Happy New Year!

Thanks for the reminder of these easy noise makers! Have fun ringing in the New Year! May it be filled with lots of noise!

February

As you can see, sometimes I use the same layout, design, and picture :)


My sister helps with the calendar for my mom so February was one of her pages ;)

All supplies used in these calendars are from Stampin' Up!...although, some of the stamps and paper may not be available anymore. If you have a specific question about a technique or product, just leave me a comment. Tomorrow I'll show you March pages :)

January

One of my most favorite gifts to give our loved ones for the holidays are stamped calendars. I've made my husband a 6x6 calendar for his office the past 4 years. It's fun for him to not only have a new picture to look at each month but a great reminder of the fun times we had the year before.

I've made the 8 1/2 x 11 calendars for my mother-in-law and my mom off and on for the past 4 years. It's fun to get pictures from everyone for these calendars. The first one is for my MIL and the second one is for my mom.



All supplies used in these calendars are from Stampin' Up!...although, some of the stamps and paper may not be available anymore. If you have a specific question about a technique or product, just leave me a comment. Tomorrow I'll show you February pages :)

Thank You Cards

One of the things on my "wish list" for Christmas was some stamps from JustRite Stampers after I saw these AWESOME cards on Emily's blog. She answered a few questions I had about where to start...and I got these fun stamps for Christmas. I couldn't wait to use them so I made our thank you card for Christmas with them!

So fun!!! I wanted them to do my sister's graduation announcements with her initials in the center and then class of 2009 and her high school intials around the edges. Can't wait to keep playing! The BEST part is that these stamps fit SU!'s 1 3/4" circle punch perfectly!!! So occasionally, I'm sure you'll see me use these stamps with my SU! stamps. I love that you can personalize the edge...that's my very favorite part!

Card Recipe: All supplies from SU! unless noted CS: So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Whisper White; Stamps: Classic Backgrounds (this is retiring Jan. 18), Small Letter Set (JustRite Stampers); Ink: So Saffron, Certainly Celery; Accessories: White Gel Pen, Boho Blossoms Punch, 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/4" circle punch.

Christmas Day

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! What a day of fun! We started the fun with seeing what Santa brought...a science kit for JR, a camera for Sierra, and a baby stroller for Sydney.

We continued on to open presents that were under the tree. The biggest surprise for the kids was a Wii from Mom and Dad :)

The Elders joined us for lunch.



The rest of the day/evening was spent playing the wii (MarioKart and WiiFit are the favorites)!!! We took some time out to try out J.R.'s volcano kit. We built our first volcano and hope to try it out tomorrow.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was great! Most of the day was spent preparing for Christmas...lots of cleaning, baking, and cooking at our house!

Here's our wall of cards :) DEFINITELY one of the highlights of the season for me.

We left food for Santa's reindeer on the lawn.

We read the Nativity story from the scriptures and let the kids act it out...too precious!!! This will definitely be something we continue to do each year.

Tradition is to open one present on Christmas eve...new pjs!!

Countdown to Christmas...2 DAYS!!

Today we spent some time making a Santa toilet paper roll craft. I got the template here for this fun craft.

Last day for FREE shipping & 10 percent off retiring stamp sets!

Merry Christmas, Stampers!

Today is the LAST day to take advantage of the FREE shipping offer. I'll hold all orders until 7 p.m. tonight so everyone can get free shipping on their order!

Today is also the LAST day to get 10 percent off any of the retiring stamp sets (see the list here). There are so many GREAT stamps on the list you will want to order now. When you can get free shipping and 10 percent off today, what are you waiting for? :)

Are you ready to begin your Valentine projects?? Check out the flyer to see a new stamp set, new designer series paper, and a new heart punch that includes 3 different sizes of hearts. This bundle is being offered at a 20 percent discount through January 31. Order your bundle now for $41.48 so you can start early on your projects!

Save the date in 2009 for these events:

**Jan. 5 begins Monday Madness again. Bring any project you want to work on and stamp together with friends. 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Cost: FREE. This event will be held the 1st and 3rd Mondays each month.

**January Technique Night--Thursday, Jan. 8, at 7 p.m. See what can be done with sanding blocks. We'll be creating 2 projects. Cost: FREE--Club Members; $7--Customers (FREE w/ $40 purchase the night of the event)

**All Occasion Cards Stamp-a-Stack--Friday, Jan. 9, at 7 p.m. 15 card designs will be available for you to make 10 cards. We'll be using retiring stamp sets to create these cards. Cost: $20--Club Members; $25--Customers. Must RSVP by Jan. 5

**New Catalog Open House--Saturday, Jan. 24 from 2-8 p.m. Come when you can...stay as long as you want. You'll make 2 make-n-takes using new product!! No RSVP necessary. Door prizes will be given away! Everyone will get a gift for attending :) The next 6-month stamping schedule will be handed out at the open house!

Happy Holidays!

Countdown to Christmas....3 DAYS!!!

Oh the excitement can hardly be contained right now! Although, the kids were really good about cleaning their rooms today in the anticipation that they might just need to have a little extra room for new toys in just 3 short days.

Tonight we had friends over for dinner and for Family Home Evening. We made our traditional Nativity Scene. It's always so fun for the kids to frost the cookies and create the scene. I'll never regret purchasing this nativity kit a few years back. It's definitely become a tradition...and it's even better when we get to make it with friends! Here's some pics from the fun:

Countdown to Christmas...4 Days!!!

Already to sing a couple Christmas songs in church today!

Countdown until Christmas...5 DAYS!!!

Wow, this week has gone quickly...guess I'll start with Thursday. The girls and I spent the morning running errands. They weren't errands for Christmas but we had to "endure" everyone else that was trying to do Christmas errands. I think I stood in a 10-minute line at each stop. Thursday night was suppose to be family craft night at school...because of some behavior issues we decided to not attend...which made the rest of the night even more interesting to say the least.

Friday morning started off really good with JR being invited to read some of his writing for "Writer's Circle." It was a great morning for him...too bad his teacher lost his original work so he had to write something else the day before.

Most of the week has been spent prepping these (and working on another couple of projects...but I can't show you those just yet):

It's been fun to bake again (see my recipe blog for the recipes of the goodies :). I was also able to sneak in some stamping with the ornaments and the tags. Here's a close up of the tag...but of course I photographed one that got a little smeared...but you get the general idea. Just die cut a top note and fold in half. I stamped the Baroque Motifs flourish in Versamark and then stamped the greeting in white...ta-da...done!

My amazing hubby delivered them with the two girls in tow while I went back to JR's school to help them do "ice cream cone trees." And of course I forgot my camera so no pictures to share from that fun :)

Tonight we finally went to dinner as a family for JR's birthday since Sierra wasn't feeling well the night of his birthday. Then we drove around and looked at Christmas lights and listened to Christmas music. One of my most favorite things to do at Christmas time is drive around seeing Christmas lights...whether the display is small or HUGE, it makes me happy just the same.

I'll probably take a break from blogging for a bit...just to enjoy some time with the family during the holidays (and hopefully sneak a bit of extra sleep since it seems my cough/cold is getting worse...of course, just in time for the holidays!) But you never know, I might post here and there :) Merry Christmas!

Countdown to Christmas...8 Days!!!

Attended J.R.'s holiday sing performance. Nothing quite like a holiday sing to get you in the Christmas mood :)

When we got home, the girls played outside with the umbrella in our "winter weather."

Only two Christmas present projects left...too bad I saved the two biggest ones for last. Oh well, at least all of the shopping is complete! I would like to squeeze in a bit of baking, too, but since I've read the 2nd and 3rd books of the Twilight series in the last week, guess it just depends if I get the 4th book before Christmas or not whether I bake or not :)

Triangle Box

This box was also from the packaging class which came from convention. I realized after I gave this box away that you probably should have seen a side shot of this box to really see it :) Too late now! It's made from a piece of DSP measuring 12" x 9 3/4". The 12" side is scored at 3 1/4", 6 1/2", and 9 3/4". The 9 3/4" side is scored at 3 1/4" and 6 1/2". The top two squares are cut off to create the front flap with the remaining middle square. It's the perfect size for a homemade ornament. I feel lots of these boxes will be made in the next few weeks at my house :)

Square Box

At the first of the month, I taught a packaging class. All of the ideas came from convention. I'm excited to use these packages for Christmas gifts this year. This is the square box we made. It's made from two pieces of 12x12 DSP. Both the lid and the bottom are the exact same size. Since it's DSP, it's light enough it will work together. Each piece is scored at 2 3/4" on each edge. Easy, easy box!

Don't forget about SU! AWESOME special through Dec. 23...10 percent off all RETIRING stamp sets AND FREE shipping on your order $70 or more!

Countdown until Christmas....10 Days!!!

Tonight we took the kids shopping for each other. While we were there, we got everyone ready for the chilly, rainy days we've had lately. Here they are all bundled up under the tree :) The most pleased one is DEFINITELY Sydney!

Top Note Card

As if you didn't already like the Top Note Die...here's a reason to LOVE it! First I cut my Riding Hood Red CS at 4 1/4" x 11". Then I folded the cardstock in half. I attached a strip of Holiday Treasures DSP to the bottom of the card. Place the cardstock on the die just below the top of the top note so it won't cut the top scoring of the cardstock. Run it through the Big Shot...TA-DA you have an instant simple card. For this card (which I'll be using as a tag), I just stamped a greeting. You could definitely add more as you would like :)

My precious little one

This past week a friend from last year's preschool class came to school to take some photos. She got one of the most amazing shots of Sydney and me. I just love it.

Another person was there the same day and got a fantastic photo of my baby girl, too.

These photos remind me of how quickly she's growing up. No more dependent baby...totally independent toddler! After seeing these photos, I had to take a step back and make sure I'm doing all I can to be the best mommy. It's always good to have those "evaluation" moments. Love you, my precious little one!

Countdown to Christmas...12 Days!!!!

Today was a WONDERFUL family day! We made our traditional sugar cookies, frosted them, and ate them. We also watched "The Grinch." At the first of the month we asked the kids some things they want to do during December. The things we did today were on J.R.'s list :)







Here's the recipe to the yummy sugar cookies!

Stamped Ornament

This ornament is created by cutting a circle from a piece of acetate using the coluzzle. It's important to be sure to add a "tab" to the top when you're cutting your circle so the circle won't move inside the ornament. Stamp in staz-on on the acetate and color on the backside of the image using sharpie markers. Add "snow" to the ornament and insert your acetate sheet by rolling it up. A fun way to personalize your ornaments.