These are a few cards I have been creating this past week. This uses the new Paper Pack That's Amore from the Spring 2009 Idea Book by Close To My Heart. The stamps sets are the December Stamp set of the Month called Heartrob and the September one called Annotations.

I said I would post more this week..since I am off and all, BUT I find myself playing with my boys and all their new toys. It is fun.. I never had any of these types of toys. My family growing up was all girls and the dolls and such were all we had. But ACTION FIGURES, airplanes, legos and V-Tech is almost too much. We have played and hung out for 3 days now.

But don't worry I have also be creating and scrapbooking like a crazy person as well. I will take pictures and post them later. These are a couple of pictures of the boys playing with their toys.

Oh Christmas Tree..! It was fabulous looking this year.. The boys were at the absolute Perfect ages, and their excitement was contagious. They got everything that the asked Santa for which was awesome that it was just one thing each..Caleb an Ironman and Josh a Power Ranger. Of course we couldn't resist getting them more than what they asked for but we did so within reason. I will post more tomorrow.. I hope you had a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all of you!! I hope yours is going well..obviously not if you are checking the blogs...! Just kidding.. I have one more house to go to before my holiday is up. Have a good evening and enjoy the gatherings.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Last Day of School for 2008!!!!! Today was my last day of work till January 5th 2009!! I have been giving final exams to all of my students and watching them squirm in their chairs waiting to see how their grade was effected. This year was by far my favorite with all the good grades I was able to give and all of the smiles at the end of the semester. Many of my students were on the bubble from a B to an A or a C to a B...so that was enjoyable to watch their excitement when they figured out they made the grade.

I recieved lots of gifts this year as well. Normally as a high school teacher we do not really get much but this year the freshmen class was ery giving. I got giftcards to St. Louis Bread Co, and Borders. I recieved lots of baked good and chocolate ...yum! and even some Bath and Body Works gifts. It was a good year... I would say. So I made them some hand made Thank you cards today from the scraps of my Feb club pages that I am putting together. Enjoy!!

The boys recieved a Marble Works toy at my grandparents house this weekend and they are in love with it. They haven't stopped playing with it since they recieved it. I literally had to yell at them to stop so they could eat and take naps. Caleb is my little engineer so this is asweome for him. Josh is my King Kong so 75 peices is right up his alley as well.

They also recieved from Great Grandma and Grandpa (Caleb)Iron man with a Car and (Josh) a Hulk and a Truck. They both love these items as well. Caleb as a matter of fact asked Santa for a specific Iron Man (which Santa is bringing)...but now he says and I quote "This is my Iron Man I don't need another one". I was stunned by this..since Santa has already put the time in to make and get this other one for him. SO let's hope he is just as excited.

We went to the Ram's game this past weekend. They performed as everyone expected..they lost!!! But we got the tickets for Free and we parked for Free and I love hanging out with my husband when it is all free. It was really nice to get away and just have some time the two of us. I even ran into someone from high school and she sat right behind us.. so that was fun going down memory lane with her. Well it is just a few more days till Christmas and I am getting excited about how the kids are going to react.

I can not believe it. My son Caleb actually sang in front of a crowd. This is the boy at every birthday party that screams "no singing" at the Happy Birthday song. Last night was his and my first (as a mother) time at a Christmas Program. I was so proud of him. I went up close to get pictures and he didn't even see me..otherwise I am sure he would have run off to get me. So here is me showing off my oldest actually singing and enjoying it. After they got done singing Jolly Old Saint Nicolaus and The Chipmonk Song I stood up and said Caleb. And the boy bolted to the end of the stage and jumped into my arms. He had the biggest smile on his face I have seen in awhile. Oh Caleb is on the end in green. Have a Great Day.

This past weekend I was felling very creative.. I saw a post on the CTMH Bulletin Board and it peaked my interest. A consultant made a cute little girl card from the November Stamp set of the month All Decked Out. SO I thought "that would be perfect for my neice and her birthday in a few months". So here it is. You can't purchase this stamp set anymore unfortunately but this is the bottom ball of the snowman with the whimsy snow being the little girls hair. I used the Perfect Day paper scraps that I have to make the rest of the card. The scallops of hair are from the corner rounder that CTMH sells with the guard pulled off. Enjoy and get creative yourself.

My first attemp at Banana's Foster. I have no idea what possessed me to try this.. But it turned out fabulous. It was icy day in St. Louis and school was off so I go creative today and tried something new in the kitchen. I got the recipe from Betty Crockers big cookbook. I personally had no idea it had alcohol in it but it did add a nice flavor.

It is an icy day in St. Louis and school is out. Which is nice because I am not feeling that well today. My boys had a stomach thing this past week and I fear that it has found me.

This weekend I made a gift card holder for my son's teacher. I tried to make one purely with scraps...not that I don't absolutely love what she has done with my son...but I like to challenge myself with making cute things with scraps as well. Mrs. Jennifer has been a Godsend to us. Caleb started the year not enjoying the school and I even tossed around the idea of pulling him out. But She came along and he now enjoys going learning and even knows how to write his own name. This is a envelope on the inside folded and glued onto the card. It is perfect for gift cards. Enjoy... I have to go lay down now.

I have been bad this week with posting..sorry about that. I had my two scrapbook clubs this week back to back and that wiped me out. We made a layout from Imagine..as we always do, but with the theme of Aspen paper pack. love it!!! I posted the layout a few blogs ago so you can see it. The girls loved the layout and we did titles of FROSTY and Snow much Fun with the "O's" being our snowman from the stamp set ALL DECKED OUT. It is not the stamp set of the month this time but it is AWESOME!!



Anyway I will try to play and create some more cool projects to post this weekend. The boys have been in and out of sickness for two weeks so hopefully this weekend will be uneventful. Well I am at work and the students are finishing a test..so I must go. I will write soon..



JEN

I am not being very creative this weekend so I decided to put together a page I got from another consultant.. Thanks Shannon Buck. I changed the title a bit..it was the first time I tried writing and pulling my letters really long to extend over another word. Look very close for the word Christmas. This is probably going to be the page I use for my book and put the My Pages Talk Voice Recorder on it. I will have to wait till Christmas to see what pictures look good on which spread. I am also going to add some SPARKLES on it to give it a little bling.

I started thinking about what my wishes are and so far I have to say I really want my hubby to find a job. A few weeks ago he was let go and now he is searching. With today's market it is tough and a bit scary. Last time this happened he was out of work for 11 months... I hope that doesn't happened again. Well I am getting depressed talking about this sooo I am signing off.

Here is a preview of the Heart of Winter paper pack and stamp set that CTMH is offering starting December 16th through January 31st. The pages are so pretty and they use our 4 new colors: Creme Brulee, Tulip, Juniper, and Sorbet. You can purchase it for $47.95 or earn it free with a qualifying order and/or party.

So I am almost ready so send out my Christmas cards. I made 75 this year..whew they took some time. But they turned out great. I have them cut, glued, stamped, poked, picture inserted, put in envelopes, sealed, labeled and now waiting for their postage stamp. I know probably the easiest thing to do and they have been sitting in a box for a week.

I love this stamp set called Holiday Joy for 22.95, it has just enough stocking for my family. The paper pack is the Evensong Creative Basics set. The colors I used were New England Ivy, Cranberry, and Chocolate. If you are lucky to get one then ENJOY!!! If not check back at this blog and be blessed seeing the picture. JK!

The New Idea Book with CTMH is here and check out this great pic we can now post online... just had to share.

I love the colors in the this book..the papers are great for boys and girls. You can purchase one from me or I will put one in your order for FREE with a $30 purchase. What a great way to get some creative ideas.

So I mentioned that I would show you what the My Pages Talk Voice Recorder was and here it is. I already decorated it but it come with white paper on it and great instructions. I used mine to record the voices of my boys telling me what they wanted from Santa... Oh let me tell you ADORABLE!!! Anyway I plan on putting this in my book. Can you imagine.. 10 years from now being able to look back at these pages and seeing how cute the kid are and hearing their little voices in a book. Oh it gives me goosebumps. So it cost 14.95 and is 3 3/4" x 2 3/4" x 1/4" for one...but how cool they would make a scrapbook page. Oh another idea might be to have your kids sing a song and send it to a loved one as a gift. I may have to get a few more. Enjoy!

I am going to SEATTLE!!! Well not permanantly just for a convention..and not even for scrapbooking. I am going the last week in Febuary to the T^3 International Convention. Those of you with high school or college students have probably heard of TI..Texas Instruments the calculator company. My real job is a high school Math teacher and I get to go to the convention fully funded by my district. It is the most beneficial professional development I have ever had. No it is not all about how to push buttons...but that is a big part. But rather about how to get students excited about learning math and how to get them to discover math concepts using the calculator. One day I will take a picture of what my classroom looks like and show you all the technology I have...IT IS AWESOME!!. I hope your children have teachers as excited about learning and showing kids things as I can get. I try not to act all nerdy.. but it is there.

Well last night we went to meet Santa. The Parents as Teachers organization had crafts, cookies the gym open and of course the big man himself. Caleb for the first time sat on his lap and told him exactly what he wanted. Dan and I were shocked that he did it since last year was such a disaster. Josh on the other hand...even with Caleb up there...would not! He hide behind Daddy and sucked his thumb..then he shouted "I don't want to see Santa". We tried to remind him that Santa is the one that gives the presents so we have to tell him what we want. Being 2 he replied "then I don't want ANYTHING"!! Well I guess it will be a cheap Christmas for us...jk!!

I did the coolest thing last night and I would soooo advise it for all of you with kids out there. Close to my Heart has something called the My Pages Talk Voice Recorder for 14.95. I recorded the boys in the car on the way to Santa and asked them what they wanted. I got a crisp great recording and I could even re-record till I got them both in during the 30 seconds...which is longer than I thought it was. I will post of pic later this week of it...so cool.

Well Thanksgiving was ok. Josh my youngest was sick so I took Caleb to my side for lunch and then Dan took him to his side for dinner. Josh got some mommy and daddy time at home as he recovered. He is better now.

The cheesecake was a hit!! I was very surprised at how well it turned out. Well time for some artwork.

Here is a card I made using the December Stamp set of the Month Heart throb. I love this pop up design. I sent it into CTMH for a contest so lets see what happens. I will let you know if I get blessed to win something. Life has had it's ups and downs recently. I am starting to think of the things that I am thankful for since Thanksgiving is coming and I am very greatful for the health of my family and the life we have together. I wish my husband had a job right now but the economy has choosen our family to affect. Others out there might be in the same boat but I really feel like this is starting to make me stronger and my family stronger. I wish there was a different way to achieve this goal but this is what was choosen for us so this is the life we are living. But with that being said I am thankful that we have eachother and will grow together. Have a great Thanksgiving.

Well Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I was up tonight making Carmal Pecan Cheesecake (my first attempt at cheesecake). It looks good and hopefully taste good too. I wanted to post a artwork of something I am thankful for so I choose this spread I made.

A couple weeks ago we went on a River Boat cruise with my Sister, Brother in law, and another couple. We 6 bottles of wine in 1 and 1/2 hours between 6 adults. Needless to say we were all a little lite. This layout I used some scraps from my Perfect Day paper pack. At first I wasn't really sold on this paper pack.. to be honest I hated it. But once I saw it in person and what it could look like...with my help that is (I like it alot). I don't really scrap just about Dan and myself but this night was fun we had a camera so what the heck! I am sure we will do something like this again, but for now these memories are cherished.

I have been sick all week and the boys are also sicky. But I still wanted to post some artwork for you to check out. This is a layout I made with my Scrapbooking club in the month of October. This used the Annotations stamp set, Playful lowercase, Solo M, Solo B, and the Evensong Creative Basics paper pack. I love this page and can't wait to put my memories on it for Christmas.

Well the November stamp set of the Month is called All Decked Out and it is the cutest snowman ANYWHERE!! I am in love. Here is a layout that I created for my December clubs. I love it and it is the Aspen paper pack that is featured in the layout. I painted on the right side for a journaling block and I sanded a scored frame on my Twilight Card Stock.

So today has been pretty boring. But Dan and I were able to watch the Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton and that was pretty good. I am posting another picture of some artwork that I did. This one is from Halloween and the only thing that is Close to my Heart is the background paper. I tried to do just a cicut page and I have to say that this is one of my less busy pages I have made in a long time. I am letting it grow on me. At first I was really missing the Background and Texture paper that I have fallen in love with from CTMH but now I like the simplicity of it. Enjoy.. I am off to make some White Chicken Chili.

Well it has been about a year and half since I last blogged. I have thought about it but have not kept up with it. I am still teaching mathematics at Parkway North High School and my boys are now 4 and 2. I am still scrapbooking and stamping with Close to my Heart and I am busy keeping up with the scrapbooking and trying to get my Christmas Cards completed.

I think I am going to start using this blog site for its actual purpose. Stay tuned for creative inspiration and me blogging. Have a great weekend.