Bee Movie

After Trent came home from work tonight, we went to see Bee Movie - very cute and very funny. Some of it was corny humor, but I was laughing nonetheless.

Afterwards we just about finished up our Christmas shopping between Pier1 and Michael's. And we made a brief visit to PetSmart for more food for the cats & fish. Gotta feed the critters. ;)

I've been playing in my scrap area since we came home. Had fun creating tonight's card with my ticket stub from the movie. Do you see my "hidden" title? ;)
Supplies: KI Memories patterned paper; Martha Stewart Crafts flower sticker; Making Memories button & TinyAlpha letter; QuicKutz stem & leaf from the Sunshine gift set; Uniball Signo white pen. Inspired by Dec 13 of dw2007 to "design a creative title."

2ps blog challenge:
Are there any family heirlooms in your possession? Tell about them and how you came to acquire them. Have you done a layout about it.
Maureen's prompt tonight really got me thinking. We do have a few items I would consider heirlooms. Most are pieces of furniture - for example, the dresser in our guest bedroom belonged to his grandparents. That particular item we came to own after they decided to sell their house and move into a retirement community. They wanted to pass down items to family members and I specifically asked if we could have the dresser. It's beautiful solid wood. Worn from time & use, but to us, that makes it more special.

I realized after reading the prompt that I have not scrapped about our various heirlooms. Reason to do so is sitting in my bedroom - our bed came from my great-grandparents home in southwestern Virginia. No one has lived in the house for years, but it is still family owned and mainly stores extra furniture, dishes, etc. I asked my grandfather for it in 1999 when I moved to my first apartment. Beyond the fact that it was in that house, no one can seem to recall who it belonged to. I want to scrap the known history of our special items so future generations will realize why these items carried such personal value to us.

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Enchiladas and Quesadillas

Tonight was "boys' night" although it doesn't have quite the same definition it did several years back. Trent would go on Thursday nights to spend time with 3 college friends who were roommates. After one married and moved, the other two (the twins) moved to a new place that's about 45 minute drive from us. These days Trent will occasionally go there, but often the twins end up coming to our home. And, of course, since I'm here - I automatically get to participate [ie, I go to dinner w/ them then hang out upstairs scrapbooking while they watch tv ;) ]. Tonight was an all new "boys' night" as one of the twins brought his girlfriend. The five of us went out for dinner and then came back to hang out.
Supplies: We R Memory Keepers patterned paper; misc red cardstock; Jolee's 3-dimensional sticker; Making Memories definition and wordfetti stickers; stamp ink pad; Uniball Signo white pen.

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Happy birthday ...

Happy birthday, Charles! :) Hope you have a wonderful day!!
Supplies: Die Cuts with a View card; Love, Elsie textured cardstock; Making Memories clears brackets; Colorbok fabric label; Studio G stamp; foam dot. Inspired by Dec 27 of dw2007 to cut out stamped images.

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Cali's Spot

Cali's turn for a card with her favorite place by the tree - sitting on the armrest to our loveseat. :)
Supplies: Chatterbox patterned paper; Making Memories border, bling & TinyAlpha stickers; Prima flowers; Micron black pen; Bazzill purple cardstock; and Uniball Signo white pen.

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Back up and running

Last night our computer wasn't "playing nice" so to speak and we were unable to get online. Long story short, after toying with the Norton settings (the newer versions have wrecked havoc on the network connections at work so I thought maybe its update yesterday was the culprit), eventually uninstalling Norton and clearing off some junk programs (where in the world did the Family Feud game come from??), it still would not connect to the internet. As a last resort, Trent called our internet provider and Voilà! - there was an outage in our area. Frustrating as it was at the time, I shouldn't complain too much. Being without the internet for one evening is far better than the folks who were without power here last night due to the wind. And tonight we have everything operational again including new anti-virus software by McAfee.

While not toying with the computer, I managed to create another card for my Christmas memories last night. I scanned a copy of our Christmas cards I was working on for the front of it. I try to get cat cards every year.
Supplies: Provo Craft patterned paper; Scenic Route cardstock sticker; Making Memories epoxy & cardstock stickers; Bazzill green cardstock; Micron black pen & Uniball Signo white pen.

Tonight's card includes a photo I took of Chester this morning. He loves sitting under the Christmas tree. I was searching for him to say goodbye (yes, I tell my cats goodbye before I leave the house) and couldn't find him. Glanced over at the tree before heading out and there he was - peering out at me from beneath it. I took a quick photo and then headed out. :)
Supplies: Creative Imaginations patterned paper; Karen Foster rub-on; Making Memories mini metal index tabs; misc navy blue cardstock; Uniball Signo white pen.

2ps blog challenge:
Share with us what the weather is like in your area.
Relatively mild during the day (highs in the 50s-60s) and chilly at night (low 30s). Very, very dry as we're still in a bad drought that started over the summer. While I'm thankful for no hurricanes this year, it is a shame we didn't at least get a tropical storm. Our water supplies are drying up quickly even with harsher restrictions being enforced.

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Shopping & Cinderella

We went out shopping earlier today to pick out some gifts for the "under 4" crowd on our list. One is an angel gift and needs to be turned in by Friday so I thought it would be easiest to conquer all of the kids at once. Maybe we'll be labeled the "mean" aunt & uncle in future years LOL but our preference is clothing and books. Now, not having children ourselves, the clothing part can be more challenging that I realize at times. You would not believe how long the two of us spent running circles in the infant/toddlers department trying to figure out what to buy and what size. I was careful to ask for gift receipts just in case. Tag Supplies: Paper Salon patterned paper; Making Memories grommet, eyelet & epoxy sticker; misc red cardstock; Uniball Signo white pen.

Tonight I decided to take a break from holiday crafts to work on our Disney album a bit more. Here's the two-page design I came up with based on the December sketch in the designing with 2007 calendar:

Layout Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Déjà Views patterned paper; Li'l Davis chipboard 'C'; QuicKutz Metro die cut font; EK Success 3-d stickers.

2ps blog challenge:
What are 5 things on your computer desk right now?
1. The layout I just finished scanning.
2. A pile of music CDs.
3. My "Coupons for Trade" box.
4. CVS weekly ad.
5. Post-it notes.

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Fall "Harvest" & Tree Trimming

I use the word "harvest" lightly. ;) Today the weather here was sunny and in the mid 50s. Trent & I decided to tackle some much needed work in the yard - raking a few leaves, trimming the junipers, spreading mulch and clearing the garden. Everything in the vegetable garden had long since seen its final days except for my herbs. The rosemary, oregano and chives have been growing for 2 seasons now along with our strawberry plants. Last winter was so mild it didn't seem to affect any of them. So today I "harvested" the last of my herbs to dry and jar. Needless to say, my hands and the house quickly carried the strong aroma.

Cali & Chester (the cats) were thrilled for the opportunity to play outside for a bit. Cali followed me around and meowed at me. She's in my arms in the photo. A moment before she was rubbing her head against mine and purring loudly. :)

After we cleaned up and had some dinner, I turned on the Christmas music and Trent & I decorated the tree. It is finally shining in all it's glory. I created another card as part of my "Card A Day" to mark the occasion:
Inspired by several sources: Tina's mention on her blog of "Journal your Christmas"; Dec 24th of dw2007 - tree design on a card; and, what started me on the "Card A Day" idea [although, mine is more a "Card as the Mood Strikes" ;) ] - Elise Blaha's "let's!" "get!" "crafty!"

Supplies: Autumn Leaves & Wild Asparagus patterned paper; American Crafts, Doodlebug, Li'l Davis & Making Memories rub-ons; Making Memories epoxy sticker; Micron black pen.

2ps blog challenge:
Do you make your holiday cards?
I have made our Christmas cards in the past, but have opted for store bought in recent years as making them all can be very time consuming. Perhaps one year I'll plan well enough in advance, but for now I'm saving the handmade for smaller occasions. :)

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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/ photos attached to a stocking. Loved this idea and thought maybe during the weekend I'd shop for a couple. Fortunately for me, I remembered last night that I actually had some mini frame ornaments by Making Memories. They were in a kit last year sold at Target. I found it on clearance a couple days before Christmas and bought it. Pulled everything out of the large box and stashed the goodies inside a ziploc baggie in my Store In Style drawers. They were perfect! Now each cat has a little framed photo tied w/ a ribbon (from the Target $ spot) on their stocking. Since there were 4 frames in the kit, I also made 2 ornaments for my sister's pets. :) Shh! Don't tell. ;)

Another tradition I wanted to share came in the mail today. When I was younger, my stepfather always purchased advent calendars for my sister, brother & I. Sometimes they told the story of Jesus. Sometimes they were picture stories. And some, like the one I received today have little fictional stories [or at least I think, I haven't started it yet ;) ]. He continued sending me the advent calendars when I left home for college. And, even today, Trent & I receive one in the mail at the end of each November. I confess, it's something I keep an eye out for and still get a bit giddy like a young child with the excitement of this childhood tradition. Thanks, Charles!!

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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 overloaded.

Searching around online, I found a simple key organizer that I absolutely loved at Pottery Barn. Nice clean lines. Lots of hooks. But, I didn't want to pay the asking price. This looked like something I could make myself for less. So instead of point, click, buy ... I drove to Michael's and Lowes Home Improvement for supplies:

• (1) 9"x12" white frame
• (1) 12"x12" plywood sheet, 1/4" thick
• (4) coat hooks
• (8) screws, washers, and nuts [The screws that came with the hooks had pointed ends which wouldn't work. I bought flat ended screws and finished them off with nuts on the backside.]
• white primer & white glossy paint in spray cans [from my shed ;) ]
  

Here's the end result which hangs proudly next to my front door:

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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 I haven't been yawning during my commute to work. I am WIDE awake! And have just started on my cup of joe...hope my coworkers are prepared. haha

During my drive in, I was thumbing through radio stations as I normally do (love talk radio during the work day, but prefer music when driving) and ended up listening to some Christmas music. Couldn't have been happier when a caller requested Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Christmas Song. Talk about taking me back in time. I can recall my sister and I putting the record of this song on during Christmases at my grandparents' house. And ok, it might be a bit annoying the 400th time, but gosh it's cute and fun at the moment as I've only heard it twice so far this year. So, yes, I was the one singing and head bopping down the road. :D

Speaking of Christmas music, if you're feeling really festive today and want a chuckle, be sure to check out the YouTube: Kitties Singing Joy-Joy-Joy. I stumbled across it on Facebook yesterday and cracked up. So funny.

Now that I've shared a couple Christmas favorites, what are you favorite holiday songs?

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