Not Quite There!

So I'm thinking we're still not quite there! Although yesterday felt great...anything above -15C does these days....I can't help but think we haven't seen the last of winter. The temperatures for the next week just aren't great! I will try hard to stay positive and go out for some walks but I am so done with winter. Every cell of my body is ready for some warmth from the sun!
....not quite there!

I love this hobby!
I love that I can take tons of pictures and have a purpose for them.
I love that I can put them to paper with great embellishments and words to tell a story or feeling!
I love the awesome people I have met with the same passion (obsession?...it's a fine line)!
I love the colors and patterns of paper.
I love the challenge of creating new pages.
I love using other peoples ideas to create my own works of art.
I love that Bill and Taylor benefit from my hobby!
I love scrapbooking stores and websites.
LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

New Computer....

So after my cruise I downloaded my !hundreds! of pictures and my computer was not happy! It was taking so long to open, view and do very basic editing! I knew this day was coming as the computer had been pretty slow! as of late! Bill was kind to agree to getting a new one a few months earlier than we had planned, so off to Costco we went. I love getting things at Costco if they have what I want (usually NOT a problem). They have such a hassle free returns policy, if the need arises and they are great at given money back for coupons that come out after a purchase has been made!
We ended up getting a nice laptop with lots of memory, speed and a great screen for working with my pictures and scrapbooking stuff! After what seemed like forever, I think I have everything setup and loaded for my needs. I have started to remove programs and files from my old computer, so it too is happy! I will keep our business stuff on the old one and some other programs I use not so often. I am hoping to keep this one running fast for a very long time! No more storing photos on my hard drive...they are now all on an external hard drive...happily waiting to be opened and used on an upcoming scrapbook page or shared with family and friends on SmugMug (my new favorite place to share photos!).
Happy Day to All!

Great Service!

More often than not these days the service industries have much to be desired! So when one finds Exceptional service it should be shared and paid forward as much as possible! After all word of mouth is your best form of advertising!

That being said...HATS OFF to one of my favorite online companies...SCRAPTIVITY! I have dealt with them for over a year now as part of their monthly kit program and never had so much as a problem! Recently however, my kits were not being shipped by Canada Post! The first kit that wasn't delivered was chalked up to "that happens every now and then". SCRAPTIVITY! agreed to just add in my missing kit with the next month.

February came and went...NO KIT! We decided one month was just life but two months in a row was more than a coincidence! Both myself and SCRAPTIVITY! lodged a complaint with Canada Post and miraculously they showed up within days....HMMMM..go figure! Today I received my March kit with 3! kits enclosed. Not once did this company refuse to take charge of the situation or make me wait for my product. I am so impressed...I expected to wait forever to take care of this and had my back up for a fight, as I had paid for product that was not received. Each time SCRAPTIVITY! dealt with the issue promptly and with such respect...Thank You for that! I will find good homes for the extra product. My friend Connie Nichol will take some and use for some of her published projects and give credit to SCRAPTIVITY! in the process. I may also donate some of the paper to a local school for the kids to use!

I encourage anyone interested in scrapbooking to take a look at this company and try them out...you will not be disappointing !

2 entries in one day!

Just sharing a couple pages I finished up today.
Taylor was such a great sport while we were away, never complaining
about having his picture taken. Usually it's a battle to get him to smile so much...
he must have really been having a great time!
LOVE THAT SMILE!

TIME FLIES

WOW!
It's hard to believe that 2 weeks have already gone by since we've been back from our trip. It seems so wrong at some level that the wait seems so long and the event is done in no time! Fortunately all the pictures I've taken will keep me in the moment for some time.
We came back to some brutal winter weather. When we landed it was -18C with a crazy windchill and that weather stayed with us until yesterday. We have broken some 50 year records (sadly on the minus side of 0) over the past week. Wednesday was -47C at the airport with windchill! The exhaust fog was so bad on the way to work that morning....HELLO! this is March not January!
Anyhow, all I can do is complain because I certainly don't have the means to change it! My whining has been in very good company! This morning it is already +2C...so it will be a great day...just because!
I've been adding more pictures to the SmugMug site, so feel free to check them out...still have lots to go through and share..it's a labour of love. Taylor finally put his on his computer last night and was busy sharing some on Face Book. I was pleased that he took so many pictures, he has a pretty good eye.
Well I'm off to clean up for the day, have some errands to run and calls to make. Will get the dogs out this afternoon for a good walk again...they will be in their glory! HUGS for now....

Love that monkey!

Here are a couple completed projects from the cruise. The top one (Samana Fun) is a Canvas Class I took on the cruise. I love the finished results. The class was taught by Deanna Hutchison from B.C.

The second is an altered kit from Scrap-a-Lot. Really pleased as well with this, though a picture of it doesn't show as well as the real deal!
Off to pack for another weekend away with the girls!
Ciao!

SmugMug

So I am trying out a new online photo storage/gallery at SmugMug. I have a 14 day trial and will try to get all of my Crop & Cruise pictures up there for sharing and viewing. If I understand the site correctly you can print and edit from the site. So far I am impressed, let me know what you think of the site and ease of use from your point of view!
Click on the link to the right under SmugMug to view pictures.
Thanks for looking!

Monkeying Around...

Some more pictures of our monkey fun, this was such fun moment though it didn't last long! Bill missed out on the fun, he was off someplace else at the time...maybe getting me a coconut drink?? Like you, he only gets to enjoy the pictures!

Home Again...

We had a fantastic trip to the Carribean!
Our days flew by with so much to do, and I had to set our alarm
most mornings! We took in a couple planned excursions on the cruise
and had a few play by ear days as well! This picture of Tayor was taken at a private beach we went to after whale watching on our Samana,Dominican Republic stop.
Taylor loved this little critter, and although there was a cost to take pictures with him it was well worth it!

This sunset was taken as we were leaving St. Thomas. This is such a pretty port with lots to do and great duty free shopping to boot! I had my hands on a new camera lens twice but showed some restraint and left with T-shirts for Taylor and Bill and some yummy Banana Daiquiri mix for me! A couple of flavoured rums made it into our hands as well!

This was one of the beautiful mountain top views from St. Thomas. I could have spent hours looking out to the ocean from this spot...the color of the water is incredible! The fact that we we're sipping the "World's Best Banana Daiquiri" certainly didn't hurt!
This is just a teasing of the many pictures I took. I will share more as I have a chance to go through them.
It was so hard coming back to -18C weather, but was pleased to hear we missed the really cold stuff while we were away. Our wonderful neighbours shoveled our driveway so we only had to run into the house to warm up. It's amazing how easy it is to adjust to sunshine, sand and beaches...wish I could say i loved snow even a fraction as much!
The scrapbooking and photography component to my fun in the cruise was great! We had some awesome Canadian talent teaching new techniques and I met some great new friends! I look forward to staying in touch with many of those I met!
Will upload more pictures soon...hugz to all!