New Specs!

Check it out! After 8 years I finally got new glasses!

Traditional Thank You Cards

Thank you cards with a Traditional theme:



Supplies: Piggy Tales- Jack & Jill Theme Set, Colorbox Frost White ink, Heidi Swapp Thank You acrylic stamp, Autumn Leaves- Super Star & Rhonna's Christmas buttons, white cardstock.

Winter Wonderland Thank You Cards

Finally!!!! I finally have a chance to sit down and do some crafting for the first time to a month! I made this card for a SWAP I'm participating in on the MemoryWorks message board. For the SWAP each of us were assigned 2 different themes. Mine are Winter Wonderland and Traditional. I will create 2 Thank You cards with the themes in mind. Since there are 5 people in the SWAP we will make 5 of each of the cards and send them to the SWAP hostess. In the end I will have 10 different homemade thank you cards! Since sending more cards is one of my New Years resolutions--this is great!

Here is my take on the theme--Winter Wonderland:


Supplies used: Basic Grey Figgy Pudding theme set, Heidi Swapp Jewels, White Cardstock (?), and my new Cricut!

Traditional card to come later today!

Presents Galore!

Well, Christmas is over.....whew! It is always a whirlwind 2 days. I think everyone enjoyed themselves (although I ate WAY too much food--especially cookies and candy!). I can't believe how many presents we all received! Santa spoiled us this year!

Favorite Christmas presents from 2007:

Tim--

Panini Press sandwich maker (still need to return 2 others he received--I guess I need to make better notes next year!), luggage set, some brewing contraption, a Grateful Dead t-shirt, and a toaster. His real Christmas present came a week ago--a "super sweet" laptop with 17" screen. He's been in computer heaven for a week....

Me!--

Cricut!!!!! I have been waiting for a month to play with it and now I finally can! I also received a bag from a daycare parent--yea!! Jenny gave me a couple things to put on my walls (they are in desperate need!!!!), jewelry from my mom, Fiestaware butter dish and gusto bowls, a UNI sweatshirt (wearing it right now!), and alphabet acrylic stamps. I can't wait to play!

Adam--

Adam was super excited to find a Nintendo DS under the tree this year. He also received Heelies from Aunt Jen-Jen, a Pokedex and a Pokeball, lots of games--Battleship, Operation, Pokemon- Champion Island, and lots of DS games. I've challenged him to a game of Battleship later today....

Dylan--

Dylan too was super excited to find his very own Nintendo DS from Santa. Aunt Jen-Jen also surprised him with a REAL snowboard he can color on! He also received a couple paint sets, Nerf Dart Tag, a couple books, his very own Pierce Panthers t-shirt, and of coarse--an alarm clock (one of the ONLY things he asked Santa for--funny kid....).

Jack--

Can't forget about Jack! He got a stuffed squirrel, a Kong bone, and a plastic "thing".

We took today off to relax and clean up the crazy mess that is scattered around the house. Hopefully tonight I can make some thank you cards with my new scrapin' stuff! I'll post pictures!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

I thought I'd take a moment out of my crazy day to say "Merry Christmas" to everyone! Have a safe and merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies!

I love Christmas baking! A great excuse to make yummy treats!

Winter Frost

January 2008 MemoryWorks Express Kit--Winter Frost! Lots of sparkle and shine to scrap all your winter photos. Also includes a very cool layered altered chipboard memory book. Contact me for more information on how you can join this scrapbook kit club!

A Place to Grow Christmas Party!

Monday we celebrated the holidays at the daycare with a PARTY! The kids had fun decorating a paper tree and stockings. Lots of moms came for the party--yea! The kids loved showing them what we do here. We had our usual circle time and sang lots of songs! A Christmas party wouldn't be complete without PRESENTS!!! We exchanged names and everyone got 2 gifts (one from me and one from another child). A good time was had by all. I think this was the best one yet!

MW Secret Santa Gift

Monday the MemoryWorks consultant message board had a holiday party! Earlier in the month we exchanged Secret Santa gifts. Monday we opened them up. The pictures above are what I got from Renee. Thank you so much Renee! Now I just need things to slow down so I can start scrapin' again!!!

Cards, cards, and more cards!

I am almost done with my Christmas cards!!!! After telling my husband in September "I'm going to hand-make all our Christmas cards this year!". To his reply---"hmmmmm, how many? 60? Good luck with that"--in his most sarcastic voice. I was on a mission. I HAD to make them, just to prove to him I could do it! So, here we are a week into December and I have 43 finished! Thanks to a much needed crop session at the local scrapbooking store last night.

The basic design of the card is pretty much the same--same cardstock dimensions w/ pocket inside for a letter and/or photo. Although I had intensions to do every card the same--which would have been soooooo much easier--I got carried away and now they are all different! I just couldn't waste a scrap! Even though it became somewhat of a chore, I still had fun with it. Next year I'll start in July!

Only 12 more to go.......

Roses

I just had to take a picture of these beautiful roses! One of my daycare kids gave them to me for my birthday. I just love having these fresh flowers on my table everyday. Even if it is in the midst of the kids stuff.

Giving Well: Project #7- Birthday Calendar

A Birthday Calendar just in time for MY birthday!!!


Each page has space to list everyone's birthday for the month. Make's gift and card giving much much easier! No need to add it to your calendar each year. Just jot it down once and your set!


The name plate on the front cover is blank right now. I don't want to give anything away!!! I will add the receipients name to it later. Super easy project that comes together very very fast.

Supplies:
Daisy D Paper--MemoryWorks July Express Kit
White Cardstock
Chipboard
Ribbons--MemoryWorks July Express Kit
Assorted stickers
2 0-rings

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Yes, I'm like a little kid that loves her birthday! It's usually just another ordinary day, but I just love having a day to call MINE! Tonight we are going out for pizza with the kids. Tomorrow night we are going out for a steak dinner with my parents and my sister and her boyfriend. The kids are staying home with a sitter! 33!!! I'm getting OLD!!!


Every time a daycare kid has a birthday I put out this giant inflatable cake. The kids love to walk in and see it. I also take a picture of the child in front of the cake. Someday I will put the pictures together to show how much each child has grown. Today is also Hannah's birthday--she turned 8 today!! Adam thought I should have my picture in front of the cake too.

Giving Well: Project 13- Trading Cards Mini-Album

A quick and easy project! I just love the button pull tab--so cute! Inside are 12 trading cards ready for pictures of the holiday season. The cards are held together by the corners so that they fold out into a long strip.



Whose getting this gift??? That's a surprise!!!

Supplies used:
7 Gypsies Artist Trading Cards Matchbox Kit (MemoryWorks Sept Express Kit)
My Mind's Eye- Festive Theme Set
Prisim- Suade Brown Cardstock
Autumn Leaves- A Rhonna Christmas Bag-o-Buttons
Autumn Leaves- A Rhonna Christmas Card Acrylic Stamp
Colorbox- Chocolate & Blueberries Liquid Chalk
Brown Acrylic Paint
Brads

Christmas Ornaments!

Yesterday I hosted a Christmas Prep Workshop. We made Christmas tags, cards, and ornaments. Although I really need to get moving on my Christmas cards, I decided to do a little of everything. I made one card, a few tags, and 3 ornaments.



These ornaments will be sent to my Secret Santa on the MemoryWorks Consultant Message Board. Supplies used: Basic Grey Chipboard Ornaments and My Minds Eye Festive paper & die cuts. I love making Christmas ornaments. Our tree is full of homemade ornaments from years past. I can't wait to send these off. I hope she likes them!!

December Express Kit Sneak Peek!

MemoryWorks Express December 2007 Kit. Doesn't it look rich??!! I can't wait to see the rest of it. Contact me for more details! There is still time to order your subscription.

Giving Well: Project #10- Book Lover's Log

Another fun project using my "girly" paper!! This started out as a cheap notebook ($.50). I covered the front and back covers with cute lined patterned paper (MemoryWorks July Express Kit!). I then covered the inside with plain pink cardstock. To add the tabbed pages I took all the pages off the spine and added 3 cardstock pieces the same size. The tabs are labled--"Books to Read", "Books Read", "Thoughts About Books". To personalize it I added the receipiants first initial to the back cover. Put it back together and it's done! A very inexpensive personalized notebook!

This is another gift for one of my daycare kids. This school-aged girl loves to read and write. I will pair this with a storebought book, a bookmark to match the notebook, and a pen. She'll be all set!

Giving Well: Project #8- Storage Drawers

Super cute mini wooden dresser! Started out as a pain mini wooden dresser from Michael's for $6 ($3 with my coupon!). First I stamped the drawers using my acrylic Autumn Leaves Swirl stamps. Next I added some paper to the sides using Mod Podge (Basic Grey Romani paper). To personalize it I added her name using the monograms from the same paper line (inking the edges to make the letters pop out a little more). For a final touch I painted each knob a different color to match the paper.

I made this for one of my daycare kids--6 year old girl. She has really long hair and always has cute clips, rubber bands, and ribbons in her hair. I thought this would make a cute storage for all her hair accessories. I love making stuff for little girls. They are sooo fun! Boys are much, much harder to craft for!

Circle Journal- Favorite Song

This was a tough topic for me. My favorite song depends on SO many things--"What kind of mood am I in? What song is playing on the radio? What type of music?" I can't really say that I have a "favorite" song. I love tons and tons of songs! BUT--I had to pick one, so I went with my favorite band--Phish. "Waste" is a song that is relaxing and about doing nothing with someone special. I love how calming this song is. If you have never heard the song before you should check it out.



I tried something new for this layout! For the background lyrics I used a Glaze pen. This was my first time using it. It's a pretty cool pen! I first wrote out the lyrics and then brushed a thin layer of white paint on top. I love how it turned out, even if you can't read all the lyrics. For the lettering I used Heidi Swapp Ghost Letters. I outlined them with blue paint and attached them to the page with floss. This page was very out of the ordinary for me. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

So, what's your favorite song???