Friend of Mine @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's my turn to choose the challenge and I'm going with "Friend of Mine" which means I want to see those projects that celebrate friendship or are for a friend.

This is what I did....

I used an image from Melonheadz Illustrating and made a lil bathroom scene.  Originally, the sentiment was just a strip of paper running across the top but I thought it might be cool to make it look like a picture on the wall, so I made a graphic in Canva and that was that.  I know this style of board and batten isn't really it anymore, but my girl here is obviously going through somethin' so we're not going to hound her about updating her walls.

"Friend of Mine" is a song from the Cornwall (Ontario) band, Barstool Prophets.  It peaked at number 34 on the Canadian charts in 1998.  Not a lot about the song out there on the interweb, it's sung in the first person and it's about checking in on a friend of the past.  The music is upbeat, which hides what might be a darker theme....depending on how you interpret it.  

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Also for:

Unicorn Challenge:  something new - Those "bubbles" and "picture" are new.

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Neglected Stuff:  use neglected stash - I've wanted to use this digi for ages but couldn't think of how.

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Love Those Pretty Papers:  highlight patterned papers

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Slimline! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying she wants to see those slimline cards.  Generally, slimline cards are 3.5" x 8.5" but I'm betting she'd be happy seeing cards that are long and slim, even if they're not exactly "right".

I've fudged the measurements on slimline cards before but this one is indeed 3.5" x 8.5".....

When I was routing around in a drawer I came across these dog stickers I don't even remember buying....so I'm thinking I've had them for awhile.  (It's better to think that than to think I bought them recently but completely forgot about it!)  I thought they'd be perfect for this.  Admittedly, this card ended up so far away from what I had originally planned that you'd need a telescope to see it.....and that's only if the curvature of the earth didn't get involved.  I mean, grey grass?  But, I quite like it, and despite changing....well everything....it came together easily so I'm happy with the result.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

Creative Animals:  anything goes with an animal

Fab 'n' Funky:  cute

Critter Crazy:  anything goes with a featured critter

A Cut Above:  anything goes with a die cut

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Neglected Stuff:  anything goes with old stash

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

F is for Food! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's continuing the romp through the alphabet with this week being, "F is for Food!", which means she wants to see anything you can eat on your project.

This is what I did....

While this is definitely something you could eat, it's not something I would eat.  I mean, I could if I had to, but certainly wouldn't choose it.  More of a cake person myself.  *she says casually even though she stares lovingly at the sheet cakes at Costco everytime she goes there and once even invented a party just so she could have an excuse to buy a Costco cake and then had a rousing conversation with the Costco bagger about how cake could solve so many problems in the world complete with this quote, "If I was mad and you gave me cake I wouldn't be mad anymore because I have cake" and when she brought the cake home, the party was really just her offering cake to the other people in her house while slicing herself a massive corner piece (because that's the best piece because of all the extra icing)*  Anyhoo.....

Digi is from the now closed Bugaboo Stamps.  ):  I even added Glossy Accents to the cherries, which really adds it, to the point of this being my best use of Glossy Accents ever.

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Alphabet Challenge:  G is for girlfriend

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

My Time to Craft:  use fiber

The Sisterhood of Crafters:  dots

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Farm Quest Grocery Game:  anything food goes

To Boldly Go! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

I'm up as the host and I'm saying, "To Boldly Go!" which means that I want to see bold or bright colours on your project.

This is what I did.....

I don't think it's much of a secret that I prefer bold and bright over soft and demure.  I don't think demure would pair well with this digi (from Poppy Lane Digital, whose Etsy shop is currently closed ): ) anyway.  Especially not with that expression on her face.  Pretty sure that's how I looked when I was frantically trying to get a Mediterranean themed crochet throw finished in time for our (fundraising) Gala's Silent Auction.  Our volunteers kept laughing at me when I was saying, "It'll be here on Friday.....well, for sure on Saturday" (the day of Gala)....

          

This is a photo of the arena lobby (the "warm part"- yep an arena where hockey, ringette, figure skating, ball hockey etc is played).  It's hard to convey the elegance of our Gala without drowning you in photos, so you'll have to take my word for it.  (:  Well, that and the fact that it raises over $230,000 for equipment for our hospital. ♥

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

Allsorts:  anything goes

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers:  P is for pride (rainbow colours)

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Addicted to Stamps:  make your mark

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Dream Valley:  anything goes

Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

Kate is continuing to take us through Elton John songs and this week it's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me" which means she wants to see those projects that include a sun.

This is what I did....

Okay....unpopular opinion imminent.....never been a huge fan of the song "You Are My Sunshine".  And, that's mostly because of the of the line "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine".  Like, pressure much?  That person is your only sunshine?  The only thing that gives you joy?  Have you ever had a Reese's Milk Chocolate & Peanut Butter Solid Bunny?  Or executed a most perfect comeback?  Or been holding a newborn and they do that newborn leg scrunch?  (Shout out to my grandbaby.)  I dunno....maybe you need to get out more and experience new things and perchance....more people?

But, I will say, telling someone, "You make me happy when skies are gray" is an amazing compliment.  Like, I'd feel darn good if someone said that to me.  Especially if they said it to me with a gold foiled sentiment.  Even if it had to be the second go 'round for the sentiment, as the first one, which was also gold embossed and stuck on the card, read "You make me happy when skys are gray".   

Something else I want to make comment on.....gray is the American spelling for that light black (or dark white) shade.  Grey is the Canadian (usually) and British spelling.  Here is a very official discussion about the topic....

Since the song is American, I went with gray....but also because I think gray looks prettier than grey.  (:

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday:  anything goes

Fab 'n' Funky:  use your die cuts

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie:  inspirational photo

As You Like It:  favourite type of embossing - I prefer dry/using an embossing folder.  I own an entire drawerful of embossing folders....it's a technique I should use more often!  Also, I mainly use digi stamps and create my sentiments in Word so I don't have the opportunity to wet emboss often.

A Cut Above:  anything goes + die cuts

Can You Handle the Pressure:  anything goes + embossing folder

Neglected Stuff:  use you neglected stuff - Embossing folder is about five years old and I don't think I've ever used it before this card.

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Allsorts:  what makes you happy - Die is a no made brand from Amazon, patterned paper is Echo Park

Crafty Calendar:  add a sentiment

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

...And Always Shall Be, Your Friend @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's yours truly's turn to choose the challenge and I'm saying, "...And Always Shall Be, Your Friend" which means I want to see those makes celebrating friendship or a creation for a friend.

This is what I did....

I went with a cas card for this one.  Digi is from the long closed Dilly Beans and the sentiment is from Lawn Fawn.  I stamped it right on the card base and didn't even mess it up.  Go me!

Why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

The Sisterhood of Crafters:  flowers

Beautiful Blooms:  anything floral goes

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie:  inspirational photo

Triple B:  blooms, birds or butterflies

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Simply Clean & Simple:  flowers + cas

Ellibelle's Garden Party:  anything from a garden goes

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Dream Valley:  hand coloured image

Make My Monday:  garden

Allsorts:  anything goes

613 Avenue Create:  floral delight

CRAFT:  anything goes

Simon Says:  anything goes

Flora or Fauna? @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Imke's turn to choose the challenge and she's asking, "Flora or Fauna?" which just means she would like to see those projects that have either animals or plants.  Lots of options there!

Now I'm usually more fauna than floral but I decided to go floral and this is what I did....

I've used this sunflower digi stamp a number of times....because it's awesome.  It's from A Day For Daisies.  Sentiment is from Create With TLC.  

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

613 Avenue Create:  say it with flowers

Stamping Sensations:  anything goes

Corrosive:  anything goes

We Love Stamping:  in the garden

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Cut It Up:  send me flowers

Addicted to Stamps:  make your mark

Crafty Gals Corner:  flowers for mom

Double D:  flowers

Simon Says:  add a sentiment

A Place to Start:  and another thing... - flowers & bling

Crafting Happiness:  flowers

Dream Valley:  make it sparkle

Allsorts:  absolutely anything goes

Crafty Calendar:  anything but square

Simply Clean & Simple! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's yours truly's turn to choose the challenge and I'm saying, "Simply Clean & Simple!" which means, you guessed it, I want to see those cas cards.

First of all, I need to call someone out.  Looking at you here, Mother Nature.  If you notice, MN, I didn't post a Christmas make last week.  It was a birthday make.  So, why then, did you think it would be okay to SNOW on and off all day yesterday with temps of 1ºC, on the SECOND DAY OF MAY?  Huh?  Not nice.

Now that that's outta the way, here's my card.....

As you can see, I've got a lot of white space on there to make it cas.  And, it's just empty space, MN, NOT SNOW.  

Stamp is from The Cat's Pajamas.  I used a precut card for this one, and it has more tooth than the cardstock I normally use for stamps/digis.  I kinda like the rough look of it, so it's working for me.

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

The Crafty Addicts:  anything goes

A Place to Start:  anything goes

Allsorts:  anything goes

Di's Digi Design:  use you scraps

Sweet Stampin':  animals

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Bling On the Bling! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's yours truly's turn to choose the challenge and I'm saying, "Bling On the Bling!" which just means I want to see those sparkly bits and bobs on your makes.  So, glam it up!  

I know it's normally, bring on the bling but when I was first setting the challenge, I mistakenly typed bling instead of bring....and well, here we are.  I like to think that saying "Bling On the Bling!" instead of "Bring On the Bling!" might make some of you add the bling in a more spectacular way.  Kinda like this....

But, hey, you can add your bling slow and controlled too.....it's all good.

Anyhoo, this is what I did....

Let's see....I've got some gems, sparkly Gumdrops and if you look really close...

....you can see I've got some Stickles and some glimmer/sparkle mist too.  Digi is from Gracellie Design.

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.

Also for:

Craft Rocket:  for the girls

Through the Purple Haze:  anything goes

Ellibelle:  anything goes

A Place to Start:  anything goes

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Corrosive:  anything goes

We Love Stamping:  anything goes

Allsorts:  trio of something - 3 gems, 3 hanging items

Sweet Stampin':  special women

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Make It With Ribbon! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Make It With Ribbon!" which means she'd like to see those projects that have ribbon.  

I used to use ribbon aaaaaaallllllllll the time.  And I used to fuss and frimp and fuss some more about tying the bow just right, having the tension just so....and trying to make it look perfect.  But, I've discovered, ribbon does not want to look perfect.  Ribbon just wants to look how it wants to look.

Lately, I don't use ribbon all that much.  My style has shifted to what refer to as 'clean & layered'.  So, ribbon isn't something I reach for very often.  I contemplated doing something fun and/or different for incorporating ribbon into a project.....but I just ended up doing my same ol', same ol'.

And here it is......

Huh.  There appears to be a bit of yellow cast on the right side of the image.  I hope you don't mind just ignoring it, please and thank you.  (That's lazy-person speak for "I don't want to take another picture, re-edit and re-upload".  (: )  Now, despite what I was saying above, I got this ribbon tied perfectly on the very first try.  So much so, that I actually started fiddling with it, as I couldn't believe that actually happened, before I made myself snatch my hands away.  Maybe this is a sign I should use ribbon more often!

Digi is from Mo's Digital Pencil.

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Also for:

A Place To Start:  squares

TTCRD:  anything goes

Shopping Our Stash:  I only have EYES for you

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Crafty Catz:  ribbon

Colour Crazy:  anything goes

Corrosive:  anything goes

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Dream Valley:  gems

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday:  anything goes

Simon Says:  anything goes

At the Beach! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Chrissy's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "At the Beach!" which just means she would like to see those projects about/featuring beachy things.

This is what I did....

Digi was a freebie from an artist no longer is business.  I actually picked this up back in 2011.  Sentiment is from Create With Tlc.

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Also for:

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie:  inspirational picture

Aud Sentiments:  summer + sentiment

Moving Along With the Times:  anything goes

Addicted to Stamps:  make your mark

Crafty Gals Corner:  lazy days of summer

TTCRD:  anything goes

Try It On Tuesday:  keep it simple

Unicorn Challenge:  summertime

Double Trouble:  relaxation celebration

Crafter's Cafe:  Relaxation Day

Time For Ice Cream! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Doni's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "It's Time For Ice Cream!" which just means she wants to see those ice cream treats on your project.

Ah, ice cream.  I LOVE ice cream.  But, I'm kinda fussy about my ice cream.  It think it stems from years of painstaking research to develop a discerning palate.  I'm aware that there will be few of you, Dear Readers, who will have the experience I do with ice cream.  So, allow me to educate.

The best ice cream is soft serve.  Now, before you quizzically look at your cone from McDonalds or Dairy Queen, it's not just any soft serve.  The best soft serve comes from Erie Drive-In in Stratford, Ontario.  And, yes, I am aware that their ice cream is probably not proprietary, and is most likely a purchased mix which they add to their machines, and could possibly be the same mix available at other soft serve serving restaurants, but, believe me, it's the best.  And it's the best to the point that I will not eat a soft serve ice cream cone from anywhere else because of the crushing disappointment I feel when it doesn't taste like the ice cream from Erie Drive-In.  [Full disclosure, I have eaten soft serve ice cream from Dairy Queen, in the form of a Blizzard, and I've made a Wendy's chocolate Frosty do from time to time as it's a 45 minute drive from my house to Stratford, and Erie Drive-In is open from April - (Canadian) Thanksgiving long weekend only.]

Before I continue, I feel like I need to verify my ice cream tasting credentials for you.  One Saturday, a number of years ago, when my middlest was in a ball tournament in Stratford, all I ate was ice cream cones.  I had five of them.  That's my record.  I've achieved three at tournaments before and after that, and two is basically a given if I'm going to be in Stratford for any length of time.  And, it's always the same order.....a Zebra Cone.

Now, if you're wondering what the frick a Zebra Cone is, you're probably not alone.  Heck, if you Google 'Zebra Cone' you won't even find out what I'm meaning, especially since this....

...is one of the first images that appears (which is completely awesome, but not relevant to this narrative).  Erie Drive-In is the only place I've ever heard it called a Zebra Cone.  It's more commonly referred to as a Swirl or Twist Cone.  You know, one of the ones where the ice cream is half vanilla and half chocolate... and all delicious.

Getting your cone dipped is not only an option, but an encouraged option (though I do allow myself only one dipped cone per day....which does seem to be a ridiculous limit to impose on someone who has no problem gobbling up multiple cones in a 24 hour time span).  Erie Drive-In has all manner of dipping options including the standard chocolate and butterscotch, to the more adventurous cotton candy or birthday cake to the one I always get....wait for it.....

Peanut Butter. 

And it is glorious.  Especially since the peanut butter dip isn't too thick, coz it's needs to allow soft ice cream to dip into it after all, so it's all the peanut butter taste, with none of the stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth texture.  Also, since the dip is warm it makes the ice cream a little more melty and that much creamier.  I'm telling you, My Friends, it doesn't get much better than that. 

Now, you're probably wondering with all this talk of ice cream, did I have time to make something that included ice cream?  I sure did.....

As you can see, I did not make this lil one's ice cream a Peanut Butter Dipped Zebra Cone.  It is hard ice cream, after all, not soft serve.  But, I did cover it in Stickles so it looks all glittery and delicious though.  Digi is from Mo's Digital Pencil.

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Also for:

Classic Design Challenge:  anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore:  anything goes

Mix It Up:  anything goes

QKR Stampede:  anything goes

Creative Crafters:  anything goes

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie:  inspirational image

Colour Crazy:  anything goes

Crafty Catz:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Ellibelle's:  anything goes

TTCRD:  anything goes

Cutie Pie:  little cuties

Corrosive:  anything goes

We Love Stamping:  hot sunny colours

As You Like It:  warm or cool colours - I like 'em both but I think I prefer warm colours.  They seem to pop more.

Aud Sentiments:  anything goes

Craft Rocket:  summertime

Simon Says:  for a child

Fab 'n' Funky:  anything goes

Addicted to Stamps:  any occasion

Sentiment As Main Focus @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

I'm late yet again.  Hopefully in the next couple of weeks or so, things will slow down a bit and I'll be able to stay on top of things!  Imke is our host this week and she wants to see projects with the sentiment as the main focus.

This is what I did..........

I took a sentiment from Create With TLC and layered it over the clip art image of a bomb.  And that's about all I've got to say about that.

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made. 

Also for:

Path of Positivity: celebrate something special about your friends

Allsorts:  anything but birthdays

Cardz 4 Galz:  sentiment as focal point

With A Little Help From My Friends @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Kate's turn to choose the challenge and she's continuing on with her Beatles theme and is saying, "With a Little Help From My Friends" which just means that she wants to see those project for friends.

This is what I did....

I love this image from Sherry West Art....so classy and unique.  My original plan was to do a completely black & white card, and leave the image uncoloured, but I when I found this perfect-for-this-image paper, I decided to add a bit of colour to the digi.  I added Stickles to her jewellery too, of course.  (Which, as always, doesn't really show up in the photo.)  Sentiment is from Create With Tlc.

Had a bit of a mishap this weekend....our (riding) lawnmower wasn't working so we had to borrow one to get our hayfield of a lawn cut.  (The combination of finally getting warm weather and then rain at the right time made our lawn grow monstrously in just a short amount of time.)  The one we borrowed is more like a small tractor than a lawnmower, sits a lot higher and has a very high roll bar.....something I didn't really think about while I was mowing.  When I went around our lilac tree, I ended up snagging two limbs on the roll bar, and pulling them right on top of me.  Luckily, instinct took over and as it was happening, I leaned forward and nothing hit me in the head.  I honestly don't know where that instinct came from because an instant before that I had honestly said to myself, "Why does it feel like the lilac tree is following me?"

Long story short, I ended up pinned to the seat of the lawnmower.  Perfectly all right though....a couple of scratches and just a bit embarrassed as my daughter and husband had to come lift up the limbs so I could get off the lawnmower.  My kids, knowing how much I hate the lilac tree, made various jokes about how there'd be easier ways for me to take it down without getting in trouble.  (My husband's parents used to live here, they moved two farms down the road when my husband and I got married.  The lilac tree was given to my mil years and years ago from her kids....but no one had ever trimmed it in all that time.  When I first moved in I talked about cutting it down....and I was just about tarred and feathered for even suggesting it....so I settled for trimming it....which didn't make me like it any better, just made me slightly happier because there was less of it.) 

Just to give you a visual, here's the picture my daughter took.....after she asked for, and got, permission to find the whole thing funny....

Needless to say, I stayed a good distance from all of our trees I do like, so as not to have this happen with one of them.  And, our lawnmower is now fixed, so my next time cutting the lawn will hopefully be adventureless.  (:

So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.  

Also for:

Path of Positivity:  celebrate something special about your friends + positivity

Inkspirational:  use something gifted or free - digi was a freebie 

Crafty Calendar:  anything goes

Allsorts:  add some sparkle

Unicorn Challenge:  includes pearls/bling

TTCRD:  anything goes

Simon Says:  layer it up

Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday:  anything goes

Creative Fingers:  anything goes

Corrosive:  anything goes

Stamping Sensations:  floral or fauna

International Art & Soul:  3 of something - 3 layers, 3 gemstones in two corners

Dragonfly Dreams:  flowers

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

The Card Concept:  inspirational image - I was inspired by the colours and the flowers to make my clean & layered card.

Die Cuts! @ Little Red Wagon

 This week at

it's Chrissy's turn to choose the challenge and she's saying, "Die Cuts!" which means that she would like to see die cuts on your creation.  Easy-peasy!

I love die cuts.  I almost always use dies when I make something....generally stitched shape dies.  Gotta love those.  But I do also have a collection of die that aren't just shapes.....well, technically, they are shapes, since everything is a shape.....but I'm thinking you're knowing what I mean.  In fact, I have a number of dies that I've never even used.....I can't seem to pass up a good deal on dies.  So, when I saw this no-name die, I snapped it up.  Like, at least a year ago.  But, I finally used it and made this....

Originally, I was going to make a baby card, but apppppaaaaaarently, I can't see a bear and not use the sentiment Bear Hugs with it.  Yeah, because in looking for this picture to upload it was nestled in amongst a number of other cards of the same....picture files named bear hugs, bear hugs 2, bear hugs again, brown bear hugs, black bear hugs and so on.  But, I'm not going to apologize for my overuse of Bear Hugs as a sentiment....it's pretty general purpose when you think about it.  Could be for a friend, or a special *wink* friend or a kid or a teen, or just for someone who's going through a tough time.  I mean really, who doesn't like a bear hug?  For the record, I'm meaning just a nice, tight (consensual) squeeze, I'm not talking about an actual hug from a bear.  Though, admittedly, if I could have assurances that the bear wasn't going to eat my face off, I'd definitely be up for an actual bear hug from an actual bear.  

Update on my craft area situation....I finally got the piece of furniture I was waiting on....but I had to make two trips to Ikea on consecutive days to get it.  *sigh*  Our closest Ikea is an hour and a half drive...because, for some reason, Ikea feels like they can only have stores in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) in Ontario.  Like, seriously...excuse me while I rant for a minute.....

So, this is a map of the Ikeas in Ontario....

aside from the store in Ottawa, at the upper right corner, all the outliers are either Pick Up Points (where you can get your Ikea purchases shipped for a fairly steep fee), or Ikea Design Centres (they don't have stock, basically, they help you plan your room so you know what you want to buy when you go to Ikea) all the Ikea stores are in that clump next to Lake Ontario.  Now, while I know I'll never have an Ikea on top of my house, they could certainly put one in Kitchener/Waterloo or London or, somewhere that's not the GTA.  I know, in the grand scheme of things to complain about, it's very minor....but seeing as I went to Ikea on Monday when I got an email alert saying the piece of furniture was in, and when I got there, it was sold out, only to see that it was back in stock on Tuesday, at like, 6:30am and that time, unlike Monday, I was able to buy it through Click & Collect, so I at least knew it would be there when I got there and yesterday it snowed like crazy the whole day, so there I was, creeping my way to Ikea again, on roads that were more snow covered the closer I got to the Ikea....well, I'm just gonna allow myself a little b#$ching.  That's the long version on how to say I got my (probably final) piece of furniture for my craft area all put together last night and I should be all set up by the end of the weekend.  Yay!  I'm hoping to be able to post pictures in my LRW post next Wednesday.  (:

Well, if you made it through all that reading, you deserve to take a little time for yourself!  So, why not give our challenge a go this week and join us?  And, if you'd like more inspiration, be sure to check out what the Girlfriends have made.   

P.S.  Alpha dies are from Taylored Expressions.

Also for:

Simon Says:  favourite things - stitched dies, dies, bears, kraft paper

The Male Room:  animals + male

Through the Craftroom Door:  anything goes

A Place to Start:  two by two - Two words, two patterned papers

Cutie Pie: cute + beginning with B - bear, brown 

Use Your Stuff:  masculine

613 Avenue Create:  anything goes

Dragonfly Dreams:  something to make you smile

Critter Crazy:  anything featuring a critter goes

Corrosive:  anything goes