I had never really given any thought to the advance planning that it takes to put a magazine together until recently. I have been doing a little freelance work for a Canadian Homeschool magazine and it has required me to think 4 months in advance!! ACK, as if thinking one week ahead isn't challenging enough at times *grin*.
Just think of all those pretty Christmas magazines that are hitting the newsstands right now, they were probably shot in July. Can you imagine decorating your home completely over the top for Christmas in the middle of summer!?
It's not quite that bad here, but we have been up to our elbows in Valentine's Day crafts :) I've enlisted the help of the kids to be my little crafty helpers and I've been playing professional photographer *grin*. It's just been all fun and games :)
Forget Christmas this year, I'm thinking Easter now! LOL.
Awwww, you guys are the BEST!!!
I just found out that I have been nominated in the Best Super-Homeschooler category over at the HSB Awards :) Wow, thanks so much! I was just over there and I am listed with some of my all time favorites and some fantastic ladies that I admire :) Make sure that you head over there to check out all of the categories because there are so many great blogs listed and, well, um don't forget about me when you see all those other dazzling bloggers *grin*. No pressure or anything. LOL.
Thanks again :)
I am in total awe of this woman!! She is a self taught seamstress who uses no patterns whatsoever and creates the most stunning dresses. You've got to pop over to her blog to see what I'm talking about and enter into her latest giveaway for the Marie-Thérèse Gown.
(Click on above image to go directly to nomination page)
Nothing like leaving it to the last minute *grin*, but you still have time to nominate your favorite homeschool blogs *hint, hint*. LOL. Don't worry if you haven't done it yet, you're not alone! I'm off to plug in my favorites and I can't wait to see who's on the voting list this year.
Since I seem to be on a crafty kick lately and I haven't had a chance to participate in Mary's Show & Tell for ages I thought today would be the day *grin*. The other day I shared about a swap that I had participated in and showed photos of a lovely fabric note card wrap that I had received, well today I'm going to share the wrap that I made and sent :) I am completely addicted to felt right now *grin* so of course I just had to go felt crazy on my wrap to!
I wanted to give it a bit of a 3D effect so the leaves on the tree and branch aren't sewn down completely, but instead tacked so that they can be moved and fluffed up to pop off the front of the wrap :) And the tree which is overlapping the front of the wrap also extends around the back side. I put in a lot of time hand stitching all of the felt but I am so happy with how it turned out :)
I used some of my scrapbooking papers to make 4 coordinating pairs of writing paper with matching lined envelopes that are tied in and then made some little loops for the note cards to fit into :) I had ran across a tutorial on how to cover a sticky pad with paper so that's what I did for the little notepad, closing it with little flowers attached with eyelets and a string to wrap around them and then attached it with a length of ribbon and a snap so that it would be easy to replace it when it ran out :) Now if only I had made two of them! My mom actually wants one for Christmas so I better get started on it now so that it's done in time *grin*.
Check out more show and tell posts over at Mary's blog.
Blessings,
Last month Melissa at One Crafty Mama hosted a gratitude swap in which we had to sew a fabric wrap of any style that would hold note cards or a notepad etc and also include a little extra goodie :) Well this is my swap that I just received from my partner Jill at Life With Nature Girl. I just love the color of it :)
Inside are lots of little pockets for pens and a larger pocket for the above notepad or I can take it out and put my note cards and paper in it instead. I think I'm going to leave the larger notepad inside of it and use it for my homeschool and business association meetings. I just love it and now I will have something to keep everything in one place. I'm notorious for multiple pieces of paper everywhere, but not where they're supposed to be *grin*.
Can you light up a small flashlight light bulb with 1 battery & 1 piece of wire? What do you think, yes or no? Can't wait to see what you think, but don't think to hard! *grin*
We love to play UNO which I'm sure most of you know how to play :) If not it's a simple game where you follow the color suit, changing it with change color cards or same numbers, and then there is the added danger of getting hit with a pick up 2 or worse a pick up 4, a miss a turn or even having the game reversed before it even gets to you! The ultimate goal is to be the first one out with no cards left :)
In the past L has watched but not been able to play. Usually one of us would let her put our cards down so that she could be part of the fun but you know it's just not the same if you're not doing it yourself! Well the other day K really wanted someone to play it with him and I just couldn't sit with him at that exact moment so he decided that L would make a good partner. They started by laying their cards on the table so that both of them could see what each other had and after he played his card he would help her pick out what card she should play. They did this for quite a few rounds until L got the hang of how the game worked. Then all of a sudden she just took off! She can really play a mean game of UNO *grin*. This morning as they were sitting in the living room going at it again she actually beat big brother and K was so good about it, congratulating her for a great game :)
L is a real girly girl when it comes to parties and decorations so I knew that I wanted to make her something really special for her birthday this year :) In all of the scrapbook magazines lately they've got jars and tins that they are wrapping in papers and gussying up with ribbons, buttons and bows and I just had to try my hand at it. Since it was for a birthday party theme and her favorite book is 'Fancy Nancy', it was definitely going to have to have some feather boas and party hats. *grin*
To start with I needed a container to use. In the magazines they're usually covering glass jars or metal type tins but the glass would be to dangerous and I couldn't find the right sized tin anywhere! So the next best thing was a frosting jar *grin*. You know the Betty Crocker frosting in plastic cans you can get at the supermarket, well they work perfectly. The label comes right off and you can wash them up and they're as good as new :) So with my jars, a colorful assortment of scrapbook papers, glue, buttons, ribbons, flowers and of course feather boas I was ready to start.
I started by measuring the height of my frosting jar which was 9 cm and then using a 12"x12" scrapbook paper I cut off a 9 cm wide strip the length of the paper.
Using a generous amount of tape from my tape runner I put strips of it all all around the perimeter of the paper and down the center as well.
Then tucking the top of my paper under the little bit of a rim on the can I slowly turned it around in a circle all the while pulling it firmly to get a nice snug fit....
and then overlapped the ends of the paper. After I had it all the way around I went back over it with my fingers, pressing it down so that I knew the tape would adhere nicely.
I repeated the process again with the second jar and then traced the lids on matching papers, cut them out and glued them down on the tops of the lids with a very thin layer of white craft glue.
Next came the tricky part of making the party hats :) At first I wasn't sure how to go about making a cone but I found an easy tutorial showing how to make a simple one in 3 steps! Party hat problem solved. I ran a quick bead of glue around the hats, set them on the lids and let dry :)
With my hats in place on the lids I still had a strip of white plastic showing around the rim of the lid that I wanted to hide. So I got some fun ribbon and using those super sticky glue dots you can get at any scrapbook store I stuck the ribbon on.
Taking my pink feather boas I wrapped them around the base of my party hats and cut the appropriate lengths. They didn't want to stay put when I placed them around the rim of the lids so I needed to use a quick setting glue and what quicker than my glue gun :) Starting on the back side where the seams of the papers were I put a dot of glue and pressed into it one of the ends from the boa. As I made my way around the rim I repeated the gluing and sticking phase a couple more times until I was back where I started and glued down the final end of the boa so you couldn't tell where I had even started.
Once I had both jars covered with their boas the really fun part began as I decided how to decorate them :) I used paper flowers with button centers, little birds that I cut out of sparkly paper and even added a few rhinestones for bling. *grin*
Every girl loves jewelry so I put in some bracelets, ruby and emerald rings, butterfly hair clips, bubble blowing liquid, balloons and more :)
What little girl wouldn't just love one of these for her goody bag :)
Today's the day! I'm not sure who is more excited..... the kids waiting to draw the winners or the lucky family that has won one of the fun prizes. *grin*
First prize up for grabs is the Pirateology book.
We're taking no chances on peaking into the draw bowl!! K had to get down on his knees so that L could hold it high enough for him :)
And the lucky winner is KIM FROM CANADA !!! Congratulations Kim :)
And our second prize up for grabs is this great scrapbook kit.
Again taking no chances with peaking, *grin* but I think that it was nearly to high for L to get her hand into this time! LOL.
I'll be contacting each of you by email today to collect your addresses and thank you to everyone that participated and made my blog-a-versary giveaway a great success!
Okay I'm back and I've got 2 fun giveaways for you :) First the goodies:
I have a copy of Pirateology ~ A Pirate Hunter's Companion by Candlewick Press and this is one of my sons all time favorite books! It's written from a pirate hunter's point of view and is packed with all sorts of little tuck ins. There are ships logs, navigation, written letters, all sorts of pockets to open and find treasures, knot tying lessons with leather ropes to practice on and so much more. It will keep them reading for hours if not months! It's also perfect for reluctant readers as they make it so much fun to explore the life of a pirate that they just have to read it *grin*.
Now for all of you mama's out there! I've got a fun 8" x 8" scrapbook kit for you :) It includes a 4 ring chipboard binder that is a completely blank canvas so you can decorate it to fit any type of photos you want to put in it, acid free page protectors, double sided patterned paper, textured card stock, alphabet and number stickers, 2 sheets of die cut chipboard and ribbon. This would be perfect as a school album for all of those great photos and artwork I just know you are going to collect this coming school year!!
Now the rules:
For one entry to win the above prizes please sign Mr. Linky below with your name and blog address so that I know you want to be entered in the draw. Non-bloggers can leave me a comment but make sure you leave me a way to contact you in the event that you are the winner!
For a second entry spread the contest fun and write an entry about it on your blog and then come back here to sign Mr. Linky again but please link directly to the entry about the contest this time or it won't count!
Contest closes at 11:59pm PST, Friday August 22nd. Winners will be announced the following day.
CONTEST NOW CLOSED ~ THANKS FOR ENTERING Good luck :)
I can't believe that it has been two years since I first started blogging! I was so shy when I first started, didn't know what to write about and was afraid of sounding silly. Boy how I've changed! *grin* If you recall just the other day I shared a slightly off beat sticker of goats dropping turds off a roof. LOL.
I went searching through my entries to look back at my very first one and below is what I found:
Aug. 13th, 2006 ~ I've come across many different blogspots for homeschoolers in the last little while and I thought what a neat idea. A place to write a daily, weekly, or monthly journal if that is how often you can get to it. Sharing our personal trials and triumphs of our homeschooling journeys with one another. What a great idea, even if it is only for yourself as a way of unwinding and sorting through your day. I hope you enjoy reading my blog because I think I'm going to have a lot of fun writing in it.
Many Blessings.
I can definitely say that I've used my blog as a personal journal, shared in the joys and sorrows of so many wonderful bloggy friends I've met over the last 2 years and of course I've had a blast writing it! So in celebration of my 2nd 'blog-a-versary' I'm going to be giving away 2 goodies :)
Check back tomorrow for more details and to find out just what I've got hidden under my keyboard! *grin*
I just had to share with you that my stencil painted t-shirt tutorial has been posted on the awesome crafty site Whip Up :) That is super cool *grin* If you haven't been there before you've got to check it out! There are tons of great tutorials and patterns posted all of the time. It's great for inspiration :)
You are laid back, calm, and good at entertaining yourself.
You don't need an expensive big city to keep you busy.
You'll take the peaceful life over the stressful life any day of the week.
Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!
This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.
This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.
To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE:http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it.And good luck!The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!
It's that time of year when all of the new school supply catalog's come out and I'm just itching to start planning out what we will use next *grin* I've been perusing the used curriculum boards and got a super deal on the Maple Leaf site so far for the Apologia text ~ Exploring Creation with Botany by Jeannie Fulbright. We have been using her Exploring Creation with Astronomy one and it is fantastic!! Hopefully I'll find some more used books to keep our costs low :)
Sonlight has been sending out little teaser emails for a while about what we can find in their new catalog but so far it hasn't arrived :( Anyone in Canada get theirs yet??
I picked up a super cheap Kodak digital camera earlier this year for K to use when we go on outings and such so that he can snap away as many photos as he likes without wasting film on a bunch of blurry photos :) But when I went looking for one I wanted it to have a video camera feature with sound because mine only takes silent video and I thought it would be fun for us to play with. I was right we have been having a blast recording things *grin* So today he was building things with his K'nex kit and he built one of those swinging chair fair rides and when he spun it around it actually looked just like one of them on super speed. LOL. The above video shows it in action and below is a photo of it just in case you can't see the movie :)
Hmm, well I like to be kind of quirky and funky *grin* and I definitely have wide open spaces to roam in but I'm not sure about the work part. Does that mean I should be running a cash register somewhere taking change or that I should be able to change what I'm doing frequently? LOL. I think I like the latter better :)
"You are more than what you seem. Outwardly, you are a confident person with just a little bit of a temper. Inwardly, you are someone who needs some serious TLC and attention."
Hmmm, not sure that I like this one! I'll admit that I'm usually pretty confident and I have had the odd temper tantrum *grin* but I'm not sure about the TLC and attention?? Oh wait, I know when that was... back in November when I had my mid year crisis!!! Ahh, now it all makes sense. LOL.
I was tagged by Arianna Joy. The game is called scattergories. Use the first letter of your name and find words with that letter. The number of letters in your name determines how many people you can tag.
What is your name? BChsMamaof3
4 letter word: Bugs
Vehicle: Bus
City: Burnaby
Boys name: Ben
Girls name: Barbara
Movie: Babe
Occupation: Boxer
Something you wear: Buttons (on your clothes of course *grin*)
Oh my goodness this to funny :) I can't wait to show my hubby this when he comes home. He always complains that I'm a pain in the rear because I have all these grand plans and my mind is usually set in stone *grin* but see it's really not my fault.... I just know what I want. LOL. I sure hope that none of you are PB&J's though *wink*
Blessings, BChsMamaof3
You Are a Club Sandwich
You have a big personality. It's hard for anyone to ignore you!
You dream big. You think big. And you eat big.
Some people consider you high maintenance, but you just know what you want... and when you want it.
Your best friend: The Tuna Fish Sandwich
Your mortal enemy: The Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
I just came across this DVD rental site and for $24.95 a month I can have unlimited DVD rentals with up to 3 at a time delivered to our homes free of charge. It sounds really good and they have tons of movies to pick from but I was just wondering if anyone out there has actually used their services and how you liked it?
Blessings,
BChsMamaof3
I think this is so cute :) You can see a kooky homeschool family and their video about homeschooling HERE. I think perhaps they should stop playing recess in the foyer though *grin* Enjoy
Wow there's only 3 more days to get over to the Homeschool Blog Awards and cast your vote in all of the categories! I've been over have you? Just want to throw a little sheepish sales pitch in here now for myself *grin* If you enjoy reading my blog and all the pictures of Vancouver Island please vote for me in Best Geographical Blog :) Ok now I've said it and you can vote for your favorites *grin*
MomofNeb over at A Place To Call Home is doing a
Pay It Forward Exchange. Thought I would find
something to make and give
away also.......This is what it is:
"Come join in the fun and make the
world a happier place. So this is how it goes...
It’s the Pay It Forward Exchange. It’s based
of the concept of the movie “Pay it Forward”
where acts or deeds of kindness are done
without expecting something in return,
just passing it on, with hope that the recipients
of the acts of kindness are passed on. So here’s
how it works: I will make and send a handmade
gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment
to this post on my blog The gift will be sent
out in January after the New Year. What YOU
have to do in return, then, is pay it forward
by making the same promise on your blog. Unfortunately this is only possible for
those who have a blog."
So, go ahead, first three people will
get a sweet little goodie from me.
A little after the holiday gift. :) I haven't quite
decided what I'm going to make yet so it will
be a complete surprise! Are you in *grin*
I promise to have it out by the end of January
beginning of February if not sooner!
If you recall in the summer I had posted about the library reading contest that the Vancouver Island Regional Library was hosting and the stacks of books we read (14 books got you 1 ballot entry) so that the kids could go each week and fill out 3 or 4 ballots each *grin* I pretty much read every children's picture book there was in there to L!
Well last night we made it down to the library just before it closed and when K went in to pick out a couple of books the librarian remembered that he had been the winner of the grand prize for the summer reading contest! He was just beaming from ear to ear when he got back to the car :) He had got a brand new copy of the 2007 World Guinness Book of Records and he couldn't believe that he had won another book since he had won just about every draw for his age group throughout the summer but that was only because K and L were the only kids participating for most of the draws *grin* I think the odds were definitely stacked in our favor. He's been reading it all morning. I'll have to wait until he goes to bed tonight before I can get a look at it. LOL.
I've been tagged by Naturalpaths and Solodeogloria! I usually don't do these but I thought it might be fun : ) Here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, including links to their blogs.
Let the people know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.
1. My husband is a tug boat captain and is away from home at least 243 days or 2/3's of the year if not more. Some months we only see each other a handful of days if we're lucky because work is really booming.
2. I have a VW Jetta Diesel that is 5 1/2 years old and I have racked up 225,000 km's on it *grin* In my defense we live 75 km from the nearest town!
3. I always have my camera with me it's like another appendage on my body. LOL. I've put 5245 photos on my current camera card and this is my 3rd card in 3 years. They don't seem to stand up to repeated erasing and loading so well!
4. I haven't been over to the mainland in over 5 years. Each year we talk about it but never make it : )
5. Last year my husband got me a birthday card that said happy birthday to my 'girlfriend' ! He scratched it out and wrote wife but I could still see what it originally said : ) Apparently last minute card shopping at our local grocery store is not advised.
6. I am an extreme night owl. It is not uncommon to find me online at 2 or 3 am. My best creative ideas occur after midnight.
7. I can't wait for the snow to fall. I love to drive in fresh dry snow when all you hear is the squeak of your wheels running over it although we usually end up with the heavy wet slushy stuff that is a nightmare for driving in :( Snow makes the everything go silent. It is like one giant muffler on the world *grin*
Okay now who should I tag.....
If you are one of the first 7 people to read this consider yourself tagged but only if you want to : )
(Click on the above image to view all of the nominees)
The list is up!! And wow there are a ton of great blogs to choose from and quite a few familiar faces in the lists as well : ) I want to thank whomever nominated me for Best Geographical Blog, there are so many fantastic bloggers out there that I'm not sure that I fit in the ranks with many of them *grin* Have fun going through all of the nominees. It's probably a good thing they put it up early because it's going to take me at least a week to make it through them all :)
I found another cute quiz over at CrossView's blog. Hmm, I'm not sure if this really describes me at Thanksgiving. I'm usually flustered in the kitchen trying to get everything out of the oven and off the burners at exactly the same time and there always seems to be one to many pots for the burners *grin* Maybe that's the predictable part. LOL.
What are you?
BChsMamaof3
You Are Mashed Potatoes
Oridnary, comforting, and more than a little predictable
You're the glue that holds everyone together.
I found this on Coffee Mom's Blog and I just had to find out what my recipe would be *grin*. I think it turned out pretty good :)
Blessings,
BChsMamaof3
BChsMamaof3
- 1 1/2 cups of romance
- 2 teaspoons of trustworthiness
- 1/4 cup of friendliness
You are patient, optimistic, and good at explaining things.
You work well with all types of people, and you are a good role model.
Success and positive outcomes are extremely important to you.
You are both a good leader and instructor. People look up to and depend on you.
You do best when you:
- Can see the results of your work
- Are able to teach someone a new skill
You would also be a good nurse or non fiction writer.
5 Minutes For Mom is hosting another great holiday giveaway just like they did in July! There will be contests from now until November 24th and all you have to do to get in on the festivities is to put an entry on your blog linking back to their Christmas Giveaway using one of the buttons they have provided and you can also add the button to your sidebar if you want to as well. After that all you need to do is leave a comment right on the contest entries you want to be included in and you may be the lucky one!
Good luck and make sure you enter the first contest for a luxury diaper bag from Mom4Life. I have bought from her previously and she has some really great stuff. We have two of her feather down Kangapouches. They are a really great way of keeping your babies and toddlers toasty warm at naps and night time without worrying about them getting wrapped in blankets : )
This is absolutely hilarious! I am completely against flu vaccinations (my apologies if you disagree with me... please don't get mad at me *grin*) and this guy does a funny spoof on how to make your own vaccination at home and how it is as easy as 1-2-3! If you need a good laugh check it out, you won't be disappointed : )
Kellieann over at Hilltop Academy is hosting a fun contest called Where's the Wreath? and it is going to be an ongoing contest for the entire month of November : ) She will be posting photos of various places around her house and you will have to spot the wreath sort of like finding 'Waldo' and then email your answers to her *grin* This should be fun! Make sure you hop on over to her blog to check out all of the details and to join in.
