Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of my wonderful online friends!

The snow is coming down fast, but we have a lot of plans today! We are braving the elements to sled with small children (how long will that last?), and if all goes well, we'll build a fire and have hot dogs and hot chocolate.

The snow started yesterday, and this is what Morgan spent the majority of the afternoon doing:


I'll share it with you someday.... but for now I'll tell you that my front yard has a hill. It's the silliest looking thing, but it has made for some fun sledding and slip-n-slide parties, so it's been worth the lack in curb appeal. Morgan certainly enjoyed it!

Anyway, after we take a break from sledding, we are headed to a New Years Eve bash hosted by our friends.

It's an '80's themed party! I had a hard time deciding who to channel, but I think the three girls will be Madonna's and Steve's going to be our preppy boyfriend. However, last night Steve came up with a Pat Benetar idea, with a long sweater and leggings, and DANG, I should have done that one. I *almost* did an Andy, Pretty in Pink number. I found this pink skirt with a white lace overlay.... but it was actually priced too high for Goodwill so I passed on it, lol.

So there! A busy day planned. Let's hope the kids will make it!

Until next year.... here's a photo of the girls last year, in their New Years party hats and wands that I made.

::sigh:: I think they still look like that! But that's when they were 2 and 4.

Have a great night! If you are looking for something to do, check out the challenge this week at Studio Calico, to scrap your goals for 2010. I'll also be back tomorrow for the Project 12 challenge! I will have a couple of challenges, and a little giveaway as well.

XOXOXO

Davinie

My Whodunit gallery with an extra or two.

The gallery is live! The kit is for sale! Race on over to Studio Calico for the Whodunit kit, why don't you!? The colors in this kit are PERFECT, because they work well for any photo. I have plans for some winter photos, I can use them for Spring or summer photos, it doesn't matter! This should make my Australian friends very happy. Right?!

Of course, I got all three add-ons this month, Colonel Mustard, In the Billiard Room, and I had a hand in creating With the Candlestick. The stamps in that add-on? Those were my idea. And I will use them over and over and over and over and over for many occasions? Don't have small kiddos needing treat boxes? Use the pillow boxes on a card or layout.

First I'm going to share my Valentine projects. I created two cards and embellished the treat boxes, and if you purchase this add-on it comes with visuals and instructions to recreate these projects. A fun change, isn't it?



The stamp set comes with a tag stamp, two heart stamps, and a "to" and "from" stamp which is separate. 5 stamps! I used all of them to create gift tags for Valentine treat boxes.



One sheet of kraft cardstock made 20 tags.

Before I put my stamps away, though, I decided to get a head start on my Christmas tags for next year. I talked about this a little bit in my last Studio Calico blog post. I created the Christmas tags in the same way I did my Valentine tags, but this time, I used the fun star shapes from the main kit stamp set.



Aren't they fun? And as I mentioned in that blog post, it took a bit of the edge off from the craziness that is the holiday season. Sure, I could have gone out and bought those cheap sticker tags, but it's so much more meaningful to create your own, and doing it this way, in an assembly line type fashion, was really quick and easy. They are already trimmed and in a baggie, ready to be put with that Christmas wrapping paper I just bought for 50% off. And of course, I picked it out, knowing what my tags looked like. Done! lol

This next one was made, inspired a bit by the cards I had made:




For this one, I liked the texture that the fabrips offer, so I decided to create my own with Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Backed canvas. I used my handy dandy $1 Dollar Tree scalloped ruler to trace a great big scallop, and trimmed it out. Then I brushed it with my second pot of green paint (it seems to match everything and it's my #1 paint choice), and this is where I got crazy. Wild. Zany! You see, April has tried to change me by introducing Mist to SC, but I am NOT a mister. I like the looks, but I can't reposition mist, so it's a huge challenge for me to use, lol. That said, I found a way to include mist on my projects, for subtlety. And that's by using CREAM. It's a hint of color but not too much, and I have enjoyed playing with it!

The Origins paper in this month's kit has often have a marbled look to some of the color schemes, so I took my creme mist and sprayed it over the green paint on my canvas, and I really like the subtle marbled look it gave. I also used it on my chipboard hearts, and this particular photos doesn't show it well, but it offered a sparkled sheen that I really like. So I say... get yourself some cream mist! Especially if you are scared to try misting.

This next layout was made with that funky family photo we took at the beach a couple of weeks ago:


I thought I'd showcase the Studio Calico paper this month and put all my embellies at the top. This layout basically scrapped itself and I had a lot of fun with it.



Now those wood alphas from the In the Billiard Room are a bit stinky when you break them out of the package, but they were a lot of fun to use. I think I want more. I really liked the font and the texture they offered to the my layouts. I'm also digging those cute little birdies from the main! I actually might use them a ton too.



To create a visual triangle of sorts, with this layout, I highlighted a couple of my trees with my Precision Pen. It adds just a little something to the layout, I think.

My last layout for my gallery this month was a fun two pager:

I love that I got so many of the photos I took during this adventure on one layout. I really really enjoyed taking my girls out on my dad's boat. I'm a child of divorce but my first 7 years were spent in Alaska on the water, as my dad is a boat man. He isn't a fisherman. No. He owned a tugboat business for many years, and he still works on the water today. He's a boat pilot, so he is in charge of navigating those huge ships which carry goods from Seattle to Anchorage and back. Anyway.... he built this boat from the hull up, and this trip was our first adventure on it after it made it into the water. It brought so many bittersweet memories. My girls loved it, and Steve, who grew up in the high desert, wants to move now, lol.

I thought the SC paper could be a bit nautical, so I had to break out these photos, especially with the touch of red in the OA polkadots.


I also created a little wave at the bottom with that AC paper, and had Steve snip the back of those MM buttons to adhere them to my layout.

This last one was made for my challenge on the Studio Blog last week, to scrap that Christmas card photo. You can check out the challenge and see some very old projects for card ideas, Christmas and everyday, here.


For my journaling I did a quick recap of the year, like the girl's ages and what grade they were in school, etc., and then I did a little history on the actual photo.




What do you think of that border punch? It's a holiday punch from Martha and combines a few punches I love, all together. I'm a fan. I'm going to try and get April to pick it up for the shop. Think you'd be interested? I like the wee bit of embossing with my treasured scallops.

That's it! I still have this kit on my desk. I have some winter AND spring photos to scrap. That's how versatile this kit is.

Have a great day! Davinie

Whodunit? Find out TODAY!

Speaking of Studio Calico, I hope you got a gift certificate or some extra holiday cash for the January kit, which goes on sale Sunday night (Sunday morning, TODAY for all you subscribers). I LOVED this kit and received it at such a busy time of year. I still have it out on my table and am going to make more layouts.... today even. I got all of the add-ons, but I had a hand in the project kit this month, so be sure to check everything out when the kit goes live. Check it out:







And check out the bonus offers this month:

Some stamp suggestions:

If you didn't get your hands on the Calendar Stamps, you might try those.
The Storytime numbers stamps will go REALLY well with the calendar stamps. Your dates will be complete!
The Notepaper stamp is great for journaling lines.
This ATC stamp is very cool. You don't have to use it just for ATC's either. I stamp it on the back of my layouts with my name and info so I know when I made it, for my albums sake and my John Hancock, and if I were to submit it for publication, etc. it would already have contact information on it.


You also need to check the Studio Blog for the reveal night giveaway. Check it out:



Doilies and crochet flowers! I need some of those for myself! Doilies are really fun to use right now.... I think Studio Calico is loving the idea of doilies (hint, hint, HINT). I am not complaining about it either! :)

Phew! I think that's it.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend! I hope you get to spend it with those you love.

We are busy doing this:

Payton, and her current favorite gift, her very own jewelry box, complete with horse,



and Morgan, currently weaving her second pot holder. THAT was the best $10 I could have spent. She LOVES this gift, my little crafter. I need to get her more of those loops.

Anyone need some pot holders?

Davinie

Calendar Stamps for Everyone.... and slippers. and slippers. and slippers. For me.

Merry Christmas everyone!

It was such a hectic week that the blog had to gather some dust for me to retain any semblance of sanity. It happened WAY to fast for me this year. Both girls had a meltdown or were onery every time I went to shop for Steve, so the poor guy did not get his stocking stocked as well as it could have been. That said, he's had a rush of good luck on Craig's list, so the amount of money he's dished out for a planer and a table saw to do the finish work in the house balances it all out, I must say. I do hope he enjoys that bag of coffee and the new wallet though. heeeeeeee.

My Christmas list was short, but one of the things on it was slippers. I think I may have given my list to a few too many people, becuase look at what I got under the tree:

This first pair was from Steve's parents. A comfy, cozy set.

This purple, more boudoir, bon-bon eating style set, was from Miss Payton Jayne.



And Morgan styled me with a more slim fitting, Southwestern styled shoe (and I can see the purple frou frou fuzz is going to be an issue already).

Steve said they had buy one get one free on slippers, so lucky me. :)

I hope your Christmas tree was just as bountiful!

Steve had to head to work this morning at 10am (thank you Dusty, for staying late), so the girls and I are settled in. I'm still in my PJ's, Morgan has already made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting (thank you Easy Bake Oven), and Payton has already stamped, put together a horse puzzle, opened and shut the drawers and turned on the music to her horse themed jewelry box a zillion times, and eaten all of the M&M's I could fit in her stocking. And it's not even 1pm!

It wasn't supposed to snow today, but we have fog and a nice layer of frost, so the trees are white, and it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Love that.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday with family and friends.


Tomorrow is my debut post on the SCT blog for the Project 12 challenge, so I hope you are excited and ready to participate, once your craft desk is cleared from all those Christmas projects. As I've mentioned, I've seen the sketches, so if you are looking for a dose of inspiration, you will be very happy with that post. I don't normally follow sketches but I am one excited girl. I think 2010 is going to be fun indeed!

You might notice a slow month on the Project 12 front on my personal blog. Not much of a leader this month, am I? I do apologize for that and promise to be there for you every single month next year. I will say, I was over the moon excited to see who did participate in the challenge this month, and as a special thank you for being here for me all year, and as a belated Christmas present, all of you will be getting a little something from me, and SC. Remember how I promised one set of Calendar stamps for the challenge this month? Due to Studio Calico's generosity, all of you who participated this month are going to get them. Isn't that great!? If you are an SC subscriber they will be sent to you with your next kit. I'm going to contact all of you for your info.

So thank you thank you thank you for playing along, and for those who didn't, don't you wish you would have? You could have had the perfect calendar stamps to go with your 2010 pages, or any year, for that matter:

The empty alphas will be so fun to use. You can stamp them on themed paper for the month you are documenting, or you can color them the color you want... there's a zillion possibilities with these. I can't wait to use them myself.

Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend! I hope you get to spend it with those you love. I'll be back on Sunday.

Davinie

Studio Calico Whodunnit sneaks and the Polar Express

I've been running around like a chicken with it's head cut off (reminds me of a story I need to tell you) but I managed to get some time for a couple of Studio Calico sneaks. In the future, I think all paper crafting, unless it is for gift giving, should cease and desist from Thanksgiving until after the New Year. Time just flies way too fast! In fact, I lost a day last week and I'm still recovering. I can't get that day back. Where did it go!? I needed that day.....

I bought all of the add-ons this month. The project kit has been my baby this month, and I'm anxious to share what I've done with it.

First, there's this:

More to come! I am very inspired by the contents of this kit and think the SC papers are the best yet! There are some other extra SC products in the kit this month. In fact, I'm showing you a little nibblet of one of them in the image above. Fun stuff.

Now that I have crossed sneaks off my list it's off to my next adventure. I've got the suitcase half packed with Christmas jammies, and we are almost out the door. We are taking the girls here, to the Polar Express. CAN'T WAIT. We are going to stay in a hotel tonight as it's about a 2.5 hour drive, and are going to bring the movie for the girls to watch on the drive up to help build the excitement. I also packed Prancer, another Christmas classic. Love that movie too.

Enjoy your Sunday! I h0pe you had a wonderful day! I'll be home tomorrow.

Davinie

I've been away, and now I'm home.... front and center

For the better part of last week, I was busy squeezing these cheeks:


(that's my sweet neice Lilly, who spent most of her free time being toted around by yours truly, and I loved every second of it).

I was also busy taking walks down to the beach with these two:


And was busy mingling and bonding and wreaking havoc with this group of crazies:

(My brother in law Ethan, sister Alyca, brother Jobie and his wife Ty Leigh holding Lilly, my mama, my brother in law Matt with my sister Sabrina, and their kids Raegan and Kael, and then there's Steve with Payton and I'm standing next to whacky Morgan, of course).

and playing this game:

(are you looking for a gift idea? This game was new to me but I could NOT. STop. Playing. It was a lot of fun).

We had a blast as a family on our annual Christmas beach vacation, but boy I have a mountain of stuff to do now that I am home. Can't life pause for just a minute when I'm out of town? Or can the laundry just take a quick break from piling up? It's too much, I tell you. Tooooo muuucch!

I do have a lot of projects to share with you this week, including my post at the Pink Paislee blog, which is on Thursday, Studio Calico sneaks, which shall be shared later today, I think, and my Project 12 layout, of course (the deadline is Sunday if you want to try for those Calendar stamps).

I did want to share a Homefront layout from Studio Calico's debut release with you. I set my girls up to make their own Sugar cookies, and they had a blast with the process.




I hear this line will be available to purchase from Studio Calico in January, but I do know several online sites currently carry it, so check it out!

Before I go I wanted to make sure you've posted on every post at Scrapbook and Cards Today for the 12 days of Christmas. You have until 12/24 to post and you should do it! The prizes have been unbelievably generous! Check out day 1 here.

Have a great day! I'll be back in a jiff with those Studio Calico sneaks I promised.

Davinie

Off to the Beach!

I'm headed to the Beach! We are renting a house on the Southern Washington coastline. The temperatures are supposed to be warmer than home so hopefully the kids will actually get to see the ocean, lol. We are meeting up with my mom and all three of my siblings and their families. It is the one time of year we are all in the same place at the same time.




In the meantime, if you are looking for some fun home decor ideas, or something fun to do with your kids today, check out my blog post today at the Scrapbook and Cards Today blog. I love memorializing my kids' handprints. The reindeer is Morgan's from when she was 3, and we made Santa the other day with her 5 year old hands.

They would make a great gift!

Be sure to check the SCT blog on Friday as well. The new issue goes live. You can see a peek at the cover on the blog today as well. Super, super cute!

Enjoy your week!

On a Christmas Tree hunt

Saturday morning we were invited to join a group of friends up in the woods on a Christmas tree hunt. Last year we went solo so were excited to try something different, as many of our friends have gone to fake trees but we still enjoy the real thing.

We had heard there wasn't snow, but we still packed the snowsuits and bundled the kids up for cold weather. And of course, as we drew close to our destination, there was an inch or two, which made Morgan very disappointed that we didn't bring a sled. However, it didn't take her long to find a different way to do it:

Don't you mind her capri snowpants either, lol. I am trying to stretch them out for one more year. Kids grow far too fast for me! Her coat is new and I bought it a size up, but it seems to fit her now too! What are the chances she'll pause for a minute and her jacket will make it through next year, huh?


We were up in the Ochoco mountains and hiked up and down this gully, looking for the perfect tree. Out in the forest it's difficult to find one, and in the right size. It seems you always see the ideal tree in the distance, but after you get up close you realize it's 20 feet tall or it's actually three trees really close together. ugh.

I did manage to get a couple of photos with the girls looking at me though. It's a miracle!


And after hiking around for an hour or so we finally found what we thought was the perfect tree.



Payton had a hard time navigating in her boots so she was holding my hand, but Morgan was content to trail in daddy's footsteps, as usual.

After our hunt we built a fire and settled in for hot dogs and hot chocolate for lunch. What a great idea!


After that it was time for the tree shot, which was when we realized how big our tree was. You really can't tell until you are back at the truck, what with the snow and nearby trees when you are in the forest.

In fact, our tree was so big, we couldn't even fit it in a horizontal photo!



We went vertical and that's where we see.... hmm.... our roof is probably right about where the tag is.




LOL! Oops!

Suffice it to say a lot of trimming was had in getting the tree to the right dimensions.

Early in the afternoon we started getting really cold, so we buttoned up and went home, and then spent the rest of the afternoon putting the tree up and the exterior lights. We are still in the process of getting the last of the ornaments up and organized, but I gotta tell ya... I need a squirt bottle to keep the 5 YEAR OLD out of the tree. Forget the cats, the dog, or even babies! I can't keep Morgan Paige Fiero out of the dang tree! She's relocating, organizing by type, picking out her favorites, HER ornaments, it really depends on the moment. But every time I turn around she's knee deep in tree branches and ornaments. That kid. It's all well and good until something is broken!

When we are out all day as a family, doing fun stuff, I like to recap the evening and ask the girls what their favorite part of the day was. It's always the most interesting answer. Saturday, out of all the things we did, this was their favorite:





The small layer of snow covered a very slick sheet of ice on the dirt road. The girls somehow convinced our friend Dan's brother to aid them in some ice sledding, bless his aching back. He would send them down the road a good 15 feet or so. When he finally gave up they did it on their own, treating it like a slip n slide. They had a BLAST.

All in all, a very fun day! And I took photos and documented it well so when I eventually catch up on my December Daily, I'll remember everything, lol. Yes, I'm behind. In fact, while I have supplies gathered, I haven't done anything yet. But I'm not worried. I've been taking photos and really good notes every day, and even if it isn't until the first of the year before I document our month, I feel confident that I'll be able to do it and not forget any of the details.

I've also been trying to do festive things every day too. Yesterday we made sugar cookies, and today after school we tried our hand at Rice Krispie treat houses. These houses were a BLAST. They were really quick and easy to put together and the kids had a lot of fun decorating them. I will say that they didn't taste that good to me, way too sugary, but the kids were bouncing off the walls, so they liked them! lol

They were basically rice krispie cereal and marshmallow mix with a house shaped tin pan. You could have equally as much fun with cookie cutters and candy. In fact, there are a lot of cute ideas on the Rice Krispies website here.

As for scrappy.... I do hope you've been checking the Pink Paislee blog, right? Yesterday was number 7 and they gave away 7 packages of pressons. 7 packages! And that's in addition to 6 of this 5 of that, etc. etc. This is going to go on for a few more days so be sure to enter for a chance to win some scrappy goodness.

Lastly, Monday was my first post on the Scrapbook and Cards blog. Below is a closeup of my layout:

I issued a little challenge, so if you are looking for scrapbooking inspiration, please check there. There are little challenges issued every Monday.

Be sure to check the SCT blog on Friday too. I hear the Winter issue is ready to share! You can see a little peek at the cover on the blog as well.



Have a great Tuesday! Davinie

Project 12 - December

By now you've seen the news..... Scrapbook and Cards Today and BECKY FLECK are going to be helping me with my Project 12 challenge! I'm dyin' here. Dyin'! I couldn't be more excited about 2010.

This doesn't change how things will work with the challenge though, or my monthly blog post. I will still be hosting the challenge here as well. The difference will be the prizes, you will now have two chances to win if you link here and at SCT... and BECKY FLECK is going to be offering fresh and new sketches every month to help inspire your layouts, and help you to create a cohesive album for 2010.

Fabulous, yes?!

This month, my banner looks like this:



And in 2010 it will look like this:

I might add something to it for the banner I use for this blog, but when you see this icon, you will know what we are talking about. I think this is going to be made into a blinkie for your personal blog too.

I very much look forward to 2010!

As for 2009....

We are almost finished! This is the last challenge of 2009 and our albums are almost finished. I don't know about you but I have had a lot of fun with this challenge and just love how organized my album is this year. I hope to play catch up this month and should have two layouts to share with you.

And as a reminder, the challenge is this:

Scrap your month. Whether you use one photo, 31 photos, or no photos, do a layout that highlights a month in your life. I am working on recent months. I hope to get caught up with both October and November.

To be entered for the prize, just link your layout to this thread. I post this challenge at Studio Calico as well, but this blog post is where you need to link your layouts if you want to be entered for the prize.

What is the prize this month, you ask?

How's about a set of these:

That's right. What could be better for your future albums than a set of month stamps? If you have the Storytime alphas or numbers, you will appreciate what fun this set would be (ooh. The numbers will be fun to use on my albums as well, to highlight specific dates or note the year, etc.)

You have until December 20 to link your layouts to this thread. I am going to draw a name bright and early December 21 and shall have them wrapped all nice and pretty for you to open up under the tree on Christmas Day (that could mean an extra goodie or two from me too, you know). You can submit any layout you haven't submitted before in order to enter the drawing.

I hope you will play along! And even if you haven't played along before.... did you have a busy summer month, etc? Highlight it. I hope you will play along! The monthly stamps are sold out so this is a great opportunity to pick up a package.

Speaking of stamps.....

Be sure to check the Pink Paislee blog today! For the next 12 days there will be daily giveaways and you don't want to miss out on the generosity of Pink Paislee and the products they have! The prizes get bigger as we get closer to Christmas, but it looks like the giveaway today is a stamp set, and that's a great prize!

Have a great day! Davinie