Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Give Thanks.......




Today I am thankful for Grandpas that hold Grandbabies.
This picture was taken several years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. This was the first time Grandpa Bill got to see and hold Addie. Spring 2003
Give Thanks....


This picture was taken summer 2008.
To some of you it may look like just an average lake picture
but to me it will always remind me of a special moment in time.


Today I am thankful for all the places and events that I have seen in my life. I am healthy and very blessed. Some times the most wonderful things are right in front of us, we just have to open our eyes and enjoy the moment.

j.
Give Thanks..........


Picture taken at my uncle Jim's retirement party Summer 2008.
back row: Dad, Megan, Jared, Mom, Cindy, Bubba (Mark), Kari
front row: Catherine, Grace, Jim, Addie, me, Samantha



I am thankful for my family.

Note: The only one missing is John, he's taking the picture.


Give Thanks........


This picture was taken on Megan's birthday.
It is one of only a handful of pictures where
both kids are together and smiling!


I am very thankful for both of my kids. Yes, they can make me crazy at times, but they are my life & I wouldn't have it any other way! They each have very different personalities, one is more reserved and quiet for the most part. The other is everywhere, touching everything and talking non-stop! Together they keep my day full of surprises! Thank you Megan & Addie, I love you both.

j.
Give Thanks..........

I am pulling this out of the archives for today's post. It is Addie at school with Grandma & Grandpa for Grandparents day, 2008. I am very thankful my parents are healthy, happy and still on the go!

This post starts five days worth of thankful posts. Each one will have a picture associated with it, some will be old, some new. My challenge to you for today is tell someone you are thankful for them, it will make their day.

j.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Meg & friends @ the theater after seeing "Twilight" for the first time.
ALL SMILES!




Sunday, November 23, 2008

"Twilight" was far more than I expected.....
My daughter Megan is on the right and her best friend Jolynn is on the left.

I have not read the books, because my teenage daughter and her 5 friends have been passing them around within their group. So I didn't know exactly what I was getting into or what to expect, but I can honestly say the movie was fantastic! When Edward flies through the air with Bella on his back, you feel like you are there and when they are perched hundreds of feet in the air in a tree, I felt like I was going to fall. The scenery is amazing and with each second of the movie, you are pulled more and more into the story and the eyes of the character. I have never been a scary movie fan or a vampire fan for that matter, but when Edward's eyes meet with Bella's you can feel the explosion of emotion. They are torn between two worlds, their love and her safety. The 6 teenagers that I took must have really enjoyed the movie also, because they talked non-stop on the way home! Re-hashing almost every scene! Now to sit and wait till 2009 for the second part of the Trilogy! I can't wait!

We took so many people tonight that we had to take two cars. Grandma & I both drove, (she & Addie saw Madagascar), which Addie seemed to really enjoy. If all the moms ok the picture I will post the group shot tomorrow.


j.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Extra - Day 9 - Extra

Extra pages - To make those gift checklists and a photo of decorations. White textured paper embossed with the swiss dots embossing folder. Red satin ribbon from Hobby Lobby "Make it Christmas" line. Chipboard circle with Christmas greeting rub-on.














Day 9 - White textured paper embossed with Swiss Dots embossing folder. Bronze buckle with a flourish that has been sprayed several times with Tattered Angels "Coffee". White flowers give the illusion of snowflakes.














Decorative clear page made with foam stamps and paint gives the countdown to Christmas.


We are almost to day twelve! I have saved the cover for last, I haven't had a "vision" yet as to the design. Most times it hits me and I either draw a rough sketch or I go create it immediately. We will see what happens in the next few days.

We are finally done with the Kindergarten Feast and Program. It went off without a hitch Thursday night. The dinner was fantastic and the program was adorable. I could not believe how much those little kids had memorized!
This is one of those really cool pictures that I didn't really try to take, it just happened. Addie was walking towards the stage and I grabbed the shot. I figured it would be blurry and I would delete it. After I uploaded the pictures I realized this is probably the best picture I took all night. I got Addie without blur and the two people in the background are my parents. Luck....pure luck. Sometimes it's on my side. :)



This has been a whirlwind week getting ready. I was lucky enough to get to help them in the class room. The kindergartner's made their own cornbread, cranberry salad, home made churned butter & 20 pumpkin pies. (By the way we made enough of each of those for 200 people!)


At last minute I decided the little pilgrim s needed white aprons with lace! So I ran to Wal-Mart and grabbed 2 yards of white fabric and 5 yards of lace and settled into my sewing machine with a big cup of coffee. Several hours later they had beautiful fancy little aprons fit for little pilgrim s. There are a couple of reasons why this makes me soooo happy that I made them. Number one they looked adorable! Number two, I actually started a project and FINISHED it! WOW! That is huge for me. I am terrible at starting things and not finishing them, so this was quite an achievement for me. :-)

Can't wait till tomorrow, I am chaperoning 6 teenagers to see "Twilight" at the movies. I am very excited. I have been watching the previews with Megan and it looks like it is going to be "edge of your seat" good! I will post my personal review Sunday.

j.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Extra Page - Day 7 - Extra Page

Extra Page - These are the pages between 6 & 7. More journal tags and the right page is blank....yes blank. It's ok to leave off all the "junk". This is a small album only5x7 outside dimensions, the inside pages are about 1/4" smaller. When I add the photos it will look "full".
















Day 7 - Take time to sit back and record something that your family does every year with out fail. For us it is reading "The Night Before Christmas" on Christmas Eve. The book that we bought for Megan when she was 3 or 4 has little paper ornaments that the kids can hang on the tree as I read the story. It is a beautiful moment with my little family of 4 that I will cherish the rest of my life. From start to finish this tradition probably only takes 30 min., but for me it is the best 30 minutes of Christmas.


These are the stories that your children will tell your grandchildren, great grandchildren & so on. This is how we connect to the past, by providing proof to the future!

Extra Page - Everyone wants to go home for the holidays, it's a sentimental journey to your childhood, where Christmas cookies and Santa were the only thoughts in your dreams. So this year while your home, where ever that may be, take time to take a picture of your "family". This could be your direct family living in your house or your extended family including your 5th cousin twice removed by marriage! (Yes..we all have that!) For most of us families get together this one time of year and people change. I can see a huge difference in personalities of the children & the way they look from year to year. Don't let this Christmas slip by without documenting the way everyone looked in 2008.

j.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Saturday was crop day and it now takes me almost 2 full days to put away everything and get back to normal! So I am posting again on the Christmas Album...now do you see why I started it so early?!

Day 4- chipboard flourish with Making Memories paint and pearl glaze, several layered flowers from Kaiser with a number center. The ribbon on the opposite page is tied onto a photohanger.













Extra pages for journal or pics. Flowers Making Memories and Bazzill.













Day 5 - Lots of bling, because BLING makes me HAPPY! Opposite page chipboard flourish painted Cranberry with a flower and a pearl button from grandma's box of buttons. The "5" is a sticker, we'll see if it stays on the felt. I may need to make adjustments.













Day 6 - Layered flowers, ribbon and a journal tag keep these pages simple. A scallop punch and chipboard "6" finish the page.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Pages 3-4-5

As you can see "pages" 3-4-5 are not necessarily "days" 3-4 & 5. I have included extra pages for photos & things.


A simple chipboard flourish that has been sprayed with Tattered Angles Glimmer Mist makes it look like an expensive metal embellishment. Total cost was just pennies. A couple of flowers layered with a bling stone.

"Joy" page is an "undressed" chipboard #2 with a ring of bling.



Transparent Day 3: Stamping on a transparency with foam stamps and acrylic paint, gives a totally different look than regular stamping. It is rustic & definitely NOT perfect. A poinsettia flower and a bracketed 3 adds dimension to the next page. It is also incredibly inexpensive, I found this package of overhead transparencies in a W*l-M@rt clearance bin for .99 cents. :-)



After flipping over Day 3 an "extra" page becomes clearly visible giving the year of the album. The bird is felt (Jenni Bowlin) with a hat pin (Maya Road) and a butterfly bead (unk) threaded through it. The "merry & bright" is a rub-on from Hobby Lobby. This is my favorite page of the entire album, the non-traditional butterfly and fun felt shape, gives it a happy home-made feel.

If you are working on one of these albums, keep in mind, somethings may not seem "Christmas" like, but mix & match them with something very much Christmas time and you might be surprised at how well it goes. Creating is about taking chances, you never know how something is going to look until you do it. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. Whats the worst that could happen? Really? Your glue dot might tear your paper and then oh, bummer you would have to go back to the store for more paper?! Gosh that would be terrible! :)



j.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

The 12 Days of Christmas Mini-Album

The whole idea of this album is to have it done before Christmas gets here! Once the decorating and shopping starts, I never have time to complete a project like this. I am going to start at the beginning & work my way to the end. If you have any questions please email me!

To start I assembled the products that I hoped to use. Several different kinds of chipboard, felt, metal embellishments, numbers, ribbon, poinsettia flowers, reg. flowers, brads, paint & many other things. As you can tell, I like to mix and match and I also like to add things that might not necessarily be "traditional" Christmas. The only thing I went out and bought specifically for this project is the album cover, "Red Bracket Shape Cover" by Teresa Collins $2.50 and the interior pages which were punch outs by Teresa Collins that cost about $4.60. Everything else is misc. junk laying around.


We will start with page 2 since the picture of page 1 didn't turn out so hot. (I'll post it later) This is one of the punch out card stock bases I mentioned above. It has a lot going on already without much embellishment. I added a simple flourish that I painted green and then glazed with a pearl glaze. A small red paper flower with a mini bling, adds just the right amount of flair. The pages are numbered for the 12 days, and I had some small metal numbers that look like bubble brads and they fit perfectly inside the circle at the bottom right of the page. You can see the back side of page 1 was left blank with exception to some beautiful flourish rub-ons from Basic Grey. I will decide on day 1 what will be on that page.




Back side of 2 and front side of 3.......These pages prove that you do not have to do a lot of embellishing to make them nice. The addition of some red bling down the edge and 2 flowers layered together with a flower center made out of a button, this page is finished. By the time you add your journaling, pictures and memorabilia, these pages will be full.


Look for page 1-3-4 tomorrow.

j.

Friday, November 7, 2008

So this is what 400 Thanksgiving Invitations look like!




































This has been my "work in progress" for about a week now and it is finally done. I delivered them to the teacher this morning. It felt soooooo goooood to be finished! This is Addie's kindergarten year and the kindergarten class always puts on a Thanksgiving Feast & Program. There has to be 2 seperate invitations because each child is allowed 5 guests for the dinner & program and then they can invite 5 additional guests to the program only. We end up feeding about 200 people at the feast. It is really quite an undertaking.

Now we can move on to the food. It is a full blown dinner, turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, corn, pies & drinks. The kids make all the pies themselves at school the day before. I'm sure there will be more on this later. :-)

The 12 days of Christmas album is in the works and starting to really take shape. I am planning on starting those posts this weekend.

j.


Edited 11/7/08 @ 9:00 pm

What a day....come to find out this is not what 400 invitations looks like, this is what 200 invitations looks like. The printer shorted me 100 copies, which equates to 200 invitations. After a call from the teacher around noon and a frantic trip to the printer to get more copies, we now have 400 invitations. They went home in each little kiddo's backpack today. I drove while my mom folded them on a cutting board in the front seat. The things we do for our children! Thanks mom.

j. :-)

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Happy Halloween Memories

I can't remember the last time we had such an awesome Halloween. It was 70 and not a rain cloud in the sky! I remember being a kid and it was raining and so cold, we would hit like 3-4 houses and go home. We hit the jackpot this year!

By the way, Megan did not dress up, but she did tag along with a couple of friends. Addie was Barbie and the Diamond Castle Princess.



Get Well Soon














Supplies: Paper, K& Co; Creamy brown ink, Cats eye; Black & Autumn Terracotta ink, Close to my Heart; green flowers, Bazzill; orange & burnt red flowers, Making Memories; white cardstock for postcards, Archivers; get well stamp, "Say it in Style" My Acrylix Stamp Set & "Pam" from "Elegant Script" My Acrylix Stamp Set, post mark from "Express Postage" My Acrylix Stamp Set, "O" from "Classmates" My Acrylix Stamp Set, all from Close to my Heart; brads, Bazzill & Hobby Lobby; flourish stamps, Stampendous; chocolate cardstock, Joann's; envelope flower, Prima Flowers, white string, Unk. Also used Base Camp Cricut cartridge to make "Postcards".





N
ote: You can't see it in the picture but there are three postcards layered together and you can lift each one and see an additional message on each postcard. One says "Get well", one says "miss you" and one says "feel better soon".


This card was ordered by our local postmistress for her co-worker, Pam. When she placed the order she wanted it to reflect the post office in someway. I think I achieved that by using paper with postage stamps, post markings and the three "postcards".




j.

Sunday, November 2, 2008



I'm not going to explain this picture, but it is very important to me. I am posting this in honor of my best friend, who should still be here with me.


j.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Kyle & Maggie's Anniversary Card















Supplies: Ribbon, Joann's; black, red & white cardstock, Archivers; swirls embossing folder, Cuttlebug; heart stamps from "Soulmates" My Acrylix Stamp set, Close to my Heart, silver embossing powder and clear embossing stamp pad, Close to my Heart.


j.