Trying to catch up before the end of the year!

Think I can do it?  I'm trying really hard, and I have some tricks I'm pulling out of my hat in order to get all my 2010 (just a couple) and 2011 layouts finished up so I can start brand new with 2012 and Project Life next week!  I worked for just an hour or two yesterday and got through October 2010-July 2011 with Landry and started on her back to school pics!

This was the first layout I worked on yesterday:

I woke up at 3 AM yesterday, thinking about scrapbooking of course, and this layout had popped into my head.  I had pictured it in 12x12 but I didn't have any Kraft paper in that size, only 8 1/2 x 11, so I decided that I would add an 8 1/2 x 11 page protector to my album.  I currently use post bound albums but am planning on switching to all 3 ring binders, in the same color.  I really like the look of different size page protectors within an album that some people have done so I figured, why not?

So, if I have one 8 1/2 by 11 I need another, right?  This one will go on the back side and it literally took five minutes.  I grabbed the hearts and embellished doily out of my scrap tray, added some journaling and I was done!  (how about that new pink Sharpie?)

Do you have big weekend/New Years plans?  We will be doing the usual, snacks, movies and games with mom and dad at our house.  On Sunday will have our annual Black Eyed Peas for good luck at mom and dad's house.  You know, she's a stickler for that.  She makes ALL of us eat at least ONE bite for good luck for the whole year.  You have to eat them on New Year's Day though.  It really does work though, and honestly, my mom makes THE BEST Black Eyed Peas ever!  Whatever you do, and wherever you are, I hope you ring in the New Year safely and I sure have enjoyed you all in 2011 and am really looking forward to 2012.  I have a GREAT feeling about this next year, for all of us!  See you next year! 

New, way cool, stamps!

Hello there!  I'm super excited about the stamps I'm about to show you today!  A few weeks ago I left a comment on MARY PAT's blog, like I do every day.  We've gotten to be good friends, like I have with several other of you :)  Not only do I enjoy chatting with Mary Pat every day, but I love to look at her beautiful layouts.  So, you can imagine my surprise when she emailed me and told me I had won a $10 gift card to Stop and Scrap!

I headed over to their website and it was such a tough choice on what to order.  I almost bought so many things but ended up with these stamps as they've been on my wish list for quite awhile.

How cool are these?  They are GIANT and I heart them.  They will be great for scrapbooking, Project Life and maybe even a card or two :)  (these were buried on my table and I found them when I cleaned up yesterday!)

What new stuff have you picked up lately that you LOVE?  Thanks for popping in today.  I'll see you soon my friends!  Have a lovely Thursday!

WOYWW 134

Happy Wednesday!  What's on  your workdesk today?  Mine is currently a mess and getting ready to be cleaned...

It's been sort of a catch all over the last week and I haven't been able to get much done in the crafting area.  I did get my pictures sorted, if you can believe that's sorted :)  I'm hoping that I can get my desk cleaned up this afternoon and maybe get some "quick" layouts finished tomorrow.

Mom and Dad are having all four of the cousins (my two girls and my sister's two boys) over to spend the night tonight.  After I drop the girls off, I'm going to head to Joann's and see if I can find an appropriate Project Life album :)

Mike and I were trying to decide if we should go out to eat or have pizza and a movie at home tonight.  We decided to stay in because we can't remember the last time we were able to watch a movie uninterrupted.  Haha!

So, has your workdesk been a catch all like mine the last week or have you stayed organized and gotten some projects done?

Thanks for coming by today :)  I'll see you tomorrow!  Have a beautiful afternoon!

Project Life Calendar

 Good morning and happy Tuesday!  Did you all have a nice Christmas?  We had a wonderful weekend, full of family, food, laughter and fun.  Saturday night was spent at our house, we had a great Christmas morning  with the girls and then a late lunch/early dinner at Mom and Dad's.  Yesterday Mom, Abie, my sister Jennie and I made our annual shopping trip to the Plaza and then had Christmas dinner leftovers last night :)  I mean really, after a full day of shopping who can even think about cooking?

I know one thing, I'm ready to take down my decorations!  Haha!  If you know me at all, this wouldn't surprise you.  In fact, as I type this the Rubbermaid tubs are sitting in the entryway staring back at me :)  That's my goal for today.  I'm going to get all the decorations down except for the big tree.  That will stay up until New Year's Day.

I have another Project Lifey post today.  This is a tip I picked up from Michelle Wooderson.  She talks about how important a calendar is to her organization HERE.  Since I'm not sure if a calendar will play an important part in my PL, I didn't want to spend a ton of on one.  I picked this one up at Walmart for $4.

The only problem with it was that when I pulled the sticker off of it, it also pulled off some of the plastic coating and left it kind of bubbly.  I tried to get a good picture of it.  I had plans to decorate the front anyway :)

Nothing too fancy, in case I throw it in my purse or bag.  I didn't want a lot of bumpy embellishments hanging off of it.

I cut the doily out of some graph paper and layered on a 1 3/4" patterned paper circle that I stamped with my FAVORITE stamp.  On top of that, I adhered a Martha Stewart butterfly that I punched out of some music note paper.

This calendar isn't very big, but on the inside there's enough space for me to jot down a few notes about our activities from that day.  Should be perfect for PL.

Did you get any fun crafty things for Christmas?  Mike and the girls surprised me with a Kindle Fire!  I'm still trying to figure it out :)  I love to read so it was a great gift!  I hope you have a FANTASTIC Tuesday!  Thanks for stopping by today.  I'll see you back here tomorrow!  (wish me luck on dismantling the house!)

Merry Christmas!

I know it's a couple of days early, but I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  Enjoy your weekend, be safe and have a wonderful holiday!

See you next week!

Check out this mini I WON!

Sorry to go missing on you for a day!  We had a crazy day yesterday.  Abie had her last day of school and party in the afternoon and then Landry had her Christmas Program last night.  NO MORE SCHOOL UNTIL AFTER THE FIRST OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!  WAHOOOOOOOO!!  I'm slightly excited, can you tell?

 A couple of weeks ago, I won an appreciation giveaway over at TRACY'S TREASURES.  I know I've talked about her blog before, but she really makes the most amazing, well, treasures :)  When I received this mini in the mail, I was just blown away by all the detail she had put into this album.  It was like a tiny little masterpiece!

 Tracy posted a couple of videos on her blog about the mini.  You can see them HERE.

Check out this cover.  All those flowers and that street light, just beautiful!  You have to watch her video though to find out about what's under the poinsettia :)

On the right is a paper bag with a tag inside, perfect for a picture and some journaling!

Check out this flip book with that sparkly twine...

Little hidden tags and surprises everywhere!

I loved this hot chocolate cup!  Once I watched the video I found out it was a REAL cup!  :)

This was my favorite part, it's a sleeve for a to go cup that Tracy covered and the closure is a magnet!  I love it!

Here's a picture of the sleeve opened up.

Tracy has shown before on her blog how she stamps all of her projects with this symbol of the three hearts.  When I saw this on the back of the mini, it just made my day!

It's so interesting to me to make relationship with all of you, my friends.  To see your work on your blogs each day, but then to get a chance to see it in person, well that's something completely different.  I just love it!  Thanks for coming by today.  I hope your holiday prep is coming along okay and you're hanging in there :)  I'll see you soon!

Gift bag tag.

Morning all!  Quick post for you today.  I needed a tag for a little hostess gift and whipped this up over the weekend.  I love how handy all my crafty supplies come in, don't you?

All supplies were from Papertrey Ink, except for the Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I just love that ice skate :)

I want to thank all of you for your sweet comments yesterday on my Project Life post.  I'm so excited about taking this on.  There were a couple of things I forgot to add.  1)  I'm going to do Project Life IN PLACE OF my regular scrapbooking and 2)  I'm going to do ONE ALBUM for the whole family.  Right now I have an album for each of the girls.  I'm trying to simplify this as much as possible for myself so I can keep it going.  Don't want to sabotage myself before I even get started, right?  Haha!

Okay, I'm outta here for today.  We've got a yucky forecast for today.  Wintry mix of rain, sleet, freezing rain.  Blech.  Looking forward to tomorrow already, sunny and 40!  Hope you have a fantastic Tuesday my friends!  Thanks for stopping by and know that every comment from you makes me smile!  See you tomorrow!

Project Life

Happy Monday!!!!!  I have something very exciting to discuss with  you today.  I have decided to delve into the world that is known as PROJECT LIFE.  My reasons for taking the Project Life plunge might be different than some.  I started out as a scrapbooker, about five years ago.  I took pictures of EVERYTHING.  I scrapbooked EVERYTHING.  But, over the years, I have gotten overwhelmed with scrapbooking.  I only pull out my camera for 4th of July, first day of school, Halloween, Christmas and birthdays.  The last couple of years we I have had the same layouts in the girls books and it makes me sad.  I WANT to do more but the thought of having "pending" layouts bothers me.  I like to be "caught up" as much of the time as I can.  I'm slightly OCD :)  For this reason, and others, Project Life appealed to me.

I've been following along with MICHELLE WOODERSON'S Project Life posts and have been so inspired by her.  She seems to be so organized, even when she GOT BEHIND!  Back in early 2011 she said something that really stuck with me, I don't remember it word for word, but it was something to the effect that the small 2x3 canvas was much more workable for her because she was a cardmaker.  It seemed less daunting to her than a 12x12 scrapbook page.  Now since I started out as a 12x12 scrapbooker you would think it wouldn't seem daunting to me, but over the years I've become a cardmaker so the 2x3 canvas is MUCH more appealing to me.

So, enough jibber jabber.  Here's what I've ordered so far!  (notice I said so far)

I ordered these 6x12 page protectors because I think they're really cool and I love the idea of working in the girls school work or awards and such into the album.

I ordered the big pack of Size A page protectors.  I "think" this might be the most common style used, but I'm not sure.  I ordered the big pack so I won't have to re-order in the middle of my album :)

I ordered the Clementine Core Kit.  I really liked the colors and patterns and thought it worked best with my style.

This is just a picture of the kit packaged up.  Kind of neat how it's all compact in case you want to take it on the go.

Theses are the 4x6 title cards?  I'm not sure what they're called exactly.  On the backs are some layout ideas.  I'm sure I'll use the ideas, at least in the beginning.

Those boxes, in the above picture, this is what was inside one of them.  I think they're journaling cards.  Check out those notebook paper cards!  Uh...LOVE!

So, my plan.  TAMMY and I were talking last week about Project Life and all it has to offer.  She had some great advice!  A lot of people have done a picture a day (way too ambitious for my lifestyle) some do a layout a week (might still be too ambitious for my lifestyle).  I think I'm going to try a month at a glance.  If I have more pictures, it might be two, two page spreads for one month. We'll see how it goes.  My whole goal here is to 1) take more pictures and 2) get them scrapped  I'll be sure to share my progress.

I'm also on the look out for a cheapy point and shoot camera that I can throw in my purse.  I was looking at a Sony Cybershot yesterday and also a Nikon Coolpix (is that the one Ashton Kutcher advertises?)  Any suggestions?  I think I would take more photos if I didn't have to lug my big camera around all the time.

If you're still with me...thanks :)  Any feedback is appreciated.  Are you going to try PL in 2012, in any form?  Daily, weekly, monthly?  What about cameras?  Have a fab Monday and I'll see you back here soon!  Thanks for coming by today!

Another gift card.

Yipee Friday!!  You know I've been waiting ALL week for today to come!  I'm so happy it's Friday, how about you?

I have another gift card holder to post today.  This is the same pattern as the one from the other day, but I like the way this one turned out better :) 

Here's a pic of what the holder looks like open.

This one I just wrapped the outside with lots of twine...

Then added a modified gift tag to the front.  I love this paper so much, I think that's why I like this holder better.

So, what's up for your weekend?  We have that graduation party tonight.  Tomorrow night is our extended family Christmas party and on Sunday we need to head to Costco to start buying some of the food for our Christmas Eve dinner!  I hope you have a GREAT Friday and a marvelous weekend! Thank you for stopping in today. See you soon!

Feathery flower.

Good morning!!!!  I can't tell you how happy I am that it is ACTUALLY Thursday today, because yesterday when I woke up I THOUGHT it was Thursday and when I realized it was only Wednesday I was about to cry :)  So, it's officially weekend eve and I'm doing a little dance!  Yahoo!!!


Today I have a really fun project to share with you.  You know how I've made those felt flowers before?  The ones from the Tim Holtz Sizzix die, for Abie and Landry's hair?  Well, I made another one and this one is my new favorite!

I used two different colors of felt and alternated them.  After the first two flowers, I hot glued a coordinating feather in.  (I picked up a multi colored bag of feathers at Michael's)  I glued on the top two flowers and the sparkly rhinestones and then glued the whole piece to the hair clip.
 

On this one, I added two feathers!!

I think they turned out so fun!  Now Abie has taken these to a whole other level :)  She's been clipping them on her outfits and hats, not just wearing them in her hair.  How cute is that?  I actually made this one to clip onto a Christmas gift for a gift exchange this weekend.  Sort of two gifts in one!

We have volleyball tonight so it will be a late night for us, but fun.  Enjoy your Thursday and thanks for coming by today!  I'll see you back here tomorrow!

Funny graduation tag.

So we were talking at work yesterday about how it seemed like we had been through five days of work already even though it was only Tuesday.  Is that how your week is going too?  In a way, I'm sort of glad because it's allowing me to get lots done!

One of our friends just finished his Masters and his graduation party is Friday night.  He's a really funny guy and an absolute kid at heart so I went with a funny, completely un-stuffy graduation tag for his gift.

I used some left over school papers I had, a Papertrey Ink sentiment and my favorite alphabet from Lawn Fawn.

I used some foam tape on his name, to help it stand out a bit.  I know Matt will really appreciate the tag, like I said, he is such a kid.  One of the reasons we all love him!

Last week I posted a card with lots of gold embossing on it and I was super impressed with the powder.  I picked it up at Michael's.  It was Stampendous brand and the color was Gold Tinsel.  They also have Silver Tinsel and next time I'm Michael's I'm picking that color up too!

Okay folks, that's it for me on this fine Wednesday.  I hope you have a beautiful day.  Thank you for coming by to see me today.  I'll chat with you again tomorrow!

Gift Card Holder.

Good morning!  I have a super quick and easy gift card holder for you today.  I needed something in a pinch last year and came up with this idea.  Turns out, I liked it so much, I used it again this year!

Cut your paper to 4x6.  Score at 1 1/2" and 4".  Round your corners.  Add a small bit of adhesive to the side you scored at 4", this is the pocket where your card will go.

Close your top flap, the 1 1/2" side, and seal.  I used a small glue dot to close mine.  Embellish the outside.

HERE are last years gift card holders if you're interested.  I think I like this year's better.  The two sided card stock just does more for me :)  I have another one to post later in the week and I like it EVEN better!

I'm getting lots of things accomplished this week and couldn't be happier about it!  I hope you're being productive as well.  Thanks for stopping in today and I'll see you back here tomorrow.  Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Simple bottle tag.

Good morning!!!!!  Did you have a nice weekend?  We had a bit of a bump in the road Friday night when Landry got sick :(  so Abie and I went to the anniversary party alone Saturday.  Luckily, Landry was feeling back to normal on Saturday night and we were able to have pizza and decorate the Gingerbread House. 

Yesterday was a lot of fun!  We met some friends for lunch and then we went over to some other friends house for a visit.  They recently moved into our neighborhood and we couldn't be more EXCITED!!!!

I did get some crafting time in yesterday, and boy did I need it.  I didn't realize how many little projects I needed for things coming up.  So, I made a list and got to work!

We have a family Christmas party this Saturday at my cousins and I'm going to take her a bottle of wine as a hostess gift.  I made a little tag to hang around the bottle...

All of her Christmas decorations are in these three colors, so that's why I chose these :)  Aren't they fun?  I used my one and only Papertrey Mat Stack die for the tag hanger, but any similar shape would work.  Then I just added a few little embellishments.  This came together so quickly.  It would work great for bottles of cider or water bottles with those flavor packets attached.

How are your holiday preparations coming along?  Shopping done or started?  What about your wrapping?  Are you having any parties at your house and working on your menu yet?  We have just a couple of weeks to go!  Make the most of your Monday and I'll see you tomorrow.  Thanks for popping in today :)

Quick and easy Christmas thank yous.

Yea Friday!!!!!!  :)  Are you as happy as I am that it's actually Friday?  This week the need arose for a couple of Christmas thank you cards.  I needed to come up with something rather quickly, and once again I came up with this idea when I was driving home :)

I stamped the Santa in London Fog Momento ink and then used a gel roller pen to add some sparkle to the snowflakes in his beard.

I stamped the background of the card with my music notes from Papertrey Ink in the same London Fog ink.  It's a little less "in your face" than black and I really like the effect on the red.

I die cut the Santa and banner, added a sentiment and a bit of sparkly twine/ribbon and I was all done!  Even though I only made two of these, I know they were easy enough I'll be able to recreate more in no time!

What's up for your weekend?  My work Christmas party is today, during the day and then I'm heading to the grocery store tonight.  Tomorrow we have the anniversary party and the girls "coupon" in the Advent Calendar is good for pizza and gingerbread house making.  Sunday I'm hoping to take it easy and craft a little bit, just for myself!  Imagine the thought!  Haha!

Have a wonderful Friday and a fantastic weekend!  Thank you so much for coming by today and I'll see you soon!

I love notebooks!

So it's Thursday, but I feel like it should be Friday :)  Do you feel like that?  Haha!  A few weeks ago Michelle Wooderson posted THESE cute notebooks.  Well, you know how I LOVE notebooks, so I immediately put them on my list of things to make.

I ran into a a few problems, like I broke my sewing machine (only the second time I have used it).  I'm doomed with that thing, I tell ya.  But I figured out a different way to bind the notebooks and all was good.

Here's the notebook.  It measures 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.

It has lined notebook pages and graph paper pages.

Here's a shot of the binding.  I used my Crop a Dile and punched two holes on the crease then ran some twine through and tied it off on the inside, middle page, which is this fabulous ledger paper.

To cover up the twine on the outside, I used some Smash Book washi tape.  Man, that stuff is weird, not sticky, but it sticks.  You know what I mean?

These books look as close to Michelle's as I could get them, with a few variations.  I made one for each of the girls and kept one for myself.  I haven't had a chance to decorate it yet.  Not sure what I'll be using it for, that usually guides my decoration :)

Oh, did you know you can buy FANTASTIC ledger paper at Walmart for $3.88?

They also have a bigger/longer pad for like $6, but I figure this one will work fine.

Okay, enjoy your Thursday.  After work Abie has her first Volleyball practice so no grocery store tonight, saving that for tomorrow!  Ha!  Thanks for coming by today :)

50th Anniversary card.

Happy Wednesday!  We have an anniversary party to go to this Saturday for my Dad's first cousin.  She and her husband are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary!  Isn't that fantastic?  We are pretty close to this part of the family and just saw them a few weeks ago at Grandma's birthday brunch.  I'm really looking forward to seeing them again.

They asked that no gifts be brought, just a card or a memory for a scrapbook.  Another reason to like them, right?  (yes, she scrapbooks!)  I woke up one night at 2 AM and began thinking about the card I would make and came up with my design.  I had everything I needed, except gold embossing powder, more on that later :) 

Here's my card!

I created a panel in the same color as my card and stamped it with Stampin' Ups Baroque Motifs (luuuuuv that stamp) and embossed it with Zing Vanilla embossing powder.  I wrapped the panel with sheer gold ribbon and popped the whole panel up with foam tape.

As for the numbers, I cut those out with my Storybook Cricut cartridge and smooshed them onto my Versamark pad, then sprinkled them with the gold embossing powder and popped them up with foam tape.

To finish the card off, I cut out a banner with Papertrey Inks Double Ended Banner die, cut one of the ends off, and stamped my sentiment in Versamark ink.  Then I sprinkled on more gold embossing powder and popped the banner up with more foam tape.

I just love how this card turned out!  It always helps me when I have a plan to work with, especially when that plan comes to me in the middle of the night!  Haha!

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday today!  We had our first snow yesterday.  It all melted by the time I left work and caused a ton of accidents during rush hour...  I will never understand how or why people forget to drive in the snow and rain :)  We took the girls to see Santa last night.  Tonight we will be home and I'm really looking forward to it!  Thanks for stopping by today.  I'll see you tomorrow!

I'm done!

I finished my wrapping!!!!!  Yahooooooooooo!  I can't tell you how GREAT I feel :)

Since my tags had a fun feel to them this year, I wanted my wrapping to as well.  I picked up solid lime green and solid red wrapping paper at Hobby Lobby, in the regular wrapping section.  I had Kraft wrapping paper already at home, to supplement if I ran out of the bright colors.  I had a vision of white ribbons running around the packages, but when I was walking through Michael's Friday night and saw this stuff, I knew it would be PERFECT for the look I was going for!

I mean Puff Ball Holidays?  Come on, if that doesn't scream fun I don't know what does!  The best thing about this stuff?  It was only like $3.99 for a HUGE package.  I had plenty to do all of our gifts.

Here's what I ended up coming up with:

Adding this puff pall ribbon/yarn stuff was so quick and easy and it added the perfect fun embellishment to all of our gifts!  Don't they look like little snowballs?

I have two gift card holders I need to make, but I'm not sure what look I'm going for on those yet.  One is for Abie's teacher, a boy :)  I have such a hard time with male papercraft gifts.

Have a great Tuesday!  Thanks for stopping by today to see me and I'll see you tomorrow with another project :)

I was hoping for more, but...

I just couldn't quite do it.  Saturday morning we took the girls to see Arthur Christmas and we had dinner plans that night with our neighbors at a Japanese steakhouse.  Abie and Landry had never been before and they LOVED it.  Especially when the chef shot the fake ketchup at Abie.  They both screamed!

On Sunday my whole goal was to get ALL the presents wrapped.  I just couldn't do it.  I had grand visions of sharing with you my beautifully wrapped gifts but I couldn't do it.  Soooooo, it will have to wait for another day :)

 I wrapped from about 10-1PM yesterday and then we took the girls to the mall.  Landry made a new Build A Bear, Brittany from Alvin and the Chipmunks and Abie got on this cool trampoline bungee jump thing.  After that we drove around until we found the gym where Abie is going to start volleyball at on Thursday.

It was a full weekend, but fun :)  How was your weekend?  Are you ready for the upcoming week?  I hope you have a great day today.  I hope to be back tomorrow with a crafty post for you.  I have several things I need to check off my list this week!  Thanks for stopping in today!

Christmas hostess.

Aaaahhhh, Friday :)  So last week I posted the hostess gift for my sister and I told you I was working on another one.  This one will be given around Christmas, but I didn't want it to look too Christmasy, I wanted it to have a more wintry look.

I assembled this one exactly the same way as last weeks, coffee beans and all :)  The only thing different is the embellishment on the front.

It's kind of hard to tell, but I die cut the snowflake charm with my Cricut and then smooshed it face down in my Versamark pad.  I sprinkled it with Zing Aqua embossing powder...twice.  It got a little messy, but I love how thick and shiny the snowflakes are.  I added a couple of rhinestones for some extra sparkle!

Do you  have big plans this weekend?  I'm going to try and complete the mammoth task of wrapping the gifts (feeling very motivated and I need to strike while the iron is hot).  Tomorrow, we have put a coupon in the girls Advent Calendar good for a trip to the movies with mom and dad.  I'm really excited about that!

I really hope you have a wonderful weekend :)  Thank you so much for coming by today and I'll see you soon!