Winter Fun

After my husband and I got married, we were living in student/family housing on the campus of our university here, and we wanted to cross country ski but were way too on a budget to actually go buy good skiis.  Nevertheless, we found these skiis for $10.00 each during one of the many "moving" sales our neighbors had as people took turns getting jobs and moving away.  Deal of the century.  These babies were OLD, but in useable shape, and we got a few good uses out of them before they got too beat up to use.  Good times.

Here is the sketch I used from Once Upon a Sketch.

Mojo Monday #273

This week's Mojo Monday sketch was perfect for using up some scraps I've had of Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather line!  Loved that line, but I have almost used it up, which is actually quite an accomplishment for a paper hoarder like me.  As in, I have one kit that's a year old, and I haven't used anything in it because I love it too much to use!  Isn't that ridiculous!

So here's my take on the sketch with a little leftover Christmas joy.

Glacier 2010

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  My favorite thing is always getting to spend the whole day with my family and knowing they can't get away!  

So along that line, I sure haven't been scrapping Christmas this week.  I was looking through some pictures I've been meaning to use for a while and found this one from my husband and I's trip to Glacier a couple years ago.  This picture has some really good memories attached to it.  

This is Hidden Lake, aptly named because it really is hidden until you get to right about this bend in the trail.  

Along the way you hike right alongside mountain goats, and see rock chucks (aka yellow-bellied marmot,) beautiful flowers and summer snow.

And where will you ever see a mama rock chuck nursing her babies??

Did you know they have purple tongues?

Then you have a steep drop to the lake and a steep climb out.

They're everywhere!

Much of the early hike is snow-covered if you go as early in the year as we did.  You'll see lots of tourists in flip flops.  Brilliant.  Most of them are just trying to get a picture in the snow, then they turn around and go back, so if you go all the way to Hidden Lake, you'll stop seeing so many people.

Literally they walk right alongside you.

Look at his tongue!

Baby!

And then BOOM.  You see this, and the picture doesn't even do it justice.  The mountains on the other side of the bowl are far away, and it's gorgeous.

Super clear glacial runoff.

Chipmunks will hit you up for food.

Well that was weird.  I didn't really intend for this post to be an infomercial on Glacier National Park, but you get what you get when it's free, huh?  :)

The sketch is from My Creative Sketches and the flowers/branch idea is from Gabrielle Polacco.

Winter House

Just a little wintery card I made yesterday.  More to come...

Christmas Break!

Ahhhh.  Is it Christmas break?  Yes, it is.  Right away I made this little card, which was, oddly enough inspired by myself and the layout I made a few weeks ago.  That's never happened to me before.  I have LOTS of thank you cards to make for all the sweet gifts parents and kiddos gave to me this week, and I thought that even though Christmas will be over by the time they get them, a tree is still okay, right??  Hmm.  Maybe not.  Maybe I'll be saving this guy for next year.  But the sentiment is perfect, and I'll be reusing that one lots.

This year's tags

Last year, my scrapbooking group started a tag swap, and we decided to continue the tradition this year.      I thought the world might enjoy seeing our creations.  :)

by Jessica http://unrepentantcrafter.blogspot.com/

by Jae Lynn

by Erica

My tag--totally continuing from last year's theme and inspired by Tim Holtz

Aren't they so fun?  I love all my tags and think of my friends every time I see them!

Sweet

Ohhh, look at this super sweet picture of one of my nieces.  She loves the color purple, so I immediately thought of her when I saw this month's Scrap365 December Challenge.  I like how they give you a "recipe" but leave the rest open for interpretation.  Snowy weather has officially arrived here in Bozeman, so I had fun outlining her cute little face with all kinds of snow.  Happy winter!

Scrap365 December Sketch Challenge

 Here is the super cute December Sketch challenge from the Sketchbook365 blog.  I will definitely be playing along with this challenge more!  The layers in the sketch are fabulous!

And here's my take on the sketch.  This picture was taken early on Christmas morning a few years ago when my father-in-law sent me this coat he had MADE for me!  I love it so much!  What an amazing gift!

Mojo Monday #268

This week's Mojo Monday sketch was the perfect opportunity to try out the new stamp set I got for my birthday!  

This set is Winter Hills from Papertrey Ink.  The second I saw it, I loved it because of its folk art feel.  I have a lot more playing around to do!  I also used Stampin' Up's Winter Post set and paper from October Afternoon.  All delicious items, I tell you.  I hope you're having a great Thanksgiving!

New Goodies!

I am seriously spoiled in the crafting department.  My husband and I are two peas in a pod when it comes to hobbies, so he spoils me rotten by supporting my habit because he just understands. :)  

One of these beautiful boxes that arrived in my mailbox two Saturdays ago is my regular monthly kit from My Creative Scrapbook.  And it's almost already used up because I started on a new mini album...I'll share a sneak.  It's far from finished.

The other box is my birthday present; thank you, hubby!  I haven't made anything with that yet, but I have plans!!  Wincie had to be right in on the opening, of course.  

Front cover!

Snowy Season's Greetings

I am loving this snowflake embossing folder my sister gave me for my birthday!  It's such a clean and simple way to make a card pop.  This card seriously took about 5 minutes because this idea was floating around in my brain all week, but I have just the friends to send it to for Christmas!  They love snow so much they decorated their new baby's nursery with it.  So sweet!

Snow

Since it just dumped a foot of snow in my yard over the past couple days, I couldn't help but use snow in my crafting this weekend!  This clean and simple card was made with Stampin' Up's Cottage Window set, snow embossing folder, and Tim Holtz's skinny trees.  I think it might still need a little something, but I can't put my finger on it...

Still, it was a fun little project.  Plus, it's 6 degrees outside, so I think I'll just stay in!

Baby, Baby, Baby

I know you've been wondering since my last post what happened after 2:38 p.m. right?  Mojo Monday #265 happened!  

I had this new paper stack from Echo Park and knew it was going to be the background of this card right away.  Then after I saw the colors and polka dots assembled, I knew it had to be a baby card since everyone I know is having babies.  What a cutie little lion on that stamp huh?  Stampin' Up that one.  Plus I got a white gel pen on that craft run to Michaels...see I knew you were wondering what I bought...ANDILOVEITSOSOMUCH!  Again, why did I not have this before?  

Time for birthday dinner!!  Yippee!

Lovely

So today is pretty much the best day of my life.  Let me just tell you what that's like.

Today's my birthday, so last night was "Birthday Eve," which my husband helped me celebrate by cooking me dinner, buying me my favorite milk--I know that sounds super weird, but don't knock it--watching several episodes of Alias, which meant going to bed late.  But that didn't matter because I have today OFF!  As in, I took a personal day.  I figured, I never use 'em all anyway, so I might as well.  Good idea!  Why have I never done this before??

So this morning I got to sleep in, take my dogs for a run, go to Michaels just to see what was calling my name with my 40% off coupon, stopped by City Brew to get an eggnog latte...do you see where this is going!  And then, yes, craft the day away!!  Here's what came out (so far...it's only 2:38 p.m. right?)

Once again I love this month's sketch at Once Upon a...Sketch.  Honestly, there are a lot of talented people who hook up to that blog.  Here's the sketch.

Here's my layout.  This is an old photo of my grandmother...probably taken in the 1930's.  She died in car accident when I was three years old, so I only have two memories of her.  Actually, this page kinda made me sad as I was making it, like I had regrets that I wish I could've changed, but I guess I am just sad I never really knew her.  One thing I do know about her is that she collected tea cups, so I incorporated that into the layout.  I absolutely know she would've been a central figure in my life if she had lived, just like my granddad was.  What an amazing couple.  

Now it's time to see what other crafty business I can get into...

Good Times

Here is a layout inspired once again by the sketch at OUAS

I actually had this layout done at the beginning of October but have had no chance to upload it until now, so good thing their sketch challenges are a whole month long!

Here is one of my nieces on one of our swimming trips this summer at the pond.  There is hidden journaling that pulls out on the orange tag.

Summer seems like a long time ago now that it is snowy, but I sure do love me a cloudy day with some crafting time :)  Nothing better than that!

Happy Birthday Mom!

I just got the French Foliage set from Stampin' Up, and I love it already!  So many possibilities...

But the first thing I made using the leaves was a birthday card for my mom, whose birthday is on Tuesday!  I needed a card I could mail without going and paying extra postage, so that meant it has to look nice without a lot of embellies.  This set is perfect for that!  I really don't live very far from my mom, actually.  We took her out to birthday dinner on Friday night, then she just stopped by today to give me some garden goodness, but I thought it would be nice for her to actually get something on the real day.

I also have to say that I was so inspired by my sister's card that this is basically my take on her challenge...if she had a challenge.  Do. you. not. just. love. her. card.  ps. I realized I need to get a dark red.  Ya know, fallish red.  Like not so Christmasy red.

After church today I whipped up this puppy with some apples from my co-worker's apple tree!  It is cooling off right now, then I'm about to go dig in.  Oh baby.  I am horrible at crusts; don't judge.

I also made a Christmas tag just in case my card club has a tag swap again this year!  I wanted to to get a head start on an idea.  But I can't show you that because that would be cheating!!

On a sidenote, today my heart is a little heavy because there seems to be a lot of friends and family around me who are hurting and having a tough time.  In church today, there was a great reminder: "Be strong and courageous, do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

I hope you're having a peaceful fall day!

Thankfulness

Here's Mr. Pumpkin again doing his thing looking all gorgeous and pumpkiny.  I really like that stamp set.  Also check out that roller wheel from Stampin' Up!  I love all the words on there!

Together

I have been waiting for the perfect moment to scrap this precious photo of my nieces and nephew running up my mom's (their grandma's) driveway toward her house as fast as they could possibly go.  I love how they are caught in motion with all the fall colors behind  them.  They were so tiny!  Well, about 5 years later, they still have a blast every time they are together.  That's what this layout is all about.

The Once Upon a...Sketch blog teamed up with Color Inspirations this month and has been doing such amazing challenges, but this was my first chance to play along.  Honestly, I didn't think I would because all of the specifics kind of intimidated me, but I ended up really enjoying the challenge and the direction!  Here was the challenge for this week:

Road Trip

One of the highlights of any road trip with my nieces is the stuffed animals they bring along.  More often than not, it is "Bunny," featured below, and a pink kitty neck pillow who must've missed out on this particular road trip.  It was Turtle's lucky day, I guess.

There is so much you can do with stuffed animals in the back seat of a car with kids.  And it's amazing how funny kids think you are when you play puppet master in the back seat with their stuffed animals.  I've spent quite a bit of time on every road trip doing that very thing and feeling like I'm seriously talented.

So here's a layout of the girls that shows how much they love those little guys.  

Sketch from Lisa Saunders at Scrap365 December 2011

Playing in the Sunshine

This summer my nieces and I went to the museum, and one of our favorite parts was the Living History "exhibit."  (Can you call that an exhibit?)  It's super cool: they moved a homestead house and its outbuildings right next to the museum, and they have a working summer garden/farm with people dressed in character and ready to tell you a piece of history!  I had been there during the winter and had a tour, but I had never seen it truly working.  

They have row upon row of gorgeous sunflowers, and it was a perfect photo op!

Yes I did have a scrapbook page with this paper in mind when I took the photo.  I'll be honest.