Tethered 2 Home

Stanley, of Flat Stanley fame, was mailed to us from our cousins on the other side of the Pond.  Two Brothers, who attend Grovewood Primary School in Essex, England thought that Stanley would enjoy a visit to the colonies, in particular, Ottawa during one of it’s many festivals.  We were excited to see him & show him a typical Saturday in the Nation’s Capital.

When we told Stanley that it was the first day of Winterlude & we’d leave the burbs & head downtown to check it out, he seemed very excited.  I think he was a bit disappointed; however that the smallest skates we had were still too big for him.  None the less, he was game to check out the World’s Largest Outdoor Skating Rink.

Down Town!  There’s the parliament buildings & the Peace Tower.  See the sky?  Notice that there are no clouds?  To a Canadian, no clouds means, it’s a really, really cold day.  Today, the temperature with the windchill was -25 Celsius.  Stanley found it cold, but it’s not always this cold.  In the summer it gets really hot.  In February, in Ottawa, it IS ALWAYS super cold.

So Winterlude is one of the many festivals Ottawa has.  At Confederation Park, they had Ice Sculpture Competitions with artists from around the world.

Here is Malcolm, Liam (in front) & Emma in front of one of Stanley’s favourite sculptures.

The Sculpture is called Ogopogo.

After looking at the sculptures, we walked the 5 minutes to the start of the Rideau Canal. You go over the stairs, take off your boots & put your skates on right there on the benches on the ice.

There’s Stanley & {Stanley} & Mike, who put skates on everyone.  He said his hands were tingling because of the cold.

Here’s Stanley & Emma.

Here’s Amy & Emma (Stanley is taking the photo):

This early in the morning, it’s not very busy at all & the ice was in great shape.

We didn’t stay too long.  Liam thought it was too cold.  Stanley got a ride with Hula Girl & they stopped on the way home for a Timmies, the worlds BEST coffee & donuts, eh.

So we dropped Emma off for her Ballet & Tap classes, just making it there in the nick of time

Stanley was still pretty cold.  The boys came home & we all sat by the fire place to warm up.

Stanley really liked his feet by the fire place & wished he could have taken off his socks too.  Now, as Stanley sat there he thought that being really close to a fire & being made of paper was not a great idea.

So he opted to warm up with Sparkle, who was very accommodating.

After a wee bit of rest, it was off to Malcolm’s Hockey Game.

That was cool & Stanley was enamored with the Zamboni that cleaned the ice between games.  He thought that would be a fun job to do.

Here’s Malcolm & Liam.  Malcolm, under his Hab’s Toque is wearing the Team Player of the Week Helmet.  He did great in that game.  Stanley was getting pretty tired & decided that he was too tired to walk, so he got a ride on Malcolm’s hockey bag.

We came home & thankfully we had a pot roast on in the crock pot & the house smelled wonderful.

We really hoped Flat Stanley enjoyed his time here & will come back to visit us in the summer when the weather is +30 C, not -30 C. 

Tags: Canal, Family, Flat Stanley, Ottawa, Winterlude

So this month’s theme at Paper Craft Planet is Keeping You in Stitches, pcpdt0210,   Add sewing to your creation.  I keep a special needle aside, so the next time I go to mend the boys’ clothes or Emma’s latest scrunchie, I can actually sew with it.  Paper dulls the needle just a bit.

I did have some fun with this idea with two projects.  First is this little paper bird:

I thought he was cute.  The CS is a Designer Mat Pad from K & Co called Ancestry.  The pattern … Martha.  And such a Martha thing, it is.  ”What do you do with a paper bird?”  I don’t know, but I like the idea.

The second stitching bit I’ve done was on a card …

The stamp set is from Stampin’ Up! called Paint Prints, stamped in Sahara Sand Ink on Kraft CS, with some old olive CS.  The felt vine is from Forever in Time Floral Embellishments Thick Vine.

The green boarder at the side was left over from another project’s unused Scallop Trim.  Always keep your scraps, ya never know.

Tags: 3D, Bird, Felt., K & Company, Kraft, martha stewart, PaperCraftPlanet, Sewing, Stitches, Stitching, Vine

MoxieFabWorld’s Tuesday Trigger Challenge is up & here is the fun inspiration photo Alicia Thelin chose this fun piece from Vintage Heart Boxes (The Red Thread)

My take on the card, is pretty much straight forward.  I cheated & used an old Martha Stewart Magazine for the paper, using Creative Memories small & large heart punches.  I wished I had had a Nestability rectangle die, but I didn’t so I used my exacto knife to cut out the Kraft Trim.  Martha also supplied the stamp, from her Valentine’s clear stamps, in Riding Hood Red Stampin’ Up Ink.

Tags: Challenges, martha stewart, MoxieFabWorld, Tuesday Trigger, valentines

Time for an Embellish Challenge.  Not my normal colours, but I really like the ring & it’s chunky carved look.  That’s sorta where I started with this card.  The “Ribbon” is more rick rack & pom poms, but I’m hoping it counts.  Much more pink too, hot pink, but pink.  Maybe it’s my screen, probably it’s the lighting.  Can I blame anything else for my inability to take a picture with accurate colours?

Here’s my card, using Colorbox Friendly Forest Mat Pack, Cream CS, & We Are Memory Keepers White Out Trim “ribbon”, Stampin’ Up! Calembours, Positively Pink SU! Ink, Word Window Punch.

Tags: Color Challenge, Colorbox, Embellish, Magazine, Ribbon, Trim

Today is Tuesday & that’s means Paper Craft Planet has it’s weekly 3d Challenge!  This week’s challenge, 3d47 is from Lori for a Pencil Case Box.  Super Cute Gift Box idea!

Here’s my go at it:

The paper is Apricot Appeal Textured CS (Stampin Up), & K & company Ancestry Mat Designer Mat Pad.  The Stamp Set is from Sunshine Designs.  Ink: Versamark Ink with Really Rust Embossing Powder & Really Rust Marker used with colourless CO Copic Blender.  Ric Rac & Hemp String.  Dimensionals & Coluzzle Circle Cutter.

Here’s the rough dimensions I used to make the slider box:

That’s it.  Give it a go yourself & don’t forget to upload it to the Paper Craft Planet Gallery, 3d47.

Tags: 3D, Box, Gift, PaperCraftPlanet, Pencil Case, Tutorial

Ah, a love movie, from Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge.  This week’s movie pick, #64, is Titanic.  DH & I went, as many other couples did to go see this romantically epic movie in the theatres years ago.   I thought it was so cool to see how accurate the Titanic replica was.  Impressive.

The challenge was to add some silver & blue.  I sifted through a little sequence bag I had grabbing all the aqua & sapphire coloured pieces I could find, as well as this Silver “Celebrate It” Ribbon from Michaels (adhered with Super Tacky Tape).  The Heart Shape is Grunge Board from Tim Holtz.  The Stamp is from Sunshine Designs (the Stamp Barn) that I bought at Heather’s.  Paper Stampin’ Up:  Brilliant Blue, White, & a SU Tempting Turquoise Marker, dimensionals, & a few Rhinestone Stickers.

Thanks for the fun, Brooke & Sankari & awesome Guest Designer, Nancy!

Tags: Card, CinemaSaturdayCreativeChallenge, Grunge Board, Heart, Sequence, Sunshine Designs, Tim Holtz, Titanic, Valentine

So I popped over to Heather’s Stamping Haven here in frosty Ottawa today & saw this BE-UUUUU-Tiful American Crafts Glitter Card Stock.  The peel stickers are Geo Shaped Sparkler’s from Stampendous, with a slight yellow hue.  Really glittery, almost holographic.

As soon as I saw glitter paper, I knew I wanted to use this Strawberry Box Pattern from PaperScrapz. I first saw this pattern a few years ago & loved it.

So the Papers are standard 12″x12″ & with the print out, you could get at least 9 strawberries, probably more like 12 if you cut a little more carefully.  Cut the pattern & then score & punch the Card Stock.  I cut out the print out first, then put a bit of “not so sticky” tape on it & pasted it to the non-glittery side.  Works better, no mess & don’t have to print out on the good card stock.

I find with this Glitter Paper, being that it is such a thick Card Stock, you need to use a marker & colour the edges so the white doesn’t show through.

Okay, onto the green stems, don’t forget to colour those edges too.

Then glue/tape the tab in place & lace up the strawberry, using embroidery thread or whatever.

I punched an extra hole in the top of the stem, so I could add a button & tie a bow.

Add your stickers or you could use pearl drops or whatever to mimic the seeds of a strawberry.

Now these little boxes are so tiny, you could put anything in.  They’d be great for Valentines for children’s classes.  I’m thinking for Emma’s class, maybe jelly beans or red hot cinnamon hearts.  I’ll have to talk to her about it.  The boys … I’m not sure if they’ll be up for making these, but maybe just eating the candy.

I thought the gold wrapped chocolates looked yummy … oh shoot, peanut butter … can’t give those out at schools, maybe for the neighbourhood kids.

Ferrara Roche gold wrapped chocolates would look wonderful too, just the right size.

That’s it … Give it a try!

Tags: 3D, American Crafts, Gift, Glitter, Paper, Pattern, Sparkly, Strawberry, Template, Treats, Valentine

This is for a Valentine 3D Challenge from PaperCraftPlanet’s (3d46) from Adela.

Adela has a great tutorial for these Hanging Hearts, that would be great for a little Valentine.

You could fill it with cinnamon hearts, a couple of chocolate strawberries, or candy hearts …

Be sure to check out other little 3D Heart Hanger’s at PaperCraftPlanet.

The Paper is from The Paper Connection: Red Starburst Transit & Ribbon from Martha Stewart.

Tags: Adela Rossol, Candy, Container, Gift, Hanging, Hearts, PaperCraftPlanet, Treats, valentines

Time for Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge.  This week’s challenge, #63 is Australia.  We actually just rented the movie a couple of weeks ago, so it was pretty fresh in my brain.

My inspiration for my card came from the character, who stole the show, IMO.  (Although, my GF would disagree & say that Hugh Jackman & the water dump bathing scene was show stealer).  Anyhoo, the boy who played Nullah- for me, he absolutely made the movie.  What a cutie!

Here’s my “cute as a button” card for the movie.  Yes, I know Kraft, where’s the Kraft, there’s suppose to be Kraft.  I am stunningly low on Kraft CS & forgot to order some from my demonstrator, so let’s say that there’s a Kraft colour in amongst the K & Company Cut ‘n Paste Mat Pat Designer Paper, k?

Oh yes & I must admit, the idea for the button heart originally came from Kristina Werner’s button Heart Card.  I’ve wanted to make this for a while, but this challenge was the inspiration to get me to do it!

My youngest said as I was making this, “Mummy, is that MY Valentine’s card?”  I told him that he couldn’t see me making his card-it would have to be a surprise.  Yes, I give my 4 year old son many cards.  He likes them & puts them on his bureau or at his head board.  Too funny.  He’s even cuter , but that’s just his Mum’s opinion.

Used:  Vanilla CS, K & Company Cut ‘n Paste Mat Pat Designer Paper, Mini Glue Dots, Printer, Buttons from my stash, Scalloped Heart Nestabilities.

Tags: Buttons, CinemaSaturdayCreativeChallenge, Heart, K & Company, Patterned Paper, valentines

I saw the MoxieFabWorld Blog & it’s Tuesday Trigger: I Feel Pretty in Turquoise & Gold colour fun colour Challenge & I couldn’t resist.  Isn’t this such a pretty & inspiring photo from Decor Pad via House of Turquoise:

I had some Stampin’Up! Craft CS, a Designer Mat Pad Papers from Ancestry K & Company as well as my ‘new’ (new to me) toy of  Making Memories Grommet Kit & I went to town.  The stamps set is also from SU, called In the Spotlight, used the VersaMark Ink & Detail White EP.  The Twill tape is from my sewing stash & the Punch is the Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edge Punch.

Tags: Grommet, K & Company, Making Memories, MoxieFabWorld