Gearing up for the big day!

Well, the last two days have been great.  I completed a LO that I can't show you yet!  I also made a couple of bracelet earring combinations for my family for Christmas.  Yesterday my mother, Nanny, and my daughter, Hannah made cookies.  It was so sweet watching them together.  Hannah had to sample every ingredient as it was added.  First the butter, then the flour, munched on a few chocolate chips, then tasted it with everything in it, many times!  She loves helping and learning how to cook.  I think this could turn out to be a very good thing.  I think I'll see what she thinks about splitting cooking detail when she's older!!!  Hee hee!

My mother and daughter also helped me get some pre-Thanksgiving food prep done so that we can enjoy the day together.  I love this time of year in the desert.  Cool weather, blue skies, green grass, family, yummy smells, happyness all around!  God Bless You and Your Family This Thanksgiving!

We also had the opportunity to partake in some yummy handmade tamales made by our awesome gardener's mother-in-law.  They were piping hot when he and his wife brought them to us Tuesday and I had to let them cool off so I could store them in the fridge.  Here are a couple pictures of them.

So Happy!

Last night my hubby, my 2 1/2 yr old daughter, and I, picked my parents up from the airport in San Diego, CA.  They flew in from Missoula, MT, my hometown!  It is really hard waiting to pick them up and as we walked through the corridor from the parking lot to the main airport, everything felt surreal.

We enjoyed some overpriced fruit, coffee, and pop as we waited for them to de-plane and work their way down to us.  We finally moved to the end of the main hallway and as my parents finally came into view, I knelt down to Hannah and said, "Do you see them, do you?  Go get them, go get 'em!"  So that little tiny angel took off as fast as her little legs would take her, bouncing and careening, trying to stay balanced, her blonde hair flying all over the place, and the moment came.  The moment where time slows down and I could just tell that her little legs weren't going to carry her big heart any further and then the unthinkable happened.  My little dolly bit the dust right there in front of Nanny, Papa, and all to see. She looked up, winded, and Nanny picked her up and loved her, hugged her, smiling with her beautiful smile.  My husband and I were already on our way as we sensed the impending fall.  I came up to her and she had put her brave face on. Her eyes were moist and her mouth pursed shut.  Her chin drawn up, ever so slightly.  She was just holding back a dam, emotions crushing each other, trying to make the dam give way.  But she just laid her head down on my shoulder and hugged me.  We praised her for her big heart and how she showed them her love by running to them. It was just perfect and unforgettable. 

I will be working on some challenge ideas for this blog and my first challenge is going to be really fun.  I will be posting the details for it around the beginning of the year.  I am not going to tell you much more, but I will tell you that I am going to have a very special prize for this challenge.  Stay tuned and be sure to follow this blog, sign up to get my newsletter and visit If It's Groovy where I am a Design Team Member. 
Get Scrappin,
Natalie

Grateful

The theme for Dollbabies DT at If It's Groovy was based on Autumn.  Here's my entry:

Grateful
by Montuckygirl
Scrapbook.com

I used my Gypsy and my Cricut Create for all of the die cuts.  Go to the Scrapbook.com link to see the materials used.  The day I took the pictures was so beautiful and the weather was very mild!  Love my Dollbaby!!! She loves it outside!

It's not to late to enter the blog challenges so get on over to If It's Groovy.  Look for If it's Groovy on Facebook, too!

They're OUT!

Go here to view Black Friday prerelease ads!  The listings for your stores are on the left of the site.  I think I will be investing in a police shield so I don't get squished from the shoppers!  LOL!

Michaels 
Cricut Cartridges 60% Off
Gypsy The Handheld Design Studio For Cricut (Saturday)$249.99
Cricut Personal Electronic Cutter (Saturday)$97.99
20% Off Your Entire Purchase Including Sale Items (Saturday)
50% Off Any One Regular Priced Item (Saturday)
 JoAnn's 

There are others, just too many to list!

So Sad!

I just found out that Creative Xpress will not be offering their price matching for their Cricut machines.  I was really counting on this, as were others.   I'll find a way to get it at a good price.  Even if I have to camp out at eBay!  

Let me know if you find out that any other places are offering great Cricut Promotions for Black Friday.  I do know that Michaels is offering 60% off cartridges.  Check out my Black Friday links and do some research for yourself on the products you want to save on for the Holidays. 

Here's the link I used for Wal-Mart Black Friday @ Gotta Deal, just go down to Wal-Mart or any other retailers that you wish and look them up.

Whoo Hoo! Great News!

I am a new Design Team Member over at at If It's Groovy.  I am on the Dollbabies Team and I am so excited to be a part of this awesome group of women.  I am a Groovy Chic and I am going to have a blast!

I  would like to take this opportunity to invite you, right now, to go over to the IIG blog and enter this month's challenge "Slice-It-Up"!  If you haven't gotten into scrapbooking your family and friends, then you may be missing out on one of the most satisfying and exciting hobbies around!

Please pass this information on to all of your friends to get the word out, regardless if you are into scrapbooking or not.  Come to the blog and just look at all the beautiful creations.  This means a lot to me, and thank you in advance!

This is the layout that I have up over at If It's Groovy.  This is my daughter and my oldest niece.  The picture is from July, 2008 when we all went camping at Lake Alva. 

A Trip to San Diego Botanical Gardens and Balboa Park

Hannah, you, are truly a gift from God.  We fall in love with you over and over watching you experience things for the first time. We envy you!

Reads the journaling for this page.  During one of our jaunts to San Diego, CA, we stopped at Balboa Park and went to the free Botanical Gardens located within the heart of the park. 

There is a koi pond, where hordes of people gathered to paint the various water lilies in bloom.  There were various groups of people meeting to do physical fitness and then there were tourists from all over milling around. 

Hannah really enjoyed looking at the plants which were samples from all over the world that could easily grow in SDs mild climate.    I wish I could remember what it was like to smell and touch exotic flowers for the first time.  I guess that's why we go there so often, so I can just let the first time come back.

Near the Natural History Museum at Balboa Park is a huge commons which has a large fountain.  Hannah was very excited to see how far the water shot up into the air.  We are lunch here and just enjoyed the fresh air.  Later we found a butterfly garden and chased a couple of huge monarchs around. 

Of course nap time approached and we had to leave. 

I used prima paper flowers and silk flowers that I altered, perfect pearls and water in my Ranger mister.  I used a Bohemian paper, journal card, and transparency as well as Martha Stewart ribbon. I used Tim Holtz distressing ink to grunge up the papers and ribbons. 

My Dear Husband's Childhood Pictures

I have put a new slide show of many of the LOs I have made for my hubby's childhood pics at the bottom of the blog.  They are from two different albums.  The first album has a more classic look to it with matting and such.  The second album, which is still in the works, has more abstract form to it and less matting.  I also use a lot more Cricut cartridge shapes as I got my Create after starting the albums.  There are a few pages that I have to go through and tweak, but I will do that when the whole album is finished.

From DH Album

From DH Album

Bitten By The Bug Challenge

The challenge I am entering this card for is over at Bitten By The Bug.  The challenge was to use the pretty bird from the Storybook Cartridge from Provo Craft for the Cricut/Gypsy/DS. 

I also used the brackets from Storybook and I believe the marquee is from DonJuan, I can't remember! 

I have a huge box of feathers so I matched some to the paper I used by K &  Co.  The leaves the bird is sitting on are from the Storybook cart as well.  I used my Gypsy to alter the leaves in their orientation and shape.  I also, if you noticed, flipped the bird,  Ha Ha get your mind out of the gutter!  I used the version of the bird that has three little hole cutouts on the tail to secure the feathers. The little flowers are from Prima.  The card itself is from Stretch Your Imagination.  I chalked the card with SU! pastels and used Tim Holtz distress ink in vintage photo color for the edges.  The stamp was from a set I picked up at Costco and the ink is Martha Stewart in silver with silver embossing glitter powder!  The whole card except for the flowers is misted with the mini mister from Ranger inks and Perfect Pearls by Ranger in perfect pearl color.  The fiber is just some that my mother, Bead Bum, gave me. 
Thanks for stopping by!
Natalie

Giving out another award

I want to pass my inspiration blog award onto Ingvild Bolme.

Her blog is amazing to me and when I go there and look at all her beautiful creations I see so many new ways to look at life and how to capture it in timeless scrapbook pages. 

Now that you have received the award, copy the part of this post written in bold into your blog post and copy the Inspiration Blog Award to be placed on your blog at your discretion.  Next you pass on the award to someone else. 

I am going to look for blogs that inspire me no matter how much bling, posts, links, etc they have on them.  If I see something that actually invokes a change in they way I look at the world or how I think about papercrafts or if  the person says or creates something that brings about novel ideas in me then they get the award.  I will post their first name and a link to their blog.  I will leave them a message on their blog letting them know what I thought was so inspiring.  Then, on my blog,  I will write five or more sentences describing what kinds of things inspire me, what do I do with the inspiration and how can I pay it forward to others.

Here's what inspires me:
I am inspired by everyday people who do things that encourage me to be a better mother and wife.  I like to take the inspiration I get from them and bless others with it.  I also take the opportunity to let the person who inspired me, know that they touched my heart and that I appreciate what they do.  I feel a connection with the person be it a local friend, a distant friend, or an internet-based friend.  I take the inspiration and put my own twist on it to preserve the magic of their craft or their ideas and mine.  I pay this inspiration forward by serving others, even if it is as close as my own home.  I try to inspire others and let them know that we all have talents and need to work on discovering them by trying all kinds of creative and healthy outlets.

Have a Great Day!
Natlie

Creative Cookbooking Invitation

Hi!! I'm Debbie from Creative Cookbooking!! What is Creative Cookbooking you ask???
It's a new challenge blog that helps you document those favorite memories of cooking traditions you and your family have cherished! I know that when I was little I thought my mother was the best cook in the world..now that I'm older I know she is! I would give anything to cook like her! I've spent the last few years documenting her recipes, although she is one of those cooks who never followed a recipe. I do my best to write them down anyway!! The point being is that those favorite recipes are important pieces of your legacy and should be handed down to your kids and their kids and so on.

Every Wednesday we issue a challenge prompt to help you document your favorite recipes and memories. The Tuesday prior our chefs will inspire you with their creations of the challenge!! We'd love to have you play along!!!

Right now Creative Cookbooking is having a fabulous contest and the chefs would love nothing better than for you to play along!

Here's the scoop!

Please join the Creative Cookbooking Design Team for a Scraplift Contest!!!
This contest will run from this Friday October 23 – November 9.

The Rules ( we have to have them!)
1. Drop by the message board and sign up for the contest.
2. Create a cookbook layout by Scraplifting a layout from Graphic 45 gallery.
3. Use a Thanksgiving theme.
4.Incorporate a recipe and a photo.
5.Link us up to the layout you scraplifted.
6.Upload your layout to the Creative Cookbooking gallery and leave a comment on the Creative Cookbooking blog.

The winner will receive a gift prize of Graphic 45’s Domestic Goddess product line, an apron to keep you clean while your cooking, wooden spoons, measuring cups and spoons. (Not everything is pictured here)

The winner will be selected by Design Team vote and announced on November 13th, 2009.
http://www.g45papers.com/gallery.php
Gallery link:
Message board:
Blog:
Internationals are welcome but you will have to pay your own shipping if you win.
Dana's

Here's the layout she lifted fom the G45 gallery

Kristies


Debbie


G45 gallery


Hope you'll join us for the fun!

Also wanted to point you to the Cookbookin.com site! They have fabulous products for all of your Cookbooking needs!!!

Thanks you Natalie for allowing us to share our Creative Cookbooking on your blog!!!

Debbie and the Creative Cookbooking Chefs

I Love Giveaways

 Hey Cricut Owners.  Have you ever wanted to expand your cutting files to include images you make or others make.  With Sure Cuts A Lot you can.  Go to SVG Cuts to find out how to win a free copy of Sure Cuts A Lot 2.0!  People who use this program swear by it and love creating with it.  They talk about how they get so much more use from their Cricut machines!   Contest Ends November 8th!
Good Luck!

My First Blog Award!

Thanks to Judy I got my first blog award.  I am very grateful that someone thought my little blog was worth noting!  I like Judy's blog because she is into the Cricut, the Gypsy, Design Studio, and Cuttlebug.  Her blog is full of awesome scrapbook LOs, cards, and many other projects.  She has designed a lot of her own files as well.  Check her site out.  Not only is she inspiring, but she has a great network of blogs and links on her site as well.

Next I am to play by the blog award rules and pay it forward!  I will post on five people's blog let them know that they have won this award.  (That's going to be a hard to choose!) Then I answer a list of questions with just one word!  No cheating!

1. Where is your cell phone? Charger
2. Your hair? brown
3. Your mother? inspirational
4. Your father? warm
5. Your favorite food? Italian
6. Your dream last night? unknown
7. Your favorite drink? latte
8. Your dream/goal? mothering
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? crafts
11. Your fear? unloved
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Montana
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? energetic
15. Muffins? banana
16. Wish list item? Expression
17. Where did you grow up? Montana
18. Last thing you did? eat
19. What are you wearing? t-shirt
20. Your TV? nickjr
21. Your Pets? cats
22. Friends? few
23. Your life? thankful
24. Your mood? content
25. Missing Someone? family
26. vehicle? SUV
27. Something your not wearing? mascara
28. Your favorite store? craft
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? minutes
31. Last time you cried? week
32. Your best friend? Jesus
33. One place that I go to over and over? knees
34. Facebook? occasionally
35. Favorite place to eat? Carino's

Here are the five people I'm passing the award to.  Thanks for being over the top to me!

Karen

Mary

Christine

Crystal

Debbie

Giving away my first Inspiration Blog Award!

Drumroll please!

Congratulations to Kelsey at Vanilla Joy!  You have won an Inspiration Blog Award!
 

Now that you have received the award, copy the part of this post written in bold into your blog post and copy the Inspiration Blog Award to be placed on your blog at your discretion.  Next you pass on the award to someone else. 

I am going to look for blogs that inspire me no matter how much bling, posts, links, etc they have on them.  If I see something that actually invokes a change in they way I look at the world or how I think about papercrafts or if  the person says or creates something that brings about novel ideas in me then they get the award.  I will post their first name and a link to their blog.  I will leave them a message on their blog letting them know what I thought was so inspiring.  Then, on my blog,  I will write five or more sentences describing what kinds of things inspire me, what do I do with the inspiration and how can I pay it forward to others.

Here's what inspires me:
I am inspired by everyday people who do things that encourage me to be a better mother and wife.  I like to take the inspiration I get from them and bless others with it.  I also take the opportunity to let the person who inspired me, know that they touched my heart and that I appreciate what they do.  I feel a connection with the person be it a local friend, a distant friend, or an internet-based friend.  I take the inspiration and put my own twist on it to preserve the magic of their craft or their ideas and mine.  I pay this inspiration forward by serving others, even if it is as close as my own home.  I try to inspire others and let them know that we all have talents and need to work on discovering them by trying all kinds of creative and healthy outlets. 

Have a Great Day!
Natlie

I like to give kudos!

I got my first blog award and it inspired me!  And every time I think about it, I examine what it is about my creations that have a spark.  Lots of things inspire me, but I believe that our Creator made us to be that way!  So in celebration of all you inspirational papercrafters and bloggers I made up an Inspiration Award.

When you get the award, copy this message into your blog post when you pass on the award to someone else: I am going to look for blogs that inspire me no matter how much bling, posts, links, etc they have on them.  If I see something that actually invokes a change in they way I look at the world or how I think about papercrafts or if  the person says or creates something that brings about novel ideas in me then they get the award.


I will post their first name and a link to their blog.  I will leave them a message on their blog letting them know what I thought was so inspiring.  Then, on my blog,  I will write five or more sentences describing what kinds of things inspire me, what do I do with the inspiration and how can I pay it forward to others.

I am going to start searching tomorrow and I will pick one person tomorrow.  This does not mean this person was my favorite, this award goes to an inspiration discovery.  We need to uplift each other always!  I will continue to pass this award around and I encourage you to give it to a few people who really inspire you as well.
Have a great week everyone!
Hugs,
Natalie

Altered Art-Books

I made altered books for my mother and father.  I did these before I even got into making scrapbooks.  I started stamping first, did altered art, then the scrapbooking, die cutting, etc.

I am going to post an album at the bottom of the blog with more pictures of the books I made.

The one I made for my mom did not have personal pictures as my dad's did.  Her's was more of a muse and his was a memory book.

I used Altered Books and More Altered Books from Hot Off The Press.  I bought them at Michaels a few years ago.  They had some really great ideas and actually helped my scrapbooking creativity as well.  I also used the HOTP epehemera books: Feminine, Garden, Alphabet Tiles, Tags 1, Tags 2, and various others.

From Altered Art-Books

I used a lot of colored leaves, feathers,fibers, brads, colored glass, large skittles, stamps, paper clips, all kinds of stuff!!

These pages are from my father's book.   I cut out images from vintage ephemera books from HOTP.  I used stamped mulberry paper for the background.  The criss-cross bulletin board is made of vellum strips and brads.  Then I paperclip the images to the mini bulletin board.

From Altered Art-Books

These pages are from pictures taken in Philadelphia when my father and uncle came to visit me.  I printed out a tiny version of the Declaration of Independence.  I made a pocket and a background from the same vellum.  The other paper embellishments are from HOTP again.  I was really into all of their collage line!

Petscrapping

I realized the other day that I don't have any pages up with my cats.  I made this page before I had any snazzy scrapbooking tools, like die cutters and such.

This one is of my little girl cat, Cami. She was sleeping on the couch next to a blanket and I noticed after I took the picture that she looked like a little lioness.  She always looks like she is smiling, too!  I am very fond of Cami.  I found her at the Dairy Queen in Bigfork, MT in August of 2000.  She is not this gold in color, but who cares.  She's gorgeous regardless!