It was a dark and stormy night...

When the 10th doctor landed amongst a vampire nest, his only worthy ally was a vampire hunter that he had met in a previous Halloween adventure. All did not go as planned since vampire had managed to get her hands on the 11th doctor's sonic screwdriver.....and managed to thwart their plans to exterminate her.

Happy Halloween everyone. Hope that your night is full of ghouls and goblins.

Another Retreat Layout

One of the challenges at the retreat was to use two sheets of pattern paper in a card, layout, altered project.  Everyone was given the same two pieces of paper.  The paper was orange and black Halloween paper.  Naturally, I didn't not have any Halloween photos with me and I am not one to create a layout to add photos later.

So, I improvised.  I ended up using the paper on an underwater layout instead.

The paper worked really well with the my son's swimming goggles.  Just because a paper is a specific theme, there is always a way to use it for something else.

Hopefully, it was a happy Tuesday.

Refreshed and Inspired

Nothing like a scrap retreat to jump start the mojo and to refresh the mind.  This year's retreat was at the Issiah Tubbs restort on West Lake.  I am not usually concerned with the sleeping arrangements since I am usually only concerned with the crop space; but, this years accommodations were the nicest of all the retreats that I have been at so far.  You have to understand that the first one that I went to was at a children's summer camp.  The cabins were unheated.  The beds were bunk beds with thin mattresses.  The washrooms were in a separate building and I was okay with that because the crop space was fabulous.

This place was certainly a step up...actually many steps up.  Carmen and I were in one of the refinished rooms with new queen size beds.  This was the first place that had a flat screen TV in the room.  The crop space was excellent.  We, each, had a huge table all to ourselves.  The price was excellent as well.

The Annex -- where our room was.

The Crop Space

The view 

The place was picturesque.  It rained most of Saturday which kept us indoors but both Friday and Sunday were perfect for getting out and for traveling.  We couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  You didn't feel guilty spending your time inside crafting.

I managed to get 4 layouts completed and I have ideas for 2 more.  I will share them over the next few days.  Here is the first layout that I completed.  I just had to scrap some of the photos from the Granby Zoo.

Graphic45's Bird Song was the perfect paper to use for this layout.

This weekend went by so quickly.  It was nice to see Michelle again and to spend time with Carmen.  I can't believe that it will be another year before the next one.

Have a good Monday.

Visit to the Granby Zoo

Today, we spent the day at the Granby Zoo.  For my daughter's birthday, we had sponsored a red panda.  Part of rewards for being an adoptive parent was a visit with the panda.  It took a couple of months to organize everything with the Zoo and with our schedules so it was a bit of a late birthday present.

My daughter is absolutely ga-ga over red pandas.  Everyone in the family chipped in to make this visit possible and it was a fabulous.  We arrived at the Zoo about an hour before it opened and the kiddos were able to go inside the enclosure with zoologist.

These pictures are going to make some fabulous layouts.  I am going to print them out so I can work on them at my scrap retreat next week.  I have already started packing up lots of stuff to play with.

I have lots more photos from the Zoo and I will post a few more later on.

Happy Saturday.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving and I hope everyone who is celebrating today is have a good holiday.  Our turkey is in the oven.  My parents are here visiting which is unusual.  We haven't celebrated Thanksgiving together in years.  Their fall visit usually coincides with Halloween instead of Thanksgiving.  It is nice to have company on the holiday.

I realize that it has been awhile since something crafty has been posted on the blog.  I have been doing a lot more research on techniques lately than actually producing anything.  That will hopefully change very soon since my yearly craft retreat is coming up and it always gives me the kick in the butt I need to get started again.

Have a good holiday. :-)