Once Upon A Time.......

Once upon a time there was a dashing french frog named Alain. He was a frog of royal pedigree and wore a crown perched on his jaunty head.

He spent his days in Whonnock Lake happily hopping from lilypad to lilypad.

One fine, spring day a young girl named Brenda sauntered down to the lake. She worked two minutes away at the local school and was on her lunch break. She wandered down to the dock. A glint of gold shimmering in the sunlight caught her eyes. She gazed in that direction and was surprised to see a handsome frog wearing the most exquisite crown. This was not just an ordinary frog. She could tell by how he carried himself that this frog had some class and charm. She could have sworn she saw the frog wink at her.

She was so entranced and smitten by this frog that she bent over to kiss him on his lips. A bolt of light and sparks flashed before her and there stood a dashing prince. He immediately kissed her with passion and they fell in love.



Many months later they were married on that very same dock at Whonnock Lake.




They lived happily every after and had three children named Alyssa, Andre and Angelique. The young girl is not so young anymore but still loves it when her dashing prince winks at her......and her friends love the doubled cheeked French kiss they always receive from the charming prince.

.......and so that's story we've always told the kids about how Alain and I met.

My youngest believed it until 6 years old when she overheard her Daddy talking about his first flight from Quebec to Vancouver.....and she promptly yelled out "See, I knew Mommy didn't kiss a frog prince in Whonnock Lake!"

....and may you all live happily ever after and have a safe but Happy New Year.

BONNE ANNEE !!

Wishing all my blogging friends Peace and Joy with Family and Friends this Christmas.
Thank you for touching my life with your humour, inspiration and kindness. I can honestly say I never imagined how starting a blog would enhance my life the way it has. Here's to more blogging fun and friendships in the New Year !


May a little grace touch your day,

Had so much fun doing this crusade from Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press Crusades.
Sorry, can't get the linky thing to work right now but if you really want to check it out my post on Nov. 30th has the link. Anyhoo, this is the 2nd project I participated in and I just loved this one - with a bit of extra time now , I got it done before the deadline.

The challenge was to find a scent of the season that we loved, and to journal and document it. Scent has such a powerful effect on our emotions and I for one, am totally brought back to a memory just by a scent. For some reason the scent of strawberries and cream conjures memories of my first boyfriend LOL







So I was shopping with my hubby trying to find the perfect holiday scent - sniffing everything. I knew when I found it - I'm quite particular with my scents and love a fresh, light scent that evokes tranquility and peacefulness. Wouldn't you know it Febreeze had a beautiful one:
HOLIDAY WARMTH AND WINTER EVENING CALM


I knew it was the one right away. when my daughter came down to breaky the next morning she said "MMMMMM the house smell soooo good"


It takes me right back to memories of skiing in my university days and being in a ski cabin by a fire after an invigorating day of skiing.




So I tried to open up the double sided bottle to get a sample of both scents. I think more oil landed on my floor. But I mopped it up with a paper towel and stuck the paper towel in this little envelope:


....and VOILA, my memories of the 2008 holiday season should linger on !

Thanks again for the insipration Michelle!! Your crusades are really helping me think outside of the box.

May a little grace touch your day,

Winter Wonderland

Well, we're not quite snowed in here, but we have had a dump and are expecting more. My view doesn't exactly look like this:



Butit does look like this:



The kids and I are totally excited because school is finally over. My class was soooo excited the last week and things are very busy at a school around Christmas so I've kind of been MIA. I now have two weeks off with only one hockey tournament so hopefully I'll be able to post a bit more.

Enjoy these winter images..........







....and if you get a chance, go out and buy Glade's Glistening Snow candle. The scent is invigorating. I have it burning already at 10:00 am.



May a little grace touch your day,

While Visions Of Sugar Plums Danced in Their Heads

Ok ....maybe not sugarplums but how about little fairies and pink snowangels.


This little vintage fairy is one of my favourite childhood ornaments. I remember every Christmas not putting another ornament on the tree until I had found my little pink fairy. Somehow it made its way to our house from my parents. I think my Mom remembered how much I loved it. It guards the kitchen clock. I hope my kids will also have treasured memories from some of the ornaments we put up.


When I saw this pink angel in the store several years back I knew I had to have it and put it in my buggy right away....it was only $16.00. I was so thrilled....until I heard a loud cell phone conversation right next to me......."you wouldn't believe the most gorgeous angel we found for so and so's present. We just came back to get it........oh no..that lady has it in her basket." I then received looks and cold stares to try and pressure me to give it up.

If they only knew kind words go a long way. I would have probably gladly given it to them if I had been asked a little more gently and been told how much it would mean to someone. But they were so abrasive that I just kept pushing my pink angel and kept on my merry ol' way. Now she sits under the vintage pink fairy and I think they look quite lovely together don't you?




Foudn these glorious balls at a thrift shop.There were faded blue ones too. I knew they were old since the blue ones had natural fine cracks all over them.....just the way I like them.







Be sure to tell about the treasured ornaments that bring you back to your childhood.

May a litle grace touch your day,

Michelle Ward has an awesome blog http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/whats_a_street_team.html that inspires artists or anyone to try different techniques and to think outside of the box.
I have really wanted to participate but am quite limited with time. This time though I made a date with my art - as Michelle says and tried the gesso project. Gesso is a medium that artists use for prepping canvases. We were encouraged to try using it different ways - printing images into it or stamping it and painting over it and spritzing it. I am sure my work is a totally different angle but I really wanted to try and add it to a painting of mine.

I know people tell me they really like my paintings but it's funny , as an artist, I sometimes think they are too traditional. I love all the altered art out there so my goal was to add a different dimension to a painting.

First I took a painting I had already started from this picture of New Orleans in Disnleyland:




Then I used a stencil and added dimensional paint to make a relief. In the top corner I added the dimensional paint and stamped into it with a rubber stamp.I didn't have any gesso on hand so Michelle encouraged me to use the dimensional paint.





After it dried I finished my painting. Should have finished the painting first LOL.The painting is in oil so it took awhile to dry.








I then painted over the gesso/dimemsional paint with a mix of blue-greens,greys,creams and gold.



And VOILA - the finished product- well not quite finished. I still have to finish parts of the painting and from the pictures , straighten up my architectural lines LOL.



What I learned from this project:

-Mixing mediums really did add a fun dimension to my work and experimenting is totally fun cause I tend to be a bit anal with my artwork.I would like to have spritzed it but didn't quite have the courage on the painting.
-You can easily paint over it in both acrylics and oils.

And last but not least, I still need a fire under my butt and usually squeak in at the last minute. I operate much better under pressure LOL

Would I do it again? You betcha ! Thanks gazillions Michelle for the inspiration !

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling......

.....ring ting tingling too
Come on, it's lovely weather
for a sleigh ride together with you,
Outside the snow is falling
and friends are calling "Yoo hoo,"
Come on, it's lovely weather
for a sleigh ride together with you.



Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap,
let's go, Let's look at the show,
We're riding in a wonderland of snow.
Giddy yap, giddy yap, giddy yap,
it's grand, Just holding your hand,
We're gliding along with a song
of a wintry fairy land.






Although we don't get alot of snow out her on the West Coast, I remember a beautiful sleigh ride one year visiting my husband's family in Quebec.

There I was taking a late afternoon nap, when two uncles and cousins burst open the door, serenaded me in French Christmas caroles and kidnapped me down to the waiting sleigh outside the two hundred year old farmhouse. We toured around the little town which of course, just like the Christmas Cards, meanders by a river. The gorgeous old Catholic church was situated at the top of the hill. We sang, laughed and warmed our insides with hot chocolate- spiked if I remember :)

One of the uncles asked me "pourquoi les larmes? - why the tears ? and I replied "Ce sont des larmes du bonheur" - these are tears of happiness.I remember the happiness as clear as yesterday.



Vieux Quebec - Old Quebec just inside the gates of the old fortress is glorious at Christmas. My husband works for the train and we have been lucky enough to travel across Canada on train in December. I'ts like Winter Wonderland - its' so breathtaking.


You arrive at the train station in Old Quebec with the snow lightly falling and the twinkle of lights everywhere.



From there you meander down the narrow little alleys...



.....just like a little European gem.







We received some unexpected news yesterday that my husband got laid off for four months......not news you want to hear at Christmas time. But, since he has time off now, just maybe we can take the kids across Canada by train to experience a wonderful Quebec Christmas again......and maybe, just maybe, there might be a sleigh ride waiting for them.

May a little grace touch your day,