Photo Expressions

Canadian Pride Photo Contest!

It's time to show your Canadian pride!  Over the next little while, we will be plastering the windows of Photo Express with red and white photographs, turning them into a huge Canadian Pride Wall.  Here is where we need your help: Send your red & white photos by e-mail to [email protected] Your photos will be displayed in our windows and you could win a prize!  Every photo that makes it onto our windows will be eligible to win a prize in our random draw!  You could win free Foto Depot prints, free photo enlargements, even a free photo class!  There are hundreds of dollars in prizes to be won! We don't really care what size your photo files are, but somewhere between 800 and 3000 pixels wide would be ideal.  We are looking for 4 types of photos in particular: Red and white colours dominate:   Mostly red: Mostly white: Showing the Canadian flag in some form:  How do I enter? Just send an e-mail to [email protected]!  Click here for all the details.

New from Cornish

We just received another shipment of Cornish Stamps. Here's what you can find at PE!

 

Card Creations: Start to Finish

Card Creations: Start to Finish, Volume 2 is chock full of the same hip ideas for creating spectacular cards that you love in Card Creations - but it doesn't stop with just the card front! You'll also find ways to embellish and coordinate the inside of every card as well as matching envelopes and other creative card packaging. Covering all the popular card-making occasions and showing awesome interactive cards, pop-ups, gift enclosures, and more, you'll find ways to step-up your card making and impress even your most creative friends and family.

At Photo Express, only while supplies last.

New Paper Crafts Magazine

T he Jan/Feb edition of Paper Crafts magazine is in the house, full of tons of inspiration and eye candy, including:

• Vintage Valentine's
• Hot Tips for colouring with markers
• Inspirational Sketches
• New Colour Palettes
• Tips & Techniques

Plus, you'll find links to some great online projects, such as these adorable cards:

 

"Easier than Ever" Scrapbooking

Trying to keep it simple? Looking for layouts you can make in minutes? This new special issue is for you! The follow-up to our best-selling special issue Easier-than-Ever Scrapbooking, Easier-than-Ever Scrapbooking 2 is 164 pages of inspirational designs and easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions to finish lots of pages in less time.

The formula is easy: use the supplies you have on hand (your "scrapbooking pantry") to create multi-photo scrapbook spreads in under an hour. Switch it up by adding 1-3 more items for some variety. We show you over 180 ways to scrapbook the easier-than-ever way.

Click on the image to interactively browse the sneak peek of this issue.

"Love You" Layout Class with Karen

Join Karen this month for a fabulous Basic Grey layout class, using the beautiful Sugar Rush line. You'll get to play with some of their brand new embellishments including 'Bloomers', 'Varnish' and 'Writers Block'.

When: Sunday, January 24 2010, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Skill Level: B/I/A
Cost: $24 (great deal, with lots of product leftover!)

To sign up online, visit here.

Paper Grab Bags

We've put together some more paper grab bags! These were a real big hit a few months back, so we've made up a whole bunch more :-)

Each kit contains 10 sheets of patterned paper and a handful of embellishments. The paper is from a wide variety of companies such as American Crafts, Pebbles, Basic Grey, Imaginisce, TPC, Sassafras, etc. The embellishments include things such as paper flowers, buttons, rub-ons, ribbon and more!

Each kit has a retail value of over $15...and is on sale right now for only $5!!

(while supplies last)

His Home for Children Orphanage

And one last post. One of my brother Ron's best friends (since kindergarten), Travis and his wife Jennifer have adopted 2 boys from Haiti and have been in the process of waiting for them to come home for 3 years.  The boys are still in Haiti and thank goodness they are safe, though the orphanage they live in has been damaged. Travis has some other good organizations that you can donate to, so this is one last email I am sharing with you. (and please take a moment to sign the petition in the previous post to allow the children who are adopted to be joined with their parents.  Actually, here is the link again, to make it easy for you.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/visasforadoptedhaitianchildren/.
Michele

Hi,

 I want to thank you all for the outpouring of prayer, support, and concern for us and our boys in Haiti.  It has been very encouraging to us in our prayer and hope. Below I have some updates as well as some answers to your questions.

 

Praise Items - Latest Information specific to the orphanage and our boys, Steevenson & Sterlin:

• There has been contact with Junior, the directors right-hand-man – we don’t have more information than that.  
• There are cracked walls in both orphanage houses, and the girls' house's (which also houses the babies and Hal & Chris and their family) back security wall came down. But thankfully both houses are still standing and everyone is fine.

 

Prayer Requests:

• Continued safety and security for the orphanage and those in Haiti
• Health issues that are common with such natural disasters: sewage, dirty water, injury complications, food, communication and transportation difficulties, etc…
• Availability of aid to the orphanage and surrounding areas:  food, water, etc… 
• Other/Newly displaced/orphaned children
• Wisdom for Haitian governmental officials as they accept help from outside sources
• Patience, hope and peace for adoptive families waiting to be united some day – the adoption process, we can assume at this point is at a stand still.  It might be weeks or months till we know how this will impact the adoption process.

 

Ways you can help:

• Prayer
• Financial assistance to the following and other NGO’s that are already located within Haiti:
• HIS Home For Children Orphanage (http://www.hishomeforchildren.com/ )
• Red Cross (http://www.redcross.ca )
• World Vision (http://www.worldvision.ca )
• Samaritan’s Purse (http://www.samaritanspurse.ca )
• Power to Change (http://powertochange.com/organization/ )xx

 

Other sources of information:

• HIS Home For Children website with some information (http://www.hishomeforchildren.com/ )
• Facebook feed.  Search “HIS Home For Children” (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=88561638823&ref=ts )
• An article about a teacher at the Morning Star Christian Academy, a place we have stayed on our last two trips, as well as it talks a little about the His Home For Children Orphanage director (http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1989128,JCA-grad-Haiti-earthquake-JO011310.article )

 

God Bless you!

 

Travis & Jennifer Whims

 

PS:  Please feel free to forward to anyone you think might like to have the above information and join in prayer for the Haitian situation.

 

News from Haiti re the Orphanage Foyer de Sion and Holt Fontana

I received this email this morning from Natasha Hixon, founder of QuicKutz.  Many of you followed her story as she adopted 3 children from Haiti and the fundraising they did for these orphanages. I was so glad to hear that the children were okay, and thought I would pass along Natasha's email. They went through years trying to get their 3 children here, and there are many more families waiting to bring home the children they have adopted.

Michele

Dear Family and Friends,

As we continue to pray for our friends in Haiti I want to express my gratitude to all of you for your expressions of kindness and love to our family.  We have dear friends in Haiti that we are always concerned for - now more than ever.  

We have heard that ALL the children for both Foyer de Sion and Holt Fontana are alive.  Sadly, Foyer de Sion believes they have lost some of their caregivers because they are missing. Majorie has a broken leg and it is a miracle that all the children were protected. They are now staying at the church because the orphanage in Petionville was destroyed.  I believe the orphanage in Leogane was also destroyed and so the children are either at the church or the Fontamara orphanage.  Truly a miracle as the Fontamara house is in Carrafour - the heart of the earthquake.

If you can, please help by donating to Foyer de Sion. They have lost two of their orphanages and are located right in the center of all the chaos. Your donations to this organization will go directly to helping the children of Foyer de Sion. http://www.foyerdesion.org/

Holt International is also a way to get your donation dollars directly to the children in Haiti. Holt International has an amazing reputation and I personally have seen the good they are doing to help people in Haiti.
http://www.holtinternational.org/

Both Foyer and Holt do so much more than operate orphanages.  Holt has a family preservation program that is amazing and Foyer operates Sion Funds that help thousands of children attend school. I am simply amazed at the accomplishments of both of these organizations.

If nothing else, send $10 today to the American Red Cross by sending a text message to 90999 with the word "Haiti" in it.

I feel so selfishly blessed that Katiana, Marie and Roberto are home and did not have to experience this horrible event.  Katiana is concerned for her birth father and her siblings.  Unfortunately, until communication is re-established, we will have to wait for news about them along with Marie and Roberto's birth family.

Thank you again for your love and prayers.  Times like these sure have a way of bringing about perspective.

With love,
Natasha Hixon

p.s. please also take 30 seconds and sign this petition to allow the Haitian children in process of adoption, waiting on a passport and visa, to come home now. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/visasforadoptedhaitianchildren/

(Michele says PLEASE DO THIS TO HELP THE CHILDREN COME HOME!!!!!)

Project 2010 Introduction

Project 2010

Designed to help you:

Create Memories,
Share your Memories,

Preserve Your Memories.

What is Project 2010? This is PE"s way of helping you Create memories, Share your memories,and Preserve your memories. This is an array of ideas, projects, classes, tips etc that will be ongoing throughout 2010 to help you get SOMETHING done with your photos and memories.  It is not meant to stress you out - it is meant to help you.  Choose the part or parts that work for you.

Throughout the year, sometimes weekly, sometimes monthly, there will be suggestions for you - some big, some small. Some months you may be able to do all the suggestions, some months you may do one or two. Whatever you accomplish is fabulous and is something to be treasured. And remember, we are always here to help, just ask. See below for your first assignment- should you choose to accept ;) . You can always come back to the blog and click on the Project 2010 category to the right, and as new entries get added, you will see them all here.

Watch for more great programs and ideas we have in the works to help you do something with your photos and your memories.

So here is the initial start and watch for lots more ideas over the weeks and months to come.

Create Memories: Camera assignment 

This week, pull out your camera, and take some pictures of where you live; your home, your street, your neighbourhood. Take just a few or be creative and take lots using all different kinds of angles. Maybe take a closeup photo of your house/apt number, your front door or bedroom door, where you sit down to eat, the inside of your fridge, where you line up your shoes, your tv or computer area, your favourite room, maybe a tree you just planted that will grow over the years. Take one photo, or a few or lots. It is up to you. So often, we only take photos of "occasions" and holidays. Record your everyday life, you will love looking back on it in a few years. Here are a few of photos to inspire you.

 

     

Share Your Memories

Show these photos to a friend, neighbour, family member and tell them why you took them, what the significance is and why you want to remember them. If you upload your photos to Foto Depot

 

, you can share them with your friends and family all over the world.

Preserve Your Memories

Write down what you told the person above. You can write it on a sticky note, or a 3x5 type card, or right into an album or scrapbook. That way, when you print the pictures you took, you have the words to go with them when you put them into an album or scrapbook.

Bonus: Jump right in and print the photos you took (upload to foto Depot

 

and order them from the comfort of your home), assemble them with what you wrote in an album, or scrapbook, and voila - a fabulous moment in your everyday life done! Another suggestion is to start a photobook in foto depot

 

, and add pages to it as we progress through 2010 and at the end of the year, you will have a great keepsake.

Double Bonus: Win 25 Free prints!
To encourage you to get it done, and to help others get inspired, take this assignment and upload your photos or your album page, or your scrapbook page to our Facebook Project 2010 Album -Where You Live

 

. Someone will be randomly selected to win 25 FREE prints on foto depot! It always helps to have a little incentive (besides the great feeling you will have because you got something done!)

Haiti Earthquake

As you have probably seen and heard, on Tuesday, a catastrophic earthquake struck near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, but the death toll -- already in the thousands -- is climbing fast.This is the worst earthquake to hit the area in more than 200 years. Entire communities have been ripped apart and as many as 3 million people have been directly affected. This is devastating for what is already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

 

 

It's in times like these that we must show the kind of compassion and humanity that defines who we are. They are saying if every person could donate $10, it would make all the difference in the world.

To encourage you to donate, with a minimum $10 donation, PE will give you a fabulous cookbook with great recipes. This book was originally created to help fund an orphanage in Haiti.

We have chosen Red Cross to donate this money to as they are already there on the ground floor helping with basic necessities of life.  You can donate online directly to the Canadian Red Cross here, or bring your donation to the store and we will make sure they receive it. If you donate online, just let us know that you did (we trust you) and you can pick up your cookbook at the store. You can also call the Red Cross toll free at 1-800-418-1111, or drop it off at 9 Canadian banks that are participating.

And pray for all those in Haiti.

Henry

This picture is so cute, I had to share.  This is Henry, my newest "puppynephew". He is almost 10 weeks old and my sister Niki brought him in for his first visit to PE today. He is so soft, just like a stuffed animal.

Life Handbook for 2010

 A friend passed this on to me and I thought it was great.  A lot of this is how I try to live my life, though I do need to work on some (especially getting 7 hours sleep!) lol. Michele

Health:
1.       Drink plenty of water.
2.       Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3.       Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4.       Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5.       Make time to pray.
6.       Play more games
7.       Read more books than you did in 2009 .
8.       Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9.       Sleep for 7 hours.
10.     Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
11.    Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12.    Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13.    Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14.    Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15.    Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16.    Dream more while you are awake
17.    Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18.    Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with His/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19.    Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20.    Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21.    No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22.    Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.  Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23.    Smile and laugh more.
24.    You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25.    Call your family often.
26.    Each day give something good to others.
27.    Forgive everyone for everything.
28.    Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of  6.
29.    Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30.    What other people think of you is none of your business.
31.    Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32.    Do the right thing!
33.    Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34.    GOD heals everything.
35.    However good or bad a situation is, it will change.. 
36.    No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37.    The best is yet to come..
38.    When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39.    Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least:
40.    Please Forward this to everyone you care about, I just did.   

 

Happy Quote

"The time to be happy is now. The way to be happy is to make others so."  

Robert Ingersoll

Playing In the Snow - Class with Tanya

Jan 11th, 10am-12noon
Cost: $20
Skill Level: B/I

We have a couple of spots left in Tanya's "Playing in the Snow" layout class. We're bound to get some snow next month, and we certainly had our fair share last year. So no doubt you'll have some photos to use on this gorgeous Basic Grey layout. You can register for this class online here, or call us at the store (604-463-3654) to pay for your spot.