Christmas Cards & Print Gift Recommendations

Some of you are so on the ball that you send out your cards the day after Thanksgiving. I know who you are because I’ve received those 3 cards. ;)

Have the rest of you ordered, addressed, and mailed your Christmas cards yet? Yeah, me neither. I do have them designed and they are ready for me order.

About a month ago, we received Shutterfly’s “2010 Holiday Cards and Gifts” catalog. I was immediately drawn to their “Story Cards”. There’s just something about being able to quickly tell your year in review in a card to those we may not be so good at keeping in touch with all year long.  Shutterfly also has the flat cards that are popular too.

Oh, you say you already ordered your cards? Good job! Do you have any last minute gifts or stocking stuffers to get? A wonderful gift for a grandparent, aunt or uncle, or just for yourself is a Shutterfly calendar! You can pop in your favorite photos from the year and voila, a gift is made. They have wall calendars and desk calendars.

You want to know about Shutterfly’s print quality? I’ve always been happy with our photos and other items. The colors are spot on and the paper is great quality. After Raelyn’s newborn photo shoot last February, I had small photo books made for the grandparents. It was so easy! I actually hadn’t thought about making books, but after I uploaded the photos Shutterfly sent me an email saying they had put together a book of my photos. SWEET! I went to check it out, made a few tweaks and they were ready to print. LOVE!

Just in case you want to remember how soft and squishy Raelyn was as a newborn:

Click here to view this photo book larger

 

Now off… go finish your Shutterfly cards and/or other gifts!

Raelyn's 1st Scrapbook Pages

I finally started working on scrapbook pages for Raelyn. Fitting in 5 minutes here and 10 minutes there I was able to complete her first two pages. I'm hoping these will motivate me to create a few more!

Out of Retirement

I know, all my posts lately (few and far between) have not really been about "the things we do." There just hasn't been much to blog about recently. But all of that is about to change. Ha! I've come up with a blog series idea. Look for it soon and it will only last about a week. So far I have 3 ideas for the "series" which means I'll be updating a bit more often in the next 7 days. 

I'm also trying to fit some scrapbooking into my schedule. This is one that I started months ago but could never quite get right. Even though it's pretty simple, I'm pleased with it now. The photo captures the view of our first night in the back country of Glacier National Park, MT. When we made our way into camp we were amazed at our view!

I'll see you back here soon!

Thankful

 I have been in prayer for a friend from high school, whose husband was diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM IV) in 2006. I have been praying for them since I learned of his condition two years ago. In 2008, his brain tumor returned and continued growing after another surgery. He was put in a trial study and this past Monday his latest MRI showed growth of his brain tumor plus a new one. His doctors, at Northwestern, have given them 4-8 weeks. They have 3 young boys.

I have followed her blog for awhile and am just amazed by her faith. Her site is filled with scripture:

• Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God. 2 Corinthians 1:9
  
• Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. James 1:2-3
  
• I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14
  
• I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  Romans 8:18
• Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth. Psalm 54:2
  
• I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. Romans 15:30
  
• Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
  

and many others. She has an "endless gift list" where each day she lists small (or big) things she is thankful for. The list currently has over 2500 items. Examples range from being thankful for their small group to being thankful for a wheelchair that was delivered to being thankful for kleenex. 

I hope to never have to experience anything like this, but if I have to I hope that I can have just a bit of the grace and strength she has shown. For now, I am feeling overwhelmingly thankful for Mark and our good health. Situations like this make me feel like my complaints in life are pretty insignificant. Please join me in prayer for the Eloe family. 

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In happy news, a certain ray of sunshine turned ONE last week.

Feeling like fall

It seems like we had a long summer and I hope I'm not too quick to say that fall has finally arrived. (I heard we may have temps in the mid-60's later this week.) Mark has cleared our yard of leaves once (into the compost pile) and looks like he'll need to do it a 2nd time pretty soon. And we have our bright yellow mums on the front steps. The biggest indicator? We've started pulling out sweaters!

In celebration of fall, I redecorated the blog and made a little layout of the newest Rachelle photo we got in the mail last week. How cute is she?!? (I left the strips of paper at the top blank so Ashli can journal whatever she wants.) I also made pumpkin bread. Yep, all in one night with time to spare to watch some football (if that's what you can call the Colts having a lead and then blowing it in the end).

Enjoy the scenery!

Backpacking & Fishing

Pressure Scrapbooking

I felt the pressure and I hope I performed up to your expectations. :)

Well Rested

We have returned from the Smokies and are back to the daily grind. I spent some time Saturday and Sunday whipping these layouts together. I knew if I waited time would get away and they would never be done. I anticipate one more page to come.

From our day trip to The Biltmore Estates

The Hess Family

From our afternoon white water rafting

Mark often tells people that most of his favorite memories were created during a vacation. Even a short getaway like this trip to Pigeon Forge offers us stories to think back on and smile. For instance, I'll be able to share with Rachelle one day how proud I was of her mom after she was catapulted out of our raft but "shook it off" and still smiled and laughed the rest of the ride. She even said she would like to do it again sometime. Vacations (long or short) really are a wonderful memory maker. I hope you all get to enjoy a fun getaway this summer vacation season. :)

Baby Day

I think every church in the Indianapolis area (probably across America) experienced Baby Dedication Sunday this week. I guess Mother's Day is a good day for that. ;) We attended Northview Christian Life, where Matt and Ashli attend, to witness the dedication of Rachelle Brooke. Their pastor did a nice job of explaining the dedication service and that this does not serve as a baptism for these babies nor are they in need of salvation at this time in their lives. The dedication service is an act where the parents make a promise to God publicly that they will raise these children in God-centered homes. Their pastor even said it might be more fitting to call it a Parent Dedication.

Matt, Ashli, and Rachelle:

Matt, Ashli, and Rachelle during dedication prayer:

Matt, Ashli, and Rachelle after the service:

I knew this would be a special day for them and wanted to add my own special spin. I decided to put my talents to good use and created a little book for Rachelle. Each page has photos of Rachelle and/or photos of Rachelle with family. The pages also have scripture to remind her how much she is loved by Jesus. I made it with little hands in mind and I hope as she grows she will find joy in looking through the pages.

Front of album:

Back of album:

Here are the digital versions of all the pages:

p.s. Since I mentioned salvation, I don't want to leave any visitors hanging. If you have questions about salvation (How am I saved? or Why do I need salvation? etc), please, please leave a comment with a way for me to email you.

Trading Services

I made this:


Peeper is making me curtains. Fair trade? Probably not. I know I'm getting the better end of this deal!

No wonder the bartering system died. Too many talented people were probably getting the short end of the stick. LOL!

Another Animal Post

Spring is finally here and to celebrate we met Jason, Jenny, and Avery at the Zoo Sunday afternoon. Our favorite animals are the elephants. They are so amazing! One seemed to be posing for the crowds and was clearly the favorite. LOL

Besides the zoo, we did a lot of yard work and even pulled out the grill for it's inaugural use. Those were the best burgers we've had in at least 6 months. Happy grilling season!

Amanda asked...

Is anyone else interested in learning to digital scrapbook? I'm happy to host a "here's the basics" session at my home.

First you will need a photo editing program. I use Paint Shop Pro because it was affordable and pretty easy to figure out. Other people use Photoshop or Photoshop Elements and I think I would be able to transfer my knowledge from PSP to one of those programs.

The digital pages I create, I print professionally (usually from an online service) and then slide them into an album. That is the number one question from most "traditional" scrapbookers.

For those of you with traditional supplies on hand, you can also hybrid scrapbook. That would be to create part of the layout digitally, print it, and then add some of your traditional elements. I have not explored this option although I can imagine that I would like the finished product.

If you want to learn, leave a comment or shoot me an email. I figured since Amanda asked maybe someone else out there is interested too. :)

Baby Art

Another layout I worked on last weekend. Ashli sent me some journaling to add and voilà!

Shopping tip...
If you are in need of a new sweater run to your nearest Old Navy! I stopped by during my lunch today and they had most of their sweaters marked down 50% and then took another 50% off at checkout. I bought two sweaters for $7.25 each. Score!

Another Cutie

These photos were taken one night when we watched Avery for a few hours at our house last November. She was being a little silly when the camera came out, but totally Avery!

Adventures in Sewing

Sure, I'm crafty. I can make paper crafts. I can make digital crafts. I'm even crafty in the kitchen. But sewing...really?

About a month ago, I was informed at work that I would be Dorothy in the upcoming office Halloween production. Seriously? The lead role? You might be wondering why our entire office would want to dress up as Wizard of Oz characters. Well, the president and founder of our company loves the Wizard of Oz and if he is having a rough day you can be sure that we will hear the Wizard of Oz soundtrack coming from his office. LOUD. AND. CLEAR. Someone (the HR manager) had the bright idea of surprising him with this Halloween theme. And what, you ask, does this have to do with sewing? I'm glad you asked. I needed a costume!

My friend, Peeper, graciously invited me to sewing night at the Master's house. (The Master = her mom.) They both got a kick out of my sewing ignorance.

Here I am using the surger machine. I had no idea there was such a beast!
And sewing on the final button.
Well, maybe I didn't sew the whole thing by myself. Here is the real seamstress, working her fingers to the bone. ;)
And here we have the cast of main characters. What a motley crew we are!
The Master of Sewing said I am welcome to any of their Monday Sewing Night Bonanza's. Maybe our next project will be window coverings. :) Thanks Peeper!!!

On a roll...

Wow, two layouts in one week! Yep, I had some time to scrap another page. I took these photos in July at the family reunion and right away knew how I wanted to scrap them. It just took me awhile to follow through. ;)

The edges say: mother. daughter. teacher. I know Ashli isn't officially a teacher, but she has the heart of a teacher and a teaching certificate so to me she has teacher status. ;)

Free time

A few hours free and see how I spend it. Sure, I could have vacuumed or scrubbed the tub but neither sound much fun. It's nice to have a creative outlet.

Besides, I steam cleaned the basement carpet last night. ;) I borrowed the Bissell ProHeat from a friend and it is awesome! I would love one of those guys for myself.

In the mail...

I recently mentioned my next project would be Ashli's baby shower invitations. Well, I finished them last week (despite my sinus infection and real estate clients) and put them in the mail Saturday. They should be in mailboxes so I'll post a photo of my finished product.


I crossed out a few pieces of information for internet safety reasons. ;-) Anyway, I designed the invite digitally, printed them out on photo paper, cut slits for the ribbon and tied the bows. The bows were the most difficult part because you and I both know ribbon doesn't always want to cooperate.

Now on to the other details of the shower. Food, cake, decorations, etc...

Quick One

Having two jobs is putting a damper on my blog time. ;)

I'll just quickly upload a layout I completed a few weeks ago. This is a photo from our Hawaii trip last year.

My next "project" is to create baby shower invitations that should go out by the end of the month.

Back to Paris

At least for a moment...

Journaling on tag says:
"Ah, Paris...the city of love, lights and long lines.
The view from the top of the Eiffel tower was fabulous."