Merry Christmas!

Buttons

Oh, buttons, lovely buttons, how I love thee! No, I don't usually use them on my pages, sadly, but I have a gorgeous jar full of these beauties! When I noticed I was getting low the other day, I went to the etsy shop of my friend Bran, and ordered a couple of her Vintage Button Soup Blends. I got them this weekend, and am so in love!!

Thank you so much, Bran!!

A couple of Pink Paislee Projects

It's no secret that I really love Pink Paislee. But I have totally been talking myself out of applying for their design team, knowing that there is very little chance that I will make it. But, last night, I reminded that myself that by not trying, I have NO chance, and if I try, I at least have some chance. So, I busied myself today making a couple of mini books. They actually came together really quickly - have I mentioned lately how much I love making minis? The first book is made using thier Soiree collection.

It's a book with lots of photos from my youngest daughter's birthday party this year. We made the invitations with Soiree, and decorations, so I thought it quite appropriate commemorate it with Soiree as well!



The second book I made was with the Hometown Summer collection. I used a book cover that I cut from an old book I got at a library sale. Oh, how I love my Big Bite Cropodile!



These are photos of our summer vacation at home this year. I love the colors in this line! And the paper I used on the inside covers is my favorite - I love those houses!

Have a great weekend, my friends!

December Book Days 5-13

Hello, hello! How are things in your world today? I hope all is well! I've been finally getting into the Christmas spirit. Looks like the lice are a thing of the past, thankfully! And I've grown to really like my new hairstyle. And packages are starting to roll in for the big day next week. I've not gotten as many handmade gifts made this year as I usually do, but it's all good, right? I'm sure I'm the only one that cares if my gifts are handmade or not! Has anyone else noticed that as the kids get older, their gift requests get more and more expensive?? Anyway, on to the pages of my book. I got a bit behind, but Tuesday I got myself caught back up, well, at that point I was at least! I'm finding if I keep a paper where I jot notes down to myself about each day, it makes it much easier when I go to make my pages! Some days I forget to take any photos (like yesterday), so I'm learning to just fudge that a bit...

December 5th - just a quiet boring day. I had the kids fill out a card with their Christmas list, and am using those to fill in on uneventful days. One fun thing today though was that while I went to the dentist, Dave took Jake out for lunch at McDonald's. He loved that!!

December 6th - another fairly uneventful day - I kept Lily home because I found another louse in her hair, and worked on getting a prescription for them. Fun stuff, right? So, here's another Christmas list.

December 7th - I gave myself the whole day to craft, and it was awesome! Okay, so I did other stuff too, but I totally gave myself permission to play, and I loved it!!

December 8th - Umm... not much going on today either. But at least I got a few photos! Lily has become a really good reader, and had fun sitting on the kitchen floor reading the library books she had gotten that day to Jake.


December 9th - Our first real snowstorm! Dave and the boys went out to move snow, and the kids bundled up for school. In the evening, we watched Christmas movies - I did print a photo of Frosty the Snowman to put in here, but Jake took off with it, and I couldn't find it again (and was too lazy to print a new one.) Notice the photo of the mouse in the lower left corner? Just a little reminder to me that mice are not quiet when they get caught in a trap - yes, that is how I was awoken this morning. Yuck, right???

December 10th - Dave surprised me with a new mattress today! We really needed one, and he was able to get a REALLY good deal on a really good mattress! Yay! It was a bit of work getting it all set up, as our bed rails were not long enough (we switched from a full to a queen), and we had no sheets that fit, but I can tell you I slept SO WELL that night!! We also had Elizabeth's first choir concert of the year. I was shocked when I got there to find the auditorium was full, and there was nowhere to sit. I was resigned to the fact that we would be standing for the concert, when someone started setting out folding chairs, and we were able to get those.



December 11th - We woke up to find that even one more flush of the toilet was NOT a good idea, and had to get our septic tank emptied. On a Sunday. (I had just noticed it was getting to be a problem on Friday afternoon, but we thought it could make it through the weekend.) Fortunately we found someone willing to do that, and while we waited for him, we made a few trips to town to use the bathroom.

In the evening, we had all the family at home, and had yummy barbequed ribs. We all had the dirtiest faces and fingers, but it sure was good! I made a little pocket with this photo strip, and put the receipt from the septic tank pumping in the pocket. I thought it was a fun piece of ephemera to add!

December 12th - A fairly relaxing day, until late afternoon, when I had promised the girls we'd do a little holiday baking, and we had an orchestra concert to go to. Both Elizabeth and William play in orchestra, so it was a big night. I got really lousy photos of it, but oh, well. I was really excited to see that William is now 1st chair cello!

December 13th - Dave took Jake and I to Applebee's for lunch - that was fun for a change. After that, I finally was able to get prescriptions for the lice, though I had to wait at the pharmacy for about a half hour, because they misplaced one of or prescriptions! We ran home really quickly to do some online Christmas shopping, before returning to town to take Lily to her book fair (always a good time...). She was so sweet, trying to find gifts for others, but I only had a very limited amount of money with me, and she had the hardest time trying to find a book that SHE wanted. I was so glad when we finally were able to get out of there!


I am seeing that I totally am going to need bigger book rings! This is only half filled, and it's already this fat! But, I sure am loving it!! Take care, my friends!

December Book Days 1-4

Hello, friends! What a ride it's been over the last few weeks in our home! We've been dealing with one of those dreaded things families sometimes have to deal with when they have kids in school - lice. Yuck!!! My girls with beautiful long hair... No fun at all! And I got them too. Yucky, yucky, yucky!! When I noticed I had them, I knew I'd have to deal with them myself, and the thought of my super long hair was too much! So, on impulse, I told my hubby he could cut my hair like he's always said he wanted to do. Kind of a mistake... But, I've gotten over it. Kind of... But, I digress. We are still dealing with the darn things, and it's been a struggle.

But, I am finding a lot of joy in working on my book to cheer me up! Here are the cover pages and the first four days.

The Christmas cards I made this year. The sentiment stamp was an exclusive from the Elle's Studio 'tis the season limited edition kit. Seeing it always makes me feel so calm... I wrote Shimelle's Christmas Manifesto inside of it.

December 1st - Having trouble dealing with the fact that it was December, and I did NOT feel in the holiday spirit. I had just discovered I had lice, the little girl staying with us had them really bad, and Jake had a stomach bug and was waking up during the night vomiting. But I felt a bit of peace in the afternoon, when the hubby came home and sat with the little guy so I could get some work done. Everyone eventually fell asleep in there, and I had some quiet time. I love seeing my little guy on his daddy's lap!

December 2nd - Trying to cope with my new short hair cut. Kept the girls home, and we had a pajama/lice killing party. Wouldn't you like to have been here... Not a fun day, but I tried to make the best of it.

December 3rd - It was so exciting to round a corner at Walmart and see Santa sitting on a bench! I had a couple of kids thrilled about that!! Jake sat right down next to him, and told Santa he wanted a fire engine.

December 4th - The grandbaby FINALLY got to come home!! Mom and dad and baby showed up in the afternoon, while I was working on bookwork, and the boys were cutting wood. He is still so tiny - seriously, smaller than some of my kids were when they were born! But, I got to snuggle with him... and burp him... and change his diaper. I'm in love! Everyone must have had a long day though, because while watching our beloved Packers play, all of them, plus her little girl who had been staying with us, plus Jake fell asleep! It was supper time, and half the house was asleep! There must have been sleeping potion in the air!