Life if full of lovelies...

1. Lovely People & Events

This week I spent alot of time with many lovely people. On Wednesday night I went to see the new Batman movie with my hubby, and it was really really good...though not as good as the first movie. I was surprised, but about half way through I thought to myself "I prefer the first one." Not to say that this movie wasn't amazing and above average, because it was (mainly because of Heath, but for other reasons as well), I just preferred the look and story of the first. Still great though.

Then on Thursday I spent some time with my friends from the Island...Jack, Kate, Locke, Ben, Sawyer...yes, I know they aren't real, but to me they might as well be and I haven't seen them in a long while, so waking up early, driving hubs to work and then coming home on my random day off to watch 2 episodes uninterrupted while the morning slowly began was quite enjoyable. Spent Friday playing games (Scattegories and Rubikube) with Dan and Heather...quite fun I must say so myself. Then on Saturday after a great day of shopping I went to my coworker Kelly's house to have a little get together/baby shower for our friend Darla. I was a bit surprised at how much fun I had, but it was a really lovely evening and I hope that we can do it again soon (with little Liam present I would imagine.) And today I went to the beach (finally!) with Heather and Dan for a nice relaxing day. It's great to spend time with people you really care about. Next week is all about the fam, because my sister is getting married and my parents are coming to visit, woo!

2. Lovely Places

Beaches.
Malls.
My Home.
Value Village.
The Car.
My Scrapspace.
In Bed.

3. Lovely Things

-I love my house. It's getting better and better. My room is now done and I sigh everytime I walk in there, it's so peaceful and lovely, it really is. My living room is coming together, the bathroom is 99% done and the kitchen is being dreamed about in my head. I work on it everytday and it makes me really happy.

-I am currently in Value Village rehab. For real. I've gone 3 times in 4 days and have spent over 100$ there. I need help. But, on the bright side, I've gotten many, many beautiful things, including my curtains for the living room, "pearl" neckalces (my new It accessory), a dress, 2 pairs of capris, 4 shirts, a bright and cheery comforter for my room in the winter, 2 super cool glasses....oh yeah, I scored. And I love it.

-Three words: The Flaming Lips. I am loving everything they do right now. Yoshimi is my new favourite song and album. So wonderful.

-I am really enjoying the layouts I've been creating lately. They are fun, bright and carefree. I know that I need to go a bit deeper, and I'm planning a mini/album of my 365s that I hope will allow me to get some real issues out, but for now, I'm having fun just creating and playing. It's playful, and that's the key right now I think.

-Been taking lots of pics lately, which is nice, again, I'm not feeling any pressure, just snapping away, and I'm looking forward to my sister's wedding, I plan of trying some more skilled shots then, we'll see how it goes.

Here are some of the latest:


New pearl, 1.99$...love.


I put the revamped chest in my room,
it fits better in there. Added a pillow as
a cushion, a lovely vase from VV, picture,
and now it's my fav little corner of my room.


New flats I got on my day off...so cute.


Playin' outside on a rainy day...


Beach bums.


Looks warm, but it actually freezing (it is, after all, the
Atlantic Ocean.)

Sigh. Life is beautiful. La vie est belle.

Not sure if I'll be back this week, I'm going to try and finish a layout within the next few days, but I leave Wednesday night for Sussex to get ready for Daf's wedding!

Should be an exciting time.

Until then, what are the lovely things in your life?

Cherish them.

G.

Scrapjacked

I played the Scrapjack challenge this week, even though I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to, it was kind of a difficult (though tremendously beautiful) layout to jack. I took most of my inspiration from the cut-out photo, as well as the general playful feel of the layout. Anyhoos, la voilà:

I'm so happy that I got to use my little strips of leftover paper (mostly from when I cut 12X12 sheets down to 8.5 X11), I'll definitely be doing that again...

And, to end on a photographic note (ha), here's my latest 365...I'm only averaging about 1 picture every 3 days or so, but I've decided to just let it come naturally, if I feel inspired to shoot, I'll shoot, and if I don't, I won't beat myself up about it. As long as I pick up my camera once a week at least, I'm happy.



Haven't been showing my face alot lately...hmm, subconscious decision?

More non-scrappy pics and posts later this weekend.

Happy Friday!
G.

2 in 1

Here's my layout for the OLW and ScrapMojo challenges...it worked out really well when I saw the Mojo Challenge this time, because it was to ask someone close to you "If you had a million dollars...", and it just so happened that the OLW this time was "IF"...how awesome is that?! The Mojo challenge also asked to use a pen or a pin, and I used both :)



Most of the stuff from this layout is from my Sweet Twee Labs kit, including the polka dot Love Elsie Paper, Sassafrass flower buttons and orange felt ribbon. The little jar is a K&Co Wild Saffron tag that I cut out (and put on a pop dot), and the little letter stickers are MM (my new favs!) Throw in some sparkly Thickers, woodgrain contact paper, a label from M's, and there you have it! I'm happy with the way it turned out :)

Up next: Scrapjack!

Tomorrow is my day off, so excited, going to get some shopping/decorating done I hope, and some scrappin' of course. We might go see the Dark Knight tonight, we will have to see.

Happy hump day!
G.

...in point form

-it's monday, and mondays are blah.

-it's raining, and will rain all week...i took thursday off specifically to go to the beach and tan before my sister's wedding, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen now...

-speaking of which, my sister is getting married in 11 days! i still need shoes, jewelery, a strapless bra, corset (no, really), whitening strips...man.

-went to sussex this past weekend and found THE MOST amazing antique store...picture an old 1930s house filled to capacity with old antiques, dishes, clothes, lamps, you name it...even the bathroom and closets were filled with treasures... i was in heaven

-we got pulled over for going 114 on the highway. the speed limit is 110. we passed a cop who was going about 108 but later said he was going 112...beyond ridiculous. we only got a warning though, thank goodness. cops sometimes, sheesh.

-i'm diggin right aligning my text now. oh yeah. and not capitilization either, woo! i'm wild.

-my favourite green flips flops broke this weekend and i am determined to find another pair before the week is over, no way am i going without my kelly green leather 5$ flip flops, nuh-uh!

-i got my etsy kit in the mail last week, so excited for it, i'm starting my first page tonight, hopefully i'll be able to post it by tomorrow!

-in less than one month i will be in california, soaking up the sun and visiting my little nephew noah. can't wait!

-speaking of babes, my oldest nephew, sean, turns 2 today! happy birthday sean! time flies, really it does.

-we are hoping to go see the dark knight this week, it looks sooooo good, i loved the first one and this one looks even better in some ways. can't wait!

-dan and i are into watching pbs documentaries right now...last week it was darfur and iraq, this week it was saudia arabia and coming up will be china. very interesting to learn when watching tv and not just to let your brain rot.

-speaking of rot though, i watched the 2nd episode of america's greatest dog...so cute! i love me some puppies...

-i downloaded the fors 8 episodes of season 4 of lost. it's been way too long since i saw jack, kate, sawyer and locke. i need to go back to the island and fall in love again.

-my 365, nothing special, played with picassa a bit, being lazy with the whole thing to be quite honest. my camera (well, myself) frustrates me. i wish nice pictures would just pop out of my camera...sigh

-i suppose that is all, off to get my scrap on!

G.

Summer Love (20 Reasons)

1. Warm Weather, Sunshine

2. Tans

3. Flip Flops

4. Popsicles

5. Daylight until 9:30pm

6. Beaches

7. Summer Dresses

8. Vacations

9. Fresh Salads

10. Late Nights

11. Cool Breezes

12. Walks

13. Salty Kisses

14. Parks

15. Sunsets

16. Thunderstorms

17. Outdoor Pictures

18. Flowers

19. Camping

20. Love Everywhere

Bring on the weekend.
G.

Scrappies (Mojo and TAIF)

Ok, so I'm posting 2 layouts I made tonight, for 2 different Challenges. The first is for the Scrapmojo challenge, which is super fun, the Challenge this time was to use lyrics from a Ditty Bops song, and to doodle, à la Elsie. I had never heard of this band, so I downloaded one of their albums...quite cute and catchy and fun! Anyway, I chose some lyrics from their song called "Fall Awake", and I doodled a bit (although not that well, it's tough!) I also used a little Love Elsie heart, in honour of Ms. Flannigan :)






The little chipboard man is from RiffRaff Designs, on Etsy, they have super cute chipboard shapes, check 'em out! Had alot of fun with this one, mixing different things together. Cool.

K, the next layout I made was super quick, it was an emotionally driven layout for sure, just couldn't get it on the paper fast enough. It's also for the The Art is Found prompt this week, which was to use Notebook paper...so easy, so fun, LOVE the look of it!

Here she be:







Not much to it really, had to splatter some paint, had to tear some paper, had to write some words...[and had to fill some black space with ribbon, I couldn't help it!] Scrappin' from the mind and heart.

'Tis all for now! Will post more later on non-scrappy stuff. Have a great night!

G.

Kitty kit Kit!

I did it! I bought a kit! I've been looking and pondering and humming and hawing about one for a long time now, but I finally decided to just go for it! It took me a long time to decide which one I wanted, but I finally decided to go with this lovely here:

It's from Sweet Twee labs, a shop on Etsy. I've been stalking her kits since about March, and although most of them haven't appealed to me that much, this one looked pretty awesome...lots of bright colours, papers, embellies, comes with a little album plus some unique stuff from her shopand from other shops...all around good :) The important thing was that I could actually picture myself using 95% of the pieces in the kit...with other kits (like the Dozens), while I loved most of the stuff, there was a lot of stuff I wasn't sure I'd use, you know? Plus the cost was a factor, I must admit (I don't know how some people buy multiple kits every month, don't they have bills?! Also, I got a kit in March from my mom and I still have about 50% of it left, so these peopole must either scrap a ton or hoard like there's no tomorrow!) Anyway, as soon as I get it and get a chance to play with it I'll show you all my creations. I think I'll be a kit-addict soon enough.

Well that's all, going to put a final coat of paint on my chest tonight, pick up some goodies for my sister's bachelorette this weekend and hopefully finish my page for the Scrapmojo challenge.

Life's good! Hope yours is too :)
G.

one little word...one big reveal

**Routine**

Ok, so here's my entry for the One Little Word this week, the word was NOW (sorry for the crooked picture, I miss my Photo Stitch program so much!!)

I knew immediately what I wanted to do when I saw this word, but it took me awhile to actually do it. Why? Fear mostly. Fear of getting this out, of letting people know, of revealing how I feel. Of looking stupid for scrapping about this kind of thing. But it's good. It's good to get it out, to document it, the good with the bad (and the unknown.) Like I said, in a few months this could all turn out to be a big nothing, but right now, in the midst of the frustration, the word NOW really seemed to resonate with me.

Also, I finally used a piece of scalloped paper! I've had it forever so I'm glad. Use up that Stash people, it feels great!

Last night I helped my friend paint an old coffee table she got off of Kijiji white, it looks great...tonight it's my turn, I have a chest that I want to paint white as well. I also have a plan for it, we'll see if it works...Me + paint = good times.

My 365 from yesterday, according to my calculations (which could be off), it was Day 100, a milestone if you ask me! So far I have missed 19 days, which is almost 1/5th, so not too too bad, hopfeully I'll get back on the train and the next 100 will be better than the first!!

Yep, my bum.

Well that's all for nowsies. I'm seeing all kinds of great things being done with the new Dozens kit, makes me want it soooo bad!! Maybe maybe someday.

Peace!

G (in a dress)

Squash coloured living room? Check.

Hey hey! Hope everyone is having a great weekend, I am having a productive and lovely time, I painted my living/dining room, went to see a movie with the hubs (Wanted, with Angelina Jolie...super violent, super stylized, super action, super GORGEOUS Jolie=great summer flick), ran some errands, cleaned and enjoyed the lovely weather :) The one thing I did not do was scrap, but I'm hoping to get my OLW page done within the next few days...oh! Also, I got this awesome magazine the other night, I couldn't resist:

Cute scrapbooking based projects, DIYs, painting tips, vintage inspired decorating, and an article on the awesomeness of white? Oh yeah, right up my alley. Going to be digging into this all month :)

So, without further ado, here is my new, squash coloured living room (with green tape):

The colour, I must admit, did not look like what I wanted in the can, and it came out a bit more golden than I had thought, but in the end I really like it, everything pops against it, black or brown or white, so I'm excited to get a new dining room set, coffee tables, and decorate the place! And oh baby, just wait until the fall, it'll look sooooo cozy and nice, I can't wait! Once that is done, the next Challenge will be the kitchen...blue/aqua coloured walls and white cabinets, oh my. Then that'll be it pretty much, except for little details here and there, but my first how-I-want-it home will be complete, woo!

Well that's all for now, just wanted to share what I've been up to, hope everyone has a great week! Before I go, my latest 365s (not super original, but I was painting, too busy to think of something!)

Me being a total dork with my wild painting hair (painting in +25C weather=not so good on the looks.)

Today's shot, loving my new Walls :)

Out!

G.

Rad Jacked

Here's a layout I finished last night for the Scrapjacked Challenge. They jacked a really cool layout (and chick) this time, it's simple, but fun and cluttered, just the way I like it. I took inspiration from the picture placement, journaling tag, PP placement and use of tape (I used masking instead of duct.) I also did some paint splattering, something that Michelle does a lot, and something that I really love the look of and will be doing again in the future on my layouts.







I LOVED using my chunky MM letter stickers, 7Gypsies journaling tag and Love Elsie paper, all so bright, so fun!!

Next up, the OLW Challenge this week is the word NOW. I have a page that I'd like to do, but it's a bit scary, topic wise, so we'll have to see if I can get it out. But that's the Challenge I guess.

Ok, that's it, happy Friday everyone!
G.

Random Thoughts, on July 2nd, 2008

1. Man I need to watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spoteless Mind again, that movie is awesome. Now that's a real romantic comedy.

***

2. Hmm, feeling kinda blah right now, not sure what to make of it... paranoia mostly, some loneliness thrown in there with some uncertainty for good measure...I'm just trying to make things right and I'm not sure if it's working....it's hard to talk about.

***

3. (Related to point #2) I know that alot of people lately (like this gal, and this lovely lady) have been talking about their blogs and making them more personal, blogs that are for THEM and not for the people that are reading them. And how it's hard. Well I totally agree. It's really hard to put it all out there, to express how you really feel, and not just be all happy-let's-post-pictures-of-pretty-rooms all the time. Life's not just about paper and glue and nice furniture. There are people too. People who matter. LIFE. But I'm getting off on a rant. These girls have really made me think about my blog and, even though I still enjoy blogging and my blog the way it is (mostly fluff, let's face it), I think that I need to try and go a little deeper sometimes as well, I need to get stuff out sometimes, and I'm just going to have to take the plunge and go for it, and whatever comes of it will come of it, you know? (I know there's an option to block, but honestly, I don't want to get into that, and really, I don't know how, ha.)

***

4. Speaking of getting it out there, I really love Kate's practise of journaling on the back of every one of her 365s, to remember how she was feeling that day, where she was and how she was doing. I love that idea. I think that my next techie investment is going to be a photo printer (any suggestions??), so that I can print my 365s and journal on the back of them as well, then keep them all in an album, so that I can also look back and see how I was, what I was doing and how I was feeling that day, goofy, silly, serious or blank. So, sorry Kate, I'm stealing another idea of yours! (But really, how can you not when she rocks so much?!)

***

5. Lately I've also been thinking about my artisitic goals and what I'd like to acheive with my scrapbooking. I'm finding that lately, I am scrapping for others, if that makes any sense. Scrapping a certain way because I think that's what people will like. Scrapping just so that I can be in Challenges and, well, to be honest, win. Be acknowledged. Be chosen. Be "special". Be part of the "cool kids' club". But, frankly, it's starting to get to me. I'm not enjoying myself anymore, and I am let down everytime I see that I, in fact, am not part of the elite bunch of talent that's out there. Then I get discouraged and start hating my work. But you know what? I just need to suck it up and get on with it. Stop scrapping for others (or for my own need to belong), and just scrap to create. To enjoy the process. To get some feelings out, keep my memories alive, leave something behind that was just me. Not to say that I won't play in Challenges, because I love them think that they are a great way to get the creative vibes going, but I need to realize that's it's not JUST about winning the OLW, or Scrapjack. Those come second, the creation comes first.

***

6. Ok, to veer off completely from that...I finished this silly, ridiculous mini thing last night and I thought I'd share it, what the heck.

The idea for the mini has been in my head for awhile, a mini that was dedicated to just my handwriting, since I hate it, but realized at the same time that I needed to document it. So I was eating Pringles one night, and I had the top in my hand, and it just hit me: make a circle mini with that thing! I had one bookring left, so I took a bunch of scraps, cut some circles by hand, created some journaling "prompts" for myself, and the mini was born. The prompts are on one side of the circle, and the journaling is on the back. Added a few little bits from my Stash, and there you have it. It's just foolishness mostly, but like I said, the main idea was to get my handwriting down.

***

7. I'm now working on a page for the Scrapjack Challenge, which I love, since I used to "pealift" people all the time over at 2Peas, so this works out great for me :) I also found the This is Me Challenge, which looks like a lot of fun, so I might try to play some of those. The OLW this time is NOW, which is super easy and I have a personal page brewing in my head, so I hope to get it out soon. So there's lots going on, I just need to remember to keep it real. Keep it for me.

***

8. I also printed off my fav 365s from the first 90 days, going to create a page about that at some point too, should be fun! It's so cool to see all the 365s together, I'm really glad that I'm sticking to this project, despite missing a few days, I think that I'll appreciate it in the future, and so will my kids when they see how their Mama looked in 2008. And, like I said, as soon as I can I'm going to start journaling for each shot, so the story will be revealed even more. Anyway, here are my latest ones, 2 were taken with my cell cam, but I figured it's a picture, so it should count, right?




Ok, well I'm out, hope to post some layouts this week! Have a great week everyone!


The Real Geneviève