Love Fest

I love a holiday.

Especially one like Valentine's Day...a day that gives permission to be as cheesey about love as you want to be. And since I'm all about hugs and talking about your feelings and saying "I love you" to the people I love again and again on any given normal day, Valentine's Day is like my Christmas.

Except it's not, because I love it too...for lots of other reasons. ;)

And speaking of Christmas..I totally dropped the ball on sending cards. But in my defense, we didn't have our family pics taken until we were home for Christmas, so I didn't really have an option there. SO I decided to send out New Year's cards, but that didn't happen either. And I was about to give up, which made me a little sad because I had these new fab family photos from the very talented Tomi Cheeks (http://www.gypsyheartphotography.com/) and no one to share them with. ;) And THEN when my friend Barbi asked if she had been bumped off the Christmas card list (of course not), she gave me the push I needed to send out some Valentine cards. So I made a few to send to family and a few friends, and now I'm thinking that Valentine's cards are the way to go~ mostly because no one is really expecting that, which makes it fun.

So there you go. A story you probably could've lived without, but oh well. ;)

On Saturday the boys and I had a crafty day. We really needed a day of nothing. We relaxed. Watched movies. Took naps. And made valentines and cookies. And it was perfect.

"Love Dude"~ made by Hud, age 6

"Heart Elephant"~ by Hunter, age 4

Hunter worked on his cutting skills...

...while Harrison and Hud made Heart People for their teachers. :)

Because heart people are fun, and having a day to decompress is even funner. Which isn't a word, but maybe should be. ;)

And here...my favorite pic of my valentine and me. Thankful that 16 years later, he still makes my heart go "pitter pat." Or however that saying goes. I'm crazy about him.

Share the love, people. :)

And just in case you're wondering why I shared this post here instead of on my family blog, here's the reason: The purpose of this blog is to inspire you to create something. Anything. Sometimes I post photos of a layout, or something I've done to the house, sometimes I'll give a tutorial...today I just wanted to inspire you to pull out your craft supplies, grab your kids (if you have them) and just have fun. So there you go. :)

Page Kits Coming to the Little Blue House!

Remember a couple weeks ago when my family was snowed in?

Stuck in the house for 5 days...starting to believe that we would never dig ourselves out? ;)

I'm happy to report that I did something productive with that time and put together some page kits that will be sold at the Little Blue House!

Spoke with Tracy today, who told me that they should be ready to sell on Thursday.

Two different two-page layouts, using some "oldie but goodie" paper lines that, in my opinion, never get old. :) You will receive in your kit everything you need to complete these layouts.

Love having the opportunity to stay tied, at least in a small way,

to one of my very favorite places.

"Chill"

Two-page layout created using the "Artic Blast" paper line by Fancy Pants. Enough pink or blue to be great for whatever snowy, wintry day photos you want to use.

Close up of page one:

And page two:

"Crazy (in) Love"

This line (by October Afternoon) has been one of my favorites for awhile. A perfect fit for our new family photos that were taken last month.

Close-up of page one:

And page two:

You gotta go check them out.

Details on pricing and quantities available at the Little Blue House.

Happy scrapping, everyone! :)

Because you asked...

Or at least someone did. Thanks Erin!

Here is a pic of our mantel. I've had a love/hate relationship with this thing.

Love that we have a fireplace again (didn't in our old house), and love that I have a mantel to decorate. But I've been fighting with this thing to get it "just right."

Not exactly sure what "just right" is.

But I think this is as close to good as it's going to get. :)

Family

We're snowed here in the Atlanta metro area, so for the first time in awhile I've actually had a little extra time on my hands. Kinda shocked myself. ;) I have been wanting something that said "family" for our mantle, and finally got around to making it.

Super easy...just need a 2x4 piece of wood (and if you're not handy with a circular saw, you'll need your sweet husband's help) ;), your cricut (or chipboard letters to trace onto paper), some paint and mod podge, and you're good-to-go. :) I made another set for a friend, but since she hasn't gotten them yet, I will post about it later. There's a very cool story that goes with her word, and I can't wait to tell it! :)

I also just (finally) packed up a couple of mini book gifts for my aunt and my cousin and his wife, who are expecting a baby boy any day now. Can't wait to see that little guy's face!

And the photos below are of a tree I was asked to put together for our women's ministry at church. This one was supposed to be a winter theme, and then I'll change it up each time the season's change througout the year. Kinda fun doing something that didn't involve paper.

Found some curly willow branches at Pier One Imports, which saved me from having to chop down some branches from a tree in our yard, glittered them up, stuck them in this urn-type thing, and added some snowflakes. And there you go.

Now I've got some page kits to finish up for the Little Blue House, and a NASCAR album (the 4th one, I believe) for a friend of Brian's....I love a project. :)

A Gift

This is a little something I made for my parents for Christmas.

It went so well with my kitchen that I was tempted to keep it for myself. ;)
Just kidding....but it did make me decide that I will definitely be making another one, because these trays are LOTS of fun.

These trays are made by 7gypsies, and I've been itching to try one for months. Love how each opening is like it's own little scrapbook page...I also love how a 4x6 photo stands beautifully on it's own too (like the one of Hunter, bottom right). I used 7gypsies papers and some Tim Holtz embellishments...the F is for Family stickers are from 7gypsies as well.

These trays come in black or white, with a few different size options...and I noticed they are on sale at www.scrapbook.com too. :) Happy crafting!

See You at The Little Blue House SOON!

It's no secret that I miss teaching. Admittedly, I was a little burned out around the time we were moving here, but it wasn't long at all before I realized how much the papercrafting world really is a part of me. :) So I was thrilled when Tracy asked me if I would like to teach a workshop while we're in Texas for Christmas. Um, let's see...definitely yes!

So I will be teaching this 10x10 wall hanging at The Little Blue House on Thursday, December 30.

The class will be offered both during the day and again that evening.

"All You Need is Love" features Fancy Pants' new "Hot Chocolate" line. I LOVE this line so much...it's great for Christmas scrapbooking and such, but not so Christmas-y that you can't use it for other things too. Like a super-cute wall hanging that would look great in your house. ;)

In the workshop I'll be teaching a new flower technique, and will bring my laptop along in case any of you want to learn how I made the small, antiqued photos using Photoshop.

For more information and to sign up for this class, visit The Little Blue House blog.
REALLY hoping to see lots of you there~ I miss you!

And the stocking were hung...

This is one of those posts that falls under the "such" category of "scrapbooking and such." Usually my posts involve paper of some sort, but this time it's all about fabric.

Our family was in serious need of new stockings. I hated the ones I had made a few years ago...they were horrible. My friend Jenny showed me some stockings that were in a catalog, and I loved them like she did. They were $35 apiece, and the last thing I wanted to spend $175 right now was stockings. So we decided to make them. And I'm thrilled to report that for what it would have cost to buy one of those stockings, I was able to make all five. Yippee!!

What I think sets these stockings apart (and what drew me to them) is the zebra print ruffle. The ones in the catalog were made of leopard print, which was part of my original plan...until I remembered I had lots of zebra fabric leftover from re-covering my grandma's rocker. So I saved a little extra $$ and our stockings are extra coordinated too. Win-win. :)

We traced an old stocking onto some newspaper to use as a pattern, and my roll of Tacky Tape became a template for the circles. :) Don't know if you sew or not, but if you need any other tips, let me know! Merry Christmas!