Christmas Vacation from Blogging

Not because I am feeling stressed in any way :) And I really mean that.
This is my year to just enjoy Christmas and not worry about the to do's.
I am done with Christmas shopping. So that's a huge chunk out of the way.
But the blog doesn't fit in with what I want to do right now.
And how I want to enjoy the holidays. The last Christmas before Erin starts Kindergarten :-O
So I will be back after the holidays ready for the new year!
Hope you have a good one! :)

Ten on Tuesday - Christmas Style

1. Christmas Shopping for the kids is pretty much almost done!

2. Of course, Christmas shopping for Mike isn't. He's a hard one to buy for any time of year! And with a birthday in December as well as Christmas, it is doubly hard :) But I actually think I have the perfect surprise for his birthday this week. Can't wait to give it to him! I'll let you know if he was truly surprised :)

3. Feeling in the Christmas spirit the last few days. Decided it's so worth it for the kids to look at it from their perspective and not of a mommy "who must get things done!" It's making all the difference. Right now at least ;)

4. Thankful for shopping carts that hold your stuff for days on end :)

5. Thankful for neighbors who make unique, fun Christmas music CD's as their Christmas cards for all of us!

6. Love that Eric Carle has a new children's book out and it looks wonderful!

 Erin and a cousin are getting this one for Christmas :)

7. And speaking of Christmas books for children, Mike and I have decided that this one...

is our all time favorite!!! It is absolutely adorable and has a great message at the end for families. But not obnoxiously so!

8. Decided against doing a December Daily album which was hard because I have seen so many amazing ones so far! But am going to do a December recap instead using...

this line by October Afternoon. Love the vintage feel! And that little record die-cut is getting a whole layout all by itself! Also using this journal...

by Studio Calico!

9. Making a scrapbook album for my mother-in-law for Christmas. It is about a trip she took with her mom and dad to Ireland back in the 50's to visit!! So many amazing photos and stories she has to tell. She is the reason I wanted to go visit this place when Mike and I went there in 2009...

 Kylemore abbey. Anyway, I am pretty excited to help her and just hope I can do it justice!

10. I want this ornament!

 

As someone who grew up on Fisher Price toys, I think it is absolutely adorable :)

What is on your Christmas wish list?

Christmas Pajamas

Posting on my blog two days in a row doesn't happen very often, but...

it is my turn to post on the ScrapGal blog today. This is the layout I featured as part of my post titled Scrapping the Same but Different :)
Have a great weekend!

December Sketch Challenge at ScrapGal

As unbelievable as it may seem, it is now December, and it's my turn to post the sketch challenge at ScrapGal this month. 

I worked backwards by creating my layout first. I had a particular topic in mind that I wanted to scrap this month and knew the exact photos I wanted to use as well. I think this is a story that I will have to keep hidden in a personal album so that Erin or my future grandchildren won't stumble across it by accident. I'm also debating about hiding the story, but am not quite sure how I want to do that yet.
For this layout I used American Crafts foil thickers, letter stickers by Basic Grey and...

 the "I Believe" paper and accessories kit from My Mind's Eye and...

So for now, here is the sketch...

Pretty simple :) If you would like to participate in the challenge, you can post a link to your finished layout in my thread on the "monthly contests" board by December 31st. Would love to see your interpretation of the sketch!

Well, this little boy...

finally knows the secret about Santa.

He was only a few months old in this photo. Six and a half months actually and now he is nine years old. :) I can't say it comes as any great surprise. And I am pretty sure he has suspected for at least a year or two, but didn't want to admit it. I will say, talking with him about it was a little sad and hard for me. But I had found this, The truth about Santa, on Pinterest and it gave me a little more to add to what I wanted to say to him.

So as of now, he is pretty excited about being on "team Santa" for his little sister Erin and all the friends and cousins who still don't know the secret. And he has promised not to spill the beans for them!
Hopefully it won't be to hard for him to keep the secret :)

Scrapping For Fun!

Many scrapbookers will tell you that they have enough product in their personal inventory to scrap for a long time without ever making another purchase. Well, except for your basics like adhesive maybe.
And we talk about using up our "stash". The older product that sits and sits waiting to finally be pulled out and used to make the perfect layout :)
But lately I have been setting myself a goal. And that is to use my newer product! Instead of buying something and letting it become stash, I am challenging myself to use it and not "hoard" it! I loved the Rocket Age line by October Afternoon because of it's retro feel and cute design.

So when I came across this photo that was going in my already scrapped photos box, I was inspired to create something for my "All About Me" album. The layouts that tell my stories and feelings I want to remember! And Borders is one of those places that I will remember, but my grandchildren will never know!
This layout also expresses a little of the sadness I feel at how many places that have ceased to exist in my lifetime already. And what might possibly be next. And I wonder about the places I may never see, but my children and grandchildren will one day frequent.
It's interesting how quickly things can change :)

Going to be taking a little bit of a blog break until after Thanksgiving here. Mike is taking the week off and won't be traveling. It will be great to have him home and I know we will want to spend as much time with him as possible! See you after the holiday! :)

Basic Grey Cards

I don't make cards to often. For the occasional birthday or Christmas for the teachers. I also did a card swap with a group of scrap friends a few years ago that was a lot of fun. Otherwise, I just haven't been creating cards, even though few years ago, I read Stacey Julian's book Big Picture Scrapbooking . And one of the things she recommended doing after creating a layout, was to use the scraps and make a card.. Which I think is a brilliant idea!

So I decided to do just that with my the leftovers from my November design team product. I had some great scraps left and created not one but two cards :) I have already used the "hi" card to send to my sister-in-law. The "you are so sweet!" card is going to be a thank you for a friend.
I miss the process of snail mail in this age of electronic communication and am happy to be sending some out.
Do you still send cards or letters through the mail? 

Laundry Room Sign

Each of the little houses we decorated for the blog hop came with a different shaped chipboard mini-album. Mine reminded me a little of a picket fence. And with the Maya Road laundry chipboard I had received, I pictured a clothesline hanging in a backyard. :) So I began assembling a sign to hang in my laundry room.

The first step was to attach each piece to a piece of leftover chipboard backing that had come in my package to keep my patterned paper from bending. I actually didn't end up using every piece from the mini-album. It comes with six but that felt to long to me. Five seemed just right!

I then cut around the sign to remove the excess chipboard.

I covered it in Basic Grey Nook and Pantry Beaters paper because I like the blue sky color.

Here is a better look at the blue color in the paper, because it didn't look right in the other photo.

After covering each piece of chipboard in a different piece of patterned paper from the Basic Grey Nook and Pantry line, I began assembling my sign. Lots of fun to put together and it became a family project!

My four year old daughter wanted to play along :) Here is her version of a sign "just like mommy's"!
If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments section. :)