Join me...

for the All About Me Challenge Blog's Blog Hop!Stop by here April 7th for some fun and even,possibly, my first ever RAK!

New pretties

Here's a few projects I've been working on, scrappy and otherwise:The last is a set of tea towels I embroidered fro my oldest(eta: she's not my oldest friend, she's actually younger than me. I've just known her the longest. Hopefully she's happy now) friend Cynthia's birthday. I've known her since we were four...which is a very long time!! She's an awesome friend and is very crafty herself.
Thanks for taking a peek!

Stichin' and picture takin'

I haven't scrapped much this week due to March Break. It's great not getting up early to rush Sid to school on my days off but all that sleeping in means the girlie is staying up well into crafting time. I didn't book any time off this week since I'll be having a tonne of time off over Easter and Passover. However, we did make good use of our time off. The weather was gorgeous so we spent lots of time outdoors. We had a fabulous day on Dundas and Queen Street West and a lovely picnic with the dollies at the park. Here's a few shots:I did manage to finish and embroidered brooch I started over a month ago. It's my first attempt, please keep that in mind.Can you tell I ran out of purple floss? Ooops.
Thanks for peeking at my ramblings!

Writing about what's hard to talk about

The All About Me challenge blog has their new challenge up and it's a doozy. The challenge is to use the quote "Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go."There was only one thing I could think to explore in layout. It's not something that I talk about a lot here. I'm not even sure how to start....which really bugs me. Depression has such a stigma attached to it, that over six years later I still feel embarrassed.

When Sid was born I spiraled down into a life altering depression. I was plagued with extreme anxiety and very dark feelings. If not for my family and medication I don't know what would have happened. Yet, many people in my daily life had no idea. I was on medication for almost five years. I flourished, no doubt. Life was beautiful again.
Eventually, I wanted to be medication free. The short term memory loss as brutal. (Seriously, who forgets that they shampooed their hair while they are still in the shower?) So, in the summer of 2008 I went off the pills. It was rough, but manageable. I lasted about 11 months, then anxiety seeped back into my life. Almost unnoticeable at first but it quickly gained momentum. I started not sleeping, then crying about not sleeping, then crying about crying. It was time to face facts. Me+Zoloft= Good.
I'm a better Mom, Wife and a better ME.
I know many people who struggle with mental illness everyday and I am TIRED of the stigma! We don't hide physical illnesses, so how do we expect to heal mental illness by covering it up. So here's my layout and you just read my two cents. I hope, maybe, I can open one mind by talking about about mine.

GCD studios lovin'

A few weeks ago I feverishly put together an application for the design team call at GCD studios after finding their paper at my LSS. (Which was actually a funny story. I was there for distress ink one morning an overheard the the lovely girl who works there mention a new shipment of Hambly had just come in. I practically ambushed her after she got off the phone. You see Hambly is like scrapping crack to me and there is nowhere in downtown Toronto to buy it. So she let me fondle, I mean check out the new shipment before it was on the shelf. I think she thinks I'm a little wacko. So I go through the box, trying to not squeal every five seconds and see there is GCD paper in there too. It's gorgeous and totally my style, so I end up buying more of it than Hambly).
Not so long story short I put together some layouts and a mini book, cross my fingers and send off my application. I didn't get an email on call day and I'm not surprised at all. Hey, it was a good experience just getting it ready right? Then comes yesterday and I'm checking out the blog to see who was chosen. I happen to scan down the posts and see my name at the bottom of the list for the Spotlight gals. Whaa???
I'm all alone and just about to leave to pick up Sid from school. I look over at my guinea pig and yell "Petal! That's me!!!" (My neighbours already think I'm crazy by the way).
So, yeah there's my (exciting to me but probably boring to you) story. Here's the mini book and a layout I made for the call. Thanks for reading this epic!

A weekend in March...

What a gorgeous weekend it was. Despite the fact that I'm fighting some kind of bug and felt horrible for most of Saturday and Sid had a painful sty we got outside as much as we could. We went for brunch, for a long walk and to the Royal Ontario Museum. Here's a few photos:That last one is so Sidney (she was joking by the way). What a goof.

All about me...

Well, the All About Me Challenge Blog, that is. The new challenge is up and it's the first one since I joined the Design Team. The theme this time is "My Personality".
I had to brainstorm this a little before creating my layout. As I've written here before I'm not an organized kind of girl. I'm not tidy or frankly ambitious. However, I'm ALWAYS on time. Punctuality is a disease with me. I simply hate being late and even find getting somewhere just on time stressful. I'm so bad Sid often asks when we are getting ready for school and I'm trying to hurry her "Are we late or just "Mommy-late"?"
Yep, she knows me.
Come join us and play along.

Grandmother

Okay, I'll admit it this layout was supposed to be titled "Grandmother Murray" but I ran out of thickers. Seriously, I need a second job for all the thickers I go through. Anyway this one's a bit of a tear jerker. My grandmother passed away when I was six (same age as Sid is now) and I only have a few memories of her. I literally cried while making this. Both my grandmothers were such great ladies and I so wish I could sit down and have a chat and a couple glasses of wine with them now I'm an adult. I recently did a layout about my other grandmother but I'm not happy with and will re do it soon and share it here. Thanks for taking a peek and click on the layout to see it larger.