Your Memories By Design January Special

It's January 1st, and I am officially designing for Your Memories By Design .

It's all so exciting!

Each month we have the opportunity to work with an amazing kit full of different embellishments (a mix of chipboard, journaling stickers/tags, and acrylic stuff).

For January this is the kit that is going on sale TODAY!!

"Baby, it's cold outside"

The items in this kit are:

- Foam Alphabet Set (white, block)
- Chocolate Snowflakes: Journaling Tags
- Winter Wonderland:Journaling Stickers
- Naked Chipboard Snowflakes
- 4x6 Acrylic Photo Book Covers

The DT were also sponsored by another awesome site this month: Scrapbook Star and some of their products were used in the following projects, along with the items from the January kit from YMBD.

Here are my projects created for the first of the month reveal!

Items from Your Memories By Design
- mini chipboard arrows
- chipboard snowflakes (from Jan special)
- foam alphabet/white (from Jan special)

Items from Scrapbook Star
- Pink Paislee pattern paper
- Ribbons and blooms
- Ranger stickles

Other items used
- AC thickers
- Cream bazzil cs
- lace ribbon (unknown)

Based on sketch 115 from Pencil Lines (by Michelle F)

Items from Your Memories By Design
- chipboard snowflakes

Products from Scrapbook Star
- October Afternoon pp
- Stickles
- Imaginisce ribbon and blooms
- Bazzil rectangle scalloped cardstock

Other products
- lace ribbon (unknown manu)
- AC thickers

A card created using YMBD products. As soon as I saw this cafe mocha label, I knew I had the perfect stamp set for it!

Items from Your Memories By Design :
- Jan Special Kit Chocolate Snowflakes
- Journaling Tags
- Winter Wonderland - Journaling Stickers

Items from Scrapbook Star
- Pink Paislee pattern paper

Other items used
- bazzil cardstock
- Gel-a-tins stamps


Items from Your Memories By Design
- Chocolate Snowflakes: Journaling Tags
- Chipboard Snowflakes.

I covered the snowflakes with pattern paper, sanded down the edges, and inked them. I then glued them on the card and cut around them and the cardstock behind to create a more detailed edge for the card.

Other products used:
- My Mind's eye pattern paper
- Bazzil cardstock
- My Mind's eye punchouts

I stamped snowflakes unto the letters to make them complete the winter theme. I used Stickles on the snowflake. I also used a Chocolate snowflake journaling tag to cover another snowflake.

Items from Your Memories By Design
- Foam Alphabet Set (white, block)
- Chocolate Snowflakes: Journaling Tags
- Winter Wonderland: Journaling Stickers
- Naked Chipboard Snowflakes

Products from Scrapbook Star
- Doodlebug cardboard stickers.
- Ranger Stickles

Other Products:
- Doodlebug pp

As you can see, I made so much with this kit, and have so much left over! This kit is a MUST have for all those great winter photos needing to be scrapped!

Go buy one before they disappear!

Happy New Year!!

What 2009 means to me!

2009!!! WOW! I thought it would never get here.

Back in 2002 when I started taking courses towards my nursing degree, I remember planning out my courses year by year. I placed the list of courses on my fridge and started crossing off as the courses were completed. At that time, knowing that I would graduate with a Bachelor of Nursing degree in May 2009, seemed so far away! Now...it's here! (well, in 4 months time!).

I'm so excited! It's been such a long process and so stressful, but very rewarding at the same time. I'm not sure what I'll do when Sept 2009 comes around and I'm NOT going to be getting ready for school! It's going to be so good to have two incomes once again, and to not have to worry about papers, exams, and group work. My family has been so supportive of me, and my dh...well, I'm going to have to give him a medal for all his patience and encouragement along the way.

Two years into my courses, we decided that I would quit my fulltime job, and often wondered how we would survive on just one income. I have to say, that God has provided for us, over and above what our needs were. We have been blessed so many times, and I know it's because of our faithfullness to Him.

It hasen't been easy to do a degree with two small children...but I would encourage ANYONE who was planning on doing it...to just DO it!! The best thing is that after accomplishing this...I feel like I can do anything!

I start my final term on Jan 7th and have just 7 weeks of classes left!! (7 WEEKS!!!). I'm off for March break and then start my preceptorship. The RN exam is written on June 2! Wow! It's all so exciting!

All through this process my family, and more specifically, my kids, have been my biggest motivation. My kids have been so patient when mommy is studying, and so understanding during stressful times, like when a paper is due, or when a big exam is upcoming. They would get stressed right along with me.

When Emilee was just 3, she was old enough then to realize that mommy was going to school to 'learn about being a nurse'. She was coloring one day, and saw a picture of a nurse in one of her coloring books. She colored it, and then ripped it out of her book, and asked me to put it on the door in the kitchen. She said, "Mommy, every time you look at that picture, you need to say 'I can do it' ". It brought me to tears that day and that picture has been up ever since. Here's a photo of what it looks like today. Yellowed from the sun, and curled at the edges, but, I still look at it and whisper to myself, "I can do it". Thank-you Emilee for this constant reminder!





So, as we finish 2008 and head into 2009, I have many things to be thankful for and so many things to look forward to.

Although I have never officially made resolutions, I figured that a year as important (to me) as 2009, should have some:

1. I plan on spending more time in prayer this year.
2. I plan on being more patient with my kids.
3. I want to spend more time with my family.
4. I'm going to get a job!
5. I hope to go on a family trip.
6. I plan on staying more of top of my laundry, which means folding and putting away clothes right after I take it out of the dryer (yeah, right....lol)
7. I plan on scrapping more.
8. I want to spend more time with my husband (and less time with my nose in the textbooks!)
9. I will be more thankful for God's blessing every day.
10. I will do less procrastinating, and more 'doing' so that I can do more for others (and myself).

That's it for me!

Happy New Year and many blessings in 2009!

My... 'Orange' You Creative!!

At last I have completed my Kit and projects for the Create My Keepsake design team call.

My kit was created all around the main color 'orange' (hence the play on words in the title of my kit). Orange is a color I rarely use in any of my projects. I guess that's why I had so many different orange papers in my stash to choose from. I decided to use the accent colors of green, black, and cream to spice up the kit.

When creating this kit, I was thinking that it would be one that could be used in the fall of the year, considering the colors, but as you will see in my projects, it is very versatile for other themes as well.

Here is my kit (I am VERY pleased with how it turned out!)

And here are a couple of close up pictures of the items in my kit!

The requirements for the design team call was to create a kit, including...but not limited to the following items. I will list the requirements then list the items in my kit to show how I met the requirements.

3 cardstock
3 regular bazzil cardstock (cream, green, and orange)
1 scalloped Bazzil cardstock

6 Pattern Paper
1 Scenic Route
1 Basic Grey
1 Pink Paislee
2 Bo Bunny
1 Daisy D's
1 (other that I am unsure of the manufacturer)

1 alpha
American Craft Thickers

1 Rubons
Fancy Pants

Bling/brads/buttons
Various buttons from my stash
Bling - Glitz Designs??? (I think)

Chipboard/rubber charms/flowers
Maya Road Chipboard mini album

Stickers/diecuts shapes/journaling cards
Making Memories mini letter stickers
Diecuts from my Cricut (Home Accents cartridge)
Journaling cards (Jenni Bowlin)

Ribbon/Trim
Making Memories ribbon

Extras used in my projects included only black ink, my black pen and stickles.

Out of this kit I manged to create so much! I got so inspired by the items in the kit that I just wanted to keep creating. ( I really should have added a couple more pieces of cardstock so I could make more layouts! lol).

The best part of this whole process is that I did not create the kit with any specific projects, or layout themes in mind (except that I knew I would create some sort of mini album). But...everything just came together so perfectly (in my opinion anyway).

My first project is a LO titled 'Sweetness'. I used a piece of the cardstock, and pattern papers (Bo Bunny and Pink Paislee). I used the Thickers and mini MM alpha stickers for the title. The big swirl (from the Cricut), journaling block, ribbons, buttons, rubons and bling completed the layout.

My second LO is titled 'Just Beachy'. I created this using the orange cardstock, Scenic Route, Pink Paislee, and mystery paper. I scattered the circles, cut from SR pp, around the layout to create a fun look. I also use a little bit of the scalloped cardstock. Thickers, and MM letter stickers worked for the title, and a little button added an accent to one the the circles.

The third project was my min album! I'm VERY happy with how this turned out! I called the album 'In our home...' As you can see in these photos I used every item from the kit in this album.

And, what's orange and black without a Halloween card. I used the little black burst from the Scenic Route paper as a 'spider' (thanks to my sister Deanne for the idea!), and added two blings for it's eyes. I drew a spider web in the top corner and used Stickles to make it stand out. I immediately got the idea for the card sentiment after creating the web. I used Thickers for word "Bigger" and the spider for the dot of the letter 'I'.

For my final card I used part of the green cardstock, Fancy Pants Rubons, the diecut butterfly, Bo Bunny paper (leaves handcut from the paper), and MM letter stickers (for the sentiment).

Well, that's it for my kit! I hope you've enjoyed it! Thanks so much Lisa for this challenge!

(and special thanks to my daughter Sara, for being my Vanna!) Muuuuah!!!

Design team call at CMK

Ok...so it's time for another Design team call at Create My Keepsake and I am trying out again. This is a forum where I've been a regular member for over two years and have tried out for alomst every Guest DT call and every single Design team call. So, why should this time be any different..right?? I LOVE this site! It' so full of amazing women, who are so inspiring and uplifting every single day!

This design call is a very interesting one. We are required to create a kit out of our current scrappy supplies and then make 2-3 projects using the kit items. The deadline is December 30th and although I wanted to try out I was really starting to have my doubts, since I just did a BIG purge of my supplies (especially the pp), and thought I didn't have that much to work with.

But...after the big Christmas rush was over, I sat down this evening in front of my scrappy supplies, and a couple of papers jumped out at me, and the kit was built from that point!

Let me tell you...this was the MOST fun I have had scrapping in a LONG time! And, after all this, right now I can only share with you a PEEK of my kit. I have two LOs completed, but I plan on making a couple more items before I share all of them and the rest of the photos of the details of the kit.

So...for now...here's a peek of this yummy kit!!



Hope you like it! (stay tuned in the next couple of days for the rest of the photos of my kit...plus all my creations!)