In 2007, I learned to ...

... appreciate the little things.

As I was looking through scrapbooking blogs, I came across this challenge from Elsie Flannigan: "Create a scrapbooking page OR art journal page about how you evolved in 2007 and post it online (any public blog, gallery or whatever)." So I did.

I don't think the picture does this layout justice. (Can you tell I'm happy with it? :)) I jotted down ideas for the journaling before I went to bed last night and woke up at 5:30 this morning, ready to make it. Even if I don't win anything on Elsie's blog for doing the layout, I'm so glad she inspired me to make it and to remember to appreciate the little things.

12 Days of Christmas

I saw a link to this video on Tara Whitney's blog and absolutely LOVE it, so I'm posting it here to share. Enjoy!

Baby cards

I'm working on thank you notes for my friend's daughter's shower, and I just love this paper from Heidi Grace. I got the idea for the first card from Roxy's blog (check out her "chop it up,baby" card). Thanks for the inspiration!

Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers-8

Hi ladies!

My name is Kelly, and I'm 32 years old. I live in Maryland with my husband and our "baby," a 3 year old Bichon Frise named Daisy. (She's also featured in several posts below and numerous scrapbook pages - I guess that's what happens when you don't have kids yet!) After teaching high school English for 8 years, I now work in Professional Development for a local school system, training teachers and working especially with our new teachers, which I really enjoy.

I found the siterhood site when searching around other stamping and scrapping blogs, and it looked like fun. Like many of you, I just started my blog not long ago, but I love crafting and finding ideas from others online, so I figured I'd join in, too. Thanks for stopping by.

Siblings

I made this clock for one of my best friends, Beth, for Christmas. I just love this picture of her kids, and since she's crafty, I wanted to do something fun with it for her. This clock was made from an Oriental Trading kit, and it was just like doing a scrcapbook page, except on wood.

Speaking of siblings, I made a clock like this for my brother for Christmas, too, but forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to him. I used a black and white picture of him and his wife that I had from my wedding, and it turned out pretty well. I'll have to see if I can con him into taking and sending a pic for me.

One stylish pup

Ok, so I know she doesn't look thrilled in these pictures, but Daisy got the most adorable jacket from my Grandmother for Christmas, and I just love it! Here's a picture of that and other pics of the spoiled little pooch from Christmas.

Oh Christmas Tree

I saw an idea on the Maya Road Design Team blog that I just loved, so I made my own. I used paper that had the lyrics to "Oh Christmas Tree" on it, just to be extra cheesy. I hope it stores well so I can put it up again next year.

Christmas Cards

Last year, I got overly ambitious and sent handmade Christmas cards to everyone on my list. (Yikes - that was crazy!) After Christmas last year, I found some really cute boxes of cards and came across them while pulling out the decorations last weekend. I did decide to make cards for a few family members and crafty friends who live far away, and the pictures are below.

I showed Lou the tags (from my last post), and while he said they were nice, he thought it was a lot of work for something that people would throw away on their presents. I decided he was probably right, but since I love the look of the tags, I made a couple cards with them (for crafty friends who will appreciate them). Enjoy!

Christmas Tags

While playing around on my friend Casii's blog, I found the link to Tim Holtz' blog (and a treasure of awesome ideas). He's doing something called "The 12 Tags of Christmas," and I printed out directions for 2 that I really liked. Here are the pictures of ones I created from Tim's inspiration. :)

Princess Purse

Our realtor came over to help us figure out what we should fix in our house before we sell it. (We're at least 6-8 months from selling, but I wanted a head start.) Anyway, the realtor brought Daisy the cutest present. Check it out.

Bailey's visit

A few weeks ago, we babysat a 14-week old puppy (Bichon and Poodle mix) named Bailey. She was as cute as all the pictures show, but she was a handful. I forgot how much work a puppy is - watching her all the time. She absolutely loved Daisy (of course), and they do take some great pictures. Here are some of my favorites from the week.