December Stamp Of The Month

This is a card I made inspired by Sue Neal with the December Stamp Of The Month (D1378- Notice the Details pg. 109) and the Grace Level 2 Paper Packet (#X7117B pg. 18). 

This is an incredibly versatile stamp set that will work on cards, pages, home dec. projects (don't you just love how I am learning the new slang), calendars, etc.. How it works is each month Close To My Heart offers a specially designed My Acrylix® stamp set at a great discount or even free. There are 5 different ways to get the Stamp of the Month.

•  Buy the stamp set for $22.95 
• Spend $25 and get it for $17.21 (25% off)
• Spend $50 and get it for $11.48 (50% off) 
• Spend $75 and get it for $5.74 (75% off) 
• Spend $100 and get it FREE!

Remember this great Stamp Set will only be available until December 31st.

Notice the Details - December S.O.M (click here for more information) 

MY FAVORITE GIFT

I love this time of year: the music, the lights, family, and friends. But what I love the most is a present that was given to me wrapped in swaddling clothes. That small precious child has given meaning to my life. How grateful I am for my Savior.

HE knows me as an individual and loves me. HE is there for me through my struggles as my greatest Cheerleader. I will never have to wander the path alone because he has given me his gospel and will walk beside me so I may return to HIM and my HEAVENLY FATHER. Through HIM I will be able to be with my family for eternity. Without Him I have nothing. All that I have and all that I am is because of HIM.

Clear Creek Camp

60 - 5th grade girls; $60 billion dollars

an indoor craft; $1000

a heated cabin with bathroom; $1 million

being the group with the fastest time to start a fire; $800

not falling into the hot lava; $1500

HUGE squirrel's nest (squirrels included); $600

making it through the rope course; $900

Bunk Beds with paper thin mattresses; -$5000

Waking up to 5" of snow; $2000 (until I had to scrape it off the truck, then its value went way way down)

The chance to spend this time with my incredible daughter; PRICELESS

Twas The Night Before Christmas

These are some pages I did for a quarterly page swap. My inspiration was a quilt that I fell in love with and hope one day to finish. In the meantime, I am looking forward to filling these pages with Christmas Eve pictures from this year. We always have a big Christmas Eve Dinner (so we have nummy yummy leftovers for Christmas Day), the girls get new p.j.'s, we play games, and wait for Santa. I think the anticipation of Christmas Day is just as good if not better than the day itself.

If you would like to recreate these pages I used all Close to My Heart products except the thread for Santa's reins. The pages, Santa, and reindeer, are black CS (#1386 pg. 100), moon - Sunny Yellow CS (#1225 pg. 101), twas the night before words and holly leaves - Olive CS (#1245 pg. 101), Christmas words and holly berries - Tulip CS (#X5753 pg. 101), house - Brown Bag CS (#5644 pg.100), snow - White Daisy CS (#1385 pg. 100), windows - Honey (#X5668 pg 101). The smoke from the chimney is two spiral clips. The holly and letters were cut out with my Cricket. The shingles on the house are from the Cupcake Sprinkles Stamp Set (D1336 pg. 60). The bricks and window casing uses the November Stamp of the Month (shown below) - Around the Block (#D1377 pg 109).

November Stamp of The Month (click here for more information)

Science Day

O.K. don't hate me but I spent yesterday going to classes and having lunch at the U of U for free. Yes FREE! Once a year the University holds a science day for High School students and their parents. My daughter Taylor, a junior at Westlake High School, wants to be a Pediatric Endocrinologist (wow that was a mouthful typeful. LOL). This was her second year (last year dad went, this year was all me! YEAH).


Our first class was Fluorescent Microscopy. We looked at yeast cell protein that had GFP (green fluorescence protein) and RFP (red fluorescence protein) from the jellyfish attached. When you attach the jellyfish protein to another species protein that protein will also fluoresce. It was so exciting! By studying how the different proteins work in the cell this lab is hoping to learn how to turn off the Cancer and HIV triggers and stop the disease from spreading. I hope I didn't bore you too much, but it was so exciting to see the beginning stages of a possible cure that could save millions of lives. Yes, the truth is out I am a total science geek. The best part of the whole day was when Taylor was offered a 4 week internship with this lab next summer. WHAAA HOOO! She is so excited she can hardly stand it.

Our second class was Extreme Makeover: Human Body Engineering. This class was about how Metallurgy and medicine come together. We learned about artificial joints, stents, and disk replacements. We have come so far but have even farther to go. For every problem we solve we create a new problem to be solved.

Our last class was Astronomy. We were able to look through the telescopes at the Observatory. One telescope was pointed at the sun. All Taylor and I saw was a big red blob. Apparently we are part of the unlucky few who have a hereditary eye problem and can't distinguish the different colors put out by the sun. Taylor looked on the bright side (no pun intended) and decided that knowing she couldn't major in Astronomy had an upside. She has one less major to think about leaving 75 other majors to consider. That girl cracks me up!

We ended the day with a yummy lunch and awards ceremony. The College of Science has a random drawing and gives away six $500 scholarships during lunch. Taylor may not have won a scholarship this year but the excitement for college and learning new things is a prize that is immeasurable.

Another Scrap Project

This is our Thanksgiving Advent Calendar. The idea came from a Craft Day at our church. It is made using a muffin tin, paper scraps, ribbon scraps, stamps, and brads. Inside each tin is a different thing to be thankful for. Each square measures 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 and is held on by a magnet attached to the corner on the back. The only thing I bought for this project was the muffin tin (I bought mine at Walmart for under $4). I love (really I mean LOVE) projects that use my extra supplies. Talking about being thankful, I want my family and friends to know how THANKFUL I am for their love and support. I am so very blessed and feel like the luckiest girl around!

Ballroom Dance Competition

Westlake High School hosted a Ballroom Dance Competition on October 31st. I can think of no better treat on Halloween than watching my daughter make it to the semi-finals at her first competition. She did fantastic considering she had to find a new partner an hour before the competition started. Taylor has worked really hard and I know she will go far. YOU GO GIRL! WE LOVE YOU AND ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!

TAYLOR AND JEREMY

I RECEIVED MY FIRST BLOG AWARD

I was awarded this great honor by my friend Karen Pederson.

I am supposed to pass it on to six other bloggers. O.K. so I am going to be a rule breaker and only pass it on to three people. Before you start yelling let me explain. The two blogs who inspire me the most Karen P and Lynette K have already received the award and I don't have the other addresses for the other blogs I love (I lost all my bookmarks when I had to rebuild my computer). Soooo long story short I hope no one is offended for being left out.




I choose to pass this award on to three of my favorite bloggers:


1. Dianna B.

2. Ashley M.

3. Mekesha W.



The Rules are:

1. You can only use ONE word for each answer.

2. Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers!

3. Alert them that you have given them this award!

4. HAVE FUN!!!



1. Where is your cell phone? table

2. Your hair? brown

3. Your mother? beautiful

4. Your father? Heaven

5. Your favorite food? Mexican

6. Your dream last night? ?????

7. Your favorite drink? Diet Sunkist (surely that counts as one)

8. Your dream/goal? health

9. What room are you in? family

10. Your hobby? scrappin'

11. Your fear? spiders

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

13. Where were you last night? sick

14. Something that you aren't? tall

15. Muffins? chocolate

16. Wish list item? beach

17. Where did you grow up? SLC

18. Last thing you did? breakfast

19. What are you wearing? jammies

20. Your TV? on

21. Your Pets? many

22. Friends? greatest

23. Your life? incredible!

24. Your mood? happy

25. Missing Someone? Dad

26. vehicle? truck

27. Something your not wearing? makeup

28. Your favorite store? Target

29. Your favorite color? all

30. When was the last time you laughed? today

31. Last time you cried? yesterday

32. Your best friend? Darin

33. One place that I go to over and over? store

34. One person who emails me regularly? Dianna

35. Favorite place to eat? Chili's

Vampires vs. Werewolfs

This is for all the Twilight Fans out there (you know who you are!). Aren't these great, I found them at Smith's. I have to admit I like the Buried Pomegranate flavor of the Vampire soda better (sorry Jacob, just remember you will always be better looking) than the Candy Corn flavor. Both flavors have enough sugar in them to supply a third world country for a year so of course the girls loved them both.

November Workshop Christmas Cards and Layouts

I am so excited for Workshops in November. They will be on November 17th and we will be gearing up and getting ready for Christmas. You will be able to choose between a Christmas card workshop designed by my talented friend Karen Pederson or the traditional 2-two page layouts and 6 cards. Me, personally I would choose both. If you would like to do both projects just remember you will have to complete one of the projects at home. Either project will get certainly help get you in the mood for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS CARDS

If you choose the cards you will make 20 cards using the Creative Basics Jingle Collection (x5808, pg. 30), Flurry Dimensional Elements (z1225, pg. 94), Pearl Paint (z1039, pg. 98), Holiday Jingle Stamp Set (C1371, pg. 11), and the Holiday Trinkets Stamp Set (D1366, pg. 11).

WORKSHOP ON THE GO LAYOUTS AND CARDS

If you choose these projects you will use the Jingle Workshop on the Go Kit which includes the "Jingle" paper packet (X7115C, pg. 10), Somethin' Special Stamp Set (only available with the Jingle Kit), and Twinkle Brads (Z1220, pg. 92). I also added the On Target Dimensional Elements (Z1226, pg. 95), and Cranberry Ribbon (Z1103, pg. 91)

Can't wait to see you on November 17th

Donut Falls

A week ago I decided I wanted to see Donut Falls. I used to hike there a lot as a teenager. So off I went by myself to take pictures. I parked in the lot grabbed my camera and walked to the trail head. I guess that it never crossed my addled brain that there would be snow and lots and lots of mud. After much debate I decided to hike to the first bend of the trail. After all, this was supposed to be an easy hike according to the articles I had read. LIARS! I must have missed the part that said it was 3/4 of a mile straight up. Holy Cow I did not remember this hike being sooo uphill. It seems to me that as a kid we practically ran there in 5 minutes or so. Boy has my brain withered away!

After stopping to catch my breath I thought (stupid me) it can't be that much further just keep going. The next time I stopped I was thinking maybe I will just lay here and they can find my body in the spring. But alas (stupid me again) I kept going. Thankfully about 1/2 a mile up the trail leveled off some and was not as steep. So once again (remember my brain is addled) I decided it was a matter of pride to keep going even though my joints and back were screaming "hey stupid, what do you think you are doing this hurts".

So far even though my goal for this hike was to take pictures I had not even taken my camera out of the bag so I decided to stop and take some pictures of the stream under a huge pine tree. As I was taking pictures a mom and two kids came walking down the trail all with big grins on their faces (really do they have to be so happy). The worst part was one of the kids was only about four which really made me feel old and feeble. Almost there she tells me, at which point I decide that all the happy not in pain people should be shipped off to a deserted island somewhere close to the South Pole (o.k., maybe just to Antelope Island). Off I go to the almost there Falls which would be almost there if I were a Giant.

After what seemed like an eternity I arrived at the falls to find out I have to climb down some huge rocks to actually see the falls which are literally just right around the corner. The rock wall is about 10 feet straight down. Now it was a matter of pride to get myself down to see those stupid falls. Luckily no one was around to see my very ungraceful climb down the rocks. And there it was Donut Falls. Not as grand as I remember but still beautiful.

The best part was knowing I did it, me, all by myself without any help. My Rheumatoid Arthritis has stopped me from enjoying a lot of things I used to do so this was a great accomplishment for me. Would I do it again anytime soon, absolutely not, but I am sure proud of what I accomplished. And I even got some great photos along the way!

Blunck Family Photos

The Bluncks are such a great family! I followed them up American Fork Canyon so we could take some family pictures before Brad left for another tour of duty overseas. It was so wonderful to see how they interact with each other and the love they feel for one another. My thoughts and prayers are with the Blunck family as they endure another year apart while Brad defends our freedom and rights and all that makes our country great.

MOOSE

O.K. I admit it one of my favorite things is moose, yes moose. So needless to say when we came around a corner on the Mirror Lake Highway and saw this mama and baby I was ecstatic. What beautiful creatures!They help remind me how fortunate I am to live in this beautiful country created by my Heavenly Father. The kit "Back Country" (X7110B pg. 25) was perfect to highlight my moose pictures. I also used the matching My Stickease (X7110C pg. 25), Metal Brads (Z1217 pg. 92), Adventure Dimensional Elements (Z1158 pg. 95) and Natural Hemp (Z280 pg. 91).

I also created the pages and card below from the same kit using the Let's Go Camping My Acrylix stamp set (C1355).