Eloise the Ballerina

OK so Eloise is finally gaining confidence!  She not only begged to go to ballet class and loves every week but she was brave enough to dance at half time at a local middle school last week.she is the 2nd on the left.  Bippity Bopppity Boo!
How can you watch this and not smile?
Merry Christmas all you sugar plum fairies out there!

Pinterest...Oh, what can I say?!

OK so during last week's blog spying I read several posts that mentioned www.pinterest.com and I had to check it out.  Set a timer people!  You must have a reminder to find your way out of this wonderful site!  The pictures and ideas are so much fun to see and FUNNY! 

Anywho...I found this idea there (it looked much cooler on their picture but I THINK I like what I came up with.)

This is a fun project!  I hot glued crayons in rainbow-ish order onto the side of a display board then propped an artboard directly under the crayons.  Next I heated the crayons with the heat tool. 
The crayons melt down the canvas and create a cool water-like effect.  (When I try again I will peel the crayons first...the pinterest person said to do that but I was lazy.) :)
I put the Fleur de Lis (sp?) on before AND after the crayon.  Meaning I placed them on the canvas before I melted the crayon then layered another black set on the top of the crayon, finally I added the white smaller cardstock pieces on top.  I would suggest that you ink the edges of the dark cardstock in White Daisy or Vanilla Cream Ink and the white in your favorite color for more definition.  I worked on this in the middle of the night and was really cutting corners! 

Here are the pix of the process:

To do this project you will need:
Canvas or Art Board
Crayons of your choice
Hot glue and Hot Glue gun
box or display board
Images from Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge
Inks to match your project
Liquid Glass (Or other permanent liquid glue)
Heat Tool
Frame

Hope you find this inspiring.  Have fun with crayons!

Christmas Cards 2011

I used retired paper, I think it is called Heritage but I don't know if it was in the right package or not...before my time as a CTMH consultant!


I used the October Stamp of the Month and the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge...email me if you need sizes for the Cricut. :)

The patterns are from the Wishes how to book: Any Occassion Card Workshop (on page 68).  I LOVE the how to books...I don't have to have a designer's eye to create balanced cards and layouts! 

Hope you enjoy these...I am well on my way to use my stash!  I am enjoying the Cricut Cartridge (Art Philosophy) and using the paper stash makes it fun to get creative with "old" stuff. :)  Now I am just chomping at the bit to get the next CTMH catalog!!!

(Sneak peek at a new product coming later this week.)

Blog Spying

I have been home today with sick munchkins...let's hope that this will mean no illness on Christmas this year! Wash your hands everyone, wash your hands! How many times do we need to say this to our little ones. Yikes.

Anyway, back to my spying adventure. Because we had a lazy, pajama day, I have been blog spying. I found some unbelievable artwork out there and so much inspiring work. I love to see how different the look of everyone's art is using the same products.

You can see some the work I have spy-ed by clicking over to the blogs on my blog list to the left.

Now that the kids are feeling better I have to get back to my referee work. :)
Happy hopping, blog hopping that is.
Amy

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Santa!

Here are the cutest faces we have ever seen with Santa! Typically the kids look terrified...last year Santa had to sit on the floor next to Eloise and Oliver to get a photo. This year big smiles and a nice long conversation about the Christmas Gift Wishlist. Sooooo cute and we got a digital copy so I can make pages with Studio J. Thanks Santa!
Ho HO HOOOO!

This is a repost of a blog that I love to read. Sharon has some terrific ideas for business owners. This idea just fits so well with memory record keeping and memory books that I can't resist posting it here.
Enjoy!

Creating Holiday Traditions
11/12/2011 – 4:48 am

Are you ready to create your own special and memorable holiday tradition – one that will create memories not only for you but, for generations to come?
I know personally that the older I become, the more I’m interested in preserving “traditions.” I want to create some special traditions others will remember and may be even want to carry on by adding their own special touches. Honestly, who doesn’t want to leave a positive memory or legacy for future generations?

Here are a few ideas I have and please let me know what you think:

1. Begin a yearly holiday journal. In your journal you can write about the weather on that particular holiday, how you chose to celebrate it, how you’ve celebrated the same holiday in the past, the people who celebrated with you and the meaning of the holiday to you and your family. Be sure to include pictures and other memorabilia that will assist future generations in “reliving” this holiday through your eyes. Something to consider would be to begin a video or audio holiday journal also.

2. Write a holiday family history memoir. Begin a collection of family stories from holidays gone by. These could be stories you heard relatives sharing in years past and stories you remember from your childhood. A holiday memoir can prove to be a wonderful way to preserve your family history. Be sure to include photos, a video or other memorabilia if you have some.

3. Begin a holiday “time capsule.” Collect items from each holiday during an entire year and place them each in your time capsule. The items can be a favorite greeting card or photo, a special ornament or souvenir, a timely story out of the newspaper or off the Internet, a popular book or anything else you believe represents the celebrations for that year. This could become a great activity to share with children. Show them how to pass down the tradition and they too can begin leaving a legacy for future generations.

I heard of other traditions such as: The family gathering to cook and bake together the weekend before a major holiday, or making a personalized quilt for a new baby, or having a family reunion on a specific holiday each year.

Creating a new holiday tradition for friends and family is only limited by your own imagination – have fun and leave a legacy!

Leave us a comment or suggestion and we’ll start a new tradition along with you.



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By sharonmichaels | Posted in To Share | Tagged Holiday Traditions, Sharon Michaels | Comments (0)