Fun Times

A little sarcasm there, but my poor little 'puter is just not happy with the copious amount of work that I am making it deal with. It has been complaining for a few months and we have been masking the symptoms with quick fixes, but today it became very apparent that the upgrade to Win 7 is a must. Being compelled isn't my favorite way to handle a large task, but that is usually how it works.


Maybe it is appropriate to start the new year with a cleaned up 'puter anyway ;o)

Working on lots of fun stuff, new Zva Creative is in the house, and there will be a blog hop again in the very near future, so keep your eyes open for that. There is also new gorgeous new Teresa Collins products that are gracing my work table, and they are so fun and easy to use. She has really kicked some boo-tay with this release!

Ellen and I are working on a game plan for the must see manufacturers at CHA, if you have any suggestions for what your favies are, please leave a comment so we can check them out. There are some terrific sneaky peeks going on, so the excitement is really building for us.

And can you feel it? There is love in the air, so many beautiful Valentine projects starting to pop up everywhere! The colors of this holiday are so sweet and perky that it is hard to get grumpy with all the love is swirling around, such a good thing!

B-

p.s. Yeah, I originally put in a pic that I had already shared! I am such a doofus! Changed it to be the one I originally meant to put in, thanks for being patient with me!

Twenty-Ten

It sounds good, a fun number to say for what I believe will be year full of fun and adventure!

With an eye looking forward my heart needs to express gratitude to 2009, a year that was difficult, pushy and made me grow. Not necessarily in the ways that I would have chosen, but worthwhile none the less.

Thank you 2009 for:

1. Providing me with a job that was challenging and fulfilling.
2. Taking that job away so that I could learn humility and find the strength to overcome that loss.
3. Showing me how to let a son leave for two years to go to another country to serve our Heavenly Father.
4. Letting me watch a daughter transition from a spunky high school student to a mature college student.
5. Watching with pride as a daughter develops her learning skills and becomes an exceptional student and having enough wisdom to support but not push her.
6. Taking the time to visit a beautiful island nation with the man that I have been married to for 22 years.
7. Friends that have blessed my life and the opportunity to help them through troubled times when they needed it.
8. Loads of professional growth in the crafting industry, learning how to design stamps and then use them with loads of fun products.
9. A large improvement in my organizational and follow through skills.
10. Improved patience and appreciation.
11. Learning the difference between wants and needs.

The list could go on, but this is the highlight reel. 2009, don't take this wrong way, but I am happy to have you in the rear view mirror, you were quite the challenge for me!

Welcome 2010, I am ready for you!
B-

Exhausted!

I am such a pansy, LOL! Been trying to spend more time with the kids while they are home through the holidays, and it has been wonderful! But it also means that I am behind a little on my schedule for getting projects done and meeting deadlines. A few late nights are in my very near future, and I am already exhausted! I shared a really fun Valentine's tutorial over at the CLASS room today. Ellen has a really FAB 12 days of Christmas going on, there are loads of great tutorials and projects, and if you leave a comment on the blog posts you will be entered to win some amazing goodies that she is giving away every day! (makes me wish I could play along for sure!)
This time of year also has me thinking about how I can improve myself and the choices I make, and after some serious reflection (mostly in the mirror...) I have realized that I am not taking very good care of my health and body so that is going to be a big priority for me this year. I think it will help me feel better and also improve my self esteem as well. After my knee surgery five years ago it really hurts to do most of the types of exercise that I enjoy. This has created what I refer to as {bracket creep}
a little over 5 pounds a year is what I have gained and it has been really hard to notice until a few months ago when my clothes really started showing the lumps. Hard to face, but time to do something about it. If you have any words of advice I would love to hear them, but my plan is pretty simple, eat less and exercise more.
It is time to get back to the crafty stuff I have waiting for me, my melting pot will be very busy for the next few days!
B-

Did You Have a Merry Little Christmas?

I sure hope so! We did. It was very low key and simple. Our finances are very tight (as they are for most!) and so there was not a large pile of gifts waiting under the tree like there had been in times past. But it was a beautiful day where we had waffles together for breakfast, opened the gifts at noon, had 45 minutes on the phone with Tyler in Brazil and went the the movies together. Easily one of our best family days together since Tyler went on his mission. Tyler is amazing, and we loved hearing what he is up to, what things are like there and how much he has learned in such a short time. Doing a little mom math, I figured out that he is over 35% done with his service and soon we will get to start counting the days the other direction.
Today everyone has slept in and when they get up they will enjoy some chocolate chip pancakes, time with the dogs and then maybe a little shopping at the sales to spend some Grandma money.

Best wishes for a peaceful weekend for you and yours.
B-

Enjoying the Christmas Season

It is so nice to be slowing down a little and enjoying time with my family during this wonderful holiday season. It has been good to get a little crocheting done (3 hats and a blanket for Chloe's boyfriend) and some homemade goodies to share with friends and neighbors. It has been so fun to spend time with the kids doing that. They are so happy to have some down time from school, especially Laurel and Chloe.
Wanted to share a layout I made recently, it is Pink Paislee's Holiday line with a Zva Creative crystal frame.
Hope everything is well for all of you and that you are taking some time to relax and enjoy as well!

B-

Hero Arts Preview Party for 2010 catalog!

Hop on over to the CLASS room to play along, Ellen has planned a fantastic scavenger hunt that is fun and definitely worth the effort! And don't forget her Christmas sale, the discount on holiday products keeps getting better as the sale goes on!

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Christmas Centerpiece

It is the most wonderful time of the year, and that makes every second precious! So I have shared over in the CLASS room a fun tutorial on how to make a really easy and cute centerpiece that doubles as a mini album.

There is going to be a really great preview party for the new Hero Arts stamps at Ellen Hutson's shop, so be sure to head over and check out what will be going on.

That is about all I have time for at the moment, sorry to be so short!

B-

Snow Day!

The snow has been falling all day, and it is so beautiful! I just love snow days! I actually had a nap this afternoon and sipped on a few cups of hot peppermint tea, I needed a slow, quiet and relaxing day. The 12 tags of Christmas with a Feminine twist is done, and while it was exhausting, I enjoyed doing it so much! It gave me a new found respect for Tim and his ability to perform so consistently, and I also learned a ton myself as I pushed my knowledge to new levels. You should see me taking a picture with my left hand and applying stickles with the right, quite the balancing act. I love the project that I created, and am so grateful to everyone who stopped by the CLASSroom to see what was going on!

I also got my January Creating Keepsakes, it was an issue that had two of my projects in it. Made me so happy to see my layout of Tyler in the sketch section! The other layout is of Chloe and in the article called "Those Quotable Kids". I am so in love with my hobby of paper crafting it is crazy! Whether I am making a card, scrapbook page or other playful project, I am in hog heaven if it involves making a mess in my studio! Such a lucky girl!

We did get our tree up this weekend and the girls did a great job of decorating it, it is so nice having kids that are great at helping and taking up where we need assistance.

This week marks Tyler being in Brazil for 8 months! The time is now seeming to fly, probably the time of year, but he is 33% done with his mission! We sent him a box for Christmas, and hope that it gets there in time for him to enjoy it for the actual holiday.

Well, that is all I got in my head for now...
;o)

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I have some new tags to share, they have been so fun to make! Head on over to the CLASS room at Ellen's if you are interested in seeing the tutorials.

And thanks for all of the wonderful comments on my little Zva Holly Days house tag!
It was such a fantastic blog hop, the other projects were so inspiring!!

The Zva winners have been chosen and their name will be announced sometime today on the following blogs:

Lynn Mercurio
Hilde Janbroers
Lynn Ghahary
Teri Anderson
Anabelle O'Malley

We had a ball and we hope that you did as well. Thank you SO MUCH for visiting my blog. Please keep an eye out for another Zva Creative Blog Hop in the future.

Hope you are enjoying your holiday season!
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Our First Zva Creative Blog Hop!

I am excited to be a part of the Zva Creative DT! We are joining together today to share a Christmas or Holiday Tag that we each created showcasing the beautiful products that Zva has to offer. I am hoping that you will take some time to join us in a little bit of fun!

The Blog Hop begins at Kim Hughes' blog. She is linking to one of the designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. There are 12 design team members, so be prepared to be inspired along the way. Hidden on 5 of the blogs is a Zva Creative prize package! Those blogs will be randomly chosen after the hop is over, so it's important to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can. Our team is so wonderfully diverse, so we are hoping that you will discover a talent that you have not been aware of.

This Blog Hop runs through midnight on Tuesday, December 8th and the 5 winners will be announced on Wednesday, December 9th. We will do our best to notify each winner, but it's best if you can pop in to all of the blogs once again on Wednesday...plus, you never know what kind of inspirational creation that you may find there. All you need to do is leave a comment on this Zva Blog Hop post...you do not need to leave a comment on each and every designer's blog post to qualify. The more times you leave a comment along the blog hop path though, the more chances you will have to be one of the lucky winners.

I had so much fun creating this little "Holly Day" house, it was quick and so easy! If you are interested in creating something similar, the products that you will need are:

CRP-01CB-102 (The crystal letters)
CRC-02CB-101 (The blue and green crystal strands)
PE-02CB-102 (The pink pearls)
AD01CB101 (The adhesive dimension dots)
The papers are Eskimo Kisses from Basic Grey.

So if you are ready for a little more holiday inspiration,

please hop on over to see what the ever so talented Lynn Ghahary has created.

Thank you SO MUCH for playing. We appreciate your support so very much.

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Christmas Tag #4

It is tag #4, but it is only my second tag, it is very fun to be sharing this adventure with Lisa, she has made some beautiful and very inspiring tags!

Thanks to those of you who left comments for Chloe, so sweet and very appreciated!
The winner of my first tag is Elaine Allen! Congrats Elaine, please email me your shipping information so I can get that in the mail to you!

Decorations are going up here in the house today, the kids are having fun putting things out. Do you go around adjusting, or leave things the way they were put out? I am not terribly fussy, but sometimes they just need "fixed" a little. I love to make a lot of what we decorate with, but this year was so hectic that there really isn't much that is fresh going into the mix, feels kind of weird. It isn't like we needed anything, so it isn't a big deal, but still odd that I haven't been working on stuff like that. Is there anything that you have changed or done differently this year? Just wondering if I am alone in that or if others are feeling crunched for time as well.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
B-

Christmas Tags

This is such a fun time of year! Making and giving is one of my favorite things to do during this season, what is yours?
Speaking of making, have you hopped over to The CLASS room to see what Ellen's team is up to? You will love it all! And being completed inspired by Tim Holtz's 12 tags of Christmas, Lisa Strahl and I are creating 12 tags that bring a feminine twist to the holiday tag thing. This tag is from today, there are complete instructions on how I put it together over at The CLASS room.

Today is Chloe's 17th birthday!!! We are so excited for her! She is a fantastic kid, we are so blessed that we have her in our lives! We are taking her to In-n-Out for dinner and I will be making her a cake (which is what I will be doing when I am done here)
And since this season is about making and giving, I am going to give this tag away. All you have to do is leave a comment wishing Chloe a happy birthday by Thursday at midnight, and I will pick someone randomly to send it to!

Have a wonderful day!
B-

Tis the {Busy} Season!

Sorry to leave you hanging with that big ol' picture of my head for so long! I have been pretty busy working on quite a few different projects, and loving every minute of the craziness! We had a fantastic Thanksgiving, hope everyone else was able to enjoy time with their families and friends!
Now light speed to Christmas! Which brings me to one of the fun things that I have been working on! I put up a tutorial today over at Every Thing Creative for stamping on our templates, a very easy and fun way to personalize gifts for the people on your holiday gift list! Everyone loves handmade gifts, especially when they contain chocolate, so maybe this would be something you would enjoy sharing.

Also I have a fun thing happening over at Ellen's for the next 12 days. Lisa and I have had fun getting this ready, so hopefully you will take a few minutes to pop by and check it all out!

I still have cards to do for our family, going to have to put in a few late nights to get it all done. How are you doing on your preparations for the Holidays? Staying sane or cracking under the pressure?

I hope you take some time to slow down to catch a few snowflakes on your tongue and enjoy a mug of hot chocolate!
B-

Happy Thanksgiving!

The turkey is in the oven, rolls are rising and the yams are mashed and ready to be baked. It is at this time that it is so easy to see the bounty that I have in my life and recognize my Heavenly Father's gift of tender mercies to me in this chaotic world. I have the opportunity to spend the day with my 3 beautiful children that are at home and pray for and appreciate the one that is serving in a far away land. And shed a few grateful tears for all that this is, because for me it is all that matters. We have health, shelter, love and peace in our lives and these are so priceless in our world today.
Today I get to take my time putting together a menu that each of us appreciates, and we don't have to rush off anywhere or have anything done in a certain way or by a particular time and that is such a blessing. We can sit and visit about the silly, the spiritual or the cultural and have no reason to judge, just appreciate that we have this time. And I can do it all while wearing an apron with a headband that matches, and my kids love me all the more for being a complete goofball. And for all of that, I am so grateful.

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Thanksgiving Eve and so Much to be Grateful for!

My heart is full of gratitude for all of my blessings. Our family has had a lot of challenges and triumphs this year, and we are grateful for it all. I know it has made me a better person and I feel growth in ways that I know my Heavenly Father wants me to improve. It isn't easy and at times I wonder where I will get the strength to get through, and then I remember that I have the most wonderful friends, an amazing family and a Saviour who knows me personally and I am comforted that it will all be okay.
I got to spend time with some of those fantastic friends this last weekend at card group, we swapped some adorable gift tags, visited, snacked, made that adorable Christmas Lists notebook that was inspired by Lisa Johnson, checked out the letterpress system from Quick Kutz, and then a couple of us caught a late showing of New Moon together! It was just what I needed for a recharge of my batteries.
A huge box of super goodie coolness was also delivered to my house from my World Card Making Day win! The sponsors of that contest were so generous, and I can't wait to start digging into and using all of that fun stuff! I am so grateful to have a hobby that I love so much that is an outlet for most of the emotional baggage that gets built up from life.
We have a bunch of our dishes for tomorrow's meal being prepared tonight, so I am going to go get back to it. But I will be sharing pics of my matching apron and headband tomorrow that I will be cooking in! Stuff like that makes me so happy too!
And to all of you who stop in to see what I am up to, thank you very much!

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!
B-

A New Project Tutorial at Ellen's

I loved creating this project, it was super fast and easy, and looks great! If you are interested in how it was put together head over to The CLASSroom and check it out! And tomorrow is her anniversary so be sure to drop by and say hello!

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Missing Tyler Tons!

Just missing this guy so much right now. I thought it would be nice to share a layout about how what it looked like as he packed to be away from home for two years.
I am so grateful that he is a strong and independent person, we have raised our children to think for themselves and to be adventurous. We are really proud of all that he is and has become while away serving his mission in Brazil.
As Thanksgiving is coming upon us, it reminds me how truly blessed I am by my family. This is Tyler's favorite holiday. He is a foodie, he loves to help and create his own dishes as well, so we will be noticing his absence even more.
LOVE you so much T!

B-

Finished Chloe's Blanket

She is so happy to have a new blanket to snuggle up in as winter comes upon us! We went to the store and picked out the yarn together, and then I spent a good chunk of time every evening last week crocheting row upon row of love. It is a soft and very warm blanket for how light it is, and the colors are beautiful, the combination she selected is very soothing and subtle. We are going to go get some more yarn tonight so she can learn how to crochet, she wants to make a blanket as a Christmas gift for her boyfriend. Very excited that she wants to try this hobby, and I hope that she finds it as enjoyable as I do.
It is wonderful to have things to share with your teen daughters, and this will be a nice way for us to spend time together. I might even have to learn a few more stitches ;o)

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Bye Jaye...

One of my dearest friends is moving to Idaho on Tuesday, sadness...

I have known Jaye since I moved to Utah, we have been playing tennis together for years, and we have watched each other mature as players, but also as friends. I know I will be seeing her now and then, so it isn't tragic, but it will be hard having someone who is so integral to my life's schedule not be around on a day to day basis. Just the week before, another very dear friend moved to SoCal with her cute husband and darling little son, and it was harder because if I do see her it will be a very rare day. At least with Jaye, she will be back and forth because of her family that is still here, and she promised to make opportunities to spend time with her tennis girls.

To honor her, we had a wonderful luncheon, after some time on the court. I made a little tag book as a "card" so that everyone would have their own little page to write her a note and share a memory or two.
We also gave her some guitar music to remember us by, and I made a little folder that she could keep it in that would remind her of how much we love and appreciate her.

Having your friends make life changes is hard, they move on and get new lives, but they leave holes in our hearts when they are gone. I hope that these two dear girls remember how much they are appreciated and also take the time to enjoy the wonderful new adventures they are bound to have with the new fantastic friends that they are bound to make! These girls are so great that people would be nuts not to swoop them up the second they meet them! Anyway, it reminds me to really treasure the people who are your true friends and who are always there for you when you need them!

Take a second to hug your dearies, and don't forget to get a picture with them too. Life moves so fast, make sure to catch a little of it with your camera! I have tried, and yet I still wish I had done it more.

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A Misting and Masking Tutorial

This card was so fun to make, and I have written a tutorial for making a shimmery, glimmery mist from Ranger products, and also using little snowflakes from a Martha Stewart craft punch as a mask. Super fun! I hope you take a minute to head over to The CLASSroom to check it out!

Happy Wednesday!
B-

Winner of the Domestic Love set is...

Thanks for all of you who left comments, I love reading the wonderful things that you have said!

Congrats to:

Jan Larson!

This is such a fun set of stamps. The sentiments are funny and I love the font you used! All your samples are beautiful!

Jan please email me your address so that I can get these sent out to you!

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Domestic Love Stamp Set Give-Away

I spent a little creative time this afternoon playing with my new stamp set this afternoon! Designing this plate was so fun, I really wanted it to be playfully quirky but also inspiring and useful.

I pulled out a bunch of my delicious October Afternoon paper and had a lot of fun making these! They are all sized at 3" wide by 6" tall, a great card size in my opinion. I think this group of cards would make a fantastic little gift. Who can't use a little encouragement?

I would like to give one of these away, leave me a comment just to say hi by midnight on Monday night and I will randomly select someone to send it to!

Good luck!

B-

Don't Stop Believing

A quick post so that it is a little fresher in here!

First, I want to thank everyone who left such sweet and supportive comments, I really appreciate you my friends!

Second, I wanted to share this layout of Chloe. She is such a hard worker with incredible dreams, and I want her to remember how important it is to believe in herself and her dreams when things get tough. It didn't photo very well, but you get the idea. Tons of shimmer mist, silver paint dabbers, glittered alphas and Zva Creative bling. It is so pretty IRL!

And last, I have a new stamp set that was released yesterday! I have made a few things with this set, but they are in for publication so I need to get to work making more. But please go visit Lisa Silver's blog, she created a card that I just love! I promise I will get one done too, hers is so inspiring, I feel like stamping right now and it is almost midnight. It will have to wait until tomorrow though, just so tired!

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful week. We are here, the weather is the perfect jeans and sweater temperature, my fav!

B-

How is it Hanging?

I had a Monday filled with interesting and fun emails today! The morning started bright and early with an email that had pictures attached from Tyler and how he spent his Halloween in Brazil. They ate the insides out of a few watermelons, carved some fun faces on them and put in candles. We really missed him, I am sure it was a time when he missed us very much as well. I love getting these notes from him, for one minute it feels like he isn't half a world away.

The Zva Creative Design Team was announced, and I am thrilled to be included amongst that talented group of artists. I will be getting all of their information onto my sidebar, I hope you take a few minutes to go visit them, I think you will be impressed as well!

I was also sent an email today letting me know that I was a winner in the "Love" category of the World Card Making Day contest that Paper Crafts sponsored. I wish I could show you that card, so cute! But instead I am sharing the other card that I sent in. This card just makes me so happy when I look at it. It is totally wacky, but it makes me smile!

And I was invited to participate in the Ranger CHA 2010 Designer Challenge. That is going to be so much fun! Looking forward to getting the details on that, but I love making a mess, and this will be a great way to get a good one going!

A few things in my life have been pretty challenging, and without going into sticky details let's just say that I have a heart that hurts from it all. So I feel very blessed that my Heavenly Father has given me some wonderful opportunities to balance it out on the other side. I do believe that it really helps you appreciate the wonderful things that happen when you have the hard knocks too. So often it seems that things are so easy for others, but it is because we usually only see the surface. Everyone has tough times to endure, so if you are going through something similar, try to find the bright spots and really focus and appreciate those instead. It really makes me feel better when I do that, hope it works for you too!

Attitude of Gratitude going on here...

B-

In the Fall Swing of Things!

It is a beautiful crisp fall day today. Leaves have fallen all around, the sky is the perfect blue to compliment the oranges and browns of the ground and a warm cup of herbal tea is warming my hands and soul.

Don't you love this time of year? Where the earth trades her energetic green frock of foliage for the lovely oranges, rusts and browns for the season of abundance and gratitude. Just as every season departs and another arrives it seems to be just the right time for a change. So grateful to live in an area where that is punctuated by the appearance of the earth.

Welcome November I am ready for you!

B-