Backyard cherries, plus a sneak peek at my Wedding Smash Folio!

The cherry trees in our backyard are finally bursting with ruby-red fruit! We haven't had anything on these trees for the past two years or so, and we weren't expecting to. So imagine our surprise when we went into the backyard a few days ago and saw all this!

My MIL and I had a blast picking tons of cherries. I'm going to make a pie in the next couple of days!


We're just a few days away now from our handfasting. It's an outdoor BBQ event, but despite it's casualness, I'm a little nervous. I want everything to be perfect and for everyone to enjoy themselves!

I'm happy that, after being married for 4 1/2 years, we're FINALLY able to hold this event for our families and friends.

In anticipation of the event, I purchased the K&Company Wedding Folio from Amazon.ca because both Michaels around here didn't have it. It arrived within two days and I LOVE it! It's going to serve as a guest book at the handfasting as well as show the history of our relationship. Here's a sneak peek of my favourite pages in the book, pre-smash!

I'm looking forward to smashing in this book. I'm getting photos printed tomorrow so I can begin!

I still have to show you guys and gals some new smash pages in my other books, but I shall do so either on Sunday or early next week before we leave for our friend's cottage up by Horseshoe Lake. :)


Blessings,
Mary

More Oak Bank Park pictures!

I'm pretty sure this is my favourite place to go and relax and take pictures. I never get tired of it. It's so magical and relaxing; a great place to reconnect with Nature and her gifts.

What else is going on, you ask? Oh well, you probably aren't asking that, but I'll tell you anyway!

I've been working pretty hard to get everything ready for our handfasting on the 29th of this month. It's nice that this event is FINALLY happening, over four years since we got married! Here are a few shots of in-progress details...

I'm really happy because it's going to be in our huge backyard, which is full of beautiful trees and is all lush and green. I got a lot of my DIY ideas from Pinterest (woo woo!) and each guest is going to make and bring a dish or something to barbecue. I'm working on our playlist and we'll be playing board games and drinking the night away. It's going to be absolutely splendid.

I ordered the Wedding Smash Folio by K&Company, and it should be here in a couple days. I bought it from Amazon.ca and it was shipped from St. Jacob's, Ontario, which is only a 2 1/2 hour drive from here. I'm really glad I was able to order it from such a nearby location, since it's officially crunch time now and the Michaels around here don't carry this particular folio! I'll be using it as a guest book and as a history of mine and Trevor's relationship. I'll review/show off the folio as soon as it arrives, too. Besides, I have some new pages in my orange smash folio to show off! :)

Time to get some shuteye before I have to get up for my monthly checkup at the doc's tomorrow. Blessed be, friends!

My Smash Books

Smash books are all the rage right now. You may have heard of them.

But what is a "smash book", exactly?

It's a way to capture memories and life moments, channelling the very roots of what scrapbooking used to be: people making simple memory books, stuffing them full of memorabilia, photos and mementos. Of course, scrapbooking has taken its own art form, so the idea of smash books is to get back to that quick and easier way of capturing what is going on in your life. You can write down anything that's in your mind, stick in photos, cut up a magazine or catalogue and glue in things that really speak to you or that you want, or place ticket stubs, flight itineraries, and more! The possibilities are endless.

K&Company have a wonderful line of smash books and coordinating products that you can order online or buy at Michaels. Of course, you could always make your own as well from scrapbook kits, office supplies, and whatever else you fancy. I was starting to make my own smash book inside a new journal I had received as a gift, but then I went to the new Michaels that had opened up by the North York Centre and found some K&Company stuff on clearance!

I ended up with the orange Simple folio for $5.99, then later went back and found the yellow International folio for $4.99, plus some extras. Woohoo!!! I love how each folio has a different cover and a totally different theme inside; it makes me want to collect them all! They've even released a bridal folio.


You can leave the covers as is, or you can decorate them to your heart's content. As you can see, I started tracing the design on Simple's cover, and I'll probably add some cute fabric flowers or something as well. Each folio comes with a dual-ended pen/glue stick.

I want to share some of my pages with you! Some are unfinished, but I'm having a great time :)




The only two pages I've done so far in the International folio, and they're not finished. I glued in my plane tickets and itinerary from when I flew back to Canada to land as a resident. Good memory indeed! :) The rest of the pages are all in the Simple folio.






Virtually anything can work as a pocket to hold cutout words, drawings, photos, and tidbits. I love to use teabag wrappers for this purpose! :)















And each folio has a pocket in the back where you can store stuff!



Check out my growing Smash Corner by my computer :) The painted boxes hold lots of little odds and ends to use in my books.


Like I said before, the possibilities are endless! Make your smash book your own! There are no rules, no limits. Mine are a mix between memory-keeping and journalling. You can go your own way :)

Blessings,
Mary