Let the Shopping Begin!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (A few days late!) Hope everyone had a wonderful day and went shopping on Friday! My mom, sisters, and I went later in the afternoon and I finally broke down and did it! I bought a new camera. My old one kept taking fuzzy pictures and I wanted a Canon Rebel so I just did it. It was my contribution to the economy. I am posting some pictures I took with it. The only crafty thing I have done lately are my Christmas cards and I do not want to post those until my friends and family get them in the mail, so stay tuned. Here are pics of Joey. At least she stood still for a few minutes! (And, oh yes, I saw Twilight for the second time yesterday. We took my aunt. The book is SOOO much better but that Edward can invade my dreams any time.) Enjoy your week!

Oh Baby!

It has been too long since I have posted anything! That silly thing called work gets in the way sometimes! Why is it that work gets busy as your personal life gets busy too! Oh well - I should just be happy that I have work right?!

To celebrate the good things in life, my sister, Joy, had a baby shower for her friend Allison. We made some post it note holders for all of the shower guests to take home with them. We used the same animal stamps that we used on her invitations. I covered the chipboard coasters with paper from Martha Stewart and used the trusty old Bind - It All machine. Joy said they were a big hit!! Here are some pictures of my sister once they were done. Ain't she pretty!!! (And of course Joey had to get in the pictures too! She loves my sister so much!)

And, if you did not already know, Twilight the movie comes out on Friday! I am so excited. I honestly do not know how I am going to work all day. We already have our tickets and everything. Does that make us lame or what?!

Halloween Hangover

Happy Halloween everyone! (A few days late!) And, oh yes, the dreaded Halloween hangover. This is what I call the day after Halloween when children everyone crash from their candy filled night! I am so glad we did not have school! It is worse than Halloween! Ask any teacher. :)

As you can see, Joey is exhausted after this weekend. We passed out candy all night long on Friday night. On Saturday, we got up early to do the JDRF walk with Fox 10 news. My little sis, Heather, was in charge of organizing her group so we went and walked with her. Joey made it through the 3 mile walk and only stopped a few times. She was so tired when we got home but helped take down all of the Halloween decorations and get ready for Thanksgiving stuff.

For the past few weeks at school, we have been having a 13 days of Halloween movie contest. (This was for the teachers and staff to build spirit and morale!) Every day, I posted a movie clue. Those who wanted to participate, had to write down the name of the movie and the characters who were mentioned in the clue. I got the idea from PaperCrafts magazine of all places. Well, six people turned it in and two of those people got all of the clues right! One of them gets the grand prize of lots of Halloween goodies I got at Target. I thought the other 5 people also deserved a prize so I made these post it note holders for their desks. I got the idea from a You - Tube video. I used thin coasters and covered them with Halloween paper. Then I used my trusty Bind-It-All machine and put a pack of post its inside each one. On the outside, I used some Making Memories Clear Shapes that I just had to buy last year and finally found someplace to use them. Then I tied lots of colorful ribbons from Michael's on the top. Not bad for a second place gift. Let me know if you want the movie clues. It was a lot of fun and we are going to do the same thing for Christmas. What should I make then?

It's a Jungle Out There!

It is finally Saturday! This has been one of the longest weeks ever! It was Parent Teacher Conferences! I dread Parent Teacher Conferences. My stomach has been in knots and I have felt sick every day! Now a cloud has been lifted and I am happy again. Conferences are so stressful. You never know which parents are going to love what you are doing and which ones are going to snap at you! Thankfully, this year's conferences went very well! No one yelled at me and no one said they wanted to kick my you know what! (Like some dad did last year!) I am just glad they are over. Our school also had our Fall Festival last night. I served pizza and popcorn for hours but we all had so much fun! I love seeing my students dressed up in their costumes. I also saw my childhood friend Cheryl and her daughters. Where does the time go?

This morning, I woke up extra early and finished this baby book for my friend Jillian and her new born son, Trenton. Jillian is our angel who taught first grade with us last year! I asked her what kind of book she wanted and she said, "Oh Holly, you are the creative one so do whatever you want! I trust you!) No pressure there! I knew she was having a jungle theme but I did not want to do an animal book where there would be ribbons hanging out of the giraffe's tush or anything. So, I took a 6 by 6 book and had animals sticking out around the pages! I cut out the animals using my Cricut machine. I used the Zooballo and Animal Kingdom cartridges. Again, I used the K & Company papers. For some added touches, I used the same stamps as we used in the baby shower card and stuck those animals all over the inside of the book. To top it all off, I put quotes about babies and little boys on each page. Jillian's shower is in about an hour so I finished it just in time! I always do my best work when I leave things to the last minute. :) Now maybe I should go do my hair and put on some makeup. I think I need a nap! Have a great weekend! (And congrats to my friend Jamie and his family. They are moving into their brand new house. I was supposed to have a bedroom in the basement but, because of budget cuts, my room was scrapped. His four year old daughter says I can sleep in their playroom. I feel the love!)

Those Monkeys!

One of my sister Joy's good friends, Allison, is having her second baby boy in a couple of months. (Where are the baby girls lately?!) Joy is throwing a shower to welcome Baby Ian into the world so I helped her make this jungle inspired invitation. We used clear stamps from Autumn Leaves along with some green fibers. I am going to make some baby shower goodies with these stamps too. Don't they just make you smile?!

Whooo knew????

A couple of months ago, I started noticing owls were everywhere in scrapbooking. What in the world are they thinking? No one is ever going to want to use owls!! Yeah, right! I have caught the bug and now I think they are adorable. I bought a stamp set called Olivia and Pals from Sassafras. (My friend Donna carries them at The Paper Cutter's.) Tonight, I made several projects using my new fowl feathered friends. My friend Mary is turning 30? in a few weeks so I made her a birthday card to send back East with some goodies. (Mary and I have been friends since we met in 7th grade French class.) And my scrapbookin' soul sister Mandy is also turning 30? in a few weeks. I decorated an Altoids' tin with paper, ribbons and some owls. Inside she will find a gift card to one of our favorite places. Mary and Mandy - I hope you think these are a hoot! Get it? A hoot?! Oh boy, time to go and watch the season finale of Project Runway. Make it work!

And on a personal note, my friend Jillian just had a baby boy named Trenton Drew. He has had a rough first few weeks of life. Keep him in your prayers! His big brothers need him happy and healthy!

All Aboard!

Spoiler Alert! If this is Laura, get off of this blog right now! You will spoil your surprise for Saturday!

Okay, everyone else can keep looking. I know I should post this after the baby shower for Laura but I cannot help it! This train book is for my friend and co-worker Laura who is having a baby boy this winter. Her husband loves trains and the baby's room is all trains so I made a train book. (Good thinkin' huh!?) I thought I would find a train on one of my Cricut cartridges, but no!!! So, I used the Cricut Design Studio and my trusty George cartridge and made my own train. If you want the cut file, just let me know. (I am still trying to find out how to send it!) Anyways, I made the pattern and then traced and cut it out of chipboard. I covered the trains with papers from K & Company. The papers are called Small Wonders and I used the Boy 2 sided-papers along with some of their matching embellishments. I love this book! It turned out really cute and really looks like a train! I hope Laura likes it too! We cannot wait to meet little Tyler who is already a blessing! Congratulations!