Coming in January...

"You Melt My Heart"...

Great finds of '09!

Last year I made the decision to start a "My Favorite Things" list...just in time for Christmas. This year I've found a couple of more things to add to my list. I'm calling it "Great Finds of '09"! :o)

First, Martha Stewart's paper trimmer. Cuts like butter! And the best part? It cuts STRAIGHT!! I should probably state that I have tried many paper trimmers over the years, but this one is by far, the best that I have found! Another feature I love is that it has an arm that you can "set. Here is a great video demonstrating that feature.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC54B5a6bIs

The only con of this trimmer is that it only goes up to 10 1/2 inches. Not a huge issue in my opinion because most times you're cutting down a 12x12 page anyway.

Another great find is the Martha Stewart border puches. There are two that I absolutely fell in love with. One is the "Punch around the Page" loop border/corner set. There are many other designs that are available all the way from whimsical to the most elegant designs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p1p5yV2NpI

If you haven't heard of the Drippy Goo punch, be sure to check that one out too. It's been on the market for awhile. It was a "must have" item last year but this year, you can probably find one at your local Walmart. You can use this punch in sooo many different ways on cards or layouts: icing for cake; drippings from an ice cream; icicles. Lots of fun ideas! If you look at my calendar pages below, for the June page, I used this punch on the photo mat. Isn't it cute?

Aleene's Tacky Glue Pen is another wonderful product. What makes this glue pen different than others, you may be asking? It's refillable!! Last night I spent less than $3 for a huge 16 FL. OZ bottle of Tacky Glue at Walmart...which will last me a looong time! I also love that this glue pen has a fine tip which allows much more control with tiny embellishments.

**If you haven't already, check out my archived Money Saving Tip on how to make your own glue dots using Aleene's Tack It Over and Over. It's another great product that will save you some money.**

And one more thing: Whether you're a card maker or an avid scrapbooker, my best find so far has been the Cricut machine. No words can express how much I love my machine or how much use out of it I've gotten. It was well worth the investment and I highly recommend it. It will help you make beautiful pages in a fraction of the time...and it's incredibly user friendly!!

Hope these suggestions help with your Christmas shopping!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I love Christmas. My favorite time of the year!! There is something so wonderfully magical about seeing all the beautiful lights and most of all, knowing the true meaning of the season.

Christmas was always a huge deal at our house. My parents always had such a way of making us feel special. Mom & Dad's gifts to us were wrapped under our tree. But Santa left everything displayed around our fireplace. I still remember the excitement I felt when Mom & Dad would announce that my brother, sister and I could come out to the living room and see what Santa brought. It was good being a kid! And it's even better being able to look back on fun childhood memories such as this and knowing we were so loved.

Probably one of the best gifts my parents gave us though was taking us to church each Sunday so that we could hear about Jesus. That was the most important gift of all. And it's the one I'm most appreciative of.

Anyway, so on with the excitement of this past week:

Monday night I had a fantastic time with the ladies from our church. We had a special evening of fellowship, food, singing Christmas carols... and the revealing of who our Secret Sister has been. It was so much fun!! As it turns out, the person I was giving to was the same person who was giving to me! And she is one of the sweetest ladies you would ever meet! I hope to get to know her better in the months to come. She has blessed me so much with her thoughtfulness.

On Saturday, Cheryl threw a Christmas party at the Shoppe for all of us who participated in Secret Sister there as well! Again, a great time! Of course there was eating....and these ladies sure can cook!! And we exchanged gifts with our Secret Sisters for the last time. Again, I had a sweet Secret Sister.

I thought I'd share what I made for my Secret Sister. Last year, Cheryl taught a calendar class which was wonderful. It's a calendar that hangs from a banana tree...what a fun idea!! I never got around to finishing mine back then, but decided to give it another whirl, in hopes of giving my Secret Sister something handmade. If you want to check out the class project, here is the link: http://scrapbookshoppe.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-02-05T15%3A03%3A00-05%3A00&max-results=20 (scroll down to the Nov. 10/08 post).

Here is the one I made:

I think the August page is my favorite. I just love all the bright colors and the cute umbrella! And lots of bling throughout which is incredibly Shelley-like! LOL If any of you are wondering, most of the embellishments I used for these pages were made with the Cricut (using many different cartridges).

Thanks for looking! Wishing all of you a fantastic week!!

My latest creation!

Thought I'd share a picture of what I created tonight. I'm sure most of you by now have seen the huge fun diecuts at the Shoppe. Well, I bought three of them. One for a layout of Bailey (our Westie). The other two I intended to layer to make a layout of Muffin.

Here is what I came up with after playing around for a bit. I'm planning on sharing the whole layout once it is done, but for now, you get a sneak peek at my Muffin diecut.

I forgot to take a picture of the Muffin pieces before I worked with them so I'll show you a picture of what the white version of the same diecut looks like.

Very cute, but a little plain. Now, let's see what a little ink, chalk and some bling can do:

Okay, so I see now that the dog is turned the wrong way in the first picture. Oh well. You get the idea. LOL

All I did was simply buy two diecuts...one in light brown and one in dark. I cut pieces out of the darker diecut and glued them on top of the lighter brown dog. Very, very easy. In fact, the diecuts have little detailing/slits all over it, which can serve as a guide on where to cut.

Hope this inspires you to create something fun of your own!!

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Another new class!

In case some of you have not seen this yet, I wanted to post about another great class that is going on this Saturday at the Shoppe. Jill is my friend and a new instructor to the Shoppe! You will absolutely love her! She has made an adorable layout that I'm sure you're not going to want to miss.

Here is a little looks-ie:

The birds on this actually have feathers!! Sooo cute!! Great for pictures of friends... or this would even be perfect for a fun spring time/Easter layout. Class is from 10:30-12:30 this Saturday and kits are available if you're not able to attend. Don't miss out~call today to reserve your spot! 706-321-0202

Elmo class!

Hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your loved ones!!

There is still time if you'd like to sign up for the next in our Sesame Street series. This class project features Elmo, along with his cute gold fish Dorothy! Class is scheduled for this Saturday, December 5th from 1-3 p.m. (kits are available if you're not able to attend that day). Please register by calling 706-321-0202.

Also, just a reminder for all classes: If you register and find you are not able to attend the day of class, please, if at all possible, call to let us know. This ensures that classes can start on time and that the instructors are not having to put kits together at the last minute. Thanks so much!

Now, on to the fun! :o) Here is what we will be making:

In case some of you will be attending the "Elmo's Green Thumb" show at the Civic Center, I decided to incorporate some cute sunflowers into this layout. If you haven't heard about Sesame Street Live coming to Columbus, you can get all the details here:

http://sesamestreetlive.com/shows/elmos-green-thumb

Hope to see you on Saturday!!