A little gift from me...

Just a little gift from me to you! I made these to from tags for my packages this year and I've been using them like crazy! I just punch them out with a 2" circle punch and away they go! Just click on the image to enlarge it, then right click to save the sheet to your computer. Now you can have some free gift cards for all your wrapping and packaging!
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Wishes

This is the Christmas card we're sending out this year. I made several different styles, but the fam voted on this one. So out it went in this weeks mail, but I thought I'd give one to you too here in blog land! Merry Christmas!

Stop by my etsy shop if your in need of some Christmas cards, I have some cute ones in there.

Easy Christmas Craft Idea

Today I'm sharing an easy Christmas decor idea you can make in just a few minutes. Jami made these super cute candles using the Classic Christmas Journaling cards from my shop.



Jami took scrapbook paper, cut it to size, and wrapped it around the candle. Then she embellished them with the round scalloped journaling cards, ribbon, and crystals. They look so cute and festive on her window ledge! Try some for yourself!
Happy crafting!

Christmas Scrapbooking

Do you have any traditional Christmas photos you do each year? Well every year we take a picture in front of the tree at my parents house. Everyone is in their Christmas best and each year it gets more interesting trying to get everyone to look at the camera, sit still, and leave the ornaments alone. ;) We have pictures like this from starting from the year I was pregnant with my first. This year in addition to the "usual" layout I'm going to scrap a layout with 1 photo from each of the last 7 years. It make take me awhile though, cause I'm actually going to have to dig out negatives (remember those?) to get the first one or two printed...

Today though, I'll share the traditional photo op layout. Be sure you take time to scrap all those great "everyday" Christmas traditions.





Stop by my etsy shop for some fun Christmas embellishments for those scrapbook pages!

My oh My!

Where is December going? I can't believe how fast it's flying by! I've been having major Internet problems... something with our new anti-virus software and the connection to our office computers... I don't know it's beyond me. Long story short I have not had consistent Internet in over a week, so all my Christmas plans for my blog and shop came to a standstill. I never really realize how much I rely on this computer until it's not working. I've been able to get online with our laptop, but as far as access to my photos, files, etc... I was getting worried I wouldn't be able to get our Christmas cards ordered! I think/hope all the kinks are out now, thank goodness!

I thought I'd share some Christmas decor today. My house always looks so full this time of year, and I'm really enjoying it! Especially because when we take all the decorations down it looks so naked! ;)

This snowman is new to my collection this year... isn't he great!?!
This is part of a vintage inspired decoration I made. I was a super fun tutorial in Sommerset Magazine. I just love crafting with crepe paper!
My children just love these mittens. This year my son hung the up and filled them with "scraps" from our Christmas tree.
I love my Putz houses! I have a huge village that my Grandma passed down to me. I just love seeing bits of her collections around my house. My favorite decorations are the ones passed down through generations!
Lots of sparkle and glitter!

Head on over to my shop and check out the Christmas goodies. I'm working on a few more things today and I'll try and get them listed soon!

Get out your needles and thread...

...cause we are going to do some stitching today! I love to use my sewing machine or hand stitch on scrapbook pages! So I thought I'd share a layout today with a lot of stitching.
I used my handy dandy paper trimmer to cut squares out of red cardstock. Then I trimmed them into triangles using my pinking sheers. I tacked them to my page to form a banner for my title and then used my sewing machine to stitch a "string" across the top. For the title I punched circles out of cardstock and backed them with a pop dot for dimension.
I also stitched this quilt like paper to my page and added extra stitching to give it even more of a quilted effect.

For a quick and colorful border for the top of my page I added a row of brightly colored buttons.

Be sure to stop by my shop today and see all the new Christmas goodies! There are all kinds of things perfect for giving this time of year!

Christmas Cards

I've been playing around with photoshop a lot lately and having a ton of fun doing it! I am so not a manual person. If I have to read about how to do something, I'll never figure it out! It's so much easier for me just to dive in and start playing around... more fun too! I've been making Christmas cards lately. This is an example of one I made for our family.

It still needs a little editing. I've made several and I haven't decided which one to use yet, or maybe I'll use a combo of all the ones I've created.

Have a great day, and be sure to stop by my shop and see the new goodies going in today!

Fun Christmas Tradition

It starts today! This is a pretty new tradition for my family, we started it last year. I read somewhere that one clever mom wrapped one Christmas themed book for each of the 25 days of Christmas. Then each day her child got to unwrap a story that they read as part of a countdown to Christmas. I thought the idea was so great I started it for my family. (Thanks to the help of my super fab cousin Jessie who stocked me with a bag full of Christmas books last year!;)) We actually do several different kinds of advents here. I created an advent mini album with pull out tags that give us activities to do each day (like wrap presents, take cookies to a neighbor, make someone a card to show you care...etc). This year I also made a countdown calendar. I'll share a picture of that later... but for now let the countdowns begin!

I'd love to hear about your advent/countdown traditions... leave a comment and share!

More new goodies going in my shop today... stop by and check them out! Have a great day!

Parade of Lights Layout

Christmas is such a bright and sparkly holiday! I love all the shimmer and shine, so naturally that translates into my Christmas scrapbook layouts.
I used lots of glitz for this Parade of Lights layout. I love these glittery chipboard letters... I'll be so sad when I run out!
I made some crepe paper rosettes and glittered the edges of them for some extra sparkle and texture.
I also added some gold sequin stars for more shimmer and shine... it is a parade of lights layout after all! ;)

I've got lots of fun Christmas scrapbook goodies in my shop, so be sure to stop by and get some so you are ready to get all those holiday photos scrapped!

...and the winner is...

I had my #1 helper draw a name for me. He was very happy to help, but was a little disappointed to find out the drawing was for my shop and not something to do with him! ;)


Congrats goes to Jami! Yeah! I'll get those out to you next week! Thanks to all who entered the giveaway! Be sure to keep an eye on my shop this week... more new goodies going in!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Oh my it's Black Friday! Last day for giveaway!

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, my family and I sure did! It made me miss my Gram a bit... we always used to sit down with a cup of coffee and look at the ads together at the end of the evening to see where we wanted to go. We always went shopping and then back to her house for turkey leftovers. She loved shopping!

Speaking of shopping, I thought I'd share some of the new goodies coming to the shop! Be sure to stop by my shop and snap up some Christmas gifts (maybe even get something for yourself... ;))


Shabby Vintage Ornaments- several styles coming! Hang them on your tree, from a wreath, on a garland, or tie them on a package for a topper that doubles as a gift!They are made from heavy chipboard so they are really sturdy!

Classic Christmas Journaling Cards - so bright and cheerful you'll need two sets 1 for scrapbooking and 1 for gift tags!

Jumbo Collage Tags- these tags come in 8 different styles designed by me and measure 3 1/2" x 5". Then they are embellished with glitter tied up with handmade yarn pom poms, vintage style tinsel, and seam binding. They make great tags for packages etc because once the unwrapping takes place these tags make adorable Christmas decorations!

Don't forget today is the last day to enter my giveaway! So leave a comment here! (see previous post for details...)

Have a great day and happy shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh... there is just so much to be thankful for! Family, friends, my faith, jobs, the simple everyday things like healthy children, food on our plates, and a home to keep us warm. Things I sometimes take for granted but never want to forget how truly blessed I am! I know I've been buzzing around in a Christmas frenzy lately, but Thanksgiving is really one of my very favorite holidays. It's one of the only holidays that the stores haven't figured out how to commercialize to the point of insanity. It is a day not filled presents, costumes, baskets, or games, but a day to stop and be grateful. A day to slow it all down, hang out with family and friends, and remember how good we really have it. Everyday should be thanksgiving... but since the craziness of daily life can sometimes make us forget or keep us moving too fast I'm so glad there is a day of Thanksgiving where we all take time to be grateful!

I'm so thankful for all of you out there who support my shop and creative endeavors... without you none of this would be possible, so thank you! Have the most wonderful Thanksgiving!

Yummmy! and a Giveaway...

This is one of my families favorite holiday appetizer. You can whip them up in a snap, but be warned, you may want to double the recipe cause they go fast!
(click to make it bigger)

Don't forget to leave comment here to be entered in the giveaway! You can enter once a day through Friday and then I'll draw a winner Saturday. If you purchase something from my shop, your name will be entered again!
Have a fantastic day!

Easy as Pie Project!

Hello! I'm really getting into the holiday spirit here, so I thought I'd share a quick and easy twist on a classic Christmas craft... paper chains! This is such a great project to make with your kids, grandkids, etc. and best of all it only requires a few basics.
You'll need some vintage sheet music, a paper trimmer or scissors, and a glue stick.
The just get to work! I cut my paper strips 1/2" by 3 1/2" because I wanted tiny little rings, but you can make them any size. Let your kids cut them out or pre-cut strips yourself for little ones to glue.
If you wanted to make an even more "grown up" chain you could add ink and some vintage glass glitter to the edges of the rings.

This project is going to look so cute on my piano this Christmas! It would be super cute on my tree too! Happy Crafting!

Be sure to leave a comment here to enter for this weeks giveaway! (see previous post for details) Stop by my shop too and see all the new Christmas goodies going in!!

A Giveaway and Shop update!

So here is the first giveaway! It's a biggie! One lucky winner will get a package of my new Christmas Cheer Mini Journaling cards, a package of To and From Label Journaling Cards, and a cute Toy Soldier Collage Greeting Card! I created all these goodies for my shop, and they will be popping up there soon as well! To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post! You can enter once a day through Friday, and then the winner will be drawn Saturday. If you purchase anything in my shop this week you will get an extra entry in the drawing too!


Be sure to stop by my Etsy store today and do a little shopping! Today is the start of my Christmas update, so lots of new goodies will be going in, including some ready to give gifts, crafty supplies, and fun vintage treasures!

Stay tuned for lots of great Christmas inspiration, easy gift ideas, tutorials, recipes, giveaways, and more all month long! (between now and Christmas that is...;))
Have a wonderful Monday everyone!!

Happy Sunday!

Hey there! I hope you are all having a great weekend! I've been crafting my little fingers to the bone here. ;) I just love this time of year! The holidays always inspire me to create. How about you?

I thought I'd share a layout with you today. I used some of my Little Bit Country Journaling cards. (I haven't got these in my shop yet... they are coming soon though...)
I was trying to use up some of my older supplies on this layout, and I'm really happy that it all came together to look new!

I did a lot of distressing on these pages with sandpaper, ink, tearing, crumpling, and staples. I love to distress... no matter what you do you just can't mess it up! :)


and now.... a little reminder about my the Christmas update in my Etsy shop... it starts tomorrow! I'm going to start adding the new goodies to my shop mid morning and the update will probably go throughout the week. It will include ready to give gifts, crafting supplies, decorations, pretty packaging, and vintage goodies! I'll be having a giveaway here on my blog too, so be sure to come back tomorrow to enter! I'm also going to be having some Christmas fun on the blog with easy handmade gift ideas, tutorials, decor inspiration, recipes and more so be sure to come by and join in the fun! See you tomorrow!

Enjoying every minute of fall...

We've been trying to get out and enjoy as much of fall as possible before the snow flies... which in Montana could be any day now. We have quite a few large cottonwood trees in our front yard and it always results in mountains and mountains of leaves to jump in. The kids love it, and honestly so do I!





I've been having fun getting to know my photo shop program more and more. I just love these fun white photo frames from the House of 3- they just add so much to interest!
I've been making a bunch of super cute vintage inspired tags, cards, and signs for Christmas too. They'll be making their debut to my shop along with lots of other goodies during my Christmas shop update. It will start the Monday before Thanksgiving. I'm also going to be doing giveaways, and sharing ideas and instructions for Christmas gifts, decorations, recipes and more. Be sure to join me in the fun!!

Sneak Peek of the New Christmas Shop Goodies

Ok, here is a quick little peek of the new goodies coming to my shop! I'm going to be doing a big Christmas update starting the Monday before Thanksgiving. Be sure to come by and check it all out. There will be things to craft with, ready to give gifts, vintage goodies, package trimmings and more. I'll also be doing giveaways, decorating ideas, craft/gift ideas and tutorials, along with some fun recipes and more on the blog! Please join me for some Christmas cheer!

My little cutties!

I know Halloween was a while ago, but I couldn't resist sharing my little darlings! This probably is the last year that I will get away with dressing them alike. This year we had the characters from Peter Pan in our house! My hubby even got into it with a pirate costume (complete with one of my fancy sparkly earrings which he is never going to live down ;)).
Darling Peter! Oh how I miss those curls... I gave in and finally got Connors hair cut. sigh...
Lovely Tinkerbell... I think her favorite part was the glitter spray we put in her hair. She loves glitter even more than I do!
...and the fearless (and very handsome) Captain Hook! It was a stressful day for the Captain, big events always throw the poor kid for a loop!

Don't forget about the big Christmas update coming to my Etsy shop! It starts the Monday before Thanksgiving. There will also be giveaways, fun gift making tutorials, decorating ideas, holiday recipes and more on the blog, so STAY TUNED! Sneak peeks coming tomorrow!