still me

kinda a big deal...

so today is the big day that i can finally make a really cool BIG announcement!  i have been in the process of working on a new book!! i am super excited, and well... if i was being honest, a bit overwhelmed! but it's coming together SO beautifully!

so here is the scoop...

this is a new series put together by Northridge Media and all these amazing designers! i would want a book from each and every one of these ladies! i am sure that you would agree! this is an amazing fabulous line up!  these books will each be beautifully photographed, just like you would expect from Northridge, but in each of our own distinct style and personality!

now the books will sell on the newstand for $17.95 individually, but when you pick up the subscription NOW at the intro price you get each issue for 65% off that price.. just over $8.   i think this is a no-brainer. i have to admit, that i havnen't picked up a new magazine subscription for quite some time- but this one is REALLY worth it. i know for a fact that each of these creative, amazing women are totally out doing themselves on these books.  this is coming at a good time- it's a perfect thing to ask for YOURSELF for christmas! and your 2012 will be filled with inspiration all year!

click this link to check it out in more detail, and get your very own delivered straight to your house! happy mail! you gotta love that!

happy wednesday!

i am so excited about this... i have been loving me some orange tones as of recent... the color is: TANGERINE TANGO! how fun is that? i love what they are saying about it:  "Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy"

i'd love an orange wall!

ok... so today is WEDNESDAY and on today's episode of "Create to Remember" i  show one of my FAVORITE super-quick and fun-to-make desk top scrapbook albums. This idea can be used for so many different types of projects: recipie holder, calendar, birthday countdown, or 'add-on' project. it's a PERFECT teacher gift and can be as simple or complicated... i even think it would be a wonderful way to display those precious drawings and creations your kids make!  the show is only about 5 minutes or so... definately worth a peek!  thanks to the folks at My Craft Channel for doing such an awesome job getting the great shots and making it really easy to see exactly what i am doing!

this is my 11th episode! can you believe that there have been that many!? if you have missed any... you can click HERE and go to my SHOW page... there you can check out all the different shows...there are lots of great gift ideas in there! 11 days left right?  plenty of time to make some gorgous gifts!

happy wednesday!

a recap... w/ some instructions!

I blinked, and it was Tuesday! yesterday I had my MONDAY POWER, and did all the laundry, cleaned out the fridge, did some shopping and even made dinner ( I know that I shouldn’t be so proud of that, but I am on a dinner-making-streak) and I even splurged and make Choc chip cookies for FHE!  I do love Monday!

This morning we woke up to snow, which is kinda threatening what I had planned for my Christmas card photo shoot this afternoon… but it’s getting closer and closer to Christmas, so we will have to ‘make it work’. I was semi-contemplating skipping the Christmas card this year- but it’s just not Christmas without the card. And you know- EVEN my older boys were asking me about it, that is when you know that you can’t falter. I LOVE getting Christmas cards. I have them hanging in the kitchen- THANK YOU to those of you who send cards! They are loved and enjoyed. I realized that I never sent out cards that gave our new address, so I am kinda afraid many cards won’t find us this year. Another reason for me to get them out.  I have to thank connor for my idea- a little late in the coming, but Connor was INSISTING on this hat yesterday when we were at Old Navy… and I was resisting, resisting… and then the idea came. Bought the hat and 4 more!  We’ll see how it comes together!

 

Ok, I usually do a ‘recap’ of the webshow the day after, and now it’s TUESDAY and I haven’t recapped! I still have to take a few photos, and I am planning to film a little ‘highlights’ reel. But until then… I wanted to show you a few photos from ‘the book’… the 12 days of Christmas Hybrid book…

 

Let me explain this one… I made the book from the ground up with stuff around my house. I did use a Cinch binding machine, and then created a cover out of a Ritz box from my pantrty. (you can even bring some snackin' cheese on into your crafty area while you are crafting!...unless you have a yummy cheeseball)

The Ritz box is just the right size!... when you purchase this kit, you will get all the pages in the PDF format—there are 20 pages (or maybe 21) and they come in order of how they appear in the book. i have mentioned this before, but I like to print at my closest Staples. I take all the files on a jump drive and ask them to print on 110lb white cardstock.   The kit also includes a largish PDF instruction file. It’s got big pictures and step by step instructions.  The kit did get uploaded minus one of the PDF’s and the labels the first time, but as of this morning- the kit is all set- so you might want to re-download it if you already have it.

Before the webshow, I didn’t want to put my photos in the book—so I could show all the pages. But I just uploaded a bunch of photos so that I can start filling it. I quite love it!  it’s 15 pages. Which is a lot, but you can definitely fill!

Here are the up close HOW TO shots for the cover... i showed this a little on the webshow, but here are some photos that might make it even more simple! NOTE: doesn't have to be a RITZ box. could be any!

**my recommendation is to cut all the pages, and adhere them back to back and BIND all the pages first, before you start adding all the STUFF.

1. cut the top and bottom off the box.

2. cut the front off the front

3. leave ONE of the sides on the back piece.

4. fold the remaining side piece, in half.. this will make our spine

5. adhere the front piece to that part that folds over

6. adhere papers to covers on front and back-

7. and the inside too.. this will make the book really sturdy

8. add a 4" piece folded around the outside to cover the spine

9. glue the last page of the bound pages to the back of the book -- i even kinda have the wire-0 sitting in hot glue a litte- so that it really holds. you want the binding to go as close to the edges you can-

once you have cut all the pages off... you will be left with these off cuts- that will embellish all the pages- notice how they are labeled, that will keep them all straight- my little quincy (10 years old) has taken this over now that i have it constructed and she is so excited to follow the instructions and add to the pages!

ok...  there you have it!  i like how it feels in my hands! ok... here are a few more 'tips' i shared... i kinda gave up on my circle punches- and i wound up buying this circle template thing from fiscars, and i have been using it with this free hand cutter. works good- this template is called Circles 1.

for the first 3 pages.. the circle word 'joy' shows through. i recommed using a piece of corrugated cardboard to pop it up so that it's nice and firm.

you will find the mini-4" 12 days print... you will be trimming it in pieces


so cute!

for page 2, there is a little card that opens- you will want to make a little slit in the crease, and tie the ribbon around to decorate the front!

i hope that this makes sense! i'll be back tomorrow with a few more tips--the kit is on sale right now for ONLY $13. so it's a really fun one to pick up!

the M&M Christmas Story

eric and i teach the 4/5 yr old class in Primary at church. Capri is in our class, and we have from 7-9 kids in our class every sunday... they are adorable, and i love getting to teach them!  emily just told me about this cute poem that uses M&M's to illustrate the story of Chist's birth... she sent me the link to a post on www.sugardoodle.com (LDS idea site)  So then i just designed a little tag to staple onto some bags of plain M&M's.

the idea is adorable, and can i just tell you that the kids LOVED turning the M&M's around to find the "M", "W", "E" and "3".  they were so excited to discover that cool trick, and practically ran out of our class to go and show their brothers and sisters... so, i figured that some of you might be have an occasion this holiday season to share this cute thing, and change the way that kids look at M&M's forever... as well as cause them to be reminded of the birth of the Savior every time they pop an M&M into their mouth. i was watching my kids carefully turn the M&M's around to see their cool discovery.

here is what the printable looked like- 6 per sheet.  have fun with this!

really quick

one thing you can be sure of with the LIVE show.. and that is you just never really know how it will go! we had a few technical dificluties! we lost a light. had a weird demo version of ustream and even totally lost our internet at one point! i mean... c'mon!  reguardless everyone had a good time! everyone had a blast visiting wtih each other again...and it's just FUN! it really is!  I will have a full recap with photos of some of the projects that i shared... but for now, some of you have started to watch the recorded version-- so let me be sure that i point you to the right place to find the goods!

1. Really Cool unique holiday cards. 3 in the kit. Crazy for only $2.59

2. crank it out in under an hour mini-tag book!

3. THE BOOK:

20 printable pages, plus a page-by-page, step-by-step photographic instructions included!  all for only $13 while this little beauty is on sale! this book is SO cute- as much fun to make as it is to look through. full of tons of little peek a boos...

also, the book kit includes a bonus of 6 package labels:

more images to come tomorrow!

Watch the LIVE WEBSHOW here!

show will start at 8pm Mountain time tonight! you can view the show here or click to the Ustream site to view the chat and catch the giveaways and links! 

 

FREE WEBSHOW TONIGHT!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO SHOW PAGE:

woohoo! it's been a long time since i was getting ready for a webshow! i am a little out of practice! and well, maybe taking things a bit over the top! i do hope you will join in tonight! it's at the same place as usual... 8pm MST.  if you won't be able to join in tonight, you will be able to check in later and still view the partY!  i have so much so share! i can't wait.. so get your fringe scissors at the ready! you will need them. we'll be making cards, tags, lables, books and more books, bows and we will have SO much fuN!

i will be sharing a fabulous book project, and have an adorable FREEBIE! so you won't want to miss!!

decking the halls... and a winner!

As promised… I am giving away one of these very limited edition ‘Holly Jolly” charms today!  Not very scientifically, I had my little Capri pick a number, and you my friend KATHY BRITTON are the winner!  Congrats! (please contact me on Facebook so i can send this out to you asap!) Bcharmed threw in a beautiful chain as well!  I hope that you enjoy him very much, and that he brightens your day, and brings you joy for many years to come! You will LOVE the gorgeous little box the charm comes in, complete with a hidden compartment and future storage for your charm, and the lovely velvet draw string bag the chain comes in!  perfect for gift giving! (that little star is not included...i added that to mine!) Merry Christmas! i was visiting the Bcharmed offices yesterday, and they told me that there are only a few of the Holly Jolly charms left and i also learned that the chain would be on sale for 30% off today only! so if you are still considering buying it as a gift, act fast!

As I read through all the comments, I was so impressed with how many of you said that you don’t get struck with the holiday blues! I am so thankful for those of you who responded with your strategies… and I appreciate all your good ideas.

I might have figured out what works for me on Tuesday!

I posted earlier the crazy scene from Sunday night- the pulling everything out, the kids decking the halls… but Monday morning, I woke up (well, after a short night of sleep) to boxes, bins, bits and pieces strewn everywhere. The house looked like a holiday bomb had gone off, and not in a good way.  Since this is our first year in this house- I didn’t have a plan for how to set up. But Monday- I couldn’t think about it.  Woke up Tuesday, the mess was still there, but even more pilfered through and spread amuck. And it just seemed like more than I could tackle.

I sat on the couch for a good 20 minutes staring at it, feeling a little paralyzed – and then it hit me- a tiny notion to re-arrange the furniture! And that was all I needed…I realized that I could think outside the box a little, and look at everything from a different perspective! If I was being honest, I would tell you that I would love all new decorations. I’d love to buy a flocked pre-lit tree… and scrap it all. But it was ‘make it work’ time. 

I took some of your advice, and cranked up the Christmas music… and you know- it worked!  (true confession time: I love the Hillary Duff  Christmas Album) pretty soon I had the furniture moved, and a vision. All it took was a quick trip to Target for a few more lights, couple more tree skirts, peppermint candies and pink jewel ornaments.

Eric was happy to hang my ‘joy to the world’ banner and figure out how to hang a frame on that rock fireplace. And he didn’t make any snide comments about the fact that I put up 12 trees.

It made me so happy! by dinner time I had consolidated all the empty bins and boxes and stowed them in the basement. All the chaos had been cleared, and we were left with a sparkling, happy, festive home… and probably more importantly, a happy mom. (this a birds eye view from my scrapbook studio in the loft)

 

I think that you do have to know what makes YOU happy. however little. However irrelevant. YOU matter. I know that Christmas is NOT about 12 trees crammed into your family room. Or the stockings. Or the presents. But it IS about JOY. And while all that can be a distraction from the Savior… when you sit back and think about the birth of the Savior, and we make such a big deal out of it…there is NO room for sadness. The Celebration should be grand, and it should be sweet…and all things should point to CHRIST.  And that is what I am going to think about when I sit in the glow of the lights and candles… with a prayer that the sweet spirit of Christmas will fill this house this month.

thanks everyone! and merry christmas!

 

 

frame clips on My Craft Channel

it's WEDNESDAY so there is a NEW EPISODE on my show "create to remeber" on My Craft Channel, and it's a MUST WATCH today because not only does this make a SUPER Cute, (not to mention quick) GIFT for people of all ages! (which is technically a 'hand made' gift...:) but doesn't require much craftiness!... but ALSO is prime for your holiday decor as there are many adorable printables... great to pull out some VINTAGE christmas photos to enjoy! 

the possibilities are endless when you start thinking about this! so watch for some cute frames... or even you could take a frame that you aren't using anymore- you could add a coat of spraypaint and make something NEW!

to buy

click here to purch the Holly JOlly charm...