My Finished Scrapbook Layout for the Contest

As I've detailed here and here on the blog, I am participating in a Scrapbook layout challenge.  I've finished the layout and handed it in and now it is up to the voters/visitors of The Cottage Scrapbook here in Midland to see where I place.  There are 13 participants in the challenge, so they are awarding first and second place prizes ($20, and $10 of store credit respectively).  If you are in Midland, head on down to the Cottage Scrapbook (294 King St., right beside The Perk!) and check out all the awesome entries...but be sure to vote for mine! :)

First things first, here is a photo of Gary sitting on my layout (it is in the paper bag, thankfully):

Gary likes to sit on important things.

And here is the layout I worked on and submitted to the contest:

The theme was Christmas 2010, and the layout features my little cutie Gary.  It was really fun creating this layout and working with new materials.  I did way more planning than I think I ever have for a layout.  Even if I don't win, I will probably participate in this event again.

If you are in Midland, please go downtown and vote for me!  Voting closes at the end of the month!  Thanks!

Find the hours for The Cottage Scrapbook here.

Surfing Saturday

Surfing Saturday: a weekly round up of some of my favourite links on the interwebs.

Arts and Crafts

My friend Tasha was rewarded this week for her readership of The Canadian Living Craft Blog.  Her comment was randomly selected as the winner of a basket of yarn. Congratulations Tasha!  The craft blog is great, and this week they show you how to make picture mats using scrapbooking supplies.

Last week I needed help with a title for a scrapbook page and found The Perfect Title.  Lots of suggestions for a variety of page themes.

Also with Scrapbooking, I realize that my new favourite thing to work with is brads.  Eyelet Outlet has tonnes of them that I am falling in love with:  Guitairs!  Legos!  They even have Moose!  The store motto is: "Because Eyelets & Brads Aren't Just Round Anymore!" They sure aren't!

If you're a knitter and haven't joined Ravelry yet, you should!  It's free to join and there are tonnes of free patterns on there.  I have a number of patterns in my queue that I will one day get started: a needle case, a rocking wonder woman sweater, and the always inspiring flying spaghetti monster! 


Geeky Goodness

If you dig Role Playing Games, check out Rule of the Dice, and not just because I know the dude that writes for it (it's also awesome!)

For technological news, reviews, analysis, and advice, head over to Ars Technica for some interesting reading.

And if you've ever made a website for someone or been involved in advertising, Things Real People Don't Say About Advertising is right on the mark.


Celebrity Blogs

After the recent NOTroversy over his hosting of the Golden Globes, I have been avidly reading Ricky Gervais' blog.  Funny, funny, dude.  And he has balls!

I recently caught up on Jorge Garcia's blog.  He played Hurley on Lost and he has a new blog since leaving Hawaii (this is his old blog).  Seems like a neat dude.

Everything is a Photo Opportunity #1

My dad always told me that "everything is a photo opportunity," so always have your camera with you and always be ready to take photos.  Growing up with such a photo savvy dad, adult me is obsessed with photos.  Once on a weekend trip to Niagara Falls I took 144 photos - with a film camera.  So you can imagine how many I take now that I'm not limited by the cost of processing film.

Since I am thoroughly obsessed with photos, I am starting a new feature here at My Adorable Small Town Life where I showcase some of my favourite photos with you.  They might be photos I've taken, my brother has taken (he is equally obsessed with photography - and has a better camera!), neat photos from the past, or a photo that has caught my eye on a web.

We'll start with one of my favourite photos, taken while I was on vacation in Newfoundland back in 2005.  If you ever have the chance, get your ass to Newfoundland!

St. John's, Newfoundland, September 2005

Adventures in Scrapbooking

Participating in the Scrapbooking Layout Challenge put on by the Midland scrapbook store has made me very aware of my scrapbooking style. I am a very photo heavy scrapbooker (I just printed 150 photos last week, so I'm not surprised by this revelation). I love the detail that is added through embellishments, but they have always taken a back seat to the photos. I seldom use loud or busy paper for a background, as I want the photos to be the focus, not the background. My scrapping mindset seems to be that I am scrapbooking to remember the good times, not to look back and admire really cool stickers (I could get a sticker book for that!).

My reluctance to sacrifice photos for embellishments made the Layout Challenge just that - a challenge. The kit came with more paper and embellishments than I would normally use on a two page spread, let alone the one page I was to do for the contest. The rules stated that you must use 80% of the materials provided, which meant I had to step out of my comfort zone and rock that paper!

The challenge led me to pick up a few new techniques.  The first one was layering papers. Many of my previous layouts have had pictures placed on accenting paper to give them the illusion of a boarder.  For the challenge layout I put photos on top of accenting paper on top of EVEN MORE accenting paper; two boarders instead of one!  Layering the paper was an easy way to use it up, so I did it as often as I could.  I even used the layering effect to enhance the lettering for the title of my page by combining it with another new-ish technique: using a square punch.  I have a Creative Memories square punch that I rarely use, but it was perfect for helping me boarder the letters in my title.  My normal go-to style is to just put lettering directly onto the page, but I love the way the layered letters turned out, so I am definitely going to use this technique again for future layouts.

The best new technique I had to learn was working with brads (see photo, right). I have seen various brads in the stores before, but I was never really interested in them.  Now that I have worked with them, I can't wait to use them again!  I don't have the tool kit you are supposed to use to set them onto your page, but I had a general idea of how it worked so I improvised using a hammer and a Robertson head screwdriver.  It worked just fine!  Plus the awesome thing about brads is that they remind me of being in grade two and making paper clocks. Did you ever do that? The brad fastens the clock hands onto the clock face and allows the hands to be movable so you can set the time.  Seven year old me wants to get some more brads just so I can make a paper clock. So much fun!

Now that I have told you all about my new adventures in scrapbooking for the layout contest, you would think I would show you the finished page I made.  And I would ... if it was finished.  Rest assured, I will post my Layout Challenge page once it is completed.

Happy Trails To You

I wonderfully live in an area that has many amazing trails.  I have access to both forest trails, which are great for walking and picking berries, and also the rail trail, which is great for cycling.  There has been talk lately of improving the trail system, and there have been calls for community input on the best way to do this.

Late last year I participated in a number of web questionnaires put online by Tiny Township.  The questionnaires asked about current trail usage, experiences on the trails, and asked for my opinion on some suggested improvements to the trail system.  Some of the suggested improvements include:

• Pave the trail (currently most of the rail trail is covered in gravel)
• Connect the trail conveniently to public beaches
• Connect the trail conveniently to neighbouring communities
• Install public washroom facilities along routes
• Increase amount of parking space near entrances to trail
• Add more signage along trail, including trail maps, historical information, etc.
• Install bike lock-up areas at destination points (beach, etc.)

The questionnaires are still online, so if you have an interest in the trail system, you could fill them out too if you wanted (surveys are fun!).  You don't have to be from Tiny Township to fill out the survey, but the first question asks you to list where you are from.  (*Note: I'm not sure if data is still being collected from these surveys.)

The County of Simcoe also wants to improve the trails, and there are a number of Public Open Houses regarding the development of something called The Simcoe County Trails Strategy.  If you are in the area and have input about the future of the trails, think about checking out one of these events to get your voice heard (the first one is tonight!).  From the flyer that appeared in this weeks paper:

Click to Embiggen

As a regular summer user of the trails, I am glad they are something we are putting money into.  I find the trail a safe place to walk/cycle/explore without having to worry about getting hit by a car.  Many country roads don't have sidewalks, so it is good to know we are investing in safer places to enjoy the outdoors that aren't directly on the roadway.