SATURDAY, MARCH 15, 2014 Today's Writing Prompt: Risky Business Do you prefer taking risks, or having a safety net? It depends on what I'm doing. In my arts and crafts world I love to take risks. In the really world, I tend to freak if I have to take risks. I have become braver in my world and more conservative and nervous in the real world as I age. I wonder if this is normal? Of course, what really is normal? March 15, 1967 - Symbols - Special joint committee of the Senate and House of Commons unanimously recommends that the government be authorized to adopt forthwith the music for O Canada composed by Calixa Lavallée as the music of the National Anthem of Canada with the following notation added to the sheet music: With dignity, not too slowly. God Save The Queen was found to be in the public domain as the Royal Anthem of Canada, but for O Canada the committee deemed it essential to take such steps as necessary to appropriate the copyrigh...
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Week 5 Stickers, diecuts, and rub-ons are some of the hardest things to organize because the different sizes and shapes pose many challenges. Rub-ons present their own challenges because if they aren't stored properly, they stick to each other, damaging precious supplies. SORT: time to be ruthless. Consider if you are really going to use these items. If you bought a whole sheet of die cut just to use one or two tags, why are you hanging on to the whole sheet? Those stickers you bought in 1999 were adorable then, but definitely not your style now, are they? So, sort into piles: TRASH, SELL, DONATE, TO KEEP PURGE: Throw out the TRASH pile. Bag up, and assign a price and your initials to the SELL pile and put them directly into the garage sale box. Make immediate arrangements to rid yourself of the DONATE items. ASSIGN: The KEEP items need to be divided into categories that make sense to you: by colour, by manufacturer...
March 14, 1984 - Marc Garneau named First Canadian to go into space; member of the Canadian Space Agency's Canadian Astronaut Program. Ottawa, Ontario For more information and a video: http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/science-technology/space/marc-garneau-canadian-space-pioneer/astronaut-marc-garneau-soars-into-history.html Source: http://canadachannel.ca/todayincanadianhistory/index.php/March_14
THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014 Today's Writing Prompt: Favorite Clothes Describe your favorite article of clothing. My favourite clothing is anything comfy and about a size too big. Right now my outfit of choice is a pair of charcoal grey yoga-style pants and a wine coloured v-neck long-sleeve t-shirt. I know there is nothing sexy or exciting about my choice of outfit but I dress for comfort and for the life I lead. March 13, 1928 - Eileen Vollick passes her test to get a pilot's licence; issued Private Pilot Certificate No. 77 on March 22 ; first Canadian woman to be a licensed pilot. Hamilton, Ontario Source: http://canadachannel.ca/todayincanadianhistory/index.php/March_13 Eileen Vollick, aviator, born August 2, 1908, in Wiarton, Ontario; died in New York City, September 27, 1968. After Vollick's father died in a mining accident, her mother remarried and moved the family to Hamilton, Ontario; worked at the Hamilton Cotton Co. next to Jack V. Elliot’s Air S...
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 2014 Today's Writing Prompt: Admiration Who did you look up to / admire as a child? When I was growing up I remember reading biographies of women who became nurses or doctors. Among the ones I admired most were Florence Nightingale and Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell. I was fairly certain I was going to enter the medical field when I grew up. Unfortunately I discovered I didn't have the stomach for it. The sight of wounds or vomit just make me ill.
MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014 Today's Writing Prompt: Mornings Curse you, Daylight Savings Time! What's the first thing you do when you wake up every morning? I am a creature of habit, especially in the morning. In fact, I get cranky if my morning routine is tampered with in any way. Don't worry, I will skip the parts you really don't need to know about. When I wake up in the morning I go to my studio and turn on the light and my laptop. Next step is to make coffee and throw bread into the toaster. Third, back to the studio to enter my password in my laptop. I then return to the kitchen where I put peanut butter on my toast, collect any other food items I plan to include with my breakfast such as fruit or cereal, pick up my fresh hot cup of coffee . . . and return to the studio where I leisurely read my emails and catch up with everyone on Facebook while enjoying my breakfast. Only when these things are accomplished can I shower and get dressed and start my...
Week 4 The next task in the Get Organized Challenge is TOOLS and ADHESIVES! Gather together all of your tools and adhesives into the Big Box, and let's start S.P.A.C.E.ing them! Sort: one by one, put each item into piles: FAVOURITES, TRASH, TO SELL, STORE, DONATE. Purge: For the SELL pile: bag up and assign a price and your initials to tools/adhesives that you don't love/use anymore and put them in your garage sale box. Throw out the TRASH pile. Arrange pick-up or drop-off of the DONATE pile. Assign: Store your most used items in a basket or box or other system ring on your desk, within easy reach. Divide the STORE items into categories that make sense to you: cutting tools, pens, punches, templates, etc. Containerize: This is the time to tidy up your tools. Tools need regular maintenance to keep them efficiently working. As you put your tools away in whatever container (drawers, shelves, boxes, baskets - always ensuring the con...
THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014 Today's Writing Prompt: Random Act of Kindness Have you ever been on the receiving end of kindness from a stranger? I've been on the receiving end of a random act of kindness many times. The time that touched me the most was 10 or 12 years ago. I can't remember the exact date. I used to run a bunch of craft related Yahoo! groups and the women I met on these groups were my company every day. A couple of times we had made afghans to send to a group member who was expecting a baby or going through tough health issues. It was during this time that I was having trouble with allergies. You know the whole sinus pain, itching, runny nose misery. And this went on for months and months. I was so sick. And one of the fun side effects was an eye infection that totally went out of control to the point I had to keep wet wash cloths handy because if I closed my eyes they would seal shut. My eyes hurt like they...
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014 Today's Writing Prompt: Failure What have you ever failed at in life? Wow . . . do I have a long list. I think the failure that bothers me the most though is that I never finished high school. Looking back I realize how much growing up time I missed out on. I made myself a "grown up" at 16. Not one of my brightest decisions. I do have a college degree and a university degree though. In the mood for a little scrapbooking today. Have a little fun with this simple sketch: http://inmyworld-pam.blogspot.ca/2014/03/sketch-36.html March 5, 1989 - Toronto blues singer and songwriter Mary Margaret O'Hara makes her British debut at the Duke of York Theatre. London, England Source: http://canadachannel.ca/todayincanadianhistory/index.php/March_5
Books In Stock: All prices include taxes and shipping Album in an Afternoon black & white edition $11.46 Album in a Day -- Large Print $19.00 Complete a Scrapbook Album in One Day black & white edition $ 16.50 Design Strategies for Scrapbookers $28.71 Design Strategies for Scrapbookers black & white edition $17.00 Scrapbooking with Sketches black & white edition $19.33 Scrapbooking with Two-Page Sketches $40.13 Scrapbooking with Two-Page Sketches black & white edition $20.40 More Scrapbooking with Sketches black & white edition 19.69 Remembering Alma College $39.00 The First Step: An Encyclopedia of Small Business Ideas $24.06
Week 3 So, your paper is beautifully organized, your scraps carefully stashed or purged, and your desk is gleaming! Doesn't it make you feel creative? Don't you want to get cropping? Well, you CAN'T scrapbook without PHOTOS! Our third challenge is to organize our photos. Here are a few articles to get you thinking about how to organize those precious photos before we S.P.A.C.E. them: http://www.scrapjazz.com/topics/Organization/Photographs/113.php (this is an excellent article) SORT: Gather together all of your photos, and sort them into categories that make sense: TRASH (it's okay to throw out photos with bad colour, expression, composition. Why keep them? You're not going to scrapbook them) TO SCRAPBOOK (the shots you know you are going to use) TO STORE (photos that need to be kept, but aren't necessarily going to be going into your scrapbooks) TO GIVE AWAY (doubles that you want to send to friends and family) PURG...
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014 Today's Writing Prompt: In Common What is something you and your spouse or best friend have in common? My dear hubby and I are very very very different people but we actually do have a few things in common. We love movies especially if one of our favourite actors are in them like Meryl Streep (my fav) or John Wayne (Hal's fav). We love some of the same kinds of music like 50-70s rock. We both agree that our children and grandchildren are mostly perfect. We both love letterboxing but for different reasons. I love to carve stamps and solve clues and the social aspects of the hobby. Hal loves to drive me around and make me happy and he will pull letterboxes out of creepy places that might have snakes or bugs . . . even though we both hate snakes and bugs. Here are a couple of interesting posts you might enjoy: http://inmyworld-pam.blogspot.ca/2014/03/woo-hoo-my-first-knitting-finish-for.html http://inmyworld-pam.blogspot.ca/2014/03/creamy...
Tofu haters are going to go ew! yuck! I didn't even try to serve it to Hal, the king of the tofu haters. And it is his loss. This chili was lovely and meaty and flavourful. It also freezes very nicely (without the sour cream). 1 onions, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 dried chili peppers, minced 1 carrots, finely diced 1 stalk celery, finely diced 1/2 green peppers, finely diced 3 tbsp canola oil 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tbsp brown sugar 260 g firm tofu, finely diced 1 2/3 cup red beans (canned) 1 1/2 cup canned tomatoes (diced) 1/2 cup water approximately 1 pinch salt [optional] ground pepper to taste 2 tbsp fresh cilantro [optional] 1/3 cup Cheddar cheese, grated Keep the serving plates in the oven at the lowest setting so they are warm when you serve. Prepare the vegetables: Chop the onion, mince the garlic and chili pepper, finely dice the carrot...
Preparation 10 min / Cooking 35 min 150 calories per serving [See all nutrition info] Cooking dish: 30x38 cm vegetable oil spray, or butter , for the baking sheet 8 cups rolled oats 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes 1 3/4 cup hazelnuts, shelled, coarsely chopped 1/4 cup canola oil 1/4 cup honey 1/3 cup maple syrup Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Lightly oil or butter a large baking sheet (about 30 x 38 cm). Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the oil, honey, and maple syrup into a small bowl, then warm it up about 30 seconds in a microwave oven. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients then toss well. Spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 30 to 40 min or until golden brown and crispy. Stir every 10 min to brown evenly and avoid burning the mixture. Let the granola cool down: It will become crispier and dry as it cools. Make sure to break up any large clumps of granola while the mixture is still warm. Once...
2 onions, thinly sliced 1 clove garlic, chopped 2 tomatoes, deseeded and diced 1 yellow or red sweet peppers, cut into match-like strips 2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into 3 cm cubes 4 tsp butter, unsalted 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil 4 tsp paprika 2 1/4 tsp ground cumin 1 cup chicken broth, or more 1 pinch salt [optional] ground pepper to taste 2 potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes 1 1/2 tbsp sour cream [optional] Prepare the vegetables : thinly slice the onions, chop the garlic, deseed and dice the tomatoes, and cut the peppers into match-like strips. Cut the chicken into 3 cm cubes. Heat the butter and olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Sauté the meat until it is well browned on all sides, about 8-10 min, then transfer the cubes to a plate. Lower the heat to low, add the onions, and cook, stirring occasionally until they are well cooked, about 15 min. Return the meat to the...
Don't let shipping charges get you down! Today through January 19, we are offering free mail shipping or 50% off ground shipping with code SHQ15. What a great time to order one or two or more of my books at http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/afreshstart Album in a Day - available in large print Complete an Album in One Day - available in ccolour and black & white Design Strategies for Scrapbookers - available in colour and black & white Scrapbooking with Two-Page Sketches - available in colour, black & white and ebook More Scrapbooking with Sketches - available in colour and black & white Remembering Alma College - available in colour Scrapbooking with Sketches - available in ebook, colour and black & white Album in an Afternoon - available in colour and black & white The First Step: An Encyclopedia of Small Business Ideas - available in print and ebook
Annual Organization Challenge Week #2 How did you make out with last week's challenge? Did you find your work table? Here's this week's challenge: Your challenge this week is to S.P.A.C.E. your paper - - and I mean ALL of your paper: cardstock, patterned paper, specialty papers, and all those SCRAPS! SORT: Bring all of your paper to one area. Sort it all into piles: KEEP, SELL, DONATE, TRASH PURGE: bag up, and assign a price to paper bundles that you want to SELL at a garage sale or online, and put the bags in the garage sale box. Throw out the TRASH pile. Bag up the DONATE pile and immediately make arrangements for drop-off/pick-up or put in your vehicle. ASSIGN: separate your paper into categories that make sense to you. For example, you may want to divide it simply into cardstock and patterned paper. If you have a huge stash of paper, you may want to divide it by colour, theme, or manufacturer. **Another way to...
SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 2014 Today's Writing Prompt: So What Do You Do? What do you spend most of your time doing - when you're not writing, of course! Most of my time is spent working on various projects, trying to keep my apartment clean and spending time with my family and friends. March is . . . Irish American Month Music in Our Schools Month National Craft Month National Frozen Food Month National Irish American Heritage Month- designated by Congress in 1995. National Nutrition Month National Peanut Month National Women's History Month Red Cross Month Social Workers Month National Peanut Butter Lovers' Day When : Always March 1st Today is a sticky day. National Peanut Butter Lover's Day salutes America's favorite sandwich spread. What kid didn't grow up loving a PB&J sandwich? It's a staple in our house. Smooth Peanut Butter is by far the most popular. Crunchy peanut butter is also on the market, and is enjoyed...