Vicki Boutin

Roar of the Engines!!!

So, we have had a kid free weekend!  The kidlets went to Port Dover with the Grandparents.  They are having fun and I was supposed to have a productive couple of days until this happened...

I am absolutely and utterly hooked on these books!  I was holding off...didn't want to buy a hardcover book.  You see, I never read a book more than once.  Never!  With this series that might have to change!  I am hooked, I say!  So, this is what I did on Saturday...all day.  Lots of tears between 2:30pm-3:30pm.  Good thing my sweet husband was out in the garage!  LOL!  I was a mess.

After the reading was done we went on a date!  First time in....well let's just say a long time!  Went for a little Italian and then the real fun began!  We headed to the races!  Stock car races...dirt track!  We used to go a lot when we were dating and I think as a kid I went at least a couple of time a month with my folks but I hadn't been for a few years!  I loved it!  The roar of the engines vibrating my rib cage!  The dirt flying around!  The people to watch!  It was a great time!  So loud that I couldn't hear myself think!   A fun way to spend a Saturday night.

Today I spent the day getting class stuff together and cleaning up my class kits.  I have a few class kits so I am going to post a "retired class kit" sale here in the next couple of weeks.  I will let you know exactly what I have left soon, but for the time being I have some photos listed under "Retired Classes" in the left side bar.

I have a few fun classes in the works and I am taking bookings for 2009 now.  If you are a store owner or have an upcoming event and you would like to have me come and teach, just drop me an email.  I will post new classes as soon as they are ready.

More Fun Stuff

I posted about my classes at the Scrapping Turtle in charming St Jacobs, ON earlier this week.  The class registration is now open, so if you want to come and play for the day in St Jacobs with me you can sign up now.  I think one of the classes is half full already!

A very nice lady named Beverly Fletcher emailed me a ways back and asked if I wanted to try out some of her acrylic stamps.  I said "Yes, of course!  I LOVE stamps!!!"  So she sent me a few lovlies from her company Banana Frog which is based in the UK.  I have to say...they are the cutest stamps!!!!  Here is what I did with them for their blog:

I used the Surprise line from Scenic Route and I filled in the letter stamps with green Stickles!

And a card:

Super fun stamps!!!  Thanks for letting me play, Bev!

So, if you read my blog often enough you might know I have this friend, Layle Koncar who is the brilliant Marketing Director for Scenic Route Paper Company.  Layle is coming to visit me in November so that we can go to The One of A Kind Arts and Craft show in Toronto.  I also happened to be teaching at Scrapalicious in Mississauga that weekend.  So, I thought..."Hey!  Why don't we teach together!"  Which brought about this...Scenic Route Saturday!!!  Layle and I are going to be at Scrapalicious in Mississauga, ON on Sat. Nov 29th for an all day event!!!  The details are on the blog and store site at Scrapalicious and spaces are very limited!!!  As of now they have sold half of the spots.  I even know there are 9 ladies from Newfoundland flying in for a fun filled weekend!  If this is something that may interest you, call the store and sign up.  I do know that Scrapalicious will be closed next week for holidays so don't hold off for too long if this sounds like something you might like to partake in!

Phew!  That was a lot for me share!!!!  With this being August and the fall class schedule getting into full gear...I will be adding more fun plans and details for upcoming classes!  Stay tuned.

Upcoming Class

What a whirlwind weekend!  It was Devyn's birthday on Friday and we had a party on Sunday.  Lots of running around for that and good times were had by all.

This was a huge hit!

Dev loves her new Bitty Baby!!  When I was in Chicago for CHA, Greta and I ventured in to the American Girls store and I fell in love with this doll!  Greta's little girl Ashlyn has a few but these dolls were all new to me.  I placed an order for this doll when I got home and Nanny gave it to her.  I bought a bunch of the accessories.  So sweet!

Also got the hubby to take a picture of the kids and I before the party. 

Now for some fun stuff!!!!

I will be teaching a few classes at the Scrapping Turtle in St Jacobs on Sunday September the 14th.  I am excited because both of these classes are brand new! One will be a class called Pearls and Best Wishes and it will feature techniques using Rangers Perfect Pearls and Scenic Route's Surprise linewhich has a Birthday theme!  I do not have any peeks of this class just yet, I am waiting on the product to arrive.  The second class is my School themed minibook...

 

This class has a kit full of goodies so that it can be personalized to match your particular school memories.  To sweeten the deal we will also be creating a two page school themed layout!!  All of the product is from Scenic Route's Appleton line.

All of the class info should be posted at the Scrapping Turtle site shortly.  As always I will have goodies to give away and a good time will be in store!  Hope you can come and play!!!!

Later this week I will post a few other upcoming class events. 

Edited to add:  The class is up on their blog!  See details here: The Scrapping Turtle Blog

My Little Girl...

Turned five today!!!!  Where has the time gone????  We had a great day and now we all need some sleep!

Here she is in her birthday finest...

Happy Birthday to my friend Amber Baley, as well!!!  Hope she had a fabulous day, too!!!!!

Check back soon for a bunch of fun class annoucements!  There is some great stuff in the works for the fall!

Some Fun Stuff!

If you know me, you know I have a love for Fiskars tools!!!  Love the trimmers, love the squeeze punches, love the circle cutter...you get the idea!  So when I was asked to be one of a bunch of Guest Designers for August I said...heck yeah!!!  :)  So here is what I made...

If you go to Fiskars Crafts you can see a few more photos and get full instructions to create this whimsical little house!  It was fun!!!  Oh...the papers, etc are all Heidi Grace!!!!

Something else that has me all excited!!!!!  These photo books by Stories By Everyone for Better Homes and Gardens!!! 

  

I just made and ordered these two!!!  So super easy to do and well priced!!!!  I can not wait to get them!!  I saw the samples at CHA in Chicago and they were awesome!!!  Perfect gift idea!!!  I will let you know how they look when they arrive!

Edited to add:  I bought the wooden house at Buffalo Stamps.  I have emailed the store to see if they still carry them.  I will let you know.

Mamma Mia!!!!

Was so stinkin' good!!!!  I have to say that my Mom has totally redeemed herself!  She wanted to see it, I wanted the popcorn!  But once I started watching it I loved it!  The only slightly painful part was watching/listening to Pierce Brosnan sing!!!  hee hee!  If you go to see it make sure you sit through the credits at the end...I.  Lauughed.  Hard.

Let me know if you liked it if you saw it!!!

Lost in the Pages

It is all Kezia's fault!  You see, I have been lost for three days in the pages of this...

and then this...

and now I have to go and get this...

And read it before this one comes out in 6 days...

It has been terrible!!!!  I could not put the first two down!!!  Have you read this series???  Do you like a good romance with a little monster twist??  These books are a mix of suspense and romance and are a must read if you like that kind of thing!!!  To my families chagrin, I am off to the bookstore tomorrow to get Eclipse!  This girl so love a good read!!!

Here are two more that I loved...

and then this one too...

  

Two more page turners!!!!

PS- I have to thank Greta for my new picture...as seen in the upper left corner.  Thanks, my friend!

Some Exciting News!!!

First off...thanks for all of the posts on my CHA giveaway!!!  I really appreciate it!  I will be sending out all of the goodies as soon as I get the addresses!  Don't worry!  I will be posting additional RAKS in the next coming weeks/months.  I am going to start doing something special in August...keep watching!

As for the exciting news...I am so happy to announce that I will be working with BHG Scrapbooks, Etc again in 2009!!!  They will be celebrating their 10th Anniversary next year and they have decided to bring past Creative Team members to form an All Star Creative Team for 2009.  Here is the list:

Cathy Blackstone

Vicki Boutin

Mellette Berezoski

Kim Crothers

Irma Gabbard

Sande Krieger

Amy Licht

Jennifer Perks

Erin Roe

Lisa Storms

Janna Wilson

Shannon Zickel

I have to say that I LOVE the scrappers on this list!  Some I have had the pleasure to meet or email with and others I am so excited get to know!  I love the mix and I can't wait to be inspired by this talented group!!!

I was just browsing the current issue of Scrapbooks Etc on their website and wanted to share a few things that they have posted this month.  I did the Designer's Notebook for the August September issue and they have posted pictures of my Scrap Space.  Some of these may be a little different than the ones I have here so go take a look.  Also, I did a page inspired be Cindy Tobey's (this gal is super talented!!!!!  Met her at CHA and told her just that!) paper piecings for this issue of Piece Talk.  Here is the one I did...

 

Love me some paper piecing!!!  Did you see the one Jen Perks did????  Go look here!!  She is another scrap crush that I have!!!!  Man, can that girl create wonders with paper!!!

Ok!  Off to hang out with the kiddos!!!!  Later!

I'm Back and the Winner is.....

Hi All!  I'm back from Chicago and another CHA show!  Greta and I had a great time visiting downtown Chicago and seeing Wicked!!!  Here are a few photos....

 

 

It was hot and humid but a good time.  We were pretty tired on Tuesday night (both of us only slept for a few hours the night before) but Wicked was a blast and so was Michigan Ave!  Glad we went in a day early to sightsee...CHA summer is in Orlando next year and we would have missed the opportunity to see Chicago together!

CHA was a good show!  A lot of people said it was slow but the Scenic Route booth was pretty steady with people.  The new lines were well received and Sonoma was a hit!  I loved it even more once it was up on the boards at the show!  It is delicious! 

There is a picture of Sonoma in the booth (and Nancy putting away her bag :) )  Here is a better picture of the Scenic Route gang...

That is Layle, Nancy and Sarah.  Sarah is the genius behind all of the wonderful Scenic Route designs!  I love her!  These ladies are a great group to hang out with and we always have a good time!  Here is Greta...she was on the phone when I took the picture of the other 3 gals!

After the show on Friday we all headed to see John Mayer and Colbie Caillat.  It was a great show!!!!  I especially loved John Mayer's cover of Panama by Van Halen!  But I have to apologize to Howard...he really was expecting me to rock it out at the concert but it was a much more mellow vibe so I had to resort to a rythmic head bob instead!  LOL!!!  Maybe we can find a little funkier beat in Anaheim!!!

One last picture from CHA...the three blondes...cause for confusion for some.

Now for the CHA winners!!!!!!  I am going to give away 3 prizes!!!!  The first one is for a box of the new Scenic Route goodies!!!  Yay!  Layle is going to mail it out for me from the warehouse so it is going to be straight off the presses!!!!

And the winner of the SR party pack goes to....

I love all the stitching on your layouts. You've inspired me to pull out my machine. Love what you did with the chipboard on the "princess" layout. Very creative!

Posted by:AmyInKy | July 15, 2008 at 09:37 AM

I drew names for two other gift packs.  I will be sending some Scenic Route Stamps, rub ons and a few other goodies to...

I love the layouts. Super job.

Have a safe trip and I look forward to hearing all about it.

Posted by:Angela | July 15, 2008 at 06:02 PM

and

OH MY!! You make me love that Appleton even more!! Have an awesome time at CHA!!

Posted by:Tami F. | July 17, 2008 at 08:54 AM

 

Congrats, Ladies!!!!  I will email the three of you tomorrow.  If you read this first, email me!

I will leave you with this...

 They were so happy to see me and I have been having a blast with them.  Here they are having a quiet moment together...I had to take a picture!  The moments together are many but the quiet ones are few!!!

 

Leaving on a Jet Plane, Some stuff to share and a RAK!!!!!! **RAK CLOSED**

OK.  I am outta here!!!!  Went to bed at 4am...feel like I was hit by a truck...sleeping on the plane!!!  Here are a few more projects for CHA.  If you post on this thread your name will be entered in a draw to win some new CHA goodies!!!  I will post a picture of the prize when I return on Monday!  I will draw a winner too!

All Scenic Route Goodness......

Good luck!  It is going to be a good one!  Prize that is!!!!