a family photo.

My family took a photo on Thanksgiving. It's the first one we have had in awhile:

christmas project number 2

I originally got this idea from my friend Emily, and I believe the originally got her idea from Real Simple magazine. She was using red ornaments to hang from her banister. I decided to do something similar with a bunch of handmade stuff that I had used on my tree. Oh, and this year's theme is pretty rustic.

cristmas project number one.

I'm crafting like crazy this Thanksgiving! I promised Chase I would watch a movie, so this is a quick post to show you my new wreath I made.

I used Basic Grey Figgy Pudding double sided paper, cut in 1x4 strips:

december daily, ready to begin

I completed my December Daily album! Woo hoo. Ali Edwards' blog inspired me, and I just couldn't not do it! Plus, I haven't done any scrapbooking in a longtime, and it was nice to work on something manageable. I started off thinking I would just do red and green and keep it traditional, but I feel in love with this basic grey paper, so that added blue and brown.


**I didn't have time to edit all of these pictures, so please excuse any bad ones***

Front Cover:











Now I'm just going to have to remind myself to keep it updated each day!

fall retreat, take 2.

This was my second retreat in two weeks. I just got back from spending two nights in the words with 60 something middle schoolers, scary, I know. And man, was it ever cold.

60 middle schoolers + 15 degree weather + a swinging bridge = one eventful weekend

I would say the weather was an obstacle this weekend, but we really had an amazing weekend. I think I need a few days to recover before I can really put it into words. Here's the best picture I had. I'm not sure why I like it so much, but the overexposure on the stage, kind of works for me.

happy birthday card.

Here is the last card in the set I made my mom. Well, actually I made one more, but I didn't get a good picture.

When I stitched up the greeting on this card I accidentally threw it away, and I promise I search everywhere before I thought about looking in the trash! So frustrating.
Stamps: A Flower For All Seasons, Occasions Collection
Ink: Black Stazon
Paper: R. Red Designer Paper, S. Saffron, White
Estras: Ribbon, Koh-I-Noor pencils and Copic Markers, White Pen, Pearls

women's retreat.

I just got back from the Women's Retreat this weekend. It's been awhile since I've stayed up to 2:30 AM. It's funny to me how even though I'm 26, when you put a group of girls in a room together, it's like we are 16 again.

I meant to take a lot of pictures, but this is about it (I look like I'm 12):Now I just need to gear up to go on ANOTHER retreat with the middle schoolers!

the first step in the living room.

So here is the first purchase we have made for the living room:We are hoping to do several more things in the coming weeks. I'll keep you posted.

working on the living room

There are a few blogs that I read (well maybe a lot more than a few, google reader helps), but one of those is The Lettered Cottage. Layla just started offering a service for design assistance. I don't know Layla, but when you read a blog frequently, you get the feel for the kind of designer they are. The first thing that sold me on Layla is that I LOVE her house. The second thing was the price! The third was that I was totally stuck on what to do in my living room.

I sent her some picture of our living room (which basically is a blank slate) and she came back with three different schemes for us to pick from:

Before:
Please excuse that picture above! Oh and the pillows on the couch. I would never use those, they just came on the couch!

Here are the three schemes Layla sent us:
We really love pieces from all of the rooms. Also, there is a second chair, but from this view she wasn't able to add it. And the coffee table is the wrong direction, but you get the idea. We decided that we will go with the rug, pillows, and chairs from the second scheme; the curtains and possibly the lamp from the third, and currently I'm torn between the picture ledge in the second and the mirrors from the first scheme. Which do you like better?

Layla also sent me a link of resources to purchase the products. Great huh?

another card for my mom.

Here is another card I made for my mom with another image from the stamp set she purchase. I really love how the ribbon turned out.
Stamps: A Flower For All Seasons, Occasions Collection
Ink: Black Stazon, Craft White
Paper: Kraft, Always Artichoke Designer Paper, Real Red Designer Paper
Estras: Ribbon, Koh-I-Noor pencils

i'm so excited...

(Yes I'm totally singing that song in my head). Chase and I have had this dining room table and chairs for awhile. We purchased it before we even owned a house! We knew it would need some work (we were originally planning on staining it, but we realized that would take a ton of time). We decided we would paint it white and lightly distress it. I also purchased some lovely upholstery fabric from Associate Salvage, and here's what we came up with:

Before:
After:
I love it!

a card for my mom.

My mom purchased this stamp set from Stampin Up! It's not exactly my style, but I enjoyed breaking out my Koh-i-noor pencils and coloring. I honestly have no idea where I can up with this design. I just started. It turned out pretty interesting:Images: A Flower For All Seasons, Occasions Collection
Paper: So Saffron, Purple, Real Red and A. Artichoke designer paper
Ribbon: Martha Stewart
Ink: Black Stazon
Extras: A little bling with glitter and a rhinestone.

bee cards.

Here are some cards my friend Emily purchased from me. I made a few changes to the original layout and added a few more details!

Here they are all packaged up:Images by Papertreyink. Ribbon chocolate satin. Ink, black Stazon, So Saffron, Creamy Caramel. Paper So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, White. Extras, glitter, ticket punch, paper piercing.

a political pity party.

This was the first election that I voted in that the candidate that I voted for did not win. Am I down? Upset? Disappointed? Well, sure.

However with every disappointment there is an opportunity. My friend Mary Anna and I had a a political pity party today. The party consisted of hot dogs, fries, and... CUPCAKES!

With that said, I would like to congratulate Barack Obama. He has a hard job ahead of him, and I am committed to praying for him over the next four years.

Also, I would like to share one thing I learned from this election, everyone has a different perspective. For example I do not support socialized health care. If you knew me well, you would know why, my young brother's brain tumor. Others can't afford even the basic health care coverage and they support socialized health care.

I am constantly trying to see other's point of view from my own perspective, and it's extremely difficult. As I'm reading a Shane Claiborne book, I'm realizing it's almost impossible unless you live in someone else's shoes.

With all that said, my good friend Lindsay reminded me this morning that even though I'm disappointed, God is bigger than the government. With a little uncertainty in my mind, that's a nice reminder.

finished.

I finally have a picture of the house! Well, it's really the only finished area in our house, but I really like it. Honestly it probably looks better in person:
The frame above the bookshelf is a chalkboard I made. I went to Good Will and evaluated the pictures solely on the frame. This one happened to frame a deer, nice. So I turned the print over, painted it with chalkboard paint and painted the frame. The sign above the door I found at TJ Maxx, and the row of hooks in the hallway is from Lowes (right now it is only housing Chase's keys, but I have plans (especially during the holidays)). I still would like to de-clutter the book shelf, but that will have to wait until another day.

shopping extravaganze.

Breaking News: Kelley Eubanks, Cathy Leftwich, and I will have a booth at the MJCA Shopping Extravaganza Friday! So if you are around come by!

good friends.

I got to see some of my college friends this past weekend. I can't believe it has been three and a half years since we finished school. Time flies:

december daily, getting started.

I have other things I probably should be doing, but I've been going crazy with ideas for my December Daily album. I picked the traditional red, green and white color combo. I usually like to go for an off beat color combo, but I knew I would have everything if I would stick to the old classic. I rounded up some embellishments and started making some pages:



I'm so excited! I've been on such a card only mode for so long, it feels good to do some scrapbooking (and I haven't done paper scrapbooking for over a year now).