Timmy Turns Eleven

Happy Birthday to you, my Timmy! My Timmy turned 11 yesterday! We had a fun party to celebrate!

We had some friends over for a sleep-over, and we all went bowling! What a hoot!! I think only one of the children had bowled before! We had so much fun, with many laughs!

Timmy's Oma made him a fun quilt for his bedroom. Notice the all-boy colors! He was delighted, and slept with it right away!

Happy Birthday, my Eleven-Year Old Timmy!!

Crystal Lace

We woke up one morning to a crystal world!

Every tree branch was painted with a brush of ice crystals! It looked like fine lace.

I couldn't resist going out to explore this frosty, lacy wonderland!

Only in winter, can we see beauty like this!

I do enjoy viewing God's creation, and enjoying the little gifts He sends,

like crystal lace and winter wonders!

Truly, God's workmanship is incredible to see!

Have a great day! Susan Bruyn

Christmas cards and gift wrap

I have been having such fun making Christmas cards and gift packages! This year, I decided to use some of what I have and 'clean house' while doing my Christmas preparations. I love the way this poinsettia card turned out.

I gave some of my friends a challenge, to decorate some cardstock gift boxes with a sheet of designer paper. We got snowed in last weekend, so I had fun creating some special cards and tags, and even a mini accordian book! The two gable boxes were decorated by my daughter to hold gifts for her cousins.

Calgary had a huge snowstorm last weekend. My brave boys kept the driveway cleared Friday. Saturday morning, however, we had huge drifts all over. The largest was by the front porch! It took some digging to get us clear. Here is my brave Jon-Jacob, heading out to shovel Saturday morning. The huge drift is just in front of him, and covered the steps to the level of the porch (which is 4 steps from the ground).

We are due to have more snow this weekend! Isn't winter exciting?!!  Take care, all, and stay warm! Susan Bruyn

Iris folding ornament punch card

As I write this, we are in the midst of yet another winter snowstorm.  Here is a photo of our newly painted green house!  I love the depth of colour it now has!  It's quite a change from the brown we've had for 9 years. 

Last night, I had some ladies in for a Christmas party.  I designed this delightful iris folded card for them, using Stampin' Up!'s ornament punch.  I'm really tickled with how it turned out.

I wanted to show a few other samples of iris folding, so I came up with these two cards as well.  I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed my evening with friends!

Take care, and stay warm!  Susan Bruyn

Scrapbooking the Memoreis

I've been making some scrapbook pages for my calendar classes.  It is so good to scrapbook those memories, and I find when I teach a class, I am inspired to scrapbook the memories right away.  Above, you can see the page I created for September.

This is the October page.  We went to a greenhouse just outside of town.  They have an annual Autumn celebration during Thanksgiving.  The kids all carved pumpkins, and had fun watching a 600 pound pumpkin drop onto a car (creating an instant sunroof).

This is the page I created for November.  I haven't done the journaling yet.  Although it looks a bit 'fussy,' it turned out really nice.  Everyone really liked it a lot!  Black and white with a 'pop' of color, can really dress up a page.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Susan Bruyn

Pattern's Great Adventure

This is Patterns. Patterns is a leapord gecko. She lived at our house for about 2 years, and then joined the kids at school again (which is where we originally got her). Just over three weeks ago, Patterns moved to Juliana's class, Grade 3/4. After just two days in the class, she escaped and got lost.

I brought flashlights at the end of that school day, and we hunted everywhere for her. Alas, Patterns was not to be found. After two weeks, we mourned for our Patterns, and assumed that she was lost for good.

This past Monday night, our school caretaker, Ken, went to enter the classroom. He unlocked the door, and almost left, as he couldn't remember what he needed in the classroom. He decided to check out the room anyway. He opened the door and turned on the lights. Nothing was there. Then, he happened to glance down - to his amazement, there was Patterns on the floor at his feet!!! She was very cold and very, very hungry!

When the children arrived the next day (yesterday), they found Pattern's cage all set up with water in the dish and the heat lamp on. There was a note saying that Patterns had returned home again!! What a true miracle!! I made Ken this fun card which has miniature geckos all over it. The kids are all going to sign it to thank him for going the extra mile and finding our lost gecko!!

I just love stories with happy endings, don't you!!

Susan and Juliana Bruyn

Summer Holiday Photo Cards

Summer holidays were spent in Northern Alberta.  We enjoyed spending time with family and friends, and I was able to show my children where I grew up in Lac La Biche, and the exciting provincial park I always toured (exciting because of the wildlife we saw when we were there, like black bears, pelicans, and even cougars once)!

We even got to spend a weekend in Montana, where we saw osprey and hummingbirds.

When we returned, I wanted to send a special thank you to family and friends.  I made special photo cards for each family, using photos taken in their area.

It was fun to make them, and my family enjoyed them.  I did get the magazine holder pattern off the internet.

I want to leave you with a fun photo I took.  We've had some changes at our 'brown' house.  I am loving the new colour, and the depth of colour with the sun and the leaves shining!

Take care, and have a great day!  Susan Bruyn