Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Ho Ho Ho...

It's almost here...the most wonderful day of the year. Not only does Santa come, but we celebrate our Savior's birthday. He gave a lot for us all, and we celebrate His birth tomorrow. This year is special, as my kids are 5 and 3 and seeing their excitement is so special, (and sometimes unbearable). :) Whatever season you are celebrating right now, I wish you joy and peace! It's the most wonderful time of the year!!

On another note, I wanted to share with you some packaging ideas that were sparked by something in the December issue of Martha Stewart Living.

Then these were some other packages I wrapped up using a cutout from the Christmas Cheer Cricut cartridge with a red lunch bag and the other is a Santa stamp from We R Memory Keepers.

Happy Holidays!! Enjoy the season!

That time of year

It's that time of year, when everyone is trying to get a million things done at once, before the big December 25th deadline! Well, we're all always trying to get a million things done, but it's a bit more hectic this time of year. Right!? This year is no different. My little guy's last day of preschool was this past Thursday, and I needed to get the teacher's gifts done. I always wait until the last minute for EVERYTHING! UUGH!!

Anyway, I was on Leah Fung's blog checking out her candy cane Fridays for 2009 and she showed a unique frame from last year. I totally had forgotten about these frames, but they are adorable, and pretty easy. I created 8 of them for his teacher's, helpers and the Director of the preschool. (I used papers from 6x6 pads of Basic Grey and Cosmo Cricket.) I hope they enjoyed them. I had a good time making them, and now I'll make some more for P's teachers. His last day of school is Friday, so we'll see how long I wait to make those.

Today the boys and I recycled some broken and unused crayons from around the house. This was a fun project. I found it here. It was fun and I LOVE the colors they created. Their creations...

I hope you're gearing up for whatever holiday you celebrate! I encourage you to make some handmade items for your loved ones, they'll love them even more!!!

tap...tap...tap...Is this thing on???

Okay, so I've been MIA for a LONG while. SO SORRY to anyone who reads this! Lots of excuses, don't know if any of them are good enough. So, I'll just jump in to what I've been working on as of late.

A birthday book for my brother. He went to Italy for his 30th birthday...

This book was made with a Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist kit, I believe it's called Traveller. It was fun to make. I added some Making Memories Vintage Findings items, as well as, some other items I had especially for Italy.

A birthday book for my sister-in-law.

This book was made with lots of Basic Grey products: a mini-chipboard album, Urban Prairie 6x6 paper pad, chipboard mini-alphas, Prima "e" bling, and various other items.

I really enjoyed making these. I hope they enjoyed receiving them just as much!!

Now, it's Christmas items to make. LOTS in my brain, but to just get it all done is a COMPLETELY other story!!!

Really...I'm alive!

WOW! This is horrible! I'm a terrible blogger! It's been several months since this was updated, and I'm truly sorry about that. Sickness invaded our house for almost 2 months, my husband was gone for 3 weeks and life has been happening! TRULY...I didn't realize it had been SO long since I've updated this!

We've been busy this summer...going to the pool, the beach, the aquarium.... My best friend and her family visited from Illinois, which was a GREAT time! 5 kids running around the house and yard, and 4 parents fighting headaches, sharing laughs and enjoying adult beverages to get through the screaming! hahaha

I believe Elise has found a buyer for the store, which is TERRIFIC news. I can't wait to meet her. Elise and her family are moving back to the upstate, which is sad, but I know her kids are EXTREMELY excited! And, she'll be back to visit, and word is there's a cabin on her property and I think a roadtrip may be in order to do some scrappin'!!! LOOK OUT Elise!!! :):)

I'm getting back in to the swing of things and have been working on some things in my craft room. My mom got me a Cricut Create machine for my birthday and it's AWESOME! I've been playing with it, but really need to watch the DVD that came with it. I made a cute card last night and can't wait to share it. (I have to take a picture first.)

I've been following lots of blogs lately.

• Jennifer McGuire has awesome videos and is doing a Thinking Inking class for Two Peas in a Bucket right now...9 weeks of FANTABULOUS ideas and creations
• Kristina Werner ROCKS with her "Make a Card Mondays" and "Finally Friday" videos
• The Pink Stamper's Robyn has awesome creations with Cricut Expression
• Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi just unveiled their newest stamps to be released at CHA
• I LOVE MellyPea's Weekly Warehouse walks at Two Peas in a Bucket

Two Peas is one of my new fave places to visit too. There's a TON of inspiration there!!! My best friend, Kim, talks about this site all the time, and I would always give her a hard time. But, after visiting a few times, now I know why she LOVES it!

So, I'm back to posting, and will do a better job at keeping this place updated! Check back soon for some new pics!

Where has the time gone?

Okay, I really hadn't realized I haven't updated my blog in over a month! Seriously...it's been that long!?!? Not good! So much has been going on, nothing major, just LIFE happening! I went away for the weekend with some scrappin' girlfriends recently. That was a MUCH NEEDED break, and it was FUN!!! I haven't laughed that hard in a LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG time! It was a GREAT! We were right on the beach and it was GORGEOUS weather! We're planning another one, hopefully for sometime in April or May, again it should be incredible weather! YIPPEE! Okay, so I went on this weekend excursion, and didn't take my camera! SERIOUSLY, what scrapbooker doesn't take her camera!? ME! I didn't forget it, just didn't bring it! I don't know why, I just wanted to create and not have to worry about remembering to take pictures.

Got home and had a monogrammed card order to work on. I made 25 card sets for a bridal shower. It was fun and am hoping I get to do it again. Interested in having something made? Contact me! I would love to create something for you! Here are some pictures of the order I recently completed.

We just got back from my parent's house, where we attended our first Steeplechase. It was a beautiful day and a wonderful experience. Well, except for the dealing with 2 hungry boys who were in foul moods until their tummies got fed! Mr. P had an attitude until 1/2 the PB&J sandwich was down. Then, Mr. E took over with the attitude, started throwing his sandwich, so Daddy took it away, and Mr. E proceeded to stuff a hand full of grass in his mouth. YES, I said grass! And, did my mom or I have the cameras out, of course not! So, we'll just have to journal about that wonderful (NOT!) experience! Other than that, the day was terrific! Both boys snapped out of it and we enjoyed the rest of the day!

Here is another creation...

journals for my hubby & his brother for their AT hike

I need to take some photos of some of my newest scrapbook pages. SO FUN!

Have you seen the new punches from EK Success??? They are the BOMB!! LOVE THEM!

Happy Love Day!

My valentine for my "main squeeze." :) Got this idea for gift cards from Jennifer McGuire's blog. It's fun to make!

The valentines for the boys.
The boys making valentines for daddy! LOVE to cut & paste.

I'm not a big fan of Valentine's Day! I think it's a little commercial to have a day to tell someone "I Love You," when you should do it EVERY DAY!!! I've felt this way for some time, but still make valentines for my loved ones. I'm going to enjoy this day of love with my family and my brother and sister-in-law. The boys are looking forward to seeing their aunt and uncle.

Hope you all spread the love today! Happy Valentine's Day!!

T-minus 6.5 hours and counting!

LOST starts TONIGHT, and I will be watching intently! I can't wait. The 6 go back, or do they? What happens!? I'll be tuning in.

Took Mr. P to the doctor today for his 5 year check up and it's all thumbs up. No shots, which was a GREAT thing! He's doing well, and he enjoyed chatting with his doctor! Of course Mr. E had to have a mini physical too, because he can't be left out of anything!

So, for Christmas I made notecard sets for the boys' teachers. I used Basic Grey 6x6 paper pads, cardstock and Just Rite stampers for all except one, which I used some Tim Holtz stamps for. I love the way they turned out! And, their teachers and assistant liked them too...BONUS!

I just used a bit of twine and tied them up, simple packaging.

Just wanted to share.

Project 365...are you in?

Been a while since I last blogged. I've recently joined Facebook and have been addicted to that for the past week. So, I've abandoned my blog for a while. So, sorry to the few friends that catch up with my goings on here. :)

Okay, so who is participating in Project 365? Did you buy the kit or are you completing your own? I actually got a kit! YIPPEE!! My friend, Elise, was ordering so offered to get my mom and I ours, and luckily she was able to get them. The kit was sold out within minutes! I've started and will be posting here each week, if you're interested. It's actually a pretty cool kit, and I'm looking forward to looking back at the end of the year to see what happened over the course of 2009!

So...is anyone interested in purchasing a scrapbook store? PLEASE!!!! Elise is selling A Scrapbook Store, and right now, hasn't found a buyer! I wish I had the time and money to devote to it, but right now, with 2 young boys it would be very difficult! I really am hoping someone, or maybe a group, will show some interest. I DON'T WANT IT TO CLOSE!! And many other women feel the same way! So, if you're interested, call the store.

We traveled to NC to ride the Polar Express with the boys at the beginning of December and also to IL for Christmas, so I just wanted to share a few photos with you.

The Polar Express trip:

The IL trip:

Happy 2009!!!

Happy New Year! Our New Year's Eve was filled with party hats, noise makers, sparklers and fireworks. It was a low key evening at home, but I bought party hats, noise makers and sparklers to add some excitement. The neighbors across the street let off some fireworks and we watched from our kitchen window.

The boys got to stay up as late as they wanted. Little E fell asleep around 10:00 and Mr. P went to bed around 10:30. BUT, they were both up at the normal time of 7:00am. Lucky us, NOT!!! Our computer is on the fritz right now, so I'll have to upload pics as soon as I get the problem solved.

Now, the Rose Bowl Parade just started, football is on today and we're having Italian Beef later. YUMMY!!! We're also working on organizing the house and purging, so some of that will take place throughout the next few days. My goal is to have everything done by Jan. 31st. We'll see! I have some other resolutions for this year. Hopefully I accomplish a few of them.

Okay, so have you ordered your KOTM from Becky Higgins. Project 365....I can't wait!!!!