Christmas Traditions Part Deux

A little over a week ago I posted about some Christmas Traditions my husband and I have. Part of that included sharing about our handmade stockings. While the two of us have our names stitched on them, I never put names on the two felt stockings I made for the cats. Never had an idea of how to add them that I thought would look right. Yesterday while doing my morning walk, I saw the perfect idea in the magazine I was reading - mini frames w/...

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Small Space Organization {Key Rack}

Ever have that "where are my keys??" moment just before you need to leave and you're already running late? Well, years ago I bought a simple wooden mail & key organizer from Target to hang by my front door to prevent moments like those. It served it's purpose well, but a few months ago I was ready for a change. And, as you can see in the photo, we weren't exactly utilizing the mail section (minus the junk in the bottom) and the key hooks were...

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Walking & Christmas singing

So proud of myself! I went to bed on time last night (crazy, I know) and then got up 30 minutes early so I could walk on our treadmill - you know, that big machine in the corner collecting dust? ;) Well, it still works. LOL Managed to read the entire Dec issue of Coastal Living. Going to have to find another magazine to read tomorrow which shouldn't be too hard as I have a pile in the living room. This is the first morning in a long time where...

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Coupons Galore

No scrapping for me tonight. Trent & I attended our annual HOA meeting and got home around 9pm. Since then I've been sorting through some coupons to work out a possible trade with another user at Hot Coupon World. Great place to learn about deals and make some swaps.Right now though, my coupons for trading are a wreck. Normally they are stored by category in this blue index card box on my desk which I altered for some "cuteness factor." ...

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Tomorrowland Indy Speedway

Fun, quick LO of me outside the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway ride at the Magic Kingdom. I lifted the page design on 11/29 of the Autumn Leaves designing with 2007 calendar.Supplies: White cardstock; Basic Grey, Chatterbox, EK Success, Karen Foster, and Scenic Route patterned papers; Heidi Swapp photo corners; Disney "Mickey's Used Autos" sticker; 7gypsies tag; Micron pen; stamp ink; staples.I was somewhat surprised I could focus on scrapbooking at...

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Happy birthday ...

to my little brother! :)Supplies: "star bright" patterned paper and staple from the Twinkle Toes kit at Peppermint Creative; Old Type and Dragonfly fonts from Two Peas in a Bucket; Arial fo...

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Advent Calendar

While blog surfing this morning, I came across a post on of cats and cardstock blog titled "One more reason to go to Starbucks." I was already leaning toward a stop by Starbucks anyhow (a little caffeine comes in handy when chasing - I mean teaching ;) - three to six year olds during Sunday School) and seeing her beautiful altered advent calendar solidified it. Off I went for a cup of iced Mocha (yes, iced - that Sunday School classroom is HOT)...

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Changing of Holidays

I had not intended on letting several days go by without blogging. Thursday, of course, was filled with time with family and celebrating. Trent and I started our day at his parents' house for lunch. Later we drove a little further west and visited with my dad's family. Finally returning home after midnight! It was a blessing to see so many of our family members in one day especially those we don't have an opportunity to see quite as often. ...

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Toni's Random Questions

Toni posted a wonderful list of Random Questions on her blog. Here are my responses:Who am I? Sarah - child of God, wife, daughter, sister, friend, "mom" to the furbabies, aunt, scrapbooker, Sunday school teacherWho knows me best? my husband, TrentHow old am I? just turned 29How old do I feel? hmm...depends on the day and my achy kneeThe most important thing in my life is... my family and my faithI always carry... my cellphone, wallet and...

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New Look!

Finally made some changes and now have 3 columns for my blog. I had to say goodbye to the "Snapshot" template that I liked and switched to "Minima" instead. But after adjusting column widths, fonts, colors, etc - I think I like the change. Many thanks to Felicia for alerting me to this possibility in Blogger with her post, How to Get Three Columns, and for sharing with me the Tips for New Bloggers blog. ...

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Christmas Traditions

Today's 2ps blog challenge: With the holidays around the corner. When does your family put up your tree and other decorations? Is there a tradition?Our first Christmas married and in our new house, we began the tradition of buying our Christmas tree the week after Thanksgiving. We both love the fresh evergreen smell. It helps me to get into the holiday spirit. I confess, the lights are all my responsibility and Trent smartly steers clear. I'm...

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Cards

Thanks for all the sweet birthday posts! :) I do appreciate them.Spent a little free time today between church and the NCSU basketball game in my scrap room creating cards. Both were inspired by the Autumn Leaves designing with 2007 calendar.For my new niece:Supplies: DCWV card & adhesive backed CS; QK heart; MM metal rimmed tag, metal washer, thread, metal heart, and border rub-on; generic office supply metal rimmed tag; $ tree rub-on hearts;...

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Number 29

Today I celebrated 29. It looks weird to type that. I think the next one may look weirder. Hmm. When I was little, I looked forward to this day as the best day of the year. I mean really - cake & presents and all the attention - could it get any better?? ;) Now it feels like they come much too fast! Seems like only yesterday I was celebrating 28.Started off my day sleeping in until 8:30. Gotta confess, if it wasn't for a hungry husband,...

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From the Scrap Room

I plopped down in front of this machine tonight with the intent to create a digi page. But, when I opened the folder where all my digi kits are stored, I realized that it's time to quit neglecting a little organization. Let's be honest - I have no idea what's in there. Well, I have an idea, but I'm not going to be finding anything quickly! LOL Any scrapbook organization on the computer got overlooked when I was re-organizing all my physical...

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My Thanksgiving Dinner Contribution

Today's 2ps blog challenge: You have to bring some food to a party. What's it going to be? The first thing that comes to mind is what I'm taking to Thanksgiving dinner at my Dad's house - green bean casserole. Yum! One of my favorite holiday dishes. ...

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Web Game to Help Fight Hunger

Initially, I wasn't certain what I would blog about tonight. I do have a cheat sheet of sorts (a spot where I jot down ideas) and, as those who know me will attest, I can yak away. So, no fear - I can type away too. ;) LOLBut then Trent & I sat down while waiting on dinner to cook and watched the CBS Evening News tonight. Honestly, I don't even recall the last time we sat down to watch the news, but am grateful we caught this program tonight....

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Halloween Decor at the Magic Kingdom

Finally did a traditional scrapbook layout tonight - and 2 pages to boot. ;) You can click on the image below to enlarge it or take a peak at it here. I was inspired by teatimetamera's Disney Challenges at Two Peas. Particularly her latest challenge: Monsters Inc and Halloween Time.When we arrived in Orlando on November 3rd, we immediately headed to the Magic Kingdom (well, after checking in at our hotel, of course). Halloween decorations...

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Birthday Freebies

We all love getting a good deal, right? And what better deal is there than free?? None. :) With my birthday coming up on Saturday (hint: feel free to leave well wishes *wink*), my inbox is filling with goodies and I thought I'd share how to fill yours up with fun offers for your special day.Baskin-Robbins - free scoop of ice creamCafe Carolina and Bakery (NC restaurant) - free sandwich with a medium drink purchaseCamille's Sidewalk Café - coupon...

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Another Masking Tip

Here's another fun use of the masking technique I explained in yesterday's post (Creating "Photo Letters" in Photoshop) -- use dingbats in place of traditional fonts. Last June I created this card for my mother-in-law to thank her for use of her beach house for a weekend.I used a photo I took while on the trip and masked it with a dingbat (GE Nautica) found at Dingbat Depot. Then I printed the image on off-white cardstock. The waves I cut freehand...

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Digi-scrapping

Although my traditional scrapbooking supplies have been calling out to me, I just haven't had the mojo to create a scrapbook page since returning from our trip. I look at my fun supplies, thumb through them. Even printed a couple photos, but am at a loss. I have, however, been able to create 2 digital pages using Adobe Photoshop CS. Both I posted in my gallery at Two Peas (and below!) and have had questions about I created certain aspects. In the two posts following this one, are step-by-step instructions for how I went about creating what...

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Creating "Photo Letters" in Photoshop

I created the cover page for our Walt Disney World album in Photoshop CS. The layout idea is scraplifted from a two-page layout by Tricia Kennedy that is published in the Nov/Dec 2007 issue of scrapbooks etc. magazine. I loved the clean, simple design and use of "extra" photos to create part of the title.STEP 1Open a new layout. Size as desired. Mine is 8"x8" at 300 pixels.STEP 2Type the text you would like to change to photo letters. Adjust...

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Shaped Text in Photoshop

Here are step-by-step instructions for how I added journaling to my layout in the shape of Mickey's head.STEP 1Open the image you want to use as a template. For me, this was the survey marker photo. I enlarged it so the text shape wouldn't match up exactly with the photo in my layout.STEP 2Add a new layer. In the end you will delete the template layer and don't want to lose any of your journaling when doing so. I used this as my "buffer layer"...

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Photo Organization

Digital Photo & Print OrganizationSince purchasing my first digital camera in early 2002, organizing photos has become a bigger challenge. With 35mm film, I felt as though I was limited by the number of exposures on the roll and would take a photo cautiously - not wanting to run out of film and miss something. These days, I have the opposite problem - too many photos! I keep a 1GB card in my digital camera and snap away. On the trip to Disney,...

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If I had one million dollars to donate

Today's 2ps blog challenge: If you had to donate one million dollars to any charity, which one would it be and why?I'd donate the money to the National Parkinson Foundation. My maternal grandmother suffered from Parkinson's most of her life. I saw first hand how devastating it can be not only to the afflicted but to their family and loved ones. My grandmother asked that her brain be donated following her death in the possibility that it may help researchers learn more about the disease that took over her life. If I had one million dollars, I would...

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Wolfpack Victory!

Part of our reason for returning from Orlando yesterday was to attend today's football game between NCSU and UNC. We shivered through the entire nailbiter of a game. It literally came down to the last few minutes and, thankfully, a 31-27 Wolfpack victory!...

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Magical Week

Home again. :) My husband and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary yesterday. But, rather than just enjoy a day - we flew to Orlando last Saturday and spent the week at Walt Disney World. We visited all four theme parks, Downtown Disney and the waterpark, Blizzard Beach. It turned out to be a wonderful time to visit - not crowded at all and comfortable weather (almost chilly at times!). Definitely a fun way to celebrate.The photo at the...

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