December Daily - Finished!

I'm finally posting the last three days from my December Daily album.  I'm really glad that I did this... it's going to be a great keepsake in years to come.

Day 23:

 
Day 24:

Day 25:

Also, while I was home Mom and I went to one of our favorite places for after Christmas shopping.  While we were there I fell in love with some gorgeous blue silk poinsettias that I thought would be the perfect addition to my tree.  I bought a bunch of them along with some gold accents and tulle netting and managed to fit them in my suitcase to bring home.  Of course I had to put it all on the tree immediately despite the fact that Christmas is over!  I wanted to make sure that it didn't still need something so that if I wanted to add more, I could still get what I needed on clearance :)

Since my mom wanted to see pictures, I snapped a few:

 

I think the poinsettias and netting added the perfect finishing touch to the tree... I can't wait until next year to put it up again!

Christmas Recap

I managed to pick up a cold while I was home in addition to doing something funky to my knee, so by the time I got back from the airport last night, getting photos off my camera just wasn't going to happen... lol.  But, I know that there are a few people waiting for pictures, so here you go :)

Christmas Eve - mom and I did lots of baking.  She made her famous butter horn rolls and got the cinnamon rolls ready for Christmas morning while I made two kinds of cookies, scotcharoos, and got all of the food ready for our traditional Christmas Eve sandwich buffet dinner.

Here's a picture of the front room after I got all of the presents arranged so that they fit under / around the tree:

Then once Nicole and Brian got off work, they came over to spend Christmas Eve with me, mom, dad and grandpa:

Christmas morning...  This picture of Snowball cracks me up... she's so different from Beethoven and Casper - she was totally chill with the whole morning.  Just content to be there with everyone else and totally oblivious to the chaos.

And last but not least, Nicole with the present of the day... a gorgeous diamond necklace from Brian:

In case you can't tell from the expression on her face, she loved it.  A lot.  lol.

I put all of my pictures from Thanksgiving and Christmas into a folder here.  Brian has more pictures that I'll add if I get them (assuming, of course, that Typepad manages to fix the bulk uploader tool so I don't have to do them in batches of 15, because that's slow and it sucks :-P)

And with that, I'm off to take some Nyquil, baby my knee and get some sleep!  Melody and her family are in town so once I'm done with my work meetings tomorrow, it's play time!

Sunday at home

I quite enjoy spending Sundays at home with my family... going to church and seeing people that I've known most of my life... hanging out and watching movies... Sunday dinner with the family.  All the kind of stuff I take for granted when I live close to home.  I'm glad I get the chance to do it while I'm home this week.

And now, a quick layout that I did while I was waiting for my clothes to dry so I could finish packing on Monday night... this is from March 2005 when Nicole and my buddy Jim and I went to Venice for a long weekend.  We took a day-trip to Verona one of the days we were there which is a very cool place.  This layout is of the coliseum in Verona (30 A.D.) - slightly smaller than the one in Rome but in much better condition.

Well, I'm on the plane back to Utah tomorrow... I should have some photos up soon :)

A lesson in Cloisonne

Just a quick layout posting... I got in the mood to go back and scrap some more pictures from China.  This was from our tour of the Cloisonne factory... it was so cool to see how they make this - I couldn't believe all of the detail and labor that goes into each piece!

Since the journaling is tucked away, I'll give a little synopsis of the pictures here - they go in order of how the pieces are made.  They make the copper shape and then someone takes thin strips of copper, shapes them, and uses glue and tweezers to create the designs.  Then they add the color with all natural pigments.  From there it gets fired.  Then it goes back for more color and gets fired again... that process repeats FIVE times for most pieces (small stuff like jewelry is two times).  Finally after the last firing they go through and polish the pieces.  The last picture shows the difference between a polished and unpolished vase.  Needless to say, most of the stuff in their showroom was too pricey for me, but I definitely drooled!  Maybe next time I'll be able to pick up something bigger than a tree ornament or a pendant.

Look who's cute.

I'm finally back with another layout!  And as you might have gathered from the title, it's another layout featuring Adorable-Niece-Eraleigh. 

The facial expressions are priceless (and I think Santa needs to designate one of his elves as the official wig adjuster unless, of course, he's using that stray lock of "hair" in lieu of an eye patch.  In which case, carry on).

I'm loving being back home, as always, although Nicole and Brian flew off to his family's house yesterday.  Which brings up reason #137 why being single can really be awesome... no in-laws - therefore making it so I don't have to go anywhere but home for the holidays :)

It's bitter cold here, but I'll take it any day over the constant snow we've been having back in Utah!  And with that, I think it's time for mom and I to hit some after-Christmas sales.

And I'm off!

But before the shuttle shows up to take me to the airport at this horrendous hour of the morning, I'm just posting my daily from yesterday.  I love this Hero Arts Christmas tree stamp!  It was so much fun to color... I've just been waiting to stick it on an entry in here somewhere (and I think I definitely need to head back to the LSS and pick up the biggest Bind-it-All coils they have!  This sucker is getting thick!)

And if you read the journaling you'll see that I got a fabulous email yesterday... I've made it past the first hurdle in my application process for my EMBA.  They want me to come in for the in-person interview which is awesome!  I need to make the appointment after the holidays but hopefully it will be soon so that I know what the final verdict is.  I mean, if I'm going back to school for another two years straight, I need to plan some serious last-hurrah-before-school action... like going somewhere exotic.  That might do it :)  But no putting the chicken before the egg; first I have to interview well.  I didn't have to interview when I went to grad school the first time so I have no idea what to expect!

Anyway... I'll finish up my last dailies and post them after I get home since scrapbooking supplies definitely don't fit under the 50 pound limit for my suitcase with the gifts I'm hauling :) 

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!  I'll be back with a few layouts after Christmas and for friends and family who are interested, I'll have photos next week.

Day 21 already!

Just one day of work (and I'm crossing my fingers that the weather today isn't horrible) and then I'm off!  Since Melody and her family are coming to stay for a few days after I get back, I'm trying to get everything ready before I go home so it will all be set for their visit.  I've been working on finishing my checklist of things to do before I go this weekend, so that's yesterdays daily entry.

Just looking at this picture, I'm already sad about having to take down my Christmas tree and it isn't even Christmas yet!  Of course, since it's a fake one, I guess I could leave it up for a little while after I get back... we'll see :)

I also have a few layouts that I've been working on and I'll share those later this week once I get everything finished.

Here's hoping today's a light day at work :)

P.S.  Light day at work, heavy day of snow!  I ended up not driving in today and from what I hear, it was a good decision!  I'd like to reiterate a heart-felt "thank you" to the people who came up with VPN.  Life savers.

Just over 3 days to go!

Not that I'm counting down until Christmas or anything :D  Actually, I'm leaving to go home the day after tomorrow and that's just as good as Christmas to me.

Still doing my December Daily... here's the one for yesterday:

Yes, Bowl Week (at least when BYU is playing) is definitely a part of my Christmas season!  Last night was a sad loss, but it was still a good game.  We'll get 'em next year.

I also finished off my gift tags yesterday - here's a quick look (still loving the Silhouette on just about everything!)

I got a good portion of my check-list taken care of yesterday... still some more cleaning and last minute laundry to do but I should be good to go by Tuesday morning.

And now, I think I hear hot chocolate calling my name :)

Day 19

I can't believe it's only 4 days until Christmas!  I can't wait to get on that plane and head home next week :)

For now, though, just posting yesterday's December Daily.

And now, time to try and get a little cleaning done before the Las Vegas Bowl starts :)

Apparently I don't know my own strength.

Because I went to punch out a star for my daily entry last night and this is what happened:

Oops. 

I've broken the casing before, but never the metal die!  I'd call someone and complain, but the company went out of business.  I've had this punch for years and it paid its dues so I guess this is its way of telling me it's ready to retire.  Point taken.

Fortunately, that was not my only star punch.  So here's my daily for Day 18:

I was inspired by Jennifer McGuire in the making of my felt tree here.  The rest is about a really fun (and funny!) holiday party at work yesterday and also my little holiday post office experience.  Rick and Erin - there's a package headed your way!  Hopefully it comes before Christmas.

Speaking of Rick and Erin, Erin posted some more photos of Adorable-Niece-Eraleigh the other day that I couldn't resist scrapping.  She was apparently "helping" with the tree until they discovered that her idea of help involved sucking on the branches.  That was quickly ended and she then wore herself out watching mom and dad finish up.

So that's all the scrappy stuff today.  I'm currently firmly entrenched in my house and refusing to budge for any reason today due to another storm coming through; my commute into work yesterday was enough to finish me off for the week (inches of snow and NOTHING was plowed.  Ugh!)  Thank goodness for VPN!

Happy Friday!

One week from today!

I really do think that doing this December Daily project has gotten me much more into the season and much more excited about Christmas.  I'm definitely thinking about it and deliberately doing things to celebrate more. 

Yesterday was another busy day... lots more baking for one thing!  Today we're having a pot luck lunch with the development and product management teams that I work with and I signed up to bring dessert.  I think I mentioned it earlier, but I really love holiday baking.  It just seems so much more fun when I'm going to share it.

Here's my daily - yesterday was baking, wrapping and getting ready to ship packages to Alaska (next year you people in Alaska are all getting much lighter presents!  lol.)

 

With all the baking and wrapping last night, I didn't have time for more than this, but for those who would like to see a larger image of the mini album I did for the Prima blog, here you go :)

Obviously, this is all with photos from China from when we went to the Beijing zoo to see the pandas.  Aren't they just the most adorable things in the world?  I wanted to cuddle them all.

I'm so glad tomorrow's Friday.  I'm really looking forward to this weekend... finishing up the last of my projects and just relaxing and enjoying the season.  Not to mention watching the Las Vegas bowl!  Go Cougars!

Day 16 and some Christmas Tags

This is the part of the blog post where I remind everyone that I HATE SNOW!  Every year at this time I ask myself why I moved to Utah.  Not only that, but why I moved to a townhouse partway up a mountain 25 miles from my office.  Whenever it's not snowing, I know the answer to that.  It's just this time of year that brings out the whiner in me.

Okay, that being said, on to the day 16 daily!  No surprise, yesterday I did my pages about my guest spot on the Prima blog.  I decided to include a copy of the post in an envelope, so I re-did part of what I did yesterday to include a big envelope that I could put it in and then put the journaling on top (see update to yesterday's post too).

No layout to share today, but I finally started my gift tags!  This batch is going in the package that I need to ship off to Alaska before the weekend... I just need to make a birthday card for Rick now and that will be ready to go.

And another view...

Tonight I have to make more cookies for another holiday party at work so hopefully I'll be able to finish up... hopefully the roads won't be giant skating rinks when I leave for work in a little bit!

Daily #15 and some Scrappy News

Well, up bright and early this morning for a company meeting at work... I have to be down in Provo before 8:30 (and if you know what a night-owl I am, you know that's torture!!!). 

Yesterday's department holiday celebration was fun and, of course, that's the subject of yesterday's December daily.  I used quite a few pictures on this one so the page is pretty simple - mostly photos and journaling (and my co-workers look like aliens here with their faces blurred... lol... but since it's work, I thought I should protect the innocent ;)

 

And now, remember last week when I mentioned that I was working on something scrapbook related that I should be able to share this week?  Well, I can share!  I was asked to be a guest designer on the Prima Blog this month!  I did three layouts and a mini album that are all up over there if you're interested - here's the post.  It's kind of hard to see the mini album, so later this week I'll post bigger pictures so you can see the detail a bit more.  I'm a huge Prima addict (their flowers are like potato chips - I can't use just one!) so I was completely thrilled to be asked.

Finally, although I should have spent time tonight making gift tags for the packages I need to get in the mail in the next few days, I ended up doing a layout.  I was just browsing through photos and these caught my eye and I really felt like doing a layout with them.  Just a warning... if you're a dog lover and you don't want to get misty-eyed, don't read the journaling :) 

 

(I love how lumpy layouts look when they're scanned :-P)

My goal for tonight:  Christmas gift tags.  Must get started!

P.S.  I love my Avs, but I'm SHOCKED that they beat the Wings last night at the Joe.  Ecstatic! But still... shocked.

P.P.S.  I didn't make it to my meeting this morning.  The weather and traffic were terrible!  I think after lunch I'm taking my computer and going home until it all goes away.  Seriously.  Snow sucks.

Monday Goodies

Lots of stuff to share this morning :)

Today at work we're having our Marketing / PR holiday party and we're each bringing a gift to exchange and a treat to share.  So yesterday I put together my ice cream sundae in a basket that I'm going to be giving and baked cookies as my treat (using the chocolate mint version of my famous cookie recipe... yum!)

So first up, my December Daily from yesterday:

And now, a few pictures of what I put in the basket.  I got the idea to do the basket from another blog, but I made up the labels on my own :)  (Not that this idea isn't out there somewhere, of course!)

I decorated the basket with small velvet poinsettias and a bow that I made from some cool ribbon.  There's a jar of chocolate fudge, caramel, a bottle of Magic Shell and a package of four kinds of chocolate sprinkles.  Here's a close-up of my labels that I made in Photoshop and then stamped:

I don't have a good picture to share of this part, but there's a strip of patterned paper that goes all the way around and on the back I stuck a little label that says "Handmade by Elves(TM)."  lol.  Can you tell I'm in marketing?  You can kind of see it in the pictures from my December Daily above.

I also made a little gift card holder - I got a gift card so that whoever gets the basket can get some ice cream and whipped cream to make the sundaes.  I got the idea for this from Lauren Meader's blog and this is my version:

Finally, I did a little playing last night and did another layout from when our family went to Germany for Christmas a few years ago.  This is from the Christmas Market in Cologne.  It was snowing out so the pictures aren't good, but fun memories.  With the snow this weekend I felt like scrapping these pics.

Can you tell I'm really into using my Silhouette right now?  I'm loving making these snowflakes. 

Anyway... that's it for today :)

Day 13 already!

I can't believe that today is December 14th.  That's insane!  There's only one full week left before Christmas and I can't wait :)

Here's my December Daily from yesterday...

I've had those little Meri Meri snowball kids forever and I thought this would be a fun place to use them (I love how they look like they just got caught doing something wrong... lol).  The snowman card is from a set of Fancy Pants journaling cards.

I also did a layout last night - more Adorable-Niece-Eraleigh cuteness.

I swear... she gets more beautiful with every picture I see of her.  Rick and Erin - I'm crossing my fingers that you end up moving back near me again so that I can cuddle this little one in person!

Snowy Saturday

I woke up to snow this morning... it got heavier as the morning went on and it was really beautiful.  Especially from inside my nice warm house watching it out the window.  lol. 

Here's my December Daily from yesterday... just a bit about finishing off the last few things on my Christmas shopping / brother birthday list (no spoilers unless you're in my department at work... lol).

I've had the pieces for this reindeer diecut for years - I can't even remember where I got them!  I think it might have been Pebbles.  I used Doodlebug flocking on the antlers and his nose and I love how it looks in person.  The reindeer paper I got a while ago - it's Autumn Leaves - I used it to cover the back of the journaling block on the other side.

Now, I'm off to eat lunch!  It's 2:30pm and I haven't eaten yet.  Hungry!

I love Christmas music.

It just makes me happy to listen to.  I'm not saying I'd listen to it all year round - I think a lot of the appeal is that it's special to this time of year.  But I love how it's such an instant reminder of the season and how it just makes me feel warm and peaceful. 

Last night I was listening to Christmas music and I started remembering different things associated with it so that's my December Daily for yesterday.

I can practically hear Melody laughing right now... "you and your Frosted Windowpanes!" or something like that.  Believe it or not, I STILL have to stop and just listen when that song comes on.  Even after all these years!

P.S.  Happy Friday!

Little Things

Not too long ago I was doing a layout with pictures of Adorable-Nephew-Ben drawing and I wanted to include some drawings I had saved from when Rick, Erin and Ben were visiting me last year.  I looked everywhere that I thought I might have put them and couldn't find them.  I was so upset to think that I might have thrown those away but I told myself that at the time, I wouldn't have known that they'd turn out to be such treasures less than a year later.   Last night, however, I was working on another project and I pulled out a bag of memorabilia from last year to look for a ticket stub and there they were!  All three of the pages we had colored on.  I can guarantee that they'll be kept safe from now on.

So last night's December Daily was simple and a little emotional - remembering the joys of holidays past and rejoicing in having those memories today.

I surprised and glad that it's Thursday already... this week has been busy and after some meetings yesterday, it looks like the rest of the month is going to be crazy right up until Christmas!  I can also count on a solid 4-6 months of work ahead of me as well.  But right now I'm glad to have work to look forward to so I'll take it :)  It's also a nice challenge and an opportunity to really learn a lot so it should be exciting.  And with that, off to work!

The Meaning of Christmas

I got an email from my SIL Erin last night with a Christmas story that I haven't read in years... it's about the true meaning of Christmas where a woman gets a visit from Santa and he asks her to teach the children about the true meaning of all of our symbols of Christmas... the star, the angel, the candy cane, the fir tree and Santa himself.  When I was in Young Women's at church years ago, I remember a teacher that read us this story and gave us each our own mini Santa bags with a copy of the story and a representation of each of the things that's mentioned.  When I got this email, I knew this story needed to be part of my December daily.  So, here it is:

The story is printed on two sheets and the bottom tucks into some clear photo corners so it doesn't slip out.  I'm so glad I have this as part of my book so that I can go back to it and remind myself frequently.  Thank you Erin for sending that!

For anyone who would like to read it, I've posted it here.

P.S.  I just want to throw out a reminder for Journaling 101... registration is now open!  If you're interested in learning more, click on over to Erika's blog and check it out.  It's going to be awesome! (And I'm not just saying that because I'm participating... lol.)

I *heart* animal diecuts.

Well, it did snow yesterday but it was the kind of snow I don't mind... the kind that starts after I'm at work, stops before rush hour, doesn't stick to the roads but is fluffy and beautiful while it's falling.  If only all snowfalls in Utah were like that one... lol.

My December daily for yesterday isn't very Christmas-y, but I wanted to include it because it's a little about a fun project that I'm working on this month.  It's a scrapbook project but it's not quite ready to share yet... I should have something next week :)  It's been very fun and, as you can see from the pictures, messy!  (I wish I could say that's not normal for me... lol)  It's not quite that bad right now... I picked up after I took the pictures :)

The day 8 page is shaped but it's hard to tell with the other pages behind it.  And, as my title today indicates, I have the beginnings of a serious addiction to cute little animal diecuts all dressed up on my pages.  I just can't resist!  I'm already wondering if I can somehow work in my giraffe and elephant... lol.

Catching Up...

Well, I'm caught up on my December Daily.  We'll see now if I can manage to keep going daily so I don't get behind again.  Here's the rest of it so far, through day 7:

Day 3 - I included a Christmas card and letter that I got from my old roommate Suymey and her family.  It was so fun to hear from them!  For the reindeer, I used a gift tag that I saved from one of my presents last year.  Isn't he cute?

Day 4 - I had made a small batch of Christmas cookies so I included the recipe and for the background, I scanned part of the cover of my Martha Stewart Living December issue and reduced the opacity.

Day 5 - this is one of my favorite pages so far... I LOVE this Partridge in a Pear Tree diecut design for the Silhouette.  (I've been totally inspired by Nichol Magouirk and the way she uses diecuts and embossing folders.)  Day 5 was my office holiday party so I included the envelope with the map and schedule I got at check-in.

And day 6... my GMAT and the stub from the movie I treated myself to after I finished the test.  I love this owl!  Another Silhouette design (although I added the Santa hat).

Finally, here's today's... just a page about relaxing with a good cup of cocoa.  The penguin is another QuicKutz design, but he's an Archiver's die for the Revolution (I made the hat again).  Poinsettias are QK too... some of the first designs and I still love them!

And now... back to work.  First, though, I need to go check the weather.  We're supposed to have a storm today which isn't the greatest timing.  My boss is flying in from San Francisco and we're supposed to meet today and tomorrow so it's kind of important that I'm able to get to the office :-P  I hate driving in snow!

December Daily

I have to admit, I jumped on the bandwagon this year.  I love the concept of Ali's December Daily album so this year I decided to join in.  I'm a little behind, but now that my test is out of the way I'm catching up a bit. 

For those who don't read Ali's blog, this is an album where you chronicle something from each day in December and you work on it daily.  It's kind of a way to keep from getting too caught up in the hustle and bustle by making sure to take time each day to focus on the holiday season.  I know it helps me to make sure that I really take time to slow down and enjoy and remember the meaning of the season... it helps me to actually celebrate it.

So here you go... first up is the cover.  Can I just say that I'm loving how it turned out?

Day one, page one... this day was all about buying my Christmas tree and getting it set up and decorated.  I'm planning to write something about the album as a whole to go on the inside of the front cover.

And here is page 2 of day one along with day 2 (with both views before and after you flip the journaling page).  Day 2 was the rest of the decorating.

The album is 6x9" and I'm using my Bind-it-All for the binding.  I have a little pile of photos and memorabilia for the next few days and I can't wait to get it all caught up!

Finally over.

I took the GMAT and lived to tell about it.  It's definitely not on the list of top 10 best experiences in my life, that's for sure!  I went in with a goal, though, to score in a certain range that should get me accepted to the program I want and I managed to score in that range.  So unless I absolutely HAVE to (and I can't think of many situations where this would be the case), I'm not taking it again.  Considering how many people told me to count on taking it twice, I think that's a big win!

Right about now the last thing I want to do is think any more about the test, but I knew that looking back in a few years I'd probably want to remember how I felt, how I prepared... how I did.  So I did a quick layout about how I survived the GMAT.  I added my paperwork folded and tucked in the back so I can remember a lot of the details.  Once I fax the unofficial scores to the school I'll add those in there too.

Everything here is American Crafts.  And with that, I'm off to eat some dinner and relax with a book in front of my Christmas tree. :)

Just checking in...

I've actually been studying!  Last night I reviewed my notes from my prep class for the math section and went through the book and I've concluded that it might be best to spend more time studying for the verbal section since at least I have a shot at doing well on that part.  lol.  The GMAT's concept of "basic math" seems a little skewed in my opinion. 

Tonight is my company's holiday party and I've been talked into going so I'm hoping to go, enjoy the free food and get home early so I can... you guessed it... study MORE! Tomorrow is the test, though, so at least then it will be over.  I'm planning to reward myself for getting through it by probably going to see a matinee (another viewing of Twilight, perhaps?) and getting back into my craft room!  My degree of indulgence will probably have a lot to do with whatever score they hand me on the way out.  Pray for me.  I'm going to need it.  lol.

P.S.  For those in Utah... I should mention that it would be very worth while to check out the warehouse sale at American Crafts today and tomorrow.  I was able to go last night and there were some killer deals!  Head over if you can... especially if you like Thickers ;)

Time is flying!

Adorable-Niece-Eraleigh was 5 months old yesterday!  I can't believe how fast time is going... it seems like just yesterday that we got the call that there was a new member of the family.  So to commemorate, I managed to get a quick layout done last night after I finished my Christmas decorating.  This is using some pictures that Erin posted of her where she turned herself around in her crib so she should cuddle with her teddy.

My goal for tonight... actually open the book and do some reviewing for the GMAT.  It's too expensive of a test to just blow it off!  Besides... I need to get back into the habit of studying if I'm going back to school again!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Last night after work I ran a few errands... including going to pick up my Christmas tree!  This year I was finally able to get myself a nice artificial tree - no more needles all over my house for the next 12 months!  I found a nice one on sale where the branches are all on hinges so it doesn't take much assembly.  There is fluffing, however.  Nothing can be completely perfect, I guess.  So I set up the tree while I watched the last 2 periods of the Avs game and then turned on some Christmas music for decorating.  I got the entire tree done which was a huge accomplishment! 

This is a little blurry, but here's a view of the finished tree:

And a few close-ups of some of the ornaments:


Now that I'm back from spending Thanksgiving weekend at home, I'd like to get a chance to sit down and do a layout but this is going to be a crazy week so I'll have to see what happens.  I have some assignment stuff to work on and I HAVE to study for the GMAT... I've procrastinated long enough and I'm almost out of time.  I also have to finish decorating, of course!  I guess I'll just have to see if I can do all of it :)

P.S.  Note to self... don't buy any more ornaments at the after Christmas sales this year.  I have more than enough! From now on I just need to keep it to special ones that I find when I'm traveling.

Journaling 101!

I'm so excited that it's finally time for a little announcement!  Erika from Stampin' Mama has put together a fabulous online journaling class for scrapbookers and I'm thrilled to share that I've been asked to be part of the design team for the next round of classes!

So, if you're interested, head on over and check it out; you'll also see links to the other talented ladies on the design team.  The class starts in January and runs for 12 weeks and it's going to be awesome!

P.S.  If you decide to sign up, make sure you tell her I sent you :)