So I guess I’ve been neglecting ye olde blogge a bit lately, eh? Actually I’ve been neglecting my designing career too . . . And pretty much my computer in general LOL!

I promise I have a good excuse though:

Spending lots of time on the computer seemed so much easier when I was a lonely spinster LOL! I have NO idea how people with kids find the time to get so involved in the digital community. I get one measly boyfriend and I can barely keep up with this hobby.  Then I think of my friends who have a husband, 3 or 4 kids, a house to clean, jobs or business to run . . . makes my head hurt just thinking about it! I think I’ve earned a whole new level of respect for you ladies who can juggle it all!

Anyway, I had every intention of continuing to neglect this blog until my dear friend Rachel went and tagged me!!! I was kind of excited though as I’ve never been tagged before So here goes!

A - Attached or Single: attached, as of 2 weeks ago LOL!
B - Best Friend: I’ve been friends with Allison since I was 6 (20 years!)
C - Cake or Pie: chocolate cake with lots of icing (back when I could still eat sugar!)
D - Drink of Choice: decaf chai tea (not those yucky chai lattes! the real stuff!)
E - Essential Item: my CHI hair dryer (must.straighten.hair)
F -  Favorite Color: blue
G - Gummi  Bears or Worms: *sigh* another sugar question? come on!
H - Hometown: Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
I – Indulgence(s): Justin Timberlake, shopping, greasy diner hamburgers
J - January or July: January! I hate summer
K - Kids: not yet
L - Life is  incomplete without: my computer
M - Marriage Date: not applicable
N -  Number of Siblings: 1 younger brother Daniel
O - Oranges or Apples: apples
P - Phobias/Fears: heights, cockroaches, public speaking
Q - Favorite Quote: ”Whatever we are waiting for will surely come to us but only when we are ready to receive it with an open heart.”
R - Reason to smile: see photo above
S - Season: Fall
T- Tag Three: I tag Robyn England, Brittany Farrer and Cassie Madge
U - Unknown Fact About Me: I can tap dance
V - Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: Major Oppressor of Chickens (and occasionally cows)
W - Worst Habit: picking at the skin around my nails (= ugly hands!)
X - X-rays or Ultrasounds: x-rays
Y - Your Favorite Foods: chicken, ginger snaps, salad with lime juice, homemade spaghetti sauce
Z- Zodiac: Aquarius

Yay! That was fun!  
Ok Have a good rest of the week everyone

I don’t really feel like writing today so I thought I’d show everyone a bunch of pretty pictures instead

I find I don’t really know how much I like a kit I’ve made until after I see what people’s layouts look like. After seeing the following layouts, I can say this is definitely my fave kit ever!!!!

(All images are linked if you’d like to leave them some love or check out the full credits.)

From my CT:

by Denise:

By Lynn:

by Brittany:

by Cassie:

by Victoria:

by Amy:

 by Sabrina:

And the following people are not on my CT but I had to show them anyway!

by Jenn (jennv)

by Donna (kygirl)

by Kait (lovelymisskait)

by Aja (ajaabney):

by Erica (pne123)

Thanks to all of you ladies for letting me show off your layouts here!

Now I think I’m going to go get out of my pj’s and try to see Harry Potter this morning. There are shows starting at 11:30 a.m. here so I may try for one of those early shows and hope most people are either still at brunch or church or something so I don’t have to spend half my day in a lineup waiting to get in! LOL!

It’s almost bed time (where did the weekend go!?!?) so no time for a big long post but just a quick note that my new collection is now in stores. 20% off for the first 3 days (so until Wednesday).

 To answer the question I know you’re all thinking: YES I named the kit after Marilla Cuthbert

 Oh and one more thing before I hit the sack. I’ve had lots of comments from people who love the funny blinkies I made for my CT. They are based on our favourite tv shows, The Office and Arrested Development. Here are examples:

So I thought it might be fun to make some generic ones that everyone who likes the shows can use. I’ve only got one done so far but if you have ideas for more catch phrases/quotes I can use on them, do share! Feel free to use this if you’re a Dwight lover:

Goodnight, and have a happy Monday tomorrow! (if Mondays can ever really be happy LOL!)

The results are in! I did the draw just now from the Canuck Connoisseur Quiz. Just so you know, everybody who played got all the answers right so all the names went into the same draw.

Now I realize that with random drawings like this it is important to the contestants to know that the draw is being done in the most ethical manner possible. This is why I enlisted the help of my good friend Dwight Shrute to carry out the procedure.

FACT: Dwight is a former Lackawanna County Volunteer Sheriff’s Deputy and a purple belt in karate. He takes order, discipline and rules very seriously. So you can sleep soundly tonight with the knowledge that this draw was carried out with the utmost regard for fairness, justice and integrity.

So help me congratulate the winners!

 The following two ladies each win a $10 gift certificate to Studio Michelle:

And the winner of the $10 gift certificate for the entire ScrapbookGraphics store is:

And the grand prize winner of the $20 gift card to the entire ScrapbookGraphics store is:

 Yay!!!! Congrats to all of you! I think Dwight was quite pleased with all the winners. He kept bobbling,  er … I mean nodding his head in approval the entire time!

I wanna thank everyone again for playing my silly little game. I know pretty much nobody reads this blog of mine so I was surprised to get as many entries as I did LOL! I had fun with it so thanks to all of you for stopping by!

Well I didn’t end up having the Canada Day I was hoping for but c’est la vie I guess. I won’t go into details but let’s just say part of it was me getting sick, and the other part involved my hot water tank bursting all over the basement floor. I did manage to get out for a few hours in the afternoon but by the time I got there it was too late to get a spot on the lawn on the Hill so I pretty much missed everything.

I did manage to get some pictures but before I start show and tell, I just want to thank everyone for the Canuck Quiz contest entries so far! Man you guys are good! I haven’t received one single wrong answer! I am reserving the right to alter the prize/draw configuration because obviously there is no sense in having separate draws if everyone gets them all right! Before I made this public I tested the quiz with my own personal CT and with the Crew at SBG and nobody got all the answers right so I figured the questions must be hard and was expecting to get lots of entries with wrong answers. Hence the separate draw thing.  I guess those girls just weren’t doing their homework like you all are

So now I will leave you with a few pictures from my botched Canada Day. I’m going to supplement with a few shots from the last time I did Canada Day on the Hill (4 years ago?) to show you how things SHOULD have gone! LOL!

So I missed the actual ceremony of the Changing of the Guard but we got to see the band and the guards walk by as they left the grounds. (Note: For non-Canadians, these are the Ceremonial Guards who guard Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s residence. If you’ve seen the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace it’s the same thing here.)

Then the Air Force band walked by:

The last time I went a few years ago I had front row seats on the lawn to see the ceremony:

Which also includes a show by The RCMP Musical Ride. This is kind of like a ballet but with horses if you will The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police, aka Mounties) trot around in formations and movements to music displaying their riding skills. Pretty fun to watch.

And here’s my friend Steph hitting on a cute mountie:

Okay so flash back forward to yesterday when I missed all this fun stuff. I actually got trapped behind a barrier for a good hour as security was clearing the way for the GG to arrive in a horse drawn carriage and with a cavalcade of mounties. Here she is, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean:  

By the time we were set free we were too sick of the crowds to stick around so we decided to walk across the river into Québec and visit the museum where I work.  It’s really weird walking in the middle of a street that is usually so busy and full of cars!

*cough*hint for the quiz*wink*:

Revellers in red:

The Alexandra Bridge:

We paused on the bridge to take some shots with Parliament in the background.

Parliament Hill and the museum face each other from either side of the river. This is the Canadian Museum of Civilization, where I happen to work. See that little arrow? That’s where my office is! I get a gorgeous river view The building on the left is the actual museum proper, and the building on the right is the Curatorial building where all our offices are and where the 3.75 million artifacts in the collection are stored.

And here’s a shot of us girls inside:

And that’s all I got! Pretty crappy considering all the photo ops I missed out on. Ah well. Maybe next year

So keep those Canuck Quiz entries coming. I’ve given you until Wednesday. And don’t forget today is the last day to take advantage of the 40% off sale!

Hope everybody had a safe weekend!