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So yesterday was probably the best day of my summer:)Most of the Petrick side of my family gathered at Elkwater Lake, just 45 mins from home, to spend a day together just like we used to growing up. So much has changed in our lives but one thing I am truly thankful for is that we will always have our family! Our grandparents passed away in ’97 and ’98, but up until then we spent every Saturday at their house..every single one of us! And every summer we would spend as much time as possible out at the Lake at the cabin our great-grandparents built so many years before. We would go to the beach daily, walk to the candy store for snacks, make popcorn at night after our bbq and walk down to the outdoor theatre and watch a Saturday night movie and almost every morning we would gather for a rather large pancake breakfast!! No it wasn’t trips to Disneyland or fancy malls..but my childhood was magical..my childhood was treehouses and sand castles and soft ice cream and family everywhere you looked! Its a childhood that I will embrace my entire life and one that I will strive to ensure my children get as well.


(us walking down to the Lake yesterday from our cabin)

The idea for “A Day at the Lake” came to me last month after my mom’s 50th birthday party.. I really hated that since our grandparents passed away we only see each other on major holidays. Sure, dad see’s his brothers and sister a little more often then that, but not like it used to be..and I am determined to change that! So yesterday, 21 of us gathered here..
Some of my cousins now have children of their own, such as Ryder here, and it was amazing to watch yesterday as my cousins and I have now moved on to be adults with little children running around the cabin! It seems like only yesterday it was us..
It was an awesome day and by the end of it..we had already planned next years “reunion”! We finished the day off with a bbq at my cousin’s cabin and of course tons of photos!! My cousin had found this photo of us with our grandparents, circa 1989..

So for fun, we tried to pose for another photo, 20 years later, in the exact positions (we were missing 3 cousins and Jenn and Aaron are standing on opposite sides, but other than that we did it!)

And since I was meeting up with my cousin Jenn yesterday, I decided to make her a quick card to celebrate the news of her expecting her second child! I recently purchased this over stamp from Stamping Bella along with this sentiment..

I used PTI’s Bitty Baby Basics patterned paper and PTI’s Plum Pudding ribbon, coloured the image in with my Prisma’s.. and voila.. DONE!
How cute is this card?
Have a great Sunday everyone:)
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So, besides papercrafting and photography, another hobby of mine is baking! Yup, that’s right, throw a cute apron on me and you’ve got yourself a “Suzy-Homemaker”! My favorite thing to bake is cupcakes, but my goal is to one day decorate my family’s cakes like a Pro. There is nothing I love more than beautiful decorated baking and yummy tasting desserts =)

In fact, one of my favorite places to visit when in a new city is new, whimsical bakeries to taste test their cupcakes!! I love the adorable colours and designs..if I ever have my own store, it will be replicated after a bakery for sure!

So imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Bakerella! She has a dessert lovers blog that dares you not to drool! go ahead, check it out here and see for yourself! Her last posting was for Banana Cupcakes (photo above) and I had to try her recipe last night..and let me tell you, these are the best banana cupcakes I have ever made! They are dense and moist and buttery..omg I could eat them all in one sitting!! Thank God for family and friends who have taken them off my hands! Kim and Jeff..yours are being delivered tonight 😉

So happy baking everyone!

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Its official! Summer will soon be coming to an end =( On my way home from work tonight I passed a tree with yellow leaves!! I don’t know how it happened..one minute the trees are new and green and the next minute they are gone! I am also anticipating that in the next 3-4 weeks our local Farmer’s Market will be stocked full of pumpkins too and to be honest..I couldn’t be happier! Most people groan when they see sunflowers and pumpkins show up at Michaels in July..but me? I’m giddy with ideas!

So it should be no surprise then that this post is none other than the Trick or Treat Bella from Stamping Bella.. she came out last Fall and I bought her the very first day she was available! I thought it was ridiculously cute!!

I made the card out of Summer Sunrise cardstock from PTI, used pp from Making Memories and the sentiment is from PTI’s Spooky Sweets set..
The best feature (besides the image) is the spider web that is embossed on to the card base using my Cuttlebug..
And as a finishing touch, I used Orange Stickles around the pumpkin costume:)
I’m off to the studio for the rest of the night!! Have a great evening!
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  • Jeanie - Hi Dawn!
    This is the CUTEST little Halloween card evah!! Nice job on the spider web and love that sparkle too! Have a great weekend!ReplyCancel

So its the middle of August and all I want is to put on fleecy clothing, make a bowl of popcorn and curl up under a blankie to watch a movie. It is so cold here this weekend..its making me think of Fall. Now, don’t get me wrong.. I love Autumn, in fact September to December is my absolute favorite time of the year. But because I live in Canada..I want my summer to be HOT.. we all know that Canadians go through on average sometimes 8 months of cold, dreary weather..so those few, hot dry months of summer is somewhat of a commodity around here..

But nevertheless, this weather made me start thinking about the upcoming season and I created this beautiful card for Thanksgiving/Fall..

I made the card base out of Kraft paper from PTI to give it a naturalistic/rustic touch and of course, you can’t have Fall without Chocolate Brown cardstock, which I then ran through my Cuttlebug with my Autumn Sayings folder…
The patterned paper was just purchased at Michaels and the stamps were a new release set by Stamping Up, called “Falling Leaves” which I stamped in Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy and Cognac inks, all from PTI
To finish off the rustic charm, I tied off PTI’s Rustic Twine..
I’m off to finish orders but then I think I’m going to follow through on the popcorn and a movie this afternoon!! Enjoy your Sunday
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One year ago today, my best friend gave birth to my niece Makiya..and she has changed my world ever since. Born August 15, 2008 @ 6:36 am..Ms. Makiya is the most beautiful baby I’ve ever laid eyes on:)I never thought I would have kids before I met her and now, she’s shown me that having kids is the only path that would be right for me..this is us girls last year..

And this is us today..wow how things have changed!

I sat in awe today watching this little person in front of me..watching her crawl around and whispering to herself and wondering, “where the heck did time go?” It seems like yesterday I ran up to the hospital to meet her and was so scared to hold her..and now? I’m an aunty to a one year old..someone who smiles when she sees me and giggles and plays! She’s amazing and I love her soo much!!

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!!

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