Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas!  

It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

And, though I often make it the most stressful time of the year with lots of extra activities and things that we like to do this time of year, I do love it so much.

This year things have been crazier than in the past and as of right now we still can't find the stockings. They are not yet hung by the chimney with care and hopefully Santa will soon have somewhere to put a few treats for the kids.

I do have a page to share with you today that I made using the Cable Knit kit from Noel Mignon:

I like to create a layout each year that showcases our family's Christmas card so I've done that to share with you here. 

I really love the mix of rustic with traditional and whimsy in the Cable Knit from Noel Mignon. I've tried to show off quite a bit of it here without it being too big of a mess. I used a lot of different embellishments from the red lace tape to the gold fabric bow, wood veneer snowflakes and enamel dots. 

Here are some other close-up shots of the embellishments I used: 

Have a very Merry, wonderful, happy, joyful Christmas!

♥♥

quick and easy handmade ornaments

Today I have some really quick and easy ornaments to share with you:

I found the wood/burlap ornaments at a craft store and just added some chipboard bits, sequins and cards/stickers from the Fancy Pants Oh Deer! collection. 

As we prep for the holidays time to craft is so rare. 

Quick projects are a must!

happy, happy holidays to you!

♥♥

Naughty or Nice??

 Hello again!

We are now only a week away from Christmas Day!

Can you believe it?

I don't think I am any further ahead than I was the last time I talked about this. ☺

Today, though, I have a fun layout that will hopefully make you smile. I made it for Fancy Pants using the cute Oh Deer! collection:

Have a very Merry Christmas! 

♥♥

Christmas Cheer

Hello!

Today I have a new layout to share with you that I made for Noel Mignon:

This kit has a mix of Fancy Pants, Pink Paislee, Elle's Studio, Maya Road, Pebbles and others. 

I am not a stamper, really, but liked the stamp set in this kit so much that I used it to add some little stars to the background of my page. 

Have a great day!

♥♥

easy Christmas gift bag

I've been sharing the projects that I created for my guest post for Pebbles Inc. 

I will finish off today by sharing a really easy way to dress up a plain kraft gift bag. 

I used the Home for Christmas collection from Pebbles Inc. 

This cute red and white felt garland was my favorite part of the collection. 

Isn't it cute? 

Have a great day!

♥♥

easy Home for Christmas tree ornaments

Handmade ornaments are a fun way to dress up a Christmas tree.

I made these paper ornaments using some Silhouette cut files and the Home for Christmas collection from Pebbles Inc.

These ornaments took just minutes to make. The part that took the longest was cutting them out on my Silhouette Cameo. After that I assembled them and added either twine or gold ribbon. 

This star was my favorite. 

I hope that you are enjoying this beautiful holiday season.

♥♥

Cable Knit kit handmade gift bags

Hello again!

I have some quick handmade gift bags to share with you today.

I made these using the Cable Knit kit from Noel Mignon.

I always love Christmas kits and this one is incredible, so full of so many beautiful things.

♥♥

I used a simple kraft gift bag as the base and then used some patterned paper, lace tape (one of my favorite parts of the kit!) and some miscellaneous embellishments. 

For this one I used lots of Maya Road lace tape and cut the poinsettia from a Jillibean Soup card. 

For this one I used my deer head punch, some Fancy Pants paper and stickers and more red lace tape from Maya Road. 

♥♥

quick cards for Christmas

Today I have a couple of cards to share with you that I made for my Pebbles Inc guest designer post:

These cards were made quick & easy by using premade embellishments like the cardstock shapes and 4x3 cards. I added a paper doily and some twine, some gold glitter glue accents and that was it!

With as busy as things are this time of year quick and easy is essential for me. 

Have a great weekend!

♥♥

Home for Christmas Pebbles guest designer

Good morning!

I had the privilege of guest designing for Pebbles Inc. this month and have some projects I'd like to share with you.

The first thing I'll share from the projects I created is this layout:

These pictures are from last year's performance of Ballet Lubbock's The Nutcracker. We had a chance to meet a lot of the cast and for the kids to get autographs after the show.

For this page I used the Home For Christmas line from Pebbles Inc. My favorite parts of the collection are the candycane striped Thickers and the fun felt garland. 

I will be back to share more projects tomorrow!

♥♥

Christmas is coming with SCT

Have you seen the newest issue of Scrapbook & Cards today yet?

You can see it online here

I just got mine in the mail today along with this layout that I created for the issue with gorgeous product from Jillibean Soup, Doodlebug, Lawn Fawn, Teresa Collins, American Crafts and Bazzill Basics:

Make sure to check out the other designers' takes using these same products in the 3-designer challenge!

♥♥

cards for Noel Mignon

Today I have a couple of cards to share with you!

Have a great day!

♥♥

BasicGrey Evergreen Jumbo Numbers

Hi again!

I've been working hard the last few weeks preparing for a community nativity event held at my church each year.

This year I am in charge of the children's room so I have been so busy!

I've been at the church the last two days setting up the background and staging the nativities.

It is nice to finally be able to sit down for a few minutes.

Here is a layout I made for Basic Grey using the Evergreen Jumbo Numbers:

You can see more details on the BG blog. 

♥♥

another BasicGrey Evergreen layout

It is early summer and I am sharing another Christmas layout with you.

Crazy, right?

It's the time of year for trade show and at this particular show there are a lot of Christmas lines making their debut. The Evergreen collection from BasicGrey was revealed this week and I had the pleasure of getting to create some samples with it.

Have a great weekend!

♥♥

Evergreen from Basic Grey

Hi!

It may seem weird to be sharing Christmas projects in June, but what the hey- it's my birthday!

The new collections, Second City and Evergreen, have been revealed on the blog along with two of my Evergreen layouts and I will share one with you here:

I started with a BasicGrey cut file for the background which you can find in the Silhouette online store. 

The Evergreen collection has such a beautiful color palette: traditional colors with some blue, gold and brown highlights.

You can see more projects with the Evergreen collection as well as Second City on the BG blog today. 

♥♥

have a very Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Usually by now, the morning of Christmas Eve, I have accomplished so much more.

We only put up one tree this year- the one the kids get to decorate- and the other still sits in the box where it will presumably stay until next year. We still have half of our decorations in storage containers. Fudge hasn't been made yet, gingerbread houses are yet undecorated and our Christmas cards are still sitting in the box waiting to be mailed.

Has it been a crazy time around our house?

Absolutey.

Are the kids going crazy with excitement for this special holiday creating so many little gifts for each other?

YES.

I think at last count Hailey had made something like 70 presents. I have no idea what is wrapped in that paper but I bet her sisters will love it.

I finished helping Aimee with presents for her sisters yesterday; it is so fun to see the joy in their eyes as they work on something special for each other.

Will it likely end up on the floor sometime in the near future?

More than likely it will but for now they are enjoying themselves and that is the important thing.

I sometimes get too bogged down in the details of Christmas and don't slow down enough to really enjoy it. This year life has made me realize that I just can't do it all. We will find time to decorate the gingerbread houses while the kids are out of school, the other tree with all of my favorite ornaments can wait and fudge will eventually be made ☺but for now I am enjoying this time with my family when we can all be together.

We are going bowling with some friends this morning- their Christmas Eve tradition- we will exchange treats and play and get the house ready for tonight when we will sing carols, drive around to see the Christmas lights and read in Luke 2 about the birth of baby Jesus. We will open new pajamas and hustle the kids to bed as we furiously wrap all of the presents I've bought over the last couple of months.

It will be a wonderful holiday and we'll eat crepes on Christmas morning while the kids wait anxiously to open their gifts.

I hope that you have a wonderful time celebrating with your family.

Here is a layout that I created with this years' Christmas card and some supplies from Pebbles Inc:

I used a mix of papers from the Halloween and "From Me To You" collections as well as some Thickers and some American Crafts washi tape that I found at Target. 

Have a very Merry Christmas! 

♥♥♥

My Christmas Girl and a Lifestyle Crafts winner!

Good evening!

I've had some internet problems today but wanted to get this post up- FINALLY!

I have picked a winner for my Lifestyle Crafts giveaway- Tammy!

I have emailed her and if she doesn't respond I will choose another winner.

Thanks to Lifestyle Crafts for the fun giveaway.

I also have a new layout to share with you that I created for Pebbles Inc. for this month:

My Sarah was born at the end of the year and her name means "Christmas Princess," something that I think she really loves. She enjoys everything Christmas-related, but especially the decorations, lights, and going to see the Nutcracker Ballet. 

This page was made with a mix of papers from the Pebbles "From Me To You" collection along with some Thickers, washi tape and twine. I added some Heidi Swapp mist and some sequins from my stash. 

Here are a couple of detail shots:

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

♥

p.s. I will have the fun opportunity of designing for the Basic Grey booth this CHA and I'm thrilled.

Have you seen the sneaks yet?

They have another big surprise as well, so make sure to check the Basic Grey blog 

and another quick Nook page

I am really not feeling well this morning- it's kinda bad timing since I'm supposed to go help in Hailey's class.

Well, I don't know if I'll be doing that today...

Some people keep saying that maybe I'm having a boy this time since I'm SO SO SO sick.

I have already had to run into the bathroom four times to be sick this morning and it's not easing up.

Sorry, too much information, I know, but if I am absent here at my blog you'll know why.

What do you think?

Do you think it's another little girl or perhaps a boy this time?

Did you notice a difference in how sick you were depending on whether you were pregnant with a girl or boy?

Maybe you were one of the lucky ones who hardly gets sick.

I am so jealous right now...

****Oh, I have to add that I have three girls,which some may not know. I was sick with all of them but I don't remember being THIS sick this far in, nor THIS tired all of the time. I had some kind of medical complication each time and this time all that I have had to deal with is severe nausea/vomiting and horrible exhaustion. If that's all I have to go through this time it will be a blessing. Of course we are grateful...so very grateful because we thought we wouldn't get to have any more. It took us 2 years to have Hailey so we are grateful for the kids we have been blessed with.

And, YES, of course we'll find out what we're having. I had an ultrasound last week and they couldn't tell anything for sure. We'll go back again in January for my 20 week ultrasound and hopefully that little baby will cooperate so that we can know for sure. If we have another girl we are fully prepared, if we have a boy we have some major shopping to do! Matt says we can just dress a boy in pink and dresses but I.don't.think.so.

Anyway, here is a quick page that I made using the December kit from My Scrapbook Nook. The picture is from last Christmas and the page tells about one of our Christmas morning traditions: yummy crepes filled with fruit, pudding, whipped cream, whatever sounds good ☺

Have a good day!

p.s. I saw one of the brand-new Jillibean Soup paper releases and I can say that I am in love. It is so stinkin' cute! I have seen some of the new embellishments as well and know that you all will LOVE them. I can't wait until CHA time. I wish I could go...I might, just have to work out the details. I'd love to go with my sister-in-law so we'll see... Wouldn't it be incredible to just BE there and see all of the new releases? At least I get a peek at the Jillibean Soup ♥ I'm not sure if those kind American Craft folks will show us before CHA or not. I guess I'll have to wait and see. 

my Christmas mini for Jillibean Soup

This was posted on the Jillibean blog yesterday so I thought I would share some pics here sans the tutorial. You can find all of that info on the blog here:
http://jillibeansoup.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/11/tutorial-on-tuesday-reusing-jillibean-soup-packaging-for-a-christmas-mini-album/comments/page/2/#comments

And just what did I use to make this cute flower-shaped album? Why, I recycled the packaging from the new corrugated shapes from Jillibean Soup! Of course!! And, since I have gotten comments about this: If you don't have enough packages simply use the packaging as a template to make more pages ☺

This was SUCH a fun project and allowed me to use some of my older Jillibean papers along with the new releases and LOTS of cool embellishments. I have to say that my love for Jillibean is growing. I just saw some of the new things that will be coming out with this next CHA and Y'ALL ARE GOING TO LOVE IT, TOO!

Anyway, I've been up since before 4- blame it on the pregnancy, feeling sick and dealing with insomnia already. I got some cards prepped for a class I'm teaching at play group today and now it's almost time to get Hailey up for school. I hope I can squeeze in a nap sometime today.

Is anyone out there?

It seems my blog is a bit lonely for comments lately.

I hope you're all having a wonderful day!

p.s. don't forget to check the Jillibean Soup blog every day for your chance to win some of the new stamps!