SOCIAL MEDIA

Kits & Pieces Design Team Work for December

11.29.2007
So excited that I got to work with the Magical kit from Kits & Pieces this month. The kit contains patterned papers from Creative Imaginations' Adolph Winter Garden line which provided loads of inspiration for me (I love the dimensional feel of this line so much and you cannot go wrong with Creative Imaginations anything if you ask me!), patterned papers from the Gigi line of Paper Trunk papers (a new found love!), some Bazzill cardstock in coordinating colors, letter stickers from Doodlebug Designs, Inc., Hambly Holiday rub-ons (these I had a blast playing with!), Prima lace in black and some rub-on stitches by Daisy D's. What you see here is just from using the basic kit which is only $18 and I still have scraps left over that could be used for a layout and at least a couple more cards. Really a bargain and the kit is just beautiful! You could easily get away with not using these papers for traditional holiday themed layouts/projects, but for what I wanted, they worked out perfectly.



Holiday Greetings, supplies included in the kit: Creative Imaginations pp, Doodlebug Design Inc. letter stickers, Prima lace, Hambly rub-ons, Bazzill cardstock/other: glitter glue

Idea to try: for the red ornaments on the trees I simply used my standard circle punch on some of my scraps of the red pp paper by CI (in the kit) and added a bit of glitter glue, also to add a bit of dimension behind my trees and ornament I used some 3/dimensional adhesive.



You Bring Much Joy, supplies included in the kit: Creative Imaginations pp, Hambly rub-ons, Bazzill cardstock/other: button, brads

Idea to try: All the swirls on the patterned paper inspired me to do a bit of paper cutting and piecing. For this layout I cut out additional swirls from another sheet of pp and adhered them to create a frame surrounding the picture, adding a bit more interest and really drawing interest to what was important to me...the picture. I also did a little free-hand cutting for the butterfly behind the button and the green foilage type cuts behind the strip of Hamby rubs. For this layout I also used some 3-dimensional adhesive.



{i love you}, Supplies included in the kit: Creative Imaginations pp, Bazzill cardstock, Doodlebug Designs, Inc. letter stickers, Hambly rub-ons and Prima lace.

Idea to try: For this layout I dug out my old Fiskars decorative scissors and made some paper edging to frame the top and bottom of my layout to add a bit of interest, I also roughed up the other two sides a bit to give the layout a more worn feel. I only had a bit of lace left from the kit and I didn't want it to go to waste so I used it as a tab of sorts on the picture.



Merry Christmas, Supplies included in the kit: Paper Trunk pp, Hambly rub-ons, Bazzill cardstock

Idea to try: Have lots of embellishments that are to be used for gift tags? Here instead of creating tags, I used them on a layout and created a "gift" for Grandma Sue of pictures featuring her and Zoey last Christmas.



To Wish You a Merry Christmas card, Supplies included in kit: Creative Imaginations pp, Hambly rub-ons, Bazzill cardstock



Snowlflake Card, Supplies included in the kit: Paper Trunk pp (used reversed side), Hambly rub-on, Bazzill cardstock/other: brad



Holiday Card, Supplies included in kit: Paper Trunk pp, Hambly rub-ons, Bazzill cardstock/other: brads

I loved working with this kit. Another benefit of the patterned papers included in this kit is that they are all double sided, thus giving you even more options for stretching your creative wings!

Another thing that is unique to Kits & Pieces is that they offer kit add-ons at an affordable price. This month I chose the 6 x 6 album embossed album by Prima to play with and will share soon what I came up with for that (having so much fun altering this!), but to check out the add-ons right now for yourself click here.

601 Idea Book!


Got it in the mail yesterday and it's available to buy now! It was so fun to look through it last night, it's huge! So many inspiring ideas by so many different contibuters...was really fun to see all the different ideas and techniques represented all in one place by people from all over the world. You can read more about the 601 Great Scrapbook Ideas book here if you like on Lisa Tutman Oglesby's blog (One of the 2007 Memory Maker Masters). I thought she did just a wonderful job on reviewing the book. And, if you get a chance to look at it, be sure to take a peek at page 146 for the layout titled Wishes for You! =)

Mini Art Journal Journey - Week Forty-Seven

11.26.2007

Finally getting back into my weekly journal prompts again with Emily. This week's prompt was: your happy place. So easy for me this one was! I am a total homebody, so of course my happy place would and could only be HOME! Can't explain it, other than I would rather be at home reading a book tucked away in a corner somewhere or busy scrapping away at my art table than to be out and about running around town on any given day! Not that I don't enjoy getting out now and then...trust me - I do! I just know how to enjoy my time at home too!
So fun these weekly prompts are, and now that I finally have all my other altered cards uploaded again to a new photo album, I'm excited at the thought of going back to catch up on the ones that I've missed due to the busy-ness of life taking over the past several weeks.

Brett Dennen - Ain't No Reason



A great song, thought I'd pass it along...

A Wonderful Visit with Family

11.24.2007

The beautiful table setting...

close-up of those awesome glasses...

mom taking a break from the kitchen...

taking it easy (Ethan and Grandpa Ross)...

Zoey helping Grandma the best way she knows how...

and lots of hugs for and from Auntie Bailey...

and lots of games of chase with Uncle Nick...

more silliness with (you guessed it) Uncle Nick...

more kitchen play (and work)...

and finally dinner (Zoey's sitting in the high-chair that was mine when I was her age - so neat that my parents saved that for just this occasion).

We had a wonderful time with family. I got loads of pictures and actually have a whole other set from dinner that we had with my father and sister the day before Thanksgiving. We really had a chance to relax and enjoy each other's company, and for that and for the fact that we have so much family that loves us, I am thankful. Now home safe and sound, working on the decorating of the Christmas tree...I just am reminded again of how very blessed we are.

Happy Thanksgiving!

11.20.2007

Here are the things that Zoey is thankful for this year...and no, we do not have a (real) cat, the kitty is a stuffed one that she sleeps with at night! Don't you just love that colorful little turkey that she painted?

We are off to see family tomorrow so we thought we would wish everyone a safe and happy holiday now before we take off!

Happy Thanksgiving, may yours be a time spent with family and those that you love!

Gotta Love Christmas Crafts!


Had fun whipping up today's craft idea for MOP'S. I kept it pretty simple since Zoey was pretty sick and it's been pretty hard to sneak in time to do anything other than give her lots of hugs and cuddles...so I just cut lots and lots of circles and punched scalloped circles with my paper punch, cut ribbons to size and had everyone make some holiday gift cards by stamping with different colored inks and attaching the circles to the ribbons with brads. I think they turned out really cute. I made the boxes too by folding a piece of 12 x 12 paper (tutorial is provided in the most recent issue of Creating Keepsakes Magazine).

On another note, I entered into a family-friendly recipe contest through MOPS International and found out a few days ago that I won with my recipe for Chuckle (a breakfast dish) which was passed down to me by my Grandmother and is a recipe that I have enjoyed growing up with my parents and now share with Ethan and Zoey. You can check out the recipe (as well as all the winning recipes) by checking out the MOPS website here. Thanks Grandma!

Holiday Banner

11.19.2007

Had fun working on this little project that was inspired by Lisa M. Pace. I first cut book board to size and then covered it with kraft paper. I then embellished individual squares of patterned papers and adhered them to the kraft paper, added some Ric-rack, ribbon and some scalloped bazzill paper, some ribbon and fiber for it to hang and I ended up with this. Love getting into the holiday spirit with a bit of holiday crafting!

A Year Gone By

11.16.2007
Almost a year ago I started this blog. We had just moved here to this new community and were looking at this job opportunity that Ethan was offered with such hopeful hearts. Really, it was a fresh start for us, as a couple, as a family and as individuals. When I look back and read some of my first posts I can feel that hopeful energy and can remember the feelings of something starting to grow, a bit more each day. I didn't share right away my blogging venture with family or friends because first off I wasn't sure that I would stick with it, I was a bit skeptical of it to be honest and a part of me wanted it to just be mine for a while. Then once family knew and some friends, it actually became a tool of sorts, creating a closeness that otherwise may have not been possible. I'm talking both physical (as we live some distance from those we love) as well as another kind of closeness...one that I wasn't really aware of creating until it was relayed to me by family members in phone calls, letters or emails. All thanking me for being so honest in my writing or just saying to me that it was neat to get to know me in this way. I have to say that this blogging has opened up some pretty huge windows and doors alike in my life. I've met some pretty amazing individuals through blogging, have been inspired by so many and have learned to trust myself a bit more creatively, have been encouraged by others and supported by many. I've actually grown spiritually through this as well, it's funny how the simple act of journaling can make you question and re-question ideas and beliefs until it rolls around one day and finally starts to make sense. I can go back to certain posts and recall what (or who) it was that I was leaning on or what it was that I was in search of (when perhaps I was thinking that I had already found it). I guess what I am trying to say is that while a lot of my blogging is pictures or scrapbooking or updates on Zoey, a lot of it has been a very big part of my growth over the past year as a woman, a wife, a mother and a friend. The time that I spent on these blog posts was often a time that was just mine. Away from Zoey and being a mother, away from Ethan and being a wife, away from the idea of being the ideal me that has to be the most beautiful and put together and perfect woman. It was a time to just sit, to think and to be, me.

Yesterday was my 30th birthday. I have to say that I look forward so much to my thirties, I've learned so much it seems up to this point, it would appear especially so in my 29th year. I'm good with where I'm at as an individual and that it seems is the secret to being good with many parts in one's life. I am blessed to be here, to be a mother to Zoey and a wife to Ethan and to be supported and free to be me.

Not Fun.

11.12.2007
Zoesie's got pneumonia...

When Feeling Stressed...

11.09.2007

I tend to bake! These are some pumpkin muffins with nothing other than cream cheese frosting which has then been adorned with walnuts.
Things have been a bit tense here lately, I've got to come up with a MOP's project at the last minute due to some rearranging of speakers for the next meeting. Leaving me only two weeks to come up with something for twenty women to do. My design team commitments are quickly approaching for My Kit's and Pieces (which I am very excited about!) and I want to get them done and in before Thanksgiving if possible so that I can enjoy time with family without having that cloud of anxiety over my head of things that I need to do. We've been having issues with our heat. We've already had the heating guys over twice and while they are nice and all, I feel like I'm getting to know them a bit too well. Really, we think that the furnace is fixed now, it's just stressful to have to deal with stuff like that unexpectedly, especially after thinking that you had it all checked over and everything is well and working. Such is life though right? Also, now I am sitting here waiting for a call from Zoey's doctor because she is now on her third week of having a pretty brutal cold. She's still pretty spunky for being under the weather but I just want the little peanut better!
So...we now have pumpkin muffins. We'll see how that bodes for all of us here over the weekend!

And Here She is...

11.04.2007

the friendly witch! She had a blast on Halloween, we all did. In the morning we had a party to attend downtown at the community building (same as last year) and it was even cooler now that she had little buddies to meet there. Lots of dancing, playing instruments, listening to stories, singing and of course some yummy snacks to be had (pretzels and applesauce - something that a mom can appreciate!). Then off trick-or-treating that evening all together as a family. All the businesses downtown stayed open for trick-or-treating specifically for the kiddos (and we heard great things about it) so that is what we opted to do. It was really nice because we could make our stops pretty consistently, all the businesses did something a bit special for the kids and Zoey was pretty sure to make out with "safe" goodies for her bag. She actually made out like a bandit, the funniest thing I think was the point at which her bag got really heavy and no matter how many times Ethan or I offered to carry it for her, she stated over and over that no, she would carry it, thanks. That along with her knuckle white grip on that bag of candy made for a good laugh and made me recall all the joys of being a kid again at halloween and how my favorite part was the part about getting home after trick-or-treating and dumping out all my candy and then sorting all the goods according to my favorites. So cool that we get to live through all of this again now as parents.