I wish the Fall was always as nice as it was on  Sunday…the kids and I spent the afternoon outside…it was so beautiful out…here’s the best pic from my little photo shoot with the kids…

I have to edit the photo and straighten it up!! But it’s my favorite right now of these guys!! They are SO not hard to photograph!! It’s just catching them is the hard part!!!! Thanks to our amazing landlords, Reg & Liz for the pumpkins and flowers!! They make the house look great!! Much appreciated!!

Happy Tuesday!

Don’t forget to check out my In A Scrap Creations blog tomorrow for this week’s Wacky Wednesday free digi stamp from Robyn’s Fetish…

The “Spread the Love” Blog Hop has officially started…this is a special day for Jaimie Cates…this brave young girl has survived tradegy and needs encouragement through cards and monetary help…we can all do our part to help her out…to read the full story, scroll down to last Wednesday’s post or follow this link or this one.

People all over the world are participating in this blog hop…

Start at Katharina’s blog and you can follow the link to the next person on the blog hop list.
Katharina Frei  http://katharina1704.blogspot.com/

The blog before mine: 
Lydia Fielder   www.projectreanimate.blogspot.com

Mine:
Amanda Newton   http://amandanewton.wordpress.com

Hit up Jaime’s blog next:
Jaime Schlangen    www.inkyandscrappy.blogspot.com

The main blog: {links for sending donations and cards are posted there}
Stamp Something…for Jaimie http://spreadthelove-forjaimie.blogspot.com/

Your challenge is very simple and doesn’t have to take a long time…all we ask is if you can make a card to encourage Jaimie and her family…you can send your cards to this address:

Jaimie Cates
c/o Mont Vernon Fire Station
Main Street
Mont Vernon, NH 03057
USA

Here is the card I made and will be sending to Jaimie.

My thoughts and prayers are being sent to the Cates family at this time of loss and sadness.
But we do need to also thank God Jaimie is on the road to recovery.  

This was posted by Denise Lynn on the Mo’s Digital Pencil SNR page…it touched me and I wanted to share it with you all! I hope you can come hang out and create a card or two to brighten this young girl’s day! Thanks for reading!

********************************************************************************************************

I am inviting you to join me in a very special blog hop. I am organizing this hop with my Stamp Something co-founder, fellow New Hampshire gal and friend, Erin Bailey. We were both touched by a tragedy that recently occurred in a small neighboring NH town.

You can read the whole story here:

http://wbztv.com/local/newhampshire/mother.murdered.mont.2.1230017….

http://www.theunionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=%27Brave%2c+cou…

After receiving a sorrow-filled letter from her friend, Erin immediately knew she needed to do something, she just wasn’t sure what. I brought up the idea of a Spread the Love Blog Hop and here we are.

These are the details we have worked out so far…
- The date of the blog hop will be Monday, November 2 at 10 EST. (I know it’s not a lot of notice, but we want to start soon)
- The theme of the hop is “Spread the Love.” Any thing goes as far as stamps, products, designs etc. We have no rules regarding what you create for the hop.
- We are asking that you to mail your cards to Jaimie (address below). We want her to be showered with cards from around the world in an effort to restore hope to this young girl’s life. We’re also encouraging anyone who participates in the hop to mail a card to Jaimie and/or anyone they know who has been a victim of random violence.
- We want this hop to be BIG; the more cards sent to Jaimie the better!!!
- We will be doing most of the hop in conjunction with the Stamp Something Challenge site. If we are offered donated blog candy, we will probably choose a winner from one of your sites.
- Email Erin at stamping rocks@yahoo.com or Denise at deniselynnstamps@gmail.com if you are able to join us. If you are unable to join but have a friend who maybe interested, please let us know.
- Once we have heard from everyone, we will email out a link list showing the order of the blog hop.
- On November 2nd all you’ll need to do is post your card with a bit of info about the story and links to the people before and after you on the hop link list.

Here’s a bit about Jaimie from Erin’s friend….
Jaimie is not really a girlie girl, but she does like hot pink and black. She likes outdoor activities such as biking, skateboarding, razor rip stick, snowboarding, and karate. As you may have read, she is a black belt in karate.

Cards are to be mailed to:
Mont Vernon Fire Station
Main Street
Mont Vernon, NH 03057

Here is a link to our town website. Donations for the Cates family can be made online with PayPal (link provided on town website). The information for mailing donations is also on this site.

http://town.mont-vernon.nh.us/index.php3

Mo’s Digital Pencil will also be sponsoring our challenge on Stamp Something on Friday, November 6th. Hope you’ll join in and maybe even send your card to Jaimie!

Thank you in advance for anything you can do to help us in our efforts to spread the love.

Hugs,
Denise Lynn and Erin Bailey

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

Hope you had a great day Dad!
We celebrated Dad’s birthday with him last night!!

{Trenton’s helping to blow out the candles!!}

We got Dad a “Mater” truck! Trenton is on this HUGE “Cars” kick and he found out that Papere loves Mater! So, the sweet little boy he is, he gave one of his “Tow Maters” to Papere! {He later had a meltdown cuz he wanted it back…we told him he had given it to Papere….and he has two more anyways!! He calmed down after that!!!}

Wishing you a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY Papere!!! We love you!!
{I put this photo on the front of Dad’s card!!!}

And we also wish Auntie Janice “Happy Birthday”!

{Auntie Janice with Trenton two birthdays ago! October 27th, 2007}

She and Dad share today for their birthdays!!! Kinda funny, eh!
Hope Trevor and Landon are spoiling you Janice!!!!  BIG HUGS!!!!!!

I cannot believe it’s been SO long since I blogged…this life stuff is getting in the way of my fun!!! Between moving and not having internet for three weeks, I have been a little {okay, a lot} slack on my blogging! This will be a LONG post!!!! I apologize ahead of time!!!!

A lot has happened in the last month or so…Mom and I did the Ovarian Cancer 5km Winners Walk of Hope on September 27 up in Barrie…the kids came along too! Trenton actually walked about 1/2 the trail so 2.5km! I was so proud of him! And Jocelyn was on my back the whole time so I got a good workout! [She napped pretty much the whole 5km!] We raised over $2000 between the two of us and Mom won the TOP FUNDRAISER again!! Two years in a row! We need to go back to Barrie to keep her winning streak going!!!

And we’ve moved into a big farmhouse just outside of Drayton on September 30th! We are SO happy to be out of the house in Drayton…apart from the fact that the house needs lots of work and was being sold anyways, we wanted to get out of there for personal reasons. We are SO happy we did move. Our new landlords are AMAZING! They painted the kitchen for us before we moved in…they let us paint the kids bedrooms…we’ve fixed up a few things already and plan on doing more hopefully soon…as the money flows in! It’s just nice being relaxed and not having to worry about what we’ve supposedly done wrong! And the kids have their own rooms, they have a play area/toy room; Jason has the whole basement to himself; and the best news of all: I HAVE MY OWN SCRAPBOOK ROOM!!! Yes, you read that correctly…I have my own scrapbook room with a door and everything! So I can close the door to keep Little Miss Sticky Fingers out of my stuff!!!

My design team duties have increased recently as well. I am now on the Robyn’s Fetish digital stamps design team. Here’s a few of Robyn’s designs on my cards:

Here’s a few layouts I did using Robyn Fetish digital stamps {and a few Pink Cat Studio digital stamps}

Here are some more Design Team Creations for Scrap That! for September and October…we had a TEAL kit for September for Ovarian Cancer month and a PINK kit for October for Breast Cancer month. Here’s some of my projects {some of the above cards and layouts are for my DT stuff on Scrap That! too!!}

The inside of this card says: “We’re in this together”…it’s for my mom to give to her friend Cindy who has Breast Cancer…Mom met her at the cancer clinic in London when she was getting her chemo…they became instant friends and kinda saw each other through the treatments…this was a free digital stamp from My Favorite Things stamps and I thought of this idea as soon as I saw the stamp! Mom wants some more for her cancer friends…I can customize the ribbon colour to whatever colour you’d like so if you would like to order this card, please email me  or post a comment with your email in it and I will email you about the ribbon colour you would like! Thanks!

The pink wedding favour is part of a basket donation that I am making to the Harvest Ribfest for the Drayton Icemen. This is the rest of the basket. I will be selling these in my store too. It can be customized to match specific wedding colours. It makes a great gift for a bride.

This will be available for auction at the Ribfest…email or post a comment if you are interested in getting tickets.

Here’s some layouts for my Scrap That! designs for September/October.

This is a layout of Mom getting her hair back…she’s pictured with Linda Farrell. Mom met Linda through a not so fun experience but it proved to be good news in the end for Linda…just after Mom get her cancer, she got a call from the doctor’s office about a woman in town who they thought had ovarian cancer too…so Mom talked to Linda on the phone and via emails but we finally met her at our crop…Linda’s a fellow scrapper as well so we got along VERY well! Linda even donated some great door prizes and a make-n-take for our crop! THANKS AGAIN LINDA!!

I have one of these for Jocelyn too but I need to get some lettering for the title…I’m thinking I might just cut it out on my Cricut!!

 Thanks for sticking with me throught this L-O-N-G update!!!

I will update with some pics of the  kids tomorrow! Despite the fact we were moving, unpacking, busy with hockey, etc. I’ve been snapping pics of the kids!

Happy Monday everyone!!!

Here is my card for this month’s sketch at My Sketch World!

Thanks for looking!! [This can be purchased in my Etsy store along with more new cards and other supplies posted!!]

I cannot believe it’s almost September…I’m here to post this coming month’s sneak peek for My Sketch World…I don’t like to think that summer’s almost over…and I don’t even have kids in school yet…that will be fun!!

Anyways, enough rambling…here’s the sneak peek:

Thanks for looking! Check out My Sketch World to see the whole card on September 1st or around then!

I am applying for a new digital stamp company, Digital-Ink Co. so here are my submissions.

Product List:
Porcelain Papers & Buttons: Basic Grey
Stamped Image: Miscellaneous
Copic Ciao Markers: E49, G99, R00, R20, Y11 

Product List:
Ambrosia papers: Basic Grey
Buttons: from my collectoin & Savvy N Sassy
Rub-on: Daisy Bucket
Stitching Template: Bazzill

Thank you for looking at my application. Please send some good vibes my way that I’ll get a spot! Thanks everyone!

So I forgot to post my completed card for my first My Sketch World sketch by Lucy Chesna… :0) Here is the full view [thanks for the reminder Amanda W!]

Thanks for looking!!!!!

I have officially started my design team term at My Sketch World with my debut sketch creation. Lucy’s sketches are so easy to work with…we can make them completely our own! I was pretty happy with the results this month..here’s a sneak peek of what my card looks like!

This is also for my design team work at Scrap That! In August, we are showcasing the newest lines from Basic Grey, Lemonade and June Bug. You’ll have to check back on August 1st to see the full view. Or you can see it at My Sketch World and Scrap That!

Happy Tuesday everyone!
Amanda

We’re hosting our first ever Blog Hop here at Scrap That! For those of you who have never participated in a “hop” before, basically you start at the Scrap That! Chat blog and post a comment. Then you visit each of the Design Team members’ blogs over the course of the weekend and post a comment there too. Don’t forget to check out their July reveal projects…I’ve seen some sneak peeks and you won’t want to miss them!

[Porcelain Collection - papers and buttons- from Basic Grey used in our kits this month...check out the Scrap That online store to stock up on your own supply of this beautiful line!]

We also have Sharon Frewen, our July Guest Designer, joining in on the fun with us this weekend too! Thanks Sharon for helping out! Can’t wait to see your July Creations!

It was two years ago today that my Nanny passed away…it’s hard to believe it’s been that long already…she is no longer in pain…I’m sure she’s figure skating in Heaven right now [she always wanted to learn how to skate!]

We took Grandpa to the cemetery today in London…he did really well actually. We all miss her…Aunt Sue and Angie joined us too…it was really nice…we know Nanny is looking down on us and smiling…we were talking today at the cemetry and there have been 7 great-grandchildren born since Nanny passed away…Hailey, Rhett, Nicholas, Jillian, Jocelyn, Issac and Landon…we’re so blessed to have our family continue growing…

Nanny, we love you; we miss you; you are extremely special to us all and we will look out for Grandpa!  He’s in good hands!!! But he misses you dearly! You are truly loved!!!!!

[Grandpa & Nanny on their wedding day - November 14th, 1953]

I’m so excited! I can share it now!!!

I was chosen to be on the My Sketch World Card Sketch Design Team!! YAY! A HUGE thank you to Lucy [Chesna]…I’m very excited to be a part of this great team. I’ve only been on their boards for a little while and I already feel VERY welcome…Lucy’s sketchs are very easy to work with and I’m so glad I get to work with them each month!!!

Here’s what I created for the DT call!

Again, I’m so grateful to be a part of the team and I’ll keep ya posted with my cards!!!

I have a lot of updating to do from the last couple weeks but I’ll blog later on! I’m heading to church with the kids soon…I just wanted to post about a blog candy I found through a fellow scrapper’s site!

Diana is celebrating her two year “blogiversary” and she’s doing a GREAT giveaway!!  Check it out!

There’s a pile o’ unmounted rubber from Hampton Arts, a Tim Holtz pack of Grungeboard, Making Memories metal signs, an SU! set, a PSX heart stamp, 2 wooden boy stickers, a dollar stamp, a pack of vellum friendship quotes, 2 Karen Foster chipboard books and a pack of Karen Foster eyelets…all new.

You can get to her blog through this link HERE. Happy Blog Hopping!

Speaking of blog hops, we’re having a blog hop over at the Scrap That Chat Blog on July 24-26th…come on over to get the links for all the DT members…You will NOT be sorry you did! I’ll be offering a RAK on my blog too! Happy Hopping!

We decided to make it a weekend away up in Barrie this past weekend. We haven’t been out together as a family since Jocelyn was born [which is over a year now] so we thought we’d take a “mini vacation” up in Barrie while Jason played baseball.  He was supposed to play ball all weekend and the kids and I were going to go watch him if it wasn’t raining. Well, we finally got to the hotel sometime after 9pm after some really slow service at East Side Mario’s.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express….it’s a great little hotel with a delicious hot breakfast in the mornings. I thought it would be great for Jason before he played ball.

We got unpacked and settled in by 11pm…the kids were still raring to go!

[Trenton at 11pm still WIDE awake!]

[Jocelyn still awake too...enjoying her bottle before bed!]

So, by accident, not realizing it…I booked us a room with two king sized beds with a kitchenette….it was great! If I was single, I’d live there…it was like a little bachelor pad!

[Trenton and me in the kitchenette]

The kids finally fell asleep around midnight Friday night…Jason was out like a light before that! He barely could make it to 11pm…..he had to get up early anyways cuz the Mudcats were playing the 8am game [the kids and I were NOT going to that game! That's for sure!!!]

Well, Jason came back around 10am……and said the whole tournament was cancelled because of the rain…the City of Barrie called it…so Jason got to spend the whole day with us! I wasn’t going to sit at the ball fields if it was pouring rain…or even drizzling….it’s not worth the colds later on….so the kids and I were going to go shopping anyways! So Jason spent the day with us…we went to Bayfield Street where Jason and Trenton went to National Sports while Jocelyn and I went to Once Upon a Child [thank goodness they are right beside each other!] I got a bunch of stuff for the kids there for only $25! I was happy! Trenton even got a NIKE Team Canada Authentic Jersey for $5.50! That was the best buy of the day. Then we went to Lick’s for lunch…..we then headed over to Old Navy and did some damage there! Jason got a new long sleeve shirt, a pair of jeans and a pair of shorts…they had a 50% off sale on all men’s stuff! We got a really cute onesie for Jocelyn and Trenton got a baseball tee shirt and some new swim shorts [to match Daddy's!]. I got two new pairs of much needed shorts for my wardrobe.

Trenton found a new girlfriend at Old Navy…it was SO funny…he went up to these mannequinns and stood beside “Rita” and said it was his “new girlfriend!” I just HAD to have a picture of this….Jason went out to the car to get my camera for me….it was just too precious of a moment to miss!

[Trenton and his new girlfriend "Rita"]

[Daddy and Jocelyn waiting for Mommy to try on her new shorts!]

We then headed to a fellow baseball player’s friend’s place for dinner….after waiting a little longer than we thought we would, the kids had chicken nuggets and french fries for supper and the adults had black angus steak, baked potatoes and caesar salad. It was well worth the wait! We finally got back to the hotel around 10:30pm and the kids didn’t fall asleep till midnight again! I went to the 24 hours Wal mart to grab a few things….and I was up till 2am making father’s day cards!

Sunday morning we woke up and gave Jason his Father’s Day presents! Trenton helped get the stuff out of the bag!

Here’s our #1 Father!

[The tee shirt is from the kids!]

We hope you like your pressies hun!

We decided to go swimming in the morning before we left seeing that we didn’t get to go the day before….This was Jocelyn’s second time swimming..the last time she went was last year [at the same hotel]…let’s just say, she didn’t like it very much [take a look below to judge for yourself!]

Trenton finally warmed up to going out as well. By the time we were ready to leave, he was going in on his own!

After swimming and packing, we hit the road to meet with Mom and Dad and Trevor for lunch. We met at the Elora Gorge Restuarant. Trenton got a hold of my camera. He took the photo of Mom and Dad. [below]

We then went over to Conestoga Crest to see Grandpa for dessert for the rest of the afternoon.

All in all, despite the tournament being cancelled, we had a GREAT weekend and a wonderful little family vacation together.

Again, Happy Father’s Day to Jason, Dad, Grandpa and Trevor [almost!].

I’m posting this again in case you were still interested and just forgot about it….

This is a RAK that I found on my fellow designer, Diane’s blog. The first 5 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! Could be a card, an altered object or something else altogether! Diane created me a beautiful little mini album and a matching card and a goodie box of yummies!! I LOVE it BTW Diane! Thanks!!

Now for the RULES:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make but I hope you will!
2. What I create will be made with you in mind, I will look to your blog to find out more about you! I’ll take hints if you want to leave them. [Like favorite manufacturers, layout sizes, etc.]
3. I will create your item as my schedule allows…in a timely manner but not tomorrow..lol..So only sign up if you are willing to wait a bit. 
4. There is a catch – you must offer this same blog candy on your blog! Let me know you’re in, email me your address to amanda[dot]newtn[at]gmail[dot]com then re-post this on your blog (you can change the wording) and offer something you make – your choice – to the first 5 people who respond to your post. Add my name to the #1 slot on your list – I am your first participant. When you create your giveaway, you will become the first participant on the lists for the people who participate with you. 

MAKE SENSE??!! 

1. Diane Davies
2.
3.
4.
5.

Thanks for playing along! Let’s keep the chain of goodness going!

AAhh! My baby’s walking!!! I was cleaning at Grandpa’s today and Mom called me [the kids stay with Grandpa when I clean! Gotta love free babysitting! THANKS MOM! YOU'RE THE BEST!!] to tell me Jocelyn took a few steps on her own! I got to see it when I got home an hour or so later!! It’s so cool! Soon she’ll be running and I won’t be able to keep up with her and Trenton! LOTS of fun!!!

I’ll post the video Mom took if I remember to get it off her camera!

Okay, there has been a mouse in our place for the last week…I think it was Monday or Tuesday night I saw the little “bum” [that's not what I call it when I'm at home but for editting purposes I'll just name him that!!  My mom reads my blog too! **HI MOM!**] for the first time…then Jason was standing in the livingroom on Wednesday night and he could hear a rustling sound in the pantry….the little “bum” ate THROUGH the bag of chips…a brand new bag….[Jason wasn't happy about that!!]

So I bought a couple traps when I was out the other day…..and Jason, my manly, brave hubby….who grabs the hockey stick whenever he sees the mouse…..I’m not sure what he thinks he’s gonna do if he gets close enough….set them for me before he went to baseball for the weekend……but the little “bum” was still around all weekend…..he was in the BATHROOM…….my brave little man, Trenton looked in the bathroom for me while I was standing on a stool to see if the mouse was still there….let me just say, he’s afraid of bees and flies and birds but he was okay about looking for the mouse…..and THEN the little “bum” ran across the floor from the LIVINGROOM…..he’s getting closer to my scrapbook stuff……and then I didn’t see him for AGES till about 10 or 11 last night……he ran behind the stove……..the little “bum” wouldn’t touch ANY of the traps………well, sorry, let me clarify…..he LICKED the darn peanut butter off the trap under the sink….then I was watching “Message in a Bottle” tonight, JUST ABOUT to go into the kitchen to clean up, and the little “bum” runs across the living room floor again this time, behind MY SCRAPBOOK BOXES…..AAAAAHHHHH…..not only has he taken over my life, that I’m at a point I check the floors to see if he’s there…..or I peek around the bathroom door frame to see if he’s in there again…now, he’s into MY STUFF……my biggest fear is that he’s getting closer and closer to the kids’ toy area…and that frightens me….I don’t need one of them getting bitten……I think there’s just one…but Jason seems to think there’s more than that!! I’m stocking up on Lysol spray…..

So, if anyone has a trained mouse-eating cat that you want to lend us for a bit, Jason has said a few times today that we need one [I am not that fond of cats...and I don't want dead mouse carcasses laying around my house!]

I swear this is what the little “bum” is doing…..

The little “bum” just ran across the drop ceiling…man you can hear EVERYTHING through those things!!

I might as well have this game set up…..that’s how effective the ones we have up now are!! There’s one in the middle of the floor right now….so hopefully he takes the bait!!! We’re not just feeding this little vermin..okay, NOW I’m going to bed!!!

If anyone has any solutions, PLEASE email them to me….. I’m off to bed!! I’ll have to finish watching “Message in a Bottle” another time!

I cannot believe it’s been a whole year! Miss Jocelyn turns one today! I’m excited and sad and happy all in the same emotion! It’s exciting because she’s doing new things….she’s learning new things….I’m sad cuz it means she’s growing up but I’m happy because it’s a new chapter……she’s still my baby…but she’s getting bigger and smarter and is ALMOST walking!! AAHH!! I’m in trouble then!!! I think she gets into my stuff now!!!!!

We had her birthday party with the family on Saturday…Mamere and Papa came down from Parry Sound in their new RV! And Grandma and Papere came over too…..Aunt Janice and Uncle Trevor showed up later [Janice had to work late!]…..but Jocelyn was blessed with beautiful gifts and enjoyed some yummy carrot cake…Jocey loved it!

Tonight we’re going to Sip N Bite for supper with Trenton, Daddy, Jocelyn and me….Sip N Bite was the first place she went after she came home from the hospital! So we thought it would be appropriate to have supper there tonight!

I”m off to play with the kids! Here’s a few pics of my beautiful baby girl!!!

    

Here are the rules of the Lemonade Stand award:
Comment on this blog.
Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog.
Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude.
Link to your nominees within your blog post.
Comment on their blogs to let them know they’ve received the award.
Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation.

And here’s a little about the Friends award:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers.

Deliver this award to five bloggers who must choose 8 more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

Well I am choosing 7 amazing bloggers, that I love to follow their work! They are fun, talented and caring… so be sure to visit their blogs and leave them some LOVE …..

1. Christine  –> My new scrappy friend through our mutual love of CTMH stamps!!! [And also, my SIL!]
2. Jenn –> My sounding board and confidant! Congrats on the weight loss and and of course, good for you for doing field hockey this year!
3. Melissa –> My fellow crafter and friend!! I miss hanging out after supper with the kids but I’m sure Elmira is still standing without us there!!! ;0)
4.  Wendy –> I miss our MSN talks girly! Hope all is well with you guys!!
5.  Mindy –> I LOVE your honesty! You tell it like it is!
6. Michelle –> I love your work and your photography! Hope the camera strap covers do well!
7.  Mo –> Your sense of adventure and amazing spirit inspire me! And that turkey stew looked AMAZING! I’m sure it tasted amazing too! Great catch!