My Advent Calendar

I saw the perfect advent calendar on Laurel Seabrook's blog and remembered seeing one like it in Creating Keepsakes last year.  So, when I saw the box at my local scrapbook store, Scrapbook Emporium, I knew I wanted to make one.  The little boxes are the perfect size for a couple of chocolate balls or bells, which is the perfect treat for my two little ones.

Laurel's was my inspiration for this one, down to which paper I used!  I used two papers from Jingle Level 2 and the two from Jingle Creative Basics, along with some old snowflake stickers I had, some punched with a Martha Stewart punch, and some from our glitter rub-ons as well as some white daisy rub-ons.  I also used our Twinkle brads and sparkles.  The numbers are clear stickers that come with the kit.  I do plan to cover the top and sides with paper as well, but we'll see when that happens.

It was so fun to watch the kids open each box and get so excited about the same treats.  I put a little note in #25 to tell them to go look in their boots for a bigger treat (a chocolate egg with smarties inside).  Christmas became so much more fun this year as our kids get older and can really enjoy it.  It's magical through their eyes!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I can hardly believe that Christmas is only four days away!  My daughter has started her first Christmas Break from school and we're having a relaxing day here at home.  My gifts are all bought, although not wrapped yet.  But I've got to get a move on that since we'll be opening them on Wednesday.  Why Wednesday? you ask.  It's a family tradition I grew up with.  My mom and dad are both from the Netherlands.  The Dutch celebrate Christmas, the gift-giving part of it, on December 5.  It's called Pakjies Dag, or Presents Day.  My dad immigrated to Canada when he was just 12 and his family adopted the Canadian tradition of opening gifts on Christmas morning.  My mom didn't come to Canada until she was in her 20s.  When they got married, they compromised.  They still wanted to keep Christmas Day about the real reason for celebrating, our Saviour's birth, so we always opened our gifts on the Saturday before Christmas.  My friends were actually jealous of me; I got my toys earlier than they did!
Fast forward to my first Christmas with my new husband.  Chris grew up with the traditional Christmas Day of opening gifts.  He liked the idea of keeping Christmas Day as a celebration of Jesus' birth.  We don't have a particular day; we just pick one that works for us and our schedules, making sure the kids have lots of time to enjoy their gifts.  The last couple of years we opened them on Boxing Day.  We don't do Christmas Eve because that is when our church celebrates with a special service.  So this year we decided on Wednesday, after nap and after Daddy gets home from work.  I guess we're just a little different.
My mom still likes to keep Christmas Day for Christ, but with my brother and I married and trying to arrange time, sometimes the only day we can get together with my family is on Christmas Day.  But Mom is trying to get us to the December 5th way of doing things.  I can pretty much guarantee we'll be doing things the dutch way next year.  I like it.  I love that I am dutch.  I'm proud of my heritage and would love to introduce my kids to Sinterklaas and Swarte Pete and the whole story of a wonderful, kind, giving man who put oranges and little gifts into the wooden shoes belonging to children all over Holland.  In fact, there's even some people in my home town who set it all up with people dressing as these characters and giving out little bags of peppernoten, ti-ties, little lolly-pops coated in sugar and yummy chocolate.  And of course, I'll be getting chocolate letters again this year.
So, to celebrate the Christmas season, here's the little bag I made for Arianna's teacher's gift card.

I used a sheet of Jingle Creative Basics, some Juniper ribbon that came with it, a gold eyelet, and the Thank You stamp set.  It was incredibly easy to make, which was what I needed since I made it the night before.  Nothing like the last minute!

Stay tuned to this blog on January 1st for another Stamp-of-the-Month blog hop and sneak peeks at brand new product from the Spring 2010 Idea Book!

Have a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

Happy Creating!

December SOTM Blog Hop! (using a club layout)

Welcome to another fabulous blog hop!  I can hardly believe it's time again.  We've had a very busy November, but thankfully for us December isn't going to be as crazy.

This month, we again have over 60 consultants participating.  We've all created projects using December's stamp-of-the-month, Notice the Details.  If you're new to blog hops, it's really quite simple.  Once you're finished here, just click on the link at the end of this post to hop to another blog.  If you continue doing so until you get back here, you'll have seen a plethora of inspiring work!  If you came from Traci's blog, then you're on the right track.  If you get lost, my previous post has links to everyone.

I decided to get two things accomplished with one project.  This layout is the one we'll be making at our First Fridays Club.  These ladies will get to play with this stamp set before they purchase it.  I love this stamp set.  It's perfect for adding some journaling touches to your layouts so that you don't feel overwhelmed about filling in a big space.  It's got some great images that add that little "office" look as well as some wonderful adjectives and other phrases to take your journaling up a notch, or add a little something to your cards.  This is what you receive in the set:

Here is my layout:

I did some random stamping around the outside with snowflakes from various stamp sets.  Then the title and punched snowflakes are sprayed with homemade glimmer mist.  The paper is from the Aspen paper pack.

Here are a couple photos of each page:

And some close-ups of the details.  Click on the first photo to see the glimmer!

These next two show the images from our SOTM:

Now head on over to Haley's blog to see more great artwork!

Please leave a comment.  I'd love to see what you think.

Happy Creating!

December SOTM Blog Hop List

A new month is almost upon us which means there are lots of consultants busy prepping for a new Stamp-of-the-Month Blog Hop.  Here is the list of participants this month:

Jena DeVries http://www.livelovelaughscrapbook.blogspot.com/
Helen Onulak http://www.hookedonstamping.com/
Nona Davenport http://www.nonapearl.blogspot.com/
Beth Naumann http://www.bethscreativeblock.blogspot.com/
Michelle Nist http://michellenist.blogspot.com/
Cibele Glazer http://www.flowerfoot.blogspot.com/
Dawn Heuft http://www.stamptildawn.blogspot.com/
Karen Norman http://www.gettinscrappywithit.blogspot.com/
Brae Montgomery http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com/
Adeline E. Brill http://adeline-brill.blogspot.com/
Jen Patrick http://www.roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com/
Tammy Lea Pinchard http://mycreativeclubhouse.blogspot.com/
Melissa Laverty http://www.fancymelissa.blogspot.com/
Chris Shouse http://www.houseostamps.wordpress.com/
Misty Jackson http://www.misstscraps.blogspot.com/
Amy McVey http://www.clearlystamping.blogspot.com/
Jessica Booth http://jessicabooth.blogspot.com/
Sylvia Jacquot http://stampinsylvia.blogspot.com/
Amy Edwards http://paisleysplayhouse.blogspot.com/
Deb Young http://www.scrapbookczar.blogspot.com/
Judy Burger http://makingtimeformemories.blogspot.com/
Jamia Bankhead http://www.papermadnessinc.blogspot.com/
Paige Dolecki http://www.paigespaperparadise.blogspot.com/
Shannon Pelletier http://www.mycolorfulworldinvt.blogspot.com/
Pamela O'Connor http://www.cherishyourmemories.blogspot.com/
Kathleen Androlewicz http://bowlofstamps.blogspot.com/
Debra Van Patten http://memoriesoftheheartbydeb.blogspot.com/
Wendy Kessler http://www.myscrapbookingblog.com/
Dawn Ross http://www.iamahappystamper.blogspot.com/
Caren Goldsein http://www.scrappycaren.blogspot.com/
Lori Brown http://www.savingmine.blogspot.com/
Lori Miller http://www.clearlyfromtheheart.blogspot.com/
Sarita Schraeder http://www.blessedscrapper.blogspot.com/
Tanya David http://www.scramperscorner.blogspot.com/
Barbra Otten http://barbraotten.blogspot.com/
Laurie Newton http://scrapsfromthebeach.blogspot.com/
Kristie Herdener http://www.goofyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Maricar Harris http://www.maricarharris.blogspot.com/
Laurie Levnik http://www.creationsbylaurie.blogspot.com/
Carla Ironside http://www.carlacreates.blogspot.com/
Cindy Leek http://www.paperspadsandpictures.blogspot.com/
Mary Eisen http://www.mestamp2.blogspot.com/
Sheila Bennett http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com/
Lori Leng http://www.pinkcloudscrappers.blogspot.com/
Susan Brooks http://www.stampingintheopen.blogspot.com/
Jen Rubio http://www.jenrubio.blogspot.com/
Traci Godbee http://createwithtraci.blogspot.com/
Krista Ritskes http://kristaritskes-simplycreating.blogspot.com/ You are here!
Haley Dyer http://www.inkyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Terrie Dodd http://www.my-life-in-real-time.blogspot.com/
Wanda Riley http://www.creatingwithwanda.blogspot.com/
Antoinette Herrin http://www.godblessyourart.blogspot.com/
Laura Dame http://www.thecroppersconnection.blogspot.com/
Jill Lucas http://scrapwench.blogspot.com/
Katy Donaldson http://www.scrappinkaty.blogspot.com/
Jody Gustafson http://www.cre8nmemories.blogspot.com/
Kimberly Smith http://verykimberry.blogspot.com/
Melissa Burch http://melissaburch.blogspot.com/
Tracy Oleksak http://www.mamaolie.blogspot.com/
Shirley Ross http://www.momnmescrap.blogspot.com/

What a fabulous list of bloggers!  Be sure to come back here on December 1st to see all the fabulous work everyone has done.

Wow, Life Is Busy!!

Time is just whizzing by right now for me.  I've had a very busy few weeks with team meetings, workshops, club nights and gatherings.  On top of all that, there is daily life. 

I have to toot a horn for my hubby right now.  On the 30th of this month, we will be going to Toronto for an awards dinner at the Fairmont Royal York hotel.  Chris wrote up an application for a Committment to Care and Service award about his participation in the FTC Canada medical mission trips to Central America.  He has won an honourable mention!  This award comes with money (Yay!) for FTC Canada.  I'm so proud of him for doing this and so excited to get to go with him when he receives this award.  The group who gives out the awards is also giving us a night in the hotel.  Loving that idea!
The other exciting thing is that Chris is now the Administrative Zone Coordinator for our church.  He's going to be in charge of things like rentals and committees such as the Property Committee.  I know he's going to be fabulous at this.  He has amazing organizational skills and thinks so logically.
Life for me has changed, too.  I have begun directing the annual play at Durham Christian Secondary School in Bowmanville.  This is a great opportunity for me and I'm enjoying it.  I was a student at Durham and this is where my love of theatre was born, where I got bitten by that bug.  It's so neat to be back.  But it does mean I'm busier; two rehearsals a week on top of prep work for those rehearsals.  If you're in the Durham Region the beginning of March, let me know and I can get you tickets!

I mentioned workshops.  Here are the cards attendees made last weekend at my Christmas Card workshop.  Each card is created with paper from a Jingle Level 2 pack and coordinating cardstock.  We used various stamp sets.  There are a number of different techniques used, such as dry embossing, 2nd generation stamping, stamp rolling, masking, and random stamping.  Participants made 4 of each design.

I mentioned our involvement with FTC Canada's medical missions to Central America earlier in this post.  My husband and I are going to El Salvador in February.  We've been asked to raise some money for the medications we'll be dispensing in the 5 clinics over the week.  So in response, I will be hosting another All-Day Crop.  If you live close enought, mark Saturday, January 9 on your calendar.  More details will follow.  If you want to make sure you don't miss any information, just sign up for my newsletter.  There's a spot to do so at the bottom of my blog.

One of my favourite photos, scrapbooked.

I posted this photo of my kids in the back yard, sitting on our sandbox lid, a while ago.  I finally got it scrapbooked.

I happened upon a paper sale at All That Scraps and jumped at the chance to get some pretty neat papers for cheap.  I don't usually buy a lot of non-CTMH product, but these papers were extra special.  One of the pages is the base for this layout.  It's from Prima, the Mommy and Me line. 

The only things I added were the journalling spot, photo mat and scallop (which is CTMH Bubblegum paper), and some old Connections Club rewards, the rhinestone flowers, clear shapes and charm.  I also used our December SOTM, Notice the Details, to stamp the date.  This paper was so fun, with lots of bling on it.  I thought it was perfect for this photo.

This was one of those projects that I looked at when I was finished, and smiled.  I hope you do, too.

Happy Creating!

November SOTM Blog Hop

It's the beginning of a new month and time for a new blog hop!  If you came here from Laurie's blog, you're on the right track.  This month's hop has over 60 CTMH consultants participating.  If you're new to the blog hop, it's very simple.  Once you've looked here, just click on the link for the next blog at the end of this post and hop from blog to blog.  The stamp set we're highlighting today is called Around the Block.  It's full of super cute images that you can use to create houses with sweet windows, doors, shutters, and even window boxes.

Here is my project.  Click on the photo for a better view.

I decided to make a layout instead of a card this time.  I've tried some new techniques on this page, at least they're new to me.  I machine-stitched for the first time on the striped paper and photo mat.  I had no idea it would be so easy!  I'm already looking for a permanent place for my sewing machine in my craft area.  I also used our new soft-set eyelet tool and eyelets.  It was quick and quiet and easier than my Crop-a-dile.  All the stamped images, including the sentiments are from Around the Block.  The paper is from Magic Moments, Level 2.

Here is the photo I'm putting on it, once I get it printed.

I hope you can see where I got the inspiration for the colours I used in my stamped house.  This is my parents' home, the home where I spent a good portion of my growing up years.  And in front is my family.  I love them all and I look forward to framing this layout and using it as wall art in my own home.

Now hop on over to Kathleen's blog for some more inspiration and fun!

Thanks for visiting!  Please leave a comment.  They make my day.

Happy Creating!