December Daily 2011 Part 4- Getting Started

So yesterday was officially December 1st, and the December Daily days have finally arrived! Here are a couple images of my first page. Nothing much happend yesterday, so page one is all text with a little description of my thoughts on the holiday season and being joyful for the "everyday" blessings that we often overlook.

Today is another day, and another page...looking forward to the progression of it all. *smile*

Family Bonding

kraft cardstock; bazzil, patterned paper; studio calico & making memories, border stickers; crate paper, clear stamps; studio calico & glitz design, paper flowers; prima, rhinestones/brads; making memories, paper lace ribbon; basic grey

Happy Monday!! Today is officially the first day back to the grind this year! Hopefully you all were able to have a relaxing yet wonderful Holiday season with your families.

Today I'd like to share my first LO of 2011. I worked on it Saturday night after a fun day out with the hubby and sister in-law in NYC.

This LO is of my mom and I, we went to the NJ Scrapbooking Expo together back in May 2008. This was my mom's first introduction to the scrapbooking industry and she LOVED IT! We both bought so many cools things and she discovered a new hobby! Little did we know that this "new hobby" of hers wouldn't really take off until this past November, when I introduced her to the December Daily project by Ali Edwards. Since then, she's been full speed ahead! Every week she's picking up some new supplies, becoming a scrapping addict like me!! I'm loving it, while I was visiting my family for a few days over the holidays, I helped her pick out some new organizing systems and we set them up together for her new crafting space in my old room. It was great bonding time and now I will also have a space to use when I'm there...perfect!

On this LO I used the Napa Valley kit from Studio Calico and the inspiration sketch came from one of Becky Fleck's  Nov. sketches (see below);

I loved using this kit, the papers are so colorful and coordinate so well! The stitching and layered border embellishments are my favorite part...

Just a glimpse...

It's been pretty busy around here lately! Between work and the holiday season its been non stop! I love this time of year, but wish that time would slow down long enough so we could catch our breath and enjoy it all...even just a little!

This past weekend was extra busy for the hubby and I! We were on a 8:30am flight to Boston on Saturday morning, which lasted all about 30mins in the air (definitely not enough time for us to catch some Zzzz's!). Once we landed it was off to my cousin's house for some preparations for a festive family gathering (more to come on that part soon). But all in all- the weekend was really nice and we were able to spend time with family which is so important, even with all the hustle and bustle...I wouldn't trade times like that in for anything. Life is for living, so we might as well LIVE more than SLEEP! Right?!?

We ended this weekend by putting up our Christmas tree! Yeay! I LOVE doing that! Makes me feel like a kid again, I would get SO excited when mom would put on the Christmas tunes and we would take out the tree/ornaments and get to work. Now we're putting up our own tree in our own place...*big sigh* so many memories to capture! Here are a couple pictures of us building our first "real size" tree (we've finally graduated from the table topper this year! :-)

There will be more pics of the finished product coming soon!

I'm also in the process of making my holiday cards! This year I have a list of about 30something, so I chose to take the digital route-to hopefully save time (especially with assembly!). Here is a sneak peak of what I'm working on. I'm hoping to finish the design by the end of this week so that I can print and send! We'll see how that goes!

That's all for now! Be back soon....

Excitement in the Air!

Today is the BIG day! It's the start of the Summer 2010 CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) Trade Show!!!! I'm so excited, you would think that I was going to be there!! (Not quite, but wish I were, for sure!) I look forward to reading/seeing all the new products that are coming out from other bloggers that will be there. For now, I have to live vicariously through all of them, but hey, it's better than nothing!

There are many sites that have already been posting updates on the show for weeks, building our suspense even more! A couple in particular are; Studio Calico, Scrapbook Update and CHA's very own blog. Check into these sites for continuous updates throughout the duration of the show. This year its in Rosemont, IL at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, July 27th-July 29th.