Christmas is coming!

EEK!! I am so not read for it to be Christmas time already. This year has flown by. This week's FOBTY is about Christmas shopping. In years past I have always been tempted to over spend, because gifts=love, right??

This year I have decided to embrace the Christmas Mantra of a fellow digi-scrapper:
Something you want
something you need
something to wear
something to read

Which means that there will only be 4 presents per child (and I only have 2) under the tree. Wow seeing it like that is a little scary. I hope the tree doesn't look too bare LOL.

The Season Is Changing

Well, September has come and gone. With September went the triple digit temps and humidity. It also means that our wedding has come and gone. Now that we have the cooler temps of "Fall" in Yuma, we keep saying that we should have waited a little longer to have a cooler wedding day.

I still love our "Fall" here in Yuma. Cooler temps, a little wind and relief from the heat.

Layout Sharing

It has been a while since I have posted a layout or project, so I thought I would share a few of my recent favorites:

Gabrielle:



Bill & I:


Anthony:


All layouts were done with digital kits by Dani Mogstad. You can visit my SSD Gallery for credit!

Digi-Scrapping ... the best part

As I dabble more into hybrid scrapping and stopping in at my LSS more often, I have come to discover that being a Digi-Scrapper is MUCH better for the environment. Look around your local LSS. Most elements are sold in plastic wrappers of some type. The paper probably accounts for whole mountain sides of tall trees. Last but not least, everything I purchase can only be used ONCE.

Yep, digi-scrapping is definitely the eco-friendly way to scrap your memories.

The Biggest News EVER!!!

I am so VERY excited to announce that I was chosen to be on SSD's very first Hybrid Team!!!
I had to read the email over and over just to be sure. It is definitely my dream team, I have been applying at SSD for years now. It is such an honor to be part of such a great site! Here is the official announcement with the rest of the hybrid girls! There is also a new Hybrid Babe Gallery that will soon be filled with inspiration for everyone. I have my first project ready to photograph, so it should be in there this weekend.

A Few Altered Items

Since I am on 3 different Altered/Hybrid teams I want to show off my recent projects that I have done for them. Let's start with my new team .... Manda Bean!

This my first project for Manda, it is an album for Justine & Dominic:






It turned out SO cute and they both LOVED it. There is a spot on each page for them to journal and since I printed on Matte paper it will be easy to write with any type of pen.

I also made these cute 4x4 chipboard magnets for my mom. I used the chipboard coasters that I bought on eBay before Christmas. I got a 100 square and a 100 round so I need to start using them up LOL. I made little 4x4 layouts, then put them all on a page and printed them. It was very easy, I was done in less than a hour start to finish:


Onto my projects for Dani Mogstad:
On the Girl Talk blog I did a post on how to transform a Starbuck's Frappacino Carrier into a storage space for extra hybrid supplies




I also put together this chipboard album of our 2005 Family Reunion for my mom:


Last but not least, Traci Reed
On the Hawt Mama blog there is instruction to cover a little wooden purse that I found at Michael's a while ago. It turned out really adorable and is the perfect size for a few pens and some envelopes for my desk.




and then I made ANOTHER chipboard album ... this time with the pictures from Ellie's birthday:


It has been a busy month that is for sure ... and with National Scrapbooking Day on Saturday I am sure I will have a bunch more stuff to show off soon.

Ellie turned 4!

Oops - I guess since I didn't blog last month I forgot to mention that Ellie has turned 4!! She had a fantastic birthday with her cousin Lillian and a few friends. Since Ellie and Lillian are only 6 weeks apart we chose a date in between both birthdays to have a party at Grandma's house. The girls wanted it to be a Princess Party. So Grandma decorated the dining room and turned it into a Princess dressing room, with a rack of play clothes, a table full of jewelry and tiara and of course a great big mirror to admire their new attire.

Princess Justine arrived to help the girls get dressed and they each took a photo with her to go into their craft project (a foam Princess Carriage frame). Then she read them the Princess and the Pea while Sara and I served the girls snacks on Grandma's china and punch in champagne glasses. When the girls finished eating their fruit tarts and heart shaped sandwiches we opened gifts. Ellie and Lillian sat on their thrones and everyone was able to watch them open the gifts.

The crowing moments was when each girl was presented with their very own cake. I had made 2 pillow shaped cakes, complete with tassels and then placed a real tiara on top. Instead of cutting into the beautiful cakes we gave each of the guests a cupcake, which was SO much easier.

Each little princess left with their craft and a goody bag filled with princess jewelry & makeup. It was a wonderful party and everyone had SO much fun!!

My fellow CT members on Dani Mogstad's team have made some adorable pages from the party: