and as I am taking I begin to slur a few words...I mean I FELT a difference in my consciousness...I dabbled in extra-curricular's in my teens (plant and liquor related and underwent serious surgeries where morphine was involved).... so I know a high or a beginning of one when I feel it so I popped that candy out of my mouth, slipped it into my pocket and opened the window (he didn't see me do that). I then began to concentrate my mind on A) opening my cell phone and putting my DH's # at the ready, and opening my wallet to read him the exact address to show him I was still focused... and I breathed through it, rolled with it and sharpened my mind. (Sounds hokey but it got me through my last labour & delivery and kept me quiet and calm)...

He kept looking at me in the rearview mirror while he was talking a mile a minute about an increasing weird topic, prostitutes and how he could never "cheat" on his wife, and how he picked up a prostitute, and how what woman would be with him because he needs to sleep with an air machine, and oh have I been to this motel, etc... As we began to get closer to my destination he clearly became agitated and began to feverishly pop the lifesavers into his mouth for a few seconds and then spit them out his window...one after the other...(perhaps to check if he had made a mistake and not given me the right one???)

Ladies...I just thank God I took that candy out of my mouth and got where I was going safely. I kept thinking about it all day and finally I called the police that night and informed them of the situation...they came and took the candy to perform tests on it and told me they will get back to me....we'll see from there.

I didn't want to cause trouble, but what if I'm right and this kook really tried to drug me??? I mean I keep thinking about my kids and whether or not harm just barely grazed me, perhaps even death...Gosh I could have not come home that day...you dig?

All I can say as this really brought perspective home to me. Life is fragile, cherish it...all the more reason to scrapbook! (lol u know I had to bring it there!!!) It's also taught me a wonderful lesson that I would like to share with you in hopes that you do the same. Listen to your voice. The voice. God. Your Gut. Your Soul. However you want to call it. Do not for one second, doubt. Listen. I really believe that's what saved me.

I ended up researching "Date Rape" Drugs later on that night and my reactions were similar to those typically experienced by the drug Ketamine also known as Special K. here's a link http://http://www.4woman.gov/faq/rohypnol.htm if you want to get informed and perhaps prevent this from happening to you or any of your loved ones. It would seem that date rape drugs are no longer just used in bars and Nightclubs! Scary stuff!

That being said, stay safe.
Talk to you.

Look what I've been up to....

Love how this Mother's Day card turned out, I just know my Mother is going to love it! I used S.E.I. Winnie's Walls and a cool dollar store felt Flower find (don't ya'll just love the dollar store?!). Inside I used a Mother's Day Rub-On from the new MM Card sayings swatchbook...

I have been burning the midnight oil intent on crafting a blog I can call phat! So far I have a few Layouts up but I've come to realize I have tons of Layouts that are sitting in my albums that I haven't uploaded because I've been too lazy to scan and stitch...talk about procrastination...probably due to the fact that I don't stitch well...oh well I'm sure I will get the hang of it real soon! I want to see my new stuff up here because I find that my newest creations are more reflective of where I'm at creatively and they make me happy just seeing them!!! So that means I have to get off my lazy butt and get to scanning! look forward to seeing more of that in the next coming week.

I've bee Tagged!

I've been tagged by the wonderful and very talented karla Dudley to write about 7 totally random facts about myself....so here goes!

1 ~ I am in fact black! African-American, call it how you see fit! I am light-skinned so I get weird puzzled questions sometimes...my family is a cool mix of Caribbean (Jamaican/Bajan), Black Canadian (not Nova Scotian), Dutch and somewhere in the mix Black Sicilian this is all courtesy of my mother! On my father's side we have good ole Irish and French Canadian...although he swears he's just Irish! Often times people just can't put their finger on my ethnicity, I get the whole Spanish thing ( Dominican in particular) a lot....even Moroccan....but nope I'm born and raised in a Caribbean/Canadian atmosphere and that's what I am, a crazy hybrid...but altogether happy to say I'm a proud black Sistren! Yah Mon.

2 ~ I have a deep connection to Jamaica, far before I got to visit it for myself I dreamed of it. Especially the ocean surrounding it. I remember being 12 and getting on the computer for the first time and trying out the Internet on some free AOL type ish (lol you done know what I'm talkin' about!) and signing up for a free catalogue from Sandals Resorts...Boy oh Boy when that catalogue came in, it became my bible! I dog eared it so much just flipping the pages and dreaming of "home". that's what it felt like to me. HOME. Flash forward some years later when my DH (a born and raised Jacan)brought me there and we stepped off the plane. The sense of belonging, the smell of the sea, the heat, the smell of the spices and flowers in the air...the smell of the red earth filled my senses and I was in heaven. Nothing compares to that feeling....and the feeling of swimming in the sea and just floating...ahhhhh.....I love Jamaica.
Years later we now have built our dream Villa there and that in itself is a dream come true for me. Blessed.

3 ~ I have always been artistic. I remember always winning competitions growing up in school and such. I love painting, drawing, sewing, knitting, crochet, scrapbooking, cooking, cake decorating...you name it if I can make it with my bare hands I'm into it! A total do it yourself kind of woman. I'm constantly thinking of stuff to create, stuff to make, brainstorming ideas...in fact I call myself the Idea Generator...I just can't shut it off. (which can be a pain when you are trying to fall asleep) LOL
I love creating, it just feeds my soul. That rush of exhilaration and pride when I've created something that is perfect to me is just incredible. I love that my DS Ashanti is also very artistic, this is a bond that we share that enables me to really "get" him.

4 ~ I can be very erratic in my energy levels....I've been known to have frequent bouts of insomnia...a trait inherited from my father...that finds me up at all hours of the night....cooking, baking, scrapbooking, cleaning, etc... Took awhile for my DH to get used to this when we first moved in together...
I especially get this way when I am upset and angry...I feel the need to clean. Hmmmm...wonder if this is why DH makes himself a pain sometimes...maybe he just wants me to clean more...;)

sidenote. My need to be constantly tidying up drives my friends nuts at times...who by the way call me.....

5 ~ The black Martha Stewart because I love to craft, cook, bake and throw parties complete with theme's and homemade deco and loot bags, etc...
I personally love this title as I *heart* me some Martha! I've often wanted to go into event planning for this very reason...I just love it, it's a strong passion of mine. So much so that it is my ultimate dream to host events (scrapbook retreats and tours) out of my villa in Jamaica. This would tie in all my passions into one beautiful dream come true.

6 ~ Before going into Fashion Design and then subsequently Fashion Marketing I dreamt of being a Oceanographer...because of my love of the sea and everything in it. Then I thought about becoming a Chef because I am passionate about cooking and baking.... finally settling for the glamorous (not!) Fashion Industry...

7 ~ I've always felt connected to ancient Egypt so much so that I have the Egyptian goddess Kasmet also known as Bast tattooed on my back, right between my shoulder blades. I love this tattoo, especially because I designed it! I also love mermaids....I used to pretend I was one while bathing or swimming when I was a child. Which leads me to my love of fantasy. Merlin, witches, fairies, you name it I love it! I love mysticism. The unknown, the make-believe. the magic.

So that's it, 7 random facts about myself...now to tag some unsuspecting friends....hehehe....

Ahhh it would seem a lot of them have been tagged already! lets see who's left...
OK I tag Elisabeth at http://elisabeth-workofheart.blogspot.com/, Veronica at http://a-day-in-the-life-of-sweet-pea.blogspot.com/
and anybody else who happens to lurk or stumble onto my humble work in progress....
Here are the Rules:
Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on there own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. Don't forget to leave a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

Square One

I haven't posted in such a long time. I was going to scratch everything and start afresh when my hired web guy got this here blog to look Bonafyde Certified. But Alas said Web Guy has left me hanging. Seems he cannot commit to my project wholeheartedly...so I'ma do what I have to do and should have done from the get go. Do the damn thang. Myself! LOL So bear with me. I know its a little boring to look at but expect big things. Or Big Tings Soon Come as we say it in Jamaican patois! If any of you want to throw some help, tips or expertise my way it would be much much appreciated!
I keep playing with the Bogger Templates but they (Ahem) leave a lot to be desired...going to see what I can do about that. toying with the idea of moving to another host.
Next up? Cooler Banner cuz' what's Phat about this one??? LOL
Also have to upload all my LO's & Projects and then get them up here...
Good Lawd Help Me

New Years Resolutions...My word for the Year...

New Years Resolutions....I always make them. I like having goals, things to guide me throughout the year. This year they are fairly simple.
1.Get my Drivers Liscense.
2.Save Money and establish my Business
3.. Tone up and shape up my Body Ie:Lose the preggo Sag
4. Organise, Organise Organise.

I've been inspired by Ali Edwards and her latest challenge which is to get yourself One word that guides you and inpires you throughout the year...and mine is....you guessed it...ORGANISE. It's the word that instantly popped into my mind and its been the word thats pops into my head every day since October....I need to get more organised. With a new baby in the house my life has changed again. In some ways its slowed down and in others ways its become much more challenging to get everything accomplished. This I know is where Organisation will save me. I feel better when my household is clean and organised so thats where I have been focusing my attention lately. Every day I tackle something and I have been happy with the results thus far. I'm in Deep clean Mode and I'm changing the way things are organised, developping better systems. I plan on implementing organisation into all areas of my life...such as developping schedules for the kids, especially my 5 year old. I will still stay flexible but it helps to have a routine. I want to really focus on getting myself on a routine where I tackle certain things everyday such cleaning/cooking/excercising/scrapbooking etc...I figure if I break things down and space them out they will actually get done faster rather than waiting until I have time. Lets take Scrapbooking for an example...I've been so busy I haven't scrapped since October!!! I figure if I do a bit everyday....such as picking out Pics one day, Printing another, finding the coordinating PP the next, than sketching out a plan, cutting, etc...I would actually get to scrap when I have time...but its very hard when I have to get all that done in one sitting...especially with a 5 month old that seems to want to wake up or need a lot of attention right when I have it in my mind that I have things I want to do...LOL Kids intuition...This lack of freetime means that cleaning has been hard to do...so when I do get the time it's usually spent trying to clean...instead of scrapping....sigh....oh how I miss scrapping! Ali is right though...Creating is a choice and I choose to create...and thus I will Create a Organised Life that will enable be to Create Art...lol. I'll keep you posted!

Getting There...

Decided that it's about time I really get into fashioning myself an awesome Blog. I really want a spot I can use journal & to touch base with people I know and for new people to get to know me. I also want to be able to showcase my scrapbook layouts and other design projects as well as links to my business when I get them up and running. So much to do and learn but it's all in good fun!