One more good reason to shop at home in your pajamas...

Did I just mention that I love a good sale? Well don't miss this one from Stampin' Up!: 5 DAYS ONLY! Find presents for the stampers, scrapbookers and paper crafters in your life...or just stock up for yourself. Don't miss the organization (Ribbon Storage) and Gift Tins, too! To view the sale, go to MY SU! WEBSITE and click on the SHOP NOW button under my name in the top right corner. You can order online or call me to order: 801-376-8685

I love a good sale...

My friend Sue sells Gold Canyon Candles...and this is a great offer: 20% off and free shipping! 'Tis the season for great sales! Who needs to go to the store this weekend with all the cool stuff online?? Go to her website to order and enjoy some extra "scents" for the holidays :)

How to Fold a Shirt

My friend Seana shared this a while back and I'm still trying to perfect the technique...but for those of you who have a lot of laundry, think of the time it would save if you could learn this!

Now if this woman could teach us how to fold fitted sheets...

Face Painting

Kiersta and friends wanted to do something fun for the Masquerade dance, so they asked makeup artist Haleh to come paint their faces (real masks weren't allowed at Masquerade...go figure). I was fascinated by her talents and watched her work magic most of the evening. Even the boys enjoyed it! We had Spider-man, butterflies, fairies and the Phantom, himself.

Misty Watercolor Memories...

I'm not ready to jump into the winter or even the holiday season quite yet, so here's a tribute to Autumn: Oh, that your vivid colors hadn't faded so quickly!

This is a gift bag I created using a watercolor technique: color your stamp using Stampin' Write markers, then mist lightly with water before stamping to run the colors together. (I use an empty Stampin' Mist bottle filled with water). Isn't it lovely?

Recipe: Inspired by Nature stamp set, Mellow Moss, Ruby Red, Summer Sun and Chocolate Chip markers and card stock, Naturals Ivory card stock, Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge punch, brown lunch bag.

Make It Fit Scrapbooking & Halloween, revisited

The adage "Better late than never" is misleading. If you are late for a wedding, you miss it. Get to the airport late and you'll be looking for another flight. Or too late to file taxes. In my case, I have great intentions of being on time, but it's not a strong suit for me. 9 a.m. church is REALLY hard for me (looking forward to the new year!). Currently I'm approximately 5 years behind in my scrapbooking and I'm finding that my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be. If you are one of those people just getting started on preserving your memories, I'd suggest starting with the most current pictures and working backwards. You'll remember what happened most recently, and maybe as you go back into your history, something will click as you are staring at your 5th grade class picture.


So I'm trying to catch up on my family scrapbooks and thought I'd share this tip for people who may not have a lot of pictures to scrapbook: Use a 6"x6" album! You only need ONE picture per page so you don't have to come up with filler for the rest of the page.



A 6x6 page is also a terrific anchor or focal point on a larger page (in this case, 8 1/2 x 11). Whatever the size, you can make it fit!

Vote

Dressing Up

A younger version of myself believed that sewing Halloween costumes for my children would validate me as a "good mother". I was fairly successful with a set of crayon costumes and one clown ensemble. Then Kiersta wanted to be a medieval princess...after dropping $80 (yes, that was *eighty* dollars) at the fabric store and spending two days hunched over a sewing machine, the perfect princess was clothed! Then I found an (almost) identical dress online for $25. I've never sewn a costume since.

This year we found costumes at a big box store at 60% off the week before the holiday and while standing in the checkout line, a sweet stranger handed me a "Friend & Family" coupon for an additional 20% off! SCORE!

Above: "Mother Nature" and the cutest little witch in our house.