Oh Joy!

Like I promised... our Christmas card for 2011. I send out over a hundred cards every year- they can't ALL be handmade! So, I order some photo cards and the handmade ones get the same photo inserted.

I love the most recent comment from someone that received our card, "I love how you don't match your kids in holiday outfits and don't make them pose!" Not sure if I should be offended or not! :) I like to send out photos that express who my children are- not what they are pretending to be, with cheesy smiles and stiff poses, cringing at an outfit that I made them wear for 10 minutes and will never wear again! And actually, they do match! And this is who they are... darling, toothless, playful and full of Christmas JOY!

Paper Source Card Contest

This past September, Louisville got its own Paper Source! I was so excited that they were opening a store here that I was their very first customer! When I found out about their annual holiday card contest, I knew I would enter, but what would I make? The card had to be 100% Paper Source and include an envelope. Oh my... PS has so many delicious items to choose from! How would I decide on just one card to submit?! Waiting until the last day to submit my creation, (because it just keeps life more interesting to rush and procrastinate) I came up with this:

I used the PS colors: red and chartreuse. The stamps are theirs also, and I added red Stickles for the berries. Satin ribbon and gold twine pulls it all together. The envelope liner is their handmade paper: concentric dots- with glitter... yum! And the best part? The winner gets a $50 gift certificate! I could use it!

Holiday Festivities!

Merry Christmas, friends! This week has started off pretty good... the kids are out of school, all the stationery and holiday card orders have been placed, signed, sealed and delivered! I always try to keep the week before Christmas for myself. I love to bake and fix delicious cookie boxes for friends, neighbors and family. I try to stop and enjoy the week before Christmas with my kiddos, try to absorb their excitement and anticipation!

Last week, we had Mac's Christmas program at school. He got to play the bongo during one of the songs and he was so into it! He sang his little heart out!

Anna also had her Angel Program at school. She got to sign a solo part and she was very proud! She looked like an absolute angel, despite the fact that she had a stomach virus. It lasted a long 6 days!

I'll be back with our holiday card for 2011! Enjoy the night!

What's Going On...

Hello friends, Season's Greetings to you all! I had to take a blog vacation for the past 5 weeks due to some heavy stuff going on. We had Thanksgiving, a wonderful time spent with family over really good food! Anna lost her first tooth over the break and she was so excited! A week later, Mac lost his first front tooth. He looks so much older with that big gap in his mouth!

I have a client every year that orders an obscene amount of handmade holiday cards- 750 to be exact. So, most of my time has been spent cutting and stitching felt hearts and glittering buttons to look like sugar. Seriously, if I don't see glitter until Valentine's Day, I'll be ok with that.

We got the perfect Christmas tree at Lowe's for a super low $30 eventhough we didn't chop it down ourselves, it still looks nice and smells good. I really do miss the tradition of going to the Christmas tree farm in Indiana and searching for the most glorious tree with the least amount of holes.  

Nonetheless, we still had fun and the boys worked together to tie it on top of the van.

Yesterday I forced the kids to sit together in hopes of getting "the" Christmas card photo for 2011. I had to snap fast and before church, so they were still in good clothes and clean. I got one...  tune in next time! ;)

Halloween Recap!

We had a ball on Halloween night! My brother, Nate and his family always come to our house for dinner and trick-or-treating since their closest neighbor is over a mile away! As usual, the kiddos got loads of candy and were worn out at the end of the night...

Anna was an owl, Mac was The Grim Reaper, and Elan was a hunter.

We watched Goonies with the kids the Saturday before Halloween, so they wanted to carve the pumpkin like "One-Eyed Willie." 

 The sweetest kid being something scary!

Anna looked precious as an owl!

This is Elan's mean hunting face.

Here's a nice group picture of the kids...

My dad is putting Claudia in the photo and really, she wanted to have no part of it. Elan looks like the biggest buck just got away, and the girls, well, they just look so darn cute! They were ready to fill their bags with loot!
I hope you all had a safe, happy Halloween. Now that it's November, I'm frantically getting stuff together for my holiday show and thinking ahead to the Christmas crafts I want to do! Enjoy the weekend!

Fleas Navidad!

Once again, I am posting my card for the Jingle Belles prompt "Not a Creature Was Stirring..." with about five minutes to spare. Ugh... how did life get so busy? I struggled to find the perfect animal for my card and while I was in bed last night, I remembered I had the Paper-Source lab stamp. A beloved dog stamp. Yes! Oh, and tartan plaid paper to go with! Excellent!

I know, another CAS card, but hey, that's my style. It works. I know exactly who I'm going to send it to, with a beautiful picture of my big boy, Wrigley.

Happy Sketch

Good morning, friends. Happy first day of November! Can you believe it's already November? I know... Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner! I am trying to squeeze in a little craft time for myself here and there, between filling stationery orders, working on a big holiday card commission, and chasing the kiddos around! It's only going to get busier! ;)

This week, I really liked the Sketchy Thursdays sketch. It was CAS and inspired me. So, I used this picture of my mom and dad that I have had sitting on my desk for months. We were in Hilton Head and also at my cousins wedding. We had so much fun and this picture of them really does show their happiness with each other.   

My parents have been married for over 40 years!!! Sure, they have their moments, we all do, but for the most part, they have a solid relationship that my three brothers and I really look up to and strive to have in our own marriage. They brought us up right with strong values, and for that, I am forever grateful. They make me so happy! 

And, if you want to play along with this weeks sketch at Sketchy Thursdays, this is what you have to play with:

You have until Wednesday night at 10pm to link up! :)