thank you, ali edwards!

I finally figured out how one of my favorite bloggers/scrapbookers/creative women, Ali Edwards, puts together these photo mosaics. Victory! She gives the link at the bottom of her last blog post and I've just been staying up late trying it out for myself.
And so here are some of my favorite inspirational photos, plus their links to the original photographer and their Flickr photo sets. I am constantly amazed at the creative and talented geniuses out there ... which gives me a superbly high standard {or would that be an absurdly high standard?} to aspire to. But enjoy, enjoy. I think they are simply and utterly and deliciously lovely.

{psst ... a secret ... click on the mosaic photo for a dazzling enlarged view!}




1. before, 2. shins tree, 3. right now, 4. orange toothbrush, 5. for the table, 6. plate wall, 7. polka dots post-it, 8. *, 9. Steamy hot, 10. Izze's Top., 11. Clementine., 12. joy, 13. Orange Cream Cupcakes, 14. Sweet goodness, 15. P1040407.JPG, 16. st. john's reflection in the window, 17. Untitled, 18. Train Spotting, 19. Três elementos, 20. The Red Rocker Club, 21. coffee + apron, 22. IMG_4192, 23. bowl, 24. old umbrella, 25. i am currently loving...



1. Easy As 1,2,3, 2. Untitled, 3. ., 4. simply. blue., 5. crocs, 6. dinner time, 7. Music Heart, 8. Yellow Chairs Checkered Floor, 9. Old Wooden Spools of Thread, 10. such a sweet heart, 11. Greatness, 12. little felt mittens, 13. hi*monkey!, 14. rainy*day*love, 15. i'm just a natural city girl, 16. lomo VW, 17. Sumidity, 18. Red, 19. Blue Shutters, 20. decoupage M, 21. candy canes, 22. red stars, 23. Untitled, 24. catalpa sky, 25. {pink}

boxing day = relaxation

Well, Christmas is over and it's been a lovely week, just the three of us. The fridge is stuffed with all the leftovers from my successful turkey dinner, the remaining meat and stock is bubbling on the stove, I'm listening to my new Bon Jovi CD and I can hear Sam trying in vain to keep Sophie away from the Christmas tree, which amazingly she didn't discover until a few nights ago! I insisted Sam watch The Holiday with me on Christmas Eve as I knew there would be a 'boy movie' in his stocking the next day, and I was in a Kate Winslet sort of mood anyways {she's my favorite!}. We drank lots of yummy Starbucks coffee, gin and tonics, cookies and chocolate sticks, talked to our families, slept in, and snuggled into The Chair to read our new books. A perfect relaxing break from work and a happy time just to be together.
I hope everyone had as wonderful of a Christmas season as we did ... and I hope to see some of your pictures too!

have yourself a merry little christmas

Remember towards the end of Meet Me In St Louis when Judy Garland is singing 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' to her little sister Tootie {Margaret O'Brien}? --- I think that is one of the most beautiful Christmas moments on film. Every year I always make sure I have a few hours sitting quietly in the glow of the Christmas tree, listening to music, and remembering that moment. And remembering other moments of life. Just thinking. One of my very favourite things to do.

Tonight was that night. Both by myself and later snuggled in on the couch with Sam and Sophie. We were listening to my early, early Christmas present from Sam, the new Starbucks holiday CD , and I am really enjoying it. As picky as I am about Christmas music, I was quite impressed. Especially the second song by Sarah McLachlan - just beautiful. It's a real sit-on-the-couch-in-the-glow-of-the-lights sort of song. To think.

little poser

Ok, here's 2 more. But only because she was finally sleepy and cuddly enough to get a few photos of her being still.

the best forty dollars we ever spent

Not having a wee one of our own for yet another Christmas, we made a quick decision to finally increase our family to Three! So we introduce our little lady, 12 week old Sophie Roux. {Sophie, as she really needed a very feminine name and Roux after Johnny Depp's character in 'Chocolat'--and as we've discovered she can hop up stairs like a kanga-Roo!}

So yes, annoying pet stories to come ... but I'll try to keep it to a bare minimum. We love her already, though it's been a funny, strange, sudden transition to have another in the house and a little one to take care of! We already say, "Remember when it was just the two of us?..."

when the weather outside is frightful

Though today is rather warm (only -3c!) it's been a rather snowy week and I've loved it! -- though my coworkers couldn't disagree more. But if you're going to have a cold Christmas, you'd better have a white Christmas, right? And with my 4 block walk to work each morning (through the most charming park which is full of Christmas lights in the shapes of stars, lollipops, ornaments, presents, pass-through archways, and the full nativity) I never have to worry about icy roads or weather conditions. I've told Sam many times that for all the foibles of our 'character' house, I'd never want to move as we have the most prime location in town.

And remember the chair and ottoman that we ordered from Urban Barn back in September? Well after one botched fabric mixup, a re-do order, the right chair in but 2 weekends away on our trip, we were finally able to pick it up in Saskatoon yesterday. And doesn't it look wonderful? I had quite a good snuggle-in last night while we watched taped episodes of 'Survivor' but of course took some photos first when it looked completely perfect. Sigh ... I'm a happy girl.

my name in lights, or something like that

What a surprise while catching up on my dear friend Lisa's blog tonight to spy these photos of someone very familiar! Those photos were taken 8 years ago, in Italy and Greece, and they did indeed make me smile. Thank you, Lisa, thank you.
Check out what Mama Says here.

maui

Well, we are home and back to work again. And we had a really great time in Maui for a week. My parents, my older brother Cale, Sam and I, my sister Bethany and her husband Glen, and my younger brother Eton - as having the whole family together was really all my parents wanted for Christmas and so we all made it safe and sound from five points of North America.

Some highlights and lowlights:
-Sam and I had our first connecting flight cancelled due to lots of snow in Vancouver and so we scrambled to find another flight out that night. Ironically, it was back to Los Angeles for a night's stay ... a much sooner visit back than we ever expected!
-I stubbornly didn't put any suntan lotion on my legs the first day out at the beach. So not too surprisingly, I burned beautifully and painfully. 33 and I still haven't learned that lesson.
-Best night of the week was definitely going to the first class Luau, set right against the ocean and with a 5 course meal prepared by a Master Chef. The photo of me with my 'fun drink' was actually only Mai Tai #1!
-We continued our Chambers Christmas tradition by decorating gingerbread cookies together (actually this year it was Joy's Spice Cookie recipe) and what we didn't devour on that first day was greatly enjoyed by the tiny ants all throughout the night!
-Just because you travel to a tropical location doesn't mean you'll have tropical weather. Ok, I'll clarify. There was tropical weather but it was the flash floods, high velocity winds, roaring waves, and ferociously pelting rain kind. And except for that one crazy, condo soaked, street flooded day, the rain didn't dampen (ha!) our spirits at all as it was always so warm. Now that was the weather treat we had come for!
-We brought our Christmas stockings! Again, a Chambers Christmas isn't complete without those.
-And my brother Cale is right: Maui sunsets are spectacular!

goodbyes all round...

We're off in the morning. And leaving on a jet plane on Sunday afternoon bound for some warmth, some relaxation, some adventures, and some {well, actually all of} my family!

Happy December - I'll see you in 10 days!

there couldn't be a better time to go to hawaii

It's been cold here this week {with the wind chill down to -30c} and Sam has even uttered the words "What have we done?" in his frozen shock. I really think he's blocked out all the years he lived up in Mackenzie, BC as a boy! We're keeping tabs on the forecast for Maui next week and will be utterly thrilled with anything above 20c, though I expect it will be closer to 30c. What a treat that will be.
We won't get home until December 9th and so we got the tree all decorated this past weekend and put up white lights and other decorations, wreaths, berries, and greeneries around the house and at the front door. It's a big house and alot of corners to decorate so little by little I'll add to it each year. And next year I really want a big, real, wonderfully smelly tree!

{Bethany, I really need to commission you for more crocheted snowflakes, please! My little family of 5 is just looking too sparse!}

hello saturday

Here I am.
Trying out my new comfy wool toque for even colder weather to come.
Sneaking in one small cup of coffee. {just one small cheat treat, ok?!}
Messy craft table behind me, full of felt scraps for some Christmas ornaments I'm making.
Wearing half pajamas, half loungers for a productive day ahead, I hope.
Plans to get the Christmas tree up today and decorate the house.
Plus Christmas cards and Christmas baking and Christmas gifts and so much else to do in this...
Last week before our early Family Christmas!

{no toques allowed in Maui, I promise! blue and cute or otherwise.}

what a great surprise!

Wow, thank you so much Mom and Dad Morgan! They're beautiful, as you can see...

23 days later...

I know, I know, I've been terribly neglectful of my blog and it's no coincidence that it coincides with my going back to work. I'm so sorry you've been having to put up with the sight of the same pink card for all this time! But I swear, I come home, make dinner most nights of the week and then am absolutely exhausted for the rest of the night ... ugh. And my job is certainly not strenuous at all ... maybe it's the getting up at 6:45 am each day instead of my usual 7:30, those extra 45 minutes of sleep are apparantely very important to me!

So in point form (truly one of my favorite forms) I'll fill you in on me and us from the past 23 days -- and perhaps a bit earlier too.

-Everyone turned back their clocks this weekend but, no, not us Saskatchewan-ers, um, Saskatchewan-ites. We stayed just the same, thank you very much. So for all you BC-ers and my brother in California, please no more phone calls after your 7:30 pm ... it's 9:30 here and we're in bed! I need my sleep... {Ok, on weekends we might live it up and stay up til 10pm or something crazy like that.}

-It's starting to get cold here. -9 C while walking to work this morning and so I broke down and finally put on my scarf. Now believe me, I love wearing scarves when it is in fact cold {I am my father's daughter} but paradoxically I loathe to bundle up and hate wearing socks the most. I was wearing bare feet and my clogs for most of the winter in Pullman, WA last year. And that was even a winter with snow! So if we're just going from the house to another 'inside' I've just been wearing sweaters still, but know the winter coats are going to have to come out soon. Sigh...

-And speaking of walking to work.... We're small town folk now (not too small, 16,000 is the population here so don't knock us!) and so the car is kept in the garage all week. My walk to work is a whopping 7 minutes, while Sam's is 12 minutes. We love it and you can bet that we hardly have to fill up on gas anymore.

-My job's going good. I feel part of 'the gang' now, can easily talk to any and all of the ladies, and have definitely made friends with two of the girls close to my age. I work in the Lending Support Department of the Credit Union here (7 minutes away!) where I am the one and only Imaging File Clerk, scanning and organizing all the paperwork online. I have my own desk, my own corner, my own phone, my own computer, and my own huge window, which is more (the window) than Sam can boast of!

-I didn't end up making an entire Thanksgiving dinner last month, but I did make a homemade pumpkin pie, so 'certain people' in the house were very happy! {and that would include me!}

-Less than 4 weeks til my family {Dad, Mum, 2 brothers, sister and her hubby, and Sam and I} zoom off to Maui for a week for an early Family Christmas! We've never done such a fancy holiday before so it's really quite a treat! It's tragic how white my legs will be though...

-Sam has put up some white lights on the front of our house "before the freeze sets in", ha! (well, it's true.) It's such a big house that even 2-50 foot lines don't do that much, but I think it certainly looks much more cheerful so I'm very pleased.

-We might have our first "We're driving through and so thought we'd stop in" visitor soon! I mean, can you believe it, someone is actually going to be "driving through" this part of Saskatchewan! It's very exciting. I really hope that works out, Cheryl, Mike and Elsie!! We'll even turn on the white Christmas lights for you ... am I making this more enticing?!

-I've stopped drinking coffee. It's been almost 3 weeks so far and frankly, I'm quite proud at how I've fared under these wretched conditions. {Especially with a lovely new modern coffee shop just opened up across the alley from work --- what irony! Well I've been enjoying lots of London Fogs and Hot Cocoas instead.} Turns out I have an insulin resistance where my insulin spikes too high and then my pancreas is not able to deal with the excess. I've been doing some reading and am convinced that coffee is actually making that worse, or is certainly not helping any, so I'm testing my theory and keeping off coffee for awhile. So sad, as I really love coffee!

-No pictures to post. We really haven't taken any. But we did buy a much larger capacity memory disk for our camera for when we head off on our Hawaiian holiday next month. Believe me, pictures galore! (Ha, my siblings love that! And yes, "love" definitely in italics!)



That's all I've got. Will that satisfy the Plum and Posy fans out there?! And do leave a comment, would you? - I'd really love to know who actually takes time to read this...

'Cause if you had a blog ... I'd read yours!

my kind of relaxing

Wearing comfy clothes. Looking out my window at the last few leaves on the trees. Spreading out my coloured pencils, stamps, papers and ribbons. Listening to Bon Jovi's "(You Want To) Make A Memory" and "What I Cannot Change" by LeAnn Rimes over and over. Making cards and feeling very relaxed.

Laundry can wait.


(Erin, I know you'll be seeing this one of these days and so I certainly haven't forgotten that this card design is yours from my first card class with you at Paper Pals. Thanks for all the ideas...!)

first day of work!

So I gotta get going...!