Advent calender

Enjoying daily surprises in the advent calenders, one for each of the boys. With the help of Tom, Sally, and Kristi, we made these last year using muffin tins.... loved how they turned out. I will be mod-podging the magnetic squares on top of each area to keep them somewhat clean! We have been doing a lot of winter and Christmas related activities in the advent calenders this year, rather than food/treats everyday. I love this way of teaching the boys about Christmas and it's meaning to our family.

I have finished the Christmas albums-will be posting pictures of the finished projects after Christmas. Very excited about them again this year-love how everything turned out.

I am working on another mini-album, creating it myself, theme being Jack's Vacation Bible School week back in August. I am hooked on mini albums and mini books!

Merry Christmas!

My sweet boys

Step by step instructions for the mini book

I've had a couple people ask me how I made the October book, so here's what I did:

1. I bought a pack of index cards from an office supply store that was already numbered with the orange number tabs.

2. I used a crop-a-dile to punch 2 holes in each index card and the extra pages I made out of the patterned paper and cardstock. I then used the crop-a-dile to put eyelets in the holes to reinforce them (this is what made the book so thick).

3. I covered each index card with the patterned paper/cardstock as well.

4. I then went through and put in photos for each day, then put small jounaling spots and embellishments throughout.

5. Since the book became bigger than I had binder rings for, I used twine to attach each 10 pages, then connected each section together with another piece of twine for reinforcement.

6. On the front and back covers, I used a matte mod podge, and on the "07" on the front, I used a mod podge with sparkle and a gloss finish. I think that's it!

If you have any more questions, just email me- Thanks for checking my book out!

Christmas Albums

Now that I have finished my October book, I am working on the Christmas albums that I give as gifts every year to my mom, mother-in-law, sister, and sister-in-law. I use Creative Memories 7x7 albums, and do an ABC format. ( A is for Aunt Megan/Aunt Kristi, B is for Brothers, C is for Collin, etc.) I use a different color/design every year, and different words with the letters every year, with the same format inside. BUT, challenging my limits, I am changing the albums slightly this year. Using some fun products like stamps and my favorite paper right now-kraft paper.

I am also going to be using our advent calender that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came up with and helped me make last Thanksgiving. Looking forward to getting them ready with lots of fun Christmas and winter related activities. Not a lot of candy, but more activities focused on the real meaning of Christmas.

I'm finally finished with my first mini-book.....which by the way, isn't so "mini". I wanted to capture and record the events during my favorite month of the year, using a pack of index cards I found at the local office supply store. It was perfect--the orange tabbed cards went to #31-perfect for October. I used pictures for what we did each day for each index numbered card.
I didn't keep the whole book "uniform"...I kind of did what I felt was right on each page for the events in that section. I made a lot of my own journaling spots-and I really liked how they were in size for a mini book. So here are only a few pages from my first (gigantic) "mini" book.
This is the "intro" page. Each small green circle on the bottom is one of our family's intials. I used my own handwriting for the journaling, some letter rub-on's for accent/embellishments, and printed some inspirational October poems and quotes from the computer.

I used a lot of circular accents, and I felt like they were kind of "floating". In and around most of my circle "stuff", I just took a marker, and did my own doodling to "ground" the circular accent. In the picture below, I showed how I used my circle punch in some extra space in a picture where I couldn't exactly crop out. Wrote a word that described the picture, then doodled on the paper beneath inside the circle. Simple, fast, and easy.
I also enjoyed using my McGill file tab punch for easy and fast accents as well, and found some stickers that actually fit right onto the tab.

For Jack and Collin's halloween costume pages, I used a file tab punch from kraft paper (which I'm loving by the way) and wrote their costume description on top, and used rub-ons with their initals on the bottom corner of the tab. Again... simple and easy.
I also used this orange envelope with a transparent window, and embellished with a circle punch and rub-on's.
The trick-or-treat pages...

And the last pages....

Since this book turned out WAY thicker that I wanted or even imagined, I used twine. I wrapped together sections of each 10 pages, then connected each section together. And I think the twine turned out pretty cute...adding to the autumn theme (reminds me of scarecrows, hay, etc.)

And I stamped only this on the back cover:
Never thought I'd get into scrapbooking 7 years ago....never thought I'd get into mini-books even a few months ago. And now I'm hooked on both! Peace.

Artists at work.....

Little hands, big masterpieces.

Attitude

Our pastor read this quote in church this morning......

“Attitude”

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company ... a

church ... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past ... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do

is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitude." - Chuck Swindoll

Such a great reminder for me.......

October mini book preview.....

I am about 1/3 of the way done, and am really pleased with how it is turning out. I mod podged the front in matted finish after painting the chipboard and putting sparkle mod podge on the numbers. Using lots of products from here and there throughout the book. Using what feels right rather than feeling like I need to maintain a "consistency" throughout the book.

Halloween and His Amazing Grace

The cutest firefighter and safari guide I've ever seen.....
Pumpkin artwork done by Tom-turned out super cool!
And Collin working on his bike tricks....
And this photo I found on Ali's blog (thanks Ali!). I've been praying for more patience and grace in my everyday doings, and strength to extend it to others. This photo speaks so many things to me.....His grace. Parenting with grace. The simplistic yet artful type in different font sizes. Love this picture.

I am continuing to work on my October mini album, and am loving it. Does anyone know where I can get some super big binder rings (like 3" or larger?) I am looking forward on finishing it soon, and posting pictures. It has been SO fun to create something like this......something new like a mini book, and to create something about my favorite month and time of the year.

Peace.

My first Mini Book!

I'm starting to love mini books, but haven't made any yet. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone of 12x12 layouts, and making my first mini book.

My first mini-book details:

Topic: the past month of October and our family's activites.
Strategy: using a pack of tabbed index cards that are already numbered 1-31 on orange file tabs. Purchased at Office Depot.
How it's coming along: AWESOME

Using lots of new tools, techniques, and a new mindset with this one. Really excited about how it's coming along...pictures to come!

Gotta love the Park and Pumpkin Patches

I am.....

Completed a layout about me! Played with some flower stamps to create an "organic" feel for this layout. Used some odds and ends including a "blessed" charm, and some "E" initial rub-ons and stickers. Let me know what you think!

A Ticket to Ride.

3 trips around the neighborhood already with the new bike, 2 bike falls, 1 happy 4 year old.

Sandbox fun.

Loved how both of the boys and both dogs were "hangin' out" with each other today. Had to grab the camera of course and capture the moment before one of the four jetted off!

Yeah for fruits and vegetables!

I'm celebrating eating a vegetarian diet for a year now, and a vegan diet for almost a month....never felt better!

Through my journey of becoming a vegetarian, and now a vegan, I have learned some fascinating and humbling things about how much a vegetarian diet can influence so much...our health, our environment, and our animals.

Have discovered some really helpful websites as well along the way so far...email me for more info on these.

Have been scrapbooking some personal pages lately... and feeling good about them.

Happy 4th Birthday, Jack!

A pistachio green muffin for the birthday boy.....his favorite!

A new big boy bike and a guitar....lucky man!

Back to preschool for Jack....

...and loving every minute of being in Ms. Kim's class.

Right down to toes....

.....and your matching socks, I love you guys each so much, each so completely.

Working on Jack's birthday album....should be completing it within the next few days.

Creative break.

Taking a creative break right now. Having lots of ideas swarm my head, though! It's amazing to see how I look at the world differently now. As a scrapbooker, as a Christian. Can't wait to get back into the creative process and spend some good time working on things. Creative breaks are good for all of us...refreshing, renewing, reinventing.

Welcome to Texas, Aunt Kristi!

Aunt Kristi has moved to Austin, and we are happy that we'll all be able to spend lots of time with her. She moved here just before Jack's birthday party.... yipee! Someone to scrapbook with!

Family Smiles...

Birthday Celebration.

Can't believe it's been 4 years since this little boy changed our lives so greatly....
We celebrated his 4th birthday in Packer-fashion, since his favorite shirt is his #4 Brett Favre Green Bay Packer shirt. And since he is turning 4 years old, how perfect was that?
Jack welcomed his guests with his Green Bay Packer cheesehead and all...

Working on his birthday album already.... pictures to come!
Happy 4th Birthday lil' man. May all your dreams come true!