It's Day 3 of the Stampede!!

And we haven't done any Stampede-ing this year! Yikes! How un-Calgarian of us to not take in the festivities in and around town - but we have been very busy. Dominic took the week off and we have been working steadily on the yard and the house. My listings on Kijiji and Craigslist have also kept me hopping - why does everybody want something for nothing? Everything was priced to sell and everyone low balls their offer. And despite how much this aggravates me, I just want to declutter the house...so all you bargain hunters are in luck!

The last two days have been spent going to Sunnyside and Blue Grass Nurseries. I have planted lots of new perennials and hope in 2-3 years time, I will have a beautiful flowering garden to enjoy. Right now, it lacks alot of lustre and is dominated by children having water gun fights and clamouring all over the swingset and the flower beds (despite my terse warnings!) Gardening is not something I enjoy and is a chore that I do to have a nice yard to enjoy. This year we have a cute veggie patch which is doing well in some areas but not so good in other areas. I don't quite understand this but I am going to blame the unpredictable Mother Nature for my predictament!

So all this busy-ness has not left me alot of time to create because my desk is being dismantled as we speak so Dominic can fix the keyboard tray...and I have been slaving in the hot sun in the yard. Here are a few pictures of my newly perennial-laid garden. Not a great picture, I know! It was just starting to storm with chubby rain drops, thunder and lightning but you can see that there are now flowers around the patio.



And here are the flowers that are around the patio - I really love them! They are cute and a fabulous colour! Now...if I can only keep them alive! Again, sorry for the rotten picture...I didn't get a chance to change my camera settings and I was getting very wet...and Dominic and Danielle were yelling for me to get into the house!

Because I haven't created alot, I thought I would share some of my favorite layouts to-date! OK, who doesn't have a smile on their face when they see these pictures? This was my entry in the Hot Shotz I for the inspiration round.

Supplies: Basic Grey patterned paper; Heidi Swapp bling; Autumn Leaves journalling block; ink - Close to my Heart; 7gypsies rubs; blossom (unknown)

This picture is one of my all time favorites of Danielle! I love how her little dimpled hand is wrapped with PauPau's hand. A unique generational picture - can't have too many of those! And I love the dimensional flowers on the layout made with plain old cardstock - it is amazing what you can do with the very basics; isn't it?

Supplies: Bazzill textured cardstock; Basic Grey patterned paper and cardstock for the flowers; prima flowers; Heidi Swapp bling; 7gypsies journalling tag; chipboard letters (I can't remember! *blush*); lace and woven tag (unknown)

And I cannot forget this layout of the girls together - a moment where love is oozing out of their pores!

Supplies: WRMK (I think!!!) patterned paper, chipboard and ribbon.

Hope you all have had a wonderful day!
-vw