carta bella christmas day

Good morning and Merry Christmas Eve to you all. We headed last night to Jacksonville to spend Christmas at my Mom's. All of my siblings are able to make it here, so yay...we will all get to spend some time together! A couple of years ago, everyone was able to make it to our house and it was a wonderful time, Shaun and I both agree it was one of our favorite Christmases!

I created a layout using one of my favorite photos from that Christmas morning, using the Carta Bella Christmas Day collection:

The first thing Kieran did when coming out of his room that morning, was drop by Santa's plate of cookies and eat the remaining crumbs. As soon as he saw what was under the tree for him (trains!!) he stayed there all morning, while everyone else was opening presents. He stayed and pushed his trains around. I love that 2 years later, he is still so into trains...and I have a feeling he is going to love what Santa brings him this year too;)

I am normally drawn to the Christmas collections that have bright colors and a more modern feel, but this collection works for me...I like the classic photo of a child playing under the tree on Christmas morning paired with the classic Christmas color palette.

I have a little how-to on the Carta Bella blog about printing journaling directly on tags HERE if you wanna check it out.

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Enjoy the time with your loved ones. I have a lot of time off right now, so I am going to take a self-imposed blogging hiatus until after the new year.

Catch ya in 2013!

mutual weirdness

For the month of December, the Jillibean Soup design team was put to the challenge of using a quote on one of our projects. I have had this quote saved on pinterest for awhile and I knew I wanted to use it as soon as I saw the challenge:

I am so glad that our weirdness is compatible;)

It was a little tricky getting the stickers on there and even, but with the help of a ruler, I made it work. I also had to use 2 sticker sheets and mix upper and lower case to make sure I had enough of each letter;)

Make sure you check out the Jillibean Soup blog to see how the other designers interpreted the challenge!

december daily

Good morning, friends! I am so so behind on my December album (as was expected, ha!) but I am trucking along. I wanted to share the first 7 pages here now, and I will probably not get the others done until after Christmas, which is fine...I hope I can get it done before the end of the year though!

I should mention that rather than take it from a daily standpoint...I am making this more like a 25 moments of December album...some days we just don't do anything and some days we do a lot:) I will just share each page and if you have ANY questions about products, please ask and I will answer:)

one:

writing letters to santa...funny that since we have done this...their lists have changed...

two:

this was actually the same day as the first page...making THIS craft and THIS one too...

 

three:

picking out our tree

 

four:

our christmas card

 

I wanted to include this somewhere in the album. I used a template from Paislee Press and ordered the prints from Persnickety Prints.

 

Since it is double-sided, I attached it with washi tape so you can lift it up:

five:

decorating the tree

six:

hot cocoa+polar express

seven:

this story aislynn wrote about her elf cracks me up...i just adore reading her writing prompts!

That's all I've got for now, if you are doing one, how are you managing to stay caught up with it?! 

may your joys be many card

I have a card up on the Jillibean Soup blog today, another Christmas card, using the Winter Tortellini and Spinach Soup line:

simple and sweet

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. K has had some yucky stomach bug, but seems to be on the mend. We are counting down to Christmas...Thursday is A's last day at school before winter break and I think we are all ready for a little break in things. I have saved up lots of vacation time, and I am using a lot of it over the next couple weeks, so I will be so happy to spend some extra time at home with my babies.

meeting santa

I had a page up on the Jillibean Soup blog yesterday, so I wanted to share it here:

These are the pictures from meeting Santa last year. We have been going to the Bass Pro Shop since A was younger than K is now because they always have such a nice set up AND they let you take your own photos!

The Winter Tortellini and Spinach Soup line was perfect for these photos because of A's pink and K's navy! I am also becoming obsessed with the large shipping tags from Jillibean Soup...they are a nice way to add a touch of kraft;)

We visited Santa earlier this week and K was all about him this year. He ran up to him so excitedly and when Santa asked him what he wanted, Kieran said EVERYTHING!! oh boy....

Aislynn told him she wanted some ponies and a hobbit lego set;) Santa made sure to tell her if she gets legos, she needs to be sure she picks them all up off the floor;)

Here are a couple pictures from this year (which will eventually make it in my December album that is coming along ever so slowly): 

The first year they didn't sit in his lap at the same time...maybe I should ask Santa to slow down my kid's growth?!

Happy weekend:)

more december scraptastic club

Good morning! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! We had a good one...the kids had fun at Mimi and Papa's and we had a lot of fun at my work Christmas party...taking first prize for best couple sweaters (it was an ugly Christmas sweater party). I will be sure to post a picture soon;)

I got a call from school yesterday saying Aislynn had lice and we needed to come pick her up. Ugh. It has been going around her class, so I suppose it was inevitable. So that has not been very fun at all, doing the hair treatments and washing everything. Any tips you have or experiences you want to share, please do!!

I wanted to share with you the 2 pages I created over the weekend, using the Scraptastic Club All the Lights kit+add-on:

When I saw the rubber duckies on the patterned paper, I knew I wanted to create some sort of bath related page. The kids love taking bubble baths, so sometimes when they are bored in the late afternoon, we take bubble baths. They don't get bubbles in their baths at night (usually) and since they know they don't have to go to bed afterwards...it makes it that much more fun;)

I also loved that piece of October Afternoon Midway patterned paper that mimics bubbles...perfect, yes?

Here is the other page I created:

removed for publication

more of that paper

I am enjoying this kit so much! I will have one more project for sure, and if time permits, more...but we are getting to Christmas crunch time...can you believe we are 2 weeks away?!

carta bella holiday cards

This week on the Carta Bella blog, there was a Holiday Card Blog Event, in which each day the design team shared a holiday card. I had 3 up there this week and I am sharing them here as well:)

I created this using the Merry and Bright collection.

That patterned paper is my very favorite piece in the collection!

The other 2 cards were made with the Christmas Day collection:

Make sure you check out all of the days on the blog to see all the cards that were created! You are sure to be inspired to make your Christmas cards:)

Carta Bella wants to see your holiday cards...Want a chance to win a Carta Bella Collection kit of your choosing? Simply upload your holiday cards to the Carta Bella Facebook page. We’ll select THREE winners to receive a collection kit of their choosing. All entries are due by Midnight, MST on Sunday, December 9th to qualify. Winners will be announced on facebook and on the blog on Monday, December 10th.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! The kids are spending the weekend with my in-laws, so I am super excited to have some kid-free time;) We have my work Christmas party tomorrow night and I plan to get some Christmas shopping done and also get caught up on my December album;)

jillibean soup shares

I have a couple of Jillibean Soup projects that have appeared on their blog, so I wanted to pop in and share them here as well.

The first one is a layout created using the Grandma's Lima Bean Soup collection. I went with the whole Grandma theme and scrapped one of my favorite instagram pictures:

Whenever my Mom stays with us, she always gets up with the kids in the mornings. I love this because I get to sleep in a little bit, and the kids love it because they get to snuggle with Grandma and watch their morning shows. To Kieran, I don't think this could get much better...he's got his Grandma, his bankwee, and he is watching Thomas the Tank the Engine:)

I really adore this collection, especially the colors and that patterned paper with the circles/doilies? I think I need about 50 and I am going to hoard them all;)

The other project I have to share is a card, using the Winter Tortellini and Spinach Soup collection:

The design team was definitely thinking holidays when creating our December projects...check out all the great holiday cards in THIS post.

Thanks for stopping by, and I will be back tomorrow with more festive cards;)

december scraptastic

Good morning! The December kits are now live at Scraptastic...and they are oh so yummy! Without further adieu, here they are:

Mocha Latte

Mocha Latte Add-On

All The Lights

Unfortunately, the All The Lights Add-On is sold out already, but the Stamp Add-On (which was designed by Heather this month-and she did a fabulous job again!!) is available HERE.

I am playing with the All The Lights kit this month, and I have created one layout so far using that+the add-on:

I love this picture so much of Miss A...my step-dad took it when they took her to Oregon in October. She looks so darn cute here:) I added journaling with tidbits about her at 7.

This is my favorite Scraptastic kit I have played with so far. I love the mix of October Afternoon Midway and American Crafts Dear Lizzy 5th and Frolic. There are some great embellishments mixed in too and lots of alpha stickers if you snagged the add-on as well as the main kit!

So it's time for that question again...which kit has caught your eye this month?!

50 Shades of Basic Grey hop

Oh, how the title of this theme makes me giggle;) It's time for a new theme at Paper Issues and it is all about Basic Grey. I received the Aspen Frost collection to play with and I created 3 cards with it:

that snowman paper was my fave

To see what the other girls created using Basic Grey, here are the blogs you need to visit:

Ashli

Kate

Sarah

you are here Pam you are here

Amy

Melissa

Want to win some prizes? I know you do;) Here's a look at what's up for grabs:

There will be 3 winners (a collection pack+embellie pack for each), and here's what you need to do for a chance at one:

1. Like Basic Grey on facebook HERE.

2. Like Paper Issues on facebook HERE.

3. Leave a comment that you did both.

4. Link up a project for a bonus entry HERE. The projects just need to be created with Basic Grey and you can share a previously created or brand new project;)

I can't wait to see what you all share...I know there are some very talented ladies who do magic with Basic Grey!

If you need a some new Basic Grey, you can check it out in the Paper Issues shop HERE and use the code PAM20 to get 20% off your order;)

page maps+carta bella

I was so excited when I heard the news about Carta Bella teaming up with Becky Fleck and Page Maps for the month of December. I love Becky's sketches and the sketch she sent me worked perfect for the Carta Bella goodies in the Merry and Bright collection:

I knew I wanted to include the chipboard banner from the Merry and Bright chipboard accents at the top of the page, so this is what I came up with:

I am not so much of a flower girl, so I replaced the flowers in the sketch with stitched circles of patterned paper.

These pictures of Miss A are from 2 years ago, but sharing them today is very fitting as we will be writing our letters for this year to Santa later this afternoon;)

Thanks Becky, for having us! You can see the December Page Maps and what the other Carta Bella design team members created HERE:)

december daily

I am going to attempt it again this year. Last year I stopped around Day 5, but I did finish it the 2 years before that, so hoping I can hang on to that;) It is really cool looking back on the albums:)

Here is the cover:

I am using a Simple Stores 6x8 binder this year. I like this size, and I like that the page protectors have so many different sized pockets:) I kept the cover pretty simple...I added the twine at the last minute because I feel the need to put twine on everything:)

Here's a peek from the side:

I did not pre-make any of the foundation pages because I wasn't sure how to prepare them for what we would be doing. I collected most of the supplies I want to use and organized them by my desk:

I am planning on using mostly the Crate Paper Sleigh Ride collection, but I am pretty sure some Carta Bella Merry and Bright will make it in there, as well as some Jillibean Soup Winter Tortellini and Spinach Soup. It's the pink. I totally count pink as a Christmas color;) Turquoise too...which all of these collections have in common;)

 

Some of the stuff I plan on using, I pulled from my stash, but I did snag these flair buttons and canvas numbered buttons, and I plan on printing some of these babies too...

 

Most of my Crate Paper Sleigh Ride goodies, I got from the Paper Issues shop...as well as this washi tape, and this washi tape;) Use the code PAM20 to save 20% off supplies;)

I will be sharing my pages every few days or so here, at least that is what I am hoping;) I am also going to focus more on December moments rather than daily. I know with our schedules...we might not do something holiday related everyday, but some days do more than one thing...and I want this album to reflect holiday-related moments in December:) So my plan is to document 25 December moments.

 

What about you...are you attempting a December Daily this year? What approach are you taking this year?

thanksgiving

Goo morning! Long time, no post! I hope all my friends who celebrate Thanksgiving had a wonderful holiday. We had good one, even if it was a little different. This was the first year that it was just the four of us. We stayed home and cooked, but it was still fun, even if we did miss everyone so much!

Aislynn brought this home from school on Monday...and I love what she wrote;)

I snapped a few photos this year...

our turkey...he was yummy (yes a he, because according to Aislynn, all turkeys are boys, lol).

our feast;) 

Some family shots:

A silly silly boy...who loved his Thanksgiving food:)

We made some place cards while the turkey was cooking:

and one shot of all of us:

We spent the rest of the day stuffed and the rest of the weekend hanging out with friends, a little shopping, the kids driving each other and as a result, Shaun and I...craaaaazy. We were all a little ready for Monday to come;) We also saw Wreck-It Ralph, which was actually pretty darn cute and funny!

We are now ready for December to arrive and all the fun that comes with that! I will be back tomorrow to share a little about my December Daily album this year:)

little pumpkin

When I saw the Farmer's Market kit for November Scraptastic, I thought immediately of these photos of Kieran. I printed 3, but ended up only using 2...does that happen to you ever?

I loved the mix of colors and patterns in this kit, mixing Simple Stories and Lily Bee...the 2 lines really complimented each other. I love the fall-ish feel of the kit...only wishing I had more fall photos!!

I created a banner with the Jillibean Soup Banner Bites and an Elle's Studio banner piece for the date.

For my journaling, I printed it on the Lily Bee tag and stuck it under the photo. I couldn't make it work anywhere on the page...so sometimes you have to just hide it;)

Hard to believe these were from 3 years ago...seems like not so long ago. I am sure I will be saying the same thing in 5, 10 and 20 years;)