Advent Calendar-Part Two

It's complete and I'm beyond thrilled with the result.

The materials are Kaiser Craft Advent Calendar, Acrylic Paint, December kit (and add ons!) from My Scrapbook Nook, and some stash finds! The calendar was an add on for December and I knew that I just had to have it, especially seeing what Lynn from the Nook DT came up with! I lifted her title and found all sorts of inspiration from her calendar.








So there ya go- now that it is complete I can catch up on my December daily and start some layouts and last minute Christmas cards with the rest of my December kit!

It's beginning to look...

...a lot like Christmas around my parent's house!

I've been decorating since Friday and things are really coming together.

Here is our "fancy tree" or White, Silver, and Gold tree- we started decorating two trees last year because my mother was afraid that when my brother and I took our ornaments to our own homes someday that she wouldn't have any Christmas ornaments.



One of my favorite things about decorating for Christmas is reliving memories through ornaments. Some of my ornaments have wonderful stories attached to them and I still make my mother retell the stories from my younger years every time I hang the ornaments on the tree. I think it is a wonderful way to stay connected to my past and spend some one on one time with my mother during the holidays.

Between now and Christmas I'd like to share some of my favorite ornaments with you all.


I don't know why she's my favorite of my dancer ornaments, but I think she is beautiful! When I began dancing, I also began collecting ballerina ornaments (thanks Mom!). Each year my brother and I get a new ornament and I plan on passing that tradition on to my children someday. I'm still easy to shop for- I teach ballet and LOVE to dance. My brother on the other hand has given up traditional sports in recent years for hard to find sports such as bouldering and rugby.

Here is what is now dubbed the "Family Tree" with a whole lot of history on the branches!

December Daily-December 7th & 8th

Days are shorter, temperatures are dropping everyday and I'm really feeling the spirit of Christmas more each day!

I know I shared this page the other day, but I added the program from my Chamber Singers concert.


I was so thrilled that so many of my friends (and Wes) came to hear me sing. I felt so special!




We've been pulling out decorations and cleaning in preparation for a big decorating weekend! I'm having a great time keeping up with all of these memories!

Are all of your decorations up? We are nowhere close!

December Daily-Catching Up!

I had such a wonderful weekend full of friends and fun!

On Friday evening I shared a delicious meal with my co-workers and then drove to TN to see Ry. I went ahead and gave him his birthday present early since we were going away for the weekend and I wouldn't be there for his actual birthday. (Happy Birthday Ry!!!)



On Saturday we had SNOW (yay!) and toured the Biltmore Estate, then met up with some friends and had dinner.



Sunday I went to church with Libbie. Sunday school was wonderful, as was the choir and message during the service! Then we celebrated Libbie's life and a wonderful accomplishment!

Last night was our dress rehearsal for tonight's Chamber Singers concert- it went well and I'm excited for the concert tonight!



So now I'm all caught up on my December Daily (except December 3rd- which was a day for cleaning) and ready to work on some other projects alongside my DD!

A Wonderful Day...

I woke up to snow (my favorite thing in the world!)


Went to the Biltmore Estate


Brrrrr! It was so windy!


The beautiful sight leaving Biltmore


Then dinner with friends (new and old). A wonderful day start to finish.

An Awesome Giveaway!

I found out about this awesome giveaway from Leah Killian.

The details:

Enter to win a NEW EZ View Desktop and an entry in the Grand Prize Giveaway for a NEW EZ View Craft Desk from www.theoriginalscrapbox.com for FREE! Your entries will help The Original Scrapbox GIVE 2 of these desks to charity!
Yes—these are two separate items. The desktop is not a desk, it is designed to sit on a table or desktop and the drawers can be pulled open from either end. Click here to see more pictures and details of the EZ View Desktop.

One of the newest products at The Original Scrapbox.com is the EZ View Craft Desk. This desk is designed with a clear, glass-like top and the dimensions are 50″W x 25″ D x 31″ H.

The desk is big, with 4 drawers with built-in partitions for easy organizing on any home project.



I mean- LOOK AT THAT DESK. I would really LOVE to win the desk topper AND the desk because it would be a perfect start to my future craft room!

So hop over to Leah's blog for a chance to win!

Advent Calendar-Part One

Last night I started working on my Advent Calendar from KaiserCraft that I got in addition to my December kit from My Scrapbook Nook. I'm still trying to decide what color to paint it and working on sanding down the edges so that all of the compartments fit together. This is going to be a major project that I try to accomplish early next week.


The raw materials...


Picking out paint...


Painting numbers...


Tomorrow Ryan and I are going to the Biltmore Estate and to visit some friends. App plays Richmond tomorrow night and we're hoping to catch the game on TV or the radio. GO APP!

Also, hoping for snow this weekend! I love winter!

December Daily-Page Two

Last night we collected the gifts donated by church members and processed them to take to the Wilkes Ministry of HOPE for Christmas. It was wonderful to see the toys that we are donating as well as the increasing amount of non-perishable food that we are collecting for Communities in Schools.

Here is my page about the toy drive:




On the back of the page I journaled about listening to Christmas music for the first time. I've been rehearsing Advent and Christmas music for a couple of months, but I put off listening to recorded Christmas music until yesterday. I was listening to a story on NPR and heard a gospel version of "Jesus, What A Wonderful Child" and it gave me chills and I've been singing it ever since!

Jesus, Jesus, Oh what a wonderful Child.
Jesus, Jesus, so lowly meek and mild.
New life, new hope, new joy He brings.
Won’t you listen to the angels sing!
Glory, glory, glory to the newborn King!

I'm going to start a new project tonight so hopefully I'll have something to share with you tomorrow in addition to my December Daily!

December Daily-page one

I've decided that I will post my pages on the day following the event. So today I will share with you what I did yesterday.

Temperatures are dropping and snow is predicted for the weekend- it's beginning to feel like winter and I love it! I documented how I started wearing my snowflake jewelry yesterday and how much I enjoy the cooler weather!



Here's a peek inside the rest of my December Daily:



Tonight we are processing donated gifts as a youth group for the local Ministry of Hope to provide Christmas presents for the less fortunate in our community! I feel that giving and supporting others is a wonderful way to feel Christ's love during this time of the year.
I can't wait to share tonight's page with you tomorrow!

December Daily

Inspired by Ali Edwards and encouraged by the gals at The Nook I have taken the plunge and created a December Daily album. The idea is to create the album in advance so that you just have to fill it with memories during the days leading up to Christmas. I think this is a fabulous idea and I have had an absolute blast making my album. I used October Afternoon Very Merry papers, Jenni Bowlin journaling squares, Making Memories alpha and embellishments, K & Company chipboard embellishments, a Basic Grey blackboard album as my base, and left over Prima plastic pages from the canvas album I used this summer.

I think the outcome is great and will really lower the stress of scrapping the holiday season- I hope the end result is just as satisfying!



I have to finish assembling my book tonight and document today's awesomeness and I'll be back tomorrow to share!

Scrappy: These are the days...

I hope you all had a relaxing Thanksgiving- mine was quite full- lots of traveling and family to see, a football game, and a busy church day!


This layout was created with the November kit from The Nook, using Lily Bee Papers and their fabulous rubons. I used acrylic paint to create the dots across the top and bottom, using the round end of my paintbrush. I think it added a neat boarder and I'm looking for other ways to blend my hobbies. Any suggestions?

The picture was taken at my friend's wedding in October where I caught (was handed) the bouquet and Ryan caught (once again- was handed) the garter. How's that for a not so subtle hint?

Scrappy: Opposites Attract

Happy Appy Saturday!

Today is the one year anniversary (of sorts) of Ryan asking me out on a date. We had season tickets next to each other for the whole season and had chatted here and there. Towards the end of the first playoff game against South Carolina State University Ryan asked me to come with him to the next game. We ended up losing the next week to Richmond on our FIRST DATE the following week and began the joke that we couldn't date at football games.

This layout was for a challenge about opposites. I had wanted to scrap about Ryan and I being opposites and complimenting each other at the same time for a while now. I think the relationship works because we respect the differences we have and we agree to disagree on a few topics!



We're off to the Appalachian State/South Carolina Sate game this afternoon and hoping for a win! Go Mountaineers!

Giving Thanks

Over the river and through the woods...I'm headed to my Grandma's house today. I love this day because it means seeing my family that I don't see regularly, giving thanks for my many blessings, and overeating without being judged. I try to give thanks for my blessings everyday, but I think the spirit of Thanksgiving is inspiring. I have SO MUCH to be thankful for- my family, my faith, my friends, my opportunity to further my education, the roof over my head, and food in the cabinets, and SO MUCH MORE.

Rather than my rambling on, I thought I'd share some thoughts on gratitude from others...

Giving thanks for abundance is sweeter than the abundance itself.
~Rumi

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wherever you are, I hope you are enjoying your family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving!

See ya on Saturday!

Scrappy and Artsy: Create Joy

Last weekend one of the VC challenges was to 'multitask' and use another artistic hobby while scrapping. I paint the paper with acrylic paint, collaged some tissue paper for texture, and then painted on top of the collage with more acrylic paint. I've recently been making ATC's for my classes and I used that technique to create two sets of ATC's. I like the outcome so I created a layout about my recent artistic endeavors.




How do you create joy in your life?

Scrappy: A Day in My Life

My daily life has been greatly changed since August. I've been driving back and forth to school and working two assistantships while taking a full course load of work. I really have a blast doing everything that I'm involved in, however there has been little time for scrapping and relaxing.

This layout was created for the Virtual Crop last weekend at The Nook and it was supposed to document a 24 hour period in my life.




I used the October Kit from The Nook for this with Graphic 45 papers and gorgeous


What does a day in your life look like? What do you try to make time for every day?

Scrappy: Family Traditions

I feel like I'm six months behind on scrapping. I have a whole bunch of pictures and some FABULOUS kits just waiting to be put together. Last weekend I had the pleasure of playing along with my fellow Nookers with a virtual crop! The crop was filled with great challenges and wonderful inspiration!

This layout was created for the challenge to use a shaped paper. I have such a hard time using shaped paper as a background because I never know how to orient the page. This picture is from when we went to Sewanee to visit Caleb. I can't wait for family to get together during the upcoming holidays- this is truly my favorite time of year! I used the September kit from My Scrapbook Nook for this page (see how far behind I am!??!?).



What are some family traditions that you are looking forward to this season?

I'm finding that as I am getting older it is about keeping some traditions and then making new ones. I don't know if I have a favorite- but opening one present on Christmas Eve before the Midnight Service has to be on the top of my list.

Artsy: And we're back...

After a brief hiatus from blogging and scrapping, I'm back and ready to rock!

This semester has been a very exciting exploration of myself and I'd like to share some of the results with you. I've begun painting and exploring art journaling, writing, and various other forms of creative expression and have really embraced the artist within.

In the journal that I made in my Therapeutic Writing course I have started Soul Journaling with the prompts by Sarah Whitmire. I've also been following her tweet a day and stashing away those ideas for the future.

The first prompt was to write how you were feeling that day and the gesso over it. The first page is my "claiming" page saying that it was MY journal, the second shows my Soul Armor that protects me from my critics.


These pages show inchies, which were fun to find and even more fun to see the finished product. It's very neat to see what can emerge with just small photos.


I'm off to see the final regular season game for ASU and then to GLOW where my journal and one of my paintings are being exhibited!

I will be back tomorrow with a scrappy post!

Happy Birthday Allison!

Today was a wonderful day. I kissed my beau goodbye and headed east once again. Driving through the mountains in the fall is always inspiring. Blue skies, whispy clouds, and colorful mountains all around- just perfection! On top of the beautiful autumn day, the music at church was beyond words and I was able to share lunch with my dear friend Allison and her hubby!

I created this gift set for Allison with my October kit from The Nook. Graphic 45 goodness!





Thanks for looking!

Scrapping again!

I have two gorgeous Nook kits at my fingertips and very little time to scrap. Today I have created a layout with the September kit from The Nook.



Pink Paislee papers, rub ons. Prima pearl stud. Making Memories alpha and ribbon. Bazill cardstock.


I'm making it a goal to post more often and get some more projects completed!

Who knew?

Who knew that graduate school, two assistantships, youth group and other church activities, a long distance relationship, Chamber Singers, and commuting would leave little time for scrapbooking? I haven't even added teaching dance- that starts this week and I'm thrilled. I hope that I can keep my energy up until December.

I'm behind on what I want to scrap and create, but I'm okay with that. I know that I'll catch up when things slow down.

Today we had a pet blessing at church- I can't wait to scrap about that!