(diva)logues

"When I say dance... you dance... and when I say stop... don't move at all..."

I've managed to sneak in some time here & there to finish up 4 more days in my December Daily book.  Could I manage to sneak in some time to take down the Christmas decorations or clean the house?  Ummm... NO.  It's all about having the right priorities, my friends! 

Ok, well I did manage to un-decorate the mantel.  Yay, me.  But the rest of the house is going to have to wait until after we've hit 2012, because I have 2 days in a row of Zumba to do AND some ringing-in of the new year planned for tonight.  Again... it's all about priorities.          

The book has been created, almost entirely, using the Nikki Sivils' Gingerbread Land collection.  You can see all the pages (so far) right here. 

Also... I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone for your kind words & comments over the years.  In fact, in February it will be 4 years since I started this blog.  So much has changed in that time... even in just the past year.  This part of my life, though, has been a blessing for me and I'm truly grateful for all of it... especially for the 2 amazing manufacturers, Nikki Sivils and SRM Stickers, entrusting me to design for them.  It's been nothing but FUN for me with both companies! 

So...on this New Year's Eve, I just wanted to send best wishes to everyone for a very HAPPY, HEALTHY & PROSPEROUS 2012 full of much LOVE and many good MEMORIES!  Be safe tonight & have FUN! 

Big hugs + kisses... 

"She's got a thing for attention... I gotta say, this girl can dance..."

Before you get too impressed that I've already scrapped some photos from our Christmas... let's try to remember everything I HAVEN'T done yet... because the list is LONG.  Like, let's see... Halloween, Thanksgiving, my December Daily, the Mud Run, Austria, and at least 45 other events on my ever-growing list.  You feel much better now, right?  And I suddenly feel worse.  LOL

This one was easy peasy though.  I used Picnik to create my photo collage and the Nikki Sivils' Gingerbread Land collection to create my page.  You don't really have to add too much more to the cute little gingerbread house scene paper.  It makes it easy to create a page quickly.  Even though I like to take extra time obsesssing about details anyway...    

I added some Want 2 Scrap bling on my banner & also added some SRM Happy Holidays Sentiments to the top...

In other more exciting news... I subbed for a Zumba class this morning... my 3rd class ever.  I had a lot of people show up to dance with me, too, which was GREAT because it's normally a class that doesn't get high attendance numbers.  And even better... I get to take Zumba tomorrow in my weekly Thursday morning class that I attend AND I get to help teach at the Zumbathon on Sunday!  

Three days of Zumba this week... be still my heart!  Woot wooooooot!!! 

Christmas 2011...

Aside from my lingering head cold, sore throat, cough... oh and a 24-hour stomach bug that decided to hit me on Christmas Eve... Christmas was a blast.  We enjoyed every second with family... food, drinks, games, and so many laughs that it made my stomach hurt!  My dad is a total nut.  Hope your celebration was special too!

Also... just a quick reminder of the Nikki Sivils' design team call!  The deadline is the 28th, so hurry! 

"Wrap it up... I'll take it..."

Just trying to finish things up around here... wrapping gifts and also cleaning the house since we'll have my family here on Christmas Day.  The grocery store was mayhem today, as was Target's parking lot, but thankfully most people were smiling.  Love people that are smiling.  ;-)

Making gift tags is about as crafty as I could get for our gifts this year.  I used the Nikki Sivils' Gingerbread Land collection for my letter stickers.  I hand-cut my trees, stacked 2 of them on my hand-cut tag, machine-stitched it down the middle, then added a small folded piece of ribbon to the top & adhered it with a staple... 

... same process here, only this time I used a large snowflake punch & stacked 2 of those...

Notice how lazy I am at changing the thread on the sewing machine?  They all got green thread.  LOL

Also, just wanted to share this version of Ave Maria that put tears in my eyes the first time I heard it the other day.  What doesn't put tears in my eyes these days?   I have issues... like hormonal... LOL 

This is my last post for the week, so I'd just like to wish you all a very MERRY Christmas!  Enjoy your time with family & friends this weekend & make sweet memories.  And thank you SO much for always leaving such kind and funny comments.  You all keep me smiling, for sure!

XOXO...

You better not pout, I'm telling you why...

Well, today is the last day of school before Christmas break and I FINALLY started AND finished making the 28 treat bags for Bryn's class party when I got home from Zumba today... which, by the way, was amazing as always.  Not only am I "under-achieving" at creating these days, it's spilling over into everything I have to do.  Just can't seem to get motivated until I'm up against the clock & it's gotta get done this minute.  Is anyone else feeling like this during the holidays or is it just me? 

New Year's resolution #238... get inspired again. 

Off to school for a crazy 5th grade Christmas party!   

"Oh... sometimes... I get a good feeling..."

I think I'm going to have to rename this my December almost Daily mini book.  I had to skip a couple days last week to get caught up... just the 13th & 14th.  And probably the real reason is that I didn't have any photos from those days, nor could I think of anything earth-shattering that happened either.  Or rather, I could've thought of something, but I'm feeling the need to be an under-achiever right now.  LOL

Even though I've tried to simplify the process by using the divided page protectors, this book still takes a lot of time, thought & creativity... of which I seem to be majorly lacking these days!  I will finish it though... and hopefully without skipping any more days since Christmas is already here this weekend. 

I think I can... I think I can...

PLEASE make it go away...

Day #2 of a raging migraine.  But, the water has been shut off in our subdivision for some kind of water system repairs today, so I'm out & about until it resumes.  And besides, no amount of Advil helps my migraines and for some strange reason I do get an hour of relief when I'm working out (I guess it's adrenaline that helps?) so staying in bed is not an option anyway.  Thank goodness for Spin class... and a shower at the Y so I'm not a sweaty mess all day!

Bob & I had a fun "date night" on Saturday night, while Bryn & her cousin were with my parents.  They went to see a live "Grinch" show & then spent the night.  So, Bob & I had dinner at BARcelona, made a quick run through the mall to replace the gifts I had ordered online that never arrived in time because we needed them on Sunday (I'll have to ship those back now when they arrive!), then stopped for a glass of wine at Araka and spent the night at a hotel so we didn't have to drive home.  We had FUN!

On Sunday, we entertained Bob's daughter & her family, and Bob's niece for an early Christmas lunch since we won't see them on Christmas.  Another fun day with family... although I was the hostess without the mostess that day, since I was not feeling well.  I rallied though & made it through! 

Gonna have to get over all this SOON.  It's cramping my style and I've got too much to do!  LOL

Happy Monday and only 5 more days until Christmas Eve! 

Ho, ho, ho...

Who you callin' a ho?

I'm still on a Zumba high from this morning's pre-Zumbathon class with myself & 4 other fabulously fun instructors leading the way.  Such a BLAST.  The Zumbathon is gonna ROCK, people.  If you're local, PLEASE join us on New Year's Day from 10:30-12:30 at the Y.  Plenty of time to nurse your hangover & start 2012 off in a healthy and FUN way.  DJ Pru will be there with his strobe lights and I promise it will be worth your time!  No need to be a member either.  Message me for more details!!! 

Bryn has overnight Christmas plans with her cousin and my parents tonight, so Bob & I are off to our own overnight "date night" with plans to hit the city.  Love that.  But first the house needs to be cleaned & I need to get prepared for his daughter & her family coming over for an early Christmas lunch as soon as we get back home tomorrow.   

Oh & a couple of their gifts still haven't been delivered yet.  The joys of online ordering.  So not cool...  

"On Friday night... I'm sorry, I'm booked..."

As planned, I have continued with my quest to use photos from earlier this year.  And with the weirdly warm 60-degree weather we had yesterday, it doesn't seem too inappropriate to be posting a page about Easter in December since that's typical Easter-time weather.  Umm, right? 

I pulled out my Pink Paislee Hometown Summer collection & added some Easter SRM sticker sentiments.  Nothing too fancy here, but I can finally scratch this event off my list anyway...

Back to normal weather today and... 

• Had Aqua Jog & Zumba classes this morning.  Best day of the week! 
• Lunch with the girls.  Always fun & full of laughs.  Note to self... must see the movie "Hall Pass." 
• Early release day for Bryn & we were off to get a photo taken with Santa.  Even though she told me before we went in, that he wasn't "the REAL Santa."   I got a photo though... yay me!  
• Quick stops at Target & Michaels.  I feel like I'm spending too much time at both places lately & no, I'm still not finished with my Christmas shopping.
• Planning to start wrapping some gifts with Bryn's help today.  She's a really good wrapper.  Better than most adults.  Or at least better than her dad, anyway. 
• Going to a gift exchange party tonight with a bunch of girls from the Y.  Should be more laughs tonight for sure.   
• All of this, while nursing a sore throat for the past 2 days.  Obviously not bad enough to keep me in bed though.  I have to be REALLY sick for that.  And "I'm sorry... I'm booked!" 

"Here comes the rain again... falling on my head like a memory..."

I decided to take a little break from the cold weather + Christmas paper last night and went through old photos that I hadn't printed yet.  I've also had a couple pieces of paper & cut-outs from the Simple Stories 100 Days of Summer line sitting on my craft table for months and went with some photos from this summer.  It's always amusing to see photos of the 3 of us.  Stephanie has a way of making Sally & I look extremely pale.  LOL

I added some SRM sticker sentiments from the Hello set and some Glossy Accents on the tree.  It became apparent when I took this photo that I forgot one dot, too.  Too bad, so sad...

Love that yellow chevron so much. 

Planning to get to some more older warm weather photos later today, too.  I've got sun & the beach on my brain on this cold, rainy day... maybe that will help.  

"In the suburbs I, I learned to drive... And you told me we'd never survive, grab your mother's keys we're leavin'..."

It was another fun weekend, with more holiday celebrations!  Even Bryn got to have fun with friends all weekend.  Had to play a little bit of catch-up yesterday, but somehow I'm managing to stay current on my December book... 

You can see the book in it's entirety, to date, right here.

The majority of my book is being made with the Nikki Sivils' Gingerbread Land collection.  You can find Gingerbread Land online at Scrapbook.com... grab individual pieces or the entire collection!

Have a GREAT week, everyone!

"Good King Wenceslas looked out... on the feast of Stephen..."

Check out the Nikki Sivils' blog today for a chance to win a HUGE giveaway from Provocraft and also a chance to win Nikki's Gingerbread Land collection!

I have a couple Christmas cards on her blog today, too.  Both were made using the Gingerbread Land collection...

And... just to help get you into the spirit of Christmas... how about a little holiday music from one very crazy 10-year old who loves to use dramatic voices when she's on camera.  Not sure where the crazy comes from... because I'm perfectly normal, you know.  Also not sure why she's wearing our Mizzou tiger tail, that we hang from the back of our Tahoe for Mizzou games, as a headband.  I think we can just sum up all of those answers by saying... her & I have spent WAY too much time together in her last 10 1/2 years of life.  Poor thing... LOL

Have a FABULOUS weekend! 

I heart Photoshop...

We had a family photo shoot a few weeks ago.  It was great, for once, to not be the one behind the camera... or to be handing the camera off to someone else who you hope will take a clear photo.  Since most of the time when we have a family photo taken, it's with the self-timer on my camera, I decided this year we were going to hire someone to do it for us! 

If you're local & want an AMAZING photographer, check out Teri Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald Fotography.  I know her from Zumba, but didn't realize until recently when I saw photos she took of my friend & her son, that she was also a photographer.  She's fantastic.  So nice, so great to work with & so thorough.  Seriously... she spent over 2 1/2 hours with us and took I don't know... 300 photos?  There were a lot! 

We were outside in downtown St Charles.  Kinda chilly that day, too.  All poses & backgrounds were her idea... we just did what she asked of us.  And can I just say that I love her Photoshop skills.  Airbrush us to the MAX please... LOL       

Just some of our favorite shots.  I'm sure you'll see these pop up again on future scrapbook pages.  ;-) 

Her rates are totally reasonable & worth every penny!  Find her on Facebook and check out her website for more information! 

"You want omelet or cereo?"

Well, I'm beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel with regard to Christmas shopping.  It's more than half-way complete.  There are still a couple people I have absolutely no clue what to buy them, but I suppose I'll eventually have a sudden flash of inspiration.  And no I haven't even begun to wrap anything.  Wouldn't want to be too organized. 

I have the first 3 days of my December Daily finished.  While the divided page protectors make it easy for me to finish a page without much thought... the glare does pose a bit of a problem when trying to photograph the pages.

Off to make breakfast food for dinner.  We're eating in our pj's tonight.  It's a tradition we started several years ago & Bryn's favorite thing to do at Christmas time. 

And the title of this post... something my sister & I say to each other ALL.THE.TIME.  We had a flight attendant ask that to us & everyone else on a flight to St Thomas once & we've been repeating it over & over ever since then. 

I'm not sure English was her primary language, but I'll take cereo please...

"Pressure pushing down on me... pressing down on you no man ask for..."

Ok, so I caved... to the peer pressure I suppose. 

I've made a December Daily book for the past 3 years now.  This year I decided I was way too uninspired, way too short on patience & just frankly have too many things keeping me distracted right now that I wasn't going to tackle this book.  NO. NOT GOING TO DO IT.  But every single year by the end of the month, I'm really glad I took the time.  It even makes me think I can tackle a Project Life book when I'm finished.  And then I come back to my senses & realize it ain't happenin'!   

You can see my 2010 December Daily right here and 2009.  Couldn't find 2008 in it's entirety, but here's a day with some pages from that year's book.

I'm planning to use a mix of products for my book this year (ie. whatever I can find in my stash), but I'll probably use the Nikki Sivils Gingerbread Land collection for the majority of it... 

To add a little more interest & dimension to the cover, I used my Glossy Accents inside all the circles (you know I love that stuff)...

There's also a SRM Merry Christmas sentiment on there (well, of course!).  Speaking of SRM Stickers... check out their blog today for details on how to apply for their design team!  A new call has been posted today!

Before you get too excited about this book (because I know you're on the edge of your seats right now), please note the simplicity of all the pages.  I'm using some Becky Higgins 12x12 divided page protectors, cut down to size, so I can just stick my photos + journaling spots into place.  Quick & easy... hopefully without too much thought.  LOL 

Anyone else doing a December Daily this year?  Link me up in the comments.  Would love to see yours!

FREE printables for the holidays...

Head over to the Nikki Sivils' blog today for some FREE holiday card + envelope printables!

Simply save them to your computer, print them onto a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock, cut on the dotted lines & fold!

They are CUTE cards just as printed, but I embellished my set with some punch-outs from the Gingerbread Land collection, some patterned paper + a border punch and some bakers twine to finish it off.  I also added a little faux stitching with my black Sharpie.  Quick, easy and FREE cards!  What could be better than that?! 

Have a GREAT weekend, everyone!    

"Hey good lookin'... whatcha got cookin'..."

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that my mom, sister & I were taking a cooking class at a local grocery store.  We get together to do these classes every once in awhile, not because we need to learn how to cook, but because it's a fun reason to get together.  Plus... usually they do the cooking for us, so we can just sit there & watch, eat & drink.  It's fun! 

This class, however, was held at a different store than we usually attend and we would find out upon arrival that it was a "hands-on" class... thus the aprons.  Wine bottles were opened first thing for all the students.  I was running a few minutes late that night because I couldn't find the store & must've missed the instructions that wine glasses were to be kept at our seats & not on the cooking prep counters. 

So about a half-hour into class, an older man (another student) says to me, "You're not supposed to have your wine glass on the counter." 

My mom, who also had her wine glass on the counter, said to me, "Oh, sorry, they did tell us that when we first got here. I forgot to tell you that.  I guess they're worried we might spill our wine or something."

I said, "Well, I'm going tell him I'm a professional and I never spill my wine while I'm cooking."

Seriously.  That would be a waste of wine.  LOL

Anyway... LOTS of SRM cooking-themed stickers on here.  The crossword puzzle paper is Kaisercraft's Class of '87 paper.  I was planning to use it with some other school paper I bought from that line, but I liked the idea of filling in the spaces with some of the cooking sentiments, so it ended up on here instead...

The paper with the fruit & veggies on it, is an old piece of Karen Foster paper I found in my stash. 

It's December 1st and holiday party season is officially starting.  Tonight is Bob's company Christmas dinner party.  Not the most exciting thing on my calendar, but must make an appearance!  LOL  Tomorrow night is a party with my college friends & Saturday night is a dinner with friends at a new restaurant.  Looking forward to a fun-filled weekend! 

Sunday, I shall rest.  And take Advil.  LOL 

Tis the season!