October Template | Sahin Designs

October templates were just released at Sahin Designs. 

I happened to be looking through some old photos the other day, and I came across our one and only trip to a local pumpkin patch. It was really, just a big dirt pit, as the pumpkins were totally picked over. We're from Alberta, so truth be told, I have no idea what this pumpkin patch might have looked like in it's prime. I only know that when I've been to BC and seen pumpkin patches there, my jaw hit the floor...

Looking back at these photos, it feels like they could have been taken yesterday. 

It also feels like they were taken a lifetime ago. 

Time just marches on. 

Slowly and quickly. 

Even if the kids don't remember in detail, the adventures we've had, I have them documented here.

Our precious memories. 

The following Sahin Designs products were used: 

https://sahindesigns.com/products/october-2020-layout-templates/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/pumpking-song-elements/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/pumpkin-song-papers/

Boo & Stuff | Sahin Designs

You guys. 

It's October.

And you know what that means, all things pumpkin and Halloween-y.  

Still getting so much enjoyment out of our fall colours. The temperatures have been amazing, though now when you're standing in the shade, you do notice the chill that's there. The last time I remember our autumn being this nice, at this time of year, was 2008.  Barry and I came back from celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary in Greece. I remember being so thrilled when we returned, that we still got to experience fall.

Wow, that was a while ago...

Speaking of fall, Sahin Designs has just released her newest collection, Boo & Stuff. I love it. Halloween is one of my favourites. 

If you didn't already know, this weekend is NSD [National Scrapbook Day] because of that, this collection [and many others on her website] are 40% off! So get there before midnight Sunday, October 5th for the chance to download some great products at great savings! 

Don't forget that newsletter subscribers will receive an email with a link for 50% off this collection!

This collection is awesome, and I'm in love with the little vellum ghosts. Like seriously, how cute are they?

I created this 8x10 sized layout, to document some of the couple costumes we came up with for our Halloween parties. 

Some of our Costumes were: 

• Beth and Dog - Bounty Hunters
• John and John's wife - Hutterites
• Cleopatra and Caesar
• Angel and Devil

We thought our parties were fun. Everyone came dressed up.  Lots of great food, lots of our guests contributed an appy. We had prizes for best costume, best couple. The kids were little, so we sent them for a sleep over and Ama & Baba's. Fun times indeed. Maybe one day we'll get back to adult Halloween parties again. I'm always on the look out for the perfect couple costume ideas. 

The following Sahin Designs products were used:

https://sahindesigns.com/products/boo-stuff-elements/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/boo-stuff-papers/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/boo-stuff-cards/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/boo-stuff-stamps/

June Template Freebie | Sahlin Studio

Sahlin Studio has released this months template freebie.

Follow this link to download the template. Get it soon as it's only free through the month of June.

I was recently going through some of my scrapbook albums, and saw that I'm missing a few pages. To remedy the situation I'm filling in some random missing pages, so my album is complete.  

I never got around to documenting Halloween 2015. I'm not sure why it got forgotten, Halloween is one of my favourite things to document. This particular year, Madelyn was infatuated with bats and wanted a bat costume. It was very simple costume to create. A black long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of black pants. I sewed 'wings' under the arms. Added a little face paint and viola! She was thrilled.

Mason went as a stick man. We made the face from foam board, picked up white pants and top [easily found at Value Village] and used black duct tape to create the body. Another costume that was very effective and couldn't have been easier to make.  

Glad to fill in this missing page in my album! 

The following Sahlin Studio products were used: 

PM HalloweenKit: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Kit.html

PM Halloween Enamel Pins:  https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Enamel-Pins.html

PL2019 - Week 44 | Sahlin Studio

This page was to document the whole week, but I kind of focused on Halloween.

Madelyn had been looking forward to going out Trick or Treating with her friends, since last year. [Last year she was on a school trip and missed going out] She also knew she wanted to go as Alexander Hamilton sometime during the summer. 

She wanted to invite friends over to go around the neighbourhood with her. Which she did do. Halloween was on a Thursday this year, and they actually had Friday off. All the stars aligned for her last year going out. 

She invited her friends over for pizza. They were all able to come. Her close girlfriend came home on the school bus with her. The rest of the crew arrived around 4:30. This group of kids are awesome. It was a chilly night, but no rain or snow. They bundled up and headed out. Apparently they sang as they went from house to house. So fun. 

• Halloween treats and dinners leading up to the big night. Kids still let me indulge in themed treats. 
• Group of Grade 9's, celebrating their last year trick or treating.
• Our pumpkin creations.
• All 6 of those crazy kids were piled in the bathroom helping one get ready. 
• Mason proudly showing off his drivers license! 
• Team Armada starting out the season with a pretty convincing gold medal win! 

I used the following Sahlin Studio products:

Project Mouse: Halloween Kit: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Kit.html

Project Mouse Halloween Journal Cards: https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Journal-Cards.html

First Layout for Sahin Designs! | Pumpkin Song

Creating my first layout for Sahin Designs also meant getting to work with product that coincides with one of my favourite times of year, Halloween!

I was excited to create a layout, from Halloween several years ago. [Last year, Madelyn happened to be on a school trip during halloween, so she never got to go out and collect candy] I'm afraid that she has been deeply scarred by missing last years opportunity to collect loot.  She has been telling me for months now, that she is going out this year, no matter what. Even if her friends aren't, she is. 

There's just something about going door-to-door holding a bag open for candy that can't be beat, I guess.

Here is the layout I created: 

This was grade 7, two years ago. She went to a different junior high school than all of her friends. She was missing them terribly, and arranged to go out trick or treating with them. 

The weather was terrible. It rained all day long [thankfully it didn't turn into snow] It did stop before they went out, but it was wet and chilly. They were troopers, out for a couple of hours. There was a lot of giggling and silliness. I'm glad she was able to get together with her friends. 

Looking forward to this years photos, as I told her it would be her last year going out. Can't wait to see the costume come to life, she's planning on going as Alexander Hamilton.

The products I used are listed below, and are 40% off through Monday October 7th. Get them while you can so you're ready to capture this years Halloween memories!

To create this layout I used the following Sahin Designs:

https://sahindesigns.com/products/pumpking-song-elements/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/pumpkin-song-papers/

https://sahindesigns.com/products/pumpkin-song-cards/

PL2018 - Weeks 43 & 44

These two weeks take us into November. I'm pretty much caught up with this years Project Life album. Sometimes when it gets to this time of the year, I chose to make monthly layouts rather than weekly. 

I'm not sure what I'll do through December yet... Once I start working on my December Daily album, the stories kind of start to duplicate themselves. Having said that, I include December in my PL book of course, because my mini albums are usually put away for the year. I pull them out at Christmas, but  I still want to remember the stories that happen, but maybe not in as much detail. 

• This was my second stint in exactly a week, as a chip runner for the casino. The week before was an emergency call out, from the Madelyn's school. It was also a 7 pm - 3 am shift... This was a daytime shift, but it was still just as slow. This time, I put my hours in for ringette.
• Such a great day for a walk, not a breath of wind. 
• Yummy treats.
• Doggie snuggles on the couch. 
• Pumpkin carving. 

For week 44, I decided to create a two page spread. This week fell on Halloween, which was the first Halloween, that I've been home by myself, since we had kids. 

Madelyn's class went on a two night, 3 day trip to Drumheller, staying overnight in the Tyrrell Museum, sleeping with the dinosaurs. Such an awesome program, they actually got to be mini palaeontologists for a few days. Madelyn was totally bummed that she would be missing the candy collection portion of Halloween, but reluctantly decided to go on the trip. 

We decorated pumpkins on Sunday, while watching Jurassic World with Chris Pratt. We'd been told beforehand, that the kids would be watching the latest Jurassic Park movie, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, as a special treat, on Halloween. [They weren't given any candy, or even allowed to bring any, and we heard a lot about that atrocity...]

We actually had a Jurassic Park movie marathon, this same weekend, watching all the movies, as Madelyn had never seen any of them before. It was fun to watch them all in order again. When will people learn, dinosaurs and people just don't mix well together. But they keep opening the park...

Here's what the two pages look like together: 

Left side, close up:

• Treats for a Trex Halloween Party.
• Heading into school with 3 days worth of gear on her back.
• Pumpkins...
• The front porch. I didn't decorate inside the house this year but did decorate outside a bit. 
• Filter fun on Snapchat, while I was home alone. 

Right side, close up:

• Madelyn all dolled up for the fashion show. Again, she talked this year about how nervous she was, but she got up on stage and rocked it. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

http://the-lilypad.com/store/2018-Calendar-Cards-Stamps.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Enamel-Pins.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Artsy.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Kit.html

https://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Journal-Cards.html

PL2017 - Week 30 [and a Halloween Layout]

Here is week 30 of my project life album. 

• This week Madelyn was in an art class each afternoon. She spent a few days at my M&D's house. Mason and I went for a few bike rides which would have been a little bit more strenuous for Mad. 
• Barry and I went on a date night, ended up downtown. 
• Madelyn's artwork came home and it was awesome. 
• Grandma and the kids after they came over for dinner one night. 
• Movie night in the back yard, we watched Robots which has longtime been a favourite. 

Also created a Halloween layout from last year. Sahlin Studio has just released it's new Project Mouse (Halloween) Enamel Pin and Artsy kits. Check them out, they are so much fun. Here is the 8x8 sized page I created. 

Each Halloween, all four of us decorate our own pumpkin. We always have fun, and I like to include our jack-o-lanterns on layouts. Last year was also the first time Madelyn had ever gone out with a friend. It also marked the first time she'd used a pillow case to collect her candy. I really don't understand why that is such a novelty. I'm sure it will be in vogue again this year as well...

Also, I got word that my December Daily stuff I ordered from Ali Edwards is on it's way!

So excited about that. One of my favourite projects for sure. 

The following Sahlin Studio product was used: 

Week 30

For Real Elements - http://the-lilypad.com/store/For-Real-Elements.html

For Real Journal Cards - http://the-lilypad.com/store/For-Real-Journal-Cards.html

For Real Paper - http://the-lilypad.com/store/For-Real-Papers.html

Halloween 2016

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Enamel-Pins.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Artsy.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/Project-Mouse-Halloween-Kit.html

Halloween 2016

Halloween was on a Monday this year. Bummer.

We had the smallest amount of kids we've ever had, come to our house, only 27. Needless to say, we had left overs. For the first time though, I didn't run out and buy more candy 'just in case'.

It was a nice mild night. I'm not sure why our numbers dwindled so much...

Mason had a hockey practice, so he didn't go out. Though he did go to a friends house after hockey, under the premise that he was helping to hand out candy. 

For the first time ever, Madelyn went out with a friend. Her uncle came and took them out. It might have been her best haul of candy yet. 

Here are a few photos:

We carved pumpkins on Sunday night. I did the mummy pumpkin on the far right. Love how it turned out. Madelyn carved the 'gentleman walrus' on the far left. Mason got his done quickly, easy-peasy, lemon squeezy. He tried to get out of doing one at all, but his mean mum wouldn't let him. Barry's is the 3rd from the left.

Little miss had all sorts of ideas, of what she wanted to be. But, as usual, we waited until the last possible moment to put ideas and costumes together. We came up with the idea of a veterinarian, and as luck would have it, even found scrubs with paw print on it. [Many thanks to Ama, who promised she was headed to Value Village any way... ]

All the stars aligned this year. Not only did Madelyn get to go out trick or treating with a  friend, but she got to collect her loot in a pillow case. She finally wore me down this year, and I muttered "I don't care what you take" under my breath. Elated, she grabbed a pillow case, and they set off.

So grateful when we have a Halloween with no wind or snow. We totally lucked out this year.

We Survived Another Halloween!

Prepare your heart, this post is picture heavy.

It seems it's been a long time since I've posted any pictures but Project Life or birthday parties. I thought it was time.

Last evenings Halloween was a huge success. It snowed a few days before, but thankfully, all the snow melted, and the kids didn't have to dress up with snowsuits under their costumes. Every mum friend I know, breathed a sigh of relief over that one.

Now, I don't mean to brag. But I've been around awhile. I finally figured out that you don't wait until the time of the event, to take pictures. You take them before hand. Halloween, and the first day of school are prime examples of this. Last year  my kids freaked out about Halloween pictures, because quite simply, they are on a mission. And that mission is:

 C-A-N-D-Y  C-O-L-L-E-C-T-I-N-G. 

That's the ONLY thing they have on their little minds on October 31st. So no, they are not going to pose for you.

Here are the pictures I took at the beginning of the week. Before it snowed...

 

A Castle Crasher Knight [a costume we made painting and cutting a $3 t-shirt, helmet was made from an ice cream pail and 4 litre milk jug, shield was revamped for an old Rubbermaid lid of some sort, and the sword was made out of wood... [I would have made it out of cardboard, to decrease the actual 'weapon' and 'injury' end of things. However, that's what you get when Daddy gets involved] And duct tape... We utilized that for sure. We have enough for the next millennium now, there again, because Daddy was involved.

The giraffe costume we picked up at Wal-Mart early in September. In fact, early enough that I had to remind her numerous times, that she could no longer change her mind. Thankfully she didn't.

 

 And just so you know, just because we take pictures early, doesn't mean there isn't any drama... For whatever reason [you see, it's so silly, I can't even recall the reason why now] there were tears from a certain little girl giraffe. And she stalked off, refusing to participate any longer. These pictures below were taken, before I had even taken a single photo of her, so I made some sort of threat, err, I mean promise... And suddenly all was right in her world again.

Tuesday night we carved pumpkins.

We had 5, but only ended up carving 4. One sad little pumpkin didn't fulfill his jack-o-lantern destiny.

A couple of Mason's friends came over, and they went out Trick or Treating together. This is only the 2nd year he's done that. Miss Madelyn likes to tease the boys, but she made it quite clear, she had no plans on going with them. No. She went with her uncle instead.

Barry accompanied the boys. Mason was concerned he would have to carry all the candy himself...




 Madelyn & Uncle Don, went the opposite direction.
 

After the kids got back from candy collecting, they all poured their loot on the floor, and began to sort and trade. Even Madelyn got in on the action. She was pretty pleased to be included.

Halloween is one of my favourites. It has been as far back as I can remember. Here is some of the 'fun' foods I fed the kids in the past few days. If you follow me on instagram, you will have already seen these little gems. I love to see the look on my kids faces when I do this kind of stuff. And I'm kind of preparing for my eleven year old to think I'm dorky, and want me to stop...

Mummy dogs, ghost pancakes and vampire donuts were on the menu this week.

Thanks to Pinterest, that makes me look pretty artsy-fartsy.

Another Pinterest treasure, was to create my mask below...

The kids school had a Halloween Hop last weekend, so I made this little mask to wear to that. I think it cost $1.60 in felt... It was easy to do, but time consuming. My sewing machine and I are on the outs again you see, so I ended up having to sew it by hand... Grrr...

I racked my brain to come up with something to wear... Madelyn has gone on and on about that ridiculous 'what does the fox say' video on You Tube. Needless to say, the kids all thought it was AWESOME! Score for the mummy!

Hope a fantastic Halloween was had by all!!

Halloween 2012

I'm not going to try and sugar coat this... Halloween 2012 was the pits, weather-wise. I just can't help but get feeling a teensy bit jealous, when all the bloggers and instagramers I follow are enjoying such a lovely fall. [Well... Maybe they're not. It just seems like they are] I wouldn't wish Tsunami warnings on anyone, and I don't ever, want to have to hunker down for a hurricane. I guess a little bit of blowing snow isn't the end of the world, but from what I saw, no one had pictures on instagram of their kids dressed for the arctic. Oh wait... I did.

This year was also was also a year of change. Mason wanted to go out trick or treating with his friends. I get it. I mean, I was 10 once too. I got to go out with friends. When I was little, there were so many kids, you had to be careful not to be pushed of the front porch. You had to line up, to get a treat. So I know how fun going with friends can be. Mason even said "Mummy, I'm running out of years to go out for Halloween, and I'd really like to go out with my friends." How could I argue?
I launched into the 'you can go with your friends, but you have to take your sister with you' spiel. He agreed [that's the kind of sweet boy he is] and I promised him that Madelyn and Daddy would follow behind him and his friends, giving them some distance. 

When I told Madelyn what the plan was, her response was "I'm not going trick or treating with a bunch of stink'in boys." [that's the kind of sassy girl she is] We needed to make alternate arrangements. It ended up being Uncle Don to the rescue. Miss Madelyn went out with Uncle Don, and Barry took Mason to meet up with his friends.

Once the kids were out of the house, all was good. But when Madelyn came downstairs, with her tights, black t-shirt, dress and butterfly wings, and proceeded to head out the front door with boots on, I had to put an immediate stop to that. I knew, the kids were going to have to wear winter jackets, toques and mittens. But to them, this came as a huge shock... Both absolutely refused to wear snow pants, which I finally relented about. But there was a storm brew'in trying to get them properly dressed out the door. Mason was somewhat motivated, by the fact that his friends were leaving a certain place, at a certain time, and if he didn't get there, he missed out. So he sulked, but put on his jacket. [He also agreed to put on a hat, after spending a few moments outside. He realized that perhaps his box head wasn't going to be as warm as he'd hoped.

The girl was another situation. She was furious with me. She was in tears, because her costume was wrecked with having to add a coat, hat and mitts... I finally got her out the door by telling her that if she didn't put on her outer wear, she might as well head up to her bedroom, change into her jammies, and she could help me hand out candy. Those were the magic words, because she her stuff on, and headed out.

Mason as Steve from Minecraft

 Madelyn was so mad, she wouldn't even look at me to get her picture taken.

And then the house was quiet... I poured a glass of wine, and settled down to hand out candy.

 Mine and Barry's pumpykins.

The kids pumpykins.

This is the first time in a long time I haven't 'spookified' our front yard. In fact, one of my favourite things is all the kids complimenting me on how awesome it looks. But this year, with the snow, my heart wasn't quite in it. 

 She came home in much better spirits. She even agreed to a few pictures. I had to take this one, showing the fog. It was such an eerie night, and the next morning the hoar frost was amazing.

Butterfly Madelyn, as snug as a bug!

 

And then, the most favourite part... Dumping out bins, seeing who got what. Dividing up candy, and tasting a few treats before bed. They also both had a mug of hot chocolate when they got in. They both lasted a lot longer than I thought they would have. We only had 25 kids come to the door... Oy... That's a lot of leftovers. I planned on having about 50 kids. 

And now... December Daily! The snow totally puts me in the Christmas mode. So excited this year! Can hardly wait. Going to start putting my book together this week.

Looking Back at Costumes Past

Halloween is tomorrow. I have two kids very excited about the prospect of heading out to Trick or Treat. Tomorrow they get to wear their costume to school in the afternoon. There is an assembly, a costume parade and then games and fun. I LOVE that our school supports Halloween, and our traditions. I love how excited my kids are about it.

 

I can hardly believe that we've been dressing up little beings for Halloween for over 10 years. We are hoping the snow holds off, so they can get out and get their candy tomorrow night... But the forecast isn't great. Though, it's the adults that care about the cold temperatures, the kids don't even feel the cold. 

 

Here's a look back at Halloween's past:

 

4 month old Baby Mason

 

 

Pumpkin Boy [snow on the ground]

Loved the Pumpkin - a redo!

Cowboy Woody and Strawberry Head baby Madelyn

Buzz Lightyear and the Little Green Alien

Spiderman and Pumpkin Girl [good use out of that costume]

Skeleton and a Spider Girl

Bad Spiderman and Chicken Little

Captain Vizsla [Star Wars] and Jessie

 

 

Little Red Riding Hood and Pirate Mason

Halloween 2011

Eeks, I'm a bit late with the Halloween pictures. The weekend before Halloween was so busy. I'd planned to get the kids dressed up in their costumes to take pictures, but we just couldn't fit it in. I thought the perfect solution would be to wait until the weekend after Halloween, to dress them up again and re-create the scene... Well, it snowed, so that changed plans again.

Here are a few pictures of the kids, dressed up and raring to go last Monday night.

Little Red Riding Hood and Pirate Mason, Arrrrr....

He doesn't look too happy in this picture, I wonder if he was getting into character.

Ready, set, GO!

One of these kids takes it all in stride, the other races up and down the street like her life depends on it... [One of them is ready to quit early, the other would go until midnight if you let her]

We got lots of great compliments on how spooky our house looked... Here's how the witches curtain turned out. There was just enough wind, to blow the plastic, to have our spooky witch peak out every so often.

And finally, our pumpkins.

As far as the candy they've collected goes... they've eaten a little bit each day. During the week they're allowed to pick something from their stash to take to school to eat after their lunch. Then they get to pick one to have after supper, for their dessert. They get to have their fill until Thursday this week. On Friday Barry will take what ever is left over to work. [thank goodness]