Whose List Are You On?

When my eldest daughter was born, my husband and I decided to use a picture of her for our Christmas card. And for three years, the cards were a hit. 



First, we did a cute Santa pic....

Then, I was inspired by that beloved holiday classic, Rudolph....

And last, but not least, (and my personal fave)....the Grinch....

After that year, and to the disappointment of our family and friends, we decided to take a break and we weren't inspired for a few years. But this year I had an idea that I knew my youngest daughter could pull off. 

Now, you have to understand, usually when we want to take a picture of Kimee, it takes a looooooooooooong time to get that perfect shot. She squirms, makes the silliest faces and has this fascination with coming right up to the lens (typical toddler!). Needless to say, my husband always gets the shot, after about 50 clicks!! But this time, THIS time, Kimee surprised us all! We got this shot after only about FIVE tries!!! And she nailed it.....wouldn't you agree??

Here is my layout..........

The caption on the inside of the card is:

We hope you're on the "nice" list!

I already have a plan for next year's card....I'm thinking that the girls will do something together.....but you'll just have to wait another year to see my vision come to life ;)

Thanks for looking!!

  

Has It Been ONE WHOLE MONTH??

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since I updated my blog!!! That is awful!! What is worse is that I have not even created anything during that time! Each day is so crazy that many of my free moments are usually spent sleeping! Does that ever happen to you?? I mean LIFE getting in the way of LIFE?? Think about the things that mean the most to you (God, family, friends, hobbies) those thing that add all of the memories that truly come together to make each day more meaningful and purposeful. Do they get pushed aside for the secondary, the mundane, but necessary daily routines that somehow unite to form those busy, stressful, and "to-do" packed days called LIFE? Believe me, sometimes I can become so focused on the latter that I begin to allow all of those "other" things that, while important, are not what I really want to define my days, my calendar, or ME. I need to stop and RE-prioritize to ensure that what I love most is actually what I do most. This doesn't always work out....and I admit that I am very blessed to have a career that I LOVE, but I think we all need to stop every once in a while and check to make sure that life is not dragging through time leaving us dizzy and disoriented. We all have to travel through life, so I guess we should choose the scenic route whenever we can.

So, speaking of what I love most.......here is a page that I created a while back :)

For My Daughter...

Some may think that it not the best thing in the world having a mother for a teacher. Fortunately for me, my girls really seem to love it. Everyday when they come home form school, they go upstairs for what well affectionately call "Brown Academy". That is my time to work with them to build their academic skills. We have a lot of fun too! The girls even call me "Mrs. Brown" !! 

Anywhooo......I wanted to make something for my youngest to encourage her to learn to print her name. So, I used one of my my  blank CD jackets and transform it into a mini writing book.

I decided to hand write the alphabet on the inside cover so that she can have it to refer to when she is practicing her printing.

The little blue booklet is what she will use to practice her printing. This entire project was created with my guest DT kit that I received from Kreatorville Krafts.

I had so much fun creating this and I hope that my daughter will have even more fun using it!!

Look Who's Turnin' ONE!!!

It has been ONE YEAR since Scrapbook Challenges began hosting on Ning.....so what better way to celebrate than with a BLoG HoP???

If you have just happened to stop by and want to join in, the fun starts at Pamela's blog. Now, what would a hop be without a FAB sketch to play with?? For this challenge, you have to create a layout, card, or any other project using this sketch as your guide.......

I decided to create a card, and here is my interpretation.....

So, why don't you join in the fun???? There are great prizes to be won and I know everybody loves prizes :)

Everyone who leaves a comment on all the blogs in the hop will be entered into the drawing to win the It’s Your Day collection from Fancy Pants Designs.

Everyone who does a layout based on the sketch and posts it in the Hop On section gets entered into the drawing to win the Early Bird Collection from Cosmo Cricket.

Everyone who joins the group during the Birthday Bash gets entered to win the Merry Christmas collection from Echo Park Paper Company

Everyone who invites someone to the group during the week, through the "invite" link on main page, gets entered into a drawing for the Road Map collection from October Afternoon.

So...what are you waiting for??? Just "HOP IN" for your chance to win these great prizes!!!

.....and though I hate to say goodbye......it is time for you to hop over to our last stop in the hop.... BRYNN!!

Here is the order, in case you get lost along the way :)

1.  Pamela: http://www.pamelasworldofscrap.blogspot.com/

2.  Dani: http://alongcamedani.blogspot.com/
3. Jowilna: http://www.jowilnanolte.blogspot.com/

4.  Jolanda: http://jolandascrapsels.blogspot.com/

5. Holli: http://holligurl01.blogspot.com/ 

6.  Amanda: http://afewpacesfromhere.wordpress.com/

7. Natalie: http://njmacs.blogspot.com/

8. Amy: http://queen-of-the-crazies.blogspot.com/

9. Ana: http://anazelia-myscrapbookaddiction.blogspot.com/

10.  Sookie: http://totallydoodles.blogspot.com/

11  Jackie: http://mybasketofscraps.blogspot.com/

12. Rene': http://www.stampinginsunnysa.blogspot.com/
13.  Racquel: http://www.mouseyface.blogspot.com/

14. Brynn: http://bzbdesigns.typepad.com/