I promised...

...and although it's late, here it is:

1. Thrifty Finds

Give me a free hour or two and I don't head to the mall. I head to the local thrift shop...and come away a few dollars more poor, but a few treasures more rich :) The guy ringing up my total said, "These are grandma things."

He was like 70.

I said, "Well I feel like an old lady trapped in a young person's body most of the time."

I don't think we either one had any idea what to say after that.

2. Instead of sneaks how about the real deal?

Meet an "Old Acquaintance"

Used a part of a chipboard flower to mask here and some recent photobooth pics of my cousin, her baby boy and I. Loved the toned down feel of this. Journaling about how I can't believe we are in this place in our lives, how blessed we are and how I wish we lived closer. The paper is Bella Blvd. as well as the paper flowers--aren't those awesome? You get one in the kit, but they has so many layers I pulled them apart for more ideas...although I also messed them up in the process ;( Guess that's how it goes!

When I saw the October Afternoon aplha in the kit it immediately made me think of all the pics I have of Aven creating. Here he is, Bumblebee Transformer costume on, painting away. My journaling talks about how he loves art and said on this day, "When I grow up I want to be an artist, but right now I'm just a little artist." Totally fine by me! I used the bottom of an old metal basket as the misting mask and some new spray ink. My stocking was filled with 8 new colors from Maya Road..guess I was on the nice list after all ;)

And this might be my most favorite project of the whole kit and it was so easy! Thrifted this frame for 50 cents and cut out some beautiful paper from Basic Grey to fit.For the life of me I can't remember where I came across this quote or who it is by. But I have always loved it and thought it could mean so many things..

*I took a deep breathe and let it go....and walked into the room to face my fears.

*I took a deep breathe and let it go...and pushed my baby into the world.

*I took a deep breathe and let it go...and chose to move beyond past disappointments.

*I took a deep breathe and let it go...and drove away for the last time.

You get the idea. Anyway, I loved how the butterflies seem to be flying away and kinda went with the quote. Plan on hanging this by my computer as a reminder that sometimes all I need to do is take a deep breathe and 

let  

it  

go.

A couple of cards in the gallery, as well as some super inspiration form the January guest and design team. Be sure to check it all out!

3. Be my guest

There is a new prompt over at Category Stories and a new guest designer you might know ;)

The prompt was "perfect fit". Here is my interpretation:

I love that they give prompts and then you just jump off with it and create. Be sure to play along with them this month. All you have to do is link your creation to the January 1 post and/or their Flickr group (do both for a second chance to win!) The prize is determined by a random draw so you have nothing to lose and a cool new layout to gain! Please link me up if you do play along. I would love to see what you do with it :)

Hope you all had a wonderful ringing in of the new year. Wishes of the most blessed year for you and yours!

The merriest

We had a merry Christmas.

The merriest in fact.

I got my wish...SNOW. Not a lot, but enough to feel all Christmasy.

                                             the night before writing a letter to santa

                                       getting the fireplace ready for the big guy's arrival

And the boys proved that if you stay on the nice list it can be very rewarding.......

..........thanks Elfie ;)

And the aftermath, which I love and actually have a hard time cleaning up.

It was a beautiful day spent celebrating Jesus' birthday.

Tomorrow: thrifty finds, sneak peeks and guesting :)

Christmas spirit

Have you had your seasonal dose of Christmas spirit?

I've had several.


One of which might as well have been wrapped in paper and tied with a big bow...because it is the best gift I will receive this year.


We went out to eat and look at Christmas lights.


And in the distance heard a train.



A Polar Express train to be exact.


And with that we revealed the surprise, changed the boys into new Christmas p.j.'s and climbed aboard.



A ride FILLED with Christmas magic.


Tickets please, tickets.


All the sugar cookies and hot chocolate you could ever want.








We read the book. Listened to the music. Sang carols.



One of the funniest parts of the ride was when we passed santa's toy shop. The elves were taking a break and doing jumps, cartwheels and handstands. Aven turned to us and said,"They need to get back to work!"


Cracked up the whole cart.


We drove thru a beautiful display of Christmas lights...and then...the grand finale.


The big man.




The first gifts of Christmas were passed out.





And then repeatedly thrown to the ground by this little guy.



We stepped off the train with bellies full of cocoa and cookies and hearts filled with Christmas excitement....and then...

..it started to snow.


Ok.

It was fake snow.


But to them it was as real as...well...the ride they had just taken to the North Pole.



And as far as I'm concerned...that's as real as it gets. :)

Bonus

Here's a little bonus for you.

In Freehand Scraps December kit is a great piece of plaid patterned paper by October Afternoon. It's not actually from a Christmas line, but I thought it could work for gift tags just fine :)

I used my Slice and cut tags from kraft paper and then cut several different icons using the Fa La La design card. I planned on making just one tag. hee hee! I made 9! Couldn't stop--they were so fun! 

Typed some sentiments after I used Maya Road Mist in metallic emerald and then put them together with a few embellishments from my stash. 

I love how they all look together.

It won't be hard to give these tags away, especially since I plan to only attach them to presents of friends I know will appreciate the effort! :D I found some black and white houndstooth wrapping paper that I think will match lovely. 

Speaking of matching....

how cute are these two?

I thought they went well with the Christmas plaid tags I had going on ;)

Give

This month's kit from Freehand Scraps is just too pretty for words.

So I'll let my layouts do the talking ;)

I must confess, this is not the picture that was suppose to go on this layout. I have only a few photos of me from when I was young, 2 of which are in frilly, girly dresses. Either dress photo would have worked, and yet, and I couldn't find either one :( I thought about using a newborn photo of one of the boys in black and white, but I really wanted a photo with a more vintage feel. So this...is my husband :) Isn't he a cutey?

This layout was just fun. No rhyme or reason. Just playing with paint and paper. I cut the camera shape using my Slice and I loved how the chipboard button fit right in. I knew once I saw those frames I would paint some and "hang" them from thread. Appropriate I thought since I am confessing my love of taking pics with my instant camera.

And what december kit would be complete with out a december layout? This was the pic I used for our Christmas cards last year, and as I have confessed in the past I haven't scrapped a whole lot of holiday photos. In fact, bedsides Aven's birthday photo from last month's gallery, this is the first! I like that it's traditional colors in a bit of a funky way. I added a few buttons, jingle bells and a bit of twine from my stash to complete it. And this years Starbuck's seasonal cup sleeves are exceptionally awesome. I knew there was a reason I saved EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. ;)

Finally a card. I do believe if given the opportunity I could make fabric yo-yos all day long. Instead, I just made one and added the girlfriends looking button to the center. 

Don't forget to head to the gallery for more inspiration!

if you came here for sneaks...

...you came to the right place ;)

Freehand Scrap's December kit is amazing--you can scrap everyday photos or throw in a few Christmas ones if you want! Kits go on sale December 1st and would make a lovely gift for a scrapping friend ;D

notice the new blinkie over here------->

Extremely thrilled to finally tell you I am on the 2010 design team for the wonderful company Buzz and Bloom!

So surprised and blessed to see my name listed among these talented ladies from all around the globe.

Check out their incredible products here and leave some love for my fellow design team members here.

I first got to play with their chipboard & cord clouds in the November kit from Freehand Scraps (which I hear there are only a few left!) and fell in love with how versatile and fun their products were. Can't wait to get a box on my doorstep and start creating :)

Happy early birthday to me, huh? ;)