Christmas in September???

I can't believe it's almost September and I just started making this year's Christmas cards.  I normally start them in July (Christmas in July, right?), but this year I just couldn't find the time.  A girl has to priortize, ya' know, and swimming was way higher on my list this year.

In any case, I did get a few made, but promise I'll work on some more very soon.  These were all created using the Be Merry Collection by Kaisercraft.  Here are a few of them:

 

It's an ice skating extravaganzaa!

Our whirlwind of a week is finally over!  Bri is a senior this year and Eric has gone back to college.  This means our "normal" life has almost returned!

Part of our "normal" life includes ice skating.  Bri has been skating since she was 7 years old.  She belonged to a Synchro Team for a few years, but has decided that private lessons are really what she wants to do.  That gives her the opportunity to compete as an individual, rather than a team.

It's pretty difficult to find anything related to ice skating in the scrapbook world, so when Moxxie came out with their Ice Skating collection, I was thrilled!  I immediately scrapped some of her latest competitions, but I also went back and did some older shows.  Here's a few samples:

Another birthday layout...I'm on a roll this week!

This past weekend we celebrated my nephew's girlfriend's 21st birthday!  We had a blast and I couldn't wait to get some layouts done for all the pics I'd taken.  Here's a layout featuring the Happy Day collection from SEI (which, by the way, is currently on sale).  This collection features browns, pinks, blue, oranges, greens and a host of other vibrant colors.  The papers are all either varnished or glittered and are only $.49, and the stickers are glittered, too.  I also added some Core'dinations paper for accent and mating along with some hot pink Thickers stickers.  Now I just need to go get the pictures....

 

Happy Birthday to my very punny hunny!

Yes, today is my husband's birthday, so I thought I'd do something special for him.  He is a very "punny" kind of guy.  Over our 20+ years of marriage, I've listened to more than a few corny puns.  So, today I am going to get him back.  Here's the card I made for him.  While it's certainly not my most creative, I can assure you I saved the best for the inside.  Ready boys and girls...hold onto your hats...this is a good one:  Happy Birthday "tulle" you! 

OK, when you drag yourself up off the floor from laughing, go ahead and feel free to steal my pun and have a great day! 

Happy Birthday to...I don't even know you yet!

We have a new addition coming to our family, and I'm super excited for a few reasons:  a) because I'm NOT pregnant, 2) because I love new babies, and 3) because I LOVE making baby scrapbook albums!  At first the concept was a bit foreign to me because I couldn't imagine making a book without photos.  However, I adjusted and found out it was just as much fun. 

This layout was done for my nephew's first baby's book.  I used the collection Let's Party from Best Creations.  I like their papers because they have glitter on them and it doesn't come off...no, really!  Plus the colors in the collection were neutral, yet appropriate for children. 

Did I happen to mention I feel like I lost my right arm?

All you Cricut Gypsy users out there will surely be able to sympathize. I've been without my Gypsy now for about 2 weeks. When I returned from a scrapbook retreat in July I realized that it would no longer power up. Talk about feeling like I've lost my right arm. I guess I didn't realize just how dependent I was on it, but I am. So much so that I forgot I could actually cut from the cartridge (that is so the 90's).

So all excuses aside, this is one of my favorite cuts from Cricut.  This fancy guitar comes from the Hannah Montana cartridge, as do the music notes.  This layout was from the Bon Jovi concert I attended with my sister and my daughter.  I loved the fact that the three of us could just hang out and enjoy the music!

Just as a side note, ProvoCraft was wonderful about working with me to get my Gypsy replaced at no charge.  I am just waiting for a new one from them now and then will have to reload all my cartridges.  I am hoping to be back in business by next week! 

Remember

Today's layouts feature the Fourth DC collection by Reminisce, along with a glitter word embellishment (remember) from KI Memories.  The Fourth DC collection is very versatile; one side of the papers are all patriotic themed (although duly appropriate for Washington, DC layouts) and the opposing sides are all directly related to Washington, DC. 

I decided to use the paper for neither theme, but instead, for a small memorial that my husband and I happened upon during a recent visit to Watertown, TN.  The small town had a flag flying above several headstones.  Each headstone contained the name of a war and a list of those from the community who served.  It was a truly humbling sight to see.