Friday, November 22, 2013

30 Days of Thankful: Week 3


Hello!  I can't believe we're already onto our third week of  30 Days of Thankful month long project!  I you haven't caught Week 1 and Week 2, this is a project I am joining in with through Cathy Zielske and using her 6X4 templates, as well as linking to her latest Gratitude Friday.
I used to have a monthly scrapbook date at Archiver's with friend Jill, that I met through our sorority's alumnae group.  Any other Kappa Delta's out there?  She moved with her husband to Boston and we've been missing our time together.  We finally tried out using Skype to video chat and scrapbook together.  It worked out great and now we plan to restart our monthly dedicated scrapbook time!
My husband and I got two kitties the year we moved to Santa Fe, NM and they've now been part of our family for eight years.  Both are quite loveable, but one is a lap cat and I can't tell you how handy it is when you have a kiddo who wants to love on and hold that kitty and the kitty actually likes it!
Last year our town had a tornado come through and it did a lot of damage to the neighborhood just across the street from ours.  That was truly a close call!  Even though our home was unaffected, my daughter has vivid memories of it and loud bad storms scare her.  The conditions were right for one again but there weren't any in our area, thank goodness!  Now that I can get over being thankful for that, I am also thankful that we didn't have to deal with the inconvenience of a power outage.  Several of our friends did loose for a day or more.
My daughter has always been very snugly and loves hugs and holding my hand.  My toddler, not so much.  But within the last month or so he has really taken to wanting to sit on my lap for stories, playing, and watching his preschool videos.  My heart melts when he pulls my arms around him and when he calls me for his goodnight.
There are definitely days when having to plan and coordinate Daisy and now Brownie meetings for my daughter's Girl Scout troop is something I'd really like to give up!  But once we are at meetings I am always reminded how wonderful this time really is.  Not only do I get a special activity with my daughter but I also am enthused and reinvigorated by the girls seeing how they create and interpret our badge activities.
My son started speech therapy last spring and has really taken off this fall.  He met all his first round of goals and has doubled his vocabulary since September and now has 100 words.  Our speech therapist has been a wonderful resource for us too, she has lots of suggestions for how to work with him that have been very helpful. 

Day 21 will be a picture of my friends at a Mom's Night Out.  I just haven't taken it yet at the time of writing this post.  Headed out the door any minute!  Grateful for friendship, aren't we all :)

See you next week!

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Thursday, November 21, 2013

Amy Tangerine Projects Blog Hop: Mini Tag Book


Hi Scrappy Friends!  One thing I always love is bringing home some new scrappy goodness and some of favorites to tear open and get to playing with are by Amy Tangerine.  I belong to an Amy Tangerine fan group on Facebook and today a few of us getting together to show off our projects made with her lines from American Crafts.  Here are the other ladies' links:

Ruth: http://www.scrapmachine.com/
Shay: http://www.shaytibbs.com


My project is a cute little tag book with a ribbon closure, all about the first time we took our two year old son to one of Michigan's Great Lakes for a day at the beach.  This is very much a summer tradition for many families in Michigan, including ours.  Since it was his first time at the "big" beach, as opposed to the smaller inland lakes across the state, it was a special memory and certainly deserved it's very own mini book.


The dimensions are around 3 inches wide by 6 inches tall when closed.  I learned the technique for making these from Donna Downey's book Creative Albums so I can't provide a tutorial but it's simple so you can probably figure it out from the pictures.  But if you can't and have any questions let me know and I will try to clarify.


The front and back covers were made by covering chipboard and then layering the photo and elements on top.  I disassembled the "Let's Go On An Adventure" sticker to remove the foam tape because I like to keep small projects like this as flat as possible.  I've just found they hold up better when they aren't so bulky since they won't be in a photo sleeve to help protect them from wear and tear.  Plus then they are easier to store.


You open up the mini book and there are four pockets, each with a hand cut tag inside.


Pocket 1:
  • I punched a small circle out of the same paper I lined the book with to reinforce the hole.
  • I love those mini puffy stickers!
  • Wouldn't it have been nice if my husband had managed to put on a smile?  Oh well, at least our kiddo is cute!

This is the back of the first tag.  The orange lined "paper" I journaled on is actually part of the sticker packaging.  Waste not, want not!  In hindsight It might have been better to journal with the grey pen but it's more readable in person.


Pocket 2:
  •  I love using lined paper to journal on, pretty and functional! 

On one side of Tag 2, I have a photo of my son with his age and on the back is one of his sister with her age.


Pocket 3:
  • I made sure I trimmed my orange paper so the "paint" marks on the paper would be included on the piece I used.  So fun and a great place to "ground" the circle sticker.
  • Aren't those itty bitty hearts adorable?
  • The photo (not shown in this post) on the other side of the tag shown above, isn't the best but I wanted to include that we used a new sun tent and that he ate big boy sandwich.
  • I had to use the ribbon and skip the hole because I didn't want to place a hole right in the middle of the little guys forehead.

 Pocket 4:
  • Love seeing the sand on his fingers, so glad he was willing to get all dirty.
  • The half circle I journaled on is leftover from being punched out of the second pocket.
  • On the other side of this tag, which I forgot to photograph, I used some black "washi", which is really the strip of paper at the top of a 12X12 piece of paper trimmed to mimic washi.

On the back I left the camera paper as is, because seriously it's super cute as is, don't you think?  I added a picture too wide to fit on a tag or the inside on the back two middle panels.  And yes, I am totally wearing a bathing suit under that towel!  Whenever I look at it, I think it might look like if I dropped it I'd be flashing all the beach goers.  Note to self take pictures in beach cover up from now on!


There you go, that's my mini tag book, a one night quick project.  I have made several of these over the years but always given them away as gifts before.  I am really glad I finally made one for us to enjoy and love how it turned out!  Thank you for visiting and I hope you go check out what the other ladies have made.  Here again is a list of the participants.

Ruth: http://www.scrapmachine.com/
Shay: http://www.shaytibbs.com

A Note of the Supplies:

The book uses papers and embellishments from a couple of Amy's lines.  All the patterned papers, stickers, and pens are from her.  The supplies that are not are the washi tape (various companies), ribbon (unknown), one little striped scrap on the cover, 2 sun shaped brads, and twine, but the twine is still by American Crafts.


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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Holiday DVD Giveaway! Featuring Mike the Knight, Yo Gabba Gabba, and The Snowman and The Snowdog

This is a sponsored post.  Complimentary products were provided for review.  The experiences and opinions are both personal, unbiased, and completely my own. No other compensation was provided.

I have an awesome holiday themed giveaway package of DVDs from NCircle Entertainment, that features some of our favorite preschool characters and shows!  I love that NCircle Entertainment believes in "Entertainment that Educates", so I know each one will be a quality program for my little guy and your kiddos to enjoy. 

This prize package includes three brand new seasonally themed DVDs from Mike the Knight and Yo Gabba Gabba (both airing on Nick Jr.) as well as The Snowman and The Snowdog, the charming sequel to the Christmas classic, The Snowman, based on author Raymond Briggs’ iconic children's book.   There's a free Mike the Knight Saves Christmas coloring page that everyone can enjoy, yay!

Let's learn a little bit more about each of the DVDs in this package with a retail value of over $35!


Mike the Knight: Mike's Christmas Surprise!

Mike’s Christmas Surprise! is packed with five stories (including a bonus episode), interactive games, a music video, and more! When a special visitor surprises Mike for Christmas, excitement fills the air. The royal family decides to play a game, but Evie’s magic causes Christmas chaos. Will everything be back to normal in time for the Christmas feast


Here is an adorable Mike the Knight Saves Christmas Coloring Page, that goes along with the new DVD, for your little fan to enjoy!  Use the link above to download the free PDF from the sponsor. 


Yo Gabba Gabba: A Very Awesome Christmas Special

Two stories are contained on this festive new DVD releasing for the holidays. In “A Very Awesome Christmas Special,” it's a Christmas celebration when DJ Lance places a gingerbread house into Gabba Land! The Gabba gang makes new friends with neighbors, and everyone is excited to exchange gifts – but what can they possibly get for Santa Claus? In the story titled "Christmas,” the Gabba gang learns that even though much of Christmas is about receiving, there’s a lot of joy in giving to others.


The Snowman and the Snowdog

When a young boy and his mother move into a new house, the boy discovers a secret box hidden under the floorboards of his bedroom. In the box, he finds a hat, scarf, some lumps of coal and a shriveled tangerine - it's a snowman-making kit! Later that day, when it starts to snow, the boy builds a Snowman and, with the spare snow left over, a Snowdog. That night, the Snowman and Snowdog come to life and take him on a wonderful adventure. As dawn breaks they fly home, but before the boy returns to bed a magical surprise awaits him!

I am really excited to see these brand new DVDs!  As I mentioned previously, Mike the Knight is already a favorite show at our house, Yo Gabba Gabba we've been fans of since our now seven year old was little, and I remember watching The Snowman with my little brother years ago.  I'm really curious to see this new story featuring the classic character. 

Please use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. Good Luck!

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