Happy New Year!

Here's a fun little project I discovered on the Ki Memories blog, a CD calendar. If click on http://www.kimemories.typepad.com/ and scroll down a little ways, you can download the calender pages and then decorate them with your favorite scrapbook papers or photos. Cheers to a happy, healthy and successful new year!

Love is in the Air

I've been working on stocking my Etsy shop with lots of fun Valentine goodies like this little mail box and matching greeting card. All the Christmas papers and accents have been stowed away and my desk is now overflowing with pink card stock, patterned papers covered in hearts, and lovely embellishments. Makes me yearn for box of chocolates! If you're also feeling love in the air and want to make some fun Valentine cards and crafts, come visit my Etsy shop at http://www.cardblanc.etsy.com/ for a fun array of Valentine embellishments, ribbons and ready made gifts. Enjoy!

What a Clown!

One of my darling son's favorite things to do these days is clown around in the tub and ask for his dad to take pictures. This started about a month ago and we have some pretty silly photos like this one. Oh boy! I get to spend this last week of the year with this little clown and it's only Monday and I'm kinda wondering what we'll do for the entire week. We never got around to making pine cone bird treats last week so we could do that. Oh, and the child needs a hair cut badly! So, tell me, what are the rest of you doing this week with your little or not so little ones?

The Best Christmas Ever

I've been missing from my blog for days now because we are having such a wonderful holiday! I think Christopher summed it up best when he said, "This is the best Christmas ever!" He loves Wall-E, star of the the Disney/Pixar movie Wall-E and he got a few Wall-E things for Christmas he didn't expect so he is just as thrilled as can be! We are all feeling great, no colds or flu bugs have come to put a damper on our holiday. I have been a very lucky girl this Christmas and got a Canon Rebel camera so I've been busy reading the manual and taking a bunch of practice photos. I have been ready to take our photos to the next level as I have been increasingly aware that they could be so much better. So, I leave you with a photo of me opening my new camera and hope you are having a fabulous holiday too.

All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth

Just in time for Christmas, Christopher can now sing the infamous song 'All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!' His tooth was loose for so long that it started growing outward until last Sunday evening when he bumped it pretty good with one of his toys and nearly knocked it out. I wished it would have come out completely because if you know Christopher, he will not wiggle a loose tooth. Luckily, he woke up in the middle of the night and reached up to feel it when it just came out! If that little tooth waited one more day, we would have had two visitors during the night, Santa and the Tooth Fairy!

Valentine Shoppe Open

I know, Christmas is just a couple days away, but if you like to craft you have to think ahead and give yourself plenty of time to make your cards and Valentine projects. With that said, I'd like to invite you to my Etsy shop that has a section full all things hearts, love, pink, red and ready made, like the photographed card, for your crafts and Valentine gift giving. You can find all this in store at http://www.cardblanc.etsy.com/. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

'Tis the Season Collage

Just when all the cards were mailed, the ornaments made and teachers' gifts delivered, I would have thought I'd be a little tired of Christmas crafts. Then it hits me on Friday night after visiting Elsie Blaha's blog (addy to the right) that I should make a similar holiday collage. I wanted mine to be unique so instead of the usual square pieces of holiday themed scrapbook paper on a solid background, I used these triangles on glass. This frame was sitting in a closet for the past four years collecting dust waiting for my creativity to strike and give it a second life. I added a bow to the upper left hand corner which I don't think I've seen anyone do and I glued a couple jingle bells directly on the front of the glass. Another thing I was jazzed about is that I only had to use one sheet of scrapbook paper instead of half a dozen since Basic Grey designed this lovely paper called 'Tree Lot' from their Wassail collection that already has these triangles shapes in an assortment of designs. So there you have it, another fun way to deck your halls or make a fun gift.

The Cutest Little Graham Cracker House

I just love this little graham cracker house my son came home from school with yesterday! All the students in his class made one so they had an entire village set up. Too cute! Instead of doing our traditional gingerbread house from the Wilton kit next year, I want to make these! By-the-way, under that little house is a milk carton that holds those graham crackers in place! Clever, huh?

Teacher Gifts

I got this great gift idea from my favorite on-line scrapbook site, Two Peas in a Bucket. I decorated these to-go coffee cups and filled them with a couple chocolates and gift certificates for Starbucks and Target. Cool, huh? I love the idea of giving gift certificates so that people can get exactly what they want or need, but I've always thought it a little impersonal and dull. Well this idea solves both issues. How fun would it be to receive something like this? If you don't have the time to put a couple of these together before the holidays, you can do the same for just about any holiday.

Jingle All the Way Ornament

I've got a little extra bounce in my step this morning! While going through my e-mail I got a newsletter from Two Peas in A Bucket, my favorite web site for sharing scrapbook pages, craft projects and a great place to purchase paper craft supplies. Anyway, I was scrolling through their newsletter when to my surprise, one of my projects, this Christmas ornament, was featured! It feels great to have others enjoy my work!

To make one, the base of the ornament is made of chipboard from Bazzill Chips of Bazzill Basics Paper. The 'Jingle all the Way' sentiment is a K & Company Grand Adhesion three dimensional sticker. I used a Heidi Swapp Ghost snowflake and topped it with a Dress-it-Up glittered snowflake accent. The jingle bells are fastened on with bakers twine. The hanger is made with pink grosgrain ribbon. Fun to make! Enjoy!

Gingerbread House

Here it is, our 2008 gingerbread abode. Not quite what I envisioned. Each year I have high hopes that we'll make it look a little more like the house on the kit box! I suppose only making one a year does not allow for enough practice. Anyway, it's our gingerbread house, made with our hands and for that reason, I love it. Hope you are enjoying the holidays as we are. Cheers!

Visit with Santa

Look at that smile! Christopher was pleased to see Santa today and ask him for a Lego train and 'Lady' the wooden train engine for his Thomas the Tank Engine set.

It was a enjoyable trip to the mall. We got there before it opened so we didn't have to drive in circles looking for a parking space and we didn't have to wait in line long to see Jolly old St. Nick. We got Christopher a new pair of sneakers too; he's now wearing a size 13. We participated in the Rolesville Elementary School fund raiser at Barnes & Noble. All we had to do is let them know that Christopher attends Rolesville and they donate a percentage of our sale. I needed a couple new books since I'm reading the final book in the Twilight series and Christopher is reading the Magic Tree House series.

While Christopher and dad spent time in the toy store, I got to go to my toy store...Archivers! Boy did they have some fun holiday papers and I picked up Ali Edwards' new book 'Sharing Your Story'. Oh, and while I was on my own, I got lucky and found the gift I have been searching for all month. I can't tell you what it is because it's for my darling hubby who just might check out my blog! This was the fourth place I tried to find his present and I was beginning to wonder if I'd have to buy it after Christmas or pick something else. Score! That was totally cool!

So, that was our day. Hope you too are enjoying the season.

Christopher's Gingerbread Man

A couple weeks ago I posted a turkey Christopher and I colored and decorated together for his 2nd grade class. The teacher hung all the kids' turkeys on the wall outside their classroom and it was quite a display. I wish I had a photo for you. Since it was such a success, we were asked to do another family project and decorate a gingerbread man this time. I love children's artwork, especially Christopher's and the things we get to do together so I thought I'd share with everyone. Enjoy! Happy Holidays!

Chew on This - Give-a-way

A gum with no artificial flavors or preservatives and lots of vitamin B12, B6, and C, as well as green tea? Too good to be true, you say? How about environmentally conscience packaging too, made with 40 percent recyclable material and soy inks! And that's not all, it's made in the U.S. to cut exporting waste and support domestic production. If that weren't enough, Project 7 donates half of its profits to organizations designated to each flavor: Fresh mint supports earth-friendly initiatives, peppermint vanilla backs hunger-busting groups, and mango mint helps house the homeless. Well, I'm logging onto http://www.project7.com/ to get some! I'm buying the fresh mint and I'll randomly draw a name from all comments left to give a pack away. Comments must be made by this Friday, December 12th by 12:00 midnight EST.

Make Lemonade from Lemons

A lot of my holiday crafts are either given away or sold on my Etsy site, so I wanted to document the things I've made this season with a scrapbook page. I really like the way this page turned out. I think it's simple, but pretty. With some of my pages, it takes more time to figure out a design, color scheme and embellishments, but this page just came together. And as I was standing back admiring my work, I gasped to realize that I left the 'r' out of my title!

Like many other things in life, my scrapbook pages do not always turn out the way I envisioned and I have to find a way to fix my mistakes. In this case I didn't have an extra capital 'c' sticker that would allow me to cover up my misspelled word and then spell over it again. In this case, my only option was to squeeze the 'r' in and make it look as good as possible. In doing so I had to do some creative cutting with my craft knife. Well, there you have it...it's not perfect, but I salvaged my page.

Looking a lot Like Christmas

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at our home. The tree is up, there's glitter strewn around from making our annual Christmas ornaments and Christmas cards and packages are arriving each day.

Here's a scrapbook page from our tree trimming last weekend. Christopher put up his Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater ornaments and then went to play so we don't have a photo of him. I am the one who can spend hours decorating the tree. Then, when all the ornaments have been hung, Dan places the star on top.

It sounds a lot like Christmas in our house too with the carols playing much of the time. And before too long, it'll smell a lot like Christmas when I start baking goodies. I'll pick out one of my favorite recipes next week and post one for you to try. Well, here's to enjoying the activities of the season! Cheers!

Thoughtful Giving

It's the season to give, but how do you remain environmentally aware and give gifts that help others? I've compiled a list of some great gift ideas that lend people a helping hand and/or are healthy for us and our planet.

Berry Towne Crafts is an online retailer that sells handmade soaps, organic wildflower honey, hand thrown stoneware pottery, NABS approved blue bird nesting boxes and handmade wood crafts. All these products are made in Goldsboro, North Carolina by artisans with developmental disabilities such as autism. I love their Oatmeal Milk and Honey soap and their shipping costs are amazingly low. Check these folks out at http://www.berrytownecrafts.com/.

J.R. Watkins sells a line of natural apothecary skin care products made from environmentally friendly, sustainable and renewable sources. Their products are at least 95% natural and certified by the Natural Products Association. Watkins also sells a line of natural plant based cleaners that are safe for us as well as the environment, a line of natural and organic spices and extracts and an assortment of home remedies that relieve aches and pains. I love the lavender body lotion and my husband and I recently switched all our household cleaners to Watkins. These products are available on-line at http://www.watkinsonline.com/.

Want a natural deodorant that doesn't contain aluminum, alcohol and bactericides? Spa Therapy Works at http://www.spatherapy.etsy.com/ sells vegan deodorants that do not interfere with sweating which is our natural cooling process, but combats and kills odor-causing bacteria. This Etsy shop not only sells deodorant for men and women, but also sells lotions, vegan lip balms and shampoo.

Ten Thousand Villages is an on-line store selling fair trade products, some made of recycled materials. Here you can buy tapestries, ornaments, jewelry, and home decor items. To view the many crafts go to http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/. My favorite product I bought a couple years back is their large trivet made of recycled news papers.

What about the person who has everything? They've asked that no one buy them anymore stuff! How about planting some trees on their behalf? Every dollar donated to American Forests plants a tree. To plant a small forest for someone, log onto http://www.americanforests.org/. Or, how about offering a free loan to an entrepreneur in a third world country to help alleviate poverty? At http://www.kiva.org/, you can select real person and the amount of money you wish to loan. Throughout the course of a loan, about 6-12 months, you can receive e-mail journal updates and when the loan is paid off, you can lend it to another individual. This site sells gift certificates so that your gift recipient can choose the person they want to make a loan to. My husband and I have been making loans for a year now and no one has defaulted on their payments.

If you know of a great gift giving idea that's environmentally friendly and/or helps a particular cause, please leave a comment. Happy holidays!

Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love Christmas, it's my favorite holiday! There's so much to enjoy during the season, like listening to Christmas music, sipping hot chocolate and decorating the tree! Our son loves his Advent calendar and decorating the gingerbread house. I take pleasure in baking, making Christmas cards and ornaments for our friends and family. It's great fun to receive holiday cards with photos and letters from those who live far!

If you're a craft bug like me, this is the season to make lots of gifts, like this Jolly ornament. I make lots of things, not only for our family, friends and Christopher's teachers but for my Etsy customers as well.

Slice of Life

Here's a slice of my life page...darling son enjoying an after dinner treat. He picked a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and this is how he went about eating it! I don't know how he made such a nice little hole without breaking it. Talent!